Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/93

 1581. J THE JESUIT INVASION. 77 The Houses met on the i6th of January. The Queen was absent and there was no speech. The attendance of Peers was ominously small. Elizabeth had intimated that the session was to be a short one, and that she would have no meddling under any circumstances with the government of the Church. Sir John Popham, the Speaker, endeavoured to meet her wishes, and recom* mended -the Commons to be discreet and brief. It was easier to advise than to secure compliance. The Lower House had already shown signs of restlessness under the Queen's dictation, and English Protestant gentle- men were as resolute as the Jesuits, and no less con- scious of the goodness of their cause. When Popham sat down, Paul Wentworth 1 moved that there should be ' a Fast of the House/ and that every morning at seven, before business commenced, there should be a sermon, ' that so beginning with the service and worship of God, he might the better bless them.' The House was favourable to both proposals. Sir F. Knowles ob- jected the Queen's orders, but was overruled. A Fast of the Commons House was carried by a majority of fifteen,, and Sunday the 25th was named for it. The privy council were requested to select the daily preach- ers, ' that they might be discreet persons, who would keep a convenient proportion of time, and meddle with no matter of unquietness.' 2 Elizabeth, determined as she was to put down the 1 Brother of Peter Wentworth, member for Tregony, who had been distinguished in the past session. 2 Proceedings of the House of Commons in the matter of the Fast, January, 1581 : MSS. Do- mestic.