course, if an author were writing history with any particular spite against the law of forgery and the late Serjeant Glynn, he might represent Dr. Dodd as a victim whom the bloody Recorder "caused to be hanged;" but surely nothing less than ignorance, or malice, or some particular notion of language, could lead any one to use such an expression, unless he meant to imply some particular causation. Now as to this poor man of Barking, very few particulars except his age and lameness are recorded by Fox; but yet it so happens that he does tell us that Hugh Laverock was charged with what was considered the grossest heresy ; and what is more to our purpose, we learn that one of the articles ministered to him and confessed by him, was this;

"That thou, the said N., being convented before certain Judges or Commissioners for thy disorder herein, and being found obstinate, wilful, and heady, wast by their commandment sent to me and my prison, to be examined by me, and process to be made against thee for thy offence herein."

But let us for a while dismiss Fuller's wild beast, or forest of wild beasts, in order to introduce a very different character. When the reader of Fox has become sufficiently familiar with the "MARVELLOUS RAGE" and "GREAT FURY that embellish so many of his descriptions of prelatical proceedings, to treat them as Mr. Burchell would have done1,

9 "Amongst other things thou hast misliked and earnestly spoken against the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the 'Unity of the Church, railing and maligning the authority of the see of Rome and the faith observed in the same. Hast heretofore 'refused, and dost refuse at this present, to be reconciled again to the unity of the church. Hast affirmed expressly that the mass is 'idolatry and abomination," &c. See Fox, viii. 140, and compare vii.

715.

1 In order even to know what this means, he must have read Fox a good deal, and not merely as I suspect some admirers of Fox do, but stopping now and then to think whether the facts which he states are really such (not merely in degree, but in kind) as to warrant the flourish with which he introduces them, or the comment which he appends to them. The RAGE and FURY of prelates and persecutors is of course a constant theme, and affords many ludicrous specimens of nonsense and falsehood; none perhaps more so than the following. If the reader turns to vol. v. p. 765, he will find that, at the "third Session against Bonner," after Cranmer had been addressing "the people," and telling them how Bonner went about to deceive them, and had appealed to the said people, to judge of the Denunciation against him, which he ordered

when he calmly inquires what these tales so full of rage and fury really mean, when they mean anything-he finds the bloody wolf transformed (I will not say into a spaniel, for that might imply fawning), but into something much more like a good-tempered mastiff, who might safely be played with, and who though he might be teazed into barking and growling, had no disposition to bite, and would not do it without orders. In plainer terms, setting aside declamation, and looking at the details of facts left by those who may be called, if people please, Bonner's victims, and their friends, we find, very consistently maintained, the character of a man, straightforward and hearty, familiar and humorous, sometimes rough, perhaps coarse, naturally hot-tempered, but obviously (by the testimony of his enemies) placable and easily entreated, capable of bearing most patiently much intemperate and insolent language, much reviling and low abuse directed against himself personally, against his order, and against those peculiar doctrines and practices of his church for maintaining which, he had himself suffered the loss of all things, and borne long imprisonment. At the same time not incapable of being provoked into saying harsh to be read to them by Sir John Mason.-"This done, the Archbishop said again unto the audience, 'Lo! here you hear how the Bishop of London is called for no such matter as he would persuade you.' With this,” continues the Martyrologist, “the bishop being in a RAGING HEAT, as one CLEAN VOID OF ALL HUMANITY, turned himself about unto the people [whom the Archbishop had made his judges] saying "Now, what does the reader suppose he said? of course, such a torrent of oaths, and brutal blasphemies, as no scribe, though "clean void of all humanity," unless he were also in a "raging heat," could set down in writing. Not at all-nothing of the kind-the story of the mountain in labour is clean outdone, unless we can imagine a volcano and a dormouse. Fox's own words are literally what follow, "The bishop being in a raging heat, as one void of all humanity, turned himself about unto the people, saying, "Well, now hear what the Bishop of London saith for his part.' But the commissioners, seeing his INORDINATE CONTUMACY, denied him to speak any more, saying that he used himself VERY DISOBEDIENTLY; with more like words of reproach." This is only given as one of many specimens continually recurring, and producing, often insensibly, by dropping on the minds of thoughtless readers, fixed and obstinate, though obscure and unfounded, ideas, that they have read dreadful things about shocking rage, and passion, and inordinate contumacy, and disobedience, and merited reproach, when in fact they have merely been duped by a tale "full of sound and fury "-not indeed "signifying nothing," but signifying something very different from what they have understood, or were meant to understand by it.

and passionate things, but much more frequently meaning nothing by the threatenings and slaughter which he breathed out, than to intimidate those on whose ignorance and simplicity argument seemed to be thrown away-in short, we can scarcely read with attention any one of the cases detailed by those who were no friends of Bonner, without seeing in him a judge who (even if we grant that he was dispensing bad laws badly) was obviously desirous to save the prisoner's life. The enemies of Bonner have very inconsiderately thrust forward, and perhaps even exaggerated, this part of his character, and represented him as a fawning, flattering, coaxing person,-as one only anxious to get submissions, abjurations and recantations which would rob the wild beast of his prey. That he did procure a considerable number of recantations, and reconciled a great many to the church of Rome, I have no doubt; some are incidently mentioned, and we may suspect that there were a great many more which are not recorded. Of course the Martyrologists are not to be blamed for this. Their business lay with those who did not recant. On several accounts we must not forget that a Book of Martyrs is a record of extreme cases. This is not the place to enter into details; but I do not hesitate to express my belief not only that Bonner procured the abjuration of a great number, but that this was one of the causes of that bitter hatred with which the puritans regarded him. It was not, as I have said, the duty of their historians to record such matters; nor could it be agreeable to the party to have them published either on the mountains of Gath, or on their own hill of Zion. But certainly while the public sufferings of their stedfast brethren formed in every point of view the best subject for invective, against the papists, for example to the protestants, and for political agitation of the people, there was, among the leaders, a great fear of the Bishop's powers of persuasion; or as Fox oddly calls them "the subtle snares of that bloody wolf." "

2

And while it may be proper to say that this phrase did not relate to traps set for fugitive heretics-for the person spoken of as then in danger of the subtle snares of that bloody wolf Bonner," was already in captivity, and had

66

2 Vol. viii. 414.

"been divers times before my lord in examination "—it is right to add that I do not recollect any instance in which Bonner was charged with any breach of faith, or promise, by prisoners whose lives he had saved by his old trade of persuading. I have found him reproaching some of them with broken promises; but on that point I do not recollect any retort. This however is rather anticipating; at least it will be more intelligible if we turn for a few moments from Bonner himself, to take a very slight and superficial look at his times; or rather at that particular period which preceded the time when he was called more particularly into public action and notice.

§ 2. SOME OCCURRENCES DURING THE FIRST YEAR AND A HALF OF QUEEN MARY'S REIGN.

It will enable us more clearly to understand some subsequent events to which our inquiry leads, if we first look at a brief list of some matters which occurred at the commencement of Queen Mary's reign. The reason for inserting some things of minor importance, while many of greater consequence are omitted, will be understood by all who consider that I am not professing to write a history, but merely to arrange in chronological order, those things to which our inquiry relates.

1553.

Thursday, July 6th.

On the death of her brother Queen Mary came to the throne. Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's, had been "kept in prison a long time, and so remained when Queen Mary entered upon the government: upon which occasion he fell into the hands of the pope's butchers," &c.-Strype, Cran. I. 263.

Sunday, July 9th.

Were sworn unto Queen JANE, at Greenwich, "All the head officers, and the guard as Queen of England."-Stry. Mem. III. i. 4. Ridley, Bishop of London, preached at Paul's Cross, "declaring there his mind to the people as touching the Lady Mary, and dissuaded them, alledging there the incommodities and inconveniences which might arise by receiving her to be their queen; prophesying, as it were, before that which after came to pass, that she would bring in foreign power to reign over them, besides the subverting of all christian religion then already established," &c.—Fox, vi. 389. Thursday, August 3rd.

"Was the splendid day on which the Queen came riding to London, and so to the Tower."-Stry. Mem. III. i. 26.

Saturday, August 5th.

"Cam out of the Marsalsay, the old bysshop of London, Bonar, and dyvers bysshops bryng hym home unto ys plasse at Powlles."Machyn, p. 39.

Sunday, August 6th.

John Rogers, prebendary of St. Paul's, "made a godly and vehement sermon at Paul's Cross, confirming such true doctrine as he and others had there taught in King Edward's days, exhorting the people constantly to remain in the same, and to beware of all pestiÎent popery, idolatry and superstition."-Fox, vi. 592. See Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. ii. 304.

Sunday, August 13th.

"Dyd pryche at Powlles Crosse doctur [Bourn] parson of hehnger [High Ongar] in Essex, the quen['s] chaplen and ther [was a] gret up-rore and showtyng at ys sermon, as yt [were] lyke madpepull, watt yonge pepell and woman [as] ever was hard, as herle-borle, and castyng up of capes; [if] my lord mer and my lord Cortenay ad not ben ther, ther had bene grett myscheyff done."-Machyn, p. 41. The preacher, who was also a canon of St. Paul's, was apparently in great danger; but rescued by Rogers (already mentioned) and John Bradford another of the canons, who pacified the tumultuous part of the assembly, and led Bourn between them to a place of safety.— Fox, vi. 391. Stry. Mem. III. i. 32.

Wednesday, August 16th.

"Was master John Rogers preacher commanded to keep himself prisoner in his own house at Pauls; "-Fox, vi. 393; and the same

3 The work here quoted is "The Diary of Henry Machyn, citizen and merchant-taylor of London, from A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1563," recently published by the Camden Society. The public are much indebted to Mr. J. G. Nichols, for the ability and pains with which he has edited one of the most valuable records of the interesting period to which it relates ; and which has been hitherto scarcely known except by the frequent references which showed how much Strype was indebted to it, while those who knew how ill-qualified he was to read, and to copy, MSS. felt that they could not place full reliance on his extracts. In this particular case, without meaning to take any liberty with his author, Strype has so altered the statement that readers (especially if they knew anything, and reflected at all) might well be puzzled and misled. Many a student, I dare say, has read the following passage with an uncomfortable consciousness that he could not name the captive prelates who were said to be set at liberty at this time. He has wondered what Strype could mean when he said (evidently following the words of Machyn), "Now came out of the Marshalsea, Bonner the old Bishop of London, being brought home unto his place at St. Paul's, and together with him divers other bishops were set at liberty from their confinements."—Mem. III. i. 27. The "dyvers bysshopes" it is obvious were not liberated captives, but brethren who went to the prison merely to bring out the bishop of London, and conduct him as a guard of honour and brotherly congratulation "unto ys plasse at Powlles."