::;v-:"r>SSSxi<

^
 CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Alice M. Christian
Memorial Book Fund
 Cornell University Library
BX 1492.H99
A century of persecution under Tudor and

3 1924 005 752 054

 Cornell University
Library

The original of tiiis book is in

tine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in

the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005752054
A CENTURY OF PERSECUTION UNDER
TUDOR AND STUART SOVEREIGNS
FROM CONTEMPORARY RECORDS
Nihil Obstat :

F. Thomas Bergh, O.S.B.

Censor Veputatus,

Imprimatur :

Edm. Cam. Surmont,

Vic. gen.

Westmonasterii, die 26 Februarii, 1920.

A Century of Persecution
Under Tudor and Stuart Sovereigns

from Contemporary T^ecordsJ

BY
THE REV. ST. GEORGE KIERAN HYLAND
D.D., Ph.D. ^

With a Frmtitpiece of Loseley Hall

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH TRUBNER & CO., LTD.
NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1920
TO MY SISTER
 INTRODUCTION
The greatest question in history is that which deals with the
changes of religion, as these changes have a most fundamental
influence on the course of events. Hence, in the history of Europe,
we are naturally inclined to divide the centuries into two immense
groups : the Pagan era, and the Christian. Hence also in the
Christian era the chief events separating the periods are usually
of a religious character. Thus we are inclined naturally to take
each period of the history of Christianity as a measure for the same
period of the history of Europe. We take the first three hundred
years, up to the time of Constantine ; then we continue it, to the
Middle Ages to about the eleventh century ; thence again to
the sixteenth. In each of these divisions great religious movements
make the chief lines of demarcation. It is first the liberation of

the Church, then the establishing and extending of the monastic

system ; then the unrest or chafing against religious authority.
Now, come to the point, these pages are intended to illustrate
to
a period of immense importance to us here in England, and it is
their object to express once again the often repeated answer to the
following question : How comes it that a religion which had been
established in this country for over six hundred years, had taken
firm root in the land, had been the prolific source of very nearly
all its institutions, had inspired its art and produced all its greatest
monuments, should, in the space of a few years, have been almost
entirely swept away ?

It is very difficult for us in these days to appreciate the power

of autocracy, although we have, almost at our very doors, a startling
and terrible example of its use and abuse. But I think that the
inception of the religious revolution which took place in the sixteenth
century was, at least here in England, made possible almost entirely
viii INTRODUCTION
by the autocratic government of the time. It is now a fairly-

acknowledged fact that the majority of the people were not in

favour of the change of religion, and if the governing power
had been in the hands of the people, no such change could have
taken place. However, we must acknowledge that if the people
had been truly earnest and on the alert, even a Henry VIII. could
not have succeeded in achieving what he did. We need not really
be surprised that, after the peaceful possession for well-nigh six
centuries, the church generally should have felt no foreboding of
impending disaster. We meet with this
are too accustomed to
sense of security in our own times to wonder that, when the
Reformation was actually at the very doors, churchmen generally
appeared blind to the danger. Moreover from a sense of security
proceeds an inclination to take things too quietly, and in religious
matters men are apt to become worldly. Thus on the very eve
of the Reformation we find, only too often, ecclesiastics of very
high standing indulging in the sports and pastimes of the
secular princes and immersed in politics at the cost of their spirit-
uality. Those are not the men to warn the Church of
threatening danger.
It is not only Cardinal Wolsey who sacrifices principle for the
sake of a mistaken loyalty ; even after the terrible example of
Henry's secession, the Church had not yet been completely purged
of this worldly spirit.

The answer to the question, how could even a despotic sovereign

root out from the land a reUgion which the people loved, is given
in the words of our Blessed Lord :
" While men were asleep an
enemy came and over-sowed cockle."

In these pages we have a picture of the state of society here in

England during a period of a hundred years. We see how, in the
beginning, although the majority were against the change, they
temporised, hoping for better days. They slumbered and slept.
The better days never came during the reign of Henry VIII., but
a period was past in which the cockle was too broadly sown, and
when a CathoUc queen ascended the throne she found that it was

impossible to root out the cockle, and both wheat and the
 INTRODUCTION ix

cockle were eventually allowed to grow side by side until the

harvest.
After the reign of Queen Mary the seeds of dissension and ttie

calumnies preached from Henry's pulpits bore their evil fruit, and
Elizabeth found an easy task prepared for her. The short years
of Catholic revival made scarcely any impression on the poisoned
minds of Englishmen, while the cruel laws against heretics only
served to embitter feeling the more.
Elizabeth's reignwas one of the most barbarous cruelty, in
comparison with which the repressive measures of Mary pale to
insignificance. And this reign was succeeded by one
of equal cruelty under James I. By that time autocracy in
England was waning to extinction, and when Charles I. came to
the throne it was no longer the hatred of the monarch that Catholics
had to fear, but the violent antagonism of the ParUamentarians.
The people had been disciplined in the cruel methods of their
erstwhile masters, and they had become as ferocious as Henry or
Elizabeth or James.
Now, the Loseley Records are of value, as we shall presently see,

in illustrating many phases and periods of English history ; but

the chief interest of many of them centres round the story of the
cataclysm consequent on this religious upheaval.
Consequently, it has not been my object to give a full account
of these Manuscripts, but rather to specialise and to select those
which seemed to bear on this subject.

It has seemed useful to give a picture of Catholic Ufe in

England before the Reformation, in order that the reader might
the better appreciate the change which was brought about by
Henry VIII. Hence I have taken the Uberty of introducing
him to the little village of Compton, close to which is to be seen
the manor house of Loseley. The anchor's hold at Compton
Parish Church provides the theme for the Chapter on the Hermit
of Compton. In this village we see Catholic life as it was four
hundred years ago.
The monastery of Waverley, with its beehive of prayer and
work, closes this first act of our great religious drama.
X INTRODUCTION
In dealing with the family and manor of Loseley I have introduced
subjects, such as the Overbury Plot, which, although not concerned
in any way with the so-called Reformation, serve to illustrate the
wickedness of Court life, and thus to throw into bolder relief the
heroism of the Catholic martyrs.
The rest of the book is the story of a deadly struggle between
irreligion on the one hand and CathoUcism on the other and in
;

this story will appear how all the weight of the British Crown was
hurled against the Catholic Church here in England, and how the
Church withstood the violence of the impact for over a hundred
years.

Before closing this introduction, it would be well to give the reader

a brief account of the Loseley MSS. In 1835 Alfred John Kemp,
Esq., F.S.A., copied and edited a selection of the Loseley Manu-
scripts. The work was published by Dr. John Murray. It was
not intended to be exhaustive, and, although full of interest, it

still left a quantity of material for future writers to publish and

wherewith could be weaved a story of astonishing interest. In
his Introduction he tells us that William Bray of Shere, in Surrey,
with the permission of the then owner, Mr. Molyneux, some years
perviously, collected several of the MSS. and bound them in nine
folio volumes. He further pays a tribute to the daughter of Sir
WUham More-Mol3meux, Ann Comwallis Molyneux, who became
the wife of General Sir Charles Rainsford, and died in 1798. This
lady had examined many of the manuscripts and indorsed them

with the names and dates when she found them unsigned and
undated . I cannot follow Mr. Kemp in his recommendation of this

practice.
These indorsements are in several cases very wide of the mark
and therefore misleading. Moreover the value of an old Manu-
script is very often somewhat marred by modem notes of this
kind. It is much better to leave the old document as it is.

The collection is a very fine one, numbering over 2,000 papers

and parchments. It Muniment Room, and Mr.
was kept in the

Kemp tells us that " the key room) had been

lost, and its
(of this

existence disregarded during an interval of two hundred years."

 INTRODUCTION xi

The documents had been preserved in " ponderous oaken

coffers " until Mr. Bray was permitted to collect and bind many

of them, as we have seen above. For two years or more they were
entrusted to the Record Office, as it was hoped that
something might be done to re-arrange them and bind the loose
papers which were still scattered in promiscuous bundles. Another
volume of papers was bound, all the loose documents were arranged
in order of periods and placed in boxes and a complete index of
the whole collection was made. It v&s while they were there that

the present writer was able to make an exhaustive study of them

and to take copies of a good number.
Many of the manuscripts are so worn by time or charred by fire

as to have become almost illegible, while others are crumbling into

dust so that the slightest touch or breath of air will disperse the
few remaining fragments to irretrievable destruction.
The interest of the Collection is manifold : there are documents
of every description, covering a period of over three hundred years,^

recalling the tragedies of dynasties or the great poUtical upheavals

of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Papers
relating to the pretensions of Lady Jane Grey, documents recalling
Wyatt's rebellion, and the grim farce of Henry VIII. 's marriage
with Anne of Cleves, find mention in letters and accounts at
Loseley. The Overbury Plot and Sir Walter Raleigh's ambitious
and ill-fated exploits, the war with Spain, the Plague, the Revels
and Masques of the sixteenth century. Jousts and Pageants,
Lotteries in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, all these and a multitude
of other events of interest may be illustrated by the archives pre-
served at Loseley. The Mores of Loseley were always
official personages ; and the history of the manor carries us
back into the dim ages of the Norman Conquest. Thus,
much literature of an official character was filed in the Manor
House ; but nothing remains of the documents previous to the
sixteenth century. By far the majority of subsequent
documents have also been lost or destroyed. Nevertheless
much still remains ; and for this we are sincerely thankful
Of all these treasures not the least valuable are those which relate
 ;
;

xii INTRODUCTION
to that travesty ofRefonn wherein, with hypocritical effrontery,
the Sovereigns and their minions made jnous zeal a cloak for
wholesale robbery and mnider.
Muniment Room at Loseley is in good condition
Tlie present
its contents are gnarded with the most praiseworthy care

and we can only trust that Mrs. More Molynenx McCowen's

heiis will take example from her.
A Royal Commission on PabKc Records was appointed in 19 ro,
and in their first report (19 12) the Conmiissioners expressed their
desire to encourage private owners to deposit valuable official

documents in the PnbKc Record Office, or in the British Museum,

for the use of stndents. The depositors were to retain their
ownership.
Tte immaise advantages of thi"? recommendation will be apparent
to all students of history, as in practically every case it is much
easier to journey to London than to the mansions tiiiere these
archives are preserved. Moreover, as long as they remain in private
hands there are a multitude of difficulties which confront the
student of research and which would be comjdetely removed
if these documents were in one of our huge Government collections.

Indeed, the work which has abeady been accomplished in the

centralising of a vast mine of historical material is little realised by
the general pubUc A visit to that large block of handsome buildings
known as the PnbKc Record Office in Chancery Lane would be
profitable in this respect From floor to roof the walls are covered
with historical treasures. A rougji estimate has put the number
of documents at rather more than three miDion. Tbese are dassed
into two thousand two hundred and forty seven categories, which
cover a collection of five hundred thousand roDs, volumes or
packages.
The documents published in this book are not all brougjit to
light for the first time.Some of them have, of course, appeared
in collections under other forms ; for instance, the laws concerning

the change of religion and Recusancy have been fully treated in

other works. But I have thon^t fit to publish in full those copies
that are preserves at Loseley, in order thereby to round off the
 INTRODUCTION xiii

picture. It will be found therefore that the chief basis of

the work is taken from these laws. The Muniment Room at Loseley
contains ample material for illustrating their working. I have
transcribed this materied in full.

The matter is chiefly composed of writings of prominent CathoUcs,

letters of the Council, private correspondence and documents of
an ofiBicial character, between Lady Wolley, a lady-in-waiting
at the Court of Elizabeth, and her father. Sir WilUam More, and
between Sir William and others.
I have thought it of importance to my subject to put in extenso

what appears to me to be Cardinal Pole's Pastoral to the people

of London. It brings out the state of reUgion and the results
and at the same time it suggests the
of the religious persecution
only remedy for the evils accomplished by the
reasonable
Reformation. This remedy is none other than complete restitution.
The old monasteries and churches cannot indeed be restored in
their pristine beauty, but others must be built in their stead.
I have also copied a long Latin letter (or I should say what
remains of it at Loseley) written by Cardinal Pole to Archbishop
Cranmer. The latter is in prison, and on the even of his execution.
The chief interest of this document is the account which it gives
of the extraordinary deception practised by Cranmer upon
Henry VIII., and the attitude of almost apology for Henry VIII.
himself.
In connection with this book, the document helps like the other
to complete the historical picture. The translation is given in
the body of the work.
Both these long manuscripts and nearly all the letters from the
Council now see the Ught of day for the first time.
One document in particular wiU be read with great interest just
now, as it illustrates a state of troubles very similar to those suffered
in these days by the people in Belgivmi. It was written by Machael
de Bay, who was Chancellor of the University of Louvain. It

was written in Latin, and I give the translation.

Another document which is also of peculiar interest at the present
time is the Latin poem which is translated in the last chapter, and
XIV INTRODUCTION
which constitutes, as it were, the denouement of the whole of our
story.
For the purpose of enlightenment I have completed the tale by
means of manuscripts and other documents which I have copied
at the Record Of&ce. These enable us to fill in the details of many
of the lives of priests and laymen, whose names are mentioned in
the hsts and letters at Loseley, which are here pubUshed.
It is now my pleasant duty to' thank all those who have in any
way assisted me in this work. My thanks are due in the first

place to Mrs. More-Molyneux for allowing me to study and copy

the manuscripts, and for many other acts of kindness in con-
nection with this book. I acknowledge my very great indebtedness
to my sister, without whose patient and intelligent assistance in
the capacity of scribe, this work must have been postponed
indefinitely owing to a very serious affection of the eyes. I am
deeply grateful to Mr. Theodore Craib, of the Pubhc Record Office,
and to many of the officials there for their most kind assistance
in many ways. I am especially indebted to Mr. Herbert Hall,
of the Public Record Office, for his critical examination of
the work on behalf of Messrs. Kegan Paul & Co., and for his many
valuable suggestions ; to Mr., Mrs. and Miss Egerton Castle for
reading my manuscript, and for their most useful counsels ; to
the Rev. Albert Hooker, of St. John's Seminary, Wonersh, for
kindly reading and correcting some of the proofs; to the Rev.
Bonaventure Sodar, O.S.B., of the Benedictine Abbey of Maredsous,
forsome information on De Bay's letter and to the Right Rev. ;

Abbot Marmion, O.S.B., of the same Abbey, for his help in the
same matter. In fine, I thank all the many friends who have
encouraged the work and helped in a multitude of wajrs.
 CONTENTS

PROLOGUE
A Picture of Catholic Life in Pre-Reformation Days

CHAP. PAGE
I.

II.

III.
THE SOLITARY
WAVERLEY ABBEY
THE SHRIVING
- -
-
-

-
"9
-

"13
3

- l6
IV. THE DISSOLUTION - -

PART I

Loseley and its Earlier Owners

-
I. LOSELEY - 23
-
II. SIR WILLIAM MORE 28
III. THE OVERBURY PLOT 35
IV. THE DENOUEMENT - - - 4O
-
V. STRANGE LETTERS - 45

PART II

A General Historical Sketch of the Reformation

Tempore Henry VIII. to Charles I.

I. REFORMATION - - - "55
-
II. CARDINAL pole's PASTORAL - 69
-
1:1. CARDINAL pole's PASTORAL [continued) 76
-
IV. PASTORAL [continued) - - 83
V. CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER -
89
- 102
VI. REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT - -
 1

xvi CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
VII. DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION - US
VIII. REPRESSION LEADS TO INQUISITION - - HQ
- - 123
IX. NON POSSUMUS . .

X. BRUISED REEDS . - - - I36

" " ^5^
XI. THE SEMINARY PRIESTS -

XII. HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND - - 162

- -
XIII. THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 177
" " ^9^
XIV. INCREASED RIGOURS -
- - 214
XV. THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
- - 236
XVI. JAMES I. - .

- - 25
XVII. CHARLES I. -

- " 263
XVIII. IN THE WINE PRESS

PART III.

The Reformation in Surrey and Hampshire

- -
I. THE VINTAGE . . 295
- -
II. THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH . 324
-
III. THE ROLL OF HONOUR - 34^

... EPILOGUE

...
- -
Desolation 365

-
APPENDIX 379
-
LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS QUOTED -
453
- -
OTHER DOCUMENTS QUOTED - 463
- -
INDEX . - - 467
 PROLOGUE

<tA Picture of Catholic Life in P re-Reformation Days

 Chapter I

THE SOLITARY
At the foot of the chalk ridge, which runs between Guildford and
Famham, and is known as the Hog's Back, Ues the little village of
Compton. An air of comfort and repose breathes in every cottage
and farmhouse as you pass up the white road. The overhanging
foliage of beech and elm and oak is a pleasant relief as you come from
the vale below. Here and there the abutting eaves bring you back
in thought to the days of timbered mansions. Thick ropes of ivy
coil around the massive trunks or cling to an old mullion. The rose
and the phlox vie with one another over garden trellises, and a
Virginian creeper will, in the fall of the year, sing scarlet melodies
on the house tops.
Back from the road, and hidden from view by holly and beech,
stands the old village church of St. Nicholas here at once the mind
;

is carried back to the dim ages of early Norman and even Saxon

times. Strange walled-up entrances and arches tell of many

changes which have come over this edifice throughout the centuries.
Restorations without number have done their work of vandalism.
A small tower surmounts the west end and is covered by a shingled
spire. Within the tower are three bells. The modem Gothic
porch leads to a Norman entrance, the arch of which is ornamented
with zig-zag design. Zig-zag and dog tooth are also to be seen
decorating the chancel arch. Over the chancel, covering the entire
sanctuary, is a Chantry chapel, the only example of the kind in
England. An oak screen in the form of a balustrade surmounts
the chancel and divides the Chantry from the nave. This wood-
work also is unique, dating back to the twelfth century. Piscinae
are to be seen in the Chantry and in the sanctuary below. Here
also are the triple sedilia for the celebrant, deacon and sub-deacon.
Close by the sedilia is a narrow opening in the wall. On the outer
end of this opening was once a tiny apartment called " anchor's
hold."
In this cell is supposed to have lived a holy priest. Having been
once'inducted into his home of solitude by the Bp. of Winchester,
and having received the austere rule from his hands, the anchorite
soared higher ever in the regions of saintly contemplation. A
wooden pallet was his couch and coarse bread seasoned with lettuces
and herbs and moistened by water from the brook was his daily
4 THE SOLITARY
fare. A willing solitary, he had embraced the life after much
—
prayer and training under wise guides a long novitiate having
preceded the solemn consecration.
There were many such solitaries in those days of the early
sixteenth century. The Church took official cognisance of all
these holy aspirants and legalised wisely in their regard. Literally,
to leave all things and follow Christ has ever been regarded as the
highest ideal of Christian self-sacrifice. The noblest act of man is
contemplating and loving the Creator. The highest service of the
soul is mind and heart to God.
to sacrifice the
We can picture to ourselves the Hermit of Compton keeping
his silent watches day and night. As he knelt in his narrow cell
he could see suspended by silken cords over the altar the golden pyx
which contained his Lord and Master. A lamp burned ever softly
before this Sancta Sanctorum. To the Solitary the light that shone
on the suspended pyx was the s5rmbol of the love that burned for
him within the Sacramental spedes.
When all the world was hushed in sleep the priest knew well that
this divineHost was ever wakeful. With kindly smile and ardent
love the eye of Jesus vras upon him speaking volumes. How the
hours sped on unheeded in that ecstasy of love Faith opens to the
!

mind a divine romance, a dream-land that is more real than the

bubbling brook or the leafy hollows. Indeed those fields of mystic
imagery are far more real than the material perceptions of the world
without. For our earthly landscape is often distorted by the bad
focussing of our vision, and our too narrow understanding will not
infrequently make the exquisite harmonies of nature to seem in
painful discord.
But once learn to take the Divine Master at His word and we
open to ourselves a wonderland of delights. The joy beUs were
set ringing when our Saviour uttered these words : " I am the
Living bread that came down from Heaven ; " and again " This :

is My Body." Firmly did the Church believe then as now that at

the last Supper Christ changed bread into His body and wine into
His blood and that He gave power to His apostles to effect the
;

same change when He said "Do this for a conunemoration of

:

Me." This was the Divine mystery of the Holy Mass : that at
the words of consecration the Lord of Lords came down upon the
altar and where before were bread and wine, now was Christ the
Saviour in the flesh. And so with all the Catholic Church our hermit
seized the truth and as he gazed upon that pyx, his heart welled up
with love and joy. What was that converse of the soul ? No man
can fittingly describe, for there are prayers that are not uttered in
 THE SOLITARY 5

human language—prayers that can only be compared to a mystic

—
breathing to a sighing and a languishing of a loving heart. It
seems profanity to compare the higher converse with the throbbings
of human love. Yet such is the nature of great devotion, that it is
in very truth a love-making between the soul and God. And,
strange to say, this wooing is begun not by man but by God. It is

not the creature who is first enamoured of the Creator, but God
who seems first smitten with man. " He saw that he was very good."
From that time forth the King of Kings has sought in every way
to win the love of the beggar-maid — His own creation. Treasure
—
of nature and grace have been lavished upon her ^pearls of great
price have been offered to her. Messengers with sweet greetings
have been sent to her. Invitations without number have been
vouchsafed to her. " Come," He says, " come to Me all ye that
labour, and I will refresh you." " I am thy reward exceeding
great." Happy, thrice happy, the soul that feels drawn by that
sweet call One thing she hath asked of the Lord that she may
! ;

dweU in;His house all her days.

Thus the Anchorite hath chosen the better part which shall not
be taken away from him. To the worldling his life may appear
—
hard and cheerless that he should live apart from the merriment
of men, unsoothed by wifely tenderness or uncheered by the prattle
of children That he be deprived of everything that makes living
!

palatable ! This does seem hard to those who do not understand

the power of love. But to the man whose heart is aglow with
heavenly fire such earthly joys are but insipid vanities. On the
other hand, in the deep waters of contemplation his life flows
placidly ever brimming full of the very joy of living. As the day
dawns his whole sotd swells to the praises of the Light of
Light. How heartily does he chant those words :

" OGod, my God, to Thee do I watch at break of day. For Thee

my soul hath thirsted for Thee my flesh, O how many ways.
;

In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water so in ;

the sanctuary have I come before Thee, to see Thy power and Thy
Glory. For Thy mercy is better than Uves :Thee my lips shall
praise. Thus wiU I bless Thee all my life long and in Thy name I
:

will lift up my hands."(Ps. 62, vv. i to 5.)

Anon, when the sun has risen and bells ring merrily he hears the
little world around him stirring. Men, women and children, all
flock to church, and the building fills with worshippers. A chorus
of many voices floats on the morning air. The fragrant clouds of
incense envelope the oblations on the altar, and the sweet odour
penetrates into every corner of the church. How solemnly the
 !

6 THE SOLITARY
Kyxie rises and falls in its earnest appeal for mercy How joyously !

the Gloria peals forth in its jubilance and triumph With what I

unity and fervour do they chant the Credo in unum Deum I Many
now speak of the unknown tongue in which the liturgy was presented
to the people. But they do not realise that these Latin words
were sweet to all the children of the Catholic Church. They were
the language of their mother and they were taught to read the
sentiments which they expressed. The little children were early
taught to join in these songs of praise, and to them these sounds
brought home the sympathy of all their brethren in many lands.
Lustily, the rustic throats gave forth those themes which were
the expressions of loyalty to Christ and to His Holy Church.
The recluse heard them and his heart warmed to the world without.
Those childish voices called to him for help and from his large
;

s}nnpathy would ever spring an earnest prayer that God might

bless them and keep them innocent. The deep tones of the maijy
voices and the sweet notes of the niaidens were to him the s3nnbols
of that heavenly symphony, which swelled in the hearts of all the
sons of God.
From his solitude he could see through the slit in the wall, the
priest raising up on high the divine Victim. All was hushed in the
church beyond and except for the tinkling of the little bell, a
;

deep silence had seized upon the worshippers. It was the moment
of consecration The priest, bent forward over the oblata, whispered
.

the mystic words. Distinctly, slowly, mysteriously he enounced

them " Hoc est enim corpus meum." Then bending the knee
:

he adored his Lord, Who on that instant had descended from His
throne in Heaven into his very hands. High above his head he
raised the Sacred Host and all the people bent low in adoration.
;

The little bell tinkled its joyous welcome and announced the advent
of the King of Kings.
After this the chalice was uncovered and again the priest, bent
over the oblation, said the awful words " Hie est enim calix
:

sanguinis mei, novi et etemi testamenti, q\ii pro vobis et pro

multis eftundetur in remissionem peccatorum." Once more
he bends the knee while the acolyte rings the bell and all the people
bow their heads in adoration for the God of Heaven and earth
;

has deigned to come in their midst and to assume the outward

semblance of death.
O what that event means to all the people How they love that
!

sacred drama I How it elevates their souls to things divine

There not one in that assembly who does not grasp its fuU
is
significance. Most firmly they believe that the Saviour has come
 —
THE SOLITARY 7

once mores among them and is even now renewing the oblation
which He made upon the Cross. How they welcome Him and
worship Him and beg Him to accept the sacrifice of their hearts 1

With what holy joy they unite in that Benedictus " Blessed is He
"
that Cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosannah in the highest !

And presently, as the priest sings the " Paternoster " their hearts
are full of filial love while they ponder on the Lord's prayer.
But now the Commtuiion is at hand, and the voices tmite in
acclaiming the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the
World. This sacrament divine is the haven of the afflicted, the
bread of Angels and the solace of sinners. One by one the faithful
rise and with heads bowed and hands joined, they approach the
altar rails. There they kneel and wait for the Holy One to take
possession of their souls. " Lord I am not worthy that Thou
shouldest enter under my roof. But say but the word and my soul
shall be healed." Three times the Celebrant repeats these words
while he shows them the Saving Victim. Three times with deep
humiUty each one strikes his breast. Then is the Sacred Host
placed on the tongue of each communicant. Then to his place
with eyes cast down and hands joined reverently he returns.
There in intimate converse he gives himself without reserve to God.
The Mass is well-nigh ended. The thcmksgiving prayers are
chanted. The voices are hushed once more as the communicants
remain to thank their Lord and to utter many things of which
their hearts are full. Then slowly they depart, and now there
—
remains but one to watch that one is the Hermit, the ever ardent
watchman of the Sanctuary. Alone, yet never lonely in—
solitude, yet ever dwelling in the company of the Beloved.
For the Anchorite of Compton the day is full with prayer and
study and manual labour. Every hom' has its allotted task. In
his cell there is a small carpenter's bench and a few tools are near
it. Here is fashioned the woodwork that shall one day beautify
the church hard by. Many hours a day are spent in this labour,
for itwas always a maxim with the solitaries that " laborare est
orare." This was the workshop where many articles of church
furniture were repaired. How much of the carving which is now
in the church was executed in this studio, we cannot say. For
it was not usual for such holy workmen to sign their master-pieces.

They worked for the love of God and God, Who seeth in secret
;

will repay. It was also a means of livelihood so that they were

;

not a burden on their neighbours. In return for their services they

received the bare necessaries of subsistence.
Seven times a day the monk rose from his bench of labour to
8 THE SOLITARY
give praise to God ; and while the'hammer beat or the chisel wrought
in oak or dm, his heart and mind were ever singing forth the praises
of the Carpenter of Nazareth.
From time day the villagers came to pray
to time throughout the
before their Sacramental Lord. The little children ever and anon
looked in upon their loving Saviour. And when they came they
heard the sound of labour or saw the bearded Solitary musing on the
sward without, where he had come to take the air and gaze upon
God's nature.
At eventide the church was filled for Vespers. Again the hearty
singing made the Wcdls re-echo and the incense filled the air with
fragrance. The evening prayer of old and young in psalms and
hymns and canticles ascended to the throne of God.
 Chapter II

WAVERLEY ABBEY
MONASTIC LIFE BEFORE THE RESTORATION

Thus passed those days of heavenly joys. Little came to disturb

the monk. He rarely wandered abroad except to gather wood in
the coppices called Inwood, by permission of the Abbot of Waverley
to whom they belonged, or to refresh his soul with spiritual converse
in the Cistercian Abbey of Waverley, six miles away. On these
occasions he set forth early, after Mass, striking the unfrequented
paths that lead across fields and heather land past Cat Hill and
through the wood of Crooksbury till he came to the banks of the
Wey. As he descended Crooksbury, the splendid panorama of the
Abbey met his wondering gaze. A huge ragstone wall, ten feet
high, surrounded the whole domain of sixty acres. Grey buildings
clustered snugly against the centre of the southern portion of the
wall, and to the north and east was rich pasture land. A large
chiurch some 291 feet long, by 153 feet wide, surmounted by a low
tower, stood on the north side of these buildings. Lancet windows
illmnined the interior. Its architecture was of the severe Early
English type. It was cruciform, and up the entire length was a
double row of sixteen pillars, alternately round and octagonal.
A spacious presbytery occupied the centre of the building, and was
raised some feet above the surrounding floor. It was screened on
four sides by a wall. On the west this wall was seven feet thick.
A door opened out through the centre of this side and broad steps
led up to the presbytery. An altar stood against the screen on
either side of the doorway at the top of the steps. In the thickness
of the wall on either side were narrow stone steps leading to the
ambonae, or pulpits, from which the Epistle and Gospel were sung
on Sundays and Festivals. Within the presbj^tery a double row
of seats ran roimd the choir. The screen at the east end was open-
work so that a view could be obtained of the High Altar, which
stood beyond.
Thus at Waverley, as in all Cistercian churches, the choir presented
the appearance of a church within a church. It was designed in
this way to facilitate the recitation of the divine office and to protect
the monks from the chiU draughty air that for ever circulated round
the forest of pillars and through the spacious aisles of the edifice.
10 WAVERLEY ABBEY
The necessity of such protection will be readily understood
when we remember the long hours that the monks remained there
chanting the praises of God.
Abbot Gasquet tells us that the hour of rising was two o'clock
during ferial days of the week ; one o'clock on Sundays and Feasts
of the second rank ; and twelve o'clock on Feasts of the first class.
They repaired at once to the church and there remained ia prayer
till four o'clock. Thus in the first case the ofhce and meditation
lasted two hours, in the second, three, and in the third, four hours.
A lamp shone on the gloom of the church, and near the pulpit a
candle was kept burning. The whole of&ce, all but the Lessons, was
chanted by heart.
" The labour of this night service was followed by a brief period
of rest, till at five, the community again assembled ia the choir for
the of&ce of Prime, which was followed by the daily Chapter.
" There faults were corrected, encouragements given, the labours
of the community apportioned, and, when occasion required,
matters of common interest discussed and arranged. At the stroke
of six the short chapter Mass was sung, and after this study or
exercise occupied the monks till eight o'clock. At that time once
more the stroke of the bell called them to choir and the High Mass,
to which the time till ten was allotted.
" Then came the meal of the day, except on fast days when it was
not till after twelve. In the refectory strict order was preserved,
and the Superior or his chief officer presided. The monks waited in
turn upon each other, and, during the meaJ, the sacred Scriptures
were read."
Meat was never allowed in the refectory. But on great Feast
days meat might be served to the monks in the Abbot's apartments
or in the misericord, which was a hall especially buUt for that
purpose.
" After dinner they went in procession to the cemetery, where
they stood for a certain long space of time, praying for their
brethren's souls. And when they had finished their prayers, they
repaired to the cloisters, where they studied until three o'clock.
Each one studied the subjects which most suited his tastes and
abilities. Books were to be found in abundance, ready at hand for
the purpose. Close to the church stood the large cupboards full
of books, with a great store of ancient manuscripts. In these were
placed the ancient writings of the Doctors of the Church, and the
writings of profane authors.
" Art, literature, science, philosophy, theology, every branch of
learning found a place in the monasterj library.
 WAVERLEY ABBEY ii

" From study the monks went at three each afternoon to chaunt
their Vespers in the Church. This evening service was performed
with as great solemnity as the Morning Mass. And at both the
youths of the singing school, supported for the purpose in the
greater monasteries, attended to join their voices with the brethren
in the choral service.
" Vespers over, the monks returned once more to the cloister
till the tolling of the bell announced the evening meal. This was
at four. At five they repaired to the Chapter-House, and there
remained in prayer and devotion till six o'clock. At this hour
they chaunted Compline in the church and then a brief space was
devoted to private prayer. They all retired to the dormitory till
'
the bells which rung ever at midnight proclaimed with the new
'

day another round of prayer and labour."*

Work and prayer had been continuous in this manner for four
hundred years at Waverley.
It was probably on the 24th of November in the year 1128, that
the little band of thirteen monks took possession of their new
foundation on the north bank of the River Wey, not far from
Famham. They hailed from the Abbey of Aimione in Normandy
and were the first Cistercians to settle in England. They were
indebted to William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, for this property.
It embraced the manor of Waverley, two acres of meadow in
Elstead and pannage for hogs, with liberty to cut wood in the
bishop's coppices of Famham. In the Monasticon Anglicanum
(1825-n. 241, from an inspeximus Charter of Ed. II. Vich Rot.
Pat. II E II., part 2 m. 36) we read that the manor extended
" from the oak at Tileford called the K5mghoc by the King's way
towards Famham as far as the Wynterbum and thence by its
bank which runs from Famham to the hill called Richardishulle
(now Crooksbury Hill) and across the said hill and bridge at
Waneford, to the meadow of Tyleford called Ilverthammesmead,
and thence direct to the aforesaid oak."
The total length of the property from north to south was about
two miles. It was a mile in width at the north end, and narrowed
to a point at the south.
Although the situation of the monastery is most charming, an
immense arena productive of rich pastures and com fields encircled
by thickly wooded hills which frame the peaceful solitude in violet
setting, nevertheless its low-ljdng ground has often been a source
of great caleunity to the monks.

• Henry VIII. & Engl. Mon.

 .

12 WAVERLEY ABBEY
The Waverley Annals tells us that in 1201 the Wey, bursting its
banks, caused great damage to buildings and crops. Again, in
1233 "a terrible tempest, raging beyond measure most vehemently,
destroying and overturning stone bridges, walls, and ways, rushing
impetuously through the cloister and all the offices, and rising even
as far as the new monastery, reached in many places the height of
eight feet." {Annales de Waverleia, 90 b.)
Yet a flood more destructive than the others came on the 28th
November, 1265. This " forced itself into all the offices of the
Abbey situated in the lower places. For which cause the convent
being disturbed, some passed the following night in the chTirch,
some in the treasury, smd others in the guest-house, according
as they were able, and several days were occupied in clearing the
houses." [Ibid.)
These periodical floods have affected the whole vaUey to such
an extent that the ground has silted up considerably since the
advent of the monks. After seventy years the floor levels of the
monastery had to be raised two feet and again in the fifteenth
;

century they had to be raised a further two feet, and drains were
put beneath the new floors to carry off the surface water.
Since the suppression the groimd has still further silted. The
later floors were found some eighteen inches beneath the surface.
Those of the church, however, were only just below the tiirf
It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the great severity of
the Cisterdan rule, the Order soon took root in England and made
rapid strides.
The number of novices increased beyond all expectations.
Indeed, such was the progress that the Cistercians made in their
Surrey valley that in 1133, they were able to send a colony to found
the Abbey of Garendon, in Leicestershire ; in 1135 another
colony was sent to foimd an Abbey at Ford in 1138, Thame was
;

founded in the same way ; Brueme in 1147, and Combe in 1150.

All this gleaned from the Annals, which further state that in
is

1 187 therewere in the Abbey and granges of Waverley, seventy

monks and 120 lay-brothers.
Thus it became evident that a complete re-building of the Abbey
on a much larger scale was imperative. The work was first begun
in 1160, and progressed slowly by sections for upwards of two
centuries.
For a full account of the original monastic buildings and the
subsequent improvements the reader is referred to Mr. Break-
speare's work, from which most of the above information relating
to Waverley has been taken.
 Chapter III

THE SHRIVING
What were the feelings of our recluse as he passed through the
large outer gate to the courtyard beyond ? To him this beehive
of busy, earnest prayer and work was the threshold of paradise.
As he passed through the massive archway, the convent beU was
ringing and the hills beyond re-echoed its deep and solemn call.
It was the hour of the solemn conventual Mass. White cowled
figures moved silently and poured into the great church from all
parts of the buildings and grounds. He followed them into the
choir, and there stood at the post which was ever reserved for him
next to that of the Abbot ; for whenever he chose to visit the
monastery, the recline was made to feel that he was one of the
—
brethren ^and, being a visitor, the most honoured of them all.
Often had he stood there and united in the song that rose in measured
cadences from the whole community. In that choir a torrent
of fervour seemed to sweep the soiil ever onward to the ocean of
eternal happiness. This church was but the symbol of that immense
body of the faithful throughout the world whose faith and hope
and love were like one soul pulsating through each member. Great
pillars of varied shapes rose from the same floor level and supported
the edifice. These pillars were the Apostles, the Fathers, the Popes
who in varying language brought home to men's minds at all times
the teachings of Salvation. The incense that rose in clouds from
the burning censer was the symbol of the countless prayers that
ascended to the throne of God. The vestments worn by the sacred
njinisters were figures of the wedding garment of innocence, which
must adorn the soul when she approaches the Holy of 'Holies.
Those ceremonies were a reminder that they were present at a
court reception. It was the King of Grace Who was descending
on the Altar. He must be honoured with due decorum. As the
Chant reverberated down the aisles, Alleluias and Hosannahs were
sung by angels in the mansions of Paradise. It was a veritable
eUxtr, this glorious ritual
; and day by day its solemn joyousness
was a stimulus to piety.
When the mass was over the recluse followed the brethren
through the cloisters. These consisted of a large closed-in passage
18
 14 THE SHRIVING
round an open square, one side of which was formed by the church,
on the east side were the Chapter House, the parlour, the treasury ;

on the south side the dorter, the monks' frater or refectory, the
kitchen and the lay-brothers' frater another courtyard with some
;

buildings beyond it lined the west side of the cloisters.

The monks came out of the church through a side door near the
south transept, and went straight from there to the refectory.
This was a long and spacious hall, possibly with groined roof. As
we have seen, no meat was served in this room. The food conskted
of fish and vegetables. Home brewed beer was the beverage.
Fruit was allowed on certain days.
Up till now no one in the monastery had broken his fast. While
the repast was being served a monk read in loud and measured
tones the sacred Scriptures, and then a chapter of the Cistercian
Rule. At a sign from the Abbot, ere the dinner was half over, he
was relieved of this task and his neighbour took the book and
continued the reading. Usually some other spiritual book was
also read besides the sacred Scriptures and the Rule.
After dinner they all repaired, as we have seen, to the graveyard.
There, no doubt, the Hermit saw in spirit the place by his cell
at Compton, where his body would some day be laid. He prayed
with the rest for all the faithful departed. He meditated on the
" great white throne," the summons which must some day come
to him. He prepared his mind for the shriving which must purify
his heart. Here, on the brink of the grave it comes home to him
how easy it is to slip, even in the midst of austerities, how easy it
is to be self-indulgent, to be less alert in rising than is expedient, to
wander aimlessly in mind while praying, to seek vain glory in one's
actions. He looks back upon his life, and can see many things
that should have been done and have remained imdone, many
things that should not have been done and have been done. It is
no sham scrutiny that he now performs. In the light of the graces
received, he tests his fidelity. And when he leaves the whited
sepulchres he asks himself is he to be compared to these, and must
he say that inwardly there are but dry bones and the corruption of
death ?

!
>'His father confessor meets him at the gate. They proceed to his
cell. There the Hermit kneels and unburdens his soul of all that
is human. It is no self-praise, but an open confession of frailty.
Oh, the joy of that priestly absolution The feeling of renovation,
!

of rejuvenation in life of the spirit ! New energy, new courage

suffuse the soul when those words are uttered.
It was for this that be had chiefly come.
 THE SHRIVING 15

If he will remain for the night in the monastery ; if he will revel

in the long hours of the midnight office if he wiU set out once more
;

for his solitude when the morning lark is trilling ; it is all one to

him " One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ;
:

that I may dweU in the house of the Lord aU the days of my life."
(Ps. xxvi. V. 4.)
 — ;

Chapter IV

THE DISSOLUTION
How often did the Hermit of Compton journey to Waverley ? We
cannot say.
But this is certain that his visits were ever fruitful in heavenly
consolations, and he brought back to his solitude fresh strength for
the combat.
One day he set out after his morning Mass. It was in the end
of June, in the year 1536. Nature had donned its summer apparel
bright green foliage glistened in the sun thrushes and nightingales
;

held concert in the glades, tomtits peeped at the white bearded

priest from the crackling branches. As he reached the summit of
Crooksbury he heard the ding-dong of the monastery bell. The
usual signs of bustle were seen around the convent gate. Villagers
were hurrying to the Abbey to attend the High Mass. They
saluted him respectfully as he passed. AU had been as usual the ;

face of nature and the face of man had been alike turned upon him
with the wonted smile.
He stepped through the open gate. Strange mounted figures
rode about the courtyard. Their mien was harsh and iminviting.
They bore themselves as masters of the Abbey.
The Hermit proceeded to his accustomed place in choir.
The Mass was sung.
Then one by one the brethren left their church never to return.
The order had come from King Henry VIII. for all to quit.
Eight months before the unscrupulous Layton had visited this
monastery and sent the Abbot to Cromwell, with the following
letter :

" I have licensed this bringer, the Abbot

of Waverley, to
repair unto you husbandry, whereupon
for liberty to survey his
Consisteth the wealth of his monastery. The man is honest,
but none of the children of Solomon. Every monk within his
house is his fellow, and every servant his master. Mr. Treasurer
and other more gentlemen hath put servants unto him, whom
the poor man dare neither command nor displease. Yesterday,
early in the morning, sitting in my chamber in examination, I
could neither get bread, drink, nor fire of these knaves, till I
was fretished (numbed with cold) and the abbot durst not speak
to them. I call them aU before me, and forgot their names,

16
 —
THE DISSOLUTION 17

and took from every manhis keys of his office, and made new
offices for my time here,
perchance as stark knaves as the others.
It shall be expedient for you to give him a lesson and tell the poor
fool what he should do amongst the monks."
—
(Ab. Gasquet, Henry VIII., vol. i, p. 268 Calendar IX.,
No. 452.)
Since that time the Abbot had striven in all htmality to soften
the heart of Cromwell. But the wells of pity had long been sealed
up. A rapacious sovereign had set his eyes on all monastic property
throughout the land. The tempest of greed that swept hundreds of
men and women to the gallowg or into exile was to spare no one.
They must go or be mowed down. One last effort was made by the
Abbot. On June the 9th, 1536, he wrote to Cromwell :

" Pleaseth your mastership, I received your letters of the 7th

day of the present month, and have endeavoured myself to
accomplish the contents of them, and have sent your mastership
the true extent, value and account of our said monastery.
Beseeching your good mastership, for the love of Christ's passion,
to help me in the preservation of this poor monastery, that we
your beadsmen may remain in the service of God with the meanest
living that any poor man may live with in this world. So to
continue in the service of Almighty Jesus, and to pray for the
estate of our prince and your mastership. In no vain hope I
write this to your mastership, forasmuch you put me in such
boldness full gently, when I was in suit to you last year at
Winchester, sajdng, ' Repair to me for such business as ye shall
have from time to time.' Therefore, instantly praying you,
and my poor brethren with weeping. Yes ! —
desire you to help
them in this world no creatures in more trouble, and so we
;

remain depending upon the comfort that shall come to us from

—
you serving God daily at Waverley." (Both this and the former
were taken from Ab. Gasquet's Henry VIII., and the Eng.
Mon.)
But pleadings were of no avail at a time when covetousness was
the ruling motive. The work of four hundred years was to be
sacrificed. The brethren were ordered to quit and seek a living
or shelter where and how they may,
. It is probable that they left these shores altogether and joined
themselves to their brethren in Normandy.
What became of the poor who were harboured in the poor folks'
guest-house, of the sick and dying that had hoped to end their days
under the shadow of the great church, history does not say.
After a careful search for any information on the subject, it
i8 THE DISSOLUTION
had to be abandoned as fruitless. That the neighbours wept on
the departure of these men of prayer and work there can be little
doubt. Of course, in the case of Waverley, as in that of all other
Abbeys and Priories no one realised that the convent bell would be
silent, never to be heard again, and that, with the exception of five
short years in Mary's reign, the destruction of religion was to proceed
with ever-increasing vehemence.
On the 20th July, 1536, the Abbey was granted by Henry VIII.
to Sir William Fitz William, K.G., treasurer of the King's household,
afterwards created Earl of Southampton. He settled the estate
upon himself and Lady Mabel, his wife, with remainder to his half-
brother, Sir Anthony Brown, and died without issue on the 14th
October, 1543. This Sir Anthony was created Viscount Montague,
and died in 1592. (Manning and Bray, III., 152; Brayley V.
part I., 287.) It was sold in the beginning of the seventeenth
century to the Coldham family. In their time " the monastic
remains underwent great dilapidations." The Coldham family
sold it in the eighteenth century to William Aislabie, brother of
John Aislabie, who owned Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire. It
was again sold in 1725 to a Mr. Child of Guildford. Child's successor
Charles, sold it again ,in 1747 to Thomas Orby Hunter, Esq. His
son, Charles, sold it to the trustees of Sir Robert Rich. Brayley
says that the Abbey was " yet more mutilated when in the possession
of Sir Robert Rich, who chiefly employed the materials in annexing
wings to Waverley House." It was sold by the heirs of Sir Robert
in 1796 to John Thomson, Esq. This gentleman sold it to George
Thomas Nicholson, Esq.
Throughout this long period the transformation which had taken
place at Waverley was chilling and harrowing in the extreme. The
cloisters, where white figures had been seen to move silently in
contemplation, soon were desecrated by the frivolous gossip of
irreverent worldlings ; the frater, where the meagre fare had been
served while the mind of the brethren fed on the Word of God,
was now become the banqueting hall of revellers. The abomination
of desolation had seized upon the Holy of Holies. Soon, very soon
the majestic walls of the Church began to crumble. Greed was
clawing at the massive masonry. A house was building at
Loseley. Materials were needed. St. Mary's Church had plenty.
Sir William More and the Earl of Southampton were friends.
Sir William sent his waggons to Waverley and the generous owner
sent them back to Loseley full of stone from St. Mary's.
Did the neighbourhood beriefit by the change of proprietors ?
Abbot Gasqujet tells us" that Henry VIII. enacted that on the site
 THE DISSOLUTION 19

of every dissolved rdigious house the new possessor should he bound

under heavy penalties to provide hospitahty, and service for the poor,
such as had been givoi them previously by the rdigious foundations.
By this provision not only is the patrimony of the poor recognised
as being merged in the property of the monasteries, but a testimony
is afforded as to the way
the religions had hitherto discharged their
obligations in this respect. The repudiation of these rights of the
needy, by those ^rfw became possessed of the confiscated property,
is one of the greatest blots on om: national history." {Ibid. Vol. I.,

p. 311)
Several writers on Surrey, who cannot be suspected of partiaht\'
towards the old order, speak in terms of great praise of the work
and spirit that breathed in the h\'es of these monks. Mr. Eric
Parker, in his Highways and Byways in Surrey, p. 48, says of
Waverley " its brethrai were simple, kindly m«i with few wants
:

and Httle money, who yet were generous hosts and the most skilhil
farmers of their day."
The expulsion of the monks spelt misery to many who had
hitherto sought employment on the monastery domains or received
relief at the Abbey gate. It is not necessary to oiter here into the
wMe question of how the successors of tiie monks spent their
spoils. Nor is it necessary to show that poverty rapidly increased
and that thore was no attempt to remedy the growing sooal evils for
upwards of two csituries.
What became of our recluse of Compton after the monks had
been disbanded ? Did he return to his cell by St. Nicholas or;

did he ciccompany the monks to Normandy ? So far no trace has

heea found which might enlighten us on the subject. But a great
change had already come over the whole community. Pope
Clement had refused the petition for a royal divorce Hauy VIII.
;

had readied by rejecting the papal authority and constituting himself

supreme ruler of the Qrardi of England ; Cranmer had been raised
to the see of CantCTbuiy ; "the marriage of Catherine had been
formally declared invalid by the new Primate at Dunstable ;the
oath of supiemacy had been taidered to the lords Spiritual and
Temporal ; those who refused it had, like Bishop FidiCT and Sir
Thomas Moore, been beheaded, or like the Carthusians and
Benedictines, suffered aptpaDing tortures and finally death on the
gallows.
 ,

J3 J 00 • o
-d . +?oo
1-1J3 P<M • "O .
a .

titS WO ' CO >c

d S to
>.
o « .'S •

Bn, .
^
a
• o a -u + 9 o d
(U +J
9l-< o
H I" d „• .

d q B i2 01 0\ *.
. o
d
W
?J t^
«* C Ht

<: I—
d
s
§ to
V M

O 0} •

d:S^'
P.
^^ hfl t^
O •• M
^ +; c^ o c w "^
o o
^xi d "
3
B <1> .
d O en
>i .

Co

2;
5o.S o -Om

o o g
J3 'i' ij

2 '2 (^ bOXJu
d C
,2d^"
Worn " S 9 h II w

o ^t^

^q.o..a "J
43 iH
 Chapter I

LOSELEY
At the same time as the monastic walls were being despoiled of
their magnificence, homes of luscury were everywhere springing
into being and the lofty tapering arch was being brought low
;

and multipUed to suit the growing domestic need for comfort.

The new masters of the Abbey buildings, insensibly steeped in
the mysticism of the hallowed cloisters, drew their inspiration
therefrom when they drafted the plans for their manor houses.
Indeed the first manors of these knights of fortune were for the
most part adaptations of the monastic buildings themselves. But
these had been built for very different tenants ;and there was need
of greater shelter and warmth for those whose hearts did not
expand with fervour in the reahrls of prayer and sacrifice. Thus
were the manor houses early re-built and the old one demolished.
But in the transition a multitude of the familiar Gothic features
were retained.
Massive walls, reminiscent of the stronghold of the faith, were
lightened in their general aspect by the great muUioned windows
filled with leaded glass, and crossed by horizontal transoms, by the
arcades and the dormers and the turrets which were multiplied
without any apparent extravagance. The pointed arch that
framed the beautiful tracery in the large Gothic windows disappeared
in this domestic renaissance and gave way to the square frame.
Not infrequently the stained glass window gave testimony to the
lingering love of religious mystery with which the sky beyond was
veiled. In these coloured panes, however, were no longer seen the
emblems of CathoUcism, but the emblazonment of earthly pomp
and princely prowess. Large halls richly decorated, the walls
covered with oak panelling and hung with the portraits of ancestors,
large ornamented fireplaices, moulded ceilings, gave a sense of rest.
Singers' galleries and withdrawing rooms were also of this period, as
also the great gallery wherein the treasured pictures were himg.
Although the Gothic features seem somewhat to predominate
in the Elizabethan style of architecture, nevertheless there appears
a determined return to the classic. Hence the classic orders of
columns are much used, but often with a total disregard of
conventionality.
 —

24 LOSELEY
It is impossible to
say what was the style of the original house at
Waverley. The present building is entirely classic and compara-
tively modem. But while Waverley was imdergoing rapid trans-
formation, Sir William More was building his new house at Loseley.
That he obtained materials from Waverley for his purpose is quite
certain, as appears from his private accoimts, according to which
some ninety-two loads were sent from the Abbey. The building
was begun in 1361 and took eight years to complete. There is no
doubt, also, that sand stone from the walls of Guildford Castle was
sold to Sir William More, in 1575, as the following Memorandum
proves :

" Memorandum that I George Austen of Guldeford in the

Coimtie of Surrey by the appojmtement of Thomas Taylor esquire
the Queens majesty's surveyor generall within the Countie of
Surrie have caused certen sandye stone to the nomber of twentie
and two loads to be taken out of the old wales of the Castle of
Guldeford aforesaide, which saide XXII loads of Sandy stones are
valued and praysed by Henry Hun and Philipp Barefote at
Xlld. every loade, in the place aforesaid which in the whole
amounteth to the some of XXIIs. And the same XXII loads
of stone ar solde and delyvered, to Mr. William More of Loseley
in the said Countie esquire by the appointment aforesaide,
XXIth dale of this instant moneth of Maye who is to answer to
the queues majesty's use the saide some of XXIIs. for the said
stone. In witnes whereof aswell the said George Austen as the
said Henry and Philipp hereunto have sett there hands, given
the XXXth daie of Maye in the seventeneth yere of the raigne
of or Soveraigne Ladie Elizabeth by the grace of God Quene of
England France and Ireland defender of the Faith etc.
Per me Georgium Austen
signum ded Heneici Hunt
Henrie Phylipp dardset
{Los. MSS., Bundle, 1575.)
Extensive alterations were evidently in progress at Loseley.
But the main buildings had long been erected ; and, although
there is no mention of such depredations in Aubray, Manning and
Bray or Bailey, it is evident that Sir William helped to pull down
the Cistercian Abbey near Famham, as he did later the historic fort
in Guildford.
The manor house of Loseley stands about half way between
Guildford and Godalming in a retired spot half a mile from the
main road. It is a splendid specimen of early EUzabethan

architecture.
 LOSELEY 25

It was a beautiful day in May when I called at Loseley. My path

was up a carriage drive which, after leading to the top of a knoll
past ploughed fields, brought me by a gigantic yew hedge into along
straight road overshadowed by great trees, of which some are riven
in twain by the centuries that have come and gone. The sun shone
golden on the luxuriant foliage overhead. P'rom this pleasant alley
I was suddenly brought out in fuU view of the house.
It is a large grey building partly covered in ivy. Immense
mullioned windows carry the eye from ground to roof. It is a series
of parallel lines which are pendent from the eaves and are repeated
again in the high roof. Yet these lines are sufficiently broken by
transoms and grouped together to prevent what might easily give
the impression of a huge cage. The Unes are the muUions and they
encase the windows, behind which is mystery. The impression
produced by the whole composition is one of the Ughtness combined
with great strength, of comfort and sternness. Those long narrow
openings, which seem to be huge gaping eyes, are dark and impene-
trable. It is the seeing and the unseen. I was ushered into the
great hall. Oak panelling covers the walls and here and there on the
panels are painted portcullises, arches, the likeness of Katherine
Parr, the lettersH.R. and K.P. and " Dieu et mon droit." The
panels come from the Nonesuch Palace. Two life-size portraits by
Myttens hang on the south wall, one of James I., the other of his
queen, Aime of Denmark. These date from 1603, when the king and
queen visited Loseley. Opposite these on the north wall are two
small portraits by Holbein of Edward VI. and Mary Queen of
Scots. Inscribed on the former is the information that this
portrait was painted on the occasion of Edward's coronation in the
tenth year of his age. It is a pathetic figure of an attractive child.
Mary Queen of Scots is a beautiful face looking out upon the world
with bright open eyes.
Over the mantlepiece are hung various weapons, great broad
swords and lances, a three-cornered hat rests on the shelf and on
either side a coat of mail with its helmet.
On the west wall is a very large painting by Somers in which we
see Sir William More Molyneux together with Cassandra, his wife,
and all the children.
Opposite on the other side of the Hall is the singers' gallery.
this,
It presents the appearance of a narrow balcony, extending the
whole length of the east wall. The front of the balcony is oak
carved in bold relief of leaf design. This was placed here in
comparatively modem times and was taken from a church in
Oxfordshire where it had served as a Communion rail. While I
 " — —

26 LOSELEY
stood admiring this fine piece of workmanship my hostess came in.
Mrs. More-Molyneux is the heiress of Loseley and a descendant
of a most distinguished line of ancestors. She at once set out upon
a most detailed and interesting journey through the maze of her
charming apartments, and I had only to follow her with the eyes
of one who discovers a new world.
Having pointed out the objects of interest in the great Hall, and
made me mark the monogram K.P. of Katherine Parr in a panel
close to the west door, she led me into a small sitting room,
deUghtfully cosy. Dark oak covered the walls up to the ceiling.
The large window gave a lovely view across lawns and fields, firs
and oaks and elms or great antiquity shading the walks on every side.
Mine hostess took me into the withdrawing-room. This was a
large and comfortable apartment with furniture of the Georgian
period.
Brayley gives the following description of this room :

" It is a splendid example of the decorative style of the early

part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. It exhibits an enriched cornice,
on which is the Rebus of the More family a Mulberry — tree,
intersecting the motto Morus tarde Moriens Morum
'
— cito
Moriturum.'
(Mr. Kemp, in his " Loseley Manuscripts " explains this motto
in this way " The Family stock, like the Mulberry tree, should be
:

of long endurance, but its individual descendants, like the fruit

should by the common lot of mortality, be subject to speedy decay.")
"
The wainscotting is panelled, and the ceiling ornamented
with pendent drops and moulded Gothic tracery ^within the —
involved forms of which, among other insignia the figure of the
cockatrice is frequently repeated. The Cockatrice was a bearing
of the Mudge family, and was, doubtless, thus displayed by Sir
William More in affectionate remembrance of Margaret, his
mother, who was the daughter and heir of Walter Mudge, Esq."
This is one of the numerous instances of aggressive and pugnacious
times when knights and barons were ever grappling with one another.
The cockatrice was a fabulous monster, half serpent, half cock
said to be hatched from a cock's egg, and deadly to those who felt

its breath or met the glance of its eye. In Shakespeare's

"Richard III.," the Duchess of Gloster says :

" A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world,

"
Whose unavoidable eye is murderous I

" The chimney piece, which is of an elaborate design, and in

 LOSELEY 27

excellent preservation, may be described as consisting of an upper

and lower division ; the latter being of the Corinthian order,
composed of two columns and a bracket on each side, sustaining
a very florid entablature. Below each bracket is a caryatide
figure; and the whole is based on high pedestals, adorned with
festoons and other sculptures. The upper division, or mantel,
is bounded at the sides by brackets and caryatides of a grotesque

character, and in different attitudes, supporting a fascia and

cornice, variously enriched. In the intermediate panelling are
displayed the heraldic bearings of the Mores, etc., in six
compartments."
 : :

Chapter II

SIR WILLIAM MORE

On one side of the mantelpiece of the withdrawing-room is a
portrait by Jansen of Sir William More. The legend on the painting
tells us that it represents Sir William in the last year but one of his
life. He is an old man of eighty with mild expression, fresh
complexion, small bright eyes, lofty brow, long white beard, nose
slightly arched, but regular and sharp lined. He was altogether a
handsome old man.
Brayley, in his History of Surrey tells us that Sir William
More was the eldest surviving son and successor of Christopher (by
his first wife, Margaret, daughter and heir of Walter Mudge, esquire),
was bom on January the 30th, 1519-20. He sat in ParUament, as
member for the borough of Guildford, several times in the reigns of
Mary and Elizabeth and in that of the latter he was chosen knight
;

of the shire for Surrey he also twice held the office of Sheriff of
:

Surrey and Sussex ; and he was appointed Vice-Adniiral of the latter

—
coimty ^the duty of which of&ce was to enforce the rights of the
Admiralty on the shores of the district entrusted to his jurisdiction.
On the 14th of May, 1576, the honour of knighthood was conferred
on him by Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in the Earl of Lincoln's garden
at Pirford, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, who, on giving him
her hand to kiss, told him that he " well-deserved the honour which
she had then conferred upon him." He died on the 20th of July,
1600, in the eighty-first year of his age ; and was buried in the
family vault at St. Nicholas Church, Guildford. This gentleman
was highly esteemed by Queen Elizabeth, who visited him at Loseley
in the years 1577, 1583, and 1591 ; and probably, also, on one or
two other occasions. (Brayley, History of Surrey, Vol. I.)
The family of Mores dates back to the dim ages of the Norman Conquest
Brayley gives us the following account
" Roger de Montgomery was one of the Norman barons who engaged
in the expedition to England under Duke William, and he commanded
the central division of the Norman army at the battle of Hastings. In
reward of his services he obtained his land and titles, including, among
the former three manors in the County of Surrey, besides that of Loseley.
After the death of William the First he joined the party in favour of his
eldest son, Robert Curthose ; but at length quitted it, and became the
 SIR WILLIAM MORE 29

firm adherent of William Rufus. He founded several religious houses:

one of which was the Priory of Shrewsbury, where he spent the latter part
of his life and died July 27th, 1094.
Sibilla, the daughter of Earl Roger, who became heiress to his estates,
married Robert Fitz-Hamon, who, being Lord of the Honor of Glouces-
ter, united it to the manor of Loseley, which was afterwards held as an
appurtenance to that Honor.
In the reign of Henry the Third, Hugh de Deol, or Dol, held this manor
of Gilbert de- Clare, earl of Gloucester, as of the Honor of Gloucester,
by the military service of half a knight's fee but in the succeeding
;

reigns of Edward the First, Second and Third, it was held of the same
Honor by the service of a whole knight's fee, and valued at twenty pounds
per annum. On the decease of Robert de Dol, grandson of Hugh, in
the year 1356 (30th of Edward the Third), this manor devolved on his
two daughters, co-heiresses, Joan and Margaret the former of whom
;

had married John de Bures, and the latter John de Morton. From their
descendants the respective moieties of the Bures and Mortons were,
in process of time, conveyed to the families of Westbrook and Cress ;
and in 15 15 (yth of Henry the Eighth), John Westbrook, esq. of Godal-
ming, disposed of his moiety to Christopher More, Esq., whose family
had been previously settled in Derbyshire. Cross's share had been sold
in June, 1395, to William Sidney, Esq., of Stoke D'Abemon ; and of
William, his great grandson, it was eventually purchased, in 1532, by
the above Chnstopher, who thus became possessed of the entire manor.
In the year 1545, he likewise bought the manor of Westbury in Compton
parish ; and about the same time also the advowson of that rectory.
On becoming possessed of the whole of the Loseley estate, Mr. More
obtained a grant of free warren, with a license to make a park here, as
appears from a writ of privy-seal of Henry the Eighth, preserved among
the muniments at Loseley. It is dated Chelseheth, 24th December, in the
24th of his reign, a.d. 1533, and gives license to Christopher More,
characterised as one of the clerks of the Echequer, to impark, and
surround with hedges, ditches, and pales, two hundred acres of land
at his manor of Loseley, free warren in the same, &c. This Christopher
More was Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, both in the 24th and 31st years
of Henry the Eighth ; on the first of which occasions he received the
honour of knighthood. In the 37th of Henry's reign he held the office
of King's Remembrancer of the Exchequer, which he retained until his
decease in August, 1549."

Brayley, History of Surrey, Vol. I., pp. 410 and 411.

Some letters which I have copied from amongst the Loseley

manuscripts throw much light on the relations between the Queen
and Sir William More. They take us back to those frivolous times
when Court life was a dangerous whirlpool of flirtation and intrigue,
which, only too often, ended in tragedy. Lords and ladies pranced
around Her Majesty with light but faltering gait.
In the first letter which I will ask the reader to peruse, we see
that Lady Wolley, who was the daughter of Sir William More, is
at Court in the capacity of Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth.
She is new to the honour, is flushed with the flattering attentions of
her royal mistress, and is pleased with the friendly professions of
my Lord Admkal. But notwithstanding her rosy prospects " she
30 SIR WILLIAM MORE
means to walk warily." She evidently realises thatthe favours of
Court life are like many a spring day which in the morning is bathed
in brilliant sunhsine and in the evening is dissolved in rain.

" Sir, yesterday I sent Nicke to London to see how you did,
thinking you had taken physic. I am
very glad to hear you are
so well after your long and weary journey. I pray you shorten
it at your next going to London and lie all night at Pirford.

Since my coming to the court, I have had many gracious words

of her Majesty, and many times had me welcome with all her
heart, ever since I have waited.
" Yesterday she wore the gown you gave her, and took thereby
occasion to speak of you, saying, ere long I should find a Mother-
in-law, which was herself but she was afraid of the two widows
that are there with you, that they would be angry with her for it,
and that she would give ten thousand pounds you were twenty
years younger, for that she hath but few such servants as you are,
with many gracious speeches both of yourself and my brother,
which is too long to write, and therefore will leave to tell you
when we meet. My Lord Admiral came to me, and had me
welcome with aU his heart, and told me he had seen you and my
brother, willing me to command him in any friendship he can
show unto me. I thought good at this time to use no further
speeches unto him. I went to my Lord of Buckhurst and gave
Wm humble thanks for his kind usage of you. He did assiure me
he would be a most faithful friend both imto you and to myself
saying, if he could be assured of my friendship, he had rather have
it than any other Lady that serves in the place, which I did assure
him of.
" My brother is now very much bound and beholding to my
Lord Chamberlain and my Lady Warwick. I will you
tell

wherefore when I see you next. Thus hitherto I have had a good
beginning at court, and have no doubt but to continue it, if
friends be constant. If they fail it shall be through no deserts
of inine, for I will live very warily amongst them.
" The Queen, as she saith, will dine with my Lady Edmimds
on Tuesday next a.nd return again at night, which I can hardly
believe if she do, I mean to wait upon her.
:

" My Lord Treasxirer lies here very ill of the gout, and cannot
stir hand nor foot nor feed himself, the gout is so in his hands.
I think he will not be able to go to London this week,
" My Lord Chamberlain advises me to send him^ few partridges
which I know not where to get any. It might please you to send
 SIR WILLIAM MORE 31

me some if never sofew. About me there is not any to be gotten.

I minced one myself and sent bim this last night by the advice
of my Lord Chamberlain, which he made his supper of.
" So humbly praying to commend me to my good brother and
the rest of my friends there, with remembrance of my duty, I
commit us all to God's holy protection.
" From the Court, this Sunday morning,
" Your loving and obedient daughter
" Elizabeth Wolley."
" I have staid the bringer because of sending you word of the
Lord's coming, if it will please you to send a man upon Thursday
next to London to receive the stuff and deliver it to him that
shalt keep my house, I wiU then dispatch mother Canary if

yourselfcome not before. I will make bold to send to you for that
money it pleaseth you to lend me when I do hear of Mr. Browne.
" To the Right Worshipful, my very loving father, Sir William
More, Knight at Loseley."
{Los. MSS. Vol. IX., No. 115.)

There can be no question that Queen Elizabeth felt a genuine

regard for Sir William More. She had many times sent him affec-
tionate messages, had spoken of him in terms of high praise, had
invited him frequently to Court, had manifested vexation at his
departure and in a hundred other ways had shown that he was quite
in the front rank of all her favourites.
The Queen looked upon Sir William as one of the most trust-
worthy of her servants. Indeed, she had every reason to do so for :

the mass of correspondence and of official documents of every kind

which have been preserved at Loseley show how indefatigable he
was in his official capacity.
The following letter to Lady Wolley from a gentleman of the
Court was written six years before the death of More.

Vol. IX., No. 116.

" Hon. and my
very special good Lady, Mistress, my right
humble duty remembered etc. According to your La.
commandment the next day after your departure, I recommended
your duty and service to the R. Hon. the Countess of Warwick,
who at that instant willed me to certify ypu what a careful respect
her Majesty held for the recovery of that good Knight your
father both for your La. comfort as also for the good service her
highness had received at his hands. Since which time by your
footman I seized a letter directed to Mistress Ratcliffe who.
32 SIR WILLIAM MORE
imparting the effect thereof to the Queen, her Majesty comrnanded
to see the letter, taking great pains in reading your ragged hand
saying you had prevented her for that she was determined to
have sent Mr. William Howard to have visited your father, but
seeing you were beforehand with her she straightly chargeth that
you come not from him until he be perfectly recovered, willing
and commanding to see him well cherished, for that it would
greatly grieve her to lose so good a servant, sa3mig that his too
much care and pains, taken in her service, had thrown him into
this sickness in regard whereof her pleasiure is that you come not
from him, but that from time to time you make her acquainted in
what state your father standeth. Likewise she is well pleased
with my master his bebg there only that he may comfort your
Lord. serving lest too much grief should cast you into some
sickness, which by his company will be prevented. Your Ho.
friends, the L. Warwick, the Lady Cumberland and Lady Veare
have them recommended to you La., wishing you speedy return.
Concerning Doctor Chardone, I have in all things followed your
direction to Mr. Greyell who hath had conference with him and
is sufficiently satisfied of all things that objected against him.
I have been very earnest in the soliciting of him for the effecting
of the Doctor's good. He promised much but as yet there is no
;

fruits although he saith that you have more interest in him than
any Lady in court save one.
" I will not omit one minute in following him so as if things
concur not to your La. liking, I may be freed from all blame and
no negligence imputed to me. I have received twenty poimds
for master Stone which I have paid to Master Bryghame'and
taken in your bond.
" The hundred pounds is to be repaid one Sunday next without
fail, at which time I hope in God your La. will be here in Court,

leaving Sir William More strong and in good health. The which
I pray for Christ Jesus His sake, beseeching Him to continue you
long life with happy days and increase of all good perfections.
From the Court this Tuesday 1594.
" Your Ladyship's most humble servant
Tho. Edwards.
" Good Madam, think upon me your poor servant, that I may
wait upon your La. all the days of my life."

A year had gone since the above epistle had been written. More
had recovered somewhat from his sickness and had spent some time
at Court. He had retvimed once more to Loseley. It was the
 —

SIR WILLIAM MORE 33

partridge season. The sound of sport was in the woods and heather-
lands.
The Queen grieved slightly over the premature departure of her
guest. But her good Cecyl Was still with her. He could comfort
her loneliness, and together they rode in the sunbeams, the bracken
and the wild th5nnae crackling imderfoot. As the summer green
was everywhere merging into orange and gold their thoughts were
of poetry, and they conversed of many things.
Elizabeth spoke of Sir William, of his courtly manners, of his
good services, of his failing health. Sir Robert assented to all these
—
queenly praises though his heart was sore with bitter envy.
Soon the sport grew hot and the hawks rose high. Many covers
were beaten. The quarry swept forward with a whoop and a
frightened cry. Three birds were brought low by Cecyl's hawk.
It was a moment of triumph for the Queen's Secretary. With a
graceful obeisance, begged that his royal mistress would
he
graciously accept them. This she promptly did, and handed them
forthwith to Lady WoUey, for her father Sir William More. Sir
Robert, no doubt, bit his lips, but disguised his feelings from her
Majesty. His meanness, however, immediately conceived in this
an opportunity to injure his rival.
Probably when the Queen was out of hearing he trniied to Lady
Wolley and demanded the partridges of her. His object seemed to
be not only to deprive Sir William of the royal gift, but further to
make him unwittingly offend his sovereign by failing to acknowledge
her kind thought. Lady Wolley was loth to give them up, but
knowing too well the unscrupulous nature of this Court minion
she dared not thwart him. But as soon as the sport was over
she sent a messenger, post haste, with the following letter :

Vol. IX., No. 122.

" Sir, the day you went from the court, at night her Maj. did
enquire of me for you, and was sorry when I told her that you
were gone home to your own house, that you had so troublesome
a journey, which if her Maj. had known you would have taken
that night, she would have had a lodging provided for you, being
likewise sorry that she had no longer time to entertain you.
Yesternight in the evening, her Majesty went abroad ahawking,
and Sir Robert Cecyl's hawk killed three partridges which he
presented the Queen with, and myself being in place, her Maj.
gave them me, with express charge, that I should send them to you
this day again your dinner, desiring you to eat them for her sake.
Since Sir Robert Cecyl begged them of me, which I could not
34 SIR WILLIAM MORE
deny him of, I have sent his messenger of purpose to you, praying
you to take knowledge of the receipt of the partridges and to
certify you .of this her Majesty's great care of you, to the end
that you may by your letter written to me, take notice of this her
highness's good affection to you, which I would have written
somewhat brief, that I may show it to her majesty. She hath
commanded me to send her my son, notwithstanding if it
please her to forget it, I mean to forget also to send for him.
In the mean time I pray you to give charge that he may practise
his french, for fear her Majesty shall call to me him again.
for
She saith shewill pose him in his learning. I pray you therefore
to cause Mr. Pyke to see him take pains, between this and then.
So praying you to commend me to my brother and the rest of
the good Company there, with remembrance of my duty, I
humbly take leave. At the Court this i6th of September, 1595,
" Your loving and obedient daughter
" Elizabeth Wolley."
" To the Right Worshipful my very loving Father
" Sir William More, Knight at Loseley."

The incident is a small one but it ; is in such small things that

men oftentimes reveal their baseness and we would do well to
;

remember this story when, later in this work, we see the man's
ncune under such documents that profess zeal for religion.
 Chapter III

THE OVERBURY PLOT

In the withdrawing room at Loseley there is a striking painting

of Sir George More, the son of Sir William. A legend is on the
portrait :
" Umbra celerrime transeuntis umbrae " (the shade of a
quickly fleeting shadow). It is a full length portrait of a tall,

wiry man of from thirty-five to forty years of age. The face is

hues of the features regular and hard.
stern, the eyes are cold, the
A sharp pointed beard of reddish brown gives the strong manly
face an air of decision. We can well imagine this man in the
heartless Tower of London over which he was Lieutenant for some
years.

Brayley's account (Vol. I., page 412) of Sir George is as follows :

" George, the only son and heir of Sir William More (by
Margaret, his first wife, the daughter and co-heir of Ralph
Daniel, esq., of Swaffham, in Norfolk), was bom on the 28th of
November, 1553. According to Anthony Wood, he was educated
at Exeter College, Oxford ; but Mr. Kemp has published a letter
to his father from the President of Corpus Christi College, in the
same University, from which it appears that the writer. Dr.
Wm. Cole, had the direction of his studies. In the year 1597
(40th of Queen Elizabeth) he was nominated Sheriff of Surrey
and Sussex ; and about the same time, he received the honour
of knighthood. Like his father, he acquired the special favour
of the Queen ; who, on the 3rd of November, 1601, augmented
his estate by a grant of the lordship aiid hundred of Godalming.
" In the beginning of the next reign, he was appointed
Trecisurer of Henry, Prince of Wales. On the nth and 12th
of August, 1603, both King James and his queen were royally '

entertained at Loseley by this gentleman

' and on the 21st of
;

August, 1606, he was again honoured by a visit from the King.

In 1610, his Majesty promoted him to the Chancellorship of the
Order of the Garter and in 1615, from a fuU confidence in his
;
'

honesty,' and, as James himself expressed it, without th

'

knowledge of any,' he appointed him Lieutenant of the Tower,

86
36 THE OVERBURY PLOT
after the removal of Sir Gervase Elwes, or Elwyes, from that
important command, in consequence of his being implicated in
the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury,"

The letters from King James to Sir George More, which have
been found among the Loseley MSS., in the opinion of some
historians, throw a lurid Hght upon the Overbury plot and give ;

rise to the gravest suspicions. They show a feverish anxiety on the

part of the King to prevent the Earl of Somerset from divulging
something which would very seriously affect the king's honour.
For a full understanding of the disgraceful business we must recall
the story of the King's favourite, Robert Carr.
He was a handsome youth of twenty summers. He had come
to a tilting match as equerry to Lord Hay. While presenting the
shield, according to custom, to the King, his horse pranced and
reared to such an extent that he was thrown heavily and sustained
a fracture of the leg.

" James," says Lingard (Vol. VII., Ch. II.), " ordered the
young man to be carried into a neighbouring apartment, sent
a surgeon to attend him, and repeatedly visited him in person.
He found that Carr, when a boy, had been his page in Scotland,
and was of the family of Femyhurst, the son of one who suffered
much in the cause of the unfortunate Mary Stuart. The plea of
his services and those of his father was aided by the beauty of
his person, and the ingenuousness of his answer^. Pity insensibly
grew into affection James looked on his patient as his adopted
;

child ; he even took the pains to instruct him in the Latin

grammar and, what was more to the purpose, in the craft of
;
'

a After his recovery he was daily distinguished with

courtier.'
marks of the royal favour riches and honours poured upon him ;
;

the lands which escheated to the crown, and the presents offered
by those who mediation with the sovereign, gave him
solicited his
a princely fortune and he was successively reused to the honours
;

of Baron Branspeth, Viscount Rochester, and Knight of the

Garter. Still he affected to take no part in the conduct of affairs,
till the earl of Salisbury died, when several important of&ces
became vacant, and the hope of obtaining them, or the places of
those who might obtain them, filled the court with a multitude
of candidates. Of these many sought the protection of the two
Howards, the earl of Suffolk, lord Chamberlain, and the earl
of Northampton, lord Privy Seal, while others professed them-
selves the dependents of the young favourite, the Viscount
Rochester.
 ;;

THE OVERBURY PLOT 37

" The court was agitated by intrigue, jealousy, and enmity

and James, for more than a year, balanced between the two
parties, seeking in vain to reconcile their opposite pretensions.
It was, however, a fortimate time for Rochester, who, though
he held no ofi&dal situation, transacted business as Prime Minister
and principal Secretary. Unequal to the task himself, he employed
the aid of Sir Thomas Overbury, who, from Carr's first intro-
duction to the king, had been his guide and assistant. Overbury
was an able and artful counsellor, but violent, capricious, and
presuming. Though he had been banished from the Court for an
insult offered to the queen, he was soon recalled at the solicitation
of Rochester, but he could never obtain the good will of the
monarch, who contruued to look on him as a rival in the affections
of his favourite, and the f ermenter of the factions which divided
his ministers. By the pubhc he was courted on account of his
influence with his patron ; valuable presents were given to secure
his favour ;and on the morning of the 21st of April (1611), he
boasted to Sir Henry Wotton of his good fortune, and of the
flattering prospects which lay before him. Yet that very day
before sunset he was committed a close prisoner to the Tower.
The occasion of his disgrace was the tmfortunate passion of the
Viscount for the Lady Frances Howard, the daughter of the
lord Chamberlain, Suffolk. At the age of thirteen she had been
married to the Earl of Essex, who was only a yeeir older than
herself. Lnmediately after the ceremony, the bridegroom
proceeded to the University, and thence to the continent
the bride was consigned to the care of her mother, who bestowed
more attention on the ornamental than the moral education of
her daughter. The yoimg Lady Essex became the boast of the
Court ; and her wit, her beauty, and her acquirements, raised her
above competition ; but when her husband returned, she received
him with manifest tokens of dislike, and if she occasionaUy
consented to live with him in the country, it was always owing
to the peremptory commands of her father. The meetings
between them were short he complained of the coldness of his
;

—
wife ; she spent her time in tears and recriminations tiU at last
these dissensions produced on the part of each a rooted antipathy
to the other.
" At Court she had many admirers, among whom were Prince
Henry and Rochester. But the latter was the favourite lover ;
and in one of their furtive meetings it was proposed that she
should sue for a divorce from Essex, and afterwards many the
Viscount. Her father and nnde were led by pohtical motives to
38 THE OVERBURY PLOT
approve of the project ; and the king, who could recollect a
similar proceeding whilst he reigned in Scotland, hailed it as the
means of extinguishing the rivalry between his favourite and his
two ministers but by Overbury, though he had hitherto been the
;

panderer to their pleasures, it was decidedly and violently

opposed. He foresaw the ruin of his own hopes in the recon-
ciUation of his patron with his enemies, he objected to the
'
baseness of the woman,' and the infamy of such a marriage,
and he declared that he both could and would throw an insuperable
obstacle in the way of their union. Rochester had the weakness
to betray his adviser, and Frances in her fury offered one thousand
pounds to Sir John Wood to take Overbury's life in a duel but ;

her friends suggested a more innocent expedient to remove

him from court, by sending him on an embassy to France or
Russia. His inchnation was first sounded by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and then an order that he should accept the mission
was brought to him by the Lord Chancellor and the Earl of
Pembroke. He refused, observing that the king could not in
law or justice exile him from his country. This answer was
pronounced a contempt of the royal authority, and the delinquent
was committed, with the consent of his patron, to the custody
of the Lieutenant of the Tower.
" Within a few days proceedings for a divorce between the
Earl and Countess of Essex, on the ground of physical incapacity,
were instituted before a court of delegates appointed by the king.
All the judicial forms usual on such occasions were carefully
observed ; but the details are not fit for the eye of the general
reader. With the pubUc a 'suspicion existed that both parties
in the suit, and the judges who pronounced in their favour, acted
in opposition to the dictates of their consciences ; and it was
reproached to James, that, instead of remaining a silent spectator,
he had spontaneously come forward, and exerted himself in the
progress of the cause with the warmth and partiality of an
advocate ; an indiscretion which probably was prompted by
affection to his favourite, whose gratitude or policy unexpectedly
relieved the immediate wants of his sovereign with a present of
twenty-five thousand pounds. However that may be, the king
undertook to browbeat the judges ; he answered their arguments ;
he forbade them to take additional examinations he increased
;

their number ; and at last procured a decision in favour of the

divorce, by a majority of seven to five.
" Overbury lived not to be acquainted with this judgment.
On the preceding day (Sept. 15th) he expired after a confinement
 THE OVERBURY PLOT 39

of six months dvuing which he had not been permitted to see

;

his friends, or tocommunicate with them by letter. The time,

the manner of his death, the reported state of the body, and its
precipitate interment, provoked a general suspicion that he had
perished by poison.
" After a short delay, Frances Howard was married in the
royal chapel to her lover, who, that she might not lose in title by
the exchange, had been previously created Earl of Somerset.
" At the ceremony she had the boldness to appear with her
hair hanging in curls to her waist, the appropriate distinction of a
virgin bride ; the king and the chief of the nobility honoured the
nuptials with their presence, and a long succession of feasts and
masks, in which the city strove to equal, if not to outshine, the
court, attested the servility of the men, who, to ingratiate
themselves with the royal favourite, could make pubhc rejoicings
in celebration of a marriage which in private they stimgatised as
adulterous and illegal."
All this account has been copied verbatim from Dr. Lingard's
History of England.
 ;
:

Chapter IV

THE DENOUEMENT
It is not difficult to see how the King had benefited by this marriage
the Countess was the daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, one of the two
rivals of Somerset, the other rival being Suffolk's brother, the Earl
of Northampton. The marriage therefore sealed a treaty of peace
in the king's household and gave James more freedom to attend to
his money difficulties. These indeed were a nightmare, ever
depressing his majesty with anxious care and it was this need of
;

money with its consequent intrigues which eventually led to the

undoing of Somerset and his wife.
First the king's advisers vmdertook to secure a decided
majority in favour of the king's demands against the next opening
of Parhament. For this kind office they were known as the
Undertakers. However, this expedient failed miserably, as it only
served to inflame the anger of the opposition, which denounced the
Undertakers as arrogant violators of the privileges of the Commons.
The king then had recourse to the old methods of compulsion
he imprisoned the most violent and refractory. The king gained
nothing by Parliament which at that time received the name of the
Addle Parliament.
Somerset had now risen to the " office of Chamberleiin, acting
at the same time, but without any patent
of appointment, as Lord
privy seal ; and every department which was not filled by
inferior
their relatives or dependents, was sold without scruple to the
highest bidder."
A new favoiuite now came to the front. This was George
ViUiers, a younger son of Sir Edward ViUiers, of Brooksby, in
Leicestershire. He bought the post of cup-bearer, ingratiated
himself into the king's affections, and on the feast of St. George
received the honom: of a gentieman of the privy chamber, together
with a yearly salary of one thousand pounds ; the next day he was
knighted.
Somerset now found himself opposed by a rival, who was rapidly
drawing to himself all those who had any sort of grudge against
the Earl.
to
 ;

THfi r)£NOUEMENt 4t

The memory of Sir Thomas Overbury's mysterious death was

revived ugly stories were circulated at court
; dark hints were let
;

drop that fixed the gravest suspicions on the Earl and Countess of
Somerset.
Matters were brought to a head by the fact that Elwes, the
Lieutenant of the Tower, had made an incautious avowal to the
Earl of Shrewsbury.
" Secretary Winwood, at the instigation of the Archbishop
and under a promise of protection from the queen, ventured
to communicate the circumstance to James, who proposed
certain questions to Elwes in writing, and, from his answers,
learned sufficient to doubt the innocence, not only of Lady
Somerset, but also of his favourite. Partly through a sense
of justice, and partly through the fear of infamy, he
despatched an order to Sir Edward Coke, the lord chief
justice, to make out a warrant for the commitment of the
earl. Still he kept him in ignorance of his approaching fate,

he admitted him into his company as usual ; and Wcis found

by the messenger at Royston, embracing the neck, and
kissing the cheeks, of Somerset. That nobleman complained
of his arrest in the royal presence, as of an insult, but was
silenced by the ominous exclamation of James, ' Nay, man
if Coke sends for me, I must go,' to which was added another

as soon as his back was turned, ' The deil go with thee,
for I will never see thy face mair.' In a short time Coke
arrived, to whom James committed the investigation of the
matter, concluding with this imprecation, May God's
'

upon you and yours,

curse be if you spare any of them ; and
on me and mine, if I pardon any.'

Roger Coke in his Detection. See Weldon loo Secret ;

History of James, i. 409, II. 222, 223. Howell's State

Trials, II. 965.
" Coke executed the task with more than ordinary zeal,
stimtilated, perhaps,by the fear of incurring the suspicion
of partiaUty, on account of his previous obligations to
Somerset. After three hundred examinations, he presented
a report to the king, stating that Frances, Countess of
Essex, had been in the habit of employing sorcery to
estrange the affections of her husband, and to win those
of Rochester ; that to remove Overbury, the great impedi-
ment to the projected marriage of the lovers, a plan was
concerted between them and the earl of Northampton
 THE rffiJiOCEMBST

that, bjr tbeir joint antrirance. Onriionr ^'xs coBUBrtted

t.>di? Tower. Wade tiie fiHitextiiit remcK«d to make place
fcr £Nres» ,£E>i Wescea -^-- ^^.-vt-; as waider of the
,

pRsoner; that tlie ccczres? hiviz.^. wha &e aid -C

Ifas. Tomer, proceed tliice kirics c£ poeoa from Fiankia.
an aprcbeciry, intrasted tibera tc the cars ci Westoa;
that by him ibey wese iir±ii5re:sc r:- Overtmnr. with the
pdvacT cf El^res i=c tha: i: last ti*e c=f^rr:=ite
;

g;ziti?fr-.t- pensbed n rg»an«\, a vicidr::: c£ tbe ntafice or the

rr^ecsznc- ol RodkEStet izc tos nabties.''

E^scirr, IV, .^o. RieS^ W^cr-r, ijr-.

I- i±i5 Starr -- -~r-f a{^earsd -s-intir.^ bet a nxxe sitis-

fictvxy canst? for the nnndar of CH-^rb^ry. To cisccvg-r this
was re <i£fikslt t^t to Sir EcTnrtri Ccte. wbc rric'cd hr-yaf
on tile tidiity \rii whkh b^ ocdc irtect wbit was invisBite
t^ iH ctb-rs. I- a I-ett^r bun CHirrbcry be fccnd saentiiMi of
tee ie:r¥ts ef Sccierset ; dbese be c-cr. te-cei ntst be seditioas
or c??.sscG*bie peactkes ; arsi ^tb :±e aid of i feur cctr scrrrss
he bciily diaiged the eaii widi tbe r::-jrier ci Prince Kscry.
The qoeen brtrseciateiy cai^t. cr pjtb^r^ rretsjioevi to have
citicbt. tbe iLi—r. Sbe had nc do«ibt. ^le ssexfed. that a
plan had been pn^csed tc poison ber. her sci: Chade^ and tike
Piioce Palatine, ficic tibe purpose cf rr,arryt:tj: tb-e Ptincess
^Kiahedi to Tbcni-is. a»e son of the E^irl of S~:^
iad
biother of tbe Cccntess^ B:rt J^r^es cid ri?t sc±cT bbrssS to
be r::isied by tbe terrors of bfs wife, or die so^acioas of Ae
chief -'stioe ; the eohr cbar^ to wbicb he Ci^^ conntesance
was that tb? eari bii received mon^ frcni Spain, and had
pranised in letnm to defirer Chail^ the heir ai^aieDt. into
dae hanfe of the ^»ni^ nNoaich.
Bivx -. R". go.
Tbe minor criminaK Wcestcn. Tcmer. Fiankfin. and Qwe^
w^ece first bioa^t to the bar. That th^ had been acce^oiy
to the uinrder se^ns plain froot the report of thdr tiiak:
yet many at thetinte attribmeddieirocnviction to a coD^nacr
against Somerset, and tins c^nuon deiix^ confinnatkn from
the ambigooas language of soiree of die sufferers at the pbce
of execntion. (BactKU n\ 4^- Sir Thomas Monsan was
nert irr-ujrr.<ed ; he bad recommended Weston to be the
warder of CHTrrburi.- ; and was exhorted by Coke to oonfiess
bif giBlt, and idbrow hinEeU on tbe m»CT of tAie king. But
he r^ected the sq^iestion with sconi. and to the snprise of
 THE DENOUEMENT 43

the public was taken from the bar to the Tower, but in a
short time recovered his Uberty.
The remaining trials were deferred till the arrival of Digby
the ambassador at the Court of Spain, to whom orders had
been transmitted to repair to England, but from him nothing
could be learnt to impeach the loyalty of Somerset. The
affection of James began to revive. His reputation required
that he should bring his ancient favourite to trial ; but he
proposed to save him from punishment by withdrawing him
from the bar as soon as the verdict should be returned ; and
when he was informed that according to law judgment must
follow, he announced his determination to grant him a pardon
and with this view forbade the Attorney-General to exaggerate
the offence, that the prisoner might not appear unworthy of
mercy. The Earl was repeatedly advised to confess himself
guilty, and assured that the king would grant him his Ufe
and fortune. " Life and fortune," he indignantly rephed,
" are not worth the acceptance, when honour is gone." To
escape the disgrace of a trial, he earnestly solicited admission
to the royal presence, or at least to be permitted to write a
private letter to the king. When this was refused, he assumed
a bolder tone, and endeavoured to work on the fears of James,
by declaring that at the bar he would take an ample vengeance
on the prince, who had betrayed him into the power of his
enemies. As the day approached, he asserted that he would
not leave his chamber ; he feigned sickness or insanity, and
made, or pretended to make, like Sir Walter Raleigh, an
attempt on his own life. But the king was inexorable ; he
commanded the Lieutenant of the Tower to employ force, if
it were necessary, and to inform his prisoner that if he indulged

in irreverent language with respect to the sovereign, he would

be removed from the bar without any stay of the proceedings
on account of his absence. Hence it has been inferred that
Somerset was in possession of some important secret, the
disclosure of which would inflict indelible disgrace on the
king. To me this conclusion appears questionable. No man
was better acquainted with the royal disposition than the
fallen favourite ; his obstinacy, his menaces, and his despair
were probably meant as appeals, sometimes to the timidity,
sometimes to the feelings of James and to the partial success
;

of these appeals may be attributed the soUcitude of the king

to procure his conviction without rendering him undeserving
of pardon.
44 THE DENOUEMENT
By the exhortations of \Miitiiig, the minister who had
attended the other prisoners, the Cotmtess had been induced to
confess the murder. She was therefore separately arraigned
before the peers. She looked pale, trembled while the clerk
read the indictment, and at the name of Weston, covered her
face with her fan. As soon as she had pleaded guilty. Bacon,
the Attorney-General, stated to the court the evidence which
he should have produced, had he found it necessary ; but he
had previously the precaution to remove her from the bar,
that she might not interrupt him to maintain the innocence
of her husband. At the conclusion of his speech, she was
recalled,and received judgment of death.
Thou^ Bacon, by this artifice, had prepared the court to
believe the guilt of Somerset, he looked forward with anxiety
to the result ; for it was, he observed to the king, a different
thing to obtain a verdict from a London jury and to convince
the House of Lords. The Earl, contrary to expectation,
appeared at the bar cod and collected ; he never mentioned
the king, but he rejected every exhortation to confess,
haughtily maintaining his innocence, objecting to the rele-
vancy of the evidence, and explaining away circumstances
which seemed to make against him.
After a long trial the peers found him guilty but by many
;

this judgment was attributed more to the power of his enemies

than to the cogency of the proofs. Within a few days the
Countess received a pardon ; the same favour was refused by
the eari ; he was, he said, an innocent and injured man, and
would accept of nothing less than a reversal of the judgment.
But some years later, aware of the maUce of his adversaries,
and of the alienation of the Prince, he sought that which he
had before rejected, and received it with a promise of the
restoration of his property. Within four months, however,
James died ; and Somerset solicited, but in ^^ain, the fulfilment
of the promise from the jaety or the equity of his successor.
The Countess died in 1632 ; the Earl survived her thirteen
jrears.
It is impossible to say with any d^ree of certainty what
are the merits of this sordid tale.
Some have not scrupled to accuse James of
historians
complicity in the murder. His attitude was indeed strange
and open to some suspicion. But the evidence from which
his guflt is argued appears so weak that it should be rejected
as worthless.
 Chapter V

STRANGE LETTERS

The following letters, found among the Loseley Manuscripts, are,

however, of very great interest under the circumstances. They
have been used by Kemp and others as evidence of guilt. But
Dr. Lingard's view of them appeals more strongly to one's sense of
justice. They indicate indeed a feverish desire to help Somerset,
which desire is amply explained by a natural return of the king's
fondness for his erstwhile favourite.
On the other hand the threats, to which the Earl gave expression,
were but the unavailing attempts to work on the impressionable
character of his sovereign. There is no evidence whatsoever
to show that he could substantiate any charges against him.

Vol. IV., No. 33.

*" These 4 letters were all of Prince James, his own hand-
writing, sent to Sir George More, Lieutenant of the Tower
(being put into that place by his own appointment without the
privitie of any man) concerning my Lord of Somerset, who, being
in the Tower, and hearing that he should come to his arrdgnment
began to speak big words touching on the King's reputation and
honour. The King therefore desired as much as he could to make
him confess the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, and so not to
come to his arraignment but to cast himself on his mercy. But
being a Courtier and beaten to those courses would not. I fully
imagine that the King durst not or would not bring him to his
trial. The gentleman the King sent in one of the letters to my
Lord was Walter James Loomtimer, my Lord's Secretary. But
the King, although he were the wisest to work his own ends that
ever was before him, with all that could not work on Somerset.
But that he ever stood on his innocency, and would never be
brought to confess that he had any hand with his wife in the
poisoning of Overbury, knew not of it, nor consented unto it.
And I have often talked with Mr. James his chief servant about it,
* I give the letters with their introductory note exactly as I found them
amongst the Loseley Manuscripts.
45
46 STRANGE LETTERS
who ever was of opinion that my Lord was clear and his Lady
only guUty. For one time Mrs. Turner told him, that little did
my Lord know what she had adventm-ed for his Lady ; but the
truth is King James was weary of him : Buckingham had suppKed
his place.

" Sir George More's, my father in Law's legacy,

who in his lifetime made much account
of these letters, being every word of King James
his own writing, James the first.

" Good Sir George, I am extremely sorry that your unfortunate

prisoner turns all the care I have of him, not only against himself,
but against me also, as far as he can. I caimot blame you that
you cannot conjecture what this may be for God knows, it is only
a trick of his idle brain, hoping thereby to shift his trial. But it
is easy to be seen that he would threaten me with laying an

aspersipn upon me of being in some sort accessory to his crime. I

can do no more (since God so abstracts His grace from him)
than repeat the substance of that letter which the Lord Haye
sent you yesternight, which is this if he would write or send
:

me any message concerning this poisoning it needs not be private.

If it be of any other business, that which I cannot now with honour
receive privately, I may do it after his trial and serve the turn
as well. For except either his trial or confession precede, I caimot
hear a private message from him without laying an aspersion
upon myself of being an accessory to his crime, and I pray you
to lurge him by reason, that I refuse him no favour which I can
grant him without taking upon me the suspicion of being guilty
of that crime whereof he is accused. And so fare well.
" James R."

the King had received some message of a threaten-

It is clear that
ing nature from Somerset. That is all we can gather from this
letter. Whether Somerset was able to substantiate his threat, does
not yet appear. The last sentence is indeed a strange thing for a
monarch to say to a man whom he believes to be guilty of murder.
When James says that he refuses Somerset no favoiir that he can
grant him without taking upon himself the suspicion of being guilty
of that crime whereof Somerset is accused, he gives assurance
of his royal pardon. There is a strong presumption that this
assurance is given in consequence of Somerset's threat.
The following letter gives room for grave suspicions against the
King. According to James's own admission. Sir George More had
 STRANGE LETTERS 47

been appointed Lieutenant of the Tower by James himself " without

the knowledge of any," and that on account of the confidences which
he reposed in him. We naturally wonder why the King should be
personally so concerned about this particular appointment if he had
not some private interest at stake. He further admits to Sir George
"
that his honour is at stake and that he had used " what fair means
he might, to move the Earl to confess. What has the opinion of a
murdurer to do with the honour of a third person unless it be to draw
suspicion away from him ? And why should a perfectly innocent
person fear suspicion ?

But James more by saying that he has

excites our suspicions stiU
at last sent to Somerset " an honest gentleman, who once followed
him, with much directions unto him." This honest gentleman, as
we learn from the note above, was a Walter James Loomtimer,
once the Earl's Secretary. He is entrusted with a private message
from the King, and he is to be introduced to the cell " in such secrecy
that none Uving may know of it and that after his speaking with him
in private, he may be returned back again as secretly." James,
it would seem, has much to hide from the world and much to gain

from Somerset. His trust in the friendship of Loomtimer for the

Earl and of More for himself urges him to adopt this strange
procedure with a man who is on his trial for murder. He reposes
himself upon Sir George's " faithful and secret handling of this
business."

" Good Sir George, As the only confidence I had in your honesty
made me without the knowledge of any, put you in that place
of trust which ye now possess, so I must use your trust and secrecy
in a thing greatly concerning my honour and service. Ye know
Somerset's day of trial is at hand, and ye know also what fair
means I have used to move him, by confessing the truth, to
honour God and me, and leave some place for my mercy to work
upon. I have now at last sent the bearer hereof, an honest
gentleman, who once followed him, with such directions unto
him as if there be a sparke of grace left in him, I hope they shall
work a good effect. My only desire is, that ye would make his
convoy unto him in such secrecy, none living may know of it and
that after his speaking with him in private, he may be returned
back again as secretly. So reposing myself upon your faithful
and secret handling of this business, I bid you heartily farewell.
" James R.
" 9th of May about one of the clock,
in the afternoon 1616."
48 STRANGE LETTERS
the last letter was strange, stranger still is the following.
If
Loomtimer has failed to persuade his friend and patron to confess
his guilt in the crime. The King is much distressed by the fact,
and does not " care to leave o£E to use all means possible to move
him to do that which is both most honourable for me {i.e. James)
and his own best." In this letter we see proof of very great anxiety
and we are told that the King's honour is the cause of this anxiety.
—
His concern leads him to very great lengths ^he repeats whatever
promises he made through Loomtimer, he accentuates them, he
holds out an assurance of mercy, not only for the Earl but even for
his wife, he urges More to plead with Somerset, to assure him
that the King protests upon his honour that his " end in this is for
his and his wife's good," he orders More to try and frighten his
prisoner with a probable betra3ral of his wife and to say that he
(More) knows from some secret assurance " that in the end she wiU
confess to him," he directs that this device should come as if it
originated in no way £rom the King, and he adds : " Let none
living know of this."

" Good Sir George, Although I fear, that the last message I sent
to your imfortunate prisoner shall not take the effect that I wish
it should, yet I care not to leave off to use all means possible to
move him to do that which is both most honourable for me and
his own best. Ye shall therefore give him assurance in my name,
that if he will yet before his trial confess clearly unto the com-
missioners his guiltiness of this fact, I will not only perform what
I promised by my last messenger, both towards him and his wife,
but I will enlarge it according to the phrase of the Civil law,
quod gratiae sunt ampliandae, I mean not that he shall confess
if he be innocent ; but ye know how evil likely that is and of
yourself ye may dispute with him, what should mean his confidence
now to endure a trial, when as he remembers that this last winter
he confessed to the chief justice that his cause was so evil likely,
as he knew no jury could acquit him. Assure him that I protest
upon my honour, my end in this is for his and his wife's good.
Ye will do well likewise, of yourself to cast out unto him, that
ye fear his wife shall plead weakly for his innocency, and that
ye find the commissioners have, ye know not how, some secret
assurance that in the end she wUl confess of him. But this must
only be as from yourself ; and therefore you must not let him
know that I have written unto you, but only that I sent you
private word to deUver him this message. Let none living know
of this. And if it takes good effect, move him to send in haste
 STRANGE LETTERS 49

for the commissioners to give them satisfaction. But if he

remain obstinate, I desire not that ye should trouble me with an
answer for it is to no end and no news is better than evil news.
" And so farewell and God bless your labours.
" James R.
" 13th of May 1616."

It was all to no purpose. The prisoner refused all advances

and remained firmly set upon the innocence of his cause. He seems
however, to have ceased threatening his sovereign ; and now he
feigns madness.
" Good Sir George. For answer to your strange news, I am
first to tell you, that I expect the Lord Haye and Sir Robert
Cart have been with you before this time, which if they have not
yet been, do ye send for them in haste that they may first hear
him, before ye say any thing unto him, and when that is done,
if he shall still refuse to go, ye must do your oflfice except he be

either apparently sick or distracted of his wits, in any of which

cases, ye may acquaint the chancellor with it, that he may
adjourn the day till Monday next, between and which time, if
his sickness or madness be counterfitted, it will manifestly appear
in the meantime. I doubt not but ye have acquainted the
chancellor with this strange fit of his and if upon these occasions,
ye bring him a Uttle later than the hour appointed, the Chancellor
may, in the meantime, protract the time the best he may, whom
I pray you to acquaint likewise with this my answer as well as
with the accident. If he have said anything of moment to the
Lord Haye, I expect to hear of it with all speed ; if otherwise, let
me not be troubled with it till the tried be past. Fare well.
" James R.
" To our trusty and well-beloved
Sir George More, Knight and Ueutenant
of our Tower of London."

Although these letters are strange in the extreme it would not be

just to argue complicity from them. There is no direct evidence
of any kind and the suspicions which Jeimes's nervousness might raise
are not enough to form a basis for a verdict of " guilty."
This feverish anxiety on the part of James would find a perfectly
reasonable explanation in his affection for Somerset. He would
naturally exert himself even to the verge of indiscretion on behalf
of a favourite whom he once so dearly loved.
 —

50 STRANGE LETTERS
The extraordinary passion of James for Somerset is apparent
from a letter preserved at Lambeth Palace and published by the
ArrJtaeologia, Vol. XLI. I give it in the Appendix.
It would be as unjust to argue compUdty from these documents
as it would be to argue iU^timacy from the following curions
attestations :

Bundle 1329 (//) Miscellaneous Papers.

" The Widdow Bookseller of Bristol whose name I am charged
with at the time, is in my Proposal for printing my Book Horae
Sacro-Poeticae, and I charge not myself with the remembrance
of that name, because I expect to see my Book published, and
her name with the rest are due to me in that conspeximus. I
will not be enslaved with this memory of persons' names for the
future, but take the strongest test of Pojrsons, Razors, and other
Trials (as I have done) to TnaiTitain my title and Dignity in the
Pace till my Restoration.
" God my Father witnesseth this and my mother
Stuart has satisfyed you in yonder House
that I am her son according to the flesh.
" JAMES ye King."

What a world of memories opens up to us as we sit in the grey

stillness ofLosdey's withdrawing room Those portraits that look
!

silently from the past The iron sternness of Sir George More and
!

the benevolent round eyes of Sir William Many sighs and tears
!

were caused and witnessed by these two men. What moral blame
is to be attached to them, it is not the purpose of thk work to
determine. It would seem quite likely that the misery which they
brought upon large numbers of sincere Catholics and loyal subjects
was rather the result of their distorted reUgious sense than of a
perverse nature. It is true that their zeal to trample on and crush
the old religion was well rewarded by the royal favour and by
lavish gifts. Yet perhaps there was sincerity in their cruelty and
we prefer to think they were not merely time-servers.
TTie following note was written at Loseley by Miss Aime Comwallis
Moljmeux, afterwards wife of General Rainsford. It was written on
a leaf apart and added to the bundle.

Vol. IV.. No. 103.

" The first S. William More built Losely in the forty-second
year of his age, being bom in the Year 1520 and the nth year of
the Reign of King Henry the 8th.
 STRANGE LETTERS 51

"He began the House in 1562, and finished it in 1568, just six
years. He was a great and Good man, much liked by Queen
Elizabeth who used to come to him at Loseley. He had a large
London, where the Court was kept at that
estate in Black Friers in
—
time of day with that and Country, his Estates were fourteen
thousand a year.*
" Sir George More his son built the Gallery side of the House.
This Sir William More's Father was Sr. Christopher More, he
lived in the old House which was also called Loseley before the
present Loseley was built, and stood to the south, close to the
back of this."

It will appear from this account that Sir WiUiam had amassed
a huge fortune which brought him an income equal at least to
£168,000 of our money. His reUgious profession, therefore, proved
exceedingly profitable from a worldly point of view whereas we
;

shall see, in the course of this work, that those who remained
faithful to the old reUgion had not only to suffer loss of property and
liberty but were also subjected to the most revolting cruelty.

* According to the Private Account Book of Sir William More, the building
of Loseley cost ;£i,66o igs. 7jd. up to the year 1569. Mr. John Evans, in
his communication to the Archaeologia, expressed surprise that More could
have afforded to pay so much ; but from Miss Anne Comwallis's account it
would appear abundantly clear that the Estate could more than stand the
strain.
 PART II

A General Historical Sketch of the Reformation.

Tempore Henry Fill, to Charles I.

 Chapter I

REFORMATION
The Act of Supremacy was a blow which struck at the foundations
of ReUgion in Britain. It was a complete break with the past.
England was cut off from the ancient and acknowledged source of
authority and jurisdiction in matters spiritual. The Pope's name
was henceforth to be execrated and his rule to be contemned. Not
only was he no longer to be obeyed and listened to as the divinely
appointed Vicar of Jesus Christ, but he weis to be reviled by every
heart and denounced from every pulpit. He was henceforth to be
the enemy of all true Englishmen.
It hcis been the boast of many of our fellow countrymen that for
the trammels of Papal oppression the Reformation substituted
the most ample freedom and that the slavish acceptance of
dogmatism was supplanted by the pure teaching of the Word of
God. But the tale which is unravelled by the vast collection of
documents at Loseley is one of oppression as grievous as any told
in the annals of any country. It is a tale of religioiis tyranny.
The yoke has chcinged indeed, but it was for one of lead. The King
of England was henceforth to be the acknowledged source of
jurisdiction in all ecclesiastical matters, he was not only the supreme
spiritual legislator, he was also to be the pastor of pastors, feeding the
bishops and people with the food of divine wisdom. He was to be
the supreme teacher, having sole right to punish heresy and error.
From him there was to be no appeal and his decisions were, for all
intents and purposes, to be accepted as infallible.
In the document which follows it will be seen how effectually
this power was exercised by Heiuy VIII. Herein he lays down
rules for bishops and clergy both secular and regular to be followed
in their sermons to the people. They are to preach " the true, the
sincere word of God . . . and to pubUsh the great and
iimumerable enormities and abuses " of the bishop of Rome. They
are further to preach the royal supremacy in aU churches every
Sunday and high feast in the year. Schoolmasters are also ordered
to teach their children thissame doctrine. " And also all manner
orations, rubrics, and canons of Mass books and in all other books
used in the churches wherein the said bishop is named, and his
6»
 —

56 REFORMATION
presumptuous and proud pomp and authority preferred, utterly
to be erased and abolished, neither at any time unless to his
conttmiely and rebuke to be remembered ; but perpetually
suppressed and obscured." It is easy to understand how, in time
the most wild figments of religious bigotry would obtain a lasting
hold on the people and that they would come to look upon the Pope
as the most evU and dangerous enemy of all self-respecting society.
Indeed we know from many contemporary writings that no
opprobrious epithet was thought too bad when describing the
supposed iniquities of the Bishop of Rome. I give the commission
in full. It runs as follows :

Vol. v., No. 2. Loseley.

" Trusty and Right beloved we greet you well. And whereas
not only upon just and virtuous grounds and respects framed
upon the laws of God and godly Scriptures by due consultation
deliberate advisement and consent as well of all the bishops and
clergy of this our realm as of all other our nobles and commons
assembled in our High Court of Parliament and by authority of
the same we have by good and wholesome laws and statutes
made for that purpose secluded abolished and extirped out of this
our realm the abuses of the bishop of Rome his authority and
jurisdiction of long time usurped as well upon us and our realm
as upon all other kings and princes and their realms as they
themselves have confessed and affirmed but also forasmuch as
our said nobles both spiritual and temp, assembled in our
said Court of Parliament have upon Uke good lawful and virtuous
grounds and for the pubhc weal of this our realrii by one whole
assembly granted annexed and united to the crown imperial of the
same title, dignity and stile of supreme head in earth immediately
under God of the Church of England as we be and undoubtedly
have ever been ; which title and style both the bishop and clergy
of this our Realm have not only in convocation assembled,
consented, recognised and approved lawfully and justly to
appartain unto us, but also by word of the profession and writing
under their signs and scales have confessed ratified and confirmed
the same utterly renouncing all other oathes and obediences to any
foreign potentate and all other foreign jurisdictions and power
as well of the said bishop of Rome as of all other whatsoever they
be, as by their professing and writing corroborated with the
subscription of their names and appention of their seals more
plainly appeareth. We let you wete that we calling to our
remembrance the charge and commission given to us of Almighty
 REFORMATION 57

God and upon a vehement Jove and affection towards our loving
and faithful subjects, perceiving right well that the great unity,
rest, quietnessand tranquility and other commodities might
grow and them if that the bishops and clergy of this our
arise to
Realm should set forth declare and preach unto them the true
and sincere word of God and without all manner colour disin-
clination and hypocrisy manifest and pubUsh the great and
innumerable enormities and abuses which the said bishop of
Rome as well in titles and style as also in authority and jurisdiction
of long time, unlawfully and unjustly hath usurped upon us
and our progenitors and all other christian princes, have
therefore addressed our letters (which he hath already received)
unto the bishop of that diocese where in part you be justice of
our peace, straightly charging and commanding him in the same,
that not only he in his own proper person shall declare preach
and teach unto the people forthwith upon the receipt of our said
letters to him directed every Sunday and other high feast
throughout the year the true mere and sincere word of God and
that the said title and dignity of supreme head appartaineth
only to our crown and dignity royal like as the said bishop and all
other the bishops of this our Realm have by oath and subscription
of their names and seals confirmed and further given warning
and charge to aU maner abbots priors deans Archdeacons provosts,
persons, vicars curates and all other ecclesicistical persons within
his diocese as well to teach preach pubHsh and declare in all
manner chvuches our said just title style and jurisdiction every
Sunday and high feast in the year. And further to admonish
and command all manner school masters within the said diocese
to instruct and teach the Scime unto their children committed unto
them and also all manner orations, rubrics, and canons of Mass
;

books and in all other books used in the churches wherein the
said bishop is named and his presumptions and proud pomp
and authority preferred, utterly to be erased and aboUshed ;
neither at any time unless to his contumely and rebuke to be
remembered ; but perpetually suppressed and obscured.
And finally to desist and leave all such articles as be in the general
sentence which is intended to the glory and advancement of the
same bishop his name title style and jurisdiction. Whereupon
we esteeming you to be to such singular vehement zeal and
affection to the glory of God, and of so faithful loving and obedient
sort towards us as you would not only do and accomplish with
your wisdom diligence and labour whatsoever should or might be
to the preferment and setting forth of God's word, but practice
58 REFORMATION
study and endeavour yourselves with all your policy with study
and good will to accompUsh defend and maintain all such interest
right title style jurisdiction and author, as in any wise appar-
taineth to us our dignity and crown imperial of this our realm
have thought good and expedient not only to signify by our
letters the particularities of the charge monition and command-
ment by us given unto the said bishop as before is specified, but
also to require and straightly charge and command you upon
pain of your allegiance as you will avoid our high indignation
and displeasure at your uttermost peril setting apart all vain
affections, respects, or other chamal considerations and setting
only before your eyes the mirror of truth, the glory of God, the
right and dignity of your sovereign lord and king and the great
and inestimable unity profit and commoditys that shall by the due
exertions of the same ensue to yourselves and all other our faithful
and loving subjects you make and cause to be made diligent search
and waits and especial in every place of the said Shire where the
said bishop do thily sincerely and without aU manner cloak colour
or dissimulation execute and accomplish our will and command-
ment as is beforesaid. And in case you shall hear preach or
probably understand that the said bishop or any other
ecclesiastical person within his diocese do omit and leave undone
any part or parcel of the premises or else in execution or setting
forth of the same colourably coldly and feinedly do use any
manner sinister addition interpretation or cloak them we
straightly will and command you that forthwith upon any such
default negligence or disinclination by the said bishop or any
other ecclesiastical person committing contrary to the true tenour
meaning and effect of the charge aforesaid you do make with all
speed and diligence overture declaration and advertisement to us
and our counsel of the default of their behaviour manner and
fashion of the same. And, forasmuch as we of a singular trust
and special love and zeal and assured confidence which we have
in you and for the love and zeal which we suppose you bear
towards us and the public weal of this our realm have specially
elected and chosen you among so many for this purpose and have
reputed you such men as unto whose wisdom discretion truth and
fidehty we might commit a matter of such great weight moment
and importance, as whereupon the unity rest and tranquility of
this our realm doth consist and is established, if you should
contrary to our expectation and trust, which we have in you, and
cigainst your duty and allegiance towards dexterity and wisdom
whatsoever shall lie in your power for true and due performance
 "

REFORMATION 59

and execution of our mind and pleasure to you before declared

in this behalf halt stumble or wink at any part or speciality of
the same, be you assured that we Uke a prince of justice will so
extremely correct and punish you for the same as all the world
besides shall take example and beware how contrary to their oath
and duties of allegiance to frustrate deceive and disobey the
just and lawful commandment of their sovereign lord and prince
in those things as by
the true hearty and faithful execution
whereof you should not only prefer and advance the full honour
and glory of Almighty God and set forth the majesty and imperial
dignity of yoiu: sovereign lord, but also import and bring inesti-
mable unity concord wealth profit commodity and tranquiUty
and common state of this our Realm. Whereunto
to aU the public
you be by the laws of God nature and man utterly obliged and
bound.
" Given imder our signet at our manor beside Westminster
the IX of June.
" King Henry VIII.

In this royal command we see in what manner the so-called

religiousfreedom was dawning on the land. In the words of
Green :

" The clergy learned by injunction after injunction that they

were regarded, and must learn to regard themselves, as mere
mouth-pieces of the Royal Will. The restriction of the right of
preaching to priests who received licenses from the Crown,
silenced every voice of opposition. Even to those who received
these licenses theological controversy was forbidden. The
process of tuning the pulpits made them at every crisis the
' '

means of diffusing the Royal will. At the moment of Henry's

last quarrel with Rome every bishop, abbot, and parish priest
was required to preach against the usurpations of the Papacy
and to proclaim the King as the Supreme Head of the Church.
The very heads of the sermon were prescribed ; and the bishops
were held responsible for the compUance of the Clergy with
these orders, as the sheriffs were held responsible for the
compliance of the bishops. It was only when all possibihty of
resistance was at an end, when the Church was gagged and its
pulpits turned into mere echoes of Henry's will, that
Cromwell ventured on his last and crowning change, that
of claiming for the Crown the right of dictating at its
pleasure the form of faith and doctrine to be held and taught
throughout the land."
 ;

6o REFORMATION
That indeed a new religionwas being thrust upon the people
there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. The doctrine of
Justification by faith alone without good works was in direct
opposition to CathoUc teaching ; the Sacraments were henceforth
to be reduced from seven to three, i.e., Baptism, Holy Eucharist
and Penance ; although the Sacrifice of the Mass was not abolished,
and prayers for the dead were still tolerated, Masses were no
longer to be offered for the dead ; Purgatory was denied and^the
power of the Church to grant pardons or indulgences was condemned
pilgrimages were abolished and many feast days were struck off the
calendar ; ceremonies had not yet come under the royal ban, but
the veneration of images and relics was prohibited add to this
;

the entire abolition of the Church's Authority and the substitution

of the Bible and the three Creeds as the sole grounds of faith,
and we have a fairly dear idea of the change which has suddenly
come over.the religion of this country.
It must, moreover, be remembered that this giving of the Bible
to the people was in the very manner of the gift an assumption
of supreme authority on the part of the king and imphed a claim
to the highest infallibility in matters of faith. Although Miles
Coverdale, a friend of Cranmer, was employed to collect and revise
the translations of Tyndale " the Bible," says Green, " which he
edited appeared under the avowed patronage of Henry himself.
The story of the Supremacy was graven on its very title-page. The
new fotmdation of religious truth was to be regarded throughout
England as a gift, not from the Church, but from the King. It is
Henry on the Throne who gives the sacred volume to Cranmer, ere
Cranmer and Cromwell can distribute it to the throng of priests and
la3nnen below."
It was this Bible that men were henceforth to accept as the Word
of God ; and the highest guarantee for the Divine Authorship of
this Book was the King's word and command. But the royal
magisteriiun did not stop here. The Book was indeed put into the
hands of the flock, but these were not permitted to read with their
own eyes
; they must read with the eyes of the King they must
;

see only what he saw and understand only as he understood. Never

was a system of forcible feeding carried out on such a large scale.
The king met opposition by the most revolting forms of repression.
Of all the most learned and holy men in England at the time, John
Fisher Bishop of Rochester, stood out pre-eminent. His example
of loyalty to the old faith was at all costs to be put out of sight.
Sir Thomas More was also to be sacrificed to the royal wilL Scores
of men and women were to be mowed down with the same ruthless-
 REFORMATION 6i

ness. The reader will pardon me for quoting Green once more on this
subject.
" Henry, like every Tudor, was fearless of open danger, but
tremulously sensitive to the lightest breath of hidden disloyalty.
It was on this inner dread that Cromwell based the fabric of his
power. He was hardly secretary before a host of spies were
scattered broadcast over the land. Thousands of secret
denxmdations poured into the open ear of the minister. The air
was soon thick with tales of plots and conspiracies, and with the
detection and suppression of each Cromwell tightened his hold on
the King. With Henry to back him he could strike boldly at
England itself. The same terror which had mastered the King
was employed to master the people. Men felt in England ^to —
use the figure by which Erasmus paints the time " as if a
—
scorpion lay sleq)ing under every stone." The confessional had
no secrets for Cromwell. Men's talk with their closest friends
found its way to his ear. '
Words idly spoken,' the murmurs of
a petulant abbot, the ravings of a moon-struck nun, were, as the
nobles cried passionately at his fall, tortured into treason.' The only
'

chance of safety lay in silence. ' Friends who used to write and
send me presents,' Erasmus tells us, now send neither letter nor
'

gifts,nor receive any from any one, and this through fear.' But
even the refuge of silence was closed by a law more infamous than
any that has ever blotted the Statute Book of England. Not only
was thought made treason, but men were forced to reveal
thdr thou^ts on pain of their very silence being punished with
the penalties of treason. All trust in the older bulwarks of Uberty
was destroyed by a poUcy^as daring as it was unscrupulous. The
noblest institutions were degraded into instruments of terror.
Though Wolsey had strained the law to the utmost he had made
no open attack on the freedom of justice. If he had shrunk from
assembling Parliaments it was from his sense that they were the
bulwarks of liberty. Under Cromwell the coercion of juries and
the management of judges rendered justice the mere mouth-piece
of the Royal will ; and where even this shadow of justice proved
an obstacle to bloodshed. Parliament was brought into play, to
pass bill after biU of attainder. " He shall be judged by the
bloody laws he has himself made," was the cry of the Council at
the moment of his fall, and by a singular retribution the crowning
injustice whidi he sought to introduce even into the practice of
attainder, the condemnation of a man without hearing his defence,
was only practised on himself. But ruthless as was the Terror
of Cromwell, it was of a nobler type than the Terror of France.
62 REFORMATION
Henever struck ruthlessly or capriciously, or stooped to the
meaner victims of the guillotine. His blows were effective just
because he chose his victims from among the noblest and the best.
If he struck at the Church it was through the Carthusicins, the
holiest and most renowned of English Churchmen. If he struck
at the baronage, it was through Lady Salisbury, in whose veins
flowed the blood of kings. If he struck at the new Learning, it
was through the murder of Sir Thomas More ... No touch
either of love or hate swayed him from his course. The student
of Machiavelli had not studied the Prince ' in vain. He had
'

reduced bloodshed to a S5rstem. Fragments of his papers still

show us with what a business-like brevity he ticked off human
lives among the casual ' remembrances ' of the day."
" Item, the Abbot of Reading to be sent down to be tried and
executed at Reading."
" Item, to know the King's pleasure touching Master More."
" Item, when Master Fisher shall go to his execution, and the
others."

In all this we see what an apt Vicar-General Henry had in

Cromwell.
There are two very remarkable manuscripts amongst the Loseley
collection which I have transscribed.' They are unsigned, and
are in different handwritings ; but they appear to have emanated
from the same source and, in aU probability, to be fragments of
one long document. The first manuscript is endorsed in the
handwriting of Bray " Copley, on his refusing to conform to
:

the Church of England."

But, firstly, neither the handwriting, nor style of this documen
is that of Copley, and secondly, the whole tenor and tone breathes
antUvirity, and gives the impression of a pastoral letter. I believe
that it is a copy of a pastoral written by Cardinal Pole to the people
of London and possibly to the whole British nation. What gives
colour to this view is the fact that Cardinal Pole had studied at
Padua, and in the document in question the writer speaks of his
having made his studies in Italy. I am not aware that Copley
ever did.
England had quite recently been reconciled to the Faith. The
joy bells were ringing at Westminster. The penal laws against
Catholics were revoked. Catholics had begun to breathe once
more.
But twenty-two long years of cruel sufferings had told on the
constancy of many. England had apostatised. Memy who were
 —
REFORMATION 63

Catholics yet at heart, gladly came back to the Fold from which
fear had driven them. With a return of freedom for the Faith came
a revulsion of feeling against those who had brought about so much
suffering. To the Catholic the very mention of Protestantism
recalled the most awful brutalities. All men were aware of the
sufferings caused by the suppression of the monasteries. It was
well-known that the revenues of these institutions were almost
entirely appropriated by the Crown and that thousands of men and
women who had been dependent upon the monks for labour and
living were now cast adrift, without means of subsistence. Few
people were ignorant of the fate of those who had remained
faithful to the religion of their forefathers. Stories of their
sufferings The executions on
were circulated amongst the people.
Tower Hill,?|on Tyburn and in many other places had been witnessed
by hundreds. The tale of butchery had been told with horror.
Public floggings and mutilations at the pillory had been of daily
occurrence and people were sick to death of aU this butchery.
The retaliation in the reign of Queen Mary is deplorable and none
deplores it more than Catholics. But Protestant controversialists
rarely take into consideration the fearful provocation which led to
the fires of Smithfield ; and they exaggerate the Marian persecution
beyond all proportion.
" The main authority," says Green,* " for the History of the Early
Protestants, as of the Marian persecution, is Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
In spite of endless errors, of Puritan prejudices and deliberate
suppressions of the truth (many of which will be found corrected by
Dr. Maitland's Essays on the Reformation) its mass of facts and
wonderful charm of style will always give a great importance to the
work of Foxe."
This is an astounding statement for an historian to utter, for it
savours of the greatest contradiction that he should acknowledge
:

a work to contain endless errors, to be coloured by Puritan prejudices,

to admit deliberate suppressions of the truth, and in the same sentence
"
to assert that its " mass of facts " and " wonderful charm of style
will always give a great importance to it.
Dr. Maitland, whom Green refers to above is no less sweeping in
his condemnation of Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
We have it on the authority of Hook, in his Lives of the Archbishops
of Canterbury^, that Maitland gave his opinion as follows :

" You may

regard Foxe as being about as trustworthy as the
Record newspaper. You must not believe either when they
Chapter VIII. Authorities.
t Chapter VI. Page 148.
64 REFORMATION
speak of an opponent ; for though professing Protestantism, they
are innocent of Christian charity. You may accept the documents
they print, but certainly not without collation. Foxe forgot,
ifhe ever knew, who is the father of lies."

It is not my intention to embark upon a refutation of this work.

This has been done over and over again. When first the Book was
pubUshed in 1563 there were found writers who at once exposed its
want of truth.
Thus Nicholas Harpsfield, writing under the name of Alan Cope,
in his Dialogi Lex, and Father Parsons in his Three Conversions of
England, confuted the statements of Foxe with deadly effect. Since
then, many other writers, Protestants and Catholics, have shown
Foxe to be no better than a romancer.
Hence it is the saddest perversion of the human brain that men
should still cling to the old fables, and darken the horizon of history
by quoting as Gospel truths historians who have gleaned their facts
admittedly from this source almost exclusively.
It is a curious thing that although the Loseley Records contain
a large mass of evidence relating to the periods of persecution, there
is a most wonderful dearth of information of a reUable kind dealing
with the Marian persecution.
Kemp published one document which I have also copied. I
do not remember coming across any other which directly deals with
the matter. It may be that even this record is but a copy from
Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Its endorsement is so obliterated as to
be almost illegible. The document comes to us from Hascombe in
Surrey. It is undated. As a piece of evidence in support of the
indictment on the Marian rule it is valueless. There is nothing to
show that it is not the mere casual memortindum of some irre-
sponsible person. Even should it have been the docket of an
of&cial it cannot be taken as evidence until we have learnt who he
was and whence he derived his information.
On the other hand it will be seen that a vast majority of the
evidence which Loseley gives us of the persecution inflicted by
Protestants is of a very different charcater, being the official orders
from the Council or the notes, letters and reports of the Com-
missioners, magistrates and officials of various grades. However,
I give the document as it is.

Vol. v.. No. 69.

" Marian '
martyrs' The names of the shjTres of Surye
and Sussex that dyd borne the Inosents
wt the namis of Suche whom they brent.
 REFORMATION 65

Imprimis (In the second yere of the Raygne of

Quene Marye) Mr. John Coveart (being Shyref) dyd borne
4 Dyreke Harman John Lander Thomcis Everson and
:

Rychard Hooke.
Item (the thyrd yere) Mr. Wyllm. Suders (being shyref)
dyd borne Thomas Harland John Osward, Thomas a Rede,
:

Thoracis Havington Thomas Hoode mynyster John a myls

:

Thomas Donget John Foxman mother tree John Hart

Thomas Ravendalle Nycoles holden wt a showmaker and
14 a Coryar.
Item (the fowarthe yere) S'. Edward Gage (benig shyref)
:

dyd borne Stevene Grotwyke, Wyllm. Morant, Thowas King,

Richard Wodman George Stevens, Margret Mores James
:

Mores Dyones Burges, Wylyam Ma3mard Alexander Hosmar,

12 Servant, Thomas Ashedown's wyf and Grove's wyf.
Indorsed Mr t

of Hascombe.
" S' CareU demaundyth X£ VIII s. of FuUer
not accountyd for in the freat accounpt of Strevewyck."

Whether it was true that these " Innocents " were burnt or not
it is impossible to say. I am inclined to relegate the Hst to be
classed among the worthless documents. Mr. Maiden, in his History
of Surrey (p. 197), writes as follows
" Of the two hundred and
:

seventy-seven Marian martyrs enumerated by Foxe, two hundred

and thirty-four, something near six sevenths of the whole number,
came from the coast counties round the south east, from the Wash
to Chichester Harbour with Hertfordshire and Middlesex thrown
in." On the following page the same writer mentions the manu-
script which I have just quoted, showing impUcit faith in the
document. He says " In the Loseley manuscripts, edited by
:

Mr. Kemp, is a list which the editor takes to be the names of thirty
marts^rs in Surrey, in Mary's reign. This is a mistake, for twenty-
seven of these names belong to Sussex, and are those of persons
who suffered at Chichester, Lewes, and other places in Sussex. The
list, however, is valuable for its three Surrey and twenty-seven

Sussex men and women are evidently not copied from Foxe. The
order and the speUing of the names vary from those in Foxe, some-
times widely, as Dyreke Harmer for Derricke Carver. But yet they
are clearly the same, with one exception at Lewes, and thereby
afford corroboration of Foxe, as accurate on the whole, and nearly
exhaustive." (Idem., p. 198.)
66 REFORMATION
I fail to see the reasoning of this passage. As for the order and
spelling of the names I have no doubt that Mr. Maiden's knowledge
of sixteenth century documents will enable him to appreciate the
fact that transcriptions are very often exceedingly wide of the mark,
and that the taken with the spelling of names is proverbial.
liberties
Even Mr. Maiden's article contains a misprint, as in his transcription
Harman is erroneously spelt Harmer. Mr. Kemp also makes
mistakes in his copies. No doubt he knew that William Saunder,
Esq., was sheriff on the 14th November, 1555, and therefore he
wrote in his transcription Wyll'm Sanders, whereas in the
:

original it is clearly WyUm Suders. The matter has only this

importance, that it destroys the cogency of Mr. Maiden's reasoning,
and that it still remains possible that the note was in substance
taken from Foxe.
It is quite probable that the person who made this note, wrote
from memory, without immediate reference to the source of his
information. However, it is immaterial. I mention Mr. Maiden's
comments as an example of what takes place, very frequently, even
with the most serious and honest historians. They are apt to be
satisfied with what they have always taken as proved and it
occasionally happens that documents which have been entirely
discredited by the clearest historical evidence are still taken by them
as absolutely sound and trustworthy.
•The Book of Martyrs is perhaps the most extraordinary compilation
of falsehoods ever offered to the public under the guise of history.
As I have said, the book appeared in 1563, and its statements were
vehemently challenged by CathoUc writers, led by Alan Cope (or
rather Nicholas Harpsfield), in his Dialogi Lex published 1566,
and followed, amongst others, notably by the Jesuit Father Parsons,
who, in his three Conversions of England, subjected the book to
criticism in detail. The only defence Foxe coiHd make was to protest
against the unfairness, as he put it, "as though there were no
historians else in all the world corrupted, but only this story of Acts
and Monuments."
The charges brought against him were numerous. He wrote with
great bias he misrepresented and caricatured the doctrine of
;

those whom he wished to discredit. Even Protestants came under

his ban if they were not Puritans Uke himself he counted everyone
;

as a martyr who was put to death by Cathohcs for any cause;

thus malefactors who met with their just punishment were canonised
by Foxe if their judges were Catholics he reckoned all as members
;

of the Church of God who repudiated the Pope (even though they
repudiated Christ as well) and who would have been sent to the stake
 ;

REFORMATION 67

by the Reformers themselves had they been in power he accepted ;

any and every story from any source provided it told against the
cause which he assailed. It has been said that many who were
burnt in Foxe in the reign of Queen Mary, drank sack in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth. An amusing story is that of one Grimwood,
of Higham in Suffolk. Foxe romances of a terrible but just
retribution which befell this man for having perjured himself and
wrongfully obtained the conviction and death of a certain John
Cooper. From the Book of Martyrs we learn that he died a sudden
and disgusting death while labouring at a stack of com. Now it so
fell out, that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, one Prit became parson

of the parish where Grimwood dwelt, and, preaching against

perjury, being not acquainted with his parishioners, cited this
story from Foxe. It happened that Grimwood was alive and
listening to the sermon, and, on hearing the story, brought an action
for slander against Prit.
It is not my intention to give an exhaustive answer to the objection
of Marian persecution. The ghost has been laid over and over
again. Even
distinguished Protestant writers have discredited
this Protestant " Martyrology." Thus Professor J. S. Brewer
says that " Had Foxe, the Martyrologist, been an honest man,
:

his carelessness and credulity would have incapacitated him from

being a trustworthy historian. Unfortunately he was not honest
he tampered with the documents that came into his hands, and
freely indulged in those very faults of suppression and equivocation
for which he condemned his opponents." (Letters and Papers,
Foreign and Domestic, of the reign of Henry 8th, By J. S. Brewer, M.A.
(Longmans, Green), published 1862. Vol. I. Preface, page 80,
footnote 2.)
This is a note concerning a statement that " Foxe: ....
records only 2 cases of capital punishment for heresy during this
early period of Henry's reign."
Dr. Littledale, in his lecture on " Innovations," delivered at
Liverpool, in 1868, said :
—
" Two medacious partisans, the infamous
Foxe and the not much more respected Burnet, have so overlaid
all the history of the Reformation with falsehood, that it has been

well-nigh impossible for readers to get at the facts." (p. 16.)

Notwithstanding all this, the Book of Martyrs is still glibly quoted
by many people to the wounding of truth and justice.
Cardinal Pole's pastoral explains, with many illustrations from
the Old Testament, the reasons why England should consider
herself the most favoured of nations in her return to the Faith.
It contains a brief reference to the burning of " briers " i.e., heretics
68 REFORMATION
and dwells on the heinousness of apostasy and the need of repentance.
It shows England to be twice blessed because she had twice apos-
tatised, and twice returned to the Unity of the Fold. It speaks in
glowing terms of the martyrs during the reign of Henry VIII, and
in particular of Blessed John Fisher and Blessed Thomas More.
It dwells on the advent of the Spanish King and dilates on the faith
of this sovereign, praising also the virtues of his Catholic bride.
It expatiates on the happy circumstances of the birth of a child and
likens the restoration of religion by these means to the work of the
most Holy Trinity. It ends with an earnest exhortation to repair
the evil which had been wrought by the schism, to set to work to
rebuild both the spiritual and the material fabric of God's Church.
 Chapter II

CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL

" Da nobis meliora —^And so will I say unto you. I have surely
better hope, whatsoever I say, but you see the great perils. And
what peril it is to receive great graces, and to neglect the same,
and shall be to the world's end. Who were higher in glory than
they for a great space, who were brought lower, to more shame and
contempt ? Moses might say, Quae est gens tam inclyta, quae
'

habet leges, ceremonias, et Deos appropinquantes, etc.

" This benefit they had in Moses's time, whereby they passed all
nations, and yet all was nothing to that grace and benefit they
received afterwards which was to have Christ bom among them,
;

to take His manhood of their stock, to have Him Which is the Life
of the Law, Which is Ipsa Justitia, Ipsa Sanctitas, to preach among
them, and never to depart out of their country, as long as He did
corporally tarry in earth, showing them His example of life and
all His miracles done afore their eyes. And who now be further
from receiving the fruit of this glory what nation lieth in more
;

misery and shame ? And why ? But for the cause which Christ
Himself, Quia non cognoverunt tempus visitationis suae What :

a terrible example ought this to be to all them that have received

great benefits, as I say we have, continually from our first receiving
the faith, at such a time as Christ was first planted in our hearts here,
and so continuing many hundred years, bringing forth many noble
fruits to thehonour of Him that planted you. And at last by your
own faultwere cut off, and hke to have been withered, of the high
grace and power of Him that first planted you, had He not as it were
engrafted you yet once again. What country hath ever had the
like grace ? And now therefore, take heed you be not like the
ground I speak of even now, upon St. Paul's words. I trust, I say,
you be not. But this I say to you especially of the city of London :

You being the that received the fruit of this grace in the new
first
plantation, this seed of benediction being cast first upon you, to
make you a ground to bring forth all fruit of sanctity and justice,
with more frequent rain of preaching and teaching than all the realm
besides, greater examples, and, as I may say, miracles showed
amongst you than any other.
70 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL
" What then shall I say after all this done, that more briers
and more thorns hath grown here among you than any other
in all the realm besides ? I cannot say so, nor will I not. Albeit
that itmight so seem. For a greater multitude of these brambles
and briers were cast in the j&re here among you, than in any place
besides. But many of them being grown in other places, were
brought hither and burned among you, may give occasions that
you have the worse name without your desert. But the thing
standeth not in the name. Bethink you yourself how it standeth.
This, I say again, none hath had better preaching and teaching, nor
have seen greater examples with their eyes, and such as may be well
called, as they be miracles : As what a marvellous example was
that, when the realm was falling from the unity of the church, when
the foundations began to move, that God shewed to stay you ? When
he suffered one of your body, I means a citizen of yours, which was
Sir Thomas More, bom among you, and for his wit, virtue and
learning most esteemed of any temporal man within the realm,
and no less esteemed in other realms for the fame of these virtues,
to be assaulted of the enemy of mankind, both a dextris et a sinistris
:

only to make him leave the unity of the Church, as a greater

temptation could not come to a man yet to overcome all, showing
;

such constancy of faith, as he might be a marvellous example to stay

all other. For this first, you may consider, what temptation through
you was that a citizen of yours from a mean state suddenly to be
exalted to the highest office of the realm as to be lord chancellor ?
WTiat was it but a bait laid to take him with ? To make him agree
to that his successor did, to let himself be plucked from the stone
of the foundation of the Church, and to be a mean to pluck other
from the same. Was it any other, as the effect did show ? And
when the bait could not deceive him, nor maJse him wiUingly to leave
his hold of the sure stone laid in the foundation, then what was to be
done of the enemy to pluck him from thence, but by force ? And
now consider what bonds were put about him, to make him leave
his hold, such bonds truly that were as strong as the love he bare
to his wife, to his children and to his own life could make and bind
him with, the which he must needs all break, except he woidd leave
his hold of the sure stone, and be pulled from the foundation, to the
which notwithstanding he showed himself to be so surely joined and
fastened, that all this force could nothing prevail to pluck him
from it. What kind of mortar was this ? Was it any such that
could be made by man's hand or by the power of nature, that should
make him stick so fast that no power of nature, could once move
him ? This was the mortar that Christ brought with Him from
 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL 71

heaven, that love, that charity he bare to Christ, to his church, to

the body of the commonwealth of this leaha. Was there any other
thing of that force, of that virtue able to make him to overcome the
natural love than a love and charity surpassing nature ? Was not
this a great miracle, and act and a great example far above nature ?
Surely a greater hath not been seen in this realm, nor in none other
many hundred years. And that you may the better be assured that
it was a very light above nature and a love given from above, I
shall show you how far in this matter his own natural Ught did
extend :which he showed, reasoning in this matter of the unity
of the church with a friend of his, and a special benefactor of all
catholic and good persons, whom I will not leave unnamed, for
worthy is he to be named, and I doubt not but his name is in the
book of Ufe. It is Anthony Bonevyse, whom I think you all know,
dwelling from his youth amongst you, being now a very old man.
Who having very entire friendship with Mr. Moore, as friends and
wise men be wont to do, coming together of the state of the common-
wealth of this realm, and of that was like to come, for the disturbance
of the quietness thereof, Mr. Moore began to show what fear he had
of the change of religion in this reahn, which he took, as it is, to be
the ground of the commonwealth, and feared that it should begin
of the perverse and heretical opinion he saw some inclined unto
touching the Sacrament of the Altar. Whereof after they had
spoken with great lamentation of that which was like to ensue
thereof, albeit the same seemed, not at that time so unlikely to
other, for as much as he that begun to break the unity of the
church, was very stiff in the use of the sacrament after the old form
and honour. But not so much he was moved to fear this for that
he saw the present Ukelihood, but rather of an instinct that the fear
of God had put in his mind, when the unity was not yet broken, and
when he that was bent to break the unity, was most earnest in the
defence of the Sacrament. Yet then began he to fear that the faith
of the Sacrament should decay in the realm, not speaking any word
of the fear of the breach of the unity. By reason of the seism
and departure from the obedience to the see of Rome, which then
was most like to happen forthwith, the prince being offended with
the Pope, which fear made Mr. Bonevyse ask him more earnestly of
his opinion therein, to the which question he, suddeiily making
answer, said as his natural reason gave, and that was, how he took
not that for a matter of so great moment but rather as invented
;

of men for a political order and for the more quietness of the
ecclesiastical body than by the very ordinance of Christ. This was
his sudden and first answer ; but he had no sooner said the words.
72 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL
but as though his conscience had been stricken for so saying,
correcting the same with confessing that he had spoken without
consideration, said to Mr. Bonvyse, how he should not take that
for an answer to his question, which he would think better upon,
for he had never studied it afore and therefore willed him within ten
or twelve days to repair to him again, and then he would show him
his whole determinate opinion in that matter. This, Mr. Bonvyse
was glad to hear him say, and failed not at the time appointed,
to return, to ask him opinion thereof. And at the first sight of him,
Mr. Moore brake out in to a great reproach of his own self, for that
he was so hasty to answer in so great a matter touching the primacy
of the Pope, saying these words :
" Alas, Mr. Bonvyse, whether I
was falling when I made you that answer, of the primacy of the
Church ? I assure you that opinion alone, was enough to make
me fall from all the rest, for that holdeth up all." And so then
began to show him what he had read, and studied therein, which
was so fixed in his heart, that for the defence of the same he willingly
afterwards suffered death. Overcoming all Satan's temptation by
the light supernatural, and by a supernatural love that the mercy of
God had given him for his salvation, and greatly for yours, you
taking example of him whereupon now if you will look, and of the
bishop that died with him for the same cause which the bishop of
Rochister, Doctor Fisher you shall see withall the great provision
God hath made for this realm, the great tender favour He used to
this religion, for the safeguard of the same in true faith and religion,
giving so much grace to these two men of best fame in the realm
their virtue and knowledge, to testify with their blood to the true
doctrine of the Church. Which they did when the rest of the whole
body of the realm represented in the parhament gathered of the
spiritual parts temporal of the clergy and the laity had determined
the contrary to the which determination those tways nothing
agreeing when was put most earnestly unto them other to agree
it

or abide the pain of their new law which was death. They chose
rather that part, and died as the martyrs of God both for testifying
to the truth of that article and for seeing how, this alone broken,
the gate was set open to Satan to break all the rest and bring into
the Church here what pernicious opinions he list. As the successor
showed he did whereof also he himself was not without fear, that
was author of breaking of the unity, of that same what trouble
it might bring the realm into but being warned of the same he

thought to provide sufficiently for the same. By the same means

he brake the unity, which was by the authority of the parliament,
that should establish the doctrine of the sacraments whereupon
 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL 73

was made the Act of the Parhament touching the six articles. But
the parhament had not so great strength to establish these. The
unity once taken away, as experience shortly after did declare in
this, that the unity was not so soon dissolved but that the faith of
the sacraments began to quail in many hearts ; though they durst
not, for a time, utter it. And of this were many privy councils made
against them, in his privy-chamber, that was most earnest because
he had dissolved the unity, to maintain the Sacraments ; being, as
I say, warned afore that the same change would follow, which
tarried no longer to show himself openly but until he was dead,
whose only person they feared ; and then they burst out in such
manner with so many changes till at last, openly in the parhament,
the Sacrament of Sacraments was cast out ; which had been the
end of rehgion in the realm if God had not helped both at that time
as the unity was broken, and at this time to restore it, working
marvels at both times, as well in the death of those that died to let
the going down of the authority of the which as for preserving in
life that woman should set it up again, giving you space in the mean

season to prove and taste the bitterness of the fruit received by the
swerving from the unity of the Church ; which at the first seemed
very sweet, as did the apple to our first mother eaten against the
commandment of God And so did the fruit of the goods of the
:

Church, taken against the laws of the Church but what misery
;

followed, you have tasted. As all the sproperyte of the first mother
hath, for her taking one apple against the commandment and the
Uke you have suffered, but that you should not be utterly undone,
which must follow if true religion were taken away. I have showed
what provision the goodness of God forthwith began to show you
in the example of them which, for their hoUness, learning and
justice, each one in his state, the one for his the spiritUcdity and the
other for the temporality were counted the chiefest in the realm
by the judgment of the prince that put them to death and tempted
them most to life. Whom if one would have asked afore the great
temptation came to him to leave the obedience of the church, whom
of all men of the church in England he could better a'been content
to remit his conscience unto in matters of any doubt in rehgion, for
his learning, virtue and judgment, he would surely a'named none
afore that same bishop of Rochester Doctor Fisher that he put to
death afterwards. This I may the bolder affirm to be so, because
when I myself came out of Italy from my study, coining to do my
duty and to see the prince, it was almost the first question he asked
me, whether in all the universities I had been and in all the cities
and places where learned men and good men might be best known.
74 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL
I had found such a learned man, such a good man, such a bishop as
the same bishop of Rochester, bidding me to say utterly as I thought.
To whom I answered, considering so many parts together, although
in one part one might be found to be compared and in some quality
to exceed and pass him, yet in all together by that I could judge.
I remembered none that I might prefer afore him, and, in tnith, I
had not so that a meter man by man's judgment to testify the truth
of this matter in this realm. None could be found for the estimation
he was not only with the prince then, but with the rest of the
in,
realm. And besides this, because both states in the parliament did
fail, as well spiritual as temporal having providing such a guide

to the spiritual as that bishop was, and such a one as might be

an example for both the parties to follow, yet if of his abundant
goodness he would have paint one for an example of the laity to
stay them, surely a meter could not have been found than was Mr.
More for the opinion that all men had universally of his wit, learning
and justice and what opinion had the King of Mr. More, giving him
the office of highchancellor did show, so that if God would send
forth His Messengers in this doubt or any doubt concerning religion
or justice to inform you the truth, more meeter and more to be
beUeved could not have been found in the whole realm than those
two that for their holiness and justice were most famous and so
taken of the prince and of all men. And here now was the promise
that God had made to stay the multitude that they should not so
deeply fall which was the example of these two great and notable
servants of God, that rather suffered their heads to be stricken
off, than to consent that the realm should be cut off from the
obedience to the head that Christ had appointed in earth the which
men so well known, were sufficient to persuade all the rest, that that
obedience was more precious than any Hfe, with all the favour and
honour that any prince could have given to any man ^which they —
might have had above all other, if they would have esteemed every-
thing in this life above that obedience to God and the church. And
there were not these two alone that showed this mind of humble
obedience to the Church of Rome for God selected and chose
;

out both priests and reUgious men out of those reUgious houses that
were most reformed, such as were most notable for their virtue and
religion ; as out of the Charter houses, out of Syon, and the Friars
Observants and of S. Francis quorum nomina sunt in libro vitae,
that with their blood, testified the same, having life offered them if
they would have swerved from the stone set by Chirst's hand in
the foundation of the Church, to be the stay of the same. But they
showed by the highest grace that God had given them that no so
 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL 75

cruel death could be offered them but they had rather suffered it
as they did, than to be brought out of the body of the Church. And
why was all this but for your stay, but for your example and to show
you what you should follow ? And for this cause they were
preserved, they were strengthened and augmented miraculously
with grace above nature and sent unto you as guides. And now
what should let you to follow them ? What did let you before, it is
too well known, which was too much love of the world, and fear."

The remaining portion of the MS., "which connects this with the
following chapter, is missing.

However, from several indications, such as the numbering of the

pages and the style of the composition,it is evident that we have

here fragments of one same document.

 Chapter III

CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL (Continued)

" [God] Showed His mercy so favourable and so many ways unto
you but you have cause for the transgression of his law to mourn
and lament without measure, having so beside all measure lamented.
Wherein I would wish you gave me but some occasion to temper
your mourning as Esdras had given Him by that people, considering,
your offenses to be much more than theirs. Whereof if you did
show true repentance here were the very entering to keep your holy
day, that is the way to join yourself with the celestial court, to
show yourself to be of that body, to make the joy of your holy day
universal through the whole Church which is in heaven as it is in
earth, and by this you should make increase the joy of the holyday
to them which have never no work day, you should bring them new
matter of joy to them which never have any sorrow but this is the
;

joy, to see your mourning, which maketh the way open for you
to come to them, which the most desired and looked for. And
giving them, by the same, more cause to praise God, this is their
holy day which the repentant sinners all give them as the King of
bUss Himself doth testify, sajTing that the Angels of heaven have
more gladness of one sinner doing penance quam super nonaginta
novem justis, etc. Whereby you may well consider what a matter
of joy is true repentance, what a near way to come to feUcity, which
increaseth joy to them that be in the midst of aU felicity, but
touching you because you cannot have true repentance except
you know well your offense, the which the more it shall be declared
unto you, the more matter you shall have of repentance, and conse-
quently the way more ready to come to joy. This, I am sure, if
you did but consider the two points wherin principally you have
oifended God in this separating yourself from the obedience of the
head of the Church ; the one being when you did cast out of his
place and of&ce the lieutenant of Christ in the government of the
Church, the second when you cast Himself out of the Church, you
would plainly see there was never a nation that had more cause to
be repentant and sorry, and extrem fear of the vengence of God,
especially considering withall how sore punishment God hath taken
of others, that hath done the like. And, that you may consider
76
 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL (continued) 77

it the better. I will put you in remembrance of like offenses that God
found in His old people of Israel. Speaking first of your rebellion by
refusing to obey the head priest He had given you, and the like is
written in the Book of Numeri, where Dathan and Abiron made a
sedition against the high priest that God had ordained which was
Aaron, having of envy that the same of&ce should remain only
to him and his successors of his tribe, which they would have come to
every tribe, what sore punishment followed of this, there it is written,
which was no less than to be swallowed quick, the ground opening
to take them. Could there be more horrible punishment ; and
therefore your case being more heinous, what could be looked for
but other like and more horrible punishment. And that your case
is more heinous you understand by this ; that you, making the
same sedition against the high priest in earth to whom you had
given obedience many hundred years, this maketh it more offense
to God than theirs, that Aaron's ofi&ce was but newly begun, he being
the first, and not yet confirmed with no sp)ecial sign, as it was after-
wards when his rod did flourish, all the rods of the rest of the twelve
tribes remaining withered, which was not yet showed afore you
began their sedition. But you have seen this sign afore you began
thisi sedition, all the sees of the twelve Apostles representing the
twelve tribes being in a manner withered, and that of Peter's,
which Aaron did figure remaining flourished with fruit upon it.
Yet after all this you made your sedition, nor woidd not take
example of them when you were warned, but joined unto this a new
disorder against God, which was never thought of by no seditious
person under the old law, which was to give that office imto a
king, to translate offidum summi sacerdotis in the person of
the king. This no man tempted neither in the old law nor new,
were he never so seditious. And in the old we have this ensample
of a king that when he would of himself take upon him but the
office of a priest incensing only the altar, that suddenly he was
stricken with the leper ;and under the new law being so many
heresies and seditions ; and the very like in this part being now in
the orient that have left the obedience of Peter's see and of him that
Christ had set in his place them to have the governance of the holy
flock touching matters of rehgion as Aaron had ; Yet none of them
in any coimtry gave that office to a king to be supremum caput
Ecclesiae in regno suo. And think you if in the old law, by the
w^ch the people of God was governed in such a manner as it was
made a figure of the generation of the people in the new, binding
the king to read the law and bidding never to have that book out of
his hand, yet He would not permit him to be his own master therdn.
78 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL (continued)

but willed him to take the interpretation of the priests which

were ordered to be the masters and teachers of the spiritual people
of God which maketh the body of the Church. And this order
you have so perverted that every layman, every tavemer you would
make an interpreter of the Gospel which is above the law. But to
speak of a king of the old law when the people desired to have a
:

king over them as other nations, to minister justice and be their

head in the war, how God was displeased with them by cause they
would change His order, which was to be ruled by judges, as it is
written in the Book of Samuel, and yet granted them their desire
for their own scoturge. And yet their desire was not so far out of
order to desire a king that might have the order of justice and of war
which is the proper ofi&ce of a king, but to give him a priests of&ce
to be head of the Church this was never heard afore. And yet God
permitted you to have your desire as He did to them and like success
of both : For as Saul, though he was such for the gift of nature,
both of mind and of body, that the people looking upon him might
conceive a great hope of his government to their comfort and
wealth as any other nation might of their king, yet in conclusion
they had so great discomfort of him and was such a scourge unto
them, that they might well know thereby the greatness of their
offense, if they knew it not afore he being his own destruction and
theirs both as Samuel did prophesy he should and the last bkttle did
show where he was slain and the best men of Israel with a great strage of
the people. And you making a king after your inordinate the best
desire to be head of the church which was not inferior neither in
gifts of body nor kind unto Saul, what the end was, you know which
brought you no less scourge in peace and war both then Saul did in
war, which is a thing marvellous to be considered of you both to
know your offenses, to repent thereof lest worse come unto you,
which for to eschew, God hath given this warning, which is a warning
of a fatherly correction with the rod. But if that be not enough to
Wcim, beware of that shall follow.
" And this much I have declared unto you of the quality of yoiu

offense touching the first point in separating yourself from the

obedience of him that Christ had put in His place, and given the
same to a king, so contrary against all order of the Church. Consider
now this second point how you have offended His own person,
casting Himself out of His own house.
" This you did when you cast the Sacrament of the Altar out of the
Church. This declareth your schism to be more pernicious than
those that for their separation from the head Church God put under
the temporal dominion of the Turks as in Grecia and Asia ; Yet
 ;

CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL {continued) 79

they never went so far, nor do not all this while as also if they left the
obedience of the See of Peter, yet they cast not the Vicar of Christ
sitting there out with such dishonour and villainy as you did here
and so God staid them, not to fall so deep as you have done in both.
And this outrageous villainy done to the Blessed Sacrament is no
less than the Jews did when they did crucify Christ covering His
divinity under the form of man, being very man and very God
and the same very manhood and Godhood hiding Himself under the
form of bread and wine to give Himself unto us for the food of life,
you rejecting the same, you reject Christ utterly with all the fruit
of His passion He suffered for you. And now, if there be not great
repentance, what can be looked for, what is there but terribilis
expectatio iudicii not only in the world to come, but also in this
world which deserves much more than all others, qui sanguinem
testamenti conculcastis, in so much the more is your offense that
you will stand in the defence of the same against the whole Church,
condenming your own fathers, whereby eternally you condemn
all
yourself. And if you had continued in that state
in this world,
you could have looked for no other but for the same vengence that
the Jews had after they had crucified Christ, which was a ruin
of their temperal state and to be opprobrium sempiternum as it was
prophecied they should come, continuing in their maUce without
repentance. And to allure them to that, there was given them
forty years space for time of penance afore the ruin of their city
came. Wherein, they not regarding the mercy of God, suffered that
miserable destruction of their city that never the like had been read
in any histories of any nation ; and ever since that time, to be
dispersed, that no more they can be called a body nor a people,
being sparkled in so many parts of the world living to their shame in
all parts and hatred. To this ruin you were surely falling, the
fire being kindled here of your desolation, what by dissension of
reUgion, what by dissension of government, wherewith surely you
had homed to the utter desolation of this country, if it had not
pleased the high mercy of God for the honour of His own name, not
for any your deserts, to deHver you. And if ever in any past God
showed to have a special protection of this realm as He hath showed
ever and as it was showed to King Edward the Saint by revelation
with a voice that said regnum AngUae est regnum Dei, that He
would show this special favour unto it was most showed 2 marvellous
tokens of His special grace and favour He hath showed to the realm
above any other. The one and the first after we had once received
the faith in Pope Evaritus' time, and lost it afterwards. Yet God
did not leave us, nor utterly reject us, as hath done other f allin
g
8o CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL {continued)

from the faith, but returned us to the same in St. Gregory's time
again in such manner and with that abundance of Grace that we were
were able not to edify one and other here, but also bring them to the
faith that cast out the faith here, which were the Saxons ; which
by their coming hither being infidels at that time extinguished the
faith, and their faith was kindled afterwards by those that came
from hence. And as His mercy was notable in that returning to the
faith of this realm, so it was no less notable that falling into schism
from the Unity of the Church wherein also the Saxons hath been
a great cause to confirm you in, you be returned again to the same,
which is a marvellous grace. And I pray God with Uke success that
we may help for the return of the Saxons to the unity as we did in the
faith. And how soever it please God to dispose these graces that
we have received already be wonderful and such that hath not been
granted to other nations, whom, falling from the faith, God hath
suffered to die in peccatis suis in their infidelity, and falling from the
unity, to Uve in misery in the same, as He hath now suffered you,
but at both falling hath recovered And to make us know that it
;

was His very hand that is dextera excelsi the hand of mercy looked
a little of the manner of your deUvering how you were brought to
the church again, and of the manner of the building of the church
at the beginning, when was opened to pour graces upon the Church
in earth, joining the same with heaven to make one house, one church
one city of both ; which He did when He had suffered
afore men to do the uttermost they could do by His wisdom and
force to destroy the very house of God, the temple of God which
was Christ Himself, and so destroy it that they thought themselves
sure it should not be repaired again as the Jews and Gentiles both
showed themselves to be sure when they had condemned Christ
to death, nailed Him upon the cross, and there being dead, buried
Him and dosed up the tombe.
" Weis not the like here, when not finding Christ Himself on the
Cross but His image they made be cast down, they pulled Him from
the Cross, and finding His very Body and Blood in the Sacrament
that hung and died on the Cross, were not content with reverence.
It should be closed in a tabernacle for the food of the psissengers,
but with all shame and villainy cast it out as meat of dogs, as I
understand some did, it was never heard in the Chm-ch such
abomination. And all this they did, as they said, for establishment
of their state and wealth public here, as the Jews did Idll Christ for
the like cause, ne veniant Romani et tollant locum nostrum. And
so they did this to maintain their state. But when they had all
done and had began to stabUsh their state as much as man's wisdom
 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL (continued) 8i

and force could do this realm, no man resisting against them neither
within nor without, when they thought themselves most surest,
what followed ? Surely that same that the prophet speaketh of
Antechrist when he hath done against Christ that the wit of man can
imagine, joining his uttermost power thereunto, then he sine manu
conteretur, as no man
thought it should be done in this case but ;

rather they that hoped best, were of this opinion that if there were
any amendment hereof, should be done in manu forti as the people ;

of Israel were delivered under Pharoe that would not suffer them
to sacrify to God as God had commanded them. And who would
have thought otherwise in this realm, where God was in like manner
prohibited that they should not sacrifice as God had ordained to
them, and more violently let herein than ever Pharoe did the
children of Israel. Where like offenses were, what could be thought,
but God would have used hke vengeance, like manner of His scourge
of justice as He did with Pharoe and the Egjrptians, which should
have been in manu forti ? But this manner, God did not use with
you, but used the same with your particular Church here that He
used at the beginning with His Spouse, the universal church and
your mother which He redeemed out of captivity by choosing a
virgin whose soul He had espoused where He had made His temple
and in whom He had maintained the light of His faith, suffering her
first to be so oppressed with all kinds of sorrow that it might be

well said of her that was said to her's and all our mother the holy
Church by the said prophet Isaye when God should come to comfort
her, to whom God said he came tamquam ad mulierem derelictam et
moerentem spiritu, ad pauperculam tempestate convulsam, et sine
ulla consolatione, for so surely she was travailed many years and
at last was brought to have her heart pierced with the sword of
sorrow, as the Mother of Christ was in His passion and for like :

cause. For as that was a sword of sorrow, to penetrate to the very

Mother of Christ's heart, to see her son hang on the cross between
two thieves, and there to die so this was a greater cause to this
;

Lady, to see that when the indicible goodness of God had turned
that doleful spectacle of the cross to the greatest joy of all the world
had turned that death to be the cause of our life, that Body and
Blood there to be a sacrifice to purge and take away our sins, and
that same self-sacrifice to be given to us for our very food of eternal
life which we received daily, which the church had never be food

withall, this then to be taken out of the church to be taken from

the altar the which the prophet Malachas prophesied should be set
up in every place through the world, when he said in the person of
God In omni loco offeretur nomini mea oblatio munda. As it
:
82 CARDINAL POLE'S PASTORAL {continued)

was the rest of the world, and as many years offered in

fulfilled in
their realm as we have years from the first receiving our faith;
and that same to be suddenly taken away, to be denied to be an
oblation and sacrifice in all places of the realm, remaining only this
altar in this virgin's house, as this was some comfort privately
given by God ne deficeret lucema in Israel, yet that openly the
same could not be done not there no other place of the realm being
universally prohibited to great dishonour of God and slander of his
people with the loss of so many thousand souls ; that was the sword
that did penetrate her heart, as it did all those that in their heart
the honour of Christ and wealth of the Church was so oppressed
as other the wit of man his counsel or force could bring to pass in this
realm without any hope of man's hope of recovery."
 Chapter IV

PASTORAL [Continued)

"And then began God to show His power in such a manner that
His hand might be known to be the doer and that there was no
counsel, no force where God intended to put to His hand, as it
was best known when God suffered them that would be the undoers
of this woman and the Catholic religion withall, to put what counsel
they could, which was as much as could be made by them that
had highest authority in the realm against this maiden that had
no counsel but God's counsel, nor no help but that God put in men's
hearts to help her against them which lacking no counsel that men
could give to destroy her, had gathered as much power as could be
made for the time in the realm at that present, which she did not
sooner show herself, but all came to her foot to submit themselves,
she being made by the hand of God lady and queen of all dextera
Dei exaltata for to set up His honour and glory in the realm, which
was in no other realm in Christendom so soon oppressed. And this
was the very victory of Christendom done in that manner for the
redemption of our particular Church in England, that He used for
the universal when He suffered death in Jerusalem, and showed
himself conqueror of death and the maUce of man in Jerusalem and
through the world, and that this victory might take better effect,
begun by a woman, and by cause non erat bonum mulierem esse
solam, specially in such a great enterprise, the making also of their
marriage, God took into His own hands to confound again all
counsel of man, giving her a husband against whom for conjunction
of matrimony with her there was as much resistence as by man's
counsel could be procured. But here again God shewed that non
est consilium contra Dominum. And that this was God's counsel,
the success did show and that it was matrimony ordained by God,
and for the renewing of the old faith and religion, having joined afore
together both their titles in one she being the title by her crown,
defender of the faith, and he by his crown inheritance unto of
catholic which must be ever married together nor cannot be disevered
if God should be honoured by either of them as they were in both

their minds afore, and to bring these persons to be joined together

in wedlock who so knoweth what impediments were laid by the way

83
84 PASTORAL {continued)

no man could say but it was the very hand of God, as God also
showed to be His hand in adjoining to these twain the third person
that was necessary to be had on so great an enterprise of restitution
of religion if it should be brought to pass ; which must come from
him to whom God had given the charge as to the head for the
governance of the whole church in eeirth, which is the Pope of
Rome that sitteth Peter's chair, in his chair that was called the
stone upon the which the head builder would edify His Church.
From that stone must spring and flow out water as it did in wilder-
ness or ever the children of Israel and the Church might taste or
drink the pure water of true religion and justice. And from thence
God sent one which to show that he was sent of Him and that his
coming in came of His hand, having first preserved him out of all
danger of mind touching his faith and bodily peril, wherein he had
been much travailed, that men might know he was of His sending
He let man's wisdom and counsel do what they could to let his
entering, as they did the woman coming to the crown and her
husband to join with her and so He suffered a good space like let to
be put for the entry of the third, but should be minister to satisfy
their godly desires to set up true faith and old religion. And in this
God would show also non est consUium contra Dominum And so ;

brought him in, removing all impediments, to make the work perfect;
which, in truth, when it was done, it might be evidently known not
to be the work of these 3 persons, but the work of the Holy Trinity ;

which bringing these three together, made the work perfect by the
same power man was at the beginning made perfect, when it was
said, in the name of the Trinity; f aciamus hominem ad imaginem et

simihtudinem nostram. And so now in these 3 were represented one

man which is made ex corpore et spiritu and by these 3 in one spirit,
God having preserved them in one purity of faith He performed
this work of the reducing the multitude of the realm to one obedience,
faith and religion wherein standeth the unity of the Church. And
hereby you be returned to be partakers of aU graces and benefits
granted to the spouse of Christ which is your mother and of all
those that be partakers of any true joy in this world and very
felicity in the world to come.
"And this being done and performed the day of the feast of
St. Andrew, you see now for how many and great causes you have
to keep solemn this day with all joy with such praises and thanks
to God as you had never more cause to do, not when you were
brought first into the church, when first you received your faith,
whereby you entered to be in the number of where David, the great
prophet, rejoiced so much to have the promise to be one of them
 PASTORAL {continued) 85

that should enter, which, by your re-entry, you have recovered all.
And this day such that the other should nothing have profited
is

you being once fallen out, except you had been returned again,
which by the infinite mercy of God, you did this day. And here
now resteth more to say unto but of the way to maintain you therein
to enjoy the fruit of so great a benefit, and what is the way I showed
you when I told you from whence St. Andrew came desiring to
know where Christ's dwelling place was, he might dwell with Him,
which place was from the stole of penance when St. John taught.
And from this stole you must come if you will either find Christ or
His house. But because it is not enough to repent in mind for that
is past, except also you bring forth fruits dignos penitentiae, for

so the master of the school, St. John taught his scholars, as Christ
also taught His, therefore I shall show you, God willing, which be
the worth fruits of penance whereby you may best show your
repentance without the which you can never have fructus gaudii.
These be those wherein you have principally offended God in the
time of the schism when you cast yourself out of the grace of God,
and returning to the same now to show yourself repentent that
you were out, there is no other way, but as by your deeds you
showed yourself out of the Church, by your deeds also you show
yourself to be returned, working as it is prescribed to all them that
be lively members of the same.
"And now to come to the particular days wherein must be some
of these worth fruits of that were one of the finest
penance. If
deeds you did when you swerved from the Church, to cast down
rehgious houses, to spoil churche-s and monasteries, now look where
I desire any great thing of you, I do not desire you to set up that
you have cast down, know you yet be not able, not the
for that I
prince himself although I know there lacketh no good will
is able,

but it is not the power of one prince that is able to set up in one
man's life that was set up in many princes' fives when also their
power was much greater. Therefore, this I do not demand of you,
but this only, that you would in your heart agree with the desire of
the Catholic prince and all other which esteem for a matter of great
honour and service to God when such churches and houses be builded
to the honour of God. This, I say, only I require of you that you
would in those churches and rehgious houses, which beLag cast down
and whatever your charge be set up by either, you will show such
aSect, such favour to the persons that be in the serving to the honour
of God, as they may know at last, you bear the mind to the service
of God in such houses and be discontented that your power is no
SHch that you might help them yourself. For this beginning,
86 PASTORAL {continued)

I require no more of you, that have no other means to scold you but
because the mind cannot be showed without some outward sign
if outward deeds were no more but sajnng how not only monasteries

be destroyed but all kinds of churches spoiled, you will testify your
mind of displeasure of the same by giving if it were that is no loss
to you, to spare some maimer of ornament, some maimer of gift,
which none is so poor but he may do to restore some part of the
beauty of the church, wherein that you may be the prompter
affect to such godly deeds. But by the honouring of the persons
that by the help of other to put in such places. And to the (end) you
may bear the better affect both to the deeds and to the persons that
be so helpen of the charity of other. I might schold you first in the
ensample of the people of Israel approved of God. I will put afore
you the example of the people of Israel, what they did when they
returned to their country, finding their temple destroyed for the
restoring of the same again, whereby also you shall know what
a thing it is, how grateful to God to build a church to the invocation
of His name.
"And what the people of Israel did to the building again of their
temple it is written of Esdras their scribe, that was present and
director of all their deeds touching religion ; in whose book it is
written that they showed so great an affecte to build their temple
and the holy City where their temple stood that being molested of
their enemies, which were the gentiles and pagans that dwelt in the
country near about unto them ; they held their swords in the one
hand to defend them from their enemies, and with the other hand
attended to their building; this instinct the Spirit of God gave
them.
"And what trow you they do, that do build such houses to the
honour of God ? I tell you this it is one of the most noblest acts
that man can do in earth, most according to the excellence of his
nature, showing also a great grace above nature and most acceptable
to God ; as God Himself made it to be known in the first building of
the temple in Jerusalem, and afterwards in the restoring of that same,
being destroyed of the Chaldees.
"And touching the building, this we read in the book of Kings, that
King David that was so dear to God, after long travail against his
enemies which he overcame by the protection of God, and at last
set in peace conqueror of his enemies, willing to show his grateful
mind to the goodness of God by building a temple, dedicate to the
invocation of His name, did confer this his purpose with Nathan,
the prophet. Which hearing, the same could not but greatly
approve it, as any man would that had a good instinct of
 PASTORAL [continued) 87

nature in him. Which sentence afterwards notwithstanding, he

did revoke, warned of God to do so ; not for because God did not
allow the act of worth of David grateful-minded, but because the work
was more worth than to be done by him that had shed so much blood
as David had in his wars. This high excellence of this work, Nathan
would never have noted, except it had been revealed to him of God.
And so God accepting David's mind and the preparation he had
made of all manner of stuff for the building, reserved the beginning
and performance of the same to his son, whom for David's sake,
He would give peace for the purpose.
"By this you may perceive what an act this is, how grateful to
God to build places to His honour for the invocation of His name.
Which God confirmed again, when the temple afterwards was
destroyed, which for to restore God did excite the spirit of King
Cyrus which was counted amongst those princes that had no better
knowledge of God but by the dim light of the law of nature, to be
one of the noblest natured man that was in earth. And for this
cause God made him noble and victorious to help at last to the
renovation of His temple as he did delivering the Jews out of
captivity of Babylon, and sending them with gifts to help the
building of their temple, restoring all that was left in the treasury
of the Kings of Babylon of the spoU of the temple. And this was
long afore it was done prophecied of Isaias and the books showed
unto the King. Which all showeth what a grateful thing to God
such kind of building is, which hath ever been the instinct of those
that have been counted above other to excell in gifts of natiure and
to have most noble minds, which being in any high state, having
power to do it, have made as it were the compliment of the felicity in
earth to build such temples and churches where divine power
might be honoured as both in Greece and in Asia and in Italy and
where more civility was used the multitude of such buildings doth
show made of the best natured princes afore they knew how God
should be honoiured.
"And since Christ's coming, when the prophecy was fulfilled that
God said by Malachaias as I rehearsed afore that in omni loco
offertur nomini meo obliatio munda, and the true manner of
religion known to the world, then in every place were builded
temples, churches, and monasteries to the honour of God of them
that were most revered to be in the favour of God, of the which
Constantine the Emperor did leave marvellous monuments in
Rome and Constantinople in this realm here there were such an
so many that greater testimony could not be given of jmy nation of
excellency of nature and grace withall . . ."
.
 —
88 PASTORAL {coniinued)

Tlie Manuscript here ends abruptly.*

I have thought it inadvisable to interpolate the letter with comments
of my own as it would seem a desecration of antiquity to do so.
But I have advisedly di\'ided it into three chapters. The first part
forms a distinct break and therefore naturally occupies a chapter of its
own. The second, however, runs uninterruptedly in the original,
but I have made two chapters of it as there are two distinct parts :

the an account of the crimes of the national apostacy, the

first,

second, an account of the restoration under Mary and an appeal to the

the peojde for restitution.
Tlie Cardinal reviews the history of Henry's secession. He
blames the people for their cowardice and irreligion. He hkois
them throughout to the Israehtes, who although so favoured by
God, showed themsdves unworthy of His favours. like them the
people in this land renounced the beneficent rule of God cind wished
lor a king to rule over them instead of a prophet, and this king
assumed to himself the role not only of prophet but even of hi^
priest.
The nation's crime was two-fold ; they cast out the Vicar of
Christ from the Church of God, and they cast out the Body of Qirist
from the tabernacle of the Church.
Moreover, these crimes were ommitted, notwithstanding the
wise teaching and noble example of two such dou^ty champions
of the faith as Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher.
The document further points to hopes, alas too soon to be
!

shattered. Whatever work of restoration had been undertaken

was in a brief space made abortive and the ruin of the succeeding
reigns was even greater and more sweeping than that of Hejary.
Although the Cardinal speaks of the briers that had been cast
into the fires at Smithfields, he was really a mild man, averse to
such methods of repression. On more than one occasion he saved
Protestants from the penalties which the law inflicted for obstinate
heresy. He was deepl}- spiritual and filled with the noblest ideals
an ecclesiastic whose learning was of real value to the church in
England.

• Los. MSS. BundU, 10S5 (XVIII.), "EcdesiasUcai and Theological Misc.

Papers."
 Chapter V

CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER

The document cited in the last three chapters shows us the character
of the feeUng which was caused by the destructive measures of
Henry VIII. and Edward VI. They were considered in the Ught
of a rupture with aU the traditions and religious practices of the
past. The Holy Mass was not yet abolished by Henry but, with
;

the breaking off from the hitherto acknowledged fount of authority,

the other links which went to form the chain of Catholic Dogma and
to bind the hearts of men in one reUgion were sure to snap. Hence,
early in the following reign Transubstantiation and the Eucharistic
Sacrifice were condemned, and simultaneously, the doctrine of the
Communion of Saints was shorn of all its beauty and significance.
With the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass all connection with
the supernal world of spirits seemed severed. The saints and angels
were denied the power of intercourse with mortals. The deceased
were reputed to have cast off, together with their mortal coil, their
compassionate interest in things human. The mother, who had at
last received in paradise the reward of her fidelity was thought no
longer to care what befel the child of her womb. Bosom friends
were parted at the grave in such a manner that the hving might
ineffectually weep and lament alone, and the dead had wakened
to a bUssful Ufe wherein no thought of the one who had been left
behind would come to bind the happy soul with the past.
Indeed, according to the new religion, there are but two states in
the world beyond : the one is bhssful where the just rejoice with
no alloy of misgiving or pain ; the other is wretched where the
wicked weep and lament unceasingly for their evil hves. In the first
state, although perhaps the soul might retain some love for earthly
beings, it is a fruitless love, unable, as of yore, to help by prayer or
counsel. In the second state the soul was lost to all the tender
feelings of humanity, and was given o'er for evermore to darkest
hate. There were no 'tweenways ; no state of saving fire, no
purgation. If the soul were sulUed still with dust of earth the
reformers would not admit of any purification after death. They
were loth indeed to say that all remnants of sin were punishable
with eternal loss. Hence they devised the " faith healing " of the

89
90 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER
spirit. Thus by a mere belief in the all-cleansing power of Christ's
precious Blood they were confident that the soul would be made
" whiter than snow." A sure confidence prevailed with the pious,
not only that all was well with those who had departed, but that
they had entered into the " joy of their Lord." For their faith had
made them clean. They would not have it that prayers could avail
the deceased. Chantry foundations were therefore aboUshed and
the endowments went to swell the State Treasury.
The seven sacraments were reduced to two. Images were
destroyed in numberless cases. Frescoed walls were plastered over
and roods cast down from the screens.
Another document which wiU add colour to the preceding is
the portion of a long Latin letter (to be found in the Appendix)
by Cardinal Pole to Archbishop Cranmer, which I have translated.
Cranmer is in prison and is ah^eady condemned. But the Cardinal
hopes to touch him by his words.
The date is November, 1555. *
* Although the document is unsigned and undated, there can be no doubt
whatever about its authorship. Compare p. 93 with the following passage :

On the 6th of November, 1555, Cardinal Pole wrote another long letter to
Archbishop Cranmer in which he says :
" But because I have entreated this
part more largely in another epistle, that I send unto you, wherein I show
that standing, as you do, without repentance of the maner of your entrie
to the service of the Church, you could never be nother good scholar of this
doctrine, and moche less a master, I wil now procede no further to reason
with you herein, knowing al to be in vaine, and no healp nor meane to recover
you, but only prayer." (John Strsrpe's " Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer,'
Vol. II., p. 987.) That the Cardinal Legat is alluding to our letter is quite
clear, not only from the fact that in it he argues at length the iniquity of
Cranmer in the manner of his obtaining the see of Canterbury, but also from
all he says of England's rejection of the doctrine of the Blessed Sacrament.
The following extract from Strype's transcription will, by comparison with
the document which I have translated, prove what I say beyond reasonable
question. Compare the following passage with pp. 98 and 99 :

" Nou in probabihbus humanae saprientiae verbis, ne evacuatur crux

Christi As it should be in this case. For if this probabilitie were followed,
:

the sklaunder of the cross shold be voyd. For this were no sklaunder to the
Jewes to hear Christ honoured in a figure, their being ever used to the same.
Nor it wold seem so moch folyshe to the Gentiles and infidelles, after we had
accepted Christ for God, to honour him in a figurative maner. But this
being the Counsel of Christ to utter this great misterie in forme that he should
have it sklander to both the Jews, that seke signes, and were used to be taught
by figures and also the Gentiles, that styak upon the judgment of reason
; ;

The more probable you make it, the further you swarve from the trew doctrin
of Christ, and verie trew maner to teach it. And here may no new maner
be taught. What a haynous pride is this, this doctrine passing a thousand
yeare, and as manye hundred beside, as hath bene syneth this Sacrament
was instituted, by the myddest of the Jewes and Gentiles, with this sklaunder
and appearannce of folyshnes, never being found fawtie in any one of the
Busshops and preachers of the word of God, that they confused the real
presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament of the aulter but al found
;

fautie and condemned of heresle, which denyed the same . . ." (Ibid.)
 :

CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER 91

Bundle 1329 (11). Miscellaneous Papers, Loseley.

" Indeed was itnot so ? Or do I invent or perhaps exaggerate
these things ? Acknowledge thy deeds, and first of all the
following
" Scarcely hadst thou beenmade Archbishop and Primate of
the Kingdom by the Supreme Pontiff than thou didst break faith
with him and perjure thyself in consenting to abrogate his
authority.
" Didst not thou walk in the counsel of the tmgodly ? Later
didst not thou stand in the way of siimers, and sit in the chair
of scoffers when thou didst summon before thee the cause of
:

divorce between the king and queen, which cause was being
examined before the Supreme Pontiff ?
" And for this authority, which thou wast the first impiously to
claim for thyself, didst thou not cite both parties ? But, having
pronounced a most iniquitous sentence, thou didst dismiss
with contumely the queen who depended on the equity of her
case. Thus the more thou didst honour the king by thy words,
the more grevously in truth didst thou mock him in deed.
" For surely what else was it but mockery, that thou shouldst
strongly advise him to put away his wife, when he was already
making every effort to do so ? Then, as if thou didst doubt lest
perhaps thou mightest fail to persuade him, having added threats
of censure, didst not thou thereby mock him the more for all ;

men knew that he could not be touched or restrained by the fear,

as we say, of laws divine or human ? What then, didst not thou
laugh to thyself when thou didst act as a stem judge, urging
the king with threats ? And indeed I could not repress my tears
when I read these things in a certain written document which had
then been sent out in the name of the king's council. For I
saw that prince, whom I dearly loved and revered, brought so
low that, not only could he be mocked with impunity, but that
he himself could command it and even offer a reward to the scoffer.
Moreover how pestiferous was this thy decision and how deadly
to thy country events that quickly followed amply testify.
Indeed how much evil didst thou let loose by the judgment
which thou didst pronoimce when, sitting in the court of justice,
namely, that the king should put away his lawful wife, of whom

Then follows the passage which I have quoted above " But because I
:

have entreated this part more largely on another epistle, that I send unto
you, etc."
As will be seen in the Loseley document, it is just this point of the age-long
belief of the Church in the Real Presence which is dwelt upon by the writer.
92 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER
he had had issue, and with whom he had lived in closest union for
over twenty years, and that he should sever himself from the
Church which is the common mother of all. How great was the
destruction of property, the spoliations of churches, the ruin of
the nobUity, the violence of the people which ensued ?
" Was there ever in any reign in so short a time so great and
so pernicious a change of all laws and rights ?
" Thou indeed for in opening to the
art guilty of all these evils :

king the door whereby he nmght depart from the church thou
didst introduce in this kingdom the spirits of evil whereby it
might be laid desolate and overturned. Hence if I were to
cry to God that He might take revenge on thee for the blood of
His servants and for so many crimes, would not my cry be just ?
Assuredly I would do so if these were my only consideration ;

but when I turn my mind towards and consider the blood of Him
Who suffered death for sinners, I am forced somewhat to stay
my cry while I understand what answer thou dost make to His
voice which is the voice of mercy. If that voice could reach
thine ears I shall rejoice and indeed I shall endeavour in every way
that it may but tiiere is one way which I have already begun to
;

adopt, that I should recall to thy mind those evils which have been
let loose upon this kingdom by that authority which thou hast,
contrary to the laws of the church, appropriated to th5rself;
thus anyone considering in his heart these evUs may form an
opinion about thee (who more than others dost offend God by
ambition and pride when thou dost propound a new opinion and
doctrine about the greatest mystery of our religion) to be the one
wise man of aU others who is able to understand those things
which are hidden to the wise and revealed only to the little ones.
How much more truly we should judge that thou art less wise
than all the rest and if thou didst once possess knowledge that
it has been blinded by malice and sins and that thou hast lost it,

thus indeed it has happened for such is the way of divine justice
;

that those who knowing God have not glorified Him as God
should first be delivered up to the desires of their heart (which
happened to thee, when thou didst obtain those honours and
riches which thy heart desired) then to disgraceful passions
(which happened to thee, when contrary to the honour of thy
order, against the laws of the church, thou didst have a concubine
in place of a wife). Such being the case, what followed but that
thou shouldst be delivered over to a reprobate sense ? And to
be smre this is that very sense whereby, contrary to the constant
feeling of the church and of all pious people, thou dost deny that
 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER 93

the Body and Blood of Christ are in the Sacrament of the

Eucharist. In this thou dost show how much thou dost differ
from their piety, and in order that thou mightest return to it I
have thought fit to propose to thee the following method and
line of thought :consider, ask thyself what thou hast done, why
thou hast lived, by what entrance hast thou made thy way into
the care of the flock of Christ, whether by the door or by the
window. If thou shouldst discover thyself to have been called
to this office to the end that thou mightest hide under the name
and appearance of justice the foul lust of man, who can doubt
that thou didst not enter by the door ?
" And who does not know that in the first instance thou wast
made archbishop for this reason alone. Thou wast indeed at
one time known to very few, but to none wast thou more unknown
than to him who conferred this honour upon thee. So far was it
from the minds of others to think of such a thing that it seemed
impossible to thee to allow such a thought to enter thy mind that
any one could enter by any other way into the fold of the Lord
in order to perform the duty of the first pastor in the kingdom.
" And who can doubt but that thou didst enter not by the
door but by the window or rather by underground passages
after the manner of thieves and robbers ? Moreover thou didst
enter in order to ruin and destroy as subsequent events have
shown, since through thee have been massacred in this kingdom
a larger number of the fold of Christ than at any time elsewhere
or by any open enemy of the Christian ReUgion. I would wish
you to recognise this so that being locked in prison and on the
eve of suffering the death penalty thou shouldst not excuse
but condemn thyself. Thus with that thief who together with
Christ was attached to the cross thou mayest say We receive '

the just reward of our deeds and at the same time thou mayest
'

implore mercy of the Son of God Who was crucified for thee.
If thou wouldst do this already I can see pardon prepared for thee,
and indeed this is the onlyway open to thee to obtciin it. It is
for this reason that I have just now recalled to mind and placed
before thine eyes those things which have been done by thee in the
sight of all. Nor can anyone adduce with any truth in palliation
of thy fault that thou didst not kill any one but wast kind and
gentle with all men, although I hear that some have actually said
this of thee :but they know not what they say even thou
:

perhaps hast not known whether thou hast killed anyone, because
thou hast not entered into the fold of Christ with that intention
nor after thy entry art thou conscious of having desired anyone's
94 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER
blood. But in this thy conscience has been deceived by satan,
who, although he was a murderer from the beginning and daily
kills men by his counsel, nevertheless, if he were summoned to
defend his cause before a tribunal of men it would be easy for him
to prove even to those whom he killed that such a crime was far
from his mind for he never persuaded any one to do anything
:

but those things which are most pleasant for man in this life,
which each one desires above all things and which above all
make for enjoyment in this life. In truth, what else does Satan
propose but honours, riches, pleasures, all those things in fine
which seem to contribute towards a pleasant and altogether
happy life ? Now if this defense in no way frees Satan from the
guilt of murder neither will it profit thee who hast been his minister
in satisfying the lust and cupidity of the King in the shameful
love of a woman, in unlawful honours, in unjustly acquiring riches
and power, and in this way, although thou didst not desire his
death, thou didst the more cruelly kill him, and through him, a
great many others. Indeed thou didst offer him poison of such a
nature that no antidote could be found to it and this was so
:

when these his evil .desires thou didst shield by an appearance

of justice, thus by lust corrupting his soul more effectually than
if as a lewd enticer thou hadst led women to him.
"
With regard to plunder, thou hast proceeded to open robbery
'
more after the manner of a count or a duke (collecting his rents).
" This kind of infamy and crime may more easily be corrected
by penance. Such is our every day experience. But where the
appearance and name of what is honest and just is made a cloak
for crime it excludes the possibility of penance and removes the
hope of Salvation this is what then happened to the King as
;

we can testify and that to the greatest detriment of himself and

of the whole kingdom.
" AU now recall to thy memory that thou mayest imder-
this I
stand even now God would open thine eyes through penance)
(if

that thou who hast been a zealous minister of dark deeds, a

minister of shameful lust, a minister of ambition in taking
possession of honours that belong to another, a minister of
injustice in seizing the goods that belong to others, canst not in
the least be a worthy minister and doctor nor even a disciple of
that truth the understanding of which is above even the angelic
intellect.
" If thus thou wouldst consider within ths^self all this and that
thou wouldst sincerely repent of having been the author of so
many crimes and enormities, then indeed shalt thou &ad an
 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER 95

easier deliverance from the dark prison in which thou hast so

long been detained and access shall be opened to thee to light and
pardon. This is the only way left wherein thou mayest perceive
the truth and obtain salvation ; and unless thou enter upon this
way thou shalt seek in vain to find the truths in the Sacred
Scriptures or in other dogmatic books of the Christian Religion, in
vain shall others labour who strive to reclaim thee from error
and false opinions.
" Therefore I have wished that thou shouldst first be admonished
in order that if at any time God should grant thee repentance
so that thou mightest recover thy senses and escape from the
snares of the devil, then there might be some chance of opening
thine eyes to the light of the truth in other things as in this
mystery of the Body of Christ, of which we are speaking, and
which thou dost deny to be in the Sacrament of the altar, and
that thou mayest be forced so to believe by the words of scripture
itself.
" But shall I discuss with thee what should be done ? Indeed
I would do this had I any hope of benefiting thee ; but what
hope can I have when I see that it availed thee naught that which
John Fisher bishop of Rochester, a most holy and learned man
has admirably written on this very subject, not to speak of many
others, nor did the recent Oxford disputation have any better
success although it was undertaken for thine own sake for not :

only hast thou not been withdrawn from error, but thou hast
become more determined and obstinate in that very error. This
was certainly not the fault of those who strove to show thee the
Ught of truth ; but the greater was the Ught offered to thee the
less could it be borne by thine ailing eyes and the more hurt did it
inflict on thee.
" If, therefore, I refuse to argue with thee how shaU I who now
write to thee, succeed in that which I have so much at heart,
that is, to lead thee to the light of truth ; for thou thyself dost
avow that thou shalt never change thy opinion unless thou art
firstconvinced by argument.
" But it is not for me to profess to do this it is the work of
;

Him who created the Ught and divided it from the darkness. My
task is to show the way which leads thereto and this I have in
great measure done when I exhorted thee to acknowledge thy
sins which separate thee from God, whereby thou hast most
grievously offended Him and gone astray from Him and to return
to penance and implore the divine mercy. If over and above all
this I should show thee the source of thine error in this wicked
 :

96 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER

and perverse opinion about the truth of the Body of Christ and
at thesame time I should pray to God for thy salvation (which
indeed I cease not to do from my soul) then truly shall I have
fulfilled my duty.
" Now thine error proceeds from the same cause from which
Christ asserts the heresy of the Sadducees took its rise, when He
said :
'
You you know not the scriptures nor the
err because
power They did not understand the scriptures because
of God.'
they did not know the virtue and power of God. For when they
denied the resurrection of the dead, they did not, however, deny
the Scriptures, but interpreted them wrongly and fell into ibis
error through their ignorance of the power of God to raise the
dead.
" The same may now be said of thee and of all those who deny
that the bread and wine are by the blessing of the priest and the
words of Christ changed into His Body and Blood such as that
which is written in the prophecy of Ezekiel* of those bones strewn
about in that vast plain, when God had asked of the son of man
'
Dost thou think these bones shall hve ? and he had '

answered '
O Lord, thou knowest.' and God : Prophesy
:
'

concerning these bones and say to them Ye dry bones, hear

: :

the word of the Lord. Behold I wiU send spirit into you, and
you shall hve. And I wiU lay sinews upon you, and wiU cover you
with skin and I wiU give you spirit and you shall hve, and you
:

shall know that I am the Lord.'

" These things God said to the prophet, who having prophesied
according to the command, adds '
And as I prophesied there
:

was a noise, and behold a commotion and the flesh came up :

upon them, and the skin was stretched out over them, but there
was no spirit in them. And He said Prophesy to the spirit :

Thus saith the Lord Come, spirit, from the four winds, and
:

blow upon these slain. And I prophesied as He had commanded

me ; and the spirit came into them, and they hved.'
" So far Ezekiel.
" All this is intended to show the wonderful strength and
power of God in raising the dead. Those who are ignorant of it

lapse into the error of the Sadducees by denying the resurrection

ci the dead and at the same time they exhibit ignorance of the
Scriptures.
" In the same way and for the same reason those err, who deny
that when the priest prophesies and pronounces the words of Christ

• Ezekiel c. 37
 :

CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER 97

the bread and wine are changed into the true Body and Blood of
Christ because they ignore the strength and power of God.
" For just as it was said to the prophet about those bones
'
Son of man, dost thou think these bones shall live ' so might
the priest be asked when he has
before his eyes the bread and
wine :
'
Dost thou think that these shall be changed into the
body and blood of Christ ? And he might well answer after
'

the maimer of the prophet, Lord, thou knowest.' Neither is

'

there any one amongst men or angels who could know this, for
such power is beyond their ken, but it is not beyond the strength
and power of God.
" Hence that which Ezekiel said, was also done As I :
'

prophesied and uttered the words of God to the bones that what
were dry and scattered should be joined together and receive
life through the spirit.' The same maybe said of the bread and
wine which are consecrated by the priest that by strength of God
and the power of the spirit they are changed into the body and
blood of Christ. Those who ignore this power of God are also
unable to understand the meaning of the Scriptures on this
point.
" But, thou sayest, thou dost not see the change as Ezekiel
saw in spirit the change operated on the bones by the sinews and
joints, neither would thy belief in the power of God to do this
make it necessary for thee to beUeve that He has done it.
" How many things indeed are there which God can do but
which He does not !

" Thus he who would refute thine opinion in this matter

would unavailingly argue that God can do it but must show
from the Scriptures that He wills to do it. For thou dost not
deny the power of God but His will. If therefore, any one could
succeed in proving this all subject of controversy would at once
be removed.
" What then shall I bring forward in order that the will of
God in this matter may be known to thee and acknowledged ?
Where shall I look for it ? Whence shall I draw it ? From
the Scriptures ? These indeed contain it. By them have been
revealed whatever God has been pleased to reveal to us.
" But to whom of us ? Not all who read the Scriptures agree
amongst themselves about the will of God in all things, since
others interpret them differently and there is nothing about
which there is more dissension amongst teachers than about the

meaning of the scriptures as for instance on this very subject

which we are now treating.
98 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER
To what therefore shall I have recourse ? Whom shall
"
Iseek as interpreter ? One other indeed whom we call the
Church and of whom when God wished to unite her as spouse to
His Son in the sight of all nations. He said :
'
Thou shalt no more
be called Forsaken . . . but thou shalt be called my pleasure
in her.'*
" See what interpreter of His will God wishes us to have to
whom we can always have recourse to her in truth He makes
:

known His will so clearly that He can say of her and thou shalt '

be called my pleasure in her.' Now she so evidently shows the

pleasure of God in this thing that there is no place in the whole
world where it has not been declared. If thou desirest evidence
of this the testimonies of all ages from the time of the Apostles
up to this day may be brought. Indeed, on this point there has
everywhere been iJie most perfect agreement amongst those who
have shone by their piety and their penetration of the Scriptures
and have undertaken the office of teaching, so much so that they
seemed of one voice and one heart and one mind. And this unity
is the more conspicuous since on almost all the other articles of

faith and religion contentions and controversies have at different

times been raised while there is no less room for quibbling in this
matter than in others, yet at no time in so many councils which
were held for the extirpation of heresies is there to be found even
a hint of any heretic who ever doubted of the truth of the Body of
Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. But after the year one
thousand, as I have said before, when a controversy was raised
on the subject by a deacon of Anjou, his opinion was assailed to
such an extent by many pious and learned men (chiefly amongst
whom was Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury) that he was
obhged to sing his palinode. Therefore what greater testimony can
be given of the consensus of the Church and of the will of God
which was revealed to her on that subject than the perpetual
silence of so many years ?
" And surely it would appear to have been the work of a
singular providence of God that no one in the Church should dare
publicly to attack this truth until it had been corroborated by a
silence of a thousand years, as if the Holy Spirit Who rules the
Church should thereby intend that any who subsequently by
the impulse of satan should excite a controversy on that question
should be confuted by that argument alone of the consensus of so
many years and ages. Certes nothing should have greater force
with those who do not show themselves to be so entirely inflated
• Isaiah Ixii. 4,
 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER 99

with pride that alone they pit their wisdom against that of all who
have hitherto existed in the Church. On these one would waste
one's labour no matter what speech one adopted nor what reasons
or arguments one used.
" If therefore, thou alone desirest to be thought more wise than
all those who for a thousand years followed this view which we
defend and which thou dost assail, then indeed, it seems, I speak
with thee in vain. What is there left but that thou shouldst
openly profess this thine arrogance or that thou shouldst deny this
consensus of so many years ? If thou shouldst adopt this latter
course it would not be difficult to collect the testimonies of every
age and thus to make it evident. However, this labour is not at
all necessary as it has been accomplished already by many others
and as did recently the learned man Cuthbert Tunstall, bishop of
Durham, in order that he might convince thine obstinacy and that
of others like thee.
" Yet thou wilt not suffer thyself to be convinced by this
consensus, but thou dost appeal to the scriptures and altiiough
there are arguments whereby thou art overcome, as quite
recently thou hast been vanquished in the Oxford disputation
and before that also by that learned and most keen minded man
Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, in the book which he
wrote against thine own, nevertheless thou dost boast that never
shalt thou be overcome since thou dost always contend that thou
makest the scriptures to agree with thee.
" What is this but to condemn as ignorant of the scriptures
not only those who are at present the professors of Catholic
doctrine, but the entire antiquity and to claim for thyself a
better understanding of them above all others. This truly must
be a most sure sign of pride no less than of ignorance of the
scriptures. For the things that are contained in them are not
revealed to the proud but to the humble : God resists the former
but gives His grace to the latter. In truth those apostles whom
He marks out for their pride He also deprives of justice as ;

when he says that they know nothing but that they weary
themselves on questions and contentions of words, which would
rather give a proof of thy weakness than that thou shouldst
call in question and controversy this thing, about which no one
who thinks aright about the faith ever doubts. But that this
weakness is the result of the vice of pride, which is by far the
most serious, is especially shown by the fact that in that very part
of Scripture which contains the doctrine concerning the greatest
mystery of our religion thou dost arrogantly claim for thyself
 ;
:

100 CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER

alone a better understanding than thou wilt concede to the whole
Church for a thousand years or rather from the day of her
foundation up to the present. No one hitherto, has ever inter-
preted the words of Christ in the sense which thou dost follow,
except those who have impiously cut themselves off from the
universal Church and have deservedly been condemned. What
therefore can I do in this matter ? Shall I seek for fresh argu-
ments to show thee that thou dost not understand the scriptures ?
For as the club snatched from Hercules, all has been taken from
thee by this one argument and thy whole case collapses.
" But as I said in the beginning, I know that precisely for this
reason dost thou err that thou art ignorant of the scriptures and
the power of God ; and same cause of the errors of all
this is the
heretics, as Christ pointed out when He confuted the error of the
Sadducees. However, if what I have said hitherto and what has
been said by others to the contrary be not sufficient, how can I
succeed in making thee see this thine ignorance.
" This indeed is the first thing that I shall do I will ask God :

the Father through the death of His only begotten Son that of
His all pervading mercy He would open thine eyes and ears and
that thus thou mightest hear the voice of truth and acknowledge
His justice ; and if it be necessary to use further speech I shall
not be neglectful even of that. And I shall first endeavour to
explain what it is to understand the Scriptures for I know that;

thou art ignorant of it although thou dost arrogantly claim for

thyself a better understanding of them than that possessed by
others. Now he understands the Scriptures who recognises in
them God's purpose just as he understands the law who
;

recognises the purpose and will of the legislator, which those

learned in the law call the spirit of the law. This is what the
Apostle means when about to leave his disciples he warns them
saying ' I have made known to' you all the course of God
: '

which is equivalent to saying I have delivered to you the key

'

of knowledge and the rule of works ; for he has both these'

who recognises the purpose of God in His word. Now this is

recognised by him who recognises the power of the word
therefore when Christ said to the Sadducees, You err, not '

knowing the Scriptures,' He added And the power of God,'

:
'

which, that is to say, shows itself by the word and which if any
one should not know he must also be ignorant of the word of God.
"If by chance this has been expressed somewhat obscvurely,
I can make it clear from the words of Paul himself, who, speaking
of the word of the Cross, shows its power.
 :

CARDINAL POLE'S LETTER TO CRANMER loi

" The burden of what he says in truth is that he might destroy

the wisdom of the wise and reject the prudence of the prudent
but this counsel of God, as Paul himself says, no one has known
except him to whom the spirit of God has revealed it, as no one
has known the things that are in man but the spirit of man ;

thus no one has known the things that are of God, but the
spirit of God, and he to whom the spirit of God hath revealed
them.
" Now this course has been revealed to us not only through
those who first received the gift of the spirit and who imbibed
the teaching from the mouth of Christ Himself, but also by him
who though he had not conversed with Christ when he was on
earth, was nevertheless rapt up to the third heaven where he
heard those secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter,
which however he uttered, that is, aU those, to be sure, which
relate to the elucidating of the purpose of God in the teaching of
Christ. This purpose is to destroy the wisdom of the wise and
to reject the prudence of the prudent ; as he himself teaches in the
epistle to the Corinthians, because the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe.
" Behold the purpose of God in the method of saving man, that
after man had siimed He in such a way undertook at once the
accomplishment of the saving work that because man had
perished through his wisdom by not acknowledging God, i.e., not
glorif37ing Him and trying to please Him, he should be saved
only by that which seems foolish to man, which doubtless is the
victory of the word of God and of the Cross of Christ."
We regret exceedingly that the whole document has not been
preserved. What we have seen of Pole's writings are, however,
sufficient to make us appreciate his learning and charity and we
are greatly edified to find that the busy Cardinal would take so
much trouble to reclaim so shifty a sinner as Cranmer. The letter
breathes charity in every Une, and, considering the awful con-
sequences of his crime, Cranmer is addressed in terms that are
most wonderfully void of the spirit of revenge.
 Chapter VI

REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT

It has been repeated ad nauseam by many a protagonist of the work
of Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, and others that it was but a work
of purification and that there was no break in faith or ApostoKc
succession. The documents quoted in the last chapters recall
volumes of history on this subject.
Two things are clear to those who remained staunch to the old
order that the Reformers had effected a total change in the
:

government of the Church in England and in the very essence of

Christian worship. Although Henry VIII. had not gone so far as
was definitely accomplished
to abolish the Sacrifice of the Altar, this
immediately after his death. Indeed, it was early felt that the
abohtion of the Papal Authority must be followed very speedily by
a crumbHng of the entire spiritual edifice. Hitherto the Pope
was not only the acknowledged source of all ecclesiastical authority
in matters of discipline but he was also the final coiurt of appeal
in matters of faith. He was the rock on which all men based their
belief, he was the keybearer of all theological questions, he was the
shepherd that ruled and fed the flock of Christ he was the Vicar,
;

the alter-ego of the High Priest, Jesus Christ Himself. The King
had declared himself supreme ruler of the Church in England in
matters temporal and spiritual, and in doing so had assumed to
himself all the prerogatives of the Bishop of Rome. It was evident
to Sir Thomas More and others like him, that, learned as was Henry,
with all his despotic power he could not long succeed in retaining
the smelliest semblance of unity in religion, and that Christian
worship must in a few years be completely wrecked.
Thus, indeed, it came about. Men could be coerced into an
external obedience to the will of this self-constituted Pope, but
no one would consider himself in conscience bound to give internal
assent to his definitions and enactments. They could be forced
to attend Church and to Hsten to violent denunciations of the
Papal enormities ; and many among the clergy could be cowed
into renunciation of their obedience to the Holy See ; but they
"a

could never be made to look upon the Crown as the infaUible guide
in the interpretation of the Word of God.
The result of this upheaval was to set a multitude of men, with
102
 " :

REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT 103

religious ambitions, devisingnew religions with the queerest and

most grotesque peculiarities. Each individual became his own
exponent of Holy Writ, and the more enterprising zealots assumed
the role of teachers.
A Loseley manuscript tells of a joiner of the name of John Water,
assembling on market days people from Wonersh, Bramley and
other places round about and expounding for upwards of an hour
the Sacred Scriptures. They were suspected of being Anabaptists.
There was also George Baker, who " was suspected to hold that
sect." " Also there is one John Warner, clothier, whom we do
somewhat suspect, although he be not so close and subtle as the
others are, yet we doubt, he smelleth of this sect, because he cometh
seldom to Church and to the communion, and when he is adjudged
by the ordinary to contribute money, for his faults, to the poor,
according to law, then he said that the judge had no such authority
by the law of God, to take away his money from him and that he
might as well take his coat from his back, and that he did wickedly
so to do. And when he was advertised not so to judge of the
Majistrate, he answered :
'
What I think of the Majistrate I will
keep to myself.'
The peaceful little village of Wonersh seems to have had its share
of such dissenters to judge by the following document
" The (answers) of Thomas Chaundeler of Wonersh, clothier,
and Robert Sterete of Dimsfold, clerk, inade unto me
Wm. More Guildfold the 28th of May 1561, touching their
knowledge of certain Sectaries and of their doctrines, practises
"
and wicked devices as hereafter ensueth.
" First genereiUy they be all unlearned, saving that some of them
can read English and, that not very perfectly. And of them
that so can read they have chosen Bishops, Elders and Deacons.

Thomas Chaundlers, his Mark ^^ Robert Sterte

"

" The Bishops Elders or Deacons do call those that be of their

sect together, by the name of a congregation into one of their
disciple's houses, which they also call a Raabe, where they
commonly meet to the number of 30 or above and there then their
Bishop or Deacon doth read unto the congregation the Scriptures,
expounding the same according to his own fancy.

Robert Sterte."
104 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT
" When every person shall be received into their Congregation,
they cause all the brethren to assemble and the Bishop or Elder
doth declare unto the new Elected both that if he will be content
that all his goods shall be in common amongst the rest of his
brethren he shall be received ; whereunto, he answering, " Yea,'
then he is admitted with a kiss viz. all the company both men
;

and women kisseth him one after another."

Robert Sterete hath heard this.

" At their meetings, either to receive new brethren or to read

the Scriptures, they aU have meat, drink and lodging at the cost
and charges of the owner of the house whom they call a Raabe,
and there they do remain as long as he hath good victuals for
them whereby they do sometimes lose their Raabe, seeing
;

himself so surcharged with them.

-i Robert Sterete."

" They are called together and in the night time and commonly
to such houses as be far from neighbours, one of them doth
always warn an other and when they come to the house of meeting,
they knock at the (door), saying Here is a brother in Christ,
:
'

or a sister in Christ.'

Robert Sterete."

" They lodge both men and women in one chamber together at
their said general time of meeting.

I have heard this - Robert Sterete."

" When they be all together,

before their Bishop, Elder or Deacon
will read the Scriptures unto them, he said these words All :
'

ye that are as yet but weak, and not come to perfection, withdraw
awhUe and pray that you may be made worthy thereof.'
yourselves
Whereupon those weakUngs do repair into one other place, and
 '

REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT 105

be not partakers of the doctrine that then shall be taught. But

afterwards, as the Bishop, Elder or Deacon sees them from
themselves, they shall be received to hear the doctrine.

J Robert Sterete

" The Elders must not speak, the Bishop being in place, nor the
Deacon in the presence of any of them.

17 Robert Sterete

" The Bishop or Elder doth always tell his congregation that he
hath more to teach them so that he doth continually feed them
with expectation of new matters

R.S."

"Generally one of the Cong, is inhibited to speak or declare

anything that he leameth until he be admitted so to do, and if he
do, he shall be excommunicate and but with great repentance
again received.

R.S."

" They used at their assembleys to pronounce a general curse in

Queen Mary's time against all those that were partakers of the
Service in the Church then used, and did excommunicate such of
their sect as they knew faltered therein, who could not again be
restored without great repentance and humble suite.
R.S."
" In the beginning of Queen Mary's reign they were so precise as
they would not then come to the Church, thinking it damnable
so to do, but when one year after they were changed from that
opinion openly declaring to their brethren that they were all

bound to come to the church and to do outwardly all such things

as the Law required them at their hands upon pain of damnation,
although inwardly they did profess the contrary.

ZJ R.S.
io6 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT
" They cannot abide any of their sect to pray but those that be
new received brethren, whom they call weaklings, thinking it a
whom they affirm to be perfect, to pray
great fault to the rest,
unto God as though they were importunate, troublers and
vexors of Him, having no need so to do.

R.S."
" They scorn all those that say '
:Good Lord, have mercy upon
us, miserable siimers,' saying 'They that so say, declare themselves
never to amend, but still to be miserable sinners, whereas we do
live perfectly and sin not.

R.S."

" They may not say God speed,' God morrow,' or ' God even,'
' '

but to those that be of their sect and to others they say speed,' '

'
morrow,' or den.' '

R.S."

" They may not say God save any thing,' for they af&rm
' that
all things are ruled by nature and not directly by God.
' R.S."
i

" They did prohibit bearing of weapons but at the length,

perceiving themselves to be noted and marked for the same, they
have allowed the bearing of staves.

1 R.S.'

" When a question is demanded of any of them they do of order

stay a great while or they do answer and commonly their first
word shall be '
surely,' or '
so.'

^ R.S."

" They may answer to every demandment not being one of their
sect in such sort as they thhik shall best please him, for they say
they are bound to deal truly with no vaan in word or deed, that
 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT 107

is not of their congregation, alledging that he is no neighbour

and that therefore they may abuse him at their pleasure,

•^"T? R.S."

" They say they may be subtle and lie for the Holy Ghost was
subtle.

R.S."

(Here the deposition contains particulars which are best omitted.)

" If
any of their sect doth die, the wife or husband that overliveth
must marry again with one of their congregation, or else the
offense is great. The marriage is made by the brethren who
biingeth them together sometimes that dwell above 100 miles
asunder. As for example Thomas Chaundler of Wonersh, in
the Coimty of Surrey, had his wife fetched out of the Isle of
Ely by two of the Congregation, the man and the woman being
utter strangers before they came together to be married.

R.S.'

" They do divorce again themselves asunder if they cannot agree

before certciin of the congregation as the said Chaundler and his
wife did upon a misliking after they had lived one year married
together.

R.S.'

(Here again we prefer to omit a portion.)

" Their Bishops Elders and Deacons doth teach to their disciples
that they ought to do whatsoever the Spirit moveth them unto.
For this Spirit, as they say, never moveth them to any evil.
R.S."

" Whosoever is not of their sect, they account as a beast that

hath no soul and shall yield no account for his doings, but as a
beast shall die and not rise again in body or soul, and to prove
io8 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT
that they allege a place out of Esdras, that who is not of God shall
be as a drop of water that falleth from the house and cometh to
nothing.

R.S."

" They hold that he which is one of their congregation, is either

as perfect as Christ or else a very devil.

R.S."

"They hold lawful to do whatsoever the higher powers

it is

commandeth it be against the Commandments

to be done though
of God, and for that they allege the words af Saint Peter:
'
Submit yourselves to the ordinance of the higher powers.'

R.S."

c
" They deny that Christ equal with
is God the Father in His
Godhead upon this part of Scripture :
'
My Father is greater
than I.'

^ R.S."

" It is odius for them to say '

God the Son,' for they deny him to
be God, as aforesaid.
R.S."
" They deny the Trinity, scorning them that say God the :
'

Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, as though by
saying of those words, they should affirm to be three Gods.
R.S."
" They hold that no man should be baptized before he be of the
age of 30 years. And therefore have divers of them been baptized
at that years and upwards.
R.S."

" They hold that every man ought first to be in an error before
he can come to the knowledge of the truth.
R.S."
* Similar Signatures are appended to each of the following paragraphs.
 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT 109

" They say that as Christ raised the dead, cleansed the leaper'
gave sight to the blind and walked on the waters, so do they.
R.S."
" They hold heaven and hell to be present in this world amongst
us,and that there is none other, and for proof thereof they allege
the 17th of Matthew of Christ transfiguration, that as the cloud
remained Peter did see Elias and Moyses. So if the cloud were
removed away both heaven and hell should be visible unto us.
R.S."
" They hold that they are bound to give alms to none other
persons but to those of their sect, and if they do, they give their
alms to the devil.
R.S."
" They hold that they ought not to bury the dead upon this
place of Scripture :
'
Let the dead bury the dead.'
R.S."
" They hold that they should so provide that if one do perish all
should perish so that every one of them should reach him with
his goods that decays.
R.S."
" They hold that none ought to receive the Sacrament before he
receiveth their whole ordinances, as first he must be admitted

with a kiss, then his feet must be washed, he must be baptized,

then hands laid on him, and so receive.
R.S."
" They hold the Pope's Service and this Service now used in the
church to be naught and yet to be by them used, as free in the
Lord to whom nothing is unclean.
R.S."
" They hold that all men that are not of their congregation, as
revolted from them to be dead.
R.S."
" They hold that no bishop or minister should remain still in one
place, but that they ought always to be wandering from Country
to Country.
R.S."
" They hold that the Angels Gabriel, Raphael, and others were
borne of women
R.S."
no REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT
" They hold that they ought not to say David's Psalms as prayers,
for that they are righteousand without sin.
R.S.'
" They hold there ought to be no Sabbath Day, but that all days
should be alike £ind for that matter they allege the ' The Son of
Man is Lord over the Sabbath Day.'
R.S."
" They hold that as God made heaven and earth by Jesus Christ
viz., the Word, so He saved it by them.
R.S."
" They hold themselves to be Maries and say that Christ is come
forth in their flesh even as he came forth of the Vergin Mary.
R.S."
" They hold that there was a world before Adam's time as there
is now.
R.S."
"They hold that they ought to keep silence amongst themselves
and that the liberty tiiey have in the Lord may not be espied out
of others.
R.S."
" They hold that no man should be put to death for his opinions
and therefore they condemn Mr. Cranmer and Mr. Rydley for
burning Joan of Kent.
R.S."
" They cannot abide any exposition of the Scriptures but their
own, conferring one place of Scripture with another and so to say
their minds of it without any other body's exposition.
R.S."
" They brag very much of their own sincere lives, justifying
themselves, saying, '
Mark how purely we hve.'
R.S."

" any of them be convented for his opinions and doth deny
If
the same by open recantation, he takes that to be a glory unto
him as though he hath suffered persecution in this doing, and yet
;

stiU inwardly maintaining the same opinions.

R.S."

" If they have anything to do touching the ordering of their

temporal things, they must do it by advice, as to ask counsel of
 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT iii

their viz. they must (go)to one of their bishops or

Elders and to ask of counsel what he shall do, and
that he must know.
R.S."
" Whenthey give their Alms, there is a hat, set by the Bishop or
Elder upon a table ; and then every one of the Congregation doth
put under the hat that he is disposed to give ; all which money
Cometh to the Bishop's or Elder's hands, and so the same is by
him or them distributed as they will but to whom, none other
;

of the Congregation khoweth.

R.S."
" They have certain sUghtsamongst them to answer to every
question that shall be of them demanded with deceiving the
demandment. As for example if one of them be demanded, how
;

he beUeveth in the Trinity, he wUl answer I am to learn of

:
'

you,' and so provoke the demandment to show his opinion therein,

which done, he will then say, he beheveth the demandment, saith
as he thioketh,' but not that he thinketh so.
'

R.S."
" They do decree all men to be infants that are under the age of
30 years. So that they be demanded whether an infant ought
if
;
to be baptized, they jmswer Yea'
meaning thereby that he
'

is an infant until he attain those years as aforesaid, at which time

he ought to be baptized and not before.

R.S."
" Their Bishops and Elders doth minister the sacrament amongst
them and doth marry, etc.
R.S."
" Their Bishops and Elders and Deacons do increase in wealth,
but their disciples become poor and fall to (mis)ery.
R.S."
" There be of the Congregation in divers places of the Realm,
which do assemble together As in the Isle of Ely, Essex,
;

Berkshire, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Devonshire, and London.

R.S."
" David Oram, joiner, besides Basingstoke, in Hampshire, a
;
Bishop, whom they do also call the Apple of God's eye ' he
'

was before my Lord the Bishop of London that now is and by

him made to recant his erroneous opinions at Wonersh and
Guildford in Surrey.
R.S."
112 REFORM LEADS TO DISSENT
" Thomas Allen of Wonersh mercer, who in like manner was before
my Lord of London and by him made also to recant, he did bear a
faggot in the Queen's days that dead is and the like opinion he is

an Elder.
R.S."
" Henry Re a Dutchman, the head of all the Congregation ; he is

permanent in no place, but still wandereth to visit his flock.

R.S."
" There is a shoemaker that foUoweth the Court, a Dutchman, he
is (very Uke) a hor. ..Irde, a blackman, his name we know not,
he is an Elder and a teller of news unto them.
R.S."
" John Gryffyne of Lockwood in the (pari)sh of Green,
mercer, within the County of Essex. He is an Elder, and a
conmion marriage p le and keepeth strange women in
hishouse cometh from divers places and now he c
from Ely for fear of excommunication.
R.S."
{Los. MSS., Vol. v., n. 4 : Recusants.)
 Chapter VII

DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION

What we see described in the foregoing manuscripts is only a mere

sample of what was going on all over the country ; and it soon
became apparent that the act which made the sovereign supreme
head of the Church in England would cease to have any force or
meaning unless repressive measures were adopted and carried
into effect with the greatest thoroughness and alacrity.
Accordingly, Elizabeth lost no time in her efforts to uproot all
causes of opposition to her absolute control over the consciences of
her subjects. The Statute restoring the royal supremacy was
quickly followed by a second " intitled an Act for the uniformity
of common prayer and service of the Church and administration."
This was followed by a third " intitled an Act for the assurance of
the Queen's majesty's Royal power over all states and subjects
within her dominions." Yet again a fourth act of a more searching
and sweeping character than any of the others was passed in the
thirteenth year of the reign of Elizabeth. This was intended to
search out all those who thought differeritly from the Queen and
to warn or punish them as the case might require.
Amongst the Loseley Manuscripts there is a copy of the Statute
in Sir William More's handwriting. As it is of great importance to
our subject, I give the document in full and ask the reader to study
it with the care it deserves. It establishes the basis of all the
campaign against the Catholics which was carried on with ruthless
determination and systematic cruelty : I say advisedly the
campaign against Catholics, as the whole mass of evidence before us,
with very few exceptions, relates to them.
" The laws of the grand Commission Ecclesiastical for whole
Realme.

The Recital of 4 Statutes.

Abo&hing
The an act restoring to the Crown the ancient
first intitled
authority.
jurisdiction over the state Ecclesiastical and Spiritual and
abolishing of all foreign power repugnant to the same,
p"™"" The second intitled an act for the uniformity of Common
prayer and service of the church and administration of the
113 »
 114 DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION

Sacraments made in our parliament begun at West^s'*'

last
the 26th day of January in the first year of our Reign.
Royal power. The 3rd intitled an Act for the Assurance of the Queen's
majesty's Royal power overall states and subjects within her
dominions made in oiu: parliament begun at Westminster the
I2th day of January in the first year of our Reign.
S'i^SsS'
°' ^^^ 4*^ ^" ^^
*° reform certain disorders touching
ministers of the church made in our parUament begun at
Westminster the second day of April in the 13th year of our
Reign.
Jfiences^one
^" ^° inquirc as well by the oathes of 12 good and lawful men
against any the as also by witnesscs and all other waj's and means you can
devise of all offenses, contempts, transgressions, and
misdemeanours done and committed and hereafter to be
committed and done contrary to the tenor and effect of
the said several acts and statutes and every or any of
them.
Heretical Of all and singular heretical opinions and offensive opinions,
seditious books, contempts, and conspiracies, false rumours
or tales, seditions, misbehaviours, scandalous words, and
sayings published invented or set forth by any person or
persons against us, or against any our magistrates or officers,
ministers, or others whatsoever, contrary to any the laws or
statutes of this our Realme.
Enormities in To
inquire hear and determine all and singular enormities,
church or church ,.,,
yard or against disturbances,
.... -- t,r
misbehaviours, offenses, assaults, frayes, and
-,

any mmister.
q^g^j^gls douc or Committed or hereafter to be committed and
done in any church or chapel, churchyard or chapelyard, or
against any divine service, or any minister or ministers of the
same contrary to the laws of this our Realm.
Absence from To inquire of and search out, and to order, correct, reform
and punish all and every such person and persons, dwelling
in places exempt or not exempt which wilfully and obstinately
have absented or hereafter shall wilfully absent themselves
from the church and such divine service as by the laws and
statutes of this Realm is appointed to be had and used, by
censures of the Church or any other ways or means by the said
act of uniformity of common prayer etc or any Laws
ecclesiastical of this our Realm is appointed.
The penalties To take Order by your discretions that the penalties and
the^chinxh to be forfeitures limited by the said Act for uniformity of common
uvied for the
against the offenders in that behalf may be duly from
pj-g^yg^
time to time levied by the churchwardens of every parish
 DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION 115

where any such offense shall be done to the use of the poor
of the same parish, of the goods, lands, and tenements of every
such offender by way of distress according to the limitations
and true meaning of the said statute.
Errors, heresies.
Jq yjcjit^ reform, redrcss, order, correct and amend in all
places within this our Realm
England all errors, heresies,
of
schisms, abuses, offenses, contempts, and enormities, spiritual
or ecclesiastical whatsoever which by any manner spiritual or
ecclesiastical power authority or jurisdiction can or may be
lawfully reformed ordered redressed etc. by censers
ecclesiastical deprivation or otherwise, etc.
Persons affirm-
ing doctrines
Xo inquire
^ of,' search out and call before you all and every
i
contrary to the such pcrsou and pcrsous eccl'. which have or shall have eccl*.
Religion to be livings that shaU advisedly maintain or affirm any doctrine
^""^ '

directly contrary, or repugnant to any the articles of Religion

which only confine the confession of the true christian faith
and the doctrine of the Sacraments comprised in a book
intitled Articles whereupon it was agreed, by the Archbishops
' '

and Bishops of both provinces and the whole clergy in the

convocation holden in the year of our Lord, 1562 etc. And
such persons being convented before you for such matter and
shall persist therein to deprive from all ecclesiastical
promotions.
AMt'eries
^^ inquire, hear, determine and punish all incests,
adulteries, fornications, outrageous misbehaviours, and
disorders, in marriages, and all other crimes and offenses
which are punishable by the ecclesl laws of this our Realm
committed and done or hereafter to be committed and done
in any place within this our Realm according to the tenor of
laws in that behalf, and according to your wisdoms consciences
and discretions.
For the order of proceeding and punishment limited by this
Commission.
Im rSon" ^° ^^^ ^^^ devisc all such poUtic ways and means for the
trial and searching out of all the premises as to you or 3 of
you shall be thought most expedient and necessary, And
upon due proof thereof had and the offense or offenses before
specified or any of them sufiiciently proved etc that then you
or 3 of you shall have full power and authority to order and
award such punishment to every such offender by fine,
imprisonment, censures of the church or otherwise etc. as to
your wisdoms and discreations or 3 of you shall be thought
meet and convenient.
 n6 DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION
Obstinate (to
punish) by a- To call before you or three of you from time to time all
conunmiication
other censures
and every offender and o£Fendeis in any of the p>arishes
ecdeskslkal or
to commit to
and also such as by you shall seem to be suspect persons in any
ward. of the parishes and to proceed against them as the quality
of the offense or suspicion shall require. And also such
witnesses etc. that can inform you of any the premisses as you
shall think meet to be called and if any person or persons shall
be foimd obstinate or disobedient either in their appearance
at your calling and commEmdment or else in not accomplishing
or not obeying your orders, decrees etc. to punish the same
person or persons so offending by excommunication and other
censures ecclesiastical or by fine according to your discretions,
or to commit the same person or persons so offending to
Weird.
Conunandment To command all and every our Justices and other officers
to Justices to
appr^eud and subjects within this our Realm in all places by your
o&ndeis in
partibns. letters to apprehend any person or persons which you shall
think to be convented before you to answer to any matter
touching the premisses or any part thereof to take sufficient
land to our use etc. for his or their personal appearance to be
made before you. And in case any such person or persons so
apprehended be not able or wQl obstinately refuse to give
sufficient land etc. then we will that in our name you or 3 of
you give commandment to such Justices, Officers etc. either
for the bringing of him or them before you or else to commit
him or them to ward, so to remain until you shcdl take further
order for his enlargement.
Xo take To take and receive of any offender a Recognisance or
recognisance
or obligation. obligation to our use in such sum or sums of money as to 5rou
or 3 of you shall seem meet as well for the personal appeaxcince
of him or them before you as also for the accompkUshment of
such orders etc. as to you or 3 of you shall be thou^t
convenient.
Nomination of
the Register,
The nomination of the Register with authority to limit
unto him such allowance for the pains of him and his clerks
in that behalf as to your discretions shall be thought meet to
be answered either of the parties, or of the fines which you
shall assess and levy the force of this our Commission as the
case shall require.
To appoint To appoint one or more messenger or messengers to attend
messengers.
upon you for our services and to be allowed for their pains as
before is appointed to the Register.
 DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION 117

R°«m^'°fOT
To appoint a receiver to gather up such fines as you shall
the fines with tax or asscss of any '^ person for their offenses and for the
limitation (or . .
•'
.,i , , ,,
h.s charges and just receipt and true account to be made we wul there shall
be two paper books indented made, the one to remain with the
said receiver and the other with the said Register in which
books shall be entered all such fine and fines as by you or 3
of you as aforesaid shall be taxed and to every such entry in
either of the said books the hands of you or 3 of you shall be
subscribed and the Receiver thereby charged and that by bill
or bills signed with the hands of you or 3 of you, you shall or
may assign or appoint as well to the said Receiver for his pains
and other
in receiving the said fines, as also to the said Registers
officers such sum
sums of money for their rewards and pains
or
as to you or 3 of you shall be thought convenient.
Jve^^Mtehaei-
^° Certify cvcry Michaelmas term unto our Court of
"j^tennofthe Exchequer the name of the said Receiver and a note of such
fines as he shall receive that appear the determination of his
account we may be answeredthat to us appertaineth.
Where there were divers Cathedral and CoUegiat churches.
Grammar Schools, and other ecclesiastical incorporations
erected ajid founded in the late Reigns of H. the Vlllth,
Edward Vlth, Queen Mary and the late Cardinal Pole, the
orders, rules and statutes whereof be either none at all
or altogether imperfect, or being made at such time as the
Crown and requirement Realm was subdued to the
of this
foreign authority of Rome
they be in some points contrary,
diverse, and repugnant to the dignity and prerogative of our
Crown and laws etc.
Som°sta™tes ^° have power and authority to cause and command all
of Cathedral and singulax the ordinances, rules and statutes and other
and to advertise writings whatsoever touchiug their several foundations to
°™*'
tion. ' be exhibited before you or 6 of you, and upon deliberate
search and examination of the said Statutes to be made
speedy and undelayed certificate of the enormities and defects,
and with the same to advertise us of such good orders and
statutes as you shall think meet and convenient to be by
us made and set forth for the better order etc. to the end we
may proceed to the altering and estabUshing of the same etc.
according to an act of ParUament thereof made in the first
year of om: Reign.
To^enderthe
j^ tender the oath to such obstinate persons which do
refuse to acknowledge the Jurisdiction, power, privilege,
superiority, and pre-eminence spiritual and ecclesiastical over
 ii8 DISSENT NEEDS REPRESSION

and subjects within this our Realm and other our

all states
dominions which is given unto us by virtue of the foresaid two
acts, the one intitled " an Act restoring to the Crown the
ancient Jurisdiction etc." and the other intitled " An Act
for the Assurance of the Queen's Majesty's Regal power and
all estates and subjects within her dominions."

Je^u^frftte' To certify the refusal of every oath unto the King's

"^ti"-
Bench.
To execute this
commission
fo execute this commissiou and every branch and part,
. -.1 . ., . .

notwithstanding notwithstanding any appellation, provocation, pnvilege, or

appe a ion.
exemption in that behalf to be had or any Laws, Statutes,
Proclamations etc. which be or may seem contrary notwith-
standing.
seaHor process And for the better credit and more manifest notice of your
to be awarded, (joings in the execution of this our Commission our pleasure
and commandment is that unto all your letters, missives,
processes, decrees, orders, and judgments from you or any 3 of
you to be awarded, sent forth, had, made, decreed, given, or
pronounced, you or 3 of you shall cause to be put and affixed
a Seal engraved with the rose and the Crown over the Rose
and the letter E before and the letter R after the same with
a ring or circumference about the same seal containing as
foUoweth. Sigil. Comisar. Reg. Ma. ad. cas. Eccliast.
?s?i"Sg'etc! To command all Justices and other officers and subjects
to be assisting etc. (Los. MSS., Vol. V., n. 10).
 Chapter VIII

REPRESSION LEADS TO INQUISITION

Thus a Commission composed of bishops and magistrates, was

formed for the purpose of a strict inquisition. Under its watchful
eye churchwardens and pursuivants were organised for the purpose
of searching out not only CathoUcs but even those who still retained
a liirking sympathy for CathoUcism. This Commission was
constituted judge in matters of faith and was instructed to punish
by fine or imprisonment all who were, in the opinion of the judges,
guilty of " heretical opinions, offensive opinions, seditious books,
contempts and conspiracies, false rumours or tales, seditions,
misbehaviours, scandalous words or sayings against the crown
or against any our magistrates or officers, ministers, or others
whatsoever, contrary to any the laws or statutes of this our Realm."
From this clause, it became clear that any words which might
—
be interpreted as expressions of disapproval of laws ^be they ever
so iniquitous —or
or unjust of magistrates, police officers or
ministers— ^be they ever so cruel and cowardly—were crimes to be
punished by " fines, imprisonment, censures of the Church or other-
wise &c. as to the wisdom & discretions of aU the members of the
commission or three of them shall be thought meet and expedient."
As a test of what people were thinldng internally and lest
dissenters should take refuge in sUence, they were forced to come
to the Protestant service and openly make profession of the
Protestant reUgion. Absentees were to be summoned to give a
reason for their absence ; and should their reasons prove unsatis-
factory they were to be fined.
It was indeed foreseen that there might be here and there some
over-tender-hearted and scrupulous justices who would refrain
from prosecuting those who were acting in accordance with the
dictates pf their consciences. Their zeal in this matter was carefully
watched and they must be brought into line and forced to subscribe
to the oath. Those who refused were to be bound in the simi of
£300 if they were knights, or of 200 meirks if esquires.
A letter from the Council to the Justices of the Peace in Surrey.
" After our hearty com. These are to signify unto you that
we have been informed that some of you being in commission of
119
130 REPRESSION LEADS TO INQUISITION
the peace within the county, whose office and duty is to set forth
and see maintained the Queen's Majesty's laws ordinances and
proceedings published by her Highness and agreed by the realm
in pari., do nevertheless contemn (and that of set purpose) to do
the same in certain points concerning the state of Religion
established by the realm with authority of pari"'. And set
forth by her highness as by not resorting to the Conmion prayer
and devine service and not receiving the holy sacraments
according to the orders prescribed by law agreable with the
ordinance of Aim. God thereby seeking to breed and bring forth
such sects and factions as be the very seeds and roots of sedition
amongst her maj^. people and loving subjects a thing besides the
dishonouring of Almighty God very perilous and fuU of dangers
to the comon quiet and peace of the country. For avoiding
whereof and to the end that such disorderly persons, givers of evil
example in this behalf may be known from the rest of you which
do your offices and duties faithfully and dihgently according to
the Comm. and trust granted and reposed in you, the Queen's
Majy hath hereby charged and comm"*"! ^g to advertise you of
[torn] and to send these letters inclosed imto you, of such a
form and [torn] by the perusing whereof shall appear unto you
to the intent that these letters should be returned and subscribed
by the hands of so many of you as shall allow cind agree to the
contents thereof. For the more speed and sure execution whereof
we will that forthwith you assemble yourselves together at some
one place or more, as shall seem meet for this purpose, and there
communicate this her Maj=. order and proceed in your assembly
to the execution thereof. And for due satisfaction of her Maj.
you which shall willingly subscribe the same, shall advertise
us not only who they be that shall in your presence refuse or
forbear to subscribe the same, but shall also cause such as be
absent to have knowledge thereof with charge to come to some
place, and to subscribe it in the presence of some of yourselves
that have subscribed. And likeAvise because there may be divers
persons in that County of great livlyhood, who be not presently
in the Commission of the peace, and yet have been in former times,
the Queen's M=. pleasure is that you all at your assembly for this
purpose, shall by your precept in her maj. name command also
all such psons to appear before you all, or before some convenient
number of you which shall subscribe the said letter, and to such
psons cause the contents of this her M». order to be declared
willing them to subscribe the same. And hereupon her Maj
further pleasure and comm* is, that of so many of them, wch
 REPRESSION LEADS TO INQUISITION lai

either be now justices of peace or heretofore at any time have

seen, as thus refuse to subscribe, you bond,
shall take sufficient
wherein any of them being a knight shall be bound to the Queen's
M. use both for the good abearing in the sum of 20o£ and being
an esquire in the sum of 200 Marks, and also to appear before us
when soever they shall be warned to do so. And your doing in
performing the premises we require you may be advertised at
good length from you within XXX days after the receipt of these
our letters and thereof not to fail as ye tend her Ma. pleasure.
And so fare you well.
From Wyndsor, the Vlth of November 1569.
Your loving friends
N. Bacon G. S. W. North
F. Bedford R.
E. Clynton W. Howard
F. Knollys W. Cecill
R. Sadlir W. Mildmay
{Los. MSS., Vol. V).
This order was at once put into execution ; and the money of
Catholics began to pour into the Treasury from the purses which had
been sUt by the royal plunderer.
The State Office Receipts tell their own tales, and testify to the
staunchness of many thousands of devoted sons and daughters
of the old faith. I have selected from the Loseley collection a
bond made by Mr. Edward Bemister, of Hants, Henry Goring, of
Burton, and George Goring, for ;£200 penalty for Banister and £100
for Henry and George Goring for recusansy. It is clearly stated
that if they should conform and give a satisfactory account of their
faith to the Protestant Bishop of Winchester, before the ist of
November, in the 15th year of the reign of EUzabeth
Vol. v., Loseley.

Noverint universi p puts nos Edwardus Banister de [blank]

in Com. Southt generosum et Henricum Goring de Burton in
Com. Sussex ar et Georgium Goring dein dicto Com. Sussex ar
teneri et firmiter obUgari Dominae nostrae Elizabeth Reginae
viz. me prefatum Edwardus Banister, in ducent Ubris, et nos
Henricum Goring et Georgium Goring et utrumque nostrum per
se in cent libris bonae et legalis monetae Angliae solvendae eidem
Dominae Reginae heredibus vel successsoribus suis. Ad quas
quidem solutiones bene et fideliter faciendas obligamus nos et
quemUbet nostrum per se heredes executores et aministratores
nostros firmiter per pntes., SigUUs nostris sigillat. Dat sexto
122 REPRESSION LEADS TO INQUISITION
die Augusti, Anno Deae. Dnae. Reginae Elizaleth Dei gratia
Angliae France et Hibemiae Reginae, Fidei Defensoris. Quinto
Decimo. {1593)
The condition of this obligation is such that if the within
mentioned Edward Banister do continue and remain in the
house of Henry Goring and George Goring or of any of them and
there do confer with such learned men as they shall think meet
for him to confer withaU, and also at or before the first day
of November next ensuing do yield and restore himself to the
prison in the White Lion where he was before the making
hereof or else in the mean while do show himself before the
:

Reverend father Robert Bishop of Winton conformable in matters

of religion according to the goodly laws of this Realme. That
then this present obligation shall be void and of none effect,
or else to stand, remain, and abide as full power, strength, and
virtue.
I send you this copy of a bond to be made and taken by
Mr. Banister and Mr. Goring.
B. W.
Endorsed B. Winchester. to W. More, at Losdey.

We shaU have occasion in a later chapter on " The Bruised

Reeds " to show how many Catholics unfortunately became pliant
under persecution.
George Goring was one of these, for we find his name appended to a
letter preserved at Loseley in which he appears in the character
of a persecutor.
Small wonder indeed when we see what was the test to which
good Catholics were subjected.
 Chapter IX

NON POSSUMUS
The question might here be asked whence did all this persecution
ariseand for what reason ? I think that it is not an erroneous
answer to say that it arose from a section of the aristocracy whose
chief motive was ambition and avarice.
As in the case of Henry VIII. the reason for this ruthless
spoliation of Churches and Monasteries was not a love of Religion, so
also in the case of Elizabeth the compelling by fines, imprisonments,
torture and death men's consciences was not zeal for the Christian
of
Faith. Elizabeth saw in the Act of Uniformity a means of increasing
her power, and she pushed it to the very utmost. This compelling
of others' minds was not the wish of the people of Great Britain.
It emanated from the Throne and descended thence by a system of
corruption and bribery tmtil the very soul of the people became
possessed by Elizabeth and moved by her will.
It is not difficult to prove this assertion ; we have somany
documents amongst the Loseley collection testifying to the common
revulsion against such a practice, that it were superfluous to elaborate
the point, if it had not been instilled into the minds of young and
old from that time to this that the change in Religion was brought
about by the will of the people.
In the course of this work we shall see what difficulty the Crown
had to overcome might eventually bring about
in order that it
uniformity in religion. On the contrary, it would seem certain
that having rooted up most of the old traditions which had bound
England to the Papacy, nothing remained which could be used as
a principle of unification in reHgion. The fundamental reason why
a liberty-loving people could give their unquestioning allegiance to
the authority of the Pope, was that they recognised in him the
Vice-regent of Jesus Christ and that they beUeved that he was
endowed with infallibility in reUgious matters. It was not so
difficult a matter to tear out this allegiance from the hearts of the
people, as to establish in its place a like allegiance to a self-
constituted head of a new reUgion.
The result of this religious revolution — for it merits no other
name —^was to estabUsh firmly one thing only, anarchy. We have
seen something of this when considering the innumerable sects that
12S
124 NON POSSUMUS
immediately sprang up in all parts of the country. Conformity
brought about by repressive measures engendered Non-Conformity.
Indeed, it was not only in England that we see all this to have
been verified, it was the result of Protestantism wherever it was to
be found. There is amongst the Loseley manuscripts a very
interesting letter giving a summary of the doings of Protestants
in Flanders and elsewhere. The impression left on the reader after
perusing the letter is that of hopeless confusion. The letter is from
Michael De Bay, dated Louvain, 22nd October, 1566, to the Rector
of the University. It is in Latin. I give the translation :

" In nearly the whole of the Lowlands so great has been the
change affected in the space of a very few months, not only in
faith and religion, but also in public tranquility, in obedience
to the civil magistrate, in civil justice, in public intercourse and
in labourers of every class and practice, that anyone who would
attempt to describe it would not be believed by our descendants
nor even by those foreigners who had once been witnesses of the
extremely peaceful state of this country, unless perchance he
should have carefully observed that impunity of crimes, which
is a very serious thing in the government of a Republic and

which has obtained now for some years with us, has at last
culminated in those fine gentlemen who by a coined name have
called themselves Geux.
" For, since in April they had extorted from his highness the
complete abolition of the inquisition and royal edicts against
heresies, already in June many ministers of the new errors were,
I know not by whom, called forth form Geneva, Metz and many
other infected places. They were received by not a few cities
with such welcome that as many as eighteen or fourteen thousand
came to a secluded place to hear one sermon, and while in the
beginning, whether as a feint or for the purpose of fostering and
promoting, I knoW not, they seemed dormant, later having taken
up arms, they openly led their preachers into the most influential
cities striking terror not only into the magistracies but also into
the neighbouring cities.
" The result has been that of the merchants some withdrew
from the markets, others had not the courage to buy anything,
and all those who possessed any money clung to it owing to the
dangers ahead, and thus an end should be made of all commerce
and consequently of a great many handicrafts of the towns.
Furthermore, as no remedy was applied to this evil, in August
the fury had reached such a height that the doors of convents and
churches in many towns and villages were broken open, the Sacred
 ;

NON POSSUMUS 125

Species were trod and crashed under foot. Altars were all
undermined, the sacred vestments torn to shreds, images burnt
and whatever served for the worship of God and the adorning of
churches was broken up and smashed. The monasteries were
also stript, pulled down and destroyed, and the monks expelled
so that they were forced to fly in secular dress and for a long time
all divine service ceased in the towns and gave place to heretical
sermons ; many of these towns having afterwards given up the
heretical sermons, in some churches they restored the customary
worship ; other towns, however, such as Valenciennes and
Bois-le-Duc, continued in their misery. But the cities in which
was effected manifest confusion are these :
" In Flanders, Ypres, Ghent, Oudenarde, Courtrai and several
others in western Flanders, the names of which escape me, with
many neighbouring villages. In Brabant, Antwerp, Malines,
lierre, Bois-le-Duc, Breda, Ludovia, Toumhout, together
with many villages and Abbeys such as the Abbey of St. Michael
at Antwerp, and of St. Bernard near Antwerp, Postel and several
others in Campine, in the Hainaut, Valenciennes and Angia with
the Abbey of Vicogne, Hanon and Crespen. In Artois, no
town has suffered this confusion, as far as I know, but the Abbey
of St. Augustine near Therouanne has been laid waste. In
the Comity of Namur and the Duchy of Luxemburg, I fancy
nothing has taken place. In Gueldre I hear they preach in
Bommel and that everything has been smashed in Roermonde.
I have not yet heard of the rest.
" Something has also been done in Friesland. In Utrecht
they are preaching vigorously but I have not yet heard that they
have desecrated the churches. In Maastricht the parish chiu-ches
have been desecrated but five canons' churches have been
defended by force of arms by the canons. In Holland everything
has been laid waste. In Amsterdam, Deelst, Leyden, Vianen,
Culenborg and I beUeve in many others ; but I believe that
nowhere have they done worse than at Bois-le-Duc, although at
Valenciennes also things are very bad.
" On the 17th October some persons tried to break up the
Altars of the most Venerable Ssicrament and of the Blessed
Virgin Maiy in Antwerp. These were restored after a fashion
in the larger Church. On this occasion while the work of destruc-
tion was being carried out, the Count de Hoogstraten and two
burgomasters of the city accompanied by a miUtary force came
upon them, killing some and wounding others. They also arrested
several, six of whom were publicly hanged on the following day
126 NON POSSUMUS
all the others, ten in number, are detained in custody. This
affairhas given us no small hope since from the outbreak of the
disturbance we have heard of scarcely any justice being done in
the whole of Brabant.
" They say that the King is coming shortly but we know not
whether he has yet moved a step. We understand, however,
that soldiers are being enrolled in many places for the purpose
of putting a. stop to the rebeUion against his coming. In Brussels
there were not lacking those who asked for a minister of error but
owing to the enrolment of soldiers they met with such resistance
that they were unsuccessful.
" In Louvain we are flourishing as usual, except that we have
had to sacrifice a principle for a time in that the entire clergy are
in arms and take tirms according to their nationality in keeping
guard on account of the threats of those foreign heretics who now
call themselves Gueux as in France they are called Huguenots.
For, since they despaired of contaminating all the churches they
threatened to set fire to the city. But praise be to God, we have
suffered nothing hitherto except that for the past month we have
hired out of the public piirse eight soldiers whom we have allotted
to the promoter, twelve whom the city has added partly to the
magistrate and partly to its binrgomaster, and a furliier two
hundred soldiers of the city to relieve the clergy and citizens
in their daily watches. Notwithstanding this, however, every
seventh day we ourselves in equal numbers with the more
honourable citizens amongst the magistrates take our turn at
guarding the town hall. But the graduates and others of the
same dignity together with other citizens take their posts in twos
at the gates of the city to enquire and take down the names of all

who enter and leave the city. I am

sending the bundle so late
to the Rev. Thomas because Mr. Nicolas and John Obit, through
whom they should have been sent, were in Ireland up till now,
whence they have returned a few days ago and they were unable
to tell me an5rthing certain of your return to the Archbishopric.
I have heard nothing so far of the help that the King's Majesty
is thought to have given to your countrjTmen for the prosecution

of their studies. Indeed it is no wonder nothing should be done

in the present difficult circumstances, urJess the Very Rev.
Conquenin should have it much at heart, which does not seem to
me very likely. Mr. Richard lately bursar of our College was
for a long time kept a prisoner in England and afterwards let
out of gaol, since when I have heard nothing of him. I hope that
your most Reverend & Illustrious Lordship has now long since
 NON POSSUMUS 127

returned to the Archbishopric and that you daily pour forth

your devout prayers for us to God to Whom from my heart I
recommend both myself and the calamity of the unfortunate
repubUc.
" Louvain 22 October An. 1526
(To the) Most Rev. & Illustrious the Rev. Rector of
the Seminary
{Los. MSS.. Bundle 1366). " (from) Mich. De Bay."
This letter is of melancholy interest to us now, when we consider
how many of the places mentioned therein are now only a heap of
ruins. What was done in Flanders and Holland was also done in
England. Mob law was engineered by the Gueux abroad and by the
Queen in England. There were many Catholics, however, who
remained staunch and who had the courage to make a stand for the
Faith. They were faced with spoUation, imprisonment, torture and
death but they risked all this rather than barter their birthright
;

The documents before me tell many a tale of heroic courage in the

face of the most terrible adversity. And not the least encouraging of
all those dark days is that which relates to the history of many of the
old and wealthy families, impoverished, imprisoned and done to
death for the love of a religion which they would not and could not
renounce. That religion was the sole motive for their opposition
to the state of things is proved by the fact that they lost everything
that the world values and also by their own statements. There
were many, who, preferring to avoid the horrors of confinement in
loathsome dungeons and unspeakable terrors that would await them
if they remained in England, fled from their country and sought

hospitality in France, Spain or Italy, in order that they might there

practise their religion in peace and safety. Dr. Storey was a notable
example of this. He fled to Holland, but was thence trapped on to
an Enghsh ship, conveyed to England, imprisoned and executed
close to the spot where now stands the Marble Arch, in London.
Thomas Copley was another example of these self-exUed English-
men for the sake of reUgion. In the year 1569, Copley was stiU in
England. It had not yet become impossible for him to remain
in his Mother Country, but the laws against Catholics were
becoming stringent and searching ; and he, like many another,
begun to feel that his friends were dangerous to him. William
More and he had been on very intimate terms, but their consciences
led them in opposite directions. Sir William was an ofi&cial
personage and his friend was obliged to give an account of his faith
to him. Copley wished that More should not be put in the sad
predicament of having to hand his friend over to the strong arm
 ;

128 NON POSSUMUS

of the law, and on August 17th he wrote him a letter in which
he declines his invitation to stay the night with him, lest Sir William
should be suspected of partiahty. That letter reads as follows :

" After my very hearty commendations to yourself and good

Mrs. Moore, with lecke thcinks for the late curtis entertainment
I had at your house. These may be to let you understand that
where it pleased you to wish me to come unto your house
to-morrow night, as I did not then niean but to have accomphshed
that your gentle request, so, since upon farther advisement, I
think it better otherwise. For it may be that mine adversary,
seeing me to come the next morning with you and from your
house, would have you in some jealousy to be perhaps somewhat
favourable on my side, and thereby become less apt to be advised
by you, when you should speak truth and reason unto him
whereas now, pleasing himself (as I partly perceive) with some
conceipt, that you should not be very well affected toward
me, whereon (I know) he growndeth more hope, than on the
sufficiency of any good matter he can bring. I think it very
leekly he wiU be willing to be ruled by you, and the more easily
conceive reason at your hand. In which respect, I pray you
pardon my forbearing presently to repair unto your house. Your
loving and friendly mind toward me I know well enough and you
(I hope) know mine toward you, which (I protest) is such, as he

is not in this shire (besides them toward whom nature bindeth

me) whom I do more heartily love, or better like as of one that

in likeness of dispositions and affections of mind, I find so agreeable
to me. (Only one thing excepted wherein liberty of conscience
dutifully used, is in reason to be permitted to either of us, till
God otherwise dispose of our minds and judgments) as that I could
well find in my heart, to join with you some fast and enduring
knot even of brotherly love firmly to continue between us and
ours.
" I have sent you herewith an Italian song weU set to the lute,
with the dittie and treble pjirt thereof set out by itself for the
gentlewoman your daughter or your son, to sing unto the lute
agreable to the rest of the parts. I think you will like it well, if
you have it not already. If you have I wdll cause to be pricked
forth songs for her which I think you have not and such as shall be
well worth her travail in the learning. She and the rest of the
children do so well that they are worthy to have good music put
into their hands, for they will (I see) make good delving thereof.
" I have very excellent NeapoUtans of 3 parts. If Mr.
Pakington can set them forth to the virginals or lute, you shall
 —
NON POSSUMUS 129

have of the best of them, with all the staves of the ItaUan ditties,
for the young gentleman your son to sing the treble them, who,
I perceive, may handle them very well. And if I have any other
music or other thing that may please you or yours, you shall
command it. So fare well, good Mr. More, and I pray God with
all my heart to grant to you and yours, as I wish to myself and
mine.
" In haste, from Gatton this 17th of August A°. 1569.
" Your assured loving friend to the best of my small power
" Thomas Coppley.
" To the Right worshipful and my singular good friend Mr. William
More, Esquire. With speed."
{Los. MSS., Bundle of Letters, 1580).
It is strange to read these lines now that we know that these
pleasant meetings had ceased for ever. they would sing Italian
If
melodies at Loseley, Copley shaU never hear them. Exactly three
months after the date of this letter, he is summoned to appear
before the Council and to give reasons why he should refuse to
subscribe to the Oath. His answer is as follows :

" After right hearty commendations to you all, these may be

to let you understand that, finding the matter of an assembly
appointed this day very weighty, namely to such as are not
thoroughly resolved in conscience that way (and myself being
somewhat perplexed therewith) not in very good state of health
at this present, it may please such of you as shall like to subscribe,
to appoint me reasonable time to inform my conscience in that
matter, and at the day and place by you appointed, according
to the authority given in that behalf by the letter sent to us
from the Lords of the Queen's Majesty's Privy Council. I shall,
by God's grace, either with satisi&ed conscience, subscribe in your
presence according to the purpote of the said letters, or else make
unto my said Lords and others of the Privy Council such answer
as shall I trust, in reason content and satisfy their honours.
So heartily wishing you all well to do, I betake you to the good
tuition and keeping of the Almighty. From Gatton, this
17th November A. 1569.
"
Your assured friend,
" Tothe right worshipful " Thomas Copley.
Sir Henry Weston, knight
high Sheriff of the County of Surrey,
to the Justices of the Peace of the said County
assembled at Leatherhead and to every one of them."
{Los. V. ix. n. 20).

10
130 NON POSSUMUS
It is not always easy to see in these days how anyone of education
could have been misled as to a fundamental change in religion at
the time of Elizabeth. But the change was brought about with
such astuteness and so gradually that many were at first quite
perplexed as to what was lawful and what was unlawful. Thus at
the time of which we are writing it was not altogether evident
to everyone that mere bodily presence at a Protestant service was
wrong, especially if that attendance was forced. And so in a good
many cases deliberation became necessary, in others we see marked
hesitation, while finally a great many temporized, hoping against hope
for better times. We must remember how difi&cult it was for
Catholics to conferon such matters, more difficult still for them to
seek the advice of Catholic theologians and almost impossible that
there should be anj^thing in the nature of a Provincial Synod or
Council. We
are not, therefore, surprised to find men of the
fortune and learning of Thomas Copley, asking for time to consider
their position ; but when the case had been seriously thought out,
there was no doubt left in the mind. Copley's defence as we find
it amongst the Losdey manuscripts, is illuminating.
" After my right hearty commendations to you all. For that
the true knowledge how God should be served, and the true
order of the Administration of the Sacraments was known,
practised, and established in the Church of God long before the
Act of ParUament was made whereunto I should now subscribe
and that the referring as it were of the original and true setting
forth thereof, to the said Act so lately made, should seem a great
derogation to the Christian faith, and a great slandour and
discredit to the Church of God, that the same should be so many
ages either ignorant how God should be served, or a false teacher
of his people (which cannot be, since the Apostle saith that the
same is columnaet firmamentumveritatis); and because without
a faithless mistrust in God it may not (in my opinion) in word or
thought be doubted, that God (who being Truth itself) and
promising that He would be with his Church, not after fifteen
hundred years only, but omnibus diebus usque ad consum-
mationem saeculi, by all days to the world's end, and to instruct
the same into all truth, which words admit no intermission,
would contrary to that His divine promise, suffer such long and
general error and blindness in his Church as is by some imagined.
For these and divers other great causes (too many in a letter to
be rehearsed unto you), I cannot yet by any search find
sufficient matter to persuade me with safe conscience to that
which is at this present required of me, amongst others, I see the
 :

NON POSSUMUS 131

great danger of displeasure, restraint and much hindrance and

trouble, that hereby to grow unto one without the great
is like

mercy and favour of my lords of the privy Council. Neither am

I so senseless or stony but that I feel the grief thereof, and gladly
would avoid the same and do with all my heart as others do,
being I know much wiser than myself, if I could do it without fear
of danger and by offense of God and my conscience, not being
persuaded in this point as some others perhaps be. Whereof
I most instantly require you all, if it may be, to grant me longer
respit for the informing of my conscience in this case. If you
cannot so do, then for my excuse of my not subscribing at this
present to send up even this my letter to my Lords and others
of the privy Council, whose honours I trust will, of their great
mercy and goodness, have favourable consideration of this my
doing, not proceeding (I protest before God), of any obstinacy
but only of mere fear to offend my conscience. And farther that
I might find this much favour and friendship at your hands as
that you would be contented for neighbourhood to afford here-
withall to my said Lords a few favourable lines from yourselves
in the favour of me your poor neighbour and loving friend, which
I doubt not should procure me more grace at their Lordships'
hands in this behalf than any mine own private suite can do. In
which your friendly doing, as by your charitable companion
therein appearing of your neighbour's affliction, you should
singularly please God and avoid from yourselves and others the
danger which the Apostle admonisheth you of in these words,
'
Peritur infirmus in tua conscientia frater propter quem Christus
mortuus etc. ; sic autem peccatis in fratres et percutientes
conscientiam coram infirmorum in Christum,' which sinning
against Christ were, as you see, dangerous to such as should
urge me to the offence of my conscience in this case. So shall I
herein have cause to acknowledge myself much beholding to
you all in general, and especially to such of you in particular as
I shall understand to be furtherers of this my reasonable suite.
As knoweth the Almighty, of whom I heartily wish unto you all
the love, fear, and true knowledge of Him, with prosperous
success in all your worldly affairs to his honour. XXIII. of
November 1569
" Your loving neighbour and assured poor friend,
Tho. Coppley.
" To S"^. Henry Weston, knight, high sheriff of the Co. of Surrey,
and to the Justices of the peace of the said Shire assembled at
Dorking, and to every of them." (Los. MSS., Vol. IX., n. 19).
 —

132 NON POSSUMUS

From this it is clear that what was uppermost in the mind of
Copley was the scandal that would be given by assisting, even
materially only, at heretical services. He never stayed to meet
the Magistrates, but fled to France, where he ended his days.
We must remember that for a period of thirty-one years, with a
short "respite of five years in Mary's reign, England had been
deprived of the teaching of CathoUc priests, and on the other hand,
erroneous doctrines had been spread broadcast by the so-called
reformers. Thus it was no wonder if even educated people were
sometimes fogged by specious arguments and difficult situations.
The supply of priests, which had been cut off by the Penal Laws,
had not yet been remedied. The Marian Clergy had been very nearly
all swept away into imprisonment or banishment, and the students

from abroad had not yet begun to flow into England. What will
make the matter more inteUigible is the fact that the very dif&culty
was felt for years after Copley had written this letter, and that
although from time to time the Pope had expressed the mind of
the Church on this matter, we find yet one more decision emanating
from Rome twenty-three years later.
It will interest the reader to see the document wherein this
decisionwas contained. I have copied it from the original in the
Public Record Ofiice. It is a letter from Cardinal Allen to the

Catholics in England. It runs as follows :

The Indorsement.
" Charissimis in Anglia fra,tribus Londini vel ahbi.
" My dearest brethren and children, whom I love in the very
bowels of Christ. As the excessive troubles and pains and perils
that you suffer daily and hourly in that extreme heat of perse-
cution, gave me continual sorrow of mind, with aU possible
compassion, yea truly with incessant desire at our Merciful
Lord's hands, that I might dehver if it were possible and so
pleased His divine Majesty, you and your afflicted children with
an hundred deaths and lives of mine own. So on the other side
the daily intelligence and consideration of your notable patience
and constancy and fruitful labours in that harvest giveth me in
manner equivalent comfort and consolation ; with hope in God's
goodness, that we shall ere it be long, see an end of all those
miseries and Christ and the Church's enemies brought to
confusion. Our Brothers' blood makes forcible instance for the
same from the earth, and their souls from heaven with no less
efiicacy crieth out for the same. Doubt ye not my most sweet
 NON POSSUMUS 133

and faithful coadjutors and true confessors that our adversaries'

iniquities are now in God's sight near accomplished and at the
height. On the contrary side, the numbers of our Brethren that
are to suffer for His truth is near made up, and shortly to receive,
not only in the next, but in this world, lie worthy fruits of their
happy labours. God Almighty and AU-merciful wUl not suffer
long the rod of the wicked to he so heavily upon the lot of the Just,
neither let us be tempted more than by His Grace we shall be
able to bear, but will shorten these days of affliction for the
elect's sake. Comfort yourselves herein, my loving fellows, and in
the most Christian and glorious cause that ever God's priests
or people suffered in. We are ashamed here to sit ad sarcinas,
and see you in the fight and so bloody a combat, and we account
your cause a thousand times more happy and more meritorious
than ours. But this is God's ordinance and disposition of all
our actions and persons differently according to His will and
wisdom. And we that by His appointment stay yet here may
in good time have our turn, and in the meantime we succour you
and the cause with prayers, sacrifice, tears, sighs and groans
from the bottom of our hearts and with continual instance to
God and man for some relief of your miseries. Thus much I
write for my own comfort and yours and to discharge my heart
of the daily sorrows care and solicitude I have over you and your
afflicted flock, requiring you to whom these my letters may come
to make all good Cathohcs partakers of the same and of my
infinite desire I have to serve them even with my Ufe, expecting
continually good occasion to effectuate and accompUsh that which
you and they most desire. And having this commodity of
writing, carmot but require and advertise you, my loving
Brethren that be Priests of this one thing that I would have you
use great compassion and mercifulness towards such of the Layty
especially as for mere fear or saving of their family, wife and
children from ruins are so far only fallen as to come sometimes
to their Churches or be present at the time of their service, for
though it be not lawful to do so much nor in itself any ways

excusable, yet such necessity in that kind of men maketh the

offence less and more compassionable, yea and more easUy by
you to be absolved. And therefore be not hard nor rough nor
rigorous nor morose in receiving again and absolving them when
they confess their infirmities and be sorry for the same, and yield
some reasonable hope that they will hereafter stand more
strongly or have hope to have mean to escape and not to be
led into the Uke temptation by any moral shifts, which they may
134 NON POSSUMUS
find and which the drcnmstances of the time by ceasing of the
persecution or otherwise may bring ; which mercy you must use
though they fall more than once, and though perhaps yon have
some probable fear that they will of like infirmity fall again
whereof yet we cannot be assured because God may give them
more strength wherein no more severity is to be required of the
penitent than in any other sins that be subject to the Sacrament
of Penance, and perhaps all circumstances well and discretely
weigjied. In all which matters that cannot be so well subjected
to certain rul^ you must use much wisdom, much diarity and
be assured that in most cases of this kind tntior est via miseri-
cordiae quam justitiae rigoris. Sed Deus dabit nobis inteHectum
in omnibus. Yet on the other side, you and all m%- brethren must
have great r^ard that you teach not nor defend that it is lawful
to commtmicate with the protestants in thdr prayers or service,
or conventicles where they meet to irrinister their untrue
sacraments ; for this is contrary to the practice of the Church and
of the holy Doctors in all ages; who never communicated or
allowed in any Catholic person, to pray tt^ether with Arians,
Donatists, or what other soever. Neither is it positive law of the
Church, for so it might be dispensed withall ujxjn some occasion,
but it is denied of God's own eternal law, as by many evident
arguments I could convince and it hath been largely pxived in
sundry treatises in our own tongue, and we have practised from
the beginning of our miseries. And lest either any of my
Brethren mi^t either mistrust my judgment, or be not satisfied
by such proofs as have been made therein, or myself beguiled
therein inmy own conceipt, I thou^t only to take the opinion of
the best learned devines here, but to make all sure, I have
demanded the Pope's Holiness that now is his sentence, who
expressly told me that to participate with the Protestants either
by prayering with them or coming to their Churches or service or
such like, was by no means lawful or dispensable, but added
withall that such as of fear and weakness or other temporal force
or necessity should do it, ought to be gentiy dealt withall and be
easily absolved as beforesaid. This is his Hohness's express
will and mine opinion, in which I desire all my loving followers to
agree ut non sint in vobis schismata. And if any there which
cannot quiet his mind in the matter, send me word, and I will
take the pains to treat of the matter at large that they may see
thdr error. In the meanttme I hope this may serve for some
taste of my loving meaning towards you aD, and especially of the
continual care I have that jou be nnanimes in Domino.
 NON POSSUMUS 135

Remember me your loving father in Christ as you be all printed

in my very heart. Fare you well my sweet children.
" Rome this Xllth of December 1592
" By the hand of your dearest
" W" A. Card"
" It is notified also by certain intelligence unto aU Priests
that his Holiness being mindful of their Labours for God's church
and benefit of their country, sendeth them a Jubilee of within
three months after notice had they make a general Confession
either of their whole life, or of the time past since their last

genered confession which happily they may have made. No

other condition is intended, therefore it belongeth to everyone's
devotion to prepare himself for such benefit as he shall think
most effectual.
" Also that thosewho by his Holiness's immediate grant may
admit into the society of the Rosary may do the same without
any limitation of a particular altar but that the plenary indulgence
the first admission may be received wheresoever.
" And that there needeth no writing of names at aU but only
a bare admission without solemnity."
[State Papers, Vol. 243, n. 30).
 —

Chapter X
BRUISED REEDS

Thus did Catholics live in hopes of brighter days, trusting in Divine

Providence; but these days were to be delayed for centuries to
come. Many were the triads that came to test the strength of faith
and we must admit that the vast majority succimibed. There were
those who clung to the old Faith but had not the courage to face
the awful consequences of uncompromising fidelity and so they
stretched their consciences almost to breaking point, while not
infrequently using the Uberty they thus secured for the benefit of
the Catholic cause. The letter from Cardinal Allen, given above,
shows that the Church never countenanced such action. A notable
instance of this weak-kneed fidelity was that of the Earl of
Southampton. It is clear that he had in some extraordinary
manner satisfied himself that mere common prayer according
to the Service Book was not prohibited by any principles of religion.
At the same time he seenas at first to have had the determination to
remain staimch to the old Church ; in fact he remained in honour-
able confinement for three years, rather than subscribe to the
Articles of ReHgion. But although most of his confinement was
passed imder the guard of his friend and in the most comfortable
apartments of Loseley, this seclusion gradually worked upon him
and he gave way. But it would seem that he never became
convinced of the principles of the Reformation. It was the
subnaission of one who was afraid to do anything else.
The documents before us show him first of all in charge of
Mr. Becher in London ; but plague was ravaging the district and
it became necessary to move him to more healthy surroimdings.

No doubt this was owing to influence which was not lacking to the
noble Earl. It was in this house, however, that the Earl had
already shown a tendency to submit, for he had come to the common
prayer. Probably, therefore, hopes were entertained at this early
period that he would give way. The first letter that we see in the
Loseley Collection was written when it was decided to remove him
to the charge of Sir William More ; it runs as follows :

"Aft. o. harty Com. Whereas upon some occasion the Queen's

maj. did of late appoint that the Earl of Southampton should
be committed into the custody of Mr. Becher Alderman of Lon.
138
 BRUISED REEDS 137

Forasmuch as her Maj. is not yet resolved upon his full liberty,
and yet understanding that the infection of the plague is somewhat
near unto the said Alderman's house, and that the said Earl is
not in very good disposition of health whereof her highness is
careful, hath therefore gratiously accorded that the said Earl shall
be removed from the said Alderman Becher's house and custody
and shall remain with you under your charge. We have therefore
(agreable to her Maj's pleasure herein) thought good to require
you to repair to Mr. Becher in Lon. and require of him to have
the saide Earl to be delivered unto you, for which purpose there
is a letter written unto him. And then to convey the said Earl
unto your house by Guildford, and there to remain under your
charge until her Maj. shall be pleased to determine for his further
liberty.
" Ajid for the
manner how you shall keep him the same is meant
shall be in such sort as he is now with Mr. Becher, that is, to
have one or two servants to attend upon him in his chamber
without further conference with any other. And further as you
shall learn of Mr. Becher to have been proscribed unto him.
Which order we pray you to observe. And so fare ye heartily
well. From Oteland the 15th of July, 1570.
"Your loving friends,
" F. Knollys. Francis Croft. W. Cecill. R. Leycester.
E. Clynton. W. Howard.
" Postcript. It is meant that the expence of the said Earl shall
be at his own charge.
" To o^ very loving Friend William More, Esquire."

{Los. IV. n. 3.)

From this it is clear that his residence in both places of detention

at was made as comfortable as possible, as he was allowed
first,

to keep two of his own servants. This was quite a general practice
at the time for prisoners of his sta,tion in life ; at least in the first

months of their captivity. We are not siurprised to find that the

Earl, while announcing his advent to his friend, expresses some
dissatisfaction at his enforced visit.

"Mr. More my right hearty commendations I have by

after
this bearer my
servant sent unto you the Council's letters,
whe^by you shall perceive that I am appointed to continue
with you for a time. I assure you your guest cometh with no
very good will as having rather to be at my new house if it
so pleased them. But since it is their pleasure otherwise, I am
glad they have placed me with so honest a gentleman and friend.
138 BRUISED REEDS
And so desiimg yon to cx)me to-morrow that I were out of the
town I bid you farewell.
"With hearty commendations to your wife. From Lcmdon
the i6th of July, 1570.
"Your loving friend,
"H. SODTHAMFTON.
"To verj' loving friend
Mr. More give this." (Los. Vol. IV. n. 4.)

On the same day Sir William More recei\'ed the Alderman's

letter ofBciaUy informing him of the removal of his prisoner. It is
interesting to note that Southampton is provided with an equq)age
from his own stables.

"By this bearer ye shall receive the Ri^t Honourable the lords
you the Queen's Maj's pleasure
of the G>uncil letter signifying to
and thdrs concerning the Ead of Southampton for to be with
you for a httle time as I well hope, these few lines I write to
advertise you that, God be thanked, our parish is clearer and
any that are near adjoining, but yet the last week being increased
24 persons in London of the plague my said lord was much
desirous to be out of the city and the Queen's Maj .and Coundl
having a care for him hath appointed as aforesaid and at your
coming I shall enlarge to you the further pleasures \rtien ye come
as My Lord doth hope 3^ will to-morrow to be gone on Tuesday
if it may please you to set your house at Lambeth where my L,

of Southampton's horses are ready e^ye so with my very hearty

Comm^ I bid you fare well. From my house in London this
Sunday morning the i6tii of July, 1570.
" Youis to command,
" Harry Bechek.
" To the worshipful his beloved friend
Mr. More, Near Guildford." {Los. Vol. I\". n. 5.)

We now hear of a Lord Montague of Cowdray. This man was

brother-in-law to the Earl of Southampton ; he also was a secret
Catholic. He was of a very remarkable famfly, descended from
an Anthony Browne, who was Standard Bearer in the time of
Hemy VII. Tbe writer of the following letters was a Sir Anthony
Browne, and created Lord Montague by Queen Mary. He^was one
of Mary's Privy Council, and his son, Anthony, died before him.
It is a family with many CathoKc cormectiorB. A grandson,
William Browne, of Lord Montague became a lay brother in the
Society of Jesus and a Sir Anthony Browne of Fusing, Norfolk.
;
 —

BRUISED REEDS 139

was also of this family. He was a secret recusant, although a

Magistrate. The family had many ramifications and the tree is a
large one. We find the name of Browne repeated frequently in the
lists and convicted, which are kept at Loseley.
of recusants indicted
Many Brownes undoubtedly suffered much for their faith.
of the
Francis Browne, for instance, and his wife Joan, are mentioned in
the lists as suffering fines and long terms of imprisonment. But
Lord Montague was not of this category. The following letter
to Sir William More evinces a very natural anxiety for Southampton.
" my hearty commends Understand yesterday night
With
from my
daughter tiiat the state of my L of Southampton with
you is but as before with Mr. Bercher. I thought it my part,
after his so many days abode there, to send to you, as well that
his L. may understand my care and desire to hear of his health
as also to know whether his L. would any thing further to be
by me done in his behalf. And so I wish you heartily well to
do. From my house at Cowdrey the 24th of July, 1570.
" Your loving friend,
" Anthony Montague.
" I would sooner have sent to my L. saving that I thought I
should have heard (before this) from you, the state and manner
of his committy unto you.
" To my loving friend
Mr. Wm. Moore Esquire." (Los. Vol. IV. n. 6.)

Showing his feverish anxiety he sends yet another letter to

Sir WiUiam More, which was as follows :

" S^ I received a letter by the suffering for my L. of South-

ampton so send I one other to his L. open and by you to be
either deHvered or staid. I think long to hear of his delivery.
And now am willing his L. should be near where I mean to be
this week to spend.
"
And thus with my hearty comm^. I bid you heartily farewell.
From my house at Cowdrey the 6th August 1570.
" Your loving friend,
" Anthony Montague.
" To my loving friend,
" Mr. Wm. Moore, Esquire." (Los. Vol. IV. n. 7.)

Soon More found it irksome to have the charge of Southampton ;

he was in fact his jailer and the irksomeness of this office was increased
by the fact that he was never relieved of duty. It is therefore
quite natural that Sir WilUam should do all he possibly could to
140 BRUISED REEDS
escape from his task. Thus the following letter from a Member of
the Council was written with the object of shifting the responsibility.
" I have received your letter of the 8th of this present wherein
you write that you went to the court at Osterley to make humble
suite unto my Lords of the Privy Coun. to be discharged of
keeping the Earl of South., committed unto you by them. In
very deed when the matter was first moved at the Coun. boards,
I spake in your behalf what I could that he might not come unto
you, but my words prevailed not. My will was good at that time
as it shall be always if it may stand you in stead. And where
you write that the Earl being with you is a restraint of your
liberty, so as you can neither visit me (being in the country)
nor yet travel for the execution of the Commission which I sent
to Mr. Onslowe and Mr. Browne. For your good will to visit
me, I do most heartily thank you and do accept your good will
therein as much as if you had taken the travel upon yourself.
For the execution of the said Commission, although your presence
might further them ; yet having such occasion, you may be very
well spared the rather for that there are others sufficient to
perform the Queen's Majesty's expectations in that behalf.
" Touching the continual keeping of your house as well as
to avoid all conference with him out of your hearing, as to see
those letters which he doth receive or doth send. Therein you
do very well, for in those two points doth consist the greatest
part of your charge. I think you shall not greatly need to fear
his departure from you, he knoweth too well, the benefit that
groweth to her Majesty thereby. Thus with my hearty coram'.
I bid you fare well. At Blechiiigle this gth of August 1570.
" Your 1. friend
"W. Howard.
" would you would cause the rest of the commissioners to
I
write imto what they have already done touching the same
commission.
" To my very loving friend Mr. WUliam Moore
" one of the Justices of peace. Surrey." (Los. Vol. IV. n. 8.)

As we have seen, there were many inconveniences for More in

consequence of this captivity of the Earl. Amongst others the
plague had by now spread to the counties and More was nervous
of itscoming to his house. It is evident that he was in no way
pleased with Sir Harry Becher for shifting the responsibility of
his unwelcome guest to Loseley, and he darkly hinted at some
Machiavelian dealings in the Alderman's efforts to this end.
 "

BRUISED REEDS 141

Sir Harry writes the following epistle to justify his action.

" May it please your worship that I may advertise the same
now having occasion to send my present through Guildford
thought rather for good reasons than of necessity to write to
my L. of South, and not so to do but that I would your worship
should be privy thereof for the which purpose I have inclosed
his L. letter herein. And truth it is I wrote to the Honourable
Lords of the C. before my said L. departure from me that the
sickness was then and at that present incroached near to my
house then of long time before that it had been the wish was
through being in Cornell and Lombert Street where you 5 months
before no sickness of plague had been neither then nor in no other
place so near. Ever since I received their own letters that your
worship shall have my said L. from me, whereof I was glad for
that I saw his L. so fearful of the sickness that he was with fear
much disquieted. When I wrote your worship to put you out
of fear in coming for his Lordship that from the 3 Cranes to my
house the way was clear and the parish alleys where I did dwell
and all other places very near adjoining to my house, the which
was true and so was my letter also to the Hon. Coimcil. Although
might seem something repugnant the one to the other, but yet
in substance very true ; for as I wrote their honours the sickness
was incroached near to my house at that instant yet was it
not so near but that I wrote your worship was true also.
Although I have heard my writing had been otherwise somaried
but I trust your worship doth not take in ill part any thing of
the matter and so I pray you not to do. I am very sorry to hear
of so great sickness spread abroad in the Counties generally
in Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Sothem special near to London,
Middlesex and Hcirefordshire are not clear. God keep you and
yours and all your parts from the said sickness being a burning
ague but such as God be thanked very few doth die thereof even
so. With my very hearty commendations I take leave.
" Written from my house in London the 14th day of August
1570-
" Yours most assured
" Harry Becher.
" To the Right Worshipful
" his good friend Mr. More, Near Guildford, give." {Los. IV. n.
9.)

What different motives lead to acts of kindness ! Not able to

rid himself of his prisoner. More strives for his " enlargement
and to this end he plots with Montague. Undoubtedly the motive
 :

143 BRUISED REEDS

that is given is More's love for the Earl and zeal for the Queen.

Montague falls in with the objects of More, as indeed we should

expect he would and he thus writes his appreciation to his
;

friend

" With my right hearty comm^. I have perceived as well by

your letter to me as the copy of yours to my L. of Leycester the
care and desire you have to do my L. of South, good and procure
his L. enlargement. For the which as I am to give you my right
hearty thanks, so trust I, you will both friendly and faithfully
labour the end of the same which both my L. and I for him must
in honesty and reason always remember and seek to requite as
we shall now
find cause in this his trouble.
" Thus bid you heartily farewell.
I From my house at
Cowdray the 5th of September 1570.
" Your loving friend
" Anthony Montague.
" To my loving friend Mr. Wm. Moore Esquire." {Los. IV. n. 10.)

But, as we have seen in an earlier chapter, all are not friends of

More at Court. The noble Cecil is at hand. What game he may
now be playing under the eye of his Queenly patron we cannot say.
His noted zeal for the Queen's Majesty presents difficulties, and
Southampton should give a proof of his submission.
A pursuivant is sent with a letter from the Council. What oral
message this pursuivant is charged with we are not told. But we
can be quite certain that Cecil gave him plainly to understand
that he should have his eyes about him and then that he
should report anything worth knowing. The letter itself is very
short. (Los. Vol. IV. n. 11.)

" After our very hearty comm=. We have thought meet for
good considerations to require you to signify unto us by your
private letter, whether the E. of S., presently remaining in your
house, do come to common prayer or not, and in case he have
not so done already, then we require you as of yourself to move
and persuade him thereunto and of that he shall do or hath done
and shall answer thereupon we pray you to advertise us with
convenient speed. And so we bid you fare well.
" From Windsor the 23rd October, 1570.
" Your loving friends.
" W. North. F. Bedford. R. Leycester. W. Howard.
" F. Knollys. James Crofts. W. Cecill. Wa. Mildmay."
" To our very loving friend WUliam Moore Esquire."
 BRUISED REEDS 143

The above circumstance was speedily reported to Lord Montague

at Gjwdray, probably by one of "Somerset's servants. It gave him
cause for great anxiety and he feared it boded no good to his
kinsman. Accordingly he at once sent a messenger to Loseley
with the following letter —
{Los. Vol. IV. n. 12.)
:

" With my hearty comm^. I cannot a little marvel that my

L. of South, having dealt and written you know he hath
as lately
no resolution followeth of his release. I fear a persuivant was
with you with letters touching him, whether of good or no, I
I know not more than that by the message my daughter had
cause to hope the best. If there appeared to you no Ukelihood
of his discharge, I pray you send me word by this bearer what
you think to the end his wife may stay no longer, but for discharge
of her duty. I make suite as she may. I trust and make
myself assured he hath not and doth not want the best means
to further him. And so bid you heartily farewell. From my
house at Cowdrey this last of October 1570.
" Yoxur loving friend
" Anthony Montague.
" To my loving friend Mr. Wm. Moore, Esquire.

As a result of the pursuivant's visit to Loseley the Earl was

summoned to the Council in order that he might there be questioned
and dealt with. The order was peremptory.
" After our heaty com'. These be to signify unto you that
the Queen's Maj's pleasure is you shall cause the E. of S. to be
brought unto Kingston by tomorrow night at the farthest, so
that he may be before us of her Highness's Coimcil on Monday
in the morning to the end that we may take such order with him
as her Majesty hath appointed. And so fare you well. From
Hampton Court the 6th of November 1570.
" Your loving friends
" R. Leycester.
" N. Cecill.
" To or. very loving friend WUham More Esquire."
(Los. Vol. IV. n. 13.)

I have not been able to find any report of the proceedings at

Kingston on that date. It is clear that CeciU was determined to
cause as much inconvenience to More as possible. The Earl's
answers we suppose were not satisfactory. He must still have
shown some backbone, for we hear no more of the matter till three
years after.
 — ;

144 BRUISED REEDS

In 1573 More once again attempts to be released from his task
— ^a task which has worked admirably in making a close prisoner of
the jailer himself. More has learnt, even in this his old age, how
to treat with respect the favourites that dwell at Greenwich. He
knows who it is that bars his way to perfect enjoyment. To Cecill,
therefore, he appeals he makes his humble suite to this all-
:

powerful Minister. The matter has been maturely considered

it is of great moment to him. He writes a rough copy of two
letters, one is for Cecill alone, the other for the whole|Council.
It is these rough copies that are kept at Loseley.
" Mr. Secretary. My duty imto your honour remembered.
For as much as the E. of S. hath of long time remained in my
charge whereby I have been inforced ever since not to depart
from my house, what occasion of business soever I had, and am
driven still to continue in that order on letters by your honour's
good means I may be relieved thereof I am bold now to be an
humble suitor to you therein that by your help I may be delivered
of this my charge.
" To Mr. Secretary CeciU for the E. of "
S. [No date.]
{Los. Vol. IV. n. 14.)

That the first letter for Mr. Secretary only, it is evidently a

is
personal appeal. The following sets forth at greater length reasons
which wiQ appeal to the Council assembled. In the foregoing it
was only necessary to satisfy Cecill that More had suffered sufii-
cently. We give the letter, as it was read in Council :

" —
To the LL of the Council My duty unto your honourable
L. humbly remembered. It may please the same to be adver-
tised immediately after the E. of S. came into my charge I
signified unto hun that usually I had common prayer twice
every day in my house at the which I would wish his L. to be.
Whereunto he answered me, that since he was restrained of his
liberty in my house he had no disposition to come out of his
chamber to prayer, but privately to occupy himself there in
prayer, thinking it to be no great difference to do the one or the
other. And therefore desired me to think that he did not absent
himself from the same as of one that contemned the service for
not only he had usually common prayer in his own house, but
also at his being the Court he did there frequent the same, and
so requested me therewith to be satisfied. Within short time
after I declared unto him that since through his remaining with
me I was inforced so to keep home as I nor my family could be
at any service abroad, I did determine to have one well learned
 —
BRUISED REEDS 145

to instruct them one day in my house, of the which I thought

better to give him knowledge, before, than upon the sudden
to move him to come unto the same.
" He answered me that since I was so determined, he would
willingly be by and so, at the time appointed, he came and
;

stayed the service, from the beginning to the end and lately;

I again declared to his Lor. that I minded to do another service

in my house, to which he said he would willingly hear whensoever
I would. And now according to your L. command, signified
unto me by your letters, I eversince moved him to come unto
the common prayer, using such persuations as I could to lead
him thereunto. Whereunto he answered me that he had absented
^
himself from the service for no other respect than before declared,
and that since I did so earnestly urge him thereunto he would
willingly be present at it, and so came that day into parlour
where common prayer was present at the service.
" To the Lords of the Councel
" for the Earl of South." {Los. Vol. IV. n. 15.)

Mr. CecUl was evidently partly softened. He took some steps

and answered not altogether unhopefuUy so Sir William drafted
;

yet one more letter to be sent post haste to the Earl of Leicester.
It runs as follows :

" My duty unto y'. hon. L. remembered. It may please the

same to be advertised that my L. of S. says he had understand
what success the earnest suite of your L. and of others, lately
had to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty for his enlargement,
is fallen into that heaviness and pensiveness of mind as that I

fear it will either breed in him some present sickness or some great
inconvenience hereafter. I have used the best persuasions I
can to stay him from the same but it Uttle prevaileth, and his
answer ig, it albeit his restraint of liberty is very painful unto
him, because he doubteth the same to be such discomfort to my
Lady his wife as may be to her great harm ; yet the indignation
and displeasure of her highness, which, he thinketh, vehemently
conceived against him, because he saith his friend's earnest
labour unto her grace in his behalf can take no better place,
doth so far pass the other in grief of mind unto him as that his life
seemeth to him very tedious.* Of which I thought it my duty
to advertise your L. because I perceive his hope of qualification of

* Aad yet contentedly submitting himself to that straight edge prescribed

by your L. and others of her Grace's most honourable privy Counsel uRto me.

11
 —

146 BRUISED REEDS

the queen's Maj. displeasure against him resteth chiefly in you,
by whose good care if he may effect the same it shall not only
be greatly to his comfort but also bind him in honour to be at
yr. commandment during his hfe.
Indorsed. To the Right Worshipful and my very
friend Mr. Robert Cresinell, Esquire.
[The Earl of Leycester?] For the
keeping of the said L. of S. show of.
(Los. Vol. IV. n. 15.)

Things are moving. What is moving, then, we wonder ? In

—
those da.ys when the mancia was so powerful we almost suspect.
But the thing must be done gently. Southampton has come to
common prayer. Consequently that has made it easier. Further
he is " fallen into that heaviness and pensiveness of mind as there
breed in him some present sickness or some great
is fear it will either
inconvenience hereafter." Hence his health is seriously jeopardised.
The Council seemed greatly mollified. He may call on his mother,
so says Burghley in the following letter to More :

" After my hearty coms. These are to let you understand that
the Q. Maj. is well contented and pleased that the E. of S. may
repair unto my Lady his mother in your company at such times
as he shall require, or my said Lady shall desire tiie same during
the time of her Ladyship's sickness. So fare you heartily well.
From the Court the 3rd of May 1573.
" Your loving friend
" W. Burghley.
" To my loving friend
" Mr. More esquire." (Los. Vol. IV. n. 16.)

Now the whole Council takes cognisance of the submission of the

Earl and gives its sanction to a little more hberty. Note, however,
that More must still be in attendance, whether the Earl visit " my
Lady his wife," or go sometimes abroad for " taking the air,"
or " repair sometimes to an house of his in Wapping, which now
is in building."

"After our hearty coms. AVhereas upon the honourable

submission of the E. of S. the Qus. Maj.' gracious pleasure was,
that he should be set at more hberty, her highness hath made
special choice of you with whom he might for the time remain,
till some fiuther order be taken, which we have thought good

to signify unto you, desiring you as well to permit unto him the
access of my Lady his wife, his other friends and servants, which
 —
BRUISED REEDS 147

shall repair unto him, as otherwise suffer him to go some times

abroad with them, for taking the air, so that it be with your
liking, and in your company. And hereby we mind not to charge
you in any respect with his diet, or otherwise in any sort, but that
he either bear them himself, or see you well satisfied and con-
tented, as to his estate and in right appartaineth. And for that
he hath desired to have Hberty to repair sometimes to an house
of his in Wapping, which now is in building her Maj. is very
;

well pleased that he may now and then do so, so that it be in

your presence and company, and that he return to your house
the same night again.
"And so desiring you hereof not to fail, we will you right heartily
fare well. From Chamber the fifth of May 1573.
the Star
" Your loving friends
" W. BuRGHLEY. E. Lyncoln. T. SUSSEX. R. Leycester.
.

" T. Smith. R. Sadler. WA. Mildmay.

"To or. loving friend Mr. Moore."- (Los. Vol. IV. n. 17.)

Two months later More is made once more to feel a free man.
His guest prisoner is to be given in charge of his father-in-law
not yet, however, to be in complete enjoyment of liberty. But it
is the preliminary to emancipation.

The Lords of the Council write as foUows to Southampton :

" After o. h. coms. to your L. the Queen's Maj. is well pleased

and contented that you shall remain at Cowdray with our very
good the Viscount Montague, your father-in-law. And further
at your and your friend's earnest request is also contented that
your Lordship may repair to your house which is building in
such sort as you did when you were at Mr. More's provided always
that by reason of the distance of the places, ye cannot well
return in one day, ye do not by this permission remain there
above one night, till her Maj 's farther pleasure shall be known to
the contrary. And this shall be your L. and Mr. More's sufficient
warrant on that behalf. And so we bid you right heartily fare
well. From Greenwich the 14th of July 1573.
" Your loving friends
" W. Burghley. T. Sussex. F. Bedford.
R. Leycester. F. Knollys. T. Smyth.
" To or very good Lord the
E. of South." .

"This is the true copy of her Majesty's Councel's letter to

me directed.
(Los. Vol. IV. n. 18.) " W. Southampton."
 — —

148 BRUISED REEDS

What wonder that Southampton should be grateful to his erst
whilejailer. He is beholden to him for much nay, both More
;

and have been the Earl's friends and saved him from ruin.
his wife
What manner of counsellor Lady More has been to her husband
in aU these circumstances we may imagine. The Earl's wife writes
as follows to Lady More :

" Good Mrs. More, send this bearer to bring me word from
I
you how my came unto you and how she hath past
httle mall
the greater part of her very journey. I doubt not of yoiu" over
great care of her while she rests in your hands. My only desire
is to hear of her safe coming unto you, when she hath rested with

you an whole day I pray you let her be sent hence not so far in
any place till she come to me. My L. my father and my L. also
do look for her tomorrow if she came try on yester night if not
till this night, then try on Saturday at the farthest. I send your
good husband and you ten MI commendations with no less thanks
for aU the great courtesties which for my part I acknowledge
myself to have received at your hand for the which I rest your
debtor, ready in good will to requite it when any occasion shall
be offered. Farewell Mrs. More with all my heart this I present
Thursday.
" Your assured loving friend
"
W. Southampton.
" My commends, unto your husband
L. sends his most hearty
and you, and would himself have written unto him but this
night he hath been very sick and is now a bed not well. Good
Mrs. Polsted I must not forget to salute in most hearty manner
and do wish me with you every day an hour or two.
" To my very friend Mrs. More
at Loseley — ^give this." (Los. Vol. IV. n. ig.)

The Earl's gratitude may well be conceived. However a happy

event has taken place at Cowdray ; it is announced at once to
Loseley in the following terms :

" After my
most hearty comms. both to you and to your
good it is so happed by the sudden sickness of
wife, although
my wife we could not by possibility have her present as we
desired, yet have I thought good to impart unto you such comfort
as God hath sent me after all my long troubles, which is that
this present morning, at 3 of the clock, my wife was delivered
of a goodly boy (God bless him) the which, although it was not
without great peril to them both for the present, yet now, I
 BRUISED REEDS 149

thank God, both in good state. If your wife will take the pains
to visit her we shall be mighty glad of her company. And so
with my hearty comms. to your son Polsted and his wife, and to
good Mr. Sounder, if he be with you, I end for this time, bidding
you heartily farewell. From Cowdray, this present Tuesday 1573.
" Your assured friend
" H. Southampton.
" To my assured friend
Mr. WilUam More, Esquire, Losly, give this."
{Los. Vol. IV. n. 20.)

This goodly boy was Shakespeare's Adonis, the Earl was the great
patron of the poet and his close friend.
The joy-bells are set ringing. Liberty at last. The Earl
—
journeys abroad but in the company of his father-in-law.
" Although I have lately divers ways pestered your house
yet since your bequest is so I mind (God willing) with my wife
to be with you in our journey towards London on Tuesday next
ensuing and my brother Anthony Browne and his wife in my
company, my Lord Montague upon the occasion not journeying
with us. And so with my very hearty comms. to your good
wife and yourself, I bid you right heartily farewell. From
Cowdry, the first of November 1573.
" Your assured friend
" W. Southampton.
" I pray you recomemnd me heartily to your son and daughter
Polsted and to good Mr. Soundar and also that you will do so
much as send for your glasier and tell him that now I am ready
for him at Dogmersfield and if he cannot presently serve my turn
I must provide some other for that some part of my house must
be forthwith glased before the frost, and my glass and all other
things are there ready.
" To my loving friend Mr. WiUiam More,
Esquire, give these at Losley." {Los. Vol. IV. n. 21.)

The with this imprisonment announces

last of the letters dealing
to us the — —
end of sufferings sUght though they were for the noblest
of causes. Southampton is free. But what is the value of that
freedom ? The mind is now more chained, the will more tortured
than it could have been in dungeons or iron fetters. It stands to
reason that the convictions of a hfetime were not changed by mere
external compulsion. We do not read of a single argument that
 ;

150 BRUISED REEDS

could aflect the mind. Hence time alone could obliterate the
memories of lessons learnt in early childhoodand we know that
;

the sympathies of these famihes remained always Catholic. It

must not be imagined that the Catholic Church encouraged her
children, under any circumstances, while remaining secretly of the
fold to practise pubhcly the religion of the State. True, indeed,
priests said Mass at Cowdray and in Southampton House ; true,
priest hunts were often made in these places ; true, also, Catholics
congregated there in the silent hours of early dawn for the Divine
Sacrifice ; but never could either Lord Montague or the Earl of
Southampton communicate with the faithful there assembled
never could they receive absolution as long as they persisted in the
overt act of apostacy.
How many thousands of such bruised reeds were there in England
at that time
? We know of great numbers. The wealthy Catholics
were able for a time to put off the period when they should have
to make complete sacrifice of all they possessed rather than betray
their faith :their wealth, in many cases, gave them respite ; they
paid heavily for their liberty untU they had no more to pay.
But the poor, what of them ? There was little opportunity
afforded them of choice. They were brow-beaten into subjection,
or hurried away into the common gaols, which thus became greatly
overcrowded. Little wonder if, aitei a very brief space of four
years from the date of the last of the above letters, in the whole of
England and Wales there were at liberty no more than one thousand
three hundred and sixty-eight known Cathohcs, of whom thirty-
seven were priests.*
Public Record Office, Vol. iig. No. zo.
Tabulated list of Catholics and Priests in England and Wales. Date 1577,
December 30th.
 Chapter XI

THE SEMINARY PRIESTS

" A Warrant to apprehend Peter Renellard a French priest
now or late serving the cure of Peperharow in Surrey.
" We will and commaund you in the Quenes name bie vertue
of her highnes Comission for matters eccliasticall to us and others
directed that furthwth upon receipt hereof you doe apprehend
and attache or cause to be apprehended and attached Peter
Renellard be5mge a frenche priest nowe or late serving the cure
of Peperharrow wthin the countie of Surreie. And that there-
upon you sende him to warde to Guildford in the saide Countye
there to remaine prisoner at or comaundment, untill he shall be
examined bie us in matters wch shall be objected against him,
and to be ordered bie us or anie of us in that behalf, whereof
faile ye not as ye will aunswer to the contraire at yor pill. From
Winchester the XXVth dail of August 1571.
" Your loving f rends
" P. WiNTON
" John Ebden
"W. Onctoy
" F. KiNGESMILE
" Endorsed B. Wynchester
" To all Justices of peace maiors Bailiffs, constables and all
ther the Quenes mats ofiQcers and subjiects wthin the countie
of Surrey aswell wthin UbUes as wthoute, and especially to the
worshipfuU Mr. WiUiam Moore Esquire of the said county and
to eyerie or any of the Council." (Los. Vol. V. n. 7.)

Bray indorsed this letter saying :

—" There is no such name in
the list of Rectors."
What Peter Renellard was really doing at Pepperharrow remains
a ms^tery to this day. I have searched in vain at the Record Office
and elsewhere for his name. Did he escape to the Continent
or did he remain in England under some assumed name ? We
shall probably never know in this world. But there were such
cases of priests serving for a time unmolested some secluded country
cure ; then conforming, then again repenting of such apostasy and

161
 ;

153 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS

their names disappearing from the calendar. But this state of
things could not last long, the hunt was hot in pursuit and the
hounds were many. In 1572 William Howard sent a letter to the
magistrates summoning a meeting at Reigate in order that they
might discuss how best to round up the fugitives in Surrey.
{Los. Vol. V.)
" W. Howard about a Commission for fugitives in Surrey, to
meet at what should be done.
his house in Reigate to consider
" Mr. Browne, I have received the Queen's Majesty's Com-
mission under the great seal of England, touching fugitives in
the county of Surrey. In which com. Mr. Weston, Mr. Baron
Birche, Mr. More, Mr. Agmondeshanun and you are joined with
me. I purpose (God wiUing) to be at my house at Reigate upon
Friday next where I would most willingly have you aU, to consider
of the contents of the same Com. and thereupon to proceed
accordingly. I pray you therefore find some means to send word
hereof unto Mr. Weston, Mr. More, Mr. Agmondeshanun and
Mr. Birche (if he be near at home) and if they be with rae at my
house upon Monday next, and then we wUl confer together what
is best to be done. And so with commendations I bid you
fareweU. From the Court this Monday morning the Vllth of
April 1572.
" Your loving friend
" W. Howard."

No time was lost—lists were at once drawn up of all her Majesty's

subjects in the various counties. Every parish was searched.
The churchwardens in each parish were made responsible for this
work. Every man, woman and child was questioned as to his
beUef. Absentees from Church were asked to give a reason of
their absence. Obstinate truants were reported to the Magistrates,
were summoned before them, and if refractory were fined, later on
imprisoned. No one could long escape this inquisition. As I have
said, not alone the rich but the poor were canvassed in this way
neither wealth nor poverty reUeved a man from persecution. Many
—
withstood the onrush of this tide of oppression ^so many indeed
—
that the prisons very soon overflowed as we have seen, even into
the houses of the gentry who were unsuspected of partiality to the
old faith. The condition of these prisoners was wretched in the
extreme. Later in this ~*vork we shall have occasion to say some-
thing a:bout them.
Just when Southampton Was regaining his liberty, his wife and
Montague's were espousing the cause of a " poor old woman, one
 ;

THE SEMINARY PRIESTS 153

Parkins," who was detained in the White Lion. She had been sent
there by the Bishop of Winchester and had already been a long time
in prison. Neither her great age nor her poverty had saved her
from this rough usage.

{Los. Vol. V. n. I.)

"Good Mr. Moore, Whereas at your last being here we moved
you touching an old poor woman, one Parkins committed long
since to the White Lion, by my Lord of Winchester, unto whom
we both would have gladly have been sutors for her enlargement
considering her age and poor estate for as much as we cannot
:

have convenient access unto his L. and knowing that you have
sundry times occasion of repair unto him, we have thought good
to desire you in our behalf to be a means unto his good Lordship
for the poor woman, as that she may (for the respects aforesaid)
receive, by his charitable favour, easement in these her great
years, of this long and overchargeable imprisonment wherein
siurely my L. shaU do a charitable deed, and we have cause to
think ourselves much beholding to his L. as also to you being a
good mean therein. And so with our hearty' commendations
unto you, and to good Mrs. Moore, we bid you right heartily
farewell.
" From Cowdery the 26th of July 1573.
" Your lo\'ing friends
" M. Southampton
" Magdalen Montague."

That is all we know of this poor woman.

The smoking flax shelters many dying embers, and these dull
Sparks, unseen by the official eye, form the means of rekindling a
whole nation with the Ught of faith. It is a vain and foohsh notion
with which minds become sometimes obsessed that even in a land
where autocracy holds sway it is possible to extinguish entirely the
light of faith. Those who deceive themselves in this way leave
out of count the in-born divinity of God's church, her mission to all
nations, her universality.
As in the dim ages of long ago the light dawned to this country
from far-off Rome, so now these smouldering embers must needs
be rekindled to a bright flame of all-sacrificing charity by that centre
of supernatural faith.
Assuredly it is only a Divine Church that could have withstood
the shock sustained in the sixteenth century. The Catholic
Church not only withstood this shock but emerged from it more
 — :

154 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS

glorious than ever before. When enemies arise against religion
it is time to find a means of combating the evil. The Catholic
Church has always considered that Our Lord placed in the Priest-
hood the great means whereby the flock of Christ should be fed
with the Sacraments and Holy Doctrine, and that the learning and
piety of the faithful will be largely measured by the leeiming and
piety of the clergy. Cut off this source, and the lambs of Christ die
for want of the spiritual waters of Divine Grace.
Hence at once a movement was set on foot to bring to perfection
the means at hand for the education of missioners for England,
and funds were collected so as to establish other colleges and to
enable students to be trained for the work that had to be done.
There were already on the Continent two schools- of learning
the University of Douai and a College at Rheims. Both were the
result of the energies of Dr. Allen and priests had been educated at
Douai and sent on to England ; thus the flow being continued.
But it was recognised that this was altogether inadequate for the
needs of the time. The Marian clergy were aU but some thirty-seven
in prison and those who were stiU at large were becoming incapacitated
through sickness and old age, intensified by the extreme privations
of their lot. In the pre-reformation days the clergy had been trained
in a great many colleges, some universities, many monastic schools
here in England and abroad. The Catholic Church was deprived
of all these centres of education in this land and those which
remained abroad were in many instances impoverished by the wars
and religious upheavals of that sixteenth century.
The energy of Dr. William Allen,* after created Cardinal, is never
to be forgotten in connection with the work of sending missioners
to this country. An interesting document kept in the Archives
of the Archdiocese of Westminster gives us a brief account in
the following words of the establishment of Douai College :

" On Dr. William Allen's return from Rome (a.d. 1568),

whither he had been on a pilgrimage, he with two professors of
Douai who were his fellow pilgrims, resolved to gather the English
exiles into the University of Douai, then recently founded by
the King of Spain, in order that they might practise their reUgion
and pursue their studies under collegiate discipline."

• The following account is taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia :

" William Cardinal Allen bom in England, 1532 died in Rome i6th October
1594. He was the 3rd son of John Allen of RossaU, Lancashire, and at the
age of 15 went to Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1550, and
was elected fellow of his College. In 1554 he proceeded M.A., and two years
later was chosen Principal of St. Mary's Hall, For a short time he also held
 " :

THE SEMINARY PRIESTS 155

Dr. Allen met with serious difficulties, chief amongst which was
that of obtaining the money needful. It was impossible for the
majority of those who were likely to present themselves as candidates
for the priesthood to contribute much towards their maintenance.
However, as Father William Holt tells us in the document I have
just quoted " Notwithstanding these hindrances, Allen, casting
:

all his care upon God, and buoyed up by the marvellous and almost

unlooked for charity and encouragement of certain holy souls,

persevered in his purpose, and with the approval and confirmation
of His Holiness St. Pius V. opened the English College of Douai,
A.D. 1569. During the first years his students were few and owed
their scanty subsistence to the benefactions of certain Abbots in
the neighbourhood of Douai and other good people, while Allen,
who was one of the Regius Professors of the local university, cast

a canonry at York, for he had already determined to embrace the ecclesias-

tical state."
On the accession of Queen Elizabeth, he remained most firmly attached to
the old rehgion he resigned all his preferments and in 1561 he left the
;

country and took refuge in Louvain.

" The following year, however, we find him back in England, devoting
himself, though not yet in priest's orders, to evangelizing his native country.
His success was such that it attracted notice and he had to flee for safety.
For a while he made himself a missionary centre near Oxford, where he had
many acquaintances, and later, for a time he sought protection with the
family of the Duke of Norfolk. In 1565 he was again forced to leave
England, this time, as it turned out, for good. He was ordained priest at
Mechlin shortly afterwards. The three years Allen spent as a missioner in
England had a determining effect on his whole Ufe. For he found every-
where that the people were not Protestant by choice, but by force of
circumstances, and the majority were only too ready, in response to his
preaching and administrations, to return to Catholicity.
At the request of King Philip of Spain, he was created Cardinal in 1587.
In the year 1589 his royal patron nominated him to the Archbishopric of
Mechlin ; but, for some reason which has never been satisfactorily explained,
the nomination, although publicly allowed to stand several years, was never
confirmed. He resided in the English College, Rome, from the year 1579 up
to the time of his death in 1594 ; and he was buried in the chapel of the Holy
Trinity adjoining the college.
Dr. Allen's energies on behalf of the seminaries and his efforts to bring back
his countrymen to the faith of their fathers won universal approval until he
espoused the cause of Spain. In this he lost the sympathy of by far the
majority of English Catholics. In the course of time he became deeply
convinced that Ms suffering brethren and children in the land of his birth and
education should be succoured by force of arms and that a holy war should be
preached against the aristocrats who scourged the faithful so mercilessly. An
exhortation to take up arms in connection with the proposed Spanish invasion
was printed at Antwerp and issued in his name. But it proved abortive
not even for an AUen, revered though he was by all Catholic sons of the
Realm, would Englishmen seek to rid themselves of an intolerable yoke by
selling their nation to the foreigner.
The Cardinal was a distinguished man of letters, and during his life he
published many works in defence of the Catholic Church,
156 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS
his stipend into the common fund and fared like the others. As the
number of the students increased, whUe certain benefactors began
to fail, Allen looked about him to find some staple source of income.
His chief hope was in our most holy Lord Gregory XIII."
Like his illustrious and most holy namesake and predecessor
Pope Gregory required no oratory to fill him with a spirit of zeal
for the conversion of the Angles. The Pope immediately offered
substantial help, and a monthly subsidy of one hundred crowns was
presented by him, beginning from April 5th, 1575, and later in
1579 this was increased by another fifty crowns per month. The
hospital of the EngUsh pilgrims at Douai was then converted into
a college. Father WiUiam Holt goes on to tell us that the zeal of
Dr.~ Allen led him to other foundations, and that he secured the
sympathy of the King of Spain who granted lavish endowments for
the estabUshing of two other seminaries in his own kingdom :

ValladoUd in the year 1590, and the other at Seville in the year
1592, and one more in France at St. Omer in 1593.
(The above extracts are translations of the Rev. Dr. Knox.
I have taken them from the Records of the EngUsh Province,
S.J., Vol. VII., p. 1239)
It was in 1578 that the Seminary at Rheims was established,
again through the energy of Dr. Allen, and in the following year,
1579, th^ Hospice for English pilgrims in Rome, near the Tiber,
was converted by Gregory XIII. into a College for EngUsh students.
Later the CoUeges of St. Luca and Lisbon were founded. Many
of our CathoUc people here in England contributed of their wealth
and of their poverty towards this noble work, and very soon there
was a stream of young men going out from their fatherland to one
or other of these coUeges, thence after years of the most careful
training, to return to a work of love, but extreme peril.
The money coUected was very soon sufficient not only for the
estabUshment of these Colleges, but overflowed so much as to form
a sinking fund for the reUef of many poverty-stricken CathoUcs
who fled for peace and protection to the Continent. Father Henry
Tichboume, S.J., wrote to Father Thomas Darbyshire who was
then at Pont-a-Mousson, in 1598, telling him of iiie hopeful out-
look for cathoUcism in England, and attributing this to the
energetic zeal of the Supreme Pontiff Gregory XIII. and to another
cause which he describes as foUows :
—
" The second support of
this hope is the continual confluence of the rarest and best wits of
our nation to the seminaries and their Constance in foUowing
their mission, and procuring to be qualified for their return."
This is the more marvellous, he teUs us, on account of the supreme
 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS 157

severity of the laws which for ten or twelve years have now been
carried into rigorous execution. He remarks the consoling fact
that, whereas before these penal laws were published, we had but
two seminaries, and those but indifferently furnished with persons
and provisions, since that time we have eight, one in Rome number-
ing 70 students, one in Douai with 120, one in St. Omer with 80,
one in ValladoUd with 63, one in Seville with 65, while St. Luca
and Lisbon send a yearly supply between them of from 40 to 50.
He further teUs us that the number of secular priests in England
was then over 500, and this did not include the Jesuits, who
numbered in England and abroad 150, besides the Capuchins and
other religious to the number of 100. (Dom. Eliz. Vol. 262, No. 28.
Extract taken from Records of the Jesuits, Vol. III., p. 723.)
Although the need was extremely urgent, more so indeed than
ever since the foundation of Christianity in this land, there was
nevertheless no undue haste, no hurr5nng of unprepared Levites
to sow the seed and reap the harvest. In the dajrs of the Black
Death the fatal mistake was made here in England of ordaining
men without any preparation. They were hurried into the Lord's
Vineyard for the purpose of administering the Last Rites to the
dying. The object was indeed a noble one, and many of these
priests gave up their lives for their brethren, but the result of this
excessive haste on the part of the Church in England was to attempt
to sail the ship with men who knew nothing about navigation. An
ignorant and imtrained clergy is perhaps one of the greatest disasters
that could befaU the Church of God on earth. This mistake was
not to be made again, but if the ever rising tide of inJBdeUty, under
the guise of new and piuified learning, was to be stemmed at all, it
must needs be by men who were fully equipped with learning and
piety. Hence before sending men on the mission the Chiurch put
them through a severe course of studies the period of immediate
;

preparation for the priesthood was seven years : three years'

philosophy and four years' theology. In that time they had ample
opportunity of grasping not only the correct principles of right
reasoning, but also of sounding the fallacies of the new doctrines.
The course implied a thorough training in the science of Sacred
Scripture and of the Holy Fathers ;a wide knowledge of Ecclesi-
astical History, and all the principles of Moral Theology which
govern the 'treating of spiritual diseases.
With this equipment they were capable of facing the dif&culties
which met them every day in this country. These difficulties did
not consist merely in braving dangers and escaping from pursuers ;
it was not the hazardous circumstances under which they offered
 —

158 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS

the Divine Sacrifice and administered the Sacraments that fonned
the sum total of their labours ; their work consisted very largely
in strengthening the faith of the wavering, in reclaiming the
wanderer, in comforting the anxious and bereaved, and oft-times
even in bringing spiritual solace to the imprisoned. ^What was
ever kept before the young student during his years of training was
the spirit of self-sacrifice which was to animate his fife. He was
going into a land that was hostile to him ; he was to overcome his
enemies by charity. These Seminary priests were not emissaries
of a foreign power ; they were not the champions of political
intrigue, they were Englishmen, with EngUsh hearts and filled with
the one ambition of dying for their countrymen.
In Rome at this time there was a holy priest now known the world
over as PhUippo Neri. He lived opposite the EngUsh CoUege and
on seeing the EngUsh College students pass by he often saluted them
with the words " Salvete flores martyrum " (Hail, flowers of the
:

martyrs !). Not once but many times had their feUow countrymen
an opportunity of hearing them protesting their loyalty and devotion
to the Crown at the very hour when the noose was round their neck,
and she, who wore the crown, was doing them to death.
It is not now in the twentieth century that men can be so hypo-
critical as to deny that these priests died not because of any
disloyalty to the Crown, but because they could not sacrifice their
loyalty to reUgion. Over and over again in the documents in the
PubUc Record Office and in those which are kept at Loseley, is the
cause of their death assigned solely to their reUgion. Nor is it
reasonable of any man now to maintain that this religion itself
constituted disloyalty to the Crown.
Then as now Our Lord's words formed the key-note of the whole
situation " Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
:

God the things that are God's." Our Lord never made His reUgion
subject to the whims and fancies of earthly princes. " My Kingdom
is not of this world," He said. And as He was condemned as a
seditious man, so were the priests and CathoUcs generaUy here in
England. But reUgion wels the crime.
It was not to be imagined that these priests had easy access into
their own country ; on the contrary every difficulty imaginable was
put in their way. The foUowing letter from the Council to Sir
WilUam More, Vice-Admiral of the County of Sussex, is of interest
in this connection :

" xviii. Dec.1583. From the Council to Our very loving

friend Sir WilUam Moore knight vice-admiral of the County of
Sussex.
 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS 159

" After our very hearty comms. Whereas it is thought

expedient that for the prohibiting of the daily passing out of
the Realm of divers of her Maj's subjects into the parts beyond
the seas without Ucense, most of them being persons evil affected
to the present state of her Maj's goverment, there is order presently
to be taken through all the maritime Counties of the Realm, and
for redress thereof in the Co. of Sussex, it is among other things
thought requisite that you as Viceadmiral of that Co. do forth-
with upon the receipt hereof cause bonds to be taken in good
soms of money to her Maj's use of all the owners and masters of
shipps and vessels dwelling within or near unto any of the havens
or creeks under jurisdiction that they shall take no passengers
into their ships or vessels to be conveyed over the seas out of this
realm, but such as shall be Ucenced by her Majy or by the LL.
of the Counsel or by some one of them by her Maj's special
direction or by passport signed by such commissioners as are now
specially appointed within or near unto every haven or creek
within the said County to examine and take knowledge of such
as shall offer to pass beyond the seas and search that any of
:

them that shall bring any person from foreign parts into this
Realm shall immediately upon their arrival carry and present
any such person by them brought over to the said commissioners
to be examined according to such direction as they have in that
behalf received from us :and the bonds so taken of them to be
immediately returned into her Maj's Exchequer wherein we
;

require you not to fail as you wiU answer the trust reposed in you.
And so we bid you heartily farewell. From the Court at St. James
the xviiith of Dec. 1583.
" Your very loving friends
" T. Bromley Cane. W. Bugley E. Lincolne
:

" A. Warwick F. Bedford R. Leycester. H. Hunsden

" Crs. Hatton Wa. Mylinaye
" To or very loving friend
Sr WiUiam More knight, viceadmiral of the County of Sussex."

It may be urged that this order was intended to prevent her

Majesty's subjects from joining the forces of the King of Spain,
and Spanish emissaries from coming into the island for purposes of
spjring ; but we know that, although these objects may not have
been entirely out of the mind of the Council, it is certain that the
hunt for priests and the prevention of candidates presenting them-
selves to the various colleges abroad for training was very much a
 —
i6o THE SEMINARY PRIESTS
part of the Council's programme. Some years before the Sherifis
and Justices of the Peace in Surrey received the following order
from the Council :

"To or loving friends the

Sherif and Justices of
peace in the Countie
of Surrey.
" After our verie hastie comendacons. The Queue's Matie
being given to understand that as well wthin that Countie as in
diverse other parts of the Realme, there be certaine lewd and
evill disposed persons w'ch do remayne obscurely in secret places
or els verie secreatly goe from place to place disguised in apparel,
eith after the maner of serving men or of artificers, wheras they
be indeed popishe Euid massyng preasts, and doe under that visor,
in whispering maner howld and maynteine-sondiie of hir Mat
subjects in superstition and error some of the p'tending to have
:

authoritie from the pope to reconcile men and women to the

Churches of Rome and to divert their due obedience and allegiance
from our most graciouse Ladie the Queue, or. imdoubted soveraigne.
A k5nid of people and a maner of practise over long used and in
no wyse anie more to be sufred. And therefore hir Mats pleasure
is and in her highnes name wee emestly requyre and chardge you

to conferre earnestly together and to use all good meanes possible

that you can for the diligent inquiries from tyme to tyme, and
finding owt of such disguised pons. And where you shall fynd
anie vehement p'sumption that anie suche psons shalbe likely
to hawnt, some of you that shall inhabite nearest unto the place
so suspected, calling unto you the constable or some other pubKque
officer shall make searche in the howse that shall be houlden so
suspected, and use as good discretion as you can to fynd yf anie
such bee there, or by any presumptions uppon matters Ukely
that anie suche person bathe been there, the w'ch maye bee
conjectured most sonest, 5rf there shall be fownd there in that
place anie mass books, superaltaris, or anie other such thing
belonging to the masse. And yf anie offender in that case shalbe
by suche meanes found, you shall apprehend them. And of yor
doynges in this behalf, besydes th'advertis3mg of us by yor
I'res, you shaU informe the L. Bushoppe of the Diocesse or the

ordinarie, and take sufficient order for the committing and forth-
comyng of suche as you shall fynd to be offenders, that they
may be answerable according to the quahtie of their faults. And
so nothing doubtyng of yor good discretions herein, we byd you
 THE SEMINARY PRIESTS i6i

hartely fareweU. From the Court at Hatfield the Vth of

Septembe 1578.
" Yor loving frends,
" R. Leycester
" W. BURGHLE?
" F. Knollys Jamys Croft
" Tho's Wylson F. Walsyngham.
" To or. loving frends the Sherif and
Jiistic 's of Pece. in the Countie
of Surrey." {Los. Vol. V. n. 15.)

In this manuscript we are told that priests " maintain sundry

of her Majesty's subjects in superstition and error ; some of them
pretending to have authority from the Pope to reconcile men and
women to the Chmrch of Rome, and to divert their due obedience
and allegiance from our most gracious lady the Queen, our un-
doubted sovereign." What this due obedience means is that men
shoidd recognise the Queen as supreme ruler, temporal and spiritual,
of God's Church in England. To this kind of allegiance very few
in those days could lay claim, fewer still now. But what the
document shows most clearly is the enormous difficulty that was
raised against all those who, fired by a spirit of zeal, hoped to bring
back their country to the obedience to Christ's Shepherd.

H
 ;

Chapter XII.

HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND.

When " every haven and creek " round the coast is carefully
guarded, when every soul that leaves the country or returns to
these shores is carried and presented to the commissioners to be
examined as to his right of leaving or returning and his antecedents,
it would seem well nigh impossible for large numbers to come and

go, almost at will, in defiance of the law. Yet so it was. The day
was fixed for a student's return to his land, and without feiil he came.
That he could not come openly under his own name, in the garb
of a priest, with the avowed object of converting his fellow-
countrymen stands to reason. Hence it was customary for priests
to provide themselves with many aliases, to come sometimes as
gentlemen, travelling for pleasure, or again as business men, or even
as servants. It happened also that they came as seamen, seeking
—
some occupation ^but come they did. The Government soon became
aware of the ruses thus adopted and their army of spies was quickly
at hand. No means were considered unlawful in hunting down the
priests. Bribes were offered lavishly everjrwhere. Ship-owners
were cajoled or threatened into surrendering aU the information
they might possess. The spies sought positions of trust in harbours,
on boats and across the seas. They even sought admission into the
Catholic Church, lived for a time as most devout Catholics, recaving
that which they daily blasphemed they went further stUl, they
;

made pious pilgrimages to the tombs of the Apostles in Rome

they sought admission into the Seminaries they went through the
;

training of the Seminary Hfe and during all this time they earned
their Judas money by giving information to the Lords of the Council
at home.
According to the information of one of these spies, in a document
which I have copied from the PubUc Record Office, the servant of
Dr. Allen himself was made to divulge some useful points for the
benefit of Walsingham. (Dom. Eliz. Vol 178 n. 19.).
" To the Right Hon. Sir Francis Walsingham, knight. Principal
Secretary to her Majesty And one of her M. most hon. privie
Coun. Right Hon. may it please you to be Advertd. that upon
Eater day last I conferred with Richard, Servant to Doctor
162
 —

HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 163

Allen, who is prepared to depart from London towards France

to-morrow in the neight with a pair of oars, to Tilbury hope,
where one Nicholas de Hew, a french man of Callais, will attend
for him & to convey him to Dieppe, or in some other place near
unto it. There passeth in the same ship of Callais one Barker
of Oxford & Moore of Cambridge (as they call themselves) &
both Masters of Arts to be made priests at Reims.
;

" This servant gives information to the effect that Dr. Allen
doth use to deliver to every priest for his journey into England
6 or 7 £ in money and a new suit of Apparel to wear at his first
arrival in England, and that the said priests most commonly do
come over in french boats that come to Newcastle for coals,
who do land the said priests either at Newcastle or in some creek
near to the same. They make choice of that place the rather
for that Robert Higheclyf her Maj's officer at Newcastle is a
papist in heart, & made acquainted with their coming, & that
his wife is & hath been a papist this 3 or 4 years. & that by her
direction the said priests with their books do pass in security.
And that the said Higheclif hath certain servants dwelling about
the creek near to Newcastle which wiUingly do receive the priests
& help to convey them farther into the land, unto the houses of
one Gooderick, HeerecUf, Grymshaw & Nevell, aU gent, of great
living, where the said priests are received & change their apparel
& are provided of horses for their journey to London or elsewhere."
What we are told in this document is instructive as affording
interesting details about the equipment of the Seminary priests
and their manner of obtaining access to these islands. But there
is one document which is of still greater interest as it gives con-
siderable information about the doings of the clergy and the
dastardly methods of spies. It is a terrible shock to see such a
writing h57pocritically subscribed to the Holy Name and concluded
by a pious aspiration in the name of the Redeemer. It is signed
by Samuel Pettingat and dates from 1851 or 1584. I give the whole
manuscript as I have copied it from the PubUc Record Office :

" Jesus
" Whereas yoiu: honour desireth to know aU such manner
dealings as the papists do use towards protestants for to make
them deny their Lord & Maker and so to revolt from their faith :

I can certify your honour a truth by no means better than in

setting forth unto your honour's view their behaviour towards
me & my fellow in our abode there amongst them. First there-
fore when we came to Rome we went unto the English Seminary
i64 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND

there and whereas to others the privilege of the house is but

8 days, yet because we were scholars, young men, in necessity
& not instructed in their religion, they granted unto us 6 -weeks
at the least in which time they did nothing but persuade us for
to be reconciled to their Church & to be come (as they call them)
Catholics. We hada book or two which they took from us and
instead of them gave us such books as best pleased their minds,
in the which we learned seven sacraments, we learnt works without
faith to be sufficient unto salvation, we learned the Pope to be the
head of the Church, & that whatsoever he did bind and loose in
earth the same was bound & loosed in heaven, that whosoever
died not in the state of their church died not in the state of grace
& so consequently could not be saved. Of purgatory also there
somewhat was to be seen, and how in the Sacrament we did eat
and drink the body and blood of Christ really and substantially
with an infinite company more of such devilish doctrines amonst
Christians not once to be named. Thus when they had nostered
us at their pleasure a time they called a congregation in the
which the Pope gave us leave to be admitted into the bosom of
their Church. All this done, yet they could not admit us there-
unto till such time as being led by fear or compelled by force
they had made us to adjure ourselves and utterly to forsake God
& His truth and in stead of this to swear that for ever we would
;

follow their religion, namely Antechrist superstition and idolatry.

Now when they had wrought us to their purpose as they thought,
then we were amongst them confirmed. After that we were
confessed and were pardoned our sins by a man who hath no less
need to have his sins washed in the blood of Christ Jesus than we
had then or have now, and thus they do with all such that do come
thither. I have known them use the like with three in my time
now there remaining. I did not for want of time make discourse
of this unto my L. Ambassador ; but I did promise him to do
it when I came to your honour. Thus your honour may easily
gather how they deal with all such as they get into their claws
by this that I have said of myself. Notwithstanding the Pope
is not ashamed to say that he hath power to bind & loose, yet
he doth not nor cannot (as he himself will say) loose a man both
from sin and from the pain due for sin, but he is contented for
a money matter to forgive the sin leaving the punishment thereof
unto God, the greatest absurdity that ever was heard if it be
considered ;but amongst many, this is the least.
j^" Furthermore, whereas your honour commanded me to set
down the names of all such as I did know beyond the seas
 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 165

enemies to the estate of their country & fled for religion, although
I cannot remember all the names of those which I did know and
remember, I will rehearse, unto your honour as truly as I can.
Thus therefore I begin.

Mr. Eglinb ye The Bishop's

Mr. Baynes men & the Mr. Trivihon
All these with Mr. Button Pope's pensi- John Adcockes
many others Mr. Marsye oners
whose names Edward in the
I know not, Castle
Mr. Haslewood
in prison in Robert in the
Mr. Stokes
the College
AU these Mr. Clement
Inquisition Mr. Crewe
live in the Mr. Gresyme
Mr. Borne
town some Mr. Wigges
Mr. Tucker
scholars Mr. Simpson
Lyster & his two
some other- Mr. Brigosa, his
sons
wise upon the wife & 2
Mr. Yardly
pope's charge children
Mr. Awfyld
Mr. Burges
One William
Mr. Good
All these are Mr. Ingane
priests which Mr. Bycklye Mr. Gilbert
did lately Mr. Gybinge Mr. Bassett
live in the *Mr. Gifford These all with Mr. Clement his
Seminary but xMr. Bell many more son
those whom I xMr. Woodroff whose names Mr. Middlemor
have crossed xMr. Rowling I know not Mr. Sanye
are coming to Mr. Barrade scholars in Mr. Cornelius
their country xMr. Coulworth the college Mr. Owne
there to be Two names sons
All these are The Bishop of made priests of York
priests whichPete asse at command- Wright senior
Uve in Rome Doctor Morton ment & to Wright jun.
upon the Mr. Jonson come to their Mr. Femer (?)
pope's charge Mr. Robartes country Mr. Gosse.
Mr. Owen Mr. Pormothe
Mr. Mondyne Mr. Hardstye

One Edward gone upon the Pope's charge into Spain a spy
against protestants.
One Storye a Jestiiste at Loreto one Sheperys a priest in the
Cardinal of Bolognia his house. One Adre his wife & child
 —

i66 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND

on the pope in Lyons. Mr. Cof&n & Mr. Barnes, living

living
on the Pope at Rhemes.
" There are in the Seminary at Rome 20 more at the least whose
names I know not and of this I did certify my L. Ambassador
so far forth as then I did call to my remembrance how Pciris
doth abound with papists, the same is well known unto my Lord
and I am persuaded that his honovir hath & doth seek all possible
means to root them out if it would be. And this I can say that
honour refuseth neither cost nor labour to win them (if they would
hear him) unto the Shepherd of their souls Christ Jesus, & to
obedience towards their prince & country :

" Further, whereas your honour commanded me to set down

the means that may be used best to hear news from Rome, for
the better benefit of our country, my wit is so slender that I am
able to devise no way for the accomplishing of the same, but that
which before I have imparted to my Lord Ambassador, namely :

" There is in Rome one John Brygosa an Italian married to

an English woman by whom he hath two children, he speaketh
very good EngUsh, he loveth well our country, he is constrained
to live there daily worshipping of idols as they do ;but if a man
could acquaint himself with him under the show of an Itahan,
he need not enquire of him the state of our countrymen there,
he shall know of him matter sufficient to work his country's
weal unasked. For he is a man very talkative, laboureth with
penury, loveth our country & hateth their trumpery.
" I also certify his honour of one WUham an Englishman
married there to an Italian woman, the same having been in
Turkey 14 years, together with one Fox who is here in England
came to Rome & there hath hved 5 years in some misery. This
spring he would very wUlingly have come away, but they would
in no wise suffer him. He hateth from his heart the Whore
of Rome with all her abominations, only he doth dissemble a
matter with them, trusting thereby at length to be dehvered from
that sink of sin. I am persuaded, if the man did surely know he
should be kept blameless and for his good wiU to be but free from
danger, he would work for the benefit of his country by all possible
means he could.
" Further I advertised my L. of one Ewarde Rose, a young
man, sometime a scrjrvener here in London, the same owing some
small piece of money, and willing to keep himself out of trouble,
embarked himself into a ship, and, having from his Mr. a letter
of commendations unto EngUshmen at Rome, thither came,
nothing knowing the dangers that should ensue. When he had
 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 167

delivered his letters, they did him little good, because he was not
as yet reconciled to their Church. Him
they had to the Inquisi-
tion where I, being his interpreter, did see him dealt with in every
degree as I also was at my first coming thither. He liveth there
amongst them under a shadow of mere devotion. But I dare
assure your honoiu: he loveth their churches, their Masses, and
—
their massmongers as I love poison He is a young man very
close and wise, he pleadeth amongst them nothing but simplicity
which causeth him to live there void of all suspicion more safely.
He is the fittest man that I know in all round to accomplish your
honour's request in that respect.
" Note I pray you that the Mr of the ship as he said, was a papist.

" I told my L. that these 3 were very fit men to be spies, but
then his honour must seek out the man which might apply him-
self unto them, and be, as it were, a broker between his honour
and them in carrying and recarrying letters ; which is a thing,
ifnot impossible, hard to do for they have taken this order, that
;

no man doth pass in or out of Italy, be he an Italian, Spaniard,

Frenchman, Englishman, Dutchman, German or Poloman (if
he be not a man unto them very weU known). But at his coming
in and at his going out he is searched from top to toe. If he be
found with letters, and they hang in suspense what the letters
may be, they break them ope, and, if in them they happen to
find any matter touching their estate he is then despoiled, and
also cast in prison, there to endure at their pleasure.
" This much I certified my L. Ambassador more that many
he might thither send but few or none of them should ever come
away for if he be known to have been in France, though he never
come in England (or, at the least not of two or three years) and
goeth not from D. Allen, letters are at Rome afore tdm for his
apprehending when he cometh thither.
" I further certified his honour that if there before rehearsel
were not suffudent instruments to bring to pass his honour's
pmrpose, then if he did please to find out the man, I would set
down the course he should take, which, if he would observe, he
should live in Rome a spy so long as him lysted, and. moreover,
if means could be found to convey letters, I would show unto his

honour how a man should go thither and return again at his

pleasure without all suspicion. His honour enquired not of me
the means how this might be wrought, only he willed me to
advertise your honour thereof when I came to London. To show
myself obedient therefore unto his honour's commandments, I
i68 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND
assure your honour that if all occasions of hearing news from Rome
were taken away (as I think they be well near) yet I your honour
may betray the same by pilgrimage.
" Last of alll gave his honour to note of one Pound, a priest
boimd for England. He came from Rome in the beginning of
Lent, and I did think he would come by Paris which if he
;

did, I told his honour that, in my opinion, no greater benefit

could be wrought to our country than to work his apprehending.
He is a very weak man, and such a one as I think, according to
the proverb had rather turn than bum,' which if he could be
'

brought unto, it would greatly work the confusion of the papists,

for that is one of the things that they do chiefly boast of, namely,
that as yet none of their priests have fallen or recanted.
" How to fulfil your honour's Commt. in setting down these
things which do most hiui; the estate of our Country, and also
my opinion now to remedy the same, I assure your honour that
I hardly know any more than those which I have ahready
named, and it seemeth to me that in this your honour hath laid
upon me a greather burthen than in all the rest. Yet according
to my boimden duty as concerning the one I will discharge
myself, and as touching the other I will leave the care thereof
unto your honour's wisdom.
" First, therefore, that matters in counsel privately handled
might be prevelye kept and not imparted but unto those whidi
love their count^ and the good estate thereof ; for I protest unto
your honour that there is nothing done in your private Counsil
which is now known at Rome within 8 weeks at the most and this
I think one inconvenience, but as touching the remedy thereof I
leave that to your honour.
" Another inconvenience is the life of Parsons a Jesuit, who
hurteth our counry more than I am able declare only I note
the name imto your honour as one great hurt unto our country
and to be forseen by your honour's wisdom.
" Another inconvenience is as I think the continuance of the
English seminary at Rhemes, a thing very easy to be reformed
and no small benefit unto our commonwealth, for if it were made
frustrate the seminary at Rome were to no efiect I could lay
down some reason for that which I do say but your honour's
wisdom is able to comprehend the sound of my meaning.
" Another inconvenience is that papists are suffered to live
in the Innes of Coiui (I dare not say in the Queen's Majesty's
Court) lest I should offend, but this I dare boldly say that amongst
lawyers papists, then there are in all England besides, for ye have
 —
HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 169

not now almost in England one papist priest which have not been
a lawyer or else brought up amongst them but what do I meddle
:

in these matters above my reach.

" Another discommodity ensueth by giving unto young gentle-
men leave to travel beyond the seas under the pretence of learning
language were it not for discharge of my conscience and for show-
ing my betrothed duty unto your honour I had rather with silence
to overpass these things than otherwise to deal with them, fearing
that if it were known I should have small reward for my labour.
" Another inconvenience is that your Searchers are not trusty.
They covet all to be gentlemen emd if at the first entering their
office they be not worth a groat, within a year or two they become
so rich that they will be purchasers. This is not by just dealing
and serving God and their prince faithfully. Look unto this more
nearly for our country hereby is greatly injured and the Queen's
Majesty and her counsel deceived.
" The departure of the Queen of Scots is wished for which if it
might happen would work our country (without great oversight)
great annoy.
" It is said that the keeping league with the French king is no
small benefit unto our country.
"jjTrust is reposed in the king of Spain to bring our country
to confusion whose subtle policy and develish pretence God for
His Son Christ's sake confound and bring to nought. And this
much for the discharge of duty as far forth as I can remember
I have set down unto your honour humbly craving and in the
:

bowels of God's mercy meekly beseeching your honour, to have'

always a provident care and a wakeful eye unto the infinite
dangers and innumerable calamities whereunto this our small
island is subject and ready daily to fall into if by the Eternal
Providence of Almighty God and your honour's great care and
foresight the wicked purposes and ungodly devices of our sworn
and deadly enemies be not prevented. Whose honour to the
advancement of God's glory, the confounding of antechrist, and
commodity of this common weal. He preserve for ever Who by
his death and precious Blood redeemed us. Amen.
Indorsed "Secret Advertisement Samuel Pettingat."
(Dom. Eliz. Vol. 149 n. 84.)

The reader has no doubt been shocked by the blasphemous nature

of this docmnent, but I have thought it better to give it in its
entirety as it tells us many things worth our knowing. This man
Pettingat did not blush to tell the tale of his perfidious entry into
lyo HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND
—
the English College at Rome, as a scholar a young man in necessity
for the purpose of being instructed in the Catholic reUgion. Of
course what he tells us about his having been forced to be reconciled
and his account of the teaching of the CathoUc Church
to the Church,
must be read in the Ught of his own perfidy. He astutely mixes
truth with calumny and so intermingles misrepresentations of
CathoUc doctrine with true principles as to make his sincerity the
more plausible. What is apparent in this narrative is that contrary
to his beUef he sought and obtained admission into the Catholic
Church. The document gives information which is of value to us,
as it tells of the noble priests who were to give their lives to the
Church. Several of those mentioned afterwards died in England
the most glorious deaths. If affords also a graphic account of the
plots of the Government to run these priests to death. In his own
words, neither cost nor labour was spared in the work of spying.
In one case it is a John Brygosa who " laboureth with penury,
loveth our country and hateth their trumpery," on whom money
is to be spent, because this man Hves a Ufe of a hypocrite and is
therefore more easily to be persuaded to serve the Protestant
cause. In another ceise it is a certain William who " hateth from
his heart the whore of Rome, with all her abominations, only he
doth dissemble a matter with them, trusting thereby at length to
be deUvered from that sink of sin." Again it is one Edward Rose,
who " liveth there amongst them imder a shadow of mere devotion,
but I dare assure your honour he loveth their Churches, their
Masses and their Massmongers, as I love poison. He is a young
man, very close and wise, he pleadeth amongst them nothing but
simpUcity which causeth him to live there void of all suspicion more
safely. He is the fittest man that I know in all round to accompUsh
your honour's request in that respect." These Uriah Heeps are
to be noble champions of the Reformation. And Samuel Pettingat
will train them or any others in the art of betrayal and lying. We
note that a pious pilgrimage to Rome is suggested. What trust is
to be placed in the accusations of such men ? Samuel Pettingat
further teUs his correspondent that the Government searchers them-
selves " are not trusty. They covet all to be gentlemen and if at
the first entering to their office they be not worth a groat, within a
year or two, they become so rich that they will be purchasers."
We know how these searchers succeeded in acquiring their fortunes.
Having set out on an expedition of plunder, and having rid them-
selves of all conscience before their undertaking, remuneration was
their sole aim and the more wealth they could amass the better they
were pleased, no matter how they came by this wealth.
 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 171

Their methods are best shown by a document which comes from

the Loseley collection and which I have copied in full.

" The humble pets of Thomas Harrison his Mats poore

servant one imployed in his Mats special service.
" May it please this honble house to take special notice and
consideration of a biU preferred by you against the . . .

pursennts of the high Commission Caist wherin are declared and

apparent good many misdeanors practised by these
. . .

as in receiving of bribes selling Jesuits and convicted

. . .

persons and apprehending and receUing the selling of . . .

bonds taken to his Mats use and imployed to their own . . .

Mats loss of thousands ; as also of connivance in the register

. . .accessory of subbomation committed by his . . .

Matis the lo. Archbishop of Cant the lo. Chanc. and the . . .

Lo. Shefi&eld. And by the 2 former committed the . . .

Lo. B. of Banger and the Lo. Sheffield as in his bill mere . . .

by a book dedicated to his Matie by the Lo. B. of Bangor . . .

commanded by his Matie to certify and in which book . . .

the full servies

" And in this book to his Matie is expressed these insufferable
misdemeanors of the Pursuivants since the last session of
:

ParUament which pursuivants then found guilty of treachery

bribery and extortions craved his Mats general pardon and
since that time committed these abuses as foUoweth vidz.

They took Jackson a dangerous Jesuit in Yorkshire and £

let him escape for 220
They took one Weston a priest the same day 3 years past in
great men's hands and let escape 32
They took Hungat the priest and let him escape for the
sum of 100
They took bond of Sr Wm Hungate for his appearance
in the sum of 100
They sold that bond to Sr Wm Hungate a year after
which your Pet staled for 20
They took Ashe and Gravener 2 Jesuits and let them
escape for 50
They took bond for Jackson's app. but never certified 400
They took Mrs. Smithe's schoolmaster priest and let him
escape for 150
They took bond for his app. which they returned to Mrs.
Smithe which she hath of 400
172 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND

They took Browen als Brabant a priest : lie bond is upon £

afied did forth of the of&ce of 500
They took 18 persons going beyond and let them escape
for great sums whereof Mr. Farrell had a . . .

sums and a schoolmaster who let them escape for 36

They took . the priest 4 times and let him escape
. .

for 4 several sums

They took him once at Mass with a knight with company
and let them all escape for
They sold to Mr. Isarell bonds taken to his Mats
. . .

use to Cosen his Matis.

They took Averton a priest and let him escape for 70
They took bond for his appearance 100
They removed Craford, also Betson and let him escape
the sum not known
They took Blunt the priest and let him escape for a
gelding and 20
They took Grene a priest and let him escape for 100
They took 2 at Long Melford and let them escape 'for great
sums not known
They took Mr. Grevells priest and let him escape for 200
They took for Mr. Carrolls priest either £80 or 200
They took D. Western the Scottish priests and
. . .

let them escape

They took ... at the Lands of Brenster of York and
let him escape for 100
They took . John Clark
. . 100
They took a discovery of 107 priests by violence forth of
your Petr's pocket which they let escape
" Your humble Petr prayeth that Mullens Clerk of Records
of the Starchamber may bring forth the pursuivants Records
wherefore they craved his Mats general pardon the last Sessions
of Parliament being there found guilty therecy bribery and
oppression. And your humble Petr, knowing the danger and
opposition of great persons flieth for justice into the arms of this
honourable house and on bended knees craves to be heard And
will pray &c.
"Thomas Harrison."
Marginal " FUe the receipt
note. their books show
. . .

reason why the sum was

not expressed. Henr. Huddlestons
bond of 40o£ and the particulars of 3,ooo£ bonds dd to Sr. Robert
 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 173

Nauton for priests app. and others in premunire would be looked

into and oppression." {Los. Vol. V. n. 71.)
Adding these last two sums to the others we get a total of
£6,032 which in modem figures would work out at something
like £72,384. This probably was only a small fraction of the
sums extorted by methods of intimidation.

The Public Record Office has literally scores of reports to the

Government from spies and writ large on every page of these
:

documents is dishonesty and perfidy of the blackest kind. The

very exaggerated language itself and the frequent contradictions
prove their untrustworthy nature. one of these " advertise-
On
ments" (Don. James I., Vol. XXX., No.
62, 1608) the Prime
Minister himself writes " a most unlikely and absurd discovery
:

. . I know this man to be a knave."

. The man's name was
Francis Tillotson, an apostate.
But the work of the Seminaries was causing very grave anxiety
to the Government not indeed because these Seminaries were
;

thought to be centres of political intrigue, nor even that the Pope

himself was suspected of any designs upon this country, but solely
for the reason that I have stated before in the course of this work :

that Elizabeth having resolved to acquire absolute and unquestioned

control over the spiritual and temporal life of her country, she could
not brook anjrthing that might thwart her designs in this matter.
No historian of weight can with any seriousness maintain that
Elizabeth was a religious-minded woman. If, therefore, she raged
against the Church of Rome it was not from any love of Protestant
principles, but because she realised that Rome was the one power
capable of withstanding her claim to spiritual independence.
Amongst the Domestic Papers of Elizabeth in the Record Office
there is one, a letter from a certain Horazio Pallavicino, written
in Italian and with strange ciphers at the end. I have translated
it because I think it is of interest in this connection. It reads very
much like the letter of a spy. There are some interesting details
about the growing power of the Prince of Parma in Belgium and the
gathering of the Spanish and Italian forces. Notwithstanding the
political upheaval of the times, notwithstanding also the persecu-
tions that the Church has had to bear in Belguim and in England
and elsewhere, according to Pallavicino, the Pope has himself
nothing but pacific intentions and although Ireland at that time
had no cause for friendship for England and might have been used
as a means of aggression against this country, the Pope had no wish
to stir up racial hatreds.
174 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND
" My most illustrious Sir,
" Althoughmy enforced departure was at the price of the
undertaking which your illustrious Lordship gave me to be the
interpreter of my gratitude towards her Majesty for the favour
which was shown to me through your Lordship in my brother's
cause, nevertheless I cannot refrain from begging you not to
forget to do so and that in such terms of good will that they may
signify the heartfelt affection with which I have occasion to do
this in person. I hear from Artois that the people who are
continually arriving in those provinces are mere supplementary
cavalry divisions of the Albanesi, and the ItaUans for the purpose
of making good the daily losses by war and weather. Some
reinforcements arrive in to Luxembourg* and therefore the Count
of Mansfelt went there and I gather that there was no disturbance.
The Prince of Parma is stajong at Toumai. The Government of
that town has fallen to the ambition of the most influential
citizens. He did not seek any plimder in the city and when he
went to Namur he left Mondragone as Governor, although he
knew him to be unpopular. His authority increases daily,
because the better famihes submit themselves willingly and they
have an ever-diminishing confidence and hope in the nobles of
the country, in whom they find no secure assistance. But the
Provinces wiU not yet consent to the entrance of the Italian and
Spanish infantry, although the matter is treated in Privy Council
with the object of hastening to a general resolution. Money has
been flowing in continually from Spain, and it is evident they are
carefully watching the progress of affairs. From Rome we are
informed that the Pope at present neither thinks nor hopes to
be able to worry this Kingdom ; neither directly through his own
intervention, nor by the help of Princes, neither by openly
declaring war, or less still through Ireland. One can see that
he is greatly taken up with the idea of increasing the revenues
of that College of Enghsh Jesuits by gifts sent from England,
hoping thereby to maintain those here who are of their way of
thinking and to be able to meet any eventualities. For
this object he gives them large endowments and favours them
most lavishly. But if his expenses are paid, as they say, you
will not need to find many who will imdertake the journey.
Your Lordship will be careful to interpret these last words as you
know how, and it is not necessary that I should dwell on them
any further.

Or the passage may read : "A retreat is taking place in Luxembourg."

 —
HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND 175

" I kiss your hands and pray God to preserve you. From
London loth February, 1582.
" Your most illustrious Lordship's affectionate servant,
" HORAZIO Pallavicino."
" Indorsed to the most illustrious Lord, My Lord Francis
Walsingham."
(Dom. Eliz. Vol. 147, No. 49.)
(Italian original in the Appendix.)

From what has been said about the employment of spies, it

would not appear unjust nor gratuitous to suggest that the expenses
referred to at the end of this letter are the bribes offered to priest
hunters like Samuel Pettingat.
But spies and pursuivants notwithstanding, they came to
England, did the Seminary Priests, and came in ever-increasing
numbers.
This Horazio Pallavicino was in truth a very " mete " person to
obtain information for EUzabeth's government. He was a merchant
travelling backwards and forwards between England and the
Continent and having constant dealings with the various kingdoms
of Europe. On one occasion he effected a purchase of jewels in
Italy for Queen Elizabeth. He was also intimately connected with
the Church Sforza Pallavicini had written the " History of the
:

Council of Trent," and was undoubtedly of the same family as

Horazio. Horazio's brother was imprisoned in England ^but for —
what cause I have been unable to discover.
In a letter to Walsingham dated June 13th, 1582, Horazio
•
Pallavicino writes :

" hear this morning that an Italian friend here has received
I
letters from Rome of the 28th ult., in which are the following
words :Signor Pallavicino has been released from prison, but
'

with his arms in bad case and the EngHshmen who were the cause
of this trouble are so closely imprisoned that no one knows
anj^hing of them.' You see that the cruelty of my adversaries
could not be sated with the imprisonment and other ill-usage,
without adding torture, by which my good brother, naturally
very delicate, never believed that the tyranny of that govern-
ment could have gone to such excesses against an innocent
person and one against whom it was impossible to have any lawful
evidence. But their malignity and perfidious disposition has
easily broken all the bounds of law and justice. I pray God to
do vengence for it, or permit honest men to do it on earth with
176 HOW THE PRIESTS CAME TO ENGLAND

their hands ; and I hope to see it, if I die of no ill other than
old age." (Dom. Eliz. Vol. 62, n. 88.)
Lord Cobham, writing to Walsingham on the same day as Palla-
vicino, says :
" Horazio Pallavicini's brother is released from
prison, but left maimed in his arms from the torture he has
received." (Dom. Eliz. Vol. 62, n. 87.)
We may be allowed to conjecture that the reason why Horazio's
brother was tortured was for the purpose of extracting information.
Although the Queen had giv^n the merchant cause for confidence
in the treatment of the prisoner, the unfortunate man was, never-
the less,tortured and further detained for another four months.
We can only gather that Pallavicino had not risen to the expecta-
tions of the Sovereign, and that she had tried in this way to make
him more amenable to her will. Horazio, however, was thus
converted from a friend of the Government into a bitter and
implacable enemy. But, if Walsingham lost one useful spy, he
found many others.
 Chapter XIII.

THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD.

In the diary of the EngUsh College, Rome, for December, 1581,
we read the following :
—
" We sent this year to England eight
priests, three of whom, Pitt, Haydock and Bishop, having been
arrested by the heretics, gave illustrious proof of their constancy in
the faith. The first two were seized on the same day in London,
together with some young noblemen ;the first when questioned
on landing hesitated a Uttle. His companions having been prepared
with their answers made their escape, leaving him in custody. To
free himself from the importunity of his captors he at length owned
he was a priest and being brought on the morrow before the Privy
Council, where he nobly confessed the faith, he was committed
to prison. His companions are stUl labouring with great success
and to God's greater glory in spreading the CathoUc Faith. They
are assiduous in preaching and hearing confessions ; they celebrate
Mass, administer the Holy Eucharist and other Sacraments to the
CathoUcs, bring back heretics from error to the truth, in a word
they are wholly given to the work of the sacred ministry. A
notable result of this may be seen in the reconciliation of no less
than 10,000 who have been received this year into the Church.
Though as we are aware, a great, not to say the greater part of this
abundant harvest is, under God, to be ascribed to the blessed martyrs
Campion, Bryant and Sherwin. Their precious deaths, the iniquity
of which is confessed by many even of the heretics, have borne so
much fruit, that both Catholics and their adversaries affirm that
had they Uved a hundred years their lives could never have availed
so much as their brief but glorious death, for of the heretics nearly
4,000 have been reconciled to the Church, and many CathoUcs who
heretofore were timid and disposed to jdeld now stand forth boldly
and undauntedly. Numbers too take such delight in bonds and
persecution as to appear insensible to suffering nay, so great is the
;

renewed fervour of the Catholics that since the beginning of the

persecution Masses have never been so frequently and fervently
celebrated, nor so numerously attended, as they are at present,
in every quarter of London. No one seems to shrink from danger,
and if disturbed by the ofi&cers of justice, they scarcely care to do
177 13
 — ;

178 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD

more than pass to the next door, where the Mass is resumed. In
fact the damage which this persecution has done to the Protestant
cause is such that they despair of ever recovering their losses."
(Rec. Eng. Prov. S.J., Vol. VI., p. 77.) This account from the
English College in Rome gives us a fair idea of the work of the
Seminary Priests in England.
A letter from Dr. Allan will further illustrate the point. We see
in it the dangers which assail the work of the Seminary Priests
dangers not only from without, but dangers also fronv within
there are the faint-hearted who in their cowardice would wreck
the good work by attempting to terrify would-be missioners or
make little of the successes of the priests in England. They strive
to disseminate a pernicious propaganda and to influence even the
Pope and Catholic Sovereigns against this missionary zeal. But
the labours of the priests cannot be hid. Conversions are daily
increasing, and their courage knows no bounds. Under the very
nose of the Council the priests establish a flourishing press which
sends out series of works in defence of the Faith, the energy of
Father Parsons especially is noteworthy.
The original letter is in Latin and will be found in the Appendix.
I here give the translation :

Letter of the Ven. Dr. William AUan,

Rector of the English CoUege in France,
to
Father D. P., Rector of the English College in Rome.
" We have learnt by letters from Father Robert Parsons of
your Society in Rome that the persecution continues with
unabated fury and that CathoUcs are stUl seized and thrown into
prison and in various ways molested and that the fathers of our
Society are most diUgently sought out by a singular providence
;

of God, however, they are stiU at large.

" Not so long ago one of them was arrested in the same room
in which Father Robert had slept ; but the Father was not there
at the moment.
" A Bryant who had been an alumnus of our College
certain
at Rheims, who was living in an adjacent chamber, was taken
together with the other, and has been twice tortured on the rack
with extreme cruelty in order that he might reveal the where-
abouts of that Jesuit. But so far was he from giving the sUghtest
information, that he laughed at his torturers and, although ;

he was almost exhausted by pain, he said Is this all you are

:
'

able to do ? If this indeed be your rack, bring hither a hundred

 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 179

others for a similar cause.' The following day John Nicholas,

the apostate, in open square came upon Father Tyrell, an alumnus
of your CoUege ; whom when he did see the Father exclaimed
a traitor, and the traitor captured him but he was not cast into
;

the Tower but into an other prison commonly known as the

Gatehouse ; and both he and Father Rishton also an alumnus
of your CoUege now dwell there with joy. Certes, never were
CathoUcs more cheerful or more ready to suffer.
" Two days ago a certain Mr. Jaison was taken having in his
possession ten of our apologias, hence it happened that the
members of the Council saw these books, and whereas he had
been discharged by reason of friendship from his former lodging
in a prison called Fleet, he is now once more returned to it.
" The above-mentioned heretic John Nicholas boasts of having

deUvered a long oration in the presence of the Cardinals in Rome,

which he has already brought to hght in a second book of his.
But nothing is farther from the truth. At the same time he
has promised to pubUsh that oration in its latin original and a
pamphlet on pilgrimage in which he will expose the awful murders
and adulteries of cathoUcs and detail at length the most evil hfe
of both Jesuits and students. Already this man preaches
pubhcly in London but in a short time he has disgusted every
;

one, so that he wiU, I trow, soon take to his heels, especially

when that abjuration of heresies which he made in Rome shcill
have reached England for I have received that document which
;

you sent in which is contained all his recantation, and I have

posted it to Father Robert in England. Father Robert applied
for three or four thousand or more Testaments, as many desire
them. He says that he greatly longs for and often looks for the
coming of the members of your Society and he tells me that aU
goes well there and that our Apologia is very well received.
With these, I sent letters to the Supreme Pontiff and to the most
Illustrious Protector which you will be careful to Indeed
deliver.
I give thanks to His Holiness for the many favours of this year,
to wit, for the foundation of the EngUsh college in Rome, for our
estabKshment here during fifteen years, for the extraordinary
subsidy of five hundred gold pieces granted recently to each
Protector for the work, and especially for not having given ear
to the detractors of our Colleges and missions, who, in order that
they might provide an excuse for their own idleness and cowardice,
attempt unavaiUngly to throw discredit on our country ; and I
inform him that we have sufficiently ordered these missions so
as to derive therefrom an incredible usefulness and such is the
;
i8o THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD
energy of the Fathers and the Colleges that, strengthened by
the opinion, feeling and experience of all good persons, I confi-
dently assert and boldly proclaim that the Fathers and Priests
have reaped more fruit for souls this year in their country than
these same would ever have been able to reap in the whole
circumference of the world and during the whole space of their
Uves however long that space might be.
" I write also that the dangers themselves are not so great
that this work should be abandoned since, whereas we have sent
;

at least fifty this yeai from the two colleges, not more than ten
have fallen into the hands of enemies ; and our fathers are, up
to this time, all at large and producing fruit. Finally, we have
shown that our books have been written with such moderation
of expression that nothing in them has been written fiom a
spirit of indignation but rather of pity, whence arises the
great utility which accrues to all classes from the reading of them.
All this indeed was written to the Pontiff.
" This only do I write to the most Illustrious Protector, that
he turn a deaf ear to certain idle and envious men, who say that
the services of the Fathers and the Colleges in our country are
useless, and I beseech him for Christ His sake that he forbid me
not to send in the coming Autumn five or six young men to that
College, pointing out to him that our number is growing so
rapidly that they can in no way be fed by us, although His
Holiness has relieved us with that extraordinary gift of five
hundred gold crowns. Thus I (N.R.B.) am somewhat loath to
send these few to him contrary to his express warning lest we
appear to be taking too much for granted or to abuse too much
of the Pope's liberality.
" We cire obhged at this time to summon to this our CoUege
of Rhemes twenty young noblemen, mostiy coming from Douay,
who otherwise would be constrained to return to England with
manifest danger to soul and body since owing to the law they can
receive no money from Englemd. Moreover within the space of
fourteen dajre more than twenty youths have come to me from
England. Woe is me Where shall we obtain loaves that these
!

may eat, so that each one may receive a littie, lest they faint in
thisexUe ? May the Lord God bless us and multiply food unto us.
"
I have learnt this week that the fathers in England not only
enjoy good health, but are so busy in the Vinej^rd that they
could not write to me ; and Father Campion is said to have
edited a book in latin which is an Exhortation to both Universities
(utramque academiam). But it has not yet come to hand. See,
 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD i8i

Father, whether they promote the cause or not. I have long

since sentthem the letters of the Rev. Father General. May the
Lord Jesus send many such labourers into His Vineyard. TTiirty
priests at least have entered England after Easter and not one
;

of them was stopped in port or afterwards captured blessed be

:

God IThis year will, as I hope, be a prosperous one for us every

where truly we sow in tears, but I put my trust in the Lord
:

that, through God and this our very brother Gregory, we shall
carry our maniples with joy.
" Sta3dng with me at the present time is Mr. George Gilbert,
the great companion and patron •of the brethren and priests in
England, and who for their sake has suffered the confiscation of
very nearly all his goods and possessions, whom also the heretics
have persecuted in his person more than all the rest, as they knew
that it is by his endeavours that the fathers of the Society are
kept & sustained. He betook himself hither to France by the
advice of the Rev. Father Robert and others in order that he
might keep himself safe to this time. He will go to Rome in the
Autumn, please God, and will then dispose of himself according
to the advice of the Rev, Father General and your own. He
tells me that more Fathers are very much needed if only somewhat
to relieve Father Robert, who bears, he says an incredible burden.
It was he* who wrote those two most charming little books, one
of which has been attributed to Father Campion or some other
author he preaches constantly & solves cases of conscience of
;

innumerable men.-f Catholics placed in the midst of persecutions

have consciences less delicate than in any other place I know of,
and thus they are drawn to the Fathers in such a way that they
do not accept the judgment of an ordinary priest unless this
judgment be confirmed by Father Robert. He has seven men
continually working at the press which he has established out
of London, lest the noise of this machine be heard in town. He
is constantly appealed to for important advice by the Nobles

and even by certain members of the Council thus indeed I am

:

informed by Mr. Gilbert himself who has been his special com-
panion during the whole of this year, and who, on departing, left
seven horses for the accomplishment of the necessary journeys
and undertakings of the priests and fathers, and a great quantity

* Father Parsons.

t Undoubtedly, this must be an allusion to the many cases of laxity

wherein not a few were anxious to stretch their consciences to the utmost
in order that they might escape the rigours of the law and at the same time
enjoy peace of mind,
i82 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD
of money necessary for the printing material, viz., paper, press,
type, ink and the like since great things cannot be accomplished
:

except at a great cost, it is necessarj' that there be men of wealth,

possessing at the same time a supreme contempt of money, who
will provide lavishly for the work.
" Father Campion is not province and
less industrious in his
it thought that there are twenty thousand Catholics more
is

this year than last ; and at no time during these years has God
given more power and fruit to the word of evangeUsers.
" May His name be blessed for ever.
" Our Apologia, as I hear, is in the hands both of our adver-
saries and of our friends, and the Prince of this very wide embassy
of France, who is called P. Dolphin, gave it to the Queen.
" Christ Jesus etc. Rhemes 23 of June 1581.
Of your Reverence, the eternal brother, as I hope,
on earth and in heaven,
" William Allan."
(Dom. Ehz. Vol. 149, nn, 51 & 52.)

A work so arduous as that of the Seminary Priests must needs

meet with serious opposition and this opposition is to be expected,
;

not only amongst the enemies of the Cathohc Rehgion, but even from
within. Many are not unnaturally nervous of an undertaking
which brings in its train so much danger and such horrible suffering.
They say " cui bono ? " Are the fruits commensurate with the
:

sacrifices ? Are men of flesh and blood to be thrust alive into

a cauldron of boiling pitch ? Can any one reasonably expect
them to remain faithful to the Church ? Or does the training
which they receive in the Seminary render them so strong that they
are above aU temptation ?
All this opposition was met and overcome with unflinching
courage by Dr. Allen. He obtained the necessary pecuniary
assistance,and candidates flocked to him in such numbers that
even he was bewildered by the ever-increasing demands on his
resources. The training which was provided for these young men
was proved to be adequate, and by the grace of God they were
enabled to encounter with the utmost fortitude all the trials of
confessors for the faith.
What Dr. Allen us of the lax consciences of CathoUcs is
tells

certainly not to be understood of those saintlymen who Uved the

lives of hunted hares, whUe spending themselves for the salvation
of souls, and who so often suffered long and cruel privations in
squalid dungeons, and were eventually done to death by torture.
 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 183

So delicate indeed were the consciences of these martyrs that they

would rather suffer a thousand deaths than offend in the least
degree.
No, the allusion is to those Catholics hke Lord William Howard,
Sir Henry Weston, the Earl of Southampton, Sir Francis Browne,
etc., etc., whose courage failed them when the supreme moment
arrived and they sought refuge in mental reservations, which how-
ever could never receive the approval of honest men. We can
understand how these men were not easily satisfied with the con-
demnation of the young priests just out of the Seminary. They
hoped for more tempered judgment from the tried and experienced
theologian and man of the world. We must not imagine that
Father Parsons, any more than the Seminary Priests, could set
their consciences at rest, but his superior learning and experience
made him more sought after and often his advice helped somewhat
;

to stem the torrent of persecution owing to the influence at Court

of many of these secret Cathohcs.
There were yet in this Island vast numbers of people, as we have
already seen, who were convinced Cathohcs. Many of these had
suffered a great deal in their fortune and had remained firm, but
there were many who wavered ; many again who conformed. It
was the busiaess of the priest when he landed in England to repair
to the house of some CathoUc family. He had, of course, his
instructions before landing in this country, and he was not left to
wander about without any definite goal or clear knowledge of the
souls whom he had to seek out. Having found his way to the house
in question arrangements were immediately made for assembling
the Cathohcs in the district. It was not difficult for them to be
found as their names were well known at the various centres where
Mass was said. These centres were sometimes the houses of the
rich, sometimes the houses of the poor, sometimes an iim or even a
bam or a stable. They were not necessarily houses of Cathohcs,
but as we have seen already in the course of this work, men Uving
openly as Protestants with a secret leaning to CathoUcism, not
infrequently offered the shelter of their homes to the Cathohc
priest and assembled therein the faithful for Mass. It is a remark-
able fact that although the owners of Sutton Park, near Guildford,
had conformed to the new reUgion and had even the confidence of
the Queen, aU during the times of persecution priests made the
Manor and its domain the rendezvous for Cathohcs of that district.
It is said that once while Queen Elizabeth was on a visit there a
priest was actually in hiding in the same house. As late as the
year 1591 a certain Father Morgan was understood to be there in
 "

iS4 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD

hiding and indeed to have frequented the place.William More
Sir
was ordered by the Council to make search for him "
in the most
secret and substantial manner and then to apprehend him if
possible."
" After or hearty comendacons. We are to require yr secrett
and effectuall delaing in this cause. One Morgan sometymes
of her maties chappeU an obstinat and seditious papist, and
suche a one as for good causes we would gladly have apprhended,
hathe wandered in lurking sorte up and down this great whyle
from place to place and is now thought to be in Sutton, either
in or about Sr Henry Weston's house or at least yf he be not
nowe there, it is knowen, that at tjrmes by startes he useth to
coiiie thither, in secret sorte, and perhaps not called by his right
name. We require you in the most secrett and substantial!
manner you can and at such tjnnes and by such meanes, as in
yor own discretion you shall thinke moste meet, as soon as you
can, to make diligent and earnest searche and enquirie for him
and to apprhend him yt it possibly may be, and to advertise us
thereof. You sheJl do good service in it wch we will hartily
thanke you for. And so we bid you farewell. From the Court
the Xllllth of June 1591.
" Yor loving friends
" D. Warlys R. Leycester
Sis Hatton J. Walsyngham.

Who this Father Morgan was, I have been unable to ascertain.

There is in a list of Recusants at the Record OfBce for 1581 the

name of PoUdore Morgan imprisoned in the Gatehouse. Can it be

that he was one of the Maryan clergy who was for a time imprisoned
and then escaped ? The clause " sometime of her Majesty's chapel
seems to indicate that he was a chaplain of Queen Mary. Or. of
course, it might be that he had at one time conformed and been
employed by Queen Ehzabeth and then again recanted. What
matters is that he was now living as a Catholic priest, and evidently
risking his life for the CathoUc cause. We have no further infor-
mation about him.
The house of Sir Francis Browne at Henley, as we have already
seen, was also a noted centre for CathoUcs. In fact it was never
without three or four priests. Father Parsons wrote his censure
of Charke and Hanmer in that house. Such was the courage of
Catholics who remained faithful in those dajrs^that while meeting,
it is true in secret, they did not fear to keep a goodly store of furniture

necessary for the Divine Sacrifice, and they would not be deprived
 — ;

THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 185

of the cheerful religious tinkle of the Sanctus bell. The Services

in these holy trysting places were not curtailed because of the
constant fear of raids from the pursuivants. Priests spent hours
in the confessional and gave instructions to children and to adults,
and at Mass it was their custom to preach to the assembled faithful.
As we shall see in a document which I have copied from the original
in the Record Ofi&ce these assembUes were very numerously attended.
The priest did not confine his work to the shelter of some
sympathetic home, but often by means of bribery offered to the
jailers, often again under some disguise and assumed name, paid

a visit to the gaols, administered the Sacraments to Cathohc prisoners

and brought them not only the ineffable comforts of their religion
but also many gifts of food and clothing so much needed in those
dens of suffering. Father John Gerard, S.J., teUs us how in the
dreaded Tower of London itself he had the unutterable joy of
.

celebrating the Divine Mysteries.

The following is a document giving information which is of
interest, as it traces the doings and wanderings of priests and
describes the place where Mass is said at Hackney :

" Examination of Ralph MUler, prisoner in Bridewell, taken

before Richard Young, giving information of names and abodes
of English Recusants in France, Names of the CathoUcs resident
in Rouen. Celebration of Mass at Lord Vaux's house.
" 9» die Octobris 1584 coram Richardum Young.
" Ralph Miller Tailor aged 20 years was bom at Tidival in the
Peak and was apprenticed with one Whatmore a skinner without
Temple Bar with whom he served six years and afterwards went
into Flanders where he served as a soldier under Col. Norris
by the space of one year and a half and from him went to Monseiur
La Mote under whom he served half a year and from him went to
Reims in France where one Thomas Bailey a priest persuaded
him to stay, placing him with a tailor there named Upofer
Turner bom in Oxford with whom this exaint staid one year
and half and went afterwards to Rouen, being sent by the said
Bailey to work for all the papists there as Mr. Deacon, Mr. Norton,
Mr, Jeffrey Poole who is thought there to be one that will make
claim to the crown and hath 20 crowns monthly of the Pope
of whom Mr. Norton hath also 20 crowns a month. And there is
Mr. Paunfote, alias Paris and Mr. Peters, a priest uncle to Sr,
John Peters, Mr. Woodward and Mr. Clitherall, prest, two of the
Lady Talbot's sons, one being of the age of 25 years and the other
about 16 years and are under Mr. Delahne who hath also with
him the Lady Pawlett's son being about the age of 18 years, and
r86 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD
two of the Manwaringes are servants of the Talbots aforesaid,
and one George Stokar lacky or page to the Earl of North-
umberland hath six crowns a month of the Pope, and there is
Mr. Hopkins who made the book of meditations, one Bagshaw, a
Darbyshire man, Mr. Shelton, Mr. Letherborow a merchant,
Mr. Aldridge a priest, Thomas Clowdeley servant with the Nuns,
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Foster priests, Mr. Starmy who liveth by
his money, Mr. Gilford and his wife a maid and Cuthbert Helsing-
ton his servant, Mr. Norton's daughter and his man whose name
is Leonard, Mr. Johnson Mr. Th — on hath two english men
servants and Mr. Reynolds a priest who doth set forth the book
against Whittacres, Mr. Deacon's man sometime a barber in
England and Dr. Lewis son of Proctor Lewis, this exaint continued
there half a year and did work to all those abovenamed and got
with his work amongst them an loo crowns at the least. And
further he saith that there are Mr. Figge and Mr. Tailor, priests
Mr. Marshall a Nottinghamshire man and his daughter, Mr.
Chapman a married man and one Horwood (?) whose mother
doth dwell in Paternoster Row married to one Parker. And the
exaint came on from thence a fortnight after Midsummer being
desirous to see his friends and to bring on two notes to Mr. Mar-
shall's sons to understand in what order his lands stood and what
leases he had made, and he promited this exMnt bringing him
an answer of those notes that he would bear part of his charges.
And he brought one letter to Jeffrey Poole's wife living at a
place called Lordington 6 miles from Chichester, and there came
on with him one Hankin, Mr. Paunfote's man, Mr. Meredith,
a priest born in Bristowe (who hath a brother that doeth serve
Charles Arondell in Paris as he thinketh, and a schollar born in
Warwickshire being blemished in his sight. And this exaint
the schoUer and Hankyn lay at Mr. Poole's and the priest lay at
a gentleman's house near thereabouts, they tarried there but one
night and left the priest there and the next night they went to
bed to the Lady Pawlett's house which is i6 or 17 miles from
Mr. Poole's and from thence to Bagshott and so to London to
the Rederon in Blackfriars where he lay a senight and from thence
went to Cook's house in Vannue Alley and lay there a fortnight,
and during this time he bestowed himself in going to the Marshalsea
and the Gatehouse, and spake with all the papists in both places,
and he borrowed 10 sh. of Blount in the Marshalsea and from
London he went to Barnet and so directly to Newark upon Trent,
to Morcome to Mr. Raffe Marshall's son and there he delivered
the notes that he had received from Mr, Marshall at Reams and
 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 187

lay at his house one night, and from thence he went to Raff
Marshall the son of Marshall in Reams, who dwelleth at Carleton
cind there he lay a fortnight or three weeks and he borrowed of
old Marshall los, from thence he went to his father's house in the
high peak,there he tarried one week and his father gave him nothing,
from thence he came to young Marshall's sons etc. He goes on
to trace his wanderings. He afterwards met one Robert Browne,
who hath an uncle a priest with the Lord Vaux, who is a httle
man with a white head and a little brown hair on his face, goeth
in an ash colour doblet cut and a gown faced with conye and
he was made priest long since at Cambray as this exaint thinketh.
This ex. spake with the Lord Vaux and with his Lady at Hackney
after that his son Mr. George and the said Robert Browne had
told him that this ex. was a tailor at Reimes and on Sunday was
fortnight this ex. did hear Mass there whereat were present about
t8 persons, being My Lord's household and the priest last before
named said the Mass, the said priest heth in a chamber beyond
the haU on the left hand the stair that leadeth to the chambers,
and the Mass is said in the chapel being right on the porte
entering into the haU and the way into it is up the stair aforesaid
on the left hand at the further end of the Gallery and there is a
very fair Crucifix of silver."
He proceeds to give a number of names of Priests and the
various gentry who harbour them. He says " he was at Mass
:

also at Mr. Fenton's house in the parish of Hathersiche in the

peak who also keepeth a priest in his livery and he testifies to
having heard that there were seven score in a morning at his
house at a Mass and at a sermon.
" One Garlick said he has four priests about him in one Morning.
He was of opinion that there would soon be a change in the
country as the whole country about them were catholics and
very desirous of priests whereof there are a great store in High
Peak. This exaint was told by one of these priests that they had
rather fight than lose their living and there is one ClejHion and
Bagshawe in Tieford parish that are great papists. The daily
passage for papists is a little from Yarmouth in Norfolk where
they pass and repass at their pleasure.
" There is a httle fellow called Raff who is in England for Father
Parsons is a great dealer for all the papists, he is a very slender
brown httle fellow of whom Harrington can tell more certainly.
" There is one Dick Stertyvan a Lancashire man who heth about
Southwark and is a great factor for the Seminary and one Har-
greve is likewise a doer for them here." (Dom, Eliz. V. 173, n. 64.)
i88 THE LABOURERS IX THE VINEYARD
At Losdey we have a letter dated two years lata- than the above
docnment; it is from Richard Young to Sir William More.
In it he thanks Sir William for having searched the house of Mr.
Francis Browne at Henley Park. We are informed that Browne
has given way and Yomig says " I am very glad that other men's
:

harms make Mr. Browne wars-." TTiat is ihe kind of sobmission

that this method secm^ in qmilar cases.
{Los. Vol. V. n. 33.)
" My voy hearty CommendatioDS remembered to yoor
wordiqjs. These are to signify mito you that Mr. Secretary
his honour giveth you \-ery hearty thanks for your good assist-
ance in the searching of Mr. Francis Brown his house at Henley
Park. Mr. Browne hath been with me according to his bond
or promise made unto you he hath brou^t with him one Anthony
MedcaUe a man to me ver\- known and being none of the partis
of whose residence or abode their intelligence was given and
therefore I discharged him praj^ing jrour Worships that Mr.
Browne may be also disdiarged of his bonds. I have also
received the five books and passports mentioned in a note in
your letters enclosed.
" I am very glad that other men's harms make Mr. Browne
wary. I pray God all otheis may reform themselves according
to her Maj's laws. And so resting at j-our commandments I
cease to trouble you. At London this glii day of August, 15S6.
" Your worship's to command.
" To " Richard Yoong.
The Ri^t Worshipful, my very good friends
Sir William Moore knight and
Mr. Lawrence Staunton, Esquire
or to either of them dehver thease."

Nevertheless Henley Park remained a resort for priests.

The work then of the priests was this : to feed the lambs
that were in the Fold with the Sacraments and the Word of
God, and to gather the straying sheep back into the Fold once
more. Their work, as aU can see, was extremely arduous and
dangerous; but it was a work from which they reaped an
immense harvest. Many a Cathohc who had wavered ?uid
fallen away, when he saw these doughty champions of the Faith,
hunted away from place to place, seeking dielter now under
a hospitable roof, now in the woods and g^ens, and yet ever
labouring with untiring zeal and cheerfulness for the cause of
their Divine Master, became ashamed of their own cowardice.
 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 189

sought them out and were reconciled to that faith for which
in many cases these erst-while waverlings gave up their life.
So copious indeed was the harvest of spiritual fruits reaped
during those years of labour that again we see a sign of the
growing anxiety on the part of the persecutor in the order that
was issued from the Council to the Magistrates and which I
give below :— {Los. Vol. XII. n. 86,)

" After our very hearty commendations to your good 11.

and the rest her majesty perceiving the notable backward-
:

ness and defection in Religion of late time grown generally

amongst her subjects of this Realm, especially since the last
liberty and leaning granted to such principal persons as were
formerly committed to EUe and Broughton to remain at
their houses and hath given strict commandment unto us to
signify unto you her highness's pleasure that you fail not
presently upon sight hereof to consider and make choice of
the chiefest and most principal persons of the Recusants
within that county of Surrey lately certified hither by you
being of credit for their obstinacy and Uvelihood and likely
to do hurt by their example, to be presently committed to
the charge and safe keeping of some fit persons of hability
and account and of good disposition in Religion within that
County that will take charge of them for their safety, diet,
bedding and otherwise at the cost of the parties so committed,
not permitting any resort to be made unto them or to have
conference, but with such as may be found meet to reform
them by speech. But if happily there shall be found none
such meet persons willing to receive them unto their custody
as is abovesaid in this case you shall comniitt them to the
common gaol or to some other place of safety purposely to be
thereunto appointed with some fit persons to attend on them
for their safety diet and otherwise at the charge of the parties
and so praying your 11 etc. to take such extraordinary care
;

in the due performance of the premiss according to her

majesty's expectation and the great trust reposed in you
advertising us speedily of your proceedings we bid your 11.

etc.very hartily fare well. From the Court at Bysham the

13 of August, 1592.
" Your 11, etc. very loving friends,

"Jo. Puckering SS. W. Burghley C. Howard

W. CoBHAM J. Buckingham Ro. Cecyll.
 — — : " :

IQO THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD

" To our very good lords the L. Archbishop of Canterbury,
the L. Admiral, the L. Bishop of Winchester, the L.
cind our very loving friends John WoUey, Esquire,
one of her Maj. privy counsel, WUliam Howard Esquire, Sir
WiUiam Moore, Sir Francis Carew, Sir Thomas Browne, Knights,
and to the rest of the commissioners for Recuscints and Semin-
aries, etc. or to any three or more of them.
" 13 Augusti, 1592 —Received the 19th of August, 1592. Surrey."

Considering the extreme peril of the times and the nobihty

we must not marvel greatly
of the cause of these Seminary Priests,
at the methods of disguise which they were driven to adopt, nor
must we think that they were guilty thereby of sinning against
the fifth Commandment. If they adopted cJiases and gave mis-
leading information, they were only following the examples of the
Archangel Raphael when he accompanied Tobias on his journey
and of Our Blessed Lord himself when he went up to Jerusalem
although He had said that He would not go. An amusing story
is told in the Manuscripts preserved at the Record Office in the
following terms :

" A priest having perused the late supplication, and being

demanded how he liked it, that now the Jesuits began to excuse
her Majesty in aU things, and commend her so highly for ;

answer told this tale

" The Cat wanting her food because the mice kept their
holes, became a pohtician. She put on the habit of a friar,
and shaved her head. Thus attired, she walked up and
down reUgiously expecting her prey. But yet, the mice no
sooner peeped out, but knowing her weU enough, straight
whipt in again. Whereupon the Cat (espjdng one of them
in the brink of the hole)bowed down so low, as the mouse
might see her bald crown and said to her very gravely
:

" Quod fueram non sum frater, aspice tonsum " :

To whom the mouse answered :

" Est tibi cor idem

Vix tibi praesto fidem." And into her hole.'

(Dom. Eliz. Vol. 261. n. 99.)

Thus did the priest live, thus did they work, almost with cer-
tainty that their end would be in one of her Majesty's prisons or on
the gallows. Yet, they came and as one after another was captured
by the pursuers, more came to fiU the breach. There seemed
to be no fear in their hearts, and the sufferings of priests here in
 THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD 191

England were only a stimulus to the zealous ambitions of those

who were yet to come.
A document, because it shows the carefully
really remarkable
laid plans of the Catholic Clergy at thattime and their wonderful
union and almost constant intercourse with Rome, is the letter
with which I close this chapter. It is from Dr. Allen, Rector
of the Enghsh College at Rheims to Father White, then a prisoner
in the Clink and to the rest of the priests in Newgate, the Fleet
and the Marshalsea.
" The copy of a letter written from D. Allen unto Mr. White
a Seminary Priest in the Chnk especially and to the rest of the
priests in Newgate the Fleet & the Marshalsea.
" Well beloved brother in our Lord, Mr. White, I greet you

well with the greatest earthly comfort which you can enjoy
in this transitory world. Amidst your great afflictions our
holy Father Pope Sixtus by God's grace chief vicar here on earth
hath sent unto you especially and to the rest of your brethren
at this present endurance for the dest .... of our ancient
cathoUc apostoUc and romish church his Holy benediction,
with this comfort that you shall shortly enjoy the society of our
well beloved D. Reynolds chief Jesuit of our English College
at Rhemes with the company of D. Wallford and Gerat BeUamie
lately by our selves created priest who by God's grace will arrive
in England about the tenth of May our desire by special com-
mandment from his holiness is that they be securely and secretly
provided for especially D. Reynolds as to you all with advice
shall be thought most convenient whose discovery we assure
you would be a great cause of joy unto all the heretics and
enemies of God and the Catholic Church for D. Wallford, he wiU
be well provided for in Oxford with Mr. Napper* a renouned
and virtuous catholic for Geratt Bellamie his remaining will
be best with some of his cousins in London by whom you shall
receave divers consecrated Crucifixes hallowed lately by his
holiness with other books by you to be impted to the chiefest
catholics and your greatest benefactors.
" This from Rhemes we commit you to God. Dated the tenth
of this month of March.
"Your undoubted patron, Rector of the engUsh College
at Rhemes.
" John Allen."
(Dom. Eliz. Vol. 238. No. 126II.)

* These names appeared in the information of the spy Pettingat.

 Chafier xr\'.

INCREASED RIGOURS.

HiTHEKto we hsve stodied a ooDsid^aUe zTrnib^ of the Loedey

docasoents rdadi^ to the peisecatkm ot CadKdics op to the time
of the d^eat of lOie Spanish Armada. Now, it is not my object
to discDss at l^^th this T«y great histodcal evaat and I may
say at once that I h^ve no sympathy with the instigatois of this
att»npt to invade oar coontiy ; bat as the sobject k mentianed
90 oftai in dccomaits presenred at Losdey, it would be a mistake
to allow it TO pa^ widKnt any esfwessicMi of opinioD.
Let OS take it as {soved that the Pope was on the ade oi Spam
and had Uessed tiie eodeayxrar of die Spanisb to amqiiei' thb
coantry. How w-cnti the qoestkHi a{^al to an tmbiassed judge ?
A great nmubo^ of Catholks are groaning mtd^' the we^t ot
o|^a\ssk>n £o giievoos, that nothii^ has equalled it in the histcsy
i>t the Chorch since the dajs of the gre^t Rcsnan posecntions.

The Pope, ihe comnxm sjsritual Fath« of th^e mattitods of his

childresi, tries by evcr\- peaceaUe means to alleviaTe their lot.
Diplomacy is tried withc'.:i soccess. who at ooe time
FJirabetii.
professed heisdf a sobject of the Cathcdic Qinrch, is reprimanded
by Pope Sixtos and excommmiicated with the result that Catholics
are more grievou^- tcsmented than befcHe. Close at hand th«e
if great Cathotc power full of impassioned love for the Catholic
-^

Faith, and having no small reasKms for qnarrd with the Protestant
EKzabeth. I say advisedly no small reason ifx qnarrd, becaose
w«« not ha bnccaneos craistantly pirating the high seas, cs^>tar-
ing the Spani^ gaDeons and mmdering thdr crews ? Small wonder
tiiat ti>e Pope mida- these cjrcomstanoef^ thoo^t it a ^orioos
mipoitanity for biii^iing sacoonr to his sofierii^ children. On
the other hand if Cathcdics in En^and had ci^i^i tiieir foil oraissit
to thb manna- of assistance, it seems to me that it would be mere
hypocrisy to say that they had been goifty of any crime. How
different, however, vn«e the facts frv^m \diat we shoold ha^«
expected thean to be WTiik evio- resnahm^ steadfast in thdr
!

loyalty to the Hoh? See; while diowing their readiness to shed

ttMir Uood for that Faith which came frvHn R<Hne, their de^ rooted
love for dtdr coantry and thdr devoticMi to thdr Qoeea fired than
 INCREASED RIGOURS 193

with such a zeal for the defence of their country against the threat-
ened invasion, tliat all thought of relief from thier present mis-
fortunes was brushed aside in their overwhelming desire to serve
as true patriots. It is this loyalty that has drawn admiration
from many an historian not otherwise inclined to agree with the
CathoUc position. " CathoUc Lords brought their vessels up
alongside of Drake and Lord Howard and CathoUc gentry led
their tenantry to muster at Tilbury," these are the words of
Green.
Many a time in after years CathoUcs were taunted in the courts
with the ill-fated Spanish Aimada, with the efforts of the Pope
to smash the Protestant power, and with the aid that they in
England were ready to give to the Spaniard. But over and over
again they protested their loyalty to Queen and country, even
asserting that if the Pope himself were to come with an army to
invade this country, while still remaining staunch Catholics they
would fight on the side of their own countr3mien. It was quite
clearly understood that whatever the Pope may have done or
thought expedient in a matter of temporal policy he did not wish
to bind Catholics in England to an acceptance of that policy;
and if as a temporal sovereign it had been possible for him to lead
the invasion in person it is sound theology to say that English
Catholics would still be at hberty to oppose him. This is the
view that Catholics have always held and that the Church has
sanctioned. It is also the view that Catholics in England have
defended in the days of persecution when before their accusers.
Of course from time to time there have been desultory efforts
on the part of conspirators to overthrow the reigning power.
Sometimes their motive was the highest, as in the case of a per-
secuting sovereign and court, sometimes their motive was not so
laudable. I do not propose to enter into the moral question
of conspiracies of this nature ; but what we find in the history
of the XVIth, XVIIth, and XVIIIth Centuries during which time
the Catholic Church was subjected to the bitterest persecutions
is that these conspiracies were always confined to a very small

minority, and that the vast numbers of the faithful remained loyal
to the reigning Government. Amongst the documents at Loseley
is one of interest in this connection. It is only a fragment, the
greater portion having been destroyed and parts of the remaining
portion have become illegible. It bears the date of the 30th July,
1588. It is an examination of a certain Tristram Winslade, a
Catholic of a very distinguished family in Devonshire. I gather
that this examination was made under compulsion and that he was

14
194 INCREASED RIGOURS
in prison at the time. He died at Dooay on the 23rd November,
1603, and in the third Diary of the Douay Collie is the following
entry;
" Die 23 Novembris pie hac vita defunctus Tristramus Winsladus
Nobilis, postridie sepultus est solemniter in sacello B. Virginis
apnd D. Jacobnm, pro nobilitate generis supra facultates."

"A fragment.
"The examination of Tristram Winslad taken the 30th of
Jnly 1588.
" In primis he saith that he was bom in the Co. of Devonshire
and heretofore served John Arundel knight but whereas
Sir
after the execution of Cuthbert Mayn Sr John fell into trouble
he departed into the parts beyond the seas for no other reason,
as he saith, but for that he was a CathoUc. He went first into
the Low Countries and so into Germany and into Italy and from
thence into Spain where he was staid at Barcelona for that he
was an Englishman, but being known to be a Catholic he was
relieved.
" About years past when Sir John Arundel was first
troubled he went into Ireland and so into France, Germany and
Italy. About the same time his father alive, named Wm
Wnslade
departed out of ComeweU into Britany and from thence into
Spain and when the K. of Spain was in Portugal he was a sutor
to have a pension of the K. because he had served the K. father
in his wars ; which was granted ; but he received no part of
it during his Ufe, for he died in Lisbon.
" At the last coming of this deponent into Spain by the means
of Sir Francis Inglefidd testifying that he was the son of the
said Wm, he obtained the said pension at which was
about £5
" Their intent was to have invaded and conquered England,
that the Spanish Navy should keep the seas while the Duke of
Parma came in and this Examinat thinketh the Duke of Medina
had no commission by land.
"Their speach was to have landed as near London as they
could and to have rifled it and at their first coming, not to have
spared any man alive.
" Dn Pedro de Valdes his opinion was that the fleet should
have kept the seas still to have brought in victuals & and other
necessaries to the prince.
" There is great preparation made at the Groine for victuals
and likewise at Bisk^ which are to be brought over by such
 INCREASED RIGOURS 195

ships and hulks as should be taken up. One Dn Andrewes de

Alma was sent to the Groine to make the said provision.
" They thought themselves to be able well enough to recounter
the Queen's Navy and suppose themselves to be the stronger for
that their ships were greater in bulk and well furnished with
men.
" The number of their ships little and great which went out of
Lisbon was about 152.
" Don Pedro ^e Valdes is about fifty years of age hath served
on the seas into the Indges, Florica, Lerica, and about 20 years
since had the conveying of certain ships out of Spain in Flanders.
" He was staid at Pl37mouth and feasted by

" He saith that his intention was coming with him to do as

much good as he could, for that he was never given to cruelty,
he protested that he is a CathoUc, but otherwise a true English-
man and ready to die for her Majesty and his country against
any invasion that the Pope or any others shall make against
England.
" He saith that there is some 30 ships preparing now in
Lisbon which are to come to take their victuals at the Groine
which were not to come from thence before that they had heard
from this navy whether they should come.
" He saith that at his departure it was said in Spain that the
Pope had given to the King of Spain the Kingdom of England
and it was said that unless the K of Spain should get this Realm
he might lose the Indies besides his trouble in the Low Countries.
" He saith he remembereth at this time no more if any thing
come to his mind he wiU discover it.
" There was a speach in Lisbon that the Duke of Gapre was in
Picardie with a great many soldiers and that he should the
Spaniards in this enterprise." {Los. Bundle 1581 to 1600.)

What Winslade said about his loyalty was to be said with truth
about the vast majority of CathoUcs in those days. They deserved
much at the hands of their fellow countr5mien ; they were far
greater heroes than any other EngUshmen, because not only were
they ready to sacrifice their lives in defence of this realm but this
readiness on their part came at a time when this realm had treated
them with the utmost cruelty, had outlawed them and refused to
consider them as of the pale.
What was the return made to them for their devotion ? It was
not long delayed. It came in the form of a Royal Conmiission.
196 INCREASED RIGOURS
Another series of oppressive decrees increasing the rigours under
which Catholics groaned. We are not surprised to find that the
reason for these additional hardships is attributed to the number
of " Seminaries, Priests, and Jesuits," who have come into this
realm of " malicious purpose to seduce divers of our people from
their duty to God and to us, and to renounce their allegiance and
to adhere to the King of Spain and the Pope whensoever they should
offer to attempt any invasion against our realms." I say we are
not surprised because of the persistent practice of the Government
in those days of keeping no faith with Catholics.
From the point of view of the politician the Spanish Armada
was an excellent opportuiuty for invective against an enemy, and
it was used with terrible effect in besmirching the Catholic cause.

It was the kind of platform argument or what we would now call

the electioneering poster ^iiat would appeal to the great multitudes
of the people. In such matters very few are discerning and take
any trouble to ascertain the real merits of the case. Provided a
calumny is presented in a sufficiently sensational manner and that
it is repeated often enough it is bound to obtain credence in the end.

At Loseley there are two documents signed and sealed giving

this Royal Commission. One dated the X4th January in the 34th
year of Elizabeth, the other dated the 23rd day of November,
the 34th year of Elizabeth. I have copied the latter, the former
being very much destroyed. {Los. Bundle, Recusancy 1380.)

The Commission.
" Elizabeth of God Queue of England, France
by the grace
and Ireland, defender of the faith. To the Reverend Father
in God, Thomas Bishop of Wynchester, And to our right trusty
and right welbeloved CounsaUor Charles Lord Howard high
Admirel of England, to our right trusty and welbeloved John
Lord Lumley, Thomas Lord Burghe, and hkewise to our trusty
and welbeloved Will. Howard Esquire, Sir William Moore knight.
Sir Francis Carewe knight. Sir Thomas Browne, knight Marten,
Heton, Dean of Winchester, Michaell Rejmiger, Archdeacon of
Winchester, William Saye, Chancellor to the said Bishop Thomas
Vincent, Thomas Slyfeild, Richard Bostock, George Moore,
Lawrence Stoughton, John Agmondesham, Robertt Levesey
and John Parker, Esquires greting. Whereas of late we have
by proclamacion published our determination to appointe certain
Commissioners in every Shire, Cittie and poste townes, to enquire
diligently of the secret repair onto our Realme of a nomber of
Seminaries, priests and Jesuits, of malicious piuposes to seduce
 INCREASED RIGOURS 197

divers of our people from their duty to God and to us, and to
renounce their allegiance and to adhere to the Kiag of Spaine and
the pope whensoever they should offer to attempt any invasion
against our Realms. We mineding the execucion of suche our
determination and of sonderye other pojmtes mete to be executed
(as more att Icurge contasmed in our said declaracion) and repose-
inge great truste in your approved fideUtie wisedom and good
zeale you bear to the quietued of our realme, and to extj^e the
daungerous practises of such papisticall traitors, have theirfore
made speciall choise of you to be our Counsellors giveinge to you
or any three or more of you fullpower, and aucthoritie by all
good means as well accordinge to the articles hereunto annexed
as otherwise to inquire try search and examine within the County
of Surrey and all partes thereof as well within liberties as without,
what psons have come from beyond the seasinto this our Realm,
since the feast of St. Michaell tharchaungell in the two and
thirtieth yere of our reigne, or of any other parsons that doe
reside in any part of that Countie or elsewhere that probably
by their behaviour, and manner of life or otherwise maye be
suspected to have come from beyond the seas in the quahtie and
vocation 'of Seminaries preistes Jesuits or fugitives thoughe
disguised to hide their qualities and vocation or that are instru-
ments sent by the Pope or by any of the EngUsh Seminaries or
Colleges to labor to corrupt our people in matter of reUgion
contrary to our lawes established for that purpose or to move
or stirr them to adhere to the Pope, the King of Spajoie, or any
their confederates or dependants enemies to our states and such
psons so justlye to be suspected to apprehende and examine
straightly of their conversion for some reasonable tyme paste
and if you shall finde any of them justlye so upon their examina-
cons or by lawfuU accusacons, and proves of others, to be culpable
or duly to be suspected of such disloyalties as above is menconed,
you shall committ them to prison, and accordinge to the order
of our lawes you shall cause them to be pceeded on by waie of
inditement and arraignments for the same their treasonable
actions to the due punishment of them accordinge to their
deserts without contending with them for their conscience in
matter of religion otherwise than to cause them to be treated
withall charitably and informed for their conversion by discreet
psons of good reputation and well learned in divinitie And in
like manner you or any three or more of you shall cause inquisicon,
and examinacon to be made cis aforesaid of all manner of psons
that have heretofore given or shall hereafter give assistance succor
198 INCREASED RIGOURS
or lodging, pencon, rewarde, or in any other sorte
relief, in diet,

to any of the foresaid malefactors. And whereby our lawes

the same parsons maye be charged with such unlawfull mayne-
tenaunce or favour, after that they shall have knowledge of the
pverse and traitorous qualities of suche malefactors You or
any three or more of you shaU also cause them, and every of
them to be pceeded withall accordinge to our lawes as bettors
aiders and mainteynors of the foresaid principall offenders And
for the more speedy execution of justice against all such male-
factors according to the quaUties of their offences wee do straightly
charge and comaund all our Justices of our Benches all other our
Justices of the Laws our Sergeant, our Attorney, and Sohcitor
general}, and all other learned in the laws of our realme, and aU
other Justicies of peace and Officers of justice whose advise you
shaU have cause to require to be aidinge and assistinge to you,
bothe for the Inquisicon, examinacon and orderlye prosecution
by lawe against such suspected parsons bothe accessaries and
principall so as there be noe delaye nor necUgence used but that
suche daungerous psons whoe labor by cunninge and color of
religion noethinge more then sedicon and treason and the ruyne
of all good subjects maie be speedUye suppressed.
" As witnes whereof we have caused these our letters of
Commission to be sealed with our great seale Witness our
self att Weston the thre and twentith daye of November, in
the foure and thyteth yere of our rciigne
" powle
:

" Commissionaries virtute warrant! Regii."

As wesee from this, not only were priests and Jesuits to be

arrested, but " fugitives " who having gone to the Continent for
the safety of their religious exercises have returned thence into their
country, and all those who had at any time given " assistance,
succour, or relief, in diet, lodging, pension, reward or in any other
sort to any of the foresaid malefactors." The wording of the
Commission was designed to give the impression that this was not
an enactment for the persecution of men on account of their reUgion.
It was much was made of the Pope as a
for that reason that so
foreign power and the King of Spain as the avowed enemy of this
country. It was designed to foster in the minds of EngUsh
Protestants the belief that all Catholics must by reason of their
obedience to the Holy See, be traitors to their country. Priests
ordained in Seminaries abroad were stigmatised as instruments
sent by the Pope " to labour to corrupt our people in matter of
 :

INCREASED RIGOURS 199

Religion " —or again, " to move or stirr them to adhere to the Pope,
the King of Spain, or any of their confederates or dependents
enemies to our States." It is easy to imagine how these words
would fire the average Enghshman to indignation and hatred against
people that could be so false to their country. So cleverly did the
device work £ind so constantly was it used and has it ever been used
even up to modem times that Cathohcity and disloyalty have been
to the average Enghsh Protestant S3monymous terms.
This point was still further accentuated by the articles which
were attached to the Commission and which I now give.

" Articles annexed to the Commission for a further instruction

to the Commissioners how to proceed in execution thereof.
" First, you to whom the Commission shall be brought, shall
without delay notify to the rest of the Commissioners that shall
be in the County, or that may shortly repair thither, the
receipt of the said Commission, with some signification of
the contents thereof. And shall require them to meet at
some convenient time and place to consider contents thereof,
and thereupon to accord upon sundry days and places in
every quarter of the shire ordinarily to meet about the same,
so as now at the beginning, the oftener that they shall meet, the
same shall be the better ; and after your first meeting, you may
according to the quantity of the shire, make some partitions
amongst yourselves, to execute the commission with more ease
And yet you shall once every forty days for this present year,
assemble aU together to confer upon your several proceedings,
so as you may once every quarter give knowledge to her Majesty's
Counsel of your actions.
" Item you shall send to the Bishop or Ordinaries of the
Diocese and to his Chancellor and Ofiicial and to the Archdeacon
in the same to certify you of ail persons, with their dwelling
places, whom they shall know to have been presented to them
as Recusants and that do so continue in their recunsancy. And
the Uke Certificate you shall require from the Custos Rotulorum,
or the Clerk of the Peace and from the Clerk of the Assize of
the County, to know such as have been presented and endited
as well women as men, and
what process hath been set forth
against them ; likewise by any means inform yourselves
you shall
of all such as within the County are commonly noted to be
receivers and comforters of persons that are suspected to have
come from beyond the seas, as Seminaries, Priests, Jesuits, or
Fugitives, and after that you shall be duly informed by these
200 INCREASED RIGOURS
or any other means of such persons to be suspected, as principal
offenders or accessories, you shall retain to your selfe secretly
the names of the same, without any publication thereof, until
you shall afterwards find probable and good cause to warn any
of them to come before you, or otherwise to apprehend, and
examine them according to the contents of your Commission.
" Q.yrd, Nov. (1591) in the zifti of Our reign.
" Item in your examinations of any persons by vertue of this
Commission you shall not press any persons to answer to any
questions of their conscience for matters of Religion, otherwise
than to cause them answer, whether they do usually come to
the Church, and why they do not and if you shall perceive that
they are wilful Recusants, then you shall examine them upon
any matters concerning their allegiance to her Majesty, and of
their devotion to the Pope, or to the King of Spain, or upon their
maintenance of any Jesuit, seminarie priest or other person sent
from Rome or from any parts beyond the seas, to dissuade any
subjects, from their obedience toe the Queen's Majesty.
" And to give you some particular instruction on what sort you
may conceive convenient questions, whereupon to examine
persons that are to be suspected to adhere to the Pope, or to the
King of Spain, contrary to their duty of allegiance, you may
observe the form of these questions hereafter following.
" The question ensuing to be answered by oath by such as
shall be verily suspected to have been moved to give assistance
to the forces of the Pope, or King of Spain, when they shall
happen to invade this Realm, whereby such wicked seduces
may be discovered.
"
Whether have you been moved, by any, and by whom and
when, and by what persuasion, to give aid or relief, or to adhere
to the forces of the Pope or King of Spain, when they should
happen to invade this Realm, for any cause whatsoever ?
" The questions following to be ministered without oath to
discover such as shall be suspected to be Priests, Seminaries,
or Fugitives, dangerous to the State.
" Whether have you been at Rome, Rheimes, or in Spajme
at any time within these five years, when returned you last into
thisRealm, and to what purpose, and where have you been ever
since yourcoming from thence.
" Be you a Jesuit or Priest made after the Romish order,
where and when were you so made priest and by whom.
" Have you been at the Sems or Colls for the English, Welsh
or Irish nation, at Rome, Reimes, in Spain, or elsewhere, how
 INCREASED RIGOURS 201

long were you in any of them, and when were you last sent from
any of them into England or Wales, and to what end ?
" Item where by her Majistie's late Proclamation, whereof
you shall take knowledge, it is ordered that all manner of psons
of what degree soever they be without any exception. Spiritual
or Temporal, and so forth shall make particular inquisition of
all manner of persons that have been admitted and suffered to

have resort, diet, lodging, etc., within the space of one year
past, etc., if you shalbe informed of any such person to have
beene so lodged or comforted, etc., as in the Proclamn is at large
expressed : in such case you shaU require the partie that is
appointed to make such inquisition, to deUver the same inquisn
to you in writing, and thereupon you shall doe your best to crie
out if there have bene any suspected so lodged or comforted by
the said partie appointed to make the inquisns and him you shall
demannd to be deUvered to you, to bee committed and further
used according to his desert.
" Item because the Commission is sent into all other Shires
of the Realm, and like instructions annexed thereto as these
are, and that you may percase (per casum) be informed of some
persons meete to be apprehended or examined, which are gone
out of that Sire into some other partes, or doe remaine in places
out of the Jurisdiction of your Commission : In such cases
we require you to send secretly knowledge thereof to the Commers
of the Countries where you shall think such suspected persons
doe remaine, requiring them in her Majesties name to use all
diligence for the apprehension of such and by such information
as you shall give them to examine the parties and to proceed
against them according to their Commission.
" Item you shall doe well to make choyce of some persons of
honest behaviour and loyaU in reUgion in every quarter of the
Shire, and especially in every Post towne. Market towne, or
great large parish, and where the Parsons or Vicars are faithful
and carefull over their Cures to jojme together, with charge to
observe all such as refuse obstinately to resort to the Church,
and such persons you shall call before you, and without dealing
with them for their recusancie (for which they are to be other-
wise by law punished) you shall (as you shall in your discretion
thinke meete respecting the quaUties of their persons) require
them to answere to the two former questions, or to ej^her of
them, for that by their recusancie they doe give cause of suspicion
to be disloyall in their dueties to the Queenes Majesties, and the
state, or to favour the common enemies."
 !

202 INCREASED RIGOURS

Note how those who conformed to the religion dictated by
EUzabeth, alone were " persons of honest behaviour and loyal in
religion." How galling was this to true-hearted English Catholics
But yet, as we shall see later, the cruelty of this accusation and the
increased barbarity with which the Government treated Catholics
only served to increase their courage and determination and
multiplied the more the martyrs for the faith.
There is a strange difference made by the law between some
questions which are to be answered on oath and others for which
an oath is not required. The questions to be answered on oath
are those which relate directly to formal treachery in giving aid to
the forces of a foreign power. The questions for which an oath is
not required relate first of all to the status and joumejdngs of
priests and their purpose in coming to this country.
The reason for this difference is that all questions asked for this
latter purpose were to be taken as evidence sufficient for convic-
tion. It has been said that EUzabeth never intended her laws to
be carried out with that severity and rigour expressed by the
documents. It would be of real historical value to have reliable
testimony bearing out this view. It is not the impression which one
gathers from the documents before us. We scarcely ever come
across the shadow of a protest, or distinguish the echo of a
soft note of pity. Rather must we interpret tlie mind of the
Legislator by the lavish encouragements which were given to
those who executed her wiU with such persistent cruelty.
Elizabeth was no puppet and, if cruelty had been distasteful
;

to her, she would have said so ; and the methods of the Star
Chamber would very soon have been altered.
Previous to the pubUcation of this Commission, the Council had
written to the Commissioners to make certain that none of their
number was disaffected in reUgion and that they had no relatives
known recusants, or that they harboured in their houses no persons
" known or suspected to be backward in reUgion." This certainly
did not look as though the Council intended the forthcoming
Commission to be carried into effect in a half-hearted manner. We
have at Loseley the answer of Sir William More to the Council's
enquiry.

" Vol. v.. No. 43.

" With remembrance of our duty imto your honble lordships.

Whereas you have by your letters signified your good pleasure
unto us to be advertised whether there be any in the Commission
concerning Jesuits, lately to us amongst others directed, which
 INCREASED RIGOURS 203

are known unto usor may be justiy suspected to be unsound in

religion or which have their wives, children or^any of their
families known recusants or do harbour in their houses any
persons known or suspected to be backward in rehgion :It may
Please your Lordships to understand that Sir Thomas Browne,
Thomas Slyfield, Thomas Vincent, George More, Nicholas
Saunders, Richard Bostock, Lawrence Stoughton, John Agmondi-
sham, Robert Livesey, John Parkes being those which are joined
with us in the said Commission and have served already in the
execution thereof, are well known unto us to be men sound and
well affected in rehgion to God and devoted in all duty to the
service of her Majesty. And where eilso your Lordships would
be informed whether the number of the commissioners already
appointed be not sufficient or not so placed for their habitations,
as they may devide the service by '
members in either quarter
of the County as by the Commission and instructions is prescribed
or whether there be not others in this County (fit to be employed)
omitted in the said Commission an4 for their dwellings meet to
be added and used in this service, it may like your Ls to be
advertised that Dr Heton, dean of Winchester, Dr. Reyniger,
Archdeacon there and Mr. Say Chancellor to the L. Bish
of Winch, are not resident within the shire and by means
thereof not serving with us. We think it fit for the furtherance
of this her Majesty's service to name unto your Lordship John
Read, Edmond Bowyer, Francis Angier, William Walter esquires
to be placed in the said Commission, knowing them to be both
for soundness in religion and the places of their habitation very
meet to be joined with us and employed in the said service. And
thus we beseech God long to preserve yoiu: Lps with much increase
of honour.
" At Leatherhead the 4th of January 1591.
" At your honourable Lordship's commandment,
" W. HOWAKD.
"Wyllam More.
" To the Right Hon. the " FRANCYS Carew.
Lords and others of her
Highness's most hon.
Privy Council."

The Surrey Coimnissioners appear to have been quite zealous

in the performance of these duties imposed upon them. The
following letter of Mr. Saye, Chancellor to the Bishop of Winchester
 —

204 INCREASED RIGOURS

refers us to the sources whence we may derive information of
their doings.
Vol. v., No. 49.
" Chancellor Wm
Say to More.
" Archdeacon of Surrey to make return of Recusants.
" i8th Sept. 1591.
" Most humble commendations premised etc. I have received
letters from divers worshipful the Justices of the Peace in the
County of Surrey dated at Leatherhead the 7th of this month
and left at my house in mine absence upon Thursday last, the
contents whereof were to require me as chancellor to the L.
Bishop of Winton, to certify unto their worships the names of
all such persons as well men as women with their dwelling places
which have been presented unto me as Recusants and do continue
in their Recusancy. May it please your Worships together with
the residue to be advertised that in our Records here at Winton
we have not the names of such Recusants but Mr. Archdeacon
of Surrey and his officials Mr. Doctor Rydley or Dr. Hone in
their usual visitation do make Inquisition in that behalf with
whom and with their Register Mr. Blackwell the names of all
such Recusants do remain, by reason that by composition really
all or the most part of ecclesicistical jurisdiction is exercised by
these officers in these and the within the county of
like cases
SuiTey. May it therefore please your worships to accept this
mine answer and direct your order to Doctor Hone, Doctor
Ridley and their Register who have the custody thereof. So
humbly I take my leave Winton 18 December 1591
" Your Worships in the L. assured
" William Say.
"To
TTie Right Worshipful Sir Wm Moore, knight,
M. George Moore esquire or to either of them
be these.
"ded
" At Loselye near Guildford."

It would be interesting therefore to turn to one of these reports

alluded to by Chancellor Saye. Let us give that of Dr. Rydley.
Vol. v., No. 58.
" A
list drawn up on the 27th Dec. 1591 by Thomas Rydley

Dr. of Civil Law, entitled :

" A
true Certificate made by Thomeis Ridley, Doctor of Civil
Law and Official to Mr. James Cottington, Doctor of Divinity
 INCREASED RIGOURS 205

and Archdeacon of Surrey, made unto the Right Worshipful

the Commissioners appointed by our Sovereign Lady the Queen
high Majesty for the County of Surrey for the inquiring forth
of such persons as refuse to come to Church to hear devine service
according to the tenor of certain letter to the said Doctor Rydley
in the behalf from the said Commissioners directly bearing date
the eighth day of Dec. 1591 hereafter followeth.
" In the Certificate made between the Feasts of the Nativity
of Our Lord God 1590 until the Feast of the Nativity of St. John
Baptist then following being in this present year 1591 is certified
as followeth which said certificate was dehvered to Mr. Austen
of Guildford a Midsummer last as all other certificates made
touching Recusants within the Archdeaconry of Surrey were
likewise before that time delivered to the said Mr. Austen.
" Dr. Rydley's Certificate of Recusants 1591.
" Witley —WiUiam Sherlock which they (the inquisitors) have
often presented, as is known, for not coming to C. but no

reformation.
" Chertsey —Mrs. Studdolph and her son Mr. John Studdolph
of the Ham.
" Lambeth
—John Jarrett of Lambeth. Marsh and Widow
Brewar StockweU.
of
" Witley— WiU Sherlock ut supra.
^id.

"
—John Staunton and Thomas Boroughe—refuse to be
Setid
absolved from .exconamunication.
" Chertsey— ut supra
^id.

" Lambeth— ut supra

^id.

" Cobham—Cuthbert GyUett and Jone wife excom. refuse

his
absolution.
" Co6Aa»t—Richard WiUiamson minister, Robert Sutton, Richard
Goddard, Churchwardens and Nicholas Foster, sidesman,
do present Cuthbert Gyllet and Jone his wife for standing
excommunicated ever since Good Friday Icist past and are
contented stiU to stand excomd regarding none order of
release or order to conform themselves to her highness's
Laws and proceedings which is a great presumption they
favour not the Gospel but Uve as fautors and favourers of
the Contrary and are in deed in the very nature of Recusants,
They never communicated in their parish these five years
now come Michaelmas next.
—
" Mitoham Mrs. Anne Whittney
" St Saviours —Ralf C e and EUzabeth his wife.
2o6 INCREASED RIGOURS
—
" Ewell ^Eliz. Browne wife of Cuthbert Browne.

—
" Bentlye Green Ed. Burgeis (a servingman to Mr. Hyde) in
Barkshire having a house in Bentley. Professes his willing-
ness however to come to Church.
Ed. Hill minister, Wm. Reaves and Jo. Beale Church-
wardens to present one Ed. Burgess a serving man unto one
Mr. Hyde in Barkshire having a house in Bentley and seldom
Cometh unto his house but never came to their parish Church,
his wife hath sometimes used the Church and more oftner
would as she saith but having two little children twins and
one other child and not able to keep any servants in her let
the said Ed. Burgess hath said that he is willing to resort to
the Church if he might have time to stay.
" OcMam—none.
" —Cuthbert Gyllet and Jone
Cohham his wife.
" B altersey—Miss Englefield.
" Wandsworth—Michael Owen and his wife.
" Lambeth—Baron Harcott and WiUiam Warren
his wife, gent,
widow Brewar Stockwell)
(of
" George's in Southwark —John Gray gent absolutely refuseth
S. '

to go to Ch. to hear devine serv. being demanded thereunto

by them all.'
" —
Cohham Cuthbert GeUett and Jone his wife.
"
And it may please yoiir Worships further to understand the
cause why so few be presented within the Archdeaconry of Surrey
is by reason the Churchwardens do not bring in their biUs of
presentments themselves quarterly to the Regester, but send
them up by strangers, who know nothing of the matter so that
the Regester cannot confer with them about their presentments
which be made very imperfectly. And therefore if it would
please your worships at your next Session to take further order
that one of the Churchwardens or sidemen at the least might come
to the said Register with their bills of presentments every
Quarter, there would more be presented than be."

It is to be observed in this report that there are not very many

recusants remaining. The law seems to have been applied to some
effect in these parts. Are we to suppose that in the whole of
Lambeth there were but four recusants left and that in St. George's,
;

Southwark, there was but one ? I think that there is an explanation

for this extraordinary paucity of numbers. First of all we can see
that the churchwardens in the various parishes were anxious to
 ;

INCREASED RIGOURS 207

make it appear that theirdistricts had been purged of recusancy

as far as possible, and therefore they only seized on isolated cases.
We must not imagine that this hue and cry could be maintained
with any very great enthusiasm for so many years and doubtless
after a time people became weary of a hunt which brought them
less and less profit. As the fortunes of the recusants were thinned
out there was less to be gained by raiding their abodes and so it
happened that many were left in peace for a time on account of their
extreme poverty. However it must not be forgotten that by this
time the gaols of England were bursting with a population of
Cathohcs, and if some of these Churchwardens were able to boast
of their freedom from Catholics, it was that these latter had either
been done to death through disease or starvation or had been sent
to end their days in the squalor of some wretched dungeon. At
Bentley Green, " Edward HiU, Minister, William Reaves and Jo.
Beale, Chmrchwardens do present one Edward Burgess a serving
man unto one Mr. Hyde in Barkshire, having a house in Bentley,
and seldom cometh unto his house but never came to their parish
church, his wife hath sometimes used the church and more oftener
would as she saith, but having two httle children twins and one other
child and not able to keep any servants in her let, the said Edward
Burgess hath said that he is willing to resort to the Church if he
might have time to stay." Eloquent words ! How much do we
learn from them. There is no pity for the " two Uttle children
twins and one other child," or for the poor woman should the
husband have the courage to follow his conscience. There is no
pity either for Widow Brewar of Lambeth. Against persecution
of this kind it is only the stronger that wiU remain firm.
However, it is not necessary to enlarge very much on this absence
of names from the Register of Cathohcs. Dr. Ridley himself has
remarked on it.
There is a lack of business methods with the Churchwardens
they " do not bring in their biUs of presentments themselves
quarterly to the Register, but send them up by strangers, who
know nothing of the matter so that the register cannot confer with
them about their presentments which be made very imperfectly."
Hence we are told that at the next session of the Magistrates one
of the Churchwardens or sidesmen at the least should be ordered
to come with their bills of presentments every quarter then " there
would more be presented than be." This therefore gives us the
explanation we need for the following certificates for the years
1591, 1592. I have merely mentioned the names of most of the
parishes because they report that there were no " Jesuits, seminaries,
 .

2o8 INCREASED RIGOURS

fugitives, recusants or dangerous persons " in their exemplary
congregations. The only blot apparently on the Frensham parish
is " a blynd man who by means of his impotent age frequentithe

not our Church."

Certificates for the year 1591.

Anno Regnei tricessimo quartuor et septum die machii.
—
" Frimley. We psente unto yor worshipps that there is no
Jesuits, Seamenaryes, fugitives, nor Recusants, but all is well
in our tithing.
" By me
" Richard Lloyd Clearke.
" Anthony Cow.
" Dorkiftge. —Within our parishe we have not yet found any
Jesuit Seminarie priest popish fugitive or recusant.
" Your worship's at commandement
" Stephen Richman
" Edward Sackville
" John Wade
" William Heather.
—
" Alford. Wee whose names bee underwritten do certify by
these pnte that to or knowledge, there be no Jesuits, Seminaries,
fugitives, Recusants, neither receyvers of any such suspected
parsons in or parish, as is contened in her Maties comission.
In witnes whereof hereunto wee have sett or hands the Vllth
daye of Marche anno dmni (? computaceom anghcana) 1591.
" per me Guilielmo Fawden
" Rectorem eccliae ibidem
" Rychard Dydolffold."

Others in the same tenor are written from Peperharow, Shere,

Haselmere, Westdandon, Wonersh, Wooton, Puttenham, Seale,
Dunsfold, Thursley; Guildford, however, report as follows on
VII° die Meii 1591.
" We
whose names are underscribed do psent that WiUm
Ridall als Rider and his wife sometymes abidinge in the queues
maties manner house wthin her highnes' psh of Guildeford and
sometymes at Send in the same Countie of Surrie are Recusants
and so have cont3mued two years and more."
Reports from Compton, East Clandon, Horsell have no news
of CathoUcs.
 — —
INCREASED RIGOURS 209

The inquisitors of Frensham think weU to show their diUgence

by saying that whereas they are unable to find any Jesuits, Seminary
prists, recusants or their favorers there is nevertheless one Mr.
Garnet" a blynd man who by means of his impotency and age
frequentithe not our church."
Bysleye, 1592, Stoke no recusants, etc.
Easthorsley say " we psent the Lady Katheryne and Sir Bryton
who as yet cometh not to the Churche."
Thursley, Ockley, Abinger, Albury, Ockham, Ashe, Stoke
no recusants.
Westhorsley " did present one Elizabeth Richebell the daughter
of Jeffery RichebeU as a recusant for yr contrary to lawe and order
she absented her selfe from church. She is now departed or sayde
prishe but whether we knowe not, other Jesuits Seminary fugityves
or dangerous psons to the state we know none."
Cranleigh, West Clandon, Chiddingfold, Durford, Hambledon,
none.
Compton again distinguishes itself in the year 1592 by reminding
the magistrates that Mr. Garnet " a bljmde man resorteth not to
our church by means of his Impotency and age."
Egham (in Sussex), Peperharow, East Clandon (thank, God
that all in our parish are comformable to his majesty's laws),
Puttenham, Merse, Windlesham, Bagshott, Albury, Wanborough,
Dunsfold, Abinger, Shere.
Ashe present " George Mabanke of Henlye parke and whereas
in our other bills we did prsent Roger Brorro: and Thomas Thorpe
of Henly parke as recusants, they have of late conformed themselves
and doe repayre daylye too our parish churche."
Worplesdon, none.
East Horsley " we psent ye Lady Katherine and (?) Bryton hyr
wayting gentUwomen for not coming to Ch."
Haselmere, Sede, Byfleet, Witley, Ockham have nothing to
report.
Hence the usual circular sent round to the Commissioners
quarterly was to a very great extent a mere formality as regards
the careful docketing of work done, houses visited, recusants fined
or arrested. However, we are quite certain that the work was
sufficiently thoroughly carried out and that Catholics wherever
they were to be found were so molested that life was made extremely
hard for them.
At the beginning of 1591 the following order was sent to the
Constables of the Hundred of Woking :

Vol. v., N. 54.

16
 :

210 INCREASED RIGOURS

" To the High Constables of the Hundred of Woking and to
eith. of them.
" Whereas we are informed that Roger Borrowe, Thomas
Thorpe, George Mabancke and Rose Foster dwelling in the
lodge at Henley Park do wilfully refuse to come to the church
contrary to her Majesty's laws in that case provided. These
are by vertue of her M's Commission to us and others directed
to charge and command you to warn all the said persons person-
ally to appear before us at Guildford on Saturday the 15th of this
present January by nine of the clock in the forenoon then and
there to answer to such matters as on the behalf of her Maj.
shaU be objected or demanded of them. And hereof fail you not
at your perils.
" Given under our hands the 7th day of January 1591.
" Wylliam More.
" George More.
" Laurence Stoughton.
" John Agmondesham."

At the end of the same year the Minister and Churchwardens

of Woking sent the following report
—
" Surrey. To her Maj. Commers. appointed for the execution
of Her Highness's Commn granted for the Inquisition of Seminary
priests Jesuits, fugitives, recusants etc.
" Woking. —We whose names are hereunder written do find
upon Inquisition by us taken that James Hobson of Woking
gentleman hath not used for one whole year last past, neither doth
use to repair to his parish Church at any usual time to devine
service according to the Laws of the Realm.
" December 19, 1591
" John Shaw Minister.
"William Stoughton.
" Wm Pencey
" Richard Colwall

^
"
the

John Atwood
Mark of William Colyard

" Richard Russell

Any other Seminaries, priests, Jesuits, fugitives, recusants

or abettors of any of them, we as yet^know none to be within
our parish. Signatures as above.
 INCREASED RIGOURS 211

Both these documents would give the impression that in the

Hundred of Woking there were exceedingly few who still adhere to
the old rehgion. But, as we have seen the documents actually
before are but a fraction of what must have come to Loseley in those
days. Many of them were sent up direct to the superior courts
and were in a large number of cases, after having been noted in
some official list, relegated to the waste paper basket. In a great
number of cases the recusants were dealt with directly and the
records of their fines entered into the rolls and their receipts in the
Government receipt books. What makes us quite certain of this
point is that there are Hampshire and Surrey recusants whose
names, although at one time must have passed under the notice
of Sir William More, are scarcely mentioned in the lists now extant
at Loseley. Nevertheless, they appear regularly for many years
in the recusant rolls preserved at the Record Office. Thus, during
all this time when these parishes are reporting their freedom from

recusancy there are families in their midst being rapidly bled to

death.
A letter from the CouncU to Lord Charles Howard, written on the
23rd July, 1592, teUs us quite clearly that the number of recusants is
on the increase and that they are to be more thoroughly searched out.
" Letter from the Council to the L. Charles Howard L. highe
Admyrall of Englande and her Mts Lieutenant in the Countie
of Surrey. 23rd. July 1592.
" After our hartie comn to your L. Whereas in the yere
1585 there was direction given unto certain commissioners that
were specially appointed and chosen for the receaving from the
Recusants that were in that Countie their armour and weapons
wth charge to take the same into their custodie to be safely kept
untiU they should shew that conformetie to her Mat lawes that
good and duetifull subjects ought to pforme, wch was by them
then (as we think) executed according to this direction. Foras-
much as sithence that tjmie there are divers others in that County
discovered that have professed themselves to be Recusants that
were then unknowne whereof many of them are thought to have
armor. It is thought requisite by her matie in these doubtfuU
tymes that yor L. shall enform yorself of the foresaid Com-
missioners or any of them whose names are in the margent of
noted what was done wth the said armor they then
this letter
dyd take into their charge and wth whome yt nowe remayneth,
and to geve by vertue hereof notice to the Comissers lately
appointed in that County for enquiry of Jesuits and Seminaries
212 INCREASED RIGOURS
of the proceedings of the former Comers, in that behalf to send
you the names of all such psons as have ben found Recusants
since 1585 being psons of quality like to have armor and weapon,
and thereuppon we require you to take lyke order to cause the
armor and weapons of all the said Recusants so nowe to be certi-
fyed unto you to be enquired for, and wth the advise of the owners
given how expedient it is for them to delivr their armors to be
kept in the hands of psonses serviseable to commaund the said
armr saving suche weapons as may serve for the defence of their
howses, and the said armours so saved remain safely in yor L.
custodie or the gentleman that hae the former charge, or such
other gents that are known to be well affected as you shall appoint
and thinke meetest for better assurance because the Enemy doth
make so great bragg and reckoning of the assistance of these
that are backward in reUgion, and shall in all tymes hereafter
be forthcoming to be delivered unto the owners when any of
them shall conforme themselves to her Mas lawes as good and
dutiful subjects ought to bee, hereof we pray jrr L. to certify
us pticlerly both as well what was done by the former Comor
in the execucon of or former bus. for the taking into their custodie
the formr armoor as also what you shall doe by virtue of these
or letters. And because some report is made to her matie that
some Recusants having good quantitie of armor in their posses-
sion, and that they prtend to have licence so to keepe the same
in their houses, we require that some inquisicon be made thereof,
and being found to be so af&rmed, that the pties be charged to
show by what Ucences and by whome they have ben so licenced,
and thereof also wth the rest to advertise us. So we byd yor
L. right hartiely farewell. From the Court at Grenewch the
XXIIIth of July 1592.
" Your very loving friends
" Howard.
J.
" Jo. Puckering
" w. burghley.
" Walsingham.
" T. Braitehurst.
" Lincoln.
J.
" F. Knollys.
" R. Cecyll.
" WOLLEY.
J.
" FORTESCUE.
" L. Admirall " All Waade.
" Surrey." {Los. Bundle 1380.)
 INCREASED RIGOURS 213

We have quoted on p. 189 a letter expressing the anxiety of her

Majesty " perceiving the notable backwardness and defection in
reUgion late time grown generally amongst her subjects of this
realm." This was written a short time after the last, it is dated
the 13th August of the same year.
From this letter we see that there was no respite but incessant
persecution. The " Uberty and leaning granted to such principal
persons as were formerly committed to Elie and Broughton " was
indeed of a very restricted character and while under this so-called
liberty and leaning they were being steadily despoiled of all they
possessed.
 Chapter XV.

THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH.

The rdgn of Elizabeth was diawiiig towards its dose very few ;

years still remained. She herself was growing old and yet she
slackened not one 'wiit in the bitterness with which she persecuted
Catholics under her mle. She had as her Ueatenants in this work
men of equal bitterness with herself, Walsin^lam. Waade, Top-
ctiSe, Norton, Jeffrej^s, names that stamped their mark on histOTy
in letters of blood, yet not once is she reported to have complained
of their cruelty orreprimanded them for their excesses. From the
b^inning rdgn to the end, she was perhaps the greatest
of her
enemy that the CathoUc Church has had in En^and. Her fcither,
indeed, with the %iolaice of his passion raged against the Pope and
Cathohcs generally. There is nothing whate\-er to be said in palliation
of his animal passions but at least there was this difference between
:

Henry and Elizabeth, that the former was like a gale that having
once been set in motion could not be spent except in death ; the
latter was the freeang blast of winter that had set itself to chill
and blight every flower of religion in this cotmtry. I do not mean,
of cotuse, that Elizabeth was not passionate, far she had a temper
worthy of her princely father nor that she was devoid of the
:

grosser sensnal leanings, for on this snbject there are too many
stories of a disgraceful nature which we need not repeat. But, I
mean that hers was from the b^;inning the cool, calculating nature
of one, who, having set herself to be complete mistress of evayone
and everything in her land, and having none of tiiose tender
s\'mpathies for which a woman should esp>ecially be noted, counted
no step excessive when it bron^t her nearer to her goal. How
far she herself was morally responsible for her tmlovel}- character
it is impossible for us to determine. With such a fatliar, we can
understand it possible for a girl to grow up with mind so blinded
and warped that she can think wrong to be rig^t, and ri^t to be
wrong. But the most likely explanation of Elizabeth's moral
career is that she herself had no moral tenets. She may indeed
have been filled with ambition for the greatness of the nation, and
truly, at least from a secular point of \-iew, she used her brilliant
talents to excellent effect on this score. However, it b only in her
 ;

THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 215

connection with the Catholic Church that I am concerned in these

pages. Many historians have given her the praise that is due to
her in the sphere of purely civil politics and literature. One thing,
however, I think mars her glory even in this, and that is the very
point of which we are speaking. He fails in a fundamental point
of politics who, obsessed with the idea of absolute domination, runs
counter to the deepest convictions of thousands of his most loyal
subjects ; and he fails as a great Uterary patron who strives to
crush the noblest aspirations of men's hearts. In both these things
Elizabeth sinned grievously.
While looking back upon the Queen's life a document comes to
my hand from Loseley. It is a fragment, old and worn it is a;

copy of one of those many Commissions of EUzabeth and it tells

the same old story. It occurs to me just now as an appropriate
retrospect, for it is not an enactment of the later portion of her
reign. The reader will pardon me if I cite it, my excuse being that
as it is one of the Loseley documents of real historical value, it
should be published, and I can find no more fitting place for it than
to put it in here.
{Los. 1085 XV.)

" Commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others

to enquire into Ecclesiastical offences. (Copy.)
" Elizabeth the grace of God Queen of England Fraunce
by
and Ireland defender of the faith To the most Reverend Father
in God our and right welbeloved Edmond Archbishop
right trustie
of Canterburye Prymatt of all England and metropolitane, and
the Reverend Father in God our right trustie and welbeloved
the bishops of London, Winchester, Elye, Worcester, St. Davids,
Norwich, Chichester, and Rochester for the tyme beinge
Richard Bishop Suffragan of Dover. And to our trustie and
welbeloved Counsayllours Sir Fraunces Knolles, knight treasurer
of our household. Sir Thomas Smythe knight, Frauncis Walsing-
ham esquire our principall Secretories Sir Rafe Sadler knight
Chauncellor of our duchie of Lancaster, Sir Walter Mildmaye
Knight Chauncellor of our Exchequer, And to our trustie and
welbeloved John Southcott one of the Justice of the Plees before
us to be holden, Roger Manwood and Robert Mounson two of
the Justices of our comon Benche, Thomas Godwyn Dean of
Canterburye, Alexander Howell deane of Pawles, GabrieU Good-
man Deane of Westminster, WUliam Daye, dean of Windsor,
John Whitgifte dean of Lyncoln, John Watson dean of Winton,
John Ailmer Archdeacon of Lincoln, Thomas Leckford, Thomas
2i6 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
Willson, Masters of our Requeste, Nicholas Barham one of our
Sergiants at Lawe, Gilbert Gerrard esquire our attorney generall.
Thomas Bromley esqiure our Solicitor generall, Henrie RatcUffe,
Anthony Cooker, Henry Nevell, Owen Hopton, Thomas Scott,
Henrie Wallopp, WiUiam Kingmill (?) Richard Merton, Knights,
Rowland Haward, LyoneU Duckett, John Rivers, Knights
Aldermen of our Citie of London, John Mullins Archdeacon of
London, Thomas Watts, John Walker, John Yonge, Herbert
WestphcJinge, John Ebdon, John StiU doctors of divinitie
David Lewes, Thomas Yatt, Bartolomew Clerk, John Hamond,
Doctors of Law, Maisters of ovu: court of Chancerie, George
Bromley esquire Attorney of our Duchye of Lancaster, WUlm
Fletewood esquire recorder of our Citie of London, Thomas
Fanshaw Peter Osborne esquires Remembrauncers of our
exchequer, Thomas Randolphe, esquire Thomas ItheU, WiUm
Lowen doctors of Law John Kingsmy ... (?) Chauncellor
of the Dioces of Winchester, Thomas Wotton, Wilhn Crowmer,
WiUm More, MUes Sandes, Nicolas Saintleger, Edmond Boyed,
Henrie Knolles, Robert AUcock, John Scott, Wiohn Bowyer
esquires, WUlm Redmsin, PhUhp Johnson, Bachelors of dyvinitie
and Thomas Lawse Comissarie to the Archbusshop of Canterburie
gretinge. Wereas in our parhament holden at Westm the
XX Vth dale of Januarie in the first year of our Raigne and there
cont5mewed and kept untill the Vlllth daie of Maye then next
following amongst other things there was too acts an statues
made and established, thone intituled an Act restoreing to the
Crowne of the Ancient Jurisdiction over the state EcclesiasticaU
and SpirituaU and abohshinge all forrain. powers repugnant to
the same, and the uther intituled an acte for the uniformitie
of comon prayer and service of the Church and admynistration of
the Sacraments. And whereas also in our parhament holden at
Westm. the Xllth daie of Januarie in the fifth year of our raigne
amongst other things there was one other Act and statute made
and estabUshed intituled an Act for the m'ance of the queue's
majesties RoiaU powr over all states and subjects within her
dominions. And further whereas in our pUament begonne and
holden at Wstm. the second of Aprill in the XHIth year of
our Raigne and there contynued untill the dissolucon of the same
amongst other things there was one act or Statute made and
estabhshed intituled an acte to ref ome certain disorders touching
mynisters of the church as by the same severall acts more at large
doth appeare. And whereas divers seditious and slanderous
persons do not cease dayelie to en vent and sett forth false rumours
 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 217

taleand sedicious slanders not only against us and the said good
Lawes and statuts, but also have sett forth divers sedicious books
within this our Realme of England meanynge thereby to move
and provoce striffe, division and dissention amongst our loving
and obedient subjects much to the disquietinge of us and our
people.

" To mak enquiries

" Whereas wee eamestlie mjmdinge to have the same severaU
acts before menconed to be duhe put in operation and make
psons as shall hereafter offend in anie of them to be condignlie
punished. And havinge speciall truste and confidence in yor
wisdome and discretions have aucthorished assigned and appointed
you to be or Conraiissioners, and by this ptente do give fuU power
and authoritie unto you or three of you whereof you thesande
Archbusshop of Canterburie or the busshope of London Win-
chester, Elye, Worcester, St. David's, Norwiche, Chichester,
Rochester for the time beinge, or you the bushop Suffragan of
Dover or you the said Thomas Smith, Francis Walsingham,
Roger Manwood, Thomas Godwyn, Alexander Newell, Gabriell
Goodman, John Whitgifte, Thomas Leckforde, Thomas Willson,
Gilbert Gerrard, Thomas Bromley, Anthonye Cooke, Hemie
NeveU, Thomas Watts, Davide Lewes, Thomas Yatt, BarUemew
Clerk, of John Hamond to be one from time to time hereafter
during our pleasure to enquire as well by the othes of twelve good
and lawfull men as also by witnesses and aU other waies and
meanes you can devise of all offence, contempte, transgressions,
and mysdemeanours don and comitted and hereafter to be
comitted and don contrary to the tenoure and effect of the said
several! acts and statutes, and evry or any of them. And also
to enquire of all and singular heretical! eronious or offensive
opynions sedicious books, contempts conspiracies false rumors
or tales sedicious mishahavors, slanderous wordes and sayings
published invented or sett forthe or hereafter to be published
invented or sett forth by anie pson or psons against us or against
anie our magistrats or officers mynysters or others whatsoever
contrarie to anie the lawes or statuts of this our realme or against
the quiet governance and rule of our people and subjects in anie
countie cytye Boroughe or other place or places exempt or not
exempt within this realm of England and of all and every the
—
coaduitors counceUors and comforters procurers, and abettors
of every or any such offendr or offendrs. And further wee do
give full power and aucthoritie unto you or three of you whereof
2i8 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
yoathesaidArdibcrf Can. oryebnsshiqjp of Lcndcm. .etc
.

John Hamond to be one from tyme to tyme dniing onr jAeasaie.

as wefl. to heare and detenmae all and any the persons as also
to enqnire hereat and d^snnme all and singer ouxniyties
distnrbance misbdbavioais ofiences a'gs»ii1t«; fraies cLdA qoarrells
don or comitted or hereafter to be dme and ccmntted in ame
chmxhe (h* cfaapell chmxhyaid or chapeQ. yard or against anie
divine service or anie TTtiTii«rt-pr oi ministeis oi the ^amp crmtranft
to the lawes and statutes (rf this onr leafaiK, and also to enqnire
(rf and search out and to (Hder asrect reforme and ponishe all

and any soch pscHi cw psons dwdlinge is jdaces. exempt or not

exranpt wfaidi wiOfoIfy and obstinatehe have absented or here-
after 'JiaTI wiDfallie or obstinatdie absoit thonsdves from tiie
dmrch and make devine sovice as by the lawes and statnts
of this realme is apcnnted to be had and nsed by coistues of the
chnrdie or anie other waies or meanes by the said acte for
nniformitie of the CcRnon jKaier os: arrip lawes ecdesias-
ticall of this onr reahn is lymitLed or apmnted. And also to
take Older by yor discretcons that the penalties and fcnieitnres
hniiled by the said act tar Unifoiuiitie of Comon pcaier
against the ofiEendos in that behalf maie be oa6e from time to
tnne levied bv the chnrdi wardens of any pidie where anie socfa
ofience dialbe doa to the liBe of the pooie erf the said piske of
the goodes landes and Coits of any snch oSenddr by waie at
distres accordinge to the lymitacon and true meanynge erf the
said statutes. And also we do give and grannt full powr and
ancthoritie nnto you or three <rf you as is afoiiesaid bom time to
tyme and at aH tymes dnrii^e or [de^are to viate refwrne
redress, <Hder correct and amend in all jdaces wt ia this or realme
of Ea^aai as wdl in plaices exanpt as not exempt all qtots
hert^'ps, sdsnes abuses offences comtempts and enormities
spiritoaQ or ecdiasticall whatsoev wch bv anie mains qnitnall
or ecdiasticall powr aucthcnitie or jurisdioon can or maie lawfuDie
be itfuuued radeied redressed ccHiectede restrained cr amfiK**^
by SQisures ecdtasticall dejH^vacon or other wse to the pleasure
of ahnightie God the oicrease of vertne and the jKservacon (rf
the peace and unitie of this or reafane, and accoidinge to the
ancthcmfie and powr lymited and apranted ij anie lawes ord-
nances or statutes of this or reahne. And a^ we do give and
grannt fuQ powr and ancthoritie unto you or three of vou as is
afcHcsaide from time to time and at all times dminge or pleasure
to oiquire of seardi out and call before yen all and any socfa pson
or psons, ecchasdcan wdi have or ^lall have ecdiasticall lyviB^B,
 ;

THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH zig

that shall advisedlie mainteine or affirme any doctrine directUe

contrary or repugnant to anie of the articles of religion wchonelie
concerne the confession of the true Christian faith and the doctrine
of the acrament comprised in the booke imprinted intituled
Articles whereupon it was agreed by the Archbusshope and
busshops of both provinces and the whole clergie in the convocacon
holden at London in the yere of or Lorde God a thousand
ffyve hundred sixtie and two according to the computacon
of the Churche of England for the avoidinge of ye ditersites of
of opinions and for establishinge of concent touchinge true
rehgion put forth by the Quenes Auctie And that yf anie such
pson or psons havinge consented before you or any three of you
as is af oresaide f or anie suche matter shall persist therein or not
revoke his or their error or after suche revocacon eftsones af&rme
such untrue doctrine then to deprie from all pmocons eccliasticall
all and any suche pson and psons so maineteynynge or affirmynge
and psistinge, or so eftsones aifirmyng as is aforesaid.
" And wee do give full powr and aucthoritie unto you
further
or three ofyou as is aforesaid by vertue hereof to enquire, here,
determyn and punishe aU inceste advowtries, fomicacons out-
ragious misbehavior and disorders in marige and all other Crymes
and offences wch are punishable or reformable by the eccUasticall
lawes of this our Realme comited and done or hereinafter to be
comitted and done in anie place exempt or not exempt whin
this or realm accordinge to the tenore of the lawes in that behalf
and accordinge to yor wisdomes consciences and discrecons.
WyUinge comannding and aucthoryshinge you or three of you
as is aforesEiid from time to time."

The document here ends abruptly. It is undated, but as I said

before, it summary of the enactments of EUzabeth
gives a suffttient
during the first half of her reign. They were graduated enact-
ments. Very shortly after she had come to the throne she had made
it was going to follow in the footsteps of her
quite clear that she
father, and would change in no particular the penal laws
that, she
against Cathohcs. She was true to her word, and with terrible
insistence she added disability to disability and rigour to rigour,
until the cup of bitterness was filled to the brim for her Catholic
subjects. The latter portion of her reign saw no relenting in this
war against Catholicity. But recusants were rooted out with
unfaiHng assistance, were fined, were imprisoned, were tortured
and hanged up to the last moment of her wicked Ufe. We have
seen how the work of the Churchwardens was carried through
 —

220 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH

we have yet a few documents from Loseley which still speak of
desultory engagements here and there with the CathoUc enemy.
One comes to us from Waverley :

{Los. Bundle 1380.)

" Wheareas we whose names are hereunder written Inhitants
of Famham being amongst others required to make our psonall
apparence at Guildefourd the Seaventh of Marche laste paste
before Sir Wilhn Moore Knight and other her Highness's Comys-
sioners appointed in these pts to enquire of Sem5mary priests
Jesuytes and of other nott Mvinge in the due obedience of your
Mtie nor duely covin5mge to the churche, who with John Sandf ord
Clercke the minyster of Fameham (one other appointed for that
Service) did make our apparence accordingly and for as mutche
:

as wee were divided in opinyon wheather wee ought to take notice

of any defecte in the now Inhitants of Waverleighe (a place not
of Famham pishe althoughe wthin the pishe) for not covinyge
to Churche We for or satisfaceon therein agreed to aske and
:

presently did aske thadvise of yer highness's said Comyssion,

amongst whom Mr. Ambreshm first spake and gave his opinion
that wee ought, or thought it very requisite, that we should
psent suche defects wee knewe in thinhitants of Waverleighe for
not covinynge to churche, and for that the rest of her Maties.
Comyssions then there psent did seeme to Hke thereof, therefore
wee with Mr. Sandfourd made a true psentmte of Wyllm Pykes
backwardnes in covinynge to Church and subscribed or names
thereunto.
" Written this tenth of ApriU 1592
" Peter Hampdey
" William Wearlche (?)

" John Fygges marcke

[j^^
" John More."

What strange changes had taken place.! Waverley! Where

daily Masswas celebrated fifty-six years before ; where the monks
had chanted the praises of God in the presence of their Sacra-
mental Lord arid their predecessors had continued the melody back
some 400 years, now no priest may raise his voice, nor inhabitants
may bend the knee to proclaim their love for what the Christians
of a thousand years had ever held most sacred. One, William
Pykes is found to cry out still against the change and to offer the
supreme sacrifice which such noble audacity must dememd.
 —
THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 221

Another document from the same collection, dated the i6th

September, 1597, tells us of the examination of Edward Talbot.
He was a Catholic and that was his crime. The letter which is
written by Thomas Laware to Sir William More, is short, but when
the name of Norton is mentioned in connection with an examination
we know that the rack is in the background. The name of Edward
Talbot was reported to the council by a miserable* apostate of the
name of George EUiot, who sold his services as a spy to the Queen's
Government. He is reported to have been a harbourerf of priests.
Thus the subject of his examination must necessarily be what
information he could give of the whereabouts of the various priests
he had harboured, and if he should prove a refractory witness Norton
had means at his command to force him, unless indeed by the grace
of God he should remain firm. From this document we conclude
that Richard Hoker of Frensham was also a Cathohc, for we are
told that he was " also one of them." He too was to be examined
" and by examining him to get as much from him then will I send a
pursuivant for the rest." There was evidently a haul to be made
from the information that Laware hoped would be extracted from
these CathoHcs :

" Good Sr. I heartily thank you for your pains and care in the
examination of Edward Talbot. If it he in my power, I wiU
requite your courtesy by all the means I may and if it please
:

you to take a httle more pains and send for Richard Hoker of
Frunsam who also was one of them, and by examining him to get
as much from him, then wiU I send a pursuivant for the rest.
John Norton hath not dealt so kindly by me as I have deserved
at his hands nor as he hath promised, but his will be the worst.
;

You must send for this Hoker presently I leave the manner of
proceeding to your own discretion, and so with many thanks,
I leave you to God. From the Court this i6 of September 1597
" Your assmred friend
"To the Right Worshipful "Thomas Laware
his good friend Sr. William
More give these."

We shall have a good deal to say on the subject of these examina-

tions in a later chapter and therefore we may pass it over for the
present.
Another docimient, this time from an Emily Buckhurst, speaks

* Vol. II. p. 537, Rec. Jes.

t VoL III. p. 440, Rec. Jes.
 —
222 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
of close relations of Lord Buckhurst, who himself had sat and was
yet to sit many timesto pronounce sentence of death over innocent
Catholics. There were few families indeed that were not closely
connected with Catholics :

" Sir I understandby the bearer hereof, my cousin Smyth who

is a kinswoman of my Lord's that there are Warrants directed
forth for the binding her husband and son and brother my cousin
Dr. Covert to the peace. She is a gentlewoman whom I have
known of a child and love very dearly. In regard whereof I
entreat you to show them for my Lord's sake and mine all the
lawful favour you may and for the pains your worship shall take
in their cause, I will be most thankful unto you for it. And
rest keen to requite it in what I may. And so with thanks for
pains with me this summer I committ you to the tuition of the
Almighty. From Horsley this 20th of September 1597.
" Yours assured loving friend
" Emily Buckhurst.
" To her very loving cousin Sir WUham Moore Knight
give these."

It is probable that Miss Sm3d;h is the same as that mentioned by

a spy to the Government amongst what he caUs " the names of all
such Papists as carry the countenance of gentlemen and gentle-
women, which I know of my own knowledge, as also such as have been
made known unto me by report of Papists." (Landsdowne MSS.
Burghley Papers, 33 ? or 16 From Jes. Rec, Vol. II. p. 587.)
Although a few years before the Government had shown a certain
degree of panic on account of the increase in numbers of the
recusants, we find that the severe measures which were adopted
since that time were not without satisfactory results from the
persecutors' point of view, for in the document which I will next
quote we read " that the well-executing of the said commission in
some counties hath of late brought many .into submission
. .

and conformity." It is of course to be expected that when great

sacrifices are demanded there will be always many who will refuse
to give them. We might perhaps expect a certain relenting in
the vigour with which these repressive measures are driven home,
considering this success which the Council is able to record. But
no, the Commissioners must be still further encouraged to greater
efforts of zeal, and with this object they must be offered additional
advantages. These advantages are in the Council's words " to
move them to be carefuller in finding out the goods and chattels.
 —
THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 223

and
lands, tenants leases of the said recusants." What is this
new bribe that is offered ?Each Commissioner is to receive "
for the charge of himself, his men and horse at his or their
first sitting ', the sum. of five shillings, and the Jury at their first

appearance upon the Commission the sum of thirteen shillings

and four pence.
This in modem figures means that each Commissioner will
receive three pounds and the jury eight pounds eight shillings,
i.e., twelve and eleven-pence each or even more if instead of multiply-

ing the figures by twelve we multiply them by thirteen, which

would probably be nearer the mark. And lest we should be left
in doubt as to the object of these payments, or charitably suppose
that they are not in any way intended to bias the Conunissioners
or the Jury, or to stimulate them to excessive extortions and cruelty,
we are told that these allowances shall not be " made but where
her Majesty is to receive benefit by the said service." Consequently
a premium is hereby placed upon the fines and confiscations ex-
tracted from Catholics.
But we must now give the letter :

" After my hearty commendations. Whereas of late I directed

my your County to give unto the Com-
letters to the sheriff of
missioners for recusants appointed within his Baihwicke certain
allowance for their charges in sitting there upon to move them to
be carefuller in finding out the goods and chatties, lands, tenats
and leases of the said recusants whereas in other like services
none allowance hath been given and yet that service hath been
little the more advanced thereby. Wherefore, to effectuate the
purpose and good meaning of the statute de An. XXVIII° titled
by the imprinting of some books de An° XXIX° I have thought
good to remember you yet once again that were before Com-
missioners or be now new appointed in that behalf to have a more
care of that service than hath been hitherto seeing the well
executing of the said commissions in some counties hath of late
brought many of them into submission and conformity which is
more desired than any benefit of the service and is the only end
of the Statute. And further my meaning is that you the Sheriffs
shall pay to every of such the said commissioners for the charge
of himself his men and horse at his or their first sitting there
upon the sum of V sh and to he Jury at their first appearance
and receiving their charge the sum of XI I Is and IVd foreseeing
that you return and warn very sufficient freeholders and well
affected to that service. And also at the delivery up of the said
Inquisition upon the same to pay Uke sums of money to every of
 —
224 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
such, the said Commissioners then present and the Jury receiving
in parchment the said Commissioners hands testifying the pay-
ment thereof. And this my letter shall be a warrant to all officers
whom it concerns so give you allowance of the same upon your
account always provided that the said allowance be not made
but where her Majesty is to receive benefit by the said service.
And so I bid you farewell from my house near the Savoy the
r4th of July 1598
" Your loving friend
[the name is obliterated except for a very few strokes]
"T. BUCHURST.
"^,to my very loving friends the
Sheriff of the County of Surrey and
Sussex and to the Commissioners
for Rescusants in the said County."
{Los. Bundle 1329 IL, Miscellaneous Papers.)

Similar documents were sent to Sheriffs in other Counties. Some

of them were with the parchment receipts and are now to be
filed
seen at the Public Record Of&ce. The Sheriff of Dorset was
favoured with one on the 24th February in 1599.
From amongst the Sheriffs' accounts I have selected the following
specimen Receipt :

" Secundo die Aprib's Anno regni reginae EUsabethae XLH"

" Paide by Robert MeUer Esquer Shereiffe of the Countie of
Dorsett to William Gybber and John Strode Esquiers Commis-
sioners appointed to inquire for the Landes Tenements goods
Catties of Recusants in the Countie of XXs Dorsete
for their attendance about the Execucon of the same service to
each of them five and to Mr. Strode because he attended
shillings,
twise at 2 severall places. Xs
" To the Jurie there ImpanneUed for Service in that behalfe
XIIIs Illld
" Her Matie receavinge benifitt by the same service to the
value of XXX£ and upwardes.
"William Gibbes.
" JoHES Strode."

It has been the experience of all ages that once a service has
been made to work on a system of bribery, it has been found necessary
to increase the " donations " from time to time as the need of work
becomes more urgent. It is very much like the drug habit, it
grows into a passion.
 —
THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 225

Thus we Reform, having once contracted this

find the zealots of
pernicious habit, demanding ever more and more.
It was only
two years after the aforesaid generous offer that Thomas Sackville,
the Lord Buckhurst, wrote to the Commissioners for Recusancy and
—
raised their honorarium ^not indeed because of their zeal,
but rather because they had been somewhat backward and —
again they are told that this payment is to be made only in the
event that " her Majesty is to receive benefit by the said
service."

Here is a letter from the Sherifi's Receipts :

" After my comendacons whereas upon the statute

hartie
made in the XXVIIIth
yere of her Maties Raigne diverse
Comissiones from yeere to yeere have got for the seasure of two
ptes of the lande and all the goods of suche Recusantes as have
not annswered the pennaltie you posed upon theim by the Act
of the XXIIIth yeere of her highnes' Raigne in souche sorte as
by the sayed sattute of the sayd XXVIIIth yeere is appointed.
And yet the prindpaJl fruite intended and expected therein doth
not appeere, which is the Reformation of her Maties Subiects
from their myserable blindenes and obstinacye in Religion. The
which considering the truth soe longe universally preached over
the whole Realme must needs be imputed to slacke proceedinge
in the execution of the sayed Comissiones. Their are therefore
to signifie unto you that as you the comissioners shall now receyve
speciall instructions annexed to yore Comission for the better
direction of jyour proceedinge therein, soe jrt is hoped that
havinge regards howe daimgerous and dishonnorable yt is to
the State that Recusantes by your default should increase,
whoeby yore carefull dealing in this service soe weU might
be reformed.
" And seeing further what speciaU trust and affiance is putt
in yore wisdomes and fidelities you will doe yore uttermost in
pforminge yore Commission in souch sorte as is prescribed to
woork (as farr as in you lyes) that good soe muche desired of her
Matie which is the reformation of her erringe Subiects, wherein
I shall not fayle to recommend yore dUligence and good endevors
to her highnes uppon all occationes where I shall see apparannce
thereof by the fectes of yore service. And in the meane tyme
for yor better furtherannce and encouragement therein and the
chardges of the t3mae considered (although in lyke cases gentlemen
of yor qualetie have served in theys kynde of Comissiones and

16
 —

226 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH

ought soe to doe wthout any allowance for their chardges). Yet
my meaning is that you the sherife shall paye to everie of the
sayd Comissioners whoe shall sitt uppon this Cofflission for the
chardge of himself his men and horse at his first sittinge Xs,
and to the Jurie at their first apparannce and rece3rvinge their
chardge the some of XXs forseinge that you retome and wame
verie sufficientffreeholders and well affected to that service,
and as neere as you can souch as without any parcyall affection
to the Recusants in the Cedules of this Cofflission contayned are
privie to the states and valewes of their Lands. And alsoe
hkewise at the dely verie up of the sayd Inquisicion to paye like
and to the Jurie receyving in prferment the sayde Comissioners
hands somes of monye to everie of the Comissioners then present a
testefyinge the payement thereof. And this my letter shalbe
a warrant to all of&cers whome jrt concemes to give you allowance
of the same upon yore Accompte, (Allwaies provided that the
sayd edlowannces be not made but where her Matie is to receive
bennefytt by the sayd service) And soe I byd you farewell
frome Sackvile house the XXIIIth of June 1600.
" Yore lovinge ffreind,
"T. BUCHURST.
" The Sherine with all expedition
to notifie this bu and Cofflission
to the Comissioners.
Indorsed. —" To my lovinge frendes the Sherines of the Comtye
of Dorset and the Cofflissioners for Recusants in the sayd
Comtye."

Let the following Receipt suf&ce as a specimen of many others

which have been preserved to this day :

" Decimo sexto die Augusti anno regni regine Elizabeth, ec.
XLH.
" Paid by Robert Milles Esquire Sherife of the Countie
of Dorset by virtue of the Letters of the right honour-
able the Lorde High Treasurer of England to Thomas XXXs
Freke Richarde Swaine and John Strode Esquires Comy-
ssioners appointed to enquire for the landes and tene-
ments of recusants in the saide Countie of Dorset for
their attendance about the execucon of the same service
to each of them the some of
" Paide to the Jurie then Impanellede for their
serving in that behalf
 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 227

" Her Matie receivinge benefytt by the same service to

the value of thirtie poundes and upwarde. ,

" Tho: Feeke,

" Rychaed Swayne,
" John Strode,"
(Petitions of Allowances — Sheriffs —
^40 to 43 Eliz.)

I might here give many instances of the result for Catholics of

these practices, but imnecessary to dwell on that point any
it is

further. I could also mention cases of the enrichment of the

Commissioners themselves by virtue of their office. Lord Howard
of Effingham was a case in point. He had confiscated the whole
of the estate of Mr. John Gage and he and his descendants enjoyed
this loot in perpetuum. We learn this fact from a statemait
made by Mr. John Copley in 1599. ^® ^^Y^ " ^Y Father is
Thomas Lord Copley de Catton (claindng to be Baron de Hoo and
Wells). My mother was of the family of Luttrell, in the South of
England. My third sister Margaret married Mr. John Gage and
with her husband was condemned to death after an imprisomnent
of two years on accoimt of a certain Priest who sometimes said Mass
in their house, and who afterwards became a martjn:. On the
appointed day being carried in a cart with her husband to the place
of execution with her hands ignominiously bound she received a
letter on the very way respiting the sentence. Neither she nor her
husband were pardoned or restored to their estate by the Queen, but
during her husband's Hfetime the Baron Charles Howard of Effing-
ham took possession of his estates and income which to this day he
possesses as a gift from the Queen. My father fled from England
on account of religion, and died in Flanders in the service of the
King of Spain, and the Queen consequently confiscated and took
possession of the entire of his property." (Records S. J. Vol. I.,
p. 188.)
While these things were going forward hfe was, as we can well
imagine, proceeding very smoothly at the court and at Loseley.
With these new accretions of wealth Elizabeth and her minions were
very prosperous.
Lady Wooley was at this time at the height of favour at Court.
But it was the early spring and the country had its allurements.

Loseley, snug and set with its woods and lawns, soon wasio become
and she longed to be
bright with the fresh green of the peeping buds;
on her palfrey galloping up between the bay hedges to alight amidst
the joyous company at the HaU. She will doubtless first go to
Pireford where there wiU be a Christening. But her thoughts are
228 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
of Loseley and of her aged father. As we have seen in an earlier
portion of this book, Elizabeth has been well pleased with his
services ; and so he has been well rewarded by the Queen's favour.
Lord Howard has also been a loyal savant to the Queen, not only
in his office as Admiral but also in his dvil capacity. Lord Buck-
hurst has not been bdiindhand in his zeal for rrJigion. These
three have had much to do with the tracking and snaring of
" Papists." And so there is a great deal in common.
I give a lettCT from Lady Wooley to her faither. It breathes of
peace and sunshine, but the names it gives, the comfort and the
wealth that it reveals in the bac^round are in strange contrast
to the daily occupations whence Sir 'VMQiam More, my Lord Admiral
and my Lord of Buckhurst derive many of thdr most handsome
emoluments.
"
Sir, I do forbear to write unto (you) concerning my L.
Admiral's answer about your request because it were too long
to be written, and for that, God willing, I purpose \"ery shortly
to be at Pireford when I shall have time to deliver the whtde
course of our speech at large. On Saturday we purpose to be
there and on Sunday to Christen Mr. Anger's child. I {say ]n)u
let us see tou as soon as 3?our occurrances will give 3?ou leave.
You shall then understand this Lo. pleasure, which, I have no
doubt, but win content jrou, for I find him very ready so to do.
I moved my Lo. Admiral this day for an answer unto 3^n, because
1 told him I was shortly to go down into the country. He said
he would talk presently with my Lord of Buckhurst about it
-vdiose answer was unto my L. Admiral that he marvdled you
should in any sort mislike his having of the place when he had
2 letters to ^ow under your hand that of Mr. Raymond could be
by any means satisfied he should have your consent for the
place be&)re any. I tell you that much to give you a taste of
the matter without our meeting. I will open unto you at large.
But I find my L. Admiral your very honourable and loving friend.
" So craving your daily blessing with the remembrance of
Mr. Wolley's commendations to yourself and all the rest of the
good company, with you not forgetting mine own to them like-
wise, I take my leave.
" From the Court this 14th of March 1594.
" Your loving and obedient dau^ter,
" Elizabeth Woixey,
" To the Right Wrasbipful my ver\- loving Father
Sir WiDiam Moore knight at Losdey."
 :

THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 229

While these events were taking place, while the Justices and the
Magistrates were enjoying the fruits of their ill-favoured labours,
Elizabeth's Government was ever busy on the same work. They
never seemed to tire or to flag, because, we believe, of the power
behind them. This power was the throne. Bills were sent in to
the Houses of Parliament with the object of increasing this power,
never once with the object of alleviating the horrible injustices
which were weighing down ever more and more British subjects
good and true. We can understand a Member of Parliament weary
with discussions that after all can have but one ending, viz. the :

executing of the royal will. Mr. Nicholas Saunders, engaged in the

wearying task of listening to long debates in the House of Parlia-
ment and of voting as he felt compelled to do, writes airily on the
subject of these debates to Sir William More. It is a wearisome
attendance that of an M.P., and he envies his friend who is quiet
and free at home, and one can see that from some points of view
he would wish to be free also of the irksome duties imposed upon
him. There was a great deal of wrangling on the Bill of Confirma-
tion of Colleges, Deans and Chapters, but it was passed nevertheless
" even as the Lords sent it without any addition or subtraction."
When we read this letter it is a source of wonderment to us what
can be the sentiments of this Nicholas Saunders, whose wife was a
suspected CathoUc. But they were hard times, and the consciences
of men were strangely forced in those days. Nevertheless we own
that it seems inexplicable that a man could write about the Ufe
struggles of many of his nearest and deeirest in such a strain
one might almost imagine Mr. Toby, M.P., in his Ughtest
vein.
" Sir, as I am very glad for your own sake that you are quiet
now at home free from the wearisome attendance here, so I am
sorry for mine that you are gone in that I am half out
own sake
of countenance wanting your presence here. Here hath been
exceeding great business about the biU of the explanation of the
statute of 23 Eliz:, that afternoon that you departed hence the
Committees met about it and staid until 8 o'clock, concluding at
lastupon nothing but a general mislike of the Bill some greatly
:

misliking the title, some utterly condemning the Preamble, many

others finding many other faults in the body of the bill, the report
of this being made next morning Mr. Vicechamberlain moved to
have a conference craved of the Lords about it to the which the
house with very great difficulty consented in the afternoon, the
;

Lords met the Committees and agreed (with the advice in

many points of the L. Chief Justices there present) to all the
230 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
amendments the next morning the amendments were reported to
;

the houses with the which yet divers were not satisfied as Mr.
Fuller, Mr. Fynch and others that wished to have the bill com-
mitted again, to which motion the Council would in no wise
consent except the Committees might go up presently into the
Sergeants room and dispatch it while the house sat, which was
effected accordingly. Whilst they were above, the house passed
away the time reasonable pleasantly in arguing to a merry bill
of the Brewers which we have passed, and by Mr. Stevenson's
speech to it who was called up by my means to speak, that of
himself meant it not. But the chiefest matter of pleasure to
the house was through the Bill of Cranbrooke, which I procmred
to be read, to the which Mr. Asse, Aske I should have said
spake so well and with so good a grace that it was to the great
consolation of the whole house. At last down came the Com-
mittees with a general agreeing to certain amendments, by
them set down, so that at length the BUI, with those amendments,
passed the house, not as a new Bill, but stiU as the Bill from the
Lords but how it can be, I know not. For now it hath a new
;

title, a new preamble, and almost a new body, and yet it must

be the old bUl still, all this is for the speedy passage of it.
" We were content to yield to any thing so we might rise,
for it was past three ere this was concluded and ended. I assure
you. Sir, a great many of us caught such a f aintness there with
so long fasting, having neither meat in our bellies nor wit in our
heads, that we shall not (I doubt me) be able to make a wise
speech there while we live.
" Upon Friday last we committed Mr. Neals's creditor and the
Sergeant that arrested him to the Tower, and enlarged both
again this day.
" Sir Edward Hobby was discharged upon Friday last, and
came to the house this day.
" The Bill of rescues in arrests was so smally reseued that we
have thrown it out of doors ; which the BiU of outlaws took so
unkindly that it would not stay with us, but needs follow the
other, both to my no small grief.
" This day we have after much wrangling passed the Bill of
the Confirmation of Colleges, Deans and Chapters even as the
Lords sent it without any addition or subtraction, rejecting all
manner of provisoes as Sir Thomas Shurley's proviso, Mr. Michael
Stanhope's Mr. Dyar's and one Addam's.
" Mr. Stanhope had Mr. More to plead for him and the house
was divided upon his proviso, but the negative part won it I ;
 —
THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 331

am sure my brother George can guess of which side I was. We

have likewise this day passed the bill against building about
London and against inmates, so that now there is no more left
to be read but the pardon, for we had dispatched all and rose
by two o'clock this day. Thus much for Parliament matters,
I have caused your letters to be delivered and have left word with
Child according to your appointment. Mr. Browne hath promised
to deliver to me the councel's letter and the Composition with
their hands, which I will bring down with me after the end of
the Parhament, which sure shall be either ended or proroged
to-morrow.
" Thus with the very best thanks that a man altogether yours
Ccin give, for your many exceeding kindness on him bestowed,
and heartiestcommendations to yourself and my good brother,
I leave you both to the tuition of the Almighty. From the
Blackfriars this Monday night the 9th of April 1593.
" Your dutiful son and assured friend
" Nicholas Saunder.
Indorsed.
" To the Right Worshipful my very
good friend Sir William More
Knight, at Losdey in
Surrey."
{Los. Bundle 1329 II., Miscellaneous Papers.)

How does this letter strike us in the hght of the following

document :

" Declaration of the Knights and Burgesses of Surrey that

the Lord Lieutenant, Deputy Lieutenant, justices of the Peace
and others are not recusants.
—
" Surrey. ^The knightes and Burgesses for the Countye of
Surrey having taken into Consideracon the order of the howse doe
psente that the LO. Lieutenaents and the deputy Lieutenaentes
as alsoe the Justices of the peace residente wthn the saide County,
the Captaines over the forces as well horse as foote are neylher
Recusantes convicted not to their knowledge justlye to be
suspected accordinge to the Letter and former Actes of Counsell
to be Recusants only Sir Frauncis Howarde, whoe is there a Justice
of the peace and Custos Rotulom hathe bin of late suspected to
be not well affected in Relltgion boath in his owne and his wife's
not duelye repa5mnge to their parysh Churche or receivinge
the Communion whoe takinge knowledge of this suspicion con-
ceived againste himselfe on the 24th of this monethe, hathe
 232 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
endeavoured by his Lres to from that suspicion
free himselfe
wch maye be red, yf the howse be soe pleased and since
shall :

repayringe to some of us hathe af&rmed that he hathe not bin

for three monthes laste paste at his owne payrshe Churche in
rigarde he wantethe a pewe there nejd;her receives the Comunion
for two yeares paste for some private reasons, yet hathe been
at other Churches, and is readye and willinge to repayre to the
Churche and receive the Com. but for his wife he could not
aunsweare. And lykewise Sir Nicholas Saunders a Justice of
the peace alsoe of the Countye, that ordinarilye he Comethe to
the Churche and is not suspected anye waye to be popishe
but his wife is of a popishe disposition as we are crediblye
ynformed."
{Los. Bundle 1380, Recusancy.)

Thus did time wear on. Tragedies beyond the power of the pen
to describe were being enacted. Elizabeth was engaged in many
works of social consequence. An age of learning and Hterature
was passing and the Queen was likewise drawing near to her end.
Beyond question the greatest act of her lifetime was that inveterate
persecution of thousands of her loyal subjects. I say the greatest
because in the Ught of true science surely the greatest of all pursuits
and occupations is that which professes to draw men to God and ;

certainly it must be admitted that it is no small thing to attempt,

nay, the greatest that could be attempted, viz. to root out a religion
:

which had held undisputed sway for over eight hrmdred years.
Even in the opinion of those who still think that the CathoUc Church
was an evU institution it must be admitted that no greater work
could be accomplished than the eradicating of the Church from the
realm. However, Elizabeth's object was not the cause of God, but
solely, as we have said, human power and domination, and she
cared nothing for the sighs and lamentations of others provided she
obtained her end.
The end was drawing near ; the Queen was not only ageing, but
dying ; no one knew it or would recognise it less than she. Daily
she lived for this world, and this world saw that she was dying.
While there was yet hope of gaining anything from her favour her
favourites rallied round her, but no one loved her.
Lonely as she had always been, her loneliness deepened as she
drew towards the grave. The statesmen and warriors of her earlier
days had dropped one by one from her Council-board and their
successors were watching her last moments and intriguing for favour
in the conmig reign. As we have seen, Cecil, Lord Burleigh, was
a very special favourite, he died August 4th, 1598. He was
 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 233

succeeded as Prime Minister by his son Cecil, afterwards Earl of

Salisbury, James I. confirming the appointment. He inherited
his father's hatred of the Catholic Faith and cruelty towards its
professors. His end was not unlike that of Walsingham, dying of
a loathsome disease on his return from Bath ; upon which event
James drily commented by sajdng ' Our ears will now be rid
:

of lying tales.' " (Taimer, Soc. Jesu Apost. Imit.) Tanner adds
that he was a special hater of the CathoUc religion and was held to
be the inventor and trumpeter of the treasons which he charged
upon the priests. (Records S.J., Vol. IV., p. 5.)
Her favourite Lord Essex was led into an insane outbreak of
revolt which brought him to the block. The old splendour of her
court waned and disappeared. Only officials remained about her.
" The others of the Council and nobility estranged themselves by
all occasions." As she passed along in her progresses, the people
whose applause she courted remained cold and silent. The temper
of the age, in fact, was changing and isolating her as it changed.
Her own England, the England which had grown up around her,
serious, moral, prosaic, shrank coldly from this brilliant, fanciful,
unscrupulous child of earth and the Renaissance. She had enjoyed
life as the men of her day enjoyed it, and now that they were gone

she clung to it with fierce tenacity. She himted, she danced, she
jested with her young favourites, she coquetted and scolded and
frolicked at sixty-seven as she had done at thirty. " The Queen,"
wrote a courtier a few months before her death, " was never so
gallant these many years, nor so set upon jollity. She persisted
in spite of opposition, in her gorgeous progresses from coimtry
house to country house."
A story is related of a certain Edward Rookwood of Euston, a
recusant. He had signed a petition of loyalty to EUzabeth ; she
was on one of her stately progresses this time through Suffolk.
As a reward for his profession of loyalty the Queen aimounced that
she would be entertained at Euston. Edward Rookwood was
overjoyed at the thought of such honour, and having prepared
all tilingswith a lavishness worthy of the Queen, he retired with
his family to a smaller house, leaving Euston " the biggest house
in the Coimty " for the accommodation of her Majesty. Three
days were spent in merry feasting under that loyal and hospitable
roof. The Queen was about to leave, but ere she departed the host,
anxious to know that all things had proceeded to the complete
satisfaction of the Queen's Majesty, came himself to ask her if all
had been well. Graciously she signified her approval and calling
him " her gentle Rookwood," gave him her hand to kiss. With a
234 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH
light heart and happy at the thought of his Sovereign's favour, he
stepped into the street without. A hand touched him on the
shoulder ; it was the Queen's Chamberlain who had been sent to
tell him that the Queen's orders were that he should be instantly
imprisoned for Ufe for having dared to attempt " her real presence,"
and forthwith he was hurried off to goal, not being allowed even to
go home and let his family know where he was going. He was
kept in strict confinement for twenty years, until his death in 1598.
(Rec. Jes. Vol. IIL, pp. 785 and 786.)
These were the sort of progresses with their ugly incidents
in the background that continued almost to the end of the Queen's
life. She clung to business as of old, and rated in her usual
fashion " one who minded not to giving up some matter of account."
But death crept on. Her face became haggard, and her frame
shrank almost to a skeleton. At last her taste for finery disappeared
and she refused to change her dress for a week together. A
strange melancholy came over her :
" She held in her hands,"
says one who saw her in her last days, " a golden cup, which she
often put to her lips, but in truth her heart seemed too full to need
morefilling." Gradually her mind gave way. ^e lost her memory, the
violence of her temper became unbearable, her very courage seemed
to forsake her. She called for a sword to lie constantly beside her,
and thrust it from time to time through the arras, as if she heard
murderers stirring there. Food and rest became alike distastrful.
She was day and night propped up with pillows on a stool, her finger
on her lip, her eyes fixed on the floor, without a word. If she once
broke the silence, it was with a flash of her old queenliness. When
Robert Cecil said that she " must " go to bed, the word roused her
like a trumpet. " Must " she exclaimed
! ;
" is must a word to be
addressed to Princes ? Little man, Uttle man ! Thy father, if
he had been alive, durst not have used that word." Then, as her
anger spent itself, she sank back into her old dejection. " Thou art
so presumptuous," she said, " because thou knowest I shall die."
She rallied once more when the Ministers beside her bed named
Lord Beauchamp, the heir to the Suffolk claim, as a possible
successor. " I wUI have no rogue's son," she cried, hoarsely, " in
my seat." But she gave no sign, save a motion of the head at the
mention of the King of Scots. She was, in fact, fast becoming
insensible, and early the next morning the Ufe of Elizabeth, a life
so great, a life so strange and lonely in its greatness, passed quietly
away " {Green's Short History of the English People).
With every word of this description we are agreed, except,
perhaps, with its concluding phrase. Not that Elizabeth was not
 THE LAST DECADE OF ELIZABETH 233

a great sovereign, for great indeed she was, but she used her great-
ness for the undoing of the greatest of noble causes. It is the final
clause of all that seems to us to be singularly inappropriate, namely,
that she passed quietly away. The whole of the foregoing passage
belies that statement. She died in terror, an irreUgious woman
as she had hved, a terror to all religious souls.
 — )

Chapter XVI.

JAMES I.

The Queen was dead, and James I. succeeded to the crown on the
24th March, 1603. What were Catholics to expect at his hands ?
They were not left very long in doubt. Not a priest was delivered
out of gaol, not a CathoUc received any indulgence at his hands.
James was not the briUiant wit that shone from the throne yesterday,
but he possessed the same hatred for rehgion and was filled with
the same worldly spirit. Cathohcs were ripe plunder for the Crown,
—
and at Loseley we have some documents very few, but quite
sufficient to reveal the spirit of the reign —
^which show the sentiments
of James towards Cathohcs.
The word Recusant is stUl in official use and the penal laws
against them are no whit modified. We have a fragment of a
document of that period at Loseley it is so worn and torn as to
;

become quite illegible in parts. It is a memorandum in connection

with Statutes relating to recusants and conveyances by them. All
the old laws against recusants were revived attendance at Church
:

was, as in the time of EUzabeth, made a test of orthodoxy and

loyalty ; and those who absented themselves were subject still
to grievous fines and imprisonments. Father Gerard, S.J., who
himself was tortured in the Tower, writing of the troubles of Cathohcs
in the reign of James I., says :

" They made itdeath to receive the absolution of a priest >'

yea, death to harbour a priest in your house, or to give him a cup

of drink, or any assistance in his need death to persuade any
;

to embrace the CathoUc reUgion. They paid the pramunire

which is a punishment worse than death for keeping an Agmis
Dei, or hallowed grains, or such hke comforts of soul that come
from Rome. Finally whatsoeversthe wit or malice of the least
pityful hearts could find out, all that was inflicted and laid upon
our backs." (Condition of Cathohcs, Morris, p. 15.

What seemed at first uppermost in the King's mind was his own
prerogative of supremacy in which he imitated his egregious pre-
decessors Henry and Elizabeth. Yet he was not satisfied with
what seemed sufficient for the ambition of these two sovereigns.
236
 JAMES I 237

He not only confirmed that blasphemous oath, but introduced a

new oath of allegiance as he styled it, " by which, all other impious
errors, aU orders and grades of the commonwealth, are made to
abjure the papal prerogative of excommunicating and deposing
Princes, and has spared no pains to compel his subjects to take this
most wicked oath. Laymen who refuse it, render themselves
liable to imprisonment for Ufe and to the forfeiture of all their
estates, clergymen and rehgious are punished by a most barbarous
death. He has had books written in defence of his oath, and has
himself taken up the pen and descended into the controversial
arena. In the two books he has written, he treats of the new oath,
and calls on ajl Christian Princes to jdeld at length to the truth,
and to cast in their lot with him." (Annual letters, 1608, Rec.
Jes. Vol. Vn., p. 995.)
He set himself with unflagging resolve to the task of what he
himself styled as the uprooting of popery. His words from the
throne at the opening of ParHament in the year 1612 were that he
had summoned ParUament for the furtherance of the interests of
God, of his own person, and of his fortune. " The first we shall
secure," said he, " by maintaining our reUgion, and uprooting
popery, yet," he continued, " I know not how it is that, despite
so many wise laws enacted against them, the Papists increase in
number. I do not however press for further enactments just now,
lest the Jesuits spread abroad the slander that we are persecutors,
a charge I have rebutted with my own pen. Rather let the laws
already in force be so clearly construed in all their terms and clauses
by Parliament, as to leave no loophole of escape."
What were these laws ? We have seen something of them already.
I have spoken about the praemunire. What exactly is impUed by
that ? It means the total forfeiture of goods and perpetual
imprisoiunent. This was the penalty imposed upon those who
refused to take the oath. In the beginning of Elizabeth's reign,
as we have already seen, thepenalties imposed upon Cathohcs were
increased slowly but steadily. In the annual letters of the Enghsh
College we have this summary : " A slight fine was imposed for
absence from the Protestant service, another for those who were
married before others except the ministers, a further on such as
heard Mass or received the Sacrament at a Priest's hands. But
seeing they effected nothing and that our religion only flourished the
more in spite of these petty vexations, they imposed far more
severe penalties. Refusal to attend Church was visited by a fine
of 80 crowns a month, and in default of payment by the forfeiture
of two-thirds of the offender's property to the Crown ;to have
238 JAMES I

deaJings with a priest from beyond the seas entailed confiscation

and the penalties of high treason."
James I., therefore, was resolved to bring all these Statutes into
the most complete execution, adding to them whatever his cruel
nature suggested to his mind. Cathohcs were perpetually branded
by him as traitors, they were classed with the lowest of criminals,
they were made objects not only of hatred to their feUow country-
men, but of ridicule and contempt. A Bill was actually brought
into ParUament to compel all CathoHcs to wear a red hat and parti-
coloured stockings hke clowns, so as to be not only distinguishable,
but to be hooted at whenever they should appear. But to return
to the fines and confiscations. The King had an adept as his right-
hand chief executioner in Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice.
This arch-criminal of the King's Bench, envenomed to the very
marrow of his bones with hatred of the CathoUc Church, used his
undoubted abihty to rake up out of the musty law books aU the
obsolete laws against CathoUcs and to put them into force. One
of the first things he did was to call in question the vahdity of all
marriages which had not been contracted before the ministers,
and in each case that was proved to his satisfaction. a fine of 400
crowns was added to the stigma of concubinage. The same fine
was levied on those who had their children baptised at home. A
further fine of 40 crowns a month was inflicted on any one who
kept a CathoUc servant.
Of course endless actions were the consequence of these laws.
To facilitate and expedite convictions a host of infamous informers
was encouraged and maintained by one third of the fines imposed.
The poor themselves were not exempt from persecution. The
labourer and the maid servant were subject to taxes which their
yearly earnings did not equal, and in default of payment, their
household goods and clothing were distrained and put up for auction,
if they had nothing worth seizing they were cast into prison, where

they might perish by misery and starvation, uidess CathoKc charity,

already so heavily taxed, should come to their reUef. What wonder
indeed if under these circumstances many were driven to make
shipwreck of their faith. We are told of a poor old man who after
many years of struggle and hardship, having been bereaved of his
pious wife and left with a large family of daughters, was suddenly
summoned for absence from church. He was fined and as he had
not wherewith to pay, they seized the copper boUer which served
to cook the family meals, and sold it. The poor fellow gave way
under this hard trial. He bethought him of his daughters and he
resolved to save them from certain starvation which would overtake
 JAMES I 239

them ifhe remained firm. But God took pity upon his bruised
reed. Ere he had time to commit this overt act of apostacy he
was stricken down by a mortal disease, in which having had the
ineffable blessing of the visit of a priest, he died in dispositions of
the most touching compunction.
Coke thought the oath an admirable occasion for grinding the
spirit out of Cathohcs. We are told that at each of the four law
terms he had summonses directed by the Lord Chancellor to all
Judges and Justices of the Peace, who were commanded to search
out the Cathohcs and send them to Coke's court in London. The
justices, stimulated by fear or hatred, did their duty so thoroughly
that they sent up Cathohcs of every age, sex, and condition. Sick-
ness, old age, poverty, the length of the journey, the inclemency
were pleaded in
of the season, the serious illness of wife or child,
vain. It was said that no less than 400 were summoned from one
County alone. A lady of eighty years of age was forced to travel
in the depth of winter more than eighty miles. Notwithstanding
this long and chilling journey, undismayed by the savage aspect of
Coke, she refused the oath, made open profession of her faith, lost
all her property, and was condemned to imprisonment for hfe.
The same happened to a widow of a certain knight, notwithstanding
the efforts madein her favour by some of her influential Protestant
relatives. Further the annual letters tell us that the same lot had
befallen many others, not of the wealthy class only, but maidens,
married ladies and men of humble condition, whose whole depend-
ence was upon what they earned by incessant toil.
Many miserably succumbed to the storm. Coke however being
well aware that they comphed reluctantly and against their con-
science, summoned them to London to renew the oath, in some
cases as many as four times in one year. Hence it happened that
these poor creatures had to travel, some of them, from two to six
hundred miles, in the depths of winter. Often also in the summer
season they were obUged in the heats to encounter innumerable
perils of the road and when in London to await the convenience of
the judges. In the meantime their slender resources were drained
by the extortions of innkeepers and the " gratuities " which they
were obhged to offer to the officicds of the court. We can imagine
these unfortunate weakhngs returning sore in conscience and
sgrievously depleted in worldly consolations. It was vain for them
to make profession of a chastened spirit in regard to the estabhshec^
religion.
Coke had not faith in them, and showed them no pity. They were
;

compelled under the most grievous penalties to give bail for their
 ;

240 JAMES I

good behaviour. They were thus so completely enslaved by the

law that they were wholly at the mercy of others ; for if they
offended anyone even by so much as a look or iU-considered gesture,
they became immediately liable to the forfeiture of their bail and
to the payment of a considerable penalty. Coke was not satisfied
with this persecution of the faint-hearted. He told them in open
court that they must go to church, hear sermons, receive the
sacrament, denounce the Pope and the Catholic reUgion, and ack-
nowledge the spiritual supremacy of the King, and that then only
may they talk of loyalty, but if they should persevere in their
obstinacy he swore by God and the King's life that they should lose
the Prince's favour, be stripped of their goods, and consigned to
some dark dungeon, " nor," he continued, " flatter yourselves that
these are mere empty threats they are the King's own words
;

who is ever inculcating on the judges that they should apply with
the utmost severity all the laws enacted against the Papists.
His Majesty is fully determined to drive you to such extremetie
that you will be destitute even of common necessaries. He thus
expects to rid his kingdom of Jesuits, priests, and the like pests,
by starving them out, and when the Cathohcs wiU not have as much
as a crust to give them it will be easy to find others to take their
place."
With all command and the wide knowledge
the eloquence at his
of invective of which he was a past master. Coke raved in this
manner against Catholics and their reUgion, browbeating them
with all the vehemence of the bully that he was, in the hopes of
finally shaking their constancy and breaking down all resistance.
Of course Catholics would naturally try and find a way of evasion
so as to protect if possible their property and their subsistence
and so they conveyed their holdings into other names.
This was very soon discovered and conveyances made by Catholics
were rendered illegal. The document which I now quote illustrates
this very point.
" Temp. James I. Memoranda in connection with Statutes
relating to Recusants and conveyances by them.
" The words are general in the consideration of the act for
avoiding of all frauds and therefore the particular exposition of
the act to restrain the particular frauds for conveyances made
'

by the recusants themselves and not by others to their uses in

other men's names doth not meet (?) with the general considera-
tion to avoid all frauds unless that the words subsequent in the
act in any wise directly or indirectly meant or intended to be
for the behoofe reUef or maintenance or at the disposition of any
 !

JAMES I 241

such offenders shall be intended of all lands bought by recusants

in the names of others trusted to the use of such offender and for
reUef of his family as well of conveyances made by the recusants
themselves to others trusted in the same nature.
" That the conveyances made by the recusants meant for their
behalf, relief or maintenance is directly and conveyances made by
others and in the nanies of other's uses by their procurement to
their uses and behoofes and for the benefit of the offender and his
family is indirectly meant, for there is a double meaning intended
by the which is not expressed, besides the revocation expressed
of the need made by the recusants themselves which are revocable
and there can be no double meaning conceived by that act in
any Conveyance made by the recusants themselves, and therefore
indirectly doth imply all other conveyances procured by the
recusants to their uses in other men's names whereby they and
their famihes should be reheved or maintained.
" That the Statute of simony for tations hath also the
words directly or indirectly which imply money by them directly
given to o . resented or by any other by their procure-
. .

ment indirectly and otherwise the statute would prove of no

force but would be avoided unless the words of the act be construed
to meet with the meaning of the act. ,

" So the Statute or Sheriffs 2 8 to avoid aU bonds taken by

gaolers of their prisoners, to be void which words are all bonds
taken of any person by any persons in their wards which is
explained in Dyve and Manynghm's case that the words of all
persons shall be of any bonds by any person at large for the debt
of prisoners as well as of the prisoner in ward or else the statute
has been made in vain as in that case is adjudged."
{Los. MSS. Bundle 1380.)
Very fragmentary But very expressive
1

With this document before us it is scarcely necessary to turn to

the Statutes which it is intended to explain. Recusants must not
be afforded any opportunity of evasion. It was well known that
many were related to friendly Protestants whom they could trust
to take charge of their estates for them, and not infrequently
friendly gaolers were willing to help in some way, and in many cases
there were not a few who saw in this an opportunity for increasing
their income by means of the fees which they extorted from the
recusants for effecting transfers by proxy. This was to be no
longer.
But it is interesting to study still further the progress of penal
laws as they were still further increased and put into force under

17
242 JAMES I

the able magistracy of Coke. In the document from which I have

extracted portions above (Annual Letters) we are told that there
were others again, more bloodthirsty than their fellows, who strove
to bring about an enactment that everyone making profession of
CathoUcity should have his neck broken. As a pendant to this, it
was proposed by others to enact the penalties of high treason against
all the owners or occupiers of houses in which Priests' hiding-holes,

or churchstuff should be discovered. But by God's overruling

providence their counsels were frustrated as follows. " The King
commanded and insisted that the question of supply should be first
dealt with. The Puritans, a most insolent party, who formed the
majority, began to enquire into the reasons of the poverty of the
royal treasury ;the taxes and duties had increased, the fines for
Popery had never been so rigidly levied, the country was at peace,
yet the King complained of greater straits than EUzabeth ever did
when at war with the mightiest monarch in the world, a war which
lingered on for years. Complaints were then made of the King's
profusion, and there were not wanting those, who appealing to former
acts of parUament Hmiting the royal munificence, called for the
invaUdation of his gifts. At length, to avoid disturbances, the
King dissolved the ParHament, and unconsciously executing God's
judgment on the enemies of His Church, committed the leaders of
the Opposition to the Tower of London. Further, to efface every
vestige of this Parliament, he annulled what it had enacted concern-
ing the succession of the Crown. But Coke, who makes his broth
'

out of any water that comes to hand,' tried to persuade this Parlia-
ment to enact that the Papists who outwardly conform and go to
the Protestant service should be made hable to a monthly fine of
forty crowns on account of their Catholic wives. The case of these
men, who are both numerous and wealthy, was fully debated in the
last session of the House of Commons. Their wives, for the most
part, are high-born ladies, and have shed a lustre on many a prison
and tribunal by their bold confession of faith. This Parliament
has left behind it in London some traces of its severity. Among
other complaints, stress was laid on the liberty allowed to the
imprisoned Priests to celebrate Mass and to receive visits from both
CathoUcs and Protestants. Officers were forthwith sent to search
the boxes of the priests, with strict orders that they be kept apart
from the lay-Cathohcs many keepers were imprisoned for their
;

past indulgence, and a stricter disciphne is to be inforced for the

future. Thus the past year has yielded abundant opportunities
of ministering not only to spiritual but to bodily needs, which our
Fathers have not neglected. The destitution of some sixty or
 JAMES I 243

seventy prisoners confined in one gaol has been relieved solely by

the charity of our missioners, who have provided the captives with
food, throughout the year, and with changes of clothes. At
Christmas the same number who were starving elsewhere, have also
received seasonable succour. And indeed since the beginning of
this mission, ours have never failed' in their care for the spiritual
and temporal relief of CathoUc prisoners."
What a picture is given to us by this account which was written
in the year 1614 at the English College in Rome. It gives us an
idea of the barbarous persecutions raised against Catholics and also
—
of the extraordinary courage of Catholics ^both amongst the laity
and in the ranks of the clergy in professing their faith. The
Loseley manuscript which we shall next consider was written in
the same year. It evinces increased anxiety on the part of the
Protestant element in ParUament, for we are told in this document
that CathoUcs " are multiplied and increased ... in most
parts of this kingdom." The old calumny is again trumped up
against them, that they are " become more strongly poisoned with
such devilish doctrine as have of late times been broached and
infused into them concerning the duty and allegiance they owe to
their sovereign." For this reason a general visitation is again to
be made of their dwellings and their " armour, weapons and other
fmmture of War " must be confiscated.
" After our very hearty comms. Whereas in the
27 year of
her late Maj's Reign, there was general order and direction given
that all Recusants within the several Counties of this Realm
should be disarmed, and their armour and furniture disposed to
her Majesty's use until further order should be given them.
Forasmuch as these times require no less providence for the
preventing of such effects as the malice of persons so ill affected
may otherwise produce but that rather we should have so much
;

the more care, by how much they are multiplied and increased
since that time in most parts of this Kingdom, and become
more strongly poisoned with such devilish doctrine as hath of
late times been broached and infused into them, concerning the
duty, and allegiance they owe to their sovereign, together with
the boldness and eissurance they have taken of late, which is
conceived to grow from some hopes tending to the prejudice of
the pubhc quiet and peace of the state ; and that the opinion of
the Parliament being declared in that behalf ; doth concur with
the practise of former times ; as by the statute made in the third
year of his Majesty's Reign may appear. We do therefore, in
his Majesty's name, and by his special commandment require
244 JAMES I

you to take and receive out of the hands and custody of all
Recusants as well such as are convicted, as others known to be
Recusants and iU affected in Religion, in that County. All such
armour, weapons, and other furniture of war, as shall be found
in their houses or otherwise belonging unto them, and to detain
and keep the same, to be disposed as occasion shall require. In
the due execution and performance whereof we think it meet
that there be left unto each of them, such weapons as shall seem
necessary and expedient for the defence of their house and ;

that such armour and weapon, as shall be received from them,

be taken by bill indented, containing the particulars of each
parcel and further also to take notice what horses or geldings
;

of service, are in the possession and keeping of the said Recusants.

And for as much as the service is of that importance, as will
require an exact account thereof ; and so we doubt not, but you
will proceed therein with aU diligence and integrity, and without
favour or connivance to any person whosoever. And thereupon
to return unto us with all convenient expedition a particular as
well of the arms as of the parties from whom they are taken,
together with such other circumstances as shall be requisite to
be made known unto us concerning the same. And so we bid
you heartily farewell. From the Court at WhitehcJl this loth
of January 1612.
" Your very loving friends
" G. Cant H. Northampton
J. Ellesmeee. Cane.

J. L. Nose. T. Suffolk. Gilb. Th . . .

J. F. Worcester. Pembroke. Exeter. London.

E. ZoucHY. W. Knollys. E. Wotton. Jul. Caesar.
" To our very loving friends the High Sherif
of the County of Surrey the deputy Lieutenants
and Justices of the Peace of the same County."
(Los. MSS., Vol. V. n 65.)

The work was done at once all over England and lists were made
with the greatest possible expedition. I give a list which is preserved
at Loseley. There were undoubtedly many such throughout the
country.
" Feh. 1612. A pticular of such arms, weapons and furiniture
of war have been taken from Recusants within the County of
as
Surrey as also of the names of the said Recusants, and of all other
Recusants within the said County.
 JAMES I 245

Arms taken from One corslet furnished with vanbraces>

Bartholomew Fromonds Tases and Murrian
of Cheam, hundred 3 swords and 2 daggers, 3 Callibers,
of Wallington, gent whereof one with a broken stock
and now remaining in 2 harquebuses with straight stocks,
the custody of Sr 3 coats of plate. One long bow with
Nicholas Carewe alias a shef e of arrowes flour flaskes, and
:

Throck Morton two touch boxes. One Casque, one pike

one lance, and 2 light horstmen staves.
One pair of vanbraces, and one gorget.
The said Bartholomew Fromons doth
acknowledge to have two stronged
(gueldings) horses, coloured brown
bays fit for hght horses.

27th of Janu. 1612 One black armour for a horseman with

Armour taken out of head peece poldrons lases and gantlet,
the house of Henry One Black Corslet with a Collar and
Britten of Great pouldrons, 3 mvirrians one musket. One
Bookham gent which now petronell with flask, and Bandelier,
remain in the custody One fowling piece, one Buff e Saddle
of for light horse, one dagger.

Taken out of the house The back and breast of a Corslet, with
of Richard Hatton of a Collar, and a murrion, 3 swords, and
Long Ditton, gent, one dagger, without scabbards. Two
and now in the Callibers, one fowling piece. One
Custody of french pistoll, one flask and touch
box. An iron bow, a sheaf of arrows
one halbert one particyen, 2 pikes
for corslets.

Taken out of the house

of Clara Stonden of One Corslet with pike, and one French
Esher, widdw pistoll.

Taken from the house The Cuirasses of two corsletts, fur-

of William Copley nished with murrians, swords and dag-
esquire, and now in the gers. One case of short pistols.
Custody of Sir Tho. One a murrian, sword
petronell, with
Crese (?) Kt. and dagger, and two horsemen staves.
 —

246 JAMES 1

Appended to this another list, evidently drawn up two years

is
later, giving the names of convicted Recusants. The reader will
be able to picture in imagination the tragedies of which the bearers
of these names are the heroes and heroines. He will also note
that no class of society, nor calling in life, nor state is privileged
gentlemen of station, yeomen, husbandmen, tailors, journeymen,
maidens, wives and widows, they are all alike persecuted after the
manner as we have seen above, of the hated victims of the Lord
Chief Justice Coke.

" The names of Recusants convicted or indicted within the

Countie of Surrey.
" Recusauts convicted.

Henry Dorrell senior of Newdigate gent.

Henry Dorrell junior of Newdigate gent.
John Dorrell senior Newdigate gent.
John Dorrell junior Newdigate gent.
John Gage late of Newdigate esquire
John Gape (?) of Newdigate yeoman.
Jane MuUenaxe of Nutfield spinster.
William Copley of Gatby esq.
John Sherry senior of Gatton tailor (?)
John Sherry junior of Gatton husbandman
Th. Underwood of Gatton husbandman
Howard Jarman of Lambhte gent
Richard Phelbye, alias KUby of St. Savs. in Southwark, tailor
William Clarke alias Baker of Sutton yeoman.
George RedaU of Send yeoman
George RedaU of Send yeoman
Elizabeth Redall of Send spinster
Jane Redall of Send spinster
George Smythe of Cheam gent.
William Greene of Estmowlsey gent.
and Greene his wife.

Heiuy Brittaine of Great Bookham gent.

Anne Brittaine his wife
Joane Morgon of Great Bookham widow
Th. Tompkins „ „ „ gent
Marie Nudigat of Ashsted, the wife of
Henry Nudigat gent.
Richard Hatton of Longditton gent
 JAMES I 247

Mary Hatton his wife

Dorothye Standen of Esher widowe
Elizabeth Blake of Ewell the wife of George Blake.

Bartholomew Fromond of Cheam gent,

and Susan Fromondes his wife
Francis Davies of Cheam journeyman
Agnes Davies his wife
Edward Scot of Barmondsey in Southwark gent and Joan Scot
his wife.
Margaret Scot of the same spinster.

On the back of this document is written :

" For as much as by reason as weU of the attendance upon

the prince Palatine our dear son-in-law and upon our daughter
Elizabeth the Princess his wife, in your journey to Heidleberg
in Germany, and your employment there for especial cause of
our service you can not be present."
{Los. MSS. ibidem.)
What a remarkable endorsement It is King James I. himself
!

who views this list and stamps it with his approval. Without
question the King is as much the mover of this persecution as was
Elizabeth in her day.
This note refers to Sir Edward Cecil who was sent with Lady
Cecil to Heidelberg the King, wishing to know from the testimony
;

of eye-witnesses how it fared with his daughter and her little boy,
who was bom on the 2nd January, 1614.
The date of this docimient is therefore February, 1614, not
1612 as docketed by Bray ; Prince Palatine having been married
to Elizabeth on the 14th February, 1613.*
Troubles were brewing in Germany and the result of them for
Catholics in England was to be disastrous. The tares sown by the
so-called Reformation were showing themselves more and more.
Everywhere legitimate authority had been torn up from the
body politic, and in its stead cruel despotism was estabUshed. The
result was not surprising in an immense Empire like Germany. A
league of Catholic Princes was formed under the standard of the
Emperor, with the avowed object of ousting the Protestant tyranny.
The Protestant Princes immediately united under the headship of
the Elector Palatine, to defend their threatened supremacy. They
assumed the title of " Princes of the Union." James contributed

* Everett Green, EUsebeih Queen of Bohemia, pp. 51 and 95.

 ;

248 JAMES I

a loan to the Protestant party. War raged on the Continent, and

we are told by the aforementioned English College letter that this
was the signal for fresh inflictions on CathoUcs in England. " No
sooner did English Protestants hear of the surrender of Aix-la-
Chapelle and the storming of Ober-Wesel, than in a paroxysm of
rage and fear, they invaded the dwellings of the Catholics, seized
every weapon, even to the crossbows used for shooting sparrows
leaving them defenceless against robbers or midnight thieves.
Levies were made all over the country and there was general excite-
ment. For the fallacious preachers of the Fifth Gospel gave it
'
'

out from their pulpits that an immense Cathohc army had mustered
to extirpate their so-called reformed reUgion. The Puritans, too,
have circulated in books that six armies had sworn to effect their
destruction, with an imaginary detail of the forces of each Catholic
sovereign, with their banners, their mottoes, and the numbers of
their horse and foot. The King and chief men are fully aware that
their preachers and swindlers are deluding the people, yet they
reluctantly tolerate these gigantic lies in the hope that they may
thus obtain the subsidies that ParUament refuse them. But the
people are more tenacious of their coin than of their Calvinism
and despite the long and impressive exhortations of the minister
that they should rally for the defence of their imperilled ' Gospel,'
the collectors appointed by the King to gather contributions have
been at great pains to get even a crown from certain towns and
villages. Meanwhile, we hear on every side fierce denunciations of
the Pope as the prime instigator of this War, and of our fellow
CathoUcs as if they were conspiring with foreign powers, but
especially of the Jesuits who are held up as the authors and abettors
of this league, and of the war which threatens to uproot heresy."
This campaign of slander continued ever in new forms with unabated
fury, and as the Jesuits were so powerful a body of learned, holy
and zealous men, they were the chief ones to be libelled ; in fact
it was not long before every Catholic priest, nay, even layman,

was looked upon as a Jesuit in disguise. The Jesuits were called

the Pope's janissaries ; the favourite brood of anti-Christ ; the
sworn slaves of the Pope ; the reserve corps of the CathoUc Church
the most dangerous enemies of the King and country ; the most
bigoted advocates for Popery and the most earnest in maintaining
;

and spreading it.

One thing should stand out from the history of these times as
portrayed by the documents preserved at Loseley ; that is, the
system which was in vogue in the reign of James I., and which had
been devised very nearly a hXindred years previously by Henry VIII.
 ;
;

JAMES I 249

That system was a consistent propaganda of calumny against the

Catholic Qiurch and Priests in generaL The worst of such a calumny
is that in an institution like the Church of God, in which there is

a strong alloy of the human element, there are bovmd to be a

great number who would give colour to any calumny. These
pages themselves show that there is a great deal of human nature
in all men, and perhaps the most human of all our inclinations is to
accept with ready credence any tale which is told to the discredit
of a third party.
The people generally are very loose judges of the value of evidence,
and it is really only in the quiet of later years when the strifes and

turmoils which give rise to stories have passed away and no longer
heat the passions of men, that in the examination of written
testimonies we are able to come to some unbiassed conclusion. Yet
even in the matter of history there are drcnmstances which seem
to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for many minds
to consider facts at their proper value ; those circumstances are
intimately connected with systems of education, systems that
persistently repeat the same old fables long since discredited by
the best historians. The circumstances also gain strength from
popular sayings and popular festivities, which year in year out, are
kept up with that tenacity of a conservative nation. Thus you
will open many a dictionary and look for the word Jesuit and you
wUl be told it means a crafty person. Thus on the opening of
Parliament the members like solemn mtmmiers acting their part
in a pantomine, examine the vaults of the Parliament House to
see that no Guy Fawkes has secreted there tons of gunpowder
thus also every year the Guy Fawkes celebrations are kept up
and so ad infinitum.
We have seen many times in the course of this work that although
there may have been from time to time CathoUcs who were ready
to sell their fatherland to the enemy, or to blow up a vidous and
despicable monarch, with his equally vicious government, the vast
majority of Catholics remained loysd to King and Country. How-
ever, we hope that in time our fellow countrjrmen may be brought
to recognise this fact ; but we think that just as the British public
only became obsessed with the truth of the calumnies against the
Church by dint of the frequent repetition of these calumnies,
so also will they only recognise the injustice of such calumnies
when the rebutting evidence has been repeated with sufficient
insistence.
Now, thit; rebutting evidence is manifold. We have yet many
things to say on the subject in the coming pages we have seen
;
250 JAMES I

something of the sufferings which were inflicted upon the Catholics,

but so far we have not seen more than an infinitesimal portion of
those sufferings. Fairness to the subject demands a closer sciutiny.
This book is, not a romance, nor a poem, but a true present-
ment of facts, and from these awful facts we shall conclude that
when Catholics as a body remain law-abiding in those things that
do not run counter to their consciences, under such terrible treat-
ment at the hands of their countrymen, then indeed must their
reUgion be to them the very Ufe spring of true patriotism.
 Chapter XVII.

CHARLES I.

James I. died on the 27th March, 1623, and Charles succeeded to

the throne. What hopes or forebodings were now the lot of
CathoUcs ? After so long a period [of systematic calumnies by
which EngUshmen were taught to loathe the very name of CathoUc
and to specik always with contempt of what they chose to call
Popery and the Popish rehgion, nothing else coidd be expected
but a continuance of this hatred, and a King, whatever his senti-
ments towards Cathohcs might be, was bound to prove ineffectual
in any attempt he might make to reverse the order of things.
Charles himself seems to have been much more favourably
disposed in that direction; and he was undoubtedly averse to the
continuance of this horrible state of things. But the Treasury was
in a hopeless condition, and there seemed no prospect of meeting
pressing UabUities except by means of an oppressive taxation.
As usual the Catholics were make to pay their pound of flesh and-
the laws against recusancy were brought into force, the fines were
imposed with as much rigour as before ; in fact all the penal
enactments were pressed home as though there had been no change
of ruler. I give just one document relating to this period from
among the Loseley manuscripts. It was written at the beginning of
the reign. The date is the 31st October, 1625. It is signed by
the Council. Weston, the Lord Chancellor, although himself at
heart a CathoUc, has contributed his signature. Again Recusants,
whether they be convicted or merely suspected, are to be disarmed.
Magistrates are to be urged to a more complete knowledge and
understanding of these Statutes against Cathohcs ; complaint is
made that these " acts are not to be foimd where they should be
used for hght and instruction, the want thereof must needs hinder
the execution of that important service." The magistrates were
further instructed that the Government intended to act exactly
as the late King " of happy memory " had done, namely " to
proceed not only with such as were convicted Recusants, but also
with such as give any overt suspicion of iU-affection in rehgion."
Note further that the document states that it is the intention of
His Majesty's Government to proceed not only against those who
251
252 CHARLES I

are themselves Recusants, or suspected Recusants, but also against

those who have their wives, children or servants Recusants or
non-Communicants, " or who are otherwise known to be Popishly
affected, or such as have any noted or extraordinary number of
retainers or tenants Recusants or non-Communicants."

(Los. MSS. Vol. V. n. 66.)

" After our hearty commendations to your good Worships.

Whereas you lately received directions from these Boards for
the disarming in such manner as is thereby signified of all
Recusants within the County of your Lieutenancy, who' are
either convicted or justly suspected according to the Act of
State heretofore expressed, because it seems these acts are not
to be found where they should be used for light and instruction,
the want thereof must needs hinder the execution of that
important service. We hold is necessary for your worships'
directions in this behalf to impart unto you that which was
written from this Board diverse years since to the high Sheriff
and Justices of the peace upon like occasion wherein you may
find inwhat sense the late King of happy memory by the advice
of the lordsand others who were then of his privy Council (with
the opinion of some of the Choice Judges of the Realm delivered
also thereupon) explained himself touching Recusants justly
suspected, viz.,that his meaning was to proceed not only with
such who were convicted Recusants but also with such as give
any overt suspicion of iU affection in Religion, of which sort
he understood to be as well those that do not ordinarily and
frequently repair to the Church to hear divine service, when
there is not just cause of sickness, or other lawful impediment
to excuse them as also such as have not for three or four years
received the Communion once a year at the length and such as
have their wives, children, or servants Recusants or non Com-
municants as aforesaid or are otherwise known to be popishly
affected or such as have any noted or extraordinary number of
retainers' or tenants Recusants or non Communicants. These
sort of people therefore and any of them whom his Majy and
the state at this time have the same reason to hold in jealousy
we are in his Maj's name and by his express Commandment to
require your Lords which as by our former Irs you were directed,
to which Irs we refer you, saying that you may forbear the
NobiUty and Peers if any such be within that County, his Majesty
having taken another course for disarming them. Lastly we
pray and require your worships that the arms being taken from
 CHARLES I 253

these and other Recusants be kept in good condition by being

scoured and otherwise looked unto as shall be needful through
the care of those who shall have the custody of them, but at the
charges of the proprietaries. And so we bid your Worship's
very heartily farewell.
" From the Court at Hampton the last of October, 1625.
" Your Worship's very loving friends,
" E. WORCESTEK.
" Thomas Convintrie C.S. Arundel and Surrey
" Pembroke Carlile E. Conwey. R. Weston. J. Edmonds

It is very strange, when we come to think of it, this law against

Recusancy. " Popery " was a crime on the Statute book it was ;

synonymous with high treason, at least it was considered one of

the forms of that despicable crime. Yet during the reign of
"
James I. and still more during that of Charles I. thig " crime
was actually licensed by the Crown a very huge price was paid for
:

this Ucence, it is true, but Ucence it most certainly was. We

wonder at such a man whom the Anghcan Church has thought
fit to canonize, should give his ofi&cial approval and sanction to

this treasonable crime. In folio 36, Patent Book of Dr. Hall,

Bishop of Exeter, the author of Dissuasion from Popery, is copied
his Majesty's allowance imder the Great Seal of England, dated
March 14, 1628, to John Chichester of Arlington, Esq., and to his
wife Aime, to remain Recusants, etc., with the exemption from
pains, penalties, etc., during the yearly payment of a specified smn
to the Crown. This was .certainly an extraordinary procedure,
and yet it was of daily occurrence in those daj^.
King Charles himseU was certainly not a convinced anti-Catholic,
but deeply impressed with the injustice of the cruel Penal Laws.
In fact when occasion offered he actually showed great favour to
CathoUcs, considering the times. A very noteworthy incident of
this marked goodwill towards Cathohcs was the case of George
Calvert, a descendant of the noble house of Calvert, in the Earldom
of Flanders. Foley tells us that " he was bom at Kipling, in the
chapelry of Bolton, Yorkshire, about the year 1578. He was son
of Leonard Calvert and Alice, daughter of John Crossland, of
Crossland. He was admitted as a gentieman commoner of Trinity
Collie, Oxford, in 1593, aged 15, and was there educated and took
his degrees. On his return from his travels he became secretary
to Robert Cecil, Chief Secretary of State under King James I.,
and was afterwards made one of the clerks of the Privy Coimcil,
254 CHARLES I

and received the honour of knighthood in 1617. In 1619 he was

himself appointed a principal Secretary of State, and in the year
after theKing granted him an annual pension of £1,000. On
February i6th, 1624, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Balti-
more, of Baltimore, Co. Longford, Ireland. In the same year,
1624, he embraced the Catholic faith, and personally he announced
his change to the King, at the same time tendering his resignation
of his offices. The King accepted that of the secretaryship, but
ordered him to retain his office of Privy Councillor, which he held
till the end of the King's reign. He died on April 15th, 1632,
and was buried in the chancel of old St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street,
London. Lord Baltimore was the first designer of the colony of
Maryland. Imbued with something of the spirit of an Apostle,
combined with that of a patriot, he desired to see estabUshed in
far-off Newfoundland a colony of his own countrymen, under the
auspices of a name which would recall the earUest Christian
traditions in this land. And so, having made the journey with
the sanction of his Royal Patron, he strove to carry into effect
this design. The name of the new colony was to be the Province
of Avalon, recalling that part of Somersetshire in which Glaston-
bury is situated. The design failed, however, owing to the opposition
of French warships which repeatedly attacked the coast. He
returned to England not having reUnquished the plan of colonization,
but with an altered scheme in his mind. He now turned his thoughts
to America. There was a country north of Virginia which was
unoccupied by any European settlers, and still inhabited by the
native Indians. Charles again approved of his plans, but Lord
Baltimore died before they could be carried into effect. His son,
Cecil, who succeeded to the title, was evidently imbued with the
same ambitions as his father and having obtained from the King
;

a grant of the territory, he called it Maryland, in honour of Queen

Henrietta Maria, by order of Charles I. himself. The Charter was
dated June 20th, 1632. " By it the territory of Maryland was
granted to Lord Baltimore, to be holden of the Crown of England
in common soccage as of the manor of Windsor, paying yearly on
Eister Sunday, two Indian arrows of those parts at the Castle at
Windsor, and the fifth part of the gold and silver ore found therein."
(Rec. Jes., Vol. III., p. 326.)
We fancy that what must have influenced the King in his attitude
towards Catholics was his distinct leanings towards an alliance
with Catholic Spain. With such bigoted antecedents it is not
easy to explain how the King should suddenly show kindly dis-
positions towards them. The change of attitude in the royal
 CHARLES I 255

family was prepared, however, even when Charles was only yet
Prince of Wales, but was contemplating marriage with a Spanish
Princess. Such negotiations, although they were eventually
broken off, chiefly owing to the immense Protestant opposition,
were bound to bring about a modification in the opinions of the
Prince. Besides, the direct intercourse with the Pope himself
would naturally influence the opinions of the young Prince and ;

from his attitude in the case of Recusants and Priests, it is evident

that he was heartily sick of the gross brutaUty of the age.
It is indicative of the Prince's growing favour towards CathoUcism
that he should have received such a testimonial from the head of
Christendom as the following letter of Pope Gregory XV.
" Most noble Prince, health and the light of divine grace.
Great Britain being the fruitful Mother of illustrious men, the
fame of whose exploits fills both hemispheres, not unfrequently
attracts the Pontificalmind to the contemplation of its glories.
From the earliest beginnings of the Church, so eager was the
King of Kings to claim it as his heritage, that the Roman eagles
had scarcely been borne thither, when they were followed, as
We are told, by the standard of the Cross. Of its kings not a
few had thoroughly learned the science of the saints. Holding
forth to foreign nations and to generations yet to come an example
of godliness, they preferred the Cross and the strait discipline of
religious life to the lust of power, and hence, while in Heaven
they have won the principality of everlasting bUss, they have
left behind them here below the glorious record of their holiness.
In these days, it is true, the Church of England has undergone a
change, yet do We stiU see that the royal race of England continues
to shine and prosper by its human virtues, which indeed were a
consolation to Our charity and a glory to the Christian name,
if only they could be supported and enhanced by orthodox truth.

The greater, therefore. Our delight in the glory of your illustrious

father and in your own kingly endowments, the more ardent is
Our desire to open to you the gates of the heavenly kingdom,
and to win for you the love of the universal Church, being further
mindful that Pope Gregory the Great of saintly memory bestowed
on the people living under the English crown the knowledge of
the Gospel Law, and inspired them with loyalty to the Apostolic
See, We, though far beneath him in saintliness and virtue, but
yet sharers in his name and dignity, deem it incumbent upon Us
to tread in his footsteps by striving for the welfare of those
dominions, especially now that the purpose you have formed,
most noble Prince, excites in Us the hope of no common happi-
256 CHARLES I

ness. As you are now going to Spain with a view to a matrimonial

alliance with the House of Austria, it is Our peculiar wish to
applaud your design, and to take this opportunity of declaring
openly that you' hold no small share in the solicitude of Our
pontificate, We can easily guess why you wish to wed a Catholic
maiden ; those ancient germs of Christian piety which have
borne such fruit in the souls of bygone Kings of Great Britain
may yet yield to God a goodly growth in your heart. For no
one would seek such an alliance who cherished within him hatred
to the Catholic reUgion, or who would seek to oppress the Roman
See. Wherefore, we have commanded that fervent prayers be
continually offered to the Father of lights, that it may please
Him to bring you, the flower of the Christian world and the hope
of Great Britain, to the enjoyment of that heritage bequeathed
to you by your ancestors, who sustained they authority of the
Roman Pontiff and put to flight the monsters of heresy.
Remember the days of old, ask thy fathers, and they will show you
the road to Heaven, by treading which the Princes of this world
may enter an unfailing kingdom. Consider, through the open
gates of Heaven, those saintly kings of England who, under
angelic guidance, have paid due homage to the Lord of Lords
and to the Prince of the Apostles in his Apostolic See. Their
deeds and examples are as the voice of God calling upon you to
foUow the pattern of those whose throne you will inherit. Can
it ever be that you will suffer heretics to brand as impious, and
to doom to the dungeons of everlasting gloom, those to whom
the Catholic faith bears witness that they are reigning with
Christ, and are set far above all earthly pre-eminence ? They
who have led you in safety to the Court of the CathoUc King, now
stretch forth their hands from their happy dwelling to lead you
back to the bosom of the Roman Church. For this indeed We
implore God of His mercy, with unspeakable sighs for your
salvation, extending to you the arms of Our pontifical charity.
We embrace you most beloved son, pointing out to you the
blessed hope of the Heavenly Kingdom. No greater consolation
could fall to the lot of Christendom, than that you restore your
fax-famed island to the obedience of the Prince of the Apostles,
whose authority has for so many ages been held in Great Britain
to be the bulwark of kingdoms and the mouthpiece of Divine
Truth. This will not be attended with much difficulty if you
will but open your heart, which is so set on the welfare of that
kingdom, to the Lord Who stands knocking at the door. So
anxious is Our charity your royal name, that We
for the glory of
 CHARLES I 257

long to proclaim to the world yourself and your most illustrious

father the deliverers and restorers of the ancestral religion. Of
Our trust in God, in Whose hands are the hearts of kings, and
Who hath made the nations of the earth for health. We will not
despair of so happy an issue which no effort on Our part shall
be wanting to bring about. Do you, on your part, behold in this
letter the proof of the sohcitude of Our pontifical charity for
your well-being. We shaU never regret having written, if it
but quicken a few sparks of Cathohc piety in the heart of a Prince
whose continued happiness is the object of Our desires, and
whom We would see adorned with the glory of every virtue."
" Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, this 20th day of April, 1623,
the third year of our pontificate. John Ciampoh, Secretary."
(Rec. Jes., Vol. VI., p. 538.)

The hopes expressed by His Holiness in this letter were not

realized. Charles himself was not the main obstacle. The troubles
in Germany were causing panic amongst the Protestants in England.
They anticipated a spreading of the revival of Cathohc activity to
England. They had no legitimate reason for the fear as EngUsh
Cathohcs had constantly shown aversion to that way of regaining
their rights. But the guilty Protestant conscience Uke that of the
haunted murderer was perpetually raising new spectres that
disturbed the pubUc peace of mind.
It was not Charles who was the enemy of the Catholic Church
in the reign of Charles, but the British people that had been educated
in perverse and bigoted ideas about the Cathohc Church. Conse-
quently, although the King was sincerely anxious to bring about
a change of attitude, he was almost powerless to do so. At first,
indeed, while his influence was still that of a despotic monarch,
he succeeded in forcing his will somewhat on the Parhament and
in modifying the effects of pubhc hatred. But as years passed on,
and the Parhamentarians became more and more powerful, the
villainies of persecution became more numerous until they burst
out with all the vigour and fiendish cruelty of the previous reigns.
We have some appaUing examples of the cruelty of the people's
representatives related in the fourth Douay Diary for the year
1642. For fourteen years the Cathohc Church had been granted
a respite as far as capital sentence was concerned, although during
that time the Priest hunts were continued, priests were imprisoned*
Recusants were fined almost without mercy. In January, 164a,
King Charles L left London, never to return tiU he came as a
prisoner to meet his own death.
16
258 CHARLES I

On January 21st, on the feast of St. Agnes, the Reverend Thomas

Greene, alias Reynolds, a native of Oxford, alumnus and priest of
the Douay GoUege, suffered martyrdom in London. We are told
that notwithstanding his advanced years and his naturally timid
disposition, his courage on the scaffold was an astonishment to
all. He had been condemned to death in 1628, his sole crime being
his priesthood. The Douay report tells us that the " most merciful
King Charles, at the instance of the Queen, spared his life, so that
—
from then to the present time that is for fourteen years ^he —
has remained in durance at London. But this year, by order of
the ParUament, he was called into Court, and without any investi-
gation of his former cause, or the allegation of a fresh indictment,
he was carried to the shambles, and ended by a glorious martj^rdom
that Ufe which he had enriched with merits, having laboured in
England for a long time. For, burning with zeal for God, he had
led back to the fold of the Catholic Church many who were wandering
from the way of Truth, and becoming a good odour in Christ, he
had drawn them from vice to the love of virtue." On the same
day Father Alban Roe, priest and Benedictine monk, died a like
glorious death for the Faith.
But perhaps the most wonderful of all the martyrs of that year
was John Lockwood, who suffered at York because he was a Roman
priest. " This he freely confessed, adding that it was the more
true as he had been ordained at Rome." His exact age is not
certain. According to the Douay Diary he was bom in 1555, but
according to the Annals of the EngUsh College, Rome, the date of
his birth is 1561. He entered the English College, Rome, from
Douay, for his higher studies, October 4th, 1595, was ordained
Priest there January 26th, 1597, and sent to the English Mission
school, April 20th, 1598. Bishop Challoner tells us that some
accounts give the date of his birth as early as 1546. He was heir
to an estate bringing in £400 (£4,800 in our money) yearly. This
he renounced in order to devote himself to the service of God. He
was the eldest son of Christopher Lockwood, Esq., of Soresby,
Co. York, whose wife was daughter of Robert Lassels, of Bracken-
borough, Yorkshire. He worked in England for twelve years, and
was taken prisoner in 1610. He was condemned to death, but
reprieved and sent into banishment. Undismayed by the fate which
certainly awaited him, he returned again to his country to work
for the honour and glory of God. A second time he was captured,
tried and condemned to death, and a second time his sentence was
commuted, this time to imprisonment. He remained in prison
probably till the marriage treaty with Spain, when he was^ allowed
 CHARLES I 259

his liberty. It may have been of course owing to the influence of

Queen Henrietta Maria that this mercy was granted to him. Thence
forth he worked in the Vineyard of the Lord until the yccuj 1642,
when he was a third time taken, on this occasion at the house of
Mrs. Catenby, of Wood End, near Thirsk. He was carried to York,
under circumstcinces of the grossest brutality, as described by
Bishop Challoner in his Memoirs of Missionary Priests, tried at
the York Assizes, together with another priest named Edmund
Catherick, condemned to death and executed on the 13th April,
1642. Charles' disposition towards Catholics was notable in this
case ; he had undoubtedly exercised his eloquence and attempted
to bring the pressure of his authority in favour of this aged priest.
But that authority was fast becoming null and the bigotry of the
Parliamentarians shouted him down.
The execution took place in front of the Royal Manor in York.
His Majesty and the Prince of Wales were at the time holding their
Court in that Manor ; and we are told that they actually beheld
the horrible spectacle, Charles commiserating the lot of the saintly
victim. His sympathy, however, was kept as secret as might be
for fear of the Parliament. (This we learn from the English College
Diary, Rome.) The younger priest. Father Catherick, was ordered
to mount the ladder first. Appalled by the spectacle before him
(the cross-tree, the butcher's knife and the boiling cauldron), he
became deadly pale and began to tremble. Seeing this, the old
man, with his weight of eighty years and more upon him, hobbled
up and claimed his right of precedence on account of seniority.
The right was acknowledged, and with one foot on the ladder he
turned to Father Catherick and spoke some words of encourage-
ment. Then, mounting the ladder with the aid of two executioners,
as his feeble frame refused to respond to the energy of his soul, he
turned once more to the timid priest, and being now sure that his
words and his prayers had obtained the strength needful for the
terrible ordeal he stood awhile yet in prayer until he was flung off
the ladder by the executioner, and died almost immediately.
Father Catherick, honouring his noble example, also gave himself
to death with the courage of a martyr.
Then follows an incident which shows the barbarity of those
times. The sentence had not been fully carried out. The hangman,
touched by the fortitude of the noble Eleazar, fled from the scene
so as to avoid accompUshing the work of butchery which the Law
enacted but seized by the crowd, and cajoled and coaxed by a
;

woman of infamous Ufe, he was suddenly transformed into a demon,

and returning to the scaffold hacked the bodies into pieces, throwing
 —

26o CHARLES I

them amongst the people. Father Lockwood's head was fixed

upon the north gate, called Boothman-Bar, close by the King's
Palace. Thus was accompUshed a work of devUish brutality.
Thus was expressed a two-edged hatred of Parliament, against the
Church and against the Crown.
The reign of Charles I. was not to end without many such
—
hideous spectacles again let it be said, because the British people
had been nurtured with the poisonous potions of religious hatreds.
The records of Douay CoUege favour us with the name of Dr.
Edward Morgan. He was a Welshman from the County of FHnt,
and a past student of the Douay College. He was 57 years of age,
when on the 26th April, 1642, four days after the above martyrdoms,
he was led out to suffer the penalties of his priesthood in London.
The diary quoted teUs us that the day before his passion he enjoyed
the ineffable happiness of celebrating Holy Mass, and that during
the sacred Mysteries he was so rapt in ecstasy that it was with
difficulty that he could finish the Mass and this only after he had
;

cried out in the words of St. Xaverius " It is enough, O Lord,"

:

the Holy name of Jesus hngering on his Ups with honeyed sweetness.
That same year is recorded the name of yet one more heroic
priest. It was Friday, the 19th August, Father Hugh Greene,
alias Ferdinand Browne, of London, was led out to execution at
Dorchester. Again the priesthood was the capital crime. This
martyrdom was different from those I have just described. The
terrible sentence was carried out with all the bloodthirsty cruelty
of the decree. The intrepid Father Greene was cut down from the
gibbet while yet aUve, and the executioner proceeding to his work,
the priest regained consciousness and rose to his feet, but was
dragged down by the bystanders by means of the rope which was
stiU round his neck. Then the work of disembowelling was begun.
I draw a veil over what followed, and refer the reader to Bishop
ChaUoner's terrible account. Let it suffice for me to say that for
upwards an hour this mart3n: suffered the tortures of butchery
of half
with the most complete consciousness, uttering the Holy Name
of Jesus over and over again, and making the sign of the Cross with
his own blood. At last, at the instance of some pitying lady, they
ended his agonies by severing his head from his body, and so his
blessed soul flew to the glory which awaited him.
I wQl give two more instances of the raging hate of those times.
The first was in the following year it was a touching story, and
;

I think it is best told in the words of the Douay Diary :

" On the 27th April (1643), Father Paul suffered at London.

The Rev. Father Hemy Heath, commonly called Father Paul,
 ;

CHARLES I 261

when he first came out of England was received into this (Douay)
College, then he became a Franciscan and finally Guardian.
He, having learnt of the glorious triumphs of the priests in
England, who after the inauspicious opening of this Parliament,
had with the utmost constancy laid down their fives for the
cause of Christ, and feeling himself on fire with the desire to
following their footsteps, ha\'ing asked and obtained leave from
his superiors, betook himself to England in the rough dress of a
sailor. There he begged his bread from door to door, and on the
night of his arrived in London, sleeping in a pubUc place because
there was no room for him in the inn, he was arrested as though
he were devising some theft or other crime. But, as he had
preserved in his hat a writing in which he had expressed his
intention of returning to England, and his reasons thereof, with
additional arguments in which he defended the justice and lawful-
ness of such intentions, and asserted the truth of the Catholic
refigion, he was betrayed by the discovery cf this paper when
he was being searched by the officers, and he was committed to
prison. There, in a few days, he fulfilled a long time, cmd he
afforded great edification and example to all who visited him
and being shortly condemned to death, he resigned himself into
the hands of Almighty God with wonderful tranquility and
readiness. He constantly asserted that he never doubted that
those who gave up their fives for the sake of God's faith would
be filled by God with a singular sweetness of soul and deUght,
but that he never could have beheved that the joy would be so
exceeding great as that was which he then experienced which,
indeed, was so vehement and abundant he was not equal to
bearing it.
" Being asked what it was fitting to hold with regard to the
unlawful oath which is called the Oath of Allegiance, he signed
with his own hand, when he was on the point of martyrdom, a
schedule expressing more clearly his own opinion. And he
testified that he so certainly befieved that the Oath was repugnant
to the truth that he would be ready to lay down his life for the
Catholic dogma as much as for any other article of the Catholic
refigion. While writing it he said I sign this schedule with
:
'

my name wiUingly, if need were, I would sign it a thousand

and a thousand times in my blood.' At the scaffold he made
an eloquent speech, and prayed most earnestly for the conversion
of England, until the cart was drawn away and he was
left hanging with his hands lifted up for a time towards
Heaven."
262 CHARLES I

Finally there is the case of Father John Duckett, who was

martyred on the 17th September, 1644, in London. He was a
Yorkshire man, and only twenty-eight years of age. He also was
condemned because he was a priest. He had been taken with two
lay companions who were called upon to inform against him, or
otherwise to suffer death. To save his companions therefore he
confessed he was a priest. We are told that from the time of his
receiving sentence of death till the end of his life his countenance,
though usually rather pale, became suffused with colour and
assumed angelic beauty. This was noticed particularly as he stood
on the scaffold. He had been a man exceptionally devoted to
prayer and contemplation and, the better to acquire the spirit of
Divine union, he had stayed some time at Nieuport in Flanders
to confer about prayer and spiritual matters with his relative, the
Rev. Father John Duckett, at that time the Prior of the English
Charterhouse.
I might go on to relate the heroic deaths of other priests in
England. The roU of martyrs was by no means complete, but I
have given these as specimens of the sufferings of our Fathers in
the time of Charles I. Loseley, with the document I have quoted
in the beginning of the chapter, gives the impulse to the student
of history, by referring him in that manner to deeds elsewhere
recorded.
 ;

Chapter XVIlI

IN THE WINE-PRESS
The average down long lists of names,
reader, running his eye
will carry away very information
little and so, like Mr. Kemp,
;

will conclude that the publication of these names or many kindred

documents can have no interest and can serve no useful purpose.
But historians are of opinion that in these lists of names we have
a mine of information. Hence the very careful preservation of all
those documents in the State Papers Office which are nothing
else, many cases, but these hsts of names. The historian
in a great
has, over and over again, made a careful examination and study
of these names and so been able to piece together first-hand evidence
of lives filled with tragedy. It is for this reason that I have not
considered it waste of time to decipher sometimes with great trouble
the writings on these hsts. What names There are some which
!

tell ofthe greatest heroic fortitude, names, I may say, of saints

and it is my purpose in this chapter to recall the deeds of heroism
that these names conjure up in our minds. The reader will pardon
me if I speak quite plainly in the following pages on the subject of
the sufferings of Catholics. It is surely right to say that we cannot
fuUy appreciate deeds of valour and courage under sharp trials
unless we know the nature of the test by which the Christian athlete
earned his crown. Consequently it is a matter of justice to the
memory of these great men of old that their fives should be told
and retold in history. It is the more just because these men have
not infrequently been caliunniated or their trials been made fight
of by many writers. But what is of greater importance still is the
place which they occupy in history. After all, a period extending
much over a hundred years, far and away beyond that which is
comprised by the Loseley manuscripts, is a very important space of
time, and to say that during all those years one religious body was
signalled out for persecution, and in that body one section in par-
ticular was set aside for the very special hatred of their fellow
countrjmien, must surely indicate a state of things which no
historian can afford to ignore. If, therefore, the subject is of

importance, it is necessary to examine it to the bedrock itself.

I find that in the Loseley manuscripts here pubfished, some
thirty Priests are mentioned. They do not by any means comprise
the fuU number of those who suffered, for the nmnber of Priest-
263
 :

264 IN THE WINE-PRESS

martyrs alone runs into hundreds. In the year 1585, for instance,
no less than seventy-two priests were banished, and from a calcula-
tion made from various returns to the Privy Council of certain
dioceses, there were a great number of priests about that period in
prison.
On that question a great deal has been written by others. The
following letter wiU introduce this subject fittingly. dated the
It is
23rd April, 1582. Two priests are mentioned in it, Edward Eishton
and Thomas Clifton. Both have been condenmed in the court of
Her Majesty's Bench. The first " for matters of treason," the
other " as in case of praemunire." The latter tells us that there
are no prisoners in the King's Bench " for matters of rehgion
directly." We have seen what an empty plea and a transparent
lie that is, since in every case it was the Mass that really mattered,

and the Mass was the treason. What made the Catholic rehgion
treasonable in the eyes of Ehzabeth was the refusal to acknowledge
her religious headship of the Church. Therefore, although the law
declared a Priest a traitor he was not thereby deprived of his
privilege of suffering solely for the Faith.
" Right worshipful, according to the tenor of the direction
from you, Mr. Sheriff, for producing of witnesses before your
worship at this time and place touching Recusants
" These are to certify that in the prison of her Majesty's Bench
there are no prisoners for matters of rehgion directly, as at your
late meeting at Leatherhead by Mr. Catisbie his letters deputy
marshal! there was signified unto your worship. Only two
priests remain in custody there, committed from the high bar
by the judge of the Court of her Majesty's bench, both condemned.
The one named Edward Risheton, for matter of treason. The
other named Thomas Clyfton, as in case of premunire. This
much matter of truth in the absence of the said Mr. Catisbie,
for
according to my duty, I signify unto your worships. And so
humbly take my leave. From the prison of her Majesty's Bench,
this XXIIIth of April, 1582.
" Your worships
" to command
" To the Right Worshipful " Walter Spendlen.

Mr. Slyfield, high Sheriff

for the Co. of Surrey and
to the like worshipful the
Justice of the Peace
Within the same Co. at
Rigate give these." {Los. MSS. Bundle Letters 1581 to 1600.)
 —
IN THE WINE-PRESS 265

This Father Edward Rishton mentioned in the letter was named

amongst twenty-one students of Douay College as distinguished
for their writings. He laboured in England for some time and was
then captured, and in a hst of the Public Record Office he is named
with twenty other Priests who were banished from England on the
2ist January, 1585. In another list we are told that he had landed
at Dover with Father Cottam, Dr. Ely and Father Hart in June,
1580. Father Cottam was recognised by the searchers from an
accurate description which had been given to them by a spy named
Sladd. In consequence of this they were all searched and Father
Cottam was eventually condemned and executed as a Priest.
A very remarkable letter, written by Father Rishton in the
Tower of London, gives us a graphic description of the sufferings of
those times. The letter is preserved in the Record Office. (Vol.
149, No. 61, Dom. Eliz.) Rather should we say that we have
here a contemporary copy.
It was written about the end of the year 1580, or the
beginning of 1581. It is in Latin, and I wiU here give the
translation. The Latin copy will be found in the Appendix :

" The copy of a certain letter which a Priest who was detained
in the Tower of London on account of the holy Catholic rehgion,
sent quite recently to his brother CathoUcs Ukewise detained in
other prisons on account of the same Cathohc religion. To it
is also subjoined a brief declaration giving an account of the

inhuman and barbarous cruelty which other Very Reverend

Fathers for the same reason suffered in other prisons far remote
from the town.
" Lately they have threatened to inflict new tortures on Mr.
Sherwin, the Priest, and then to clear him and his companions
out of the way. But in no way dismayed by these threats he
announced his readiness to die for the CathoUc Faith, not wishing
further to prolong his life. We shall be told presently, as I
hope, what they intend to do with us. It is far preferable for
us once to pay the debt of nature than daily to languish in a
hving death. Nevertheless there is not one of us who d6es not
from the depths of his heart most fervently pray the great and
good God that he might make us worthy to suffer every torture,
all torments, nay death itself notwithstanding the bitterness
that nature experiences in it and this for the glory of His Name,
rather than offend in the least degree His Divine Majesty contrary
to our conscience. It is -frell known, as I think, to many that a
good number of our afficted brethren have undergone the most
appalling tortures which for the greatness of the agony which
266 IN THE WINE-PRESS
they cause are worse than death, and that they have endured them
with constancy rather than consent to a most abominable sin,
" Examples of this are to be found, especially in Kirby and
Cotton, two venerable Priests who were enclosed in an iron
instrument of torture (commonly called in English Scavengers).
In its horrible embrace they suffered for an hour or more. Others,
namely Mr. Skinner, Mr. Bryant twice, Mr. Johnson once, were
put cruelly to the test by the most exquisite tortures of what in
EngUsh is called the Rack. Mr. Alart lay stretched upon this
bed of torture for three hours but for the time being he was not
:

in any other way or more grievously tortmred. And more or

less after this fashion they put to the test some others of our
companions, having first made still greater efforts to induce
them to jdeld to their will. Some were cast into a very deep
pit which was pitch dark, being closed in on every side, as in the
cases of Johnson, Bristow and Bryant, all reverend Priests.
Some languished in the filth of that place for two whole months.
Others again they buried in remote and dark comers, after
having deprived them of their money and stripped them of their
outer garments ;and there they left them in a wretched con-
dition, deprived of all hope and help without bed or other
necessaries of any kind. Thus they dealt with Stanislaus
Bristow and others. The greater number are kept to this very
day in soUtary confinement, in dark and filthy dimgeons, where
they can never see a soul, much less hold converse with a friend.
Mr. Bryant, of whom I have spoken above, was left for days in
a starving condition in which he well-nigh perished, and then
to add to the horror of his agony, very sharp needles were
violently thrust tmder his nails, thus causing the wretched victim
the most exquisite tortures. From what has been written, most
dear brothers in Christ, it can be seen what was the natmre and
the vehemence of the torments which the sons of God and true
servants of Christ have most patiently and unflinchingly borne
in defence of the orthodox Faith and greater still, if need be,
;

shall they undergo with willing readiness. One thing only we

ask of His mercy, that He would grant us of His benignity the
grace to endure with patience and perseverance imtil the end. In
order that we might the more speedily obtain this grace we
implore you to offer yoiu: prayers to God for us for we are not
:

without apprehension, as the Prefect of this Tower was sum-

moned to the Council yesterday cind again to-day, to be informed,
so we think, what has been decided with regard to us. I wish
you well.
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 267

"The Catholics imprisoned in the Port or Castle of Hull are

kept in close custody, so that no one may see them or minister
to their wants. In seven weeks they have received no more
than seven Roman asses, and for the sustenance of their life
and daily nourishment they have received no more than the
bread and beer and small portion of salt fish which was left over
from Lent they have tasted no meat so far since the Pascal
;

feast. They are obliged to pay seven asses (or in English money
seven pence) for one quart of beer ; and then, which is exceedingly
inhuman, water, which is necessary for their use, is denied to
them unless they would accept that which is putrid. The
Cathohc prisoners who are crowded into Wisbeach are treated
with similar cruelty. The Reverend Dr. Young, who was for
many years professor of Sacred Theology, has exchanged most
happily this life for death. There was a certain evil-living and
scurrilous woman whom some Hbertines not many days ago
introduced shcundessly into the cell of the most Reverend Bishop
of Lincoln (for he is still imprisoned there). She, having cast
aside cill decency, tempted the old man, who was well-nigh
stricken to deali with the infirmities of old age, to commit a
most loathsome and detestable crime. For very shame I pass
over in silence the evil artifices which that virago made use of
to weaken the constancy of his perpetual chastity. But the
old man resisting with great strength, tried with all his might
to expel this impure beast from his cell but some most wicked
;

hooUgans who had let her in threatened the most venerable

Priest with rods. Another of these creatures they sent in with
the same object to the venerable Priest, Mr. Voact, an octo-
genarian after no long delay they were obliged to return to
;

her owing to her continual screams. They heard her shouting

'
He has tried with violence to assault me.'
" May the Lord Jesus guard us with His Divine Grace that
dwelling always under His protection we may be able to extinguish
all these fiery darts of the devil and finally to gain the victory
through Him."

The picture that is drawn for us in the foregoing letter is in no

way exaggerated ;
quite the reverse. The the
sufferiags of
Cathohcs exceeded all description. Human ingenuity had reached
a very high degree of perfection in the art of tortmre. The rack
was, of course, a very old invention on which the sufferer was
stretched and drawn inch by inch till the bones left their sockets,
and then, when the victim lost consciousness through excess of
268 IN THE WINE-PRESS
pain, the tension was relaxed and restoratives applied till con-
sciousiless returned, and, with it, a renewal of the torture. The
rack was the most favourite method of inflicting pain, as by it the
rack-nilaster, as he was ca;lled, was able to judge to a nicety how
much the wretched man was able to bear without suffering death.
However, it occasionally happened that, such was the anger of the
cruel torturers when they saw that they were defeated by the
courage of their victim, they actually tore him asunder by means
of this horrible engine.
There was another form of racking in use at the time of which
we are speaking, which was called the torture of the Wall. This
is described by Father Gerard, S.J., in his autobiography. The
victim was suspended by his wrists, sometimes even by his thumbs
alone (as we learn from the documents circulated by the Council
after the death of Brother Nicholas Owen, S.J.). In this manner
he was left to hang for hours together, suffering acute agonies.
Father Southwell was tortured on the wall by Topcliffe. His
calves were strapped up tight to the thighs, and he was left hanging
by the wrists in the house of TopcUffe for seven hours, while the
cold blooded villain went into the city to transact some business
and forgot all about the sufferer till he returned. Then, finding
him unconscious, and, as was thought in a dying condition, he
revived him. On coming to himself he vomited a quantity of
blood ; and, because he still refused to betray the names of those
who had offered him shelter, Topcliffe ordered him to be again
hung up. To this Father Southwell quietly answered " Then, :

let us go in the Name of the Lord."

In the account of Brother Nicholas Owen's martyrdom we
learn that, although he was suffering from hernia, and the law
strictly forbade the racking of such a one, in order to ensure his
living through the torture, they encircled his waist with a large
iron band ; bUt such was the vehemence with which they tortured
him, adding huge weights to his feet, that at last nature gave way
and he was Uterally torn asunder. The account tells us that
throughout the whole of his passion they were unable to extort
anything from him but the most fervent ejaculations of the Holy
Names of Jesus and Mary.
Now, whUe we are treating this subject of the awful suffering
of our forefathers in the faith, a visit to one of those terrible prisons
where the Ufe's blood of martyrs was copiously shed, would not
be out of place.
In these pages many prison houses are mentioned, whefe,
with heroic fortitude, the confessors of the faith were subjected
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 269

to the cruellest of tests. They are like so many wine-presses

from which came forth the precious vintages that are the glory
and dehght of the everlasting mansions.
The most famous of them all is the great fortress which stands
to this very day almost untouched by the corroding influences of
time and greed it looms over the banks of the Thames and is
called the Tower of London.
It is one of the most historic buildings in the whole of England.
It carries the mind back over eight hundred years. It was about
the year 1078 when WiUiam the Conqueror first conamissioned the
Benedictine Gundulf, of the Abbey of Bee, in Normandy, to design
the fort. This Gundulf was a friend of St. Anslem, Archbishop of
Canterbury, and afterwards Bishop of Rochester. He bmlt the
great keep called the White Tower.
It is probable that Ranulf Flambard took a hand in its develop-
ment. This unscrupulous man so severely condemned by Ordericus
Vitalis, was the Chancellor of the Exchequer of WiUiam Rufus,
and he was imdoubtedly a mighty builder. Durham, of which
he was later made Bishop, owes much to his energies. He built
up the banks of the Wear, began the erection of the Cathedral,
and earned fame especially by the vastly strong curtain wall which
he erected. The Uttle parish of Godalming, some two nules from
the Loseley of this our story, owes its church to him. His royal
patron is said to have " pilled and shaved the people with tribute
especially to spend about the Tower of London." It is extremely
probable, therefore, that Flambard assisted in this operation, as
he did in many other gleanings of his sovereign. He enjoyed the
distinction of being one of the first distinguished prisoners in
that stronghold. On the occasion of the accession of Henry the
First to the throne, he lost favour with the Crown, and was com-
mitted to the Tower, from which, however, he escaped by bribing
his gaolers, and then attached himself to Robert, Duke of
Normandy.
During the reign of Richard I., Longchamp, the then Chancellor
and Bishop of Ely, dug the immense moat round the Tower.
Many of the most stirring events of Enghsh History are connected
directly or indirectly with this great monument. The struggle
between King John and the Barons had, to a very large extent,
this fortress as its scene of action. In fact, it may be said without
exaggeration that, for weU-nigh eight hundred years, no place has
been more mentioned by English historians. No palace has seen
more brilliant pageants issuing forth from its walls, no place has
held so great a number of august prisoners, no prison has resoimded
 ;

270 IN THE WINE-PRESS

more with the shrieks of the tortured, and no arena has shone with
greater deeds of heroism.
For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with this historic
fort a description of it would not be out of place, and I shall there-
fore ask the reader to follow as patiently as possible the simple
directions and reflections which are here detailed.
Like all such strongholds its approach is guarded by a moat,
which is about one hundred feet wide, and was formerly flooded
with the waters of the Thames, but is now used as a parade and
playground for the garrison. Four bridges with their causeways
spanned the moat. To the west stood the Lion Gate Bridge
the second was (and still is) that of the Middle (or Byward) Tower
the third faces the river at Traitor's gate, under the St. Thomas
Tower, and the fourth is that at the eastern extremity, near to a
dam which connected the tower above the Iron Gate with the tower
formerly called Galle3niian's Tower, or " the tower leading to the
Iron Gate." The chief approach to the Tower from the land side
was by means of a drawbridge at the Byward. You would then
enter at the Lion Gate and pass over a causeway to the Middle
Tower. But the Lion Tower, which was so called on account of
its proximity to the Tower menagerie, has together with the beasts
been removed. The Middle Tower is now the first by which the
present visitor enters the fortress. It has been greatly modernised.
It is called Middle Tower on account of its original position between
the Lion and Byward Towers, to the latter of which it formed the
outwork. It protects the western and land approach to the fortress.
Next we come to the B3nvard Tower, which forms the gatehouse
of the Outer Ward of the Tower, and dates back to the reign of
Elchard II. Passing under this gatehouse we reach the Inner
Ward. Here is the Traitor's Gate on one side, and opposite it
St. Thomas's Tower, Formerly cross-waUs, guarded with strong
gates, defended the Inner Ward, but these have long since dis-
appeared, together with the grated walls which shut in the passage
across the Ward from Traitor's Gate to the Bloody Tower.
The Wakefield Tower and its companion, the Bloody Tower,
form one block of buildings. It is chiefly the work of Henry III.
Formerly it was called the Record or Hall Tower, and for many
centuries contained the documents relating to the fortress, now kept
in the Record Office in Chancery Lane. Its second name of Hall
Tower was probably given to it because of its proximity to the
great hall of the Palace, which was destroyed by Cromwell. Its
present name is, no doubt, derived from the prisoners who were
tiaken at the battle of Wakefield in December, 1460, when the
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 271

Lancastrians, led by Warwick, defeated the Yorkists. The

unfortunate prisoners were interred in a vaulted chamber in the
basement of the tower. The dungeon was octagonal in form,
twenty-three feet ia width by ten feet in heighth. It walls are
thirteen feet in thickness. There were some frescoes on the walls
of the first floor. These were destroyed by Lalvin, the restorer.
During the Jacobite war in 1745, between sixty and seventy prisoners
were crammed into this dungeon. Half of them died.
The regalia was kept in the upper chamber of this Tower. The
chamber is octagonal in shape, thirty feet in diameter, with bays
opened into the walls. The beautiful carved ceiling is a modem
copy of the original. In the bay on the north-eastern side are two
deep recesses, that under an archway being the original entrance
into the chamber and connecting it with the palace. It is now
walled up. The recess to the south-east was formerly an oratory,
and is mentioned in the Tower records of the year 1238. Tradition
points to this room as being the scene of the murder of Henry VI.
by Richard III., who is supposed to have entered through the
passage from the Palace, and finding Henry praying ia the oratory,
stabbed him to death.
The Bloody Tower is a building of three storeys, with an elevation
of forty-seven feet. The entrance is guarded by a portcullis, which,
like that of the Byward Tower, is stUl in working order : these
two Eire said to be the only remaining portcullises in England still
capable of being used. The Httle princes were murdered in this
Tower. Here also the brutal Judge Jeffreys died of delirium
caused by drink and despair.
A subterranean passage ran to the east of the Wakefield Tower
from the White Tower, and opened out towards the river front
at the eastern side of St. Thomas's Tower, at a depth of five feet
below the actual surface of the ground. It was six feet high, and
so narrow that only one person could pass along it.
Tower Green has buildings on three sides. On the southern
side is the King's House, now occupied by the Lieutenant of the
Tower.
Overlooking the Thames is the Council Room in which many
martyrs were examined.
At the south-western comer of the King's House is the Bell
Tower, a passage leading into it from the first floor of that building.
—
A bell formerly hung in the turret of this tower hence the name.
The Bell Tower, dating from the time of Richard I. or Henry II.,
is an irregular octagon, sixty feet in height and thirty in diameter.

The lower portion is of solid masonry, the walls varying^Jrom

272 IN THE WINE-PRESS
nine to thirteen feet in thickness. There are only -two floors in
this Tower, the lower having a fine vaulted ceiling. The room in
the upper storey is a circular chamber, eighteen feet across, with
walls eight feet thick. This prison is reached by a narrow stair-
case from the Bang's House, and is lighted by four windows.
Blessed J. Fisher was imprisoned in the upp)er chamber in the
reign of Henry VIH., Blessed Thomas More being confined in the
—
one below. (Gower.)
At the entrance to the upj>ermost room the following anonymous
and undated ioscription was yet to be seen in 1S30 " By torture
:

strange my truth (trovths) was tried, yet of mj' liberty denied.

Therefore reason hath me persuaded that patience must be embraced
though hard fortune chaseth me with smart, yet patience shall
prevail."
The Bishop of Ross, John Lesley was confined here for two
years.
The Beanchamp Tower stands at a distance of 141 feet from the
Bell Tower. B. Thomas, according to Dom Bede Camm, was
confined here. Here also languished PhiKp, Earl of Arundel,
who was eventually executed in 1595. But his death was not,
as Bayley and Gower say^ beheading, but poisoning. (State
Papers, Domestic, Elizabetii, VoL CCXXXR'. 48), nor was the
aQ^ed offence that of aspiring to the hand of Mary Queen of Scots,
but solely that he was reconciled to the faith of his forefathers.
It would appear that Elizabeth had made advances to him which
were indehcate in the extreme, for he was married and possessed
of a httle boy. Soon afterwards, with unregal meanness, she
sent Lord Himsdon and Walsingham to " draw him out," as r^ards
religion, artfuUy concealing herself with Lord Leicester in order
to overhear the conversation. He latched at the she-supremacy
over the Church. He had long been condenmed to pay a heavy
fine as a recusant, and had been imprisoned for some yeais. In
this state, according to his own account to Lord Burghley, he was
" full of all miser\- and void almost of any comfort " (30th March,
1590. State Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth, ^'oL CCXXV. 41,
CCXXXI. 48). \STien the Armada was expected he was carefully
watched. Two fellow prisoners, \MUiam Shelley and Sir Thomas
Gerard, examined separately, were terrified into asserting that
Lord Arundel had on a certain occasion induced an old priest to
say Mass for the success of the Spanish invasion ; but this assertion
had only been secured by a threat of torture and death, and the
witnesses who had made it when he was
refused to face the Earl
put upon his trial before his peers. Burghley on this occasion
 — :

IN THE WINE-PRESS 273

cross-examined Lord Arundel with art and skill, but it is dear,

from a consideration of the evidence, that the latter had simply
lifted up his prayers to Heaven for himself and his companions
all threatened with assassination — and that the charges were
certainly not proven. However, after an hour's dehberation he
was found guilty of being reconciled to the old Faith, and was
condemned to death. The sentence was not carried out until
seven long weary years after, when poison was secreted in his food.
Elizabeth, with a refinement of cruelty, kept the axe suspended
over him, allowing him to remain in daily anticipation of Ws end.
The poison acted slowly and caused great agony during two months.
The blessed Martyr's inscription may still be read. It runs as
follows : "Quanto plus afflictionis pro Christo in hoc saeculs
tanto plus gloriae cum Christo in futuro. Arundell, June 22nd,
1587. Gloria et honore eum coronasti Domine. In memoria
aetema erit Justus." (" The more we suffer afflictions for Christ
in this world, the greater shall be our glory with Christ in the next.
With glory and honour hast thou crowned him, O Lord. The
just shall be in everlasting remembrance.")
Another inscription in this prison is that of Dr. John Storey
" 1570, Thorn. Store Doctor." He was a distinguished civilian
and had frequently written in defence of the old Religion. A
brief notice of him occurs elsewhere in this book.
Another inscription reads as follows :
—
" Thomas Miagh which
lieth here alone that fain would from hence be gone by torture
strange my truth was tried yet of my Uberty denied 1581. Thomas
Myagh." Again we see other cuttings in the wall such as Thomas
Rooper 1570, Edward Cuffin, 1562, WiUiam Beverige 1562 (probably
a Priest), Edmund Pole and " A Pole, 1564, S. H. J. To serve
God. To endure penance. To obey fate is to reign."
Note the inscription of Thomas Abel (A-Bell). He was a priest
of great learning and an Oxford Doctor of Divinity. He had
been domestic chaplain to Catherine of Arragon and had offended
the King by championing Catherine's cause during the trial of
divorce between her and Henry'. Soon after the divorce he was
called upon to take the Oath of Supremacy, but refused. For
this offence he was drawn, hanged and quartered as a traitor on
July 30th, 1540. He had been confined in the Tower seven years,
and during the space of a little over a year he had been tortured
thirty-seven times. Above his inscription is that of Dom Adam
Sedbar, prior of the Cistercian house of Jervaulx, in Yorkshire.
He was called upon to surrender his monastery to the King. But
as the monastery was not his own private property, he was unable
274 IN THE WINE-PRESS
to betray his trust, and therefore refused to do so. He suffered
martjn-dom in 1537.
In a Une with his inscription is that of Dr. Cook, Prior of Doncaster,
who was hanged and quartered at Tyburn in 1540, for denial of
the King's Supremacy. In all there are ninety-one names on the
walls. (Gower, p. 34, Vol. I.)
But it is now time to leave this prison cell of manifold memorials
and to visit other portions of the Tower.
To the north, and attached to the Beauchamp Tower is the
Chaplain's house, with an uninteresting modernised front facing
the Green, and but a few paces distant is a small paved plot of
ground railed in by order of Queen Victoria. Here is the site of
the scaffold. In former times the ground around this spot was a
place of burial, being the churchyard of the chtirch which faces it.
St. Peter ad Vincula was buUt in the reign of Henry I. and was
therefore in the Norman style. It was burnt in 1512, aiid a new
building was erected about the year 1530. Macaulay expressed his
disgust at the vandalism which has in more recent times " trans-
formed this interesting little church into the likeness of a meeting-
house in a manufacturing town." Since then further restorations
have given it a somewhat closer resemblance to the original sixteenth
century buUding. Stow, writing in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
says that there he before the High Altar " two dukes between two
queens, to wit, the Dtike of Somerset and the Duke of Northumber-
land, between Queen Anne (Boleyn) and Queen Catherine (Howard),
all four beheaded." Besides these, Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of
KUdare, and Thomas FitzGerald and his uncles, Viscoimt Rochford
and Lady Rochford, Thomas Cromwell, Blessed Margaret of
Salisbury, and at least two Pooles (his nephews), the Earl of Essex
and the Duke of Monmouth, and the Scotch lords who took part
in the insmrection of 1745 are buried here. Although a tablet
near the entrance bears the names of B. J. Fisher and B. Thomas
More, it is extremely doubtful that these two are here interred.
At the back of the Chapel of St. Peter, and at the north-western
angle of the Inner Ward, stands the Devereux Tower, which
contains two storeys. This Tower dates from the reign of Richard I.
Its appellation dates from the time of Elizabeth, when Robert
Devereux, Earl of Essex, was here a prisoner. The upper part
of the Tower is modem. Formerly it was most gloomy and for-
bidding. A small winding staircase within the tower leads to a
couple of prisons constructed in the thickness of the BaUium wall.
A secret passage is supposed to have led thence, to the Flint Tower,
which stands to the east of the Devereux Tower, communicating
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 275

ako with the vaults under St. Peter's Chapel. Nothing remains,
however, in the present modernised state of these passages or
prisons to indicate their former appearance.
The Flint Tower Ues due east, at a distance of ninety feet from
the Devereux Tower, but as it was found to be in an entirely ruinous
state in 1796, the old fabric was pulled down and the present ugly
brick tower rose in its place. The old tower had been known by
the name of " Little Hell," probably from the noisomeness of its
dungeons, and its evil reputation for possessing the worst lodgings
in the fortress. Ninety feet from the Flint Tower stands the
Bowyer Tower, of which only the base is ancient. This Tower
dates from the reign of Edward III. Formerly there was a vault
in a dungeon in this Tower closed by a trap door, which opened on
a flight of steps from these steps a narrow cell led into a secret
;

passage, made in the thickness of the Ballium wall. This was

one of the many secret passages which ran below ground and of
which an important one was discovered when the Main Guard
building was demoHshed in 1899.
Mr. G. J. Clark thinks that a secret passage ran between the
White Tower and the King's House and Father Gerard's account of
;

the way he was led to and from the White Tower and the Governor's
or King's House points to an undergroimd passage between those
buildings. It has been surmised that a subterranean passage led
from out the Tower below the Thames to the Southwark side of
London. As we have seen, in the Beauchamp Tower a secret
passage was discovered in the thickness of the Ballium wall, where
persons might have been placed to watch and overhear all that
went on within the tower. (Gower.)
The Bowyer Tower was so named from the manufacturing of
bows which was situated in this Tower.
The Brick Tower and the Martin Tower have been shamefully
modernised by that master vandal Sir Christopher Wren. The
Tower of London is in truth not the only place in which he had
perpetrated barbarous restorations. Witness Bow Street Church.
In the Martin Tower the Blessed Ralph Sherwin was confined.
He was taken in London in 1580, and was imprisoned in the
MarshaJsea, and afterwards taken to the Tower, where he was
several times racked. He was tried, together with Fr. Campion
and other priests. He died at Tyburn on December ist, 1581.
five
Following the Ballium Wall for about one himdred feet, we
come to the Constable Tower, next to which is Broad Arrow
Tower. In this latter were many inscriptions of interest to us.
Whitewash has almost obUterated them. Britton and Brayly
276 IN THE WINE-PRESS
in 1830 gave a list of those then visible. Among them are the
names of Giovan' Battista 1556, Thomas Forde, 1582, John
Stoughton 1586 and J. Gage, January, 1591. They were most
likely all priests. This at least is the opinion of Gower.
Near the top of this tower a small doorway opens on to the plat-
form that runs along the Ballium Wall. Close to this doorway is
a narrow cell six feet deep and three and a half feet wide, with only
one small loophole to admit air and light.
The Salt Tower forms the south-east angle of the Inner Ward.
It is probably one of the oldest buildings in the Tower. It dates
from the reign of William Rufus. It possesses a vaulted dungeon
with deep recesses in the walls. Inscriptions are again found in
the walls of this Tower. Father Gerard and Father Walpole were
confined in one of the lower cells of this Tower. Both were
tortured several times.
The Cradle Tower is only a few paces from the Salt Tower. It
was built in the time of Henry III. It had several dungeons.
From the roof of this tower Father Gerard and Mr. Arden made
their escape by means of a rope and the assistance of two Jesuit
lay brothers, John Lily and Richard Fulwood.
The White Tower is, as we have said, the oldest portion of the
great fortress. It is approached by a flight of steps. In
Norman times these steps did not exist, for Norman strongholds
had no entrance on the ground floor ; ingress and egress were by
an external staircase, which could be removed at the approach of
danger.
We ascend to the first floor by a spiral stone staircase in the
thickness of the wall. At the foot of the stairs were found, during
the reign of Charles II., some children's bones, supposed to have
been those of the little princes. Because the story of the murder
of these little boys rests on the authority of Sir Thomas More,
Bayley and Gower and others have thought fit to reject it.
We now reach the state apartments. They comprised two
floors, the first of which was the Council Chamber. It is now
occupied by a magnificent collection of armour, one of the finest
in existence. In another room is a collection of iron collars and
other instruments of torture formerly described as having been
taken from captured vessels of the Spanish Armada. But this is
not true. The iron collar, is very massive, with a row of iron
spikes within its ring, which, when fastened round the sufferer's
neck, must speedily have caused death. Lord Dillon vouches for
its having been used in the Tower long before the Spanish ships
were seen in the Channel. They were used for extorting confessions
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 277

from Catholics. These are in a case, together with what

are now called Skefl&ngton's irons, and some thumbscrews and
bilboes. These so-called SkefBngton's irons were indeed used as
shackles, but they are not that instrument of torture commonly
called "Scavenger's Daughter." We shall see presently what was
the nature of this cruel instrument. Here is also the execution
sword probably used at the execution of Anne Boleyn. The Axe
and Block are also in this room. On this block and with this axe
were struck ofi the heads of Lords KUmamock and Balmerino in
1746 and of Lord Lovat in the following year.
A very narrow passage in the thickness of the wall (the main
walls on thiq storey are thirteen feet in thickness, the cross walls
eight feet), leads to the Chapel of St. John. With the exception
of the Laidy Chapel at Durham Cathedral, St. John's Chapel in
the White Tower is the most beautiful of the Norman Chapels in
England. It is probable that the walls of this Chapel were decorated
with frescoes and hung with tapestries, the windows to the east
glowing with figures of saints and angels. Henry III., in 1240,
ordered three stained-glass windows for this Chapel, and in one
of these, that looking to the north, was pictured " Our Blessed
Lady holding her Divine Infant." In the two others, looking to
the south, " the Holy Trinity, with St. John, Apostle and Evan-
gelist." The rood screen and cross were also ordered by this King,
and " two fair images to be set up and painted." The latter were
probably representations of St. Edward holding a ring, which he
presents to the Patron of the Royal Chapel.
\Vhen the Reformation came in 1550, St. John's Chapel was
despoiled of all its artistic treasures, by order of the Government.
Its frescoes were coated with whitewash, its stained glass windows
were destroyed and all its ecclesiastical ornaments removed. In
later times the Chapel became a repository for the Tower records.
Then it was actually proposed to turn the building into a mihtary
tailor's warehouse. Prince Albert, however, saved it from further
destruction by ordering a removal of the archives and a thoroi^h
cleansing of the premises.
Gower says that the Council Chamber is on the fourth floor of
the Keep. This is called the State Floor. The room to the west
which is now called the Council Chamber, was the scene of that
episode at the commencement of the reign of Richard III., im-
mortalised by Shakespeare, when that monarch accused Lord
Hastings of treason, and ordered him to be taken out to instant
execution {" Richard III.," Act III., Scene 4). The chamber is
ninety-five feet long by forty-six wide. Within the exterior wall
278 IN THE WINE-PRESS
runs a vaulted passage communicating with the stairs in the north-
eastern turret. It was in this passage, which is only three feet in
width, that the soldiers were concealed when Richard had planned
the death of Hastings. In Norman times this chamber was used
as a State Prison, and it was from one of its windows that Bishop
Flambard let himself down by a rope. It was also the prison of
Charles of Orleans in the reign of Henry V.
Formerly the basement and the prison within it could only be
reached from above, by the staircase running through the circular
turret. In the vault or sub-crypt under the Chapel of St. John is
the frightful prison called " Little Ease," and here Guy Fawkes is
supposed to have passed seventy-five days. Blessed Edmund
Campion was thrust into this cell immediately on entering the Tower
and kept there for four days. Father Briant, on being taken down
from the rack after hours of intense torture, was confined in " Little
Ease " for fifteen days. Father Stephen Rowsham, of Oxfordshire,
in 1583 or 1584 was confined in Little Ease for eighteen months.
Facing Little Ease is the Torture Chamber. Herein suffered
most cruelly many of our martyrs.
The present entrance from outside is quite modern. Formerly
this room was in total darkness being below the level of the ground.
The walls are fifteen feet thick at this level. What is now the
entrance with its wooden steps, was formerly filled up with solid
masonry. Thus the agonising screams of the tortured could never
penetrate from these dungeons to the outer world. Father Gerard
relates that when he was brought into this room he was shown the
rack and the various instruments of torture ranged along the walls
and the uses of them were explained to him, and on his refusal to
answer questions he was suspended by the wrists for several
hours. Father Gerard describes the horrible sensations which
were caused by this suspension, and how through sheer agony he
'swooned several times. While in this torture he was phed with
questions in order that he might betray the names and whereabouts
of his friends
; but on his giving no answer to his tormentors, Waade
said " then hang there till you rot," and turned away and left him.
Once he had to be revived by warm water being poured down his
throat ; he was then hung up again.
The Rack was eighteen feet long. Hallam in his " Constitutional
History," says that the rack was seldom idle in Queen Ehzabeth's
reign. The holes in which the four posts of the rack were placed
are still discernible in the floor. The torture of the rack was sD
severe that several priests are known to have died under it. Father
Campion was left on it aU night and Norton, the rack-master,
;
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 279

boasted that he had stretched Father Briant a foot longer than

God had made him.
Amongst the State Papers, document after document has come
to light showing the hideous cruelty practised upon Catholics of
those times. One Richard Fulwood, a layman, thus details
his own miserable lot in Bridewell :
—
"He had hardly enough black
bread to keep him from starving. His abode was a narrow, strongly-
which there was no bed, so that he had to sleep sitting
built cell, in
on the window-cell, and was months without taking off his clothes.
There was a Uttle straw in the place but it was so trodden down
;

and swarming with vermin that he could not lie on it. Besides aU
this, he was daily awaiting an examination by torture " (Records

of the English Province, Vol. I., p. 494, London 1877).

The prisons of the country were full of Catholics suffering
for their faith. The number of priests and lay people who died
heroic deaths during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI.,
James I., Charlesand even later, will perhaps never be known
I.,

in this world. would be an almost impossible task to make

It
any reUable caculation and I have made no attempt to do so. A
;

remarkable statement, however, comes from the pen of Father

William Holt, who wrote in the year 1596. He says " all the :

CathoUc Bishops of England, and nearly all the old Clergy have
died off in prison, or in exile or in other places. Five Seminaries
founded beyond the seas for students of this nation, together with
the Society of Jesus, have sent forth no less than six hundred
good and well-trained Priests into England. Further, after the
glorious confession, death, imprisonment and repeated banishments
of a number of them, there are stiU in England three hundred
Priests occupied in teaching the Catholic faith and administering
the Sacraments, without counting a remnant of the old clergy,
who are still engaged in these ministries." {Rec. Jes. Collectanea
Part II., p. 1242).
As we stand, in the Torture Chamber the mind is haunted with
the memory of the horrible instruments which furnished this
apartment. First the rack this was a large open frame of oak,
:

raised three, feet from the ground. The prisoner was leiid under
it, on.his back,, on theifloor his wrists and ankles were attached
;

by, cords to two rollers at the end of the frame these were moved ;

by levers .in opposite dilutions, till the body rose to a level with
the fraine. Questions were then put, and if the answers did not
prove satisfactory, the sufferer was stretched more and more, till
the, bones started from their sockets.
The Scavenger's Daughter was a broad hoop of iron, consisting
28o IN THE WINE-PRESS
of two parts, fastened to each other by a hinge. The prisoner
was made to kneel on the pavement, and to contract himself into
as small a compass as he could. Then the executionejr, kneeling on
his shoulders and having introduced the hoop under his legs, com-
pressed the victim close together, till he was able to fasten the
extremities over the small of the back. The time allotted for this
kind of torture was an hour and a half, during which time it com-
monly happened that, from excess of compression, the blood Started
from the nostrils sometimes, it is believed, from the extremities
;

of the hands and feet.

Iron gauntlets were so made that they could be contracted by
the aid of a screw. In them the victim was suspended by ihe
wrists for hours together. This caused intense agony in the whole
body, and the arms and hands became swollen, so that when the
torture was repeated the awful pain increased proportionately.
Iron masks, thumb screws, iron boots, to crush the members of
the sufferers, were also to be seen hanging from these walls.
Instances of hanging up prisoners by the thumbs are to be
found among the cruelties inflicted on Catholics of those days.
Thus Father John Ingram " was hung up by the joints of his fingers
and arms in extreme pain so long that the feeling of his senses was
clean taken from him " (Notes by a Prisoner in Ousebridge Kidcote,
in Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, 3rd series, p. 314.
London, 1872).
We might ask here, while stiU, in spirit, we stand in the Chamber
of Horrors, how is it possible for human beings to be guilty of such
fiendish cruelty as that which is described by the records of past
ages ? What is the history and psychology of this awful tragedy
of human brutality ?

The subject too large to be dealt with at length in this volume

is ;

but it has an important bearing on very many questions in history.

We therefore cannot pass it over in silence.
Punishment being cajled by jurists " the sanction of the law,"
the application of legal penalties has ever played a most important
part in all legislation. Hence there can be no doubt that an
unjust or umneasured use of this dangerous sanction by any •

government must influence adversely the verdict of history. Man's

better feelings revolt against brutality of every kind, more especially
when it is exercised against those who have not yet been convicted

of crime. Weare shocked by the very mention of torture. By

torture, I mean a
studied infliction of pain which is protracted
beyond the length of ordinary corporal punishment, and is designed
to produce a growth of agony in proportion to its duration. But
 IN THE ^\^NE-PRESS 281

when we read of its having been appUed, in numberless cases, with

the sole object of extorting evidence, our sense of justice is greatly
offended. We readily admit that there are cases where it is a
crime to hold back information, and in such cases, when the
refractory witness is justly convicted, condign and adequate
punishment should be inficted, but never torture in the sense above
defined. What, indeed, is the value of evidence extracted by
torture ? Under the maddening influence of pain, a man may
be forced to say anything. \\Tiat, then, are we to say of those
cases where torture was applied to draw from innocent men and
women the most sacred and inviolable secrets, to make them betray
their friends, to oblige them to reveal that whidi they had known
only under the seal of confession, or to force them to reveal the
whole state of their consciences ?
Now, we know that Cathohc governments were by no means free
from the chai^ of torturing ; but I have no hesitation in asserting
that this charge is to be laid at the doors of Protestants rather than
of Catholics, and I maintain that these pages help to strengthen
this judgment.
David Jardine " A reading on the use of torture in the criminal
Law of England previous to tlie Commonwealth," sajre that
" though in England the application of torture is not expressly
forbidden by any Act of Parliament, there is no instance of its
appUcation subsequently to the Gjmmonwealth (1649-59)." I am
not prepared to follow him in thi'; view. However, previous to
the so-called Reformation torture was undoubtedly in use. Sir
Edward Coke, in the 3rd Institute, p. 35, relates the traditional
story that the rack was brought to the Tower by the Duke of
Exeter in the reign of Henry VI., and was for that reason called
" The Duke of Exeter's Daughter."
Sir John Fortescue, Chief Justice of England, says that torture
was " against Magna Carta, Cap. 29. " NuUus liber homo ahquo
modo destruatur ; nee sujjer eum ibimes, nee super eum mittemus,
nisi per l^ale judicium parium snorum, aut per legem terrae."
And accordingly all the said ancient authors are against any pain
or torment to be put or inflicted on the prisoner before attainder,
nor after attainder, but according to judgment. And there is no
one opinion in our books, or judicial record (that we have seen and
ranember) for the maintenance of torture or torments." In the
4th Institute, p. 48, the same writer, in commenting upon the
above words of Magna Carta, again asserts that they amount to
an express prohibition to torture.
It is related by Holinshed and other chronicleis, that in 1468
 ;

282 IN THE WDfE-PRES5

Sir Thomas Coke, Lord Mayor of London, was tried fm- S^
Treason, and convicted of misprision of treason, upon the single
testimony of one Hawkins, dicited by torture ; and that Hawkins
himself was convicted of treason upon his own confesaon on the
lack, and executed. Jardine says that we can hardly entertain a
doubt that tortnre prevailed nnder the despots wbo filled the
thione in ages preceding the sixteenth centmy, when foreign war^ie
or intestine tumults were rife. He admits that there is difficulty
in anthenticating particular cases, because in such of the conndl
books as are extant of a date previously to the reign of Edward \1.
the torture warrants are not entered. It was not the practice
to record these warrants in the minutes of the Privy Conndl before
the middle of the sixteenth century. We are not, however, to
suppose that we have no express evidence that torture was used
in more ancient times. One instance in the reign <rf Henry VI.
I have already alluded to, as related by Hohnshed ; many others
are mentioned by chroniclers and historians as occurring during
the fifteenth century ; and in the reign of Hemy VHL there is a
recital in Act of Pariiament (27 Hen. MU., c. 4) that few offendos
of a particnlar dass would confess " without pains or tortnre."
" In the same reign, too, we find Sir William Skevington, a
hentenant of the Tower, immortalising himself bv the invention
ofa new engine of tortnre, called Skevington's Irons, or 5ke\Tngton's
Dan^ters, which was known and dreaded for a century aftawards
under the corrupted name of the Scavenger's Daugtiter."
By the Commons' Journal (14 ilay, 1604), it appears that at
that time a committee was appointed by the House of COTmnons
to inquire as to the state of a dungeon called " Little Ease " in
the Tower. The committee reported that " they found in little
Elase in the Tower, an engine of tortnre, devised by Mr. Ske-v^-ington,
some time Uentenant of the Tower, called Skevington's Dan^ters
and that the place itself was very loathsome and nndean, and not
used for a long time either for a prison or other cleanly purpose."
The instrument called Scavenger's Daughter is thus described
by Tanner in his " History of the Jesuits " " The diief form of
:

torture used by the English after the rack is that called the
Scavenger's Daughter, the very opposite of the former. VMiilst
the rack on whidi the hands and feet are bound in opposite directians
tears the timbs apart, by dragging them from their sockets, the
Scavenger's Dau^ter on the contrary violentfy binds and presses
them as it were into a round heap. The body is thus bent up in
three ways, the l^s are {Hcssed on to the thij^is and the thiols
into the stomach. The body is thns enclosed in two iron aicbes^
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 283

the ends of which are forced together into a circle by the efforts of
the executioner, while the body of the wretched victim is almost
crushed by being shut up in a shapeless mass. This torture is
frightfuland much more horrible than the rack. By its cruelty
the whole body is so shut in that in some cases the blood exudes
from the extremities of the hands and feet, in others the wall of
the stomach is broken and the blood flows abundantly through
the naustrels and throat " (Tanner's Societas Europoea, p. 18).
Registers of the Proceedings of the Privy Council during the
reigns of Edward VI., Mary, EUzabeth, James I., and Charles I.

are still in existence, with the exception of occasional intervals

of a few years ; and in these books there are numerous entries of
warrants from the CouncU authorising the apphcation of torture
for the purpose of compeUing the disclosure of poUtical conspiracies
and crimes of various descriptions. Edward VI., 5 Nov. 1551,
" directs the Constable of the Tower and all others that from time
to time shall have the ordering of the Tower and the prisoners,
there, to be assisting to certain commissioners for putting the
prisoners, or any of them, to such tortures as they shaU think
expedient." Edward VI., 7th Jan., 1552-3, to Lieut, of Tower to
" cause two persons lately taken upon suspicion of a heinous murder
to be put to the tortures."
The earhest recorded instance of the use of torture in the reign of
Queen Mary occurs in 1555, soon after her marriage with Philip of
Spain, and it is remarkable that there is no evidence that torture
was used towards any of the numerous persons concerned in Sir
Thomas Wyatt's rebeUion, which took place soon after Mary's
accession to the throne.
Jardine cites eight cases of warrants for torture during Mary's
reign,and then he points out that Bishop Burnet, in his " History of
the Reformation," cites expressly from the Council books several of
the above-mentioned instances of torture during the reign of Mary,
referring to them as proofs of the Roman Catholic persecutions of
those days, and of a premeditated design on the part of the King
and Queen to introduce the Spanish Inquisition into England.
The enumeration which Jardine had made comprises aU the cases
of torture mentioned by Burnet from the Council books as having
occurred in Mary's reign, and adds several of which he does not
appear to have been aware. Among these recorded and authentic
cases, " I believe," says Jardine, " it cannot be proved that any one
arose from the prosecution of heretics. In some instances it may
be conjectured from a comparison of dates and circumstances, that
this was the case but there is no direct or even probable proof of
;
284 IN THE WINE-PRESS
the fact ; and, on the other hand, it is obvious from the entries
themselves that the majority of them referred to murders, robberies,
embezzlements, and other crimes wholly unconnected with the
ordinances of reUgious bigotry. Admitting, however, the truth of
those tales of torture which have been enrolled and per-
petuated in the annals of Catholic persecution upon the questionable
authority of Fox's Martyrology it is hardly possible that Burnet,
especially if he wrote with the Council books before him, could have
been ignorant that the use of the rack was not pecuUar to the reign
of Mary. Yet the Protestant Bishop, composing his history under
strong party prejudices, is especially careful to throw these cases of
torture into Ids enumeration of the enormities of a Catholic reign as
so many examples of the wickedness of reUgious persecution, and
equally careful to cite not a single instance of the same kind of
injustice from the Protestant reigns which preceded and followed
it. I have already shown instances under the government of
Edward VI. ; 1 now proceed to that of Elizabeth ; and in the long
catalogue of the cases of torture which occurred in the reign of a
sovereign whom Protestant historians deUght to honour, you will not
fail to observe that many instances, and those sometimes the most
prominent for refinement of cruelty, unquestionably and avowedly
arose from Protestant persecution," pp. 21 and 22.
" Among other instruments of power which prerogative had placed
at the disposal of the sovereign, the torture was one peculiarly
appUcable to the discovery of the real or supposed treasons of
religious fanatics ; and accordingly, if we may draw our conclusions
from the entries in the Council books, there is no period of our history
at which this instrument was used more frequently and mercilessly
than during the latter years of Elizabeth's reign," p. 26. A
Cathohc layman, named Thomas Sherwood, a person of education,
had been committed by the ecclesiastical commissioners for hearing
a Mass, and upon being examined, had confessed his belief in
doctrines which were considered to imply that the Queen, being a
heretic, had no title to the Crown, and consequently to amount to
high treason. On the 17th of November, 1577, the Attorney-
general is directed to examine Sherwood for the purpose of drawing
from him the names of other persons who entertained similar
doctrines, and to ascertain from whom he had derived the arguments
contained in his former confession, and orders are given to the
Lieutenant of the Tower to place the prisoner in the " Dungeon
among the rats " if he does not answer willingly. This horrible
dungeon is often mentioned by the Catholic annalists of Elizabeth's
persecution. It is described as a cell below high water mark and
 —
IN THE WINE-PRESS 285

totally dark ; and which infest

as the tide flowed, innumerable rats,
the muddy banks of the Thames, were driven through the orifices
of the walls into thedungeon. The alarm excited by the irruption
of these loathsome creatures in the dark was the least part of the
torture which the unfortunate captives had to undergo ; instances
are related where the flesh has been torn from the arms and legs of
prisoners during sleep by the well-known voracity of these animals.
Sherwood's courage and constancy overcame the horrors of this
dungeon, and, continuing his resolution, a warrant was issued
from the board on the 4th December, 1577, authorising the
Lieutenant, the Attorney and Solicitor-general, and the Recorder
" to assay him at the rack." This having failed, he was executed
in Somersetshire.
As we have already seen, the dire sufferings of many CathoUcs
are recorded in numerous epitaphs engraved on the walls of the
Tower. These cuttings are read by thousands of visitors. But,
for the most part, the sight-seers leave the precincts of our English
Calvary unimpressed by anything but the bigoted fables of the
Marian Persecution for ever repeated as Gospel truths by the
tutored guides of error.
In the basement of the White Tower are several cells which are
in total darkness. When they were used as prisons the prisoner
was deprived of light and air. It is said (without any foundation
at least so thinks Gower) that Sir Walter Raleigh passed his first
imprisonment in one of these. On the walls of one of these dungeons
was carved the inscription of a priest, R. Fisher " Sacris vestibus
:

indutus dum sacra mysteria servans, captus et in hoc angusto

—
carcere inclusus. R. Fisher." (" While clothed in sacred vestments
and celebrating the sacred mysteries I was taken and locked in this
narrow prison. — R. Fisher.")
This the last inscription which is shown to you as you leave the
is
now silentand deserted dungeons. It seems to sound the clarion
call to deeper and more wholesome reflections.
When we read the lists of prisoners in the CUnk, in the Marshalsea,
in the King's Bench, in Bridewell, in the Tower, etc., etc., we can
conjure up pictures of the most dire sufferings inflicted often by the
villainy of gaolers who were well aware that their charges were
anathema to the general pubUc we can imagine the filthy dens in
;

which they were left to rot, and the more disgusting food which was
their daily bread ; we can imagine the cold and hunger and the
vexations of those pestering ministers who were perpetually assaihng
them by their attempts to draw them away from the path of Truth ;

and then we can understand how it was that many names which
286 IN THE WINE-PRESS
appeared at first regularly on the lists of prisoners, gradually dropped
out of the calendar and were heard of no more.
The ingenuity, which was exercised for the purpose of increasing
the sufferings of Catholics in those days, would be almost incredible
if it were not so clearly proved by the most undoubted testimony.

Cardinal Allen in his " Defence of the EngUsh Catholics " tells us that
it was not only the physical pain of the actual tortures to which they

were subjected, but the mind was played upon to terrible purpose.
Those who had been inhumanly racked were immediately afterwards,
not infrequently, taken close beneath the windows or past the doors
of other Catholics in order that their groans and lamentations
might strike terror into their hearts sometimes, too, Catholics
;

were taken down to the torture chamber in order that they

might hear the shrieks of those inside sometimes they were even
;

laid upon the rack for the sole object of filling them with terror,
and then taken away without having gone through the torture.

It would be in place here to give a brief account of the Ufe and

martyrdom of Father Alexander Bryant, who is mentioned in the
letter I have quoted at the beginning of this chapter.
He was a native of Somersetshire, and had been educated at
Oxford, where he entered as a student at Hart Hall in the year 1574
at the age of seventeen. Philip Roundell, the master of the house,
was a man very favourably disposed towards Cathohcs, and his
teachings influenced Mr. Bryant eventually to embrace the Catholic
Faith. From Oxford he went to Rheims, and thence to Douai
where he was ordained a priest in 1579. On coming to England, he
settled for a time in Somersetshire and there he converted the father
of Robert Parsons, the Jesuit. On the i8th April, 1581, he was
taken prisoner at midnight by Norton, who raided the house where
he was lodging. Norton took three pounds in money from him
besides clothes, then conducted him to a magistrate who committed
him to the Counter in London. There he endured great misery
until the day after the Ascension when he was removed to the
Tower of London.
Father Bryant was of such handsome appearance that when at
Oxford he was called "the beautiful Oxford youth. " We are told that
" his countenance beamed forth a serenity, innocency, and amiability
almost angelic, and this not only during youth, but even at the
moment of death, nay, after he had courageously and gloriously
sustained the most inhuman and horrible tortures in the Tower of
London." This angelic appearance was the true outward expression
of his most beauitful soul. Being always keen-witted and of a sharp
 !

IN THE WINE-PRESS 287

intellect, he rapidly mastered all the sciences that came his way.
His knowledge of philosophy was acquired at Oxford and when in
;

the seminary, he made very rapid progress in his theological studies.

We are informed that he was " an excellent Priest, well read in sacred
literature and illustrious in the splendour of many virtues who,
while carrying in his breast a certain Divine emulation, strengthened
by incredible patience, constancy, and submission of soul, poured
itself forth by a gentle and sweetly flowing speech into the hearts
of his hearers. An invincible hero, and a worthy soldier of Christ."
(Rec. Jes. Vol. IV.)
In the house where Father Bryant had been taken had dwelt
a short time before Father Robert Parsons, himself, and a Mr.
Roland Jenks, who had lost one of his ears in punishment for the
profession of the Catholic Faith. Mr. Jenks was a book-binder and
had bound Father Parson's books. It is beheved that it was
Father Bryant's connection with the famous Father Parsons that
earned for him ,the savage manner of his treatment both in the
Counter and in the Tower. They were determined, if possible, to
force from him the information which he was able to give. The
great learning of Parsons and the busy propaganda which was worked
under his direction by means of the press were sources of intense
irritation to the Protestant ministers no less than to the Council.
Father Bryant therefore, was asked to inform as to the whereabouts
both of the Jesuit, and of his printing press. In order to break down
his courage whUe in the Counter they gave him neither food nor
drink until tortured by a burning thirst, he strove to allay the
feverish longing by catching in his hat the rain that dropped from
the eaves. Undaunted, he was taken, as we have said, to the Tower,
there to be put to rttore severe tests. WhUe he was enduring the
keen agonies which have been described in the letter of Father
Sherwin he remained bright and cheerftil, reciting the psalm Miserere,
and begging forgiveness for his tormentors. Such indeed was the
marvel of his courage that Dr. Hammond, who was present, stamped
and stared as a man half beside himself, saying " What a thing is this
If a man were not settled in his religion this were enough to convert
him. This is an evident miracle, but, it is a miracle of indomitable
pertinacity in this Popish Priest ; otherwise from the very pain of
the torture he was bound to confess not only facts, but cognisance of
them, nay, even his very inmost thoughts." The spectacle was
evidently a scandalous one to the reverend doctor ; for he would
stay no longer, and on leaving he said " I would not on any account
:

that anyone were here present who was not well and solidly grounded
in our faith." However, the fnartyr's crown was not yet won :
 :

288 IN THE WINE-PRESS

great contests lay before him. He was rent and torn upon the rack;
But, marvellous to relate, he simply laughed at his tormentors calling
them lazy, saying " Is this aU you are able to do ? If your racks
:

are nothing more than this, come on with a hundred others for the
sake of this cause for I am able to endiue far severer torments for
;

the sake of the Catholic religion."

Father Bryant himself wrote that in the midst of all these efforts
of the persecutor, he was most wonderfully fortified and consoled by
the Holy Ghost, so that while actually under torture he was insen-
sible to pain. But God did not deprive his martyr of the glory of a
martjnr's crown, since immediately after the tormenting he became
2, victim to the most excruciating agonies. It was this Father
Alexander Bryant, of whom Norton boasted that he had " made him
a foot longer than God had made Him." He was also subjected
to the horrible torture of the Scavenger's Daughter. From the rack
he was taken by order of the Commissioners down to an underground
prison which they called Walesbome, or the place of " horrid
aspect." In this hideous pit he lay for fifteen days without any
power to use his racked limbs, in the extremity of pain, and well-
nigh stripped of his clothing. From this pit he was carried again
to be racked with the most ferocious cruelty ; twice again on the
following day they strove in the same way, ineffectually, to break
down his marvellous courage.
At last, after all these and many other torments, on 22nd
November, 1581, he, together with Father Edmund Campion, John
Short, William Filbie, John Hart, Lawrence Richardson and
Thomas Ford, were condemned to death. The sentence was as
follows :
" You must go back to the place from whence you came ;
there to remain until ye shall be drawn through the open City of
London upon hurdles to the place of execution, and there be hanged,
and cut down alive, dismembered and disembowelled, and your
entrails burnt in your sight ; then your heads to be cut off,
and your bodies to be divided into four parts, to be disposed
of at her Majesty's pleasure. And God have mercy on your souls."
It is related of this intrepid athlete that on the way to Westminster
Hall, where sentence was to be delivered, he placed himself at the
head of the little band of martyrs and held aloft a wooden cross
which he had made out of a piece of a trencher, and on which he had
sketched in charcoal the image of our Saviour. On being rebuked
by a Protestant Minister and ordered to cast it away, he said
" Never will I do so, for I am a soldier of the Cross, nor will I hence-
forth desert this standard until death." Then, to another who
sought to wrench it from him, he replied :
" Thou are able to tear
 IN THE WINE-PRESS 289

this Cross from my hands, but from my heart thou canst by no

means pluck it, until I shall shed my blood for Him Who for my sake
poured out His upon the Cross of Calvary."
December ist, 1581, was the day of Father Bryant's final triumph.
Led forth from the Tower, he was bound on a hurdle together with
Father Campion, and drawn by two horses through the mud and
rain. The procession took the usual route by Cheapside and
Holbom. A crowd of men followed it, and women stood at their
doors to see it pass.
. . AUttle farther, and the hurdles were dragged
.

under the arch of Newgate, which crossed the street where the
prison now stands. In a niche over the gateway stood an image of
the Blessed Virgin yet untouched with the axes and hammers of
iconoclasts. Father Campion (and no doubt Father Bryant and the
other martyrs) as he passed beneath, with a great effort raised himself
upon his hurdle and saluted the Queen of Heaven, whom he so soon
hoped to see. The Rev. Christopher Issam, a priest who saw the
martyrs on their way, always declared that they had a smile on their
faces, and as they drew near Tyburn, actually laughed. There
was a cry raised among the people " But they laugh ; they don't
:

care for death."

Notwithstanding the rain and slush, vast crowds gathered
everywhere to witness the final scenes of the noble passion.
They pressed round the hurdles they thronged at the windows
;

and on the house-tops ; they gathered in dense masses around the

scaffold. There were many Catholics there to witness the glory of
Christian fortitude and to hear the great sermon from the Cross.
A Catholic priest was there too, very near the gallows hard by.
;

Sir Francis Knowles, Lord Howard, Sir Henry Lee, and other
gentiemen who were officially present.
The question might here be asked what efforts had been made by
influential Catholics to prevent the crime that was about to be
committed ? The Duke of Anjou, the accepted suitor of Queen
Elizabeth, was then at Court. He was a CathoUc and his chaplain
had accompanied him from France. What interest or part did
he take in the tragedy ? His presence in London was undoubtedly
inconvenient to the Government and had given cause for much
discussion among the members of the Council. Some of them, not
uimaturally, thought that he would intercede for the priests, but
others, with more knowledge of the man, said that the Duke was
occupied with quite different affairs. The execution was settied
upon but the time was yet undetermined. Some were for post-
;

poning it till the Duke had left others on the contrary, thought
;

that it would afford an excellent warning that the marriage would

20
 ;

290 IN THE WINE-PRESS

make no difference to the Crown's attitude towards Catholics.
Moreover, they urged that a delay would give time for the most
influential of the EngUsh nobles and gentry, and for the foreign
courts, to intercede for the lives of the prisoners. Finally, they
urged that it was necessary to strike terror into the hearts of
Catholics who might think that either Spain or France would afford
them some measure of security.
These were the ostensible reasons alleged for hurrying on the
execution ; the secret reason was that eiU the Puritanical part of
the Council, together with Sir C. Hatton, who himself aspired to
the Duke's place, wished to put an insult on the Frenchman, and by
some means or other to stop the marriage for which they pretended
to be so anxious.
Thus no delay was allowed to endanger the cruel designs the ;

following Saturday, 25th November, was fixed for the execution

and to make their object doubly efficacious Burghley selected from
amongst the condemned priests, as companions with Campion,
Sherwin, to represent the English Seminary at Rheims and
Biyant to represent the EngUsh College at Rome. However, the
day was again postponed to the following Wednesday, and then to
Friday. The reason this time seems to have been one of the most
petty spite. It was reported to the Council that when the Martyrs
were told that they must die on the Friday, they were overjoyed
because it happened to be the eve of the feast of St. Andrew the
Apostle, and they comforted one another with the Apostle's
salutation to his Cross —"O bona crux! " The day was therefore
further postponed to Friday, the ist December.
The Catholics bestirred themselves to their utmost bent to
obtain the intervention of the Duke of Anjou. It is said that he
willingly promised everything, and is even supposed to have made
some attempts at performance. When the day was at last fixed,
they again beseiged his doors. The Duke was on the green. It
was one of those bright days when the chiU of winter lifts and the
land is wrapt in the warm embrace of St. Martin's httle summer.
His Grace was enjo5dng full measure of the sunshine in a game of
tennis. He was not to be disturbed, so his chaplain was deputed to
receive the message of the importunate Catholics. They told him
that the martyrs would only suffer in body, but the Duke's fame and
honour would be lost if he permitted this foul tragedy to proceed.
When the Duke heard the message, he stood hesitating, like a man
just awakened from a deep sleep, stroking his face with his left hand.
After a while he raised his right hand with the racket in it, and said
to his companion :
" Play " thus dismissing the matter from his
!
 ;

IN THE WINE-PRESS 291

mind. The Duke, therefore, played his game of tennis and the
;

priests were murdered on Tyburn.

" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints."
Glorious indeed was the death of Campion, Sherwin and Bryant.
Like conquerors they ascended from Tyburn to Paradise yet, not;

like the heroes of worldly dynasties, for they made no show of

arrogance or pride but f aitMul to their PrototjT)e, as lambs they
;

were led to the slaughter. An eye-witness of the passion said that

Father Alexander Bryant " was a man not unlearned ; of a very
sweet grace in preaching, and of an exceeding great zeal, patience,
constancy, and humiUty."
A strange custom of those days of savage vengeance gave the
condemned man the questionable privilege of speaking from
his platform of shame to the assembled multitude. It was
intended to afford the victim of the Law an opportunity of public
reparation for his fault and to provide a wholesome lesson to any
who might feel disposed to imitate his example.
The occasion was turned by our martyrs to excellent account
and we learn from contemporary Records that these sermons from
the scaffold brought the grace of conversion to the CathoUc Church
literally to thousands of spectators.
Father Bryant, standing in the cart under the gallows, with the
rope prepared round his neck boldly proclaimed that he had been
brought up in the Catholic faith and as he proceeded to say that he
;

had been a student of Oxford, he was interrupted by some one ;

" What have we to do with Oxford ? Come to the purpose, and

confess thy treason."
" I am not guilty of any such thing," he answered, with great
animation, " nor am I deserving of this kind of death. I was never
at Rome nor at Rheims at that time when Dr. Saunders came into
Ireland " (at the time of the pretended conspiracy).
To this end he spoke and protested, as he would answer before
God.
The eye-witness who wrote the account of what took place, goes
on to say " He spoke not much, but being urged more than the
:

other two to speak what he thought of the Bull of Pope Pius V., he
said he did believe of it as all Catholics did, and the Catholic faith
doth. And hereupon professing himself to die a true Catholic.'he did
so with an expression of such profound joy, and with his naturally
innocent and angelic face, that he attracted the eyes and hearts of all
upon himself, and confessed aloud that the cause of his exuberant joy
was that God had been pleased to choose him to give his Ufe in
defence of the Catholic faith, and that this joy was wonderfully
292 IN THE Wine-press
increased because he died with Edmund Campion, who professed
the same faith with him, and whom he revered with all his heart.
And indeed it was only his intimacy with the Fathers Campion and
Parsons, and his refusal, amidst the most exquisite tortures, to
reveal anything about them, that was the real cause of his death.
Then, as he was saying the Psalm Miserere mei Deus, the cart was
withdrawn and he was left suspended with more pain, by the
negligence of the hangman, than either of the others. As the rope
had not been properly adjusted, it slipped from its place and
suspended the holy martyr for some time by the chin alone ; hence
when cut down, he was still living and made great efforts to rise ;

but he was violently thrown down and in a state of full consciousness

was disembowelled and dismembered ; but ere the hmbs were
severed, evidently in the extremity of agony, he raised his mangled
body and stood upright on his feet to the great astonishment of all
beholders.
" Behold how the just man dieth."
What became of Father Edward Rishton, who wrote the famous
Latin letter from the Tower ?
According to the Records of the English Catholics, Appendix p. 291
(quoted in Rec. Jes. Vol. IV., p. 516) he was sent into exile in 1585,
together with seventy-one other priests. He had been condemned
to death together with Father Campion, but was reprieved and kept
in gaol until his banishment. He was evidently worn out by the
cruelties of his persecutors; as he died a few months after, i.e., on
the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, 1585, at Pont-a-Mousson. He was
a good scholar, he wrote a valuable diary of events in the Tower
of London, and also a supplement of Sander's History of the English
Schism.
 PART III

The Reformation in Surrey and Hampshire

 Chapter I

THE VINTAGE
The strong wine of Divine Love is infallibly tested in one way alone,
by sacrifice. It was always so it was so in the time of Job, and it
;

was so in the time of Christ, and it has been so ever since. More-
over, it has been God's way with mankind on earth, not only to
exact love, to which He has the fullest right, but to test this loye
from time to time by suffering. This earth is for that. And the
doctrine of sacrifice is one which the Catholic Church has always
taught and always been ready to put into practice. There are
mysteries in the doctrine itself which the Church does not pretend
to unravel, but following in the paths of her Divine Master she
accepts the principle as a foundation for all Christian virtue. As
God in the time of Job used Satan as the instrument whereby His
servant should be put to the test and in the time of Christ again
;

allowed Satan to tempt His own Divine Son and the ministers of
Satan to nail Him to the Cross so, also, in the course of history has
;

He used the instrumentality of perverse and evil minded men to put

His faithful servants to the fiery test.
It is not, however, the purpose of this volume to attribute evil
motives to the persecutors of the Catholic Church. Many of them,
like many of Christ's own persecutors, may in truth have thought
they did God a service, but as these are memories and reflections
called up by the documents before us, we wish to examine in all
seriousness what assuredly are the memories that they bring before
us, and the reflections that they create in our minds.
In Part II. of this book we have followed the advent of the
Seminary Priests to this country, their work and their sufferings.
In this chapter we shall consider, by the aid of the Loseley
MSS., the tribulations of the laity chiefly in Surrey and
Hampshire..
Before, however, examining those records which tell of the strifes
of CathoUcs, of their sufferings, and of their victories, I wish to put
before the reader four documents which tell of the ever-increasing
efforts on the part of the Government to repress and extirpate all
Catholic thought from the land. The first is a letter from the Council
to Sir William More and others ordering them to search the houses

295
296 THE VINTAGE
of recusants of every station in life and to confiscate all the armour
that they find in these houses with the exception of what the
magistrates may, at their discretion, consider necessary for the
defence of these houses. The document may at first sight appear
strange reading to us in these days, but we must remember that
Sir Robert Peel had not yet come to organise the stalwarts who
keep the peace so admirably in our day. In those days every man
was his own policeman, and the retainers and servants of domains
were the guards and watchmen of their masters' life and property.
Not only that, but in case of war the gentry furnished much of the
arms and even armour which were necessary to equip their men
servants for the service of their Country. It was a grave indignity
for subjects to be despoiled of their weapons and we know what
;

fairness was to be expected from the Magistrates who despoiled

them when they did so with rancour in their hearts. We know
also what value is to be attached to the undertaking given by the
Council who had proved themselves over and over again treacherous
and unfaithful.

Council to Sr W. More Sir Th. Browne Sr Fr Garre etc. .

Order to search for weapons of recusants.

{Los. MSS., Vol. v., n. 38.)

" After our hearty commendations. Whereas the Queen's

Majesty hath at this time found it very expedient for divers
good considerations to have such as be known and convicted as
disobedient subjects in the realm for Their refusing to come
to the church and divine service to be unfurnished of armour,
until such time as they shall be content to become conformable
to her highness's laws in resorting to church, and for that purpose
hath made especial choice of you to have the charge thereof in
that Country. We think meet that presently upon the receipt
of these our letters you shall assemble yourselves together in some
apt place to confer about the due execution of the contents of the
same. And first upon the view of the schedule here inclosed
containing the names of such recusants as have heretofore been
certified out of that County you shall divide yourselves and at one
selfsame time to be agreed on between you repair in person with
as great secrecy as you may to the houses of the principal recusants
within the said County and there proceed to the demand and
seizure of such armour and weapons as you shall find in the
said houses or elsewhere belonging unto tiiem, amongst which
it is meant that jacks and all other prevy coats shall also be
 THE VINTAGE 297

comprehended receiving the same of the owners or of such as

have charge thereof by bill indented between you and the said
parties or any other to whose custody they are committed. And
letting them also imderstand that it is not otherwise meant by
her majesty but that the said armour and weapons shall be
wholly restored unto them, at any time when they shall dutifully
conform themselves to her laws in resorting to the church. And
for other recilsants of the meaner sort within the said County,
you shall appoint by your warrants certain honest persons apt
for that purpose to repair to their houses, and there to stay their
armour and weapons in Uke sort which we think meet to be done
at selfsame time that you shall stay the rest, enjoining the said
parties in her Majesty's name that shall so be employed to use
the execution of that service in as much secrecy as conveniently
may be.
" But in this general disarming of the recusants it is nevertheless
thought meet that there should be left unto them for the necessary
defence of their houses such proportion of bows and arrows and
blackebilles as yourselves shall in your own discretion find con-
venient for that purpose. The said armour and weapons so to
be staid by you we think meet should be carried and brought
from the houses where you shall find the same and to be bestowed
in your own houses there to remain until you shall receive farther
direction from us for the disposing of the same otherwise. And
in case you shall find just cause to suspect that any armour
belonging to the same recusants be conveyed away out of their
houses we think it meet you should then by oath examine the
recusants themselves, if they shall be resident within the said
County, or their servants or any other you shall seem good unto
you to sift out the matter and the truth thereof.
" We do also think meet that you shall search and disarm any
other recusant or recusants in that County not contained in this
schedule that you may have notice of to be indicted and convicted
And if there be to your knowledge any that is indeed a recusant,
though he be not convicted, you shall certify as thereof with your
opinion what armour they may have. And lastly her Majesty's
pleasure is that you make inquiry and certify what yearly revenue
as well the recusants mentioned as any other recusants within that
county do or may receive yearly both in their own right and in the
right of their wives as also what value their goods be. Wherein
her highness doth look that no partiality be used and that you
make good show of both wise and well affected persons to be
employed in the said inquiry which we pray you to certify with
 ;

298 THE VINTAGE

as much convenient speed as you may. So we bid you hearty
farewell. From Greenwich the 27th April 1585.
" Your very loving friends
Th. Bromeley, Cane. W. Borgley, Ps
Levesey, J. H. Derby, R. Leycester,
F. Knollys, Chr. Hatton, Fr.
Walsingham, Hunsdon."

We how this search for arms was carried into

shall see later
effect. The second document was written in the following year it ;

is unsigned and directed to Sir William More. The manuscript will

interest most people in these days of food shortage ; it might also
be of very particular interest to the Food Controller. England was
threatened with an unknown danger. Would the Spanish Armada
be successful or not ? Precautions were in any case to be taken
against a possible famine. Joseph was making the rounds of the
granaries of Egypt. But, strangely enough, although the fear of
invasion was a serious source of anxiety to our nilers at the time,
their hatred for Catholics generally was their first consideration
so we now see them tightening the strands whereby Catholics are
eventually to be strangled. They are aJl to be brought up and dealt
with summarily by the Justices.

" To certify Recusants and search Farmers' hams and graneries for
corn gth May, 1586.
" After our very hearty Comms. I send you here inclosed the
copy of such Certificates as I have received from Doctor Lewen
ocnceming the peculiars, and from Doctor Hone, for the whole
shire, I have collected out of those, such as I take we are to deal
withall, by virtue of the Letters from the Lords of her highness's
privie Council, touching their Recusancy, and if they be of any
value so they are to be certified, otherwise to be certified in the
latter end of our certificates with the rest. Because you know how
we have been abused, I have thought good, for the prevention
thereof to speak with Mr. Secretary, who will not have us deal
with men's wives, nor yet with their husbands for them, until we
hear further from his honour, who saith he will move the rest of
her majesty's most honourable privy Councel about that matter.
Because the most part of those are near unto you and not very
far from Dorking as Ewell, Cobham, St. Mary's in Guildford, Stoke
d'Abemon, Dunsfold and Walton-upon-Thames, therefore if it
will please you to make letters unto those Recusants of every of
 THE VINTAGE 299

those parishes, for the causing of every of them to appear before

us at Dorking, the Thursday before Whit Siinday, and to put my
name, I shall like very well thereof. For the residue that are in
Southwark, Lambeth Streatham, Micham and Newington, if
I can get Mr. Levesey or Mr. Bellingham to join with me in this
service, they shall be dealt withall according to the Council's
letters, and put into the certificate, if they be of any value, and will
answer any thing yearly to her Majesty.
" Concerning the last letters from her Majesty's privy Council,
touching com and grain, I have sent copies, and imparted the
division you set down, for which mine own part, I like, and so,
I think, do all the other Justices. But I have not yet heard from
them. I have only in Blackheath and Wooton added Mr.
Cowper's name. For the searching of the farmer's bams in the
parishes not far from Dorking, that serve that market, there had
need be divers of us together at the doing thereof, it were not
meet that Mr. Hifield and I should deal with Mrs. Gainsforde's
bams alone, for sundry respects which I will show you at our
meeting. I pray you consider what shall be meet to be done, for
the search of the bams, granaries and other places where com is
like to be hidden against our next meeting, that we may then
thoroughly agree thereupon and accomplish their Lordships
letters, according to their meaning herein, and in every other
respect so far as we may by law and shall be requisite. I doubt
I shall not be at home before the end of the Term. Thus
ceasing longer to trouble you, I beseach the Lord to preserve
you and yours in prosperous health to His pleasure. From my
house in the Blackfriars, the gth of May, 1586.
The above is unsigned.

Endorsed
" To the Right Worshipful
Sir William More
give these with speed."
{Los. MSS., Vol. v., n. 32.)
We are also favoured in this case with a draft of More's reply to
this letter. What interests us chiefly in this reply is the language
which he uses when speaking of Catholics and the CathoUc Church.
A Magistrate who carefully drafts a letter in which he speaks of
people not yet even convicted as a " popish crew " and of their
church as an " anti-Christian and malignant Church " does not
give us much confidence in the f aimess with which he is likely to
carry out his work.
300 THE VINTAGE
Copy of Sr. W. Move's answer to preceding letter written on fly
leaf of same. Calls Catholics a " Popish crew," and the church
an " Anfi-christian and malignant Church." 1586.

" As well asI like your decision, yet I may apply unto you the
latter end of a sentence of Terence that is " Cum nunquam extrudi
potest itur ad me." When none of you will vouchsafe to admit
him to be joined with you then you cast him out of the devision
wherein he is and join him in service with me. Albert Reynolde
Homeden be not certified yet I think him to be a recusant. For
I have heard that he will neither come to church himself nor suffer
his family. Considering the conditions and qualities of thie man,
I think him very meet to be placed amongst the popish crew and
to be of that Anti-christian and maUgnant Church. Mr. Bostock
the High Sheriff, I think, is able to inform us of Resmolde
Homeden's estate and what other recusants be in those parts,
their names, estates and livings."

The third document which I wish the reader to peruse is one from
the Coimcil to the Lord Admiral and Lord Lieutenant of Surrey.
The danger of inveision was becoming more and more real, and now
we see the Government seizing upon this additional plea for increased
rigours against Cathohcs. We can imderstand the fears of the
Council lest those whom they had hitherto persecuted with such
persistent cruelty and for whom they had entertained nothing but
distrust or hatred might now turn to the foreign power that was
coming, with the hope of an alleviation of their lot. How unjust
and ill-foimded was this distrust, however, the history of those
times has proved beyond question. Of course, there were
diseiffected spirits even among Catholics, disloyal subjects who can
now scarcely be blamed for their disloyalty to a Crown and Coimtry
which treated them so harshly. But in compeirison with the vast
numbers of Catholics who remained staunch even to the hour of
death when their last words were words of love and devotion
to their Sovereign, those disaffected spirits were very few,
and it was extremely unfair to charge the whole body of the
faithful with their disloyalty. But, as I have remsirked before
on the subject of sacrifice, this was not by any means the
first time in history when such methods were used. Christ was
accused of sedition by the Jews, and so were Christians by Nero.
Now, therefore, we must not marvel that Catholics are to be
imprisoned because they are as a body accused of favouring the
Spaniard.
 THE VINTAGE 301

'•
Council to L. Admiral L. Lieutenant of Surrey.

{Losely MSS., Vol. V., n. 30.)

" After our right hearty Commendations to your L.

" Whereas her Majesty hath thought it most convenient (being

advertised simdry ways of the great preparations that are made
akeady of ships and men) to provide all things necessEiry to defend
any invasion or attempt that might be made against the Realm or
other her Majesty's Dominions amongst other things considering
how of late years divers of her subjects by the means of bad
instnmients have been withdrawn from the due obedience they
owe to her majesty and her laws, In so much as divers of them
most obstinately have refused to come to the church to prayers and
devine service, for which respect being so addicted it is hsurdly
adventured to repose that trust in them which is to be looked for in
her other good subj ects. And it is also certain that such as should
mean to invade the Realm would never attempt the same but
upon hope (which the fugitives and rebels abroad do give and
assure them) of those bad members that already are known to be
recusants. It is therefore thought meet in these doubtful times
they should be looked irnto and restrained cis they shall neither be
able to give assistance to the enemy, nor that the enemy should
have any hope of reUef and succour of them. Wherefore, her
Majesty's pleasure is your L. shall cause due inquiry to be made
what number of Recusants are in that County and of what quaUty
and ability they be of wherein such gents as have been Com-
missioners before in those matters are able to instruct you. And
thereupon because the most obstinate and noted persons to be
committed to such prisons as are fitted for their safe keeping, the
rest that are of value and not so obstinate to be referred to the
custody of some Ecclesiastical persons and other gents well
affected, to remain at the charges of the Recusants to be restrained
in such sort as they may be forthcoming and kept from intellegence
one with another. Wherein hoping your L. will take such order
herein as shall be most requisite in that respect. We bid your
L. heartily farewell. From the Court the 4th of January 1587.

Yoiu' L. very loving friends

Jo.Cant Chr. Hatton Can. W. Burghley

H. Besby C. Howard T. Henesy, Fr.
Knolles, James Croft A. Poulet F.
WOLLEY
 —

302 THE VINTAGE

" We pray your L. to certify unto us the names of the Recusants
you shall commit to prison and to the Custody of others and how
they are bestowed.
" To our very good L. the Lord Admiral L. Lieutenant of her
Majesty's County of Surrey, and in his absence to the Deputy
Lieutenant of the said County."
Let us read that document in the light of promises definitely and
solemnly made to Catholics and we will the better understand the
faithlessness of her Majesty's Privy Council. Promises are all mere
—
" scraps of paper " nay, baits to entrap the unwary and to fool the
public. They are to be understood very much in the sense of those
endearing adjectives and pious exclamations which characterise
—
very nearly all the official documents of that time pure hypocrisy.
But the following document wiU convey my meaning more
accurately than any explanations which I could give. It was, as I
have said, a definite and solid undertaking of the Government
to Catholics how soon to be broken we have just seen, and we
;

shall see much more fuUy in the following pages :

Council to Justices.

{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 24.)

To call Recusants to give an account of their estates and to

compound for their freedom from molestation.

From the Privy Counsell to the Justices of the peace to call —
Recusants before them to give account of their estates.
" After or htie Com. The Q. M. upon report made unto her by
us of her Highness's Privy Council of the ready and willing
disposition of the principal Recusants of that C. in jdelding to
the charge lately laid on them for the providing and furnishing of
certain light horses appointed to be leveyed for her highness's
present service in theLow Countries, of her gracious and clement
nature and affection towards her subjects being now pleased
(according to the promise made by our former letters in her
Maj's name, that some ease and alleviation as the necessity of
men's estate should require for the penalties by the laws inflicted
upon them for their disobedience should be granted in case they
did wUlingly assent to the performing of the service required)
to extend her favours in some reasonable degree towards them
with regard nevertheless to the quality of their offence, as a matter
of dangerous examples wherein her Maj. earnestly wisheth their
reformation to the comfort of their souls and her due satisfaction.
And as her Maj. for her part can be contented to ease them of the
common danger of law, the daily vexation of informers and other
 THE VINTAGE 303

ordinary circumstances and inconveniences growing thereby unto

them, so doth she expect that they on their part according to a
just estimate of their living revenues, and in respect that the
common weal requireth no special benefit or service of them, as of
the rest of her Ma. subjects that being in obedience of her laws
shall make offer of a reasonable portion thereof to be yearly paid,
and delivered unto her Maj's receipt to be employed to such good
uses as to her Maj. shall be thought convenient. These shall be
therefore to signify, and authorise you to call several before you all
recusants, as are named in the enclosed schedule, or any other
not named dwelling in that said C. and to acquaint them with the
contents of these our letters by virtue whereof you shaU advise
them to consider of this her Majs. gracious favour tended unto
them, and require them to make offer, and set down every man
according to his particular value, what yearly sum he can be
contented of his own disposition to aUow us aforesaid to be dis-
charged of the peril and penalties of the law whereunto they may
stand subject and hable by reason of the Recusancy. And when
they shall upon this motion made by you unto them deliver unto
you imder their hands in writing several notes of such portion, as
they can be content of their goodwill to contribute yearly whereby
they may be exempted from the penalty infUcted by law, then
shall you require the same notes and send them up unto us,
to the end we may thereupon give you direction what shall be by
her M. thought meet to be further done in that behalf, and to
advertise us by your letters what you think upon their offers
and how the same are to be increased in any reasonable sort.
"So we bid you heartily farewell from Giinwich the 25th of
February 1583
" Your very loving friends
W. Burleigh Howard
"
Walsingham T. Buckeley
F. Knollys
W. HUTTON

In this letter we have the admission of her Majesty the Queen

and of her Majesty's Privy Council that Catholics had proved their
loyalty by the help which they had provided out of their resources
" with ready and wiUing disposition for her Highness's present
service in theLow Countries." Remember that this was done after
they had been harassed and taxed for their religion above measure.
Hence we see how much more grievous was the injustice done to
Catholics in accusing them of being a danger to their country. In
304 THE VINTAGE
the letter I have just quoted Catholics are now trapped (for we can
use no other word) mto revealing the exact state of their fortune.
As a reward for this they are offered the opportunity of compounding
for their freedom from molestation. If they wiU pay some yearly
sum commensurate with their income, the Government imdertakes
that they shall be eased " of the common danger of law, the daily
vexation of informers and other ordinary circumstances and
inconveniences growing thereby unto them." We are grateful to the
Council for giving us so succinct and comprehensive a sentence which
expresses exactly the nature of the daily vexation of informers and
numberless circumstances and inconveniences which harassed
Catholics on every side. They were a prey not only to the of&cial
raids of the Magistrates, but, as we have seen in a former chapters
even to endless extortions on the part of blackmailers. But now
they are told if they contribute proportionately to their means some
yearly sum they need not come to the Church, they will be left
unmolested by prying eyes, in a word they will be free.
Many were not unnaturally caught by the bait, hoping thereby
for a bettering of their position. A note amongst the Loseley
Manuscripts gives a Ust of some of the chief amongst the gentry
in the County of Surrey who remained faithful to their reUgion and
have seized this opportunity of compounding for a yearly sum. It
is an eloquent document showing the value they set on their religion.

First is a Robert Becket who out of an income of £40 will pay £10,
then a Thomas More, who, out of an income of £ao will pay £5, or a
John Lavender having 40 shiUings a year, offers 20, or a John
Bradstock out of £18 offers 20 shillings, John Southcote having £160
a year offers £40, Sir William Catesby has £500 a year and will pay
£100, Edward Banister has £200 and will pay £30, Francis Browne
out of £91 will pay £20. These are goodly sums to pay for one's
freedom of conscience. Remember always that to calculate the
value of these figures in modem coinage you must multiply each
figure by at least twelve. Thus between eight famiUes the yearly
sums they have offered to contribute amount at least to £2,484.
Attached to this document is another note, this one relates to
CathoUcs who are not Uke the former running the daily risks of
interruptions and molestations from neighbours and pursuivants
but are safely and securely housed " in the several goals of the White
Lion, the Marshalsea, the Bench and the Clink." They also are
invited by " her Majesty's gracious favour " to give a true account
of their living. We note, however, in these cases a change of
accounts ; they do not offer to give anj^tdng or to compound for
their freedom ; the reason is evident in each case. Let the first
 — —
THE VINTAGE 305

an illustration of the others. " Walter Blount of Kingston

sufl&ce as
in the County of Stafford, Gent, declareth that he never had above
£5 yearly, which is seized into her Majesty's hand in respect of his
recusancy. And so saith he hath nothing to answer to her Majesty."
We see in the Ust some that are gentlefolks who Uved formerly
comfortably on their own estate, some who earned their liveUhood
by means of teaching and others by business they are all now
;

completely stripped by their gracious sovereign. Did I say all have

—
been stripped ? Yes, all with one exception Stephen Preston of
Winchester, yeoman, who says he has " but five marks yearly to live
on which if he might have his Uberty he would be content to give unto
her Majesty." (Appendix, pp. 403 and seq.)
It must not be imagined that the statements of recusants about
their fortune were taken with easy credence by the Magistrates
and we have many indications in fact, to the contrary. On the
back of a Ust of recusants in the Marshalsea, King's Bench, White
Lion and CUnk, there is the following document :

" With remembrance of our duties unto your honourable

Lordships it may please the same to receive hereinclosed a
certificat of our proceedings with the recusants within this county
according to the contents of your Lordship's letters. We under-
stand not the state of their wealthes or livings for they have
nothing within this County to omr knowledge.
Only Francis Brown and John Southcote Esquire best known
unto us have as we think made a true declaration of the just
value of their yearly Revenues. We were informed by Richard
Ede, porter of the Marshalsea that Robert Becket, Thomas More
and John Grey be of greater hving and hability than they declared
themselves to be. As many appear -unto your Lordships by his
declarations under his hand hereinclosed."

From we see that Francis Browne and John Southcote were

this
believed when they gave an account of their income and their
statements had been amply tested by Sir William More. As an
illustration of this we have in Sir William More's handwriting a
certificate of armour found at Henley Park and of the estate of
Mr. Francis Browne. I give the two documents as they occur
:

Sir W. More
Arms and Armour of Recusants.
Certificates of
Armour etc. confiscted from Francis Browne.
" The certificate of such armour and weapons as were found in
the houses of the Recusants within the County of Surrey, the
21
 . .

3o6 THE VINTAGE

eighth ofMay last 1583, and taken in to our hands by virtue of
lettersfrom the Queen's Majesty's most honourable privy Counsel
unto us directed and also of our other proceedings according to the
contents of the said letters.
More.
" Francis Brown of Henley Park in the said County, Esquire
had in his house there and at the armourers in Guildford these
parcels hereafter following, being aU in parcel broken and dis-
ordered, which are in the Custody of Sir WiUiam More Knight.
" First.
" Also the said Francis hath in lands pensions and annuities
these parcels following which we had learned by his own confession
and further we cannot understand."
The above is in Sr. W. More's hand-writing and indorsed :

" Recusants, Sr. More and payment."

" Mr. Francis Browne's certificate of his Estate. •

written by Sr. Wm. More and signed by Mr. Fr. Browne.
£ s- d.
Francis Browne Esq. hath a manor in Dorset-
shire which he bought after 2o£ yearly, but
now improved to 40^^ yearly . . . 40

Also a house in the close of St. Mary Overies in

Southwark which he perchased at 5£ yearly
but now hath let it to one Banete for a fee of
one hundred pounds . . . . . 5

Also he hath an annuity for term of his life by

the gift of his father 27 13 4

Also of her Majesty the pension for being an

equery 2o£ 20

Sum £92 13 4
Francis Browne
" Indorsed : '
The land that I have is a manor in Dorsetshire
"
which is let for . . , . .
.'

{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 36.)

Francis Browne had been indicted as a recusant at Croydon on

the 22nd March 1582 and his name occurs in the Usts at Loseley
 — —
THE VINTAGE 307

five times. Twice he is named as having received two terms of

eleven months' imprisonment. On another Ust he is mentioned
as having been indicted twice for four months, his wife Joan
suffering ako with him. On two other Usts his name occurs over
the signature of Waade, who says, " if any of the persons above
named be known to you to become reformable in reUgion by
repairing to divine service agreeable with the laws of the realm,
then it is not meant they should be disarmed." The date of these
lists is April 27th, 1585. It was in the preceding month that
Francis Browne had offered £20 yearly (or in modem figures ;f 240)
for his freedom.
In our lists we have also the name of Henry Browne of the parish
of St. Saviour's Southwark, Esquire, and Joan his wife who were
condemned to eleven months' imprisonment they were charged
;

at Croydon on the 20th March in the 24th year of Elizabeth, but in

the same year, together with one Nicholas Walgrave " came in and
did submit and conform themselves and did in full sessions recognise
the same submission according to the statute that they would resort
to the Church according to the true meaning of the statute." Again
we read of an Elizabeth Browne, of Ewell, gentlewoman, wife of
Cuthbert Browne, gentleman. She was indicted at Guildford in the
27th year of Elizabeth. She was again mentioned as a recusant in
159 1 by Dr. Ridley in his certificate of recusants. Her daughter,
Mrs. Aion Whore, and Mr. Allen Whorde and also Richard Wright,
were mentioned in the same list as of EweU for the quarter ending
Lady Day, 1586.
The name of Goldwyer appears from time to time in our lists.
We find it amongst the names of indicted at Reigate and recommitted
at Kingston to prison for July 26th in the 24th year of Ehzabeth ;

another list gives her under the following direction " Jane :

Goldwyer, late of Whateley in the Coimty of Oxford, widow,

prisoner in the Clink for religion the 23rd July, 1582." She had been
incarcerated ever since December 1580, for in another Ust of prisoners
in the Clink for religion, dated the 12th March, 1581, we read the
following " Jane Goldwyer, late Whalleye in the County of Oxford,
widow, sent by commandement from the Reverend Father in God
the 5th day of December A.D. 1585. " A letter from her has been
inserted amongst the Loseley papers with the following note :

" Document foimd in her Majesty's manuscript paper of&ce. To

—
the Secretary of State Petition of Jane Goldwyer, to be released
from the Clink on bail, a Catholic lady arrested for maintaining the
doctrine of the Real Presence and oricular confession 1588." —
(Probably a mistake for 1580) :
 —

3o8 THE VINTAGE

" To the Right Honreable Sir Francis Walsingham Chefe
Secretarie and One of her Magesties Prive Counsell.
" Humblye sheweth unto your honour your poor and dailie
Oratrixe Jane Goldwyer, a poore afflicted creator, that hath layd
prisoner in the Clink, this twellmonth for her conscience sake.
Having five small children dryven to seek their harde adventure
in this wicked age, by reason of the troubles of me their poor
niother, who is and eaver wiU be a loveinge and dut)rfu]l subjecte
unto her Majestic, not committing any offence by instructing
others Her Magesties subjects, but desyar to live according to my
conscience, till souch tyme as I may please God conyer with such
as may persuayde me that I stand in error In tender consideration
whereof the premises considered may it please your honour to
grant your warrant to release your poore oratrix, putting in
sufficient Bayl trans er to what shall be objected against her,
by ye honorable Lords of her Magesties Prive Counsell, within
two months arwning, and then to yield her body to the Marshall,
during hir Majesties pleasure and your supliante as especiallie
bound, shall offer uppe to God her daily prayers, for the long and
prosperous state of her Magesties estate, within these Realmes
" Your Honovur's humble Oratrix
" Jayne Goldwyer."

Although this appeal was indorsed in Walsingham's hand-writing

with the words " Jane Goldwyer to be released " it does not appear,
when this release took place, as she certainly was in prison in July,
1582, and this document is dated " Queen EUzabeth, 15S0." In
the documents which follow we learn of the recusancy of a Mrs.
Homyall and a Mrs. Barbara Green. They have evidently proved
themselves very obstinate Papists and the Vicar of Egham is
certainly exercised about them :

{Loseley, Vol. V., n, 21.)

" Egham : The Vicar (John Stanton) and others report that
I. Imprimis to the first Article we say that there is one Jane
Homycill alias Homif all al Fumyf all, gentlewoman who sojoumeth
with Barbara Grene widow gentlewoman which refuseth to come
to Devine Service to the psh church of Egham or elsewhere to our
knowledge and hath continued so thease 4 years or thereabouts and
refuseth to reform her self according to the Statute made in the
last session of plmt and to the rest of that Article We have none
suche.
 : — —
THE VINTAGE 309

z.'lltem'to the 2 Art we say that we have neither wives children

or servants above 15 years old other than is before expressed
that refuse to come to Devine Service to our knowledge.
3. Item to the 3rd Art we say that the said Jane Homyall als
Homefall als Fumifall is suspected to have been reconciled to
papist religion.
4. Item to the 4 Art we say that we have none within our parish
that be suspected to be massing priests, reconcilers, Jesuits,
Seminaries or other persons which have received any orders or
authority from the Romish church to use the hke.
5. Item to the 5 Art we say we have no schoolmasters within our
parish
" per me Johannem Standon de Egham Vicarium

signum Jacobi Colhouse

/
Signtun E. Roger Cross

f Churchwardens."

We are struck with the 5th point of the Vicar's confession, that
they have no schoolmasters within their parish; they have evidently
succeeded in bringing about a most thorough reformation at Egham
or Jane Homyall appears to be a convert from Protestantism, as
undoubtedly she had four years previously attended the services
in the Protestant Church. In the following depositions we are told
that the only reason why she is suspected of having been reconciled
to the CathoUc Church was that she neither came to Church nor
received Communion. The first deposition is that of the Vicar,
John Standon :

8th July 1581.

Mrs. HornyM.
{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 22.)

Egham
" John Standen vicar of Egham in the C. of Surrey stateth that
whereas he with others did psent unto Mr. Taylor deputy to the
official! of Surrey amongst other things that Jane Homyall etc.
late sojourning at the house of Barbara Grene Widow at Eg.
hath refused to come to devine Service this III years or more and
that she is suspd to have been rec. to the popish Rel. being now
 — —
310 THE VINTAGE
dpd. What moved him to suspect her to be so reconciled saith
that he doth not know neither hath heard if she hath been so
recond but saith that he hath suspected her to be reed because
she hath neither come to the div. service nor received the Comm.
this three years past at that Church in wch psh she hath sojourned
all the time for the most part and other suspicion of her recon-
ciliation he hath none.
" Per me Johem Standon."
Then follow the depositions of the churchwardens of Egham, and
the High Constable of the hundred of Godley :

" James Helhouse and Roger Crosse, Churchwardens of Egham

aforesaid exd do say that the only cause why they did psent the
said Jane to be recon. to popish religion is for that she hath not
come to div. serv. this IHys nor received the Comm. there to their
knowledge and for no other Cause.

" Signum ^^ ded Jacobi ^ Signed did Rogeri,"

"Anthony Cowp high Constable of the hundred of Godley exd

saith that by virtue of a warrant to him directed from the sd.
Sir WiUm. More knight George More and Laur. Stoughton esquires
to bring her before them to be exd concerning her reconciliation
repaired unto the house of the said Barbara Grene and there
searching for her was certifyed by the said Barbara that she was
IH weeks past.
departed into worcestershere about
" Wyllam More Anthony Cowp Lawrence Stoughton
G. More."

In consequence of this the following warrant was issued for her

arrest :

Mrs. Hornyall.
Warrant.
{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 24.)
" Sir Will. More knight, George More and Laurence Stoughton
esquires Justices of the peace amongst of her majesty's the,
Commers of Surrey assigned and Anthony Cowper high Constable
of the hundred of Godley and to the petty Constable of the
Egham and to either of them Greeting. These are in the queen's
maj.'s name our most Gracious sovereign straightly to charge
and command you to bring or cause to be brought before us at
 —
THE VINTAGE 311

Guildford upon Saturday next being the Vlllth of the present

month of July by ten of the clock in the forenoon of the same day
Jane Homyall als Homyfall Gentlewonaan now sojourning with
Barbara Grene, gentlewoman, and widow inhabiting at Egham
aforesaid then and there to answer to such matters as shall be
objected against her in her mags behalf and that also you warn
in her highness's name John Standen vicar of Egham James
Helhouse and Roger Crosse to appear at the said hour day and
place before us and before us. And hereof fail you not as you
and any of you will answer to the contrary at your uttermost peril
and be you there also with this our precept given under our
hands and seals this 8th of July in the 23rd year of the Reign
of our most gracious sovereign Lady Elizabeth by the grace of
God of England France and Ireland Queen Defender of the
Faith."

Thus we see that she received one month's imprisonment, whether

she ever served that term we are unable to say as in a list we find
her name mentioned and a note beside it sa3dng :
—
" not in the
Shire." This was one of the many instances of Catholics chivied
from place to place by zealous Vicars and Churchwardens who
are desirous of purifying their parish of the hated " Papists."
The name of Green is of frequent occurrence at Loseley. First
we have a Mr. John Green, of whom we are told in a report of
Richard Edde, the porter of the Marshalsea, that he wjis a great
supporter of the Seminaries. Edde's letter is as follows :

" Mr. Humfrey Kempe a Cornish man hath informed one

Richard Ede the porter of the Marshalsea that Mr. Robert
Becket may spend £200 of good land by the year. And for
Mr. More, his kinsman Wm. Goulder did report by occasion of
speech that he and I had that his kinsman could not spend much
above ^100 by the year and I the aforesaid porter answered that
he did offer to give XX^^ a year to one that should get his liberty
with the freedom of his conscience. They had rather give XX£
a year to the maintenance of Seminarie priests than one penny to
her matie. And for Mr. John Green when he was in the Marshalsea
was the only distributor of mony to the Seminaries. And now he
is abroad he is thought to be the Collector for them —
he was
always thought to be the best moneyed man of the papists and
when he shall be demanded what he will give to the Queen he
will then be worth in the nothing. I am sure his man did bring

him mony end the term out of Norfolk and it is to be feared that
 312 THE VINTAGE
the liberty and friendship that they have is the loss of an infinite
thousand of souls. I beceech God even in the bowels of christ
that it may be better looked unto.
" By me
" RiCHARDE EdDE."
No date.
" 5th March, 1585 "
?

(Loseley, Vol. V., n. 27.)

Mr. John Green suffered a great deal for his faith, he was certainly,
for a time, in the Clink, as we have seen in the foregoing letter, also
in the Marshalsea. He was mentioned by Waade in his list of gentry
whose houses were to be searched for arms.
WiUiam Green, a schoolmaster of Southwark, was indicted at
Reigate and committed at Kingston on the 26th July, 1582, he was
sent to prison in the Marshalsea. In one of the lists he is down as
" late of Harkesteads, County of Safk." Probably this is the same
William Green " gent of Tonstins in Staffordshire schoolmaster in
King's Bench, 7th March 1585." We have another note, a William
Green, of Tonstins in Staffordshire, schoolmaster, indicted and in the
Marshalsea. The probability is that he has been in prison for over
three years first in the Marshalsea and then in the King's Bench.
Then there is a Theobald Green variously described as yeoman and
gent, mentioned by Waade on the 27th April 1585, with the object
of finding out whether he be conformable, and if so the armour which
he possesses is not to be confiscated. Elsewhere he is said to be late
of Grey's Inn in the County of Middlesex, and now, viz., on the 27th
July, 1582, imprisoned in Marshalsea. In another list written in
More's handwriting, he is " dead in the Marshalsea in August was
twelvemonth." And finally another list of More's again the word
" dead."
Mrs. Katherine Green has also honourable mention in ourUsts.
She is of Newbry in the County of Yorkshire, the wife of John Green.
She suffered probably at the same time as her husband. His dates
are not given in the Usts. But she was in the CUnk on the 7th March,
1585. WiUiam Green of East Moseley, Gent., and his wife were also
recusants convicted, but we have no dates. Finally we have the
names of Mr. Green, the younger, Kent, and Mr. Green, of Kent, on
a list of 109 CathoUcs, signed by Waade, and dated the 27th April,
1523. And Mr. Rook Green, of Lamford, but no further information
about these last three. On Waade's hst of those to be disarmed we
find the name of Philips. This gentleman was indicted at Reigate
and convicted at Kingston on the 26th July, 1582, and we see that
 —
THE VINTAGE 313

he was in the Marshalsea on the 27th July of the same year. He

was from Key in the county of Cornwall. While in prison at the
White Lion, in March of that same year, he paid the price of one
'
corslett. The following is the letter which relates the circum-
stjinces :

" To the right worshipful Sir W. Moore knight and the rest o'
the Justices of Peace assembled at the assise at Croydon.
" May it please you to be advertised that I have received
towards the providing of the XL Corseletts, XXXVIII£ Xs., and
one Mr. Btowdner an inholder in Southwark informeth me that
he hath in readiness for three corseletts viz. II for Guildford and
one for Famham. So that do lack for IIII or corsletts. The
towns uncrossed in my book are these, Leatherhead, Nutfield,
Crawley, Shalford, Bramley and Chobham. Whereof one
WiUiam PhiUipps dwelling at the White Lyon in Southwark paid
me money for one Corselett, but he could not teU me for what
Town. So I am not answered for IIII or of these five townships
last recited which hath been the stay why I have not taken the
Corseletts out of the Tower, and now I can no longer stay my ride
(?) iato Kent where I must of force stay till after Easter, as Easter
faUoweth, this year. Therefore the next term, if the rest of the
money be provided, they may be had against a certain day when
the high Constable may be appointed to come to receive them.
One Mr. Hutton dwelling in Southwark being a skilful armourer
hath promised me to help to choose them, and it is good to allow
him lid of every Corselett to be paid by them that shall come to
receive them. Mr. Painter that was the dark of the Armory,
telleth me the corseletts that were appointed for the Coimties be
very good. Thus beseeching to remember how the armomrer and
gun maker may be paid for the keeping of our other furniture, I so
commend you to the Almighty God. From London this Illlth
day of March 1582.
" Your assured,
" Robert Lyvesey."
" I am contrary to my determination stayed in London with
an extreme cold I have taken."
{Loseley, Bundle Letters, 1581 to 1600.)

He had evidently been convicted as a Catholic before. He is

again mentioned by George Goring in a letter to More the following
year, he is still a prisoner and he has been examined by Mr. Selw37n
and Mr. Goring ; " but he utterly refused to say anything, saying
314 THE VINTAGE
that he had confessed already to Mr. Shelley aU that he could
or would say, but now he being condemned doth require to
appeal."
" After hearty com. unto you These shall be to advertise you
that I and Mr. Selwyn had Phillips the prisoner here before us
to examine but he utterly refused to say any thing saying that he
had confessed already to Mr. SheUye all that he could or would
say, but now he being condemned doth require to appeal. And
he being stayed from execution as the Judges can tell you I and
some other Justice will take time to examine him at large. And
what we find to touch you contrary you shall be made privie of.
And thus I leave you with God. Written at Eastgrinstead the
XVth of July, 1583.
" Your friend to use,
" George Goring.

" To the Right Worshipful Sk Wm. Moore, Knight."

{Loseley, Bundle Letters. 1581 to 1600.)

What was the subject matter of this examination and how they
sought to extract information from him, we may gather from what
shall be told in the case of many another Catholic in the course of
this book. Also what was the nature of his condemnation, we cannot
say for certain, but in two succeeding hsts Sir William Moore
writes against his name in one list " dead." In the other hst " dead
in the Marshalsea two years past." These lists reveal great
mysteries, but hide much more than they tell, It is curious how
many names we have that are mentioned but once or twice. Of
course we must not imagine that they are exhaustive Usts. If Sir
William More had kept all the records of indictments and con-
victions and also the lists of prisoners in those jails which came
under his jurisdiction, it is quite certain that the volume of Uterature
thus accumulated would have been enormous. We are favoured,
therefore, with only a fraction of the records of those penal times.
These hsts cover a period of barely nine to ten years. During that
time the persecution was carried on relentlessly with the greatest
crueltyand barbarity. When, therefore, we come across names just
mentioned once or twice, we must not for one moment imagine
that their bearers suffered only just as much as the hst itself informs
us. On the contrary, unless in the case of those few who are said to
have conformed we may be quite certain that they have been
imprisoned and fined mercilessly. As an instance of what I say take
the name of George Cotton ; it appears only once in our Usts. We
 THE VINTAGE 315

are not told whether he was imprisoned or fined ; the only infonna-
tion we are given is that he is a recusant " of Warblington, County
of Southampton, Esquire." His wife is also said to be a recusant.
Now, if we look up the roUs in the Record Office which come under
the name of Recusant Rolls we find the name of Mr. George Cotton,
of Warblington, and by tracing it through the years dating from
1587 to 1607 we see that he paid regularly £z6o each year for his
recusancy, or in twenty years £5,200 in the money of the XVIth
century, which now must be calculated at more than £60,000.
Cardinal Gasquet tells us that in the Rolls Receipt Books he found
the actual Government receipts for the payment. The reader will
remember the letter of the Council which I gave, in which Catholics
are informed that by the payment to her Majesty of some yearly sum
they might obtain an easement from the harrassing of pursuers, and
from daily " circumstances and annoyances." Relying on this
undertaking Mr. Cotton offered to pay " besides the great sums
which I have paid for the statute of recusancy " an additional
simi of £30 a year, which his son Richard, with his authority.changed
to £40. What benefit accrued to him from his extra generosity
and relying on the Queen's Majesty's word was not only the total
loss of his fortune,but when he was unable to pay more, death in a
loathsome dungeon. His end is recorded in a letter which is one of
the annual letters written at that period at the EngUsh College in
Rome. The letter is dated 1614.
" George Cotton was despoiled of all his goods and consigned to
dungeon to the end of his days, which was hastened by hardships,
filth, misery and a chronic malady. The Ministers, as if he were
unworthy of Christian burial, would not allow his corpse to be
buried in their churchyards, hence his remains are deposited in
on open fiield."
(Jes. Rec. Vol. VII., p. 1040.)

Thus we are left to imagine what further happened to the many

other Recusants named at Loseley, such, for instance, as Lady Mary
Vauze. of the parish of St. Saviour's in Southwark, of whom we are
told she was given eleven months, and that she had two other
indictments for four months. Or a George Bruster, who was
committed to prison in the 24th year of EUzabeth, who received
two terms of eleven months, and of whom we are suddenly told that
hewasdeUvered and is dead. Or an Elizabeth Turner, of South-
wark, also indicted in the 24th year of EUzabeth, and received two
terms of eleven months, and two of four. Or a Margaret Perkins,
3i6 THE VINTAGE
spinster,and Mary Perkins, spinster, the first receiving two terms
of eleven months, and two of four the second, two terms of four
;

months. Or Anne Stewart, spinster, hkewise committed to jail

twice for eleven months and twice for four months. Or Mary
Courtneys, spinster, with the same terms of imprisonment standing
against her.
we know further about these names is that they are not
All that
reported to have conformed. In like manner we see the name of
Dr. Fryer, convicted as a recusant in 1585 ; he is classed with
" certaine of his servauntes whose names they cold not leame."
The following letter tells us that Dr. Fryer compounded for a yearly
sum ; he is, therefore, Uke all the rest, likely to have been despoiled
of all he possessed.
" Dr. Fryer has compounded 'jth May 1586.
" Where Thomas Fryer Doctor of phisicke dwellinge wthin the
Cytye of London ys required by yor Ire of the Vth of this instaunte
to be before youre at Dorkinge on thursedaye nowe next cominge
astouching his not coming to Churche. It maye please youe to be
advertised that the sayd Mr. Fryer hath ben allreddye called
before the M. of the Rolls and Sir Gwyn Hopton knyght lieutennte
of the Power Commissioners appojmted for the same cause within
the cyttie of London and the Countye of Mitt before whom he
hath compounded and greed to paye unto her Matie a certein
yearely some of money delyvered unto the Lordes of her maties
pryvie counsell dothe appeare ? by the comaundment of the
mr of the Rolls I am willed to signifie unto yor mastersh5rps at
London the XVIIth of Maye 1586.
" Yor Wrshippes humbly to comand
" Henry Clerke the Clarke of the peace
in the County of Mitt."

(Loseley, Vol. V., n. 34.)

The name of Tichboume recurs several times. Dr. Tichboume is

mentioned once as a recusant. He was a receiver of Jesuits and

Seminarists according to Lord Huntingdon's report in February,
1583. There was also a Benjamin Tichboume " gent and his wife."
We learn from another source that this Benjamin was a Knight and
Sheriff of the Co. of Southampton in the twenty-first year of
Elizabeth, and again in the last year of her reign. He was a friend
of Thomas Pounde, of whom we shall hear later. Then there is a
Mistress Arnold, kinswoman to Benjamin and Nicholas, gent and
;

bis wife this Nicholas Tichboume was hanged at Tybum on

:
 THE VINTAGE 317

August 24th, 1601. Peter Tichboume, of Porchester, in the County

of Southampton, was sent to prison at the Kingston Sessions on
July 26th, in the twenty-fourth year of Elizabeth. His name again
occurs in a list of prisoners in the White Lion for the 23rd July,
1582, and among the State Papers (Dom. EUz., 1581, No. 240A) he
is named in " Catalogue of Papists, imprisoned in 1579."

It is very remarkable that in nearly all the correspondence of

which we know of that time, the letters of Cathohcs to Justices
and their sayings in Court are always couched in the most respectful
language. They are exactly as we would hke the Confessors of the
Faith to speak, evincing profound respect for authority while at
the same time proving their courage in the confession of their faith.
It is evident that, notwithstanding the perfidious dealings of the
Protestants in their regard, they bear no malice and they exhibit
no bitterness in their deaUngs with them. The following letter
from Thomas Tryan is an instance of this courtesy and Christian
feeling.

" Thomas Tryan to Magistrates excusing himself for not waiting

on them.
" has compounded 18th May 1586.
" Right Worshipful, Whereas by virtue of the letters of the 5th
of this month, dehvered unto me the i6th which was Monday last,
I should have come to your Worships this present Thursday to
Dorking, there are most humbly to crave your lawful favour for
my coacted absence through the extreme soreness of my eyes,
which Sir Thomas Browne can partly testify I am in truth not
able to look upon the hght and much less to ride in the dust, which
should so far impair them as I should hardly after be able to
recover them, although I have done my uttermost endeavour
to enable myself for the journey. And farther concerning the
cause of my coming, it may please you to be advertised that I have
been already called before the Master of the Rolls and Sir Owen
Hopton, Knights, her Majesty's Commissioners also in that behalf
and have compounded with them, I trust not to their disliking, as
the Clerk of the peace, who was at that time their secretary, by
commandment of the Master of the Rolls, hath certified, which
certificate I have delivered to the Right Wor. Sir J. Browne.
Yet not withstanding that composition and that I am not
resident in the County neither, nor have not lyen past 3 times in
my house at Stretham, I would most wiUingly according to my
duty have waited on Your Worships, had not my infirmity
otherwise constrained me of the which only desiring your worships
 —

3i8 THE VINTAGE

to have lawful and favourable consideration, offering myself in all
that I may at your devotion, I do most humbly take my leave, the
i8th day of this month of May 1586.
" Your Worship's humbly
to Command
" Thomas Tryan.
" To the Right Worshipful Sir Wilham More, Sir Thomas Browne
Knights, Master George More, Master Robert Levesye, Mr.
Edward BeUingham Esquires."
{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 31.)
Here is another instance of a gentleman who gladly wiU give all he
possesseth for the pearl of great price.
Looking at our lists we find the name of Southcote, which appears
frequently,and we have also a letter from Mr. Wooley to Sir William
More referring to him. It is as follows :

J. Wooley to Sir Will. More.

Southcote, the Recusant, to be passed over uncertified.
zjth April 1586.
" Sir, I moved my L. Admiral, as you required me, touching his
pleasure of your certifying of Southcotte being indeed a Recusant,
but as yet not indicted, showing your readiness to accomplish
his L.'s pleasure, that you might be truly informed what it was
his Lordship answered was (after some debate and speach of the
matter) that you would not deal either wise in the matter because
he did not well remember what order the Council had taken in all
these matters. I urged him to signify his mind whether he would
like not to have him certified. He told me he would not inter-
meddle in the case. So as you see what you have to do notwith-
standing for my own opinion, if Southcote be not indicted and
that you may well do it following the instructions from the Coimcil,
I would wish for Mr. Howard's sake you would pass him over
uncertified. And so I commit you to Almighty God. From the
Court, the 27th of April, 1586.
" Your ever most assured
"
J. Wooley.
" To the Right Worshipful Sir WiUiam More, Knight."
{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 35.)

It is evidentfrom this that it was thought inexpedient to commit

Southcote to gaol, and I do not know whether he was ever actually
convicted, but in one of our lists he was indicted, together with
 THE VINTAGE 319

the wife of John Southcote the younger. And in another list we

have him down as of Merstham in the Co. of Surrey, Esqmre and ;

as we have already noted of him " he declareth that he hath £160

yearly only to live on, whereof he is contented to pay unto her
Majesty's receipt yearly £40." This was Justice Southcote,
mentioned to Walsingham as one of the principal receivers of
priests about London (Rec. Jes., Vol. III., p. 439). He pubUcly
resigned his office rather than pronounce sentence against a priest,
having vainly endeavoured to induce the Jury to acquit him (Rec.
Jes., Vol. v.. p. 963).
Henry Shelley, gent., and his wife of Mapledurham in the Co. of
Southampton, were convicted for their recusancy on the 23rd July,
1582, and sent to the White Lion. His name also occurs several
times till at lasit we have him down as " Harry Shelley of Southwark,
gent., dead." There is a further Edward Shelley, of Worming-
hurst in the Co. of Sussex, gent., sent to the Clink by the Bishop of
London on the 5th July, 1581. He was " delivered out of the
Chnk about a year and a half past by order from the Council," and
sent to the Coimter in Wood Street. He suffered death for the
Cathohc faith together with the Rev. Father Richard Leigh and
five others at Tyburn, August 30th, 1588 (Rec. Jes., Vol. V., p. 788).
Finally, Richard Shelley, of Southwark, was sent to the Mar-
shalsea in August, 1580 (Rec. Jes., Vol., VI., p. 727). In a Loseley
list we have the name of Richard Shelley as of Wormehurst in the
Co. of Sussex, being in the Marshalsea 27th July 1582. Then his
name mentioned once more in More's list with the following
is
entry " Richard Shelley, gent., dead, being in prison within the
:

Marshalsea for about a month past."

Another gentleman who suffered according to our notes was
Edward Banester, gent., and his wife. He had undertaken to pay
out of his income of £200 a yearly sum of £30. However, he and
his wife, Joan, were convicted and outlawed and sent to prison on
the 27th March in the 27th year of EUzabeth. Topclifie certified,
in 1584, that these two were found in Southampton House, and
that they came from Hampshire to that house two years before
(Rec. Jes., Vol. VI.. p. 716).
Stephen White is mentioned in our fists only on account of his

wife, who convicted as a recusant of Southborough in the Co.

is
of Southampton. According to a narrative of Anthony Tyrrell
and a catalogue of Confessors of the Faith (Rec. Jes., Vol. VI.,
pp. 271 and 810), she was condemned to death in 1586 as a receiver
of priests. Thomas White, of St. Michael's in the Soke, Co. of
Southampton, near Winchester, was also a convicted recusant.
320 THE VINTAGE
and John White, of Hursley in the Co. of Southampton, yeoman,
was imprisoned in the Clink, and having been asked whether he
would hke to compound for his freedom " saith he hath nothing
to live on."
John Talbot, of His name comes
Mitcham, imprisoned in 1585.
in the list The name itself recalls an interesting
of 109 Cathohcs.
and +ragic story of a certain Mr. John Talbot whom Bishop Matthews
had thrown into prison together with a Father Thomas Parson and
Mr. John Norton of Ravensworth, for their rehgion. I tell the story
in the words of Bishop ChaUoner, in his " Memoirs of Missionary
Priests."
"The Rev. Cuthbert Trollop, in a manuscript relation which
I —
have in my hands, writes thus that Mr. Pallicer and his
companion being in prison were like to be poisoned by the malice
of the gaoler's wife for an impoisoned broth was prepared for
;

them, and first brought to Mr. PaUicer who offering to taste of

it, the bone of mutton on the dish began to run blood in form of

crosses and of O's in the broth, which he wondering at, abstained

from eating of it. The maid who brought b the broth noting
this carried it back to her mistress she casting some spice over
;

it, sent the broth again by the same maid to Mr. Talbot and Mr.

Norton, which they offering to taste, the blood in Uke sort issued
forth of the meat as before, which caused them likewise to abstain.
The servant seeing this again, was touched in conscience, and
came upon her knees to Mr. PalHcer, and asked him forgiveness,
and desired for Jesus Christ's sake that he would make her one
of his faith, and instruct her what she had to do to be saved,
which he did, resolving her in all points, and reconciling her
to the Cathohc Church. The aforesaid maid, whose name was
Mary Day, at that time servant to the gaoler, afterwards served
a cathohc gentlewoman called Eleanor Forcer, who informed me
of this."

The priest of this narrative with Mr. John Norton and Mr. John
Talbot were hung, drawn, and quartered for their religion at
Durham, August, 9th, 1600. This story is a mere item in the
multitude of unofficial persecutions to which Catholics were subjected
in those days.
Before closing this chapter there are two names which I would
like tomention. The first is that of Redall, and the second is that
of Lumleigh. There is some correspondence at Loseley about
these two, dating 1691. The hunting down of recusants was not
relaxed as time progressed ; on the contrary, it became intensified
 THE VINTAGE 321

and was ex;erci^d for their final uprooting.

ever-ijicreasing,vigilf);ioe
We ii9.ve seen in an earlier portion of this narrative how, when the
search and persecution became too great, in one parish, Catholics
fled to ,the seclusion of towns and villages wl^ere for a time they
were^lpst in their incognito. But it appears that the hue and cry
was soon made to track them down. Redall and his wife were of
those many poor himted hares, who thought they would be left
in peace, in new and unknown lairs. They, with their two un-
married kinswomen, Elizabeth and Jane RedaJl, fled from Guildford
and sought reivige in the httle coimtry parish of Send. But Parson
Thomas Key, of St. Nicholas, and Minister Peter German of the
Trinity, Guildford, were sleuth hounds for the chase and they
scented their quarry home.
" Redali and his wife are Recusants. 8th Jan., 1591.
" 8. die Januarii, 1591.
" We of the Town of Guildford and of the parish of St. Nicholas
in Guildford whose names are subscribed do pres^pt that one
Redall als RidaU and his wife who, did of late inhabit
within the Manor House in Guildford P,ark within the said parish
of St. Nicholas and stiU have recourse thither are Recvisants
and arq now as it is said, for the most part repiaining at Send in
the saipe County, And we further present that there are no
Jesuits Seminaries nor other recusants within our charge to our
knowledge,
" Thomas Key, Parson of S. Nicholas in Guildford.
Pexer German, Minister of the Trinity in Guildford.
1 , George Austen. .. . .
'

Jos. .Farsley."

{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 44.)

Like a bolt from the blue came the summons from the Magistrates.
,
"To the high Constable of the; Hundred, of Woking and to
either of them. 1 ,

More, etc., to Constables of Woking.

'Summons for Redall. 1.2th Jan., 1591^
" Whe;reas af e informed that RedaU als Ridall and his wife
we
who did of late inhalpit within the manor house in Gujldfofd, Park
but now for the mpst part remain at Send in the Hundred afore-
said, •v^olfplly do refuse to com? unto tlie Church contrary to her
Maj'a laws in that case provided. Th^e ^e by vii^ue for Her
,

M's Commn to us and others directed to charge and command

12
322 THE VINTAGE
you to warn the said persons personally to appear before us at
Guildford on Saturday the 15th of this present January by nine
of the clock in the forenoon then and there to answer to such
matters as on the behalf of her Maj shall be objected and demanded
of them. And hereof fail you not at your peril, and you to be
with us with this our precept on the said Saturday appointed
for their appearance.
" Given under our hands the 12th of January, 1591.
" Wyllam Moke.
George More.
Lawrence Stoughton.
John Agmondesham."
Losdey, Vol. V., n. 46.

This was in January, as we see. Redall and his wife were wavering
but stiU they did not come to the Church, and in the following March
another summons was issued against them and they were ordered
to appear on Thursday, March gth, at 9 a.m., 1591, before the
Justices and there to answer questions concerning their recusancy.
StiU it would appear that they failed to conform to the order of the
Court and so they received summonses quarterly with of course the
usual fines, until at last in AprQ, the next year, the members of
the parish of Send had the joy to announce that on the ist April,
1592, William Redall did come to divine service to the parish church
of Send aforesaid and the 29th day of March last past with the other
inhabitants of the same parish and did there stay during the whole
time of service. This was in 1592. They came to Church twice
in two months, whether they ever came again we are not told ; it

is not improbable that the year 1593 saw them in another parish.
Now the other name which I wish to mention is that of Lumleigh
of Shalford. Who was Mr. Richard Lumleigh of Wyntershull?
I do not know. He was evidentiy a CathoUc and strong opposition
was expected to be given to any intruders, official or otherwise.
However the fighting curate of Bramley, Mr. Mawdesley, reinforced
by Robert Bab and Richard Callingham and any other " honest
neighbours " that might be thought needful, were to accompany
the High Constable of the himdred of Blackheath and others of them
to this dangerous lair of Papistry. We would like to have the story
of the battle, which perhaps might be worthy of the pen of Walter
Scott. However, I confess to a disappointment when having
searched in vain through the records of Losdey and the Indexes of
the Public Record Office, I was forced to the conclusion that no
 —

THE VINTAGE 323

vestige is left us of that terrible affair. AU that we have to guide

the imagination is the following order from the Council :

More and others to High Constable of Blackheath to serve a summons

on Rich. Lumleigh of Shalford and to search for suspect persons
and Catholic books, agnus Deis, relics. 12th Jan., 1591.
" To the High Constable of the Hundred of Blackheath and to
others of them.
" Whereas we are informed that Richard Lmnleigh of Wynter-
shall^in the parish of Shalford gent doth refuse to come to the
church contrary to her Maj. laws in that case provided. These
are virtue of her Maj's Comm. to us and others directed to
by
charge and command him to warn him the said Lumleigh person-
ally to appear before us at Guildford on Saturday the 15th of this
present January by nine of the clock in the forenoon, then and
there to answer such matters as on the behalf of her Maj. shall
be objected or demanded of him. And also to make a dihgent
search within his house and other suspect places for aU such
persons as are suspected or unknown unto you, and further also
for popish books, agnus dei, buUs, or other popish instruments
or reUques, and such persons suspected or unknown with the
said books etc safely to bring before some one of us, unmediately
after you shall have found any such. And for the better execution
of this her Maj's service, you shall take with you for your assist-
ance, Mr. Mawdesley, Curate of Bramley, Robert Babb, Richard
CaUngham and such other your honest neighbomrs as you shcdl
think good. And hereof fail you not at your peril. Given under
our hands the 12th day of January, 1591.
" Wylliam More.
George More.
Lawrence Stoughton.
Agmondesham."
Loseley, Vol. V., n. 45.

It is quite likely, however, that if strong resistance was expected

at Wyntershull, the attacking party found an empty castle.
 Chapter II

THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH

iIt must not be imagined that things proceeded very smoothly in

every case for the Commissioners. A letter dated 1580 from
.Nicholas I.Saunder, reminds us, of some difi&culty which arose on
account of the interference of an over-zealous. Vicar and the
pursuivants. This Nicholas Saunder was a recusant of the fighting
type, a man who, when before the lawful authorities, was ready to
speak with the greatest courtesy and respect, and at the same time
!

considered he was entitled to defend himself against intrusion.

He was summoned before the. Council in September of 1579. He
satisfied the magistrates so well that they dismissed him in favour-
able terms. He then made an. offer to the Government for an
additional supply of horses and this of course was accepted. Further
he was ready to pay hke so many other: good Catholics for a standing
exemption by the Council from attendance at Church and the last ;

note to the letter evidently refers to this.

Bundle of Letters, 1581 to 160Q. Loseley.

'" Right wotshijjf'iil, When I returned fr6m London to my house
upon Friday night last' before" it was then told me that in
'
,'

mine absence you had caused the constable to signify mine

appearance to be made before you at Kingston at such time
;

then persue a very earnest cause of importance

(as in truth) I did
before her Majesty's honourable Councell. And as I have taken
such knowledge by some of my friends, the substance of the matters
for which you called rtie (cis their gist) do consist effectually in
two points ecclesiastical and temporal.
:

" Touching the first (it may please you to be remembered

that before Michaelmas last past, I was convented before her
highness's most honourable Council aforesaid (being then sent
unto them by yourselves) From whom I was then also dismissed
.

in favourable terms as I suppose you have heard the same.

;

Since which time my behaviour therein hath been such as I

can and will be ready to yield you the reasonable accoimt thereof
at any time hereafter by you there for to be appointed. That
324
 — .

THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 325

for your better information, hath nevertheless (for the mean

space) sent unto you such testimony as, I have here at London.
" Concerning the latter (which I do understand to be a new
supply or increase required for more serviceable horses to be
furnished out of the shire) it hath been told me that in the
beginning of the next term, you (the commissioners for that
service) have agreed to meet at London,, there to determine
upon the same.
" Before whom (God wiUing) I will not fail then to attend, and
make good that which shall be adjudged mete and and.agreable
to mine habiUty. And for the present, having urgent cause in
Kent, to accompUsh mine of&ce after the death of my mother-
in-law for certain lands holden of her Majesty in capite, I beseech
you to accept these for my sufficient excuse at this instant, till
the time of your appointed assembly in London there more
certainly to order the premisses.
" From whence I do commit you both unto God.
" My sister Lussher desired me to inform you that she was
double charged for the last Subsedys and so paid in Norfolk and
Surrey and likewise hath been there taken contributors to the
taxes incident to that county as a dweller there and not here.
Where you shall difficulty find her at any caUing. And there-
fore prayeth you. Sir WiUiam More (as her good neighbour in
whom she reposfeth her most trust) to tender the widow's cause
without her more trouble herein. Which favour she hopeth
to acquit with her devotion unto God, unto Whom also she
commend you. The third of Jan. 1580.
" Your poor countryman and wellwisher,
" Nicholas Saundee.
" To the Right Worshipful
Sir WiUiam Moore and
Sir Thomas Browne knights, her Mats
Conunissioners at Shire ,giye these."

[Loseley, Bundle Letters, 1581 to 1600.)

On the fly-leaf of this letter are notes in different handwritings.
They refer not only to Nicholas Saunder, but also to a few others
amongst the recusants. The notes come as follows :

" Since
which time we understand supphcation exhibited to
the Council as he informeth us subscribedby divers men's hands
of good credit that he from time to time hath and doth frequent
divers churches and there hath heard divine service.
 —

326 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH

" Being informed of Walsingham Saunders of Reigate that he
doth not come to the church and conform himself in matters of
rehgion according to her maj's proceedings we wrote our letters
unto others and him, whereof we were advertised that he had
notice and never the less came not according to the contents of
the said letters.
" Allen Horde being presented unto us for not coming to the
church came unto us of himself at Kingston then there being in
other services of her majesty Whereupon we examined him
touching his not coming to the Church who answered was
that he was household servant to the Lord Lumley where he said
ordinary service was used from whence we then departing without
taking his answer in writing, we thought good ever since to call
him before us by our letters, but he then was gone into Bucking-
ham shire about business of his own as we now advertised.
" Memorandum that Edward Orwell register of the Court of
Arches certified us under his hand that Ric. Whit and his wife,
and Mr. Phillpot and his wife being at his house at Morclack
at Easter last received not there the Communion.
" Also we were informed that one Mr. Whitneyes wife of
Mitcham doth absent herself from her parish church. For all
which said five persons last above mentioned we made our
warrants to appear before us the 5th of this present.
" But they came not before us, but whether they were warned
not we yet know not ; so that we cannot certify what they can
or will say in their defense."

The following two notes are in Sir William More's hand-

writing :

" For their usage amongst their neighbours and not for their
coming to the church or conforming their selves in matters of
religion.
" His lands by his wife 40^ and his fee in the Queen Maj's
house 46£ 13s. 4d. but in goods, no more than will discharge his
debts, he nor his wife hath come to the peirish church these 6
years past from whence they absent themselves for conscience
sake but wiU yield no other reason thereof. His family as he
saith do come to the church."

Now, as I have said, the Vicar of Epsom considered it his duty

in accordance with the law to take notice of Mr. Saunder and to
report his failure to attend the protestant service, but he evidently
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 327

had a peppery recusant to deal with, as we may see from the letter
written in April, 1580, to Sir William More.

Robert Cole, Vicar of Epsom.

Complains of having been molested by Mr. Nicholas Saunders.
" To the Right Worshipful
SirWilham Moore Knight
High Sherre of Sussex and
Surrey DeUver chfo'
" In most humble wise Right worshippfull syr, ray duety
remembred most humblye praysinge god and gevinge your
worshipe thanks for your favourable ayde and furderaunce in
the easinge and realeasinge of my molestations by Mr. Nicholas
Saunders and other ungodlye people through his procurraent
uncharitablye practised agaynest me in causinge me and my wife
to be indighted for barators, and troublesome people, to my
greate disfamigne and cost to travis the same, for as knoweth
God I woulde very gladly Uve in peace with all people, for I
pray to god I have dwelt amorte this XXth yeare in the parishe
of Ebsame, and neither man nor woman cann justlye saye that
I at any time caulled or reviled sithens I came to that parishe
any man or woman. Sir-reverence of your worshippe no not
such like wordes as to saye knave or drabor neither have I smitten
any maner of person, exceptinge children the whiche I have
taught in leaminge and those of my owne houshould, but have
bin glad alwaiese to make peace and agreement betwene any of
my neighbours which have bin at any discorde. |But because
I willed the church wardens according to the articles geven them
from the ordinary to present Mr. Nicholas Saunders for not
reacevinge the holye communion, and that he was upon that
presentment sited to appeare before Mr. Doctor Lewen, and
becase he did not appeare at the court daye he stode excomuni-
cate, wherf ore the saide Mr. Saunders procured great molestations
aga5mest me by all meanes he coulde devise to my great im-
poverishinge and vmdoinge, and yet is Uke to continue yie God
stire not up suche good men as you worshipe is to mitigate his
ire and suppress his malice, tho whither I pray god graunt the
same to be finished.
" Furdemor RightworshippefuU Sir, I trust you'^shall finde
my wife to be of honest behavioure and that I amjwelcoteted
that she shalbe at your worshippes appoyntiage and placing as
to your worshippe shall seme most convenient bothe for he and
328 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
my honesty. And thus comightinge your worshippe wth yours
to the tuition of aUmightie god, frotti Esbamthis Illlthof aprill
1580.
" Your obedient in Christ
" Robert Cole vicar of Ebsam."
(Loseley, Vol. V., n. 16.)

Mr, Nicholas Saunder, from this letter we conclude, brought a

counter-charge against the Vicar of Epsom, that of being a barrator
and a troublesome person, in other words of maUcious prosecutipn.
We can quite understand that the times being what they were,
there was not the faintest chance of such a counter-chargfe being
successfiii. What eventually happened tb Mr. Nicholas Saunder,
I cannot say. But the affair gives us some insight into thfe more
human element of' those troublesome days. Catholics did some-
'

times defenii themselves, as we see indeed in the case of another

recusant whose name is mentioned at Loseley, Mr. Henry Pounde,
a gentleman of Farlingtbn in the county of Southampton. He was
the nephew of the famous IVlr. Thomas Pounde who treated him
as a son. We are told that he was a man of v^ry great valour.
'

Once while travelling from his home at FarUngton to London, a

Govenimerit spy named Bofnei, who had been a student at Douai,
stopped hiin. The spy was accompanied by pursuivants, tod they
announced to Mr. Henry Pounde that he should b^ arrested as a
priest and trEiitor. Mr. Pbtinde thereu|3on demanded to seb their
summons, which of course th^y were unable to show. Forthwith
he drew his sword and told them that he wotild defend himself.
They attacked him and many apprentices hard by' striving to
surround him also attacked him with halberts but he defended
;

himself with" such dexterity, lunging and parrying' with such

lightning rapidity that many of' his assailants' were wounded and
one of the pursuivants Was actually mortally struck. At last,
however, overcoine by force of numbers, he himself was wounded
and disarihed. He was then ca|)tured and brbhght before the
Chief Justice, where he objected very 'strongly to this wrongful
arrest as he was no priest. However, as' a Papist and a traveller,
he was sent to NeWgate'. This happened on the' 21st April, 1602.
Can we ^e surprised that Cathohcs were sometimes exasperated
beyond measure at their treatment. We have seen how Elizabeth
had promised them freedom from molestation, in return for what
proved to be exorbitant enactions on th6ir fortunes. They gave
with joy what they were able to give, only to find that they had been
basely and cruelly tricked there was no freedom from molestation.
;
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 329

and I fancy that many a good man in these days would be ready
to do as Pounde did.
However, not only did the Commissioners find serious difficulties
from time to time in the exercise of their evil duties, owing to the
opposition of a fighting element in the British Catholic but even ;

in their own camp there were frequently dissensions.

The unification of reUgion was, as we have seen several times
before, a mere external fetter, and, in fact, every man thought as
he chose but he was not allowed to say what he thought.
; Hence
we have cases of dissent or sometimes too much freedom of speech
even amongst the clergy. There was a man at Merrow of the name
of Clipsain, who had dared to say things within the hearing of a
certain woman, and these earned for him the title of a heretic. It
was in the year 1591, and Martin Chpsain, the Curate of Merrow,
had run away. Why ? These letters will tell you.
Martin Clipsain {curate of Merrow) ex-pricst.
" After our hearty coms. it may please you to understand that
there was information given unto us at the last quarter sessions
holden at Guildford by Mr. Taylor the official deputy of this
County of Surrey against one Martin Clipsain Clark late curat
of Merrow. We in the said County upon a presentment to him
made by the church-wardens of Merrow upon their oath where-
upon we sent for those persons that could inform against him
and also a warrant for his apprehension. The examinations of
which persons may appear in a paper hereinclosed. But the
said Clipsain finding himself guilty is fled upon it and now
remaineth in Southwark where his wife dwelleth very near the
Kayge there he hath been an old Mass priest as we are informed
;

and therefore the more like to use the said words of a lewd mind.
One Marbery, parson of Merrow aforesaid, now remaining prisoner
in the King's Bench, under whom he hath lived can inform you
where he is to be had. Of all which we thought good to give
you advertisement to the end it may please you to cause him to
be apprehended, and to be examined according to your discretion.
And thus we commit you unto God his tuition., From Guildford 1

this Vlllth of July 1581.'

" Your very loving and jissured friends,
" William More.
'
'
George More.
Lawrence Stoughton."
(Loseley, Btmdle Letters, 1581 to 1600.)
 —
330 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
Adjoined to the above are the following :

" VIII° die Julii 1581 Thomas Brystow of Merrow, hus-

coramWiLiMO More bandman examined saith that in the
majtr. Georgio More beginning of Lent last Mcirtin Clipsain
Lawr. Stoughton, At. then curate of Merrow said to this exat
that he hoped to see the world change very shortly which words
proceeded upon occasion of speech had between this examinat
and him concerning the advowson of a benefice at Abinger which
one Gryffethe of Middlesex hath, to whom this examinat saying
he wouid give 4o£ for the same the said CUpsain answered he
would not give him forty pointsjor the same for that he said the
Law would change very shortly and then his advowson would
be nothing worth him. And those words of his this examinat
hath already declared upon his oath to Mr. Taylor and Mr. Reye^

The Mark of /^ Thomas Bristowe.

°'
(d
f

" John Bycknolde of Merrow aforesaid weaver exd. saith that

he heard Maxtin Cls^psain Vicar aforesaid often say that Prayer
was good for the dead and that he would prove the same, to
whom this ext. sajdng Mr. Taylor and Mr. Reye did preach the
contrary, he answered they were but children to him.

" John Bychnolde's 7 Mark.

" Johane Share of Merrow, widow of the age ot fifty years.

examined, saith that the said Martin Chpsain, talking witii her.
did say that she might employ the good fellow and help any good
fellow at his need and he would be her surety it should never be
espied.
"Signum dedit Johane.
" To the Right Worshipful Mr. William Fletewood, Esq..
Sergeant at Law and Recorder of the City of London."

Clipsain, we are told by More, " hath been an old Mass priest."
Evidently an apostate. Whence did he come ? We have not
been able to trace ; but what seems fairly certain is that he turned
to the Egyptians for the sake of the flesh-pots of Egjrpt. If
Joanne Share and John Bycknold and Thomas Bristowe spake true,
 ——
THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 331

his beliefwas not that which Ehzabeth would dictate to him, and
it would almost appear that he entertained a secret wish for a
reversion to the old days of CathoUcity. A year had passed and
he had been tracked to London, and thence summoned to appear
before the Recorder who sent him to More. When in the presence
of the Magistrate he denied that he had ever said such pernicious
things as were reported against him. More, hearing that he was
of Merrow, sent him to Sir Thomas Browne. I have not been able
to trace this terrible affair any further. As far as I know the
following letter ends the story :

Clyfton curate of Merrow.

Letter to Sir Thomas Browne :

" With remembrance of our duties unto your good L. whereas

Master Clyfton late curate of Merrow within this County of
Surrey was presented by the churchwardens and sidemen of
the same to the Official deputy of this same County foir speaking
certain words amongst others concerning the change of this
world, whereunto the said deputy made us privey at the last
quarter Sessions holden the 4th of this present, we presently
sent for the same Martin and his accusers but he being then sUpt
aside to London as we were afterwards informed we wrote our
lettres to Mr. Recorder for his apprehension sending him the
copy of the accusation against him to show order might be taken
with him as the case should require. Since which time upon
advertisement from Mr. Recorder of the said Martin's return into
these parts we caused him to be brought before us with his
accusors who have justified unto his face their declarations which
made against him with the said deputy, it may like your L. to
receive hereinclosed. He doth deny the words but seemeth to
be very Ukely to utter the same considering his whole course of
life. He saith that he hath made your L. privy to the premisses
and terrified his accusors to cancel their oathes of
authority and therefore we have signified unto your L. at the
(mayor Horsham) our proceedings.
" And have also sent him unto you according to request
by the letters hereof With whom it may please you to take such
order as to yotir L. shall seem convenient. And thus we commit
your L. to the merciful of Almighty God. Guildford
this 22nd of July, 1382.
" Your L. to command,
" William More."
{Loseky, Bundle ut supra.)
332 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
However,, the story is of use, .as, it shows. what freedom was
brought about by the Reformation. Admittedly this Curate of
Merrow had not delivered himself of any pubhc speeches of an
indictable nature ; but some chance utterances in the ear of a,busy
widow of Merrow, or the, as usual, illiterate Churchwardens. He had
said that he thought a change might come about in this world, also
that he was disposed to help " any good fellow at his need," and
" that prayer was good for the dead."
Although he had never preached these things they were quite
enough to form the basis of an indictment. This was the Uberty,
of the Reformation.
It is also one of the numerous cases which the history of those
times provides for us in proof that the change of authority from the
Pope was only a change of the person to whom absolute unthinking
obedience shordd be given. The Crown was made the supreme
teacher, the only judge in matters of faith, whose decisions were to
be final. Loseley contains yet another letter as an instance of
this exercise of authority on the part of the Queen's Government.
In this case the decision is pronounced against a sect called the
" Family of Love." It was undoubtedly an evil sect, but two
things interest us in the condemnation. The first is that they were
condemned and imprisoned on account of their beUefs ;and the
second is that they were very largely represented in the country,
having a great many adherents. .

(.
[Loseley, Yo\. V., n. i8.)

" Whereas by your letters to my Lord of Winchester appeareth

that you have conferred with AUeii, committed to the Gaol by
the commissioners for ecclesiastical causes and that upon
conference he hath not only showed himself to be of sound
'

judgment in religion, but also hath declared me by name to be

his accuser whereby might seem unto you he had not been
it

well used at my hands,and that upon some private respect I had

dealt uncharitably with him, I had thought good to signify unto
you at large not only the cause, of his apprehensions and committ-
ing to the gaol, but also the demeanour of the man of long time.
" My Lord bf Winchester bfeing informed that this County
of Surrey was greatly infected with many of the Family of
'

Love' wrote his letter^ to aU the Justices of the; peace of the

same to use some diligence for the detection of them and that
upon one day a general search might be made through the same
County of all their houses that were suspected to be of that
'
Family for those books of hymns had in use amongst them.
'
 THE VINEYARD OF 'NABOTH 333

Whereupon I seardhed the said Allen's house and found there a

bbok of hymns privately hidden at the very time of my coming
for I saw his wife, when she did secretly cover it. Hereupon the
said Allen was brought before the Commissioners, and being
examined pubUcly by my L. of Winchester whether Christ were
Uke in substance to God, confessed the same but would not in
any wise that He was the same substance. And also upon further
examination by his L. he would not acknowledge him the author
of his book to be a sinner and either that he was inferior unto
Christ, but rather above him.
" For these detestable heresies he was committed to the gaol
aiid; not upon my accusation. He was about 17 years past
convented for divers heresies before my L. of Canterbury, then
Bishop of London and before the L. Commissioners of the same
and thereupon did openly recant them at Guildford and in his
own parish church, and under these ever since vehemently sus-
pected to be a chief seducer of divers to be of histeretical opinions
and hath been termed an Elder amongst them these 20 years
past. Of all which I have thought good to give you notice to
the end you should understand that he was not imprisoned
without cause, that I was not his accuser and also what hath
been of long time his demeanour.
" And so with my most hearty commendations I recommend
us all to the merciful tuition of Almighty God.
" Loseley, this 26th of September.
" Yours ,always to use
" Wylt More.
" A Mr. Cronley (?) [Croucher ?]
letter to
and others touching
AUen the Anabaptist."
" A letter from the Council [almost destroyed] ordering the
arrest of members of the Family of Love,' and that they should
'

be kept close prisoners."

The letter is dated nth Oct., 1580, from Richmond.

(Loseley, Vol. V., n. 7.)
Speaking of the " Family of Love " seems to bring in fittingly
another manuscript of the Loseley collectors about some domestic
affair relating to Sir Thomas Browne. It is a curious document.
I regret very much that I am unable to supplement it with any
other, but it appears from this that Mr. Browne's son North, had
not conducted himself as he should, but that he had given consider-
able trouble to his parents, so much so indeed, that Lady Browne
 — '

334 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH

had fallen sick in consequence. Evidently the undutiful son could
not be brought to a sense of his evil ways except through magisterial
force :

" Sr. Thomas Brovme to Sr Wm. More re his Son North.

" Sir I sendyou hereinclosed my Lord of Leycester's letters
directed unto you which I never saw and therefore know not the
effect of them but they be written (as I think) rather in my son
;

North's favour than otherwise. And yet I cannot deny but he

is greatly to be discommended and blamed for sundry his evil

actions, broils and quarrels in the matter whereof I made you

privy. Yet nevertheless upon circumstances of the matter it
will fall out as I am yet persuaded that now at the last, Edward
Sackvile most blameworthy. But, whosoever it be, my desire
is

is not only to have my son North and Edward Sackvile brought

before you, but also my wife's son, Henry Knjrvet, at the time
and place you shall direct and appoint, which I shall desire you
may be done with as much speed as may be for the prevention
and avoiding of further mischief, very like shortly to come pass.
I pray you also, if you have or shall appoint any new day for the
sitting about the commission at Chertsey, that you will certify
me thereof with speed. Thus with my very hearty commenda-
tions and my wife's (who by occasion of these broUes is fallen sick
and so remaineth) to you and my good Lady Moore, I commend
you to the protection of the Uving God Whom I beseech to
preserve you and your's to your own heart's desire. Betchworth
Castle the 5th of September, 1582.
" Your assured friend
" Thomas Browne.
" To the Right worshipful
Sir William More Knight
these be dd.
{Loseley, Bundle Letters, 1581 to 1600.)
Evidently there was not very much happiness in that family.
The troubles of Magistrates may well be imagined from all this
miscellaneous correspondence. But it was not only their sons,
however, that stood in the way of their unalloyed happiness, either
because they quarrelled or because they were not ready to follow
their parents in the reformed religion, but frequently it happened
that their own attendants and clerks went over to the enemy.
We have an instance of that, which is related in the following letter,
the draft of which alone is preserved at Loseley, and which*I^have
copied :—
 —

THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 335

" Sir Wm. More to the Lords

of the Council re apprehension of
John Warren and his son. {draft of letter.)
" Our duty unto your honourable Lordships remembered.
It may please the same to be advertised that we have used our
dilligence for the apprehension of John Warren otherwise Clark
and have caused his house to be searched for him but he absenteth
himself from his house. So that we cannot according to your
Lordship's pleasure, send him to Mr. Secretary. His wife told
the officers that he was attendant upon Mr. Slyfield his Master
at London, where by her report he is to be had. It is to be
thought he doubteth some matter in that he absenteth himself,
knowing that he hath been searched for, his son remaining in
ward. Which his son (although he be but a boy) yet we have
thought good by this bearer to send him for the affirmation of
his examination sent unto your L. in our last letter, whom it may
please your L. either to be discharged or detained as may seem
good unto you. And thus we beseech God long to preserve
you in honour with much increase of the same. At Guildford
this 28th of January 1583. - At your L. commandment."

{Loseley, ut supra.)
Wenote in this letter how, although a mere boy, the son of this
John Warren was detained by the pursuivants in order to extract
information from him. It very frequently happened that mere
children were treated with the utmost barbarity for the purpose of
thus extorting from them knowledge useful to the pursuers. In the
letter I have quoted however, we are not told of any violence of
this kind, but what is evident is that John Warren, who was
attendant upon Mr. Sl37field, the Sheriff, was suspected as a recusant.
Unless the Magistrates showed great zeal in their harsh treatment
of the recuseuits they were quickly called to order by the Council and
made to tighten the screws. More and his colleagues had evidently
not given complete satisfaction in this way, they had been too tender
in Probably the families of Southampton and
their dealings.
Browne had some but they were watched, and so More
influence,
received the following order from the Council :

Order to proceed against prisoners in Clink, White Lion, and other

prisons.
From the Council.
Order to proceed against the prisoners in the Clink and
White Lion there confined as Recusants.
" After our hearty commn. Whereas we are ever to under-
stand that in yor proceeding wth the Recusants of that Countie
 —

336 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH

of Surrey, accordinge to the la,te Statute provided for the con-
teyninge of her maties Subjects in their due obedience you have
hitherto forborne to towche all those Recusants that are
reniayninge in the Clincke White lypn and other prisons wthin
that part of the Countie, wljierefore we doe not a lyttle mrveyle
supposeinge that you are not ignorante, that by order from us
heretofore wth thadvise of her maties Learned Counsell all such
prisors as are comytted for their disobedience in Religion, beynge
offered to resorte unto the church wth their keper to avoid the
penaltie of. the Stf^tute, cpid shail refuse so to doe, they shalbe
thereupon indicat;ed and proceeded v^thall, as the rest that doe
remajme in obstyiiate and, .are at.lyberte: Theis are there-
,
fore, to require you to f pllov\re that order wtlj the prisoners
com37tted for ReUgion to yor prisons in Surrey. And so to
proceed to their Indictment judgment and execucon accordinge
to the direcon of the said Statute.
"Whereof we require you there may be no defaulte. And
so byd you harlety farewell. From the Courte at Grenewiche
the laste of Februarye 158 1.
" Yor loveinge freinds
"E. Lincoln T. Sussex F. Knollys.
James Crofte Chrs Hattons F. Walsingham.
"To or verie loveinge freinds
the Sheriff and Justices
of the peace in the
Countie of Surreye
Sherifs and Justices of Surrey."
(Loseley, Vol. V., n. 19.)
The next year the Sheriff above mentioned Avrote to Mr. More,
Mr. Browne and others as foUows :

Mr. Slyfied {Sheriff) (Loseley, Vol. V., n. 23.)

to summon jailors to accuse Recusants.
" To the Right Worshll Sr WmMore and Sr Thomas Browne
Knights John Wolley, John Skinner, George More and John
Cowper Esquires.
" After my very harty comm. giving you to understand
that I have received this present Tuesday your letters .wherein
you require me to give straight charge to all the gailors of every
prison within this .County personally to appear before you at
the next quarter sessions at Reygate with such witnesses as they
have of the Recusant's jefusg^,,. as renjain in tlieiir several
charges that they might there be dealt wilii all according to the
 —
THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 337

Statute in that behalf pvided and according to the letters lately

directed unto us from the Ls. of her Mags, most hon. privy
counsell. Therefore these are to advertise you that I will take
pvte order, with the said GaUors according to your said letter.
And whereas you wiUed me to take order for the due execu-
tion of such process as I hstve for the appearance of all such
Recusants as remain at Uberty I assure you I have received
none, neither do I perceive your meaning in that behalf. And
thus I bid you most heartily farewell.
" Leyfield : this XVIIth of April 1582.
" Your loving friend,

"Edmond Slyfield (Sheriff)."

The letter teUs us of the vigilance exercised over the Magistrates

and the gaolers. A vigilance, be it noted, not intended for the
benefit of the Recusants.
In considering the matter of the difficulties of Magistrates,
we come across a letter of Sir WilUam More, in which he complains
to the Bishop of Winchester about interference with his post of
Keeper of Famham Castle.
According to More the post was not a lucrative one two Hveries :

and £5 (or in modem coinage £60) yearly. Still he was loath to

dissolve partnership. There were advantages in the office, as
it was an assistance to him in many ways :

(JLoseley, Bundle Letters, 1581 ot 1600.)

"With remembrance of my duty unto your good Lordship,
it may please the same to imderstand that Philip Hormer my
servant, the bearer hereof, keeper of your L. castle of Famham
under me declared this present day unto me that one Mr.
Parson, your L. servant came unto him willing him to avoid
from the custody of your castle for that your L. had given him
the of&ce of the pprtorship of the same. Whereof I have thought
good by these to inform your L. of my interest therein. Then
it is that my very good L. Bishop Home after his having the
bishopric, findingHenry White constable of the said Castle
not taking the charge and keeping thereof as appartained,
expulsed him from the office and gave the same unto me. And
after his L. made one Richardson, hs serant, porter of the said
castle, who by colour thereof pretended to have the keeping,
of the castle ; wherewith I finding mysel grieved because he
sought thereby to impeach my grant, I wrote unto his L. therein.
Who answered me by his letter written all with his own hand ;
23
338 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
that he meant not by his grant any manner ot words to deprive
me of the custody of the castle, to whom it did appertain, but
only that the said Richardson should enjoy the portership
with the see thereof Notwithstanding, after his L. decease while
the See was vacant, the said Richardson pretended title to the
keeping of the said castle, whereupon I was content to submit
myself to the judgment of Mr. Cowpoer of the Temple Mr. Heles
of Gre5rsinn Mr. Ashtone and Mr. Hampden as far as I remember.
Two of these being his dear friends, that if they thought he ought
to have the keeping of the Chapel by law or conscience I would
presently yield the same unto him. Who met and heard the
profEs of both sides at length to his satisfaction as I then thought.
Nevertheless he afterwards exhibited a supplication to my
L. Treasurer against me very clamorously whereupon his L.
wrote to me therein, whom I so answered that his L. held himself
fuUy satisfied therewith. Immediately after your L. last pre-
decessor had the bishoprick the said Richardson again moved
him touching the premisses, who, being informed of the truth
of the same rejected his suite so that, until this present, I heard
no more thereof. I am well assured that all the said attempts
hath been by the practice of one not to me unknown who hath
sought to buy the said office of the portership, thinking thereby
to encroach upon mine office. Truly my Lord, I have not the
benefit of one f)enny by keeping of the Castle, and therefore
would not contend for the same were it not that by the fore-
going of it I should endanger the office I have under your L.
my Servant that keepeth it hath that Httle benefit that groweth
of the same, my two liveries and £$ yearly, if he shall disorder
himself any manner of way, I shall, upon notice from your L.
thereof dispurchase him and appoint another to your good
contentment. My desire is unto your good L. that if this my
declaration doth not satisfy you that then either the matter
may be decided by some indifferent persons that are learned,
or else by the ordinary trial in Law between thesame Mr. Parson
your L. grantee of the said portorship and me. Whereunto
I will submit myself without delay, trusting that in the mean-
time with your L. good favour my said servant may under
me keep the said Castle as he hath hitherto done. And thus
having troubled your L. with this long letter I beseech God
long to preserve you in His favour. At Loseley, this 6th oi
September 1585
Alwa}^ at your Lordship's
" B. of Winchester." conmiandment."
 — )

THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 339

This case of the Keeper of Farnham Castle calls to mind a most

curious history in connection with another mansion under the
jurisdiction of the same bishop —the Winchester Gaol. The
documents which relate the story are not in the Loseley Collection.
They are at the Public Record Office. But I have copied them
because they are of interest here as showing a very remarkable
chain of circumstances, which, for a time at least, made Hfe in that
gaol more bearable for Catholics, and proportionately irritated
the zealous protestant Bishop.
The trouble arose over the too lenient treatment of Father
Edward Kennyon who was imprisoned for his priesthood in Win-
chester gaol. He was not treated as a common thief and kept
in irons —
and on prison fare ^but with what kindness a humane
was able to show. The matter was reported to the Bishop,
gaoler
who considered it a subject for the most careful enquiry. He
accordingly wrote to Secretary Cecil :

" Rt.
Honorble. The immoderate favour the gaoler here
in Hampshire sheweth to Edward Kennyon, priest, lately com-
mitted to his keeping, by order from yourself and others of
the Lords of the Privy Council, as well in freeing the said priest
of irons and feasting him at his own house, as in suffering all
sorts of recusants to repair to him, was such, that by no means
I might dissemble or conceal from your honour, with promise
that I would, against the time of our assizes here, put your
honour in remembrance to require the judges of this circuit
to have care that such extreme contempt of law and duty might
not escape unpunished. Albeit, therefore, I seek no man's
undoing against his desert, nor take upon me to determine
in judgment whether it were a wilful or negligent escape, yet
I have to put you in mind thereof, and to pray you that such
examples of extreme neglect pass not uncontrolled, but be
examined and rewarded according to the demerit of the man
and the cause. Which having done, I cease to trouble your
honour any further for this present, and commit the same to
the mercies of Almighty God.
" From my house at Waltham, this 7 day of February 1599.
" Your honour's in aU affection,
" Tho. Winton."
( Dom. Ehz. Vol. 274 n. 34. copied from ijes. Rec. Vol. 3 p. 544.

As the following documents will show. Father Edward Kenyon

escaped from prison in the year 1597, apparently with the collusion
 —

340 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH

of the gaoler. He does not appear to have been recaptured, and
what eventually became of him I have been unable to trace.
The story related on the depositions of the prisoners is very
interesting, and therefore I give all the documents as they come
in the boimd volume 273, No. 23, at the Record Office. The last
two documents, however, being largely a repetition of what
preceded, I give in summary :

I, " To the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Cecill. Knight, Sec. to her
" Maj. The Bp. of Winchester
" Concerning Kennyon the priest lately escaped.
" Rt. hon. though I presume Mr. SoUicitor general, by reason
;

of his presence at the time & place, & examination of the

cause hath acquainted you with the escape of Edward Keimyon
priest out of the prison ; who was sent up by me this smnmer
and returned back hither with two letters from the Lords &
yourself to have him here proceeded with by law, & thereupon
after conference persisting, was by me committed to the Gaol
of Winchester in as strict manner as I could devise, where he was
rather daily feasted as a guest, than safely kept as a traitor,
& suffered most wilfully to escape upon the very day that he
doubted to be produced yet thought I fit, after farther enquiry
;

made, to send to your Honour, as well the examination of the

fact taken by Mr. Sollicitor and others, while I was busied about
the redressing of some slackness & abuse in the rating of the
Subsidy as also such other informations here inclosed as came
:

since to my knowledge whereby your Honour will soon perceive

:

the Gailor's dissolute carelessness in keeping such prisoners,

& his wilful favouring & dismissing of Recussants in execution
to the Queen, out of prison at his pleasure ; which boldness and
presumption of his doth, & will do more haxm if it be not
repressed, than all the Justices and Commissioners here will
be able to do good. I hope therefore it will please the Ls and
you, when the time cometh to give the Judges in charge that they
proceed severally to the punishing of this open & wilful neglect,
in so high a case as this is according to the Laws which I doubt
;

not are strict enough if they be executed whereof I will not

;

fail, God willing, against the time to put your Honour in remem-

brance lest other weighty matters happily remove this out of

mind. I likewise thought good to advertise your Honour
what I find touching the State of the Gail how cuimingly it is
;

Ccirried by close conveyances & where the right of inheritance

now lieth, that your wisdom in Her Maj's behalf may accordingly
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 341

dispose of it, as you see cause. I learn that the Manor of Wood-
cote here in Hampshire, was given by the King to the Ancestors
of one Anthony Duedale a Recusant & lately dead, for the safe
keeping of the Goale, who in his lifetime fearing the danger of
the law, & loath that the prisoners for Recusancy should come
into any man's keeping but at his own appointing, conveyed the
inheritance of the Goal with the aforesaid Manor of Woodcote
unto Anthony Brewning his daughter's son a child of seven years
age, the father and mother both recusants, which is the true
reason why no man hath or shall have the keeping of the Goal,
but such as will be at their beck for the favouring of Recusants.
The child is a ward for his temu-e, as I take it, and so at yom:
Honour's disposition together with the manor of Woodcote
lying here within six miles of my house you may do your
:

pleasure with it, till he come of age ; if this and such other
wilful escapes & releasings of prisoners do not indanger the
inheritance and reduce it back to the Queen's hands. The
conveyance will easily be found, for that by search I understand
the maker and executor of the same were two that now are my
Officers, and will be ready when you think good to witness the
same. Thus much I thought meet to impart to your Honour,
as well for the good of the Country as Your own right :And
so with my prayers to God for your welfare, I rest in all dutiful
affection to be commanded by your Honour. From my house
at Waltham the 5th of November, 1699.
" Your honour's in all dutiful affection

"Tho. Winton.

n. " Vicesimo Septemvris 1598 At Romesey before Mr.

Doctor Ridley Chancellor of the diocese of
Winchester in his visitaion then & there holden.
" Thomas Canterton, als Grove als Steven als Bale examined
saith thathe is a prisoner in the Gaol of Winchester for rehgion,
but hath not been there since the last Assizes. And confesseth
that he is now absent by leave of Mr. Unedale and that Mr.
Unedale told him that he had a licence from the Justices of
Assises for the enlargement of him & some others to work for
their living. And
that he useth to return to every Sessions and
Assises upon warning sent to him from the keeper.
" Being demanded what he hath given for his enlargement
saith he hath given nothing. But being demanded to take his
oath thereof denieth so to do."
342 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
III. " Quinto Octobris 1598. Before the Rev Father in Christ
the L. Bishop of Winchester and other her Majy Commis-
sioners ecclesiastical of that Diocese.
"
The said Commissioners caused to appear before them Richard
Bruning Esquire declaring unto him that where now the inheri-
tance of the Common Gaol in Winchester is decended unto him
by the death of Mr. Anthony Unedale late deceased for that they
understood by sundry complaints that many Recusants who
formerly have been committed to that prison are now at large.
Therefore they required him to enter bond to her Maj. to this
purpose that all the said Recusants which ought to be prisoners
there be safely kept in that Gaol according to the law. Wliereto
the said Richard Bruning answered & alleged that Mr. WilUam
Unedale hath heretofore used the Custody of that Gaol as deputy
under the said Mr. An. Unedale And that he now purposes to
oversee Mr. Unedale that he shall better look to the gaol & to
the safe custody of the Recusants therein committed And that
he thinketh it very reasonable that the said Mr. Unedale should
be bound to that effect. Then appeared Mr. William Unedale
unto whom the Commissioners caused to be readen the examina-
tion of Thomas Cannterton at the last visitation of Romesey
bieng one of the Recusants formerly in his charge in the said
Gaol appearing also at this time. Whereunto the said Unedale
answered that the said Cannterton is a wanderer and that he
did not see him since midsomer last was twelvemonth. And
therefore the said Unedale now prayed the Commissioner that
he might newly attach him into his said custody. The said
Unedale farther confesseth that two of Gooter's children, one
Gendge, and one fidler also Recusants committed to the said
Gaol, have by abusing of him long absented themselves out of the
Gaol. He
pretendeth that by the leave of the Justices of Assise
upon his suit & motion for charity sake he suffered seven
own
of the poorer sort of Recusants of the said Gaol to go at liberty
for a small time to get their living by their labour & prayed
some time to seek them out and get them in again.

IV. " Vicesimo octava Septembris 1599 before the Rev. Father
;

in Christ Thomas Lord Bishop of Winchester and other her

Maj's Commissioners for causes ecclesiastical within the
diocese of Winchester.
" Robert Foy gent of Estmeane a known Recusant being lately
apprehended by warrant from the said Commissioners and making
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 343

his appearance the day & year aforesaid. Upon examination

confesseth that he hath been a Recusant these 20 years past,
and hath been prisoner for his said recusancy in the Gjmmon
Gaol at Winchester during most of these years, and that by the
space of seven years whilst he remained there he was not put in
the Kalender when the Assises were holden in the County of
South. And further that about seven years past he obtained
leave of Mr. William Unedale gent deputy keeper of the said
Gaol to go thence to his house at Estmeone and that since that
time he hath not returned to the said Gaol. And that since his
said hberty obtained he hath been at London three weeks together
in the term time."

V. " The Examination of Valentine No}ree one of the under

keepers of the Common Gaol in Winchester for the County
of South, the 3rd day of October 1599.

" This examinate confesseth that WiUiam Unedale his master

keeper of the said Gaol having received Edward Kennion a
seminary priest and committed to his custody as a Traitor safely
to be kept by warrant from the right reverend Father the now
Lord Bishop of Winton, did commit the special charge of the
safe keeping of the said priest into the Gaol to Thomas Garnet
Ms servant and Underkeeper there also. And saith that the said
Thomas Garnet did not since the committing of the said priest
to his charge he above five nights in the Gaol. He also saith that
the priest in the daytime was usually in the parour of the right
hand of the entry at the Gaol door, and most nights he lay with
Anthoine Norton the recusant and some nights in the parour.
He also confesseth the priest's father came on Monday last to the
prison to his son the priest, and there did talk with him by the
space of half an hour : and yesterday morning about five of the
clock some hour the priest escapes, his father came again to the
prison and talked with his son about a quarter of an hour.
" And Antoine Norton and Marks White and one Bidlecombe
were then present. And saith that the priest's father at his
first coming did enquire for the said Anthoine Norton emd not for
his son, and that there came nobody in his company but himself
alone. He saith that the father of the priest did lie at the house
of . . .Field of Fulflood within a mile of Winchester and
that this examinate going after the priest being escaped about
eight of the clock yesterday morning did meet the said Field
and the priest's father coming from Field's house in a lane in the
344 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
backside of Hydestreet. He saith the said Thomas Garnet
yesterday morning when the priest escaped had taken two
prisoners with him out of the Gaol into the Town to drink. This
examinat saith that he remaining in the Gaol one . . Joye a
.

Recusant being a prisoner in the gaol desired this examinat that

he might go into the garden of the Gaol and so through to Richard
Cooke's house to see his nag, and this examinat went with the
said Joye to the garden and the priest called to this examinat
and desired him to stay Joye and that they two might walk in
the garden together. And thereupon the said examinat did stay
the said Joye until the priest came, & so let them both go into
the gEirden, & when they were in the garden this examinat
locked the garden door & came back to the prison again, &
there remained by the space of a quarter of an hour, & then
returned and opened the garden door & found nobody there,
the priest was gone and this examinat met with Joye, coming as
he said from Richard Cook's and this examinat asked him for
the priest, and he answered he knew not where he was, but said
he, the priest borrowed of me 2S. in the Gcirden before I went to
Cooks, which I lent him, & since I saw him not. He saith
that the priest came into the garden with his rug gown wrapped
close about him which gown was found in goodwife BayUe's
garden which is within a hedge of the Gaol garden. And this
gown was the gown of one Thomas Abraham the recusant
prisoner then in the Gaol with^the priest which Abraham escaped
within half an hour before &^went out of the Gaol door, and
immediately after him went Jout also Geoffrey Miles an other
Recusant, and he sayeth that the priest is said to follow the said
Miles out of the North gate with a grejdsh cloak on his back,
which cloak was Markes White's for he had such a cloak, which
now upon search is missing. He also saith that the said Abraham,
hath a house in Hydestreet not far from the said North gate
and that this examinat following after the priest was told by 2
boys that were in a close at harrowing hard by the end of Hyde-
street that they saw the said Abraham whom they knew well
with one other young man going very fast over the fields, whom
this examinat did track a little way, & found it was Abraham
by the track of his foot, having clubbish short feet. And he
confesseth that this priest had never any irons laid on since he
came to the Gaol. Taken before us
" Thomas Fleming
John Seymour
Richard Milles."
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 345

VI. " The examination of William Myles, prisoner in the Gaol

of Winchester, for the Court of South, for recusancy taken
the 3rd of October 1599.
" This examinat saith that yesterday morning about eight of
the clock he came out of the Gaol being a prisoner there for
recusancy copvicted, the keeper Thomas Garnet standing fast
by the door permitting this examinat to pass by him. This
examt. saith that he went out of the north gate & staid at the
lane at the bridge's end, and not seeing his wife whom he looked
for immediately returned and saw nobody neither following him
nor coming after him, and he returned to the prison.
" Taken before us Thomas Fleming.
Richard Myles.
" Thomas Garnet one same prison
of the Underkeepers of the
corroborates the above evidence : He was
further states that he
told by his Master Mr. WmUnedale that if he thought he could
keep the priest safe without irons he was to lay none on him.
He was twice invited to dinner by Unedale."
No. 23, VII.
" The examinationof Valentine Noise one of the under-
keepers of the gaol of Winchester taken before the Lord B. of
Winchester the day and year aforesaid. Almost verbatim the
same as the preceding examinations.
VIII.
" The examination and saying of Andrew Valence of Rumsey
in the Co. of South, tanner, aged fifty years or thereabouts, taken
before the L.B. of Winch, the 26th day of Oct. 1599 saith a^
followeth.
" This is the deposition of a, prisoner for debt in the gaol of
Winchester. He gives corroborative evidence of the above,
stating that he had heard that the priest was convcited as a
traitor.He says that the priest, though a prisoner of quality,
had not been put in irons because the keeper who was a Recusant
had not wished it. He further tells the story of his invitation
& second at the wish
to dinner first at the instance of the keeper
of the keeper's wife. Moreover he says that once Mrs. Unedale
came with several other women who were recusants & they
walked with the priest in the garden. He states that on several
occasions the priest was regaled with venison ready cooked sent
him by Mr. Unedale. He adds that the keys of the prison were
in the hands of Recusants."
346 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
It is not possible to check with any certainty the foregoing
statements. Whether the prison was really in the hands of Catholics
or not, we cannot say. AH that appears from the evidence is that
the authorities immediately responsible for the management of
the gaol were humane persons and were evidently convinced that
Catholics were not necessarily of the criminal class because they were
Catholics, nor indeed were Catholics, as such, disloyal to their Queen
and country. But the Bishop opined otherwise and moved with
the spirit of a reformer, he was determined to make Catholics feel
hardships to the utmost degree.
A petition to Sir WiUiam More from the prisoners in the White
Lion shows what was the treatment meted out certainly in some
gaols at the time. It is more after this manner of treatment that
the Bishop of Winchester would wish the prison authorities under
his jurisdiction to act.

" Petition of Prisoners in the White Lion.

"
A petition to Sir Wm. Moore from Prisoners in the Wite
Lion, Soutiiwark.
" Right worshipfull maister Moore this shalbe to Beseak your
worship to take some pitty uppon us your poore and obedient
Subjects, whiche lye here in prysson upon your commandement
whear that wee are Hck to perrishe for defayet of sustenauncies
yf your wurship faverrable and mercyfull hand be not streatched
furthe to take some mercy upon us for the lord knowes we shall
not be able to ues our lymes to helpe ourselves wth aU herafter
yf we do lye here in this imprysoonment longe and being so far
frome any frend to helpe us in this myssairable caess that we
cannnothavenoforend nor Kynnesman to helpe us in this heavy
caesse therfor we umble besse your wurship for the lords sake
to release us for we do from our very harts acknoled and confesse
oure selfs to be offendars and to have done against the law of
the Reame beseking your wurship for pardon for this our
traunsegresseon and we shall be contented to part home into our
contray, be gods grace yf we shall do to the contrary we will be
contented to suffer deathe presently without Judgment yf that
we do not streaghtways dep hence without the vexasion or diss-
turbaunce of any maner of pson wthin theasse peartes or any
eUes whear in this contrary wherfore we unblye Beseeck yor
wurship for the Lords sacke that deleverd us all out of prysson
and forgave us all our detts to showe at this tume of imprysson-
ment and in so doing we shall be dealy bound to pray ffor your
wurship while heffe doeth induer wherfEor ffor your lordship
 THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH 347

saecks we beseick you even ffor the lords sackes gave us ensample
to ffollow his steppes let your mercy ffall I beseick you in this
tjmie of our myserable staet nothing dowting by Gods grace but
to amend our lyeffes and never to offend in any thiting herrafter
the Lord psarve your wurshipp in prossperous health with
continewance of long lyeffe unto the Lords will and pleasure.
Amen.
" By yom: poore pryssoners
At White Lion in sowthork."

Indorsed " unto the Right wurshipful Mr. Moore, Justis of

peace."
This in Sr W. More's handwriting.
" Egyptians, Southwark."
" At Loessley in Surrey geve this."

{Loseley, Vol. V., n. 42.)

The endorsement in More's handwriting would not give us to

understand that he was softened by the appeal.
From all we have seen in this chapter the worries that beset
the persecutors did not arise from a desire to buUd up, but rather
a determination to puU down. They created martyrs for the
Catholic Church and undying infamy for the champions of their
own creed.

Thus did Jesabel suborn witnesses, while Achab entered into

possession of the Vineyard of Naboth.
 —

Chapter III

THE ROLL OF HONOUR

No Roll of Honour occupies a higher placein the esteem of
righteous men than that of the Saints of God who braved a long
and bitter persecution rather than renounce their Faith for this ;

implies a love and fidelity as far removed from flesh and blood as
heaven from earth. The object of this endurance is of its very
essence supernatural and the reward which it deserves is not to be
expected in this world.
" Let us now praise men of renown, and our fathers in their
generation." Eccl. xliv.

These men of renown are the martyrs and confessors whose

names are perpetuated on the crumbling records of long ago and
preserved with jealous care in Muniment Rooms and State Paper
Offices.
In this chapter we are concerned with the Roll of Honour
preserved at Loseley. Of this Roll of Honour we may be permitted'
still fiu:ther to quote the words of Ecclesiasticus :

" Such as have borne rule in their dominions, men of great

power, and endued with their wisdom, showing forth in the
prophets the dignity of prophets, and ruling over the present
people, and by the strength of wisdom instructing the people in
most holy words. Such as by their skill sought out musical
tunes, and published canticles of the scriptures. Rich men in
virtue, studying beautifulness Uving at peace in their houses.
;

All these have gained glory in their generations, and were praised
in their days. They have left a name behind them, that their
praises might be related ; and there are some, of whom there is
no memorial ; who
are perished, as if they had never been ; and
are bom, asthey had never been born, and their children
if

with them. But these were men of mercy, whose godly deeds
have not failed ; good things continue with their seed, their
posterity are a holy inheritance, and their seed hath stood in
the covenants. And their children for their sakes remain for
ever ; their seed and their glory shall not be forsaken. Their
348
 — ;

THE ROLL OF HONOUR 349

bodies are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto generation
and generation. Let the people show forth their wisdom, and
the church declare their praise." Ibid.

How aptly all this fits in with our subject may be seen from the
foregoing chapters, and wiU appear more fully in the course of this
for in our lists and other documents are the names of rulers such
as Justice Southcote, of lovers of music such as Copley, of writers
and scholars, such as John Fisher, Thomas More, Edmund Campion
and Edward Rishton.
I have yet two more letters to put in from the Loseley collection
which deal directiy with the persecution of Catholics. The first
dates from the reign of Elizabeth. It speaks of one Hardy, of
Famham, evidentiy a Catholic who had been bold enough to speak
openly in defence of two Cathohc martyrs named Body and Slaid.
Hardy has been arrested for his temerity, and it is likely that he
will be sent to the Lords of the Council to be dealt with according
to the rigours of the law. Such speeches were treasonable and
punishable by death.
" Sir, with humble remembrance of our duties unto your
honour. Upon information given unto us that one Hardy of
Famham, a man illaffected in religion, had spent certain speache
in a public place of thesame town to the defence of Body and
Slaid lately executed at Winchester and of the cause for which
they died. We thought good immediately according to our
duty therein to call the said Hardy and his accusers before us,
whose examinations we have taken, and think it fit herewith
to send the same unto your honours, being desirous to be adver-
tised from you what order you think best to be taken with him.
We have committed h{vn to ward, where he shall be detained
until such time as we understand your honour's pleasure
shall
therein whether to send him
to the Right Honourable the L. of
her Majesty's Privy Coimsel, or to committ him to the gaol, or
to take some other course with him. And thus expecting your
answer herein, we wish all honour unto you with good and happy
increase of the same.
*•
At Guildford."
Los. MS., Vol. v.. No. 61.

Cardinal Allen in his " Defence of English Catholics," tells us

that Mr. John Slaid and Mr. John Body were both forced to say what
they thought of the Queen's spiritual supremacy. They were not
in the least unwiLing to speak their minds ; they bravely confessed
350 THE ROLL OF HONOUR
their faith, asserting the Pope's spiritual sovereignty, and refusing
to acknowledge the Queen to be head of the Church of England,
" or to have any spiritual regiment."They were therefore twice
condemned to death two divers sessions (a rare thing in this
at
country). Apparently the first judgment was invalid through
some legal flaw hence they were a second time arraigned and
;

condemned to death. " Whereupon one of them was executed at

Winchester, the other at Andover."
One thing remarkable about these two martyrdoms is that
neither Slaid nor Body were at any time charged with disloyalty
or treason. When the holy Confessor John Body was about to die a
•
chief gentleman and minister of execution said to him
' :
" Confess
your fault for the satisfaction of the world, in the cause of your
death." To this the martyr repUed by protesting his loyalty in
temporal things, and then continued " You shall understand good
:

people, that I suffer death for denying her Majesty to be supreme

head of Christ's Church in England in causes ecclesiastical other,
;

treasons, except they make the Holy Mass, or sajdng Ave Maria,
"
treason, I have committed none.
In hke manner when Slaid stood ready for execution, " one
Doctor Bennet, a great minister of their new congregation " cried
out to him :
" Let not the Pope that unworthy Priest, be preferred
before thine own natural Princess, who is the lawful supreme head
of the Church next under Christ." Thus from the mouth of a
Protestant minister it was made clear to aU the people that Slaid
was put to death for vindicating a religious principle.
The second letter which I now copy from the Loseley original
is dated the 28th November, 1603. James is on the throne.
" Sir my L. hath not yet determined what way to take home-
wards neither can he before he be at Court where to-morrow at
night his Lordship God willing doe purpose to be. But for his
coming to Loseley I am fully persuaded he will not, and the way
he will take will be to Mr. Englefield and so home the next day.
" Sr. W. Raleigh, L. Copham, L. Grey stand all there condemned
and at the mercy of the Ks. maty. L. Copham at his trial
deciphered Sr. W. Raleigh to be the ughest traitor that ever
was heard of in England, and where before he was much pitied
now all that pity and compassion is clean wiped off. L. Cobham
seemed to be very timorous and did importune their Lis very
much to be mediators to the king for him and the L. Grey
;

showed spirit and courage invincible standing wholly upon his

justification, but showed much vanity in the course of his defence,
and when sentence was propounded he only desired to have
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR 351

Mr Travers or Dr. Fyeld to confer with, and without any show

of fear departed.
" To-morrow you say the 2 priests Watson and Cleark shall be
executed in the Market Place at Wynchester. I do purpose if
please God and my L. to give leave to take Loseley in my way
home and then you shall know so much as I do know. In the
mean I wish you health and all good blessings.
" From Wjmchester 28 No. 1603.
" Yours wholly to command
" Jo. Pantone."
{Los. MS. Letters, 1601 to 1650).

This letter carries the mind back to the famous trial at Winchester
of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was accused of complicity with Lord
Cobham in treasonably plotting against James in favour of
Arabella Stuart. He was condemned to death. However, the
King commuted the sentence to one of imprisonment and Raleigh
was confined in the Tower for twelve years. During that time he
devoted himself to scientific and Hterary work. Visitors to the
Tower are now shown the dungeon where he wrote his History of
the World (?) In 1616 he bribed the favourite Villiers, who obtained
his pardon from the King. James was the more moved to release
him because of his offer to open a mine of gold which he believed
to exist near the Orinoco. His hopes were not realised, and disaster
attended the expedition which was led by Raleigh. This unscrupu-
lous adventurer attacked the Spaniards and was routed. On his
return to England he found that James was wrath with him for thus
threatening to plunge his country into war. Hence to appease
the Spanish Court he ordered Raleigh to be tried once more. This
time no mercy was shown, and he wa& executed on October 29th,
1618.
But not for the benefit of this adventurer that I pubhsh this
it is

letter —although even from this point of view it is of interest. The

reader is asked rather to notice the laconic reference to the coming
murder of two priests. The contrast between the treatment of
the " ugliest traitor " and the two priests is very remarkable. For
the time-server there was mercy for the God-fearing and devoted
;

Catholic priest there was none.

Now, before proceed to mention the Priests whose names are
I
on the lists it would be as weU to give the reader an
at Loseley,
account of one who, although never ordained, suffered much for
the Faith, and was received into the Jesuit Society while he was in
352 THE ROLL OF HONOUR
prison. His name is Thomas Pounde. He is mentioned only once
on our lists but the tale of his labours and sufferings for the noblest
;

of causes might weU run into volumes.

He was bom at Belmont, twelve miles from Winchester, on the
29th May, 1539, of William Pounde, a wealthy country gentleman,
and Anne Wriothesley, sister of Thomas; Earl of Southampton,
who was Godfather to this little nephew. Until the age of twenty-
three he was a student in the College of Our Lady of Winchester.
From thence, going to London, he prepared himself for forensic
fame and distinction by the study of the law. It is hard to say in
which of her gratuitous gifts nature was most bountiful to him,
the mental or the corporal. He appeared, indeed, more graced in
each advancing period of his life and growth, as was observed in his
height, and in the strength and development of his limbs which
made him vigorous and active. He delighted and excelled in all
g5minastic and bodily exercises, and even in more advanced life,
when quite grey-haired, he was a man of commanding and venerable
aspect qualities which helped to make him no slight favourite
;

with men of high rank. He was richly furnished, also, with all the
other gifts of mind that become an accomplished cavalier, being
brave, self-possessed, most courteous, of exceedingly pohshed
manners, generous in spending money, an eloquent speaker, and of
ready wit. Upon the occasion of a solemn reception of Queen
Ehzabeth at Winchester College, he addressed her Majesty, to great
applause, in a complimentary ode which he had himself composed.
In the art of Latin verse, too, he had attained a considerable degree
of excellence.
He was a CathoUc at heart, but, being so favoured by fortune,
and Uving at a time when the luxuries of Court life were at the
height of" their excesses, he succumbed to the allurements of his
position and allowed himself to be swept into the vortex of worldly
dissipation. He rivalled the gayest courtiers in their longing for
fame. One can understand how so ready a wit and engaging a
youth soon became the favourite in theatricals and sports of every
kind he was the star at aU the entertainments and his njmie alone
;

was sufficient attraction.

We can quite easily imagine what future might have been before
Pounde if some sudden or unwonted turn of fortune's wheel had
not come to switch this meteor from its dangerous course. God's
ways are wonderful and the workings of Divine Grace in the hearts
of men follow no plan that man can forecast. The conversion of
Thomas Pounde from a fife of worldliness, void of spiritual aspira-
tions, to a life of absolute renunciation and sanctity, was brought
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR 353

about by the most trivial circumstance and yet in the most startling
manner.
It was during the Christmas festivities —
not those pious com-
memorations in liturgy and prayer of the humble birth of the
Saviour, but that corruption of the Christmas joys which turned the
sacred season into a mere excuse for stUl greater worldly frivolity.
In the year 1569, Thomas Pounde was again the hero of the masque ;

in fact he was not only the chief actor but the composer of the
play. Loud applause attended all his efforts. It was a triumph
of histrionics. The flower of the nobility and of the youth of
London was present to acclaim his efforts. Elated beyond measure
with the success of his performances, he at last executed one of his
most wonderful accompUshments in the art of dancing, by balancing
himself in the eiir at fuU height on tiptoe, and then spinning around
like a top with Ughtning rapidity. It was marvellous, and the
applause was so great that, emboldened by the encouragements and
the "encores," he repeated the exploit but, this time, with disastrous
;

results. Growing giddy, he fell heavily to the ground, and now

the applause gave way to uncontrollable laughter. The Queen
herself, seeing an opportunity of showing off her wit at the expense
of another (an opportunity which she rarely let pass) and approach-
ing the fallen hero with mock ceremony as if to dub him knight,
struck him with her foot, saying :
" Arise, Sir Ox." It was the
moment of grace for Pounde. Rising to his feet and retiring with
face cast down he was heard to say " Sic transit gloria mundi."
:

His conversion was complete : he left the court with all its
allurements, the world with aU its enchantments, and retired to his
residence at Belmont. There he gave himself up to prayer. It was
not the disappointed irritation of a peevish child of fortune that
led him to this step, but the workings of Divine Grace that were
drawing him to a Saviour Who wished him to suffer much for His
Name another Saul on the road to Damascus, struck down by a
;

light from Heaven, and drawn aside till it should be revealed to

him what was God's will in his regard. He remained at Belmont
for some time and there he first conceived his desire of entering
the Society of Jesus. But that desire was not to be accomplished
until after very much suffering.
At court he had sumxlated conformity and now having made his
submission to the Catholic Church, he at once set himself to make
reparation for his shameful apostacy. In a few days he gave up
his splendid residence and sought a lodging with a Catholic citizen.
With him he dwelt for more than two years practising the greatest
austerity and living the life of a recluse. During that time he had

2i
354 THE ROLL OF HONOUR
many visits from his friends who were importunate in tempting
him back to his old
life. However he remained firm in his original
decision, and he bound himself by vow to the practice of perpetual
chastity, resolving also when the time should be ripe to seek
ordination in the priesthood.
At last, after this protracted penance of two years, together
with a companion, a youth named Thomas Stevens, he was about
to start on his journey for the Continent. But he was betrayed
by the host under whose roof he was sheltered. The evening
before the intended journey he was summoned by Sandys, the
Bishop of London, and was called upon to answer certain questions
touching his recusancy. Without any opportunity of defending
himself he was immediately sent into prison. Although the dis-
appointment must have been a great trial to human nature, he is
said to have shown the most remarkable joy in the suffering with
which he was threatened. For two years he languished in great
misery and was frequently tortured with such extraordinary cruelty
that his body was reduced to a wretched condition. The result of
his constancy under these sufferings was the conversion of the false
friend who had so shamefully betrayed him, and who was now
deeply touched by his courage. When in prison Pounde was visited
by the Protestant Bishop of London, who sought by every means
to shake his resolution, but our confessor, while remaining firm,
gave the Bishop the most coiuteous reception and at last to end
the discussion, he said :
" If I cannot recover my Uberty otherwise
than by offending God, I am firmly resolved that my soul shall
rather be torn from my body, than that my body shall go forth
from prison on such terms." Thus he remained in gaol for another
six months, until his relative, the Earl of Southampton, interceded
for him. He was liberated on the Earl's surety but he was to
;

remain in his house at Belmont, and to desist from reUgious dis-

cussions. He, however, declined to observe the latter condition
and his zeal worked marvels of conversion while he was at large.
Sixteen months were thus happily spent for the extension of the
—
Kingdom of God ^months that were gaUing to Home, Protestant
Bishop of Winchester, under whose jurisdiction he then came.
The Bishop ordered him to be seized and sent to prison, and with
him a number of other Cathohc gentlemen. This ecclesiastic was
a man of treacherous dealings, quite unscrupulous in his manner of
browbeating Catholics, but Thomas Pounde was not to be intimi-
dated. Having warned the Prisoners that too great freedom of
speech during their examination would only injure the cause of the
Roman religion in general and themselves also in particular. Home
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR 355

indulged at great length in admonitions, instructions, insults,

blasphemies, and self-laudations, while the prisoners remained
silent. Then to crown the insult he called them " dumb Catholic
dogs," and upbraided them with their ignorance. But the Bishop
did not have it all his own way at the second interrogation, Pounde
having been informed of the emptiness of the Bishop's threat
seized the opportunity to sUence him by the most convincing
arguments. Tlie only retort that Home was able to make was an
explosion of abuse which burst from him with the vehemence of a
volcanic eruption. It was, according to the accoimts of the many
spectators present, a most disgraceful exhibition, and it ended in
the Bishop ordering the CathoUcs to be handed over to the secular
arm. For thirty years our martjo- suffered captivity in prison
after prison. Over and over again he was called upon to engage in
controversy, first with one theologian and then with another, but
as many as came so many returned discomforted.
The physical tortures to which he was subjected baffle all descrip-
tion. At one time he was immured in Bishop's Stortford Castle,
Herts. There he was thrust into a cell a few feet underground in
perpetual night, far removed from the society of men, with nothing
but the bare clay for his bed, while his limbs were chained in heavy
fetters and his brutal gaoler added cruelty upon cruelty. We are
told that when the blacksmith was about to rivet the shackles upon
his leg the mart)^- stooped to kiss them, and the smith inhimaanly
struck him with them upon the head, drawing blood. Pounde
mildly retorted :
" Would that blood might here flow from the
inmost veins of my heart for the cause for which I suffer." This
heroic patience earned for the blacksmith the grace of conversion ;
and from a cruel assailant he became a Cathohc, and died himself
eventually in prison for the Cathohc Faith.
Thus our martyr passed from suffering to suffering, from prison
to prison, from virtue to virtue, till, having accompUshed the work
of an Apostle, and having drunk of the Chahce of Christ's Passion
to the dregs, he died, not indeed in prison, but a ripe fruit of the
Cross.
Now to the lists. We read that on the 27th July, 1582, there
was a Bernard Bilson in the Marshalsea, and we are told that
" before his imprisonment which hath been this twenty years, he
was parson of Havant and Ringsworthy in the County of South-
ampton and Prebendary Residenciary of Sahsbury."
I looked up the list of prisoners in the Marshalsea for the following
year ; his name was not mentioned. As he is said to be a prisoner
for his " disobedience in reUgion," and is enumerated with Cathohcs.
356 THE ROLL OF HONOUR
we may be permitted to condude that in all probability he was a
Catholic, most likely a convert, and like many another, having
languished in gaol for years, at last received the crown of his
endurance in a happy death.
On the same list at Loseley we have these names : Robert Beckett,
Esq., who was in the Mar^ialsea already for three years and was
still there according to the Record Office List in the following year

(1583) ; his wife Margaret was with him, enduring the same pnni^-
ment ; Richard Shelley, Esq., of Sussex, was there since the 30th of
August, 1580, and still there in 1583 Jarvis Parpointe of Gra3?5
;

Inn in the County of Middlesex, gent., was not mentioned in the

following year ; Peter Carey, a Devonshire gentleman, was already
in prison for four years, having come to the Marshalsea on the
15th October, 1578, his name now disappears from the lists;
TTieobald Grene of Lincoln's Inn, also came to the Marshalsea four
years previously and was still there in 1583 ; Walter Blount, gent.,
the County of Leicester, has been there two years and his name
figures again in the following ; Edward Moore, gent, was sent to
the Marshalsea on the 2nd of August, 1581 (?) ; he is mentioned
again in 1583 ; John Graye, sent in January, 1577, gent., has been
imprisoned for five years, he is still on next year's list (1583)
William Phihppes of Cornwall, sent to the Marshalsea on the 7th
November, 1578, was still there in 1581, and still in the same prison
in 1583 ; Richard Webster, gent., of the County of Norfolk, appear-
ing on the list in 1583, has been in gaol for ten years, having been
sent on the 25th March, 1573.
Now let us see what we know of the priests whose names are
mentioned in the hst. First, let us take the list which I have just
quoted. Edward Jackson was still in prison on January 20th,
1593, having been in the Marshalsea since the 27th of July, 1582.
(Dom. Eliz., Vol. 32, No. 64.)
William Walker, of Atheiman in the County of Norfolk, priest,
was ddivered from prison with others for money upon bond from
the South Blockhouse at Hull in the year 1595 on the 22nd of
January (Rec. Jes., VoL III., p. 766). He was thus incarcerated
for over thirteen years.
William Renton, of Galton, priest, was banished from prison
about 1585 (Rec. Jes., Vol. III., p. 45.)
William Hartley, of St. John's College, Oxford, priest, was
shipped ofE at the Tower wharf on the 21st January, 1585, havii^
heea in prison some three years, and carried towards France,
" and banished the realm for ever." Together with him were
twenty of her priests, seventy having been banished that year.
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR 337

Hartley, Robert Nutter and William Dean, priests, were afterwards

executed (Rec. Jes., Vol. IL, p. 105.) Hartley's name is mentioned
in several lists. He is said to have been " at first exiled from prison
and then returning again to England was mart3?red in 1588 " (Rec.
Jes.. Vol. IV., p. 516).
Richard Norris, priest, was banished with Hartley as above
on January ist, 1585. He had been sent to England in 1581,
together with twenty-one other priests, of whom three were
martyrs Father Alexander Bryant being one of them. Norris
:

died in Portugal.
William Bishop, of Brajdies in the County of Warwick, priest,
Wcis sent into England from Rome in September, 1581. Before
starting he took leave of Pope Gregory Xlllth, receiving his
blessing. He was not long in his Mother country ere the pursuivants
tracked him, he was captured, and the following year, exiled.
But, burning with zeal for his Master's work, he returned that same
year into Englemd, in the company of thirty other priests, of whom
eight were afterwcirds martyred. He laboured unceasingly for
three years, when again he was captured, and again he was banished.
He was the son of John Bishop, of an ancient family, bom at Bra3H:es
in Warwickshire. Although a CathoUc, he had been sent to Oxford
in 1570, and took the D.D. at Paris later. He was a man of great
promise and had worked with remarkable zeal for many years.
On June 4th, 1623, he was consecrated Bishop of Chalcedon, for
England, and once more returned to the land of his birth, and his
labours on the 31st of July of the same year. He was the first
CathoUc Bishop in England since the days of Mary. However, he
appears to have been worn out already ; he Uved in London in
great retirement on account of the government, and died at Bishop's
Court, near London, on April i6th of the following year. (Rec.
Jes., Vol. VI., p. 137).
There are three more names of priests on this Marshalsea list for
July 27th, 1582: John Nash, T. Smale and Thomas Crowder.
Smale was of Poughill in the Coimty of Cornwall, and had been
committed on the 27th April, 1582 Thomas Crowder came from
;

Ludlow in the County of Shropshire, and he was committed on the

22nd March, 1581. He was still in the Marshalsea on the 22nd
March, 1583 (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 169, No. 36).
Another list at Loseley, dated from the Marshalsea the seventh day
of March, 1585, gives the names of twelve priests, five of whom
I have been unable to trace in any lists or records elsewhere.
They are John Lyster, James Edwards, Edmond Caverley, Ralf
:

Pawmer, and John Sm5d;h. The others are :

—Francis Tillisone
358 THE ROLL OF HONOUR
who was sent into England, with seventeen other priests, in 1585,
and seems to have been captured almost immediately and sent to
Wisbeach prison. Robert Wilcox appears in the Catalogue of
Martyrs in the 5th Douay Diary.
John Bottone was sent into England in 1585, with seventeen
others, of whom six were afterwards martyred. He was very soon
caught and sent to Wisbeach, where he was confined in chains. He
had been trained at the English College in Rome. In a list at the
Record Office his name occurs amongst those of seventeen other
priests incarcerated in the Marshalsea, and elsewhere he is said to
be " mete for banishment."
Thomas Habarley this name appears in the third Douay Diary
:

under the following entry "On April 24th there arrived nine
:

priests from the prison at Framingham, who had been sent into
exile, with a certain Irish Bishop and four Fathers of the Society
of Jesus, also six other priests and four Cathohc laymen. The
names of those who came to us and are remaining with us are
these : —
Mr. Lewis Barlow (who was the first priest to be sent from
the Seminaries on the EngUsh Mission), Mr. Edward Hughes, Mr.
Christopher Dryland, Mr. Leonard Hyde, Mr. Robert Woodruffe,
Mr. Wilham Chadock, Mr. Thomas Habberley, Mr. William Clarge-
nett, Mr. Thomas Thursby, to whom must be added Mr. Francis
Robinson, who had arrived a few days before, and was received by
us, being driven into the self-same exile although by another way.
The names of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, at this time
banished into exile, are —
Father Christopher Hollowood, an
:

Irishman, Father Roger Floyd, Father Edward Coffin, and Father

Ralph Bickley, with whom is associated Brother Ralph Emersam,
the little man of whom Father Campion writes. The other priests
—
who betook themselves elsewhere are these Mr. Thomas Brampton,
:

Mr. John Bolton, Mr. TUletson, Mr. John Green, Mr. Robert Barr,
Mr. — Knight. The others were laymen, John Birkbeck, Henry
.

Keen, .
." .

This entry was made in 1603, hence we may conclude that

most probably the priests John Bolton, Nicholas Knight, Francis
Tilletson, Thomas Habberley, WiUiam Clargenett, whose names
appear in the Marshalsea list for 1585 had been in prison for eighteen
years, when they were banished thus ignominiously.
According to another entry in the third Douay Diary, Thomas
Habberley left for Valenciennes on August 2nd, 1603, " uncertain
as to whether he may also have to go to Brusseles and Antwerp to
seek a living. He is also offered a chaplaincy at Antwerp in the
B^guinage, where he could say Mass daily."
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR 359

John Harrison was of a respectable family. Arriving at Rheims

from Paris, July 27th, 1583, he proceeded as a pilgrim to Rome
on August 13th following, and returned to Rheims on the i8th
April, 1584. He was ordained at Rheims, April 5th, 1585, and
sent upon the English Mission, October 19th following. He is
stated in Law's Calendar of the English Martyrs, page 40, to have
died in prison in the year 1585. The following entry in " Troubles,"
series IIL, Chapter V., page 16, refers to him " Upon Monday in
:

Easter week, the house of Mr. Heathe at Cumberford (in the North)
searched by Thomes and CawdweU, and Mr. Harrison, a priest,
there apprehended. They so crueUy used Mrs. Heathe at that
time, tossing and tumbUng her, that she, thereby frightened, died
the Friday following."
Finally there appear the names of William Parrey, priest, alias
Morgan, who was in the CUnk on the 7th March, 1585, and still
there in 1587 (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 199, No. 15).
John Robinson, also in the CUnk on the 7th March, 1585, was
still there in 1588, as a fellow-prisoner of Father Edward James

and Father Waye.

In the same list of prisoners in the CUnk for 1585 are the names
of John Adams and Paul Spence, both priests.
History has a wonderful way of drawing a veil over the horrors
of past ages. The protracted agonies of years of incarceration
under the most cruel conditions are very easUy forgotten by those
who Uve in comfort, immolested by pursuivants and a mosquito
multitude of persecutors. But visits to quiet Muniment Rooms
and the unrolUng of seared parchments and blurred papers reveal
stories that should never be forgotten. Short but replete with
terrible significance are many of the stray papers that flutter from
the fingers as we dip into the bundles promiscuously tied up and
thrown into a file.
Take for instance the foUowing sUp of worn document from the
Record OfiBce (Dom. EUz. 230, No. 57).
" Remembrance for these Warrants to be made forthwith for
Mr. Topcliffe.
" Granted at the Council Table.
" A Warrant to the Master and Keeper of BrideweU to receive
and keep as close prisoners Christopher Bayles, aUas Evers, a
Seminary priest, John Bayles, his brother a tailor, Henry
Goomey Haberdasher, Anthony Kaye and John Coxed yeoman.
And no person to resort to any of them but Mr. Richard Topcliffe
and Mr. Richard Young, who is appointed to examine them.
 —

36o THE ROLL OF HONOUR

and to proceed further with them according to the directions given
them by the Lords
" Directed to the Master and Keeper of Bridewell,
" Another Warrant for their Lordships to Richard Topcliffe
and Richard Young Esquires to examine the said persons
Christopher Bayles alias Evers a Seminary priest, John Bayles
tailor, Henry Goomey, Anthony Kaye and John Coxed from
time to time, and if they see further occasion to commit them or
any of them unto such torture upon the wawle as is usual for
the better understanding of the truth of matters against her
Majesty and the State, etc. Directed to Richard Topcliffe and
Richard Young Esquires.
Indorsed. " Remembrance for Richard Topcliffe."

This document was dated 1590. Walsingham was then on his

death-bed ; he died April 6th, of that year, and a subordinate per-
secutor, Richard Topcliffe, was rising to eminence. For six years
he used the most barbarous methods against Catholics, and now his
ingenuity as a torturer was to receive full scope.
The selection of Bridewell as a place of torture was new. Ten
years before torture seems only to have been inflicted in the Tower.
Bridewell was a place of detention for rogues and the commonest
criminals ;it was therefore thought an excellent place for casting

opprobrium on the Catholic name. Here Catholics were tortured

" upon the wawle," that is, hung up by the hands. Bayles was for
nearly twenty-four hours in this agony.
From a Manuscript perserved at Stonyhurst (Anglia VIL No 13
in Dr. Richard Barrett's Catalogue of Martyrs) we get the following
account :
—
" At the beginning of this Lent there \vas put to death the
Rev. Christopher Bales, under pretext of justice and by way of
trial because, after being made priest by the authority of the Pope,
he had come into England against the laws, and for this he was
condemned. He had been tortured and hung off the ground by
the hands for little less than twenty-four hours, in order to make
him confess where he had said Mass, and who had kept him. But
he stood firm . and answered with a constancy and
. .

prudence which edified the Catholics and made the heretics wonder.
His piety and faith were especially conspicuous at his death. He
was asked by the judge according to custom .when judg-
. .

ment was about to be pronounced, if he had anything to say for

himself. He answered, This only do I want to know, whether
'

St. Augustine, sent hither by St. Gregory, was a traitor or not.'

They answered that he was not. ...
He answered them,
 — ;

THE ROLL OF HONOUR 361

'
Why then,do you condemn me to death as a traitor. I am sent
hither by same See, and for the same purpose as he was.
the
Nothing is chained against me that could not also be charged against
the saint.' But for all that they condemned him, and with him a
citizen of London called Homer, for having given aid and support
to priests."
A
full description of the martyrdom of Father Bayles is con-
tained in a most touching letter from Father Robert Southwell,
himself also a martyr for the faith at a later date.
The document which is preserved in the PubUc Record Of&ce,
is in Latin. I here give the translation :

" Jesu -f- Maria.

" From the letters of Fr. Robert Southwell, given at London
S.J.,
March 8th, 1590.
" We have sent many letters to you, but as I have recently
heard, few of these have reached you on account of some wicked
fraud of which you have heard from Father William As yet
we languish in the midst of dangers and we are even now in
imminent peril, although for the moment thanks be to God, we are
untouched. We have all sworn with one great longing in the
renewal of our ancient fealty to be faithful imto the end ; and
for several days we have encouraged each other by mutual
exhortations and pious colloquies, we have opened our mouths
and breathed in hope. It seemed to me that I might contemplate
the birthplace of the Catholic religion hidden away in England
where we weeping passed along sowing the seed, so that others
coming, mi^t come carrying their sheaves. We have simg,
nevertheless, the Canticle of the Lord in a strange land, and in
this desert place we have sucked honey from stone, oil from the
hard rock. Great joys and deep sorrows succeed each other with
startlrng contrast and no sooner have impending terrors been
dispersed as smoke than we experience a sense of reUef having
suffered less than the danger threatened. I and one other of
our companions while we avoid Scylla, we fall into Charybdis
however, having escaped both dangers through the wonderful
goodness of God, we are now securely steering our course into
port. Lately, beside others, has been seized a certain Priest
Christopher Bales from the County of Durham, who had first
been in Rome and then an alumnus of the College of Rheims.
He was horribly tortured for the space of twenty-four houis^
hanging by the hands, his toes scarcely touching the ground.
While in this agony they wearied him wilJi incessant questioning.
 '

362 THE ROLL OF HONOUR

To all this he gave but one answer He was a Catholic Priest,
:

having come to recall souls into the fold of Christ, and he had never
entertained in his heart any other design. From Bridewell, a
prison set apart for prostitutes and rogues, now the place of
torture for Catholics, he was taken to another prison. There
he was placed in a cell with a Puritan heretic. Shortly after he
was summoned thence to the tribunal and condemned to death,
his cause being that he was a Priest, having been ordained by the
Pontifical authority and come into England. They asked him
whether the Pope might depose the Queen. To this he answered :

That the Pope had power to depose Princes for just causes. As
they were about to pronounce sentence, they asked him, as was
usual, whether he had anything to say which might save him
from death One thing,' he said,
:
'
I would ask you '
Was :

Blessed Augustine, who had been sent by Gregory the Great into
England, a traitor and guilty of lesae majestatis, or not ?
'
He was not,' they answered. Why, then,' he replied, do
' '

you assert I am guilty of this crime because I have been sent by

that same See hither for the same object, and that you are unable
to accuse me of anything that you could not also allege against
Augustine ? For only reply to this they cried, Away with him
'
' ;
"
crucify him.'
" As he was being drawn in the customary way on a wooden
hurdle to the place of execution, he chanted the Psalms. When
he had ascended the scaffold he said Far be it from me to glory,
:
'

except in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.' And, lifting up

his hands to heaven he signed himself with the sign of the Cross
as well as the weight of his chains would allow. You have '

come,' he said, to see a man die, a common spectacle, not less

'

common because that man is a Priest and as you gaze upon the ;

body, would to God that your glance might penetrate deep down
into the affections of my heart. Then you might see what is
the lot of that soul which is about to take its flight hence. You
would then both sympathise and rejoice with me, as even now
with unfriendly cry you send me to my doom. From my heart
I forgive all and from you aU I beg forgiveness.'
" Then asking that all Catholics might pray for him (he knew
that the suffrages of heretics availed him nothing, and this he
said) he gave himself up and shortly after, with a firm countenance
and stout heart, he suffered death with great fortitude and con-
stancy. He died on Ash Wednesday, in a certain square in
London which was very frequented his courage and piety earned
;

the praises even of the heretics.

 :

THE ROLL OF HONOUR 363

" The executioner, however, his hands still gory with the
butchery of thi«; holy confessor, hurried to another square to
execute like cruel justice on another victim, a layman and a
man of great ^'irtue. He had been condemned to death because
he had given shelter to priests and had helped them with his
money. Before his death, while in a fetid and dark dungeon,
having lighted a candle, he saw as it were silhouetted upon the
wall his figure, and, on the shadow of his head, a crown ; pladng
his hand up to his head and walking about from end to raid of
his cell, he wished to test whether this was but a delusion, owing
to the position of the body. But as he walked, the crown
followed bim and remained with bim when he stood still, and thus
for a whole hour the crown showed itself fixed to his head as a
diadem, a pledge of future glory. Our hero related this circum-
stance himself to a certain pious woman a short time before his
martyrdom.
" The name of the man was Homer and he gained the palm
;

of a distingoished victory with no less constancy than that which

had been shown by Father Bayles for like spring showers, his
;

blood was, to the field of the Church, a fertilising power that she
might germinate with joy in the moisture of heavenly dew. We
also as labourers await the advent of our day (unless perchance
we should be unworthy of so great an honour). Meanwhile we
ask for the prayers of your Lordship and of all the others. We
pray most fervently that the Father of lights may render to us
the joy of His salvation and may strengthen us with the might
of His power.
" March 8th A.D. 1590.
" Your Lordship's disciple
" Robert Southwell."
(Dom. Eliz., Vol 230, No. 104. Appendix, p. 437.)
.

Fr. John Gerard, in his " Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot,"

says about Father Robert Southwell
" His value and high merit before God was much to be seen,
in that he was delivered over by God's ordinance to encounter
hand to hand the crudest tyrant of all England, Topcliffe, a
man most infamous and hateful to all the realm for his bloody
and butchery mind and tbi'^ man had Father Southwell many
;

weeks together in his house alone to use him at his pleasure,

when he kept him in his boots as he was taken, with bolts of iron
upon his arms, and in a chamber without any bed or straw to
 :

364 THE ROLL OF HONOUR

lie upon, where he was to turn himself upon his side, and lie
upon the a dog when he list to sleep, as full of lice as he
floor like
might hold. There also he put him nine times most cruelly
upon the torture, which Father Southwell at his arraignment
professed was more grievous to him than nine deaths could or
would have been " (p. 18).
Father Foley quotes Fr. Tanner to this effect
" Topcliffe took him (Fr. Southwell) to his own house, and
then privately subjected him ten times to tortures so atrocious
that at his trial he called God to witness that he would rather
have endured so many deaths. The particulars were never actually
known, save that he was hung from the wall by his hands, with
a sharp circle of iron round each wrist pressing on the artery,
his legs bent backwards and his heels tied to his thighs (so that
he might get no rest from his toes touching the grounds). But
even thus, Topcliffe could not make him answer a single question.
Among other things, they strove to extort from the sufferer
whether he was a Jesuit. Was he an agent for the King of Spain
or for the Sovereign Pontiff ? To overcome his fimmess, he on
one occasion left him thus suspended while he went to the city
on business. Father Southwell spent seven hours in this agony,
and appeared to be dying. Topcliffe was sent for, and had him
gently taken down and sprinkled with some distilled waters till
he revived; after vomiting a large quantity of blood, he was
immediately hung up again in the same position. For the
Lords of the Council had permitted Topcliffe to torture Father
Robert to any extent short of death " (Vol. L, p. 357).
 Epilogue

DESOLATION

What was the result of all this revolution on the part of England
against the old rehgion ? Was God more honoured than in old
Catholic days ; was reverence deepened, was cliarity strengthened,
was learning in Divine things extended ? There can be no possible
difiBculty in answering these questions.
Tom up by the very roots, defiled, trampled under foot, the old
religion became in the minds of Englishmen an object of hatred
and a symbol of infamy so great that anythin g that savoured of
Rome and CathoUcism was pitch to the touch and the very sink
of iniquity. It was one thing to pull down and another thing to
build up. It was easy to cast into the fire the learned tomes of
theologians, but not so easy to substitute for them a new learning
that would command the respect of a new generation. The result
was very soon manifest. Although men and women and children
might be driven like cattle into the bare bams that were erected
by Protestantism for the defaming of God's Vicar and His Holy
Qiurch, they could not so easily be driven to pray. Thus reUgion
in its truest sense faded rapidly from the land ; reverence for Divine
things waned ; bitterness in controversy, sects and dissentions
increased daily and confusion became ever more confounded. No
wonder the Minister of the Reformed reUgion failed to gain the
respect which a man of high calling should command. He was so
often a mere time-server, a hireling, a man of few attainments and
no theological learning. The homilies ready made, provided him
with easy tools whereby he might lull his hearers to their Sunday
repose ; and his prolonged dronings on interminable readings from
the Old Testament filled up the time that was to be devoted to the
service of God. For the rest, as we have seen in the course of this
work, these Ministers devoted their energies and their zeal to
tracking down and persecuting the devoted adherents of the old
religion. Not infrequently they were found near the gallows
where the Martyrs won their crown adding to the suffering of those
heroes by their vulgar taunts and abusive Ismguage. The vrritings
of Protestants themselves testify to the disreputable bearing of
these their own ministers.

365
 : :

366 DESOLATION
From Losdey we hear a cry not unmixed with bitterness and
even contempt for the type which was so conmion in those days.
Sir James More Molyneux brings us to the middle of the eighteenth
century. The type had not very greatly improved and Sir James,
;

a member of ParKament for Haslemere, thought the subject im-

portant enough for a satire in verse. The victim of his wit was
Parson Gim. Although not much of a scholar, he was a school-
master, and therefore we may suppose with attainments a httle
above the average. I will give the song in f uU

" To calm the furious transports of thy Zeal

To turn that ardour to the public weal.
These lines. Good Parson, Gun, I frankly send :

Take them as counsels from a real friend.

Truth, let me say, of friendship is the test.
And friends, thatspeak most plain, are sure the best.
Pitying thy zeal, the honest Muse forbears
To rail in public at those frantic airs.
That canting, puritanic, wajw^ard show.
Of Hell's fierce fires, and all such fabled woe
Which blast thy preaching, and pollute our Fane
Which mark thee. Bigot, Gun, of lowest strain.
If pity for thy lost distempered state.
Filled not my Muse, instead of deadly hate,
I'd search thy heart and soimd aloud thy string.
Which to thy Manner gives the secret spring.
Thus to tiijTself . Both vanity and guile
. .

Are the true motives of thy ranting style.

Vain and conceited with a ready speech.
Thou wil't not condescend from Book to preach.
But, like some bawUng Quack, must rave aloud
Thy imconnected stuff, to catch the crowd.
Amidst thy gestures, and grimace we've spy'd
No humble Pastor, but the flaming Pride
—
Of self-conceited Preaching ^whose first aim
Points at applause, and begs an empty name.
How truly provident, with how great skill
Thou bend'st thy tender Pupils to thy wiU
Tum'st them from youthful Innocence and Play
To whine, and sermonise the Uve-long day.
Lank in their locks, demmre in face.
They're stampt full early of the Gunite Race.
Before they're men, they ape the part of Saint,
 — : ;;

DESOLATION 367

And —
quote ^not classic lines, but textes quaint,
Thus dost thou fix, thro' superstitious fears,
A liurking interest in their rip'ning years. . . .

When Sabbath Duty, in the way of trade.

From Town to Town calls forth thy Curate-aid
Why tempt abroad the simple wife to roam ?
Can't she much better take her Chiu-ch at Home ?
Would not her baking cares, sweet, pious Dame
Tiun more to profit, honesty and Fame ?
Alas Sly Priest, the roving motives known ;
!

She mounts, Poor Soul, behind from Town to Town

Her arms around a circling Purchase made,
She clasps the Pommel or some near mistake,
Which so erects the Uttle Parson's Pride,
That Preaching, Pray'rs, and Gods are laid aside.
Some Shady Thicket hides the doubted Besist
While Priest and Priestess make a carnal Feast. . . .

—
Hence we may see Why works and goodly deeds
In Gospel Cant are term'd Religion's weeds.
—
Hence we may see how artfully imprest
Is all that Rant of Faith and mystic Zest,
Which bears the Burden of thy frantic stile. . . .

That virtue fast asleep be lull'd the while . . .

To start inspir'd, to congregate and whine

Of hypocrisy is the surest sign.
And art thou not in gesture, words, and way,
An arrant Quack, Imposture of the Day.
Go mount a Tub then rave in open air
! ; !

Thy poor deluded Flock may join thee there

But never more defile our holy Fanes
With the Dileria of thy turbid Brains.
Still would the Muse, commiserating, send
The wholesome Counsels of an honest Friend,
Beg thee to curb thy wrong, impetuous mind.
That we some reason in thy doctrine find.
That e'en when starting from the Pulpit's height
Frantic with Zeal, and wrapt in dubious Ught
Some rays of moral virtue, calmly shown,
May teach thy hearers how to shape their own.
With Faith let Works go mildly hand in hand.
On Faith alone to preach, corrupts the land.
Each vicious hypocrite adopts thine air
One sins in flesh ; another sins in prayer.
 ;

368 DESOLATION
Take then —write
this Counsel thy sermons o'er
And let consistence shine in Gospel lore
Nor hurry o'er as trash those pious pray'rs.
The Church has deem'd most worthy of thy Cares.
This may'st thou teach in mild and manly sense.
That works well done wiU meet their recompense.

Fare well J M M."

(Bundle 1085 XVIII.)

Is it uncharitable of us to condemn those ministers of Neo-

Anglicanism when their own worthy flock have spoken with such
contempt ? This Parson Gun was more zealous in preaching than
most of his brethren and even he had failed to command the respect
;

of Churchmen.
A retrospect over the years that have passed from the famous
break of Henry VIII. up to modem times will make us reaUse the
truth and justice of the title of this chapter Desolation.
:

It was first desolation in the material church and cloister.

Grass grew under the groined roofs and ivy climbed within the
sanctuary walls the consecrated altar-stones were torn from the
;

altars and often placed at the entrance in the pavement for all who
entered to trample the anointed crosses under foot ; beautiful
roods, works of art, the products of a faith-loving people, were
torn from their lofts and hurled into bonfires kindled in the pubUc
squares frescoes were whitewashed or hacked beyond recognition,
;

for the very hatred that filled the iconoclastic soul of the age ;
precious vestments were unstitched and made into skirts for the
parson's wives even the sacred vessels were defiled for the
;

common use and ornament of the dinner-table. No one can visit

the old country churches of England without being struck by the
signs of vandaUsm that meet him at every comer.
At Loseley there is a document which tells a tale of old and new,
things past and things to come, faith of centuries and rebellion that
swept it all away. The document consists only of parochial
accounts ; but I put it in here and not in the appendix because of
its very exceptional interest. The date of the accounts extends
from 1545 to 1552. It was precisely in 1552 that all Chantries
were suppressed throughout England. In examining these accoimts
our memory recalls bright pictures of Catholic Liturgy the merry :

bells of Our Lord's Nativity still ringing joyously for the Midnight
Mass " in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord
King Henry VIII." ; the silent watchers of the Sepulchre on Maundy
 —
DESOLATION 369

Thursday ; the mournful clapping after the silencing of bells and

organ in Holy Week ; the glorious re-awakening of liturgical
splendour with the Exultet that proclaims the Paschal celebration ;
and the processions of acolytes in cassock and surplice with lighted
torches accompanying the most Holy Eucharist like prudent
virgins going forth to meet the Brid^^room. As we continue our
perusal of the details given by the Churchwardens we can see also
the destruction that is taking place. The rood loft has no sooner
been set up than it is defaced, labourers are sent in and paid to pull
down the rood ; the altars are plucked and the walls are plastered.
What has become of all those vestments, the cope of blue silk with
white flowers, the vestment of blue damask, the vestment of red
velvet with yellow cross, the banners, the super-altaries, the curtains
to hang before the altars, the pyxes ? We need scarcely enquire.

" Parochial Accounts from the Papers of Sir Thomas Cawarden

— ^Parish Church of Blechingly, A.D. 1552.
" Bletckingly, 1546-1552.
"
The Account of John Dowber and Christopher Chapman.
Churchwardens of the parish Church of Bleachingleigh, from
the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, in the year of our Lord
1546, unto the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel in the year
of Our Lord 1552 as followeth.

" Receipts.
First, the said Churchwardens charge them-
selves of 55 shillings, as so mudi money by
them received of Richard Chomley, to the
behalf and use of the said Church 55/
Item Received more of Thomas Rower $£, lod.
Item Rd. more for the burial of the lady Putnam 6/8
Item, Rd. more of the Hognell [" Probably Nea
Knell, corrupted into Hognell, being money
collected for ringing the church beUs at
this time of the year, in celebration of the
high feast of the Nativity of our Lord "
Kemp, p. 163, note.] money at the feast
of the Nativity of our Lord, in the 37th
year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord
King Hen. VIII, 23s. 6d.
Item Rd. more of Mr. Sackvyle for 3 years rent
of a parcel of land called bell crests 3s.
Item Rd. more one year for paschal money 2 2 ob
25
370 DESOLATION

£ s. d.
Item Rd. more an other year for paschal money 4 7 ob
Item the said Accountants charge themselves
with £27, 16. 10 received of one Cook
goldsmith as so much money by them
received by the hands of Mr. Cawerden for
broken plate which was sold for 27 16 5
the repairing and garnishing the Church by
the consent of the parishioners of the same.
The expenses and charges appear hereafter
particularly.
Item they charge themselves with 272 pounds
of broken latten sold to a Candlestick
maker at 20/ a hundreth amounting to
£0.54,2 ob as so much money by them 52 2 ob
Received, by the hands of Mr. Cawarden
and employed to the same use by the
parishioners consent.
Sum total of the Receipts

£42 . 18 . 8.

£ s. d.
1. Item received more for wax sold by the said
Churchwardens Roger Foster being present o 20 4
Item received for the burial of Turner's wife 068
Item received more of William Martin for 3 years'
rent of Church lands o 24
Payments of the same Churchwardens since
the year within written.

£ s. d.
2. First paid by the said accountants for 28 lbs. of
wax 13 4
Item paid to the plummer for mending of the
leads there 14 4
Item paid to Christopher Chapman for serving of
the pliunmer 2 days 12
Item for making of the Church wax 2 2
Item to Brande for wood for the plummer 5
Item For setting up the rood loft 10
Item for naUs for lie same 2
3. Item for coals 4
Item to Brande for watching the sepulchre 8
Item for storing of candlesticks 10
 DESOLATION 371

I s. d.
Item for sweeping of the leaves and simning of the
omciments 4
Item, for tallow for the bells, and making clean of
the tables [Kemp queries whether this means
pictures]" of the Rood loft, and for small nails 6
4. Item to John BridgehiU and Robert White for
mencUng the windows in the steaple & and
going to London for the Church stuff at the
Black Friars 2 6
Item for a bell rope 14
Item spent at the visitation at Leatherhead 8
Item to Thomas shorter for mending 2 Bawderiks 5
Item for half a hide of White leather 15
Item for a shovel and a spade 6
Item for a wombe of leather 3
Item, to Thomas Porter, for ending 6 bawderiks 5
Item, to Robert Eyton, for mending of the seats 15
Item, for grease for the bells against HaUowtide 3
sums paid 23/6
Item, paid for new collaring of a surplis 2
Item, for mending five albes 3
Item, for mending of a clapper 4
Item, for 28 lbs of wax 14
Item, for making of the Same to Thomas Shorter 2 2
Item, for making 2 tapers 2
Item for 2 torches 8 6
Item, for lime 6
Item, to Mr. Herves, for manding the organ 2 3
„ For washing of the Church Clothes 2
5. „ for stowing of all the chrn-ch stuff 2
„ for mending of a bawderick 2
„ for painting of the paschal post 6
„ For coals 3
6. „ for a box 3
Item, for making of a Surplice 6
„ To Brande, for watching the Sepulchre 8
7. „ to Robert Wright for making a desk 5
„ for hammering a thrid beU 2
„ to Brand for going to Reigate at Whitsontide 4
„ to John Dawber, Xtopher Chapman, Richard
Chomley, John Tumor and Richard Smith
going to the visitation at Croydon, expenses 2 6
372 DESOLATION

i s. d.
Item paid the same time from coming out from the
chancellor for the archdeacon 2
„ for 100 sixpenny nails 6
,. for 4
„ To Walter Grome, painter, for painting the
whole body of the Church, and for all manner
of colours to the same 17 5 i

„ To William Johns, for painting the quire, the

Rood Loft, the King's Arms, and the out
aisle joining to the quire. And for the colour
and stuff otherwise appertaining 7 15 2

Etc.
For a table for the communion to be ministered
upon, joined upon a frame 8
For 3 long forms to the same o 10
For 4 seats with double desks, for the singing men
to sit in and to lay their books on 20
Item, for plucking the altars, plastering the walls,
and mending of divers places 7
down the rood
Item, to labourers for pulling 14
Item, the expenses of John Dawber and Christopher
Chapman,Churchwardens,JohnTumor,Thomas
Lambe, sidesmen, being at the visitation at
EweU 2
Item, for the writing of a bill to be showed to the
King's Commissioners 8
Item, the expenses of Christopher Chapman and
John Dawber, Churchwardens, Richard
Chomley, John Tumor, and Thomas Lambe,
being at Ryegate before the Commissioners
when they required of the parishioners an
Inventory of the Church goods 6 6
Item, delievered a bill to the visiters of lands for
horse meat and man's meat o o 15
Item, to John Brande, for watching of the sepulchre 004
Item, for a pound of soap ob 001
2 bushells of lime 005
John Tooke, for mending of a hole over the vestry 002
John Brand, for watching of the vestry 002
 DESOLATION 373

£ s. d.
Edward Kyllike, casting of a bank, safe guard to the
Church pale 002
To John Matthew, for keeping of the clock by
Thomas Lainbe 009
Etc. . . .

"At the end of the accounts is the following balance of accounts •.

Summa totales Summa totalis

denariorum receptor-^42,17,8. Solutionam ut per £45,8,5 ob
um ut antea patet. Pticules plenissime
Apparet.

And so
"All things reconed and accounted allowed.paid
and discharged the Church and the parish is and
standeth indebted unto the Church Wardens' for £0.50. 09 ob
money by them laid out, more than yet received
as by this book of accounts may and doth mani-
festly appear the sum of
" Accoxmts of the Church Ornaments, etc., chiefly of the Catholic
Church of Bermondsey, rendered to
times, belonging to the
Sir Thomas Cawarden and other Commissioners of the King,
appointed to receive the same for the Hundred of Brixton."

" The Parish of Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey.

" This is the Inventory indented and made of all the plate,
jewels, ornaments, and bells, within the parish church of Mary
Magdalen of Bermondsey, in the county of Surrey, made between
Sir Thomas Cawarden, knight, John Scot, Nicholas Lee, Esquires,
Commissioners, by the King's majesty's commission appointed
within the hundred of Brixton, in the said County, of the one
party, and John Felpot and Richard Wells, parishioners of the
said parish, of the other party, made the 18th day of October,
in the 6th year of the reign of our sovereign lord King Edward
the sixth.
"First, one chaUce, all gilt weighing 15 ounces and a quarter.
Item, 2 other chalices parcel gilt, weighing 24 ounces and a half.
Item, 2 communion cups parcel guilt, weighing 33 ounces.
„ 2 Copes of white damask with flowers of gold.
„ 2 copes of blue damask.
„ One coge of blue silk with white flowers.
374 DESOLA-nON
Item, A vestment of blue damask, with all things belonging to
the same.
A vestment of read velvet with a yellow cross.
An old vestment of white with a blue cross.
A green vestnt. with a red cross and the crown and the star.
A vestnt. of red bryggs satin with a green cross, and St.
James in the back.
A vnt. of red and white velvet with a blue cross.
A vt. of white bryggs satin with a red ramask cross.
A vt. of Black damask with thorns.
A vt. of sada taffata tawny with the garter.
A vt. of blue silk with a red cross of velvet.
A vestment of white bustean [fustean ?] for lent.
3 deacon's of silk, one of blue, another of green, and the
other of horseflesh colour.
2 Altar clothes, one of red and blue damask.
7 Corperas cases [Kemp thinks these are covers for the Host].
2 stremers of silk, one of blue, the other of red.
2 bannere cloths of silk for the cross, one of green, the
other of red.
2 old curtains of silk, and a vallens of domec with a fringe.
A painted streamer and three painted banners.
3 long towels of dyaper.
5 small towels of dyaper.
8 altar cloths of dyaper.
5 hand towels of dyaper.
9 plain altar cloths.
3 plain hand towels.
10 SurpUces, good and bad.
2 Rochetts
2 Superaltaries.
2 Curtains to hang before the altars.
2 herse clothes one of black velvet with gold, the others of
white damask, with a cross of black velvet.
3 httle pillows.
2 lattyn pyxes and 2 paxes of copper.
2 pyx cloths of silk.
2 standards of lattjni.
Item 2 pairs of candle sticks of lattyn.
A crysmatory, 2 cruets, and a little basin, all pewter.
A old vail that went over the quire for Lent.
A painted cloth to hang before the Rood in lent.
3 hair cloths to lay on the altars.
 DESOLATION 375

Item, A Bible of the largest volume.

„ A book of the paraphrases.
„ 3 Communion books.
„ 6 Psalters and a book of homilies.
„ 4 banner staves, and a cross stave.
„ 2 presses and 3 old chests.
„ A pair of organs.
„ 3 bells and a sacring beU.
" By me John Chare.
By me John Cave."
{Los. MS., Vol. 5, No. 68.)

There are multitudes of such Churchwardens' accounts up and

down the country, aU telling the same tale ; accounts that revive
impressions of the past with a vividness all their own. With these
in our hands we might revisit the ruined cloisters or whitewashed
village churches and recaU once more the scenes of long ago the :

Mass, the Vespers, the fragrant incense, the varjdng colours ever
changing through festivals and seasons the long year round, the
inspired canticles of the Roman Liturgy so well known and so
heartily sung by men, women and children, the gorgeous proces-
sions of the Blessed Sacrament on the feast of Corpus Christi and
the joy-giving celebrations during the month of May.
Let anyone who desired to realise what all this means to the
fervent CathoHc, visit, if he should ever have a favourable oppor-
tunity, those countries where the CathoUc Church is still enshrhied
in the hearts of the people. Let him contemplate the Church's
ritual with open and unbiassed miad let him beUeve that all this
:

external pomp and exultation is but the very natural expression of

a fervour that bums within the human heart let him accept as
;

a starting point for his study of these reUgious customs that the
soul is dependent for much of the fuel that should enkindle warmth
of devotion upon the externals of reUgion.
Then, and then alone shall he be able to understand how it comes
about that, with the gradual extinction and suffocating of aU out-
ward expression of joy and sorrow is bound to come the deadening
of internal emotions until these are Ukewise extinguished altogether.
There is a very strange document at Loseley with which I would
end this book. It is in Latin verse. Who was the writer and when
exactly was it written, remains a mystery. It is probable that
it was composed about the time of the religious wars in Germany

during the reign of Charles I. It is an appeal to England ; and it

 : ! ;

376 DESOLATION
sounds a not unfamiliar note in these days. It is a song of
sorrow and yet of hope, of horror and still of encouragement. I
will give the translation without attempting to put my version into
verse
" Wake up, England, buried as thou art in an unwholesome
and deadly sleep ; open once more thine eyes. Give ear to the
roar that thunders from north to south, hark to the cackle of the
bloody mob. Heaven, earth and sea are filled with horrible
forebodings ; and from an angry God death-dealing bolts now
threaten thee. From pole to pole the menace sounds and a
burden is laid upon thy shoulders, bearing thee down to the
ground. Prisons, flames, treadmills, racks, cruel scourgings,
stakes, faggots, gyves and heavy chains, crosses: these are thy
yoke. Smoke shall ascend from Smithfield and the funeral pyre
shall be laid, there is thirst there for the red dew of blood, the
moisture of fertiUty. Howl now, O Lutherans and Calvinists,
men of violence ; weep, for the harvest is at hand. In madness
you have cast aside the mild yoke of Peter, and now you must
plough the black and turgid waters of the Styx.
" O thou who art at this time called England, sing sad songs
of woe
" And thou, who so often soundest thine own praises like a
,
blaring trumpeter, shalt have cause for sighing and moaning
thrice sadly repeated. Thy
limbs are faggots tightly bound, and
thou art fat fuel for the burning flame, votaries beloved of high
Jupiter. O you bearded senators, bom of the seed of deception,
who have sung your jojrful triumphs, tears are your lot for the
future. Ye zealous h37pocrites, gnawing the heel like the serpent
of Eden, sleep out your restless and unsavoury sleep on the
earthly couch which bears your lazy bones.
" Weep on, O ye avaricious brood of the wretched Simon
vile scum that you are, you dare to accuse pious Rome But !

if we may be permitted to know the worth of the tree from its

fruits then Sodom has been outdone, England has gained the
;

palm of infamy. Ridiculous clergy, a crowd of mere boys minister

in the sanctuary behold they prize only the emoluments of
:

priests. What man is there whose renown is not chronicled in

charcoal ? All England is blackened by infamy. The very
religious sense itself has faded from the hearts of men and the
sacred things of God have vanished. You are not worthy indeed
to raise your eyes to heaven, to turn them towards the dawn of
light, much less to look upon the rays of the dazzling sun. Spiritual
life has languished to such a depth of mental folly, like the
 ;

DESOLATION 377

freezing blast of winter allhave withered, dogmas, maxims,

writings of the Fathers. Nothing is left except that which
savours of the stagnant pool wherein is heard the croaking of
frogs ;and your dissensions indeed are as the battles of frogs
and mice. This one is covetous, that one snatches what is
not his own ; the temple is filled with buyers and sellers. With
vain flattery the courtier tickles the ears of princes, and goes
off laden with a thousand priestly spoils.
" However, hope shines on the horizon ; since he who has
altered a square into a circle shall yet once more become a man
of four sides. The rotund Rabbi and
exhibits a square fades
bears the sacred symbols of the Roman Jupiter. I would
willingly myself square them or even file their angles if there
were any power in reason to do so. But what shall I say ?
There is no law for morals at Oxford ; everything there like a
confused whirlwind is falling into ruin. There is not even the
appearance of a Church, nor priest nor shadow of the See of Rome
remains.
" But you who are as the pious pillars of the Holy See, arise
that golden day is surely at hand. The noble Prince of Austria
lifts his head on high ; and from France come they that vie
with other CathoUc brethren to chant the glories of that great
day. Our appealing hands go out to our brethren beyond the
seas in Italy, in Spain, in Douay and Louvain.
" This is what fills with grievous fear those heretics ; they
scarcely dare rebuke our rising joy.
" Clap your hands O Catholics, you who guard the rights of
Peter ; clap your hands, the golden day is most certainly at
hand. Silent waters run deep ; be not deceived by the calm
that comes before the storm. From the princes in the West the
thunder-bolt may come. There will be no withstanding the
power that shall hurl itself against you, certes not that maUcious
feather which trembles in your hands.
" In the meantime I pray you to sing the triumph of the
deliverer whose name shall be for ever our watchword.
" Wake up, England, buried as thou art in an unwholesome
and deadly sleep, open once more thine eyes."
{Loseley Bundle, 1329 (11.). Miscellaneous Papers ; also
Appendix, p. 423.)

These are very strong words and in their vigour and the evident
an angry pen.
asperity of their tone they give us the impression of
Who can wonder ? All were not saints in those dark and cruel days,
378 DESOLATION
and many there are even amongst my readers who would boil with
indignation were such things done now that were the order of the
day in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Thank
God we live in peace with our neighbours, and in oiu: country parishes
we can meet the clergy of the Anglican communion on terms of
friendship. Much of the asperity of controversy is softened by the
knowledge that these men are sincere and zealous in the work
which they perform according to the dictates of their conscience.
Hence, whatever I have written in the course of this work
must not be understood to contain bitterness towards any Uving
soul. I have tried to write history in the hght of documents before
me. These documents have spoken in no uncertain tone.
The last quoted manuscript, apart from the undoubted venom
of its phraseology and the heat of its denunciations, might in a
modified form find its way to the Ups of many of the serious-minded
of our own day, and we think that not Catholics alone will cry
with fervent longing those words of the seventeenth century
telling :

" Wake up, England, buried as thou art in an unwholesome

and deadly sleep, open once more thine eyes."
 APPENDIX I

{Loseley Bundle 1380, " Recusancy.")

The names of such psons as were Indited for not resort3aige to
the church accordinge to the Statues
Anne Whitner of Wicham for two monethes
Jane Saunder of Ewell the wife of Erasmas
Saunder of Ewell gent. For one moneth
FFrancis Browne of the pishe of
St. Savyors in Southwark Esquire
Johane his wife
Henry Browne of the same esquire
Anne his wife > for II monthes
The Ladie Mary Vauze of the same
George Bruster of the same gent
Elizabeth Turner of the same spinster
Mgaret Pk5ais of the same spinster
FFrancis Browne
Johane his wife
Mary Courtneys of the same pishe spinster
Henry Browne of the same esquire
Anne his wife for II monthes
Anne Steward of the same spinster
George Bruster of the same gent
Elizabeth Turner of the same spinster
Mary Pkyns of the same spinster
Charles Arrundell of Sutton esquire for sixe monethes
Johane York of Richmond spinster for VII monethes
Jane HornyaU als Hornyfall als Fumyfall of Egham
for one moneth

The names of such gentlemen and gentlewomen within the

Countie of Southampton as doe refuse to come to the Churche.
(George Cotton esquier and his wife
WarbUngton John White gent
Mistris Bullaker
Henry Shelley gent and his wife
Buriton
( Stephen Vachell gnt and his wife
Southwod Haling The wife of Thomas Henslo gent
Bedhampton Anthony Cope gent
S79
38o APPENDIX
Thomas Poundes gent
FFarlington
Henry Poundes gent
Southwick Mr. Waxnfords and his wife
Doctor Titchboume gent and his wife
Porchester
William Sutton gent
Robert Joye gent
Eastmeon
Thomas Pershall gent
Westhworant Raphe Henstoe (?) gent his wife and
daughter
lleden Anthony d dale gent
Windles iham Edward Banister gent and his wife.
Faxeham John Ludlowe gent and his wife
St. Michaells in Thomas white gent and his wife
the Soke nere Mris Knight, widowe
Winchester Mris Thomas wedowe
Thomas Brabon gent and his wife
Calenderin Wints Mr. Lampdon
St. Peters in Mr. Dyer and his wife
Gjlbroke in Thomas Beconsaw gent and his wife
Wints Mr. Wey and his wife
Mr. Bilsonne
Tywfords Gilbert Wells esquier and his wife
Mistris James in Mr. Wells howse
Gastonne Mistris Hall wedowe
Itchstoke Mr. Scrope and his wife
Titchbotime Benjamin Titchome gent and his wife
Mistris Arnold (?) his Eonswoman
Tichboume, wedow
Mistris
(?) and his wife
Mr. Roper
rghclaere John Beconsuve (we ?) gent and his wife
Harthmawdet Nicholas Titchboume gent and his wife
Midleton att long pishe The wife of Mr. Burley
Elfidd Thomas Owen and his wife
Southwarborow The wife of Mr. Stephen White

{Losdey. Vol. 5, No. 20.)

A list of three names of prisoners in Clink for Religion, dated

Xllth day of Marche 1581.
List. John Brodestocke of Queenehille in the County of Worcester
yeoman sent by commandmt from the Rev. Father in God
John Ld. B. of London and other her maj. high Commers
the second day of May anno Dmi 1581.
 APPENDIX 381

Edward Shelleye of Worminghurste in the C. of Sussex gent

sent by commt from the Rev. Fr. in God John Lord B. of
Lon. and other her M. high Com. the Vth day of July
Anno D. 1581.
Jane Goldwyere late Whalleye in the C. of Oxford Widow
sent by comm. fm the R. F. in G. John B of L. and other
h ... the Vth day of Dec. A.D. 1580.

Vol. 5, Losdey, No. 40.

Surrey. The Names of all such ptsons as stand indicted before
the Justices of the peace of this G)unty of Surrey for not coming
to Church and are therefore convicted by uttacy remayning of
Record before the said Justices.
Not in the
Shire Jane Hom5ra!l als Homyfall als Fumyfall late ot Egham
in the C. of Surrey Spinster.
her hosbaiid
ne
liveth Ann Whitney of Mich am in the Co. of Surrey Spinster.
Ckricenwdl
JQ London
Jane Saunder of Ewell in the Co. of Su. Spinster (?) the
wife of Erasmus Saunder of Ewell, gentleman.
at Hackney
bi London The Lady Mary Vauze of the psh. of St Saviours in the
Bmrough of Southwark in the C. of Surrey.
Eliz. Tumor of the same spinster.
Margaret Pkns of the same spinster.
Mary Courtney of the same spinster.
gone oat
of the Anne Steward of the same spinster.
Shire
\ Mary Perkyns of the same spinster.
Jrfiane York of Richmond in the Co. of S. spinster
Mabel Sandes of Easthorsley in the C. of S. gentlewoman.
Thomas Blake of the ps. of St Saviours in Sonthw in the
C. of S. Taylor.
Eliz. Fromons the wife of WiH. From, of Cheham (Cheam)
in C. of S. gent.
Catesbie of Lambeth in the Co. of Surrey gent.
The wife of Wm. Catesbie knight.
Jane Throgmorton of the same gent
her husband
liveth Jane Mollinax of Nutfielde in the C. of Surrey gent.

The Names of such as stand indicted for the same cause and not
yet convicted
Francis Browne of the ps. of St Saviours in the Borough
of Southw. in the C. of S. Esquire.
dead
Johane his wife.
382 APPENDIX
his goods
ceised and George Bruster of the same gent.
sold to her

Wm Catesbie of Lambeth in the Co. of Surrey knight.

Thomas Crooke late of Lambeth in the Co. of S. gent.
Robert Albury of Thursley in the Co. of Surrey,
Smythe.
Eliz. Bezaunte of the ps of St Sav. widow.
Rise Flood of Woking in the Co. of Surrey yorman.
gone out of Isabell Ashebumeham of the ps of St Saviours in the
the Shire
Burrough of S. in the C. of S. spinster.
Seth Goulston of Richmond in the Co. of Su. Tyler.
out of the
shire
Garden of Lambeth in the C. of S. gent.
her husband Hellen Fromons of Chyham in the C. of Surrey, gent.
livcth out of
the shire.

Thomas Fromons - - - gent.

WiUm PhUbey of Lee aUas Ligh in the C. of S. gent
conformed Bennitt Joye of Waverley in the County of Suriey,
Esq.
out of the Johane Pyimer of Micham in the Co. of S. gent.
shire
Mary Pynner of the same gent.
her husband
liveth Johane AVhitney of the same gent.
Southcott of Westham in C. of S. gent,
the wife of John Southcott the younger, gent.
out of the
shire John Garden of the ps of St Mary Magdalene in Ber-
mondsey in the Co. of S. gent.
out of the
shire
Allington of Michcim in the Co. of S. widow.
John Talbott of Micham gent.
a beggar
John Butt of Walton in the C. of S. yoman.
committed
at
Anthony Mason of Kewe in the C. of S. Esq.
Wm. Lipscombe of Lambeth in the Co. of Surrey gent.
Lipscombe of the same spinster his wife
he has
conformed Symon Towllye of Guildford in the C. of S. Inholder.
out of the
shyre Wm. Beda of Lambeth in the C. of S. yeoman.
John Pker of Cobham in the C. of S. gent.
a beggar
Johane Bannester of Wyndlesham in the C. of S. spinster
the wife of John Bannester of the same yeoman.
The Names of such as stand indited as before and are discharged
by Irs from some of her M. most hon. privie CounseU. viz.
Charles Arrundell of Sutton in the C. of Surrey Esq
Katherin Cornewallys of Easthorsley in the C. of S. gent.
Robert Gage of Croydon in the C. of Su. gent.
Elizabeth Gage of Croydon in the C. of Su. gent.
 APPENDIX 383

The Names of those which are indited and have conformed

themselves according to the Statute.

Henry Browne of the ps. of St. Saviours in the Bor. of

South, in the C. of S. Esq.
Anne his wife.
Nicholas Walgrave of Mestham in the C. of S. gent.
Bartholomew Dawnse of Camberwell in the C. of S. gent.
Nicholas Larymer of Mycham in the Co. of S. yoman.

The Names of such as are in prison in the Marshalsea, Kyngs

Bench, White Lion and Clink in Southwark.
Thorn. Croylye of South, in Co. of Hants, esq.
Peter Tichbome of the same Esq.
Erasmus Wolsely of the same Esq.
John Beconshawe of the same gent.
Robert Jesopp of the same gent.
Richard Waldron of the same L3mnendrap.
Gregory of Awynckle of the same yoman.
Rich. Sampson of the same yoman.
Wm. Smjrth of the same yoman
Robt Beckett of the same Esq.
Rich. Shelley of the same Esq.
Leond. Bylson of the same Clerk
Peter Carew of the same yoman.
Theobald Gren of the same yoman.
Walter Blunt of the same yoman.
James Fenne of the same yoman.
John Graye of the same yoman.
Wm Phillips of the same yoman.
Wm Tucker of the same yoman.
Edmund Saxton of the same yoman.
Rich. Webster of the same yoman.
Richard Reynolds of Southwark yoeman.
Henry Sherwood of the same drap.
Henry Cockeram of the same Scholemaster.
Wm. Green of the same Scholemaster.
John Ridge of the same yoman.
Eliz. Sherwood of the same spinster.
Johane Lowys the wife of PhiUpp Lowys of the same gent.
Ed. J ackson*of|the"fsame, clerk.
Ed. More of the same gent.
John Jacobb of the same yoman.
384 APPENDIX
Wm Hartley of the same clerk.
Jo. Tucker of the same printer.
Jo. Harrys of the same yoman.
Jo. Larvye of the same printer.
Wm Walker of the same clerk.
same clerk.
Jervall Parpoint of the
Wm Denton same clerk.
of the
Walter Taylor of the same yoman.
Rich. Norrys do clerk.
Wm Byshopp do yoman.
Jo. Nashe do yoman.
John Bradstock of the same yoman.
Jane Gouldwyer do spinster.
Edward Shollye do gent.

Vol. 5, No. 41, Loseley.

—
" Surrey. ^The names of all such psns both men and women as
have been presented and indicted as recusants at the general
sessions of the peace holden within this C. of Surrey together with
a Note of such psons as have been sent forth against them as
followeth.
" Croydon. Dis Martis XX post Festm Epiphiae Dm. Anno
XXniI o Regni EUz.
Anna Whitney de Micham spinster.
Jana Saunder de Ewell spinster VX.
Erasim Saundr gen.
Franciscus Browne de Salvak in Burgo de Southwark
Ar et
Johanna uxor eius
Henr. Browne de ead Ar. et Anna uxor eius.
Dna Maria Vauze de ad
Georgius Bruster de ad gen.
Elizabeth Turr de ead spinster
Mgareta Pkyns de ead spinster
Maria Courtney de ead spinster.
Anna Steward de ead spinster.
Maria Perkyns de ead spinster.
Carolus Arrundell de Sutton dr
Johanna York de Richmond spinster.
"Against all which psons writt of verri facias capias, ali as, pluries
went forth orderly and then the exigent, upon which exigent the
said Francis Browne and Johane his wife Henry Browne and Anne
 APPENDIX 385

his wife and George Bruster did appear and tendered several
transfers to the said Indictments and were there upon bound by
severed recognisances knowledged in open Sessions to present their
said transfers, with effect and that if upon trial it should be found
against them and then to 3deld their bodies to prison etc and the
said Charles Arrundel was discharged by Secretary Walsingham's
letters and the rest stand outlawed etc.
" Reigate. Dis Mtis XX post Clm. Pasche Anno XVIIII Regni
Elizab.
Katherina Comewallis de Esthorsley gen.
Mabella Sandes ed ead. gen.
" Against whom and then
writ of ve farca., pk, et kp, went forth,
further pees against the said Katherine Staid by Mr. Secretary
Walsingham's letters and the exigent went forth gainst the said
Mabel and she standeth waived etc.
Thomas Crowlye de Southwark ar.
Petrus Tychboumes de ead A.
Erasmus Woulseley de ead Ar.
Johes Beconsawe de ead gen.
Robertus Jesopp de ead gen.
Richs Waldron de ead Ljmnendrap.
Gregorius Aw5nickle de eadem yoman.
Ricus Sampson de ead em yoman.
Wlhn Smjrth de eadem yoman.
Robtus Beckett de eadem yoman.
Mgaret uxor eius.
Richs Shelley de ead Ar.
Leondns Bilson de eadem Clicus.
Petrus Carewe de ead gen.
Theobaldus Green de ead gen.
Walter Blunt de ead gen.
Jacobus Ferme de ead gen.
Johes Graye de ead gen.
WiUm PhiUpps de ead gen.
WUlm Tocker de ead gen.
Edus Saxton de ead gen.
Ricas Webster de ead gen.
Ricus Reynolds de Southwark pd yoman.
Henricus Sherwood de ead. drap.
Hemic. Cockeram de ead Schoolmaster.
Willm Green de ead Schoolemaster.
Johes Ridge de ead em yoman.
26
386 APPENDIX
Elizabeth Sherwood de ead spinster.
Johanna Lowys uxor Philippi Lowys de ead gen.
Edwardus Jackson de ead Clicus.
Edwardus More de ead gen.
Johes Jacob de ead yoman.
Witts Harletey de ead Clicus.
Johes Tocker de ead Printer.
Johes Harrys de ead yoman.
Johes Harvye de ead printer.
Witts Walker de ead CUcus.
JarvaUus Upoint de ead Clicus.
WiUm Denton de ead CUcus.
Walter Taylor de ead yoman.
Reus Norrys de ead Clicus.
WiUs B3rshop de ead yoman.
Johes Nashe de ead yoman.
Johes Bradstock de ead yoman.
Jana Gouldwyer nuper de ead spinster et.
Edwardus Sheller de ead gen.

" AU
which psons were indicted also at Reigate above said and all
of themin prison and at the Assizes or Gaol deUvery holden at
Kingston XXVI o Julii Anno XXIIII o Regni Eliz. were arraigned
etc and then repried to prison.

" Guildford. Die Mtis XX post Festm St Petri Appli, Aimo R Rne
EUz. XXIIII o
Nichas Walgrave de Merstham gent.
Robtus Gage de Croydon gen et Elizabeth ex. eius
Henr. Bowne de Parochia St Salvat in South, gen et
Aima uxor eius
Georgius Bruster de ead gen.
Maria Vause de ead gen.
Thomas Bleke de ead Tailor.
Eliz. Fromon ux. Willi Fromans de Cheyham (Cheam) gen.
Will. Catesby de Lambeth Miles.
Catesbye uxor eius.
Jana Throgmorton de ead gen.

" Against
all which psons writs of vefa, cas, al, pi, and ther exigent

went forth upon which the said Nicholas Walgrave Hen. Browne
and Anna his wife, Robt Gage and Eliz. his wife and George Bruster
did yield there bodies to the Sheriff of Siury and thereupon the
 APPENDIX 387

said Nicholas Walgrave Hen. Browne and Anne his wife came in
and did submit and conform themselves and did in full sessions
recognise the same submission according to the Statute, etc. and
that they would resort to the church according to the true meaning
of that Statute etc and the said Robt. Gage and Eliz. hith wife
were discharged by Irs from 3 or her Mats Privy Counsels which
Irs were deUvered to the Justice of Assise and shewed to me at the
Assise by Sr Thomas Gawdyry and the said WUlm Catesbye was
committed by the L. of her Majis Privy Con. to the Dean of Wjmdsor
and the said George Bruster committed to prison and the rest stand
outlawed.
" Crovdon. Die mtis XX pst Fest. Epiph. Dmi A R. Reg. Eliz.
XXVI o.

Barthus Dawnse de Camberwell gent esq.

Thomas Croke de Lambeth in Sh. gent et [blank] uxor eius
Robt Albury de Thursley Smith.
Eliz. Beasant de Poch Sci Salvat. in bur. de South, vid.
Risens Flood de Woking yoman.
Isabel Ashebumeham de pch. St Salv. spinster.
Jana Mallynax de Nutfeld gen. uxor Thomas MoUinapc.
Seth Goulston de Richmond Tyler.
Garden de Lambeth gen
Nichus Larymer de Micham yoman.

The said Barth. Dawnse and Nich. Larymer did submit and
conform them selves etc and the rest stand outlawed.

Southwark. XV° die Feb. Anno R. Rno Eliz. XXVI°

Eliz.Fromons uxor Will. Fromons de Cheyham (Cheam) gen.
Hellana Fromons de ead gen. a.
Thomas Fromons de Chayham gen.
WUlms Philbey de Lee als Ligh-gen.

Against allwhch psons writ of etc. and the exigent went forth
and they all stand outlawed.

Rebate. Die mts XX post Chn Pasche Anno R Rne EUz XXVI°
Johanna Pjmner de Mitcham gen.
Maria Pynner de ead gen.
Anna Whitney de ead gen.
A Johanna Whitney de ead gen.
Southcott ux Johis Sowthcott ? des mescham gen.
388 APPENDIX
Against all, etc.

Guildford. Die mtis XX post Festm St Petri Appli. Anno

R Rne Eliz XXVI"
Johes Garden de pochia Sae Maria Magd. in Bermondsey gen.

Against whom etc.

Kingston. Die etc. pst Fest St Michis Archi etc.

Allington de Mitcham vid.
Johes Talbot de ead gen.
Johes Butt de Walton sub thamis yoman.
Anthinus Mason de Kewe Ar.

Against whome, etc., and thereupon the said John Tabotby

Richard Fuller his attorney appeared and did by plu demur in
law upon the insufficiencie of the Judgement against him and had
day given by the Court to show the Causes in writing.
Croydon. Die mentis 20 post fets. Epiph. Dom. anno R. Rege*
EUz. XXVII.
WiUmus Lypscombe de Lambeth gen. esq.
Against etc. who thereupon came in and did submit and conform
himself.
Reigat. Die post Chn Pasche Anno R. El. XXVII".
WiUm Beda de Lambeth yoman.
Johes Pker de Cobham gen.
Johanna Banyster de Windlesham.
Ag. etc. —and they stand outlawed.
Guildford, die Fest. Pet. a. R.E. XXVir.
Eliz. Browne de EweU gen uxor Cuthb. Browne gen.
Anna Lorde de ead gen.
Allan Horde de ead gen.
Barbara uxor eius.
Nich. Saunder gen de ead gen.
Ricus Wright de ead yoman.
Agnes Cobhett de Guildford spinster.

Against all of whch psons went forth writ etc. whereupon

Nicholas Saunder appeared and did submit and Conform himself
and against aU the rest went forth al etc.
Croydon. Die m XX post F. Ep. Dm. a. XXVIir.
Ricus Wright de EweU yoman.
Johes Dovyngton de Richmond.
 APPENDIX 389

Ag. etc.

Reigate. Die mts pr post Clm. Pasch. XXVIIIF.

Thomas Pownds de Lambeth gen.
Maria Modyiixor Johis Mody de ead gen.
WiUms Shurlock de Dunsfold.
Johes Cobden de Stoke dawborne gen.
Rahus Borne de Walton sup. Thamisium gen.
Against, etc.
Kingston. Die mts tc S Mich. a. XXVIIF.
Freman de Lambeth
Franciscus gen. et
Freman uxor eius
Ptrus Loe de ead gen.
Johanna hoe uxor eius
Barthus Brockesbye de mtem. gen.
Anna Easton de ead spinster
Edrus Hinde de Noillate gen.
Dorothea Lovell uxor Gregor. Lovell de Merstham Ar.
Whn Whybome de Lambeth gen.
Ricus Mackerell de Godahning, fuller.
Against whom, etc.
Croydon. Die mtis Epiph. ano. XXIX.""
Nichus Clarke de mten yoman.
Thomas Cuddington Jun de Ewell Yoman.
Georgius Catesbie de Lambeth gen.
Reigate. Die m Pasch. A - XXIX."°
Nichus Formans de Carsalten gen.
exr. per me Georgius Austen.
Chcus pac. Com. Surr.
Prisoners in the Marshalsea.
{Loseley Bundle, 1380, " Recusancy.")
Most of all such as are at this present remaining prisoners
II
in the Marshalsea being committed for their disobedience in
Religion taken the XX7th day of July 1582 as foUoweth.
1. Robert Becket of Montrennuik in the Count, of Cornwall, Esq
2. Margaret Becket the wife of the said Rob. Becket lastly
named.
3. Richard Shelley of Wormch rste in the County of Sussex, Esq.
4. Bernard Bilson before his imprisonment which hath been this
XXth years he was parson of Havant and Kingesworthie
in the County of Southp. and Prebendary residentiarie
of Winchester and Salsisbury.
390 APPENDIX
5- Jarvis Parpointe of Grays Inn in the County of Middlesex gent.
6. Peter Carey of Hackcombe in the County Devon, gent.
7- Theobald Green late of Lincolnes Inn in Count, of Midd. gent.
8. Walter Blunt of Osbaston in the C. of Leicester, gent.
9. James Feml of Mountague in the C. of Londth gent.
10. Edward Moore of Whaddon in the C. of Cambridg, gent.
11. John Graye late of Preston in the C. of Suffs, gent.
12. William Phillippes of St. Key in C. of Cornwall.
14. Edmond Sexton of Whaddon in the C. of Cambridge, gent.
15. Richard Webster late of Loddon in the C. of Norfolk, gent.
16. Richard Raynolde of Blaniscs in the C. of Lancaster, yoman
17. Henry Sherwood of London, draper.
19. Henry Cochrane late of Nottingham in the C. of Notts,
Schoolmaster
20. William Grene late of Harkesteads in the C. of Safk, School-
master
21. John Jacobe late of Oxford in the C. of Oxford, yoman.
22. John Ridge of Longerandur in the C. of Kick husbandman.
23. John Harris late of Shrewisbury in the C. of Salfr. (Salop)
24. John Cocker citizen and Printer of London.
25. John Harvey ,citizen and Printer of London.
26. Elizabeth Sherwood of Nottingham in the C. of Notts widdow.
27. John Lowes the wife of Philip Lowes of the firth of St. Andrews
under-thall, London gent.
28. Edward Jackson of Datison in the C. of Norfolk, priest.
29. Wm. Walker of Athennan in the C. of Norf priest.
.

30. Wm. Denton of Golton in C. of York, priest.

31. Wm. —
Hartley St. Johns Coll. in Oxford, priest.
32. Richard Norris of Mis in , priest.

33. W. Byshoppe of Braj^es in the C. of Warwick priest.

34. John Nashe of the joint priest Porte of London Taylor.

AU these 34 persons beforenamed stand indicted in the County

of Siurey and these four persons following are
1. Thomas Moore of Chelsey in the Countie of Midd. gent, being
comitted the XXVIIth of Aprill 1582.
2. T Smale of Ponghill in the Countie of Cornwall priest,
being committed the XXVth of Maye 1582.
3. George Felbye of Oxford in the Countie of Oxon Carrier being
comitted the Illlth of Maye 1582.
4. Thomas Crowder of Ludlow in the Coimtie of Salopp. phest
being committed the XXIIth of Marche 1581.
 APPENDIX 391

Vol. XII. No. 52. Loseley.

A true certificate deliveredthe unto
Queen's Majesty's justices peace
of the
for the Co. of Surrey, of all such
prisoners as be committed to the custody
of Anthony Thorpe, keeper of the White
Lion in Southwark for rehgion and there
remaining the 23d. of July 158a.
Indicted
Erasmus Wolsley of Wolsley hall in the Co. of Stafford, gentleman
—Indicted.
Thomas Crawley, of Manewden in the Co. of Essex, gentleman — Indi.
PeterTychboume of Porchester in the Co. of Southampton, gent,
Ind.
John Beckonsawe of Burghclere in the Co. of Southampton, gent.
Ind.
William Sm3rthe of London in the parish of St. Sepulchre's, gent.
Ind.
Robert Jessopp of London, servingman Ind. —
Richard Waldam of London in the parish of St. Magnus Salter Ind. —
Gregory Owmkell of Tamworth in the Co. of Staffords. Student.
—Ind.
Richard Sampson of Benfield in the Co. of Berks yeoman —Ind.
Not Indicted
William Scott.
Henry SheUey of Mapledurham in the Co. of Southampton. Gent.
Robert Watson of the parish of Bexley in the Co. of Kent, servingman.
Francis Gardener, servant unto my Lord Pagett.

Vol. XII. No. 53. Loseley.

Prisoners in the Clinke for Rehgion the
23. Day of July 1382.

Indicted
Edward Shelley of Worminghurst in the Co. of Sussex gent.
Christopher Archer of the parish of St. Michael's in Cornwall
London, gent.
William Stapleton of the parish of Bradley in the Co. of Stafford
gent. Indicted
John Branstock of Queenhill in the parish of Rippule in the Co. of
Worcester Yeoman.
Indicted
Jane Goldwyer, late of Whateley in the Co. of Oxford, widow.
 — —

392 APPENDIX
The Peculiars from Doctor Lewen. (Los, 1085, XV.).
Newington in Surrey. Mr. William Beard and John Fox Church-
wardens, William Stiles Robert Hubberd, Mathew Chapman
and Robert Hobbes fremen of Newington in the deanerie of
Croyden by their bill made the XXIII° Maye and exhibited
XXV*° of Maye 1585 do present as followeth
Imprimis we present Mrs. Lowes of or towne of Newington
aforesaid for not comynge to the Church but doth obstinatelye
refuse to come their att all.

Croyden in Surrey. is said not come too the Churche.

Mr. Gage
Easthorsley in Surrey. Richard RichebeU one of the Churchwardens
Thomas Baker, and Christopher (?) Booth freemen by their
bill exhibited XXVI^° of June 1585 do present as followeth

We present my Ladie Cornwallys doth not come to the

Church.
Item we present Jane Bromfield her gentlewoman hath not
bene at this Church nor at any other Church to our knowledge
since the last quarter sessions.

From Doctor Hone.

The names and Surmanes of all such Recusants within Surrey
as have bene certefied unto the right worshippful and other her
maties Justices of peace within the Countie of Surrey att the feast
of Snt John Baptist laste and sithence

Midsomer quarter 1585

Lambeth Mr. [blank in MS.] Wallgrave and his wife whose Christian
names the Churchwardens cold not learne.
Stretham Mr. Doctor Frier and certeine of his servauntes whose
names they cold not learne.
Mitcham Mr. Talbott whoe is her Maties prisoner as it is psented
by the Churchwardens.
NuttfieldJane MoUenux the wife of Thomas Mollenux gent.
Ewell Mrs. Elizabeth Browne the wife of Cuthberte Browne,
Anne Whorde her dawghter Allen Whord gent, and Mrs.
Barbara Whord his wife Mr. Nicholas Saunder gent the yonger
and his wife Mr. Richard Wright sojorjmge in the howse of
Thomas Cuddington of Ewell.
Covehm John Parker yeom
Snt Maries in Guildford Henrie Danbome Sherman and Agnes
Cobhett the wife of Edward Cobhett weaver.
Mighellmas quarter 1585
Snt Saviors pish in Sowthw : EUzabeth Bisand wedowe.
Mitcham Mrs. Anne Whitney.
 APPENDIX 393

Richmond John Dorrington conte

Lambeth Mrs. [no name in MS.] Moodie, Sr Willme Catisbye
knight, whose aunswere is that he is at the Counsells Com-
aundmt, under the deane of Windsor.
Ewell Mr. Allen Whord gent and Barbara his wife Elizabeth
Browne the wife of Mr. Cuthbert Browne and Anne Whorde
her dawghter Richard Wright contd
Christmas quarter 1585
Lambeth Mrs. Moodie the wife of Mathew Hever.
Walton on Thames Ralfe Bourne gent contd.
Mitcham Mrs. Anne Whitney.
Stoke Dawhorne John Cobden.
Elizabeth Browne the wife of Cuthbert Browne Mrs. Anne
Whord his Dawghter Richard Wright.
Our Ladie daie quarter 1586
Donnysfold Mr. William Sherlock
Lambeth Sir William Catisbie Thomas Pownd gent Maria Moodie
the wife of John Mood gent
Stokedawhorne. John Cobden.
EweU Mrs. Elizabeth Browne the wife of Cuthbert Browne
Mrs. Anne Whore her dawghter and Mr. Allen Whorde gent
Richard Wright.

A Colleccon of the names of such Recuscints cis are nowe to be

dealt with all as f olloweth

Lambeth
394 APPENDIX
Losdey Vol. 5, No. 26.
Surrey. A note to all the Recusants now prisoners in the King's
Bench the Vllth day of March 1585.
Richard Owldeaker > ,, ,

Ralfe Owldeaker 1
Husbandmen a

Recusants now prisoners in the Marshalsey.

Thomas Habarley \
John Ls^ter
John Boltone
John Harrisone
Wm. Elargemett
Nicholas Knighte
j
Priests 12
Francis Tillisone
James Edwards
Edmond Caveriey
Rbert Wilcox
Ralf Pawmer
John Smith
WiUm Greene gent of Tonstins in Stafford-
shire scholmaster
Walter Blimt gent of Kingston in the C.
of Stafford
Edmont Sexton gent of Westm
John Tucker yeoman of Newbury in the
C. of Berks printer
Peter Lawson of Ripon in the C. of Yorks.
yeoman .

Wm. Crombelhome of Stapish in Lancaster I

Recusants 10
yeoman
John Williamson of Ditton in the C. of
Lancaster gent.
Thomas Moore gent of Lowlaighton in
the C. of Essex late of Bamborough.
Robert Holland, gent of Clifton in the C. of
Lancaster.
Richard Webster gent of Gigleswick in
Craven in the C. of Yorkshire.

Recusants now prisoners in the Clink

WiUm Peirrey
4
John Robinson
Priests
John Adams 28
Pawle Spence
 AI'I'ENDIX 395

John Lawnder gent of Lawbom in the C.

of Yorks
Walter Trevethen gent of Maiden in the
C. of Cornwall
Richard Dowst yeoman of Ythfielde in the
C. of Lycincpshire
John Whyte of Hursley in the C. of South.
yeoman. { Recusants
Stephen Chesten of the City of Wminster
yeoman.
John Bradstock of Quinhill in the C. of
Wore, yoeman.
Mrs. Katherin Greene of Newbry in the C.
of York, the wife of John Green Esq.

Recusants now prisoners in the White Lyon.

John Beaconsawe gent in Co. South-

hampton.
Wme. Smj^he gent of Bangor in the C. of
Carmarthen
George Collynsone Clerk ) Recusants
Richard Sampsom gent of Bynfeeld in the
C. of Bark.
Richard Waldron Layman draper, of
Citizen Lynerdah Londs.
Total 40
Wyllam Gardyner.

Other certificates for June, 1586, give names of 59 priests in the

following prisons : Marshalsea, Wood White Lion, Newgate,
Street,
Clink, Gate House, Wisbeach. (Dom. Eliz., igo, nn. 25, 42 and 44),

In the Marshalsea : {Vol. 5, No. 27, Loseley).

Thomas More of Lowlaighton in the Co. of Essex, gent, late

of Bambrough.
Walter Blount of Lingston in the Co. of Stafford, gent.
Edward Sexton of Westminster, gent.
Richard Webster of Engleswick in Craven in the Co. of York
gent.
Robert Holland of Clifton in the Co. of Lancaster, gent.
Peter Lawson of Ripon in the Co. of York, Yoman.
John WilUams of Ditton on the Co. of Lancaster gent.
 — —

396 APPENDIX
John Tucker of Newbery in the C. of Berks, printer.
William Green of Tonstons in Staffordshire, Schoolmaster.
WiUiam Cromblehome of Stidpish in Lancashire, yoman.
Robert Beckett of Menhynnete in the Co. of Cornwall, gent.

The King's Bench.

Ralph Oldacre of . . .

Richard Oldacres

In the White Lion.

WilUam Smyth of Bangor in the Co. of Carmarthen, gent.
Richard Sampson of Bynfield in the Co. of Barks, gent.
Richard Waldron of Cirizen, and Linendraper of London.
Egrotus.
John Beaconshall of ... in Co. Southampton, gent.
In the Clink.
John Lawder of Lawbom in the Co. of York, gent.
John Bradstock of Qujmshill in the Co. of Wore. Yoman.
Walter Trevethen of Maiden in the Co. of Cornwall, gent.
Richard Dowse of Ythfealde in the Co. of Hampshire, Yoman.
Stephen Cheston of the City of Winchester, Yoman.
Jonh White of Hursley in the Co. of South, yoman.
Mrs. Catherine Green of Newby in the Co. of Yorkshire, the
wife of John Green Esq.

A note on MS. by Bray . . (?) —^Newby in the Parish of

TopcMe —Pedegree of Green Harl. MS., 1171.

On the Back of the above hst is a draft of letter in Sir W. Mora's

handwriting :

" With remembrance our duties unto your honourable

of
Lordships it may same to receive the hereinclosed a
please the
certificat of our proceedings with the recusants within this
County according to the contents of your Lordship's letters.
We imderstand not the state of their wealthes or hvings for they
have nothing within this County to our knowledge.
" Only Francis Brown and John Southcote Esquire best
known unto us have as we think made a true declaration of the
just value of their yearly Revenues. We were informed by
Richard Ede, porter of the Marshalsea that Robert Beckett,
Thomas More. and John Grey be of greater living and habiUty
than they declared themselves to be. As many appear unto
your Lordships by his declarations under his hand hereinclosed."
 APPENDIX 397

The names of Recusants convicted or indicted within the Countie

of Surrey.
Henry Dorrell senior of Newdigate gent.
Henry Dorrell junior of Newdigate gent.
John Dorrell senior Newdigate
John Dorrell junior Newdigate
John Gage late of Newdigate esquire
John Gape (?) of Newdigate yeoman.
Jane Mullenaxe of Nuffield spinster.
William Copley of Gatby esq.
John Sherry senior of Gatton tailor (?)
John Sherry junior of Gatton husbandman
Th. Underwood of Gatton husbandman
Howard Jarman of Lambhte gent.
Richard Phelbye, aUas Kilby of St. Savs. in Southwark,
tailor
WnUam Clarke alias Baker of Sutton yeoman
Recusants convicted.
George Redall of Send yeoman.
Wllm Redall of Send yeoman.
Elizabeth Redall of Send spinster
Jane Redall of Send yeoman.
George Smyihe of Cheam gent.
WiUiam Greene of Estmowlsey gent,
and Greene his wife.

J
Henry Brittaine of Great Bookham gent.
Anne Brittaine his wife.
Joane Morgon of G.B. widow.
Th. Tompkins of Great Bookham gent.
Marie Nudigat of Ashted, the wife of
Henry Nudigat gent.
Richard Hatton of Longditton gent
Mary Hatton his wife
Dorothye Standen of Esher widowe
Elizabeth Blake of Ewell the wife of George Blake.

Bartholomew Fromond of Cheam gent

and Susan Fromondes his wife
Francis Davies of Cheam journeyman
Agnes Davies his wife
Edward Scot of Barmondsey in Southwark gent and
Joan Scot his wife.
Margaret Scot of the same spinster.
 :

398 APPENDIX
On the back of this document is written
" For as much as by reason as well of the attendance uppon
the prince Palatine our dear son in law and upon our daughter
Elizabeth the Princess his wife, in your journey to Heidleberg
in Germany, and your employment there for especial cause of
our service you can not be present". (Los. 1085, XV.).
A list of log CathoHcs in diff. counties, i.e. (Los. ibid.),
Sir Thomas ComwalUs Mr. St. Johns of Hokeringe
Sir John Arundell Suffolke
Sir Thomas Gressham Mr. Culyard of Wetherden
Sir Wm. Catesbie Mr. Thomas Culyard his brother
Sir Thomas Fitzherbert Mr. Drury of Losell
Sir John Southworte Mr. Ruckwood of Soldham Hall
Sir Thomas Gerard Mr. Marten of MeUford
Sir George Peckham Mr. Marten the yoimger
Sir John Cotton of Cambridge- Mr. Darmell th' elder
shire Mr. DarmeU the younger
Sir Thomas Kitson Mr. Mannocke of Stoke
Norfolke Mr. Yapley of Yapley
Mr. Jemingham of Cerses Mr. Beningfield of Bruseyard
Mr. Downes of Merton Mr. Everard th'elder
The Sonne and heire of Sir Mr. Everard the younger
Th. ComwaUis Mr. Fetter
Mr. Southwell of St. Fayes Essex
Mr. Southwell of Fysinge Mr. Rook Grene of Lamford
Mr.Rinkwood of Euston Mr. Greene the younger
Mr.Hubbard of Hales-Hale Kente
Henry Hubbard his sonne and Mr. Pettit the younger
heire Mr. John Driland
Mr. Beningfield of Quedoram Mr. Moorings
Mr. Thwayties his sonne in lawe Mr. Hawkings th'elder
Mr. LoveU of Harlinge and his Mr. Hawkins the younger
Sonne Mr. Crust
Younge Rievett his sonne in lawe Mr. John Mayney
Mr. LoveU of BuchemweU Hamshire
Mr. PhiUp Awdley Three of the Welles
Mr. Brampton ofBrsmipton Younge Dymmocke
Mr. Godfrey of Norwitch Mr. White
Mr. Carvell of Marsland Mr. Warmeford
Mr. Willoughbye of Marsland Mr. Hoorde
Thomas Bosome Mr. Tettersale
Roger Hubbard Young Shelley of Maplederham
Mr. Barney Yorkeshire
 APPENDIX 399

Mr. Mettham of Mettham Mr. Robert Gage

Mr. Craythome of Cra3^home Mr. Edward Gage
Mr. Bapthorp of Osgoodbie Mr. Langford
Peter Vavasoure Mr. Fenton
Waterton of Waterton Mr. Gatts
Mr. Trupinge Mr. Grene of Kente
John Broesland Mr. Randall
Younge Dynnyngton of Mr. WiUm Wibome
Monckey Mr. Willford of Kente
Mr. Hungatt Mr.Gawen
Mr. NeUson Wiseman and his brother in
Mr. Tirwhitt of Twigmore Essex
Mr. Yapley of Boston Thomas Heathe
Mr. —
Thnnbloby Mr. Houghton Roger Hyne
Mr. Price of Washingley Willm Higham
Mr. Townley—Mr. Standish Jarvis Parpointe
Mr. John Tablott Mr. John PaUin of Rogworthe
Mr. Frauncis Browne Mr. Worthyngton
Mr. John Gifford Mr. Carrell of Sussex
Mr. John Wibome Mr. Cotton of Warblington

Vol. 5, No. 38a. Loseley.

Surrey Henry Shelley, of Southwark, Gent.
Edward Moore, gent.
Thos. Beckett there, gent.
Robert Jesop there, gent.
Edward Sexton, gent.
WiUiam Tocker, gent.
Theobedd Green, gent.
John Gray, gent.
John Jacob, gent.
Rich. Webster, gent.
John Beconshawe, gent.
WiUiam Phillips, gent.
Walt. Stapleton, gent.
Richa. Woster, gent.
Walter Blount, gent.
Richard Shelley, gent.
Peter Carew, gent.
Edward Shelley, gent.
George Beastley, gt.
Ths. Moore, gent.
Fra. Browne esquire.
 —
400 APPENDIX
Dame Ann Cripps of Lambeth
Edward Bentley of Hyngray Bentley gent.
Jo. Harvey of Fenham
Erasmus Saunders of Ewell gen
Edward Gage esquire.
Sir William Catesby living at Lambeth.

If any of the persons above named be known to you to be become

reformable in religion by repairing to devine service agreable with
the laws of the realm then is it not meant that they should be
disarmed. M. Waade.

Vol. v., No. 38c. Losdey.

Surrey. Francis Browne
of Henley Park Esq.
John Wibome of Lambeth gent.
Charles Walgrave of Lambeth gent ^Thomas More of —
Bamebrogh, Robert Becket, Hemy Shelly of South-
—
wark, gent ^Edward Bannester, Edward Moore gent,
—
Tho. Becket Esq Robert Jesop gent Edward Sexton, —
— —
gent ^Wm. Tocke gent ^Theobald Green gent ^John —
— —
Grey gent ^John Jacob gent Richard Webster gent
—
John Beconshaw gent Wm. Phillips gent Richard —
—
Waldren gent Wm. Stapleton gent Richard Woster —
— —
gent Walter Blounte gent Richard Shelley gent
Peter —
Carewe gent Edward Shelley gt George —
—
Beawsley gt and writt Beasley Jane Anne Crips of
—
Lambeth Edward Bentley gt John Harvey of —
—
Fenham gt ^Erasmus Saunders of Ewell gt ^Edward —
Gage Esqre—Sir Wm Catesby Uving at Lambeth.
Wm. Waade.
Vol. v., No. 38^. Loseley. (note : gt=gent.).
Heiuy Shelley Southwark get ^Ed. More gt
of —
Ths. Beckett there gt —
Rob. Jesop there gt Ed. —
—
Sexton gt Wm. Tocker g. —
^Theobald Green g. John —
— — —
Green g. John Jacob g. Rich. Webster g. John —
—
Beaconshaw g. ^Wm. PhiUipps g. Rich. Waldren g.
— —
Wm. Stapleton gt Ric. Woster g. Walter Blont g.
—
Ric. Shelley g. —
Peter Carewe g. Ed. Shelley g.
— —
George Beasley g. Thos. More gt Fra. Browne esq.
Dame Arme Cripps of Lambeth and Ed. Bentley of
—
Hungrey Bentley [Derby] gt Jo. Harvey of Fenham
[Northld] —
Erasmus Saimders of Ewell g.—Ed. Gage
—
esq Sir Wm. Catesby, living at Lambeth.
 —
APPENDIX 401

If any of the persons above named be known to you to be bedbme

conformable in religion by repairing to divine service agreable
with the laws of the Realm then is it not meant that they should
be disarmed. W. Waade.
These papers are endorsed " To our very loving friends
Sir Wm. More, Sir Fr. Carewe,
Sir Ths. Browne, knt, Wm. Howard,
Thomas Lysfield, Ge. More,
Thos. Vincent, Rich. Bostock,
Rob. Livesey, Ed. Bellingham Esqres.
27th Ap. 1585."

Vol. v., No. 68. Loseley.

2 indictments Francis Brown esquire and Joan his wife of

for 4 months St. Saviour's
Jane Saunder wife of Erasmus Saunder of EweU
Ann Whitney of Micham.
2 indictments John Brown esquire and Ann his wife of St.
4 months Saviour's
The Lady Mary Vawse of the same.
George Bruster gent of the same.
Margaret Korkins of the same
Mary Courtney of the same
Ann Steward of the same
Elizabeth Turner of the same
Mary Parkins of the same
I indictment Charles of Arundel of Sutton esquire.
6 months Johane Yorke of Richmond.
The above Ust is undated — ^written in Sr. W. More's handwriting.

Loosley Vol. 5, No. 28.

In Sir W. More's List of Prisoners :

handwriting.
dead John Wybom of —
Lambeth dead.
Charles Walgrove of Lambeth gent now
in Kent.
Robert Becket, gent.
Harry Shelley of Southwark, gent, dead.
Edward More gent delivered out of the Marshalsea by order
from the Counsell one year past and where be is not
known.
Thomas Becket esq. none such in Surrey.
?7
402 APPENDIX
dead Robert Jessop, gent dead in the White Lion in summer last.
Wm. Tucker late of the Marshalsea, gent was delivered from
the Marsh, about 2 years past by my L. of Canterbury's
order and
dead Theobald Green gent dead in the Marshalsea in August
was twelvemonth
John Grey gent delivered out of the Marshalsea about
August last by Mr. Secretary and remains in St. Mary
Overies.
John Jacob gent delivered out of the Marsh, the XVII of
May was twelvemonth and sent to Bridewell by order of
the Council.
John Beakonsall gent at liberty for a time by Mr. Secrety.
dead WiUm PhiUips dead in the Marsh. 2 years past.
WUlm Stapleton gent delivered out of the Clink about a
year past by warrant from the Counsell.
Richard Worter, gent not known by any of the keep,
dead Richard Shelley gent dead, being in prison within the Marsh.
for about a month past.
Peter Carew gent delivered out of the Marsh, by ordr taken
by Mr. Yoimg of London the third of January last.
Edward Shelley gent delivered out of the Clynk about a
year and a half past by order from the coims. and now
remaineth in the Cotmter in Woodstreet.
dead George Beawstley not known but one George Brewster was
delivered and is dead,
dead Dame Anne Lambeth dead.
Crips of
Edward Bentley gent.
John Hardy of Fenham* gent deUvered by order from the
C. to Bridewellwith John Jacob.
Erasmus Saunders of EweU gent not within the shire.
Edward Gage esq. delivered out of the Marshalsea about
two years past by order of the C. and is commoiUy to be
found at Southampton house in London.

Vol. 5, No. 29. Loseley.

9 Mar. 1585. A note of the several hvings of such Recusants now

Surrey. remaining in the County of Surrey as are of hability
and of such sumes of money as they offer to pay yearly
into her Maj. receipt to her Highness's use set down
under their hands the IXth of March 1585.
• In Northumberland.
 APPENDIX 403

Robte Beckett of Menhenist in the C. of Cornwall,

gent, declareth his living to be but XL£
yearly. Whereof he is contented to pay
into her Maj. receipt yearly. Ten pounds.
Thomas More Lowleighton* in the C. of
of
Essex gent decl. his whole revenue above all
charges to be but XX£ yearly whereof, etc five pounds
John Lavnder of Nawbomef in the C. of
York gent, decl. that he hath consumed all
that he hath saving only XLs. yearly of an
annuity of the which he offereth to yield
XXs. yearly. Twenty shillings
John Bradstock of QueenhUl in the C. of Wore,
gent saith he has but XVIII£ yearly to Uve
on of the which he will give yearly her Ma.
but XXs. 20 sh.
John Southcott of MesthamJ in the C. of Surrey,
esq. declareth that he hath 'l6o£ only yearly
to Uve on whereof he is contented to pay into
her Maj's receipt yearly 4o£
Sir Wm Catesby of Lambeth in the C. of Surrey
knight, decl. that he hath in hving yearly
5oo£ whereof he is contented to pay yearly
into her ma. rec. ioo£
Edward Banister Petney in the C. of Surrey,
of
esq. declareth that he hath in hving yearly
20o£ of the wch he is con. to p. year, into
h.m.r. 3o£
Francis Browne Henley Park in the C. of
of
S. esq dec that h. hath in hv. year. 91^
whereof he is con. to p. into yy into h.m.r. 20£

Vol. 5, No. 29. Loseley.

A note of such Rec. now remaining in the several gaols of the
White Lion, the Marsh the Bench and the Clink in the C. of Surrey
as by their own declaration have neither hving nor goods.

Walter Blunt of Kingston in the C. of Stafford gent declarath that

he never had above five pounds yearly which is ceized into her
Maj. hands in respect of his recusancy. And so saith he hath
nothing to answer to her Maj.
* Lowleyton ? as Lowleighton is in Derbyshire,
t Nawton.
X Mersthara.
404 APPENDIX
Willm Smith of Banger in the C. of Carmarthen, gent, decl. that
he hath nothing to maintain himself but by the relief of his
friends. And so hath nothing to Maj. . . .

Richard Sampson of Binfield in the C. of Berk, gent, dec. that he

hath nothing to maintain himself and so can 5aeld to her Maj.
nothing.
Edmond Sexton of the City of Westm. gent decl. that he had but
only 20 marks yearly by lease which was ceized and sold to her
Maj's use because of his Recsy. And so hath noth. to yield unto
her Maj.
Richard Webster of Giggleswick in Craven in the C. of York, gent
decl, that he hath nothing to maintain himself. And so can
yield n. to . . .

Robert Holland of Clifton in the C. of Lane, gent saith he hath but

XXIIIs VIII p. yearly And so can yield nothing to her M.
Peter Lawson of Ripon in the C. of York, yoman saith he hath
nothing to yield unto her M. for he hath nothing to Uve on.
John Williamson of Ditton in the C. of Lane, son of Mr. Williamson
saith he hath noth. to live on. And so not able to . . .

John Tucker of Newbery in the C. of Berk, printer saith he hath

nothing to hve on. And so . . .

Wm Green of Tonstons in the C. of Staff, schoolmaster saith he

hath nothing . . .

Wm. Cromblehome of Stidd parish in the C. of Lane, yoman do.

Ralph Oldakres of Roston in the C. of Darby, win, do.
Richard Oldakers of Roston do. tailor, etc.
Walter Trevethen of Maiden in the C, of Cornwall gent, do.
Richard Dowse of Ytsfield, in the C. of South, yoman, do.
Stephen Cheston of Winchester yom. but five marks yearly to live
on which if he might have his Uberty he would be content to
give unto her Majesty.
John White of Hmrsley in the C. of South, yom. saith he hath nothing
to live on, etc.
John Grey of Preston in the C. of Suff. gent saith he hath nothing
to live on And so not able to yield anything unto her Majesty.
:

Vol. 5, iVo. 29. Loseley.

A note of the names of such Ree. contained in the Schedule

inclosed in their honourable Lo. Ires as are either dead or not now
remaining in this County.

John Wybome of Lambeth gent dead.

Henry SheUey of Southwark gent dead.
 APPENDIX 405

Robt Jessope gent, dead.

Theobald Green gent, dead.
William Phillips gent, dead.
Richard Shelley do gent, dead.
George Bewsley gent not known, but one George Brewsey delivered
out of the gaol and now dead.
Dame Aime Cripps of Lambeth, dead.
Ed. More gent, dehvd. out of the M's. by order from the Coun. one
—
year past and where he is not known.
Wm. Tucker, gent was deld. out of the Mia about two years past
by th^ Lo. Archbishop of Cant's order and remaineth now at
Islington.
John Jacobbe gent deld. out of the Ma the XVIIth of May 1584 by
order from the Coun. and sent to Bridewell.
John Beaconshawe, gent at hberty for a time out of the County by
Mr. Secretary.
Mr. Stapleton gent deld. out of the CUnk about a year past by
warrant from the Couns.
Ed. SheUey gent delivered out of the CUnk about a year and a
half past by order from the Counsell and now remaineth in the
Counter in Woodstreett.
John Harvey of Fenhm gent delivered by order from the tr
Bridewell with the said John Jacobbe.
Ed. Gage esq. deld. out of the Marsh, about two years past and
lieth commonly at Southampton house in London he was deld.
by order from the CounseU.
Peter Carewe gent deld. out of the Mars, by Mr. Yoimg the 3rd of
Jan. last by order from the Coun. as he said.
Charles Walgrave gent not in this County but remaineth in Kent.
Thomas Becket esq. not known to be in this County.
Richard Worster gent., not known, who seemed to be mistaken for
one Richard Worsley who is not remaining within this County,
nor known where he is.
Edward Bentley gent gone out of this County but whither not
known.
Erasmus Saunders of Ewell gent not remaining in this County nor
certainly known where he is.

Vol. 5, No. 29. Loseley.

A true certificate deUvered unto the Queen's Maj's Justices of

the peace for the Co. of Surrey of all such prisoners as be committed
to lie custody of Anthony Thorpe keeper of the White Lion in
Southwark for religionand there remaining the 23rd of July 1582.
 .

4o6 APPENDIX
Indicted
Erasmus Wolsley of WoMey Hall in the C. of Stafford, gentleman
indicted.
Thomas Crawley of Manewden in the C. of Essex, gentleman,
indicted.
Peter Tychbome of Porchester in the C. of Southampton, gait. ind.
John Beckonsawe of Burghdere in the Co. of Southampton, gent.
ind.
WiUm. Smythe of London in the parish of St. Sepulchre, gent. ind.
Robert Jessop of London servingman, indctd.
Richard Waldam of London in the psh. of St. Mag. Salter, ind.
Gr^ory OwmkeQ of Tamworth in the C. of Stafford, student, ind.
Richard Sampson of Beufield in the C. of Berk yoman, ind.
Not Indicted.
Wilhn Scott
Henry Shelley of Maple Derham in the C. of Southampton, gent.
RobCTt Watson of the psh. of Bexley in the C. of Kent.
Francis Gardenir servingman unto my Lord Bagett.
Vol. 5, No. 29. Losdey.
Prisoners in the Gink for Religion the XXIII day of July 1582.
Ittdided.
Edward Shelley of Wanninghurste in the Co. of Sussex, gent.
Christopher Archare of the psh. of St. Michaels iu Comwale
London, gent.
Willm Stapletone of the psh of Bradley in the C. of Stafford,
gent.
John Bradstock of Queen lull in the psh. of Rippule in the C.
of Worcester yoman.
Jane Goldwyer late of Whateley ia the C. of Oxford, widdow
List of Recusants —^Fragment.
Saiut George's in John Gray, gent.
Southwark. Joane Degringe and
Elizabeth Farmar his servants.
Newington Samuel Lone
Elizabeth his wife
Walter his man
Elizabeth his maid
Thomas James
John Symondes
John Lucye
Christopher Greenwood
George Kydd
 APPENDIX 407

Mitcham Anne Whitnes

Raffe Cockrell
Cheam Elizabeth Fromond
Marten Dorothy Lovell.

Vol. 5, No. 50. Loseley.

Chertsey WiUiam Thetcher. Henry Brooke, Daniel Hodnet,
John Fenne
Egham James Wickes, WiUni BuUen, Thos Saunders, Wm.
Barthleniewe
Thorpe Walter Goring, Anthoine Alien, Henry Penn, John
Spencer,
No date.
1085. XV. Loseley.
The Certificate of the Commissionrs
touching Jesuits Seminarists fugitives
and recusants for the Countie of Surrey
according to their proceedings in their
severall divisions hereafter particular-
ly expressed.

The Certificate of Sir William More Knight, George More,

Lawrence Stoughton, John Agmondesham and Fratmces Amigur
esqs. for the hundreds of Woking, Godley, Fameham, Godalming,
Blak Heath and Wotton.
First having called before us the ministers and certain other
persons of honest behavior and well affected in rehgion of evere
the parish wthin the said hxmdred, we gave them a straight charge
to make dihgent inquire wthin their sevrall hmits for Jesuits
Seminarists and other fugitives and to observe all such as obstin-
ately refuse to resort to the Church, and to make a true presentment
thereof at certain dayes and places appointed, and further to inform
as from tyme to tyme as cause should require.
Where uppon at the said dayes appointed we receaved particular
certificats of everishe parishe within all the said himdreds that by
their inquiries they cold fynd neither Jesuits Seminaries nor other
fugitives, within any of their said parishes.
As touching recusants Robert Arceter of Eggham and John
Stedolpher of Chertesay gents wthin the hundred of Godley, James
Hobson of Woking and Richard Lumleighe of Shalford gent within
the hundred of Blackheath were presented and brought before
us, who
presented their coneformity to her matie laws in resorting
to the churche and have said performed the Scime as we have bin
credibhe informed.
4o8 APPENDIX
Elizabeth Richebell of Westhorsley in the hundred of Woking
being in like sort presented unto us, shewed her selfe at the first
to be obstinate, but at the last uppon persuasion she came to the
churche as we were certified by the minister of the parishe.
One Redall aUas Ridall and his wife late of the parishe of St.
Nicholas in Guildford, and departed thence to the parishe of Send
in the hundred of Woking were presented unto us for recusants,
but being fined as yet have not been brought before us.
Roger Burroughes Thomas Thorpe and George Mabanck of the
parishe of Ashe within the hundred of Woking being presented and
brought before us for recusants did obstinately refuse to come to
the church, whereuppon wee examined them upon their questions
appointed by the Instructions to be aunswered by othe, wch
questions they willingly aunswered but uppon their othe protesting
their loyalty to her matie.
Rose Foster of the said parishe of Ashe being in Uke sort pre-
sented and brought before us, refused to com to the churche at
psent but promised wthin a short tyme to conforme herself.
The lady Katherin Cornwallis and Agnes Britaine her woman
of Esthorsley wthin the hundred of Woking were presented unto
us for recusants, but being not then nor since wthin the shere, we
cold not call them before us.
Era. Browne of Ashe in the hundred of Woking big. certified for
a recusant was not as yet convented before us for that he was not
wthin the Countie.
MabeU Sands was certified by the Clarke of the peace to be
indyted for recusancie A° XXIIIF Rne Elliz. dwellinge then at
Esthorsley but nowe depted thence, she standeth wayved uppon
the said inditemt.
Rice Flood of Woking in the said hundred and Rob. Albury of
Thursley in the hundred of Godalminge were indyted for recusancie
XXVI° Rne EUiz. where they are nowe remayning wee knowe not.
Agnes Cobhott of Guildford in the hundred of Wokinge was
indyted for a recusant A° XXVII° Ellizabeth where she now
remayneth we knowe not.
Wm. Shurlock of Dunsfould in the hundred of Blackheath was
indyted for a recusant XXVIIF Rne Elliz. where he now remayneth
wee know not.
;.'|Richard Markerell of Godalminge was indyted for a Recusant
XXVIIF Rne EUiz. where he now remayneth we knowe not.
Mary Stidolphe nowe inhabitinge at Chertsey in the hxmdred of
Godley was prsented to the ofi&ciall for a Recusant A° 1590 whome
as yet we have not called before us.
 :

APPENDIX 409

Certificates for the year 159 1.

Anno Regnei tricessimo quartuor et septem die machii.
Frimley We psente unto yor worshipps that there is no Jesuits,
Seamenaryes, fugitives, nor Recusants, but all is well in our
tithing.
By me
Richard Lloyd Clearke.
Anthony Cow.
Dorkinge Within our parishe we have not yet founde any
Jesuit Seminarie priest popish fugitive or recusant.
Your worship's at commandement
Stephen Richman
Edward Sackville
John wade
William Heather
Alfold Wee whose names bee underwritten do certify by these
pnte that to or knowledge, there be no Jesuites, Seminaries,
fugitives, Recusants, neither receyvers of any such suspected
parsons in or parish, as is contened in her Maties comission. In
witnes whereof hereunto wee have sett or hands the Vllth daye of
Marche armo dni (computaceon anghcana) 1591
per me Guilielmo Fawden
Rectorem eccliae ibidem
Rychaed Dydolffold
Others in the same tenor are written from Peperharrowe, Shere,
Haselmer, Westclandon, Wonersh, Wotton, Puttnaham, Scale,
Dunsfold, Thursiey. Guldeford however report as follows on VII°
die Meii 1591
" We
whose names are undersubscribed do psent that WiUm
Ridall als Riderand his wife sometymes abidinge in the quenes
maties manner house wthin her highnes' psh of Guldeford and
sometymes at Send in the same Countie of Surrie are Recusants
and have so cont3mued two years and more."
Reports from Compton, East-Clandon, Horsell have no news
of Catholics.
The inquisitors of Frensham think well to show their diligence
by sajTing that whereas they are nuable to find any Jesuits,
Seminary priests, recusants or their favorers there is nevertheless
one Mr. Garnet " a bl3md man who by means of his impotency and
age frequentithe not our church."
 —

4IO APPENDIX
Bisley, 1592, Stoke no recusants etc.
Easthorsley say " we psent the Lady Katherjme and Sir Bryton
whom as yet cometh not to the Churche."
Thursley, Ockley, Abinger, Albury, Ockham, Ash, Stoke ^no —
recusants.
West-Horsleley " did psent one Elizabeth Richebell the daughter
of JefEery Richebell as a recusant for ye contrary to lawe and order
she absented her selfe from church. She is now departed or sayde
prishe but whether we knowe not, other Jesuite Seminary fugityves
or dangerous psons to the state we know none."
Cranleigh, West Clandon, Chidiogfold, Durford, Hambledon, none.
Compton again distinguishes itself in the year 1592 by reminding
the magistrates that " Mr. Garnet, a blynde man resorteth not to
our church by meanes of his Impotency and age."
Egham (in Surrey), Peperharow, East-Clandon (thanks God
that all in our parish are conformable to hir majesty's laws), Putten-
ham, Merstham, Windlesham, Bagshot, Albry, Wanborough,
Dunsfold, Abinger, Shere, know of no Recusants.
Ashe present " George Mabanke of Henlye parke and whereas
in our other bills we did prsent Roger Brorro and Thomas Thorpe
:

of Henly parke as recusants, they have of late conformed them

selves and doe repayre daylye too our parish churche."
Worplesdon, none.
East-Horsley " we psent ye Lady Katerine and (?) Bryton hyr
wayting gentilwomen for not coming to Ch.
Haselmere, Scale, Byfleet, Witley, Ockham have nothing to
repwrt.

Earl of Southampton.
Copy of Order from the Queen's Privy CoimcU to Mr. Becher,
Sheriff of London to detain the Earl of South, in his house.

"To be lodged in somme convenient place withe in ye house

where he male remayne without having conference with any and
to have only one man of his owne such as he shall make choice
of to attend upon him, until you shall understand hir Majesty
farther pleaseth. June i6th, 1570."

An original document signed by the Lords of the Council, dated

15th of July, 1570, in which they say :

" After our very harty commendations the Queen's Majesty is

pleased upon occasion of the sickness growing nearer to your
house and for other considerations that the Earl of Southampton
shall remove from your oistody and dehvered into the charge
 APPENDIX 411

of Mr. More of Guildford, for which purpose we have written to

him to signify hir Highness' pleasure therein. And to inform him
of the order which you were appointed to keep with him for the
keeping, company and usage of the said Eari which order we have
required him to observe. And so we wish you heartily well to
fare from Oteland the 15th of July 1570."
" Your very loving friends
(Signed) R. Leycestee
E. Clynton
William Howard
F. Knollys
James Croft
M. Cecdll
"To our v. lov. fr. Mr. B. alderman and sh. of
the dt of Lon."

On i6th of July Mr. Becher desires More to come for the Earl
of Southampton the next day.
Sir William More is much put out at having to keep guard over
the Earl of Southampton. He makes great efforts to escape the
—
unpleasant task ^but to no purpose. L. W. Howard intercedes on
his behalf and in a letter to Sir W. More, dated 9th Aug., 1570, he
tells >iiTn how much he has tried to persuade the Counsell not to
impose this on his friend. The reasons he appears to have urged
are the great difficulty that More must experience in exercising his
duties as Commissioner since he would be unable to get about the
Country as he ought to. Moreover there were plenty of other
places where the Earl could be lodged in safe keeping. The vigilance
to which the Earl was subjected diSered in no sense from that
exercised in every prison. A rigorous censorship was exercised
over all his correspondence and no one was allowed to have inter-
course with him.
The further correspondences are on pages 97, etc.

Vol. IV., No. I. Losdey.

A Copy of the Council's letters touching the Earl of Southampton,
i6th June, 1570.
" After or hearty corns. The Queen's Maj. having just cause
given her to conceive some d^pleasure towards the Earl of
Southampton hath thought good to commit him to your charge
and custody until it- shall like her otherwise to determine, for
which purpose the bearers hereof have charge to bring him imto
412 APPENDIX
you, at whose hands we require you to receive him and to cause
him to be lodged in some convenient place within your house
where he may remain without having conference with any and
to have only one man of his own such as he shall make choice of
to attend upon him, until you shall understand her Maj.' farther
pleasure. And where you have had now a good time one Cantrell
in your charge hir highness is pleased for your better ease that
taking suf&cient bonds for the said Cantrell for his forthcoming
at aU times when he shall be called for to answer unto such matter
before us as shall be objected against him, you do thereupon
set him at liberty and sufferhim to depart and so fare you well."
" From Hampton Court the i6 of June anno 1570.
Your loving friends
W. Howard
F. Knollys
Will Cecill."

These words were added more than the letter did continue by
Mr. Read, the Queen's Maj.'s servant, who came with the Earl
to me.
" Item my said lord should write no letter neither to the
honourable counsel neither to any other except I saw the con-
tents of them to be without suspicion as concerns his L. stay.
" Item also that any letter that should come to my said Lord
from any person that I should read and the same to be so in like
case as aforesaid.
" Item farther that when strangers, were out of my house or
out of sight that I might permit my said lord to walk in my
garden myself being with him either my servant that I might
trust in that case as if I myself were present.
" To our Loving friend
Mr. Becher Sherif of the City of London."

Bundle 1380. Recusancy. Loseley.

2 copies, one very much destroyed, other in good condition.

Articles annexed to the Commission for a further instruction to

the Conmiissioners how to proceed in execution thereof.
" First, you to whom the Commission shall be brought, shall
without dday notify to the rest of the Commissioners that shall
be in the County, or that may shortly repair thither, the receipt
 APPENDIX 413

of the said Commission, with some signification of the contents

thereof. And them to meet at some convenient
shall require
time and place to consider the contents thereof, and thereupon
to accord upon sundry days and places in every quarter of the
shire ordinarily to meet about the same, so as now at the
beginning, the oftener that they shall meet, the same shall be
the better ; and after your first meeting, you may according to
the quantity of the shire, make some partitions amongst your-
selves, toexecute the commission with more ease And yet you
:

shall once every forty days for this present year, assemble
alltogether to confer upon your several proceedings, so as you
may once every quarter give knowledge to her Majesty's Counsel
of your actions."
" Item you shall send to the Bishop or Ordinaries of the
Diocese and to his Chancellor and Official and to the Archdeacon
in the same to certify you of all persons, with their dwelling
places, whom they shall know to have been presented to them as
Recusants and that do so continue in their recusancey. And the
hke Certificate you shall require from the Custos Rotulorum, or
the Clerk of the Peace and from the Clerk of the Assise of the
County, to know such as have been presented and endited as
weU women as men, and what process hath been set forth
against them likewise you shall by any means inform your-
;

selves of all such as %vithin the County are commonly noted to

be receivers and comforters of persons that are suspected to have
come from beyond seas, as Seminaries, Priests, Jesuits, or Fugi-
tives, and after that you shall be duly informed by these or any
other means of such persons to be suspected, as principal
offenders or accessories, you shall retain to your selfe secretly
the names of the same, without any application thereof, until
you shall afterwards find probable and good cause to warn any
of them to come before you, or otherwise to apprehend, and
examine them according to the contents of your Commission.

iy'i Nov. (1591) in the 24th of Our reign.

" Item in your examinations of any persons by vertue of this
Commission you shall not press any persons to answer to any
questions of their conscience for matters of ReUgion, otherwise
than to cause them answer, whether they do usually come to
the Church, and why they do not and if you shall perceive that
;

they are wilful Recusants, then you'^shall examine them upon

any matters concerning their allegiance to her Majesty, and of
their devotion to the Pope, or to the King of Spain, or upon their
414 APPENDIX
maintenance of any Jesuit, seminaiie priest or other person sent
from Rome or from any parts beyond the seas, to dissnade any
subjects, from their obedience toe the Queen's Majesty.
" And to give you some particular instruction on what sort
you may conceive convenient questions, whereupon to examine
persons that are to be suspected to adhere to the Pope, or to
the King of Spain, contrary to their duty of all^iance, you may
observe the form of these questions hereafter following.
" The question ensuing to be answered by oath by such as
shall be verily suspected to have been moved to give assistance
Pope or King of Spain, when they shall happen
to the forces of the
to invade this Realm, whereby such wicked seducers may be
discovered.
" Whether have you been moved, by any, and by whom,
and when, and by what persuasion, to give aid or rehef, or to
adhere to the forces of the Pope or King of Spain, when they
should happen to invade this Realm, for any cause whatsoever ?
" The questions following to be ministered without oath to
discover such as shall be suspected to be Priests, Seminaries, or
Fugitives, dangerous to the State.
" WTiether have you been at Rome, Rheimes, or in Spayne
at any time within these five years, when returned you last into
this Realm, and to what purpose, and where have you been ever
since your coining from thence ?
" Be you a Jesuit or Priest made after the Romish order,
where and when were you so made priest, and by whome ?
" Have you been at the Sems. or Colls, for the English. Welsh
or Irish nation, at Rome, Reimes, in Spain, or elsewhere, how
long were you in any of them, and when were you last sent
from any of them into England or Wales, and to what end ?
" Item where by her Majestie's late Proclamation, whereof
you shall take knowledge, it is ordered that all manner of psons
of what degree soever they be without any exception. Spiritual
or Temporal, and so forth shall make particular inquisition of
aU manner of persons that have been admitted or suffered to
have resort, diet, lodging, etc., within the space of one year past,
etc., if you shalbe informed of any such person to have beene so
lodged or comforted, etc.. as in the Proclanm. is at large expressed:
in such case you shall require the partie that is appointed to make
such inquisition, to deUver the same inquisn. to you in writing,
and thereupon you shall doe your best to crie out if there have
bene any suspected so lodged or comforted by the said partie
appointed to make the inquisns., and him you shall demand to
 APPENDIX 415

be delivered to you, to bee committed and further used according

to his desert.
" Item because the Commission is sent into all other Shires
of the Realm, and annexed thereto as these
like instructions
are, and that you may percase (per casum) be informed of some
persons meete to be apprehended or examined, which are gone
out of that Sire into some other partes, or doe remaine in places
out of the Jurisdiction of your Commission In such cases
:

we require you to send secretly knowledge thereof to the Commers

of the Countries where you shall think such suspected persons
doe remaine, requiring them in her Majesties name to use aU
diligence for the apprehension of such and by such information
as you shall give them to examine the parties and to proceed
against them according to their Commission.
" Item you shall doe well to make choyce of some persons of
honest behaviour and loyall in religion in every quarter of the
Shire, and especially in every Post towne. Market towne, or
great large parish, and where the Parsons or Vicars are faithfuU
and carefuU over their Cures to joyne together, with charge to
observe all such as refuse obstinately to resort to the Church,
and such persons you shall call before you, and without dealing
with them for their recusancie (for which they are to be otherwise
by law punished) you shall (as you shall in your discretion
thinke meete respecting the quahties of their persons) require
them to answere to the two former questions, or to eyther of
them, for that by their recussmcie they doe give cause of suspicion
to be disloyall in their dueties to the Queenes Majesties, and the
"
state, or to favour the common enemies.

These articles are printed on paper and attached to the Com-

mission itself.

THE COMMISSION.
" Elizabeth by the grace of God, Queue of England, France
and Ireland, defender of the faith. To the Reverend Father in
God, Thomas Bishopp of Wynchester, And to our right trusty
and right welbeloved Counsailor Charles Lord Howard high
Admirel of England, to our trusty and welbeloved John Lord
Lumley, Thomas Lord Burghe, and Hkewise to our trusty and
welbeloved Will. Howard Esquire, Sir WUham Moore knight.
Sir Frauncis Carewe knight. Sir Thomas Browne, knight Marten
Heton, Dean of Winchester, MichaeU Re3miger, Archdeacon of
Winchester, WiUiam Saye, Chancellor to the said Bishop Thomas
Vincent, Thomas Lyfeild, Richard Bostock, George Moore,
4i6 APPENDIX
Lawrence Stoughton, John Agmondesham, Robertt Levesey and
John Peirker, Esquires greting. Whereas of late we have by
proclamacion pubUshed our determination to appointe certaine
Commissioners in every Shire, Cittie, and poste townes, to enquire
diUgently of the secret repair onto our Realme of a nomber of
Seminaries, priests and Jesuits, of malicious purposes to seduce
divers of our people from their duty to God and to us, and to
renounce their allegiance and to adhere to the King of Spaine
and the pope whensoever they should offer to attempt any invasion
against our Realms We mineding the execucon of suche our
determination and of sonderye other poyntes mete to be executed
(as more att large contayned in our said declaracion) and repose-
inge great truste in your approved fidelitie Wisedom and good
zeale you bear to the quietued of our realme, and to extype the
daungerous practises of suche papisticall traitors, have theirfore
made speciall choise of you to be our Counsellors giveinge to
you or any three or more of you fuU power, and aucthoritie by
aU good means as well accordinge to the articles hereunto
annexed as otherwise to inquire try search and examine within
the County of Surrey and all partes thereof as well within liberties
as without, what psons have come from beyond the seas into this
our Realm, since the feast of St. Michaell tharchaungell in the
two and thirtieth yere of our reigne, or of any other parsons
that doe reside in any part of that Countie or elsewhere that
probably by their behaviour, and manner of hfe or otherwise
maye be suspected to have come from beyond the seas in the
quahtie and vocation of Seminaries preistes Jesuits or fugitives
thoughe disguised to hide their qualities and vocation or that
are instruments sent by the Pope or by any of the English Semi-
naries or Colleges to labour to corrupt our people in matter of
religion contrary to our lawes established for that purpose or
to or stirr them to adhere to the Pope, the King of Spayne,
move
or any their confederates or dependants enemies to our states
and such psons so justlye to be suspected to apprehende and
examine straightly of their conversion for some reasonable tyme
paste and if you shall finde any of them justlye so upon their
examinacons or by lawful accusacons, and proves of others, to
be culpable or duly to be suspected of such disloyalties as above
is menconed, you shall committ them to prison, and accordinge

to the order of our lawes you shall cause them to be pceeded on

by waie of indiement and arraigimients for the same their
treasinable actions to the due punishment of them accordinge to
their deserts without contending with them for their conscience
 APPENDIX 417

in matter of religion otherwise than to cause them to be treated

withall charitably and informed for their conversion by discreet
psons of good reputation and well learned in divinitie. And in
manner you or any three or more of you shall cause inquisicon,
like
and examinacon to be made as aforesaid of aU manner of psons
that have heretofore given or shall hereafter give assistance
succor or relief, in diet, lodging, pencon, rewcirde, or in any
other sorte to any of the foresaid malefactors And whereby
our lawes the same parsons maye be charged with such unlawfull
maynetenaunce or favour, after that they shall have knowledge
of the pverse and traitorous quahties of suche malefactors. You
or any three or more of you shall also cause them, and every of
them to be pceeded withall accordinge to our lawes as bettors
aiders and mainteynors of the foresaid principaU offenders And
for the more speedy execution of justice against all such male-
factors accordinge to the quahties of their offences wee doe
straightly charge and comaund all our Justices of our Benches
aU other Justices of the laws our Sergeant, our Attorney, and
Solicitor generall, and all other learned in the lawes of our
realme, and all other Jiistices of peace and Officers of justice
whose advice you shall have cause to require to be aidinge and
assistinge to you, bothe for the Inquisicon, examinacon and
orderlye prosecution by lawe against such suspected parsons
bothe accessaries and prindpall so as there be noe delaye nor
necUgence used but that suche daungerous psons whoe labor by
cuiminge and color of rehgion noethinge more than sedicon and
treason and the ruyne of aU good subjects male be speedilye
suppressed
" As witness whereof we have caused these our of
Commission to be sealed with our great seale Witnes our self
att Weston the thre and twentith daye of November, in the
foure and thyteth yere of our raigne
:powle.
" Commissionaries virtute warranti Regii."

Vol. 5, No. 13. Loseley.

Draft of letter from Sir Wm. More to Lords of the Council.

Members of Commission not suspect of disaffection in Religion some

not resident in the shire and therefore of little use, other names might
he added with profit.

4 Jan. 1591.
" With remembrance of our duty unto your honourable
Lordships, Whereas you have by your letters signified your good
 .

4i8 APPENDIX
pleasures unto us to be advertised whether there be any in the
Commission concerning Jesuits lately to us amongst others
directed which are known unto us or may be justly suspected
to be unsound in religion or which have their wives, children, or
any of their families known recusants or do harbour in their
houses any person known or suspected to be backward in
reUgion, it may please your Lordships to understand that Sir
Thomas Brown Knight, Thomas Thomas Vincent, George
Lifeld,
More, Ks, Nicholal Richard Bostock, Lawrence
Saunders,
Houghton, John Agmondesham, Robert Levesy and John
Parkers, being those which are joined with us in the said
commission and have served already in the execution thereof
are well known unto us to be men sound and weU afiected in
Religion to the end and devoted in aU duty to the of her
majesty. And where also yovu: Lordships would be informed
whether the number of the Commissioners already appointed
be not sufficient or not so placed their habitations as they
may derive the service by due numbers in other quarters of the
County as by the Commission and Instructions is prescribed or
whether there be not others resident in that County fit to be
imployed omitted in the said Conunission and for their dwelling
meet to be added and used in this service it may Uke your
Lordships to be advertised that Doctor Heton, Dean of Win-
chester, Doctor Renegem Archdeacon there and Mr. Saye
Chancellor to the L. Bishop of Winchester are not resident
within the shire and by means thereof not serving with us we
think it fit for the furthersmce of this her majesty's service to
name unto your L. to be placed in the said Conunission, knowing
them to be both for soundness in reUgion and the places of their
habitation very meet to be turned with us and employed in the
said service. Further we had thought it our duty to signify
unto Yom: L. that my L. Grace of Canterbury and Mr. Wolley
dwelling within this Coimty are omitted in the said Commission
who being placed therein would give much countenance and
furtherance to the said service."

The above document is unsigned, in Sir WilUam More's hand-

writing.

Vol. IX., No. 52. Loseley.

" Right Worshipful, Our duties remembered imto you. It

may please you to understand that we have received your letter
dated the 28th of January concerning our Vicar's house and the
 APPENDIX 419

grief of Mr. Baptist concerning our Vicar's entry into his own
(as we nothing doubt the proof thereof) although the proof
resteth in Mr. Baptists.
" And Whereas yotir worship hath moved Mr. Baptist for our
quietness to keep the matter out of Law ; and that it should be
judged by four learned men two for him and other two for Mr.
;

Vicar's right. We like very well of it and give you most humble
thanks for your careful care of our Vicar and as your poor
neighbomrs.
" Whereas you will us to bring such proof as we can of our
Vicar's right, our proof resteth in old men and
of the parish
Town, which men for the most part of them are not able to travel
on horse, considering their years and the time of the year. There
is none of them that speaketh of their knowledge under three

score years for six or seven of them. We have no way to bring

some of them but by wagon the which provision we have not
;

neither can come by so soon as you have willed us to be there ;

for we know not where to get any wagon or other provision to

bring them so soon.
" Wherefore if it may please you to move Mr. Baptist for a
longer time that we may conveniently get some carriages as we
may bring them, we wUl do it with willing minds. Or else if it
may be to sue out commission to examine our witnesses here
in the Coimtry either to join with Mr. Baptist or sue it of our-
selves which way it shall please him, we are content. For there
are many of our witnesses weak men of body by reason of years.
Notwithstanding if you Uke not of this motion, upon the return
of our messenger, we wiU make the best shift we can, and bring
up some of them, then shall we have them behind that can speak
farthest into the matter (which we doubt will hinder us). If it
please your worship to like of this course, if Mr. Baptist do
not let him prosecute the law and he shall be answered for,
we doubt not but the right will be found in our Vicar whether
it be tried by law or otherwise.
" From Godalming, this last day of January 1578, Your
Worship's to command.
" John Beodfold, now warden with the rest of
his assistants by the consent
of the whole parish.
" To the Right Worshipful
Sir WiUm More Knight
at the Blackfriars give this."
 ;

420 APPENDIX
Vol. 149—61. Rec. 0^. Dom. Eliz.
" Exemplar cuuisdam Epistolae, qoam Sacerdos quidam
Angliis in arce Londinensem sanctae Catholicae Religionis causa
iam detentus ad fratres CathoUcos in aliis Carceribus propter
eandeim religionem Catholicam detentos nuper misit ; cui etiam
sabiangitnr brevis quidam dedaratio, de dura immanitate ac
plane barbara cmdelitate, qnam in aliis carceribus, longe a
dvitate sejunctis alii Reverendissimi Patres sunt simili ratione
perpessL
" Dominum Shyruium (Sherwin) Sacerdotem novis tormentis
se sabjectnros deinde ipsmn cum sodis e medio sublatuios naper
minatisnnt. Verum ille paiatmn p)otius mortem ob fidem Catho-
Ucam obire, qoam vitam diutumiorem ducere expetens, einsmodi
minis nihil prorsus deterrebat. Quid de nobis fiet, bievi ut
speio intelligeinus. Piaestaret quidem multo nobis debitmn
naturae semel solvere, quam qaotidie moriendo langnescere
nuUns tamen nostrum sic est, qui a Deo Opt. Max. summopere
non capiat nos dignos effid omnem crudatum, omnia tormenta,
imo Mortem ipsam, naturae atiaque acerbissimam, pro nominis
sui gloria potius perpeti, quam Suam Div. Maiestatem contra
propiiam consdentiam vel in minimo ofEendere. Patet oinnor
ac multis cognitum est complures ex a£Bictis nostiis poenas
attrodssimas, quas prae doloris magnitudine mortem qoam
superant pertulisse, constanterque sponte durasse, prius quam
foedissimo peccato consentirent, cuius quidem rei testes sunt
Kjrrbeus (Kirby) inprirms et Cottonus, duo Venerabiles Sacer-
dotes, qui ferreo cuidam tormento (Anglid vocant Scavingers
Schavingkers nuncupatur) subiidebantur dusque pressuram
acerbissimam-horam int^^ram, aut eo amplius passi sunt. Aii
videlicet Dom. Skuurus (Skinner), D. Brianus (Brian) bis D.
Jonsonus vero semel torturis exquisitissimis (Anglid vocant
the Rack) probati crudeliter fueruent D. Alartus per tres boras in
tormento praedicts expansus iacebat. Verum aliter aut gravius
pro eo tempwre non torquebatur, atque ad htmc fere modum
ceterorum sodorum nostronun pars non sine nutu aliquo majoii,
pirobata tum tractata fuit. Quidam in specum quondam
profundissimum, densissimisque tenebris ex omni parte drcom-
clusum conjecti erant in-quoruin fuerunt Jonsus Bryskens (Johnson
Bristow). Brianus (Briant) omnes Reverendi Sacerdotes, quorum
alii huius lod squallorum ad duas iategras menses persenserunt.
Aliis autem, pecunias omnes ima cum veste superiori demerunt,
eosque omni sjje ac auxilio sic destitutos, in angulos quosdam
abditos ac obscuios sine lecto aut aliis necessariis qmbuscomque
 APPENDIX 421

detruserunt. Ita egerant cum Stanislao Bryskoro (Bristow)

ac aliis. Pars maior ad hunc usque diem in carceribus squallidis
ac subobscuris seorsim custoditur, ubi nee aliquem aliquando
vident, multo minus cum familiari aliquo loquuntur. D. Brianus
de quo ante dixi, fame per aliquot dies confectus ac fere enectus
fuit, tandem ad sui doloris mains incrementum aculeis quibus-
dam acutissimis sub illius unguibus violenter intortis atrocis-
sime (Ah miser) cruciatur. Ex his quae scripta sunt, carrissimi
in Christo fratres, in promptu est, quae et quaUa tormentorum
genera filii Dei ac veri Christi servi pro fidei orthodoxae firma
defensione patienter passi sunt, maioraque si ita res postulat
subire Ubentur sunt parati. Tantum illud a sua misericordia
petimus, ut nobis patientiam et perseverantiam usque in finem
pro sua benignitate nobis concedat. Quod ut citius consequi
possimus, vestras ad Detun preces pro nobis vehementer implora-
mus, sic non sine aliqua formidine, eo quod arcis huius praefectus
heri sunt hodie ad curiam, ut quid de nobis statuerunt certo
sciat, uti arbitramur est evocatus. Vos bene valere iubeo.
Catholici in portu sive Castro Hullensi incarcerati, in camerata
custodia detinentur. Ut non liceat cuiquam eos invisere, nedum
eis quicumque subministrare. Ultra septem asses per septem
hebdomadas non acceperunt, praeterea ad vitae victusque
sustentationem ahud non habent, praeter panem et cerevigiam
ac modicam salsi piscis portionem, quae illis a quadra gesimali
tempore restabat. Games a .festo Paschali hactenus non
degustarunt. Pro una (one quart) Cerevisiae quarta septem
asses (sive Anglicanus denarios) solevere cogentur, tum quod
valde inhumanum est, aqua ad eorum necessitates supplendeis
illis denegatur, nisi eiusmodi quae putrida sit, velint acceptare.

Captivi Catholici Urisbiensis protusi, pari crudelitate tractantur,

Reverendus D. Yongus Sacrae Theologiae a multis annis Professor
vitam cum morte feliciter commutavit. Erat non multis ab
hinc diebus meretrix quaedam scurrarum quorundam opere in
Rimi. Episcopi Lincolniensi cubiculum (nam et ipse illic incar-
ceratus manet) inverecunde introducta quae omni muliebri
pudore abjecto, hunc senem virum, senio pene conf actum ad
nequitiam et turpem Ubidinem omnibus modis soUicitavit. Prae
verecundia taceo quibus illecebris, haec virago usa est quo eum
a perpetua castitatis constantia deduceret cui senex plus fortiter
resistens dum banc impudicam belluam foras expeUere totis
viribus operam dedit, nebulones pessimi, qui istam adduxerunt
Reverendissimo Seni verbera minabantur. Alia quoque meretrix,
Venerabilem Sacerdotem D. Voactum octogenarium pari arte
422 APPENDIX
intromissafuit, quae absque longa mora revertentes cilta voce
continue excamavit me violneter vitiare conatus est. Dnus.
Jesus Sua divina gratia nobis adsit, quo sub euis protectione
commorantes, has afflictiones, haec omnia tela diaboli ignitus
possimus extinguere, in eoque tandem fortiter superare.

Dom. Eliz., Vol. 147, No. 49. Palavicino to Walsingham.

Illmo. sigor. mio.
" Benche la forzata mia partenza dicosti fussi colpegno che
v.s. Illme mi diede di dover in mio nome ringratiare sua mta
del favore fattomi verso Monsignore nella causa di mio fratteUo,
non posso nondimeno lasciare di supplicarla che si raccordi-di
e con parole tali che in buonaparte significhino I'affetto del
farlo,
animo col quale II cuor mio la ringratia ad ogn'hora cosi io mi
:

—
ne riposo sin che habbi I'occasione di farlo in stesso. ^D'Artois
intendo che le gente che aUa sfilata arrivano in quelle provintie
non sono sin hora che supplementi degli Albanesi e Ittaliani
nella cavaleiia, alincontro di queUi che la guerra e il tempo per
giomata consuma. In Lucemborgo arrivano qualche reitri, et
percio vera andato II conte di Mansfelt, e non posso intendere
che vi fussi alcun disordine. II principe di Parma-si tiene in Tor-
nay. II cui govemo ha dinegato allipiu principaU che lo ambivano
e chiedevano, non vi ha voluto dentro alcun valore e quando
ando a Namur vi lascio II m^ndragone per govematore ancorche
sapesse maJi a molti, cresce ogni di piu d'autorita perche le migliori
viUe volentieii si ubidiscono, e sempre confidano esperano
meno nelle nobili del paese, ne quaU non trovano sicuro pressidio,
ma non ancora resta da quelle provintie consentito che entrino
infanteria ittaUane o spagnuole, se ben la cosa si pratica nelle
consigU particolari, per doveme ben presto venire alia risolutione
Generale. Di Spagna venivano continui danari, es si sente
che quivi vigUano per quanto e possibile aUa condotta di quegli
affari. Di Roma quelcapitolo contiene, che il papa al presente
non pare che pensi o speri di poter tavagliare cotesto Regno da
se o con inteUgenza d'altri principi per via di guerra aperta e
meno ancora per via d'Irlanda. Ma si vede che attende grande-
mente ad per ogni via questo Collegio di
accrescere e aiutare
Giesuiti Inglesi di doni mandano
costa, sperando per questa via
mantenere queUi che costi sono del loro humore, e tenerU disposti
alle occasioni che si presenteraimo. Percio dona loro grosse
rendite, e gli favorisce straordinariamente. Me se costi gli
trattano, come si dice, non dovera trovar molti che interprendano
 APPENDIX 423

il viaggio. V. S. lima cavi dalle sudette parole il constnitto

che le psirra cheve sia ch'io stdma superfluo fargliene discorso.
Le bascio le mani pregando Iddio che la conservi.
" Di Londra a 10 di febraio 1582.
" di V.S. Illma
" Servo affemo.
" Horatio Pallavicino."
Indorsed — TUmo. sigor mio 111. S" Francesco Vualsingham
^Al

Cons, te primo secrio. di S.Mta Senna.

Bundle 1329 {II) Miscellaneous Papers, Loseley.

" Dominus noster Jesus Christus qui dedit discipuUs sus
potestatem Ugandi atque solvendi. Ipse te absolvat auctoritate
Die Onmipotentis et Beatorum Apost Petri et Paul, nee
non Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae atque auctoritate papalis
indulgentiae in hac parti mihi concessa et tibi, ego absolve te
ab omni irregularitate et sententia excommunicationis maioris,
vel minoris, jure vel homine tibi inflicta ; atque etiam ab omnibus
criminibus, excessibus et peccatis tviis contritis confessis ac obUtis,
et ab omnibus casibus sedibus Apostolids reservatis. Restituo
te unitate fideliiun et sacramentis Ecclesiae —
ac in iUam inno-
centiam et puritatem in qua eras quando baptizatus fuisti
remittendo tibi omnes poenas pturgatorii propter culpas et
offensiones quas contra Deiun et proximum tuum conunisisti
et plenariam remissionem atque indulgentiam omniinn peccatorum
tuorum in quantum claves Ecclesiae se extendunt in hac parte
tibi do et concedo. Itaque sis absolutus hie et ante tribimal
Domini nostri Jesu Christi, habeasque vitam etemam, et vivas
in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
" In nomine Patiis et FiUi et Spiritus Sancti."
The above is indorsed by another hand, probably that of Sir

Wm. More, " DiaboUca absolutio."

Bundle 1329 {IT) Miscellaneous Papers, Loseley.

" AngUa lethah malesana sepulta sopore,
EvigUa tandem lumina pande tua.
Auditur tonitru, resonat vox grandis ab Austro,
Atque aqtulo reboat, turba cruenta crepat.
Coelum, terra, fretum, tibi cuncta horrenda minantur
Adsimt irato tela cruenta loni.
Auster clamat omnis, septentrio pondus omnisque,
Incumbimt humeris pondera multa tuis.
424 APPENDIX
Vincula, flamma, rotae, tormenta, cruenta flagella
Postis, fasciculi, firma catena, cruces.
Fumabit fabrilis agerque focumque parabit,
Sanguine nunc iterum fertilis esse cupit.
Nunc ululato viri, Lutherani, Calviniani,
Plangite, namque brevi tempore messis erit.
Nam vane relicta
Petri, sulcatis flumina nigra stygis.
Quae nunc Anglia dicta est
Carmina measta cane.
Et tu qui toties clamas Taratantara Praeco,
Et Shalom, Shalom, ter canis atque Shalom.
Fasciculi tua membra manent, te fomite pingui
Flamma templa Jovis.
petit, Celsi carula
O vos barbatos ex fraudis semine natos,
Flenturosque scio, qui cecinistis lo.
O curios simulate, anoque incumbite fulvo,
Stertite cum mundo moUiter ossa cubant.
Plangite adhuc miseri Simonis avara propago,
Accusas Romam, pessima turba, piam.
At si profuturum Uceat cognoscere lignum,
Tum Sodoma victa est, Anglia vicit earn.
Ridiculus Clerus puerorum turba ministrat,
Ecce sacerfotum xprnxara. sola parante.
Cuius fama vivi non est carbone notata ?

Infamis tota est AngUa.

Omms religio kv rots dvdpufTroicriv dA.ci)A.£v,

Cessat et (blank in MS.) sacra Deo.

Non^estis digni coelum spectare rjbtvmrts,
MijS* ecriSeiv avya<s o^eos HcAeov.
Omnia languida tout avotas eo-t ^privayita.
Omnia frigescunt, dogmata, dicta, patres.
Ha he quam saeva est iam fSaTpaxofivonaxta. ?

Hie cupit, ille rapit, singula vendit, emit,

Aulicus hie turget procerum berle perfricat aures,
Mille sacerdotiis orros onustus abit.
Spes tamen effulget, nam qui quadrata rotundis,
Mutavit, nunc vir tetragonatus erit.
Undique quadratus procedit Rabbi rotundus,
Romanique gerit s3mibola sacra Jovis.
Hos ego quadratos facerem vel non capitatos.
Si modo vis animo suppeditaret opem.
Quid dicam ? Oxonii nulla est correctio morum.
 APPENDIX 425

Omnia confuso turbine mota ruunt.

Nulla est Ecclesiae fades, nullusque saecerdos,
Nulla Romanae sedis Idea manet.
Vos tamen interea sanctae pia fulchra cathedrae,
Surgito, certus adest aureus ille dies.
Nobilis Austriacus princeps caput extulit altum,
Aemulus est GaUus, cantat adesse diem.
Italus, H5'spannus, Duacenses, Lovanienses,
Et nos formicas nostris habere xoAw
Hoc ergo Haereticos istos male tangit et angit,
Vix audent nostris verba sevpra dare.
Plaudite CathoUci, qui Petri jura tenetis,
Plaudite, certus adest aureus ille dies.
Plangite et Haeretici, pilei lugete rotundi,
Plangite, maestus adest funeris ille dies
Contenmere duces Bristoni fuhnine
Consentire solet, qui tacet atque sUet.
Non poterunt sese motori opponere tanto.
Nam tremit in manibus penna maligna suis.
Interea Bristone precor cantate triumphum,
Mallens hareti ^&v hoc tibi nomen erit.
Anglia lethali malesana sepulta sopore,
Evigila tandem limiina pande tua."

Bundle 1329 (11) Miscellaneous Papers, Loseley.

" Quid enim an non ita fuit ? An vero haec ipse fingo ? Aut
oratione exaggero ? Recognosce acta tua, et iUud primum.
Cum tu iam Archiepiscopus, et regni primas a Simimo Pontifice
recens f actus atque in eius verba juratus contra fidem, contra
jusjurandum ad eius Auctoritatem abrogandam consensisti
Nonne tu in consUixmi impionun abiisti ? Postea vero nonne in
via peccatorum stetisti, atque in derisorum Cathedra sedisti-
cum causam divortii inter regem et reginam, quae causa coram
summo pontifice agebatur, ad te revocasti ? Proque ea
auctoritate, quam tibi primus impie arrogaveras, utrimque
dtasti ? Reginam vero, quae causae suae equitate nitebatur
cum pronuntiata iniquissima sententia contumehose dismisisses :

regi ipsi quo maiorem verbis honorem habebas, hoc reipsa gravius
iUudebas. Quid enim aUud nisi illusio fuit ? Cum pluribus
enim hortabare ut (quod ipsum constabat omnibus modis conari)
uxorem a se dimitteret ? Deinde quasi diffederes hoc te illi
persuasurum, additis censurarum minis, nonne magis ei illudebas,
quem scirent omnes nullo non divinarum humanarumque legum
426 APPENDIX
metu, ut dicimus, retineret, Quid vera an
adduci posse ?

non ipse ridebas cum tanquam severus judex

Regi minas
intentares ? Equidem haec in quodam scripto legeo quod
consilii regii nomine tunc exierat lacrimas tenere non potui.
Cum principem ilium, quem unice amarem et colerem, eo adductum
viderem, ut ei non solmn impune liceret illudere, sed ipso etiam
hoc jubente atque adeo premium proponente. Tua vera ista
illusio,quam pestifera, quam exitiosa patriae tuae fuerit, satis
ea declararunt, quae statim sunt consecuta. Quid enim mali
non invexit ea sententia quam ipse pro tribundi sedens tulisti
ut rex uxorem legitimam, qua cum prole suscepta amplius
viginti annorum conjunctissime vixerat, dimitteret seque
communi omnium matre ecclesia abjungeret ? Quanta inde
bonorum cedes, quot spolia ecclesiarum, quanta clades nobili-
tatis, quanta populi iporessio consecuta est ? An ujiquam in
ullo regno tam brevi tempore, tanta tamque pemiciosa facta est
legum omnitmi jurisque commutatio ?
" Quonam tu quidem malorum omnium es reus, qui portam
regi qua ab ecclesia exiret aperiens spirituales nequitias ad earn
in hoc regno vastandam ac penitus evertendam intro duxisti
quare si clamarem ad Deum ut sanguis servorum suorum totque
scelerum poenas de te sumerent ? An non juste clamarem ?
Quod profecto f acerem si haec tantum spectarem sed cum ad ;

sanguinem ejus qui mortem pro salute impiorum pertulit mentem

cogitationemque converto, cogor tantisper vocem continere dum
quid illius voci respondeas quae est vox misericordiae, intelligam.
Quae vox si ad aures tuas pervenire poterit, gaudebo, et ut possit
omnes modos quaero ; unus autem est quo jam uti cepi ; ut ea
tibi mala in mente redigerem quae ilia, quam tibi contra ecclesiae
leges arrogasti, auctoritas in hoc regnum intulit Quae quis
;

secum animo reputans existimet te (qui praeter ceteros, ambitione

et superbia Deum offenderis cum novam opinionem doctrinamque
de maximo religionis nostrae misterio proponis). Unum plus
omnibus sapere in his cognoscendis, quae prudentibus et
sapientibus sunt abscondita solis parvulis revelantur. Quanto
verius putandum est te minus omnibus sapere, et si quam antea,
cognitionem habueras, earn maUtia et peccatis obcecatcim
perdidisse ita sane factum est atque haec est justitiae divinae
ratio, utqui Deum cognoscentes non sicut Deum glorificaverint,
tradantur primum in desideria cordis (quod tibi accidit, cum
honores et divitias quas cor tuum desiderabat, acquireras) deinde
in passiones ignominiae (quod item tibi evenit, cum contra
ordinis tui decus contra ecclesiae leges, concubinam uxoris loco
 APPENDIX 427

haberes). Quae cum ita essent, quid aliud sequebatur nisi ut

in sensum reprobum tradereris ? Et sane hie Ule sensus est,
quo Corpus et Sanguinem Christi contra perpetuum ecclesiae
piorumque omnium sensum, negas in Eucharistiae Sacramento
in esse, in quo ostendis quam longe ab eorum pietate absis. ad
quam ut redire possis, banc potissimum rationem viamque tibi
proponemdam duxi, ut tecum cogites, ut queras quid feceris,
quo pacto vixens, quo aditu ad gregis Christi curam sis ingressus,
utram per ostium an per fenestram. Quod si ad hoc munus ob
eam rem, te vocatum inveneris, ut foedam hominis libidinem iuris
nomine ac specie pretexeres, quis dubitet quin per ostium non
sis ingressus ? Ecquis ante ignorat te ob hanc imam causam
archiepiscopum esse factum, qui ante cum paucissimis notus
esses, nuUi magis ignotus eras quam ilU qui hunc honorem tibi
detuUt. De quo tantum aberat ut ceteri cogitarent ut ne tibi
quidem ipsi in mentem venire posset, alia via nisi hac in ovile
Domini intrare posse ad of&cium primi pastoris in hoc regno
fungendum. Idque quis ambigat non per ostium sed per fenestram
vel potius per cimictdos te tanquam furem ac lactronem intrasse ?
Intrasse autem ut mactares, ut perderes quemadmodmn rei
eventus ostendit, cum per te Christi gregis in hoc regno major
facta sit strages quam ab ullo unquam alibi vel aperto christianae
religionis hoste. Haec velim ipse tecum recognoscas ut carcere
inclusus et capitis judiciiun jam subiturus non te ipse excuses,
sed condemnes, et cum latrone iUo qui una cum Christo in cruce
suf&xus fuit, dicas nos digna factis recipimus simulque Dei
Filio pro te crucifixo misericordiam implores, quod si feceris
jam tibi veniam paratam video cuius consequendae haec una
reliqua est via, et ratio, quam scilicet ob causam, ea nunc ipse
commemoravi, tibique ob oculos posui, quae in conspectu omnium
per te sunt admissa, nee vero Ulud ad te excusandum quicumque
valet te neminem mactasse, sed benignum facilemque erga omnes
fuisse. Hoc enim audio a quibusdam de te predicari, sed nesciunt
quid dicant, nee tu quidem fortasse nosti an quemdam occideris,
quia neque hoc animo in ovUe Christi sis ingressus nee postquam
ingressus fueris tibi conscius sis ullius sanguinem appetisse. At
hie conscientiam tuam decepit Satan qui etsi homicida fuit ab
initio, quotidieque homines suo consUio oceidat : tamen si
causa ei ad hominum tribunal dicenda esset, facile etiam apud
eos quos occidit probaret longe se ab hoe crimine abesse qui
nihil cuiquam persuadeat nisi ea quae homini in hac vita jucunda
sunt, quae quisque maxime appetit quaeque ad vitam cum
voluptate, traducendam in primis faciunt. Quid enim Satan
428 APPENDIX
proponit nisi honores, nisi opes, nisi voluptates, nisi denique
omnia quae vitam jucundam, ac plane beatam efficere videntur ?
Quod si haec defensio Satanam ab homicidii culpa minima
liberat, nee tibi quidem proderit qui eius minister fuisti ad
libidinem et cupiditatem regis explendam in turpi mulieris amore,
in honoribus non legitimis, in divitiis atque opibus in juste com-
parandis quo tu etsi mortem eius non appetebas tamen hac
ratione crudelissimeomnium necasti, et per eum quam plurimos
alios. Hoc enim veneni genus ei porrexisti cui nulla humana ope
occurri potest idque fecisti cum has illius cupiditates juris
:

specie tegeres in quo sane eius animum per libidinem magis

;

corrupisti quam si leno impudicus mulieres ad eum deduxisses.

Quod vero ad rapinas attinet, magis quam si comes et dux ad
apertum latrocinium fuisses. Hoc enim flagitiorum et facinorum
genera, facUius per poenitentiam corrigi possunt, quod fieri

quotidie videmus. At quo delictis recti et iuris species ac nomen

pretentitur, id vero poenitentiam prorsus excludit, et salutis
spei aufert quemadmodum regi tum accidisse videmus, maxime
;

cum ipsius ac totius regni calamitate Haec autem nunc com-

:

memoro ut inteUigas (si modo per poenitentiam Deus tibi oculos

aperiat) qui tu sedulus minister fueris, operum tenebrarum
minister libidinis in amore turpi, minister ambitionis in alieno
honore occupando, minister injustitiae, in alienis bonis rapiendis,
te minime idoneum ministrum et doctorem esse posse, ac ne
discipulum quidem eius veritatis, cuius intelligentia etiam
evangelica inteUectum superat.
" Haec si tecum ita reputes teque tot tantorumque flagitiorum
et facinorum tuorum auctor exanimo poeniteat tum quidem
fuisti
faciliorem tibi exitum e carcere tenebrarum in quo jam diu es
inclusus et aditum ad lucem ac veniam reperias. Tibi una haec
est rehqua ad veritatem percipiendam et salutem consequendam
via, quam nisi ingressus fueris, frustra tu quidem vel in scripturis
sacris vel in aliis libris dogmatimi Christianae religionis veri-
tatem quaeiis, frustra alii qui te ab errore et falsis opinionibus
avocare student laborent.
" Quare hoc te primvun admonitum volui ut si quando Deus
det tibi poenitentiam, ut a laqueis diaboli resipiscens evadas
tunc locus aliquis detur ad ipsam lucem veritatis aspiciendam
cum ceteris in rebus tum in hoc, de quo nunc agimus, misterio
Corporis Christi, quod in Sacramento altaris esse negas, utque
ita credas,te ipsius scripturae verbis, adduci predicas. Ego
vero quid agendum tecum ne disputem ? Id quidem facere si
hac ratione tibi me prodesse sperarem, at quid sperem cum
 APPENDIX 429

videam nihil tibi profuisse quae cum alii permufti turn veto
Johannes Fisherus episcopus Roffensis, vir sanctissimus, atque
doctissimus, hac ipsa de re egregia scripta reUquit nihil Oxon-
iencem disputationem nuper habitam, qua quidem ad tuam
utilitatem suscepta, non modo ab errore non es abductus, sad
in 60 obfirmatior atque obstinatior factus.
" Quod sane non culpa eorum accidit qui tibi lucem veritatis
afferre studebant sed quo maior oblata lux est hoc minus ab
:

egris occulis ferri potuit, teque magis excecavit.

" Quod ergo ego qui ad te nunc scribo, si recusem tecum
disputare quo pacto id assequi potero, quod in primis opto, ut
te qui nisi primum argumentis vincaris, sententiam nunquam
mutaturum profiteris ad lucem veritatis producam ?
" At non ego id profiteor, hoc eius est qui lucem creavit,
eamque a tenebris divisit. Meae partes sunt viam quae eo ducit
ostendere, quod magna jam ex parte fed, cum te ad cognitionem
eorum quae dividunt inter te et Deum, id est peccatorum, quibus
Deum graviter offendisti, teque ab eo seiimxisti et ad poenitentiam
atque devinam misericordiam implorandum hortatus sum. Ad
quae si hoc adiunxero ut tibi fontem ostendeim, erroris tui in
prava ista perversaque de veritateque Corporis Christi sententia
simulque Deum pro salute tua precarem quod (sane ex animo,
facere non desisto) tunc quidem meum munus explevero.
" Tuus autem hie error inde manat unde Saduceorum heresism
Christus ortam af&rmat cum ait '
erratis nescientes scripturas
et virtutem Dei.' Ideo enim scripturas nesciebant quia virtutem
et potentiam Die nesciebant, nam cum resurrectionem mortuorum
negarent, non tamen Scripturas negabant sed prave interpreta-
bantur ; in hunc enim errorem inciderunt, propter ignorantiam
potentiae Dei in mortuis excitandis. Idem nunc de te dici
potest, et de his omnibus qui negant sacerdotis benedictione,
et verbis Christi, panem et vinum in eius corpus et sanguinem
converti, ut eum apud Ezechielem (Ezechiel Ca. 37) prophetam
est scriptum de ossibus illis in amplissimo campo late disparsis,
cimi Deus ab eo quaesisset ' fili hominis, putasne ossa ista vivent,'
atque Ule respondisset ' Domine tu nosti,' Et Deus ' Vaticinare
: :

de ossibus istis et dicas, ossa arida, audite verbum Dei, Ecce ego
intromittam in vos spiritimi, et vivetis, et dabo super vos nervos
et succrescere faciam super vos cames, et superextendam in
vobis cutem, et dabo vobis spiritum et vivetis, et scietis quia ego
Dominus. Haec Deus ad prophetam qui ex eius precepto,
:

vaticinatus addit factus est autem spiritus prophetante me,

'

et ecce commotio, et cames ascenderunt, et extenta est cutis

430 . APPENDIX
*
desuper, et spiritum non habebant et dixit Vaticinare ad: '

spiritum ' : haec dicit Dominus A quatuor ventis veni spiritus,

;

et suffla super interfectos istos ; et prophetavi sicut preceperat

mihi ; et ingressus est in ea spiritus, et revixerunt.
" Haec apud Ezechielem quae ad mirabilem vim et potentiam
Dei in mortuis excitandis declarant, quam qui ignorant in hunc
Sadduceorum errorem labuntur, ut resurrectionem mortuonim
negent sinuilque ostendunt se Scripturas ignorare. Eodem modo
eandemque ob causam falluntur, qui negant panem et vinutn,
prophetante sacerdote, et verba Christi proferente, in verum
ipsius Christi corpus et sanguinem converti, quia sequentem
virtutem et potentiam Dei ignorant. Ut enim de ossibus illis
dictum est ad prophetam fili hominis, putasne ossa ista
:
'

vivent ? Ita ex sacerdote quaeri potest, cum panem et vinum

'

ante occulos habet, putasne haec in Corpus et Sanguinem

'

Christi convertentur ? Atque Ule merito ut propheta respondere

'

potest Domine, tu scis.' Nee enim quisquam est hominum

:
'

qui hoc scire possit ac ne Angelorum quidem virtutem intellectum

hoc superat, sed vim et potentiam Dei non superat. Igitur
quod Ezechiel dixit et factum est, prophetante me et verba
:

Dei dicente ad ossa iUa, quae arida erant atque dispersa, con-
jungerentur et vitam per spiritum reciperent. Idem etiam de
pane et vino quae a Sacerdote consecrantur, dici potest, ea per
virtutem Dei, et potentiam spiritus in Christi corpus et sanguinem
converti, hanc Dei potentiam qui ignorant nee scripturarum
sensum in hac presertim re intelligere possimt. At dices te
neque mutationem hanc videre, sicut Ezechiel commutationem
ossium per nervos et juncturas in spiritu vidit neque (ut Deum ;

id posse credas) tamen hoc necessitem afferre credendi id ab ep

fieri. Quam multa enimvero sunt quae potest Deus facere,
quae tamen non facit itaque qui tuam veUt hac de re opinionem
:

refellere non hoc ei argumento esse intendendum ut esse ostendit

Deum posse sed ex scripturis docendum velle. Neque enim te
Dei potentiam sed voluntatem negare, quam si quis ostenderet,
omnem statim controversiam sublatum iri. Ego vero quid
afferam, ex quo Dei voluntas hac in re tibi nota atque explorata
sit ? Unde earn exquirem ? Unde eliciam ? An ex scripttiris ?
Hanc enim iUae quidem continent per eas quae placita sunt ;

Deo, nobis revelata sunt. At quibus nobis ? Non omnes enim

qui scripturas legunt de voluntate Dei, omnibus in rebus inter
consentiunt siquidem eas alii aliter interpretantur
; neque ;

ulla de re magistrorum est dissensio, quam de sensu scripturarum,

ut in hac ipsa re de qua nunc agimus. Quo ergo nunc confugiam ?
 APPENDIX 431

Quern interpretem quaeram ? Quem alium vocamus quamque

Ecclesiam de qua Deus cum vellet earn filio in conspectu gentium
tamquam sponsam imgere, dixit Non ampHus vocaberis
:
'

derelicta, sed vocaberis voluntas mea in ea.' Vides quem

voluntatis suae interpretem, Deus habere nos quo semper con-
ftigere velit : tui quidem ita plane voluntatem suam aperit
ut de ilia dicat :
'
Et vocaberis voluntas mea in ea.' Haec vero
ita perspicue voluntatem Dei hac in re ostendit ut nulla pars
orbis terrarum sit cuinon eam declaravit. Cuius rei si testi-
monia requiris iam inde ab Apostolorum temporibus usque ad
hanc diem omnium etatum testimonia afferri possunt. Qui
enim ubique pietate et inteUigentia scripturarum praestiterimt
ac mimus docendi sustinuerunt, omnes quasi unius vox esset,
quasi cor unum et anima una ita hac de re inter se consenserunt,
ut cum de reHquis fere onmibus, fidei et religionis articulis aliae
aliis temporibus excitatae sunt contentiones et controversiae,
neque in hoc magis quam in ceteris caviUationis locus esset,
tamen nullae annonun spatiae, in tot consiliis, quae ad extir-
pandas hereses sunt habita, ne mentio quidem alicuius heretici
inveniatur qui de veritate corporis Christi in sacramento Altaris
unquam dubitaverit. Post miUesimimi vero armum, ut ante
dixi, cum res in controversiam a quodam diacono Andegavensi
vocaretur, ita eius opinio a multis piis et doctis viris oppugnata
fuit (in primis a Lanfranco Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi) ut is
palinodiam canere coactus fuerit. Quid ergo nunc maius in hac
causa testimonium concensus Ecclesiae et volimtatis Dei quae
illi revelata est, dare potest, quam perpetuam tot annorum
silentium ? Et sane singulari Dei providentia ita factum
videtur, ut nemo palam in Ecclesia hanc veritatem oppugnare
unquam sit ausus, quoad miUe annorum sUentio corroborata
fuisset quasi hoc significaret Spiritus Sanctus Qui Ecclesiam
regit, si qui postea Satanae impulsu hac ipsa de re controversiam
hoc uno argumento tot annorum atque
excitaturi essent, eos vel
etatum consensus convinciendos fore, quo certe nihil majorem
vim habere debet apud eos qui non plane superbiae elatos se
ostendant, ut plus uni sapere velint quam omnes qui ante in
ecclesia extiterunt. Cum ludetur quacumque
his verb opera
oratione quibuscumque rationibus aut argumentis agatur. Quod
si tu plus sapere unus veils quam omnes, qui per miUe annos hanc

sententiam quam nos defendimus tu oppugnas, secuti sunt, turn

quidem frustra tecum loqui videor. Quid vero reliquum est
nisiut aut istam arrogantiam profitearis aut neges hanc tot
annorum consensum ? Quod si facias hand difficile sit ostendere
432 APPENDIX
collectis singularum etatum testimoniis. Qui tamen labor
minime est necessarius cum
inde et alii multi ante, et nuper
doctus vir Cuthbertus Tunstallus episcopus DuneUensis fecerit,
ut tuam et tui similem pertinaciam hac in re convinceret. At
hoc te consensu convinci non pateris, verum ad scripturas
provocas, et argumenta quibus et si vincaris, sicut proxime es
victus in disputatione Oxoniense, sunt ante etiam a docto et
acutissimi ingeni viro Stephano Gardinero episcopo Wintoniensi
in eo libro quern contra tuum scripsit, tamen te nunquam victurum
fateris cum semper scripturas tecum facere contendas. Quod
quid aliud est quam non solum eos qui nunc sunt Catholicae
doctrinae professores sed omnem antiquitatem insciam scriptura-
rum condemnare eorumque intelligentiam tibi praeter ceteros
omnes arrogare. Quod quidem ut superbiae etiam ignorantiae
sic
scripturarum certissimum indicium esse debet. Nee enim quae
in his traduntur superbis sed humilibus revelentur illis enim
;

Deus resistit his autem dat gratiam. Quos vero Apostolos

superbiae notat equidem justitiae damnat, cum dicit eos nihil
scire sed languere circa questiones et pugnas verborum. Tui
autem langoris quod magis argumentum afferri potest quam quod
eam rem in questionem et controversiam revocas, de qua nemo
qui de fide recte sentiret unquam dubitaret. Hunc vero langorem
ex vitio superbiae longe gravissimo existere nomine id maxime
indicat quod in ea parte scripturae, quae doctrinam maximi
misterii religionis nostrae continet, tibi uni plus intelligentiae
arrogas quam tota Ecclesia per mille annos vel potius ex quo
constituta est, ad hanc diem, habuerit ? Nee enim uUus
vmquam verba Christi in hunc sensum quem tu sequeris inter-
pretatus est praeter Ulos qui ab universa Ecclesia impie
recesserunt, meritoque damnati. Quid ergo hie faciam ? Alia
ne argumenta conqueram ut ostendam te non intelligere scrip-
turas ? Hoc enim uno tibi tamquam clava Herculi erepto tota
sequens tua causa concidet. Ego vero ut initio dixi scio te ob
id errare quod scripturas ignoras et potentiam Dei, quae eadem
est hereticorum omnium erroris causa, ut Christus Sadduceorum
errorem confutans significat. Verxun si neque hactenus ego
dixi nee quae ab aUis item contra aUata simt sufficiant quo pacto
tuam hanc ignorantiam ut perspicias assequarem. Hoc quidem
primum faciam ut Deum Patrem Unigeniti eius fiiii mortem
praestet ut per universam suam misericordiam occulos tibi et
aures aperiat, quo veritatis vocem audias et justitiam suam
agnoscas quod si verbis etiam tentandum erit, ne id quidem
facere negligam. Atque illud tibi primum conabor explicare
 :

APPENDIX 433

quid sit scripturas intelligere ; hoc enim scio te ignorare, qui

praeter ceteros earam tibi intelligentiam arrogas. Is autem
scripturas inteUigit qui consilium Dei in eis novit sicut legem ;

intelligit qui consilium legislatoris ac voluntatem novit, quam

juris periti animam legis vocant. Atque hoc illud est quod
Apostolus significat discipulos suos monens cum ab illis dis-
cederet :
'
Omne consiliam Dei notimi feci yobis.' Quod idem
:
valet ac si diceret Clavem scientiae tradidi vobis.' Et regulam
'

operum utrumque enim habet, qui Dei consilium in verbo eius

noverit. Novit autem is qui verbi novit potentiam, et ideo
Christus cum Sadduceis dixisset Erratis ignorantes scripturas/
:
'

addidit :
'
et virtutem Dei,' quae scz. per verbum se ostendit,
quam qui ignorat verbum etiam Dei ignorat. Hoc vero si paulo
obscurius fortassis est dictum, sic planum facium ex ipsius Pauli
verbis qui de verbo crucis loquente, potentiam eius ostendit.
Cuius quidem summa haec est ut perdat sapientiam sapientium et
prudentiam prudentium reprobet, hoc autem Dei consilium ut
ipse Paulus dicit nemo novit nisi id Spiritus Dei revelaverit,
:

ut nemo novit quae sunt in homine nisi spiritus hominis Sic,' :

'

inquit, nemo novit quae sunt Dei nisi Spiritus Dei, cui
'

Spiritus Dei revelaverit. Hoc autem consilium nobis revelatum

est, cum per eos qui primum donum Spiritus acceperunt, et
Christi doctrinam ex ipsius ore hauserunt, tum etiam per illimi
qui cum in terris cum Christo versatus non esset raptus est usque
ad tertium coelum, ubi arcana Ula verba audivit, quae e£fari non
licuit, quae vero enimtiavit, ea sane omnia ad consilium Dei in
Christi doctrina expUcandum pertinent. Quod eo scz spectat :

ut perdat sapientiam sapientium et prudentiam prudentium

reprobet sicut ipse in Epa. ad Coros. docet, quia non cognovit
;

mundus per Sapientiam Deum, placuit Deo per stultitiam

praedicationis salvos facere credentes. Ecce Dei consilium in
homine servando quod ipse postquam homo peccavit ita exequi
cepit statim ut quia is per sapientiam suam perierat, Deum non
agnoscens, ut scz: eum glorificaret, seque ei gratum praestaret
noimisi per iUud quod stultum videtur homini servaretiu-, quae
nimirum est verbi Dei et Crucis Christi victoria."
Probably 1555.

Dom. Eliz., Vol. 149, No. 51.

" Epistola V. D. Guhehni Alani rectoris coUegii Anglorum
in GaUia ad patrem D.P. rectorem collegii Anglorum Romae.
" Ex AngUa accepimus per Utteras P. Roberti Personi v.
societatis, persecutionem perseverare in eodem fmrore adhuc et
29
434 APPENDIX
Catholicos rapi ad carceres et varie vexari et patres societatis
diligentissime quaeri, singiilari tamen Dei providentia sunt
adhuc liberi. Unus ex ipsis eodem cubiculo P. Robertus non
ita pridem invasus fuit sed ipse Pater tunc non adfuit. Quidam
autem Bryantus qui fuit alumnus collegii nostri Remensis in
quodam propinquo cubiciilo habitans captus quoque fuit et bis
in equuleo tortus est crudelissime, idque eo consilio, ut ubinam
ille Jesuita esset aperiret, verum tamtum abfuit ut de hac re

significaret quicquam, ut tortores irrideret et dolore licet fere

enectus, diceret hoccine totum est, quod potestis, si nihil aliud
'

sit squuleus, accedant huius rei causa centum alii.' Postridie

Johannes Nicholaus, ille apostata, P. Tirello Collegii v. alumno
obviam dedit in platea, quern simul ac vidit proditorem exclamavit,
et hoc modo eiun comprehendit verum Ule non in turrem, sed
;

in alium carcerem vlugo Gatehouse coniicitur, atque ibi ille et

pater Rishtonus, CoUegii quoque v. alumnus cum gaudio degunt.
Catholici vel alacriores vel ad petiendum paratiores numquam
antea fuerunt.
" Biduo ab hinc cuptus est quidam D. Jaisonus (Irisonus)
decem ex apologiis nostris penes se habens unde facttim est,
;

ut Libros Ulos consUiarii viderint, ipse autem pristino sue

habitaculo nempe quodam carcere volgo Fleet, unde prius
amidtiae ergo dimissus fuerat, iam iterum detinetur.
" Praedictus Johannes Nicholaus hereticus iactat se habuisse
prolixam orationem Romae coram CardinaHbus cum nihil minus
verum, quam in secundo suo Ubro iam in lucem edidit, et simul
pKjllicitus est se hunc priorem latine versum evulgaturum addito
quodam de peregrinatione UbeUo, in quo maxima homicidia, et
adulteria cathoUcorum, pessimam et vitam Jesuitarum et
studiosorum fuse expUcabit. Is jam publice Londini concion-
atur, sed Ulius iam omnes satieatas cepit brevi itaque, ut
auguror, se in pedes coniicet, presertim, vero ubi iQa abiu-
ratio haeresum quam Romae in inquisitione fecit, in Angliam
pervenerit, accepi enim autenticum illud a vobis missum in
quo tota sua recantatio continebatur, et apud P. Robertum
in Angliam misi, expetit P. Robertus tria vel quatuor millia
aut plura ex testamentis cum ilia a multis desiderentur, dicit
se summe desiderare et expectare pluries socios vestri ordinis
et dicit omnia ibi recte procedere et Apologiam nostram valde
probari.
" Mitto cum istis Utteras ad S. Pontificem, et ad Il.-Protec-
torem quas tradendas curate. Ago enim suae Sti gratias
iUis
pro huius anni multipUcibius beneficiis, nempe pro fundato
 APPENDIX 435

collegio Romano Anglico, pro nostra hie stabilito in 15 annos,

pro extraordinario nuper subsideo 500 aureorum pro tali dato
utrique Protectori et praecipue quod non adhibuerit aurem
Collegiorum et missionum detractoribus, qvii ad excusationem
ingaviae et timiditatis suae causantur frustra ista omnia in
patriam nostram tentari, doceoque satis strinsse (struisse ?)
incredibili utilitate istas missiones, et conatus Patrum ac
Collegiorum fieri tandemque assevero atque audacter pronundo
ex opinione sensu et experientia bonorun omnium Patres et
Sacerdotes plura Animarum lucra hoc uno anno fecisse in Patria
sua, quam idem uspiam in orbe terrarum per tottun vitae spatium
et longissimum facere potuissent. Scribo et pericula non esse
tarn gravia ut hoc officium deseri debuerit cum ex 50 hoc anno ad
minimum ex utroque collegio missis non ultra decem inciderint
in manus hostium, et patres omnino hucusque liberos esse et
frugem facere. Postremo ostendimus Ubros a nobis ea modera-
tione verborum esse scriptos, ut nihil allatum esse indignatione,
sed potius misericordiae procuratum propter ingentem utilitatem
quam omnes ordines ex ipsormn lectione capiunt. Ista quidem
Pontifici. lUustrissimo vero Protectori illud tantum scribo, ut
avertat aures ab otiosis et invidis quibusdam hominibus, qui
Patrum et Collegionmi officia dicunt esse in patria nostra inutilia,
obsecrans porro ipstmi per Christum, ut noUt prohibere me ne
proximo Autumno 5. aut. 6, iuvenes mittam ad iUud collegium
significans nostrum ita excrescere numero, ut a nobis nullo modo
ali queant, licet sua sanctitas extraordinario 500 aureorum dono

nos sublevaverit ita ad iUum ego N. R. B. subvereor contra

expressam praemonitionem aUquos mittere, ne videamur vel
immorigeri, vel nimium abuti P. Uberalitate. Cogimur hoc
tempore 20 nobiles magna ex parte invenes Duaci accercere ad
collegium hoc nostrum Remense, qui alioquin deberent redire
in Angliam ad manifestam animi et corporis pemiciem cum
propter hoc edictimi non habeant ex Anglia pecunias, praeterea
venerunt ad me ex Angila (heu me) supra 20 invenes intra 14
dies ct ubi habebimus panes, ut manducent hi ut unusquisque vel
modicum acdpiat, ne defldant in hoc exiho. D. Deus benedicat
et multiphat nobis cibos.
" Hac septimana inteUexi, patres non solum bene valere in
AngUa, sed ita occupatos in Vinea ut non nuhi scribere potuerint,
et P. Campianus dicitur hbrum latine edidisse ad utramque
Academiam Hortatoriam, sed non venit ad manus nostras
hactenus. Vide P. si promoveant opus an non ? Litteras R.P.
Generalis iam pridem misi ad ipsos. D. Jesus mittat multos
436 APPENDIX
tales operarios in messem suam. 30 Presbyteri ad minimum
sunt ingressi Angliam post Pascha, nee eorum quisquam fuit
in portu impeditus, aut postea captus, sit benedictus Deus.
Erit hie annus, ut spero, faustus undique nobis, in lacrimis
seminamus sed in Domino confido, quod cum exultatione
portabimus manipulos per Deum et hune Gregorium fratrem
vera nostrum.
" Est apud me hoc ipso tempore summus fratrum ac pres-
biterorum in Anglia comes et patronus D. Georgius Gilbertus
quique ipsorum causa passus est rapinam pene omnium bonorum
et possessionum et quem haeretici ipsum personaliter persecuti
sunt prae coeteris cum eius opere conservari, et stistentari Patres
societatis scirent. Concessit hue in GaUiam R. P. Roberti et
aliorum consUio, ut se servaret ad iUud tempus. Veniet Romam
in Autumno volente Deo atque de se disponet secundum consilium
Reve. P. Generalis et Vestrum. Is nuhi narrat summe desiderari
plures Patres vel hoc solo nomine, ut aliquid sublevetur P.
Robertus quem dicit incredibile onus portare. Scripsit iUos
duos elegantissimos libeUos ipse per se cum antea alter putaretur
esse a P. Campiano vel alio scriptus, concionat continus, resolvit
Casus Consdentiae hominum innumerabiliorum. Catholici in
mediis positi persecutionibus habent conscientias minus timoratas
quam ullo alio quod sciam loco, et ita sunt in Patres affecti, ut
nullius vulgaris sacerdotis iudicio acquiescant, nisi adhibito
P. Roberti iudicio. Habet septem homines continue
ipse
laborantes" in praelo, quoA habet constitutum extra Londinum, ne
rumore illius. machinae obauAetur in urbe, continuo interpeUatur
a NobiUbus etiam et a quibusdam ConsUiaiiis propter necessaria
consilia, et ita nuhi narrat ipse D. Gilbertus individuus eius per
totum himc annum comes, quique in discessu P. Roberto reUquit
septem equos ad necessaria sacerdotum et patrum itinera et
negotia obeimda, summamque vim pecuniae ad necessarium
rerum apparatvun, nempe cartae (Chartae), praeli, caracterum,
atramenti et simQium, nam magnae res non possimt fieri nisi
magnis subsidiis, oportetque homines summe pecuniarum con-
temptores, pariterque divites, qui talia opera iasigniter procurant.
P. Campianus non est minus in sua provincia industrius et
putantur esse 20 millia catholicorum plura hoc anno, quam
praeterito ; nee uspiam iis annis D. dedit verbimi evangeli-
zantibus maiorem virtutem et fructum. Sit nomem eius
benedictum in aetemum.
" Nostra apologia, ut audio, versatur in manibus tam
adversariorum, quam amicorum, et illius eimplissimae legationis
 APPENDIX 437

Galliae Princeps, qui vocatur P. Delphinus dedit earn legendam

Reginae, Christus Jesus, &c. Remis 23 Junii 1581. V.R.P.
" Aeternus uti spero in terra et in coelo
confrater.
" Gulielmus Alanus."

Dom. Eliz., Vol. 230, No. 104.

"JESUS MARIA
" Ex Utteris P. Roberti Southueli Societatis Jesu.
datis Londini, Matii 8° 1590.
" Frequentes ad nos litteras dedimus, sed ut nuper intellexi
rarae ad nos pervenerunt ob impiam cuiusdam fraudem de qua
a P. Gulielmo accipietis. In mediis adhuc periculorum iactamur
et sane non parvo in discrimine, in quo tamen Dei gratiae erepti
hactenus incolumes sumus. Una omnes magno nostra in
voluptate consueta Antiqui foederis instaurationem iuravimus
dies aliquot mutuis exhortationibus ac colloquiis occupati
aperuimus ora et spem attraximus. Videbatur ego mihi nascontis
in AngUa religionis Catholicae incunabula contemplari cuius non
mittentes semina imus et flemus. Ut venientes alii veniant
portantes manipulos suos, cantavimus tamen canticum Domini
in terra aliena, et in deserto hoc suximus mel de petra oleum de
saxo durissimo sed extrema huius gaudii luctus occupavit et
subitis terroribus dissipati maiori ut eventus probavit periculo
quam detrimento evasimus. Ego et e nostris alter dum Scillara
vitamas, incidimus in Charybdim, Utrumque tamen scopulum
insigni Dei beneficio pretervecti nunc in portu navigamus.
Comprehensus est nuper preter alios sacerdos quidem nomine
Christopherus Bales e comitatu Dunelmensis (Durham) Romam
primum postmodum Rhem coUegii alumnus. Is 24or horas
integras manibus suspensus extremis tantum articulis terram
attingentibus misere excruciatus est, cumque plurimis iUum
questionibus fatigarent, unum hoc ad omnia respondit, sacer-
dotem CathoUcum ad animas in ovile Christi revocandas
se esse
venisse, nee ahud sibi in animo aut votis fuisse unquam. A.
Bridevelo olim meritricu et circumceUionum, nunc vero Catholi-
corum camificina in aUum carcerem adductus, ibi in eodem
cubiculo cum heretico puritano positus est. Unde paulo post ad
tribunal vocatus eo nomine capite damnatur quod sacerdos cum
esset pontificia auctoritate initiatus in Angliam venerit. Urgebant
hominem an Papae liceret Reginam deponere, ad quod iUe, eam
esse in papa potestatem ut principes iustis ex causis deponere
438 APPENDIX
possit, respondit. Cum vero iam sententiam in eum dicturi essent
querebant de more haberetne quidquam quod pro capitis sui
salute posset afferre. Unum iniquit a vobis rogatum velim,
fuitne B. Augustuius a Gregorio 2° olim in Angliam missus,
proditor ac lesae maiestatis reus an non ? Non fuit, inquiunt. Cur
ergo, ait, ab sede eadem in finem eundem raissum huius criminis
reum asseritis cum mihi nihil possit, quod non potuisset etiam
Augustino obiici? At Uli ad haec nihil, praeterquam, toUe, crucifige.
Cum ad locum supplicii de more super ligneam cratem traheretur,
psalmos cecinit. Ad patibulum cum ascendisset ; Absit inquit
mihi gloriari nisi in cruce Domini Nostri Jesu Christi. Et elevatis
manibus in coelum se signo crucis munivit prout vinctis manibus
potuit Venistis, ait, ut hominem videatis morientem, conraiune
:

spectaculum, ut Sacerdotem nee id insoKtum, et sicut corpus

intuemini, ita utinam et intimos cordis affectus et animi quem
sortietur exitum videre possetis, certe profecto non minus tvmc
mihi et compaterimini et congauderetis quam modo infensis
animis mala imprecamini. Omnibus ex animo ignosco et ab
omnibus mihi ignosci cupio. Deinde rogans ut pro eo Catholici
-omnes orarent (haeticorum, n, suffragia ei hand profutura
dixit, praecit) se dedit et paulo post vultu ac mente intrepida,
mortem fortiter et constanter subiit, passus est feria 4a Cinerum
in regia quadam Londini platea quae omnium est frequentissima
plurimis etiam haereticis pietatem ac constantiam viri
laudantibus.
" Carnifex vero cruentatis, in istius cede et dissectione manibus
ad alterum laicum Ulum quidem, sed probatum virum excami-
ficandum in aliam plateam festinat. Hie quod favisset sacer-
dotibus et sua eos ope tenasset morte mulctatus est. Ante
mortem cum in tetro et obscuro Carcere acsensam habent
candelam in imibrae sae capite coronam ex umbra formatam
vidit, Ule capite manus admovens, et quod talem efi&ceret umbram
sentiens nihil obambulat, ut animadverterit an ex situ corporis
iUud viderat contigisset. Ambulanti quoque idem apparet,
euntem sequitur, ac sistente consistit, et sic ad horam integram,
capiti veluti affixum diadema, ut futurae gloriae specimen
conspicitur, Hoc ille paulo ante martirium piae cuidam feminae
indicavit.
" Hormetis homini nomen fuit, et non minori quam alter
constantia insignae victoriae palmam adeptus est, huius nimirum

tanquam vemi imbribus ecclesiae ager irrlgandus fuit, ut in

stellicidiis humoi laeteretur germinans. Expectamus et nos
(nisi forte indigni tanto honore simus) quando veniet sicut
 APPENDIX 439

mercenarii dies noster. Interim dominationis vestrae ac

coeterorum omnium preces enixe rogamusl'ut pater luminum
reddat nobis laetitiam salutaris sui spiritu principali confirmet
nos.
" Martii 8° No. D. 1590
" Vrae diminationis studios.
" Robertus Southuelus."

Indorsed. " This relation was translated into Spanish and

presented to elII the grandees of Spain to make them
conceive that the number and persecution of the
Catholics of England was great."

Letter of James I. to the Earl of Somerset.

" First I tak God the searcher of all hairts to recorde that]^in
all the time past of ydle talk I never knew, nor could out of

anie observation of mjme find anie appearance of anie such coxirt

faction as ye have apprehended ; and so was I ever from
f arre

overseeing or indirectUe feeding of had apprehendit it),

it (if I
as I protest to God I would have runne upon it with my feete,
as upone fire, it, if I could have seene anie
to have extinguished
sparkle of it. As your informations, ye dailie told me so
for
many lyes of my self that waire reported unto you, cis I confesse
I gave the lesse credit to your reporters in other things, since
ye could not be an eye witnesse of it yourself. Next I take the
same God to record that never man of anie degree did directlie
or indirectUe lett fall unto me anie thing that might be inter-
preted for the lessening of your credit with me, or that one man
should not rewle all, and that no man's dependance should be
but upone the King, or anie suche hk phrase, quhiche if I had
ever found, then would I have besturred my self as became
both so great a king and so infinitelie loving a maister. Thirdlie,
cLS God shall save me, I mente not in the letter I wrotte unto

you to be spairing in the least jote of uttering my affection

towards you, as farre as yourself could requyre my differing
;

frome your forme in that pointe being onHe to follow my owne

style (wch I thought the comeliest) so as then having deUvered
:

my mynde as fuUie to Maye as ye could have wished, Shaving —

—
wretten this letter, ^having quyte turned my coimtenance from
Grahme, the lyk whairof I never did to any man without a
—
knowin offense, I having receaved your nephew in my bedde
chamber, the facon thairof being done in a needlesse braverie of
the Queene, I did surelieexspect that the ydle talk would weare
 —
;

440 APPENDIX
out lyk the Pope's cursing (especiallie seeing my owne hairt
knew it to be without a grownde). For I am farre from thinking
of anie possibilitie of any man ever to come within many degrees
of your truste with me, as I must ingenuousUe confesse ye have
deserved more trust and confidence of me than ever man did,
in secrecie above all fleshe, in feeling and impartiall respect,
as well to honour in everie degree as to my profite and all
my ;

this without respect ather to kinne or allye or your neerest or

deerest freind quhatsomever, nay onmoveable in one haire that
might conceme me against the quhole world and in these
;

points I confesse I never saw anie come towards your merite

I meane in the points of ane inwardUe trustye freind cm.d servant.
But as a peece of ground can not be so fertill but if ather by the
owin naturall rankness or evill manuring thairof it become also
fertill of strong and noysome weedes, it then proves uselesse

. and all together unprofitable, even so these before rehersit

worthie and rare pairts and merites of yours have bene of long
t57me, but especialhe of late, since this strange phrenesy took
you, so poudred and mixed with strcinge streames of unquyetnes,
passion, furie, and insolent pryde, and (quhich is worst of all)
with a setled kind of indured obstinacie, as it choks smd obscures
all these excellent and good pairts that God hath bestowed upone
you. For although I confesse the greatnesse of that trust and
privacie betwix us will verie well aUowe unto you an infinitelie
great libertie and f reedome of speeche unto me, yea even to rebuke
me more sharpeHe and bitterhe than ever my maister durst do,
yet to invent a new art of railing upone me, nay to borrowe the
toung of the deviU, in comparison quhairof all Peachem's book*
is but a gentle admonition, that can not cufiie within the compasse

of anie libertie of freindship. And do not deceave your self

with that conceat that I allowed you that sort of Ucencious
freedome till of late. For as upon the one pairt it is trew yee
never passed all limites thairin till of late, so upone the other I
bore, God Almightie knowis, with these passions of yoxu's of
olde, dissembUng my greif thairat, onlie in hope that t3mie and
experience wold reclame and abate that heat quhich I thought
to weare you out of by a long suffering patience and manie gentle
admonitions but the circumstances joyned to thef maid them
;

" There is now one Pecham, a minister of Somersetshire, in the Towre

for that and a worse quarreU, having written seditious discourses under
colour of petitions to the last parlement," &c. Chamberlain to Carleton,
5th January, 16U-5. (S.P.O.)
t So MS, ; a word has apparently been omitted : perhaps " same,"
 APPENDIX 441

relish ten tymes worse to my taist then otherways they wold have
done if they had onlie remained in puris naturaUbus of passions.
For first, being uttered at unseasonable houris and so bereaving
me of my reste, ye was so farre from condamning your owin
indiscretion thairin, as be the contrairie it seemed ye did it of
purpose to greive and vexe me. Next, your fj^rie boutades were
coupled with a continuall doggit sullaine behaviour towardes me ;

especiallie shortUe after my fall, though I gave you a farre

contrarie proof after your fall, and in all the.tymes of your other
diseases. Thirdlie, in all your dealings with me ye have manie
tymes uttered a kynd of distrust of the honestie of my freindship
towards you. And fourthhe, quhich is worst of all, and worse
then anie other thing that can be imagined, ye have in manie
of your madde fitts done quhat ye can persuade* me that ye meane
not so muche to hold me by love heirafter as by awe, and that
ye have me so farre in your reverence as that I darre not offende
you or resiste your appetites. I leave out of this reckoning your
long creeping bakke and withdrawing your self from lying in
my chamber, notwithstanding my many hundreth tymes eamiste
soUiciting you to the contraire, accounting that but as a point of
unkindnesse. Now whether all your great pairtes and merites be
not accompanied with a sowre and distasteful! sawce, yourself
shalbe juge. Consider Ukeways of the difference of the things
that ye laye to my charge and that I lay to yours. Heir is not
he said and shee said, no conjectural! presumtions, noe things
gathered out of owtward appearance. I chairge you with no
thing but things directHe actit or spoken to my self. I wishe at
God thairfore, and I shall both pray for it and hoape it, that ye
may mak good use of this little mirroure of yourself quhich
heirin I present unto you it is not lyk
; Sir Walter Rallies
description of the kings that he hates, quhomof he speaketh
nothing but evil ;t for this layes plainlie and honestlie before
you both your best and worst pairts.
" To conclude then this discourse proceiding frome the infinit
greif ofa deeplie wounded hairt, I proteste in the presence of
the Alhnightie God that I have borne this greif within me to the
uttermost of my abilitie and as never greif since my birth
;

seazed so heavUie upone me, so have I borne it is long as possibUe

1 can; nather can I beare it longer without committing ane
unpardonable sinne against God in consuming my self willfullie,
» So MS.
" Sr Walter Raleigh's booke is called in by the Kinges commaundment
t
for divers exceptions, but specially for beeing too sawcie in censuring
princes." Chamberlain to Carleton, 5th January, 1614-5. (S.P.O.)
442 APPENDIX
and not onlie my self, but in perrilling thairby not onlie the
good estait of my owne people, but even the estait of religion
through all Christendom, quhich all most quholie under God
lyes now upone my shoulders. Be not the occasion of the
hastening of his death through greif, who was not onhe your
creator under God, but hath manie a tjnne prayed for you,
quhich I never did for no subject alyve but for you. But the
lightening my hairt of this burden is not now the onHe cause
that makes me preasse you indelayedlie to ease my greif ; for
your owne furious assaults of me at unseasonable houris hath
now made it knowen to so manie that ye have bene in some
crosse discours with me, as thair must be some exteriour signes
of the amendment of your behaviour towardes me. These
observations have bene maide and collected upone your long
being with me at unseasonable houris, lowde speaking upon both
pairts, and thair observation of my sadnes after your pairting,
and wante of reste.
" Quhat shalbe the best remedie for this I wiU teU you by
toung. But for the easing of my inward and consuming greif,
aU I crave is that in all the words and actions of your lyi ye
may ever mak it appeare to me that ye never think to hold grippe
of me but out of my meere love, and not one haire by feare.
Consider that I am a freeman, if I waire not a king. Remember
that all your being, except your breathing and soule, is frome me.
I told you twyce or thryce that you might lead me by the hairt
and not by the nose. I can not deall honestlie, if I deal not
plainhe with you. If ever I finde that ye think to retaine me
by one sparkle of feare, all the violence of my love will in that
instant be changed in as violent a hatred. God is my juge my
love hath been infinit towards you and the onUe strength of
;

my affection towards you hath maid me beare with these things

in you, and brydle my passions to the uttermost of my abUities.
Lett me be mette then with your entyre hairt, but softened with
humihtie. Lett me never apprehende that ye disdaine my
persone and undervalue my qualities and lette it not appeare
;

that any pairt of your former affection is cooled towardes me.

A king may slakke a pairt of his affection towards his servant
upone the pairties defaulte and yet love him but a servant can
;

not do so to his maister, but the maister must haitehim. Hold

me thus by the hairt ; ye may buHd upone my favour as upone
a rockke that never shall feall you, that never shall wearie to
give newe demonstration of my affection towards you ; nay,
that shall never suffer anie to ryse in anie degree of my favour,
 APPENDIX 443

except they may acknowledge and thank you as a furtherer of

it, and that I may be persuadit in my hairt that they love and

honour you for ray saik (not that any Uving ever shall come to
the twentie degree of your favoure). For although your good
and hairtlie humble behaviour may washe quyte out of my hairt
your b37past errors, yet shall I never pardon my self, but shall
carie that crosse to the grave with me, for raising a man so hye
as might mak one to presume to pierce my eases with such
speeches.
" To make ane end then of this unpleasant discours, think
never to value your selfe to me by any
other merites so much as
by love and hairtUe humble obedience. It hath ever been my
common ansour to anye that wolde pleade for favour to a Puritane
minister by reason of his rare giftes, that I had rather have a
conformable man with but ordinarie pairts, than the rarest men
in the world that will not be obedient for that leaven of pride
;

sowres the quhole loafe. What can or ever could thus trouble
your m57nde ? For the exteriour to the world, what can any
servants exspect of their prince but countenance or reward ?
Do not aU court graces and places come through your office as
Chamberlane, emd rewards through your father-in-lawe's that is
Thesauraire ? Do not ye two (as it waire) hedge in all the court
with a manner of necessitie to depende upone you ? And
have ye not, besydes your own infinite privacie with me, together
with the manie offices ye possesse, your nephew in my bedde-
chamber, besydes another farre more actif than he in court
practises ? And have ye not one of your nerest kinsmen that
loves not to be ydle in my sone's bedde-chamber ? With this
shuld ye have silenced these newes-bringers and makers of f rayes.
For no other thing is left behind but my hairt, quhich ye have
nather cause to doubte, nor, if it did need, could they counsell
or advyse you how to helpe.
" Thus have I now sette down unto you quhat I wold say if I
waire to mak my testament it lyes in your hand to mak of me
;

quhat you please, either the best maister and trewest freind,
or, if you force me once to caU you ingraite, quhich the God of
Heaven forbidde, no so great earthlie plague can light upone
you. In a word, ye may procure me to delyte to give daylie
more and more demonstrations of my favours towards you, if
the faulte be not in your self."*

* Lambeth MSS. 930, 90. Docketed, " Adrian Moore, Jhone Holland
These three letters weare in the black boxe signed with that seale wch Sir
Tbo. Maye brought." The MS. is not divided into paragraphs.
444 APPENDIX
Bundle 1566, Loseley.
" Si quis enarrare conetur quanta paucissimis mensibus facta
sit hac pene tota inferiori Germania mutatio non temtum in
fide et religione sed etiam in tranquillitate publica, obedientia
erga civilem magistratum, Justitia civili, commerciis publicis, et
omni genere et exercitatione mechanicis non tantum apud
posteros sed etiam apud exteros qui tranquillimum statum
huius regionis aliquando viderint, fidem non obtinebit nisi forsan
dUigenter attenderit quantum momenti in gubenatione Reipublici
habeat impunitas scelerum quae cum jam aliquot annos apud nos
viguisset tandem per eos consummata est qui se Geux, Scurras
excogitato nomine vocaverunt. Nam cum a sua celesitudine
oninem inquisitionis ac regiorum edictorum contra hereseos
abolitionem in Aprili extorsissent statim in Junio nescio a
quibus evocati sunt e Geneva metis et aliis pluribus locis infectis
plurimi errorum novorum ministri qui a nonnullis civitatibus
tanto applausu suscepti sunt ut ad unam concionem procul a
comitatibus octo decem aut quatuordecim millia hominum
convenirent cum que initio nescio an dissimulando an potius
fovendo et promovendo negotium dormiri videretur, sumptis
armis suos concionatores palam in potentissimas quasque civi-
tates introduxerunt non tantum magistratibus sed etiam propin-
quis civitatibus timorem. Quo factum est ut
incutientes
mercatorum alii sese ab emporiis reciperent, alii nihil auderent
emere, omnes si quam heberent pecuniam imminentibus
periculis illam reservarent et sic cessaret omne commercium, ac
proinde etiam plurima artifida civitatum. Cumque jam dicto
malo nullum adhiberetur remedium, in Augusto res ad earn
rabiem venit ut ruptis coenobiorvun et templorum portis in
pluribus civitatibus ac pagis conculcata et contrita sunt Sacra-
menta, altaria omnia suffossa, vestes sacrae direptae, imagines
combustae, et quidquid ad Dei cultum et omamentimi templorum
pertinebat confractum et contritum. Item cenobia spoliata,
dirapta, contrita, et monachi explosi ita ut in habitu seculari
coacti sunt fugere, et in civitatibus longo tempore cessaverit
omnis divinus cultus, et cesserit hereticis concionibus ex quibus
nonnullae postea permissis concionibus hereticis in quibusdam
;

templis cultum consuetum restituerunt, aliae vero iu sua miseria

perseverent, ut Valencene et Busioducis. Civitates autem in
quibus perpetrata est manifesta confusio sunt haec. In
Plandria, Ipre, Gandavium, Aldenardum, Cortrattmi, et aliae
plures in occidental Flandria quarum nomina mihi non occur-
reunt cum multis pagis vicinis. In Brabantia Antuberpia,
 APPENDIX 445

Mechlinia, Liira, Buscoducis, Breda, Ludovia, Turnhoudt cum

multis pagis et Abbatiis ut Abbatia S. Michaelis Antoberpiae,
et St. Bemardi prope Hantoberpiam, Postel et aliis quibusdam in
Campinia, In Hannonia Valencene et Angia cum Abbatia
Viconien Hafion et CrispK^n. *In Artesia nulla civitas banc
confusionem passa est quod sciam, sed vastata est Abbatia
Mariniensis. In comitatu Namurcen et Ducatu LuxenburgeS
puto nihil actum. In Geldria audio predicari in Bommel et
—
omnia confracta in Ruremonda de ceteris nondum audivi.
Aliquid etiam actum est in Frisia. In Trajecto superiori pre-
dicatur strenue sed nondum audivi violata esse templa. In
Trajecto inferiori vastata sunt templa parochiarum, sed quinque
canonicorum templa per eos armis defensa sunt. In HoUandia
vastata sunt omnia. In Amsterdamis, Deelst, Leiidis, Vianen,
Culenbm-go et plurimis aliis ut puto, sed credo nusquam peius
agi quam Buscoducis quamquam etiam Valenchenis res valde
male habeat. 17 Octobris Antoberpiae tentaverunt quidam
rursus confringere altaria venerabilis Sacramenti et Altare B.
Mariae quae ad celebrandum in majori ecdesia utcumque restituta
erant, sed comes de Hoochstraten et duo burgimagistri civitatis
supervenientes cum manu mUitari alios occiderunt, alios vulner-
averunt, plures etiam apprehenderunt, ex quibus postridie sex
publice suspensi sunt, et ceteri adhuc decem in vinculis teneri
omnes quae res nonnihU spei nobis prebet quia ab initio tur-
;

bationis vix in tota Brabantia audivimus factum uUam institiam.

Rex dicitur cito pedem movent nescimus.
venturus, sed, an adhuc
InteUigimus tamen multis locis mUitem conscribi quos ad co-
hibendos rebelliones putamus in adventu eius preparari.
BruxeUis non defuerunt qui publice petiverint habere erroris
ministrum sed conscriptis mUitibus ita eis hactenus restitum
est ut nihil obtinuerint. Lovaniis valemus ut solemus hoc solo
dempto quod universus clerus principio per nationes ad tempus
egerit excubias in armis propter minas extemorum hereticorum
qui se mmc vocant Geux, sicut in GaUio vocantm: Hugenoti.
Nam cmn desperarent se posse contaminare templa omnia minati
sunt incendere civitatem. Sed laus Superis, hactenus nihil
passi sumus nisi quod iam a mense praeter octo mihtes quos
promotori iunximus et praeter duodecim quos civites partim
pretori partim suo burgimagistro addidit conduximus communi
sumptu imiversus adhuc ducentos mihtes qui clerum
et civitatis
et cives a quotidianis excubiis sublevent, et nihilominus adhuc
septimo quoque die etiam ipsi in equali numero cum honoratioribus
civibus qui sunt de magistratu agimus excubias super domum
446 APPENDIX
civicam. Licentiati vero et alii eiusdem dignitatis cum aliis
civibus bini in portis civitatis ad discemendum et describendum
qui quotidie ingrediantur et egrediantur civitatem tarn tandem
:

remitto sarcinam Revent Tomam Mr. Nicholaus et Joannes obit

per quos remittenda sunt hactenus fuerunt in Hibemia unde a
paucis diebus reversi sunt, nee tamen de vestro reditu ad Archie-
piscopatum aliquid certe mihi dicere potuerunt. De subsidio
quod Regia majestas vestratibus pro studiis persequendis suppedi-
tatura putabatur hactenus nihil audivi nee verisimile est in
tantis dif&cultatibus aliquid futurum nisi res Reverendissimo
conquensi cordi sit quod non fit mihi verisimUe. Mr. Richardus
nuper bursarius CoUegii nostri diu captivus in AngUa detentus
est postea tamen Uberatus est carcere nee interim de iUo quidquid
audivi. Spero Reverendissimun reversum esse et pro nobis
apud Deum quotidie devotas preces fundere cui et me et misera-
bilem reipbae calamitatem de animo commendo.
:

" Lovanii 22. Octobris Anno 1566.

" Rme. atque Illustme R, —Rector enns.
"Mich, de Bay."

Note. —*TheRev. Bonaventure Sodar, O.S.B., of the Abbey

of Maredsous Namur), thinks that " Mariniensis " in this
(Pr.
letter stands for " Morinensis," as there is no such name in Artois.
It would thus be question most problbly of the Abbey of St.
Augustine of the Premonstratensions, near Theronanne, commonly
called " S. Augustini Tarvanese coenobium." Theronanne was
the ancient " Morinum." It was almost entirely destroyed under
its twenty-seventh Abbot, Robert Picart (1546-1559). But the
historians of the order think that its destruction was rather the
crime of the French Governor of Therouanne than a direct result
of the wars of reUgion.
 APPENDIX II

A SUMMARY OF THE LAWS AGAINST CATHOLICS

Law Dictionary there is a naive remark on the word

In Jacob's
Papist. We
are told that this word " seems to be considered by
Roman Cathohcs themselves as a nick-name of reproach." Not-
withstanding this, the writer of the article on " Papists " adopts
the name as the chief title for all Cathohcs, and he repeats it
in very nearly every sentence of his long and interesting treatise.
It is much the same kind of offensive language that is used by
very
many otherwise well-meaning Protestants even in these days
when they insist on speaking of Cathohcs as Romanists and the
CathoUc Church as Romish. These are nick-names to which all
Cathohcs strongly object and no one should use them unless he
desires to offend against good manners.
However, having entered this protest which, unfortunately,
4s even now only too often needed, I will give an extract from
Jacob's article as it is a most admirable summary of the penal
laws from the time of Elizabeth up to the reign of George III.
It is not generally known in this country how terribly were Cathohcs,
or Papists as they are here called, ground down, crushed and bled
of all their susbtance for a period of over three hundred years.
Anyone who chooses to consult the Dictionary will see that the
writer was of opinion that these laws were " absolutely necessary
for the preservation of our constitutions." He was no partisan
of the Church and therefore his summary may be taken as accurate
and rehable when he states the case of the persecutor,
" I. By various statutes, if any Enghsh priest of the Church
of Rome, bom in the dominions of the Crown of England, came
to England from beyond the seas, or tarried in England three
days without conforming to the Church, he was guilty of high
treason and they also incurred the guilt of high treason who
;

were reconciled to the see of Rome, or procurred others to be

reconciled to it. By these laws also Papists were totally disabled
from giving their children any education in their own rehgion.
If they educated their children at home, for maintaining the
schoolmaster, if he did not repair to church, or was not allowed
by the bishop of the diocese, they were liable to forfeit £io a
447
 ;;

448 APPENDIX
month, and the schoolmaster was liable to forfeit 40s. a day
if thejr sent their children for education to any school of their
persuasion abroad they were liable to forfeit £100 and the
children
so sent were disabled from inheriting, purchasing, or enjoying
any lands, profits, goods, debts, duties, legacies, or sums of money.
Sajnng Mass was punishable by a f orfeitiu'e of 200 marks hearing ;

it, by a forfeiture of 100. See Stats. I Eliz. C. 2 ; 23 Eliz. C. i

27 Eliz. C. 2 ; 29 Eliz. C. 6 35 EUz. C. 2 ; 2 Jac. I. C. 4
;

3 Jac. I., CC. 4 5 7 Jac.

;
I.,
;
C. 6 ; 3 Car. I., C. 2 ; 23 Car. II.,
C. 2 ; 7 E. 8 W. 3, C, 27 ; i Geo. I., st. 2, C. 13.
" By stat. II E, 12 W, 3.C. 4, where the parents of Protestant
children are Papists, the Lord Chancellor may take care of the
education of such Protestant children, and make order for their
maintenance suitable to the abihty of the parent.
"2. Under this head are to be classed those laws which are
generally called the Statutes of Recusancy. It should be
observed that absence from church alone and unaccompanied by
any other act, constitutes Recusancy, in the true sense of that
word. Till the Stat. 35 EUz. C. 2, all non-conformists were
considered as Recusants, and were all equally subject to the
penalties of Recusancy ; that statute was the first penal statute
made against Popish Recusants, by that name and as distin-
guished from other Recusants. From that statute arose the
distinction between Protestant and Popish Recusants the ;

former were subject to such statutes of Recusancy as preceded

that of the 35th of EUzabeth, and to some statutes against
Recusancy made subsequently to that time ; but they were
relieved from them aU by the act of Toleration, stat. I. W. & M.
St. I.e. 18. From the stat. 35 Eliz. C. 2, arose also the distinction
between Papists or persons professing the Popish rehgion, in
general, and Popish Recusants, and Popish Recusants Convict.
Notwithstanding the frequent mention in the statutes, of Papists
or persons professing the Popish rehgion, neither the statutes
themselves, nor the cases adjudged upon them, present a clear
notion of the acts or circumstances that, in the eye of the law,
constituted a Papist, or a person professing the Popish religion.
When a person of that description absented himself from church,
he came under the legal description of a Popish Recusant, when
he was convicted in a Court of Law of absenting himself from
church, he was termed a Popish Recusant Convict to this ;

must be added the constructive Recusancy, incurred by a refusal

to take the oath of Supremacy. With respect to the statutes
against Recusancy, by these statutes, Popish Recusants Convict
 ;

APPENDIX 449

were punishable by the censures of the church, and by a fine of

£20 for every month during which they absented themselves
from church they were disabled from holding offices or employ-
;

ments ;from keeping arms in their houses, from maintaining

actions or suits at law, or in equity, from being executors or
guardians from presenting to advowsons
; from practising
;

in the law or physic and from holding offices, civil or inilitary

; ;

they were subject to the penalties attending excommunication ;

were not permitted to travel five miles from home, unless by

hcence, upon pain of forfeiting all their goods and might not ;

come to court under pain of £100. No marriage or burial of

such Recusant, or baptism of his child, should be had otherwise
than by ministers of the Church of England, under severe penalties
imposed by Stat. 3 Jac. I., C. 5. A married woman, when
convicted of Recusancy, was Uable to forfeit two-thirds of her
dower or jointure. She could not be executrix or administratrix
to her husband, nor have any part of his goods, and during her
marriage she might be kept in prison, unless her husband re-
deemed her at the rate of £10 a month, or the third part of his
lands. Popish Recusants Convict were, within three months
after conviction, either to submit and renounce their reUgious
opinions, or, if required by four justices, to abjure the realm
and if they did not depart, or if they returned without licence,
they were guilty of felony, and were to siiffer death as felons.
" 3. It must be premised that the Roman CathoUcs make
no objection to take the Oath of Allegiance in Stat, i Geo. I.,
St. 2, C. 13 or the Oath of Abjuration in Stat. 6 Geo. 3, C. 53.
;

With respect to the Oath of Supremacy, by Srat. i EUz. C. i,

the persons therein mentioned were made compellable to take
the Oath of Supremacy contained in that act by Stat. 3 Jac. I.,
;

C. 4, another oath was prescribed to be taken, commonly called

the Oath of Allegiance and Obedience. These oaths were
abrogated by Stat, i W. & M., st. i. C. 8 ; and a new Oath of
Allegiance and a new Oath of Supremacy were introduced, and
required to be taken in their stead ; the Stat, i Geo. I., st. 2, C. 13,
contains an Oath of Supremacy, in the same words as the Oath
of Supremacy required to be taken by stat. i W. & M., st. i C. 8 ;

By that oath persons are made to swear, that no foreign prince,

'

person, prelate, State, or potentate, hath or ought to have, any

jurisdiction, power, supremacy, pre-eminence, or authority,
ecclesiastical or spiritual within the realm.' It was required to
be taken by the persons therein named ; it might be tendered
to any person, by any two justices of the peace and person^
;

30
 ;

450 APPENDIX
refusing the Oath so tendered were adjudged to be Popish
Recusants Convict, and to forfeit and to be proceeded against
as such. This was the constructive Recusancy referred to
above. It was not the offence itself of Recusancy, which, as
already observed, consisted merely in the party's absenting
himseU from church it was the offence of not taking the Oaths
;

of Supremacy, and the other Oaths prescribed by the Stat.

I Geo. I., St. 2 C. 13, the refusal of which was, by that statute,
placed on the same footing as the legal conviction on the statutes
of Recusancy, and subjected the party refusing to the penalties
of those statutes. This was the most severe of all the Ie^ws
agEiinst Papists. The punishment of Recusancy was penal in
the extreme, and the persons objecting to the oath in question
might be subjected to all the penalties of Recusancy, merely
by their refusing the oath when tendered to them. It added to
the penal nature of these laws that the oath in question might be
tendered, at the mere wiU of two justices of peace, without any
previous information or complaint, before a magistrate, or any
other person. Thus by refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy,
when tendered to them, they became liable to all the penalties
of recusancy, and the same refusal, by Stats. 7 E. 8 W, 3 C. 4
I Geo. I., St. 2 C. 13, restrained them from practising the law as
advocates, barristers, solicitors, attomies, notaries, or proctors,
and from voting at elections. With respect to the declaration
against popery, the stat. 30 Car. 2, st. 2 C. i, contains the
declaration, and prescribes it to be made by members of either
House of Parliament before they take their seats. By
it they

decleire their disbehef of the doctrine of transubstantiation, and

their belief that the invocation of saints, and the sacrifice of the
mass are idolatrous.
" 4. How
the landed property of Papists was affected by the
laws Recusancy has been already mentioned. By
against
stat. II. E. 12, W. 3, C. 4, it was enacted that a person educated
in the Popish religion, or professing the same, who did not in
six months, after the age of sixteen, take the Oaths of Allegiance
and Supremacy, and suscribe the declaration prescribed by
Stat. 30 C. 2, St. 2 C. I, should, in respect of himself only, and not
of his heirs or posterity, be disabled to inherit or take lands by
descent, devise, or limitation, in possession, reversion or remainder;
and that, during his life, till he took the oaths Eind subscribed the
declaration against Popery, his next of kin who was a Protestant,
should enjoy the lands, without accounting for the profits, and
should be incapable of purchasing ; and that all estates, terms,
 APPENDIX 451

interests, or profits out of lands, made, done, or suffered to his

use, or in trust for him, should be void.
" By Stat.
3 Jac. I., C. 5 i W. & M., 12 Ann
; st. 2 C. 14
; ;

II G. 2, C. 17, Papists, or persons professing the Popish religion,

were disabled from presenting to advowsons, and other ecclesi-
astical benefices, and to hospitals and other charitable estab-
lishments. Byannual acts of the legislature, Papists being of
the £ige of eighteen years, and not having taken the Oaths of
Allegiance and Supremacy, were subjected to the burthen of the
double land teix. By stat. i Geo. I., st. 2 C. 55, they were
required to register their names and estates in the manner, and
under the penalties therein mentioned and by stat. 3 Geo. I.,
;

C. 18, continued by several subsequent statutes, an obUgation

of inroUing their deeds and wills was imposed on them. Such
were the principal penal laws against Roman CathoHcs, at the
time of the accession of the House of Brunswick.
" The only act of any importance which till the reign of his
present Majesty* was passed for their relief (and that operated
but in an indirect manner for their benefit), was stat. 3 Geo. I.,
C. 18. On the construction of Stat. 11, E. 12, W. 3, C. 4, it had
been held, that as it expressly confined the disability of Papists
to take by descent to themselves only, and preserved their
heirs and posterity from its operation, it was not to be construed
as preventing the vesting of the freehold and inheritance in them,
in cases of descent, or transmitting them to their posterity ;

but that the disability respected only the permanency of the

profits, or beneficiaf property of the lands, of which it deprived
them, during their non-conformity. Whether that part of the
statute which relates to their taking by purchase should receive
the same construction was a frequent subject of discussion, the
statute being in that branch of it, without any limitation. To
remedy this, the said stat. 3 Geo. I., C. 18, was passed. It
enacts, that no sale for a full and valuable consideration, by the
owner or reputed owner of any lands, or of any interest therein
theretofore made, or thereafter to be made, to a Protestant
purchaser, shall be impeached, by reason of any disability of
such Papist, or of any person under whom he claims, in conse-
quence of stat. II E. 12, W. 3, C. 4, unless the person taking
advantage of such disability shall have recovered before the sale,
or given notice of his claim to the purchaser or before the
;

contract for sale, shall have entered his claim at the quarter
sessions and bona fide pursued his remedy. The statute then
• George III,
432 APPENDIX
recites the clauses of stat. II, E. 12, W. 3, C, 4, disabling Papists
from purchasing ;and afterwards enacts, that these clauses
shall not be thereby altered or repealed, but shall remain in full
force. This proviso is couched in such general words, that it
created a doubt in some, whether it did not nearly frustrate the
whole effect of the act. To this it was answered, that not-
withstanding the proviso, the enacting part of the statute was
in full force, for the benefit of a Protestant purchaser and that,
;

the proviso operated only to declare that Papists themselves

should not derive any benefit from the act, in any purchases they
should attempt to make, under the foregoing clauses. This was
considered the better opinion, and on the authority of it, many
purchases of considerable consequence were made." (" The —
Law-Dictionary," Jacob, Vol. II.)
LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED IN THIS VOLUME

Th^ pages refer to this hook

No.
1 Memorandum of Sand-stone taken from Guildford Castle and
sold to Sir William More for the boUding of Loseley.
(Bundle 1,575; p. 24.

2 Elizabeth WoUey to her father Sir William More. Speaks of —

her life in the capacity of Lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth.
(Vol. IX., n. 115) p. 30.

3 Thomas Edwards to Lady Elizabeth Wolley.—Queen

Elizabeth's anxiet}- for the health of Sir William More.
(Vol. IX., n. 116) p. 31.

4 Elizabeth Wolley to her father. Sir WUliam More. ^Account —

of hawking with Queen Elizabeth and Sir Robert Cecill.
Meanness of Cecill (Vol. IX., n. 122) p. 33.

5 Note on the following letters of King James I. to Sir George

More, Lieutenant of the Tower of London. (Vol. TV., n.33)
P- 45-

6. King James I. to Sir George More. —Somerset has threatened

the IQng. (Vol. IV., n. 33) p. 46.

7 King James I. to Sir George More. —Sends a private message to

Someiset. (Vol. IV., n. 33) p. 47.

8 King James I. to Sir George More. —^Urges Somerset to confess

his guik. (VoL IV., n. 33) p. 48.

9 King JamK I. to Sir George More. —Somerset feigns madness.

(VoL rV^., n. 33) p. 49.

10 King James attests his parentage. (Bundle 1.329 (II.)

Miscellaneous Papers) p. 50.

11 Miss Anne Comwallis Molyneux. — Sir William More's fortune.

(VoL IV., n. 103) p. 50.

12 Royal Commission of —
Henry Xlll. Order to Bishops and
clergy to publish on " every Sunday and every other high
feast throughout the year." The " enormities and abuses
of the Bishop of Rome, etc." (A'ol. V., No. 2) p. 56.
 —

454 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS

No.
13 Marian " Martyrs." (Vol. V., No. 69) p. 64.

14 Cardinal Pole's Pastoral. (Bundle 1,085 XVIII., Ecclesias-

tical and Theological Miscellaneous Papers) pp. 69 to 87.

15 Cardinal Pole's letter to Archbishop Cranmer. (Bundle

1,329 II., Miscellaneous Papers). Translation p. 91, latin
original p. 425.

16 Thomas Chaundeler and Robert Sterete. —Deposition made

to Sir William More, giving doctrines and practices of Ana-
baptists. (Vol. v., n. 4, Recusants) pp. 103 to 112.

17 Laws of the Grand Commission Ecclesiastical —Elizabeth.

(Vol. v., n. 10) pp. 113 to 118.

18 Elizabeth's Council to Justices of the Peace in Surrey.

Commissioners, appointed to enforce attendance at Common
Prayer, to meet ; those persons of great livelihood, who are
not in the Commission, to be added to the number ; those
who refuse to subscribe, to be bound in large sums to be of
good behaviour. (Vol. V.) pp. 119 to 121.

19 Bonds made by Edward Banister, Henry Goring and George

Goring for large sums on account of their Religion. (Vol. V.)
p. 121.

20 Michael De Bay to the Rector of Louvain University.

Religious troubles in the Lowlands. (Bundle 1,566
translation, the original latin letter is in the Appendix)
p. 124 and p. 444 (latin original).

21 Thomas Copley to Sir William More. —

DecHnes invitation to
stay the night ; asserts the right of liberty of conscience.
(Bundle of Letters, 1,580) pp. 128 and 129.

22 Thomas Copley to Sir Henry Weston and the Justices of the

Peace in Surrey. —Reasons for refusing to subscribe to the
Oath. (Vol. IX., n. 20) p. 129.

23 Thomas Copley to Sir Henry Weston and the Justices of the

—
Peace in Surrey. Defends the Catholic position. (Vol IX.,
n. 19) pp. 130 and 131.

24 —
Council to Sir William More. Earl of Southampton to be
removed from the custody of Mr. Alderman Becher to that of
Sir WilUam More. (Vol. IV., n. 3) p. 136.

25 Earl of Southampton to Sir William More. —Speaks of his

enforced visit. (Vol. IV., n. 4) p. 137.
 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS 455

No.
26 Sir —
Harry Becher to Sir William More. Informs him of the
intended removal of the Earl of Southampton. (Vol. IV.
n. 5) p. 138.

27 Lord Anthony Montague to Sir WUliam More. —

Anxiety for
the health of the Earl of Southampton. (Vol. IV., n. 6)
p. 139-

28 Lord Anthony Montague to Sir William More. Suffering — of

the Earl of Southampton. (Vol. IV., n. 7) p. 139.

29 —
Lord W. Howard to Sir William More. Declines responsibihty
for Earl of Southampton's removal to Loseley. (Vol. IV.,
n. 8) p. 140.

30 Sir —
Harry Becher to Sir William More. ^Alleges the plague as
the reason for the Earl's removal to Loseley. (Vol. IV., n. 9)
p. 141.

31 Lord Anthony Montague to Sir William More. —Intercedes for

the Earl of Southampton. (Vol. IV., n. 10.) p. 142.

32 —
Council to Sir William More. Wish to be informed whether
the Earl " do come to common prayer or not." (Vol. IV.,
n. 11) p. 142.

33 Lord Anthony Montague to Sir William More. His anxiety—

on hearing that a pursuivant had been sent to Loseley.
(Vol. IV., n. 12) p. 143.

34 —
Council to Sir William More. Earl of Southampton to appear
before the Council. (Vol. IV., n. 13) p. 143.

35 Sir —
William More to Secretary Cecill. ^An appeal to be
delivered of the charge of the Earl. (Vol. IV., n. 14) p. 144.

36 Sir —
WiUiam More to the Lords of the Council. The Earl of
Southsmipton has come to Common Prayer. (Vol. IV., n. 15)
p. 144.

37 Sir —
William More to Secretary CeciU. Further appeal on
behalf of the Earl of Southampton. (Vol. IV., n. 16) p. 145.

38 Lord W. Burghley to Sir William More. —The Earl may repair

" to my Lady his mother." (Vol. IV., n. 16) p. 146.

39 —
Council to Sir William More. The Earl may visit " my lady
his wife," or go sometimes abroad for " taking the air,"
or " repair sometimes to an house of his in Wapping, which
now is in building." (Vol. IV., n. 17) p. 146.

40
—
Council to the Earl of Southampton. ^The Earl may dwell
with the Viscount Montague, his father-in-law. (Vol. IV.,
n. 18) p. 147.
 ——

456 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS

No.
41 —
Earl of Southampton's wife to Lady More. Thanks her and
her husband for their services. (Vol. IV., n. 19) p. 148.
42 Earl of Southampton to Sir William More.
" delivered of a goodly boy." (Vol. IV. n. 20)
—Lady More
p. 148.

43 Earl of Southampton to Sir William More. Will break his —

journey at Loseley on his way to London. (Vol. IV., n. 21)
p. 149.

44 Bishop of Winchester and others to Sir WiUiam More.

Warrant to arrest Peter ReneUard, a French priest now or
late serving the cure of Peperharow in Surrey. (Vol. V.,
n. 7) p. 151.

45 Lord W. Howard to Sir Thomas Browne. Commissioners

for fugitives in Surrey to meet at Reigate. (Vol. V.) p. 152.

46 Lady Southampton and Lady Montague to Sir WiUiam More.

—Intercede for "
an old poor woman " imprisoned by the
Bishop of Winchester for religion. (Vol. V., n. i) p. 153.
47
—
Council to Sir William More. ^To prevent people travelling
abroad without Ucence. (Bundle of Letters, 1,581 to 1,600)
p. 158.

48 Council to the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace in Surrey.

Order to search for priests. (Vol. V., n. 15) p. 160.
49 Thomas Harrison, spy. —Information about huge sums
extorted from Catholics. (Vol. V., n.
71) 171. p.

50 Council to WiUiam More. —Order to search

Sir one Morgan,
for
a priestin hiding at Sutton Place. (Vol. V., n.
57) p. 184.

51 Richard Young to WiUiam More. —Thanks

Sir the search for
at Henley Park ; Francis Browne has conformed. (Vol. V.,
n. 33) p. 188.

52 Council to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others.

" Chief est and most principal persons of the Recusants to be
committed to charge." (Vol. XII., n. 86) p. 189.
53 Examination of Tristram Winslade. —Information about the
Spanish Armada ; asserts his loyalty. (Bundle 1,581 to
1,600) p. 194.

54 Royal Commission dated 23rd November, the Thirty-fourth

year of EUzabeth, with articles of instruction for the perse-
cution of priests and catholic lay folks. (Bundle,
" Rescusancy," 1,380) p. 196.

55 Lord Howard and others to the Council. Members of the—

Commission not disaffected in religion some not resident in
;

the shire other names might be added. (Vol. V., No. 43)
;

p. 202.
 —
LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS 457

No.
56 Chancellor William Say to Sir William More. Archdeacon of —
Surrey to make a return of Recusants. (Vol. V., No. 49)
p. 204.

57 Certificates of Recusants in Surrey ; returns drawn up by

Thomas Rydley, Doctor of Civil Law. (Vol. V., No. 58)
pp. 204 to 209.

58 SirWilliam More and others to the High Constables of the

—
Hundred of Woking. A suriimons to Borrowe, Thorpe,
Mabank and Foster to appear before the magistrates on
account of their Recusancy. (Vol. V., No. 54) p. 210.

59 Certificate signed by John Shaw, Minister, and the Church-

wardens of Woking. (Vol. V., n. 54) p. 210.

60 Council to Lord Charles

—
Howard. " Recusants on the
increase. Armour of Recusants to be confiscated." (Bundle
1,380) p. 211.
61 Royal Commissions to the Archbishop of Canterbury and
others. —
To inquire into ecclesiastical offences. (1,085, XV.)
p. 215.

62 Inhabitants of Waverley report no Recusants except William

Pykes. (Bundle 1,380) p. 220.
63 Thomas Laware to Sir William More. Examination of —
Edward Talbot and Richard Hokes. (Bundle 1,329 (II.)
Miscellaneous Papers) p. 221.

64 Emily Buckhurst to Sir William More. —

Intercedes for severa^
of her relatives against whom
warrants have been issued.
(Vol. XII., n. 102) p. 222.

65 Lord Buckhurst to the Sheriffs of the County of Surrey.

Government bribes to Commissioners. (Bundle 1,329 (II.)
Miscellaneous Papiprs) p. 223.
66 Elizabeth WoUey to her father Sir William More. Proposes —
to go to Pireford for a christening refers to a dispute about
;

some property. (Vol. IX., n. 107) p. 228.

67 —
Nicholas Saunders to Sir William More. Matters discussed in
Parliament Bill of Confirmation of Colleges, Deans and
;

Chapters passed. (Bundle 1,329 (II.) Miscellaneous Papers)

p. 229.
68 Declaration of the Knights and Burgesses of Surrey that the
Lord Lieutenant, Deputy Lieutenant, Justices of the Peace
and others are not Recusants. Wife of Sir Nicholas Saunders
" is of a popish disposition." (Bundle 1,380, " Recusancy ")
p. 231.
 —

458 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS

No.
69 Memorandum in connection with statutes relating to Recusants
and conveyances by them.
p. 240.
—James I. (Bundle, 1,380)

70 Council to the Sheriff and Justices of Surrey. Order to seize —

the armour of Recusants. (Vol. V., n. 65) James I. p. 243.

71 " Arms, weapons and furniture of war taken from Recusants

in the County of Surrey." (Vol. V., n. 65) James I., p. 244.

72 Names of Recusants convicted within the County of Surrey.

James I. (Vol. V., n. 65) p. 246.

73
—
Council to the Magistrates of Surrey. ^Tempore, Charles I.
Recusants to be disarmed magistrates to study more care-
;

fully the Statutes against Catholics Statutes of preceding

;

reigns to be enforced and added to. (Vol. V., n. 66) p. 252.

74 Walter Spendlen to Mr.Sl3rfied, High Sheriff of the County of

—
Surrey. Two priests, Edward Rishton and Thomas Chfton
in prison, condemned. (Bundle Letters, 1,581 to 1,600)
p. 264.

75 Council to Sir WUliam More and others. —Order to search for

weapons of Recusants. (Vol. V., n. 38) p. 296.

76 Order to Sir William More to certify Recusants and to search

farmers' bams and granaries for corn. (Vol. V., n. 32)
p. 298.

']^ Copy of William More's answer to preceding order, written

Sir
on same.—Calls Catholics a " popish crew " and
fiy-leaf of
Catholic Church an "Anti-Christian and malignant Church."
p. 300.

78 Council to Lord Admiral and Lord Lieutenant of Surrey.

Catholics to be imprisoned. (Vol. V., n. 30).

79 Council to Jiistices of Surrey. To call Recusants to give an

account of their estates and to compound for their freedom
from molestation. (Vol. V., n. 24) p. 302.
80 Certificate of Arms and Armour confiscated from Francis
—
Browne. Certificate of his estate. (Vol. V., n. 36) p. 305.
81 Jane Goldwyer to
"
Sir Francis Walsingham. Appeals for her —
release. A
Catholic lady arrested for maintaining the
doctrine of the Real Presence and auricular confession."
p. 308.
82 Vicar and Churchwardens of Egham report that Jane
Hornyall refuses to come to Church. (Vol. V., n. 21) p. 308.
83 Vicar and Churchwardens of Egham report departure of Jane
Hornyall. (Vol. V., n. 22) p. 309.
 —

LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS 459

No.
84 Warrant for the arrest of Jane Hornyall. (Vol. V., n. 24)
p. 310.

85 —Information as to
Richard Edde, porter of the Marshalsea.
the estates of certain Recusants. (Vol. V., n. 27) p. 311.

86 Robert Lyvesey to Sir William More and others. —Touching

the purchase of armour. (Bundle of Letters, 1,581 to 1,600)
P-3I3-
87 —
George Goring to Sir William More. William Phillips
examined " utterly refuseth to say anything, but now he
being condemned doth require to appeal." (Bundle of
Letters, 1,581 to 1,600) p. 314.

88 Henry Gierke to Clerk of the Peace in the County of Middle-

sex. —
Thomas Fryer, Doctor of Physic, has compounded.
(Vol. V. n. 34) p. 316.

89 Thomas Tryan to Sir William More and others. —Excuses

himself for not waiting on them has compounded
; . (Vol. V. ,•
n. 31) p. 317.

90 J. —
Wolley to Sir William More. Southcote, the Recusant, to
be passed over uncertified. (Vol. V., n. 35) p. 318.
91 Thomas Key, Parson of St. Nicholas in Guildford and others.
Certify that RedaU and his wife are Recusants. (Vol. V.,
n. 44) p. 321.

92 Summons to Redall and his wife to appear before the Bench.

(VoL V.,n. 46) p. 321.

93 More and others to the High Constable of Blackheath to serve

a Summons on Richard Lumleigh of Shalford, and to search
for suspect persons and Cathohc books, Agnus Deis and reHcs.
(Vol. v., n. 45) p. 323.

94 Nicholas Saunders to Sir William More and others. Excuses

himself for not appearing before them. (Bundle of Letters,
1,581 to 1,600) p. 324.

95 Notes on several Recusants, written on the fly-leaf of the

foregoing letter.
96 —
Robert Cole, Vicar of Epsom, to Sir William More. Complains
of having been molested by Sir Nicholas Saunders. (Vol. V.,
n. 16) p. 327.

97 Sir —
William More and others. Martin Clipsain (curate of
Merrow) ex-priest, an heretic, has fled. (Bundle of Letters,
1,581 to 1,600) p. 329.
98 Depositions of witnesses respecting the heretical views of
Martin Clipsain. (Bundle ut supra) p. 330.
 —

46o LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS

No.
99 Sir William More to Sir Thomas Browne. — Clyftoti (Clipsain),
curate of Marrow sent to Sir Thomas Browne to be dealt
with by him. (Bundle ut supra) p. 331.
100 Sir William More to Mr. Croucher and others. —Allen, Ana-
baptist, committed to gaol. (Vol. V., n. 18) p. 332.
loi A letter (almost destroyed) from the Council ordering the
arrest of members of the " Family of Love." (Vol. V., n. 7)
P- 333-
102 SirThomas Browne to Sir William More. His son North to —
be brought before More on account of his " evil actions, broils
and quarrels." (Bundle of Letters, 1,581 to 1,600) p. 334.
103 Sir
and
William More to the Lords of the Council. John Warren
his son to be arrested. (Bundle ut supra) p. 335.
—
104 Council to the Sheriff and Justices of Surrey. Order to —
proceed against prisoners in the Clink, White Lion and other
prisons there confined as Recusants. (Vol. V., n. 19.)

105 Edmund Slyfield, Sheriff, to Sir William More and others.

To summon jailors to accuse Recusants. (Vol. V., n. 23)
P- 336.
106 Sir William More to the Bishop of Winchester. Complains —
about the interference with his post of Keeper of Farnham
Castle. (Bundle, 1,581 to 1,600) p. 337.
107 A petition to Sir William More from prisoners in the White
Lion, Southwark. —Wretched condition of prisoners. (Vol.
v., n. 42) p. 346.
108 —
Letter unsigned from Guildford. Hardy convicted of certain
speeches in defence of the martyrs. Body and Slaid. (Vol.
v., No. 61) p. 349.

109 Jo. Pantone.

—
^Trial and condemnation of Sir Walter Raleigh,
Lord Cobham and Lord Grey. Martyrdom of Watson and
Cleark, priests at Winchester. (Letters 1,601 to 1,650)
P- 350.
no James More-Mol3meux. — ^A satire in verse on Parson Gunn.
(Bundle, 1,085 XVIII.) p. 366.
111 Parochial Accounts from the papers of Sir Thomas Cawarden.
— Parish Church of Blechingley, a.d. 1552. (Vol. V., No. 68)
p. 369.
112 Accounts of Church Ornaments, etc., belonging to the Church
of Bermondsey rendered to Sir Thomas Cawarden and other
Commissioners of the King. No. 68) p. 373.
(Vol. V.,

113 Latin verses on the evils of the Reformation. (Bundle 1,329

(IL) Miscellaneous Papers) translation p. 376, latin p. 423.
 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS 461

No.
X14 List of Recusants indicted. (Bundle 1,380, " Recusancy ")

P- 379-
115 List of prisoners in the Clink for Religion, dated lath March,
1581. (Vol. v.. No. 20) p. 380.

116 List of Recusants indicted. (Vol. V., No. 40) p. 381.

117 Lists of Recusants indicted in the 24th, 26th, 27th and 28th
years of the reign of Elizabeth. (Vol. V., No. 41) p. 384.
118 List of prisoners in the Marshalsea " for their disobedience in
Religion." Dated 27th July, 1582. (Bundle, 1,380,
Recusancy) p. 389.

119 List of prisoners in the White Lion for Religion, dated 23rd
July, 1582. (Vol. XIL, No. 52) p. 391-
120 List of prisoners in the Clink for Religion, dated 23rd July,
1582. (Vol. XIL, No. 53) p. 391.
121 The Peculiars from Doctor Lewen, dated 1585 and 1586.
(1.085, XV.) p. 392-
122 List of Recusants in prison in the King's Bench, Clink and
White Lion (16 priests), dated 7th March, 1585. (Vol. V.,
No. 26) p. 394.
123 List of Recusants in prison in the Marshalsea, King's Bench,
White Lion and Clink. (Vol. V., No. 27) p. 395.
124 List of Recusants convicted or indicted in the County of Surrey
— ^indorsed by James I. (1,085, XV.) p. 397.
125 List of 109 Catholics in different counties. (1,085, XV.) p. 398.
126 List of Recusants in Surrey, signed by W. Waade. (Vol. V.,
No. 38a) p. 399.
127 List of Recusants in Surrey, signed by W. Waade. (Vol. V.,
No. 38c.) p. 400.
128 List of Recusants, signed by W. Waade, dated 27th April,
1585. (Vol. v.. No. 38d.) p. 400.

129 List of Recusants indicted, written in Sir William More's hand-

writing. (Vol. v.. No. 68) p. 401.

130 List of prisoners, in More's handwriting. Some marked

" dead." (Vol. V., No. 28) p. 401.

131 List of Recusants in Surrey " as are of hability and of such

sums of money as they offer to pay yearly." March 9th,
1585. (Vol. v.. No. 29) p. 402.
132 List of " such Recusants now remaining in the several gaols
of the White Lion, the Marsh, the Bench and the Clink in the
County of Surrey as by their own declaration have neither
living nor goods." (Vol. V., No. 29) p. 403.
 —
462 LOSELEY MANUSCRIPTS
No.
133 List of Recusants " as are either dead or not now remaining in
this County." (Vol. V., No. 29) p. 404.

134 List of prisoners for reUgipn committed to the custody of

Anthony Thorpe, keeper of the White Lion, dated 23rd July,
1582. (Vol. v., No. 29) p. 405.

135 List of prisoners in the Clink for religion, dated 23rd July,
1582. (Vol. v.. No. 29) p. 406.
136 List of Recusants a. fragment. {Ibid.) p. 406.

137 List of names of people in Chertsey.Egham and Thorpe. (Vol.

v.. No. 50) p. 407.
138 Certificates ofCommissioners touching Jesuits, Seminarists.
Fugitives and Recusants for the Co. of Surrey, date 1591,
(1,085, XV.) p. 407.

139 Royal Conunission with Articles annexed, dated 1591. (1,380

Recusancy) p. 412.
140 —
Draft of letter from Sir William More to the Council.^ Members
of Commission not suspected of disaffection in Rehgion, some
not resident in the shire and therefore of little use, other
names might be added with profit, dated 5th January, 1591.
(Vol. v.. No. 13) p. 417.

141 John Brodfold, Churchwarden of Godalming Parish Church,

to Sir William More, dated 31st January, 1578. —Dispute
about the Vicar's house. (Vol. IX., No. 52) p. 418.
142
" Diabohca absolutio."
—
Latin form of Absolution from heresy. Indorsed by More
(Bundle 1,329 (II.) Miscellaneous
Papers) p. 423.
 1

OTHER DOCUMENTS QUOTED IN THIS VOLUME

The Pages refer to this book

NO.
1 Annales de Waverleia, p. 12.
2 Layton to Cromwell sends the Abbot of Waverley to Cromwell
;

" for liberty to survey his husbandry." (Calendar IX.,

No. 452.) (Quoted from Henry VIII. and the Eng. Mon.,
Gasquet) p. 16.
3 Abbot of Waverley to Cromwell Pleads for the preservation of
:

the Community. (Quoted from Henry VIII. and the Eng.

Mon, Gasquet) p. 17.
4 Cardinal Pole to Archbishop Cranmer. (Quoted from Str3rpe's
Memorials) pp. 90 and 91.
5 Cardinal Allen to Catholics in England. His sympathy for—
them in their sufferings Catholics not allowed to take part
;

in prayers and services with Protestants the Pope's;

decision. (State Papers, Vol. 243, n. 30) pp. 132 to 135.

6 List of Catholics and Priests in England and Wales, dated
December 30th, 1577. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 119, n. 20) p. 150.
7 Number of priests in England in 1598. (Dom. EUz.,-Vol. 262,
No. 28) p. 157.
8 Spy's information to Sir Francis Walsingham touching Dr. Allen
and the passage of Seminary Priests to and from England.
(Dom. Eliz., Vol. 178., n. 19) p. 162.
9 —
Samuel Pettingat, spy. Information about the English College,
—
Rome and the Seminary Priests. Hints to the Government
how to obtain information. (Dom. Ehz., Vol. 149, n. 84)
p. 163 to 169.

10 Horazio Pallavidno to Sir Francis Walsingham. Troubles in —

Belgium ;attitude of the Pope towards England. (Dom.
Ehz., Vol. 147, No. 49) p. 174 and p. 422. (Italian original.)

1 Horazio PaUavicino to Sir Francis Walsingham. Pallavincino's—

brother tortured in England. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 62, n. 88)
P- 175-
12 Lord Cobham to Sir Walsingham. " Horazio
Francis
—
Pallavicino's brother is released from prison, but left
maimed in his arm from the torture he has received, " (Dom.
Eliz., VoL 62., n. 8y) p. 176.

468
464 OTHER DOCUMENTS
No.
13 Diary of the English College, Rome. (Quoted from the Records
of the English Province, S. J., Vol. VI. p. T]) p. 177.

14 Dr William Allen to the Rector of the English College in Rome.

.

—Gives an account of the work and sufferings of the Seminary

Priests in England. (Dom. Ehz., Vol. 149, nn. 51 and 52)
p. 178 and p. 433 (latin).

15 Examination of —
Ralph MUIer, prisoner in Bridewell. Names of
Catholic laity and priests, their doings Mass at Lord
;

Vaux's house. (Dom; Ehz., Vol. 173, n. 64) pp. 185 to 187.
16 The Parable of the Cat, told by a Priest. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 261,
n. 99) p. 190.

17 Dr. Allen to Mr. White, a Seminary Priest in the Clink and

to other prisoners. —
Sends the Pope's * Blessing. (Dom.
Eliz., Vol., 238, No. 126 II.) p. 191.

18 Sheriff of Dorset. —
Receipt of money paid to Commissioners and
Jury for convicting and fining Recusants. (Petitions of
—
Allowances, Sheriffs 40 to 43 Eliz.) p. 224.
19 —
Lord Buchurst to the Sheriffs of Dorset. Promise of increased
payment to Commissioners and Juries for convicting and
fining Recusants.
Eliz.) p. 225.
(Petitions of Allowances, Sheriffs —40 to
43
20 Sheriff'sReceipt for payments made to Commissioners and
Juries of Dorset for convicting and fining Recusants.
—
(Petitions of Allowances, Sheriffs 40 to 43 Eliz.) p. 226.
21 Annual Letters, 1608, English College, Rome (quoted from the
Records of the Eng. Prov. S. J., Vol. VII., p. 995) p. 237.
22 Pope Gregory XV. to Charles, Prince of Wales. On the —
occasion of his proposed marriage with a Spanish princess.
(Copied from the Records of the Eng. Prov. S .J. Vol. VI.,
p. 538) p. 255.

23 —
Douay Diary. Account of Father Paul's martyrdom, p. 260
24 Edward Rishton, priest, in the Tower of London, to brother
Catholics likewise detained in other prisons. Priests —
tortured, etc. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 149, No. 61) p. 265 and
p. 420. (latin original.)

25 Bishop of Winchester to Cecill. —Edward Kennyon, Priest, too

kindly treated in prison. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 274, n. 34,
copied from Jes. Rec, Vol. III., p. 544) p. 339.
26 —
Bishop of Winchester to Sir Robert Cecill. Curious History of
—
the inheritance of Winchester gaol. Escape of Edward
—
Kennyon, priest. Eight depositions taken by the Bishop.
(Dom. Eliz., Vol. 273, No. 23) pp. 340 to 345.
 OTHER DOCUMENTS 465

No.
27 —
Warrant for torture. Christopher Bayles, Seminary Priest,
John Bayles, his brother, Henry Goorney, Anthony Kaye
and John Coxed to be tortured upon the wall. (Dom. Eliz.,
230, No. 57) p. 359.
28 Martyrdom of Christopher Bayles, Priest, and Homer. (Anglia
—in Dr. Richard Barrett's Catalogue of Martyrs.
VII., No. 13
—Stonyhurst.) 360. p.

29 Father Robert Southwell, —A S. J.from him, giving a

letter
fulldescription of the martyrdom of the Rev. Christopher
Bayles and also of a curious apparition witnessed by Homer,
another martyr. (Dom. Eliz., Vol. 230, No. 104) p. 361
and p. 437 (latin original).

30 James I. to the Earl of Somerset. (Lambeth MSS. 930, 90)

P- 439-
 INDEX

Aaron, 77 Allen, Anthoine, recusant, 407

Abbey of Aumone, ii Allen, John, 191
„ Bee, 269 Allen, Thomas, of Wonersh,
„ Ford, 12 mercer, irz
„ Fountains, 18 Allen, WiiUam Cardinal, 154,
Garendon, 12 156M
„ St. Bernard, 125 Allen, WilUam Cardinal, Details
„ Vicogne of his life, 134, 136, 163,
Abel, Thos. (A-Bell), priest and 191
martyr, 273 Allen, William Cardinal, his
Abinger, 209 Account of priests' work
Abiron, 77 in England, 180
Abraham, Thomas, recusant Allen, William Cardinal, merciful
prisoner, 344 towards those who confess
Accounts, Parochial (Sir T. Car- attendance at protestant
warden), 369. services, 133
Act of Supremacy, 55 Allen, William Cardinal, Latin
Adams, John, priest, 359, 394 letter,
433-437
Adcockes, John, 165 Allen, William Cardinal, his letter
Addam, 230 to Father White, 191
Addle Parliament, 40 Allen, William Cardinal, his
Adre, wife and child, 165 sympathy for the persecu-
Agmondesham, John, Esq., ted, 132
recusant, 152, 196, 203, 210, Allen, William Cardinal, " Society
322, 323, 407 of the Rosary," 135
Ailmer, John, 215 AUington, of Mitcham, widow,
Aislabie, John, 18 recusant, 382, 388
Aislabie, William, 18 Amsterdam, 125
Aix-la-Chapelle, 248 Anabaptists, doctrines of, their
Alart, priest, tortured on rack for immorality, 103-112
three hours, 266 Anchorite Novitiate, 4
Albanesi, 174 " Anchor's hold," 3
Aldridge, Mr., priest, i86 Andrewes de Alma, Dean, 195
Alford, 208 Anger, Mr. his child, 228
Albury, 209 Angia, 125
Albury, Robert, of Thursley, Angier, Francis, 203
recusant, 382, 387 Anjou, deacon of, 98
AUoId, 409 Anjou, Duke of, accepted suitor
Aliases of Priests, defence, parable of Queen Elizabeth, 289
of cat that became politi- Anjou, Duke of, his callousness,
cian, 190 290
AU Waade, 212, 214 Anne Bolejoi, Queen, 274, 277
Allan, Dr. William, 178, 182 Aime of Denmark, Queen, 25
AUcock, Robert, Esq., 216 Anti-christ, 81
Allen, 156, 332 Antwerp, 125, 358
Allen, member of " Family of Apostles, twelve, representing
Love," 333 twelve tribes, 77
Allen, the Anabaptist, 333 Apostolic Succession, 102

467
 1 1

468 INDEX
Arceter, Robert, recusant, 407 Bagshott, 186, 209
Archangel, Raphael, 190 BaUey, Thomas, priest, 185
Aicher, Christopher, recusant, Baker, George, Anabaptist, 103
391. 406 Baker, Thomas, recusant, 392
Architecture, Elizabethan, 23 Bales or Bayles, Christopher, alias
Arden, Mr., 276 Evers, Seminary priest, 361
Armada, Spanish, 192, 272, 276, Bales or Bayles, Christopher, his
298 torture and martyrdom,
Armada, Spanish, an electioneer- 360, 361
ing poster, 196 Bales or Bayles, Christopher, put
Armada, Spanish, farmer's bams to death, 360, 361
cind granaries to be searched Balmeiino. 277
for com, 298 Baltimore, Co. Longford, Ireland,
Armada, Spanish, number of ships, 254
152-195 Baltimore, Baron, George Calvert,
Armada, Spanish, preparations, a convert to Catholicism,
194 Privy Councillor to Charles
Armour of CathoUcs to be seized, I., and first designer of
212, 245, 296 Colony of Maryland, 253.
Amigur, Fraunces, Esq., 407 254
Arnold, Mistress, kinswoman to Banester, Banister or Banyster,
Ben. Tichboume, recusant, Edward, recusant, 304, 319,
316, 380 380, 403
ArondeU, Arrundell, or Arundel, Banester, Joan, wife of above,
Charles, of Sutton, recus- 319, 380, 38,8
ant, 186, 379, 382, 384, Banister, Henry, of Hants, recus-
385, 401 ant, fined, 121
Arragon, Catherine of, 273 Bannester, Ed., recusant, 400
Artides Annexed to Royal Com- Bannester, John, recusant, 382
mission, 199-201 Bannester, Johane of Wyndle-
Artois, 125, 174 sham, recusant, 382
Arundel, 253 Bapthorp, Mr. of Osgoodbie,
Arundel, Philip, Earl of, 272, 273 recusant, 399
Arundell, Sir John, Bart, recus- Baptists, Mr., 419
Emt, 194, 398 Barcelona, 194
Ashe, 209 Barefote, Philipp, 24
Ashebumeham, Isabell, recusant. Barham, Nicholas, 216
382, 387 Barker, of Oxford, 163
Ashedown's, Thos, wyf, 65 Barkshire, 206
Ashtone, Mr., 338 Barlow, Mr. I«wis, priest, ban-
Asia, 87 ished, 358
Aske, Mr., a Jesuit, 171, 230 Barmondsey, 397
Atewood, John, 210 Barnes, Mr., 166
Augustine, Blessed, 362 Bamet, 186
Aumone, Abbey of, 1 Barney, Mr., recusant, 398
Austen, George, 24, 205, 321, 389 Barr, Mr. Robert, S. J., banished,
Austria, House of, 256 358
Austria, Prince of, 377 Barrade, Mr., priest, 165
Avalon, 254 Barthlomewe, Wm., recusant, 407
Averton, priest, 172 Baisingstoke, 11
Awdley, Mr. PhiUp, recusant, 398 Bassett, Mr., 165
Awfyld, Mr., 165 Bath, 233
Awynckle, Gregory of, recusant, Battersey, 206
383. 385 Battista, Giovan, 1556, 276
Bayles, John, 359, 360
Bab, or Babb, Robert, 322, 323 Baynes, Mr., 165
Bacon, 44 Beaconsawe or Beaconshaw,
Bacon, N., 121 John, recusant, 395, 405
Bagshaw, from Darbjrshire, 186, Beaconshall, or BeakonsaU. John,
187 recusant, 396, 402
 INDEX 469

Beale, Jo., 206 Bilsonne, Mr., recusant, 380

Beard, Wm., Mr., recusant, 392 Binfield, 404
Beasant, Elizabeth, recusant, 387 John Birbeck, catholic, 358
Beastley, Beawsley, or Bewsley, Birche Baron, 152
George, recusant, 399, 400, Bisand, EUz., widow, recusant,
402, 405 392, 393
Bee, Abbey of, 269 Bishop's Stortford Castle, 355
Becher, Sir Harry, Alderman of Bishop, priest, 177
London, 136, 137, 138, 140, Bishop, John, 357
141, 410 Bishop, or Byshoppe, William, of
Becket, or Beckett, Margaret, wife Braytes, Warwickshire,
of Robert, recusant, 365, first catholic bishop in
385, 389 England, since days of
Becket, or Beckett, Robert, of Mary, recusant, 357, 390
Meuhjmnete, recusant, 304, Biskey, 194
305.311.356,383.385,389, Black Deatiis, fatal mistake made
396, 400, 401, 403 at the time, 157
Becket, Thos., Esq., recusant, 399, Black Friars in London, 51
400, 401, 405 Blackfriars, i86, 299
Beconshawe, Beconshawe, Bea- Blackheath, 299, 322, 407
consawe, 391, 399 Blackmail by Protestant pur-
Beconsawe or Beckonsawe, John, suivants, 173
wife, recusant, 380, 383, BlackweU, Mr., 204
385, 400, 406 Elizabeth Blake of Ewell, the wife
Beda, Wm., recusant, 382, 388 of George Blake, recusant,
Bedford, F., 121, 142, 147, 159 247, 397
Bedhampton, 379 Blake, Thomas, recusant, 381,
Belgium, 173 386
Bell, Mr., priest, 165 Blessed Sacrament desecrated, 79
Bellamie, Gerat, priest, 191 (See also Pole, Cardinal)
Bellingham, Edward, Mr., 299, Bletchingly, 369
318, 401 Blunt, a priest, 172
Belmont, 352, 354 Blunt, or Blount, Walter, recu-
Benedictines, 19 sant, 383, 385, 390, 394,
BeningfieLd, Mr., of Bruseyard, 399, 400, 403
recusant, 398 Blunt, or Blount, in Marshalsea,
Beningfield, Mr., of Quedoram, 186
recusant, 398 Blount, Walter, of Kingston in
Bennet, Doctor, minister, 350 County of Stafford, recus-
Bentley, 206 ant, 305, 395
Bentley, Edw., of Hyngray Blount, Walter, gent., in County
Bentley, recusant, 400, 402, of Leicester, recusant in
405 prison, 356
Bentlye, Green, 206 Body, Martjrr, 349, 350
Berkshire, iii Bois-le-Duc, 125
Bermoudsey, 373, 388 Bolejm, Anne, Queen, 274, 277
Besby, H., 301 Bologna, 165
Bezaunte, EUz., recusant, 382 Bolton, Yorkshire, 253
Bible, 60 Bolton, Mr. John, S.J., banished,
Bickley, Father Ralph S. J., 358, 394
banished, 358 Bomes, a Government spy, 328
Bidlecombe, 343 Bommel, 125
Bilboes, 277 Bonevyse, Anthony, alias Antoine
Bill of Confirmation of Colleges, Bonvisi, 71, 72
Deans and Chapters, 229 Booth, Christopher ? recusant,
Bilson, Bernard, parson of Havant 392
and Kingesworthie, 389 Boothman-Bar, 260
Bilson, Bernard, imprisoned for Borne, Rahus, recusant, 165, 389
20 years in Marshalsea, 355 Boroughe, Thos., recusant, 205
Bilson, Leonard, recusant, 385 Borrowe, Roger, recusant, 210
470 INDEX
Bosome, Thos., recusant, 398 Brixton, 373
Bostock, Richard, Esq., 196, 203, Brockesbye, Barthus, recusant,
300, 401 389
Bottone, John, priest, imprisoned, Brodestocke, John, recusant, 380
358 Brodfold, John, of Godahning, 419
Bourne, Ralfe, recusant, 393 Broesland, John, recusant, 399
Bowdner, Mr., of Southwark, 313 Bromfield, Jane, recusant, 392
Bowyer, Edmond, 203 Bromley, Geo., 216
Bowyer, Wiolm, Esq., 216 Bromley, or Bromeley, Thomas,
Boy examined by pursuivants, Esq., 159, 216, 217, 298
335 Brooke, Henry, recusant, 407
Boyed, Edmund, Esq., 216 Brooksley, 40
Brabon, Thos., and wife, recusants, Brorro, ?Borrowe Roger, recusant,
380 209
Brackenborough, 258 Broughton, 189, 213
Bradstock, John, of Quynshill, Browen, alias Brabant, priest, 172
recusant, 304, 384, 386, Browne, 31, 139, 152, 231
391. 395, 396, 403, 406 Browne, Anne, wife of Henry,
Braitehurst, T., 212 recusant, 379, 383, 386,
Bramley, 103 387, 401
Brampton, Mr., of Brampton, Browne, Sir Anthony, 18, 138,
recusant, 398 149
Brampton, Mr., Thos. S. J., Browne, Cuthbert, recusant, 206,
banished, 358 307. 392, 393
Brande, 370, 371 Browne, Eliz., wife of Cuthbert
Brande, John, 372 Browne, recusant, 206, 388,
Branspeth, Baron, 36 392, 393
Bray, 62, 247 Browne, Elizabeth, of EweU.
Braytes, 357 gentlewoman, 307
Breda, 125 Browne, Ferdinand, alias Hugh
Brenster, of York, 172 Greene, priest and martyr,
Brewar, widow, recusant, 205, 260
206 Browne, Francis Sir, of Henley
Brewer, Prof. J. S., his opinion Park, recusant, 139, 183,
of Foxe, 67 184, 188, 304, 305, 379,
Brewuing, Anthony, 341 381, 384, 396, 399, 400, 401,
Brewsey, Geo., recusant, 405 403, 408
Brewster, Geo., recusant, 402 Browne, Francis, Sir, Certificate
Briant, Father, in " Little Ease
" of his Estate, 306
for 15 days, 278 Browne, Francis, Sir, his House a
Bribes offered by the Government centre for CathoUcs, 184
to Commissioners and Browne, Francis, Sir, suffered long
juries to influence their terms of imprisonment, 307
verdicts against Catholics, Browne, Francis, Parson's
Sir,
223, 224 censure Charkie and
of
Bribes, increased, 225 Hanmer, written under his
Bridgehill, John, 371 roof, 184
Bridewell, as place of detention Browne, Henry, of St. Saviour's,
for Criminals, and as place Southwark, recusant, 307,
of torture, 360, 362 379, 383, 384, 386, 387
Brigosa, Mr., wife and 2 children, Browne, Joan, or Johaue, wife of
165 Francis, recusant, 379, 381,
Bristowe, 186 384, 40.1
Britaine, Agnes, recusant, 408 Browne, Sir John, recusant, 317,
Britany, 194 401
Brittaine, Anne, recusant, 246, Browne, Robert, 187
397 Browne, Sir Thos., 190, 196, 203,
Brittainfe, Henry, of Great Book- 296, 317, 318, 325, 331, 333,
ham, gent., husband of 336, 401, letter to Sir Wm.
above, 245. 246, 397 More, 334
 INDEX 471

Browne, WiUiam, Jesuit lay- Calvert, George, see Baltimore

brother, 138 Calvert, Leonard) 253
Brueme, 12 Calvinists,376
Bruised Reeds, 136-150 Camberwell, 383
Bruning, Richard, 342 Cambray, 187
Brussels, 358 Campine, 125
Bruster, George, recusant, 315, Campion, Father Edmund, S.J.,
379. 382, 384, 385, 386, martyr, 177 275, 288, 290,
387. 401. 291, 292, 349
Bruster, George, imprisoned, 315 Campion, Father Edmund, S.J.,
Bryant, Father Alexander, 177, his exhortation to both
286, 287, 288, 291, 357 Universities, 180
Bryant, Father Alexander, Campion, Father Edmund, S,J.,
account of his sufferings his labours and success,
and death, 286-292 182
Campion, Father Edmund, S.J.,
Bryant, Father Alexander, tor-
confined in " Little Ease,"
tured on rack, 178, 266
278
Bryghame, Master, 32 Canterbury, 19, 90
Brygosa, John, i66, 170 Canterbury, Archbishop of, 190
Bryton, Sir, 209, 410. Canterton, Thomas, alias Grove,
Bryton, Lady Katheryne, 410 alias Steven, alias Bale,
Brystow, Thomas, of Merrow, 330 imprisoned at Winchester
Buckhurst, Emily, 221, 222 for religion, 341, 342
Buckhurst, Thomas, Sackville, Carell, Sir, 65
Lord, 30, 222, 224, 225, Carew, or Carewe, Sir Francis,
226, 228 Knt., 190, 196, 203, 401
Buckeley, T., 303 Carewe, Nicholas, Sir, alias Throck
Buckingham, J., 189 Morten, 245
Bugley, W., 159 Carew, or Carewe, Peter, recusant,
BuUen, Wm., recusant, 407 383, 385, 399, 400. 402,
Bures, John de, 29 405
Burgeis, Edw. (serving-man to Carey, Peter, of Devon, recusant
to Mr. Hyde), recusant, in prison, 356, 390
206 Carleton, 187
Burges, Dyones, 65 Carlile, 253
Burges, Mr., 165 Carr, Robert, 36, 49
Burghe, Lord Thomas, 196 CarreU, Mr., of Sussex, recusant,
Burghley, W., 146, 147, 161, 189, 399
212, 298, 301, 303 CarroUs, Mr., priest, 172
Buriton, 379 Carshalton, 389
Burley, Mr., wife of, recusant, Carthusians, 19, 62
380 Carvell, Mr., of Marsland, recusant,
Burroughes, Roger, recusant, 408 398
Butt, John, of Walton, recusant, Carwarden, Sir Thomas, 369, 370,
382, 388 373
Bycklye, Mr., priest, 165 Cassandra, 25
Bycknolde, John, of Merrow, 330 Cat Hill, 9
B3?fleet, 209 Cat that became a politician,
Bylson, Leonard, recusant, 383 parable of, 190
Bysham, 189 Catenby, Mrs., 259
Byshop, or Byshopp, WUls, Catesby, or Catesbie, Sir Wm.,
recusant, 384, 386 Lambeth,
recusant, 264,
304, 381, 382, 386, 387,
393. 398, 400, 403
Caesar, Jul., 244 Catesby, or Catesbie, George,
CalUngbam, Richard, 322, 323 recusant, 389
Calumny, propaganda of, 249 Catesby, or Catesbie, Lady, wife
Calver Leonard, 253 of William, recusant, 381,
Calvert, Alice, 253 386
472 INDEX
Catherick, Edmund, priest, con- Chaundeler, or Chaundler,
demned to death and Thomas, of Wonersh, 103,
excuted with great cruelty, 107
259 Chaam, 386, 397
Catherine, of Arragon, Queen, 273 Chelsey, 390
Catholic Church only sure inter- Chertsey, 205, 334
preter of Scriptures, 98 Chesten, or Cheston, Stephen,
Catholic Church, Queen Elizabeth recusant, 395, 396, 404
at one time member of, 192 Chichester, 186, 215
CathoUc gentry, 193 Chichester of ArUnglon, Ann, 253
CathoUcs and Priests, —
their Chichester of Arlington, John,
number in England and Esq., 253
Wales in 1577, 150 Chiddingfold, 209
CathoUcs, Compound for their Child, Mr., of Guildford, 18
freedom, 304 Chomley, Richard, 369, 371, 372
CathoUcs, Government promises Church, Absence from, i.o be pun-
to, mere " scraps of paper," ished, 114, 119
302 Church Building the noblest art
CathoUcs, Loyalty to the Queen, of man, 86
192 Church, CathoUc, see CathoUc
CathoUcs, Registers of, why few Church in England, 83, 102, 157
names are given, 207 Church of England, 19, 56
CathoUcs, EngUsh, their generosity Church of Rome, 74
to the Seminaries, 156 Churches, Cistercian, 9
Cave, John, 375 CiampoU, John, Secretary to Pope
Caverley, Edmond, priest, 357, Gregory XV., 257
394 Cistercian Churches, 9
CawdweU, 359 Cistercian Rule, 10
Cecil, Sir Edward, 247 Cistercians, spread of theOrder in
Cecil, Lady, 247 England, 12
CeciU, N., 143 Clargenett, Mr. Wm., banished,
Cecil, CeciU, Cecyl, or Cecyll, Sir 358
Robert, Knt., Secretary to Clark, John, 172
Queen EUzabeth and Chief Clarke, Nicholas, recusant, 389
Secretary of State under Clarke, Wm., alias Baker, of
James I., 144, 189, 212, 253, Sutton, recusant, 246, 397
339. 340 Cleark, priest, to be executed in
Cecil, CeciU, Cecyl, or CecyU, Sir Winchester Market Place,
Robert, Knt., hawking 351
with Queen Elizabeth, 33 Clement, Mr., 165
Cecil, CeciU, Cecyl, or CecyU, Sir Clement, Mr., his son, 165
Robert, Knt., his manners, Clerk, Bartholomew, 216, 217
33 Gierke, Henry, Clarke of the Peace
Cecil, or CeciU, WiUiam, 121, 137, in County of Mitt, 316
142 Cleyton, 187
Celebrant, 3 CUfton, Thomas, priest, condem-
Certificates for 1591, 208 ned to death, 264
Chadock, Mr., Wm., banished, CUnk, the, prison, 191, 383
358 CUpsain, Martin, (Curate of
Chalcedon, Bishop of, 357 Merrow), ex-priest, 329,
Chantry, foundations, 90 33°. 331
Chapman, Mathew, recusant, 392 CUtheraU, Mr., priest, 185
Chapman, Mr., 186 Clyfton, Master, alias CUpsain,
Chapman, Xtopher, 369, 37c, 371, see CUpsain
372 Clowdeley, Thos., 186
Chardone, Doctor, 32 Clynton, E., 121, 137
Chare, John, 375 Cobden, John, recusant, 389, 393
Charke and Hanmer, 184 Cobham, Lord, Wm., 176, 189,
Charles I., King, 251-262 205, 206, 298, 351, 388,
Charter Houses, 74 393
 INDEX 473

Cobhett, or Cobhott, Agnes, Copham, L., 350, Cobham

recusant, 388, 392, 408 Copley, 62, 349
Cobhett, Edward, recusant, 392 Copley Mr. John, 227
Cockatrice, the bearing of the Copley de Catton, Thomas, Ford,
—
Mudge family its mean- 127, 227
ing, 26 Copley, WiUiam, recusant, 245,
Cocker, John, recusant, 390 246, 397
Cockeram, Henry, recusant, 383, Cornelius, Mr., 165
385. 390 Cornwall, 194
Cockrell, Rafie, recusant, 407 Comwallis, Anne Molyneux, late
Coffin, Father Edward, S.J., wife of Gen. Rainsford,
banished, 166, 358 her statement as to Sir W.
Coke, Sir Edward, Lord Chief More's fortune, 50, 51
Justice, 41, 238, 239, 242, ComwaUis, Sir Thomas, recusant,
246, 281 398
Coke, Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor of Comwallis, Sir Thomas, his son
London, tortured and and heir, recusant, 398
executed, 282 Comewallys, Katherin, recusant,
Colbroke, 380 382, 385, 408
Coldham family, 18 CornwaUys, Lady, recusant, 392
Coldwyers, Jane, recusant, 381 Cottam, Father, 265
Cole, Robert, Vicar of Epsom, 327, Cottington, Father, 204
328 Cotton, Mr., of Warblington,
CoLhouse, Jacob, 309 recusant, 399
College in Rome, English, see Cotton, priest, torture of, 266
Rome Cotton, George, recusant, 314,
Colwall, Richard, 210 379
Colyard, Wm., 210 Cotton, George, consigned to dun-
Collynsone, George, recusant, 395 geon and goods seized, 315
Combe, 12 Cotton, (Jeorge, pays large sums in
Commission, Ecclesiastical, 113 fines, 315
Commission, Royal, against Cotton, Sir John, of Cambridge,
Catholics, 196 recusant, 398
Common Prayer, 113 Council Chamber, 271, 277
Communion of Saints, 89 Council, Privy, trap laid by, to
Compton, 3, 19, 208, 209 eiscertain fortunes of
—
Comptou Chantry Chapel, 3 Catholics, 304
Confirmation of Colleges, Deans, Coulworth, Mr., priest, 165
and Chapters, Bill of, 230 Counter, the, in Wood Street
Consciences lax, of some Catho- prison, 287, 319
Ucs, 182 Courtneys, Mary, spinster, recu-
Constantine, the Emperor, 87 sant, 316, 379, 381, 384, 401
Constantinople, 87 Courtrai, 125
Conversions, 10,000 in one year, Coveart, Mr. John, 65
177 Coverdale, 60
Conversions in England m 1581, Covert, Dr., 60
182 Cow, Anthony, 208, 409
Convintrie, Thomas, 253 Cowdray, 143, 147, 148, 149
Conway, E., 253 Cowdray, Lord Montague, brother-
Cook, 186, 370 in-law to Earl of Southamp-
Cook, Richard, 344 ton, created Lord Montague
Cook, Dr., Prior of Doncaster, by Queen Mary. A magis-
hanged and quartered 1540, trate and recusant, 138
274 Cowper, Mr., 299, 338
Cooker, or Cooke, Anthony, Knt., Cowper, Anthony, High Constable
216, 217 of the hundred of Godley,
Cooper, John, 67 310
Cope, Alan, alias of Nicholas Cowper, John, 336
Harpsfield, 64 Coxed, John, 359, 360
Cope, Anthony, recusant, 379 Craford, alias Betson, 172
474 INDEX
Cranbrooke, 230 Davies, Francis, of Cheam, hus-
Cranleigh, 209 band, recusant, 247, 397
Cranmer, Archbishop, 19, 60, 90, Dawber, John, 371, 372
91, 102, no Dawnse, Bartholomew, of Camber-
Crawley, Thos., recusant, 391, 406 well, recusant, 383, 387
Craythorne, Mr., of Craythorne, Day, Mary, 320
recusant, 399 Daye, William, 215
Crete ? Sir Thomas, 245 De Bay, Michael, 127
Creeve, Mr., 165 Deacon, Mr., 185
Cripps, or Crips, dame Ann, of Dean, William, priest and martyr,
Lambeth, recusant, 400, 357
402, 405 Deelst, 125
Crispiven, 125 Degringe, Joane, recusant, 406
Croft, Francis, 137 Delahne, Mr., 185
Croft, Crofte, or Crofts, James, Denton, Wm., of Golton, recusant,
142, 161, 301, 336 384, 386, 390
Croke, Thos., recusant, 387 Denouement, the, 40-44
Cromblehome, or Cromfelhome, de Deol, or Dol, Hugh, 29
of Stidpish, recusant, 394, de Deol, or Dol, grandson of
396, 404 above, 29
Cromwell, Thomas, 16, 17, 59, 61, Derby, J. H., 298
62, 270, 274 Desolation, 365-378
Cronley, Mr., 333 Devereux, Robert, Earl of Essex,
Crooke, Thomas, late of Lambeth, 274
recusant, 382 Devonshire, in
Crooksbury, Hill 9, 11, Dieppe, 163
Cross, 29 Digby, 43
Cross, Roger, 309, 310, 311 Dillon, Lord, 276
Crossland, John, 253 Dissent Needs Repression, 113-118
Croucher, 333 Dissenters, Protestant, 103
Crowder, Thomas, of Ludlow, Dissolution of the Monasteries,
recusant, 357, 390 16-J9
Crowlye, Thomas, recusant, 385 Dissolution of the Monasteries,
Crowmer, Wm., Esq., 216 Consequences of, 19
Crown, as infallible guide to inter- Dogma, Catholic, 89
pretation of Word of God, Dol, see Deol
102 Dolphin, Prince, 182
Croydon, 307, 371 Donget, Thos., 65
Croylye, Thomas, recusant, 383 Dorking, 208, 298, 299, 409
Crust, Mr., recusant, 398 Dorrel, John, sen., recusant,
Cuddington, Thomas, recusant, 246, 397
389, 392, Dorrell, John, jun., recusant, 246
Cuf6n, Edward, 1562, 272 397
Culenborg, 125 Dorrington, John, recusant, 393
Culyard, Mr., of Wetherden, Dorset, 224, 226
recusant, 398 Douai, or Douay,i94, 154, 286,
Culyard, Mr., Thos., recusant, 377
398 Douai, or Douay, English College
Cumberland, Lady, 32 at, 155
Curthose, Robert, 28 Douai, or Douay, 120, Students
Cyrus, King, 87 in. 157
Douai, or Douay, Hospital for
Darbyshire, Father Thomas, 156 English Pilgrims at, 156
Darmell, th' elder, recusant, 398 Douay Diary, 257
Daimell, the younger, recusant, Dover, 215, 265
398 Dovington, John, recusant, 388
Dathan, 77 Dowber, John, 369
David, King, 86, 87 Downes, Mr., of Merton, recusant,
Davies, Agnes, recusant, 247, 398
397 Downysfold, see Dunsfold
 INDEX 475

Dowse, Richard, of Tthiealde. EUzabeth, The Last Decade of,

recusant, 396, 404 214-235
Dowst, Richard, ? Downes, recus- EHizabethan Architecture, 23
ant, 395 EQesmere. J., 244
Drake, 193 ElHot. George, apostate. 221
Drilaud, or Drj-laud, Mr. John, Elstead. 11
recusant, 39S Elwes, or Elwyes, Sir Gervase,
Drury, Mr., of Losell, recusant, 36, 41, 42
398 Ely, Elie, or Elye, 107, iii, 112,
Dryland, Chiistopher, banished, 189, 213, 215
358 Ely, Bishop of, 269
Duckett, John, priest and martyr, Ely, Dr., 265
262 Emersam, Brother Re^>h, S.J.,
Duckett, Sir LyoneD, Knt, Alder- banished, 358
man, 2X6 England, King o^ the self-con-
Dnedale, Anthony, recusant, 341 stituted Bope, 102
Dungeons among rats, 284 En^and, Kingdom of, 195
Dunsfold, ro3. 208, 209, 298, 389, Englefield, Miss, recusant, 206
393, 408 Englefield, Mr., 350
Dunstable, 19 T-JigHgh College in Rome, sec
Dnrford, 209 Rome
Durham, 269 Erasmus, 61
Dutton, Mr., 165 Errors, heretical, to be judged by
Dyat, Mr., 230 the Crown, 115
DydolSold. Richard, 208, 409 Esdras, 6S
I^er, Mr. aiiH Wile, recusants, Esher. 397
380 Essex, III, 112
Dynunocke, Younge (jun. ?), Essex, Countess of, 37, 38, 39, 41,
recusant, 398 44
Dynnyngton, Yonnge (jun. ?), Essex. Ead of, 37, 233, 274
of Monckey, recusant, 399 Essex. Mr. Felter, recusant, 398
Eastmecne. 343
East Oandon, 208, 209 Eucharist. Holy, 4 ; doctrine of.
East Horsley, 209 not assailed for over a
Eastmeon, 380 thousand years. 98 ;
Eastmowlsey, 397 thrown as meat to dogs, 80
Easton, \ruia, recusant, 389 Eucharistic Sacrifice. 89
Ebden, or Ebdon, John, 15X, 216 Evaritus. Pope. 79
Ecclesiastical Commission. sa Everard. Mr. th'elder, recusant.
Commission 398
Ede, Richard, porter of the Marsh- Everard, Mr., the younger, recus-
e'sea, 305, 311, 312, 396 ant. 395
Edmonds, J., 253 Everstm. Thos.. 65
Edward VI., Kmg, 25, 89 Ewell, 206. 298. 388. 389. 392,
Edward, the Saint, King, 79 393. 397
Edward in the Castle, 165 Exeter. 244
Edward, One, 165 Exeter. Duke of, his dau^ter.
Edward. James, priest, 357, 394 name given to the Rack,
Edwards, Thomas, 32 281
Egham, 200, 308, 309, 310, 381 Eyton, Robert. 371
E^inbye, Mr., 165 EzeMel, vision of, 96, 97
Egyptians, 8r
Elargemetit Wm., priest, 394 Faith-heaHng," 89
Elder, 104 Families imprisoned, etc.. for
Elector Palatine, 247 religion, 127
Elfield. 380 " Family of Love," Sect of. County
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, 247 of Surrey, infected with.
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 30, 332
51, 113, 121, r75, 192. 202. " Family of Love," Doctrines
214, 232, 233. 234, 406 taught by. 333
476 INDEX
Fanshaw, Thos., 216 Foster, Mr., priest, 186
Fareham, 380 Foster, Nicholas, sidesman,
FFarlington, 328 recusant, 205
Farmer, Eliz., recusant, 406 Fostfer, Roger, 370
Fameham, 407 Foster, Rose, recusant, 210, 408
Famham, 3, 11, 220 Fountains Abbey, 18
Famham Castle, Keeper of, 337, Fox, 166,
339 Fox, John, recusant, 392
Famham Castle, Correspondence Foxe, John, his " Book of
of, Bishop of Winchester Martyrs," 63, 64 ; his
from, 339 statements refuted, 63, 66 ;
Farrell, Mr., 172 Story of Grimwood of
Farsley, Jos., 321 Higham and its sequel, 67
Fawden, Wm., 208, 409 Foxman, John, 65
Fawkes, Guy, 249, 278 Foy, Robert, of Eastmeane, recus-
Felbye, George, recusant, 390 ant, imprisoned for twenty-
Felpot, John, 373 years, 342
Feml, James, recusant, 390 France, 127, 163, 194, 377
Fenne, Jacob, recusant, 385 Franciscan Martyrs, 74
Fenne, James, recusant, 383 Franklin, 42
Fenne, John, recusant, 407 Freke, Thos., 226
Fenton, Mr., recusant, 187, 399 Freman, Francis, recusant, 389
Ferner, ? Mr., 165 Freman, Wife of Francis, recusant,
Fernyhurst, 36 389
Farlington, 380 Frensham, 209
Fifth Gospel, 248 Friars, Black, in London, 51
Figge, Mr., priest, 186 Friars Observants, 74
Filbie, Wm., priest, 288 Frier, or Fryer, Dr. Thomas,
Fisher, Dr. John, Bishop of Roch- recusant, 316, 392, 393
ester, 19, 60, 62, 68, 72, 73, Friesland, 125
88, 95, 272, 274, 349 Friaaley, 208, 409
Fisher, R., priest, 285 Fromond, Fromoudes, orFromons,
Fitzgerald, Gerald, Ear) Kildare, Bartholomew, of Cheam,
274 recusant, 245, 247, 397
Fitzgerald, Thomas, 274 Fromond, or Fromons,. Elizabeth,
Fitzherbert, Sir Thos., recusant, recusant, 381, 386, 387, 407
398 Fromond, or Fromons, HeUen,
Fitz WilUam, Sir William, 18 or Hellana, recusant, 382,
Flambard, Ranulf, Bishop, 269 ; 387
escape from Tower, 278 Fromondes, Susan, wile of Bartho-
Flanders, 125, 127, 185, 195, 253 lomew, recusant, 247, 597
Fleet, the, prison 191 Fromond, or Fromons, Thomas,
Fleming, Thomas, 344, 345 recusant, 382, 387
Fletewood, Wm., Sergeant-at- Fromond, or Fromons, William,
Law, and Recorder of City recusant, 386
of London, 216, 330 Fulfiood, 343
Flint, County of, 260 Fuller, Mr., 230
Floggings, public, 63 Fuller, Richard, recusant, 388
Flood, Rise, Risens, or Rice, of Fulwood, Richard, Jesuit lay^
Woking, recusant, 382, 387, brother, 276 ; his suffer-
408 ings, 279
Florica, 195 Fyeld, Dr., 351
Floyd, Father Roger, S. J., ban- Fygges, John, 220
ished, 358 Fynch, Mr., 230
Forcer, Eleanor, 320
Ford, Abbey, 12 Gage, Mr., recusant, 392
Ford, Thomas, priest, 288 Gage, Ed., Mr. recusant, 399
Forde, Thomas, 1582, 276 Gage, Ed., Esq., of Lambeth,
Formans, Nicholas, recusant, 389 recusant, 400, 402, 405
Fortescue, 212 Gage, Sir Edward, 65
 INDEX 477
Gage, Elizabeth, wife of Robert, Godwyn, Thos., 215, 217
recusant, 382, 387 Goldwyer, Jane, late of Whately,
Gage, J., 1591, 276, widow, recusant, 307, 308,
Gage, John, Mr., 227 384, 386, 391, 406
Gage, John, Esq., late of Newdi- Good, Mr., Priest, 165
gate, recusant, 246, 397 Gooderick, 163
Gage, Robert, recusant, 382, 386, Goodman, Gabriell, 215, 217
399 Goomey, Henry, 359, 360
Gainsforde, Mrs., 299 Gooter, recusant, 342
Gape, John, of Newdigate, yeo- Goring, George, of Burton, apos-
man, 246, tate and recusant, 121, 122,
Gapre, Duke of, 195 313. 314
Garden of Lambeth, recusant, Goring, Henry, 122
382, 387 Goring, Walter, recusant, 407
Garden, John, recusant, 382, 388 Gosse, Mr., 165
Gardener, or Gardiner, Francis, Goulder, Wm., 311
recusant, 391, 406 Gouldwyer, Jane, see Goldwyer
Gardiner, Stepthen, Bishop of Goulston, Seth, of Richmond,
Winchester, his book recusant, 382, 387
against Cranmer, 99 Gravener, a Jesuit, 171
Gardjmer, Wyllam, 395 Gray, Lohn, recusant, 305, 399,
Garendon, Abbey of, 12 406
Garre, Sir Fr., 296 Graye, John, recusant, 356, 383,
Garlick, " One," 187 385. 390
Garnet, Mr. Thomas (a blind man), Grecisham, Sir Thos., recusant,
209, 343. 344. 345. 4°9, 41° 398
Gastonne, 380 Great Bookham, 397
Gatehouse, the prison, 186 Greece, 87
Gatts, Mr., recusant, 399 Green, Parish of, 112
Gawdyry, Sir Tho., 387 Green, historian, his testimony to
Gawen, Mr., recusant, 399 Catholic loyalty, 193
Gendge, recusant, 342 Green, Mr., of Kent, recusant,
Geneva, 124 312, 398
George, Mr., 187 Green, Mr., the younger, recusant,
Gerard, Father John, S.J., 185, 312, 398
236, 268, 275, 276, 278 Grene, or Green.William, recusant,
Gerard, Sir Thos., recusant, 272, 383. 385, 390. 394. 396, 397.
398 404
German, Peter, 321 Green, Hugh, see Browne, Ferdi-
Germany, 194, 375 nand
Gerrard, Gilbert, Esq., 216, 217 Green, Mr. John., S.J., banished,
Ghent, 125 358
Gibbes, William, 224 Green, John, recusant, 311, 312,
Gifiard, William, Bishop of Win- 396, 400
chester, II Green, or Greene, Catherine, Mrs.,
Gifford, Mr., priest, 165 recusant, 312, 395, 396
Gifford, John, recusant, 399 Green, or Greene, William, of East
Giggleswick, 404 Moseley, Gent., 246, 312
Gilbert, Mr., 165 Green, William, schoolniaster of
Gilbert, Mr. George, 181 Southwark, recusant, 312
Gilford, Mr., 186 Green, William, of Tonistins,
Glastonbury, 254 schoolmaster, recusant, 394
Godalming, 35, 269, 389, 407, 408 ; Green or Grene, Mr. Rook, of Lam-
letter from John Brodfold ford, 312, 398
concerning Vicar's house Green, Theobald, of Lincoln's Inn,
at, 419 recusant, 312, 356, 383,
Goddard, Richard, recusant, 205 385, 390. 39". 40°. 402, 405
Godfrey, Mr., of Norwich, recus- Greene, Rev. Thomas, alias
ant, 398 Rejmolds, priest, 172, 258
Godley, 407 Greenwich, 144
478 INDEX
Green, or Greene, Mrs. Barbara, Hanon, 123
widow, recusant, 308, 309, Harcott and wife, recusants, 206
310. 397 Hardy of Farnham, 349
Greenwood, Christopher, recusant, Hardy, John, recusant, 402
406 Hardstye, Mr., 165
Gregory, St., 80 Hargreve, 1S7
Gregory the Great, 362 Harkesteads, 312
Gregory XIII., 156, 357 his
; Harland, Thos., 65
generosity to the Semin- Harletey, Wibbs, recusant, 386
aries, 156 Harman, Dyreke, 65
Gregory XV., his hopes for Eng- Harpsfield, Nicholas, alias Alan
land, 256 ; his letter to Cope, 64
Charles, Prince of Wales, Harris, John, recusant, 390
255 Harrison, John, priest, 359, 394
i
Gresyme, Mr., 165 Harrison, Thomas, 171, 172
Grey, John, recusant, 396, 400, Harrington, 187
402, 404 Harrys, John, recusant, 384, 386
Grey, L., 350 Hart Hall, 286
Greyell, Mr., 32 Hart, John, Priest, 65, 265, 288
Grimwood of Higham, 67 Hartley, William, St. John's CoU.,
Groine, 194, 195 Oxford, priest and martyr,
Grome, Walter, 372 320. 356, 357
Grotwyke, Stevene, 65 Hartley, Wm., recusant, 384
Grove's Wyf, 65 Harthmawdet, 380
• Grevells, Mr., priest, 172 Harvey, Jo., of Fenham, recusant,
Gryffethe, of Middlesex, 330 386, 390, 400, 405
Gryffyne of Lockwood, 112 Haselmere, 208, 209
Grymshaw, 163 Haslewood, Mr., 165
Gueldres, 125 Hathersiche, 187
Gueux, the, threaten to bum City Hatton, Sir Chr., 159, 184, 290,
of Louvain, 126 298, 301, 336
Greux, of Moblaw, 127 Hatton, Mary, wife of Richard,
Guildford, 3, 28, 11 1, 138, 141, recusant, 247, 397
I5r, r83, 205, 208, 220, Hatton, Richard, of Long Ditton,
306, 307, 321 gent., 245, 246, 397
Guildford Castle, 24 Havant, 355
Gun, Parson, 366, 368 Havington, Thos., 65
Gundulf, Benedictine, 269 Haward, Rowland, Knight, Alder-
Gybber, WiUiam, 224 man, 2l6
Gybinge, Mr., Priest, r65 Hawkins,- 282
GyUett, Cuthbert, J one his wife, Hawkins, Mr., th'elder, recusant,
recusants, 205, 206. 398
Hawkins, Mr., the younger,
Habarley, Thos Priest
, recusant, 398
Habarley, or Habberley, Thos., Haydock, priest, 177
Priest, 358, 394 Hay, or Haye, Lord, 36, 46, 49
Hackcombe, 390 Heath, Father Paul, priest and
Hackney, 187 martyr, 260
Hainaut, 125 Heathe, Mr., of Cumberford, 359
HaU, Mistress, widow, recusant, Heathe, Mrs., 359
380 Heathe, Thomas, recusant, 399
Hambledon, 209 Heather, Wm., 208, 409
Hammond, Dr., 387 Heeps, Uriah, 170
Hamond, John, 216, 217 HeerecUf, 163
Hampden, Mr., 338 Heidelberg, 247
Hampdey, Peter, 220 Heles, Mr., 338
Hampshire, 11 r, 295 Helhouse, James, 310, 311
Hampton, 253 Hell, Little, dungeon, 275
Hampton Court, 143 Helsington, Cuthbert, 186
Hankin, 186 Henesy, T., 301
 INDEX 479
Henley, 184 Horde, Barbara, recusant, 388
Henley Park, 209, 210 Hormer, Philip, 337
Henley Park searched, 188 Home, Bishop, of Winchester,
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 254, 259 337. 354
Henry I., 269 Hornefall als. Fumifall, 308, 309,
Henry III., 29 3io> 311
Henry VI., murder of, 271 Homer, his vision, martyrdom,
Henry VITI., i6, 19, 59, 68, 74, 88, 363
89, 102, 123, 214 Homyall, Jone, ahas Homyfall,
Henslo, Thomas, wife of, recusant, alias Fumyfall, recusant,
sii 379 308, 309, 310, 311, 379, 381
Henstoe, Raphe, and wife and Horsell, 208
daughter, recusants, 380 Horsley, 222
Heresy, Latin form of ablsoution Horwood, 186
from, 423 Hosmar, Alexander, 65
Heretical opinions to be punished, Hospice for English Pilgrims in
114 Rome, 156
Herves, Mr., 371 Houghton, alias Thunbloby, re-
Heton, Dr., 203 cusant, 399
Heton, Marten, Dean of Winches- HoweU, Alexander, 215
ter 196 Howard, Catherine, Queen, 274
Hever, Mathew, recusant, 393 Howard, Lord Charles, 189, 301,
Hew, Nicholas de, 163 303
Hifield, Mr., 299 Howard, Lord Charles, High
High Peak, 187 Admiral of England, 196,
High Priest, 77, 102 217
Higham, Wm., recusant, 399 Howard, Lady Frances, 37, 39
Higheclyf, Robert, 163 Howard, Sir Francis, 231
Hill, Edward, Minister, 206 Howard, J., 212
Hinde, Edrus, recusant, 389 Howard, Lord, of Effingham, 193,
Hobbes, Robert, recusant, 392 227, 228
Hobby, Sir Edward, 230 Howard, Lord William, 140, 183
Hobson, James, of Woking, Howard, W., Esq., 32, 121, 137,
recusant, 207, 210 142, 152, 190, 196, 203,
Hodnet, Daniel, recusant, 407 401
HogneU, 369 Howards, the, 36
Hoker, Richard, recusant, 221 Hubbard, Mr., of Hales-Hale,
Holbein, 25 recusant, 398
Holden, Nycoles, 65 Hubbard, Henry, son of above,
Holland, 125, 127 recusant, 398
Holland, Rob., of Clifton, recusant, Hubbard, Roger, recusant, 398
394. 395, 404 Hubberd, Robert, recusant, 392
HoUowood, Father Christopher, Huddlestons, Henry, 172
S.J., banished, 358 Hughes, Mr. Edward, priest, ban-
Holt, Father William, 102, 155, ished, 358
156, 279 Hull, Castle of, prison, 267
Homedeu, Albert Reynolde, 300 Hun, Henry, 24
Hone, Dr., 204, 298, 392 Hungate, Sir William, 171
Hoo and Wells, Baron de, 227 Hungall, Mr., recusant, 171, 399
Hoode, Thos mynyster, 65
, Hunsden, H., 159
Hoogstraten, Count de, 125 Hunsden, Lord, 272, 298
Hook, 63 Hunt, Henry, 24
Hooke, Rychard, 65 Hunter, Thomas Orby, Esq., 18
Hoorde, Mr., recusant, 398 Huntingdon, Lord, 316
Hopkins, author of book of Hutton, Mr., of Southwark, 313
meditations, 186 Hutton, W., 303
Hopkins, Margeret, recusant, 401 Hyde, Mr. Leonard, banished, 206,
Hopton, Sir Gw5m, 316 358
Hop ton, Owen, Knight, 216 Hydestreet, 344
Horde, Allan, recusant, 326, 388 Hyne, Roger, recusant, 399
 1

48o INDEX
Ilverthammesmead, ii Jonson, Mr., priest, 165
Indies, 195 Joye, Bennitt, of Waverley,
Inglefield, Sir Francis,194 recusant, 344, 380, 382
Ingram, Mr., priest, 165 torture ; Jubilee, 135
of 280 Justices, Oath demanded of them,
Innes of Court, 168 119
Inscriptions in the Tower of Lon-
don, 174, 273
Katheryne, Lady, recusant, 209
Inwood,
Kaye, Anthony, 359, 360
Ireland, 194
Keen, Henry, 558
Iron Boots, torture of, 280
Iron Gauntlets, torture of, 280
Keeper of Famham Castle, 337,

"llron Masks, torture of 280 339

Kempe, Humfrey, 311
Isarell, Mr., 172
Kennyon, Edward, Seminary
Israel, 81, 86
priest, 339, 340, 343
Issam, Christoplier, priest, 289
Kent, 325
Italians, 174
Kewe, 388
Italy, 62, 73, 87, 127, 194, 377 Key, Cornwall, 313
Itchstoke, 380
Key, Nicholas, Parson of St.
ItheU, Thos., 216
Nicholas, Guildford, 321
Kilmarnock, Lord, 277
Jackson, Ed., of Datison, Jesuit
King, the, supreme head of Church
priest, recusant, 171, 356,
of England, 56
383, 386, 390 King, Thos., 65
Jacobb, or Jacob, or Jacobe, John,
Kingesmile, F., 151
recusant, 383, 386, 390,
Kingmill, ? Wm., Knight, 216
399, 400. 402. 405 King's Bench, 383
Jacobite war, 271
Kingsmy, John, 216
Jaison, Mr., imprisoned in the
ICingston, 143
Fleet, 179
Kipling, 253
James I., King, 25, 35, 36, 41, 43,
Kirby, priest, tortured, 266
46, 47, 49, 50, 233, 236-
Kitson, Sir Thos., recusant, 398
250. 351
Knight, Mr., S. J., banished, 358
James, Mr., 45
Knight, Mrs., widow, recusant,
James, Mistress, recusant, 380
380
James, Father Edward, priest,
Knighte, Nicholas, priest, 394
359 Knolles, Henrie, Esq., 216
James, Thos., recusant, 406
Knollys, Sir Francis, 121, 137,
Jansen's Portrait of Sir Wm. 142, 147, 161, 212, 115, 298,
More, 28
301, 303, 336
Jarman,' Howard, of Lambeth,
Knollys, W., 244
recusant, 246, 397
Knyvet, Henry, 344
Jarrett, John, recusant, 205 Kydd, George, recusant, 406
Jeffreys, Judge, 214, 271
KylUke, Edward, 373
Jenks, Rowland, Mr., torture of,
Kynghoe, 1
287
Jemingham, Mr., of Cerses, recus-
ant, 398 La Mote, Monsieur, 185
Jerusalem, Temple in, 86 Lalvin, 271
Jesopp, or Jessop, Robert, recus- Lambe, Thos., 372, 373
ant, 383, 385, 391, 399, 400, Lambeth, 205, 299, 388, 393
402, 405, 406 Lampdon, Mr., recusant, 380
Jesuits, 179 Lancashire, 187
Joan of Kent, no Lancaster, 216
John, King, 269 Lancastrians, 271
Johns, Willism, 372 Lander, John, 65
Johnson, Mr., priest, 186 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canter-
Johnson, Mr., torture of, 266 bury, 98
Johnson, Phillip, Bl. of Divinity, Langford, Mr., recusant, 399
216 Larvye, Jo., recusant, 384
 1

INDEX 481

Larymer, Nicholas, recusant, 383, LUy, John, Jesuit lay-brother,

387 276
Lassels, Robert, 258 Lincoln, Earl of, 28
Latin, the language of the liturgy, Lincoln, Bishop of, imprisoned at
6 Hull, 267
Latimer, 102 Lincolne, E., 159, 336
Latin Letters, see Letter Lincoln, J., 212
Lavender, John, 304 Lipscombe, Wm., of Lambeth, and
Lavnder, John, recusant, 403 wife, recusants, 382
Laware, Thomas, 221 Lisbon, 194, 195 Seminary of,
;

Lawder, John, of Lawborn, recus- 156 Number of Students

;

ant, 396 in, 157

Lawnder, John, recusant, 395 Little Ease, dungeon, 182, 278
Laws against Catholics, summary " Little Hell," dungeon, 275
of, 447-452 Littledale's opinion of Foxe, 67
Lawson, Peter, recusant, 394, Livesey, Rob., see Levesye
395. 404 Lloyd, Richard, 208, 409
Lajnuan, Rich. Waldron, recus- Lockwood (Co. of Essex), H2
ant, 395 Lockwood, Christopher, Esq., 258
Layton, 16, his testimony to the Lockwood, John, priest, martyr,
Abbot of Waverley, 16 258
Leatherhead, 129, 203, 204, 264 Loe, Johanna, wife of Peter,
Leckford, Thos., 215, 217 recusant, 389
Lee, Nicholas, 373 Loe, Peter, recusant, 389
Leicester, Dudley, Earl of, 28, 272 Lone, Elizabeth, recusant, 406
Leicestershire, 40 Lone, Samuel, recusant, 406
Leigh, Father Richard, martyr, Long, Melford, 172
319 Longehamp, 269
Leonard, 186 Longdittou, 397
Lerica, 195 London, 62, 69, iii, 163, 186,
Letherborow, Mr., 186 215, 216, 244, 260, 328
Lesley, John, Bishop of Ross, London, Bishop of, 11
imprisonment of, 272 London, Tower of, see Tower
Letter, Italian, from Horazio Lootimer, Walter James, 45, 48
Palavicino, 422-423 Latin, Lorde, Anna, recusant, 388
translation, 174 Lordington, 186
Letter, Latin, from Michael de Lorets, 165
Bay, 444, 446, translation, Loseley, 18, 23-27, 148, 211, 228,
124 269 built out of ruins of
;

Letter, Latin, from Cardinal Pole Waverley Abbey and

to Cranmer, 425-433, Guildford Castle, 24 ;

translation, 91, &c. description of, 25 ; paint-

Letter from Edward Rishton, in ings at, 25, 35
Tower of Loudon, 265, 420 Louvain, 377 threat of Gueux to
;

Letters Leycester's, 334 destroy, 126

Letters, Strange, 45-51 Lovat, Lord, 277
Levesey, Print, 298 LoveU, Dorothea, recusant, 389,
Levesey, Mr., 299 407
Levesye, or Livesey, Robert, Lovell, Mr., of BuchemweU, recus-
Esq., 196, 203, 313, 318, ant, 398
401
Lewen, Doctor, 298, 327 Lovell, of Mr., HarUnge, recusant,
Lewes, David, 216, 217 398
Lewis, Dr., 186 Low Countries, the, 194, 195
Lewis, Proctor, i85 Lowen, Wm., 216
Leycester, R., 137, 142, 143, 147, Lowes, or Lowys, Johanna or
161, 184, 298
159, John, wife of PhiUpp, recus-
Leycester's Letters, 334 ant, 383, 386, 390, 392
Leyden, 125 Lowes, or Lowys, Philipp, recus-
Li6re, 125 ant, 383, 393
483 INDEX
Lowlands, Blessed Sacra-
the, Mary, Queen of England, persecu-
ment desecrated by Pro- tion under, and its causes,
testants in, 128 ; spread 63
of Protestantism in, 124 Mary, Queen of Scots, 25, 272
Lucye, John, recusant, 406 Mary Magdalen, in Bermondsey,
Ludlowe, John, and wife, recus- 373
ants, 380 Mary, the Blessed Virgin, no
Ludovia, 125 Maryland, Colony of, 254
Lumleigh, Richard, of Wynter- Mason, Anthony, of Kew, recus-
shall, Shalford, recusant, ant, 382, 388
207, 320, 322, 323 Mass, The Holy, 4, 5, 89, 150, 183,
Lumley, Lord, 196 185
Lussher, 325 Matthew, John, 373
Lutherans, 386 Matthews, Bishop, 320
Luttrell, 227 Mawdesley, Mr., Curate of Bram-
Luxembourg, 125, 174 ley, 322, 323
Lyetou (or Heton), 203 Mayn, Cuthbert, priest and
Lyncoln, E., 147, 215 martyr, 194
Lyons, 166 Maynard, Wylyam, 65
Lypscombe, Wm., recusant, 388 Masmey, Mr., John, recusant, 398
Lysfield, Thos., 401 Medina, Duke of, 194
Lyster and his two sons, 165 Mellor, Robert, Esq., " Shereifie
Lyster, John, priest, 357, 394 of the Countie," 224
Lyvesey, Robert, see Levesye Meredith, Mr., priest, 186
Merrow, 329
Merstham, 209, 319
Maastricht, 125 Merton, Richard, Knight, 216
Mabanke, George, of Henlye Park, Mettham, Mr., of Mettham,
recusant, 209, 210, 408, recusant, 398
410 Metz, 124
Mabel, Lady Fitz William, 18 Miagh, Thomas; 273
MackereU, or Markerel, Richard, Michaelmas, term, 117
recusant, 389, 408 Middlemor, Mr., 165
Maitland, Dr., 63 Mildmaye, Sir Walter, 121, 142
Malachy, his prophecy, 87 147. 215
Maiden, Mr., 65, 404 Miles, Geoffrey, recusant, 344
Mallynax, Jane, recusant, 387 Miller, Ralph, prisoner in Bride-
Mannocke, Mr., of Stoke, recusant, 185
well,
Mansfelt, Count, of 174 Milles, Robert, Esq., Sherif of
Manwaringes, the 186 County, 226
Manwood, Roger, 215, 217 Milles, Richard, 344
Mapledurham, 319 Ministers, offences against, to be
Marbery, parson of Merrow, 329 punished, 114
Marble Arch, London, 127 Mitcham, 205, 299, 326, 379, 381,
Marian Clergy, 154 388, 393
Marian Martyrs, Losely MSS., 64 Mob Law, how engineered, 127
Markerel, Richard, see Markerell Mody, see Moodie
Marsh, F., recusant, 205 Mollinax, see MoUenux
Marshall, Mr., from Nottingham- MoUenux, Jane, recusant, 381,
shire, 186 392
MarshaU, Raffe, Mr., 186, 187 MoUenux, Thomas, recusant, 392 _
Marshalsea, the, prison, 186, 191, Molyneux, Sir Wilham More, 25
311. 383
27.5, Molyneux, Sir James More, verses
Marsye, Mr., 165 by, 366
Marten, Mr., of Mellford, recusant, Monasteries, Dissolution of, 16-19
398 Monastic Life before the Restora-
Marten, Mr., jun., recusant, 398 tion, 9
Martin, William, 370 Mondragone, 174
Mary, Queen of England, 63, 105, Mondyne, Mr., priest, 165
184 Monmouth, Duke of, 274
 INDEX 483

Monson, Sir Thomas, 42 Morton, Dr., priest, 165

Montague, Anthony Viscount, 18, Mother of Christ, 81
139, 142, 143, 147, 149, 150, Mother tree, 65
390 Mounson, Robert, 215
Montague, Magdalen, 153 Mulberry tree, the rebus of the
Montgomery, Roger de, 28 More family, 26
MoocJe, John, recusant, 389, 393 Mudge family, 26
Mody, Marie, Mrs., recusant, 389, Mudge, Walter, 26, 28
393 Muffenaxe, or Mullenaxe, Jane, of
Morant, Wyllm, 65 Nutfield, recusant, 246, 397
Moore, of Cambridge, 163 Mullins, John, Clerk of Records,
Moore, Edward, gent., recusant, 172, 216
356, 383. 386, 390, 394, 399, Mutitations in pillory, 63
400, 401, 405 a Myls, John, 65
Moore, or More, Thos., of Bame- Myles, Richard, 345
brogh, recusant, 396, 399, Myles, WiUiam, in Winchester
400 Goal, 345
Moorings, Mr., recusant, 398 Mylinaye, Wa., 159
Morcome, 186 Myttens, 25
More, Christopher, Esqre., father
of Sir William More, 29, 51 Naboth, see. Vineyard
More, Sir George, son of Sir Will- Nathan, 86
iam More and Lieutenau Namur, 125
of the Tower of London, 35, Napper, Mr., igi
36, 45, 46, 50, 51, 196, 203, Nathe, John, priest, recusant, 357,
210, 310, 318, 322, 323, 329, 384, 386, 390
336, 401, 407 Nauton, Sir Robert, 173
More, John, 220 Neals, Mr., 230
Mori, Lady, 148 Nellson, Mr., recusant, 399
More, Thos., of Lowlaighton, Nevell, Henry, Knight, 163, 216,
recusant, 390, 395, 403 217
More, Sir Thomas, 19, 60, 62, 68, Newark-upon -Trent, 186
70, 71, 72, 74, 88, 102, 274, Newbry, Yorks, 312
276, 304, 305, 349 ;his Newfoundland, 254
learning, 70 ; snares laid Newgate, prison, 191, 289
to entrap him, 70 ; impris- Newington, 299, 399
oned in the Tower, 272 Nicholas, John, apostat, his lying
More, Sir William, 18, 24, 29, boast, 179
51, 103, 113, 122. 127. 137. Nicholson, George Thomas, Esq.,
138, 139. 143, 147. 149, 151, 18
158, 159, 184, 188, 190, 196, Nieuport, Flanders, 262
202, 203, 210, 211, 216, 220, Noise, Valentine, 343
221, 222, 228, 229, 231, 295, Non-Conformity engendered by
296, 299, 300, 306, 310, 314, persecution, 124
318, 322, 323, 325, 327, 329, Non Possumus, 123-135
331. 335, 336. 337, 347, 4°!, Nonsuch Palace, 25
407, 417-418, 419 ; his Norfolk 187
family, 28-34 Normandy, 19, 269
More, Wylt, 333 Normandy, Robert, Duke of, 269
Mores, James, 65 Norris, Col., 185
Mores, Margret, 65 Norris, or Norrys, Richard, priest,
Morgan, Dr. Edward, priest and recusant, 357, 384, 386, 390
martyr, in hiding at Sutton North, 334
Park, 183 Council's orders
; North, W., 121, 142
to search for, 184 Northampton, Earl of, 41
Morgan, PoUdore, imprisoned in Northampton, H., 244
Gatehouse, 184 Northumberland, Duke of, 274
Morgan, Joane, of Great Book- Northumberland, Earl of, 186
ham, widow, recusant, 246, Norton, the rack-master, 214,
397 278, 279, 288
484 INDEX
Norton, Anthoine, recusant, 343 Pallavicino, Horazio, his brother
Norton, John, martyr, 221, 320 imprisoned and tortured,
Norton, Mr. and daughter, 185, 175 ; released, 176
186 Pallicer, Mr., martyr, 320
Norwich, 215 PalUn, Mr., John, of Rogworthe,
Nose, J. L., 244 recusant, 399
Noyse, Valentine, Under-keeper Pantone, Jo., 351
of Winchester Goal, 343 Paris, 166, 168, 186
Nudigal, Henry, of Ashted, recus- Parker, John, of Cobham, recus-
ant, 246, 397 ant, 186, 196, 203, 382,
Nudigal, Marie, of Ashted, wife of 388, 392, 393
Henry, recusant, 246, 397 Parkins, " a poor old woman,"
Nutter, Robert, priest and sent to prison by the Bishop
martyr, 357 of Winchester, 153
Parkins, or Perkins, or Perkyns,
Mary, recusant, 379, 381,
Ober-Wesel, 248
384, 401
Ockham, 206, 209
Parkyns, Margaret, recusant, 379,
Ockley, 209
381, 384
OfiElcers of the Law, every male
Parliament, Addle, 40
subject obliged to serve,
Parma, Prince of, 173, 174, 194
for purposes of persecu-
Parpoint, Jarvis, of Gray's Inn,
tion, 116
recusant, 356, 390, 390
Oldam, or Owldeaker, Ralph,
Parpoint, Jervall (Jarvis), recus-
recusant, 394, 396, 404
ant, 384
Oldacre, or Owldeaker, recusant,
Parr, Katharine, Queen, 25
394, 396 Parrey, Wm., priest, 394
Onctoy, W., 151
Parsons, Father, Robert, priest
Oram, David, joiner, in and martyr,S. J., 168, 178,
Orleans, Charles of, 278
179, 181, 184, 187, 286,
Orwell, Edward, 326
287, 292, 320, 337,
Osbaston, 390 Pastoral Letter, see Pole, Cardinal
Osborne, Peter, 216
Paternoster Row, 186
Osterley, 140
Paunfote, Mr., aWas Paris, 185, 186
Osward, John, 65 Pawlett, Lady, her son, 185
Oteland, 137
Pawmer, Ralph, priest, 357, 394
Oudenarde, 125 Peak, the, 185
Overbury Plot, 35-39 Peckham, Sir Geo., recusant, 398
Overbury, Sir Thomas, 36, 37, 38, Pembroke, 244, 253
45
39. Penalties for absence from
Owen, Michael, and wife, recus- Church, 114
ants, 206
Penay, Wm., 210
Owen, Mr., priest, 165 Penn, Henry, recusant, 407
Owen, Brother Nicholas, S.J., his Peperharow, 208, 209
martyrdom, 268 Peperharow, Peter Renellard at,
Owen, Thomas, and wife, recus- 151
ants, 380 Perkins, Mary, spinster, recusant,
Owmkell, Gregory, recusant, 391, imprisoned, 315, 316
406 Pershall, Thomas, recusant, 380
Oxford, 185, 286 Pete asse, Bishop of, 165
Oxford, Disputation held at, 95,
Peters, Mr., priest, 185
99 Peters, Sir John, 185
Oxfordshire, 25 Pettingat, Samuel spy, informa-
tion by him, seeks admit
Padua, 62 tance as a scholar to the
Painter, Mr., Clerk of the Armory, English College, Rome, 163
313 Pettingat, Samuel, spy, is instruc-
Palatine, Prince, 42, 247 ted in the Catholic Faiths
Pallavicino, Horazio, a spy, 173, and received into the
174. 175. 176; Church, 164
 " ;;

INDEX 485

Pettingat, Samuel spy, gives names destined to foster the

Catholics and ftiests, 165 renovation of the Temple,
Pettingat, Samuel, spy, informa- Malachy's prophecy about
tion as to likely spies, 166 the Mass, 87
Pettingat, Samuel, spy, hypo- Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Pen-
cracy, a useful qualifica- ance necessary in repara-
tion for a spy, Rome's tion apostasy, 85
watchfulness, 167 Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, gifts to
Pettingat, Samuel, spy, suggests Churches ; Israelites, an
a pUgrimag to Rome, example to be followed
Pound, a priest, bound for Church building, the
England, toebe arrested. noblest act that man can
Council discussions known do on earth, 86
in Rome within eight days, Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Repara-
work of Parsons S.J., tion to Religious Commun-
Seminary at Rhemes to be ities for their losses and
destroyed, Cathohc law- sufferings, 85
168
yers, Pole's Cardinal, Pastoral, like the
Pettingat, Samuel, spy. Govern- rock whence Moses drew
ment searchers not water for the Israelites,
trust-worthy, 169 is the source from which
Pettingat, Samuel, spy, 163-169, springs " the pure water of
170, 175, I9i« true reUgion and justice,"
Pettit, Mr., the younger, recus- 84
ant, 398 Pole's Cardinal, Pastoral, his
Pharoe, 8i special providence in
Phelbye, Richard, alias Kilby, regard to her ; her marriage
recusant, 246, 397 with a Catholic prince, 83
Philbey, Wm., of Lee, alias Ligh,
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Protes-
recusant, 382, 387
tantism made every lay-
PhUipps, Wm., recusant, 356,
man and tavemer an inter-
385 preter of God's Word
PhiUippes, Wm., recusant, 313,
disastrous consequence of
390 giving the of&ce of High
Phillips, Wm., recusant, 312, 314, Priest to the King
383, 399, 400. 4°2. 405 example taken from the
Phillpot, Mr., and wife, recusants,
Greek schism which was
326 punished by the Greeks
Phylipp, Henrie, 24
being placed under the heel
Picardie, 195
of the Turk, 78
Pirford, or Pireford, 28, 30, 227,
228 Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, neces-
Piscinae, sity of penance ; two
3
Pitt, priest, 177
crimes for which they must
Plague, the, 137, 141 repent ; casting out the
Plymouth, 195 Vicar of Christ and casting
Poems, Latin, 423-425 out Christ Himself, 76
Pole, A., 272 Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Henry
Pole, Edmund, 272 ^'III.'s opinion of Fisher
Pole, Reginald, Cardinal and and More ; the martyrs
Archbishop of Canterbury, under Hen. VIII., 74
62, 88,90 Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Blessed
Pole, Reginald, Letter to Cran- Sacrament desecrated ;
mer, 89-101 a crime, likened to that of
Pastoral, 69, 87 the Crucifixion ; punish-
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, David ment of the Jews, a warn-
not found worthy to build ing to England divine
;

the Temple ;Kmg Cyrus, mercy twice shown to

" one of the noblest natured England ;once in Pope
men that was in earth Evaristus' time, 79
 ;
;;
;

486 INDEX
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, his raising up two such men as
retractation of same, his More and Fisher esteem ;

assertion that Papal Supre- in which they were held, 73

macy was essential to the Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Restor-
maintenance of faith his ; ation of religion, under
martyrdom for the cause Queen Mary, compared to
Fisher, Bishop of Roches- the work of the Blessed
ter, martyred for the same Trinity, 84
cause, 72 Polsted, Mr. 149
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Eng- Polsted, Mrs., 148
land's apostacy compared Pont-a.-Mousson, 156, 292
to that of the Jews, but Poole, Mr. Jeffrey, 185
worse than theirs ; Lon- Poole, Mrs., 186
don especially favoured by Pooles, two, 274
Grace, 69-82 Pope Clement VII., 19
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, and Pope Hus v., Bull of, 271
again in St. Gregory's Pope, Henry VIII. enforces a
time God's goodness in
; campaign of calumny and
granting yet another chance slander, 56
after a second apostacy Pope, Gregory XIII, his friendly
abominations to which they disposition towards Eng-
had sunk ; Blessed Sacra- land, 174
ment thrown as food to Pope the. Clergy ordered by
dogs, 80 Hen. VIII. to preach every
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, their sin Sunday and high feast
likened to that of Dathan against him ; school-
and Abiron, but even masters also to teach
worse than theirs who children to hate the Pope,
never thought of giving 57
the office of High Priest to Pope, Primacy of. Sir Thos.
the King miraculous pre-
; More's views regarding, 72
servation of the Sin of Porchester, 380
Peter which those of all Pormothe, Mr., 165
the other Apostles had Porter, Thomas, 371
withered, 77 Portugal, 194
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, God Postel, 125
did not chastise them for Poulet, A., 301
this crime, but sent a Pound, priest, 168
woman to recall them to Pound, Thomas, convert, martyr ;
the faith, 81 account of his life and
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Sir terrible sufferings, 352
Thos. More, his heroic fort- 355
itude his hasty answer to
; Pounde, Henry, recusant, 328,
Anthony Bonevyse {i.e., 380
Antoine Bonvisi) on the Pounde, or Powud, Thomas,
Primacy of the Pope, 71 recusant, 316, 328, 354, 380,
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, Lon- 389, 393
don's briars burnt Lon- ; Pounde, Wm., 352
don's great citizen Sir Preston, Stephen, of Winchester,
Thomas More, his noble 305
example ; subtle snare to Pnce, Mr., of Washingley, recus-
entrap him, 70 ant, 399
Pole's, Cardinal, Pastoral, unity, Priests, 162-176, 177, 263, 264,
a necessary condition for 267, 279, 356
the integrity of faith Priests, Secular, over 500 in Eng-
Parliament unable to pre- land, 157
serve this unity Blessed ; Priests, Seminary, their work in
Sacrament rejected as soon the Confessionals and their
as the King was dead visits to prisoners, 182, 183,
God's mercy to England in 185
 INDEX 487

Princes of the Union, 247 Redall, EUz., of Send, recusant,

Prit, parson of Higham, 67 246, 321, 397
Privy Council, trap laid by, to Redall, George, of Send, recusant,
ascertain fortunes of Cath- 246, 397
olics, 304 Redall, Jane, recusant, 321, 397
Protestant Dissenters, 103 Redall, Wm., recusant, 397
Protestant Persecution, its source Redall, William and his wife,
and consequence, 123 come to Church, 322
Protestantism, a new religion, 89 a Rede, Thos., 65
Protestantism in England, 78 Rederon, 186
Puckering, Jo., 189, 212 Redman, Wm., Batchelor of
Puritans, the, 242, 248 Divinity, 216
Pursuivant, sent to Loseley, 142 Reform leads to Dissent, 102-112
Pursuivants, blackmailers, 171 Reformation, Protestant, 55-68,
Putnam, Lady, 369 89 ; King as infalhble
Puttenham, 208, 209 teacher, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60,
Pynner, Johane, of Mitcham, 62 ; Rebellion, 77 ; 247,
recusant, 382, 387 result —
desolation, 365 ;

Pynner, Mary of Mitcham, recus reign of terror, 61

ant, 382, 387 Reformers, 102 change of reli-
;

Pyke, Mr., 34 gion effected by them in

Pykes, Wyllm, of Waverley, England, 102
recusant, 220 Reigate, 152, 264, 371
pyx,' the, 4 Religion, the new, see Reformation
Renton, William, of Galton, 356
Queenehille, 380 ReneUard, Peter, a French Priest
at Peperharow Warrant
;

Raabe, 103, 104 to apprehend him, 151

Rack, the, torture of, 268, 278 Repression leads to Inquisition,
Raff, 187 II9-I22
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 43, 285, 350, Reye, Mr., 330
351 Rejmiger, Slichaell, Archdeacon,
Randall, Mr., recusant, 399 of Winchester, 196, 202
Randolphe, Thos., 216 Re5molds, Mr., priest, 186
Raphael, Archangel, 190 Reynolds, D., Chief Jesuit of
Ratcliffe, Henri, Knight, 216 EngUsh College, Rheims,
Ratclifie, Mistress, 31 191
Ravendalle, Thos., 65 Reynolds, or Raynolde, Richard,
Ra3rmond, Mr., 228 recusant, 383, 385, 390
Re, Henry, a Dutchman, head of Rheims, Rhemes, Reims, or
the Anabaptists, 112 Reams, 182, 191
Read, John, 203 Rheims, Seminary, English College
Reading, 62 at, 154, 156, 166, 168, 185,
Reading, Abbot of, 62 186, 187, 191, 286, 290
Reaves, Wm., 206
Rich, Sir Robert, 18
Receiver, for fines with limita-
Richard I., 269
tion for his charges, 117
Richard III., 271
Recusancy, a crime licensed by
Richard, Mr., priest, busar of
Crown, 253
Louvain College, imprison-
Recusancy, fines and imprison-
ed in England, 126
ment for, 115
Recusants, 189, 2C4-205, 211, 298 Richardishulle, 11
301, 302, 335,
Richardson, 337, 338
Recusants at Loseley, lists of, what Richardson, Lawrence, priest, 288
may be learnt of them, 314 Richebell, EUzabeth, recusant,
Redall, 320 209, 408, 410
Redall, alias Ridall and wife, of Richebell, Jefiery, 209, 410
the Manor House, Guild- Richebell, Richard, recusant, 392
ford Park, recusants, 321, Richman, Stephen, 208, 409
408, 409 Richmond, 388, 393
 ; ;

488 INDEX
Ridall, ah. Rider, Wm., and wife, Royston, 41
recusants, 208 Ruckwood, Mr., of Soldham Hall,
Ridge, "John, recusant, 383, 385, recusant, 398
390 Rufus, WilUam, 29, 269, 276
Ridley, or Rydley, Dr., Chancellor Ruremond, 125
of Diocese of Winchester, Russell, Richard, 210
102, 110, 204, 207, 307,
341 Sackvile, or Sackvyle, Edward,
Rievett, Younge (Junior ?), 208, 334, 369, 409
recusant 398 Sackvile House, 226
'

Rigours, increased, 192-213 Sacrament of the Altar, 98

Rings-worthy, 355 Sacraments, faith in lost, 'through
Rinkwood, Mr., of Euston, recus- schism from Rome, 73
ant, 398 Sacraments, seven, reduced to
Rishtou, Father, Edward, priest, two, 90
imprisoned in the Gate- Sacraments, rejection by England
house, 179, 292, 394; of doctrine of Blessed
letter from Tower, 265 Sacrament, 90
condemned to death, 264 Sacred Scriptures, 103
Rites, Last, 157 Sacrifice of the Altar, 102
Rivers, John, Knight, alderman, Sacrifice of the Mass, 89
216 Sadducees, 96, 100
Robartes, Mr., priest 165 Sadler, or Sadlir, Sir Rafe, 121,
Robert in the College, 165 147. 215
Robinson, Mr. Francis, banished, St. Anselm, 269
358 St. David's, 215
Robinson, John, priest, 359, 394 St. Bernard, Abbey of; near
Rochester, Viscount, 36 Antwerp, 125
Rochester, Bishop of, 215 St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, 254
Rochester, Bp. of, 269 St. John's Chapel, Whit Tower,
Rochester, Viscount, 36, 37 277
Rochford, Lady, 274 St. John's, Mr., of Hokeringe,
Rochford, Viscount, 274 recusant, 398
Roe, Alban, priest, Benedictine St. Luca, Seminary of, 40-50
monk and martyr, 258 students in, 156, 157
Roll of Honour, 348-364 St. Mary's Church, Guildford,
Rome, 87, 168 298
Rome, Bishop, of, 102 St. Mary's Church, Waverley,?
Rome, English College, or Semin-
ary, at, 158, 166, 170, 179, St. Michael, Abbey of, at Antwerp,
243 125
Rome, English College, number St. Nicholas, Church of, 3, 19
of students in, 157 St. Puis, V. 155
Rood loft, 371 St. Omer, Seminary of, 156
Rookwood, Edward, of Euston, St. Omer, 80 students in, 157
recusant, 233 St. Peter ad Vincula, in the
Rooper, Thos., 1570, 272 Tower, 274
Roper, Mr. and wife, recusants, St. Philip Neri and the Enghsh
380 College students, 158
Rosary, Society of the, 135 St. Saviour's, Southwark, 205, 315
Rose, Edward, 166, 170 Saintleger, Nicholas, Esq., 216
Ross, Bishop of, see Lesley Salisbury, 233
Roston, 404 Salisbury, Blessed Margaret of,
Rouen, 185 274
Roundell, Philip, 286 Salisbury, Lady, 62
Rower, Thomas, 369 Sampson, Richard, recusant, 383,
Rowhng, Mr., priest, 165 385, 391. 395. 396, 404, 406
Rowsham, Father Stephen, of Sanctuary lamp, 4
Oxfordshire, imprison- Sandes, 'Mabel, recusant, 381
ment of, 278 385. 408
 INDEX 489

Sandes, Miles, Esq., 216 Shaw, John, minister, 210

Sanye, Mr., 165 Shelley, Mr. Edward, of Worming-
Saunders, of Reigate, 326 hurst, Sussex, recusant,
Saunders, Dr., 291 martyr, 314, 319, 381, 386,
Saunders, Erasmus, recusant, 379, 391. 399, 400, 402, 405, 406
381, 384, 400, 401, 402, 405 Shelley, Henry, and wife, of
Saunders, Jane, recusant, 379, 381, Southwark, recusants, 319,
384, 401 379, 391, 399, 400, 401, 404,
Saunders, Nicholas, recusant, 203 (|o6
229, 231, 232, 324, 325, 327, Shelley, Richard of Worming-
328, 388 hurst, Sussex, recusant,
Saunders, Mr. Nicholas, jun., 356, 389
and wife, recusants, 392, Shelley, Richard, of Southwaik,
393 recusant, imprisoned, 319,
Saunders, Thos., recusant, 407 383, 385, 399, 400. 402,
Saxons, 80 405
Saxton, Edward, see Sexton Shelley, William, 272
Saye, or Say, Wm., chancellor, Shelley, Young, of Maplederham,
196, 203, 204 recusant, 398
Scavenger's Daughter, the, tor- Shelton, Mr., 186
ture of, 266, 277, 279, 282, Sheperys, priest, 165
288 Shere, 208
Scot, Edward, recusant, 247 397 Shereman, Henrie, Dawbeme,
Scot, John, wife of Edward, recusant, 393
recusant, 247, 397 Sherlock, Wm., recusant, 205,
Scot, John, 216, 373 389, 393. 408
Scot, Margaret, recusant, 247, 397 Sherry, John, sen., of Gatton,
Scott, Thos., Knight, 216 recusant, 246, 397
Scott, Wna., recusant, 391, 406 Sherry, John, jun., of Gatton,
Screws, thumb, 280 recusant, 246, 397
Scriptures, Sacred, 103 Sherwin, Blessed Ralph, priest
Scriptures, contradictory inter- and martyr, 177, 265, 275,
pretation of, 97 290, 291
Scrope, Mr., and wife, recusants, Sherwood, Eliz., recusant, 383,
380 386, 390
Seal of the Grand Ecclesiastical Sherwood, Henry, recusant, 383,
Commission, 118 385, 390
Scale, 208, 209 Sherwood, Thomas, tortured, 284
Sedbar, Dom Adam, prior of ShoUye, Edward, recusant, 384
Cistercian house of Jer- Short, John, priest, 288
vaulx, Yorkshire, 273 Shorter, 371
Selwyn, Mr., 313, 314 Shriving, 13-15
Seminaries, Foundation of, under Shrewsbury, Earl of, 41
Cardinal Allen, 154, 155, Shrewsbury, Priory of, 29
156, 157. 180 Shurlock, see Sherlock
Seminary at Rome, see Rome Shurley, Thomas, 230
Seminary Priests, the, 15T-162, Sidney, Wilham, Esq., 29
181 Simpson, Mr., r65
Send, 205, 208, 321, 409 Sixtus, Pope, 191, 192
Services, Protestant, Rome's Skevington's Irons, torture of,
decision regarding attend- 277, 282
ance at, 132, r34 Skevington, Sir William, 282
Seville, seminary at, r56 Skinner, priest, tortured on rack,
Seville, 65 students in, 157 266
Sexton, Edmond, recusant, 383, Skinner, John, 336
385. 390, 394. 395, 399, Slyfield, Edmund 337
400, 404 Slyfield, Mr., High Sheriff, 264,
Seymour, John, 344 335, 336
Share, Johane, of Merr#w, widow, Slyfeild, Thos., Esq., 196, 203
330 Slaid, martyr, 349, 350
490 INDEX
Smale, T., of Ponghill, priest, Spanish Navy, 194
recusant, 357, 390 Spence, Pawle, priest, 359, 394
Smith, or Smythe, John, priest, Spencer, John, recusant 407
357. 394 Spendlen, Walter, 264
Smith, Richard, 371 Spies, Government, 162, 163, 171,
Smith, T., 147 173
Smith, or Smyth, Wm., recusant, Standen, Dorthye, of Esher,
383, 385, 391, 395, 396, widow, recusant, 397, 247
404, 406 Standen, John, of Egham, 308,
Smithe, Mrs., her schoolmaster, 309. 310. 311
priest, 171 Standish, alias Townley, recus-
Smithfield, 63, 88 ant. 399
Smyth, 222 Stanhope, Michael Mr., 230
Smythe, George, of Theam, recus- Stapleton, Walter, recusant, 399
ant, 246, 397 Stapleton, Wm., recusant. 391,
Society of the Rosary, 135 400, 402, 405. 406
Solitary, the, 3-8 Starmy, Mr., 186
Somers, 25 State Office Receipts. 121
Somerset, Earl of, 36, 43, 44, 48, State Treasury enriched by con-
49. 50 fiscation of Chantry founda-
Somerset, Duke of, 274 tions. 90
Somersetshire, 254, 286 Statute restoring royal supre-
Soresby, 258 macy, 113
Soundar, 149 Statutes relating to recusants.
Southampton, Earl of, 18, 136, Memoranda of, 240
137. 138, 139. 143, 145, Staunton. John, recusant. 205
146, 147, 148, 150, 183, Staunton. Lawrence. Esq., 188
354 ;
patron of Shakespeare, Stedolpher, John, 207
149 Sterete, Robert, of Dunsfold,
Southampton, House, 319 ; Mass 103-112
Celebrated, in, 150 Stertyvan, Dick, 187
Southampton, Lady, M. 153 Stevens, George, 65
Southcott, of Westham, recus- Stevens, Thomas, 354
ant, 382 Stevenson. Mr.. 230
Southcote, Judge, a harbourer Steward. Anne, spinster, impris-
of priests, 318, 319, 349 oned, recusant. 379, 381,
Southcott, John, Esqre., recus- 384, 401
ant, 215, 304, 305, 387, 396, Stile, Wra., recusant, 392
403 Still, John. 216
Southcott, John, Esqre., his wife, Stokar. George. 186
recusant, 387 Stock well. 205, 206
Southcott, John, the younger, Stoke. 209. 38Q
wife of recusant, 382 Stoke D'Abemon. 29, 298
Southwarborow, 380 Stoke. Dawbome, 393
Southwark, 187, 299 Stoke, near Winchester. 380
Southwell, Mr., of Fysinge, recus- Stokes. Mr.. 165
ant, 398 Stonden. Clara, of Esher, widow,
Southwell, Mr., of St. Fayes, 245
recusant, 398 Stone, Master, 32
Southwell, Father Robert, S.J., Storey, Dr. John, 127, 273
361. 363, 364. 437-439; Stoughton, John, 1586. 276
his torture and martyrdom, Stoughton. Lawrence, Esq.. 196,
363 203. 210. 310. 322, 323.
Southwick, 380 329, 407
Southwod, Haling, 379 Stoughton. William, 210
Southworte, Sir John, recusant, Streatham, 299, 317, 393
398 Strevewyck, 65
Spain. 127, 165, 194. 195. 377 Strode, JiJ^n, Esqr., 224, 226
Spain, King of, 156, 195 Strype, jihn. his " Memorials of
Spanish Armada, see Armada Archbishop Cranmer," 90
 1

INDEX 491

Stuart, Arabella, 351 Thorpe, Anthony, keeper of

Stuart, King, James I., 50 White Lion prison, 391
Stuart, Mary, 36 Thorpe, Thos., of Henly Park,
Studdolph, Mr., recusant, 205 recusant, 209, 210, 408
Studdolph, Mrs., recusant, 205 Throgmorton, Jane, recusant, 381,
Sub-deacon, 3 386
Suders, William, 65 Thumscrews, 277, 280
Suffolk, Earl of. Lord Chamber- Thunbloby, Mr., alias Mr. Hough-
lain, 36 ton, recusant, 399
Suffolk, T., 244 Thursby, Mr. Thos., banished,
Supremacy, Act of, 55 358
Surrey, County of, 24, 107, iii, Thursley, 208, 209, 382
160, 161, 189, 253, 295 Thwayties, Mr., recusant, 398
Suspicion, cause sufficient for Titchbourne, or Tychbourne, 380
persecution, 116 Titchbourne, Dr., and wife, recus-
Sussex, III, 159 ants, 380
Sussex, T., 147, 336 Titchbourne, Dr., receiver of
Sutton, Park near Guildford, Jesuits and seminarist'?,
183, 184 316, 380
Sutton Park, Father Morgan, in Tichbourne, Benjamin, and wife,
hiding at, 183 recusants, 316, 380
Sutton, Robert, recusant, 205 Tichbourne, Father, Henrv, S.J.,
Sutton, William, recusant, 380 156
Swaine, Richarde, 226 Tichbourne, Mistress, widow,
Symondes, John, recusant, 406 recusant, 380
Syon Convent (Isleworth), 74 Titchbourne, Nicholas, and wife,
recusants, 380
Tablott, Mr., John, recusant, Tichbourne, Nicholas, hanged for
399 faith [16011, 316
Tabotby, John, recusant, 388 Tichborne, or Tjchbourne, Peter,
Tailor, Mr., priest, 186 of Porchester, recusant,
Tailor, Ralph, Miller, 185 317. 383, 385, 391. 406
Talbot, Edward, recusant, 221 Tidival, 185
Talbott, John, of Mitcham, recus- Tieford parish, 1S7
ant, 320, 382, 388 Tilbury, 193
Talbott, John, his imprison- Tilletson, Mr., S. J., banished, 358
ment, 320 TilUsone, Francis, priest, 357,
Talbot, Lady, 185 394
Talbot, Lady, her two sons, 185 Tileford, or Tyleford, 1
Talbots, the, 186 Tillotson, Francis, apostate and
Talbott, Mr., recusant, 392 spy. 173
Tattersale, Mr., recusant, 398 Tirwhitt, Mr., of Twigmre,
Taylor, Mr., 309, 329, 330 recusant, 399
Taylor, Thomas, 24 Tobias, igo
Taylor, Walter, recusant, 384, Toby, M.P., 190
386 Tocker, John, recusant, 386
Temple Bar, 185 Tocker, Wm., recusant, 385, 399,
Testaments, 179 400
Testimony, Government, to Cath- Tompkins, Thos., recusant, 246,
olic loyalty, 303 397
Thame, 12 Tonstins, Staffordshire, 312
Thames, the, 269 Tooke, John, 372
Thetcher, Wm., recusant, 407 Topcliffe, Richard, 214, 268, 319,
Thirsk, 259 359, 360, 363, 364
Thomas, Bishop of Wynchester, Torture, 266, 268, 282, 283 ;

196 history of, 280, 281, 282,

Thomas, Mrs, widow, recusant, 286, 287 ;see also separate
380 , headings
Thomson, John, Esqr., 18 Torture Chamber, 278, 279
Thornes, 359 Tournai, 174
492 INDEX
Tournhout, 125 Vavasoure, Peter, recusant, 399
Tower Hill, 63 Veare, Lady, 32
Tower of London, 35, 179, 185, Vianen, 125
236, 242, 265, 269, 275, Vicogne, Abbey of, 125
287 Villiers, George, 40, 351
TowUye, Symon, of Guildford, Vincent, Thos., Bishop, 196, 203,
recusant, 382 401
Townley, Mr., alia'i of Mr. Stan- Vineyard of Naboth, 324-347
dish, recusant, 399 Vineyard, Labourers in the, 177-
Transubstantiation, 89 191
Travers, Mr., 351 Vintage, the, 295-323
Trent, Council of, 175 > Voact, Mr., priest, imprisoned at
Trevethen, Walter, of Maiden, Hull, 267
recusant, 395, 396, 404
Trivilion, Mr., 165 Waade, '278, 312
Trollop, Rev. Cuthbert, 320 Wade, John, lieutenant of the
Trupinge, Mr., recusant, 399 To«er, 42, 208, 409
Tryan, Thomas, recusant, 317 Wakefield, 270
Tucker, Mr., 165 Waldarn, Richard, recusant, 391,
Tucker, John, recusant, 384, 394, 406
396, 404 Waldron, Richard, of Citizen,
Tucker, Wm., recusant, 383, 402, recusant, 383, 385, 396,
405 400
Tunstall, Cuthbert, Bp. of Dur- Walesborne, or place of " horrid
ham, and his book on teach- aspect," dungeon, 288
ing of the Church, 99 Wallgrave, Mr., recusant, 392,
Turner, EUz., of South wark, 393
recusant, imprisoned, 315, Wallgrave, Mrs., recusant, 392
379, 381, 384, 401 Walgrave, Charles, of Lambeth,
Turnor, John, 371, 372 recusant, 400, 401, 405
Turner, Mrs., 42, 46 Walgrave, Nicholas, recusant,
Turner, Upofer, 185 conformed, 307, 383, 386,
Tyburn, 60, 63, 289, 291, 319 387
Tyrell, Father, imprisoned in the Walker, John, 216
Gatehouse, 179 Walker, Wm., of Athennan, Nor-
Twyfords, 380 folk, recusant, imprisoned,
• 356, 384, 390
Undertakers, 40 Walker, Witts, recusant, 386
Underwood, Thos., of Gatton, Wall, the, torture of, 268
recusant, 246, 397 Wallford, D., priest, 191
Unedale Anthony, Mr., 341, 342 Wallopp, Henrie, Knight, 216
Unedale, Wilham, Mr., 342, 343, Walpole, Father, 276
345 Walsyngham, or Walsingham, F.,
Uniformity, Act of, 113 161, 175, 212, 214, 215,
University of Douai, 154 217, 233, 272, 276, 298,
Upoint, Jarvallus, recusant, 386 303. 308, 336, 360, 385
Utrecht, 125 Walsyngham, J., 184
Walter, recusant, 203, 406
Vachell, Stephen, recusant, 379 Waltham, 339
Valdes, Don Pedro de, 194, 195 Walton, 388, 389
Valence, Andrew, of Rumsey, 345 Walton-on-Thames, 298-393
Valenciennes, 125, 358 Wanborough, 209
Valladolid, 63 students in, 156,
; Wandsworth, 206
157 Waneford, 11
Vannue, Alley, 186 Warblington, 317, 379
Vaux, Lord, Mass of his house, Warlys, D., 18.1
185. 187 Warmeford, Mr., recusant, 380,
Vauze, Lady Mary,
recusant, 398
imprisoned, 315, 379, 381, Warmeford, Mrs., recusant, 380
384, 386, 401 Warner, John, anabaptist, 103
 ;

INDEX 493

Warren, John, recnsant, Clerk to White, Henry, 337

Sheriff Slyfield, 335 White, or Whyte, John of
Warren, Wm., gent., recusant, Hursley, recusant, impris-
206 oned, 320, 395, 396
Warwick, 271 White, John, recusant, 379, 404
Warwick, Countess of, 30, 31, 32 White, Lion Prison, 153, 319, 383
Warwick, A., 159 White Lion Prison, condition of
Warwickshire, 186, 357 prisoners in, 346
Water, John, 103 White, Marks, 343, 344
Waterton, of Waterton, recusant, White, Robert, 371
399 White, Stephen, 319
Watson, priest, condemned to be White, Mrs. Stephen, recusant, 380
executed in Market Place, White, Thos., and wife, recus-
Winchester, 351 ants, 319, 380
Watson, John, 265 White Tower, 269
Watson, Robert, recusant, 391, Whitgifte, John, 215, 217
406 Whiting, 44
Watts, Thos., 216, 217 Whitney, or Whittney, Mrs.
Waverley, Abbey, Cistercian, 9- Anne, recusant, 205, 379,
12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 220, 382 381, 384. 387. 392, 393.
Waverley, Abbot of, his letter to 401, 407
Cromwell, 17 Whitney, Johane, recusant, 382
Waverley, Annals of, 12 Whitneyes, Mr.,~ and wife, of
Wawle, torture upon the, 360 Mitcham, recusants, 326
Waye, Father, priest, 359 Whithacres, t86
Wear, the, 269 Whorde, Mr. AUen, recusant,
Wearlche (?) WilUam, 220 307. 392, 393
Webster, Rich., of Norfolk, in Whorde, Anne, recusant, 307,
gaol ten years, recusant, 392, 393
356, 383, 385, 390, 394. Whorde, Mrs. Barbara, recusant,
395. 390, 400, 404 392, 393
Wells, Gilbert, and wife, recus- Whyborne, Wm., recusant, 389
ants, 380 Wibome, John, of Lambeth,
Wells, Richard, 373 recusant, 399, 400
Wells, Three of the, recusants, Wibome, Mr., Wm., recusant,
398 399
West Clandon, 208, 209 Wickes, James, recusant, 407 *
West Horsley, 208, 209 Widdow, Bookseller of Bristol, 50
Westbrook, 29 Wigges, Mr., 165
Westbiiry in Compton, 29 Wilcox, Robert, priest and
Western, D., Scottish priest, 172 martyr, 358, 394
Westhworaut, 380 Willford, Mr., of Kente, recusant,
Westminster, 215 399
Weston, 42, 44 William, 170
Weston, a priest, 171 WilUam, an EngUshman, 166
Weston, Lord Chancellor, 251 William, Father, 361
Weston, Mr., 152 William, One, 165
Weston, Sir Henry, High Sheriff W'lUam, Rufus, 29
of Surrey, 129, 131, 183, William the Conqueror, 269
184,253 Williams, John, of Ditton, recus-
WestphaUnge, Herbert, 2i6 ant, 395
Wey, Mr., and wife, recusants, 380 Williamson, John, recusant, 394,
Wey, River, 11, 12 404
Whalleye, Jane, 307, 381 Williamson, Richard, minister,
Whatmore, a skinner, 185 recusant, 205
Whit, Richard, and wife, recus- Willoughbye, Mr., of Marslaud,
ants, 326 recusant, 398
White, Mr,, recusant, 398 Willson, Thos., 215-217
White, Father, prisoner in clink, Winchester, 151, 203, 216, 340
191 trial at, 351
 1

494 INDEX
Winchester, Protestant Bp. of, Worminghurste, 381
3. 121. , 153, 190, 337, 338, Worplesdon, 209
340, 342 ; his hardness, Worship, Christian, 102
153, 339 Worsley, Worster, or Woster,
Winchester, Gaol, 339 Richard, recusant, 399,
Winchester, College of our Lady 400, 402, 405
of. 352 Worthy ngton, Mr., recusant, 399
Windlesham, 209, 388 Wotton, 407
Windsor, 142, 215, 254 Wotton, E., 244
Wine-Press, in the, 263-292 Wotton, Thos., Esq., 216
Winslade, Tristram, of Devon- Woulselev, Erasmus, recusant,
shire, 193, 194, 195 385
Winton, 215 Wren, Sir Christopher, 275
Winton, P., 151 Wright, junior, 165
Winton, Thomas, 339 Wright, senior, 165
Winwood, Secretary, 41 Wright, Richard, recusant, 307,
Wisbeach, prison, 267 371. 388, 392, 393
Wiseman, and brother, recusants, Wriothesley, Anne, sister of Earl
399 of Southampton, 352
Witley, 205, 209 Wybome, John, recusant, 401,
Wodman, Robert, 65 404
Woking, 209, 210, 211, 407 Wylson, Thos., 161
WoUey, or Wooley, Lady Eliza- Wynterbum, 1
beth, daughter of Sir Wm. WjmtershuU in Shalford, 322
More, 29, 31, 33, 34, 227
228 Yapley, Mr., oi Boston, recusant,
WoUey, F., 301 399
WoUey, J., Esqr., 190, 212, 336 Yapley, Mr., of Yapley, recusant,
Wonersh, 103, in, 112, 208 398
Wood End, 259 Yardley, Mr., 165
Wood, Sir John, 38 Yarmouth, 187
Woodcote, Manor of, Hamp- Yatt, Thos., 2 1 6, 217
shire, 341 Yonge, John, 216
Woodroff, Mr., priest, 165 York, 259
Woodruffe, Mr. Robert, banished, York, Johane, or Joana, recus-
358 ant, 379, 381, 384, 401
. Woodward, Mr., 185 Yorkists, the, 271
Wooley, Mr., 318 Yorkshire, 258
Wooton, Sir Henry, 37, 208, 299 Young, Dr., Professor of Theology,
Wolsey, 61 267
Wolsley, Erasmus, recusant, 383, Young, Mr., recusant, 402
391, 406 Young, Richard, 185, 188, 359,
Worcester, 215 360
Worcester, 380 Ytsfield, 404
Worcester, E., 253 Ypres, 125
Worcester, J. F., 244
Wormehurst, 39 Zouchy, E., 244

Printed in England by Headley Brothers, Astitord. Kent, and i8, Dovonstdre Street, E.C.3.