Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/34

REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [<JH. 41. winked at; lawful marriage was intolerable, and espe- cially intolerable for members of cathedrals and colle- giate bodies who occupied the houses and retained the form of the religious orders. While therefore canons and prebends were entitled to take wives if they could not do without them, they would have done better had they taken chary advantage of their liberty. To the. Anglo- Catholic as well as the Romanist a married priest was a scandal, and a married cathedral dignitary an abomin- ation. ' For the avoiding of such offences as were daily con- ceived by the presence of families of wives and children within colleges, contrary to the ancient and comely- order of the same/ Elizabeth, in 1560, forbade deans and canons to have their wives residing with them within the cathedral closes under pain of forfeiting ' their promotions/ Cathedrals and colleges, she said, had been founded ' to keep societies of learned men professing study and prayer;' and the rooms intended for students were not to be sacrificed to women and children. 1 The Church dignitaries treated the Queen's injunc- tion as the country gentlemen treated the statutes. "Deans and canons, by the rules of their foundations, were directed to dine and keep hospitality in their common hall. Those among them who had married broke up cubinagc which was generally prac- tised in England by the clergy so long as they were forbidden to ma ivy. 1 Proclamation by the Queen for the eviction of wives out of colleges (In Cecil's hand) : Domestic MSS. t Elizabeth, vol. xix.