corruption, the object of mingled hatred and fear: and all England rejoiced when, on January 28, 1547, Henry's soul went at last to meet its Judge.

Hardly indeed had the breath left his body when by a just retribution his last will was set aside; the prayers and Masses which he had directed to be said in perpetuity for his soul were left unsaid, his ordinances as to religion were repealed, the heresies which he detested were openly taught and enforced, and all this by the authority of the Royal Supremacy and at the instigation of the men who during his life had been his subservient instruments in infamy from the day that he severed himself and his people from the unity of Christendom and from the communion of the Apostolic See.

Section III. The Writers of the present work.

I must now briefly recount the genesis and history of the present work, which has not been unadventurous. As already stated, it was projected by the Fathers of the London Oratory at the time of the Beatification in 1886. The moving spirit in the work was the late Father Edward Stephen Keogh, who was distinguished both as a theologian and a historian. Father Keogh, in spite of failing health, took up the work with the greatest vigour, and in a few months had completed a large number of the lives. So great was his energy that his last illness is thought to have been hastened through his devotion to the task of compiling these lives. He died at the Oratory, on October 29, 1887, aged 53.

d

The work was then continued by the late Father Richard Stanton, the learned compiler of the Menology of England and Wales, and Father Henry Sebastian Bowden wrote for it the life of Blessed Edmund Campion. But old age and failing health prevented Father Stanton from concluding what had been begun, although he wrote several of the lives.

He in turn passed on the work to Father John Morris, S.J., who took it up with his wonted energy, and wrote the lives of Forest and Fortescue. But the long-delayed cause of the Benedictine Abbots and their companions prevented him also from completing the task, for, as he wrote to the present editor in 1892, he was reluctant to publish the work without including the lives of the Benedictines. As is well known, Father Morris was suddenly taken from us in 1893, and the manuscripts then in his possession passed to Father John Pollen, S.J., who inherited his position as Postulator in England of the cause of our martyrs. Father Pollen however was so much taken up with other work, that in October, 1899, he asked the present writer to undertake the task of completing the work which had been so long delayed. Father Bridgett, C.SS.R., had also been approached on the subject, but age and growing infirmity made him unwilling to undertake so laborious a task, though he kindly assisted in the work by some valuable suggestions. The present editor was well aware of his own insufficiency to complete a work begun and continued. under such auspices, but neither did he feel that he

could refuse the opportunity thus afforded him of doing what lay in his power to further the cause of our Blessed Martyrs.

When he received the Manuscripts he found that several lives yet remained to be written, and these he has supplied to the best of his ability. A more formidable task however lay before him. When the lives were handed over to Father Morris he was expressly requested by the Oratorian editors not to publish them until they had been thoroughly revised and brought up to date from the point of view of modern research. This however yet remained to be undertaken. It is obvious that much has been discovered, much has been published since these lives were first projected in 1886, for instance, not less than thirteen volumes of State Papers, which are of primary authority for the period under discussion. Moreover, careful and complete as was the work of Father Keogh and Father Stanton, it had been left unrevised, and needed both corrections and additions. The present editor has therefore had to go through the whole of the lives, with but few exceptions, and to do his best to make them accurate and complete. He has re-written practically the whole of the notes, verified the references, and revised the text. The exceptions to this rule consist in the lives of Blessed. Thomas Percy (in the second volume) which, already published by the Catholic Truth Society, has been. revised by its original author, the Rev. George Phillips, of Ushaw College, and in those of Blessed. John Forest and Blessed Thomas Abel and his

companions, which have been practically re-written by Father Pollen. It is right to remark that the life of Blessed Adrian Fortescue, though written for this work, has already appeared in print, but with this exception and that of Percy, the lives are entirely new.

The editor has had to re-write the life of Blessed Margaret Pole by Father Keogh, and to make additions and corrections more than usually numerous to that of Blessed John Fisher by Father Stanton.

He has been very greatly aided in his task by Father John Pollen, who in justice should be named joint editor of the work. Father Pollen has not only read and revised the proofs, but has most generously given the editor throughout the work the benefit of his unrivalled knowledge of the martyrs' history, and, as far as the first volume at any rate is concerned, Father Pollen must be held. jointly responsible with the editor for the statements and the opinions propounded.

As the first volume is to be published before the second, which is however in the press, it may be well to add that a full index to the whole work will be found at the end of the second volume, which contains the lives of the martyrs who suffered under Elizabeth. For this the editor has to thank two good friends who are devoted to the cause of the martyrs, Miss Gunning and Miss Jewitt, of Erdington. He has also to thank Father Patrick Ryan, S.J., for his valuable services in helping to correct the proof-sheets.

The late Mr. Aubrey de Vere kindly gave the editor permission to print his beautiful sonnet on the martyrs at the head of this volume. It is not to be found in his published works.

It is hoped that these volumes may be followed in due time by the lives of the martyrs who have been declared Venerable.

Finally, the editor submits himself and his ' writings to the judgment of the Church, and prays that these Lives may serve in some degree to make the Blessed Martyrs of our country better known and loved among us.

DOM BEDE CAMM, O.S.B.

Erdington Abbey,

Birmingham.

April 17, 1904.