Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/296

276 spirit was encouraged to show itself. The sermons at Paul's Cross breathed of revolution. Barlow, Bishop of St David's, whose indiscretion had already assisted to ruin Cromwell, preached on the most inflammable points of controversy. Ridley, Principal of Pembroke Hall at Cambridge, then first emerging into prominence, denounced the use of holy water and the presence of images in churches, loudly and violently. When Lent opened, a Doctor Glazier affirmed that fasting had no divine sanction, that it was 'a politic ordinance of men.' and might therefore be broken by men at their pleasure: and in a manuscript contemporary diary by some unknown writer, I find the significant entry, that 'this year the Archbishop of Canterbury did eat meat openly in Lent, in the Hall of Lambeth, the like of which was never seen since England was a Christian country.'

The Bishop of Winchester who, when in a minority, understood the merits of moderation, ventured, though excluded from the council, to advise some caution. He entreated Somerset to forget his elevation for a moment,