Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/271

1565.] THE EM BASS V OF DE SILVA. 251 perancy, without discretion or any godly disposition worthy to serve in their state/ 1 In the same spirit the Queen attempted to force her crucifixes into the parish churches ; and she provoked by it immediate rebellion. The bishops replied with one voice ' that they would give their lives for her ; but they would not set a trap for the ignorant and make themselves guilty of the blood of their brethren ; ' ' if by the Queen's authority they established images, they would blemish the fame of their notable fathers who had given their lives for the testimony of God's truth.' Thus the antagonism went on, irritating Elizabeth on her side into dangerous traffickings with the Bishop of Aquila and his successor ; while Parker declared openly that he must obey God rather than man ; and, that however the Queen might despise him and his brethren, ' there were enough of that contemptible flock that would not shrink to offer their blood for the defence of Christ's verity.' 2 The right however, as has been already pointed out, was not wholly on the Protestant side. The recollec- tions of Protestant ascendancy in the days of Edward were not yet effaced ; and the inability of the Eeformers to keep in check the coarser forms of irreverence and irreligion was as visible as before. They were them- selves aggressive and tyrannical; and when prebendaries' 1 Parker to Cecil : STRYPE'S Life of Parker. * Ibid.