"Because I was the willow and not the oak." The dread of losing the abbey lands—which every man of them held—was the only principle to which they clave, and from that they never departed. The equal zeal with which they persecuted Catholics under Edward, Protestants under Mary, and Catholics again under Elizabeth, has even been explained by their hope of thus raising a barrier of eternal hatred between Protestant and Catholic. In Elizabeth's reign, and for many a long day afterwards, this motive—the security of the abbey lands—was as strong as ever. The extraordinary docility with which the nobles and gentry changed their religious opinions was due to their determination to keep their new lands. In Queen Mary's reign the clergy renounced all their ancient claims, and the Bull of Pope Julius III. confirmed the renunciation; but even this could not allay their fears, although the numbers of those who had shared in the spoils made restitution impossible. An examination of the lists of suppressions shows that there was hardly a gentleman of any consequence in the kingdom but had some of the lands. Protestants have shrunk from condemning the robbery of the abbey lands, and have been unwilling to admit the evils which resulted, because they have believed that a religious motive was involved. They think that the suppression was caused by the change of religion; but that change came long after. It would be nearer the truth to say that the suppression caused the change. It helped it incalculably. The nobility and gentry of England saw a prize offered them such as had never been offered since the Conquest, and has never been offered since. They eagerly embraced the opportunity, and allowed no scruples, one way or the other, to spoil it. We do not find many holders of abbey lands among the martyrs, but we do find them sending the martyrs to the stake.
This is not the occasion to speak of the dreadful deeds of 1555, charged upon "Bloody Mary," except to say that it was the Lords of the Council—all, with one exception, laymen—who instituted the persecutions, and presented persons to Bonner for judgment. Philip's own Spanish chaplain preached a strong sermon against severity, which he declared was contrary to both the spirit and the text of the Gospel. The most bitter and determined persecutor,
