martyr, at whose feet the faggots were already kindled: "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." Never were words more prophetic. Another Protestant martyr of these days was Dr. Rowland Taylor, the rector of Hadleigh in Sussex. He was the ancestor of the learned and pious author of " Holy Living `and Dying."

But

Archbishop Cranmer was left in prison a few months longer. His had ever been a timid character. During the reign of Henry VIII. the archbishop's lack of moral courage had manifested itself on several occasions, when he yielded both opinion and principle to the will of that monarch. Henry's wrath, being equivalent to a death-warrant, might have intimidated a bolder spirit than Cranmer's. Now, aged and harassed, as he lay in his prison at Oxford, delusive hopes of life and pardon were held out to induce him to recant, and thus bring disgrace upon himself and the whole Protestant cause. For a time the natural timidity of Cranmer's nature prevailed, and he signed a recantation. enemies having now gained their point, as they fondly believed, prepared for him the martyr's stake. Nobly amid the flames did Archbishop Cranmer redeem that last moment of weakness. Holding out the hand which had signed the paper: "This hand has offended," he exclaimed, and watched it as it slowly shrivelled in the consuming flames. His last words were, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." In Mary's reign, two hundred and eighty-eight persons suffered at the stake.

1556.

His

During all this time the Protestant Princess Elizabeth, by the utmost prudence, narrowly escaped the perils to which her position exposed her. At Queen Mary's coronation she bore the crown. Whispering to the Count de Noailles, the French ambassador, that it was heavy, he replied: "Be patient, it will seem lighter when it is on your own head.” Once she had been led through the Traitor's Gate into the Tower, but she was again set free, and towards the close of

Mary's reign, she resided at the manor house of Hatfield, in comparative security, and in friendship with her Roman Catholic sister. To obtain this, however, she was obliged to have mass celebrated in her own house, to embroider garments for madonnas and saints, and when at court, to take part in the religious processions.

1557.

In 1557, King Philip came over to England. His visit rejoiced his wife, but with very little reason, for his motive in coming was purely selfish. It was to persuade the English parliament to declare war against France. Both the parliament and council were opposed to such a war. They would never have yielded to Philip, but that, fortunately for him, the king of France at this juncture aided some traitorous attempts to overthrow the government of England. This fact enabled Mary to gratify her husband, by procuring the consent of parliament to the sending over of a body of horse and foot in aid of the Spanish king. The war proved sadly disastrous to England. One town alone remained to her of all the dear-bought conquests on the soil of France. It was Calais. Most jealously had this possession been watched until the reign of Mary. But now its defences were weakened, and there was no navy to protect it. The Duke of Guise surprised the fortress in midwinter, and the last stronghold of English power on the continent fell into his hands.

1558.

So greatly, was this loss felt by the English queen, that shortly before her death, when two of her attendants asked if her great dejection arose from King Philip's leaving her, she replied: "Not that only, but when I am dead and opened, you shall find Calais lying in my heart." Queen Mary's death occurred a few months after the loss which she had so greatly deplored. She died in November, 1558.

QUESTIONS.-Whose situation became perilous at the king's death? -How did they evade the danger of appearing at court?-What prevented the success of Northumberland's designs?—Relate the conduct and fate of Lady Jane Grey.-How was Northumberland

punished? What was Mary's age at her accession ?-Mention the circumstances of her previous life and character.-What changes now took place in the religion of the realm?-How did Cranmer suffer, and on what account?

Describe the effect of Mary's marriage contract upon the nation.— In what way did Wyatt's rebellion bring about the death of Lady Jane Grey? What was Mary's chief anxiety with regard to her kingdom?-Who was the Pope's legate, and how was he received?— Who was the first victim in the persecutions of the Protestants?— Describe the martyrdom of Latimer and Ridley.-Describe the character and consequent conduct of Cranmer.-Relate the noble evidence of repentance given by him at the stake.—How many perished at the stake during this reign?

Describe the situation of the Princess Elizabeth during Mary's reign. Mention the object and result of Philip's visit to England in 1557.-Describe the loss suffered by England in this war.-What anecdote is given to show how deeply Mary felt the loss of this town? When did Mary die?

CHAPTER XXXV.

QUEEN ELIZABETH.-THE FIRST TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF HER REIGN.

HER ACCESSION-POPULARITY-THE PROTESTANT RELIGION RESTOREDMARY OF SCOTLAND.

It is said that when one warned Anna Boleyn of the danger she incurred in wedding Henry VIII., she replied: “I care not what becomes of me; my children shall be royal." Truly her words were prophetic, for never did a sovereign rule with a more royal sway than Elizabeth of England, the only child of the unhappy Anna Boleyn.

When, on the 17th November, the accession of the 1558. Princess Elizabeth was made known, not a single voice challenged her title, but both houses rang with shouts of "God save Queen Elizabeth, and long and happy may she reign." On the 14th January, she was received in London

1559.

by the lord mayor and citizens with great magnificence. One of the pageants prepared for the occasion, represented Time leading forth her daughter Truth, the latter presenting to the queen an English Bible. In another stood a figure representing Elizabeth, with these words written over her head: "Deborah, the Judge and Restorer over the house of Israel." These were probably the first pageants of a Protestant character displayed in England.

Queen Elizabeth delighted the people by her gracious smiles and words, and by the kind reception of their offerings. The day after her coronation, a courtier presented a petition to her majesty for the release "now in this good time of four or five principal prisoners; these were the four Evangelists and the Apostle St. Paul, who had been long shut up in an unknown tongue, as it were in prison, so as they could not converse with the common people." This petition, together with the pageants, prove that, notwithstanding the persecutions of the late reign, there was a strong feeling of Protestantism in England. Elizabeth proceeded very cautiously, and by degrees, to restore the Reformed religion.

When the "Act of Supremacy and Uniformity" was passed, obliging all English subjects to acknowledge the queen as the supreme head of the church, and forbidding any mode of religious worship save that prescribed by the church of England, many Roman Catholics were subject to fines or imprisonments. Large numbers became exiles in foreign countries, where, in after years, they aided plots and conspiracies, to the no small peril of the English queen.

Scarcely was Elizabeth seated on the throne, when Philip of Spain sent ambassadors to her with offers of marriage. The queen declined his suit, taking occasion, at the same time, to announce to parliament her intention to live and die a virgin-queen. Subsequently, the kings of Denmark and Sweden, the duke of Wirtemberg, the arch-duke of Austria, and other suitors, tried to shake her purpose and obtain her hand, but she remained firm to her determination.

Elizabeth surrounded herself with wise counsellors. Her

friend, Sir William Cecil, who had so ably advised and protected her in the perilous times of Mary's reign, was made secretary of state. The government was firmly and wisely administered. By economy the large debts of the crown were paid off. Supplies of arms were purchased from abroad; the art of making fire-arms in England was greatly improved; and the navy was so much increased that Elizabeth won for herself the title of Queen of the Northern Seas.

1559

to

The story of Mary Queen of Scots, whose misfor

tunes will ever tempt posterity to doubt or to forget 1587. the crimes which never have been proved against her, occupies a large portion of the reign of Elizabeth.

Mary Stuart was the great-grandchild of Henry VII., her grandmother Margaret, the eldest daughter of that monarch, having married James IV., king of Scotland. By that portion of the English people who deemed Henry VIII.'s marriage with Anna Boleyn illegal, and by all the foreign Roman Catholics, as well as by many of that faith in England, Mary Stuart was considered the lawful heir to the English throne. Her mother, Mary of Guise, was a Frenchwoman, and Mary herself had been educated at the French court. She grew up beautiful and accomplished, but under influences that would not tend to make her pure or high-principled.

Early taught her claims to the crown of England, she had, even when a child, quartered the English arms with her own. She married Francis the dauphin of France, and when, in 1559, he became king, the youthful sovereigns styled themselves king and queen of Scotland and England as well as France. This gave great provocation to Elizabeth, who, however, before it occurred, had been secretly plotting with those in Scotland who opposed their young queen, for the kingdom was rent by two religious parties-the Roman Catholics, who were supported by France, and the Protestants, headed by several powerful nobles, but chiefly controlled by John Knox, the famous Scotch reformer.

In the year 1560, Francis II. died, and Mary returned to her native kingdom. Surely never had an hereditary queen