Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/454

 440 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 56. good speed, it would be a dead letter,, or would recoil upon Elizabeth. Past pretensions and past acts were to be forgotten, and a power was reserved only to de- mand of any known pretender whether he or she would for the future admit the Queen to be lawful Sove- reign. Then, but only then, if the answer was disloyal, the right, whatever it might be, was to be held forfeited. Other clauses provided that prosecutions should be instituted in all cases within six months of the alleged offences, and that witnesses should be brought face to face with the accused. Two further measures were modified in the same spirit. The introduction or publication of Papal Bulls in England was made high treason, high treason for any person calling himself a priest to receive English subjects into the Church of Rome, and high treason in the subject to be received ; but this Act was made prospective only ; and three months' grace was allowed to persons who had been converted, to make confession to their diocesan and be pardoned. 1 Besides the exiles who had been in rebellion, many gentlemen had followed or anticipated the example of Lord Morley, and had withdrawn to the Continent. The law of England forbade subjects to reside abroad without leave from the Crown, and they had evaded it by conveying their lands in trust to relatives, through whom their rents were sent across to them. Convey- 13 Elizabeth, cap. ii.