1 the strongest light, neither her merits, nor the circumstances which extenuate her misdeeds, should be concealed. But how is the church chargeable with the supposed change in the character of this princess ? The first volume of Dodd's Church History contains the faculties and instructions which the Pope gave for reconciling the kingdom to the Holy See. They are written in the language of moderation, and do not contain a single expression which suggests sanguinary measures. The lenity of Cardinal Pole, her majesty's principal adviser, seems to be universally admitted. LETTER XV. QUEEN ELIZABETH. Alleged Omission of any mention of the State of Europe and England, at the Accession of Queen Elizabeth. IN this letter, I shall successively examine,I.-Your remarks upon my alleged omission of any notice of the state of Europe and England, at the accession of Queen Elizabeth : II. Your eulogy of the pacific tendency of her first measures respecting religion : III.-And of the moderation of the penal laws passed in the first year of her reign : IV.-Your justification of the law passed in the fifth: V.-And of those passed in the 13th, 23d, and 27th: VI.-I shall then consider the justice of your denial of the merit of loyalty to the conduct of the Catholics, while the English coast was threatened by the Armada: VII.-And conclude my letter with some general reflections. In every part of your present letter You insert reflections injurious to the Catholics;-to the principal of them, I shall occasionally advert. XV. 1. Your Remark upon my alledged Omission of any notice of the State of Europe and England, at the Accession of Queen Elizabeth. In the beginning of this letter, addressing yourself to me, You say, "In your examination of the " circumstances which accompanied and followed "the Reformation, you would almost seem to have 66 demonstrated to your countrymen, that you re"served your talents for your own profession, " and your sincerity for the courtesy of private " life. "You attempt a long and laborious vindication " of the Romanists in the reign of Elizabeth, from "the charges of plots and conspiracies against the 66 queen, and her government. You would then " endeavour to prove, that the priests who suffered "were executed for religion, not for treason. In ८८ prosecuting your inquiry upon these points you " omit all considerations of the state of parties, and " of the difficulties in which the legislature of the " day must have been involved, whatever might " have been its consequent decisions. You do not " tell your readers that civil wars were raging on "the Continent, and almost in England, on the 66 subject of religion; that on the Continent, the opposite opinions of the Protestants and the Ro" manists were embodied in the shape of armies ; " and that in England, their open collision could "only be prevented by the most consummate pru As a complete answer to the personally abusive charge which You bring against me, at the beginning of the extract which I have just transcribed from your work, it would be sufficient to say, that, as both Dr. Southey's work and mine are addressed to the well informed, and as every thing stated by You is fully known to these, there was no obligation upon me to state the facts which You specify, and therefore no ground to criminate me for omitting them: it would have been both a needless and incongruous expansion of my work. I might also observe, that this most evidently was not offered as a history of the times, but as a defence of the Catholics against certain charges of Dr. Southey. But I am not reduced to the necessity of resorting to either of these defences. To repel your charges, I shall transcribe an extract from my "Historical Memoirs," and leave it to your own decision, whether the account which You have given, either of the state of Europe, or the state of England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, is more full, or more favourable to that princess, than mine. * 1." Ancient and modern history differ in nothing "so much, as the absence of religious wars and " controversies from the former, and the large 66 space which they occupy in the latter. During "the successive periods of the Assyrian, Persian, "Macedonian and Roman empires, the grand * Chapter XXVIII. with some addition, it is inserted in "The Reminiscences, Sect. XII. 6. Art. Holy Alliance." " political division of the world was, into the states "within the sway of those powerful empires, and "the states beyond it. At the end of the fifth " century of the Christian æra, by far the greater "part of Europe was Roman'; but after the "death of Trajan, the Romans ceased to be con 66 querors, and soon afterwards, the barbarians " of the north and the north-east, began to invade " their territories on every side, and to erect on " their ruins multitudes of principalities, inde 66 pendent on each other, but united by the pro"fession of a common religion, by a common re gard for its interests, and by common sub" mission, in religious concerns, to the Pope, as "their common head. By degrees, Austria, 66 66 France, Spain and England, became the European powers of the first order. The union of "the Imperial and Spanish crowns on the head of "Charles v. produced confederacies against him. "The French monarch was always at their head; "and Europe thus became divided in two new parties, the Austrian and the French. The "Reformation arrived, and then, according to Schiller, * the interests of the European states, "which, till that time, had been national, ceased "to be such, and the interests of religion formed 66 a bond of union among subjects of different governments, who, till this time, had been un"known to each other. A sentiment more power * " Histoire de la Guerre de Trente Ans:-Cited by M. " Bonald, in his interesting Essai, De l'Unitê Religieuses en “Europe.'" |