MarginaliaAnno 1558.ber driuen from house to home, so many weeping eyes, so many sobbing hartes, so many children made fatherles, so many fathers bereft of theyr wiues and children, so many vexed in conscience, and diuers against conscience cōstrained to recant, and in conclusion, neuer a good man almost in all the Realme but suffered something during all the time of this bloudy persecution: after all this (I say) now we are come at length (the Lord be praysed) to the MarginaliaNouem. 17. Q. Mary endeth. Q. Elizabeth beginneth her raygne.17. day of Nouember, which day as it brought to the persecuted members of Christ, rest from theyr carefull mourning, so it easeth me somewhat likewise of my laborious writing, by the death I meane of Queene Mary. Who being long sicke before vpon the sayd xvij. day of Nouember, in the yeare aboue sayde, about 3. or 4. a clocke in the morning, yelded her life to nature, and her kingdome to Queene Elizabeth her sister.

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MarginaliaThe maner of Q. Maryes death.As touching the maner of whose death, some say that she dyed of a Tympany, some by her much sighing before her death, supposed she dyed of thought & sorow. Wherevpon her Counsell seing her sighing, & desirous to know the cause, to the ende they might minister the more readye consolation vnto her, feared, as they sayd, that she took þ^t thought for the kinges Maiesty her husband, which was gone from her. To whom she answering againe: In deed (sayd she) that may be one cause, but that is not the greatest wound that pearseth my oppressed minde: but what that was she would not expresse to them.

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Albeit, afterward she opened the matter more plainly to M. Rise and Mistres Clarentius (if it be true that they tolde me, whiche hearde it of M. Rise himselfe) who then being most familiar with her, & most bold about her, tolde her that they feared she took thought for king Philips departing from her. MarginaliaQ. Mary tooke thought for the losse of Calice.Not that onely (sayde she) but when I am dead & opened, you shall find Calice lying in my hart. &c. And here an end of Queene Mary, and of her persecution.

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MarginaliaMore English bloud spilled in Q. Maryes tyme, then euer was in any kinges raygne before her.Of which Queene this truely may be affirmed & left in story for a perpetual memorial or Epitaph for al kings and Queenes that shal succeed her to be noted, that before her neuer was readde in story of any King or Queene of England since the time of king Lucius, vnder whome in time of peace, by hanging, heading, burning, and prisoning: so much Christian bloud, so many Englishmens liues were spilled within this Realme, as vnder the sayd Queene Mary for the space of foure yeres was to be sene, and I beseech the Lord neuer may be sene hereafter.

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MarginaliaThe raygne of Queene Mary how vnprosperous it was both to her and to her realme in al respectesNOw, for so much as Queene Mary, during all the time of her reigne, was suche a vehement Aduersary and Persecutour agaynst the sincere Professours of Christ Iesus and his Gospell: for the which there be many which do highly magnify & approue her doinges therein, reputing her Religion to be sounde and Catholicke, and her proceedinges to be most acceptable and blessed of almighty God: to the intēt therfore: that all men may vnderstande, howe the blessing of the Lorde God did not onely not proceed with her proceedings, but cōtrary, rather how his manifest displesure euer wrought agaynst her, in plaguing both her and her Realme, and in subuerting all her counselles and attemptes, whatsoeuer she tooke in hand: we will bestow a litle time therein, to perpend and suruey the whole course of her doinges and cheuaunces: and cōsider what successe she had in the same. Which being well considered, we shall finde neuer no reigne of any Prince in this Land, or any other, whiche had euer to shew in it (for the proportion of time) so many arguments of Gods great wrath & displesure, as was to be sene in the reigne of this Queene Mary, whether we behold the shortnes of her time, or the vnfortunate euent of all her purposes? MarginaliaQ. Mary neuer had good successe in any thing she went about.who seemed neuer to purpose any thing that came luckely to passe, neither did any thing frame to her purpose what so euer she tooke in hande touching her owne priuate affayres.

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MarginaliaA good king alwayes maketh a florishing realme.Of good kinges we read in the Scripture, in shewing mercy and pity, in seeking Gods will in his word, & subuerting the monumentes of Idolatry, howe God blessed theyr wayes encreased theyr honours, and mightely prospered all their proceedinges: as we see in king Dauid, Salomon, Iosias, Iosaphath, Ezechias, with such other. Manasses made the streetes of Hierusalem to swimme with the bloud of his subiects, but what came of it the text doth testify.  

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MarginaliaComparison betweene the raigne of Q. Mary and Queene Elizabeth.Of Queene Elizabeth, whiche nowe raigneth among vs, this we must needes say, which we see, that she in sparing the bloud, not onely of Gods seruauntes, but also of Gods enemies, hath doubled now the raygne of Queene Mary her sister, with such aboundance of peace and prosperitie, that it is hard to say, whether the realme of England felt more of Gods wrath in Queene Maryes tyme, or of Gods fauour and mercy in these so blessed & peaceable dayes of Queene Elizabeth.

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MarginaliaGamaliels reason. Actes. 5.Gamaliell speaking his minde in the Counsaile of the Phariseis concerning Christes religion, gaue this reason, that if it were of God, it should continue, who soeuer sayd nay: If it were not, it could not stand. So may it be sayde of Q. Mary and her romishe Religion, that if it were so perfect and Catholicke as they pretend, and the contrarye fayth of the Gospellers were so detestable and hereticall as they make it, how commeth it then, that this so Catholicke a Queene, suche a necessarye piller of his spouse hys Church, continued no longer, till shee had vtterly rooted out of the land this hereticall generation? Yea how chanced it rather, þ^t almightye God, to spare these poore heretickes, rooted out Q. Mary so soone from her throne, after she had reigned but onely v. yeares and v. monthes?

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MarginaliaQ. Mary prospered so long as she went not against the Lord.Now furthermore, howe God blessed her wayes and endeuours in the meane tyme, while shee thus persecuted the true seruauntes of God, remayneth to bee discussed. Where first this is to be noted, that when shee first began to stand for the title of the Crowne, and yet had wrought no resistance agaynst Christ and his Gospell, MarginaliaQ. Maryes promise to the Gospellers broken.but had promised her fayth to the Suffolke men, to mayntayn the religion left by king Edward her brother, so long GOD went with her, aduaunced her, and by the meanes of the Gospellers brought her to the possession of the Realme. But after that she breaking her promise with God & man began to take part with Steuen Gardiner, and had geuē ouer her supremacie vnto the pope, by and by Gods blessing left her, neyther did any thing wel thriue with her afterward during the whole time of her Regiment.

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MarginaliaThe ship called the great Harry burned.For first incontinently the fayrest and greatest ship she had, called great Harry, was burned: suche a vessell as in all these partes of Europe was not to be matched.

MarginaliaQ. Maryes maryage with a straunger.Then would she needes bring in king Philip, and by her strannge maryage with him, make the whole realme of England subiect vnto a straunger. MarginaliaQ Mary disappoynted of her purpose in Crowning king Phillip.And all þ^t notw^tstanding, either that she did or was able to doe, she coulde not bring to passe to set þ^e crowne of England vpon hys head. With king Phillip also came in the Pope and his popishe Masse: MarginaliaQ. Mary stopped of her will in restoring Abbey landes,w^t whom also her purpose was to restore agayn þ^e Monkes and Nunnes vnto theyr places, neyther lacked there all kind of attemptes to the vttermost of her ability: & yet therin also God stopt her of her wil, that it came not forward. After this, what a dearth happened  

in her tyme here in her land? the like whereof hath not lightly in England bene seene, in so much that in sundry places her poore subiects wer fayne to feed of accornes for want of Corne.

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Furthermore, where other kinges are wont to bee renowmed by some worthy victory and prowes by them achieued, let vs now see what valiaunt victory was gotten in this Queene Maryes dayes. King Edward the vi. her blessed brother, how many rebellions did hee suppresse in Deuonshyre, in Northfolke, in Oxfordshyre, & els where? MarginaliaThe victory of K. Edward. 6. in Scotland.what a famous victorye in hys time was gotten in Scotlād, by þ^e singular working (no doubt) of Gods blessed hād rather then by any expectation of man? K. Edw. the thyrd (which was the xi. K. frō þ^e conquest) by princely puissance purchased Calice vnto Englād, which hath bene kept english euer since, til at length came Quene Mary, þ^e xi. likewise from the sayd K. Edward, MarginaliaThe ill lucke of Q. Mary in losing of Calice.which lost Calice frō England agayne: so that the winninges of this Queene wer very small: what the losses were, let other men iudge. MarginaliaThe 11. king of the Conquest got Calice, and the 11. agayne after him lost it.

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Hetherto the affayres of Queene Mary haue had no great good successe, as you haue heard. MarginaliaThe ill lucke of Queene Mary in her childebyrth.But neuer worse successe had any woman, thē had she in her childbyrth. For seing one of these two must needes be granted, that either she was with child or not with child, if she were w^t child & did trauaile, why was it not seene? if shee were not, howe was al the realm deluded? And in the meane while where were all the praiers, þ^e solemne processions, þ^e deuout masses of the Catholicke Clergy? Why did they not preuayle with God, if theyr Religion were so godly as they pretēd? If theyr Masses Ex opere operato  

be able to fetche Christe from heauen, and to reach down to Purgatory, how chāced then they could not reach to the Queenes chamber, to helpe her in her trauayle, if she had ben with child in deed? if not, howe then came it to passe, that all the Catholicke Church of England did so erre, & was so deeply deceiued? Queene Mary, after these manifold plagues and correctiōs, which might sufficiētly admonish her of Gods disfa-

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