Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/51

 1563.] THE ENGLISH A T HA VRE. 3 1 usual speech from the throne dwelt oil the internal dis- orders of the country, the irreligion of the laity, the disorder and idleness of the clergy. He touched briefly on the events of the three last years ; and in speaking by name of the House of Guise, he said that if tl.ey had not been encountered in Scotland they must have been fought with under the walls of York. Then passing to France, he said that the Queen by the same cause had been compelled to a second similar interference there. He alluded pointedly to a disloyal faction in England, by whom the foreign enemies were encouraged. He spoke shortly of the late devilish con- spiracy, and then concluded with saying that reluctant as they knew the Queen to be to ask her subjects for money, they would be called upon to meet the expenses which she had incurred in the service of the Common- wealth. Sir Thomas Williams, the Speaker of the Lower House, followed next in the very noblest spirit of Eng- lish Puritanism. With quaint allegoric and classical allusions interlaced with illustrations from the Bible, he conveyed to the Queen the gratitude of the people for a restored religion and her own moderate and gentle Government. He described the country however as still suffering from ignorance, error, covetousness, and a thousand meaner vices. Schools were in decay, universities deserted, benefices unsupplied. As ho passed through the streets, he heard almost as many oaths as words. Then turning to the Queen herself he went on thus