Neal - Houston-Packer Collection BX9333 .N4 1754 v1

Chap. V. the HISTORY of the PURITANS. 169 Towards the latter end of the year, the earls of Northumberland and °;°een Weflmoreland, with their friends, to the number of 4000, broke out E!izsibeth, into open rebellion ; their pretence was, to reftore the popifh religion, and deliver the queen of Scots. In the city of Durham they tore the Bible Rebelli=n and Common Prayer -book to pieces, and reftored the mats in all places the¿Vo; wherever they came ; but hearing of the advance of the queen's army under the earl of Ssi 1k, they fled northward and mouldered away, without ftanding a battle : The earl of Northumberlandwas taken in Scot- land, and executed at York, with many of his confederates ; but the earl of Wemoreland efcaped into Flanders, and died in poverty. No fooner was this rebellion over, but the lord Dacres excited another on the bor- ders of Scotland; but after a fmall fkirmith with the governor of Ber- wick, he was defeated and fled, and the rabble were. pardoned. There was a general commotion among the papifts in all parts of the king- dom, who would have united their forces, if the northern rebels had main- tained their ground. To give new life to the catholick caufe, the pope published a bull, The queen excommunicating the queen, and abfolving her fubjefts from their al- and . rngd< le Lance. In this bul! he calls her majeft an u ur er, andä va al o Znt- excommun:- ggty; and having given Tome inftances of heraverfron to the atholick cased. religion, he declares " her an heretick, and an encourager of hereticks; " and anathematizes all that adhere to her. He deprives her of her royal Collier, " crown and dignity, and abfolves all her fubjeéts from all obligations of P. 523. " fidelity and obedience. He involves all thole in the fame fentence of " excommunication, who prefume to obey her orders, commands, or " laws, for the future; and excites all foreign potentates to take up arms " againft her." This alarmed the adminßration, and put them upon their Effets, of it guard; but it quickly appeared, that the pope's thunderbolts had loft their terror; for the Roman catholick princes, not being forward to encourage the court of Rome's pretended power of excommunicating princes, conti- nued their correfpondence with the queen; and her own Roman catholick fubjefts remained pretty quiet; though from this time, they feparated o- penly from the church. But the queen took hold of the opportunity, to require all jufìices ofpeace, and other officers in commiffion, throughout all the counties in England, to fubfcribe their names to an instrument, pro- fefling, their conformity and obedience to the act of uniformity in reli- gion, and for due reforting to their parifh churches to hear common prayer. This affeaed puritans as well as papi/is. The gentlemen of the inns of court were alto cited before the ecclefiaftical commiflïon, and examined about their reforting to church, and receiving the .facrament, of which moft of them were very negligent. This raifed a clamour, as if the queen intended to ranfack into mens cgnfciences in anfwer to which Vox I. Z the

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