certainly he well deserved to have that extraordinary respect and honour shewn him, who was so eminently imployed then in the service and defence of the Church.

He had no sooner brought this to a conclusion, but Harding was again upon him, and put out an Antapology, or answer to his Apology for the Church of England. A defence of which the Bishop forthwith began, which he finished, as ap pears by his epistle to Mr. Harding at the end of it, the 27th of October 1567.

The next year after Mr. Harding put out another piece, which he entitled, A detection of sundry foul errors, &c. which was a cavilling reply to some passages in his defence of the Apology, which not seeming to deserve an answer by it self, he answered rather by a preface to a new impression of his former defence, which he finished the eleventh of December 1569. and dedicated his works to the Queen; Harding having told the world that she was offended with Bishop Jewel for thus troubling the world.

The same year Pope Pius the Fourth having published a Bull of excommunication and deprivation against the Queen, Bishop Jewell undertook the defence of his Soveraign, and wrote a learned examination and confutation of that Bull; which was published by John Garbrand an intimate acquaintance of his, together with a short Treatise of the Holy Scriptures, both which, as he informs us, were delivered by the Bishop in his Cathedral Church in the year 1570.

Besides these he writ several other large pieces; as 1. a Paraphrastical Interpretation of the Epistles and Gospels throughout the whole year. 2ly. Diverse Treatises of the Sacraments, and Exhortations to the Readers. 3ly. Expositions of the Lords Prayer,

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Prayer, the Creed and Ten Commandments. And also 4ly. An Exposition upon the Epistle to the Galatians; the first of St. Peter, and both the Epistles to the Thessalonians; which I suppose were his Sermons: for he was of opinion (Humfrey p. 111.) that it was a better way of teaching, to go through with a book, than to take here and there a text; and that it gave the people a more clear and lasting knowledge.

In the beginning of the next year (April 5. 1571.) was a Parliament, and consequently a Convocation; when Thomas Cartwright and others of that faction, having alarmed the Church by their oppositions to the established Religion, it was thought fit to obviate their bold attempts, and thereupon command was given by the Arch-bishop, That all such of the lower house of convocation, who had not formerly subscribed unto the Articles of Religion agreed upon Anno 1562. should subscribe them now; or on their absolute refusal, or delay, be expelled the House: Which occasioned a general and personal subscription of those articles. And it was also farther ordered, that the book of articles so approved, should be put into print, by the appointment of the Right Reverend Doctor John Jewel then Bishop of Sarum; which shews he was there, and in great esteem.

It was in some part of this year also, that he had his conference, and preached his last sermon at Paul's Cross about the ceremonies and state of the Church, which he mentioned on his death-bed. But I cannot fix the precise time of either of them, or give any further account with whom that conference was. But, however this holy man sought nothing but the peace and welfare of the Church, by these gentle and mild ways of correption; the Dissenters of those times treated him for it with as

Tittle respect as Mr. Harding and his confraternity had before, as Bishop Whitgift assures us: his words are these. "They" (the Dissenters)" will not stick" (saith he) "in commending themselves, to deface all others, yea even that notable JEWEL, whose both labour and learning they do envy; and amongst themselves deprave, as I have heard with mine own ears, and a number more besides. For further proof whereof, I do refer you to the report, that by this faction was spread of him after his last sermon at Paul's Cross, because he did confirm the doctrine before preached by a famous and learned man touching obedience to the Prince and laws. It was strange (saith he) to me, to hear so notable a Bishop, so learned a man, so stout a champion of true religion, so painful a prelate, so ungratefully and spitefully used by a sort of wavering, wicked and wretched tongues: but it is their manner, be you never so well learned, never so painful, so zealous, so vertuous, all is nothing with them, but they will deprave you, rail on you, back-bite you, invent lyes of you, and spread false rumours, as though you were the vilest the whole earth.

persons in

Thus writes that venerable Arch-bishop in his Defence of the Answer to the Admonition, p. 423. upon occasion of a paper written also about this time by Bishop Jewel, upon certain frivolous objections against the government of the Church of England, made by Thomas Cartwright, which the Bishop had confuted; and Cartwright writing against him, Whitgift defended them in this place; and by the by shews how ill the good Bishop was treated for his last sermon at Paul's Cross, by this

6 Thus writes.] Compare also Strype's Life of Whitgift. p. 37, 38.

generation

generation of vipers; which extorted from him that protestation he made on his death-bed, of which I shall give an account hereafter.

Being naturally of a spare and thin body, and thus restlesly trashing it out with reading, writing, preaching and travelling, he hastened his death, which happened before he was full fifty years of age; of which he had a strange perception a considerable time before it happened, and wrote of it to several of his friends, but would by no means be perswaded to abate any thing of his former excessive labours, saying, A Bishop should die preaching.

Though he ever governed his diocess with great diligence, yet perceiving his death approaching, he began a new and more severe visitation of it; cor

8

recting

7 A strange perception.] See Humfrey's Life. p. 36.

A new and more severe visitation.] Dr. Thomas James, in his learned and very valuable Treatise of the Corruption of Scripture, Councils and Fathers for maintenance of Popery, speaking of a passage of Pope Gregory's Epistles (Lib. 4. Epist. 38) says, "The Roman Edition with sundry others read most absurdly, contrary to the faith of the manuscripts, and the circumstance of the place, sacerdotum est præparatus exitus" (instead of exercitus)" as if this did betoken King Menry the eighth which first put priests to death."-By occasion of citing these words truly, according to St. Gregories meaning, and the antient copies, a very worthy and learned prelate (Bishop Jewel) was heretofore traduced and slandered among the Papists. I will relate the story, as it was told me by one that is yet living (a), and knoweth it to be true; that you may see how the good Bishop was used amongst them. It happened, that in his visitation, he preached at Abingdon a religious town in Barkshire, not far from Oxford: whither went many to hear him from all parts of the country round about; and many came from the University of Oxford; of which number, some were scholars, that stood not so well affected in religion. In his Sermon,

(a) Mr. Fr. Mille, one of the Clerks of the Signet to his Majesty, at that time of good standing in All-Souls College, Fellow,

recting the vices of the clergy and laity more sharply; injoining them in some places tasks of holy tracts to be learned by heart, conferring orders more carefully, and preaching oftener.

Having

as his text led him, he inveighed sharply against the Pope, his pride, his attendance, Priests, and Clergy: and amongst other places, of which he had great store, he urged this out of Gregory. The Sermon being done, home they come. And such as were popishly given, seeing that the Bishop insisted upon that place of Gregory, examined it with the printed books: and finding it not there, presently it is noised about the town, that the Bishop had made a foolish and untrue Sermon, built upon weak and false authorities; as might appear plainly by this one place of S. Gregory. For, he had turned cat into pan; alleaged the words otherwise than they were read in S. Gregory, He read exercitus sacerdotum, an army of Priests; where it was indeed in true Gregory, exitus sacerdotum, the killing and murdering of Priests, which should argue the coming of Anti-Christ; an argument, said they, of his false and untrue dealing in all points of doctrine. The words were spoken; they could not be denied. At hearing of these words, the Protestants were much dismayed, the Papists triumphed: but it was before the victory; as shortly after appeared. For this party of whom I received this information, being now a Gentleman of good place in the Commonwealth, and ever known to be honest of his word, and very religious, presently bethought himself of some course to stop their mouths, if it were possible. He turned divers editions, but still found exitus. In the end, it so pleased God, to put into his mind, to seek it in the manuscripts: and remembering that they had one in the Library, of good antiquity, in that college (All-Souls) whereof he then was Fellow, he did so; went up into the Library, found the words there as Bishop Jewel had reported them: which was no small comfort unto him. He stayed not long, went to his chamber, caused a note to be set up in public view, whereby he gave the whole University to understand, that whereas such a reverend Bishop, for a sermon by him lately preached was defamed and traduced, and namely for a sentence by him falsly alleaged, as was given forth, out of Gregory's Epistles: that this report of theirs was utterly untrue; the authority not changed by the Bishop, but by them into a sinister sense: for, to it was found in an antient manuscript in All-Souls College.