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If the worde of God can not persuade you, by which she is made subiect to her housbande, muche more to the Counselle and auctoritie of an whole realme, which worde also appoynteth your kinges to be chosen from amonge their brethern, and not from their sisters, who are forbidden as persons vnmete to speake in a congregacion, be you your selues iùdges, and let nature teache you the absurditie therof.

"And thus muche haue I of pourpose noted in this matter, to let you see to all our shames, how farre you haue bene led besydes your commun senses and the manifest worde of God, in electing, anoynting, and crowninge a woman to be your Quene and Gouernesse, and she in verie dede a bastarde, and vnlawfully begotten. But be it that she were no bastarde, but the kinges daughter as lawfullie begotten as was her sister, that Godlie Lady, and meke Lambe, voyde of all Spanishe pride, and strange bloude: yet in the sicknesse, and at the deathe of our lawfull Prince of Godlie memorie kynge Edwarde the sixt, this shulde not haue bene your firste counsele or question, who shulde be your Quene, what woman you shulde crowne, if you had bene preferrers of Goddes glorie, and wise counselours, or naturallie affected towardes your countrie. But firste and principallie, who had bene moste meetest amengest your brethern to haue had the gouernement ouer you, and the whole gouernement of the realme, to rule them carefullie, in the feare of God, and to preserue them agaynst all oppression of inwarde tyrants and outwarde enemies. Wher bie you might haue bene assured to eskape all this miserable and vnspeakable disordre, and shamefull confusion, whiche now by contrarie counsele is broght worthely vpon vs."-Goodman, p. 51.

"That wicked woman, whom you vntruely make your Quene, hath (saye ye) so commanded. O vayne and miserable men. To what vilenesse are you broght, and yet as men blynd, see not? Because you would not haue God to raigne ouer you, and his worde to be a light vnto your footestepps, beholde, he hath not geuen an hypocrite onely to raigne ouer you (as he promised) but an Idolatresse also: not a man accordinge to his appoyntment, but a woman, which his Lawe forbiddeth, and nature abhorreth: whose reigne was neuer counted lawfull by the worde of God, but an expresse signe of Gods wrathe, and notable plague for the synnes of the people. As was the raygne of cruell Iesabel, and vngodlie Athalia, especiall instrumentes of Satan, and whipps to his people of Israel.

"This you see not, blynded with ignorance: yea, whiche is more shame, where as the worde of God freethe you from the obedience of anie Prince, be he neuer so mightie, wise, or politike commanding anye thinge whiche God forbiddeth, and herein geuethe you auctoritie to withstand the same as you haue harde: Yet are you willingly become as it were bondemen to the lustes of a most impotent and vnbrydled woman; a woman begotten in adulterie a bastard by birth, contrarie to the worde of God and your owne lawes. And therfore condemned as a bastarde by the iudgement of all vniuersities in Englande, France, and Italy: as well of the Ciuilians, as Diuines. For now are we freede from that leweshe yoke to

rayse up seede to our brethern departing without issue, by the comynge of our Sauiour Iesus Christe, who hathe destroyed the walle and distance betwixt the lewes and Gentiles, and hathe no more respecte to anie tribes (for conseruation wherof this was permitted) but all are made one in him with out distinction, which acknowledge him vnfaynedlie to be the Sonne of God and Sauiour of the worlde. For in Christe Iesus there is nether lewe nor Gentile, Grecian or Barbarous, bonde nor free, &c. And therfore it must nedes followe, that kinge Henrie the eight, in marying with his brothers wife, did vtterly contemne the free grace of our Sauiour Iesus Christe, which longe before had deliuered vs from the seruitude of that lawe: and also committed adulterous incest contrary to the worde of God, when he begate this vngodlie serpent Marie, the chief instrument of all this present miserie in Englande.

"And if any would saie, it was of a zele to fulfyll the lawe which then was abrogated, he must confesse also that the kinge did not marie of carnall luste, but to rayse vp seede to his brother: when the contrarie is well knowne to all men. Let no man therfore be offended, that I call her by her propre name, a bastarde, and vnlawfully begotten: seeing the worde of God, which cannot lye, doth geue witnesse vpon my parte. And moreouer, that suche as are bastardes shulde be deprived of all honor: in so muche as by the Lawe of Moyses they were prohibited to haue entrance in to the Congregation or assembly of the Lorde to the tenth generation. Consider then your vngodlie proceadings in defrawding your contrie of a lawful kinge: and preferringe a bastarde to the lawful begotten dawghter, and exaltinge her whiche is, and will be a common plague and euersion of altogether: for as much as she is a traytor to God, and promis breaker to her dearest frindes, who helpinge her to their power to her vnlawfull reigne, were promised to inioye that religion which was preached vnder kinge Edwarde: which not withstanding in a shorte space after, she most falsely ouerthrewe and abolished. So that now both by Gods Lawes and mans, she oght to be punished with death, as an open idolatres in the sight of God, and a cruel murtherer of his Saints before men, and merciles traytoresse to her owne natiue countrie."-Ponet, p. 96.

"If your IESABELL, thoghe she be an vnlawfull Gournesse, and oght not by Gods word and your owne lawes to rule, would seke your peace and protection as did Nabuchadnezer to his captiues the lewes: then might you haue some pretence to follow Ieremies counselle: that is, to be quiete, and praye for her liffe, if she would confesse the onelie God of the Christians, and not compell you to idolatrie no more than did Nabuchadnezer : who acknowledged the God of the Lewes to be the true and euerlasting God, and gaue the same commandement throughout all his dominions, That what soeuer people or nation spake euill of the God of Israell shuld be rent in pieces, and his howse counted detestable. For (saithe he) Ther is no other true God that so coulde deliuer his seruantes, as he did Sidrach Misach and Abdenago.

"But because her doinges tend all to the contrarie, that is to

blaspheme God, and also compell all others to do the like, what cloke haue you here to permitte this wickednesse?

"To be shorte, if she at the burninge of three hundreth Martyrs at the leste, could haue bene satisfied and vnfaynedly moued to confesse the true Christe and Messias, and repented her former rebellion in geuing contrarie commandement to all her dominions, charging them to receaue agayne the true religion and to expell all blasphemous idolatrie of the pestilent papistes: and that none shulde speake any euill agaynst Christe and his Religion (as did Nabuchadnezer by the example of three persons onely, whom the fire by the power of God coulde not touche) then were she more to be borne with, and reuerenced as a Ruler (if it were lawfull for a woman to rule at all) then were there also some probabilitie in the reasons of the aduersaries of this doctrine. Otherwise as you now see, it maketh nothing at all for their purpose."-Goodman, p. 130.

I am not singular in viewing Knox and Goodman as the chief political guides of their party. They were so considered (and with very good reason) in their own time, not only by their own friends, but by their Romish enemies; and, to give one instance, they have been very particularly and pleasantly set forth as such in "An Oration against the Unlawfull Insurrections of the Protestantes of our time, 'vnder pretence to Refourme Religion made and pro'nounced in Latin, in the Schole of Artes at Louaine, the 'xiiij of December. Anno 1565. By Peter Frarin of Andwerp, M. of Arte, and Bacheler of both lawes. And 'now translated into English, with the aduise of the 'Author."1 The book has one peculiarity for which it deserves to be noticed; and for which, I presume, it is indebted to the translator. I mean, "The Table of this Booke 'set ovt not by order of Alphabete or numbre but by ex'presse figure, to the eye and sight of the Christian Reader, 'and of him also that cannot reade." In fact it has a sort of pictorial index, each page of which contains two cuts having

In the prefatory epistle from "The Translatour to the Gentle Reader" we are informed that ;-" Among many other laudable customes ' of the noble Vniuersitie of Louaine, this one is yearely observed there, 'that in the moneth of December al ordinarie lessons cease for the space ' of one whole weeke, and in place thereof some Learned man is chosen by common assent to be the President of certaine disputations: wherein 'he proponeth, to such as are thereto appointed, diuerse frutefull questions in Diuinitie, Law, Physick, Phylosophie, Humanitie, and in all 'probable matters," &c. The translation was printed by John Fouler, Antwerp, 1566, 8vo; and from his signature to the letter above mentioned it would seem as if he was also the translator.

underneath them respectively references to the signature of the page of the book in which the subject which they represent is treated of, and two or more verses describing it. One of these cuts is so much to our purpose that I cannot help offering the reader a facsimile.

Few readers will, I suppose, dispute the truth of this poetical statement; or wonder that Mr. Peter Frarin included the "Gospellers of England" among the insurgent protestants who were the subject of his oration.

"I could," he says, "declare vnto you, how the traiterouse Gospellers of England gathered a maine hoste againste their moste vertuouse ladie Queen Marie the rare treasure the peerlesse Jewell, the most perfecte paterne and Example of our daies. How they shotte arrowes and dartes againste her Courte gates, conspired her death, deuised to poison her, to kil her with a dagge at one time, with a priuie dagger at an other time, reuiled her, called her bastard, boutcher, printed seditiouse bokes againste her, wherein they railed at her like Hellhoundes, and named her traiterouse Marie, mischeuouse Marie."-Sig. E. vi.

The reader will guess the parts of this extract which bear the marginal notes "Wiate's Rebellion" and "Knokes boke." Indeed Mr. Peter Frarin seems to have had good information on the former of these points, and some phrases sound as if he had heard the report of the "great gun;" for instance ;

"Your purpose was, ye say, to refourme the christian faith. How then? When you could not therein preuail, nor perswade the people, that was somewhat stubborn and stiffnecked perhaps as you judged, did you think it the best way by & by with gonne shot and bytels to beat and driue the faith into their heades?"-Sig. B. vi.

"O master ministers, it is a very harde word that ye bring vs, for ye speake gonnestones, your gospel is to hot, ye preache fire and powder, your religion is to cruel, it breedeth bloud and murder." Sig. C. v.

"Ye travailed to bring the world to your Religion by villany, railing, and dubble cannons."-Sig. C. vij. b.

If there be any who think this strong language they will perhaps feel it difficult to answer the orator when he more dispassionately asks "Was it meete that because they could 'not freely and frankly preache the worde, therefore by and by they should lay hand on the sword?"-Sig. C iv. b.

But we must go on, for there are other witnesses beside Knox and Goodman, of whose testimony we must have specimens. Take the following extract from Bishop Ponet. A few words at the beginning of it have been given already at p. 58, and are here repeated to show the connexion of the passage and render it more intelligible.

“But before the halter stoppe thy winde, Boner, let vs knowe, what thou canst saye for her. Sayest thou, princes be not bounden by theyr othes and promisses? Ynough. What for the rest? let them remembre that not long agoo their neighbour Monsieur Veruin, captain of Boloigne was punished as a traitour, for that by necessitie and extremitie of force he rendred vp Boloigne to king Henry theight and did not die in the defense of it: But thou wilt saie, he did it without commaundement of his maister: and these shall doo it by commaundement of their maistres. But what if the commaundement be not laufull doest thou not saie thy self, it is not to be obeied? Thou saiest to others, that non maie do that is not laufull for any commaundement. But thou wilt saie: it is the Quenes owne, and she maye laufully doo with her owne what she lusteth. What if it be denyed to be her owne? But thou wilt saie: she hathe the crowne by enheritaunce, and maie dispose of the realme, and euery parte of the Realme, as pleaseth her. By I answer: that albeit she haue it bi enheritaunce, yet she hathe it with an othe, lawe and condicion to kepe and mayntene it, not to departe with it or diminishe it. If she haue no more right to the Realme than her father hade, and her father as much as euer ani king of Englande: what neded he to require the consent of the Nobilitie and commons (by parliament) to geue the Crowne to his daughter or any other?

"But thou will saie, it was more than needed: for without consent of the parliament, he might doo with the Realme and euerie parte therof, what it pleased him. Take hede what thou sayest. If that