Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/79

1537.] in the Church for fifteen centuries. For all those ages they had been supposed to be the rivulets which watered the earth with the graces of the Spirit. After so long experience it should have been at least possible to tell what they were, or how many they were; but the question was suddenly asked, and none could answer it. The bishops were applied to. Interrogatories were sent round among them for opinions, and some said there were three sacraments, some seven, some a hundred. The Archbishop of York insisted on the apostolical succession; the Archbishop of Canterbury believed that priests and bishops might be nominated by the Crown, and he that was so appointed needed no consecration, for his appointment was sufficient. Transubstantiation remained almost the only doctrine beyond the articles of the three creeds on which a powerful majority was agreed.