A History Of The Protestant "reformation," In England And Ireland
by William Cobbett

Description

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1869. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... career. How different, alas! from the commencement of that Church of England, which arose under St. Austin at Canterbury, which had been cherished so carefully by Alfred the Great, and, under the wings of which the people of England had, for nine hundred years, seen their country the greatest in the world, and had themselves lived in ease imd plenty and real freedom, superior to those of all othsr nations ! 214. Somerset, who had brought his own brother to the block, iu 1549, chiefly because he had opposed himself to his usurpations (though both were plunderers), was, not long after the commission of the above cruelties on the people, destined to come to that block himself. Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who was his rival in baseness and injustice, and his superior in talent, had out-intrigued him in the Council; and, at last, he brought him to that end which he so well merited. On what grounds this was done is wholly uninteresting. It was a set of most wicked men, circumventing, and, if necessary, destroying each other; but it is worthy of remark, that, amongst the crimes alleged against this greatculprit, was, his havingbrought foreign troops into the kingdom! This was, to be sure, rather ungrateful in the pious reformers; for, it was those troops that established for them their new religion. But, it was good to see them putting their leader to death, actually cutting off his head, for having caused their projects to succeed. It was, in plain words, a dispute atout the plunder. Somerset had got more than his brother-plunderers deemed his share. He was building a pala.ce for himself; and if each plunderer could have had a palace, it would have been peace amongst them; but, as this could not be, the rest called him a " traitor," and as the king, the Protestant St. Edwar...