Part 14 (1/2)
The agitation was so general that men caught at the hope of putting an end to all that was begun by a sudden rising. We find a statement which must not be lightly rejected, that the English n.o.bility, which had taken great part in the Reformation movement and put itself in possession of much church property, came to an understanding at Christmas 1553, and decided on a general rising on the next Palm Sunday, 18th March:[162] thus doing as the French, German, Netherlandish and Scotch n.o.bility had done, who took the initiative in this matter. In Cornwall Peter Carew was to have the lead, in the Midland Counties the Duke of Suffolk, in Kent Thomas Wyatt. As the Queen's Privy Council was even now not unanimous, they hoped to bring about an overthrow of the government before it was yet firmly established: and either to compel the Queen to dismiss her evil counsellors and give up the Spanish marriage, or if she remained obstinate to put her sister Elizabeth in her place, who would then marry Courtenay. The French, who saw in the Queen's marriage with the prince of Spain a danger for themselves, urged on the movement, and had a secret understanding with the rebels; their plan was to support it by an incursion from Scotland where they were then the masters, and an attack on Calais.[163] But as often happens with such comprehensive plans, the government detected them; the attempt to carry them out had to be made before the preparations were complete; in most of the places where an effort was made it was suppressed without much trouble. Carew fled to France; Suffolk, who in vain tried to draw Coventry over to his side, was captured. On the other hand Sir Thomas Wyatt's rising in Kent was formidable. He collected a couple of thousand men, defeated the royal troops, some of whom joined him, and as he had the sympathies of a great part of the inhabitants of London with him, he attempted forthwith an attack on the capital. But the new order of things had too firm a legal foundation to be so easily overthrown. The Queen betook herself to the Guildhall and addressed the a.s.sembled people, decided as she was and confident in the goodness of her cause; the general feeling was in favour of supporting her. All armed for defence. For a couple of days, during which Wyatt lay before the city, every one was under arms, mayor, aldermen and people; the lawyers went to the courts with armour under their robes: priests were seen celebrating ma.s.s with mail under their church vestments. The Queen had some trustworthy troops, whose leader, the Earl of Pembroke, told her he would never show his face to her again if he did not free her from these rebels. When Wyatt at last appeared in Hyde Park with exhausted and badly fed men, he was met and beaten by an overwhelming body of Pembroke's troops; with a part of his followers he was driven into the city, and there made prisoner without much bloodshed.
It has always been reckoned to the Queen's credit that amid the alarm of these days she never quitted the unfortified palace. She had now an opportunity to rid herself completely of Northumberland's faction.
Jane Grey, whose name at least had been mentioned, her father Suffolk, her uncle Thomas Grey, were executed; Wyatt also and a great number of the prisoners paid for their rebellion with their lives.[164]
NOTES:
[155] King Edward: My devise for the succession: in 'Chronicle of Queen Anna, with ill.u.s.trative doc.u.ments and notes' by Nicholls, 89.
[156] King Edward's Minutes for his last will. In 'Chronicle of Queen Anna, with ill.u.s.trative doc.u.ments and notes' by Nicholls, 101.
[157] Engagement of the council, the signatures all autograph. Ibid.
90.
[158] This was done by a correction. The original text was 'to the Lady Jane's heires masle;' instead of 'Jane's,' the King now wrote 'to the Lady Jane and her h. m. (Nares' Burghley i. 452. Nicholls, 87.)
[159] Lettre ecrite a l'empereur par ses amba.s.sadeurs en Angleterre 19 Juill. Luy (au roi de France) sera facile, d'envoyer 2 ou 3 m.
Francais et quelques gens de chevaux. Plusieurs de ce royaume sont d'opinion, si V. M. a.s.sistoit ma dite dame (Mary) de gens et de secours contre le dit duc, la dite dame ne diminueroit en rien l'affection du peuple.
[160] Proclama avec le dict herault Mm. Marie a haute voix. Lettre des amba.s.sadeurs a l'empereur. Papiers d'etat de Granvelle iv. 58.
[161] To the reports of the French and Spanish amba.s.sadors (compare Amba.s.sades de Mss. de Noailles en Angleterre ii. 269, Turner ii. 204, Froude vi. 124) may be added that of the Venetian: 'ch'ella si consiglierebbe con dio e non con altri.' I combine this with Noailles'
account; for these amba.s.sadors were immediately informed by their friends of the deputation and have noted down that part of the Queen's speech which made most impression on the bystanders.
[162] Soranzo Relatione 79, a testimony worth consideration, as Soranzo stood in a certain connexion with the rebels.
[163] So Simon Renard reports 24th Feb. 1553-4 to the Emperor after Wyatt's confession. 'Le roy feroit emprinse de coustel d'Escosse et de coustel de Guyenne (it should without doubt be Guisnes) et Calais': in Tytler ii. 207. Wyatt's statements in the 'State Trials' refer to a confession which is not given there, and from which the amba.s.sador may have taken his account.
[164] Renard a l'empereur, 8 Feb. The communications in Tytler, which come from Brussels, and the Papiers d'etat de Granvelle, which come from Besancon, supplement each other, yet even when taken both together they are still not quite complete.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CATHOLIC-SPANISH GOVERNMENT.
The effort to overthrow Mary's throne had strengthened it: for the second time she had rallied around it the preponderant majority of the nation. And this was all the more surprising, since no one could doubt any longer in what direction the Queen's exclusive religious views would lead her. In her victory she saw a divine providence, by which it was made doubly her duty to persevere, without looking back, in the path she had once taken. In full understanding with her Gardiner proceeded without further scruple, in the Parliament which met in April 1554, to attempt to carry through the two points on which all else depended, the abrogation of the Queen's spiritual t.i.tle, which implied restoration of the Pope's authority, and the revival of the old laws against heretics. These views and proposals however met with unexpected opposition, both in the nation, and no less in the Privy Council and Parliament, especially in the Upper House. The lay lords did not wish to make the bishops so powerful again as they had once been, and rejected the restoration of the Pope's authority unless they previously had security for their possession of the confiscated church property. The first proposition could not, so far as can be seen, even be properly brought forward:[165] the second, the revival of the heresy laws, was accepted by the Commons over whom Gardiner exercised great influence, but the Peers threw it out. It was especially Lords Paget and Arundel who opposed Gardiner's proposals in the Privy Council and the Lords and caused their rejection.
Only in one thing were the two parties united, in recognising the marriage contract concluded with Spain: it was pa.s.sed unanimously by Parliament.
In July 1554 Don Philip reached England with a numerous fleet, divided into three squadrons, with a brilliant suite on board. At Southampton the leader of one of the two parties, the Earl of Arundel, received him; Bishop Gardiner, the leader of the other, gave the blessing of the church to the marriage in Winchester cathedral. The day before the Emperor had resigned the crown of Naples to his son, to make him equal with the Queen in rank. How grand it sounded, when the king-at-arms proclaimed the united t.i.tles: Philip and Mary, King and Queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, Ireland! A t.i.tle with an almost Plantagenet sound, but which now however only denoted the closest union between the Spanish monarchy and the Catholics of England.
Philip was solicitous to gain over the different parties and cla.s.ses of England: for he had been told that England was a popular monarchy.
He belied his Spanish gravity and showed himself, despite the stiffness that was his natural characteristic, affable to every man: he tried to make the impression, and successfully, that he desired the prosperity of England. One of the chief resources of the time, that of securing the most considerable persons by means of pensions, he made use of to a great extent. Both parties were provided for by annual payments and presents, Pembroke and Arundel as well as Derby and Rochester. We are a.s.sured that this liberality exercised a very advantageous influence on the disposition of the country.[166]
Gardiner looked on it as a slight, that he was pa.s.sed over in the list, for these pensions were considered at that time an honour, but this did not prevent him from praising the marriage in his sermons as ordained by heaven for the restoration of religion.
All now depended on whether the King's influence would be sufficient to carry at the next meeting of Parliament in November, the proposals which had been rejected in the last session.
But for this, according to the view not merely of the English lords, but of the imperial amba.s.sador and of the Emperor himself, a previous condition was indispensable. The English n.o.bles must be relieved from all apprehension lest the confiscated ecclesiastical property should ever again be wrested from them. Cardinal Pole had been already for some time residing in the Netherlands: but he was told that his arrival in England would be not merely fruitless but detrimental unless he brought with him a sufficient dispensation with regard to this. In Rome the concession was opposed on the ground that it would be setting a bad precedent. But when it was pointed out that the English confiscations did not touch any church lands, but only monastic property, and still more that without this concession the restoration of obedience to the church could not be attained, Pope Julius III yielded to the request. Two less comprehensive forms were rejected by the Emperor: at last one was granted which would satisfy the English. The form of the absolution which the Pope was to bestow after their submission was previously arranged: it was agreed to avoid everything that could remind men of the old pretensions and awaken the national antipathies.
Meanwhile the elections to Parliament were completed. The proclamation issued gives the ruling points of view without reserve. An invitation to elect Catholic members of merit was coupled with the a.s.surance that there was no intention of disturbing any kind of property. The means lately used for preventing any hostile influence were not yet sufficient: the advice was given from Brussels to go back to the older and stricter forms.