Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/445

1549.] forfeited. If he refused, his person was at the mercy of the Government. It was a repetition of the treatment of Gardiner, and the result was the same. He was held not to have given satisfaction; he was insolent on his examination; and he was imprisoned for the remainder of the reign. The story will now follow Lord Grey.

Round Oxford the parish priests had heen excited by the theological controversies on the Eucharist. They had communicated their irritation to the yeomen and labourers, and the county was in disorder. But the people had. no organization which would resist regular troops, and punishment was reserved chiefly for their instigators. The rope was introduced to give force to the arguments of Peter Martyr, and far and wide among the villages the bodies of the rectors and vicars were dangled from their church towers. The bells, which had been used to rouse the peasants, were taken down and sold for the benefit of the Government, 'leaving one only of the smallest size' to tinkle feebly for the English prayers.

Having restored order in Oxfordshire, Grey hastened on to Honiton, where his coming was anxiously looked for.

Lord Russell had waited, unable to move, till the few gentlemen who had collected about him dropped away, as day passed after day and brought no help.