Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/469

1554.] you all, that my principal travail is for the restitution of this noble realm to the antient nobility, and to declare unto you that the See Apostolic, from whence I come, hath a special respect to this realm above all others; and not without cause, seeing that God himself, as it were, by providence hath given to this realm prerogative of nobility above others, which to make plain unto you, it is to be considered that this island first of all islands received the light of Christ's religion.'

Going into history for a proof of this singular proposition, the legate said that the Britons had been converted by the See Apostolic, 'not one by one, as in other countries, as clocks denote the hours by distinction of times,' 'but altogether, at once, as it were, in a moment.' The Saxons had brought back heathenism, but had again been soon converted; and the Popes had continued to heap benefit upon benefit on the favoured people, even making them a present of Ireland, 'which pertained to the See of Rome.' The country had prospered, and the people had been happy down to the time of the late schism; from that unhappy day they had been overwhelmed with calamities.

The legate dwelt in some detail on the misfortunes of the preceding years. He then went on: 'But, when all light of true religion seemed extinct, the churches defaced, the altars overthrown, the ministers corrupted, even like as in a lamp, the light being covered yet it is not quenched—even so in a few remained the confession of Christ's faith, namely, in the breast of the Queen's Excellency, of whom to speak without adulation, the