elicate constitution, and he returned to the more congenial
climate of Spain.

From that time Mary, who was left to rule alone, directed all her
efforts to the restoration of the Catholic Church. Hallam says her
policy was acceptable to a large part of the nation.[2] On the other
hand, the leaders in Scotland bound themselves by a solemn Covenant
(1557) to crush out all attempts to reestablish the Catholic faith.
Through her influence Parliament repealed the legislation of Henry
VIII's and Edward VI's reigns, in so far as it gave support to
Protestantism. She revived the persecuting statutes against heretics
(S283). The old relations with the Pope were resumed but the monastic
lands were left in the hands of their new owners (S352). To
accomplish her object in supporting her religion, the Queen resorted
to the arguments of the dungeon, the rack, and the fagot, and when
Bishops Bonner and Gardiner slackened their work of persecution and
death, Mary, half crazed by Philip's desertion, urged them not to stay
their hands.

[2] See A. H. Hallam's "Constitutional History of England," and
compare J. Lingard's excellent "History of England," to the same
effect.

371. Devices for reading the Bible.

The penalty for reading the English Scriptures, or for offering
Protestant prayers, was death. In his autobiography, Benjamin
Franklin says that one of his ancestors, who lived in England in
Mary's reign, adopted the following expedient for giving his family
religious instruction. He fastened an open Bible with strips of tape
on the under side of a stool. When he wished to read it aloud he
placed the stool upside down on his knees, and turned the pages under
the tape as he read them. One of the children stood watching at the
door to give the alarm if any one approached; in that case, the stool
was set quickly on its feet again on the floor, so that nothing could
be seen.

372. Religious Toleration unknown in Mary's Age.

Mary would doubtless have bravely endured for her faith the full
measure of suffering which she inflicted. Her state of mind was that
of all who then held strong convictions. Each party believed it a
duty to convert or exterminate the other, and the alternative offered
to the heretic was to "turn or burn."

Sir Thomas More, who gave his life as a sacrifice to conscience in
Henry's reign (S351), was eager to put Tyndale to the torture for
translating the Bible. Cranmer (S362), who perished at Oxf