These foreigners, outside episcopal control and not subject to the _Acts
of Uniformity_, enjoyed liberties of worship which were not granted to
Englishmen. They were driven out of the country when Mary succeeded; but
under Elizabeth and James they had the same privileges and were
naturally envied by the English Puritans, coerced by Bishops and harried
by Acts of Uniformity.
While the Reformation was being pushed forward in England at a speed
too great for the majority of the people, the King was showing the
feebleness of his constitution. He died on the 6th of July 1553, and the
collapse of the Reformation after his death showed the uncertainty of
the foundation on which it had been built.
CHAPTER III.
THE REACTION UNDER MARY.[495]
One of the last acts of the dying King had been to make a will
regulating the succession. It was doubtless suggested to him by the Duke
of Northumberland, but, once adopted, the lad clung to it with Tudor
tenacity. It set aside as illegitimate both his sisters. It also set
aside the young Queen of Scotland, who, failing Mary and Elizabeth, was
the legitimate heir, being the granddaughter of Margaret, the eldest
sister of Henry VIII., and selected the Lady Jane Grey, the
representative (eldest child of eldest child) of Mary, the younger
sister of Henry VIII. Both the King and his Council seem to have thought
that the nation would not submit to a Roman Catholic on the throne; and
Charles V. appears to have agreed with them. He considered the chances
of Mary's succession small.
The people of England, however, rallied to Mary, as the nearest in blood
to their old monarch, who, notwithstanding his autocratic rule, had
never lost touch with his people.
The new Queen naturally turned to her cousin Charles V. for guidance. He
had upheld her mother's cause and her own; and in the dark days which
were past, his Ambassador Chapuys had been her indefatigable friend.
It was Mary's consuming desire to bring back the English Church and
nation to obedience to Rome--to undo the work of her father, and
especially of her brother. The Emperor recommended caution; he advised
the Queen to be patient; to watch and accommodate her policy to the
manifestations of the feelings of her people; to punish the leaders who
had striven to keep her from the throne, but to treat all their
followers with clemency. Above all, she was to mark carefully the
attitude of her sister Elizabeth, and to reorganise the finances of the
country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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