diner was in the Fleet, but Gardiner was an exception, and persecution as such was to be at an end.[1]
'The King,' nevertheless, 'desired unity and concord in religion;' and although 'he wished the same to be brought to pass with all clemency and mercy, and although he wished that his loving subjects should study rather for love than for fear to do their duties to Almighty God;'—there were yet profanities which could not wholly be tolerated, and those who spoke irreverently and profanely of the Eucharist might be punished with fine and imprisonment.[2] The concluding clause of this statute enjoined communion in both kinds[3] on laity as well as clergy; and in jealousy of the abused power of excommunication, the parish priest was pro-
- ↑ The popular party thought of Gardiner what the witty Duchess of Suffolk said to himself when she passed his prison and saw him at the window. 'Ah, Bishop,' she said, 'it is merry with the lambs when the wolves are shut up.'—Narrative of the Sufferings of Catherine Duchess of Suffolk: Holinshed.
- ↑ 1 Edward VI. cap. 1.
- ↑ The Act was entitled as 'Against such as irreverently speak against the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, commonly called the sacrament of the altar.' In the preamble of the Act the sacrament of the altar was again spoken of, but with the addition, 'called in Scripture the supper and table of the Lord.' The institution was carefully described; but the change in the elements was neither affirmed nor denied. It is curious to watch the slow steps by which the central mystery of Catholicism was invaded.
was it approved of as universally as we might expect. Sir John Mason found fault with the alterations in a remarkable compliment to the English people. 'In all other countries,' he said, 'speeches are at liberty, for such are the people's natures, as when they have talked they have done. In our country it is otherwise, for their talking is preparatory to doing; and the worst act that ever was done in our time was the general abolishing of the Act of Words by the Duke of Somerset, whereof we have already had some experience.'—Mason to the Council: MS. Germany, Bundle 16, Mary, State Paper Office.
