Not content, however, with having restored the power of the Church of Rome over the Anglican Church, Mary introduced new and severe measures for the suppression of those who had dared to follow her father and half- brother in measures of ecclesiastical reform. Many of the clergy had married. One of her first acts now was the ejection of these clergy. The number of such, ac- cording to Burnet, was 12,000 out of IC.OOO; but this seems exaggerated, and we prefer to follo\v Butler, who estimates them at a little over 3,000, certainly a large enough number of men so suddenly deprived of their liv- ing, and, with thousands dependent upon them, at a moment's warning shut out from home and hearth. To say the least, the measure was most tyrannical; not even the option of dissohing the marriage-bond was given, though they had been married under the sanc- tion of the law of the land. Many of the bishops — six- teen of them — shared a like fate with their subordi- nates. The question, however, still remained to be set- tled. How shall the heretic he treated'^ " Cardinal Pole, from his gentler temper and larger wisdom, advised mild measures in order to win them back ; but, in case
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they coiild not be won, he would, equally with Gardiner and Bonner, have had them burned. Gardiner was now for measures of repression and vigor. He contended that relaxation in the time of Hcnrj' VIII had been the cause of the rapid spread of the lieresy. He was disap- pointed of tlie see of Canterbury [which Pole had se- cured, of course], and enraged because his books against the papal supremacy were reprmted and dispersed through the country. The queen was always on the side of the severest measures," and the remainder of the history of the reign of IMary is occupied chiefiy with the sangui- nary persecutions of the adherents to the Reformed doc- trines. IMost Protestant writers reckon Miat about 280 victims perished at the stake from Feb. 4, 1555, on which day John Rogers was burned at Smithtield, to Nov. 10, 1558, when the last "auto-da-fe" of the reign took place by the execution in the same manner of three men and two women at Colchester. Dr. Lingard, the Roman Catholic, admits that after expunging from the Protes- tant lists " the names of all who were condemned as fel- ons or traitors, or who died peaceably in their beds, or who survived the publication of their martyrdom, or who woidd for their heterodoxy have been sent to the stake by the Reformed prelates themselves, had they been in possession of the power," and making every other possible allowance, it will still be found '• that in the space of four years almost 200 persons perished in the tlames for religious opinion." The harrowing narrative, in its details, may be found in part in Burnet, and in full in Fox's Marti/rologi/. Among the most distinguished sufferers were Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, Ferrar of St. David's, Latimer of Worcester, Ridley of London, and Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Nor were the sufferings confined to the stake. Intolerance also car- ried grief, horror, and ferocity into all England by the persecution of those who were guilty of heresy, but were not considered fit subjects for the stake. It is said that in the last three years of IMary's reign no less than "30,000 persons were exiled and spoiled of their goods" (Butler, ii, 445), among whom were not less than 800 theologians (comp. Fisher, p. 328).
The question has been raised, Who were most respon- sible for these persecutions? Gardiner, bishop of Win- chester and lord chancellor, was IMary's chief minister till his death in November, 1555, after which the direc- tion of affairs fell mostly into the hands of cardinal Pole, who, after Cranmer's deposition, was made archbishop of Canterbury ; but the notorious Bonner, Ridley's suc- cessor iu the see of London, has the credit of having been the principal instigator of these atrocities, which, it may be remarked, so far from contributing to put down the Reformed doctrines, appear to have had a greater effect in disgusting the nation with the restored Church than aU other causes together. Says Soames (iv, 385), " These horrid proceedings filled the whole kingdom with amazement, indignation, and disgust. Unfeeling Romish bigots were disappointed becawse this atrocious ebullition of their party's intolerance had ■wholly failed to overawe the spirit of their adversaries. Timid Protestants were encouraged by the noble con- stancy displayed among their friends. Jloderate Ro- manists were ashamed of their spiritual guides. The mass of men, who live in stupid forgetfulness of God, were aroused from that lethargy of sensuality, covetous- ness, or vanity in which they dissipate existence, to re- flect ujjon the principles which could support the human mind tranquil, or even exulting, amid such frightful agonies."
■ At the same time that the attempt was thus made to extinguish the new opinions in religion by persecution at the stake, exUe, and other severe measures, the queen gave a further proof of the ardor of her own faitli by restoring to the Church the teuths and first-fruits, with all the rectories, glebe-lands, and tithes that had been annexed to the crown in the times of her father and brother. She also re-established several of the old mon- asteries which her father had dissolved, and endowed