Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/126

106 with errors of opinion; and the consequence which England had to expect from a restoration of clerical authority might be seen in the language of one who was loudest in the demand for it. John Knox, the shrewdest and one of the noblest of the Reformers, did not conceal his opinion that Gardiner, Bonner, and Cuthbert Tunstal might have been justly put to death for nonconformity. But Parliament had not refused absolutely to entertain the question. The Lords rejected, as we have seen; a scheme which would simply replace the bishops in the position which they had forfeited; but the old mixed commission of thirty-two had been re-established for the revision of the canon law; and in March, 1552, the commissioners would have made some progress, it was said, had not Ridley, and Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, who had succeeded Lord Rich as Chancellor, 'stood in the way with their worldly policy.' The thirty-two were afterwards reduced to eight, and in the following November a fresh commission was appointed, consisting of Cranmer, Goodrich, Coxe, and Peter Martyr, with four lawyers and civilians. The