Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/498

 REIGN Off ELIZABETH. . 4$. House, for whom alone the question had much interest ; and Elizabeth understood how to manage them. The Commons had resisted one. order the bishops thought they could resist another. Their first impulse was to entreat the Queen to reconsider her command to let the debate go forward, and 'if the Bill was found good by the Lords that she would be pleased for the glory of God to give her gracious assent to the same/ l A peti- tion to this effect was presented carrying the signatures of the two archbishops and thirteen bishops. The Queen sent immediately for Parker and three or four more, and inquired which of them had been the original promoters of the Bill. Though it first appeared in the Lower House, she said, it must have been set in motion by some one on the Bench; and though she had no ob- jection to the doctrine of the Articles ' for it was that which she did openly profess ' she objected seriously to sudden irregular action ' without her knowledge and consent* on a question of such magnitude. Had Elizabeth scolded in the tone usual with her towards the Church authorities she might have found them obstinate ; but she spoke reasonably and they were frightened. The archbishops, though their names headed the signatures to the petition, disclaimed eagerly the responsibility of the initiation. She bade them find ou-t by whom it had been done. The Archbishop of Canterbury reported to Cecil ' that most of his brethren answered, as he had done, that they knew nothing of 1 Petition of the Bishops to the Queen, December, 1566: Domestic MSS., Elizabeth, vol. xli.