The Acts and Monuments of the Church: Containing the History and Sufferings of the Martyrs; Wherein Is Set Forth at Large the Whole Race and Course of the Church, From the Primitive Age to These Later

Excerpt from The Acts and Monuments of the Church: Containing the History and Sufferings of the Martyrs; Wherein Is Set Forth at Large the Whole Race and Course of the Church, From the Primitive Age to These Later Times

But, by the Providence of God, the rebellion in. Ireland was crushed, the treason in Eng land baffled, and the armada of Spain destroyed. 'we could mourn over the fate of that gal lant armament, were we not acquainted with its object. The pomp of the chivalry of Spain, the flower of all her gallant youth were there. All that high hope could expect from noble daring, and all that the enthusiasm of superstition could achieve, might have been expected there. The voice of Papal infallibility had proclaimed it invincible. It walked the mighty ocean in its pride. It spread its fluttering wings for the shores of England. But an Angel of Heaven was moving over it unseen. The winds rushed in their fury above it. The waves swept in their madness beneath it. There were fearless hearts before them, and mighty arms to meet them. The chivalry of England manned her fleets, and the yeomanry of Eng land lined her shores; and this invincible armada, scattered on the deep, or stranded on our cliffs, strewed our shores with the mouldering bones of the youth of Spain.

Thus ended the second great effort to restore the influence of Rome in this country. Its characteristics were rebellion and invasion - suitable precursors of the next attempt of these Italian Priests.

The vigour of Elizabeth's government was felt even after her death. James I. Received a. Kingdom, from which the more daring and dangerous spirits had been exiled for their trea sons, or had gone into banishment to escape the vengeance of the laws. Those were mem bers of the Church of Rome, and devotedly attached to the interests of the Papacy. They had religiously believed that the Papal authority could absolve subjects of their allegiance, and depose sovereigns from their thrones. They had held that heresy - the designation given to the reformed faith - was sufficient to lead to a forfeiture of all rights and privileges, and they therefore entered eagerly into every conspiracy that was deemed likely to re-establish the Papacy in its ancient influence in England.

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