that he might exercise as strong an influence over her as he had over the former queen. His disappointment, his efforts to retain his influence, and his growing recognition that there was to be an entire change in religion and policy, are well shown in the following extracts from his letters written to the king of Spain during the first six months of the new reign.

of Spain

It gives me great trouble every time I write to your Majesty 214. Letters not to be able to send more pleasing intelligence, but what from the Spanish amcan be expected from a country governed by a queen, and she bassador a young lass, who, although sharp, is without prudence, and is to the king every day standing up against religion more openly? The kingdom is entirely in the hands of young folks, heretics, and traitors, and the queen does not favor a single man whom her Majesty, who is now in heaven, would have received, and will take no one into her service who served her sister when she was Lady December Mary. On the way from the Tower to her house where she 15, 1558 now is, she saw the marquis of Northampton, who is ill with a quartan ague, at a window, and she stopped her palfrey and was for a long while asking him about his health in the most cordial way in the world. The only true reason for this was that he had been a great traitor to her sister, and he who is most prominent in this way is now best thought of. The old people and the Catholics are dissatisfied, but dare not open their lips. She seems to me incomparably more feared than her sister, and gives her orders and has her way as absolutely as her father did. Her present controller and Secretary Cecil govern the kingdom, and they tell me the earl of Bedford has a good deal to say.

When I spoke to her at Lord North's house, she told me that when anything had to be discussed with me she would send two of her Council to me. I asked her which two they would be, so that I might know with whom to communicate in case I had anything to say. She said they would be the controller, Cecil, and Admiral Clinton, and directly afterwards she appointed the first two, so I knew she only mentioned Clinton

Unpopularity

of Philip in England

because she thought I was friendly with him, and I satisfied myself of this subsequently. She afterwards said that when I wanted anything I was to speak to her personally, and I made an appearance of being very highly gratified with this. I know this is a very feeble foundation to begin with, but I was glad nevertheless.

I am trying to get a chamber in the palace when she goes to Whitehall, although I am very much afraid they will not give me one, but I have little chance of getting to talk to these people from the outside, and they are so suspicious of me that not a man amongst them dares to speak to me; as the late chancellor has told me plainly. He is a worthy person and she knows it, but he is not in the gang and will not return to office. He tells me that if they offered it to him he would not accept it. I think Paget is dying as fast as he can. He was very bad before, and the queen seems not to have favored him as he expected; indeed I do not think she will return him his office, and this no doubt has increased his malady.

They are all very glad to be free of your Majesty, as if you had done harm instead of very much good, and although in all my letters to your Majesty I have said how small a party you have here, I am never satisfied that I have said enough to describe things as they really are. As I am so isolated from them I am much embarrassed and confused to devise means of finding out what is going on, for truly they run away from me as if I were the devil. The best thing will be to get my foot into the palace, so as to speak oftener to the queen, as she is a woman who is very fond of argument.

Everybody thinks that she will not marry a foreigner, and they cannot make out whom she favors, so that nearly every day some new cry is raised about a husband. They have dropped the earls of Arundel and Westmoreland, and say now she will marry William Howard's son, or Pickering, who went to bring over the Germans that Wallerthum raised. The most discreet people fear she will marry for caprice, and as the good or evil of the business all turns on this, I do nothing but think how and when I can get a word in about it. As your Majesty tells me I am to give my opinion I proceed to do so,

after describing the real state of affairs here, as I always do, because in that case the simple things I say myself are of less importance.

...

I have seen her twice since she has been queen, once in Lord North's house and once in that which belonged to the duke of Somerset, where she is now. When I saw her at North's she began taking off her glove as soon as she saw me, so that I might kiss her hand, as I did. I did not speak of business, confining myself to compliments, but told her, as my only reason for being here was to serve her and advise your Majesty how to gratify her in everything, I proposed also to convey to her the knowledge of things in which your Majesty could be gratified, and so to help forward the good fellowship which I thought both parties wished to preserve. In pursuance of this I said your Majesty had ordered me to beg her to be very careful about religious affairs as they were what first and principally The queen's concerned you. She answered that it would indeed be bad for caution in religious her to forget God who had been so good to her, which appeared matters to me rather an equivocal reply. .

The day I saw the queen at Lord North's the Swedish ambassadors spoke with her, the same man as was here before and another. They still urge the marriage, but these people take no notice of them.

Boxall told me that the queen says the king of France was at war with her sister, but not with her. I quite believe it, for she is a very strange sort of a woman. All the heretics who had escaped are beginning to flock back again from Germany, and they tell me there are some pestilential fellows amongst them.

On the Sunday of Christmastide the queen before going to December mass sent for the bishop of Carlisle, who was to officiate, and 29, 1558 told him that he need not elevate the host for adoration. The bishop answered that her Majesty was mistress of his body and life, but not of his conscience, and accordingly she heard the mass until after the gospel, when she rose and left, so as not to be present at the canon and adoration of the host which the bishop elevated as usual. They tell me that yesterday she heard

February 20, 1559

mass said by another bishop, who was requested not to elevate the host, and acted accordingly, and she heard it to the end. I should like in these affairs to animate and encourage the Catholics so that she may find difficulties in the way of doing the wicked things she is beginning, but I am doing it with the utmost caution in order that she may not be offended or quarrel with me more than need be. This affair is going at a pace that, in spite of the good offices your Majesty may perform with the pope, it will be impossible to stop, and I hear that he will declare this queen a bastard and will proceed against her, giving the right to the crown to the queen of Scots.

I have thought best not to speak in earnest to the queen about religion yet, although I see her plainly going to perdition, but it seems to me that if the marriage is carried out the The marriage rest will soon be arranged, and all will proceed in accordance with Philip with the glory of God and the wishes of your Majesty, whilst if the marriage do not take place, all I could say to the queen would be of little avail, as she is so badly advised by the heretics she has around her and in her council, and it might even greatly prejudice the conclusion of the principal matter.

After talking a long time on these points the queen wished to be seated and seemed to expect that I was going to reopen the former conversation. I did not wish to begin on that subject again, and only said that all these difficulties could be overcome if only her Majesty would do certain things which I would talk about when we had got rid of the other affair (i.e. of the peace). She gave me no answer, but she understood very well what I meant, and that I was displeased with the result of the last audience, in which, as I told your Majesty at the beginning of this letter, she was going to give me an answer to the effect that she did not mean to marry, and questioned the power of the pope about the dispensation; and with this the conversation ended.

In the meanwhile I think it will be well for your Majesty's commissioners to speak with the queen's commissioners on this subject of religion, and express their sorrow at the wickedness which is being planned in this parliament, which consists of

upper

parliament of Elizabeth

persons chosen throughout the country as being the most per- The first verse and heretical. The queen has entire disposal of the chamber in a way never seen before in previous parliaments, as which adopted in this there are several who have hopes of getting her to marry the Acts of Supremacy them, and they are careful to please her in all things and per- Suprema suade others to do the same, besides which there are a great formity number whom she has made barons to strengthen her party, and that accursed cardinal left twelve bishoprics to be filled which will now be given to as many ministers of Lucifer instead of being worthily bestowed.

These heretics and the devil that prompts them are so care- March 19,1559 ful to leave no stone unturned to compass their ends that no doubt they have persuaded her that your Majesty wishes to marry her for religious objects alone, and so she kept repeating to me that she was heretical and consequently could not marry your Majesty. She was so disturbed and excited and so resolved to restore religion as her father left it, that at last I said that I did not consider she was heretical and could not believe that she would sanction the things which were being discussed in parliament, because if she changed the religion she would be ruined, and that your Majesty would not separate from the union of the church for all the kingdoms of the earth. She said then much less would you do it for a woman. I did not want to be all rigor, so I said that men did more for a woman than for anything else.

The clergymen who had gone into exile

She said she would not take the title of head of the church, but that so much money was taken out of the country for the pope every year that she must put an end to it, and that the during Mary's bishops were lazy poltroons. I replied that the poltroons were reign and had the preachers she listened to, and that it added little to her now returned honor and was a great scandal that so many rogues should come from Germany, and get into the pulpit before her and great congregations to preach a thousand absurdities, without being learned or worthy of being listened to.

After we had been talking for half an hour Knollys came in and said supper was ready, a new thing, and as I think arranged by those who are working this wickedness, for there is