In the distribution it was said The Body of our Lord c. preserve thy Body and The Blood of our Lord c. preserve thy Soul This was Printed with a Proclamation requiring all to receive it with such Reverence and Uniformity as might encourage the King to proceed further and not to run to other things before the King gave direction assuring the people of his earnest zeal to set forth Godly Orders and therefore it was hoped they would tarry for it The Books were sent over England and the Clergy were appointed to give the Communion next Easter according to them Many were much offended to find Confession left indifferent Auricular Confession examined so this matter was examined Christ gave his Apostles a power of binding and loosing and S. James commanded all to confess their faults to one another In the Primitive Church all that denied the Faith or otherwise gave scandal were separated from the Communion and not admitted to it till they made publick Confession And according to the degrees of their sins the time and degrees of publick Penitence and their Separation were proportioned Which was the chief subject of the Consultations of the Councils in the fourth and fifth Centuries For secret sins the people lay under no obligation to confess but they went often to their Priests for direction even for these Near the end of the fifth Century they began to have secret Penances and Confessions as well as publick But in the seventh Century this became the general practice In the eighth Century the Commutation of Penance for Money or other Services done the Church was brought in Then the Holy Wars and Pilgrimages came to be magnified Croisadoes against Hereticks or Princes deposed by the Pope were set up instead of all other Penances Priests also managed Confession and Absolution so as to enter into all mens secrets and to govern their Consciences by them but they becoming very ignorant and not so associated as to be governed by Orders that might be sent them from Rome the Friers were every where imployed to hear Confessions and many reserved Cases were made in which the Pope only gave Absolution these were trusted to them and they had the Trade of Indulgences put in their hands which they managed with as much considence as Mountebanks used in selling their Medicines with this advantage that the ineffectualness of their devices was not so easily discovered for the people believed all that the Priests told them In this they grew to such a pitch of confidence that for saying some Collects Indulgences for years and for Hundreds Thousands yea a Million of years were granted so cheap a thing was Heaven made This trade was now thrown out of the Church and private Confession was declared indifferent But it was much censured that no Rules for Publick Penance were set up at this time but what were corrupted by the Canonists The people did not think a Declarative Absolution sufficient and thought it surer work when a Priest said I Absolve thee though that was but a late Invention Others censured the words of distribution by which the Bread was appropriated to the Body and the Cup to the Soul And this was soon after amended only some words relating to it are still in the Collect We do not presume The affairs of State took up the Council Gardiner is imprisoned as much as the matters of Religion imployed the Bishops the War with Scotland grew chargeable and was supported from France but the sale of the Chantry Lands brought the Council in some Money Gardiner was brought into new trouble many complaints were made of him that he disparaged the Preachers sent with the Kings licence into his Diocess and that he secretly opposed all Reformation So being brought before the Council he denied most of the things objected to him and offered to explain himself openly in a Sermon before the King The Protector prest him not to meddle in matters not yet determined particularly the presence of Christ in the Sacrament and to assert the Kings power though he was under age and the Authority of the Council for the Clergy began generally to say that though they acknowledged the Kings Supremacy yet they would not yield it to the Council and seemed to place it in some extraordinary grace conferred on the King by the Anointing in the Coronation So the Protector desired Gardiner to declare himself in those points but when he came to preach on St. Peters day he inveighed against the Popes Supremacy and asserted the Kings but said nothing of the Council nor the Kings power under Age he also justified the suppression of Monasteries and Chantries and the putting down Masses satisfactory as also the removing of Images the Sacrament in both kinds and the new Order for the Communion but did largely assert the Corporal Presence in the Sacrament Upon which there was a noise raised by hot Men of both sides during the Sermon and this was said to be a stirring of sedition and upon that he was sent to the Tower This way of proceeding was thought contrary both to Law and Justice and as all violent courses do this rather weakned than strengthned those that were most concerned in it Cranmer did at this time set out a large Catechism which he dedicated to the King He insisted much on shewing that Idolatry had been committed in the use of Images he asserted the Divine Institution of Bishops and Priests and their authority of Absolving sinners and expressed great Zeal for setting up Penitentiary Canons and exhorted the People to discover the state of their Souls to their Pastors from this it appears that he had changed the opinions he formerly held against the Divine Institution of the Ecclesiastical Offices But now a more general Reformation of the whole Liturgy was under consideration A new Liturgy composed that all the Nation might have an Uniformity in the Worship of God and be no more cantoned to the several Uses of Sarum York Lincoln Hereford and Bangor Anciently the Liturgies were short and had few Ceremonies in them Every Bishop had one for his own Diocess but in the African Churches they began first to put them into a more Regular Form Gregory the Great labour'd much in this yet he left Austin the Monk to his liberty either to use the Roman or French forms in England as he found they were like to tend most to Edification Great Additions were made in every Age for the private Devotions of some that were reputed Saints were added to the Publick offices and mysterious significations were invented for every new Rite which was the chief study of some Ages and all was swelled up to a vast bulk It was not then thought on that praying by the spirit consisted in the inventing new words and uttering them with warmth and it seemed too great a subjection of the People to their Priests that they should make them joyn with them in all their heats
could never gain much Ground after this and indeed many hoped that he should be quickly sent after Cromwell some complained of him in the House of Commons and Informations were brought the King that the chief Encouragement that the Hereticks had came from him The Ecclesiastical Committees imployed by the King A Book of Religion set out by Bishops were now at work and gave the last finishing to a Book formerly prepared but at this time corrected and explained in many Particulars They began with the Explanation of Faith which according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome was thought an implicit believing whatever the Church proposed But the Reformers made it the chief Subject of their Books and Sermons to perswade People to believe in Christ and not in the Church and made great use of those Places in which it was said That Christians are justified by Faith only tho some explained this in such a manner that it gave their Adversaries Advantages to charge them that they denied the necessity of Good Works but they all taught that tho they were not necessary to Justification yet they were necessary to Salvation They differed also in their Notion of Good Works The Church of Rome taught that the Honour done to God in his Images or to the Saints in their Shrines and Relicks or to the Priests were the best sort of Good Works Whereas the Reformers prest Justice and Mercy most and discovered the Superstition of the other The Opinion of the Merit of Good Works was also so highly raised that many thought they purchased Heaven by them This the Reformers did also correct and taught the People to depend meerly upon the Death and Intercession of Christ Others moved subtiller Questions As whether Obedience was an essential part of Faith or only a Consequent of it This was a Nicety scarce becoming Divines that built only on the Simplicity of the Scriptures and condemned the Subtilties of the Schools and it was said that Men of ill Lives abused this Doctrine and thought that if they could but assure themselves that Christ died for them they were safe enough So now when they settled the Notion of Faith The Explanation of Faith they divided it into two sorts The one was a Perswasion of the Truth of the Gospel but the other carried with it a Submission to the Will of God and both Hope Love and Obedience belonged to it which was the Faith professed in Baptism and so much extoll'd by St. Paul It was not to be so understood as if it were a Certainty of our being predestinated which may be only a Presumption since all God's Promises are made to us on Conditions but it was an entire receiving the whole Gospel according to our Baptismal Vows Cranmer took great Pains to state this matter right and made a large Collection of many places all written with his own Hand both out of Antient and Modern Authors concerning Faith Justification and the Merit of Good Works and concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merits of Christ and that those who are justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these was the meritorious Cause of Justification After this was stated they made next a large and full Explanation of the Apostles Creed with great Judgment and many excellent practical Inferences the Definition they gave of the Catholick Church runs thus It comprehended all Assemblies of Men in the whole World that received the Faith of Christ who ought to hold an Unity of Love and Brotherly Agreement together by which they became Members of the Catholick Church After this they explained the seven Sacraments In opening these there were great Debates for as was formerly mentioned the method used was to open the Point enquired into by proposing many Queries And of the Sacramenss and every one was to give in his Answer to these with the Reasons of it and then others were appointed to make an Abstract of those things in which they all either agreed or differed The Original Papers relating to these Points are yet preserved which shew with how great Consideration they proceeded in the Changes that were then made Cranmer had at this time some particular Opinions concerning Ecclesiastical Offices That they were delivered from the King as other Civil Offices were and that Ordination was not indispensibly necessary and was only a Ceremony that might be used or laid aside but that the Authority was conveyed to Church-men only by the King's Commission yet he delivered his Opinion in this matter with great Modesty and he not only subscribed the Book in which the contrary Doctrine was established but afterwards published it in a Book which he writ in King Edward's days from whence it appears that he changed his Mind in this Particular Baptism was explained as had been done formerly Penance was made to consist in the Absolution of the Priests which had been formerly declared only to be desirable where it could be had In the Communion both Transubstantiation Private Masses and Communion in one kind were asserted They asserted the Obligation of the Levitical Law about the Degrees of Marriage and the Indissolubleness of that Bond. They set out the Divine Institution of Priests and Deacons and that no Bishop had Authority over another they made a long Excursion against the Pope's Pretensions and for justifying the King's Supremacy They said Confirmation was instituted by the Apostles and was profitable but not necessary to Salvation and they asserted extream Unction to have been commanded by the Apostles for the Health both of Soul and Body Then were the Ten Commandments explained the second was added to the first but the Words For I am the Lord thy God c. were left out It was declared that no Godly Honour was to be done unto Images and that they ought only to be reverenced for their sakes whom they represented therefore the preferring of one Image to another and the making Pilgrimages and Offerings to them was condemned but the censing them or kneeling before them was permitted yet the People were to be taught that these things were done only to the Honour of God Invocation of Saints as Intercessors was allowed but immediate Addresses to them for the Blessings that were prayed for was condemned The strict rest from Labour on the seventh day was declared to be Ceremonial but it was necessary to rest from Sin and Carnal Pleasure and to follow Holy Duties The other Commandments were explained in a very plain and practical way Then was the Lord's Prayer explained and it was asserted that the People ought only to pray in their Vulgar Tongues for exciting their Devotion the more The Angels Salutation to the Virgin was also paraphrased They handled Free-will and defined it to be a Power by which the Will guided by Reason did without constraint discern and choose Good and Evil the former by the help of God's Spirit and
Saturdays and Ember days should be Fish days under several penalties excepting the weak or those that had the Kings Licence Christ had told his Disciples that when he was taken from them they should fast So in the Primitive Church they fasted before Easter but the same number of days was not observed in all places afterwards other rules and days were set up but S. Austin complained that many in his time placed all their Religion in observing them Fast-days were turned to a mockery in the Church of Rome in which they both dined and did eat Fish drest exquisitely and drank Wine This made many run to another extream against all Fasts or distinction of days which certainly if rightly managed and without superstition is a great means for keeping up a seriousness of mind which is necessary for maintaining the power of Religion Other Bills were proposed but not past one for making it Treason to marry the Kings Sisters without the consent of the King and Council But the forfeiture of Succession in that case was thought sufficient The Bishops did also complain of their want of power to repress vice which so much abounded But the Laity were so apprehensive of coming again under an Ecclesiastical Tyranny that they would not consent to it A Proposition was also made for bringing the Common Law into a body in imitation of Justinians Digests But it fell being too great a design to be finished under an Infant King In this Parliament the Admiral was Attainted The Admirals Attainder The Queen Dowager died in September last not without suspicion of Poison upon that he renewed his Addresses to Lady Elizabeth but finding it in vain to expect that his Brother and the Council would consent to it and that her right to the Succession would be cut off if he married her without their consent he resolved to make sure of the Kings Person till he made a change in the Government He fortified his House he laid up a Magazine and made a party among the Nobility The Protector imployed many to divert him from those desperate designs but his Ambition being incurable he was forced to proceed to extremities against him He sent him Prisoner to the Tower in January with his Confederate Sharington who being Vice-Treasurer of the Mint at Bristol had supplied him with Money and had coined much base Money for his use Many were sent to perswade him to a better mind and his Brother was willing to be again reconciled to him if he would retire from the Court and business but he was intractable So many Articles were objected to him both of his designs against the State and of his Malversation in his Office several Pyrates having been entertained by him Many Witnesses and Letters under his own hand were brought against him Almost the whole Council went to the Tower and examined him but he refused to make any Answers and said he expected an open Tryal The whole Council upon this acquainted the King with it and desired him to refer the matter to the Parliament which he granted Upon that some Counsellors were again sent to see what they could draw from him but he was sullen and after he had answered to three of the Articles denying some particulars and excusing others he refused to go any further The business was next brought into the House of Lords The Judges and the Kings Council delivered their opinions That the Articles objected to him were Treason Then the Evidence was given upon which the whole House past the Bill the Protector only withdrawing They dispatched it in two days In the House of Commons many argued against Attainders without a Trial or bringing the party to make his Answers But a Message was sent from the King desiring them to proceed as the Lords had begun So the Lords that had given Evidence against him in their own House were sent down to the Commons Upon which they past the Bill and the Royal Assent was given the fifth of March And afterwards the King being prest to it by the Council gave order for the Execution which was done the twentieth of March. This was the only cure that his Ambition seemed capable of Yet it was thought against nature that one Brother should fall by the hand of another And the Attainting a man without hearing him was condemned as contrary to Natural Justice so that the Protector suffered almost as much by his death as he could have done by his life The Laity and Clergy both gave the King Subsidies and so the Parliament was Prorogued The first thing taken into care was the receiving the Act of Uniformity A new Visitation Some Complaints were made of the Priests way of officiating that they did it with such a tone of voice that the people did not understand what was said no more than when the Prayers were said in Latine so this Temper was found Prayers were ordered to be said in Parish Churches in a plain voice but in Cathedrals the old way was still kept up as agreeing better with the Musick used in them Though this seemed not very decent in the Confession of sins nor in the Litany where a simple voice gravely uttered agreed better with those devotions than those Cadences and unmusical notes do Others continued to use all the Gesticulations Crossings and Kneelings that they had formerly been accustomed to The people did also continue the use of their Beads which were brought in by Peter Hermit in the eleventh Century by which the repeating the Angels Salutation to the Virgin was made a great part of their devotion and was ten times said for one Pater Noster Instructions were given to the Visitors to put all these down in a new Visitation and to enquire if any Priests continued to drive a trade by Trentals or Masses for departed Souls Order was also given that there should be no Private Masses at Altars in the corners of Churches and that there should be but one Communion in a day unless it were in great Churches and at high Festivals in which they were allowed to have one Communion in the morning and another at noon The Visitors made their Report That they found the Book of Common Prayer received universally over all the Kingdom only Lady Mary continued to have Mass said according to the abrogated forms Upon this the Council wrote to her to conform to the Laws for the nearer she was to the King in blood she was so much the more obliged to give a good Example to the rest of the Subjects She refused to comply with their desires and sent one to the Emperour for his Protection upon which the Emperour pressed the English Embassadours and they promised that for some time she should be dispensed with The Emperour pretended afterwards that they made him an absolute Promise that she should never be more troubled about it but they said it was only a Temporary Promise A Match was also proposed for her with the King
Queen intended to dispose of the Crown in prejudice of the right Heir at which the House expressed so great a dislike as shewed they would not have it so much as imagined that Lady Elizabeth could be excluded He had a publick reprimend given him for insinuating a thing so much to the Queen's dishonour A Proposition of Marriage The carriage and usage of Lady Elizabeth all this Reign was at this time privately made by the King of Sweden to Lady Elizabeth but she rejected it because it was not sent to her by the Queen though the Messenger declared that his Master as he was a Gentleman began at her and as he was a King he had ordered him to propose it next to the Queen But she assured him that if the Queen would leave her to her self she would not change her state of life When the Queen knew of this she approved much of her Sister's answer and sent one to her to try her mind in it for now the Proposition was made to her but she expressed her dislike of a married state so firmly that this motion fell to the ground It seems her aversion was very great otherwise the condition she was then in was neither so easie nor so secure but that she had reason to desire to be out of her Keeper's hands and to apprehend that her danger encreased as the Queen's health was impaired for many of the Bishops were offering Cruel counsels against Her She had been first sent for upon the breaking out of Wiat's Conspiracy and though she lay then sick in Bed she was forc'd to come to Court There she was at first confined to her Lodgings and was afterwards carried to the Tower and led into it by the Traytor 's Gate and was strictly guarded Her Servants were put from her and none had access to her but those that were Spies upon her nor was she suffered to walk on the Leads or have the ordinary comforts of Air. Some were put to the Rack to draw Confessions from them but none accused her except Wiat and he retracted what he had said in hopes of a Pardon when he was upon the Scaffold When it appeared that nothing could be made out against her she was sent down to Woodstock and was kept under strict Guards and very roughly used by Sir Henry Benefield But King Philip so far mollified the Queen towards her that he prevailed with her to bring her to Court and to admit her to her Presence Gardiner and many others dealt much with her to confess her offences and ask the Queen's pardon but she always stood upon her Innocence and said she had never offended her not so much as in her thoughts When she was brought to the Queen she renewed the same protestations to her and begged that she would entertain a good opinion of her The Queen though she pressed her much to acknowledg some faultiness yet seemed to be satisfied with what she said and parted with her in good terms of which King Philip had some apprehensions for he had conveyed himself secretly into a corner of the Room that he might prevent a further breach in case the Queen should fall into heats with her After this her Guards were discharged and she seemed to be at liberty but she had so many Spies about her that to avoid all suspicion she medled in no sort of business but gave her self wholly to study Thus was she Imployed for five years during which time she was under continual apprehensions of Death which was perhaps a necessary preparation for that long course of Prosperity and Glory with which she was afterwards blest During the sitting of Parliaments the Bishops did always intermit their Cruelties but as soon as they were over they returned to them More burnings Cuthbert Simpson one in Deacons Orders had been taken at the Meeting in Islington and was rackt with extream severity to make him confess all the Friends they had in London but nothing was drawn from him so in March he and two others were burnt in Smithfield In April one was burnt at Hereford and in May three were burnt at Colchester Several Books were Printed beyond Sea and secretly conveyed into England upon which a Proclamation of a very strange nature was set out That if any received any of these Books and did not presently burn them without either reading them or shewing them to any Person they were to be Executed immediately by Martial Law Seven were burnt in Smithfield in the end of May and another Proclamation was at that time made in the Queens name against all that should speak to them or pray for them but no Authority could restrain those prayers which devout minds offered up secretly to God Six were burnt at Brainford in July a Minister was burnt at Norwich in that Month In August a Gentleman was burnt near Winchester At St. Edmondsbury four were burnt in August and three more in November at the same time a Man and a Woman were burnt at Ipswich a Woman was also burnt at Exeter and on the 10th of November three Men and two Women were burnt at Canterbury in all XXXIX this Year All that were burnt during this Reign as far as I could gather the number were 284. though Grindall that lived in that time writes that in two Years 800. were burnt many more were imprisoned 60. died in Prison others after much cruel usage Bonner himself often disciplining them with Whips and Tortures were prevailed on to abjure but carried in their minds a deep aversion to that Cruelty which had tempted them to such Apostasie At first pardons were offered at the Stake to tempt the Martyrs to the last moment of their life but afterwards the Priests Cruelty as it continued to the last Week of the Queens life so it encreased to that degree that Bembridge who was burnt near Winchester in August crying out when he felt the Violence of the fire that he recanted the Sheriff made his People put out the Fire and hoped that since the Clergy pretended that they desired the Conversion and not the destruction of the Hereticks this act of Mercy would not displease them but the Council writ to him ordering him to go on and execute the Sentence and to take care that he should dye a good Catholick for it was said if he recanted sincerely he was fit to dye and if he did it not sincerely he was not fit to live and when this was done the Sheriff was put in the Fleet for his Presumption This Year the Lord Clinton was sent with a Fleet of 120. Ships and 7000. Ill success strange accidents Land-men in it against France he made but one descent and lost 600. Men in it so after an inglorious and expenceful Voyage he returned back The English had lost their Hearts and began to think that Heaven was against them Extraordinary accidents encreased those Apprehensions Thunder broke violently in Nottingham the Trent swell'd
in prayer and would have proved as great a resignation of their devotion to them as the former superstition had made of their faith It was then resolved to have a Liturgy and to bring the Worship to a fit mean between the Pomp of Superstition and naked flatness They resolved to change nothing meerly in opposition to received practices but rather in Imitation of what Christ did in the Institution of the two Sacraments of the Gospel that did consist of Rites used among the Jews but blessed by him to higher purposes to comply with what had been formerly in use as much as was possible thereby to gain the People All the Consecrations of Water Salt c. in the Church of Rome lookt like the remainders of Heathenism and were laid aside by these Devils being adjured and a Divine vertue supposed to be in them the People came to think that by such observances they might be sure of Heaven The Absolutions by which upon the account of the Merits of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints the sprinklings of Water Fastings and Pilgrimages with many other things sins were pardoned as well as on the account of the Passion of Christ and the Absolution given to dead bodies lookt like gross Impostures tending to make the World think that besides the painful way to Heaven in a course of true Holiness the Priests had secrets in their hands of carrying People thither in another Method and on easier terms and this drew in the People to purchase their favour especially when they were dying so that as their fears were then heightned there was no other way left them in the conclusion of an ill life to dye with any good hopes but as they bargained for them with their Priests therefore all this was now cast out It was resolved to have the whole worship in the Vulgar Tongue upon which Saint Paul has copiously enlarged himself and all Nations as they were converted to Christianity had their Offices in their Vulgar Tongue but of late it had been pretended that it was a part of the Communion of Saints that the worship should be every where in the same Language though the People were hardly used when for the sake of some Vagrant Priests that might come from foreign Parts they were kept from knowing what was said in the worship of God It was pretended that Pilate having ordered the Inscription on the Cross in Greek Latine and Hebrew these three Languages were sanctified but it is not easie to understand what authority he had for conferring such a priviledge on them But the keeping all in an Unknown Tongue preserved in dark Ages the esteem of their Offices in which there were such Prayers and Hymns and such Lessons that if the People had understood them they must have given great scandal In many Prayers the pardon of sins and the grace of God were asked in such a stile of the Saints as if these had been wholly at their disposal and as if they had been more merciful than God or Christ In former times all that did officiate were peculiarly habited and all their Garments were blessed and these were considered as a part of the train of the Mass but on the other hand white had been the colour of the Priests Vestments under the Mosaical Law and was early brought into the Christian Churches it was a proper expression of Innocence and it was fit that the worship of God should be in a decent habit So it was continued and since the Sacrifices offered to Idols were not thereby according to Saint Paul of their own nature polluted and every Creature of God was good it was thought notwithstanding the former abuse most reasonable to use these Garments still The Morning and Evening Prayers were put almost in the same Method The new Offices in which we use them still only there was no Confession nor Absolution In the Office for the Communion there was a Commemoration of thanksgiving for the Blessed Virgin and all departed Saints and they were commended to God's mercy and peace In the Consecration the use of crossing the Elements was retained but there was no Elevation which was at first used as an historical Rite to shew Christ's being lifted up on the Cross but was afterwards done to call on the People to adore it No stamp was to be on the Bread and it was to be thicker than ordinary It was to be put in the Peoples mouths by the Priests though it had been anciently put in their hands Some in the Greek Church began to take it in Spoons of Gold others in a Linnen cloth called their Dominical but after the Corporal presence was received the People were not suffered to touch it and the Priests Thumbs and Fingers were peculiarly anointed to qualifie them for that Contact In Baptism the Child's head and breast was crost and an adjuration was made of the Devil to depart from him Children were to be thrice dipt or in case of weakness water was to be sprinkled on their faces and then they were to be anointed The sick might also be anointed if they desired it At Funerals the departed Soul was recommended to God's mercy The Sacraments were formerly believed of such vertue Private Communion that they conferred Grace by the very receiving them ex opere operato and so Women baptized The Ancients did send portions of the Eucharist to the sick but without any Pomp which came in when the Corporal Presence was believed But instead of that it was now appointed that the Sacraments should be ministred to the sick and therefore in case of weakness Children might be baptized in Houses though it was more suitable to the design of Baptism which was the admission of a new Member to the Church to do it before the whole Congregation But this which was a provision for weakness is become since a mark of Vanity and a piece of affected state It was also appointed that the Sacrament should be given to the sick and not to be sent from the Church but Consecrated by their Bed-sides since Christ had said that where two or three were assembled in his name he would be in the midst of them But it is too gross a Relique of the worst part of Popery if any imagine that after an ill life some sudden sorrow for sin with a hasty Absolution and the Sacrament will be a passeport to Heaven since the mercies of God in Christ are offered in the Gospel only to those who truly believe sincerely repent and do change the course of their Lives The Liturgy thus compiled was published with a Preface concerning Ceremonies the same that is still in the Common-Prayer-Book written with extraordinary judgment and temper When the Book came into all Mens hands several things were censured Censures past on the Common-prayer-Book as particularly the frequent use of the Cross and Anointing The former began to be used as a badge of a crucified Saviour but the