Great Britain -- History -- Mary I, 1553-1558; Mary I, Queen of England, 1516-1558
{p.048} The English Protestant preachers seeing that priests
everywhere held themselves licensed _ex officio_ to speak as they
pleased from the pulpit, began themselves also, in many places, to
disobey the queen's proclamation. They were made immediately to feel
their mistake, and were brought to London to the Tower, the
Marshalsea, or the Fleet, to the cells left vacant by their opponents.
Among the rest came one who had borne no share in the late misdoings,
but had long foreseen the fate to which those doings would bring him
and many more. When Latimer was sent for, he was at Stamford. On the
4th of September six hours' notice was given him of his intended
arrest; and so obviously his escape was desired, that the pursuivant
who brought the warrant left him to obey it at his leisure; his
orders, he said, were not to wait. But Latimer had business in
England. While the fanatics who had provoked the catastrophe were
slinking across the Channel from its consequences, Latimer determined
to stay at home, and help to pay the debts which they had incurred. He
went quietly to London, appeared before the council, where his
"demeanour" was what they were pleased to term "seditious,"[106] and
was committed to the Tower. "What, my friend," he said to a warder who
was an old acquaintance there, "how do you? I am come to be your
neighbour again." Sir Thomas Palmer's rooms in the garden were
assigned for his lodging. In the winter he was left without a fire,
and, growing infirm, he sent a message to the Lieutenant of the Tower
to look better after him, or he should give him the slip yet.[107]
[Footnote 106: _Privy Council Register, MS. Mary._]
[Footnote 107: Foxe.]
And there was another besides Latimer who would not fly when the
chance was left open to him. Archbishop Cranmer had continued at
Lambeth unmolested, yet unpardoned; his conduct with respect to the
letters patent had been more upright than the conduct of any other
member of the council by {p.049} whom they had been signed; and on
this ground, therefore, an exception could not easily be made in his
disfavour. But his friends had interceded vainly to obtain the queen's
definite forgiveness for him; treason might be forgotten; the divorce
of Catherine of Arragon could never be forgotten. So he waited on,
watching the reaction gathering strength, and knowing well the point
to which it tended. In the country the English service was set aside
and the mass restored with but little disturbance. No force had been
used or needed; the Catholic majorities among the parishioners had
made the change for themselves. The archbishop's friends came to him
for advice; he recommended them to go abroad; he was urged to go
himself while there was time; he said, "it would be in no ways fitting
for him to go away, considering the post in which he was; and to show
that he was not afraid to own all the changes that were by his means
made in religion in the last reign."[108]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account