256 REIGN Ofi ELIZABETH. cn. 43. as usual at her side, whispered to him ' that is meant for me/ A supper followed, but not till past midnight. As Lent had begun the ambassador declined to eat, and Elizabeth laughed at him. The next day being A sh Wednesday, de Silva accompanied her to St Paul's, where Nowell, the Dean, was to preach. A vast crowd had assembled more, the Queen thought, to see her than to hear the sermon. The Dean began, and had not proceeded far when he came on the subject of images * which he handled roughly/ ' Leave that alone/ Elizabeth called from her seat. The preacher did not hear, and went on with his invec- tives. ' To your text ! Mr Dean/ she shouted, raising her voice ; ' To your text ; leave that ; we have heard enough of that ! To your subject.' The unfortunate Doctor Nowell coloured, stammered out a few incoherent words, and was unable to go on. Elizabeth went off in a rage with her ambassador. The congregation the Protestant part of it were in tears. 1 Archbishop Parker, seeing the Dean ' utterly dis- mayed/ took him ' for pity home to Lambeth to dinner ; ' 2 and wrote to Cecil a respectful but firm re- monstrance. Without the letter for which he had ap- plied he was powerless to move. The bishops, without the support of the Queen or council, would only be laughed at. Let Leicester, Bacon, Cecil himself, and the Queen send for the Protestant ministers if they 1 De Silva to Philip, March 12 : MS. Simancas. 2 Parker to Cecil, March 8 : Lansdowm M&S, 8.
