asking what service he would use. The priest said that he must go by the law. The men answered they would have none of the new fashions; they would have the old religion of their fathers, as King Henry VIII. by his last will and testament had ordained.[1] The priest yielded willingly to compulsion. He put on his cope and vestments, and said mass in Latin, 'the common people all the country round clapping their hands for joy.'[2]
The neighbouring magistrates came the day after to make inquiries. The villagers collected with bows and pikes; and, after an armed conference, the magistrates, 'afraid of their shadows,' or in their hearts agreeing with the popular feeling, withdrew without further interference. The successful example was not long unimitated. In the same week, or within a few days, the wave of resistance swept over the country west of Exeter, meeting on the Tamar a similar movement swelling upwards from Cornwall. Of all the council Lord Russell was most closely connected with Devonshire. To Russell had fallen the domains of the abbey of Tavistock; St Mary's Clyst and part of Exeter itself belonged to him. Russell had commanded the musters of the county in the French war; and when
- ↑ It is singular that a belief prevailed in all classes that Henry had forbidden by his will that any change should be made during the minority in Religion. Even Mary, as we have seen, shared it. The Protector was punished for his want of openness. He had made the will a mystery because it was inconvenient that the world should know that he had altered the disposition of the Government.
- ↑ Holinshed.
