Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/280

260 even Lord Southampton bore a share, to bring Tunstall forward in Gardiner's place. And though this scheme failed, through the caution of the principal persons interested, the grievances remained, embittered by a forced submission: a fresh debt had been contracted, bearing interest till it was paid.

As great, or a greater, danger embarrassed Cromwell from the folly of his friends. So long as the tide was in their favour, the Protestants indulged in insolent excesses, which provoked, and almost justified, the anger with which they were regarded. Hitherto they had held a monopoly of popular preaching. Tradition and authority had been with the Catholics: the rhetoric had been mainly with their adversaries. In the summer the interest of London was suddenly excited on the other side by a Catholic orator of extraordinary powers, a Dr Watts, unknown before or after this particular crisis, but for the moment a principal figure on the stage. Watts attracted vast audiences;