Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/15

"CHAPTER LIL ENGLISH PARTIES. TWICE already, during the progress of the I5 6 9 Reformation, the advance of the new Januai 7- opinions had been checked by reaction. The Act of Supremacy and the dissolution of the monasteries had been followed by the fall of Cromwell, the Six Articles, and the burning of Barnes and Lambert. The anarchy, social and spiritual, which had broken loose under Ed- ward VI., was brought to an end by the hard and heavy hand of Mary and Pole. From the moment that Eliza- beth declared against the Pope it was inevitable that, sooner or later, the Catholics would make a third effort to recover their ascendancy. In number they still ex- ceeded the Reformers, although in energy and enthu- siasm the Reformers had a corresponding advantage. The strength of the two parties, to outward appearance, was nearly equal, and neither one nor the other had be- come as yet accustomed to the practical working of the formulas of the Establishment, where each might hold their own opinions under the show of uniformity. The VOL. IX. 1