The date of it is 1585, almost simultaneous
with the scene in Parliament which I have just been describing. The
English refugees, from Cardinal Pole downwards, were the most active and
passionate preachers of a Catholic crusade against England. They failed,
but they have revenged themselves in history. Pole, Sanders, Allen, and
Parsons have coloured all that we suppose ourselves to know of Henry
VIII. and Elizabeth. What I am about to read to you does not differ
essentially from what we have already heard from these persons; but it
is new, and, being intended for practical guidance, is complete in its
way. It comes from the Spanish archives, and is not therefore open to
suspicion. Parsons, as you know, was a Fellow of Balliol before his
conversion; Allen was a Fellow of Oriel, and Sanders of New College. An
Oxford Church of England education is an excellent thing, and beautiful
characters have been formed in the Catholic universities abroad; but as
the elements of dynamite are innocent in themselves, yet when fused
together produce effects no one would have dreamt of, so Oxford and
Rome, when they have run together, have always generated a somewhat
furious compound.
Parsons describes his statement as a 'brief note on the present
condition of England,' from which may be inferred the ease and
opportuneness of the holy enterprise.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137