ise men and
arms, whenever it should be deemed desirable to make a descent on the
country. Many of these men were executed as traitors, though the
Romanists pretend that they were martyrs for their religion[2]. It is
true that their religious views led them into treason and rebellion; yet
they were no more martyrs for their faith than the murderer who was
executed at Tyburn. Parsons and Campion were the leaders of this body:
the former escaped to the Continent, the latter was taken and executed
for his treasonable practices.

[Footnote 2: For a full discussion of the question, whether the
priests and others who suffered death at this period and
subsequently, were punished for religion or for treason, the
author's work, _The State of Popery and Jesuitism in England_,
may be consulted. In that work I have entered fully into the
subject, and have proved that all the parties who suffered were
executed for treason.]

It is constantly asserted by Roman Catholic writers, that the priests
who suffered during this reign were martyrs to the faith: and the
inference is attempted to be drawn, that the church of England is as
much exposed to the charge of persecution as the church of Rome. One
thing is certain, however, that, whether the advisers of Elizabeth were
justified in their course or otherwise, they did not consider that they
were putting men to death for religion: but, on the other hand, the
martyrs under Queen Mary were committed to the flames as heretics, not
as traitors or offenders against the laws of the land. When, therefore,
Romanist writers attempt to draw a parallel between the martyrs of the
Anglican church under Queen Mary, and the priests who suffered in the
reign of Elizabeth, it is a sufficient answer to their cavils to allege
the fact, that the former were put to death according to the mode
prescribed in cases of heresy, which was an offence against religion;
the latter were tried and executed for treason, which is an offence
against the state. It is the remark of Archbishop Tillotson that, "We
have found by experience that ever since the reformation they have
continually been pecking at the foundations of our peace and religion;
when God knows we have been so far from thirsting after their blood,
that we did not so much as desire their disquiet, but in order to our
own necessary safety, and indeed to theirs."

In 1583 Somerville attempted to kill the queen. The plot was discov