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diff --git a/41484-0.txt b/41484-0.txt index 4f22238..c4d85e4 100644 --- a/41484-0.txt +++ b/41484-0.txt @@ -1,40 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth -Century, Volume V, by J. H. Merle d'Aubigné, Translated by H. White - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V - The Reformation in England - - -Author: J. H. Merle d'Aubigné - - - -Release Date: November 26, 2012 [eBook #41484] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE -SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V*** - - -E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41484 *** Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. @@ -21603,363 +21567,4 @@ Cochlæus and CochlÅ“us appear. 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White - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V - The Reformation in England - - -Author: J. H. Merle d'Aubigné - - - -Release Date: November 25, 2012 [eBook #41484] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE -SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V*** - - -E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 41484-h.htm or 41484-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41484/41484-h/41484-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41484/41484-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/historyofreforma05merluoft - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. - - The carat character (^) in 1^{ma.} indicates that the letters - following, enclosed in curly brackets, are superscripted. - - - - - -Collins's Select Library. - -HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. - -The Reformation in England. - -by - -J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNE, D.D., -President of the Theological School of Geneva, and Vice-President of the -Societe Evangelique. - -Translated by H. White, -B.A. Trinity College Cambridge, M.A. and Ph. Dr. Heidelberg. - -The Translation Carefully Revised by Dr. Merle d'Aubigne. - -Printed by Arrangement with Messrs. Oliver and Boyd, from the -Author's Own English Edition. - -VOL. V. - - - - - - - -Glasgow: -William Collins, Publisher & Queen's Printer. -1862. - - - - -PREFACE TO VOLUME FIFTH. - - -In the four previous volumes the author has described the origin and -essential development of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century on -the Continent; he has now to relate the history of the Reformation in -England. - -The notes will direct the reader to the principal sources whence the -author has derived his information. Most of them are well known; -others, however, had not been previously explored, among which are the -later volumes of the State Papers published by order of Government, by -a Commission of which the illustrious Sir Robert Peel was the first -president. Three successive Home Secretaries, Sir James Graham, Sir -George Grey, and the Honourable Mr. S. H. Walpole, have presented the -author with copies of the several volumes of this great and important -collection: in some instances they were communicated to him as soon as -printed, which was the case in particular with the seventh volume, of -which he has made much use. He takes this opportunity of expressing -his sincere gratitude to these noble friends of literature. - -The History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century was received -with cordiality on the Continent; but it has had a far greater number -of readers in the British dominions and in the United States. The -author looks upon the relations which this work has established -between him and many distant Christians, as a precious reward for his -labours. Will the present volume be received in those countries as -favourably as the others? A foreigner relating to the Anglo-Saxon race -the history of their Reformation is at a certain disadvantage; and -although the author would rather have referred his readers to works, -whether of old or recent date, by native writers, all of them more -competent for the task than himself, he did not think it becoming him -to shrink from the undertaking. - -At no period is it possible to omit the history of the Reformation in -England from a general history of the Reformation of the Sixteenth -Century; at the present crisis it is less possible than ever. - -In the first place, the English Reformation has been, and still is, -calumniated by writers of different parties, who look upon it as -nothing more than an external political transformation, and who thus -ignore its spiritual nature. History has taught the author that it was -essentially a religious transformation, and that we must seek for it -in men of faith, and not, as is usually done, solely in the caprices -of the prince, the ambition of the nobility, and the servility of the -prelates. A faithful recital of this great renovation will perhaps -show us that beyond and without the measures of Henry VIII there was -something--everything, so to speak--for therein was the essence of the -Reformation, that which makes it a divine and imperishable work. - -A second motive forced the author to acknowledge the necessity of a -true History of the English Reformation. An active party in the -Episcopalian Church is reviving with zeal, perseverance, and talent, -the principles of Roman-catholicism, and striving to impose them on -the Reformed Church of England, and incessantly attacking the -foundations of evangelical Christianity. A number of young men in the -universities, seduced by that deceitful _mirage_ which some of their -teachers have placed before their eyes, are launching out into -clerical and superstitious theories, and running the risk of falling, -sooner or later, as so many have done already, into the ever-yawning -gulf of Popery. We must therefore call to mind the reforming -principles which were proclaimed from the very commencement of this -great transformation. - -The new position which the Romish court is taking in England, and its -insolent aggressions, are a third consideration which seems to -demonstrate to us the present importance of this history. It is good -to call to mind that the primitive Christianity of Great Britain -perseveringly repelled the invasion of the popedom, and that after the -definitive victory of this foreign power, the noblest voices among -kings, lords, priests, and people, boldly protested against it. It is -good to show that, while the word of God recovered its inalienable -rights in Britain in the sixteenth century, the popedom, agitated by -wholly political interests, broke of itself the chain with which it -had so long bound England.--We shall see in this volume the English -government fortifying itself, for instance under Edward III, against -the invasions of Rome. It has been pretended in our days, and by -others besides ultra-montanists, that the papacy is a purely spiritual -power, and ought to be opposed by spiritual arms only. If the first -part of this argument were true, no one would be readier than -ourselves to adopt the conclusion. God forbid that any protestant -state should ever refuse the completest liberty to the Roman-catholic -doctrines. We certainly wish for reciprocity; we desire that -ultra-montanism should no longer throw into prison the humble -believers who seek consolation for themselves, and for their friends, -in Holy Scripture. But though a deplorable fanaticism should still -continue to imitate in the nineteenth century the mournful tragedies -of the Middle Ages, we should persist in demanding the fullest -liberty, not only of conscience, but of worship, for Roman-catholics -in protestant states. We should ask it in the name of justice, whose -immutable laws the injustice of our adversaries can never make us -forget; we should ask it on behalf of the final triumph of truth; for -if our demands proved unavailing, perhaps with God's help it might be -otherwise with our example. When two worlds meet face to face, in one -of which light abounds, and in the other darkness, it is the darkness -that should disappear before the light, and not the light fly from -before the darkness. We might go even farther than this: far from -constraining the English catholics in anything, we would rather desire -to help them to be freer than they are, and to aid them in recovering -the rights of which the Roman bishops robbed them in times posterior -to the establishment of the papacy; for instance, the election of -bishops and pastors, which belongs to the clergy and the people. -Indeed, Cyprian, writing to a bishop of Rome (Cornelius), demanded -three elements to secure the legitimacy of episcopal election: "The -call of God, the voice of the people, and the consent of the -co-bishops."[1] And the council of Rome, in 1080, said: "Let the -clergy and the _people_, with the consent of the apostolic see or of -their _metropolitan_, elect their bishop."[2] In our days,--days -distinguished by great liberty,--shall the church be less free than it -was in the Middle Ages? - - [1] Divinum judicium, populi suffragium, co-episcoporum consensus. - Epist. 55. - - [2] Clerus et populus, apostolicæ sedis, vel metropolitani sui - consensu, pastorem sibi eligat. Mansi, xx, p. 533. - -But if we do not fear to claim for Roman-catholics the rights of the -church of the first ages, and a greater liberty than what they now -possess, even in the very seat of the popedom, are we therefore to -say that the state, whether under Edward III or in later times, should -oppose no barrier against Romish aggressions? If it is the very life -and soul of popery to pass beyond the boundaries of religion, and -enter into the domain of policy, why should it be thought strange for -the state to defend itself, when attacked upon its own ground? Can the -state have no need of precautions against a power which has pretended -to be paramount over England, which gave its crown to a French -monarch, which obtained an oath of vassalage from an English king, and -which lays down as its first dogma its infallibility and immutability? - -And it was not only under Edward III and throughout the Middle Ages -that Rome encroached on royalty; it has happened in modern times also. -M. Mignet has recently brought to light some remarkable facts. On the -28th of June 1570, a letter from Saint Pius V was presented to the -catholic king Philip II by an agent just arrived from Rome. "Our dear -son, Robert Ridolfi," says the writer, "will explain (God willing) to -your majesty certain matters which concern not a little the honour of -Almighty God.... We conjure your majesty to take into your serious -consideration the matter which he will lay before you, and to furnish -him with all the means your majesty may judge most proper for its -execution." The pope's "dear son," accordingly, explained to the duke -of Feria, who was commissioned by Philip to receive his communication, -"that it was proposed to kill Queen Elizabeth; that the attempt would -not be made in London, because it was the seat of heresy, but during -one of her journeys; and that a certain James G---- would undertake -it." The same day the council met and deliberated on Elizabeth's -assassination. Philip declared his willingness to undertake the foul -deed recommended by his holiness; but as it would be an expensive -business, his minister hinted to the nuncio that the pope ought to -furnish the money. This horrible but instructive recital will be found -with all its details in the _Histoire de Marie Stuart_, by M. Mignet, -vol. ii, p. 159, etc. It is true that these things took place in the -sixteenth century; but the Romish church has canonized the priestly -murderer,--an honour conferred on a very small number of popes,--and -the canonization took place in the eighteenth century.[3] This is no -very distant date. - - [3] Acta canonisationis S. Pil. V. Romæ, 1720, folio. - -And these theories, so calculated to trouble nations, are still to be -met with in the nineteenth century. At this very moment there are -writers asserting principles under cover of which the pope may -interfere in affairs of state. The kings of Europe, terrified by the -deplorable outbreaks of 1848, appear almost everywhere ready to -support the court of Rome by arms; and ultra-montanism is taking -advantage of this to proclaim once more, "that the popedom is above -the monarchy; that it is the duty of the inferior (the king) to obey -the superior; that it is the duty of the superior (the pope) to depose -the sovereigns who abuse their power, and to condemn the subjects who -resist it; and, finally, that this public law of Christian Europe, -abolished by the ambition of sovereigns or the insubordination of -peoples, should be revived." Such are the theories now professed not -only by priests but by influential laymen.[4] To this opinion belong, -at the present hour, all the zeal and enthusiasm of Romanism, and this -alone we are bound to acknowledge is consistent with the principles of -popery. And accordingly it is to be feared that this party will -triumph, unless we oppose it with the united forces of the human -understanding, of religious and political liberty, and above all of -the word of God. The most distinguished organ of public opinion in -France, alarmed by the progress of these ultramontane doctrines, said -not long ago of this party: "In its eyes there exists but one real -authority in the world, that of the pope. All questions, not only -religious but moral and political, are amenable to one tribunal, -supreme and infallible, the pope's. The pope has the right to absolve -subjects of their oath of fidelity; subjects have the right to take up -arms against their prince when he rebels against the decisions of the -holy see. This is the social and political theory of the Middle -Ages."[5] - - [4] See in particular _Le Catholicisme_, _le Liberalisme_, _et le - Socialisme_, and other writings of Donoso Cortes, marquis of - Valdegamas, one of the most distinguished members of the - constitutional party in Spain. - - [5] Journal des Debats, 18th January 1853. - -Since the popedom asserts claims both spiritual and temporal, the -church and the state ought to resist it, each in his own sphere, and -with its peculiar arms: the church (by which I mean the believers), -solely with Holy Scripture; the state with such institutions as are -calculated to secure its independence. What! the church is bound to -defend what belongs to the church, and the state is not to defend what -belongs to the state? If a band of robbers should endeavour to plunder -two houses, would it be just and charitable for one neighbour to say -to the other, "I must defend my house, but you must let yours be -stripped?" If the pope desires to have the immaculate conception of -the Virgin, or any other religious doctrine, preached, let the fullest -liberty be granted him, and let him build as many churches as he -pleases for that purpose: we claim this in the plainest language. But -if the pope, like Saint Pius, desires to kill the queen of England, or -at least (for no pope in our days, were he even Saint enough to be -canonized, would conceive such an idea), if the pope desires to -infringe in any way on the rights of the state, then let the state -resist him with tried wisdom and unshaken firmness. Let us beware of -an ultra-spiritualism which forgets the lessons of history, and -overlooks the rights of kings and peoples. When it is found among -theologians, it is an error; in statesmen, it is a danger. - -Finally, and this consideration revives our hopes, there is a fourth -motive which gives at this time a particular importance to the history -we are about to relate. The Reformation is now entering upon a new -phasis. The movement of the sixteenth century had died away during the -seventeenth and eighteenth, and it was often to churches which had -lost every spark of life that the historian had then to recount the -narrative of this great revival. This is the case no longer. After -three centuries, a new and a greater movement is succeeding that which -we describe in these volumes. The principles of the religious -regeneration, which God accomplished three hundred years ago, are now -carried to the end of the world with the greatest energy. The task of -the sixteenth century lives again in the nineteenth, but more -emancipated from the temporal power, more spiritual, more general; and -it is the Anglo-Saxon race that God chiefly employs for the -accomplishment of this universal work. The English Reformation -acquires therefore, in our days, a special importance. If the -Reformation of Germany was the foundation of the building, that of -England was its crowning stone. - -The work begun in the age of the apostles, and renewed in the times of -the reformers, should be resumed in our days with a holy enthusiasm; -and the work is very simple and very beautiful, for it consists in -establishing the throne of Jesus Christ in the church and on earth. - -Evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church either -human reason or religious conscientiousness, as some would have it; -but it sets thereon Jesus Christ, who is both the knowledge taught and -the doctor who teaches it; who explains his word by the word, and by -the light of his Holy Spirit; who by it bears witness to the truth, -that is to say, to his redemption, and teaches the essential laws -which should regulate the inner life of his disciples. Evangelical -faith appeals to the understanding, to the heart, and to the will of -every Christian, only to impose on them the duty to submit to the -divine authority of Christ, to listen, believe, love, comprehend, and -act, as God requires. - -Evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church the civil -power, or the secular magistrate; but it sets thereon Jesus Christ, -who has said, _I am King_; who imparts to his subjects the principle -of life; who establishes his kingdom here on earth, and preserves and -develops it; and who, directing all mortal events, is now making the -progressive conquest of the world, until he shall exercise in person -his divine authority in the kingdom of his glory. - -Finally, evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church -priests, councils, doctors, or their traditions,--or that vice-God -(_veri Dei vicem gerit in terris_, as the Romish gloss has it), that -_infallible_ pontiff, who, reviving the errors of the pagans, ascribes -salvation to the forms of worship and to the meritorious works of men. -It sets thereon Jesus Christ, the great high-priest of his people, the -God-man, who, by an act of his free love, bore in our stead, in his -atoning sacrifice, the penalty of sin;--who has taken away the curse -from our heads, and thus become the creator of a new race. - -Such is the essential work of that Christianity which the apostolic -age transmitted to the reformers, and which it now transmits to the -Christians of the nineteenth century. - -While the thoughts of great numbers are led astray in the midst of -ceremonies, priests, human lucubrations, pontifical fables, and -philosophic reveries, and are driven to and fro in the dust of this -world, evangelical faith rises even to heaven, and falls prostrate -before Him who sitteth on the throne. - -The Reformation is Jesus Christ. - -"Lord, to whom shall we go, if not unto thee?" Let others follow the -devices of their imaginations, or prostrate themselves before -traditional superstitions, or kiss the feet of a sinful man.... O, -King of glory, we desire but Thee alone! - - EAUX-VIVES, GENEVA, _March 1853_. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - BOOK XVII. - - ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Introduction--Work of the Sixteenth Century--Unity and Diversity-- - Necessity of considering the entire Religious History of England-- - Establishment of Christianity in Great Britain--Formation of - Ecclesiastical Catholicism in the Roman Empire--Spiritual Christianity - received by Britain--Slavery and Conversion of Succat--His mission to - Ireland--Anglo-Saxons re-establish Paganism in England--Columba at - Iona--Evangelical Teaching--Presbytery and Episcopacy in Great - Britain--Continental Missions of the Britons--An Omission, page 21 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Pope Gregory the Great--Desires to reduce Britain--Policy of Gregory - and Augustine--Arrival of the Mission--Appreciation--Britain superior - to Rome--Dionoth at Bangor--First and Second Romish Aggressions--Anguish - of the Britons--Pride of Rome--Rome has recourse to the - Sword--Massacre--Saint Peter scourges an Archbishop--Oswald--His - Victory--Corman--Mission of Oswald and Aidan--Death of Oswald, page 33 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Character of Oswy--Death of Aidan--Wilfrid at Rome--At Oswald's - Court--Finan and Colman--Independence of the Church attacked--Oswy's - Conquests and Troubles--_Synodus Pharensis_--Cedda--Degeneration--The - Disputation--Peter, the Gatekeeper--Triumph of Rome--Grief of the - Britons--Popedom organized in England--Papal Exultation--Archbishop - Theodore--Cedda re-ordained--Discord in the Church--Disgrace and - Treachery of Wilfrid--His end--Scotland attacked--Adamnan--Iona - resists--A King converted by Architects--The Monk Egbert at - Iona--His History--Monkish Visions--Fall of Iona, page 43 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Clement--Struggle between a Scotchman and an Englishman--Word - of God only--Clement's Success--His condemnation--Virgil and the - Antipodes--John Scotus and Philosophical Religion--Alfred and - the Bible--Darkness and Popery--William the Conqueror--Wulston - at Edward's Tomb--Struggle between William and Hildebrand--The - Pope yields--Cæsaropapia, page 58 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Anselm's Firmness--Becket's Austerity--The king scourged--John becomes - the Pope's Vassal--Collision between Popery and Liberty--The - Vassal King ravages his kingdom--Religion of the Senses and - Superstition, page 66 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Reaction--Grostete--Principles of Reform--Contest with the Pope-- - Sewal--Progress of the Nation--Opposition to the Papacy--Conversion - of Bradwardine--Grace is Supreme--Edward III--Statutes of - _Provisors_ and _Præmunire_, page 72 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Mendicant Friars--Their Disorders and Popular Indignation-- - Wickliffe--His Success--Speeches of the Peers against the Papal - Tribute--Agreement of Bruges--Courtenay and Lancaster--Wickliffe - before the Convocation--Altercation between Lancaster and - Courtenay--Riot--Three Briefs against Wickliffe--Wickliffe at - Lambeth--Mission of the _Poor Priests_--Their Preachings and - Persecutions--Wickliffe and the Four Regents, page 77 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Bible--Wickliffe's Translation--Effects of its Publication-- - Opposition of the Clergy--Wickliffe's Fourth - Phasis--Transubstantiation--Excommunication--Wickliffe's Firmness-- - Wat Tyler--The Synod--The condemned Propositions--Wickliffe's - Petition--Wickliffe before the Primate at Oxford--Wickliffe summoned - to Rome--His answer--The Trialogue--His Death--And Character--His - Teaching--His Ecclesiastical Views--A Prophecy, page 86 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - The Wickliffites--Call for Reform--Richard II--The first Martyr-- - Lord Cobham--Appears before Henry V--Before the Archbishop--His - Confession and Death--The Lollards, page 97 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Learning at Florence--The Tudors--Erasmus visits England--Sir - Thomas More--Dean Colet--Erasmus and young Henry--Prince - Arthur and Catherine--Marriage and Death--Catherine betrothed - to Henry--Accession of Henry VIII--Enthusiasm of the Learned-- - Erasmus recalled to England--Cromwell before the Pope--Catherine - proposed to Henry--Their Marriage and Court--Tournaments--Henry's - Danger, page 106 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - The Pope excites to War--Colet's Sermon at St. Paul's--The Flemish - Campaign--Marriage of Louis XII and Princess Mary--Letter from - Anne Boleyn--Marriage of Brandon and Mary--Oxford--Sir Thomas - More at Court--Attack upon the Monasteries--Colet's Household--He - preaches Reform--The Greeks and Trojans, page 114 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Wolsey--His first Commission--His complaisance and Dioceses--Cardinal, - Chancellor, and Legate--Ostentation and Necromancy--His Spies and - Enmity--Pretensions of the clergy, page 122 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - The Wolves--Richard Hun--A Murder--Verdict of the Jury--Hun - condemned, and his Character vindicated--The Gravesend Passage-boat-- - A festival disturbed--Brown tortured--Visit from his Wife--A - Martyr--Character of Erasmus--1516 and 1517--Erasmus goes to - Basle, page 126 - - - BOOK XVIII. - - THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Four reforming Powers--Which reformed England?--Papal Reform?-- - Episcopal Reform?--Royal Reform?--What is required in a legitimate - Reform--The Share of the Kingly Power--Share of the Episcopal - Authority--High and Low Church--Political Events--The Greek and - Latin New Testament--Thoughts of Erasmus--Enthusiasm and anger-- - Desire of Erasmus--Clamours of the Priests--Their Attack at Court-- - Astonishment of Erasmus--His Labours for this Work--Edward - Lee; his Character--Lee's _Tragedy_--Conspiracy, page 134 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Effects of the New Testament in the Universities--Conversations--A - Cambridge Fellow--Bilney buys the New Testament--The first Passage-- - His Conversion--Protestantism, the Fruit of the Gospel--The - Vale of the Severn--William Tyndale--Evangelization at Oxford-- - Bilney teaches at Cambridge--Fryth--Is Conversion Possible?--True - Consecration--The Reformation has begun, page 144 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Alarm of the Clergy--The Two Days--Thomas Man's Preaching--True - real Presence--Persecutions at Coventry--Standish preaches at St. - Paul's--His Petition to the King and Queen--His Arguments and - Defeat--Wolsey's Ambition--First Overtures--Henry and Francis - Candidates for the Empire--Conference between Francis I and Sir - T. Boleyn--The Tiara promised to Wolsey--The cardinal's Intrigues - with Charles and Francis, page 151 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Tyndale--Sodbury Hall--Sir John and Lady Walsh--Table-Talk--The - Holy Scriptures--The Images--The Anchor of Faith--A Roman - Camp--Preaching of Faith and Works--Tyndale accused by the - Priests--They tear up what he has planted--Tyndale resolves to - translate the Bible--His first triumph--The Priests in the - taverns--Tyndale summoned before the Chancellor of Worcester-- - Consoled by an aged Doctor--Attacked by a schoolman--His Secret - becomes known--He leaves Sodbury Hall, page 158 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Luther's Works in England--Consultation of the Bishops--The Bull of - Leo X published in England--Luther's books burnt--Letter of - Henry VIII--He undertakes to write against Luther--Cry of Alarm-- - Tradition and Sacramentalism--Prudence of Sir T. More--The - Book presented to the Pope--_Defender of the Faith_--Exultation of - the king, page 166 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Wolsey's Machinations to obtain the Tiara--He gains Charles V--Alliance - between Henry and Charles--Wolsey offers to command the Troops--Treaty - of Bruges--Henry believes himself King of France--Victories - of Francis I--Death of Leo X, page 173 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Just Men of Lincolnshire--Their Assemblies and Teaching--Agnes - and Morden--Itinerant Libraries--Polemical Conversations--Sarcasm-- - Royal Decree and Terror--Depositions and Condemnations--Four - Martyrs--A Conclave--Charles consoles Wolsey, page 177 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Character of Tyndale--He arrives in London--He preaches--The Cloth - and the Ell--The bishop of London gives Audience to Tyndale--He - is dismissed--A Christian Merchant of London--Spirit of Love in - the Reformation--Tyndale in Monmouth's House--Fryth helps him - to translate the New Testament--Importunities of the Bishop of - Lincoln--Persecution in London--Tyndale's Resolution--He - departs--His Indignation against the Prelates--His Hopes, page 182 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Bilney at Cambridge--Conversions--The University Cross-Bearer--A - Leicestershire Farmer--A Party of Students--Superstitious - Practices--An obstinate Papist--The Sophists--Latimer attacks - Stafford--Bilney's Resolution--Latimer hears Bilney's Confession-- - Confessor converted--New Life in Latimer--Bilney preaches - Grace--Nature of the Ministry--Latimer's Character and Teaching-- - Works of Charity--Three Classes of Adversaries--Clark and - Dalaber, page 190 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Wolsey seeks the Tiara--Clement VII is elected--Wolsey's dissimulation-- - Charles offers France to Henry--Pace's Mission on this Subject--Wolsey - reforms the Convents--His secret Alliances--Treaty between France - and England--Taxation and Insurrection--False Charges against the - Reformers--Latimer's Defence--Tenterden Steeple, page 201 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Tyndale at Hamburg--First two Gospels--Embarrassment--Tyndale - at Wittemberg--At Cologne--The New Testament at Press--Sudden - Interruption--Cochlæus at Cologne--Rupert's Manuscripts--Discovery - of Cochlæus--His Inquiries--His alarm--Rincke and the - Senate's Prohibition--Consternation and Decision of Tyndale--Cochlæus - writes to England--Tyndale ascends the Rhine--Prints - two Editions at Worms--Tyndale's Prayer, page 207 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Worms and Cambridge--St. Paul resuscitated--Latimer's Preaching-- - Never Man spake like this Man--Joy and Vexation at Cambridge-- - Sermon by Prior Buckingham--Irony--Latimer's Reply to Buckingham-- - The Students threatened--Latimer preaches before the Bishop--He - is forbidden to preach--The most zealous of Bishops--Barnes - the Restorer of Letters--Bilney undertakes to convert him--Barnes - offers his pulpit to Latimer--Fryth's Thirst for God--Christmas - Eve, 1525--Storm against Barnes--Ferment in the Colleges--Germany - at Cambridge--Meetings at Oxford--General Expectation, page 215 - - - BOOK XIX. - - THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT AND THE COURT OF ROME. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Church and State essentially distinct--Their fundamental Principles-- - What restores Life to the Church--Separation from Rome necessary-- - Reform and Liberty--The New Testament crosses the sea--Is - hidden in London--Garret's Preaching and Zeal--Dissemination of - Scripture--What the People find in it--The Effects it produces-- - Tyndale's Explanations--Roper, More's son-in-law--Garret carries - Tyndale's Testament to Oxford--Henry and his Valet--The - Supplication of the Beggars--Two Sorts of Beggars--Evils caused - by Priests--More's Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory, page 228 - - - CHAPTER II. - - The two Authorities--Commencement of the Search--Garret at Oxford-- - His Flight--His return and Imprisonment--Escapes and takes Refuge - with Dalaber--Garret and Dalaber at Prayer--The _Magnificat_-- - Surprise among the Doctors--Clark's Advice--Fraternal Love at - Oxford--Alarm of Dalaber--His Arrest and Examination--He is - tortured--Garret and twenty Fellows imprisoned--The Cellar-- - Condemnation and Humiliation, page 238 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Persecution at Cambridge--Barnes arrested--A grand Search--Barnes - at Wolsey's Palace--Interrogated by the Cardinal--Conversation - between Wolsey and Barnes--Barnes threatened with the Stake--His - Fall and public Penance--Richard Bayfield--His Faith and - Imprisonment--Visits Cambridge--Joins Tyndale--The Confessors - in the Cellar at Oxford--Four of them die--The rest liberated, page 246 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Luther's Letter to the King--Henry's Anger--His Reply--Luther's - Resolution--Persecutions--Barnes escapes--Proclamations against - the New Testament--W. Roy to Caiaphas--Third Edition of the New - Testament--The Triumph of Law and Liberty--Hacket attacks the - Printer--Hacket's Complaints--A seizure--The Year 1526 in - England, page 255 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Wolsey desires to be revenged--The Divorce suggested--Henry's - Sentiments towards the Queen--Wolsey's first Steps--Longland's - Proceedings--Refusal of Margaret of Valois--Objection of the - Bishop of Tarbes--Henry's uneasiness--Catherine's Alarm--Mission - to Spain, page 261 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Anne Boleyn appointed Maid of Honour to Catherine--Lord Percy - becomes attached to her--Wolsey separates them--Anne Enters - Margaret's Household--Siege of Rome; Cromwell--Wolsey's - Intercession for the Popedom--He demands the Hand of Renée of - France for Henry--Failure--Anne re-appears at Court--Repels the - king's Advances--Henry's Letter--He resolves to accelerate the - Divorce--Two Motives which induce Anne to refuse the Crown-- - Wolsey's Opposition, page 267 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Bilney's Preaching--His arrest--Arthur's Preaching and Imprisonment-- - Bilney's Examination--Contest between the Judge and the Prisoner-- - Bilney's weakness and Fall--His Terrors--Two Wants--Arrival - of the Fourth Edition of the New Testament--Joy among the - Believers, page 275 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Papacy intercepts the Gospel--The King consults Sir Thomas - More--Ecclesiastical Conferences about the divorce--The Universities-- - Clark--The Nun of Kent--Wolsey decides to do the king's - Will--Mission to the Pope--Four Documents--Embarrassment of - Charles V--Francis Philip at Madrid--Distress and Resolution of - Charles--He turns away from the Reformation--Conference at the - Castle of St. Angelo--Knight arrives in Italy--His Flight--Treaty - between the Pope and the Emperor--Escape of the Pope--Confusion - of Henry VIII--Wolsey's orders--His Entreaties, page 281 - - CHAPTER IX. - - The English Envoys at Orvieto--Their oration to the Pope--Clement - gains Time--The Envoys and Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor--Stratagem - of the Pope--Knight discovers it and returns--The Transformations - of Antichrist--The English obtain a new Document--Fresh - Stratagem--Demand of a second Cardinal-legate--The Pope's - new Expedient--End of the Campaign, page 289 - - CHAPTER X. - - Disappointment in England--War declared against Charles V--Wolsey - desires to get him deposed by the Pope--A new Scheme--Embassy - of Fox and Gardiner--Their Arrival at Orvieto--Their - first interview with Clement--The Pope reads a treatise by Henry-- - Gardiner's Threats and Clement's Promise--The Modern Fabius--Fresh - Interview and Menaces--The pope has not _the key_--Gardiner's - Proposition--Difficulties and delays of the Cardinals--Gardiner's - last Blows--Reverses of Charles V in Italy--The Pope's - Terror and Concession--The _Commission_ granted--Wolsey demands - the _Engagement_--A Loophole--The Pope's Distress, page 297 - - CHAPTER XI. - - Fox's Report to Henry and Anne--Wolsey's Impression--He demands - the Decretal--One of the Cardinal's petty Manoeuvres--He sets - his Conscience at Rest--Gardiner fails at Rome--Wolsey's new - perfidy--The King's Anger against the Pope--Sir T. More predicts - Religious Liberty--Immorality of Ultramontane Socialism--Erasmus - invited--Wolsey's last Flight--Energetic Efforts at Rome--Clement - grants all--Wolsey triumphs--Union of Rome and - England, page 307 - - - BOOK XX. - - THE TWO DIVORCES. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Progress of the Reformation--The two Divorces--Entreaties to Anne - Boleyn--The Letters in the Vatican--Henry to Anne--Henry's - Second Letter--Third--Fourth--Wolsey's Alarm--His fruitless - Proceedings--He turns--The Sweating Sickness--Henry's Fears--New - Letters to Anne--Anne falls sick; her Peace--Henry writes to her-- - Wolsey's Terror--Campeggio does not arrive--All dissemble at - Court, page 316 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Coverdale and Inspiration--He undertakes to translate the Scriptures-- - His Joy and Spiritual Songs--Tyball and the Laymen--Coverdale - preaches at Bumpstead--Revival at Colchester--Incomplete - Societies and the New Testament--Persecution--Monmouth arrested - and released, page 327 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Political Changes--Fresh Instructions from the Pope to Campeggio-- - His Delays--He unbosoms himself to Francis--A Prediction--Arrival - of Campeggio--Wolsey's Uneasiness--Henry's Satisfaction--The - Cardinal's Project--Campeggio's Reception--First Interview with - the Queen and with the King--Useless Efforts to make Campeggio part - with the Decretal--The Nuncio's Conscience--Public Opinion--Measures - taken by the King--His Speech to the Lords and Aldermen-- - Festivities--Wolsey seeks French Support--Contrariety, page 334 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - True Catholicity--Wolsey--Harman's Matter--West sent to Cologne--Labours - of Tyndale and Fryth--Rincke at Frankfort--He makes a Discovery-- - Tyndale at Marburg--West returns to England--His Tortures in the - Monastery, page 347 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Necessity of the Reformation--Wolsey's Earnestness with Da Casale--An - Audience with Clement VII--Cruel Position of the Pope--A - Judas' Kiss--A new Brief--Bryan and Vannes sent to Rome--Henry - and Du Bellay--Wolsey's Reasons against the Brief--Excitement in - London--Metamorphosis--Wolsey's Decline--His Anguish, page 353 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - The Pope's Illness--Wolsey's Desire--Conference about the Members - of the Conclave--Wolsey's Instructions--The Pope recovers--Speech - of the English Envoys to the Pope--Clement willing to abandon - England--The English demand the Pope's Denial of the Brief--Wolsey's-- - Alarm--Intrigues--Bryan's Clearsightedness--Henry's - Threats--Wolsey's new Efforts--He calls for an Appeal to Rome, - and retracts--Wolsey and Du Bellay at Richmond--The Ship of the - State, page 359 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Discussion Between the Evangelicals and the Catholics--Union of - Learning and Life--The Laity--Tewkesbury--His Appearance before - the Bishop's Court--He is tortured--Two Classes of Opponents--A - Theological Duel--Scripture and the Church--Emancipation of the - Mind--Mission to the Low Countries--Tyndale's Embarrassment--Tonstall - wishes to buy the Books--Packington's Stratagem--Tyndale - departs for Antwerp--His Shipwreck--Arrival at Hamburg--Meets - Coverdale, page 366 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Royal Session--Sitting of the 18th June; the Queen's Protest--Sitting - of the 21st June--Summons to the King and Queen--Catherine's - Speech--She retires--Impression on the Audience--The King's - Declaration--Wolsey's Protest--Quarrel between the Bishops--New - Sitting--Apparition to the Maid of Kent--Wolsey chafed by - Henry--The Earl of Wiltshire at Wolsey's--Private Conference between - Catherine and the two Legates, page 375 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - The Trial resumed--Catherine summoned--Twelve Articles--The - Witnesses' Evidence--Arthur and Catherine really married--Campeggio - opposes the Argument of Divine Right--Other Arguments--The - Legates required to deliver Judgment--Their Tergiversations--Change - in Men's Minds--Final Session--General Expectation--Adjournment - during Harvest--Campeggio excuses this Impertinence--The - King's Indignation--Suffolk's Violence--Wolsey's Reply--He - is ruined--General Accusations--The Cardinal turns to an - Episcopal Life, page 384 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Anne Boleyn at Hever--She Reads the Obedience of a Christian Man--Is - recalled to Court--Miss Gainsford and George Zouch--Tyndale's - Book converts Zouch--Zouch in the Chapel-Royal--The Book seized--Anne - applies to Henry--The King reads the Book--Pretended Influence of the - Book on Henry--The Court at Woodstock--The Park and its Goblins-- - Henry's Esteem for Anne, page 390 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Embarrassment of the pope--The Triumphs of Charles decide him--He - traverses the Cause to Rome--Wolsey's Dejection--Henry's - Wrath--His Fears--Wolsey obtains Comfort--Arrival of the two - Legates at Grafton--Wolsey's reception by Henry--Wolsey and - Norfolk at Dinner--Henry with Anne--Conference between the - King and the Cardinal--Wolsey's Joy and Grief--The Supper at - Euston--Campeggio's Farewell Audience--Wolsey's Disgrace--Campeggio - at Dover--He is accused by the courtiers--Leaves - England--Wolsey foresees his own Fall and that of the - Papacy, page 397 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - A Meeting at Waltham--Youth of Thomas Cranmer--His early Education-- - Studies Scripture for Three Years--His functions as Examiner--The - Supper at Waltham--New View of the Divorce--Fox communicates it to - Henry--Cranmer's Vexation--Conference with the King--Cranmer at the - Boleyns, page 407 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Wolsey in the Court of Chancery--Accused by the Dukes--Refuses to - give up the Great Seal--His Despair--He gives up the Seal--Order - to depart--His Inventory--Alarm--The Scene of Departure--Favourable - Message from the King--Wolsey's Joy--His Fool--Arrival - at Esher, page 412 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Thomas More elected Chancellor--A lay Government one of the great - Facts of the Reformation--Wolsey accused of subordinating England - to the Pope--He implores the King's Clemency--His Condemnation--Cromwell - at Esher--His Character--He sets out for London--Sir Christopher - Hales recommends him to the King--Cromwell's Interview with Henry - in the Park--A new Theory--Cromwell elected Member of Parliament-- - Opened by Sir Thomas More--Attack on ecclesiastical Abuses--Reforms - pronounced by the Convocation--Three Bills--Rochester attacks - them--Resistance of the House of Commons--Struggles--Henry - sanctions the three Bills--Alarm of the Clergy and Disturbances, - page 418 - - CHAPTER XV. - - The last hour--More's Fanaticism--Debates in Convocation--Royal - Proclamation--The Bishop of Norwich--Sentences condemned--Latimer's - Opposition--The New Testament burnt--The Persecution begins--Hitton-- - Bayfield--Tonstall and Packington--Bayfield arrested--The - Rector Patmore--Lollards' Tower--Tyndale and Patmore--a - Musician--Freese the Painter--Placards and Martyrdom - of Bennet--Thomas More and John Petit--Bilney, page 426 - - CHAPTER XVI. - - Wolsey's Terror--Impeachment by the Peers--Cromwell saves him--The - Cardinal's Illness--Ambition returns to him--His Practices in - Yorkshire--He is arrested by Northumberland--His departure--Arrival - of the Constable of the Tower--Wolsey at Leicester Abbey--Persecuting - Language--He dies--Three Movements: Supremacy, - Scripture, and Faith, page 438 - - - - -HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. - - - - -BOOK XVII. - -ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Introduction--Work of the Sixteenth Century--Unity and - Diversity--Necessity of considering the entire Religious - History of England--Establishment of Christianity in Great - Britain--Formation of Ecclesiastical Catholicism in the - Roman Empire--Spiritual Christianity received by - Britain--Slavery and Conversion of Succat--His Mission to - Ireland--Anglo-Saxons re-establish Paganism in - England--Columba at Iona--Evangelical Teaching--Presbytery - and Episcopacy in Great Britain--Continental Missions of the - Britons--An Omission. - - -Those heavenly powers which had lain dormant in the Church since the -first ages of Christianity, awoke from their slumber in the sixteenth -century, and this awakening called the modern times into existence. -The Church was created anew, and from that regeneration have flowed -the great developments of literature and science, of morality, -liberty, and industry, which at present characterize the nations of -Christendom. None of these things would have existed without the -Reformation. Whenever society enters upon a new era, it requires the -baptism of faith. In the sixteenth century God gave to man this -consecration from on high by leading him back from mere outward -profession and the mechanism of works to an inward and lively faith. - -[Sidenote: UNITY AND DIVERSITY.] - -This transformation was not effected without struggles--struggles -which presented at first a remarkable unity. On the day of battle one -and the same feeling animated every bosom: after the victory they -became divided. Unity of faith indeed remained, but the difference of -nationalities brought into the Church a diversity of forms. Of this we -are about to witness a striking example. The Reformation, which had -begun its triumphal march in Germany, Switzerland, France, and several -other parts of the continent, was destined to receive new strength by -the conversion of a celebrated country, long known as the _Isle of -Saints_. This island was to add its banner to the trophy of -Protestantism, but that banner preserved its distinctive colours. When -England became reformed, a puissant individualism joined its might to -the great unity. - -If we search for the characteristics of the British Reformation, we -shall find that, beyond any other, they were social, national, and -truly human. There is no people among whom the Reformation has -produced to the same degree that morality and order, that liberty, -public spirit, and activity, which are the very essence of a nation's -greatness. Just as the papacy has degraded the Spanish peninsula, has -the Gospel exalted the British islands. Hence the study upon which we -are entering possesses an interest peculiar to itself. - -In order that this study may be useful, it should have a character of -universality. To confine the history of a people within the space of a -few years, or even of a century, would deprive that history of both -truth and life. We might indeed have traditions, chronicles, and -legends, but there would be no history. History is a wonderful -organization, no part of which can be retrenched. To understand the -present, we must know the past. Society, like man himself, has its -infancy, youth, maturity, and old age. Ancient or Pagan society, which -had spent its infancy in the East in the midst of the antihellenic -races, had its youth in the animated epoch of the Greeks, its manhood -in the stern period of Roman greatness, and its old age under the -decline of the empire. Modern society has passed through analogous -stages: at the time of the Reformation it attained that of the -full-grown man. We shall now proceed to trace the destinies of the -Church in England, from the earliest times of Christianity. These long -and distant preparations are one of the distinctive characteristics of -its reformation. - -Before the sixteenth century this Church had passed through two great -phases. - -The first was that of its formation--the second that of its -corruption. - -In its formation it was oriento-apostolical. - -In its corruption it was successively national-papistical and -royal-papistical. - -After these two degrees of decline came the last and great phasis of -the Reformation. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: GOSPEL CARRIED TO BRITAIN.] - -In the second century of the Christian era vessels were frequently -sailing to the savage shores of Britain from the ports of Asia Minor, -Greece, Alexandria, or the Greek colonies in Gaul. Among the merchants -busied in calculating the profits they could make upon the produce of -the East with which their ships were laden, would occasionally be -found a few pious men from the banks of the Meander or the Hermus, -conversing peacefully with one another about the birth, life, death, -and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and rejoicing at the prospect -of saving by these glad tidings the pagans towards whom they were -steering. It would appear that some British prisoners of war, having -learnt to know Christ during their captivity, bore also to their -fellow-countrymen the knowledge of this Saviour. It may be, too, that -some Christian soldiers, the Corneliuses of those imperial armies -whose advanced posts reached the southern parts of Scotland, desirous -of more lasting conquests, may have read to the people whom they had -subdued, the writings of Matthew, John, and Paul. It is of little -consequence to know whether one of these first converts was, according -to tradition, a prince named Lucius. It is certain that the tidings of -the Son of man, crucified and raised again, under Tiberius, spread -through these islands more rapidly than the dominion of the emperors, -and that before the end of the second century many churches worshipped -Christ beyond the walls of Adrian; in those mountains, forests, and -western isles, which for centuries past the Druids had filled with -their mysteries and their sacrifices, and on which even the Roman -eagles had never stooped.[6] These churches were formed after the -eastern type: the Britons would have refused to receive the type of -that Rome whose yoke they detested. - - [6] Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita. - (Tertullian contra Judæos, lib. vii) Parts of Britain inaccessible to - the Romans were, however, subjected to Christ. This work, from its - bearing no traces of Montanism, seems to belong to the first part of - Tertullian's life. See also Origen in Lucam, cap. i. homil. 6. - -[Sidenote: CULDEES.] - -The first thing which the British Christians received from the capital -of the empire was persecution. But Diocletian, by striking the -disciples of Jesus Christ in Britain only increased their number.[7] -Many Christians from the southern part of the island took refuge in -Scotland, where they raised their humble roofs, and under the name of -_Culdees_ prayed for the salvation of their protectors. When the -surrounding pagans saw the holiness of these men of God, they -abandoned in great numbers their sacred oaks, their mysterious -caverns, and their blood-stained altars, and obeyed the gentle voice -of the Gospel. After the death of these pious refugees, their cells -were transformed into houses of prayer.[8] In 305, Constantius Chlorus -succeeded to the throne of the Cæsars, and put an end to the -persecution. - - [7] Lactantius, de mortibus persecutorum, cap. xii. - - [8] Multi ex Brittonibus Christiani sævitiam Diocletiani timentes ad - eos coufugerant........ut vita functorum cellæ in templa - commutarentur. (Buchanan, iv. c. xxxv.) Many Christians from Britain, - fearing the cruelty of Diocletian, took refuge among the - Scots......and the cells in which their holy lives were spent, were - changed into churches. - -The Christianity which was brought to these people by merchants, -soldiers, or missionaries, although not the ecclesiastical catholicism -already creeping into life in the Roman empire, was not the primitive -evangelism of the apostles. The East and the South could only give to -the North of what they possessed. The mere human period had succeeded -to the creative and miraculous period of the church. After the -extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Ghost, which had produced the -apostolic age, the church had been left to the inward power of the -word and of the Comforter. But Christians did not generally comprehend -the spiritual life to which they were called. God had been pleased to -give them a divine religion; and this they gradually assimilated more -and more to the religions of human origin. Instead of saying, in the -spirit of the gospel, the word of God first, and through it the -doctrine and the life--the doctrine and the life, and through them the -forms; they said, forms first, and salvation by these forms. They -ascribed to bishops a power which belongs only to Holy Scripture. -Instead of ministers of the word, they desired to have priests; -instead of an inward sacrifice, a sacrifice offered on the altar; and -costly temples instead of a living church. They began to seek in men, -in ceremonies, and in holy places, what they could find only in the -Word and in the lively faith of the children of God. In this manner -evangelical religion gave place to catholicism, and by gradual -degeneration in after-years catholicism gave birth to popery. - -This grievous transformation took place more particularly in the East, -in Africa, and in Italy. Britain was at first comparatively exempt. At -the very time that the savage Picts and Scots, rushing from their -heathen homes, were devastating the country, spreading terror on all -sides, and reducing the people to slavery, we discover here and there -some humble Christian receiving salvation not by a clerical -sacramentalism, but by the work of the Holy Ghost in the heart. At the -end of the fourth century we meet with an illustrious example of such -conversions. - -[Sidenote: SUCCAT.] - -On the picturesque banks of the Clyde, not far from Glasgow, in the -Christian village of Bonavern, now Kilpatrick, a little boy, of tender -heart, lively temperament, and indefatigable activity, passed the -earlier days of his life. He was born about the year 372 A.D., of a -British family, and was named Succat.[9] His father, Calpurnius, -deacon of the church of Bonavern, a simple-hearted pious man, and his -mother, Conchessa, sister to the celebrated Martin, archbishop of -Tours,[10] and a woman superior to the majority of her sex, had -endeavoured to instil into his heart the doctrines of Christianity; -but Succat did not understand them. He was fond of pleasure, and -delighted to be the leader of his youthful companions. In the midst of -his frivolities, he committed a serious fault. - - [9] In baptismo haud Patricium sed Succat a parentibus fuisse dictum. - (Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. p. 428.) At his baptism he was named by his - parents not Patrick but Succat. - - [10] Martini Turonum archiepiscopi consanguineam. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: EVANGELICAL FAITH.] - -His parents having then quitted Scotland and settled in Armorica -(Bretagne,) a terrible calamity befell them. One day as Succat was -playing near the seashore with two of his sisters, some Irish pirates, -commanded by O'Neal, carried them all three off to their boats, and -sold them in Ireland to the petty chieftain of some pagan clan. Succat -was sent into the fields to keep swine.[11] It was while alone in -these solitary pastures, without priest and without temple, that the -young slave called to mind the Divine lessons which his pious mother -had so often read to him. The fault which he had committed pressed -heavily night and day upon his soul: he groaned in heart, and wept. He -turned repenting towards that meek Saviour of whom Conchessa had so -often spoken; he fell at His knees in that heathen land; and imagined -he felt the arms of a father uplifting the prodigal son. Succat was -then born from on high, but by an agent so spiritual, so internal, -that he knew not "Whence it cometh or whither it goeth." The Gospel -was written with the finger of God on the tablets of his heart. "I was -sixteen years old," said he, "and knew not the true God; but in that -strange land the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and, although late, -I called my sins to mind, and was converted with my whole heart to the -Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, had pity on my youth and -ignorance, and consoled me as a father consoles his children."[12] - - [11] Cujus porcorum, pastor erat. Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. p. 431. - - [12] Et ibi Dominus aperuit sensum incredulitatis meæ, ut vel sero - remorarem delicta mea, et ut converterer torto corde ad Dominum Deum - meum. Patr. Confess. Usser. 431. - -Such words as these from the lips of a swineherd in the green pastures -of Ireland set clearly before us the Christianity which in the fourth -and fifth centuries converted many souls in the British isles. In -after-years, Rome established the dominion of the priest and salvation -by forms, independently of the dispositions of the heart; but the -primitive religion of these celebrated islands was that living -Christianity whose substance is the grace of Jesus Christ, and whose -power is the grace of the Holy Ghost. The herdsman from the banks of -the Clyde was then undergoing those experiences which so many -evangelical Christians in those countries have subsequently undergone. -"The love of God increased more and more in me," said he, "with faith -and the fear of His name. The Spirit urged me to such a degree that I -poured forth as many as a hundred prayers in one day. And even during -the night, in the forests and on the mountains where I kept my flock, -the rain, and snow, and frost, and sufferings which I endured, excited -me to seek after God. At that time, I felt not the indifference which -now I feel: the Spirit fermented in my heart."[13] Evangelical faith -even then existed in the British islands in the person of this slave, -and of some few Christians born again, like him, from on high. - - [13] Ut etiam in sylvis et monte manebam, et ante lucem excitabar ad - orationem per nivem, per gelu, per pluviam...... quia tunc Spiritus in - me fervebat. Patr. Confess. Usser, 432. - -Twice a captive, and twice rescued, Succat, after returning to his -family, felt an irresistible appeal in his heart. It was his duty to -carry the Gospel to those Irish pagans among whom he had found Jesus -Christ. His parents and his friends endeavoured in vain to detain him; -the same ardent desire pursued him in his dreams. During the silent -watches of the night he fancied he heard voices calling to him from -the dark forests of Erin: "Come, holy child, and walk once more among -us." He awoke in tears, his breast filled with the keenest -emotion.[14] He tore himself from the arms of his parents, and rushed -forth--not as heretofore with his playfellows, when he would climb the -summit of some lofty hill--but with a heart full of charity in Christ. -He departed: "It was not done of my own strength," said he; "it was -God who overcame all." - - [14] Valde compunctus sum corde et sic expergefactus. (Patr. Confess. - Usser. 433.) I was vehemently pricked in my heart, and so awoke. - -[Sidenote: PATRICK'S MISSION.] - -Succat, afterwards known as Saint Patrick, and to which name, as to -that of St. Peter and other servants of God, many superstitions have -been attached, returned to Ireland, but without visiting Rome, as an -historian of the twelfth century has asserted.[15] Ever active, -prompt, and ingenious, he collected the pagan tribes in the fields by -beat of drum, and then narrated to them in their own tongue the -history of the Son of God. Erelong his simple recitals exercised a -divine power over their rude hearts, and many souls were converted, -not by external sacraments or by the worship of images, but by the -preaching of the word of God. The son of a chieftain, whom Patrick -calls Benignus, learnt from him to proclaim the Gospel, and was -destined to succeed him. The court bard, Dubrach Mac Valubair, no -longer sang druidical hymns, but canticles addressed to Jesus Christ. -Patrick was not entirely free from the errors of the time; perhaps he -believed in pious miracles; but generally speaking we meet with -nothing but the Gospel in the earlier days of the British Church. The -time no doubt will come when Ireland will again feel the power of the -Holy Ghost, which had once converted it by the ministrations of a -Scotchman. - - [15] Jocelinus, Vita in Acta Sanctorum. - -Shortly before the evangelization of Patrick in Ireland, a Briton -named Pelagius, having visited Italy, Africa, and Palestine, began to -teach a strange doctrine. Desirous of making head against the moral -indifference into which most of the Christians in those countries had -fallen, and which would appear to have been in strong contrast with -the British austerity, he denied the doctrine of original sin, -extolled free-will, and maintained that, if man made use of all the -powers of his nature, he would attain perfection. We do not find that -he taught these opinions in his own country; but from the continent, -where he disseminated them, they soon reached Britain. The British -churches refused to receive this "perverse doctrine," their historian -tells us, "and to blaspheme the grace of Jesus Christ."[16] They do -not appear to have held the strict doctrine of Saint Augustine: they -believed indeed that man has need of an inward change, and that this -the divine power alone can effect; but like the churches of Asia, from -which they had sprung, they seem to have conceded something to our -natural strength in the work of conversion; and Pelagius, with a good -intention it would appear, went still further. However that may be, -these churches, strangers to the controversy, were unacquainted with -all its subtleties. Two Gaulish bishops, Germanus and Lupus, came to -their aid, and those who had been perverted returned into the way of -truth.[17] - - [16] Verum Britanni cum neque suscipere dogma perversum, gratiam - Christi blasphemando nullatenus vellent. Beda. Hist. Angl. lib. i, - cap. xvii, et xxi. - - [17] Depravati viam correctionis agnoscerent. Beda, Hist. Angl. lib. - i. cap. xvii. et xxi. - -[Sidenote: SAXON INVASION.] - -Shortly after this, events of great importance took place in Great -Britain, and the light of faith disappeared in profound night. In 449, -Hengist and Horsa, with their Saxon followers, being invited by the -wretched inhabitants to aid them against the cruel ravages of the -Picts and Scots, soon turned their swords against the people they had -come to assist. Christianity was driven back with the Britons into the -mountains of Wales and the wild moors of Northumberland and Cornwall. -Many British families remained in the midst of the conquerors, but -without exercising any religious influence over them. While the -conquering races, settled at Paris, Ravenna, or Toledo, gradually laid -aside their paganism and savage manners, the barbarous customs of the -Saxons prevailed unmoderated throughout the kingdoms of the Heptarchy, -and in every quarter temples to Thor rose above the churches in which -Jesus Christ had been worshipped. Gaul and the south of Europe, which -still exhibited to the eyes of the barbarians the last vestiges of -Roman grandeur, alone had the power of inspiring some degree of -respect in the formidable Germans, and of transforming their faith. -From this period, the Greeks and Latins, and even the converted Goths, -looked at this island with unutterable dread. The soil, said they, is -covered with serpents; the air is thick with deadly exhalations; the -souls of the departed are transported thither at midnight from the -shores of Gaul. Ferrymen, sons of Erebus and Night, admit these -invisible shades into their boats, and listen, with a shudder, to -their mysterious whisperings. England, whence light was one day to be -shed over the habitable globe, was then the trysting-place of the -dead. And yet the Christianity of the British isles was not to be -annihilated by these barbarian invasions; it possessed a strength -which rendered it capable of energetic resistance. - -[Sidenote: COLUMBA.] - -In one of the churches formed by Succat's preaching, there arose about -two centuries after him a pious man named Columba, son of Feidlimyd, -the son of Fergus. Valuing the cross of Christ more highly than the -royal blood that flowed in his veins, he resolved to devote himself to -the King of heaven. Shall he not repay to the country of Succat what -Succat had imparted to his? "I will go," said he; "and preach -the word of God in Scotland;"[18] for the word of God and not an -ecclesiastical hierarchism was then the converting agency. The -grandson of Fergus communicated the zeal which animated him to the -hearts of several fellow-christians. They repaired to the seashore, -and cutting down the pliant branches of the osier, constructed a frail -bark, which they covered with the skins of beasts. In this rude boat -they embarked in the year 565, and after being driven to and fro on -the ocean, the little missionary band reached the waters of the -Hebrides. Columba landed near the barren rocks of Mull, to the south -of the basaltic caverns of Staffa, and fixed his abode in a small -island, afterwards known as Iona or Icolmkill, "the island of -Columba's cell." Some Christian Culdees, driven out by the dissensions -of the Picts and Scots, had already found a refuge in the same retired -spot. Here the missionaries erected a chapel, whose walls, it is said, -still exist among the stately ruins of a later age.[19] Some authors -have placed Columba in the first rank after the apostles.[20] True, we -do not find in him the faith of a Paul or a John; but he lived as in -the sight of God; he mortified the flesh, and slept on the ground with -a stone for his pillow. Amid this solemn scenery, and among customs so -rude, the form of the missionary, illumined by a light from heaven, -shone with love, and manifested the joy and serenity of his heart.[21] -Although subject to the same passions as ourselves, he wrestled -against his weakness, and would not have one moment lost for the glory -of God. He prayed and read, he wrote and taught, he preached and -redeemed the time. With indefatigable activity he went from house to -house, and from kingdom to kingdom. The king of the Picts was -converted, as were also many of his people; precious manuscripts were -conveyed to Iona; a school of theology was founded there, in which the -word was studied; and many received through faith the salvation which -is in Christ Jesus. Erelong a missionary spirit breathed over this -ocean rock, so justly named "the light of the western world." - - [18] Prædicaturus verbum Dei. Usser. Antiq p. 359. - - [19] I visited Iona in 1845 with Dr. Patrick M'Farlan, and saw these - ruins. One portion of the building seems to be of primitive - architecture. - - [20] Nulli post apostolos secundus. (Notker.) Second to none after the - apostles. - - [21] - - Qui de prosapia regali claruit, - Sed morum gratia magis emicuit. - Usser. Antiq. p. 360. - - He was distinguished by his royal descent, but his character rendered - him still more illustrious. - -[Sidenote: HIS TEACHING.] - -The Judaical sacerdotalism which was beginning to extend in the -Christian Church found no support in Iona. They had forms, but not to -them did they look for life. It was the Holy Ghost, Columba -maintained, that made a servant of God. When the youth of Caledonia -assembled around the elders on these savage shores, or in their humble -chapel, these ministers of the Lord would say to them: "The Holy -Scriptures are the only rule of faith.[22] Throw aside all merit of -works, and look for salvation to the grace of God alone.[23] Beware of -a religion which consists of outward observances: it is better to keep -your heart pure before God than to abstain from meats.[24] One alone -is your head, Jesus Christ. Bishops and presbyters are equal;[25] they -should be the husbands of one wife, and have their children in -subjection."[26] - - [22] Prolatis Sanctæ Scripturæ testimoniis. (Adomn. 1. i. c. 22.) The - testimony of the Holy Scriptures being exhibited. - - [23] Bishop Munter, Altbritische Kirche. Stud. und Krit. vi. 745. - - [24] Meliores sunt ergo qui non magno opere jejunant, cor intrinsecus - nitidum coram Deo sollicite servantes. (Gildas in ejusd. Synod. - Append.) Those are better who, though not fasting very particularly, - keep diligently before God a heart pure within. - - [25] In Hibernia episcopi et presbyteri unum sunt. (Ekkehardi liber. - Arx. Geschichte von S. Gall. i. 267.) In Ireland bishops and - presbyters are equal. - - [26] Patrem habui Calpornium diaconum filium quondam Potiti - Presbyteri. Patricii Confessio. Even as late as the twelfth century we - meet with married Irish bishops. (Bernard, Vita Malachiæ, cap. x.) My - father was Calpurnius son of Potitus once a presbyter. - -The sages of Iona knew nothing of transubstantiation or of the -withdrawal of the cup in the Lord's Supper, or of auricular -confession, or of prayers to the dead, or tapers, or incense; they -celebrated Easter on a different day from Rome;[27] synodal assemblies -regulated the affairs of the church, and the papal supremacy was -unknown.[28] The sun of the Gospel shone upon these wild and distant -shores. In after-years, it was the privilege of Great Britain to -recover with a purer lustre the same sun and the same Gospel. - - [27] In die quidem dominica alia tamen quam dicebat hebdomade - celebrabant. Beda, lib. iii. cap. iv. - - [28] Augustinus novam religionem docet.....dum ad unius episcopi - romani dominatum omnia revocat. (Buchan. lib. v. cap. xxxvi.) - Augustine teaches a _new_ religion ... when he reduces all under the - dominion of the bishop of Rome alone. - -Iona, governed by a simple elder,[29] had become a missionary college. -It has been sometimes called a monastery, but the dwelling of the -grandson of Fergus in nowise resembled the popish convents. When its -youthful inmates desired to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they -thought not of going elsewhere in quest of episcopal ordination. -Kneeling in the chapel of Icolmkill, they were set apart by the laying -on of the hands of the elders: they were called _bishops_, but -remained obedient to the _elder_ or presbyter of Iona. They even -consecrated other bishops: thus Finan laid hands upon Diuma, bishop of -Middlesex. These British Christians attached great importance to the -ministry; but not to one form in preference to another. Presbytery and -episcopacy were with them, as with the primitive church, almost -identical.[30] Somewhat later we find that neither the venerable Bede, -nor Lanfranc, nor Anselm--the two last were archbishops of -Canterbury--made any objection to the ordination of British bishops by -plain presbyters.[31] The religious and moral element that belongs to -Christianity still predominated; the sacerdotal element, which -characterizes human religions, whether among the Brahmins or -elsewhere, was beginning to show itself, but in great Britain at least -it held a very subordinate station. Christianity was still a religion -and not a caste. They did not require of the servant of God, as a -warrant of his capacity, a long list of names succeeding one another -like the beads of a rosary; they entertained serious, noble, and holy -ideas of the ministry; its authority proceeded wholly from Jesus -Christ its head. - - [29] Habere autem solet ipsa insula rectorem semper abbatem - _presbyterum_ cujus juri et omnis provincia et _ipsi etiam episcopi_, - ordine inusitato, debeant esse subjecti, juxta exemplum primi doctoris - illius qui non episcopus sed _presbyter_ exstitit et monachus. (Beda, - Hist. Eccl. iii. cap. iv.) Moreover it was always the custom to have - as governor in that island an abbot who is a presbyter, to whose - direction the entire province and also the bishops contrary to the - usual method are subject, according to the example of their first - teacher, who was not a bishop, but a presbyter and monk. - - [30] Idem est ergo presbyter qui episcopus, et antequam diaboli - instinctu studia in religione fierent. ... communi presbyterorum - concilio Ecclesiæ gubernabantur. Indifferenter de episcopo quasi de - presbytero est loquntus (Paulus) .... sciant episcopi se, magis - consuetudine quam dispositionis dominicæ veritate, presbyteris esse - majores. (Hieronymus ad Titum, i. 5.) A presbyter accordingly is the - same as a bishop, and before that by a suggestion of the devil, party - strife entered into religion..... the churches were governed by a - common council of presbyters. Paul spake without any distinction - between bishops and presbyters..... the bishops know that it is to - custom rather than to any actual direction of the Lord that they owe - their superiority to presbyters. - - [31] Bishop Munter makes this remark in his dissertation _On the - Ancient British Church_, about the primitive identity of bishops and - priests, and episcopal consecration. _Stud. und Krit._ an. 1833. - -[Sidenote: CONTINENTAL MISSIONS.] - -The missionary fire, which the grandson of Fergus had kindled in a -solitary island, soon spread over Great Britain. Not in Iona alone, -but at Bangor and other places, the spirit of evangelization burst -out. A fondness for travelling had already become a second nature in -this people.[32] Men of God, burning with zeal, resolved to carry the -evangelical torch to the continent--to the vast wildernesses sprinkled -here and there with barbarous and heathen tribes. They did not set -forth as antagonists of Rome, for at that epoch there was no place for -such antagonism; but Iona and Bangor, less illustrious than Rome in -the history of nations, possessed a more lively faith than the city of -the Cæsars; and that faith,--unerring sign of the presence of Jesus -Christ,--gave those whom it inspired a right to evangelize the world, -which Rome could not gainsay. - - [32] Natio Scotorum quibus consuetudo peregrinandi jam pæne in naturam - conversa est. (Vita S. Galli, Sec. 47.) The nation of the Scots in - whom the habit of travelling abroad had already almost become a second - nature. - -The missionary bishops[33] of Britain accordingly set forth and -traversed the Low Countries, Gaul, Switzerland, Germany, and even -Italy.[34] The free church of the Scots and Britons did more for the -conversion of central Europe than the half-enslaved church of the -Romans. These missionaries were not haughty and insolent like the -priests of Italy; but supported themselves by the work of their hands. -Columbanus (whom we must not confound with Columba),[35] "feeling in -his heart the burning of the fire which the Lord had kindled upon -earth,"[36] quitted Bangor in 590 with twelve other missionaries, and -carried the Gospel to the Burgundians, Franks, and Swiss. He continued -to preach it amidst frequent persecutions, left his disciple Gall in -Helvetia, and retired to Robbio, where he died, honouring Christian -Rome, but placing the church of Jerusalem above it,[37]--exhorting it -to beware of corruption, and declaring that the power would remain -with it so long only as it retained the true doctrine (_recta ratio_). -Thus was Britain faithful in planting the standard of Christ in the -heart of Europe. We might almost imagine this unknown people to be a -new Israel, and Icolmkill and Bangor to have inherited the virtues of -Zion. - - [33] They were called _episcopi regionarii_ because they had no - settled diocese. - - [34] Antiquo tempore, doctissimi solebant magistri de Hibernia - Britanniam, Galliam, Italiam venire, et multos per ecclesias Christi - fecisse profectus. (Alcuin, Epp. ccxxi.) In ancient times the most - learned teachers were accustomed to come from Ireland to Britain, - Gaul, and Italy, and to make numerous journeys among the churches of - Christ. - - [35] Thierry, in his _Hist. de la Conquete de l'Angleterre_, makes - Columba and Columbanus one personage. Columba preached the Gospel in - Scotland about 560, and died in 597; Columbanus preached among the - Burgundians in 600, and died in 615. - - [36] Ignitum igne Domini desiderium. Mabillon, Acta, p. 9. - - [37] Salva loci dominicæ resurrectionis _singulari proerogativa_. - (Columb. Vita, section 10.) Excepting by its peculiar prerogative the - place of the Lord's resurrection. - -Yet they should have done more: they should have preached--not only to -the continental heathens, to those in the north of Scotland and the -distant Ireland, but also to the still pagan Saxons of England. It is -true that they made several attempts; but while the Britons considered -their conquerors as the enemies of God and man, and shuddered while -they pronounced their name,[38] the Saxons refused to be converted by -the voice of their slaves. By neglecting this field, the Britons left -room for other workmen, and thus it was that England yielded to a -foreign power, beneath whose heavy yoke it long groaned in vain. - - [38] Nefandi nominis Saxoni Deo hominibusque invisi. (Gildas, De - excidio Britanniæ.) The execrable name of Saxon, hateful to God and - men. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Pope Gregory the Great--Desires to reduce Britain--Policy of - Gregory and Augustine--Arrival of the - Mission--Appreciation--Britain superior to Rome--Dionoth at - Bangor--First and Second Romish Aggressions--Anguish of the - Britons--Pride of Rome--Rome has recourse to the - Sword--Massacre--Saint Peter scourges an - Archbishop--Oswald--His Victory--Corman--Mission of Oswald - and Aidan--Death of Oswald. - - -[Sidenote: GREGORY THE GREAT.] - -It is matter of fact that the spiritual life had waned in Italian -catholicism; and in proportion as the heavenly spirit had become weak, -the lust of dominion had grown strong. The Roman metropolitans and -their delegates soon became impatient to mould all Christendom to -their peculiar forms. - -About the end of the sixth century an eminent man filled the see of -Rome. Gregory was born of senatorial family, and already on the high -road to honour, when he suddenly renounced the world, and transformed -the palace of his fathers into a convent. But his ambition had only -changed its object. In his views, the whole church should submit to -the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome. True, he rejected the title -of universal bishop assumed by the patriarch of Constantinople; but if -he desired not the name, he was not the less eager for the -substance.[39] On the borders of the West, in the island of Great -Britain, was a Christian church independent of Rome: this must be -conquered, and a favourable opportunity soon occurred. - - [39] He says (Epp. lib. ix, ep. xii.): De Constantinopolitana ecclesia - quis eam dubitet apostolicæ sedi esse subjectam? Concerning the church - of Constantinople, who doubts that it is subject to the apostolical - see. - -[Sidenote: POLICY OF GREGORY AND AUGUSTINE.] - -Before his elevation to the primacy, and while he was as yet only the -monk Gregory, he chanced one day to cross a market in Rome where -certain foreign dealers were exposing their wares for sale. Among them -he perceived some fair-haired youthful slaves, whose noble bearing -attracted his attention. On drawing near them, he learned that the -Anglo-Saxon nation to which they belonged had refused to receive the -Gospel from the Britons. When he afterwards became bishop of Rome, -this crafty and energetic pontiff, "the last of the good and the first -of the bad," as he has been called, determined to convert these proud -conquerors, and make use of them in subduing the British church to -the papacy, as he had already made use of the Frank monarchs to reduce -the Gauls. Rome has often shown herself more eager to bring Christians -rather than idolaters to the pope.[40] Was it thus with Gregory? We -must leave the question unanswered. - - [40] We know the history of Tahiti and of other modern missions of the - Romish church. - -Ethelbert, king of Kent, having married a Christian princess of Frank -descent, the Roman bishop thought the conjuncture favourable for his -design, and despatched a mission under the direction of one of his -friends named Augustine, A.D. 596. At first the missionaries recoiled -from the task appointed them; but Gregory was firm. Desirous of -gaining the assistance of the Frank kings, Theodoric and Theodebert, -he affected to consider them as the lords paramount of England, and -commended to them the conversion of _their subjects_.[41] Nor was this -all. He claimed also the support of the powerful Brunchilda, -grandmother of these two kings, and equally notorious for her -treachery, her irregularities, and her crimes; and did not scruple to -extol the _good works_ and _godly fear_ of this modern Jezebel.[42] -Under such auspices the Romish mission arrived in England. The pope -had made a skilful choice of his delegate. Augustine possessed even to -a greater extent than Gregory himself a mixture of ambition and -devotedness, of superstition and piety, of cunning and zeal. He -thought that faith and holiness were less essential to the church than -authority and power; and that its prerogative was not so much to save -souls as to collect all the human race under the sceptre of Rome.[43] -Gregory himself was distressed at Augustine's spiritual pride, and -often exhorted him to humility. - - [41] Subjectos vestros. (Opp. Gregorii, tom. iv. p 334.) Your - subjects. - - [42] Prona in bonis operibus . . . in omnipotentis Dei timore. (Ibid. - tom. ii. p. 835.) Disposed to good works . . . in the fear of God - omnipotent. - - [43] We find the same idea in Wiseman, Lect. ix, On the principal - doctrines and practices of the Catholic church. London, 1836. - -Success of that kind which popery desires soon crowned the labours of -its servants. The forty-one missionaries having landed in the isle of -Thanet, in the year 597, the king of Kent consented to receive them, -but in the open air, for fear of magic. They drew up in such a manner -as to produce an effect on the rude islanders. The procession was -opened by a monk bearing a huge cross on which the figure of Christ -was represented: his colleagues followed chanting their Latin hymns, -and thus they approached the oak appointed for the place of -conference. They inspired sufficient confidence in Ethelbert to gain -permission to celebrate their worship in an old ruinous chapel at -Durovern (Canterbury), where British Christians had in former times -adored the Saviour Christ. The king and thousands of his subjects -received not long after, with certain forms, and certain Christian -doctrines, the errors of the Roman pontiffs--as purgatory, for -instance, which Gregory was advocating with the aid of the most absurd -fables.[44] Augustine baptized ten thousand pagans in one day. As yet -Rome had only set her foot in Great Britain, she did not fail erelong -to establish her kingdom there. - - [44] Hoepfner, De origine dogmatis de purgatorio. Halle, 1792. - -We should be unwilling to undervalue the religious element now placed -before the Anglo-Saxons, and we can readily believe that many of the -missionaries sent from Italy desired to work a Christian work. We -think, too, that the Middle Ages ought to be appreciated with more -equitable sentiments than have always been found in the persons who -have written on that period. Man's conscience lived, spoke, and -groaned during the long dominion of popery; and like a plant growing -among thorns, it often succeeded in forcing a passage through the -obstacles of traditionalism and hierarchy, to blossom in the -quickening sun of God's grace. The Christian element is even strongly -marked in some of the most eminent men of theocracy--in Anselm for -instance. - -[Sidenote: BRITAIN SUPERIOR TO ROME.] - -Yet as it is our task to relate the history of the struggles which -took place between primitive Christianity and Roman-catholicism, we -cannot forbear pointing out the superiority of the former in a -religious light, while we acknowledge the superiority of the latter in -a political point of view. We believe (and we shall presently have a -proof of it)[45] that a visit to Iona would have taught the -Anglo-Saxons much more than their frequent pilgrimages to the banks of -the Tiber. Doubtless, as has been remarked, these pilgrims -contemplated at Rome "the noble monuments of antiquity," but there -existed at that time in the British islands--and it has been too often -overlooked--a Christianity which, if not perfectly pure, was at least -better than that of popery. The British church, which at the beginning -of the seventh century carried faith and civilization into Burgundy, -the Vosges mountains, and Switzerland, might well have spread them -both over Britain. The influence of the arts, whose civilizing -influence we are far from depreciating, would have come later. - - [45] In the history of Oswald, king of Northumberland. - -But so far was the Christianity of the Britons from converting the -Saxon heptarchy, that it was, alas! the Romanism of the heptarchy -which was destined to conquer Britain. These struggles between the -Roman and British churches, which fill all the seventh century, are of -the highest importance to the English church, for they establish -clearly its primitive liberty. They possess also great interest for -the other churches of the West, as showing in the most striking -characters the usurping acts by which the papacy eventually reduced -them beneath its yoke. - -[Sidenote: DIONOTH AT BANGOR.] - -Augustine, appointed archbishop not only of the Saxons, but of the -free Britons, was settled by papal ordinance, first at London and -afterwards at Canterbury. Being at the head of a hierarchy composed of -twelve bishops, he soon attempted to bring all the Christians of -Britain under the Roman jurisdiction. At that time there existed at -Bangor,[46] in North Wales, a large Christian society, amounting to -nearly three thousand individuals, collected together to work with -their own hands,[47] to study, and to pray, and from whose bosom -numerous missionaries (Columbanus was among the number) had from time -to time gone forth. The president of this church was Dionoth, a -faithful teacher, ready to serve all men in charity, yet firmly -convinced that no one should have supremacy in the Lord's vineyard. -Although one of the most influential men in the British church, he was -somewhat timid and hesitating; he would yield to a certain point for -the love of peace; but would never flinch from his duty. He was -another apostle John, full of mildness, and yet condemning the -Diotrephes, _who love to have pre-eminence among the brethren_. -Augustine thus addressed him: "Acknowledge the authority of the Bishop -of Rome." These are the first words of the papacy to the ancient -Christians of Britain. "We desire to love all men," meekly replied the -venerable Briton; "and what we do for you, we will do for him also -whom you call the pope. But he is not entitled to call himself the -_father of fathers_, and the only submission we can render him is that -which we owe to every Christian."[48] This was not what Augustine -asked. - - [46] Bann-cor, the choir on the steep hill. Carlisle. Top. Dict. - Wales. - - [47] Ars unicuique dabatur, ut ex opero manuum quotidiano se posset in - victu necessario continere. (Preuves de l'hist de Bretagne, ii, 25.) - An art was given to each, that by the daily labour of their hands, - each might be able to supply himself with the necessities of life. - - [48] Istam obedientiam nos multius parati dare et solvere ei et cuique - Christiano continuo Wilkins, Conc, M. Brit. i. 26. - -[Sidenote: SECOND ROMISH AGGRESSION.] - -He was not discouraged by this first check. Proud of the pallium -which Rome had sent him, and relying on the swords of the -Anglo-Saxons, he convoked in 601 a general assembly of British and -Saxon bishops. The meeting took place in the open air, beneath a -venerable oak near Wigornia (Worcester or Hereford), and here occurred -the second Romish aggression. Dionoth resisted with firmness the -extravagant pretensions of Augustine, who again summoned him to -recognize the authority of Rome.[49] Another Briton protested against -the presumption of the Romans, who ascribed to their consecration a -virtue which they refused to that of Iona or of the Asiatic -churches.[50] "The Britons," exclaimed a third, "cannot submit either -to the haughtiness of the Romans or the tyranny of the Saxons."[51] To -no purpose did the archbishop lavish his arguments, prayers, censures, -and miracles even; the Britons were firm. Some of them who had eaten -with the Saxons while they were as yet heathens, refused to do so now -that they had submitted to the pope.[52] The Scotch were particularly -inflexible; for one of their number, by name Dagam, would not only -take no food at the same table with the Romans, but not even under the -same roof.[53] Thus did Augustine fail a second time, and the -independence of Britain appeared secure. - - [49] Dionothus de non approbanda apud eos Romanorum auctoritate - disputabat. Wilkins, Conc. M. Brit. 24. - - [50] Ordinationesque more asiatico eisdem contulisse. Ibid. 24. - - [51] In communionem admittere vel Romanorum fastum vel Saxonum - tyrannidem. Ibid. i, 26. - - [52] According to the apostolic precept, 1 Cor. 5, 9. 1. - - [53] Dagamus ad nos veniens, non solum cibum nobiscum, sed nec in - eodem hospitio quo vescebamur, sumere, noluit. (Beda, lib. ii, cap. - iv.) Dagam coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but even to - take his food in the same house where we were entertained. - -[Sidenote: PRIDE OF ROME.] - -And yet the formidable power of the popes, aided by the sword of the -conquerors, alarmed the Britons. They imagined they saw a mysterious -decree once more yoking the nations of the earth to the triumphal car -of Rome, and many left Wigornia uneasy and sad at heart. How is it -possible to save a cause, when even its defenders begin to despair? It -was not long before they were summoned to a new council. "What is to -be done?" they exclaimed with sorrowful forebodings. Popery was not -yet thoroughly known: it was hardly formed. The half-enlightened -consciences of these believers were a prey to the most violent -agitation. They asked themselves whether, in rejecting this new power, -they might not be rejecting God himself. A pious Christian, who led a -solitary life, had acquired a great reputation in the surrounding -district. Some of the Britons visited him, and inquired whether they -should resist Augustine or follow him.[54] "If he is a man of God, -follow him," replied the hermit.--"And how shall we know that?"--"If -he is meek and humble of heart, he bears Christ's yoke; but if he is -violent and proud, he is not of God."--"What sign shall we have of his -humility?"--"If he rises from his seat when you enter the room." Thus -spoke the oracle of Britain: it would have been better to have -consulted the Holy Scriptures. - - [54] Ad quendam virum sanctum et prudentam qui apud eos anachoreticam - ducere vitam solebat, consulentes an ad prædicationem Augustini suas - deserere traditiones deberent. (Beda, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. ii.) - They took counsel of a certain holy and wise man who led among them - the life of a hermit, whether at the preaching of Augustine they ought - to abandon their own traditions. - -But humility is not a virtue that flourishes among Romish pontiffs and -legates: they love to remain seated while others court and worship -them. The British bishops entered the council-hall, and the -archbishop, desirous of indicating his superiority, proudly kept his -seat.[55] Astonished at this sight, the Britons would hear no more of -the authority of Rome. For the third time they said No--they knew _no -other master but Christ_. Augustine, who expected to see these bishops -prostrate their churches at his feet, was surprised and indignant. He -had reckoned on the immediate submission of Britain, and the pope had -now to learn that his missionary had deceived him.... Animated by that -insolent spirit which is found too often in the ministers of the -Romish church, Augustine exclaimed: "If you will not receive brethren -who bring you peace, you shall receive enemies who will bring you war. -If you will not unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life, -you shall receive from them the stroke of death."[56] Having thus -spoken, the haughty archbishop withdrew, and occupied his last days in -preparing the accomplishment of his ill-omened prophecy.[57] Argument -had failed: now for the sword! - - [55] Factumque est ut venientibus illis sederet Augustinus in sella. - Ibid. - - [56] Si pacem cum fructibus accipere nollent, bellum ab hostibus - forent accepturi ... Ibid. - - [57] Ipsum Augustinum hujus belli non modo conscium sed et - _impulsorem_ exstitisse. Wilkins adds, that the expression found in - Bede, concerning the death of Augustine, is a parenthesis foisted in - by Romanist writers, and not found in the Saxon manuscripts. (Conc. - Brit. p. 26.) Augustine himself was not only accessory to that war, - but he was even its instigator. - -[Sidenote: MASSACRE.] - -Shortly after the death of Augustine, Edelfrid, one of the Anglo-Saxon -kings, and who was still a heathen, collected a numerous army, and -advanced towards Bangor, the centre of British Christianity. Alarm -spread through those feeble churches. They wept and prayed. The sword -of Edelfrid drew nearer. To whom can they apply, or where shall they -find help? The magnitude of the danger seemed to recall the Britons to -their pristine piety: not to men, but to the Lord himself will they -turn their thoughts. Twelve hundred and fifty servants of the living -God, calling to mind what are the arms of Christian warfare, after -preparing themselves by fasting, met together in a retired spot to -send up their prayers to God.[58] A British chief, named Brocmail, -moved by tender compassion, stationed himself near them with a few -soldiers; but the cruel Edelfrid, observing from a distance this band -of kneeling Christians, demanded: "Who are these people, and what are -they doing?" On being informed, he added: "They are fighting then -against us, although unarmed;" and immediately he ordered his soldiers -to fall upon the prostrate crowd. Twelve hundred of them were -slain.[59] They prayed and they died. The Saxons forthwith proceeded -to Bangor, the chief seat of Christian learning, and razed it to the -ground. Romanism was triumphant in England. The news of these -massacres filled the country _with weeping and great mourning_; but -the priests of Romish consecration (and the venerable Bede shared -their sentiments) beheld in this cruel slaughter the accomplishment of -the prophecy of the _holy pontiff_ Augustine;[60] and a national -tradition among the Welsh for many ages pointed to him as the -instigator of this cowardly butchery. Thus did Rome loose the savage -Pagan against the primitive church of Britain, and fastened it all -dripping with blood to her triumphal car. A great mystery of iniquity -was accomplishing. - - [58] Ad memoratam aciem, peracto jejunio triduano, cum aliis orandi - causa convenerant. (Beda, ii, cap. ii.) At the aforesaid engagement, - after three days had been spent in fasting, they met together with - others for prayer. - - [59] Extinctos in ea pugna ferunt de his qui ad orandum venerunt viros - circiter mille ducentos. Beda, lib. ii, cap. ii. - - [60] Sic completum est presagium sancti pontificis Augustini. Ibid. - -But while the Saxon sword appeared to have swept every thing from -before the papacy, the ground trembled under its feet, and seemed -about to swallow it up. The hierarchical rather than Christian -conversions effected by the priests of Rome were so unreal that a vast -number of neophytes suddenly returned to the worship of their idols. -Eadbald, king of Kent, was himself among the number of apostates. Such -reversions to paganism are not unfrequent in the history of the Romish -missions. The bishops fled into Gaul: Mellitus and Justus had already -reached the continent in safety, and Lawrence, Augustine's successor, -was about to follow them. While lying in the church where he had -desired to pass the night before leaving England, he groaned in spirit -as he saw the work founded by Augustine perishing in his hands. He -saved it by a miracle. The next morning he presented himself before -the king with his clothes all disordered and his body covered with -wounds. "Saint Peter," he said, "appeared to me during the night and -scourged me severely because I was about to forsake his flock."[61] -The _scourge_ was a means of moral persuasion which Peter had -forgotten in his epistles. Did Lawrence cause these blows to be -inflicted by others--or did he inflict them himself--or is the whole -account an idle dream? We should prefer adopting the latter -hypothesis. The superstitious prince, excited at the news of this -supernatural intervention, eagerly acknowledged the authority of the -pope, the vicar of an apostle who so mercilessly scourged those who -had the misfortune to displease him. If the dominion of Rome had then -disappeared from England, it is probable that the Britons, regaining -their courage, and favoured in other respects by the wants which would -have been felt by the Saxons, would have recovered from their defeat, -and would have imparted their free Christianity to their conquerors. -But now the Roman bishop seemed to remain master of England, and the -faith of the Britons to be crushed for ever. But it was not so. A -young man, sprung from the energetic race of the conquerors, was about -to become the champion of truth and liberty, and almost the whole -island to be freed from the Roman yoke. - - [61] Apparuit ei beatissimus apostolorum princeps, et multo illum - tempore secretæ noctis flagellis acrioribus afficiens. Beda, ii. cap. - vi. - -[Sidenote: OSWALD.] - -[Sidenote: OSWALD'S VICTORY--CORMAN.] - -Oswald, an Anglo-Saxon prince, son of the heathen and cruel Edelfrid, -had been compelled by family reverses to take refuge in Scotland, when -very young, accompanied by his brother Oswy and several other youthful -chiefs. He had acquired the language of the country, been instructed -in the truths of Holy Writ, converted by the grace of God, and -baptized into the Scottish church.[62] He loved to sit at the feet of -the elders of Iona and listen to their words. They showed him Jesus -Christ going from place to place doing good, and he desired to do so -likewise; they told him that Christ was the only head of the church, -and he promised never to acknowledge any other. Being a single-hearted -generous man, he was especially animated with tender compassion -towards the poor, and would take off his own cloak to cover the -nakedness of one of his brethren. Often, while mingling in the quiet -assemblies of the Scottish Christians, he had desired to go as a -missionary to the Anglo-Saxons. It was not long before he conceived -the bold design of leading the people of Northumberland to the -Saviour; but being a prince as well as a Christian, he determined to -begin by reconquering the throne of his fathers. There was in this -young Englishman the love of a disciple and the courage of a hero. At -the head of an army, small indeed, but strong by faith in Christ,[63] -he entered Northumberland, knelt with his troops in prayer on the -field of battle, and gained a signal victory over a powerful enemy, -634 A. D. To recover the kingdom of his ancestors was only a part of -his task. Oswald desired to give his people the benefits of the true -faith.[64] The Christianity taught in 625 to King Edwin and the -Northumbrians by Pendin of York had disappeared amidst the ravages of -the pagan armies. Oswald requested a missionary from the Scots who had -given him an asylum, and they accordingly sent one of the brethren -named Corman, a pious but uncultivated and austere man. He soon -returned dispirited to Iona: "The people to whom you sent me," he told -the elders of that island, "are so obstinate that we must renounce all -idea of changing their manners." As Aidan, one of their number, -listened to this report, he said to himself: "If thy love had been -offered to this people, oh, my Saviour, many hearts would have been -touched!... I will go and make Thee known--Thee who breaketh not the -bruised reed!" Then, turning to the missionary with a look of mild -reproach, he added: "Brother, you have been too severe towards hearers -so dull of heart. You should have given them spiritual milk to drink -until they were able to receive more solid food." All eyes were fixed -on the man who spoke so wisely. "Aidan is worthy of the episcopate," -exclaimed the brethren of Iona: and, like Timothy, he was consecrated -by the laying on of the hands of the company of elders.[65] - - [62] Cum magna nobilium juventute apud Scotos sive Pictos exulabant, - ibique ad doctrinam Scottorum cathechisati et baptismatis gratia sunt - recreati. (Beda, iii. cap. i.) They were exiled among the Scots or - Picts with many youths of noble rank, and there they were instructed - in the doctrine of the Scots and were converted by the grace of - baptism. - - [63] Superveniente cum parvo exercitu, sed fide Christi munito. Beda, - lib. iii, cap. i. - - [64] Desiderans totam cui præesse coepit gentem fidei Christianæ gratia - imbui. (Ibid. cap. iii.) Desiring that the whole nation over which he - ruled might be imbued with the grace of the Christian faith. - - [65] Aydanus accepto gradu episcopatus, quo tempore eodem monasterio - Segenius abbas et _presbyter_ præfuit. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. v.) Aidan - having received the dignity of a bishop at the time when Segenius, - abbot and presbyter, presided over that monastery. When Bede tells us - that a plain priest was president, he excludes the idea that there - were bishops in the assembly. See 1 Timothy, iv, 14. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF OSWALD.] - -Oswald received Aidan as an angel from heaven, and as the missionary -was ignorant of the Saxon language, the king accompanied him every -where, standing by his side, and interpreting his gentle -discourses.[66] The people crowded joyfully around Oswald, Aidan, and -other missionaries from Scotland and Ireland, listening eagerly to -the _Word of God_.[67] The king preached by his works still more than -by his words. One day during Easter, as he was about to take his seat -at table, he was informed that a crowd of his subjects, driven by -hunger, had collected before his palace gates. Instantly he ordered -the food prepared for himself to be carried out and distributed among -them; and taking the silver vessels which stood before him, he broke -them in pieces and commanded his servants to divide them among the -poor. He also introduced the knowledge of the Saviour to the people of -Wessex, whither he had gone to marry the king's daughter; and after a -reign of nine years, he died at the head of his army while repelling -an invasion of the idolatrous Mercians, headed by the cruel Penda (5th -August, 642 A. D.) As he fell he exclaimed: "Lord, have mercy on the -souls of my people!" This youthful prince has left a name dear to the -churches of Great Britain. - - [66] Evangelisante antistite, ipse Rex suis ducibus ac ministris - interpres verbi existeret coelestis. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. iii.) When - the bishop was preaching, the king himself interpreted the heavenly - message to his officers and servants. - - [67] Confluebant _ad audiendum verbum Dei_ populi gaudentes. (Beda, - lib. iii, cap. iii.) The people eagerly flocked together to hear the - word of God. - -His death did not interrupt the labours of the missionaries. Their -meekness and the recollection of Oswald endeared them to all. As soon -as the villagers caught sight of one on the high-road, they would -throng round him, begging him to teach them the _Word of life_.[68] -The faith which the terrible Edelfrid thought he had washed away in -the blood of the worshippers of God, was re-appearing in every -direction; and Rome, which once already in the days of Honorius had -been forced to leave Britain, might be perhaps a second time compelled -to flee to its ships from before the face of a people who asserted -their liberty. - - [68] Mox congregati in unum vicani, _verbum vitæ_ ab illo expetere - curabant. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxvi.) Presently the villagers flocked - together earnestly desiring to hear from him the word of life. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Character of Oswy--Death of Aidan--Wilfrid at Rome--At - Oswald's Court--Finan and Colman--Independence of the Church - attacked--Oswy's Conquests and Troubles--_Synodus - Pharensis_--Cedda--Degeneration--The Disputation--Peter, the - Gatekeeper--Triumph of Rome--Grief of the Britons--Popedom - organized in England--Papal Exultation--Archbishop - Theodore--Cedda re-ordained--Discord in the Church--Disgrace - and Treachery of Wilfrid--His end--Scotland - attacked--Adamnan--Iona resists--A King converted by - Architects--The Monk Egbert at Iona--His History--Monkish - Visions--Fall of Iona. - - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF OSWY.] - -Then up rose the papacy. If victory remained with the Britons, their -church, becoming entirely free, might even in these early times head a -strong opposition against the papal monarchy. If, on the contrary, the -last champions of liberty are defeated, centuries of slavery awaited -the Christian church. We shall have to witness the struggle that took -place erelong in the very palace of the Northumbrian kings. - -Oswald was succeeded by his brother Oswy, a prince instructed in the -free doctrine of the Britons, but whose religion was all external. His -heart overflowed with ambition, and he shrank from no crime that might -increase his power. The throne of Deira was filled by his relative -Oswin, an amiable king, much beloved by his people. Oswy, conceiving a -deadly jealousy towards him, marched against him at the head of an -army, and Oswin, desirous of avoiding bloodshed, took shelter with a -chief whom he had loaded with favours. But the latter offered to lead -Oswy's soldiers to his hiding-place; and at dead of night the fugitive -king was basely assassinated, one only of his servants fighting in his -defence. The gentle Aidan died of sorrow at his cruel fate.[69] Such -was the first exploit of that monarch who surrendered England to the -papacy. Various circumstances tended to draw Oswy nearer Rome. He -looked upon the Christian religion as a means of combining the -Christian princes against the heathen Penda, and such a religion, in -which expediency predominated, was not very unlike popery. And -further, Oswy's wife, the proud Eanfeld, was of the Romish communion. -The private chaplain of this bigoted princess was a priest named -Romanus, a man worthy of the name. He zealously maintained the rites -of the Latin church, and accordingly the festival of Easter was -celebrated at court twice in the year; for while the king, following -the eastern rule, was joyfully commemorating the resurrection of our -Lord, the queen, who adopted the Roman ritual, was keeping Palm Sunday -with fasting and humiliation.[70] Eanfeld and Romanus would often -converse together on the means of winning over Northumberland to the -papacy. But the first step was to increase the number of its -partizans, and the opportunity soon occurred. - - [69] Aydanus duodecimo post occisionem regis quem amabat die, de - seculo ablatus. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xiv.) Aidan on his twelfth day - after the death of the king whom he loved, was taken out of the world. - - [70] Cum rex pascha dominicum solutis jejuniis faceret, tunc regina - cum suis persistens adhuc in jejunio diem l'almarum celebraret. (Beda, - lib. iii, cap. xxv.) When the king having ended the time of fasting, - was keeping Easter, the queen with her attendants still fasting, was - celebrating Palm Sunday. - -[Sidenote: WILFRID AT ROME.] - -A young Northumbrian, named Wilfrid, was one day admitted to an -audience of the queen. He was a comely man, of extensive knowledge, -keen wit, and enterprising character, of indefatigible activity, and -insatiable ambition.[71] In this interview he remarked to Eanfeld: -"The way which the Scotch teach us is not perfect; I will go to Rome -and learn in the very temples of the apostles." She approved of his -project, and with her assistance and directions he set out for Italy. -Alas! he was destined at no very distant day to chain the whole -British church to the Roman see. After a short stay at Lyons, where -the bishop, delighted at his talents, would have desired to keep him, -he arrived at Rome, and immediately became on the most friendly -footing with archdeacon Boniface, the pope's favourite councillor. He -soon discovered that the priests of France and Italy possessed more -power both in ecclesiastical and secular matters than the humble -missionaries of Iona; and his thirst for honours was inflamed at the -court of the pontiffs. If he should succeed in making England submit -to the papacy, there was no dignity to which he might not aspire. -Henceforward this was his only thought, and he had hardly returned to -Northumberland before Eanfeld eagerly summoned him to court. A -fanatical queen, from whom he might hope every thing--a king with no -religious convictions, and enslaved by political interests--a pious -and zealous prince, Alfred, the king's son, who was desirous of -imitating his noble uncle Oswald, and converting the pagans, but who -had neither the discernment nor the piety of the illustrious disciple -of Iona: such were the materials Wilfrid had to work upon. He saw -clearly that if Rome had gained her first victory by the sword of -Edelfrid, she could only expect to gain a second by craft and -management. He came to an understanding on the subject with the queen -and Romanus, and having been placed about the person of the young -prince, by adroit flattery he soon gained over Alfred's mind. Then -finding himself secure of two members of the royal family, he turned -all his attention to Oswy. - - [71] Acris erat ingenii.....gratia venusti vultus, alacritate - actionis. Beda, lib. v, p. 135. - -[Sidenote: AND AT OSWY'S COURT.] - -The elders of Iona could not shut their eyes to the dangers which -threatened Northumberland. They had sent Finan to supply Aidan's -place, and this bishop, consecrated by the presbyters of Iona, had -witnessed the progress of popery at the court; at first humble and -inoffensive, and then increasing year by year in ambition and -audacity. He had openly opposed the pontiff's agents, and his frequent -contests had confirmed him in the truth.[72] He was dead, and the -presbyters of the Western Isles, seeing more clearly than ever the -wants of Northumbria, had sent thither bishop Colman, a simple-minded, -but stout-hearted man,--one determined to oppose a front of adamant to -the wiles of the seducers. - - [72] Apertum veritatis adversarium reddidit, says the Romanist Bede, - lib. v. p. 135. Had rendered him an open enemy of the truth. - -Yet Eanfeld, Wilfrid, and Romanus were skilfully digging the mine that -was to destroy the apostolic church of Britain. At first Wilfrid -prepared his attack by adroit insinuations; and next declared himself -openly in the king's presence. If Oswy withdrew into his domestic -circle, he there found the bigoted Eanfeld, who zealously continued -the work of the Roman missionary. No opportunities were neglected: in -the midst of the diversions of the court, at table, and even during -the chase, discussions were perpetually raised on the controverted -doctrines. Men's minds became excited: the Romanists already assumed -the air of conquerors; and the Britons often withdrew full of anxiety -and fear. The king, placed between his wife and his faith, and wearied -by these disputes, inclined first to one side, and then to the other, -as if he would soon fall altogether. - -[Sidenote: SYNODUS PHARENSIS.] - -The papacy had more powerful motives than ever for coveting -Northumberland. Oswy had not only usurped the throne of Deira, but -after the death of the cruel Penda, who fell in battle in 654, he had -conquered his states with the exception of a portion governed by his -son-in-law Peada, the son of Penda. But Peada himself having fallen in -a conspiracy said to have been got up by his wife, the daughter of -Oswy, the latter completed the conquest of Mercia, and thus united the -greatest part of England under his sceptre. Kent alone at that time -acknowledged the jurisdiction of Rome: in every other province, free -ministers, protected by the kings of Northumberland, preached the -Gospel. This wonderfully simplified the question. If Rome gained over -Oswy, she would gain England: if she failed, she must sooner or later -leave that island altogether. - -This was not all. The blood of Oswyn, the premature death of Aidan, -and other things besides, troubled the king's breast. He desired to -appease the Deity he had offended, and not knowing that _Christ is the -door_, as holy Scripture tells us, he sought among men for a -_doorkeeper_ who would open to him the kingdom of heaven. He was far -from being the last of those kings whom the necessity of expiating -their crimes impelled towards Romish practices. The crafty Wilfrid, -keeping alive both the hopes and fears of the prince, often spoke to -him of Rome, and of the grace to be found there. He thought that the -fruit was ripe, and that now he had only to shake the tree. "We must -have a public disputation, in which the question may be settled once -for all," said the queen and her advisers; "but Rome must take her -part in it with as much pomp as her adversaries. Let us oppose bishop -to bishop." A Saxon bishop named Agilbert, a friend of Wilfrid's, who -had won the affection of the young prince Alfred, was invited by -Eanfeld to the conference, and he arrived in Northumberland attended -by a priest named Agathon. Alas! poor British church, the earthen -vessel is about to be dashed against the vase of iron. Britain must -yield before the invading march of Rome. - -On the coast of Yorkshire, at the farther extremity of a quiet bay, -was situated the monastery of Strenæshalh, or Whitby, of which Hilda, -the pious daughter of king Edwin, was abbess. She, too, was desirous -of seeing a termination of the violent disputes which had agitated the -church since Wilfrid's return. On the shores of the North Sea[73] the -struggle was to be decided between Britain and Rome, between the East -and the West, or, as they said then, between Saint John and Saint -Peter. It was not a mere question about Easter, or certain rules of -discipline, but of the great doctrine of the freedom of the church -under Jesus Christ, or its enslavement under the papacy. Rome, ever -domineering, desired for the second time to hold England in its -grasp, not by means of the sword, but by her dogmas. With her usual -cunning she concealed her enormous pretensions under secondary -questions, and many superficial thinkers were deceived by this -manoeuvre. - - [73] This conference is generally known as the _Synodus Pharensis_ - (from _Strenæshalh_, sinus Phari). "Hodie Whitbie dicitur (White bay), - et est villa in Eboracensi littore satis nota" Wilkius, Concii. p. 37, - note. - -[Sidenote: CEDDA.] - -The meeting took place in the convent of Whitby. The king and his son -entered first; then, on the one side, Colman, with the bishops and -elders of the Britons; and on the other bishop Agilbert, Agathon, -Wilfrid, Romanus, a deacon named James, and several other priests of -the Latin confession. Last of all came Hilda with her attendants, -among whom was an English bishop named Cedda, one of the most active -missionaries of the age.[74] He had at first preached the Gospel in -the midland districts, whence he turned his footsteps towards the -Anglo-Saxons of the East, and after converting a great number of these -pagans, he had returned to Finan, and, although an Englishman, had -received Episcopal consecration from a bishop, who had been himself -ordained by the elders of Iona. Then proceeding westwards, the -indefatigable evangelist founded churches, and appointed elders and -deacons wherever he went.[75] By birth an Englishman, by ordination a -Scotchman, everywhere treated with respect and consideration, he -appeared to be set apart as mediator in this solemn conference. His -intervention could not however, retard the victory of Rome. Alas! the -primitive evangelism had gradually given way to an ecclesiasticism, -coarse and rude in one place, subtle and insinuating in another. -Whenever the priests were called upon to justify certain doctrines or -ceremonies, instead of referring solely to the word of God, that -fountain of all light, they maintained that thus St. James did at -Jerusalem, St. Mark at Alexandria, St. John at Ephesus, or St. Peter -at Rome. They gave the name of _apostolical canons_, to rules which -the apostles had never known. They even went further than this: at -Rome and in the East, ecclesiasticism represented itself to be a law -of God, and from a state of weakness, it thus became a state of sin. -Some marks of this error were already beginning to appear in the -Christianity of the Britons. - - [74] Presbyteri Cedda et Adda et Berti Duina, quorum ultimus natione - Scotus, cæteri fuere Angli. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxi) These - presbyters were Cedda and Adda and Berti and Dinna, of whom the last - was by nation a Scot, the rest were English. - - [75] Qui accepto gradu episcopatus et majore auctoritate coeptum opus - explens, fecit per loca ecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos ordinavit. - (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxii.) Who having received the episcopal dignity - and pursuing the work he had begun with more ample authority, built - churches in various places, and ordained presbyters and deacons. - -[Sidenote: THE DISPUTATION.] - -King Oswy was the first to speak: "As servants of one and the same -God, we hope all to enjoy the same inheritance in heaven; why then -should we not have the same rule of life here below? Let us inquire -which is the true one, and follow it."... "Those who sent me hither as -bishop," said Colman, "and who gave me the rule which I observe, are -the beloved of God. Let us beware how we despise their teaching, for -it is the teaching of Columba, of the blessed evangelist John,[76] and -of the churches over which that apostle presided." - - [76] Ipsum est quod beatus evangelista Johannes, discipulus - specialiter Domino dilectus. Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxv. - -"As for us," boldly rejoined Wilfrid, for to him as to the most -skilful had bishop Agilbert intrusted the defence of their cause, "our -custom is that of Rome, where the holy apostles Peter and Paul taught; -we found it in Italy and Gaul, nay, it is spread over every nation. -Shall the Picts and Britons, cast on these two islands, on the very -confines of the ocean, dare to contend against the whole world?[77] -However holy your Columba may have been, will you prefer him to the -prince of the apostles, to whom Christ said, _Thou art Peter, and I -will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven_?" - - [77] Pictos dico ac Brittones, cum quibus de duabus ultimis oceani - insulis, contra totum orbem stulto labore pugnant. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: SORROW OF THE BRITONS.] - -Wilfrid spoke with animation, and his words being skilfully adapted to -his audience, began to make them waver. He had artfully substituted -Columba for the apostle John, from whom the British church claimed -descent, and opposed to Saint Peter a plain elder of Iona. Oswy, whose -idol was power, could not hesitate between paltry bishops and that -pope of Rome who commanded the whole world. Already imagining he saw -Peter at the gates of paradise, with the keys in his hand, he -exclaimed with emotion: "Is it true, Colman, that these words were -addressed by our Lord to Saint Peter?" "It is true." "Can you prove -that similar powers were given to your Columba?" The bishop replied -"We cannot;" but he might have told the king: "John, whose doctrine we -follow, and indeed every disciple, has received in the same sense as -St. Peter the power to remit sins, to bind and to loose on earth and -in heaven."[78] But the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was fading -away in Iona, and the unsuspecting Colman had not observed Wilfrid's -stratagem in substituting Columba for Saint John. Upon this Oswy, -delighted to yield to the continual solicitations of the queen, and -above all, to find some one who would admit him into the kingdom of -heaven, exclaimed: "Peter is the doorkeeper, I will obey him, lest -when I appear at the gate there should be no one to open it to -me."[79] The spectators, carried away by this royal confession, -hastened to give in their submission to the vicar of St. Peter. - - [78] John xx 23; Matth. xviii. 18. - - [79] Ne forte me adveniente ad fores regni coelorum, non sit qui - reserat. Beda. lib. ii. cap. xxv. - -Thus did Rome Triumph at the Whitby conference. Oswy forgot that the -Lord had said: _I am he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and -shutteth, and no man openeth_.[80] It was by ascribing to Peter the -servant, what belongs to Jesus Christ the master, that the papacy -reduced Britain. Oswy stretched out his hands, Rome riveted the -chains, and the liberty which Oswald had given his church seemed at -the last gasp. - - [80] John x, 9; Rev. iii, 7. - -Colman saw with grief and consternation Oswy and his subjects bending -their knees before the foreign priests. He did not, however, despair -of the ultimate triumph of the truth. The apostolic faith could still -find shelter in the old sanctuaries of the British church in Scotland -and Ireland. Immovable in the doctrine he had received, and resolute -to uphold Christian liberty, Colman withdrew with those who would not -bend beneath the yoke of Rome, and returned to Scotland. Thirty -Anglo-Saxons, and a great number of Britons, shook off the dust of -their feet against the tents of the Romish priests. The hatred of -popery became more intense day by day among the remainder of the -Britons. Determined to repel its erroneous dogmas and its illegitimate -dominion, they maintained their communion with the Eastern Church, -which was more ancient than that of Rome. They shuddered as they saw -the red dragon of the Celts gradually retiring towards the western sea -from before the white dragon of the Saxons. They ascribed their -misfortunes to a horrible conspiracy planned by the iniquitous -ambition of the foreign monks, and the bards in their chants cursed -the negligent ministers who defended not the flock of the Lord against -the wolves of Rome.[81] But vain were the lamentations! - - [81] Horæ Britannicæ, b. ii, p. 277. - -[Sidenote: PAPACY ORGANIZED IN BRITAIN.] - -The Romish priests, aided by the queen, lost no time. Wilfrid, whom -Oswy desired to reward for his triumph, was named bishop of -Northumberland, and he immediately visited Paris to receive episcopal -consecration in due form. He soon returned, and proceeded with -singular activity to establish the Romish doctrine in all the -churches.[82] Bishop of a diocese extending from Edinburgh to -Northampton, enriched with the goods which had belonged to divers -monasteries, surrounded by a numerous train, served upon gold and -silver plate, Wilfrid congratulated himself on having espoused the -cause of the papacy; he offended every one who approached him by his -insolence, and taught England how wide was the difference between the -humble ministers of Iona and a Romish priest. At the same time Oswy, -coming to an understanding with the king of Kent, sent another priest -named Wighard to Rome to learn the pope's intentions respecting the -church in England, and to receive consecration as archbishop of -Canterbury. There was no episcopal ordination in England worthy of a -priest! In the meanwhile Oswy, with all the zeal of a new convert, -ceased not to repeat that "the Roman Church was the Catholic and -apostolic church," and thought night and day on the means of -converting his subjects, hoping thus (says a pope) to redeem his own -soul.[83] - - [82] Ipse perplura catholicæ observationis moderamina ecclesiis - Anglorum sua doctrina contulit. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxvlii) He by - his doctrine brought into the churches of England many rules of - catholic observance. - - [83] Omnes subjectos suos meditatur die ac nocte ad fidem catholicam - atque apostolicam pro suæ animæ redemptione converti. (Beda, lib. iii, - cap. xxix.) He studies day and night that all his subjects may be - converted to the catholic and apostolic faith, for the salvation of - his own soul. - -The arrival of this news at Rome created a great sensation. Vitalian, -who then filled the episcopal chair, and was as insolent to his -bishops as he was fawning and servile to the emperor, exclaimed with -transport: "Who would not be overjoyed![84] a king converted to the -true apostolic faith, a people that believes at last in Christ the -Almighty God!" For many long years this people had believed in Christ, -but they were now beginning to believe in the pope, and the pope will -soon make them forget Jesus the Saviour. Vitalian wrote to Oswy, and -sent him--not copies of the Holy Scriptures (which were already -becoming scarce at Rome), but--relics of the Saints Peter, John, -Lawrence, Gregory, and Pancratius; and being in an especial manner -desirous of rewarding Queen Eanfeld, to whom with Wilfrid belonged the -glory of this work, he offered her a cross, made, as he assured her, -out of the chains of St. Peter and St. Paul.[85] "Delay not," said the -pope in conclusion, "to reduce all your island under Jesus Christ," or -in other words, under the bishop of Rome. - - [84] Quis enim audiens hæc suavia non lætetur? Ibid. - - [85] Conjugi, nostræ spirituali filiæ, crucem...... (Beda, lib. iii. - cap. xxix.) To your consort, our spiritual daughter, a cross..... - -The essential thing, however, was to send an archbishop from Rome to -Britain; but Wighard was dead, and no one seemed willing to undertake -so long a journey.[86] - - [86] Minime voluimus nunc reperire pro longinquitate itineris. (Ibid.) - On account of the length of the journey, we have not been able to - find... - -[Sidenote: ARCHBISHOP THEODORE] - -There was not much zeal in the city, of the pontiffs: and the pope was -compelled to look out for a stranger. There happened at that time to -be in Rome a man of great reputation for learning, who had come from -the east, and adopted the rites and doctrines of the Latins in -exchange for the knowledge he had brought them. He was pointed out to -Vitalian as well qualified to be the metropolitan of England. -Theodore, for such was his name, belonging by birth to the churches of -Asia Minor, would be listened to by the Britons in preference to any -other, when he solicited them to abandon their oriental customs. The -Roman pontiff, however, fearful perhaps that he might yet entertain -some leaven of his former Greek doctrines, gave him as companion, or -rather as overseer, a zealous African monk named Adrian.[87] - - [87] Ut diligenter attenderet, ne quid ille contrarium veritati, - fidei. Græcorum more, in ecclesiam cui præesset introduceret. (Beda, - lib. iv. cap. i.) That he should constantly attend him, lest after the - manner of the Greeks, he should introduce any thing contrary to the - true faith into the church over which he presided. - -Theodore began the great crusade against British Christianity, and -endeavouring to show the sincerity of his conversion by his zeal, he -traversed all England in company with Adrian,[88] every where imposing -on the people that ecclesiastical supremacy to which Rome is indebted -for her political supremacy. The superiority of character which -distinguished Saint Peter, Theodore transformed into a superiority of -office. For the jurisdiction of Christ and his word, he substituted -that of the bishop of Rome and of his decrees. He insisted on the -necessity of ordination by bishops who, in an unbroken chain, could -trace back their authority to the apostles themselves. The British -still maintained the validity of their consecration; but the number -was small of those who understood that pretended successors of the -apostles, who sometimes carry Satan in their hearts, are not true -ministers of Christ; that the one thing needful for the church is, -that the apostles themselves (and not their successors only) should -dwell in its bosom by their word, by their teaching, and by the Divine -Comforter who shall be with it for ever and ever. - - [88] Peragrata insula tota, rectum vivendi ordinem disseminabat. - (Ibid. cap. ii.) He visited the whole island, and taught the right - rule of life. - -[Sidenote: DISCORD IN THE CHURCH.] - -The grand defection now began: the best were sometimes the first to -yield. When Theodore met Cedda, who had been consecrated by a bishop -who had himself received ordination from the elders of Iona, he said -to him: "You have not been regularly ordained." Cedda, instead of -standing up boldly for the truth, gave way to a carnal modesty, and -replied: "I never thought myself worthy of the episcopate, and am -ready to lay it down."--"No," said Theodore, "you shall remain a -bishop, but I will consecrate you anew according to the catholic -ritual."[89] The British minister submitted. Rome triumphant felt -herself strong enough to deny the imposition of hands of the elders of -Iona, which she had hitherto recognised. The most stedfast believers -took refuge in Scotland. - - [89] Cum Ceadda Episcopum argueret non fuisse rite consecratum, ipse - (Theodorus) ordinationem, ejus denuo catholica ratione consummavit. - (Beda, lib. iv. cap. ii.) When he charged Cedda with not being a - regularly ordained bishop, he (Theodore) himself completed his - ordination after the catholic manner. - -In this manner a church in some respects deficient, but still a church -in which the religious element held the foremost place, was succeeded -by another in which the clerical element predominated. This was soon -apparent: questions of authority and precedence, hitherto unknown -among the British Christians, were now of daily occurrence. Wilfrid, -who had fixed his residence at York, thought that no one deserved -better than he to be primate of all England; and Theodore on his part -was irritated at the haughty tone assumed by this bishop. During the -life of Oswy, peace was maintained, for Wilfrid was his favourite; but -ere long that prince fell ill; and, terrified by the near approach of -death, he vowed that if he recovered he would make a pilgrimage to -Rome and there end his days.[90] "If you will be my guide to the city -of the apostles," he said to Wilfrid, "I will give you a large sum of -money." But his vow was of no avail: Oswy died in the spring of the -year 670 A.D. - - [90] Ut si ab infirmitate salvaretur, etiam Romam venire, ibique ad - loca sancta vitam finire. Beda, lib. iv. cap. ii. - -[Sidenote: WILFRED'S DISGRACE AND END.] - -The _Witan_ set aside Prince Alfred, and raised his youngest brother -Egfrid to the throne. The new monarch, who had often been offended by -Wilfrid's insolence, denounced this haughty prelate to the archbishop. -Nothing could be more agreeable to Theodore. He assembled a council at -Hertford, before which the chief of his converts were first summoned, -and presenting to them, not the holy scripture but the _canons of the -Romish church_,[91] he received their solemn oaths: such was the -religion then taught in England. But this was not all. "The diocese of -our brother Wilfrid is so extensive," said the primate, "that there is -room in it for four bishops." They were appointed accordingly. Wilfrid -indignantly appealed from the primate and the king to the pope. "Who -converted England, who, if not I? ... and it is thus I am -rewarded!"... Not allowing himself to be checked by the difficulties -of the journey, he set out for Rome, attended by a few monks, and Pope -Agathon assembling a council (679), the Englishman presented his -complaint, and the pontiff declared the destitution to be illegal. -Wilfrid immediately returned to England, and haughtily presented the -pope's decree to the king. But Egfrid, who was not of a disposition to -tolerate these transalpine manners, far from restoring the see, cast -the prelate into prison, and did not release him until the end of the -year, and then only on condition that he would immediately quit -Northumbria. - - [91] Quibus statim protuli eundem librum canonum. (Ibid. cap. v.) To - whom I straightway presented the same book of canons. - -Wilfrid--for we must follow even to the end of his life that -remarkable man, who exercised so great an influence over the destinies -of the English church--Wilfrid was determined to be a bishop at any -cost. The kingdom of Sussex was still pagan; and the deposed prelate, -whose indefatigable activity we cannot but acknowledge, formed the -resolution of winning a bishopric, as other men plan the conquest of a -kingdom. He arrived in Sussex during a period of famine, and having -brought with him a number of nets, he taught the people the art of -fishing, and thus gained their affections. Their king Edilwalch had -been baptized, his subjects now followed his example, and Wilfrid was -placed at the head of the church. But he soon manifested the -disposition by which he was animated: he furnished supplies of men and -money to Ceadwalla, king of Wessex, and this cruel chieftain made a -fierce inroad into Sussex, laying it waste, and putting to death -Edilwalch, the prelate's benefactor. The career of the turbulent -bishop was not ended. King Egfrid died, and was succeeded by his -brother Alfred, whom Wilfrid had brought up, a prince fond of learning -and religion, and emulous of the glory of his uncle Oswald. The -ambitious Wilfrid hastened to claim his see of York, by acquiescing in -the partition; it was restored to him, and he forthwith began to -plunder others to enrich himself. A council begged him to submit to -the decrees of the church of England; he refused, and having lost the -esteem of the king, his former pupil, he undertook, notwithstanding -his advanced years, a third journey to Rome. Knowing how popes are -won, he threw himself at the pontiff's feet, exclaiming that "the -suppliant bishop Wilfrid, the humble slave of the servant of God, -implored the favour of our most blessed lord, the pope universal." The -bishop could not restore his creature to his see, and the short -remainder of Wilfrid's life was spent in the midst of the riches his -cupidity had so unworthily accumulated. - -Yet he had accomplished the task of his life: all England was -subservient to the papacy. The names of _Oswy_ and of _Wilfrid_ should -be inscribed in letters of mourning in the annals of Great Britain. -Posterity has erred in permitting them to sink into oblivion; for they -were two of the most influential and energetic men that ever -flourished in England. Still this very forgetfulness is not wanting in -generosity. The grave in which the liberty of the church lay buried -for nine centuries is the only monument--a mournful one indeed--that -should perpetuate their memory. - -[Sidenote: ADAMNAN.] - -But Scotland was still free, and to secure the definitive triumph of -Rome, it was necessary to invade that virgin soil, over which the -standard of the faith had floated for so many years. - -Adamnan was then at the head of the church of Iona, the first elder of -that religious house. He was virtuous and learned, but weak and -somewhat vain, and his religion had little spirituality. To gain him -was in the eyes of Rome to gain Scotland. A singular circumstance -favoured the plans of those who desired to draw him into the papal -communion. One day during a violent tempest, a ship coming from the -Holy Land, and on board of which was a Gaulish bishop named Arculf, -was wrecked in the neighbourhood of Iona.[92] Arculf eagerly sought an -asylum among the pious inhabitants of that island. Adamnan never grew -tired of hearing the stranger's descriptions of Bethlehem, Jerusalem, -and Golgotha, of the sun-burnt plains over which our Lord had -wandered, and the cleft stone which still lay before the door of the -sepulchre.[93] The elder of Iona, who prided himself on his learning, -noted down Arculf's conversation, and from it composed a description -of the Holy Land. As soon as his book was completed, the desire of -making these wondrous things more widely known, combined with a little -vanity, and perhaps other motives, urged him to visit the court of -Northumberland, where he presented his work to the pious King -Alfred,[94] who, being fond of learning and of the Christian -traditions, caused a number of copies of it to be made. - - [92] Vi tempestatis in occidentalia Britanniæ littora delatus est. - Beda, lib. v, cap. xvi. - - [93] Lapis qui ad ostium monumenti positus erat, fissus est. (Ibid. - cap. xvii.) The stone which was laid at the door of the sepulchre is - now cleft in two. - - [94] Porrexit autem librum tunc Adamnanus Alfrido regi. Ibid. cap. - xvi. - -[Sidenote: RESISTANCE OF IONA.] - -Nor was this all: the Romish clergy perceived the advantage they might -derive from this imprudent journey. They crowded round the elder; they -showed him all the pomp of their worship, and said to him: "Will you -and your friends, who live at the very extremity of the world, set -yourselves in opposition to the observances of the universal -church?"[95] The nobles of the court flattered the author's self-love, -and invited him to their festivities, while the king loaded him with -presents. The free presbyter of Britain became a priest of Rome, and -Adamnan returned to Iona to betray his church to his new masters. But -it was all to no purpose: Iona would not give way.[96] He then went to -hide his shame in Ireland, where having brought a few individuals to -the Romish uniformity, he took courage and revisited Scotland. But -that country, still inflexible, repelled him with indignation.[97] - - [95] Ne contra universalem ecclesiæ morem, cum suis paucissimis et in - extremo mundi angulo positis, vivere præsumeret. Beda, lib. v, cap. - xvi. - - [96] Curavit suos ad eum veritatis calcem producere, nec voluit. Beda, - lib. v. cap. xvi. - - [97] Nec tamen perficere quod conabatur posset. Ibid. The conversions - of which abbot Ceolfrid speaks in chap. xxii. are probably those - effected in Ireland, the word Scotia being at this period frequently - applied to that country. - -When Rome found herself unable to conquer by the priest, she had -recourse to the prince, and her eyes were turned to Naitam, king of -the Picts. "How much more glorious it would be for you," urged the -Latin priests, "to belong to the powerful church of the universal -pontiff of Rome, than to a congregation superintended by miserable -elders! The Romish church is a monarchy, and ought to be the church of -every monarch. The Roman ceremonial accords with the pomp of royalty, -and its temples are palaces." The prince was convinced by the last -argument. He despatched messengers to Ceolfrid, the abbot of an -English convent, begging him to send him _architects_ capable of -building a church _after the Roman pattern_[98]--of stone and not of -wood. Architects, majestic porches, lofty columns, vaulted roofs, -gilded altars, have often proved the most influential of Rome's -missionaries. The builder's art, though in its earliest and simplest -days, was more powerful than the Bible. Naitam, who, by submitting to -the pope thought himself the equal of Clovis and Clotaire, assembled -the nobles of his court and the pastors of his church, and thus -addressed them: "I recommend all the clergy of my kingdom to receive -the tonsure of Saint Peter."[99] Then without delay (as Bede informs -us) this important revolution was accomplished by royal -authority.[100] He sent agents and letters into every province, and -caused all the ministers and monks to receive the circular tonsure -according to the Roman fashion.[101] It was the mark that popery -stamped, not on the forehead, but on the crown. A royal proclamation -and a few clips of the scissors placed the Scotch, like a flock of -sheep, beneath the crook of the shepherd of the Tiber. - - [98] Architectos sibi mitti petiit qui juxta morem Romanorum ecclesiam - facerent. Beda, lib. v. cap. xxii. - - [99] Et hanc accipere tonsuram, omnes qui in meo regno sunt clericos - decerno. Ibid. - - [100] Nec mora, quæ? dixerat regia auctoritate perfecit. Ibid. - - [101] Per universas Pictorum provincias....tondebantur omnes in - coronam ministri altaris ac monachi. (Ibid.) Throughout all the - provinces of the Picts ... all the ministers of the altar and monks - had the crown shorn. - -[Sidenote: EGBERT THE MONK AT IONA.] - -Iona still held out. The orders of the Pictish king, the example of -his subjects, the sight of that Italian power which was devouring the -earth, had shaken some few minds; but the Church still resisted the -innovation. Iona was the last citadel of liberty in the western -world, and popery was filled with anger at that miserable band which -in its remote corner refused to bend before it. Human means appeared -insufficient to conquer this rock: something more was needed, visions -and miracles for example; and these Rome always finds when she wants -them. One day towards the end of the seventh century, an English monk, -named Egbert, arriving from Ireland, appeared before the elders of -Iona, who received him with their accustomed hospitality. He was a man -in whom enthusiastic devotion was combined with great gentleness of -heart, and he soon won upon the minds of these simple believers. He -spoke to them of an external unity, urging that a universality -manifested under different forms was unsuited to the church of Christ. -He advocated the special form of Rome, and for the truly catholic -element which the Christians of Iona had thus far possessed, -substituted a sectarian element. He attacked the traditions of the -British church,[102] and lavishly distributing the rich presents -confided to him by the lords of Ireland and of England,[103] he soon -had reason to acknowledge the truth of the saying of the wise man: _A -gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: -whithersoever it turneth it prospereth_. - - [102] Sedulis exhortationibus inveteratam illam traditionem parentum - eorum. (Beda, lib. v. cap. xxiii.) By his frequent exhortations, he - converted them from that inveterate tradition of their ancestors. - - [103] Pietate largiendi de his quæ a divitibus acceperat, multum - profuit. (Ibid. cap. xxvii.) He did much good by the pious - distribution of those gifts which he had received from the rich. - -[Sidenote: MONKISH VISIONS.] - -Some pious souls, however, still held out in Iona. The enthusiast -Egbert--for such he appears to have been rather than an impostor--had -recourse to other means. He represented himself to be a messenger from -heaven: the saints themselves, said he, have commissioned me to -convert Iona; and then he told the following history to the elders who -stood round him. "About thirty years ago I entered the monastery of -Rathmelfig in Ireland, when a terrible pestilence fell upon it, and of -all the brethren the monk Edelhun and myself were left alone. Attacked -by the plague, and fearing my last hour was come, I rose from my bed -and crept into the chapel.[104] There my whole body trembled at the -recollection of my sins, and my face was bathed with tears. 'O God,' I -exclaimed, 'suffer me not to die until I have redeemed my debt to thee -by an abundance of good works.[105] I returned staggering to the -infirmary, got into bed, and fell asleep. When I awoke, I saw Edelhun -with his eyes fixed on mine. 'Brother Egbert,' said he, 'it has been -revealed to me in a vision that thou shalt receive what thou hast -asked.' On the following night Edelhun died and I recovered. - - [104] Cum se existimaret esse moriturum, egressus est tempore matutino - de cubiculo, et residens solus..... Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxvii. - - [105] Precabatur ne adhuc mori deberet priusquam vel præteritas - negligentias perfectim ex tempore castigaret, vel in bonis es operibus - abundantius exerceret. Ibid. - -"Many years passed away: my repentance and my vigils did not satisfy -me, and wishing to pay my debt, I resolved to go with a company of -monks and preach the blessings of the gospel to the heathens of -Germany. But during the night a blessed saint from heaven appeared to -one of the brethren and said: 'Tell Egbert that he must go to the -monasteries of Columba, for their ploughs do not plough straight, and -he must put them into the right furrow.'[106] I forbade this brother -to speak of his vision, and went on board a ship bound for Germany. We -were waiting for a favourable wind, when, of a sudden, in the middle -of the night, a frightful tempest burst upon the vessel, and drove us -on the shoals. 'For my sake this tempest is upon us,' I exclaimed in -terror; 'God speaks to me as He did to Jonah;' and I ran to take -refuge in my cell. At last I determined to obey the command which the -holy man had brought me. I left Ireland, and came among you, in order -to pay my debt by converting you. And now," continued Egbert, "make -answer to the voice of heaven, and submit to Rome." - - [106] Quia aratra eorum non recte incedunt; oportet autem eum ad - rectum hæc tramitem revocare. Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxvii. - -A ship thrown on shore by a storm was a frequent occurrence on those -coasts, and the dream of a monk, absorbed in the plans of his brother, -was nothing very unnatural. But in those times of darkness, everything -appeared miraculous; phantoms and apparitions had more weight than the -word of God. Instead of detecting the emptiness of these visions by -the falseness of the religion they were brought to support, the elders -of Iona listened seriously to Egbert's narrative. The primitive faith -planted on the rock of Icolmkill was now like a pine-tree tossed by -the winds: but one gust, and it would be uprooted and blown into the -sea. Egbert, perceiving the elders to be shaken, redoubled his -prayers, and even had recourse to threats. "All the west," said he, -"bends the knee to Rome: alone against all, what can you do?" The -Scotch still resisted: obscure and unknown, the last British -Christians contended in behalf of expiring liberty. At length -bewildered--they stumbled and fell. The scissors were brought; they -received the Latin tonsure[107]--they were the pope's. - - [107] Ad ritum tonsuræ canonicum sub figura coronæ perpetuæ. (Beda, - lib. v. cap. xxiii.) To the canonical rite of the tonsure under the - form of a perpetual crown. - -[Sidenote: FALL OF IONA.] - -Thus fell Scotland. Yet there still remained some sparks of grace, and -the mountains of Caledonia long concealed the hidden fire which after -many ages burst forth with such power and might. Here and there a few -independent spirits were to be found who testified against the tyranny -of Rome. In the time of Bede they might be seen "halting in their -paths," (to use the words of the Romish historian,) refusing to join -in the holidays of the pontifical adherents, and pushing away the -hands that were eager to shave their crowns.[108] But the leaders of -the state and of the church had laid down their arms. The contest was -over, after lasting more than a century. British Christianity had in -some degree prepared its own fall, by substituting too often the form -for the faith. The foreign superstition took advantage of this -weakness, and triumphed in these islands by means of royal decrees, -church ornaments, monkish phantoms, and conventual apparitions. At the -beginning of the eighth century the British Church became the serf of -Rome; but an internal struggle was commencing, which did not cease -until the period of the Reformation. - - [108] Sicut a contra Brittones, inveterati et claudicantes a semitis - suis, et capita ferre sine corona prætendunt. (Beda, lib. v, cap. - xxiii.) Even as, on the contrary, the Britons, inveterate and halting - in their paths, expose their heads without a crown. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Clement--Struggle between a Scotchman and an - Englishman--Word of God only--Clement's Success--His - condemnation--Virgil and the Antipodes--John Scotus and - Philosophical Religion--Alfred and the Bible--Darkness and - Popery--William the Conqueror--Wulston at Edward's - Tomb--Struggle between William and Hildebrand--The Pope - yields--Cæsaropapia. - - -The independent Christians of Scotland, who subordinated the authority -of man to that of God, were filled with sorrow as they beheld these -back-slidings: and it was this no doubt which induced many to leave -their homes and fight in the very heart of Europe in behalf of that -Christian liberty which had just expired among themselves. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT AND BONIFACE.] - -At the commencement of the eighth century a great idea took possession -of a pious doctor of the Scottish church named Clement.[109] The -_work of God_ is the very essence of Christianity, thought he, and -this work must be defended against all the encroachments of man. To -human traditionalism he opposed the sole authority of the word of God; -to clerical materialism, a church which is the assembly of the saints; -and to Pelagianism, the sovereignty of grace. He was a man of decided -character and firm faith, but without fanaticism; his heart was open -to the holiest emotions of our nature; he was a husband and a father. -He quitted Scotland and travelled among the Franks, every where -scattering the seeds of the faith. It happened unfortunately that a -man of kindred energy, Winifrid or Boniface of Wessex, was planting -the pontifical Christianity in the same regions. This great -missionary, who possessed in an essential degree the faculty of -organization, aimed at external unity above all things, and when he -had taken the oath of fidelity to Gregory II., he had received from -that pope a collection of the Roman laws. Boniface, henceforth a -docile disciple or rather a fanatical champion of Rome, supported on -the one hand by the pontiff, and on the other by Charles Martel, had -preached to the people of Germany, among some undoubted Christian -truths,--the doctrine of tithes and of papal supremacy. The Englishman -and the Scotchman, representatives of two great systems, were about to -engage in deadly combat in the heart of Europe--in a combat whose -consequences might be incalculable. - - [109] Alter qui dicitur Clemens, genere _Scotus_ est. Bonifacii - epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT'S SUCCESS.] - -Alarmed at the progress made by Clement's evangelical doctrines, -Boniface, archbishop of the German churches, undertook to oppose them. -At first he confronted the Scotchman with the laws of the Roman -church; but the latter denied the authority of these ecclesiastical -canons, and refuted their contents.[110] Boniface then put forward the -decisions of various councils; but Clement replied that if the -decisions of the councils are contrary to holy Scripture, they have no -authority over Christians.[111] The archbishop, astonished at such -audacity, next had recourse to the writings of the most illustrious -fathers of the Latin church, quoting Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory; -but the Scotchman told him, that instead of submitting to the word of -men, he would obey the word of God alone.[112] Boniface with -indignation now introduced the Catholic church which, by its priests -and bishops, all united to the pope, forms an invincible unity; but -to his great surprise his opponent maintained that there only, where -the Holy Spirit dwells, can be found the spouse of Jesus Christ.[113] -Vainly did the archbishop express his horror; Clement was not to be -turned aside from his great idea, either by the clamours of the -followers of Rome, or by the imprudent attacks made on the papacy by -other Christian ministers. Rome had, indeed, other adversaries. A -Gallic bishop named Adalbert, with whom Boniface affected to associate -Clement, one day saw the archbishop complacently exhibiting to the -people some relics of St. Peter which he had brought from Rome; and -being desirous of showing the ridiculous character of these Romish -practices, he distributed among the bystanders his own hair and nails, -praying them to pay these the same honours as Boniface claimed for the -relics of the papacy. Clement smiled, like many others, at Adalbert's -singular argument; but it was not with such arms that he was wont to -fight. Gifted with profound discernment, he had remarked that the -authority of man substituted for the authority of God was the source -of all the errors of Romanism. At the same time he maintained on -predestination what the archbishop called "horrible doctrines, -contrary to the Catholic faith."[114] Clement's character inclines us -to believe that he was favourable to the doctrine of predestination. A -century later the pious Gottschalk was persecuted by one of Boniface's -successors for holding this very doctrine of Augustine's. Thus then -did a Scotchman, the representative of the ancient faith of his -country, withstand almost unaided in the centre of Europe the invasion -of the Romans. But he was not long alone: the great especially, more -enlightened than the common people, thronged around him. If Clement -had succeeded, a Christian church would have been founded on the -continent independent of the papacy. - - [110] Canones ecclesiarum Christi abnegat et refutat. Ibid. - - [111] Synodalia jura spernens. Ibid. - - [112] Tractatus et sermones sanctorum patrum, Hieronymi, Augustini, - Gregorii recusat. Ibid. - - [113] Clemens contra catholicam contendit ecclesiam. Bonifacii - epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - - [114] Multa alia horribilia de prædestinatione Dei, contraria fidei - catholicæ affirmat. Ibid. - -Boniface was confounded. He wished to do in central Europe what his -fellow-countryman Wilfrid had done in England; and at the very moment -he fancied he was advancing from triumph to triumph, victory escaped -from his hands. He turned against this new enemy, and applying to -Charles Martel's sons, Pepin and Carloman, he obtained their consent -to the assembling of a council before which he summoned Clement to -appear. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT CONDEMNED.] - -The bishops, counts, and other notabilities having met at Soissons on -the 2nd March 744, Boniface accused the Scotchman of despising the -laws of Rome, the councils, and the fathers; attacked his marriage, -which he called an adulterous union, and called in question some -secondary points of doctrine. Clement was accordingly excommunicated -by Boniface, at once his adversary, accuser, and judge, and thrown -into prison, with the approbation of the pope and the king of the -Franks.[115] - - [115] Sacerdotio privans, reduci facit in custodiam. Concilium - Romanum. Bonifacii epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - -The Scotchman's cause was every where taken up; accusations were -brought against the German primate, his persecuting spirit was -severely condemned, and his exertions for the triumph of the papacy -were resisted.[116] Carloman yielded to this unanimous movement. The -prison doors were opened, and Clement had hardly crossed the threshold -before he began to protest boldly against human authority in matters -of faith: the word of God is the only rule. Upon this Boniface applied -to Rome for the heretic's condemnation, and accompanied his request by -a silver cup and a garment of delicate texture.[117] The pope decided -in synod that if Clement did not retract his errors, he should be -delivered up to everlasting damnation, and then requested Boniface to -send him to Rome under a sure guard. We here lose all traces of the -Scotchman, but it is easy to conjecture what must have been his fate. - - [116] Propter ista enim, persecutiones et inimicitias et maledictiones - multorum populorum patior. (Ibid.) For on account of these things, I - suffer the persecution and hatred and maledictions of multitudes. - - [117] Poculum argenteum et sindonem unam. Gemuli Ep. Ibid. - -Clement was not the only Briton who became distinguished in this -contest. Two fellow-countrymen, Sampson and Virgil, who preached in -central Europe, were in like manner persecuted by the Church of Rome. -Virgil, anticipating Galileo, dared maintain that there were other men -and another world beneath our feet.[118] He was denounced by Boniface -for this _heresy_, and condemned by the pope, as were other Britons -for the apostolical simplicity of their lives. In 813, certain -Scotchmen who called themselves bishops, says a canon, having appeared -before a council of the Roman church at Châlons, were rejected by the -French prelates, because, like St. Paul, _they worked with their own -hands_. Those enlightened and faithful men were superior to their -time: Boniface and his ecclesiastical materialism were better fitted -for an age in which clerical forms were regarded as the substance of -religion. - - [118] Perversa doctrina......quod alius mundus et alii homines sub - terra sint. (Zachariæ papæ Ep. ad Bonif. Labbei concilia, vi. p. 152.) - A heretical doctrine.....that there is another world and other men - under the earth. - -[Sidenote: DUNS SCOTUS.] - -Even Great Britain, although its light was not so pure, was not -altogether plunged in darkness. The Anglo-Saxons imprinted on their -church certain characteristics which distinguished it from that of -Rome; several books of the Bible were translated into their tongue, -and daring spirits on the one hand, with some pious souls on the -other, laboured in a direction hostile to popery. - -At first we see the dawning of that philosophic rationalism, which -gives out a certain degree of brightness, but which can neither -conquer error nor still less establish truth. In the ninth century -there was a learned scholar in Ireland, who afterwards settled at the -court of Charles the Bald. He was a strange mysterious man, of -profound thought, and as much raised above the doctors of his age by -the boldness of his ideas, as Charlemagne above the princes of his day -by the force of his will. John Scot Erigena--that is, a native of -Ireland and not of Ayr, as some have supposed--was a meteor in the -theological heavens. With a great philosophic genius he combined a -cheerful jesting disposition. One day, while seated at table opposite -to Charles the Bald, the latter archly inquired of him: "What is the -distance between a _Scot_ and a _Sot_?" "The width of the table," was -his ready answer, which drew a smile from the king. While the doctrine -of Bede, Boniface, and even Alcuin was traditional, servile, and, in -one word, Romanist, that of Scot was mystical, philosophic, free, and -daring. He sought for the truth not in the word or in the Church, but -in himself:--"The knowledge of ourselves is the true source of -religious wisdom. Every creature is a theophany--a manifestation of -God; since revelation presupposes the existence of truth, it is this -truth, which is above revelation, with which man must set himself in -immediate relation, leaving him at liberty to show afterwards its -harmony with scripture, and the other theophanies. We must first -employ reason, and then authority. Authority proceeds from reason, and -not reason from authority."[119] Yet this bold thinker, when on his -knees, could give way to aspirations full of piety: "O Lord Jesus," -exclaimed he, "I ask no other happiness of Thee, but to understand, -unmixed with deceitful theories, the word that Thou hast inspired by -thy Holy Spirit! Show thyself to those who ask for Thee alone!" But -while Scot rejected on the one hand certain traditional errors, and in -particular the doctrine of transubstantiation which was creeping into -the church, he was near falling as regards God and the world into -other errors savouring of pantheism.[120] The philosophic rationalism -of the contemporary of Charles the Bald--the strange product of one of -the obscurest periods of history (850)--was destined after the lapse -of many centuries to be taught once more in Great Britain as a modern -invention of the most enlightened age. - - [119] Prius ratione utendum ac deinde auctoritate. Auctoritas ex vera - ratione processit, ratio vero nequaquam ex auctoritate. De div. - prædestin. - - [120] Deum in omnibus esse. (De divisione naturæ, b. 74.) That God is - in all things. - -[Sidenote: ALFRED AND THE BIBLE.] - -While Scot was thus plumping the depths of philosophy, others were -examining their Bibles; and if thick darkness had not spread over -these first glimpses of the dawn, perhaps the Church of Great Britain -might even then have begun to labour for the regeneration of -Christendom. A youthful prince, thirsting for intellectual enjoyments, -for domestic happiness, and for the word of God, and who sought, by -frequent prayer, for deliverance from the bondage of sin, had ascended -the throne of Wessex, in the year 871. Alfred being convinced that -Christianity alone could rightly mould a nation, assembled round him -the most learned men from all parts of Europe, and was anxious that -the English, like the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, should possess the -holy scripture in their own language. He is the real patron of the -biblical work,--a title far more glorious than that of founder of the -university of Oxford. After having fought more than fifty battles by -land and sea, he died while translating the Psalms of David for his -subjects.[121] - - [121] A portion of the law of God translated by Alfred may be found in - Wilkins, Concilia, i. p. 186 et seq. - -After this gleam of light thick darkness once more settled upon Great -Britain. Nine Anglo-Saxon kings ended their days in monasteries; there -was a seminary in Rome from which every year fresh scholars bore to -England the new forms of popery; the celibacy of priests, that cement -of the Romish hierarchy, was established by a bull about the close of -the tenth century; convents were multiplied, considerable possessions -were bestowed on the Church, and the tax of _Peter's pence_, laid at -the pontiff's feet, proclaimed the triumph of the papal system. But a -reaction soon took place: England collected her forces for a war -against the papacy, a war at one time secular and at another -spiritual. William of Normandy, Edward III., Wickliffe, and the -Reformation, are the four ascending steps of protestantism in England. - -[Sidenote: WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] - -A proud, enterprising, and far-sighted prince, the illegitimate son of -a peasant girl of Falaise and Robert the Devil, duke of Normandy, -began a contest with the papacy which lasted until the Reformation. -William the Conqueror, having defeated the Saxons at Hastings in 1066 -A. D., took possession of England, under the benediction of the Roman -pontiff. But the conquered country was destined to conquer its master. -William, who had invaded England in the pope's name, had no sooner -touched the soil of his new kingdom, than he learned to resist Rome, -as if the ancient liberty of the British Church had revived in him. -Being firmly resolved to allow no foreign prince or prelate to possess -in his dominions a jurisdiction independent of his own, he made -preparations for a conquest far more difficult than that of the -Anglo-Saxon kingdom. The papacy itself furnished him with weapons. The -Roman legates prevailed on the king to dispossess the English -episcopacy in a mass, and this was exactly what he wished. To resist -the papacy, William desired to be sure of the submission of the -priests of England. Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, was removed, -and Lanfranc of Pavia, who had been summoned from Bec in Normandy to -fill his place, was commissioned by the Conqueror to bend the clergy -to obedience. This prelate, who was regular in his life, abundant in -almsgiving, a learned disputant, a prudent politician, and a skilful -mediator, finding that he had to choose between his master King -William and his friend the pontiff Hildebrand, gave the prince the -preference. He refused to go to Rome, notwithstanding the threats of -the pope, and applied himself resolutely to the work the king had -intrusted to him. The Saxons sometimes resisted the Normans, as the -Britons had resisted the Saxons; but the second struggle was less -glorious than the first. A synod at which the king was present having -met in the abbey of Westminster, William commanded Wulston, bishop of -Worcester, to give up his crosier to him. The old man rose, animated -with holy fervour: "O king," he said, "from a better man than you I -received it, and to him only will I return it."[122] Unhappily this -"better man" was not Jesus Christ. Then approaching the tomb of Edward -the Confessor, he continued: "O my master, it was you who compelled me -to assume this office; but now behold a new king and a new primate who -promulgate new laws. Not unto them, O master, but unto you, do I -resign my crosier and the care of my flock." With these words Wulston -laid his pastoral staff on Edward's tomb. On the sepulchre of the -confessor perished the liberty of the Anglo-Saxon hierarchy. The -deprived Saxon bishops were consigned to fortresses or shut up in -convents. - - [122] Divino animi ardore repente inflammatus, regi inquit: Melior te - his me ornavit cui et reddam. Wilkins, Concilia, i, 367. - -[Sidenote: STRUGGLE BETWEEN WILLIAM AND HILDEBRAND.] - -The Conqueror being thus assured of the obedience of the bishops, put -forward the supremacy of the sword in opposition to that of the pope. -He nominated directly to all vacant ecclesiastical offices, filled his -treasury with the riches of the churches, required that all priests -should make oath to him, forbade them to excommunicate his officers -without his consent, not even for incest, and declared that all -synodal decisions must be countersigned by him. "I claim," said he to -the archbishop one day, raising his arms towards heaven, "I claim to -hold in this hand all the pastoral staffs in my kingdom."[123] -Lanfranc was astonished at this daring speech, but prudently kept -silent,[124] for a time at least. Episcopacy connived at the royal -pretensions. - - [123] Respondit rex et dixit se velle omnes baculos pastorales Angliæ - in manu sus tenere. Script. Anglic. Lond. 1652, fol. p. 1327. - - [124] Lanfranc ad hæc miratus est, sed propter majores ecclesiæ - Christi utilitates, quas sine rege perficere non potuit, ad tempus - _siluit_. Ibid. - -Will Hildebrand, the most inflexible of popes, bend before William? -The king was earnest in his desire to enslave the Church to the State; -the pope to enslave the State to the Church: the collision of these -two mighty champions threatened to be terrible. But the haughtiest of -pontiffs was seen to yield as soon as he felt the mail-clad hand of -the Conqueror, and to shrink unresistingly before it. The pope filled -all Christendom with confusion, that he might deprive princes of the -right of investiture to ecclesiastical dignities: William would not -permit him to interfere with that question in England, and Hildebrand -submitted. The king went even farther: the pope, wishing to enslave -the clergy, deprived the priests of their lawful wives; William got a -decree passed by the counsel of Winchester in 1076 to the effect that -the married priests living in castles and towns should not be -compelled to put away their wives.[125] This was too much: Hildebrand -summoned Lanfranc to Rome, but William forbade him to go. "Never did -king, not even a pagan," exclaimed Gregory, "attempt against the holy -see what this man does not fear to carry out!"[126].... To console -himself, he demanded payment of the _Peter's pence_, and an oath of -fidelity. William sent the money, but refused the homage; and when -Hildebrand saw the tribute which the king had paid, he said bitterly: -"What value can I set on money which is contributed with so little -honour!"[127] William forbade his clergy to recognise the pope, or to -publish a bull without the royal approbation, which did not prevent -Hildebrand from styling him "the pearl of princes."[128] "It is -true," said he to his legate, "that the English king does not behave -in certain matters so religiously as we could desire.... Yet beware of -exasperating him.... We shall win him over to God and St. Peter more -surely by mildness and reason than by strictness or severity."[129] In -this manner the pope acted like the archbishop--_siluit_: he was -silent. It is for feeble governments that Rome reserves her energies. - - [125] Sacerdotes vero in castellis vel in vicis habitantes habentes - uxores, non cogantur ut dimittant. Wilkins, Concilia, i. p. 367. - - [126] Nemo enim omnium regum, etiam paganorum.... Greg. lib vii. Ep. - i. ad Hubert. - - [127] Pecunias sine honore tributas, quanti pretii habeam. Ibid. - - [128] Gemma principum esse meruisti. Greg. lib. vii. Epp. xxiii. ad - Gulielm. - - [129] Facilius lenitatis dulcedine ac rationis ostensione, quam - austeritate vel rigore justitiæ. Ibid. Ep. v. ad Hugonem. - -[Sidenote: CÆSAROPAPIA.] - -The Norman kings, desirous of strengthening their work, constructed -Gothic cathedrals in the room of wooden churches, in which they -installed their soldier-bishops, as if they were strong fortresses. -Instead of the moral power and the humble crook of the shepherd, they -gave them secular power and a staff. The religious episcopate was -succeeded by a political one. William Rufus went even to greater -lengths than his father. Taking advantage of the schism which divided -the papacy, he did without a pope for ten years, leaving abbeys, -bishoprics, and even Canterbury vacant, and scandalously squandering -their revenues. Cæsaropapia (which transforms a king into a pope) -having thus attained its greatest excess, a sacerdotal reaction could -not fail to take place. - -The papacy is about to rise up again in England, and royalty to -decline--two movements which are always found combined in Great -Britain. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Anselm's Firmness--Becket's Austerity--The King - scourged--John becomes the Pope's Vassal--Collision between - Popery and Liberty--The Vassal King ravages his - Kingdom--Religion of the Senses and Superstition. - - -We are now entering upon a new phase of history. Romanism is on the -point of triumphing by the exertions of learned men, energetic -prelates, and princes in whom extreme imprudence was joined with -extreme servility. This is the era of the dominion of popery, and we -shall see it unscrupulously employing the despotism by which it is -characterized. - -[Sidenote: ANSELM.] - -A malady having occasioned some degree of remorse in the king, he -consented to fill up the vacancy in the archiepiscopal see. And now -Anselm first appears in England. He was born in an Alpine valley, at -the town of Aosta in Piedmont. Imbibing the instructions of his pious -mother Ermenberga, and believing that God's throne was placed on the -summit of the gigantic mountains he saw rising around him, the child -Anselm climbed them in his dreams, and received the bread of heaven -from the hands of the Lord. Unhappily in after-years he recognised -another throne in the church of Christ, and bowed his head before the -chair of St. Peter. This was the man whom William II. summoned in 1093 -to fill the primacy of Canterbury. Anselm, who was then sixty years -old, and engaged in teaching at Bec, refused at first: the character -of Rufus terrified him. "The church of England," said he, "is a plough -that ought to be drawn by two oxen of equal strength. How can you yoke -together an old and timid sheep like me and that wild bull?" At length -he accepted, and concealing a mind of great power under an appearance -of humility, he had hardly arrived in England before he recognised -Pope Urban II., demanded the estates of his see which the treasury had -seized upon, refused to pay the king the sums he demanded, contested -the right of investiture against Henry I., forbade all ecclesiastics -to take the feudal oath, and determined that the priests should -forthwith put away their wives. Scholasticism, of which Anselm was the -first representative, freed the church from the yoke of royalty, but -only to chain it to the papal chair. The fetters were about to be -riveted by a still more energetic hand; and what this great theologian -had begun, a great worldling was to carry on. - -At the hunting parties of Henry II. a man attracted the attention of -his sovereign by his air of frankness, agreeable manners, witty -conversation, and exuberant vivacity. This was Thomas Becket, the son -of an Anglo-Saxon and a Syrian woman. Being both priest and soldier, -he was appointed at the same time by the king prebend of Hastings and -governor of the Tower. When nominated chancellor of England, he showed -himself no less expert than Wilfrid in misappropriating the wealth of -the minors in his charge, and of the abbeys and bishoprics, and -indulged in the most extravagant luxury. Henry, the first of the -Plantagenets, a man of undecided character, having noticed Becket's -zeal in upholding the prerogatives of the crown, appointed him -archbishop of Canterbury. "Now, sire," remarked the primate, with a -smile, "when I shall have to choose between God's favour and yours, -remember it is yours that I shall sacrifice." - -[Sidenote: BECKET OPPOSES THE KING.] - -Becket, who, as keeper of the seals, had been the most magnificent of -courtiers, affected as archbishop to be the most venerable of saints. -He sent back the seals to the king, assumed the robe of a monk, wore -sackcloth filled with vermin, lived on the plainest food, every day -knelt down to wash the feet of the poor, paced the cloisters of his -cathedral with tearful eyes, and spent hours in prayer before the -altar. As champion of the priests, even in their crimes, he took under -his protection one who to the crime of seduction had added the murder -of his victim's father. - -The judges having represented to Henry that during the first eight -years of his reign a hundred murders had been committed by -ecclesiastics, the king in 1164 summoned a council at Clarendon, in -which certain regulations or _constitutions_ were drawn up, with the -object of preventing the encroachments of the hierarchy. Becket at -first refused to sign them, but at length consented, and then withdrew -into solitary retirement to mourn over his fault. Pope Alexander III -released him from his oath; and then began a fierce and long struggle -between the king and the primate. Four knights of the court, catching -up a hasty expression of their master's, barbarously murdered the -archbishop at the foot of the altar in his own cathedral church (A. D. -1170). The people looked upon Becket as a saint: immense crowds came -to pray at his tomb, at which many _miracles_ were worked.[130] "Even -from his grave," said Becket's partizans, "he renders his testimony in -behalf of the papacy." - - [130] In loco passionis et ubi sepultus est, paralytici curantur, coeci - vident, surdi audiunt. (Johan. Salisb. Epp. 286.) In the place of his - suffering and where he was buried, paralytics are cured, the blind - see, and the deaf hear. - -Henry now passed from one extreme to the other. He entered Canterbury -barefooted, and prostrated himself before the martyr's tomb: the -bishops, priests, and monks, to the number of eighty, passed before -him, each bearing a scourge, and struck three or five blows according -to their rank on the naked shoulders of the king. In former ages, so -the priestly fable ran, Saint Peter had scourged an archbishop of -Canterbury: now Rome in sober reality scourges the back of royalty, -and nothing can henceforward check her victorious career. A -Plantagenet surrendered England to the pope, and the pope gave him -authority to subdue Ireland.[131] - - [131] Significasti si quidem nobis, fili carissime, te Hiberniæ - insulam ad subdendum illum populum velle intrare, nos itaque gratum et - acceptum habemus ut pro dilatandis ecclesiæ terminis insulam - ingrediaris. (Adrian IV., Bulla 1154 in Rymer, Acta Publica.) If - indeed you have intimated, dear son, that you wish to invade Ireland - to subdue that people, we are accordingly well pleased, that for the - purpose of extending the bounds of the church, you should invade that - island. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT CHARTER.] - -Rome, who had set her foot on the neck of a king, was destined under -one of the sons of Henry II to set it on the neck of England. John -being unwilling to acknowledge an archbishop of Canterbury illegally -nominated by Pope Innocent III, the latter, more daring than -Hildebrand, laid the kingdom under an interdict. Upon this John -ordered all the prelates and abbots to leave England, and sent a monk -to Spain as ambassador to Mahomet-el-Nasir, offering to turn Mahometan -and to become his vassal. But as Philip Augustus was preparing to -dethrone him, John made up his mind to become a vassal of Innocent, -and not of Mahomet--which was about the same thing to him. On the 15th -May 1213, he laid his crown at the legate's feet, declared that he -surrendered his kingdom of England to the pope, and made oath to him -as to his lord paramount.[132] - - [132] Resignavit coronam suam in manus domini papæ. Matth. Paris, 198 - et 207. - -A national protest then boldly claimed the ancient liberties of the -people. Forty-five barons armed in complete mail, and mounted on their -noble war-horses, surrounded by their knights and servants and about -two thousand soldiers, met at Brackley during the festival of Easter -in 1215, and sent a deputation to Oxford, where the court then -resided. "Here," said they to the king, "is the charter which -consecrates the liberties confirmed by Henry II, and which you also -have solemnly sworn to observe."... "Why do they not demand my crown -also?" said the king in a furious passion, and then with an oath,[133] -he added: "I will not grant them liberties which will make me a -slave." This is the usual language of weak and absolute kings. Neither -would the nation submit to be enslaved. The barons occupied London, -and on the 15th June 1215, the king signed the famous _Magna Charta_ -at Runnymede. The political protestantism of the thirteenth century -would have done but little, however, for the greatness of the nation, -without the religious protestantism of the sixteenth. - - [133] Cum juramento furibunds. Ibid. 213. - -[Sidenote: POPERY AND LIBERTY IN COLLISION.] - -This was the first time that the papacy came into collision with -modern liberty. It shuddered in alarm, and the shock was violent. -Innocent swore (as was his custom), and then declared the Great -Charter null and void, forbade the king under pain of anathema to -respect the liberties which he had confirmed,[134] ascribed the -conduct of the barons to the instigation of Satan, and ordered them to -make apology to the king, and to send a deputation to Rome to learn -from the mouth of the pope himself what should be the government of -England. This was the way in which the papacy welcomed the first -manifestations of liberty among the nations, and made known the model -system under which it claimed to govern the whole world. - - [134] Sub intimatione anathematis prohibentes ne dictus rex eam - observare præsumat. Matth. Paris, 224. - -The priests of England supported the anathemas pronounced by their -chief. They indulged in a thousand jeers and sarcasms against John -about the charter he had accepted:--"This is the twenty-fifth king of -England--not a king, not even a kingling--but the disgrace of kings--a -king without a kingdom--the fifth wheel of a waggon--the last of -kings, and the disgrace of his people!--I would not give a straw for -him.... _Fuisti rex, nunc fex_ (once a king, but now a clown)." John, -unable to support his disgrace, groaned and gnashed his teeth and -rolled his eyes, tore sticks from the hedges and gnawed them like a -maniac, or dashed them into fragments on the ground.[135] - - [135] Arreptos baculos et stipites more furiosi nunc corrodere, nunc - corrosos confringere. Ibid. 222. - -The barons, unmoved alike by the insolence of the pope and the despair -of the king, replied that they would maintain the charter. Innocent -excommunicated them. "Is it the pope's business to regulate temporal -matters?" asked they. "By what right do vile usurers and foul -simoniacs domineer over our country and excommunicate the whole -world?" - -[Sidenote: RELIGION OF THE SENSES.] - -The pope soon triumphed throughout England. His vassal John having -hired some bands of adventurers from the continent, traversed at their -head the whole country from the Channel to the Forth. These -mercenaries carried desolation in their track: they extorted money, -made prisoners, burnt the barons' castles, laid waste their parks, and -dishonoured their wives and daughters.[136] The king would sleep in a -house, and the next morning set fire to it. Blood-stained assassins -scoured the country during the night, the sword in one hand and the -torch in the other, marking their progress by murder and -conflagration.[137] Such was the enthronization of popery in England. -At this sight the barons, overcome by emotion, denounced both the king -and the pope: "Alas! poor country!" they exclaimed. "Wretched -England!... And thou, O pope, a curse light upon thee!"[138] - - [136] Uxores et filias suas ludibrio expositas. Ibid. 231. - - [137] Discurrebant sicarii cæde humana cruentati, noctivagi, - incendiarii, strictis ensibus. Ibid. - - [138] Sic barones lacrymantes et lamentantes regem et papam - maledixerunt. Matth. Paris, 234. - -The curse was not long delayed. As the king was returning from some -more than usually successful foray, and as the royal waggons were -crossing the sands of the Wash, the tide rose and all sank in the -abyss.[139] This accident filled John with terror: it seemed to him -that the earth was about to open and swallow him up; he fled to a -convent, where he drank copiously of cider, and died of drunkenness -and fright.[140] - - [139] Aperta est in mediis fluctibus terra et voraginis abyssus, quæ - absorbuerunt universa cum hominibus et equis. Ibid. 242. - - [140] Novi ciceris potatione nimis repletus. Ibid. ad ann. 1216. - -Such was the end of the pope's vassal--of his armed missionary in -Great Britain. Never had so vile a prince been the involuntary -occasion to his people of such great benefits. From his reign England -may date her enthusiasm for liberty and her dread of popery. - -During this time a great transformation had been accomplished. -Magnificent churches and the marvels of religious art, with ceremonies -and a multitude of prayers and chantings dazzled the eyes, charmed the -ears, and captivated the senses; but testified also to the absence of -every strong moral and Christian disposition, and the predominance of -worldliness in the church. At the same time the adoration of images -and relics, saints, angels, and Mary the mother of God, the worships -of _latria_, _doulia_, and _hyperdoulia_,[141] the real Mediator -transported from the throne of mercy to the seat of vengeance, at once -indicated and kept up among the people that ignorance of truth and -absence of grace which characterize popery. All these errors tended to -bring about a reaction: and in fact the march of the Reformation may -now be said to begin. - - [141] The Romish church distinguishes three kinds of worship: - _latria_, that paid to God; _doulia_, to saints; and _hyperdoulia_, to - the Virgin Mary. - -England had been brought low by the papacy: it rose up again by -resisting Rome. Grostête, Bradwardine, and Edward III, prepared the -way for Wickliffe, and Wickliffe for the Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Reaction--Grostete--Principles of Reform--Contest with the - Pope--Sewal--Progress of the Nation--Opposition to the - Papacy--Conversion of Bradwardine--Grace is Supreme--Edward - III--Statutes of _Provisors_ and _Præmunire_. - - -[Sidenote: REACTION.] - -In the reign of Henry III, son of John, while the king was conniving -at the usurpations of Rome, and the pope ridiculing the complaints of -the barons, a pious and energetic man, of comprehensive understanding, -was occupied in the study of the Holy Scriptures in their original -languages, and bowing to their sovereign authority. Robert Grostête -(Greathead or _Capito_) was born of poor parents in the county of -Lincolnshire, and being raised to the see of Lincoln in 1235, when he -was sixty years of age, he boldly undertook to reform his diocese, one -of the largest in England. Nor was this all. At the very time when the -Roman pontiff, who had hitherto been content to be called the vicar of -St. Peter, proclaimed himself the vicar of God,[142] and was ordering -the English bishops to find benefices for _three hundred Romans_,[143] -Grostête was declaring that "to follow a pope who rebels against the -will of Christ, is to separate from Christ and his body; and if ever -the time should come when all men follow an erring pontiff, then will -be the great apostasy. Then will true Christians refuse to obey, and -Rome will be the cause of an unprecedented schism."[144] Thus did he -predict the Reformation. Disgusted at the avarice of the monks and -priests, he visited Rome to demand a reform. "Brother," said Innocent -IV to him with some irritation, "_Is thine eye evil, because I am -good?_" The English bishop exclaimed with a sigh: "O money, money! how -great is thy power--especially in this court of Rome!" - - [142] Non puri hominis sed veri Dei vicem gerit in terris. (Innocent - III. Epp. lib. vi. i. 335.) He wields on earth the power, not of a - holy man but of the true God. - - [143] Ut trecentis Romanis in primis beneficiis vacantibus - providerent. Matth. Paris, ann. 1240. - - [144] Absit et quod.....hæc sedes et in ea præsidentes causa sint - schismatis apparentis. Ortinnus Gratius, ed. Brown, fol. 251. - -[Sidenote: CONTEST WITH THE POPE.] - -A year had scarcely elapsed before Innocent commanded the bishop to -give a canonry in Lincoln cathedral to his infant nephew. Grostête -replied: "After the sin of Lucifer there is none more opposed to the -Gospel than that which ruins souls by giving them a faithless -minister. Bad pastors are the cause of unbelief, heresy, and -disorder. Those who introduce them into the church are little better -than antichrists, and their culpability is in proportion to their -dignity. Although the chief of the angels should order me to commit -such a sin, I would refuse. My obedience forbids me to obey; and -therefore I rebel."[145] - - [145] Obedienter non obedio sed contradico et rebello. Matth. Paris, - ad. ann. 1252. - -Thus spoke a bishop to his pontiff: his obedience to the word of God -forbade him to obey the pope. This was the principle of the -Reformation. "Who is this old driveller that in his dotage dares to -judge of my conduct?" exclaimed Innocent, whose wrath was appeased by -the intervention of certain cardinals. Grostête on his dying bed -professed still more clearly the principles of the reformers; he -declared that a heresy was "an opinion conceived by carnal motives, -_contrary to Scripture_, openly taught and obstinately defended," thus -asserting the authority of Scripture instead of the authority of the -church. He died in peace, and the public voice proclaimed him "a -searcher of the Scriptures, an adversary of the pope, and despiser of -the Romans."[146] Innocent, desiring to take vengeance on his bones, -meditated the exhumation of his body, when one night (says Matthew of -Paris) the bishop appeared before him. Drawing near the pontiff's bed, -he struck him with his crosier, and thus addressed him with terrible -voice and threatening look:[147] "Wretch! the Lord doth not permit -thee to have any power over me. Woe be to thee!" The vision -disappeared, and the pope, uttering a cry as if he had been struck by -some sharp weapon, lay senseless on his couch. Never after did he pass -a quiet night, and pursued by the phantoms of his troubled -imagination, he expired while the palace re-echoed with his lamentable -groans. - - [146] Scripturarum sedulus perscrutator diversarum, Romanorum malleus - et contemptor. (Matth. Paris, vol. ii, p. 876, fol. Lond. 1640.) A - thorough searcher of the various Scriptures, a hammer to and a - despiser of the Romans. Sixteen of his writings (Sermones et epistolæ) - will be found in _Brown_, _app. ad Fasciculum_. - - [147] Nocte apparuit ei episcopos vultu severo, intuitu austero, ac - voce terribili. Ibid. 883. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION TO THE POPE.] - -Grostête was not single in his opposition to the pope. Sewal, -archbishop of York, did the same, and "the more the pope cursed him, -the more the people blessed him."[148]--"Moderate your tyranny," said -the archbishop to the pontiff, "for the Lord said to Peter, _Feed_ my -sheep, and not _shear them_, _flay them_, or _devour them_."[149] The -pope smiled and let the bishop speak, because the king allowed the -pope to act. The power of England, which was constantly increasing, -was soon able to give more force to these protests. - - [148] Quanto magis a papa maledicebatur, tanto plus a populo - benedicebatur. Ibid. ad ann. 1257. - - [149] _Pasce_ oves meas, non _tonde_, non _excoria_, non _eviscera_, - vel devorando _consume_. Ibid. ad ann. 1258. - -The nation was indeed growing in greatness. The madness of John, which -had caused the English people to lose their continental possessions, -had given them more unity and power. The Norman kings, being compelled -to renounce entirely the country which had been their cradle, had at -length made up their minds to look upon England as their home. The two -races, so long hostile, had melted one into the other. Free -institutions were formed; the laws were studied; and colleges were -founded. The language began to assume a regular form, and the ships of -England were already formidable at sea. For more than a century the -most brilliant victories attended the British armies. A king of France -was brought captive to London: an English king was crowned at Paris. -Even Spain and Italy felt the valour of these proud islanders. The -English people took their station in the foremost rank. Now the -character of a nation is never raised by halves. When the mighty ones -of the earth were seen to fall before her, England could no longer -crawl at the feet of an Italian priest. - -At no period did her laws attack the papacy with so much energy. At -the beginning of the fourteenth century an Englishman having brought -to London one of the pope's bulls--a bull of an entirely spiritual -character, it was an excommunication--was prosecuted as a traitor to -the crown, and would have been hanged, had not the sentence, at the -chancellor's intercession, been changed to perpetual banishment.[150] -The _common law_ was the weapon the government then opposed to the -papal bulls. Shortly afterwards, in 1307, king Edward ordered the -sheriffs to resist the arrogant pretensions of the Romish agents. But -it is to two great men in the fourteenth century equally illustrious, -the one in the state, and the other in the church, that England is -indebted for the development of the protestant element in England. - - [150] Fuller's Church History, cent. xiv, p. 90, fol. Lond. 1655. - -[Sidenote: BRADWARDINE'S CONVERSION.] - -In 1346, an English army, 34,000 strong, met face to face at Crecy a -French army of 100,000 fighting men. Two individuals of very different -characters were in the English host. One of them was King Edward III, -a brave and ambitious prince, who, being resolved to recover for the -royal authority all its power, and for England all her glory, had -undertaken the conquest of France. The other was his chaplain -Bradwardine, a man of so humble a character that his meekness was -often taken for stupidity. And thus it was that on his receiving the -pallium at Avignon from the hands of the pope on his elevation to the -see of Canterbury, a jester mounted on an ass rode into the hall and -petitioned the pontiff to make him _primate_ instead of that imbecile -priest. - -Bradwardine was one of the most pious men of the age, and to his -prayers his sovereign's victories were ascribed. He was also one of -the greatest geniuses of his time, and occupied the first rank among -astronomers, philosophers, and mathematicians.[151] The pride of -science had at first alienated him from the doctrine of the cross. But -one day while in the house of God and listening to the reading of the -Holy Scriptures, these words struck his ear: _It is not of him that -willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy_. His -ungrateful heart, he tells us, at first rejected this humiliating -doctrine with aversion. Yet the word of God had laid its powerful hold -upon him; he was converted to the truths he had despised, and -immediately began to set forth the doctrines of eternal grace at -Merton College, Oxford. He had drunk so deep at the fountain of -Scripture that the traditions of men concerned him but little, and he -was so absorbed in adoration in spirit and in truth, that he remarked -not outward superstitions. His lectures were eagerly listened to and -circulated through all Europe. The grace of God was their very -essence, as it was of the Reformation. With sorrow Bradwardine beheld -Pelagianism every where substituting a mere religion of externals for -inward Christianity, and on his knees he struggled for the salvation -of the church. "As in the times of old four hundred and fifty prophets -of Baal strove against a single prophet of God; so now, O Lord," he -exclaimed, "the number of those who strive with Pelagius against thy -free grace cannot be counted.[152] They pretend not to receive grace -freely, but to buy it.[153] The will of men (they say) should precede, -and thine should follow: theirs is the mistress, and thine the -servant.[154]... Alas! nearly the whole world is walking in error in -the steps of Pelagius.[155] Arise, O Lord, and judge thy cause." And -the Lord did arise, but not until after the death of this pious -archbishop, in the days of Wickliffe, who, when a youth, listened to -the lectures at Merton College, and especially in the days of Luther -and of Calvin. His contemporaries gave him the name of the _profound -doctor_. - - [151] His Arithmetic and Geometry have been published; but I am not - aware if that is the case with his Astronomical Tables. - - [152] Quot, Domine, hodie cum Pelagio pro libero arbitrio contra - gratuitam gratiam tuam pugnant? De causa Dei adversus Pelagium, libri - tres, Lond. 1618. - - [153] Nequaquam gratuita sed vendita. Ibid. - - [154] Suam voluntatem præire ut dominam, tuam subsequi ut ancillam. - Ibid. - - [155] Totus pæne mundus post Pelagium abiit in errorem. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: STATUTES OF PROVISORS AND PRÆMUNIRE.] - -If Bradwardine walked truthfully in the path of faith, his illustrious -patron Edward advanced triumphantly in the field of policy. Pope -Clement IV having decreed that the first two vacancies in the Anglican -church should be conferred on two of his cardinals: "France is -becoming _English_," said the courtiers to the king; "and by way of -compensation, England is becoming _Italian_." Edward, desirous of -guaranteeing the religious liberties of England, passed with the -consent of parliament in 1350 the statute of _provisors_, which made -void every ecclesiastical appointment contrary to the rights of the -king, the chapters, or the patrons. Thus the privileges of the -chapters and the liberty of the English Catholics, as well as the -independence of the crown, were protected against the invasion of -foreigners; and imprisonment or banishment for life was denounced upon -all offenders against the law. - -This bold step alarmed the pontiff. Accordingly, three years after, -the king having nominated one of his secretaries to the see of -Durham--a man without any of the qualities becoming a bishop--the pope -readily confirmed the appointment. When some one expressed his -astonishment at this, the pope made answer: "If the king of England -had nominated _an ass_, I would have accepted him." This may remind us -of the _ass_ of Avignon; and it would seem that this humble animal at -that time played a significant part in the elections to the papacy. -But be that as it may, the pope withdrew his pretensions. "Empires -have their term," observes an historian at this place; "when once they -have reached it, they halt, they retrograde, they fall."[156] - - [156] Habent imperia suos terminos; huc cum venerint, sistunt, - retrocedunt, ruunt. Fuller's Hist. cent. xiv, p. 116. - -The term seemed to be drawing nearer every day. In the reign of Edward -III, between 1343 and 1353, again in 1364, and finally under Richard -II, in 1393, those stringent laws were passed which interdicted all -appeal to the court of Rome, all bulls from the Roman bishop, all -excommunications, etc., in a word, every act infringing on the rights -of the crown; and declared that whoever should bring such documents -into England, or receive, publish, or execute them, should be put out -of the king's protection, deprived of their property, attached in -their persons, and brought before the king in council to undergo their -trial according to the terms of the act. Such was the statute of -_Præmunire_.[157] - - [157] The most natural meaning of the word _præmunire_ (given more - particularly to the act of 1393) seems to be that suggested by Fuller, - cent. xiv, (p. 148): to fence and fortify the regal power from foreign - assault. See the whole bill, _Ibid._ p. 145-147. - -Great was the indignation of the Romans at the news of this law: "If -the statute of _mortmain_ put the pope into a sweat," says Fuller, -"this of _præmunire_ gave him a fit of fever." One pope called it an -"execrable statute,"--"a horrible crime."[158] Such are the terms -applied by the pontiffs to all that thwarts their ambition. - - [158] Execrabile statutum....foedum et turpe facinus. Martin V to the - Duke of Bedford, Fuller, cent. xiv. p. 148. - -[Sidenote: THE TWO WARS.] - -Of the two wars carried on by Edward--the one against the King of -France, and the other against popery--the latter was the most -righteous and important. The benefits which this prince had hoped to -derive from his brilliant victories at Crecy and Poitiers dwindled -away almost entirely before his death; while his struggles with the -papacy, founded as they were on truth, have exerted even to our own -days an indisputable influence on the destinies of Great Britain. Yet -the prayers and the conquests of Bradwardine, who proclaimed in that -fallen age the doctrine of grace, produced effects still greater, not -only for the salvation of many souls, but for the liberty, moral -force, and greatness of England. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - The Mendicant Friars--Their Disorders and Popular - Indignation--Wickliffe--His success--Speeches of the Peers - against the Papal Tribute--Agreement of Bruges--Courtenay - and Lancaster--Wickliffe before the Convocation--Altercation - between Lancaster and Courtenay--Riot--Three Briefs against - Wickliffe--Wickliffe at Lambeth--Mission of the _Poor - Priests_--Their Preachings and Persecutions--Wickliffe and - the Four Regents. - - -Thus in the first half of the fourteenth century, nearly two hundred -years before the Reformation, England appeared weary of the yoke of -Rome. Bradwardine was no more; but a man who had been his disciple was -about to succeed him, and without attaining to the highest functions, -to exhibit in his person the past and future tendencies of the church -of Christ in Great Britain. The English Reformation did not begin with -Henry VIII: the revival of the sixteenth century is but a link in the -chain commencing with the apostles and reaching to us. - -[Sidenote: THE BEGGING FRIARS.] - -The resistance of Edward III to the papacy _without_ had not -suppressed the papacy _within_. The mendicant friars, and particularly -the Franciscans, those fanatical soldiers of the pope, were -endeavouring by pious frauds to monopolize the wealth of the country. -"Every year," said they, "Saint Francis descends from heaven to -purgatory, and delivers the souls of all those who were buried in the -dress of his order." These friars used to kidnap children from their -parents and shut them up in monasteries. They affected to be poor, and -with a wallet on their back, begged with a piteous air from both high -and low; but at the same time they dwelt in palaces, heaped up -treasures, dressed in costly garments, and wasted their time in -luxurious entertainments.[159] The least of them looked upon -themselves as _lords_, and those who wore the doctor's cap considered -themselves _kings_. While they diverted themselves, eating and -drinking at their well-spread tables, they used to send ignorant -uneducated persons in their place to preach fables and legends to -amuse and plunder the people.[160] If any rich man talked of giving -alms to the poor and not to the monks, they exclaimed loudly against -such impiety, and declared with threatening voices: "If you do so we -will leave the country, and return accompanied by a legion of -glittering helmets."[161] Public indignation was at its height. "The -monks and priests of Rome," was the cry, "are eating us away like a -cancer. God must deliver us or the people will perish.... Woe be to -them! the cup of wrath will run over. Men of holy church shall be -despised as carrion, as dogs shall they be cast out in open -places."[162] - - [159] When they have overmuch riches, both in great waste houses and - precious clothes, in great feasts and many jewels and treasures. - Wickliffe's Tracts and Treatises, edited by the Wickliffe Society, p. - 224. - - [160] Ibid, 240. - - [161] Come again with bright heads. Ibid. - - [162] Wickliffe, The Last Age of the Church. - -The arrogance of Rome made the cup run over. Pope Urban V, heedless of -the laurels won by the conqueror at Crecy and Poitiers, summoned -Edward III to recognize him as legitimate sovereign of England, and to -pay as feudal tribute the annual rent of one thousand marcs. In case -of refusal the king was to appear before him at Rome. For thirty-three -years the popes had never mentioned the tribute accorded by John to -Innocent III, and which had always been paid very irregularly. The -conqueror of the Valois was irritated by this insolence on the part of -an Italian bishop, and called on God to avenge England. From Oxford -came forth the avenger. - -[Sidenote: JOHN WICKLIFFE.] - -John Wickliffe, born in 1324, in a little village in Yorkshire, was -one of the students who attended the lectures of the pious Bradwardine -at Merton College. He was in the flower of his age, and produced a -great sensation in the university. In 1348, a terrible pestilence, -which is said to have carried off half the human race, appeared in -England after successively devastating Asia and the continent of -Europe. This visitation of the Almighty sounded like the trumpet of -the judgment-day in the heart of Wickliffe. Alarmed at the thoughts of -eternity, the young man--for he was then only twenty-four years -old--passed days and nights in his cell groaning and sighing, and -calling upon God to show him the path he ought to follow.[163] He -found it in the Holy Scriptures, and resolved to make it known to -others. He commenced with prudence; but being elected in 1361 warden -of Balliol, and in 1365 warden of Canterbury College also, he began to -set forth the doctrine of faith in a more energetic manner. His -biblical and philosophical studies, his knowledge of theology, his -penetrating mind, the purity of his manners, and his unbending -courage, rendered him the object of general admiration. A profound -teacher, like his master, and an eloquent preacher, he demonstrated to -the learned during the course of the week what he intended to preach, -and on Sunday he preached to the people what he had previously -demonstrated. His disputations gave strength to his sermons, and his -sermons shed light upon his disputations. He accused the clergy of -having banished the Holy Scriptures, and required that the authority -of the word of God should be re-established in the church. Loud -acclamations crowned these discussions, and the crowd of vulgar minds -trembled with indignation when they heard these shouts of applause. - - [163] Long debating and deliberating with himself, with many secret - sighs. Fox, Acts and M, i, p. 485, fol. Lond. 1684. - -Wickliffe was forty years old when the papal arrogance stirred England -to its depths. Being at once an able politician and a fervent -Christian, he vigorously defended the rights of the crown against the -Romish aggression, and by his arguments not only enlightened his -fellow-countrymen generally, but stirred up the zeal of several -members of both houses of parliament. - -[Sidenote: THE LORDS AGAINST THE PAPAL TRIBUTE.] - -The parliament assembled, and never perhaps had it been summoned on a -question which excited to so high a degree the emotions of England, -and indeed of Christendom. The debates in the House of Lords were -especially remarkable: all the arguments of Wickliffe were reproduced. -"Feudal _tribute_ is due," said one, "only to him who can grant -feudal _protection_ in return. Now how can the pope wage war to -protect his fiefs?"--"Is it as vassal of the crown or as feudal -superior," asked another, "that the pope demands part of our property? -Urban V will not accept the first of these titles.... Well and good! -but the English people will not acknowledge the second." "Why," said a -third, "was this tribute originally granted? To pay the pope for -absolving John.... His demand, then, is mere simony, a kind of -clerical swindling, which the lords spiritual and temporal should -indignantly oppose."--"No," said another speaker, "England belongs not -to the pope. The pope is but a man, subject to sin; but Christ is the -Lord of lords, and this kingdom is held directly and solely of Christ -alone."[164] Thus spoke the lords inspired by Wickliffe. Parliament -decided unanimously that no prince had the right to alienate the -sovereignty of the kingdom without the consent of the other two -estates, and that if the pontiff should attempt to proceed against the -king of England as his vassal, the nation should rise in a body to -maintain the independence of the crown. - - [164] These opinions are reported by Wickliffe, in a treatise - preserved in the _Selden MSS._ and printed by Mr. J. Lewis, in his - History of Wickliffe, App. No. 30, p. 349. He was present during the - debate; _quam audivi in quodam concilio a dominis secularibus_. As I - heard in a certain consultation among the lords temporal. - -To no purpose did this generous resolution excite the wrath of the -partisans of Rome; to no purpose did they assert that, by the canon -law, the king ought to be deprived of his fief, and, that England now -belonged to the pope: "No," replied Wickliffe, "the canon law has no -force when it is opposed to the word of God." Edward III made -Wickliffe one of his chaplains, and the papacy has ceased from that -hour to lay claim--in explicit terms at least--to the Sovereignty of -England. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE BEFORE THE CONVOCATION.] - -When the pope gave up his temporal he was desirous, at the very least, -of keeping up his ecclesiastical pretensions, and to procure the -repeal of the statutes of _Præmunire_ and _Provisors_. It was -accordingly resolved to hold a conference at Bruges to treat of this -question, and Wickliffe, who had been created doctor of theology two -years before, proceeded thither with the other commissioners in April -1374. They came to an arrangement in 1375 that the king should bind -himself to repeal the penalties denounced against the pontifical -agents, and that the pope should confirm the king's ecclesiastical -presentations.[165] But the nation was not pleased with this -compromise. "The clerks sent from Rome," said the Commons, "are more -dangerous for the kingdom than Jews or Saracens: every papal agent -resident in England, and every Englishman living at the court of Rome, -should be punished with death." Such was the language of the _Good -Parliament_. In the fourteenth century the English nation called a -parliament _good_ which did not yield to the papacy. - - [165] Rymer, vii, p. 33, 83-88. - -Wickliffe, after his return to England, was presented to the rectory -of Lutterworth, and from that time a practical activity was added to -his academic influence. At Oxford he spoke as a master to the young -theologians; in his parish he addressed the people as a preacher and -as a pastor. "The Gospel," said he, "is the only source of religion. -The Roman pontiff is a mere cut-purse,[166] and, far from having the -right to reprimand the whole world, he may be lawfully reproved by his -inferiors, and even by laymen." - - [166] The proud worldly priest of Rome, and the most cursed of - clippers and purse-kervers. Lewis, History of Wickliffe, p. 37. - Oxford, 1820. - -The papacy grew alarmed. Courtenay, son of the Earl of Devonshire, an -imperious but grave priest, and full of zeal for what he believed to -be the truth, had recently been appointed to the see of London. In -parliament he had resisted Wickliffe's patron, John of Gaunt, duke of -Lancaster, third son of Edward III., and head of the house of that -name. The bishop, observing that the doctrines of the reformer were -spreading among the people, both high and low, charged him with -heresy, and summoned him to appear before the convocation assembled in -St Paul's Cathedral. - -[Sidenote: COURTENAY AND LANCASTER.] - -On the 19th February, 1377, an immense crowd, heated with fanaticism, -thronged the approaches to the church and filled its aisles, while the -citizens favourable to the reform remained concealed in their houses. -Wickliffe moved forward, preceded by Lord Percy, marshal of England, -and supported by the Duke of Lancaster, who defended him from purely -political motives. He was followed by four bachelors of divinity, his -counsel, and passed through the hostile multitude who looked upon -Lancaster as the enemy of their liberties, and upon himself as the -enemy of the church. "Let not the sight of these bishops make you -shrink a hair's-breadth in your profession of faith," said the prince -to the doctor. "They are unlearned; and as for this concourse of -people, fear nothing, we are here to defend you."[167] When the -reformer had crossed the threshold of the cathedral, the crowd within -appeared like a solid wall; and, notwithstanding the efforts of the -earl-marshal, Wickliffe and Lancaster could not advance. The people -swayed to and fro, hands were raised in violence, and loud hootings -re-echoed through the building. At length Percy made an opening in the -dense multitude, and Wickliffe passed on. - - [167] Fox, Acts, i, p. 437. fol. Lond. 1684. - -The haughty Courtenay, who had been commissioned by the archbishop to -preside over the assembly, watched these strange movements with -anxiety, and beheld with displeasure the learned doctor accompanied by -the two most powerful men in England. He said nothing to the Duke of -Lancaster, who at that time administered the kingdom, but turning -towards Percy observed sharply: "If I had known, my lord, that you -claimed to be master in this church, I would have taken measures to -prevent your entrance." Lancaster coldly rejoined: "He shall keep such -mastery here, though you say nay." Percy now turned to Wickliffe, who -had remained standing and said: "Sit down and rest yourself." At this -Courtenay gave way to his anger, and exclaimed in a loud tone: "He -must not sit down; criminals stand before their judges." Lancaster, -indignant that a learned doctor of England should be refused a favour -to which his age alone entitled him (for he was between fifty and -sixty) made answer to the bishop: "My lord, you are very arrogant; -take care ... or I may bring down your pride, and not yours only, but -that of all the prelacy in England."[168]--"Do me all the harm you -can," was Courtenay's haughty reply. The prince rejoined with some -emotion: "You are insolent, my lord. You think, no doubt, you can -trust on your family ... but your relations will have trouble enough -to protect themselves." To this the bishop nobly replied: "My -confidence is not in my parents nor in any man; but only in God, in -whom I trust, and by whose assistance I will be bold to speak the -truth." Lancaster, who saw hypocrisy only in these words, turned to -one of his attendants, and whispered in his ear, but so loud as to be -heard by the bystanders: "I would rather pluck the bishop by the hair -of his head out of his chair, than take this at his hands." Every -impartial reader must confess that the prelate spoke with greater -dignity than the prince. Lancaster had hardly uttered these imprudent -words before the bishop's partizans fell upon him and Percy, and even -upon Wickliffe, who alone had remained calm.[169] The two noblemen -resisted, their friends and servants defended them, the uproar became -extreme, and there was no hope of restoring tranquillity. The two -lords escaped with difficulty, and the assembly broke up in great -confusion. - - [168] Fuller, Church Hist. cent. xiv. p. 135. - - [169] Fell furiously on the lords. Ibid. 136. - -[Sidenote: RIOT.] - -On the following day the earl-marshal having called upon parliament to -apprehend the disturbers of the public peace, the clerical party -uniting with the enemies of Lancaster, filled the streets with their -clamour; and while the duke and the earl escaped by the Thames, the -mob collected before Percy's house, broke down the doors, searched -every chamber, and thrust their swords into every dark corner. When -they found that he had escaped, the rioters, imagining that he was -concealed in Lancaster's palace, rushed to the Savoy, at that time the -most magnificent building in the kingdom. They killed a priest who -endeavoured to stay them, tore down the ducal arms, and hung them on -the gallows like those of a traitor. They would have gone still -farther if the bishop had not very opportunely reminded them that they -were _in Lent_. As for Wickliffe, he was dismissed with an injunction -against preaching his doctrines. - -But this decision of the priests was not ratified by the people of -England. Public opinion declared in favour of Wickliffe. "If he is -guilty," said they, "why is he not punished? If he is innocent, why is -he ordered to be silent? If he is the weakest in power, he is the -strongest in truth!" And so indeed he was, and never had he spoken -with such energy. He openly attacked the pretended apostolical chair, -and declared that the _two_ antipopes who sat at Rome and Avignon -together made _one_ antichrist. Being now in opposition to the pope, -Wickliffe was soon to confess that Christ alone was king of the -church; and that it is not possible for a man to be excommunicated, -unless first and principally he be excommunicated by himself.[170] - - [170] Vaughan's Wickliffe, Appendix, vol. i, p. 434. - -Rome could not close her ears. Wickliffe's enemies sent thither -nineteen propositions which they ascribed to him, and in the month of -June 1377, just as Richard II, son of the Black Prince, a child eleven -years old, was ascending the throne, three letters from Gregory XI, -addressed to the king, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the -university of Oxford, denounced Wickliffe as a heretic, and called -upon them to proceed against him as against a common thief. The -archbishop issued the citation: the crown and the university were -silent. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE AT LAMBETH.] - -On the appointed day, Wickliffe, unaccompanied by either Lancaster or -Percy, proceeded to the archiepiscopal chapel at Lambeth. "Men -expected he should be devoured," says an historian; "being brought -into the lion's den."[171] But the burgesses had taken the prince's -place. The assault of Rome had aroused the friends of liberty and -truth in England. "The pope's briefs," said they, "ought to have no -effect in the realm without the king's consent. Every man is master in -his own house." - - [171] Fuller's Church Hist. cent. xiv, p. 137. - -The archbishop had scarcely opened the sitting, when Sir Louis -Clifford entered the chapel, and forbade the court, on the part of the -queen-mother, to proceed against the reformer. The bishops were struck -with a panic-fear: "they bent their heads," says a Roman-catholic -historian, "like a reed before the wind."[172] Wickliffe retired after -handing in a protest. "In the first place," said he, "I resolve with -my whole heart, and by the grace of God, to be a sincere Christian; -and, while my life shall last, to profess and defend the law of Christ -so far as I have power."[173] Wickliffe's enemies attacked this -protest, and one of them eagerly maintained that whatever the pope -ordered should be looked upon as right. "What!" answered the reformer; -"the pope may then exclude from the canon of the scriptures any book -that displeases him, and alter the Bible at pleasure?" Wickliffe -thought that Rome, unsettling the grounds of infallibility, had -transferred it from the Scriptures to the pope, and was desirous of -restoring it to its true place, and re-establishing authority in the -church on a truly divine foundation. - - [172] Walsingham, Hist. Angliæ Major, p. 203. - - [173] Propono et volo esse ex integro Christianus, et quamdiu manserit - in me halitus, profitens verbo et opere legem Christi. Vaughan's - Wickliffe, i. p. 426. - -A great change was now taking place in the reformer. Busying himself -less about the kingdom of England, he occupied himself more about the -kingdom of Christ. In him the political phasis was followed by the -religious. To carry the glad tidings of the Gospel into the remotest -hamlets, was now the great idea which possessed Wickliffe. If begging -friars (said he) stroll over the country, preaching the legends of -saints and the history of the Trojan war, we must do for God's glory -what they do to fill their wallets, and form a vast itinerant -evangelization to convert souls to Jesus Christ. Turning to the most -pious of his disciples, he said to them: "Go and preach, it is the -sublimest work; but imitate not the priests whom we see after the -sermon sitting in the ale-houses, or at the gaming-table, or wasting -their time in hunting. After your sermon is ended, do you visit the -sick, the aged, the poor, the blind, and the lame, and succour them -according to your ability." Such was the new practical theology which -Wickliffe inaugurated--it was that of Christ himself. - -[Sidenote: PREACHING AND PERSECUTION.] - -The "poor priests," as they were called, set off barefoot, a staff in -their hands, clothed in a coarse robe, living on alms, and satisfied -with the plainest food. They stopped in the fields near some village, -in the churchyards, in the market-places of the towns, and sometimes -in the churches even.[174] The people, among whom they were -favourites, thronged around them, as the men of Northumbria had done -at Aidan's preaching. They spoke with a popular eloquence that -entirely won over those who listened to them. Of these missionaries -none was more beloved than John Ashton. He might be seen wandering -over the country in every direction, or seated at some cottage hearth, -or alone in some retired crossway, preaching to an attentive crowd. -Missions of this kind have constantly revived in England at the great -epochs of the church. - - [174] A private statute made by the clergy. Fox, Acts, i, 503. - -The "poor priests" were not content with mere polemics: they preached -the great mystery of godliness. "An angel could have made no -propitiation for man," one day exclaimed their master Wickliffe; "for -the nature which has sinned is not that of the angels. The mediator -must needs be a man; but every man being indebted to God for every -thing that he is able to do, this man must needs have infinite merit, -and be at the same time God."[175] - - [175] Exposition of the Decalogue. - -The clergy became alarmed, and a law was passed commanding every -king's officer to commit the preachers and their followers to -prison.[176] In consequence of this, as soon as the humble missionary -began to preach, the monks set themselves in motion. They watched him -from the windows of their cells, at the street-corners, or from behind -a hedge, and then hastened off to procure assistance. But when the -constables approached, a body of stout bold men stood forth, with arms -in their hands, who surrounded the preacher, and zealously protected -him against the attacks of the clergy. Carnal weapons were thus -mingled with the preachings of the word of peace. The poor priests -returned to their master: Wickliffe comforted them, advised with them, -and then they departed once more. Every day this evangelization -reached some new spot, and the light was thus penetrating into every -quarter of England, when the reformer was suddenly stopped in his -work. - - [176] Fox, Acts, i. p. 503. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S PROPHECY.] - -Wickliffe was at Oxford in the year 1379, busied in the discharge of -his duties as professor of divinity, when he fell dangerously ill. His -was not a strong constitution; and work, age, and above all -persecution had weakened him. Great was the joy in the monasteries; -but for that joy to be complete, the _heretic_ must recant. Every -effort was made to bring this about in his last moments. - -The four regents, who represented the four religious orders, -accompanied by four aldermen, hastened to the bedside of the dying -man, hoping to frighten him by threatening him with the vengeance of -Heaven. They found him calm and serene. "You have death on your lips," -said they; "be touched by your faults, and retract in our presence all -that you have said to our injury." Wickliffe remained silent, and the -monks flattered themselves with an easy victory. But the nearer the -reformer approached eternity, the greater was his horror of monkery. -The consolation he had found in Jesus Christ had given him fresh -energy. He begged his servant to raise him on his couch. Then feeble -and pale, and scarcely able to support himself, he turned towards the -friars, who were waiting for his recantation, and opening his livid -lips, and fixing on them a piercing look, he said with emphasis: "I -shall not die but live; and again declare the evil deeds of the -friars." We might almost picture to ourselves the spirit of Elijah -threatening the priests of Baal. The regents and their companions -looked at each other with astonishment. They left the room in -confusion, and the reformer recovered to put the finishing touch to -the most important of his works against the monks and against the -pope.[177] - - [177] Petrie's Church History, i. p. 504. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Bible--Wickliffe's Translation--Effects of its - Publication--Opposition of the Clergy--Wickliffe's Fourth - Phasis--Transubstantiation--Excommunication--Wickliffe's - Firmness--Wat Tyler--The Synod--The condemned - Propositions--Wickliffe's Petition--Wickliffe before the - Primate at Oxford--Wickliffe summoned to Rome--His - Answer--The Trialogue--His Death--And Character--His - teaching--His Ecclesiastical Views--A Prophecy. - - -[Sidenote: THE BIBLE.] - -Wickliffe's ministry had followed a progressive course. At first he -had attacked the papacy; next he preached the gospel to the poor; he -could take one more step and put the people in permanent possession -of the word of God. This was the third phase of his activity. - -Scholasticism had banished the Scriptures into a mysterious obscurity. -It is true that Bede had translated the Gospel of St. John; that the -learned men at Alfred's court had translated the four evangelists; -that Elfric in the reign of Ethelred had translated some books of the -Old Testament; that an Anglo-Norman priest had paraphrased the Gospels -and the acts; that Richard Rolle, "the hermit of Hampole," and some -pious clerks in the fourteenth century, had produced a version of the -Psalms, the Gospels, and Epistles:--but these rare volumes were -hidden, like theological curiosities, in the libraries of a few -convents. It was then a maxim that the reading of the Bible was -injurious to the laity; and accordingly the priests forbade it, just -as the Brahmins forbid the Shasters to the Hindoos. Oral tradition -alone preserved among the people the histories of the Holy Scriptures, -mingled with legends of the saints. The time appeared ripe for the -publication of a Bible. The increase of population, the attention the -English were beginning to devote to their own language, the -development which the system of representative government had -received, the awakening of the human mind:--all these circumstances -favoured the reformer's design. - -Wickliffe was ignorant indeed of Greek and Hebrew; but was it nothing -to shake off the dust which for ages had covered the Latin Bible, and -to translate it into English? He was a good Latin scholar, of sound -understanding and great penetration; but above all he loved the Bible, -he understood it, and desired to communicate this treasure to others. -Let us imagine him in his quiet study: on his table is the Vulgate -text, corrected after the best manuscripts; and lying open around him -are the commentaries of the doctors of the church, especially those of -St. Jerome and Nicholas Lyrensis. Between ten and fifteen years he -steadily prosecuted his task; learned men aided him with their advice, -and one of them, Nicholas Hereford, appears to have translated a few -chapters for him. At last in 1380 it was completed. This was a great -event in the religious history of England, who, outstripping the -nations on the continent, took her station in the foremost rank in the -great work of disseminating the Scriptures. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION OF THE CLERGY.] - -As soon as the translation was finished, the labour of the copyists -began, and the Bible was erelong widely circulated either wholly or in -portions. The reception of the work surpassed Wickliffe's -expectations. The Holy Scriptures exercised a reviving influence over -men's hearts; minds were enlightened; souls were converted; the voices -of the "poor priests" had done little in comparison with this voice; -something new had entered into the world. Citizens, soldiers, and the -lower classes welcomed this new era with acclamations; the high-born -curiously examined the unknown book; and even Anne of Luxemburg, wife -of Richard II, having learnt English, began to read the Gospels -diligently. She did more than this: she made them known to Arundel, -archbishop of York and chancellor, and afterwards a persecutor, but -who now, struck at the sight of a foreign lady--of a queen, humbly -devoting her leisure to the study of _such virtuous books_,[178] -commenced reading them himself, and rebuked the prelates who neglected -this holy pursuit. "You could not meet two persons on the highway," -says a contemporary writer, "but one of them was Wickliffe's -disciple." - - [178] Fox, Acts, i. p. 578. - -Yet all in England did not equally rejoice: the lower clergy opposed -this enthusiasm with complaints and maledictions. "Master John -Wickliffe, by translating the Gospel into English," said the monks, -"has rendered it more acceptable and more intelligible to laymen and -even to women, than it had hitherto been to learned and intelligent -clerks!... The Gospel pearl is every where cast out and trodden under -foot of swine."[179] New contests arose for the reformer. Wherever he -bent his steps, he was violently attacked. "It is heresy," cried the -monks, "to speak of Holy Scripture in English."[180]--"Since the -church has approved of the four Gospels, she would have been just as -able to reject them and admit others! The church sanctions and -condemns what she pleases.... Learn to believe in the church rather -than in the Gospel." These clamours did not alarm Wickliffe. "Many -nations have had the Bible in their own language. The Bible is the -faith of the church. Though the pope and all his clerks should -disappear from the face of the earth," said he, "our faith would not -fail, for it is founded on Jesus alone, our Master and our God." But -Wickliffe did not stand alone: in the palace as in the cottage, and -even in parliament, the rights of Holy Scripture found defenders. A -motion having been made in the Upper House (1390) to seize all the -copies of the Bible, the Duke of Lancaster exclaimed: "Are we then the -very dregs of humanity, that we cannot possess the laws of our religion -in our own tongue?"[181] - - [179] Evangelica margarita spargitur et a porcis conculcatur. - Knyghton, De eventibus Angliæ, p. 264. - - [180] It is heresy to speak of the Holy Scripture in English. - Wickliffe's Wicket, p. 4. Oxford, 1612, quarto. - - [181] Weber, Akatholische Kirchen, i, p. 81. - -[Sidenote: TRANSUBSTANTIATION.] - -Having given his fellow-countrymen the Bible, Wickliffe began to -reflect on its contents. This was a new step in his onward path. There -comes a moment when the Christian, saved by a lively faith, feels the -need of giving an account to himself of this faith, and this -originates the science of theology. This is a natural movement: if the -child, who at first possesses sensations and affections only, feels -the want, as he grows up, of reflection and knowledge, why should it -not be the same with the Christian? Politics--home missions--Holy -Scripture--had engaged Wickliffe in succession; theology had its turn, -and this was the fourth phase of his life. Yet he did not penetrate to -the same degree as the men of the sixteenth century into the depths of -the Christian doctrine; and he attached himself in a more especial -manner to those ecclesiastical dogmas which were more closely -connected with the presumptuous hierarchy and the simoniacal gains of -Rome,--such as transubstantiation. The Anglo-Saxon church had not -professed this doctrine. "The host is the body of Christ, not bodily -but spiritually," said Elfric in the tenth century in a letter -addressed to the archbishop of York; but Lanfranc, the opponent of -Berengarius, had taught England that at the word of a priest God -quitted heaven and descended on the altar. Wickliffe undertook to -overthrow the pedestal on which the pride of the priesthood was -founded. "The eucharist is naturally bread and wine," he taught at -Oxford in 1381; "but by virtue of the sacramental words it contains in -every part the real body and blood of Christ." He did not stop here. -"The consecrated wafer which we see on the altar," said he, "is not -Christ, nor any part of him, but his efficient sign."[182] He -oscillated between these two shades of doctrine; but to the first he -more habitually attached himself. He denied the sacrifice of the mass -offered by the priest, because it was substituted for the sacrifice of -the cross offered up by Jesus Christ; and rejected transubstantiation, -because it nullified the spiritual and living presence of the Lord. - - [182] Efficax ejus signum. Conclusio 1^{ma.} Vaughan, ii, p. 436, App. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S FIRMNESS.] - -When Wickliffe's enemies heard these propositions, they appeared -horror-stricken, and yet in secret they were delighted at the prospect -of destroying him. They met together, examined twelve theses he had -published, and pronounced against him suspension from all teaching, -imprisonment, and the greater excommunication. At the same time his -friends became alarmed, their zeal cooled, and many of them forsook -him. The Duke of Lancaster, in particular, could not follow him into -this new sphere. That prince had no objection to an ecclesiastical -opposition which might aid the political power, and for that purpose -he had tried to enlist the reformer's talents and courage; but he -feared a dogmatic opposition that might compromise him. The sky was -heavy with clouds; Wickliffe was alone. - -The storm soon burst upon him. One day, while seated in his doctoral -chair in the Augustine school, and calmly explaining the nature of the -eucharist, an officer entered the hall, and read the sentence of -condemnation. It was the design of his enemies to humble the professor -in the eyes of his disciples. Lancaster immediately became alarmed, -and hastening to his old friend begged him--ordered him even--to -trouble himself no more about this matter. Attacked on every side, -Wickliffe for a time remained silent. Shall he sacrifice the truth to -save his reputation--his repose--perhaps his life? Shall expediency -get the better of faith,--Lancaster prevail over Wickliffe? No: his -courage was invincible. "Since the year of our Lord 1000," said he, -"all the doctors have been in error about the sacrament of the -altar--except, perhaps, it may be Berengarius. How canst thou, O -priest, who art but a man, make thy Maker? What! the thing that -groweth in the fields--that ear which thou pluckest to-day, shall be -God to-morrow!... As you cannot make the works which he made, how -shall ye make Him who made the works?[183] Woe to the adulterous -generation that believeth the testimony of Innocent rather than of the -Gospel."[184] Wickliffe called upon his adversaries to refute the -opinions they had condemned, and finding that they threatened him with -a civil penalty (imprisonment), he appealed to the king. - - [183] Wycleff's Wyckett, Tracts, pp. 276, 279. - - [184] Væ generationi adulteræ quæ plus credit testimonio Innocentii - quam sensui Evangelii. Confessio, Vaughan, ii, 453, App. - -The time was not favourable for such an appeal. A fatal circumstance -increased Wickliffe's danger. Wat Tyler and a dissolute priest named -Ball, taking advantage of the ill-will excited by the rapacity and -brutality of the royal tax-gatherers, had occupied London with 100,000 -men. John Ball kept up the spirits of the insurgents, not by -expositions of the gospel, like Wickliffe's _poor priests_, but by -fiery comments on the distich they had chosen for their device:-- - - When Adam delved and Eve span, - Who was then the gentleman? - -[Sidenote: THE CONDEMNED PROPOSITIONS.] - -There were many who felt no scruple in ascribing these disorders to -the reformer, who was quite innocent of them; and Courtenay, bishop of -London, having been translated to the see of Canterbury, lost no time -in convoking a synod to pronounce on this matter of Wickliffe's. They -met in the middle of May, about two o'clock in the afternoon, and were -proceeding to pronounce sentence when an earthquake, which shook the -city of London and all Britain, so alarmed the members of the council -that they unanimously demanded the adjournment of a decision which -appeared so manifestly rebuked by God. But the archbishop skilfully -turned this strange phenomenon to his own purposes: "Know you not," -said he, "that the noxious vapours which catch fire in the bosom of -the earth, and give rise to these phenomena which alarm you, loose all -their force when they burst forth? Well, in like manner, by rejecting -the wicked from our community, we shall put an end to the convulsions -of the church." The bishops regained their courage; and one of the -primate's officers read ten propositions, said to be Wickliffe's, but -ascribing to him certain errors of which he was quite innocent. The -following most excited the anger of the priests: "God must obey the -devil.[185] After Urban VI we must receive no one as pope, but live -according to the manner of the _Greeks_." The ten propositions were -condemned as heretical, and the archbishop enjoined all persons to -shun, as they would a venomous serpent, all who should preach the -aforesaid errors. "If we permit this heretic to appeal continually to -the passions of the people," said the primate to the king, "our -destruction is inevitable. We must silence these _lollards_--these -psalm-singers."[186] The king gave authority "to confine in the -prisons of the state any who should maintain the condemned -propositions." - - [185] Quod Deus debet obedire diabolo. Mansi, xxvi. p. 695. Wickliffe - denied having written or spoken the sentiment here ascribed to him. - - [186] From _lollen_, to sing; as _beggards_ (beggars) from _beggen_. - -Day by day the circle contracted around Wickliffe. The prudent -Repingdon, the learned Hereford, and even the eloquent Ashton, the -firmest of the three, departed from him. The veteran champion of the -truth which had once gathered a whole nation round it, had reached the -days when "strong men shall bow themselves," and now, when harassed by -persecution, he found himself alone. But boldly he uplifted his hoary -head and exclaimed: "The doctrine of the gospel shall never perish; -and if the earth once quaked, it was because they condemned Jesus -Christ." - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE BEFORE THE PRIMATE.] - -He did not stop here. In proportion as his physical strength -decreased, his moral strength increased. Instead of parrying the -blows aimed at him, he resolved on dealing more terrible ones still. -He knew that if the king and the nobility were for the priests, the -lower house and the citizens were for liberty and truth. He therefore -presented a bold petition to the Commons in the month of November -1382. "Since Jesus Christ shed his blood to free his church, I demand -its freedom. I demand that every one may leave those gloomy walls [the -convents], within which a tyrannical law prevails, and embrace a -simple and peaceful life under the open vault of heaven. I demand that -the poor inhabitants of our towns and villages be not constrained to -furnish a worldly priest, often a vicious man and a heretic, with the -means of satisfying his ostentation, his gluttony, and his -licentiousness--of buying a showy horse, costly saddles, bridles with -tinkling bells, rich garments, and soft furs, while they see their -wives, children, and neighbours, dying of hunger."[187] The House of -Commons, recollecting that they had not given their consent to the -persecuting statute drawn up by the clergy and approved by the king -and the lords, demanded its repeal. Was the Reformation about to begin -by the will of the people? - - [187] A Complaint of John Wycleff. Tracts and Treaties edited by the - Wickliffe Society, p. 268. - -Courtenay, indignant at this intervention of the Commons, and ever -stimulated by a zeal for his church, which would have been better -directed towards the word of God, visited Oxford in November 1382, and -having gathered round him a number of bishops, doctors, priests, -students, and laymen, summoned Wickliffe before him. Forty years ago -the reformer had come up to the university: Oxford had become his home -... and now it was turning against him! Weakened by labours, by -trials, by that ardent soul which preyed upon his feeble body, he -might have refused to appear. But Wickliffe, who never feared the face -of man, came before them with a good conscience. We may conjecture -that there were among the crowd some disciples who felt their hearts -burn at the sight of their master; but no outward sign indicated their -emotion. The solemn silence of a court of justice had succeeded the -shouts of enthusiastic youths. Yet Wickliffe did not despair: he -raised his venerable head, and turned to Courtenay with that confident -look which had made the regents of Oxford shrink away. Growing wroth -against the _priests of Baal_, he reproached them with disseminating -error in order to sell their masses. Then he stopped, and uttered -these simple and energetic words: "The truth shall prevail!"[188] -Having thus spoken he prepared to leave the court: his enemies dared -not say a word; and, like his divine master at Nazareth, he passed -through the midst of them, and no man ventured to stop him. He then -withdrew to his cure at Lutterworth. - - [188] Finaliter veritas vincet eos. Vaughan, Appendix, ii. p. 453. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE SUMMONED TO ROME.] - -He had not yet reached the harbour. He was living peacefully among his -books and his parishioners, and the priests seemed inclined to leave -him alone, when another blow was aimed at him. A papal brief summoned -him to Rome, to appear before that tribunal which had so often shed -the blood of its adversaries. His bodily infirmities convinced him -that he could not obey this summons. But if Wickliffe refused to hear -Urban, Urban could not choose but hear Wickliffe. The church was at -that time divided between two chiefs: France, Scotland, Savoy, -Lorraine, Castile, and Aragon acknowledged Clement VII; while Italy, -England, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and Hungary acknowledged Urban VI. -Wickliffe shall tell us who is the true head of the church universal. -And while the two popes were excommunicating and abusing each other, -and selling heaven and earth for their own gain, the reformer was -confessing that incorruptible Word, which establishes real unity in -the church. "I believe," said he, "that the Gospel of Christ is the -whole body of God's law. I believe that Christ, who gave it to us, is -very God and very man, and that this Gospel revelation is, -accordingly, superior to all other parts of Holy Scripture.[189] I -believe that the bishop of Rome is bound more than all other men to -submit to it, for the greatness among Christ's disciples did not -consist in worldly dignity or honours, but in the exact following of -Christ in his life and manners. No faithful man ought to follow the -pope, but in such points as he hath followed Jesus Christ. The pope -ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal dominion and rule; -and thereunto effectually more and more exhort his whole clergy.... If -I could labour according to my desire in mine own person, I would -surely present myself before the bishop of Rome, but the Lord hath -otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me rather to -obey God than men."[190] - - [189] This is the reading of the Bodleian manuscript--"and be [by] - this it passes all other laws." In Fox, Wickliffe appears to ascribe - to Christ himself this superiority over all Scripture,--a distinction - hardly in the mind of the reformer or of his age. - - [190] An Epistle of J. Wickliffe to Pope Urban VI. Fox, Acts, i. p. - 507, fol. Lond. 1684; also Lewis, Wickliffe, p. 333, Append. - -Urban, who at that moment chanced to be very busied in his contest -with Clement, did not think it prudent to begin another with -Wickliffe, and so let the matter rest there. From this time the -doctor passed the remainder of his days in peace in the company of -three personages, two of whom were his particular friends, and the -third his constant adversary: these were _Aletheia_, _Phronesis_, and -_Pseudes_. _Aletheia_ (truth) proposed questions; _Pseudes_ -(falsehood) urged objections; and _Phronesis_ (understanding) laid -down the sound doctrine. These three characters carried on a -conversation (_trialogue_) in which great truths were boldly -professed. The opposition between the pope and Christ--between the -canons of Romanism and the Bible--was painted in striking colours. -This is one of the primary truths which the church must never forget. -"The church has fallen," said one of the interlocutors in the work in -question, "because she has abandoned the Gospel, and preferred the -laws of the pope. Although there should be a hundred popes in the -world at once, and all the friars living should be transformed into -cardinals, we must withhold our confidence unless so far as they are -founded in Holy Scripture."[191] - - [191] Ideo si essent centum papæ, et omnes fratres essent versi in - cardinales, non deberet concedi sententiæ suæ in materia fidei, nisi - de quanto se fundaverint in Scriptura. Trialogus, lib. iv. cap. vii. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF WICKLIFFE.] - -These words were the last flicker of the torch. Wickliffe looked upon -his end as near, and entertained no idea that it would come in peace. -A dungeon on one of the seven hills, or a burning pile in London, was -all he expected. "Why do you talk of seeking the crown of martyrdom -afar?" asked he. "Preach the Gospel of Christ to haughty prelates, and -martyrdom will not fail you. What! I should live and be silent? ... -never! Let the blow fall, I await its coming."[192] - - [192] Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, ii, p. 215, 257. - -The stroke was spared him. The war between two wicked priests, Urban -and Clement, left the disciples of our Lord in peace. And besides, was -it worth while cutting short a life that was drawing to a close? -Wickliffe, therefore, continued tranquilly to preach Jesus Christ; and -on the 29th December 1384, as he was in his church at Lutterworth, in -the midst of his flock, at the very moment that he stood before the -altar, and was elevating the host with trembling hands, he fell upon -the pavement struck with paralysis. He was carried to his house by the -affectionate friends around him, and after lingering forty-eight hours -resigned his soul to God on the last day of the year. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S CHARACTER.] - -Thus was removed from the church one of the boldest witnesses to the -truth. The seriousness of his language, the holiness of his life, and -the energy of his faith, had intimidated the popedom. Travellers -relate that if a lion is met in the desert, it is sufficient to look -steadily at him, and the beast turns away roaring from the eye of man. -Wickliffe had fixed the eye of a Christian on the papacy, and the -affrighted papacy had left him in peace. Hunted down unceasingly while -living, he died in quiet, at the very moment when by faith he was -eating the flesh and drinking the blood which give eternal life. A -glorious end to a glorious life. - -The Reformation of England had begun. - -Wickliffe is the greatest English Reformer: he was in truth the first -reformer of Christendom, and to him, under God, Britain is indebted -for the honour of being the foremost in the attack upon the theocratic -system of Gregory VII. The work of the Waldenses, excellent as it was, -cannot be compared to his. If Luther and Calvin are the fathers of the -Reformation, Wickliffe is its grandfather. - -Wickliffe, like most great men, possessed qualities which are not -generally found together. While his understanding was eminently -speculative--his treatise on the _Reality of universal Ideas_[193] -made a sensation in philosophy--he possessed that practical and active -mind which characterizes the Anglo-Saxon race. As a divine, he was at -once scriptural and spiritual, soundly orthodox, and possessed of an -inward and lively faith. With a boldness that impelled him to rush -into the midst of danger, he combined a logical and consistent mind, -which constantly led him forward in knowledge, and caused him to -maintain with perseverance the truths he had once proclaimed. First of -all, as a Christian, he had devoted his strength to the cause of the -church; but he was at the same time a citizen, and the realm, his -nation, and his king, had also a great share in his unwearied -activity. He was a man complete. - - [193] De universalibus realibus. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S ECCLESIASTICAL VIEWS.] - -If the man is admirable, his teaching is no less so. Scripture, which -is the rule of truth, should be (according to his views) the rule of -Reformation, and we must reject every doctrine and every precept which -does not rest on that foundation.[194] To believe in the power of man -in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that -error has come the ruin of the church. Conversion proceeds from the -grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and -partly to God is worse than Pelagianism.[195] Christ is every thing -in Christianity; whosoever abandons that fountain which is ever ready -to impart life, and turns to muddy and stagnant waters, is a -madman.[196] Faith is a gift of God; it puts aside all merit, and -should banish all fear from the mind.[197] The one thing needful in -the Christian life and in the Lord's Supper is not a vain formalism -and superstitious rites, but communion with Christ according to the -power of the spiritual life.[198] Let Christians submit not to the -word of a priest but to the word of God. In the primitive church there -were but two orders, the deacon and the priest: the presbyter and the -bishop were one.[199] The sublimest calling which man can attain on -earth is that of preaching the word of God. The true church is the -assembly of the righteous for whom Christ shed his blood. So long as -Christ is in heaven, in Him the church possesses the best pope. It is -possible for a pope to be condemned at the last day because of his -sins. Would men compel us to recognise as our head "a devil of -hell?"[200] Such were the essential points of Wickliffe's doctrine. It -was the echo of the doctrine of the apostles--the prelude to that of -the reformers. - - [194] Auctoritas Scripturæ sacræ, quæ est lex Christi, infinitum - excedit quam libet scripturam aliam. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii. - cap. xxx; see in particular chap. xxxi. The authority of Holy - Scripture, which is the law of Christ, infinitely surpasses all other - writings whatever. - - [195] Ibid. de prædestinatione, de peccato, de gratia, etc. - - [196] Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii, cap. xxx. - - [197] Fidem a Deo infusam sine aliqua trepidatione fidei contraria. - Ibid. lib. iii, cap. ii. - - [198] Secundum rationem spiritualis et virtualis existentiæ. Ibid. - lib. iv, cap. viii. - - [199] Fuit idem presbyter atque episcopus. Ibid. lib. iv, cap. xv. - - [200] Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, ii, 307. The Christian public is - much indebted to Dr. Vaughan for his biography of this reformer. - -[Sidenote: PROPHECY.] - -In many respects Wickliffe is the Luther of England; but the times of -revival had not yet come, and the English reformer could not gain such -striking victories over Rome as the German reformer. While Luther was -surrounded by an ever-increasing number of scholars and princes, who -confessed the same faith as himself, Wickliffe shone almost alone in -the firmament of the church. The boldness with which he substituted a -living spirituality for a superstitious formalism, caused those to -shrink back in affright who had gone with him against friars, priests, -and popes. Erelong the Roman pontiff ordered him to be thrown into -prison, and the monks threatened his life;[201] but God protected him, -and he remained calm amidst the machinations of his adversaries. -"Antichrist," said he, "can only kill the body." Having one foot in -the grave already, he foretold that, from the very bosom of monkery, -would some day proceed the regeneration of the church. "If the friars, -whom God condescends to teach, shall be converted to the primitive -religion of Christ," said he, "we shall see them abandoning their -unbelief, returning freely, with or without the permission of -Antichrist, to the primitive religion of the Lord, and building up the -church, as did St. Paul."[202] - - [201] Multitudo fratrum mortem tuam multipliciter machinantur. Ibid. - lib. iv, cap. iv. - - [202] Aliqui fratres quos Deus docere dignatur....relicta sua - perfidia.....redibunt libere ad religionem Christi primævam, et tunc - ædificabunt ecclesiam, sicut Paulus. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iv, cap. - xxx. - -Thus did Wickliffe's piercing glance discover, at the distance of -nearly a century and a half, the young monk Luther in the Augustine -convent at Erfurth, converted by the Epistle to the Romans, and -returning to the spirit of St. Paul and the religion of Jesus Christ. -Time was hastening on to the fulfilment of this prophecy. "The rising -sun of the Reformation," for so has Wickliffe been called, had -appeared above the horizon, and its beams were no more to be -extinguished. In vain will thick clouds veil it at times; the distant -hill-tops of Eastern Europe will soon reflect its rays;[203] and its -piercing light, increasing in brightness, will pour over all the -world, at the hour of the church's renovation, floods of knowledge and -of life. - - [203] John Huss in Bohemia. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The Wickliffites--Call for Reform--Richard II--The first - Martyr--Lord Cobham--Appears before Henry V--Before the - Archbishop--His Confession and Death--The Lollards. - - -[Sidenote: CALL FOR REFORM.] - -Wickliffe's death manifested the power of his teaching. The master -being removed, his disciples set their hands to the plough, and -England was almost won over to the reformer's doctrines. The -Wickliffites recognized a ministry independent of Rome, and deriving -authority from the word of God alone. "Every minister," said they, -"can administer the sacraments and confer the cure of souls as well as -the pope." To the licentious wealth of the clergy they opposed a -Christian poverty, and to the degenerate asceticism of the mendicant -orders, a spiritual and free life. The townsfolk crowded around these -humble preachers; the soldiers listened to them, armed with sword and -buckler to defend them;[204] the nobility took down the images from -their baronial chapels;[205] and even the royal family was partly won -over to the Reformation. England was like a tree cut down to the -ground, from whose roots fresh buds are shooting out on every side, -erelong to cover all the earth beneath their shade.[206] - - [204] Assistere solent gladio et pelta stipati ad eorum defensionem. - Knyghton, lib. v, p. 2660. - - [205] Milites cum ducibus et comitibus erant præcipue eis adhærentes. - Ibid. - - [206] Quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt nimis et impleverunt ubique - orbem regni. Kuyguton. lib. v, p. 2660. These "_Conclusiones_" are - reprinted by Lewis (Wickliffe) p. 337. - -This augmented the courage of Wickliffe's disciples, and in many -places the people took the initiative in the reform. The walls of St. -Paul's and other cathedrals were hung with placards aimed at the -priests and friars, and the abuses of which they were the defenders; -and in 1395 the friends of the Gospel petitioned parliament for a -general reform. "The essence of the worship which comes from Rome," -said they, "consists in signs and ceremonies, and not in the -efficacity of the Holy Ghost: and therefore it is not that which -Christ has ordained. Temporal things are distinct from spiritual -things: a king and a bishop ought not to be one and the same -person."[207] And then, from not clearly understanding the principle -of the separation of the functions which they proclaimed, they called -upon parliament to "abolish celibacy, transubstantiation, prayers for -the dead, offerings to images, auricular confession, war, the arts -unnecessary to life, the practice of blessing oil, salt, wax, incense, -stones, mitres, and pilgrims' staffs. All these pertain to necromancy -and not to theology." Emboldened by the absence of the king in -Ireland, they fixed their _Twelve Conclusions_ on the gates of St. -Paul's and Westminster Abbey. This became the signal for persecution. - - [207] Rex et episcopus in una persona, etc. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE FIRST MARTYR.] - -As soon as Arundel, archbishop of York, and Braybrooke, bishop of -London, had read these propositions, they hastily crossed St. George's -channel, and conjured the king to return to England. The prince -hesitated not to comply, for his wife, the pious Anne of Luxemburg, -was dead. Richard, during childhood and youth, had been committed in -succession to the charge of several guardians, and like children (says -an historian), whose nurses have been often changed, he thrived none -the better for it. He did good or evil, according to the influence of -those around him, and had no decided inclinations except for -ostentation and licentiousness. The clergy were not mistaken in -calculating on such a prince. On his return to London he forbade the -parliament to take the Wickliffite petition into consideration; and -having summoned before him the most distinguished of its supporters, -such as Story, Clifford, Latimer, and Montacute, he threatened them -with death if they continued to defend their abominable opinions. -Thus was the work of the reformer about to be destroyed. - -But Richard had hardly withdrawn his hand from the Gospel, when God -(says the annalist) withdrew his hand from him.[208] His cousin, Henry -of Hereford, son of the famous duke of Lancaster, and who had been -banished from England, suddenly sailed from the continent, landed in -Yorkshire, gathered all the malcontents around him, and was -acknowledged king. The unhappy Richard, after being formally deposed, -was confined in Pontefract castle, where he soon terminated his -earthly career. - - [208] Fox, Acts, i. p. 584, fol. Lond. 1684. - -The son of Wickliffe's old defender was now king: a reform of the -church seemed imminent; but the primate Arundel had foreseen the -danger. This cunning priest and skilful politician had observed which -way the wind blew, and deserted Richard in good time. Taking Lancaster -by the hand, he put the crown on his head, saying to him: "To -consolidate your throne, conciliate the clergy, and sacrifice the -Lollards."--"I will be the protector of the church," replied Henry IV, -and from that hour the power of the priests was greater than the power -of the nobility. Rome has ever been adroit in profiting by -revolutions. - -Lancaster, in his eagerness to show his gratitude to the priests, -ordered that every incorrigible heretic should be burnt alive, to -terrify his companions.[209] Practice followed close upon the theory. -A pious priest named William Sawtre had presumed to say: "Instead of -adoring the cross on which Christ suffered, I adore Christ who -suffered on it."[210] He was dragged to St. Paul's; his hair was -shaved off; a layman's cap was placed on his head; and the primate -handed him over to the _mercy_ of the earl-marshal of England. This -mercy was shown him--he was burnt alive at Smithfield in the beginning -of March, 1401. Sawtre was the first martyr to protestantism. - - [209] Ibid. p. 586. This is the statute known as 2 Henry IV. c. 15, - the first actual law in England against heresy. - - [210] Ibid. p. 589. - -[Sidenote: LORD COBHAM.] - -Encouraged by this act of faith--this _auto da fé_--the clergy drew up -the articles known as the "Constitutions of Arundel," which forbade -the reading of the Bible, and styled the pope, "not a mere man, but a -true God."[211] The Lollards' tower, in the archiepiscopal palace of -Lambeth, was soon filled with pretended heretics, many of whom carved -on the walls of their dungeons the expression of their sorrow and -their hopes: _Jesus amor meus_, wrote one of them.[212] - - [211] Not of pure man but of true God, here in earth. Ibid. p. 596. - - [212] "Jesus is my love." These words are still to be read in the - tower. - -To crush the lowly was not enough: the Gospel must be driven from the -more exalted stations. The priests, who were sincere in their belief, -regarded those noblemen as misleaders, who set the word of God above -the laws of Rome; and accordingly they girded themselves for the work. -A few miles from Rochester stood Cowling Castle, in the midst of the -fertile pastures watered by the Medway, - - The fair Medwaya that with wanton pride - Forms silver mazes with her crooked tide.[213] - - [213] Blackmore. - -In the beginning of the fifteenth century it was inhabited by Sir John -Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, a man in high favour with the king. The "poor -priests" thronged to Cowling in quest of Wickliffe's writings, of -which Cobham had caused numerous copies to be made, and whence they -were circulated through the dioceses of Canterbury, Rochester, London, -and Hertford. Cobham attended their preaching, and if any enemies -ventured to interrupt them, he threatened them with his sword.[214] "I -would sooner risk my life," said he, "than submit to such unjust -decrees as dishonour the everlasting Testament." The king would not -permit the clergy to lay hands on his favourite. - - [214] Eorum prædicationibus nefariis interfuit, et contradictores, si - quos repererat, minis et terroribus et gladii secularis potentia - compescuit. (Rymer, Foedera. tom. iv. pars 2, p. 50.) He attended their - interdicted preaching, and if he found any interrupting them, he kept - them in check by threats and terrors and by the power of the secular - sword. - -[Sidenote: COBHAM BEFORE THE ARCHBISHOP.] - -But Henry V having succeeded his father in 1413, and passed from the -houses of ill-fame he had hitherto frequented, to the foot of the -altars and the head of the armies, the archbishop immediately -denounced Cobham to him, and he was summoned to appear before the -king. Sir John had understood Wickliffe's doctrine, and experienced in -his own person the might of the divine Word. "As touching the pope and -his spirituality," he said to the king, "I owe them neither suit nor -service, forasmuch as I know him by the Scriptures to be the great -antichrist."[215] Henry thrust aside Cobham's hand as he presented his -confession of faith: "I will not receive this paper, lay it before -your judges." When he saw his profession refused, Cobham had recourse -to the only arm which he knew of out of the Gospel. The differences -which we now settle by pamphlets were then very commonly settled by -the sword:--"I offer in defence of my faith to fight for life or death -with any man living, Christian or pagan, always excepting your -majesty."[216] Cobham was led to the Tower. - - [215] Fox, vol. i. p. 636, fol. - - [216] Fox, Acts, i. p. 637. - -On the 23rd September, 1413, he was taken before the ecclesiastical -tribunal then sitting at St. Paul's. "We must believe," said the -primate to him, "what the holy church of Rome teaches, without -demanding Christ's authority."--"Believe!" shouted the priests, -"believe!"--"I am willing to believe all that God desires," said Sir -John; "but that the pope should have authority to teach what is -contrary to Scripture--that I can never believe." He was led back to -the Tower. The word of God was to have its martyr. - -On Monday, 25th September, a crowd of priests, canons, friars, clerks, -and indulgence-sellers, thronged the large hall of the Dominican -convent, and attacked Lord Cobham with abusive language. These -insults, the importance of the moment for the Reformation of England, -the catastrophe that must needs close the scene: all agitated his soul -to its very depths. When the archbishop called upon him to confess his -offence, he fell on his knees, and lifting up his hands to heaven, -exclaimed: "I confess to Thee, O God! and acknowledge that in my frail -youth I seriously offended Thee by my pride, anger, intemperance, and -impurity: for these offences I implore thy mercy!" Then standing up, -his face still wet with tears, he said: "I ask not your absolution: it -is God's only that I need."[217] The clergy did not despair, however, -of reducing this high-spirited gentleman: they knew that spiritual -strength is not always conjoined with bodily vigour, and they hoped to -vanquish by priestly sophisms the man who dared challenge the papal -champions to single combat. "Sir John," said the primate at last, "You -have said some very strange things; we have spent much time in -endeavours to convince you, but all to no effect. The day passeth -away: you must either submit yourself to the ordinance of the most -holy church...." "I will none otherwise believe than what I have told -you. Do with me what you will."--"Well then, we must needs do the -law," the archbishop made answer. - - [217] Quod nullam absolutionem in hac parte peteret a nobis, sed a - solo Deo. Rymer, Foedera, p. 51. - -[Sidenote: THE LOLLARDS.] - -Arundel stood up; all the priests and people rose with him and -uncovered their heads. Then holding the sentence of death in his -hand, he read it with a loud clear voice. "It is well," said Sir John; -"though you condemn my body, you can do no harm to my soul, by the -grace of my eternal God." He was again led back to the Tower, whence -he escaped one night, and took refuge in Wales. He was retaken in -December, 1417, carried to London, dragged on a hurdle to Saint -Giles's fields, and there suspended by chains over a slow fire, and -cruelly burned to death. Thus died a Christian, illustrious after the -fashion of his age--a champion of the Word of God. The London prisons -were filled with Wickliffites, and it was decreed that they should be -hung on the king's account, and burnt for God's.[218] - - [218] Incendio propter Deum, suspendio propter regem. Thom. Waldensis - in proemio. Raynald, ann. 1414. No. 16. - -The intimidated Lollards were compelled to hide themselves in the -humblest ranks of the people, and to hold their meetings in secret. -The work of redemption was proceeding noiselessly among the elect of -God. Of these Lollards, there were many who had been redeemed by Jesus -Christ; but in general they knew not, to the same extent as the -evangelical Christians of the sixteenth century, the quickening and -justifying power of faith. They were plain, meek, and often timid -folks, attracted by the word of God, affected at the condemnation it -pronounces against the errors of Rome, and desirous of living -according to its commandments. God had assigned them a part--and an -important part too--in the great transformation of Christianity. Their -humble piety, their passive resistance, the shameful treatment which -they bore with resignation, the penitent's robes with which they were -covered, the tapers they were compelled to hold at the church -door--all these things betrayed the pride of the priests, and filled -the most generous minds with doubts and vague desires. By a baptism of -suffering, God was then preparing the way to a glorious reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Learning at Florence--The Tudors--Erasmus visits - England--Sir Thomas More--Dean Colet--Erasmus and young - Henry--Prince Arthur and Catherine--Marriage and - Death--Catherine betrothed to Henry--Accession of Henry - VIII--Enthusiasm of the Learned--Erasmus recalled to - England--Cromwell before the Pope--Catherine proposed to - Henry--Their Marriage and Court--Tournaments--Henry's - Danger. - - -[Sidenote: LEARNING AT FLORENCE.] - -This reformation was to be the result of two distinct forces--the -revival of learning and the resurrection of the word of God. The -latter was the principal cause, but the former was necessary as a -means. Without it the living waters of the Gospel would probably have -traversed the age, like summer streams which soon dry up, such as -those which had burst forth here and there during the middle ages; it -would not have become that majestic river, which, by its inundations, -fertilized all the earth. It was necessary to discover and examine the -original fountains, and for this end the study of Greek and Hebrew was -indispensable. Lollardism and humanism (the study of the classics) -were the two laboratories of the reform. We have seen the preparations -of the one, we must now trace the commencement of the other; and as we -have discovered the light in the lowly valleys, we shall discern it -also on the lofty mountain tops. - -[Sidenote: THE TUDORS.] - -About the end of the fifteenth century, several young Englishmen -chanced to be at Florence, attracted thither by the literary glory -which environed the city of the Medici. Cosmo had collected together a -great number of works of antiquity, and his palace was thronged with -learned men. William Selling, a young English ecclesiastic, afterwards -distinguished at Canterbury by his zeal in collecting valuable -manuscripts; his fellow-countrymen, Grocyn, Lilly, and Latimer "more -bashful than a maiden;"[219] and, above all, Linacre, whom Erasmus -ranked before all the scholars of Italy,--used to meet in the -delicious villa of the Medici with Politian, Chalcondyles, and other -men of learning; and there, in the calm evenings of summer, under that -glorious Tuscan sky, they dreamt romantic visions of the Platonic -philosophy. When they returned to England, these learned men laid -before the youth of Oxford the marvellous treasures of the Greek -language. Some Italians even, attracted by the desire to enlighten the -barbarians, and a little, it may be, by the brilliant offers made -them, quitted their beloved country for the distant Britain. Cornelius -Vitelli taught at Oxford, and Caius Amberino at Cambridge. Caxton -imported the art of printing from Germany, and the nation hailed with -enthusiasm the brilliant dawn which was breaking at last in their -cloudy sky. - - [219] Pudorem plus quam virgineum. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 525. - -While learning was reviving in England, a new dynasty succeeded to the -throne, bringing with it that energy of character which of itself is -able to effect great revolutions; the Tudors succeeded the -Plantagenets. That inflexible intrepidity by which the reformers of -Germany, Switzerland, France, and Scotland were distinguished, did not -exist so generally in those of England; but it was found in the -character of her kings, who often stretched it even to violence. It -may be that to this preponderance of energy in its rulers, the church -owes the preponderance of the state in its affairs. - -Henry Tudor, the Louis XI of England, was a clever prince, of decided -but suspicious character, avaricious and narrow-minded. Being -descended from a Welsh family, he belonged to that ancient race of -Celts, who had so long contended against the papacy. Henry had -extinguished faction at home, and taught foreign nations to respect -his power. A good genius seemed to exercise a salutary influence over -his court as well as over himself: this was his mother, the Countess -of Richmond. From her closet, where she consecrated the first five -hours of the day to reading, meditation, and prayer, she moved to -another part of the palace to dress the wounds of some of the lowest -mendicants; thence she passed into the gay saloons, where she would -converse with the scholars, whom she encouraged by her munificence. -This noble lady's passion for study, of which her son inherited but -little, was not without its influence in her family. Arthur and Henry, -the king's eldest sons, trembled in their father's presence; but, -captivated by the affection of their pious grandmother, they began to -find a pleasure in the society of learned men. An important -circumstance gave a new impulse to one of them. - -[Sidenote: ERASMUS IN ENGLAND.] - -Among the countess's friends was Montjoy, who had known Erasmus at -Paris, and heard his cutting sarcasms upon the schoolmen and friars. -He invited the illustrious Dutchman to England, and Erasmus, who was -fearful of catching the plague, gladly accepted the invitation, and -set out for what he believed to be the kingdom of darkness. But he had -not been long in England before he discovered unexpected light. - -Shortly after his arrival, happening to dine with the lord-mayor, -Erasmus noticed on the other side of the table a young man of -nineteen, slender, fresh-coloured, with blue eyes, coarse hands, and -the right shoulder somewhat higher than the other. His features -indicated affability and gaiety, and pleasant jests were continually -dropping from his lips. If he could not find a joke in English, he -would in French, and even in Latin or Greek. A literary contest soon -ensued between Erasmus and the English youth. The former, astonished -at meeting with any one that could hold his own against him, -exclaimed: _Aut tu es Morus aut nullus!_ (you are either More or -nobody); and his companion, who had not learnt the stranger's name, -quickly replied: _Aut tu es Erasmus aut diabolus!_ (you are either the -devil or Erasmus).[220] More flung himself into the arms of Erasmus, -and they became inseparable friends. More was continually joking, even -with women, teasing the young maidens, and making fun of the dull, -though without any tinge of ill-nature in his jests.[221] But under -this sportive exterior he concealed a deep understanding. He was at -that time lecturing on Augustine's '_City of God_' before a numerous -audience composed of priests and aged men. The thought of eternity had -seized him: and being ignorant of that internal discipline of the Holy -Ghost, which is the only true discipline, he had recourse to the -scourge on every Friday. Thomas More is the ideal of the catholicism -of this period. He had, like the Romish system, two poles--worldliness -and asceticism; which, although contrary, often meet together. In -fact, asceticism makes a sacrifice of _self_, only to preserve it; -just as a traveller attacked by robbers will readily give up a portion -of his treasures to save the rest. This was the case with More, if we -rightly understand his character. He sacrificed the accessories of his -fallen nature to save that same nature. He submitted to fasts and -vigils, wore a shirt of hair-cloth, mortified his body by small chains -next his skin--in a word, he immolated every thing in order to -preserve that _self_ which a real regeneration alone can sacrifice. - - [220] Life of More by his Great-grandson, (1828), p. 93. - - [221] Cum mulieribus fere atque etiam cum uxore nonnisi lusus jocos ne - tractat. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 536. - -[Sidenote: A ROYAL SCHOOL-ROOM.] - -From London Erasmus went to Oxford, where he met with John Colet, a -friend of More's, but older, and of very dissimilar character. Colet, -the scion of an ancient family, was a very portly man, of imposing -aspect, great fortune, and elegance of manners, to which Erasmus had -not been accustomed. Order, cleanliness, and decorum prevailed in his -person and in his house. He kept an excellent table, which was open to -all the friends of learning, and at which the Dutchman, no great -admirer of the colleges of Paris with their sour wine and stale eggs, -was glad to take a seat.[222] He there met also most of the classical -scholars of England, especially Grocyn, Linacre, Thomas Wolsey, bursar -of Magdalene College, Halsey, and some others. "I cannot tell you how -I am delighted with your England," he wrote to Lord Montjoy from -Oxford. "With such men I could willingly live in the farthest coasts -of Scythia."[223] - - [222] Quantum ibi devorabatur ovorum putrium, quantum vini putris - hauriebatur. Erasm. Colloq. p. 564. - - [223] Dici non potest quam mihi dulcescat Anglia tua . . . . vel in - extrema Scythia vivere non recusem. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 311. - -[Sidenote: ARTHUR AND CATHERINE.] - -But if Erasmus on the banks of the Thames found a Mæcenas in Lord -Montjoy, a Labeo and perhaps a Virgil in More, he nowhere found an -Augustus. One day as he was expressing his regrets and his fears to -More, the latter said: "Come, let us go to Eltham, perhaps we shall -find there what you are looking for." They set out, More jesting all -the way, inwardly resolving to expiate his gaiety by a severe -scourging at night. On their arrival they were heartily welcomed by -Lord and Lady Montjoy, the governor and governess of the king's -children. As the two friends entered the hall, a pleasing and -unexpected sight greeted Erasmus. The whole of the family were -assembled, and they found themselves surrounded not only by some of -the royal household, but by the domestics of Lord Montjoy also. On the -right stood the Princess Margaret, a girl of eleven years, whose -great-grandson under the name of Stuart was to continue the Tudor line -in England; on the left was Mary, a child four years of age; Edmund -was in his nurse's arms; and in the middle of the circle, between his -two sisters, stood a boy, at that time only nine years old, whose -handsome features, royal carriage, intelligent eye, and exquisite -courtesy, had an extraordinary charm for Erasmus.[224] That boy was -Henry, Duke of York, the king's second son, born on the 28th June -1491. More, advancing towards the young prince, presented to him some -piece of his own writing; and from that hour Erasmus kept up a -friendly intercourse with Henry, which in all probability exercised a -certain influence over the destinies of England. The scholar of -Rotterdam was delighted to see the prince excel in all the manly -sports of the day. He sat his horse with perfect grace and rare -intrepidity, could hurl a javelin farther than any of his companions, -and having an excellent taste for music, he was already a performer on -several instruments. The king took care that he should receive a -learned education, for he destined him to fill the see of Canterbury; -and the illustrious Erasmus, noticing his aptitude for every thing he -undertook, did his best to cut and polish this English diamond that it -might glitter with the greater brilliancy. "He will begin nothing that -he will not finish," said the scholar. And it is but too true, that -this prince always attained his end, even if it were necessary to -tread on the bleeding bodies of those he had loved. Flattered by the -attentions of the young Henry, attracted by his winning grace, charmed -by his wit, Erasmus on his return to the continent everywhere -proclaimed that England at last had found its Octavius. - - [224] Erasm. Ep. ad Botzhem. Jortin. Appendix, p. 108. - -As for Henry VII he thought of everything but Virgil or Augustus. -Avarice and ambition were his predominant tastes, which he gratified -by the marriage of his eldest son in 1501. Burgundy, Artois, Provence, -and Brittany having been recently united to France, the European -powers felt the necessity of combining against that encroaching state. -It was in consequence of this that Ferdinand of Aragon had given his -daughter Joanna to Philip of Austria, and that Henry VII asked the -hand of his daughter Catherine, then in her sixteenth year and the -richest princess in Europe, for Arthur prince of Wales, a youth about -ten months younger. The catholic king made one condition to the -marriage of his daughter. Warwick, the last of the Plantagenets and a -pretender to the crown, was confined in the Tower. Ferdinand, to -secure the certainty that Catherine would really ascend the English -throne, required that the unhappy prince should be put to death. Nor -did this alone satisfy the king of Spain. Henry VII, who was not a -cruel man, might conceal Warwick, and say that he was no more. -Ferdinand demanded that the chancellor of Castile should be present at -the execution. The blood of Warwick was shed; his head rolled duly on -the scaffold; the Castilian chancellor verified and registered the -murder, and on the 14th November the marriage was solemnized at St. -Paul's. At midnight the prince and princess were conducted with great -pomp to the bridal-chamber.[225] These were ill-omened nuptials--fated -to set the kings and nations of Christendom in battle against each -other, and to serve as a pretext for the external and political -discussions of the English Reformation. The marriage of Catherine the -Catholic was a marriage of blood. - - [225] Principes summa nocte ad thalamum solemni ritu deducti sunt. - Sanderus, de schismate Angl. p. 2. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF PRINCE ARTHUR.] - -In the early part of 1502 Prince Arthur fell ill, and on the 2nd of -April he died. The necessary time was taken to be sure that Catherine -had no hope of becoming a mother, after which the friend of Erasmus, -the youthful Henry, was declared heir to the crown, to the great joy -of all the learned. This prince did not forsake his studies: he spoke -and wrote in French, German, and Spanish with the facility of a -native; and England hoped to behold one day the most learned of -Christian kings upon the throne of Alfred the Great. - -A very different question, however, filled the mind of the covetous -Henry VII. Must he restore to Spain the two hundred thousand ducats -which formed Catherine's dowry? Shall this rich heiress be permitted -to marry some rival of England? To prevent so great a misfortune the -king conceived the project of uniting Henry to Arthur's widow. The -most serious objections were urged against it. "It is not only -inconsistent with propriety," said Warham, the primate, "but the will -of God himself is against it. It is declared in His law that _if a man -shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing_, (Lev. xx. 21); -and in the Gospel John Baptist says to Herod: _It is not lawful for -thee to have thy brother's wife_," (Mark vi. 18.) Fox, bishop of -Winchester, suggested that a dispensation might be procured from the -pope, and in December 1503 Julius II granted a bull declaring that for -the sake of preserving union between the catholic princes he -authorized Catherine's marriage with the brother of her first husband, -_accedente forsan copula carnali_. These four words, it is said, were -inserted in the bull at the express desire of the princess. All these -details will be of importance in the course of our history. The two -parties were betrothed, but not married in consideration of the youth -of the prince of Wales. - -The second marriage projected by Henry VII was ushered in with -auspices still less promising than the first. The king having fallen -sick and lost his queen, looked upon these visitations as a divine -judgment.[226] The nation murmured, and demanded whether it was in the -pope's power to permit what God had forbidden.[227] The young prince, -being informed of his father's scruples and of the people's -discontent, declared, just before attaining his majority (27th June -1505), in the presence of the bishop of Winchester and several royal -counsellors, that he protested against the engagement entered into -during his minority, and that he would never make Catherine his wife. - - [226] Morysin's Apomaxis. - - [227] Herbert, Life of Henry VIII, p. 18. - -[Sidenote: PROCLAMATION OF HENRY VIII.] - -His father's death, which made him free, made him also recall this -virtuous decision. In 1509, the hopes of the learned seemed about to -be realized. On the 9th of May, a hearse decorated with regal pomp, -bearing on a rich pall of cloth of gold the mortal remains of Henry -VII with his sceptre and his crown, entered London, followed by a long -procession. The great officers of state, assembled round the coffin, -broke their staves and cast them into the vault, and the heralds cried -with a loud voice: "God send the noble King Henry VIII long -life."[228] Such a cry perhaps had never on any previous occasion been -so joyfully repeated by the people. The young king gratified the -wishes of the nation by ordering the arrest of Empson and Dudley, who -were charged with extortion; and he conformed to the enlightened -counsels of his grandmother, by choosing the most able ministers, and -placing the archbishop of Canterbury as lord-chancellor at their head. -Warham was a man of great capacity. The day was not too short for him -to hear mass, receive ambassadors, consult with the king in the royal -closet, entertain as many as two hundred guests at his table, take his -seat on the woolsack, and find time for his private devotions. The joy -of the learned surpassed that of the people. The old king wanted none -of their praises or congratulations, for fear he should have to pay -for them; but now they could give free course to their enthusiasm. -Montjoy pronounced the young king "divine;" the Venetian ambassador -likened his port to Apollo's, and his noble chest to the torso of -Mars; he was lauded both in Greek and Latin; he was hailed as the -founder of a new era, and Henry seemed desirous of meriting these -eulogiums. Far from permitting himself to be intoxicated by so much -adulation, he said to Montjoy: "Ah! how I should like to be a -scholar!"--"Sire," replied the courtier, "It is enough that you show -your regard for those who possess the learning you desire for -yourself."--"How can I do otherwise," he replied with earnestness; -"without them we hardly exist!" Montjoy immediately communicated this -to Erasmus. - - [228] Leland's Collectanea, vol. iv. p. 309. - -[Sidenote: ENTHUSIASM OF THE LEARNED.] - -Erasmus!--Erasmus!--the walls of Eltham, Oxford, and London resounded -with the name. The king could not live without the learned; nor the -learned without Erasmus. This scholar, who was an enthusiast for the -young king, was not long in answering to the call. When Richard Pace, -one of the most accomplished men of that age, met the learned Dutchman -at Ferrara, the latter took from his pocket a little box which he -always carried with him: "You don't know," he said, "what a treasure -you have in England: I will just show you;" and he took from the box a -letter of Henry's expressing in Latin of considerable purity the -tenderest regard for his correspondent.[229] Immediately after the -coronation Montjoy wrote to Erasmus: "Our Henry _Octavus_, or rather -_Octavius_, is on the throne. Come and behold the new star.[230] The -heavens smile, the earth leaps for joy, and all is flowing with milk, -nectar, and honey.[231] Avarice has fled away, liberality has -descended, scattering on every side with gracious hand her bounteous -largesses. Our king desires not gold or precious stones, but virtue, -glory, and immortality." - - [229] Scripsit ad me suapte manu litteras amantissimas. Erasm. Vita ad - Ep. - - [230] Ut hoc novum sidus aspicias. Ibid. p. 277: an expression of - Virgil, speaking of the deified Augustus. - - [231] Ridet æther, exultat terra, omnia lactis, omnia mellis, omnia - nectaris sunt plena. Ibid. - -In such glowing terms was the young king described by a man who had -seen him closely. Erasmus could resist no longer: he bade the pope -farewell, and hastened to London, where he met with a hearty welcome -from Henry. Science and power embraced each other: England was about -to have its Medici; and the friends of learning no longer doubted of -the regeneration of Britain. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL AND THE POPE.] - -Julius II, who had permitted Erasmus to exchange the white frock of -the monks for the black dress of the seculars,[232] allowed him to -depart without much regret. This pontiff had little taste for letters, -but was fond of war, hunting, and the pleasures of the table. The -English sent him a dish to his taste in exchange for the scholar. -Sometime after Erasmus had left, as the pope was one day reposing from -the fatigues of the chase, he heard voices near him singing a strange -song. He asked with surprise what it meant.[233] "It is some -Englishmen," was the answer, and three foreigners entered the room, -each bearing a closely-covered jar, which the youngest presented on -his knees. This was Thomas Cromwell, who appears here for the first -time on the historic scene. He was the son of a blacksmith of Putney; -but he possessed a mind so penetrating, a judgment so sound, a heart -so bold, ability so consummate, such easy elocution, such an accurate -memory, such great activity, and so able a pen, that the most -brilliant career was foreboded him. At the age of twenty he left -England, being desirous to see the world, and began life as a clerk in -the English factory at Antwerp. Shortly after this two fellow-countrymen -from Boston came to him in their embarrassment. "What do you want?" he -asked them. "Our townsmen have sent us to the pope," they told him, -"to get the renewal of the _greater_ and _lesser pardons_, whose term -is nearly run, and which are necessary for the repair of our harbour. -But we do not know how to appear before him." Cromwell, prompt to -undertake everything, and knowing a little Italian, replied, "I will -go with you." Then slapping his forehead, he muttered to himself: -"What fish can I throw out as a bait to these greedy cormorants?" A -friend informed him that the pope was very fond of dainties. Cromwell -immediately ordered some exquisite jelly to be prepared, after the -English fashion, and set out for Italy with his provisions and his two -companions. - - [232] Vestem albam commutavit in nigram. Epp. ad Servat. - - [233] The pope suddenly marvelling at the strangeness of the song. - Fox. Acts, v. 364, ed. Lond. 1838. - -This was the man who appeared before Julius after his return from the -chase. "Kings and princes alone eat of this preserve in England," said -Cromwell to the pope. One cardinal, who was a greedier "cormorant" -than his master, eagerly tasted the delicacy. "Try it," he exclaimed, -and the pope, relishing this new confectionary, immediately signed the -pardons, on condition however that the receipt for the jelly should be -left with him. "And thus were the _jelly-pardons_ obtained," says the -annalist. It was Cromwell's first exploit, and the man who began his -busy career by presenting jars of confectionary to the pope was also -the man destined to separate England from Rome. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S COURT.] - -The court of the pontiff was not the only one in Europe devoted to -gaiety. Hunting parties were as common in London as at Rome. The young -king and his companions were at that time absorbed in balls, banquets, -and the other festivities inseparable from a new reign. He recollected -however that he must give a queen to his people: Catherine of Aragon -was still in England, and the council recommended her for his wife. He -admired her piety without caring to imitate it;[234] he was pleased -with her love for literature, and even felt some inclination towards -her.[235] His advisers represented to him that "Catherine, daughter of -the illustrious Isabella of Castile, was the image of her mother. Like -her, she possessed that wisdom and greatness of mind which win the -respect of nations; and that if she carried to any of his rivals her -marriage-portion and the Spanish alliance, the long-contested crown -of England would soon fall from his head.... We have the pope's -dispensation: will you be more scrupulous than he is?"[236] The -archbishop of Canterbury opposed in vain: Henry gave way, and on the -eleventh of June, about seven weeks after his father's death, the -nuptials were privately celebrated. On the twenty-third the king and -queen went in state through the city, the bride wearing a white satin -dress with her hair hanging down her back nearly to her feet. On the -next day they were crowned at Westminster with great magnificence. - - [234] Admirabatur quidem uxoris sanctitatem. Sanders. p. 5. - - [235] Ut amor plus apud regem posset. Morysin Apom. p. 14. - - [236] Herbert's Henry VIII, p. 7. Fuller's Church Hist. Book V. p. - 165. Erasm. Ep. ad Amerb. p. 19. - -Then followed a series of expensive entertainments. The treasures -which the nobility had long concealed from fear of the old king, were -now brought out; the ladies glittered with gold and diamonds; and the -king and queen, whom the people never grew tired of admiring, amused -themselves like children with the splendour of their royal robes. -Henry VIII was the forerunner of Louis XIV. Naturally inclined to pomp -and pleasure, the idol of his people, a devoted admirer of female -beauty, and the husband of almost as many wives as Louis had -adulterous mistresses, he made the court of England what the son of -Anne of Austria made the court of France,--one constant scene of -amusements. He thought he could never get to the end of the riches -amassed by his prudent father. His youth--for he was only -eighteen--the gaiety of his disposition, the grace he displayed in all -bodily exercises, the tales of chivalry in which he delighted, and -which even the clergy recommended to their high-born hearers, the -flattery of his courtiers[237]--all these combined to set his young -imagination in a ferment. Wherever he appeared, all were filled with -admiration of his handsome countenance and graceful figure: such is -the portrait bequeathed to us by his greatest enemy.[238] "His brow -was made to wear the crown, and his majestic port the kingly mantle," -adds Noryson.[239] - - [237] Tyndale, Obedience of a Christian man (1528). - - [238] Eximia corporis forma præditus, in qua etiam regiæ majestatis - augusta quædam species elucebat. (Sanderus de Schism., p. 4.) He was - endowed with uncommon gracefulness of person, in which there shone - forth a certain august air even of kingly majesty. - - [239] Turner. Hist. Engl. i. p. 28. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S DANGER.] - -Henry resolved to realize without delay the chivalrous combats and -fabulous splendours of the heroes of the Round Table, as if to prepare -himself for those more real struggles which he would one day have to -maintain against the papacy. At the sound of the trumpet the youthful -monarch would enter the lists, clad in costly armour, and wearing a -plume that fell gracefully down to the saddle of his vigorous courser; -"like an untamed bull," says an historian, "which breaks away from its -yoke and rushes into the arena." On one occasion, at the celebration -of the queen's churching, Catherine with her ladies was seated in a -tent of purple and gold, in the midst of an artificial forest, strewn -with rocks and variegated with flowers. On a sudden a monk stepped -forward, wearing a long brown robe, and kneeling before her, begged -permission to run a course. It was granted, and rising up he threw -aside his coarse frock, and appeared gorgeously armed for the tourney. -He was Charles Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, one of the -handsomest and strongest men in the kingdom, and the first after Henry -in military exercises. He was followed by a number of others dressed -in black velvet, with wide-brimmed hats on their heads, staffs in -their hands, and scarfs across their shoulders ornamented with cockle -shells, like pilgrims from St. James of Compostella. These also threw -off their disguise, and stood forth in complete armour. At their head -was Sir Thomas Boleyn, whose daughter was fated to surpass in beauty, -greatness, and misfortune, all the women of England. The tournament -began. Henry, who has been compared to Amadis in boldness, to the lion -hearted Richard in courage, and to Edward III in courtesy, did not -always escape danger in these chivalrous contests. One day the king -had forgotten to lower his vizor, and Brandon, his opponent, setting -off at full gallop, the spectators noticed the oversight, and cried -out in alarm. But nothing could stop their horses: the two cavaliers -met. Suffolk's lance was shivered against Henry, and the fragments -struck him in the face. Every one thought the king was dead, and some -were running to arrest Brandon, when Henry, recovering from the blow -which had fallen on his helmet, recommenced the combat, and ran six -new courses amid the admiring cries of his subjects. This intrepid -courage changed as he grew older into unsparing cruelty; and it was -this young tiger, whose movements were then so graceful, that at no -distant day tore with his bloody fangs the mother of his children. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - The Pope excites to War--Colet's Sermon at St. Paul's--The - Flemish Campaign--Marriage of Louis XII and Princess - Mary--Letter from Anne Boleyn--Marriage of Brandon and - Mary--Oxford--Sir Thomas More at Court--Attack upon the - Monasteries--Colet's Household--He preaches Reform--The - Greeks and Trojans. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE EXCITES TO WAR.] - -A message from the pope stopped Henry in the midst of these -amusements. In Scotland, Spain, France, and Italy, the young king had -nothing but friends; a harmony which the papacy was intent on -disturbing. One day, immediately after high-mass had been celebrated, -the archbishop of Canterbury, on behalf of Julius II laid at his feet -a golden rose, which had been blessed by the pope, anointed with holy -oil, and perfumed with musk.[240] It was accompanied by a letter -saluting him as head of the Italian league. The warlike pontiff having -reduced the Venetians, desired to humble France, and to employ Henry -as the instrument of his vengeance. Henry, only a short time before, -had renewed his alliance with Louis XII; but the pope was not to be -baffled by such a trifle as that, and the young king soon began to -dream of rivalling the glories of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. To -no purpose did his wisest councillors represent to him that England, -in the most favourable times, had never been able to hold her ground -in France, and that the sea was the true field open to her conquests. -Julius, knowing his vanity, had promised to deprive Louis of the title -of Most Christian king, and confer it upon him. "His holiness hopes -that your grace will utterly exterminate the king of France," wrote -the king's agent.[241] Henry saw nothing objectionable in this very -unapostolic mission, and decided on substituting the terrible game of -war for the gentler sports of peace. - - [240] Odorifico musco aspersam. Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 652. - - [241] Letter of Cardinal Bembridge. Cotton MSS. Vitell. B. 2, p. 8. - -[Sidenote: DEAN COLET'S SERMON.] - -In the spring of 1511, after some unsuccessful attempts by his -generals, Henry determined to invade France in person. He was in the -midst of his preparations when the festival of Easter arrived. Dean -Colet had been appointed to preach before Henry on Good Friday, and in -the course of his sermon he showed more courage than could have been -expected in a scholar, for a spark of the Christian spirit was glowing -in his bosom. He chose for the subject of his discourse Christ's -victory over death and the grave. "Whoever takes up arms from -ambition," said he, "fights not under the standard of Christ, but of -Satan. If you desire to contend against your enemies, follow Jesus -Christ as your prince and captain, rather than Cæsar or Alexander." -His hearers looked at each other with astonishment; the friends of -polite literature became alarmed; and the priests, who were getting -uneasy at the uprising of the human mind, hoped to profit by this -opportunity of inflicting a deadly blow on their antagonists. There -were among them men whose opinions we must condemn, while we cannot -forbear respecting the zeal for what they believed to be the truth: of -this number were Bricot, Fitzjames, and above all Standish. Their -zeal, however, went a little too far on this occasion: they even -talked of _burning_ the dean.[242] After the sermon, Colet was -informed that the king requested his attendance in the garden of the -Franciscan monastery, and immediately the priests and monks crowded -round the gate, hoping to see their adversary led forth as a criminal. -"Let us be alone," said Henry; "put on your cap, Mr. Dean, and we will -take a walk. Cheer up," he continued, "you have nothing to fear. You -have spoken admirably of Christian charity, and have almost reconciled -me to the king of France; yet, as the contest is not one of choice, -but of necessity, I must beg of you in some future sermon to explain -this to my people. Unless you do so, I fear my soldiers may -misunderstand your meaning." Colet was not a John Baptist, and, -affected by the king's condescension, he gave the required -explanation. The king was satisfied, and exclaimed: "Let every man -have his doctor as he pleases; this man is my doctor, and I will drink -his health!" Henry was then young: very different was the fashion with -which in after-years he treated those who opposed him. - - [242] Dr. Colet was in trouble and should have been burnt. Latimer's - Sermons. Parker edition, p. 440. - -At heart the king cared little more about the victories of Alexander -than of Jesus Christ. Having fitted out his army, he embarked at the -end of June, accompanied by his almoner, Wolsey, who was rising into -favour, and set out for the war as if for a tournament. Shortly after -this, he went, all glittering with jewels, to meet the Emperor -Maximilian, who received him in a plain doublet and cloak of black -serge. After his victory at the battle of Spurs, Henry, instead of -pressing forward to the conquest of France, returned to the siege of -Teronenne, wasted his time in jousts and entertainments, conferred on -Wolsey the bishopric of Tournay which he had just captured, and then -returned to England, delighted at having made so pleasant an -excursion. - -[Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS MARY.] - -Louis XII was a widower in his 53rd year, and bowed down by the -infirmities of a premature old age; but being desirous of preventing, -at any cost, the renewal of the war, he sought the hand of Henry's -sister, the Princess Mary, then in her 16th year. Her affections were -already fixed on Charles Brandon, and for him she would have -sacrificed the splendour of a throne. But reasons of state opposed -their union. "The princess," remarked Wolsey, "will soon return to -England a widow with a royal dowry." This decided the question. The -disconsolate Mary, who was an object of universal pity, embarked at -Dover with a numerous train, and from Boulogne, where she was received -by the duke of Angoulême, she was conducted to the king, elated at the -idea of marrying the handsomest princess in Europe. - -Among Mary's attendents was the youthful Anne Boleyn. Her father, Sir -Thomas Boleyn, had been charged by Henry, conjointly with the bishop -of Ely, with the diplomatic negotiations preliminary to this marriage. -Anne had passed her childhood at Hever Castle, surrounded by all that -could heat the imagination. Her maternal grandfather, the earl of -Surrey, whose eldest son had married the sister of Henry the Seventh's -queen, had filled, as did his sons also, the most important offices of -state. At the age probably of fourteen, when summoned by her father to -court, she wrote him the following letter in French, which appears to -refer to her departure for France:-- - - "SIR,--I find by your letter that you wish me to appear at - court in a manner becoming a respectable female, and - likewise that the queen will condescend to enter into - conversation with me; at this I rejoice, as I do to think, - that conversing with so sensible and elegant a princess will - make me even more desirous of continuing to speak and to - write good French; the more as it is by your earnest advice, - which (I acquaint you by this present writing) I shall - follow to the best of my ability.... As to myself, rest - assured that I shall not ungratefully look upon this - fatherly office as one that might be dispensed with; nor - will it tend to diminish my affection, quest [wish], and - deliberation to lead as holy a life as you may please to - desire of me; indeed my love for you is founded on so firm a - basis that it can never be impaired. I put an end to this my - lucubration after having very humbly craved your good will - and affection. Written at Hever, by - - "Your very humble and obedient daughter, - ANNA DE BOULLAN."[243] - - [243] The French original is preserved among Archbishop Parker's MSS. - at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The translation in the text is - (with a slight variation) from Sir H. Ellis's Collection of royal and - other letters. vol. ii. second series. - -[Sidenote: MARY MARRIES BRANDON.] - -Such were the feelings under which this young and interesting lady, so -calumniated by papistical writers, appeared at court. - -The marriage was celebrated at Abbeville on the 9th of October 1514, -and after a sumptuous banquet, the king of France distributed his -royal largesses among the English lords, who were charmed by his -courtesy. But the morrow was a day of trial to the young queen. Louis -XII had dismissed the numerous train which had accompanied her, and -even Lady Guildford, to whom Henry had specially confided her. Three -only were left,--of whom the youthful Anne Boleyn was one. At this -separation, Mary gave way to the keenest sorrow. To cheer her spirits, -Louis proclaimed a grand tournament. Brandon hastened to France at its -first announcement, and carried off all the prizes; while the king, -languidly reclining on a couch, could with difficulty look upon the -brilliant spectacle over which his queen presided, sick at heart yet -radiant with youth and beauty. Mary was unable to conceal her emotion, -and Louisa of Savoy, who was watching her, divined her secret. But -Louis, if he experienced the tortures of jealousy, did not feel them -long, for his death took place on the 1st January 1515. - -Even before her husband's funeral was over, Mary's heart beat high -with hope. Francis I, impatient to see her wedded to some unimportant -political personage, encouraged her love for Brandon. The latter, who -had been commissioned by Henry to convey to her his letters of -condolence, feared his master's anger if he should dare aspire to the -hand of the princess. But the widowed queen, who was resolved to brave -every thing, told her lover: "Either you marry me in four days or you -see me no more." The choice the king had made of his ambassador -announced that he would not behave very harshly. The marriage was -celebrated in the abbey of Clugny, and Henry pardoned them. - -[Sidenote: OXFORD.] - -While Mary returned to England, as Wolsey had predicted, Anne Boleyn -remained in France. Her father, desiring his daughter to become an -accomplished woman, intrusted her to the care of the virtuous Claude -of France, _the good queen_, at whose court the daughters of the first -families of the kingdom were trained. Margaret, duchess of Alencon, -the sister of Francis, and afterwards queen of Navarre, often charmed -the queen's circle by her lively conversation. She soon became deeply -attached to the young Englishwoman, and on the death of Claude took -her into her own family. Anne Boleyn was destined at no very remote -period to be at the court of London a reflection of the graceful -Margaret, and her relations with that princess were not without -influence on the English Reformation. - -And indeed the literary movement which had passed from Italy into -France appeared at that time as if it would cross from France into -Britain. Oxford exercises over England as great an influence as the -metropolis; and it is almost always within its walls that a movement -commences whether for good or evil. At this period of our history, an -enthusiastic youth hailed with joy the first beams of the new sun, and -attacked with their sarcasms the idleness of the monks, the immorality -of the clergy, and the superstition of the people. Disgusted with the -priestcraft of the middle ages, and captivated by the writers of -antiquity and the purity of the Gospel, Oxford boldly called for a -reform which should burst the bonds of clerical domination and -emancipate the human mind. Men of letters thought for a while that -they had found the most powerful man in England in Wolsey, the ally -that would give them the victory. - -He possessed little taste for learning, but seeing the wind of public -favour blow in that direction, he readily spread his sails before it. -He got the reputation of a profound divine, by quoting a few words of -Thomas Aquinas, and the fame of a Mæcenas and Ptolemy, by inviting the -learned to his gorgeous entertainments. "O happy cardinal," exclaimed -Erasmus, "who can surround his table with such torches!"[244] - - [244] Cujus mensa talibus luminibus cingitur. Erasm. Ep. 725. - -At that time the king felt the same ambition as his minister, and -having tasted in turn the pleasures of war and diplomacy, he now bent -his mind to literature. He desired Wolsey to present Sir Thomas More -to him.--"What shall I do at court?" replied the latter. "I shall be -as awkward as a man that never rode sitteth in a saddle." Happy in his -family circle, where his father, mother, and children, gathering round -the same table, formed a pleasing group, which the pencil of Holbein -has transmitted to us, More had no desire to leave it. But Henry was -not a man to put up with a refusal; he employed force almost to draw -More from his retirement, and in a short time he could not live -without the society of the man of letters. On calm and starlight -nights they would walk together upon the leads at the top of the -palace, discoursing on the motions of the heavenly bodies. If More did -not appear at court, Henry would go to Chelsea and share the frugal -dinner of the family with some of their simple neighbours. "Where," -asked Erasmus, "where is the Athens, the Porch, or the Academe, that -can be compared with the court of England?... It is a seat of the -muses rather than a palace.... The golden age is reviving, and I -congratulate the world." - -[Sidenote: THE MONASTERIES ASSAILED.] - -But the friends of classical learning were not content with the -cardinal's banquets or the king's favours. They wanted victories, and -their keenest darts were aimed at the cloisters, those strong -fortresses of the hierarchy and of uncleanness.[245] The abbot of -Saint Albans, having taken a married woman for his concubine, and -placed her at the head of a nunnery, his monks had followed his -example, and indulged in the most scandalous debauchery. Public -indignation was so far aroused, that Wolsey himself--Wolsey, the -father of several illegitimate children, and who was suffering the -penalty of his irregularities[246]--was carried away by the spirit of -the age, and demanded of the pope a general reform of manners. When -they heard of this request, the priests and friars were loud in their -outcries. "What are you about?" said they to Wolsey. "You are giving -the victory to the enemies of the church, and your only reward will be -the hatred of the whole world." As this was not the cardinal's game, -he abandoned his project, and conceived one more easily executed. -Wishing to deserve the name of "Ptolemy" conferred on him by Erasmus, -he undertook to build two large colleges, one at Ipswich, his native -town, the other at Oxford; and found it convenient to take the money -necessary for their endowment, not from his own purse, but from the -purses of the monks. He pointed out to the pope twenty-two monasteries -in which (he said) vice and impiety had taken up their abode.[247] The -pope granted their secularization, and Wolsey having thus procured a -revenue of £2000 sterling, laid the foundations of his college, traced -out various courts, and constructed spacious kitchens. He fell into -disgrace before he had completed his work, which led Gualter to say -with a sneer: "He began a college and built a cook's shop."[248] But a -great example had been set: the monasteries had been attacked, and the -first breach made in them by a cardinal. Cromwell, Wolsey's secretary, -remarked how his master had set about his work, and in after-years -profited by the lesson. - - [245] Loca sacra etiam ipsa Dei templa monialium stupro et sanguinis - et seminis effusione profanare non verentur. Papal bull. Wilkins, - Concilia, p. 632. - - [246] Morbus venereus. Burnet. - - [247] Wherein much vice and wickedness was harboured. Strype, i. 169. - The names of the monasteries are given. Ibid. ii. 132. - - [248] Instituit collegium et absolvit popinam. Fuller, cent. xvi. p. - 169. - -[Sidenote: COLET PREACHES THE REFORMATION.] - -It was fortunate for letters that they had sincerer friends in London -than Wolsey. Of these were Colet, dean of St. Paul's, whose house was -the centre of the literary movement which preceded the Reformation, -and his friend and guest Erasmus. The latter was the hardy pioneer who -opened the road of antiquity to modern Europe. One day he would -entertain Colet's guests with the account of a new manuscript; on -another, with a discussion on the forms of ancient literature; and at -other times he would attack the schoolmen and monks, when Colet would -take the same side. The only antagonist who dared measure his strength -with him was Sir Thomas More, who, although a layman, stoutly defended -the ordinances of the church. - -But mere table-talk could not satisfy the dean: a numerous audience -attended his sermons at St. Paul's. The spirituality of Christ's -words, the authority which characterizes them, their admirable -simplicity and mysterious depth, had deeply charmed him: "I admire the -writings of the apostles," he would say, "but I forget them almost, -when I contemplate the wonderful majesty of Jesus Christ."[249] -Setting aside the tests prescribed by the church, he explained, like -Zwingle, the Gospel of St. Matthew. Nor did he stop here. Taking -advantage of the Convocation, he delivered a sermon on _conformation_ -and _reformation_, which was one of the numerous forerunners of the -great reform of the sixteenth century. "We see strange and heretical -ideas appear in our days, and no wonder," said he. "But you must know -there is no heresy more dangerous to the church than the vicious lives -of its priests. A reformation is needed; and that reformation must -begin with the bishops and be extended to the priests. The clergy once -reformed, we shall proceed to the reformation of the people."[250] -Thus spoke Colet, while the citizens of London listened to him with -rapture, and called him a new Saint Paul.[251] - - [249] Ita suspiciebat admirabilem illam Christi majestatem. Erasm. - Epp. 707. - - [250] Colet, Sermon to the Convocation. - - [251] Pene apostolus Paulus habitus est. (Polyd. Virg. p. 618.) He was - accounted almost an apostle Paul. - -Such discourses could not be allowed to pass unpunished. Fitzjames, -bishop of London, was a superstitious obstinate old man of eighty, -fond of money, excessively irritable, a poor theologian, and a slave -to Duns Scotus, the _subtle doctor_. Calling to his aid two other -bishops as zealous as himself for the preservation of abuses, namely, -Bricot and Standish, he denounced the dean of St. Paul's to Warham. -The archbishop having inquired what he had done: "What has he done?" -rejoined the bishop of London. "He teaches that we must not worship -images; he translates the Lord's Prayer into English; he pretends that -the text _Feed my sheep_, does not include the temporal supplies the -clergy draw from their flock. And besides all this," he continued with -some embarrassment, "he has spoken against those who carry their -manuscripts into the pulpit and read their sermons!" As this was the -bishop's practice, the primate could not refrain from smiling; and -since Colet refused to justify himself, Warham did so for him. - -[Sidenote: GREEKS AND TROJANS.] - -From that time Colet laboured with fresh zeal to scatter the darkness. -He devoted the larger portion of his fortune to found the celebrated -school of St. Paul, of which the learned Lilly was the first master. -Two parties, the _Greeks_ and the _Trojans_, entered the lists, not to -contend with sword and spear, as in the ancient epic, but with the -tongue, the pen, and sometimes the fist. If the _Trojans_ (the -obscurants) were defeated in the public disputations, they had their -revenge in the secret of the confessional. _Cave a Græcis ne fias -hereticus_,[252] was the watchword of the priests--their daily lesson -to the youths under their care. They looked on the school founded by -Colet as the monstrous horse of the perjured Sinon, and announced that -from its bosom would inevitably issue the destruction of the people. -Colet and Erasmus replied to the monks by inflicting fresh blows. -Linacre, a thorough literary enthusiast,--Grocyn, a man of sarcastic -humour but generous heart,--and many others, reinforced the _Grecian_ -phalanx. Henry himself used to take one of them with him during his -journeys, and if any unlucky _Trojan_ ventured in his presence to -attack the tongue of Plato and of Saint Paul, the young king would set -his Hellenian on him. Not more numerous were the contests witnessed in -times of yore on the classic banks of Xanthus and Simois. - - [252] Beware of the Greeks, lest you should become a heretic. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Wolsey--His first Commission--His complaisance and - Dioceses--Cardinal, Chancellor, and Legate--Ostentation and - Necromancy--His Spies and Enmity--Pretensions of the Clergy. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY.] - -Just as everything seemed tending to a reformation, a powerful priest -rendered the way more difficult. - -One of the most striking personages of the age was then making his -appearance on the stage of the world. It was the destiny of that man, -in the reign of Henry VIII, to combine extreme ability with extreme -immorality; and to be a new and striking example of the wholesome -truth that immorality is more effectual to destroy a man than ability -to save him. Wolsey was the last high-priest of Rome in England, and -when his fall startled the nation, it was the signal of a still more -striking fall--the fall of popery. - -Thomas Wolsey, the son of a wealthy butcher of Ipswich, according to -the common story, which is sanctioned by high authority, had attained -under Henry VII the post of almoner, at the recommendation of Sir -Richard Nanfan, treasurer of Calais and an old patron of his. But -Wolsey was not at all desirous of passing his life in saying mass. As -soon as he had discharged the regular duties of his office, instead of -spending the rest of the day in idleness, as his colleagues did, he -strove to win the good graces of the persons round the king. - -Fox, Bishop of Winchester, keeper of the privy-seal under Henry VII, -uneasy at the growing power of the earl of Surrey, looked about for a -man to counterbalance them. He thought he had found such a one in -Wolsey. It was to oppose the Surreys, the grandfather and uncles of -Anne Boleyn, that the son of the Ipswich butcher was drawn from his -obscurity. This is not an unimportant circumstance in our narrative. -Fox began to praise Wolsey in the king's hearing, and at the same time -he encouraged the almoner to give himself to public affairs. The -latter was not deaf,[253] and soon found an opportunity of winning his -sovereign's favour. - - [253] Hæc Wolseius non surdis audierit auribus. (Polyd. Virg. 622.) - Wolsey heard these words, not with deaf ears. - -[Sidenote: HIS FIRST SERVICES UNDER HENRY VII.] - -The king having business of importance with the emperor, who was then -in Flanders, sent for Wolsey, explained his wishes, and ordered him -to prepare to set out. The chaplain determined to show Henry VII how -capable he was of serving him. It was long past noon when he took -leave of the king at Richmond--at four o'clock he was in London, at -seven at Gravesend. By travelling all night he reached Dover just as -the packet-boat was about to sail. After a passage of three hours he -reached Calais, whence he travelled post, and the same evening -appeared before Maximilian. Having obtained what he desired, he set -off again by night, and on the next day but one reached Richmond, -three days and some few hours after his departure. The king, catching -sight of him just as he was going to mass, sharply inquired, why he -had not set out. "Sire, I am just returned," answered Wolsey, placing -the emperor's letters in his master's hands. Henry was delighted, and -Wolsey saw that his fortune was made. - -The courtiers hoped at first that Wolsey, like an inexperienced pilot, -would run his vessel on some hidden rock; but never did helmsman -manage his ship with more skill. Although twenty years older than -Henry VIII the almoner danced, and sang, and laughed with the prince's -companions, and amused his new master with tales of scandal and -quotations from Thomas Aquinas. The young king found his house a -temple of paganism, a shrine of voluptuousness;[254] and while Henry's -councillors were entreating him to leave his pleasures and attend to -business, Wolsey was continually reminding him that he ought to devote -his youth to learning and amusement, and leave the toils of government -to others. Wolsey was created bishop of Tournay during the campaign in -Flanders, and on his return to England, was raised to the sees of -Lincoln and of York. Three mitres had been placed on his head in one -year. He found at last the vein he so ardently sought for. - - [254] Domi suæ voluptatum omnium sacrarium fecit. (Polyd. Virg. 623.) - He made his house a shrine of all voluptuousness. - -[Sidenote: OSTENTATION AND NECROMANCY.] - -And yet he was not satisfied. The archbishop of Canterbury had -insisted, as primate, that the cross of York should be lowered to his. -Wolsey was not of a disposition to concede this, and when he found -that Warham was not content with being his equal, he resolved to make -him his inferior. He wrote to Paris and to Rome. Francis I, who -desired to conciliate England, demanded the purple for Wolsey, and the -archbishop of York received the title of Cardinal St. Cecilia beyond -the Tiber. In November 1515, his hat was brought by the envoy of the -pope: "It would have been better to have given him a Tyburn tippet," -said some indignant Englishmen; "these Romish hats never brought good -into England"[255]--a saying that has become proverbial. - - [255] Latimer's Sermons (Parker Society), p. 119. - -This was not enough for Wolsey: he desired secular greatness above all -things. Warham, tired of contending with so arrogant a rival, resigned -the seals, and the king immediately transferred them to the cardinal. -At length a bull appointed him legate _a latere_ of the holy see, and -placed under his jurisdiction all the colleges, monasteries, spiritual -courts, bishops, and the primate himself (1519). From that time, as -lord-chancellor of England and legate, Wolsey administered every thing -in church and state. He filled his coffers with money procured both at -home and from abroad, and yielded without restraint to his dominant -vices, ostentation and pride. Whenever he appeared in public, two -priests, the tallest and comeliest that could be found, carried before -him two huge silver crosses, one to mark his dignity as archbishop, -the other as papal legate. Chamberlains, gentlemen, pages, sergeants, -chaplains, choristers, clerks, cupbearers, cooks, and other domestics, -to the number of more than 500, among whom were nine or ten lords and -the stateliest yeomen of the country, filled his palace. He generally -wore a dress of scarlet velvet and silk, with hat and gloves of the -same colour. His shoes were embroidered with gold and silver, inlaid -with pearls and precious stones. A kind of papacy was thus forming in -England; for wherever pride flourishes there popery is developed. - -One thing occupied Wolsey more than all the pomp with which he was -surrounded: his desire, namely, to captivate the king. For this -purpose he cast Henry's nativity, and procured an amulet which he wore -constantly, in order to charm his master by its magic properties.[256] -Then having recourse to a still more effectual necromancy, he selected -from among the licentious companions of the young monarch those of the -keenest discernment and most ambitious character; and after binding -them to him by a solemn oath, he placed them at court to be as eyes -and ears to him. Accordingly not a word was said in the presence of -the monarch, particularly against Wolsey, of which he was not informed -an hour afterwards. If the culprit was not in favour, he was expelled -without mercy; in the contrary case, the minister sent him on some -distant mission. The queen's ladies, the king's chaplains, and even -their confessors, were the cardinal's spies. He pretended to -omnipresence, as the pope to infallibility. - - [256] He calked [calculated] the king's nativity ... he made by craft - of necromancy graven imagery to bear upon him, wherewith he bewitched - the king's mind. Tyndale's Expositions (Parker Soc.) p. 308. - -Wolsey was not devoid of certain showy virtues, for he was liberal to -the poor even to affectation, and as chancellor inexorable to every -kind of irregularity, and strove particularly to make the rich and -high-born bend beneath his power. Men of learning alone obtained from -him some little attention, and hence Erasmus calls him "the Achates of -a new Æneas." But the nation was not to be carried away by the -eulogies of a few scholars. Wolsey--a man of more than suspected -morals, double-hearted, faithless to his promises, oppressing the -people with heavy taxes, and exceedingly arrogant to every -body--Wolsey soon became hated by the people of England. - -[Sidenote: A CLAIM OF THE CLERGY.] - -The elevation of a prince of the Roman church could not be favourable -to the Reformation. The priests, encouraged by it, determined to make -a stand against the triple attack of the learned, the reformers, and -the state; and they soon had an opportunity of trying their strength. -Holy orders had become during the middle ages a warrant for every sort -of crime. Parliament, desirous of correcting this abuse and checking -the encroachments of the church, declared in the year 1513 that any -ecclesiastic, accused of theft or murder, should be tried before the -secular tribunals. Exceptions, however, were made in favour of -bishops, priests, and deacons--that is to say, nearly all the clergy. -Notwithstanding this timid precaution, an insolent clerk, the abbot of -Winchelcomb, began the battle by exclaiming at St. Paul's: "_Touch not -mine anointed_, said the Lord." At the same time Wolsey, accompanied -by a long train of priests and prelates, had an audience of the king, -at which he said with hands upraised to heaven: "Sire, to try a clerk, -is a violation of God's laws." This time, however, Henry did not give -way. "By God's will, we are king of England," he replied, "and the -kings of England in times past had never any superior but God only. -Therefore know you well that we will maintain the right of our crown." -He saw distinctly that to put the clergy above the laws was to put -them above the throne. The priests were beaten, but not disheartened: -perseverance is a characteristic feature of every hierarchical order. -Not walking by faith, they walk all the more by sight; and skilful -combinations supply the place of the holy aspirations of the -Christian. Humble disciples of the Gospel were soon to experience -this, for the clergy by a few isolated attacks were about to flesh -themselves for the great struggles of the Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - The Wolves--Richard Hun--A murder--Verdict of the Jury--Hun - condemned, and his Character vindicated--The Gravesend - Passage-boat--A festival disturbed--Brown tortured--Visit - from his Wife--A Martyr--Character of Erasmus--1516 and - 1517--Erasmus goes to Basle. - - -[Sidenote: THE WOLVES--RICHARD HUN.] - -It is occasionally necessary to soften down the somewhat exaggerated -colours in which contemporary writers describe the Romish clergy; but -there are certain appellations which history is bound to accept. The -_wolves_, for so the priests were called, by attacking the Lords and -Commons had attempted a work beyond their reach. They turned their -wrath on others. There were many shepherds endeavouring to gather -together the sheep of the Lord beside the peaceful waters: these must -be frightened, and the sheep driven into the howling wilderness. "The -wolves" determined to fall upon the Lollards. - -There lived in London an honest tradesman named Richard Hun, one of -those witnesses of the truth who, sincere though unenlightened, have -often been found in the bosom of Catholicism. It was his practice to -retire to his closet and spend a portion of each day in the study of -the Bible. At the death of one of his children, the priest required of -him an exorbitant fee, which Hun refused to pay, and for which he was -summoned before the legate's court. Animated by that public spirit, -which characterizes the people of England, he felt indignant that an -Englishman should be cited before a foreign tribunal, and laid an -information against the priest and his counsel under the act of -_præmunire_. Such boldness--most extraordinary at that time-- -exasperated the clergy beyond all bounds. "If these proud -citizens are allowed to have their way," exclaimed the monks, "every -layman will dare to resist a priest." - -[Sidenote: RICHARD HUN'S MURDER.] - -Exertions were accordingly made to snare the pretended rebel in the -trap of heresy;[257] he was thrown into the Lollards' tower at St. -Paul's, and an iron collar was fastened round his neck, attached to -which was a chain so heavy that neither man nor beast (says Foxe) -would have been able to bear it long. When taken before his judges, -they could not convict him of heresy, and it was observed with -astonishment "that he had his beads in prison with him."[258] They -would have set him at liberty, after inflicting on him perhaps some -trifling penance--but then, what a bad example it would be, and who -could stop the reformers, if it was so easy to resist the papacy? -Unable to triumph by justice, certain fanatics resolved to triumph by -crime. - - [257] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8. Folio, 1684, London. - - [258] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8. Folio. 1684, London. - -At midnight on the 2nd December--the day of his examination--three men -stealthily ascended the stairs of the Lollards' tower: the bellringer -went first carrying a torch; a sergeant named Charles Joseph followed, -and last came the bishop's chancellor. Having entered the cell, they -went up to the bed on which Hun was lying, and finding that he was -asleep, the chancellor said: "Lay hands on the thief." Charles Joseph -and the bellringer fell upon the prisoner, who, awaking with a start, -saw at a glance what this midnight visit meant. He resisted the -assassins at first, but was soon overpowered and strangled. Charles -Joseph then fixed the dead man's belt round his neck, the bellringer -helped to raise his lifeless body, and the chancellor slipped the -other end of the belt through a ring fixed in the wall. They then -placed his cap on his head, and hastily quitted the cell.[259] -Immediately after, the conscience-stricken Charles Joseph got on -horseback and rode from the city; the bellringer left the cathedral -and hid himself: the crime dispersed the criminals. The chancellor -alone kept his ground, and he was at prayers when the news was brought -him that the turnkey had found Hun hanging. "He must have killed -himself in despair," said the hypocrite. But every one knew poor Hun's -Christian feelings. "It is the priests who have murdered him," was the -general cry in London, and an inquest was ordered to be held on his -body. - - [259] Ibid. p. 13. "And so all we murdered Hun ... and so Hun was - hanged." (Evidence of Charles Joseph.) - -[Sidenote: HUN CONDEMNED.] - -On Tuesday, the 5th of December, William Barnwell the city coroner, -the two sheriffs, and twenty-four jurymen, proceeded to the Lollards' -tower. They remarked that the belt was so short that the head could -not be got out of it, and that consequently it had never been placed -in it voluntarily, and hence the jury concluded that the suspension -was an after-thought of some other persons. Moreover they found that -the ring was too high for the poor victim to reach it,--that the body -bore marks of violence--and that traces of blood were to be seen in -the cell: "Wherefore all we find by God and all our consciences (runs -the verdict), that Richard Hun was murdered. Also we acquit the said -Richard Hun of his own death."[260] - - [260] For particulars of the Inquest, see Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. 14. - -It was but too true, and the criminals themselves confessed it. The -miserable Charles Joseph having returned home on the evening of the -6th December, said to his maid-servant: "If you will swear to keep my -secret, I will tell you all."--"Yes, master," she replied, "if it is -neither felony nor treason."--Joseph took a book, swore the girl on -it, and then said to her: "I have killed Richard Hun!"--"O master! -how? he was called a worthy man."--"I would lever [rather] than a -hundred pounds it were not done," he made answer; "but what is done -cannot be undone." He then rushed out of the house. - -The clergy foresaw what a serious blow this unhappy affair would be to -them, and to justify themselves they examined Hun's Bible (it was -Wickliffe's version), and having read in the preface that "poor men -and idiots [simple folks] have the truth of the holy Scriptures more -than a thousand prelates and religious men and clerks of the school," -and further, that "the pope ought to be called Antichrist," the bishop -of London, assisted by the bishops of Durham and Lincoln, declared Hun -guilty of heresy, and on the 20th December his dead body was burnt at -Smithfield. "Hun's bone's have been burnt, and therefore he was a -heretic," said the priests; "he was a heretic, and therefore he -committed suicide." - -The triumph of the clergy was of short duration; for almost at same -time William Horsey, the bishop's chancellor, Charles Joseph, and John -Spalding the bellringer, were convicted of the murder. A bill passed -the Commons restoring Hun's property to his family and vindicating his -character; the Lords accepted the bill, and the king himself said to -the priests: "Restore to these wretched children the property of their -father whom you so cruelly murdered to our great and just -horror."[261]--"If the clerical theocracy should gain the mastery of -the state," was the general remark in London, "it would not only be a -very great lie, but the most frightful tyranny!" England has never -gone back since that time, and a theocratic rule has always inspired -the sound portion of the nation with a just and insurmountable -antipathy. Such were the events taking place in England shortly before -the Reformation. This was not all. - - [261] Verdict on the Inquest; Foxe, 12. - -[Sidenote: THE GRAVESEND BOAT.] - -The clergy had not been fortunate in Hun's affair, but they were not -for that reason unwilling to attempt a new one. - -In the spring of 1517--the year in which Luther posted up his -_theses_--a priest, whose manners announced a man swollen with pride, -happened to be on board the passage-boat from London to Gravesend with -an intelligent and pious Christian of Ashford, by name John Brown. The -passengers, as they floated down the stream, were amusing themselves -by watching the banks glide away from them, when the priest, turning -towards Brown, said to him insolently: "You are too near me, get -farther off. Do you know who I am?"--"No, sir," answered -Brown.--"Well, then, you must know that I am a priest."--"Indeed, sir; -are you a parson, or vicar, or a lady's chaplain?"--"No; I am a -_soul-priest_," he haughtily replied; "I sing mass to save -souls."--"Do you, sir," rejoined Brown somewhat ironically, "that is -well done; and can you tell me where you find the soul when you begin -the mass?"--"I cannot," said the priest.--"And where you leave it when -the mass is ended?"--"I do not know."--"What!" continued Brown with -marks of astonishment, "you do not know where you find the soul or -where you leave it ... and yet you say that you save it!"--"Go thy -ways," said the priest angrily, "thou art a heretic, and I will be -even with thee." Thenceforward the priest and his neighbour conversed -no more together. At last they reached Gravesend, and the boat -anchored. - -As soon as the priest had landed, he hastened to two of his friends, -Walter and William More, and all three mounting their horses, set off -for Canterbury, and denounced Brown to the archbishop. - -[Sidenote: BROWN PUT TO THE TORTURE.] - -In the meantime John Brown had reached home. Three days later, his -wife, Elizabeth, who had just left her chamber, went to church, -dressed all in white, to return thanks to God for delivering her in -the perils of childbirth. Her husband, assisted by her daughter Alice -and the maid-servant, were preparing for their friends the feast usual -on such occasions, and they had all of them taken their seats at -table, joy beaming on every face, when the street-door was abruptly -opened, and Chilton, the constable, a cruel and savage man, -accompanied by several of the archbishop's apparitors, seized upon the -worthy townsman. All sprang from their seats in alarm; Elizabeth and -Alice uttered the most heart-rending cries; but the primate's -officers, without showing any emotion, pulled Brown out of the house, -and placed him on horseback, tying his feet under the animal's -belly.[262] It is a serious matter to jest with a priest. The -cavalcade rode off quickly, and Brown was thrown into prison, and -there left forty days. - - [262] Foxe, Acts, ii, p. 7. His feet bound under his own horse. - -At the end of this time, the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop -of Rochester called before them the impudent fellow who doubted -whether a priest's mass could save souls, and required him to retract -this "blasphemy." But Brown, if he did not believe in the mass, -believed in the Gospel: "Christ was once offered," he said, "to take -away the sins of many. It is by this sacrifice we are saved, and not -by the repetitions of the priests." At this reply the archbishop made -a sign to the executioners, one of whom took off the shoes and -stockings of this pious Christian, while the other brought in a pan of -burning coals, upon which they set the martyr's feet.[263] The English -laws in truth forbade torture to be inflicted on any subject of the -crown, but the clergy thought themselves above the laws. "Confess the -efficacity of the mass," cried the two bishops to poor Brown. "If I -deny my Lord upon earth," he replied, "He will deny me before his -Father in heaven." The flesh was burnt off the soles of the feet even -to the bones, and still John Brown remained unshaken. The bishops -therefore ordered him to be given over to the secular arm that he -might be burnt alive. - - [263] His bare feet were set upon hot burning coals. The Lollards - (edit. Tract Soc.), p. 149. - -On the Saturday preceding the festival of Pentecost, in the year 1517, -the martyr was led back to Ashford, where he arrived just as the day -was drawing to a close. A number of idle persons were collected in the -street, and among them was Brown's maid-servant, who ran off crying to -the house, and told her mistress: "I have seen him!... He was bound, -and they were taking him to prison."[264] Elizabeth hastened to her -husband and found him sitting with his feet in the stocks, his -features changed by suffering, and expecting to be burnt alive on the -morrow. The poor woman sat down beside him, weeping most bitterly, -while he, being hindered by his chains, could not so much as bend -towards her. "I cannot set my feet to the ground," said he, "for -bishops have burnt them to the bones; but they could not burn my -tongue and prevent my confessing the Lord.... O Elizabeth! ... -continue to love him for He is good; and bring up our children in his -fear." - - [264] A young maid of his house coming by saw her master; she ran - home. Ibid. p. 50. - -[Sidenote: MARTYRDOM.] - -On the following morning--it was Whitsunday--the brutal Chilton and -his assistants led Brown to the place of execution, and fastened him -to the stake. Elizabeth and Alice, with his other children and his -friends, desirous of receiving his last sigh, surrounded the pile, -uttering cries of anguish. The fagots were set on fire, while Brown, -calm and collected, and full of confidence in the blood of the -Saviour, clasped his hands, and repeated this hymn, which Foxe has -preserved:--[265] - - O Lord, I yield me to thy grace, - Grant me mercy for my trespass; - Let never the fiend my soul chase. - Lord, I will bow, and thou shalt beat, - Let never my soul come in hell-heat. - - [265] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8 (folio 1684), iv. p. 132 (Lond. - 1838). We shall in future refer to the latter edition, as being more - accessible. - -The martyr was silent: the flames had consumed their victim. Then -redoubled cries of anguish rent the air. His wife and daughter seemed -as if they would lose their senses. The bystanders showed them the -tenderest compassion, and turned with a movement of indignation -towards the executioners. The brutal Chilton perceiving this, cried -out:--"Come along; let us toss the heretic's children into the flames, -lest they should one day spring from their father's ashes."[266] He -rushed towards Alice, and was about to lay hold of her, when the -maiden shrank back screaming with horror. To the end of her life, she -recollected the fearful moment, and to her we are indebted for the -particulars. The fury of the monster was checked. Such were the scenes -passing in England shortly before the Reformation. - - [266] Bade cast in his children also, for they would spring of his - ashes. Ibid. - -The priests were not yet satisfied, for the scholars still remained in -England: if they could not be burnt, they should at least be banished. -They set to work accordingly. Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, a sincere -man, as it would seem, but fanatical, was inveterate in his hatred of -Erasmus, who had irritated him by an idle sarcasm. When speaking of -_St. Asaph's_ it was very common to abbreviate it into _St. As's_; and -as Standish was a theologian of no great learning, Erasmus, in his -jesting way, would sometimes call him _Episcopus a Sancto Asino_. As -the bishop could not destroy Colet, the disciple, he flattered himself -that he should triumph over the master. - -[Sidenote: 1516 and 1517.] - -Erasmus knew Standish's intentions. Should he commence in England that -struggle with the papacy which Luther was about to begin in Germany? -It was no longer possible to steer a middle course: he must either -fight or leave. The Dutchman was faithful to his nature--we may even -say, to his vocation: he left the country. - -Erasmus was, in his time, the head of the great literary community. By -means of his connexions and his correspondence, which extended over -all Europe, he established between those countries where learning was -reviving, an interchange of ideas and manuscripts. The pioneer of -antiquity, an eminent critic, a witty satirist, the advocate of -correct taste, and a restorer of literature, one only glory was -wanting: he had not the creative spirit, the heroic soul of a Luther. -He calculated with no little skill, could detect the smile on the lips -or the knitting of the brows; but he had not that self-abandonment, -that enthusiasm for the truth, that firm confidence in God, without -which nothing great can be done in the world, and least of all in the -church. "Erasmus _had_ much, but _was_ little," said one of his -biographers.[267] - - [267] Ad. Muller. - -In the year 1517 a crisis had arrived: the period of the revival was -over, that of the Reformation was beginning. The restoration of -letters was succeeded by the regeneration of religion: the days of -criticism and neutrality by those of courage and action. Erasmus was -then only forty-nine years old; but he had finished his career. From -being first, he must now be second: the monk of Wittemberg dethroned -him. He looked around himself in vain: placed in a new country, he had -lost his road. A hero was needed to inaugurate the great movement of -modern times: Erasmus was a mere man of letters. - -[Sidenote: ERASMUS GOES TO BASLE.] - -When attacked by Standish in 1516, the literary king determined to -quit the court of England, and take refuge in a printing-office. But -before laying down his sceptre at the foot of a Saxon monk, he -signalized the end of his reign by the most brilliant of his -publications. The epoch of 1516-17, memorable for the theses of -Luther, was destined to be equally remarkable by a work which was to -imprint on the new times their essential character. What distinguishes -the Reformation from all anterior revivals is the union of learning -with piety, and a faith more profound, more enlightened, and based on -the word of God. The Christian people was then emancipated from the -tutelage of the schools and the popes, and its charter of -enfranchisement was the Bible. The sixteenth century did more than its -predecessors: it went straight to the fountain (the Holy Scriptures), -cleared it of weeds and brambles, plumbed its depths, and caused its -abundant streams to pour forth on all around. The Reformation age -studied the Greek Testament, which the clerical age had almost -forgotten,--and this is its greatest glory. Now the first explorer of -this divine source was Erasmus. When attacked by the hierarchy, the -leader of the schools withdrew from the splendid halls of Henry VIII. -It seemed to him that the new era which he had announced to the world -was rudely interrupted: he could do nothing more by his conversation -for the country of the Tudors. But he carried with him those precious -leaves, the fruit of his labours--a book which would do more than he -desired. He hastened to Basle, and took up his quarters in Frobenius's -printing-office,[268] where he not only laboured himself, but made -others labour. England will soon receive the seed of the new life, and -the Reformation is about to begin. - - [268] Frobenio, ut nullius officinæ plus debeant sacrarum studia - literarum. (Erasm. Ep. p. 330.) The study of sacred literature was - more indebted to no printing-office than to that of Frobenius. - - - - -BOOK XVIII - -THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Four reforming Powers--Which reformed England?--Papal - Reform?--Episcopal Reform?--Royal Reform?--What is required - in a legitimate Reform--The Share of the Kingly Power--Share - of the Episcopal Authority--High and Low Church--Political - Events--The Greek and Latin New Testament--Thoughts of - Erasmus--Enthusiasm and anger--Desire of Erasmus--Clamours - of the Priests--Their Attack at Court--Astonishment of - Erasmus--His Labours for this Work--Edward Lee; his - Character--Lee's _Tragedy_--Conspiracy. - - -It was within the province of four powers in the sixteenth century to -effect a reformation of the church: these were the papacy, the -episcopate, the monarchy, and Holy Scripture. - -The Reformation in England was essentially the work of Scripture. - -The only true reformation is that which emanates from the word of God. -The Holy Scriptures, by bearing witness to the incarnation, death, and -resurrection of the Son of God, create in man by the Holy Ghost a -faith which justifies him. That faith which produces in him a new -life, unites him to Christ, without his requiring a chain of bishops -or a Roman mediator, who would separate him from the Saviour instead -of drawing him nearer. This Reformation _by the word_ restores that -spiritual Christianity which the outward and hierarchical religion had -destroyed; and from the regeneration of individuals naturally results -the regeneration of the church. - -[Sidenote: THE REFORMATION, NOT ROYAL.] - -The Reformation of England, perhaps to a greater extent than that of -the continent, was effected by the word of God. This statement may -appear paradoxical, but it is not the less true. Those great -individualities we meet with in Germany, Switzerland, and France--men -like Luther, Zwingle, and Calvin--do not appear in England; but Holy -Scripture is widely circulated. What brought light into the British -isles subsequently to the year 1517, and on a more extended scale -after the year 1526, was the word--the invisible power of the -invisible God. The religion of the anglo-Saxon race--a race called -more than any other to circulate the oracles of God throughout the -world--is particularly distinguished by its biblical character. - -The Reformation of England could not be papal. No reform can be hoped -from that which ought to be not only reformed but abolished; and -besides, no monarch dethrones himself. We may even affirm that the -popedom has always felt a peculiar affection for its conquests in -Britain, and that they would have been the last it would have -renounced. A serious voice had declared in the middle of the fifteenth -century: "A reform is neither in the will nor in the power of the -popes."[269] - - [269] James of Juterbock, prior of the Carthusians: De septem ecclesiæ - statibus opusculum. - -The Reformation of England was not episcopal. Roman hierarchism will -never be abolished by Roman bishops. An episcopal assembly may -perhaps, as at Constance, depose three competing popes, but then it -will be to save the papacy. And if the bishops could not abolish the -papacy, still less could they reform themselves. The then existing -episcopal power being at enmity with the word of God, and the slave of -its own abuses, was incapable of renovating the church. On the -contrary, it exerted all its influence to prevent such a renovation. - -The Reformation in England was not royal. Samuel, David, and Josiah -were able to do something for the raising up of the church, when God -again turned his face towards it; but a king cannot rob his people of -their religion, and still less can he give them one. It has often been -repeated that "the English Reformation derives its origin from the -monarch;" but the assertion is incorrect. The work of God, here as -elsewhere, cannot be put in comparison with the work of the king; and -if the latter was infinitely surpassed in importance, it was also -preceded in time by many years. The monarch was still keeping up a -vigorous resistance behind his intrenchments, when God had already -decided the victory along the whole line of operations. - -[Sidenote: TWO PARTIES IN THE CHURCH.] - -Shall we be told that a reform effected by any other principle than -the established authorities, both in _church_ and _state_, would have -been a revolution? But has God, the lawful sovereign of the church, -forbidden all revolution in a sinful world? A _revolution_ is not a -revolt. The fall of the first man was a great revolution: the -restoration of man by Jesus Christ was a counter-revolution. The -corruption occasioned by popery was allied to the fall: the -reformation accomplished in the sixteenth century was connected -therefore with the restoration. There will no doubt be other -interventions of the Deity, which will be revolutions in the same -direction as the Reformation. When God creates a new heaven and a new -earth, will not that be one of the most glorious of revolutions? The -Reformation by the word alone gives truth, alone gives unity; but more -than that, it alone bears the marks of true _legitimacy_; for the -church belongs not unto men, even though they be priests. God alone is -its lawful sovereign. - -And yet the human elements which we have enumerated were not wholly -foreign to the work that was accomplishing in England. Besides the -word of God, other principles were in operation, and although less -radical and less primitive, they still retain the sympathy of eminent -men of that nation. - -And in the first place, the intervention of the king's authority was -necessary to a certain point. Since the supremacy of Rome had been -established in England by several usages which had the force of law, -the intervention of the temporal power was necessary to break the -bonds which it had previously sanctioned. But it was requisite for the -monarchy, while adopting a negative and political action, to leave the -positive, doctrinal, and creative action to the word of God. - -Besides the Reformation _in the name of the Scriptures_, there was -then in England another _in the name of the king_. The word of God -began, the kingly power followed; and ever since, these two forces -have sometimes gone together against the authority of the Roman -pontiffs--sometimes in opposition to each other, like those troops -which march side by side in the same army, against the same enemy, and -which have occasionally been seen, even on the field of battle, to -turn their swords against each other. - -Finally, the episcopate, which had begun by opposing the Reformation, -was compelled to accept it in despite of its convictions. The majority -of the bishops were opposed to it; but the better portion were found -to incline, some to the side of outward reform, of which separation -from the papacy was the very essence, and others to the side of -internal reform, whose mainspring was union with Jesus Christ. Lastly, -the episcopate took up its ground on its own account, and soon two -great parties alone existed in England: the scriptural party and the -clerical party. - -[Sidenote: POLITICAL EVENTS.] - -These two parties have survived even to our days, and their colours -are still distinguishable in the river of the church, like the muddy -Arve and the limpid Rhone after their confluence. The royal supremacy, -from which many Christians, preferring the paths of independence, have -withdrawn since the end of the 16th century, is recognised by both -parties in the establishment, with some few exceptions. But whilst -the High Church is essentially hierarchical, the Low Church is -essentially biblical. In the one, the Church is above and the word -below; in the other, the Church is below and the Word above. These two -principles, evangelism and hierarchism, are found in the Christianity -of the first centuries, but with a signal difference. Hierarchism then -almost entirely effaced evangelism; in the age of protestantism, on -the contrary, evangelism continued to exist by the side of -hierarchism, and it has remained _de jure_, if not always _de facto_, -the only legitimate opinion of the church. - -Thus there is in England a complication of influences and contests, -which render the Work more difficult to describe; but it is on that -very account more worthy the attention of the philosopher and the -Christian. - - * * * * * - -Great events had just occurred in Europe. Francis I had crossed the -Alps, gained a signal victory at Marignano, and conquered the north of -Italy. The affrighted Maximilian knew of none who could save him but -Henry VIII. "I will adopt you; you shall be my successor in the -empire," he intimated to him in May 1516. "Your army shall invade -France; and then we will march together to Rome, where the sovereign -pontiff shall crown you king of the Romans." The king of France, -anxious to effect a diversion, had formed a league with Denmark and -Scotland, and had made preparations for invading England to place on -the throne the "white rose,"--the pretender Pole, heir to the claims -of the house of York.[270] Henry now showed his prudence; he declined -Maximilian's offer, and turned his whole attention to the security of -his kingdom. But while he refused to bear arms in France and Italy, a -war of quite another kind broke out in England. - - [270] A private combination, etc. Strype's Memorials, i. part ii. p. - 16. - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -The great work of the 16th century was about to begin. A volume fresh -from the presses of Basle had just crossed the Channel. Being -transmitted to London, Oxford, and Cambridge, this book, the fruit of -Erasmus's vigils, soon found its way wherever there were friends of -learning. It was the _New Testament_ of our Lord Jesus Christ, -published for the first time in Greek with a new Latin translation--an -event more important for the world than would have been the landing of -the pretender in England, or the appearance of the chief of the Tudors -in Italy. This book, in which God has deposited for man's salvation -the seeds of life, was about to effect alone, without patrons and -without interpreters, the most astonishing revolution in Britain. - -When Erasmus published this work, at the dawn, so to say, of modern -times, he did not see all its scope. Had he foreseen it, he would -perhaps have recoiled in alarm. He saw indeed that there was a great -work to be done, but he believed that all good men would unite to do -it with common accord. "A spiritual temple must be raised in desolated -Christendom," said he. "The mighty of this world will contribute -towards it their marble, their ivory, and their gold; I who am poor -and humble offer the foundation stone," and he laid down before the -world his edition of the Greek Testament. Then glancing disdainfully -at the traditions of men, he said: "It is not from human reservoirs, -fetid with stagnant waters, that we should draw the doctrine of -salvation; but from the pure and abundant streams that flow from the -heart of God." And when some of his suspicious friends spoke to him of -the difficulties of the times, he replied: "If the ship of the church -is to be saved from being swallowed up by the tempest, there is only -one anchor that can save it: it is the heavenly word, which, issuing -from the bosom of the Father, lives, speaks, and works still in the -Gospel."[271] These noble sentiments served as an introduction to -those blessed pages which were to reform England. Erasmus, like -Caiaphas, prophesied without being aware of it. - - [271] In evangelicis litteris, sermo ille coelestis, quondam e corde - Patris ad nos profectus. (Erasm. Leoni, Ep. p. 1843) That heavenly - word in the Gospel, formerly sent to us from the bosom of the Father. - -[Sidenote: DEMAND OF ERASMUS.] - -The New Testament in Greek and Latin had hardly appeared when it was -received by all men of upright mind with unprecedented enthusiasm. -Never had any book produced such a sensation. It was in every hand: -men struggled to procure it, read it eagerly, and would even kiss -it.[272] The words it contained enlightened every heart. But a -reaction soon took place. Traditional catholicism uttered a cry from -the depths of its noisome pools, (to use Erasmus's figure). -Franciscans and Dominicans, priests and bishops, not daring to attack -the educated and well-born, went among the ignorant populace, and -endeavoured by their tales and clamours to stir up susceptible women -and credulous men. "Here are horrible heresies," they exclaimed, "here -are frightful antichrists! If this book be tolerated it will be the -death of the papacy!"--"We must drive this man from the university," -said one. "We must turn him out of the church," added another. "The -public places re-echoed with their howlings," said Erasmus.[273] The -firebrands tossed by their furious hands were raising fires in every -quarter; and the flames kindled in a few obscure convents threatened -to spread over the whole country. - - [272] Opus avidissime rapitur ...... amatur, manibus teritur (Er. Ep. - 557.) The work is most eagerly seized.... it is embraced, it is - clasped in the hands. - - [273] Oblatrabant sycophantæ. (Erasm. Ep. p. 329.) The slanderers - howled. - -This irritation was not without a cause. The book, indeed, contained -nothing but Latin and Greek; but this first step seemed to augur -another--the translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue. Erasmus -loudly called for it.[274] "Perhaps it may be necessary to conceal the -secrets of kings," he remarked, "but we must publish the mysteries of -Christ. The Holy Scriptures, translated into all languages, should be -read not only by the Scotch and Irish, but even by Turks and Saracens. -The husbandman should sing them as he holds the handle of his plough, -the weaver repeat them as he plies his shuttle, and the wearied -traveller, halting on his journey, refresh him under some shady tree -by these godly narratives." These words prefigured a golden age after -the iron age of popery. A number of Christian families in Britain and -on the continent were soon to realize these evangelical forebodings, -and England after three centuries was to endeavour to carry them out -for the benefit of all the nations on the face of the earth. - - [274] Paraclesis ad lectorem pium. Consolation to the pious reader. - -The priests saw the danger, and by a skilful manoeuvre, instead of -finding fault with the Greek Testament, attacked the translation and -the translator. "He has corrected the Vulgate," they said, "and puts -himself in the place of Saint Jerome. He sets aside a work authorized -by the consent of ages and inspired by the Holy Ghost. What audacity!" -And then, turning over the pages, they pointed out the most odious -passages: "Look here! this book calls upon men to _repent_, instead of -requiring them, as the Vulgate does, _to do penance_!" (Matt. iv. 17.) -The priests thundered against him from their pulpits:[275] "This man -has committed the unpardonable sin," they asserted; "for he maintains -that there is nothing in common between the Holy Ghost and the -monks--that they are logs rather than men!" These simple remarks were -received with a general laugh; but the priests, in no wise -disconcerted, cried out all the louder: "He's a heretic, an -heresiarch, a forger! he's a goose[276] ... what do I say? he's a very -antichrist!" - - [275] Quam stolide debacchati sunt quidam e suggestis ad populum. - (Erasm. Ep. p. 1193.) How stupidly some of them raved to the people - out of their pulpits. - - [276] Nos clamitans esse grues (_cranes_) et bestias. (Ibid. p. 914.) - Calling out that we are cranes and brutes. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIEST'S ATTACK AT COURT.] - -It was not sufficient for the papal janissaries to make war in the -plain, they must carry it to the higher ground. Was not the king a -friend of Erasmus? If he should declare himself a patron of the Greek -and Latin Testament, what an awful calamity!... After having agitated -the cloisters, towns, and universities, they resolved to protest -against it boldly, even in Henry's presence. They thought: "If he is -won, all is won." It happened one day that a certain theologian (whose -name is not given) having to preach in his turn before the king, he -declaimed violently against the _Greek_ language and its new -interpreters. Pace, the king's secretary, was present, and turning his -eyes on Henry, observed him smiling good humouredly.[277] On leaving -the church, every one began to exclaim against the preacher. "Bring -the priest to me," said the king; and then turning to More, he added: -"You shall defend the Greek cause against him, and I will listen to -the disputation." The literary tribunal was soon formed, but the -sovereign's order had taken away all the priest's courage. He came -forward trembling, fell on his knees, and with clasped hands -exclaimed: "I know not what spirit impelled me." "A spirit of -madness," said the king, "and not the spirit of Jesus Christ."[278] He -then added: "Have you ever read Erasmus?" "No, Sire." "Away with you -then, you are a blockhead." "And yet," said the preacher in confusion, -"I remember to have read something about _Moria_," (Erasmus's treatise -on _Folly_).--"A subject, your majesty, that ought to be very familiar -to him," wickedly interrupted Pace. The _obscurant_ could say nothing -in his justification. "I am not altogether opposed to the Greek," he -added at last, "seeing that it is derived from the Hebrew."[279] This -was greeted with a general laugh, and the king impatiently ordered the -monk to leave the room, and never appear before him again. - - [277] Pacæus in regem conjecit oculos.....Is mox Pacæo suaviter - arrisit. Erasm. Ep. p. 914. - - [278] Tum rex: ut qui inquit, spiritus iste non erat Christi sed - stultitiæ. Ibid. - - [279] Græcis, inquit, literis non perinde sum infensus, quod originem - habeant ex lingua hebraica. Ibid. p. 347. - -[Sidenote: LABOURS OF ERASMUS.] - -Erasmus was astonished at these discussions. He had imagined the -season to be most favourable. "Every thing looks peaceful," he had -said to himself; "now is the time to launch my Greek Testament into -the learned world."[280] As well might the sun rise upon the earth, -and no one see it! At that very hour God was raising up a monk at -Wittemberg who would lift the trumpet to his lips, and proclaim the -new day. "Wretch that I am!" exclaimed the timid scholar, beating his -breast, "who could have forseen this horrible tempest!"[281] - - [280] Erant tempora tranquilla. (Erasm. Ep. 911.) The times were - tranquil. - - [281] Quis enim suspicaturus erat hanc fatalem tempestatem exorituram - in orbe? Erasm. Ep. 911. - -Nothing was more important at the dawn of the Reformation than the -publication of the Testament of Jesus Christ in the original language. -Never had Erasmus worked so carefully. "If I told what sweat it cost -me, no one would believe me."[282] He had collated many Greek MSS. of -the New Testament,[283] and was surrounded by all the commentaries and -translations, by the writings of Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, Basil, -Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome, and Augustine. _Hic sum in campo meo!_ he -exclaimed as he sat in the midst of his books. He had investigated the -texts according to the principles of sacred criticism. When a -knowledge of Hebrew was necessary, he had consulted Capito and more -particularly OEcolampadius. _Nothing without Theseus_, said he of the -latter, making use of a Greek proverb. He had corrected the -amphibologies, obscurities, hebraisms, and barbarisms of the Vulgate; -and had caused a list to be printed of the errors in that version. - - [282] Quantis mihi constiterit sudoribus. Ibid. 329. - - [283] Collatis multis Græcorum exemplaribus. Ibid. - -"We must restore the pure text of the word of God," he had said; and -when he heard the maledictions of the priests, he had exclaimed: "I -call God to witness I thought I was doing a work acceptable to the -Lord and necessary to the cause of Christ."[284] Nor in this was he -deceived. - - [284] Deum testor simpliciter existimabam me rem facere Deo gratam ac - rei christianæ necessariam. Ibid. 911. - -[Sidenote: EDWARD LEE.] - -At the head of his adversaries was Edward Lee, successively king's -almoner, archdeacon of Colchester, and archbishop of York. Lee, at -that time but little known, was a man of talent and activity, but also -vain and loquacious, and determined to make his way at any cost. Even -when a school-boy he looked down on all his companions.[285] As child, -youth, man, and in mature years, he was always the same, Erasmus tells -us;[286] that is to say, vain, envious, jealous, boasting, passionate, -and revengeful. We must bear in mind, however, that when Erasmus -describes the character of his opponents, he is far from being an -impartial judge. In the bosom of Roman-catholicism, there have always -existed well-meaning, though ill-informed men, who, not knowing the -interior power of the word of God, have thought that if its authority -were substituted for that of the Romish church, the only foundation of -truth and of Christian society would be shaken. Yet while we judge -Lee less severely than Erasmus does, we cannot close our eyes to his -faults. His memory was richly furnished, but his heart was a stranger -to divine truth: he was a schoolman and not a believer. He wanted the -people to obey the church and not trouble themselves about the -Scriptures. He was the Doctor Eck of England, but with more of outward -appearance and morality than Luther's adversary. Yet he was by no -means a rigid moralist. On one occasion, when preaching at the palace, -he introduced ballads into his sermon, one of which began thus:-- - - "Pass time with good company." - -And the other:-- - - "I love unloved." - - [285] Solus haberi in pretio volebat. (Ibid. 593) He wished that - himself alone should be esteemed. - - [286] Talis erat puer, talis adolescens, talis juvenis, talis nunc - etiam vir est. Ibid. 594. - -We are indebted to Secretary Pace for this characteristic trait.[287] - - [287] State Papers, Henry VIII. etc. i. p. 10, pub. 1830. - -During the sojourn of Erasmus in England, Lee, observing his -influence, had sought his friendship, and Erasmus, with his usual -courtesy, had solicited his advice upon his work. But Lee, jealous of -his great reputation, only waited for an opportunity to injure it, -which he seized upon as soon as it occurred. The New Testament had not -been long published, when Lee turned round abruptly, and from being -Erasmus's friend became his implacable adversary.[288] "If we do not -stop this leak," said he, when he heard of the New Testament, "it will -sink the ship." Nothing terrifies the defenders of human traditions so -much as the word of God. - - [288] Subito factus est inimicus. (Erasm. Ep. 746.) Suddenly he became - unfriendly. - -[Sidenote: LEE'S MANIFESTO.] - -Lee immediately leagued himself with all those in England who abhorred -the study of Scripture, says Erasmus. Although exceedingly conceited, -he showed himself the most amiable of men, in order to accomplish his -designs. He invited Englishmen to his house, welcomed strangers, and -gained many recruits by the excellence of his dinners.[289] While -seated at table among his guests, he hinted perfidious charges against -Erasmus, and his company left him "loaded with lies."[290]--"In this -New Testament," said he, "there are three hundred dangerous, frightful -passages ... three hundred did I say? ... there are more than a -thousand!" Not satisfied with using his tongue, Lee wrote scores of -letters, and employed several secretaries. Was there any convent in -the odour of sanctity, he "forwarded to it instantly wine, choice -viands, and other presents." To each one he assigned his part, and -over all England they were rehearsing what Erasmus calls _Lee's -tragedy_.[291] In this manner they were preparing the catastrophe: a -prison for Erasmus, the fire for the Holy Scriptures. - - [289] Excipiebat advenas, præsertim Anglos, eos conviviis faciebat - suos. (Ibid. 593.) He received strangers, especially Englishmen, and - attached them to himself by his banquets. - - [290] Abeuntes omni mendaciorum genere dimittebat onustos. (Ibid.) He - sent them away loaded with every kind of lies. - - [291] Donee Leus ordiretur suam _tragædiam_. (Erasm. Ep. 913.) Until - Lee should begin his tragedy. - -When all was arranged, Lee issued his manifesto. Although a poor Greek -scholar,[292] he drew up some _Annotations_ on Erasmus's book, which -the latter called "mere abuse and blasphemy;" but which the members of -the league regarded as _oracles_. They passed them secretly from hand -to hand, and these obscure sheets, by many indirect channels, found -their way into every part of England, and met with numerous -readers.[293] There was to be no publication--such was the watchword; -Lee was too much afraid. "Why did you not publish your work," asked -Erasmus, with cutting irony. "Who knows whether the holy father, -appointing you the Aristarchus of letters, might not have sent you a -birch to keep the whole world in order!"[294] - - [292] Simon, Hist. crit. du. N. Test. p. 246. - - [293] Liber volitat inter manus conjuratorum. (Erasm. Ep. p. 746.) The - book flitted to and fro among the hands of the conspirators. - - [294] Tibi tradita virgula totius orbis censuram fuerit mandaturus. - Ibid. p. 742. - -The _Annotations_ having triumphed in the convents, the _conspiracy_ -took a new flight. In every place of public resort, at fairs and -markets, at the dinner-table and in the council-chamber, in shops, and -taverns, and houses of ill-fame, in churches and in the universities, -in cottages and in palaces, the league blattered against Erasmus and -the Greek Testament.[295] Carmelites, Dominicans, and Sophists, -invoked heaven and conjured hell. What need was there of Scripture? -Had they not the apostolical succession of the clergy? No hostile -landing in England could, in their eyes, be more fatal than that of -the New Testament. The whole nation must rise to repel this impudent -invasion. There is, perhaps, no country in Europe, where the -Reformation was received by so unexpected a storm. - - [295] Ut nusquam non blaterent in Erasmum, in compotationibus, in - foris, in conciliabulis, in pharmacopoliis, in curribus, in - tonstrinis, in fornicibus......Ibid. p. 746. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Effects of the New Testament in the - Universities--Conversations--A Cambridge Fellow--Bilney buys - the New Testament--The first Passage--His - Conversion--Protestantism, the Fruit of the Gospel--The Vale - of the Severn--William Tyndale--Evangelization at - Oxford--Bilney teaches at Cambridge--Fryth--Is Conversion - Possible?--True Consecration--The Reformation has begun. - - -[Sidenote: THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE UNIVERSITIES.] - -While this rude blast was rushing over England, and roaring in the -long galleries of its convents, the still small voice of the Word was -making its way into the peaceful homes of praying men and the ancient -halls of Oxford and Cambridge. In private chambers, in the -lecture-rooms and refectories, students, and even masters of arts, -were to be seen reading the Greek and Latin Testament. Animated groups -were discussing the principles of the Reformation. When Christ came on -earth (said some) He gave the word, and when He ascended up into -heaven He gave the Holy Spirit. These are the two forces which created -the church--and these are the forces that must regenerate it.--No -(replied the partizans of Rome), it was the teaching of the apostles -at first, and it is the teaching of the priests now.--The apostles -(rejoined the friends of the Testament of Erasmus)--yes, it is -true--the apostles were during their ministry a living Scripture; but -their oral teaching would infallibly have been altered by passing from -mouth to mouth. God willed, therefore, that these precious lessons -should be preserved to us in their writings, and thus become the -ever-undefiled source of truth and salvation. To set the Scriptures in -the foremost place, as your pretended reformers are doing (replied the -schoolmen of Oxford and Cambridge); is to propagate heresy! And what -are the reformers doing (asked their apologists) except what Christ -did before them? The sayings of the prophets existed in the time of -Jesus only as _Scripture_, and it was to this written Word that our -Lord appealed when he founded his kingdom.[296] And now in like manner -the teaching of the apostles exists only as Scripture, and it is to -this written word that we appeal in order to re-establish the kingdom -of our Lord in its primitive condition. The night is far spent, the -day is at hand; all is in motion--in the lofty halls of our colleges, -in the mansions of the rich and noble, and in the lowly dwellings of -the poor. If we want to scatter the darkness, must we light the -shrivelled wick of some old lamp? Ought we not rather to open the -doors and shutters and admit freely into the house the great light -which God has placed in the heavens? - - [296] Matth. xxii. 29; xxvi. 24, 54; Mark, xiv. 49; Luke, xviii. 31; - xxiv. 27, 44, 45; John, v. 39, 46; x. 35; xvii. 12, etc. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS BILNEY.] - -There was in Trinity Hall, Cambridge, a young doctor much given to the -study of the canon law, of serious turn of mind and bashful -disposition, and whose tender conscience strove, although -ineffectually, to fulfil the commandments of God. Anxious about his -salvation, Thomas Bilney applied to the priests, whom he looked upon -as physicians of the soul. Kneeling before his confessor, with humble -look and pale face, he told him all his sins, and even those of which -he doubted.[297] The priest prescribed at one time fasting, at another -prolonged vigils, and then masses and indulgences which cost him -dearly.[298] The poor doctor went through all these practices with -great devotion, but found no consolation in them. Being weak and -slender, his body wasted away by degrees;[299] his understanding grew -weaker, his imagination faded, and his purse became empty. "Alas!" -said he with anguish, "my last state is worse than the first." From -time to time an idea crossed his mind: "May not the priests be seeking -their own interest, and not the salvation of my soul."[300] But -immediately rejecting the rash doubt, he fell back under the iron hand -of the clergy. - - [297] In ignaros medicos, indoctos confessionum auditores. (Th. - Bilnæus Tonstallo Episcopo; Foxe, iv. p. 633.) To ignorant physicians, - unlearned confessors. - - [298] Indicebant enim mihi jejunia, vigilias, indulgentiarum et - missarum emptiones. Ibid. - - [299] Ut parum mihi virium (alioqui natura imbecilli) reliquum fuerit. - (Ibid.) So that being naturally weak at any rate, too little strength - was left to me. - - [300] Sua potius quærebant quam salutem animæ meæ languentis. (Ibid.) - They were seeking their own interest, rather than the salvation of my - fainting soul. - -[Sidenote: BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION.] - -One day Bilney heard his friends talking about a new book: it was the -Greek Testament printed with a translation which was highly praised -for its elegant Latinity.[301] Attracted by the beauty of the style -rather than by the divinity of the subject,[302] he stretched out his -hand; but just as he was going to take the volume, fear came upon him -and he withdrew it hastily. In fact the confessors strictly prohibited -Greek and Hebrew books, "the sources of all heresies;" and Erasmus's -Testament was particularly forbidden. Yet Bilney regretted so great a -sacrifice; was it not the Testament of Jesus Christ? Might not God -have placed therein some word which perhaps might heal his soul? He -stepped forward, and then again shrank back.... At last he took -courage. Urged, said he, by the hand of God, he walked out of the -college, slipped into the house where the volume was sold in secret, -bought it with fear and trembling, and then hastened back and shut -himself up in his room.[303] - - [301] Cum ab eo latinius redditum accepi. Ibid. - - [302] Latinitate potius quam verbo Dei, allectus. Ibid. - - [303] Emebam providentia (sine dubio) divina. (Foxe, iv. p. 633.) I - bought it doubtless, under the guidance of divine providence. - -He opened it--his eyes caught these words: _This is a faithful saying, -and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world -to save sinners; of whom I am chief_.[304] He laid down the book, and -meditated on the astonishing declaration. "What! St. Paul the chief of -sinners, and yet St. Paul is sure of being saved!" He read the verse -again and again. "O assertion of St. Paul, how sweet art thou to my -soul!" he exclaimed.[305] This declaration continually haunted him, -and in this manner God instructed him in the secret of his heart.[306] -He could not tell what had happened to him;[307] it seemed as if a -refreshing wind were blowing over his soul, or as if a rich treasure -had been placed in his hands. The Holy Spirit took what was Christ's, -and announced it to him. "I also am like Paul," exclaimed he with -emotion, "and more than Paul, the greatest of sinners!... But Christ -saves sinners. At last I have heard of Jesus."[308] - - [304] 1 Tim. i, 15. - - [305] O mihi suavissimam Pauli sententiam! Foxe, iv, p. 633. - - [306] Hac una sententia, Deo intus in corde meo docente. (Ibid.) By - this one sentence, God teaching inwardly in my heart. - - [307] Quod tunc fieri ignorabam. (Ibid.) Because then I knew not what - was being done. - - [308] Tandem de Jesu audiebam. Ibid. - -His doubts were ended--he was saved. Then took place in him a -wonderful transformation. An unknown joy pervaded him;[309] his -conscience until then sore with the wounds of sin was healed;[310] -instead of despair he felt an inward peace passing all understanding.[311] -"Jesus Christ," exclaimed he, "Yes, Jesus Christ saves!"... Such is -the character of the Reformation: it is Jesus Christ who saves and not -the church. "I see it all," said Bilney; "my vigils, my fasts, my -pilgrimages, my purchase of masses and indulgences, were destroying -instead of saving me.[312] All these efforts were, as St. Augustine -says, a hasty running out of the right way."[313] - - [309] Sic exhilaravit pectus meum. Ibid. - - [310] Peccatorum conscientia saucium ac pene desperabundum. Ibid. - - [311] Nescio quantam intus tranquillitatem sentire. Ibid. - - [312] Didici omnes meos conatus, etc. Ibid. - - [313] Quod ait Augustinus, celerem cursum extra viam. Ibid. - -Bilney never grew tired of reading his New Testament. He no longer -lent an attentive ear to the teaching of the schoolmen; he heard Jesus -at Capernaum, Peter in the temple, Paul on Mars' hill, and felt within -himself that Christ possesses the words of eternal life. A witness to -Jesus Christ had just been born by the same power which had -transformed Paul, Apollos, and Timothy. The Reformation of England was -beginning. Bilney was united to the Son of God, not by a remote -succession, but by an immediate generation. Leaving to the disciples -of the pope the entangled chain of their imaginary succession, whose -links it is impossible to disengage, he attached himself closely to -Christ. The word of the first century gave birth to the sixteenth. -Protestantism does not descend from the Gospel in the fiftieth -generation like the Romish church of the Council of Trent, or in the -sixtieth like some modern doctors: it is the direct legitimate -son--the son of the master. - -[Sidenote: THE VALE OF THE SEVERN.] - -God's action was not limited to one spot. The first rays of the sun -from on high gilded with their fires at once the gothic colleges of -Oxford and the antique schools of Cambridge. - -Along the banks of the Severn extends a picturesque country, bounded -by the forest of Dean, and sprinkled with villages, steeples, and -ancient castles. In the sixteenth century it was particularly admired -by priests and friars, and a familiar oath among them was: "As sure as -God's in Glo'ster!" The papal birds of prey had swooped upon it. For -fifty years, from 1484 to 1534, four Italian bishops, placed in -succession over the diocese, had surrendered it to the pope, to the -monks, and to immorality. Thieves in particular were the objects of -the tenderest favours of the hierarchy. John de Giglis, collector of -the apostolical chamber, had received from the sovereign pontiff -authority to pardon murder and theft, on condition that the criminal -shared his profits with the pontifical commissioners.[314] - - [314] Annals of the English Bible, i. p. 12. - -[Sidenote: EVANGELIZATION AT OXFORD.] - -In this valley, at the foot of Stinchcomb hill, to the south-west of -Gloucester, there dwelt, during the latter half of the fifteenth -century, a family which had taken refuge there during the wars of the -Roses, and assumed the name of Hutchins. In the reign of Henry VII, -the Lancasterian party having the upper hand, they resumed their name -of Tyndale, which had been borne of yore by many noble barons.[315] In -1484, about a year after the birth of Luther, and about the time that -Zwingle first saw light in the mountains of the Tockenburg, these -partisans of the _red rose_ were blessed with a son, whom they called -William. His youth was passed in the fields surrounding his native -village of North Nibley, beneath the shadows of Berkeley Castle, or -beside the rapid waters of the Severn, and in the midst of friars and -pontifical collectors. He was sent very early to Oxford,[316] where -he learnt grammar and philosophy in the school of St. Mary Magdalene, -adjoining the college of that name. He made rapid progress, -particularly in languages, under the first classical scholars in -England--Grocyn, W. Latimer, and Linacre--and took his degrees.[317] A -more excellent master than these doctors--the Holy Spirit speaking in -Scripture--was soon to teach him a science which it is not in the -power of man to impart. - - [315] Bigland's Glo'ster, p. 293. Annals of the English Bible, i. p. - 19. - - [316] From a child. Foxe, Acts and Mon. v. p. 115. - - [317] Proceeding in degrees of the schools. Ibid. - -Oxford, where Erasmus had so many friends, was the city in which his -New Testament met with the warmest welcome. The young Gloucestershire -student, inwardly impelled towards the study of sacred literature, -read the celebrated book which was then attracting the attention of -Christendom. At first he regarded it only as a work of learning, or at -most as a manual of piety, whose beauties were calculated to excite -religious feelings; but erelong he found it to be something more. The -more he read it, the more was he struck by the truth and energy of the -word. The strange book spoke to him of God, of Christ, and of -regeneration, with a simplicity and authority which completely subdued -him. William had found a master whom he had not sought at Oxford--this -was God himself. The pages he held in his hand were the divine -revelation so long mislaid. Possessing a noble soul, a bold spirit, -and indefatigable activity, he did not keep this treasure to himself. -He uttered that cry, more suited to a Christian than to Archimedes: -eurêka, _I have found it_. It was not long before several of -the younger members of the university, attracted by the purity of his -life and the charms of his conversation,[318] gathered round him, and -read with him the Greek and Latin gospels of Erasmus.[319] "A certain -well-informed young man," wrote Erasmus in a letter wherein he speaks -of the publication of his New Testament, "began to lecture with -success on Greek literature at Oxford."[320] He was probably speaking -of Tyndale. - - [318] His manners and conversation being correspondent to the - Scriptures. Ibid. - - [319] Read privily to certain students and fellows, instructing them - in the knowledge and truth of the Scriptures. Ibid. - - [320] Oxoniæ cum juvenis quidam non vulgariter doctus. (Erasm. Ep. p. - 346.) A certain youth at Oxford of uncommon learning. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY TEACHES AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -The monks took the alarm. "_A barbarian_," continues Erasmus, "entered -the pulpit and violently abused the Greek language."--"These folk," -said Tyndale, "wished to extinguish the light which exposed their -trickery, and they have been laying their plans these dozen -years."[321] This observation was made in 1531, and refers therefore -to the proceedings of 1517. Germany and England were beginning the -struggle at nearly the same time, and Oxford perhaps before -Wittemberg. Tyndale, bearing in mind the injunction: "When they -persecute you in one city, flee ye into another," left Oxford and -proceeded to Cambridge. It must needs be that souls whom God has -brought to his knowledge should meet and enlighten one another: live -coals, when separated, go out; when gathered together, they brighten -up, so as even to purify silver and gold. The Romish hierarchy, not -knowing what they did, were collecting the scattered brands of the -Reformation. - - [321] Which they have been in brewing as I hear this dozen years. - Tyndale's Expositions (Park. Soc.) p. 225 - -Bilney was not inactive at Cambridge. Not long had the "sublime lesson -of Jesus Christ" filled him with joy, before he fell on his knees and -exclaimed: "O Thou who art the truth, give me strength that I may -teach it; and convert the ungodly by means of one who has been ungodly -himself."[322] After this prayer his eyes gleamed with new fire; he -had assembled his friends, and opening Erasmus's Testament, had placed -his finger on the words that had reached his soul, and these words had -touched many. The arrival of Tyndale gave him fresh courage, and the -light burnt brighter in Cambridge. - - [322] Ut impii ad ipsum per me olim impium converterentur. (Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 633.) That the ungodly may be converted to thyself - through me, once ungodly. - -John Fryth, a young man of eighteen, the son of an innkeeper of -Sevenoaks in Kent, was distinguished among the students of King's -College, by the promptitude of his understanding and the integrity of -his life. He was as deeply read in the mathematics as Tyndale in the -classics, and Bilney in canon law. Although of an exact turn of mind, -yet his soul was elevated, and he recognised in Holy Scripture a -learning of a new kind. "These things are not demonstrated like a -proposition of Euclid," he said; "mere study is sufficient to impress -the theories of mathematics on our minds; but this science of God -meets with a resistance in man that necessitates the intervention of a -divine power. Christianity is a regeneration." The heavenly seed soon -grew up in Fryth's heart.[323] - - [323] Through Tyndale's instructions he first received into his heart - the seed of the Gospel. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 4. - -These three young scholars set to work with enthusiasm. They declared -that neither priestly absolution nor any other religious rite could -give remission of sins; that the assurance of pardon is obtained by -faith alone; and that faith purifies the heart. Then they addressed to -all men that saying of Christ's at which the monks were so offended: -_Repent and be converted!_ - -[Sidenote: CHRIST COMETH.] - -Ideas so new produced a great clamour. A famous orator undertook one -day at Cambridge to show that it was useless to preach conversion to -the sinner. "Thou, who, for sixty years past," said he, "hast wallowed -in thy lusts, like a sow in her mire,[324] dost thou think that thou -canst in one year take as many steps towards heaven, and that in thine -age, as thou hast done towards hell?" Bilney left the church with -indignation. "Is that preaching repentance in the name of Jesus?" he -asked. "Does not this priest tell us: Christ will not save thee.[325] -Alas! for so many years that this deadly doctrine has been taught in -Christendom, not one man has dared open his mouth against it!" Many of -the Cambridge fellows were scandalized at Bilney's language: was not -the preacher whose teaching he condemned duly _ordained_ by the -bishop? He replied: "What would be the use of being a hundred times -consecrated, were it even by a thousand papal bulls, if the inward -calling is wanting?[326] To no purpose hath the bishop breathed on our -heads if we have never felt the breath of the Holy Ghost in our -hearts?" Thus, at the very beginning of the Reformation, England, -rejecting the Romish superstitions, discerned with extreme nicety what -constitutes the essence of consecration to the service of the Lord. - - [324] Even as a beast in his own dung. Bilnæus Tonstallo episcopo; - Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 640. - - [325] He will not be thy Jesus or Saviour. Ibid. - - [326] Without this inward calling it helpeth nothing before God to be - a hundred times elect and consecrated. Ibid. p. 638. - -After pronouncing these noble words, Bilney, who longed for an -outpouring of the Holy Ghost, shut himself up in his room, fell on his -knees, and called upon God to come to the assistance of his church. -Then rising up, he exclaimed, as if animated by a prophetic spirit: "A -new time is beginning. The Christian assembly is about to be -renewed.... Some one is coming unto us, I see him, I hear him--it is -Jesus Christ.[327]... He is the king, and it is he who will call the -true ministers commissioned to evangelize his people." - - [327] If it be Christ, him that cometh unto us. Ibid. p. 637. - -Tyndale, full of the same hopes as Bilney, left Cambridge in the -course of the year 1519. - -Thus the English Reformation began independently of those of Luther -and Zwingle--deriving its origin from God alone. In every province of -Christendom there was a simultaneous action of the divine word. The -principle of the Reformation at Oxford, Cambridge, and London was the -_Greek New Testament_, published by Erasmus. England, in course of -time learnt to be proud of this origin of its Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Alarm of the Clergy--The Two Days--Thomas Man's - Preaching--True real Presence--Persecutions at - Coventry--Standish preaches at St. Paul's--His Petition to - the King and Queen--His Arguments and Defeat--Wolsey's - Ambition--First Overtures--Henry and Francis Candidates for - the Empire--Conference between Francis I and Sir T. - Boleyn--The Tiara promised to Wolsey--The Cardinal's - Intrigues with Charles and Francis. - - -[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE CLERGY.] - -This revival caused great alarm throughout the Roman hierarchy. -Content with the baptism they administered, they feared the baptism of -the Holy Ghost perfected by faith in the word of God. Some of the -clergy, who were full of zeal, but of zeal without knowledge, prepared -for the struggle, and the cries raised by the prelates were repeated -by all the inferior orders. - -The first blows did not fall on the members of the universities, but -on those humble Christians, the relics of Wickliffe's ministry, to -whom the reform movement among the learned had imparted a new life. -The awakening of the fourteenth century was about to be succeeded by -that of the sixteenth, and the last gleams of the closing day were -almost lost in the first rays of that which was commencing. The young -doctors of Oxford and Cambridge aroused the attention of the alarmed -hierarchy, and attracted their eyes to the humble Lollards, who here -and there still recalled the days of Wickliffe. - -[Sidenote: THE COVENTRY MARTYRS.] - -An artisan named Thomas Man, sometimes called Doctor Man, from his -knowledge of Holy Scripture, had been imprisoned for his faith in the -priory of Frideswide at Oxford (1511 A. D.) Tormented by the -remembrance of a recantation which had been extorted from him, he had -escaped from this monastery and fled into the eastern parts of -England, where he had preached the Word, supplying his daily wants by -the labour of his hands.[328] This "champion of God" afterwards drew -near the capital, and assisted by his wife, the new Priscilla of this -new Aquila, he proclaimed the doctrine of Christ to the crowd -collected around him in some "upper chamber" of London, or in some -lonely meadow watered by the Thames, or under the aged oaks of Windsor -Forest. He thought with Chrysostom of old, that "all priests are not -saints, but all saints are priests."[329] "He that receiveth the word -of God," said he, "receiveth God himself, that is the true _real -presence_. The vendors of masses are not the high-priests of this -mystery;[330] but the men whom God hath _anointed with his Spirit_ to -be kings and priests." From six to seven hundred persons were -converted by his preaching.[331] - - [328] Work thereby to sustain his poor life. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 209. - - [329] Chrysostom, 43 Homily on Matth. - - [330] He called them _pilled knaves_. Foxe. iv, p. 209. - - [331] Ibid. p. 211. - -The monks who dared not as yet attack the universities, resolved to -fall upon those preachers who made their temple on the banks of the -Thames, or in some remote corner of the city. Man was seized, -condemned, and burnt alive on the 29th March 1519. - -And this was not all. There lived at Coventry a little band of serious -Christians--four shoemakers, a glover, a hosier, and a widow named -Smith--who gave their children a pious education. The Franciscans were -annoyed that _laymen_, and even a _woman_, should dare meddle with -religious instruction. On Ash Wednesday (1519) Simon Morton, the -bishop's sumner, apprehended them all, men, women, and children. On -the following Friday, the parents were taken to the Abbey of -Mackstock, about six miles from Coventry, and the children to the Grey -Friar's convent. "Let us see what heresies you have been taught?" said -Friar Stafford to the intimidated little ones. The poor children -confessed they had been taught in English the Lord's prayer, the -apostles' creed, and the ten commandments. On hearing this, Stafford -told them angrily: "I forbid you, (unless you wish to be burnt as your -parents will be,) to have any thing to do with the _Pater_, the -_credo_, or the ten commandments _in English_." - -Five weeks after this, the men were condemned to be burnt alive, but -the judges had compassion on the widow, because of her young family -(for she was their only support,) and let her go. It was night: Morton -offered to see Dame Smith home; she took his arm, and they threaded -the dark and narrow streets of Coventry. "Eh, eh!" said the apparitor, -on a sudden, "what have we here?" He heard in fact the noise of paper -rubbing against something. "What have you got there?" he continued, -dropping her arm, and putting his hand up her sleeve, from which he -drew out a parchment. Approaching a window whence issued the faint -rays of a lamp, he examined the mysterious scroll, and found it to -contain the Lord's prayer, the apostles' creed, and the ten -commandments _in English_. "Oh, oh! sirrah!" said he; "come along. As -good now as another time!"[332] Then seizing the poor widow by the -arm, he dragged her before the bishop. Sentence of death was -immediately pronounced on her, and on the 4th of April, Dame Smith, -Robert Hatchets, Archer, Hawkins, Thomas Bond, Wrigsham, and -Landsdale, were burnt alive at Coventry in the Little Park, for the -crime of teaching their children the Lord's prayer, the apostles' -creed, and the commandments of God. - - [332] Ibid. p. 357. - -[Sidenote: STANDISH AT ST. PAUL'S.] - -But what availed it to silence these obscure lips, so long as the -Testament of Erasmus could speak? Lee's conspiracy must be revived. -Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, was a narrow-minded man, rather -fanatical, but probably sincere, of great courage, and not without -some degree of piety. This prelate, being determined to preach a -crusade against the New Testament, began at London, in St. Paul's -cathedral, before the mayor and corporation. "Away with these new -translations," he said, "or else the religion of Jesus Christ is -threatened with utter ruin."[333] But Standish was deficient in tact, -and instead of confining himself to general statements, like most of -his party, he endeavoured to show how far Erasmus had corrupted the -Gospel, and continued thus in a whining voice: "Must I who for so many -years have been a doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and who have always -read in my Bible: _In principio erat_ VERBUM,--must I now be obliged -to read: _In principio erat_ SERMO," for thus had Erasmus translated -the opening words of St. John's Gospel. _Risum teneatis_, whispered -one to another, when they heard this puerile charge: "My lord," -proceeded the bishop, turning to the mayor, "magistrates of the city, -and citizens all, fly to the succour of religion!" Standish continued -his pathetic appeals, but his oratory was all in vain; some stood -unmoved, others shrugged their shoulders, and others grew impatient. -The citizens of London seemed determined to support liberty and the -Bible. - - [333] Imminere christianæ religionis [Greek word], nisi - novae translationes omnes subito de medio tollerentur. (Erasm. Ep. - p. 596.) That destruction threatened the Christian religion, - unless all new translations were at once taken away from amongst - them. - -[Sidenote: A DISCUSSION.] - -Standish, seeing the failure of his attack in the city, sighed and -groaned and prayed, and repeated mass against the so much dreaded -book. But he also made up his mind to do more. One day, during the -rejoicings at court for the betrothal of the Princess Mary, then two -years old, with a French prince who was just born, St. Asaph, absorbed -and absent in the midst of the gay crowd, meditated a bold step. -Suddenly he made his way through the crowd, and threw himself at the -feet of the king and queen. All were thunder-struck, and asked one -another what the old bishop could mean. "Great king," said he, "your -ancestors who have reigned over this island,--and yours, O great -queen, who have governed Aragon, were always distinguished by their -zeal for the church. Show yourselves worthy of your forefathers. Times -full of danger are come upon us,[334] a book has just appeared, and -been published too, by Erasmus! It is such a book that, if you close -not your kingdom against it, it is all over with the religion of -Christ among us." - - [334] Adesse tempora longe periculosissima. Erasm. Ep. p. 597. - -The bishop ceased, and a dead silence ensued. The devout Standish, -fearing lest Henry's well-known love of learning should be an obstacle -to his prayer, raised his eyes and his hands toward heaven, and -kneeling in the midst of the courtly assembly, exclaimed in a -sorrowful tone: "O Christ! O Son of God! save thy spouse! ... for no -man cometh to her help."[335] - - [335] Cæpit obsecrare Christum dignaretur ipse suæ sponsæ opitulari. - (Ibid. p. 598.) He began to implore Christ, that he himself would - deign to succour his spouse. - -Having thus spoken, the prelate, whose courage was worthy of a better -cause, rose up and waited. Every one strove to guess at the king's -thoughts. Sir Thomas More was present, and he could not forsake his -friend Erasmus. "What are the heresies this book is likely to -engender?" he inquired. After the sublime came the ridiculous. With -the forefinger of his right hand, touching successively the fingers of -his left,[336] Standish replied: "First, this book destroys _the -resurrection_; secondly, it annuls the _sacrament of marriage_; -thirdly, it abolishes _the mass_." Then uplifting his thumb and two -fingers, he showed them to the assembly with a look of triumph. The -bigoted Catherine shuddered as she saw Standish's three -fingers,--signs of the three heresies of Erasmus; and Henry himself, -an admirer of Aquinas, was embarrassed. It was a critical moment: the -Greek Testament was on the point of being banished from England. "The -proof, the proof," exclaimed the friends of literature. "I will give -it," rejoined the impetuous Standish, and then once more touching his -left thumb: "Firstly," he said, ... But he brought forward such -foolish reasons, that even the women and the unlearned were ashamed of -them. The more he endeavoured to justify his assertions, the more -confused he became: he affirmed among other things that the Epistles -of St. Paul were written in _Hebrew_. "There is not a schoolboy that -does not know that Paul's epistles were written in _Greek_," said a -doctor of divinity kneeling before the king. Henry, blushing for the -bishop, turned the conversation, and Standish, ashamed at having made -a Greek write to the Greeks in Hebrew, would have withdrawn -unobserved. "The beetle must not attack the eagle,"[337] was whispered -in his ear. Thus did the book of God remain in England the standard of -a faithful band, who found in its pages the motto, which the church of -Rome had usurped: _The truth is in me alone_. - - [336] Et rem in digitos porrectos dispartiens. (Ibid.) And - distributing the charge on his outstretched fingers. - - [337] Scarabæus ille qui maximo suo malo aquilam quæsivit. (Erasm. Ep. - p. 555.) That beetle who sought to do the worst he could to the eagle. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S AMBITION.] - -A more formidable adversary than Standish aspired to combat the -Reformation, not only in England, but in all the West. One of those -ambitious designs, which easily germinate in the human heart, -developed itself in the soul of the chief minister of Henry VIII; and -if this project succeeded, it promised to secure for ever the empire -of the papacy on the banks of the Thames, and perhaps in the whole of -Christendom. - -Wolsey, as chancellor and legate, governed both in state and in -church, and could, without an untruth, utter his famous _Ego et rex -meus_. Having reached so great a height, he desired to soar still -higher. The favourite of Henry VIII, almost his master, treated as a -brother by the emperor, by the king of France, and by other crowned -heads, invested with the title of Majesty, the peculiar property of -sovereigns,[338] the cardinal, sincere in his faith in the popedom, -aspired to fill the throne of the pontiffs, and thus become _Deus in -terris_. He thought, that if God permitted a Luther to appear in the -world, it was because he had a Wolsey to oppose to him. - - [338] Consultissima tua Majestas. Vestra sublimis et longe - reverendissima, Majestas, etc. Fiddes, Bodleian Papers, p. 178. - -It would be difficult to fix the precise moment when this immoderate -desire entered his mind: it was about the end of 1518 that it began to -show itself. The bishop of Ely, ambassador at the court of Francis I, -being in conference with that prince on the 18th of December in that -year, said to him mysteriously: "The cardinal has an idea in his mind -... on which he can unbosom himself to nobody ... except it be to your -majesty." Francis understood him. - -[Sidenote: AMBITION OF FRANCIS I.] - -An event occurred to facilitate the cardinal's plans. If Wolsey -desired to be the first priest, Henry desired to be the first king. -The imperial crown, vacant by the death of Maximilian, was sought by -two princes:--by Charles of Austria, a cold and calculating man, -caring little about the pleasures and even the pomp of power, but -forming great designs, and knowing how to pursue them with energy; and -by Francis I, a man of less penetrating glance and less indefatigable -activity, but more daring and impetuous. Henry VIII, inferior to both, -passionate, capricious, and selfish, thought himself strong enough to -contend with such puissant competitors, and secretly strove to win -"the monarchy of all Christendom."[339] Wolsey flattered himself that, -hidden under the cloak of his master's ambition, he might satisfy his -own. If he procured the crown of the Cæsars for Henry, he might easily -obtain the tiara of the popes for himself; if he failed, the least -that could be done to compensate England for the loss of the empire, -would be to give the sovereignty of the church to her prime minister. - - [339] Cotton MSS. Brit. Mus. Calig. D. 7, p. 88. - -Henry first sounded the king of France. Sir Thomas Boleyn appeared one -day before Francis I just as the latter was returning from mass. The -king, desirous to anticipate a confidence that might be embarrassing, -took the ambassador aside to the window and whispered to him: "Some of -the electors have offered me the empire; I hope your master will be -favourable to me." Sir Thomas, in confusion, made some vague reply, -and the chivalrous king, following up his idea, took the ambassador -firmly by one hand, and laying the other on his breast,[340] -exclaimed: "By my faith, if I become emperor, in three years I shall -be in Constantinople, or I shall die on the road!" This was not what -Henry wanted; but dissembling his wishes, he took care to inform -Francis that he would support his candidature. Upon hearing this -Francis raised his hat and exclaimed: "I desire to see the king of -England; I will see him, I tell you, even if I go to London with only -one page and one lackey." - - [340] He took me hard by the wrist with one hand, and laid the other - upon his breast. Ibid. D. 8, p. 93. - -Francis was well aware that if he threatened the king's ambition, he -must flatter the minister's, and recollecting the hint given by the -bishop of Ely, he said one day to Boleyn: "It seems to me that my -brother of England and I could do, indeed ought to do ... something -for the cardinal. He was prepared by God for the good of Christendom -... one of the greatest men in the church ... and on the word of a -king, if he consents, I will do it." A few minutes after he continued: -"Write and tell the cardinal, that if he aspires to be the head of the -church, and if any thing should happen to the reigning pope, I will -promise him fourteen cardinals on my part.[341] Let us only act in -concert, your master and me, and I promise you, Mr. Ambassador, that -neither pope nor emperor shall be created in Europe without our -consent." - - [341] He will assure you full fourteen cardinals for him. Ibid. D. F. - p. 98. - -[Sidenote: THE CARDINAL'S PRACTICES.] - -But Henry did not act in concert with the king of France. At Wolsey's -instigation he supported three candidates at once: at Paris he was -for Francis I; at Madrid for Charles V; and at Frankfort for himself. -The kings of France and England failed, and on the 10th August, Pace, -Henry's envoy at Frankfort, having returned to England, desired to -console the king by mentioning the sums of money which Charles had -spent. "By the mass!"[342] exclaimed the king, congratulating himself -at not having obtained the crown at so dear a rate. Wolsey proposed to -sing a _Te Deum_ in St. Paul's, and bonfires were lighted in the city. - - [342] Bi the messe! State Papers, i. 9. - -The cardinal's rejoicings were not misplaced. Charles had scarcely -ascended the imperial throne, in despite of the king of France, when -these two princes swore eternal hatred of each other, and each was -anxious to win over Henry VIII. At one time Charles, under the -pretence of seeing his uncle and aunt, visited England; at another, -Francis had an interview with the king in the neighbourhood of Calais. -The cardinal shared in the flattering attentions of the two monarchs. -"It is easy for the king of Spain, who has become the head of the -empire, to raise whomsoever he pleases to the supreme pontificate," -said the young emperor to him; and at these words the ambitious -cardinal surrendered himself to Maximilian's successor. But erelong -Francis I flattered him in his turn, and Wolsey replied also to his -advances. The king of France gave Henry tournaments and banquets of -Asiatic luxury; and Wolsey, whose countenance yet bore the marks of -the graceful smile with which he had taken leave of Charles, smiled -also on Francis, and sang mass in his honour. He engaged the hand of -the Princess Mary to the dauphin of France and to Charles V, leaving -the care of unravelling the matter to futurity. Then proud of his -skilful practices he returned to London full of hope. By walking in -falsehood he hoped to attain the tiara: and if it was yet too far -above him, there were certain _gospellers_ in England who might serve -as a ladder to reach it. Murder might serve as the complement to -fraud. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Tyndale--Sodbury Hall--Sir John and Lady - Walsh--Table-Talk--The Holy Scriptures--The images--The - Anchor of Faith--A Roman Camp--Preaching of Faith and - Works--Tyndale accused by the Priests--They tear up what he - has planted--Tyndale resolves to translate the Bible--His - first triumph--The Priests in the taverns--Tyndale summoned - before the Chancellor of Worcester--Consoled by an aged - Doctor--Attacked by a schoolman--His Secret becomes - known--He leaves Sodbury Hall. - - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE.] - -Whilst this ambitious prelate was thinking of nothing but his own -glory and that of the Roman pontificate, a great desire, but of a very -different nature, was springing up in the heart of one of the humble -"gospellers" of England. If Wolsey had his eyes fixed on the throne of -the popedom in order to seat himself there, Tyndale thought of raising -up the true throne of the church by re-establishing the legitimate -sovereignty of the word of God. The Greek Testament of Erasmus had -been one step; and it now became necessary to place before the simple -what the king of the schools had given to the learned. This idea, -which pursued the young Oxford doctor everywhere, was to be the mighty -mainspring of the English Reformation. - -On the slope of Sodbury hill there stood a plain but large mansion -commanding an extensive view over the beautiful vale of the Severn -where Tyndale was born. It was inhabited by a family of gentle birth: -Sir John Walsh had shone in the tournaments of the court, and by this -means conciliated the favour of his prince. He kept open table; and -gentlemen, deans, abbots, archdeacons, doctors of divinity, and fat -rectors, charmed by Sir John's cordial welcome and by his good -dinners, were ever at his house. The former brother at arms of Henry -VIII felt an interest in the questions then discussing throughout -Christendom. Lady Walsh herself, a sensible and generous woman, lost -not a word of the animated conversation of her guests, and discreetly -tried to incline the balance to the side of truth.[343] - - [343] Lady Walsh, a stout and wise woman. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 115. - -[Sidenote: TABLE-TALK AT SODBURY.] - -Tyndale after leaving Oxford and Cambridge had returned to the home of -his fathers. Sir John had requested him to educate his children, and -he had accepted. William was then in the prime of life (he was about -thirty-six), well instructed in Scripture, and full of desire to show -forth the light which God had given him. Opportunities were not -wanting. Seated at table with all the doctors welcomed by Sir -John,[344] Tyndale entered into conversation with them. They talked of -the learned men of the day--of Erasmus much, and sometimes of Luther, -who was beginning to astonish England.[345] They discussed several -questions touching the holy Scriptures, and sundry points of theology. -Tyndale expressed his convictions with admirable clearness, supported -them with great learning, and kept his ground against all with -unbending courage. These animated conversations in the vale of the -Severn are one of the essential features of the picture presented by -the Reformation in this country. The historians of antiquity invented -the speeches which they have put into the mouths of their heroes. In -our times history, without inventing, should make us acquainted with -the sentiments of the persons of whom it treats. It is sufficient to -read Tyndale's works to form some idea of these conversations. It is -from his writings that the following discussion has been drawn. - - [344] Who were together with Master Tyndale sitting at the same table. - Foxe, Acts, v. p. 115. - - [345] Talk of learned men, as of Luther and Erasmus, etc. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.] - -In the dining-room of the old hall a varied group was assembled round -the hospitable table. There were Sir John and Lady Walsh, a few -gentlemen of the neighbourhood, with several abbots, deans, monks, and -doctors, in their respective costumes. Tyndale occupied the humblest -place, and generally kept Erasmus's New Testament within reach in -order to prove what he advanced.[346] Numerous domestics were moving -about engaged in waiting on the guests; and at length the -conversation, after wandering a little, took a more precise direction. -The priests grew impatient when they saw the terrible volume appear. -"Your Scriptures only serve to make heretics," they exclaimed. "On the -contrary," replied Tyndale, "the source of all heresies is _pride_; -now the word of God strips man of everything, and leaves him as bare -as Job."[347]--"_The word of God!_ why even _we_ don't understand your -word, how can the _vulgar_ understand it?"--"You do not understand -it," rejoined Tyndale, "because you look into it only for foolish -questions, as you would into _our Lady's Matins_, or _Merlin's -Prophecies_.[348] Now the Scriptures are a clue which we must follow, -without turning aside, until we arrive at Christ;[349] for Christ is -the end."--"And I tell you," shouted out a priest, "that the -Scriptures are a Dædalian labyrinth, rather than Ariadne's clue--a -conjuring book wherein everybody finds what he wants."--"Alas!" -replied Tyndale; "you read them without Jesus Christ; that's why they -are an obscure book to you. What do I say? a den of thorns where you -only escape from the briers to be caught by the brambles."[350] "No!" -exclaimed another clerk, heedless of contradicting his colleague, -"nothing is obscure to us; it is we who give the Scriptures, and we -who explain them to you."--"You would lose both your time and your -trouble," said Tyndale; "do you know who taught the eagles to find -their prey?[351] Well, that same God teaches his hungry children to -find their Father in his word. Far from having given us the -Scriptures, it is you who have hidden them from us; it is you who burn -those who teach them, and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures -themselves." - - [346] When they at any time did vary from Tyndale in opinions and - judgment, he would show them in the book. Ibid. - - [347] Tyndale, Expositions. (Park. Soc.) p. 140. - - [348] Tyndale, Expositions. (Park. Soc.) p. 141. - - [349] So along by the Scripture as by a line until thou come at - Christ. Tynd. Works, i. 354 (ed. Russell). - - [350] A grave of briers; If thou loose thyself in one place thou art - caught in another. Tyndale, Expositions, p. 5. - - [351] Ibid. Answer to More (Park. Soc.) p. 49. - -Tyndale was not satisfied with merely laying down the great principles -of faith: he alway sought after what he calls "the sweet marrow -within;" but to the divine unction he added no little humour, and -unmercifully ridiculed the superstitions of his adversaries. "You set -candles before images," he said to them; "and since you give them -_light_, why don't you give them _food_. Why don't you make their -bellies hollow, and put victuals and drink inside.[352] To serve God -by such mummeries is treating him like a spoilt child, whom you pacify -with a toy or with a horse made of a stick."[353] - - [352] Make a hollow belly in the image. Ibid. p. 81. - - [353] Make him a horse of a stick. Tyndale's Wks. (ed. Russell) ii. - 475. - -But the learned Christian soon returned to more serious thoughts; and -when his adversaries extolled the papacy as the power that would save -the church in the tempest, he replied: "Let us only take on board the -anchor of faith, after having dipped it in the blood of Christ,[354] -and when the storm bursts upon us, let us boldly cast the anchor into -the sea; then you may be sure the ship will remain safe on the great -waters." And, in fine, if his opponents rejected any doctrine of the -truth, Tyndale (says the chronicler) opening his Testament would set -his finger on the verse which refuted the Romish error, and exclaim: -"Look and read."[355] - - [354] Ibid. Expositions, (Park. Soc.) p. 15. - - [355] And lay plainly before them the open and manifest places of the - Scriptures, to confute their errors and confirm his sayings. Foxe, - Acts, v. p. 115. - -[Sidenote: SERMONS AT ST. ADELINE'S.] - -The beginnings of the English Reformation are not to be found, as we -have seen, in a material ecclesiasticism, which has been decorated -with the name of _English Catholicism:_ they are essentially -spiritual. The Divine Word, the creator of the new life in the -individual, is also the founder and reformer of the church. The -reformed churches, and particularly the reformed churches of Great -Britain, belong to evangelism. - -The contemplation of God's works refreshed Tyndale after the -discussions he had to maintain at his patron's table. He would often -ramble to the top of Sodbury hill, and there repose amidst the ruins -of an ancient Roman camp which crowned the summit. It was here that -Queen Margaret of Anjou halted; and here too rested Edward IV, who -pursued her, before the fatal battle of Tewkesbury, which caused this -princess to fall into the hands of the White Rose. Amidst these ruins, -monuments of the Roman invasion and of the civil dissensions of -England, Tyndale meditated upon other battles, which were to restore -liberty and truth to Christendom. Then rousing himself he would -descend the hill, and courageously resume his task. - -Behind the mansion stood a little church, overshadowed by two large -yew trees, and dedicated to Saint Adeline. On Sundays Tyndale used to -preach there, Sir John and Lady Walsh, with the eldest of the -children, occupying the manorial pew. This humble sanctuary was filled -by their household and tenantry, listening attentively to the words of -their teacher, which fell from his lips like _the waters of Shiloah -that go softly_. Tyndale was very lively in conversation; but he -explained the Scriptures with so much unction, says the chronicler, -"that his hearers thought they heard St. John himself." If he -resembled John in the mildness of his language, he resembled Paul in -the strength of his doctrine. "According to the pope," he said, "we -must first be good after his doctrine, and compel God to be good again -for our goodness. Nay, verily, God's goodness is the root of all -goodness. Antichrist turneth the tree of salvation topsy-turvy:[356] -he planteth the branches, and setteth the roots upwards. We must put -it straight......As the husband marrieth the wife, before he can have -any lawful children by her; even so faith justifieth us to make us -fruitful in good works.[357] But neither the one nor the other should -remain barren. Faith is the holy candle wherewith we must bless -ourselves at the last hour; without it, you will go astray in the -valley of the shadow of death, though you had a thousand tapers -lighted around your bed."[358] - - [356] Antichrist turneth the roots of the trees upward. Tyndale, - Doctrinal Treatises (Park. Soc.), p. 295. - - [357] Tyndale, Parable of the Wicked Mammon. Ibid. 126. - - [358] Though thou hadst a thousand holy candles about thee. Ibid. p. - 48. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE THWARTED BY THE PRIESTS.] - -The priests, irritated at such observations, determined to ruin -Tyndale, and some of them invited Sir John and his lady to an -entertainment, at which he was not present. During dinner, they so -abused the young doctor and his New Testament, that his patrons -retired greatly annoyed that their tutor should have made so many -enemies. They told him all they had heard, and Tyndale successfully -refuted his adversaries' arguments. "What!" exclaimed Lady Walsh, -"there are some of these doctors worth one hundred, some two hundred, -and some three hundred pounds[359] ... and were it reason, think you, -Master William, that we should believe you before them?" Tyndale, -opening the New Testament, replied: "No! it is not me you should -believe. That is what the priests have told you; but look here, St. -Peter, St. Paul, and the Lord himself say quite the contrary."[360] -The Word of God was there, positive and supreme: the sword of the -spirit cut the difficulty. - - [359] Well, there was such a doctor who may dispend a hundred pounds. - Foxe. Acts, v. p. 115. - - [360] Answering by the Scriptures maintained the truth. Ibid. - -Before long the manor-house and St. Adeline's church became too narrow -for Tyndale's zeal. He preached every Sunday, sometimes in a village, -sometimes in a town. The inhabitants of Bristol assembled to hear him -in a large meadow, called St. Austin's Green.[361] But no sooner had -he preached in any place than the priests hastened thither, tore up -what he had planted,[362] called him a heretic, and threatened to -expel from the church every one who dared listen to him. When Tyndale -returned he found the field laid waste by the enemy; and looking sadly -upon it, as the husbandman who sees his corn beaten down by the hail, -and his rich furrows turned into a barren waste, he exclaimed: "What -is to be done? While I am sowing in one place, the enemy ravages the -field I have just left. I cannot be everywhere. Oh! if Christians -possessed the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue, they could of -themselves withstand these sophists. Without the Bible it is -impossible to establish the laity in the truth."[363] - - [361] Ibid. p. 117. - - [362] Whatsoever truth is taught them, these enemies of all truth - quench it again. Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 394. - - [363] impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the - Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother-tongue. - Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIESTS IN THE ALEHOUSES.] - -Then a great idea sprang up in Tyndale's heart: "It was in the -language of Israel," said he, "that the Psalms were sung in the temple -of Jehovah; and shall not the Gospel speak the language of England -among us?... Ought the church to have less light at noonday than at -the dawn?... Christians must read the New Testament in their -mother-tongue." Tyndale believed that this idea proceeded from God. -The new sun would lead to the discovery of a new world, and the -infallible rule would make all human diversities give way to a divine -unity. "One holdeth this doctor, another that," said Tyndale, "one -followeth Duns Scotus, another St. Thomas, another Bonaventure, -Alexander Hales, Raymond of Penaford, Lyra, Gorram, Hugh de Sancto -Victore, and so many others besides.... Now, each of these authors -contradicts the other. How then can we distinguish him who says right -from him who says wrong?... How?... Verily, by God's word."[364] -Tyndale hesitated no longer.... While Wolsey sought to win the papal -tiara, the humble tutor of Sodbury undertook to place the torch of -heaven in the midst of his fellow-countrymen. The translation of the -Bible shall be the work of his life. - - [364] Tynd. Doct. Tr. p. 119. - -The first triumph of the word was a revolution in the manor-house. In -proportion as Sir John and Lady Walsh acquired a taste for the Gospel, -they became disgusted with the priests. The clergy were not so often -invited to Sodbury, nor did they meet with the same welcome.[365] They -soon discontinued their visits, and thought of nothing but how they -could drive Tyndale from the mansion and from the diocese. - - [365] Neither had they the cheer and countenance when they came, as - before they had. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 1.6. - -Unwilling to compromise themselves in this warfare, they sent forward -some of those light troops which the church has always at her -disposal. Mendicant friars and poor curates, who could hardly -understand their missal, and the most learned of whom made _Albertus -de secretis mulierum_ their habitual study, fell upon Tyndale like a -pack of hungry hounds. They trooped to the alehouses,[366] and calling -for a jug of beer, took their seats, one at one table, another at -another. They invited the peasantry to drink with them, and entering -into conversation with them, poured forth a thousand curses upon the -daring reformer: "He's a hypocrite," said one; "he's a heretic," said -another. The most skilful among them would mount upon a stool, and -turning the tavern into a temple, deliver, for the first time in his -life, an extemporaneous discourse. They reported words that Tyndale -had never uttered, and actions that he had never committed.[367] -Rushing upon the poor tutor (he himself informs us) "like unclean -swine that follow their carnal lusts,"[368] they tore his good name to -very tatters, and shared the spoil among them; while the audience, -excited by their calumnies and heated by the beer, departed -overflowing with rage and hatred against the heretic of Sodbury. - - [366] Come together to the alehouse, which is their preaching place. - Tynd. Doct. Tr. 394 - - [367] They add too of their own heads what I never spake. Ibid. p. - 395. - - [368] Ibid. Expositions, p. 10. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE CITED BEFORE THE CHANCELLOR.] - -After the monks came the dignitaries. The deans and abbots, Sir John's -former guests, accused Tyndale to the chancellor of the diocese,[369] -and the storm which had begun in the tavern burst forth in the -episcopal palace. - - [369] Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. 395. - -The titular bishop of Worcester (an appanage of the Italian prelates) -was Giulio de' Medici, a learned man, great politician, and crafty -priest, who already governed the popedom without being pope.[370] -Wolsey, who administered the diocese for his absent colleague, had -appointed Thomas Parker chancellor, a man devoted to the Roman church. -It was to him the churchmen made their complaint. A judicial inquiry -had its difficulties; the king's companion-at-arms was the patron of -the pretended heretic, and Sir Anthony Poyntz, Lady Walsh's brother, -was sheriff of the county. The chancellor was therefore content to -convoke a general conference of the clergy. Tyndale obeyed the -summons, but foreseeing what awaited him, he cried heartily to God, as -he pursued his way up the banks of the Severn, "to give him strength -to stand fast in the truth of his word."[371] - - [370] Governava il papato e havia piu zente a la sua audienzia che il - papa. (He governed the popedom, and had more people at his audiences - than the pope.) Relazione di Marco Foscari, 1526. - - [371] Foxe, Acts. v. p. 116. - -When they were assembled, the abbots and deans, and other -ecclesiastics of the diocese, with haughty heads and threatening -looks, crowded round the humble but unbending Tyndale. When his turn -arrived, he stood forward, and the chancellor administered him a -severe reprimand, to which he made a calm reply. This so exasperated -the chancellor, that, giving way to his passion, he treated Tyndale as -if he had been a dog.[372] "Where are your witnesses?" demanded the -latter. "Let them come forward, and I will answer them." Not one of -them dared support the charge--they looked another way. The chancellor -waited, one witness at least he must have, but he could not get -that.[373] Annoyed at this desertion of the priests, the -representative of the Medici became more equitable, and let the -accusation drop. Tyndale quietly returned to Sodbury, blessing God who -had saved him from the cruel hands of his adversaries,[374] and -entertaining nothing but the tenderest charity towards them. "Take -away my goods," he said to them one day, "take away my good name! yet -so long as Christ dwelleth in my heart, so long shall I love you not a -whit the less."[375] Here indeed is the Saint John to whom Tyndale has -been compared. - - [372] He threatened me grievously and reviled me, and rated me as - though I had been a dog. Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - - [373] And laid to my charge whereof there would be none accuser - brought forth. Ibid. - - [374] Escaping out of their hands. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 116. - - [375] Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 298. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AND THE SCHOOLMAN.] - -In this violent warfare, however, he could not fail to receive some -heavy blows; and where could he find consolation? Fryth and Bilney -were far from him. Tyndale recollected an _aged doctor_ who lived near -Sodbury, and who had shown him great affection. He went to see him, -and opened his heart to him.[376] The old man looked at him for a -while as if he hesitated to disclose some great mystery. "Do you not -know," said he, lowering his voice, "that _the pope is very -Antichrist_ whom the Scripture speaketh of?... But beware what you -say.... That knowledge may cost you your life."[377] This doctrine of -Antichrist, which Luther was at that moment enunciating so boldly, -struck Tyndale. Strengthened by it, as was the Saxon reformer, he felt -fresh energy in his heart, and the aged doctor was to him what the -aged friar had been to Luther. - - [376] For to him he durst be bold to disclose his heart. Foxe, Acts, - v. p. 117. - - [377] Ibid. - -When the priests saw that their plot had failed, they commissioned a -celebrated divine to undertake his conversion. The reformer replied -with his Greek Testament to the schoolman's arguments. The theologian -was speechless: at last he exclaimed: "Well then! it were better to be -without God's laws than the pope's."[378] Tyndale, who did not expect -so plain and blasphemous a confession, made answer: "And I defy the -pope and all his laws!" and then, as if unable to keep his secret, he -added: "If God spares my life, I will take care that a plough-boy -shall know more of the Scriptures than you do."[379] - - [378] Ibid. - - [379] Cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the - Scriptures than he did. Ibid. - -All his thoughts were now directed to the means of carrying out his -plans; and desirous of avoiding conversations that might compromise -them, he thenceforth passed the greater portion of his time in the -library.[380] He prayed, he read, he began his translation of the -Bible, and in all probability communicated portions of it to Sir John -and Lady Walsh. - - [380] This part of the house was standing in 1839, but has since been - pulled down. Anderson, Bible Annals, i. p. 37. We cannot but unite in - the wish expressed in that volume, that the remainder of the building, - now tenanted by a farmer, may be carefully preserved. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE LEAVES SODBURY.] - -All his precautions were useless: the scholastic divine had betrayed -him, and the priests had sworn to stop him in his translation of the -Bible. One day he fell in with a troop of monks and curates, who -abused him in the grossest manner. "It's the favour of the gentry of -the country that makes you so proud," said they; "but notwithstanding -your patrons, there will be a talk about you before long, and in a -pretty fashion too!... You shall not always live in a manor-house!" -"Banish me to the obscurest corner of England," replied Tyndale; -"provided you will permit me to teach children and preach the Gospel, -and give me ten pounds a-year for my support.[381]... I shall be -satisfied!" The priests left him, but with the intention of preparing -him a very different fate. - - [381] Binding him to no more but to teach children and to preach. - Foxe, Acts, v. p. 117. - -Tyndale indulged in his pleasant dreams no longer. He saw that he was -on the point of being arrested, condemned, and interrupted in his -great work. He must seek a retreat where he can discharge in peace the -task God has allotted him. "You cannot save me from the hands of the -priests," said he to Sir John, "and God knows to what troubles you -would expose yourself by keeping me in your family. Permit me to leave -you." Having said this, he gathered up his papers, took his Testament, -pressed the hands of his benefactors, kissed the children, and then -descending the hill, bade farewell to the smiling banks of the Severn, -and departed alone--alone with his faith. What shall he do? What will -become of him? Where shall he go? He went forth like Abraham, one -thing alone engrossing his mind:--the Scriptures shall be translated -into the vulgar tongue, and he will deposit the oracles of God in the -midst of his countrymen. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Luther's works in England--Consultation of the Bishops--The - Bull of Leo X published in England--Luther's books - burnt--Letter of Henry VIII--He undertakes to write against - Luther--Cry of Alarm--Tradition and Sacramentalism--Prudence - of Sir T. More--The Book presented to the Pope--_Defender of - the Faith_--Exultation of the King. - - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S WORKS IN ENGLAND.] - -Whilst a plain minister was commencing the Reformation in a tranquil -valley in the west of England, powerful reinforcements were landing on -the shores of Kent. The writings and actions of Luther excited a -lively sensation in Great Britain. His appearance before the diet of -Worms was a common subject of conversation. Ships from the harbours of -the Low Countries brought his books to London,[382] and the German -printers had made answer to the nuncio Aleander, who was prohibiting -the Lutheran works in the empire: "Very well! we shall send them _to -England_!" One might almost say that England was destined to be the -asylum of truth. And in fact, the _Theses_ of 1517, the _Explanation -of the Lord's Prayer_, the books _against Emser_, _against the papacy -of Rome_, _against the bull of Antichrist_, _the Epistle to the -Galatians_, _the Appeal to the German nobility_, and above all the -_Babylonish Captivity of the Church_--all crossed the sea, were -translated, and circulated throughout the kingdom.[383] The German and -English nations, having a common origin and being sufficiently alike -at that time in character and civilization, the works intended for one -might be read by the other with advantage. The monk in his cell, the -country gentleman in his hall, the doctor in his college, the -tradesman in his shop, and even the bishop in his palace, studied -these extraordinary writings. The laity in particular, who had been -prepared by Wickliffe and disgusted by the avarice and disorderly -lives of the priests, read with enthusiasm the eloquent pages of the -Saxon monk. They strengthened all hearts. - - [382] Burnet, Hist. of the Reformation, (Lond. 1841, Oct.) i. p. 21. - - [383] Libros Lutheranos quorum magnus jam numerus pervenerat in manus - Anglorum. (Polyd. Virg. Angl. Hist. (Basil, 1570, fol.) p. 664.) A - great many of the Lutheran books had already come into the hands of - the English. - -[Sidenote: PUBLICATION OF THE PAPAL BULL.] - -The papacy was not inactive in presence of all these efforts. The -times of Gregory VII and of Innocent III, it is true, were passed; and -weakness and irresolution had succeeded to the former energy and -activity of the Roman pontificate. The spiritual power had resigned -the dominion of Europe to the secular powers, and it was doubtful -whether faith in the papacy could be found in the papacy itself. Yet a -German (Dr. Eck) by the most indefatigible exertions had extorted a -bull from the profane Leo X,[384] and this bull had just reached -England. The pope himself sent it to Henry, calling upon him to -extirpate the Lutheran heresy.[385] The king handed it to Wolsey, and -the latter transmitted it to the bishops, who, after reading _the -heretic's_ books, met together to discuss the matter.[386] There was -more Romish faith in London than in the Vatican. "This false friar," -exclaimed Wolsey, "attacks submission to the clergy--that fountain of -all virtues." The humanist prelates were the most annoyed; the road -they had taken ended in an abyss, and they shrank back in alarm. -Tonstall, the friend of Erasmus, afterwards bishop of London, and who -had just returned from his embassy to Germany where Luther had been -painted to him in the darkest colours, was particularly violent: "This -monk is a _Proteus_.... I mean an _atheist_.[387] If you allow the -heresies to grow up which he is scattering with both hands, they will -choke the faith and the church will perish.[388] Had we not enough of -the Wickliffites--here are new legions of the same kind!... To-day -Luther calls for the abolition of the mass; to-morrow he will ask for -the abolition of Jesus Christ.[389] He rejects every thing, and puts -nothing in its place. What? if barbarians plunder our frontiers, we -punish them ... and shall we bear with heretics who plunder our -altars?... No! by the mortal agony that Christ endured, I entreat -you.... What am I saying? the whole church conjures you to combat -against this devouring _dragon_.... to punish this _hell-dog_, to -silence his sinister howlings, and to drive him shamefully back into -his den."[390] Thus spoke the eloquent Tonstall; nor was Wolsey far -behind him. The only attachment at all respectable in this man was -that which he entertained for the church; it may perhaps be called -respectable, for it was the only one that did not exclusively regard -himself. On the 14th May 1521, this English pope, in imitation of the -Italian pope, issued his bull against Luther. - - [384] See above. Book VI. chap. iv. - - [385] Ab hoc regno extirpandum et abolendum. Cardinal. Ebor. - Commissio. Strype, M. I. v. p. 22. - - [386] Habitoque super hac re diligenti tractatu. Ibid. - - [387] Cum illo _Protheo_....imo _Atheo_. Erasm. Ep. 1158. - - [388] Tota ruet Ecclesia. Ibid. p. 1159. - - [389] Nisi de abolendo Christo scribere destinavit. Ibid. p. 1160. - - [390] Gladio Spiritus abactum in antrum suum coges. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: SARCASMS OF THE PEOPLE.] - -It was read (probably on the first Sunday in June) in all the churches -during high mass, when the congregation was most numerous.[391] A -priest exclaimed: "For every book of Martin Luther's found in your -possession within fifteen days after this injunction, you will incur -the greater excommunication." Then a public notary, holding the pope's -bull in his hand, with a description of Luther's _perverse opinions_, -proceeded towards the principal door of the church and fastened up the -document.[392] The people gathered round it; the most competent person -read it aloud, while the rest listened; and the following are some of -the sentences which, by the pope's order, resounded in the porches of -all the cathedral, conventual, collegiate, and parish churches of -every county in England:[393] - - "11. Sins are not pardoned to any, unless, the priest - remitting them, he believe they are remitted to him. - - "13. If by reason of some impossibility, the _contrite_ be - not confessed, or the priest absolve him, not in earnest, - but in jest; yet if he believe that he is absolved, he is - most truly absolved. - - "14. In the sacrament of _penance_ and the remission of a - fault, the pope or bishop doth not more than the lowest - priest; yea, where there is not a priest, then any Christian - will do; yea, if it were a woman or a child. - - "26. The pope, the successor of Peter, is not Christ's - vicar. - - "28. It is not at all in the hand of the church or the pope - to decree articles of faith, no, nor to decree the laws of - manners or of good works." - - [391] Cum major convenerit multitudo. Ibid. - - [392] In valvis seu locis publicis ecclesiæ vestræ. (Ibid. p. 24.) On - the doors or public places of your churches. - - [393] Strype, M. I. p. 57, (Oxf. ed.) or Luther, xvii, p. 306. - -The cardinal-legate, accompanied by the nuncio, by the ambassador of -Charles V, and by several bishops, proceeded in great pomp to St. -Paul's, where the bishop of Rochester preached, and Wolsey burnt -Luther's books.[394] But they were hardly reduced to ashes, before -sarcasms and jests were heard in every direction. "_Fire_ is not a -theological argument," said one. "The papists, who accuse Martin -Luther of slaying and murdering Christians," added another, "are like -the pickpocket, who began to cry _stop thief_, as soon as he saw -himself in danger of being caught." "The bishop of Rochester," said a -third, "concludes that because Luther has thrown the pope's decretals -into the fire, he would throw in the pope himself.... We may hence -deduce another syllogism, quite as sound: The popes have burnt the New -Testament, therefore, if they could, they would burn Christ -himself."[395] These jests were rapidly circulated from mouth to -mouth. It was not enough that Luther's writings were in England, they -must needs be known, and the priests took upon themselves to advertise -them. The Reformation was advancing, and Rome herself pushed behind -the car. - - [394] See above, Book IX, chap x. - - [395] They would have burnt Christ himself. Tynd. Doct. Tr. Obedience, - etc. (Park. Soc.) p. 221. - -[Sidenote: HENRY WRITES AGAINST LUTHER.] - -The cardinal saw that something more was required than these paper -_autos-da-fé_, and the activity he displayed may indicate what he -would have done in Europe, if ever he had reached the pontifical -chair. "The spirit of Satan left him no repose," says the papist -Sanders.[396] Some action out of the ordinary course is needful, -thought Wolsey. Kings have hitherto been the enemies of the popes: a -king shall now undertake their defence. Princes are not very anxious -about learning, a prince shall publish a book!... "Sire," said he to -the king, to get Henry in the vein, "you ought to write to the princes -of Germany on the subject of this heresy." He did so. Writing to the -Archduke Palatine, he said: "This fire, which has been kindled by -Luther, and fanned by the arts of the devil, is raging every where. If -Luther does not repent, deliver him and his audacious treatises to the -flames. I offer you my royal co-operation, and even, if necessary, my -life."[397] This was the first time Henry showed that cruel thirst, -which was in after days to be quenched in the blood of his wives and -friends. - - [396] Satanæ spiritu actus. (De Schism. Angl. p. 8.) Urged by the - spirit of Satan. - - [397] Kapps Urkunden, ii, p. 458. - -The king having taken the first step, it was not difficult for Wolsey -to induce him to take another. To defend the honour of Thomas Aquinas, -to stand forward as the champion of the church, and to obtain from the -pope a title equivalent to that of _Christianissimus_, most Christian -king, were more than sufficient motives to induce Henry to break a -lance with Luther. "I will combat with the pen this Cerberus, sprung -from the depths of hell,"[398] said he, "and if he refuses to retract, -the fire shall consume the heretic and his heresies together."[399] - - [398] Velut Cerberum ex inferis producit in lucem. Regis ad lectorem. - Epist. p. 94. - - [399] Ut errores ejus eumque ipsum ignis exurat. Ibid. p. 95. - -The king shut himself up in his library: all the scholastic tastes -with which his youth had been imbued were revived; he worked as if he -were archbishop of Canterbury, and not king of England; with the -pope's permission he read Luther's writings; he ransacked Thomas -Aquinas; forged, with infinite labour, the arrows with which he hoped -to pierce the heretic; called several learned men to his aid, and at -last published his book. His first words were a cry of alarm. "Beware -of the track of this serpent," said he to his Christian readers; "walk -on tiptoe; fear the thickets and caves in which he lies concealed, and -whence he will dart his poison on you. If he licks you, be careful! -the cunning viper caresses only that he may bite!"[400] After that -Henry sounded a charge: "Be of good cheer! Filled with the same valour -that you would display against Turks, Saracens, and other infidels, -march now against this _little friar_,--a fellow apparently weak, but -more formidable through the spirit that animates him than all -infidels, Saracens, and Turks put together."[401] Thus did Henry VIII, -the _Peter the Hermit_ of the sixteenth century, preach a crusade -against Luther, in order to save the papacy. - - [400] Qui tantum ideo lambit ut mordeat. Assertio Sept. Sacram. - - [401] Sed animo Turcis omnibus Sarracenis omnibus usquam infidelibus - nocentiorem fraterculum. Ibid. p. 147. - -[Sidenote: PRUDENCE OF MORE.] - -He had skilfully chosen the ground on which he gave battle: -sacramentalism and tradition are in fact the two essential features of -the papal religion; just as a lively faith and Holy Scripture are of -the religion of the Gospel. Henry did a service to the Reformation, by -pointing out the principles it would mainly have to combat; and by -furnishing Luther with an opportunity of establishing the authority of -the Bible, he made him take a most important step in the path of -reform. "If a teaching is opposed to Scripture," said the Reformer, -"whatever be its origin--traditions, custom, kings, Thomists, -sophists, Satan, or even an angel from heaven,--all from whom it -proceeds must be accursed. _Nothing can exist contrary to Scripture_, -and every thing must exist for it." - -Henry's book being terminated by the aid of the bishop of Rochester, -the king showed it to Sir Thomas More, who begged him to pronounce -less decidedly in favour of the papal supremacy. "I will not change a -word," replied the king, full of servile devotion to the popedom. -"Besides, I have my reasons," and he whispered them in More's ear. - -Doctor Clarke, ambassador from England at the court of Rome, was -commissioned to present the pope with a magnificently bound copy of -the king's work. "The glory of England," said he, "is to be in the -foremost rank among the nations in obedience to the papacy."[402] -Happily Britain was ere long to know a glory of a very different kind. -The ambassador added that his master, after having refuted Luther's -errors with the _pen_, was ready to combat his adherents with the -_sword_.[403] The pope, touched with this offer, gave him his foot, -and then his cheek to kiss, and said to him: "I will do for your -Master's book as much as the church has done for the works of St. -Jerome and St. Augustine." - - [402] Fiddes' Life of Wolsey. p. 249. - - [403] Totius regni sui viribus et armis. (Rymer, Foedera, VI. p. 199.) - By the strength and arms of his whole kingdom. - -[Sidenote: DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.] - -The enfeebled papacy had neither the power of intelligence, nor even -of fanaticism. It still maintained its pretensions and its pomp, but -it resembled the corpses of the mighty ones of the earth that lie in -state, clad in their most magnificent robes: splendour above, death -and corruption below. The thunder-bolts of a Hildebrand ceasing to -produce their effect, Rome gratefully accepted the defence of laymen, -such as Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More, without disdaining their -judicial sentences and their scaffolds. "We must honour those noble -champions," said the pope to his cardinals, "who show themselves -prepared to cut off with the sword the rotten members of Jesus -Christ.[404] What title shall we give to the virtuous king of -England?"--_Protector of the Roman church_, suggested one; _Apostolic -king_, said another; and finally, but not without some opposition, -Henry VIII was proclaimed _Defender of the Faith_. At the same time -the pope promised ten years' indulgence to all readers of the king's -book. This was a lure after the fashion of the middle ages, and which -never failed in its effect. The clergy compared its author to the -wisest of kings; and the book, of which many thousand copies were -printed, filled the Christian world (Cochloeus tells us) with -admiration and delight. - - [404] Putida membra...ferro et materiali gladio abscindere. (Rymer, - Foedera, vi, p. 199.) To cut off the rotten members with iron and the - material sword. - -Nothing could equal Henry's joy. "His majesty," said the vicar of -Croydon, "would not exchange that name for all London and twenty miles -round."[405] The king's fool, entering the room just as his master had -received the bull, asked him the cause of his transports. "The pope -has just named me _Defender of the Faith_!"--"Ho! ho! good Harry," -replied the fool, "let you and me defend one another; but ... take my -word for it ... _let the faith alone to defend itself_."[406] An -entire modern system was found in those words. In the midst of the -general intoxication, the fool was the only sensible person. But Henry -could listen to nothing. Seated on an elevated throne, with the -cardinal at his right hand, he caused the pope's letter to be read in -public. The trumpets sounded: Wolsey said Mass; the king and his court -took their seats around a sumptuous table, and the heralds at arms -proclaimed: _Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliæ et Franciæ, Defensor Fidei -et Dominus Hiberniæ!_ - - [405] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 596. - - [406] Fuller, book v, p. 168. - -Thus was the king of England more than ever united to the pope: -whoever brings the Holy Scriptures into his kingdom shall there -encounter that material sword, _ferrum et materialem gladium_, in -which the papacy so much delighted. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Wolsey's Machinations to obtain the Tiara--He gains Charles - V--Alliance between Henry and Charles--Wolsey offers to - command the Troops--Treaty of Bruges--Henry believes himself - King of France--Victories of Francis I--Death of Leo X. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY DESIRES THE TIARA.] - -One thing only was wanting to check more surely the progress of the -Gospel: Wolsey's accession to the pontifical throne. Consumed by the -desire of reaching "the summit of sacerdotal unity,"[407] he formed, -to attain this end, one of the most perfidious schemes ambition ever -engendered. He thought with others: "The end justifies the means." - - [407] Unitatis sacerdotalis fastigium conscendere. Sanders, De Schism. - Ang. 8. - -The cardinal could only attain the popedom through the emperor or the -king of France; for then, as now, it was the secular powers that -really elected the chief of catholicity. After carefully weighing the -influence of these two princes, Wolsey found that the balance inclined -to the side of Charles, and his choice was made. A close intimacy of -long standing united him to Francis I, but that mattered little; he -must betray his friend to gain his friend's rival. - -But this was no easy matter. Henry was dissatisfied with Charles the -Fifth.[408] Wolsey was therefore obliged to employ every imaginable -delicacy in his manoeuvres. First he sent Sir Richard Wingfield to the -emperor; then he wrote a flattering letter in Henry's name to the -princess-regent of the Low Countries. The difficulty was to get the -king to sign it. "Have the goodness to put your name," said Wolsey, -"even if it should annoy your Highness.... You know very well ... that -women like to be pleased."[409] This argument prevailed with the king, -who still possessed a spirit of gallantry. Lastly, Wolsey being named -arbitrator between Charles and Francis, resolved to depart for Calais, -apparently to hear the complaints of the two princes; but in reality -to betray one of them. Wolsey felt as much pleasure in such practices, -as Francis in giving battle. - - [408] Hys owne affayris doith not succede with th'Emperour. State - Papers, vol. i, p. 10. - - [409] Ibid. p. 12. - -[Sidenote: THE EMPEROR'S PROMISES.] - -The king of France rejected his arbitration: he had a sharp eye, and -his mother one still sharper. "Your master loves me not," said he to -Charles's ambassador, "and I do not love him any more, and am -determined to be his enemy."[410] It was impossible to speak more -plainly. Far from imitating this frankness, the politic Charles -endeavoured to gain Wolsey, and Wolsey, who was eager to sell himself, -adroitly hinted at what price he might be bought. "If the king of -England sides with me," Charles informed the cardinal, "you shall be -elected pope at the death of Leo X."[411] Francis, betrayed by Wolsey, -abandoned by the pope, and threatened by the emperor, determined at -last to accept Henry's mediation. - - [410] He was utterly determined to be his enemy. Cotton MSS. Galba, B. - 7, p. 35. - - [411] Ut Wolseus mortuo Leone decimo fieret summus pontifex. - -But Charles was now thinking of very different matters. Instead of a -mediation, he demanded of the king of England 4000 of his famous -bowmen. Henry smiled as he read the despatch and looking at Pace his -secretary, and Marney the captain of his guards, he said: "_Beati qui -audiunt et non intelligunt!_" thus forbidding them to understand, and -above all to bruit abroad this strange request. It was agreed to raise -the number of archers to 6000; and the cardinal, having the tiara -continually before his eyes, departed to perform at Calais the odious -comedy of a hypocritical arbitration. Being detained at Dover by -contrary winds, the mediator took advantage of this delay to draw up a -list of the 6000 archers and their captains, not forgetting to insert -in it, "certain obstinate deer," as Henry had said, "that must of -necessity be hunted down."[412] These were some gentlemen whom the -king desired to get rid of. - - [412] Sayyinge that certayne hartes were so toggidde for hym, that he - must neadys hunte them. State Papers, i, p. 26. - -While the ambassadors of the king of France were received at Calais on -the 4th of August with great honours, by the lord high chamberlain of -England, the cardinal signed a convention with Charles's ministers -that Henry should withdraw his promise of the Princess Mary's hand to -the dauphin, and give her to the emperor. At the same time he issued -orders to destroy the French navy, and to invade France.[413] And -finally he procured by way of compensating England for the pension of -16,000 pounds hitherto received from the court of St. Germains, that -the emperor should pay henceforward the annual sum of 40,000 marks. -Without ready money the bargain would not have been a good one. - - [413] Ibid. i, p. 23. - -[Sidenote: THE TREATY OF BRUGES.] - -This was not all. While Wolsey was waiting to be elected pope, he -conceived the idea of becoming a soldier. A commander was wanted for -the 6000 archers Henry was sending against the king of France; and why -should he not be the cardinal himself? He immediately intrigued to get -the noblemen set aside who had been proposed as generals in chief. -"Shrewsbury," he said to the king, "is wanted for Scotland--Worcester -by his experience is worthy that ... you should keep him near you. As -for Dorset ... he will be very dear." Then the priest added: "Sire, if -during my sojourn on the other side of the sea, you have good reason -to send your archers.... I hasten to inform you that whenever the -emperor takes the command of his soldiers, I am ready, although an -ecclesiastic,[414] to put myself at the head of yours." What -devotedness! Wolsey would cause his cross of cardinal _a latere_ to be -carried before him (he said); and neither Francis nor Bayard would be -able to resist him. To command at the same time the state, the church, -and the army, while awaiting the tiara,--to surround his head with -laurels: such was this man's ambition. Unfortunately for him, they -were not of that opinion at court. The king made the earl of Essex -commander-in-chief. - - [414] Though I be a spiritual man. State Papers, i, p. 31. - -As Wolsey could not be general, he turned to diplomacy. He hastened to -Bruges; and as he entered at the emperor's side, a voice was heard -above the crowd, exclaiming: _Salve, Rex regis tui atque regni -sui!_[415]--a sound most pleasing to his ears. People were very much -astonished at Bruges by the intimacy existing between the cardinal and -the emperor. "There is some mystery beneath it all," they said.[416] -Wolsey desired to place the crown of France on Henry's head, and the -tiara on his own. Such was the mystery, which was well worth a few -civilities to the mighty Charles V. The alliance was concluded, and -the contracting parties agreed "to avenge the insults offered to the -throne of Jesus Christ," or in other words, to the popedom. - - [415] Hail, both king of thy king and also of his kingdom. Tynd. - Expos. p. 314. - - [416] There was a certain secret whereof all men knew not. Ibid. 315. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S PRACTICES.] - -Wolsey, in order to drag Henry into the intrigues which were to -procure him the tiara, had reminded him that he was _king of France_, -and the suggestion had been eagerly caught at. At midnight on the 7th -of August, the king dictated to his secretary a letter for Wolsey -containing this strange expression: _Si ibitis parare regi locum in -regno ejus hereditario, Majestas ejus_ _quum tempus erit opportunum, -sequetur_.[417] The theologian who had corrected the famous latin book -of the king's against Luther, most certainly had not revised this -phrase. According to Henry, France was his hereditary kingdom, and -Wolsey was going to prepare the throne for him.... The king could not -restrain his joy at the mere idea, and already he surpassed in -imagination both Edward III and the Black Prince. "I am about to -attain a glory superior to that which my ancestors have gained by so -many wars and battles."[418] Wolsey traced out for him the road to his -palace on the banks of the Seine: "Mezières is about to fall; -afterwards there is only Rheims, which is not a strong city; and thus -your grace will very easily reach Paris."[419] Henry followed on the -map the route he would have to take: "Affairs are going on well," -wrote the cardinal, "the Lord be praised." In him this Christian -language was a mere official formality. - - [417] If you go to prepare a place for the king in his hereditary - kingdom, his Majesty will follow you at a fitting season. State - Papers, i, 36. - - [418] Majora assequi quam omnes ipsius progenitores tot bellis et - præliis. Ibid. 45. - - [419] Your grace shall have but a leyve wey to Parys. Ibid. 46. - -Wolsey was mistaken: things were going on badly. On the 20th of -October 1522, Francis I whom so much perfidy had been unable to -deceive,--Francis, ambitious and turbulent, but honest in this matter -at least, and confiding in the strength of his arms, had suddenly -appeared between Cambray and Valenciennes. The emperor fled to -Flanders in alarm, and Wolsey, instead of putting himself at the head -of the army, had shielded himself under his arbitrator's cloak. -Writing to Henry, who, a fortnight before, had by his advice excited -Charles to attack France, he said: "I am confident that your _virtuous -mediation_ will greatly increase your reputation and honour throughout -Christendom."[420] Francis rejected Wolsey's offers, but the object of -the latter was attained. The negotiations had gained time for Charles, -and bad weather soon stopped the French army. Wolsey returned -satisfied to London about the middle of December. It was true that -Henry's triumphant entry into Paris became very difficult; but the -cardinal was sure of the emperor's favour, and through it (he -imagined) of the tiara. Wolsey had done, therefore, what he desired. -He had hardly arrived in England, when there came news which raised -him to the height of happiness: Leo X was dead. His joy surpassed what -Henry had felt at the thought of his _hereditary kingdom_. Protected -by the powerful Charles V, to whom he had sacrificed every thing, the -English cardinal was at last on the point of receiving that pontifical -crown which would permit him to crush heresy, and which was, in his -eyes, the just reward of so many infamous transactions. - - [420] Cotton MSS. Calig. D. 8. p. 85. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - The Just Men of Lincolnshire--Their Assemblies and - Teaching--Agnes and Morden--Itinerant Libraries--Polemical - Conversations--Sarcasm--Royal Decree and Terror--Depositions - and Condemnations--Four Martyrs--A Conclave--Charles - consoles Wolsey. - - -[Sidenote: THE JUST MEN OF LINCOLNSHIRE.] - -Wolsey did not stay until he was pope, before persecuting the -disciples of the word of God. Desirous of carrying out the -stipulations of the convention at Bruges, he had broken out against -"the king's subjects who disturbed the apostolic see." Henry had to -vindicate the title conferred on him by the pope; the cardinal had to -gain the popedom; and both could satisfy their desires by the erection -of a few scaffolds. - -[Sidenote: AGNES AND MORDEN.] - -In the county of Lincoln on the shores of the North Sea, along the -fertile banks of the Humber, Trent, and Witham, and on the slopes of -the smiling hills, dwelt many peaceful Christians--labourers, -artificers, and shepherds--who spent their days in toil, in keeping -their flocks, in doing good, and in reading the Bible.[421] The more -the gospel-light increased in England, the greater was the increase in -the number of these children of peace.[422] These "just men," as they -were called, were devoid of human knowledge, but they thirsted for the -knowledge of God. Thinking they were alone the true disciples of the -Lord, they married only among themselves.[423] They appeared -occasionally at church; but instead of repeating their prayers like -the rest, they sat, said their enemies, "mum like beasts."[424] On -Sundays and holidays, they assembled in each other's houses, and -sometimes passed a whole night in reading a portion of Scripture. If -there chanced to be few books among them, one of the brethren, who -had learnt by heart the Epistle of St. James, the beginning of St. -Luke's gospel, the sermon on the mount, or an epistle of St. Paul's, -would recite a few verses in a loud and calm voice; then all would -piously converse about the holy truths of the faith, and exhort one -another to put them in practice. But if any person joined their -meetings, who did not belong to their body, they would all keep -silent.[425] Speaking much among each other, they were speechless -before those from without: fear of the priests and of the faggot made -them dumb. There was no family rejoicing without the Scriptures. At -the marriage of a daughter of the aged Durdant, one of their -patriarchs, the wedding party met secretly in a barn, and read the -whole of one of St. Paul's epistles. Marriages are rarely celebrated -with such pastimes as this! - - [421] Being simple labourers and artificers. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 240. - - [422] As the light of the Gospel began more to appear, and the numbers - of professors to grow. Ibid. p. 217. - - [423] Did contract matrimony only with themselves. Ibid. p. 223. - - [424] Ibid. p. 225. - - [425] If any came in among them that were not of their side, then they - would keep all silent. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 222. - -Although they were dumb before enemies or suspected persons, these -poor people did not keep silence in the presence of the humble: a -glowing proselytism characterized them all. "Come to my house," said -the pious Agnes Ashford to James Morden, "and I will teach you some -verses of Scripture." Agnes was an educated woman; she could read; -Morden came, and the poor woman's chamber was transformed into a -school of theology. Agnes began: "Ye are the salt of the earth," and -then recited the following verses.[426] Five times did Morden return -to Agnes before he knew that beautiful discourse. "We are spread like -salt over the various parts of the kingdom," said this Christian woman -to the neophyte, "in order that we may check the progress of -superstition by our doctrine and our life. But," added she in alarm, -"keep this secret in your heart, as a man would keep a thief in -prison."[427] - - [426] Matth. v. 13-16. - - [427] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 225. - -[Sidenote: SARCASM.] - -As books were rare these pious Christians had established a kind of -itinerant library, and one John Scrivener was continually engaged in -carrying the precious volumes from one to another.[428] But at times, -as he was proceeding along the banks of the river or through the -forest glades, he observed that he was followed. He would quicken his -pace and run into some barn where the friendly peasants promptly hid -him beneath the straw, or, like the spies of Israel, under the stalks -of flax.[429] The bloodhounds arrived, sought and found nothing; and -more than once those who so generously harboured these evangelists -cruelly expiated the crime of charity. - - [428] Carrying about books from one to another. Ibid. iv, p. 224. - - [429] Hiding others in their barns. Ibid. p. 243. - -The disappointed officers had scarcely retired from the neighbourhood -when these friends of the word of God came out of their hiding-place, -and profited by the moment of liberty to assemble the brethren. The -persecutions they suffered irritated them against the priests. They -worshipped God, read, and sang with a low voice; but when the -conversation became general, they gave free course to their -indignation. "Would you know the use of the pope's pardons?" said one -of them; "they are to blind the eyes and empty the purse."--"True -pilgrimages," said the tailor Geoffrey of Uxbridge, "consist in -visiting the poor and sick--barefoot, if so it please you--for these -are the little ones that are god's true image."--"Money spent in -pilgrimages," added a third, "serves only to maintain thieves and -harlots."[430] The women were often the most animated in the -controversy. "What need is there to go to the _feet_," said Agnes -Ward, who disbelieved in saints, "when we may go to the -_head_?"[431]--"the clergy of the good old times," said the wife of -David Lewis, "used to lead the people as a hen leadeth her -chickens;[432] but now if our priests lead their flocks any where, it -is to the devil assuredly." - - [430] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 243. - - [431] Ibid. p. 229. - - [432] Ibid. p. 224. - -Erelong there was a general panic throughout this district. The king's -confessor John Longland was bishop of Lincoln. This fanatic priest, -Wolsey's creature, took advantage of his position to petition Henry -for a severe persecution: this was the ordinary use in England, -France, and elsewhere, of the confessors of princes. It was -unfortunate that among these pious disciples of the word, men of a -cynical turn were now and then met with, whose biting sarcasms went -beyond all bounds. Wolsey and Longland knew how to employ these -expressions in arousing the king's anger. "As one of these fellows," -they said, "was busy beating out his corn in his barn, a man chanced -to pass by. 'Good morrow, neighbour,' (said the latter), 'you are hard -at it!'--'Yes,' replied the old heretic, thinking of transubstantiation, -'I am thrashing the corn out of which the priests make God Almighty.'" -[433] Henry hesitated no longer. - - [433] I thresh God Almighty out of the straw. Ibid. p. 222. - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP'S TRIBUNAL.] - -On the 20th October 1521, nine days after the bull on the _Defender of -the Faith_ had been signed at Rome, the king, who was at Windsor, -summoned his secretary, and dictated an order commanding all his -subjects to assist the bishop of Lincoln against the heretics. "You -will obey it at the peril of your lives," added he. The order was -transmitted to Longland, and the bishop immediately issued his -warrants, and his officers spread terror far and wide. When they -beheld them, these peaceful but timid Christians were troubled. -Isabella Bartlet, hearing them approach her cottage, screamed out to -her husband: "You are a lost man! and I am a dead woman!"[434] This -cry was re-echoed from all the cottages of Lincolnshire. The bishop, -on his judgment-seat, skilfully played upon these poor unhappy beings -to make them accuse one another. Alas! according to the ancient -prophecy: "the brother delivered up the brother to death." Robert -Bartlet deposed against his brother Richard and his own wife; Jane -Bernard accused her own father and Tredway his mother. It was not -until after the most cruel anguish that these poor creatures were -driven to such frightful extremities; but the bishop and death -terrified them: a small number alone remained firm. As regards -heroism, Wickliffe's Reformation brought but a feeble aid to the -Reformation of the sixteenth century; still, if it did not furnish -many heroes, it prepared the English people to love God's word above -all things. Of these humble people, some were condemned to do penance -in different monasteries; others to carry a faggot on their shoulders -thrice round the market-place, and then to stand some time exposed to -the jeers of the populace; others were fastened to a post while the -executioner branded them on the cheek with a red-hot iron. They also -had their martyrs. Wickliffe's revival had never been without them. -Four of these brethren were chosen to be put to death, and among them -the pious evangelical _colporteur_ Scrivener. By burning him to ashes, -the clergy desired to make sure that he would no longer circulate the -word of God; and by a horrible refinement of cruelty his children were -compelled to set fire to the pile that was to consume their -father.[435] They stretched forth their trembling hands, held in the -strong grasp of the executioners.... Poor children!... But it is -easier to burn the limbs of Christians than to quench the Spirit of -Heaven. These cruel fires could not destroy among the Lincolnshire -peasantry that love of the Bible which in all ages has been England's -strength, far more than the wisdom of her senators or the bravery of -her generals. - - [434] Alas! now are you an undone man, and I but a dead woman. Foxe, - Acts, v, p. 224. - - [435] Ibid. p. 245. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY LOSES THE TIARA.] - -Having by these exploits gained indisputable claims to the tiara, -Wolsey turned his efforts towards Rome. Leo X, as we have seen, was -just dead (1522). The cardinal sent Pace to Rome, instructing him to -"Represent to the cardinals that by choosing a partizan of Charles or -Francis, they will incur the enmity of one or the other of these -princes, and that if they elect some feeble Italian priest, the -apostolical see must become the prey of the strongest. Luther's revolt -and the emperor's ambition endanger the papacy. There is only one -means of preventing the threatening dangers.... It is to choose me.... -Now go and exert yourself."[436] The conclave opened at Rome on the -27th December, and Wolsey was proposed; but the cardinals were not -generally favourable to his election. "He is too young," said one; -"too firm," said another. "He will fix the seat of the papacy in -England and not in Rome," urged many. He did not receive twenty votes. -"The cardinals," wrote the English ambassador, "snarled and quarrelled -with each other; and their bad faith and hatred increased every day." -On the sixth day, only one dish was sent them; and then in despair -they chose Adrian, who had been tutor to the emperor, and the cry was -raised: _Papam habemus!_ - - [436] The sole way ... was to chuse him. Herbert, p. 110. - -During all this time Wolsey was in London, consumed by ambition, and -counting the days and hours. At length a despatch from Ghent, dated -the 22nd January, reached him with these words: "On the 9th of -January, the cardinal of Tortosa was elected!"... Wolsey was almost -distracted. To gain Charles, he had sacrificed the alliance of Francis -I; there was no stratagem that he had not employed, and yet Charles, -in spite of his engagements, had procured the election of his -tutor!... The emperor knew what must be the cardinal's anger, and -endeavoured to appease it: "The new pope," he wrote, "is old and -sickly;[437] he cannot hold his office long.... Beg the cardinal of -York for my sake to _take great care of his health_." - - [437] The new elect is both old, sickly ... so that he shall not have - the office long. Cotton MSS. Galba, B. vii, p. 6. - -Charles did more than this: he visited London in person, under -pretence of his betrothal with Mary of England, and, in the treaty -then drawn up, he consented to the insertion of an article by virtue -of which Henry VIII and the mighty emperor, bound themselves, if -either should infringe the treaty, to appear before Wolsey and to -submit to his decisions.[438] The cardinal, gratified by such -condescension, grew calm; and at the same time he was soothed with the -most flattering hopes. "Charles's imbecile preceptor," they told him, -"has arrived at the Vatican, attended only by his female cook; you -shall soon make your entrance there surrounded by all your grandeur." -To be certain of his game, Wolsey made secret approaches to Francis I, -and then waited for the death of the pope.[439] - - [438] Both princes appearing before the cardinal of York as judge. - Art. xiii, Herbert, p. 118. - - [439] Mortem etiam Adriani expectat. Sanders, p. 8. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - Character of Tyndale--He arrives in London--He preaches--The - Cloth and the Ell--The bishop of London gives Audience to - Tyndale--He is dismissed--A Christian Merchant of - London--Spirit of Love in the Reformation--Tyndale in - Monmouth's House--Fryth helps him to translate the New - Testament--Importunities of the Bishop of - Lincoln--Persecution in London--Tyndale's Resolution--He - departs--His Indignation against the Prelates--His Hopes. - - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF TYNDALE.] - -While the cardinal was intriguing to attain his selfish ends, Tyndale -was humbly carrying out the great idea of giving the Scriptures of God -to England. - -[Sidenote: HE PREACHES SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST.] - -After bidding a sad farewell to the manor-house of Sodbury, the -learned tutor had departed for London. This occurred about the end of -1522 or the beginning of 1523. He had left the university--he had -forsaken the house of his protector; his wandering career was about to -commence, but a thick veil hid from him all its sorrows. Tyndale, a -man simple in his habits, sober, daring, and generous, fearing neither -fatigue nor danger, inflexible in his duty, anointed with the Spirit -of God, overflowing with love for his brethren, emancipated from human -traditions, the servant of God alone, and loving nought but Jesus -Christ, imaginative, quick at repartee, and of touching -eloquence--such a man might have shone in the foremost ranks; but he -preferred a retired life in some poor corner, provided he could give -his countrymen the Scriptures of God. Where could he find this calm -retreat? was the question he put to himself as he was making his -solitary way to London. The metropolitan see was then filled by -Cuthbert Tonstall, who was more of a statesman and a scholar than of -a churchman, "the first of English men in Greek and Latin literature," -said Erasmus. This eulogy of the learned Dutchman occurred to -Tyndale's memory.[440] It was the Greek Testament of Erasmus that led -me to Christ, said he to himself; why should not the house of -Erasmus's friend offer me a shelter that I may translate it.... At -last he reached London, and, a stranger in that crowded city, he -wandered along the streets, a prey by turns to hope and fear. - - [440] As I thus thought, the bishop of London came to my remembrance. - Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - -Being recommended by Sir John Walsh to Sir Harry Guildford, the king's -comptroller, and by him to several priests, Tyndale began to preach -almost immediately, especially at St. Dunstan's, and bore into the -heart of the capital the truth which had been banished from the banks -of the Severn. The _word_ of God was with him the basis of salvation, -and the _grace_ of God its essence. His inventive mind presented the -truths he proclaimed in a striking manner. He said on one -occasion:--"It is the blood of Christ that opens the gates of heaven, -and not thy works. I am wrong.... Yes, if thou wilt have it so, by thy -good works shalt thou be saved.--Yet, understand me well,--not by -those which thou has done, but by those which Christ has done for -thee. Christ is in thee and thou in him, knit together inseparably. -Thou canst not be damned, except Christ be damned with thee; neither -can Christ be saved except thou be saved with him."[441] This lucid -view of justification by faith places Tyndale among the reformers. He -did not take his seat on a bishop's throne, or wear a silken cope; but -he mounted the scaffold, and was clothed with a garment of flames. In -the service of a crucified Saviour this latter distinction is higher -than the former. - - [441] Ibid. p. 79. - -Yet the translation was his chief business; he spoke to his -acquaintances about it, and some of them opposed his project. "The -teachings of the doctors," said some of the city tradesmen, "can alone -make us understand Scripture." "That is to say," replied Tyndale, "I -must measure the _yard_ by the _cloth_.[442] Look here," continued he, -using a practical argument, "here are in your shop twenty pieces of -stuff of different lengths.... Do you measure the yard by these -pieces, or the pieces by the yard?... The universal standard is -Scripture." This comparison was easily fixed in the minds of the petty -tradesmen of the capital. - - [442] Ibid. p. 153. - -[Sidenote: IS RECOMMENDED TO TONSTALL.] - -Desirous of carrying out his project, Tyndale aspired to become the -bishop's chaplain;[443] his ambition was more modest than Wolsey's. -The hellenist possessed qualities which could not fail to please the -most learned of Englishmen in Greek literature: Tonstall and Tyndale -both liked and read the same authors. The ex-tutor determined to plead -his cause through the elegant and harmonious disciple of Radicus and -Gorgias: "Here is one of Isocrates' orations that I have translated -into Latin," said he to Sir Harry Guildford; "I should be pleased to -become chaplain to his lordship the bishop of London; will you beg him -to accept this trifle. Isocrates ought to be an excellent -recommendation to a scholar; will you be good enough to add yours." -Guildford spoke to the bishop, placed the translation in his hands, -and Tonstall replied with that benevolence which he showed to every -one. "Your business is in a fair way," said the comptroller to -Tyndale; "write a letter to his lordship, and deliver it -yourself."[444] - - [443] He laboured to be his chaplain. Foxe, Acts, iv. p. 617. - - [444] He willed me to write an epistle to my lord, and to go to him - myself. Ibid. - -Tyndale's hopes now began to be realized. He wrote his letter in the -best style, and then, commending himself to God, proceeded to the -episcopal palace. He fortunately knew one of the bishop's officers, -William Hebilthwayte, to whom he gave the letter. Hebilthwayte carried -it to his lordship, while Tyndale waited. His heart throbbed with -anxiety: shall he find at last the long hoped for asylum? The bishop's -answer might decide the whole course of his life. If the door is -opened,--if the translator of the Scriptures should be settled in the -episcopal palace, why should not his London patron receive the truth -like his patron at Sodbury? and, in that case, what a future for the -church and for the kingdom!... The Reformation was knocking at the -door of the hierarchy of England, and the latter was about to utter -its yea or its nay. After a few moments' absence Hebilthwayte -returned: "I am going to conduct you to his lordship." Tyndale fancied -himself that he had attained his wishes. - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP'S REPLY.] - -The bishop was too kind-hearted to refuse an audience to a man who -called upon him with the triple recommendation of Isocrates, of the -comptroller, and of the king's old companion in arms. He received -Tyndale with kindness, a little tempered however with coldness, as if -he were a man whose acquaintanceship might compromise him. Tyndale -having made known his wishes, the bishop hastened to reply: "Alas! my -house is full.[445] I have now more people than I can employ." Tyndale -was discomfited by this answer. The bishop of London was a learned -man, but wanting in courage and consistency; he gave his right hand to -the friends of letters and of the Gospel, and his left hand to the -friends of the priests; and then endeavoured to walk with both. But -when he had to choose between the two parties, clerical interests -prevailed. There was no lack of bishops, priests, and laymen about -him, who intimidated him by their clamours. After taking a few steps -forward, he suddenly recoiled. Still Tyndale ventured to hazard a -word; but the prelate was cold as before. The humanists, who laughed -at the ignorance of the monks, hesitated to touch an ecclesiastical -system which lavished on them such rich sinecures. They accepted the -new ideas in theory, but not in practice. They were very willing to -discuss them at table, but not to proclaim them from the pulpit; and -covering the Greek Testament with applause, they tore it in pieces -when rendered into the vulgar tongue. "If you will look well about -London," said Tonstall coldly to the poor priest; "you will not fail -to meet with some suitable employment." This was all Tyndale could -obtain. Hebilthwayte waited on him to the door, and the hellenist -departed sad and desponding. - - [445] My lord answered me, his home was full. Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. - 395. - -His expectations were disappointed. Driven from the banks of the -Severn, without a home in the capital, what would become of the -translation of the Scriptures? "Alas!" he said; "I was deceived -...[446] there is nothing to be looked for from the bishops.... Christ -was smitten on the cheek before the bishop, Paul was buffeted before -the bishop[447] ... and a bishop has just turned me away." His -dejection did not last long: there was an elastic principle in his -soul. "I hunger for the word of God," said he, "I will translate it, -whatever they may say or do. God will not suffer me to perish. He -never made a mouth but he made food for it, nor a body, but he made -raiment also."[448] - - [446] I was beguiled. Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - - [447] Expositions, p. 59. - - [448] Tynd. and Fryth's Works, ii, p. 349. - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON MERCHANT.] - -This trustfulness was not misplaced. It was the privilege of a layman -to give what the bishop refused. Among Tyndale's hearers at St. -Dunstan's was a rich merchant named Humphrey Monmouth, who had visited -Rome, and to whom (as well as to his companions) the pope had been so -kind as to give certain Roman curiosities, such as indulgences, _a -culpâ et a poenâ_. Ships laden with his manufactures every year quitted -London for foreign countries. He had formerly attended Colet's -preaching at St. Paul's, and from the year 1515 he had known the word -of God.[449] He was one of the gentlest and most obliging men in -England; he kept open house for the friends of learning and of the -Gospel, and his library contained the newest publications. In putting -on Jesus Christ, Monmouth had particularly striven to put on his -character; he helped generously with his purse both priests and men of -letters; he gave forty pounds sterling to the chaplain of the bishop -of London, the same to the king's, to the provincial of the -Augustines, and to others besides. Latimer, who sometimes dined with -him, once related in the pulpit an anecdote characteristic of the -friends of the Reformation in England. Among the regular guests at -Monmouth's table was one of his poorest neighbours, a zealous -Romanist, to whom his generous host often used to lend money. One day -when the pious merchant was extolling Scripture and blaming popery, -his neighbour turned pale, rose from the table, and left the room. "I -will never set foot in his house again," he said to his friends, "and -I will never borrow another shilling of him."[450] He next went to the -bishop and laid an information against his benefactor. Monmouth -forgave him, and tried to bring him back; but the neighbour constantly -turned out of his way. Once, however, they met in a street so narrow -that he could not escape. "I will pass by without looking at him," -said the Romanist turning away his head. But Monmouth went straight to -him, took him by the hand, and said affectionately: "Neighbour, what -wrong have I done you?" and he continued to speak to him with so much -love, that the poor man fell on his knees, burst into tears, and -begged his forgiveness.[451] Such was the spirit which, at the very -outset, animated the work of the Reformation in England: it was -acceptable to God, and found favour with the people. - - [449] The rich man began to be a Scripture man. Latimer's Sermons, p. - 440 (Park. Soc.) - - [450] Latimer's Works, i. p. 441. He would borrow no [more] money of - him. - - [451] Ibid. - -Monmouth being edified by Tyndale's sermons, inquired into his means -of living. "I have none,"[452] replied he, "but I hope to enter into -the bishop's service." This was before his visit to Tonstall. When -Tyndale saw all his hopes frustrated, he went to Monmouth and told him -everything. "Come and live with me," said the wealthy merchant, "and -there labour." God did to Tyndale according to his faith. Simple, -frugal, devoted to work, he studied night and day;[453] and wishing to -guard his mind against "being overcharged with surfeiting," he refused -the delicacies of his patron's table, and would take nothing but -sodden meat and small beer.[454] It would even seem that he carried -simplicity in dress almost too far.[455] By his conversation and his -works, he shed over the house of his patron the mild light of the -Christian virtues, and Monmouth loved him more and more every day. - - [452] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 617. - - [453] Strype, Records, i. p. 664. - - [454] Strype, Records, i. p. 664. He would eat but sodden meat and - drink but small single beer. - - [455] He was never seen in that house to wear linen about him. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: FRYTH JOINS TYNDALE.] - -Tyndale was advancing in his work when John Fryth, the mathematician -of King's College, Cambridge, arrived in London. It is probable that -Tyndale, feeling the want of an associate, had invited him. United -like Luther and Melancthon, the two friends held many precious -conversations together. "I will consecrate my life wholly to the -church of Jesus Christ," said Fryth.[456] "To be a good man, you must -give great part of yourself to your parents, a greater part to your -country; but the greatest of all to the church of the Lord." "The -people should know the word of God,"[457] they said both. "The -interpretation of the gospel, without the intervention of councils or -popes, is sufficient to create a saving faith in the heart." They shut -themselves up in the little room in Monmouth's house, and translated -chapter after chapter from the Greek into plain English. The bishop of -London knew nothing of the work going on a few yards from him, and -everything was succeeding to Tyndale's wishes when it was interrupted -by an unforeseen circumstance. - - [456] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, iii, p. 73, 74. - - [457] That the poor people might also read and see the simple plain - word of God. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 118. - -[Sidenote: LEARNING AND THE SCAFFOLD.] - -Longland, the persecutor of the Lincolnshire Christians, did not -confine his activity within the limits of his diocese; he besieged the -king, the cardinal, and the queen with his cruel importunities, using -Wolsey's influence with Henry, and Henry's with Wolsey. "His majesty," -he wrote to the cardinal, "shows in this holy dispute as much goodness -as zeal ... yet, be pleased to urge him to overthrow God's enemies." -And then turning to the king, the confessor said, to spur him on: "The -cardinal is about to fulminate the greater excommunication against all -who possess Luther's works or hold his opinions, and to make the -booksellers sign a bond before the magistrates, not to sell -_heretical_ books." "Wonderful!" replied Henry with a sneer, "they -will fear the magisterial bond, I think, more than the _clerical_ -excommunication." And yet the consequences of the "clerical" -excommunication were to be very positive; whosoever persevered in his -offence was to be pursued by the law _ad ignem_, even to the -fire.[458] At last the confessor applied to the queen: "We cannot be -sure of restraining the press," he said to her. "These wretched books -come to us from Germany, France, and the Low Countries; and are even -printed in the very midst of us. Madam, we must train and prepare -skilful men, such as are able to discuss the controverted points, so -that the laity, struck on the one hand by well developed arguments, -and frightened by the fear of punishment on the other, may be kept in -obedience."[459] In the bishop's system, "fire" was to be the -complement of Roman learning. The essential idea of Jesuitism is -already visible in this conception of Henry the Eighth's confessor. -That system is the natural development of Romanism. - - [458] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i. p. 42. - - [459] Anderson, Bible Annals, i. p. 42, 43. Herbert says (p. 147) "to - suspend the laity betwixt fear and controversies." - -Tonstall, urged forward by Longland, and desirous of showing himself -as holy a churchman as he had once been a skilful statesman and -elegant scholar--Tonstall, the friend of Erasmus, began to persecute. -He would have feared to shed blood, like Longland; but there are -measures which torture the mind and not the body, and which the most -moderate men fear not to make use of. John Higgins, Henry Chambers, -Thomas Eaglestone, a priest named Edmund Spilman, and some other -Christians in London, used to meet and read portions of the Bible in -English, and even asserted publicly that "Luther had more learning in -his little finger than all the doctors in England."[460] The bishop -ordered these rebels to be arrested: he flattered and alarmed them, -threatening them with a cruel death (which he would hardly have -inflicted on them), and by these skilful practices reduced them to -silence. - - [460] Foxe, Acts, v. p. 179. - -Tyndale, who witnessed this persecution, feared lest the stake should -interrupt his labour. If those who read a few fragments of Scripture -are threatened with death, what will he not have to endure who is -translating the whole? His friends entreated him to withdraw from the -bishop's pursuit. "Alas!" he exclaimed, "is there then no place where -I can translate the Bible?... It is not the bishop's house alone that -is closed against me, but all England."[461] - - [461] But also that there was no place to do it in all England. Tynd. - Doctr. Tr. 396. - -[Sidenote: HIS INDIGNATION AGAINST THE PRELATES.] - -He then made a great sacrifice. Since there is no place in his own -country where he can translate the word of God, he will go and seek -one among the nations of the continent. It is true the people are -unknown to him; he is without resources; perhaps persecution and even -death await him there.... It matters not! some time must elapse before -it is known what he is doing, and perhaps he will have been able to -translate the Bible. He turned his eyes towards Germany. "God does -not destine us to a quiet life here below," he said.[462] "If he calls -us to peace on the part of Jesus Christ, he calls us to war on the -part of the world." - - [462] We be not called to a soft living. Tynd. Doct. Tr. 249. - -There lay at that moment in the river Thames a vessel loading for -Hamburg. Monmouth gave Tyndale ten pounds sterling for his voyage, and -other friends contributed a like amount. He left the half of this sum -in the hands of his benefactor to provide for his future wants, and -prepared to quit London, where he had spent a year. Rejected by his -fellow-countrymen, persecuted by the clergy, and carrying with him -only his New Testament and his ten pounds, he went on board the ship, -shaking off the dust of his feet, according to his Master's precept, -and that dust fell back on the priests of England. He was indignant -(says the chronicler) against those coarse monks, covetous priests, -and pompous prelates,[463] who were waging an impious war against God. -"What a trade is that of the priests!" he said in one of his later -writings; "they want money for every thing: money for baptism, money -for churchings, for weddings, for buryings, for images, brotherhoods, -penances, soul-masses, bells, organs, chalices, copes, surplices, -ewers, censers, and all manner of ornaments. Poor sheep! The parson -shears, the vicar shaves, the parish priest polls, the friar scrapes, -the indulgence seller pares ... all that you want is a butcher to flay -you and take away your skin.[464] He will not leave you long. Why are -your prelates dressed in red? Because they are ready to shed the blood -of whomsoever seeketh the word of God.[465] Scourge of states, -devastators of kingdoms, the priests take away not only Holy -Scripture, but also prosperity and peace; but of their councils is no -layman; reigning over all, they obey nobody; and making all concur to -their own greatness, they conspire against every kingdom."[466] - - [463] Marking especially the demeanour of the preachers, and beholding - the pomp of the prelates. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 118. - - [464] Doct. Tr. p. 238. Obedience of a Chr. Man. - - [465] Ibid. p. 251. - - [466] Ibid. p. 191. - -No kingdom was to be more familiar than England with the conspiracies -of the papacy of which Tyndale spoke; and yet none was to free itself -more irrevocably from the power of Rome. - -Yet Tyndale was leaving the shores of his native land, and as he -turned his eyes towards the new countries, hope revived in his heart. -He was going to be free, and he would use his liberty to deliver the -word of God, so long held captive. "The priests," he said one day, -"when they had slain Christ, set poleaxes to keep him in his -sepulchre, that he should not rise again, even so have our priests -buried the testament of God, and all their study is to keep it down, -that it rise not again.[467] But the hour of the Lord is come, and -nothing can hinder the word of God, as nothing could hinder Jesus -Christ of old from issuing from the tomb." Indeed that poor man, then -sailing towards Germany, was to send back, even from the banks of the -Elbe, the eternal Gospel to his countrymen. - - [467] Tyndale, Doct. Tr. p. 251. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - Bilney at Cambridge--Conversions--The University - Cross-Bearer--A Leicestershire Farmer--A Party of - Students--Superstitious Practices--An obstinate Papist--The - Sophists--Latimer attacks Stafford--Bilney's - Resolution--Latimer hears Bilney's Confession--Confessor - converted--New Life in Latimer--Bilney preaches - Grace--Nature of the Ministry--Latimer's Character and - Teaching--Works of Charity--Three Classes of - Adversaries--Clark and Dalaber. - - -[Sidenote: BILNEY AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -This ship did not bear away all the hopes of England. A society of -Christians had been formed at Cambridge, of which Bilney was the -centre. He now knew no other canon law than Scripture, and had found a -new master, "the Holy Spirit of Christ," says an historian. Although -he was naturally timid, and often suffered from the exhaustion brought -on by his fasts and vigils, there was in his language a life, liberty, -and strength, strikingly in contrast with his sickly appearance. He -desired to draw to the knowledge of God,[468] all who came nigh him; -and by degrees, the rays of the Gospel sun, which was then rising in -the firmament of Christendom, pierced the ancient windows of the -colleges, and illuminated the solitary chambers of certain of the -masters and fellows. Master Arthur, Master Thistle of Pembroke Hall, -and Master Stafford, were among the first to join Bilney. George -Stafford, professor of divinity, was a man of deep learning and holy -life, clear and precise in his teaching. He was admired by every one -in Cambridge, so that his conversion, like that of his friends, spread -alarm among the partisans of the schoolmen. But a conversion still -more striking than this was destined to give the English Reformation -a champion more illustrious than either Stafford or Bilney. - - [468] So was in his heart an incredible desire to allure many. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 620. - -[Sidenote: A LEICESTERSHIRE FARMER.] - -There was in Cambridge, at that time, a priest notorious for his -ardent fanaticism. In the processions, amidst the pomp, prayers, and -chanting of the train, none could fail to notice a master-of-arts, -about thirty years of age, who, with erect head, carried proudly the -university cross. Hugh Latimer, for such was his name, combined a -biting humour with an impetuous disposition and indefatigable zeal, -and was very quick in ridiculing the faults of his adversaries. There -was more wit and raillery in his fanaticism than can often be found in -such characters. He followed the friends of the word of God into the -colleges and houses where they used to meet, debated with them, and -pressed them to abandon their faith. He was a second Saul, and was -soon to resemble the apostle of the Gentiles in another respect. - -He first saw light in the year 1491, in the county of Leicester. -Hugh's father was an honest yeoman; and accompanied by one of his six -sisters, the little boy had often tended in the pastures the five -score sheep belonging to the farm, or driven home to his mother the -thirty cows it was her business to milk.[469] In 1497, the Cornish -rebels, under Lord Audley, having encamped at Blackheath, our farmer -had donned his rusty armour, and mounting his horse, responded to the -summons of the crown. Hugh, then only six years old, was present at -his departure, and as if he had wished to take his little part in the -battle, he had buckled the straps of his father's armour.[470] -Fifty-two years afterwards he recalled this circumstance to mind in a -sermon preached before king Edward. His father's house was always open -to the neighbours; and no poor man ever turned away from the door -without having received alms. The old man brought up his family in the -love of men and in the fear of God, and having remarked with joy the -precocious understanding of his son, he had him educated in the -country schools, and then sent to Cambridge at the age of fourteen. -This was in 1505, just as Luther was entering the Augustine convent. - - [469] My mother milked thirty kine. Latimer's Sermons, (Parker ed.) p. - 101. - - [470] I can remember that I buckled his harness. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: AN OBSTINATE PAPIST.] - -The son of the Leicestershire yeoman was lively, fond of pleasure, and -of cheerful conversation, and mingled frequently in the amusements of -his fellow-students. One day, as they were dining together, one of the -party exclaimed: _Nil melius quam lætari et facere bene_!--"There is -nothing better than to be merry and to do well."[471]--"A vengeance -on that _bene_!" replied a monk of impudent mien; "I wish it were -beyond the sea;[472] it mars all the rest." Young Latimer was much -surprised at the remark: "I understand it now," said he; "that will be -a heavy _bene_ to these monks when they have to render God an account -of their lives." - - [471] Eccles. iii. 12. - - [472] I would that _bene_ had been banished beyond the sea. Latimer's - Sermons, p. 153. - -Latimer having become more serious, threw himself heart and soul into -the practices of superstition, and a very bigoted old cousin undertook -to instruct him in them. One day, when one of their relations lay -dead, she said to him: "Now we must drive out the devil. Take this -holy taper, my child, and pass it over the body, first longways and -then athwart, so as always to make the sign of the cross." - -But the scholar performing this exorcism very awkwardly, his aged -cousin snatched the candle from his hand, exclaiming angrily: "It's a -great pity your father spends so much money on your studies: he will -never make anything of you."[473] - - [473] Ibid. p. 499. - -This prophecy was not fulfilled. He became Fellow of Clare Hall in -1509, and took his master's degree in 1514. His classical studies -being ended, he began to study divinity. Duns Scotus, Aquinas, and -Hugo de Sancto Victore were his favourite authors. The practical side -of things, however, engaged him more than the speculative; and he was -more distinguished in Cambridge for his asceticism and enthusiasm than -for his learning, He attached importance to the merest trifles. As the -missal directs that water should be mingled with the sacramental wine, -often while saying mass he would be troubled in his conscience for -fear he had not put _sufficient water_.[474] This remorse never left -him a moment's tranquillity during the service. In him, as in many -others, attachment to puerile ordinances occupied in his heart the -place of faith in the great truths. With him, the cause of the church -was the cause of God, and he respected Thomas à Becket at least as -much as St. Paul. "I was then," said he, "as obstinate a papist as any -in England."[475] Luther said the same thing of himself. - - [474] He thought he had never sufficiently mingled his massing wine - with water. Foxe, Acts, viii, p. 433. - - [475] Ibid. p. 334. - -[Sidenote: STAFFORD AND THE SOPHISTS.] - -The fervent Latimer soon observed that everybody around him was not -equally zealous with himself for the ceremonies of the church. He -watched with surprise certain young members of the university who, -forsaking the doctors of the School, met daily to read and search into -the Holy Scriptures. People sneered at them in Cambridge: "It is only -the _sophists_," was the cry; but raillery was not enough for -Latimer. One day he entered the room where these _sophists_ were -assembled, and begged them to cease studying the Bible. All his -entreaties were useless. Can we be astonished at it? said Latimer to -himself. Don't we see even the tutors setting an example to these -stray sheep? There is Master Stafford, the most illustrious professor -in English universities, devoting his time _ad Biblia_, like Luther at -Wittemberg, and explaining the Scriptures according to the Hebrew and -Greek texts! and the delighted students celebrate in bad verse the -doctor, - - _Qui Paulum explicuit rite et evangelium._[476] - - [476] Who has explained to us the true sense of St. Paul and of the - Gospel. Strype's Mem. i, p. 74. - -That young people should occupy themselves with these new doctrines -was conceivable, but that a doctor of divinity should do so--what a -disgrace! Latimer therefore determined to attack Stafford. He insulted -him[477]; he entreated the youth of Cambridge to abandon the professor -and his heretical teaching; he attended the hall in which the doctor -taught, made signs of impatience during the lesson, and cavilled at it -after leaving the school. He even preached in public against the -learned doctor. But it seemed to him that Cambridge and England were -struck blind: true, the clergy approved of Latimer's proceedings--nay, -praised them; and yet they did nothing. To console him, however, he -was named cross-bearer to the university, and we have already seen him -discharging this duty. - - [477] Most spitefully railing against him. Foxe, Acts, viii, p. 437. - -Latimer desired to show himself worthy of such an honour. He had left -the students to attack Stafford; and he now left Stafford for a more -illustrious adversary. But this attack led him to some one _that was -stronger than he_. At the occasion of receiving the degree of bachelor -of divinity he had to deliver a Latin discourse in the presence of the -university; Latimer chose for his subject _Philip Melancthon and his -doctrines_. Had not this daring heretic presumed to say quite recently -that the fathers of the church have altered the sense of Scripture? -Had he not asserted that, like those rocks whose various colours are -imparted to the polypus which clings to them,[478] so the doctors of -the church give each their own opinion in the passages they explain? -And finally had he not discovered a new _touch-stone_ (it is thus he -styles the Holy Scripture) by which we must test the sentences even of -St. Thomas? - - [478] Ut polypus cuicunque petræ adhæserit, ejus colorem imitatur. - (Corp. Ref. i, p. 114.) As the polypus resembles in colour the rock to - which it clings. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER HEARS BILNEY'S CONFESSION.] - -Latimer's discourse made a great impression. At last (said his -hearers) England, nay Cambridge, will furnish a champion for the -church that will confront the Wittemberg doctors, and save the vessel -of our Lord. But very different was to be the result. There was among -the hearers one man almost hidden through his small stature: it was -Bilney. For some time he had been watching Latimer's movements, and -his zeal interested him, though it was a zeal without knowledge. His -energy was not great, but he possessed a delicate tact, a skilful -discernment of character which enabled him to distinguish error, and -to select the fittest method for combating it. Accordingly, a -chronicler styles him "a trier of Satan's subtleties, appointed by God -to detect the bad money that the enemy was circulating throughout the -church."[479] Bilney easily detected Latimer's sophisms, but at the -same time loved his person, and conceived the design of winning him to -the Gospel. But how to manage it? The prejudiced Latimer would not -even listen to the evangelical Bilney. The latter reflected, prayed, -and at last planned a very candid and very strange plot, which led to -one of the most astonishing conversions recorded in history. - - [479] Foxe, Acts, vii, p. 438. - -[Sidenote: THE CONFESSOR CONVERTED.] - -He went to the college where Latimer resided. "For the love of God," -he said to him, "be pleased to hear my confession."[480] The _heretic_ -prayed to make confession to the _catholic_: what a singular fact! My -discourse against Melancthon has no doubt converted him, said Latimer -to himself. Had not Bilney once been among the number of the most -pious zealots? His pale face, his wasted frame, and his humble look -are clear signs that he ought to belong to the ascetics of -catholicism. If he turns back, all will turn back with him, and the -reaction will be complete at Cambridge. The ardent Latimer eagerly -yielded to Bilney's request, and the latter, kneeling before the -cross-bearer, related to him with touching simplicity the anguish he -had once felt in his soul, the efforts he had made to remove it; their -unprofitableness so long as he determined to follow the precepts of -the church, and lastly, the peace he had felt when he believed that -Jesus Christ is _the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the -world_. He described to Latimer the spirit of adoption he had -received, and the happiness he experienced in being able now to call -God his father.... Latimer, who expected to receive a confession, -listened without mistrust. His heart was opened, and the voice of the -pious Bilney penetrated it without obstacle. From time to time the -confessor would have chased away the new thoughts which came crowding -into his bosom; but the penitent continued. His language, at once so -simple and so lively, entered like a two-edged sword. Bilney was not -without assistance in his work. A new, a strange witness,--the Holy -Ghost,[481]--was speaking in Latimer's soul. He learned from God to -know God: he received a new heart. At length grace prevailed: the -penitent rose up, but Latimer remained seated, absorbed in thought. -The strong cross-bearer contended in vain against the words of the -feeble Bilney. Like Saul on the way to Damascus, he was conquered, and -his conversion, like the apostle's, was instantaneous. He stammered -out a few words; Bilney drew near him with love, and God scattered the -darkness which still obscured his mind. He saw Jesus Christ as the -only Saviour given to man: he contemplated and adored him. "I learnt -more by this confession," he said afterwards, "than by much reading -and in many years before[482].... I now tasted the word of God,[483] -and forsook the doctors of the school and all their fooleries."[484] -It was not the penitent but the confessor who received absolution. -Latimer viewed with horror the obstinate war he had waged against God; -he wept bitterly; but Bilney consoled him. "Brother," said he, "though -your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." These two young -men, then locked in their solitary chamber at Cambridge, were one day -to mount the scaffold for that divine Master whose spirit was teaching -them. But one of them before going to the stake was first to sit on an -episcopal throne. - - [480] He came to me afterwards in my study, and desired me for God's - sake to hear his confession. Latimer's Sermons, p. 334. - - [481] He was through the good Spirit of God so touched. Foxe, viii, p. - 438. - - [482] Latimer's Sermons, p. 334. - - [483] From that time forward I began to smell the word of God. Ibid. - - [484] Ibid. p. 335. - -Latimer was changed. The energy of his character was tempered by a -divine unction. Becoming a believer, he had ceased to be -superstitious. Instead of persecuting Jesus Christ, he became a -zealous seeker after him.[485] Instead of cavilling and railing, he -showed himself meek and gentle;[486] instead of frequenting company, -he sought solitude, studying the Scriptures and advancing in true -theology. He threw off the old man and put on the new. He waited upon -Stafford, begged forgiveness for the insult he had offered him, and -then regularly attended his lectures, being subjugated more by this -doctor's angelic conversation[487] than by his learning. But it was -Bilney's society Latimer cultivated most. They conversed together -daily, took frequent walks together into the country, and occasionally -rested at a place, long known as "the heretic's hill."[488] - - [485] Whereas before he was an enemy and almost a persecutor of - Christ, he was now a zealous seeker after him. Foxe, Acts, vii, p. - 338. - - [486] Ibid. - - [487] A man of a very perfect life and angelic conversation. Becon's - Works (Parker Soc.) p. 425. - - [488] Foxe, viii, p. 452. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY PREACHES GRACE.] - -So striking a conversion gave fresh vigour to the evangelical -movement. Hitherto Bilney and Latimer had been the most zealous -champions of the two opposite causes; the one despised, the other -honoured; the weak man had conquered the strong. This action of the -Spirit of God was not thrown away upon Cambridge. Latimer's -conversion, as of old the miracles of the apostles, struck men's -minds; and was it not in truth a miracle? All the youth of the -university ran to hear Bilney preach. He proclaimed "Jesus Christ as -He who, having tasted death, has delivered his people from the penalty -of sin."[489] While the doctors of the school (even the most pious of -them) laid most stress upon _man's_ part in the work of redemption, -Bilney on the contrary emphasized the other term, namely, _God's_ -part. This doctrine of grace, said his adversaries, annuls the -sacraments, and contradicts baptismal regeneration. The selfishness -which forms the essence of fallen humanity rejected the evangelical -doctrine, and felt that to accept it was to be lost. "Many listened -with _the left ear_," to use an expression of Bilney's; "like Malchus, -having their _right_ ear cut off;" and they filled the university with -their complaints. - - [489] Christus quem pro virili doceo.....denique et satisfactionem. - Ep. ad Tonstallum episcop. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 633. - -But Bilney did not allow himself to be stopped. The idea of eternity -had seized on his mind, and perhaps he still retained some feeble -relic of the exaggeration of asceticism. He condemned every kind of -recreation, even when innocent. Music in the churches seemed to him a -mockery of God;[490] and when Thurlby, who was afterwards a bishop, -and who lived at Cambridge in the room below his, used to begin -playing on the recorder, Bilney would fall on his knees and pour out -his soul in prayer: to him prayer was the sweetest melody. He prayed -that the lively faith of the children of God might in all England be -substituted for the vanity and pride of the priests. He believed--he -prayed--he waited. His waiting was not to be in vain. - - [490] Ibid. p. 621. - -[Sidenote: NATURE OF THE MINISTRY.] - -Latimer trod in his footsteps: the transformation of his soul was -going on; and the more fanaticism he had shown for the sacerdotal -system, which places salvation in the hands of the priest, the more -zeal he now showed for the evangelical system, which placed it in the -hands of Christ. He saw that if the churches must needs have -ministers, it is not because they require a human mediation, but from -the necessity of a regular preaching of the Gospel and a steady -direction of the flock; and accordingly he would have wished to call -the servant of the Lord _minister_ ([Greek word] or [Greek text]), -and not _priest_,[491] ([Greek word] or _sacerdos_.) In his view, it -was not the imposition of hands by the bishop that gave grace, but -grace which authorized the imposition of hands. He considered -activity to be one of the essential features of the Gospel ministry. -"Would you know," said he, "why the Lord chose _fishermen_ to be his -apostles?... See how they watch day and night at their nets to take -all such fishes that they can get and come in their way.... So all -our bishops, and curates, and vicars should be as painful in casting -their nets, that is to say, in preaching God's word."[492] He -regarded all confidence in human strength as a remnant of paganism. -"Let us not do," he said, "as the haughty Ajax, who said to his -father as he went to battle: Without the help of God I am able to -fight, and I will get the victory with mine own strength."[493] - - [491] Minister is a more fit name for that office. Latimer's remains, - p. 264. - - [492] Ibid. p. 24. - - [493] Latimer's Sermons, p. 491. Sophocles, Ajax, 783, et seq. - -The Reformation had gained in Latimer a very different man from -Bilney. He had not so much discernment and prudence perhaps, but he -had more energy and eloquence. What Tyndale was to be for England by -his writings, Latimer was to be by his discourses. The tenderness of -his conscience, the warmth of his zeal, and the vivacity of his -understanding, were enlisted in the service of Jesus Christ; and if at -times he was carried too far by the liveliness of his wit, it only -shows that the reformers were not _saints_, but sanctified men. "He -was one of the first," says an historian, "who, in the days of king -Henry VIII, set himself to preach the Gospel in the truth and -simplicity of it."[494] He preached in Latin _ad clerum_, and in -English _ad populum_. He boldly placed the law with its curses before -his hearers, and then conjured them to flee towards the Saviour of the -world.[495] The same zeal which he had employed in saying mass, he now -employed in preaching the true sacrifice of Christ. He said one -day:--"If one man had committed all the sins since Adam, you may be -sure he should be punished with the same horror of death, in such a -sort as all men in the world should have suffered.... Such was the -pain Christ endured.... If our Saviour had committed all the sins of -the world; all that I for my part have done, all that you for your -part have done, and all that any man else hath done; if he had done -all this himself, his agony that he suffered should have been no -greater nor grievouser than it was.... Believe in Jesus Christ, and -you shall overcome death.... But, alas!" said he at another time, "the -devil, by the help of that Italian bishop, his chaplain, has laboured -by all means that he might frustrate the death of Christ and the -merits of his passion."[496] - - [494] Strype's Mem. iii, part i, p. 378. - - [495] Flying to him by an evangelical faith. Ibid. - - [496] Lat. Ser. p. 74. - -[Sidenote: WORKS OF CHARITY.] - -Thus began in British Christendom the preaching of the Cross. The -Reformation was not the substitution of the catholicism of the first -ages for the popery of the middle ages: it was a revival of the -preaching of St. Paul, and thus it was that on hearing Latimer every -one exclaimed with rapture: "Of a _Saul_, God has made him a very -_Paul_."[497] - - [497] This was said by Ralph Morice, afterwards Cranmer's secretary. - Strype, Eccl. Mem. iii, part i, p. 368. - -To the inward power of faith, the Cambridge evangelists added the -outward power of the life. Saul become Paul, the strong, the ardent -Latimer, had need of action; and Bilney, the weak and humble Bilney, -in delicate health, observing a severe diet, taking ordinarily but one -meal a-day, and never sleeping more than four hours, absorbed in -prayer and in the study of the word, displayed at that time all the -energy of charity. These two friends devoted themselves not merely to -the easy labours of Christian beneficence; but caring little for that -formal Christianity so often met with among the easy classes, they -explored the gloomy cells of the madhouse to bear the sweet and subtle -voice of the gospel to the infuriate maniacs. They visited the -miserable lazar-house without the town, in which several poor lepers -were dwelling; they carefully tended them, wrapped them in clean -sheets, and wooed them to be converted to Christ.[498] The gates of -the jail at Cambridge were opened to them,[499] and they announced to -the poor prisoners that word which giveth liberty. Some were converted -by it, and longed for the day of their execution.[500] Latimer, -afterwards bishop of Worcester, was one of the most beautiful types of -the Reformation in England. - - [498] Preaching at the lazar cots, wrapping them in sheets. Foxe, - Acts, vol. iv, p. 620. Lond. 1846. - - [499] Latimer's Sermons, p. 335. (Park. Soc.) - - [500] She had such a savour, such a sweetness, and feeling, that she - thought it long to the day of execution. Ibid. p. 180. - -[Sidenote: WORLDLINESS AND BRUTALITY.] - -He was opposed by numerous adversaries. In the front rank were the -priests, who spared no endeavours to retain souls. "Beware," said -Latimer to the new converts, "lest robbers overtake you, and plunge -you into the pope's prison of purgatory."[501] After these came the -sons and favourites of the aristocracy, worldly and frivolous -students, who felt little disposition to listen to the gospel. "By -yeomen's sons the faith of Christ is and hath been chiefly maintained -in the church,"[502] said Latimer. "Is this realm taught by rich men's -sons? No, no; read the chronicles; ye shall find sometime noblemen's -sons which have been unpreaching bishops and prelates, but ye shall -find none of them learned men." He would have desired a mode of -election which placed in the Christian pulpit, not the richest and -most fashionable men, but the ablest and most pious. This important -reform was reserved for other days. Lastly, the evangelists of -Cambridge came into collision with the _brutality_ of many, to use -Latimer's own expression. "What need have we of universities and -schools?" said the students of this class. The Holy Ghost "will give -us always what to say."--"We must trust in the Holy Ghost," replied -Latimer, "but not presume on it. If you will not maintain -universities, you shall have a _brutality_."[503] In this manner the -Reformation restored to Cambridge gravity and knowledge, along with -truth and charity. - - [501] Strype's Eccles. Memorials, vol. iii, pt. i, p. 378. - - [502] Latimer's Sermons, p. 102. - - [503] Ibid. p. 269. - -[Sidenote: PERSECUTION SUSPENDED.] - -Yet Bilney and Latimer often turned their eyes towards Oxford, and -wondered how the light would be able to penetrate there. Wolsey -provided for that. A Cambridge master of arts, John Clark, a -conscientious man, of tender heart, great prudence, and unbounded -devotion to his duty, had been enlightened by the word of God. Wolsey, -who since 1523 had been seeking every where for distinguished scholars -to adorn his new college, invited Clark among the first. This doctor, -desirous of bearing to Oxford the light which God had given Cambridge, -immediately began to deliver a course of divinity lectures, to hold -conferences, and to preach in his eloquent manner. He taught every -day.[504] Among the graduates and students who followed him was -Anthony Dalaber, a young man of simple but profound feeling, who while -listening to him had experienced in his heart the regenerating power -of the Gospel. Overflowing with the happiness which the knowledge of -Jesus Christ imparted to him, he went to the Cardinal's college, -knocked at Clark's door, and said: "Father, allow me never to quit you -more!" The teacher, beholding the young disciple's enthusiasm, loved -him, but thought it his duty to try him: "Anthony," said he, "you know -not what you ask. My teaching is now pleasant to you, but the time -will come when God will lay the cross of persecution on you; you will -be dragged before bishops; your name will be covered with shame in the -world, and all who love you will be heart-broken on account of you.... -Then, my friend, you will regret that you ever knew me." - - [504] Teach or preach, which he did daily. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 426. - -Anthony believing himself rejected, and unable to bear the idea of -returning to the barren instructions of the priests, fell on his -knees, and weeping bitterly,[505] exclaimed: "For the tender mercy of -God, turn me not away." Touched by his sorrow, Clark folded him in his -arms, kissed him, and with tears in his eyes exclaimed: "The Lord give -thee what thou askest!... Take me for thy father, I take thee for my -son." From that hour Anthony, all joy, was like Timothy at the feet of -Paul. He united a quick understanding with tender affections. When any -of the students had not attended Clark's conferences, the master -commissioned his disciple to visit them, to inquire into their doubts, -and to impart to them his instructions. "This exercise did me much -good," said Dalaber, "and I made great progress in the knowledge of -Scripture." - - [505] Foxe, Acts, v, p. 426. - -Thus the kingdom of God, which consists not in forms, but in the power -of the Spirit, was set up in Cambridge and Oxford. The alarmed -schoolmen, beholding their most pious scholars escaping one after -another from their teaching, called the bishops to their aid, and the -latter determined to send agents to Cambridge, the focus of the -heresy, to apprehend the leaders. This took place in 1523 or the -beginning of 1524. The episcopal officers had arrived, and were -proceeding to business. The most timid began to feel alarm, but -Latimer was full of courage; when suddenly the agents of the clergy -were forbidden to go on, and this prohibition, strange to say, -originated with Wolsey; "upon what ground I cannot imagine," says -Burnet.[506] Certain events were taking place at Rome of a nature to -exercise great influence over the priestly councils, and which may -perhaps explain what Burnet could not understand. - - [506] History of the Reformation, vol. i, p. 25. Lond. 1841. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Wolsey seeks the Tiara--Clement VII is elected--Wolsey's - dissimulation--Charles offers France to Henry--Pace's - Mission on this Subject--Wolsey reforms the Convents--His - secret Alliances--Treaty between France and - England--Taxation and Insurrection--False Charges against - the Reformers--Latimer's Defence--Tenterden Steeple. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S AMBITION.] - -Adrian VI died on the 14th September 1523, before the end of the -second year of his pontificate. Wolsey thought himself pope. At length -he would no longer be the favourite only, but the arbiter of the kings -of the earth; and his genius, for which England was too narrow, would -have Europe and the world for its stage. Already revolving gigantic -projects in his mind, the future pope dreamt of the destruction of -heresy in the west, and in the east the cessation of the Greek schism, -and new crusades to replant the cross on the walls of Constantinople. -There is nothing that Wolsey would not have dared undertake when once -seated on the throne of catholicism, and the pontificates of Gregory -VII and Innocent III would have been eclipsed by that of the Ipswich -butcher's son. The cardinal reminded Henry of his promise, and the -very next day the king signed a letter addressed to Charles the Fifth. - -Believing himself sure of the emperor, Wolsey turned all his exertions -to the side of Rome. "The legate of England," said Henry's ambassadors -to the cardinals, "is the very man for the present time. He is the -only one thoroughly acquainted with the interests and wants of -Christendom, and strong enough to provide for them. He is all -kindness, and will share his dignities and wealth among all the -prelates who support him." - -But Julio de' Medici himself aspired to the papacy, and as eighteen -cardinals were devoted to him, the election could not take place -without his support. "Rather than yield," said he in the conclave, "I -would die in this prison." A month passed away, and nothing was done. -New intrigues were then resorted to: there were cabals for Wolsey, -cabals for Medici. The cardinals were besieged: - - Into their midst, by many a secret path, - Creeps sly intrigue.[507] - - [507] Un conclave, by C. Delavigne. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DISSIMULATION.] - -At length, on the 19th November 1523, the people collected under their -windows, shouting: "No foreign pope." After forty-nine days debating, -Julio was elected, and according to his own expression, "bent his head -beneath the yoke of apostolic servitude."[508] He took the name of -Clement VII. - - [508] Colla subjecimus jugo apostolicæ servitutis. (Rymer, Foedera, vi, - 2, p. 7.) We bent our neck under the yoke of apostolic servitude. - -Wolsey was exasperated. It was in vain that he presented himself -before St. Peter's chair at each vacancy: a more active or more -fortunate rival always reached it before him. Master of England, and -the most influential of European diplomatists, he saw men preferred to -him who were his inferiors. This election was an event for the -Reformation. Wolsey as pope would, humanly speaking, have tightened -the cords which already bound England so closely to Rome; but Wolsey, -rejected, could hardly fail to throw himself into tortuous paths which -would perhaps contribute to the emancipation of the Church. He became -more crafty than ever; declared to Henry that the new election was -quite in conformity with his wishes,[509] and hastened to congratulate -the new pope. He wrote to his agents at Rome: "This election, I assure -you, is as much to the king's and my rejoicing, consolation, and -gladness, as possibly may be devised or imagined.... Ye shall show -unto his holiness what joy, comfort, and gladness it is both to the -king's highness and me to perceive that once in our lives it hath -pleased God of his great goodness to provide such a pastor unto his -church, as his grace and I have long inwardly desired; who for his -virtue, wisdom, and other high and notable qualities, we have always -reputed the most able and worthy person to be called to that -dignity."[510] But the pope, divining his competitor's vexation, sent -the king a golden rose, and a ring to Wolsey. "I am sorry," he said as -he drew it from his finger, "that I cannot present it to his eminence -in person." Clement moreover conferred on him the quality of legate -_for life_--an office which had hitherto been temporary only. Thus the -popedom and England embraced each other, and nothing appeared more -distant than that Christian revolution which was destined very shortly -to emancipate Britain from the tutelage of the Vatican. - - [509] I take God to witness, I am more joyous thereof, than if it had - fortuned upon my person. Wolsey to Henry VIII. Burnet, Records, p. - cccxxviii. (Lond. 1841.) - - [510] Wolsey to Secretary Pace. Galt's Wolsey, p. 381, Appendix. - (Lond. 1846.) - -[Sidenote: PACE'S EMBASSY.] - -Wolsey's disappointed ambition made him suspend the proceedings of the -clergy at Cambridge. He had revenge in his heart, and cared not to -persecute his fellow-countrymen merely to please his rival; and -besides, like several popes, he had a certain fondness for learning. -To send a few Lollards to prison was a matter of no difficulty; but -learned doctors ... this required a closer examination. Hence he gave -Rome a sign of independence. And yet it was not specially against the -pope that he began to entertain sinister designs: Clement had been -more fortunate than himself; but that was no reason why he should be -angry with him.... Charles V was the offender, and Wolsey swore a -deadly hatred against him. Resolved to strike, he sought only the -place where he could inflict the severest blow. To obtain his end, he -resolved to dissemble his passion, and to distil drop by drop into -Henry's mind that mortal hatred against Charles, which gave fresh -energy to his activity. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY REFORMS THE MONASTERIES.] - -Charles discovered the indignation that lay hid under Wolsey's -apparent mildness, and wishing to retain Henry's alliance, he made -more pressing advances to the king. Having deprived the minister of a -tiara, he resolved to offer the king a crown: this was, indeed, a -noble compensation! "You are king of France," the emperor said, "and I -undertake to win your kingdom for you.[511] Only send an ambassador to -Italy to negotiate the matter." Wolsey, who could hardly contain his -vexation, was forced to comply, in appearance at least, with the -emperor's views. The king, indeed, seemed to think of nothing but his -arrival at St. Germain's, and commissioned Pace to visit Italy for -this important business. Wolsey hoped that he would be unable to -execute his commission; it was impossible to cross the Alps, for the -French troops blockaded every passage. But Pace, who was one of those -adventurous characters whom nothing can stop, spurred on by the -thought that the king himself had sent him, determined to cross the -_Col di Tenda_. On the 27th July, he entered the mountains, traversed -precipitous passes, sometimes climbing them on all-fours,[512] and -often falling during the descent. In some places he could ride on -horseback; "but in the most part thereof I durst not either turn my -horse traverse (he wrote to the king) for all the worldly riches, nor -in manner look on my left hand, for the pronite and deepness to the -valley." After this passage, which lasted six days, Pace arrived in -Italy worn out by fatigue. "If the king of England will enter France -immediately by way of Normandy," said the constable of Bourbon to -him, "I will give him leave to pluck out both my eyes[513] if he is -not master of Paris before All-Saints; and when Paris is taken, he -will be master of the whole kingdom." But Wolsey, to whom these -remarks were transmitted by the ambassador, slighted them, delayed -furnishing the subsidies, and required certain conditions which were -calculated to thwart the project. Pace, who was ardent and ever -imprudent, but plain and straightforward, forgot himself, and in a -moment of vexation wrote to Wolsey: "To speak frankly, if you do not -attend to these things, I shall impute to your grace the loss of the -crown of France." These words ruined Henry's envoy in the cardinal's -mind. Was this man, who owed every thing to him, trying to supplant -him?... Pace in vain assured Wolsey that he should not take seriously -what he had said, but the bolt had hit. Pace was associated with -Charles in the cruel enmity of the minister, and he was one day to -feel its terrible effects. It was not long before Wolsey was able to -satisfy himself that the service Charles had desired to render the -king of England was beyond the emperor's strength. - - [511] Ellis' Letters. Second Series, p. 326, 327. - - [512] It made us creep of all-four. Pace to the king, Strype, vol. i, - part ii, p. 27. - - [513] Cotton MSS. Vitellius, B. 6. p. 87. - -No sooner at ease on one side, than Wolsey found himself attacked on -another. This man, the most powerful among kings' favourites, felt at -this time the first breath of disfavour blow over him. On the -pontifical throne, he would no doubt have attempted a reform after the -manner of Sixtus V; and wishing to rehearse on a smaller stage, and -regenerate after his own fashion the catholic church in England, he -submitted the monasteries to a strict inquisition, patronized the -instruction of youth, and was the first to set a great example, by -suppressing certain religious houses whose revenues he applied to his -college in Oxford. Thomas Cromwell, his solicitor, displayed much -skill and industry in this business,[514] and thus, under the orders -of a cardinal of the Roman church, made his first campaign in a war of -which he was in later days to hold the chief command. Wolsey and -Cromwell, by their reforms, drew down the hatred of certain monks, -priests, and noblemen, always the very humble servants of the clerical -party. The latter accused the cardinal of not having estimated the -monasteries at their just value, and of having, in certain cases, -encroached on the royal jurisdiction. Henry, whom the loss of the -crown of France had put in a bad humour, resolved, for the first time, -not to spare his minister: "There are loud murmurs throughout this -kingdom," he said to him; "it is asserted that your new college at -Oxford is only a convenient cloak to hide your malversations."[515] -"God forbid," replied the cardinal, "that this virtuous foundation at -Oxford, undertaken for the good of my poor soul, should be raised _ex -rapinis_! But, above all, God forbid that I should ever encroach upon -your royal authority." He then cunningly insinuated, that by his will -he left all his property to the king. Henry was satisfied: he had a -share in the business. - - [514] Very forward and industrious. Foxe, Acts. v. p. 366. - - [515] Collier's Eccles. Hist. x, p. 20. - -Events of very different importance drew the king's attention to -another quarter. The two armies, of the empire and of France, were in -presence before Pavia. Wolsey, who openly gave his right hand to -Charles V, and secretly his left to Francis, repeated to his master: -"If the emperor gains the victory, are you not his ally? and if -Francis, am I not in secret communication with him?"[516] "Thus," -added the cardinal, "whatever happens, your Highness will have great -cause to give thanks to Almighty God." - - [516] By such communications as he set forth with France apart. State - Papers, i, p. 158. - -[Sidenote: ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND.] - -On the 24th of February 1525, the battle of Pavia was fought, and the -imperialists found in the French king's tent several of Wolsey's -letters, and in his military chest and in the pockets of his soldiers -the cardinal's corrupting gold. This alliance had been contrived by -Giovanni Gioacchino, a Genoese master of the household to Louisa, -regent of France, who passed for a merchant of Bologna, and lived in -concealment at Blackfriars. Charles now saw what he had to trust to; -but the news of the battle of Pavia had scarcely reached England, -when, faithful in perfidy, Wolsey gave utterance to a feigned -pleasure. The people rejoiced also, but they were in earnest. Bonfires -were lighted in the streets of London; the fountains ran wine, and the -lord-mayor, attended by the aldermen, passed through the city on -horseback to the sound of the trumpet. - -The cardinal's joy was not altogether false. He would have been -pleased at his enemy's defeat; but his victory was perhaps still more -useful to him. - -He said to Henry: "The emperor is a liar observing neither faith nor -promise: the Archduchess Margaret is a woman of evil life;[517] Don -Ferdinand is a child, and Bourbon a traitor. Sire, you have other -things to do with your money than to squander it on these four -individuals. Charles is aiming at universal monarchy; Pavia is the -first step of this throne, and if England does not oppose him, he -will attain it." Joachim having come privily to London, Wolsey -prevailed upon Henry to conclude between England and France an -"_indissoluble peace_ by land and sea."[518] At last then he was in a -position to prove to Charles that it is a dangerous thing to oppose -the ambition of a priest. - - [517] Milady Margaret was a ribaud. Cotton MSS. Vesp. C. 3, p. 55. - - [518] Sincera fidelis, firma et indissolubilis pax. (Rymer, Foedera, p. - 32, 33.) A sincere, faithful, firm and indissoluble peace. - -[Sidenote: NEW TAXES AND INSURRECTION.] - -This was not the only advantage Wolsey derived from the triumph of his -enemy. The citizens of London imagined that the king of England would -be in a few weeks in Paris; Wolsey, rancorous and grasping, determined -to make them pay dearly for their enthusiasm. "You desire to conquer -France," said he; "you are right. Give me then for that purpose the -sixth part of your property; that is a trifle to gratify so noble an -inclination." England did not think so; this illegal demand aroused -universal complaint. "We are English and not French, freemen and not -slaves,"[519] was the universal cry. Henry might tyrannize over his -court, but not lay hands on his subjects property. - - [519] Hall's Chronicle, p. 696. If men should give their goods by a - commission, then were it worse than the taxes of France; and so - England would be bond and not free. - -The eastern counties rose in insurrection: four thousand men were -under arms in a moment; and Henry was guarded in his own palace by -only a few servants. It was necessary to break down the bridges to -stop the insurgents.[520] The courtiers complained to the king; the -king threw the blame on the cardinal; the cardinal laid it on the -clergy, who had encouraged him to impose this tax by quoting to him -the example of Joseph demanding of the Egyptians the fifth part of -their goods; and the clergy in their turn ascribed the insurrection to -the gospellers, who (said they) were stirring up a peasant war in -England, as they had done in Germany. Reformation produces revolution: -this is the favourite text of the followers of the pope. Violent hands -must be laid upon the heretics. _Non pluit Deus, duc ad -christianos._[521] - - [520] Ibid. - - [521] "God sends no rain ... lead us against the Christians." A cry - ascribed by Augustine to the pagans of the first ages. - -[Sidenote: TENTERDEN STEEPLE.] - -The charge of the priests was absurd; but the people are blind -whenever the Gospel is concerned, and occasionally the governors are -blind also. Serious reasoning was not necessary to confute this -invention. "Here, by the way, I will tell you a merry toy," said -Latimer one day in the pulpit. "Master More was once sent in -commission into Kent to help to try out, if it might be, what was the -cause of Goodwin Sands and the shelf that stopped up Sandwich haven. -He calleth the country afore him, such as were thought to be men of -experience, and among others came in an old man with a white head, and -one that was thought to be little less than one hundred years old. So -Master More called the old aged man unto him, and said: Father, tell -me if you can, what is the cause of this great arising of the sands -and shelves hereabout, that stop up Sandwich haven? Forsooth, Sir, -(quoth he) I am an old man, for I am well-nigh an hundred, and I think -that Tenterden steeple is the cause of the Goodwin Sands. For I am an -old man, Sir, and I may remember the building of Tenterden steeple, -and before that steeple was in building, there was no manner of flats -or sands." After relating this anecdote, Latimer slyly added: "Even -so, to my purpose, is preaching of God's word the cause of rebellion, -as Tenterden steeple was the cause Sandwich haven is decayed."[522] - - [522] Latimer's Sermons, vol. i. p. 251. - -There was no persecution: there was something else to be done. Wolsey, -feeling certain that Charles had obstructed his accession to the -popedom, thought only in what manner he might take his revenge. But -during this time Tyndale also was pursuing his aim; and the year 1525, -memorable for the battle of Pavia, was destined to be no less so in -the British isles, by a still more important victory. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Tyndale at Hamburg--First two - Gospels--Embarrassment--Tyndale at Wittemberg--At - Cologne--The New Testament at Press--Sudden - Interruption--Cochloeus at Cologne--Rupert's - Manuscripts--Discovery of Cochloeus--His Inquiries--His - Alarm--Rincke and the Senate's Prohibition--Consternation - and Decision of Tyndale--Cochloeus writes to England--Tyndale - ascends the Rhine--Prints two Editions at Worms--Tyndale's - Prayer. - - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT HAMBURG.] - -The ship which carried Tyndale and his MSS. cast anchor at Hamburg, -where, since the year 1521, the Gospel had counted numerous friends. -Encouraged by the presence of his brethren, the Oxford fellow had -taken a quiet lodging in one of the narrow winding streets of that old -city, and had immediately resumed his task. A secretary, whom he -terms his "faithful companion,"[523] aided him in collating texts; but -it was not long before this brother, whose name is unknown to us, -thinking himself called to preach Christ in places where He had as yet -never been proclaimed, left Tyndale. A former friar-observant of the -Franciscan order at Greenwich, having abandoned the cloister, and -being at this time without resources, offered his services to the -Hellenist. William Roye was one of those men (and they are always -pretty numerous) whom impatience of the yoke alienates from Rome -without their being attracted by the Spirit of God to Christ. Acute, -insinuating, crafty, and yet of pleasing manners, he charmed all those -who had mere casual relations with him. Tyndale banished to the -distant shores of the Elbe, surrounded by strange customs, and hearing -only a foreign tongue, often thought of England, and was impatient -that his country should enjoy the result of his labours: he accepted -Roye's aid. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark, translated and printed at -Hamburg, became, it would seem, the first fruits to England of his -great task. - - [523] Tyndale's Doctr. Treatises, p. 37. - -But Tyndale was soon overwhelmed by annoyances. Roye, who was pretty -manageable while he had no money, had become intractable now that his -purse was less empty.[524] What was to be done? The reformer having -spent the ten pounds he had brought from England, could not satisfy -the demands of his assistant, pay his own debts, and remove to another -city. He became still more sparing and economical. The Wartburg, in -which Luther had translated the New Testament, was a palace in -comparison with the lodging in which the reformer of wealthy England -endured hunger and cold, while toiling day and night to give the -Gospel to the English Christians. - - [524] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i, 49. - -About the end of 1524, Tyndale sent the two Gospels to Monmouth; and a -merchant named John Collenbeke, having brought him the ten pounds he -had left in the hands of his old patron, he prepared to depart -immediately. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT COLOGNE.] - -Where should he go? Not to England; he must complete his task before -all things. Could he be in Luther's neighbourhood and not desire to -see him? He needed not the Saxon reformer either to find the truth, -which he had already known at Oxford, or to undertake the translation -of the Scriptures, which he had already begun in the vale of the -Severn. But did not all evangelical foreigners flock to Wittemberg? To -remove all doubt as to the interview of the reformers, it would be -desirable perhaps to find some trace at Wittemberg[525] either in the -university registers or in the writings of the Saxon reformers. Yet -several contemporaneous testimonies seem to give a sufficient degree -of probability to this conference. Foxe tells us: "He had an interview -with Luther and other learned men of that country."[526] This must -have been in the spring of 1525. - - [525] I requested a German divine to investigate this matter, but his - researches were unsuccessful. - - [526] Mr. Anderson, in his excellent work (Annals of the English - Bible, vol. i. p. 47) disputes the interview between these two - reformers, but his arguments do not convince me. We can understand how - Luther, at that time busily engaged in his dispute with Carlstadt, - does not mention Tyndale's visit in his letters. But, besides Foxe, - there are other contemporaneous authorities in favour of this fact. - Cochlæus, a German well informed on all the movements of the - reformers, and whom we shall presently see on Tyndale's traces, says - of him and Roye: "Duo Angli apostatæ, _qui aliquamdiu fuerant - Vuitenbergæ_." Two English apostates, who had been for a while at - Wittemberg. (p. 123). And Sir Thomas More, having said that Tyndale - had gone to see Luther, Tyndale was content to reply: "When Mr. More - saith Tyndale was confederate with Luther, that is not truth." Answer - to Sir Thos. More's Dialogue, p. 147 (Park. Soc.) He denied the - _confederation_, but not the _visit_. If Tyndale had not seen Luther, - he would have been more explicit, and would probably have said that he - had never even met him. - -Tyndale, desirious of drawing nearer to his native country, turned his -eyes towards the Rhine. There were at Cologne some celebrated printers -well known in England, and among others Quentel and the Byrckmans. -Francis Byrckman had warehouses in St. Paul's churchyard in London,--a -circumstance that might facilitate the introduction and sale of the -Testament printed on the banks of the Rhine. This providential -circumstance decided Tyndale in favour of Cologne, and thither he -repaired with Roye and his MSS. Arrived in the gloomy streets of the -city of Agrippina, he contemplated its innumerable churches, and above -all its ancient cathedral re-echoing to the voices of its canons, and -was oppressed with sorrow as he beheld the priests and monks and -mendicants and pilgrims who, from all parts of Europe, poured in to -adore the pretended relics of the _three wise men_ and of the _eleven -thousand virgins_. And then Tyndale asked himself whether it was -really in this superstitious city that the New Testament was to be -printed in English. This was not all. The Reform movement then at work -in Germany had broken out at Cologne during the feast of Whitsuntide, -and the archbishop had just forbidden all evangelical worship. Yet -Tyndale persevered, and submitting to the most minute precautions, not -to compromise his work, he took an obscure lodging where he kept -himself closely hidden. - -Soon however, trusting in God, he called on the printer, presented his -manuscripts to him, ordered six thousand copies, and then, upon -reflection, sank down to three thousand for fear of a seizure.[527] -The printing went on; one sheet followed another; gradually the Gospel -unfolded its mysteries in the English tongue, and Tyndale could not -contain himself for very joy.[528] He saw in his mind's eye the -triumphs of the Scriptures over all the kingdom, and exclaimed with -transport: "Whether the king wills it or not, ere long all the people -of England, enlightened by the New Testament, will obey the -Gospel."[529] - - [527] Sex millia sub prælum dari. (Cochlæus, p. 123.) That six - thousand should be printed. - - [528] Tanta ex ea spe lætitia Lutheranos invasit. (Ibid. p. 124.) Such - joy possessed the Lutherans from that hope. - - [529] Cunctos Angliæ populos, volente nolente rege. Ibid. 123. - -But on a sudden that sun whose earliest beams he had hailed with songs -of joy, was hidden by thick clouds. One day, just as the tenth sheet -had been thrown off, the printer hastened to Tyndale, and informed him -that the senate of Cologne forbade him to continue the work. Every -thing was discovered then. No doubt Henry VIII, who has burnt Luther's -books, wishes to burn the New Testament also, to destroy Tyndale's -manuscripts, and deliver him up to death. Who had betrayed him? He was -lost in unavailing conjectures, and one thing only appeared certain: -alas! his vessel, which was moving onwards in full sail, had struck -upon a reef! The following is the explanation of this unexpected -incident. - -[Sidenote: COCHLÆUS AT COLOGNE.] - -A man whom we have often met with in the course of this history,[530] -one of the most violent enemies of the Reformation--we mean -Cochlæus--had arrived in Cologne. The wave of popular agitation which -had stirred this city during the Whitsuntide holidays, had previously -swept over Frankfort during the festival of Easter; and the dean of -Notre-dame, taking advantage of a moment when the gates of the city -were open, had escaped a few minutes before the burghers entered his -house to arrest him. On arriving at Cologne, where he hoped to live -unknown under the shadow of the powerful elector, he had gone to lodge -with George Lauer, a canon in the church of the Apostles. - - [530] Book ix, chapter xii, etc. - -By a singular destiny the two most opposite men, Tyndale and Cochlæus, -were in hiding in the same city; they could not long remain there -without coming into collision. - -[Sidenote: RUPERT'S MANUSCRIPTS.] - -On the right bank of the Rhine, and opposite Cologne, stood the -monastery of Deutz, one of whose abbots, Rupert, who lived in the -twelfth century, had said: "To be ignorant of Scripture is to be -ignorant of Jesus Christ. This is _the scripture of nations_![531] -This book of God, which is not pompous in words and poor in meaning -like Plato, ought to be set before every people, and to proclaim -aloud to the whole world the salvation of all." One day, when Cochlæus -and his host were talking of Rupert, the canon informed the dean that -the _heretic_ Osiander of Nuremberg was in treaty with the abbot of -Deutz about publishing the writings of this ancient doctor. Cochlæus -guessed that Osiander was desirous of bringing forward the -contemporary of Saint Bernard as a witness in defence of the -Reformation. Hastening to the monastery he alarmed the abbot: "Intrust -to me the manuscripts of your celebrated predecessor," he said; "I -will undertake to print them and prove that he was one of us." The -monks placed them in his hands, stipulating for an early publication, -from which they expected no little renown.[532] Cochlæus immediately -went to Peter Quentel and Arnold Byrckman to make the necessary -arrangements. They were Tyndale's printers. - - [531] Scripturæ populorum. Opp. i, p. 641. - - [532] Cum monachi quieturi non erant, nisi ederentur opera illa. - (Cochl. p. 124.) When the monks could not be quieted unless these - works should be published. - -There Cochlæus made a more important discovery than that of Rupert's -manuscripts. Byrckman and Quentel having invited him one day to meet -several of their colleagues at dinner, a printer, somewhat elevated by -wine, declared in his cups, (to borrow the words of Cochlæus):[533] -"Whether the king and the cardinal of York wish it or not, all England -will soon be Lutheran."[534] Cochlæus listened and grew alarmed; he -made inquiry, and was informed that _two Englishmen_, learned men and -skilled in the languages, were concealed at Cologne.[535] But all his -efforts to discover more proved unavailing. - - [533] Audivit eos aliquando inter pocula fiducialiter jactitare. - (Ibid. p. 125.) He heard them one day confidently assert in their - cups. - - [534] Velint nolint rex et cardinalis Angliæ, totam Angliam brevi fore - Lutheranam. Ibid. - - [535] Duos ibi latitare Anglos eruditos, linguarumque peritos. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE SECRET BETRAYED.] - -There was no more repose for the dean of Frankfort; his imagination -fermented, his mind became alarmed. "What," said he, "shall England, -that faithful servant of the popedom, be perverted like Germany? Shall -the English, the most religious people of Christendom,[536] and whose -king once ennobled himself by writing against Luther,--shall they be -invaded by heresy?... Shall the mighty cardinal-legate of York be -compelled to flee from his palace, as I was from Frankfort?" Cochlæus -continued his search; he paid frequent visits to the printers, spoke -to them in a friendly tone, flattered them, invited them to visit him -at the canon's; but as yet he dared not hazard the important question; -it was sufficient for the moment to have won the good graces of the -depositaries of the secret. He soon took a new step; he was careful -not to question them before one another; but he procured a private -interview with one of them,[537] and supplied him plentifully with -Rhine wine:--he himself is our informant.[538] Artful questions -embarrassed the unwary printer, and at last the secret was disclosed. -"The New Testament," Cochlæus learnt, "is translated into English; -three thousand copies are in the press; fourscore pages in quarto are -ready; the expense is fully supplied by English merchants, who are -secretly to convey the work when printed, and to disperse it widely -through all England, before the king or the cardinal can discover or -prohibit it.[539]... Thus will Britain be converted to the opinions of -Luther."[540] - - [536] In gente illa religiosissima vereque Christiana. Ibid. p. 131. - - [537] Unus eorum in secretiori colloquio revelavit illi arcanum. - (Cochlæus. p. 131.) One of them in a private conference revealed the - secret to him. - - [538] Rem omnem ut acceperat _vini beneficio_. Ibid. - - [539] Opus excussum clam invecturi per totam Angliam latenter - dispergere vellent. Ibid. - - [540] Ad Lutheri partes trahenda est Anglia. Ibid. - -The surprise of Cochlæus equalled his alarm;[541] he dissembled; he -wished to learn, however, where the two Englishmen lay concealed; but -all his exertions proved ineffectual, and he returned to his lodgings -filled with emotion. The danger was very great. A stranger and an -exile, what can he do to oppose this impious undertaking? Where shall -he find a friend to England, prepared to show his zeal in warding off -the threatened blow?... He was bewildered. - - [541] Metu et admiratione affectus. Ibid. - -A flash of light suddenly dispelled the darkness. A person of some -consequence at Cologne, Herman Rincke, a patrician and imperial -councillor, had been sent on important business by the Emperor -Maximilian to Henry VII, and from that time he had always shown a -great attachment to England. Cochlæus determined to reveal the fatal -secret to him; but, being still alarmed by the scenes at Frankfort, he -was afraid to conspire openly against the Reformation. He had left an -aged mother and a little niece at home, and was unwilling to do any -thing which might compromise them. He therefore crept stealthily -towards Rincke's house (as he tells us himself),[542] slipped in -secretly, and unfolded the whole matter to him. Rincke could not -believe that the New Testament in English was printing at Cologne; -however, he sent a confidential person to make inquiries, who reported -to him that Cochlæus's information was correct, and that he had found -in the printing office a large supply of paper intended for the -edition.[543] The patrician immediately proceeded to the senate, and -spoke of Wolsey, of Henry VIII, and of the preservation of the Romish -church in England; and that body which, under the influence of the -archbishop, had long since forgotten the rights of liberty, forbade -the printer to continue the work. Thus then there were to be no New -Testaments for England! A practised hand had warded off the blow aimed -at Roman-catholicism; Tyndale would perhaps be thrown into prison, and -Cochlæus enjoy a complete triumph. - - [542] Abiit igitur clam ad H. Rincke. Ibid. - - [543] Ingentem papyri copiam ibi existere. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE RESCUES HIS WORK.] - -Tyndale was at first confounded. Were so many years of toil lost, -then, for ever? His trial seemed beyond his strength.[544] "They are -ravening wolves," he exclaimed, "they preach to others, Steal not, and -yet they have robbed the soul of man of the bread of life, and fed her -with the shales [shells?] and cods of the hope in their merits and -confidence in their good works."[545] Yet Tyndale did not long remain -cast down; for his faith was of that kind which would remove -mountains. Is it not the word of God that is imperilled? If he does -not abandon himself, God will not abandon him. He must anticipate the -senate of Cologne. Daring and prompt in all his movements, Tyndale -bade Roye follow him, hastened to the printing office, collected the -sheets, jumped into a boat, and rapidly ascended the river, carrying -with him the hope of England.[546] - - [544] Necessity and combrance (God is record) _above strength_. Tynd. - Doctr. Tr. p. 390. - - [545] Tyndale, Expositions, p. 123, (Parker Society). - - [546] Arreptis secum quaternionibus impressis aufugerunt navigio per - Rhenum ascendentes. (Cochl. p. 126.) Laying hold of four sheets that - were printed they escaped on board a vessel, and ascended the Rhine. - -When Cochlæus and Rincke, accompanied by the officers of the senate, -reached the printing office, they were surprised beyond measure. The -apostate had secured the abominable papers!... Their enemy had escaped -like a bird from the net of the fowler. Where was he to be found now? -He would no doubt go and place himself under the protection of some -_Lutheran_ prince, whither Cochlæus would take good care not to pursue -him; but there was one resource left. These English books can do no -harm in Germany; they must be prevented reaching London. He wrote to -Henry VIII, to Wolsey, and to the bishop of Rochester. "Two -Englishmen," said he to the king, "like the two eunuchs who desired to -lay hands on Ahasuerus, are plotting wickedly against the peace of -your kingdom; but I, like the faithful Mordecai,[547] will lay open -their designs to you. They wish to send the New Testament in English -to your people. Give orders at every seaport to prevent the -introduction of this most baneful merchandise."[548] Such was the name -given by this zealous follower of the pope to the word of God. An -unexpected ally soon restored peace to the soul of Cochlæus. The -celebrated Dr. Eck, a champion of popery far more formidable than he -was, had arrived at Cologne on his way to London, and he undertook to -arouse the anger of the bishops and of the king.[549] The eyes of the -greatest opponents of the Reformation seemed now to be fixed on -England. Eck, who boasted of having gained the most signal triumphs -over Luther, would easily get the better of the humble tutor and his -New Testament. - - [547] He was indebted to me no less than Ahasuerus was indebted to - Mordecai. Annals of the Bible, i, p. 61. - - [548] Ut quam diligentissime præcaverint in omnibus Angliæ portubus, - ne merx illa perniciosissima inveheretur. Cochlæus, p. 126. - - [549] Ad quem Doctor Eckius venit, dum in Angliam tenderet. Ibid. 109. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE ARRIVES AT WORMS.] - -During this time Tyndale, guarding his precious bales, ascended the -rapid river as quickly as he could. He passed before the antique -cities and the smiling villages scattered along the banks of the Rhine -amidst scenes of picturesque beauty. The mountains, glens, and rocks, -the dark forests, the ruined fortresses, the gothic churches, the -boats that passed and repassed each other, the birds of prey that -soared over his head, as if they bore a mission from Cochlæus--nothing -could turn his eyes from the treasure he was carrying with him. At -last, after a voyage of five or six days, he reached Worms, where -Luther, four years before, had exclaimed: "Here I stand, I can do no -other; may God help me!"[550] These words of the German reformer, so -well known to Tyndale, were the star that had guided him to Worms. He -knew that the Gospel was preached in that ancient city. "The citizens -are subject to fits of Lutheranism," said Cochlæus.[551] Tyndale -arrived there, not as Luther did, surrounded by an immense crowd, but -unknown, and imagining himself pursued by the myrmidons of Charles and -of Henry. As he landed from the boat he cast an uneasy glance around -him, and laid down his precious burden on the bank of the river. - - [550] See above, book vii, chapter viii. - - [551] Ascendentes Wormatiam ubi plebs pleno furore lutherisabat. - Cochlæus, p. 126. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S PRAYER.] - -He had had time to reflect on the dangers which threatened his work. -As his enemies would have marked the edition, some few sheets of it -having fallen into their hands, he took steps to mislead the -inquisitors, and began a new edition, striking out the prologue and -the notes, and substituting the more portable _octavo_ form for the -original _quarto_. Peter Schæffer, the grandson of Fust, one of the -inventors of printing, lent his presses for this important work. The -two editions were quietly completed about the end of the year -1525.[552] - - [552] A copy of the _octavo_ edition exists in the Museum of the - Baptist College at Bristol. If it is compared with the _quarto_ - edition, a sensible progress will be found in the orthography. Thus we - read in the latter: _prophettes_, _synners_, _mooste_, _sekynge_; in - the octavo we find, _prophets_, _sinners_, _most_, _seking_. Annals of - the Bible, i. p. 70. - -Thus were the wicked deceived: they would have deprived the English -people of the oracles of God, and _two_ editions were now ready to -enter England. "Give diligence," said Tyndale to his fellow-countrymen, -as he sent from Worms the Testament he had just translated, "unto the -words of eternal life, by the which, if we repent and believe them, we -are born anew, created afresh, and enjoy the fruits of the blood of -Christ."[553] In the beginning of 1526, these books crossed the sea by -way of Antwerp or Rotterdam. Tyndale was happy; but he knew that the -unction of the Holy Ghost alone could enable the people of England to -understand these sacred pages; and accordingly he followed them night -and day with his prayers. "The scribes and Pharisees," said he, "had -thrust up the sword of the word of God in a scabbard or sheath of -glosses, and therein had knit it fast, so that it could neither stick -nor cut.[554] Now, O God, draw this sharp sword from the scabbard. -Strike, wound, cut asunder, the soul and the flesh, so that man being -divided in two, and set at variance with himself, may be in peace with -thee to all eternity!" - - [553] Epistle, in init. - - [554] Tyndale's Works, ii, p. 378; or Expositions (Matthew), p. 131, - (Park. Soc.) - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Worms and Cambridge--St. Paul resuscitated--Latimer's - Preaching--Never Man spake like this Man--Joy and Vexation - at Cambridge--Sermon by Prior Buckingham--Irony--Latimer's - Reply to Buckingham--The Students threatened--Latimer - preaches before the Bishop--He is forbidden to preach--The - most zealous of Bishops--Barnes the Restorer of - Letters--Bilney undertakes to convert him--Barnes offers his - Pulpit to Latimer--Fryth's Thirst for God--Christmas Eve, - 1525--Storm against Barnes--Ferment in the Colleges--Germany - at Cambridge--Meetings at Oxford--General Expectation. - - -[Sidenote: ST. PAUL REVIVED.] - -While these works were accomplishing at Cologne and Worms, others were -going on at Cambridge and Oxford. On the banks of the Rhine they were -preparing the seed; in England they were drawing the furrows to -receive it. The gospel produced a great agitation at Cambridge. -Bilney, whom we may call the father of the English Reformation, since, -being the first converted by the New Testament, he had brought to the -knowledge of God the energetic Latimer, and so many other witnesses of -the truth,--Bilney did not at that time put himself forward, like many -of those who had listened to him: his vocation was prayer. Timid -before men, he was full of boldness before God, and day and night -called upon him for souls. But while he was kneeling in his closet, -others were at work in the world. Among these Stafford was -particularly remarkable. "Paul is risen from the dead," said many as -they heard him. And in fact Stafford explained with so much life the -true meaning of the words of the apostle and of the four -evangelists,[555] that these holy men, whose faces had been so long -hidden under the dense traditions of the schools,[556] reappeared -before the youth of the university such as the apostolic times had -beheld them. But it was not only their _persons_ (for that would have -been a trifling matter), it was their _doctrine_ which Stafford laid -before his hearers. While the schoolmen of Cambridge were declaring to -their pupils a reconciliation which was not yet worked out, and -telling them that pardon must be purchased by the works prescribed by -the church, Stafford taught that redemption was _accomplished_, that -the satisfaction offered by Jesus Christ was _perfect_; and he added, -that popery having revived the _kingdom of the law_, God, by the -Reformation, was now reviving the _kingdom of grace_. The Cambridge -students, charmed by their master's teaching, greeted him with -applause, and, indulging a little too far in their enthusiasm, said to -one another as they left the lecture-room: "Which is the most indebted -to the other? Stafford to Paul, who left him the holy epistles; or -Paul to Stafford, who has resuscitated that apostle and his holy -doctrines, which the middle ages had obscured?" - - [555] He set forth in his lectures the native sense. Thomas Becon, ii, - p. 426. - - [556] Obscured through the darkness and mists of the papists. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER'S PREACHING.] - -Above Bilney and Stafford rose Latimer, who, by the power of the Holy -Ghost, transfused into other hearts the learned lessons of his -master.[557] Being informed of the work that Tyndale was preparing, he -maintained from the Cambridge pulpits that the Bible ought to be read -in the vulgar tongue.[558] "The author of Holy Scripture," said he, -"is the mighty One, the Everlasting ... _God himself!_... and this -Scripture partakes of the might and eternity of its author. There is -neither king nor emperor that is not bound to obey it. Let us beware -of those bypaths of human tradition, filled of stones, brambles, and -uprooted trees. Let us follow the straight road of the word. It does -not concern us what the Fathers have done, but what they should have -done."[559] - - [557] A private instructor to the rest of his brethren within the - university. Foxe, Acts, vii, p. 438. - - [558] He proved in his sermons that the Holy Scriptures ought to be - read in the English tongue of all Christian people. Becon, vol. ii. p. - 424. (Park. Soc.) - - [559] We find his opinions upon that subject in a later sermon. - Latimer's sermons, p. 96, 97. (Park. Soc.) - -A numerous congregation crowded to Latimer's preaching, and his -hearers hung listening to his lips. One in particular attracted -attention. He was a Norfolk youth, sixteen years of age, whose -features were lighted up with understanding and piety. This poor -scholar had received with eagerness the truth announced by the former -cross-bearer. He did not miss one of his sermons; with a sheet of -paper on his knees, and a pencil in his hand, he took down part of the -discourse, trusting the remainder to his memory.[560] This was Thomas -Becon, afterwards chaplain to Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. "If I -possess the knowledge of God," said he, "I owe it (under God) to -Latimer." - - [560] A poor scholar of Cambridge ... but a child of sixteen years. - Becon's Works, ii. p. 424. - -Latimer had hearers of many sorts. By the side of those who gave way -to their enthusiasm stood men "swelling, blown full, and puffed up -like unto Esop's frog, with envy and malice against him," said -Becon;[561] these were the partizans of traditional catholicism, whom -curiosity had attracted, or whom their evangelical friends had dragged -to the church. But as Latimer spoke a marvellous transformation was -worked in them; by degrees their angry features relaxed, their fierce -looks grew softer; and, if these friends of the priests were asked, -after their return home, what they thought of the heretic preacher, -they replied, in the exaggeration of their surprise and rapture: -"_Nunquam sic locutus est homo, sicut hic homo!_" (John vii. 46.) - - [561] Becon's Works, ii. p. 425. - -[Sidenote: JOY AND ANGER AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -When he descended from the pulpit, Latimer hastened to practise what -he had taught. He visited the narrow chambers of the poor scholars, -and the dark rooms of the working classes: "he watered with good deeds -whatsoever he had before planted with godly words,"[562] said the -student who collected his discourses. The disciples conversed together -with joy and simplicity of heart; everywhere the breath of a new life -was felt; as yet no external reforms had been effected, and yet the -spiritual church of the gospel and of the Reformation was already -there. And thus the recollection of these happy times was long -commemorated in the adage: - - When Master Stafford read, - And Master Latimer preached, - Then was Cambridge blessed.[563] - - [562] Ibid. - - [563] Becon's Works, ii. p, 425. - -The priests could not remain inactive: they heard speak of grace and -liberty, and would have nothing to do with either. If _grace_ is -tolerated, will it not take from the hands of the clergy the -manipulation of salvation, indulgences, penance, and all the rubrics -of the canon law? If _liberty_ is conceded, will not the hierarchy, -with all its degrees, pomps, violence, and scaffolds, be shaken? Rome -desires no other liberty than that of free-will, which, exalting the -natural strength of fallen man, dries up as regards mankind the -springs of divine life, withers Christianity, and changes that -heavenly religion into a human moralism and legal observances. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIOR'S SERMON.] - -The friends of popery, therefore, collected their forces to oppose the -new religion. "Satan, who never sleeps," says the simple chronicler, -"called up his familiar spirits, and sent them forth against the -reformers." Meetings were held in the convents, but particularly in -that belonging to the Greyfriars. They mustered all their forces. _An -eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth_, said they. Latimer extols in -his sermons the _blessings_ of Scripture; we must deliver a sermon -also to show its _dangers_. But where was the orator to be found who -could cope with him? This was a very embarrassing question to the -clerical party. Among the Greyfriars there was a haughty monk, adroit -and skilful in little matters, and full at once of ignorance and -pride: it was the prior Buckingham. No one had shown more hatred -against the evangelical Christians, and no one was in truth a greater -stranger to the Gospel. This was the man commissioned to set forth the -dangers of the word of God. He was by no means familiar with the New -Testament; he opened it however, picked out a few passages here and -there which seemed to favour his thesis; and then, arrayed in his -costliest robes, with head erect and solemn step, already sure of -victory, he went into the pulpit, combated the heretic, and with -pompous voice stormed against the reading of the Bible;[564] it was in -his eyes the fountain of all heresies and misfortunes. "If that heresy -should prevail," he exclaimed, "there will be an end of everything -useful among us. The ploughman, reading in the gospel that _no man -having put his hand to the plough should look back_, would soon lay -aside his labour.... The baker, reading that a _little leaven -leaveneth the whole lump_, will in future make us nothing but very -insipid bread; and the simple man finding himself commanded _to pluck -out the right eye and cast it from thee_, England, after a few years, -will be a frightful spectacle; it will be little better than a nation -of blind and one-eyed men, sadly begging their bread from door to -door."[565] - - [564] With great pomp and prolixity. Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 8. - - [565] The nation full of blind beggars. Gilpin's Life of Latimer. - p. 8. - -This discourse moved that part of the audience for which it was -intended. "The heretic is silenced," said the monks and clerks; but -sensible people smiled, and Latimer was delighted that they had given -him such an adversary. Being of a lively disposition and inclined to -irony, he resolved to lash the platitudes of the pompous friar. There -are some absurdities, he thought, which can only be refuted by showing -how foolish they are. Does not even the grave Tertullian speak of -things which are only to be laughed at, for fear of giving them -importance by a serious refutation?[566] "Next Sunday I will reply to -him," said Latimer. - - [566] Si et ridebitur alicubi materiis ipsis satisfiet. Multa sunt sic - digna revinci, ne gravitate adorentur. (Contra Valentin, c. vi.) See - also Pascal's Provincials, Letter xi. And if ridicule shall at any - time be excited, it is quite suited to such subjects. Many things - deserve thus to be overcome, lest by a serious refutation, they get - more respect than they deserve. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER'S REPLY.] - -The church was crowded when Buckingham, with the hood of St. Francis -on his shoulders and with a vain-glorious air, took his place solemnly -in front of the preacher. Latimer began by recapitulating the least -weak of his adversary's arguments; then taking them up one by one, he -turned them over and over, and pointed out all their absurdity with so -much wit, that the poor prior was buried in his own nonsense. Then -turning towards the listening crowd, he exclaimed with warmth: "This -is how your skilful guides abuse your understanding. They look upon -you as children that must be for ever kept in leading-strings. Now, -the hour of your majority has arrived; boldly examine the Scriptures, -and you will easily discover the absurdity of the teaching of your -doctors." And then desirous, as Solomon has it, of _answering a fool -according to his folly_, he added: "As for the comparisons drawn from -the _plough_, the _leaven_, and the _eye_, of which the reverend prior -has made so singular a use, is it necessary to justify these passages -of Scripture? Must I tell you what _plough_, what _leaven_, what _eye_ -is here meant? Is not our Lord's teaching distinguished by those -expressions which, under a popular form, conceal a spiritual and -profound meaning? Do not we know that in all languages and in all -speeches, it is not on the _image_ that we must fix our eyes, but on -the _thing_ which the image represents?... For instance," he -continued, and as he said these words he cast a piercing glance on the -prior, "if we see a fox painted preaching in a friar's hood, nobody -imagines that a fox is meant, but that craft and hypocrisy are -described, which are so often found disguised in that garb."[567] At -these words the poor prior, on whom the eyes of all the congregation -were turned, rose and left the church hastily, and ran off to his -convent to hide his rage and confusion among his brethren. The monks -and their creatures uttered loud cries against Latimer. It was -unpardonable (they said) to have been thus wanting in respect to the -cowl of St. Francis. But his friends replied: "Do we not whip -children? and he who treats Scripture worse than a child, does he not -deserve to be well flogged?" - - [567] Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 10. - -The Romish party did not consider themselves beaten. The heads of -colleges and the priests held frequent conferences. The professors -were desired to watch carefully over their pupils, and to lead them -back to the teaching of the church by flattery and by threats. "We are -putting our lance in rest," they told the students; "if you become -evangelicals, your advancement is at an end." But these open-hearted -generous youths loved rather to be poor with Christ, than rich with -the priests. Stafford continued to teach, Latimer to preach, and -Bilney to visit the poor: the doctrine of Christ ceased not to be -spread abroad, and souls to be converted. - -One weapon only was left to the schoolmen; this was persecution, the -favourite arm of Rome. "Our enterprise has not succeeded," said they; -"Buckingham is a fool. The best way of answering these _gospellers_ is -to prevent their speaking." Dr. West, bishop of Ely, was ordinary of -Cambridge; they called for his intervention, and he ordered one of the -doctors to inform him the next time Latimer was to preach; "but," -added he, "do not say a word to any one. I wish to come without being -expected." - -[Sidenote: LATIMER PREACHES BEFORE THE BISHOP.] - -One day as Latimer was preaching in Latin _ad clerum_, the bishop -suddenly entered the university church, attended by a number of -priests. Latimer stopped, waiting respectfully until West and his -train had taken their places. "A new audience," thought he; "and -besides, an audience worthy of greater honour calls for a new theme. -Leaving, therefore, the subject I had proposed, I will take up one -that relates to the episcopal charge, and will preach on these words: -_Christus existens Pontifex futurorum bonorum_." (Hebrews ix. 11.) -Then describing Jesus Christ, Latimer represented him as the "true and -perfect pattern unto all other bishops."[568] There was not a single -virtue pointed out in the divine bishop that did not correspond with -some defect in the Romish bishops. Latimer's caustic wit had a free -course at their expense; but there was so much gravity in his sallies, -and so lively a Christianity in his descriptions, that every one must -have felt them to be the cries of a Christian conscience rather than -the sarcasms of an ill-natured disposition. Never had bishop been -taught by one of his priests like this man. "Alas!" said many, "our -bishops are not of that breed: they are descended from Annas and -Caiaphas." West was not more at his ease than Buckingham had been -formerly. He stifled his anger, however; and after the sermon, said to -Latimer with a gracious accent: "You have excellent talents, and if -you would do one thing I should be ready to kiss your feet."[569]... -What humility in a bishop!... "Preach in this same church," continued -West, "a sermon ... against Martin Luther. That is the best way of -checking heresy." Latimer understood the prelate's meaning, and -replied calmly: "If Luther preaches the word of God, I cannot oppose -him. But if he teaches the contrary, I am ready to attack -him."--"Well, well, Master Latimer," exclaimed the bishop, "I perceive -that you smell somewhat of the pan.[570]... One day or another you -will repent of that merchandise." - - [568] Strype's Eccles. Mem. iii. p. 369. - - [569] I will kneel down and kiss your foot. Ibid. - - [570] Ibid. 370. - -West having left Cambridge in great irritation against that rebellious -clerk, hastened to convoke his chapter, and forbade Latimer to preach -either in the university or in the diocese. "All that will live godly -shall suffer persecution," Saint Paul had said; Latimer was now -experiencing the truth of the saying. It was not enough that the name -of heretic had been given him by the priests and their friends, and -that the passers-by insulted him in the streets; ... the work of God -was violently checked. "Behold then," he exclaimed with a bitter sigh, -"the use of the episcopal office ... to hinder the preaching of Jesus -Christ!" Some few years later he sketched, with his usual caustic -irony, the portrait of a certain bishop, of whom Luther also used -frequently to speak: "Do you know," said Latimer, "who is the most -diligentest bishop and prelate in all England?... I see you listening -and hearkening that I should name him.... I will tell you.... It is -the devil. He is never out of his diocese; ye shall never find him out -of the way; call for him when you will, he's ever at home. He is ever -at his plough. Ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you. Where the -devil is resident--there away with books and up with candles; away -with bibles and up with beads; away with the light of the Gospel and -up with the light of candles, yea at noondays; down with Christ's -cross, up with purgatory pickpurse; away with clothing the naked, the -poor, and impotent, up with decking of images and gay garnishing of -stocks and stones; down with God's traditions and his most holy word -Oh! that our prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good -doctrine as Satan is to sow cockle and darnel!"[571] Truly may it be -said, "There was never such a preacher in England as he is."[572] - - [571] Latimer's Sermons (Park. Soc.) vol. i. p. 70. Sermon of the -Plough. - - [572] Ibid. p. 72. - -The reformer was not satisfied with merely speaking: he acted. -"Neither the menacing words of his adversaries nor their cruel -imprisonments," says one of his contemporaries,[573] "could hinder him -from proclaiming God's truth." Forbidden to preach in the churches, he -went about from house to house. He longed for a pulpit however, and -this he obtained. A haughty prelate had in vain interdicted his -preaching; Jesus Christ, who is above all bishops, is able, when one -door is shut, to open another. Instead of one great preacher there -were soon two at Cambridge. - - [573] He adds: Whatsoever he had once preached, he valiantly defended - the same. Becon, vol. ii. p. 424. - -[Sidenote: ROBERT BARNES.] - -An Augustine monk named Robert Barnes, a native of the county of -Norfolk, and a great scholar, had gone to Louvain to prosecute his -studies. Here he received the degree of doctor of divinity, and having -returned to Cambridge, was nominated prior of his monastery in 1523. -It was his fortune to reconcile learning and the Gospel in the -university; but by leaning too much to learning he diminished the -force of the word of God. A great crowd collected every day in the -Augustine convent to hear his lectures upon Terence, and in particular -upon Cicero. Many of those who were offended by the simple -Christianity of Bilney and Latimer, were attracted by this reformer of -another kind. Coleman, Coverdale, Field, Cambridge, Barley, and many -other young men of the university, gathered round Barnes and -proclaimed him "the restorer of letters."[574] - - [574] The great restorer of good learning. Strype, i. p. 568; Foxe, - Acts, v. p. 415. - -[Sidenote: HIS LECTURES.] - -But the classics were only a preparatory teaching. The masterpieces of -antiquity having aided Barnes to clear the soil, he opened before his -class the epistles of St. Paul. He did not understand their divine -depth, like Stafford; he was not, like him, anointed with the Holy -Ghost; he differed from him on several of the apostle's doctrines, on -justification by faith, and on the new creature; but Barnes was an -enlightened and liberal man, not without some degree of piety, and -desirous, like Stafford, of substituting the teaching of Scripture for -the barren disputations of the school. But they soon came into -collision, and Cambridge long remembered that celebrated discussion in -which Barnes and Stafford contended with so much renown, employing no -other weapons than the word of God, to the great astonishment of the -blind doctors, and the great joy of the clearsighted, says the -chronicler.[575] - - [575] Marvellous in the sight of the great blind doctors. Foxe, Acts, - v. p. 415. - -Barnes was not as yet thoroughly enlightened, and the friends of the -Gospel were astonished that a man, a stranger to the truth, should -deal such heavy blows against error. Bilney, whom we continually meet -with when any secret work, a work of irresistible charity, is in -hand,--Bilney, who had converted Latimer, undertook to convert Barnes; -and Stafford, Arthur, Thistel of Pembroke, and Fooke of Benet's, -earnestly prayed God to grant his assistance. The experiment was -difficult: Barnes had reached that _juste milieu_, that "golden mean" -of the humanists, that intoxication of learning and glory, which -render conversion more difficult. Besides, could a man like Bilney -really dare to instruct the restorer of antiquity? But the humble -bachelor of arts, so simple in appearance, knew, like David of old, a -secret power by which the Goliath of the university might be -vanquished. He passed days and nights in prayer; and then urged Barnes -openly to manifest his convictions without fearing the reproaches of -the world. After many conversations and prayers, Barnes was converted -to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[576] Still, the prior retained -something undecided in his character, and only half relinquished that -middle state with which he had begun. For instance, he appears to have -always believed in the efficacy of sacerdotal consecration to -transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. His -eye was not single, and his mind was often agitated and driven to and -fro by contrary thoughts: "Alas!" said this divided character one day, -"I confess that my cogitations be innumerable."[577] - - [576] Bilney converted Dr. Barnes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 620. - - [577] Ibid. v. p. 434. - -Barnes, having come to a knowledge of the truth, immediately displayed -a zeal that was somewhat imprudent. Men of the least decided -character, and even those who are destined to make a signal fall, are -often those who begin their course with the greatest ardour. Barnes -seemed prepared at this time to withstand all England. Being now -united to Latimer by a tender Christian affection, he was indignant -that the powerful voice of his friend should be lost to the church. -"The bishop has forbidden you to preach," he said to him, "but my -monastery is not under episcopal jurisdiction. You can preach there." -Latimer went into the pulpit at the Augustine's, and the church could -not contain the crowd that flocked to it. At Cambridge, as at -Wittemberg, the chapel of the Augustine monks was used for the first -struggles of the Gospel. It was here that Latimer delivered some of -his best sermons. - -[Sidenote: JOHN FRYTH.] - -A very different man from Latimer, and particularly from Barnes, was -daily growing in influence among the English reformers: this was -Fryth. No one was more humble than he, and on that very account no one -was stronger. He was less brilliant than Barnes, but more solid. He -might have penetrated into the highest departments of science, but he -was drawn away by the deep mysteries of God's word; the call of -conscience prevailed over that of the understanding.[578] He did not -devote the energy of his soul to difficult questions; he thirsted for -God, for his truth, and for his love. Instead of propagating his -particular opinions and forming divisions, he clung only to the faith -which saves, and advanced the dominion of true unity. This is the mark -of the great servant of God. Humble before the Lord, mild before men, -and even in appearance somewhat timid, Fryth in the face of danger -displayed an intrepid courage. "My learning is small," he said, "but -the little I have I am determined to give to Jesus Christ for the -building of his temple."[579] - - [578] Notwithstanding his other manifold and singular gifts and - ornaments of the mind, in him most pregnant. Tyndale and Fryth's - Works, iii, p. 73. - - [579] That is very small, nevertheless that little. Ibid. p. 83. - -Latimer's sermons, Barnes's ardour, and Fryth's firmness, excited -fresh zeal at Cambridge. They knew what was going on in Germany and -Switzerland; shall the English, ever in front, now remain in the rear? -Shall not Latimer, Bilney, Stafford, Barnes, and Fryth do what the -servants of God are doing in other places? - -[Sidenote: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1525.] - -A secret ferment announced an approaching crisis: every one expected -some change for better or for worse. The Evangelicals, confident in -the truth, and thinking themselves sure of victory, resolved to fall -upon the enemy simultaneously on several points. The Sunday before -Christmas, in the year 1525, was chosen for this great attack. While -Latimer should address the crowds that continued to fill the Augustine -chapel, and others were preaching in other places, Barnes was to -deliver a sermon in one of the churches in the town. But nothing -compromises the Gospel so much as a disposition turned towards outward -things. God, who grants his blessing only to undivided hearts, -permitted this general assault, of which Barnes was to be the hero, to -be marked by a defeat. The prior, as he went into the pulpit, thought -only of Wolsey. As the representative of the popedom in England, the -cardinal was the great obstacle to the Reformation. Barnes preached -from the epistle for the day: _Rejoice in the Lord alway_.[580] But -instead of announcing Christ and the joy of the Christian, he -imprudently declaimed against the luxury, pride, and diversions of the -churchmen, and everybody understood that he aimed at the cardinal. He -described those magnificent palaces, that brilliant suite, those -scarlet robes, and pearls, and gold, and precious stones, and all the -prelate's ostentation, so little in keeping (said he) with the stable -of Bethlehem. Two fellows of King's College, Robert Ridley and Walter -Preston, relations of Tonstall, bishop of London, who were -intentionally among the congregation, noted down in their tablets the -prior's imprudent expressions. - - [580] Philippians iv, 4-7. - -[Sidenote: FERMENT IN THE COLLEGES.] - -The sermon was scarcely over when the storm broke out. "These people -are not satisfied with propagating monstrous heresies," exclaimed -their enemies, "but they must find fault with the powers that be. -To-day they attack the cardinal, to-morrow they will attack the king!" -Ridley and Preston accused Barnes to the vice-chancellor. All -Cambridge was in commotion. What! Barnes the Augustine prior, the -restorer of letters, accused as a Lollard!... The Gospel was -threatened with a danger more formidable than a prison or a scaffold. -The friends of the priests, knowing Barnes's weakness, and even his -vanity, hoped to obtain of him a disavowal that would cover the -evangelical party with shame. "What!" said these dangerous counsellors -to him, "the noblest career was open to you, and would you close -it?... Do, pray, explain away your sermon." They alarmed, they -flattered him; and the poor prior was near yielding to their -solicitations. "Next Sunday you will read this declaration," they said -to him. Barnes ran over the paper put into his hands, and saw no great -harm in it. However he desired to show it to Bilney and Stafford. -"Beware of such weakness," said these faithful men. Barnes then -recalled his promise, and for a season the enemies of the Gospel were -silent. - -Its friends worked with increased energy. The fall from which one of -their companions had so narrowly escaped inspired them with fresh -zeal. The more indecision and weakness Barnes had shown, the more did -his brethren flee to God for courage and firmness. It was reported, -moreover, that a powerful ally was coming across the sea, and that the -Holy Scriptures, translated into the vulgar tongue, were at last to be -given to the people. Wherever the word was preached, there the -congregation was largest. It was the seed-time of the church; all were -busy in the fields to prepare the soil and trace the furrows. Seven -colleges at least were in full ferment: Pembroke, St. John's, Queens', -King's, Caius, Benet's, and Peterhouse. The Gospel was preached at the -Augustine's, at Saint Mary's, (the University church,) and in other -places, and when the bells rang to prayers, the streets were alive -with students issuing from the colleges, and hastening to the -sermon.[581] - - [581] Flocked together in open street. Strype, Mem. i, p. 568. - -There was at Cambridge a house called the White Horse, so situated as -to permit the most timid members of King's, Queens', and St. John's -Colleges, to enter at the rear without being perceived. In every age -Nicodemus has had his followers. Here those persons used to assemble -who desired to read the Bible and the works of the German reformers. -The priests, looking upon Wittemberg as the focus of the Reformation, -named this house Germany: the people will always have their bywords. -At first the frequenters of the White Horse were called sophists; and -now, whenever a group of "fellows" was seen walking in that direction, -the cry was, "There are the Germans going to Germany."--"We are not -Germans," was the reply, "neither are we Romans." The Greek New -Testament had made them Christians. The Gospel-meetings had never been -more fervent. Some attended them to communicate the new life they -possessed; others to receive what God had given to the more advanced -brethren. The Holy Spirit united them all, and thus, by the fellowship -of the saints, were real churches created. To these young Christians -the word of God was the source of so much light, that they imagined -themselves transported to that heavenly city of which the Scriptures -speak, _which had no need of the sun, for the glory of God did lighten -it_. "So oft as I was in the company of these brethren," said a -youthful student of St. John's, "methought I was quietly placed in the -new glorious Jerusalem."[582] - - [582] Becon, ii, p. 426. - -[Sidenote: MEETINGS AT OXFORD.] - -Similar things were taking place at Oxford. In 1524 and 1525, Wolsey -had successively invited thither several Cambridge fellows, and -although only seeking the most able, he found that he had taken some -of the most pious. Besides John Clark, there were Richard Cox, John -Fryer, Godfrey Harman, W. Betts, Henry Sumner, W. Baily, Michael -Drumm, Th. Lawney, and, lastly, the excellent John Fryth. These -Christians, associating with Clark, with his faithful Dalaber, and -with other evangelicals of Oxford, held meetings, like their Cambridge -brethren, at which God manifested his presence. The bishops made war -upon the Gospel; the king supported them with all his power; but the -word had gained the victory; there was no longer any doubt. The church -was born again in England. - -The great movement of the sixteenth century had begun more -particularly among the younger doctors and students at Oxford and -Cambridge. From them it was necessary that it should be extended to -the people, and for that end the New Testament, hitherto read in Latin -and in Greek, must be circulated in English. The voices of these -youthful evangelists were heard, indeed, in London and in the -provinces; but their exhortations would have been insufficient, if the -mighty hand which directs all things had not made this Christian -activity coincide with that holy work for which it had set Tyndale -apart. While all was agitation in England, the waves of ocean were -bearing from the continent to the banks of the Thames those Scriptures -of God, which, three centuries later, multiplied by thousands and by -millions, and translated into a hundred and fifty tongues, were to be -wafted from the same banks to the ends of the world. If in the -fifteenth century, and even in the early days of the sixteenth, the -English New Testament had been brought to London, it would only have -fallen into the hands of a few Lollards. Now, in every place, in the -parsonages, the universities, and the palaces, as well as in the -cottages of the husbandmen and the shops of the tradesmen, there was -an ardent desire to possess the Holy Scriptures. The _fiat lux_ was -about to be uttered over the chaos of the church, and light to be -separated from darkness by the word of God. - - - - -BOOK XIX. - -THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT AND THE COURT OF ROME. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Church and State essentially distinct--Their fundamental - Principles--What restores Life to the Church--Separation - from Rome necessary--Reform and Liberty--The New Testament - crosses the sea--Is hidden in London--Garret's Preaching and - Zeal--Dissemination of Scripture--What the People find in - it--The Effects it produces--Tyndale's Explanations--Roper, - More's Son-in-law--Garret carries Tyndale's Testament to - Oxford--Henry and his Valet--The Supplication of the - Beggars--Two Sorts of Beggars--Evils caused by - Priests--More's Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory. - - -The Church and the State are essentially distinct. They both receive -their task from God, but that task is different in each. The task of -the church is to lead men to God; the task of the State is to secure -the earthly development of a people in conformity with its peculiar -character. There are certain bounds, traced by the particular spirit -of each nation within which the state should confine itself; while the -church, whose limits are co-extensive with the human race, has a -universal character, which raises it above all national differences. -These two distinctive features should be maintained. A state which -aims at universality loses itself; a church whose mind and aim are -sectarian falls away. Nevertheless, the church and the state, the two -poles of social life, while they are in many respects opposed to one -another, are far from excluding each other absolutely. The church has -need of that justice, order, and liberty, which the state is bound to -maintain; but the state has especial need of the church. If Jesus can -do without kings to establish his kingdom, kings cannot do without -Jesus, if they would have their kingdoms prosper. Justice, which is -the fundamental principle of the state, is continually fettered in its -progress by the internal power of sin; and as force can do nothing -against this power, the state requires the Gospel in order to -overcome it. That country will always be the most prosperous where the -church is the most evangelical. These two communities having thus need -one of the other, we must be prepared, whenever a great religious -manifestation takes place in the world, to witness the appearance on -the scene not only of the little ones, but of the great ones also, of -the state. We must not then be surprised to meet with Henry VIII, but -let us endeavour to appreciate accurately the part he played. - -[Sidenote: CHURCH AND STATE.] - -If the Reformation, particularly in England, happened necessarily to -be mixed up with the state, with the world even, it originated neither -in the state nor in the world. There was much worldliness in the age -of Henry VIII, passions, violence, festivities, a trial, a divorce; -and some historians call that _the history of the Reformation in -England_. We shall not pass by in silence these manifestations of the -worldly life; opposed as they are to the Christian life, they are in -history, and it is not our business to tear them out. But most -assuredly they are not the Reformation. From a very different quarter -proceeded the divine light which then rose upon the human race. - -To say that Henry VIII, was the reformer of his people is to betray -our ignorance of his. The kingly power in England by turns opposed and -favoured the reform in the church; but it opposed before it favoured, -and much more than it favoured. This great transformation was begun -and extended by its own strength, by the Spirit from on high. - -When the church has lost the life that is peculiar to it, it must -again put itself in communication with its creative principle, that -is, with the word of God. Just as the buckets of a wheel employed in -irrigating the meadows have no sooner discharged their reviving -waters, than they dip again into the stream to be re-filled, so every -generation, void of the Spirit of Christ, must return to the divine -source to be again filled up. The primitive words which created the -church have been preserved for us in the Gospels, the Acts, and the -Epistles; and the humble reading of these divine writings will create -in every age the communion of saints. God was the father of the -Reformation, not Henry VIII. The visible world which then glittered -with such brightness; those princes and sports, those noblemen, and -trials and laws, far from effecting a reform, were calculated to -stifle it. But the light and the warmth came from heaven, and the new -creation was completed. - -[Sidenote: SEPARATION FROM ROME NECESSARY.] - -In the reign of Henry VIII a great number of citizens, priests, and -noblemen possessed that degree of cultivation which favours the -action of the holy books. It was sufficient for this divine seed to be -scattered on the well-prepared soil for the work of germination to be -accomplished. - -A time not less important also was approaching--that in which the -action of the popedom was to come to an end. The hour had not yet -struck. God was first creating within by his word a spiritual church, -before he broke without by his dispensations the bonds which had so -long fastened England to the power of Rome. It was his good pleasure -first to give truth and life, and then liberty. It has been said that -if the pope had consented to a reform of abuses and doctrines, on -condition of his keeping his position, the religious revolution would -not have been satisfied at that price, and that after demanding -_reform_, the next demand would have been for _liberty_. The only -reproach that can be made to this assertion is, that it is -superabundantly true. Liberty was an integral part of the Reformation, -and one of the changes imperatively required was to withdraw religious -authority from the pope, and restore it to the word of God. In the -sixteenth century there was a great outpouring of the Christian life -in France, Italy, and Spain; it is attested by martyrs without number, -and history shows that to transform these three great nations, all -that the Gospel wanted was liberty.[583] "If we had set to work two -months later," said a grand inquisitor of Spain who had dyed himself -in the blood of the saints, "it would have been too late: Spain would -have been lost to the Roman church." We may therefore believe that if -Italy, France, and Spain had had some generous king to check the -myrmidons of the pope, those three countries, carried along by the -renovating power of the Gospel, would have entered upon an era of -liberty and faith. - - [583] Geddes's Martyrology, Gonsalvi, Mart. Hisp. Llorente, Inquis. - M'Crie, Ref. in Spain. - -The struggles of England with the popedom began shortly after the -dissemination of the English New Testament by Tyndale. The epoch at -which we are arrived accordingly brings in one view before our eyes -both the Testament of Jesus Christ and the court of Rome. We can thus -study the men (the reformers and the Romanists) and the works they -produce, and arrive at a just valuation of the two great principles -which dispute the possession of authority in the church. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE NEW TESTAMENTS.] - -It was about the close of the year 1525; the English New Testament was -crossing the sea; five pious Hanseatic merchants had taken charge of -the books. Captivated by the Holy Scriptures they had taken them on -board their ships, hidden them among their merchandise; and then made -sail from Antwerp for London. - -Thus those precious pages were approaching England, which were to -become its light and the source of its greatness. The merchants, whose -zeal unhappily cost them dear, were not without alarm. Had not -Cochlæus caused orders to be sent to every port to prevent the -entrance of the precious cargo they were bringing to England? They -arrived and cast anchor; they lowered the boat to reach the shore; -what were they likely to meet there? Tonstall's agents, no doubt, and -Wolsey's, and Henry's ready to take away their New Testaments! They -landed and soon again returned to the ship; boats passed to and fro, -and the vessel was unloaded. No enemy appeared; and no one seemed to -imagine that these ships contained so great a treasure. - -Just at the time this invaluable cargo was ascending the river, an -invisible hand had dispersed the preventive guard. Tonstall, bishop of -London, had been sent to Spain; Wolsey was occupied in political -combinations with Scotland, France, and the empire; Henry VIII, driven -from his capital by an unhealthy winter, was passing the Christmas -holidays at Eltham; and even the courts of justice, alarmed by an -extraordinary mortality, had suspended their sittings. God, if we may -so speak, had sent his angel to remove the guards. - -Seeing nothing that could stop them, the five merchants, whose -establishment was at the Steel yard in Thames Street, hastened to -conceal their precious charge in their warehouses. But who will -receive them? Who will undertake to distribute these Holy Scriptures -in London, Oxford, Cambridge, and all England? It is a little matter -that they have crossed the sea. The principal instrument God was about -to use for their dissemination was an humble servant of Christ. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS GARRET.] - -In Honey Lane, a narrow thoroughfare adjoining Cheapside, stood the -old church of All Hallows, of which Robert Forman was rector. His -curate was a plain man of lively imagination, delicate conscience, and -timid disposition, but rendered bold by his faith, to which he was to -become a martyr. Thomas Garret, for that was his name, having believed -in the Gospel, earnestly called his hearers to repentance;[584] he -urged upon them that works, however good they might be in appearance, -were by no means capable of justifying the sinner, and that faith -alone could save him.[585] He maintained that every man had the right -to preach the word of God;[586] and called those bishops pharisees, -who persecuted christian men. Garret's discourses, at once so -quickening and so gentle, attracted great crowds; and to many of his -hearers, the street in which he preached was rightly named Honey Lane, -for there they found the _honey out of the rock_.[587] But Garret was -about to commit a fault still more heinous in the eyes of the priests -than preaching faith. The Hanse merchants were seeking some sure place -where they might store up the New Testaments and other books sent from -Germany; the curate offered his house, stealthily transported the holy -deposit thither, hid them in the most secret corners, and kept a -faithful watch over this sacred library.[588] He did not confine -himself to this. Night and day he studied the holy books; he held -Gospel meetings, read the word and explained its doctrines to the -citizens of London. At last, not satisfied with being at once student, -librarian, and preacher, he became a trader, and sold the New -Testament to laymen, and even to priests and monks, so that the Holy -Scriptures were dispersed over the whole realm.[589] This humble and -timid priest was then performing alone the biblical work of England. - - [584] Earnestly laboured to call us to repentance. Becon, iii. p. 11. - - [585] Quod opera nostra quantumvis bona in specie nihil conducunt ad - justificationem nec ad meritum, sed sola fides. (Foxe, Acts, v. p. - 428.) Because our work, however good in appearance are of no avail to - justification or to merit, but faith alone can save. - - [586] Every man may preach the word of God. Ibid. - - [587] Psalm lxxxi. 16. - - [588] Having the said books in his custody. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 428. - - [589] Dispersing abroad of the said books within this realm. Ibid. p. - 428. See also Strype. _Cranmer's Mem._ p. 81. - -[Sidenote: WHAT MEN FOUND IN THE SCRIPTURES.] - -And thus the word of God, presented by Erasmus to the learned in 1517 -was given to the people by Tyndale in 1526. In the parsonages and in -the convent cells, but particularly in shops and cottages, a crowd of -persons were studying the New Testament. The clearness of the Holy -Scriptures struck each reader. None of the systematic or aphoristic -forms of the school were to be found there: it was the language of -human life which they discovered in those divine writings: here a -conversation, there a discourse; here a narrative, and there a -comparison; here a command, and there an argument; here a parable, and -there a prayer. It was not all doctrine or all history; but these two -elements mingled together made an admirable whole. Above all, the life -of our Saviour, so divine and so human, had an inexpressible charm -which captivated the simple. One work of Jesus Christ explained -another, and the great facts of the redemption, birth, death, and -resurrection of the Son of God, and the sending of the Holy Ghost, -followed and completed each other. The authority of Christ's teaching, -so strongly contrasting with the doubts of the schools, increased the -clearness of his discourses to his readers; for the more certain a -truth is, the more distinctly it strikes the mind. Academical -explanations were not necessary to those noblemen, farmers, and -citizens. It is to me, for me, and of me that this book speaks, said -each one. It is I whom all these promises and teachings concern. This -_fall_ and this _restoration_ ... they are mine. That old _death_ and -this new _life_.... I have passed through them. That _flesh_ and that -_spirit_.... I know them. This _law_ and this _grace_, this _faith_, -these _works_, this _slavery_, this _glory_, this _Christ_ and this -_Belial_ ... all are familiar to me. It is my own history that I find -in this book. Thus by the aid of the Holy Ghost each one had in his -own experience a key to the mysteries of the Bible. To understand -certain authors and certain philosophers, the intellectual life of the -reader must be in harmony with theirs; so must there be an intimate -affinity with the holy books to penetrate their mysteries. "The man -that has not the Spirit of God," said a reformer, "does not understand -one jot or tittle of the Scripture."[590] Now that this condition was -fulfilled, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. - - [590] Nullus homo unum iota in Scripturis sacris videt, nisi qui - spiritum Dei habet. (Luther, De servo arbitrio, Witt. ii. p. 424.) No - man but he who has the Spirit of God can see a single jot in the - sacred scriptures. - -Such at that period were the hermeneutics of England. Tyndale had set -the example himself by explaining many of the words which might stop -the reader. "The _New Testament_!" we may suppose some farmer saying, -as he took up the book; "what _Testament_ is that?" "Christ," replied -Tyndale in his prologue, "commanded his disciples before his death to -publish over all the world _his last will_, which is to give all his -goods unto all that repent and believe.[591] He bequeaths them his -righteousness to blot out their sins--his salvation to overcome their -condemnation; and this is why that document is called the _Testament_ -of Jesus Christ." - - [591] Tyndale and Fryth's Works (ed. Russell.). vol. ii. p. 491. The - "Pathway unto the Holy Scripture" is the prologue to the quarto - Testament, with a few changes of little importance. - -"The _law_ and the _Gospel_," said a citizen of London, in his shop; -"what is that?" "They are two _keys_," answered Tyndale. "The _law_ is -the key which shuts up all men under condemnation, and the _Gospel_ is -the key which opens the door and lets them out. Or, if you like it, -they are two salves. The law, sharp and biting, driveth out the -disease and killeth it; while the Gospel, soothing and soft, softens -the wound and brings life."[592] Everyone understood and read, or -rather devoured the inspired pages; and the hearts of the elect (to -use Tyndale's words), warmed by the love of Jesus Christ, began to -melt like wax.[593] - - [592] Tyndale and Fryth's Works (ed. Russell), vol. ii, p. 503. - - [593] Ibid. p. 500. - -[Sidenote: MORE'S SON-IN-LAW.] - -This transformation was observed to take place even in the most -catholic families. Roper, More's son-in-law, having read the New -Testament, received the truth. "I have no more need," said he, "of -auricular confession, of vigils, or of the invocation of saints. The -ears of God are always open to hear us. Faith alone is necessary to -salvation. I believe ... and I am saved.... Nothing can deprive me of -God's favour."[594] - - [594] More's Life, p. 134. - -The amiable and zealous young man desired to do more. "Father," said -he one day to Sir Thomas, "procure for me from the king, who is very -fond of you, a license to preach. God hath sent me to instruct the -world." More was uneasy. Must this new doctrine, which he detests, -spread even to his children? He exerted all his authority to destroy -the work begun in Roper's heart. "What," said he with a smile, "is it -not sufficient that we that are your friends should know that you are -a fool, but you would proclaim your folly to the world? Hold your -tongue: I will debate with you no longer." The young man's imagination -was struck, but his heart had not been changed. The discussions having -ceased, the father's authority being restored, Roper became less -fervent in his faith, and gradually he returned to popery, of which he -was afterwards a zealous champion. - -The humble curate of All Hallows having sold the New Testament to -persons living in London and its neighbourhood, and to many pious men -who would carry it to the farthest parts of England, formed the -resolution to introduce it into the University of Oxford, that citadel -of traditional catholicism. It was there he had studied, and he felt -towards that school the affection which a son bears to his mother: he -set out with his books.[595] Terror occasionally seized him, for he -knew that the word of God had many deadly enemies at Oxford; but his -inexhaustible zeal overcame his timidity. In concert with Dalaber, he -stealthily offered the mysterious book for sale; many students bought -it, and Garret carefully entered their names in his register. This was -in January 1526; an incident disturbed this Christian activity. - - [595] And brought with him Tyndale's first translation of the New - Testament in English. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 421. - -[Sidenote: HENRY VIII AND HIS VALET.] - -One morning when Edmund Moddis, one of Henry's valets-de-chambre, was -in attendance on his master, the prince, who was much attached to him, -spoke to him, of the new books come from beyond the sea. "If your -grace," said Moddis, "would promise to pardon me and certain -individuals, I would present you a wonderful book which is dedicated -to your majesty."[596] "Who is the author?" "A lawyer of Gray's Inn -named Simon Fish, at present on the continent." "What is he doing -there?" "About three years ago, Mr. Row, a fellow-student of Gray's -Inn, composed for a private theatre a drama against my lord the -cardinal." The king smiled; when his minister was attacked, his own -yoke seemed lighter. "As no one was willing to represent the character -employed to give the cardinal his lesson," continued the valet, -"Master Fish boldly accepted it. The piece produced a great effect; -and my lord being informed of this impertinence, sent the police one -night to arrest Fish. The latter managed to escape, crossed the sea, -joined one Tyndale, the author of some of the books so much talked of; -and, carried away by his friend's example, he composed the book of -which I was speaking to your grace." "What's the name of it?" "_The -Supplication of the Beggars._"--"Where did you see it?"--"At two of -your tradespeople's, George Elyot and George Robinson;[597] if your -grace desires it, they shall bring it you." The king appointed the day -and the hour. - - [596] His grace should see such a book as it was a marvel to hear of. - Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 658. - - [597] Ibid. - -The book was written for the king, and every body read it but the king -himself. At the appointed day, Moddis appeared with Elyot and -Robinson, who were not entirely without fear, as they might be accused -of proselytism even in the royal palace. The king received them in his -private apartments.[598] "What do you want," he said to them. "Sir," -replied one of the merchants, "we are come about an extraordinary book -that is addressed to you." "Can one of you read it to me?"--"Yes, if -it so please your grace," replied Elyot. "You may repeat the contents -from memory," rejoined the king ... "but, no, read it all; that will -be better. I am ready." Elyot began, - -"THE SUPPLICATION OF THE BEGGARS." - -[Sidenote: HOW A STATE IS RUINED.] - -"To the king our sovereign lord,-- - -"Most lamentably complaineth of their woeful misery, unto your -highness, your poor daily bedesmen, the wretched hideous monsters, on -whom scarcely, for horror, any eye dare look; the foul unhappy sort of -lepers and other sore people, needy, impotent, blind, lame, and sick, -that live only by alms; how that their number is daily sore increased, -that all the alms of all the well-disposed people of this your realm -are not half enough to sustain them, but that for very constraint they -die for hunger. - -"And this most pestilent mischief is come upon your said poor -bedesmen, by the reason that there hath, in the time of your noble -predecessors, craftily crept into this your realm, another sort, not -of impotent, but of strong, puissant, and counterfeit, holy and idle -beggars and vagabonds, who by all the craft and wiliness of Satan are -now increased not only into a great number, but also into a kingdom." - - [598] Ibid. - -Henry was very attentive: Elyot continued: - -"These are not the shepherds, but the ravenous wolves going in -shepherds' clothing, devouring the flock: bishops, abbots, priors, -deacons, archdeacons, suffragans, priests, monks, canons, friars, -pardoners, and sumners.... The goodliest lordships, manors, lands, and -territories are theirs. Besides this, they have the tenth part of all -the corn, meadow, pasture, grass, wood, colts, calves, lambs, pigs, -geese, and chickens. Over and besides, the tenth part of every -servant's wages, the tenth part of wool, milk, honey, wax, cheese, and -butter. The poor wives must be accountable to them for every tenth -egg, or else she getteth not her rights [_i. e._ absolution] at -Easter.... Finally what get they in a year? Summa totalis: £430,333, -6s. 8d. sterling, whereof not four hundred years past they had not a -penny.... - -"What subjects shall be able to help their prince, that be after this -fashion yearly polled? What good Christian people can be able to -succour us poor lepers, blind, sore and lame, that be thus yearly -oppressed?... The ancient Romans had never been able to have put all -the whole world under their obeisance, if they had had at home such an -idle sort of cormorants." - -No subject could have been found more likely to captivate the king's -attention. "And what doth all this greedy sort of sturdy idle holy -thieves with their yearly exactions that they take of the people? -Truly nothing, but translate all rule, power, lordship, authority, -obedience, and dignity from your grace unto them. Nothing, but that -all your subjects should fall into disobedience and rebellion.... -Priests and doves make foul houses; and if you will ruin a state, set -up in it the pope with his monks and clergy.... Send these sturdy -loobies abroad in the world to take them wives of their own, and to -get their living with their labour in the sweat of their faces.... -Then shall your commons increase in riches; then shall matrimony be -much better kept; then shall not your sword, power, crown, dignity, -and obedience of your people be translated from you." - -When Elyot had finished reading, the king was silent, sunk in thought. -The true cause of the ruin of the state had been laid before him; but -Henry's mind was not ripe for these important truths. At last he said, -with an uneasy manner: "If a man who desires to pull down an old wall, -begins at the bottom, I fear the upper part may chance to fall on his -head."[599] Thus then, in the king's eyes, Fish by attacking the -priests was disturbing the foundations of religion and society. After -this royal verdict, Henry rose, took the book, locked it up in his -desk, and forbade the two merchants to reveal to any one the fact of -their having read it to him. - - [599] The upper part thereof might chance to fall upon his head. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 658. - -Shortly after the king had received this copy, on Wednesday the 2nd of -February, the feast of Candlemas, a number of persons, including the -king himself, were to take part in the procession, bearing wax tapers -in their hands. During the night this famous invective was scattered -about all the streets through which the procession had to pass. The -cardinal ordered the pamphlet to be seized, and immediately waited -upon the king. The latter put his hand under his robe, and with a -smile took out the so much dreaded work, and then, as if satisfied -with this proof of independence, he gave it up to the cardinal. - -[Sidenote: SUPPLICATIONS OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.] - -While Wolsey replied to Fish by confiscation, Sir Thomas More with -greater liberality, desiring that press should reply to press, -published _The Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory_. "Suppress," -said they, "the pious stipends paid to the monks, and then Luther's -gospel will come in, Tyndale's testament will be read, heresy will -preach, fasts will be neglected, the saints will be blasphemed, God -will be offended, virtue will be mocked of, vice will run riot, and -England will be peopled with beggars and thieves."[600] The Souls in -Purgatory then call the author of the Beggars' Supplication "a goose, -an ass, a mad dog." Thus did superstition degrade More's noble genius. -Notwithstanding the abuse of the souls in purgatory, the New Testament -was daily read more and more in England. - - [600] Supplication of the Souls in Purgatory. More's Works. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - The two Authorities--Commencement of the Search--Garret at - Oxford--His flight--His Return and Imprisonment--Escapes and - takes Refuge with Dalaber--Garret and Dalaber at Prayer--The - _Magnificat_--Surprise among the Doctors--Clark's - advice--Fraternal Love at Oxford--Alarm of Dalaber--His - Arrest and Examination--He is Tortured--Garret and Twenty - Fellows imprisoned--The Cellar--Condemnation and - Humiliation. - - -[Sidenote: COUNCIL OF BISHOPS.] - -Wolsey did not stop with Fish's book. It was not that "miserable -pamphlet" only that it was necessary to hunt down; the New Testament -in English had entered the kingdom by surprise; there was the danger. -The gospellers, who presumed to emancipate man from the priests, and -put him in absolute dependence on God, did precisely the reverse of -what Rome demands.[601] The cardinal hastened to assemble the bishops, -and these (particularly Warham and Tonstall, who had long enjoyed the -jests launched against superstition) took the matter seriously when -they were shown that the New Testament was circulating throughout -England. These priests believed with Wolsey, that the authority of the -pope and of the clergy was a dogma to which all others were -subordinate. They saw in the reform an uprising of the human mind, a -desire of thinking for themselves, of judging freely the doctrines and -institutions, which the nations had hitherto received humbly from the -hands of the priests. The new doctors justified their attempt at -enfranchisement by substituting a new authority for the old. It was -the New Testament that compromised the absolute power of Rome. It must -be seized and destroyed, said the bishops. London, Oxford, and above -all Cambridge, those three haunts of heresy, must be carefully -searched. Definitive orders were issued on Saturday, 3rd February, -1526, and the work began immediately. - - [601] Actus meritorius est in potestate hominis. (Duns Scotus in - Sentent. lib. i. diss. 17.) A man is able to do a meritorious action. - -[Sidenote: GARRET'S FLIGHT.] - -The first visit of the inquisitors was to Honey Lane, to the house of -the curate of All Hallows. They did not find Garret; they sought after -him at Monmouth's, and throughout the city, but he could not be met -with.[602] "He is gone to Oxford to sell his detestable wares," the -inquisitors were informed, and they set off after him immediately, -determined to burn the evangelist and his books; "so burning hot," -says an historian, "was the charity of these holy fathers."[603] - - [602] He was searched for through all London. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 421. - - [603] Foxe, Acts, v. p. 421. - -On Tuesday, the 6th of February, Garret was quietly selling his books -at Oxford, and carefully noting down his sales in his register, when -two of his friends ran to him exclaiming, "Fly! or else you will be -taken before the cardinal, and thence ... to the Tower." The poor -curate was greatly agitated. "From whom did you learn that?"--"From -Master Cole, the clerk of the assembly, who is deep in the cardinal's -favour." Garret, who saw at once that the affair was serious, hastened -to Anthony Dalaber, who held the stock of the Holy Scriptures at -Oxford; others followed him; the news had spread rapidly, and those -who had bought the book were seized with alarm, for they knew by the -history of the Lollards what the Romish clergy could do. They took -counsel together. The brethren, "for so did we not only call one -another, but were indeed one to another," says Dalaber,[604] decided -that Garret should change his name; that Dalaber should give him a -letter for his brother, the rector of Stalbridge, in Dorsetshire, who -was in want of a curate; and that, once in this parish, he should seek -the first opportunity of crossing the sea. The rector was in truth a -"mad papist" (it is Dalaber's expression), but that did not alter -their resolution. They knew of no other resource. Anthony wrote to him -hurriedly; and, on the morning of the 7th of February, Garret left -Oxford without being observed. - - [604] Ibid. - -Having provided for Garret's safety, Dalaber next thought of his own. -He carefully concealed in a secret recess of his chamber, at St -Alban's Hall, Tyndale's Testament, and the works of Luther, -OEcolampadius, and others, on the word of God. Then, disgusted with the -scholastic sophisms which he heard in that college, he took with him -the New Testament and the Commentary on the gospel of St. Luke, by -Lambert of Avignon, the second edition of which had just been -published at Strasburg,[605] and went to Gloucester college, where he -intended to study the civil law, not caring to have any thing more to -do with the church. - - [605] In Lucæ Evangelium Commentarii, nunc secundo recogniti et - locupletati. (Argentorati, 1525.) Commentaries on the gospel of Luke, - now for the second time revised and enriched. - -[Sidenote: HIS RETURN AND IMPRISONMENT.] - -During this time, poor Garret was making his way into Dorsetshire. His -conscience could not bear the idea of being, although for a short time -only, the curate of a bigoted priest,--of concealing his faith, his -desires, and even his name. He felt more wretched, although at -liberty, than he could have been in Wolsey's prisons. It is better, he -said within himself, to confess Christ before the judgment seat, than -to seem to approve of the superstitious practices I detest. He went -forward a little, then stopped--and then resumed his course. There was -a fierce struggle between his fears and his conscience. At length, -after a day and a half spent in doubt, his conscience prevailed; -unable to endure any longer the anguish that he felt, he retraced his -steps, returned to Oxford, which he entered on Friday evening, and lay -down calmly in his bed. It was barely past midnight when Wolsey's -agents, who had received information of his return, arrived, and -dragged him from his bed,[606] and delivered him up to Dr. Cottisford, -the commissary of the university. The latter locked him up in one of -his rooms, while London and Higdon, dean of Frideswide, "two arch -papists" (as the chronicler terms them), announced this important -capture to the cardinal. They thought popery was saved, because a poor -curate had been taken. - - [606] Foxe, v. p.422. - -[Sidenote: GARRET AND DALABER AT PRAYER.] - -Dalaber, engaged in preparing his new room at Gloucester college, had -not perceived all this commotion.[607] On Saturday, at noon, having -finished his arrangements, he double-locked his door, and began to -read the Gospel according to St. Luke. All of a sudden he hears a -knock. Dalaber made no reply; it is no doubt the commissary's -officers. A louder knock was given; but he still remained silent. -Immediately after, there was a third knock, as if the door would be -beaten in. "Perhaps somebody wants me," thought Dalaber. He laid his -book aside, opened the door, and to his great surprise saw Garret, -who, with alarm in every feature, exclaimed, "I am a lost man! They -have caught me!" Dalaber, who thought his friend was with his brother -at Stalbridge, could not conceal his astonishment, and at the same -time he cast an uneasy glance on a stranger who accompanied Garret. He -was one of the college servants who had led the fugitive curate to -Dalaber's new room. As soon as this man had gone away, Garret told -Anthony everything: "Observing that Dr. Cottisford and his household -had gone to prayers, I put back the bolt of the lock with my finger -... and here I am."... "Alas! Master Garret," replied Dalaber, "the -imprudence you committed in speaking to me before that young man has -ruined us both!" At these words, Garret, who had resumed his fear of -the priests, now that his conscience was satisfied, exclaimed with a -voice interrupted by sighs and tears:[608] "For mercy's sake, help me! -Save me!" Without waiting for an answer, he threw off his frock and -hood, begged Anthony to give him a sleeved coat, and thus disguised, -he said: "I will escape into Wales, and from there, if possible, to -Germany and Luther." - - [607] Ibid. - - [608] With deep sighs and plenty of tears. Foxe, v. p. 422. - -Garret checked himself; there was something to be done before he left. -The two friends fell on their knees and prayed together; they called -upon God to lead his servant to a secure retreat. That done, they -embraced each other, their faces bathed with tears, and unable to -utter a word.[609] - - [609] That we all bewet both our faces. Ibid. 423. - -Silent on the threshold of his door, Dalaber followed both with eyes -and ears his friend's retreating footsteps. Having heard him reach the -bottom of the stairs, he returned to his room, locked the door, took -out his New Testament, and placing it before him, read on his knees -the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, breathing many a heavy -sigh: .... _Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake -... but fear them not; the very hairs of your head are all numbered_. -This reading having revived his courage, Anthony, still on his knees, -prayed fervently for the fugitive and for all his brethren: "O God, by -thy Holy Spirit endue with heavenly strength this tender and new-born -little flock in Oxford.[610] Christ's heavy cross is about to be laid -on the weak shoulders of thy poor sheep. Grant that they may bear it -with godly patience and unflinching zeal!" - - [610] Ibid. - -Rising from his knees, Dalaber put away his book, folded up Garret's -hood and frock, placed them among his own clothes, locked his room -door, and proceeded to the Cardinal's College, (now Christ Church,) to -tell Clark and the other brethren what had happened.[611] They were in -chapel: the evening service had begun; the dean and canons, in full -costume, were chanting in the choir. Dalaber stopped at the door -listening to the majestic sounds of the organ at which Taverner -presided, and to the harmonious strains of the choristers. They were -singing the _Magnificat: My soul doth magnify the Lord.... He hath -holpen his servant Israel_. It seemed to Dalaber that they were -singing Garret's deliverance. But his voice could not join in their -song of praise. "Alas!" he exclaimed, "all my singing and music is -turned into sighing and musing."[612] - - [611] Ibid. - - [612] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: RAGE OF THE THREE DOCTORS.] - -As he listened, leaning against the entrance into the choir, Dr. -Cottisford, the university commissary, arrived with hasty step, "bare -headed, and as pale as ashes." He passed Anthony without noticing him, -and going straight to the dean appeared to announce some important and -unpleasant news. "I know well the cause of his sorrow," thought -Dalaber as he watched every gesture. The commissary had scarcely -finished his report when the dean arose, and both left the choir with -undisguised confusion. They had only reached the middle of the -anti-chapel when Dr. London ran in, puffing and chafing and stamping, -"like a hungry and greedy lion seeking his prey."[613] All three -stopped, questioned each other, and deplored their misfortune. Their -rapid and eager movements indicated the liveliest emotion; London -above all could not restrain himself. He attacked the commissary, and -blamed him for his negligence, so that at last Cottisford burst into -tears. "Deeds, not tears," said the fanatical London; and forthwith -they despatched officers and spies along every road. - - [613] Foxe, v. p. 424. - -Anthony having left the chapel hurried to Clark's to tell him of the -escape of his friend. "We are walking in the midst of wolves and -tigers," replied Clark; "prepare for persecution. _Prudentia -serpentina et simplicitas columbina_ (the wisdom of serpents and the -harmlessness of doves) must be our motto. O God, give us the courage -these evil times require." All in the little flock were delighted at -Garret's deliverance. Sumner and Betts, who had come in, ran off to -tell it to the other brethren in the College,[614] and Dalaber -hastened to Corpus Christi. All these pious young men felt themselves -to be soldiers in the same army, travellers in the same company, -brothers in the same family. Fraternal love nowhere shone so brightly -in the days of the Reformation as among the Christians of Great -Britain. This is a feature worthy of notice. - - [614] To tell unto our other brethren; (for there were divers else in - that college.) Ibid. - -Fitzjames, Udal, and Diet were met together in the rooms of the -latter, at Corpus Christi college, when Dalaber arrived. They ate -their frugal meal, with downcast eyes and broken voices, conversing of -Oxford, of England, and of the perils hanging over them.[615] Then -rising from table they fell on their knees, called upon God for aid, -and separated, Fitzjames taking Dalaber with him to St. Alban's Hall. -They were afraid that the servant of Gloucester College had betrayed -him. - - [615] Considering our state and peril at hand. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: DALABER'S ALARM.] - -The disciples of the gospel at Oxford passed the night in great -anxiety. Garret's flight, the rage of the priests, the dangers of the -rising church, the roaring of a storm that filled the air and -re-echoed through the long cloisters--all impressed them with terror. -On Sunday the 11th of February, Dalaber, who was stirring at five in -the morning, set out for his room in Gloucester College. Finding the -gates shut, he walked up and down beneath the walls in the mud, for it -had rained all night. As he paced to and fro along the solitary street -in the obscure dawn, a thousand thoughts alarmed his mind. It was -known, he said to himself, that he had taken part in Garret's flight; -he would be arrested, and his friend's escape would be revenged on -him.[616] He was weighed down by sorrow and alarm; he sighed -heavily;[617] he imagined he saw Wolsey's commissioners demanding the -names of his accomplices, and pretending to draw up a proscription -list at his dictation; he recollected that on more than one occasion -cruel priests had extorted from the Lollards the names of their -brethren, and terrified at the possibility of such a crime, he -exclaimed; "O God, I swear to thee that I will accuse no man, ... I -will tell nothing but what is perfectly well known."[618] - - [616] My musing head being full of forecasting cares. Foxe, v. p. 423. - - [617] My sorrowful heart flowing with doleful sighs. Ibid. - - [618] I fully determined in my conscience before God that I would - accuse no man. Ibid. - -At last, after an hour of anguish, he was able to enter the college. -He hastened in, but when he tried to open his door, he found that the -lock had been picked. The door gave way to a strong push, and what a -sight met his eyes! his bedstead overturned, the blankets scattered on -the floor, his clothes all confusion in his wardrobe, his study broken -into and left open. He doubted not that Garret's dress had betrayed -him; and he was gazing at this sad spectacle in alarm, when a monk who -occupied the adjoining rooms came and told him what had taken place: -"The commissary and two proctors, armed with swords and bills, broke -open your door in the middle of the night. They pierced your bed-straw -through and through to make sure Garret was not hidden there;[619] -they carefully searched every nook and corner, but were not able to -discover any traces of the fugitive." At these words Dalaber breathed -again ... but the monk had not ended. "I have orders," he added, "to -send you to the prior." Anthony Dunstan, the prior, was a fanatical -and avaricious monk; and the confusion into which this message threw -Dalaber was so great, that he went just as he was, all bespattered -with mud, to the rooms of his superior. - - [619] With bills and swords thrusted through my bed-straw. Ibid. p. - 425 - -[Sidenote: DALABER INTERROGATED.] - -The prior, who was standing with his face towards the door, looked at -Dalaber from head to foot as he came in. "Where did you pass the -night?" he asked. "At St. Alban's Hall with Fitzjames." The prior with -a gesture of incredulity continued: "Was not Master Garret with you -yesterday?"--"Yes."--"Where is he now?"--"I do not know." During this -examination, the prior had remarked a large double gilt silver ring on -Anthony's finger, with the initials A. D.[620] "Show me that," said -the prior. Dalaber gave him the ring, and the prior believing it to be -of solid gold, put it on his own finger, adding with a cunning leer: -"This ring is mine: it bears my name. A is for _Anthony_, and D for -_Dunstan_." "Would to God," thought Dalaber, "that I were as well -delivered from his company, as I am sure of being delivered of my -ring." - - [620] Then had he spied on my fore-finger a big ring of silver, very - well double-gilted. Foxe. v. p. 425. - -At this moment the chief beadle, with two or three of the commissary's -men, entered and conducted Dalaber to the chapel of Lincoln college, -where three ill-omened figures were standing beside the altar: they -were Cottisford, London, and Higdon. "Where is Garret?" asked London; -and pointing to his disordered dress, he continued: "Your shoes and -garments covered with mud prove that you have been out all night with -him. If you do not say where you have taken him, you will be sent to -the Tower."--"Yes," added Higdon, "to _Little-ease_ [one of the most -horrible dungeons in the prison,] and you will be put to the torture, -do you hear?" Then the three doctors spent two hours attempting to -shake the young man by flattering promises and frightful threats; but -all was useless. The commissary then gave a sign, the officers stepped -forward, and the judges ascended a narrow staircase leading to a large -room situated above the commissary's chamber. Here Dalaber was -deprived of his purse and girdle, and his legs were placed in the -stocks, so that his feet were almost as high as his head.[621] When -that was done, the three doctors devoutly went to mass. - - [621] Ibid. p. 426. - -Poor Anthony, left alone in this frightful position, recollected the -warning Clark had given him two years before. He groaned heavily and -cried to God:[622] "O Father! that my suffering may be for thy glory, -and for the consolation of my brethren! Happen what may, I will never -accuse one of them." After this noble protest, Anthony felt an -increase of peace in his heart; but a new sorrow was reserved for him. - - [622] Ibid. p. 427. - -[Sidenote: GARRET AND OTHERS IMPRISONED.] - -Garret, who had directed his course westwards, with the intention of -going to Wales, had been caught at Hinksey, a short distance from -Oxford. He was brought back, and thrown into the dungeon in which -Dalaber had been placed after the torture. Their gloomy presentiments -were to be more than fulfilled. - -In fact Wolsey was deeply irritated at seeing the college [Christ -Church], which he had intended should be "the most glorious in the -world," made the haunt of heresy, and the young men, whom he had so -carefully chosen, become distributors of the New Testament. By -favouring literature, he had had in view the triumph of the clergy, -and literature had on the contrary served to the triumph of the -Gospel. He issued his orders without delay, and the university was -filled with terror. John Clark, John Fryth, Henry Sumner, William -Betts, Richard Taverner, Richard Cox, Michael Drumm, Godfrey Harman, -Thomas Lawney, Radley, and others besides of Cardinal's College; Udal, -Diet, and others of Corpus Christi; Eden and several of his friends of -Magdalene; Goodman, William Bayley, Robert Ferrar, John Salisbury of -Gloucester, Barnard, and St. Mary's Colleges; were seized and thrown -into prison. Wolsey had promised them glory; he gave them a dungeon, -hoping in this manner to save the power of the priests, and to repress -that awakening of truth and liberty which was spreading from the -continent to England. - -Under Cardinal's College there was a deep cellar sunk in the earth, in -which the butler kept his salt fish. Into this hole these young men, -the choice of England, were thrust. The dampness of this cave, the -corrupted air they breathed, the horrible smell given out by the fish, -seriously affected the prisoners, already weakened by study. Their -hearts were bursting with groans, their faith was shaken, and the most -mournful scenes followed each other in this foul dungeon. The wretched -captives gazed on one another, wept, and prayed. This trial was -destined to be a salutary one to them: "Alas!" said Fryth on a -subsequent occasion, "I see that besides the word of God, there is -indeed a second purgatory ... but it is not that invented by Rome; it -is the cross of tribulation to which God has nailed us."[623] - - [623] God naileth us to the cross to heal our infirmities. Tyndale and - Fryth's Works, iii. p. 91. (ed. Russell.) - -[Sidenote: CONDEMNATION AND HUMILIATION.] - -At last the prisoners were taken out one by one and brought before -their judges; two only were released. The first was Betts, afterwards -chaplain to Anne Boleyn: they had not been able to find any -prohibited books in his room, and he pleaded his cause with great -talent. The other was Taverner; he had hidden Clark's books under his -school-room floor, where they had been discovered; but his love for -the arts saved him: "Pshaw! he is only a musician," said the cardinal. - -All the rest were condemned. A great fire was kindled at the top of -the market-place;[624] a long procession was marshalled, and these -unfortunate men were led out, each bearing a fagot. When they came -near the fire, they were compelled to throw into it the heretical -books that had been found in their rooms, after which they were taken -back to their noisome prison. There seemed to be a barbarous pleasure -in treating these young and generous men so vilely. In other countries -also, Rome was preparing to stifle in the flames the noblest geniuses -of France, Spain, and Italy. Such was the reception letters and the -Gospel met with from popery in the sixteenth century. - - [624] There was made a great fire upon the top of Carfax. Foxe, v. p. - 428. - -Every plant of God's must be beaten by the wind, even at the risk of -its being uprooted; if it receives only the gentle rays of the sun, -there is reason to fear that it will dry up and wither before it -produces fruit. _Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, -it abideth alone._ There was to arise one day a real church in -England, for the persecution had begun. - -We have to contemplate still further trials. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Persecution at Cambridge--Barnes arrested--A grand - Search--Barnes at Wolsey's Palace--Interrogated by the - Cardinal--Conversation between Wolsey and Barnes--Barnes - threatened with the Stake--His Fall and public - Penance--Richard Bayfield--His Faith and - Imprisonment--Visits Cambridge--Joins Tyndale--The - Confessors in the Cellar at Oxford--Four of them die--The - rest liberated. - - -[Sidenote: SUPREMACY OF SELF IN ROMANISM.] - -Cambridge, which had produced Latimer, Bilney, Stafford, and Barnes, -had at first appeared to occupy the front rank in the English -reformation. Oxford by receiving the crown of persecution seemed now -to have outstripped the sister university. And yet Cambridge was to -have its share of suffering. The investigation had begun at Oxford on -Monday the 5th of February, and on the very same day two of Wolsey's -creatures, Dr. Capon, one of his chaplains, and Gibson, a -sergeant-at-arms, notorious for his arrogance, left London for -Cambridge. Submission, was the pass-word of popery. "Yes, submission," -was responded from every part of Christendom by men of sincere piety -and profound understanding; "submission to the legitimate authority -against which Roman-catholicism has rebelled." According to their -views the traditionalism and pelagianism of the Romish church had set -up the supremacy of fallen reason in opposition to the divine -supremacy of the word and of grace. The external and apparent -sacrifice of self which Roman-catholicism imposes,--obedience to a -confessor or to the pope, arbitrary penance, ascetic practices, and -celibacy,--only served to create, and so to strengthen and perpetuate, -a delusion as to the egotistic preservation of a sinful personality. -When the Reformation proclaimed liberty, so far as regarded ordinances -of human invention, it was with the view of bringing man's heart and -life into subjection to their real Sovereign. The reign of God was -commencing; that of the priests must needs come to an end. No man can -serve two masters. Such were the important truths which gradually -dawned upon the world, and which it became necessary to extinguish -without delay. - -[Sidenote: SEARCH FOR THE HERETICAL BOOKS.] - -On the day after their arrival in Cambridge, on Tuesday the 6th of -February, Capon and Gibson went to the convocation house, where -several of the doctors were talking together. Their appearance caused -some anxiety among the spectators, who looked upon the strangers with -distrust. On a sudden Gibson moved forward, put his hand on Barnes, -and arrested him in the presence of his friends.[625] The latter were -frightened, and this was what the sergeant wanted. "What!" said they, -"the prior of the Augustines, the restorer of letters in Cambridge, -arrested by a sergeant!" This was not all. Wolsey's agents were to -seize the books come from Germany, and their owners; Bilney, Latimer, -Stafford, Arthur, and their friends, were all to be imprisoned, for -they possessed the New Testament. Thirty members of the university -were pointed out as suspected; and some miserable wretches, who had -been bribed by the inquisitors, offered to show the place in every -room where the prohibited books were hidden. But while the necessary -preparations were making for this search, Bilney, Latimer, and their -colleagues, being warned in time, got the books removed; they were -taken away not only by the doors but by the windows, even by the -roofs, and anxious inquiry was made for sure places in which they -could be concealed. - - [625] Suddenly arrested Barnes openly in the convocation house to make - all others afraid. Foxe, v. p. 416. - -This work was hardly ended, when the vice-chancellor of the -university, the sergeant-at-arms, Wolsey's chaplain, the proctors, and -the informers began their rounds. They opened the first room, entered, -searched, and found nothing. They passed on to the second, there was -nothing. The sergeant was astonished, and grew angry. On reaching the -third room, he ran directly to the place that had been pointed -out,--still there was nothing. The same thing occurred every where; -never was inquisitor more mortified. He dared not lay hands on the -persons of the evangelical doctors; his orders bore that he was to -seize the books and _their owners_. But as no books were found, there -could be no prisoners. Luckily there was one man (the prior of the -Augustines) against whom there were particular charges. The sergeant -promised to compensate himself at Barnes's expense for his useless -labours. - -The next day Gibson and Capon set out for London with Barnes. During -this mournful journey the prior, in great agitation, at one time -determined to brave all England, and at another trembled like a leaf. -At last their journey was ended; the chaplain left his prisoner at -Parnell's house, close by the stocks.[626] Three students (Coverdale, -Goodwin, and Field) had followed their master to cheer him with their -tender affection. - - [626] Foxe, v. p. 416. - -[Sidenote: CONVERSATION BETWEEN WOLSEY AND BARNES.] - -On Thursday (8th February) the sergeant conducted Barnes to the -cardinal's palace at Westminster; the wretched prior, whose enthusiasm -had given way to objection, waited all day before he could be -admitted. What a day! Will no one come to his assistance? Doctor -Gardiner, Wolsey's secretary, and Fox, his steward, both old friends -of Barnes, passed through the gallery in the evening, and went up to -the prisoner, who begged them to procure him an audience with the -cardinal. When night had come, these officers introduced the prior -into the room where their master was sitting, and Barnes, as was -customary, fell on his knees before him. "Is this the Doctor Barnes -who is accused of heresy?" asked Wolsey, in a haughty tone, of Fox and -Gardiner. They replied in the affirmative. The cardinal then turning -to Barnes, who was still kneeling, said to him ironically, and not -without reason: "What, master doctor, had you not sufficient scope in -the Scriptures to teach the people; but my golden shoes, my poleaxes, -my pillars, my golden cushions, my crosses, did so sore offend you, -that you must make us a laughing-stock, _ridiculum caput_, amongst the -people? We were jollily that day laughed to scorn. Verily it was a -sermon more fit to be preached on a stage than in a pulpit; for at the -last you said I wore a pair of _red_ gloves--I should say _bloody_ -gloves (quoth you)....Eh! what think you, master doctor?" Barnes, -wishing to elude these embarrassing questions, answered vaguely: "I -spoke nothing but the truth out of the Scriptures, according to my -conscience and according to the old doctors." He then presented to the -cardinal a statement of his teaching. - -Wolsey received the papers with a smile: "Oh, ho!" said he as he -counted the six sheets, "I perceive you intend to stand to your -articles and to show your learning." "With the grace of God," said -Barnes. Wolsey then began to read them, and stopped at the sixth -article, which ran thus: "I will never believe that one man may, by -the law of God, be bishop of two or three cities, yea, of a whole -country, for it is contrary to St. Paul, who saith: _I have left thee -behind, to set in every city a bishop_." Barnes did not quote -correctly, for the apostle says: "_to ordain elders in every -city_."[627] Wolsey was displeased at this thesis: "Ah! this touches -me," he said: "Do you think it wrong (seeing the ordinance of the -church) that one bishop should have so many cities underneath him?" "I -know of no ordinance of the church," Barnes replied, "as concerning -this thing, but Paul's saying only." - - [627] [Greek text]. Titus, i, 5. - -Although this controversy interested the cardinal, the personal attack -of which he had to complain touched him more keenly. "Good," said -Wolsey; and then with a condescension hardly to be expected from so -proud a man, he deigned almost to justify himself. "You charge me with -displaying a royal pomp; but do you not understand that, being called -to represent his majesty, I must strive by these means to strike -terror into the wicked?"--"It is not your pomp or your poleaxes," -Barnes courageously answered, "that will save the king's person.... -God will save him, who said: _Per me reges regnant_." Barnes, instead -of profiting by the cardinal's kindness to present an humble -justification, as Dean Colet had formerly done to Henry VIII, dared -preach him a second sermon to his face. Wolsey felt the colour mount -to his cheeks. "Well, gentlemen," said he, turning to Fox and -Gardiner, "you hear him! Is this the wise and learned man of whom you -spoke to me?" - -[Sidenote: BARNES FALLS.] - -At these words both steward and secretary fell on their knees, saying: -"My lord, pardon him for mercy's sake."--"Can you find ten or even six -doctors of divinity willing to swear that you are free from heresy?" -asked Wolsey. Barnes offered twenty honest men, quite as learned as -himself, or even more so. "I must have doctors in divinity, men as old -as yourself."--"That is impossible," said the prior. "In that case you -must be burnt," continued the cardinal. "Let him be taken to the -Tower." Gardiner and Fox offering to become his sureties, Wolsey -permitted him to pass the night at Parnell's. - -"It is no time to think of sleeping," said Barnes as he entered the -house, "we must write." Those harsh and terrible words, _you must be -burnt_, resounded continually in his ears. He dictated all night to -his three young friends a defence of his articles. - -The next day he was taken before the chapter, at which Clarke, bishop -of Bath, Standish, and other doctors were present. His judges laid -before him a long statement, and said to him: "Promise to read this -paper in public, without omitting or adding a single word." It was -then read to him. "I would die first," was his reply. "Will you abjure -or be burnt alive?" said his judges; "take your choice." The -alternative was dreadful. Poor Barnes, a prey to the deepest agony, -shrank at the thought of the stake; then, suddenly his courage -revived, and he exclaimed: "I had rather be burnt than abjure." -Gardiner and Fox did all they could to persuade him. "Listen to -reason," said they craftily: "your articles are true; that is not the -question. We want to know whether by your death you will let error -triumph, or whether you would rather remain to defend the truth, when -better days may come." - -They entreated him; they put forward the most plausible motives; from -time to time they uttered the terrible words, _burnt alive!_ His blood -froze in his veins; he knew not what he said or did ... they placed a -paper before him--they put a pen in his hand--his head was bewildered, -he signed his name with a deep sigh. This unhappy man was destined at -a later period to be a faithful martyr of Jesus Christ; but he had not -yet learnt to "resist even unto blood." Barnes had fallen. - -[Sidenote: HIS PUBLIC PENANCE.] - -On the following morning (Sunday, 11th February) a solemn spectacle -was preparing at St. Paul's. Before daybreak, all were astir in the -prison of the poor prior; and at eight o'clock, the knight-marshal -with his tipstaves, and the warden of the Fleet prison, with his -billmen, conducted Barnes to St. Paul's, along with four of the Hanse -merchants who had first brought to London the New Testament of Jesus -Christ in English. The fifth of these pious merchants held an immense -taper in his hands. A persevering search had discovered that it was -these men to whom England was indebted for the so much dreaded book; -their warehouses were surrounded and their persons arrested. On the -top of St. Paul's steps was a platform, and on the platform a throne, -and on the throne the cardinal, dressed in scarlet--like a "bloody -antichrist," says the chronicler. On his head glittered the hat of -which Barnes had spoken so ill; around him were thirty-six bishops, -abbots, priors, and all his doctors, dressed in damask and satin; the -vast cathedral was full. The bishop of Rochester having gone into a -pulpit placed at the top of the steps, Barnes and the merchants, each -bearing a faggot, were compelled to kneel and listen to a sermon -intended to cure these poor creatures of that taste for insurrection -against popery which was beginning to spread in every quarter. The -sermon ended, the cardinal mounted his mule, took his station under a -magnificent canopy, and rode off. After this Barnes and his five -companions walked three times round a fire, lighted before the cross -at the north gate of the cathedral. The dejected prior, with downcast -head, dragged himself along, rather than walked. After the third turn, -the prisoners threw their faggots into the flames; some "heretical" -books also were flung in; and the bishop of Rochester having given -absolution to the six penitents, they were led back to prison to be -kept there during the lord cardinal's pleasure. Barnes could not weep -now; the thought of his relapse, and of the effects so guilty an -example might produce, had deprived him of all moral energy. In the -month of August, he was led out of prison and confined in the -Augustine convent. - -[Sidenote: THE MONK OF BURY.] - -Barnes was not the only man at Cambridge upon whom the blow had -fallen. Since the year 1520, a monk named Richard Bayfield had been an -inmate of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. His affability delighted -every traveller. One day, when engaged as chamberlain in receiving -Barnes, who had come to visit Doctor Ruffam, his fellow-student at -Louvain, two men entered the convent. They were pious persons, and of -great consideration in London, where they carried on the occupation of -brick-making, and had risen to be wardens of their guild. Their names -were Maxwell and Stacy, men "well grafted in the doctrine of Christ," -says the historian, who had led many to the Saviour by their -conversation and exemplary life. Being accustomed to travel once -a-year through the counties to visit their brethren, and extend a -knowledge of the Gospel, they used to lodge, according to the usages -of the time, in the convents and abbeys. A conversation soon arose -between Barnes, Stacy, and Maxwell, which struck the lay-brother. -Barnes, who had observed his attention, gave him, as he was leaving -the convent, a New Testament in Latin, and the two brick-makers added -a New Testament in English, with _The Wicked Mammon_ and _The -Obedience of a Christian Man_. The lay-brother ran and hid the books -in his cell, and for two years read them constantly. At last he was -discovered, and reprimanded; but he boldly confessed his faith. Upon -this the monks threw him into prison, set him in the stocks, put a gag -in his mouth, and cruelly whipped him, to prevent his speaking of -grace.[628] The unhappy Bayfield remained nine months in this -condition. - - [628] Foxe, iv. p. 681. - -When Barnes repeated his visit to Bury at a later period, he did not -find the amiable chamberlain at the gates of the abbey. Upon inquiry -he learnt his condition, and immediately took steps to procure his -deliverance. Dr. Ruffam came to his aid: "Give him to me," said -Barnes, "I will take him to Cambridge." The prior of the Augustines -was at that time held in high esteem; his request was granted, in the -hope that he would lead back Bayfield to the doctrines of the church. -But the very reverse took place: intercourse with the Cambridge -brethren strengthened the young monk's faith. On a sudden his -happiness vanished. Barnes, his friend and benefactor, was carried to -London, and the monks of Bury St. Edmunds, alarmed at the noise this -affair created, summoned him to return to the abbey. But Bayfield, -resolving to submit to their yoke no longer, went to London, and lay -concealed at Maxwell and Stacy's. One day, having left his -hiding-place, he was crossing Lombard Street, when he met a priest -named Pierson and two other religious of his order, with whom he -entered into a conversation which greatly scandalized them. "You must -depart forthwith," said Maxwell and Stacy to him on his return. -Bayfield received a small sum of money from them, went on board a -ship, and as soon as he reached the continent, hastened to find -Tyndale. During this time scenes of a very different nature from those -which had taken place at Cambridge, but not less heart-rending, were -passing at Oxford. - -[Sidenote: THE CONFESSORS IN THE CELLAR AT OXFORD.] - -The storm of persecution was raging there with more violence than at -Cambridge. Clark and the other confessors of the name of Christ were -still confined in their under-ground prison. The air they breathed, -the food they took (and they ate nothing but salt fish[629]), the -burning thirst this created, the thoughts by which they were agitated, -all together combined to crush these noble-hearted men. Their bodies -wasted day by day; they wandered like spectres up and down their -gloomy cellar. Those animated discussions in which the deep questions -then convulsing Christendom were so eloquently debated were at an end; -they were like shadow meeting shadow. Their hollow eyes cast a vague -and haggard glance on one another, and after gazing for a moment, they -passed on without speaking. Clark, Sumner, Bayley, and Goodman, -consumed by fever, feebly crawled along, leaning against their dungeon -walls. The first, who was also the eldest, could not walk without the -support of one of his fellow-prisoners. Soon he was quite unable to -move, and lay stretched upon the damp floor. The brethren gathered -round him, sought to discover in his features whether death was not -about to cut short the days of him who had brought many of them to the -knowledge of Christ. They repeated to him slowly the words of -Scripture, and then knelt down by his side and uttered a fervent -prayer. - - [629] Foxe, v, p. 5. - -Clark, feeling his end draw near, asked for the communion. The jailors -conveyed his request to their master; the noise of the bolts was soon -heard, and a turnkey, stepping into the midst of the disconsolate -band, pronounced a cruel _no!_[630] On hearing this, Clark looked -towards heaven, and exclaimed with a father of the church: _Crede et -manducasti_, Believe and thou hast eaten.[631] He was lost in thought: -he contemplated the crucified Son of God; by faith he ate and drank -the flesh and blood of Christ, and experienced in his inner life the -strengthening action of the Redeemer. Men might refuse him the host, -but Jesus had given him his body; and from that hour he felt -strengthened by a living union with the King of heaven. - - [630] Not be suffered to receive the communion, being in prison. Ibid. - p. 428. - - [631] Ibid. Habe fidem et tecum est quem non vides, (Have faith, and - he whom you do not see is with you,) says Augustine in another place. - See Serm. 235, 272. Tract. 26, Evang. Joh. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF FOUR PRISONERS.] - -Not alone did Clark descend into the shadowy valley: Sumner, Bayley, -and Goodman were sinking rapidly. Death, the gloomy inhabitant of this -foul prison, had taken possession of these four friends.[632] Their -brethren addressed fresh solicitations to the cardinal, at that time -closely occupied in negotiations with France, Rome, and Venice.[633] -He found means, however, to give a moment to the Oxford martyrs; and -just as these Christians were praying over their four dying -companions, the commissioner came and informed them, that "his -lordship, of his great goodness, permitted the sick persons to be -removed to their own chambers." Litters were brought, on which the -dying men were placed and carried to their rooms;[634] the doors were -closed again upon those whose lives this frightful dungeon had not yet -attacked. - - [632] Taking their death in the same prison. Foxe, v, p. 5. - - [633] State Papers, i, p. 169. - - [634] Foxe, v, p. 5. - -It was the middle of August. The wretched men who had passed six -months in the cellar were transported in vain to their chambers and -their beds; several members of the university ineffectually tried by -their cares and their tender charity to recall them to life. It was -too late. The severities of popery had killed these noble witnesses. -The approach of death soon betrayed itself; their blood grew cold, -their limbs stiff, and their bedimmed eyes sought only Jesus Christ, -their everlasting hope. Clark, Sumner, and Bayley died in the same -week. Goodman followed close upon them.[635] - - [635] Ibid. - -This unexpected catastrophe softened Wolsey. He was cruel only as far -as his interest and the safety of the church required. He feared that -the death of so many young men would raise public opinion against him, -or that these catastrophes would damage his college; perhaps even some -sentiment of humanity may have touched his heart. "Set the rest at -liberty," he wrote to his agents, "but upon condition that they do not -go above ten miles from Oxford." The university beheld these young men -issue from their living tomb pale, wasted, weak, and with faltering -steps. At that time they were not men of mark; it was their youth that -touched the spectators' hearts; but in after-years they all occupied -an important place in the church. They were Cox, who became Bishop of -Ely, and tutor to Edward the Prince Royal; Drumm, who under Cranmer -became one of the six preachers at Canterbury; Udal, afterwards master -of Westminster and Eton schools; Salisbury, dean of Norwich, and then -bishop of Sodor and Man, who in all his wealth and greatness often -recalled his frightful prison at Oxford as a title to glory; Ferrar, -afterwards Cranmer's chaplain, bishop of St. David's, and a martyr -even unto death, after an interval of thirty years; Fryth, Tyndale's -friend, to whom this deliverance proved only a delay; and several -others. When they came forth from their terrible dungeon, their -friends ran up to them, supported their faltering steps, and embraced -them amidst floods of tears. Fryth quitted the university not long -after and went to Flanders.[636] Thus was the tempest stayed which had -so fearfully ravaged Oxford. But the calm was of no long duration; an -unexpected circumstance became perilous to the cause of the -Reformation. - - [636] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, iii. p. 75 (edit. Russel). - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Luther's Letter to the King--Henry's Anger--His - Reply--Luther's Resolution--Persecutions--Barnes - escapes--Proclamations against the New Testament--W. Roy to - Caiaphas--Third Edition of the New Testament--The Triumph of - Law and Liberty--Hacket attacks the Printer--Hacket's - Complaints--A Seizure--The Year 1526 in England. - - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S LETTER TO THE KING.] - -Henry was still under the impression of the famous _Supplication of -the Beggars_, when Luther's interference increased his anger. The -letter which, at the advice of Christiern, king of Denmark, this -reformer had written to him in September 1525, had miscarried. The -Wittemberg doctor hearing nothing of it, had boldly printed it, and -sent a copy to the king. "I am informed," said Luther, "that your -Majesty is beginning to favour the Gospel,[637] and to be disgusted -with the perverse race that fights against it in your noble -kingdom.... It is true that, according to Scripture, _the kings of the -earth take counsel together against the Lord_, and we cannot, -consequently, expect to see them favourable to the truth. How -fervently do I wish that this miracle may be accomplished in the -person of your Majesty."[638] - - [637] Majestatem tuam cæpisse favere Evangelio. Cochlæus, p. 136. - - [638] Huic miraculo in Majestate tua quam opto ex totis medullis. - Ibid. p. 127. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S REPLY.] - -We may imagine Henry's wrath as he read this letter. "What!" said he, -"does this apostate monk dare print a letter addressed to us, without -having even sent it, or at the least without knowing if we have ever -received it?... And as if that were not enough, he insinuates that we -are among his partisans.... He wins over also one or two wretches, -born in our kingdom, and engages them to translate the New Testament -into English, adding thereto certain prefaces and poisonous glosses." -Thus spoke Henry. The idea that his name should be associated with -that of the Wittemberg monk called all the blood into his face. He -will reply right royally to such unblushing impudence. He summoned -Wolsey forthwith. "Here!" said he, pointing to a passage concerning -the prelate, "here! read what is said of you!" And then he read aloud: -"_Illud monstrum et publicum odium Dei et hominum, cardinalis -Eboracensis, pestis illa regni tui_. You see, my lord, you are a -_monster_, an object of _hatred_ both to God and man, the _scourge_ of -my kingdom!" The king had hitherto allowed the bishops to do as they -pleased, and observed a sort of neutrality. He now determined to lay -it aside and begin a crusade against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but -he must first answer this impertinent letter. He consulted Sir Thomas -More, shut himself in his closet, and dictated to his secretary a -reply to the reformer: "You are ashamed of the book you have written -against me," he said, "I would counsel you to be ashamed of all that -you have written. They are full of disgusting errors and frantic -heresies; and are supported by the most audacious obstinacy. Your -venemous pen mocks the church, insults the fathers, abuses the saints, -despises the apostles, dishonours the holy virgin, and blasphemes God, -by making him the author of evil.... And after all that, you claim to -be an author whose like does not exist in the world!"[639] - - [639] Tantus autor haberi postulas, quantus nec hodie quisquam sit. - Cochlæus, p. 127. - -"You offer to publish a book in my praise.... I thank you!... You will -praise me most by abusing me; you will dishonour me beyond measure if -you praise me. I say with Seneca: _Tam turpe tibi sit laudari a -turpibus, quam si lauderis ob turpia_."[640] - - [640] Let it be as disgraceful to you to be praised by the vile, as if - you were praised for vile deeds. - -This letter, written by the _king of the English to the king of the -heretics_,[641] was immediately circulated throughout England bound up -with Luther's epistle. Henry, by publishing it, put his subjects on -their guard against the _unfaithful_ translations of the New -Testament, which were besides about to be burnt everywhere. "The -grapes seem beautiful," he said, "but beware how you wet your lips -with the wine made from them, for the adversary hath mingled poison -with it." - - [641] Rex Anglorum Regi hæreticorum scribit. Strype, Mem. i. p. 91. - The title of the pamphlet was _Litterarum quibus invictus Pr. Henricus - VIII. etc. etc. respondit ad quandam Epistolam M. Lutheri ad se - missam_. - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S FIRMNESS.] - -Luther, agitated by this rude lesson, tried to excuse himself. "I said -to myself, _There are twelve hours in the day_. Who knows? perhaps I -may find one lucky hour to gain the King of England. I therefore laid -my humble epistle at his feet; but alas! the swine have torn it. I am -willing to be silent ... but as regards my doctrine, I cannot impose -silence on it. It must cry aloud, it must bite. If any king imagines -he can make me retract my faith, he is a dreamer. So long as one drop -of blood remains in my body, I shall say no. Emperors, kings, the -devil, and even the whole universe, cannot frighten me when faith is -concerned. I claim to be proud, very proud, exceedingly proud. If my -doctrine had no other enemies than the king of England, Duke George, -the pope and their allies, all these soap-bubbles ... one little -prayer would long ago have worsted them all. Where are Pilate, Herod, -and Caiaphas now? Where are Nero, Domitian, and Maximilian? Where are -Arius, Pelagius, and Manes?--Where are they?... Where all our scribes -and all our tyrants will soon be.--But Christ? Christ is the same -always. - -"For a thousand years the Holy Scriptures have not shone in the world -with so much brightness as now.[642] I wait in peace for my last hour; -I have done what I could. O princes, my hands are clean from your -blood; it will fall on your own heads." - - [642] Als in tausend Jahren nicht gewesen ist. Luth. Opp. xix. p. 501. - -Bowing before the supreme royalty of Jesus Christ, Luther spoke thus -boldly to King Henry, who contested the rights of the word of God. - -A letter written against the reformer was not enough for the bishops. -Profiting by the wound Luther had inflicted on Henry's self-esteem, -they urged him to put down this revolt of the human understanding, -which threatened (as they averred) both the popedom and the monarchy. -They commenced the persecution. Latimer was summoned before Wolsey, -but his learning and presence of mind procured his dismissal. Bilney -also, who had been ordered to London, received an injunction not to -preach _Luther's doctrines_. "I will not preach Luther's doctrines, if -there are any peculiar to him," he said; "but I can and I must preach -the doctrine of Jesus Christ, although Luther should preach it too." -And finally Garret, led into the presence of his judges, was seized -with terror, and fell before the cruel threats of the bishop. When -restored to liberty, he fled from place to place,[643] endeavouring to -hide his sorrow, and to escape from the despotism of the priests, -awaiting the moment when he should give his life for Jesus Christ. - - [643] Foxe, v. p. 428. - -[Sidenote: BARNES ESCAPES.] - -The adversaries of the Reformation were not yet satisfied. The New -Testament continued to circulate, and depots were formed in several -convents. Barnes, a prisoner in the Augustine monastery in London, had -regained his courage, and loved his Bible more and more. One day about -the end of September, as three or four friends were reading in his -chamber, two simple peasants, John Tyball and Thomas Hilles, natives -of Bumpstead in Essex, came in. "How did you come to a knowledge of -the truth?" asked Barnes. They drew from their pockets some old -volumes containing the Gospels, and a few of the Epistles in English. -Barnes returned them with a smile. "They are nothing," he told them, -"in comparison with the new edition of the New Testament,"[644] a copy -of which the two peasants bought for three shillings and two-pence. -"Hide it carefully," said Barnes. When this came to the ears of the -clergy, Barnes was removed to Northampton to be burnt at the stake; -but he managed to escape; his friends reported that he was drowned; -and while strict search was making for him during a whole week along -the sea-coast, he secretly went on board a ship, and was carried to -Germany. "The cardinal will catch him even now," said the bishop of -London, "whatever amount of money it may cost him." When Barnes was -told of this, he remarked: "I am a poor simple wretch, not worth the -tenth penny they will give for me. Besides, if they burn me, what will -they gain by it?... The sun and the moon, fire and water, the stars -and the elements--yea, and also stones shall defend this cause against -them, _rather than the truth should perish_." Faith had returned to -Barnes's feeble heart. - - [644] Which books he did little regard, and made a twit of it. - Tyball's Confession in Bible Annals. i. p. 184. - -His escape added fuel to the wrath of the clergy. They proclaimed, -throughout the length and breadth of England, that the Holy Scriptures -contained an _infectious poison_,[645] and ordered a general search -after the word of God. On the 24th of October, 1526, the bishop of -London enjoined on his archdeacons to seize all translations of the -New Testament in English with or without glosses; and, a few days -later, the archbishop of Canterbury issued a mandate against all the -books which should contain "any particle of the New Testament."[646] -The primate remembered that a spark was sufficient to kindle a large -fire. - - [645] Libri pestiferum virus in se continentes, in promiscuam - provinciæ Cant. multitudinem sunt dispersi. (Wilkins, Concilia, iii. - p. 706.) Books containing an infectious poison are scattered in all - directions through the diocese of Canterbury. - - [646] Vel aliquam ejus particulam. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: ROY'S SATIRE.] - -On hearing of this order, William Roy, a sarcastic writer, published -a violent satire, in which figured _Judas_ (Standish), _Pilate_ -(Wolsey), and _Caiaphas_ (Tonstall). The author exclaimed with energy: - - God, of his goodness, grudged not to die, - Man to deliver from deadly damnation; - Whose will is, that we should know perfectly - What he here hath done for our salvation. - O cruel Caiaphas! full of crafty conspiration, - How durst thou give them false judgment - To burn God's word--the Holy Testament.[647] - - [647] Satire of W. Roy, printed in the Harl. Misc., vol. ix, p. 77, - (ed. 1809). - -The efforts of Caiaphas and his colleagues were indeed useless: the -priests were undertaking a work beyond their strength. If by some -terrible revolution all social forms should be destroyed in the world, -the living church of the elect, a divine institution in the midst of -human institutions, would still exist by the power of God, like a rock -in the midst of the tempest, and would transmit to future generations -the seeds of Christian life and civilization. It is the same with the -word, the creative principle of the church. It cannot perish here -below. The priests of England had something to learn on this matter. - -While the agents of the clergy were carrying out the archiepiscopal -mandate, and a merciless search was making everywhere for the New -Testaments from Worms, a new edition was discovered, fresh from the -press, of a smaller and more portable, and consequently more dangerous -size. It was printed by Christopher Eyndhoven of Antwerp, who had -consigned it to his correspondents in London. The annoyance of the -priests was extreme, and Hackett, the agent of Henry VIII in the Low -Countries, immediately received orders to get this man punished. "We -cannot deliver judgment without inquiry into the matter," said the -lords of Antwerp; "we will therefore have the book translated into -Flemish." "God forbid," said Hackett in alarm, "What! would you also -on your side of the ocean translate this book into the language of the -people?" "Well then," said one of the judges, less conscientious than -his colleagues, "let the king of England send us a copy of each of the -books he has burnt, and we will burn them likewise." Hackett wrote to -Wolsey for them, and as soon as they arrived the court met again. -Eyndhoven's counsel called upon the prosecutor to point out the -_heresies_ contained in the volume. The margrave (an officer of the -imperial government) shrank from the task, and said to Hackett, "I -give up the business!" The charge against Eyndhoven was dismissed. - -[Sidenote: LAW AND LIBERTY.] - -Thus did the Reformation awaken in Europe the slumbering spirit of law -and liberty. By enfranchising thought from the yoke of popery, it -prepared the way for other enfranchisements; and by restoring the -authority of the word of God, it brought back the reign of the law -among nations long the prey of turbulent passions and arbitrary power. -Then, as at all times, religious society forestalled civil society, -and gave it those two great principles of order and liberty, which -popery compromises or annuls. It was not in vain that the magistrates -of a Flemish city, enlightened by the first dawn of the Reformation, -set so noble an example; the English, who were very numerous in the -Hanse Towns, thus learnt once more the value of that civil and -religious liberty which is the time-honoured right of England, and of -which they were in after-years to give other nations the so much -needed lessons. - -"Well then," said Hackett, who was annoyed at their setting the law -above his master's will, "I will go and buy all these books, and send -them to the cardinal, that he may burn them." With these words he left -the court. But his anger evaporating,[648] he set off for Malines to -complain to the regent and her council of the Antwerp decision. -"What!" said he, "you punish those who circulate false money, and you -will not punish still more severely the man who coins it?--in this -case, he is the printer." "But that is just the point in dispute," -they replied; "we are not sure the money is _false_."--"How can it be -otherwise," answered Henry's agent, "since the bishops of England have -declared it so?" The imperial government, which was not very -favourably disposed towards England, ratified Eyndhoven's acquittal, -but permitted Hackett to burn all the copies of the New Testament he -could seize. He hastened to profit by this concession, and began -hunting after the Holy Scriptures, while the priests eagerly came to -his assistance. In their view, as well as in that of their English -colleagues, the supreme decision in matter of faith rested not with -the word of God but with the pope; and the best means of securing this -privilege to the pontiff was to reduce the Bible to ashes. - - [648] My choler was descended. Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i, p. - 129. - -Notwithstanding these trials, the year 1526 was a memorable one for -England. The English New Testament had been circulated from the shores -of the Channel to the borders of Scotland, and the Reformation had -begun in that island by the word of God. The revival of the sixteenth -century was in no country less than in England the emanation of a -royal mandate. But God, who had disseminated the Scriptures over -Britain, in defiance of the rulers of the nation, was about to make -use of their passions to remove the difficulties which opposed the -final triumph of his plans. We here enter upon a new phasis in the -history of the Reformation; and having studied the work of God in the -faith of the little ones, we proceed to contemplate the work of man in -the intrigues of the great ones of the earth. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Wolsey desires to be revenged--The Divorce - suggested--Henry's Sentiments towards the Queen--Wolsey's - first Steps--Longland's Proceedings--Refusal of Margaret of - Valois--Objection of the Bishop of Tarbes--Henry's - uneasiness--Catherine's Alarm--Mission to Spain. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY DESIRES TO BE REVENGED.] - -[Sidenote: THE DIVORCE SUGGESTED.] - -Wolsey, mortified at not being able to obtain the pontifical throne, -to which he had so ardently aspired, and being especially irritated by -the ill-will of Charles V, meditated a plan which, entirely -unsuspected by him, was to lead to the enfranchisement of England from -the papal yoke. "They laugh at me, and thrust me into the second -rank," he had exclaimed. "So be it! I will create such a confusion in -the world as has not been seen for ages.... I will do it, even should -England be swallowed up in the tempest!"[649] Desirous of exciting -imperishable hatred between Henry VIII and Charles V, he had -undertaken to break the marriage which Henry VII and Ferdinand the -Catholic had planned to unite for ever their families and their -crowns. His hatred of Charles was not his only motive. Catherine had -reproached him for his dissolute life,[650] and he had sworn to be -revenged. There can be no doubt about Wolsey's share in the matter. -"The _first terms_ of the divorce were put forward by me," he told the -French ambassador. "I did it," he added, "to cause a lasting -separation between the houses of England and Burgundy."[651] The best -informed writers of the sixteenth century, men of the most opposite -parties, Pole, Polydore, Virgil, Tyndale, Meteren, Pallavicini, -Sanders, and Roper, More's son-in-law, all agree in pointing to Wolsey -as the instigator of that divorce, which has become so famous.[652] He -desired to go still farther, and after inducing the king to put away -his queen, he hoped to prevail on the pope to depose the emperor.[653] -It was not his passion for Anne Boleyn, as so many of the Romish -fabulists have repeated; but the passion of a cardinal for the triple -crown which gave the signal of England's emancipation. Offended pride -is one of the most active principles of human nature. - - [649] Sandoval, i. p. 350. Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. iii. p. 17. - - [650] Malos oderat mores. (Polyd. Virg. p. 685.) She hated his - depraved habits. - - [651] Le Grand, Hist. du divorce, Preuves, p. 186. - - [652] Instigator et auctor concilii existimibatur (Pole, Apology). He - was furious mad, and imagined this divorcement between the king and - the queen (Tyndale's Works, i. p. 465). See also Sanderus, 7 and 9; - Polyd. Virg. p. 685; Meteren, Hist. of the Low Countries, p. 20; - Pallavicini, Conc. Trident, i, p. 203, etc. A contrary assertion of - Wolsey's has been adduced against these authorities in the - _Pamphleteer_, No. 42, p. 336; but a slight acquaintance with his - history soon teaches us that veracity was the least of his virtues. - - [653] Le Grand, Hist. du divorce, Preuves, p. 65, 69. - -Wolsey's design was a strange one, and difficult of execution, but not -impossible. Henry was living apparently on the best terms with -Catherine; on more than one occasion Erasmus had spoken of the royal -family of England as the pattern of the domestic virtues. But the most -ardent of Henry's desires was not satisfied; he had no son; those whom -the queen had borne him had died in their infancy, and Mary alone -survived. The deaths of these little children, at all times so -heart-rending, were particularly so in the palace of Greenwich. It -appeared to Catherine that the shade of the last Plantagenet, -immolated on her marriage altar, came forth to seize one after another -the heirs she gave to the throne of England, and to carry them away to -his tomb. The queen shed tears almost unceasingly, and implored the -divine mercy, while the king cursed his unhappy fate. The people -seemed to share in the royal sorrow; and men of learning and piety -(Longland was among their number)[654] declared against the validity -of the marriage. They said that "the papal dispensations had no force -when in opposition to the law of God." Yet hitherto Henry had rejected -every idea of a divorce.[655] - - [654] Jampridem conjugium regium, veluti infirmum. Polyd. Virg. p. - 685. - - [655] That matrimony which the king at first seemed not disposed to - annul. Strype, i, p. 135. - -The times had changed since 1509. The king had loved Catherine: her -reserve, mildness, and dignity, had charmed him. Greedy of pleasure -and applause, he was delighted to see his wife content to be the quiet -witness of his joys and of his triumphs. But gradually the queen had -grown older, her Spanish gravity had increased, her devout practices -were multiplied, and her infirmities, become more frequent, had left -the king no hope of having a son. From that hour, even while -continuing to praise her virtues, Henry grew cold towards her person, -and his love by degrees changed into repugnance. And then he thought -that the death of his children might be a sign of God's anger. This -idea had taken hold of him, and induced him to occupy apartments -separate from the queen's.[656] - - [656] Burnet. vol. i. p. 20 (London, 1841.) Letter from Grynæus to - Bucer. Strype, i, p. 135. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S FIRST STEPS.] - -Wolsey judged the moment favourable for beginning the attack. It was -in the latter months of 1526, when calling Longland, the king's -confessor, to him, and concealing his principal motive, he said: "You -know his majesty's anguish. The stability of his crown and his -everlasting salvation seem to be compromised alike. To whom can I -unbosom myself, if not to you, who must know the inmost secrets of his -soul?" The two bishops resolved to awaken Henry to the perils incurred -by his union with Catherine;[657] but Longland insisted that Wolsey -should take the first steps. - - [657] Quamprimum regi patefaciendum. (Polyd. Virg. p. 685.) That - forthwith it should be declared to the king. - -The cardinal waited upon the king, and reminded him of his scruples -before the betrothal; he exaggerated those entertained by the nation, -and speaking with unusual warmth, he entreated the king to remain no -longer in such danger:[658] "The holiness of your life and the -legitimacy of your succession are at stake." "My good father," said -Henry, "you would do well to consider the weight of the stone that you -have undertaken to move.[659] The queen is a woman of such exemplary -life that I have no motive for separating from her." - - [658] Vehementer orat ne se patiatur in tanto versari discrimine. - (Ibid.) He earnestly begged him not to suffer himself to be exposed to - such hazard. - - [659] Bone pater, vide bene quale saxum suo loco jacens movere - coneris. Ibid. - -The cardinal did not consider himself beaten; three days later he -appeared before the king accompanied by the bishop of Lincoln. "Most -mighty prince," said the confessor, who felt bold enough to speak -after the cardinal, "you cannot, like Herod, have your brother's -wife.[660] I exhort and conjure you, as having the care of your -soul,[661] to submit the matter to competent judges." Henry consented, -and perhaps not unwillingly. - - [660] Like another Herodes. More's Life, p. 129. - - [661] Ipse cui de salute animæ tuæ cura est, _hortor_, _rogo_, - _persuadeo_. Polyd. Virg. p. 686. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY PROPOSES MARGARET.] - -It was not enough for Wolsey to separate Henry from the emperor; he -must, for greater security, unite him to Francis I. The King of -England shall repudiate the aunt of Charles V, and then marry the -sister of the French king. Proud of the success he had obtained in -the first part of his plan, Wolsey entered upon the second. "There is -a princess," he told the king, "whose birth, graces, and talents charm -all Europe. Margaret of Valois, sister of King Francis, is superior to -all of her sex, and no one is worthier of your alliance."[662] Henry -made answer that it was a serious matter, requiring deliberate -examination. Wolsey, however, placed in the king's hands a portrait of -Margaret, and it has been imagined that he even privily caused her -sentiments to be sounded. Be that as it may, the sister of Francis I -having learnt that she was pointed at as the future queen of England, -rebelled at the idea of taking from an innocent woman a crown she had -worn so nobly. "The French king's sister knows too much of Christ to -consent unto such wickedness," said Tyndale.[663] Margaret of Valois -replied: "Let me hear no more of a marriage that can be effected only -at the expense of Catherine of Aragon's happiness and life."[664] The -woman who was destined in future years to fill the throne of England -was then residing at Margaret's court. Shortly after this, on the 24th -of January 1527, the sister of Francis I, married Henry d'Albret, king -of Navarre. - - [662] Mulier præter cæteras digna matrimonio tuo. Polyd. Virg p. 686. - - [663] Works (ed. Russell), vol. i. p. 464. - - [664] Princeps illa, mulier optima, noluerit quicquam audire de - nuptiis, quæ nuptiæ non possunt conjungi sine miserabili Catharinæ - casu atque adeo interitu. (Polyd. Virg. p. 687.) That princess, a most - noble woman, would not listen to any proposal for an alliance which - could not be made without involving Catherine in ruin and death. - -Henry VIII, desirous of information with regard to his favourite's -suggestion, commissioned Fox, his almoner, Pace, dean of St. Paul's, -and Wakefield, professor of Hebrew at Oxford, to study the passages of -Leviticus and Deuteronomy which related to marriage with a brother's -wife. Wakefield, who had no wish to commit himself, asked whether -Henry was _for_ or _against_ the divorce.[665] Pace replied to this -servile hebraist that the king wanted nothing but the truth. - - [665] Utrum staret ad te an contra te? Le Grand, Preuves, p. 2. - -But who would take the first public step in an undertaking so -hazardous? Every one shrank back; the terrible emperor alarmed them -all. It was a French bishop that hazarded the step; bishops meet us at -every turn in this affair of the divorce, with which bishops have so -violently reproached the Reformation. Henry, desirous of excusing -Wolsey, pretended afterwards that the objections of the French prelate -had preceded those of Longland and the cardinal. In February 1527, -Francis I, had sent an embassy to London, at the head of which was -Gabriel de Grammont, bishop of Tarbes, with the intention to procure -the hand of Mary of England. Henry's ministers having inquired -whether the engagements of Francis with the queen dowager of Portugal -did not oppose the commission with which the French bishop was -charged, the latter answered: "I will ask you in turn what has been -done to remove the impediments which opposed the marriage of which the -Princess Mary is issue."[666] They laid before the ambassador the -dispensation of Julius II, which he returned, saying, that the bull -was not _sufficient_, seeing that such a marriage was forbidden _jure -divino_,[667] and he added: "Have you English a different gospel from -ours?"[668] - - [666] What had been here provided for taking away the impediment of - that marriage. (State Papers, i. p. 199.) Le Grand (vol. i. p. 17.) - discredits the objections of the bishop of Tarbes; but this letter - from Wolsey to Henry VIII establishes them incontrovertibly. And - besides, Du Bellay, in a letter afterwards quoted by Le Grand himself, - states the matter still more strongly than Wolsey. - - [667] Wherewith the pope could not dispense, _nisi ex urgentissima - causa_. Wolsey to Henry VIII, dated 8th July. State Papers, vol. i, p. - 199. - - [668] Anglos, qui tuo imperio subsunt, hoc idem evangelium colere quod - nos colimus. (Sanders, 12.) The English, who are under thy rule, - follow the same gospel that we follow. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S UNEASINESS.] - -The king, when he heard these words (as he informs us himself), was -filled with fear and horror.[669] Three of the most respected bishops -of Christendom united to accuse him of incest! He began to speak of it -to certain individuals: "The scruples of my conscience have been -terribly increased (he said) since the bishop spoke of this matter -before my council in exceedingly plain words."[670] There is no reason -to believe that these _terrible_ troubles of which the king speaks -were a mere invention on his part. A disputed succession might again -plunge England into civil war. Even if no pretenders should spring up, -might they not see a rival house, a French prince for instance, wedded -to Henry's daughter, reigning over England? The king, in his anxiety, -had recourse to his favourite author, Thomas Aquinas, and this _angel -of the schools_ declared his marriage unlawful. Henry next opened the -Bible, and found this threat against the man who took his brother's -wife: "He shall be _childless_!" The denunciation increased his -trouble, for he had no heir. In the midst of this darkness a new -perspective opened before him. His conscience might be unbound; his -desire to have a younger wife might be gratified; he might have a -son!... The king resolved to lay the matter before a commission of -lawyers, and this commission soon wrote volumes.[671] - - [669] Quæ oratio quanto metu ac horrore animum nostrum turbaverit. - (Which speech has troubled our mind with much fear and horror.) - Henry's speech to the Lord Mayor and common council, at his palace of - Bridewell, 8th November 1528. (Hall, p. 754; Wilkins, Concil. iii. p. - 714.) - - [670] Du Bellay's letter in Le Grand. Preuves, p. 218. - - [671] So as the books excrescunt in magna volumina. Wolsey to Henry - VIII. State Papers, vol. i, p. 200. - -[Sidenote: CATHERINE'S ALARM.] - -During all this time Catherine, suspecting no evil, was occupied in -her devotions. Her heart, bruised by the death of her children and by -the king's coldness, sought consolation in prayer both privately and -in the royal chapel. She would rise at midnight and kneel down upon -the cold stones, and never missed any of the canonical services. But -one day (probably in May or June 1527) some officious person informed -her of the rumours circulating in the city and at court. Bursting with -anger and alarm, and all in tears, she hastened to the king, and -addressed him with the bitterest complaints.[672] Henry was content to -calm her by vague assurances; but the unfeeling Wolsey, troubling -himself still less than his master about Catherine's emotion, called -it, with a smile, "a short tragedy." - - [672] The queen hath broken with your grace thereof. State Papers, - vol. i. p. 200. - -The offended wife lost no time: it was necessary that the emperor -should be informed promptly, surely, and accurately of this -unprecedented insult. A letter would be insufficient, even were it not -intercepted. Catherine therefore determined to send her servant -Francis Philip, a Spaniard, to her nephew; and to conceal the object -of his journey, they proceeded, after the _tragedy_, to play a -_comedy_ in the Spanish style. "My mother is sick and desires to see -me," said Philip. Catherine begged the king to refuse her servant's -prayer; and Henry, divining the stratagem, resolved to employ trick -against trick.[673] "Philip's request is very proper," he made answer; -and Catherine, _from regard to her husband_, consented to his -departure. Henry meantime had given orders that, "notwithstanding any -safe conduct, the said Philip should be arrested and detained at -Calais, in such a manner, however, that no one should know whence the -stoppage proceeded." - - [673] The king's highness knowing great collusion and dissimulation - between them, doth also dissemble. Knight to Wolsey. Ibid. p. 215. - -It was to no purpose that the queen indulged in a culpable -dissimulation; a poisoned arrow had pierced her heart, and her words, -her manners, her complaints, her tears, the numerous messages she -sent, now to one and now to another, betrayed the secret which the -king wished still to conceal.[674] Her friends blamed her for this -publicity; men wondered what Charles would say when he heard of his -aunt's distress; they feared that peace would be broken; but -Catherine, whose heart was "rent in twain," was not to be moved by -diplomatic considerations. Her sorrow did not check Henry; with the -two motives which made him eager for a divorce--the scruples of his -conscience and the desire of an heir--was now combined a third still -more forcible. A woman was about to play an important part in the -destinies of England. - - [674] By her behaviour, manner, words, and messages sent to diverse, - hath published, divulged, etc. Ibid. p. 280. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Anne Boleyn appointed Maid of Honour to Catherine--Lord - Percy becomes attached to her--Wolsey separates them--Anne - enters Margaret's Household--Siege of Rome; - Cromwell--Wolsey's Intercession for the Popedom--He demands - the Hand of Renée of France for Henry--Failure--Anne - re-appears at Court--Repels the king's Advances--Henry's - Letter--He resolves to accelerate the Divorce--Two Motives - which induce Anne to refuse the Crown--Wolsey's Opposition. - - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN AND LORD PERCY.] - -Anne Boleyn, who had been placed by her father at the court of France, -had returned to England with Sir Thomas, then ambassador at Paris, at -the time that an English army made an incursion into Normandy (1522.) -It would appear that she was presented to the queen about this period, -and appointed one of Catherine's maids of honour. The following year -was a memorable one to her from her first sorrow. - -Among the young noblemen in the cardinal's household was Lord Percy, -eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland. While Wolsey was closeted -with the king, Percy was accustomed to resort to the queen's -apartments, where he passed the time among her ladies. He soon felt a -sincere passion for Anne, and the young maid of honour, who had been -cold to the addresses of the gentlemen at the court of Francis, -replied to the affections of the heir of Northumberland. The two young -people already indulged in day-dreams of a quiet, elegant, and happy -life in their noble castles of the north; but such dreams were fated -to be of short duration. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY SEPARATES THE YOUNG LOVERS.] - -Wolsey hated the Norfolks, and consequently the Boleyns. It was to -counterbalance their influence that he had been first introduced at -court. He became angry, therefore, when he saw one of his household -suing for the hand of the daughter and niece of his enemies. Besides, -certain partisans of the clergy accused Anne of being friendly to the -Reformation.[675]... It is generally believed that even at this period -Wolsey had discovered Henry's eyes turned complacently on the young -maid of honour, and that this induced him to thwart Percy's love; but -this seems improbable. Of all the women in England, Anne was the one -whose influence Wolsey would have had most cause to fear, and he -really did fear it; and he would have been but too happy to see her -married to Percy. It has been asserted that Henry prevailed on the -cardinal to thwart the affection of the two young people; but in that -case did he confide to Wolsey the real motive of his opposition? Did -the latter entertain criminal intentions? Did he undertake to yield up -to dishonour the daughter and niece of his political adversaries? This -would be horrible, but it is possible, and may even be deduced from -Cavendish's narrative; yet we will hope that it was not so. If it -were, Anne's virtue successfully baffled the infamous plot. - - [675] Meteren's Hist. of the Low Countries, folio, 20. - -But be that as it may, one day when Percy was in attendance upon the -cardinal, the latter rudely addressed him: "I marvel at your folly, -that you should attempt to contract yourself with that girl without -your father's or the king's consent. I command you to break with her." -Percy burst into tears, and besought the cardinal to plead his cause. -"I charge you to resort no more into her company," was Wolsey's cold -reply,[676] after which he rose up and left the room. Anne received an -order at the same time to leave the court. Proud and bold, and -ascribing her misfortune to Wolsey's hatred, she exclaimed as she -quitted the palace, "I will be revenged for this insult." But she had -scarcely taken up her abode in the gothic Halls of Hever Castle, when -news still more distressing overwhelmed her. Percy was married to Lady -Mary Talbot. She wept long and bitterly, and vowed against the young -nobleman who had deserted her a contempt equal to her hatred of the -cardinal. Anne was reserved for a more illustrious, but more unhappy -fate. - - [676] Cavendish's Wolsey. p. 123. Cavendish was present at this - conversation. - -This event necessarily rendered her residence in this country far from -attractive to Anne Boleyn. "She did not stay long in England," says -Burnet, following Camden; "she served queen Claude of France till her -death, and after that she was taken into service by King Francis' -sister." Anne Boleyn, lady-in-waiting to Margaret of Valois, was -consoled at last. She indulged in gaieties with all the vivacity of -her age, and glittered among the youngest and the fairest at all the -court festivities. - -In Margaret's house she met the most enlightened men of the age, and -her understanding and heart were developed simultaneously with the -graces. She began to read, without thoroughly understanding it, the -holy book in which her mistress (as Brantome informs us) found -consolation and repose, and to direct a few light and passing -thoughts to that "mild Emmanuel," to whom Margaret addressed such -beautiful verses. - -[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF ROME--CROMWELL.] - -At last Anne returned definitively to England. It has been asserted -that the queen-regent, fearing that Henry after the battle of Pavia -would invade France, had sent Anne to London to dissuade him from it. -But it was a stronger voice than hers which stopped the king of -England. "Remain quiet," wrote Charles V to him; "I have the stag in -my net, and we have only to think of sharing the spoils." Margaret of -Valois having married the king of Navarre at the end of January 1527, -and quitted Paris and her brother's court, it is supposed that Sir -Thomas Boleyn, who was unwilling that his daughter should take up her -abode in the Pyrenees, recalled her to England probably in the winter -or spring of the same year. "There is not the least evidence that she -came to it earlier," says a modern author.[677] She appeared once more -at court, and the niece of the Duke of Norfolk soon eclipsed her -companions, "by her excellent gesture and behaviour,"[678] as we learn -from a contemporary unfriendly to the Boleyns. All the court was -struck by the regularity of her features, the expression of her eyes, -the gentleness of her manners, and the majesty of her carriage.[679] -"She was a beautiful creature," says an old historian, "well -proportioned, courteous, amiable, very agreeable, and a skilful -musician."[680] - - [677] Turner, Hist. Henry VIII. ii. p. 185. - - [678] Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. 120. - - [679] Memoirs of Sir Thomas Wyatt, in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. - 424. - - [680] Meteren's Hist. of the Low Countries, folio. 20. - -While entertainments were following close upon each other at the court -of Henry VIII, a strange rumour filled all England with surprise. It -was reported that the imperialist soldiers had taken Rome by assault, -and that some Englishmen were among those who had mounted the breach. -One Thomas Cromwell was specially named[681]--the man who nearly -twenty years before had obtained certain indulgences from Julius II, -by offering him some jars of English confectionary. This soldier -carried with him the New Testament of Erasmus, and he is said to have -learnt it by heart during the campaign. Being gay, brave, and -intelligent, he entertained, from reading the gospel and seeing Rome, -a great aversion for the policy, superstitions, and disorders of the -popedom. The day of the 7th May 1527 decided the tenor of his life. To -destroy the papal power became his dominant idea. On returning to -England he entered the cardinal's household. - - [681] Foxe, vol. v. p. 365. - -However, the captive pope and cardinals wrote letters "filled with -tears and groans."[682] Full of zeal for the papacy, Wolsey ordered a -public fast. "The emperor will never release the pope, unless he be -compelled," he told the king. "Sir, God has made you _defender of the -faith_; save the church and its head!"--"My lord," answered the king -with a smile, "I assure you that this war between the emperor and the -pope is not for the faith, but for temporal possessions and -dominions." - - [682] Plenas lacrymarum et miseriæ. State Papers, vol. i. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S EMBASSY TO FRANCE.] - -But Wolsey would not be discouraged; and, on the 3rd of July, he -passed through the streets of London, riding a richly caparisoned -mule, and resting his feet on gilt stirrups, while twelve hundred -gentlemen accompanied him on horseback. He was going to entreat -Francis to aid his master in saving Clement VII. He had found no -difficulty in prevailing upon Henry; Charles talked of carrying the -pope to Spain, and of permanently establishing the apostolic see in -that country.[683] Now, how could they obtain the divorce from a -_Spanish_ pope? During the procession, Wolsey seemed oppressed with -grief, and even shed tears;[684] but he soon raised his head and -exclaimed: "My heart is inflamed, and I wish that it may be said of -the pope _per secula sempiterna_, - - "Rediit Henrici octavi virtute serena." - - [683] The see apostolic should perpetually remain in Spain. Ibid. i. - p. 227. - - [684] I saw the lord cardinal weep very tenderly. Cavendish, p. 151. - -Desirous of forming a close union between France and England for the -accomplishment of his designs, he had cast his eyes on the princess -Renée, daughter of Louis XII, and sister-in-law to Francis I, as the -future wife of Henry VIII. Accordingly the treaty of alliance between -the two crowns having been signed at Amiens on the 18th of August -(1527), Francis, with his mother and the cardinal, proceeded to -Compiégne, and there Wolsey, styling Charles the most obstinate -defender of Lutheranism,[685] promising "perpetual _conjunction_ on -the one hand [between France and England], and perpetual _disjunction_ -on the other." [between England and Germany],[686] demanded Renée's -hand for king Henry. Staffileo, dean of Rota, affirmed that the pope -had been able to permit the marriage between Henry and Catherine only -by an error of the keys of St. Peter.[687] This avowal, so remarkable -on the part of the dean of one of the first jurisdictions of Rome, -induced Francis' mother to listen favourably to the cardinal's demand. -But whether this proposal was displeasing to Renée, who was destined -on a future day to profess the pure faith of the Gospel with greater -earnestness than Margaret of Valois, or whether Francis was not -over-anxious for a union that would have given Henry rights over the -duchy of Brittany, she was promised to the son of the Duke of Ferrara. -It was a check to the cardinal; but it was his ill fortune to receive -one still more severe on his return to England. - - [685] Omnium maxime dolosus et hæresis Lutherianæ fautor acerrimus. - (State Papers, i. p. 274.) By far the most cunning and violent - favourer of the Lutheran heresy. - - [686] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, i. p. 186. - - [687] Nisi clave errante. (State Papers, i. p. 272.) Unless by an - erring key. - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN'S SUCCESS.] - -The daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, (who had been created Viscount -Rochford in 1525,) was constantly at court, "where she nourished in -great estimation and favour," says Cavendish, "having always a private -indignation against the cardinal for breaking off the pre-contract -made between Lord Percy and her," little suspecting that Henry had had -any share in it.[688] Her beauty, her graceful carriage, her black -hair, oval face, and bright eyes, her sweet voice in singing, her -skill and dignity in the dance, her desire to please which was not -entirely devoid of coquetry, her sprightliness, the readiness of her -repartees, and above all the amiability of her character, won every -heart. She brought to Greenwich and to London the polished manners of -the court of Francis I. Every day (it was reported) she invented a new -style of dress, and set the fashion in England. But to all these -qualities, she added modesty, and even imposed it on others by her -example. The ladies of the court, who had hitherto adopted a different -fashion (says her greatest enemy), covered the neck and bosom as she -did;[689] and the malicious, unable to appreciate Anne's motives, -ascribed this modesty on the young lady's part to a desire to hide a -secret deformity.[690] Numerous admirers once more crowded round Anne -Boleyn, and among others, one of the most illustrious noblemen and -poets of England, Sir Thomas Wyatt, a follower of Wickliffe. He -however, was not the man destined to replace the son of the Percies. - - [688] For all this while she knew nothing of the king's intended - purpose, said one of his adversaries. Cavendish's Wolsey, p. 129. - - [689] Ad illius imitationem reliquæ regiæ ancillæ colli et pectoris - superiora, quæ antea nuda gestabant, operire coeperunt. Sanders, p. 16. - In imitation of her, the other ladies of the court began to cover - their neck and bosom which formerly they had worn exposed. - - [690] See Sanders, Ibid. It is useless to refute Sanders' stories. We - refer our readers to Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation, to Lord - Herbert's life of Henry VIII, to Wyatt, and others. We need only read - Sanders to estimate at their true value the _foul calumnies_, as these - writers term them, of the man whom they style the _Roman legendary_. - -[Sidenote: ANNE REJECTS THE KING.] - -Henry, absorbed in anxiety about his divorce from Catherine, had -become low-spirited and melancholy. The laughter, songs, repartees, -and beauty of Anne Boleyn struck and captivated him, and his eyes were -soon fixed complacently on the young maid of honour. Catherine was -more than forty years old, and it was hardly to be expected that so -susceptible a man as Henry would have made, as Job says, _a covenant -with his eyes_ _not to think upon a maid_. Desirous of showing his -admiration, he presented Anne, according to usage, with a costly -jewel; she accepted and wore it, and continued to dance, laugh, and -chatter as before, without attaching particular importance to the -royal present. Henry's attentions became more continuous; and he took -advantage of a moment when he found Anne alone to declare his -sentiments. With mingled emotion and alarm, the young lady fell -trembling at the king's feet, and exclaimed, bursting into tears: "I -think, most noble and worthy king, your majesty speaks these words in -mirth to prove me.... I will rather lose my life than my virtue."[691] -Henry gracefully replied, that he should at least continue to hope. -But Anne, rising up, proudly made answer: "I understand not, most -mighty king, how you should retain any such hope; your wife I cannot -be, both in respect of mine own unworthiness, and also because you -have a queen already. Your mistress I will not be." Anne kept her -word. She continued to show the king, even after this interview, all -the respect that was due to him; but on several occasions she proudly, -violently even, repelled his advances.[692] In this age of gallantry, -we find her resisting for nearly six years all the seductions Henry -scattered round her. Such an example is not often met with in the -history of courts. The books she had read in Margaret's palace gave -her a secret strength. All looked upon her with respect; and even the -queen treated her with politeness. Catherine showed, however, that she -had remarked the king's preference. One day, as she was playing at -cards with her maid of honour, while Henry was in the room, Anne -frequently holding the _king_, she said: "My Lady Anne, you have good -hap to stop ever at a _king_; but you are not like others, you will -have all or none." Anne blushed: from that moment Henry's attentions -acquired more importance; she resolved to withdraw from them, and -quitted the court with Lady Rochford. - - [691] Sloane MSS. No. 2495; Turner's Hist. Eng. ii. p. 196. - - [692] Tanto vehementius preces regias illa repulit. (Sanders, p. 17.) - So much the more vehemently she repelled the king's entreaties. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S LETTER TO ANNE.] - -The king, who was not accustomed to resistance, was extremely grieved; -and having learnt that Anne would not return to the court either with -or without her mother, sent a courier to Hever with a message and a -letter for her. If we recollect the manners of the age of Henry VIII, -and how far the men, in their relations with the gentler sex, were -strangers to that reserve which society now imposes upon them, we -cannot but be struck by the king's respectful tone: He writes thus in -French:-- - - "As the time seems to me very long since I heard from you or - concerning your health, the great love I have for you has - constrained me to send this bearer to be better informed - both of your health and pleasure; particularly, because - since my last parting with you, I have been told that you - have entirely changed the mind in which I left you, and that - you neither mean to come to court with your mother nor any - other way; which report, if true, I cannot enough marvel at, - being persuaded in my own mind that I have never committed - any offence against you; and it seems hard, in return for - the great love I bear you, to be kept at a distance from the - person and presence of the woman in the world that I value - the most. And if you love me with as much affection as I - hope you do, I am sure the distance of our two persons would - be equally irksome to you, though this does not belong so - much to the mistress as to the servant. - - "Consider well, my mistress, how greatly your absence - afflicts me. I hope it is not your will that it should be - so; but if I heard for certain that you yourself desired it, - I could but mourn my ill-fortune, and strive by degrees to - abate of my great folly. - - "And so for lack of time I make an end of this rude letter, - beseeching you to give the bearer credence in all he will - tell you from me. Written by the hand of your entire - servant, - - "H. R."[693] - - [693] Pamphleteer, No. 42, p. 347. It is difficult to fix the order - and chronology of Henry's letters to Anne Boleyn. This is the second - in the Vatican Collection, but it appears to us to be of older date. - It is considered as written in May 1528; we are inclined to place it - in the autumn of 1527. The originals of these letters, chiefly in old - French, are still preserved in the Vatican, having been stolen from - the royal cabinet and conveyed thither. - -The word _servant_ (serviteur) employed in this letter explains the -sense in which Henry used the word _mistress_. In the language of -chivalry, the latter term expressed a person to whom the lover had -surrendered his heart. - -It would seem that Anne's reply to this letter was the same she had -made to the king from the very first; and Cardinal Pole mentions more -than once her obstinate refusal of an adulterous love.[694] At last -Henry understood Anne's virtue; but he was far from _abating of his -great folly_, as he had promised. That tyrannical selfishness, which -the prince often displayed in his life, was shown particularly in his -amours. Seeing that he could not attain his end by illegitimate means, -he determined to break, as quickly as possible, the bonds which united -him to the queen. Anne's virtue was the third cause of Henry's -divorce. - - [694] Concubina enim tua fieri pudica mulier nolebat, uxor volebat. - Illa cujus amore rex deperibat, pertinacissime negabat sui corporis - potestatem. (Polus ad Regem, p. 176.) For a modest woman, though - willing to be thy wife refused to become thy concubine. Though a king - was consumed by love for her, she obstinately refused to yield to him - the power over her person. Cardinal Pole is a far more trust-worthy - authority than Sanders. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S OPPOSITION.] - -His resolution being once taken, it must needs be carried out. Henry -having succeeded in bringing Anne back to court, procured a private -interview with her, offered her his crown, and seizing her hand, took -off one of her rings. But Anne, who would not be the king's mistress, -refused also to be his wife. The glory of a crown could not dazzle -her, said Wyatt, and two motives in particular counterbalanced all the -prospects of greatness which were set before her eyes. The first was -her respect for the queen: "How could I injure a princess of such -great virtue?" she exclaimed.[695] The second was the fear that a -union with "one that was her lord and her king," would not give her -that freedom of heart and that liberty which she would enjoy by -marrying a man of the same rank with herself.[696] - - [695] The love she bare even to the queen whom the served, that was - also a personage of great virtue. Wyatt, Mem. of A. B. p. 428. - - [696] Ibid. - -Yet the noblemen and ladies of Henry's court whispered to one another -that Anne would certainly become queen of England. Some were tormented -by jealousy; others, her friends, were delighted at the prospect of a -rapid advancement. Wolsey's enemies in particular were charmed at the -thought of ruining the favourite. It was at the very moment when all -these emotions were so variously agitating the court that the -cardinal, returning from his embassy to Francis, re-appeared in -London, where an unexpected blow struck him. - -Wolsey was expressing his grief to Henry at having failed in obtaining -either Margaret or Renée for him, when the king interrupted him: -"Console yourself, I shall marry Anne Boleyn." The cardinal remained -speechless for a moment. What would become of him, if the king placed -the crown of England on the head of the daughter and niece of his -greatest enemies? What would become of the church, if a second Anne of -Bohemia should ascend the throne? Wolsey threw himself at the feet of -his master, and entreated him to renounce so fatal a project.[697] It -was then no doubt that he remained (as he afterwards said) _an hour or -two_ on his knees before the king in his privy chamber,[698] but -without prevailing on Henry to give up his design. Wolsey, persuaded -that if he continued openly to oppose Henry's will, he would for ever -lose his confidence, dissembled his vexation, waiting an opportunity -to get rid of this unfortunate rival by some intrigue. He began by -writing to the pope, informing him that a young lady, brought up by -the queen of Navarre, and consequently tainted by the Lutheran heresy, -had captivated the king's heart;[699] and from that hour Anne Boleyn -became the object of the hatred and calumnies of Rome. But at the same -time, to conceal his intentions, Wolsey received Henry at a series of -splendid entertainments, at which Anne outshone all the ladies of the -court. - - [697] Whose persuasion to the contrary, made to the king upon his - knees. Cavendish, p. 204. - - [698] Ibid. p. 388. - - [699] Meteren, Hist. of the Low Countries, folio, 20. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - Bilney's Preaching--His arrest--Arthur's Preaching and - Imprisonment--Bilney's Examination--Contest between the - Judge and the Prisoner--Bilney's weakness and Fall--His - Terrors--Two Wants--Arrival of the Fourth Edition of the New - Testament--Joy among the Believers. - - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S PREACHING.] - -While these passions were agitating Henry's palace, the most moving -scenes, produced by Christian faith, were stirring the nation. Bilney, -animated by that courage which God sometimes gives to the weakest men, -seemed to have lost his natural timidity, and preached for a time with -an energy quite apostolic. He taught that all men should first -acknowledge their sins and condemn them, and then hunger and thirst -after that righteousness which Jesus Christ gives.[700] To this -testimony borne to the truth, he added his testimony against error. -"These five hundred years," he added, "there hath been no good pope; -and in all the times past we can find but fifty: for they have neither -preached nor lived well, nor conformably to their dignity; wherefore, -unto this day, they have borne the keys of simony."[701] - - [700] Ut omnes primum peccata sua agnoscant et damnent, deinde - esuriant et sitiant justitiam illam. Foxe, iv. p. 634. - - [701] Ibid. p. 627. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY ARRESTED.] - -As soon as he descended from the pulpit, this pious scholar, with his -friend Arthur, visited the neighbouring towns and villages. "The Jews -and Saracens would long ago have become believers," he once said at -Wilsdown, "had it not been for the idolatry of Christian men in -offering candles, wax, and money to stocks and stones." One day when -he visited Ipswich, where there was a Franciscan convent, he -exclaimed: "The cowl of St. Francis wrapped round a dead body hath no -power to take away sins.... _Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peccata -mundi._" (John i, 29.) The poor monks, who were little versed in -Scripture, had recourse to the _Almanac_ to convict the _Bible_ of -error. "St. Paul did rightly affirm," said Friar John Brusierd, "that -there is but one mediator of God and man, because as yet there was no -_saint_ canonized or put into the calendar."--"Let us ask of the -Father in the name of the Son," rejoined Bilney, "and he will give -unto us."--"You are always speaking of the Father and never of the -_saints_," replied the friar; "you are like a man who has been looking -so long upon the sun that he can see nothing else."[702] As he uttered -these words the monk seemed bursting with anger. "If I did not know -that the saints would take everlasting vengeance upon you, I would -surely with these nails of mine be your death."[703] Twice in fact did -two monks pull him out of his pulpit. He was arrested and taken to -London. - - [702] Foxe, iv. p. 629. - - [703] Ibid. p. 630. - -Arthur, instead of fleeing, began to visit the flocks which his friend -had converted. "Good people," said he, "if I should suffer persecution -for the preaching of the Gospel, there are seven thousand more that -would preach it as I do now. Therefore, good people! good people!" -(and he repeated these words several times in a sorrowful voice) -"think not that if these tyrants and persecutors put a man to death, -the preaching of the Gospel therefore is to be forsaken. Every -Christian man, yea every layman, is a priest. Let our adversaries -preach by the authority of the cardinal; others by the authority of -the university; others by the pope's; we will preach by the authority -of God. It is not the man who brings the word that saves the soul, but -the word which the man brings. Neither bishops nor popes have the -right to forbid any man to preach the Gospel;[704] and if they kill -him he is not a heretic but a martyr."[705] The priests were horrified -at such doctrines. In their opinion, there was no God out of their -church, no salvation out of their sacrifices. Arthur was thrown into -the same prison as Bilney. - - [704] Ibid. p. 623. - - [705] Collyer's Church History, vol. ii, p. 26. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY AND ARTHUR BEFORE THE BISHOP.] - -On the 27th of November 1527 the cardinal and the archbishop -Canterbury, with a great number of bishops, divines, and lawyers, met -in the chapter-house of Westminster, when Bilney and Arthur were -brought before them. But the king's prime minister thought it beneath -his dignity to occupy his time with miserable heretics. Wolsey had -hardly commenced the examination, when he rose, saying: "The affairs -of the realm call me away; all such as are found guilty, you will -compel them to abjure, and those who rebel you will deliver over to -the secular power." After a few questions proposed by the bishop of -London, the two accused men were led back to prison. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S STRUGGLE.] - -Abjuration or death--that was Wolsey's order. But the conduct of the -trial was confided to Tonstall; Bilney conceived some hope.[706] "Is -it possible," he said to himself, "that the bishop of London, the -friend of Erasmus, will gratify the monks?... I must tell him that it -was the Greek Testament of his learned master that led me to the -faith." Upon which the humble evangelist having obtained paper and -ink, set about writing to the bishop from his gloomy prison those -admirable letters which have been transmitted to posterity. Tonstall, -who was not a cruel man, was deeply moved, and then a strange struggle -took place: a judge wishing to save the prisoner, the prisoner -desiring to give up his life. Tonstall, by acquitting Bilney, had no -desire to compromise himself. "Submit to the church," said the bishop, -"for God speaks only through it." But Bilney, who knew that God speaks -in the Scriptures, remained inflexible. "Very well, then," said -Tonstall, taking up the prisoner's eloquent letters, "in discharge of -my conscience I shall lay these letters before the court." He hoped, -perhaps, that they would touch his colleagues, but he was deceived. He -determined, therefore, to make a fresh attempt. On the 4th of -December, Bilney was brought again before the court. "Abjure your -errors," said Tonstall. Bilney refusing by a shake of the head, the -bishop continued: "Retire into the next room and consider." Bilney -withdrew, and returning shortly after with joy beaming in his eyes, -Tonstall thought he had gained the victory. "You will return to the -church, then?" said he.... The doctor answered calmly: "_Fiat judicium -in nomine Domini_."[707] "Be quick," continued the bishop, "this is -the last moment, and you will be condemned." "_Hæc est dies quam fecit -Dominus_," answered Bilney, "_exultemus et lætemur in ea_!" (Psalm -cxviii, 24). Upon this Tonstall took off his cap, and said: "_In -nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.... Exsurgat Deus et -dissipentur inimici ejus!_" (Ps. lxviii, 1). Then making the sign of -the cross on his forehead and on his breast, he gave judgment: "Thomas -Bilney, I pronounce thee convicted of heresy." He was about to name -the penalty ... a last hope restrained him; he stopped: "For the rest -of the sentence we take deliberation until to-morrow." Thus was the -struggle prolonged between two men, one of whom desired to walk to the -stake, the other to bar the way as it were with his own body. - - [706] In talem nunc me judicem incidisse gratulor. (Foxe, iv, p. 633.) - Now I congratulate myself that I have fallen into the hands of such a - judge. - - [707] Let judgment be done in the name of the Lord. - -"Will you return to the unity of the church?" asked Tonstall the next -day. "I hope I was never separated from the church," answered Bilney. -"Go and consult with some of your friends," said the bishop, who was -resolved to save his life; "I will give you till one o'clock in the -afternoon." In the afternoon Bilney made the same answer. "I will give -you two nights' respite to deliberate," said the bishop; "on Saturday -at nine o'clock in the forenoon, the court will expect a plain -definitive answer." Tonstall reckoned on the night with its dreams, -its anguish, and its terrors, to bring about Bilney's recantation. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S FALL.] - -This extraordinary struggle occupied many minds both in court and -city. Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII watched with interest the various -phases of this tragic history. What will happen? was the general -question. Will he give way? Shall we see him live or die? One day and -two nights still remained; everything was tried to shake the Cambridge -doctor. His friends crowded to his prison; he was overwhelmed with -arguments and examples; but an inward struggle, far more terrible than -those without, agitated the pious Bilney. "Whoever will save his soul -shall lose it," Christ had said. That selfish love of his soul, which -is found even in the advanced Christian,--that self, which after his -conversion had been not absorbed, but overruled by the Spirit of God, -gradually recovered strength in his heart, in the presence of disgrace -and death. His friends who wished to save him, not understanding that -the fallen Bilney would be Bilney no longer, conjured him with tears -to have pity on himself; and by these means his firmness was overcome. -The bishop pressed him, and Bilney asked himself: "Can a young soldier -like me know the rules of war better than an old soldier like -Tonstall? Or can a poor silly sheep know his way to the fold better -than the chief pastor of London?"[708] His friends quitted him -neither night nor day, and entangled by their fatal affection, he -believed at last that he had found a compromise which would set his -conscience at rest. "I will preserve my life," he said, "to dedicate -it to the Lord." This delusion had scarcely laid hold of his mind -before his views were confused, his faith was vailed, the Holy Ghost -departed from him, God gave him over to his carnal thoughts, and under -the pretext of being useful to Jesus Christ for many years, Bilney -disobeyed him at the present moment. Being led before the bishops on -the morning of Saturday the 7th of December, at nine o'clock, he fell -... (Arthur had fallen before him), and whilst the false friends who -had misled him hardly dared raise their eyes, the living church of -Christ in England uttered a cry of anguish. "If ever you come in -danger," said Latimer, "for God's quarrel, I would advise you, above -all things, to abjure all your friendships; leave not one unabjured. -It is they that shall undo you, and not your enemies. It was his very -friends that brought Bilney to it."[709] - - [708] Foxe, iv. p. 638. - - [709] Latimer's Sermons (Parker Society), p. 222. - -On the following day (Sunday, 8th December) Bilney was placed at the -head of a procession, and the fallen disciple, bareheaded, with a -fagot on his shoulders, stood in front of St. Paul's cross, while a -priest from the pulpit exhorted him to repentance; after which he was -led back to prison. - -What a solitude for the wretched man! At one time the cold darkness of -his cell appeared to him as a burning fire; at another he fancied he -heard accusing voices crying to him in the silence of the night. -Death, the very enemy he had wished to avoid, fixed his icy glance -upon him and filled him with fear. He strove to escape from the -horrible spectre, but in vain. Then the friends who had dragged him -into this abyss, crowded round and endeavoured to console him; but if -they gave utterance to any of Christ's gentle promises, Bilney started -back with affright and shrank to the farthest part of the dungeon, -with a cry "as though a man had run him through the heart with a -sword."[710] Having denied the word of God, he could no longer endure -to hear it. The curse of the Apocalypse: _Ye mountains, hide me from -the wrath of the Lamb!_ was the only passage of Scripture in harmony -with his soul. His mind wandered, the blood froze in his veins, he -sank under his terrors; he lost all sense, and almost his life, and -lay motionless in the arms of his astonished friends. "God," exclaimed -those unhappy individuals who had caused his fall, "God, by a just -judgment, delivers up to the tempests of their conscience all who -deny his truth." - - [710] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD ARRESTED.] - -This was not the only sorrow of the church. As soon as Richard -Bayfield, the late chamberlain of Bury, had joined Tyndale and Fryth, -he said to them: "I am at your disposal; you shall be my head and I -will be your hand; I will sell your books and those of the German -reformers in the Low Countries, France, and England." It was not long -indeed before he returned to London. But Pierson, the priest whom he -had formerly met in Lombard Street, found him again, and accused him -to the bishop. The unhappy man was brought before Tonstall. "You are -charged," said the prelate, "with having asserted that praise is due -to God alone, and not to saints or creatures."[711] Bayfield -acknowledged the charge to be true. "You are accused of maintaining -that every priest may preach the word of God by the authority of the -Gospel without the license of the pope or cardinals." This also -Bayfield acknowledged. A penance was imposed on him; and then he was -sent back to his monastery with orders to show himself there on the -25th of April. But he crossed the sea once more, and hastened to join -Tyndale. - - [711] That all laud and praise should be given to God alone. Foxe, iv, - p. 682. - -[Sidenote: FOURTH EDITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -The New Testaments, however, sold by him and others, remained in -England. At that time the bishops subscribed to suppress the -Scriptures, as so many persons have since done to circulate them; and, -accordingly, a great number of the copies brought over by Bayfield and -his friends were brought up.[712] A scarcity of food was erelong added -to the scarcity of the word of God; for as the cardinal was -endeavouring to foment a war between Henry and the emperor, the -Flemish ships ceased to enter the English ports. It was in consequence -of this that the lord mayor and aldermen of London hastened to express -their apprehensions to Wolsey almost before he had recovered from the -fatigues of his return from France. "Fear nothing," he told them; "the -king of France assured me, that if he had three bushels of wheat, -England should have two of them." But none arrived, and the people -were on the point of breaking out into violence, when a fleet of ships -suddenly appeared off the mouth of the Thames. They were German and -Flemish vessels laden with corn, in which the worthy people of the Low -Countries had also concealed the New Testament. An Antwerp bookseller, -named John Raimond or Ruremond, from his birthplace, had printed a -fourth edition more beautiful than the previous ones. It was enriched -with references and engravings on wood, and each page bordered with -red lines. Raimond himself had embarked on board one of the ships with -five hundred copies of his New Testament.[713] About Christmas 1527, -the book of God was circulated in England along with the bread that -nourishes the body. But certain priests and monks having discovered -the Scriptures among the sacks of corn, they carried several copies to -the bishop of London, who threw Raimond into prison. The greater part, -however, of the new edition escaped him. The New Testament was read -everywhere, and even the court did not escape the contagion. Anne -Boleyn, notwithstanding her smiling face, often withdrew to her closet -at Greenwich or at Hampton Court, to study the Gospel. Frank, -courageous, and proud, she did not conceal the pleasure she found in -such reading; her boldness astonished the courtiers, and exasperated -the clergy. In the city things went still farther: the New Testament -was explained in frequent conventicles, particularly in the house of -one Russell, and great was the joy among the faithful. "It is -sufficient only to enter London," said the priests, "to become a -heretic!" The Reformation was taking root among the people before it -arrived at the upper classes. - - [712] Anderson, Annals of the Bible, i. p. 158. - - [713] Foxe, v, p. 27. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Papacy intercepts the Gospel--The King consults Sir - Thomas More--Ecclesiastical Conferences about the - Divorce--The Universities--Clark--The Nun of Kent--Wolsey - decides to do the king's Will--Mission to the Pope--Four - Documents--Embarrassment of Charles V--Francis Philip at - Madrid--Distress and Resolution of Charles--He turns away - from the Reformation--Conference at the Castle of St. - Angelo--Knight arrives in Italy--His Flight--Treaty between - the Pope and the Emperor--Escape of the Pope--Confusion of - Henry VIII--Wolsey's Orders--His Entreaties. - - -[Sidenote: POPERY INTERCEPTS THE GOSPEL.] - -The sun of the word of God, which daily grew brighter in the sky of -the sixteenth century, was sufficient to scatter all the darkness in -England; but popery, like an immense wall, intercepted its rays. -Britain had hardly received the Scriptures in Greek and Latin, and -then in English, before the priests began to make war upon them with -indefatigable zeal. It was necessary that the wall should be thrown -down in order that the sun might penetrate freely among the -Anglo-Saxon people. And new events were ripening in England, destined -to make a great breach in popery. The negotiations of Henry VIII with -Clement VII play an important part in the Reformation. By showing up -the Court of Rome, they destroyed the respect which the people felt -for it; they took away that _power and strength_ as Scripture says, -which the monarchy had given it; and the throne of the pope once -fallen in England, Jesus Christ uplifted and strengthened his own. - -Henry, ardently desiring an heir, and thinking that he had found the -woman that would ensure his own and England's happiness, conceived the -design of severing the ties that united him to the queen, and with -this view he consulted his most favourite councillors about the -divorce. There was one in particular whose approval he coveted: this -was Sir Thomas More. One day as Erasmus's friend was walking with his -master in the beautiful gallery at Hampton Court, giving him an -account of a mission he had just executed on the continent, the king -suddenly interrupted him: "My marriage to the queen," he said, "is -contrary to the laws of God, of the church, and of nature." He then -took up the Bible, and pointed out the passages in his favour.[714] "I -am not a theologian," said More, somewhat embarrassed; "your majesty -should consult a council of doctors." - - [714] Laid the Bible open before me, and showed me the words. More to - Cromwell, Strype, i, 2nd part, p. 197. - -Accordingly, by Henry's order, Warham assembled the most learned -canonists at Hampton Court; but weeks passed away before they could -agree.[715] Most of them quoted in the king's favour those passages in -Leviticus (xviii, 16; xx, 21,) which forbid a man to take _his -brother's wife_.[716] But Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and the other -opponents of the divorce, replied that, according to Deuteronomy (xxv, -5,) when a woman is left a widow without children, her brother-in-law -ought to take her to wife, to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel. -"This law concerned the Jews only," replied the partisans of the -divorce; they added that its object was "to maintain the inheritances -distinct, and the genealogies intact, until the coming of Christ. The -Judaical dispensation has passed away; but the law of Leviticus, -which is a moral law, is binding upon all men in all ages." - - [715] Consulting from day to day, and time to time. Cavendish, p. 209. - - [716] Ex his doctoribus asseritur quod Papa non potest dispensare in - primo gradu affinitatis. (Burnet's Reform, ii, Records, p. 8. Lond. - 1841.) By these doctors it is asserted that the Pope is not able to - grant a dispensation in the first degree of affinity. - -To free themselves from their embarrassment, the bishops demanded that -the most eminent universities should be consulted; and commissioners -were forthwith despatched to Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Orleans, -Toulouse, Louvain, Padua, and Bologna, furnished with money to reward -the foreign doctors for the time and trouble this question would cost -them. This caused some little delay, and every means was now to be -tried to divert the king from his purpose. - -[Sidenote: CLARKE'S OBJECTION.] - -Wolsey, who was the first to suggest the idea of a divorce, was now -thoroughly alarmed. It appeared to him that a nod from the daughter of -the Boleyns would hurl him from the post he had so laboriously won, -and this made him vent his ill-humour on all about him, at one time -threatening Warham, and at another persecuting Pace. But fearing to -oppose Henry openly, he summoned from Paris, Clarke, bishop of Bath -and Wells, at that time ambassador to the French court. The latter -entered into his views, and after cautiously preparing the way, he -ventured to say to the king: "The progress of the inquiry will be so -slow, your majesty, that it will take more than seven years to bring -it to an end!"--"Since my patience has already held out for _eighteen_ -years," the king replied coldly, "I am willing to wait _four_ or -_five_ more."[717] - - [717] Since his patience had already held out for eighteen years. - Collyer, ii. p. 24. - -[Sidenote: FOUR DOCUMENTS REQUIRED OF THE POPE.] - -As the political party had failed, the clerical party set in motion a -scheme of another kind. A young woman, Elizabeth Barton, known as _the -holy maid of Kent_, had been subject from childhood to epileptic fits. -The priest of her parish, named Masters, had persuaded her that she -was inspired of God, and confederating with one Bocking, a monk of -Canterbury, he turned the weakness of the prophetess to account. -Elizabeth wandered over the country, passing from house to house, and -from convent to convent; on a sudden her limbs would become rigid, her -features distorted; violent convulsions shook her body, and strange -unintelligible sounds fell from her lips, which the amazed by-standers -received as revelations from the Virgin and the saints. Fisher, bishop -of Rochester, Abel, the queen's ecclesiastical agent, and even Sir -Thomas More, were among the number of Elizabeth's partisans. Rumours -of the divorce having reached the _saint's_ ears, an angel commanded -her to appear before the cardinal. As soon as she stood in his -presence, the colour fled from her cheeks, her limbs trembled, and -falling into an ecstasy, she exclaimed: "Cardinal of York, God has -placed three swords in your hand: the spiritual sword, to range the -church under the authority of the pope; the civil sword, to govern the -realm; and the sword of justice, to prevent the divorce of the -king.... If you do not wield these three swords faithfully, God will -lay it sore to your charge."[718] After these words the prophetess -withdrew. - - [718] Strype, vol. i. part i. p. 279. - -But other influences were then dividing Wolsey's breast: hatred, which -induced him to oppose the divorce; and ambition, which foreboded his -ruin in this opposition. At last ambition prevailed, and he resolved -to make his objections forgotten by the energy of his zeal. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE CANNOT ERR.] - -Henry hastened to profit by this change. "Declare the divorce -yourself," said he to Wolsey, "has not the pope named you his -vicar-general."[719] The cardinal was not anxious to raise himself so -high. "If I were to decide the affair," said he, "the queen would -appeal to the pope; we must therefore either apply to the holy father -for special powers, or persuade the queen to retire to a nunnery. And -if we fail in either of these expedients, we will obey the voice of -conscience, even in despite of the pope."[720] It was arranged to -begin with the more regular attempt, and Gregory Da Casale, secretary -Knight, and the prothonotary Gambara, were appointed to an -extraordinary mission at the pontifical court. Casale was Wolsey's -man, and Knight was Henry's. Wolsey told the envoys: "You will demand -of the pope, _1stly_, a _commission_ authorizing me to inquire into -this matter; _2ndly_, his promise to pronounce the nullity of -Catherine's marriage with Henry, if we should find that her marriage -with Arthur was consummated; and _3rdly_, a _dispensation_ permitting -the king to marry again." In this manner Wolsey hoped to make sure of -the divorce without damaging the papal authority. It was insinuated -that false representations, with regard to the consummation of the -first marriage, had been sent from England to Julius II, which had -induced the pontiff to permit the second. The pope being deceived as -to the _fact_, his infallibility was untouched. Wolsey desired -something more; knowing that no confidence could be put in the good -faith of the pontiff, he demanded a fourth instrument by which the -pope should bind himself _never to recall_ _the other three_; he only -forgot to take precautions in case Clement should withdraw _the -fourth_. "With these four snares, skilfully combined," said the -cardinal, "I shall catch the hare; if he escapes from one, he will -fall into the other." The courtiers anticipated a speedy termination -of the affair. Was not the emperor the declared enemy of the pontiff? -Had not Henry, on the contrary, made himself _protector of the -Clementine league_? Could Clement hesitate, when called upon, to -choose between his jailor and his benefactor? - - [719] When Napoleon, from similar motives, desired to separate from - Josephine, fearing the unwillingness of the pope (as Henry did), he - entertained, like him, the design of doing without the pontiff, and of - getting his marriage annulled by the French bishops. As he was more - powerful, he succeeded. - - [720] Quid possit clam fieri quoad forum conscientiæ. Collyer, ii. p. - 24. - -Indeed, Charles V, at this moment, was in a very embarrassing -position. It is true, his guards were posted at the gates of the -castle of St. Angelo, where Clement was a prisoner, and people in Rome -said to one another with a smile: "Now indeed it is true, _Papa non -potest errare_."[721] But it was not possible to keep the pope a -prisoner in Rome; and then what was to be done with him? The viceroy -of Naples proposed to Alercon, the governor of St. Angelo, to remove -Clement to Gæta; but the affrighted colonel exclaimed: "Heaven forbid -that I should drag after me the very body of God!" Charles thought one -time of transporting the pontiff to Spain; but might not an enemy's -fleet carry him off on the road? The pope in prison was far more -embarrassing to Charles than the pope at liberty. - - [721] The pope cannot err,--a play upon the double meaning of the word - _errare_. - -[Sidenote: A CONFERENCE AT ST. ANGELO.] - -It was at this critical time that Francis Philip, Queen Catherine's -servant, having escaped the snares laid by Henry VIII and Wolsey, -arrived at Madrid, where he passed a whole day in conference with -Charles V. This prince was at first astonished, shocked even, by the -designs of the king of England. The curse of God seemed to hang over -his house. His mother was a lunatic; his sister of Denmark expelled -from her dominions; his sister of Hungary made a widow by the battle -of Mohacz; the Turks were encroaching upon his territories; Lautrec -was victorious in Italy, and the catholics, irritated by the pope's -captivity, detested his ambition. This was not enough. Henry VIII was -striving to divorce his aunt, and the pope would naturally give his -aid to this criminal design. Charles must choose between the pontiff -and the king. The friendship of the king of England might aid him in -breaking the league formed to expel him from Italy, and by sacrificing -Catherine he would be sure to obtain his support; but placed between -reasons of state and his aunt's honour, the emperor did not hesitate; -he even renounced certain projects of reform that he had at heart. He -suddenly decided for the pope, and from that very hour followed a new -course. - -Charles, who possessed great discernment, had understood his age; he -had seen that concessions were called for by the movement of the human -mind, and would have desired to carry out the change from the middle -ages to modern times by a carefully managed transition. He had -consequently demanded a council to reform the church and weaken the -Romish dominion in Europe. But very different was the result. If -Charles turned away from Henry, he was obliged to turn towards -Clement; and after having compelled the head of the church to enter a -prison, it was necessary to place him once more upon the throne. -Charles V sacrificed the interests of Christian society to the -interests of his own family. This divorce, which in England has been -looked upon as the ruin of the popedom, was what saved it in -continental Europe. - -[Sidenote: KNIGHT HURRIES FROM ROME.] - -But how could the emperor win the heart of the pontiff, filled as it -was with bitterness and anger? He selected for this difficult mission -a friar of great ability, De Angelis, general of the Spanish -Observance, and ordered him to proceed to the castle of St. Angelo -under the pretext of negotiating the liberation of the holy father. -The cordelier was conducted to the strongest part of the fortress, -called the Rock, where Clement was lodged; and the two priests brought -all their craft to bear on each other. The monk, assisted by the -artful Moncade, adroitly mingled together the pope's deliverance and -Catherine's marriage. He affirmed that the emperor wished to open the -gates of the pontiff's prison, and had already given the order;[722] -and then he added immediately: "The emperor is determined to maintain -the rights of his aunt, and will never consent to the divorce."[723]-- -"If you are a _good shepherd_ to me," wrote Charles to the pope with -his own hand on the 22nd of November, "I will be a _good sheep_ to -you." Clement smiled as he read these words; he understood his -position; the emperor had need of the priest, Charles was at his -captive's feet; Clement was saved! The divorce was a rope fallen from -the skies which could not fail to drag him out of the pits; he had -only to cling to it quietly in order to reascend his throne. -Accordingly from that hour Clement appeared less eager to quit the -castle than Charles to liberate him. "So long as the divorce is in -suspense," thought the crafty De' Medici, "I have two great friends; -but as soon as I declare for one, I shall have a mortal enemy in the -other." He promised the monk to come to no decision in the matter -without informing the emperor. - - [722] La Cæsarea Majesta si come grandamente desidera la liberatione - de nostro signor, cosi efficacemente la manda. Capituli, etc. Le - Grand, iii. p. 48. - - [723] That in anywise he should not consent to the same. State Papers, - vol. vii. p. 29. - -Meantime Knight, the envoy of the impatient monarch, having heard, as -he crossed the Alps, that the pope was at liberty, hastened on to -Parma, where he met Gambara: "He is not free yet," replied the -prothonotary; "but the general of the Franciscans hopes to terminate -his captivity in a few days.[724] Continue your journey," he added. -Knight could not do so without great danger. He was told at Foligno, -sixty miles from the metropolis, that if he had not a safe-conduct he -could not reach Rome without exposing his life; Knight halted. Just -then a messenger from Henry brought him despatches more pressing than -ever; Knight started again with one servant and a guide. At Monte -Rotondo he was nearly murdered by the inhabitants; but on the next day -(25th November), protected by a violent storm of wind and rain,[725] -Henry's envoy entered Rome at ten o'clock without being observed, and -kept himself concealed. - - [724] Quod sperabat intra paucos dies auferre suæ Sanctitati squalorem - et tenebras. (State Papers, vol. vii. p. 13.) Because he hoped that - within a few days the miserable captivity of his Holiness would be - terminated. - - [725] Veari trobelous with wynde and rayne, and therefore more mete - for our voyage. Ibid. p. 16. - -It was impossible to speak with Clement, for the emperor's orders were -positive. Knight, therefore, began to _practise_ upon the cardinals; -he gained over the Cardinal of Pisa, by whose means his despatches -were laid before the pontiff. Clement after reading them laid them -down with a smile of satisfaction.[726] "Good!" said he, "here is _the -other_ coming to me now!" But night had hardly closed in before the -Cardinal of Pisa's secretary hastened to Knight and told him: "Don -Alercon is informed of your arrival; and the pope entreats you to -depart immediately." This officer had scarcely left him, when the -prothonotary Gambara arrived in great agitation: "His holiness presses -you to leave; as soon as he is at liberty, he will attend to your -master's request." Two hours after this, two hundred Spanish soldiers -arrived, surrounded the house in which Knight had concealed himself, -and searched it from top to bottom, but to no purpose; the English -agent had escaped.[727] - - [726] Reponed the same saufly, as Gambara showed unto me. Ibid. p. 17. - - [727] I was not passed out of Rome, by the space of two hours, ere two - hundred Spaniards invaded and searched the house. Burnet, Records, ii. - p. 12. - -[Sidenote: THE KING'S REMORSE.] - -Knight's safety was not the true motive which induced Clement to urge -his departure. The very day on which the pope received the message -from the king of England, he signed a treaty with Charles V, -restoring him, under certain conditions, to both his powers. At the -same time the pontiff, for greater security, pressed the French -general Lautrec to hasten his march to Rome in order to save him from -the hands of the emperor. Clement, a disciple of Machiavelli, thus -gave the right hand to Charles and the left to Francis; and as he had -not another for Henry, he made him the most positive promises. Each of -the three princes could reckon on the pope's friendship, and on the -same grounds. - -The 10th of December (1527) was the day on which Clement's -imprisonment would terminate; but he preferred owing his freedom to -intrigue rather than to the emperor's generosity. He therefore -procured the dress of a tradesman, and, on the evening before the day -fixed for his deliverance, his ward being already much relaxed, he -escaped from the castle, and, accompanied only by Louis of Gonzago in -his flight, he made his way to Orvieto. - -While Clement was experiencing all the joy of a man just escaped from -prison, Henry was a prey to the most violent agitation. Having ceased -to love Catherine, he persuaded himself that he was the victim of his -father's ambition, a martyr to duty, and the champion of conjugal -sanctity. His very gait betrayed his vexation, and even among the gay -conversation of the court, deep sighs would escape from his bosom. He -had frequent interviews with Wolsey. "I regard the safety of my soul -above all things,"[728] he said; "but I am concerned also for the -peace of my kingdom. For a long while an unceasing remorse has been -gnawing at my conscience,[729] and my thoughts dwell upon my marriage -with unutterable sorrow.[730] God, in his wrath, has taken away my -sons, and if I persevere in this unlawful union, he will visit me with -still more terrible chastisements.[731] My only hope is in the holy -father." Wolsey replied with a low bow: "Please your majesty, I am -occupied with this business, as if it were my only means of winning -heaven." - - [728] Deumque primo et ante omnia ac animæ suæ quietem et salutem - respiciens. Barnet's Reformation, II. Records p. vii. - - [729] Longo jam tempore intimo suæ conscientiæ remorsu. Ibid. - - [730] Ingenti cum molestia cordisque perturbatione. Ibid. - - [731] Graviusque a Deo supplicium expavescit. Ibid. p. viii. - -And indeed he redoubled his exertions. He wrote to Sir Gregory Da -Casale on the 5th of December (1527): "You will procure an audience of -the pope at any price. Disguise yourself, appear before him as the -servant of some nobleman,[732] or as a messenger from the duke of -Ferrara. Scatter money plentifully; sacrifice every thing, provided -you procure a secret interview with his holiness; ten thousand ducats -are at your disposal. You will explain to Clement the king's scruples, -and the necessity of providing for the continuance of his house and -the peace of his kingdom. You will tell him that in order to restore -him to liberty, the king is ready to declare war against the emperor, -and thus show himself to all the world to be a true son of the -church." - - [732] Mutato habitu et tanquam alicujus minister. (Ibid.) The dress - being changed, and as if somebody's servant. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S ALTERNATIVE.] - -Wolsey saw clearly that it was essential to represent the divorce to -Clement VII, as a means likely to secure the safety of the popedom. -The cardinal, therefore, wrote again to Da Casale on the 6th of -December: "Night and day, I revolve in my mind the actual condition of -the church,[733] and seek the means best calculated to extricate the -pope from the gulf into which he has fallen. While I was turning these -thoughts over in my mind during a sleepless night ... one way suddenly -occurred to me. I said to myself, the king must be prevailed upon to -undertake the defence of the holy father. This was no easy matter, for -his majesty is strongly attached to the emperor;[734] however, I set -about my task. I told the king that his holiness was ready to satisfy -him; I staked my honour; I succeeded.... To save the pope, my master -will sacrifice his treasures, subjects, kingdom, and even his -life.[735]... I therefore conjure his holiness to entertain our just -demand." - - [733] Diuque ac noctu mente volvens quo facto. (State Papers, vol. - vii. p. 18.) Day and night revolving in my mind the state of matters. - - [734] Adeo tenaciter Cæsari adhærebat. (Ibid.) He still adhered - closely to Cæsar. - - [735] Usque ad mortem. (Ibid. p. 19.) Even to death. - -Never before had such pressing entreaties been made to a pope. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The English Envoys at Orvieto--Their Oration to the - Pope--Clement gains Time--The Envoys and Cardinal Sanctorum - Quatuor--Stratagem of the Pope--Knight discovers it and - returns--The Transformations of Antichrist--The English - obtain a new Document--Fresh Stratagem--Demand of a second - Cardinal-legate--The Pope's new Expedient--End of the - Campaign. - - -[Sidenote: THE ENGLISH ENVOYS AT ORVIETO.] - -The envoys of the king of England appeared in the character of the -saviours of Rome. This was doubtless no stratagem; and Wolsey -probably regarded that thought as coming from heaven, which had -visited him during the weary sleepless night. The zeal of his agents -increased. The pope was hardly set at liberty, before Knight and Da -Casale appeared at the foot of the precipitous rock on which Orvieto -is built, and demanded to be introduced to Clement VII. Nothing could -be more compromising to the pontiff than such a visit. How could he -appear on good terms with England, when Rome and all his states were -still in the hands of Catherine's nephew? The pope's mind was utterly -bewildered by the demand of the two envoys. He recovered however; to -reject the powerful hand extended to him by England, was not without -its danger; and as he well knew how to bring a difficult negotiation -to a successful conclusion, Clement regained confidence in his skill, -and gave orders to introduce Henry's ambassadors. - -Their discourse was not without eloquence: "Never was the church in a -more critical position," said they. "The unmeasured ambition of the -kings who claim to dispose of spiritual affairs at their own pleasure -(this was aimed at Charles V) holds the apostolical bark suspended -over an abyss. The only port open to it in the tempest is the favour -of the august prince whom we represent, and who has always been the -shield of the faith. But, alas! this monarch, the impregnable bulwark -of your holiness, is himself the prey of tribulations almost equal to -your own. His conscience torn by remorse, his crown without an heir, -his kingdom without security, his people exposed once more to -perpetual disorders.... Nay, the whole Christian world given up to the -most cruel discord.[736]... Such are the consequences of a fatal union -which God has marked with his displeasure.... There are also," they -added in a lower tone, "certain things of which his majesty cannot -speak in his letter ... certain incurable disorders under which the -queen suffers, which will never permit the king to look upon her again -as his wife.[737] If your holiness puts an end to such wretchedness by -annulling his unlawful marriage, you will attach his majesty by an -indissoluble bond. Assistance, riches, armies, crown, and even -life--the king our master is ready to employ all in the service of -Rome. He stretches out his hand to you, most holy father ... stretch -out yours to him; by your union the church will be saved, and Europe -will be saved with it." - - [736] Discordiæ crudelissimæ per omnem christianum orbem. State - Papers, vol. vii. p. 19. - - [737] Nonnulla sunt secreta S.D.N. secreto exponenda et non credenda - scriptis .... ob morbos nonnullos quibus absque remedio regina - laborat. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT'S EMBARRASSMENT.] - -Clement was cruelly embarrassed. His policy consisted in holding the -balance between the two princes, and he was now called upon to decide -in favour of one of them. He began to regret that he had ever received -Henry's ambassadors. "Consider my position," he said to them, "and -entreat the king to wait until more favourable events leave me at -liberty to act."--"What!" replied Knight proudly, "has not your -holiness promised to consider his majesty's prayer? If you fail in -your promise now, how can I persuade the king that you will keep it -some future day?"[738] Da Casale thought the time had come to strike a -decisive blow. "What evils," he exclaimed, "what inevitable -misfortunes your refusal will create!... The emperor thinks only of -depriving the church of its power, and the king of England alone has -sworn to maintain it." Then speaking lower, more slowly, and dwelling -upon every word, he continued: "We fear that his majesty, reduced to -such extremities ... of the two evils will choose the _least_,[739] -and supported by the purity of his intentions, will do _of his own -authority_ ... what he now so respectfully demands.... What should we -see then?... I shudder at the thought.... Let not your holiness -indulge in a false security which will inevitably drag you into the -abyss.... Read all ... remark all ... divine all ... take note of -all.[740]... Most holy father, this is a question of life and death." -And Da Casale's tone said more than his words. - - [738] Perform the promise once broken. Burnet's Ref. ii. Records, p. - xiii. - - [739] Ex duobus malis minus malum eligat. State Papers, vii. p. 20. - - [740] Ut non gravetur, cuncta legere, et bene notare. Ibid. p. 18. - -Clement understood that a positive refusal would expose him to lose -England. Placed between Henry and Charles, as between the hammer and -the forge, he resolved to gain time. "Well then," he said to Knight -and Da Casale, "I will do what you ask; but I am not familiar with the -_forms_ these dispensations require.... I will consult the Cardinal -_Sanctorum Quatuor_ on the subject ... and then will inform you." - -[Sidenote: THE DISPENSATION GRANTED.] - -Knight and Da Casale, wishing to anticipate Clement VII, hastened to -Lorenzo Pucci, cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and intimated to him that -their master would know how to be grateful. The cardinal assured the -deputies of his affection for Henry VIII, and they, in the fulness of -their gratitude, laid before him the four documents which they were -anxious to get executed. But the cardinal had hardly looked at the -first--the proposal that Wolsey should decide the matter of the -divorce in England--when he exclaimed: "Impossible! ... a bull in such -terms would cover with eternal disgrace not only his holiness and the -king, but even the cardinal of York himself." The deputies were -confounded, for Wolsey had ordered them to ask the pope for nothing -but his signature.[741] Recovering themselves, they rejoined: "All -that we require is a _competent_ commission." On his part, the pope -wrote Henry a letter, in which he managed to say nothing.[742] - - [741] Alia nulla re esset opus, præterquam ejus Sanctitatis signatura. - (State Papers, vii, p. 29.) There was need of no other thing besides - the signature of his holiness. - - [742] Charissime in Christo fili, etc., dated 7th December 1527. Ibid. - p. 27. - -Of the four required documents there were two on whose immediate -despatch Knight and Da Casale insisted: these were the _commission_ to -pronounce the divorce, and the _dispensation_ to contract a second -marriage. The _dispensation_ without the _commission_ was of no value; -this the pope knew well; accordingly he resolved to give the -_dispensation_ only. It was as if Charles had granted Clement when in -prison permission to visit his cardinals, but denied him liberty to -leave the castle of St. Angelo. It is in such a manner as this that a -religious system transformed into a political system has recourse, -when it is without power, to stratagem. "The _commission_," said the -artful Medici to Knight, "must be corrected according to the style of -our court; but here is the _dispensation_." Knight took the document; -it was addressed to Henry VIII and ran thus: "We accord to you, in -case your marriage with Catherine shall be declared null,[743] free -liberty to take another wife, provided she have not been the wife of -your brother...." The Englishman was duped by the Italian. "To my poor -judgment," he said, "this document will be of use to us." After this -Clement appeared to concern himself solely about Knight's health, and -suddenly manifested the greatest interest for him. "It is proper that -you should hasten your departure," said he, "for it is necessary that -you should travel _at your ease_. Gambara will follow you post, and -bring the commission." Knight thus mystified, took leave of the pope, -who got rid of Da Casale and Gambara in a similar manner. He then -began to breathe once more. There was no diplomacy in Europe which -Rome, even in its greatest weakness, could not easily dupe. - - [743] Matrimonium cum Catharina nullum fuisse et esse declarari. - Herbert's Henry VIII, p. 280. - -[Sidenote: KNIGHT DUPED BY THE POPE.] - -It had now become necessary to elude the commission. While the king's -envoys were departing in good spirits, reckoning on the document that -was to follow them, the general of the Spanish Observance reiterated -to the pontiff in every tone: "Be careful to give no document -authorising the divorce, and above all, do not permit this affair to -be judged in Henry's states." The cardinals drew up the document under -the influence of De Angelis, and made it a masterpiece of -insignificance. If good theology ennobles the heart, bad theology, so -fertile in subtleties, imparts to the mind a skill by no means common; -and hence the most celebrated diplomatists have often been churchmen. -The act being thus drawn up, the pope despatched three copies, to -Knight, to Da Casale, and to Gambara. Knight was near Bologna when the -courier overtook him. He was stupefied, and taking post-horses -returned with all haste to Orvieto.[744] Gambara proceeded through -France to England with the useless _dispensation_ which the pope had -granted. - - [744] Burnet's Reformation, Records, ii. p. xiii. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE GIVES THE COMMISSION.] - -Knight had thought to meet with more good faith at the court of the -pope than with kings, and he had been outwitted. What would Wolsey and -Henry say of his folly? His wounded self-esteem began to make him -believe all that Tyndale and Luther said of the popedom. The former -had just published the _Obedience of a Christian Man_, and the -_Parable of the Wicked Mammon_, in which he represented Rome as one of -the transformations of Antichrist. "Antichrist," said he in the latter -treatise, "is not a man that should suddenly appear with wonders; he -is a spiritual thing, who was in the Old Testament, and also in the -time of Christ and the apostles, and is now, and shall (I doubt not) -endure till the world's end. His nature is (when he is overcome with -the Word of God) to go out of the play for a season, and to disguise -himself, and then to come in again with a new name and new raiment. -The Scribes and Pharisees in the gospel were very Antichrists; popes, -cardinals, and bishops have gotten their new names, but the thing is -all one. Even so now, when we have uttered [detected] him, _he will -change himself once more_, and turn himself into an angel of light. -Already _the beast_, seeing himself now to be sought for, roareth and -seeketh new holes to hide himself in, and changeth himself into a -thousand fashions."[745] This idea, paradoxical at first, gradually -made its way into men's minds. The Romans, by their practices, -familiarized the English to the somewhat coarse descriptions of the -reformers. England was to have many such lessons, and thus by degrees -learn to set Rome aside for the sake of her own glory and prosperity. - - [745] Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 42, 43. - -Knight and Da Casale reached Orvieto about the same time. Clement -replied with sighs: "Alas! I am the emperor's prisoner. The -imperialists are every day pillaging towns and castles in our -neighbourhood.[746]... Wretch that I am! I have not a friend except -the king your master, and he is far away.... If I should do anything -now to displease Charles, I am a lost man.... To sign the commission -would be to sign an eternal rupture with him." But Knight and Da -Casale pleaded so effectually with Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and so -pressed Clement, that the pontiff, without the knowledge of the -Spaniard De Angelis, gave them a more satisfactory document, but not -such as Wolsey required. "In giving you this commission," said the -pope, "I am giving away my liberty, and perhaps my life. I listen not -to the voice of prudence, but to that of affection only. I confide in -the generosity of the king of England, he is the master of my -destiny." He then began to weep,[747] and seemed ready to faint. -Knight, forgetting his vexation, promised Clement that the king would -do everything to save him.--"Ah!" said the pope, "there is one -effectual means."--"What is that?" inquired Henry's agents.--"M. -Lautrec, who says daily that he will come, but never does," replied -Clement, "has only to bring the French army promptly before the gates -of Orvieto; then I could excuse myself by saying that he constrained -me to sign the commission."[748]--"Nothing is easier," replied the -envoys, "we will go and hasten his arrival." - - [746] The imperialists do daily spoil castles and towns about Rome ... - they have taken within three days two castles lying within six miles - of this. Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii. - - [747] Cum suspiriis et lacrymis. (Ibid p. xii.) With sighs and tears. - - [748] And by this colour he would cover the matter. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: HENRY DEMANDS ANOTHER LEGATE.] - -Clement was not even now at ease. The safety of the Roman church -troubled him not less than his own ... Charles might discover the -trick and make the popedom suffer for it. There was danger on all -sides. If the English spoke of _independence_, did not the Emperor -threaten a _reform_?... The catholic princes, said the papal -councillors, are capable, without perhaps a single exception, of -supporting the cause of Luther to gratify a criminal ambition.[749] -The pope reflected, and withdrawing his word, promised to give the -commission when Lautrec was under the walls of Orvieto; but the -English agents insisted on having it immediately. To conciliate all, -it was agreed that the pope should give the required document at once, -but as soon as the French army arrived, he should send another copy -bearing the date of the day on which he saw Lautrec. "Beseech the king -to keep secret the commission I give you,"[750] said Clement VII to -Knight; "if he begins the process immediately he receives it, I am -undone forever."[751] The pope thus gave permission to act, on -condition of not acting at all. Knight took leave on the 1st of -January 1528; he promised all the pontiff desired, and then, as if -fearing some fresh difficulty, he departed the same day. Da Casale, on -his side, after having offered the Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor a gift -of 4000 crowns, which he refused, repaired to Lautrec, to beg him to -_constrain_ the pope to sign a document which was already on its way -to England. - - [749] Non potest Sua Sanctitas sibi persuadere ipsos principes (ut - forte aliqui jactant) assumpturos sectam Lutheranam contra ecclesiam. - (State Papers, vii. p. 47.) His Holiness is not able to persuade - himself that these princes (as some perchance assert) are capable of - supporting the Lutheran sect against the church. - - [750] State Papers, vii. p. 36. - - [751] Is fully in your puissance with publishing of the commission to - destroy for ever. Ibid. - -But while the business seemed to be clearing at Rome, it was becoming -more complicated in London. The king's project got wind, and Catherine -gave way to the liveliest sorrow. "I shall protest," said she, -"against the commission given to the cardinal of York. Is he not the -king's subject, the vile flatterer of his pleasures?" Catherine did -not resist alone; the people, who hated the cardinal, could not with -pleasure see him invested with such authority. To obviate this -inconvenience, Henry resolved to ask the pope for another cardinal, -who should be empowered to terminate the affair in London with or -without Wolsey. - -The latter agreed to the measure: it is even possible that he was the -first to suggest it, for he feared to bear alone the responsibility of -so hateful an inquiry. Accordingly, on the 27th of December, he wrote -to the king's agents at Rome: "Procure the envoy of a legate, and -particularly of an able, easy, _manageable_ legate ... desirous of -meriting the king's favour,[752] Campeggio for instance. You will -earnestly request the cardinal who may be selected, to travel with all -diligence, and you will assure him that the king will behave liberally -towards him."[753] - - [752] Eruditus, indifferens, tractabilis, de regia majestate bene - merendi cupidus. Ibid. p. 33. - - [753] Regia majestas sumptus, labores, atque molestias liberalissime - compenset. (Ibid. p. 34.) His majesty will liberally compensate his - outlay, toil, and labour. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S NEW EXPEDIENT.] - -Knight reached Asti on the 10th of January, where he found letters -with fresh orders. This was another check: at one time it is the pope -who compels him to retrograde, at another it is the king. Henry's -unlucky valetudinarian secretary, a man very susceptible of fatigue, -and already wearied and exhausted by ten painful journeys, was in a -very bad humour. He determined to permit Gambara to carry the two -documents to England; to commission Da Casale, who had not left the -pope's neighbourhood, to solicit the despatch of the legate; and as -regarded himself, to go and wait for further orders at Turin:--"If it -be thought good unto the king's highness that I do return unto -Orvieto, I shall do as much as _my poor carcass_ may endure."[754] - - [754] Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii. - -When Da Casale reached Bologna, he pressed Lautrec to go and constrain -the pontiff to sign the act which Gambara was already bearing to -England. On receiving the new despatches he returned in all haste to -Orvieto, and the pope was very much alarmed when he heard of his -arrival. He had feared to grant a simple paper, destined to remain -_secret_; and now he is required to send a prince of the church! Will -Henry never be satisfied? "The mission you desire would be full of -dangers," he replied; "but we have discovered another means, alone -calculated to finish this business. Mind you do not say that I pointed -it out to you," added the pope in a mysterious tone; "but that it was -suggested by Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor and Simonetta." Da Casale was -all attention. "There is not a doctor in the world who can better -decide on this matter, and on its most private circumstances, than the -king himself.[755] If therefore he sincerely believes that Catherine -had really become his brother's wife, let him empower the cardinal of -York to pronounce the divorce, and let him take another wife without -any further ceremony;[756] he can then afterwards demand the -confirmation of the consistory. The affair being concluded in this -way, I will take the rest upon myself."--"But," said Da Casale, -somewhat dissatisfied with this new intrigue, "I must fulfil my -mission, and the king demands a legate."--"And whom shall I send," -asked Clement. "Da Monte? he cannot move. De Cæsis? he is at Naples. -Ara Coeli? he has the gout. Piccolomini? he is of the imperial -party.... Campeggio would be the best, but he is at Rome, where he -supplies my place, and cannot leave without peril to the church."... -And then with some emotion he added, "I throw myself into his -majesty's arms. The emperor will never forgive what I am doing. If he -hears of it he will summon me before _his council_; I shall have no -rest until he has deprived me of my throne and my life."[757] - - [755] Nullus doctor in mundo est, qui de hac re melius decernere - possit quam ipse rex. Ibid. p. xiv. - - [756] Aliam uxorem ducat. Ibid. - - [757] Vocabit eum ad concilium, vel nihil aliud quæret, nisi ut eum - omni statu et vita privet. Ibid. p. xxvi. - -Da Casale hastened to forward to London the result of the conference. -Clement being unable to untie the knot, requested Henry to cut it. -Will this prince hesitate to employ so easy a means, the pope (Clement -declared it himself) being willing to ratify everything? - -Here closes Henry's first campaign in the territories of the popedom. -We shall now see the results of so many efforts. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Disappointment in England--War declared against Charles - V--Wolsey desires to get him deposed by the Pope--A new - Scheme--Embassy of Fox and Gardiner--Their Arrival at - Orvieto--Their first interview with Clement--The Pope reads - a treatise by Henry--Gardiner's Threats and Clement's - Promise--The Modern Fabius--Fresh Interview and Menaces--The - pope has not _the key_--Gardiner's Proposition--Difficulties - and delays of the Cardinals--Gardiner's last Blows--Reverses - of Charles V in Italy--The Pope's Terror and Concession--The - _Commission_ granted--Wolsey demands the _Engagement_--A - Loophole--The Pope's Distress. - - -[Sidenote: DISAPPOINTMENT IN ENGLAND.] - -Never was disappointment more complete than that felt by Henry and -Wolsey after the arrival of Gambara with the commission; the king was -angry, the cardinal vexed. What Clement called the _sacrifice of his -life_ was in reality but a sheet of paper fit only to be thrown into -the fire. "This commission is of no value,"[758] said Wolsey.--"And -even to put it into execution," added Henry, "we must wait until the -imperialists have quitted Italy! The pope is putting us off to the -Greek calends."--"His holiness," observed the cardinal, "does not bind -himself to pronounce the divorce; the queen will therefore appeal from -our judgment."--"And even if the pope had bound himself," added the -king, "it would be sufficient for the emperor to smile upon him, to -make him retract what he had promised."--"It is all a cheat and a -mockery," concluded both king and minister. - - [758] Nullius sit roboris vel effectus. (State Papers, vii. p. 50.) It - is of no power or effect. - -[Sidenote: WAR DECLARED AGAINST CHARLES.] - -What was to be done next? The only way to make Clement ours, thought -Wolsey, is to get rid of Charles; it is time his pride was brought -down. Accordingly, on the 21st of January 1528, France and England -declared hostilities against the emperor. When Charles heard of this -proceeding he exclaimed: "I know the hand that has flung the torch of -war into the midst of Europe. My crime is not having placed the -cardinal of York on St. Peter's throne." - -A mere declaration of war was not enough for Wolsey; the bishop of -Bayonne, ambassador from France, seeing him one day somewhat -excited,[759] whispered in his ear: "In former times popes have -deposed emperors for smaller offences." Charles's deposition would -have delivered the king of France from a troublesome rival; but Du -Bellay, fearing to take the initiative in so bold an enterprise, -suggested the idea to the cardinal. Wolsey reflected: such a thought -had never before occurred to him. Taking the ambassador aside to a -window, he there swore _stoutly_, said Du Bellay, that he should be -delighted to use all his influence to get Charles deposed by the pope. -"No one is more likely than yourself," replied the bishop, "to induce -Clement to do it."--"I will use all my credit," rejoined Wolsey, and -the two priests separated. This bright idea the cardinal never forgot. -Charles had robbed him of the tiara; he will retaliate by depriving -Charles of his crown. _An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth._ -Staffileo, dean of the Rota, was then in London, and still burning -with resentment against the author of the Sack of Rome, he favourably -received the suggestions Wolsey made to him; and, finally, the envoy -from John Zapolya, king-elect of Hungary, supported the project. But -the kings of France and England were not so easily induced to put the -thrones of kings at the disposal of the priests. It appears, however, -that the pope was sounded on the subject; and if the emperor had been -beaten in Italy, it is probable that the bull would have been -fulminated against him. His sword preserved his crown, and the plot of -the two bishops failed. - - [759] Du Bellay to Francis I. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 64. - -The king's councillors began to seek for less heroic means. "We must -prosecute the affair at _Rome_," said some.--"No," said others, "in -_England_. The pope is too much afraid of the emperor to pronounce the -divorce in person."--"If the pope fears the emperor more than the king -of England," exclaimed the proud Tudor, "we shall find some other way -to set him at ease."[760] Thus, at the first contradiction, Henry -placed his hand on his sword, and threatened to sever the ties which -bound his kingdom to the throne of the Italian pontiff. - - [760] Burnet's Reformation, i. p. 50. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S NEW PROJECT.] - -"I have hit it!" said Wolsey at length; "we must combine the two -clans--judge the affair in London, and at the same time bind the -Pontiff at Rome." And then the able cardinal proposed the draft of a -bull, by which the pope, delegating his authority to two legates, -should declare that the acts of that delegation should have a -perpetual effect, notwithstanding any contrary decrees that might -subsequently emanate from his infallible authority.[761] A new mission -was decided upon for the accomplishment of this bold design. - - [761] Non obstantibus quibuscunque decretis revocatoriis præsentis - concessionis nostræ. (Burnet, Records, ii, p. 17.) No revocatory - decrees whatsoever shall invalidate my present concession. - -Wolsey, annoyed by the folly of Knight and his colleagues, desired men -of another stamp. He therefore cast his eyes on his own secretary, -Stephen Gardiner, an active man, intelligent, supple, and crafty, a -learned canonist, desirous of the king's favour, and, above all, a -good Romanist, which at Rome was not without its advantage. Gardiner -was in small the living image of his master; and hence the cardinal -sometimes styled him _the half of himself_.[762] Edward Fox, the chief -almoner, was joined with him--a moderate, influential man, a -particular friend of Henry's, and a zealous advocate of the divorce. -Fox was named first in the commission; but it was agreed that Gardiner -should be the real head of the embassy. "Repeat without ceasing," -Wolsey told them, "that his majesty cannot do otherwise than separate -from the queen. Attack each one on his weak side. Declare to the pope -that the king promises to defend him against the emperor; and to the -cardinals that their services will be nobly rewarded.[763] If that -does not suffice, let the energy of your words be such as to excite a -wholesome fear in the pontiff." - - [762] Mei dimidium. Ibid. p. 15. - - [763] Money to present the cardinals. Strype's Mem. i, p. 137. - -Fox and Gardiner, after a gracious reception at Paris (23rd February), -by Francis I, arrived at Orvieto on the 20th of March, after many -perils, and with their dress in such disorder, that no one could have -taken them for the ambassadors of Henry VIII. "What a city!" they -exclaimed, as they passed through its streets; "what ruins, what -misery! It is indeed truly called Orvieto (_urbs vetus_)!" The state -of the town gave them no very grand idea of the state of the popedom, -and they imagined that with a pontiff so poorly lodged, their -negotiation could not be otherwise than easy. "I give you my house," -said Da Casale, to whom they went, "my room and my own bed;" and as -they made some objections, he added: "It is not possible to lodge you -elsewhere; I have even been forced to borrow what was necessary to -receive you."[764] Da Casale, pressing them to change their clothes, -which were still dripping (they had just crossed a river on their -mules), they replied, that being obliged to travel post, they had not -been able to bring a change of raiment. "Alas!" said Casale, "what is -to be done? there are few persons in Orvieto who have more garments -than one;[765] even the shopkeepers have no cloth for sale; this town -is quite a prison. People say the pope is at liberty here. A pretty -liberty indeed! Want, impure air, wretched lodging, and a thousand -other inconveniences keep the holy father closer than when he was in -the Castle of St. Angelo. Accordingly, he told me the other day, it -was better to be in captivity at Rome than at liberty here."[766] - - [764] Borrowing of divers men so much as might furnish three beds. - Ibid. p. 139. - - [765] Strype's Mem. i. p. 139. - - [766] State Papers, vii. p. 63. - -[Sidenote: FIRST AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE.] - -In two days, however, they managed to procure some new clothing; and -being now in a condition to show themselves, Henry's agents were -admitted to an after-dinner audience on Monday the 22nd of March -(1528). - -Da Casale conducted them to an old building in ruins. "This is where -his holiness lives," he said. They looked at one another with -astonishment, and crossing the rubbish lying about, passed through -three chambers whose ceilings had fallen in, whose windows were -curtainless, and in which thirty persons "_riff-raff_ were standing -against the bare walls for a garnishment."[767] This was the pope's -court. - - [767] Strype, i. p. 139. - -At length the ambassadors reached the pontiff's room, and placed -Henry's letters in his hands. "Your holiness," said Gardiner, "when -sending the king a dispensation, was pleased to add, that if this -document were not sufficient, you would willingly give a better. It is -that favour the king now desires." The pope with embarrassment strove -to soften his refusal. "I am informed," he said, "that the king is led -on in this affair by a secret inclination, and that the lady he loves -is far from being worthy of him." Gardiner replied with firmness: "The -king truly deserves to marry again after the divorce, that he may have -an heir to the crown; but the woman he proposes to take is animated by -the noblest sentiments; the cardinal of York and all England do homage -to her virtues."[768] The pope appeared convinced. "Besides," -continued Gardiner, "the king has written a book on the motives of his -divorce."--"Good! come and read it to me to-morrow," rejoined Clement. - - [768] The cardinal's judgment as to the good qualities of the - gentlewoman. Ibid. p. 141. - -[Sidenote: SECOND AUDIENCE.] - -The next day the English envoys had hardly appeared, before Clement -took Henry's book, ran over it as he walked up and down the room, and -then seating himself on a long bench covered with an old carpet, "not -worth twenty pence," says an annalist, he read the book aloud. He -counted the number of arguments, made objections as if Henry were -present, and piled them one upon another without waiting for an -answer. "The marriages forbidden in Leviticus," said he, in a short -and quick tone of voice, "are permitted in Deuteronomy; now -Deuteronomy coming after Leviticus, we are bound by the latter. The -honour of Catherine and the emperor is at stake, and the divorce would -give rise to a terrible war."[769] The pope continued speaking, and -whenever the Englishmen attempted to reply, he bade them be silent, -and kept on reading. "It is an excellent book," said he, however, in a -courteous tone, when he had ended; "I shall keep it to read over again -at my leisure." Gardiner then presenting a draft of the commission -which Henry required, Clement made answer: "It is too late to look at -it now; leave it with me."--"But we are in haste," added -Gardiner.--"Yes, yes, I know it," said the pope. All his efforts -tended to protract the business. - - [769] Quis præstabit ne hoc divortium magni alicujus belli causam - præbeat. Sanderus, p. 26. - -On the 28th of March, the ambassadors were conducted to the room in -which the pope slept; the cardinals Sanctorum Quatuor and De Monte, as -well as the councillor of the Rota, Simonetta, were then with him. -Chairs were arranged in a semicircle. "Be seated," said Clement, who -stood in the middle.[770] "Master Gardiner, now tell me what you -want."--"There is no question between us but one of _time_. You -promised to ratify the divorce, as soon as it was pronounced; and we -require you to do _before_ what you engage to do _after_. What is -right on one day, must be right on another." Then, raising his voice, -the Englishman added: "If his majesty perceives that no more respect -is paid to him than to a common man,[771] he will have recourse to a -_remedy_ which I will not name, but which will not fail in its -effect." - - [770] In medio semicirculi. Strype, Records, i, p. 81. - - [771] Promiscuæ plebis. Ibid. p. 82. - -[Sidenote: THE TEMPORIZER.] - -The pope and his councillors looked at one another in silence;[772] -they had understood him. The imperious Gardiner, remarking the effect -which he had produced, then added in an absolute tone: "We have our -instructions, and are determined to keep to them."--"I am ready to do -everything compatible with my honour," exclaimed Clement, in -alarm.--"What your honour would not permit you to grant," said the -proud ambassador, "the honour of the king, my master, would not permit -him to ask." Gardiner's language became more imperative every minute. -"Well, then," said Clement, driven to extremity, "I will do what the -king demands, and if the emperor is angry, I cannot help it." The -interview, which had commenced with a storm, finished with a gleam of -sunshine. - - [772] Every man looked on other and so stayed. Ibid. - -That bright gleam soon disappeared: Clement, who imagined he saw in -Henry a Hannibal at war with Rome, wished to play the temporizer, the -_Fabius Cunctator_. "_Bis dat qui cito dat_,"[773] said Gardiner -sharply, who observed this manoeuvre.--"It is a question of law," -replied the pope, "and as I am very ignorant in these matters, I must -give the doctors of the canon law the necessary time to make it all -clear."--"By his delays Fabius Maximus saved Rome," rejoined Gardiner; -"you will destroy it by yours."[774]--"Alas!" exclaimed the pope, "if -I say the king is right, I shall have to go back to prison."[775]-- -"When truth is concerned," said the ambassador, "of what consequence -are the opinions of men?" Gardiner was speaking at his ease, but -Clement found that the castle of St. Angelo was not without weight in -the balance. "You may be sure that I shall do everything for the -best," replied the modern Fabius. With these words the conference -terminated. - - [773] He gives twice who gives quickly. - - [774] In Fabio Maximo qui rem Romanam cunctando restituit. Strype, p. - 90. - - [775] Materia novæ captivitatis. Ibid. p. 86. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE WITHOUT THE KEY.] - -Such were the struggles of England with the popedom--struggles which -were to end in a definitive rupture. Gardiner knew that he had a -skilful adversary to deal with; too cunning to allow himself to be -irritated, he coolly resolved to frighten the pontiff: that was in his -instructions. On the Friday before Palm Sunday, he was ushered into -the pope's closet; there he found Clement attended by De Monte, -Sanctorum Quatuor, Simonetta, Staffileo, Paul, auditor of the Rota, -and Gambara. "It is impossible," said the cardinals, "to grant a -decretal commission in which the pope pronounces _de jure_ in favour -of the divorce, with a promise of confirmation _de facto_." Gardiner -insisted; but no persuasion, "neither dulce nor poynante,"[776] could -move the pontiff. The envoy judged the moment had come to discharge -his strongest battery. "O perverse race," said he to the pontiff's -ministers, "instead of being harmless as doves, you are as full of -dissimulation and malice as serpents; promising everything but -performing nothing.[777] England will be driven to believe that God -has taken from you the key of knowledge, and that the laws of the -popes, ambiguous to the popes themselves, are only fit to be cast into -the fire.[778] The king has hitherto restrained his people, impatient -of the Romish yoke; but he will now give them the rein." A long and -gloomy silence followed. Then the Englishman, suddenly changing his -tone, softly approached Clement, who had left his seat, and conjured -him in a low voice to consider carefully what justice required of him. -"Alas!" replied Clement, "I tell you again, I am ignorant in these -matters. According to the maxims of the canon law _the pope carries -all laws in the tablets of his heart_,[779] but unfortunately God has -never given me _the key_ that opens them." As he could not escape by -silence, Clement retreated under cover of a jest, and heedlessly -pronounced the condemnation of the popedom. If he had never received -the famous _key_, there was no reason why other pontiffs should have -possessed it. The next day he found another loophole; for when the -ambassadors told him that the king would carry on the matter without -him, he sighed, drew out his handkerchief, and said as he wiped his -eyes:[780] "Would to God that I were dead!" Clement employed tears as -a political engine. - - [776] Ibid. p. 114. - - [777] Pleni omni dolo et versatione et dissimulatione. Verbis omnia - pollicentur, reipsa nihil præstant. Ibid. p. 98. - - [778] Digna esse quæ mandentur flammis pontificia jura. Ibid. - - [779] Pontifex habet omnia jura in scrinio pectoris. Strype, p. 99. - - [780] Ibid. p. 100. - -"We shall not get the _decretal_ commission," (that which pronounced -the divorce) said Fox and Gardiner after this, "and it is not really -necessary. Let us demand the _general_ commission (authorizing the -legates to pronounce it), and exact a promise that shall supply the -place of the act which is denied us." Clement, who was ready to make -all the promises in the world, swore to ratify the sentence of the -legates without delay. Fox and Gardiner then presented to Simonetta a -draft of the act required. The dean, after reading it, returned it to -the envoys, saying, "It is very well, I think, except _the end_;[781] -show it Sanctorum Quatuor." The next morning they carried the draft to -that cardinal: "How long has it been the rule for the patient to write -the prescription? I always thought it was the physician's -business."--"No one knows the disease so well as the patient," replied -Gardiner; "and this disease may be of such a nature that the doctor -cannot prescribe the remedy without taking the patient's advice." -Sanctorum Quatuor read the prescription, and then returned it, saying: -"It is not bad, with the exception of _the beginning_.[782] Take the -draft to De Monte and the other councillors." The latter liked neither -beginning, middle, nor end. "We will send for you this evening," said -De Monte. - - [781] The matter was good saving in the latter end. Ibid. p. 102. - - [782] The beginning pleased him not. - -[Sidenote: A NEW TRAGEDY.] - -Three or four days having elapsed, Henry's envoys again waited on the -pope, who showed them the draft prepared by his councillors. Gardiner -remarking in it additions, retrenchments, and corrections, threw it -disdainfully from him, and said coldly: "Your holiness is deceiving -us; you have selected these men to be the instruments of your -duplicity." Clement, in alarm, sent for Simonetta; and after a warm -discussion,[783] the envoys, more discontented than ever, quitted the -pope at one in the morning. - - [783] Incalescente disputatione. Strype, p. 104. - -The night brings wisdom. "I only desire two little words more in the -commission," said Gardiner next day to Clement and Simonetta. The pope -requested Simonetta to wait upon the cardinals immediately; the latter -sent word that they were at dinner, and adjourned the business until -the morrow. - -When Gardiner heard of this Epicurean message, he thought the time had -come for striking a decisive blow. A new tragedy began.[784] "We are -deceived," exclaimed he, "you are laughing at us. This is not the way -to gain the favour of princes. Water mixed with wine spoils it;[785] -your corrections nullify our document. These ignorant and suspicious -priests have spelled over our draft as if a scorpion was hidden under -every word.[786]--You made us come to Italy," said he to Staffileo and -Gambara, "like hawks which the fowler lures by holding out to them a -piece of meat;[787] and now that we are here, the bait has -disappeared, and, instead of giving us what we sought, you pretend to -lull us to sleep by the sweet voice of the sirens."[788] Then, turning -to Clement, the English envoy added, "Your holiness will have to -answer for this." The pope sighed and wiped away his tears. "It was -God's pleasure," continued Gardiner, whose tone became more -threatening every minute, "that we should see with our own eyes the -disposition of the people here. It is time to have done. Henry is not -an ordinary prince,--bear in mind that you are insulting _the defender -of the faith_.... You are going to lose the favour of the only monarch -who protects you, and the apostolical chair, already tottering, will -fall into dust, and disappear entirely amidst the applause of all -Christendom." - - [784] Here began a new tragedy. Ibid. p. 105. - - [785] Vinum conspurcat infusa aqua. Ibid. - - [786] Putantes sub omni verbo latere scorpionem. Ibid. - - [787] Prætendere pugno carnem. Ibid. - - [788] Dulcibus sirenum vocibus incantare. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S TERROR.] - -Gardiner paused. The pope was moved. The state of Italy seemed to -confirm but too strongly the sinister predictions of the envoy of -Henry VIII. The imperial troops, terrified and pursued by Lautrec, had -abandoned Rome and retired on Naples. The French general was following -up this wretched army of Charles V, decimated by pestilence and -debauchery; Doria, at the head of his galleys, had destroyed the -Spanish fleet; Gaeta and Naples only were left to the imperialists; -and Lautrec, who was besieging the latter place, wrote to Henry on the -26th of August that all would soon be over. The timid Clement VII had -attentively watched all these catastrophes. Accordingly, Gardiner had -hardly denounced the danger which threatened the popedom, before he -turned pale with affright, rose from his seat, stretched out his arms -in terror, as if he had desired to repel some monster ready to devour -him, and exclaimed, "Write, write! Insert whatever words you please." -As he said this, he paced up and down the room, raising his hands to -heaven and sighing deeply, while Fox and Gardiner, standing -motionless, looked on in silence. A tempestuous wind seemed to be -stirring the depths of the abyss; the ambassadors waited until the -storm was abated. At last Clement recovered himself,[789] made a few -trivial excuses, and dismissed Henry's ministers. It was an hour past -midnight. - - [789] Compositis affectibus. Strype, p. 106. - -It was neither morality, nor religion, nor even the laws of the church -which led Clement to refuse the divorce; ambition and fear were his -only motives. He would have desired that Henry should first constrain -the emperor to restore him his territories. But the king of England, -who felt himself unable to protect the pope against Charles, required, -however, this unhappy pontiff to provoke the emperor's anger. Clement -reaped the fruits of that fatal system which had transformed the -church of Jesus Christ into a pitiful combination of policy and -cunning. - -[Sidenote: THE ENGAGEMENT CONCEDED.] - -On the next day, the tempest having thoroughly abated,[790] Sanctorum -Quatuor corrected the commission. It was signed, completed by a leaden -seal attached to a piece of string, and then handed to Gardiner, who -read it. The bull was addressed to Wolsey, and "authorized him, in -case he should acknowledge the nullity of Henry's marriage, to -pronounce judicially the sentence of divorce, but without noise or -display of judgment;[791] for that purpose he might take any English -bishop for his colleague."--"All that we can do, you can do," said the -pope. "We are very doubtful," said the importunate Gardiner after -reading the bull, "whether this commission, without the clauses of -_confirmation_ and _revocation_, will satisfy his majesty; but we -will do all in our power to get him to accept it."--"Above all, do not -speak of our altercations," said the pope. Gardiner, like a discreet -diplomist, did not scruple to note down every particular in cipher in -the letters whence these details are procured. "Tell the king," -continued the pontiff, "that this commission is on my part a -declaration of war against the emperor, and that I now place myself -under his majesty's protection." The chief-almoner of England departed -for London with the precious document. - - [790] The divers tempests passed over. Ibid. - - [791] Sine strepitu et figura judicii sententiam divortii judicialiter - proferendam. Rymer, Foedera, vi, pars. ii, p. 95. - -But one storm followed close upon another. Fox had not long quitted -Orvieto when new letters arrived from Wolsey, demanding the fourth of -the acts previously requested, namely, the _engagement_ to ratify at -Rome whatever the commissioners might decide in England. Gardiner was -to set about it _in season and out of season_; the verbal promise of -the pope counted for nothing; this document must be had, whether the -pope was ill, dying, or dead.[792] "_Ego et Rex meus_, his majesty and -I command you;" said Wolsey; "this divorce is of more consequence to -us than twenty popedoms."[793] The English envoy renewed their demand. -"Since you refuse the decretal," he said, "there is the greater reason -why you should not refuse _the engagement_." This application led to -fresh discussion and fresh tears. Clement gave way once more; but the -Italians, more crafty than Gardiner, reserved a loophole in the -document through which the pontiff might escape. The messenger -Thaddeus carried it to London; and Gardiner left Orvieto for Rome to -confer with Campeggio. - - [792] In casu mortis pontificis, quod Deus avertat. (Burnet, Records, - p. xxviii.) In case of the death of the pope, which may God avert. - - [793] The thing which the king's highness and I more esteem than - twenty papalities. Ibid. p. xxv. - -Clement was a man of penetrating mind, and although he knew as well as -any how to deliver a clever speech, he was irresolute and timid; and -accordingly the commission had not long been despatched before he -repented. Full of distress, he paced the ruined chambers of his old -palace, and imagined he saw hanging over his head that terrible sword -of Charles the Fifth, whose edge he had already felt. "Wretch that I -am," said he, "cruel wolves surround me; they open their jaws to -swallow me up.... I see none but enemies around me. At their head is -the emperor.... What will he do? Alas! I have yielded that fatal -commission which the general of the Spanish observance had enjoined me -to refuse. Behind Charles come the Venetians, the Florentines, the -duke of Ferrara.... They have cast lots upon my vesture.[794]... Next -comes the king of France, who promises nothing, but looks on with -folded arms; or rather, what perfidy! calls upon me at this critical -moment to deprive Charles V of his crown.... And last, but not least, -Henry VIII, _the defender of the faith_, indulges in frightful menaces -against me.... The emperor desires to maintain the queen on the throne -of England; the latter, to put her away.... Would to God that -Catherine were in her grave! But, alas! she lives ... to be the apple -of discord dividing the two greatest monarchies, and the inevitable -cause of the ruin of the popedom.... Wretched man that I am! how cruel -is my perplexity, and around me, I can see nothing but horrible -confusion."[795] - - [794] Novo foedere inito super vestem suam miserunt sortem. (Strype, - Records, i. p. 109.) A new treaty being entered upon they have cast - lots upon his vesture. - - [795] His holiness findeth himself in a marvellous perplexity and - confusion. Ibid. p. 108. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Fox's Report to Henry and Anne--Wolsey's Impression--He - demands the Decretal--One of the Cardinal's petty - Manoeuvres--He sets his Conscience at Rest--Gardiner fails at - Rome--Wolsey's new perfidy--The King's Anger against the - Pope--Sir T. More predicts Religious Liberty--Immorality of - Ultramontane Socialism--Erasmus invited--Wolsey's last - Flight--Energetic Efforts at Rome--Clement grants - all--Wolsey triumphs--Union of Rome and England. - - -[Sidenote: FOX'S REPORT TO HENRY AND ANNE.] - -During this time Fox was making his way to England. On the 27th of -April he reached Paris; on the 2nd of May he landed at Sandwich, and -hastened to Greenwich, where he arrived the next day at five in the -evening, just as Wolsey had left for London. Fox's arrival was an -event of great importance. "Let him go to Lady Anne's apartments," -said the king, "and wait for me there." Fox told Anne Boleyn of his -and Gardiner's exertions, and the success of their mission, at which -she expressed her very great satisfaction. Indeed, more than a year -had elapsed since her return to England, and she no longer resisted -Henry's project. "Mistress Anne always called me Master Stephen," -wrote Fox to Gardiner, "her thoughts were so full of you." The king -appeared and Anne withdrew. - -[Sidenote: FOX REPORTS TO THE KING.] - -"Tell me as briefly as possible what you have done," said Henry. Fox -placed in the king's hands the pope's insignificant letter, which he -bade his almoner read; then that from Staffileo, which was put on one -side; and lastly Gardiner's letter, which Henry took hastily and read -himself. "The pope has promised us," said Fox, as he terminated his -report, "to confirm the sentence of the divorce, as soon as it has -been pronounced by the commissioners."--"Excellent!" exclaimed Henry; -and then he ordered Anne to be called in. "Repeat before this lady," -he said to Fox, "what you have just told me." The almoner did so. "The -pope is convinced of the justice of your cause," he said in -conclusion, "and the cardinal's letter has convinced him that my lady -is worthy of the throne of England."--"Make your report to Wolsey this -very night," said the king. - -It was ten o'clock when the chief almoner reached the cardinal's -palace; he had gone to bed, but immediate orders were given that Fox -should be conducted to his room. Being a churchman, Wolsey could -understand the pope's artifices better than Henry; accordingly, as -soon as he learnt that Fox had brought the commission only, he became -alarmed at the task imposed upon him. "What a misfortune!" he -exclaimed; "your commission is no better than Gambara's.... However, -go and rest yourself; I will examine these papers to-morrow." Fox -withdrew in confusion. "It is not bad," said Wolsey the next day, "but -the whole business still falls on me alone!--Never mind, I must wear a -contented look, or else...." In the afternoon he summoned into his -closet Fox, Dr. Bell, and Viscount Rochford: "Master Gardiner has -surpassed himself," said the crafty supple cardinal; "What a man! what -an inestimable treasure! what a jewel in our kingdom!"[796] - - [796] O non æstimandum thesaurum margaritamque regni nostri. Strype, - Records, i, p. 119. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S FRAUD.] - -He did not mean a word he was saying. Wolsey was dissatisfied with -every thing,--with the refusal of the _decretal_, and with the drawing -up of the _commission_, as well as of the _engagement_ (which arrived -soon after in good condition, so far as the outside was concerned). -But the king's ill humour would infallibly recoil on Wolsey; so -putting a good face on a bad matter, he ruminated in secret on the -means of obtaining what had been refused him. "Write to Gardiner," -said he to Fox, "that every thing makes me desire the pope's -_decretal_--the need of unburdening my conscience, of being able to -reply to the calumniators who will attack my judgment,[797] and the -thought of the accidents to which the life of man is exposed. Let his -holiness, then, pronounce the divorce himself; we engage on our part -to keep his resolution secret. But order Master Stephen to employ -every kind of persuasion that his _rhetoric_ can imagine." In case the -pope should positively refuse the decretal, Wolsey required that at -least Campeggio should share the responsibility of the divorce with -him. - - [797] Justissime obstruere ora calumniantium et temere dissentientium. - Ibid. p. 120. - -This was not all: while reading the engagement, Wolsey discovered the -loophole which had escaped Gardiner, and this is what he -contrived:--"The _engagement_ which the pope has sent us," he wrote to -Gardiner, "is drawn up in such terms that he can retract it at -pleasure; we must therefore find some _good way_ to obtain another. -You may do it under this pretence. You will appear before his holiness -with a dejected air, and tell him that the courier, to whom the -conveyance of the said engagement was intrusted, fell into the water -with his despatches, so that the rescripts were totally defaced and -illegible; that I have not dared deliver it into the king's hands, and -unless his holiness will grant you a duplicate, some notable blame -will be imputed unto you for not taking better care in its -transmission. And further, you will continue: I remember the -expressions of the former document, and to save your holiness trouble, -I will dictate them to your secretary. Then," added Wolsey, "while the -secretary is writing, you will find means to introduce, without its -being perceived, as many _fat_, _pregnant_, and available words as -possible, to bind the pope and enlarge my powers, the politic handling -of which the king's highness and I commit unto your good -discretion."[798] - - [798] Burnet, Records, p. xxx. - -Such was the expedient invented by Wolsey. The papal secretary, -imagining he was making a fresh copy of the original document (which -was, by the way, in perfect condition), was at the dictation of the -ambassador to draw up another of a different tenor. The "politic -handling" of the cardinal-legate, which was not very unlike forgery, -throws a disgraceful light on the policy of the sixteenth century. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S HYPOCRISY.] - -Wolsey read this letter to the chief-almoner; and then, to set his -conscience at rest, he added piously: "In an affair of such high -importance, on which depends the glory or the ruin of the realm,--my -honour or my disgrace--the condemnation of my soul or my everlasting -merit--I will listen solely to the voice of my conscience,[799] and I -shall act in such a manner as to be able to render an account to God -without fear." - - [799] Reclamante conscientia. Strype, Records, i. p. 124. - -Wolsey did more; it seems that the boldness of his declarations -reassured him with regard to the baseness of his works. Being at -Greenwich on the following Sunday, he said to the king in the presence -of Fox, Bell, Wolman, and Tuke: "I am bound to your royal person more -than any subject was ever bound to his prince. I am ready to sacrifice -my goods, my blood, my life for you.... But my obligations towards God -are greater still. For that cause, rather than act against his will, I -would endure the extremest evils.[800] I would suffer your royal -indignation, and, if necessary, deliver my body to the executioners -that they might cut it in pieces." What could be the spirit then -impelling Wolsey? Was it blindness or impudence? He may have been -sincere in the words he addressed to Henry; at the bottom of his heart -he may have desired to set the pope above the king, and the church of -Rome above the kingdom of England; and this desire may have appeared -to him a sublime virtue, such as would hide a multitude of sins. What -the public conscience would have called treason, was heroism to the -Romish priest. This zeal for the papacy is sometimes met with in -conjunction with the most flagrant immorality. If Wolsey deceived the -pope, it was to save popery in the realm of England. Fox, Bell, -Wolman, and Tuke listened to him with astonishment.[801] Henry, who -thought he knew his man, received these holy declarations without -alarm, and the cardinal having thus eased his conscience, proceeded -boldly to his iniquities. It seems, however, that the inward -reproaches which he silenced in public, had their revenge in secret. -One of his officers entering his closet shortly afterwards, presented -a letter addressed to Campeggio for his signature. It ended thus: "I -hope all things shall be done according to the will of God, the desire -of the king, the quiet of the kingdom, and to our honour _with a good -conscience_." The cardinal having read the letter, dashed out the four -last words.[802] Conscience has a sting from which none can escape, -not even a Wolsey. - - [800] Extrema quæque.....contra conscientiam suam. (Strype, Records, - i. p. 126.) Any extreme whatever ... contrary to his conscience. - - [801] To my great mervail and no less joy and comfort. Ibid. p. 126. - - [802] Burnet's Ref. vol. i, p. 41. - -However, Gardiner lost no time in Italy. When he met Campeggio (to -whom Henry VIII had given a palace at Rome, and a bishopric in -England), he entreated him to go to London and pronounce the divorce. -This prelate, who was to be empowered in 1530 with authority to crush -Protestantism in Germany, seemed bound to undertake a mission that -would save Romanism in Britain. But proud of his position at Rome, -where he acted as the pope's representative, he cared not for a charge -that would undoubtedly draw upon him either Henry's hatred or the -emperor's anger. He begged to be excused. The pope spoke in a similar -tone. When he was informed of this, the terrible Tudor, beginning to -believe that Clement desired to entangle him, as the hunter entangles -the lion in his toils, gave vent to his anger on Tuke, Fox, and -Gardiner, but particularly on Wolsey. Nor were reasons wanting for -this explosion. The cardinal, perceiving that his hatred against -Charles had carried him too far, pretended that it was without his -orders that Clarencieux, bribed by France, had combined with the -French ambassador to declare war against the emperor; and added that -he would have the English king-at-arms put to death as he passed -through Calais. This was an infallible means of preventing -disagreeable revelations. But the herald, who had been forewarned, -crossed by way of Boulogne, and, without the cardinal's knowledge, -obtained an interview with Henry, before whom he placed the _orders_ -he had received from Wolsey in _three_ consecutive letters. The king, -astonished at his minister's impudence, exclaimed profanely: "O Lord -Jesu, the man in whom I had most confidence told me quite the -contrary." He then summoned Wolsey before him, and reproached him -severely for his falsehoods. The wretched man shook like a leaf. Henry -appeared to pardon him, but the season of his favour had passed away. -Henceforward he kept the cardinal as one of those instruments we make -use of for a time, and then throw away when we have no further need of -them. - -[Sidenote: HE BEGINS TO TREMBLE.] - -The king's anger against the pope far exceeded that against Wolsey; he -trembled from head to foot, rose from his seat, then sat down again, -and vented his wrath in the most violent language:--"What!" he -exclaimed, "I shall exhaust my political combinations, empty my -treasury, make war upon my friends, consume my forces ... and for -whom?... for a heartless priest who, considering neither the -exigencies of my honour, nor the peace of my conscience, nor the -prosperity of my kingdom, nor the numerous benefits which I have -lavished on him, refuses me a favour, which he ought, as the common -father of the faithful, to grant even to an enemy.... Hypocrite!... -You cover yourself with the cloak of friendship, you flatter us by -crafty practices,[803] but you give us only a bastard document, and -you say like Pilate: It matters little to me if this king perishes, -and all his kingdom with him; take him and judge him according to your -law!... I understand you ... you wish to entangle us in the -briers,[804] to catch us in a trap, to lure us into a pitfall.... But -we have discovered the snare; we shall escape from your ambuscade, and -brave your power." - - [803] By crafty means and under the face and visage of entire amity. - Strype, vol. i, p. 166. - - [804] To involve and cast us so in the briers and fetters. Strype, - vol. i. p. 166. - -[Sidenote: SIR T. MORE'S PROPHECY.] - -Such was the language then heard at the court of England, says an -historian.[805] The monks and priests began to grow alarmed, while the -most enlightened minds already saw in the distance the first gleams of -religious liberty. One day, at a time when Henry was proving himself a -zealous follower of the Romish doctrines, Sir Thomas More was sitting -in the midst of his family, when his son-in-law, Roper, now become a -warm papist, exclaimed: "Happy kingdom of England, where no heretic -dares show his face!"--"That is true, son Roper," said More; "we seem -to sit now upon the mountains, treading the heretics under our feet -like ants; but I pray God that some of us do not live to see the day -when we gladly would wish to be at league with them, to suffer them to -have their churches quietly to themselves, so that they would be -content to let us have ours peaceably to ourselves." Roper angrily -replied:[806] "By my word, sir, that is very desperately spoken!" -More, however, was in the right; genius is sometimes a great diviner. -The Reformation was on the point of inaugurating religious liberty, -and by that means placing civil liberty on an immovable foundation. - - [805] Ibid. - - [806] My uncle said in a rage. More's Life, p. 132. - -[Sidenote: ROMANISM AND CONSCIENCE.] - -Henry himself grew wiser by degrees. He began to have doubts about the -Roman hierarchy, and to ask himself, whether a priest-king, -embarrassed in all the political complications of Europe, could be the -head of the church of Jesus Christ. Pious individuals in his kingdom -recognized in Scripture and in conscience a law superior to the law of -Rome, and refused to sacrifice at the command of the church their -moral convictions, sanctioned by the revelation of God. The -hierarchical system, which claims to absorb man in the papacy, had -oppressed the consciences of Christians for centuries. When the Romish -Church had required from such as Berengarius, John Huss, Savonarola, -John Wesel, and Luther, the denial of their consciences enlightened by -the word, that is to say, by the voice of God, it had shown most -clearly how great is the immorality of ultramontane socialism. "If the -Christian consents to this enormous demand of the hierarchy," said -the most enlightened men; "if he renounces his own notions of good and -evil in favour of the clergy; if he reserves not his right to obey -God, who speaks to him in the Bible, rather than men, even if their -agreement were universal; if Henry VIII, for instance, should silence -his conscience, which condemns his union with his brother's widow, to -obey the clerical voice which approves of it; by that very act he -renounces truth, duty, and even God himself." But we must add, that if -the rights of conscience were beginning to be understood in England, -it was not about such holy matters as these that the pope and Henry -were contending. They were both intriguers--both dissatisfied, the one -desirous of love, the other of power. - -Be that as it may, a feeling of disgust for Rome then took root in the -king's heart, and nothing could afterwards eradicate it. He -immediately made every exertion to attract Erasmus to London. Indeed, -if Henry separated from the pope, his old friends, the humanists, must -be his auxiliaries, and not the heretical doctors. But Erasmus, in a -letter dated 1st June, alleged the weak state of his health, the -robbers who infested the roads, the wars and rumours of wars then -afloat. "Our destiny leads us," he said; "let us yield to it."[807] It -is a fortunate thing for England that Erasmus was not its reformer. - - [807] Fatis agimur, fatis oedendum. Erasm. Epp. p. 1032. - -Wolsey noted this movement of his master's, and resolved to make a -strenuous effort to reconcile Clement and Henry; his own safety was at -stake. He wrote to the pope, to Campeggio, to Da Casale, to all Italy. -He declared that if he was ruined, the popedom would be ruined too, so -far at least as England was concerned: "I would obtain the _decretal_ -bull with my own blood, if possible,"[808] he added. "Assure the holy -father on my life that no mortal eye shall see it." Finally, he -ordered the chief-almoner to write to Gardiner: "If Campeggio does not -come, _you shall never return_ to England;"[809] an infallible means -of stimulating the secretary's zeal. - - [808] Ut vel proprio sanguine id vellemus posse a S. D. N. impetrare. - Burnet, Records, ii. p. 19. - - [809] Neither should Gardiner ever return. Strype, i. p. 167. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT GRANTS ALL THE BULLS.] - -This was the last effort of Henry VIII. Bourbon and the Prince of -Orange had not employed more zeal a year before in scaling the walls -of Rome. Wolsey's fire had inflamed his agents; they argued, -entreated, stormed, and threatened. The alarmed cardinals and -theologians, assembling at the pope's call, discussed the matter, -mixing political interests with the affairs of the church.[810] At -last they understood what Wolsey now communicated to them. "Henry is -the most energetic defender of the faith," they said. "It is only by -acceding to his demand that we can preserve the kingdom of England to -the popedom. The army of Charles is in full flight, and that of -Francis triumphs." The last of these arguments decided the question; -the pope suddenly felt a great sympathy for Wolsey and for the English -Church; the emperor was beaten; therefore he was wrong. Clement -granted everything. - - [810] Negotia ecclesiastica politicis rationibus interpolantes. Sand. - p. 27. - -First, Campeggio was desired to go to London. The pontiff knew that he -might reckon on his intelligence and inflexible adhesion to the -interests of the hierarchy; even the cardinal's gout was of use, for -it might help to innumerable delays. Next, on the 8th of June, the -pope, then at Viterbo, gave a new commission, by which he conferred on -Wolsey and Campeggio the power to declare null and void the marriage -between Henry and Catherine, with liberty for the king and queen to -form new matrimonial ties.[811] A few days later he signed the famous -_decretal_ by which he himself annulled the marriage between Henry and -Catherine; but instead of intrusting it to Gardiner, he gave it to -Campeggio, with orders not to let it go out of his hands. Clement was -not sure of the course of events: if Charles should decidedly lose his -power, the bull would be published in the face of Christendom; if he -should recover it, the bull would be burnt.[812] In fact the flames -did actually consume some time afterwards this decree which Clement -had wetted with his tears as he put his name to it. Finally, on the -23rd of July, the pope signed a valid _engagement_, by which he -declared beforehand that all retractation of these acts should be -_null and void_.[813] Campeggio and Gardiner departed. Charles's -defeat was as complete at Rome as at Naples; the justice of his cause -had vanished with his army. - - [811] Ad alia vota commigrandi. Herbert, p. 262. - - [812] State Papers, vol. vii. p. 78. Dr. Lingard acknowledges the - existence of this bull and the order to burn it. - - [813] Si (quod absit) aliquid contra præmissa faciamus, illud pro - casso, irrito, inani et vacuo omnino haberi volumus. (Herbert, p. - 250.) If (which, however, let it not happen) we should do anything - contrary to this despatch, we wish it to be regarded as useless, - invalid, worthless, and altogether void. - -[Sidenote: JOY IN ENGLAND.] - -Nothing, therefore, was wanting to Henry's desires. He had Campeggio, -the commission, the decretal bull of divorce signed by the pope, and -the engagement giving an irrevocable value to all these acts. Wolsey -was conqueror,--the conqueror of Clement!... He had often wished to -mount the restive courser of the popedom and to guide it at his will, -but each time the unruly steed had thrown him from the saddle. Now he -was firm in his seat, and held the horse in hand. Thanks to Charles's -reverses, he was master at Rome. The popedom, whether it was pleased -or not, must take the road he had chosen, and before which it had so -long recoiled. The king's joy was unbounded, and equalled only by -Wolsey's. The cardinal, in the fulness of his heart, wishing to show -his gratitude to the officers of the Roman court, made them presents -of carpets, horses, and vessels of gold.[814] All near Henry felt the -effects of his good humour. Anne smiled; the court indulged in -amusements; the _great affair_ was about to be accomplished; the New -Testament to be delivered to the flames. The union between England and -the popedom appeared confirmed for ever, and the victory which Rome -seemed about to gain in the British isles might secure her triumph in -the west. Vain omens! far different were the events in the womb of the -future. - - [814] Num illi, aulæa, vas aureum aut equi maxime probentur. Burnet, - Records, i. p. xv. - - - - -BOOK XX. - -THE TWO DIVORCES. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Progress of the Reformation--The two Divorces--Entreaties to - Anne Boleyn--The Letters in the Vatican--Henry to - Anne--Henry's Second Letter--Third--Fourth--Wolsey's - Alarm--His fruitless Proceedings--He turns--The Sweating - Sickness--Henry's Fears--New Letters to Anne--Anne falls - sick; her Peace--Henry writes to her--Wolsey's - Terror--Campeggio does not arrive--All dissemble at Court. - - -While England seemed binding herself to the court of Rome, the general -course of the church and of the world gave stronger presage every day -of the approaching emancipation of Christendom. The respect which for -so many centuries had hedged in the Roman Pontiff was everywhere -shaken; the Reform, already firmly established in several states of -Germany and Switzerland, was extending in France, the Low Countries, -and Hungary, and beginning in Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland. The South -of Europe appeared indeed submissive to the Romish church; but Spain, -at heart, cared little for the pontifical infallibility; and even -Italy began to inquire whether the papal dominion was not an obstacle -to her prosperity. England, notwithstanding appearances, was also -going to throw off the yoke of the bishops of the Tiber, and many -faithful voices might already be heard demanding that the word of God -should be acknowledged the supreme authority in the church. - -[Sidenote: TWO SORTS OF TEACHING.] - -The conquest of Christian Britain by the papacy occupied all the -seventh century, as we have seen. The sixteenth was the counterpart of -the seventh. The struggle which England then had to sustain, in order -to free herself from the power that had enslaved her during nine -hundred years, was full of sudden changes; like those of the times of -Augustine and Oswy. This struggle indeed took place in each of the -countries where the church was reformed; but nowhere can it be traced -in all its diverse phases so distinctly as in Great Britain. The -positive work of the Reformation--that which consisted in recovering -the truth and life so long lost--was nearly the same everywhere; but -as regards the negative work--the struggle with the popedom--we might -almost say that other nations committed to England the task by which -they were all to profit. An unenlightened piety may perhaps look upon -the relations of the court of London with the court of Rome, at the -period of the Reformation, as void of interest to the faith; but -history will not think the same. It has been too often forgotten that -the main point in this contest was not the divorce (which was only the -occasion), but the contest itself and its important consequences. The -divorce of Henry Tudor and Catherine of Aragon is a secondary event; -but the divorce of England and the popedom is a primary event, one of -the great evolutions of history, a creative act (so to speak) which -still exercises a normal influence over the destinies of mankind. And -accordingly everything connected with it is full of instruction for -us. Already a great number of pious men had attached themselves to the -authority of God; but the king, and with him that part of the nation, -strangers to the evangelical faith, clung to Rome, which Henry had so -valiantly defended. The word of God had spiritually separated England -from the papacy; the _great matter_ separated it materially. There is -a close relationship between these two divorces, which gives extreme -importance to the process between Henry and Catherine. When a great -revolution is to be effected in the bosom of a people (we have the -Reformation particularly in view), God instructs the minority by the -Holy Scriptures, and the majority by the dispensations of the divine -government. Facts undertake to push forward those whom the more -spiritual voice of the word leaves behind. England, profiting by this -great teaching of facts, has thought it her duty ever since to avoid -all contact with a power that had deceived her; she has thought that -popery could not have the dominion over a people without infringing on -its vitality, and that it was only by emancipating themselves from -this priestly dictatorship that modern nations could advance safely in -the paths of liberty, order, and greatness. - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S HESITATION.] - -For more than a year, as Henry's complaints testify, Anne continued -deaf to his homage. The despairing king saw that he must set other -springs to work, and taking Lord Rochford aside, he unfolded his plans -to him. The ambitious father promised to do all in his power to -influence his daughter. "The divorce is a settled thing," he said to -her; "you have no control over it. The only question is, whether it -shall be you or another who shall give an heir to the crown. Bear in -mind that terrible revolutions threaten England, if the king has no -son." Thus did every thing combine to weaken Anne's resolution. The -voice of her father, the interests of her country, the king's love, -and doubtless some secret ambition, influenced her to grasp the -proffered sceptre. These thoughts haunted her in society, in solitude, -and even in her dreams. At one time she imagined herself on the -throne, distributing to the people her charities and the word of God; -at another, in some obscure exile, leading a useless life, in tears -and ignominy. When, in the sports of her imagination, the crown of -England appeared all glittering before her, she at first rejected it; -but afterwards that regal ornament seemed so beautiful, and the power -it conferred so enviable, that she repelled it less energetically. -Anne still refused, however, to give the so ardently solicited assent. - -Henry, vexed by her hesitation, wrote to her frequently, and almost -always in French. As the court of Rome makes use of these letters, -which are kept in the Vatican, to abuse the Reformation, we think it -our duty to quote them. The theft committed by a cardinal has -preserved them for us; and we shall see that, far from supporting the -calumnies that have been spread abroad, they tend, on the contrary, to -refute them. We are far from approving their contents as a whole; but -we cannot deny to the young lady, to whom they are addressed, the -possession of noble and generous sentiments. - -Henry, unable to support the anguish caused by Anne's refusal, wrote -to her, as it is generally supposed, in May 1528:[815] - - "By revolving in my mind the contents of your last letters, I - have put myself into great agony, not knowing how to - interpret them, whether to my disadvantage, as I understand - some passages, or not, as I conclude from others. I beseech - you earnestly to let me know your real mind as to the love - between us two. It is needful for me to obtain this answer of - you, having been for a whole year wounded with the dart of - love, and not yet assured whether I shall succeed in finding - a place in your heart and affection. This uncertainty has - hindered me of late from declaring you my mistress, lest it - should prove that you only entertain for me an ordinary - regard. But if you please to do the duty of a true and loyal - mistress, I promise you that not only the name shall be given - to you, but also that I will take you for my mistress, - casting off all others that are in competition with you, out - of my thoughts and affection, and serving you only. I beg you - to give an entire answer to this my rude letter, that I may - know on what and how far I may depend. But if it does not - please you to answer me in writing, let me know some place - where I may have it by word of mouth, and I will go thither - with all my heart. No more for fear of tiring you. Written by - the hand of him who would willingly remain yours, - - "H. REX." - - [815] Vatican Letters. Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 114. The date in the - text is that assigned by the editor; we are inclined to place it - somewhat earlier. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S SECOND LETTER.] - -Such were the affectionate, and we may add (if we think of the time -and the man) the respectful terms employed by Henry in writing to Anne -Boleyn. The latter, without making any promises, betrayed some little -affection for the king, and added to her reply an emblematical jewel, -representing "a solitary damsel in a boat tossed by the tempest," -wishing thus to make the prince understand the dangers to which his -love exposed her. Henry was ravished and immediately replied:-- - - "For a present so valuable, that nothing could be more - (considering the whole of it,) I return you my most hearty - thanks, not only on account of the costly diamond, and the - ship in which the solitary damsel is tossed about, but - chiefly for the fine interpretation, and the too humble - submission which your goodness hath made to me. Your favour I - will always seek to preserve, and this is my firm intention - and hope, according to the matter, _aut illic aut nullibi_. - - "The demonstrations of your affections are such, the fine - thoughts of your letter so cordially expressed, that they - oblige me for ever to honour, love, and serve you sincerely. - I beseech you to continue in the same firm and constant - purpose, and assuring you that, on my part, I will not only - make you a suitable return, but outdo you, so great is the - loyalty of the heart that desires to please you. I desire, - also, that if, at any time before this, I have in any way - offended you, that you would give me the same absolution that - you ask, assuring you, that hereafter my heart shall be - dedicated to you alone. I wish my person were so too. God can - do it, if he pleases, _to whom I pray once a-day_ for that - end, hoping that at length _my prayers will be heard_. I wish - the time may be short, but I shall think it long till we see - one another. Written by the hand of that secretary, who in - heart, body, and will, is - - "Your loyal and most faithful Servant, - - "H. T. REX."[816] - - [816] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 115. After the signature comes the - following device: - - _Nulle autre que [Illustration: initials AB inside heart shape] ne - cherche H. T._ - - - * * * * * - - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S THIRD AND FOURTH LETTERS.] - -Henry was a passionate lover, and history is not called upon to -vindicate that cruel prince; but in the preceding letter we cannot -discover the language of a seducer. It is impossible to imagine the -king praying to God _once a-day_, for anything but a lawful union. -These daily prayers seem to present the matter in a different light -from that which Romanist writers have imagined. - -Henry thought himself more advanced than he really was. Anne then -shrank back; embarrassed by the position she held at court, she begged -for one less elevated. The king submitted, although very vexed at -first: - - "Nevertheless that it belongeth not to a gentleman," he wrote - to her, "to put his _mistress_ in the situation of a - _servant_, yet, by following your wishes, I would willingly - concede it, if by that means you are less uncomfortable in - the place you shall choose than in that where you have been - placed by me. I thank you most cordially that you are pleased - still to bear me in your remembrance. - - "H. T." - -Anne, having retired in May to Hever castle, her father's residence, -the king wrote to her as follows:-- - - "My Mistress and my Friend, - - "My heart and I surrender ourselves into your hands, and we - supplicate to be commended to your good graces, and that by - absence your affections may not be diminished to us. For that - would be to augment our pain, which would be a great pity, - since absence gives enough, and more than I ever thought - could be felt. This brings to my mind a fact in astronomy, - which is, that the longer the days are, the farther off is - the sun, and yet the more scorching is his heat. Thus is it - with our love; absence has placed distance between us, - nevertheless fervour increases, at least on my part. I hope - the same from you, assuring you that in my case the anguish - of absence is so great that it would be intolerable were it - not for the firm hope I have of your indissoluble affection - towards me. In order to remind you of it, and because I - cannot in person be in your presence, I send you the thing - which comes nearest that is possible, that is to say, my - picture, and the whole device, which you already know - of,[817] set in bracelets; wishing myself in their place when - it pleases you. This is from the hand of "Your Servant and - Friend, - - "H. T. REX." - - [817] Doubtless the _aut illic aut nullibi_. For this letter see the - Pamphleteer, No. 42, p. 346. - -[Sidenote: ANNE GIVES HER CONSENT.] - -Pressed by her father, her uncles, and by Henry, Anne's firmness was -shaken. That crown, rejected by Renée and by Margaret, dazzled the -young Englishwoman; every day she found some new charm in it; and -gradually familiarizing herself with her new future, she said at last: -"If the king becomes free, I shall be willing to marry him." This was -a great fault; but Henry was at the height of joy. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY STRIVES TO DISSUADE HENRY.] - -The courtiers watched with observant eyes these developments of the -king's affection, and were already preparing the homage which they -proposed to lay at Anne Boleyn's feet. But there was one man at court -whom Henry's resolution filled with sorrow; this was Wolsey. He had -been the first to suggest to the king the idea of separating from -Catherine; but if Anne is to succeed her, there must be no divorce. He -had first alienated Catherine's party; he was now going to irritate -that of the Boleyns; accordingly he began to fear that whatever might -be the issue of this affair, it would cause his ruin. He took frequent -walks in his park at Hampton Court, accompanied by the French -ambassador, the confidant of his sorrows: "I would willingly lose one -of my fingers," he said, "if I could only have two hours' conversation -with the king of France." At another time, fancying all England was -pursuing him, he said with alarm, "The king my master and all his -subjects will cry murder against me; they will fall upon me more -fiercely than on a Turk, and all Christendom will rise against me!" -The next day Wolsey, to gain the French ambassador, gave him a long -history of what he had done for France _against the wishes of all -England_: "I need much dexterity in my affairs," he added, "and must -use a terrible _alchymy_."[818] But alchymy could not save him. -Rarely has so much anguish been veiled beneath such grandeur. Du -Bellay was moved with pity at the sight of the unhappy man's -sufferings. "When he gives way," he wrote to Montmorency, "it lasts a -day together;--he is continually sighing.--You have never seen a man -in such anguish of mind."[819] - - [818] Une terrible Alquemie. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 157. - - [819] 26th April, 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 93. - -In truth Wolsey's reason was tottering. That fatal idea of the divorce -was the cause of all his woes, and to be able to recall it, he would -have given, not a _finger_ only, but an arm, and perhaps more. It was -too late; Henry had started his car down the steep, and whoever -attempted to stop it would have been crushed beneath its wheels. -However, the cardinal tried to obtain something. Francis I had -intercepted a letter from Charles V in which the emperor spoke of the -divorce as likely to raise the English nation in revolt. Wolsey caused -this letter to be read to the king, in the hope that it would excite -his serious apprehensions; but Henry only _frowned_, and Du Bellay, to -whom the monarch ascribed the report on these troubles foreboded by -Charles, received "a gentle lash."[820] This was the sole-result of -the manoeuvre. - - [820] _Quelque petit coup de fouet._ 24th May, 1528. Du Bellay to - Montmorency. Ibid. p. 102. - -Wolsey now resolved to broach this important subject in a -straightforward manner. The step might prove his ruin; but if he -succeeded he was saved and the popedom with him. Accordingly one day -(shortly before the sweating sickness broke out, says Du Bellay, -probably in June 1528) Wolsey openly prayed the king to renounce his -design; his own reputation, he told him, the prosperity of England, -the peace of Europe, the safety of the church,--all required it; -besides the pope would never grant the divorce. While the cardinal was -speaking, Henry's face grew black; and before he had concluded the -king's anger broke out. "The king used terrible words," said Du -Bellay. He would have given a thousand Wolseys for one Anne Boleyn. -"No other than God shall take her from me," was his most decided -resolution. - -Wolsey, now no longer doubting of his disgrace, began to take his -measures accordingly. He commenced building in several places, in -order to win the affections of the common people; he took great care -of his bishoprics, in order that they might ensure him an easy -retreat; he was affable to the courtiers; and thus covered the earth -with flowers to deaden his fall. Then he would sigh as if he were -disgusted with honours; and would celebrate the charms of -solitude.[821] He did more than this. Seeing plainly that the best -way of recovering the king's favour would be to conciliate Anne -Boleyn, he made her the most handsome presents,[822] and assured her -that all his efforts would now be directed to raise her to the throne -of England. Anne believing these declarations replied, that she would -help him in her turn, "As long as any breath was in her body."[823] -Even Henry had no doubt that the cardinal had profited by his lesson. - - [821] 20th August, 1528. Ibid. p. 165. - - [822] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 150. - - [823] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE SWEATING SICKNESS.] - -Thus were all parties restless and uneasy--Henry desiring to marry -Lady Anne, the courtiers to get rid of Wolsey, and the latter to -remain in power--when a serious event appeared to put every one in -harmony with his neighbour. About the middle of June, the terrible -sweating sickness (_sudor anglicus_) broke out in England. The -citizens of London, "thick as flies," said Du Bellay,[824] suddenly -feeling pains in the head and heart, rushed from the streets or shops -to their chambers, began to sweat, and took to their beds. The disease -made frightful and rapid progress, a burning heat preyed on their -limbs; if they chanced to uncover themselves, the perspiration ceased, -delirium came on, and in four hours the victim was dead and "stiff as -a wall,"[825] says the French ambassador. Every family was in -mourning. Sir Thomas More, kneeling by his daughter's bedside, burst -into tears, and called upon God to save his beloved Margaret.[826] -Wolsey, who was at Hampton Court, suspecting nothing amiss, arrived in -London as usual to preside in the court of Chancery; but he ordered -his horses to be saddled again immediately and rode back. In four -days, 2000 persons died in London. - - [824] Dru comme mouches. Le Grand. Preuves, p. 138. - - [825] Raide comme un pan de mur. Ibid. - - [826] More's Life, p. 136. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S TERROR.] - -The court was at first safe from the contagion; but on the fourth day -one of Anne Boleyn's ladies was attacked; it was as if a thunderbolt -had fallen on the palace. The king removed with all haste, and staid -at a place twelve miles off, for he was not prepared to die. He -ordered Anne to return to her father, invited the queen to join him, -and took up his residence at Waltham. His real conscience awoke only -in the presence of death. Four of his attendants and a friar, Anne's -confessor, as it would appear,[827] falling ill, the king departed for -Hunsdon. He had been there two days only when Powis, Carew, Carton, -and others of his court, were carried off in two or three hours. Henry -had met an enemy whom he could not vanquish. He quitted the place -attacked by the disease; he removed to another quarter; and when the -sickness laid hold of any of his attendants in his new retreat, he -again left that for a new asylum. Terror froze his blood; he wandered -about pursued by that terrible scythe whose sweep might perhaps reach -him; he cut off all communication, even with his servants; shut -himself up in a room at the top of an isolated tower; ate all alone, -and would see no one but his physician;[828] he prayed, fasted, -confessed, became reconciled with the queen; took the sacrament every -Sunday and feast day; received _his Maker_,[829] to use the words of a -gentleman of his chamber; and the queen and Wolsey did the same. Nor -was that all: his councillor, Sir Brian Tuke, was sick in Essex; but -that mattered not; the king ordered him to come to him, even in his -litter; and on the 20th of June, Henry after hearing three masses (he -had never done so much before in one day) said to Tuke: "I want you to -write _my will_." He was not the only one who took that precaution. -"There were _a hundred thousand_ made," says Du Bellay. - - [827] Votre père maître Jesonère est tombé malade. Henry to Anne. - Pamphleteer. No. 42, p. 347. - - [828] With his physician in a chamber within a tower to sup apart. - State Papers, vol. i, p. 296. - - [829] Ibid. p. 290. - -During this time, Anne in her retirement at Hever was calm and -collected; she prayed much, particularly for the king and for -Wolsey.[830] But Henry, far less submissive, was very anxious. "The -uneasiness my doubts about your health gave me," he wrote to her, -"disturbed and frightened me exceedingly; but now, since you have as -yet felt nothing, I hope it is with you as it is with us.... I beg -you, my entirely beloved, not to frighten yourself, or be too uneasy -at our absence, for wherever I am, I am yours. And yet we must -sometimes submit to our misfortunes, for whoever will struggle against -fate, is generally but so much the farther from gaining his end. -Wherefore, comfort yourself and take courage, and make this misfortune -as easy to you as you can."[831] - - [830] I thank our Lord that them that I desired and prayed for are - escaped, and that is the king's grace and you. Anne to Wolsey. - Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 150. - - [831] Ibid. No. 42, p. 347. - -As he received no news, Henry's uneasiness increased; he sent to Anne -a messenger and a letter: "to acquit myself of the duty of a true -servant, I send you this letter, beseeching you to apprize me of your -welfare, which I pray may continue as long as I desire mine own." - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TERRORS.] - -Henry's fears were well founded; the malady became more severe; in -four hours eighteen persons died at the archbishop of Canterbury's; -Anne Boleyn herself and her brother also caught the infection. The -king was exceedingly agitated; Anne alone appeared calm; the strength -of her character raised her above exaggerated fears; but her enemies -ascribed her calmness to other motives. "Her ambition is stronger than -death," they said. "The king, queen, and cardinal tremble for their -lives, but she ... she would die content if she died a queen." Henry -once more changed his residence. All the gentlemen of his -privy-chamber were attacked with one exception; "he remained alone, -keeping himself apart," says Du Bellay, and confessed every day. He -wrote again to Anne, sending her his physician, Dr. Butts:[832] "The -most displeasing news that could occur came to me suddenly at night. -On three accounts I must lament it. One, to hear of the illness of my -mistress, whom I esteem more than all the world, and whose health I -desire as I do my own. I would willingly bear half of what you suffer -to cure you. The second, from the fear that I shall have to endure my -wearisome absence much longer, which has hitherto given me all the -vexation that was possible; and when gloomy thoughts filled my mind, -then I pray God to remove far from me such troublesome and rebellious -ideas. The third, because my physician, in whom I have most -confidence, is absent. Yet, from the want of him, I send you my -second, and hope that he will soon make you well. I shall then love -him more than ever. I beseech you to be guided by his advice in your -illness. By your doing this, I hope soon to see you again, which will -be to me a greater comfort than all the precious jewels in the world." - - [832] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 120. - -The pestilence soon broke out with more violence around Henry; he fled -in alarm to Hatfield, taking with him only the gentleman of his -chamber; he next quitted this place for Tittenhanger, a house -belonging to Wolsey, whence he commanded general processions -throughout the kingdom in order to avert this scourge of God.[833] At -the same time he wrote to Wolsey: "As soon as any one falls ill in the -place where you are, fly to another; and go thus from place to place." -The poor cardinal was still more alarmed than Henry. As soon as he -felt the slightest perspiration, he fancied himself a dead man. "I -entreat your highness," he wrote trembling to the king on the 5th of -July, "to show yourself full of pity for my soul; these are perhaps -the last words I shall address to you ... the whole world will see by -my last testament that you have not bestowed your favour upon an -ungrateful man." The king, perceiving that Wolsey's mind was affected, -bade him "put apart fear and fantasies,"[834] and wear a cheerful -humour in the midst of death. - - [833] State Papers, i, p. 308. - - [834] State Papers, i, p. 314. - -[Sidenote: DISSIMULATION AT COURT.] - -At last the sickness began to diminish, and immediately the desire to -see Anne revived in Henry's bosom. On the 18th of August she -re-appeared at court, and all the king's thoughts were now bent on the -divorce. - -But this business seemed to proceed in inverse ratio to his desires. -There was no news of Campeggio; was he lost in the Alps or at sea? Did -his gout detain him in some village, or was the announcement of his -departure only a feint? Anne Boleyn herself was uneasy, for she -attached great importance to Campeggio's coming. If the church -annulled the king's first marriage, Anne seeing the principal obstacle -removed, thought she might accept Henry's hand. She therefore wrote to -Wolsey: "I long to hear from you news of the legate, for I do hope -(an' they come from you) they shall be very good." The king added in a -postscript: "The not hearing of the legate's arrival in France causeth -us somewhat to muse. Notwithstanding we trust by your diligence and -vigilancy (with the assistance of Almighty God) shortly to be eased -out of that trouble."[835] - - [835] Pamphleteer, No. 48, p. 149. - -But still there was no news. While waiting for the long desired -ambassador, every one at the English court played his part as well as -he could. Anne, whether from conscience, prudence, or modesty, refused -the honours which the king would have showered upon her, and never -approached Catherine but with marks of profound respect. Wolsey had -the look of desiring the divorce, while in reality he dreaded it, as -fated to cause his ruin and that of the popedom. Henry strove to -conceal the motives which impelled him to separate from the queen; to -the bishops, he spoke of his _conscience_, to the nobility _of an -heir_, and to all of the sad obligation which compelled him to put -away so justly beloved a princess. In the meanwhile, he seemed to live -on the best terms with her, from what Du Bellay says.[836] But -Catherine was the one who best dissembled her sentiments; she lived -with the king as during their happiest days, treated Anne with every -kindness, adopted an elegant costume, encouraged music and dancing in -her apartments, often appeared in public, and seemed desirous of -captivating by her gracious smiles the good-will of England. This was -a mournful comedy, destined to end in tragedy full of tears and agony. - - [836] 16th October 1528. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 170. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Coverdale and Inspiration--He undertakes to translate the - Scriptures--His Joy and Spiritual Songs--Tyball and the - Laymen--Coverdale preaches at Bumpstead--Revival at - Colchester--Incomplete Societies and the New - Testament--Persecution--Monmouth arrested and released. - - -[Sidenote: COVERDALE AND INSPIRATION.] - -While these scenes were acting in the royal palaces, far different -discussions were going on among the people. After having dwelt for -some time on the agitations of the court, we gladly return to the -lowly disciples of the divine word. The Reformation of England (and -this is its characteristic) brings before us by turns the king upon -his throne, and the laborious artisan in his humble cottage; and -between these two extremes we meet with the doctor in his college, and -the priest in his pulpit. - -[Sidenote: MILES COVERDALE.] - -Among the young men trained at Cambridge under Barnes's instruction, -and who had aided him at the time of his trial, was Miles Coverdale, -afterwards bishop of Exeter, a man distinguished by his zeal for the -Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some time after the prior's fall, on Easter -Eve, 1527, Coverdale and Cromwell met at the house of Sir Thomas More, -when the former exhorted the Cambridge student to apply himself to the -study of sacred learning.[837] The lapse of his unhappy master had -alarmed Coverdale, and he felt the necessity of withdrawing from that -outward activity which had proved so fatal to Barnes. He therefore -turned to the Scriptures, read them again and again, and perceived, -like Tyndale, that the reformation of the church must be effected by -the word of God. The inspiration of that word, the only foundation of -its sovereign authority, had struck Coverdale. "Wherever the Scripture -is known it reformeth all things. And why? Because it is given _by the -inspiration of God_."[838] This fundamental principle of the -Reformation in England must, in every age, be that of the church. - - [837] Coverdale's Remains (Parker Society), p. 490. The authority for - this statement is a letter from Coverdale to Cromwell, which the - editor of the "remains" assigns to the year 1527. Mr. Anderson (Annals - of the Bible, i. p. 239), places it four years later, in 1531. Foxe - asserts that Cromwell was at the siege of Rome in May 1527, on the - authority of Cranmer and Cromwell himself (Acts and Mon. v. p. 365). - If so, the letter cannot belong to that year; but 1531 is improbable. - I am inclined to think it was written in 1528; but any way there is a - difficulty with the date. - - [838] Ibid. p. 10. - -Coverdale found happiness in his studies: "Now," he said, "I begin to -taste of Holy Scriptures! Now, honour be to God! I am set to the most -sweet smell of holy letters."[839] He did not stop there, but thought -it his duty to attempt in England the work which Tyndale was -prosecuting in Germany. The Bible was so important in the eyes of -these Christians, that two translations were undertaken -simultaneously. "Why should other nations," said Coverdale, "be more -plenteously provided for with the Scriptures in their mother-tongue -than we?"[840]--"Beware of translating the Bible!" exclaimed the -partisans of the schoolmen; "your labour will only make divisions in -the faith and in the people of God."[841]--"God has now given his -church," replied Coverdale, "the gifts of translating and of printing; -we must improve them." And if any friends spoke of Tyndale's -translation, he answered: "Do not you know that when many are starting -together, every one doth his best to be nighest the mark?"[842]--"But -Scripture ought to exist in Latin only," objected the priests.--"No," -replied Coverdale again, "the Holy Ghost is as much the author of it -in the Hebrew, Greek, French, Dutch, and English, as in Latin.... The -word of God is of like authority, in what language soever the Holy -Ghost speaketh it."[843] This does not mean that translations of Holy -Scripture are inspired, but that the word of God, faithfully -translated, always possesses a divine authority. - - [839] Coverdale's Remains, p. 490. - - [840] Ibid. p. 12. - - [841] Ibid. - - [842] Ibid. p. 14. - - [843] Ibid. p. 26. - -Coverdale determined therefore to translate the Bible, and, to procure -the necessary books, he wrote to Cromwell, who, during his travels, -had made a collection of these precious writings. "Nothing in the -world I desire but books," he wrote; "like Jacob, you have drunk of -the dew of heaven.... I ask to drink of your waters."[844] Cromwell -did not refuse Coverdale his treasures. "Since the Holy Ghost moves -you to bear the cost of this work," exclaimed the latter, "God gives -me boldness to labour in the same."[845] He commenced without delay, -saying: "Whosoever believeth not the Scripture, believeth not Christ; -and whoso refuseth it, refuseth God also."[846] Such were the -foundations of the reformed church in England. - - [844] De tuo ipso torrente maxime potare exopto. Ibid. p. 491. - - [845] Ibid. p. 10. - - [846] Ibid. p. 19. - -Coverdale did not undertake to translate the Scriptures as a mere -literary task: the Spirit which had inspired him spoke to his heart; -and tasting their life-giving promises, he expressed his happiness in -pious songs:-- - - Be glad now, all ye christen men, - And let us rejoyce unfaynedly. - The kindnesse cannot be written with penne, - That we have receaved of God's mercy; - Whose love towarde us hath never ende: - He hath done for us as a frende; - Now let us thanke him hartely. - - These lovynge words he spake to me. - I wyll delyver thy soule from payne; - I am desposed to do for thee, - And to myne owne selfe thee to retayne. - Thou shalt be with me, for thou art myne; - And I with thee, for I am thyne; - Such is my love, I cannot layne. - - They wyll shed out my precyous bloude, - And take away my lyfe also; - Which I wyll suffre all for thy good: - Beleve this sure, where ever thou go. - For I will yet ryse up agayne; - Thy synnes I beare, though it be payne, - To make thee safe and free from wo. - -[Sidenote: TYBALL AT BUMPSTEAD.] - -Coverdale did not remain long in the solitude he desired. The study of -the Bible, which had attracted him to it, soon drew him out of it. A -revival was going on in Essex; John Tyball, an inhabitant of -Bumpstead, having learnt to find in Jesus Christ the _true bread from -heaven_, did not stop there. One day as he was reading the first -epistle to the Corinthians, these words: "eat of this _bread_," and -"drink of this _cup_," repeated four times within a few verses, -convinced him that there was no transubstantiation. "A priest has no -power to create the body of the Lord," said he, "Christ truly is -present in the Eucharist, but he is there only _for him that -believeth_, and by a spiritual presence and action only." Tyball, -disgusted with the Romish clergy and worship, and convinced that -Christians are called to a universal priesthood, soon thought that men -could do without a special ministry, and without denying the offices -mentioned in Scripture, as some Christians have done since, he -attached no importance to them. "Priesthood is not necessary,[847]" he -said: "every layman may administer the sacraments as well as a -priest." The minister of Bumpstead, one Richard Foxe, and next a -greyfriar of Colchester named Meadow, were successively converted by -Tyball's energetic preaching. - - [847] Strype, Records, i. p. 51. - -[Sidenote: CONVERSION OF TOPLEY AND PYKAS.] - -Coverdale, who was living not far from these parts, having heard speak -of this religious revival, came to Bumpstead, and went into the -pulpit in the spring of 1528, to proclaim the treasures contained in -Scripture. Among his hearers was an Augustine monk, named Topley, who -was supplying Foxe's place during his absence. This monk, while -staying at the parsonage, had found a copy of Wickliffe's _Wicket_, -which he read eagerly. His conscience was wounded by it, and all -seemed to totter about him.[848] He had gone to church full of doubt, -and after divine service he waited upon the preacher, exclaiming: "O -my sins, my sins!" "Confess yourself to God," said Coverdale, "and not -to a priest. God accepteth the confession which cometh from the heart, -and blotteth out all your sins."[849] The monk believed in the -forgiveness of God, and became a zealous evangelist for the -surrounding country. - - [848] I felt in my conscience a great wavering. Anderson's Annals of - the Bible, vol. i. p. 185. - - [849] Coverdale's Remains, p. 481. - -The divine word had hardly lighted one torch, before that kindled -another. At Colchester, in the same county, a worthy man named Pykas, -had received a copy of the Epistles of Saint Paul from his mother, -with this advice: "My son, live according to these writings, and not -according to the teaching of the clergy." Some time after, Pykas -having bought a New Testament, and "read it thoroughly many -times,"[850] a total change took place in him. "We must be baptized by -the Holy Ghost," he said, and these words passed like a breath of life -over his simple-minded hearers. One day, Pykas having learnt that -Bilney, the first of the Cambridge doctors who had known the power of -God's word, was preaching at Ipswich, he proceeded thither, for he -never refused to listen to a priest, when that priest proclaimed the -truth. "O, what a sermon! how full of the Holy Ghost!" exclaimed -Pykas. - - [850] Strype, vol. i. ch. i. p. 121. - -From that period meetings of the brothers in Christ (for thus they -were called) increased in number. They read the New Testament, and -each imparted to the others what he had received for the instruction -of all. One day when the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew had been -read, Pykas, who was sometimes wrong in the spiritual interpretation -of Scripture, remarked: "When the Lord declares that _not one stone of -the temple shall be left upon another_, he speaks of those haughty -priests who persecute those whom they call heretics, and who pretend -to be the temple of God. God will destroy them all." After protesting -against the priest, he protested against the host: "The real body of -Jesus Christ is in the Word," he said; "God is in the Word, the Word -is in God.[851] God and the Word cannot be separated. Christ is the -living Word that nourishes the soul." These humble preachers -increased. Even women knew the Epistles and Gospels by heart; Marion -Matthew, Dorothy Long, Catherine Swain, Alice Gardiner, and, above -all, Gyrling's wife, who had been in service with a priest lately -burnt for heresy, took part in these gospel meetings. And it was not -in cottages only that the glad tidings were then proclaimed; Bower -Hall, the residence of the squires of Bumpstead, was open to Foxe, -Topley, and Tyball, who often read the Holy Scriptures in the great -hall of the mansion, in the presence of the master and all their -household: a humble Reformation more real than that effected by Henry -VIII. - - [851] Ibid. p. 130. - -[Sidenote: TWO FORMS OF THE CHURCH.] - -There was, however, some diversity of opinion among these brethren. -"All who have begun to believe," said Tyball, Pykas, and others, -"ought to meet together to hear the word and increase in faith. We -pray in common ... and that constitutes a church." Coverdale, Bilney, -and Latimer willingly recognised these incomplete societies, in which -the members met simply as _disciples_; they believed them necessary at -a period when the church was forming. These societies (in the -reformers' views) proved that organization has not the priority in the -Christian church, as Rome maintains, and that this priority belongs to -the faith and the life. But this imperfect form they also regarded as -provisional. To prevent numerous dangers, it was necessary that this -society should be succeeded by another, the church of the New -Testament, with its elders or bishops, and deacons. The word, they -thought, rendered a ministry of the word necessary; and for its proper -exercise not only piety was required, but a knowledge of the sacred -languages, the gift of eloquence, its exercise and perfection. -However, there was no division among these Christians upon secondary -matters. - -For some time the bishop of London watched this movement with -uneasiness. He caused Hacker to be arrested, who, for six years past, -had gone from house to house reading the Bible in London and Essex; -examined and threatened him, inquired carefully after the names of -those who had shown him hospitality; and the poor man in alarm had -given up about forty of his brethren. Sebastian Harris, priest of -Kensington, Forman, rector of All Hallows, John and William Pykas, and -many others, were summoned before the bishop. They were taken to -prison; they were led before the judges; they were put in the stocks; -they were tormented in a thousand ways. Their minds became confused; -their thoughts wandered; and many made the confessions required by -their persecutors. - -[Sidenote: MONMOUTH ARRESTED.] - -The adversaries of the gospel, proud of this success, now desired a -more glorious victory. If they could not reach Tyndale, had they not -in London the patron of his work, Monmouth, the most influential of -the merchants, and a follower of the true faith? The clergy had made -religion their business, and the Reformation restored it to the -people. Nothing offended the priests so much, as that laymen should -claim the right to believe without their intervention, and even to -propagate the faith. Sir Thomas More, one of the most amiable men of -the sixteenth century, participated in their hatred. He wrote to -Cochlæus: "Germany now daily bringeth forth monsters more deadly than -what Africa was wont to do;[852] but, alas! she is not alone. Numbers -of Englishmen, who would not a few years ago even hear Luther's name -mentioned, are now publishing his praises! England is now like the -sea, which swells and heaves before a great storm, without any wind -stirring it."[853] More felt particularly irritated, because the -boldness of the gospellers had succeeded to the timidity of the -Lollards. "The heretics," he said, "have put off hypocrisy, and put on -impudence." He therefore resolved to set his hand to the work. - - [852] More's Life, p. 82. - - [853] Ibid. p. 117. - -On the 14th of May 1529, Monmouth was in his shop, when an usher came -and summoned him to appear before Sir J. Dauncies, one of the privy -council. The pious merchant obeyed, striving to persuade himself that -he was wanted on some matter of business; but in this he was deceived, -as he soon found out. "What letters and books have you lately received -from abroad?"[854] asked with some severity, Sir Thomas More, who, -with Sir William Kingston, was Sir John's colleague. "None," replied -Monmouth. "What aid have you given to any persons living on the -continent?"--"None, for these last three years. William Tyndale abode -with me six months," he continued, "and his life was what a good -priest's ought to be. I gave him ten pounds at the period of his -departure, but nothing since. Besides, he is not the only one I have -helped; the bishop of London's chaplain, for instance, has received of -me more than £50."--"What books have you in your possession?" The -merchant named the New Testament and some other works. "All these -books have lain more than two years on my table, and I never heard -that either priests, friars, or laymen learnt any great errors from -them."[855] More tossed his head. "It is a hard matter," he used to -say, "to put a dry stick in the fire without its burning, or to -nourish a snake in our bosom and not be stung by it.[856]--That is -enough," he continued, "we shall go and search your house." Not a -paper escaped their curiosity; but they found nothing to compromise -Monmouth; he was however sent to the Tower. - - [854] Strype's Records, p. 363. - - [855] Ibid. p. 365. - - [856] More's life, p. 116. - -[Sidenote: HE IS INTERROGATED BY MORE.] - -After some interval the merchant was again brought before his judges. -"You are accused," said More, "of having bought Martin Luther's -tracts; of maintaining those who are translating the Scriptures into -English; of subscribing to get the New Testament printed in English, -with or without glosses; of having imported it into the kingdom; and, -lastly, of having said that faith alone is sufficient to save a -man."[857] - - [857] Strype's Mem. i. p. 490. - -There was matter enough to burn several men. Monmouth, feeling -convinced that Wolsey alone had power to deliver him, resolved to -apply to him. "What will become of my poor workmen in London and in -the country during my imprisonment?" he wrote to the cardinal. "They -must have their money every week; who will give it them?... Besides, I -make considerable sales in foreign countries, which bring large -returns to his majesty's customs.[858] If I remain in prison, this -commerce is stopped, and of course all the proceeds for the -exchequer." Wolsey, who was as much a statesman as a churchman, began -to melt; on the eve of a struggle with the pope and the emperor, he -feared, besides, to make the people discontented. Monmouth was -released from prison. As alderman, and then as sheriff of London, he -was faithful until death, and ordered in his last will that thirty -sermons should be preached by the most evangelical ministers in -England, "to make known the holy word of Jesus Christ."--"That is -better," he thought, "than founding masses." The Reformation showed, -in the sixteenth century, that great activity in commerce might be -allied to great piety. - - [858] Strype, Records, i. p. 367. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Political Changes--Fresh Instructions from the Pope to - Campeggio--His delays--He unbosoms himself to Francis--A - Prediction--Arrival of Campeggio--Wolsey's - Uneasiness--Henry's Satisfaction--The Cardinal's - Project--Campeggio's Reception--First Interview with the - Queen and with the King--Useless Efforts to make Campeggio - part with the Decretal--The Nuncio's Conscience--Public - Opinion--Measures taken by the King--His Speech to the Lords - and Aldermen--Festivities--Wolsey seeks French - Support--Contrariety. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE CHANGES.] - -While these persecutions were agitating the fields and the capital of -England, all had changed in the ecclesiastical world, because all had -changed in the political. The pope, pressed by Henry VIII and -intimidated by the armies of Francis I, had granted the decretal and -despatched Campeggio. But, on a sudden, there was a new evolution; a -change of events brought a change of counsels. Doria had gone over to -the emperor; his fleet had restored abundance to Naples; the army of -Francis I, ravaged by famine and pestilence, had capitulated, and -Charles V, triumphant in Italy, had said proudly to the pope: "We are -determined to defend the queen of England against King Henry's -injustice."[859] - - [859] Cum Cæsar materteræ suæ causam contra injurias Henrici - propugnaverit. Sanders, p. 28. - -Charles having recovered his superiority, the affrighted pope opened -his eyes to the justice of Catherine's cause. "Send four messengers -after Campeggio," said he to his officers; "and let each take a -different road; bid them travel with all speed and deliver our -despatches to him."[860] They overtook the legate, who opened the -pope's letters. "In the first place," said Clement VII to him, -"protract your journey. In the second place, when you reach England, -use every endeavour to reconcile the king and queen. In the third -place, if you do not succeed, persuade the queen to take the veil. And -in the last place, if she refuses, do not pronounce any sentence -favourable to the divorce without a new and express order from me. -This is the essential: _Summum et maximum mandatum_." The ambassador -of the sovereign pontiff had a mission to do nothing. This instruction -is sometimes as effective as any. - - [860] Quatuor nuncios celerrimo cursu diversis itineribus ad Campegium - misit. Ibid. et Herbert, p. 253. - -Campeggio, the youngest of the cardinals, was the most intelligent -and the slowest; and this slowness caused his selection by the pope. -He understood his master. If Wolsey was Henry's spur to urge on -Campeggio, the latter was Clement's bridle to check Wolsey.[861] One -of the judges of the divorce was about to pull forwards, the other -backwards; thus the business stood a chance of not advancing at all, -which was just what the pope required. - - [861] Fuller, book v. p. 172. - -The legate, very eager to relax his speed, spent three months on his -journey from Italy to England. He should have embarked for France on -the 23rd of July; but the end of August was approaching, and no one -knew in that country what had become of him.[862] At length they -learnt that he had reached Lyons on the 22nd of August. The English -ambassador in France sent him horses, carriages, plate, and money, in -order to hasten his progress; the legate complained of the _gout_, and -Gardiner found the greatest difficulty in getting him to move. Henry -wrote every day to Anne Boleyn, complaining of the slow progress of -the nuncio. "He arrived in Paris last Sunday or Monday," he says at -the beginning of September; "Monday next we shall hear of his arrival -in Calais, and then I shall obtain what I have so longed for, to God's -pleasure and both our comforts."[863] - - [862] State Papers, vii. p. 91, 92. - - [863] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 117. - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S LETTER TO WOLSEY.] - -At the same time, this impatient prince sent message after message to -accelerate the legate's rate of travelling. - -Anne began to desire a future which surpassed all that her youthful -imagination had conceived, and her agitated heart expanded to the -breath of hope. She wrote to Wolsey: - - "This shall be to give unto your grace, as I am most bound, - my humble thanks for the great pain and travail that your - grace doth take in studying, by your wisdom and great - diligence, how to bring to pass honourably the greatest - wealth [well-being] that is possible to come to any creature - living; and in especial remembering how wretched and - unworthy I am in comparison to his highness.... Now, good my - lord, your discretion may consider as yet how little it is - in my power to recompense you but alonely [only] with my - good will; the which I assure you, look what thing in this - world I can imagine to do you pleasure in, you shall find me - the gladdest woman in the world to do it."[864] - - [864] Ibid. p. 151. - -[Sidenote: A CRUEL PROPHECY.] - -But the impatience of the king of England and of Anne seemed as if it -would never be satisfied. Campeggio, on his way through Paris, told -Francis I that the divorce would never take place, and that he should -soon go to _Spain_ to see Charles V.... This was significative. "The -king of England ought to know," said the indignant Francis to the duke -of Suffolk, "that Campeggio is _imperialist_ at heart, and that his -mission in England will be a mere mockery."[865] - - [865] The cardinal intended not that your Grace's matter should take - effect, but only to use dissimulation with your Grace, for he is - entirely imperial. Suffolk to Henry, State Papers, vii. p. 183. - -In truth, the Spanish and Roman factions tried every manoeuvre to -prevent a union they detested. Anne Boleyn, queen of England, -signified not only Catherine humbled, but Charles offended; the -clerical party awakened, perhaps destroyed, and the evangelical party -put in its place. The Romish faction found accomplices even in Anne's -own family. Her brother George's wife, a proud and passionate woman, -and a rigid Roman catholic, had sworn an implacable hatred against her -young sister. By this means wounds might be inflicted, even in the -domestic sanctuary, which would not be the less deep because they were -the work of her own kindred. One day we are told that Anne found in -her chamber a book of pretended prophecies, in which was a picture -representing a king, a queen shedding tears, and at their feet a young -lady headless. Anne turned away her eyes with disgust. She desired, -however, to know what this emblem signified, and officious friends -brought to her one of those pretended wise men, so numerous at all -times, who abuse the credulity of the ignorant by professing to -interpret such mysteries. "This prophetic picture," he said, -"represents the history of the king and his wife." Anne was not -credulous, but she understood what her enemies meant to insinuate, and -dismissed the mock interpreter without betraying any signs of fear; -then turning to her favourite attendant, Anne Saville, "Come hither, -Nan," said she, "look at this book of prophecies; this is the king, -this the queen wringing her hands and mourning, and this (putting her -finger on the bleeding body) is _myself_, with my head cut off."--The -young lady answered with a shudder: "If I thought it were true, I -would not myself have him were he an emperor."--"Tut, Nan," replied -Anne Boleyn with a sweet smile, "I think the book a bauble, and am -resolved to have him, that my issue may be royal, whatever may become -of me."[866] This story is based on good authority, and there were so -many predictions of this kind afloat that it is very possible one of -them might come true; people afterwards recollected only the -prophecies confirmed by the events. But, be that as it may, this -young lady, so severely chastised in after-days, found in her God an -abundant consolation. - - [866] Wyatt, p. 430. - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF CAMPEGGIO.] - -At length Campeggio embarked at Calais on the 29th of September, and -unfortunately for him he had an excellent passage across the channel. -A storm to drive him back to the French coast would have suited him -admirably. But on the 1st of October he was at Canterbury, whence he -announced his arrival to the king. At this news, Henry forgot all the -delays which had so irritated him. "His majesty can never be -sufficiently grateful to your holiness for so great a favour," wrote -Wolsey to the pope; "but he will employ his riches, his kingdom, his -life even, and deserve the name of _Restorer of the Church_ as justly -as he has gained that of _Defender of the Faith_." This zeal alarmed -Campeggio, for the pope wrote to him that any proceeding which might -irritate Charles would inevitably cause the ruin of the church.[867] -The nuncio became more dilatory than ever, and although he reached -Canterbury on the 1st of October, he did not arrive at Dartford until -the 5th, thus taking four days for a journey of about thirty -miles.[868] - - [867] Sanga to Campeggio, from Viterbo, 27th September. Ranke, - Deutsche Gesch. iii, p. 135. - - [868] State Papers, vii. p. 94, 95. - -Meanwhile preparations were making to receive him in London. Wolsey, -feeling contempt for the poverty of the Roman cardinals, and very -uneasy about the equipage with which his colleague was likely to make -his entrance into the capital, sent a number of showy chests, rich -carpets, litters hung with drapery, and harnessed mules. On the other -hand Campeggio, whose secret mission was to keep in the back-ground, -and above all to do nothing, feared these banners, and trappings, and -all the parade of a triumphal entry. Alleging therefore an attack of -gout in order to escape from the pomps his colleague had prepared for -him, he quietly took a boat, and thus reached the palace of the bishop -of Bath, where he was to lodge. - -While the nuncio was thus proceeding unnoticed up the Thames, the -equipages sent by Wolsey entered London through the midst of a gaping -crowd, who looked on them with curiosity as if they had come from the -banks of the Tiber. Some of the mules however took fright and ran -away, the coffers fell off and burst open, when there was a general -rush to see their contents; but to the surprise of all they were -empty. This was an excellent jest for the citizens of London. "Fine -outside, empty inside; a just emblem of the popedom, its embassy, and -foolish pomps," they said; "a sham legate, a procession of masks, and -the whole a farce!" - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S INDECISION TERMINATED.] - -Campeggio was come at last, and now what he dreaded most was an -audience. "I cannot move," he said, "or endure the motion of a -litter."[869] Never had an attack of gout been more seasonable. -Wolsey, who paid him frequent visits, soon found him to be his equal -in cunning. To no purpose did he treat him with every mark of respect, -shaking his hand and making much of him;[870] it was labour lost, the -Roman nuncio would say nothing, and Wolsey began to despair. The king, -on the contrary, was full of hope, and fancied he already had the act -of divorce in his portfolio, because he had the nuncio in his kingdom. - - [869] Despatch from the bishop of Bayonne, 16th October, 1529. Le - Grand, Preuves, p. 169. - - [870] Quem sæpius visitavi et amantissime sum complexus. (State - Papers, vii, p. 103.) Whom often I have visited, and most lovingly - embraced. - -The greatest effect of the nuncio's arrival was the putting an end to -Anne Boleyn's indecision. She had several relapses: the trials which -she foresaw, and the grief Catherine must necessarily feel, had -agitated her imagination and disturbed her mind. But when she saw the -church and her own enemies prepared to pronounce the king's divorce, -her doubts were removed, and she regarded as legitimate the position -that was offered her. The king, who suffered from her scruples, was -delighted at this change. "I desire to inform you," he wrote to her in -English, "what joy it is to me to understand of your conformableness -with reason, and of the suppressing of your inutile and vain thoughts -and fantasies with the bridle of reason. I assure you all the -greatness of this world could not counterpoise for my satisfaction the -knowledge and certainty thereof.... The unfeigned sickness of this -well-willing legate doth somewhat retard his access to your -person."[871] It was therefore the determination of the pope that made -Anne Boleyn resolve to accept Henry's hand; this is an important -lesson for which we are indebted to the _Vatican letters_. We should -be grateful to the papacy for having so carefully preserved them. - - [871] Pamphleteer, No. 43. p. 123. - -[Sidenote: CAMPEGGIO'S INTERVIEW WITH THE QUEEN.] - -But the more Henry rejoiced, the more Wolsey despaired; he would have -desired to penetrate into Clement's thoughts, but could not succeed. -Imagining that De Angelis, the general of the Spanish Observance, knew -all the secrets of the pope and of the emperor, he conceived the plan -of kidnapping him. "If he goes to Spain by sea," said he to Du Bellay, -"a good brigantine or two would do the business; and if by land, it -will be easier still." Du Bellay failed not (as he informs us himself) -"to tell him plainly that by such proceedings he would entirely -forfeit the pope's good will."--"What matter?" replied Wolsey, "I -have nothing to lose." As he said this, tears started to his -eyes.[872] At last he made up his mind to remain ignorant of the -pontiff's designs, and wiped his eyes, awaiting, not without fear, the -interview between Henry and Campeggio. - - [872] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 21st October. Le Grand, Preuves, p. - 185. - -On the 22nd of October, a month after his arrival, the nuncio, borne -in a sedan chair of red velvet, was carried to court. He was placed on -the right of the throne, and his secretary in his name delivered a -high-sounding speech, saluting Henry with the name of Saviour of Rome, -_Liberator urbis_. "His majesty," replied Fox in the king's name, "has -only performed the duties incumbent on a Christian prince, and he -hopes that the holy see will bear them in mind."--"Well attacked, well -defended," said Du Bellay. For the moment, a few Latin declamations -got the papal nuncio out of his difficulties. - -Campeggio did not deceive himself: if the divorce were refused, he -foresaw the reformation of England. Yet he hoped still, for he was -assured that Catherine would submit to the judgment of the church; and -being fully persuaded that the queen would refuse the holy father -nothing, the nuncio began "his approaches," as Du Bellay calls them. -On the 27th of October, the two cardinals waited on Catherine, and in -flattering terms insinuated that she might prevent the blow which -threatened her by voluntary retirement into a convent. And then, to -end all indecision in the queen's mind, Campeggio put on a severe look -and exclaimed: "How is it, madam, explain the mystery to us? From the -moment the holy father appointed us to examine the question of your -divorce, you have been seen not only at court, but in public, wearing -the most magnificent ornaments, participating with an appearance of -gaiety and satisfaction at amusements and festivities which you had -never tolerated before.... The church is in the most cruel -embarrassment with regard to you; the king, your husband, is in the -greatest perplexity; the princess, your daughter, is taken from you -... and instead of shedding tears, you give yourself up to vanity. -Renounce the world, madam; enter a nunnery. Our holy father himself -requires this of you."[873] - - [873] Ibid. 1st November, p. 195. - -[Sidenote: CATHERINE'S REPLY.] - -The agitated queen was almost fainting; stifling her emotion, however, -she said mildly but firmly: "Alas! my lords, is it now a question -whether I am the king's lawful wife or not, when I have been married -to him almost twenty years and no objection raised before?... Divers -prelates and lords are yet alive who then adjudged our marriage good -and lawful,--and now to say it is detestable! this is a great marvel -to me, especially when I consider what a wise prince the king's father -was, and also the natural love and affection my father, King -Ferdinand, bare unto me. I think that neither of these illustrious -princes would have made me contract an illicit union." At these words, -Catherine's emotion compelled her to stop.--"If I weep, my lords," she -continued almost immediately, "it is not for myself, it is for a -person dearer to me than my life. What! I should consent to an act -which deprives my daughter of a crown? No, I will not sacrifice my -child. I know what dangers threaten me. I am only a weak woman, a -stranger, without learning, advisers, or friends ... and my enemies -are skilful, learned in the laws, and desirous to merit their master's -favour ... and more than that, even my judges are my enemies. Can I -receive as such," she said as she looked at Campeggio, "a man extorted -from the pope by manifest lying?... And as for you," added she, -turning haughtily to Wolsey, "having failed in attaining the tiara, -you have sworn to revenge yourself on my nephew the emperor ... and -you have kept him true promise; for all his wars and vexations, he may -only thank you. One victim was not enough for you. Forging abominable -suppositions, you desire to plunge his aunt into a frightful abyss.... -But my cause is just, and I trust it in the Lord's hand." After this -bold language, the unhappy Catherine withdrew to her apartments. The -imminence of the danger effected a salutary revolution in her; she -laid aside her brilliant ornaments, assumed the sober garments in -which she is usually represented, and passed days and nights in -mourning and in tears.[874] - - [874] Regina in luctu et lacrymis noctes diesque egit. Sanders, p. 29. - -Thus Campeggio saw his hopes deceived; he had thought to find a nun, -and had met a queen and a mother.... He now proceeded to set every -imaginable spring at work; as Catherine would not renounce Henry, he -must try and prevail upon Henry to renounce his idea of separating -from the queen. The Roman legate therefore changed his batteries, and -turned them against the king. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S INTERVIEW WITH THE NUNCIO.] - -Henry, always impatient, went one day unannounced to Campeggio's -lodging, accompanied by Wolsey only:[875] "As we are without -witnesses," he said, taking his seat familiarly between the two -cardinals, "let us speak freely of our affairs.[876]--How shall you -proceed?" But to his great astonishment and grief,[877] the nuncio -prayed him, with all imaginable delicacy, to renounce the -divorce.[878] At these words the fiery Tudor burst out: "Is this how -the pope keeps his word? He sends me an ambassador to annul my -marriage, but in reality to confirm it." He made a pause. Campeggio -knew not what to say. Henry and Catherine being equally persuaded of -the justice of their cause, the nuncio was in a dilemma. Wolsey -himself suffered a martyrdom.[879] The king's anger grew fiercer; he -had thought the legate would hasten to withdraw an imprudent -expression, but Campeggio was dumb. "I see that you have chosen your -part," said Henry to the nuncio; "mine, you may be sure, will soon be -taken also. Let the pope only persevere in this way of acting, and the -apostolical see, covered with perpetual infamy, will be visited with a -frightful destruction."[880] The lion had thrown off the lamb's skin -which he had momentarily assumed. Campeggio felt that he must appease -the monarch. "Craft and delay" were his orders from Rome; and with -that view the pope had provided him with the necessary arms. He -hastened to produce the famous _decretal_ which pronounced the -divorce. "The holy father," he told the king, "ardently desires that -this matter should be terminated by a happy reconciliation between you -and the queen; but if that is impossible, you shall judge yourself -whether or not his holiness can keep his promises." He then read the -bull, and even showed it to Henry, without permitting it, however, to -leave his hands. This exhibition produced the desired effect: Henry -grew calm. "Now I am at ease again," he said; "this miraculous -talisman revives all my courage. This decretal is the efficacious -remedy that will restore peace to my oppressed conscience, and joy to -my bruised heart.[881] Write to his holiness, that this immense -benefit binds me to him so closely, that he may expect from me more -than his imagination can conceive." - -And yet a few clouds gathered shortly after in the king's mind. - -Campeggio having shown the bull had hastened to lock it up again. -Would he presume to keep it in his own hands? Henry and Wolsey will -leave no means untried to get possession of it; that point gained, and -victory is theirs. - - [875] Regia majestas et ego ad eum crebro accessimus. State Papers, - vii. p. 103. - - [876] Rex et duo cardinales, remotis arbitris, de suis rebus multum et - diu collocuti. Sanders, P. 29. - - [877] Incredibili utriusque nostrum animi moerore. State Papers, vii. - p. 104. - - [878] Conatus est omne divortium inter regiam majestatem et reginam - dissuadere. Ibid. - - [879] Non absque ingenti cruciatu. Ibid. - - [880] Ingemiscendum excidium, perpetua infamia. Ibid. - - [881] Remedium levamenque afflictæ oppressaque conscientiæ. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY REFUSED THE DECRETAL.] - -Wolsey having returned to the nuncio, he asked him for the decretal -with an air of candour as if it was the most natural thing in the -world. He desired, he said, to show it to the king's privy-councillors. -"The pope," replied Campeggio, "has granted this bull, not to be used, -but to be kept secret;[882] he simply desired to show the king the -good feeling by which he was animated." Wolsey having failed, Henry -tried his skill. "Have the goodness to hand me the bull which you -showed me," said he. The nuncio respectfully refused. "For a single -moment," he said. Campeggio still refused. The haughty Tudor retired, -stifling his anger. Then Wolsey made another attempt, and founded his -demand on justice. "Like you, I am delegated by his holiness to decide -this affair," he said, "and I wish to study the important document -which is to regulate our proceedings."--This was met by a new refusal. -"What!" exclaimed the minister of Henry VIII, "am I not, like you, a -cardinal?... like you, a judge? your colleague?" It mattered not, the -nuncio would not, by any means, let the decretal go.[883] Clement was -not deceived in the choice he had made of Campeggio; the ambassador -was worthy of his master. - - [882] Non ut ea uteremur, sed ut secreta haberetur. State Papers, vii. - p. 104. - - [883] Nullo pacto adduci vult, ut mihi, _suo collegæ_, commissionem - hanc decretalem e suis manibus credat. (Ibid. p. 105.) By no - engagement could he be induced, to trust out of his hands, to me, his - colleague that decretal commission. - -It was evident that the pope in granting the bull had been acting a -part: this trick revolted the king. It was no longer anger that he -felt, but disgust. Wolsey knew that Henry's contempt was more to be -feared than his wrath. He grew alarmed, and paid the nuncio another -visit. "The _general_ commission," he said, "is insufficient, the -_decretal_ commission alone can be of service, and you do not permit -us to read a word of it.[884]... The king and I place the greatest -confidence in the good intentions of his holiness, and yet we find our -expectations frustrated.[885] Where is that paternal affection with -which we had flattered ourselves? What prince has ever been trifled -with as the king of England is now? If this is the way in which the -_Defender of the Faith_ is rewarded, Christendom will know what those -who serve Rome will have to expect from her, and every power will -withdraw its support. Do not deceive yourselves: the foundation on -which the holy see is placed is so very insecure that the least -movement will suffice to precipitate it into everlasting ruin.[886] -What a sad futurity!... what inexpressible torture!... whether I wake -or sleep, gloomy thoughts continually pursue me like a frightful -nightmare."[887] This time Wolsey spoke the truth. - - [884] Nec ullum verbum nec mentionem ullam. Ibid. - - [885] Esse omnni spe frustratos quam in præfata Sanctitate tam ingenue - reposueramus. Ibid. - - [886] A fundamento tam levi, incertaque statera pendeat, ut in - sempiternam ruinam. State Papers, vii, p. 106. - - [887] Quanto animi cruciatu ... vigilans dormiensque. Ibid. p. 108. - -[Sidenote: THE NUNCIO REFUSES EVERYTHING.] - -But all his eloquence was useless; Campeggio refused to give up the so -much desired bull. When sending him, Rome had told him: "Above all, do -not succeed!" This means having failed, there remained for Wolsey one -other way of effecting the divorce. "Well, then," he said to -Campeggio, "let us pronounce it ourselves."--"Far be it from us," -replied the nuncio; "the anger of the emperor will be so great, that -the peace of Europe will be broken for ever."--"I know how to arrange -all that," replied the English cardinal, "in political matters you may -trust to me."[888] The nuncio then took another tone, and proudly -wrapping himself up in his morality, he said: "I shall follow the -voice of my conscience; if I see that the divorce is possible, I shall -leap the ditch; if otherwise, I shall not."--"Your conscience! that -may be easily satisfied," rejoined Wolsey. "Holy Scripture forbids a -man to marry his brother's widow; now no pope can grant what is -forbidden by the law of God."--"The Lord preserve us from such a -principle," exclaimed the Roman prelate; "the power of the pope is -unlimited."--The nuncio had hardly put his conscience forward before -it stumbled; it bound him to Rome and not to heaven. But for that -matter, neither public opinion nor Campeggio's own friends had any -great idea of his morality; they thought that to make him _leap the -ditch_, it was only requisite to know the price at which he might be -bought. The bishop of Bayonne wrote to Montmorency: "Put at the close -of a letter which I can show Campeggio something _promissory_, that he -shall have _benefices_.... That will cost you nothing, and may serve -in this matter of the marriage; for I know that he is longing for -something of the sort."--"What is to be done then," said Wolsey at -last, astonished at meeting with a resistance to which he was -unaccustomed. "I shall inform the pope of what I have seen and heard," -replied Campeggio, "and I shall wait for his instructions." Henry was -forced to consent to this new course, for the nuncio hinted, that if -it were opposed he would go in person to Rome to ask the pontiff's -orders, and he never would have returned. By this means several months -were gained. - - [888] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 266. - -[Sidenote: THE PEOPLE SUPPORT CATHERINE.] - -During this time men's minds were troubled. The prospect of a divorce -between the king and queen had stirred the nation; and the majority, -particularly among the women, declared against the king. "Whatever may -be done," the people said boldly, "whoever marries the princess Mary -will be king of England."[889] Wolsey's spies informed him that -Catherine and Charles V had many devoted partizans even at the court. -He wished to make sure of this. "It is pretended," he said one day in -an indifferent tone, "that the emperor has boasted that he will get -the king driven from his realm, and that by his majesty's own -subjects.... What do you think of it, my lords?"--"Tough against the -spur," says Du Bellay, the lords remained silent. At length, however, -one of them more imprudent than the rest, exclaimed: "Such a boast -will make the emperor lose more than a hundred thousand Englishmen." -This was enough for Wolsey. To _lose_ them, he thought, Charles must -_have_ them. If Catherine thought of levying war against her husband, -following the example of former queens of England, she would have, -then, a party ready to support her; this became dangerous. - - [889] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 8th November 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 204. - -The king and the cardinal immediately took their measures. More than -15,000 of Charles's subjects were ordered to leave London; the arms of -the citizens were seized, "in order that they might have no worse -weapon than the tongue;"[890] the Flemish councillors accorded to -Catherine were dismissed after they had been heard by the king and -Campeggio, "for they had no commission to speak to _the other_ -[Wolsey]"--and finally, they kept "a great and constant watch" upon -the country. Men feared an invasion of England, and Henry was not of a -humour to subject his kingdom to the pope. - - [890] Ibid. p. 232. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S SPEECH.] - -This was not enough; the alarmed king thought it his duty to come to -an explanation with his people; and having summoned the lords -spiritual and temporal, the judges, the members of the privy-council, -the mayor and aldermen of the city, and many of the gentry, to meet -him at his palace of Bridewell on the 13th of November,[891] he said -to them with a very condescending air: "You know, my lords and -gentlemen, that for these twenty years past divine Providence has -granted our country such prosperity as it had never known before. But -in the midst of all the glory that surrounds me, the thought of my -last hour often occurs to me,[892] and I fear that if I should die -without an heir, my death would cause more damage to my people than my -life has done them good. God forbid, that for want of a legitimate -king England should be again plunged into the horrors of civil war!" -Then calling to mind the illegalities invalidating his marriage with -Catherine, the king continued: "These thoughts have filled my mind -with anxiety, and are continually pricking my conscience. This is the -only motive, and God is my witness,[893] which has made me lay this -matter before the pontiff. As touching the queen, she is a woman -incomparable in gentleness, humility, and buxomness, as I these twenty -years have had experiment of; so that if I were to marry again, if the -marriage might be good, I would surely choose her above all other -women. But if it be determined by judgment that our marriage was -against God's law, and surely void, then I shall not only sorrow in -departing from so good a lady and loving companion, but much more -lament and bewail my unfortunate chance, that I have so long lived in -adultery, to God's great displeasure, and have no true heir of my body -to inherit this realm.... Therefore I require of you all to pray with -us that the very truth may be known, for the discharging of our -conscience and the saving of our soul."[894] These words, though -wanting in sincerity, were well calculated to soothe men's minds. -Unfortunately, it appears that after this _speech from the crown_, the -official copy of which has been preserved, Henry added a few words of -his own. "If, however," he said, according to Du Bellay, casting a -threatening glance around him, "there should be any man whatsoever who -speaks of his prince in other than becoming terms, I will show him -that I am the master, and there is no head so high that I will not -roll it from his shoulders."[895] This was a speech in Henry's style; -but we cannot give unlimited credit to Du Bellay's assertions, this -diplomatist being very fond, like others of his class, of "seasoning" -his despatches. But whatever may be the fact as regards the -postscript, the speech on the divorce produced an effect. From that -time there were no more jests, not even on the part of the Boleyns' -enemies. Some supported the king, others were content to pity the -queen in secret; the majority prepared to take advantage of a -court-revolution which every one foresaw. "The king _so plainly_ gave -them to understand his pleasure," says the French ambassador, "that -they speak more soberly than they have done hitherto." - - [891] This act is dated Idibus Novembris. Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. - 714. Herbert and Collyer say the 8th November. - - [892] In mentem una venit et concurrit mortis cogitatio. Ibid. - - [893] Hæc una res quod Deo teste et in regis oraculo affirmamus. - Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 714. - - [894] Hall, p. 754. - - [895] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 17th November 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 218. - -[Sidenote: DU BELLAY SOLICITS CAMPEGGIO.] - -Henry wishing to silence the clamours of the people, and to allay the -fears felt by the higher classes, gave several magnificent -entertainments at one time in London, at another at Greenwich, now at -Hampton Court, and then at Richmond. The queen accompanied him, but -Anne generally remained "in a very handsome lodging which Henry had -furnished for her," says Du Bellay. The cardinal, following his -master's example, gave representations of French plays with great -magnificence. All his hope was in France. "I desire nothing in -England, neither in word nor in deed, which is not French,"[896] he -said to the bishop of Bayonne. At length Anne Boleyn had accepted the -brilliant position she had at first refused, and every day her stately -mansion (Suffolk House) was filled with a numerous court,--"more than -ever had crowded to the queen."--"Yes, yes," said Du Bellay, as he saw -the crowd turning towards the _rising sun_, "they wish by these -_little_ things to accustom the people to endure her, that when -_great_ ones are attempted, they may not be found so strange." - - [896] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 1st January. Le Grand, p. 268. - -[Sidenote: TRUE CATHOLICITY.] - -In the midst of these festivities the grand business did not slumber. -When the French ambassador solicited the subsidy intended for the -ransom of the sons of Francis I, the cardinal required of him in -exchange a paper proving that the marriage had never been valid. Du -Bellay excused himself on the ground of his age and want of learning; -but being given to understand that he could not have the subsidy -without it, he wrote the memoir in a single day. The enraptured -cardinal and king entreated him to speak with Campeggio.[897] The -ambassador consented, and succeeded beyond all expectation. The -nuncio, fully aware that a bow too much bent will break, made Henry by -turns become the sport of hope and fear. "Take care how you assert -that the pope had not the right to grant a dispensation to the king," -said he to the French bishop, "this would be denying _his power, which -is infinite_. But," added he in a mysterious tone, "I will point out a -road that will infallibly lead you to the mark. Show that the holy -father has been deceived by false information. _Push me hard on -that_," he continued "so as to force me to declare that the -dispensation was granted on erroneous grounds."[898] Thus did the -legate himself reveal the breach by which the fortress might be -surprised. "Victory!" exclaimed Henry, as he entered Anne's apartments -all beaming with joy. - - [897] Ibid. p. 200. - - [898] Poussez-moi cela raide. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, - Preuves, p. 217. - -But this confidence on the part of Campeggio was only a new trick. -"There is a great rumour at court," wrote Du Bellay soon after, "that -the emperor and the king of France are coming together, and leaving -Henry alone, so that all will fall on his shoulders."[899] Wolsey, -finding that the intrigues of diplomacy had failed, thought it his -duty to put fresh springs in motion, "and by all good and honest means -to gain the pope's favour."[900] He saw, besides, to his great sorrow, -the new catholicity then forming in the world, and uniting, by the -closest bonds, the Christians of England to those of the continent. To -strike down one of the leaders of this evangelical movement might -incline the court of Rome in Henry's favour. The cardinal undertook, -therefore, to persecute Tyndale; and this resolution will now -transport us to Germany. - - [899] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 219. - - [900] Ibid. p. 225. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - True Catholicity--Wolsey--Harman's Matter--West sent to - Cologne--Labours of Tyndale and Fryth--Rincke at - Frankfort--He makes a Discovery--Tyndale at Marburg--West - returns to England--His Tortures in the Monastery. - - -The residence of Tyndale and his friends in foreign countries, and the -connections there formed with pious Christians, testify to the -fraternal spirit which the Reformation then restored to the church. It -is in protestantism that true catholicity is to be found. The Romish -church is not a catholic church. Separated from the churches of the -east, which are the oldest in Christendom, and from the reformed -churches, which are the purest, it is nothing but a sect, and that a -degenerated one. A church which should profess to believe in an -episcopal unity, but which kept itself separate from the episcopacy of -Rome and of the East, and from the evangelical churches, would be no -longer a catholic church; it would be a sect more sectarian still than -that of the Vatican, a fragment of a fragment. The church of the -Saviour requires a truer, a diviner unity than that of priests, who -condemn one another. It was the reformers, and particularly -Tyndale,[901] who proclaimed throughout Christendom the existence of a -_body of Christ_, of which all the children of God are members. The -disciples of the Reformation are the true catholics. - - [901] The Church of Christ is the multitude of all them that believe - in Christ, etc. Exposition of Matthew, Prologue. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S CATHOLICITY.] - -It was a catholicity of another sort that Wolsey desired to uphold. He -did not reject certain reforms in the church, particularly such as -brought him any profit; but, before all, he wished to preserve for the -hierarchy their privileges and uniformity. The Romish Church in -England was then personified in him, and if he fell, its ruin would be -near. His political talents and multiplied relations with the -continent, caused him to discern more clearly than others the dangers -which threatened the popedom. The publication of the Scriptures of God -in English appeared to some a cloud without importance, which would -soon disappear from the horizon; but to the foreseeing glance of -Wolsey, it betokened a mighty tempest. Besides, he loved not the -fraternal relations then forming between the evangelical Christians of -Great Britain and of other nations. Annoyed by this spiritual -catholicity, he resolved to procure the arrest of Tyndale, who was its -principal organ. - -Already had Hackett, Henry's envoy to the Low Countries, caused the -imprisonment of Harman, an Antwerp merchant, one of the principal -supporters of the English reformer. But Hackett had in vain asked -Wolsey for such documents as would convict him of _treason_ (for the -crime of loving the Bible was not sufficient to procure Harman's -condemnation in Brabant); the envoy had remained without letters from -England, and the last term fixed by the law having expired, Harman and -his wife were liberated after seven months' imprisonment. - -And yet Wolsey had not been inactive. The cardinal hoped to find -elsewhere the co-operation which Margaret of Austria refused. It was -Tyndale that he wanted, and everything seemed to indicate that he was -then hidden at Cologne or in its neighbourhood. Wolsey, recollecting -senator Rincke and the services he had already performed, determined -to send to him one John West, a friar of the Franciscan convent at -Greenwich. West, a somewhat narrow-minded but energetic man, was very -desirous of distinguishing himself, and he had already gained some -notoriety in England among the adversaries of the Reformation. -Flattered by his mission, this vain monk immediately set off for -Antwerp, accompanied by another friar, in order to seize Tyndale, and -even Roy, once his colleague at Greenwich, and against whom he had -there ineffectually contended in argument. - -While these men were conspiring his ruin, Tyndale composed several -works, got them printed, and sent to England, and prayed God night and -day to enlighten his fellow-countrymen. "Why do give you give yourself -so much trouble," said some of his friends. "They will burn your books -as they have burnt the Gospel." "They will only do what I expect," -replied he, "if they burn me also." Already he beheld his own burning -pile in the distance; but it was a sight which only served to increase -his zeal. Hidden, like Luther at the Wartburg, not however in a -castle, but in a humble lodging, Tyndale, like the Saxon reformer, -spent his days and nights translating the Bible. But not having an -elector of Saxony to protect him, he was forced to change his -residence from time to time. - -[Sidenote: GENESIS AND DEUTERONOMY TRANSLATED.] - -At this epoch, Fryth, who had escaped from the prisons of Oxford, -rejoined Tyndale, and the sweets of friendship softened the bitterness -of their exile. Tyndale having finished the New Testament, and begun -the translation of the Old, the learned Fryth was of great use to him. -The more they studied the word of God, the more they admired it. In -the beginning of 1529, they published the books of Genesis and -Deuteronomy, and addressing their fellow-countrymen, they said: "As -thou readest, think that every syllable pertaineth to thine own self, -and suck out the pith of the Scripture."[902] Then denying that -visible signs naturally impart grace, as the schoolmen had pretended, -Tyndale maintained that the sacraments are effectual only when the -Holy Ghost sheds his influence upon them. "The ceremonies of the Law," -he wrote, "stood the Israelites in the same stead as the sacraments do -us. We are saved not by the power of the sacrifice or the deed itself, -but by virtue of _faith in the promise_, whereof the sacrifice or -ceremony was a token or sign. The Holy Ghost is no dumb God, no God -that goeth a mumming. Wherever the word is proclaimed, this inward -witness worketh. If baptism preach me the washing in Christ's blood, -so doth the Holy Ghost accompany it; and that deed of preaching -through faith doth put away my sins. The ark of Noah saved them in the -water through faith."[903] - - [902] Prologue to the Book of Genesis (Doctr. Tr.) p. 400. - - [903] Prologue to the Book of Leviticus (Doctr. Tr.) p. 423, 424, - 426. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE SOUGHT AT FRANKFORT.] - -The man who dared address England in language so contrary to the -teaching of the middle ages must be imprisoned. John West, who had -been sent with this object, arrived at Antwerp; Hackett procured for -him as interpreter a friar of English descent, made him assume a -secular dress, and gave him "three pounds" on the cardinal's account; -the less attention the embassy attracted, the more likely it would be -to succeed. But great was West's vexation, on reaching Cologne, to -learn that Rincke was at Frankfort. But that mattered not; the -Greenwich monk could search for Tyndale at Cologne, and desire Rincke -to do the same at Frankfort; thus there would be two searches instead -of one. West procured a "swift" messenger, (he too was a monk,) and -gave him the letter Wolsey had addressed to Rincke. - -It was fair-time at Frankfort, and the city was filled with merchants -and their wares. As soon as Rincke had finished reading Wolsey's -letter, he hastened to the burgomasters, and required them to -confiscate the English translations of the Scriptures, and, above all, -to seize "the heretic who was troubling England as Luther troubled -Germany." "Tyndale and his friends have not appeared in our fairs -since the month of March 1528," replied the magistrates, "and we know -not whether they are dead or alive." - -Rincke was not discouraged. John Schoot of Strasburg, who was said to -have printed Tyndale's books, and who cared less about the works he -published than the money he drew from them, happened to be at -Frankfort. "Where is Tyndale?" Rincke asked him. "I do not know," -replied the printer; but he confessed that he had printed a thousand -volumes at the request of Tyndale and Roy. "Bring them to me," -continued the senator of Cologne--"If a fair price is paid me, I will -give them up to you." Rincke paid all that was demanded. - -Wolsey would now be gratified, for the New Testament annoyed him -almost as much as the divorce; this book, so dangerous in his eyes, -seemed on the point of raising a conflagration which would infallibly -consume the edifice of Roman traditionalism. Rincke, who participated -in his patron's fears, impatiently opened the volumes made over to -him; but there was a sad mistake, they were not the New Testament, not -even a work of Tyndale's, but one written by William Roy, a changeable -and violent man, whom the reformer had employed for some time at -Hamburg, and who had followed him to Cologne, but with whom he had -soon become disgusted. "I bade him farewell for our two lives," said -Tyndale, "and a day longer." Roy, on quitting the reformer, had gone -to Strasburg, where he boasted of his relations with him, and had got -a satire in that city printed against Wolsey and the monastic orders, -entitled _The Burial of the Mass_: this was the book delivered to -Rincke. The monk's sarcastic spirit had exceeded the legitimate bounds -of controversy, and the senator accordingly dared not send the volumes -to England. He did not however discontinue his inquiries, but searched -every place where he thought he could discover the New Testament, and -having seized all the suspected volumes, set off for Cologne.[904] - - [904] Anderson, Annals of the Bible, i. p. 203: "I gathered together - and packed up all the books from every quarter." - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT MARBURG.] - -Yet he was not satisfied. He wanted Tyndale, and went about asking -every one if they knew where to find him. But the reformer, whom he -was seeking in so many places, and especially at Frankfort and -Cologne, chanced to be residing at about equal distances from these -two towns, so that Rincke, while travelling from one to the other, -might have met him face to face, as Ahab's messenger met Elijah.[905] -Tyndale was at Marburg, whither he had been drawn by several motives. -Prince Philip of Hesse was the great protector of the evangelical -doctrines. The university had attracted attention in the Reform by the -paradoxes of Lambert of Avignon. Here a young Scotchman named -Hamilton, afterwards illustrious as a martyr, had studied shortly -before, and here too the celebrated printer, John Luft, had his -presses. In this city Tyndale and Fryth had taken up their abode, in -September 1528, and, hidden on the quiet banks of the Lahn, were -translating the Old Testament. If Rincke had searched this place he -could not have failed to discover them. But either he thought not of -it, or was afraid of the terrible landgrave. The direct road by the -Rhine was that which he followed, and Tyndale escaped. - - [905] I Kings xviii, 7. - -When he arrived at Cologne, Rincke had an immediate interview with -West. Their investigations having failed, they must have recourse to -more vigorous measures. The senator, therefore, sent the monk back to -England, accompanied by his son Hermann, charging them to tell Wolsey: -"To seize Tyndale we require fuller powers, ratified by the emperor. -The traitors who conspire against the life of the king of England are -not tolerated in the empire, much less Tyndale and all those who -conspire against Christendom. He must be put to death; nothing but -some striking example can check the Lutheran heresy.--And as to -ourselves," they were told to add, "by the favour of God there may -possibly be an opportunity for his royal highness and your grace to -recompense us."[906] Rincke had not forgotten the subsidy of ten -thousand pounds which he had received from Henry VII for the Turkish -war, when he had gone to London as Maximilian's envoy. - - [906] Cotton MSS. Vitellius, B, xxi. fol. 43. Bible Annals, i, p. 204. - -[Sidenote: WEST'S ANNOYANCES.] - -West returned to England sorely vexed that he had failed in his -mission. What would they say at court and in his monastery? A fresh -humiliation was in reserve for him. Roy, whom West had gone to look -for on the banks of the Rhine, had paid a visit to his mother on the -banks of the Thames; and to crown all, the new doctrines had -penetrated into his own convent. The warden, father Robinson, had -embraced them, and night and day the Greenwich monks read that New -Testament which West had gone to Cologne to burn. The Antwerp friar, -who had accompanied him on his journey, was the only person to whom he -could confide his sorrows; but the Franciscans sent him back again to -the continent, and then amused themselves at poor West's expense. If -he desired to tell of his adventures on the banks of the Rhine, he was -laughed at; if he boasted of the names of Wolsey and Henry VIII, they -jeered him still more. He desired to speak to Roy's mother, hoping to -gain some useful information from her; this the monks prevented. "It -is in my commission," he said. They ridiculed him more and more. -Robinson, perceiving that the commission made West assume unbecoming -airs of independence, requested Wolsey to withdraw it; and West, -fancying he was about to be thrown into prison, exclaimed in alarm: "I -am weary of my life!" and conjured a friend whom he had at court to -procure him before Christmas an _obedience_ under his lordship's hand -and seal, enabling him to leave the monastery; "What you pay him for -it," he added, "I shall see you be reimbursed." Thus did West expiate -the fanatical zeal which had urged him to pursue the translator of the -oracles of God. What became of him, we know not: he is never heard of -more. - -At that time Wolsey had other matters to engage him than this -"obedience." While West's complaints were going to London, those of -the king were travelling to Rome. The great business in the cardinal's -eyes was to maintain harmony between Henry and the church. There was -no more thought about investigations in Germany, and for a time -Tyndale was saved. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Necessity of the Reformation--Wolsey's Earnestness with Da - Casale--An Audience with Clement VII--Cruel Position of the - Pope--A Judas' Kiss--A new Brief--Bryan and Vannes sent to - Rome--Henry and Du Bellay--Wolsey's Reasons against the - Brief--Excitement in London--Metamorphosis--Wolsey's - Decline--His Anguish. - - -[Sidenote: NECESSITY OF THE REFORMATION.] - -The king and a part of his people still adhered to the popedom, and so -long as these bonds were not broken the word of God could not have -free course. But to induce England to renounce Rome, there must indeed -be powerful motives: and these were not wanting. - -Wolsey had never given such pressing orders to any of Henry's -ambassadors: "The king," he wrote to Da Casale on the 1st of November -1528, "commits this business to your prudence, dexterity, and -fidelity; and I conjure you to employ all the powers of your genius, -and even to surpass them. Be very sure that you have done nothing and -can do nothing that will be more agreeable to the king, more desirable -by me, and more useful and glorious for you and your family."[907] - - [907] Vobis vestræque familiæ utilius aut honorificentius. State - Papers, vii, p. 114. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT BETWEEN CHARLES AND HENRY.] - -Da Casale possessed a tenacity which justified the cardinal's -confidence, and an active excitable mind: trembling at the thought of -seeing Rome lose England, he immediately requested an audience of -Clement VII. "What!" said he to the pope, "just as it was proposed to -go on with the divorce, your nuncio endeavours to dissuade the -king!... There is no hope that Catherine of Aragon will ever give an -heir to the crown. Holy father, there must be an end of this. Order -Campeggio to place the _decretal_ in his majesty's hands."--"What say -you?" exclaimed the pope. "I would gladly lose one of my fingers to -recover it again, and you ask me to make it public ... it would be my -ruin."[908] Da Casale insisted: "we have a duty to perform," he said; -"we remind you at this last hour of the perils threatening the -relations which unite Rome and England. The crisis is at hand. We -knock at your door, we cry, we urge, we entreat, we lay before you the -present and future dangers which threaten the papacy.[909]... The -world shall know that the king at least has fulfilled the duty of a -devoted son of the church. If your holiness desires to keep England in -St. Peter's fold, I repeat ... now is the time ... now is the -time."[910] At these words, Da Casale, unable to restrain his emotion, -fell down at the pope's feet, and begged him to save the church in -Great Britain. The pope was moved. "Rise," said he, with marks of -unwonted grief,[911] "I grant you all that is in my power; I am -willing to confirm the judgment which the legates may think it their -duty to pass; but I acquit myself of all responsibility as to the -untold evils which this matter may bring with it.... If the king, -after having defended the faith and the church, desires to ruin both, -on him alone will rest the responsibility of so great a disaster." -Clement granted nothing. Da Casale withdrew disheartened, and feeling -convinced that the pontiff was about to treat with Charles V. - - [908] Burnet, Records, ii. p. 20. Unius digiti jactura....quod factum - fuit revocarem. - - [909] Admonere, exclamare, rogare, instare, urgere, pulsare, pericula - præsentia et futura demonstrare. State Papers, vii, p. 112. - - [910] Tempus jam in promptu adest. State Papers, vii. p. 112. - - [911] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 44. Records, p. xx. - -Wolsey desired to save the popedom; but the popedom resisted. Clement -VII was about to lose that island which Gregory the Great had won with -such difficulty. The pope was in the most cruel position. The English -envoy had hardly left the palace before the emperor's ambassador -entered breathing threats. The unhappy pontiff escaped the assaults of -Henry only to be exposed to those of Charles; he was thrown backwards -and forwards like a ball. "I shall assemble a general council," said -the emperor through his ambassador, "and if you are found to have -infringed the canons of the church in any point, you shall be -proceeded against with every rigour. Do not forget," added his agent -in a low tone, "that your birth is _illegitimate_, and consequently -excludes you from the pontificate." The timid Clement, imagining that -he saw the tiara falling from his head, swore to refuse Henry every -thing. "Alas!" he said to one of his dearest confidants, "I repent in -dust and ashes that I ever granted this decretal bull. If the king of -England so earnestly desires it to be given him, certainly it cannot -be merely to know its contents. He is but too familiar with them. It -is only to tie my hands in this matter of the divorce; I would rather -die a thousand deaths." Clement, to calm his agitation, sent one of -his ablest gentlemen of the bed-chamber, Francis Campana, apparently -to feed the king with fresh promises, but in reality to cut the only -thread on which Henry's hopes still hung. "We embrace your majesty," -wrote the pope in the letter given to Campana, "with the paternal -love your numerous merits deserve."[912] Now Campana was sent to -England to burn clandestinely the famous decretal;[913] Clement -concealed his blows by an embrace. Rome had granted many divorces not -so well founded as that of Henry VIII; but a very different matter -from a divorce was in question here; the pope, desirous of upraising -in Italy his shattered power, was about to sacrifice the Tudor, and to -prepare the triumph of the Reformation. Rome was separating herself -from England. - - [912] Nos illum paterna charitate complecti, ut sua erga nos atque - hanc sedem plurima merita requirunt. State Papers, vii. 116. - - [913] To charge Campegius to burn the decretal. Herbert, p. 250. - Burnet's Ref. i, 47. - -[Sidenote: SECRET BRIEF OF JULIUS II.] - -All Clement's fear was, that Campana would arrive too late to burn the -bull; he was soon reassured; a dead calm prevented the _great matter_ -from advancing. Campeggio, who took care to be in no hurry about his -mission, gave himself up, like a skilful diplomatist, to his worldly -tastes; and when he could not, due respect being had to the state of -his legs, indulge in the chase, of which he was very fond, he passed -his time in gambling, to which he was much addicted. Respectable -historians assert that he indulged in still more illicit -pleasures.[914] But this could not last for ever, and the nuncio -sought some new means of delay, which offered itself in the most -unexpected manner. One day an officer of the queen's presented to the -Roman legate a _brief_ of Julius II, bearing the same date as the -_bull_ of dispensation, signed too, like that, by the secretary -Sigismond, and in which the pope expressed himself in such a manner, -that Henry's objections fell of themselves. "The emperor," said -Catherine's messenger, "has discovered this brief among the papers of -Puebla, the Spanish ambassador in England, at the time of the -marriage."--"It is impossible to go on," said Campeggio to Wolsey; -"all your reasoning is now cut from under you. _We must wait for fresh -instructions._" This was the cardinal's conclusion at every new -incident, and the journey from London to the Vatican being very long -(without reckoning the Roman dilatoriness), the expedient was -infallible. - - [914] Hunting and gaming all the day long, and following harlots all - the night. Ibid. p. 52. - -Thus there existed two acts of the same pope, signed on the same -day--the one secret, the other public, in contradiction to each other. -Henry determined to send a new mission to Rome. Anne proposed for this -embassy one of the most accomplished gentlemen of the court, her -cousin, Sir Francis Bryan. With him was joined an Italian, Peter -Vannes, Henry's Latin secretary. "You will search all the registers of -the time of Julius II," said Wolsey to them; "you will study the -hand-writing of secretary Sigismond, and you will attentively examine -the ring of the fisherman used by that pontiff.[915]--Moreover you -will inform the pope that it is proposed to set a certain greyfriar, -named De Angelis, in his place, to whom Charles would give the -_spiritual_ authority, reserving the _temporal_ for himself. You will -manage so that Clement takes alarm at the project, and you will then -offer him a guard of 2000 men to protect him. You will ask whether, in -case the queen should desire to embrace a religious life, on condition -of the king's doing the same, and Henry should yield to this -wish,[916] he could have the assurance that the pope would afterwards -release him from his vows. And, finally, you will inquire whether, in -case the queen should refuse to enter a convent, the pope would permit -the king to have _two wives_, as we see in the Old Testament."[917] -The idea which has brought so much reproach on the landgrave of Hesse -was not a new one; the honour of it belongs to a cardinal and legate -of Rome, whatever Bossuet may say. "Lastly," continued Wolsey, "as the -pope is of a timid disposition, you will not fail to season your -remonstrances with threats. You, Peter, will take him aside and tell -him that, as an Italian, having more at heart than any one the glory -of the holy see, it is your duty to warn him, that if he persists, the -king, his realm, and many other princes, will for ever separate from -the papacy." - - [915] State Papers, vii. p. 126, note. - - [916] Only thereby to conduce the queen thereunto. Ibid. p. 136, note. - -[917] De duabus uxoribus. Henry's Instructions to Knight, in the - middle of December 1528. Ibid. p. 137. Some great reasons and - precedents of the Old Testament appear. Instructions to same, 1st Dec. - Ibid. p. 136, note. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S CONFERENCE WITH DU BELLAY.] - -It was not on the mind of the pope alone that it was necessary to act; -the rumour that the emperor and the king of France were treating -together disturbed Henry. Wolsey had vainly tried to sound Du Bellay; -these two priests tried craft against craft. Besides, the Frenchman -was not always seasonably informed by his court, letters taking _ten -days_ to come from Paris to London.[918] Henry resolved to have a -conference with the ambassador. He began by speaking to him of _his -matter_, says Du Bellay, "and I promise you," he added, "that he needs -no advocate, he understands the whole business so well." Henry next -touched upon the _wrongs_ of Francis I, "recalling so many things that -the envoy knew not what to say."--"I pray you, Master Ambassador," -said Henry in conclusion, "to beg the king, my brother, to give up a -little of his amusements during a year only for the prompt despatch of -his affairs. Warn those whom it concerns." Having given this spur to -the king of France, Henry turned his thoughts towards Rome. - - [918] La dite lettre du roi, combien qu'elle fût du 3, je l'ai reçue - sinon le 13; le pareil m'advint quasi de toutes autres. Du Bellay to - Montmorency, 20th Dec. Le Grand, Preuves. - -[Sidenote: NON-AUTHENTICITY OF THE BRIEF.] - -In truth, the fatal brief from Spain tormented him day and night, and -the cardinal tortured his mind to find proofs of its non-authenticity; -if he could do so, he would acquit the papacy of the charge of -duplicity, and accuse the emperor of forgery. At last he thought he -had succeeded. "In the first place," he said to the king, "the brief -has the same date as the bull. Now, if the errors in the latter had -been found out on the day it was drawn up, it would have been more -natural to make another than to append a brief pointing out the -errors. What! the same pope, the same day, at the petition of the same -persons, give out two rescripts for one effect,[919] one of which -contradicts the other! Either the bull was good, and then, why the -brief? or the bull was bad, and then, why deceive princes by a -worthless bull? Many names are found in the brief incorrectly spelt, -and these are faults which the pontifical secretary, whose accuracy is -so well known, could not have committed.[920] Lastly, no one in -England ever heard mention of this brief; and yet it is here that it -ought to be found." Henry charged Knight, his principal secretary, to -join the other envoys with all speed, in order to prove to the pope -the supposititious character of the document. - - [919] State Papers, vol. vii. p. 130. - - [920] Queen _Isabella_ was called _Elizabeth_ in the brief; but I have - seen a document from the court of Madrid in which Queen Elizabeth of - England was called Isabella; it is not therefore an error without a - parallel. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TROUBLE.] - -This important paper revived the irritation felt in England against -Charles V, and it was resolved to come to extremities. Every one -discontented with Austria took refuge in London, particularly the -Hungarians. The ambassador from Hungary proposed to Wolsey to adjudge -the imperial crown of Germany to the elector of Saxony or the -landgrave of Hesse, the two chiefs of protestantism.[921] Wolsey -exclaimed in alarm: "It will be an inconvenience to Christendom, _they -are so Lutheran_." But the Hungarian ambassador so satisfied him that -in the end he did not find the matter quite so inconvenient. These -schemes were prospering in London, when suddenly a new metamorphosis -took place under the eyes of Du Bellay. The king, the cardinal, and -the ministers appeared in strange consternation. Vincent da Casale had -just arrived from Rome with a letter from his cousin the prothonatory, -informing Henry that the pope, seeing the triumph of Charles V, the -indecision of Francis I, the isolation of the king of England, and -the distress of his cardinal, had flung himself into the arms of the -emperor. At Rome they went so far as to jest about Wolsey, and to say -that since he could not be St. Peter they would make him St. Paul. - - [921] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 12 Jan. 1529. Le Grand, Preuves, p. - 279. - -While they were ridiculing Wolsey at Rome, at St. Germain's, they were -joking about Henry. "I will make him get rid of the notions he has in -his head," said Francis; and the Flemings, who were again sent out of -the country, said as they left London, "that this year they would -carry on the war so vigorously, that it would be really a sight worth -seeing." - -Besides these public griefs, Wolsey had his private ones. Anne Boleyn, -who had already begun to use her influence on behalf of the despotic -cardinal's victims, gave herself no rest until Cheyney, a courtier -disgraced by Wolsey, had been restored to the king's favour. Anne even -gave utterance to several biting sarcasms against the cardinal, and -the duke of Norfolk and his party began "to speak big," says Du -Bellay. At the moment when the pope, scared by Charles V, was -separating from England, Wolsey himself was tottering. Who shall -uphold the papacy?... After Wolsey, nobody! Rome was on the point of -losing the power which for nine centuries she had exercised in the -bosom of this illustrious nation. The cardinal's anguish cannot be -described; unceasingly pursued by gloomy images, he saw Anne on the -throne causing the triumph of the Reformation: this nightmare was -stifling him. "His grace, the legate, is in great trouble," wrote the -bishop of Bayonne. "However ... he is more cunning than they -are."[922] - -To still the tempest Wolsey had only one resource left: this was to -render Clement favourable to his master's designs. The crafty Campana, -who had burnt the decretal, conjured him not to believe all the -reports transmitted to him concerning Rome. "To satisfy the king," -said he to the cardinal, "the holy father will, if necessary, descend -from the pontifical throne."[923] Wolsey therefore resolved to send to -Rome a more energetic agent than Vannes, Bryan, or Knight, and cast -his eyes on Gardiner. His courage began to revive, when an unexpected -event fanned once more his loftiest hopes. - - [922] Le Grand, Preuves, p. 295, 296. - - [923] Burnet, Hist. Ref. vol. i. p. 60. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - The Pope's Illness--Wolsey's Desire--Conference about the - Members of the Conclave--Wolsey's Instructions--The Pope - recovers--Speech of the English Envoys to the Pope--Clement - willing to abandon England--The English demand the Pope's - Denial of the Brief--Wolsey's Alarm--Intrigues--Bryan's - clearsightedness--Henry's Threats--Wolsey's new Efforts--He - calls for an Appeal to Rome, and retracts--Wolsey and Du - Bellay at Richmond--The Ship of the State. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S ILLNESS.] - -On the 6th of January 1529, the feast of Epiphany, just as the pope -was performing mass, he was attacked by a sudden illness; he was taken -to his room, apparently in a dying state. When this news reached -London, the cardinal resolved to hasten to abandon England, where the -soil trembled under his feet, and to climb boldly to the throne of the -pontiffs. Bryan and Vannes, then at Florence, hurried on to Rome -through roads infested with robbers. At Orvieto they were informed the -pope was better; at Viterbo, no one knew whether he was alive or dead; -at Ronciglione, they were assured that he had expired; and, finally, -when they reached the metropolis of the popedom, they learnt that -Clement could not survive, and that the imperialists, supported by the -Colonnas, were striving to have a pope devoted to Charles V.[924] - - [924] State Papers, vii. p. 143-150. - -[Sidenote: PARTIES AMONG THE CARDINALS.] - -But great as might be the agitation at Rome, it was greater still at -Whitehall. If God caused De' Medici to descend from the pontifical -throne, it could only be, thought Wolsey, to make him mount it. "It is -expedient to have such a pope as may save the realm," said he to -Gardiner. "And although it cannot but be incommodious to me in this -mine old age to be the common father, yet, when all things be well -pondered, the qualities of all the cardinals well considered, I am the -only one, without boasting, that can and will remedy the king's secret -matter. And were it not for the redintegration of the state of the -church, and especially to relieve the king and his realm from their -calamities, all the riches and honour of the world should not cause me -to accept the said dignity. Nevertheless I conform myself to the -necessities of the times. Wherefore, Master Stephen, that this matter -may succeed, I pray you to apply all your ingenuity, spare neither -money nor labour. I give you the amplest powers, without restriction -or limitation."[925] Gardiner departed to win for his master the -coveted tiara. - - [925] Foxe, Acts, iv. p. 601. - -Henry VIII and Wolsey, who could hardly restrain their impatience, -soon heard of the pontiff's death from different quarters.[926] "The -emperor has taken away Clement's life,"[927] said Wolsey, blinded by -hatred. "Charles," rejoined the king, "will endeavour to obtain by -force or fraud, a pope according to his desires." "Yes, to make him -his chaplain," replied Wolsey, "and to put an end by degrees both to -pope and popedom."[928] "We must fly to the defence of the church," -resumed Henry, "and with that view, my lord, make up your mind to be -pope."--"That alone," answered the cardinal, "can bring your Majesty's -weighty matter to a happy termination, and by saving you, save the -church ... and myself also," he thought in his heart.--"Let us see, -let us count the voters." - - [926] By sundry ways hath been advertised of the death of our holy - father. Ibid. The king's instructions. - - [927] By some detestable act committed for the late pope's - destruction. Ibid. p. 603. - - [928] By little and little utterly to exclude and extinguish him and - his authority. Ibid. - -Henry and his minister then wrote down on a strip of parchment the -names of all the cardinals, marking with the letter _A_ those who were -on the side of the kings of England and France, and with the letter -_B_ all who favoured the emperor. "There was no _C_," says a -chronicler sarcastically, "to signify any on _Christ's_ side." The -letter _N_ designated the neutrals. "The cardinals present," said -Wolsey, "will not exceed thirty-nine, and we must have two-thirds, -that is, twenty-six. Now, there are twenty upon whom we can reckon; we -must therefore, at any price, gain six of the neutrals." - -[Sidenote: MEANS TO GAIN THE TIARA.] - -Wolsey, deeply sensible of the importance of an election that would -decide whether England was to be reformed or not, carefully drew up -the instructions, which Henry signed and which history must register. -"We desire and ordain," the ambassadors were informed in them, "that -you secure the election of the cardinal of York; not forgetting that -next to the salvation of his own soul, there is nothing the king -desires more earnestly. - -"To gain over the neutral cardinals you will employ two methods in -particular. The first is, the cardinals being present, and having God -and the Holy Ghost before them, you shall remind them that the -cardinal of York alone can save Christendom. - -"The second is, because human fragility suffereth not all things to be -pondered and weighed in a just balance, it appertaineth in matter of -so high importance, to the comfort and relief of all Christendom, to -succour the infirmity that may chance ... not for corruption, you will -understand ... but rather to help the lacks and defaults of human -nature. And, therefore, it shall be expedient that you promise -spiritual offices, dignities, rewards of money, or other things which -shall seem meet to the purpose. - -"Then shall you, with good dexterity, combine and knit those -favourable to us in a perfect fastness and indissoluble knot. And that -they may be the better animated to finish the election to the king's -desire, you shall offer them a guard of 2000 or 3000 men from the -kings of England and France, from the viscount of Turin, and the -republic of Venice. - -"If, notwithstanding all your exertions, the election should fail, -then the cardinals of the kings shall repair to some sure place, and -there proceed to such an election as may be to God's pleasure. - -"And to win more friends for the king, you shall promise, on the one -hand, to the Cardinal de' Medici and his party our special favour; and -the Florentines, on the other hand, you shall put in comfort of the -exclusion of the said family De' Medici. Likewise you shall put the -cardinals in perfect hope of recovering the patrimony of the church; -and you shall contain the Venetians in good trust of a reasonable way -to be taken for Cervia and Ravenna (which formed part of the -patrimony) to their contentment."[929] - - [929] Foxe, iv. p. 604-608. - -Such were the means by which the cardinal hoped to win the papal -throne. To the right he said _yes_, to the left he said _no_. What -would it matter that these perfidies were one day discovered, provided -it were after the election. Christendom might be very certain that the -choice of the future pontiff would be the work of the Holy Ghost. -Alexander VI had been a poisoner; Julius II had given way to ambition, -anger, and vice; the liberal Leo X had passed his life in worldly -pursuits; the unhappy Clement VII had lived on stratagems and lies; -Wolsey would be their worthy successor: - - "All the seven deadly sins have worn the triple crown."[930] - - [930] Les sept peches mortels ont porte la tiare. Casimir Delavigne, - Derniers chants, le Conclave. - -[Sidenote: THE DIVORCE DEMANDED.] - -Wolsey found his excuse in the thought, that if he succeeded, the -divorce was secured, and England enslaved for ever to the court of -Rome. - -Success at first appeared probable. Many cardinals spoke openly in -favour of the English prelate; one of them asked for a detailed -account of his life, in order to present it as a model to the church; -another worshipped him (so he said) as a divinity.... Among the gods -and popes adored at Rome there were some no better than he. But ere -long alarming news reached England. What grief! the pope was getting -better. "Conceal your instructions," wrote the cardinal, "and reserve -them _in omnem eventum_." - -Wolsey not having obtained the tiara, it was necessary at least to -gain the divorce. "God declares," said the English ambassadors to the -pope, "_except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that -build it_.[931] Therefore, the king, taking God alone for his guide, -requests of you, in the first place, an engagement to pronounce the -divorce in the space of three months, and in the second the avocation -to Rome."--"The promise first, and only after that the avocation," -Wolsey had said; "for I fear that if the pope begins with the -avocation, he will never pronounce the divorce."--"Besides," added the -envoys, "the king's second marriage admits of no refusal, whatever -bulls or briefs there may be.[932] The only issue of this matter is -the divorce; the divorce in one way or another must be procured." - - [931] Where Christ is not the foundation, surely no building can be of - good work. State Papers, vii. p. 122. - - [932] Convolare ad secundas nuptias non patitur negativum. Ibid. p. - 138. - -Wolsey had instructed his envoys to pronounce these words with a -certain air of familiarity, and at the same time with a gravity -calculated to produce an effect.[933] His expectations were deceived: -Clement was colder than ever. He had determined to abandon England in -order that he might secure the States of the Church, of which Charles -was then master, thus sacrificing the spiritual to the temporal. "The -pope will not do the least thing for your majesty," wrote Bryan to the -king; "your matter may well be in his _Pater noster_, but it certainly -is not in his _Credo_."[934] "Increase in importunity," answered the -king; "the cardinal of Verona should remain about the pope's person -and counterbalance the influence of De Angelis and the archbishop of -Capua. I would rather lose my two crowns than be beaten by these two -friars." - - [933] Which words, fashioned with a familiarity and somewhat with - earnestness and gravity. Ibid. - - [934] Ibid. vol. i, p. 330. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S TERGIVERSATIONS.] - -Thus was the struggle about to become keener than ever, when Clement's -relapse once more threw doubt on every thing. He was always between -life and death; and this perpetual alternation agitated the king and -the impatient cardinal in every way. The latter considered that the -pope had need of _merits_ to enter the kingdom of heaven. "Procure an -interview with the pope," he wrote to the envoys, "even though he be -in the very agony of death;[935] and represent to him that nothing -will be more likely _to save his soul_ than the bill of divorce." -Henry's commissioners were not admitted; but towards the end of March, -the deputies appearing in a body,[936] the pope promised to examine -the letter from Spain. Vannes began to fear this document; he -represented that those who had fabricated it would have been able to -give it an appearance of authenticity. "Rather declare immediately -that this brief is not a brief," said he to the pope. "The king of -England, who is your holiness's son, is not so like the rest of the -world. We cannot put the same shoe on every foot."[937] This rather -vulgar argument did not touch Clement. "If to content your master in -this business," said he, "I cannot employ my head, at least I will my -finger."[938]--"Be pleased to explain yourself," replied Vannes, who -found the _finger_ a very little matter.--"I mean," resumed the -pontiff, "that I shall employ every means, provided they are -_honourable_." Vannes withdrew disheartened. - - [935] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 49. - - [936] Postquam conjunctim omnes. State Papers, vii. p. 154. - - [937] Uno eodemque calceo omnium pedes velle vestire. Ibid. p. 156. - - [938] Quod forsan non licebit toto capite assequi, in eo digitum - imponam. Ibid. p. 157. - -He immediately conferred with his colleagues, and all together, -alarmed at the idea of Henry's anger, returned to the pontiff; they -thrust aside the lackeys, who endeavoured to stop them, and made their -way into his bed-chamber. Clement opposed them with that resistance of -inertia by which the popedom has gained its greatest victories: -_siluit_, he remained silent. Of what consequence to the pontiff were -Tudor, his island, and his church, when Charles of Austria was -threatening him with his armies? Clement, less proud than Hildebrand, -submitted willingly to the emperor's power, provided the emperor would -protect him. "I had rather," he said, "be Cæsar's servant, not only in -a temple, but in a stable if necessary, than be exposed to the insults -of rebels and vagabonds."[939] At the same time he wrote to Campeggio: -"Do not irritate the king, but spin out this matter as much as -possible;[940] the Spanish brief gives us the means." - - [939] Malle Cæsari a stabulo nedum a sacris inservire, quam inferiorum - hominum subditorum, vassalorum, rebellium injurias sustinere. Herbert, - vol. i, p. 261. - - [940] Le Grand, vol. i, p. 131. - -[Sidenote: STRATAGEMS AND DELAYS.] - -In fact, Charles V had twice shown Lee the original document, and -Wolsey, after this ambassador's report, began to believe that it was -not Charles who had forged the brief, but that Pope Julius II had -really given two contradictory documents on the same day. Accordingly -the cardinal now feared to see this letter in the pontiff's hands. "Do -all you can to dissuade the pope from seeking the original in Spain," -wrote he to one of his ambassadors; "it may exasperate the emperor." -We know how cautious the cardinal was towards Charles. Intrigue -attained its highest point at this epoch, and Englishmen and Romans -encountered craft with craft. "In such ticklish negotiations," says -Burnet, (who had had some little experience in diplomacy) "ministers -must say and unsay as they are instructed, which goes of course as a -part of their business."[941] Henry's envoys to the pope intercepted -the letters sent from Rome, and had Campeggio's seized.[942] On his -part the pope indulged in flattering smiles and perfidious -equivocations. Bryan wrote to Henry VIII: "Always your grace hath done -for him in deeds, and he hath recompensed you with fair _words_, and -fair _writings_, of which both I think your grace shall lack none; but -as for the _deeds_, I never believe to see them, and especially at -this time."[943] Bryan had comprehended the court of Rome better -perhaps than many politicians. Finally, Clement himself, wishing to -prepare the king for the blow he was about to inflict, wrote to him: -"We have been able to find nothing that would satisfy your -ambassadors."[944] - - [941] Burnet's Ref. vol. i. p. 54. - - [942] De intercipiendis literis. State Papers, vol. vii, p. 185. - - [943] Ibid. p. 167. - - [944] He added: Tametsi noctes ac dies per nos ipsi, ac per -juris-peritissimos viros omnes vias tentemus. (Ibid. p. 165.) Although -night and day by ourselves, and along with the most skilful lawyers, -we try all ways. - -Henry thought he knew what this message meant: that he had found -nothing, and would find nothing; and accordingly this prince, who, if -we may believe Wolsey, had hitherto shown incredible patience and -gentleness,[945] gave way to all his violence. "Very well then," said -he; "my lords and I well know how to withdraw ourselves from the -authority of the Roman see." Wolsey turned pale, and conjured his -master not to rush into that fearful abyss;[946] Campeggio, too, -endeavoured to revive the king's hopes. But it was all of no use. -Henry recalled his ambassadors. - - [945] Incredibili patientia et humanitate. Burnet, Records, p. xxxii. - - [946] Ne præceps huc vel illuc rex hic ruat curamus. Ibid. p. xxxiii. - -Henry, it is true, had not yet reached the age when violent characters -become inflexible from the habit they have encouraged of yielding to -their passions. But the cardinal, who knew his master, knew also that -his inflexibility did not depend upon the number of his years; he -thought Rome's power in England was lost, and placed between Henry -and Clement, he exclaimed: "How shall I avoid Scylla, and not fall -into Charybdis?"[947] He begged the king to make one last effort by -sending Dr. Bennet to the pope with orders to support the avocation to -Rome, and he gave him a letter in which he displayed all the resources -of his eloquence. "How can it be imagined," he wrote, "that the -persuasions of sense urge the king to break a union in which the -ardent years of his youth were passed with such purity?[948]... The -matter is very different. I am on the spot, I know the state of men's -minds.... Pray, believe me.... The divorce is the secondary question; -the primary one is the _fidelity of this realm_ to the papal see. The -nobility, gentry, and citizens all exclaim with indignation: Must our -fortunes, and even our lives, depend upon the nod of a foreigner? We -must abolish, or at the very least diminish, the authority of the -Roman pontiff.[949]... Most holy father, we cannot mention such things -without a shudder."... This new attempt was also unavailing. The pope -demanded of Henry how he could doubt his good will, seeing that the -king of England had done so much for the apostolic see.[950] This -appeared a cruel irony to Tudor; the king requested a favour of the -pope, and the pope replied by calling to mind those which the papacy -had received from his hands. "Is this the way," men asked in England, -"in which Rome pays her debts?" - - [947] Hanc Charybdin et hos scopulos evitasse. Burnet, Records, p. - xxxii. - - [948] Sensuum suadela eam abrumpere cupiat consuetudinem. Ibid. p. - xxxiii. - - [949] Qui nullam aut certe diminutam hic Romani pontificis - auctoritatem. Ibid. - - [950] Dubitare non debes si quidem volueris recordare tua erga nos - merita. State Papers, vii, p. 178. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S EARNESTNESS.] - -Wolsey had not reached the term of his misfortunes. Gardiner and Bryan -had just returned to London: they declared that to demand an avocation -to Rome was to lose their cause. Accordingly Wolsey, who turned to -every wind, ordered Da Casale, in case Clement should pronounce the -avocation, to appeal from the pope, the false head of the church, _to -the true vicar of Jesus Christ_.[951] This was almost in Luther's -style. Who was this true vicar? Probably a pope nominated by the -influence of England. - - [951] A non vicario ad verum vicarium Jesu Christi. Ibid. p. 191. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S GRIEF.] - -But this proceeding did not assure the cardinal: he was losing his -judgment. A short time before this Du Bellay, who had just returned -from Paris, whither he had gone to retain France on the side of -England, had been invited to Richmond by Wolsey. As the two prelates -were walking in the park, on that hill whence the eye ranges over the -fertile and undulating fields through which the winding Thames pours -its tranquil waters, the unhappy cardinal observed to the bishop: "My -trouble is the greatest that ever was!... I have excited and carried -on this matter of the divorce, to dissolve the union between the two -houses of Spain and England, by sowing misunderstanding between them, -as if I had no part in it.[952] You know it was in the interest of -France; I therefore entreat the king your master and her majesty to do -every thing that may forward the divorce. I shall esteem such a favour -more than if they made me pope; but if they refuse me, my ruin is -inevitable." And then giving way to despair, he exclaimed: "Alas! -would that I were going to be buried to-morrow!" - - [952] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 22nd May. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 319. - -The wretched man was drinking the bitter cup his perfidies had -prepared for him. All seemed to conspire against Henry, and Bennet was -recalled shortly after. It was said at court and in the city: "Since -the pope sacrifices us to the emperor, let us sacrifice the pope." -Clement VII, intimidated by the threats of Charles V, and tottering -upon his throne, madly repelled with his foot the bark of England. -Europe was all attention, and began to think that the proud vessel of -Albion, cutting the cable that bound her to the pontiffs, would boldly -spread her canvass to the winds, and ever after sail the sea alone, -wafted onwards by the breeze that comes from heaven. - -The influence of Rome over Europe is in great measure political. It -loses a kingdom by a royal quarrel, and might in this same way lose -ten. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - Discussion Between the Evangelicals and the Catholics--Union - of Learning and Life--The Laity--Tewkesbury--His Appearance - before the Bishop's Court--He is tortured--Two Classes of - Opponents--A Theological Duel--Scripture and the - Church--Emancipation of the Mind--Mission to the Low - Countries--Tyndale's Embarrassment--Tonstall wishes to buy - the Books--Packington's Stratagem--Tyndale departs for - Antwerp--His Shipwreck--Arrival at Hamburg--Meets Coverdale. - - -[Sidenote: EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS.] - -Other circumstances from day to day rendered the emancipation of the -church more necessary. If behind these political debates there had -not been found a Christian people, resolved never to temporize with -error, it is probable that England, after a few years of independence, -would have fallen back into the bosom of Rome. The affair of the -divorce was not the only one agitating men's minds; the religious -controversies, which for some years filled the continent, were always -more animated at Oxford and Cambridge. The _Evangelicals_ and the -_Catholics_ (not very catholic indeed) warmly discussed the great -questions which the progress of events brought before the world. The -former maintained that the primitive church of the apostles and the -actual church of the papacy were not identical; the latter affirmed, -on the contrary, the identity of popery and apostolic Christianity. -Other Romish doctors in later times, finding this position somewhat -embarrassing, have asserted that Catholicism existed only _in the -germ_ in the apostolic church, and had subsequently developed itself. -But a thousand abuses, a thousand errors may creep into a church under -cover of this theory. A plant springs from the seed and grows up in -accordance with immutable laws; whilst a doctrine cannot be -transformed in the mind of man without falling under the influence of -sin. It is true that the disciples of popery have supposed a constant -action of the Divine Spirit in the Catholic church, which excludes -every influence of error. To stamp on the development of the church -the character of truth, they have stamped on the church itself the -character of infallibility; _quod erat demonstrandum_. Their reasoning -is a mere begging of the question. To know whether the Romish -development is identical with the Gospel, we must examine it by -Scripture. - -It was not university men alone who occupied themselves with Christian -truth. The separation which has been remarked in other times between -the opinions of the people and of the learned, did not now exist. What -the doctors taught, the citizens practised; Oxford and London embraced -each other. The theologians knew that learning has need of life, and -the citizens believed that life has need of that learning which -derives the doctrine from the wells of the Scriptures of God. It was -the harmony between these two elements, the one theological, the other -practical, which constituted the strength of the English reformation. - -[Sidenote: TEWKESBURY BEFORE THE BISHOPS.] - -The evangelical life in the capital alarmed the clergy more than the -evangelical doctrine in the colleges. Since Monmouth had escaped, they -must strike another. Among the London merchants was John Tewkesbury, -one of the oldest friends of the Scriptures in England. As early as -1512 he had become possessor of a manuscript copy of the Bible, and -had attentively studied it; when Tyndale's New Testament appeared, he -read it with avidity; and, finally, _The Wicked Mammon_ had completed -the work of his conversion. Being a man of heart and understanding, -clever in all he undertook, a ready and fluent speaker, and liking to -get to the bottom of every thing, Tewkesbury like Monmouth became very -influential in the city, and one of the most learned in Scripture of -any of the evangelicals. These generous Christians, being determined -to consecrate to God the good things they had received from him, were -the first among that long series of laymen who were destined to be -more useful to the truth than many ministers and bishops. They found -time to interest themselves about the most trifling details of the -kingdom of God; and in the history of the Reformation in Britain their -names should be inscribed beside those of Latimer and Tyndale. - -The activity of these laymen could not escape the cardinal's notice. -Clement VII was abandoning England: it was necessary for the English -bishops, by crushing the heretics, to show that they would not abandon -the popedom. We can understand the zeal of these prelates, and without -excusing their persecutions, we are disposed to extenuate their crime. -The bishops determined to ruin Tewkesbury. One day in April 1529, as -he was busy among his peltries, the officers entered his warehouse, -arrested him, and led him away to the bishop of London's chapel, -where, besides the ordinary (Tonstall), the bishops of Ely, St. Asaph, -Bath, and Lincoln, with the abbot of Westminster, were on the bench. -The composition of this tribunal indicated the importance of his case. -The emancipation of the laity, thought these judges, is perhaps a more -dangerous heresy than justification by faith. - -[Sidenote: MORE'S ATTACK ON TYNDALE.] - -"John Tewkesbury," said the bishop of London, "I exhort you to trust -less to your own wit and learning, and more unto the doctrine of the -holy mother the church." Tewkesbury made answer, that in his judgment -he held no other doctrine than that of the church of Christ. Tonstall -then broached the principal charge, that of having read the Wicked -Mammon, and after quoting several passages, he exclaimed: "Renounce -these errors."--"I find no fault in the book," replied Tewkesbury. "It -has enlightened my conscience and consoled my heart. But it is not my -Gospel. I have studied the Holy Scriptures these seventeen years, and -as a man sees the spots of his face in a glass, so by reading them I -have learnt the faults of my soul.[953] If there is a disagreement -between you and the New Testament, put yourselves in harmony with it, -rather than desire to put that in accord with you." The bishops were -surprised that a leather-seller should speak so well, and quote -Scripture so happily that they were unable to resist him.[954] Annoyed -at being catechised by a layman, the bishops of Bath, St. Asaph, and -Lincoln thought they could conquer him more easily by the rack than by -their arguments. He was taken to the Tower, where they ordered him to -be put to the torture. His limbs were crushed, which was contrary to -the laws of England, and the violence of the rack tore from him a cry -of agony to which the priests replied by a shout of exultation. The -inflexible merchant had promised at last to renounce Tyndale's Wicked -Mammon. Tewkesbury left the Tower "almost a cripple,"[955] and -returned to his house to lament the fatal word which the question had -extorted from him, and to prepare in the silence of faith to confess -in the burning pile the precious name of Christ Jesus. - - [953] Foxe, iv. p. 690. - - [954] Ibid. p. 689. - - [955] Ibid. - -We must, however, acknowledge that the "question" was not Rome's only -argument. The gospel had two classes of opponents in the sixteenth -century, as in the first ages of the church. Some attacked it with the -torture, others with their writings. Sir Thomas More, a few years -later, was to have recourse to the first of these arguments; but for -the moment he took up his pen. He had first studied the writings of -the Fathers of the church and of the Reformers, but rather as an -advocate than as a theologian; and then, armed at all points, he -rushed into the arena of polemics, and in his attacks dealt those -"technical convictions and that malevolent subtlety," says one of his -greatest admirers,[956] "from which the honestest men of his -profession are not free." Jests and sarcasms had fallen from his pen -in his discussion with Tyndale, as in his controversy with Luther. -Shortly after Tewkesbury's affair (in June, 1529) there appeared _A -Dialogue of Sir Thomas More, Knt., touching the pestilent Sect of -Luther and Tyndale, by the one begun in Saxony, and by the other -laboured to be brought into England_.[957] - - [956] Nisard, Hommes illustres de la renaissance. _Revue des Deux - Mondes._ - - [957] The Dialogue consisted of 250 pages, and was printed by John - Rastell, More's brother-in-law. Tyndale's answer did not appear until - later; we have thought it our duty to introduce it here. - -[Sidenote: A THEOLOGICAL DUEL.] - -Tyndale soon became informed of More's publication, and a remarkable -combat ensued between these two representatives of the two doctrines -that were destined to divide Christendom--Tyndale the champion of -Scripture, and More the champion of the church. More having called his -book a _dialogue_, Tyndale adopted this form in his reply,[958] and -the two combatants valiantly crossed their swords, though wide seas -lay between them. This theological duel is not without importance in -the history of the Reformation. The struggles of diplomacy, of -sacerdotalism, and of royalty were not enough; there must be struggles -of doctrine. Rome had set the hierarchy above the faith; the -Reformation was to restore faith to its place above the hierarchy. - - [958] Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue. - -MORE. Christ said not, the Holy Ghost shall _write_, but shall -_teach_. Whatsoever the church says, it is the word of God, though it -be not in Scripture. - -TYNDALE. What! Christ and the apostles not spoken of _Scriptures!... -These are written_, says St. John, _that ye believe and through belief -have life_. (1 John ii, 1; Rom. xv, 4; Matthew xxii, 29.)[959] - - [959] Ibid. p. 101. - -[Sidenote: APOSTLES AND REFORMERS.] - -MORE. The apostles have taught by _mouth_ many things they did not -_write_, because they should not come into the hands of the heathen -for mocking. - -TYNDALE. I pray you what thing more to be mocked by the heathen could -they teach than the resurrection; and that Christ was God and man, and -died between two thieves? And yet all these things the apostles -_wrote_. And again, purgatory, penance, and satisfaction for sin, and -praying to saints, are marvellous agreeable unto the superstition of -the heathen people, so that they need not to abstain from writing of -them for fear lest the heathen should have mocked them.[960] - - [960] Ibid. p. 28, 29. - -MORE. We must not examine the teaching of the church by Scripture, but -understand Scripture by means of what the church says. - -TYNDALE. What! Does the air give light to the sun, or the sun to the -air? Is the church before the Gospel, or the Gospel before the church? -Is not the father older than the son? _God begat us with his own will, -with the word of truth_, says St. James (i, 18.) If he who begetteth -is before him who is begotten, the _word_ is before the _church_, or, -to speak more correctly, before the _congregation_. - -MORE. Why do you say _congregation_ and not _church_? - -TYNDALE. Because by that word _church_, you understand nothing but a -multitude of shorn and oiled, which we now call the spirituality or -clergy; while the word of right is common unto all the congregation of -them that believe in Christ.[961] - - [961] Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue, p. 12, 13. - -MORE. The church is the pope and his sect are followers. - -TYNDALE. The pope teacheth us to trust in holy works for salvation, as -penance, saints' merits, and friars' coats.[962] Now, he that hath no -faith to be saved through Christ, is not of Christ's church.[963] - - [962] Ibid. p. 40. - - [963] Ibid. p. 39. - -MORE. The Romish church from which the Lutherans came out, was before -them, and therefore is the right one. - -TYNDALE. In like manner you may say, the church of the Pharisees, -whence Christ and his apostles came out, was before them, and was -therefore the right church, and consequently Christ and his disciples -are heretics. - -MORE. No: the apostles came out from the church of the Pharisees -because they found not Christ there; but your priests in Germany and -elsewhere, have come out of our church, because they wanted wives. - -TYNDALE. Wrong: ... these priests were at first attached to what you -call _heresies_, and then they took wives; but yours were first -attached to the _holy_ doctrine of the pope, and then they took -harlots.[964] - - [964] Ibid. p. 104. - -MORE. Luther's books be open, if you will not believe us. - -TYNDALE. Nay, ye have shut them up, and have even burnt them.[965]... - - [965] Ibid. p. 189. - -MORE. I marvel that you deny _purgatory_, Sir William, except it be a -plain point with you to go straight to hell.[966] - - [966] Ibid. p. 214. - -TYNDALE. I know no other purging but faith in the cross of Christ; -while you, for a groat or a sixpence, buy some secret pills -[indulgences] which you take to purge yourselves of your sins.[967] - - [967] Ibid. - -MORE. Faith, then, is your purgatory, you say; there is no need, -therefore, of works--a most immoral doctrine! - -TYNDALE. It is faith _alone_ that saves us, but not a _bare faith_. -When a horse beareth a saddle and a man thereon, we may well say that -the horse only and alone beareth the saddle, but we do not mean the -saddle empty, and no man thereon.[968] - - [968] Ibid. p. 197. - -In this manner did the catholic and the evangelical carry on the -discussion. According to Tyndale, what constitutes the true church is -the work of the Holy Ghost within; according to More, the constitution -of the papacy without. The spiritual character of the Gospel is thus -put in opposition to the formalist character of the Roman church. The -Reformation restored to our belief the solid foundation of the word of -God; for the sand it substituted the rock. In the discussion to which -we have just been listening, the advantage remained not with the -catholic. Erasmus, a friend of More's, embarrassed by the course the -latter was taking, wrote to Tonstall: "I cannot heartily congratulate -More."[969] - - [969] Thomæ More non admodum gratulor. Erasm. Epp. p. 1478. - -Henry interrupted the celebrated knight in these contests to send him -to Cambray, where a peace was negotiating between France and the -empire. Wolsey would have been pleased to go himself; but his enemies -suggested to the king, "that it was only that he might not expedite -the matter of the divorce." Henry, therefore, despatched More, Knight, -and Tonstall; but Wolsey had created so many delays that he did not -arrive until after the conclusion of the _Ladies' Peace_ (August -1529). The king's vexation was extreme. Du Bellay had in vain helped -him to spend a _good preparatory July_ to make him _swallow the -dose_.[970] Henry was angry with Wolsey, Wolsey threw the blame on the -ambassador, and the ambassador defended himself, he tells us, "with -tooth and nail."[971] - - [970] Juillet préparatoire pour lui faire avaler la médecine. - - [971] Du bec et des ongles. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, iii. - p. 328. - -[Sidenote: TREATY AGAINST LUTHERAN BOOKS.] - -By way of compensation, the English envoys concluded with the emperor -a treaty prohibiting on both sides the printing and sale of "any -Lutheran books."[972] Some of them could have wished for a good -persecution, for a few burning piles, it may be. A singular -opportunity occurred. In the spring of 1529, Tyndale and Fryth had -left Marburg for Antwerp, and were thus in the vicinity of the English -envoys. What West had been unable to effect, it was thought the two -most intelligent men in Britain could not fail to accomplish. "Tyndale -must be captured," said More and Tonstall.--"You do not know what sort -of a country you are in," replied Hackett. "Will you believe that on -the 7th of April, Harman arrested me at Antwerp for damages, caused by -his imprisonment? If you can lay anything to my charge as a private -individual, I said to the officer, I am ready to answer for myself; -but if you arrest me as ambassador, I know no judge but the emperor. -Upon which the procurator had the audacity to reply, that I was -arrested _as ambassador_; and the lords of Antwerp only set me at -liberty on condition that I should appear again at the first -summons.[973] These merchants are so proud of their franchises, that -they would resist even Charles himself." This anecdote was not at all -calculated to encourage More; and not caring about a pursuit, which -promised to be of little use, he returned to England. But the bishop -of London, who was left behind, persisted in the project, and repaired -to Antwerp to put it in execution. - - [972] Herbert, p. 316. - - [973] Hackett to Wolsey, Brussels, 13th April, 1529. Bible Annals, - vol. i. p. 199. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S DANGER.] - -Tyndale was at that time greatly embarrassed; considerable debts, -incurred with his printers, compelled him to suspend his labours. Nor -was this all: the prelate who had spurned him so harshly in London, -had just arrived in the very city where he lay concealed.... What -would become of him?... A merchant, named Augustin Packington, a -clever man, but somewhat inclined to dissimulation, happening to be at -Antwerp on business, hastened to pay his respects to the bishop. The -latter observed, in the course of conversation: "I should like to get -hold of the books with which England is poisoned." "I can perhaps -serve you in that matter," replied the merchant. "I know the Flemings, -who have bought Tyndale's books; so that if your lordship will be -pleased to pay for them, I will make you sure of them all."--"Oh, oh!" -thought the bishop, "Now, as the proverb says, I shall have God by the -toe.[974] Gentle Master Packington," he added in a flattering tone, "I -will pay for them whatsoever they cost you. I intend to burn them at -St. Paul's cross." The bishop, having his hand already on Tyndale's -Testaments, fancied himself on the point of seizing Tyndale himself. - - [974] Foxe, iv, p. 670. - -Packington, being one of those men who love to conciliate all parties, -ran off to Tyndale, with whom he was intimate, and said:--"William, I -know you are a poor man, and have a heap of New Testaments and books -by you, for which you have beggared yourself; and I have now found a -merchant who will buy them all, and with ready money too."--"Who is -the merchant?" said Tyndale.--"The bishop of London."--"Tonstall?... -If he buys my books, it can only be to burn them."--"No doubt," -answered Packington; "but what will he gain by it? The whole world -will cry out against the priest who burns God's word, and the eyes of -many will be opened. Come, make up your mind, William; the bishop -shall have the books, you the money, and I the thanks."... Tyndale -resisted the proposal; Packington became more pressing. "The question -comes to this," he said; "shall the bishop pay for the books or shall -he not? for, make up your mind ... he will have them."--"I consent," -said the Reformer at last; "I shall pay my debts, and bring out a new -and more correct edition of the Testament." The bargain was made. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE SHIPWRECKED.] - -Erelong the danger thickened around Tyndale. Placards, posted at -Antwerp and throughout the province, announced that the emperor, in -conformity with the treaty of Cambray, was about to proceed against -the Reformers and their writings. Not an officer of justice appeared -in the street but Tyndale's friends trembled for his liberty. Under -such circumstances, how could he print his translation of Genesis and -Deuteronomy? He made up his mind about the end of August to go to -Hamburg, and take his passage in a vessel loading for that port. -Embarking with his books, his manuscripts, and the rest of his money, -he glided down the Scheldt, and soon found himself afloat on the -German ocean. - -But one danger followed close upon another. He had scarcely passed the -mouth of the Meuse when a tempest burst upon him, and his ship, like -that of old which bore St. Paul, was almost swallowed up by the -waves.--"Satan, envying the happy course and success of the Gospel," -says a chronicler, "set to his might how to hinder the blessed labours -of this man."[975] The seamen toiled, Tyndale prayed, all hope was -lost. The reformer alone was full of courage, not doubting that God -would preserve him for the accomplishment of his work. All the -exertions of the crew proved useless; the vessel was dashed on the -coast, and the passengers escaped with their lives. Tyndale gazed with -sorrow upon that ocean which had swallowed up his beloved books and -precious manuscripts, and deprived him of his resources.[976] What -labours, what perils! banishment, poverty, thirst, insults, watchings, -persecution, imprisonment, the stake!... Like Paul, he was in perils -by his own countrymen, in perils among strange people, in perils in -the city, in perils in the sea. Recovering his spirits, however, he -went on board another ship, entered the Elbe, and at last reached -Hamburg. - - [975] Foxe, v, p. 120. - - [976] Lost both his money, his copies.... Ibid. - -Great joy was in store for him in that city. Coverdale, Foxe informs -us, was waiting there to confer with him, and to help him in his -labours.[977] It has been supposed that Coverdale went to Hamburg to -invite Tyndale, in Cromwell's name, to return to England;[978] but it -is merely a conjecture, and requires confirmation. As early as 1527, -Coverdale had made known to Cromwell his desire to translate the -Scriptures.[979] It was natural that, meeting with difficulties in -this undertaking, he should desire to converse with Tyndale. The two -friends lodged with a pious woman named Margaret van Emmersen, and -spent some time together in the autumn of 1529, undisturbed by the -sweating sickness which was making such cruel havoc all around them. -Coverdale returned to England shortly after; the two reformers had, no -doubt, discovered that it was better for each of them to translate the -Scriptures separately. - - [977] Coverdale tarried for him and helped him. Ibid. - - [978] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i. p. 240. - - [979] This is the date assigned in Coverdale's Remains. (Par. Soc.) p. - 490. - -Before Coverdale's return, Tonstall had gone back to London, exulting -at carrying with him the books he had bought so dearly. But when he -reached the capital, he thought he had better defer the meditated -_auto da fé_ until some striking event should give it increased -importance. And besides, just at that moment, very different matters -were engaging public attention on the banks of the Thames, and the -liveliest emotions agitated every mind. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Royal Session--Sitting of the 18th June; the Queen's - Protest--Sitting of the 21st June--Summons to the King and - Queen--Catherine's Speech--She retires--Impression on the - audience--The King's Declaration--Wolsey's Protest--Quarrel - between the Bishops--New sitting--Apparition to the Maid of - Kent--Wolsey chafed by Henry--The Earl of Wiltshire at - Wolsey's--Private Conference between Catherine and the two - Legates. - - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL SESSION.] - -Affairs had changed in England during the absence of Tonstall and -More; and even before their departure, events of a certain importance -had occurred. Henry, finding there was nothing more to hope from Rome, -had turned to Wolsey and Campeggio. The Roman nuncio had succeeded in -deceiving the king. "Campeggio is very different from what he is -reported," said Henry to his friends; "he is not for the emperor, as I -was told; I have said somewhat to him which has changed his -mind."[980] No doubt he had made some brilliant promise. - - [980] Burnet, Records, p. xxxv. - -[Sidenote: THE COMMISSION OPENED.] - -Henry therefore, imagining himself sure of his two legates, desired -them to proceed with the matter of the divorce without delay. There -was no time to lose, for the king was informed that the pope was on -the point of recalling the commission given to the two cardinals; and -as early as the 19th of March, Salviati, the pope's uncle and -secretary of state, wrote to Campeggio about it.[981] Henry's process, -once in the court of the pontifical chancery, it would have been long -before it got out again. Accordingly, on the 31st of May, the king, by -a warrant under the great seal, gave the legates _leave_ to execute -their commission, "without any regard to his own person, and having -the fear of God only before their eyes."[982] The legates themselves -had suggested this formula to the king. - - [981] E quanto altro non si possa, forse si pensera ad avvocare la - causa a se. Lettere di XIII uomini illustri, 19th March 1529. - - [982] Ut solum Deum præ oculis habentes. Rymer, Acta ad annum. - -On the same day the commission was opened; but to begin the process -was not to end it. Every letter which the nuncio received forbade him -to do so in the most positive manner. "Advance slowly and never -finish," were Clement's instructions.[983] The trial was to be a -farce, played by a pope and two cardinals. - - [983] Sua beatitudine ricorda, che il procedere sia lento ed in modo - alcuno non si _venghi al giudicio_. To Card. Campeggio, 29th May, - 1529. Lett. di Principi. - -The ecclesiastical court met in the great hall of the Blackfriars, -commonly called the "parliament chamber." The two legates having -successively taken the commission in their hands, devoutly declared -that they were resolved to execute it (they should have said, to elude -it), made the required oaths, and ordered a peremptory citation of the -king and queen to appear on the 18th of June at nine in the morning. -Campeggio was eager to proceed _slowly_; the session was adjourned for -three weeks. The citation caused a great stir among the people. -"What!" said they, "a king and a queen constrained to appear, in their -own realm, before their own subjects." The papacy set an example which -was to be strictly followed in after-years both in England and in -France. - -[Sidenote: A ROYAL SITTING.] - -On the 18th of June Catherine appeared before the commission in the -parliament chamber, and stepping forward with dignity, said with a -firm voice: "I protest against the legates as incompetent judges, and -appeal to the pope."[984] This proceeding of the queen's, her pride -and firmness, troubled her enemies, and in their vexation they grew -exasperated against her. "Instead of praying God to bring this matter -to a good conclusion," they said, "she endeavours to turn away the -people's affections from the king. Instead of showing Henry the love -of a youthful wife, she keeps away from him night and day. There is -even cause to fear," they added, "that she is in concert with certain -individuals who have formed the horrible design of killing the king -and the cardinal."[985] But persons of generous heart, seeing only a -queen, a wife, and a mother, attacked in her dearest affections, -showed themselves full of sympathy for her. - - [984] Se in illos tanquam judices suos non assentire, ad papam - provocavit. (Sanders, p. 32.) Refusing to acknowledge them as her - judges, she appealed to the pope. - - [985] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 54. - -On the 21st of June, the day to which the court adjourned, the two -legates entered the parliament chamber with all the pomp belonging to -their station, and took their seats on a raised platform. Near them -sat the bishops of Bath and Lincoln, the abbot of Westminster, and -Doctor Taylor, master of the Rolls, whom they had added to their -commission. Below them were the secretaries, among whom the skilful -Stephen Gardiner held the chief rank. On the right hung a cloth of -estate where the king sat surrounded by his officers; and on the left, -a little lower, was the queen, attended by her ladies. The archbishop -of Canterbury and the bishops were seated between the legates and -Henry VIII, and on both sides of the throne were stationed the -counsellors of the king and queen. The latter were Fisher, bishop of -Rochester, Standish of St. Asaph, West of Ely, and Doctor Ridley. The -people, when they saw this procession defile before them, were far -from being dazzled by the pomp. "Less show and more virtue," they -said, "would better become such judges." - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S APPEAL TO THE KING.] - -The pontifical commission having been read, the legates declared that -they would judge without fear or favour, and would admit of neither -recusation nor appeal.[986] Then the usher cried: "Henry, king of -England, come into court." The king, cited in his own capital to -accept as judges two priests, his subjects, repressed the throbbing of -his proud heart, and replied, in the hope that this strange trial -would have a favourable issue: "Here I am." The usher continued: -"Catherine, queen of England, come into court." The queen handed the -cardinals a paper in which she protested against the legality of the -court, as the judges were the subjects of her opponent,[987] and -appealed to Rome. The cardinals declared they could not admit this -paper, and consequently Catherine was again called into court. At this -second summons she rose, devoutly crossed herself, made the circuit of -the court to where the king sat, bending with dignity as she passed in -front of the legates, and fell on her knees before her husband. Every -eye was turned upon her. Then speaking in English, but with a Spanish -accent, which by recalling the distance she was from her native home, -pleaded eloquently for her, Catherine said with tears in her eyes, and -in a tone at once dignified and impassioned: - -"SIR,--I beseech you, for all the love that hath been between us, and -for the love of God, let me have justice and right; take some pity on -me, for I am a poor woman and a stranger, born out of your dominions. -I have here no assured friend, much less impartial counsel, and I flee -to you as to the head of justice within this realm. Alas! Sir, wherein -have I offended you, or what occasion given you of displeasure, that -you should wish to put me from you? I take God and all the world to -witness, that I have been to you a true, humble, and obedient wife, -ever conformable to your will and pleasure. Never have I said or done -aught contrary thereto, being always well pleased and content with all -things wherein you had delight; neither did I ever grudge in word or -countenance, or show a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all -those whom you loved, only for your sake. This twenty years I have -been your true wife, and by me ye have had divers children, although -it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which yet hath -been no default in me." - - [986] The king's letter to his ambassadors at Rome, 23rd June. Ibid. - Records, p. liv. - - [987] Personas judicum non solum regi devinctas verum et subjectas - esse. (Sanders, p. 35.) Her judges were not only in the interest of - the king, but were even his subjects. - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN WITHDRAWS.] - -The judges, and even the most servile of the courtiers, were touched -when they heard these simple and eloquent words, and the queen's -sorrow moved them almost to tears. Catherine continued:-- - -"SIR,--When ye married me at the first, I take God to be my judge I -was a true maid; and whether it be true or not, I put it to your -conscience.... If there be any just cause that ye can allege against -me, I am contented to depart from your kingdom, albeit to my great -shame and dishonour; and if there be none, then let me remain in my -former estate until death. Who united us? The king, your father, who -was called the second Solomon; and my father, Ferdinand, who was -esteemed one of the wisest princes that, for many years before, had -reigned in Spain. It is not, therefore, to be doubted that the -marriage between you and me is good and lawful. Who are my judges? Is -not one the man that has put sorrow between you and me?[988]... a -judge whom I refuse and abhor!--Who are the councillors assigned me? -Are they not officers of the crown, who have made oath to you in your -own council?... Sir, I conjure you not to call me before a court so -formed. Yet, if you refuse me this favour ... your will be done.... I -shall be silent, I shall repress the emotions of my soul, and remit my -just cause to the hands of God." - - [988] Qui dissensionem inter ipsam et virum suum. (Polyd. Virg. p. - 688.) Who put dissension between her and her husband. - -Thus spoke Catherine through her tears;[989] humbly bending, she -seemed to embrace Henry's knees. She rose and made a low obeisance to -the king. It was expected that she would return to her seat; but -leaning on the arm of Griffiths, her receiver-general, she moved -towards the door. The king, observing this, ordered her to be -recalled; and the usher following her, thrice cried aloud: "Catherine, -queen of England, come into court."--"Madam," said Griffiths, "you are -called back."--"I hear it well enough," replied the queen, "but go you -on, for this is no court wherein I can have justice: let us proceed." -Catherine returned to the palace, and never again appeared before the -court either by proxy or in person.[990] - - [989] Hæc illa flebiliter dicente. Polyd. Virg. p. 686, and Cavendish. - - [990] Burnet, Records, p. 36. In this letter the king says: Both we - and the queen appeared in person. - -She had gained her cause in the minds of many. The dignity of her -person, the quaint simplicity of her speech, the propriety with which, -relying upon her innocence, she had spoken of the most delicate -subjects, and the tears which betrayed her emotion, had created a deep -impression. But "the sting in her speech," as an historian says,[991] -was her appeal to the king's conscience, and to the judgment of -Almighty God, on the capital point in the cause. "How could a person -so modest, so sober in her language," said many, "dare utter such a -falsehood? Besides, the king did not contradict her." - - [991] Fuller, p. 173. - -[Sidenote: HENRY JUSTIFIES HIMSELF.] - -Henry was greatly embarrassed: Catherine's words had moved him. -Catherine's defence, one of the most touching in history, had gained -over the accuser himself. He therefore felt constrained to render this -testimony to the accused: "Since the queen has withdrawn, I will, in -her absence, declare to you all present, that she has been to me as -true and obedient a wife as I could desire. She has all the virtues -and good qualities that belong to a woman. She is as noble in -character as in birth." - -But Wolsey was the most embarrassed of all. When the queen had said, -without naming him, that one of her judges was the cause of all her -misfortunes, looks of indignation were turned upon him.[992] He was -unwilling to remain under the weight of this accusation. As soon as -the king had finished speaking, he said: "Sir, I humbly beg your -majesty to declare before this audience, whether I was the first or -chief mover in this business." Wolsey had formerly boasted to Du -Bellay, "that the first project of the divorce was set on foot by -himself, to create a perpetual separation between the houses of -England and Spain;"[993] but now it suited him to affirm the contrary. -The king, who needed his services, took care not to contradict him. -"My lord cardinal," he said, "I can well excuse you herein. Marry, so -far from being a mover, ye have been rather against me in attempting -thereof. It was the bishop of Tarbes, the French ambassador, who begot -the first scruples in my conscience by his doubts on the legitimacy of -the princess Mary." This was not correct. The bishop of Tarbes was not -in England before the year 1527, and we have proofs that the king was -meditating a divorce in 1526.[994] "From that hour," he continued, "I -was much troubled, and thought myself in danger of God's heavy -displeasure, who, wishing to punish my incestuous marriage, had taken -away all the sons my wife had borne me. I laid my grief before you, my -lord of Lincoln, then being my ghostly father; and by your advice I -asked counsel of the rest of the bishops, and you all informed me -under your seals, that you shared in my scruples."--"That is the -truth," said the archbishop of Canterbury.--"No, Sir, not so, under -correction," quoth the bishop of Rochester, "you have not my hand and -seal."--"No?" exclaimed the king, showing him a paper which he held in -his hand; "is not this your hand and seal?"--"No, forsooth," he -answered. Henry's surprise increased, and turning with a frown to the -archbishop of Canterbury, he asked him: "What say you to that?" "Sir, -it is his hand and seal," replied Warham.--"It is not," rejoined -Rochester; "I told you I would never consent to any such act."--"You -say the truth," responded the archbishop, "but you were fully resolved -at the last, that I should subscribe your name and put your -seal."--"All which is untrue," added Rochester, in a passion. The -bishop was not very respectful to his primate. "Well, well," said the -king, wishing to end the dispute, "we will not stand in argument with -you; for you are but one man."[995] The court adjourned. The day had -been better for Catherine than for the prelates. - - [992] Vidisses Wolseum infestis fere omnium oculis conspici. (Polyd. - Virg. p. 688.) You might see almost all eyes indignantly turned on - Wolsey. - - [993] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, pp. 186, 319. - - [994] See Pace's letter to Henry in 1526. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 1. - Pace there shows that it is incorrect to say: _Deuteronomium abrogare - Leviticum_ (Deuteronomy abrogates Leviticus), so far as concerns the - prohibition to take the wife of a deceased brother. - - [995] Cavendish's Wolsey, p. 223. - -In proportion as the first sitting had been pathetic, so the -discussions in the second between the lawyers and bishops were -calculated to revolt a delicate mind. The advocates of the two parties -vigorously debated pro and con respecting the consummation of Arthur's -marriage with Catherine. "It is a very difficult question," said one -of the counsel; "none can know the truth."--"But I know it," replied -the bishop of Rochester.--"What do you mean?" asked Wolsey.--"My -lord," he answered, "he was the very Truth who said: '_What God hath -joined together, let not man put asunder_' that is enough for -me."--"So everybody thinks," rejoined Wolsey; "but whether it was God -who united Henry of England and Catherine of Aragon, _hoc restat -probandum_, that remains to be proved. The king's council decides that -the marriage is unlawful, and consequently it was not _God who joined -them together_." The two bishops then exchanged a few words less -edifying than those of the preceding day. Several of the hearers -expressed a sentiment of disgust. "It is a disgrace to the court," -said Doctor Ridley with no little indignation, "that you dare discuss -questions which fill every right-minded man with horror." This sharp -reprimand put an end to the debate. - -[Sidenote: MESSAGE OF THE MAID OF KENT.] - -The agitations of the court spread to the convents; priests, monks, -and nuns were every where in commotion. It was not long before -astonishing revelations began to circulate through the cloisters. -There was no talk then of an old portrait of the Virgin that winked -its eyes; but other miracles were invented. "An angel," it was -rumoured, "has appeared to Elizabeth Barton, the maid of Kent, as he -did formerly to Adam, to the patriarchs, and to Jesus Christ." At the -epochs of the creation and of the redemption, and in the times which -lead from one to the other, miracles are natural; God then appeared, -and his coming without any signs of power, would be as surprising as -the rising of the sun unattended by its rays of light. But the Romish -Church does not stop there; it claims in every age, for its saints, -the privilege of miraculous powers, and the miracles are multiplied in -proportion to the ignorance of the people. And accordingly the angel -said to the epileptic maid of Kent: "Go to the unfaithful king of -England, and tell him there are three things he desires, which I -forbid now and for ever. The first is the power of the pope; the -second the new doctrine; the third Anne Boleyn. If he takes her for -his wife, God will visit him." The vision-seeing maid delivered the -message to the king,[996] whom nothing could now stop. - - [996] She showed this unto the king. Letter to Cromwell in Strype, - vol. i. p. 272. - -[Sidenote: A HOT DAY.] - -On the contrary, he began to find out that Wolsey proceeded too -slowly, and the idea sometimes crossed his mind that he was betrayed -by this minister. One fine summer's morning, Henry as soon as he rose -summoned the cardinal to him at Bridewell. Wolsey hastened thither, -and remained closeted with the king from eleven till twelve. The -latter gave way to all the fury of his passion and the violence of his -despotism. "We must finish this matter promptly," he said, "we must -positively." Wolsey retired very uneasy, and returned by the Thames to -Westminster. The sun darted his bright rays on the water. The bishop -of Carlisle, who sat by the cardinal's side, remarked, as he wiped his -forehead: "A very warm day, my lord."--"Yes," replied the unhappy -Wolsey, "if you had been _chafed_ for an hour as I have been, you -would say it was a _hot_ day." When he reached his palace, the -cardinal lay down on his bed to seek repose; he was not quiet long. - -Catherine had grown in Henry's eyes, as well as in those of the -nation. The king shrank from a judgment; he even began to doubt of his -success. He wished that the queen would consent to a separation. This -idea occurred to his mind after Wolsey's departure, and the cardinal -had hardly closed his eyes before the Earl of Wiltshire (Anne Boleyn's -father) was announced to him with a message from the king. "It is his -majesty's pleasure," said Wiltshire, "that you represent to the queen -the shame that will accrue to her from a judicial condemnation, and -persuade her to confide in his wisdom." Wolsey, commissioned to -execute a task he knew to be impossible, exclaimed: "Why do you put -such fancies in the king's head?" and then he spoke so reproachfully -that Wiltshire, with tears in his eyes, fell on his knees beside the -cardinal's bed.[997] Boleyn, desirous of seeing his daughter queen of -England, feared perhaps that he had taken a wrong course. "It is -well," said the cardinal, recollecting that the message came from -Henry VIII, "I am ready to do every thing to please his majesty." He -rose, went to Bath-Place to fetch Campeggio, and together they waited -on the queen. - - [997] Cavendish, p. 226. - -[Sidenote: THE LEGATES VISIT THE QUEEN.] - -The two legates found Catherine quietly at work with her maids of -honour. Wolsey addressed the queen in Latin: "Nay, my lord," she said, -"speak to me in English; I wish all the world could hear you."--"We -desire, madam, to communicate to _you alone_ our counsel and -opinion."--"My lord," said the queen, "you are come to speak of things -beyond my capacity;" and then, with noble simplicity, showing a skein -of red silk hanging about her neck, she continued: "These are my -occupations, and all that I am capable of. I am a poor woman, without -friends in this foreign country, and lacking wit to answer persons of -wisdom as ye be; and yet, my lords, to please you, let us go to my -withdrawing room." - -At these words the queen rose, and Wolsey gave her his hand. Catherine -earnestly maintained her rights as a woman and a queen. "We who were -in the outer chamber," says Cavendish, "from time to time could hear -the queen speaking very loud, but could not understand what she said." -Catherine, instead of justifying herself, boldly accused her judge. "I -know, Sir Cardinal," she said with noble candour, "I know who has -given the king the advice he is following: it is you. I have not -ministered to your pride--I have blamed your conduct--I have -complained of your tyranny, and my nephew the emperor has not made you -pope.... Hence all my misfortunes. To revenge yourself you have -kindled a war in Europe, and have stirred up against me this most -wicked matter. God will be my judge.... and yours!" Wolsey would have -replied, but Catherine haughtily refused to hear him, and while -treating Campeggio with great civility, declared that she would not -acknowledge either of them as her judge. The cardinals withdrew, -Wolsey full of vexation, and Campeggio beaming with joy, for the -business was getting more complicated. Every hope of accommodation was -lost: nothing remained now but to proceed judicially. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The Trial resumed--Catherine Summoned--Twelve Articles--The - Witnesses' Evidence--Arthur and Catherine really - married--Campeggio opposes the Argument of Divine - Right--Other Arguments--The legates required to deliver - judgment--Their Tergiversations--Change in men's - minds--Final Session--General Expectation--Adjournment - during Harvest--Campeggio Excuses this impertinence--The - King's indignation--Suffolk's violence--Wolsey's Reply--He - is ruined--General Accusations--The Cardinal turns to an - Episcopal Life. - - -[Sidenote: THE TRIAL RESUMED.] - -The trial was resumed. The bishop of Bath and Wells waited upon the -queen at Greenwich, and peremptorily summoned her to appear in the -parliament-chamber.[998] On the day appointed Catherine limited -herself to sending an appeal to the pope. She was declared -contumacious, and the legates proceeded with the cause. - - [998] In quadam superiori camera: _the queen'a dining-chamber_, - nuncupata, 26 die mensis junii Rymer. Acta. p. 119. - -Twelve articles were prepared, which were to serve for the examination -of the witnesses, and the summary of which was, that the marriage of -Henry with Catherine, being forbidden both by the law of God and of -the church, was null and void.[999] - - [999] Divino, ecclesiastico jure....nullo omnino et invalidum. - Herbert, p. 163. - -The hearing of the witnesses began, and Dr. Taylor, archdeacon of -Buckingham, conducted the examination. Their evidence, which would now -be taken only with closed doors, may be found in Lord Herbert of -Cherbury's History of Henry VIII. The duke of Norfolk, high-treasurer -of England, the duke of Suffolk, Maurice St. John, gentleman-carver to -Prince Arthur, the Viscount Fitzwalter and Anthony Willoughby, his -cup-bearers, testified to their being present on the morrow of the -wedding at the breakfast of the prince, then in sound health, and -reported the conversation that took place.[1000] The old duchess of -Norfolk, the earl of Shrewsbury, and the marquis of Dorset, confirmed -these declarations, which proved that Arthur and Catherine were really -married. It was also called to mind that, at the time of Arthur's -death, Henry was not permitted to take the title of prince of Wales, -because Catherine hoped to give an heir to the crown of England.[1001] - - [1000] Quod Arthurus mane postridie potum flagitaret, idquo ut - alebant, quoniam diceret se ilia nocte in calida Hispaniarum regione - peregrinatum fuisse, Sanders, p. 43. - - [1001] Foxe, v, p. 51. - -[Sidenote: SECONDARY ARGUMENTS.] - -"If Arthur and Catherine were really married," said the king's -counsellors after these extraordinary depositions, "the marriage of -this princess with Henry, Arthur's brother, was forbidden by the -divine law, by an express command of God contained in Leviticus, and -no dispensation could permit what God had forbidden." Campeggio would -never concede this argument, which limited the right of the popes; it -was necessary therefore to abandon the _divine right_ (which was in -reality to lose the cause), and to seek in the bull of Julius II and -in his famous brief for flaws that would invalidate them both;[1002] -and this the king's counsel did, although they did not conceal the -weakness of their position. "The motive alleged in the dispensation," -they said, "is the necessity of preserving a cordial relation between -Spain and England; now, there was nothing that threatened their -harmony. Moreover, it is said in this document that the pope grants it -at the prayer of Henry, prince of Wales. Now as this prince was only -thirteen years old, he was not of age to make such a request. As for -the brief, it is found neither in England nor in Rome; we cannot -therefore admit its authenticity." It was not difficult for -Catherine's friends to invalidate these objections. "Besides," they -added, "a union that has lasted twenty years, sufficiently establishes -its own lawfulness. And will you declare the Princess Mary -illegitimate, to the great injury of this realm?" - - [1002] Herbert gives them at length, pp. 264-267. - -The king's advocates then changed their course. Was not the Roman -legate provided with a decretal pronouncing the divorce, in case it -should be proved that Arthur's marriage had been really consummated? -Now, this fact had been proved by the depositions. "This is the moment -for delivering judgment," said Henry and his counsellors to Campeggio. -"Publish the pope's decretal." But the pope feared the sword of -Charles V, then hanging over his head; and accordingly, whenever the -king advanced one step, the Romish prelate took several in an opposite -direction. "I will deliver judgment in _five_ days," said he; and when -the five days were expired, he bound himself to deliver it in six. -"Restore peace to my troubled conscience," exclaimed Henry. The legate -replied in courtly phrase; he had gained a few days' delay, and that -was all he desired. - -[Sidenote: DIFFERENT OPINIONS.] - -Such conduct on the part of the Roman legate produced an unfavourable -effect in England, and a change took place in the public mind. The -first movement had been for Catherine; the second was for Henry. -Clement's endless delays and Campeggio's stratagems exasperated the -nation. The king's argument was simple and popular: "The pope cannot -dispense with the laws of God;" while the queen, by appealing to the -authority of the Roman pontiff, displeased both high and low. "No -precedent," said the lawyers, "can justify the king's marriage with -his brother's widow." - -There were, however, some evangelical Christians who thought Henry was -"troubled" more by his passions than by his conscience; and they asked -how it happened that a prince, who represented himself to be so -disturbed by the possible transgression of a law of doubtful -interpretation, could desire, after twenty years, to violate the -indisputable law which forbade the divorce?... On the 21st of July, -the day fixed _ad concludendum_, the cause was adjourned until the -Friday following, and no one doubted that the matter would then be -terminated. - -All prepared for this important day. The king ordered the dukes of -Norfolk and Suffolk to be present at the sitting of the court; and -being himself impatient to hear the so much coveted judgment, he stole -into a gallery of the parliament-chamber facing the judges. - -[Sidenote: THE LEGATE'S REASONS.] - -The legates of the holy see having taken their seats, the -attorney-general signified to them, "that every thing necessary for -the information of their conscience having been judicially laid before -them, that day had been fixed for the conclusion of the trial." There -was a pause; everyone feeling the importance of this judgment, waited -for it with impatience. "Either the papacy pronounces my divorce from -Catherine," the king had said, "or I shall divorce myself from the -papacy." That was the way Henry put the question. All eyes, and -particularly the king's, were turned on the judges; Campeggio could -not retreat; he must now say _yes_ or _no_. For some time he was -silent. He knew for certain that the queen's appeal had been admitted -by Clement VII and that the latter had concluded an alliance with the -emperor. It was no longer in his power to grant the king's request. -Clearly foreseeing that a _no_ would perhaps forfeit the power of Rome -in England, while a _yes_ might put an end to the plans of religious -emancipation which alarmed him so much, he could not make up his mind -to say either _yes_ or _no_. - -At last the nuncio rose slowly from his chair, and all the assembly -listened with emotion to the oracular decision which for so many years -the powerful king of England had sought from the Roman pontiff. "The -general vacation of the harvest and vintage," he said, "being observed -every year by the court of Rome, dating from to-morrow the 24th of -July, the beginning of the dog-days, we adjourn, to some future -period, the conclusion of these pleadings."[1003] - - [1003] Feriæ generales messium et vindemiarum. (Herbert, p. 278; - Cavendish, p. 229) The general vacation of harvest and vintage. - -The auditors were thunderstruck. "What! because the _malaria_ renders -the air of Rome dangerous at the end of July; and compels the Romans -to close their courts, must a trial be broken off on the banks of the -Thames, when its conclusion is looked for so impatiently?" The people -hoped for a judicial sentence, and they were answered with a jest; it -was thus Rome made sport of Christendom. Campeggio, to disarm Henry's -wrath, gave utterance to some noble sentiments; but his whole line of -conduct raises legitimate doubts as to his sincerity. "The queen," he -said, "denies the competency of the court; I must therefore make my -report to the pope, who is the source of life and honour, and wait his -sovereign orders. I have not come so far to please any man, be he king -or subject. I am an old man, feeble and sickly, and fear none but the -Supreme Judge, before whom I must soon appear. I therefore adjourn -this court until the 1st of October." - -It was evident that this adjournment was only a formality intended to -signify the definitive rejection of Henry's demand. The same custom -prevails in the British legislature. - -The king, who from his place of concealment had heard Campeggio's -speech, could scarcely control his indignation. He wanted a regular -judgment; he clung to forms; he desired that his cause should pass -successfully through all the windings of ecclesiastical procedure, and -yet here it is wrecked upon the vacations of the Romish court. Henry -was silent, however, either from prudence, or because surprise -deprived him of the power of speech, and he hastily left the gallery. - -[Sidenote: SUFFOLK'S VIOLENCE.] - -Norfolk, Suffolk, and the other courtiers, did not follow him. The -king and his ministers, the peers and the people, and even the clergy, -were almost unanimous, and yet the pope pronounced his _veto_. He -humbled the Defender of the Faith to flatter the author of the sack of -Rome. This was too much. The impetuous Suffolk started from his seat, -struck his hand violently on the table in front of him, cast a -threatening look upon the judges and exclaimed: "By the mass, the old -saying is confirmed to-day, that no cardinal has ever brought good to -England."[1004]--"Sir, of all men in this realm," replied Wolsey, "you -have the least cause to disparage cardinals, for if I, poor cardinal, -had not been, you would not have had a head on your shoulders."[1005] -It would seem that Wolsey pacified Henry, at the time of the duke's -marriage with the Princess Mary. "I cannot pronounce sentence," -continued Wolsey, "without knowing the good pleasure of his holiness." -The two dukes and the other noblemen left the hall in anger, and -hastened to the palace.[1006] The legates, remaining with their -officers, looked at each other for a few moments. At last Campeggio, -who alone had remained calm during this scene of violence, arose, and -the audience dispersed. - - [1004] Mensam quæ proponebatur magno ictu concutiens: Per sacram, - inquit, missam, nemo unquam legatorum aut cardinalium quicquam boni ad - Angliam apportavit. Sanders, p. 49. - - [1005] Cavendish, p. 233. - - [1006] Duces ex judicio discedentes, ut ipsi omnibus iracundiæ flammis - urebantur. Sanders, p. 49. - -Henry did not allow himself to be crushed by this blow. Rome, by her -strange proceedings, aroused in him that suspicious and despotic -spirit, of which he gave such tragic proofs in after-years. The papacy -was making sport of him. Clement and Wolsey tossed his divorce from -one to the other like a ball which, now at Rome and now at London, -seemed fated to remain perpetually in the air. The king thought he had -been long enough the plaything of his holiness and of the crafty -cardinal; his patience was exhausted, and he resolved to show his -adversaries that Henry VIII was more than a match for these bishops. -We shall find him seizing this favourable opportunity, and giving an -unexpected solution to the matter. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY ACCUSED BY ALL.] - -Wolsey sorrowfully hung his head; by taking part with the nuncio and -the pope, he had signed the warrant of his own destruction. So long as -Henry had a single ray of hope, he thought proper still to dissemble -with Clement VII; but he might vent all his anger on Wolsey. From the -period of the _Roman Vacations_ the cardinal was ruined in his -master's mind. Wolsey's enemies seeing his favour decline, hastened to -attack him. Suffolk and Norfolk in particular, impatient to get rid of -an insolent priest who had so long chafed their pride, told Henry that -Wolsey had been continually playing false; they went over all his -negotiations month by month and day by day, and drew the most -overwhelming conclusions from them. Sir William Kingston and Lord -Manners laid before the king one of the cardinal's letters which Sir -Francis Bryan had obtained from the papal archives. In it the -cardinal desired Clement to spin out the divorce question, and finally -to oppose it, seeing (he added) that if Henry was separated from -Catherine, a friend to the reformers would become queen of -England.[1007] This letter clearly expressed Wolsey's inmost thoughts: -Rome at any price ... and perish England and Henry rather than the -popedom! We can imagine the king's anger. - - [1007] Edm. Campion _De divortio_. Herbert, p. 289. - -Anne Boleyn's friends were not working alone. There was not a person -at court whom Wolsey's haughtiness and tyranny had not offended; no -one in the king's council in whom his continual intrigues had not -raised serious suspicions. He had (they said) betrayed in France the -cause of England; kept up in time of peace and war secret intelligence -with Madam, mother of Francis I; received great presents from -her;[1008] oppressed the nation, and trodden under foot the laws of -the kingdom. The people called him _Frenchman_ and _traitor_, and all -England seemed to vie in throwing burning brands at the superb edifice -which the pride of this prelate had so laboriously erected.[1009] - - [1008] Du Bellay's Letters, Le Grand, Preuves, p. 374. - - [1009] Novis etiam furoris et insaniæ facibus incenderunt. (Sanders, - p. 49.) They burned with new brands of rage and madness. - -Wolsey was too clearsighted not to discern the signs of his -approaching fall. "Both the rising and the setting sun (for thus an -historian calls Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon) frowned upon -him,"[1010] and the sky, growing darker around him, gave token of the -storm that was to overwhelm him. If the _cause_ failed, Wolsey -incurred the vengeance of the king; if it succeeded, he would be -delivered up to the vengeance of the Boleyns, without speaking of -Catherine's, the emperor's and the pope's. Happy Campeggio! thought -the cardinal, he has nothing to fear. If Henry's favour is withdrawn -from him, Charles and Clement will make him compensation. But Wolsey -lost every thing when he lost the king's good graces. Detested by his -fellow-citizens, despised and hated by all Europe, he saw to whatever -side he turned nothing but the just reward of his avarice and -falseness. He strove in vain, as on other occasions, to lean on the -ambassador of France; Du Bellay was solicited on the other side. "I am -exposed here to such a heavy and continual fire that I am half dead," -exclaimed the bishop of Bayonne;[1011] and the cardinal met with an -unusual reserve in his former confidant. - - [1010] Fuller, p. 176. - - [1011] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 15th June. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 324. - -Yet the crisis approached. Like a skilful but affrighted pilot, -Wolsey cast his eyes around him to discover a port in which he could -take refuge. He could find none but his see of York. He therefore -began once more to complain of the fatigues of power, of the weariness -of the diplomatic career, and to extol the sweetness of an episcopal -life. On a sudden he felt a great interest about the flock of whom he -had never thought before. Those around him shook their heads, well -knowing that such a retreat would be to Wolsey the bitterest of -disgraces. One single idea supported him; if he fell, it would be -because he had clung more to the pope than to the king: he would be -the martyr of his faith.--What a faith, what a martyr! - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Anne Boleyn at Hever--She Reads the Obedience of a Christian - Man--is recalled to Court--Miss Gainsford and George - Zouch--Tyndale's Book converts Zouch--Zouch in the - Chapel-Royal--The Book seized--Anne applies to Henry--The - King reads the Book--Pretended Influence of the Book on - Henry--The Court at Woodstock--The Park and its - Goblins--Henry's Esteem for Anne. - - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN AT HEVER.] - -While these things were taking place Anne was living at Hever Castle -in retirement and sadness. Scruples from time to time still alarmed -her conscience. It is true, the king represented to her unceasingly -that his salvation and the safety of his people demanded the -dissolution of a union condemned by the divine law, and that what he -solicited several popes had granted. Had not Alexander VI annulled, -after ten years, the marriage of Ladislaus and Beatrice of Naples? Had -not Louis XII, the father of his people, been divorced from Joan of -France? Nothing was more common, he said, than to see the divorce of a -prince authorized by a pope; the security of the state must be -provided for before every thing else. Carried away by these arguments -and dazzled by the splendour of a throne, Anne Boleyn consented to -usurp at Henry's side the rank belonging to another. Yet, if she was -imprudent and ambitious, she was feeling and generous, and the -misfortunes of a queen whom she respected soon made her reject with -terror the idea of taking her place. The fertile pastures of Kent and -the gothic halls of Hever Castle were by turns the witnesses of the -mental conflicts this young lady experienced. The fear she entertained -of seeing the queen again, and the idea that the two cardinals, her -enemies, were plotting her ruin, made her adopt the resolution of not -returning to court, and she shut herself up in her solitary chamber. - -[Sidenote: ANNE RECALLED TO COURT.] - -Anne had neither the deep piety of a Bilney, nor the somewhat vague -and mystic spirituality observable in Margaret of Valois; it was not -feeling which prevailed in her religion, it was knowledge, and a -horror of superstition and pharisaism. Her mind required light and -activity, and at that time she sought in reading the consolations so -necessary to her position. One day she opened one of the books -prohibited in England, which a friend of the Reformation had given -her: _The Obedience of a Christian Man_. Its author was William -Tyndale, that invisible man whom Wolsey's agents were hunting for in -Brabant and Germany, and this was a recommendation to Anne. "If thou -believe the promises," she read, "then God's truth justifieth thee; -that is, forgiveth thy sins and sealeth thee with his Holy Spirit. If -thou have true faith, so seest thou the exceeding and infinite love -and mercy which God hath shown thee freely in Christ: then must thou -needs love again: and love cannot but compel thee to work. If when -tyrants oppose thee thou have power to confess, then art thou sure -that thou art safe.[1012] If thou be fallen from the way of truth, -come thereto again and thou art safe. Yea, Christ shall save thee, and -the angels of heaven shall rejoice at thy coming."[1013] These words -did not change Anne's heart, but she marked with her nail, as was her -custom,[1014] other passages which struck her more, and which she -desired to point out to the king if, as she hoped, she was ever to -meet him again. She believed that the truth was there, and took a -lively interest in those whom Wolsey, Henry, and the pope were at that -time persecuting. - - [1012] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, vol. i. 295. - - [1013] Tyndale's Works, vol. i. p. 300. - - [1014] Wyatt's Memoirs, p. 438. - -Anne was soon dragged from these pious lessons, and launched into the -midst of a world full of dangers. Henry, convinced that he had nothing -to expect henceforward from Campeggio, neglected those proprieties -which he had hitherto observed, and immediately after the adjournment -ordered Anne Boleyn to return to court; he restored her to the place -she had formerly occupied, and even surrounded her with increased -splendour. Every one saw that Anne, in the king's mind, was queen of -England; and a powerful party was formed around her, which, proposed -to accomplish the definitive ruin of the cardinal. - -[Sidenote: MISS GAINSFORD AND GEORGE ZOUCH.] - -After her return to court, Anne read much less frequently _The -Obedience of a Christian Man_ and the _Testament of Jesus Christ_. -Henry's homage, her friends' intrigues, and the whirl of festivities, -bade fair to stifle the thoughts which solitude had aroused in her -heart. One day having left Tyndale's book in a window, Miss Gainsford, -a fair young gentlewoman[1015] attached to her person, took it up and -read it. A gentleman of handsome mien, cheerful temper, and extreme -mildness, named George Zouch, also belonging to Anne's household, and -betrothed to Miss Gainsford, profiting by the liberty his position -gave him, indulged sometimes in "love tricks."[1016] On one occasion -when George desired to have a little talk with her, he was annoyed to -find her absorbed by a book of whose contents he knew nothing; and -taking advantage of a moment when the young lady had turned away her -head, he laughingly snatched it from her. Miss Gainsford ran after -Zouch to recover her book; but just at that moment she heard her -mistress calling her, and she left George, threatening him with her -finger. - - [1015] Strype, i. p. 171. - - [1016] Ibid. p. 172. - -As she did not return immediately, George withdrew to his room, and -opened the volume; it was the _Obedience of a Christian Man_. He -glanced over a few lines, then a few pages, and at last read the book -through more than once. He seemed to hear the voice of God. "I feel -the Spirit of God," he said, "speaking in my heart as he has spoken in -the heart of him who wrote the book."[1017] The words which had only -made a temporary impression on the preoccupied mind of Anne Boleyn, -penetrated to the heart of her equerry and converted him. Miss -Gainsford, fearing that Anne would ask for her book, entreated George -to restore it to her; but he positively refused, and even the young -lady's tears failed to make him give up a volume in which he had found -the life of his soul. Becoming more serious, he no longer jested as -before; and when Miss Gainsford peremptorily demanded the book, he -was, says the chronicler, "ready to weep himself." - - [1017] Ibid. - -Zouch, finding in this volume an edification which empty forms and -ceremonies could not give, used to carry it with him to the king's -chapel. Dr. Sampson, the dean, generally officiated; and while the -choir chanted the service, George would be absorbed in his book, where -he read: "If when thou seest the celebration of the sacrament of the -Lord's Supper, thou believest in this promise of Christ: _This is my -body that is broken for you_, and if thou have this promise fast in -thine heart, thou art saved and justified thereby; thou eatest his -body and drinkest his blood. If not, so helpeth it thee not, though -thou hearest a thousand masses in a day: no more than it should help -thee in a dead thirst to behold a bush at a tavern door, if thou -knewest not thereby that there was wine within to be sold."[1018] The -young man dwelt upon these words: by faith he ate the body and drank -the blood of the Son of God. This was what was passing in the palaces -of Henry VIII; there were saints in the household of Cæsar. - - [1018] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, vol. i. p. 286. - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN BEFORE THE KING.] - -Wolsey, desirous of removing from the court everything that might -favour the Reformation, had recommended extreme vigilance to Dr. -Sampson so as to prevent the circulation of the innovating books. -Accordingly, one day when George was in the chapel absorbed in his -book, the dean, who, even while officiating, had not lost sight of the -young man, called him to him after the service, and rudely taking the -book from his hands, demanded: "What is your name, and in whose -service are you?" Zouch having replied, the dean withdrew with a very -angry look, and carried his prey to the cardinal. - -When Miss Gainsford heard of this mishap, her grief was extreme; she -trembled at the thought that the _Obedience of a Christian Man_ was in -Wolsey's hands. Not long after this, Anne having asked for her book, -the young lady fell on her knees, confessed all, and begged to be -forgiven.[1019] Anne uttered not a word of reproach; her quick mind -saw immediately the advantage she might derive from this affair. -"Well," said she, "it shall be the dearest book to them that ever the -dean or cardinal took away." - - [1019] She on her knees told it all. Strype, vol. i. p. 172. - -"The noble lady," as the chronicler styles her, immediately demanded -an interview of the king, and on reaching his presence she fell at his -feet,[1020] and begged his assistance. "What is the matter, Anne," -said the astonished monarch. She told him what had happened, and Henry -promised that the book should not remain in Wolsey's hands. - - [1020] Upon her knees she desireth the king's help for her book. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE KING READS TYNDALE'S BOOK.] - -Anne had scarcely quitted the royal apartments when the cardinal -arrived with the famous volume, with the intention of complaining to -Henry of certain passages which he knew could not fail to irritate -him, and to take advantage of it even to attack Anne, if the king -should be offended.[1021] Henry's icy reception closed his mouth; the -king confined himself to taking the book, and bowing out the cardinal. -This was precisely what Anne had hoped for. She begged the king to -read the book, which he promised to do. - - [1021] Wyatt's Memoirs, p. 411. - -And Henry accordingly shut himself up in his closet, and read the -_Obedience of a Christian Man_. There were few works better calculated -to enlighten him, and none, after the Bible, that has had more -influence upon the Reformation in England. Tyndale treated of -_obedience_, "the essential principle," as he terms it, "of every -political or religious community." He declaimed against the unlawful -power of the popes, who usurped the lawful authority of Christ and of -his Word. He professed political-doctrines too favourable doubtless to -absolute power, but calculated to show that the reformers were not, as -had been asserted, instigators of rebellion. Henry read as follows:-- - -"The king is in the room of God in this world. He that resisteth the -king, resisteth God; he that judgeth the king, judgeth God. He is the -minister of God to defend thee from a thousand inconveniences; though -he be the greatest tyrant in the world, yet is he unto thee a great -benefit of God; for it is better to pay the tenth than to lose all, -and to suffer wrong of one man than of every man."[1022] - - [1022] Tyndale's Works, edited by Russel, vol. i. p. 212 - -These are indeed strange doctrines for _rebels_ to hold, thought the -king; and he continued:-- - -"Let kings, if they had lever [rather] be Christians in deed than so -to be called, give themselves altogether to the wealth [well-being] of -their realms after the ensample of Jesus Christ; remembering that the -people are God's, and not theirs; yea, are Christ's inheritance, -bought with his blood. The most despised person in his realm (if he is -a Christian) is equal with him in the kingdom of God and of Christ. -Let the king put off all pride, and become a brother to the poorest of -his subjects."[1023] - - [1023] Ibid. p. 233. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S DOCTRINE ON KINGS.] - -It is probable that these words were less satisfactory to the king. He -kept on reading:-- - -"Emperors and kings are nothing now-a-days, but even hangmen unto the -pope and bishops, to kill whomsoever they condemn, as Pilate was unto -the scribes and pharisees and high bishops to hang Christ."[1024] - - [1024] Ibid. p. 274. - -This seemed to Henry rather strong language. - -"The pope hath received no other authority of Christ than to preach -God's word. Now, this word should rule only, and not bishops' decrees -or the pope's pleasure. _In præsentia majoris cessat potestas -minoris_, in the presence of the greater, the less hath no -power.[1025] The pope, against all the doctrine of Christ, which -saith, _My kingdom is not of this world_, hath usurped the right of -the emperor. Kings must make account of their doings only to -God.[1026] No person may be exempt from this ordinance of God; neither -can the profession of monks and friars, or anything that the popes or -bishops can lay for themselves, except them from the sword of the -emperor or king, if they break the laws. For it is written, (Rom. -xiii.) Let every soul submit himself unto the authority of the higher -powers."[1027] - - [1025] Tyndale's Works, p. 243. - - [1026] Ibid. p. 220. - - [1027] Ibid. p. 213. - -"What excellent reading!" exclaimed Henry, when he had finished; "this -is truly a book for all kings to read, and for me particularly."[1028] - - [1028] Strype, i. p. 172. - -Captivated by Tyndale's work, the king began to converse with Anne -about the church and the pope; and she who had seen Margaret of Valois -unassumingly endeavour to instruct Francis I strove in like manner to -enlighten Henry VIII. She did not possess the influence over him she -desired; this unhappy prince was, to the very end of his life, opposed -to the evangelical reformation; protestants and catholics have been -equally mistaken when they have regarded him as being favourable to -it. "In a short time," says the annalist quoted by Strype at the end -of his narrative, "the king, by the help of this virtuous lady, had -his eyes opened to the truth. He learned to seek after that truth, to -advance God's religion and glory, to detest the pope's doctrine, his -lies, his pomp, and pride, and to deliver his subjects from the -Egyptian darkness and Babylonian bonds that the pope had brought him -and his subjects under. Despising the rebellions of his subjects and -the rage of so many mighty potentates abroad, he set forward a -religious reformation, which, beginning with the triple-crowned head, -came down to all the members of the hierarchy." History has rarely -delivered a more erroneous judgment. Henry's eyes were never opened to -the truth, and it was not he who made the Reformation. It was -accomplished first of all by Scripture, and then by the ministry of -simple and faithful men baptized of the Holy Ghost. - -[Sidenote: THE COURT AT WOODSTOCK.] - -Yet Tyndale's book and the conduct of the legates had given rise in -the king's mind to new thoughts which he sought time to mature. He -desired also to conceal his anger from Wolsey and Campeggio, and -dissipate his _spleen_, says the historian Collyer; he therefore gave -orders to remove the court to the palace of Woodstock. The magnificent -park attached to this royal residence, in which was the celebrated -bower constructed (it is said) by Henry II to conceal the fair -Rosamond, offered all the charms of the promenade, the chase, and -solitude.[1029] Hence he could easily repair to Langly, Grafton, and -other country seats. It was not long before the entertainments, -horse-races, and other rural sports began. The world with its -pleasures and its grandeur, were at the bottom the idols of Anne -Boleyn's heart; but yet she felt a certain attraction for the new -doctrine, which was confounded in her mind with the great cause of all -knowledge, perhaps even with her own. More enlightened than the -generality of women, she was distinguished by the superiority of her -understanding not only over her own sex, but even over many of the -gentlemen of the court. While Catherine, a member of the third order -of St. Francis, indulged in trifling practices, the more intelligent, -if not more pious Anne, cared but little for amulets which the friars -had blessed, for apparitions, or visions of angels. Woodstock -furnished her with an opportunity of curing Henry VIII of the -superstitious ideas natural to him. There was a place in the forest -said to be haunted by evil spirits; not a priest or a courtier dared -approach it. A tradition ran that if a king ventured to cross the -boundary, he would fall dead. Anne resolved to take Henry there. -Accordingly, one morning she led the way in the direction of the place -where these mysterious powers manifested their presence (as it was -said) by strange apparitions; they entered the wood; they arrived at -the so much dreaded spot; all hesitated; but Anne's calmness reassured -her companions; they advanced; they found ... nothing but trees and -turf, and, laughing at their former terrors, they explored every -corner of this mysterious resort of the evil spirits. Anne returned to -the palace, congratulating herself on the triumph Henry had gained -over his imaginary fears.[1030] This prince, who could as yet bear -with superiority in others, was struck with Anne Boleyn's. - - [1029] The letters from the king's secretaries Gardiner and Tuke to -Wolsey, dated Woodstock, run from 4th August to 8th September. State -Papers, i. p. 335-347. - - [1030] Foxe, v. p. 136; Miss Benger's life of Anne Boleyn, p. 299. - - Never too gay nor yet too melancholy, - A heavenly mind is hers, like angels holy. - None purer ever soared above the sky. - O mighty Marvel, thus may every eye - See of what monster strange the humble serf am I; - - Monster indeed, for in her frame divine - A woman's form, man's heart, and angel's head combine.[1031] - - [1031] - - Jamais trop gay, ne trop melancolique, - Elle a au chef un esprit angelique, - Le plus subtil qui onc au ciel vola. - O grand' merveille! on peut voir par cela - Que je suis serf d'un monstre fort etrange: - Monstre je dy, car pour tout vray elle a - Corps feminin, coeur d'homme et tete d'ange - -These verses of Clement Marot, written in honour of Margaret of -Valois, faithfully express what Henry then felt for Anne, who had been -with Marot in the household of that princess. Henry's love may perhaps -have deceived him, as to Anne's excellencies. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Embarrassment of the pope--The Triumphs of Charles decide - him--He traverses the Cause to Rome--Wolsey's - Dejection--Henry's Wrath--His fears--Wolsey obtains - comfort--Arrival of the two Legates at Grafton--Wolsey's - reception by Henry--Wolsey and Norfolk at Dinner--Henry with - Anne--Conference between the King and the Cardinal--Wolsey's - Joy and Grief--The Supper at Euston--Campeggio's Farewell - Audience--Wolsey's Disgrace--Campeggio at Dover--He is - accused by the courtiers--Leaves England--Wolsey foresees - his own Fall and that of the Papacy. - - -[Sidenote: EMBARRASSMENT OF THE POPE.] - -While the court was thus taking its pleasure at Woodstock, Wolsey -remained in London, a prey to the acutest anguish. "This avocation to -Rome," wrote he to Gregory De Casale, "will not only completely -alienate the king and his realm from the apostolic see, but will ruin -me utterly."[1032] This message had hardly reached the pope, before -the imperial ambassadors handed to him the queen's protest, and added -in a very significant tone: "If your holiness does not call this cause -before you, the emperor, who is determined to bring it to an end, will -have recourse to _other arguments_." The same perplexity always -agitated Clement: Which of the two must be sacrificed, Henry or -Charles? Anthony de Leyva, who commanded the imperial forces, having -routed the French army, the pope no longer doubted that Charles was -the elect of Heaven. It was not Europe alone which acknowledged this -prince's authority; a new world had just laid its power and its gold -at his feet. The formidable priest-king of the Aztecs had been unable -to withstand Cortez; could the priest-king of Rome withstand Charles -V? Cortez had returned from Mexico, bringing with him Mexican chiefs -in all their barbarous splendour, with thousands of _pesos_, with gold -and silver and emeralds of extraordinary size, with magnificent -tissues and birds of brilliant plumage. He had accompanied Charles, -who was then going to Italy, to the place of embarkation, and had sent -to Clement VII costly gifts of the precious metals, valuable jewels, -and a troop of Mexican dancers, buffoons, and jugglers, who charmed -the pope and the cardinal above all things.[1033] - - [1032] Non solum regium animum et totum hoc regnum a sedis apostolicæ - devotione penitus abalienabit, ac me omnino perdet et funditus - destruet. State Papers, vii, p. 189. - - [1033] Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, book vii, chap. iv. - -[Sidenote: PEACE BETWEEN CLEMENT AND CHARLES.] - -Clement, even while refusing Henry's prayer, had not as yet granted -the emperor's. He thought he could now resist no longer the star of a -monarch victorious over two worlds, and hastened to enter into -negotiations with him. Sudden terrors still assailed him from time to -time: My refusal (he said to himself) may perhaps cause me to lose -England. But Charles, holding him in his powerful grasp, compelled him -to submit. Henry's antecedents were rather encouraging to the pontiff. -How could he imagine that a prince, who alone of all the monarchs of -Europe had once contended against the great reformer, would now -separate from the popedom? On the 6th of July Clement declared to the -English envoys that he _avoked to Rome_ the cause between Henry VIII -and Catherine of Aragon. In other words, this was refusing the -divorce. "There are twenty three points in this case," said the -courtiers, "and the debate on the first has lasted a year; before the -end of the trial, the king will be not only past marrying but past -living."[1034] - - [1034] Fuller, p. 178. - -When he learned that the fatal blow had been struck, Bennett in a tone -of sadness exclaimed: "Alas! most holy father, by this act the Church -in England will be utterly destroyed; the king declared it to me with -tears in his eyes."[1035]--"Why is it my fortune to live in such evil -days?" replied the pope, who, in his turn, began to weep;[1036] "but I -am encircled by the emperor's forces, and if I were to please the -king, I should draw a fearful ruin upon myself and upon the church.... -God will be my judge." - - [1035] Burnet, Records, ii, p. 37. - - [1036] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S ANGER.] - -On the 15th of July Da Casale sent the fatal news to the English -minister. The king was cited before the pope, and in case of refusal -condemned in a fine of 10,000 ducats. On the 18th of July peace was -proclaimed at Rome between the pontiff and the emperor, and on the -next day (these dates are important) Clement, wishing still to make -one more attempt to ward off the blow with which the papacy was -threatened, wrote to Cardinal Wolsey: "My dear son, how can I describe -to you my affliction? Show in this matter the prudence which so -distinguishes you, and preserve the king in those kindly feelings -which he has ever manifested towards me."[1037] A useless attempt! Far -from saving the papacy, Wolsey was to be wrecked along with it. - - [1037] Ut dictum regem in solita erga nos benevolentia retinere velis. - Burnet, Records, ii. p. xxxviii. - -Wolsey was thunderstruck. At the very time he was assuring Henry of -the attachment of Clement and Francis, both were deserting him. The -"politic handling" failed, which the cardinal had thought so skilful, -and which had been so torturous. Henry now had none but enemies on the -continent of Europe, and the Reformation was daily spreading over his -kingdom. Wolsey's anguish cannot be described. His power, his pomp, -his palaces were all threatened; who could tell whether he would even -preserve his liberty and his life.--A just reward for so much -duplicity. - -[Sidenote: HENRY CONCEALS HIS AFFRONT.] - -But the king's wrath was to be greater than even the minister's alarm. -His terrified servants wondered how they should announce the pontiff's -decision. Gardiner, who, after his return from Rome, had been named -secretary of state, went down to Langley on the 3rd of August to -communicate it to him. What news for the proud Tudor! The decision on -the divorce was forbidden in England; the cause avoked to Rome, there -to be buried and unjustly lost; Francis I treating with the emperor; -Charles and Clement on the point of exchanging at Bologna the most -striking signs of their unchangeable alliance; the services rendered -by the king to the popedom repaid with the blackest ingratitude; his -hope of giving an heir to the crown disgracefully frustrated; and -last, but not least, Henry VIII, the proudest monarch of Christendom, -summoned to Rome to appear before an ecclesiastical tribunal ... it -was too much for Henry. His wrath, a moment restrained, burst forth -like a clap of thunder,[1038] and all trembled around him. "Do they -presume," he exclaimed, "to try my cause elsewhere than in my own -dominions? I, the king of England, summoned before an Italian -tribunal!... Yes, ... I will go to Rome, but it shall be with such a -mighty army that the pope, and his priests, and all Italy shall be -struck with terror.[1039]--I forbid the letters of citation to be -executed," he continued; "I forbid the commission to consider its -functions at an end." Henry would have desired to tear off Campeggio's -purple robes, and throw this prince of the Roman church into prison, -in order to frighten Clement; but the very magnitude of the insult -compelled him to restrain himself. He feared above all things to -appear humbled in the eyes of England, and he hoped, by showing -moderation, to hide the affront he had received. "Let everything be -done," he told Gardiner, "to conceal from my subjects these letters of -citation, which are so hurtful to my glory. Write to Wolsey that I -have the greatest confidence in his dexterity, and that he ought, by -good handling, to win over Campeggio[1040] and the queen's -counsellors, and, above all, prevail upon them at any price not to -serve these citatory letters on me." But Henry had hardly given his -instructions when the insult of which he had been the object recurred -to his imagination; the thought of Clement haunted him night and day, -and he swore to exact a striking vengeance from the pontiff. Rome -desires to have no more to do with England.... England in her turn -will cast off Rome. Henry will sacrifice Wolsey, Clement, and the -church; nothing shall stop his fury. The crafty pontiff has concealed -his game, the king shall beat him openly; and from age to age the -popedom shall shed tears over the imprudent folly of a medici. - - [1038] He became much incensed. Herbert, p. 187. Supra quam dici - potest excanduit Sanders, p. 50. - - [1039] He would do the same with such a mayn [great] and army royal, - as should be formidable to the pope and all Italy. State Papers, vii. - p. 194; Burnet, Records, p. xxxvii. - - [1040] Your grace's dexterity ... by good handling of the cardinal - Campeggio. State Papers, vol. 1. p. 336. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DISFAVOUR.] - -Thus after insupportable delays which had fatigued the nation, a -thunderbolt fell upon England. Court, clergy, and people, from whom it -was impossible to conceal these great events, were deeply stirred, and -the whole kingdom was in commotion. Wolsey, still hoping to ward off -the ruin impending over both himself and the papacy, immediately put -in play all that dexterity which Henry had spoken of; he so far -prevailed that the letters citatorial were not served on the king, but -only the brief addressed to Wolsey by Clement VII.[1041] The cardinal, -all radiant with this trivial success, and desirous of profiting by it -to raise his credit, resolved to accompany Campeggio, who was going -down to Grafton to take leave of the king. When the coming of the two -legates was heard of at court, the agitation was very great. The dukes -of Norfolk and Suffolk regarded this proceeding as the last effort of -their enemy, and entreated Henry not to receive him. "The king will -receive him," said some. "The king will not receive him," answered -others. At length one Sunday morning it was announced that the -prelates were at the gates of the mansion. Wolsey looked round with an -anxious eye for the great officers who were accustomed to introduce -him. They appeared, and desired Campeggio to follow them. When the -legate had been taken to his apartments, Wolsey waited his turn; but -great was his consternation on being informed that there was no -chamber appointed for him in the palace. Sir Henry Norris, groom of -the stole, offered Wolsey the use of his own room, and the cardinal -followed him, almost sinking beneath the humiliation he had -undergone.[1042] He made ready to appear before the king, and -summoning up his courage, proceeded to the presence-chamber. - - [1041] Ibid. p. 343. - - [1042] Cavendish, p. 237-245. - -The lords of the council were standing in a row according to their -rank; Wolsey, taking off his hat, passed along saluting each of them -with affected civility. A great number of courtiers arrived, impatient -to see how Henry would receive his old favourite; and most of them -were already exulting in the striking disgrace of which they hoped to -be witnesses. At last the king was announced. - -Henry stood under the cloth of state; and Wolsey advanced and knelt -before him. Deep silence prevailed throughout the chamber.... To the -surprise of all, Henry stooped down and raised him up with both -hands.... Then, with a pleasing smile, he took Wolsey to the window, -desired him to put on his hat, and talked familiarly with him. "Then," -says Cavendish, the cardinal's gentleman usher, "it would have made -you smile to behold the countenances of those who had laid wagers that -the king would not speak with him." - -But this was the last ray of evening which then lighted up the -darkening fortunes of Wolsey: the star of his favour was about to set -for ever.... The silence continued, for every one desired to catch a -few words of the conversation. The king seemed to be accusing Wolsey, -and Wolsey to be justifying himself. On a sudden Henry pulled a letter -out of his bosom, and showing it to the cardinal, said in a loud -voice: "How can that be? is not this your hand?" It was no doubt the -letter which Bryan had intercepted. Wolsey replied in an under-tone, -and seemed to have appeased his master. The dinner hour having -arrived, the king left the room telling Wolsey that he would not fail -to see him again; the courtiers were eager to make their profoundest -reverences to the cardinal, but he haughtily traversed the chamber, -and the dukes hastened to carry to Anne Boleyn the news of this -astonishing reception. - -Wolsey, Campeggio, and the lords of the council sat down to dinner. -The cardinal, well aware that the terrible letter would be his utter -ruin, and that Henry's good graces had no other object than to prepare -his fall, began to hint at his retirement. "Truly," said he with a -devout air, "the king would do well to send his bishops and chaplains -home to their cures and benefices." The company looked at one another -with astonishment. "Yea, marry," said the duke of Norfolk somewhat -rudely, "and so it were meet for you to do also."--"I should be very -well contented therewith," answered Wolsey, "if it were the king's -pleasure to license me with leave to go to my cure at Winchester."-- -"Nay, to your benefice at York, where your greatest honour and charge -is," replied Norfolk, who was not willing that Wolsey should be living -so near Henry.--"Even as it shall please the king," added Wolsey, and -changed the subject of conversation. - -[Sidenote: HENRY AND ANNE BOLEYN.] - -Henry had caused himself to be announced to Anne Boleyn, who (says -Cavendish) "kept state at Grafton more like a queen than a simple -maid." Possessing extreme sensibility, and an ardent imagination, -Anne, who felt the slightest insult with all the sensibility of her -woman's heart, was very dissatisfied with the king after the report of -the dukes. Accordingly, heedless of the presence of the attendants, -she said to him: "Sir, is it not a marvellous thing to see into what -great danger the cardinal hath brought you with all your -subjects?"--"How so, sweetheart?" asked Henry. Anne continued: "Are -you ignorant of the hatred his exactions have drawn upon you? There is -not a man in your whole realm of England worth one hundred pounds, but -he hath made you his debtor." Anne here alluded to the loan the king -had raised among his subjects. "Well, well," said Henry, who was not -pleased with these remarks, "I know that matter better than you."--"If -my lord of Norfolk, my lord of Suffolk, my uncle, or my father had -done much less than the cardinal hath done," continued Anne, "they -would have lost their heads ere this." "Then I perceive," said Henry, -"you are none of his friends."--"No, sir, I have no cause, nor any -that love you," she replied. The dinner was ended; the king, without -appearing at all touched, proceeded to the presence-chamber where -Wolsey expected him. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S LAST INTERVIEW.] - -After a long conversation, carried on in a low tone, the king took -Wolsey by the hand and led him into his private chamber. The courtiers -awaited impatiently the termination of an interview which might decide -the fate of England; they walked up and down the gallery, often -passing before the door of the closet, in the hope of catching from -Wolsey's looks, when he opened it, the result of this secret -conference; but one quarter of an hour followed another, these became -hours, and still the cardinal did not appear. Henry having resolved -that this conversation should be the last, was no doubt collecting -from his minister all the information necessary to him. But the -courtiers imagined he was returning into his master's favour; Norfolk, -Suffolk, Wiltshire, and the other enemies of the prime minister, began -to grow alarmed, and hastened off to Anne Boleyn, who was their last -hope. - -It was night when the king and Wolsey quitted the royal closet; the -former appeared gracious, the latter satisfied; it was always Henry's -custom to smile on those he intended to sacrifice. "I shall see you in -the morning," he said to the cardinal with a friendly air. Wolsey made -a low bow, and, turning round to the courtiers, saw the king's smile -reflected on their faces. Wiltshire, Tuke, and even Suffolk, were full -of civility. "Well," thought he, "the motion of such weathercocks as -these shows me from what quarter the wind of favour is blowing."[1043] - - [1043] Burnet's Ref. vol. i, p. 59. - -But a moment after the wind began to change. Men with torches waited -for the cardinal at the gates of the palace to conduct him to the -place where he would have to pass the night. Thus he was not to sleep -beneath the same roof with Henry. He was to lie at Euston, one of -Empson's houses, about three miles off. Wolsey, repressing his -vexation, mounted his horse, the footmen preceded him with their -links, and after an hour's riding along very bad roads, he reached the -lodging assigned him. - -[Sidenote: THE KING'S FAREWELL TO WOLSEY.] - -He had sat down to supper, to which some of his most intimate friends -had been invited, when suddenly Gardiner was announced. Gardiner owed -every thing to the cardinal, and yet he had not appeared before him -since his return from Rome. He comes no doubt to play the hypocrite -and the spy, thought Wolsey. But as soon as the secretary entered, -Wolsey rose, made him a graceful compliment, and prayed him to take a -seat. "Master Secretary," he asked, "where have you been since your -return from Rome?"--"I have been following the court from place to -place."--"You have been hunting then? Have you any dogs?" asked the -prime minister, who knew very well what Gardiner had been doing in the -king's closet. "A few," replied Gardiner. Wolsey thought that even the -secretary was a bloodhound on his track. And yet after supper he took -Gardiner aside, and conversed with him until midnight. He thought it -prudent to neglect nothing that might clear up his position; and -Wolsey sounded Gardiner, just as he himself had been sounded by Henry -not long before. - -The same night at Grafton the king gave Campeggio a farewell audience, -and treated him very kindly, "by giving him presents and other -matters," says Du Bellay. Henry then returned to Anne Boleyn. The -dukes had pointed out to her the importance of the present moment; she -therefore asked and obtained of Henry, without any great difficulty, -his promise never to speak to his minister again.[1044] The insults of -the papacy had exasperated the king of England, and as he could not -punish Clement, he took his revenge on the cardinal. - - [1044] Du Bellay to the Grand Master. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 375; also - Cavendish. - -The next morning, Wolsey, impatient to have the interview which Henry -had promised, rode back early to Grafton. But as he came near, he met -a numerous train of servants and sumpter-horses; and presently -afterwards Henry, with Anne Boleyn and many lords and ladies of the -court, came riding up. "What does all this mean?" thought the cardinal -in dismay. "My lord," said the king, as he drew near, "I cannot stay -with you now. You will return to London with cardinal Campeggio." Then -striking the spurs into his horse, Henry galloped off with a friendly -salutation. After him came Anne Boleyn, who rode past Wolsey with head -erect, and casting on him a proud look. The court proceeded to -Hartwell Park, where Anne had determined to keep the king all day. -Wolsey was confounded. There was no room for doubt; his disgrace was -certain. His head swam, he remained immovable for an instant, and then -recovered himself; but the blow he had received had not been -unobserved by the courtiers, and the cardinal's fall became the -general topic of conversation. - -After dinner, the legates departed, and on the second day reached Moor -Park, a mansion built by Archbishop Neville, one of Wolsey's -predecessors, who for high treason had been first imprisoned at -Calais, and afterwards at Ham. These recollections were by no means -agreeable to Wolsey. The next morning the two cardinals separated, -Campeggio proceeded to Dover and Wolsey to London. - -[Sidenote: CAMPEGGIO SEARCHED AT DOVER.] - -Campeggio was impatient to get out of England, and great was his -annoyance, on reaching Dover, to find that the wind was contrary. But -a still greater vexation was in reserve. He had hardly lain down to -rest himself, before his door was opened, and a band of sergeants -entered the room. The cardinal, who knew what scenes of this kind -meant in Italy, thought he was a dead man,[1045] and fell trembling at -his chaplain's feet begging for absolution. Meantime the officers -opened his luggage, broke into his chests, scattered his property -about the floor, and even shook out his clothes.[1046] - - [1045] Le Grand, vol. ii. p. 156. Life of Campeggio, by Sigonius. - - [1046] Sarcinas excuti jussit. Sanders, p. 51. - -Henry's tranquility had not been of long duration. "Campeggio is the -bearer of letters from Wolsey to Rome," whispered some of the -courtiers; "who knows but they contain treasonable matter?" "There is, -too, among his papers the famous _decretal_ pronouncing the divorce," -said one; "if we had but that document it would finish the business." -Another affirmed that Campeggio "had large treasure with him of my -lord's (Wolsey's) to be conveyed in great tuns to Rome,"[1047] whither -it was surmised the cardinal of York would escape to enjoy the fruits -of his treason. "It is certain," added a third, "that Campeggio, -assisted by Wolsey, has been able to procure your majesty's -correspondence with Anne Boleyn, and is carrying it away with him." -Henry, therefore, sent a messenger after the nuncio, with orders that -his baggage should be thoroughly searched. - - [1047] Cavendish, p. 216. See also Le Grand, ii. 258 - -Nothing was found, neither letters, nor bull, nor treasures. The bull -had been destroyed; the treasures Wolsey had never thought of -intrusting to his colleague; and the letters of Anne and Henry, -Campeggio had sent on before by his son Rodolph, and the pope was -stretching out his hands to receive them, proud, like his successors, -of the robbery committed by two of his legates. - -Campeggio being reassured, and seeing that he was neither to be killed -nor robbed, made a great noise at this act of violence, and at the -insulting remarks which had given rise to it. "I will not leave -England," he caused Henry to be informed, "until I have received -satisfaction." "My lord forgets that he is legate no longer," replied -the king, "since the pope has withdrawn his power; he forgets, -besides, that, as bishop of Salisbury, he is my subject; as for the -remarks against him and the cardinal of York, it is a liberty the -people of England are accustomed to take, and which I cannot put -down." Campeggio, anxious to reach France, was satisfied with these -reasons, and soon forgot all his sorrows at the sumptuous table of -cardinal Duprat. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DESOLATION.] - -Wolsey was not so fortunate. He had seen Campeggio go away, and -remained like a wrecked seaman thrown on a desert isle, who has seen -depart the only friends capable of giving him any help. His necromancy -had forewarned him that this would be a fatal year.[1048] The angel of -the maid of Kent had said: "Go to the cardinal and announce his fall, -because he has not done what you had commanded him to do."[1049] Other -voices besides hers made themselves heard: the hatred of the nation, -the contempt of Europe, and, above all, Henry's anger, told him that -his hour was come. It was true the pope said, that he would do all in -his power to save him;[1050] but Clement's good offices would only -accelerate his ruin. Du Bellay, whom the people believed to be the -cardinal's accomplice, bore witness to the change that had taken place -in men's minds. While passing on foot through the streets of the -capital, followed by two valets, "his ears were so filled with coarse -jests as he went along," he said, "that he knew not which way to -turn."[1051] "The cardinal is utterly undone," he wrote; "and I see -not how he can escape." The idea occurred to Wolsey, from time to -time, to pronounce the divorce himself; but it was too late. He was -even told that his life was in danger. Fortune, blind and bald, her -foot on the wheel, fled rapidly from him, nor was it in his power to -stop her. And this was not all: after him (he thought) there was no -one who could uphold the church of the pontiffs in England. The ship -of Rome was sailing on a stormy sea among rocks and shoals; Wolsey at -the helm looked in vain for a port of refuge; the vessel leaked on -every side; it was rapidly sinking, and the cardinal uttered a cry of -distress. Alas! he had desired to save Rome, but Rome would not have -it so. - - [1048] He had learnt of his necromancy that this would be a jeopardous - year for him. Tyndale's Works, i, p. 480. - - [1049] Strype. i. p. 373. - - [1050] Herbert, p. 289. - - [1051] Du Bellay to Montmorency. 12th October. Le Grand, Preuves, - p.365. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - A Meeting at Waltham--Youth of Thomas Cranmer--His early - Education--Studies Scripture for Three Years--His functions - as Examiner--The Supper at Waltham--New View of the - Divorce--Fox communicates it to Henry--Cranmer's - Vexation--Conference with the King--Cranmer at the Boleyns. - - -[Sidenote: THOMAS CRANMER.] - -As Wolsey's star was disappearing in the West in the midst of stormy -clouds, another was rising in the East, to point out the way to save -Britain. Men, like stars, appear on the horizon at the command of God. - -On his return from Woodstock to Greenwich, Henry stopped full of -anxiety at Waltham in Essex. His attendants were lodged in the houses -of the neighbourhood. Fox, the almoner, and Secretary Gardiner, were -quartered on a gentleman named Cressy, at Waltham Abbey. When supper -was announced, Gardiner and Fox were surprised to see an old friend -enter the room. It was Thomas Cranmer, a Cambridge doctor. "What! is -it you?" they said, "and how came you here?" "Our host's wife is my -relation," replied Cranmer, "and as the epidemic is raging at -Cambridge, I brought home my friend's sons, who are under my care." As -this new personage is destined to play an important part in the -history of the Reformation, it may be worth our while to interrupt our -narrative, and give a particular account of him. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S FIRST MARRIAGE.] - -Cranmer was descended from an ancient family, which came into England, -as is generally believed, with the Conqueror. He was born at Aslacton -in Nottinghamshire on the 2nd of July 1489, six years after Luther. -His early education had been very much neglected; his tutor, an -ignorant and severe priest, had taught him little else than patiently -to endure severe chastisement--a knowledge destined to be very useful -to him in after-life. His father was an honest country gentleman, who -cared for little besides hunting, racing, and military sports. At this -school, the son learnt to ride, to handle the bow and the sword, to -fish, and to hawk; and he never entirely neglected these exercises, -which he thought essential to his health. Thomas Cranmer was fond of -walking, of the charms of nature, and of solitary meditations; and a -hill, near his father's mansion, used often to be shown where he was -wont to sit, gazing on the fertile country at his feet, fixing his -eyes on the distant spires, listening with melancholy pleasure to the -chime of the bells, and indulging in sweet contemplations. About 1504, -he was sent to Cambridge, where "barbarism still prevailed," says an -historian.[1052] His plain, noble, and modest air conciliated the -affections of many, and, in 1510, he was elected fellow of Jesus -College. Possessing a tender heart, he became attached, at the age of -twenty-three, to a young person of good birth (says Foxe,) or of -inferior rank, as other writers assert. Cranmer was unwilling to -imitate the disorderly lives of his fellow-students, and although -marriage would necessarily close the career of honours, he married the -young lady, resigned his fellowship (in conformity with the -regulations), and took a modest lodging at the Dolphin. He then began -to study earnestly the most remarkable writings of the times, -polishing, it has been said, his old asperity on the productions of -Erasmus, of Lefevre of Etaples, and other great authors; every day his -crude understanding received new brilliancy.[1053] He then began to -teach in Buckingham (afterwards Magdalene) College, and thus provided -for his wants. - - [1052] Fæda barbaries. Melch. Adam. Vitæ Theol. i. - - [1053] Ad eos non aliter quam ad cotem, quotidie priscam detergebat - scabritiem. (Ibid.) Coming to them as to a whetstone, he daily rubbed - off his old asperity. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER ON THE DIVORCE.] - -His lessons excited the admiration of enlightened men, and the anger -of obscure ones, who disdainfully called him (because of the inn at -which he lodged) _the hostler_. "This name became him well," said -Fuller, "for in his lessons he roughly rubbed the backs of the friars, -and famously curried the hides of the lazy priests." His wife dying a -year after his marriage, Cranmer was re-elected fellow of his old -college, and the first writing of Luther's having appeared, he said: -"I must know on which side the truth lies. There is only one -infallible source, the Scriptures; in them I will seek for God's -truth."[1054] And for three years he constantly studied the holy -books,[1055] without commentary, without human theology, and hence he -gained the name of the _Scripturist_. At last his eyes were opened; he -saw the mysterious bond which unites all biblical revelations, and -understood the completeness of God's design. Then without forsaking -the Scriptures, he studied all kinds of authors.[1056] He was a slow -reader, but a close observer;[1057] he never opened a book without -having a pen in his hand.[1058] He did not take up with any particular -party or age; but possessing a free and philosophic mind, he weighed -all opinions in the balance of his judgment,[1059] taking the Bible -for his standard. - - [1054] Behold the very fountains. Foxe, viii, p. 4. - - [1055] Totum triennium Sacræ Scripturæ monumentis periegendis - impendit. M. Adam. p. 1. - - [1056] Like a merchant greedy of all good things. Foxe. viii, p. 4. - - [1057] Tardus quidem lector sed vehemens observator. M. Adam. p. 1. - - [1058] Sine calamo nunquam ad scriptoris eujusquam librum accessit. M. - Adam. p. 1. - - [1059] Omnes omnium opiniones tacito secum judicio trutinabat. Ibid. - -Honours soon came upon him; he was made successively doctor of -divinity, professor, university preacher, and examiner. He used to say -to the candidates for the ministry: "Christ sendeth his hearers to the -Scriptures, and not to the church."[1060]--"But," replied the monks, -"they are so difficult."--"Explain the obscure passages by those which -are clear," rejoined the professor, "Scripture by Scripture. Seek, -pray, _and he who has the key of David_ will open them to you." The -monks, affrighted at this task, withdrew bursting with anger; and -erelong Cranmer's name was a name of dread in every convent. Some, -however, submitted to the labour, and one of them, Doctor Barret, -blessed God that the examiner had turned him back; "for," said he, "I -found the knowledge of God in the holy book he compelled me to study." -Cranmer toiled at the same work as Latimer, Stafford, and Bilney. - - [1060] Cranmer's Works, p. 17, 18. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S CHARACTER.] - -Fox and Gardiner having renewed acquaintance with their old friend at -Waltham Abbey, they sat down to table, and both the almoner and the -secretary asked the doctor what he thought of the divorce. It was the -usual topic of conversation, and not long before, Cranmer had been -named member of a commission appointed to give their opinion on this -affair. "You are not in the right path," said Cranmer to his friends; -"you should not cling to the decisions of the church. There is a surer -and a shorter way which alone can give peace to the king's -conscience."--"What is that?" they both asked. "The true question is -this," replied Cranmer: "_What says the Word of God?_ If God has -declared a marriage of this nature _bad_, the pope cannot make it -_good_. Discontinue these interminable Roman negotiations. When God -has spoken man must obey."--"But how shall we know what God has -said?"--"Consult the universities; they will discern it more surely -than Rome." - -This was a new view. The idea of consulting the universities had been -acted upon before; but then their own opinions only had been demanded; -now, the question was simply to know _what God says in his word_. "The -word of God is above the church," was the principle laid down by -Cranmer, and in that principle consisted the whole of the -Reformation. The conversation at the supper-table of Waltham was -destined to be one of those secret springs which an invisible Hand -sets in motion for the accomplishment of his great designs. The -Cambridge doctor, suddenly transported from his study to the foot of -the throne, was on the point of becoming one of the principal -instruments of Divine wisdom. - -The day after this conversation, Fox and Gardiner arrived at -Greenwich, and the king summoned them into his presence the same -evening. "Well, gentlemen," he said to them, "our holidays are over; -what shall we do now? If we still have recourse to Rome, God knows -when we shall see the end of this matter."[1061]--"It will not be -necessary to take so long a journey," said Fox; "we know a shorter and -surer way."--"What is it?" asked the king eagerly.--"Doctor Cranmer, -whom we met yesterday at Waltham, thinks that the Bible should be the -sole judge in your cause." Gardiner, vexed at his colleague's -frankness, desired to claim all the honour of this luminous idea for -himself; but Henry did not listen to him. "Where is Doctor Cranmer?" -said he, much affected.[1062] "Send, and fetch him immediately. Mother -of God! (this was his customary oath) this man has the right sow by -the ear.[1063] If this had only been suggested to me two years ago, -what expense and trouble I should have been spared." - - [1061] God knows, and not I. Foxe, viii, 7. - - [1062] Burnet, vol. i, p. 60. - - [1063] Ibid. - -Cranmer had gone into Nottinghamshire; a messenger followed and -brought him back. "Why have you entangled me in this affair?" he said -to Fox and Gardiner. "Pray make my excuses to the king." Gardiner, who -wished for nothing better, promised to do all he could; but it was of -no use. "I will have no excuses," said Henry. The wily courtier was -obliged to make up his mind to introduce the ingenuous and upright -man, to whom that station, which he himself had so coveted, was one -day to belong. Cranmer and Gardiner went down to Greenwich, both alike -dissatisfied. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S INTERVIEW WITH HENRY.] - -Cranmer was then forty years of age, with pleasing features, and mild -and winning eyes, in which the candour of his soul seemed to be -reflected. Sensible to the pains as well as to the pleasures of the -heart, he was destined to be more exposed than other men to anxieties -and falls; a peaceful life in some remote parsonage would have been -more to his taste than the court of Henry VIII. Blessed with a -generous mind, unhappily he did not possess the firmness necessary in -a public man; a little stone sufficed to make him stumble. His -excellent understanding showed him the better way; but his great -timidity made him fear the more dangerous. He was rather too fond of -relying upon the power of men, and made them unhappy concessions with -too great facility. If the king had questioned him, he would never -have dared advise so bold a course as that he had pointed out; the -advice had slipped from him at table during the intimacy of familiar -conversation. Yet he was sincere, and after doing everything to escape -from the consequences of his frankness, he was ready to maintain the -opinion he had given. - -Henry, perceiving Cranmer's timidity, graciously approached him. "What -is your name," said the king endeavouring to put him at his ease? "Did -you not meet my secretary and my almoner at Waltham?" And then he -added: "Did you not speak to them of my great affair?"--repeating the -words ascribed to Cranmer. The latter could not retreat: "Sir, it is -true, I did say so."--"I see," replied the king with animation, "that -you have found the breach through which we must storm the fortress. -Now, Sir doctor, I beg you, and as you are my subject I command you, -to lay aside every other occupation, and to bring my cause to a -conclusion in conformity with the ideas you have put forth. All that I -desire to know is, whether my marriage is contrary to the laws of God -or not. Employ all your skill in investigating the subject, and thus -bring comfort to my conscience as well as to the queen's."[1064] - - [1064] For the discharging of both our consciences. Foxe, VIII, p. 8. - -Cranmer was confounded; he recoiled from the idea of deciding an -affair on which depended, it might be, the destinies of the nation, -and sighed after the lonely fields of Aslacton. But grasped by the -vigorous hand of Henry, he was compelled to advance. "Sir," said he, -"pray intrust this matter to doctors more learned than I am."--"I am -very willing," answered the king, "but I desire that you will also -give me your opinion in writing." And then summoning the earl of -Wiltshire to his presence, he said to him: "My lord, you will receive -Doctor Cranmer into your house at Durham Place, and let him have all -necessary quiet to compose a report for which I have asked him." After -this precise command, which admitted of no refusal, Henry withdrew. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER MEETS ANNE BOLEYN.] - -In this manner was Cranmer introduced by the king to Anne Boleyn's -father, and not, as some Romanist authors have asserted, by Sir -Thomas Boleyn to the king.[1065] Wiltshire conducted Cranmer to Durham -House (now the Adelphi in the Strand,) and the pious doctor on whom -Henry had imposed these quarters, soon contracted a close friendship -with Anne and her father, and took advantage of it to teach them the -value of the Divine word, as _the pearl of great price_.[1066] Henry, -while profiting by the address of a Wolsey and a Gardiner, paid little -regard to the men; but he respected Cranmer, even when opposed to him -in opinion, and until his death placed the learned doctor above all -his courtiers and all his clerks. The pious man often succeeds better, -even with the great ones of this world, than the ambitious and the -intriguing. - - [1065] Sanders, p. 57; Lingard, vol. vi. chap. iii. Compare Foxe, vol. - viii, p. 8. - - [1066] Teque nobilis illius margaritæ desiderio teneri. Erasm. Epp. p. - 1754. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - Wolsey in the Court of Chancery--Accused by the - Dukes--Refuses to give up the Great Seal--His Despair--He - gives up the Seal--Order to depart--His - Inventory--Alarm--The Scene of Departure--Favourable Message - from the King--Wolsey's Joy--His Fool--Arrival at Esher. - - -While Cranmer was rising notwithstanding his humility, Wolsey was -falling in despite of his stratagems. The cardinal still governed the -kingdom, gave instructions to ambassadors, negotiated with princes, -and filled his sumptuous palaces with his haughtiness. The king could -not make up his mind to turn him off; the force of habit, the need he -had of him, the recollection of the services Henry had received from -him, pleaded in his favour. Wolsey without the seals appeared almost -as inconceivable as the king without his crown. Yet the fall of one of -the most powerful favourites recorded in history was inevitably -approaching, and we must now describe it. - -[Sidenote: THE CARDINAL'S LAST SITTING.] - -On the 9th of October, after the Michaelmas vacation, Wolsey, desirous -of showing a bold face, went and opened the high court of chancery -with his accustomed pomp; but he noticed, with uneasiness, that none -of the king's servants walked before him, as they had been accustomed -to do. He presided on the bench with an inexpressible depression of -spirits, and the various members of the court sat before him with an -absent air; there was something gloomy and solemn in this sitting, as -if all were taking part in a funeral: it was destined indeed to be the -last act of the cardinal's power. Some days before (Foxe says on the -1st of October) the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, with other lords of -the privy-council, had gone down to Windsor, and denounced to the king -Wolsey's unconstitutional relations with the pope, his usurpations, -"his robberies, and the discords sown by his means between Christian -princes."[1067] Such motives would not have sufficed; but Henry had -stronger. Wolsey had not kept any of his promises in the matter of the -divorce; it would even appear that he had advised the pope to -excommunicate the king, and thus raise his people against him.[1068] -This enormity was not at that time known by the prince; it is even -probable that it did not take place until later. But Henry knew -enough, and he gave his attorney-general, Sir Christopher Hales, -orders to prosecute Wolsey. - - [1067] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 22nd October. Le Grand, Preuves. p. - 377. - - [1068] Range, Deutsche Geschichte, iii. p. 140. - -Whilst the heart-broken cardinal was displaying his authority for the -last time in the court of chancery, the attorney-general was accusing -him in the King's Bench for having obtained papal bulls conferring on -him a jurisdiction which encroached on the royal power; and calling -for the application of the penalties of _præmunire_. The two dukes -received orders to demand the seals from Wolsey; and the latter, -informed of what had taken place, did not quit his palace on the 10th, -expecting every moment the arrival of the messengers of the king's -anger; but no one appeared. - -The next day the two dukes arrived: "It is the king's good pleasure," -said they to the cardinal, who remained seated in his arm-chair, "that -you give up the broad seal to us and retire to Esher" (a country-seat -near Hampton Court.) Wolsey, whose presence of mind never failed him, -demanded to see the commission under which they were acting. "We have -our orders from his majesty's mouth," said they.--"That may be -sufficient for you," replied the cardinal, "but not for me. The great -seal of England was delivered to me by the hands of my sovereign; I -may not deliver it at the simple word of any lord, unless you can show -me your commission." Suffolk broke out into a passion, but Wolsey -remained calm, and the two dukes returned to Windsor. This was the -cardinal's last triumph. - -[Sidenote: HE GIVES UP THE GREAT SEAL.] - -The rumour of his disgrace created an immense sensation at court, in -the city, and among the foreign ambassadors. Du Bellay hastened to -York Place (Whitehall) to contemplate this great ruin and console his -unhappy friend. He found Wolsey, with dejected countenance and -lustreless eyes, "shrunk to half his wonted size," wrote the -ambassador to Montmorency, "the greatest example of fortune which was -ever beheld." Wolsey desired "to set forth his case" to him; but his -thoughts were confused, his language broken, "for heart and tongue -both failed him entirely;" he burst into tears. The ambassador -regarded him with compassion: "Alas!" thought he, "his enemies cannot -but feel pity for him." At last the unhappy cardinal recovered his -speech, but only to give way to despair. "I desire no more authority," -he exclaimed, "nor the pope's legation, nor the broad seal of -England.... I am ready to give up every thing, even to my -shirt.[1069]... I can live in a hermitage, provided the king does not -hold me in disgrace." The ambassador "did all he could to comfort -him," when Wolsey, catching at the plank thrown out to him, exclaimed: -"Would that the king of France and madame might pray the king to -moderate his anger against me. But above all," he added in alarm, -"take care the king never knows that I have solicited this of you." Du -Bellay wrote indeed to France, that the king and madame alone could -"withdraw their affectionate servant from the gates of hell," and -Wolsey being informed of these despatches, his hopes recovered a -little. But this bright gleam did not last long. - - [1069] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 371. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S LAST HOPES.] - -On Sunday the 17th of October, Norfolk and Suffolk re-appeared at -Whitehall, accompanied by Fitzwilliam, Taylor, and Gardiner, Wolsey's -former dependant. It was six in the evening; they found the cardinal -in an upper chamber, near the great gallery, and presented the king's -orders to him. Having read them he said: "I am happy to obey his -majesty's commands;" then having ordered the great seal to be brought -him, he took it out of the white leather case in which he kept it, and -handed it to the dukes, who placed it in a box, covered with crimson -velvet, and ornamented with the arms of England,[1070] ordered -Gardiner to seal it up with red wax, and gave it to Taylor to convey -to the king. - -Wolsey was thunderstruck; he was to drink the bitter cup even to the -dregs: he was ordered to leave his palace forthwith, taking with him -neither clothes, linen, nor plate; the dukes had feared that he would -convey away his treasures. Wolsey comprehended the greatness of his -misery; he found strength however to say: "Since it is the kings' good -pleasure to take my house and all it contains, I am content to retire -to Esher." The dukes left him. - - [1070] In quadam theca de veluto crimisino. Rymer, Act. p. 138. - -Wolsey remained alone. This astonishing man, who had risen from a -butcher's shop to the summit of earthly greatness--who, for a word -that displeased him, sent his master's most faithful servants (Pace -for instance) to the Tower--and who had governed England as if he had -been its monarch, and even more, for he had governed without a -parliament: was driven out, and thrown, as it were, upon a dunghill. A -sudden hope flashed like lightning through his mind; perhaps the -magnificence of the spoils would appease Henry. Was not Esau pacified -by Jacob's present? Wolsey summoned his officers: "Set tables in the -great gallery," he said to them, "and place on them all I have -entrusted to your care, in order to render me an account." These -orders were executed immediately. The tables were covered with an -immense quantity of rich stuffs, silks and velvets of all colours, -costly furs, rich copes and other ecclesiastical vestures; the walls -were hung with cloth of gold and silver, and webs of a valuable stuff -named baudykin,[1071] from the looms of Damascus, and with tapestry, -representing scriptural subjects or stories from the old romances of -chivalry. The gilt chamber and the council chamber, adjoining the -gallery, were both filled with plate, in which the gold and silver -were set with pearls and precious stones: these articles of luxury -were so abundant that basketfulls of costly plate, which had fallen -out of fashion were stowed away under the tables. On every table was -an exact list of the treasures with which it was loaded, for the most -perfect order and regularity prevailed in the cardinal's household. -Wolsey cast a glance of hope upon this wealth, and ordered his -officers to deliver the whole to his majesty. - - [1071] Baldekinum, pannus omnium ditissimus cujus utpote stamen ex - filo auri, subtegmen ex serico texitur, plumario opere intertextus. - (Ducange's Glossary.) Baudskin, the richest of all kinds of cloth, - inasmuch as its warp is of gold thread, the woof of silk, and the - whole interwoven with rich embroidery. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY LEAVES WHITEHALL.] - -He then prepared to leave his magnificent palace. That moment of -itself so sad, was made sadder still by an act of affectionate -indiscretion. "Ah, my lord," said his treasurer, Sir William -Gascoigne, moved even to tears, "your grace will be sent to the -Tower." This was too much for Wolsey: to go and join his victims!... -He grew angry, and exclaimed: "Is this the best comfort you can give -your master in adversity? I would have you and all such blasphemous -reporters know that it is untrue." - -It was necessary to depart; he put round his neck a chain of gold, -from which hung a pretended relic of the true cross; this was all he -took. "Would to God," he exclaimed, as he placed it on, "that I had -never had any other." This he said alluding to the legate's cross -which used to be carried before him with so much pomp. He descended -the back stairs, followed by his servants, some silent and dejected, -others weeping bitterly, and proceeded to the river's brink, where a -barge awaited him. But, alas! it was not alone. The Thames was covered -with innumerable boats full of men and women. The inhabitants of -London, expecting to see the cardinal led to the Tower, desired to be -present at his humiliation, and prepared to accompany him. Cries of -joy hailing his fall were heard from every side; nor were the -cruellest sarcasms wanting. "The butcher's dog will bite no more," -said some; "look, how he hangs his head." In truth, the unhappy man, -distressed by a sight so new to him, lowered those eyes which were -once so proud, but now were filled with bitter tears. This man, who -had made all England tremble, was then like a withered leaf carried -along the stream. All his servants were moved; even his fool, William -Patch, sobbed like the rest. "O, wavering and newfangled multitude," -exclaimed Cavendish, his gentleman usher.[1072] The hopes of the -citizens were disappointed; the barge, instead of descending the -river, proceeded upwards in the direction of Hampton Court; gradually -the shouts died away, and the flotilla dispersed. - - [1072] Cavendish, Wolsey, p. 251. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S JESTER.] - -The silence of the river permitted Wolsey to indulge in less bitter -thoughts; but it seemed as if invisible furies were pursuing him, now -that the people had left him. He left his barge at Putney, and -mounting his mule, though with difficulty, proceeded slowly with -downcast looks. Shortly after, upon lifting his eyes, he saw a -horseman riding rapidly down the hill towards them. "Whom do you think -it can be?" he asked of his attendants. "My lord," replied one of -them, "I think it is Sir Henry Morris." A flash of joy passed through -Wolsey's heart. Was it not Norris, who, of all the king's officers, -had shown him the most respect during his visit to Grafton? Norris -came up with them, saluted him respectfully, and said: "The king bids -me declare that he still entertains the same kindly feelings towards -you, and sends you this ring as a token of his confidence." Wolsey -received it with a trembling hand: it was that which the king was in -the habit of sending on important occasions. The cardinal immediately -alighted from his mule, and kneeling down in the road, raised his -hands to heaven with an indescribable expression of happiness. The -fallen man would have pulled off his velvet under-cap, but unable to -undo the strings, he broke them, and threw it on the ground. He -remained on his knees bareheaded praying fervently amidst profound -silence. God's forgiveness had never caused Wolsey so much pleasure as -Henry's. - -Having finished his prayer, the cardinal put on his cap, and remounted -his mule. "Gentle Norris," said he to the king's messenger, "if I were -lord of a kingdom, the half of it would scarcely be enough to reward -you for your happy tidings; but I have nothing left except the clothes -on my back." Then taking off his gold chain: "Take this," he said, "it -contains a piece of the true cross. In my happier days I would not -have parted with it for a thousand pounds." The cardinal and Norris -separated: but Wolsey soon stopped, and the whole troop halted on the -heath. The thought troubled him greatly that he had nothing to send to -the king; he called Norris back, and looking round him saw mounted on -a sorry horse poor William Patch, who had lost all his gaiety since -his master's misfortune. "Present this poor jester to the king from -me," said Wolsey to Norris; "his buffooneries are a pleasure fit for a -prince; he is worth a thousand pounds." Patch, offended at being -treated thus, burst into a violent passion, his eyes flashed fire, he -foamed at the mouth, he kicked and fought, and bit all who approached -him;[1073] but the inexorable Wolsey, who looked upon him merely as a -toy, ordered six of his tallest yeomen to lay hold of him. They -carried off the unfortunate creature, who long continued to utter his -piercing cries. At the very moment when his master had had pity on -him, Wolsey, like the servant in the parable, had no pity on his poor -companion in misfortune. - - [1073] The poor fool took on, and fired so in such a rage. Cavendish, - p. 237. - -At last they reached Esher. What a residence compared with -Whitehall!... It was little more than four bare walls. The most urgent -necessaries were procured from the neighbouring houses, but Wolsey -could not adapt himself to this cruel contrast. Besides, he knew Henry -VIII; he knew that he might send Norris one day with a gold ring, and -the executioner the next with a rope. Gloomy and dejected, he remained -seated in his lonely apartments. On a sudden he would rise from his -seat, walk hurriedly up and down, speak aloud to himself, and then -falling back in his chair, he would weep like a child. This man who -formerly had shaken kingdoms, had been overthrown in the twinkling of -an eye, and was now atoning for his perfidies in humiliation and -terror,--a striking example of God's judgment. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - Thomas More elected Chancellor--A lay Government one of the - great Facts of the Reformation--Wolsey accused of - subordinating England to the Pope--He implores the King's - Clemency--His Condemnation--Cromwell at Esher--His - Character--He sets out for London--Sir Christopher Hales - recommends him to the King--Cromwell's Interview with Henry - in the Park--A new Theory--Cromwell elected Member of - Parliament--Opened by Sir Thomas More--Attack on - ecclesiastical Abuses--Reforms pronounced by the - Convocation--Three Bills--Rochester attacks them--Resistance - of the House of Commons--Struggles--Henry sanctions the - three Bills--Alarm of the Clergy and Disturbances. - - -[Sidenote: LORD CHANCELLOR MORE.] - -During all this time everybody was in commotion at court. Norfolk and -Suffolk, at the head of the council, had informed the Star Chamber of -the cardinal's disgrace. Henry knew not how to supply his place. Some -suggested the archbishop of Canterbury; the king would not hear of -him. "Wolsey," says a French writer, "had disgusted the king and all -England with those subjects of two masters who, almost always, sold -one to the other. They preferred a lay minister." "I verily believe -the priests will never more obtain it," wrote Du Bellay. The name of -Sir Thomas More was pronounced. He was a layman, and that quality, -which a few years before would, perhaps, have excluded him, was now a -recommendation. A breath of Protestantism wafted to the summit of -honours one of its greatest enemies. Henry thought that More, placed -between the pope and his sovereign, would decide in favour of the -interests of the throne, and of the independence of England. His -choice was made. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY THREATENED WITH PRÆMUNIRE.] - -More knew that the cardinal had been thrown aside because he was not a -sufficiently docile instrument in the matter of the divorce. The work -required of him was contrary to his convictions; but the honour -conferred on him was almost unprecedented--very seldom indeed had the -seals been intrusted to a mere knight.[1074] He followed the path of -ambition and not of duty; he showed, however, in after-days that his -ambition was of no common sort. It is even probable that, foreseeing -the dangers which threatened to destroy the papal power in England, -More wished to make an effort to save it. Norfolk installed the new -chancellor in the Star Chamber. "His majesty," said the duke, "has not -cast his eyes upon the nobility of the blood, but on the worth of the -person. He desires to show by this choice that there are among the -laity and gentlemen of England, men worthy to fill the highest offices -in the kingdom, to which, until this hour, bishops and noblemen alone -think they have a right."[1075] The Reformation which restored -religion to the general body of the church, took away at the same time -political power from the clergy. The priests had deprived the people -of Christian activity, and the governments of power; the Gospel -restored to both what the priests had usurped. This result could not -but be favourable to the interests of religion; the less cause kings -and their subjects have to fear the intrusion of clerical power into -the affairs of the world, the more will they yield themselves to the -vivifying influence of faith. - - [1074] It has been often asserted that Sir Thomas More was the first - layman to whom the office of chancellor was intrusted; but there were - no less than _six_ between A.D. 1342 and 1410; viz. Sir Robert - Boucher, knight; Sir Robert de Thorp, knight; Sir R. de la Serope, - knight; Sir M. de la Pole; R. Neville, earl of Salisbury; and Sir T. - Beaufort, knight. - - [1075] More's Life, p. 172. - -More lost no time; never had lord-chancellor displayed such activity. -He rapidly cleared off the cases which were in arrear, and having been -installed on the 26th of October he called on Wolsey's cause on the -28th or 29th. "The crown of England," said the attorney-general, "has -never acknowledged any superior but God.[1076] Now, the said Thomas -Wolsey, legate _a latere_, has obtained from the pope certain bulls, -by virtue of which he has exercised since the 28th of August 1523 an -authority derogatory to his majesty's power, and to the rights of his -courts of justice. The crown of England cannot be put under the pope; -and we therefore accuse the said legate of having incurred the -penalties of _præmunire_." - - [1076] The crown of England, free at all times, has been in no earthly - subjection, but immediately subject to God in all things. Herbert, p. - 231. See also Articles of Impeachment, section 1. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S REAL CRIME.] - -There can be no doubt that Henry had other reasons for Wolsey's -disgrace than those pointed out by the attorney-general; but England -had convictions of a higher nature than her sovereign's. Wolsey was -regarded as the pope's accomplice, and this was the cause of the great -severity of the public officer and of the people. The cardinal is -generally excused by alleging that both king and parliament had -ratified the unconstitutional authority with which Rome had invested -him; but had not the powers conferred on him by the pope produced -unjustifiable results in a constitutional monarchy? Wolsey, as papal -legate, had governed England without a parliament; and, as if the -nation had gone back to the reign of John, he had substituted _de -facto_, if not in theory, the monstrous system of the famous bull -_Unam Sanctum_[1077] for the institution of _Magna Charta_. The king, -and even the lords and commons, had connived in vain at these -illegalities; the rights of the constitution of England remained not -the less inviolable, and the best of the people had protested against -their infringement. And hence it was that Wolsey, conscious of his -crime, "put himself wholly to the mercy and grace of the king,"[1078] -and his counsel declared his ignorance of the statutes he was said to -have infringed. We cannot here allege, as some have done, the -prostration of Wolsey's moral powers; he could, even after his fall, -reply with energy to Henry VIII. When, for instance, the king sent to -demand for the crown his palace of Whitehall, which belonged to the -see of York, the cardinal answered: "Show his majesty from me that I -must desire him to call to his most gracious remembrance that there is -both a heaven and a hell;" and when other charges besides those of -complicity with the papal aggression were brought against him, he -defended himself courageously, as will be afterwards seen. If -therefore the cardinal did not attempt to justify himself for -infringing the rights of the crown, it was because his conscience bade -him be silent. He had committed one of the gravest faults of which a -statesman can be guilty. Those who have sought to excuse him have not -sufficiently borne in mind that, since the Great Charter, opposition -to Romish aggression has always characterized the constitution and -government of England. Wolsey perfectly recollected this; and this -explanation is more honourable to him than that which ascribes his -silence to weakness or to cunning. - - [1077] Since the 13th of Nov. 1302, Raynold ad ann. Uterque ergo - gladius est in potestate ecclesiæ, spiritualis scilicet et materialis. - Both the one sword, and the other therefore, is, in the power of the - church, the spiritual undoubtedly and the material also. - - [1078] Cavendish, p. 276. - -The cardinal was pronounced guilty, and the court passed judgment, -that by the statute of _præmunire_ his property was forfeited, and -that he might be taken before the king in council. England, by -sacrificing a churchman who had placed himself above kings, gave a -memorable example of her inflexible opposition to the encroachments of -the papacy. Wolsey was confounded, and his troubled imagination -conjured up nothing but perils on every side. - -While More was lending himself to the condemnation of his predecessor, -whose friend he had been, another layman of still humbler origin was -preparing to defend the cardinal, and by that very act to become the -appointed instrument to throw down the convents in England, and to -shatter the secular bonds which united this country to the Roman -pontiff. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL'S RESOLUTION.] - -On the 1st of November, two days after Wolsey's condemnation, one of -his officers, with a prayer-book in his hand, was leaning against the -window in the great hall, apparently absorbed in his devotions. -"Good-morrow," said Cavendish as he passed him, on his way to the -cardinal for his usual morning duties. The person thus addressed -raided his head, and the gentleman-usher, seeing that his eyes were -filled with tears, asked him: "Master Cromwell, is my lord in any -danger?"--"I think not," replied Cromwell, "but it is hard to lose in -a moment the labour of a life." In his master's fall Cromwell -foreboded his own. Cavendish endeavoured to console him. "God willing, -this is my resolution," replied Wolsey's ambitious solicitor; "I -intend this afternoon, as soon as my lord has dined, to ride to -London, and so go to court, where I will either make or mar before I -come back again."[1079] At this moment Cavendish was summoned, and he -entered the cardinal's chamber. - - [1079] Cavendish, p. 280. - -Cromwell, devoured by ambition, had clung to Wolsey's robe in order to -attain power; but Wolsey had fallen, and the solicitor, dragged along -with him, strove to reach by other means the object of his desires. -Cromwell was one of those earnest and vigorous men whom God prepares -for critical times. Blessed with a solid judgment and intrepid -firmness, he possessed a quality rare in every age, and particularly -under Henry VIII,--fidelity in misfortune. The ability by which he was -distinguished was not at all times without reproach: success seems to -have been his first thought. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL'S INTERVIEW WITH HENRY.] - -After dinner Cromwell followed Wolsey into his private room: "My lord, -permit me to go to London, I will endeavour to save you." A gleam -passed over the cardinal's saddened features.--"Leave the room," he -said to his attendants. He then had a long private conversation with -Cromwell,[1080] at the end of which the latter mounted his horse and -set out for the capital, riding to the assault of power with the same -activity as he had marched to the attack of Rome. He did not hide from -himself that it would be difficult to procure access to the king; for -certain ecclesiastics, jealous of Wolsey, had spoken against his -solicitor at the time of the secularization of the convents, and Henry -could not endure him. But Cromwell knew that fortune favours the bold, -and, carried away by his ambitious dreams, he galloped on, saying to -himself: "One foot in the stirrup, and my fortune is made!" - - [1080] Long communication with my lord in secret. Ibid. p. 270. - -Sir Christopher Hales, a zealous Roman-catholic, entertained a sincere -friendship for him; and to this friend Cromwell applied. Hales -proceeded immediately to the palace (2nd November), where he found a -numerous company talking about the cardinal's ruin. "There was one of -his officers," said Hales, "who would serve your majesty well."--"Who -is he?" asked Henry.--"Cromwell."--"Do not speak to me of that man, I -hate him," replied the king angrily;[1081] and upon that all the -courtiers chimed in with his majesty's opinion. This opening was not -very encouraging; but Lord Russell, earl of Bedford, advancing to the -midst of the group around the king, said boldly:[1082] "Permit me, -Sir, to defend a man to whom I am indebted for my life. When you sent -me privately into Italy, your majesty's enemies, having discovered me -at Bologna, would have put me to death, had not Thomas Cromwell saved -me. Sir, since you have now to do with the pope, there is no man (I -think) in all England who will be fitter for your purpose."--"Indeed!" -said the king; and after a little reflection, he said to Hales: "Very -well then, let your client meet me in Whitehall gardens." The -courtiers and the priests withdrew in great discomfiture. - - [1081] The king began to detest the mention of him. Foxe, v. p. 368. - - [1082] In a vehement boldness. Ibid. p. 367. - -[Sidenote: LIBERTY SHOULD BE RESTORED TO THE CHURCH.] - -The interview took place the same day at the appointed spot. "Sir," -said Cromwell to his majesty, "the pope refuses your divorce.... But -why do you ask his consent? Every Englishman is master in his own -house, and why should not you be so in England? Ought a foreign -prelate to share your power with you? It is true, the bishops make -oath to your majesty, but they make another to the pope immediately -after, which absolves them from the former. Sir, you are but half a -king, and we are but half your subjects.[1083] This kingdom is a -two-headed monster. Will you bear with such an anomaly any longer? -What! are you not living in an age when Frederick the Wise and other -German princes have thrown off the yoke of Rome? Do likewise; become -once more a king; govern your kingdom in concert with your lords and -commons. Henceforward let Englishmen alone have any thing to say in -England; let not your subjects' money be cast any more into the -yawning gulf of the Tiber; instead of imposing new taxes on the -nation, convert to the general good those treasures which have -hitherto only served to fatten proud priests and lazy friars. Now is -the moment for action. Rely upon your parliament; proclaim yourself -the head of the church in England. Then shall you see an increase of -glory to your name, and of prosperity to your people." - - [1083] Foxe, v. p. 367. See also Apol. Regin. Poli ad Car. i. p. 120, - 121. - -Never before had such language been addressed to a king of England. It -was not only on account of the divorce that it was necessary to break -with Rome; it was, in Cromwell's view, on account of the independence, -glory, and prosperity of the monarchy. These considerations appeared -more important to Henry than those which had hitherto been laid before -him; none of the kings of England had been so well placed as he was to -understand them. When a Tudor had succeeded to the Saxon, Norman, and -Plantagenet kings, a man of the free race of the Celts had taken on -the throne of England the place of princes submissive to the Roman -pontiffs. The ancient British church, independent of the papacy, was -about to rise again with this new dynasty, and the Celtic race, after -eleven centuries of humiliation, to recover its ancient heritage. -Undoubtedly, Henry had no recollections of this kind; but he worked in -conformity with the peculiar character of his race, without being -aware of the instinct which compelled him to act. He felt that a -sovereign, who submits to the pope, becomes, like King John, his -vassal; and now, after having been the second in his realm, he desired -to be the first. - -The king reflected on what Cromwell had said; astonished and -surprised, he sought to understand the new position which his bold -adviser had made for him. "Your proposal pleases me much," he said; -"but can you prove what you assert?" "Certainly," replied this able -politician; "I have with me a copy of the oath the bishops make to the -Roman pontiff." With these words he drew a paper from his pocket, and -placed the oath before the king's eyes. Henry, jealous of his -authority even to despotism, was filled with indignation, and felt the -necessity of bringing down that foreign authority which dared dispute -the power with him, even in his own kingdom. He drew off his ring and -gave it to Cromwell, declaring that he took him into his service, and -soon after made him a member of his privy-council. England, we may -say, was now virtually emancipated from the papacy. - -Cromwell had laid the first foundations of his greatness. He had -remarked the path his master had followed, and which had led to his -ruin,--complicity with the pope; and he hoped to succeed by following -the contrary course, namely, by opposing the papacy. He had the king's -support, but he wanted more. Possessing a clear and easy style of -eloquence, he saw what influence a seat in the great council of the -nation would give him. It was somewhat late, for the session began on -the next day (3rd November), but to Cromwell nothing was impossible. -The son of his friend, Sir Thomas Rush, had been returned to -parliament; but the young member resigned his seat, and Cromwell was -elected in his place. - -[Sidenote: MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.] - -Parliament had not met for seven years, the kingdom having been -governed by a prince of the Roman church. The reformation of the -church, whose regenerating influence began to be felt already, was -about to restore to the nation those ancient liberties of which a -cardinal had robbed it; and Henry being on the point of taking very -important resolutions, felt the necessity of drawing nearer to his -people. Everything betokened that a good feeling would prevail between -the parliament and the crown, and that "the priests would have a -terrible fright."[1084] - - [1084] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 378, 380. - -While Henry was preparing to attack the Roman church in the papal -supremacy, the commons were getting ready to war against the numerous -abuses with which it had covered England. "Some even thought," says -Tyndale, "that this assembly would reform the church, and that the -golden age would come again."[1085] But it was not from acts of -parliament that the Reformation was destined to proceed, but solely -from the word of God. And yet the commons, without touching upon -doctrine, were going to do their duty manfully in things within the -province, and the parliament of 1529 may be regarded (Lord Herbert of -Cherbury observes) as the first protestant parliament of -England.[1086] "The bishops require excessive fines for the probates -of wills," said Tyndale's old friend, Sir Henry Guilford. "As -testamentary executor to Sir William Compton I had to pay a thousand -marks sterling."--"The spiritual men," said another member, "would -rather see the poor orphans die of hunger than give them the lean -cow, the only thing their father left them."[1087]--"Priests," said -another, "have farms, tanneries, and warehouses, all over the country. -In short, the clerks take everything from their flocks, and not only -give them nothing, but even deny them the word of God." - - [1085] Works, i. p. 481. - - [1086] It was the first step, a great and bold sally towards that - Reformation. Herbert, p. 320. - - [1087] Rather than give to them the silly cow, if he had but only one. - Foxe, iv. p. 611. - -The clergy were in utter consternation. The power of the nation seemed -to awaken in this parliament for the sole purpose of attacking the -power of the priest. It was important to ward off these blows. The -convocation of the province of Canterbury, assembling at Westminster -on the 5th of November, thought it their duty, in self-defence, to -reform the most crying abuses. It was therefore decreed, on the 12th -of November, that the priests should no longer keep shops or taverns, -play at dice or other forbidden games, pass the night in suspected -places, be present at disreputable shows,[1088] go about with sporting -dogs, or with hawks, falcons, or other birds of prey, on their -fist;[1089] or, finally, hold suspicious intercourse with women.[1090] -Penalties were denounced against these various disorders; they were -doubled in case of adultery; and still further increased in the case -of more abominable impurities.[1091] Such were the laws rendered -necessary by the manners of the clergy. - - [1088] Quod non exerceant tabernas, nec ludant taxillis vel aliis - ludis prohibitis; quod non pernoctent in locis suspectis quod non - intersint inhonestis spectaculis, etc. Convocatio prælatorum. Wilkins, - Concilia, iii. p. 717. - - [1089] Canes venaticos loris ducere ac accipitres manibus. Ibid, p. - 723. - - [1090] Mulierum colloquia suspecta nullatenus habeant. Ibid. p. 722. - - [1091] Et in cæteris carnis spurcitiis poena crescat. Ibid. p. 721. - -[Sidenote: THREE BILLS OF REFORM.] - -These measures did not satisfy the commons. Three bills were -introduced having reference to the fees on the probate of wills, -mortuaries, pluralities, non-residence, and the exercise of secular -professions. "The destruction of the church is aimed at," exclaimed -Bishop Fisher, when these bills were carried to the lords, "and if the -church falls, the glory of the kingdom will perish. Lutheranism is -making great progress amongst us, and the savage cry that has already -echoed in Bohemia, _Down with the church_, is now uttered by the -commons.... How does that come about? Solely from want of faith.--My -lords, save your country! save the church!" Sir Thomas Audley, the -speaker, with a deputation of thirty members, immediately went to -Whitehall. "Sir," they said to the king, "we are accused of being -without faith, and of being almost as bad as the _Turks_. We demand an -apology for such offensive language." Fisher pretended that he only -meant to speak of the _Bohemians_; and the commons, by no means -satisfied, zealously went on with their reforms. - -These the king was resolved to concede; but he determined to take -advantage of them to present a bill making over to him all the money -borrowed of his subjects. John Petit, one of the members for the city, -boldly opposed this demand. "I do not know other persons' affairs," he -said, "and I cannot give what does not belong to me. But as regards -myself personally, I give without reserve all that I have lent the -king." The royal bill passed, and the satisfied Henry gave his consent -to the bills of the commons. Every dispensation coming from Rome, -which might be contrary to the statutes, was strictly forbidden. The -bishops exclaimed that the commons were becoming schismatical; -disturbances were excited by certain priests; but the clerical -agitators were punished, and the people, when they heard of it, were -delighted beyond measure. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - The last hour--More's Fanaticism--Debates in - Convocation--Royal Proclamation--The Bishop of - Norwich--Sentences condemned--Latimer's Opposition--The New - Testament burnt--The Persecution - begins--Hitton--Bayfield--Tonstall and Packington--Bayfield - arrested--The Rector Patmore--Lollards' Tower--Tyndale and - Patmore--a Musician--Freese the Painter--Placards and - Martyrdom of Bennet--Thomas More and John Petit--Bilney. - - -The moment when Henry aimed his first blows at Rome was also that in -which he began to shed the blood of the disciples of the gospel. -Although ready to throw off the authority of the pope, he would not -recognise the authority of Christ: obedience to the Scriptures is, -however, the very soul of the Reformation. - -[Sidenote: JOY OF THE BELIEVERS.] - -The king's contest with Rome had filled the friends of Scripture with -hope. The artisans and tradesmen, particularly those who lived near -the sea, were almost wholly won over to the gospel. "The king is one -of us," they used to boast; "he wishes his subjects to read the New -Testament. Our faith, which is the true one, will circulate through -the kingdom, and by Michaelmas next those who believe as we do will be -more numerous than those of a contrary opinion. We are ready, if needs -be; to die in the struggle."[1092] This was indeed to be the fate of -many. - - [1092] The bishop of Norwich to Primate Warham, 14th May 1530, Cotton - MSS. Cleopatra. E. v. folio 360; Bible Annals. i. p. 256. - -[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE CLERGY--THE BISHOP'S DEMAND.] - -Language such as this aroused the clergy: "The last hour has come," -said Stokesley, who had been raised to the See of London after -Tonstall's translation to Durham; "if we would not have Luther's -heresy pervade the whole of England, we must hasten to throw it in the -sea." Henry was fully disposed to do so; but as he was not on very -good terms with the clergy, a man was wanted to serve as mediator -between him and the bishops. He was soon found. - -Sir Thomas More's noble understanding was then passing from ascetic -practices to fanaticism, and the humanist turning into an inquisitor. -In his opinion, the burning of heretics was just and necessary.[1093] -He has even been reproached with binding evangelical Christians to a -tree in his garden, which he called "the tree of truth," and of having -flogged them with his own hand.[1094] More has declared that he never -gave "stripe nor stroke, nor so much as a fillip on the forehead," to -any of his religious adversaries;[1095] and we willingly credit his -denial. All must be pleased to think that if the author of the -_Utopia_ was a severe judge, the hand which held one of the most -famous pens of the sixteenth century never discharged the duties of an -executioner. - - [1093] More's Works; A Dialogue concerning Heresies, p. 274. - - [1094] Strype's Mem. vol. i. p. 315; Foxe, iv. p. 638. - - [1095] Apology. ch. xxxvi, p. 901, 904. - -The bishops led the attack. "We must clear the Lord's field of the -thorns which choke it," said the archbishop of Canterbury to -Convocation on the 29th of November 1529; immediately after which the -bishop of Bath read to his colleagues the list of books that he -desired to have condemned. There were a number of works by Tyndale, -Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle, OEcolampadius, Pomeranus, Brentius, Bucer, -Jonas, Francis Lambert, Fryth, and Fish.[1096] The Bible in particular -was set down. "It is impossible to translate the Scripture into -English," said one of the prelates.[1097]--"It is not lawful for the -laity to read it in their mother tongue," said another.--"If you -tolerate the Bible," added a third, "you will make us all -heretics."--"By circulating the Scriptures," exclaimed several, "you -will raise up the nation against the king." Sir T. More laid the -bishops' petition before the king, and some time after, Henry gave -orders by proclamation, that "no one should preach, or write any book, -or keep any school without his bishop's license;--that no one should -keep any heretical book in his house;--that the bishops should detain -the offenders in prison at their discretion, and then proceed to the -execution of the guilty;--and, finally, that the chancellor, the -justices of the peace, and other magistrates, should aid and assist -the bishops."[1098] Such was the cruel proclamation of Henry VIII, -"the _father_ of the English Reformation." - - [1096] See the catalogue in Wilkins, Concilia, p. 713 to 720. Wilkins - is of opinion (p. 717, note) that this document belongs to the year - 1529. There are, however, some portions of these statuta which have - evident reference to the year following. - - [1097] Tyndale's Works, i, p. 1. - - [1098] Foxe, iv. pp. 677, 678. - -The clergy were not yet satisfied. The blind and octogenarian bishop -of Norwich, being more ardent than the youngest of his priests, -recommenced his complaints. "My diocese is _accumbered_ with such as -read the Bible," said he to the archbishop of Canterbury, "and there -is not a clerk from Cambridge but _savoureth of the frying-pan_. If -this continues any time, they will undo us all. We must have greater -authority to punish them than we have." - -Consequently, on the 24th of May 1530, More, Warham, Tonstall, and -Gardiner, having been admitted into St. Edward's chamber at -Westminster, to make a report to the king concerning heresy, they -proposed forbidding, in the most positive manner, the New Testament -and certain other books in which the following doctrines were taught: -"That Christ has shed his blood for our iniquities, as a sacrifice to -the Father.--Faith only doth justify us.--Faith without good works is -no little or weak faith, it is no faith.--Labouring in good works to -come to heaven, thou dost shame Christ's blood."[1099] - - [1099] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. pp. 728-731. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER SEEKS CHRIST'S VOICE.] - -Whilst nearly every one in the audience-chamber supported the prayer -of the petition, there were three or four doctors who kept silence. At -last one of them, it was Latimer, opposed the proposition. Bilney's -friend was more decided than ever to listen to no other voice than -God's. "Christ's sheep hear no man's voice but Christ's," he answered -Dr. Redman, who had called upon him to submit to the church; "trouble -me no more from the talking with the Lord my God."[1100] The church, -in Latimer's opinion, presumed to set up its own voice in the place of -Christ's, and the Reformation did the contrary; this was his -abridgement of the controversy. Being called upon to preach during -Christmas tide, he had censured his hearers because they celebrated -that festival by playing at cards, like mere worldlings, and then -proceeded to lay before their eyes Christ's _cards_, that is to say, -his laws.[1101] Being placed on the Cambridge commission to examine -into the question of the king's marriage, he had conciliated the -esteem of Henry's deputy, Doctor Butts, the court physician, who had -presented him to his master, by whose orders he preached at Windsor. - - [1100] Latimer's Remains, p. 297. - - [1101] Latimer's Sermons p. 8. - -Henry felt disposed at first to yield something to Latimer. "Many of -my subjects," said he to the prelates assembled in St. Edward's hall, -"think that it is my duty to cause the Scriptures to be translated and -given to the people." The discussion immediately began between the two -parties;[1102] and Latimer concluded by asking "that the Bible should -be permitted to circulate freely in English."[1103]--"But the most -part overcame the better," he tells us.[1104] Henry declared that the -teaching of the priests was sufficient for the people, and was content -to add, "that he would give the Bible to his subjects when they -renounced the arrogant pretension of interpreting it according to -their own fancies."--"Shun these books," cried the priests from the -pulpit, "detest them, keep them not in your hands, deliver them up to -your superiors.[1105] Or, if you do not, your prince, who has received -from God the sword of justice, will use it to punish you." Rome had -every reason to be satisfied with Henry VIII. Tonstall, who still kept -under lock and key the Testaments purchased at Antwerp through -Packington's assistance, had them carried to St. Paul's Churchyard, -where they were publicly burnt. The spectators retired shaking the -head, and saying: "The teaching of the priests and of Scriptures must -be in contradiction to each other, since the priests destroy them." -Latimer did more: "You have promised us the word of God," he wrote -courageously to the king, "perform your promise now rather than -to-morrow! The day is at hand when you shall give an account of your -office, and of the blood that hath been shed with your sword."[1106] -Latimer well knew that by such language he hazarded his life; but that -he was ready to sacrifice, as he tells us himself.[1107] - - [1102] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 736. - - [1103] Latimer's Remains, p. 305. - - [1104] Ibid. - - [1105] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p.736. - - [1106] Latimer's Remains, p. 308. - - [1107] I had rather suffer extreme punishment. Ibid. p. 298. - -[Sidenote: THE PERSECUTION BEGINS.] - -Persecution soon came. Just as the sun appeared to be rising on the -Reformation, the storm burst forth. "There was not a stone the bishops -left unremoved," says the chronicler, "any corner unsearched, for the -diligent execution of the king's proclamation; whereupon ensued a -grievous persecution and slaughter of the faithful."[1108] - - [1108] Foxe, iv. p. 679. - -Thomas Hitton, a poor and pious minister of Kent, used to go -frequently to Antwerp to purchase New Testaments. As he was returning -from one of these expeditions, in 1529, the bishop of Rochester caused -him to be arrested at Gravesend, and put to the cruelest tortures, to -make him deny his faith.[1109] But the martyr repeated with holy -enthusiasm: "Salvation cometh by faith and not by works, and Christ -giveth it to whomsoever he willeth."[1110] On the 20th of February -1530, he was tied to the stake and there burnt to death.[1111] - - [1109] Dieted and tormented him secretly. Tyndale's Works, vol. i. p. - 485. - - [1110] For the constant and manifest testimony of Jesus Christ and of - his free grace and salvation. Foxe, vol. iv. p. 619. - - [1111] The bishops murdered him most cruelly. Tyndale, vol i. p. 485. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD IMPORTS THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -Scarcely were Hitton's sufferings ended for bringing the Scriptures -into England, when a vessel laden with New Testaments arrived at -Colchester. The indefatigable Bayfield, who accompanied these books, -sold them in London, went back to the continent, and returned to -England in November; but this time the Scriptures fell into the hands -of Sir Thomas More. Bayfield, undismayed, again visited the Low -Countries, and soon reappeared, bringing with him the New Testament -and the works of almost all the Reformers. "How cometh it that there -are so many New Testaments from abroad?" asked Tonstall of Packington; -"you promised me that you would buy them all."--"They have printed -more since," replied the wily merchant; "and it will never be better -so long as they have letters and stamps [types and dies]. My lord, you -had better buy the stamps too, and so you shall be sure."[1112] - - [1112] Foxe, vol. iv. p. 670. - -Instead of the stamps, the priests sought after Bayfield. The bishop -of London could not endure this godly man. Having one day asked -Bainham (who afterwards suffered martyrdom) whether he knew _a single -individual_ who, since the days of the apostles, had lived according -to the true faith in Jesus Christ, the latter answered: "Yes, I know -Bayfield."[1113] Being tracked from place to place, he fled from the -house of his pious hostess, and hid himself at his binder's, where he -was discovered, and thrown into the Lollard's tower.[1114] - - [1113] Ibid. p. 699. - - [1114] Ibid. p. 681. - -As he entered the prison, Bayfield noticed a priest named Patmore, -pale, weakened by suffering, and ready to sink under the ill-treatment -of his jailers. Patmore, won over by Bayfield's piety, soon opened his -heart to him. When rector of Haddam, he had found the truth in -Wickliffe's writings. "They have burnt his bones," he said, "but from -his ashes shall burst forth a well-spring of life."[1115] Delighting -in good works, he used to fill his granaries with wheat, and when the -markets were high, he would send his corn to them in such abundance as -to bring down the prices.[1116] "It is contrary to the law of God to -burn heretics," he said; and growing bolder, he added: "I care no more -for the pope's curse than for a bundle of hay."[1117] - - [1115] Ibid vol. v. p. 34. - - [1116] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 681. - - [1117] Ibid. - -His curate, Simon Smith, unwilling to imitate the disorderly lives of -the priests, and finding Joan Bennore, the rector's servant, to be a -discreet and pious person, desired to marry her. "God," said Patmore, -"has declared marriage lawful for _all men_; and accordingly it is -permitted to the priests in foreign parts."[1118] The rector alluded -to Wittemberg, where he had visited Luther. After his marriage Smith -and his wife quitted England for a season, and Patmore accompanied -them as far as London. - - [1118] Yet it was in other countries beyond sea. Foxe, vol iv. p. 681. - -The news of this marriage of a priest--a fact without precedent in -England--made Stokesley throw Patmore into the Lollards' tower, and -although he was ill, neither fire, light, nor any other comfort was -granted him. The bishop and his vicar-general visited him alone in his -prison, and endeavoured by their threats to make him deny his faith. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD IN THE COAL-CELLAR.] - -It was during these circumstances that Bayfield was thrust into the -tower. By his Christian words he revived Patmore's languishing -faith,[1119] and the latter complained to the king that the bishop of -London prevented his feeding the flock which God had committed to his -charge. Stokesley, comprehending whence Patmore derived his new -courage,[1120] removed Bayfield from the Lollards' tower, and shut him -up in the coal-house, where he was fastened upright to the wall by the -neck, middle, and legs.[1121] The unfortunate gospeller of Bury passed -his time in continual darkness, never lying down, never seated, but -nailed as it were to the wall, and never hearing the sound of human -voice. We shall see him hereafter issuing from this horrible prison to -die on the scaffold. - - [1119] Confirmed by him in the doctrine. Ibid. - - [1120] Ibid. - - [1121] Ibid. - -Patmore was not the only one in his family who suffered persecution; -he had in London a brother named Thomas, a friend of John Tyndale, the -younger brother of the celebrated reformer. Thomas had said that the -truth of Scripture was at last reappearing in the world, after being -hidden for many ages;[1122] and John Tyndale had sent five marks to -his brother William, and received letters from him. Moreover, the two -friends (who were both tradesmen) had distributed a great number of -Testaments and other works. But their faith was not deeply rooted, and -it was more out of sympathy for their brothers that they had believed; -accordingly, Stokesley so completely entangled them, that they -confessed their "crime." More, delighted at the opportunity which -offered to cover the name of Tyndale with shame, was not satisfied -with condemning the two friends to pay a fine of £100 each; he -invented a new disgrace. He sewed on their dress some sheets of the -New Testament which they had circulated, placed the two penitents on -horseback with their faces towards the tail, and thus paraded them -through the streets of London, exposed to the jeers and laughter of -the populace. In this, More succeeded better than in his refutation of -the reformer's writings. - - [1122] Ibid. vol. v. p. 34. - -[Sidenote: EDWARD FREESE GOES MAD.] - -From that time the persecution became more violent. Husbandmen, -artists, tradespeople, and even noblemen, felt the cruel fangs of the -clergy and of Sir Thomas More. They sent to jail a pious musician who -used to wander from town to town, singing to his harp a hymn in -commendation of Martin Luther and of the Reformation.[1123] A painter, -named Edward Freese, a young man of ready wit, having been engaged to -paint some hangings in a house, wrote on the borders certain sentences -of the Scripture. For this he was seized and taken to the bishop of -London's palace at Fulham, and there imprisoned, where his chief -nourishment was bread made out of sawdust.[1124] His poor wife, who -was pregnant, went down to Fulham to see her husband; but the bishop's -porter had orders to admit no one, and the brute gave her so violent a -kick, as to kill her unborn infant, and cause the mother's death not -long after. The unhappy Freese was removed to the Lollards' tower, -where he was put into chains, his hands only being left free. With -these he took a piece of coal, and wrote some pious sentences on the -wall: upon this he was manacled; but his wrists were so severely -pinched, that the flesh grew up higher than the irons. His intellect -became disturbed; his hair in wild disorder soon covered his face, -through which his eyes glared fierce and haggard. The want of proper -food, bad treatment, his wife's death, and his lengthened -imprisonment, entirely undermined his reason. When brought to St. -Paul's, he was kept three days without meat; and when he appeared -before the consistory the poor prisoner, silent and scarce able to -stand, looked around and gazed upon the spectators, "like a wild man." -The examination was begun, but to every question put to him Freese -made the same answer: "My Lord is a good man." They could get nothing -from him but this affecting reply. Alas! the light shone no more upon -his understanding, but the love of Jesus was still in his heart. He -was sent back to Bearsy Abbey, where he did not remain long; but he -never entirely recovered his reason.[1125] Henry VIII and his priests -inflicted punishments still more cruel even than the stake. - - [1123] His name was Robert Lambe. Foxe, vol. v. p. 34. - - [1124] Fed with fine manchet made of sawdust, or at least a great part - thereof. Ibid. iv. p. 625. - - [1125] Foxe, iv, p. 695. - -[Sidenote: AGITATION IN EXETER.] - -Terror began to spread far and wide. The most active evangelists had -been compelled to flee to a foreign land; some of the most godly were -in prison; and among those in high station there were many, and -perhaps Latimer was one, who seemed willing to shelter themselves -under an exaggerated moderation. But just as the persecution in London -had succeeded in silencing the most timid, other voices more -courageous were raised in the provinces. The city of Exeter was at -that time in great agitation; placards had been discovered on the -gates of the cathedral containing some of the principles "of the new -doctrine." While the mayor and his officers were seeking after the -author of these "blasphemies," the bishop and all his doctors, "as hot -as coals," says the chronicler,[1126] were preaching in the most fiery -style. On the following Sunday, during the sermon, two men who had -been the busiest of all the city in searching for the author of the -bills, were struck by the appearance of a person seated near them. -"Surely, this fellow is the heretic," they said. But their neighbour's -devotion, for he did not take his eyes off his book, quite put them -out; they did not perceive that he was reading the New Testament in -Latin. - - [1126] Ibid. v. p. 19. - -This man, Thomas Bennet, was indeed the offender. Being converted at -Cambridge by the preaching of Bilney, whose friend he was, he had gone -to Torrington for fear of the persecution, and thence to Exeter, and -after marrying to avoid unchastity (as he says)[1127] he became -schoolmaster. Quiet, humble, courteous to every body, and somewhat -timid, Bennet had lived six years in that city without his faith being -discovered. At last his conscience being awakened he resolved to -fasten by night to the cathedral gates certain evangelical placards. -"Every body will read the writing," he thought, "and nobody will know -the writer." He did as he had proposed. - - [1127] Ut ne scortator aut immundus essem, uxorem duxi. Foxe, v. p. - 19. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT CURSE.] - -Not long after the Sunday on which he had been so nearly discovered, -the priests prepared a great pageant, and made ready to pronounce -against the unknown heretic the great curse "with book, bell, and -candle." The cathedral was crowded, and Bennet himself was among the -spectators. In the middle stood a great cross on which lighted tapers -were placed, and around it were gathered all the Franciscans and -Dominicans of Exeter. One of the priests having delivered a sermon on -the words: _There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O -Israel_,[1128] the bishop drew near the cross and pronounced the curse -against the offender. He took one of the tapers and said: "Let the -soul of the unknown heretic, if he be dead already, be quenched this -night in the pains of hell-fire, as this candle is now quenched and -put out;" and with that he put out the candle. Then, taking off a -second, he continued: "and let us pray to God, if he be yet alive, -that his eyes be put out, and that all the senses of his body may fail -him, as now the light of this candle is gone;" extinguishing the -second candle. After this, one of the priests went up to the cross and -struck it, when the noise it made in falling re-echoing along the -roof, so frightened the spectators that they uttered a shriek of -terror, and held up their hands to heaven, as if to pray that the -divine curse might not fall on them. Bennet, a witness of this comedy, -could not forbear smiling. "What are you laughing at?" asked his -neighbours; "here is the heretic, here is the heretic, hold him fast." -This created great confusion among the crowd, some shouting, some -clapping their hands, others running to and fro; but, owing to the -tumult, Bennet succeeded in making his escape. - - [1128] Joshua, vii. 12. - -The excommunication did but increase his desire to attack the Romish -superstitions; and accordingly, before five o'clock the next morning -(it was in the month of October 1530,) his servant-boy fastened up -again by his orders on the cathedral gates some placards similar to -those which had been torn down. It chanced that a citizen going to -early mass saw the boy, and running up to him, caught hold of him and -pulled down the papers; and then dragging the boy with the one hand, -and with the placards in the other, he went to the mayor of the city. -Bennet's servant was recognised; his master was immediately arrested, -and put in the stocks, "with as much favour as a dog would find," says -Foxe. - -[Sidenote: BENNET'S MARTYRDOM.] - -Exeter seemed determined to make itself the champion of sacerdotalism -in England. For a whole week, not only the bishop, but all the priests -and friars of the city, visited Bennet night and day. But they tried -in vain to prove to him that the Roman church, was the true one. "God -has given me grace to be of a better church," he said.--"Do you not -know that ours is built upon St. Peter?"--"The church that is built -upon a man," he replied, "is the devil's church and not God's." His -cell was continually thronged with visitors; and, in default of -arguments, the most ignorant of the friars called the prisoner a -heretic, and spat upon him. At length they brought to him a learned -doctor of theology, who, they supposed, would infallibly convert him. -"Our ways are God's ways," said the doctor gravely. But he soon -discovered that theologians can do nothing against the word of the -Lord. "He only is my way," replied Bennet, "who saith, _I am the way, -the truth, and the life_. In his _way_ will I walk;--his _truth_ will -I embrace;--his everlasting _life_ will I seek." - -He was condemned to be burnt; and More having transmitted the order -_de comburendo_ with the utmost speed, the priests placed Bennet in -the hands of the sheriff on the 15th of January, 1531, by whom he was -conducted to the Livery-dole, a field without the city, where the -stake was prepared. When Bennet arrived at the place of execution, he -briefly exhorted the people, but with such unction, that the sheriff's -clerk, as he heard him, exclaimed: "Truly this is a servant of God." -Two persons, however, seemed unmoved: they were Thomas Carew and John -Barnehouse, both holding the station of gentlemen. Going up to the -martyr, they exclaimed in a threatening voice: "Say, _Precor sanctam -Mariam et omnes sanctos Dei_."--"I know no other advocate but Jesus -Christ," replied Bennet. Barnehouse was so enraged at these words, -that he took a furze-bush upon a pike, and setting it on fire, thrust -it into the martyr's face, exclaiming: "Accursed heretic, pray to our -Lady, or I will make you do it."--"Alas!" replied Bennet patiently, -"trouble me not;" and then holding up his hands, he prayed: "Father, -forgive them!" The executioners immediately set fire to the wood, and -the most fanatical of the spectators, both men and women, seized with -an indescribable fury, tore up stakes and bushes, and whatever they -could lay their hands on, and flung them all into the flames to -increase their violence. Bennet, lifting up his eyes to heaven, -exclaimed: "Lord, receive my spirit." Thus died, in the sixteenth -century, the disciples of the Reformation sacrificed by Henry VIII. - -[Sidenote: JOHN PETIT, M. P. FOR LONDON.] - -The priests, thanks to the king's sword, began to count on victory; -yet schoolmasters, musicians, tradesmen, and even ecclesiastics, were -not enough for them. They wanted nobler victims, and these were to be -looked for in London. More himself, accompanied by the lieutenant of -the Tower, searched many of the suspected houses.[1129] Few citizens -were more esteemed in London than John Petit, the same who, in the -house of commons, had so nobly resisted the king's demand about the -loan. Petit was learned in history and in Latin literature: he spoke -with eloquence, and for twenty years had worthily represented the -city. Whenever any important affair was debated in parliament, the -king, feeling uneasy, was in the habit of inquiring which side he -took? This political independence, very rare in Henry's parliaments, -gave umbrage to the prince and his ministers. Petit, the friend of -Bilney, Fryth, and Tyndale, had been one of the first in England to -taste the sweetness of God's word,[1130] and had immediately -manifested that beautiful characteristic by which the gospel-faith -makes itself known, namely, charity. He abounded in almsgiving, -supported a great number of poor preachers of the gospel in his own -country and beyond the seas; and whenever he noted down these generous -aids in his books, he wrote merely the words: "Lent unto -Christ."[1131] He, moreover, forbade his testamentary executors to -call in these debts. - - [1129] Strype, i, p. 312. - - [1130] Strype, i, p. 312. - - [1131] Ibid. p. 314. - -Petit was tranquilly enjoying the sweets of domestic life in his -modest home in the society of his wife and two daughters, Blanche and -Audrey, when he received an unexpected visit. One day, as he was -praying in his closet, a loud knock was heard at the street-door. His -wife ran to open it, but seeing Lord-chancellor More, she returned -hurriedly to her husband, and told him that the lord-chancellor wanted -him. More, who followed her, entered the closet, and with inquisitive -eye ran over the shelves of the library, but could find nothing -suspicious. Presently he made as if he would retire, and Petit -accompanied him. The chancellor stopped at the door and said to him: -"You assert that you have none of these new books?"--"You have seen my -library," replied Petit.--"I am informed, however," replied More, -"that you not only read them, but pay for the printing." And then he -added in a severe tone: "Follow the lieutenant." In spite of the tears -of his wife and daughters this independent member of parliament was -conducted to the Tower, and shut up in a damp dungeon where he had -nothing but straw to lie upon. His wife went thither each day in vain, -asking, with tears, permission to see him, or at least to send him a -bed. The jailors refused her every thing; and it was only when Petit -fell dangerously ill that the latter favour was granted him. This took -place in 1530, sentence was passed in 1531;[1132] we shall see Petit -again in his prison. He left it, indeed, but only to sink under the -cruel treatment he had there experienced. - - [1132] Ibid. p. 312. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY RECOVERS FROM HIS FALL.] - -Thus were the witnesses to the truth struck down by the priests, by -Sir Thomas More, and by Henry VIII. A new victim was to be the cause -of many tears. A meek and humble man, one dear to all the friends of -the gospel, and whom we may regard as the spiritual father of the -Reformation in England was on the point of mounting the burning pile -raised by his persecutors. Some time prior to Petit's appearance -before his judges, which took place in 1531, an unusual noise was -heard in the cell above him; it was Thomas Bilney whom they were -conducting to the Tower.[1133] We left him at the end of 1528, after -his fall. Bilney had returned to Cambridge tormented by remorse; his -friends in vain crowded round him by night and by day; they could not -console him, and even the Scriptures seemed to utter no voice but that -of condemnation.[1134] Fear made him tremble constantly, and he could -scarcely eat or drink. At length a heavenly and unexpected light -dawned in the heart of the fallen disciple; a witness whom he had -vexed--the Holy Spirit--spoke once more in his heart. Bilney fell at -the foot of the cross, shedding floods of tears, and there he found -peace. But the more God comforted him, the greater seemed his crime. -One only thought possessed him, that of giving his life for the truth. -He had shrunk from before the burning pile; its flames must now -consume him. Neither the weakness of his body, which his long anguish -had much increased, nor the cruelty of his enemies, nor his natural -timidity, nothing could stop him: he strove for the martyr's crown. At -ten o'clock one night, when every person in Trinity Hall was retiring -to rest, Bilney called his friends round him, reminded them of his -fall, and added: "You shall see me no more.... Do not stay me: my -decision is formed, and I shall carry it out. My face is set to go to -Jerusalem."[1135] Bilney repeated the words used by the evangelist, -when he describes Jesus going up to the city where he was to be put to -death. Having shaken hands with his brethren, this venerable man, the -foremost of the evangelists of England in order of time, left -Cambridge under cover of the night, and proceeded to Norfolk, to -confirm in the faith those who had believed, and to invite the -ignorant multitude to the Saviour. We shall not follow him in this -last and solemn ministry; these facts and others of the same kind -belong to a later date. Before the year 1531 closed in, Bilney, -Bainham, Bayfield, Tewkesbury, and many others, struck by Henry's -sword, sealed by their blood the testimony rendered by them to the -perfect grace of Christ. - - [1133] Strype, i, p. 313. - - [1134] He thought that all the while the Scriptures were against him. - Latimer's Sermons, p. 52. - - [1135] Foxe, iv. p. 642. See Luke ix, 51. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - Wolsey's Terror--Impeachment by the Peers--Cromwell saves - him--The Cardinal's Illness--Ambition returns to him--His - Practices in Yorkshire--He is arrested by - Northumberland--His departure--Arrival of the Constable of - the Tower--Wolsey at Leicester Abbey--Persecuting - Language--He dies--Three Movements: Supremacy Scripture, and - Faith. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TERROR.] - -While many pious Christians were languishing in the prisons of -England, the great antagonist of the Reformation was disappearing from -the stage of this world. We must return to Wolsey, who was still -detained at Esher.[1136] - - [1136] Burnet and some more modern historians are, in my opinion, - mistaken when they state that Wolsey was present in parliament at the - close of 1529. See State Papers, i. p. 347, 351. - -The cardinal, fallen from the summit of honours, was seized with those -panic-terrors usually felt after their disgrace by those who have made -a whole nation tremble, and he fancied an assassin lay hid behind -every door. "This very night," he wrote to Cromwell on one occasion, -"I was as one that should have died. If I might, I would not fail to -come on foot to you, rather than this my speaking with you shall be -put over and delayed. If the displeasure of my Lady Anne be somewhat -assuaged, as I pray God the same may be, then I pray you exert all -possible means of attaining her favour."[1137] - - [1137] State Papers, vol. 1. p. 351, mutilated by fire. - -In consequence of this, Cromwell hastened down to Esher two or three -days after taking his seat in parliament, and Wolsey, all trembling, -recounted his fears to him. "Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lady Anne perhaps, -desire my death.[1138] Did not Thomas a Becket, an archbishop like me, -stain the altar with his blood?"... Cromwell reassured him, and, moved -by the old man's fears, asked and obtained of Henry an order of -protection. - - [1138] Timebat sibi damnum et periculum de corpore suo per quosdam - suos æmulos. (Rymer, Foedera, p. 139.) He feared loss and bodily injury - at the hands of some of his rivals. - -[Sidenote: GRIEVANCES OF THE PEERS AGAINST WOLSEY.] - -Wolsey's enemies most certainly desired his death; but it was from the -justice of the three estates, and not by the assassin's dagger that -they sought it. The House of Peers authorized Sir Thomas More, the -dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and fourteen other lords, to impeach the -cardinal-legate of high treason. They forgot nothing: that haughty -formula, _Ego et rex meus_, I and my king, which Wolsey had often -employed; his infringement of the laws of the kingdom; his -monopolizing the church revenues; the crying injustice of which he had -been guilty,--as, for instance, in the case of Sir John Stanley, who -was sent to prison until he gave up a lease to the son of a woman who -had borne the cardinal two children; many families ruined to satisfy -his avarice; treaties concluded with foreign powers without the king's -order; his exactions, which had impoverished England; and the foul -diseases and infectious breath with which he had polluted his -majesty's presence.[1139] These were some of the forty-four grievances -presented by the peers to the king, and which Henry sent down to the -lower house for their consideration. - - [1139] Article vi. Herbert, p. 295. - -It was at first thought that nobody in the commons would undertake -Wolsey's defence, and it was generally expected that he would be given -up to the vengeance of the law (as the bill of impeachment prayed), -or, in other words, to the axe of the executioner. But one man stood -up, and prepared, though alone, to defend the cardinal: this was -Cromwell. The members asked of each other who the unknown man was; he -soon made himself known. His knowledge of facts, his familiarity with -the laws, the force of his eloquence, and the moderation of his -language, surprised the house. Wolsey's adversaries had hardly aimed a -blow before the defender had already parried it. If any charge was -brought forward to which he could not reply, he proposed an -adjournment until the next day, departed for Esher at the end of the -sitting, conferred with Wolsey, returned during the night, and next -morning reappeared in the commons with fresh arms. Cromwell carried -the house with him; the impeachment failed, and Wolsey's defender took -his station among the statesmen of England. This victory, one of the -greatest triumphs of parliamentary eloquence at that period, satisfied -both the ambition and the gratitude of Cromwell. He was now firmly -fixed in the king's favour, esteemed by the commons, and admired by -the people: circumstances which furnished him with the means of -bringing to a favourable conclusion the emancipation of the church of -England. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S PRESENT TO WOLSEY.] - -The ministry, composed of Wolsey's enemies, was annoyed at the -decision of the lower house, and appointed a commission to examine -into the matter. When the cardinal was informed of this he fell into -new terrors. He lost all appetite and desire of sleep,[1140] and a -fever attacked him at Christmas. "The cardinal will be dead in four -days," said his physician to Henry, "if he receives no comfort shortly -from you and Lady Anne."--"I would not loose him for twenty thousand -pounds," exclaimed the king. He desired to preserve Wolsey in case his -old minister's consummate ability should become necessary, which was -by no means unlikely. Henry gave the doctor his portrait in a ring, -and Anne, at the king's desire, added the tablet of gold that hung at -her girdle. The delighted cardinal placed the presents on his bed, and -as he gazed on them he felt his strength return. He was removed from -his miserable dwelling at Esher to the royal palace at Richmond; and -before long he was able to go into the park, where every night he read -his breviary. - - [1140] Cum prostratione appetitus et continuo insomnio. (Wolsey to - Gardiner; Cavendish, Appendix, p. 474.) With loss of appetite and - continual want of sleep. - -Ambition and hope returned with life. If the king desired to destroy -the papal power in England, could not the proud cardinal preserve it. -Might not Thomas Wolsey do under Henry VIII what Thomas a Becket had -done under Henry II. His see of York, the ignorance of the priests, -the superstition of the people, the discontent of the great,--all -would be of service to him; and indeed, six years later, 40,000 men -were under arms in a moment in Yorkshire to defend the cause of Rome. -Wolsey, strong in England by the support of the nation, (such, at -least was his opinion,) aided without by the pope and the continental -powers, might give the law to Henry and crush the Reformation. - -The king having permitted him to go to York, Wolsey prayed for an -increase to his archiepiscopal revenues, which amounted, however, to -four thousand pounds sterling.[1141] Henry granted him a thousand -marks, and the cardinal, shortly before Easter 1530, departed with a -train of 160 persons. He thought it was the beginning of his triumph. - - [1141] State Papers. vol. i. p. 354. - -Wolsey took up his abode at Cawood Castle, Yorkshire, one of his -archiepiscopal residences, and strove to win the affections of the -people. This prelate, once "the haughtiest of men," says George -Cavendish, the man who knew him and served him best, became quite a -pattern of affability. He kept an open table, distributed bounteous -alms at his gate, said mass in the village-churches, went and dined -with the neighbouring gentry, gave splendid entertainments, and wrote -to several princes imploring their help. We are assured that he even -requested the pope to excommunicate Henry VIII.[1142] All being thus -prepared, he thought he might make his solemn entry into York, -preparatory to his enthronization, which was fixed for Monday the 5th -of November. - - [1142] Hall, p. 773. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY IS ARRESTED BY NORTHUMBERLAND.] - -Every movement of his was known at court; every action was canvassed, -and its importance exaggerated. "We thought we had brought him down," -some said, "and here he is rising up again." Henry himself was -alarmed. "The cardinal, by his detestable intrigues," he said, "is -conspiring against my crown, and plotting both at home and abroad;" -the king even added, _where_ and _how_.[1143] Wolsey's destruction was -resolved upon. - - [1143] Cosi mi disse el Re, che contra de S. M. el machinava nel regno - e fuori, et m'a detto dove e come. Le Grand, Preuves. p. 529. - -The morning after All Saints day (Friday, 2nd November), the earl of -Northumberland, attended by a numerous escort, arrived at Cawood, -where the cardinal was still residing. He was the same Percy whose -affection for Anne Boleyn had been thwarted by Wolsey; and there may -have been design in Henry's choice. The cardinal eagerly moved forward -to meet this unexpected guest, and, impatient to know the object of -his mission, took him into his bedchamber, under the pretence of -changing his travelling dress.[1144] They both remained some time -standing at a window without uttering a word; the earl looked confused -and agitated, whilst Wolsey endeavoured to repress his emotion. But at -last, with a strong effort, Northumberland laid his hand upon the arm -of his former master, and with a low voice said: "My lord, I arrest -you for high treason." The cardinal remained speechless, as if -stunned. He was kept a prisoner in his room. - - [1144] And there you may shift your apparel. Cavendish, p. 347. - -It is doubtful whether Wolsey was guilty of the crime with which he -was charged. We may believe that he entertained the idea of some day -bringing about the triumph of the popedom in England, even should it -cause Henry's ruin; but perhaps this was all. But, an idea is not a -conspiracy, although it may rapidly expand into one. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY PREACHES PERSECUTION.] - -More than three thousand persons (attracted, not by hatred, like the -Londoners, when Wolsey departed from Whitehall, but by enthusiasm) -collected the next day before the castle to salute the cardinal. "God -save your grace!" they shouted on every side, and a numerous crowd -escorted him at night; some carried torches in their hands, and all -made the air re-echo with their cries. The unhappy prelate was -conducted to Sheffield Park, the residence of the earl of Shrewsbury. -Some days after his arrival, the faithful Cavendish ran to him, -exclaiming: "Good news, my lord! Sir William Kingston and twenty-four -of the guard are come to escort you to his majesty."--"Kingston!" -exclaimed the cardinal, turning pale, "Kingston!" and then, slapping -his hand on his thigh, he heaved a deep sigh. This news had crushed -his mind. One day a fortune-teller, whom he consulted, had told him: -"_you shall have your end at Kingston_;" and from that time the -cardinal had carefully avoided the town of Kingston-on-Thames. But now -he thought he understood the prophecy.... Kingston, constable of the -Tower, was about to cause his death. They left Sheffield Park; but -fright had given Wolsey his death-blow. Several times he was near -falling from his mule, and on the third day, when they reached -Leicester Abbey, he said as he entered: "Father abbot, I am come -hither to leave my bones among you;" and immediately took to his bed. -This was on Saturday the 26th of November. - -On Monday morning, tormented by gloomy forebodings, Wolsey asked what -was the time of day. "Past eight o'clock," replied Cavendish.--"That -cannot be," said the cardinal, "eight o'clock.... No! for by eight -o'clock you shall lose your master." At six on Tuesday, Kingston -having come to inquire about his health, Wolsey said to him: "I shall -not live long."--"Be of good cheer," rejoined the governor of the -Tower.--"Alas, Master Kingston", exclaimed the cardinal, "if I had -served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have -given me over in my gray hairs!" and then he added with downcast head: -"This is my just reward." What a judgment upon his own life! - -On the very threshold of eternity (for he had but a few minutes more -to live) the cardinal summoned up all his hatred against the -Reformation, and made a last effort. The persecution was too slow to -please him: "Master Kingston," he said, "attend to my last request: -tell the king that I conjure him in God's name to destroy this new -pernicious sect of Lutherans." And then, with astonishing presence of -mind in this his last hour, Wolsey described the misfortunes which the -Hussites had, in his opinion, brought upon Bohemia; and then, coming -to England, he recalled the times of Wickliffe and Sir John Oldcastle. -He grew animated; his dying eyes yet shot forth fiery glances. He -trembled lest Henry VIII, unfaithful to the pope, should hold out his -hand to the reformers. "Master Kingston," said he, in conclusion, "the -king should know that if he tolerates heresy, God will take away his -power, and we shall then have mischief upon mischief ... barrenness, -scarcity, and disorder to the utter destruction of this realm." - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S CHARACTER.] - -Wolsey was exhausted by the effort. After a momentary silence, he -resumed with a dying voice: "Master Kingston, farewell! My time -draweth on fast. Forget not what I have said and charged you withal; -for when I am dead ye shall peradventure understand my words better." -It was with difficulty he uttered these words; his tongue began to -falter, his eyes became fixed, his sight failed him; he breathed his -last. At the same minute the clock struck _eight_, and the attendants -standing round his bed looked at each other in affright. It was the -29th of November 1530. - -Thus died the man once so much feared. Power had been his idol: to -obtain it in the state, he had sacrificed the liberties of England; -and to win it or to preserve it in the church, he had fought against -the Reformation. If he encouraged the nobility in the luxuries and -pleasures of life, it was only to render them more supple and more -servile; if he supported learning, it was only that he might have a -clergy fitted to keep the laity in their leading-strings. Ambitious, -intriguing, and impure of life, he had been as zealous for the -sacerdotal prerogative as the austere Becket; and by a singular -contrast, a shirt of hair was found on the body of this voluptuous -man. The aim of his life had been to raise the papal power higher than -it had ever been before, at the very moment when the Reformation was -attempting to bring it down; and to take his seat on the pontifical -throne with more than the authority of a Hildebrand. Wolsey, as pope, -would have been the man of his age; and in the political world he -would have done for the Roman primacy what the celebrated Loyola did -for it soon after by his fanaticism. Obliged to renounce this idea, -worthy only of the middle ages, he had desired at least to save the -popedom in his own country; but here again he had failed. The pilot -who had stood in England at the helm of the Romish church was thrown -overboard, and the ship, left to itself, was about to founder. And -yet, even in death, he did not lose his courage. The last throbs of -his heart had called for victims; the last words from his failing -lips, the last message to his master, his last testament had been ... -Persecution. This testament was to be only too faithfully executed. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE.] - -The epoch of the fall and death of Cardinal Wolsey, which is the point -at which we halt, was not only important, because it ended the life of -a man who had presided over the destinies of England, and had -endeavoured to grasp the sceptre of the world, but it is of especial -consequence, because then three movements were accomplished, from -which the great transformation of the sixteenth century was to -proceed. Each of these movements has its characteristic result. - -The first is represented by Cromwell. The supremacy of the pope in -England was about to be wrested from him, as it was in all the -reformed churches. But a step further was taken in England. That -supremacy was transferred to the person of the king. Wolsey had -exercised as vicar-general a power till then unknown. Unable to become -pope at the Vatican, he had made himself a pope at Whitehall. Henry -had permitted his minister to raise his hierarchical throne by the -side of his own. But he had soon discovered that there ought not to be -two thrones in England, or at least not two kings. He had dethroned -Wolsey; and resolutely seating himself in his place, he was about to -assume at Whitehall that tiara which the ambitious prelate had -prepared for himself. Some persons, when they saw this, exclaimed, -that if the papal supremacy were abolished, that of the word of God -ought alone to be substituted. And, indeed, the true Reformation is -not to be found in this first movement. - -The second, which was essential to the renewal of the church, was -represented by Cranmer, and consisted particularly in re-establishing -the authority of holy Scripture. Wolsey did not fall alone, nor did -Cranmer rise alone: each of these two men carried with him the systems -he represented. The fabric of Roman traditions fell with the first; -the foundations of the holy Scriptures were laid by the second; and -yet, while we render all justice to the sincerity of the Cambridge -doctor, we must not be blind to his weaknesses, his subserviency, and -even a certain degree of negligence, which, by allowing parasitical -plants to shoot up here and there, permitted them to spread over the -living rock of God's word. Not in this movement, then, was found the -Reformation with all its energy and all its purity. - -The third movement was represented by the martyrs. When the church -takes a new life, it is fertilized by the blood of its confessors; and -being continually exposed to corruption, it has constant need to be -purified by suffering.[1145] Not in the palaces of Henry VIII, nor -even in the councils where the question of throwing off the papal -supremacy was discussed, must we look for the true children of the -Reformation; we must go to the Tower of London, to the Lollards' -tower of St. Paul's and of Lambeth, to the other prisons of England, -to the bishops' cellars, to the fetters, the stocks, the rack, and the -stake. The godly men who invoked the sole intercession of Christ -Jesus, the only head of his people, who wandered up and down, deprived -of every thing, gagged, scoffed at, scourged, and tortured, and who, -in the midst of all their tribulations, preserved their Christian -patience, and turned, like their Master, the eyes of their faith -towards Jerusalem:--these were the disciples of the Reformation in -England. The purest church is the church under the cross. - - [1145] 1 Peter iv, 17--Plerumque ecclesia est coetus exiguus sustinens - varias et iugentes ærumnas. (Melancthon, loci.) The church for the - most part is a small company, enduring various and great sufferings. - -[Sidenote: OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.] - -The father of this church in England was not Henry VIII. When the king -cast into prison or gave to the flames men like Hitton, Bennet, -Patmore, Petit, Bayfield, Bilney, and so many others, he was not "the -father of the Reformation of England," as some have so falsely -asserted; he was its executioner. - -The church of England was foredoomed to be in its renovation a church -of martyrs; and the true father of this church is our Father which is -in heaven. - - - END OF VOLUME V. - - GLASGOW: JAMES KAY, PRINTER. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained -except in obvious cases of typographical error. For example: both -Cochlæus and Cochloeus appear. - -Page 396: "understanding not only over her own sex"--The transcriber -has added the word "her". - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE -SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V*** - - -******* This file should be named 41484-8.txt or 41484-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/4/8/41484 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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H. Merle d'Aubigné</title> <style type="text/css"> @@ -234,27 +234,10 @@ div.fn { </style> </head> <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41484 ***</div> <h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V, by J. H. Merle d'Aubigné, Translated by H. White</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></p> -<p>Title: History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V</p> -<p> The Reformation in England</p> -<p>Author: J. H. Merle d'Aubigné</p> -<p>Release Date: November 25, 2012 [eBook #41484]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V***</p> <p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="http://archive.org">http://archive.org</a>)</h4> <p> </p> <table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> <tr> @@ -22865,360 +22848,6 @@ Page 396: "understanding not only over her own sex" The transcriber has added th <p> </p> <p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 41484-h.txt or 41484-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/4/8/41484">http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/4/8/41484</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed.</p> - -<p> -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V - The Reformation in England - - -Author: J. H. Merle d'Aubigné - - - -Release Date: November 25, 2012 [eBook #41484] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE -SIXTEENTH CENTURY, VOLUME V*** - - -E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 41484-h.htm or 41484-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41484/41484-h/41484-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41484/41484-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/historyofreforma05merluoft - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. - - The carat character (^) in 1^{ma.} indicates that the letters - following, enclosed in curly brackets, are superscripted. - - - - - -Collins's Select Library. - -HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. - -The Reformation in England. - -by - -J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNE, D.D., -President of the Theological School of Geneva, and Vice-President of the -Societe Evangelique. - -Translated by H. White, -B.A. Trinity College Cambridge, M.A. and Ph. Dr. Heidelberg. - -The Translation Carefully Revised by Dr. Merle d'Aubigne. - -Printed by Arrangement with Messrs. Oliver and Boyd, from the -Author's Own English Edition. - -VOL. V. - - - - - - - -Glasgow: -William Collins, Publisher & Queen's Printer. -1862. - - - - -PREFACE TO VOLUME FIFTH. - - -In the four previous volumes the author has described the origin and -essential development of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century on -the Continent; he has now to relate the history of the Reformation in -England. - -The notes will direct the reader to the principal sources whence the -author has derived his information. Most of them are well known; -others, however, had not been previously explored, among which are the -later volumes of the State Papers published by order of Government, by -a Commission of which the illustrious Sir Robert Peel was the first -president. Three successive Home Secretaries, Sir James Graham, Sir -George Grey, and the Honourable Mr. S. H. Walpole, have presented the -author with copies of the several volumes of this great and important -collection: in some instances they were communicated to him as soon as -printed, which was the case in particular with the seventh volume, of -which he has made much use. He takes this opportunity of expressing -his sincere gratitude to these noble friends of literature. - -The History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century was received -with cordiality on the Continent; but it has had a far greater number -of readers in the British dominions and in the United States. The -author looks upon the relations which this work has established -between him and many distant Christians, as a precious reward for his -labours. Will the present volume be received in those countries as -favourably as the others? A foreigner relating to the Anglo-Saxon race -the history of their Reformation is at a certain disadvantage; and -although the author would rather have referred his readers to works, -whether of old or recent date, by native writers, all of them more -competent for the task than himself, he did not think it becoming him -to shrink from the undertaking. - -At no period is it possible to omit the history of the Reformation in -England from a general history of the Reformation of the Sixteenth -Century; at the present crisis it is less possible than ever. - -In the first place, the English Reformation has been, and still is, -calumniated by writers of different parties, who look upon it as -nothing more than an external political transformation, and who thus -ignore its spiritual nature. History has taught the author that it was -essentially a religious transformation, and that we must seek for it -in men of faith, and not, as is usually done, solely in the caprices -of the prince, the ambition of the nobility, and the servility of the -prelates. A faithful recital of this great renovation will perhaps -show us that beyond and without the measures of Henry VIII there was -something--everything, so to speak--for therein was the essence of the -Reformation, that which makes it a divine and imperishable work. - -A second motive forced the author to acknowledge the necessity of a -true History of the English Reformation. An active party in the -Episcopalian Church is reviving with zeal, perseverance, and talent, -the principles of Roman-catholicism, and striving to impose them on -the Reformed Church of England, and incessantly attacking the -foundations of evangelical Christianity. A number of young men in the -universities, seduced by that deceitful _mirage_ which some of their -teachers have placed before their eyes, are launching out into -clerical and superstitious theories, and running the risk of falling, -sooner or later, as so many have done already, into the ever-yawning -gulf of Popery. We must therefore call to mind the reforming -principles which were proclaimed from the very commencement of this -great transformation. - -The new position which the Romish court is taking in England, and its -insolent aggressions, are a third consideration which seems to -demonstrate to us the present importance of this history. It is good -to call to mind that the primitive Christianity of Great Britain -perseveringly repelled the invasion of the popedom, and that after the -definitive victory of this foreign power, the noblest voices among -kings, lords, priests, and people, boldly protested against it. It is -good to show that, while the word of God recovered its inalienable -rights in Britain in the sixteenth century, the popedom, agitated by -wholly political interests, broke of itself the chain with which it -had so long bound England.--We shall see in this volume the English -government fortifying itself, for instance under Edward III, against -the invasions of Rome. It has been pretended in our days, and by -others besides ultra-montanists, that the papacy is a purely spiritual -power, and ought to be opposed by spiritual arms only. If the first -part of this argument were true, no one would be readier than -ourselves to adopt the conclusion. God forbid that any protestant -state should ever refuse the completest liberty to the Roman-catholic -doctrines. We certainly wish for reciprocity; we desire that -ultra-montanism should no longer throw into prison the humble -believers who seek consolation for themselves, and for their friends, -in Holy Scripture. But though a deplorable fanaticism should still -continue to imitate in the nineteenth century the mournful tragedies -of the Middle Ages, we should persist in demanding the fullest -liberty, not only of conscience, but of worship, for Roman-catholics -in protestant states. We should ask it in the name of justice, whose -immutable laws the injustice of our adversaries can never make us -forget; we should ask it on behalf of the final triumph of truth; for -if our demands proved unavailing, perhaps with God's help it might be -otherwise with our example. When two worlds meet face to face, in one -of which light abounds, and in the other darkness, it is the darkness -that should disappear before the light, and not the light fly from -before the darkness. We might go even farther than this: far from -constraining the English catholics in anything, we would rather desire -to help them to be freer than they are, and to aid them in recovering -the rights of which the Roman bishops robbed them in times posterior -to the establishment of the papacy; for instance, the election of -bishops and pastors, which belongs to the clergy and the people. -Indeed, Cyprian, writing to a bishop of Rome (Cornelius), demanded -three elements to secure the legitimacy of episcopal election: "The -call of God, the voice of the people, and the consent of the -co-bishops."[1] And the council of Rome, in 1080, said: "Let the -clergy and the _people_, with the consent of the apostolic see or of -their _metropolitan_, elect their bishop."[2] In our days,--days -distinguished by great liberty,--shall the church be less free than it -was in the Middle Ages? - - [1] Divinum judicium, populi suffragium, co-episcoporum consensus. - Epist. 55. - - [2] Clerus et populus, apostolicae sedis, vel metropolitani sui - consensu, pastorem sibi eligat. Mansi, xx, p. 533. - -But if we do not fear to claim for Roman-catholics the rights of the -church of the first ages, and a greater liberty than what they now -possess, even in the very seat of the popedom, are we therefore to -say that the state, whether under Edward III or in later times, should -oppose no barrier against Romish aggressions? If it is the very life -and soul of popery to pass beyond the boundaries of religion, and -enter into the domain of policy, why should it be thought strange for -the state to defend itself, when attacked upon its own ground? Can the -state have no need of precautions against a power which has pretended -to be paramount over England, which gave its crown to a French -monarch, which obtained an oath of vassalage from an English king, and -which lays down as its first dogma its infallibility and immutability? - -And it was not only under Edward III and throughout the Middle Ages -that Rome encroached on royalty; it has happened in modern times also. -M. Mignet has recently brought to light some remarkable facts. On the -28th of June 1570, a letter from Saint Pius V was presented to the -catholic king Philip II by an agent just arrived from Rome. "Our dear -son, Robert Ridolfi," says the writer, "will explain (God willing) to -your majesty certain matters which concern not a little the honour of -Almighty God.... We conjure your majesty to take into your serious -consideration the matter which he will lay before you, and to furnish -him with all the means your majesty may judge most proper for its -execution." The pope's "dear son," accordingly, explained to the duke -of Feria, who was commissioned by Philip to receive his communication, -"that it was proposed to kill Queen Elizabeth; that the attempt would -not be made in London, because it was the seat of heresy, but during -one of her journeys; and that a certain James G---- would undertake -it." The same day the council met and deliberated on Elizabeth's -assassination. Philip declared his willingness to undertake the foul -deed recommended by his holiness; but as it would be an expensive -business, his minister hinted to the nuncio that the pope ought to -furnish the money. This horrible but instructive recital will be found -with all its details in the _Histoire de Marie Stuart_, by M. Mignet, -vol. ii, p. 159, etc. It is true that these things took place in the -sixteenth century; but the Romish church has canonized the priestly -murderer,--an honour conferred on a very small number of popes,--and -the canonization took place in the eighteenth century.[3] This is no -very distant date. - - [3] Acta canonisationis S. Pil. V. Romae, 1720, folio. - -And these theories, so calculated to trouble nations, are still to be -met with in the nineteenth century. At this very moment there are -writers asserting principles under cover of which the pope may -interfere in affairs of state. The kings of Europe, terrified by the -deplorable outbreaks of 1848, appear almost everywhere ready to -support the court of Rome by arms; and ultra-montanism is taking -advantage of this to proclaim once more, "that the popedom is above -the monarchy; that it is the duty of the inferior (the king) to obey -the superior; that it is the duty of the superior (the pope) to depose -the sovereigns who abuse their power, and to condemn the subjects who -resist it; and, finally, that this public law of Christian Europe, -abolished by the ambition of sovereigns or the insubordination of -peoples, should be revived." Such are the theories now professed not -only by priests but by influential laymen.[4] To this opinion belong, -at the present hour, all the zeal and enthusiasm of Romanism, and this -alone we are bound to acknowledge is consistent with the principles of -popery. And accordingly it is to be feared that this party will -triumph, unless we oppose it with the united forces of the human -understanding, of religious and political liberty, and above all of -the word of God. The most distinguished organ of public opinion in -France, alarmed by the progress of these ultramontane doctrines, said -not long ago of this party: "In its eyes there exists but one real -authority in the world, that of the pope. All questions, not only -religious but moral and political, are amenable to one tribunal, -supreme and infallible, the pope's. The pope has the right to absolve -subjects of their oath of fidelity; subjects have the right to take up -arms against their prince when he rebels against the decisions of the -holy see. This is the social and political theory of the Middle -Ages."[5] - - [4] See in particular _Le Catholicisme_, _le Liberalisme_, _et le - Socialisme_, and other writings of Donoso Cortes, marquis of - Valdegamas, one of the most distinguished members of the - constitutional party in Spain. - - [5] Journal des Debats, 18th January 1853. - -Since the popedom asserts claims both spiritual and temporal, the -church and the state ought to resist it, each in his own sphere, and -with its peculiar arms: the church (by which I mean the believers), -solely with Holy Scripture; the state with such institutions as are -calculated to secure its independence. What! the church is bound to -defend what belongs to the church, and the state is not to defend what -belongs to the state? If a band of robbers should endeavour to plunder -two houses, would it be just and charitable for one neighbour to say -to the other, "I must defend my house, but you must let yours be -stripped?" If the pope desires to have the immaculate conception of -the Virgin, or any other religious doctrine, preached, let the fullest -liberty be granted him, and let him build as many churches as he -pleases for that purpose: we claim this in the plainest language. But -if the pope, like Saint Pius, desires to kill the queen of England, or -at least (for no pope in our days, were he even Saint enough to be -canonized, would conceive such an idea), if the pope desires to -infringe in any way on the rights of the state, then let the state -resist him with tried wisdom and unshaken firmness. Let us beware of -an ultra-spiritualism which forgets the lessons of history, and -overlooks the rights of kings and peoples. When it is found among -theologians, it is an error; in statesmen, it is a danger. - -Finally, and this consideration revives our hopes, there is a fourth -motive which gives at this time a particular importance to the history -we are about to relate. The Reformation is now entering upon a new -phasis. The movement of the sixteenth century had died away during the -seventeenth and eighteenth, and it was often to churches which had -lost every spark of life that the historian had then to recount the -narrative of this great revival. This is the case no longer. After -three centuries, a new and a greater movement is succeeding that which -we describe in these volumes. The principles of the religious -regeneration, which God accomplished three hundred years ago, are now -carried to the end of the world with the greatest energy. The task of -the sixteenth century lives again in the nineteenth, but more -emancipated from the temporal power, more spiritual, more general; and -it is the Anglo-Saxon race that God chiefly employs for the -accomplishment of this universal work. The English Reformation -acquires therefore, in our days, a special importance. If the -Reformation of Germany was the foundation of the building, that of -England was its crowning stone. - -The work begun in the age of the apostles, and renewed in the times of -the reformers, should be resumed in our days with a holy enthusiasm; -and the work is very simple and very beautiful, for it consists in -establishing the throne of Jesus Christ in the church and on earth. - -Evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church either -human reason or religious conscientiousness, as some would have it; -but it sets thereon Jesus Christ, who is both the knowledge taught and -the doctor who teaches it; who explains his word by the word, and by -the light of his Holy Spirit; who by it bears witness to the truth, -that is to say, to his redemption, and teaches the essential laws -which should regulate the inner life of his disciples. Evangelical -faith appeals to the understanding, to the heart, and to the will of -every Christian, only to impose on them the duty to submit to the -divine authority of Christ, to listen, believe, love, comprehend, and -act, as God requires. - -Evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church the civil -power, or the secular magistrate; but it sets thereon Jesus Christ, -who has said, _I am King_; who imparts to his subjects the principle -of life; who establishes his kingdom here on earth, and preserves and -develops it; and who, directing all mortal events, is now making the -progressive conquest of the world, until he shall exercise in person -his divine authority in the kingdom of his glory. - -Finally, evangelical faith does not place on the throne of the church -priests, councils, doctors, or their traditions,--or that vice-God -(_veri Dei vicem gerit in terris_, as the Romish gloss has it), that -_infallible_ pontiff, who, reviving the errors of the pagans, ascribes -salvation to the forms of worship and to the meritorious works of men. -It sets thereon Jesus Christ, the great high-priest of his people, the -God-man, who, by an act of his free love, bore in our stead, in his -atoning sacrifice, the penalty of sin;--who has taken away the curse -from our heads, and thus become the creator of a new race. - -Such is the essential work of that Christianity which the apostolic -age transmitted to the reformers, and which it now transmits to the -Christians of the nineteenth century. - -While the thoughts of great numbers are led astray in the midst of -ceremonies, priests, human lucubrations, pontifical fables, and -philosophic reveries, and are driven to and fro in the dust of this -world, evangelical faith rises even to heaven, and falls prostrate -before Him who sitteth on the throne. - -The Reformation is Jesus Christ. - -"Lord, to whom shall we go, if not unto thee?" Let others follow the -devices of their imaginations, or prostrate themselves before -traditional superstitions, or kiss the feet of a sinful man.... O, -King of glory, we desire but Thee alone! - - EAUX-VIVES, GENEVA, _March 1853_. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - BOOK XVII. - - ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Introduction--Work of the Sixteenth Century--Unity and Diversity-- - Necessity of considering the entire Religious History of England-- - Establishment of Christianity in Great Britain--Formation of - Ecclesiastical Catholicism in the Roman Empire--Spiritual Christianity - received by Britain--Slavery and Conversion of Succat--His mission to - Ireland--Anglo-Saxons re-establish Paganism in England--Columba at - Iona--Evangelical Teaching--Presbytery and Episcopacy in Great - Britain--Continental Missions of the Britons--An Omission, page 21 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Pope Gregory the Great--Desires to reduce Britain--Policy of Gregory - and Augustine--Arrival of the Mission--Appreciation--Britain superior - to Rome--Dionoth at Bangor--First and Second Romish Aggressions--Anguish - of the Britons--Pride of Rome--Rome has recourse to the - Sword--Massacre--Saint Peter scourges an Archbishop--Oswald--His - Victory--Corman--Mission of Oswald and Aidan--Death of Oswald, page 33 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Character of Oswy--Death of Aidan--Wilfrid at Rome--At Oswald's - Court--Finan and Colman--Independence of the Church attacked--Oswy's - Conquests and Troubles--_Synodus Pharensis_--Cedda--Degeneration--The - Disputation--Peter, the Gatekeeper--Triumph of Rome--Grief of the - Britons--Popedom organized in England--Papal Exultation--Archbishop - Theodore--Cedda re-ordained--Discord in the Church--Disgrace and - Treachery of Wilfrid--His end--Scotland attacked--Adamnan--Iona - resists--A King converted by Architects--The Monk Egbert at - Iona--His History--Monkish Visions--Fall of Iona, page 43 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Clement--Struggle between a Scotchman and an Englishman--Word - of God only--Clement's Success--His condemnation--Virgil and the - Antipodes--John Scotus and Philosophical Religion--Alfred and - the Bible--Darkness and Popery--William the Conqueror--Wulston - at Edward's Tomb--Struggle between William and Hildebrand--The - Pope yields--Caesaropapia, page 58 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Anselm's Firmness--Becket's Austerity--The king scourged--John becomes - the Pope's Vassal--Collision between Popery and Liberty--The - Vassal King ravages his kingdom--Religion of the Senses and - Superstition, page 66 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Reaction--Grostete--Principles of Reform--Contest with the Pope-- - Sewal--Progress of the Nation--Opposition to the Papacy--Conversion - of Bradwardine--Grace is Supreme--Edward III--Statutes of - _Provisors_ and _Praemunire_, page 72 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Mendicant Friars--Their Disorders and Popular Indignation-- - Wickliffe--His Success--Speeches of the Peers against the Papal - Tribute--Agreement of Bruges--Courtenay and Lancaster--Wickliffe - before the Convocation--Altercation between Lancaster and - Courtenay--Riot--Three Briefs against Wickliffe--Wickliffe at - Lambeth--Mission of the _Poor Priests_--Their Preachings and - Persecutions--Wickliffe and the Four Regents, page 77 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Bible--Wickliffe's Translation--Effects of its Publication-- - Opposition of the Clergy--Wickliffe's Fourth - Phasis--Transubstantiation--Excommunication--Wickliffe's Firmness-- - Wat Tyler--The Synod--The condemned Propositions--Wickliffe's - Petition--Wickliffe before the Primate at Oxford--Wickliffe summoned - to Rome--His answer--The Trialogue--His Death--And Character--His - Teaching--His Ecclesiastical Views--A Prophecy, page 86 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - The Wickliffites--Call for Reform--Richard II--The first Martyr-- - Lord Cobham--Appears before Henry V--Before the Archbishop--His - Confession and Death--The Lollards, page 97 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Learning at Florence--The Tudors--Erasmus visits England--Sir - Thomas More--Dean Colet--Erasmus and young Henry--Prince - Arthur and Catherine--Marriage and Death--Catherine betrothed - to Henry--Accession of Henry VIII--Enthusiasm of the Learned-- - Erasmus recalled to England--Cromwell before the Pope--Catherine - proposed to Henry--Their Marriage and Court--Tournaments--Henry's - Danger, page 106 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - The Pope excites to War--Colet's Sermon at St. Paul's--The Flemish - Campaign--Marriage of Louis XII and Princess Mary--Letter from - Anne Boleyn--Marriage of Brandon and Mary--Oxford--Sir Thomas - More at Court--Attack upon the Monasteries--Colet's Household--He - preaches Reform--The Greeks and Trojans, page 114 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Wolsey--His first Commission--His complaisance and Dioceses--Cardinal, - Chancellor, and Legate--Ostentation and Necromancy--His Spies and - Enmity--Pretensions of the clergy, page 122 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - The Wolves--Richard Hun--A Murder--Verdict of the Jury--Hun - condemned, and his Character vindicated--The Gravesend Passage-boat-- - A festival disturbed--Brown tortured--Visit from his Wife--A - Martyr--Character of Erasmus--1516 and 1517--Erasmus goes to - Basle, page 126 - - - BOOK XVIII. - - THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Four reforming Powers--Which reformed England?--Papal Reform?-- - Episcopal Reform?--Royal Reform?--What is required in a legitimate - Reform--The Share of the Kingly Power--Share of the Episcopal - Authority--High and Low Church--Political Events--The Greek and - Latin New Testament--Thoughts of Erasmus--Enthusiasm and anger-- - Desire of Erasmus--Clamours of the Priests--Their Attack at Court-- - Astonishment of Erasmus--His Labours for this Work--Edward - Lee; his Character--Lee's _Tragedy_--Conspiracy, page 134 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Effects of the New Testament in the Universities--Conversations--A - Cambridge Fellow--Bilney buys the New Testament--The first Passage-- - His Conversion--Protestantism, the Fruit of the Gospel--The - Vale of the Severn--William Tyndale--Evangelization at Oxford-- - Bilney teaches at Cambridge--Fryth--Is Conversion Possible?--True - Consecration--The Reformation has begun, page 144 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Alarm of the Clergy--The Two Days--Thomas Man's Preaching--True - real Presence--Persecutions at Coventry--Standish preaches at St. - Paul's--His Petition to the King and Queen--His Arguments and - Defeat--Wolsey's Ambition--First Overtures--Henry and Francis - Candidates for the Empire--Conference between Francis I and Sir - T. Boleyn--The Tiara promised to Wolsey--The cardinal's Intrigues - with Charles and Francis, page 151 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Tyndale--Sodbury Hall--Sir John and Lady Walsh--Table-Talk--The - Holy Scriptures--The Images--The Anchor of Faith--A Roman - Camp--Preaching of Faith and Works--Tyndale accused by the - Priests--They tear up what he has planted--Tyndale resolves to - translate the Bible--His first triumph--The Priests in the - taverns--Tyndale summoned before the Chancellor of Worcester-- - Consoled by an aged Doctor--Attacked by a schoolman--His Secret - becomes known--He leaves Sodbury Hall, page 158 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Luther's Works in England--Consultation of the Bishops--The Bull of - Leo X published in England--Luther's books burnt--Letter of - Henry VIII--He undertakes to write against Luther--Cry of Alarm-- - Tradition and Sacramentalism--Prudence of Sir T. More--The - Book presented to the Pope--_Defender of the Faith_--Exultation of - the king, page 166 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Wolsey's Machinations to obtain the Tiara--He gains Charles V--Alliance - between Henry and Charles--Wolsey offers to command the Troops--Treaty - of Bruges--Henry believes himself King of France--Victories - of Francis I--Death of Leo X, page 173 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Just Men of Lincolnshire--Their Assemblies and Teaching--Agnes - and Morden--Itinerant Libraries--Polemical Conversations--Sarcasm-- - Royal Decree and Terror--Depositions and Condemnations--Four - Martyrs--A Conclave--Charles consoles Wolsey, page 177 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Character of Tyndale--He arrives in London--He preaches--The Cloth - and the Ell--The bishop of London gives Audience to Tyndale--He - is dismissed--A Christian Merchant of London--Spirit of Love in - the Reformation--Tyndale in Monmouth's House--Fryth helps him - to translate the New Testament--Importunities of the Bishop of - Lincoln--Persecution in London--Tyndale's Resolution--He - departs--His Indignation against the Prelates--His Hopes, page 182 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Bilney at Cambridge--Conversions--The University Cross-Bearer--A - Leicestershire Farmer--A Party of Students--Superstitious - Practices--An obstinate Papist--The Sophists--Latimer attacks - Stafford--Bilney's Resolution--Latimer hears Bilney's Confession-- - Confessor converted--New Life in Latimer--Bilney preaches - Grace--Nature of the Ministry--Latimer's Character and Teaching-- - Works of Charity--Three Classes of Adversaries--Clark and - Dalaber, page 190 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Wolsey seeks the Tiara--Clement VII is elected--Wolsey's dissimulation-- - Charles offers France to Henry--Pace's Mission on this Subject--Wolsey - reforms the Convents--His secret Alliances--Treaty between France - and England--Taxation and Insurrection--False Charges against the - Reformers--Latimer's Defence--Tenterden Steeple, page 201 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Tyndale at Hamburg--First two Gospels--Embarrassment--Tyndale - at Wittemberg--At Cologne--The New Testament at Press--Sudden - Interruption--Cochlaeus at Cologne--Rupert's Manuscripts--Discovery - of Cochlaeus--His Inquiries--His alarm--Rincke and the - Senate's Prohibition--Consternation and Decision of Tyndale--Cochlaeus - writes to England--Tyndale ascends the Rhine--Prints - two Editions at Worms--Tyndale's Prayer, page 207 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Worms and Cambridge--St. Paul resuscitated--Latimer's Preaching-- - Never Man spake like this Man--Joy and Vexation at Cambridge-- - Sermon by Prior Buckingham--Irony--Latimer's Reply to Buckingham-- - The Students threatened--Latimer preaches before the Bishop--He - is forbidden to preach--The most zealous of Bishops--Barnes - the Restorer of Letters--Bilney undertakes to convert him--Barnes - offers his pulpit to Latimer--Fryth's Thirst for God--Christmas - Eve, 1525--Storm against Barnes--Ferment in the Colleges--Germany - at Cambridge--Meetings at Oxford--General Expectation, page 215 - - - BOOK XIX. - - THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT AND THE COURT OF ROME. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Church and State essentially distinct--Their fundamental Principles-- - What restores Life to the Church--Separation from Rome necessary-- - Reform and Liberty--The New Testament crosses the sea--Is - hidden in London--Garret's Preaching and Zeal--Dissemination of - Scripture--What the People find in it--The Effects it produces-- - Tyndale's Explanations--Roper, More's son-in-law--Garret carries - Tyndale's Testament to Oxford--Henry and his Valet--The - Supplication of the Beggars--Two Sorts of Beggars--Evils caused - by Priests--More's Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory, page 228 - - - CHAPTER II. - - The two Authorities--Commencement of the Search--Garret at Oxford-- - His Flight--His return and Imprisonment--Escapes and takes Refuge - with Dalaber--Garret and Dalaber at Prayer--The _Magnificat_-- - Surprise among the Doctors--Clark's Advice--Fraternal Love at - Oxford--Alarm of Dalaber--His Arrest and Examination--He is - tortured--Garret and twenty Fellows imprisoned--The Cellar-- - Condemnation and Humiliation, page 238 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Persecution at Cambridge--Barnes arrested--A grand Search--Barnes - at Wolsey's Palace--Interrogated by the Cardinal--Conversation - between Wolsey and Barnes--Barnes threatened with the Stake--His - Fall and public Penance--Richard Bayfield--His Faith and - Imprisonment--Visits Cambridge--Joins Tyndale--The Confessors - in the Cellar at Oxford--Four of them die--The rest liberated, page 246 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Luther's Letter to the King--Henry's Anger--His Reply--Luther's - Resolution--Persecutions--Barnes escapes--Proclamations against - the New Testament--W. Roy to Caiaphas--Third Edition of the New - Testament--The Triumph of Law and Liberty--Hacket attacks the - Printer--Hacket's Complaints--A seizure--The Year 1526 in - England, page 255 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Wolsey desires to be revenged--The Divorce suggested--Henry's - Sentiments towards the Queen--Wolsey's first Steps--Longland's - Proceedings--Refusal of Margaret of Valois--Objection of the - Bishop of Tarbes--Henry's uneasiness--Catherine's Alarm--Mission - to Spain, page 261 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Anne Boleyn appointed Maid of Honour to Catherine--Lord Percy - becomes attached to her--Wolsey separates them--Anne Enters - Margaret's Household--Siege of Rome; Cromwell--Wolsey's - Intercession for the Popedom--He demands the Hand of Renee of - France for Henry--Failure--Anne re-appears at Court--Repels the - king's Advances--Henry's Letter--He resolves to accelerate the - Divorce--Two Motives which induce Anne to refuse the Crown-- - Wolsey's Opposition, page 267 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Bilney's Preaching--His arrest--Arthur's Preaching and Imprisonment-- - Bilney's Examination--Contest between the Judge and the Prisoner-- - Bilney's weakness and Fall--His Terrors--Two Wants--Arrival - of the Fourth Edition of the New Testament--Joy among the - Believers, page 275 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Papacy intercepts the Gospel--The King consults Sir Thomas - More--Ecclesiastical Conferences about the divorce--The Universities-- - Clark--The Nun of Kent--Wolsey decides to do the king's - Will--Mission to the Pope--Four Documents--Embarrassment of - Charles V--Francis Philip at Madrid--Distress and Resolution of - Charles--He turns away from the Reformation--Conference at the - Castle of St. Angelo--Knight arrives in Italy--His Flight--Treaty - between the Pope and the Emperor--Escape of the Pope--Confusion - of Henry VIII--Wolsey's orders--His Entreaties, page 281 - - CHAPTER IX. - - The English Envoys at Orvieto--Their oration to the Pope--Clement - gains Time--The Envoys and Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor--Stratagem - of the Pope--Knight discovers it and returns--The Transformations - of Antichrist--The English obtain a new Document--Fresh - Stratagem--Demand of a second Cardinal-legate--The Pope's - new Expedient--End of the Campaign, page 289 - - CHAPTER X. - - Disappointment in England--War declared against Charles V--Wolsey - desires to get him deposed by the Pope--A new Scheme--Embassy - of Fox and Gardiner--Their Arrival at Orvieto--Their - first interview with Clement--The Pope reads a treatise by Henry-- - Gardiner's Threats and Clement's Promise--The Modern Fabius--Fresh - Interview and Menaces--The pope has not _the key_--Gardiner's - Proposition--Difficulties and delays of the Cardinals--Gardiner's - last Blows--Reverses of Charles V in Italy--The Pope's - Terror and Concession--The _Commission_ granted--Wolsey demands - the _Engagement_--A Loophole--The Pope's Distress, page 297 - - CHAPTER XI. - - Fox's Report to Henry and Anne--Wolsey's Impression--He demands - the Decretal--One of the Cardinal's petty Manoeuvres--He sets - his Conscience at Rest--Gardiner fails at Rome--Wolsey's new - perfidy--The King's Anger against the Pope--Sir T. More predicts - Religious Liberty--Immorality of Ultramontane Socialism--Erasmus - invited--Wolsey's last Flight--Energetic Efforts at Rome--Clement - grants all--Wolsey triumphs--Union of Rome and - England, page 307 - - - BOOK XX. - - THE TWO DIVORCES. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Progress of the Reformation--The two Divorces--Entreaties to Anne - Boleyn--The Letters in the Vatican--Henry to Anne--Henry's - Second Letter--Third--Fourth--Wolsey's Alarm--His fruitless - Proceedings--He turns--The Sweating Sickness--Henry's Fears--New - Letters to Anne--Anne falls sick; her Peace--Henry writes to her-- - Wolsey's Terror--Campeggio does not arrive--All dissemble at - Court, page 316 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Coverdale and Inspiration--He undertakes to translate the Scriptures-- - His Joy and Spiritual Songs--Tyball and the Laymen--Coverdale - preaches at Bumpstead--Revival at Colchester--Incomplete - Societies and the New Testament--Persecution--Monmouth arrested - and released, page 327 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Political Changes--Fresh Instructions from the Pope to Campeggio-- - His Delays--He unbosoms himself to Francis--A Prediction--Arrival - of Campeggio--Wolsey's Uneasiness--Henry's Satisfaction--The - Cardinal's Project--Campeggio's Reception--First Interview with - the Queen and with the King--Useless Efforts to make Campeggio part - with the Decretal--The Nuncio's Conscience--Public Opinion--Measures - taken by the King--His Speech to the Lords and Aldermen-- - Festivities--Wolsey seeks French Support--Contrariety, page 334 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - True Catholicity--Wolsey--Harman's Matter--West sent to Cologne--Labours - of Tyndale and Fryth--Rincke at Frankfort--He makes a Discovery-- - Tyndale at Marburg--West returns to England--His Tortures in the - Monastery, page 347 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Necessity of the Reformation--Wolsey's Earnestness with Da Casale--An - Audience with Clement VII--Cruel Position of the Pope--A - Judas' Kiss--A new Brief--Bryan and Vannes sent to Rome--Henry - and Du Bellay--Wolsey's Reasons against the Brief--Excitement in - London--Metamorphosis--Wolsey's Decline--His Anguish, page 353 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - The Pope's Illness--Wolsey's Desire--Conference about the Members - of the Conclave--Wolsey's Instructions--The Pope recovers--Speech - of the English Envoys to the Pope--Clement willing to abandon - England--The English demand the Pope's Denial of the Brief--Wolsey's-- - Alarm--Intrigues--Bryan's Clearsightedness--Henry's - Threats--Wolsey's new Efforts--He calls for an Appeal to Rome, - and retracts--Wolsey and Du Bellay at Richmond--The Ship of the - State, page 359 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Discussion Between the Evangelicals and the Catholics--Union of - Learning and Life--The Laity--Tewkesbury--His Appearance before - the Bishop's Court--He is tortured--Two Classes of Opponents--A - Theological Duel--Scripture and the Church--Emancipation of the - Mind--Mission to the Low Countries--Tyndale's Embarrassment--Tonstall - wishes to buy the Books--Packington's Stratagem--Tyndale - departs for Antwerp--His Shipwreck--Arrival at Hamburg--Meets - Coverdale, page 366 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - The Royal Session--Sitting of the 18th June; the Queen's Protest--Sitting - of the 21st June--Summons to the King and Queen--Catherine's - Speech--She retires--Impression on the Audience--The King's - Declaration--Wolsey's Protest--Quarrel between the Bishops--New - Sitting--Apparition to the Maid of Kent--Wolsey chafed by - Henry--The Earl of Wiltshire at Wolsey's--Private Conference between - Catherine and the two Legates, page 375 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - The Trial resumed--Catherine summoned--Twelve Articles--The - Witnesses' Evidence--Arthur and Catherine really married--Campeggio - opposes the Argument of Divine Right--Other Arguments--The - Legates required to deliver Judgment--Their Tergiversations--Change - in Men's Minds--Final Session--General Expectation--Adjournment - during Harvest--Campeggio excuses this Impertinence--The - King's Indignation--Suffolk's Violence--Wolsey's Reply--He - is ruined--General Accusations--The Cardinal turns to an - Episcopal Life, page 384 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Anne Boleyn at Hever--She Reads the Obedience of a Christian Man--Is - recalled to Court--Miss Gainsford and George Zouch--Tyndale's - Book converts Zouch--Zouch in the Chapel-Royal--The Book seized--Anne - applies to Henry--The King reads the Book--Pretended Influence of the - Book on Henry--The Court at Woodstock--The Park and its Goblins-- - Henry's Esteem for Anne, page 390 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Embarrassment of the pope--The Triumphs of Charles decide him--He - traverses the Cause to Rome--Wolsey's Dejection--Henry's - Wrath--His Fears--Wolsey obtains Comfort--Arrival of the two - Legates at Grafton--Wolsey's reception by Henry--Wolsey and - Norfolk at Dinner--Henry with Anne--Conference between the - King and the Cardinal--Wolsey's Joy and Grief--The Supper at - Euston--Campeggio's Farewell Audience--Wolsey's Disgrace--Campeggio - at Dover--He is accused by the courtiers--Leaves - England--Wolsey foresees his own Fall and that of the - Papacy, page 397 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - A Meeting at Waltham--Youth of Thomas Cranmer--His early Education-- - Studies Scripture for Three Years--His functions as Examiner--The - Supper at Waltham--New View of the Divorce--Fox communicates it to - Henry--Cranmer's Vexation--Conference with the King--Cranmer at the - Boleyns, page 407 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Wolsey in the Court of Chancery--Accused by the Dukes--Refuses to - give up the Great Seal--His Despair--He gives up the Seal--Order - to depart--His Inventory--Alarm--The Scene of Departure--Favourable - Message from the King--Wolsey's Joy--His Fool--Arrival - at Esher, page 412 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Thomas More elected Chancellor--A lay Government one of the great - Facts of the Reformation--Wolsey accused of subordinating England - to the Pope--He implores the King's Clemency--His Condemnation--Cromwell - at Esher--His Character--He sets out for London--Sir Christopher - Hales recommends him to the King--Cromwell's Interview with Henry - in the Park--A new Theory--Cromwell elected Member of Parliament-- - Opened by Sir Thomas More--Attack on ecclesiastical Abuses--Reforms - pronounced by the Convocation--Three Bills--Rochester attacks - them--Resistance of the House of Commons--Struggles--Henry - sanctions the three Bills--Alarm of the Clergy and Disturbances, - page 418 - - CHAPTER XV. - - The last hour--More's Fanaticism--Debates in Convocation--Royal - Proclamation--The Bishop of Norwich--Sentences condemned--Latimer's - Opposition--The New Testament burnt--The Persecution begins--Hitton-- - Bayfield--Tonstall and Packington--Bayfield arrested--The - Rector Patmore--Lollards' Tower--Tyndale and Patmore--a - Musician--Freese the Painter--Placards and Martyrdom - of Bennet--Thomas More and John Petit--Bilney, page 426 - - CHAPTER XVI. - - Wolsey's Terror--Impeachment by the Peers--Cromwell saves him--The - Cardinal's Illness--Ambition returns to him--His Practices in - Yorkshire--He is arrested by Northumberland--His departure--Arrival - of the Constable of the Tower--Wolsey at Leicester Abbey--Persecuting - Language--He dies--Three Movements: Supremacy, - Scripture, and Faith, page 438 - - - - -HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. - - - - -BOOK XVII. - -ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Introduction--Work of the Sixteenth Century--Unity and - Diversity--Necessity of considering the entire Religious - History of England--Establishment of Christianity in Great - Britain--Formation of Ecclesiastical Catholicism in the - Roman Empire--Spiritual Christianity received by - Britain--Slavery and Conversion of Succat--His Mission to - Ireland--Anglo-Saxons re-establish Paganism in - England--Columba at Iona--Evangelical Teaching--Presbytery - and Episcopacy in Great Britain--Continental Missions of the - Britons--An Omission. - - -Those heavenly powers which had lain dormant in the Church since the -first ages of Christianity, awoke from their slumber in the sixteenth -century, and this awakening called the modern times into existence. -The Church was created anew, and from that regeneration have flowed -the great developments of literature and science, of morality, -liberty, and industry, which at present characterize the nations of -Christendom. None of these things would have existed without the -Reformation. Whenever society enters upon a new era, it requires the -baptism of faith. In the sixteenth century God gave to man this -consecration from on high by leading him back from mere outward -profession and the mechanism of works to an inward and lively faith. - -[Sidenote: UNITY AND DIVERSITY.] - -This transformation was not effected without struggles--struggles -which presented at first a remarkable unity. On the day of battle one -and the same feeling animated every bosom: after the victory they -became divided. Unity of faith indeed remained, but the difference of -nationalities brought into the Church a diversity of forms. Of this we -are about to witness a striking example. The Reformation, which had -begun its triumphal march in Germany, Switzerland, France, and several -other parts of the continent, was destined to receive new strength by -the conversion of a celebrated country, long known as the _Isle of -Saints_. This island was to add its banner to the trophy of -Protestantism, but that banner preserved its distinctive colours. When -England became reformed, a puissant individualism joined its might to -the great unity. - -If we search for the characteristics of the British Reformation, we -shall find that, beyond any other, they were social, national, and -truly human. There is no people among whom the Reformation has -produced to the same degree that morality and order, that liberty, -public spirit, and activity, which are the very essence of a nation's -greatness. Just as the papacy has degraded the Spanish peninsula, has -the Gospel exalted the British islands. Hence the study upon which we -are entering possesses an interest peculiar to itself. - -In order that this study may be useful, it should have a character of -universality. To confine the history of a people within the space of a -few years, or even of a century, would deprive that history of both -truth and life. We might indeed have traditions, chronicles, and -legends, but there would be no history. History is a wonderful -organization, no part of which can be retrenched. To understand the -present, we must know the past. Society, like man himself, has its -infancy, youth, maturity, and old age. Ancient or Pagan society, which -had spent its infancy in the East in the midst of the antihellenic -races, had its youth in the animated epoch of the Greeks, its manhood -in the stern period of Roman greatness, and its old age under the -decline of the empire. Modern society has passed through analogous -stages: at the time of the Reformation it attained that of the -full-grown man. We shall now proceed to trace the destinies of the -Church in England, from the earliest times of Christianity. These long -and distant preparations are one of the distinctive characteristics of -its reformation. - -Before the sixteenth century this Church had passed through two great -phases. - -The first was that of its formation--the second that of its -corruption. - -In its formation it was oriento-apostolical. - -In its corruption it was successively national-papistical and -royal-papistical. - -After these two degrees of decline came the last and great phasis of -the Reformation. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: GOSPEL CARRIED TO BRITAIN.] - -In the second century of the Christian era vessels were frequently -sailing to the savage shores of Britain from the ports of Asia Minor, -Greece, Alexandria, or the Greek colonies in Gaul. Among the merchants -busied in calculating the profits they could make upon the produce of -the East with which their ships were laden, would occasionally be -found a few pious men from the banks of the Meander or the Hermus, -conversing peacefully with one another about the birth, life, death, -and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and rejoicing at the prospect -of saving by these glad tidings the pagans towards whom they were -steering. It would appear that some British prisoners of war, having -learnt to know Christ during their captivity, bore also to their -fellow-countrymen the knowledge of this Saviour. It may be, too, that -some Christian soldiers, the Corneliuses of those imperial armies -whose advanced posts reached the southern parts of Scotland, desirous -of more lasting conquests, may have read to the people whom they had -subdued, the writings of Matthew, John, and Paul. It is of little -consequence to know whether one of these first converts was, according -to tradition, a prince named Lucius. It is certain that the tidings of -the Son of man, crucified and raised again, under Tiberius, spread -through these islands more rapidly than the dominion of the emperors, -and that before the end of the second century many churches worshipped -Christ beyond the walls of Adrian; in those mountains, forests, and -western isles, which for centuries past the Druids had filled with -their mysteries and their sacrifices, and on which even the Roman -eagles had never stooped.[6] These churches were formed after the -eastern type: the Britons would have refused to receive the type of -that Rome whose yoke they detested. - - [6] Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita. - (Tertullian contra Judaeos, lib. vii) Parts of Britain inaccessible to - the Romans were, however, subjected to Christ. This work, from its - bearing no traces of Montanism, seems to belong to the first part of - Tertullian's life. See also Origen in Lucam, cap. i. homil. 6. - -[Sidenote: CULDEES.] - -The first thing which the British Christians received from the capital -of the empire was persecution. But Diocletian, by striking the -disciples of Jesus Christ in Britain only increased their number.[7] -Many Christians from the southern part of the island took refuge in -Scotland, where they raised their humble roofs, and under the name of -_Culdees_ prayed for the salvation of their protectors. When the -surrounding pagans saw the holiness of these men of God, they -abandoned in great numbers their sacred oaks, their mysterious -caverns, and their blood-stained altars, and obeyed the gentle voice -of the Gospel. After the death of these pious refugees, their cells -were transformed into houses of prayer.[8] In 305, Constantius Chlorus -succeeded to the throne of the Caesars, and put an end to the -persecution. - - [7] Lactantius, de mortibus persecutorum, cap. xii. - - [8] Multi ex Brittonibus Christiani saevitiam Diocletiani timentes ad - eos coufugerant........ut vita functorum cellae in templa - commutarentur. (Buchanan, iv. c. xxxv.) Many Christians from Britain, - fearing the cruelty of Diocletian, took refuge among the - Scots......and the cells in which their holy lives were spent, were - changed into churches. - -The Christianity which was brought to these people by merchants, -soldiers, or missionaries, although not the ecclesiastical catholicism -already creeping into life in the Roman empire, was not the primitive -evangelism of the apostles. The East and the South could only give to -the North of what they possessed. The mere human period had succeeded -to the creative and miraculous period of the church. After the -extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Ghost, which had produced the -apostolic age, the church had been left to the inward power of the -word and of the Comforter. But Christians did not generally comprehend -the spiritual life to which they were called. God had been pleased to -give them a divine religion; and this they gradually assimilated more -and more to the religions of human origin. Instead of saying, in the -spirit of the gospel, the word of God first, and through it the -doctrine and the life--the doctrine and the life, and through them the -forms; they said, forms first, and salvation by these forms. They -ascribed to bishops a power which belongs only to Holy Scripture. -Instead of ministers of the word, they desired to have priests; -instead of an inward sacrifice, a sacrifice offered on the altar; and -costly temples instead of a living church. They began to seek in men, -in ceremonies, and in holy places, what they could find only in the -Word and in the lively faith of the children of God. In this manner -evangelical religion gave place to catholicism, and by gradual -degeneration in after-years catholicism gave birth to popery. - -This grievous transformation took place more particularly in the East, -in Africa, and in Italy. Britain was at first comparatively exempt. At -the very time that the savage Picts and Scots, rushing from their -heathen homes, were devastating the country, spreading terror on all -sides, and reducing the people to slavery, we discover here and there -some humble Christian receiving salvation not by a clerical -sacramentalism, but by the work of the Holy Ghost in the heart. At the -end of the fourth century we meet with an illustrious example of such -conversions. - -[Sidenote: SUCCAT.] - -On the picturesque banks of the Clyde, not far from Glasgow, in the -Christian village of Bonavern, now Kilpatrick, a little boy, of tender -heart, lively temperament, and indefatigable activity, passed the -earlier days of his life. He was born about the year 372 A.D., of a -British family, and was named Succat.[9] His father, Calpurnius, -deacon of the church of Bonavern, a simple-hearted pious man, and his -mother, Conchessa, sister to the celebrated Martin, archbishop of -Tours,[10] and a woman superior to the majority of her sex, had -endeavoured to instil into his heart the doctrines of Christianity; -but Succat did not understand them. He was fond of pleasure, and -delighted to be the leader of his youthful companions. In the midst of -his frivolities, he committed a serious fault. - - [9] In baptismo haud Patricium sed Succat a parentibus fuisse dictum. - (Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. p. 428.) At his baptism he was named by his - parents not Patrick but Succat. - - [10] Martini Turonum archiepiscopi consanguineam. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: EVANGELICAL FAITH.] - -His parents having then quitted Scotland and settled in Armorica -(Bretagne,) a terrible calamity befell them. One day as Succat was -playing near the seashore with two of his sisters, some Irish pirates, -commanded by O'Neal, carried them all three off to their boats, and -sold them in Ireland to the petty chieftain of some pagan clan. Succat -was sent into the fields to keep swine.[11] It was while alone in -these solitary pastures, without priest and without temple, that the -young slave called to mind the Divine lessons which his pious mother -had so often read to him. The fault which he had committed pressed -heavily night and day upon his soul: he groaned in heart, and wept. He -turned repenting towards that meek Saviour of whom Conchessa had so -often spoken; he fell at His knees in that heathen land; and imagined -he felt the arms of a father uplifting the prodigal son. Succat was -then born from on high, but by an agent so spiritual, so internal, -that he knew not "Whence it cometh or whither it goeth." The Gospel -was written with the finger of God on the tablets of his heart. "I was -sixteen years old," said he, "and knew not the true God; but in that -strange land the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and, although late, -I called my sins to mind, and was converted with my whole heart to the -Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, had pity on my youth and -ignorance, and consoled me as a father consoles his children."[12] - - [11] Cujus porcorum, pastor erat. Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. p. 431. - - [12] Et ibi Dominus aperuit sensum incredulitatis meae, ut vel sero - remorarem delicta mea, et ut converterer torto corde ad Dominum Deum - meum. Patr. Confess. Usser. 431. - -Such words as these from the lips of a swineherd in the green pastures -of Ireland set clearly before us the Christianity which in the fourth -and fifth centuries converted many souls in the British isles. In -after-years, Rome established the dominion of the priest and salvation -by forms, independently of the dispositions of the heart; but the -primitive religion of these celebrated islands was that living -Christianity whose substance is the grace of Jesus Christ, and whose -power is the grace of the Holy Ghost. The herdsman from the banks of -the Clyde was then undergoing those experiences which so many -evangelical Christians in those countries have subsequently undergone. -"The love of God increased more and more in me," said he, "with faith -and the fear of His name. The Spirit urged me to such a degree that I -poured forth as many as a hundred prayers in one day. And even during -the night, in the forests and on the mountains where I kept my flock, -the rain, and snow, and frost, and sufferings which I endured, excited -me to seek after God. At that time, I felt not the indifference which -now I feel: the Spirit fermented in my heart."[13] Evangelical faith -even then existed in the British islands in the person of this slave, -and of some few Christians born again, like him, from on high. - - [13] Ut etiam in sylvis et monte manebam, et ante lucem excitabar ad - orationem per nivem, per gelu, per pluviam...... quia tunc Spiritus in - me fervebat. Patr. Confess. Usser, 432. - -Twice a captive, and twice rescued, Succat, after returning to his -family, felt an irresistible appeal in his heart. It was his duty to -carry the Gospel to those Irish pagans among whom he had found Jesus -Christ. His parents and his friends endeavoured in vain to detain him; -the same ardent desire pursued him in his dreams. During the silent -watches of the night he fancied he heard voices calling to him from -the dark forests of Erin: "Come, holy child, and walk once more among -us." He awoke in tears, his breast filled with the keenest -emotion.[14] He tore himself from the arms of his parents, and rushed -forth--not as heretofore with his playfellows, when he would climb the -summit of some lofty hill--but with a heart full of charity in Christ. -He departed: "It was not done of my own strength," said he; "it was -God who overcame all." - - [14] Valde compunctus sum corde et sic expergefactus. (Patr. Confess. - Usser. 433.) I was vehemently pricked in my heart, and so awoke. - -[Sidenote: PATRICK'S MISSION.] - -Succat, afterwards known as Saint Patrick, and to which name, as to -that of St. Peter and other servants of God, many superstitions have -been attached, returned to Ireland, but without visiting Rome, as an -historian of the twelfth century has asserted.[15] Ever active, -prompt, and ingenious, he collected the pagan tribes in the fields by -beat of drum, and then narrated to them in their own tongue the -history of the Son of God. Erelong his simple recitals exercised a -divine power over their rude hearts, and many souls were converted, -not by external sacraments or by the worship of images, but by the -preaching of the word of God. The son of a chieftain, whom Patrick -calls Benignus, learnt from him to proclaim the Gospel, and was -destined to succeed him. The court bard, Dubrach Mac Valubair, no -longer sang druidical hymns, but canticles addressed to Jesus Christ. -Patrick was not entirely free from the errors of the time; perhaps he -believed in pious miracles; but generally speaking we meet with -nothing but the Gospel in the earlier days of the British Church. The -time no doubt will come when Ireland will again feel the power of the -Holy Ghost, which had once converted it by the ministrations of a -Scotchman. - - [15] Jocelinus, Vita in Acta Sanctorum. - -Shortly before the evangelization of Patrick in Ireland, a Briton -named Pelagius, having visited Italy, Africa, and Palestine, began to -teach a strange doctrine. Desirous of making head against the moral -indifference into which most of the Christians in those countries had -fallen, and which would appear to have been in strong contrast with -the British austerity, he denied the doctrine of original sin, -extolled free-will, and maintained that, if man made use of all the -powers of his nature, he would attain perfection. We do not find that -he taught these opinions in his own country; but from the continent, -where he disseminated them, they soon reached Britain. The British -churches refused to receive this "perverse doctrine," their historian -tells us, "and to blaspheme the grace of Jesus Christ."[16] They do -not appear to have held the strict doctrine of Saint Augustine: they -believed indeed that man has need of an inward change, and that this -the divine power alone can effect; but like the churches of Asia, from -which they had sprung, they seem to have conceded something to our -natural strength in the work of conversion; and Pelagius, with a good -intention it would appear, went still further. However that may be, -these churches, strangers to the controversy, were unacquainted with -all its subtleties. Two Gaulish bishops, Germanus and Lupus, came to -their aid, and those who had been perverted returned into the way of -truth.[17] - - [16] Verum Britanni cum neque suscipere dogma perversum, gratiam - Christi blasphemando nullatenus vellent. Beda. Hist. Angl. lib. i, - cap. xvii, et xxi. - - [17] Depravati viam correctionis agnoscerent. Beda, Hist. Angl. lib. - i. cap. xvii. et xxi. - -[Sidenote: SAXON INVASION.] - -Shortly after this, events of great importance took place in Great -Britain, and the light of faith disappeared in profound night. In 449, -Hengist and Horsa, with their Saxon followers, being invited by the -wretched inhabitants to aid them against the cruel ravages of the -Picts and Scots, soon turned their swords against the people they had -come to assist. Christianity was driven back with the Britons into the -mountains of Wales and the wild moors of Northumberland and Cornwall. -Many British families remained in the midst of the conquerors, but -without exercising any religious influence over them. While the -conquering races, settled at Paris, Ravenna, or Toledo, gradually laid -aside their paganism and savage manners, the barbarous customs of the -Saxons prevailed unmoderated throughout the kingdoms of the Heptarchy, -and in every quarter temples to Thor rose above the churches in which -Jesus Christ had been worshipped. Gaul and the south of Europe, which -still exhibited to the eyes of the barbarians the last vestiges of -Roman grandeur, alone had the power of inspiring some degree of -respect in the formidable Germans, and of transforming their faith. -From this period, the Greeks and Latins, and even the converted Goths, -looked at this island with unutterable dread. The soil, said they, is -covered with serpents; the air is thick with deadly exhalations; the -souls of the departed are transported thither at midnight from the -shores of Gaul. Ferrymen, sons of Erebus and Night, admit these -invisible shades into their boats, and listen, with a shudder, to -their mysterious whisperings. England, whence light was one day to be -shed over the habitable globe, was then the trysting-place of the -dead. And yet the Christianity of the British isles was not to be -annihilated by these barbarian invasions; it possessed a strength -which rendered it capable of energetic resistance. - -[Sidenote: COLUMBA.] - -In one of the churches formed by Succat's preaching, there arose about -two centuries after him a pious man named Columba, son of Feidlimyd, -the son of Fergus. Valuing the cross of Christ more highly than the -royal blood that flowed in his veins, he resolved to devote himself to -the King of heaven. Shall he not repay to the country of Succat what -Succat had imparted to his? "I will go," said he; "and preach -the word of God in Scotland;"[18] for the word of God and not an -ecclesiastical hierarchism was then the converting agency. The -grandson of Fergus communicated the zeal which animated him to the -hearts of several fellow-christians. They repaired to the seashore, -and cutting down the pliant branches of the osier, constructed a frail -bark, which they covered with the skins of beasts. In this rude boat -they embarked in the year 565, and after being driven to and fro on -the ocean, the little missionary band reached the waters of the -Hebrides. Columba landed near the barren rocks of Mull, to the south -of the basaltic caverns of Staffa, and fixed his abode in a small -island, afterwards known as Iona or Icolmkill, "the island of -Columba's cell." Some Christian Culdees, driven out by the dissensions -of the Picts and Scots, had already found a refuge in the same retired -spot. Here the missionaries erected a chapel, whose walls, it is said, -still exist among the stately ruins of a later age.[19] Some authors -have placed Columba in the first rank after the apostles.[20] True, we -do not find in him the faith of a Paul or a John; but he lived as in -the sight of God; he mortified the flesh, and slept on the ground with -a stone for his pillow. Amid this solemn scenery, and among customs so -rude, the form of the missionary, illumined by a light from heaven, -shone with love, and manifested the joy and serenity of his heart.[21] -Although subject to the same passions as ourselves, he wrestled -against his weakness, and would not have one moment lost for the glory -of God. He prayed and read, he wrote and taught, he preached and -redeemed the time. With indefatigable activity he went from house to -house, and from kingdom to kingdom. The king of the Picts was -converted, as were also many of his people; precious manuscripts were -conveyed to Iona; a school of theology was founded there, in which the -word was studied; and many received through faith the salvation which -is in Christ Jesus. Erelong a missionary spirit breathed over this -ocean rock, so justly named "the light of the western world." - - [18] Praedicaturus verbum Dei. Usser. Antiq p. 359. - - [19] I visited Iona in 1845 with Dr. Patrick M'Farlan, and saw these - ruins. One portion of the building seems to be of primitive - architecture. - - [20] Nulli post apostolos secundus. (Notker.) Second to none after the - apostles. - - [21] - - Qui de prosapia regali claruit, - Sed morum gratia magis emicuit. - Usser. Antiq. p. 360. - - He was distinguished by his royal descent, but his character rendered - him still more illustrious. - -[Sidenote: HIS TEACHING.] - -The Judaical sacerdotalism which was beginning to extend in the -Christian Church found no support in Iona. They had forms, but not to -them did they look for life. It was the Holy Ghost, Columba -maintained, that made a servant of God. When the youth of Caledonia -assembled around the elders on these savage shores, or in their humble -chapel, these ministers of the Lord would say to them: "The Holy -Scriptures are the only rule of faith.[22] Throw aside all merit of -works, and look for salvation to the grace of God alone.[23] Beware of -a religion which consists of outward observances: it is better to keep -your heart pure before God than to abstain from meats.[24] One alone -is your head, Jesus Christ. Bishops and presbyters are equal;[25] they -should be the husbands of one wife, and have their children in -subjection."[26] - - [22] Prolatis Sanctae Scripturae testimoniis. (Adomn. 1. i. c. 22.) The - testimony of the Holy Scriptures being exhibited. - - [23] Bishop Munter, Altbritische Kirche. Stud. und Krit. vi. 745. - - [24] Meliores sunt ergo qui non magno opere jejunant, cor intrinsecus - nitidum coram Deo sollicite servantes. (Gildas in ejusd. Synod. - Append.) Those are better who, though not fasting very particularly, - keep diligently before God a heart pure within. - - [25] In Hibernia episcopi et presbyteri unum sunt. (Ekkehardi liber. - Arx. Geschichte von S. Gall. i. 267.) In Ireland bishops and - presbyters are equal. - - [26] Patrem habui Calpornium diaconum filium quondam Potiti - Presbyteri. Patricii Confessio. Even as late as the twelfth century we - meet with married Irish bishops. (Bernard, Vita Malachiae, cap. x.) My - father was Calpurnius son of Potitus once a presbyter. - -The sages of Iona knew nothing of transubstantiation or of the -withdrawal of the cup in the Lord's Supper, or of auricular -confession, or of prayers to the dead, or tapers, or incense; they -celebrated Easter on a different day from Rome;[27] synodal assemblies -regulated the affairs of the church, and the papal supremacy was -unknown.[28] The sun of the Gospel shone upon these wild and distant -shores. In after-years, it was the privilege of Great Britain to -recover with a purer lustre the same sun and the same Gospel. - - [27] In die quidem dominica alia tamen quam dicebat hebdomade - celebrabant. Beda, lib. iii. cap. iv. - - [28] Augustinus novam religionem docet.....dum ad unius episcopi - romani dominatum omnia revocat. (Buchan. lib. v. cap. xxxvi.) - Augustine teaches a _new_ religion ... when he reduces all under the - dominion of the bishop of Rome alone. - -Iona, governed by a simple elder,[29] had become a missionary college. -It has been sometimes called a monastery, but the dwelling of the -grandson of Fergus in nowise resembled the popish convents. When its -youthful inmates desired to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they -thought not of going elsewhere in quest of episcopal ordination. -Kneeling in the chapel of Icolmkill, they were set apart by the laying -on of the hands of the elders: they were called _bishops_, but -remained obedient to the _elder_ or presbyter of Iona. They even -consecrated other bishops: thus Finan laid hands upon Diuma, bishop of -Middlesex. These British Christians attached great importance to the -ministry; but not to one form in preference to another. Presbytery and -episcopacy were with them, as with the primitive church, almost -identical.[30] Somewhat later we find that neither the venerable Bede, -nor Lanfranc, nor Anselm--the two last were archbishops of -Canterbury--made any objection to the ordination of British bishops by -plain presbyters.[31] The religious and moral element that belongs to -Christianity still predominated; the sacerdotal element, which -characterizes human religions, whether among the Brahmins or -elsewhere, was beginning to show itself, but in great Britain at least -it held a very subordinate station. Christianity was still a religion -and not a caste. They did not require of the servant of God, as a -warrant of his capacity, a long list of names succeeding one another -like the beads of a rosary; they entertained serious, noble, and holy -ideas of the ministry; its authority proceeded wholly from Jesus -Christ its head. - - [29] Habere autem solet ipsa insula rectorem semper abbatem - _presbyterum_ cujus juri et omnis provincia et _ipsi etiam episcopi_, - ordine inusitato, debeant esse subjecti, juxta exemplum primi doctoris - illius qui non episcopus sed _presbyter_ exstitit et monachus. (Beda, - Hist. Eccl. iii. cap. iv.) Moreover it was always the custom to have - as governor in that island an abbot who is a presbyter, to whose - direction the entire province and also the bishops contrary to the - usual method are subject, according to the example of their first - teacher, who was not a bishop, but a presbyter and monk. - - [30] Idem est ergo presbyter qui episcopus, et antequam diaboli - instinctu studia in religione fierent. ... communi presbyterorum - concilio Ecclesiae gubernabantur. Indifferenter de episcopo quasi de - presbytero est loquntus (Paulus) .... sciant episcopi se, magis - consuetudine quam dispositionis dominicae veritate, presbyteris esse - majores. (Hieronymus ad Titum, i. 5.) A presbyter accordingly is the - same as a bishop, and before that by a suggestion of the devil, party - strife entered into religion..... the churches were governed by a - common council of presbyters. Paul spake without any distinction - between bishops and presbyters..... the bishops know that it is to - custom rather than to any actual direction of the Lord that they owe - their superiority to presbyters. - - [31] Bishop Munter makes this remark in his dissertation _On the - Ancient British Church_, about the primitive identity of bishops and - priests, and episcopal consecration. _Stud. und Krit._ an. 1833. - -[Sidenote: CONTINENTAL MISSIONS.] - -The missionary fire, which the grandson of Fergus had kindled in a -solitary island, soon spread over Great Britain. Not in Iona alone, -but at Bangor and other places, the spirit of evangelization burst -out. A fondness for travelling had already become a second nature in -this people.[32] Men of God, burning with zeal, resolved to carry the -evangelical torch to the continent--to the vast wildernesses sprinkled -here and there with barbarous and heathen tribes. They did not set -forth as antagonists of Rome, for at that epoch there was no place for -such antagonism; but Iona and Bangor, less illustrious than Rome in -the history of nations, possessed a more lively faith than the city of -the Caesars; and that faith,--unerring sign of the presence of Jesus -Christ,--gave those whom it inspired a right to evangelize the world, -which Rome could not gainsay. - - [32] Natio Scotorum quibus consuetudo peregrinandi jam paene in naturam - conversa est. (Vita S. Galli, Sec. 47.) The nation of the Scots in - whom the habit of travelling abroad had already almost become a second - nature. - -The missionary bishops[33] of Britain accordingly set forth and -traversed the Low Countries, Gaul, Switzerland, Germany, and even -Italy.[34] The free church of the Scots and Britons did more for the -conversion of central Europe than the half-enslaved church of the -Romans. These missionaries were not haughty and insolent like the -priests of Italy; but supported themselves by the work of their hands. -Columbanus (whom we must not confound with Columba),[35] "feeling in -his heart the burning of the fire which the Lord had kindled upon -earth,"[36] quitted Bangor in 590 with twelve other missionaries, and -carried the Gospel to the Burgundians, Franks, and Swiss. He continued -to preach it amidst frequent persecutions, left his disciple Gall in -Helvetia, and retired to Robbio, where he died, honouring Christian -Rome, but placing the church of Jerusalem above it,[37]--exhorting it -to beware of corruption, and declaring that the power would remain -with it so long only as it retained the true doctrine (_recta ratio_). -Thus was Britain faithful in planting the standard of Christ in the -heart of Europe. We might almost imagine this unknown people to be a -new Israel, and Icolmkill and Bangor to have inherited the virtues of -Zion. - - [33] They were called _episcopi regionarii_ because they had no - settled diocese. - - [34] Antiquo tempore, doctissimi solebant magistri de Hibernia - Britanniam, Galliam, Italiam venire, et multos per ecclesias Christi - fecisse profectus. (Alcuin, Epp. ccxxi.) In ancient times the most - learned teachers were accustomed to come from Ireland to Britain, - Gaul, and Italy, and to make numerous journeys among the churches of - Christ. - - [35] Thierry, in his _Hist. de la Conquete de l'Angleterre_, makes - Columba and Columbanus one personage. Columba preached the Gospel in - Scotland about 560, and died in 597; Columbanus preached among the - Burgundians in 600, and died in 615. - - [36] Ignitum igne Domini desiderium. Mabillon, Acta, p. 9. - - [37] Salva loci dominicae resurrectionis _singulari proerogativa_. - (Columb. Vita, section 10.) Excepting by its peculiar prerogative the - place of the Lord's resurrection. - -Yet they should have done more: they should have preached--not only to -the continental heathens, to those in the north of Scotland and the -distant Ireland, but also to the still pagan Saxons of England. It is -true that they made several attempts; but while the Britons considered -their conquerors as the enemies of God and man, and shuddered while -they pronounced their name,[38] the Saxons refused to be converted by -the voice of their slaves. By neglecting this field, the Britons left -room for other workmen, and thus it was that England yielded to a -foreign power, beneath whose heavy yoke it long groaned in vain. - - [38] Nefandi nominis Saxoni Deo hominibusque invisi. (Gildas, De - excidio Britanniae.) The execrable name of Saxon, hateful to God and - men. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Pope Gregory the Great--Desires to reduce Britain--Policy of - Gregory and Augustine--Arrival of the - Mission--Appreciation--Britain superior to Rome--Dionoth at - Bangor--First and Second Romish Aggressions--Anguish of the - Britons--Pride of Rome--Rome has recourse to the - Sword--Massacre--Saint Peter scourges an - Archbishop--Oswald--His Victory--Corman--Mission of Oswald - and Aidan--Death of Oswald. - - -[Sidenote: GREGORY THE GREAT.] - -It is matter of fact that the spiritual life had waned in Italian -catholicism; and in proportion as the heavenly spirit had become weak, -the lust of dominion had grown strong. The Roman metropolitans and -their delegates soon became impatient to mould all Christendom to -their peculiar forms. - -About the end of the sixth century an eminent man filled the see of -Rome. Gregory was born of senatorial family, and already on the high -road to honour, when he suddenly renounced the world, and transformed -the palace of his fathers into a convent. But his ambition had only -changed its object. In his views, the whole church should submit to -the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome. True, he rejected the title -of universal bishop assumed by the patriarch of Constantinople; but if -he desired not the name, he was not the less eager for the -substance.[39] On the borders of the West, in the island of Great -Britain, was a Christian church independent of Rome: this must be -conquered, and a favourable opportunity soon occurred. - - [39] He says (Epp. lib. ix, ep. xii.): De Constantinopolitana ecclesia - quis eam dubitet apostolicae sedi esse subjectam? Concerning the church - of Constantinople, who doubts that it is subject to the apostolical - see. - -[Sidenote: POLICY OF GREGORY AND AUGUSTINE.] - -Before his elevation to the primacy, and while he was as yet only the -monk Gregory, he chanced one day to cross a market in Rome where -certain foreign dealers were exposing their wares for sale. Among them -he perceived some fair-haired youthful slaves, whose noble bearing -attracted his attention. On drawing near them, he learned that the -Anglo-Saxon nation to which they belonged had refused to receive the -Gospel from the Britons. When he afterwards became bishop of Rome, -this crafty and energetic pontiff, "the last of the good and the first -of the bad," as he has been called, determined to convert these proud -conquerors, and make use of them in subduing the British church to -the papacy, as he had already made use of the Frank monarchs to reduce -the Gauls. Rome has often shown herself more eager to bring Christians -rather than idolaters to the pope.[40] Was it thus with Gregory? We -must leave the question unanswered. - - [40] We know the history of Tahiti and of other modern missions of the - Romish church. - -Ethelbert, king of Kent, having married a Christian princess of Frank -descent, the Roman bishop thought the conjuncture favourable for his -design, and despatched a mission under the direction of one of his -friends named Augustine, A.D. 596. At first the missionaries recoiled -from the task appointed them; but Gregory was firm. Desirous of -gaining the assistance of the Frank kings, Theodoric and Theodebert, -he affected to consider them as the lords paramount of England, and -commended to them the conversion of _their subjects_.[41] Nor was this -all. He claimed also the support of the powerful Brunchilda, -grandmother of these two kings, and equally notorious for her -treachery, her irregularities, and her crimes; and did not scruple to -extol the _good works_ and _godly fear_ of this modern Jezebel.[42] -Under such auspices the Romish mission arrived in England. The pope -had made a skilful choice of his delegate. Augustine possessed even to -a greater extent than Gregory himself a mixture of ambition and -devotedness, of superstition and piety, of cunning and zeal. He -thought that faith and holiness were less essential to the church than -authority and power; and that its prerogative was not so much to save -souls as to collect all the human race under the sceptre of Rome.[43] -Gregory himself was distressed at Augustine's spiritual pride, and -often exhorted him to humility. - - [41] Subjectos vestros. (Opp. Gregorii, tom. iv. p 334.) Your - subjects. - - [42] Prona in bonis operibus . . . in omnipotentis Dei timore. (Ibid. - tom. ii. p. 835.) Disposed to good works . . . in the fear of God - omnipotent. - - [43] We find the same idea in Wiseman, Lect. ix, On the principal - doctrines and practices of the Catholic church. London, 1836. - -Success of that kind which popery desires soon crowned the labours of -its servants. The forty-one missionaries having landed in the isle of -Thanet, in the year 597, the king of Kent consented to receive them, -but in the open air, for fear of magic. They drew up in such a manner -as to produce an effect on the rude islanders. The procession was -opened by a monk bearing a huge cross on which the figure of Christ -was represented: his colleagues followed chanting their Latin hymns, -and thus they approached the oak appointed for the place of -conference. They inspired sufficient confidence in Ethelbert to gain -permission to celebrate their worship in an old ruinous chapel at -Durovern (Canterbury), where British Christians had in former times -adored the Saviour Christ. The king and thousands of his subjects -received not long after, with certain forms, and certain Christian -doctrines, the errors of the Roman pontiffs--as purgatory, for -instance, which Gregory was advocating with the aid of the most absurd -fables.[44] Augustine baptized ten thousand pagans in one day. As yet -Rome had only set her foot in Great Britain, she did not fail erelong -to establish her kingdom there. - - [44] Hoepfner, De origine dogmatis de purgatorio. Halle, 1792. - -We should be unwilling to undervalue the religious element now placed -before the Anglo-Saxons, and we can readily believe that many of the -missionaries sent from Italy desired to work a Christian work. We -think, too, that the Middle Ages ought to be appreciated with more -equitable sentiments than have always been found in the persons who -have written on that period. Man's conscience lived, spoke, and -groaned during the long dominion of popery; and like a plant growing -among thorns, it often succeeded in forcing a passage through the -obstacles of traditionalism and hierarchy, to blossom in the -quickening sun of God's grace. The Christian element is even strongly -marked in some of the most eminent men of theocracy--in Anselm for -instance. - -[Sidenote: BRITAIN SUPERIOR TO ROME.] - -Yet as it is our task to relate the history of the struggles which -took place between primitive Christianity and Roman-catholicism, we -cannot forbear pointing out the superiority of the former in a -religious light, while we acknowledge the superiority of the latter in -a political point of view. We believe (and we shall presently have a -proof of it)[45] that a visit to Iona would have taught the -Anglo-Saxons much more than their frequent pilgrimages to the banks of -the Tiber. Doubtless, as has been remarked, these pilgrims -contemplated at Rome "the noble monuments of antiquity," but there -existed at that time in the British islands--and it has been too often -overlooked--a Christianity which, if not perfectly pure, was at least -better than that of popery. The British church, which at the beginning -of the seventh century carried faith and civilization into Burgundy, -the Vosges mountains, and Switzerland, might well have spread them -both over Britain. The influence of the arts, whose civilizing -influence we are far from depreciating, would have come later. - - [45] In the history of Oswald, king of Northumberland. - -But so far was the Christianity of the Britons from converting the -Saxon heptarchy, that it was, alas! the Romanism of the heptarchy -which was destined to conquer Britain. These struggles between the -Roman and British churches, which fill all the seventh century, are of -the highest importance to the English church, for they establish -clearly its primitive liberty. They possess also great interest for -the other churches of the West, as showing in the most striking -characters the usurping acts by which the papacy eventually reduced -them beneath its yoke. - -[Sidenote: DIONOTH AT BANGOR.] - -Augustine, appointed archbishop not only of the Saxons, but of the -free Britons, was settled by papal ordinance, first at London and -afterwards at Canterbury. Being at the head of a hierarchy composed of -twelve bishops, he soon attempted to bring all the Christians of -Britain under the Roman jurisdiction. At that time there existed at -Bangor,[46] in North Wales, a large Christian society, amounting to -nearly three thousand individuals, collected together to work with -their own hands,[47] to study, and to pray, and from whose bosom -numerous missionaries (Columbanus was among the number) had from time -to time gone forth. The president of this church was Dionoth, a -faithful teacher, ready to serve all men in charity, yet firmly -convinced that no one should have supremacy in the Lord's vineyard. -Although one of the most influential men in the British church, he was -somewhat timid and hesitating; he would yield to a certain point for -the love of peace; but would never flinch from his duty. He was -another apostle John, full of mildness, and yet condemning the -Diotrephes, _who love to have pre-eminence among the brethren_. -Augustine thus addressed him: "Acknowledge the authority of the Bishop -of Rome." These are the first words of the papacy to the ancient -Christians of Britain. "We desire to love all men," meekly replied the -venerable Briton; "and what we do for you, we will do for him also -whom you call the pope. But he is not entitled to call himself the -_father of fathers_, and the only submission we can render him is that -which we owe to every Christian."[48] This was not what Augustine -asked. - - [46] Bann-cor, the choir on the steep hill. Carlisle. Top. Dict. - Wales. - - [47] Ars unicuique dabatur, ut ex opero manuum quotidiano se posset in - victu necessario continere. (Preuves de l'hist de Bretagne, ii, 25.) - An art was given to each, that by the daily labour of their hands, - each might be able to supply himself with the necessities of life. - - [48] Istam obedientiam nos multius parati dare et solvere ei et cuique - Christiano continuo Wilkins, Conc, M. Brit. i. 26. - -[Sidenote: SECOND ROMISH AGGRESSION.] - -He was not discouraged by this first check. Proud of the pallium -which Rome had sent him, and relying on the swords of the -Anglo-Saxons, he convoked in 601 a general assembly of British and -Saxon bishops. The meeting took place in the open air, beneath a -venerable oak near Wigornia (Worcester or Hereford), and here occurred -the second Romish aggression. Dionoth resisted with firmness the -extravagant pretensions of Augustine, who again summoned him to -recognize the authority of Rome.[49] Another Briton protested against -the presumption of the Romans, who ascribed to their consecration a -virtue which they refused to that of Iona or of the Asiatic -churches.[50] "The Britons," exclaimed a third, "cannot submit either -to the haughtiness of the Romans or the tyranny of the Saxons."[51] To -no purpose did the archbishop lavish his arguments, prayers, censures, -and miracles even; the Britons were firm. Some of them who had eaten -with the Saxons while they were as yet heathens, refused to do so now -that they had submitted to the pope.[52] The Scotch were particularly -inflexible; for one of their number, by name Dagam, would not only -take no food at the same table with the Romans, but not even under the -same roof.[53] Thus did Augustine fail a second time, and the -independence of Britain appeared secure. - - [49] Dionothus de non approbanda apud eos Romanorum auctoritate - disputabat. Wilkins, Conc. M. Brit. 24. - - [50] Ordinationesque more asiatico eisdem contulisse. Ibid. 24. - - [51] In communionem admittere vel Romanorum fastum vel Saxonum - tyrannidem. Ibid. i, 26. - - [52] According to the apostolic precept, 1 Cor. 5, 9. 1. - - [53] Dagamus ad nos veniens, non solum cibum nobiscum, sed nec in - eodem hospitio quo vescebamur, sumere, noluit. (Beda, lib. ii, cap. - iv.) Dagam coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but even to - take his food in the same house where we were entertained. - -[Sidenote: PRIDE OF ROME.] - -And yet the formidable power of the popes, aided by the sword of the -conquerors, alarmed the Britons. They imagined they saw a mysterious -decree once more yoking the nations of the earth to the triumphal car -of Rome, and many left Wigornia uneasy and sad at heart. How is it -possible to save a cause, when even its defenders begin to despair? It -was not long before they were summoned to a new council. "What is to -be done?" they exclaimed with sorrowful forebodings. Popery was not -yet thoroughly known: it was hardly formed. The half-enlightened -consciences of these believers were a prey to the most violent -agitation. They asked themselves whether, in rejecting this new power, -they might not be rejecting God himself. A pious Christian, who led a -solitary life, had acquired a great reputation in the surrounding -district. Some of the Britons visited him, and inquired whether they -should resist Augustine or follow him.[54] "If he is a man of God, -follow him," replied the hermit.--"And how shall we know that?"--"If -he is meek and humble of heart, he bears Christ's yoke; but if he is -violent and proud, he is not of God."--"What sign shall we have of his -humility?"--"If he rises from his seat when you enter the room." Thus -spoke the oracle of Britain: it would have been better to have -consulted the Holy Scriptures. - - [54] Ad quendam virum sanctum et prudentam qui apud eos anachoreticam - ducere vitam solebat, consulentes an ad praedicationem Augustini suas - deserere traditiones deberent. (Beda, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. ii.) - They took counsel of a certain holy and wise man who led among them - the life of a hermit, whether at the preaching of Augustine they ought - to abandon their own traditions. - -But humility is not a virtue that flourishes among Romish pontiffs and -legates: they love to remain seated while others court and worship -them. The British bishops entered the council-hall, and the -archbishop, desirous of indicating his superiority, proudly kept his -seat.[55] Astonished at this sight, the Britons would hear no more of -the authority of Rome. For the third time they said No--they knew _no -other master but Christ_. Augustine, who expected to see these bishops -prostrate their churches at his feet, was surprised and indignant. He -had reckoned on the immediate submission of Britain, and the pope had -now to learn that his missionary had deceived him.... Animated by that -insolent spirit which is found too often in the ministers of the -Romish church, Augustine exclaimed: "If you will not receive brethren -who bring you peace, you shall receive enemies who will bring you war. -If you will not unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life, -you shall receive from them the stroke of death."[56] Having thus -spoken, the haughty archbishop withdrew, and occupied his last days in -preparing the accomplishment of his ill-omened prophecy.[57] Argument -had failed: now for the sword! - - [55] Factumque est ut venientibus illis sederet Augustinus in sella. - Ibid. - - [56] Si pacem cum fructibus accipere nollent, bellum ab hostibus - forent accepturi ... Ibid. - - [57] Ipsum Augustinum hujus belli non modo conscium sed et - _impulsorem_ exstitisse. Wilkins adds, that the expression found in - Bede, concerning the death of Augustine, is a parenthesis foisted in - by Romanist writers, and not found in the Saxon manuscripts. (Conc. - Brit. p. 26.) Augustine himself was not only accessory to that war, - but he was even its instigator. - -[Sidenote: MASSACRE.] - -Shortly after the death of Augustine, Edelfrid, one of the Anglo-Saxon -kings, and who was still a heathen, collected a numerous army, and -advanced towards Bangor, the centre of British Christianity. Alarm -spread through those feeble churches. They wept and prayed. The sword -of Edelfrid drew nearer. To whom can they apply, or where shall they -find help? The magnitude of the danger seemed to recall the Britons to -their pristine piety: not to men, but to the Lord himself will they -turn their thoughts. Twelve hundred and fifty servants of the living -God, calling to mind what are the arms of Christian warfare, after -preparing themselves by fasting, met together in a retired spot to -send up their prayers to God.[58] A British chief, named Brocmail, -moved by tender compassion, stationed himself near them with a few -soldiers; but the cruel Edelfrid, observing from a distance this band -of kneeling Christians, demanded: "Who are these people, and what are -they doing?" On being informed, he added: "They are fighting then -against us, although unarmed;" and immediately he ordered his soldiers -to fall upon the prostrate crowd. Twelve hundred of them were -slain.[59] They prayed and they died. The Saxons forthwith proceeded -to Bangor, the chief seat of Christian learning, and razed it to the -ground. Romanism was triumphant in England. The news of these -massacres filled the country _with weeping and great mourning_; but -the priests of Romish consecration (and the venerable Bede shared -their sentiments) beheld in this cruel slaughter the accomplishment of -the prophecy of the _holy pontiff_ Augustine;[60] and a national -tradition among the Welsh for many ages pointed to him as the -instigator of this cowardly butchery. Thus did Rome loose the savage -Pagan against the primitive church of Britain, and fastened it all -dripping with blood to her triumphal car. A great mystery of iniquity -was accomplishing. - - [58] Ad memoratam aciem, peracto jejunio triduano, cum aliis orandi - causa convenerant. (Beda, ii, cap. ii.) At the aforesaid engagement, - after three days had been spent in fasting, they met together with - others for prayer. - - [59] Extinctos in ea pugna ferunt de his qui ad orandum venerunt viros - circiter mille ducentos. Beda, lib. ii, cap. ii. - - [60] Sic completum est presagium sancti pontificis Augustini. Ibid. - -But while the Saxon sword appeared to have swept every thing from -before the papacy, the ground trembled under its feet, and seemed -about to swallow it up. The hierarchical rather than Christian -conversions effected by the priests of Rome were so unreal that a vast -number of neophytes suddenly returned to the worship of their idols. -Eadbald, king of Kent, was himself among the number of apostates. Such -reversions to paganism are not unfrequent in the history of the Romish -missions. The bishops fled into Gaul: Mellitus and Justus had already -reached the continent in safety, and Lawrence, Augustine's successor, -was about to follow them. While lying in the church where he had -desired to pass the night before leaving England, he groaned in spirit -as he saw the work founded by Augustine perishing in his hands. He -saved it by a miracle. The next morning he presented himself before -the king with his clothes all disordered and his body covered with -wounds. "Saint Peter," he said, "appeared to me during the night and -scourged me severely because I was about to forsake his flock."[61] -The _scourge_ was a means of moral persuasion which Peter had -forgotten in his epistles. Did Lawrence cause these blows to be -inflicted by others--or did he inflict them himself--or is the whole -account an idle dream? We should prefer adopting the latter -hypothesis. The superstitious prince, excited at the news of this -supernatural intervention, eagerly acknowledged the authority of the -pope, the vicar of an apostle who so mercilessly scourged those who -had the misfortune to displease him. If the dominion of Rome had then -disappeared from England, it is probable that the Britons, regaining -their courage, and favoured in other respects by the wants which would -have been felt by the Saxons, would have recovered from their defeat, -and would have imparted their free Christianity to their conquerors. -But now the Roman bishop seemed to remain master of England, and the -faith of the Britons to be crushed for ever. But it was not so. A -young man, sprung from the energetic race of the conquerors, was about -to become the champion of truth and liberty, and almost the whole -island to be freed from the Roman yoke. - - [61] Apparuit ei beatissimus apostolorum princeps, et multo illum - tempore secretae noctis flagellis acrioribus afficiens. Beda, ii. cap. - vi. - -[Sidenote: OSWALD.] - -[Sidenote: OSWALD'S VICTORY--CORMAN.] - -Oswald, an Anglo-Saxon prince, son of the heathen and cruel Edelfrid, -had been compelled by family reverses to take refuge in Scotland, when -very young, accompanied by his brother Oswy and several other youthful -chiefs. He had acquired the language of the country, been instructed -in the truths of Holy Writ, converted by the grace of God, and -baptized into the Scottish church.[62] He loved to sit at the feet of -the elders of Iona and listen to their words. They showed him Jesus -Christ going from place to place doing good, and he desired to do so -likewise; they told him that Christ was the only head of the church, -and he promised never to acknowledge any other. Being a single-hearted -generous man, he was especially animated with tender compassion -towards the poor, and would take off his own cloak to cover the -nakedness of one of his brethren. Often, while mingling in the quiet -assemblies of the Scottish Christians, he had desired to go as a -missionary to the Anglo-Saxons. It was not long before he conceived -the bold design of leading the people of Northumberland to the -Saviour; but being a prince as well as a Christian, he determined to -begin by reconquering the throne of his fathers. There was in this -young Englishman the love of a disciple and the courage of a hero. At -the head of an army, small indeed, but strong by faith in Christ,[63] -he entered Northumberland, knelt with his troops in prayer on the -field of battle, and gained a signal victory over a powerful enemy, -634 A. D. To recover the kingdom of his ancestors was only a part of -his task. Oswald desired to give his people the benefits of the true -faith.[64] The Christianity taught in 625 to King Edwin and the -Northumbrians by Pendin of York had disappeared amidst the ravages of -the pagan armies. Oswald requested a missionary from the Scots who had -given him an asylum, and they accordingly sent one of the brethren -named Corman, a pious but uncultivated and austere man. He soon -returned dispirited to Iona: "The people to whom you sent me," he told -the elders of that island, "are so obstinate that we must renounce all -idea of changing their manners." As Aidan, one of their number, -listened to this report, he said to himself: "If thy love had been -offered to this people, oh, my Saviour, many hearts would have been -touched!... I will go and make Thee known--Thee who breaketh not the -bruised reed!" Then, turning to the missionary with a look of mild -reproach, he added: "Brother, you have been too severe towards hearers -so dull of heart. You should have given them spiritual milk to drink -until they were able to receive more solid food." All eyes were fixed -on the man who spoke so wisely. "Aidan is worthy of the episcopate," -exclaimed the brethren of Iona: and, like Timothy, he was consecrated -by the laying on of the hands of the company of elders.[65] - - [62] Cum magna nobilium juventute apud Scotos sive Pictos exulabant, - ibique ad doctrinam Scottorum cathechisati et baptismatis gratia sunt - recreati. (Beda, iii. cap. i.) They were exiled among the Scots or - Picts with many youths of noble rank, and there they were instructed - in the doctrine of the Scots and were converted by the grace of - baptism. - - [63] Superveniente cum parvo exercitu, sed fide Christi munito. Beda, - lib. iii, cap. i. - - [64] Desiderans totam cui praeesse coepit gentem fidei Christianae gratia - imbui. (Ibid. cap. iii.) Desiring that the whole nation over which he - ruled might be imbued with the grace of the Christian faith. - - [65] Aydanus accepto gradu episcopatus, quo tempore eodem monasterio - Segenius abbas et _presbyter_ praefuit. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. v.) Aidan - having received the dignity of a bishop at the time when Segenius, - abbot and presbyter, presided over that monastery. When Bede tells us - that a plain priest was president, he excludes the idea that there - were bishops in the assembly. See 1 Timothy, iv, 14. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF OSWALD.] - -Oswald received Aidan as an angel from heaven, and as the missionary -was ignorant of the Saxon language, the king accompanied him every -where, standing by his side, and interpreting his gentle -discourses.[66] The people crowded joyfully around Oswald, Aidan, and -other missionaries from Scotland and Ireland, listening eagerly to -the _Word of God_.[67] The king preached by his works still more than -by his words. One day during Easter, as he was about to take his seat -at table, he was informed that a crowd of his subjects, driven by -hunger, had collected before his palace gates. Instantly he ordered -the food prepared for himself to be carried out and distributed among -them; and taking the silver vessels which stood before him, he broke -them in pieces and commanded his servants to divide them among the -poor. He also introduced the knowledge of the Saviour to the people of -Wessex, whither he had gone to marry the king's daughter; and after a -reign of nine years, he died at the head of his army while repelling -an invasion of the idolatrous Mercians, headed by the cruel Penda (5th -August, 642 A. D.) As he fell he exclaimed: "Lord, have mercy on the -souls of my people!" This youthful prince has left a name dear to the -churches of Great Britain. - - [66] Evangelisante antistite, ipse Rex suis ducibus ac ministris - interpres verbi existeret coelestis. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. iii.) When - the bishop was preaching, the king himself interpreted the heavenly - message to his officers and servants. - - [67] Confluebant _ad audiendum verbum Dei_ populi gaudentes. (Beda, - lib. iii, cap. iii.) The people eagerly flocked together to hear the - word of God. - -His death did not interrupt the labours of the missionaries. Their -meekness and the recollection of Oswald endeared them to all. As soon -as the villagers caught sight of one on the high-road, they would -throng round him, begging him to teach them the _Word of life_.[68] -The faith which the terrible Edelfrid thought he had washed away in -the blood of the worshippers of God, was re-appearing in every -direction; and Rome, which once already in the days of Honorius had -been forced to leave Britain, might be perhaps a second time compelled -to flee to its ships from before the face of a people who asserted -their liberty. - - [68] Mox congregati in unum vicani, _verbum vitae_ ab illo expetere - curabant. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxvi.) Presently the villagers flocked - together earnestly desiring to hear from him the word of life. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Character of Oswy--Death of Aidan--Wilfrid at Rome--At - Oswald's Court--Finan and Colman--Independence of the Church - attacked--Oswy's Conquests and Troubles--_Synodus - Pharensis_--Cedda--Degeneration--The Disputation--Peter, the - Gatekeeper--Triumph of Rome--Grief of the Britons--Popedom - organized in England--Papal Exultation--Archbishop - Theodore--Cedda re-ordained--Discord in the Church--Disgrace - and Treachery of Wilfrid--His end--Scotland - attacked--Adamnan--Iona resists--A King converted by - Architects--The Monk Egbert at Iona--His History--Monkish - Visions--Fall of Iona. - - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF OSWY.] - -Then up rose the papacy. If victory remained with the Britons, their -church, becoming entirely free, might even in these early times head a -strong opposition against the papal monarchy. If, on the contrary, the -last champions of liberty are defeated, centuries of slavery awaited -the Christian church. We shall have to witness the struggle that took -place erelong in the very palace of the Northumbrian kings. - -Oswald was succeeded by his brother Oswy, a prince instructed in the -free doctrine of the Britons, but whose religion was all external. His -heart overflowed with ambition, and he shrank from no crime that might -increase his power. The throne of Deira was filled by his relative -Oswin, an amiable king, much beloved by his people. Oswy, conceiving a -deadly jealousy towards him, marched against him at the head of an -army, and Oswin, desirous of avoiding bloodshed, took shelter with a -chief whom he had loaded with favours. But the latter offered to lead -Oswy's soldiers to his hiding-place; and at dead of night the fugitive -king was basely assassinated, one only of his servants fighting in his -defence. The gentle Aidan died of sorrow at his cruel fate.[69] Such -was the first exploit of that monarch who surrendered England to the -papacy. Various circumstances tended to draw Oswy nearer Rome. He -looked upon the Christian religion as a means of combining the -Christian princes against the heathen Penda, and such a religion, in -which expediency predominated, was not very unlike popery. And -further, Oswy's wife, the proud Eanfeld, was of the Romish communion. -The private chaplain of this bigoted princess was a priest named -Romanus, a man worthy of the name. He zealously maintained the rites -of the Latin church, and accordingly the festival of Easter was -celebrated at court twice in the year; for while the king, following -the eastern rule, was joyfully commemorating the resurrection of our -Lord, the queen, who adopted the Roman ritual, was keeping Palm Sunday -with fasting and humiliation.[70] Eanfeld and Romanus would often -converse together on the means of winning over Northumberland to the -papacy. But the first step was to increase the number of its -partizans, and the opportunity soon occurred. - - [69] Aydanus duodecimo post occisionem regis quem amabat die, de - seculo ablatus. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xiv.) Aidan on his twelfth day - after the death of the king whom he loved, was taken out of the world. - - [70] Cum rex pascha dominicum solutis jejuniis faceret, tunc regina - cum suis persistens adhuc in jejunio diem l'almarum celebraret. (Beda, - lib. iii, cap. xxv.) When the king having ended the time of fasting, - was keeping Easter, the queen with her attendants still fasting, was - celebrating Palm Sunday. - -[Sidenote: WILFRID AT ROME.] - -A young Northumbrian, named Wilfrid, was one day admitted to an -audience of the queen. He was a comely man, of extensive knowledge, -keen wit, and enterprising character, of indefatigible activity, and -insatiable ambition.[71] In this interview he remarked to Eanfeld: -"The way which the Scotch teach us is not perfect; I will go to Rome -and learn in the very temples of the apostles." She approved of his -project, and with her assistance and directions he set out for Italy. -Alas! he was destined at no very distant day to chain the whole -British church to the Roman see. After a short stay at Lyons, where -the bishop, delighted at his talents, would have desired to keep him, -he arrived at Rome, and immediately became on the most friendly -footing with archdeacon Boniface, the pope's favourite councillor. He -soon discovered that the priests of France and Italy possessed more -power both in ecclesiastical and secular matters than the humble -missionaries of Iona; and his thirst for honours was inflamed at the -court of the pontiffs. If he should succeed in making England submit -to the papacy, there was no dignity to which he might not aspire. -Henceforward this was his only thought, and he had hardly returned to -Northumberland before Eanfeld eagerly summoned him to court. A -fanatical queen, from whom he might hope every thing--a king with no -religious convictions, and enslaved by political interests--a pious -and zealous prince, Alfred, the king's son, who was desirous of -imitating his noble uncle Oswald, and converting the pagans, but who -had neither the discernment nor the piety of the illustrious disciple -of Iona: such were the materials Wilfrid had to work upon. He saw -clearly that if Rome had gained her first victory by the sword of -Edelfrid, she could only expect to gain a second by craft and -management. He came to an understanding on the subject with the queen -and Romanus, and having been placed about the person of the young -prince, by adroit flattery he soon gained over Alfred's mind. Then -finding himself secure of two members of the royal family, he turned -all his attention to Oswy. - - [71] Acris erat ingenii.....gratia venusti vultus, alacritate - actionis. Beda, lib. v, p. 135. - -[Sidenote: AND AT OSWY'S COURT.] - -The elders of Iona could not shut their eyes to the dangers which -threatened Northumberland. They had sent Finan to supply Aidan's -place, and this bishop, consecrated by the presbyters of Iona, had -witnessed the progress of popery at the court; at first humble and -inoffensive, and then increasing year by year in ambition and -audacity. He had openly opposed the pontiff's agents, and his frequent -contests had confirmed him in the truth.[72] He was dead, and the -presbyters of the Western Isles, seeing more clearly than ever the -wants of Northumbria, had sent thither bishop Colman, a simple-minded, -but stout-hearted man,--one determined to oppose a front of adamant to -the wiles of the seducers. - - [72] Apertum veritatis adversarium reddidit, says the Romanist Bede, - lib. v. p. 135. Had rendered him an open enemy of the truth. - -Yet Eanfeld, Wilfrid, and Romanus were skilfully digging the mine that -was to destroy the apostolic church of Britain. At first Wilfrid -prepared his attack by adroit insinuations; and next declared himself -openly in the king's presence. If Oswy withdrew into his domestic -circle, he there found the bigoted Eanfeld, who zealously continued -the work of the Roman missionary. No opportunities were neglected: in -the midst of the diversions of the court, at table, and even during -the chase, discussions were perpetually raised on the controverted -doctrines. Men's minds became excited: the Romanists already assumed -the air of conquerors; and the Britons often withdrew full of anxiety -and fear. The king, placed between his wife and his faith, and wearied -by these disputes, inclined first to one side, and then to the other, -as if he would soon fall altogether. - -[Sidenote: SYNODUS PHARENSIS.] - -The papacy had more powerful motives than ever for coveting -Northumberland. Oswy had not only usurped the throne of Deira, but -after the death of the cruel Penda, who fell in battle in 654, he had -conquered his states with the exception of a portion governed by his -son-in-law Peada, the son of Penda. But Peada himself having fallen in -a conspiracy said to have been got up by his wife, the daughter of -Oswy, the latter completed the conquest of Mercia, and thus united the -greatest part of England under his sceptre. Kent alone at that time -acknowledged the jurisdiction of Rome: in every other province, free -ministers, protected by the kings of Northumberland, preached the -Gospel. This wonderfully simplified the question. If Rome gained over -Oswy, she would gain England: if she failed, she must sooner or later -leave that island altogether. - -This was not all. The blood of Oswyn, the premature death of Aidan, -and other things besides, troubled the king's breast. He desired to -appease the Deity he had offended, and not knowing that _Christ is the -door_, as holy Scripture tells us, he sought among men for a -_doorkeeper_ who would open to him the kingdom of heaven. He was far -from being the last of those kings whom the necessity of expiating -their crimes impelled towards Romish practices. The crafty Wilfrid, -keeping alive both the hopes and fears of the prince, often spoke to -him of Rome, and of the grace to be found there. He thought that the -fruit was ripe, and that now he had only to shake the tree. "We must -have a public disputation, in which the question may be settled once -for all," said the queen and her advisers; "but Rome must take her -part in it with as much pomp as her adversaries. Let us oppose bishop -to bishop." A Saxon bishop named Agilbert, a friend of Wilfrid's, who -had won the affection of the young prince Alfred, was invited by -Eanfeld to the conference, and he arrived in Northumberland attended -by a priest named Agathon. Alas! poor British church, the earthen -vessel is about to be dashed against the vase of iron. Britain must -yield before the invading march of Rome. - -On the coast of Yorkshire, at the farther extremity of a quiet bay, -was situated the monastery of Strenaeshalh, or Whitby, of which Hilda, -the pious daughter of king Edwin, was abbess. She, too, was desirous -of seeing a termination of the violent disputes which had agitated the -church since Wilfrid's return. On the shores of the North Sea[73] the -struggle was to be decided between Britain and Rome, between the East -and the West, or, as they said then, between Saint John and Saint -Peter. It was not a mere question about Easter, or certain rules of -discipline, but of the great doctrine of the freedom of the church -under Jesus Christ, or its enslavement under the papacy. Rome, ever -domineering, desired for the second time to hold England in its -grasp, not by means of the sword, but by her dogmas. With her usual -cunning she concealed her enormous pretensions under secondary -questions, and many superficial thinkers were deceived by this -manoeuvre. - - [73] This conference is generally known as the _Synodus Pharensis_ - (from _Strenaeshalh_, sinus Phari). "Hodie Whitbie dicitur (White bay), - et est villa in Eboracensi littore satis nota" Wilkius, Concii. p. 37, - note. - -[Sidenote: CEDDA.] - -The meeting took place in the convent of Whitby. The king and his son -entered first; then, on the one side, Colman, with the bishops and -elders of the Britons; and on the other bishop Agilbert, Agathon, -Wilfrid, Romanus, a deacon named James, and several other priests of -the Latin confession. Last of all came Hilda with her attendants, -among whom was an English bishop named Cedda, one of the most active -missionaries of the age.[74] He had at first preached the Gospel in -the midland districts, whence he turned his footsteps towards the -Anglo-Saxons of the East, and after converting a great number of these -pagans, he had returned to Finan, and, although an Englishman, had -received Episcopal consecration from a bishop, who had been himself -ordained by the elders of Iona. Then proceeding westwards, the -indefatigable evangelist founded churches, and appointed elders and -deacons wherever he went.[75] By birth an Englishman, by ordination a -Scotchman, everywhere treated with respect and consideration, he -appeared to be set apart as mediator in this solemn conference. His -intervention could not however, retard the victory of Rome. Alas! the -primitive evangelism had gradually given way to an ecclesiasticism, -coarse and rude in one place, subtle and insinuating in another. -Whenever the priests were called upon to justify certain doctrines or -ceremonies, instead of referring solely to the word of God, that -fountain of all light, they maintained that thus St. James did at -Jerusalem, St. Mark at Alexandria, St. John at Ephesus, or St. Peter -at Rome. They gave the name of _apostolical canons_, to rules which -the apostles had never known. They even went further than this: at -Rome and in the East, ecclesiasticism represented itself to be a law -of God, and from a state of weakness, it thus became a state of sin. -Some marks of this error were already beginning to appear in the -Christianity of the Britons. - - [74] Presbyteri Cedda et Adda et Berti Duina, quorum ultimus natione - Scotus, caeteri fuere Angli. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxi) These - presbyters were Cedda and Adda and Berti and Dinna, of whom the last - was by nation a Scot, the rest were English. - - [75] Qui accepto gradu episcopatus et majore auctoritate coeptum opus - explens, fecit per loca ecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos ordinavit. - (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxii.) Who having received the episcopal dignity - and pursuing the work he had begun with more ample authority, built - churches in various places, and ordained presbyters and deacons. - -[Sidenote: THE DISPUTATION.] - -King Oswy was the first to speak: "As servants of one and the same -God, we hope all to enjoy the same inheritance in heaven; why then -should we not have the same rule of life here below? Let us inquire -which is the true one, and follow it."... "Those who sent me hither as -bishop," said Colman, "and who gave me the rule which I observe, are -the beloved of God. Let us beware how we despise their teaching, for -it is the teaching of Columba, of the blessed evangelist John,[76] and -of the churches over which that apostle presided." - - [76] Ipsum est quod beatus evangelista Johannes, discipulus - specialiter Domino dilectus. Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxv. - -"As for us," boldly rejoined Wilfrid, for to him as to the most -skilful had bishop Agilbert intrusted the defence of their cause, "our -custom is that of Rome, where the holy apostles Peter and Paul taught; -we found it in Italy and Gaul, nay, it is spread over every nation. -Shall the Picts and Britons, cast on these two islands, on the very -confines of the ocean, dare to contend against the whole world?[77] -However holy your Columba may have been, will you prefer him to the -prince of the apostles, to whom Christ said, _Thou art Peter, and I -will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven_?" - - [77] Pictos dico ac Brittones, cum quibus de duabus ultimis oceani - insulis, contra totum orbem stulto labore pugnant. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: SORROW OF THE BRITONS.] - -Wilfrid spoke with animation, and his words being skilfully adapted to -his audience, began to make them waver. He had artfully substituted -Columba for the apostle John, from whom the British church claimed -descent, and opposed to Saint Peter a plain elder of Iona. Oswy, whose -idol was power, could not hesitate between paltry bishops and that -pope of Rome who commanded the whole world. Already imagining he saw -Peter at the gates of paradise, with the keys in his hand, he -exclaimed with emotion: "Is it true, Colman, that these words were -addressed by our Lord to Saint Peter?" "It is true." "Can you prove -that similar powers were given to your Columba?" The bishop replied -"We cannot;" but he might have told the king: "John, whose doctrine we -follow, and indeed every disciple, has received in the same sense as -St. Peter the power to remit sins, to bind and to loose on earth and -in heaven."[78] But the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was fading -away in Iona, and the unsuspecting Colman had not observed Wilfrid's -stratagem in substituting Columba for Saint John. Upon this Oswy, -delighted to yield to the continual solicitations of the queen, and -above all, to find some one who would admit him into the kingdom of -heaven, exclaimed: "Peter is the doorkeeper, I will obey him, lest -when I appear at the gate there should be no one to open it to -me."[79] The spectators, carried away by this royal confession, -hastened to give in their submission to the vicar of St. Peter. - - [78] John xx 23; Matth. xviii. 18. - - [79] Ne forte me adveniente ad fores regni coelorum, non sit qui - reserat. Beda. lib. ii. cap. xxv. - -Thus did Rome Triumph at the Whitby conference. Oswy forgot that the -Lord had said: _I am he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and -shutteth, and no man openeth_.[80] It was by ascribing to Peter the -servant, what belongs to Jesus Christ the master, that the papacy -reduced Britain. Oswy stretched out his hands, Rome riveted the -chains, and the liberty which Oswald had given his church seemed at -the last gasp. - - [80] John x, 9; Rev. iii, 7. - -Colman saw with grief and consternation Oswy and his subjects bending -their knees before the foreign priests. He did not, however, despair -of the ultimate triumph of the truth. The apostolic faith could still -find shelter in the old sanctuaries of the British church in Scotland -and Ireland. Immovable in the doctrine he had received, and resolute -to uphold Christian liberty, Colman withdrew with those who would not -bend beneath the yoke of Rome, and returned to Scotland. Thirty -Anglo-Saxons, and a great number of Britons, shook off the dust of -their feet against the tents of the Romish priests. The hatred of -popery became more intense day by day among the remainder of the -Britons. Determined to repel its erroneous dogmas and its illegitimate -dominion, they maintained their communion with the Eastern Church, -which was more ancient than that of Rome. They shuddered as they saw -the red dragon of the Celts gradually retiring towards the western sea -from before the white dragon of the Saxons. They ascribed their -misfortunes to a horrible conspiracy planned by the iniquitous -ambition of the foreign monks, and the bards in their chants cursed -the negligent ministers who defended not the flock of the Lord against -the wolves of Rome.[81] But vain were the lamentations! - - [81] Horae Britannicae, b. ii, p. 277. - -[Sidenote: PAPACY ORGANIZED IN BRITAIN.] - -The Romish priests, aided by the queen, lost no time. Wilfrid, whom -Oswy desired to reward for his triumph, was named bishop of -Northumberland, and he immediately visited Paris to receive episcopal -consecration in due form. He soon returned, and proceeded with -singular activity to establish the Romish doctrine in all the -churches.[82] Bishop of a diocese extending from Edinburgh to -Northampton, enriched with the goods which had belonged to divers -monasteries, surrounded by a numerous train, served upon gold and -silver plate, Wilfrid congratulated himself on having espoused the -cause of the papacy; he offended every one who approached him by his -insolence, and taught England how wide was the difference between the -humble ministers of Iona and a Romish priest. At the same time Oswy, -coming to an understanding with the king of Kent, sent another priest -named Wighard to Rome to learn the pope's intentions respecting the -church in England, and to receive consecration as archbishop of -Canterbury. There was no episcopal ordination in England worthy of a -priest! In the meanwhile Oswy, with all the zeal of a new convert, -ceased not to repeat that "the Roman Church was the Catholic and -apostolic church," and thought night and day on the means of -converting his subjects, hoping thus (says a pope) to redeem his own -soul.[83] - - [82] Ipse perplura catholicae observationis moderamina ecclesiis - Anglorum sua doctrina contulit. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxvlii) He by - his doctrine brought into the churches of England many rules of - catholic observance. - - [83] Omnes subjectos suos meditatur die ac nocte ad fidem catholicam - atque apostolicam pro suae animae redemptione converti. (Beda, lib. iii, - cap. xxix.) He studies day and night that all his subjects may be - converted to the catholic and apostolic faith, for the salvation of - his own soul. - -The arrival of this news at Rome created a great sensation. Vitalian, -who then filled the episcopal chair, and was as insolent to his -bishops as he was fawning and servile to the emperor, exclaimed with -transport: "Who would not be overjoyed![84] a king converted to the -true apostolic faith, a people that believes at last in Christ the -Almighty God!" For many long years this people had believed in Christ, -but they were now beginning to believe in the pope, and the pope will -soon make them forget Jesus the Saviour. Vitalian wrote to Oswy, and -sent him--not copies of the Holy Scriptures (which were already -becoming scarce at Rome), but--relics of the Saints Peter, John, -Lawrence, Gregory, and Pancratius; and being in an especial manner -desirous of rewarding Queen Eanfeld, to whom with Wilfrid belonged the -glory of this work, he offered her a cross, made, as he assured her, -out of the chains of St. Peter and St. Paul.[85] "Delay not," said the -pope in conclusion, "to reduce all your island under Jesus Christ," or -in other words, under the bishop of Rome. - - [84] Quis enim audiens haec suavia non laetetur? Ibid. - - [85] Conjugi, nostrae spirituali filiae, crucem...... (Beda, lib. iii. - cap. xxix.) To your consort, our spiritual daughter, a cross..... - -The essential thing, however, was to send an archbishop from Rome to -Britain; but Wighard was dead, and no one seemed willing to undertake -so long a journey.[86] - - [86] Minime voluimus nunc reperire pro longinquitate itineris. (Ibid.) - On account of the length of the journey, we have not been able to - find... - -[Sidenote: ARCHBISHOP THEODORE] - -There was not much zeal in the city, of the pontiffs: and the pope was -compelled to look out for a stranger. There happened at that time to -be in Rome a man of great reputation for learning, who had come from -the east, and adopted the rites and doctrines of the Latins in -exchange for the knowledge he had brought them. He was pointed out to -Vitalian as well qualified to be the metropolitan of England. -Theodore, for such was his name, belonging by birth to the churches of -Asia Minor, would be listened to by the Britons in preference to any -other, when he solicited them to abandon their oriental customs. The -Roman pontiff, however, fearful perhaps that he might yet entertain -some leaven of his former Greek doctrines, gave him as companion, or -rather as overseer, a zealous African monk named Adrian.[87] - - [87] Ut diligenter attenderet, ne quid ille contrarium veritati, - fidei. Graecorum more, in ecclesiam cui praeesset introduceret. (Beda, - lib. iv. cap. i.) That he should constantly attend him, lest after the - manner of the Greeks, he should introduce any thing contrary to the - true faith into the church over which he presided. - -Theodore began the great crusade against British Christianity, and -endeavouring to show the sincerity of his conversion by his zeal, he -traversed all England in company with Adrian,[88] every where imposing -on the people that ecclesiastical supremacy to which Rome is indebted -for her political supremacy. The superiority of character which -distinguished Saint Peter, Theodore transformed into a superiority of -office. For the jurisdiction of Christ and his word, he substituted -that of the bishop of Rome and of his decrees. He insisted on the -necessity of ordination by bishops who, in an unbroken chain, could -trace back their authority to the apostles themselves. The British -still maintained the validity of their consecration; but the number -was small of those who understood that pretended successors of the -apostles, who sometimes carry Satan in their hearts, are not true -ministers of Christ; that the one thing needful for the church is, -that the apostles themselves (and not their successors only) should -dwell in its bosom by their word, by their teaching, and by the Divine -Comforter who shall be with it for ever and ever. - - [88] Peragrata insula tota, rectum vivendi ordinem disseminabat. - (Ibid. cap. ii.) He visited the whole island, and taught the right - rule of life. - -[Sidenote: DISCORD IN THE CHURCH.] - -The grand defection now began: the best were sometimes the first to -yield. When Theodore met Cedda, who had been consecrated by a bishop -who had himself received ordination from the elders of Iona, he said -to him: "You have not been regularly ordained." Cedda, instead of -standing up boldly for the truth, gave way to a carnal modesty, and -replied: "I never thought myself worthy of the episcopate, and am -ready to lay it down."--"No," said Theodore, "you shall remain a -bishop, but I will consecrate you anew according to the catholic -ritual."[89] The British minister submitted. Rome triumphant felt -herself strong enough to deny the imposition of hands of the elders of -Iona, which she had hitherto recognised. The most stedfast believers -took refuge in Scotland. - - [89] Cum Ceadda Episcopum argueret non fuisse rite consecratum, ipse - (Theodorus) ordinationem, ejus denuo catholica ratione consummavit. - (Beda, lib. iv. cap. ii.) When he charged Cedda with not being a - regularly ordained bishop, he (Theodore) himself completed his - ordination after the catholic manner. - -In this manner a church in some respects deficient, but still a church -in which the religious element held the foremost place, was succeeded -by another in which the clerical element predominated. This was soon -apparent: questions of authority and precedence, hitherto unknown -among the British Christians, were now of daily occurrence. Wilfrid, -who had fixed his residence at York, thought that no one deserved -better than he to be primate of all England; and Theodore on his part -was irritated at the haughty tone assumed by this bishop. During the -life of Oswy, peace was maintained, for Wilfrid was his favourite; but -ere long that prince fell ill; and, terrified by the near approach of -death, he vowed that if he recovered he would make a pilgrimage to -Rome and there end his days.[90] "If you will be my guide to the city -of the apostles," he said to Wilfrid, "I will give you a large sum of -money." But his vow was of no avail: Oswy died in the spring of the -year 670 A.D. - - [90] Ut si ab infirmitate salvaretur, etiam Romam venire, ibique ad - loca sancta vitam finire. Beda, lib. iv. cap. ii. - -[Sidenote: WILFRED'S DISGRACE AND END.] - -The _Witan_ set aside Prince Alfred, and raised his youngest brother -Egfrid to the throne. The new monarch, who had often been offended by -Wilfrid's insolence, denounced this haughty prelate to the archbishop. -Nothing could be more agreeable to Theodore. He assembled a council at -Hertford, before which the chief of his converts were first summoned, -and presenting to them, not the holy scripture but the _canons of the -Romish church_,[91] he received their solemn oaths: such was the -religion then taught in England. But this was not all. "The diocese of -our brother Wilfrid is so extensive," said the primate, "that there is -room in it for four bishops." They were appointed accordingly. Wilfrid -indignantly appealed from the primate and the king to the pope. "Who -converted England, who, if not I? ... and it is thus I am -rewarded!"... Not allowing himself to be checked by the difficulties -of the journey, he set out for Rome, attended by a few monks, and Pope -Agathon assembling a council (679), the Englishman presented his -complaint, and the pontiff declared the destitution to be illegal. -Wilfrid immediately returned to England, and haughtily presented the -pope's decree to the king. But Egfrid, who was not of a disposition to -tolerate these transalpine manners, far from restoring the see, cast -the prelate into prison, and did not release him until the end of the -year, and then only on condition that he would immediately quit -Northumbria. - - [91] Quibus statim protuli eundem librum canonum. (Ibid. cap. v.) To - whom I straightway presented the same book of canons. - -Wilfrid--for we must follow even to the end of his life that -remarkable man, who exercised so great an influence over the destinies -of the English church--Wilfrid was determined to be a bishop at any -cost. The kingdom of Sussex was still pagan; and the deposed prelate, -whose indefatigable activity we cannot but acknowledge, formed the -resolution of winning a bishopric, as other men plan the conquest of a -kingdom. He arrived in Sussex during a period of famine, and having -brought with him a number of nets, he taught the people the art of -fishing, and thus gained their affections. Their king Edilwalch had -been baptized, his subjects now followed his example, and Wilfrid was -placed at the head of the church. But he soon manifested the -disposition by which he was animated: he furnished supplies of men and -money to Ceadwalla, king of Wessex, and this cruel chieftain made a -fierce inroad into Sussex, laying it waste, and putting to death -Edilwalch, the prelate's benefactor. The career of the turbulent -bishop was not ended. King Egfrid died, and was succeeded by his -brother Alfred, whom Wilfrid had brought up, a prince fond of learning -and religion, and emulous of the glory of his uncle Oswald. The -ambitious Wilfrid hastened to claim his see of York, by acquiescing in -the partition; it was restored to him, and he forthwith began to -plunder others to enrich himself. A council begged him to submit to -the decrees of the church of England; he refused, and having lost the -esteem of the king, his former pupil, he undertook, notwithstanding -his advanced years, a third journey to Rome. Knowing how popes are -won, he threw himself at the pontiff's feet, exclaiming that "the -suppliant bishop Wilfrid, the humble slave of the servant of God, -implored the favour of our most blessed lord, the pope universal." The -bishop could not restore his creature to his see, and the short -remainder of Wilfrid's life was spent in the midst of the riches his -cupidity had so unworthily accumulated. - -Yet he had accomplished the task of his life: all England was -subservient to the papacy. The names of _Oswy_ and of _Wilfrid_ should -be inscribed in letters of mourning in the annals of Great Britain. -Posterity has erred in permitting them to sink into oblivion; for they -were two of the most influential and energetic men that ever -flourished in England. Still this very forgetfulness is not wanting in -generosity. The grave in which the liberty of the church lay buried -for nine centuries is the only monument--a mournful one indeed--that -should perpetuate their memory. - -[Sidenote: ADAMNAN.] - -But Scotland was still free, and to secure the definitive triumph of -Rome, it was necessary to invade that virgin soil, over which the -standard of the faith had floated for so many years. - -Adamnan was then at the head of the church of Iona, the first elder of -that religious house. He was virtuous and learned, but weak and -somewhat vain, and his religion had little spirituality. To gain him -was in the eyes of Rome to gain Scotland. A singular circumstance -favoured the plans of those who desired to draw him into the papal -communion. One day during a violent tempest, a ship coming from the -Holy Land, and on board of which was a Gaulish bishop named Arculf, -was wrecked in the neighbourhood of Iona.[92] Arculf eagerly sought an -asylum among the pious inhabitants of that island. Adamnan never grew -tired of hearing the stranger's descriptions of Bethlehem, Jerusalem, -and Golgotha, of the sun-burnt plains over which our Lord had -wandered, and the cleft stone which still lay before the door of the -sepulchre.[93] The elder of Iona, who prided himself on his learning, -noted down Arculf's conversation, and from it composed a description -of the Holy Land. As soon as his book was completed, the desire of -making these wondrous things more widely known, combined with a little -vanity, and perhaps other motives, urged him to visit the court of -Northumberland, where he presented his work to the pious King -Alfred,[94] who, being fond of learning and of the Christian -traditions, caused a number of copies of it to be made. - - [92] Vi tempestatis in occidentalia Britanniae littora delatus est. - Beda, lib. v, cap. xvi. - - [93] Lapis qui ad ostium monumenti positus erat, fissus est. (Ibid. - cap. xvii.) The stone which was laid at the door of the sepulchre is - now cleft in two. - - [94] Porrexit autem librum tunc Adamnanus Alfrido regi. Ibid. cap. - xvi. - -[Sidenote: RESISTANCE OF IONA.] - -Nor was this all: the Romish clergy perceived the advantage they might -derive from this imprudent journey. They crowded round the elder; they -showed him all the pomp of their worship, and said to him: "Will you -and your friends, who live at the very extremity of the world, set -yourselves in opposition to the observances of the universal -church?"[95] The nobles of the court flattered the author's self-love, -and invited him to their festivities, while the king loaded him with -presents. The free presbyter of Britain became a priest of Rome, and -Adamnan returned to Iona to betray his church to his new masters. But -it was all to no purpose: Iona would not give way.[96] He then went to -hide his shame in Ireland, where having brought a few individuals to -the Romish uniformity, he took courage and revisited Scotland. But -that country, still inflexible, repelled him with indignation.[97] - - [95] Ne contra universalem ecclesiae morem, cum suis paucissimis et in - extremo mundi angulo positis, vivere praesumeret. Beda, lib. v, cap. - xvi. - - [96] Curavit suos ad eum veritatis calcem producere, nec voluit. Beda, - lib. v. cap. xvi. - - [97] Nec tamen perficere quod conabatur posset. Ibid. The conversions - of which abbot Ceolfrid speaks in chap. xxii. are probably those - effected in Ireland, the word Scotia being at this period frequently - applied to that country. - -When Rome found herself unable to conquer by the priest, she had -recourse to the prince, and her eyes were turned to Naitam, king of -the Picts. "How much more glorious it would be for you," urged the -Latin priests, "to belong to the powerful church of the universal -pontiff of Rome, than to a congregation superintended by miserable -elders! The Romish church is a monarchy, and ought to be the church of -every monarch. The Roman ceremonial accords with the pomp of royalty, -and its temples are palaces." The prince was convinced by the last -argument. He despatched messengers to Ceolfrid, the abbot of an -English convent, begging him to send him _architects_ capable of -building a church _after the Roman pattern_[98]--of stone and not of -wood. Architects, majestic porches, lofty columns, vaulted roofs, -gilded altars, have often proved the most influential of Rome's -missionaries. The builder's art, though in its earliest and simplest -days, was more powerful than the Bible. Naitam, who, by submitting to -the pope thought himself the equal of Clovis and Clotaire, assembled -the nobles of his court and the pastors of his church, and thus -addressed them: "I recommend all the clergy of my kingdom to receive -the tonsure of Saint Peter."[99] Then without delay (as Bede informs -us) this important revolution was accomplished by royal -authority.[100] He sent agents and letters into every province, and -caused all the ministers and monks to receive the circular tonsure -according to the Roman fashion.[101] It was the mark that popery -stamped, not on the forehead, but on the crown. A royal proclamation -and a few clips of the scissors placed the Scotch, like a flock of -sheep, beneath the crook of the shepherd of the Tiber. - - [98] Architectos sibi mitti petiit qui juxta morem Romanorum ecclesiam - facerent. Beda, lib. v. cap. xxii. - - [99] Et hanc accipere tonsuram, omnes qui in meo regno sunt clericos - decerno. Ibid. - - [100] Nec mora, quae? dixerat regia auctoritate perfecit. Ibid. - - [101] Per universas Pictorum provincias....tondebantur omnes in - coronam ministri altaris ac monachi. (Ibid.) Throughout all the - provinces of the Picts ... all the ministers of the altar and monks - had the crown shorn. - -[Sidenote: EGBERT THE MONK AT IONA.] - -Iona still held out. The orders of the Pictish king, the example of -his subjects, the sight of that Italian power which was devouring the -earth, had shaken some few minds; but the Church still resisted the -innovation. Iona was the last citadel of liberty in the western -world, and popery was filled with anger at that miserable band which -in its remote corner refused to bend before it. Human means appeared -insufficient to conquer this rock: something more was needed, visions -and miracles for example; and these Rome always finds when she wants -them. One day towards the end of the seventh century, an English monk, -named Egbert, arriving from Ireland, appeared before the elders of -Iona, who received him with their accustomed hospitality. He was a man -in whom enthusiastic devotion was combined with great gentleness of -heart, and he soon won upon the minds of these simple believers. He -spoke to them of an external unity, urging that a universality -manifested under different forms was unsuited to the church of Christ. -He advocated the special form of Rome, and for the truly catholic -element which the Christians of Iona had thus far possessed, -substituted a sectarian element. He attacked the traditions of the -British church,[102] and lavishly distributing the rich presents -confided to him by the lords of Ireland and of England,[103] he soon -had reason to acknowledge the truth of the saying of the wise man: _A -gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: -whithersoever it turneth it prospereth_. - - [102] Sedulis exhortationibus inveteratam illam traditionem parentum - eorum. (Beda, lib. v. cap. xxiii.) By his frequent exhortations, he - converted them from that inveterate tradition of their ancestors. - - [103] Pietate largiendi de his quae a divitibus acceperat, multum - profuit. (Ibid. cap. xxvii.) He did much good by the pious - distribution of those gifts which he had received from the rich. - -[Sidenote: MONKISH VISIONS.] - -Some pious souls, however, still held out in Iona. The enthusiast -Egbert--for such he appears to have been rather than an impostor--had -recourse to other means. He represented himself to be a messenger from -heaven: the saints themselves, said he, have commissioned me to -convert Iona; and then he told the following history to the elders who -stood round him. "About thirty years ago I entered the monastery of -Rathmelfig in Ireland, when a terrible pestilence fell upon it, and of -all the brethren the monk Edelhun and myself were left alone. Attacked -by the plague, and fearing my last hour was come, I rose from my bed -and crept into the chapel.[104] There my whole body trembled at the -recollection of my sins, and my face was bathed with tears. 'O God,' I -exclaimed, 'suffer me not to die until I have redeemed my debt to thee -by an abundance of good works.[105] I returned staggering to the -infirmary, got into bed, and fell asleep. When I awoke, I saw Edelhun -with his eyes fixed on mine. 'Brother Egbert,' said he, 'it has been -revealed to me in a vision that thou shalt receive what thou hast -asked.' On the following night Edelhun died and I recovered. - - [104] Cum se existimaret esse moriturum, egressus est tempore matutino - de cubiculo, et residens solus..... Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxvii. - - [105] Precabatur ne adhuc mori deberet priusquam vel praeteritas - negligentias perfectim ex tempore castigaret, vel in bonis es operibus - abundantius exerceret. Ibid. - -"Many years passed away: my repentance and my vigils did not satisfy -me, and wishing to pay my debt, I resolved to go with a company of -monks and preach the blessings of the gospel to the heathens of -Germany. But during the night a blessed saint from heaven appeared to -one of the brethren and said: 'Tell Egbert that he must go to the -monasteries of Columba, for their ploughs do not plough straight, and -he must put them into the right furrow.'[106] I forbade this brother -to speak of his vision, and went on board a ship bound for Germany. We -were waiting for a favourable wind, when, of a sudden, in the middle -of the night, a frightful tempest burst upon the vessel, and drove us -on the shoals. 'For my sake this tempest is upon us,' I exclaimed in -terror; 'God speaks to me as He did to Jonah;' and I ran to take -refuge in my cell. At last I determined to obey the command which the -holy man had brought me. I left Ireland, and came among you, in order -to pay my debt by converting you. And now," continued Egbert, "make -answer to the voice of heaven, and submit to Rome." - - [106] Quia aratra eorum non recte incedunt; oportet autem eum ad - rectum haec tramitem revocare. Beda, lib. iii. cap. xxvii. - -A ship thrown on shore by a storm was a frequent occurrence on those -coasts, and the dream of a monk, absorbed in the plans of his brother, -was nothing very unnatural. But in those times of darkness, everything -appeared miraculous; phantoms and apparitions had more weight than the -word of God. Instead of detecting the emptiness of these visions by -the falseness of the religion they were brought to support, the elders -of Iona listened seriously to Egbert's narrative. The primitive faith -planted on the rock of Icolmkill was now like a pine-tree tossed by -the winds: but one gust, and it would be uprooted and blown into the -sea. Egbert, perceiving the elders to be shaken, redoubled his -prayers, and even had recourse to threats. "All the west," said he, -"bends the knee to Rome: alone against all, what can you do?" The -Scotch still resisted: obscure and unknown, the last British -Christians contended in behalf of expiring liberty. At length -bewildered--they stumbled and fell. The scissors were brought; they -received the Latin tonsure[107]--they were the pope's. - - [107] Ad ritum tonsurae canonicum sub figura coronae perpetuae. (Beda, - lib. v. cap. xxiii.) To the canonical rite of the tonsure under the - form of a perpetual crown. - -[Sidenote: FALL OF IONA.] - -Thus fell Scotland. Yet there still remained some sparks of grace, and -the mountains of Caledonia long concealed the hidden fire which after -many ages burst forth with such power and might. Here and there a few -independent spirits were to be found who testified against the tyranny -of Rome. In the time of Bede they might be seen "halting in their -paths," (to use the words of the Romish historian,) refusing to join -in the holidays of the pontifical adherents, and pushing away the -hands that were eager to shave their crowns.[108] But the leaders of -the state and of the church had laid down their arms. The contest was -over, after lasting more than a century. British Christianity had in -some degree prepared its own fall, by substituting too often the form -for the faith. The foreign superstition took advantage of this -weakness, and triumphed in these islands by means of royal decrees, -church ornaments, monkish phantoms, and conventual apparitions. At the -beginning of the eighth century the British Church became the serf of -Rome; but an internal struggle was commencing, which did not cease -until the period of the Reformation. - - [108] Sicut a contra Brittones, inveterati et claudicantes a semitis - suis, et capita ferre sine corona praetendunt. (Beda, lib. v, cap. - xxiii.) Even as, on the contrary, the Britons, inveterate and halting - in their paths, expose their heads without a crown. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Clement--Struggle between a Scotchman and an - Englishman--Word of God only--Clement's Success--His - condemnation--Virgil and the Antipodes--John Scotus and - Philosophical Religion--Alfred and the Bible--Darkness and - Popery--William the Conqueror--Wulston at Edward's - Tomb--Struggle between William and Hildebrand--The Pope - yields--Caesaropapia. - - -The independent Christians of Scotland, who subordinated the authority -of man to that of God, were filled with sorrow as they beheld these -back-slidings: and it was this no doubt which induced many to leave -their homes and fight in the very heart of Europe in behalf of that -Christian liberty which had just expired among themselves. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT AND BONIFACE.] - -At the commencement of the eighth century a great idea took possession -of a pious doctor of the Scottish church named Clement.[109] The -_work of God_ is the very essence of Christianity, thought he, and -this work must be defended against all the encroachments of man. To -human traditionalism he opposed the sole authority of the word of God; -to clerical materialism, a church which is the assembly of the saints; -and to Pelagianism, the sovereignty of grace. He was a man of decided -character and firm faith, but without fanaticism; his heart was open -to the holiest emotions of our nature; he was a husband and a father. -He quitted Scotland and travelled among the Franks, every where -scattering the seeds of the faith. It happened unfortunately that a -man of kindred energy, Winifrid or Boniface of Wessex, was planting -the pontifical Christianity in the same regions. This great -missionary, who possessed in an essential degree the faculty of -organization, aimed at external unity above all things, and when he -had taken the oath of fidelity to Gregory II., he had received from -that pope a collection of the Roman laws. Boniface, henceforth a -docile disciple or rather a fanatical champion of Rome, supported on -the one hand by the pontiff, and on the other by Charles Martel, had -preached to the people of Germany, among some undoubted Christian -truths,--the doctrine of tithes and of papal supremacy. The Englishman -and the Scotchman, representatives of two great systems, were about to -engage in deadly combat in the heart of Europe--in a combat whose -consequences might be incalculable. - - [109] Alter qui dicitur Clemens, genere _Scotus_ est. Bonifacii - epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT'S SUCCESS.] - -Alarmed at the progress made by Clement's evangelical doctrines, -Boniface, archbishop of the German churches, undertook to oppose them. -At first he confronted the Scotchman with the laws of the Roman -church; but the latter denied the authority of these ecclesiastical -canons, and refuted their contents.[110] Boniface then put forward the -decisions of various councils; but Clement replied that if the -decisions of the councils are contrary to holy Scripture, they have no -authority over Christians.[111] The archbishop, astonished at such -audacity, next had recourse to the writings of the most illustrious -fathers of the Latin church, quoting Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory; -but the Scotchman told him, that instead of submitting to the word of -men, he would obey the word of God alone.[112] Boniface with -indignation now introduced the Catholic church which, by its priests -and bishops, all united to the pope, forms an invincible unity; but -to his great surprise his opponent maintained that there only, where -the Holy Spirit dwells, can be found the spouse of Jesus Christ.[113] -Vainly did the archbishop express his horror; Clement was not to be -turned aside from his great idea, either by the clamours of the -followers of Rome, or by the imprudent attacks made on the papacy by -other Christian ministers. Rome had, indeed, other adversaries. A -Gallic bishop named Adalbert, with whom Boniface affected to associate -Clement, one day saw the archbishop complacently exhibiting to the -people some relics of St. Peter which he had brought from Rome; and -being desirous of showing the ridiculous character of these Romish -practices, he distributed among the bystanders his own hair and nails, -praying them to pay these the same honours as Boniface claimed for the -relics of the papacy. Clement smiled, like many others, at Adalbert's -singular argument; but it was not with such arms that he was wont to -fight. Gifted with profound discernment, he had remarked that the -authority of man substituted for the authority of God was the source -of all the errors of Romanism. At the same time he maintained on -predestination what the archbishop called "horrible doctrines, -contrary to the Catholic faith."[114] Clement's character inclines us -to believe that he was favourable to the doctrine of predestination. A -century later the pious Gottschalk was persecuted by one of Boniface's -successors for holding this very doctrine of Augustine's. Thus then -did a Scotchman, the representative of the ancient faith of his -country, withstand almost unaided in the centre of Europe the invasion -of the Romans. But he was not long alone: the great especially, more -enlightened than the common people, thronged around him. If Clement -had succeeded, a Christian church would have been founded on the -continent independent of the papacy. - - [110] Canones ecclesiarum Christi abnegat et refutat. Ibid. - - [111] Synodalia jura spernens. Ibid. - - [112] Tractatus et sermones sanctorum patrum, Hieronymi, Augustini, - Gregorii recusat. Ibid. - - [113] Clemens contra catholicam contendit ecclesiam. Bonifacii - epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - - [114] Multa alia horribilia de praedestinatione Dei, contraria fidei - catholicae affirmat. Ibid. - -Boniface was confounded. He wished to do in central Europe what his -fellow-countryman Wilfrid had done in England; and at the very moment -he fancied he was advancing from triumph to triumph, victory escaped -from his hands. He turned against this new enemy, and applying to -Charles Martel's sons, Pepin and Carloman, he obtained their consent -to the assembling of a council before which he summoned Clement to -appear. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT CONDEMNED.] - -The bishops, counts, and other notabilities having met at Soissons on -the 2nd March 744, Boniface accused the Scotchman of despising the -laws of Rome, the councils, and the fathers; attacked his marriage, -which he called an adulterous union, and called in question some -secondary points of doctrine. Clement was accordingly excommunicated -by Boniface, at once his adversary, accuser, and judge, and thrown -into prison, with the approbation of the pope and the king of the -Franks.[115] - - [115] Sacerdotio privans, reduci facit in custodiam. Concilium - Romanum. Bonifacii epistola ad Papam, Labbei concilia ad ann. 745. - -The Scotchman's cause was every where taken up; accusations were -brought against the German primate, his persecuting spirit was -severely condemned, and his exertions for the triumph of the papacy -were resisted.[116] Carloman yielded to this unanimous movement. The -prison doors were opened, and Clement had hardly crossed the threshold -before he began to protest boldly against human authority in matters -of faith: the word of God is the only rule. Upon this Boniface applied -to Rome for the heretic's condemnation, and accompanied his request by -a silver cup and a garment of delicate texture.[117] The pope decided -in synod that if Clement did not retract his errors, he should be -delivered up to everlasting damnation, and then requested Boniface to -send him to Rome under a sure guard. We here lose all traces of the -Scotchman, but it is easy to conjecture what must have been his fate. - - [116] Propter ista enim, persecutiones et inimicitias et maledictiones - multorum populorum patior. (Ibid.) For on account of these things, I - suffer the persecution and hatred and maledictions of multitudes. - - [117] Poculum argenteum et sindonem unam. Gemuli Ep. Ibid. - -Clement was not the only Briton who became distinguished in this -contest. Two fellow-countrymen, Sampson and Virgil, who preached in -central Europe, were in like manner persecuted by the Church of Rome. -Virgil, anticipating Galileo, dared maintain that there were other men -and another world beneath our feet.[118] He was denounced by Boniface -for this _heresy_, and condemned by the pope, as were other Britons -for the apostolical simplicity of their lives. In 813, certain -Scotchmen who called themselves bishops, says a canon, having appeared -before a council of the Roman church at Chalons, were rejected by the -French prelates, because, like St. Paul, _they worked with their own -hands_. Those enlightened and faithful men were superior to their -time: Boniface and his ecclesiastical materialism were better fitted -for an age in which clerical forms were regarded as the substance of -religion. - - [118] Perversa doctrina......quod alius mundus et alii homines sub - terra sint. (Zachariae papae Ep. ad Bonif. Labbei concilia, vi. p. 152.) - A heretical doctrine.....that there is another world and other men - under the earth. - -[Sidenote: DUNS SCOTUS.] - -Even Great Britain, although its light was not so pure, was not -altogether plunged in darkness. The Anglo-Saxons imprinted on their -church certain characteristics which distinguished it from that of -Rome; several books of the Bible were translated into their tongue, -and daring spirits on the one hand, with some pious souls on the -other, laboured in a direction hostile to popery. - -At first we see the dawning of that philosophic rationalism, which -gives out a certain degree of brightness, but which can neither -conquer error nor still less establish truth. In the ninth century -there was a learned scholar in Ireland, who afterwards settled at the -court of Charles the Bald. He was a strange mysterious man, of -profound thought, and as much raised above the doctors of his age by -the boldness of his ideas, as Charlemagne above the princes of his day -by the force of his will. John Scot Erigena--that is, a native of -Ireland and not of Ayr, as some have supposed--was a meteor in the -theological heavens. With a great philosophic genius he combined a -cheerful jesting disposition. One day, while seated at table opposite -to Charles the Bald, the latter archly inquired of him: "What is the -distance between a _Scot_ and a _Sot_?" "The width of the table," was -his ready answer, which drew a smile from the king. While the doctrine -of Bede, Boniface, and even Alcuin was traditional, servile, and, in -one word, Romanist, that of Scot was mystical, philosophic, free, and -daring. He sought for the truth not in the word or in the Church, but -in himself:--"The knowledge of ourselves is the true source of -religious wisdom. Every creature is a theophany--a manifestation of -God; since revelation presupposes the existence of truth, it is this -truth, which is above revelation, with which man must set himself in -immediate relation, leaving him at liberty to show afterwards its -harmony with scripture, and the other theophanies. We must first -employ reason, and then authority. Authority proceeds from reason, and -not reason from authority."[119] Yet this bold thinker, when on his -knees, could give way to aspirations full of piety: "O Lord Jesus," -exclaimed he, "I ask no other happiness of Thee, but to understand, -unmixed with deceitful theories, the word that Thou hast inspired by -thy Holy Spirit! Show thyself to those who ask for Thee alone!" But -while Scot rejected on the one hand certain traditional errors, and in -particular the doctrine of transubstantiation which was creeping into -the church, he was near falling as regards God and the world into -other errors savouring of pantheism.[120] The philosophic rationalism -of the contemporary of Charles the Bald--the strange product of one of -the obscurest periods of history (850)--was destined after the lapse -of many centuries to be taught once more in Great Britain as a modern -invention of the most enlightened age. - - [119] Prius ratione utendum ac deinde auctoritate. Auctoritas ex vera - ratione processit, ratio vero nequaquam ex auctoritate. De div. - praedestin. - - [120] Deum in omnibus esse. (De divisione naturae, b. 74.) That God is - in all things. - -[Sidenote: ALFRED AND THE BIBLE.] - -While Scot was thus plumping the depths of philosophy, others were -examining their Bibles; and if thick darkness had not spread over -these first glimpses of the dawn, perhaps the Church of Great Britain -might even then have begun to labour for the regeneration of -Christendom. A youthful prince, thirsting for intellectual enjoyments, -for domestic happiness, and for the word of God, and who sought, by -frequent prayer, for deliverance from the bondage of sin, had ascended -the throne of Wessex, in the year 871. Alfred being convinced that -Christianity alone could rightly mould a nation, assembled round him -the most learned men from all parts of Europe, and was anxious that -the English, like the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, should possess the -holy scripture in their own language. He is the real patron of the -biblical work,--a title far more glorious than that of founder of the -university of Oxford. After having fought more than fifty battles by -land and sea, he died while translating the Psalms of David for his -subjects.[121] - - [121] A portion of the law of God translated by Alfred may be found in - Wilkins, Concilia, i. p. 186 et seq. - -After this gleam of light thick darkness once more settled upon Great -Britain. Nine Anglo-Saxon kings ended their days in monasteries; there -was a seminary in Rome from which every year fresh scholars bore to -England the new forms of popery; the celibacy of priests, that cement -of the Romish hierarchy, was established by a bull about the close of -the tenth century; convents were multiplied, considerable possessions -were bestowed on the Church, and the tax of _Peter's pence_, laid at -the pontiff's feet, proclaimed the triumph of the papal system. But a -reaction soon took place: England collected her forces for a war -against the papacy, a war at one time secular and at another -spiritual. William of Normandy, Edward III., Wickliffe, and the -Reformation, are the four ascending steps of protestantism in England. - -[Sidenote: WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] - -A proud, enterprising, and far-sighted prince, the illegitimate son of -a peasant girl of Falaise and Robert the Devil, duke of Normandy, -began a contest with the papacy which lasted until the Reformation. -William the Conqueror, having defeated the Saxons at Hastings in 1066 -A. D., took possession of England, under the benediction of the Roman -pontiff. But the conquered country was destined to conquer its master. -William, who had invaded England in the pope's name, had no sooner -touched the soil of his new kingdom, than he learned to resist Rome, -as if the ancient liberty of the British Church had revived in him. -Being firmly resolved to allow no foreign prince or prelate to possess -in his dominions a jurisdiction independent of his own, he made -preparations for a conquest far more difficult than that of the -Anglo-Saxon kingdom. The papacy itself furnished him with weapons. The -Roman legates prevailed on the king to dispossess the English -episcopacy in a mass, and this was exactly what he wished. To resist -the papacy, William desired to be sure of the submission of the -priests of England. Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, was removed, -and Lanfranc of Pavia, who had been summoned from Bec in Normandy to -fill his place, was commissioned by the Conqueror to bend the clergy -to obedience. This prelate, who was regular in his life, abundant in -almsgiving, a learned disputant, a prudent politician, and a skilful -mediator, finding that he had to choose between his master King -William and his friend the pontiff Hildebrand, gave the prince the -preference. He refused to go to Rome, notwithstanding the threats of -the pope, and applied himself resolutely to the work the king had -intrusted to him. The Saxons sometimes resisted the Normans, as the -Britons had resisted the Saxons; but the second struggle was less -glorious than the first. A synod at which the king was present having -met in the abbey of Westminster, William commanded Wulston, bishop of -Worcester, to give up his crosier to him. The old man rose, animated -with holy fervour: "O king," he said, "from a better man than you I -received it, and to him only will I return it."[122] Unhappily this -"better man" was not Jesus Christ. Then approaching the tomb of Edward -the Confessor, he continued: "O my master, it was you who compelled me -to assume this office; but now behold a new king and a new primate who -promulgate new laws. Not unto them, O master, but unto you, do I -resign my crosier and the care of my flock." With these words Wulston -laid his pastoral staff on Edward's tomb. On the sepulchre of the -confessor perished the liberty of the Anglo-Saxon hierarchy. The -deprived Saxon bishops were consigned to fortresses or shut up in -convents. - - [122] Divino animi ardore repente inflammatus, regi inquit: Melior te - his me ornavit cui et reddam. Wilkins, Concilia, i, 367. - -[Sidenote: STRUGGLE BETWEEN WILLIAM AND HILDEBRAND.] - -The Conqueror being thus assured of the obedience of the bishops, put -forward the supremacy of the sword in opposition to that of the pope. -He nominated directly to all vacant ecclesiastical offices, filled his -treasury with the riches of the churches, required that all priests -should make oath to him, forbade them to excommunicate his officers -without his consent, not even for incest, and declared that all -synodal decisions must be countersigned by him. "I claim," said he to -the archbishop one day, raising his arms towards heaven, "I claim to -hold in this hand all the pastoral staffs in my kingdom."[123] -Lanfranc was astonished at this daring speech, but prudently kept -silent,[124] for a time at least. Episcopacy connived at the royal -pretensions. - - [123] Respondit rex et dixit se velle omnes baculos pastorales Angliae - in manu sus tenere. Script. Anglic. Lond. 1652, fol. p. 1327. - - [124] Lanfranc ad haec miratus est, sed propter majores ecclesiae - Christi utilitates, quas sine rege perficere non potuit, ad tempus - _siluit_. Ibid. - -Will Hildebrand, the most inflexible of popes, bend before William? -The king was earnest in his desire to enslave the Church to the State; -the pope to enslave the State to the Church: the collision of these -two mighty champions threatened to be terrible. But the haughtiest of -pontiffs was seen to yield as soon as he felt the mail-clad hand of -the Conqueror, and to shrink unresistingly before it. The pope filled -all Christendom with confusion, that he might deprive princes of the -right of investiture to ecclesiastical dignities: William would not -permit him to interfere with that question in England, and Hildebrand -submitted. The king went even farther: the pope, wishing to enslave -the clergy, deprived the priests of their lawful wives; William got a -decree passed by the counsel of Winchester in 1076 to the effect that -the married priests living in castles and towns should not be -compelled to put away their wives.[125] This was too much: Hildebrand -summoned Lanfranc to Rome, but William forbade him to go. "Never did -king, not even a pagan," exclaimed Gregory, "attempt against the holy -see what this man does not fear to carry out!"[126].... To console -himself, he demanded payment of the _Peter's pence_, and an oath of -fidelity. William sent the money, but refused the homage; and when -Hildebrand saw the tribute which the king had paid, he said bitterly: -"What value can I set on money which is contributed with so little -honour!"[127] William forbade his clergy to recognise the pope, or to -publish a bull without the royal approbation, which did not prevent -Hildebrand from styling him "the pearl of princes."[128] "It is -true," said he to his legate, "that the English king does not behave -in certain matters so religiously as we could desire.... Yet beware of -exasperating him.... We shall win him over to God and St. Peter more -surely by mildness and reason than by strictness or severity."[129] In -this manner the pope acted like the archbishop--_siluit_: he was -silent. It is for feeble governments that Rome reserves her energies. - - [125] Sacerdotes vero in castellis vel in vicis habitantes habentes - uxores, non cogantur ut dimittant. Wilkins, Concilia, i. p. 367. - - [126] Nemo enim omnium regum, etiam paganorum.... Greg. lib vii. Ep. - i. ad Hubert. - - [127] Pecunias sine honore tributas, quanti pretii habeam. Ibid. - - [128] Gemma principum esse meruisti. Greg. lib. vii. Epp. xxiii. ad - Gulielm. - - [129] Facilius lenitatis dulcedine ac rationis ostensione, quam - austeritate vel rigore justitiae. Ibid. Ep. v. ad Hugonem. - -[Sidenote: CAESAROPAPIA.] - -The Norman kings, desirous of strengthening their work, constructed -Gothic cathedrals in the room of wooden churches, in which they -installed their soldier-bishops, as if they were strong fortresses. -Instead of the moral power and the humble crook of the shepherd, they -gave them secular power and a staff. The religious episcopate was -succeeded by a political one. William Rufus went even to greater -lengths than his father. Taking advantage of the schism which divided -the papacy, he did without a pope for ten years, leaving abbeys, -bishoprics, and even Canterbury vacant, and scandalously squandering -their revenues. Caesaropapia (which transforms a king into a pope) -having thus attained its greatest excess, a sacerdotal reaction could -not fail to take place. - -The papacy is about to rise up again in England, and royalty to -decline--two movements which are always found combined in Great -Britain. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Anselm's Firmness--Becket's Austerity--The King - scourged--John becomes the Pope's Vassal--Collision between - Popery and Liberty--The Vassal King ravages his - Kingdom--Religion of the Senses and Superstition. - - -We are now entering upon a new phase of history. Romanism is on the -point of triumphing by the exertions of learned men, energetic -prelates, and princes in whom extreme imprudence was joined with -extreme servility. This is the era of the dominion of popery, and we -shall see it unscrupulously employing the despotism by which it is -characterized. - -[Sidenote: ANSELM.] - -A malady having occasioned some degree of remorse in the king, he -consented to fill up the vacancy in the archiepiscopal see. And now -Anselm first appears in England. He was born in an Alpine valley, at -the town of Aosta in Piedmont. Imbibing the instructions of his pious -mother Ermenberga, and believing that God's throne was placed on the -summit of the gigantic mountains he saw rising around him, the child -Anselm climbed them in his dreams, and received the bread of heaven -from the hands of the Lord. Unhappily in after-years he recognised -another throne in the church of Christ, and bowed his head before the -chair of St. Peter. This was the man whom William II. summoned in 1093 -to fill the primacy of Canterbury. Anselm, who was then sixty years -old, and engaged in teaching at Bec, refused at first: the character -of Rufus terrified him. "The church of England," said he, "is a plough -that ought to be drawn by two oxen of equal strength. How can you yoke -together an old and timid sheep like me and that wild bull?" At length -he accepted, and concealing a mind of great power under an appearance -of humility, he had hardly arrived in England before he recognised -Pope Urban II., demanded the estates of his see which the treasury had -seized upon, refused to pay the king the sums he demanded, contested -the right of investiture against Henry I., forbade all ecclesiastics -to take the feudal oath, and determined that the priests should -forthwith put away their wives. Scholasticism, of which Anselm was the -first representative, freed the church from the yoke of royalty, but -only to chain it to the papal chair. The fetters were about to be -riveted by a still more energetic hand; and what this great theologian -had begun, a great worldling was to carry on. - -At the hunting parties of Henry II. a man attracted the attention of -his sovereign by his air of frankness, agreeable manners, witty -conversation, and exuberant vivacity. This was Thomas Becket, the son -of an Anglo-Saxon and a Syrian woman. Being both priest and soldier, -he was appointed at the same time by the king prebend of Hastings and -governor of the Tower. When nominated chancellor of England, he showed -himself no less expert than Wilfrid in misappropriating the wealth of -the minors in his charge, and of the abbeys and bishoprics, and -indulged in the most extravagant luxury. Henry, the first of the -Plantagenets, a man of undecided character, having noticed Becket's -zeal in upholding the prerogatives of the crown, appointed him -archbishop of Canterbury. "Now, sire," remarked the primate, with a -smile, "when I shall have to choose between God's favour and yours, -remember it is yours that I shall sacrifice." - -[Sidenote: BECKET OPPOSES THE KING.] - -Becket, who, as keeper of the seals, had been the most magnificent of -courtiers, affected as archbishop to be the most venerable of saints. -He sent back the seals to the king, assumed the robe of a monk, wore -sackcloth filled with vermin, lived on the plainest food, every day -knelt down to wash the feet of the poor, paced the cloisters of his -cathedral with tearful eyes, and spent hours in prayer before the -altar. As champion of the priests, even in their crimes, he took under -his protection one who to the crime of seduction had added the murder -of his victim's father. - -The judges having represented to Henry that during the first eight -years of his reign a hundred murders had been committed by -ecclesiastics, the king in 1164 summoned a council at Clarendon, in -which certain regulations or _constitutions_ were drawn up, with the -object of preventing the encroachments of the hierarchy. Becket at -first refused to sign them, but at length consented, and then withdrew -into solitary retirement to mourn over his fault. Pope Alexander III -released him from his oath; and then began a fierce and long struggle -between the king and the primate. Four knights of the court, catching -up a hasty expression of their master's, barbarously murdered the -archbishop at the foot of the altar in his own cathedral church (A. D. -1170). The people looked upon Becket as a saint: immense crowds came -to pray at his tomb, at which many _miracles_ were worked.[130] "Even -from his grave," said Becket's partizans, "he renders his testimony in -behalf of the papacy." - - [130] In loco passionis et ubi sepultus est, paralytici curantur, coeci - vident, surdi audiunt. (Johan. Salisb. Epp. 286.) In the place of his - suffering and where he was buried, paralytics are cured, the blind - see, and the deaf hear. - -Henry now passed from one extreme to the other. He entered Canterbury -barefooted, and prostrated himself before the martyr's tomb: the -bishops, priests, and monks, to the number of eighty, passed before -him, each bearing a scourge, and struck three or five blows according -to their rank on the naked shoulders of the king. In former ages, so -the priestly fable ran, Saint Peter had scourged an archbishop of -Canterbury: now Rome in sober reality scourges the back of royalty, -and nothing can henceforward check her victorious career. A -Plantagenet surrendered England to the pope, and the pope gave him -authority to subdue Ireland.[131] - - [131] Significasti si quidem nobis, fili carissime, te Hiberniae - insulam ad subdendum illum populum velle intrare, nos itaque gratum et - acceptum habemus ut pro dilatandis ecclesiae terminis insulam - ingrediaris. (Adrian IV., Bulla 1154 in Rymer, Acta Publica.) If - indeed you have intimated, dear son, that you wish to invade Ireland - to subdue that people, we are accordingly well pleased, that for the - purpose of extending the bounds of the church, you should invade that - island. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT CHARTER.] - -Rome, who had set her foot on the neck of a king, was destined under -one of the sons of Henry II to set it on the neck of England. John -being unwilling to acknowledge an archbishop of Canterbury illegally -nominated by Pope Innocent III, the latter, more daring than -Hildebrand, laid the kingdom under an interdict. Upon this John -ordered all the prelates and abbots to leave England, and sent a monk -to Spain as ambassador to Mahomet-el-Nasir, offering to turn Mahometan -and to become his vassal. But as Philip Augustus was preparing to -dethrone him, John made up his mind to become a vassal of Innocent, -and not of Mahomet--which was about the same thing to him. On the 15th -May 1213, he laid his crown at the legate's feet, declared that he -surrendered his kingdom of England to the pope, and made oath to him -as to his lord paramount.[132] - - [132] Resignavit coronam suam in manus domini papae. Matth. Paris, 198 - et 207. - -A national protest then boldly claimed the ancient liberties of the -people. Forty-five barons armed in complete mail, and mounted on their -noble war-horses, surrounded by their knights and servants and about -two thousand soldiers, met at Brackley during the festival of Easter -in 1215, and sent a deputation to Oxford, where the court then -resided. "Here," said they to the king, "is the charter which -consecrates the liberties confirmed by Henry II, and which you also -have solemnly sworn to observe."... "Why do they not demand my crown -also?" said the king in a furious passion, and then with an oath,[133] -he added: "I will not grant them liberties which will make me a -slave." This is the usual language of weak and absolute kings. Neither -would the nation submit to be enslaved. The barons occupied London, -and on the 15th June 1215, the king signed the famous _Magna Charta_ -at Runnymede. The political protestantism of the thirteenth century -would have done but little, however, for the greatness of the nation, -without the religious protestantism of the sixteenth. - - [133] Cum juramento furibunds. Ibid. 213. - -[Sidenote: POPERY AND LIBERTY IN COLLISION.] - -This was the first time that the papacy came into collision with -modern liberty. It shuddered in alarm, and the shock was violent. -Innocent swore (as was his custom), and then declared the Great -Charter null and void, forbade the king under pain of anathema to -respect the liberties which he had confirmed,[134] ascribed the -conduct of the barons to the instigation of Satan, and ordered them to -make apology to the king, and to send a deputation to Rome to learn -from the mouth of the pope himself what should be the government of -England. This was the way in which the papacy welcomed the first -manifestations of liberty among the nations, and made known the model -system under which it claimed to govern the whole world. - - [134] Sub intimatione anathematis prohibentes ne dictus rex eam - observare praesumat. Matth. Paris, 224. - -The priests of England supported the anathemas pronounced by their -chief. They indulged in a thousand jeers and sarcasms against John -about the charter he had accepted:--"This is the twenty-fifth king of -England--not a king, not even a kingling--but the disgrace of kings--a -king without a kingdom--the fifth wheel of a waggon--the last of -kings, and the disgrace of his people!--I would not give a straw for -him.... _Fuisti rex, nunc fex_ (once a king, but now a clown)." John, -unable to support his disgrace, groaned and gnashed his teeth and -rolled his eyes, tore sticks from the hedges and gnawed them like a -maniac, or dashed them into fragments on the ground.[135] - - [135] Arreptos baculos et stipites more furiosi nunc corrodere, nunc - corrosos confringere. Ibid. 222. - -The barons, unmoved alike by the insolence of the pope and the despair -of the king, replied that they would maintain the charter. Innocent -excommunicated them. "Is it the pope's business to regulate temporal -matters?" asked they. "By what right do vile usurers and foul -simoniacs domineer over our country and excommunicate the whole -world?" - -[Sidenote: RELIGION OF THE SENSES.] - -The pope soon triumphed throughout England. His vassal John having -hired some bands of adventurers from the continent, traversed at their -head the whole country from the Channel to the Forth. These -mercenaries carried desolation in their track: they extorted money, -made prisoners, burnt the barons' castles, laid waste their parks, and -dishonoured their wives and daughters.[136] The king would sleep in a -house, and the next morning set fire to it. Blood-stained assassins -scoured the country during the night, the sword in one hand and the -torch in the other, marking their progress by murder and -conflagration.[137] Such was the enthronization of popery in England. -At this sight the barons, overcome by emotion, denounced both the king -and the pope: "Alas! poor country!" they exclaimed. "Wretched -England!... And thou, O pope, a curse light upon thee!"[138] - - [136] Uxores et filias suas ludibrio expositas. Ibid. 231. - - [137] Discurrebant sicarii caede humana cruentati, noctivagi, - incendiarii, strictis ensibus. Ibid. - - [138] Sic barones lacrymantes et lamentantes regem et papam - maledixerunt. Matth. Paris, 234. - -The curse was not long delayed. As the king was returning from some -more than usually successful foray, and as the royal waggons were -crossing the sands of the Wash, the tide rose and all sank in the -abyss.[139] This accident filled John with terror: it seemed to him -that the earth was about to open and swallow him up; he fled to a -convent, where he drank copiously of cider, and died of drunkenness -and fright.[140] - - [139] Aperta est in mediis fluctibus terra et voraginis abyssus, quae - absorbuerunt universa cum hominibus et equis. Ibid. 242. - - [140] Novi ciceris potatione nimis repletus. Ibid. ad ann. 1216. - -Such was the end of the pope's vassal--of his armed missionary in -Great Britain. Never had so vile a prince been the involuntary -occasion to his people of such great benefits. From his reign England -may date her enthusiasm for liberty and her dread of popery. - -During this time a great transformation had been accomplished. -Magnificent churches and the marvels of religious art, with ceremonies -and a multitude of prayers and chantings dazzled the eyes, charmed the -ears, and captivated the senses; but testified also to the absence of -every strong moral and Christian disposition, and the predominance of -worldliness in the church. At the same time the adoration of images -and relics, saints, angels, and Mary the mother of God, the worships -of _latria_, _doulia_, and _hyperdoulia_,[141] the real Mediator -transported from the throne of mercy to the seat of vengeance, at once -indicated and kept up among the people that ignorance of truth and -absence of grace which characterize popery. All these errors tended to -bring about a reaction: and in fact the march of the Reformation may -now be said to begin. - - [141] The Romish church distinguishes three kinds of worship: - _latria_, that paid to God; _doulia_, to saints; and _hyperdoulia_, to - the Virgin Mary. - -England had been brought low by the papacy: it rose up again by -resisting Rome. Grostete, Bradwardine, and Edward III, prepared the -way for Wickliffe, and Wickliffe for the Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Reaction--Grostete--Principles of Reform--Contest with the - Pope--Sewal--Progress of the Nation--Opposition to the - Papacy--Conversion of Bradwardine--Grace is Supreme--Edward - III--Statutes of _Provisors_ and _Praemunire_. - - -[Sidenote: REACTION.] - -In the reign of Henry III, son of John, while the king was conniving -at the usurpations of Rome, and the pope ridiculing the complaints of -the barons, a pious and energetic man, of comprehensive understanding, -was occupied in the study of the Holy Scriptures in their original -languages, and bowing to their sovereign authority. Robert Grostete -(Greathead or _Capito_) was born of poor parents in the county of -Lincolnshire, and being raised to the see of Lincoln in 1235, when he -was sixty years of age, he boldly undertook to reform his diocese, one -of the largest in England. Nor was this all. At the very time when the -Roman pontiff, who had hitherto been content to be called the vicar of -St. Peter, proclaimed himself the vicar of God,[142] and was ordering -the English bishops to find benefices for _three hundred Romans_,[143] -Grostete was declaring that "to follow a pope who rebels against the -will of Christ, is to separate from Christ and his body; and if ever -the time should come when all men follow an erring pontiff, then will -be the great apostasy. Then will true Christians refuse to obey, and -Rome will be the cause of an unprecedented schism."[144] Thus did he -predict the Reformation. Disgusted at the avarice of the monks and -priests, he visited Rome to demand a reform. "Brother," said Innocent -IV to him with some irritation, "_Is thine eye evil, because I am -good?_" The English bishop exclaimed with a sigh: "O money, money! how -great is thy power--especially in this court of Rome!" - - [142] Non puri hominis sed veri Dei vicem gerit in terris. (Innocent - III. Epp. lib. vi. i. 335.) He wields on earth the power, not of a - holy man but of the true God. - - [143] Ut trecentis Romanis in primis beneficiis vacantibus - providerent. Matth. Paris, ann. 1240. - - [144] Absit et quod.....haec sedes et in ea praesidentes causa sint - schismatis apparentis. Ortinnus Gratius, ed. Brown, fol. 251. - -[Sidenote: CONTEST WITH THE POPE.] - -A year had scarcely elapsed before Innocent commanded the bishop to -give a canonry in Lincoln cathedral to his infant nephew. Grostete -replied: "After the sin of Lucifer there is none more opposed to the -Gospel than that which ruins souls by giving them a faithless -minister. Bad pastors are the cause of unbelief, heresy, and -disorder. Those who introduce them into the church are little better -than antichrists, and their culpability is in proportion to their -dignity. Although the chief of the angels should order me to commit -such a sin, I would refuse. My obedience forbids me to obey; and -therefore I rebel."[145] - - [145] Obedienter non obedio sed contradico et rebello. Matth. Paris, - ad. ann. 1252. - -Thus spoke a bishop to his pontiff: his obedience to the word of God -forbade him to obey the pope. This was the principle of the -Reformation. "Who is this old driveller that in his dotage dares to -judge of my conduct?" exclaimed Innocent, whose wrath was appeased by -the intervention of certain cardinals. Grostete on his dying bed -professed still more clearly the principles of the reformers; he -declared that a heresy was "an opinion conceived by carnal motives, -_contrary to Scripture_, openly taught and obstinately defended," thus -asserting the authority of Scripture instead of the authority of the -church. He died in peace, and the public voice proclaimed him "a -searcher of the Scriptures, an adversary of the pope, and despiser of -the Romans."[146] Innocent, desiring to take vengeance on his bones, -meditated the exhumation of his body, when one night (says Matthew of -Paris) the bishop appeared before him. Drawing near the pontiff's bed, -he struck him with his crosier, and thus addressed him with terrible -voice and threatening look:[147] "Wretch! the Lord doth not permit -thee to have any power over me. Woe be to thee!" The vision -disappeared, and the pope, uttering a cry as if he had been struck by -some sharp weapon, lay senseless on his couch. Never after did he pass -a quiet night, and pursued by the phantoms of his troubled -imagination, he expired while the palace re-echoed with his lamentable -groans. - - [146] Scripturarum sedulus perscrutator diversarum, Romanorum malleus - et contemptor. (Matth. Paris, vol. ii, p. 876, fol. Lond. 1640.) A - thorough searcher of the various Scriptures, a hammer to and a - despiser of the Romans. Sixteen of his writings (Sermones et epistolae) - will be found in _Brown_, _app. ad Fasciculum_. - - [147] Nocte apparuit ei episcopos vultu severo, intuitu austero, ac - voce terribili. Ibid. 883. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION TO THE POPE.] - -Grostete was not single in his opposition to the pope. Sewal, -archbishop of York, did the same, and "the more the pope cursed him, -the more the people blessed him."[148]--"Moderate your tyranny," said -the archbishop to the pontiff, "for the Lord said to Peter, _Feed_ my -sheep, and not _shear them_, _flay them_, or _devour them_."[149] The -pope smiled and let the bishop speak, because the king allowed the -pope to act. The power of England, which was constantly increasing, -was soon able to give more force to these protests. - - [148] Quanto magis a papa maledicebatur, tanto plus a populo - benedicebatur. Ibid. ad ann. 1257. - - [149] _Pasce_ oves meas, non _tonde_, non _excoria_, non _eviscera_, - vel devorando _consume_. Ibid. ad ann. 1258. - -The nation was indeed growing in greatness. The madness of John, which -had caused the English people to lose their continental possessions, -had given them more unity and power. The Norman kings, being compelled -to renounce entirely the country which had been their cradle, had at -length made up their minds to look upon England as their home. The two -races, so long hostile, had melted one into the other. Free -institutions were formed; the laws were studied; and colleges were -founded. The language began to assume a regular form, and the ships of -England were already formidable at sea. For more than a century the -most brilliant victories attended the British armies. A king of France -was brought captive to London: an English king was crowned at Paris. -Even Spain and Italy felt the valour of these proud islanders. The -English people took their station in the foremost rank. Now the -character of a nation is never raised by halves. When the mighty ones -of the earth were seen to fall before her, England could no longer -crawl at the feet of an Italian priest. - -At no period did her laws attack the papacy with so much energy. At -the beginning of the fourteenth century an Englishman having brought -to London one of the pope's bulls--a bull of an entirely spiritual -character, it was an excommunication--was prosecuted as a traitor to -the crown, and would have been hanged, had not the sentence, at the -chancellor's intercession, been changed to perpetual banishment.[150] -The _common law_ was the weapon the government then opposed to the -papal bulls. Shortly afterwards, in 1307, king Edward ordered the -sheriffs to resist the arrogant pretensions of the Romish agents. But -it is to two great men in the fourteenth century equally illustrious, -the one in the state, and the other in the church, that England is -indebted for the development of the protestant element in England. - - [150] Fuller's Church History, cent. xiv, p. 90, fol. Lond. 1655. - -[Sidenote: BRADWARDINE'S CONVERSION.] - -In 1346, an English army, 34,000 strong, met face to face at Crecy a -French army of 100,000 fighting men. Two individuals of very different -characters were in the English host. One of them was King Edward III, -a brave and ambitious prince, who, being resolved to recover for the -royal authority all its power, and for England all her glory, had -undertaken the conquest of France. The other was his chaplain -Bradwardine, a man of so humble a character that his meekness was -often taken for stupidity. And thus it was that on his receiving the -pallium at Avignon from the hands of the pope on his elevation to the -see of Canterbury, a jester mounted on an ass rode into the hall and -petitioned the pontiff to make him _primate_ instead of that imbecile -priest. - -Bradwardine was one of the most pious men of the age, and to his -prayers his sovereign's victories were ascribed. He was also one of -the greatest geniuses of his time, and occupied the first rank among -astronomers, philosophers, and mathematicians.[151] The pride of -science had at first alienated him from the doctrine of the cross. But -one day while in the house of God and listening to the reading of the -Holy Scriptures, these words struck his ear: _It is not of him that -willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy_. His -ungrateful heart, he tells us, at first rejected this humiliating -doctrine with aversion. Yet the word of God had laid its powerful hold -upon him; he was converted to the truths he had despised, and -immediately began to set forth the doctrines of eternal grace at -Merton College, Oxford. He had drunk so deep at the fountain of -Scripture that the traditions of men concerned him but little, and he -was so absorbed in adoration in spirit and in truth, that he remarked -not outward superstitions. His lectures were eagerly listened to and -circulated through all Europe. The grace of God was their very -essence, as it was of the Reformation. With sorrow Bradwardine beheld -Pelagianism every where substituting a mere religion of externals for -inward Christianity, and on his knees he struggled for the salvation -of the church. "As in the times of old four hundred and fifty prophets -of Baal strove against a single prophet of God; so now, O Lord," he -exclaimed, "the number of those who strive with Pelagius against thy -free grace cannot be counted.[152] They pretend not to receive grace -freely, but to buy it.[153] The will of men (they say) should precede, -and thine should follow: theirs is the mistress, and thine the -servant.[154]... Alas! nearly the whole world is walking in error in -the steps of Pelagius.[155] Arise, O Lord, and judge thy cause." And -the Lord did arise, but not until after the death of this pious -archbishop, in the days of Wickliffe, who, when a youth, listened to -the lectures at Merton College, and especially in the days of Luther -and of Calvin. His contemporaries gave him the name of the _profound -doctor_. - - [151] His Arithmetic and Geometry have been published; but I am not - aware if that is the case with his Astronomical Tables. - - [152] Quot, Domine, hodie cum Pelagio pro libero arbitrio contra - gratuitam gratiam tuam pugnant? De causa Dei adversus Pelagium, libri - tres, Lond. 1618. - - [153] Nequaquam gratuita sed vendita. Ibid. - - [154] Suam voluntatem praeire ut dominam, tuam subsequi ut ancillam. - Ibid. - - [155] Totus paene mundus post Pelagium abiit in errorem. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: STATUTES OF PROVISORS AND PRAEMUNIRE.] - -If Bradwardine walked truthfully in the path of faith, his illustrious -patron Edward advanced triumphantly in the field of policy. Pope -Clement IV having decreed that the first two vacancies in the Anglican -church should be conferred on two of his cardinals: "France is -becoming _English_," said the courtiers to the king; "and by way of -compensation, England is becoming _Italian_." Edward, desirous of -guaranteeing the religious liberties of England, passed with the -consent of parliament in 1350 the statute of _provisors_, which made -void every ecclesiastical appointment contrary to the rights of the -king, the chapters, or the patrons. Thus the privileges of the -chapters and the liberty of the English Catholics, as well as the -independence of the crown, were protected against the invasion of -foreigners; and imprisonment or banishment for life was denounced upon -all offenders against the law. - -This bold step alarmed the pontiff. Accordingly, three years after, -the king having nominated one of his secretaries to the see of -Durham--a man without any of the qualities becoming a bishop--the pope -readily confirmed the appointment. When some one expressed his -astonishment at this, the pope made answer: "If the king of England -had nominated _an ass_, I would have accepted him." This may remind us -of the _ass_ of Avignon; and it would seem that this humble animal at -that time played a significant part in the elections to the papacy. -But be that as it may, the pope withdrew his pretensions. "Empires -have their term," observes an historian at this place; "when once they -have reached it, they halt, they retrograde, they fall."[156] - - [156] Habent imperia suos terminos; huc cum venerint, sistunt, - retrocedunt, ruunt. Fuller's Hist. cent. xiv, p. 116. - -The term seemed to be drawing nearer every day. In the reign of Edward -III, between 1343 and 1353, again in 1364, and finally under Richard -II, in 1393, those stringent laws were passed which interdicted all -appeal to the court of Rome, all bulls from the Roman bishop, all -excommunications, etc., in a word, every act infringing on the rights -of the crown; and declared that whoever should bring such documents -into England, or receive, publish, or execute them, should be put out -of the king's protection, deprived of their property, attached in -their persons, and brought before the king in council to undergo their -trial according to the terms of the act. Such was the statute of -_Praemunire_.[157] - - [157] The most natural meaning of the word _praemunire_ (given more - particularly to the act of 1393) seems to be that suggested by Fuller, - cent. xiv, (p. 148): to fence and fortify the regal power from foreign - assault. See the whole bill, _Ibid._ p. 145-147. - -Great was the indignation of the Romans at the news of this law: "If -the statute of _mortmain_ put the pope into a sweat," says Fuller, -"this of _praemunire_ gave him a fit of fever." One pope called it an -"execrable statute,"--"a horrible crime."[158] Such are the terms -applied by the pontiffs to all that thwarts their ambition. - - [158] Execrabile statutum....foedum et turpe facinus. Martin V to the - Duke of Bedford, Fuller, cent. xiv. p. 148. - -[Sidenote: THE TWO WARS.] - -Of the two wars carried on by Edward--the one against the King of -France, and the other against popery--the latter was the most -righteous and important. The benefits which this prince had hoped to -derive from his brilliant victories at Crecy and Poitiers dwindled -away almost entirely before his death; while his struggles with the -papacy, founded as they were on truth, have exerted even to our own -days an indisputable influence on the destinies of Great Britain. Yet -the prayers and the conquests of Bradwardine, who proclaimed in that -fallen age the doctrine of grace, produced effects still greater, not -only for the salvation of many souls, but for the liberty, moral -force, and greatness of England. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - The Mendicant Friars--Their Disorders and Popular - Indignation--Wickliffe--His success--Speeches of the Peers - against the Papal Tribute--Agreement of Bruges--Courtenay - and Lancaster--Wickliffe before the Convocation--Altercation - between Lancaster and Courtenay--Riot--Three Briefs against - Wickliffe--Wickliffe at Lambeth--Mission of the _Poor - Priests_--Their Preachings and Persecutions--Wickliffe and - the Four Regents. - - -Thus in the first half of the fourteenth century, nearly two hundred -years before the Reformation, England appeared weary of the yoke of -Rome. Bradwardine was no more; but a man who had been his disciple was -about to succeed him, and without attaining to the highest functions, -to exhibit in his person the past and future tendencies of the church -of Christ in Great Britain. The English Reformation did not begin with -Henry VIII: the revival of the sixteenth century is but a link in the -chain commencing with the apostles and reaching to us. - -[Sidenote: THE BEGGING FRIARS.] - -The resistance of Edward III to the papacy _without_ had not -suppressed the papacy _within_. The mendicant friars, and particularly -the Franciscans, those fanatical soldiers of the pope, were -endeavouring by pious frauds to monopolize the wealth of the country. -"Every year," said they, "Saint Francis descends from heaven to -purgatory, and delivers the souls of all those who were buried in the -dress of his order." These friars used to kidnap children from their -parents and shut them up in monasteries. They affected to be poor, and -with a wallet on their back, begged with a piteous air from both high -and low; but at the same time they dwelt in palaces, heaped up -treasures, dressed in costly garments, and wasted their time in -luxurious entertainments.[159] The least of them looked upon -themselves as _lords_, and those who wore the doctor's cap considered -themselves _kings_. While they diverted themselves, eating and -drinking at their well-spread tables, they used to send ignorant -uneducated persons in their place to preach fables and legends to -amuse and plunder the people.[160] If any rich man talked of giving -alms to the poor and not to the monks, they exclaimed loudly against -such impiety, and declared with threatening voices: "If you do so we -will leave the country, and return accompanied by a legion of -glittering helmets."[161] Public indignation was at its height. "The -monks and priests of Rome," was the cry, "are eating us away like a -cancer. God must deliver us or the people will perish.... Woe be to -them! the cup of wrath will run over. Men of holy church shall be -despised as carrion, as dogs shall they be cast out in open -places."[162] - - [159] When they have overmuch riches, both in great waste houses and - precious clothes, in great feasts and many jewels and treasures. - Wickliffe's Tracts and Treatises, edited by the Wickliffe Society, p. - 224. - - [160] Ibid, 240. - - [161] Come again with bright heads. Ibid. - - [162] Wickliffe, The Last Age of the Church. - -The arrogance of Rome made the cup run over. Pope Urban V, heedless of -the laurels won by the conqueror at Crecy and Poitiers, summoned -Edward III to recognize him as legitimate sovereign of England, and to -pay as feudal tribute the annual rent of one thousand marcs. In case -of refusal the king was to appear before him at Rome. For thirty-three -years the popes had never mentioned the tribute accorded by John to -Innocent III, and which had always been paid very irregularly. The -conqueror of the Valois was irritated by this insolence on the part of -an Italian bishop, and called on God to avenge England. From Oxford -came forth the avenger. - -[Sidenote: JOHN WICKLIFFE.] - -John Wickliffe, born in 1324, in a little village in Yorkshire, was -one of the students who attended the lectures of the pious Bradwardine -at Merton College. He was in the flower of his age, and produced a -great sensation in the university. In 1348, a terrible pestilence, -which is said to have carried off half the human race, appeared in -England after successively devastating Asia and the continent of -Europe. This visitation of the Almighty sounded like the trumpet of -the judgment-day in the heart of Wickliffe. Alarmed at the thoughts of -eternity, the young man--for he was then only twenty-four years -old--passed days and nights in his cell groaning and sighing, and -calling upon God to show him the path he ought to follow.[163] He -found it in the Holy Scriptures, and resolved to make it known to -others. He commenced with prudence; but being elected in 1361 warden -of Balliol, and in 1365 warden of Canterbury College also, he began to -set forth the doctrine of faith in a more energetic manner. His -biblical and philosophical studies, his knowledge of theology, his -penetrating mind, the purity of his manners, and his unbending -courage, rendered him the object of general admiration. A profound -teacher, like his master, and an eloquent preacher, he demonstrated to -the learned during the course of the week what he intended to preach, -and on Sunday he preached to the people what he had previously -demonstrated. His disputations gave strength to his sermons, and his -sermons shed light upon his disputations. He accused the clergy of -having banished the Holy Scriptures, and required that the authority -of the word of God should be re-established in the church. Loud -acclamations crowned these discussions, and the crowd of vulgar minds -trembled with indignation when they heard these shouts of applause. - - [163] Long debating and deliberating with himself, with many secret - sighs. Fox, Acts and M, i, p. 485, fol. Lond. 1684. - -Wickliffe was forty years old when the papal arrogance stirred England -to its depths. Being at once an able politician and a fervent -Christian, he vigorously defended the rights of the crown against the -Romish aggression, and by his arguments not only enlightened his -fellow-countrymen generally, but stirred up the zeal of several -members of both houses of parliament. - -[Sidenote: THE LORDS AGAINST THE PAPAL TRIBUTE.] - -The parliament assembled, and never perhaps had it been summoned on a -question which excited to so high a degree the emotions of England, -and indeed of Christendom. The debates in the House of Lords were -especially remarkable: all the arguments of Wickliffe were reproduced. -"Feudal _tribute_ is due," said one, "only to him who can grant -feudal _protection_ in return. Now how can the pope wage war to -protect his fiefs?"--"Is it as vassal of the crown or as feudal -superior," asked another, "that the pope demands part of our property? -Urban V will not accept the first of these titles.... Well and good! -but the English people will not acknowledge the second." "Why," said a -third, "was this tribute originally granted? To pay the pope for -absolving John.... His demand, then, is mere simony, a kind of -clerical swindling, which the lords spiritual and temporal should -indignantly oppose."--"No," said another speaker, "England belongs not -to the pope. The pope is but a man, subject to sin; but Christ is the -Lord of lords, and this kingdom is held directly and solely of Christ -alone."[164] Thus spoke the lords inspired by Wickliffe. Parliament -decided unanimously that no prince had the right to alienate the -sovereignty of the kingdom without the consent of the other two -estates, and that if the pontiff should attempt to proceed against the -king of England as his vassal, the nation should rise in a body to -maintain the independence of the crown. - - [164] These opinions are reported by Wickliffe, in a treatise - preserved in the _Selden MSS._ and printed by Mr. J. Lewis, in his - History of Wickliffe, App. No. 30, p. 349. He was present during the - debate; _quam audivi in quodam concilio a dominis secularibus_. As I - heard in a certain consultation among the lords temporal. - -To no purpose did this generous resolution excite the wrath of the -partisans of Rome; to no purpose did they assert that, by the canon -law, the king ought to be deprived of his fief, and, that England now -belonged to the pope: "No," replied Wickliffe, "the canon law has no -force when it is opposed to the word of God." Edward III made -Wickliffe one of his chaplains, and the papacy has ceased from that -hour to lay claim--in explicit terms at least--to the Sovereignty of -England. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE BEFORE THE CONVOCATION.] - -When the pope gave up his temporal he was desirous, at the very least, -of keeping up his ecclesiastical pretensions, and to procure the -repeal of the statutes of _Praemunire_ and _Provisors_. It was -accordingly resolved to hold a conference at Bruges to treat of this -question, and Wickliffe, who had been created doctor of theology two -years before, proceeded thither with the other commissioners in April -1374. They came to an arrangement in 1375 that the king should bind -himself to repeal the penalties denounced against the pontifical -agents, and that the pope should confirm the king's ecclesiastical -presentations.[165] But the nation was not pleased with this -compromise. "The clerks sent from Rome," said the Commons, "are more -dangerous for the kingdom than Jews or Saracens: every papal agent -resident in England, and every Englishman living at the court of Rome, -should be punished with death." Such was the language of the _Good -Parliament_. In the fourteenth century the English nation called a -parliament _good_ which did not yield to the papacy. - - [165] Rymer, vii, p. 33, 83-88. - -Wickliffe, after his return to England, was presented to the rectory -of Lutterworth, and from that time a practical activity was added to -his academic influence. At Oxford he spoke as a master to the young -theologians; in his parish he addressed the people as a preacher and -as a pastor. "The Gospel," said he, "is the only source of religion. -The Roman pontiff is a mere cut-purse,[166] and, far from having the -right to reprimand the whole world, he may be lawfully reproved by his -inferiors, and even by laymen." - - [166] The proud worldly priest of Rome, and the most cursed of - clippers and purse-kervers. Lewis, History of Wickliffe, p. 37. - Oxford, 1820. - -The papacy grew alarmed. Courtenay, son of the Earl of Devonshire, an -imperious but grave priest, and full of zeal for what he believed to -be the truth, had recently been appointed to the see of London. In -parliament he had resisted Wickliffe's patron, John of Gaunt, duke of -Lancaster, third son of Edward III., and head of the house of that -name. The bishop, observing that the doctrines of the reformer were -spreading among the people, both high and low, charged him with -heresy, and summoned him to appear before the convocation assembled in -St Paul's Cathedral. - -[Sidenote: COURTENAY AND LANCASTER.] - -On the 19th February, 1377, an immense crowd, heated with fanaticism, -thronged the approaches to the church and filled its aisles, while the -citizens favourable to the reform remained concealed in their houses. -Wickliffe moved forward, preceded by Lord Percy, marshal of England, -and supported by the Duke of Lancaster, who defended him from purely -political motives. He was followed by four bachelors of divinity, his -counsel, and passed through the hostile multitude who looked upon -Lancaster as the enemy of their liberties, and upon himself as the -enemy of the church. "Let not the sight of these bishops make you -shrink a hair's-breadth in your profession of faith," said the prince -to the doctor. "They are unlearned; and as for this concourse of -people, fear nothing, we are here to defend you."[167] When the -reformer had crossed the threshold of the cathedral, the crowd within -appeared like a solid wall; and, notwithstanding the efforts of the -earl-marshal, Wickliffe and Lancaster could not advance. The people -swayed to and fro, hands were raised in violence, and loud hootings -re-echoed through the building. At length Percy made an opening in the -dense multitude, and Wickliffe passed on. - - [167] Fox, Acts, i, p. 437. fol. Lond. 1684. - -The haughty Courtenay, who had been commissioned by the archbishop to -preside over the assembly, watched these strange movements with -anxiety, and beheld with displeasure the learned doctor accompanied by -the two most powerful men in England. He said nothing to the Duke of -Lancaster, who at that time administered the kingdom, but turning -towards Percy observed sharply: "If I had known, my lord, that you -claimed to be master in this church, I would have taken measures to -prevent your entrance." Lancaster coldly rejoined: "He shall keep such -mastery here, though you say nay." Percy now turned to Wickliffe, who -had remained standing and said: "Sit down and rest yourself." At this -Courtenay gave way to his anger, and exclaimed in a loud tone: "He -must not sit down; criminals stand before their judges." Lancaster, -indignant that a learned doctor of England should be refused a favour -to which his age alone entitled him (for he was between fifty and -sixty) made answer to the bishop: "My lord, you are very arrogant; -take care ... or I may bring down your pride, and not yours only, but -that of all the prelacy in England."[168]--"Do me all the harm you -can," was Courtenay's haughty reply. The prince rejoined with some -emotion: "You are insolent, my lord. You think, no doubt, you can -trust on your family ... but your relations will have trouble enough -to protect themselves." To this the bishop nobly replied: "My -confidence is not in my parents nor in any man; but only in God, in -whom I trust, and by whose assistance I will be bold to speak the -truth." Lancaster, who saw hypocrisy only in these words, turned to -one of his attendants, and whispered in his ear, but so loud as to be -heard by the bystanders: "I would rather pluck the bishop by the hair -of his head out of his chair, than take this at his hands." Every -impartial reader must confess that the prelate spoke with greater -dignity than the prince. Lancaster had hardly uttered these imprudent -words before the bishop's partizans fell upon him and Percy, and even -upon Wickliffe, who alone had remained calm.[169] The two noblemen -resisted, their friends and servants defended them, the uproar became -extreme, and there was no hope of restoring tranquillity. The two -lords escaped with difficulty, and the assembly broke up in great -confusion. - - [168] Fuller, Church Hist. cent. xiv. p. 135. - - [169] Fell furiously on the lords. Ibid. 136. - -[Sidenote: RIOT.] - -On the following day the earl-marshal having called upon parliament to -apprehend the disturbers of the public peace, the clerical party -uniting with the enemies of Lancaster, filled the streets with their -clamour; and while the duke and the earl escaped by the Thames, the -mob collected before Percy's house, broke down the doors, searched -every chamber, and thrust their swords into every dark corner. When -they found that he had escaped, the rioters, imagining that he was -concealed in Lancaster's palace, rushed to the Savoy, at that time the -most magnificent building in the kingdom. They killed a priest who -endeavoured to stay them, tore down the ducal arms, and hung them on -the gallows like those of a traitor. They would have gone still -farther if the bishop had not very opportunely reminded them that they -were _in Lent_. As for Wickliffe, he was dismissed with an injunction -against preaching his doctrines. - -But this decision of the priests was not ratified by the people of -England. Public opinion declared in favour of Wickliffe. "If he is -guilty," said they, "why is he not punished? If he is innocent, why is -he ordered to be silent? If he is the weakest in power, he is the -strongest in truth!" And so indeed he was, and never had he spoken -with such energy. He openly attacked the pretended apostolical chair, -and declared that the _two_ antipopes who sat at Rome and Avignon -together made _one_ antichrist. Being now in opposition to the pope, -Wickliffe was soon to confess that Christ alone was king of the -church; and that it is not possible for a man to be excommunicated, -unless first and principally he be excommunicated by himself.[170] - - [170] Vaughan's Wickliffe, Appendix, vol. i, p. 434. - -Rome could not close her ears. Wickliffe's enemies sent thither -nineteen propositions which they ascribed to him, and in the month of -June 1377, just as Richard II, son of the Black Prince, a child eleven -years old, was ascending the throne, three letters from Gregory XI, -addressed to the king, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the -university of Oxford, denounced Wickliffe as a heretic, and called -upon them to proceed against him as against a common thief. The -archbishop issued the citation: the crown and the university were -silent. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE AT LAMBETH.] - -On the appointed day, Wickliffe, unaccompanied by either Lancaster or -Percy, proceeded to the archiepiscopal chapel at Lambeth. "Men -expected he should be devoured," says an historian; "being brought -into the lion's den."[171] But the burgesses had taken the prince's -place. The assault of Rome had aroused the friends of liberty and -truth in England. "The pope's briefs," said they, "ought to have no -effect in the realm without the king's consent. Every man is master in -his own house." - - [171] Fuller's Church Hist. cent. xiv, p. 137. - -The archbishop had scarcely opened the sitting, when Sir Louis -Clifford entered the chapel, and forbade the court, on the part of the -queen-mother, to proceed against the reformer. The bishops were struck -with a panic-fear: "they bent their heads," says a Roman-catholic -historian, "like a reed before the wind."[172] Wickliffe retired after -handing in a protest. "In the first place," said he, "I resolve with -my whole heart, and by the grace of God, to be a sincere Christian; -and, while my life shall last, to profess and defend the law of Christ -so far as I have power."[173] Wickliffe's enemies attacked this -protest, and one of them eagerly maintained that whatever the pope -ordered should be looked upon as right. "What!" answered the reformer; -"the pope may then exclude from the canon of the scriptures any book -that displeases him, and alter the Bible at pleasure?" Wickliffe -thought that Rome, unsettling the grounds of infallibility, had -transferred it from the Scriptures to the pope, and was desirous of -restoring it to its true place, and re-establishing authority in the -church on a truly divine foundation. - - [172] Walsingham, Hist. Angliae Major, p. 203. - - [173] Propono et volo esse ex integro Christianus, et quamdiu manserit - in me halitus, profitens verbo et opere legem Christi. Vaughan's - Wickliffe, i. p. 426. - -A great change was now taking place in the reformer. Busying himself -less about the kingdom of England, he occupied himself more about the -kingdom of Christ. In him the political phasis was followed by the -religious. To carry the glad tidings of the Gospel into the remotest -hamlets, was now the great idea which possessed Wickliffe. If begging -friars (said he) stroll over the country, preaching the legends of -saints and the history of the Trojan war, we must do for God's glory -what they do to fill their wallets, and form a vast itinerant -evangelization to convert souls to Jesus Christ. Turning to the most -pious of his disciples, he said to them: "Go and preach, it is the -sublimest work; but imitate not the priests whom we see after the -sermon sitting in the ale-houses, or at the gaming-table, or wasting -their time in hunting. After your sermon is ended, do you visit the -sick, the aged, the poor, the blind, and the lame, and succour them -according to your ability." Such was the new practical theology which -Wickliffe inaugurated--it was that of Christ himself. - -[Sidenote: PREACHING AND PERSECUTION.] - -The "poor priests," as they were called, set off barefoot, a staff in -their hands, clothed in a coarse robe, living on alms, and satisfied -with the plainest food. They stopped in the fields near some village, -in the churchyards, in the market-places of the towns, and sometimes -in the churches even.[174] The people, among whom they were -favourites, thronged around them, as the men of Northumbria had done -at Aidan's preaching. They spoke with a popular eloquence that -entirely won over those who listened to them. Of these missionaries -none was more beloved than John Ashton. He might be seen wandering -over the country in every direction, or seated at some cottage hearth, -or alone in some retired crossway, preaching to an attentive crowd. -Missions of this kind have constantly revived in England at the great -epochs of the church. - - [174] A private statute made by the clergy. Fox, Acts, i, 503. - -The "poor priests" were not content with mere polemics: they preached -the great mystery of godliness. "An angel could have made no -propitiation for man," one day exclaimed their master Wickliffe; "for -the nature which has sinned is not that of the angels. The mediator -must needs be a man; but every man being indebted to God for every -thing that he is able to do, this man must needs have infinite merit, -and be at the same time God."[175] - - [175] Exposition of the Decalogue. - -The clergy became alarmed, and a law was passed commanding every -king's officer to commit the preachers and their followers to -prison.[176] In consequence of this, as soon as the humble missionary -began to preach, the monks set themselves in motion. They watched him -from the windows of their cells, at the street-corners, or from behind -a hedge, and then hastened off to procure assistance. But when the -constables approached, a body of stout bold men stood forth, with arms -in their hands, who surrounded the preacher, and zealously protected -him against the attacks of the clergy. Carnal weapons were thus -mingled with the preachings of the word of peace. The poor priests -returned to their master: Wickliffe comforted them, advised with them, -and then they departed once more. Every day this evangelization -reached some new spot, and the light was thus penetrating into every -quarter of England, when the reformer was suddenly stopped in his -work. - - [176] Fox, Acts, i. p. 503. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S PROPHECY.] - -Wickliffe was at Oxford in the year 1379, busied in the discharge of -his duties as professor of divinity, when he fell dangerously ill. His -was not a strong constitution; and work, age, and above all -persecution had weakened him. Great was the joy in the monasteries; -but for that joy to be complete, the _heretic_ must recant. Every -effort was made to bring this about in his last moments. - -The four regents, who represented the four religious orders, -accompanied by four aldermen, hastened to the bedside of the dying -man, hoping to frighten him by threatening him with the vengeance of -Heaven. They found him calm and serene. "You have death on your lips," -said they; "be touched by your faults, and retract in our presence all -that you have said to our injury." Wickliffe remained silent, and the -monks flattered themselves with an easy victory. But the nearer the -reformer approached eternity, the greater was his horror of monkery. -The consolation he had found in Jesus Christ had given him fresh -energy. He begged his servant to raise him on his couch. Then feeble -and pale, and scarcely able to support himself, he turned towards the -friars, who were waiting for his recantation, and opening his livid -lips, and fixing on them a piercing look, he said with emphasis: "I -shall not die but live; and again declare the evil deeds of the -friars." We might almost picture to ourselves the spirit of Elijah -threatening the priests of Baal. The regents and their companions -looked at each other with astonishment. They left the room in -confusion, and the reformer recovered to put the finishing touch to -the most important of his works against the monks and against the -pope.[177] - - [177] Petrie's Church History, i. p. 504. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Bible--Wickliffe's Translation--Effects of its - Publication--Opposition of the Clergy--Wickliffe's Fourth - Phasis--Transubstantiation--Excommunication--Wickliffe's - Firmness--Wat Tyler--The Synod--The condemned - Propositions--Wickliffe's Petition--Wickliffe before the - Primate at Oxford--Wickliffe summoned to Rome--His - Answer--The Trialogue--His Death--And Character--His - teaching--His Ecclesiastical Views--A Prophecy. - - -[Sidenote: THE BIBLE.] - -Wickliffe's ministry had followed a progressive course. At first he -had attacked the papacy; next he preached the gospel to the poor; he -could take one more step and put the people in permanent possession -of the word of God. This was the third phase of his activity. - -Scholasticism had banished the Scriptures into a mysterious obscurity. -It is true that Bede had translated the Gospel of St. John; that the -learned men at Alfred's court had translated the four evangelists; -that Elfric in the reign of Ethelred had translated some books of the -Old Testament; that an Anglo-Norman priest had paraphrased the Gospels -and the acts; that Richard Rolle, "the hermit of Hampole," and some -pious clerks in the fourteenth century, had produced a version of the -Psalms, the Gospels, and Epistles:--but these rare volumes were -hidden, like theological curiosities, in the libraries of a few -convents. It was then a maxim that the reading of the Bible was -injurious to the laity; and accordingly the priests forbade it, just -as the Brahmins forbid the Shasters to the Hindoos. Oral tradition -alone preserved among the people the histories of the Holy Scriptures, -mingled with legends of the saints. The time appeared ripe for the -publication of a Bible. The increase of population, the attention the -English were beginning to devote to their own language, the -development which the system of representative government had -received, the awakening of the human mind:--all these circumstances -favoured the reformer's design. - -Wickliffe was ignorant indeed of Greek and Hebrew; but was it nothing -to shake off the dust which for ages had covered the Latin Bible, and -to translate it into English? He was a good Latin scholar, of sound -understanding and great penetration; but above all he loved the Bible, -he understood it, and desired to communicate this treasure to others. -Let us imagine him in his quiet study: on his table is the Vulgate -text, corrected after the best manuscripts; and lying open around him -are the commentaries of the doctors of the church, especially those of -St. Jerome and Nicholas Lyrensis. Between ten and fifteen years he -steadily prosecuted his task; learned men aided him with their advice, -and one of them, Nicholas Hereford, appears to have translated a few -chapters for him. At last in 1380 it was completed. This was a great -event in the religious history of England, who, outstripping the -nations on the continent, took her station in the foremost rank in the -great work of disseminating the Scriptures. - -[Sidenote: OPPOSITION OF THE CLERGY.] - -As soon as the translation was finished, the labour of the copyists -began, and the Bible was erelong widely circulated either wholly or in -portions. The reception of the work surpassed Wickliffe's -expectations. The Holy Scriptures exercised a reviving influence over -men's hearts; minds were enlightened; souls were converted; the voices -of the "poor priests" had done little in comparison with this voice; -something new had entered into the world. Citizens, soldiers, and the -lower classes welcomed this new era with acclamations; the high-born -curiously examined the unknown book; and even Anne of Luxemburg, wife -of Richard II, having learnt English, began to read the Gospels -diligently. She did more than this: she made them known to Arundel, -archbishop of York and chancellor, and afterwards a persecutor, but -who now, struck at the sight of a foreign lady--of a queen, humbly -devoting her leisure to the study of _such virtuous books_,[178] -commenced reading them himself, and rebuked the prelates who neglected -this holy pursuit. "You could not meet two persons on the highway," -says a contemporary writer, "but one of them was Wickliffe's -disciple." - - [178] Fox, Acts, i. p. 578. - -Yet all in England did not equally rejoice: the lower clergy opposed -this enthusiasm with complaints and maledictions. "Master John -Wickliffe, by translating the Gospel into English," said the monks, -"has rendered it more acceptable and more intelligible to laymen and -even to women, than it had hitherto been to learned and intelligent -clerks!... The Gospel pearl is every where cast out and trodden under -foot of swine."[179] New contests arose for the reformer. Wherever he -bent his steps, he was violently attacked. "It is heresy," cried the -monks, "to speak of Holy Scripture in English."[180]--"Since the -church has approved of the four Gospels, she would have been just as -able to reject them and admit others! The church sanctions and -condemns what she pleases.... Learn to believe in the church rather -than in the Gospel." These clamours did not alarm Wickliffe. "Many -nations have had the Bible in their own language. The Bible is the -faith of the church. Though the pope and all his clerks should -disappear from the face of the earth," said he, "our faith would not -fail, for it is founded on Jesus alone, our Master and our God." But -Wickliffe did not stand alone: in the palace as in the cottage, and -even in parliament, the rights of Holy Scripture found defenders. A -motion having been made in the Upper House (1390) to seize all the -copies of the Bible, the Duke of Lancaster exclaimed: "Are we then the -very dregs of humanity, that we cannot possess the laws of our religion -in our own tongue?"[181] - - [179] Evangelica margarita spargitur et a porcis conculcatur. - Knyghton, De eventibus Angliae, p. 264. - - [180] It is heresy to speak of the Holy Scripture in English. - Wickliffe's Wicket, p. 4. Oxford, 1612, quarto. - - [181] Weber, Akatholische Kirchen, i, p. 81. - -[Sidenote: TRANSUBSTANTIATION.] - -Having given his fellow-countrymen the Bible, Wickliffe began to -reflect on its contents. This was a new step in his onward path. There -comes a moment when the Christian, saved by a lively faith, feels the -need of giving an account to himself of this faith, and this -originates the science of theology. This is a natural movement: if the -child, who at first possesses sensations and affections only, feels -the want, as he grows up, of reflection and knowledge, why should it -not be the same with the Christian? Politics--home missions--Holy -Scripture--had engaged Wickliffe in succession; theology had its turn, -and this was the fourth phase of his life. Yet he did not penetrate to -the same degree as the men of the sixteenth century into the depths of -the Christian doctrine; and he attached himself in a more especial -manner to those ecclesiastical dogmas which were more closely -connected with the presumptuous hierarchy and the simoniacal gains of -Rome,--such as transubstantiation. The Anglo-Saxon church had not -professed this doctrine. "The host is the body of Christ, not bodily -but spiritually," said Elfric in the tenth century in a letter -addressed to the archbishop of York; but Lanfranc, the opponent of -Berengarius, had taught England that at the word of a priest God -quitted heaven and descended on the altar. Wickliffe undertook to -overthrow the pedestal on which the pride of the priesthood was -founded. "The eucharist is naturally bread and wine," he taught at -Oxford in 1381; "but by virtue of the sacramental words it contains in -every part the real body and blood of Christ." He did not stop here. -"The consecrated wafer which we see on the altar," said he, "is not -Christ, nor any part of him, but his efficient sign."[182] He -oscillated between these two shades of doctrine; but to the first he -more habitually attached himself. He denied the sacrifice of the mass -offered by the priest, because it was substituted for the sacrifice of -the cross offered up by Jesus Christ; and rejected transubstantiation, -because it nullified the spiritual and living presence of the Lord. - - [182] Efficax ejus signum. Conclusio 1^{ma.} Vaughan, ii, p. 436, App. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S FIRMNESS.] - -When Wickliffe's enemies heard these propositions, they appeared -horror-stricken, and yet in secret they were delighted at the prospect -of destroying him. They met together, examined twelve theses he had -published, and pronounced against him suspension from all teaching, -imprisonment, and the greater excommunication. At the same time his -friends became alarmed, their zeal cooled, and many of them forsook -him. The Duke of Lancaster, in particular, could not follow him into -this new sphere. That prince had no objection to an ecclesiastical -opposition which might aid the political power, and for that purpose -he had tried to enlist the reformer's talents and courage; but he -feared a dogmatic opposition that might compromise him. The sky was -heavy with clouds; Wickliffe was alone. - -The storm soon burst upon him. One day, while seated in his doctoral -chair in the Augustine school, and calmly explaining the nature of the -eucharist, an officer entered the hall, and read the sentence of -condemnation. It was the design of his enemies to humble the professor -in the eyes of his disciples. Lancaster immediately became alarmed, -and hastening to his old friend begged him--ordered him even--to -trouble himself no more about this matter. Attacked on every side, -Wickliffe for a time remained silent. Shall he sacrifice the truth to -save his reputation--his repose--perhaps his life? Shall expediency -get the better of faith,--Lancaster prevail over Wickliffe? No: his -courage was invincible. "Since the year of our Lord 1000," said he, -"all the doctors have been in error about the sacrament of the -altar--except, perhaps, it may be Berengarius. How canst thou, O -priest, who art but a man, make thy Maker? What! the thing that -groweth in the fields--that ear which thou pluckest to-day, shall be -God to-morrow!... As you cannot make the works which he made, how -shall ye make Him who made the works?[183] Woe to the adulterous -generation that believeth the testimony of Innocent rather than of the -Gospel."[184] Wickliffe called upon his adversaries to refute the -opinions they had condemned, and finding that they threatened him with -a civil penalty (imprisonment), he appealed to the king. - - [183] Wycleff's Wyckett, Tracts, pp. 276, 279. - - [184] Vae generationi adulterae quae plus credit testimonio Innocentii - quam sensui Evangelii. Confessio, Vaughan, ii, 453, App. - -The time was not favourable for such an appeal. A fatal circumstance -increased Wickliffe's danger. Wat Tyler and a dissolute priest named -Ball, taking advantage of the ill-will excited by the rapacity and -brutality of the royal tax-gatherers, had occupied London with 100,000 -men. John Ball kept up the spirits of the insurgents, not by -expositions of the gospel, like Wickliffe's _poor priests_, but by -fiery comments on the distich they had chosen for their device:-- - - When Adam delved and Eve span, - Who was then the gentleman? - -[Sidenote: THE CONDEMNED PROPOSITIONS.] - -There were many who felt no scruple in ascribing these disorders to -the reformer, who was quite innocent of them; and Courtenay, bishop of -London, having been translated to the see of Canterbury, lost no time -in convoking a synod to pronounce on this matter of Wickliffe's. They -met in the middle of May, about two o'clock in the afternoon, and were -proceeding to pronounce sentence when an earthquake, which shook the -city of London and all Britain, so alarmed the members of the council -that they unanimously demanded the adjournment of a decision which -appeared so manifestly rebuked by God. But the archbishop skilfully -turned this strange phenomenon to his own purposes: "Know you not," -said he, "that the noxious vapours which catch fire in the bosom of -the earth, and give rise to these phenomena which alarm you, loose all -their force when they burst forth? Well, in like manner, by rejecting -the wicked from our community, we shall put an end to the convulsions -of the church." The bishops regained their courage; and one of the -primate's officers read ten propositions, said to be Wickliffe's, but -ascribing to him certain errors of which he was quite innocent. The -following most excited the anger of the priests: "God must obey the -devil.[185] After Urban VI we must receive no one as pope, but live -according to the manner of the _Greeks_." The ten propositions were -condemned as heretical, and the archbishop enjoined all persons to -shun, as they would a venomous serpent, all who should preach the -aforesaid errors. "If we permit this heretic to appeal continually to -the passions of the people," said the primate to the king, "our -destruction is inevitable. We must silence these _lollards_--these -psalm-singers."[186] The king gave authority "to confine in the -prisons of the state any who should maintain the condemned -propositions." - - [185] Quod Deus debet obedire diabolo. Mansi, xxvi. p. 695. Wickliffe - denied having written or spoken the sentiment here ascribed to him. - - [186] From _lollen_, to sing; as _beggards_ (beggars) from _beggen_. - -Day by day the circle contracted around Wickliffe. The prudent -Repingdon, the learned Hereford, and even the eloquent Ashton, the -firmest of the three, departed from him. The veteran champion of the -truth which had once gathered a whole nation round it, had reached the -days when "strong men shall bow themselves," and now, when harassed by -persecution, he found himself alone. But boldly he uplifted his hoary -head and exclaimed: "The doctrine of the gospel shall never perish; -and if the earth once quaked, it was because they condemned Jesus -Christ." - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE BEFORE THE PRIMATE.] - -He did not stop here. In proportion as his physical strength -decreased, his moral strength increased. Instead of parrying the -blows aimed at him, he resolved on dealing more terrible ones still. -He knew that if the king and the nobility were for the priests, the -lower house and the citizens were for liberty and truth. He therefore -presented a bold petition to the Commons in the month of November -1382. "Since Jesus Christ shed his blood to free his church, I demand -its freedom. I demand that every one may leave those gloomy walls [the -convents], within which a tyrannical law prevails, and embrace a -simple and peaceful life under the open vault of heaven. I demand that -the poor inhabitants of our towns and villages be not constrained to -furnish a worldly priest, often a vicious man and a heretic, with the -means of satisfying his ostentation, his gluttony, and his -licentiousness--of buying a showy horse, costly saddles, bridles with -tinkling bells, rich garments, and soft furs, while they see their -wives, children, and neighbours, dying of hunger."[187] The House of -Commons, recollecting that they had not given their consent to the -persecuting statute drawn up by the clergy and approved by the king -and the lords, demanded its repeal. Was the Reformation about to begin -by the will of the people? - - [187] A Complaint of John Wycleff. Tracts and Treaties edited by the - Wickliffe Society, p. 268. - -Courtenay, indignant at this intervention of the Commons, and ever -stimulated by a zeal for his church, which would have been better -directed towards the word of God, visited Oxford in November 1382, and -having gathered round him a number of bishops, doctors, priests, -students, and laymen, summoned Wickliffe before him. Forty years ago -the reformer had come up to the university: Oxford had become his home -... and now it was turning against him! Weakened by labours, by -trials, by that ardent soul which preyed upon his feeble body, he -might have refused to appear. But Wickliffe, who never feared the face -of man, came before them with a good conscience. We may conjecture -that there were among the crowd some disciples who felt their hearts -burn at the sight of their master; but no outward sign indicated their -emotion. The solemn silence of a court of justice had succeeded the -shouts of enthusiastic youths. Yet Wickliffe did not despair: he -raised his venerable head, and turned to Courtenay with that confident -look which had made the regents of Oxford shrink away. Growing wroth -against the _priests of Baal_, he reproached them with disseminating -error in order to sell their masses. Then he stopped, and uttered -these simple and energetic words: "The truth shall prevail!"[188] -Having thus spoken he prepared to leave the court: his enemies dared -not say a word; and, like his divine master at Nazareth, he passed -through the midst of them, and no man ventured to stop him. He then -withdrew to his cure at Lutterworth. - - [188] Finaliter veritas vincet eos. Vaughan, Appendix, ii. p. 453. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE SUMMONED TO ROME.] - -He had not yet reached the harbour. He was living peacefully among his -books and his parishioners, and the priests seemed inclined to leave -him alone, when another blow was aimed at him. A papal brief summoned -him to Rome, to appear before that tribunal which had so often shed -the blood of its adversaries. His bodily infirmities convinced him -that he could not obey this summons. But if Wickliffe refused to hear -Urban, Urban could not choose but hear Wickliffe. The church was at -that time divided between two chiefs: France, Scotland, Savoy, -Lorraine, Castile, and Aragon acknowledged Clement VII; while Italy, -England, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and Hungary acknowledged Urban VI. -Wickliffe shall tell us who is the true head of the church universal. -And while the two popes were excommunicating and abusing each other, -and selling heaven and earth for their own gain, the reformer was -confessing that incorruptible Word, which establishes real unity in -the church. "I believe," said he, "that the Gospel of Christ is the -whole body of God's law. I believe that Christ, who gave it to us, is -very God and very man, and that this Gospel revelation is, -accordingly, superior to all other parts of Holy Scripture.[189] I -believe that the bishop of Rome is bound more than all other men to -submit to it, for the greatness among Christ's disciples did not -consist in worldly dignity or honours, but in the exact following of -Christ in his life and manners. No faithful man ought to follow the -pope, but in such points as he hath followed Jesus Christ. The pope -ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal dominion and rule; -and thereunto effectually more and more exhort his whole clergy.... If -I could labour according to my desire in mine own person, I would -surely present myself before the bishop of Rome, but the Lord hath -otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me rather to -obey God than men."[190] - - [189] This is the reading of the Bodleian manuscript--"and be [by] - this it passes all other laws." In Fox, Wickliffe appears to ascribe - to Christ himself this superiority over all Scripture,--a distinction - hardly in the mind of the reformer or of his age. - - [190] An Epistle of J. Wickliffe to Pope Urban VI. Fox, Acts, i. p. - 507, fol. Lond. 1684; also Lewis, Wickliffe, p. 333, Append. - -Urban, who at that moment chanced to be very busied in his contest -with Clement, did not think it prudent to begin another with -Wickliffe, and so let the matter rest there. From this time the -doctor passed the remainder of his days in peace in the company of -three personages, two of whom were his particular friends, and the -third his constant adversary: these were _Aletheia_, _Phronesis_, and -_Pseudes_. _Aletheia_ (truth) proposed questions; _Pseudes_ -(falsehood) urged objections; and _Phronesis_ (understanding) laid -down the sound doctrine. These three characters carried on a -conversation (_trialogue_) in which great truths were boldly -professed. The opposition between the pope and Christ--between the -canons of Romanism and the Bible--was painted in striking colours. -This is one of the primary truths which the church must never forget. -"The church has fallen," said one of the interlocutors in the work in -question, "because she has abandoned the Gospel, and preferred the -laws of the pope. Although there should be a hundred popes in the -world at once, and all the friars living should be transformed into -cardinals, we must withhold our confidence unless so far as they are -founded in Holy Scripture."[191] - - [191] Ideo si essent centum papae, et omnes fratres essent versi in - cardinales, non deberet concedi sententiae suae in materia fidei, nisi - de quanto se fundaverint in Scriptura. Trialogus, lib. iv. cap. vii. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF WICKLIFFE.] - -These words were the last flicker of the torch. Wickliffe looked upon -his end as near, and entertained no idea that it would come in peace. -A dungeon on one of the seven hills, or a burning pile in London, was -all he expected. "Why do you talk of seeking the crown of martyrdom -afar?" asked he. "Preach the Gospel of Christ to haughty prelates, and -martyrdom will not fail you. What! I should live and be silent? ... -never! Let the blow fall, I await its coming."[192] - - [192] Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, ii, p. 215, 257. - -The stroke was spared him. The war between two wicked priests, Urban -and Clement, left the disciples of our Lord in peace. And besides, was -it worth while cutting short a life that was drawing to a close? -Wickliffe, therefore, continued tranquilly to preach Jesus Christ; and -on the 29th December 1384, as he was in his church at Lutterworth, in -the midst of his flock, at the very moment that he stood before the -altar, and was elevating the host with trembling hands, he fell upon -the pavement struck with paralysis. He was carried to his house by the -affectionate friends around him, and after lingering forty-eight hours -resigned his soul to God on the last day of the year. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S CHARACTER.] - -Thus was removed from the church one of the boldest witnesses to the -truth. The seriousness of his language, the holiness of his life, and -the energy of his faith, had intimidated the popedom. Travellers -relate that if a lion is met in the desert, it is sufficient to look -steadily at him, and the beast turns away roaring from the eye of man. -Wickliffe had fixed the eye of a Christian on the papacy, and the -affrighted papacy had left him in peace. Hunted down unceasingly while -living, he died in quiet, at the very moment when by faith he was -eating the flesh and drinking the blood which give eternal life. A -glorious end to a glorious life. - -The Reformation of England had begun. - -Wickliffe is the greatest English Reformer: he was in truth the first -reformer of Christendom, and to him, under God, Britain is indebted -for the honour of being the foremost in the attack upon the theocratic -system of Gregory VII. The work of the Waldenses, excellent as it was, -cannot be compared to his. If Luther and Calvin are the fathers of the -Reformation, Wickliffe is its grandfather. - -Wickliffe, like most great men, possessed qualities which are not -generally found together. While his understanding was eminently -speculative--his treatise on the _Reality of universal Ideas_[193] -made a sensation in philosophy--he possessed that practical and active -mind which characterizes the Anglo-Saxon race. As a divine, he was at -once scriptural and spiritual, soundly orthodox, and possessed of an -inward and lively faith. With a boldness that impelled him to rush -into the midst of danger, he combined a logical and consistent mind, -which constantly led him forward in knowledge, and caused him to -maintain with perseverance the truths he had once proclaimed. First of -all, as a Christian, he had devoted his strength to the cause of the -church; but he was at the same time a citizen, and the realm, his -nation, and his king, had also a great share in his unwearied -activity. He was a man complete. - - [193] De universalibus realibus. - -[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S ECCLESIASTICAL VIEWS.] - -If the man is admirable, his teaching is no less so. Scripture, which -is the rule of truth, should be (according to his views) the rule of -Reformation, and we must reject every doctrine and every precept which -does not rest on that foundation.[194] To believe in the power of man -in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that -error has come the ruin of the church. Conversion proceeds from the -grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and -partly to God is worse than Pelagianism.[195] Christ is every thing -in Christianity; whosoever abandons that fountain which is ever ready -to impart life, and turns to muddy and stagnant waters, is a -madman.[196] Faith is a gift of God; it puts aside all merit, and -should banish all fear from the mind.[197] The one thing needful in -the Christian life and in the Lord's Supper is not a vain formalism -and superstitious rites, but communion with Christ according to the -power of the spiritual life.[198] Let Christians submit not to the -word of a priest but to the word of God. In the primitive church there -were but two orders, the deacon and the priest: the presbyter and the -bishop were one.[199] The sublimest calling which man can attain on -earth is that of preaching the word of God. The true church is the -assembly of the righteous for whom Christ shed his blood. So long as -Christ is in heaven, in Him the church possesses the best pope. It is -possible for a pope to be condemned at the last day because of his -sins. Would men compel us to recognise as our head "a devil of -hell?"[200] Such were the essential points of Wickliffe's doctrine. It -was the echo of the doctrine of the apostles--the prelude to that of -the reformers. - - [194] Auctoritas Scripturae sacrae, quae est lex Christi, infinitum - excedit quam libet scripturam aliam. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii. - cap. xxx; see in particular chap. xxxi. The authority of Holy - Scripture, which is the law of Christ, infinitely surpasses all other - writings whatever. - - [195] Ibid. de praedestinatione, de peccato, de gratia, etc. - - [196] Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii, cap. xxx. - - [197] Fidem a Deo infusam sine aliqua trepidatione fidei contraria. - Ibid. lib. iii, cap. ii. - - [198] Secundum rationem spiritualis et virtualis existentiae. Ibid. - lib. iv, cap. viii. - - [199] Fuit idem presbyter atque episcopus. Ibid. lib. iv, cap. xv. - - [200] Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, ii, 307. The Christian public is - much indebted to Dr. Vaughan for his biography of this reformer. - -[Sidenote: PROPHECY.] - -In many respects Wickliffe is the Luther of England; but the times of -revival had not yet come, and the English reformer could not gain such -striking victories over Rome as the German reformer. While Luther was -surrounded by an ever-increasing number of scholars and princes, who -confessed the same faith as himself, Wickliffe shone almost alone in -the firmament of the church. The boldness with which he substituted a -living spirituality for a superstitious formalism, caused those to -shrink back in affright who had gone with him against friars, priests, -and popes. Erelong the Roman pontiff ordered him to be thrown into -prison, and the monks threatened his life;[201] but God protected him, -and he remained calm amidst the machinations of his adversaries. -"Antichrist," said he, "can only kill the body." Having one foot in -the grave already, he foretold that, from the very bosom of monkery, -would some day proceed the regeneration of the church. "If the friars, -whom God condescends to teach, shall be converted to the primitive -religion of Christ," said he, "we shall see them abandoning their -unbelief, returning freely, with or without the permission of -Antichrist, to the primitive religion of the Lord, and building up the -church, as did St. Paul."[202] - - [201] Multitudo fratrum mortem tuam multipliciter machinantur. Ibid. - lib. iv, cap. iv. - - [202] Aliqui fratres quos Deus docere dignatur....relicta sua - perfidia.....redibunt libere ad religionem Christi primaevam, et tunc - aedificabunt ecclesiam, sicut Paulus. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iv, cap. - xxx. - -Thus did Wickliffe's piercing glance discover, at the distance of -nearly a century and a half, the young monk Luther in the Augustine -convent at Erfurth, converted by the Epistle to the Romans, and -returning to the spirit of St. Paul and the religion of Jesus Christ. -Time was hastening on to the fulfilment of this prophecy. "The rising -sun of the Reformation," for so has Wickliffe been called, had -appeared above the horizon, and its beams were no more to be -extinguished. In vain will thick clouds veil it at times; the distant -hill-tops of Eastern Europe will soon reflect its rays;[203] and its -piercing light, increasing in brightness, will pour over all the -world, at the hour of the church's renovation, floods of knowledge and -of life. - - [203] John Huss in Bohemia. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The Wickliffites--Call for Reform--Richard II--The first - Martyr--Lord Cobham--Appears before Henry V--Before the - Archbishop--His Confession and Death--The Lollards. - - -[Sidenote: CALL FOR REFORM.] - -Wickliffe's death manifested the power of his teaching. The master -being removed, his disciples set their hands to the plough, and -England was almost won over to the reformer's doctrines. The -Wickliffites recognized a ministry independent of Rome, and deriving -authority from the word of God alone. "Every minister," said they, -"can administer the sacraments and confer the cure of souls as well as -the pope." To the licentious wealth of the clergy they opposed a -Christian poverty, and to the degenerate asceticism of the mendicant -orders, a spiritual and free life. The townsfolk crowded around these -humble preachers; the soldiers listened to them, armed with sword and -buckler to defend them;[204] the nobility took down the images from -their baronial chapels;[205] and even the royal family was partly won -over to the Reformation. England was like a tree cut down to the -ground, from whose roots fresh buds are shooting out on every side, -erelong to cover all the earth beneath their shade.[206] - - [204] Assistere solent gladio et pelta stipati ad eorum defensionem. - Knyghton, lib. v, p. 2660. - - [205] Milites cum ducibus et comitibus erant praecipue eis adhaerentes. - Ibid. - - [206] Quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt nimis et impleverunt ubique - orbem regni. Kuyguton. lib. v, p. 2660. These "_Conclusiones_" are - reprinted by Lewis (Wickliffe) p. 337. - -This augmented the courage of Wickliffe's disciples, and in many -places the people took the initiative in the reform. The walls of St. -Paul's and other cathedrals were hung with placards aimed at the -priests and friars, and the abuses of which they were the defenders; -and in 1395 the friends of the Gospel petitioned parliament for a -general reform. "The essence of the worship which comes from Rome," -said they, "consists in signs and ceremonies, and not in the -efficacity of the Holy Ghost: and therefore it is not that which -Christ has ordained. Temporal things are distinct from spiritual -things: a king and a bishop ought not to be one and the same -person."[207] And then, from not clearly understanding the principle -of the separation of the functions which they proclaimed, they called -upon parliament to "abolish celibacy, transubstantiation, prayers for -the dead, offerings to images, auricular confession, war, the arts -unnecessary to life, the practice of blessing oil, salt, wax, incense, -stones, mitres, and pilgrims' staffs. All these pertain to necromancy -and not to theology." Emboldened by the absence of the king in -Ireland, they fixed their _Twelve Conclusions_ on the gates of St. -Paul's and Westminster Abbey. This became the signal for persecution. - - [207] Rex et episcopus in una persona, etc. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE FIRST MARTYR.] - -As soon as Arundel, archbishop of York, and Braybrooke, bishop of -London, had read these propositions, they hastily crossed St. George's -channel, and conjured the king to return to England. The prince -hesitated not to comply, for his wife, the pious Anne of Luxemburg, -was dead. Richard, during childhood and youth, had been committed in -succession to the charge of several guardians, and like children (says -an historian), whose nurses have been often changed, he thrived none -the better for it. He did good or evil, according to the influence of -those around him, and had no decided inclinations except for -ostentation and licentiousness. The clergy were not mistaken in -calculating on such a prince. On his return to London he forbade the -parliament to take the Wickliffite petition into consideration; and -having summoned before him the most distinguished of its supporters, -such as Story, Clifford, Latimer, and Montacute, he threatened them -with death if they continued to defend their abominable opinions. -Thus was the work of the reformer about to be destroyed. - -But Richard had hardly withdrawn his hand from the Gospel, when God -(says the annalist) withdrew his hand from him.[208] His cousin, Henry -of Hereford, son of the famous duke of Lancaster, and who had been -banished from England, suddenly sailed from the continent, landed in -Yorkshire, gathered all the malcontents around him, and was -acknowledged king. The unhappy Richard, after being formally deposed, -was confined in Pontefract castle, where he soon terminated his -earthly career. - - [208] Fox, Acts, i. p. 584, fol. Lond. 1684. - -The son of Wickliffe's old defender was now king: a reform of the -church seemed imminent; but the primate Arundel had foreseen the -danger. This cunning priest and skilful politician had observed which -way the wind blew, and deserted Richard in good time. Taking Lancaster -by the hand, he put the crown on his head, saying to him: "To -consolidate your throne, conciliate the clergy, and sacrifice the -Lollards."--"I will be the protector of the church," replied Henry IV, -and from that hour the power of the priests was greater than the power -of the nobility. Rome has ever been adroit in profiting by -revolutions. - -Lancaster, in his eagerness to show his gratitude to the priests, -ordered that every incorrigible heretic should be burnt alive, to -terrify his companions.[209] Practice followed close upon the theory. -A pious priest named William Sawtre had presumed to say: "Instead of -adoring the cross on which Christ suffered, I adore Christ who -suffered on it."[210] He was dragged to St. Paul's; his hair was -shaved off; a layman's cap was placed on his head; and the primate -handed him over to the _mercy_ of the earl-marshal of England. This -mercy was shown him--he was burnt alive at Smithfield in the beginning -of March, 1401. Sawtre was the first martyr to protestantism. - - [209] Ibid. p. 586. This is the statute known as 2 Henry IV. c. 15, - the first actual law in England against heresy. - - [210] Ibid. p. 589. - -[Sidenote: LORD COBHAM.] - -Encouraged by this act of faith--this _auto da fe_--the clergy drew up -the articles known as the "Constitutions of Arundel," which forbade -the reading of the Bible, and styled the pope, "not a mere man, but a -true God."[211] The Lollards' tower, in the archiepiscopal palace of -Lambeth, was soon filled with pretended heretics, many of whom carved -on the walls of their dungeons the expression of their sorrow and -their hopes: _Jesus amor meus_, wrote one of them.[212] - - [211] Not of pure man but of true God, here in earth. Ibid. p. 596. - - [212] "Jesus is my love." These words are still to be read in the - tower. - -To crush the lowly was not enough: the Gospel must be driven from the -more exalted stations. The priests, who were sincere in their belief, -regarded those noblemen as misleaders, who set the word of God above -the laws of Rome; and accordingly they girded themselves for the work. -A few miles from Rochester stood Cowling Castle, in the midst of the -fertile pastures watered by the Medway, - - The fair Medwaya that with wanton pride - Forms silver mazes with her crooked tide.[213] - - [213] Blackmore. - -In the beginning of the fifteenth century it was inhabited by Sir John -Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, a man in high favour with the king. The "poor -priests" thronged to Cowling in quest of Wickliffe's writings, of -which Cobham had caused numerous copies to be made, and whence they -were circulated through the dioceses of Canterbury, Rochester, London, -and Hertford. Cobham attended their preaching, and if any enemies -ventured to interrupt them, he threatened them with his sword.[214] "I -would sooner risk my life," said he, "than submit to such unjust -decrees as dishonour the everlasting Testament." The king would not -permit the clergy to lay hands on his favourite. - - [214] Eorum praedicationibus nefariis interfuit, et contradictores, si - quos repererat, minis et terroribus et gladii secularis potentia - compescuit. (Rymer, Foedera. tom. iv. pars 2, p. 50.) He attended their - interdicted preaching, and if he found any interrupting them, he kept - them in check by threats and terrors and by the power of the secular - sword. - -[Sidenote: COBHAM BEFORE THE ARCHBISHOP.] - -But Henry V having succeeded his father in 1413, and passed from the -houses of ill-fame he had hitherto frequented, to the foot of the -altars and the head of the armies, the archbishop immediately -denounced Cobham to him, and he was summoned to appear before the -king. Sir John had understood Wickliffe's doctrine, and experienced in -his own person the might of the divine Word. "As touching the pope and -his spirituality," he said to the king, "I owe them neither suit nor -service, forasmuch as I know him by the Scriptures to be the great -antichrist."[215] Henry thrust aside Cobham's hand as he presented his -confession of faith: "I will not receive this paper, lay it before -your judges." When he saw his profession refused, Cobham had recourse -to the only arm which he knew of out of the Gospel. The differences -which we now settle by pamphlets were then very commonly settled by -the sword:--"I offer in defence of my faith to fight for life or death -with any man living, Christian or pagan, always excepting your -majesty."[216] Cobham was led to the Tower. - - [215] Fox, vol. i. p. 636, fol. - - [216] Fox, Acts, i. p. 637. - -On the 23rd September, 1413, he was taken before the ecclesiastical -tribunal then sitting at St. Paul's. "We must believe," said the -primate to him, "what the holy church of Rome teaches, without -demanding Christ's authority."--"Believe!" shouted the priests, -"believe!"--"I am willing to believe all that God desires," said Sir -John; "but that the pope should have authority to teach what is -contrary to Scripture--that I can never believe." He was led back to -the Tower. The word of God was to have its martyr. - -On Monday, 25th September, a crowd of priests, canons, friars, clerks, -and indulgence-sellers, thronged the large hall of the Dominican -convent, and attacked Lord Cobham with abusive language. These -insults, the importance of the moment for the Reformation of England, -the catastrophe that must needs close the scene: all agitated his soul -to its very depths. When the archbishop called upon him to confess his -offence, he fell on his knees, and lifting up his hands to heaven, -exclaimed: "I confess to Thee, O God! and acknowledge that in my frail -youth I seriously offended Thee by my pride, anger, intemperance, and -impurity: for these offences I implore thy mercy!" Then standing up, -his face still wet with tears, he said: "I ask not your absolution: it -is God's only that I need."[217] The clergy did not despair, however, -of reducing this high-spirited gentleman: they knew that spiritual -strength is not always conjoined with bodily vigour, and they hoped to -vanquish by priestly sophisms the man who dared challenge the papal -champions to single combat. "Sir John," said the primate at last, "You -have said some very strange things; we have spent much time in -endeavours to convince you, but all to no effect. The day passeth -away: you must either submit yourself to the ordinance of the most -holy church...." "I will none otherwise believe than what I have told -you. Do with me what you will."--"Well then, we must needs do the -law," the archbishop made answer. - - [217] Quod nullam absolutionem in hac parte peteret a nobis, sed a - solo Deo. Rymer, Foedera, p. 51. - -[Sidenote: THE LOLLARDS.] - -Arundel stood up; all the priests and people rose with him and -uncovered their heads. Then holding the sentence of death in his -hand, he read it with a loud clear voice. "It is well," said Sir John; -"though you condemn my body, you can do no harm to my soul, by the -grace of my eternal God." He was again led back to the Tower, whence -he escaped one night, and took refuge in Wales. He was retaken in -December, 1417, carried to London, dragged on a hurdle to Saint -Giles's fields, and there suspended by chains over a slow fire, and -cruelly burned to death. Thus died a Christian, illustrious after the -fashion of his age--a champion of the Word of God. The London prisons -were filled with Wickliffites, and it was decreed that they should be -hung on the king's account, and burnt for God's.[218] - - [218] Incendio propter Deum, suspendio propter regem. Thom. Waldensis - in proemio. Raynald, ann. 1414. No. 16. - -The intimidated Lollards were compelled to hide themselves in the -humblest ranks of the people, and to hold their meetings in secret. -The work of redemption was proceeding noiselessly among the elect of -God. Of these Lollards, there were many who had been redeemed by Jesus -Christ; but in general they knew not, to the same extent as the -evangelical Christians of the sixteenth century, the quickening and -justifying power of faith. They were plain, meek, and often timid -folks, attracted by the word of God, affected at the condemnation it -pronounces against the errors of Rome, and desirous of living -according to its commandments. God had assigned them a part--and an -important part too--in the great transformation of Christianity. Their -humble piety, their passive resistance, the shameful treatment which -they bore with resignation, the penitent's robes with which they were -covered, the tapers they were compelled to hold at the church -door--all these things betrayed the pride of the priests, and filled -the most generous minds with doubts and vague desires. By a baptism of -suffering, God was then preparing the way to a glorious reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Learning at Florence--The Tudors--Erasmus visits - England--Sir Thomas More--Dean Colet--Erasmus and young - Henry--Prince Arthur and Catherine--Marriage and - Death--Catherine betrothed to Henry--Accession of Henry - VIII--Enthusiasm of the Learned--Erasmus recalled to - England--Cromwell before the Pope--Catherine proposed to - Henry--Their Marriage and Court--Tournaments--Henry's - Danger. - - -[Sidenote: LEARNING AT FLORENCE.] - -This reformation was to be the result of two distinct forces--the -revival of learning and the resurrection of the word of God. The -latter was the principal cause, but the former was necessary as a -means. Without it the living waters of the Gospel would probably have -traversed the age, like summer streams which soon dry up, such as -those which had burst forth here and there during the middle ages; it -would not have become that majestic river, which, by its inundations, -fertilized all the earth. It was necessary to discover and examine the -original fountains, and for this end the study of Greek and Hebrew was -indispensable. Lollardism and humanism (the study of the classics) -were the two laboratories of the reform. We have seen the preparations -of the one, we must now trace the commencement of the other; and as we -have discovered the light in the lowly valleys, we shall discern it -also on the lofty mountain tops. - -[Sidenote: THE TUDORS.] - -About the end of the fifteenth century, several young Englishmen -chanced to be at Florence, attracted thither by the literary glory -which environed the city of the Medici. Cosmo had collected together a -great number of works of antiquity, and his palace was thronged with -learned men. William Selling, a young English ecclesiastic, afterwards -distinguished at Canterbury by his zeal in collecting valuable -manuscripts; his fellow-countrymen, Grocyn, Lilly, and Latimer "more -bashful than a maiden;"[219] and, above all, Linacre, whom Erasmus -ranked before all the scholars of Italy,--used to meet in the -delicious villa of the Medici with Politian, Chalcondyles, and other -men of learning; and there, in the calm evenings of summer, under that -glorious Tuscan sky, they dreamt romantic visions of the Platonic -philosophy. When they returned to England, these learned men laid -before the youth of Oxford the marvellous treasures of the Greek -language. Some Italians even, attracted by the desire to enlighten the -barbarians, and a little, it may be, by the brilliant offers made -them, quitted their beloved country for the distant Britain. Cornelius -Vitelli taught at Oxford, and Caius Amberino at Cambridge. Caxton -imported the art of printing from Germany, and the nation hailed with -enthusiasm the brilliant dawn which was breaking at last in their -cloudy sky. - - [219] Pudorem plus quam virgineum. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 525. - -While learning was reviving in England, a new dynasty succeeded to the -throne, bringing with it that energy of character which of itself is -able to effect great revolutions; the Tudors succeeded the -Plantagenets. That inflexible intrepidity by which the reformers of -Germany, Switzerland, France, and Scotland were distinguished, did not -exist so generally in those of England; but it was found in the -character of her kings, who often stretched it even to violence. It -may be that to this preponderance of energy in its rulers, the church -owes the preponderance of the state in its affairs. - -Henry Tudor, the Louis XI of England, was a clever prince, of decided -but suspicious character, avaricious and narrow-minded. Being -descended from a Welsh family, he belonged to that ancient race of -Celts, who had so long contended against the papacy. Henry had -extinguished faction at home, and taught foreign nations to respect -his power. A good genius seemed to exercise a salutary influence over -his court as well as over himself: this was his mother, the Countess -of Richmond. From her closet, where she consecrated the first five -hours of the day to reading, meditation, and prayer, she moved to -another part of the palace to dress the wounds of some of the lowest -mendicants; thence she passed into the gay saloons, where she would -converse with the scholars, whom she encouraged by her munificence. -This noble lady's passion for study, of which her son inherited but -little, was not without its influence in her family. Arthur and Henry, -the king's eldest sons, trembled in their father's presence; but, -captivated by the affection of their pious grandmother, they began to -find a pleasure in the society of learned men. An important -circumstance gave a new impulse to one of them. - -[Sidenote: ERASMUS IN ENGLAND.] - -Among the countess's friends was Montjoy, who had known Erasmus at -Paris, and heard his cutting sarcasms upon the schoolmen and friars. -He invited the illustrious Dutchman to England, and Erasmus, who was -fearful of catching the plague, gladly accepted the invitation, and -set out for what he believed to be the kingdom of darkness. But he had -not been long in England before he discovered unexpected light. - -Shortly after his arrival, happening to dine with the lord-mayor, -Erasmus noticed on the other side of the table a young man of -nineteen, slender, fresh-coloured, with blue eyes, coarse hands, and -the right shoulder somewhat higher than the other. His features -indicated affability and gaiety, and pleasant jests were continually -dropping from his lips. If he could not find a joke in English, he -would in French, and even in Latin or Greek. A literary contest soon -ensued between Erasmus and the English youth. The former, astonished -at meeting with any one that could hold his own against him, -exclaimed: _Aut tu es Morus aut nullus!_ (you are either More or -nobody); and his companion, who had not learnt the stranger's name, -quickly replied: _Aut tu es Erasmus aut diabolus!_ (you are either the -devil or Erasmus).[220] More flung himself into the arms of Erasmus, -and they became inseparable friends. More was continually joking, even -with women, teasing the young maidens, and making fun of the dull, -though without any tinge of ill-nature in his jests.[221] But under -this sportive exterior he concealed a deep understanding. He was at -that time lecturing on Augustine's '_City of God_' before a numerous -audience composed of priests and aged men. The thought of eternity had -seized him: and being ignorant of that internal discipline of the Holy -Ghost, which is the only true discipline, he had recourse to the -scourge on every Friday. Thomas More is the ideal of the catholicism -of this period. He had, like the Romish system, two poles--worldliness -and asceticism; which, although contrary, often meet together. In -fact, asceticism makes a sacrifice of _self_, only to preserve it; -just as a traveller attacked by robbers will readily give up a portion -of his treasures to save the rest. This was the case with More, if we -rightly understand his character. He sacrificed the accessories of his -fallen nature to save that same nature. He submitted to fasts and -vigils, wore a shirt of hair-cloth, mortified his body by small chains -next his skin--in a word, he immolated every thing in order to -preserve that _self_ which a real regeneration alone can sacrifice. - - [220] Life of More by his Great-grandson, (1828), p. 93. - - [221] Cum mulieribus fere atque etiam cum uxore nonnisi lusus jocos ne - tractat. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 536. - -[Sidenote: A ROYAL SCHOOL-ROOM.] - -From London Erasmus went to Oxford, where he met with John Colet, a -friend of More's, but older, and of very dissimilar character. Colet, -the scion of an ancient family, was a very portly man, of imposing -aspect, great fortune, and elegance of manners, to which Erasmus had -not been accustomed. Order, cleanliness, and decorum prevailed in his -person and in his house. He kept an excellent table, which was open to -all the friends of learning, and at which the Dutchman, no great -admirer of the colleges of Paris with their sour wine and stale eggs, -was glad to take a seat.[222] He there met also most of the classical -scholars of England, especially Grocyn, Linacre, Thomas Wolsey, bursar -of Magdalene College, Halsey, and some others. "I cannot tell you how -I am delighted with your England," he wrote to Lord Montjoy from -Oxford. "With such men I could willingly live in the farthest coasts -of Scythia."[223] - - [222] Quantum ibi devorabatur ovorum putrium, quantum vini putris - hauriebatur. Erasm. Colloq. p. 564. - - [223] Dici non potest quam mihi dulcescat Anglia tua . . . . vel in - extrema Scythia vivere non recusem. Erasm. Ep. i. p. 311. - -[Sidenote: ARTHUR AND CATHERINE.] - -But if Erasmus on the banks of the Thames found a Maecenas in Lord -Montjoy, a Labeo and perhaps a Virgil in More, he nowhere found an -Augustus. One day as he was expressing his regrets and his fears to -More, the latter said: "Come, let us go to Eltham, perhaps we shall -find there what you are looking for." They set out, More jesting all -the way, inwardly resolving to expiate his gaiety by a severe -scourging at night. On their arrival they were heartily welcomed by -Lord and Lady Montjoy, the governor and governess of the king's -children. As the two friends entered the hall, a pleasing and -unexpected sight greeted Erasmus. The whole of the family were -assembled, and they found themselves surrounded not only by some of -the royal household, but by the domestics of Lord Montjoy also. On the -right stood the Princess Margaret, a girl of eleven years, whose -great-grandson under the name of Stuart was to continue the Tudor line -in England; on the left was Mary, a child four years of age; Edmund -was in his nurse's arms; and in the middle of the circle, between his -two sisters, stood a boy, at that time only nine years old, whose -handsome features, royal carriage, intelligent eye, and exquisite -courtesy, had an extraordinary charm for Erasmus.[224] That boy was -Henry, Duke of York, the king's second son, born on the 28th June -1491. More, advancing towards the young prince, presented to him some -piece of his own writing; and from that hour Erasmus kept up a -friendly intercourse with Henry, which in all probability exercised a -certain influence over the destinies of England. The scholar of -Rotterdam was delighted to see the prince excel in all the manly -sports of the day. He sat his horse with perfect grace and rare -intrepidity, could hurl a javelin farther than any of his companions, -and having an excellent taste for music, he was already a performer on -several instruments. The king took care that he should receive a -learned education, for he destined him to fill the see of Canterbury; -and the illustrious Erasmus, noticing his aptitude for every thing he -undertook, did his best to cut and polish this English diamond that it -might glitter with the greater brilliancy. "He will begin nothing that -he will not finish," said the scholar. And it is but too true, that -this prince always attained his end, even if it were necessary to -tread on the bleeding bodies of those he had loved. Flattered by the -attentions of the young Henry, attracted by his winning grace, charmed -by his wit, Erasmus on his return to the continent everywhere -proclaimed that England at last had found its Octavius. - - [224] Erasm. Ep. ad Botzhem. Jortin. Appendix, p. 108. - -As for Henry VII he thought of everything but Virgil or Augustus. -Avarice and ambition were his predominant tastes, which he gratified -by the marriage of his eldest son in 1501. Burgundy, Artois, Provence, -and Brittany having been recently united to France, the European -powers felt the necessity of combining against that encroaching state. -It was in consequence of this that Ferdinand of Aragon had given his -daughter Joanna to Philip of Austria, and that Henry VII asked the -hand of his daughter Catherine, then in her sixteenth year and the -richest princess in Europe, for Arthur prince of Wales, a youth about -ten months younger. The catholic king made one condition to the -marriage of his daughter. Warwick, the last of the Plantagenets and a -pretender to the crown, was confined in the Tower. Ferdinand, to -secure the certainty that Catherine would really ascend the English -throne, required that the unhappy prince should be put to death. Nor -did this alone satisfy the king of Spain. Henry VII, who was not a -cruel man, might conceal Warwick, and say that he was no more. -Ferdinand demanded that the chancellor of Castile should be present at -the execution. The blood of Warwick was shed; his head rolled duly on -the scaffold; the Castilian chancellor verified and registered the -murder, and on the 14th November the marriage was solemnized at St. -Paul's. At midnight the prince and princess were conducted with great -pomp to the bridal-chamber.[225] These were ill-omened nuptials--fated -to set the kings and nations of Christendom in battle against each -other, and to serve as a pretext for the external and political -discussions of the English Reformation. The marriage of Catherine the -Catholic was a marriage of blood. - - [225] Principes summa nocte ad thalamum solemni ritu deducti sunt. - Sanderus, de schismate Angl. p. 2. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF PRINCE ARTHUR.] - -In the early part of 1502 Prince Arthur fell ill, and on the 2nd of -April he died. The necessary time was taken to be sure that Catherine -had no hope of becoming a mother, after which the friend of Erasmus, -the youthful Henry, was declared heir to the crown, to the great joy -of all the learned. This prince did not forsake his studies: he spoke -and wrote in French, German, and Spanish with the facility of a -native; and England hoped to behold one day the most learned of -Christian kings upon the throne of Alfred the Great. - -A very different question, however, filled the mind of the covetous -Henry VII. Must he restore to Spain the two hundred thousand ducats -which formed Catherine's dowry? Shall this rich heiress be permitted -to marry some rival of England? To prevent so great a misfortune the -king conceived the project of uniting Henry to Arthur's widow. The -most serious objections were urged against it. "It is not only -inconsistent with propriety," said Warham, the primate, "but the will -of God himself is against it. It is declared in His law that _if a man -shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing_, (Lev. xx. 21); -and in the Gospel John Baptist says to Herod: _It is not lawful for -thee to have thy brother's wife_," (Mark vi. 18.) Fox, bishop of -Winchester, suggested that a dispensation might be procured from the -pope, and in December 1503 Julius II granted a bull declaring that for -the sake of preserving union between the catholic princes he -authorized Catherine's marriage with the brother of her first husband, -_accedente forsan copula carnali_. These four words, it is said, were -inserted in the bull at the express desire of the princess. All these -details will be of importance in the course of our history. The two -parties were betrothed, but not married in consideration of the youth -of the prince of Wales. - -The second marriage projected by Henry VII was ushered in with -auspices still less promising than the first. The king having fallen -sick and lost his queen, looked upon these visitations as a divine -judgment.[226] The nation murmured, and demanded whether it was in the -pope's power to permit what God had forbidden.[227] The young prince, -being informed of his father's scruples and of the people's -discontent, declared, just before attaining his majority (27th June -1505), in the presence of the bishop of Winchester and several royal -counsellors, that he protested against the engagement entered into -during his minority, and that he would never make Catherine his wife. - - [226] Morysin's Apomaxis. - - [227] Herbert, Life of Henry VIII, p. 18. - -[Sidenote: PROCLAMATION OF HENRY VIII.] - -His father's death, which made him free, made him also recall this -virtuous decision. In 1509, the hopes of the learned seemed about to -be realized. On the 9th of May, a hearse decorated with regal pomp, -bearing on a rich pall of cloth of gold the mortal remains of Henry -VII with his sceptre and his crown, entered London, followed by a long -procession. The great officers of state, assembled round the coffin, -broke their staves and cast them into the vault, and the heralds cried -with a loud voice: "God send the noble King Henry VIII long -life."[228] Such a cry perhaps had never on any previous occasion been -so joyfully repeated by the people. The young king gratified the -wishes of the nation by ordering the arrest of Empson and Dudley, who -were charged with extortion; and he conformed to the enlightened -counsels of his grandmother, by choosing the most able ministers, and -placing the archbishop of Canterbury as lord-chancellor at their head. -Warham was a man of great capacity. The day was not too short for him -to hear mass, receive ambassadors, consult with the king in the royal -closet, entertain as many as two hundred guests at his table, take his -seat on the woolsack, and find time for his private devotions. The joy -of the learned surpassed that of the people. The old king wanted none -of their praises or congratulations, for fear he should have to pay -for them; but now they could give free course to their enthusiasm. -Montjoy pronounced the young king "divine;" the Venetian ambassador -likened his port to Apollo's, and his noble chest to the torso of -Mars; he was lauded both in Greek and Latin; he was hailed as the -founder of a new era, and Henry seemed desirous of meriting these -eulogiums. Far from permitting himself to be intoxicated by so much -adulation, he said to Montjoy: "Ah! how I should like to be a -scholar!"--"Sire," replied the courtier, "It is enough that you show -your regard for those who possess the learning you desire for -yourself."--"How can I do otherwise," he replied with earnestness; -"without them we hardly exist!" Montjoy immediately communicated this -to Erasmus. - - [228] Leland's Collectanea, vol. iv. p. 309. - -[Sidenote: ENTHUSIASM OF THE LEARNED.] - -Erasmus!--Erasmus!--the walls of Eltham, Oxford, and London resounded -with the name. The king could not live without the learned; nor the -learned without Erasmus. This scholar, who was an enthusiast for the -young king, was not long in answering to the call. When Richard Pace, -one of the most accomplished men of that age, met the learned Dutchman -at Ferrara, the latter took from his pocket a little box which he -always carried with him: "You don't know," he said, "what a treasure -you have in England: I will just show you;" and he took from the box a -letter of Henry's expressing in Latin of considerable purity the -tenderest regard for his correspondent.[229] Immediately after the -coronation Montjoy wrote to Erasmus: "Our Henry _Octavus_, or rather -_Octavius_, is on the throne. Come and behold the new star.[230] The -heavens smile, the earth leaps for joy, and all is flowing with milk, -nectar, and honey.[231] Avarice has fled away, liberality has -descended, scattering on every side with gracious hand her bounteous -largesses. Our king desires not gold or precious stones, but virtue, -glory, and immortality." - - [229] Scripsit ad me suapte manu litteras amantissimas. Erasm. Vita ad - Ep. - - [230] Ut hoc novum sidus aspicias. Ibid. p. 277: an expression of - Virgil, speaking of the deified Augustus. - - [231] Ridet aether, exultat terra, omnia lactis, omnia mellis, omnia - nectaris sunt plena. Ibid. - -In such glowing terms was the young king described by a man who had -seen him closely. Erasmus could resist no longer: he bade the pope -farewell, and hastened to London, where he met with a hearty welcome -from Henry. Science and power embraced each other: England was about -to have its Medici; and the friends of learning no longer doubted of -the regeneration of Britain. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL AND THE POPE.] - -Julius II, who had permitted Erasmus to exchange the white frock of -the monks for the black dress of the seculars,[232] allowed him to -depart without much regret. This pontiff had little taste for letters, -but was fond of war, hunting, and the pleasures of the table. The -English sent him a dish to his taste in exchange for the scholar. -Sometime after Erasmus had left, as the pope was one day reposing from -the fatigues of the chase, he heard voices near him singing a strange -song. He asked with surprise what it meant.[233] "It is some -Englishmen," was the answer, and three foreigners entered the room, -each bearing a closely-covered jar, which the youngest presented on -his knees. This was Thomas Cromwell, who appears here for the first -time on the historic scene. He was the son of a blacksmith of Putney; -but he possessed a mind so penetrating, a judgment so sound, a heart -so bold, ability so consummate, such easy elocution, such an accurate -memory, such great activity, and so able a pen, that the most -brilliant career was foreboded him. At the age of twenty he left -England, being desirous to see the world, and began life as a clerk in -the English factory at Antwerp. Shortly after this two fellow-countrymen -from Boston came to him in their embarrassment. "What do you want?" he -asked them. "Our townsmen have sent us to the pope," they told him, -"to get the renewal of the _greater_ and _lesser pardons_, whose term -is nearly run, and which are necessary for the repair of our harbour. -But we do not know how to appear before him." Cromwell, prompt to -undertake everything, and knowing a little Italian, replied, "I will -go with you." Then slapping his forehead, he muttered to himself: -"What fish can I throw out as a bait to these greedy cormorants?" A -friend informed him that the pope was very fond of dainties. Cromwell -immediately ordered some exquisite jelly to be prepared, after the -English fashion, and set out for Italy with his provisions and his two -companions. - - [232] Vestem albam commutavit in nigram. Epp. ad Servat. - - [233] The pope suddenly marvelling at the strangeness of the song. - Fox. Acts, v. 364, ed. Lond. 1838. - -This was the man who appeared before Julius after his return from the -chase. "Kings and princes alone eat of this preserve in England," said -Cromwell to the pope. One cardinal, who was a greedier "cormorant" -than his master, eagerly tasted the delicacy. "Try it," he exclaimed, -and the pope, relishing this new confectionary, immediately signed the -pardons, on condition however that the receipt for the jelly should be -left with him. "And thus were the _jelly-pardons_ obtained," says the -annalist. It was Cromwell's first exploit, and the man who began his -busy career by presenting jars of confectionary to the pope was also -the man destined to separate England from Rome. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S COURT.] - -The court of the pontiff was not the only one in Europe devoted to -gaiety. Hunting parties were as common in London as at Rome. The young -king and his companions were at that time absorbed in balls, banquets, -and the other festivities inseparable from a new reign. He recollected -however that he must give a queen to his people: Catherine of Aragon -was still in England, and the council recommended her for his wife. He -admired her piety without caring to imitate it;[234] he was pleased -with her love for literature, and even felt some inclination towards -her.[235] His advisers represented to him that "Catherine, daughter of -the illustrious Isabella of Castile, was the image of her mother. Like -her, she possessed that wisdom and greatness of mind which win the -respect of nations; and that if she carried to any of his rivals her -marriage-portion and the Spanish alliance, the long-contested crown -of England would soon fall from his head.... We have the pope's -dispensation: will you be more scrupulous than he is?"[236] The -archbishop of Canterbury opposed in vain: Henry gave way, and on the -eleventh of June, about seven weeks after his father's death, the -nuptials were privately celebrated. On the twenty-third the king and -queen went in state through the city, the bride wearing a white satin -dress with her hair hanging down her back nearly to her feet. On the -next day they were crowned at Westminster with great magnificence. - - [234] Admirabatur quidem uxoris sanctitatem. Sanders. p. 5. - - [235] Ut amor plus apud regem posset. Morysin Apom. p. 14. - - [236] Herbert's Henry VIII, p. 7. Fuller's Church Hist. Book V. p. - 165. Erasm. Ep. ad Amerb. p. 19. - -Then followed a series of expensive entertainments. The treasures -which the nobility had long concealed from fear of the old king, were -now brought out; the ladies glittered with gold and diamonds; and the -king and queen, whom the people never grew tired of admiring, amused -themselves like children with the splendour of their royal robes. -Henry VIII was the forerunner of Louis XIV. Naturally inclined to pomp -and pleasure, the idol of his people, a devoted admirer of female -beauty, and the husband of almost as many wives as Louis had -adulterous mistresses, he made the court of England what the son of -Anne of Austria made the court of France,--one constant scene of -amusements. He thought he could never get to the end of the riches -amassed by his prudent father. His youth--for he was only -eighteen--the gaiety of his disposition, the grace he displayed in all -bodily exercises, the tales of chivalry in which he delighted, and -which even the clergy recommended to their high-born hearers, the -flattery of his courtiers[237]--all these combined to set his young -imagination in a ferment. Wherever he appeared, all were filled with -admiration of his handsome countenance and graceful figure: such is -the portrait bequeathed to us by his greatest enemy.[238] "His brow -was made to wear the crown, and his majestic port the kingly mantle," -adds Noryson.[239] - - [237] Tyndale, Obedience of a Christian man (1528). - - [238] Eximia corporis forma praeditus, in qua etiam regiae majestatis - augusta quaedam species elucebat. (Sanderus de Schism., p. 4.) He was - endowed with uncommon gracefulness of person, in which there shone - forth a certain august air even of kingly majesty. - - [239] Turner. Hist. Engl. i. p. 28. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S DANGER.] - -Henry resolved to realize without delay the chivalrous combats and -fabulous splendours of the heroes of the Round Table, as if to prepare -himself for those more real struggles which he would one day have to -maintain against the papacy. At the sound of the trumpet the youthful -monarch would enter the lists, clad in costly armour, and wearing a -plume that fell gracefully down to the saddle of his vigorous courser; -"like an untamed bull," says an historian, "which breaks away from its -yoke and rushes into the arena." On one occasion, at the celebration -of the queen's churching, Catherine with her ladies was seated in a -tent of purple and gold, in the midst of an artificial forest, strewn -with rocks and variegated with flowers. On a sudden a monk stepped -forward, wearing a long brown robe, and kneeling before her, begged -permission to run a course. It was granted, and rising up he threw -aside his coarse frock, and appeared gorgeously armed for the tourney. -He was Charles Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, one of the -handsomest and strongest men in the kingdom, and the first after Henry -in military exercises. He was followed by a number of others dressed -in black velvet, with wide-brimmed hats on their heads, staffs in -their hands, and scarfs across their shoulders ornamented with cockle -shells, like pilgrims from St. James of Compostella. These also threw -off their disguise, and stood forth in complete armour. At their head -was Sir Thomas Boleyn, whose daughter was fated to surpass in beauty, -greatness, and misfortune, all the women of England. The tournament -began. Henry, who has been compared to Amadis in boldness, to the lion -hearted Richard in courage, and to Edward III in courtesy, did not -always escape danger in these chivalrous contests. One day the king -had forgotten to lower his vizor, and Brandon, his opponent, setting -off at full gallop, the spectators noticed the oversight, and cried -out in alarm. But nothing could stop their horses: the two cavaliers -met. Suffolk's lance was shivered against Henry, and the fragments -struck him in the face. Every one thought the king was dead, and some -were running to arrest Brandon, when Henry, recovering from the blow -which had fallen on his helmet, recommenced the combat, and ran six -new courses amid the admiring cries of his subjects. This intrepid -courage changed as he grew older into unsparing cruelty; and it was -this young tiger, whose movements were then so graceful, that at no -distant day tore with his bloody fangs the mother of his children. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - The Pope excites to War--Colet's Sermon at St. Paul's--The - Flemish Campaign--Marriage of Louis XII and Princess - Mary--Letter from Anne Boleyn--Marriage of Brandon and - Mary--Oxford--Sir Thomas More at Court--Attack upon the - Monasteries--Colet's Household--He preaches Reform--The - Greeks and Trojans. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE EXCITES TO WAR.] - -A message from the pope stopped Henry in the midst of these -amusements. In Scotland, Spain, France, and Italy, the young king had -nothing but friends; a harmony which the papacy was intent on -disturbing. One day, immediately after high-mass had been celebrated, -the archbishop of Canterbury, on behalf of Julius II laid at his feet -a golden rose, which had been blessed by the pope, anointed with holy -oil, and perfumed with musk.[240] It was accompanied by a letter -saluting him as head of the Italian league. The warlike pontiff having -reduced the Venetians, desired to humble France, and to employ Henry -as the instrument of his vengeance. Henry, only a short time before, -had renewed his alliance with Louis XII; but the pope was not to be -baffled by such a trifle as that, and the young king soon began to -dream of rivalling the glories of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. To -no purpose did his wisest councillors represent to him that England, -in the most favourable times, had never been able to hold her ground -in France, and that the sea was the true field open to her conquests. -Julius, knowing his vanity, had promised to deprive Louis of the title -of Most Christian king, and confer it upon him. "His holiness hopes -that your grace will utterly exterminate the king of France," wrote -the king's agent.[241] Henry saw nothing objectionable in this very -unapostolic mission, and decided on substituting the terrible game of -war for the gentler sports of peace. - - [240] Odorifico musco aspersam. Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 652. - - [241] Letter of Cardinal Bembridge. Cotton MSS. Vitell. B. 2, p. 8. - -[Sidenote: DEAN COLET'S SERMON.] - -In the spring of 1511, after some unsuccessful attempts by his -generals, Henry determined to invade France in person. He was in the -midst of his preparations when the festival of Easter arrived. Dean -Colet had been appointed to preach before Henry on Good Friday, and in -the course of his sermon he showed more courage than could have been -expected in a scholar, for a spark of the Christian spirit was glowing -in his bosom. He chose for the subject of his discourse Christ's -victory over death and the grave. "Whoever takes up arms from -ambition," said he, "fights not under the standard of Christ, but of -Satan. If you desire to contend against your enemies, follow Jesus -Christ as your prince and captain, rather than Caesar or Alexander." -His hearers looked at each other with astonishment; the friends of -polite literature became alarmed; and the priests, who were getting -uneasy at the uprising of the human mind, hoped to profit by this -opportunity of inflicting a deadly blow on their antagonists. There -were among them men whose opinions we must condemn, while we cannot -forbear respecting the zeal for what they believed to be the truth: of -this number were Bricot, Fitzjames, and above all Standish. Their -zeal, however, went a little too far on this occasion: they even -talked of _burning_ the dean.[242] After the sermon, Colet was -informed that the king requested his attendance in the garden of the -Franciscan monastery, and immediately the priests and monks crowded -round the gate, hoping to see their adversary led forth as a criminal. -"Let us be alone," said Henry; "put on your cap, Mr. Dean, and we will -take a walk. Cheer up," he continued, "you have nothing to fear. You -have spoken admirably of Christian charity, and have almost reconciled -me to the king of France; yet, as the contest is not one of choice, -but of necessity, I must beg of you in some future sermon to explain -this to my people. Unless you do so, I fear my soldiers may -misunderstand your meaning." Colet was not a John Baptist, and, -affected by the king's condescension, he gave the required -explanation. The king was satisfied, and exclaimed: "Let every man -have his doctor as he pleases; this man is my doctor, and I will drink -his health!" Henry was then young: very different was the fashion with -which in after-years he treated those who opposed him. - - [242] Dr. Colet was in trouble and should have been burnt. Latimer's - Sermons. Parker edition, p. 440. - -At heart the king cared little more about the victories of Alexander -than of Jesus Christ. Having fitted out his army, he embarked at the -end of June, accompanied by his almoner, Wolsey, who was rising into -favour, and set out for the war as if for a tournament. Shortly after -this, he went, all glittering with jewels, to meet the Emperor -Maximilian, who received him in a plain doublet and cloak of black -serge. After his victory at the battle of Spurs, Henry, instead of -pressing forward to the conquest of France, returned to the siege of -Teronenne, wasted his time in jousts and entertainments, conferred on -Wolsey the bishopric of Tournay which he had just captured, and then -returned to England, delighted at having made so pleasant an -excursion. - -[Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS MARY.] - -Louis XII was a widower in his 53rd year, and bowed down by the -infirmities of a premature old age; but being desirous of preventing, -at any cost, the renewal of the war, he sought the hand of Henry's -sister, the Princess Mary, then in her 16th year. Her affections were -already fixed on Charles Brandon, and for him she would have -sacrificed the splendour of a throne. But reasons of state opposed -their union. "The princess," remarked Wolsey, "will soon return to -England a widow with a royal dowry." This decided the question. The -disconsolate Mary, who was an object of universal pity, embarked at -Dover with a numerous train, and from Boulogne, where she was received -by the duke of Angouleme, she was conducted to the king, elated at the -idea of marrying the handsomest princess in Europe. - -Among Mary's attendents was the youthful Anne Boleyn. Her father, Sir -Thomas Boleyn, had been charged by Henry, conjointly with the bishop -of Ely, with the diplomatic negotiations preliminary to this marriage. -Anne had passed her childhood at Hever Castle, surrounded by all that -could heat the imagination. Her maternal grandfather, the earl of -Surrey, whose eldest son had married the sister of Henry the Seventh's -queen, had filled, as did his sons also, the most important offices of -state. At the age probably of fourteen, when summoned by her father to -court, she wrote him the following letter in French, which appears to -refer to her departure for France:-- - - "SIR,--I find by your letter that you wish me to appear at - court in a manner becoming a respectable female, and - likewise that the queen will condescend to enter into - conversation with me; at this I rejoice, as I do to think, - that conversing with so sensible and elegant a princess will - make me even more desirous of continuing to speak and to - write good French; the more as it is by your earnest advice, - which (I acquaint you by this present writing) I shall - follow to the best of my ability.... As to myself, rest - assured that I shall not ungratefully look upon this - fatherly office as one that might be dispensed with; nor - will it tend to diminish my affection, quest [wish], and - deliberation to lead as holy a life as you may please to - desire of me; indeed my love for you is founded on so firm a - basis that it can never be impaired. I put an end to this my - lucubration after having very humbly craved your good will - and affection. Written at Hever, by - - "Your very humble and obedient daughter, - ANNA DE BOULLAN."[243] - - [243] The French original is preserved among Archbishop Parker's MSS. - at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The translation in the text is - (with a slight variation) from Sir H. Ellis's Collection of royal and - other letters. vol. ii. second series. - -[Sidenote: MARY MARRIES BRANDON.] - -Such were the feelings under which this young and interesting lady, so -calumniated by papistical writers, appeared at court. - -The marriage was celebrated at Abbeville on the 9th of October 1514, -and after a sumptuous banquet, the king of France distributed his -royal largesses among the English lords, who were charmed by his -courtesy. But the morrow was a day of trial to the young queen. Louis -XII had dismissed the numerous train which had accompanied her, and -even Lady Guildford, to whom Henry had specially confided her. Three -only were left,--of whom the youthful Anne Boleyn was one. At this -separation, Mary gave way to the keenest sorrow. To cheer her spirits, -Louis proclaimed a grand tournament. Brandon hastened to France at its -first announcement, and carried off all the prizes; while the king, -languidly reclining on a couch, could with difficulty look upon the -brilliant spectacle over which his queen presided, sick at heart yet -radiant with youth and beauty. Mary was unable to conceal her emotion, -and Louisa of Savoy, who was watching her, divined her secret. But -Louis, if he experienced the tortures of jealousy, did not feel them -long, for his death took place on the 1st January 1515. - -Even before her husband's funeral was over, Mary's heart beat high -with hope. Francis I, impatient to see her wedded to some unimportant -political personage, encouraged her love for Brandon. The latter, who -had been commissioned by Henry to convey to her his letters of -condolence, feared his master's anger if he should dare aspire to the -hand of the princess. But the widowed queen, who was resolved to brave -every thing, told her lover: "Either you marry me in four days or you -see me no more." The choice the king had made of his ambassador -announced that he would not behave very harshly. The marriage was -celebrated in the abbey of Clugny, and Henry pardoned them. - -[Sidenote: OXFORD.] - -While Mary returned to England, as Wolsey had predicted, Anne Boleyn -remained in France. Her father, desiring his daughter to become an -accomplished woman, intrusted her to the care of the virtuous Claude -of France, _the good queen_, at whose court the daughters of the first -families of the kingdom were trained. Margaret, duchess of Alencon, -the sister of Francis, and afterwards queen of Navarre, often charmed -the queen's circle by her lively conversation. She soon became deeply -attached to the young Englishwoman, and on the death of Claude took -her into her own family. Anne Boleyn was destined at no very remote -period to be at the court of London a reflection of the graceful -Margaret, and her relations with that princess were not without -influence on the English Reformation. - -And indeed the literary movement which had passed from Italy into -France appeared at that time as if it would cross from France into -Britain. Oxford exercises over England as great an influence as the -metropolis; and it is almost always within its walls that a movement -commences whether for good or evil. At this period of our history, an -enthusiastic youth hailed with joy the first beams of the new sun, and -attacked with their sarcasms the idleness of the monks, the immorality -of the clergy, and the superstition of the people. Disgusted with the -priestcraft of the middle ages, and captivated by the writers of -antiquity and the purity of the Gospel, Oxford boldly called for a -reform which should burst the bonds of clerical domination and -emancipate the human mind. Men of letters thought for a while that -they had found the most powerful man in England in Wolsey, the ally -that would give them the victory. - -He possessed little taste for learning, but seeing the wind of public -favour blow in that direction, he readily spread his sails before it. -He got the reputation of a profound divine, by quoting a few words of -Thomas Aquinas, and the fame of a Maecenas and Ptolemy, by inviting the -learned to his gorgeous entertainments. "O happy cardinal," exclaimed -Erasmus, "who can surround his table with such torches!"[244] - - [244] Cujus mensa talibus luminibus cingitur. Erasm. Ep. 725. - -At that time the king felt the same ambition as his minister, and -having tasted in turn the pleasures of war and diplomacy, he now bent -his mind to literature. He desired Wolsey to present Sir Thomas More -to him.--"What shall I do at court?" replied the latter. "I shall be -as awkward as a man that never rode sitteth in a saddle." Happy in his -family circle, where his father, mother, and children, gathering round -the same table, formed a pleasing group, which the pencil of Holbein -has transmitted to us, More had no desire to leave it. But Henry was -not a man to put up with a refusal; he employed force almost to draw -More from his retirement, and in a short time he could not live -without the society of the man of letters. On calm and starlight -nights they would walk together upon the leads at the top of the -palace, discoursing on the motions of the heavenly bodies. If More did -not appear at court, Henry would go to Chelsea and share the frugal -dinner of the family with some of their simple neighbours. "Where," -asked Erasmus, "where is the Athens, the Porch, or the Academe, that -can be compared with the court of England?... It is a seat of the -muses rather than a palace.... The golden age is reviving, and I -congratulate the world." - -[Sidenote: THE MONASTERIES ASSAILED.] - -But the friends of classical learning were not content with the -cardinal's banquets or the king's favours. They wanted victories, and -their keenest darts were aimed at the cloisters, those strong -fortresses of the hierarchy and of uncleanness.[245] The abbot of -Saint Albans, having taken a married woman for his concubine, and -placed her at the head of a nunnery, his monks had followed his -example, and indulged in the most scandalous debauchery. Public -indignation was so far aroused, that Wolsey himself--Wolsey, the -father of several illegitimate children, and who was suffering the -penalty of his irregularities[246]--was carried away by the spirit of -the age, and demanded of the pope a general reform of manners. When -they heard of this request, the priests and friars were loud in their -outcries. "What are you about?" said they to Wolsey. "You are giving -the victory to the enemies of the church, and your only reward will be -the hatred of the whole world." As this was not the cardinal's game, -he abandoned his project, and conceived one more easily executed. -Wishing to deserve the name of "Ptolemy" conferred on him by Erasmus, -he undertook to build two large colleges, one at Ipswich, his native -town, the other at Oxford; and found it convenient to take the money -necessary for their endowment, not from his own purse, but from the -purses of the monks. He pointed out to the pope twenty-two monasteries -in which (he said) vice and impiety had taken up their abode.[247] The -pope granted their secularization, and Wolsey having thus procured a -revenue of L2000 sterling, laid the foundations of his college, traced -out various courts, and constructed spacious kitchens. He fell into -disgrace before he had completed his work, which led Gualter to say -with a sneer: "He began a college and built a cook's shop."[248] But a -great example had been set: the monasteries had been attacked, and the -first breach made in them by a cardinal. Cromwell, Wolsey's secretary, -remarked how his master had set about his work, and in after-years -profited by the lesson. - - [245] Loca sacra etiam ipsa Dei templa monialium stupro et sanguinis - et seminis effusione profanare non verentur. Papal bull. Wilkins, - Concilia, p. 632. - - [246] Morbus venereus. Burnet. - - [247] Wherein much vice and wickedness was harboured. Strype, i. 169. - The names of the monasteries are given. Ibid. ii. 132. - - [248] Instituit collegium et absolvit popinam. Fuller, cent. xvi. p. - 169. - -[Sidenote: COLET PREACHES THE REFORMATION.] - -It was fortunate for letters that they had sincerer friends in London -than Wolsey. Of these were Colet, dean of St. Paul's, whose house was -the centre of the literary movement which preceded the Reformation, -and his friend and guest Erasmus. The latter was the hardy pioneer who -opened the road of antiquity to modern Europe. One day he would -entertain Colet's guests with the account of a new manuscript; on -another, with a discussion on the forms of ancient literature; and at -other times he would attack the schoolmen and monks, when Colet would -take the same side. The only antagonist who dared measure his strength -with him was Sir Thomas More, who, although a layman, stoutly defended -the ordinances of the church. - -But mere table-talk could not satisfy the dean: a numerous audience -attended his sermons at St. Paul's. The spirituality of Christ's -words, the authority which characterizes them, their admirable -simplicity and mysterious depth, had deeply charmed him: "I admire the -writings of the apostles," he would say, "but I forget them almost, -when I contemplate the wonderful majesty of Jesus Christ."[249] -Setting aside the tests prescribed by the church, he explained, like -Zwingle, the Gospel of St. Matthew. Nor did he stop here. Taking -advantage of the Convocation, he delivered a sermon on _conformation_ -and _reformation_, which was one of the numerous forerunners of the -great reform of the sixteenth century. "We see strange and heretical -ideas appear in our days, and no wonder," said he. "But you must know -there is no heresy more dangerous to the church than the vicious lives -of its priests. A reformation is needed; and that reformation must -begin with the bishops and be extended to the priests. The clergy once -reformed, we shall proceed to the reformation of the people."[250] -Thus spoke Colet, while the citizens of London listened to him with -rapture, and called him a new Saint Paul.[251] - - [249] Ita suspiciebat admirabilem illam Christi majestatem. Erasm. - Epp. 707. - - [250] Colet, Sermon to the Convocation. - - [251] Pene apostolus Paulus habitus est. (Polyd. Virg. p. 618.) He was - accounted almost an apostle Paul. - -Such discourses could not be allowed to pass unpunished. Fitzjames, -bishop of London, was a superstitious obstinate old man of eighty, -fond of money, excessively irritable, a poor theologian, and a slave -to Duns Scotus, the _subtle doctor_. Calling to his aid two other -bishops as zealous as himself for the preservation of abuses, namely, -Bricot and Standish, he denounced the dean of St. Paul's to Warham. -The archbishop having inquired what he had done: "What has he done?" -rejoined the bishop of London. "He teaches that we must not worship -images; he translates the Lord's Prayer into English; he pretends that -the text _Feed my sheep_, does not include the temporal supplies the -clergy draw from their flock. And besides all this," he continued with -some embarrassment, "he has spoken against those who carry their -manuscripts into the pulpit and read their sermons!" As this was the -bishop's practice, the primate could not refrain from smiling; and -since Colet refused to justify himself, Warham did so for him. - -[Sidenote: GREEKS AND TROJANS.] - -From that time Colet laboured with fresh zeal to scatter the darkness. -He devoted the larger portion of his fortune to found the celebrated -school of St. Paul, of which the learned Lilly was the first master. -Two parties, the _Greeks_ and the _Trojans_, entered the lists, not to -contend with sword and spear, as in the ancient epic, but with the -tongue, the pen, and sometimes the fist. If the _Trojans_ (the -obscurants) were defeated in the public disputations, they had their -revenge in the secret of the confessional. _Cave a Graecis ne fias -hereticus_,[252] was the watchword of the priests--their daily lesson -to the youths under their care. They looked on the school founded by -Colet as the monstrous horse of the perjured Sinon, and announced that -from its bosom would inevitably issue the destruction of the people. -Colet and Erasmus replied to the monks by inflicting fresh blows. -Linacre, a thorough literary enthusiast,--Grocyn, a man of sarcastic -humour but generous heart,--and many others, reinforced the _Grecian_ -phalanx. Henry himself used to take one of them with him during his -journeys, and if any unlucky _Trojan_ ventured in his presence to -attack the tongue of Plato and of Saint Paul, the young king would set -his Hellenian on him. Not more numerous were the contests witnessed in -times of yore on the classic banks of Xanthus and Simois. - - [252] Beware of the Greeks, lest you should become a heretic. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Wolsey--His first Commission--His complaisance and - Dioceses--Cardinal, Chancellor, and Legate--Ostentation and - Necromancy--His Spies and Enmity--Pretensions of the Clergy. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY.] - -Just as everything seemed tending to a reformation, a powerful priest -rendered the way more difficult. - -One of the most striking personages of the age was then making his -appearance on the stage of the world. It was the destiny of that man, -in the reign of Henry VIII, to combine extreme ability with extreme -immorality; and to be a new and striking example of the wholesome -truth that immorality is more effectual to destroy a man than ability -to save him. Wolsey was the last high-priest of Rome in England, and -when his fall startled the nation, it was the signal of a still more -striking fall--the fall of popery. - -Thomas Wolsey, the son of a wealthy butcher of Ipswich, according to -the common story, which is sanctioned by high authority, had attained -under Henry VII the post of almoner, at the recommendation of Sir -Richard Nanfan, treasurer of Calais and an old patron of his. But -Wolsey was not at all desirous of passing his life in saying mass. As -soon as he had discharged the regular duties of his office, instead of -spending the rest of the day in idleness, as his colleagues did, he -strove to win the good graces of the persons round the king. - -Fox, Bishop of Winchester, keeper of the privy-seal under Henry VII, -uneasy at the growing power of the earl of Surrey, looked about for a -man to counterbalance them. He thought he had found such a one in -Wolsey. It was to oppose the Surreys, the grandfather and uncles of -Anne Boleyn, that the son of the Ipswich butcher was drawn from his -obscurity. This is not an unimportant circumstance in our narrative. -Fox began to praise Wolsey in the king's hearing, and at the same time -he encouraged the almoner to give himself to public affairs. The -latter was not deaf,[253] and soon found an opportunity of winning his -sovereign's favour. - - [253] Haec Wolseius non surdis audierit auribus. (Polyd. Virg. 622.) - Wolsey heard these words, not with deaf ears. - -[Sidenote: HIS FIRST SERVICES UNDER HENRY VII.] - -The king having business of importance with the emperor, who was then -in Flanders, sent for Wolsey, explained his wishes, and ordered him -to prepare to set out. The chaplain determined to show Henry VII how -capable he was of serving him. It was long past noon when he took -leave of the king at Richmond--at four o'clock he was in London, at -seven at Gravesend. By travelling all night he reached Dover just as -the packet-boat was about to sail. After a passage of three hours he -reached Calais, whence he travelled post, and the same evening -appeared before Maximilian. Having obtained what he desired, he set -off again by night, and on the next day but one reached Richmond, -three days and some few hours after his departure. The king, catching -sight of him just as he was going to mass, sharply inquired, why he -had not set out. "Sire, I am just returned," answered Wolsey, placing -the emperor's letters in his master's hands. Henry was delighted, and -Wolsey saw that his fortune was made. - -The courtiers hoped at first that Wolsey, like an inexperienced pilot, -would run his vessel on some hidden rock; but never did helmsman -manage his ship with more skill. Although twenty years older than -Henry VIII the almoner danced, and sang, and laughed with the prince's -companions, and amused his new master with tales of scandal and -quotations from Thomas Aquinas. The young king found his house a -temple of paganism, a shrine of voluptuousness;[254] and while Henry's -councillors were entreating him to leave his pleasures and attend to -business, Wolsey was continually reminding him that he ought to devote -his youth to learning and amusement, and leave the toils of government -to others. Wolsey was created bishop of Tournay during the campaign in -Flanders, and on his return to England, was raised to the sees of -Lincoln and of York. Three mitres had been placed on his head in one -year. He found at last the vein he so ardently sought for. - - [254] Domi suae voluptatum omnium sacrarium fecit. (Polyd. Virg. 623.) - He made his house a shrine of all voluptuousness. - -[Sidenote: OSTENTATION AND NECROMANCY.] - -And yet he was not satisfied. The archbishop of Canterbury had -insisted, as primate, that the cross of York should be lowered to his. -Wolsey was not of a disposition to concede this, and when he found -that Warham was not content with being his equal, he resolved to make -him his inferior. He wrote to Paris and to Rome. Francis I, who -desired to conciliate England, demanded the purple for Wolsey, and the -archbishop of York received the title of Cardinal St. Cecilia beyond -the Tiber. In November 1515, his hat was brought by the envoy of the -pope: "It would have been better to have given him a Tyburn tippet," -said some indignant Englishmen; "these Romish hats never brought good -into England"[255]--a saying that has become proverbial. - - [255] Latimer's Sermons (Parker Society), p. 119. - -This was not enough for Wolsey: he desired secular greatness above all -things. Warham, tired of contending with so arrogant a rival, resigned -the seals, and the king immediately transferred them to the cardinal. -At length a bull appointed him legate _a latere_ of the holy see, and -placed under his jurisdiction all the colleges, monasteries, spiritual -courts, bishops, and the primate himself (1519). From that time, as -lord-chancellor of England and legate, Wolsey administered every thing -in church and state. He filled his coffers with money procured both at -home and from abroad, and yielded without restraint to his dominant -vices, ostentation and pride. Whenever he appeared in public, two -priests, the tallest and comeliest that could be found, carried before -him two huge silver crosses, one to mark his dignity as archbishop, -the other as papal legate. Chamberlains, gentlemen, pages, sergeants, -chaplains, choristers, clerks, cupbearers, cooks, and other domestics, -to the number of more than 500, among whom were nine or ten lords and -the stateliest yeomen of the country, filled his palace. He generally -wore a dress of scarlet velvet and silk, with hat and gloves of the -same colour. His shoes were embroidered with gold and silver, inlaid -with pearls and precious stones. A kind of papacy was thus forming in -England; for wherever pride flourishes there popery is developed. - -One thing occupied Wolsey more than all the pomp with which he was -surrounded: his desire, namely, to captivate the king. For this -purpose he cast Henry's nativity, and procured an amulet which he wore -constantly, in order to charm his master by its magic properties.[256] -Then having recourse to a still more effectual necromancy, he selected -from among the licentious companions of the young monarch those of the -keenest discernment and most ambitious character; and after binding -them to him by a solemn oath, he placed them at court to be as eyes -and ears to him. Accordingly not a word was said in the presence of -the monarch, particularly against Wolsey, of which he was not informed -an hour afterwards. If the culprit was not in favour, he was expelled -without mercy; in the contrary case, the minister sent him on some -distant mission. The queen's ladies, the king's chaplains, and even -their confessors, were the cardinal's spies. He pretended to -omnipresence, as the pope to infallibility. - - [256] He calked [calculated] the king's nativity ... he made by craft - of necromancy graven imagery to bear upon him, wherewith he bewitched - the king's mind. Tyndale's Expositions (Parker Soc.) p. 308. - -Wolsey was not devoid of certain showy virtues, for he was liberal to -the poor even to affectation, and as chancellor inexorable to every -kind of irregularity, and strove particularly to make the rich and -high-born bend beneath his power. Men of learning alone obtained from -him some little attention, and hence Erasmus calls him "the Achates of -a new Aeneas." But the nation was not to be carried away by the -eulogies of a few scholars. Wolsey--a man of more than suspected -morals, double-hearted, faithless to his promises, oppressing the -people with heavy taxes, and exceedingly arrogant to every -body--Wolsey soon became hated by the people of England. - -[Sidenote: A CLAIM OF THE CLERGY.] - -The elevation of a prince of the Roman church could not be favourable -to the Reformation. The priests, encouraged by it, determined to make -a stand against the triple attack of the learned, the reformers, and -the state; and they soon had an opportunity of trying their strength. -Holy orders had become during the middle ages a warrant for every sort -of crime. Parliament, desirous of correcting this abuse and checking -the encroachments of the church, declared in the year 1513 that any -ecclesiastic, accused of theft or murder, should be tried before the -secular tribunals. Exceptions, however, were made in favour of -bishops, priests, and deacons--that is to say, nearly all the clergy. -Notwithstanding this timid precaution, an insolent clerk, the abbot of -Winchelcomb, began the battle by exclaiming at St. Paul's: "_Touch not -mine anointed_, said the Lord." At the same time Wolsey, accompanied -by a long train of priests and prelates, had an audience of the king, -at which he said with hands upraised to heaven: "Sire, to try a clerk, -is a violation of God's laws." This time, however, Henry did not give -way. "By God's will, we are king of England," he replied, "and the -kings of England in times past had never any superior but God only. -Therefore know you well that we will maintain the right of our crown." -He saw distinctly that to put the clergy above the laws was to put -them above the throne. The priests were beaten, but not disheartened: -perseverance is a characteristic feature of every hierarchical order. -Not walking by faith, they walk all the more by sight; and skilful -combinations supply the place of the holy aspirations of the -Christian. Humble disciples of the Gospel were soon to experience -this, for the clergy by a few isolated attacks were about to flesh -themselves for the great struggles of the Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - The Wolves--Richard Hun--A murder--Verdict of the Jury--Hun - condemned, and his Character vindicated--The Gravesend - Passage-boat--A festival disturbed--Brown tortured--Visit - from his Wife--A Martyr--Character of Erasmus--1516 and - 1517--Erasmus goes to Basle. - - -[Sidenote: THE WOLVES--RICHARD HUN.] - -It is occasionally necessary to soften down the somewhat exaggerated -colours in which contemporary writers describe the Romish clergy; but -there are certain appellations which history is bound to accept. The -_wolves_, for so the priests were called, by attacking the Lords and -Commons had attempted a work beyond their reach. They turned their -wrath on others. There were many shepherds endeavouring to gather -together the sheep of the Lord beside the peaceful waters: these must -be frightened, and the sheep driven into the howling wilderness. "The -wolves" determined to fall upon the Lollards. - -There lived in London an honest tradesman named Richard Hun, one of -those witnesses of the truth who, sincere though unenlightened, have -often been found in the bosom of Catholicism. It was his practice to -retire to his closet and spend a portion of each day in the study of -the Bible. At the death of one of his children, the priest required of -him an exorbitant fee, which Hun refused to pay, and for which he was -summoned before the legate's court. Animated by that public spirit, -which characterizes the people of England, he felt indignant that an -Englishman should be cited before a foreign tribunal, and laid an -information against the priest and his counsel under the act of -_praemunire_. Such boldness--most extraordinary at that time-- -exasperated the clergy beyond all bounds. "If these proud -citizens are allowed to have their way," exclaimed the monks, "every -layman will dare to resist a priest." - -[Sidenote: RICHARD HUN'S MURDER.] - -Exertions were accordingly made to snare the pretended rebel in the -trap of heresy;[257] he was thrown into the Lollards' tower at St. -Paul's, and an iron collar was fastened round his neck, attached to -which was a chain so heavy that neither man nor beast (says Foxe) -would have been able to bear it long. When taken before his judges, -they could not convict him of heresy, and it was observed with -astonishment "that he had his beads in prison with him."[258] They -would have set him at liberty, after inflicting on him perhaps some -trifling penance--but then, what a bad example it would be, and who -could stop the reformers, if it was so easy to resist the papacy? -Unable to triumph by justice, certain fanatics resolved to triumph by -crime. - - [257] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8. Folio, 1684, London. - - [258] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8. Folio. 1684, London. - -At midnight on the 2nd December--the day of his examination--three men -stealthily ascended the stairs of the Lollards' tower: the bellringer -went first carrying a torch; a sergeant named Charles Joseph followed, -and last came the bishop's chancellor. Having entered the cell, they -went up to the bed on which Hun was lying, and finding that he was -asleep, the chancellor said: "Lay hands on the thief." Charles Joseph -and the bellringer fell upon the prisoner, who, awaking with a start, -saw at a glance what this midnight visit meant. He resisted the -assassins at first, but was soon overpowered and strangled. Charles -Joseph then fixed the dead man's belt round his neck, the bellringer -helped to raise his lifeless body, and the chancellor slipped the -other end of the belt through a ring fixed in the wall. They then -placed his cap on his head, and hastily quitted the cell.[259] -Immediately after, the conscience-stricken Charles Joseph got on -horseback and rode from the city; the bellringer left the cathedral -and hid himself: the crime dispersed the criminals. The chancellor -alone kept his ground, and he was at prayers when the news was brought -him that the turnkey had found Hun hanging. "He must have killed -himself in despair," said the hypocrite. But every one knew poor Hun's -Christian feelings. "It is the priests who have murdered him," was the -general cry in London, and an inquest was ordered to be held on his -body. - - [259] Ibid. p. 13. "And so all we murdered Hun ... and so Hun was - hanged." (Evidence of Charles Joseph.) - -[Sidenote: HUN CONDEMNED.] - -On Tuesday, the 5th of December, William Barnwell the city coroner, -the two sheriffs, and twenty-four jurymen, proceeded to the Lollards' -tower. They remarked that the belt was so short that the head could -not be got out of it, and that consequently it had never been placed -in it voluntarily, and hence the jury concluded that the suspension -was an after-thought of some other persons. Moreover they found that -the ring was too high for the poor victim to reach it,--that the body -bore marks of violence--and that traces of blood were to be seen in -the cell: "Wherefore all we find by God and all our consciences (runs -the verdict), that Richard Hun was murdered. Also we acquit the said -Richard Hun of his own death."[260] - - [260] For particulars of the Inquest, see Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. 14. - -It was but too true, and the criminals themselves confessed it. The -miserable Charles Joseph having returned home on the evening of the -6th December, said to his maid-servant: "If you will swear to keep my -secret, I will tell you all."--"Yes, master," she replied, "if it is -neither felony nor treason."--Joseph took a book, swore the girl on -it, and then said to her: "I have killed Richard Hun!"--"O master! -how? he was called a worthy man."--"I would lever [rather] than a -hundred pounds it were not done," he made answer; "but what is done -cannot be undone." He then rushed out of the house. - -The clergy foresaw what a serious blow this unhappy affair would be to -them, and to justify themselves they examined Hun's Bible (it was -Wickliffe's version), and having read in the preface that "poor men -and idiots [simple folks] have the truth of the holy Scriptures more -than a thousand prelates and religious men and clerks of the school," -and further, that "the pope ought to be called Antichrist," the bishop -of London, assisted by the bishops of Durham and Lincoln, declared Hun -guilty of heresy, and on the 20th December his dead body was burnt at -Smithfield. "Hun's bone's have been burnt, and therefore he was a -heretic," said the priests; "he was a heretic, and therefore he -committed suicide." - -The triumph of the clergy was of short duration; for almost at same -time William Horsey, the bishop's chancellor, Charles Joseph, and John -Spalding the bellringer, were convicted of the murder. A bill passed -the Commons restoring Hun's property to his family and vindicating his -character; the Lords accepted the bill, and the king himself said to -the priests: "Restore to these wretched children the property of their -father whom you so cruelly murdered to our great and just -horror."[261]--"If the clerical theocracy should gain the mastery of -the state," was the general remark in London, "it would not only be a -very great lie, but the most frightful tyranny!" England has never -gone back since that time, and a theocratic rule has always inspired -the sound portion of the nation with a just and insurmountable -antipathy. Such were the events taking place in England shortly before -the Reformation. This was not all. - - [261] Verdict on the Inquest; Foxe, 12. - -[Sidenote: THE GRAVESEND BOAT.] - -The clergy had not been fortunate in Hun's affair, but they were not -for that reason unwilling to attempt a new one. - -In the spring of 1517--the year in which Luther posted up his -_theses_--a priest, whose manners announced a man swollen with pride, -happened to be on board the passage-boat from London to Gravesend with -an intelligent and pious Christian of Ashford, by name John Brown. The -passengers, as they floated down the stream, were amusing themselves -by watching the banks glide away from them, when the priest, turning -towards Brown, said to him insolently: "You are too near me, get -farther off. Do you know who I am?"--"No, sir," answered -Brown.--"Well, then, you must know that I am a priest."--"Indeed, sir; -are you a parson, or vicar, or a lady's chaplain?"--"No; I am a -_soul-priest_," he haughtily replied; "I sing mass to save -souls."--"Do you, sir," rejoined Brown somewhat ironically, "that is -well done; and can you tell me where you find the soul when you begin -the mass?"--"I cannot," said the priest.--"And where you leave it when -the mass is ended?"--"I do not know."--"What!" continued Brown with -marks of astonishment, "you do not know where you find the soul or -where you leave it ... and yet you say that you save it!"--"Go thy -ways," said the priest angrily, "thou art a heretic, and I will be -even with thee." Thenceforward the priest and his neighbour conversed -no more together. At last they reached Gravesend, and the boat -anchored. - -As soon as the priest had landed, he hastened to two of his friends, -Walter and William More, and all three mounting their horses, set off -for Canterbury, and denounced Brown to the archbishop. - -[Sidenote: BROWN PUT TO THE TORTURE.] - -In the meantime John Brown had reached home. Three days later, his -wife, Elizabeth, who had just left her chamber, went to church, -dressed all in white, to return thanks to God for delivering her in -the perils of childbirth. Her husband, assisted by her daughter Alice -and the maid-servant, were preparing for their friends the feast usual -on such occasions, and they had all of them taken their seats at -table, joy beaming on every face, when the street-door was abruptly -opened, and Chilton, the constable, a cruel and savage man, -accompanied by several of the archbishop's apparitors, seized upon the -worthy townsman. All sprang from their seats in alarm; Elizabeth and -Alice uttered the most heart-rending cries; but the primate's -officers, without showing any emotion, pulled Brown out of the house, -and placed him on horseback, tying his feet under the animal's -belly.[262] It is a serious matter to jest with a priest. The -cavalcade rode off quickly, and Brown was thrown into prison, and -there left forty days. - - [262] Foxe, Acts, ii, p. 7. His feet bound under his own horse. - -At the end of this time, the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop -of Rochester called before them the impudent fellow who doubted -whether a priest's mass could save souls, and required him to retract -this "blasphemy." But Brown, if he did not believe in the mass, -believed in the Gospel: "Christ was once offered," he said, "to take -away the sins of many. It is by this sacrifice we are saved, and not -by the repetitions of the priests." At this reply the archbishop made -a sign to the executioners, one of whom took off the shoes and -stockings of this pious Christian, while the other brought in a pan of -burning coals, upon which they set the martyr's feet.[263] The English -laws in truth forbade torture to be inflicted on any subject of the -crown, but the clergy thought themselves above the laws. "Confess the -efficacity of the mass," cried the two bishops to poor Brown. "If I -deny my Lord upon earth," he replied, "He will deny me before his -Father in heaven." The flesh was burnt off the soles of the feet even -to the bones, and still John Brown remained unshaken. The bishops -therefore ordered him to be given over to the secular arm that he -might be burnt alive. - - [263] His bare feet were set upon hot burning coals. The Lollards - (edit. Tract Soc.), p. 149. - -On the Saturday preceding the festival of Pentecost, in the year 1517, -the martyr was led back to Ashford, where he arrived just as the day -was drawing to a close. A number of idle persons were collected in the -street, and among them was Brown's maid-servant, who ran off crying to -the house, and told her mistress: "I have seen him!... He was bound, -and they were taking him to prison."[264] Elizabeth hastened to her -husband and found him sitting with his feet in the stocks, his -features changed by suffering, and expecting to be burnt alive on the -morrow. The poor woman sat down beside him, weeping most bitterly, -while he, being hindered by his chains, could not so much as bend -towards her. "I cannot set my feet to the ground," said he, "for -bishops have burnt them to the bones; but they could not burn my -tongue and prevent my confessing the Lord.... O Elizabeth! ... -continue to love him for He is good; and bring up our children in his -fear." - - [264] A young maid of his house coming by saw her master; she ran - home. Ibid. p. 50. - -[Sidenote: MARTYRDOM.] - -On the following morning--it was Whitsunday--the brutal Chilton and -his assistants led Brown to the place of execution, and fastened him -to the stake. Elizabeth and Alice, with his other children and his -friends, desirous of receiving his last sigh, surrounded the pile, -uttering cries of anguish. The fagots were set on fire, while Brown, -calm and collected, and full of confidence in the blood of the -Saviour, clasped his hands, and repeated this hymn, which Foxe has -preserved:--[265] - - O Lord, I yield me to thy grace, - Grant me mercy for my trespass; - Let never the fiend my soul chase. - Lord, I will bow, and thou shalt beat, - Let never my soul come in hell-heat. - - [265] Foxe, Acts and Mon. ii. p. 8 (folio 1684), iv. p. 132 (Lond. - 1838). We shall in future refer to the latter edition, as being more - accessible. - -The martyr was silent: the flames had consumed their victim. Then -redoubled cries of anguish rent the air. His wife and daughter seemed -as if they would lose their senses. The bystanders showed them the -tenderest compassion, and turned with a movement of indignation -towards the executioners. The brutal Chilton perceiving this, cried -out:--"Come along; let us toss the heretic's children into the flames, -lest they should one day spring from their father's ashes."[266] He -rushed towards Alice, and was about to lay hold of her, when the -maiden shrank back screaming with horror. To the end of her life, she -recollected the fearful moment, and to her we are indebted for the -particulars. The fury of the monster was checked. Such were the scenes -passing in England shortly before the Reformation. - - [266] Bade cast in his children also, for they would spring of his - ashes. Ibid. - -The priests were not yet satisfied, for the scholars still remained in -England: if they could not be burnt, they should at least be banished. -They set to work accordingly. Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, a sincere -man, as it would seem, but fanatical, was inveterate in his hatred of -Erasmus, who had irritated him by an idle sarcasm. When speaking of -_St. Asaph's_ it was very common to abbreviate it into _St. As's_; and -as Standish was a theologian of no great learning, Erasmus, in his -jesting way, would sometimes call him _Episcopus a Sancto Asino_. As -the bishop could not destroy Colet, the disciple, he flattered himself -that he should triumph over the master. - -[Sidenote: 1516 and 1517.] - -Erasmus knew Standish's intentions. Should he commence in England that -struggle with the papacy which Luther was about to begin in Germany? -It was no longer possible to steer a middle course: he must either -fight or leave. The Dutchman was faithful to his nature--we may even -say, to his vocation: he left the country. - -Erasmus was, in his time, the head of the great literary community. By -means of his connexions and his correspondence, which extended over -all Europe, he established between those countries where learning was -reviving, an interchange of ideas and manuscripts. The pioneer of -antiquity, an eminent critic, a witty satirist, the advocate of -correct taste, and a restorer of literature, one only glory was -wanting: he had not the creative spirit, the heroic soul of a Luther. -He calculated with no little skill, could detect the smile on the lips -or the knitting of the brows; but he had not that self-abandonment, -that enthusiasm for the truth, that firm confidence in God, without -which nothing great can be done in the world, and least of all in the -church. "Erasmus _had_ much, but _was_ little," said one of his -biographers.[267] - - [267] Ad. Muller. - -In the year 1517 a crisis had arrived: the period of the revival was -over, that of the Reformation was beginning. The restoration of -letters was succeeded by the regeneration of religion: the days of -criticism and neutrality by those of courage and action. Erasmus was -then only forty-nine years old; but he had finished his career. From -being first, he must now be second: the monk of Wittemberg dethroned -him. He looked around himself in vain: placed in a new country, he had -lost his road. A hero was needed to inaugurate the great movement of -modern times: Erasmus was a mere man of letters. - -[Sidenote: ERASMUS GOES TO BASLE.] - -When attacked by Standish in 1516, the literary king determined to -quit the court of England, and take refuge in a printing-office. But -before laying down his sceptre at the foot of a Saxon monk, he -signalized the end of his reign by the most brilliant of his -publications. The epoch of 1516-17, memorable for the theses of -Luther, was destined to be equally remarkable by a work which was to -imprint on the new times their essential character. What distinguishes -the Reformation from all anterior revivals is the union of learning -with piety, and a faith more profound, more enlightened, and based on -the word of God. The Christian people was then emancipated from the -tutelage of the schools and the popes, and its charter of -enfranchisement was the Bible. The sixteenth century did more than its -predecessors: it went straight to the fountain (the Holy Scriptures), -cleared it of weeds and brambles, plumbed its depths, and caused its -abundant streams to pour forth on all around. The Reformation age -studied the Greek Testament, which the clerical age had almost -forgotten,--and this is its greatest glory. Now the first explorer of -this divine source was Erasmus. When attacked by the hierarchy, the -leader of the schools withdrew from the splendid halls of Henry VIII. -It seemed to him that the new era which he had announced to the world -was rudely interrupted: he could do nothing more by his conversation -for the country of the Tudors. But he carried with him those precious -leaves, the fruit of his labours--a book which would do more than he -desired. He hastened to Basle, and took up his quarters in Frobenius's -printing-office,[268] where he not only laboured himself, but made -others labour. England will soon receive the seed of the new life, and -the Reformation is about to begin. - - [268] Frobenio, ut nullius officinae plus debeant sacrarum studia - literarum. (Erasm. Ep. p. 330.) The study of sacred literature was - more indebted to no printing-office than to that of Frobenius. - - - - -BOOK XVIII - -THE REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Four reforming Powers--Which reformed England?--Papal - Reform?--Episcopal Reform?--Royal Reform?--What is required - in a legitimate Reform--The Share of the Kingly Power--Share - of the Episcopal Authority--High and Low Church--Political - Events--The Greek and Latin New Testament--Thoughts of - Erasmus--Enthusiasm and anger--Desire of Erasmus--Clamours - of the Priests--Their Attack at Court--Astonishment of - Erasmus--His Labours for this Work--Edward Lee; his - Character--Lee's _Tragedy_--Conspiracy. - - -It was within the province of four powers in the sixteenth century to -effect a reformation of the church: these were the papacy, the -episcopate, the monarchy, and Holy Scripture. - -The Reformation in England was essentially the work of Scripture. - -The only true reformation is that which emanates from the word of God. -The Holy Scriptures, by bearing witness to the incarnation, death, and -resurrection of the Son of God, create in man by the Holy Ghost a -faith which justifies him. That faith which produces in him a new -life, unites him to Christ, without his requiring a chain of bishops -or a Roman mediator, who would separate him from the Saviour instead -of drawing him nearer. This Reformation _by the word_ restores that -spiritual Christianity which the outward and hierarchical religion had -destroyed; and from the regeneration of individuals naturally results -the regeneration of the church. - -[Sidenote: THE REFORMATION, NOT ROYAL.] - -The Reformation of England, perhaps to a greater extent than that of -the continent, was effected by the word of God. This statement may -appear paradoxical, but it is not the less true. Those great -individualities we meet with in Germany, Switzerland, and France--men -like Luther, Zwingle, and Calvin--do not appear in England; but Holy -Scripture is widely circulated. What brought light into the British -isles subsequently to the year 1517, and on a more extended scale -after the year 1526, was the word--the invisible power of the -invisible God. The religion of the anglo-Saxon race--a race called -more than any other to circulate the oracles of God throughout the -world--is particularly distinguished by its biblical character. - -The Reformation of England could not be papal. No reform can be hoped -from that which ought to be not only reformed but abolished; and -besides, no monarch dethrones himself. We may even affirm that the -popedom has always felt a peculiar affection for its conquests in -Britain, and that they would have been the last it would have -renounced. A serious voice had declared in the middle of the fifteenth -century: "A reform is neither in the will nor in the power of the -popes."[269] - - [269] James of Juterbock, prior of the Carthusians: De septem ecclesiae - statibus opusculum. - -The Reformation of England was not episcopal. Roman hierarchism will -never be abolished by Roman bishops. An episcopal assembly may -perhaps, as at Constance, depose three competing popes, but then it -will be to save the papacy. And if the bishops could not abolish the -papacy, still less could they reform themselves. The then existing -episcopal power being at enmity with the word of God, and the slave of -its own abuses, was incapable of renovating the church. On the -contrary, it exerted all its influence to prevent such a renovation. - -The Reformation in England was not royal. Samuel, David, and Josiah -were able to do something for the raising up of the church, when God -again turned his face towards it; but a king cannot rob his people of -their religion, and still less can he give them one. It has often been -repeated that "the English Reformation derives its origin from the -monarch;" but the assertion is incorrect. The work of God, here as -elsewhere, cannot be put in comparison with the work of the king; and -if the latter was infinitely surpassed in importance, it was also -preceded in time by many years. The monarch was still keeping up a -vigorous resistance behind his intrenchments, when God had already -decided the victory along the whole line of operations. - -[Sidenote: TWO PARTIES IN THE CHURCH.] - -Shall we be told that a reform effected by any other principle than -the established authorities, both in _church_ and _state_, would have -been a revolution? But has God, the lawful sovereign of the church, -forbidden all revolution in a sinful world? A _revolution_ is not a -revolt. The fall of the first man was a great revolution: the -restoration of man by Jesus Christ was a counter-revolution. The -corruption occasioned by popery was allied to the fall: the -reformation accomplished in the sixteenth century was connected -therefore with the restoration. There will no doubt be other -interventions of the Deity, which will be revolutions in the same -direction as the Reformation. When God creates a new heaven and a new -earth, will not that be one of the most glorious of revolutions? The -Reformation by the word alone gives truth, alone gives unity; but more -than that, it alone bears the marks of true _legitimacy_; for the -church belongs not unto men, even though they be priests. God alone is -its lawful sovereign. - -And yet the human elements which we have enumerated were not wholly -foreign to the work that was accomplishing in England. Besides the -word of God, other principles were in operation, and although less -radical and less primitive, they still retain the sympathy of eminent -men of that nation. - -And in the first place, the intervention of the king's authority was -necessary to a certain point. Since the supremacy of Rome had been -established in England by several usages which had the force of law, -the intervention of the temporal power was necessary to break the -bonds which it had previously sanctioned. But it was requisite for the -monarchy, while adopting a negative and political action, to leave the -positive, doctrinal, and creative action to the word of God. - -Besides the Reformation _in the name of the Scriptures_, there was -then in England another _in the name of the king_. The word of God -began, the kingly power followed; and ever since, these two forces -have sometimes gone together against the authority of the Roman -pontiffs--sometimes in opposition to each other, like those troops -which march side by side in the same army, against the same enemy, and -which have occasionally been seen, even on the field of battle, to -turn their swords against each other. - -Finally, the episcopate, which had begun by opposing the Reformation, -was compelled to accept it in despite of its convictions. The majority -of the bishops were opposed to it; but the better portion were found -to incline, some to the side of outward reform, of which separation -from the papacy was the very essence, and others to the side of -internal reform, whose mainspring was union with Jesus Christ. Lastly, -the episcopate took up its ground on its own account, and soon two -great parties alone existed in England: the scriptural party and the -clerical party. - -[Sidenote: POLITICAL EVENTS.] - -These two parties have survived even to our days, and their colours -are still distinguishable in the river of the church, like the muddy -Arve and the limpid Rhone after their confluence. The royal supremacy, -from which many Christians, preferring the paths of independence, have -withdrawn since the end of the 16th century, is recognised by both -parties in the establishment, with some few exceptions. But whilst -the High Church is essentially hierarchical, the Low Church is -essentially biblical. In the one, the Church is above and the word -below; in the other, the Church is below and the Word above. These two -principles, evangelism and hierarchism, are found in the Christianity -of the first centuries, but with a signal difference. Hierarchism then -almost entirely effaced evangelism; in the age of protestantism, on -the contrary, evangelism continued to exist by the side of -hierarchism, and it has remained _de jure_, if not always _de facto_, -the only legitimate opinion of the church. - -Thus there is in England a complication of influences and contests, -which render the Work more difficult to describe; but it is on that -very account more worthy the attention of the philosopher and the -Christian. - - * * * * * - -Great events had just occurred in Europe. Francis I had crossed the -Alps, gained a signal victory at Marignano, and conquered the north of -Italy. The affrighted Maximilian knew of none who could save him but -Henry VIII. "I will adopt you; you shall be my successor in the -empire," he intimated to him in May 1516. "Your army shall invade -France; and then we will march together to Rome, where the sovereign -pontiff shall crown you king of the Romans." The king of France, -anxious to effect a diversion, had formed a league with Denmark and -Scotland, and had made preparations for invading England to place on -the throne the "white rose,"--the pretender Pole, heir to the claims -of the house of York.[270] Henry now showed his prudence; he declined -Maximilian's offer, and turned his whole attention to the security of -his kingdom. But while he refused to bear arms in France and Italy, a -war of quite another kind broke out in England. - - [270] A private combination, etc. Strype's Memorials, i. part ii. p. - 16. - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -The great work of the 16th century was about to begin. A volume fresh -from the presses of Basle had just crossed the Channel. Being -transmitted to London, Oxford, and Cambridge, this book, the fruit of -Erasmus's vigils, soon found its way wherever there were friends of -learning. It was the _New Testament_ of our Lord Jesus Christ, -published for the first time in Greek with a new Latin translation--an -event more important for the world than would have been the landing of -the pretender in England, or the appearance of the chief of the Tudors -in Italy. This book, in which God has deposited for man's salvation -the seeds of life, was about to effect alone, without patrons and -without interpreters, the most astonishing revolution in Britain. - -When Erasmus published this work, at the dawn, so to say, of modern -times, he did not see all its scope. Had he foreseen it, he would -perhaps have recoiled in alarm. He saw indeed that there was a great -work to be done, but he believed that all good men would unite to do -it with common accord. "A spiritual temple must be raised in desolated -Christendom," said he. "The mighty of this world will contribute -towards it their marble, their ivory, and their gold; I who am poor -and humble offer the foundation stone," and he laid down before the -world his edition of the Greek Testament. Then glancing disdainfully -at the traditions of men, he said: "It is not from human reservoirs, -fetid with stagnant waters, that we should draw the doctrine of -salvation; but from the pure and abundant streams that flow from the -heart of God." And when some of his suspicious friends spoke to him of -the difficulties of the times, he replied: "If the ship of the church -is to be saved from being swallowed up by the tempest, there is only -one anchor that can save it: it is the heavenly word, which, issuing -from the bosom of the Father, lives, speaks, and works still in the -Gospel."[271] These noble sentiments served as an introduction to -those blessed pages which were to reform England. Erasmus, like -Caiaphas, prophesied without being aware of it. - - [271] In evangelicis litteris, sermo ille coelestis, quondam e corde - Patris ad nos profectus. (Erasm. Leoni, Ep. p. 1843) That heavenly - word in the Gospel, formerly sent to us from the bosom of the Father. - -[Sidenote: DEMAND OF ERASMUS.] - -The New Testament in Greek and Latin had hardly appeared when it was -received by all men of upright mind with unprecedented enthusiasm. -Never had any book produced such a sensation. It was in every hand: -men struggled to procure it, read it eagerly, and would even kiss -it.[272] The words it contained enlightened every heart. But a -reaction soon took place. Traditional catholicism uttered a cry from -the depths of its noisome pools, (to use Erasmus's figure). -Franciscans and Dominicans, priests and bishops, not daring to attack -the educated and well-born, went among the ignorant populace, and -endeavoured by their tales and clamours to stir up susceptible women -and credulous men. "Here are horrible heresies," they exclaimed, "here -are frightful antichrists! If this book be tolerated it will be the -death of the papacy!"--"We must drive this man from the university," -said one. "We must turn him out of the church," added another. "The -public places re-echoed with their howlings," said Erasmus.[273] The -firebrands tossed by their furious hands were raising fires in every -quarter; and the flames kindled in a few obscure convents threatened -to spread over the whole country. - - [272] Opus avidissime rapitur ...... amatur, manibus teritur (Er. Ep. - 557.) The work is most eagerly seized.... it is embraced, it is - clasped in the hands. - - [273] Oblatrabant sycophantae. (Erasm. Ep. p. 329.) The slanderers - howled. - -This irritation was not without a cause. The book, indeed, contained -nothing but Latin and Greek; but this first step seemed to augur -another--the translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue. Erasmus -loudly called for it.[274] "Perhaps it may be necessary to conceal the -secrets of kings," he remarked, "but we must publish the mysteries of -Christ. The Holy Scriptures, translated into all languages, should be -read not only by the Scotch and Irish, but even by Turks and Saracens. -The husbandman should sing them as he holds the handle of his plough, -the weaver repeat them as he plies his shuttle, and the wearied -traveller, halting on his journey, refresh him under some shady tree -by these godly narratives." These words prefigured a golden age after -the iron age of popery. A number of Christian families in Britain and -on the continent were soon to realize these evangelical forebodings, -and England after three centuries was to endeavour to carry them out -for the benefit of all the nations on the face of the earth. - - [274] Paraclesis ad lectorem pium. Consolation to the pious reader. - -The priests saw the danger, and by a skilful manoeuvre, instead of -finding fault with the Greek Testament, attacked the translation and -the translator. "He has corrected the Vulgate," they said, "and puts -himself in the place of Saint Jerome. He sets aside a work authorized -by the consent of ages and inspired by the Holy Ghost. What audacity!" -And then, turning over the pages, they pointed out the most odious -passages: "Look here! this book calls upon men to _repent_, instead of -requiring them, as the Vulgate does, _to do penance_!" (Matt. iv. 17.) -The priests thundered against him from their pulpits:[275] "This man -has committed the unpardonable sin," they asserted; "for he maintains -that there is nothing in common between the Holy Ghost and the -monks--that they are logs rather than men!" These simple remarks were -received with a general laugh; but the priests, in no wise -disconcerted, cried out all the louder: "He's a heretic, an -heresiarch, a forger! he's a goose[276] ... what do I say? he's a very -antichrist!" - - [275] Quam stolide debacchati sunt quidam e suggestis ad populum. - (Erasm. Ep. p. 1193.) How stupidly some of them raved to the people - out of their pulpits. - - [276] Nos clamitans esse grues (_cranes_) et bestias. (Ibid. p. 914.) - Calling out that we are cranes and brutes. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIEST'S ATTACK AT COURT.] - -It was not sufficient for the papal janissaries to make war in the -plain, they must carry it to the higher ground. Was not the king a -friend of Erasmus? If he should declare himself a patron of the Greek -and Latin Testament, what an awful calamity!... After having agitated -the cloisters, towns, and universities, they resolved to protest -against it boldly, even in Henry's presence. They thought: "If he is -won, all is won." It happened one day that a certain theologian (whose -name is not given) having to preach in his turn before the king, he -declaimed violently against the _Greek_ language and its new -interpreters. Pace, the king's secretary, was present, and turning his -eyes on Henry, observed him smiling good humouredly.[277] On leaving -the church, every one began to exclaim against the preacher. "Bring -the priest to me," said the king; and then turning to More, he added: -"You shall defend the Greek cause against him, and I will listen to -the disputation." The literary tribunal was soon formed, but the -sovereign's order had taken away all the priest's courage. He came -forward trembling, fell on his knees, and with clasped hands -exclaimed: "I know not what spirit impelled me." "A spirit of -madness," said the king, "and not the spirit of Jesus Christ."[278] He -then added: "Have you ever read Erasmus?" "No, Sire." "Away with you -then, you are a blockhead." "And yet," said the preacher in confusion, -"I remember to have read something about _Moria_," (Erasmus's treatise -on _Folly_).--"A subject, your majesty, that ought to be very familiar -to him," wickedly interrupted Pace. The _obscurant_ could say nothing -in his justification. "I am not altogether opposed to the Greek," he -added at last, "seeing that it is derived from the Hebrew."[279] This -was greeted with a general laugh, and the king impatiently ordered the -monk to leave the room, and never appear before him again. - - [277] Pacaeus in regem conjecit oculos.....Is mox Pacaeo suaviter - arrisit. Erasm. Ep. p. 914. - - [278] Tum rex: ut qui inquit, spiritus iste non erat Christi sed - stultitiae. Ibid. - - [279] Graecis, inquit, literis non perinde sum infensus, quod originem - habeant ex lingua hebraica. Ibid. p. 347. - -[Sidenote: LABOURS OF ERASMUS.] - -Erasmus was astonished at these discussions. He had imagined the -season to be most favourable. "Every thing looks peaceful," he had -said to himself; "now is the time to launch my Greek Testament into -the learned world."[280] As well might the sun rise upon the earth, -and no one see it! At that very hour God was raising up a monk at -Wittemberg who would lift the trumpet to his lips, and proclaim the -new day. "Wretch that I am!" exclaimed the timid scholar, beating his -breast, "who could have forseen this horrible tempest!"[281] - - [280] Erant tempora tranquilla. (Erasm. Ep. 911.) The times were - tranquil. - - [281] Quis enim suspicaturus erat hanc fatalem tempestatem exorituram - in orbe? Erasm. Ep. 911. - -Nothing was more important at the dawn of the Reformation than the -publication of the Testament of Jesus Christ in the original language. -Never had Erasmus worked so carefully. "If I told what sweat it cost -me, no one would believe me."[282] He had collated many Greek MSS. of -the New Testament,[283] and was surrounded by all the commentaries and -translations, by the writings of Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, Basil, -Chrysostom, Cyril, Jerome, and Augustine. _Hic sum in campo meo!_ he -exclaimed as he sat in the midst of his books. He had investigated the -texts according to the principles of sacred criticism. When a -knowledge of Hebrew was necessary, he had consulted Capito and more -particularly OEcolampadius. _Nothing without Theseus_, said he of the -latter, making use of a Greek proverb. He had corrected the -amphibologies, obscurities, hebraisms, and barbarisms of the Vulgate; -and had caused a list to be printed of the errors in that version. - - [282] Quantis mihi constiterit sudoribus. Ibid. 329. - - [283] Collatis multis Graecorum exemplaribus. Ibid. - -"We must restore the pure text of the word of God," he had said; and -when he heard the maledictions of the priests, he had exclaimed: "I -call God to witness I thought I was doing a work acceptable to the -Lord and necessary to the cause of Christ."[284] Nor in this was he -deceived. - - [284] Deum testor simpliciter existimabam me rem facere Deo gratam ac - rei christianae necessariam. Ibid. 911. - -[Sidenote: EDWARD LEE.] - -At the head of his adversaries was Edward Lee, successively king's -almoner, archdeacon of Colchester, and archbishop of York. Lee, at -that time but little known, was a man of talent and activity, but also -vain and loquacious, and determined to make his way at any cost. Even -when a school-boy he looked down on all his companions.[285] As child, -youth, man, and in mature years, he was always the same, Erasmus tells -us;[286] that is to say, vain, envious, jealous, boasting, passionate, -and revengeful. We must bear in mind, however, that when Erasmus -describes the character of his opponents, he is far from being an -impartial judge. In the bosom of Roman-catholicism, there have always -existed well-meaning, though ill-informed men, who, not knowing the -interior power of the word of God, have thought that if its authority -were substituted for that of the Romish church, the only foundation of -truth and of Christian society would be shaken. Yet while we judge -Lee less severely than Erasmus does, we cannot close our eyes to his -faults. His memory was richly furnished, but his heart was a stranger -to divine truth: he was a schoolman and not a believer. He wanted the -people to obey the church and not trouble themselves about the -Scriptures. He was the Doctor Eck of England, but with more of outward -appearance and morality than Luther's adversary. Yet he was by no -means a rigid moralist. On one occasion, when preaching at the palace, -he introduced ballads into his sermon, one of which began thus:-- - - "Pass time with good company." - -And the other:-- - - "I love unloved." - - [285] Solus haberi in pretio volebat. (Ibid. 593) He wished that - himself alone should be esteemed. - - [286] Talis erat puer, talis adolescens, talis juvenis, talis nunc - etiam vir est. Ibid. 594. - -We are indebted to Secretary Pace for this characteristic trait.[287] - - [287] State Papers, Henry VIII. etc. i. p. 10, pub. 1830. - -During the sojourn of Erasmus in England, Lee, observing his -influence, had sought his friendship, and Erasmus, with his usual -courtesy, had solicited his advice upon his work. But Lee, jealous of -his great reputation, only waited for an opportunity to injure it, -which he seized upon as soon as it occurred. The New Testament had not -been long published, when Lee turned round abruptly, and from being -Erasmus's friend became his implacable adversary.[288] "If we do not -stop this leak," said he, when he heard of the New Testament, "it will -sink the ship." Nothing terrifies the defenders of human traditions so -much as the word of God. - - [288] Subito factus est inimicus. (Erasm. Ep. 746.) Suddenly he became - unfriendly. - -[Sidenote: LEE'S MANIFESTO.] - -Lee immediately leagued himself with all those in England who abhorred -the study of Scripture, says Erasmus. Although exceedingly conceited, -he showed himself the most amiable of men, in order to accomplish his -designs. He invited Englishmen to his house, welcomed strangers, and -gained many recruits by the excellence of his dinners.[289] While -seated at table among his guests, he hinted perfidious charges against -Erasmus, and his company left him "loaded with lies."[290]--"In this -New Testament," said he, "there are three hundred dangerous, frightful -passages ... three hundred did I say? ... there are more than a -thousand!" Not satisfied with using his tongue, Lee wrote scores of -letters, and employed several secretaries. Was there any convent in -the odour of sanctity, he "forwarded to it instantly wine, choice -viands, and other presents." To each one he assigned his part, and -over all England they were rehearsing what Erasmus calls _Lee's -tragedy_.[291] In this manner they were preparing the catastrophe: a -prison for Erasmus, the fire for the Holy Scriptures. - - [289] Excipiebat advenas, praesertim Anglos, eos conviviis faciebat - suos. (Ibid. 593.) He received strangers, especially Englishmen, and - attached them to himself by his banquets. - - [290] Abeuntes omni mendaciorum genere dimittebat onustos. (Ibid.) He - sent them away loaded with every kind of lies. - - [291] Donee Leus ordiretur suam _tragaediam_. (Erasm. Ep. 913.) Until - Lee should begin his tragedy. - -When all was arranged, Lee issued his manifesto. Although a poor Greek -scholar,[292] he drew up some _Annotations_ on Erasmus's book, which -the latter called "mere abuse and blasphemy;" but which the members of -the league regarded as _oracles_. They passed them secretly from hand -to hand, and these obscure sheets, by many indirect channels, found -their way into every part of England, and met with numerous -readers.[293] There was to be no publication--such was the watchword; -Lee was too much afraid. "Why did you not publish your work," asked -Erasmus, with cutting irony. "Who knows whether the holy father, -appointing you the Aristarchus of letters, might not have sent you a -birch to keep the whole world in order!"[294] - - [292] Simon, Hist. crit. du. N. Test. p. 246. - - [293] Liber volitat inter manus conjuratorum. (Erasm. Ep. p. 746.) The - book flitted to and fro among the hands of the conspirators. - - [294] Tibi tradita virgula totius orbis censuram fuerit mandaturus. - Ibid. p. 742. - -The _Annotations_ having triumphed in the convents, the _conspiracy_ -took a new flight. In every place of public resort, at fairs and -markets, at the dinner-table and in the council-chamber, in shops, and -taverns, and houses of ill-fame, in churches and in the universities, -in cottages and in palaces, the league blattered against Erasmus and -the Greek Testament.[295] Carmelites, Dominicans, and Sophists, -invoked heaven and conjured hell. What need was there of Scripture? -Had they not the apostolical succession of the clergy? No hostile -landing in England could, in their eyes, be more fatal than that of -the New Testament. The whole nation must rise to repel this impudent -invasion. There is, perhaps, no country in Europe, where the -Reformation was received by so unexpected a storm. - - [295] Ut nusquam non blaterent in Erasmum, in compotationibus, in - foris, in conciliabulis, in pharmacopoliis, in curribus, in - tonstrinis, in fornicibus......Ibid. p. 746. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Effects of the New Testament in the - Universities--Conversations--A Cambridge Fellow--Bilney buys - the New Testament--The first Passage--His - Conversion--Protestantism, the Fruit of the Gospel--The Vale - of the Severn--William Tyndale--Evangelization at - Oxford--Bilney teaches at Cambridge--Fryth--Is Conversion - Possible?--True Consecration--The Reformation has begun. - - -[Sidenote: THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE UNIVERSITIES.] - -While this rude blast was rushing over England, and roaring in the -long galleries of its convents, the still small voice of the Word was -making its way into the peaceful homes of praying men and the ancient -halls of Oxford and Cambridge. In private chambers, in the -lecture-rooms and refectories, students, and even masters of arts, -were to be seen reading the Greek and Latin Testament. Animated groups -were discussing the principles of the Reformation. When Christ came on -earth (said some) He gave the word, and when He ascended up into -heaven He gave the Holy Spirit. These are the two forces which created -the church--and these are the forces that must regenerate it.--No -(replied the partizans of Rome), it was the teaching of the apostles -at first, and it is the teaching of the priests now.--The apostles -(rejoined the friends of the Testament of Erasmus)--yes, it is -true--the apostles were during their ministry a living Scripture; but -their oral teaching would infallibly have been altered by passing from -mouth to mouth. God willed, therefore, that these precious lessons -should be preserved to us in their writings, and thus become the -ever-undefiled source of truth and salvation. To set the Scriptures in -the foremost place, as your pretended reformers are doing (replied the -schoolmen of Oxford and Cambridge); is to propagate heresy! And what -are the reformers doing (asked their apologists) except what Christ -did before them? The sayings of the prophets existed in the time of -Jesus only as _Scripture_, and it was to this written Word that our -Lord appealed when he founded his kingdom.[296] And now in like manner -the teaching of the apostles exists only as Scripture, and it is to -this written word that we appeal in order to re-establish the kingdom -of our Lord in its primitive condition. The night is far spent, the -day is at hand; all is in motion--in the lofty halls of our colleges, -in the mansions of the rich and noble, and in the lowly dwellings of -the poor. If we want to scatter the darkness, must we light the -shrivelled wick of some old lamp? Ought we not rather to open the -doors and shutters and admit freely into the house the great light -which God has placed in the heavens? - - [296] Matth. xxii. 29; xxvi. 24, 54; Mark, xiv. 49; Luke, xviii. 31; - xxiv. 27, 44, 45; John, v. 39, 46; x. 35; xvii. 12, etc. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS BILNEY.] - -There was in Trinity Hall, Cambridge, a young doctor much given to the -study of the canon law, of serious turn of mind and bashful -disposition, and whose tender conscience strove, although -ineffectually, to fulfil the commandments of God. Anxious about his -salvation, Thomas Bilney applied to the priests, whom he looked upon -as physicians of the soul. Kneeling before his confessor, with humble -look and pale face, he told him all his sins, and even those of which -he doubted.[297] The priest prescribed at one time fasting, at another -prolonged vigils, and then masses and indulgences which cost him -dearly.[298] The poor doctor went through all these practices with -great devotion, but found no consolation in them. Being weak and -slender, his body wasted away by degrees;[299] his understanding grew -weaker, his imagination faded, and his purse became empty. "Alas!" -said he with anguish, "my last state is worse than the first." From -time to time an idea crossed his mind: "May not the priests be seeking -their own interest, and not the salvation of my soul."[300] But -immediately rejecting the rash doubt, he fell back under the iron hand -of the clergy. - - [297] In ignaros medicos, indoctos confessionum auditores. (Th. - Bilnaeus Tonstallo Episcopo; Foxe, iv. p. 633.) To ignorant physicians, - unlearned confessors. - - [298] Indicebant enim mihi jejunia, vigilias, indulgentiarum et - missarum emptiones. Ibid. - - [299] Ut parum mihi virium (alioqui natura imbecilli) reliquum fuerit. - (Ibid.) So that being naturally weak at any rate, too little strength - was left to me. - - [300] Sua potius quaerebant quam salutem animae meae languentis. (Ibid.) - They were seeking their own interest, rather than the salvation of my - fainting soul. - -[Sidenote: BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION.] - -One day Bilney heard his friends talking about a new book: it was the -Greek Testament printed with a translation which was highly praised -for its elegant Latinity.[301] Attracted by the beauty of the style -rather than by the divinity of the subject,[302] he stretched out his -hand; but just as he was going to take the volume, fear came upon him -and he withdrew it hastily. In fact the confessors strictly prohibited -Greek and Hebrew books, "the sources of all heresies;" and Erasmus's -Testament was particularly forbidden. Yet Bilney regretted so great a -sacrifice; was it not the Testament of Jesus Christ? Might not God -have placed therein some word which perhaps might heal his soul? He -stepped forward, and then again shrank back.... At last he took -courage. Urged, said he, by the hand of God, he walked out of the -college, slipped into the house where the volume was sold in secret, -bought it with fear and trembling, and then hastened back and shut -himself up in his room.[303] - - [301] Cum ab eo latinius redditum accepi. Ibid. - - [302] Latinitate potius quam verbo Dei, allectus. Ibid. - - [303] Emebam providentia (sine dubio) divina. (Foxe, iv. p. 633.) I - bought it doubtless, under the guidance of divine providence. - -He opened it--his eyes caught these words: _This is a faithful saying, -and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world -to save sinners; of whom I am chief_.[304] He laid down the book, and -meditated on the astonishing declaration. "What! St. Paul the chief of -sinners, and yet St. Paul is sure of being saved!" He read the verse -again and again. "O assertion of St. Paul, how sweet art thou to my -soul!" he exclaimed.[305] This declaration continually haunted him, -and in this manner God instructed him in the secret of his heart.[306] -He could not tell what had happened to him;[307] it seemed as if a -refreshing wind were blowing over his soul, or as if a rich treasure -had been placed in his hands. The Holy Spirit took what was Christ's, -and announced it to him. "I also am like Paul," exclaimed he with -emotion, "and more than Paul, the greatest of sinners!... But Christ -saves sinners. At last I have heard of Jesus."[308] - - [304] 1 Tim. i, 15. - - [305] O mihi suavissimam Pauli sententiam! Foxe, iv, p. 633. - - [306] Hac una sententia, Deo intus in corde meo docente. (Ibid.) By - this one sentence, God teaching inwardly in my heart. - - [307] Quod tunc fieri ignorabam. (Ibid.) Because then I knew not what - was being done. - - [308] Tandem de Jesu audiebam. Ibid. - -His doubts were ended--he was saved. Then took place in him a -wonderful transformation. An unknown joy pervaded him;[309] his -conscience until then sore with the wounds of sin was healed;[310] -instead of despair he felt an inward peace passing all understanding.[311] -"Jesus Christ," exclaimed he, "Yes, Jesus Christ saves!"... Such is -the character of the Reformation: it is Jesus Christ who saves and not -the church. "I see it all," said Bilney; "my vigils, my fasts, my -pilgrimages, my purchase of masses and indulgences, were destroying -instead of saving me.[312] All these efforts were, as St. Augustine -says, a hasty running out of the right way."[313] - - [309] Sic exhilaravit pectus meum. Ibid. - - [310] Peccatorum conscientia saucium ac pene desperabundum. Ibid. - - [311] Nescio quantam intus tranquillitatem sentire. Ibid. - - [312] Didici omnes meos conatus, etc. Ibid. - - [313] Quod ait Augustinus, celerem cursum extra viam. Ibid. - -Bilney never grew tired of reading his New Testament. He no longer -lent an attentive ear to the teaching of the schoolmen; he heard Jesus -at Capernaum, Peter in the temple, Paul on Mars' hill, and felt within -himself that Christ possesses the words of eternal life. A witness to -Jesus Christ had just been born by the same power which had -transformed Paul, Apollos, and Timothy. The Reformation of England was -beginning. Bilney was united to the Son of God, not by a remote -succession, but by an immediate generation. Leaving to the disciples -of the pope the entangled chain of their imaginary succession, whose -links it is impossible to disengage, he attached himself closely to -Christ. The word of the first century gave birth to the sixteenth. -Protestantism does not descend from the Gospel in the fiftieth -generation like the Romish church of the Council of Trent, or in the -sixtieth like some modern doctors: it is the direct legitimate -son--the son of the master. - -[Sidenote: THE VALE OF THE SEVERN.] - -God's action was not limited to one spot. The first rays of the sun -from on high gilded with their fires at once the gothic colleges of -Oxford and the antique schools of Cambridge. - -Along the banks of the Severn extends a picturesque country, bounded -by the forest of Dean, and sprinkled with villages, steeples, and -ancient castles. In the sixteenth century it was particularly admired -by priests and friars, and a familiar oath among them was: "As sure as -God's in Glo'ster!" The papal birds of prey had swooped upon it. For -fifty years, from 1484 to 1534, four Italian bishops, placed in -succession over the diocese, had surrendered it to the pope, to the -monks, and to immorality. Thieves in particular were the objects of -the tenderest favours of the hierarchy. John de Giglis, collector of -the apostolical chamber, had received from the sovereign pontiff -authority to pardon murder and theft, on condition that the criminal -shared his profits with the pontifical commissioners.[314] - - [314] Annals of the English Bible, i. p. 12. - -[Sidenote: EVANGELIZATION AT OXFORD.] - -In this valley, at the foot of Stinchcomb hill, to the south-west of -Gloucester, there dwelt, during the latter half of the fifteenth -century, a family which had taken refuge there during the wars of the -Roses, and assumed the name of Hutchins. In the reign of Henry VII, -the Lancasterian party having the upper hand, they resumed their name -of Tyndale, which had been borne of yore by many noble barons.[315] In -1484, about a year after the birth of Luther, and about the time that -Zwingle first saw light in the mountains of the Tockenburg, these -partisans of the _red rose_ were blessed with a son, whom they called -William. His youth was passed in the fields surrounding his native -village of North Nibley, beneath the shadows of Berkeley Castle, or -beside the rapid waters of the Severn, and in the midst of friars and -pontifical collectors. He was sent very early to Oxford,[316] where -he learnt grammar and philosophy in the school of St. Mary Magdalene, -adjoining the college of that name. He made rapid progress, -particularly in languages, under the first classical scholars in -England--Grocyn, W. Latimer, and Linacre--and took his degrees.[317] A -more excellent master than these doctors--the Holy Spirit speaking in -Scripture--was soon to teach him a science which it is not in the -power of man to impart. - - [315] Bigland's Glo'ster, p. 293. Annals of the English Bible, i. p. - 19. - - [316] From a child. Foxe, Acts and Mon. v. p. 115. - - [317] Proceeding in degrees of the schools. Ibid. - -Oxford, where Erasmus had so many friends, was the city in which his -New Testament met with the warmest welcome. The young Gloucestershire -student, inwardly impelled towards the study of sacred literature, -read the celebrated book which was then attracting the attention of -Christendom. At first he regarded it only as a work of learning, or at -most as a manual of piety, whose beauties were calculated to excite -religious feelings; but erelong he found it to be something more. The -more he read it, the more was he struck by the truth and energy of the -word. The strange book spoke to him of God, of Christ, and of -regeneration, with a simplicity and authority which completely subdued -him. William had found a master whom he had not sought at Oxford--this -was God himself. The pages he held in his hand were the divine -revelation so long mislaid. Possessing a noble soul, a bold spirit, -and indefatigable activity, he did not keep this treasure to himself. -He uttered that cry, more suited to a Christian than to Archimedes: -eureka, _I have found it_. It was not long before several of -the younger members of the university, attracted by the purity of his -life and the charms of his conversation,[318] gathered round him, and -read with him the Greek and Latin gospels of Erasmus.[319] "A certain -well-informed young man," wrote Erasmus in a letter wherein he speaks -of the publication of his New Testament, "began to lecture with -success on Greek literature at Oxford."[320] He was probably speaking -of Tyndale. - - [318] His manners and conversation being correspondent to the - Scriptures. Ibid. - - [319] Read privily to certain students and fellows, instructing them - in the knowledge and truth of the Scriptures. Ibid. - - [320] Oxoniae cum juvenis quidam non vulgariter doctus. (Erasm. Ep. p. - 346.) A certain youth at Oxford of uncommon learning. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY TEACHES AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -The monks took the alarm. "_A barbarian_," continues Erasmus, "entered -the pulpit and violently abused the Greek language."--"These folk," -said Tyndale, "wished to extinguish the light which exposed their -trickery, and they have been laying their plans these dozen -years."[321] This observation was made in 1531, and refers therefore -to the proceedings of 1517. Germany and England were beginning the -struggle at nearly the same time, and Oxford perhaps before -Wittemberg. Tyndale, bearing in mind the injunction: "When they -persecute you in one city, flee ye into another," left Oxford and -proceeded to Cambridge. It must needs be that souls whom God has -brought to his knowledge should meet and enlighten one another: live -coals, when separated, go out; when gathered together, they brighten -up, so as even to purify silver and gold. The Romish hierarchy, not -knowing what they did, were collecting the scattered brands of the -Reformation. - - [321] Which they have been in brewing as I hear this dozen years. - Tyndale's Expositions (Park. Soc.) p. 225 - -Bilney was not inactive at Cambridge. Not long had the "sublime lesson -of Jesus Christ" filled him with joy, before he fell on his knees and -exclaimed: "O Thou who art the truth, give me strength that I may -teach it; and convert the ungodly by means of one who has been ungodly -himself."[322] After this prayer his eyes gleamed with new fire; he -had assembled his friends, and opening Erasmus's Testament, had placed -his finger on the words that had reached his soul, and these words had -touched many. The arrival of Tyndale gave him fresh courage, and the -light burnt brighter in Cambridge. - - [322] Ut impii ad ipsum per me olim impium converterentur. (Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 633.) That the ungodly may be converted to thyself - through me, once ungodly. - -John Fryth, a young man of eighteen, the son of an innkeeper of -Sevenoaks in Kent, was distinguished among the students of King's -College, by the promptitude of his understanding and the integrity of -his life. He was as deeply read in the mathematics as Tyndale in the -classics, and Bilney in canon law. Although of an exact turn of mind, -yet his soul was elevated, and he recognised in Holy Scripture a -learning of a new kind. "These things are not demonstrated like a -proposition of Euclid," he said; "mere study is sufficient to impress -the theories of mathematics on our minds; but this science of God -meets with a resistance in man that necessitates the intervention of a -divine power. Christianity is a regeneration." The heavenly seed soon -grew up in Fryth's heart.[323] - - [323] Through Tyndale's instructions he first received into his heart - the seed of the Gospel. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 4. - -These three young scholars set to work with enthusiasm. They declared -that neither priestly absolution nor any other religious rite could -give remission of sins; that the assurance of pardon is obtained by -faith alone; and that faith purifies the heart. Then they addressed to -all men that saying of Christ's at which the monks were so offended: -_Repent and be converted!_ - -[Sidenote: CHRIST COMETH.] - -Ideas so new produced a great clamour. A famous orator undertook one -day at Cambridge to show that it was useless to preach conversion to -the sinner. "Thou, who, for sixty years past," said he, "hast wallowed -in thy lusts, like a sow in her mire,[324] dost thou think that thou -canst in one year take as many steps towards heaven, and that in thine -age, as thou hast done towards hell?" Bilney left the church with -indignation. "Is that preaching repentance in the name of Jesus?" he -asked. "Does not this priest tell us: Christ will not save thee.[325] -Alas! for so many years that this deadly doctrine has been taught in -Christendom, not one man has dared open his mouth against it!" Many of -the Cambridge fellows were scandalized at Bilney's language: was not -the preacher whose teaching he condemned duly _ordained_ by the -bishop? He replied: "What would be the use of being a hundred times -consecrated, were it even by a thousand papal bulls, if the inward -calling is wanting?[326] To no purpose hath the bishop breathed on our -heads if we have never felt the breath of the Holy Ghost in our -hearts?" Thus, at the very beginning of the Reformation, England, -rejecting the Romish superstitions, discerned with extreme nicety what -constitutes the essence of consecration to the service of the Lord. - - [324] Even as a beast in his own dung. Bilnaeus Tonstallo episcopo; - Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 640. - - [325] He will not be thy Jesus or Saviour. Ibid. - - [326] Without this inward calling it helpeth nothing before God to be - a hundred times elect and consecrated. Ibid. p. 638. - -After pronouncing these noble words, Bilney, who longed for an -outpouring of the Holy Ghost, shut himself up in his room, fell on his -knees, and called upon God to come to the assistance of his church. -Then rising up, he exclaimed, as if animated by a prophetic spirit: "A -new time is beginning. The Christian assembly is about to be -renewed.... Some one is coming unto us, I see him, I hear him--it is -Jesus Christ.[327]... He is the king, and it is he who will call the -true ministers commissioned to evangelize his people." - - [327] If it be Christ, him that cometh unto us. Ibid. p. 637. - -Tyndale, full of the same hopes as Bilney, left Cambridge in the -course of the year 1519. - -Thus the English Reformation began independently of those of Luther -and Zwingle--deriving its origin from God alone. In every province of -Christendom there was a simultaneous action of the divine word. The -principle of the Reformation at Oxford, Cambridge, and London was the -_Greek New Testament_, published by Erasmus. England, in course of -time learnt to be proud of this origin of its Reformation. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Alarm of the Clergy--The Two Days--Thomas Man's - Preaching--True real Presence--Persecutions at - Coventry--Standish preaches at St. Paul's--His Petition to - the King and Queen--His Arguments and Defeat--Wolsey's - Ambition--First Overtures--Henry and Francis Candidates for - the Empire--Conference between Francis I and Sir T. - Boleyn--The Tiara promised to Wolsey--The Cardinal's - Intrigues with Charles and Francis. - - -[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE CLERGY.] - -This revival caused great alarm throughout the Roman hierarchy. -Content with the baptism they administered, they feared the baptism of -the Holy Ghost perfected by faith in the word of God. Some of the -clergy, who were full of zeal, but of zeal without knowledge, prepared -for the struggle, and the cries raised by the prelates were repeated -by all the inferior orders. - -The first blows did not fall on the members of the universities, but -on those humble Christians, the relics of Wickliffe's ministry, to -whom the reform movement among the learned had imparted a new life. -The awakening of the fourteenth century was about to be succeeded by -that of the sixteenth, and the last gleams of the closing day were -almost lost in the first rays of that which was commencing. The young -doctors of Oxford and Cambridge aroused the attention of the alarmed -hierarchy, and attracted their eyes to the humble Lollards, who here -and there still recalled the days of Wickliffe. - -[Sidenote: THE COVENTRY MARTYRS.] - -An artisan named Thomas Man, sometimes called Doctor Man, from his -knowledge of Holy Scripture, had been imprisoned for his faith in the -priory of Frideswide at Oxford (1511 A. D.) Tormented by the -remembrance of a recantation which had been extorted from him, he had -escaped from this monastery and fled into the eastern parts of -England, where he had preached the Word, supplying his daily wants by -the labour of his hands.[328] This "champion of God" afterwards drew -near the capital, and assisted by his wife, the new Priscilla of this -new Aquila, he proclaimed the doctrine of Christ to the crowd -collected around him in some "upper chamber" of London, or in some -lonely meadow watered by the Thames, or under the aged oaks of Windsor -Forest. He thought with Chrysostom of old, that "all priests are not -saints, but all saints are priests."[329] "He that receiveth the word -of God," said he, "receiveth God himself, that is the true _real -presence_. The vendors of masses are not the high-priests of this -mystery;[330] but the men whom God hath _anointed with his Spirit_ to -be kings and priests." From six to seven hundred persons were -converted by his preaching.[331] - - [328] Work thereby to sustain his poor life. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 209. - - [329] Chrysostom, 43 Homily on Matth. - - [330] He called them _pilled knaves_. Foxe. iv, p. 209. - - [331] Ibid. p. 211. - -The monks who dared not as yet attack the universities, resolved to -fall upon those preachers who made their temple on the banks of the -Thames, or in some remote corner of the city. Man was seized, -condemned, and burnt alive on the 29th March 1519. - -And this was not all. There lived at Coventry a little band of serious -Christians--four shoemakers, a glover, a hosier, and a widow named -Smith--who gave their children a pious education. The Franciscans were -annoyed that _laymen_, and even a _woman_, should dare meddle with -religious instruction. On Ash Wednesday (1519) Simon Morton, the -bishop's sumner, apprehended them all, men, women, and children. On -the following Friday, the parents were taken to the Abbey of -Mackstock, about six miles from Coventry, and the children to the Grey -Friar's convent. "Let us see what heresies you have been taught?" said -Friar Stafford to the intimidated little ones. The poor children -confessed they had been taught in English the Lord's prayer, the -apostles' creed, and the ten commandments. On hearing this, Stafford -told them angrily: "I forbid you, (unless you wish to be burnt as your -parents will be,) to have any thing to do with the _Pater_, the -_credo_, or the ten commandments _in English_." - -Five weeks after this, the men were condemned to be burnt alive, but -the judges had compassion on the widow, because of her young family -(for she was their only support,) and let her go. It was night: Morton -offered to see Dame Smith home; she took his arm, and they threaded -the dark and narrow streets of Coventry. "Eh, eh!" said the apparitor, -on a sudden, "what have we here?" He heard in fact the noise of paper -rubbing against something. "What have you got there?" he continued, -dropping her arm, and putting his hand up her sleeve, from which he -drew out a parchment. Approaching a window whence issued the faint -rays of a lamp, he examined the mysterious scroll, and found it to -contain the Lord's prayer, the apostles' creed, and the ten -commandments _in English_. "Oh, oh! sirrah!" said he; "come along. As -good now as another time!"[332] Then seizing the poor widow by the -arm, he dragged her before the bishop. Sentence of death was -immediately pronounced on her, and on the 4th of April, Dame Smith, -Robert Hatchets, Archer, Hawkins, Thomas Bond, Wrigsham, and -Landsdale, were burnt alive at Coventry in the Little Park, for the -crime of teaching their children the Lord's prayer, the apostles' -creed, and the commandments of God. - - [332] Ibid. p. 357. - -[Sidenote: STANDISH AT ST. PAUL'S.] - -But what availed it to silence these obscure lips, so long as the -Testament of Erasmus could speak? Lee's conspiracy must be revived. -Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, was a narrow-minded man, rather -fanatical, but probably sincere, of great courage, and not without -some degree of piety. This prelate, being determined to preach a -crusade against the New Testament, began at London, in St. Paul's -cathedral, before the mayor and corporation. "Away with these new -translations," he said, "or else the religion of Jesus Christ is -threatened with utter ruin."[333] But Standish was deficient in tact, -and instead of confining himself to general statements, like most of -his party, he endeavoured to show how far Erasmus had corrupted the -Gospel, and continued thus in a whining voice: "Must I who for so many -years have been a doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and who have always -read in my Bible: _In principio erat_ VERBUM,--must I now be obliged -to read: _In principio erat_ SERMO," for thus had Erasmus translated -the opening words of St. John's Gospel. _Risum teneatis_, whispered -one to another, when they heard this puerile charge: "My lord," -proceeded the bishop, turning to the mayor, "magistrates of the city, -and citizens all, fly to the succour of religion!" Standish continued -his pathetic appeals, but his oratory was all in vain; some stood -unmoved, others shrugged their shoulders, and others grew impatient. -The citizens of London seemed determined to support liberty and the -Bible. - - [333] Imminere christianae religionis [Greek word], nisi - novae translationes omnes subito de medio tollerentur. (Erasm. Ep. - p. 596.) That destruction threatened the Christian religion, - unless all new translations were at once taken away from amongst - them. - -[Sidenote: A DISCUSSION.] - -Standish, seeing the failure of his attack in the city, sighed and -groaned and prayed, and repeated mass against the so much dreaded -book. But he also made up his mind to do more. One day, during the -rejoicings at court for the betrothal of the Princess Mary, then two -years old, with a French prince who was just born, St. Asaph, absorbed -and absent in the midst of the gay crowd, meditated a bold step. -Suddenly he made his way through the crowd, and threw himself at the -feet of the king and queen. All were thunder-struck, and asked one -another what the old bishop could mean. "Great king," said he, "your -ancestors who have reigned over this island,--and yours, O great -queen, who have governed Aragon, were always distinguished by their -zeal for the church. Show yourselves worthy of your forefathers. Times -full of danger are come upon us,[334] a book has just appeared, and -been published too, by Erasmus! It is such a book that, if you close -not your kingdom against it, it is all over with the religion of -Christ among us." - - [334] Adesse tempora longe periculosissima. Erasm. Ep. p. 597. - -The bishop ceased, and a dead silence ensued. The devout Standish, -fearing lest Henry's well-known love of learning should be an obstacle -to his prayer, raised his eyes and his hands toward heaven, and -kneeling in the midst of the courtly assembly, exclaimed in a -sorrowful tone: "O Christ! O Son of God! save thy spouse! ... for no -man cometh to her help."[335] - - [335] Caepit obsecrare Christum dignaretur ipse suae sponsae opitulari. - (Ibid. p. 598.) He began to implore Christ, that he himself would - deign to succour his spouse. - -Having thus spoken, the prelate, whose courage was worthy of a better -cause, rose up and waited. Every one strove to guess at the king's -thoughts. Sir Thomas More was present, and he could not forsake his -friend Erasmus. "What are the heresies this book is likely to -engender?" he inquired. After the sublime came the ridiculous. With -the forefinger of his right hand, touching successively the fingers of -his left,[336] Standish replied: "First, this book destroys _the -resurrection_; secondly, it annuls the _sacrament of marriage_; -thirdly, it abolishes _the mass_." Then uplifting his thumb and two -fingers, he showed them to the assembly with a look of triumph. The -bigoted Catherine shuddered as she saw Standish's three -fingers,--signs of the three heresies of Erasmus; and Henry himself, -an admirer of Aquinas, was embarrassed. It was a critical moment: the -Greek Testament was on the point of being banished from England. "The -proof, the proof," exclaimed the friends of literature. "I will give -it," rejoined the impetuous Standish, and then once more touching his -left thumb: "Firstly," he said, ... But he brought forward such -foolish reasons, that even the women and the unlearned were ashamed of -them. The more he endeavoured to justify his assertions, the more -confused he became: he affirmed among other things that the Epistles -of St. Paul were written in _Hebrew_. "There is not a schoolboy that -does not know that Paul's epistles were written in _Greek_," said a -doctor of divinity kneeling before the king. Henry, blushing for the -bishop, turned the conversation, and Standish, ashamed at having made -a Greek write to the Greeks in Hebrew, would have withdrawn -unobserved. "The beetle must not attack the eagle,"[337] was whispered -in his ear. Thus did the book of God remain in England the standard of -a faithful band, who found in its pages the motto, which the church of -Rome had usurped: _The truth is in me alone_. - - [336] Et rem in digitos porrectos dispartiens. (Ibid.) And - distributing the charge on his outstretched fingers. - - [337] Scarabaeus ille qui maximo suo malo aquilam quaesivit. (Erasm. Ep. - p. 555.) That beetle who sought to do the worst he could to the eagle. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S AMBITION.] - -A more formidable adversary than Standish aspired to combat the -Reformation, not only in England, but in all the West. One of those -ambitious designs, which easily germinate in the human heart, -developed itself in the soul of the chief minister of Henry VIII; and -if this project succeeded, it promised to secure for ever the empire -of the papacy on the banks of the Thames, and perhaps in the whole of -Christendom. - -Wolsey, as chancellor and legate, governed both in state and in -church, and could, without an untruth, utter his famous _Ego et rex -meus_. Having reached so great a height, he desired to soar still -higher. The favourite of Henry VIII, almost his master, treated as a -brother by the emperor, by the king of France, and by other crowned -heads, invested with the title of Majesty, the peculiar property of -sovereigns,[338] the cardinal, sincere in his faith in the popedom, -aspired to fill the throne of the pontiffs, and thus become _Deus in -terris_. He thought, that if God permitted a Luther to appear in the -world, it was because he had a Wolsey to oppose to him. - - [338] Consultissima tua Majestas. Vestra sublimis et longe - reverendissima, Majestas, etc. Fiddes, Bodleian Papers, p. 178. - -It would be difficult to fix the precise moment when this immoderate -desire entered his mind: it was about the end of 1518 that it began to -show itself. The bishop of Ely, ambassador at the court of Francis I, -being in conference with that prince on the 18th of December in that -year, said to him mysteriously: "The cardinal has an idea in his mind -... on which he can unbosom himself to nobody ... except it be to your -majesty." Francis understood him. - -[Sidenote: AMBITION OF FRANCIS I.] - -An event occurred to facilitate the cardinal's plans. If Wolsey -desired to be the first priest, Henry desired to be the first king. -The imperial crown, vacant by the death of Maximilian, was sought by -two princes:--by Charles of Austria, a cold and calculating man, -caring little about the pleasures and even the pomp of power, but -forming great designs, and knowing how to pursue them with energy; and -by Francis I, a man of less penetrating glance and less indefatigable -activity, but more daring and impetuous. Henry VIII, inferior to both, -passionate, capricious, and selfish, thought himself strong enough to -contend with such puissant competitors, and secretly strove to win -"the monarchy of all Christendom."[339] Wolsey flattered himself that, -hidden under the cloak of his master's ambition, he might satisfy his -own. If he procured the crown of the Caesars for Henry, he might easily -obtain the tiara of the popes for himself; if he failed, the least -that could be done to compensate England for the loss of the empire, -would be to give the sovereignty of the church to her prime minister. - - [339] Cotton MSS. Brit. Mus. Calig. D. 7, p. 88. - -Henry first sounded the king of France. Sir Thomas Boleyn appeared one -day before Francis I just as the latter was returning from mass. The -king, desirous to anticipate a confidence that might be embarrassing, -took the ambassador aside to the window and whispered to him: "Some of -the electors have offered me the empire; I hope your master will be -favourable to me." Sir Thomas, in confusion, made some vague reply, -and the chivalrous king, following up his idea, took the ambassador -firmly by one hand, and laying the other on his breast,[340] -exclaimed: "By my faith, if I become emperor, in three years I shall -be in Constantinople, or I shall die on the road!" This was not what -Henry wanted; but dissembling his wishes, he took care to inform -Francis that he would support his candidature. Upon hearing this -Francis raised his hat and exclaimed: "I desire to see the king of -England; I will see him, I tell you, even if I go to London with only -one page and one lackey." - - [340] He took me hard by the wrist with one hand, and laid the other - upon his breast. Ibid. D. 8, p. 93. - -Francis was well aware that if he threatened the king's ambition, he -must flatter the minister's, and recollecting the hint given by the -bishop of Ely, he said one day to Boleyn: "It seems to me that my -brother of England and I could do, indeed ought to do ... something -for the cardinal. He was prepared by God for the good of Christendom -... one of the greatest men in the church ... and on the word of a -king, if he consents, I will do it." A few minutes after he continued: -"Write and tell the cardinal, that if he aspires to be the head of the -church, and if any thing should happen to the reigning pope, I will -promise him fourteen cardinals on my part.[341] Let us only act in -concert, your master and me, and I promise you, Mr. Ambassador, that -neither pope nor emperor shall be created in Europe without our -consent." - - [341] He will assure you full fourteen cardinals for him. Ibid. D. F. - p. 98. - -[Sidenote: THE CARDINAL'S PRACTICES.] - -But Henry did not act in concert with the king of France. At Wolsey's -instigation he supported three candidates at once: at Paris he was -for Francis I; at Madrid for Charles V; and at Frankfort for himself. -The kings of France and England failed, and on the 10th August, Pace, -Henry's envoy at Frankfort, having returned to England, desired to -console the king by mentioning the sums of money which Charles had -spent. "By the mass!"[342] exclaimed the king, congratulating himself -at not having obtained the crown at so dear a rate. Wolsey proposed to -sing a _Te Deum_ in St. Paul's, and bonfires were lighted in the city. - - [342] Bi the messe! State Papers, i. 9. - -The cardinal's rejoicings were not misplaced. Charles had scarcely -ascended the imperial throne, in despite of the king of France, when -these two princes swore eternal hatred of each other, and each was -anxious to win over Henry VIII. At one time Charles, under the -pretence of seeing his uncle and aunt, visited England; at another, -Francis had an interview with the king in the neighbourhood of Calais. -The cardinal shared in the flattering attentions of the two monarchs. -"It is easy for the king of Spain, who has become the head of the -empire, to raise whomsoever he pleases to the supreme pontificate," -said the young emperor to him; and at these words the ambitious -cardinal surrendered himself to Maximilian's successor. But erelong -Francis I flattered him in his turn, and Wolsey replied also to his -advances. The king of France gave Henry tournaments and banquets of -Asiatic luxury; and Wolsey, whose countenance yet bore the marks of -the graceful smile with which he had taken leave of Charles, smiled -also on Francis, and sang mass in his honour. He engaged the hand of -the Princess Mary to the dauphin of France and to Charles V, leaving -the care of unravelling the matter to futurity. Then proud of his -skilful practices he returned to London full of hope. By walking in -falsehood he hoped to attain the tiara: and if it was yet too far -above him, there were certain _gospellers_ in England who might serve -as a ladder to reach it. Murder might serve as the complement to -fraud. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Tyndale--Sodbury Hall--Sir John and Lady - Walsh--Table-Talk--The Holy Scriptures--The images--The - Anchor of Faith--A Roman Camp--Preaching of Faith and - Works--Tyndale accused by the Priests--They tear up what he - has planted--Tyndale resolves to translate the Bible--His - first triumph--The Priests in the taverns--Tyndale summoned - before the Chancellor of Worcester--Consoled by an aged - Doctor--Attacked by a schoolman--His Secret becomes - known--He leaves Sodbury Hall. - - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE.] - -Whilst this ambitious prelate was thinking of nothing but his own -glory and that of the Roman pontificate, a great desire, but of a very -different nature, was springing up in the heart of one of the humble -"gospellers" of England. If Wolsey had his eyes fixed on the throne of -the popedom in order to seat himself there, Tyndale thought of raising -up the true throne of the church by re-establishing the legitimate -sovereignty of the word of God. The Greek Testament of Erasmus had -been one step; and it now became necessary to place before the simple -what the king of the schools had given to the learned. This idea, -which pursued the young Oxford doctor everywhere, was to be the mighty -mainspring of the English Reformation. - -On the slope of Sodbury hill there stood a plain but large mansion -commanding an extensive view over the beautiful vale of the Severn -where Tyndale was born. It was inhabited by a family of gentle birth: -Sir John Walsh had shone in the tournaments of the court, and by this -means conciliated the favour of his prince. He kept open table; and -gentlemen, deans, abbots, archdeacons, doctors of divinity, and fat -rectors, charmed by Sir John's cordial welcome and by his good -dinners, were ever at his house. The former brother at arms of Henry -VIII felt an interest in the questions then discussing throughout -Christendom. Lady Walsh herself, a sensible and generous woman, lost -not a word of the animated conversation of her guests, and discreetly -tried to incline the balance to the side of truth.[343] - - [343] Lady Walsh, a stout and wise woman. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 115. - -[Sidenote: TABLE-TALK AT SODBURY.] - -Tyndale after leaving Oxford and Cambridge had returned to the home of -his fathers. Sir John had requested him to educate his children, and -he had accepted. William was then in the prime of life (he was about -thirty-six), well instructed in Scripture, and full of desire to show -forth the light which God had given him. Opportunities were not -wanting. Seated at table with all the doctors welcomed by Sir -John,[344] Tyndale entered into conversation with them. They talked of -the learned men of the day--of Erasmus much, and sometimes of Luther, -who was beginning to astonish England.[345] They discussed several -questions touching the holy Scriptures, and sundry points of theology. -Tyndale expressed his convictions with admirable clearness, supported -them with great learning, and kept his ground against all with -unbending courage. These animated conversations in the vale of the -Severn are one of the essential features of the picture presented by -the Reformation in this country. The historians of antiquity invented -the speeches which they have put into the mouths of their heroes. In -our times history, without inventing, should make us acquainted with -the sentiments of the persons of whom it treats. It is sufficient to -read Tyndale's works to form some idea of these conversations. It is -from his writings that the following discussion has been drawn. - - [344] Who were together with Master Tyndale sitting at the same table. - Foxe, Acts, v. p. 115. - - [345] Talk of learned men, as of Luther and Erasmus, etc. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.] - -In the dining-room of the old hall a varied group was assembled round -the hospitable table. There were Sir John and Lady Walsh, a few -gentlemen of the neighbourhood, with several abbots, deans, monks, and -doctors, in their respective costumes. Tyndale occupied the humblest -place, and generally kept Erasmus's New Testament within reach in -order to prove what he advanced.[346] Numerous domestics were moving -about engaged in waiting on the guests; and at length the -conversation, after wandering a little, took a more precise direction. -The priests grew impatient when they saw the terrible volume appear. -"Your Scriptures only serve to make heretics," they exclaimed. "On the -contrary," replied Tyndale, "the source of all heresies is _pride_; -now the word of God strips man of everything, and leaves him as bare -as Job."[347]--"_The word of God!_ why even _we_ don't understand your -word, how can the _vulgar_ understand it?"--"You do not understand -it," rejoined Tyndale, "because you look into it only for foolish -questions, as you would into _our Lady's Matins_, or _Merlin's -Prophecies_.[348] Now the Scriptures are a clue which we must follow, -without turning aside, until we arrive at Christ;[349] for Christ is -the end."--"And I tell you," shouted out a priest, "that the -Scriptures are a Daedalian labyrinth, rather than Ariadne's clue--a -conjuring book wherein everybody finds what he wants."--"Alas!" -replied Tyndale; "you read them without Jesus Christ; that's why they -are an obscure book to you. What do I say? a den of thorns where you -only escape from the briers to be caught by the brambles."[350] "No!" -exclaimed another clerk, heedless of contradicting his colleague, -"nothing is obscure to us; it is we who give the Scriptures, and we -who explain them to you."--"You would lose both your time and your -trouble," said Tyndale; "do you know who taught the eagles to find -their prey?[351] Well, that same God teaches his hungry children to -find their Father in his word. Far from having given us the -Scriptures, it is you who have hidden them from us; it is you who burn -those who teach them, and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures -themselves." - - [346] When they at any time did vary from Tyndale in opinions and - judgment, he would show them in the book. Ibid. - - [347] Tyndale, Expositions. (Park. Soc.) p. 140. - - [348] Tyndale, Expositions. (Park. Soc.) p. 141. - - [349] So along by the Scripture as by a line until thou come at - Christ. Tynd. Works, i. 354 (ed. Russell). - - [350] A grave of briers; If thou loose thyself in one place thou art - caught in another. Tyndale, Expositions, p. 5. - - [351] Ibid. Answer to More (Park. Soc.) p. 49. - -Tyndale was not satisfied with merely laying down the great principles -of faith: he alway sought after what he calls "the sweet marrow -within;" but to the divine unction he added no little humour, and -unmercifully ridiculed the superstitions of his adversaries. "You set -candles before images," he said to them; "and since you give them -_light_, why don't you give them _food_. Why don't you make their -bellies hollow, and put victuals and drink inside.[352] To serve God -by such mummeries is treating him like a spoilt child, whom you pacify -with a toy or with a horse made of a stick."[353] - - [352] Make a hollow belly in the image. Ibid. p. 81. - - [353] Make him a horse of a stick. Tyndale's Wks. (ed. Russell) ii. - 475. - -But the learned Christian soon returned to more serious thoughts; and -when his adversaries extolled the papacy as the power that would save -the church in the tempest, he replied: "Let us only take on board the -anchor of faith, after having dipped it in the blood of Christ,[354] -and when the storm bursts upon us, let us boldly cast the anchor into -the sea; then you may be sure the ship will remain safe on the great -waters." And, in fine, if his opponents rejected any doctrine of the -truth, Tyndale (says the chronicler) opening his Testament would set -his finger on the verse which refuted the Romish error, and exclaim: -"Look and read."[355] - - [354] Ibid. Expositions, (Park. Soc.) p. 15. - - [355] And lay plainly before them the open and manifest places of the - Scriptures, to confute their errors and confirm his sayings. Foxe, - Acts, v. p. 115. - -[Sidenote: SERMONS AT ST. ADELINE'S.] - -The beginnings of the English Reformation are not to be found, as we -have seen, in a material ecclesiasticism, which has been decorated -with the name of _English Catholicism:_ they are essentially -spiritual. The Divine Word, the creator of the new life in the -individual, is also the founder and reformer of the church. The -reformed churches, and particularly the reformed churches of Great -Britain, belong to evangelism. - -The contemplation of God's works refreshed Tyndale after the -discussions he had to maintain at his patron's table. He would often -ramble to the top of Sodbury hill, and there repose amidst the ruins -of an ancient Roman camp which crowned the summit. It was here that -Queen Margaret of Anjou halted; and here too rested Edward IV, who -pursued her, before the fatal battle of Tewkesbury, which caused this -princess to fall into the hands of the White Rose. Amidst these ruins, -monuments of the Roman invasion and of the civil dissensions of -England, Tyndale meditated upon other battles, which were to restore -liberty and truth to Christendom. Then rousing himself he would -descend the hill, and courageously resume his task. - -Behind the mansion stood a little church, overshadowed by two large -yew trees, and dedicated to Saint Adeline. On Sundays Tyndale used to -preach there, Sir John and Lady Walsh, with the eldest of the -children, occupying the manorial pew. This humble sanctuary was filled -by their household and tenantry, listening attentively to the words of -their teacher, which fell from his lips like _the waters of Shiloah -that go softly_. Tyndale was very lively in conversation; but he -explained the Scriptures with so much unction, says the chronicler, -"that his hearers thought they heard St. John himself." If he -resembled John in the mildness of his language, he resembled Paul in -the strength of his doctrine. "According to the pope," he said, "we -must first be good after his doctrine, and compel God to be good again -for our goodness. Nay, verily, God's goodness is the root of all -goodness. Antichrist turneth the tree of salvation topsy-turvy:[356] -he planteth the branches, and setteth the roots upwards. We must put -it straight......As the husband marrieth the wife, before he can have -any lawful children by her; even so faith justifieth us to make us -fruitful in good works.[357] But neither the one nor the other should -remain barren. Faith is the holy candle wherewith we must bless -ourselves at the last hour; without it, you will go astray in the -valley of the shadow of death, though you had a thousand tapers -lighted around your bed."[358] - - [356] Antichrist turneth the roots of the trees upward. Tyndale, - Doctrinal Treatises (Park. Soc.), p. 295. - - [357] Tyndale, Parable of the Wicked Mammon. Ibid. 126. - - [358] Though thou hadst a thousand holy candles about thee. Ibid. p. - 48. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE THWARTED BY THE PRIESTS.] - -The priests, irritated at such observations, determined to ruin -Tyndale, and some of them invited Sir John and his lady to an -entertainment, at which he was not present. During dinner, they so -abused the young doctor and his New Testament, that his patrons -retired greatly annoyed that their tutor should have made so many -enemies. They told him all they had heard, and Tyndale successfully -refuted his adversaries' arguments. "What!" exclaimed Lady Walsh, -"there are some of these doctors worth one hundred, some two hundred, -and some three hundred pounds[359] ... and were it reason, think you, -Master William, that we should believe you before them?" Tyndale, -opening the New Testament, replied: "No! it is not me you should -believe. That is what the priests have told you; but look here, St. -Peter, St. Paul, and the Lord himself say quite the contrary."[360] -The Word of God was there, positive and supreme: the sword of the -spirit cut the difficulty. - - [359] Well, there was such a doctor who may dispend a hundred pounds. - Foxe. Acts, v. p. 115. - - [360] Answering by the Scriptures maintained the truth. Ibid. - -Before long the manor-house and St. Adeline's church became too narrow -for Tyndale's zeal. He preached every Sunday, sometimes in a village, -sometimes in a town. The inhabitants of Bristol assembled to hear him -in a large meadow, called St. Austin's Green.[361] But no sooner had -he preached in any place than the priests hastened thither, tore up -what he had planted,[362] called him a heretic, and threatened to -expel from the church every one who dared listen to him. When Tyndale -returned he found the field laid waste by the enemy; and looking sadly -upon it, as the husbandman who sees his corn beaten down by the hail, -and his rich furrows turned into a barren waste, he exclaimed: "What -is to be done? While I am sowing in one place, the enemy ravages the -field I have just left. I cannot be everywhere. Oh! if Christians -possessed the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue, they could of -themselves withstand these sophists. Without the Bible it is -impossible to establish the laity in the truth."[363] - - [361] Ibid. p. 117. - - [362] Whatsoever truth is taught them, these enemies of all truth - quench it again. Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 394. - - [363] impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the - Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother-tongue. - Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIESTS IN THE ALEHOUSES.] - -Then a great idea sprang up in Tyndale's heart: "It was in the -language of Israel," said he, "that the Psalms were sung in the temple -of Jehovah; and shall not the Gospel speak the language of England -among us?... Ought the church to have less light at noonday than at -the dawn?... Christians must read the New Testament in their -mother-tongue." Tyndale believed that this idea proceeded from God. -The new sun would lead to the discovery of a new world, and the -infallible rule would make all human diversities give way to a divine -unity. "One holdeth this doctor, another that," said Tyndale, "one -followeth Duns Scotus, another St. Thomas, another Bonaventure, -Alexander Hales, Raymond of Penaford, Lyra, Gorram, Hugh de Sancto -Victore, and so many others besides.... Now, each of these authors -contradicts the other. How then can we distinguish him who says right -from him who says wrong?... How?... Verily, by God's word."[364] -Tyndale hesitated no longer.... While Wolsey sought to win the papal -tiara, the humble tutor of Sodbury undertook to place the torch of -heaven in the midst of his fellow-countrymen. The translation of the -Bible shall be the work of his life. - - [364] Tynd. Doct. Tr. p. 119. - -The first triumph of the word was a revolution in the manor-house. In -proportion as Sir John and Lady Walsh acquired a taste for the Gospel, -they became disgusted with the priests. The clergy were not so often -invited to Sodbury, nor did they meet with the same welcome.[365] They -soon discontinued their visits, and thought of nothing but how they -could drive Tyndale from the mansion and from the diocese. - - [365] Neither had they the cheer and countenance when they came, as - before they had. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 1.6. - -Unwilling to compromise themselves in this warfare, they sent forward -some of those light troops which the church has always at her -disposal. Mendicant friars and poor curates, who could hardly -understand their missal, and the most learned of whom made _Albertus -de secretis mulierum_ their habitual study, fell upon Tyndale like a -pack of hungry hounds. They trooped to the alehouses,[366] and calling -for a jug of beer, took their seats, one at one table, another at -another. They invited the peasantry to drink with them, and entering -into conversation with them, poured forth a thousand curses upon the -daring reformer: "He's a hypocrite," said one; "he's a heretic," said -another. The most skilful among them would mount upon a stool, and -turning the tavern into a temple, deliver, for the first time in his -life, an extemporaneous discourse. They reported words that Tyndale -had never uttered, and actions that he had never committed.[367] -Rushing upon the poor tutor (he himself informs us) "like unclean -swine that follow their carnal lusts,"[368] they tore his good name to -very tatters, and shared the spoil among them; while the audience, -excited by their calumnies and heated by the beer, departed -overflowing with rage and hatred against the heretic of Sodbury. - - [366] Come together to the alehouse, which is their preaching place. - Tynd. Doct. Tr. 394 - - [367] They add too of their own heads what I never spake. Ibid. p. - 395. - - [368] Ibid. Expositions, p. 10. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE CITED BEFORE THE CHANCELLOR.] - -After the monks came the dignitaries. The deans and abbots, Sir John's -former guests, accused Tyndale to the chancellor of the diocese,[369] -and the storm which had begun in the tavern burst forth in the -episcopal palace. - - [369] Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. 395. - -The titular bishop of Worcester (an appanage of the Italian prelates) -was Giulio de' Medici, a learned man, great politician, and crafty -priest, who already governed the popedom without being pope.[370] -Wolsey, who administered the diocese for his absent colleague, had -appointed Thomas Parker chancellor, a man devoted to the Roman church. -It was to him the churchmen made their complaint. A judicial inquiry -had its difficulties; the king's companion-at-arms was the patron of -the pretended heretic, and Sir Anthony Poyntz, Lady Walsh's brother, -was sheriff of the county. The chancellor was therefore content to -convoke a general conference of the clergy. Tyndale obeyed the -summons, but foreseeing what awaited him, he cried heartily to God, as -he pursued his way up the banks of the Severn, "to give him strength -to stand fast in the truth of his word."[371] - - [370] Governava il papato e havia piu zente a la sua audienzia che il - papa. (He governed the popedom, and had more people at his audiences - than the pope.) Relazione di Marco Foscari, 1526. - - [371] Foxe, Acts. v. p. 116. - -When they were assembled, the abbots and deans, and other -ecclesiastics of the diocese, with haughty heads and threatening -looks, crowded round the humble but unbending Tyndale. When his turn -arrived, he stood forward, and the chancellor administered him a -severe reprimand, to which he made a calm reply. This so exasperated -the chancellor, that, giving way to his passion, he treated Tyndale as -if he had been a dog.[372] "Where are your witnesses?" demanded the -latter. "Let them come forward, and I will answer them." Not one of -them dared support the charge--they looked another way. The chancellor -waited, one witness at least he must have, but he could not get -that.[373] Annoyed at this desertion of the priests, the -representative of the Medici became more equitable, and let the -accusation drop. Tyndale quietly returned to Sodbury, blessing God who -had saved him from the cruel hands of his adversaries,[374] and -entertaining nothing but the tenderest charity towards them. "Take -away my goods," he said to them one day, "take away my good name! yet -so long as Christ dwelleth in my heart, so long shall I love you not a -whit the less."[375] Here indeed is the Saint John to whom Tyndale has -been compared. - - [372] He threatened me grievously and reviled me, and rated me as - though I had been a dog. Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - - [373] And laid to my charge whereof there would be none accuser - brought forth. Ibid. - - [374] Escaping out of their hands. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 116. - - [375] Tynd. Doctr. Tr. p. 298. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AND THE SCHOOLMAN.] - -In this violent warfare, however, he could not fail to receive some -heavy blows; and where could he find consolation? Fryth and Bilney -were far from him. Tyndale recollected an _aged doctor_ who lived near -Sodbury, and who had shown him great affection. He went to see him, -and opened his heart to him.[376] The old man looked at him for a -while as if he hesitated to disclose some great mystery. "Do you not -know," said he, lowering his voice, "that _the pope is very -Antichrist_ whom the Scripture speaketh of?... But beware what you -say.... That knowledge may cost you your life."[377] This doctrine of -Antichrist, which Luther was at that moment enunciating so boldly, -struck Tyndale. Strengthened by it, as was the Saxon reformer, he felt -fresh energy in his heart, and the aged doctor was to him what the -aged friar had been to Luther. - - [376] For to him he durst be bold to disclose his heart. Foxe, Acts, - v. p. 117. - - [377] Ibid. - -When the priests saw that their plot had failed, they commissioned a -celebrated divine to undertake his conversion. The reformer replied -with his Greek Testament to the schoolman's arguments. The theologian -was speechless: at last he exclaimed: "Well then! it were better to be -without God's laws than the pope's."[378] Tyndale, who did not expect -so plain and blasphemous a confession, made answer: "And I defy the -pope and all his laws!" and then, as if unable to keep his secret, he -added: "If God spares my life, I will take care that a plough-boy -shall know more of the Scriptures than you do."[379] - - [378] Ibid. - - [379] Cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the - Scriptures than he did. Ibid. - -All his thoughts were now directed to the means of carrying out his -plans; and desirous of avoiding conversations that might compromise -them, he thenceforth passed the greater portion of his time in the -library.[380] He prayed, he read, he began his translation of the -Bible, and in all probability communicated portions of it to Sir John -and Lady Walsh. - - [380] This part of the house was standing in 1839, but has since been - pulled down. Anderson, Bible Annals, i. p. 37. We cannot but unite in - the wish expressed in that volume, that the remainder of the building, - now tenanted by a farmer, may be carefully preserved. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE LEAVES SODBURY.] - -All his precautions were useless: the scholastic divine had betrayed -him, and the priests had sworn to stop him in his translation of the -Bible. One day he fell in with a troop of monks and curates, who -abused him in the grossest manner. "It's the favour of the gentry of -the country that makes you so proud," said they; "but notwithstanding -your patrons, there will be a talk about you before long, and in a -pretty fashion too!... You shall not always live in a manor-house!" -"Banish me to the obscurest corner of England," replied Tyndale; -"provided you will permit me to teach children and preach the Gospel, -and give me ten pounds a-year for my support.[381]... I shall be -satisfied!" The priests left him, but with the intention of preparing -him a very different fate. - - [381] Binding him to no more but to teach children and to preach. - Foxe, Acts, v. p. 117. - -Tyndale indulged in his pleasant dreams no longer. He saw that he was -on the point of being arrested, condemned, and interrupted in his -great work. He must seek a retreat where he can discharge in peace the -task God has allotted him. "You cannot save me from the hands of the -priests," said he to Sir John, "and God knows to what troubles you -would expose yourself by keeping me in your family. Permit me to leave -you." Having said this, he gathered up his papers, took his Testament, -pressed the hands of his benefactors, kissed the children, and then -descending the hill, bade farewell to the smiling banks of the Severn, -and departed alone--alone with his faith. What shall he do? What will -become of him? Where shall he go? He went forth like Abraham, one -thing alone engrossing his mind:--the Scriptures shall be translated -into the vulgar tongue, and he will deposit the oracles of God in the -midst of his countrymen. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Luther's works in England--Consultation of the Bishops--The - Bull of Leo X published in England--Luther's books - burnt--Letter of Henry VIII--He undertakes to write against - Luther--Cry of Alarm--Tradition and Sacramentalism--Prudence - of Sir T. More--The Book presented to the Pope--_Defender of - the Faith_--Exultation of the King. - - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S WORKS IN ENGLAND.] - -Whilst a plain minister was commencing the Reformation in a tranquil -valley in the west of England, powerful reinforcements were landing on -the shores of Kent. The writings and actions of Luther excited a -lively sensation in Great Britain. His appearance before the diet of -Worms was a common subject of conversation. Ships from the harbours of -the Low Countries brought his books to London,[382] and the German -printers had made answer to the nuncio Aleander, who was prohibiting -the Lutheran works in the empire: "Very well! we shall send them _to -England_!" One might almost say that England was destined to be the -asylum of truth. And in fact, the _Theses_ of 1517, the _Explanation -of the Lord's Prayer_, the books _against Emser_, _against the papacy -of Rome_, _against the bull of Antichrist_, _the Epistle to the -Galatians_, _the Appeal to the German nobility_, and above all the -_Babylonish Captivity of the Church_--all crossed the sea, were -translated, and circulated throughout the kingdom.[383] The German and -English nations, having a common origin and being sufficiently alike -at that time in character and civilization, the works intended for one -might be read by the other with advantage. The monk in his cell, the -country gentleman in his hall, the doctor in his college, the -tradesman in his shop, and even the bishop in his palace, studied -these extraordinary writings. The laity in particular, who had been -prepared by Wickliffe and disgusted by the avarice and disorderly -lives of the priests, read with enthusiasm the eloquent pages of the -Saxon monk. They strengthened all hearts. - - [382] Burnet, Hist. of the Reformation, (Lond. 1841, Oct.) i. p. 21. - - [383] Libros Lutheranos quorum magnus jam numerus pervenerat in manus - Anglorum. (Polyd. Virg. Angl. Hist. (Basil, 1570, fol.) p. 664.) A - great many of the Lutheran books had already come into the hands of - the English. - -[Sidenote: PUBLICATION OF THE PAPAL BULL.] - -The papacy was not inactive in presence of all these efforts. The -times of Gregory VII and of Innocent III, it is true, were passed; and -weakness and irresolution had succeeded to the former energy and -activity of the Roman pontificate. The spiritual power had resigned -the dominion of Europe to the secular powers, and it was doubtful -whether faith in the papacy could be found in the papacy itself. Yet a -German (Dr. Eck) by the most indefatigible exertions had extorted a -bull from the profane Leo X,[384] and this bull had just reached -England. The pope himself sent it to Henry, calling upon him to -extirpate the Lutheran heresy.[385] The king handed it to Wolsey, and -the latter transmitted it to the bishops, who, after reading _the -heretic's_ books, met together to discuss the matter.[386] There was -more Romish faith in London than in the Vatican. "This false friar," -exclaimed Wolsey, "attacks submission to the clergy--that fountain of -all virtues." The humanist prelates were the most annoyed; the road -they had taken ended in an abyss, and they shrank back in alarm. -Tonstall, the friend of Erasmus, afterwards bishop of London, and who -had just returned from his embassy to Germany where Luther had been -painted to him in the darkest colours, was particularly violent: "This -monk is a _Proteus_.... I mean an _atheist_.[387] If you allow the -heresies to grow up which he is scattering with both hands, they will -choke the faith and the church will perish.[388] Had we not enough of -the Wickliffites--here are new legions of the same kind!... To-day -Luther calls for the abolition of the mass; to-morrow he will ask for -the abolition of Jesus Christ.[389] He rejects every thing, and puts -nothing in its place. What? if barbarians plunder our frontiers, we -punish them ... and shall we bear with heretics who plunder our -altars?... No! by the mortal agony that Christ endured, I entreat -you.... What am I saying? the whole church conjures you to combat -against this devouring _dragon_.... to punish this _hell-dog_, to -silence his sinister howlings, and to drive him shamefully back into -his den."[390] Thus spoke the eloquent Tonstall; nor was Wolsey far -behind him. The only attachment at all respectable in this man was -that which he entertained for the church; it may perhaps be called -respectable, for it was the only one that did not exclusively regard -himself. On the 14th May 1521, this English pope, in imitation of the -Italian pope, issued his bull against Luther. - - [384] See above. Book VI. chap. iv. - - [385] Ab hoc regno extirpandum et abolendum. Cardinal. Ebor. - Commissio. Strype, M. I. v. p. 22. - - [386] Habitoque super hac re diligenti tractatu. Ibid. - - [387] Cum illo _Protheo_....imo _Atheo_. Erasm. Ep. 1158. - - [388] Tota ruet Ecclesia. Ibid. p. 1159. - - [389] Nisi de abolendo Christo scribere destinavit. Ibid. p. 1160. - - [390] Gladio Spiritus abactum in antrum suum coges. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: SARCASMS OF THE PEOPLE.] - -It was read (probably on the first Sunday in June) in all the churches -during high mass, when the congregation was most numerous.[391] A -priest exclaimed: "For every book of Martin Luther's found in your -possession within fifteen days after this injunction, you will incur -the greater excommunication." Then a public notary, holding the pope's -bull in his hand, with a description of Luther's _perverse opinions_, -proceeded towards the principal door of the church and fastened up the -document.[392] The people gathered round it; the most competent person -read it aloud, while the rest listened; and the following are some of -the sentences which, by the pope's order, resounded in the porches of -all the cathedral, conventual, collegiate, and parish churches of -every county in England:[393] - - "11. Sins are not pardoned to any, unless, the priest - remitting them, he believe they are remitted to him. - - "13. If by reason of some impossibility, the _contrite_ be - not confessed, or the priest absolve him, not in earnest, - but in jest; yet if he believe that he is absolved, he is - most truly absolved. - - "14. In the sacrament of _penance_ and the remission of a - fault, the pope or bishop doth not more than the lowest - priest; yea, where there is not a priest, then any Christian - will do; yea, if it were a woman or a child. - - "26. The pope, the successor of Peter, is not Christ's - vicar. - - "28. It is not at all in the hand of the church or the pope - to decree articles of faith, no, nor to decree the laws of - manners or of good works." - - [391] Cum major convenerit multitudo. Ibid. - - [392] In valvis seu locis publicis ecclesiae vestrae. (Ibid. p. 24.) On - the doors or public places of your churches. - - [393] Strype, M. I. p. 57, (Oxf. ed.) or Luther, xvii, p. 306. - -The cardinal-legate, accompanied by the nuncio, by the ambassador of -Charles V, and by several bishops, proceeded in great pomp to St. -Paul's, where the bishop of Rochester preached, and Wolsey burnt -Luther's books.[394] But they were hardly reduced to ashes, before -sarcasms and jests were heard in every direction. "_Fire_ is not a -theological argument," said one. "The papists, who accuse Martin -Luther of slaying and murdering Christians," added another, "are like -the pickpocket, who began to cry _stop thief_, as soon as he saw -himself in danger of being caught." "The bishop of Rochester," said a -third, "concludes that because Luther has thrown the pope's decretals -into the fire, he would throw in the pope himself.... We may hence -deduce another syllogism, quite as sound: The popes have burnt the New -Testament, therefore, if they could, they would burn Christ -himself."[395] These jests were rapidly circulated from mouth to -mouth. It was not enough that Luther's writings were in England, they -must needs be known, and the priests took upon themselves to advertise -them. The Reformation was advancing, and Rome herself pushed behind -the car. - - [394] See above, Book IX, chap x. - - [395] They would have burnt Christ himself. Tynd. Doct. Tr. Obedience, - etc. (Park. Soc.) p. 221. - -[Sidenote: HENRY WRITES AGAINST LUTHER.] - -The cardinal saw that something more was required than these paper -_autos-da-fe_, and the activity he displayed may indicate what he -would have done in Europe, if ever he had reached the pontifical -chair. "The spirit of Satan left him no repose," says the papist -Sanders.[396] Some action out of the ordinary course is needful, -thought Wolsey. Kings have hitherto been the enemies of the popes: a -king shall now undertake their defence. Princes are not very anxious -about learning, a prince shall publish a book!... "Sire," said he to -the king, to get Henry in the vein, "you ought to write to the princes -of Germany on the subject of this heresy." He did so. Writing to the -Archduke Palatine, he said: "This fire, which has been kindled by -Luther, and fanned by the arts of the devil, is raging every where. If -Luther does not repent, deliver him and his audacious treatises to the -flames. I offer you my royal co-operation, and even, if necessary, my -life."[397] This was the first time Henry showed that cruel thirst, -which was in after days to be quenched in the blood of his wives and -friends. - - [396] Satanae spiritu actus. (De Schism. Angl. p. 8.) Urged by the - spirit of Satan. - - [397] Kapps Urkunden, ii, p. 458. - -The king having taken the first step, it was not difficult for Wolsey -to induce him to take another. To defend the honour of Thomas Aquinas, -to stand forward as the champion of the church, and to obtain from the -pope a title equivalent to that of _Christianissimus_, most Christian -king, were more than sufficient motives to induce Henry to break a -lance with Luther. "I will combat with the pen this Cerberus, sprung -from the depths of hell,"[398] said he, "and if he refuses to retract, -the fire shall consume the heretic and his heresies together."[399] - - [398] Velut Cerberum ex inferis producit in lucem. Regis ad lectorem. - Epist. p. 94. - - [399] Ut errores ejus eumque ipsum ignis exurat. Ibid. p. 95. - -The king shut himself up in his library: all the scholastic tastes -with which his youth had been imbued were revived; he worked as if he -were archbishop of Canterbury, and not king of England; with the -pope's permission he read Luther's writings; he ransacked Thomas -Aquinas; forged, with infinite labour, the arrows with which he hoped -to pierce the heretic; called several learned men to his aid, and at -last published his book. His first words were a cry of alarm. "Beware -of the track of this serpent," said he to his Christian readers; "walk -on tiptoe; fear the thickets and caves in which he lies concealed, and -whence he will dart his poison on you. If he licks you, be careful! -the cunning viper caresses only that he may bite!"[400] After that -Henry sounded a charge: "Be of good cheer! Filled with the same valour -that you would display against Turks, Saracens, and other infidels, -march now against this _little friar_,--a fellow apparently weak, but -more formidable through the spirit that animates him than all -infidels, Saracens, and Turks put together."[401] Thus did Henry VIII, -the _Peter the Hermit_ of the sixteenth century, preach a crusade -against Luther, in order to save the papacy. - - [400] Qui tantum ideo lambit ut mordeat. Assertio Sept. Sacram. - - [401] Sed animo Turcis omnibus Sarracenis omnibus usquam infidelibus - nocentiorem fraterculum. Ibid. p. 147. - -[Sidenote: PRUDENCE OF MORE.] - -He had skilfully chosen the ground on which he gave battle: -sacramentalism and tradition are in fact the two essential features of -the papal religion; just as a lively faith and Holy Scripture are of -the religion of the Gospel. Henry did a service to the Reformation, by -pointing out the principles it would mainly have to combat; and by -furnishing Luther with an opportunity of establishing the authority of -the Bible, he made him take a most important step in the path of -reform. "If a teaching is opposed to Scripture," said the Reformer, -"whatever be its origin--traditions, custom, kings, Thomists, -sophists, Satan, or even an angel from heaven,--all from whom it -proceeds must be accursed. _Nothing can exist contrary to Scripture_, -and every thing must exist for it." - -Henry's book being terminated by the aid of the bishop of Rochester, -the king showed it to Sir Thomas More, who begged him to pronounce -less decidedly in favour of the papal supremacy. "I will not change a -word," replied the king, full of servile devotion to the popedom. -"Besides, I have my reasons," and he whispered them in More's ear. - -Doctor Clarke, ambassador from England at the court of Rome, was -commissioned to present the pope with a magnificently bound copy of -the king's work. "The glory of England," said he, "is to be in the -foremost rank among the nations in obedience to the papacy."[402] -Happily Britain was ere long to know a glory of a very different kind. -The ambassador added that his master, after having refuted Luther's -errors with the _pen_, was ready to combat his adherents with the -_sword_.[403] The pope, touched with this offer, gave him his foot, -and then his cheek to kiss, and said to him: "I will do for your -Master's book as much as the church has done for the works of St. -Jerome and St. Augustine." - - [402] Fiddes' Life of Wolsey. p. 249. - - [403] Totius regni sui viribus et armis. (Rymer, Foedera, VI. p. 199.) - By the strength and arms of his whole kingdom. - -[Sidenote: DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.] - -The enfeebled papacy had neither the power of intelligence, nor even -of fanaticism. It still maintained its pretensions and its pomp, but -it resembled the corpses of the mighty ones of the earth that lie in -state, clad in their most magnificent robes: splendour above, death -and corruption below. The thunder-bolts of a Hildebrand ceasing to -produce their effect, Rome gratefully accepted the defence of laymen, -such as Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More, without disdaining their -judicial sentences and their scaffolds. "We must honour those noble -champions," said the pope to his cardinals, "who show themselves -prepared to cut off with the sword the rotten members of Jesus -Christ.[404] What title shall we give to the virtuous king of -England?"--_Protector of the Roman church_, suggested one; _Apostolic -king_, said another; and finally, but not without some opposition, -Henry VIII was proclaimed _Defender of the Faith_. At the same time -the pope promised ten years' indulgence to all readers of the king's -book. This was a lure after the fashion of the middle ages, and which -never failed in its effect. The clergy compared its author to the -wisest of kings; and the book, of which many thousand copies were -printed, filled the Christian world (Cochloeus tells us) with -admiration and delight. - - [404] Putida membra...ferro et materiali gladio abscindere. (Rymer, - Foedera, vi, p. 199.) To cut off the rotten members with iron and the - material sword. - -Nothing could equal Henry's joy. "His majesty," said the vicar of -Croydon, "would not exchange that name for all London and twenty miles -round."[405] The king's fool, entering the room just as his master had -received the bull, asked him the cause of his transports. "The pope -has just named me _Defender of the Faith_!"--"Ho! ho! good Harry," -replied the fool, "let you and me defend one another; but ... take my -word for it ... _let the faith alone to defend itself_."[406] An -entire modern system was found in those words. In the midst of the -general intoxication, the fool was the only sensible person. But Henry -could listen to nothing. Seated on an elevated throne, with the -cardinal at his right hand, he caused the pope's letter to be read in -public. The trumpets sounded: Wolsey said Mass; the king and his court -took their seats around a sumptuous table, and the heralds at arms -proclaimed: _Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae, Defensor Fidei -et Dominus Hiberniae!_ - - [405] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 596. - - [406] Fuller, book v, p. 168. - -Thus was the king of England more than ever united to the pope: -whoever brings the Holy Scriptures into his kingdom shall there -encounter that material sword, _ferrum et materialem gladium_, in -which the papacy so much delighted. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Wolsey's Machinations to obtain the Tiara--He gains Charles - V--Alliance between Henry and Charles--Wolsey offers to - command the Troops--Treaty of Bruges--Henry believes himself - King of France--Victories of Francis I--Death of Leo X. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY DESIRES THE TIARA.] - -One thing only was wanting to check more surely the progress of the -Gospel: Wolsey's accession to the pontifical throne. Consumed by the -desire of reaching "the summit of sacerdotal unity,"[407] he formed, -to attain this end, one of the most perfidious schemes ambition ever -engendered. He thought with others: "The end justifies the means." - - [407] Unitatis sacerdotalis fastigium conscendere. Sanders, De Schism. - Ang. 8. - -The cardinal could only attain the popedom through the emperor or the -king of France; for then, as now, it was the secular powers that -really elected the chief of catholicity. After carefully weighing the -influence of these two princes, Wolsey found that the balance inclined -to the side of Charles, and his choice was made. A close intimacy of -long standing united him to Francis I, but that mattered little; he -must betray his friend to gain his friend's rival. - -But this was no easy matter. Henry was dissatisfied with Charles the -Fifth.[408] Wolsey was therefore obliged to employ every imaginable -delicacy in his manoeuvres. First he sent Sir Richard Wingfield to the -emperor; then he wrote a flattering letter in Henry's name to the -princess-regent of the Low Countries. The difficulty was to get the -king to sign it. "Have the goodness to put your name," said Wolsey, -"even if it should annoy your Highness.... You know very well ... that -women like to be pleased."[409] This argument prevailed with the king, -who still possessed a spirit of gallantry. Lastly, Wolsey being named -arbitrator between Charles and Francis, resolved to depart for Calais, -apparently to hear the complaints of the two princes; but in reality -to betray one of them. Wolsey felt as much pleasure in such practices, -as Francis in giving battle. - - [408] Hys owne affayris doith not succede with th'Emperour. State - Papers, vol. i, p. 10. - - [409] Ibid. p. 12. - -[Sidenote: THE EMPEROR'S PROMISES.] - -The king of France rejected his arbitration: he had a sharp eye, and -his mother one still sharper. "Your master loves me not," said he to -Charles's ambassador, "and I do not love him any more, and am -determined to be his enemy."[410] It was impossible to speak more -plainly. Far from imitating this frankness, the politic Charles -endeavoured to gain Wolsey, and Wolsey, who was eager to sell himself, -adroitly hinted at what price he might be bought. "If the king of -England sides with me," Charles informed the cardinal, "you shall be -elected pope at the death of Leo X."[411] Francis, betrayed by Wolsey, -abandoned by the pope, and threatened by the emperor, determined at -last to accept Henry's mediation. - - [410] He was utterly determined to be his enemy. Cotton MSS. Galba, B. - 7, p. 35. - - [411] Ut Wolseus mortuo Leone decimo fieret summus pontifex. - -But Charles was now thinking of very different matters. Instead of a -mediation, he demanded of the king of England 4000 of his famous -bowmen. Henry smiled as he read the despatch and looking at Pace his -secretary, and Marney the captain of his guards, he said: "_Beati qui -audiunt et non intelligunt!_" thus forbidding them to understand, and -above all to bruit abroad this strange request. It was agreed to raise -the number of archers to 6000; and the cardinal, having the tiara -continually before his eyes, departed to perform at Calais the odious -comedy of a hypocritical arbitration. Being detained at Dover by -contrary winds, the mediator took advantage of this delay to draw up a -list of the 6000 archers and their captains, not forgetting to insert -in it, "certain obstinate deer," as Henry had said, "that must of -necessity be hunted down."[412] These were some gentlemen whom the -king desired to get rid of. - - [412] Sayyinge that certayne hartes were so toggidde for hym, that he - must neadys hunte them. State Papers, i, p. 26. - -While the ambassadors of the king of France were received at Calais on -the 4th of August with great honours, by the lord high chamberlain of -England, the cardinal signed a convention with Charles's ministers -that Henry should withdraw his promise of the Princess Mary's hand to -the dauphin, and give her to the emperor. At the same time he issued -orders to destroy the French navy, and to invade France.[413] And -finally he procured by way of compensating England for the pension of -16,000 pounds hitherto received from the court of St. Germains, that -the emperor should pay henceforward the annual sum of 40,000 marks. -Without ready money the bargain would not have been a good one. - - [413] Ibid. i, p. 23. - -[Sidenote: THE TREATY OF BRUGES.] - -This was not all. While Wolsey was waiting to be elected pope, he -conceived the idea of becoming a soldier. A commander was wanted for -the 6000 archers Henry was sending against the king of France; and why -should he not be the cardinal himself? He immediately intrigued to get -the noblemen set aside who had been proposed as generals in chief. -"Shrewsbury," he said to the king, "is wanted for Scotland--Worcester -by his experience is worthy that ... you should keep him near you. As -for Dorset ... he will be very dear." Then the priest added: "Sire, if -during my sojourn on the other side of the sea, you have good reason -to send your archers.... I hasten to inform you that whenever the -emperor takes the command of his soldiers, I am ready, although an -ecclesiastic,[414] to put myself at the head of yours." What -devotedness! Wolsey would cause his cross of cardinal _a latere_ to be -carried before him (he said); and neither Francis nor Bayard would be -able to resist him. To command at the same time the state, the church, -and the army, while awaiting the tiara,--to surround his head with -laurels: such was this man's ambition. Unfortunately for him, they -were not of that opinion at court. The king made the earl of Essex -commander-in-chief. - - [414] Though I be a spiritual man. State Papers, i, p. 31. - -As Wolsey could not be general, he turned to diplomacy. He hastened to -Bruges; and as he entered at the emperor's side, a voice was heard -above the crowd, exclaiming: _Salve, Rex regis tui atque regni -sui!_[415]--a sound most pleasing to his ears. People were very much -astonished at Bruges by the intimacy existing between the cardinal and -the emperor. "There is some mystery beneath it all," they said.[416] -Wolsey desired to place the crown of France on Henry's head, and the -tiara on his own. Such was the mystery, which was well worth a few -civilities to the mighty Charles V. The alliance was concluded, and -the contracting parties agreed "to avenge the insults offered to the -throne of Jesus Christ," or in other words, to the popedom. - - [415] Hail, both king of thy king and also of his kingdom. Tynd. - Expos. p. 314. - - [416] There was a certain secret whereof all men knew not. Ibid. 315. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S PRACTICES.] - -Wolsey, in order to drag Henry into the intrigues which were to -procure him the tiara, had reminded him that he was _king of France_, -and the suggestion had been eagerly caught at. At midnight on the 7th -of August, the king dictated to his secretary a letter for Wolsey -containing this strange expression: _Si ibitis parare regi locum in -regno ejus hereditario, Majestas ejus_ _quum tempus erit opportunum, -sequetur_.[417] The theologian who had corrected the famous latin book -of the king's against Luther, most certainly had not revised this -phrase. According to Henry, France was his hereditary kingdom, and -Wolsey was going to prepare the throne for him.... The king could not -restrain his joy at the mere idea, and already he surpassed in -imagination both Edward III and the Black Prince. "I am about to -attain a glory superior to that which my ancestors have gained by so -many wars and battles."[418] Wolsey traced out for him the road to his -palace on the banks of the Seine: "Mezieres is about to fall; -afterwards there is only Rheims, which is not a strong city; and thus -your grace will very easily reach Paris."[419] Henry followed on the -map the route he would have to take: "Affairs are going on well," -wrote the cardinal, "the Lord be praised." In him this Christian -language was a mere official formality. - - [417] If you go to prepare a place for the king in his hereditary - kingdom, his Majesty will follow you at a fitting season. State - Papers, i, 36. - - [418] Majora assequi quam omnes ipsius progenitores tot bellis et - praeliis. Ibid. 45. - - [419] Your grace shall have but a leyve wey to Parys. Ibid. 46. - -Wolsey was mistaken: things were going on badly. On the 20th of -October 1522, Francis I whom so much perfidy had been unable to -deceive,--Francis, ambitious and turbulent, but honest in this matter -at least, and confiding in the strength of his arms, had suddenly -appeared between Cambray and Valenciennes. The emperor fled to -Flanders in alarm, and Wolsey, instead of putting himself at the head -of the army, had shielded himself under his arbitrator's cloak. -Writing to Henry, who, a fortnight before, had by his advice excited -Charles to attack France, he said: "I am confident that your _virtuous -mediation_ will greatly increase your reputation and honour throughout -Christendom."[420] Francis rejected Wolsey's offers, but the object of -the latter was attained. The negotiations had gained time for Charles, -and bad weather soon stopped the French army. Wolsey returned -satisfied to London about the middle of December. It was true that -Henry's triumphant entry into Paris became very difficult; but the -cardinal was sure of the emperor's favour, and through it (he -imagined) of the tiara. Wolsey had done, therefore, what he desired. -He had hardly arrived in England, when there came news which raised -him to the height of happiness: Leo X was dead. His joy surpassed what -Henry had felt at the thought of his _hereditary kingdom_. Protected -by the powerful Charles V, to whom he had sacrificed every thing, the -English cardinal was at last on the point of receiving that pontifical -crown which would permit him to crush heresy, and which was, in his -eyes, the just reward of so many infamous transactions. - - [420] Cotton MSS. Calig. D. 8. p. 85. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - The Just Men of Lincolnshire--Their Assemblies and - Teaching--Agnes and Morden--Itinerant Libraries--Polemical - Conversations--Sarcasm--Royal Decree and Terror--Depositions - and Condemnations--Four Martyrs--A Conclave--Charles - consoles Wolsey. - - -[Sidenote: THE JUST MEN OF LINCOLNSHIRE.] - -Wolsey did not stay until he was pope, before persecuting the -disciples of the word of God. Desirous of carrying out the -stipulations of the convention at Bruges, he had broken out against -"the king's subjects who disturbed the apostolic see." Henry had to -vindicate the title conferred on him by the pope; the cardinal had to -gain the popedom; and both could satisfy their desires by the erection -of a few scaffolds. - -[Sidenote: AGNES AND MORDEN.] - -In the county of Lincoln on the shores of the North Sea, along the -fertile banks of the Humber, Trent, and Witham, and on the slopes of -the smiling hills, dwelt many peaceful Christians--labourers, -artificers, and shepherds--who spent their days in toil, in keeping -their flocks, in doing good, and in reading the Bible.[421] The more -the gospel-light increased in England, the greater was the increase in -the number of these children of peace.[422] These "just men," as they -were called, were devoid of human knowledge, but they thirsted for the -knowledge of God. Thinking they were alone the true disciples of the -Lord, they married only among themselves.[423] They appeared -occasionally at church; but instead of repeating their prayers like -the rest, they sat, said their enemies, "mum like beasts."[424] On -Sundays and holidays, they assembled in each other's houses, and -sometimes passed a whole night in reading a portion of Scripture. If -there chanced to be few books among them, one of the brethren, who -had learnt by heart the Epistle of St. James, the beginning of St. -Luke's gospel, the sermon on the mount, or an epistle of St. Paul's, -would recite a few verses in a loud and calm voice; then all would -piously converse about the holy truths of the faith, and exhort one -another to put them in practice. But if any person joined their -meetings, who did not belong to their body, they would all keep -silent.[425] Speaking much among each other, they were speechless -before those from without: fear of the priests and of the faggot made -them dumb. There was no family rejoicing without the Scriptures. At -the marriage of a daughter of the aged Durdant, one of their -patriarchs, the wedding party met secretly in a barn, and read the -whole of one of St. Paul's epistles. Marriages are rarely celebrated -with such pastimes as this! - - [421] Being simple labourers and artificers. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 240. - - [422] As the light of the Gospel began more to appear, and the numbers - of professors to grow. Ibid. p. 217. - - [423] Did contract matrimony only with themselves. Ibid. p. 223. - - [424] Ibid. p. 225. - - [425] If any came in among them that were not of their side, then they - would keep all silent. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 222. - -Although they were dumb before enemies or suspected persons, these -poor people did not keep silence in the presence of the humble: a -glowing proselytism characterized them all. "Come to my house," said -the pious Agnes Ashford to James Morden, "and I will teach you some -verses of Scripture." Agnes was an educated woman; she could read; -Morden came, and the poor woman's chamber was transformed into a -school of theology. Agnes began: "Ye are the salt of the earth," and -then recited the following verses.[426] Five times did Morden return -to Agnes before he knew that beautiful discourse. "We are spread like -salt over the various parts of the kingdom," said this Christian woman -to the neophyte, "in order that we may check the progress of -superstition by our doctrine and our life. But," added she in alarm, -"keep this secret in your heart, as a man would keep a thief in -prison."[427] - - [426] Matth. v. 13-16. - - [427] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 225. - -[Sidenote: SARCASM.] - -As books were rare these pious Christians had established a kind of -itinerant library, and one John Scrivener was continually engaged in -carrying the precious volumes from one to another.[428] But at times, -as he was proceeding along the banks of the river or through the -forest glades, he observed that he was followed. He would quicken his -pace and run into some barn where the friendly peasants promptly hid -him beneath the straw, or, like the spies of Israel, under the stalks -of flax.[429] The bloodhounds arrived, sought and found nothing; and -more than once those who so generously harboured these evangelists -cruelly expiated the crime of charity. - - [428] Carrying about books from one to another. Ibid. iv, p. 224. - - [429] Hiding others in their barns. Ibid. p. 243. - -The disappointed officers had scarcely retired from the neighbourhood -when these friends of the word of God came out of their hiding-place, -and profited by the moment of liberty to assemble the brethren. The -persecutions they suffered irritated them against the priests. They -worshipped God, read, and sang with a low voice; but when the -conversation became general, they gave free course to their -indignation. "Would you know the use of the pope's pardons?" said one -of them; "they are to blind the eyes and empty the purse."--"True -pilgrimages," said the tailor Geoffrey of Uxbridge, "consist in -visiting the poor and sick--barefoot, if so it please you--for these -are the little ones that are god's true image."--"Money spent in -pilgrimages," added a third, "serves only to maintain thieves and -harlots."[430] The women were often the most animated in the -controversy. "What need is there to go to the _feet_," said Agnes -Ward, who disbelieved in saints, "when we may go to the -_head_?"[431]--"the clergy of the good old times," said the wife of -David Lewis, "used to lead the people as a hen leadeth her -chickens;[432] but now if our priests lead their flocks any where, it -is to the devil assuredly." - - [430] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 243. - - [431] Ibid. p. 229. - - [432] Ibid. p. 224. - -Erelong there was a general panic throughout this district. The king's -confessor John Longland was bishop of Lincoln. This fanatic priest, -Wolsey's creature, took advantage of his position to petition Henry -for a severe persecution: this was the ordinary use in England, -France, and elsewhere, of the confessors of princes. It was -unfortunate that among these pious disciples of the word, men of a -cynical turn were now and then met with, whose biting sarcasms went -beyond all bounds. Wolsey and Longland knew how to employ these -expressions in arousing the king's anger. "As one of these fellows," -they said, "was busy beating out his corn in his barn, a man chanced -to pass by. 'Good morrow, neighbour,' (said the latter), 'you are hard -at it!'--'Yes,' replied the old heretic, thinking of transubstantiation, -'I am thrashing the corn out of which the priests make God Almighty.'" -[433] Henry hesitated no longer. - - [433] I thresh God Almighty out of the straw. Ibid. p. 222. - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP'S TRIBUNAL.] - -On the 20th October 1521, nine days after the bull on the _Defender of -the Faith_ had been signed at Rome, the king, who was at Windsor, -summoned his secretary, and dictated an order commanding all his -subjects to assist the bishop of Lincoln against the heretics. "You -will obey it at the peril of your lives," added he. The order was -transmitted to Longland, and the bishop immediately issued his -warrants, and his officers spread terror far and wide. When they -beheld them, these peaceful but timid Christians were troubled. -Isabella Bartlet, hearing them approach her cottage, screamed out to -her husband: "You are a lost man! and I am a dead woman!"[434] This -cry was re-echoed from all the cottages of Lincolnshire. The bishop, -on his judgment-seat, skilfully played upon these poor unhappy beings -to make them accuse one another. Alas! according to the ancient -prophecy: "the brother delivered up the brother to death." Robert -Bartlet deposed against his brother Richard and his own wife; Jane -Bernard accused her own father and Tredway his mother. It was not -until after the most cruel anguish that these poor creatures were -driven to such frightful extremities; but the bishop and death -terrified them: a small number alone remained firm. As regards -heroism, Wickliffe's Reformation brought but a feeble aid to the -Reformation of the sixteenth century; still, if it did not furnish -many heroes, it prepared the English people to love God's word above -all things. Of these humble people, some were condemned to do penance -in different monasteries; others to carry a faggot on their shoulders -thrice round the market-place, and then to stand some time exposed to -the jeers of the populace; others were fastened to a post while the -executioner branded them on the cheek with a red-hot iron. They also -had their martyrs. Wickliffe's revival had never been without them. -Four of these brethren were chosen to be put to death, and among them -the pious evangelical _colporteur_ Scrivener. By burning him to ashes, -the clergy desired to make sure that he would no longer circulate the -word of God; and by a horrible refinement of cruelty his children were -compelled to set fire to the pile that was to consume their -father.[435] They stretched forth their trembling hands, held in the -strong grasp of the executioners.... Poor children!... But it is -easier to burn the limbs of Christians than to quench the Spirit of -Heaven. These cruel fires could not destroy among the Lincolnshire -peasantry that love of the Bible which in all ages has been England's -strength, far more than the wisdom of her senators or the bravery of -her generals. - - [434] Alas! now are you an undone man, and I but a dead woman. Foxe, - Acts, v, p. 224. - - [435] Ibid. p. 245. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY LOSES THE TIARA.] - -Having by these exploits gained indisputable claims to the tiara, -Wolsey turned his efforts towards Rome. Leo X, as we have seen, was -just dead (1522). The cardinal sent Pace to Rome, instructing him to -"Represent to the cardinals that by choosing a partizan of Charles or -Francis, they will incur the enmity of one or the other of these -princes, and that if they elect some feeble Italian priest, the -apostolical see must become the prey of the strongest. Luther's revolt -and the emperor's ambition endanger the papacy. There is only one -means of preventing the threatening dangers.... It is to choose me.... -Now go and exert yourself."[436] The conclave opened at Rome on the -27th December, and Wolsey was proposed; but the cardinals were not -generally favourable to his election. "He is too young," said one; -"too firm," said another. "He will fix the seat of the papacy in -England and not in Rome," urged many. He did not receive twenty votes. -"The cardinals," wrote the English ambassador, "snarled and quarrelled -with each other; and their bad faith and hatred increased every day." -On the sixth day, only one dish was sent them; and then in despair -they chose Adrian, who had been tutor to the emperor, and the cry was -raised: _Papam habemus!_ - - [436] The sole way ... was to chuse him. Herbert, p. 110. - -During all this time Wolsey was in London, consumed by ambition, and -counting the days and hours. At length a despatch from Ghent, dated -the 22nd January, reached him with these words: "On the 9th of -January, the cardinal of Tortosa was elected!"... Wolsey was almost -distracted. To gain Charles, he had sacrificed the alliance of Francis -I; there was no stratagem that he had not employed, and yet Charles, -in spite of his engagements, had procured the election of his -tutor!... The emperor knew what must be the cardinal's anger, and -endeavoured to appease it: "The new pope," he wrote, "is old and -sickly;[437] he cannot hold his office long.... Beg the cardinal of -York for my sake to _take great care of his health_." - - [437] The new elect is both old, sickly ... so that he shall not have - the office long. Cotton MSS. Galba, B. vii, p. 6. - -Charles did more than this: he visited London in person, under -pretence of his betrothal with Mary of England, and, in the treaty -then drawn up, he consented to the insertion of an article by virtue -of which Henry VIII and the mighty emperor, bound themselves, if -either should infringe the treaty, to appear before Wolsey and to -submit to his decisions.[438] The cardinal, gratified by such -condescension, grew calm; and at the same time he was soothed with the -most flattering hopes. "Charles's imbecile preceptor," they told him, -"has arrived at the Vatican, attended only by his female cook; you -shall soon make your entrance there surrounded by all your grandeur." -To be certain of his game, Wolsey made secret approaches to Francis I, -and then waited for the death of the pope.[439] - - [438] Both princes appearing before the cardinal of York as judge. - Art. xiii, Herbert, p. 118. - - [439] Mortem etiam Adriani expectat. Sanders, p. 8. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - Character of Tyndale--He arrives in London--He preaches--The - Cloth and the Ell--The bishop of London gives Audience to - Tyndale--He is dismissed--A Christian Merchant of - London--Spirit of Love in the Reformation--Tyndale in - Monmouth's House--Fryth helps him to translate the New - Testament--Importunities of the Bishop of - Lincoln--Persecution in London--Tyndale's Resolution--He - departs--His Indignation against the Prelates--His Hopes. - - -[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF TYNDALE.] - -While the cardinal was intriguing to attain his selfish ends, Tyndale -was humbly carrying out the great idea of giving the Scriptures of God -to England. - -[Sidenote: HE PREACHES SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST.] - -After bidding a sad farewell to the manor-house of Sodbury, the -learned tutor had departed for London. This occurred about the end of -1522 or the beginning of 1523. He had left the university--he had -forsaken the house of his protector; his wandering career was about to -commence, but a thick veil hid from him all its sorrows. Tyndale, a -man simple in his habits, sober, daring, and generous, fearing neither -fatigue nor danger, inflexible in his duty, anointed with the Spirit -of God, overflowing with love for his brethren, emancipated from human -traditions, the servant of God alone, and loving nought but Jesus -Christ, imaginative, quick at repartee, and of touching -eloquence--such a man might have shone in the foremost ranks; but he -preferred a retired life in some poor corner, provided he could give -his countrymen the Scriptures of God. Where could he find this calm -retreat? was the question he put to himself as he was making his -solitary way to London. The metropolitan see was then filled by -Cuthbert Tonstall, who was more of a statesman and a scholar than of -a churchman, "the first of English men in Greek and Latin literature," -said Erasmus. This eulogy of the learned Dutchman occurred to -Tyndale's memory.[440] It was the Greek Testament of Erasmus that led -me to Christ, said he to himself; why should not the house of -Erasmus's friend offer me a shelter that I may translate it.... At -last he reached London, and, a stranger in that crowded city, he -wandered along the streets, a prey by turns to hope and fear. - - [440] As I thus thought, the bishop of London came to my remembrance. - Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - -Being recommended by Sir John Walsh to Sir Harry Guildford, the king's -comptroller, and by him to several priests, Tyndale began to preach -almost immediately, especially at St. Dunstan's, and bore into the -heart of the capital the truth which had been banished from the banks -of the Severn. The _word_ of God was with him the basis of salvation, -and the _grace_ of God its essence. His inventive mind presented the -truths he proclaimed in a striking manner. He said on one -occasion:--"It is the blood of Christ that opens the gates of heaven, -and not thy works. I am wrong.... Yes, if thou wilt have it so, by thy -good works shalt thou be saved.--Yet, understand me well,--not by -those which thou has done, but by those which Christ has done for -thee. Christ is in thee and thou in him, knit together inseparably. -Thou canst not be damned, except Christ be damned with thee; neither -can Christ be saved except thou be saved with him."[441] This lucid -view of justification by faith places Tyndale among the reformers. He -did not take his seat on a bishop's throne, or wear a silken cope; but -he mounted the scaffold, and was clothed with a garment of flames. In -the service of a crucified Saviour this latter distinction is higher -than the former. - - [441] Ibid. p. 79. - -Yet the translation was his chief business; he spoke to his -acquaintances about it, and some of them opposed his project. "The -teachings of the doctors," said some of the city tradesmen, "can alone -make us understand Scripture." "That is to say," replied Tyndale, "I -must measure the _yard_ by the _cloth_.[442] Look here," continued he, -using a practical argument, "here are in your shop twenty pieces of -stuff of different lengths.... Do you measure the yard by these -pieces, or the pieces by the yard?... The universal standard is -Scripture." This comparison was easily fixed in the minds of the petty -tradesmen of the capital. - - [442] Ibid. p. 153. - -[Sidenote: IS RECOMMENDED TO TONSTALL.] - -Desirous of carrying out his project, Tyndale aspired to become the -bishop's chaplain;[443] his ambition was more modest than Wolsey's. -The hellenist possessed qualities which could not fail to please the -most learned of Englishmen in Greek literature: Tonstall and Tyndale -both liked and read the same authors. The ex-tutor determined to plead -his cause through the elegant and harmonious disciple of Radicus and -Gorgias: "Here is one of Isocrates' orations that I have translated -into Latin," said he to Sir Harry Guildford; "I should be pleased to -become chaplain to his lordship the bishop of London; will you beg him -to accept this trifle. Isocrates ought to be an excellent -recommendation to a scholar; will you be good enough to add yours." -Guildford spoke to the bishop, placed the translation in his hands, -and Tonstall replied with that benevolence which he showed to every -one. "Your business is in a fair way," said the comptroller to -Tyndale; "write a letter to his lordship, and deliver it -yourself."[444] - - [443] He laboured to be his chaplain. Foxe, Acts, iv. p. 617. - - [444] He willed me to write an epistle to my lord, and to go to him - myself. Ibid. - -Tyndale's hopes now began to be realized. He wrote his letter in the -best style, and then, commending himself to God, proceeded to the -episcopal palace. He fortunately knew one of the bishop's officers, -William Hebilthwayte, to whom he gave the letter. Hebilthwayte carried -it to his lordship, while Tyndale waited. His heart throbbed with -anxiety: shall he find at last the long hoped for asylum? The bishop's -answer might decide the whole course of his life. If the door is -opened,--if the translator of the Scriptures should be settled in the -episcopal palace, why should not his London patron receive the truth -like his patron at Sodbury? and, in that case, what a future for the -church and for the kingdom!... The Reformation was knocking at the -door of the hierarchy of England, and the latter was about to utter -its yea or its nay. After a few moments' absence Hebilthwayte -returned: "I am going to conduct you to his lordship." Tyndale fancied -himself that he had attained his wishes. - -[Sidenote: THE BISHOP'S REPLY.] - -The bishop was too kind-hearted to refuse an audience to a man who -called upon him with the triple recommendation of Isocrates, of the -comptroller, and of the king's old companion in arms. He received -Tyndale with kindness, a little tempered however with coldness, as if -he were a man whose acquaintanceship might compromise him. Tyndale -having made known his wishes, the bishop hastened to reply: "Alas! my -house is full.[445] I have now more people than I can employ." Tyndale -was discomfited by this answer. The bishop of London was a learned -man, but wanting in courage and consistency; he gave his right hand to -the friends of letters and of the Gospel, and his left hand to the -friends of the priests; and then endeavoured to walk with both. But -when he had to choose between the two parties, clerical interests -prevailed. There was no lack of bishops, priests, and laymen about -him, who intimidated him by their clamours. After taking a few steps -forward, he suddenly recoiled. Still Tyndale ventured to hazard a -word; but the prelate was cold as before. The humanists, who laughed -at the ignorance of the monks, hesitated to touch an ecclesiastical -system which lavished on them such rich sinecures. They accepted the -new ideas in theory, but not in practice. They were very willing to -discuss them at table, but not to proclaim them from the pulpit; and -covering the Greek Testament with applause, they tore it in pieces -when rendered into the vulgar tongue. "If you will look well about -London," said Tonstall coldly to the poor priest; "you will not fail -to meet with some suitable employment." This was all Tyndale could -obtain. Hebilthwayte waited on him to the door, and the hellenist -departed sad and desponding. - - [445] My lord answered me, his home was full. Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. - 395. - -His expectations were disappointed. Driven from the banks of the -Severn, without a home in the capital, what would become of the -translation of the Scriptures? "Alas!" he said; "I was deceived -...[446] there is nothing to be looked for from the bishops.... Christ -was smitten on the cheek before the bishop, Paul was buffeted before -the bishop[447] ... and a bishop has just turned me away." His -dejection did not last long: there was an elastic principle in his -soul. "I hunger for the word of God," said he, "I will translate it, -whatever they may say or do. God will not suffer me to perish. He -never made a mouth but he made food for it, nor a body, but he made -raiment also."[448] - - [446] I was beguiled. Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 395. - - [447] Expositions, p. 59. - - [448] Tynd. and Fryth's Works, ii, p. 349. - -[Sidenote: THE LONDON MERCHANT.] - -This trustfulness was not misplaced. It was the privilege of a layman -to give what the bishop refused. Among Tyndale's hearers at St. -Dunstan's was a rich merchant named Humphrey Monmouth, who had visited -Rome, and to whom (as well as to his companions) the pope had been so -kind as to give certain Roman curiosities, such as indulgences, _a -culpa et a poena_. Ships laden with his manufactures every year quitted -London for foreign countries. He had formerly attended Colet's -preaching at St. Paul's, and from the year 1515 he had known the word -of God.[449] He was one of the gentlest and most obliging men in -England; he kept open house for the friends of learning and of the -Gospel, and his library contained the newest publications. In putting -on Jesus Christ, Monmouth had particularly striven to put on his -character; he helped generously with his purse both priests and men of -letters; he gave forty pounds sterling to the chaplain of the bishop -of London, the same to the king's, to the provincial of the -Augustines, and to others besides. Latimer, who sometimes dined with -him, once related in the pulpit an anecdote characteristic of the -friends of the Reformation in England. Among the regular guests at -Monmouth's table was one of his poorest neighbours, a zealous -Romanist, to whom his generous host often used to lend money. One day -when the pious merchant was extolling Scripture and blaming popery, -his neighbour turned pale, rose from the table, and left the room. "I -will never set foot in his house again," he said to his friends, "and -I will never borrow another shilling of him."[450] He next went to the -bishop and laid an information against his benefactor. Monmouth -forgave him, and tried to bring him back; but the neighbour constantly -turned out of his way. Once, however, they met in a street so narrow -that he could not escape. "I will pass by without looking at him," -said the Romanist turning away his head. But Monmouth went straight to -him, took him by the hand, and said affectionately: "Neighbour, what -wrong have I done you?" and he continued to speak to him with so much -love, that the poor man fell on his knees, burst into tears, and -begged his forgiveness.[451] Such was the spirit which, at the very -outset, animated the work of the Reformation in England: it was -acceptable to God, and found favour with the people. - - [449] The rich man began to be a Scripture man. Latimer's Sermons, p. - 440 (Park. Soc.) - - [450] Latimer's Works, i. p. 441. He would borrow no [more] money of - him. - - [451] Ibid. - -Monmouth being edified by Tyndale's sermons, inquired into his means -of living. "I have none,"[452] replied he, "but I hope to enter into -the bishop's service." This was before his visit to Tonstall. When -Tyndale saw all his hopes frustrated, he went to Monmouth and told him -everything. "Come and live with me," said the wealthy merchant, "and -there labour." God did to Tyndale according to his faith. Simple, -frugal, devoted to work, he studied night and day;[453] and wishing to -guard his mind against "being overcharged with surfeiting," he refused -the delicacies of his patron's table, and would take nothing but -sodden meat and small beer.[454] It would even seem that he carried -simplicity in dress almost too far.[455] By his conversation and his -works, he shed over the house of his patron the mild light of the -Christian virtues, and Monmouth loved him more and more every day. - - [452] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 617. - - [453] Strype, Records, i. p. 664. - - [454] Strype, Records, i. p. 664. He would eat but sodden meat and - drink but small single beer. - - [455] He was never seen in that house to wear linen about him. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: FRYTH JOINS TYNDALE.] - -Tyndale was advancing in his work when John Fryth, the mathematician -of King's College, Cambridge, arrived in London. It is probable that -Tyndale, feeling the want of an associate, had invited him. United -like Luther and Melancthon, the two friends held many precious -conversations together. "I will consecrate my life wholly to the -church of Jesus Christ," said Fryth.[456] "To be a good man, you must -give great part of yourself to your parents, a greater part to your -country; but the greatest of all to the church of the Lord." "The -people should know the word of God,"[457] they said both. "The -interpretation of the gospel, without the intervention of councils or -popes, is sufficient to create a saving faith in the heart." They shut -themselves up in the little room in Monmouth's house, and translated -chapter after chapter from the Greek into plain English. The bishop of -London knew nothing of the work going on a few yards from him, and -everything was succeeding to Tyndale's wishes when it was interrupted -by an unforeseen circumstance. - - [456] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, iii, p. 73, 74. - - [457] That the poor people might also read and see the simple plain - word of God. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 118. - -[Sidenote: LEARNING AND THE SCAFFOLD.] - -Longland, the persecutor of the Lincolnshire Christians, did not -confine his activity within the limits of his diocese; he besieged the -king, the cardinal, and the queen with his cruel importunities, using -Wolsey's influence with Henry, and Henry's with Wolsey. "His majesty," -he wrote to the cardinal, "shows in this holy dispute as much goodness -as zeal ... yet, be pleased to urge him to overthrow God's enemies." -And then turning to the king, the confessor said, to spur him on: "The -cardinal is about to fulminate the greater excommunication against all -who possess Luther's works or hold his opinions, and to make the -booksellers sign a bond before the magistrates, not to sell -_heretical_ books." "Wonderful!" replied Henry with a sneer, "they -will fear the magisterial bond, I think, more than the _clerical_ -excommunication." And yet the consequences of the "clerical" -excommunication were to be very positive; whosoever persevered in his -offence was to be pursued by the law _ad ignem_, even to the -fire.[458] At last the confessor applied to the queen: "We cannot be -sure of restraining the press," he said to her. "These wretched books -come to us from Germany, France, and the Low Countries; and are even -printed in the very midst of us. Madam, we must train and prepare -skilful men, such as are able to discuss the controverted points, so -that the laity, struck on the one hand by well developed arguments, -and frightened by the fear of punishment on the other, may be kept in -obedience."[459] In the bishop's system, "fire" was to be the -complement of Roman learning. The essential idea of Jesuitism is -already visible in this conception of Henry the Eighth's confessor. -That system is the natural development of Romanism. - - [458] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i. p. 42. - - [459] Anderson, Bible Annals, i. p. 42, 43. Herbert says (p. 147) "to - suspend the laity betwixt fear and controversies." - -Tonstall, urged forward by Longland, and desirous of showing himself -as holy a churchman as he had once been a skilful statesman and -elegant scholar--Tonstall, the friend of Erasmus, began to persecute. -He would have feared to shed blood, like Longland; but there are -measures which torture the mind and not the body, and which the most -moderate men fear not to make use of. John Higgins, Henry Chambers, -Thomas Eaglestone, a priest named Edmund Spilman, and some other -Christians in London, used to meet and read portions of the Bible in -English, and even asserted publicly that "Luther had more learning in -his little finger than all the doctors in England."[460] The bishop -ordered these rebels to be arrested: he flattered and alarmed them, -threatening them with a cruel death (which he would hardly have -inflicted on them), and by these skilful practices reduced them to -silence. - - [460] Foxe, Acts, v. p. 179. - -Tyndale, who witnessed this persecution, feared lest the stake should -interrupt his labour. If those who read a few fragments of Scripture -are threatened with death, what will he not have to endure who is -translating the whole? His friends entreated him to withdraw from the -bishop's pursuit. "Alas!" he exclaimed, "is there then no place where -I can translate the Bible?... It is not the bishop's house alone that -is closed against me, but all England."[461] - - [461] But also that there was no place to do it in all England. Tynd. - Doctr. Tr. 396. - -[Sidenote: HIS INDIGNATION AGAINST THE PRELATES.] - -He then made a great sacrifice. Since there is no place in his own -country where he can translate the word of God, he will go and seek -one among the nations of the continent. It is true the people are -unknown to him; he is without resources; perhaps persecution and even -death await him there.... It matters not! some time must elapse before -it is known what he is doing, and perhaps he will have been able to -translate the Bible. He turned his eyes towards Germany. "God does -not destine us to a quiet life here below," he said.[462] "If he calls -us to peace on the part of Jesus Christ, he calls us to war on the -part of the world." - - [462] We be not called to a soft living. Tynd. Doct. Tr. 249. - -There lay at that moment in the river Thames a vessel loading for -Hamburg. Monmouth gave Tyndale ten pounds sterling for his voyage, and -other friends contributed a like amount. He left the half of this sum -in the hands of his benefactor to provide for his future wants, and -prepared to quit London, where he had spent a year. Rejected by his -fellow-countrymen, persecuted by the clergy, and carrying with him -only his New Testament and his ten pounds, he went on board the ship, -shaking off the dust of his feet, according to his Master's precept, -and that dust fell back on the priests of England. He was indignant -(says the chronicler) against those coarse monks, covetous priests, -and pompous prelates,[463] who were waging an impious war against God. -"What a trade is that of the priests!" he said in one of his later -writings; "they want money for every thing: money for baptism, money -for churchings, for weddings, for buryings, for images, brotherhoods, -penances, soul-masses, bells, organs, chalices, copes, surplices, -ewers, censers, and all manner of ornaments. Poor sheep! The parson -shears, the vicar shaves, the parish priest polls, the friar scrapes, -the indulgence seller pares ... all that you want is a butcher to flay -you and take away your skin.[464] He will not leave you long. Why are -your prelates dressed in red? Because they are ready to shed the blood -of whomsoever seeketh the word of God.[465] Scourge of states, -devastators of kingdoms, the priests take away not only Holy -Scripture, but also prosperity and peace; but of their councils is no -layman; reigning over all, they obey nobody; and making all concur to -their own greatness, they conspire against every kingdom."[466] - - [463] Marking especially the demeanour of the preachers, and beholding - the pomp of the prelates. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 118. - - [464] Doct. Tr. p. 238. Obedience of a Chr. Man. - - [465] Ibid. p. 251. - - [466] Ibid. p. 191. - -No kingdom was to be more familiar than England with the conspiracies -of the papacy of which Tyndale spoke; and yet none was to free itself -more irrevocably from the power of Rome. - -Yet Tyndale was leaving the shores of his native land, and as he -turned his eyes towards the new countries, hope revived in his heart. -He was going to be free, and he would use his liberty to deliver the -word of God, so long held captive. "The priests," he said one day, -"when they had slain Christ, set poleaxes to keep him in his -sepulchre, that he should not rise again, even so have our priests -buried the testament of God, and all their study is to keep it down, -that it rise not again.[467] But the hour of the Lord is come, and -nothing can hinder the word of God, as nothing could hinder Jesus -Christ of old from issuing from the tomb." Indeed that poor man, then -sailing towards Germany, was to send back, even from the banks of the -Elbe, the eternal Gospel to his countrymen. - - [467] Tyndale, Doct. Tr. p. 251. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - Bilney at Cambridge--Conversions--The University - Cross-Bearer--A Leicestershire Farmer--A Party of - Students--Superstitious Practices--An obstinate Papist--The - Sophists--Latimer attacks Stafford--Bilney's - Resolution--Latimer hears Bilney's Confession--Confessor - converted--New Life in Latimer--Bilney preaches - Grace--Nature of the Ministry--Latimer's Character and - Teaching--Works of Charity--Three Classes of - Adversaries--Clark and Dalaber. - - -[Sidenote: BILNEY AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -This ship did not bear away all the hopes of England. A society of -Christians had been formed at Cambridge, of which Bilney was the -centre. He now knew no other canon law than Scripture, and had found a -new master, "the Holy Spirit of Christ," says an historian. Although -he was naturally timid, and often suffered from the exhaustion brought -on by his fasts and vigils, there was in his language a life, liberty, -and strength, strikingly in contrast with his sickly appearance. He -desired to draw to the knowledge of God,[468] all who came nigh him; -and by degrees, the rays of the Gospel sun, which was then rising in -the firmament of Christendom, pierced the ancient windows of the -colleges, and illuminated the solitary chambers of certain of the -masters and fellows. Master Arthur, Master Thistle of Pembroke Hall, -and Master Stafford, were among the first to join Bilney. George -Stafford, professor of divinity, was a man of deep learning and holy -life, clear and precise in his teaching. He was admired by every one -in Cambridge, so that his conversion, like that of his friends, spread -alarm among the partisans of the schoolmen. But a conversion still -more striking than this was destined to give the English Reformation -a champion more illustrious than either Stafford or Bilney. - - [468] So was in his heart an incredible desire to allure many. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 620. - -[Sidenote: A LEICESTERSHIRE FARMER.] - -There was in Cambridge, at that time, a priest notorious for his -ardent fanaticism. In the processions, amidst the pomp, prayers, and -chanting of the train, none could fail to notice a master-of-arts, -about thirty years of age, who, with erect head, carried proudly the -university cross. Hugh Latimer, for such was his name, combined a -biting humour with an impetuous disposition and indefatigable zeal, -and was very quick in ridiculing the faults of his adversaries. There -was more wit and raillery in his fanaticism than can often be found in -such characters. He followed the friends of the word of God into the -colleges and houses where they used to meet, debated with them, and -pressed them to abandon their faith. He was a second Saul, and was -soon to resemble the apostle of the Gentiles in another respect. - -He first saw light in the year 1491, in the county of Leicester. -Hugh's father was an honest yeoman; and accompanied by one of his six -sisters, the little boy had often tended in the pastures the five -score sheep belonging to the farm, or driven home to his mother the -thirty cows it was her business to milk.[469] In 1497, the Cornish -rebels, under Lord Audley, having encamped at Blackheath, our farmer -had donned his rusty armour, and mounting his horse, responded to the -summons of the crown. Hugh, then only six years old, was present at -his departure, and as if he had wished to take his little part in the -battle, he had buckled the straps of his father's armour.[470] -Fifty-two years afterwards he recalled this circumstance to mind in a -sermon preached before king Edward. His father's house was always open -to the neighbours; and no poor man ever turned away from the door -without having received alms. The old man brought up his family in the -love of men and in the fear of God, and having remarked with joy the -precocious understanding of his son, he had him educated in the -country schools, and then sent to Cambridge at the age of fourteen. -This was in 1505, just as Luther was entering the Augustine convent. - - [469] My mother milked thirty kine. Latimer's Sermons, (Parker ed.) p. - 101. - - [470] I can remember that I buckled his harness. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: AN OBSTINATE PAPIST.] - -The son of the Leicestershire yeoman was lively, fond of pleasure, and -of cheerful conversation, and mingled frequently in the amusements of -his fellow-students. One day, as they were dining together, one of the -party exclaimed: _Nil melius quam laetari et facere bene_!--"There is -nothing better than to be merry and to do well."[471]--"A vengeance -on that _bene_!" replied a monk of impudent mien; "I wish it were -beyond the sea;[472] it mars all the rest." Young Latimer was much -surprised at the remark: "I understand it now," said he; "that will be -a heavy _bene_ to these monks when they have to render God an account -of their lives." - - [471] Eccles. iii. 12. - - [472] I would that _bene_ had been banished beyond the sea. Latimer's - Sermons, p. 153. - -Latimer having become more serious, threw himself heart and soul into -the practices of superstition, and a very bigoted old cousin undertook -to instruct him in them. One day, when one of their relations lay -dead, she said to him: "Now we must drive out the devil. Take this -holy taper, my child, and pass it over the body, first longways and -then athwart, so as always to make the sign of the cross." - -But the scholar performing this exorcism very awkwardly, his aged -cousin snatched the candle from his hand, exclaiming angrily: "It's a -great pity your father spends so much money on your studies: he will -never make anything of you."[473] - - [473] Ibid. p. 499. - -This prophecy was not fulfilled. He became Fellow of Clare Hall in -1509, and took his master's degree in 1514. His classical studies -being ended, he began to study divinity. Duns Scotus, Aquinas, and -Hugo de Sancto Victore were his favourite authors. The practical side -of things, however, engaged him more than the speculative; and he was -more distinguished in Cambridge for his asceticism and enthusiasm than -for his learning, He attached importance to the merest trifles. As the -missal directs that water should be mingled with the sacramental wine, -often while saying mass he would be troubled in his conscience for -fear he had not put _sufficient water_.[474] This remorse never left -him a moment's tranquillity during the service. In him, as in many -others, attachment to puerile ordinances occupied in his heart the -place of faith in the great truths. With him, the cause of the church -was the cause of God, and he respected Thomas a Becket at least as -much as St. Paul. "I was then," said he, "as obstinate a papist as any -in England."[475] Luther said the same thing of himself. - - [474] He thought he had never sufficiently mingled his massing wine - with water. Foxe, Acts, viii, p. 433. - - [475] Ibid. p. 334. - -[Sidenote: STAFFORD AND THE SOPHISTS.] - -The fervent Latimer soon observed that everybody around him was not -equally zealous with himself for the ceremonies of the church. He -watched with surprise certain young members of the university who, -forsaking the doctors of the School, met daily to read and search into -the Holy Scriptures. People sneered at them in Cambridge: "It is only -the _sophists_," was the cry; but raillery was not enough for -Latimer. One day he entered the room where these _sophists_ were -assembled, and begged them to cease studying the Bible. All his -entreaties were useless. Can we be astonished at it? said Latimer to -himself. Don't we see even the tutors setting an example to these -stray sheep? There is Master Stafford, the most illustrious professor -in English universities, devoting his time _ad Biblia_, like Luther at -Wittemberg, and explaining the Scriptures according to the Hebrew and -Greek texts! and the delighted students celebrate in bad verse the -doctor, - - _Qui Paulum explicuit rite et evangelium._[476] - - [476] Who has explained to us the true sense of St. Paul and of the - Gospel. Strype's Mem. i, p. 74. - -That young people should occupy themselves with these new doctrines -was conceivable, but that a doctor of divinity should do so--what a -disgrace! Latimer therefore determined to attack Stafford. He insulted -him[477]; he entreated the youth of Cambridge to abandon the professor -and his heretical teaching; he attended the hall in which the doctor -taught, made signs of impatience during the lesson, and cavilled at it -after leaving the school. He even preached in public against the -learned doctor. But it seemed to him that Cambridge and England were -struck blind: true, the clergy approved of Latimer's proceedings--nay, -praised them; and yet they did nothing. To console him, however, he -was named cross-bearer to the university, and we have already seen him -discharging this duty. - - [477] Most spitefully railing against him. Foxe, Acts, viii, p. 437. - -Latimer desired to show himself worthy of such an honour. He had left -the students to attack Stafford; and he now left Stafford for a more -illustrious adversary. But this attack led him to some one _that was -stronger than he_. At the occasion of receiving the degree of bachelor -of divinity he had to deliver a Latin discourse in the presence of the -university; Latimer chose for his subject _Philip Melancthon and his -doctrines_. Had not this daring heretic presumed to say quite recently -that the fathers of the church have altered the sense of Scripture? -Had he not asserted that, like those rocks whose various colours are -imparted to the polypus which clings to them,[478] so the doctors of -the church give each their own opinion in the passages they explain? -And finally had he not discovered a new _touch-stone_ (it is thus he -styles the Holy Scripture) by which we must test the sentences even of -St. Thomas? - - [478] Ut polypus cuicunque petrae adhaeserit, ejus colorem imitatur. - (Corp. Ref. i, p. 114.) As the polypus resembles in colour the rock to - which it clings. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER HEARS BILNEY'S CONFESSION.] - -Latimer's discourse made a great impression. At last (said his -hearers) England, nay Cambridge, will furnish a champion for the -church that will confront the Wittemberg doctors, and save the vessel -of our Lord. But very different was to be the result. There was among -the hearers one man almost hidden through his small stature: it was -Bilney. For some time he had been watching Latimer's movements, and -his zeal interested him, though it was a zeal without knowledge. His -energy was not great, but he possessed a delicate tact, a skilful -discernment of character which enabled him to distinguish error, and -to select the fittest method for combating it. Accordingly, a -chronicler styles him "a trier of Satan's subtleties, appointed by God -to detect the bad money that the enemy was circulating throughout the -church."[479] Bilney easily detected Latimer's sophisms, but at the -same time loved his person, and conceived the design of winning him to -the Gospel. But how to manage it? The prejudiced Latimer would not -even listen to the evangelical Bilney. The latter reflected, prayed, -and at last planned a very candid and very strange plot, which led to -one of the most astonishing conversions recorded in history. - - [479] Foxe, Acts, vii, p. 438. - -[Sidenote: THE CONFESSOR CONVERTED.] - -He went to the college where Latimer resided. "For the love of God," -he said to him, "be pleased to hear my confession."[480] The _heretic_ -prayed to make confession to the _catholic_: what a singular fact! My -discourse against Melancthon has no doubt converted him, said Latimer -to himself. Had not Bilney once been among the number of the most -pious zealots? His pale face, his wasted frame, and his humble look -are clear signs that he ought to belong to the ascetics of -catholicism. If he turns back, all will turn back with him, and the -reaction will be complete at Cambridge. The ardent Latimer eagerly -yielded to Bilney's request, and the latter, kneeling before the -cross-bearer, related to him with touching simplicity the anguish he -had once felt in his soul, the efforts he had made to remove it; their -unprofitableness so long as he determined to follow the precepts of -the church, and lastly, the peace he had felt when he believed that -Jesus Christ is _the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the -world_. He described to Latimer the spirit of adoption he had -received, and the happiness he experienced in being able now to call -God his father.... Latimer, who expected to receive a confession, -listened without mistrust. His heart was opened, and the voice of the -pious Bilney penetrated it without obstacle. From time to time the -confessor would have chased away the new thoughts which came crowding -into his bosom; but the penitent continued. His language, at once so -simple and so lively, entered like a two-edged sword. Bilney was not -without assistance in his work. A new, a strange witness,--the Holy -Ghost,[481]--was speaking in Latimer's soul. He learned from God to -know God: he received a new heart. At length grace prevailed: the -penitent rose up, but Latimer remained seated, absorbed in thought. -The strong cross-bearer contended in vain against the words of the -feeble Bilney. Like Saul on the way to Damascus, he was conquered, and -his conversion, like the apostle's, was instantaneous. He stammered -out a few words; Bilney drew near him with love, and God scattered the -darkness which still obscured his mind. He saw Jesus Christ as the -only Saviour given to man: he contemplated and adored him. "I learnt -more by this confession," he said afterwards, "than by much reading -and in many years before[482].... I now tasted the word of God,[483] -and forsook the doctors of the school and all their fooleries."[484] -It was not the penitent but the confessor who received absolution. -Latimer viewed with horror the obstinate war he had waged against God; -he wept bitterly; but Bilney consoled him. "Brother," said he, "though -your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." These two young -men, then locked in their solitary chamber at Cambridge, were one day -to mount the scaffold for that divine Master whose spirit was teaching -them. But one of them before going to the stake was first to sit on an -episcopal throne. - - [480] He came to me afterwards in my study, and desired me for God's - sake to hear his confession. Latimer's Sermons, p. 334. - - [481] He was through the good Spirit of God so touched. Foxe, viii, p. - 438. - - [482] Latimer's Sermons, p. 334. - - [483] From that time forward I began to smell the word of God. Ibid. - - [484] Ibid. p. 335. - -Latimer was changed. The energy of his character was tempered by a -divine unction. Becoming a believer, he had ceased to be -superstitious. Instead of persecuting Jesus Christ, he became a -zealous seeker after him.[485] Instead of cavilling and railing, he -showed himself meek and gentle;[486] instead of frequenting company, -he sought solitude, studying the Scriptures and advancing in true -theology. He threw off the old man and put on the new. He waited upon -Stafford, begged forgiveness for the insult he had offered him, and -then regularly attended his lectures, being subjugated more by this -doctor's angelic conversation[487] than by his learning. But it was -Bilney's society Latimer cultivated most. They conversed together -daily, took frequent walks together into the country, and occasionally -rested at a place, long known as "the heretic's hill."[488] - - [485] Whereas before he was an enemy and almost a persecutor of - Christ, he was now a zealous seeker after him. Foxe, Acts, vii, p. - 338. - - [486] Ibid. - - [487] A man of a very perfect life and angelic conversation. Becon's - Works (Parker Soc.) p. 425. - - [488] Foxe, viii, p. 452. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY PREACHES GRACE.] - -So striking a conversion gave fresh vigour to the evangelical -movement. Hitherto Bilney and Latimer had been the most zealous -champions of the two opposite causes; the one despised, the other -honoured; the weak man had conquered the strong. This action of the -Spirit of God was not thrown away upon Cambridge. Latimer's -conversion, as of old the miracles of the apostles, struck men's -minds; and was it not in truth a miracle? All the youth of the -university ran to hear Bilney preach. He proclaimed "Jesus Christ as -He who, having tasted death, has delivered his people from the penalty -of sin."[489] While the doctors of the school (even the most pious of -them) laid most stress upon _man's_ part in the work of redemption, -Bilney on the contrary emphasized the other term, namely, _God's_ -part. This doctrine of grace, said his adversaries, annuls the -sacraments, and contradicts baptismal regeneration. The selfishness -which forms the essence of fallen humanity rejected the evangelical -doctrine, and felt that to accept it was to be lost. "Many listened -with _the left ear_," to use an expression of Bilney's; "like Malchus, -having their _right_ ear cut off;" and they filled the university with -their complaints. - - [489] Christus quem pro virili doceo.....denique et satisfactionem. - Ep. ad Tonstallum episcop. Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 633. - -But Bilney did not allow himself to be stopped. The idea of eternity -had seized on his mind, and perhaps he still retained some feeble -relic of the exaggeration of asceticism. He condemned every kind of -recreation, even when innocent. Music in the churches seemed to him a -mockery of God;[490] and when Thurlby, who was afterwards a bishop, -and who lived at Cambridge in the room below his, used to begin -playing on the recorder, Bilney would fall on his knees and pour out -his soul in prayer: to him prayer was the sweetest melody. He prayed -that the lively faith of the children of God might in all England be -substituted for the vanity and pride of the priests. He believed--he -prayed--he waited. His waiting was not to be in vain. - - [490] Ibid. p. 621. - -[Sidenote: NATURE OF THE MINISTRY.] - -Latimer trod in his footsteps: the transformation of his soul was -going on; and the more fanaticism he had shown for the sacerdotal -system, which places salvation in the hands of the priest, the more -zeal he now showed for the evangelical system, which placed it in the -hands of Christ. He saw that if the churches must needs have -ministers, it is not because they require a human mediation, but from -the necessity of a regular preaching of the Gospel and a steady -direction of the flock; and accordingly he would have wished to call -the servant of the Lord _minister_ ([Greek word] or [Greek text]), -and not _priest_,[491] ([Greek word] or _sacerdos_.) In his view, it -was not the imposition of hands by the bishop that gave grace, but -grace which authorized the imposition of hands. He considered -activity to be one of the essential features of the Gospel ministry. -"Would you know," said he, "why the Lord chose _fishermen_ to be his -apostles?... See how they watch day and night at their nets to take -all such fishes that they can get and come in their way.... So all -our bishops, and curates, and vicars should be as painful in casting -their nets, that is to say, in preaching God's word."[492] He -regarded all confidence in human strength as a remnant of paganism. -"Let us not do," he said, "as the haughty Ajax, who said to his -father as he went to battle: Without the help of God I am able to -fight, and I will get the victory with mine own strength."[493] - - [491] Minister is a more fit name for that office. Latimer's remains, - p. 264. - - [492] Ibid. p. 24. - - [493] Latimer's Sermons, p. 491. Sophocles, Ajax, 783, et seq. - -The Reformation had gained in Latimer a very different man from -Bilney. He had not so much discernment and prudence perhaps, but he -had more energy and eloquence. What Tyndale was to be for England by -his writings, Latimer was to be by his discourses. The tenderness of -his conscience, the warmth of his zeal, and the vivacity of his -understanding, were enlisted in the service of Jesus Christ; and if at -times he was carried too far by the liveliness of his wit, it only -shows that the reformers were not _saints_, but sanctified men. "He -was one of the first," says an historian, "who, in the days of king -Henry VIII, set himself to preach the Gospel in the truth and -simplicity of it."[494] He preached in Latin _ad clerum_, and in -English _ad populum_. He boldly placed the law with its curses before -his hearers, and then conjured them to flee towards the Saviour of the -world.[495] The same zeal which he had employed in saying mass, he now -employed in preaching the true sacrifice of Christ. He said one -day:--"If one man had committed all the sins since Adam, you may be -sure he should be punished with the same horror of death, in such a -sort as all men in the world should have suffered.... Such was the -pain Christ endured.... If our Saviour had committed all the sins of -the world; all that I for my part have done, all that you for your -part have done, and all that any man else hath done; if he had done -all this himself, his agony that he suffered should have been no -greater nor grievouser than it was.... Believe in Jesus Christ, and -you shall overcome death.... But, alas!" said he at another time, "the -devil, by the help of that Italian bishop, his chaplain, has laboured -by all means that he might frustrate the death of Christ and the -merits of his passion."[496] - - [494] Strype's Mem. iii, part i, p. 378. - - [495] Flying to him by an evangelical faith. Ibid. - - [496] Lat. Ser. p. 74. - -[Sidenote: WORKS OF CHARITY.] - -Thus began in British Christendom the preaching of the Cross. The -Reformation was not the substitution of the catholicism of the first -ages for the popery of the middle ages: it was a revival of the -preaching of St. Paul, and thus it was that on hearing Latimer every -one exclaimed with rapture: "Of a _Saul_, God has made him a very -_Paul_."[497] - - [497] This was said by Ralph Morice, afterwards Cranmer's secretary. - Strype, Eccl. Mem. iii, part i, p. 368. - -To the inward power of faith, the Cambridge evangelists added the -outward power of the life. Saul become Paul, the strong, the ardent -Latimer, had need of action; and Bilney, the weak and humble Bilney, -in delicate health, observing a severe diet, taking ordinarily but one -meal a-day, and never sleeping more than four hours, absorbed in -prayer and in the study of the word, displayed at that time all the -energy of charity. These two friends devoted themselves not merely to -the easy labours of Christian beneficence; but caring little for that -formal Christianity so often met with among the easy classes, they -explored the gloomy cells of the madhouse to bear the sweet and subtle -voice of the gospel to the infuriate maniacs. They visited the -miserable lazar-house without the town, in which several poor lepers -were dwelling; they carefully tended them, wrapped them in clean -sheets, and wooed them to be converted to Christ.[498] The gates of -the jail at Cambridge were opened to them,[499] and they announced to -the poor prisoners that word which giveth liberty. Some were converted -by it, and longed for the day of their execution.[500] Latimer, -afterwards bishop of Worcester, was one of the most beautiful types of -the Reformation in England. - - [498] Preaching at the lazar cots, wrapping them in sheets. Foxe, - Acts, vol. iv, p. 620. Lond. 1846. - - [499] Latimer's Sermons, p. 335. (Park. Soc.) - - [500] She had such a savour, such a sweetness, and feeling, that she - thought it long to the day of execution. Ibid. p. 180. - -[Sidenote: WORLDLINESS AND BRUTALITY.] - -He was opposed by numerous adversaries. In the front rank were the -priests, who spared no endeavours to retain souls. "Beware," said -Latimer to the new converts, "lest robbers overtake you, and plunge -you into the pope's prison of purgatory."[501] After these came the -sons and favourites of the aristocracy, worldly and frivolous -students, who felt little disposition to listen to the gospel. "By -yeomen's sons the faith of Christ is and hath been chiefly maintained -in the church,"[502] said Latimer. "Is this realm taught by rich men's -sons? No, no; read the chronicles; ye shall find sometime noblemen's -sons which have been unpreaching bishops and prelates, but ye shall -find none of them learned men." He would have desired a mode of -election which placed in the Christian pulpit, not the richest and -most fashionable men, but the ablest and most pious. This important -reform was reserved for other days. Lastly, the evangelists of -Cambridge came into collision with the _brutality_ of many, to use -Latimer's own expression. "What need have we of universities and -schools?" said the students of this class. The Holy Ghost "will give -us always what to say."--"We must trust in the Holy Ghost," replied -Latimer, "but not presume on it. If you will not maintain -universities, you shall have a _brutality_."[503] In this manner the -Reformation restored to Cambridge gravity and knowledge, along with -truth and charity. - - [501] Strype's Eccles. Memorials, vol. iii, pt. i, p. 378. - - [502] Latimer's Sermons, p. 102. - - [503] Ibid. p. 269. - -[Sidenote: PERSECUTION SUSPENDED.] - -Yet Bilney and Latimer often turned their eyes towards Oxford, and -wondered how the light would be able to penetrate there. Wolsey -provided for that. A Cambridge master of arts, John Clark, a -conscientious man, of tender heart, great prudence, and unbounded -devotion to his duty, had been enlightened by the word of God. Wolsey, -who since 1523 had been seeking every where for distinguished scholars -to adorn his new college, invited Clark among the first. This doctor, -desirous of bearing to Oxford the light which God had given Cambridge, -immediately began to deliver a course of divinity lectures, to hold -conferences, and to preach in his eloquent manner. He taught every -day.[504] Among the graduates and students who followed him was -Anthony Dalaber, a young man of simple but profound feeling, who while -listening to him had experienced in his heart the regenerating power -of the Gospel. Overflowing with the happiness which the knowledge of -Jesus Christ imparted to him, he went to the Cardinal's college, -knocked at Clark's door, and said: "Father, allow me never to quit you -more!" The teacher, beholding the young disciple's enthusiasm, loved -him, but thought it his duty to try him: "Anthony," said he, "you know -not what you ask. My teaching is now pleasant to you, but the time -will come when God will lay the cross of persecution on you; you will -be dragged before bishops; your name will be covered with shame in the -world, and all who love you will be heart-broken on account of you.... -Then, my friend, you will regret that you ever knew me." - - [504] Teach or preach, which he did daily. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 426. - -Anthony believing himself rejected, and unable to bear the idea of -returning to the barren instructions of the priests, fell on his -knees, and weeping bitterly,[505] exclaimed: "For the tender mercy of -God, turn me not away." Touched by his sorrow, Clark folded him in his -arms, kissed him, and with tears in his eyes exclaimed: "The Lord give -thee what thou askest!... Take me for thy father, I take thee for my -son." From that hour Anthony, all joy, was like Timothy at the feet of -Paul. He united a quick understanding with tender affections. When any -of the students had not attended Clark's conferences, the master -commissioned his disciple to visit them, to inquire into their doubts, -and to impart to them his instructions. "This exercise did me much -good," said Dalaber, "and I made great progress in the knowledge of -Scripture." - - [505] Foxe, Acts, v, p. 426. - -Thus the kingdom of God, which consists not in forms, but in the power -of the Spirit, was set up in Cambridge and Oxford. The alarmed -schoolmen, beholding their most pious scholars escaping one after -another from their teaching, called the bishops to their aid, and the -latter determined to send agents to Cambridge, the focus of the -heresy, to apprehend the leaders. This took place in 1523 or the -beginning of 1524. The episcopal officers had arrived, and were -proceeding to business. The most timid began to feel alarm, but -Latimer was full of courage; when suddenly the agents of the clergy -were forbidden to go on, and this prohibition, strange to say, -originated with Wolsey; "upon what ground I cannot imagine," says -Burnet.[506] Certain events were taking place at Rome of a nature to -exercise great influence over the priestly councils, and which may -perhaps explain what Burnet could not understand. - - [506] History of the Reformation, vol. i, p. 25. Lond. 1841. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Wolsey seeks the Tiara--Clement VII is elected--Wolsey's - dissimulation--Charles offers France to Henry--Pace's - Mission on this Subject--Wolsey reforms the Convents--His - secret Alliances--Treaty between France and - England--Taxation and Insurrection--False Charges against - the Reformers--Latimer's Defence--Tenterden Steeple. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S AMBITION.] - -Adrian VI died on the 14th September 1523, before the end of the -second year of his pontificate. Wolsey thought himself pope. At length -he would no longer be the favourite only, but the arbiter of the kings -of the earth; and his genius, for which England was too narrow, would -have Europe and the world for its stage. Already revolving gigantic -projects in his mind, the future pope dreamt of the destruction of -heresy in the west, and in the east the cessation of the Greek schism, -and new crusades to replant the cross on the walls of Constantinople. -There is nothing that Wolsey would not have dared undertake when once -seated on the throne of catholicism, and the pontificates of Gregory -VII and Innocent III would have been eclipsed by that of the Ipswich -butcher's son. The cardinal reminded Henry of his promise, and the -very next day the king signed a letter addressed to Charles the Fifth. - -Believing himself sure of the emperor, Wolsey turned all his exertions -to the side of Rome. "The legate of England," said Henry's ambassadors -to the cardinals, "is the very man for the present time. He is the -only one thoroughly acquainted with the interests and wants of -Christendom, and strong enough to provide for them. He is all -kindness, and will share his dignities and wealth among all the -prelates who support him." - -But Julio de' Medici himself aspired to the papacy, and as eighteen -cardinals were devoted to him, the election could not take place -without his support. "Rather than yield," said he in the conclave, "I -would die in this prison." A month passed away, and nothing was done. -New intrigues were then resorted to: there were cabals for Wolsey, -cabals for Medici. The cardinals were besieged: - - Into their midst, by many a secret path, - Creeps sly intrigue.[507] - - [507] Un conclave, by C. Delavigne. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DISSIMULATION.] - -At length, on the 19th November 1523, the people collected under their -windows, shouting: "No foreign pope." After forty-nine days debating, -Julio was elected, and according to his own expression, "bent his head -beneath the yoke of apostolic servitude."[508] He took the name of -Clement VII. - - [508] Colla subjecimus jugo apostolicae servitutis. (Rymer, Foedera, vi, - 2, p. 7.) We bent our neck under the yoke of apostolic servitude. - -Wolsey was exasperated. It was in vain that he presented himself -before St. Peter's chair at each vacancy: a more active or more -fortunate rival always reached it before him. Master of England, and -the most influential of European diplomatists, he saw men preferred to -him who were his inferiors. This election was an event for the -Reformation. Wolsey as pope would, humanly speaking, have tightened -the cords which already bound England so closely to Rome; but Wolsey, -rejected, could hardly fail to throw himself into tortuous paths which -would perhaps contribute to the emancipation of the Church. He became -more crafty than ever; declared to Henry that the new election was -quite in conformity with his wishes,[509] and hastened to congratulate -the new pope. He wrote to his agents at Rome: "This election, I assure -you, is as much to the king's and my rejoicing, consolation, and -gladness, as possibly may be devised or imagined.... Ye shall show -unto his holiness what joy, comfort, and gladness it is both to the -king's highness and me to perceive that once in our lives it hath -pleased God of his great goodness to provide such a pastor unto his -church, as his grace and I have long inwardly desired; who for his -virtue, wisdom, and other high and notable qualities, we have always -reputed the most able and worthy person to be called to that -dignity."[510] But the pope, divining his competitor's vexation, sent -the king a golden rose, and a ring to Wolsey. "I am sorry," he said as -he drew it from his finger, "that I cannot present it to his eminence -in person." Clement moreover conferred on him the quality of legate -_for life_--an office which had hitherto been temporary only. Thus the -popedom and England embraced each other, and nothing appeared more -distant than that Christian revolution which was destined very shortly -to emancipate Britain from the tutelage of the Vatican. - - [509] I take God to witness, I am more joyous thereof, than if it had - fortuned upon my person. Wolsey to Henry VIII. Burnet, Records, p. - cccxxviii. (Lond. 1841.) - - [510] Wolsey to Secretary Pace. Galt's Wolsey, p. 381, Appendix. - (Lond. 1846.) - -[Sidenote: PACE'S EMBASSY.] - -Wolsey's disappointed ambition made him suspend the proceedings of the -clergy at Cambridge. He had revenge in his heart, and cared not to -persecute his fellow-countrymen merely to please his rival; and -besides, like several popes, he had a certain fondness for learning. -To send a few Lollards to prison was a matter of no difficulty; but -learned doctors ... this required a closer examination. Hence he gave -Rome a sign of independence. And yet it was not specially against the -pope that he began to entertain sinister designs: Clement had been -more fortunate than himself; but that was no reason why he should be -angry with him.... Charles V was the offender, and Wolsey swore a -deadly hatred against him. Resolved to strike, he sought only the -place where he could inflict the severest blow. To obtain his end, he -resolved to dissemble his passion, and to distil drop by drop into -Henry's mind that mortal hatred against Charles, which gave fresh -energy to his activity. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY REFORMS THE MONASTERIES.] - -Charles discovered the indignation that lay hid under Wolsey's -apparent mildness, and wishing to retain Henry's alliance, he made -more pressing advances to the king. Having deprived the minister of a -tiara, he resolved to offer the king a crown: this was, indeed, a -noble compensation! "You are king of France," the emperor said, "and I -undertake to win your kingdom for you.[511] Only send an ambassador to -Italy to negotiate the matter." Wolsey, who could hardly contain his -vexation, was forced to comply, in appearance at least, with the -emperor's views. The king, indeed, seemed to think of nothing but his -arrival at St. Germain's, and commissioned Pace to visit Italy for -this important business. Wolsey hoped that he would be unable to -execute his commission; it was impossible to cross the Alps, for the -French troops blockaded every passage. But Pace, who was one of those -adventurous characters whom nothing can stop, spurred on by the -thought that the king himself had sent him, determined to cross the -_Col di Tenda_. On the 27th July, he entered the mountains, traversed -precipitous passes, sometimes climbing them on all-fours,[512] and -often falling during the descent. In some places he could ride on -horseback; "but in the most part thereof I durst not either turn my -horse traverse (he wrote to the king) for all the worldly riches, nor -in manner look on my left hand, for the pronite and deepness to the -valley." After this passage, which lasted six days, Pace arrived in -Italy worn out by fatigue. "If the king of England will enter France -immediately by way of Normandy," said the constable of Bourbon to -him, "I will give him leave to pluck out both my eyes[513] if he is -not master of Paris before All-Saints; and when Paris is taken, he -will be master of the whole kingdom." But Wolsey, to whom these -remarks were transmitted by the ambassador, slighted them, delayed -furnishing the subsidies, and required certain conditions which were -calculated to thwart the project. Pace, who was ardent and ever -imprudent, but plain and straightforward, forgot himself, and in a -moment of vexation wrote to Wolsey: "To speak frankly, if you do not -attend to these things, I shall impute to your grace the loss of the -crown of France." These words ruined Henry's envoy in the cardinal's -mind. Was this man, who owed every thing to him, trying to supplant -him?... Pace in vain assured Wolsey that he should not take seriously -what he had said, but the bolt had hit. Pace was associated with -Charles in the cruel enmity of the minister, and he was one day to -feel its terrible effects. It was not long before Wolsey was able to -satisfy himself that the service Charles had desired to render the -king of England was beyond the emperor's strength. - - [511] Ellis' Letters. Second Series, p. 326, 327. - - [512] It made us creep of all-four. Pace to the king, Strype, vol. i, - part ii, p. 27. - - [513] Cotton MSS. Vitellius, B. 6. p. 87. - -No sooner at ease on one side, than Wolsey found himself attacked on -another. This man, the most powerful among kings' favourites, felt at -this time the first breath of disfavour blow over him. On the -pontifical throne, he would no doubt have attempted a reform after the -manner of Sixtus V; and wishing to rehearse on a smaller stage, and -regenerate after his own fashion the catholic church in England, he -submitted the monasteries to a strict inquisition, patronized the -instruction of youth, and was the first to set a great example, by -suppressing certain religious houses whose revenues he applied to his -college in Oxford. Thomas Cromwell, his solicitor, displayed much -skill and industry in this business,[514] and thus, under the orders -of a cardinal of the Roman church, made his first campaign in a war of -which he was in later days to hold the chief command. Wolsey and -Cromwell, by their reforms, drew down the hatred of certain monks, -priests, and noblemen, always the very humble servants of the clerical -party. The latter accused the cardinal of not having estimated the -monasteries at their just value, and of having, in certain cases, -encroached on the royal jurisdiction. Henry, whom the loss of the -crown of France had put in a bad humour, resolved, for the first time, -not to spare his minister: "There are loud murmurs throughout this -kingdom," he said to him; "it is asserted that your new college at -Oxford is only a convenient cloak to hide your malversations."[515] -"God forbid," replied the cardinal, "that this virtuous foundation at -Oxford, undertaken for the good of my poor soul, should be raised _ex -rapinis_! But, above all, God forbid that I should ever encroach upon -your royal authority." He then cunningly insinuated, that by his will -he left all his property to the king. Henry was satisfied: he had a -share in the business. - - [514] Very forward and industrious. Foxe, Acts. v. p. 366. - - [515] Collier's Eccles. Hist. x, p. 20. - -Events of very different importance drew the king's attention to -another quarter. The two armies, of the empire and of France, were in -presence before Pavia. Wolsey, who openly gave his right hand to -Charles V, and secretly his left to Francis, repeated to his master: -"If the emperor gains the victory, are you not his ally? and if -Francis, am I not in secret communication with him?"[516] "Thus," -added the cardinal, "whatever happens, your Highness will have great -cause to give thanks to Almighty God." - - [516] By such communications as he set forth with France apart. State - Papers, i, p. 158. - -[Sidenote: ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND.] - -On the 24th of February 1525, the battle of Pavia was fought, and the -imperialists found in the French king's tent several of Wolsey's -letters, and in his military chest and in the pockets of his soldiers -the cardinal's corrupting gold. This alliance had been contrived by -Giovanni Gioacchino, a Genoese master of the household to Louisa, -regent of France, who passed for a merchant of Bologna, and lived in -concealment at Blackfriars. Charles now saw what he had to trust to; -but the news of the battle of Pavia had scarcely reached England, -when, faithful in perfidy, Wolsey gave utterance to a feigned -pleasure. The people rejoiced also, but they were in earnest. Bonfires -were lighted in the streets of London; the fountains ran wine, and the -lord-mayor, attended by the aldermen, passed through the city on -horseback to the sound of the trumpet. - -The cardinal's joy was not altogether false. He would have been -pleased at his enemy's defeat; but his victory was perhaps still more -useful to him. - -He said to Henry: "The emperor is a liar observing neither faith nor -promise: the Archduchess Margaret is a woman of evil life;[517] Don -Ferdinand is a child, and Bourbon a traitor. Sire, you have other -things to do with your money than to squander it on these four -individuals. Charles is aiming at universal monarchy; Pavia is the -first step of this throne, and if England does not oppose him, he -will attain it." Joachim having come privily to London, Wolsey -prevailed upon Henry to conclude between England and France an -"_indissoluble peace_ by land and sea."[518] At last then he was in a -position to prove to Charles that it is a dangerous thing to oppose -the ambition of a priest. - - [517] Milady Margaret was a ribaud. Cotton MSS. Vesp. C. 3, p. 55. - - [518] Sincera fidelis, firma et indissolubilis pax. (Rymer, Foedera, p. - 32, 33.) A sincere, faithful, firm and indissoluble peace. - -[Sidenote: NEW TAXES AND INSURRECTION.] - -This was not the only advantage Wolsey derived from the triumph of his -enemy. The citizens of London imagined that the king of England would -be in a few weeks in Paris; Wolsey, rancorous and grasping, determined -to make them pay dearly for their enthusiasm. "You desire to conquer -France," said he; "you are right. Give me then for that purpose the -sixth part of your property; that is a trifle to gratify so noble an -inclination." England did not think so; this illegal demand aroused -universal complaint. "We are English and not French, freemen and not -slaves,"[519] was the universal cry. Henry might tyrannize over his -court, but not lay hands on his subjects property. - - [519] Hall's Chronicle, p. 696. If men should give their goods by a - commission, then were it worse than the taxes of France; and so - England would be bond and not free. - -The eastern counties rose in insurrection: four thousand men were -under arms in a moment; and Henry was guarded in his own palace by -only a few servants. It was necessary to break down the bridges to -stop the insurgents.[520] The courtiers complained to the king; the -king threw the blame on the cardinal; the cardinal laid it on the -clergy, who had encouraged him to impose this tax by quoting to him -the example of Joseph demanding of the Egyptians the fifth part of -their goods; and the clergy in their turn ascribed the insurrection to -the gospellers, who (said they) were stirring up a peasant war in -England, as they had done in Germany. Reformation produces revolution: -this is the favourite text of the followers of the pope. Violent hands -must be laid upon the heretics. _Non pluit Deus, duc ad -christianos._[521] - - [520] Ibid. - - [521] "God sends no rain ... lead us against the Christians." A cry - ascribed by Augustine to the pagans of the first ages. - -[Sidenote: TENTERDEN STEEPLE.] - -The charge of the priests was absurd; but the people are blind -whenever the Gospel is concerned, and occasionally the governors are -blind also. Serious reasoning was not necessary to confute this -invention. "Here, by the way, I will tell you a merry toy," said -Latimer one day in the pulpit. "Master More was once sent in -commission into Kent to help to try out, if it might be, what was the -cause of Goodwin Sands and the shelf that stopped up Sandwich haven. -He calleth the country afore him, such as were thought to be men of -experience, and among others came in an old man with a white head, and -one that was thought to be little less than one hundred years old. So -Master More called the old aged man unto him, and said: Father, tell -me if you can, what is the cause of this great arising of the sands -and shelves hereabout, that stop up Sandwich haven? Forsooth, Sir, -(quoth he) I am an old man, for I am well-nigh an hundred, and I think -that Tenterden steeple is the cause of the Goodwin Sands. For I am an -old man, Sir, and I may remember the building of Tenterden steeple, -and before that steeple was in building, there was no manner of flats -or sands." After relating this anecdote, Latimer slyly added: "Even -so, to my purpose, is preaching of God's word the cause of rebellion, -as Tenterden steeple was the cause Sandwich haven is decayed."[522] - - [522] Latimer's Sermons, vol. i. p. 251. - -There was no persecution: there was something else to be done. Wolsey, -feeling certain that Charles had obstructed his accession to the -popedom, thought only in what manner he might take his revenge. But -during this time Tyndale also was pursuing his aim; and the year 1525, -memorable for the battle of Pavia, was destined to be no less so in -the British isles, by a still more important victory. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Tyndale at Hamburg--First two - Gospels--Embarrassment--Tyndale at Wittemberg--At - Cologne--The New Testament at Press--Sudden - Interruption--Cochloeus at Cologne--Rupert's - Manuscripts--Discovery of Cochloeus--His Inquiries--His - Alarm--Rincke and the Senate's Prohibition--Consternation - and Decision of Tyndale--Cochloeus writes to England--Tyndale - ascends the Rhine--Prints two Editions at Worms--Tyndale's - Prayer. - - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT HAMBURG.] - -The ship which carried Tyndale and his MSS. cast anchor at Hamburg, -where, since the year 1521, the Gospel had counted numerous friends. -Encouraged by the presence of his brethren, the Oxford fellow had -taken a quiet lodging in one of the narrow winding streets of that old -city, and had immediately resumed his task. A secretary, whom he -terms his "faithful companion,"[523] aided him in collating texts; but -it was not long before this brother, whose name is unknown to us, -thinking himself called to preach Christ in places where He had as yet -never been proclaimed, left Tyndale. A former friar-observant of the -Franciscan order at Greenwich, having abandoned the cloister, and -being at this time without resources, offered his services to the -Hellenist. William Roye was one of those men (and they are always -pretty numerous) whom impatience of the yoke alienates from Rome -without their being attracted by the Spirit of God to Christ. Acute, -insinuating, crafty, and yet of pleasing manners, he charmed all those -who had mere casual relations with him. Tyndale banished to the -distant shores of the Elbe, surrounded by strange customs, and hearing -only a foreign tongue, often thought of England, and was impatient -that his country should enjoy the result of his labours: he accepted -Roye's aid. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark, translated and printed at -Hamburg, became, it would seem, the first fruits to England of his -great task. - - [523] Tyndale's Doctr. Treatises, p. 37. - -But Tyndale was soon overwhelmed by annoyances. Roye, who was pretty -manageable while he had no money, had become intractable now that his -purse was less empty.[524] What was to be done? The reformer having -spent the ten pounds he had brought from England, could not satisfy -the demands of his assistant, pay his own debts, and remove to another -city. He became still more sparing and economical. The Wartburg, in -which Luther had translated the New Testament, was a palace in -comparison with the lodging in which the reformer of wealthy England -endured hunger and cold, while toiling day and night to give the -Gospel to the English Christians. - - [524] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i, 49. - -About the end of 1524, Tyndale sent the two Gospels to Monmouth; and a -merchant named John Collenbeke, having brought him the ten pounds he -had left in the hands of his old patron, he prepared to depart -immediately. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT COLOGNE.] - -Where should he go? Not to England; he must complete his task before -all things. Could he be in Luther's neighbourhood and not desire to -see him? He needed not the Saxon reformer either to find the truth, -which he had already known at Oxford, or to undertake the translation -of the Scriptures, which he had already begun in the vale of the -Severn. But did not all evangelical foreigners flock to Wittemberg? To -remove all doubt as to the interview of the reformers, it would be -desirable perhaps to find some trace at Wittemberg[525] either in the -university registers or in the writings of the Saxon reformers. Yet -several contemporaneous testimonies seem to give a sufficient degree -of probability to this conference. Foxe tells us: "He had an interview -with Luther and other learned men of that country."[526] This must -have been in the spring of 1525. - - [525] I requested a German divine to investigate this matter, but his - researches were unsuccessful. - - [526] Mr. Anderson, in his excellent work (Annals of the English - Bible, vol. i. p. 47) disputes the interview between these two - reformers, but his arguments do not convince me. We can understand how - Luther, at that time busily engaged in his dispute with Carlstadt, - does not mention Tyndale's visit in his letters. But, besides Foxe, - there are other contemporaneous authorities in favour of this fact. - Cochlaeus, a German well informed on all the movements of the - reformers, and whom we shall presently see on Tyndale's traces, says - of him and Roye: "Duo Angli apostatae, _qui aliquamdiu fuerant - Vuitenbergae_." Two English apostates, who had been for a while at - Wittemberg. (p. 123). And Sir Thomas More, having said that Tyndale - had gone to see Luther, Tyndale was content to reply: "When Mr. More - saith Tyndale was confederate with Luther, that is not truth." Answer - to Sir Thos. More's Dialogue, p. 147 (Park. Soc.) He denied the - _confederation_, but not the _visit_. If Tyndale had not seen Luther, - he would have been more explicit, and would probably have said that he - had never even met him. - -Tyndale, desirious of drawing nearer to his native country, turned his -eyes towards the Rhine. There were at Cologne some celebrated printers -well known in England, and among others Quentel and the Byrckmans. -Francis Byrckman had warehouses in St. Paul's churchyard in London,--a -circumstance that might facilitate the introduction and sale of the -Testament printed on the banks of the Rhine. This providential -circumstance decided Tyndale in favour of Cologne, and thither he -repaired with Roye and his MSS. Arrived in the gloomy streets of the -city of Agrippina, he contemplated its innumerable churches, and above -all its ancient cathedral re-echoing to the voices of its canons, and -was oppressed with sorrow as he beheld the priests and monks and -mendicants and pilgrims who, from all parts of Europe, poured in to -adore the pretended relics of the _three wise men_ and of the _eleven -thousand virgins_. And then Tyndale asked himself whether it was -really in this superstitious city that the New Testament was to be -printed in English. This was not all. The Reform movement then at work -in Germany had broken out at Cologne during the feast of Whitsuntide, -and the archbishop had just forbidden all evangelical worship. Yet -Tyndale persevered, and submitting to the most minute precautions, not -to compromise his work, he took an obscure lodging where he kept -himself closely hidden. - -Soon however, trusting in God, he called on the printer, presented his -manuscripts to him, ordered six thousand copies, and then, upon -reflection, sank down to three thousand for fear of a seizure.[527] -The printing went on; one sheet followed another; gradually the Gospel -unfolded its mysteries in the English tongue, and Tyndale could not -contain himself for very joy.[528] He saw in his mind's eye the -triumphs of the Scriptures over all the kingdom, and exclaimed with -transport: "Whether the king wills it or not, ere long all the people -of England, enlightened by the New Testament, will obey the -Gospel."[529] - - [527] Sex millia sub praelum dari. (Cochlaeus, p. 123.) That six - thousand should be printed. - - [528] Tanta ex ea spe laetitia Lutheranos invasit. (Ibid. p. 124.) Such - joy possessed the Lutherans from that hope. - - [529] Cunctos Angliae populos, volente nolente rege. Ibid. 123. - -But on a sudden that sun whose earliest beams he had hailed with songs -of joy, was hidden by thick clouds. One day, just as the tenth sheet -had been thrown off, the printer hastened to Tyndale, and informed him -that the senate of Cologne forbade him to continue the work. Every -thing was discovered then. No doubt Henry VIII, who has burnt Luther's -books, wishes to burn the New Testament also, to destroy Tyndale's -manuscripts, and deliver him up to death. Who had betrayed him? He was -lost in unavailing conjectures, and one thing only appeared certain: -alas! his vessel, which was moving onwards in full sail, had struck -upon a reef! The following is the explanation of this unexpected -incident. - -[Sidenote: COCHLAEUS AT COLOGNE.] - -A man whom we have often met with in the course of this history,[530] -one of the most violent enemies of the Reformation--we mean -Cochlaeus--had arrived in Cologne. The wave of popular agitation which -had stirred this city during the Whitsuntide holidays, had previously -swept over Frankfort during the festival of Easter; and the dean of -Notre-dame, taking advantage of a moment when the gates of the city -were open, had escaped a few minutes before the burghers entered his -house to arrest him. On arriving at Cologne, where he hoped to live -unknown under the shadow of the powerful elector, he had gone to lodge -with George Lauer, a canon in the church of the Apostles. - - [530] Book ix, chapter xii, etc. - -By a singular destiny the two most opposite men, Tyndale and Cochlaeus, -were in hiding in the same city; they could not long remain there -without coming into collision. - -[Sidenote: RUPERT'S MANUSCRIPTS.] - -On the right bank of the Rhine, and opposite Cologne, stood the -monastery of Deutz, one of whose abbots, Rupert, who lived in the -twelfth century, had said: "To be ignorant of Scripture is to be -ignorant of Jesus Christ. This is _the scripture of nations_![531] -This book of God, which is not pompous in words and poor in meaning -like Plato, ought to be set before every people, and to proclaim -aloud to the whole world the salvation of all." One day, when Cochlaeus -and his host were talking of Rupert, the canon informed the dean that -the _heretic_ Osiander of Nuremberg was in treaty with the abbot of -Deutz about publishing the writings of this ancient doctor. Cochlaeus -guessed that Osiander was desirous of bringing forward the -contemporary of Saint Bernard as a witness in defence of the -Reformation. Hastening to the monastery he alarmed the abbot: "Intrust -to me the manuscripts of your celebrated predecessor," he said; "I -will undertake to print them and prove that he was one of us." The -monks placed them in his hands, stipulating for an early publication, -from which they expected no little renown.[532] Cochlaeus immediately -went to Peter Quentel and Arnold Byrckman to make the necessary -arrangements. They were Tyndale's printers. - - [531] Scripturae populorum. Opp. i, p. 641. - - [532] Cum monachi quieturi non erant, nisi ederentur opera illa. - (Cochl. p. 124.) When the monks could not be quieted unless these - works should be published. - -There Cochlaeus made a more important discovery than that of Rupert's -manuscripts. Byrckman and Quentel having invited him one day to meet -several of their colleagues at dinner, a printer, somewhat elevated by -wine, declared in his cups, (to borrow the words of Cochlaeus):[533] -"Whether the king and the cardinal of York wish it or not, all England -will soon be Lutheran."[534] Cochlaeus listened and grew alarmed; he -made inquiry, and was informed that _two Englishmen_, learned men and -skilled in the languages, were concealed at Cologne.[535] But all his -efforts to discover more proved unavailing. - - [533] Audivit eos aliquando inter pocula fiducialiter jactitare. - (Ibid. p. 125.) He heard them one day confidently assert in their - cups. - - [534] Velint nolint rex et cardinalis Angliae, totam Angliam brevi fore - Lutheranam. Ibid. - - [535] Duos ibi latitare Anglos eruditos, linguarumque peritos. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE SECRET BETRAYED.] - -There was no more repose for the dean of Frankfort; his imagination -fermented, his mind became alarmed. "What," said he, "shall England, -that faithful servant of the popedom, be perverted like Germany? Shall -the English, the most religious people of Christendom,[536] and whose -king once ennobled himself by writing against Luther,--shall they be -invaded by heresy?... Shall the mighty cardinal-legate of York be -compelled to flee from his palace, as I was from Frankfort?" Cochlaeus -continued his search; he paid frequent visits to the printers, spoke -to them in a friendly tone, flattered them, invited them to visit him -at the canon's; but as yet he dared not hazard the important question; -it was sufficient for the moment to have won the good graces of the -depositaries of the secret. He soon took a new step; he was careful -not to question them before one another; but he procured a private -interview with one of them,[537] and supplied him plentifully with -Rhine wine:--he himself is our informant.[538] Artful questions -embarrassed the unwary printer, and at last the secret was disclosed. -"The New Testament," Cochlaeus learnt, "is translated into English; -three thousand copies are in the press; fourscore pages in quarto are -ready; the expense is fully supplied by English merchants, who are -secretly to convey the work when printed, and to disperse it widely -through all England, before the king or the cardinal can discover or -prohibit it.[539]... Thus will Britain be converted to the opinions of -Luther."[540] - - [536] In gente illa religiosissima vereque Christiana. Ibid. p. 131. - - [537] Unus eorum in secretiori colloquio revelavit illi arcanum. - (Cochlaeus. p. 131.) One of them in a private conference revealed the - secret to him. - - [538] Rem omnem ut acceperat _vini beneficio_. Ibid. - - [539] Opus excussum clam invecturi per totam Angliam latenter - dispergere vellent. Ibid. - - [540] Ad Lutheri partes trahenda est Anglia. Ibid. - -The surprise of Cochlaeus equalled his alarm;[541] he dissembled; he -wished to learn, however, where the two Englishmen lay concealed; but -all his exertions proved ineffectual, and he returned to his lodgings -filled with emotion. The danger was very great. A stranger and an -exile, what can he do to oppose this impious undertaking? Where shall -he find a friend to England, prepared to show his zeal in warding off -the threatened blow?... He was bewildered. - - [541] Metu et admiratione affectus. Ibid. - -A flash of light suddenly dispelled the darkness. A person of some -consequence at Cologne, Herman Rincke, a patrician and imperial -councillor, had been sent on important business by the Emperor -Maximilian to Henry VII, and from that time he had always shown a -great attachment to England. Cochlaeus determined to reveal the fatal -secret to him; but, being still alarmed by the scenes at Frankfort, he -was afraid to conspire openly against the Reformation. He had left an -aged mother and a little niece at home, and was unwilling to do any -thing which might compromise them. He therefore crept stealthily -towards Rincke's house (as he tells us himself),[542] slipped in -secretly, and unfolded the whole matter to him. Rincke could not -believe that the New Testament in English was printing at Cologne; -however, he sent a confidential person to make inquiries, who reported -to him that Cochlaeus's information was correct, and that he had found -in the printing office a large supply of paper intended for the -edition.[543] The patrician immediately proceeded to the senate, and -spoke of Wolsey, of Henry VIII, and of the preservation of the Romish -church in England; and that body which, under the influence of the -archbishop, had long since forgotten the rights of liberty, forbade -the printer to continue the work. Thus then there were to be no New -Testaments for England! A practised hand had warded off the blow aimed -at Roman-catholicism; Tyndale would perhaps be thrown into prison, and -Cochlaeus enjoy a complete triumph. - - [542] Abiit igitur clam ad H. Rincke. Ibid. - - [543] Ingentem papyri copiam ibi existere. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE RESCUES HIS WORK.] - -Tyndale was at first confounded. Were so many years of toil lost, -then, for ever? His trial seemed beyond his strength.[544] "They are -ravening wolves," he exclaimed, "they preach to others, Steal not, and -yet they have robbed the soul of man of the bread of life, and fed her -with the shales [shells?] and cods of the hope in their merits and -confidence in their good works."[545] Yet Tyndale did not long remain -cast down; for his faith was of that kind which would remove -mountains. Is it not the word of God that is imperilled? If he does -not abandon himself, God will not abandon him. He must anticipate the -senate of Cologne. Daring and prompt in all his movements, Tyndale -bade Roye follow him, hastened to the printing office, collected the -sheets, jumped into a boat, and rapidly ascended the river, carrying -with him the hope of England.[546] - - [544] Necessity and combrance (God is record) _above strength_. Tynd. - Doctr. Tr. p. 390. - - [545] Tyndale, Expositions, p. 123, (Parker Society). - - [546] Arreptis secum quaternionibus impressis aufugerunt navigio per - Rhenum ascendentes. (Cochl. p. 126.) Laying hold of four sheets that - were printed they escaped on board a vessel, and ascended the Rhine. - -When Cochlaeus and Rincke, accompanied by the officers of the senate, -reached the printing office, they were surprised beyond measure. The -apostate had secured the abominable papers!... Their enemy had escaped -like a bird from the net of the fowler. Where was he to be found now? -He would no doubt go and place himself under the protection of some -_Lutheran_ prince, whither Cochlaeus would take good care not to pursue -him; but there was one resource left. These English books can do no -harm in Germany; they must be prevented reaching London. He wrote to -Henry VIII, to Wolsey, and to the bishop of Rochester. "Two -Englishmen," said he to the king, "like the two eunuchs who desired to -lay hands on Ahasuerus, are plotting wickedly against the peace of -your kingdom; but I, like the faithful Mordecai,[547] will lay open -their designs to you. They wish to send the New Testament in English -to your people. Give orders at every seaport to prevent the -introduction of this most baneful merchandise."[548] Such was the name -given by this zealous follower of the pope to the word of God. An -unexpected ally soon restored peace to the soul of Cochlaeus. The -celebrated Dr. Eck, a champion of popery far more formidable than he -was, had arrived at Cologne on his way to London, and he undertook to -arouse the anger of the bishops and of the king.[549] The eyes of the -greatest opponents of the Reformation seemed now to be fixed on -England. Eck, who boasted of having gained the most signal triumphs -over Luther, would easily get the better of the humble tutor and his -New Testament. - - [547] He was indebted to me no less than Ahasuerus was indebted to - Mordecai. Annals of the Bible, i, p. 61. - - [548] Ut quam diligentissime praecaverint in omnibus Angliae portubus, - ne merx illa perniciosissima inveheretur. Cochlaeus, p. 126. - - [549] Ad quem Doctor Eckius venit, dum in Angliam tenderet. Ibid. 109. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE ARRIVES AT WORMS.] - -During this time Tyndale, guarding his precious bales, ascended the -rapid river as quickly as he could. He passed before the antique -cities and the smiling villages scattered along the banks of the Rhine -amidst scenes of picturesque beauty. The mountains, glens, and rocks, -the dark forests, the ruined fortresses, the gothic churches, the -boats that passed and repassed each other, the birds of prey that -soared over his head, as if they bore a mission from Cochlaeus--nothing -could turn his eyes from the treasure he was carrying with him. At -last, after a voyage of five or six days, he reached Worms, where -Luther, four years before, had exclaimed: "Here I stand, I can do no -other; may God help me!"[550] These words of the German reformer, so -well known to Tyndale, were the star that had guided him to Worms. He -knew that the Gospel was preached in that ancient city. "The citizens -are subject to fits of Lutheranism," said Cochlaeus.[551] Tyndale -arrived there, not as Luther did, surrounded by an immense crowd, but -unknown, and imagining himself pursued by the myrmidons of Charles and -of Henry. As he landed from the boat he cast an uneasy glance around -him, and laid down his precious burden on the bank of the river. - - [550] See above, book vii, chapter viii. - - [551] Ascendentes Wormatiam ubi plebs pleno furore lutherisabat. - Cochlaeus, p. 126. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S PRAYER.] - -He had had time to reflect on the dangers which threatened his work. -As his enemies would have marked the edition, some few sheets of it -having fallen into their hands, he took steps to mislead the -inquisitors, and began a new edition, striking out the prologue and -the notes, and substituting the more portable _octavo_ form for the -original _quarto_. Peter Schaeffer, the grandson of Fust, one of the -inventors of printing, lent his presses for this important work. The -two editions were quietly completed about the end of the year -1525.[552] - - [552] A copy of the _octavo_ edition exists in the Museum of the - Baptist College at Bristol. If it is compared with the _quarto_ - edition, a sensible progress will be found in the orthography. Thus we - read in the latter: _prophettes_, _synners_, _mooste_, _sekynge_; in - the octavo we find, _prophets_, _sinners_, _most_, _seking_. Annals of - the Bible, i. p. 70. - -Thus were the wicked deceived: they would have deprived the English -people of the oracles of God, and _two_ editions were now ready to -enter England. "Give diligence," said Tyndale to his fellow-countrymen, -as he sent from Worms the Testament he had just translated, "unto the -words of eternal life, by the which, if we repent and believe them, we -are born anew, created afresh, and enjoy the fruits of the blood of -Christ."[553] In the beginning of 1526, these books crossed the sea by -way of Antwerp or Rotterdam. Tyndale was happy; but he knew that the -unction of the Holy Ghost alone could enable the people of England to -understand these sacred pages; and accordingly he followed them night -and day with his prayers. "The scribes and Pharisees," said he, "had -thrust up the sword of the word of God in a scabbard or sheath of -glosses, and therein had knit it fast, so that it could neither stick -nor cut.[554] Now, O God, draw this sharp sword from the scabbard. -Strike, wound, cut asunder, the soul and the flesh, so that man being -divided in two, and set at variance with himself, may be in peace with -thee to all eternity!" - - [553] Epistle, in init. - - [554] Tyndale's Works, ii, p. 378; or Expositions (Matthew), p. 131, - (Park. Soc.) - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Worms and Cambridge--St. Paul resuscitated--Latimer's - Preaching--Never Man spake like this Man--Joy and Vexation - at Cambridge--Sermon by Prior Buckingham--Irony--Latimer's - Reply to Buckingham--The Students threatened--Latimer - preaches before the Bishop--He is forbidden to preach--The - most zealous of Bishops--Barnes the Restorer of - Letters--Bilney undertakes to convert him--Barnes offers his - Pulpit to Latimer--Fryth's Thirst for God--Christmas Eve, - 1525--Storm against Barnes--Ferment in the Colleges--Germany - at Cambridge--Meetings at Oxford--General Expectation. - - -[Sidenote: ST. PAUL REVIVED.] - -While these works were accomplishing at Cologne and Worms, others were -going on at Cambridge and Oxford. On the banks of the Rhine they were -preparing the seed; in England they were drawing the furrows to -receive it. The gospel produced a great agitation at Cambridge. -Bilney, whom we may call the father of the English Reformation, since, -being the first converted by the New Testament, he had brought to the -knowledge of God the energetic Latimer, and so many other witnesses of -the truth,--Bilney did not at that time put himself forward, like many -of those who had listened to him: his vocation was prayer. Timid -before men, he was full of boldness before God, and day and night -called upon him for souls. But while he was kneeling in his closet, -others were at work in the world. Among these Stafford was -particularly remarkable. "Paul is risen from the dead," said many as -they heard him. And in fact Stafford explained with so much life the -true meaning of the words of the apostle and of the four -evangelists,[555] that these holy men, whose faces had been so long -hidden under the dense traditions of the schools,[556] reappeared -before the youth of the university such as the apostolic times had -beheld them. But it was not only their _persons_ (for that would have -been a trifling matter), it was their _doctrine_ which Stafford laid -before his hearers. While the schoolmen of Cambridge were declaring to -their pupils a reconciliation which was not yet worked out, and -telling them that pardon must be purchased by the works prescribed by -the church, Stafford taught that redemption was _accomplished_, that -the satisfaction offered by Jesus Christ was _perfect_; and he added, -that popery having revived the _kingdom of the law_, God, by the -Reformation, was now reviving the _kingdom of grace_. The Cambridge -students, charmed by their master's teaching, greeted him with -applause, and, indulging a little too far in their enthusiasm, said to -one another as they left the lecture-room: "Which is the most indebted -to the other? Stafford to Paul, who left him the holy epistles; or -Paul to Stafford, who has resuscitated that apostle and his holy -doctrines, which the middle ages had obscured?" - - [555] He set forth in his lectures the native sense. Thomas Becon, ii, - p. 426. - - [556] Obscured through the darkness and mists of the papists. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER'S PREACHING.] - -Above Bilney and Stafford rose Latimer, who, by the power of the Holy -Ghost, transfused into other hearts the learned lessons of his -master.[557] Being informed of the work that Tyndale was preparing, he -maintained from the Cambridge pulpits that the Bible ought to be read -in the vulgar tongue.[558] "The author of Holy Scripture," said he, -"is the mighty One, the Everlasting ... _God himself!_... and this -Scripture partakes of the might and eternity of its author. There is -neither king nor emperor that is not bound to obey it. Let us beware -of those bypaths of human tradition, filled of stones, brambles, and -uprooted trees. Let us follow the straight road of the word. It does -not concern us what the Fathers have done, but what they should have -done."[559] - - [557] A private instructor to the rest of his brethren within the - university. Foxe, Acts, vii, p. 438. - - [558] He proved in his sermons that the Holy Scriptures ought to be - read in the English tongue of all Christian people. Becon, vol. ii. p. - 424. (Park. Soc.) - - [559] We find his opinions upon that subject in a later sermon. - Latimer's sermons, p. 96, 97. (Park. Soc.) - -A numerous congregation crowded to Latimer's preaching, and his -hearers hung listening to his lips. One in particular attracted -attention. He was a Norfolk youth, sixteen years of age, whose -features were lighted up with understanding and piety. This poor -scholar had received with eagerness the truth announced by the former -cross-bearer. He did not miss one of his sermons; with a sheet of -paper on his knees, and a pencil in his hand, he took down part of the -discourse, trusting the remainder to his memory.[560] This was Thomas -Becon, afterwards chaplain to Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. "If I -possess the knowledge of God," said he, "I owe it (under God) to -Latimer." - - [560] A poor scholar of Cambridge ... but a child of sixteen years. - Becon's Works, ii. p. 424. - -Latimer had hearers of many sorts. By the side of those who gave way -to their enthusiasm stood men "swelling, blown full, and puffed up -like unto Esop's frog, with envy and malice against him," said -Becon;[561] these were the partizans of traditional catholicism, whom -curiosity had attracted, or whom their evangelical friends had dragged -to the church. But as Latimer spoke a marvellous transformation was -worked in them; by degrees their angry features relaxed, their fierce -looks grew softer; and, if these friends of the priests were asked, -after their return home, what they thought of the heretic preacher, -they replied, in the exaggeration of their surprise and rapture: -"_Nunquam sic locutus est homo, sicut hic homo!_" (John vii. 46.) - - [561] Becon's Works, ii. p. 425. - -[Sidenote: JOY AND ANGER AT CAMBRIDGE.] - -When he descended from the pulpit, Latimer hastened to practise what -he had taught. He visited the narrow chambers of the poor scholars, -and the dark rooms of the working classes: "he watered with good deeds -whatsoever he had before planted with godly words,"[562] said the -student who collected his discourses. The disciples conversed together -with joy and simplicity of heart; everywhere the breath of a new life -was felt; as yet no external reforms had been effected, and yet the -spiritual church of the gospel and of the Reformation was already -there. And thus the recollection of these happy times was long -commemorated in the adage: - - When Master Stafford read, - And Master Latimer preached, - Then was Cambridge blessed.[563] - - [562] Ibid. - - [563] Becon's Works, ii. p, 425. - -The priests could not remain inactive: they heard speak of grace and -liberty, and would have nothing to do with either. If _grace_ is -tolerated, will it not take from the hands of the clergy the -manipulation of salvation, indulgences, penance, and all the rubrics -of the canon law? If _liberty_ is conceded, will not the hierarchy, -with all its degrees, pomps, violence, and scaffolds, be shaken? Rome -desires no other liberty than that of free-will, which, exalting the -natural strength of fallen man, dries up as regards mankind the -springs of divine life, withers Christianity, and changes that -heavenly religion into a human moralism and legal observances. - -[Sidenote: THE PRIOR'S SERMON.] - -The friends of popery, therefore, collected their forces to oppose the -new religion. "Satan, who never sleeps," says the simple chronicler, -"called up his familiar spirits, and sent them forth against the -reformers." Meetings were held in the convents, but particularly in -that belonging to the Greyfriars. They mustered all their forces. _An -eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth_, said they. Latimer extols in -his sermons the _blessings_ of Scripture; we must deliver a sermon -also to show its _dangers_. But where was the orator to be found who -could cope with him? This was a very embarrassing question to the -clerical party. Among the Greyfriars there was a haughty monk, adroit -and skilful in little matters, and full at once of ignorance and -pride: it was the prior Buckingham. No one had shown more hatred -against the evangelical Christians, and no one was in truth a greater -stranger to the Gospel. This was the man commissioned to set forth the -dangers of the word of God. He was by no means familiar with the New -Testament; he opened it however, picked out a few passages here and -there which seemed to favour his thesis; and then, arrayed in his -costliest robes, with head erect and solemn step, already sure of -victory, he went into the pulpit, combated the heretic, and with -pompous voice stormed against the reading of the Bible;[564] it was in -his eyes the fountain of all heresies and misfortunes. "If that heresy -should prevail," he exclaimed, "there will be an end of everything -useful among us. The ploughman, reading in the gospel that _no man -having put his hand to the plough should look back_, would soon lay -aside his labour.... The baker, reading that a _little leaven -leaveneth the whole lump_, will in future make us nothing but very -insipid bread; and the simple man finding himself commanded _to pluck -out the right eye and cast it from thee_, England, after a few years, -will be a frightful spectacle; it will be little better than a nation -of blind and one-eyed men, sadly begging their bread from door to -door."[565] - - [564] With great pomp and prolixity. Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 8. - - [565] The nation full of blind beggars. Gilpin's Life of Latimer. - p. 8. - -This discourse moved that part of the audience for which it was -intended. "The heretic is silenced," said the monks and clerks; but -sensible people smiled, and Latimer was delighted that they had given -him such an adversary. Being of a lively disposition and inclined to -irony, he resolved to lash the platitudes of the pompous friar. There -are some absurdities, he thought, which can only be refuted by showing -how foolish they are. Does not even the grave Tertullian speak of -things which are only to be laughed at, for fear of giving them -importance by a serious refutation?[566] "Next Sunday I will reply to -him," said Latimer. - - [566] Si et ridebitur alicubi materiis ipsis satisfiet. Multa sunt sic - digna revinci, ne gravitate adorentur. (Contra Valentin, c. vi.) See - also Pascal's Provincials, Letter xi. And if ridicule shall at any - time be excited, it is quite suited to such subjects. Many things - deserve thus to be overcome, lest by a serious refutation, they get - more respect than they deserve. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER'S REPLY.] - -The church was crowded when Buckingham, with the hood of St. Francis -on his shoulders and with a vain-glorious air, took his place solemnly -in front of the preacher. Latimer began by recapitulating the least -weak of his adversary's arguments; then taking them up one by one, he -turned them over and over, and pointed out all their absurdity with so -much wit, that the poor prior was buried in his own nonsense. Then -turning towards the listening crowd, he exclaimed with warmth: "This -is how your skilful guides abuse your understanding. They look upon -you as children that must be for ever kept in leading-strings. Now, -the hour of your majority has arrived; boldly examine the Scriptures, -and you will easily discover the absurdity of the teaching of your -doctors." And then desirous, as Solomon has it, of _answering a fool -according to his folly_, he added: "As for the comparisons drawn from -the _plough_, the _leaven_, and the _eye_, of which the reverend prior -has made so singular a use, is it necessary to justify these passages -of Scripture? Must I tell you what _plough_, what _leaven_, what _eye_ -is here meant? Is not our Lord's teaching distinguished by those -expressions which, under a popular form, conceal a spiritual and -profound meaning? Do not we know that in all languages and in all -speeches, it is not on the _image_ that we must fix our eyes, but on -the _thing_ which the image represents?... For instance," he -continued, and as he said these words he cast a piercing glance on the -prior, "if we see a fox painted preaching in a friar's hood, nobody -imagines that a fox is meant, but that craft and hypocrisy are -described, which are so often found disguised in that garb."[567] At -these words the poor prior, on whom the eyes of all the congregation -were turned, rose and left the church hastily, and ran off to his -convent to hide his rage and confusion among his brethren. The monks -and their creatures uttered loud cries against Latimer. It was -unpardonable (they said) to have been thus wanting in respect to the -cowl of St. Francis. But his friends replied: "Do we not whip -children? and he who treats Scripture worse than a child, does he not -deserve to be well flogged?" - - [567] Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 10. - -The Romish party did not consider themselves beaten. The heads of -colleges and the priests held frequent conferences. The professors -were desired to watch carefully over their pupils, and to lead them -back to the teaching of the church by flattery and by threats. "We are -putting our lance in rest," they told the students; "if you become -evangelicals, your advancement is at an end." But these open-hearted -generous youths loved rather to be poor with Christ, than rich with -the priests. Stafford continued to teach, Latimer to preach, and -Bilney to visit the poor: the doctrine of Christ ceased not to be -spread abroad, and souls to be converted. - -One weapon only was left to the schoolmen; this was persecution, the -favourite arm of Rome. "Our enterprise has not succeeded," said they; -"Buckingham is a fool. The best way of answering these _gospellers_ is -to prevent their speaking." Dr. West, bishop of Ely, was ordinary of -Cambridge; they called for his intervention, and he ordered one of the -doctors to inform him the next time Latimer was to preach; "but," -added he, "do not say a word to any one. I wish to come without being -expected." - -[Sidenote: LATIMER PREACHES BEFORE THE BISHOP.] - -One day as Latimer was preaching in Latin _ad clerum_, the bishop -suddenly entered the university church, attended by a number of -priests. Latimer stopped, waiting respectfully until West and his -train had taken their places. "A new audience," thought he; "and -besides, an audience worthy of greater honour calls for a new theme. -Leaving, therefore, the subject I had proposed, I will take up one -that relates to the episcopal charge, and will preach on these words: -_Christus existens Pontifex futurorum bonorum_." (Hebrews ix. 11.) -Then describing Jesus Christ, Latimer represented him as the "true and -perfect pattern unto all other bishops."[568] There was not a single -virtue pointed out in the divine bishop that did not correspond with -some defect in the Romish bishops. Latimer's caustic wit had a free -course at their expense; but there was so much gravity in his sallies, -and so lively a Christianity in his descriptions, that every one must -have felt them to be the cries of a Christian conscience rather than -the sarcasms of an ill-natured disposition. Never had bishop been -taught by one of his priests like this man. "Alas!" said many, "our -bishops are not of that breed: they are descended from Annas and -Caiaphas." West was not more at his ease than Buckingham had been -formerly. He stifled his anger, however; and after the sermon, said to -Latimer with a gracious accent: "You have excellent talents, and if -you would do one thing I should be ready to kiss your feet."[569]... -What humility in a bishop!... "Preach in this same church," continued -West, "a sermon ... against Martin Luther. That is the best way of -checking heresy." Latimer understood the prelate's meaning, and -replied calmly: "If Luther preaches the word of God, I cannot oppose -him. But if he teaches the contrary, I am ready to attack -him."--"Well, well, Master Latimer," exclaimed the bishop, "I perceive -that you smell somewhat of the pan.[570]... One day or another you -will repent of that merchandise." - - [568] Strype's Eccles. Mem. iii. p. 369. - - [569] I will kneel down and kiss your foot. Ibid. - - [570] Ibid. 370. - -West having left Cambridge in great irritation against that rebellious -clerk, hastened to convoke his chapter, and forbade Latimer to preach -either in the university or in the diocese. "All that will live godly -shall suffer persecution," Saint Paul had said; Latimer was now -experiencing the truth of the saying. It was not enough that the name -of heretic had been given him by the priests and their friends, and -that the passers-by insulted him in the streets; ... the work of God -was violently checked. "Behold then," he exclaimed with a bitter sigh, -"the use of the episcopal office ... to hinder the preaching of Jesus -Christ!" Some few years later he sketched, with his usual caustic -irony, the portrait of a certain bishop, of whom Luther also used -frequently to speak: "Do you know," said Latimer, "who is the most -diligentest bishop and prelate in all England?... I see you listening -and hearkening that I should name him.... I will tell you.... It is -the devil. He is never out of his diocese; ye shall never find him out -of the way; call for him when you will, he's ever at home. He is ever -at his plough. Ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you. Where the -devil is resident--there away with books and up with candles; away -with bibles and up with beads; away with the light of the Gospel and -up with the light of candles, yea at noondays; down with Christ's -cross, up with purgatory pickpurse; away with clothing the naked, the -poor, and impotent, up with decking of images and gay garnishing of -stocks and stones; down with God's traditions and his most holy word -Oh! that our prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good -doctrine as Satan is to sow cockle and darnel!"[571] Truly may it be -said, "There was never such a preacher in England as he is."[572] - - [571] Latimer's Sermons (Park. Soc.) vol. i. p. 70. Sermon of the -Plough. - - [572] Ibid. p. 72. - -The reformer was not satisfied with merely speaking: he acted. -"Neither the menacing words of his adversaries nor their cruel -imprisonments," says one of his contemporaries,[573] "could hinder him -from proclaiming God's truth." Forbidden to preach in the churches, he -went about from house to house. He longed for a pulpit however, and -this he obtained. A haughty prelate had in vain interdicted his -preaching; Jesus Christ, who is above all bishops, is able, when one -door is shut, to open another. Instead of one great preacher there -were soon two at Cambridge. - - [573] He adds: Whatsoever he had once preached, he valiantly defended - the same. Becon, vol. ii. p. 424. - -[Sidenote: ROBERT BARNES.] - -An Augustine monk named Robert Barnes, a native of the county of -Norfolk, and a great scholar, had gone to Louvain to prosecute his -studies. Here he received the degree of doctor of divinity, and having -returned to Cambridge, was nominated prior of his monastery in 1523. -It was his fortune to reconcile learning and the Gospel in the -university; but by leaning too much to learning he diminished the -force of the word of God. A great crowd collected every day in the -Augustine convent to hear his lectures upon Terence, and in particular -upon Cicero. Many of those who were offended by the simple -Christianity of Bilney and Latimer, were attracted by this reformer of -another kind. Coleman, Coverdale, Field, Cambridge, Barley, and many -other young men of the university, gathered round Barnes and -proclaimed him "the restorer of letters."[574] - - [574] The great restorer of good learning. Strype, i. p. 568; Foxe, - Acts, v. p. 415. - -[Sidenote: HIS LECTURES.] - -But the classics were only a preparatory teaching. The masterpieces of -antiquity having aided Barnes to clear the soil, he opened before his -class the epistles of St. Paul. He did not understand their divine -depth, like Stafford; he was not, like him, anointed with the Holy -Ghost; he differed from him on several of the apostle's doctrines, on -justification by faith, and on the new creature; but Barnes was an -enlightened and liberal man, not without some degree of piety, and -desirous, like Stafford, of substituting the teaching of Scripture for -the barren disputations of the school. But they soon came into -collision, and Cambridge long remembered that celebrated discussion in -which Barnes and Stafford contended with so much renown, employing no -other weapons than the word of God, to the great astonishment of the -blind doctors, and the great joy of the clearsighted, says the -chronicler.[575] - - [575] Marvellous in the sight of the great blind doctors. Foxe, Acts, - v. p. 415. - -Barnes was not as yet thoroughly enlightened, and the friends of the -Gospel were astonished that a man, a stranger to the truth, should -deal such heavy blows against error. Bilney, whom we continually meet -with when any secret work, a work of irresistible charity, is in -hand,--Bilney, who had converted Latimer, undertook to convert Barnes; -and Stafford, Arthur, Thistel of Pembroke, and Fooke of Benet's, -earnestly prayed God to grant his assistance. The experiment was -difficult: Barnes had reached that _juste milieu_, that "golden mean" -of the humanists, that intoxication of learning and glory, which -render conversion more difficult. Besides, could a man like Bilney -really dare to instruct the restorer of antiquity? But the humble -bachelor of arts, so simple in appearance, knew, like David of old, a -secret power by which the Goliath of the university might be -vanquished. He passed days and nights in prayer; and then urged Barnes -openly to manifest his convictions without fearing the reproaches of -the world. After many conversations and prayers, Barnes was converted -to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[576] Still, the prior retained -something undecided in his character, and only half relinquished that -middle state with which he had begun. For instance, he appears to have -always believed in the efficacy of sacerdotal consecration to -transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. His -eye was not single, and his mind was often agitated and driven to and -fro by contrary thoughts: "Alas!" said this divided character one day, -"I confess that my cogitations be innumerable."[577] - - [576] Bilney converted Dr. Barnes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 620. - - [577] Ibid. v. p. 434. - -Barnes, having come to a knowledge of the truth, immediately displayed -a zeal that was somewhat imprudent. Men of the least decided -character, and even those who are destined to make a signal fall, are -often those who begin their course with the greatest ardour. Barnes -seemed prepared at this time to withstand all England. Being now -united to Latimer by a tender Christian affection, he was indignant -that the powerful voice of his friend should be lost to the church. -"The bishop has forbidden you to preach," he said to him, "but my -monastery is not under episcopal jurisdiction. You can preach there." -Latimer went into the pulpit at the Augustine's, and the church could -not contain the crowd that flocked to it. At Cambridge, as at -Wittemberg, the chapel of the Augustine monks was used for the first -struggles of the Gospel. It was here that Latimer delivered some of -his best sermons. - -[Sidenote: JOHN FRYTH.] - -A very different man from Latimer, and particularly from Barnes, was -daily growing in influence among the English reformers: this was -Fryth. No one was more humble than he, and on that very account no one -was stronger. He was less brilliant than Barnes, but more solid. He -might have penetrated into the highest departments of science, but he -was drawn away by the deep mysteries of God's word; the call of -conscience prevailed over that of the understanding.[578] He did not -devote the energy of his soul to difficult questions; he thirsted for -God, for his truth, and for his love. Instead of propagating his -particular opinions and forming divisions, he clung only to the faith -which saves, and advanced the dominion of true unity. This is the mark -of the great servant of God. Humble before the Lord, mild before men, -and even in appearance somewhat timid, Fryth in the face of danger -displayed an intrepid courage. "My learning is small," he said, "but -the little I have I am determined to give to Jesus Christ for the -building of his temple."[579] - - [578] Notwithstanding his other manifold and singular gifts and - ornaments of the mind, in him most pregnant. Tyndale and Fryth's - Works, iii, p. 73. - - [579] That is very small, nevertheless that little. Ibid. p. 83. - -Latimer's sermons, Barnes's ardour, and Fryth's firmness, excited -fresh zeal at Cambridge. They knew what was going on in Germany and -Switzerland; shall the English, ever in front, now remain in the rear? -Shall not Latimer, Bilney, Stafford, Barnes, and Fryth do what the -servants of God are doing in other places? - -[Sidenote: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1525.] - -A secret ferment announced an approaching crisis: every one expected -some change for better or for worse. The Evangelicals, confident in -the truth, and thinking themselves sure of victory, resolved to fall -upon the enemy simultaneously on several points. The Sunday before -Christmas, in the year 1525, was chosen for this great attack. While -Latimer should address the crowds that continued to fill the Augustine -chapel, and others were preaching in other places, Barnes was to -deliver a sermon in one of the churches in the town. But nothing -compromises the Gospel so much as a disposition turned towards outward -things. God, who grants his blessing only to undivided hearts, -permitted this general assault, of which Barnes was to be the hero, to -be marked by a defeat. The prior, as he went into the pulpit, thought -only of Wolsey. As the representative of the popedom in England, the -cardinal was the great obstacle to the Reformation. Barnes preached -from the epistle for the day: _Rejoice in the Lord alway_.[580] But -instead of announcing Christ and the joy of the Christian, he -imprudently declaimed against the luxury, pride, and diversions of the -churchmen, and everybody understood that he aimed at the cardinal. He -described those magnificent palaces, that brilliant suite, those -scarlet robes, and pearls, and gold, and precious stones, and all the -prelate's ostentation, so little in keeping (said he) with the stable -of Bethlehem. Two fellows of King's College, Robert Ridley and Walter -Preston, relations of Tonstall, bishop of London, who were -intentionally among the congregation, noted down in their tablets the -prior's imprudent expressions. - - [580] Philippians iv, 4-7. - -[Sidenote: FERMENT IN THE COLLEGES.] - -The sermon was scarcely over when the storm broke out. "These people -are not satisfied with propagating monstrous heresies," exclaimed -their enemies, "but they must find fault with the powers that be. -To-day they attack the cardinal, to-morrow they will attack the king!" -Ridley and Preston accused Barnes to the vice-chancellor. All -Cambridge was in commotion. What! Barnes the Augustine prior, the -restorer of letters, accused as a Lollard!... The Gospel was -threatened with a danger more formidable than a prison or a scaffold. -The friends of the priests, knowing Barnes's weakness, and even his -vanity, hoped to obtain of him a disavowal that would cover the -evangelical party with shame. "What!" said these dangerous counsellors -to him, "the noblest career was open to you, and would you close -it?... Do, pray, explain away your sermon." They alarmed, they -flattered him; and the poor prior was near yielding to their -solicitations. "Next Sunday you will read this declaration," they said -to him. Barnes ran over the paper put into his hands, and saw no great -harm in it. However he desired to show it to Bilney and Stafford. -"Beware of such weakness," said these faithful men. Barnes then -recalled his promise, and for a season the enemies of the Gospel were -silent. - -Its friends worked with increased energy. The fall from which one of -their companions had so narrowly escaped inspired them with fresh -zeal. The more indecision and weakness Barnes had shown, the more did -his brethren flee to God for courage and firmness. It was reported, -moreover, that a powerful ally was coming across the sea, and that the -Holy Scriptures, translated into the vulgar tongue, were at last to be -given to the people. Wherever the word was preached, there the -congregation was largest. It was the seed-time of the church; all were -busy in the fields to prepare the soil and trace the furrows. Seven -colleges at least were in full ferment: Pembroke, St. John's, Queens', -King's, Caius, Benet's, and Peterhouse. The Gospel was preached at the -Augustine's, at Saint Mary's, (the University church,) and in other -places, and when the bells rang to prayers, the streets were alive -with students issuing from the colleges, and hastening to the -sermon.[581] - - [581] Flocked together in open street. Strype, Mem. i, p. 568. - -There was at Cambridge a house called the White Horse, so situated as -to permit the most timid members of King's, Queens', and St. John's -Colleges, to enter at the rear without being perceived. In every age -Nicodemus has had his followers. Here those persons used to assemble -who desired to read the Bible and the works of the German reformers. -The priests, looking upon Wittemberg as the focus of the Reformation, -named this house Germany: the people will always have their bywords. -At first the frequenters of the White Horse were called sophists; and -now, whenever a group of "fellows" was seen walking in that direction, -the cry was, "There are the Germans going to Germany."--"We are not -Germans," was the reply, "neither are we Romans." The Greek New -Testament had made them Christians. The Gospel-meetings had never been -more fervent. Some attended them to communicate the new life they -possessed; others to receive what God had given to the more advanced -brethren. The Holy Spirit united them all, and thus, by the fellowship -of the saints, were real churches created. To these young Christians -the word of God was the source of so much light, that they imagined -themselves transported to that heavenly city of which the Scriptures -speak, _which had no need of the sun, for the glory of God did lighten -it_. "So oft as I was in the company of these brethren," said a -youthful student of St. John's, "methought I was quietly placed in the -new glorious Jerusalem."[582] - - [582] Becon, ii, p. 426. - -[Sidenote: MEETINGS AT OXFORD.] - -Similar things were taking place at Oxford. In 1524 and 1525, Wolsey -had successively invited thither several Cambridge fellows, and -although only seeking the most able, he found that he had taken some -of the most pious. Besides John Clark, there were Richard Cox, John -Fryer, Godfrey Harman, W. Betts, Henry Sumner, W. Baily, Michael -Drumm, Th. Lawney, and, lastly, the excellent John Fryth. These -Christians, associating with Clark, with his faithful Dalaber, and -with other evangelicals of Oxford, held meetings, like their Cambridge -brethren, at which God manifested his presence. The bishops made war -upon the Gospel; the king supported them with all his power; but the -word had gained the victory; there was no longer any doubt. The church -was born again in England. - -The great movement of the sixteenth century had begun more -particularly among the younger doctors and students at Oxford and -Cambridge. From them it was necessary that it should be extended to -the people, and for that end the New Testament, hitherto read in Latin -and in Greek, must be circulated in English. The voices of these -youthful evangelists were heard, indeed, in London and in the -provinces; but their exhortations would have been insufficient, if the -mighty hand which directs all things had not made this Christian -activity coincide with that holy work for which it had set Tyndale -apart. While all was agitation in England, the waves of ocean were -bearing from the continent to the banks of the Thames those Scriptures -of God, which, three centuries later, multiplied by thousands and by -millions, and translated into a hundred and fifty tongues, were to be -wafted from the same banks to the ends of the world. If in the -fifteenth century, and even in the early days of the sixteenth, the -English New Testament had been brought to London, it would only have -fallen into the hands of a few Lollards. Now, in every place, in the -parsonages, the universities, and the palaces, as well as in the -cottages of the husbandmen and the shops of the tradesmen, there was -an ardent desire to possess the Holy Scriptures. The _fiat lux_ was -about to be uttered over the chaos of the church, and light to be -separated from darkness by the word of God. - - - - -BOOK XIX. - -THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT AND THE COURT OF ROME. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Church and State essentially distinct--Their fundamental - Principles--What restores Life to the Church--Separation - from Rome necessary--Reform and Liberty--The New Testament - crosses the sea--Is hidden in London--Garret's Preaching and - Zeal--Dissemination of Scripture--What the People find in - it--The Effects it produces--Tyndale's Explanations--Roper, - More's Son-in-law--Garret carries Tyndale's Testament to - Oxford--Henry and his Valet--The Supplication of the - Beggars--Two Sorts of Beggars--Evils caused by - Priests--More's Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory. - - -The Church and the State are essentially distinct. They both receive -their task from God, but that task is different in each. The task of -the church is to lead men to God; the task of the State is to secure -the earthly development of a people in conformity with its peculiar -character. There are certain bounds, traced by the particular spirit -of each nation within which the state should confine itself; while the -church, whose limits are co-extensive with the human race, has a -universal character, which raises it above all national differences. -These two distinctive features should be maintained. A state which -aims at universality loses itself; a church whose mind and aim are -sectarian falls away. Nevertheless, the church and the state, the two -poles of social life, while they are in many respects opposed to one -another, are far from excluding each other absolutely. The church has -need of that justice, order, and liberty, which the state is bound to -maintain; but the state has especial need of the church. If Jesus can -do without kings to establish his kingdom, kings cannot do without -Jesus, if they would have their kingdoms prosper. Justice, which is -the fundamental principle of the state, is continually fettered in its -progress by the internal power of sin; and as force can do nothing -against this power, the state requires the Gospel in order to -overcome it. That country will always be the most prosperous where the -church is the most evangelical. These two communities having thus need -one of the other, we must be prepared, whenever a great religious -manifestation takes place in the world, to witness the appearance on -the scene not only of the little ones, but of the great ones also, of -the state. We must not then be surprised to meet with Henry VIII, but -let us endeavour to appreciate accurately the part he played. - -[Sidenote: CHURCH AND STATE.] - -If the Reformation, particularly in England, happened necessarily to -be mixed up with the state, with the world even, it originated neither -in the state nor in the world. There was much worldliness in the age -of Henry VIII, passions, violence, festivities, a trial, a divorce; -and some historians call that _the history of the Reformation in -England_. We shall not pass by in silence these manifestations of the -worldly life; opposed as they are to the Christian life, they are in -history, and it is not our business to tear them out. But most -assuredly they are not the Reformation. From a very different quarter -proceeded the divine light which then rose upon the human race. - -To say that Henry VIII, was the reformer of his people is to betray -our ignorance of his. The kingly power in England by turns opposed and -favoured the reform in the church; but it opposed before it favoured, -and much more than it favoured. This great transformation was begun -and extended by its own strength, by the Spirit from on high. - -When the church has lost the life that is peculiar to it, it must -again put itself in communication with its creative principle, that -is, with the word of God. Just as the buckets of a wheel employed in -irrigating the meadows have no sooner discharged their reviving -waters, than they dip again into the stream to be re-filled, so every -generation, void of the Spirit of Christ, must return to the divine -source to be again filled up. The primitive words which created the -church have been preserved for us in the Gospels, the Acts, and the -Epistles; and the humble reading of these divine writings will create -in every age the communion of saints. God was the father of the -Reformation, not Henry VIII. The visible world which then glittered -with such brightness; those princes and sports, those noblemen, and -trials and laws, far from effecting a reform, were calculated to -stifle it. But the light and the warmth came from heaven, and the new -creation was completed. - -[Sidenote: SEPARATION FROM ROME NECESSARY.] - -In the reign of Henry VIII a great number of citizens, priests, and -noblemen possessed that degree of cultivation which favours the -action of the holy books. It was sufficient for this divine seed to be -scattered on the well-prepared soil for the work of germination to be -accomplished. - -A time not less important also was approaching--that in which the -action of the popedom was to come to an end. The hour had not yet -struck. God was first creating within by his word a spiritual church, -before he broke without by his dispensations the bonds which had so -long fastened England to the power of Rome. It was his good pleasure -first to give truth and life, and then liberty. It has been said that -if the pope had consented to a reform of abuses and doctrines, on -condition of his keeping his position, the religious revolution would -not have been satisfied at that price, and that after demanding -_reform_, the next demand would have been for _liberty_. The only -reproach that can be made to this assertion is, that it is -superabundantly true. Liberty was an integral part of the Reformation, -and one of the changes imperatively required was to withdraw religious -authority from the pope, and restore it to the word of God. In the -sixteenth century there was a great outpouring of the Christian life -in France, Italy, and Spain; it is attested by martyrs without number, -and history shows that to transform these three great nations, all -that the Gospel wanted was liberty.[583] "If we had set to work two -months later," said a grand inquisitor of Spain who had dyed himself -in the blood of the saints, "it would have been too late: Spain would -have been lost to the Roman church." We may therefore believe that if -Italy, France, and Spain had had some generous king to check the -myrmidons of the pope, those three countries, carried along by the -renovating power of the Gospel, would have entered upon an era of -liberty and faith. - - [583] Geddes's Martyrology, Gonsalvi, Mart. Hisp. Llorente, Inquis. - M'Crie, Ref. in Spain. - -The struggles of England with the popedom began shortly after the -dissemination of the English New Testament by Tyndale. The epoch at -which we are arrived accordingly brings in one view before our eyes -both the Testament of Jesus Christ and the court of Rome. We can thus -study the men (the reformers and the Romanists) and the works they -produce, and arrive at a just valuation of the two great principles -which dispute the possession of authority in the church. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE NEW TESTAMENTS.] - -It was about the close of the year 1525; the English New Testament was -crossing the sea; five pious Hanseatic merchants had taken charge of -the books. Captivated by the Holy Scriptures they had taken them on -board their ships, hidden them among their merchandise; and then made -sail from Antwerp for London. - -Thus those precious pages were approaching England, which were to -become its light and the source of its greatness. The merchants, whose -zeal unhappily cost them dear, were not without alarm. Had not -Cochlaeus caused orders to be sent to every port to prevent the -entrance of the precious cargo they were bringing to England? They -arrived and cast anchor; they lowered the boat to reach the shore; -what were they likely to meet there? Tonstall's agents, no doubt, and -Wolsey's, and Henry's ready to take away their New Testaments! They -landed and soon again returned to the ship; boats passed to and fro, -and the vessel was unloaded. No enemy appeared; and no one seemed to -imagine that these ships contained so great a treasure. - -Just at the time this invaluable cargo was ascending the river, an -invisible hand had dispersed the preventive guard. Tonstall, bishop of -London, had been sent to Spain; Wolsey was occupied in political -combinations with Scotland, France, and the empire; Henry VIII, driven -from his capital by an unhealthy winter, was passing the Christmas -holidays at Eltham; and even the courts of justice, alarmed by an -extraordinary mortality, had suspended their sittings. God, if we may -so speak, had sent his angel to remove the guards. - -Seeing nothing that could stop them, the five merchants, whose -establishment was at the Steel yard in Thames Street, hastened to -conceal their precious charge in their warehouses. But who will -receive them? Who will undertake to distribute these Holy Scriptures -in London, Oxford, Cambridge, and all England? It is a little matter -that they have crossed the sea. The principal instrument God was about -to use for their dissemination was an humble servant of Christ. - -[Sidenote: THOMAS GARRET.] - -In Honey Lane, a narrow thoroughfare adjoining Cheapside, stood the -old church of All Hallows, of which Robert Forman was rector. His -curate was a plain man of lively imagination, delicate conscience, and -timid disposition, but rendered bold by his faith, to which he was to -become a martyr. Thomas Garret, for that was his name, having believed -in the Gospel, earnestly called his hearers to repentance;[584] he -urged upon them that works, however good they might be in appearance, -were by no means capable of justifying the sinner, and that faith -alone could save him.[585] He maintained that every man had the right -to preach the word of God;[586] and called those bishops pharisees, -who persecuted christian men. Garret's discourses, at once so -quickening and so gentle, attracted great crowds; and to many of his -hearers, the street in which he preached was rightly named Honey Lane, -for there they found the _honey out of the rock_.[587] But Garret was -about to commit a fault still more heinous in the eyes of the priests -than preaching faith. The Hanse merchants were seeking some sure place -where they might store up the New Testaments and other books sent from -Germany; the curate offered his house, stealthily transported the holy -deposit thither, hid them in the most secret corners, and kept a -faithful watch over this sacred library.[588] He did not confine -himself to this. Night and day he studied the holy books; he held -Gospel meetings, read the word and explained its doctrines to the -citizens of London. At last, not satisfied with being at once student, -librarian, and preacher, he became a trader, and sold the New -Testament to laymen, and even to priests and monks, so that the Holy -Scriptures were dispersed over the whole realm.[589] This humble and -timid priest was then performing alone the biblical work of England. - - [584] Earnestly laboured to call us to repentance. Becon, iii. p. 11. - - [585] Quod opera nostra quantumvis bona in specie nihil conducunt ad - justificationem nec ad meritum, sed sola fides. (Foxe, Acts, v. p. - 428.) Because our work, however good in appearance are of no avail to - justification or to merit, but faith alone can save. - - [586] Every man may preach the word of God. Ibid. - - [587] Psalm lxxxi. 16. - - [588] Having the said books in his custody. Foxe, Acts, v. p. 428. - - [589] Dispersing abroad of the said books within this realm. Ibid. p. - 428. See also Strype. _Cranmer's Mem._ p. 81. - -[Sidenote: WHAT MEN FOUND IN THE SCRIPTURES.] - -And thus the word of God, presented by Erasmus to the learned in 1517 -was given to the people by Tyndale in 1526. In the parsonages and in -the convent cells, but particularly in shops and cottages, a crowd of -persons were studying the New Testament. The clearness of the Holy -Scriptures struck each reader. None of the systematic or aphoristic -forms of the school were to be found there: it was the language of -human life which they discovered in those divine writings: here a -conversation, there a discourse; here a narrative, and there a -comparison; here a command, and there an argument; here a parable, and -there a prayer. It was not all doctrine or all history; but these two -elements mingled together made an admirable whole. Above all, the life -of our Saviour, so divine and so human, had an inexpressible charm -which captivated the simple. One work of Jesus Christ explained -another, and the great facts of the redemption, birth, death, and -resurrection of the Son of God, and the sending of the Holy Ghost, -followed and completed each other. The authority of Christ's teaching, -so strongly contrasting with the doubts of the schools, increased the -clearness of his discourses to his readers; for the more certain a -truth is, the more distinctly it strikes the mind. Academical -explanations were not necessary to those noblemen, farmers, and -citizens. It is to me, for me, and of me that this book speaks, said -each one. It is I whom all these promises and teachings concern. This -_fall_ and this _restoration_ ... they are mine. That old _death_ and -this new _life_.... I have passed through them. That _flesh_ and that -_spirit_.... I know them. This _law_ and this _grace_, this _faith_, -these _works_, this _slavery_, this _glory_, this _Christ_ and this -_Belial_ ... all are familiar to me. It is my own history that I find -in this book. Thus by the aid of the Holy Ghost each one had in his -own experience a key to the mysteries of the Bible. To understand -certain authors and certain philosophers, the intellectual life of the -reader must be in harmony with theirs; so must there be an intimate -affinity with the holy books to penetrate their mysteries. "The man -that has not the Spirit of God," said a reformer, "does not understand -one jot or tittle of the Scripture."[590] Now that this condition was -fulfilled, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. - - [590] Nullus homo unum iota in Scripturis sacris videt, nisi qui - spiritum Dei habet. (Luther, De servo arbitrio, Witt. ii. p. 424.) No - man but he who has the Spirit of God can see a single jot in the - sacred scriptures. - -Such at that period were the hermeneutics of England. Tyndale had set -the example himself by explaining many of the words which might stop -the reader. "The _New Testament_!" we may suppose some farmer saying, -as he took up the book; "what _Testament_ is that?" "Christ," replied -Tyndale in his prologue, "commanded his disciples before his death to -publish over all the world _his last will_, which is to give all his -goods unto all that repent and believe.[591] He bequeaths them his -righteousness to blot out their sins--his salvation to overcome their -condemnation; and this is why that document is called the _Testament_ -of Jesus Christ." - - [591] Tyndale and Fryth's Works (ed. Russell.). vol. ii. p. 491. The - "Pathway unto the Holy Scripture" is the prologue to the quarto - Testament, with a few changes of little importance. - -"The _law_ and the _Gospel_," said a citizen of London, in his shop; -"what is that?" "They are two _keys_," answered Tyndale. "The _law_ is -the key which shuts up all men under condemnation, and the _Gospel_ is -the key which opens the door and lets them out. Or, if you like it, -they are two salves. The law, sharp and biting, driveth out the -disease and killeth it; while the Gospel, soothing and soft, softens -the wound and brings life."[592] Everyone understood and read, or -rather devoured the inspired pages; and the hearts of the elect (to -use Tyndale's words), warmed by the love of Jesus Christ, began to -melt like wax.[593] - - [592] Tyndale and Fryth's Works (ed. Russell), vol. ii, p. 503. - - [593] Ibid. p. 500. - -[Sidenote: MORE'S SON-IN-LAW.] - -This transformation was observed to take place even in the most -catholic families. Roper, More's son-in-law, having read the New -Testament, received the truth. "I have no more need," said he, "of -auricular confession, of vigils, or of the invocation of saints. The -ears of God are always open to hear us. Faith alone is necessary to -salvation. I believe ... and I am saved.... Nothing can deprive me of -God's favour."[594] - - [594] More's Life, p. 134. - -The amiable and zealous young man desired to do more. "Father," said -he one day to Sir Thomas, "procure for me from the king, who is very -fond of you, a license to preach. God hath sent me to instruct the -world." More was uneasy. Must this new doctrine, which he detests, -spread even to his children? He exerted all his authority to destroy -the work begun in Roper's heart. "What," said he with a smile, "is it -not sufficient that we that are your friends should know that you are -a fool, but you would proclaim your folly to the world? Hold your -tongue: I will debate with you no longer." The young man's imagination -was struck, but his heart had not been changed. The discussions having -ceased, the father's authority being restored, Roper became less -fervent in his faith, and gradually he returned to popery, of which he -was afterwards a zealous champion. - -The humble curate of All Hallows having sold the New Testament to -persons living in London and its neighbourhood, and to many pious men -who would carry it to the farthest parts of England, formed the -resolution to introduce it into the University of Oxford, that citadel -of traditional catholicism. It was there he had studied, and he felt -towards that school the affection which a son bears to his mother: he -set out with his books.[595] Terror occasionally seized him, for he -knew that the word of God had many deadly enemies at Oxford; but his -inexhaustible zeal overcame his timidity. In concert with Dalaber, he -stealthily offered the mysterious book for sale; many students bought -it, and Garret carefully entered their names in his register. This was -in January 1526; an incident disturbed this Christian activity. - - [595] And brought with him Tyndale's first translation of the New - Testament in English. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 421. - -[Sidenote: HENRY VIII AND HIS VALET.] - -One morning when Edmund Moddis, one of Henry's valets-de-chambre, was -in attendance on his master, the prince, who was much attached to him, -spoke to him, of the new books come from beyond the sea. "If your -grace," said Moddis, "would promise to pardon me and certain -individuals, I would present you a wonderful book which is dedicated -to your majesty."[596] "Who is the author?" "A lawyer of Gray's Inn -named Simon Fish, at present on the continent." "What is he doing -there?" "About three years ago, Mr. Row, a fellow-student of Gray's -Inn, composed for a private theatre a drama against my lord the -cardinal." The king smiled; when his minister was attacked, his own -yoke seemed lighter. "As no one was willing to represent the character -employed to give the cardinal his lesson," continued the valet, -"Master Fish boldly accepted it. The piece produced a great effect; -and my lord being informed of this impertinence, sent the police one -night to arrest Fish. The latter managed to escape, crossed the sea, -joined one Tyndale, the author of some of the books so much talked of; -and, carried away by his friend's example, he composed the book of -which I was speaking to your grace." "What's the name of it?" "_The -Supplication of the Beggars._"--"Where did you see it?"--"At two of -your tradespeople's, George Elyot and George Robinson;[597] if your -grace desires it, they shall bring it you." The king appointed the day -and the hour. - - [596] His grace should see such a book as it was a marvel to hear of. - Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 658. - - [597] Ibid. - -The book was written for the king, and every body read it but the king -himself. At the appointed day, Moddis appeared with Elyot and -Robinson, who were not entirely without fear, as they might be accused -of proselytism even in the royal palace. The king received them in his -private apartments.[598] "What do you want," he said to them. "Sir," -replied one of the merchants, "we are come about an extraordinary book -that is addressed to you." "Can one of you read it to me?"--"Yes, if -it so please your grace," replied Elyot. "You may repeat the contents -from memory," rejoined the king ... "but, no, read it all; that will -be better. I am ready." Elyot began, - -"THE SUPPLICATION OF THE BEGGARS." - -[Sidenote: HOW A STATE IS RUINED.] - -"To the king our sovereign lord,-- - -"Most lamentably complaineth of their woeful misery, unto your -highness, your poor daily bedesmen, the wretched hideous monsters, on -whom scarcely, for horror, any eye dare look; the foul unhappy sort of -lepers and other sore people, needy, impotent, blind, lame, and sick, -that live only by alms; how that their number is daily sore increased, -that all the alms of all the well-disposed people of this your realm -are not half enough to sustain them, but that for very constraint they -die for hunger. - -"And this most pestilent mischief is come upon your said poor -bedesmen, by the reason that there hath, in the time of your noble -predecessors, craftily crept into this your realm, another sort, not -of impotent, but of strong, puissant, and counterfeit, holy and idle -beggars and vagabonds, who by all the craft and wiliness of Satan are -now increased not only into a great number, but also into a kingdom." - - [598] Ibid. - -Henry was very attentive: Elyot continued: - -"These are not the shepherds, but the ravenous wolves going in -shepherds' clothing, devouring the flock: bishops, abbots, priors, -deacons, archdeacons, suffragans, priests, monks, canons, friars, -pardoners, and sumners.... The goodliest lordships, manors, lands, and -territories are theirs. Besides this, they have the tenth part of all -the corn, meadow, pasture, grass, wood, colts, calves, lambs, pigs, -geese, and chickens. Over and besides, the tenth part of every -servant's wages, the tenth part of wool, milk, honey, wax, cheese, and -butter. The poor wives must be accountable to them for every tenth -egg, or else she getteth not her rights [_i. e._ absolution] at -Easter.... Finally what get they in a year? Summa totalis: L430,333, -6s. 8d. sterling, whereof not four hundred years past they had not a -penny.... - -"What subjects shall be able to help their prince, that be after this -fashion yearly polled? What good Christian people can be able to -succour us poor lepers, blind, sore and lame, that be thus yearly -oppressed?... The ancient Romans had never been able to have put all -the whole world under their obeisance, if they had had at home such an -idle sort of cormorants." - -No subject could have been found more likely to captivate the king's -attention. "And what doth all this greedy sort of sturdy idle holy -thieves with their yearly exactions that they take of the people? -Truly nothing, but translate all rule, power, lordship, authority, -obedience, and dignity from your grace unto them. Nothing, but that -all your subjects should fall into disobedience and rebellion.... -Priests and doves make foul houses; and if you will ruin a state, set -up in it the pope with his monks and clergy.... Send these sturdy -loobies abroad in the world to take them wives of their own, and to -get their living with their labour in the sweat of their faces.... -Then shall your commons increase in riches; then shall matrimony be -much better kept; then shall not your sword, power, crown, dignity, -and obedience of your people be translated from you." - -When Elyot had finished reading, the king was silent, sunk in thought. -The true cause of the ruin of the state had been laid before him; but -Henry's mind was not ripe for these important truths. At last he said, -with an uneasy manner: "If a man who desires to pull down an old wall, -begins at the bottom, I fear the upper part may chance to fall on his -head."[599] Thus then, in the king's eyes, Fish by attacking the -priests was disturbing the foundations of religion and society. After -this royal verdict, Henry rose, took the book, locked it up in his -desk, and forbade the two merchants to reveal to any one the fact of -their having read it to him. - - [599] The upper part thereof might chance to fall upon his head. Foxe, - Acts, iv, p. 658. - -Shortly after the king had received this copy, on Wednesday the 2nd of -February, the feast of Candlemas, a number of persons, including the -king himself, were to take part in the procession, bearing wax tapers -in their hands. During the night this famous invective was scattered -about all the streets through which the procession had to pass. The -cardinal ordered the pamphlet to be seized, and immediately waited -upon the king. The latter put his hand under his robe, and with a -smile took out the so much dreaded work, and then, as if satisfied -with this proof of independence, he gave it up to the cardinal. - -[Sidenote: SUPPLICATIONS OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.] - -While Wolsey replied to Fish by confiscation, Sir Thomas More with -greater liberality, desiring that press should reply to press, -published _The Supplications of the Souls in Purgatory_. "Suppress," -said they, "the pious stipends paid to the monks, and then Luther's -gospel will come in, Tyndale's testament will be read, heresy will -preach, fasts will be neglected, the saints will be blasphemed, God -will be offended, virtue will be mocked of, vice will run riot, and -England will be peopled with beggars and thieves."[600] The Souls in -Purgatory then call the author of the Beggars' Supplication "a goose, -an ass, a mad dog." Thus did superstition degrade More's noble genius. -Notwithstanding the abuse of the souls in purgatory, the New Testament -was daily read more and more in England. - - [600] Supplication of the Souls in Purgatory. More's Works. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - The two Authorities--Commencement of the Search--Garret at - Oxford--His flight--His Return and Imprisonment--Escapes and - takes Refuge with Dalaber--Garret and Dalaber at Prayer--The - _Magnificat_--Surprise among the Doctors--Clark's - advice--Fraternal Love at Oxford--Alarm of Dalaber--His - Arrest and Examination--He is Tortured--Garret and Twenty - Fellows imprisoned--The Cellar--Condemnation and - Humiliation. - - -[Sidenote: COUNCIL OF BISHOPS.] - -Wolsey did not stop with Fish's book. It was not that "miserable -pamphlet" only that it was necessary to hunt down; the New Testament -in English had entered the kingdom by surprise; there was the danger. -The gospellers, who presumed to emancipate man from the priests, and -put him in absolute dependence on God, did precisely the reverse of -what Rome demands.[601] The cardinal hastened to assemble the bishops, -and these (particularly Warham and Tonstall, who had long enjoyed the -jests launched against superstition) took the matter seriously when -they were shown that the New Testament was circulating throughout -England. These priests believed with Wolsey, that the authority of the -pope and of the clergy was a dogma to which all others were -subordinate. They saw in the reform an uprising of the human mind, a -desire of thinking for themselves, of judging freely the doctrines and -institutions, which the nations had hitherto received humbly from the -hands of the priests. The new doctors justified their attempt at -enfranchisement by substituting a new authority for the old. It was -the New Testament that compromised the absolute power of Rome. It must -be seized and destroyed, said the bishops. London, Oxford, and above -all Cambridge, those three haunts of heresy, must be carefully -searched. Definitive orders were issued on Saturday, 3rd February, -1526, and the work began immediately. - - [601] Actus meritorius est in potestate hominis. (Duns Scotus in - Sentent. lib. i. diss. 17.) A man is able to do a meritorious action. - -[Sidenote: GARRET'S FLIGHT.] - -The first visit of the inquisitors was to Honey Lane, to the house of -the curate of All Hallows. They did not find Garret; they sought after -him at Monmouth's, and throughout the city, but he could not be met -with.[602] "He is gone to Oxford to sell his detestable wares," the -inquisitors were informed, and they set off after him immediately, -determined to burn the evangelist and his books; "so burning hot," -says an historian, "was the charity of these holy fathers."[603] - - [602] He was searched for through all London. Foxe, Acts, v, p. 421. - - [603] Foxe, Acts, v. p. 421. - -On Tuesday, the 6th of February, Garret was quietly selling his books -at Oxford, and carefully noting down his sales in his register, when -two of his friends ran to him exclaiming, "Fly! or else you will be -taken before the cardinal, and thence ... to the Tower." The poor -curate was greatly agitated. "From whom did you learn that?"--"From -Master Cole, the clerk of the assembly, who is deep in the cardinal's -favour." Garret, who saw at once that the affair was serious, hastened -to Anthony Dalaber, who held the stock of the Holy Scriptures at -Oxford; others followed him; the news had spread rapidly, and those -who had bought the book were seized with alarm, for they knew by the -history of the Lollards what the Romish clergy could do. They took -counsel together. The brethren, "for so did we not only call one -another, but were indeed one to another," says Dalaber,[604] decided -that Garret should change his name; that Dalaber should give him a -letter for his brother, the rector of Stalbridge, in Dorsetshire, who -was in want of a curate; and that, once in this parish, he should seek -the first opportunity of crossing the sea. The rector was in truth a -"mad papist" (it is Dalaber's expression), but that did not alter -their resolution. They knew of no other resource. Anthony wrote to him -hurriedly; and, on the morning of the 7th of February, Garret left -Oxford without being observed. - - [604] Ibid. - -Having provided for Garret's safety, Dalaber next thought of his own. -He carefully concealed in a secret recess of his chamber, at St -Alban's Hall, Tyndale's Testament, and the works of Luther, -OEcolampadius, and others, on the word of God. Then, disgusted with the -scholastic sophisms which he heard in that college, he took with him -the New Testament and the Commentary on the gospel of St. Luke, by -Lambert of Avignon, the second edition of which had just been -published at Strasburg,[605] and went to Gloucester college, where he -intended to study the civil law, not caring to have any thing more to -do with the church. - - [605] In Lucae Evangelium Commentarii, nunc secundo recogniti et - locupletati. (Argentorati, 1525.) Commentaries on the gospel of Luke, - now for the second time revised and enriched. - -[Sidenote: HIS RETURN AND IMPRISONMENT.] - -During this time, poor Garret was making his way into Dorsetshire. His -conscience could not bear the idea of being, although for a short time -only, the curate of a bigoted priest,--of concealing his faith, his -desires, and even his name. He felt more wretched, although at -liberty, than he could have been in Wolsey's prisons. It is better, he -said within himself, to confess Christ before the judgment seat, than -to seem to approve of the superstitious practices I detest. He went -forward a little, then stopped--and then resumed his course. There was -a fierce struggle between his fears and his conscience. At length, -after a day and a half spent in doubt, his conscience prevailed; -unable to endure any longer the anguish that he felt, he retraced his -steps, returned to Oxford, which he entered on Friday evening, and lay -down calmly in his bed. It was barely past midnight when Wolsey's -agents, who had received information of his return, arrived, and -dragged him from his bed,[606] and delivered him up to Dr. Cottisford, -the commissary of the university. The latter locked him up in one of -his rooms, while London and Higdon, dean of Frideswide, "two arch -papists" (as the chronicler terms them), announced this important -capture to the cardinal. They thought popery was saved, because a poor -curate had been taken. - - [606] Foxe, v. p.422. - -[Sidenote: GARRET AND DALABER AT PRAYER.] - -Dalaber, engaged in preparing his new room at Gloucester college, had -not perceived all this commotion.[607] On Saturday, at noon, having -finished his arrangements, he double-locked his door, and began to -read the Gospel according to St. Luke. All of a sudden he hears a -knock. Dalaber made no reply; it is no doubt the commissary's -officers. A louder knock was given; but he still remained silent. -Immediately after, there was a third knock, as if the door would be -beaten in. "Perhaps somebody wants me," thought Dalaber. He laid his -book aside, opened the door, and to his great surprise saw Garret, -who, with alarm in every feature, exclaimed, "I am a lost man! They -have caught me!" Dalaber, who thought his friend was with his brother -at Stalbridge, could not conceal his astonishment, and at the same -time he cast an uneasy glance on a stranger who accompanied Garret. He -was one of the college servants who had led the fugitive curate to -Dalaber's new room. As soon as this man had gone away, Garret told -Anthony everything: "Observing that Dr. Cottisford and his household -had gone to prayers, I put back the bolt of the lock with my finger -... and here I am."... "Alas! Master Garret," replied Dalaber, "the -imprudence you committed in speaking to me before that young man has -ruined us both!" At these words, Garret, who had resumed his fear of -the priests, now that his conscience was satisfied, exclaimed with a -voice interrupted by sighs and tears:[608] "For mercy's sake, help me! -Save me!" Without waiting for an answer, he threw off his frock and -hood, begged Anthony to give him a sleeved coat, and thus disguised, -he said: "I will escape into Wales, and from there, if possible, to -Germany and Luther." - - [607] Ibid. - - [608] With deep sighs and plenty of tears. Foxe, v. p. 422. - -Garret checked himself; there was something to be done before he left. -The two friends fell on their knees and prayed together; they called -upon God to lead his servant to a secure retreat. That done, they -embraced each other, their faces bathed with tears, and unable to -utter a word.[609] - - [609] That we all bewet both our faces. Ibid. 423. - -Silent on the threshold of his door, Dalaber followed both with eyes -and ears his friend's retreating footsteps. Having heard him reach the -bottom of the stairs, he returned to his room, locked the door, took -out his New Testament, and placing it before him, read on his knees -the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, breathing many a heavy -sigh: .... _Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake -... but fear them not; the very hairs of your head are all numbered_. -This reading having revived his courage, Anthony, still on his knees, -prayed fervently for the fugitive and for all his brethren: "O God, by -thy Holy Spirit endue with heavenly strength this tender and new-born -little flock in Oxford.[610] Christ's heavy cross is about to be laid -on the weak shoulders of thy poor sheep. Grant that they may bear it -with godly patience and unflinching zeal!" - - [610] Ibid. - -Rising from his knees, Dalaber put away his book, folded up Garret's -hood and frock, placed them among his own clothes, locked his room -door, and proceeded to the Cardinal's College, (now Christ Church,) to -tell Clark and the other brethren what had happened.[611] They were in -chapel: the evening service had begun; the dean and canons, in full -costume, were chanting in the choir. Dalaber stopped at the door -listening to the majestic sounds of the organ at which Taverner -presided, and to the harmonious strains of the choristers. They were -singing the _Magnificat: My soul doth magnify the Lord.... He hath -holpen his servant Israel_. It seemed to Dalaber that they were -singing Garret's deliverance. But his voice could not join in their -song of praise. "Alas!" he exclaimed, "all my singing and music is -turned into sighing and musing."[612] - - [611] Ibid. - - [612] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: RAGE OF THE THREE DOCTORS.] - -As he listened, leaning against the entrance into the choir, Dr. -Cottisford, the university commissary, arrived with hasty step, "bare -headed, and as pale as ashes." He passed Anthony without noticing him, -and going straight to the dean appeared to announce some important and -unpleasant news. "I know well the cause of his sorrow," thought -Dalaber as he watched every gesture. The commissary had scarcely -finished his report when the dean arose, and both left the choir with -undisguised confusion. They had only reached the middle of the -anti-chapel when Dr. London ran in, puffing and chafing and stamping, -"like a hungry and greedy lion seeking his prey."[613] All three -stopped, questioned each other, and deplored their misfortune. Their -rapid and eager movements indicated the liveliest emotion; London -above all could not restrain himself. He attacked the commissary, and -blamed him for his negligence, so that at last Cottisford burst into -tears. "Deeds, not tears," said the fanatical London; and forthwith -they despatched officers and spies along every road. - - [613] Foxe, v. p. 424. - -Anthony having left the chapel hurried to Clark's to tell him of the -escape of his friend. "We are walking in the midst of wolves and -tigers," replied Clark; "prepare for persecution. _Prudentia -serpentina et simplicitas columbina_ (the wisdom of serpents and the -harmlessness of doves) must be our motto. O God, give us the courage -these evil times require." All in the little flock were delighted at -Garret's deliverance. Sumner and Betts, who had come in, ran off to -tell it to the other brethren in the College,[614] and Dalaber -hastened to Corpus Christi. All these pious young men felt themselves -to be soldiers in the same army, travellers in the same company, -brothers in the same family. Fraternal love nowhere shone so brightly -in the days of the Reformation as among the Christians of Great -Britain. This is a feature worthy of notice. - - [614] To tell unto our other brethren; (for there were divers else in - that college.) Ibid. - -Fitzjames, Udal, and Diet were met together in the rooms of the -latter, at Corpus Christi college, when Dalaber arrived. They ate -their frugal meal, with downcast eyes and broken voices, conversing of -Oxford, of England, and of the perils hanging over them.[615] Then -rising from table they fell on their knees, called upon God for aid, -and separated, Fitzjames taking Dalaber with him to St. Alban's Hall. -They were afraid that the servant of Gloucester College had betrayed -him. - - [615] Considering our state and peril at hand. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: DALABER'S ALARM.] - -The disciples of the gospel at Oxford passed the night in great -anxiety. Garret's flight, the rage of the priests, the dangers of the -rising church, the roaring of a storm that filled the air and -re-echoed through the long cloisters--all impressed them with terror. -On Sunday the 11th of February, Dalaber, who was stirring at five in -the morning, set out for his room in Gloucester College. Finding the -gates shut, he walked up and down beneath the walls in the mud, for it -had rained all night. As he paced to and fro along the solitary street -in the obscure dawn, a thousand thoughts alarmed his mind. It was -known, he said to himself, that he had taken part in Garret's flight; -he would be arrested, and his friend's escape would be revenged on -him.[616] He was weighed down by sorrow and alarm; he sighed -heavily;[617] he imagined he saw Wolsey's commissioners demanding the -names of his accomplices, and pretending to draw up a proscription -list at his dictation; he recollected that on more than one occasion -cruel priests had extorted from the Lollards the names of their -brethren, and terrified at the possibility of such a crime, he -exclaimed; "O God, I swear to thee that I will accuse no man, ... I -will tell nothing but what is perfectly well known."[618] - - [616] My musing head being full of forecasting cares. Foxe, v. p. 423. - - [617] My sorrowful heart flowing with doleful sighs. Ibid. - - [618] I fully determined in my conscience before God that I would - accuse no man. Ibid. - -At last, after an hour of anguish, he was able to enter the college. -He hastened in, but when he tried to open his door, he found that the -lock had been picked. The door gave way to a strong push, and what a -sight met his eyes! his bedstead overturned, the blankets scattered on -the floor, his clothes all confusion in his wardrobe, his study broken -into and left open. He doubted not that Garret's dress had betrayed -him; and he was gazing at this sad spectacle in alarm, when a monk who -occupied the adjoining rooms came and told him what had taken place: -"The commissary and two proctors, armed with swords and bills, broke -open your door in the middle of the night. They pierced your bed-straw -through and through to make sure Garret was not hidden there;[619] -they carefully searched every nook and corner, but were not able to -discover any traces of the fugitive." At these words Dalaber breathed -again ... but the monk had not ended. "I have orders," he added, "to -send you to the prior." Anthony Dunstan, the prior, was a fanatical -and avaricious monk; and the confusion into which this message threw -Dalaber was so great, that he went just as he was, all bespattered -with mud, to the rooms of his superior. - - [619] With bills and swords thrusted through my bed-straw. Ibid. p. - 425 - -[Sidenote: DALABER INTERROGATED.] - -The prior, who was standing with his face towards the door, looked at -Dalaber from head to foot as he came in. "Where did you pass the -night?" he asked. "At St. Alban's Hall with Fitzjames." The prior with -a gesture of incredulity continued: "Was not Master Garret with you -yesterday?"--"Yes."--"Where is he now?"--"I do not know." During this -examination, the prior had remarked a large double gilt silver ring on -Anthony's finger, with the initials A. D.[620] "Show me that," said -the prior. Dalaber gave him the ring, and the prior believing it to be -of solid gold, put it on his own finger, adding with a cunning leer: -"This ring is mine: it bears my name. A is for _Anthony_, and D for -_Dunstan_." "Would to God," thought Dalaber, "that I were as well -delivered from his company, as I am sure of being delivered of my -ring." - - [620] Then had he spied on my fore-finger a big ring of silver, very - well double-gilted. Foxe. v. p. 425. - -At this moment the chief beadle, with two or three of the commissary's -men, entered and conducted Dalaber to the chapel of Lincoln college, -where three ill-omened figures were standing beside the altar: they -were Cottisford, London, and Higdon. "Where is Garret?" asked London; -and pointing to his disordered dress, he continued: "Your shoes and -garments covered with mud prove that you have been out all night with -him. If you do not say where you have taken him, you will be sent to -the Tower."--"Yes," added Higdon, "to _Little-ease_ [one of the most -horrible dungeons in the prison,] and you will be put to the torture, -do you hear?" Then the three doctors spent two hours attempting to -shake the young man by flattering promises and frightful threats; but -all was useless. The commissary then gave a sign, the officers stepped -forward, and the judges ascended a narrow staircase leading to a large -room situated above the commissary's chamber. Here Dalaber was -deprived of his purse and girdle, and his legs were placed in the -stocks, so that his feet were almost as high as his head.[621] When -that was done, the three doctors devoutly went to mass. - - [621] Ibid. p. 426. - -Poor Anthony, left alone in this frightful position, recollected the -warning Clark had given him two years before. He groaned heavily and -cried to God:[622] "O Father! that my suffering may be for thy glory, -and for the consolation of my brethren! Happen what may, I will never -accuse one of them." After this noble protest, Anthony felt an -increase of peace in his heart; but a new sorrow was reserved for him. - - [622] Ibid. p. 427. - -[Sidenote: GARRET AND OTHERS IMPRISONED.] - -Garret, who had directed his course westwards, with the intention of -going to Wales, had been caught at Hinksey, a short distance from -Oxford. He was brought back, and thrown into the dungeon in which -Dalaber had been placed after the torture. Their gloomy presentiments -were to be more than fulfilled. - -In fact Wolsey was deeply irritated at seeing the college [Christ -Church], which he had intended should be "the most glorious in the -world," made the haunt of heresy, and the young men, whom he had so -carefully chosen, become distributors of the New Testament. By -favouring literature, he had had in view the triumph of the clergy, -and literature had on the contrary served to the triumph of the -Gospel. He issued his orders without delay, and the university was -filled with terror. John Clark, John Fryth, Henry Sumner, William -Betts, Richard Taverner, Richard Cox, Michael Drumm, Godfrey Harman, -Thomas Lawney, Radley, and others besides of Cardinal's College; Udal, -Diet, and others of Corpus Christi; Eden and several of his friends of -Magdalene; Goodman, William Bayley, Robert Ferrar, John Salisbury of -Gloucester, Barnard, and St. Mary's Colleges; were seized and thrown -into prison. Wolsey had promised them glory; he gave them a dungeon, -hoping in this manner to save the power of the priests, and to repress -that awakening of truth and liberty which was spreading from the -continent to England. - -Under Cardinal's College there was a deep cellar sunk in the earth, in -which the butler kept his salt fish. Into this hole these young men, -the choice of England, were thrust. The dampness of this cave, the -corrupted air they breathed, the horrible smell given out by the fish, -seriously affected the prisoners, already weakened by study. Their -hearts were bursting with groans, their faith was shaken, and the most -mournful scenes followed each other in this foul dungeon. The wretched -captives gazed on one another, wept, and prayed. This trial was -destined to be a salutary one to them: "Alas!" said Fryth on a -subsequent occasion, "I see that besides the word of God, there is -indeed a second purgatory ... but it is not that invented by Rome; it -is the cross of tribulation to which God has nailed us."[623] - - [623] God naileth us to the cross to heal our infirmities. Tyndale and - Fryth's Works, iii. p. 91. (ed. Russell.) - -[Sidenote: CONDEMNATION AND HUMILIATION.] - -At last the prisoners were taken out one by one and brought before -their judges; two only were released. The first was Betts, afterwards -chaplain to Anne Boleyn: they had not been able to find any -prohibited books in his room, and he pleaded his cause with great -talent. The other was Taverner; he had hidden Clark's books under his -school-room floor, where they had been discovered; but his love for -the arts saved him: "Pshaw! he is only a musician," said the cardinal. - -All the rest were condemned. A great fire was kindled at the top of -the market-place;[624] a long procession was marshalled, and these -unfortunate men were led out, each bearing a fagot. When they came -near the fire, they were compelled to throw into it the heretical -books that had been found in their rooms, after which they were taken -back to their noisome prison. There seemed to be a barbarous pleasure -in treating these young and generous men so vilely. In other countries -also, Rome was preparing to stifle in the flames the noblest geniuses -of France, Spain, and Italy. Such was the reception letters and the -Gospel met with from popery in the sixteenth century. - - [624] There was made a great fire upon the top of Carfax. Foxe, v. p. - 428. - -Every plant of God's must be beaten by the wind, even at the risk of -its being uprooted; if it receives only the gentle rays of the sun, -there is reason to fear that it will dry up and wither before it -produces fruit. _Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, -it abideth alone._ There was to arise one day a real church in -England, for the persecution had begun. - -We have to contemplate still further trials. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Persecution at Cambridge--Barnes arrested--A grand - Search--Barnes at Wolsey's Palace--Interrogated by the - Cardinal--Conversation between Wolsey and Barnes--Barnes - threatened with the Stake--His Fall and public - Penance--Richard Bayfield--His Faith and - Imprisonment--Visits Cambridge--Joins Tyndale--The - Confessors in the Cellar at Oxford--Four of them die--The - rest liberated. - - -[Sidenote: SUPREMACY OF SELF IN ROMANISM.] - -Cambridge, which had produced Latimer, Bilney, Stafford, and Barnes, -had at first appeared to occupy the front rank in the English -reformation. Oxford by receiving the crown of persecution seemed now -to have outstripped the sister university. And yet Cambridge was to -have its share of suffering. The investigation had begun at Oxford on -Monday the 5th of February, and on the very same day two of Wolsey's -creatures, Dr. Capon, one of his chaplains, and Gibson, a -sergeant-at-arms, notorious for his arrogance, left London for -Cambridge. Submission, was the pass-word of popery. "Yes, submission," -was responded from every part of Christendom by men of sincere piety -and profound understanding; "submission to the legitimate authority -against which Roman-catholicism has rebelled." According to their -views the traditionalism and pelagianism of the Romish church had set -up the supremacy of fallen reason in opposition to the divine -supremacy of the word and of grace. The external and apparent -sacrifice of self which Roman-catholicism imposes,--obedience to a -confessor or to the pope, arbitrary penance, ascetic practices, and -celibacy,--only served to create, and so to strengthen and perpetuate, -a delusion as to the egotistic preservation of a sinful personality. -When the Reformation proclaimed liberty, so far as regarded ordinances -of human invention, it was with the view of bringing man's heart and -life into subjection to their real Sovereign. The reign of God was -commencing; that of the priests must needs come to an end. No man can -serve two masters. Such were the important truths which gradually -dawned upon the world, and which it became necessary to extinguish -without delay. - -[Sidenote: SEARCH FOR THE HERETICAL BOOKS.] - -On the day after their arrival in Cambridge, on Tuesday the 6th of -February, Capon and Gibson went to the convocation house, where -several of the doctors were talking together. Their appearance caused -some anxiety among the spectators, who looked upon the strangers with -distrust. On a sudden Gibson moved forward, put his hand on Barnes, -and arrested him in the presence of his friends.[625] The latter were -frightened, and this was what the sergeant wanted. "What!" said they, -"the prior of the Augustines, the restorer of letters in Cambridge, -arrested by a sergeant!" This was not all. Wolsey's agents were to -seize the books come from Germany, and their owners; Bilney, Latimer, -Stafford, Arthur, and their friends, were all to be imprisoned, for -they possessed the New Testament. Thirty members of the university -were pointed out as suspected; and some miserable wretches, who had -been bribed by the inquisitors, offered to show the place in every -room where the prohibited books were hidden. But while the necessary -preparations were making for this search, Bilney, Latimer, and their -colleagues, being warned in time, got the books removed; they were -taken away not only by the doors but by the windows, even by the -roofs, and anxious inquiry was made for sure places in which they -could be concealed. - - [625] Suddenly arrested Barnes openly in the convocation house to make - all others afraid. Foxe, v. p. 416. - -This work was hardly ended, when the vice-chancellor of the -university, the sergeant-at-arms, Wolsey's chaplain, the proctors, and -the informers began their rounds. They opened the first room, entered, -searched, and found nothing. They passed on to the second, there was -nothing. The sergeant was astonished, and grew angry. On reaching the -third room, he ran directly to the place that had been pointed -out,--still there was nothing. The same thing occurred every where; -never was inquisitor more mortified. He dared not lay hands on the -persons of the evangelical doctors; his orders bore that he was to -seize the books and _their owners_. But as no books were found, there -could be no prisoners. Luckily there was one man (the prior of the -Augustines) against whom there were particular charges. The sergeant -promised to compensate himself at Barnes's expense for his useless -labours. - -The next day Gibson and Capon set out for London with Barnes. During -this mournful journey the prior, in great agitation, at one time -determined to brave all England, and at another trembled like a leaf. -At last their journey was ended; the chaplain left his prisoner at -Parnell's house, close by the stocks.[626] Three students (Coverdale, -Goodwin, and Field) had followed their master to cheer him with their -tender affection. - - [626] Foxe, v. p. 416. - -[Sidenote: CONVERSATION BETWEEN WOLSEY AND BARNES.] - -On Thursday (8th February) the sergeant conducted Barnes to the -cardinal's palace at Westminster; the wretched prior, whose enthusiasm -had given way to objection, waited all day before he could be -admitted. What a day! Will no one come to his assistance? Doctor -Gardiner, Wolsey's secretary, and Fox, his steward, both old friends -of Barnes, passed through the gallery in the evening, and went up to -the prisoner, who begged them to procure him an audience with the -cardinal. When night had come, these officers introduced the prior -into the room where their master was sitting, and Barnes, as was -customary, fell on his knees before him. "Is this the Doctor Barnes -who is accused of heresy?" asked Wolsey, in a haughty tone, of Fox and -Gardiner. They replied in the affirmative. The cardinal then turning -to Barnes, who was still kneeling, said to him ironically, and not -without reason: "What, master doctor, had you not sufficient scope in -the Scriptures to teach the people; but my golden shoes, my poleaxes, -my pillars, my golden cushions, my crosses, did so sore offend you, -that you must make us a laughing-stock, _ridiculum caput_, amongst the -people? We were jollily that day laughed to scorn. Verily it was a -sermon more fit to be preached on a stage than in a pulpit; for at the -last you said I wore a pair of _red_ gloves--I should say _bloody_ -gloves (quoth you)....Eh! what think you, master doctor?" Barnes, -wishing to elude these embarrassing questions, answered vaguely: "I -spoke nothing but the truth out of the Scriptures, according to my -conscience and according to the old doctors." He then presented to the -cardinal a statement of his teaching. - -Wolsey received the papers with a smile: "Oh, ho!" said he as he -counted the six sheets, "I perceive you intend to stand to your -articles and to show your learning." "With the grace of God," said -Barnes. Wolsey then began to read them, and stopped at the sixth -article, which ran thus: "I will never believe that one man may, by -the law of God, be bishop of two or three cities, yea, of a whole -country, for it is contrary to St. Paul, who saith: _I have left thee -behind, to set in every city a bishop_." Barnes did not quote -correctly, for the apostle says: "_to ordain elders in every -city_."[627] Wolsey was displeased at this thesis: "Ah! this touches -me," he said: "Do you think it wrong (seeing the ordinance of the -church) that one bishop should have so many cities underneath him?" "I -know of no ordinance of the church," Barnes replied, "as concerning -this thing, but Paul's saying only." - - [627] [Greek text]. Titus, i, 5. - -Although this controversy interested the cardinal, the personal attack -of which he had to complain touched him more keenly. "Good," said -Wolsey; and then with a condescension hardly to be expected from so -proud a man, he deigned almost to justify himself. "You charge me with -displaying a royal pomp; but do you not understand that, being called -to represent his majesty, I must strive by these means to strike -terror into the wicked?"--"It is not your pomp or your poleaxes," -Barnes courageously answered, "that will save the king's person.... -God will save him, who said: _Per me reges regnant_." Barnes, instead -of profiting by the cardinal's kindness to present an humble -justification, as Dean Colet had formerly done to Henry VIII, dared -preach him a second sermon to his face. Wolsey felt the colour mount -to his cheeks. "Well, gentlemen," said he, turning to Fox and -Gardiner, "you hear him! Is this the wise and learned man of whom you -spoke to me?" - -[Sidenote: BARNES FALLS.] - -At these words both steward and secretary fell on their knees, saying: -"My lord, pardon him for mercy's sake."--"Can you find ten or even six -doctors of divinity willing to swear that you are free from heresy?" -asked Wolsey. Barnes offered twenty honest men, quite as learned as -himself, or even more so. "I must have doctors in divinity, men as old -as yourself."--"That is impossible," said the prior. "In that case you -must be burnt," continued the cardinal. "Let him be taken to the -Tower." Gardiner and Fox offering to become his sureties, Wolsey -permitted him to pass the night at Parnell's. - -"It is no time to think of sleeping," said Barnes as he entered the -house, "we must write." Those harsh and terrible words, _you must be -burnt_, resounded continually in his ears. He dictated all night to -his three young friends a defence of his articles. - -The next day he was taken before the chapter, at which Clarke, bishop -of Bath, Standish, and other doctors were present. His judges laid -before him a long statement, and said to him: "Promise to read this -paper in public, without omitting or adding a single word." It was -then read to him. "I would die first," was his reply. "Will you abjure -or be burnt alive?" said his judges; "take your choice." The -alternative was dreadful. Poor Barnes, a prey to the deepest agony, -shrank at the thought of the stake; then, suddenly his courage -revived, and he exclaimed: "I had rather be burnt than abjure." -Gardiner and Fox did all they could to persuade him. "Listen to -reason," said they craftily: "your articles are true; that is not the -question. We want to know whether by your death you will let error -triumph, or whether you would rather remain to defend the truth, when -better days may come." - -They entreated him; they put forward the most plausible motives; from -time to time they uttered the terrible words, _burnt alive!_ His blood -froze in his veins; he knew not what he said or did ... they placed a -paper before him--they put a pen in his hand--his head was bewildered, -he signed his name with a deep sigh. This unhappy man was destined at -a later period to be a faithful martyr of Jesus Christ; but he had not -yet learnt to "resist even unto blood." Barnes had fallen. - -[Sidenote: HIS PUBLIC PENANCE.] - -On the following morning (Sunday, 11th February) a solemn spectacle -was preparing at St. Paul's. Before daybreak, all were astir in the -prison of the poor prior; and at eight o'clock, the knight-marshal -with his tipstaves, and the warden of the Fleet prison, with his -billmen, conducted Barnes to St. Paul's, along with four of the Hanse -merchants who had first brought to London the New Testament of Jesus -Christ in English. The fifth of these pious merchants held an immense -taper in his hands. A persevering search had discovered that it was -these men to whom England was indebted for the so much dreaded book; -their warehouses were surrounded and their persons arrested. On the -top of St. Paul's steps was a platform, and on the platform a throne, -and on the throne the cardinal, dressed in scarlet--like a "bloody -antichrist," says the chronicler. On his head glittered the hat of -which Barnes had spoken so ill; around him were thirty-six bishops, -abbots, priors, and all his doctors, dressed in damask and satin; the -vast cathedral was full. The bishop of Rochester having gone into a -pulpit placed at the top of the steps, Barnes and the merchants, each -bearing a faggot, were compelled to kneel and listen to a sermon -intended to cure these poor creatures of that taste for insurrection -against popery which was beginning to spread in every quarter. The -sermon ended, the cardinal mounted his mule, took his station under a -magnificent canopy, and rode off. After this Barnes and his five -companions walked three times round a fire, lighted before the cross -at the north gate of the cathedral. The dejected prior, with downcast -head, dragged himself along, rather than walked. After the third turn, -the prisoners threw their faggots into the flames; some "heretical" -books also were flung in; and the bishop of Rochester having given -absolution to the six penitents, they were led back to prison to be -kept there during the lord cardinal's pleasure. Barnes could not weep -now; the thought of his relapse, and of the effects so guilty an -example might produce, had deprived him of all moral energy. In the -month of August, he was led out of prison and confined in the -Augustine convent. - -[Sidenote: THE MONK OF BURY.] - -Barnes was not the only man at Cambridge upon whom the blow had -fallen. Since the year 1520, a monk named Richard Bayfield had been an -inmate of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. His affability delighted -every traveller. One day, when engaged as chamberlain in receiving -Barnes, who had come to visit Doctor Ruffam, his fellow-student at -Louvain, two men entered the convent. They were pious persons, and of -great consideration in London, where they carried on the occupation of -brick-making, and had risen to be wardens of their guild. Their names -were Maxwell and Stacy, men "well grafted in the doctrine of Christ," -says the historian, who had led many to the Saviour by their -conversation and exemplary life. Being accustomed to travel once -a-year through the counties to visit their brethren, and extend a -knowledge of the Gospel, they used to lodge, according to the usages -of the time, in the convents and abbeys. A conversation soon arose -between Barnes, Stacy, and Maxwell, which struck the lay-brother. -Barnes, who had observed his attention, gave him, as he was leaving -the convent, a New Testament in Latin, and the two brick-makers added -a New Testament in English, with _The Wicked Mammon_ and _The -Obedience of a Christian Man_. The lay-brother ran and hid the books -in his cell, and for two years read them constantly. At last he was -discovered, and reprimanded; but he boldly confessed his faith. Upon -this the monks threw him into prison, set him in the stocks, put a gag -in his mouth, and cruelly whipped him, to prevent his speaking of -grace.[628] The unhappy Bayfield remained nine months in this -condition. - - [628] Foxe, iv. p. 681. - -When Barnes repeated his visit to Bury at a later period, he did not -find the amiable chamberlain at the gates of the abbey. Upon inquiry -he learnt his condition, and immediately took steps to procure his -deliverance. Dr. Ruffam came to his aid: "Give him to me," said -Barnes, "I will take him to Cambridge." The prior of the Augustines -was at that time held in high esteem; his request was granted, in the -hope that he would lead back Bayfield to the doctrines of the church. -But the very reverse took place: intercourse with the Cambridge -brethren strengthened the young monk's faith. On a sudden his -happiness vanished. Barnes, his friend and benefactor, was carried to -London, and the monks of Bury St. Edmunds, alarmed at the noise this -affair created, summoned him to return to the abbey. But Bayfield, -resolving to submit to their yoke no longer, went to London, and lay -concealed at Maxwell and Stacy's. One day, having left his -hiding-place, he was crossing Lombard Street, when he met a priest -named Pierson and two other religious of his order, with whom he -entered into a conversation which greatly scandalized them. "You must -depart forthwith," said Maxwell and Stacy to him on his return. -Bayfield received a small sum of money from them, went on board a -ship, and as soon as he reached the continent, hastened to find -Tyndale. During this time scenes of a very different nature from those -which had taken place at Cambridge, but not less heart-rending, were -passing at Oxford. - -[Sidenote: THE CONFESSORS IN THE CELLAR AT OXFORD.] - -The storm of persecution was raging there with more violence than at -Cambridge. Clark and the other confessors of the name of Christ were -still confined in their under-ground prison. The air they breathed, -the food they took (and they ate nothing but salt fish[629]), the -burning thirst this created, the thoughts by which they were agitated, -all together combined to crush these noble-hearted men. Their bodies -wasted day by day; they wandered like spectres up and down their -gloomy cellar. Those animated discussions in which the deep questions -then convulsing Christendom were so eloquently debated were at an end; -they were like shadow meeting shadow. Their hollow eyes cast a vague -and haggard glance on one another, and after gazing for a moment, they -passed on without speaking. Clark, Sumner, Bayley, and Goodman, -consumed by fever, feebly crawled along, leaning against their dungeon -walls. The first, who was also the eldest, could not walk without the -support of one of his fellow-prisoners. Soon he was quite unable to -move, and lay stretched upon the damp floor. The brethren gathered -round him, sought to discover in his features whether death was not -about to cut short the days of him who had brought many of them to the -knowledge of Christ. They repeated to him slowly the words of -Scripture, and then knelt down by his side and uttered a fervent -prayer. - - [629] Foxe, v, p. 5. - -Clark, feeling his end draw near, asked for the communion. The jailors -conveyed his request to their master; the noise of the bolts was soon -heard, and a turnkey, stepping into the midst of the disconsolate -band, pronounced a cruel _no!_[630] On hearing this, Clark looked -towards heaven, and exclaimed with a father of the church: _Crede et -manducasti_, Believe and thou hast eaten.[631] He was lost in thought: -he contemplated the crucified Son of God; by faith he ate and drank -the flesh and blood of Christ, and experienced in his inner life the -strengthening action of the Redeemer. Men might refuse him the host, -but Jesus had given him his body; and from that hour he felt -strengthened by a living union with the King of heaven. - - [630] Not be suffered to receive the communion, being in prison. Ibid. - p. 428. - - [631] Ibid. Habe fidem et tecum est quem non vides, (Have faith, and - he whom you do not see is with you,) says Augustine in another place. - See Serm. 235, 272. Tract. 26, Evang. Joh. - -[Sidenote: DEATH OF FOUR PRISONERS.] - -Not alone did Clark descend into the shadowy valley: Sumner, Bayley, -and Goodman were sinking rapidly. Death, the gloomy inhabitant of this -foul prison, had taken possession of these four friends.[632] Their -brethren addressed fresh solicitations to the cardinal, at that time -closely occupied in negotiations with France, Rome, and Venice.[633] -He found means, however, to give a moment to the Oxford martyrs; and -just as these Christians were praying over their four dying -companions, the commissioner came and informed them, that "his -lordship, of his great goodness, permitted the sick persons to be -removed to their own chambers." Litters were brought, on which the -dying men were placed and carried to their rooms;[634] the doors were -closed again upon those whose lives this frightful dungeon had not yet -attacked. - - [632] Taking their death in the same prison. Foxe, v, p. 5. - - [633] State Papers, i, p. 169. - - [634] Foxe, v, p. 5. - -It was the middle of August. The wretched men who had passed six -months in the cellar were transported in vain to their chambers and -their beds; several members of the university ineffectually tried by -their cares and their tender charity to recall them to life. It was -too late. The severities of popery had killed these noble witnesses. -The approach of death soon betrayed itself; their blood grew cold, -their limbs stiff, and their bedimmed eyes sought only Jesus Christ, -their everlasting hope. Clark, Sumner, and Bayley died in the same -week. Goodman followed close upon them.[635] - - [635] Ibid. - -This unexpected catastrophe softened Wolsey. He was cruel only as far -as his interest and the safety of the church required. He feared that -the death of so many young men would raise public opinion against him, -or that these catastrophes would damage his college; perhaps even some -sentiment of humanity may have touched his heart. "Set the rest at -liberty," he wrote to his agents, "but upon condition that they do not -go above ten miles from Oxford." The university beheld these young men -issue from their living tomb pale, wasted, weak, and with faltering -steps. At that time they were not men of mark; it was their youth that -touched the spectators' hearts; but in after-years they all occupied -an important place in the church. They were Cox, who became Bishop of -Ely, and tutor to Edward the Prince Royal; Drumm, who under Cranmer -became one of the six preachers at Canterbury; Udal, afterwards master -of Westminster and Eton schools; Salisbury, dean of Norwich, and then -bishop of Sodor and Man, who in all his wealth and greatness often -recalled his frightful prison at Oxford as a title to glory; Ferrar, -afterwards Cranmer's chaplain, bishop of St. David's, and a martyr -even unto death, after an interval of thirty years; Fryth, Tyndale's -friend, to whom this deliverance proved only a delay; and several -others. When they came forth from their terrible dungeon, their -friends ran up to them, supported their faltering steps, and embraced -them amidst floods of tears. Fryth quitted the university not long -after and went to Flanders.[636] Thus was the tempest stayed which had -so fearfully ravaged Oxford. But the calm was of no long duration; an -unexpected circumstance became perilous to the cause of the -Reformation. - - [636] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, iii. p. 75 (edit. Russel). - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Luther's Letter to the King--Henry's Anger--His - Reply--Luther's Resolution--Persecutions--Barnes - escapes--Proclamations against the New Testament--W. Roy to - Caiaphas--Third Edition of the New Testament--The Triumph of - Law and Liberty--Hacket attacks the Printer--Hacket's - Complaints--A Seizure--The Year 1526 in England. - - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S LETTER TO THE KING.] - -Henry was still under the impression of the famous _Supplication of -the Beggars_, when Luther's interference increased his anger. The -letter which, at the advice of Christiern, king of Denmark, this -reformer had written to him in September 1525, had miscarried. The -Wittemberg doctor hearing nothing of it, had boldly printed it, and -sent a copy to the king. "I am informed," said Luther, "that your -Majesty is beginning to favour the Gospel,[637] and to be disgusted -with the perverse race that fights against it in your noble -kingdom.... It is true that, according to Scripture, _the kings of the -earth take counsel together against the Lord_, and we cannot, -consequently, expect to see them favourable to the truth. How -fervently do I wish that this miracle may be accomplished in the -person of your Majesty."[638] - - [637] Majestatem tuam caepisse favere Evangelio. Cochlaeus, p. 136. - - [638] Huic miraculo in Majestate tua quam opto ex totis medullis. - Ibid. p. 127. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S REPLY.] - -We may imagine Henry's wrath as he read this letter. "What!" said he, -"does this apostate monk dare print a letter addressed to us, without -having even sent it, or at the least without knowing if we have ever -received it?... And as if that were not enough, he insinuates that we -are among his partisans.... He wins over also one or two wretches, -born in our kingdom, and engages them to translate the New Testament -into English, adding thereto certain prefaces and poisonous glosses." -Thus spoke Henry. The idea that his name should be associated with -that of the Wittemberg monk called all the blood into his face. He -will reply right royally to such unblushing impudence. He summoned -Wolsey forthwith. "Here!" said he, pointing to a passage concerning -the prelate, "here! read what is said of you!" And then he read aloud: -"_Illud monstrum et publicum odium Dei et hominum, cardinalis -Eboracensis, pestis illa regni tui_. You see, my lord, you are a -_monster_, an object of _hatred_ both to God and man, the _scourge_ of -my kingdom!" The king had hitherto allowed the bishops to do as they -pleased, and observed a sort of neutrality. He now determined to lay -it aside and begin a crusade against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but -he must first answer this impertinent letter. He consulted Sir Thomas -More, shut himself in his closet, and dictated to his secretary a -reply to the reformer: "You are ashamed of the book you have written -against me," he said, "I would counsel you to be ashamed of all that -you have written. They are full of disgusting errors and frantic -heresies; and are supported by the most audacious obstinacy. Your -venemous pen mocks the church, insults the fathers, abuses the saints, -despises the apostles, dishonours the holy virgin, and blasphemes God, -by making him the author of evil.... And after all that, you claim to -be an author whose like does not exist in the world!"[639] - - [639] Tantus autor haberi postulas, quantus nec hodie quisquam sit. - Cochlaeus, p. 127. - -"You offer to publish a book in my praise.... I thank you!... You will -praise me most by abusing me; you will dishonour me beyond measure if -you praise me. I say with Seneca: _Tam turpe tibi sit laudari a -turpibus, quam si lauderis ob turpia_."[640] - - [640] Let it be as disgraceful to you to be praised by the vile, as if - you were praised for vile deeds. - -This letter, written by the _king of the English to the king of the -heretics_,[641] was immediately circulated throughout England bound up -with Luther's epistle. Henry, by publishing it, put his subjects on -their guard against the _unfaithful_ translations of the New -Testament, which were besides about to be burnt everywhere. "The -grapes seem beautiful," he said, "but beware how you wet your lips -with the wine made from them, for the adversary hath mingled poison -with it." - - [641] Rex Anglorum Regi haereticorum scribit. Strype, Mem. i. p. 91. - The title of the pamphlet was _Litterarum quibus invictus Pr. Henricus - VIII. etc. etc. respondit ad quandam Epistolam M. Lutheri ad se - missam_. - -[Sidenote: LUTHER'S FIRMNESS.] - -Luther, agitated by this rude lesson, tried to excuse himself. "I said -to myself, _There are twelve hours in the day_. Who knows? perhaps I -may find one lucky hour to gain the King of England. I therefore laid -my humble epistle at his feet; but alas! the swine have torn it. I am -willing to be silent ... but as regards my doctrine, I cannot impose -silence on it. It must cry aloud, it must bite. If any king imagines -he can make me retract my faith, he is a dreamer. So long as one drop -of blood remains in my body, I shall say no. Emperors, kings, the -devil, and even the whole universe, cannot frighten me when faith is -concerned. I claim to be proud, very proud, exceedingly proud. If my -doctrine had no other enemies than the king of England, Duke George, -the pope and their allies, all these soap-bubbles ... one little -prayer would long ago have worsted them all. Where are Pilate, Herod, -and Caiaphas now? Where are Nero, Domitian, and Maximilian? Where are -Arius, Pelagius, and Manes?--Where are they?... Where all our scribes -and all our tyrants will soon be.--But Christ? Christ is the same -always. - -"For a thousand years the Holy Scriptures have not shone in the world -with so much brightness as now.[642] I wait in peace for my last hour; -I have done what I could. O princes, my hands are clean from your -blood; it will fall on your own heads." - - [642] Als in tausend Jahren nicht gewesen ist. Luth. Opp. xix. p. 501. - -Bowing before the supreme royalty of Jesus Christ, Luther spoke thus -boldly to King Henry, who contested the rights of the word of God. - -A letter written against the reformer was not enough for the bishops. -Profiting by the wound Luther had inflicted on Henry's self-esteem, -they urged him to put down this revolt of the human understanding, -which threatened (as they averred) both the popedom and the monarchy. -They commenced the persecution. Latimer was summoned before Wolsey, -but his learning and presence of mind procured his dismissal. Bilney -also, who had been ordered to London, received an injunction not to -preach _Luther's doctrines_. "I will not preach Luther's doctrines, if -there are any peculiar to him," he said; "but I can and I must preach -the doctrine of Jesus Christ, although Luther should preach it too." -And finally Garret, led into the presence of his judges, was seized -with terror, and fell before the cruel threats of the bishop. When -restored to liberty, he fled from place to place,[643] endeavouring to -hide his sorrow, and to escape from the despotism of the priests, -awaiting the moment when he should give his life for Jesus Christ. - - [643] Foxe, v. p. 428. - -[Sidenote: BARNES ESCAPES.] - -The adversaries of the Reformation were not yet satisfied. The New -Testament continued to circulate, and depots were formed in several -convents. Barnes, a prisoner in the Augustine monastery in London, had -regained his courage, and loved his Bible more and more. One day about -the end of September, as three or four friends were reading in his -chamber, two simple peasants, John Tyball and Thomas Hilles, natives -of Bumpstead in Essex, came in. "How did you come to a knowledge of -the truth?" asked Barnes. They drew from their pockets some old -volumes containing the Gospels, and a few of the Epistles in English. -Barnes returned them with a smile. "They are nothing," he told them, -"in comparison with the new edition of the New Testament,"[644] a copy -of which the two peasants bought for three shillings and two-pence. -"Hide it carefully," said Barnes. When this came to the ears of the -clergy, Barnes was removed to Northampton to be burnt at the stake; -but he managed to escape; his friends reported that he was drowned; -and while strict search was making for him during a whole week along -the sea-coast, he secretly went on board a ship, and was carried to -Germany. "The cardinal will catch him even now," said the bishop of -London, "whatever amount of money it may cost him." When Barnes was -told of this, he remarked: "I am a poor simple wretch, not worth the -tenth penny they will give for me. Besides, if they burn me, what will -they gain by it?... The sun and the moon, fire and water, the stars -and the elements--yea, and also stones shall defend this cause against -them, _rather than the truth should perish_." Faith had returned to -Barnes's feeble heart. - - [644] Which books he did little regard, and made a twit of it. - Tyball's Confession in Bible Annals. i. p. 184. - -His escape added fuel to the wrath of the clergy. They proclaimed, -throughout the length and breadth of England, that the Holy Scriptures -contained an _infectious poison_,[645] and ordered a general search -after the word of God. On the 24th of October, 1526, the bishop of -London enjoined on his archdeacons to seize all translations of the -New Testament in English with or without glosses; and, a few days -later, the archbishop of Canterbury issued a mandate against all the -books which should contain "any particle of the New Testament."[646] -The primate remembered that a spark was sufficient to kindle a large -fire. - - [645] Libri pestiferum virus in se continentes, in promiscuam - provinciae Cant. multitudinem sunt dispersi. (Wilkins, Concilia, iii. - p. 706.) Books containing an infectious poison are scattered in all - directions through the diocese of Canterbury. - - [646] Vel aliquam ejus particulam. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: ROY'S SATIRE.] - -On hearing of this order, William Roy, a sarcastic writer, published -a violent satire, in which figured _Judas_ (Standish), _Pilate_ -(Wolsey), and _Caiaphas_ (Tonstall). The author exclaimed with energy: - - God, of his goodness, grudged not to die, - Man to deliver from deadly damnation; - Whose will is, that we should know perfectly - What he here hath done for our salvation. - O cruel Caiaphas! full of crafty conspiration, - How durst thou give them false judgment - To burn God's word--the Holy Testament.[647] - - [647] Satire of W. Roy, printed in the Harl. Misc., vol. ix, p. 77, - (ed. 1809). - -The efforts of Caiaphas and his colleagues were indeed useless: the -priests were undertaking a work beyond their strength. If by some -terrible revolution all social forms should be destroyed in the world, -the living church of the elect, a divine institution in the midst of -human institutions, would still exist by the power of God, like a rock -in the midst of the tempest, and would transmit to future generations -the seeds of Christian life and civilization. It is the same with the -word, the creative principle of the church. It cannot perish here -below. The priests of England had something to learn on this matter. - -While the agents of the clergy were carrying out the archiepiscopal -mandate, and a merciless search was making everywhere for the New -Testaments from Worms, a new edition was discovered, fresh from the -press, of a smaller and more portable, and consequently more dangerous -size. It was printed by Christopher Eyndhoven of Antwerp, who had -consigned it to his correspondents in London. The annoyance of the -priests was extreme, and Hackett, the agent of Henry VIII in the Low -Countries, immediately received orders to get this man punished. "We -cannot deliver judgment without inquiry into the matter," said the -lords of Antwerp; "we will therefore have the book translated into -Flemish." "God forbid," said Hackett in alarm, "What! would you also -on your side of the ocean translate this book into the language of the -people?" "Well then," said one of the judges, less conscientious than -his colleagues, "let the king of England send us a copy of each of the -books he has burnt, and we will burn them likewise." Hackett wrote to -Wolsey for them, and as soon as they arrived the court met again. -Eyndhoven's counsel called upon the prosecutor to point out the -_heresies_ contained in the volume. The margrave (an officer of the -imperial government) shrank from the task, and said to Hackett, "I -give up the business!" The charge against Eyndhoven was dismissed. - -[Sidenote: LAW AND LIBERTY.] - -Thus did the Reformation awaken in Europe the slumbering spirit of law -and liberty. By enfranchising thought from the yoke of popery, it -prepared the way for other enfranchisements; and by restoring the -authority of the word of God, it brought back the reign of the law -among nations long the prey of turbulent passions and arbitrary power. -Then, as at all times, religious society forestalled civil society, -and gave it those two great principles of order and liberty, which -popery compromises or annuls. It was not in vain that the magistrates -of a Flemish city, enlightened by the first dawn of the Reformation, -set so noble an example; the English, who were very numerous in the -Hanse Towns, thus learnt once more the value of that civil and -religious liberty which is the time-honoured right of England, and of -which they were in after-years to give other nations the so much -needed lessons. - -"Well then," said Hackett, who was annoyed at their setting the law -above his master's will, "I will go and buy all these books, and send -them to the cardinal, that he may burn them." With these words he left -the court. But his anger evaporating,[648] he set off for Malines to -complain to the regent and her council of the Antwerp decision. -"What!" said he, "you punish those who circulate false money, and you -will not punish still more severely the man who coins it?--in this -case, he is the printer." "But that is just the point in dispute," -they replied; "we are not sure the money is _false_."--"How can it be -otherwise," answered Henry's agent, "since the bishops of England have -declared it so?" The imperial government, which was not very -favourably disposed towards England, ratified Eyndhoven's acquittal, -but permitted Hackett to burn all the copies of the New Testament he -could seize. He hastened to profit by this concession, and began -hunting after the Holy Scriptures, while the priests eagerly came to -his assistance. In their view, as well as in that of their English -colleagues, the supreme decision in matter of faith rested not with -the word of God but with the pope; and the best means of securing this -privilege to the pontiff was to reduce the Bible to ashes. - - [648] My choler was descended. Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i, p. - 129. - -Notwithstanding these trials, the year 1526 was a memorable one for -England. The English New Testament had been circulated from the shores -of the Channel to the borders of Scotland, and the Reformation had -begun in that island by the word of God. The revival of the sixteenth -century was in no country less than in England the emanation of a -royal mandate. But God, who had disseminated the Scriptures over -Britain, in defiance of the rulers of the nation, was about to make -use of their passions to remove the difficulties which opposed the -final triumph of his plans. We here enter upon a new phasis in the -history of the Reformation; and having studied the work of God in the -faith of the little ones, we proceed to contemplate the work of man in -the intrigues of the great ones of the earth. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Wolsey desires to be revenged--The Divorce - suggested--Henry's Sentiments towards the Queen--Wolsey's - first Steps--Longland's Proceedings--Refusal of Margaret of - Valois--Objection of the Bishop of Tarbes--Henry's - uneasiness--Catherine's Alarm--Mission to Spain. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY DESIRES TO BE REVENGED.] - -[Sidenote: THE DIVORCE SUGGESTED.] - -Wolsey, mortified at not being able to obtain the pontifical throne, -to which he had so ardently aspired, and being especially irritated by -the ill-will of Charles V, meditated a plan which, entirely -unsuspected by him, was to lead to the enfranchisement of England from -the papal yoke. "They laugh at me, and thrust me into the second -rank," he had exclaimed. "So be it! I will create such a confusion in -the world as has not been seen for ages.... I will do it, even should -England be swallowed up in the tempest!"[649] Desirous of exciting -imperishable hatred between Henry VIII and Charles V, he had -undertaken to break the marriage which Henry VII and Ferdinand the -Catholic had planned to unite for ever their families and their -crowns. His hatred of Charles was not his only motive. Catherine had -reproached him for his dissolute life,[650] and he had sworn to be -revenged. There can be no doubt about Wolsey's share in the matter. -"The _first terms_ of the divorce were put forward by me," he told the -French ambassador. "I did it," he added, "to cause a lasting -separation between the houses of England and Burgundy."[651] The best -informed writers of the sixteenth century, men of the most opposite -parties, Pole, Polydore, Virgil, Tyndale, Meteren, Pallavicini, -Sanders, and Roper, More's son-in-law, all agree in pointing to Wolsey -as the instigator of that divorce, which has become so famous.[652] He -desired to go still farther, and after inducing the king to put away -his queen, he hoped to prevail on the pope to depose the emperor.[653] -It was not his passion for Anne Boleyn, as so many of the Romish -fabulists have repeated; but the passion of a cardinal for the triple -crown which gave the signal of England's emancipation. Offended pride -is one of the most active principles of human nature. - - [649] Sandoval, i. p. 350. Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. iii. p. 17. - - [650] Malos oderat mores. (Polyd. Virg. p. 685.) She hated his - depraved habits. - - [651] Le Grand, Hist. du divorce, Preuves, p. 186. - - [652] Instigator et auctor concilii existimibatur (Pole, Apology). He - was furious mad, and imagined this divorcement between the king and - the queen (Tyndale's Works, i. p. 465). See also Sanderus, 7 and 9; - Polyd. Virg. p. 685; Meteren, Hist. of the Low Countries, p. 20; - Pallavicini, Conc. Trident, i, p. 203, etc. A contrary assertion of - Wolsey's has been adduced against these authorities in the - _Pamphleteer_, No. 42, p. 336; but a slight acquaintance with his - history soon teaches us that veracity was the least of his virtues. - - [653] Le Grand, Hist. du divorce, Preuves, p. 65, 69. - -Wolsey's design was a strange one, and difficult of execution, but not -impossible. Henry was living apparently on the best terms with -Catherine; on more than one occasion Erasmus had spoken of the royal -family of England as the pattern of the domestic virtues. But the most -ardent of Henry's desires was not satisfied; he had no son; those whom -the queen had borne him had died in their infancy, and Mary alone -survived. The deaths of these little children, at all times so -heart-rending, were particularly so in the palace of Greenwich. It -appeared to Catherine that the shade of the last Plantagenet, -immolated on her marriage altar, came forth to seize one after another -the heirs she gave to the throne of England, and to carry them away to -his tomb. The queen shed tears almost unceasingly, and implored the -divine mercy, while the king cursed his unhappy fate. The people -seemed to share in the royal sorrow; and men of learning and piety -(Longland was among their number)[654] declared against the validity -of the marriage. They said that "the papal dispensations had no force -when in opposition to the law of God." Yet hitherto Henry had rejected -every idea of a divorce.[655] - - [654] Jampridem conjugium regium, veluti infirmum. Polyd. Virg. p. - 685. - - [655] That matrimony which the king at first seemed not disposed to - annul. Strype, i, p. 135. - -The times had changed since 1509. The king had loved Catherine: her -reserve, mildness, and dignity, had charmed him. Greedy of pleasure -and applause, he was delighted to see his wife content to be the quiet -witness of his joys and of his triumphs. But gradually the queen had -grown older, her Spanish gravity had increased, her devout practices -were multiplied, and her infirmities, become more frequent, had left -the king no hope of having a son. From that hour, even while -continuing to praise her virtues, Henry grew cold towards her person, -and his love by degrees changed into repugnance. And then he thought -that the death of his children might be a sign of God's anger. This -idea had taken hold of him, and induced him to occupy apartments -separate from the queen's.[656] - - [656] Burnet. vol. i. p. 20 (London, 1841.) Letter from Grynaeus to - Bucer. Strype, i, p. 135. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S FIRST STEPS.] - -Wolsey judged the moment favourable for beginning the attack. It was -in the latter months of 1526, when calling Longland, the king's -confessor, to him, and concealing his principal motive, he said: "You -know his majesty's anguish. The stability of his crown and his -everlasting salvation seem to be compromised alike. To whom can I -unbosom myself, if not to you, who must know the inmost secrets of his -soul?" The two bishops resolved to awaken Henry to the perils incurred -by his union with Catherine;[657] but Longland insisted that Wolsey -should take the first steps. - - [657] Quamprimum regi patefaciendum. (Polyd. Virg. p. 685.) That - forthwith it should be declared to the king. - -The cardinal waited upon the king, and reminded him of his scruples -before the betrothal; he exaggerated those entertained by the nation, -and speaking with unusual warmth, he entreated the king to remain no -longer in such danger:[658] "The holiness of your life and the -legitimacy of your succession are at stake." "My good father," said -Henry, "you would do well to consider the weight of the stone that you -have undertaken to move.[659] The queen is a woman of such exemplary -life that I have no motive for separating from her." - - [658] Vehementer orat ne se patiatur in tanto versari discrimine. - (Ibid.) He earnestly begged him not to suffer himself to be exposed to - such hazard. - - [659] Bone pater, vide bene quale saxum suo loco jacens movere - coneris. Ibid. - -The cardinal did not consider himself beaten; three days later he -appeared before the king accompanied by the bishop of Lincoln. "Most -mighty prince," said the confessor, who felt bold enough to speak -after the cardinal, "you cannot, like Herod, have your brother's -wife.[660] I exhort and conjure you, as having the care of your -soul,[661] to submit the matter to competent judges." Henry consented, -and perhaps not unwillingly. - - [660] Like another Herodes. More's Life, p. 129. - - [661] Ipse cui de salute animae tuae cura est, _hortor_, _rogo_, - _persuadeo_. Polyd. Virg. p. 686. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY PROPOSES MARGARET.] - -It was not enough for Wolsey to separate Henry from the emperor; he -must, for greater security, unite him to Francis I. The King of -England shall repudiate the aunt of Charles V, and then marry the -sister of the French king. Proud of the success he had obtained in -the first part of his plan, Wolsey entered upon the second. "There is -a princess," he told the king, "whose birth, graces, and talents charm -all Europe. Margaret of Valois, sister of King Francis, is superior to -all of her sex, and no one is worthier of your alliance."[662] Henry -made answer that it was a serious matter, requiring deliberate -examination. Wolsey, however, placed in the king's hands a portrait of -Margaret, and it has been imagined that he even privily caused her -sentiments to be sounded. Be that as it may, the sister of Francis I -having learnt that she was pointed at as the future queen of England, -rebelled at the idea of taking from an innocent woman a crown she had -worn so nobly. "The French king's sister knows too much of Christ to -consent unto such wickedness," said Tyndale.[663] Margaret of Valois -replied: "Let me hear no more of a marriage that can be effected only -at the expense of Catherine of Aragon's happiness and life."[664] The -woman who was destined in future years to fill the throne of England -was then residing at Margaret's court. Shortly after this, on the 24th -of January 1527, the sister of Francis I, married Henry d'Albret, king -of Navarre. - - [662] Mulier praeter caeteras digna matrimonio tuo. Polyd. Virg p. 686. - - [663] Works (ed. Russell), vol. i. p. 464. - - [664] Princeps illa, mulier optima, noluerit quicquam audire de - nuptiis, quae nuptiae non possunt conjungi sine miserabili Catharinae - casu atque adeo interitu. (Polyd. Virg. p. 687.) That princess, a most - noble woman, would not listen to any proposal for an alliance which - could not be made without involving Catherine in ruin and death. - -Henry VIII, desirous of information with regard to his favourite's -suggestion, commissioned Fox, his almoner, Pace, dean of St. Paul's, -and Wakefield, professor of Hebrew at Oxford, to study the passages of -Leviticus and Deuteronomy which related to marriage with a brother's -wife. Wakefield, who had no wish to commit himself, asked whether -Henry was _for_ or _against_ the divorce.[665] Pace replied to this -servile hebraist that the king wanted nothing but the truth. - - [665] Utrum staret ad te an contra te? Le Grand, Preuves, p. 2. - -But who would take the first public step in an undertaking so -hazardous? Every one shrank back; the terrible emperor alarmed them -all. It was a French bishop that hazarded the step; bishops meet us at -every turn in this affair of the divorce, with which bishops have so -violently reproached the Reformation. Henry, desirous of excusing -Wolsey, pretended afterwards that the objections of the French prelate -had preceded those of Longland and the cardinal. In February 1527, -Francis I, had sent an embassy to London, at the head of which was -Gabriel de Grammont, bishop of Tarbes, with the intention to procure -the hand of Mary of England. Henry's ministers having inquired -whether the engagements of Francis with the queen dowager of Portugal -did not oppose the commission with which the French bishop was -charged, the latter answered: "I will ask you in turn what has been -done to remove the impediments which opposed the marriage of which the -Princess Mary is issue."[666] They laid before the ambassador the -dispensation of Julius II, which he returned, saying, that the bull -was not _sufficient_, seeing that such a marriage was forbidden _jure -divino_,[667] and he added: "Have you English a different gospel from -ours?"[668] - - [666] What had been here provided for taking away the impediment of - that marriage. (State Papers, i. p. 199.) Le Grand (vol. i. p. 17.) - discredits the objections of the bishop of Tarbes; but this letter - from Wolsey to Henry VIII establishes them incontrovertibly. And - besides, Du Bellay, in a letter afterwards quoted by Le Grand himself, - states the matter still more strongly than Wolsey. - - [667] Wherewith the pope could not dispense, _nisi ex urgentissima - causa_. Wolsey to Henry VIII, dated 8th July. State Papers, vol. i, p. - 199. - - [668] Anglos, qui tuo imperio subsunt, hoc idem evangelium colere quod - nos colimus. (Sanders, 12.) The English, who are under thy rule, - follow the same gospel that we follow. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S UNEASINESS.] - -The king, when he heard these words (as he informs us himself), was -filled with fear and horror.[669] Three of the most respected bishops -of Christendom united to accuse him of incest! He began to speak of it -to certain individuals: "The scruples of my conscience have been -terribly increased (he said) since the bishop spoke of this matter -before my council in exceedingly plain words."[670] There is no reason -to believe that these _terrible_ troubles of which the king speaks -were a mere invention on his part. A disputed succession might again -plunge England into civil war. Even if no pretenders should spring up, -might they not see a rival house, a French prince for instance, wedded -to Henry's daughter, reigning over England? The king, in his anxiety, -had recourse to his favourite author, Thomas Aquinas, and this _angel -of the schools_ declared his marriage unlawful. Henry next opened the -Bible, and found this threat against the man who took his brother's -wife: "He shall be _childless_!" The denunciation increased his -trouble, for he had no heir. In the midst of this darkness a new -perspective opened before him. His conscience might be unbound; his -desire to have a younger wife might be gratified; he might have a -son!... The king resolved to lay the matter before a commission of -lawyers, and this commission soon wrote volumes.[671] - - [669] Quae oratio quanto metu ac horrore animum nostrum turbaverit. - (Which speech has troubled our mind with much fear and horror.) - Henry's speech to the Lord Mayor and common council, at his palace of - Bridewell, 8th November 1528. (Hall, p. 754; Wilkins, Concil. iii. p. - 714.) - - [670] Du Bellay's letter in Le Grand. Preuves, p. 218. - - [671] So as the books excrescunt in magna volumina. Wolsey to Henry - VIII. State Papers, vol. i, p. 200. - -[Sidenote: CATHERINE'S ALARM.] - -During all this time Catherine, suspecting no evil, was occupied in -her devotions. Her heart, bruised by the death of her children and by -the king's coldness, sought consolation in prayer both privately and -in the royal chapel. She would rise at midnight and kneel down upon -the cold stones, and never missed any of the canonical services. But -one day (probably in May or June 1527) some officious person informed -her of the rumours circulating in the city and at court. Bursting with -anger and alarm, and all in tears, she hastened to the king, and -addressed him with the bitterest complaints.[672] Henry was content to -calm her by vague assurances; but the unfeeling Wolsey, troubling -himself still less than his master about Catherine's emotion, called -it, with a smile, "a short tragedy." - - [672] The queen hath broken with your grace thereof. State Papers, - vol. i. p. 200. - -The offended wife lost no time: it was necessary that the emperor -should be informed promptly, surely, and accurately of this -unprecedented insult. A letter would be insufficient, even were it not -intercepted. Catherine therefore determined to send her servant -Francis Philip, a Spaniard, to her nephew; and to conceal the object -of his journey, they proceeded, after the _tragedy_, to play a -_comedy_ in the Spanish style. "My mother is sick and desires to see -me," said Philip. Catherine begged the king to refuse her servant's -prayer; and Henry, divining the stratagem, resolved to employ trick -against trick.[673] "Philip's request is very proper," he made answer; -and Catherine, _from regard to her husband_, consented to his -departure. Henry meantime had given orders that, "notwithstanding any -safe conduct, the said Philip should be arrested and detained at -Calais, in such a manner, however, that no one should know whence the -stoppage proceeded." - - [673] The king's highness knowing great collusion and dissimulation - between them, doth also dissemble. Knight to Wolsey. Ibid. p. 215. - -It was to no purpose that the queen indulged in a culpable -dissimulation; a poisoned arrow had pierced her heart, and her words, -her manners, her complaints, her tears, the numerous messages she -sent, now to one and now to another, betrayed the secret which the -king wished still to conceal.[674] Her friends blamed her for this -publicity; men wondered what Charles would say when he heard of his -aunt's distress; they feared that peace would be broken; but -Catherine, whose heart was "rent in twain," was not to be moved by -diplomatic considerations. Her sorrow did not check Henry; with the -two motives which made him eager for a divorce--the scruples of his -conscience and the desire of an heir--was now combined a third still -more forcible. A woman was about to play an important part in the -destinies of England. - - [674] By her behaviour, manner, words, and messages sent to diverse, - hath published, divulged, etc. Ibid. p. 280. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Anne Boleyn appointed Maid of Honour to Catherine--Lord - Percy becomes attached to her--Wolsey separates them--Anne - enters Margaret's Household--Siege of Rome; - Cromwell--Wolsey's Intercession for the Popedom--He demands - the Hand of Renee of France for Henry--Failure--Anne - re-appears at Court--Repels the king's Advances--Henry's - Letter--He resolves to accelerate the Divorce--Two Motives - which induce Anne to refuse the Crown--Wolsey's Opposition. - - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN AND LORD PERCY.] - -Anne Boleyn, who had been placed by her father at the court of France, -had returned to England with Sir Thomas, then ambassador at Paris, at -the time that an English army made an incursion into Normandy (1522.) -It would appear that she was presented to the queen about this period, -and appointed one of Catherine's maids of honour. The following year -was a memorable one to her from her first sorrow. - -Among the young noblemen in the cardinal's household was Lord Percy, -eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland. While Wolsey was closeted -with the king, Percy was accustomed to resort to the queen's -apartments, where he passed the time among her ladies. He soon felt a -sincere passion for Anne, and the young maid of honour, who had been -cold to the addresses of the gentlemen at the court of Francis, -replied to the affections of the heir of Northumberland. The two young -people already indulged in day-dreams of a quiet, elegant, and happy -life in their noble castles of the north; but such dreams were fated -to be of short duration. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY SEPARATES THE YOUNG LOVERS.] - -Wolsey hated the Norfolks, and consequently the Boleyns. It was to -counterbalance their influence that he had been first introduced at -court. He became angry, therefore, when he saw one of his household -suing for the hand of the daughter and niece of his enemies. Besides, -certain partisans of the clergy accused Anne of being friendly to the -Reformation.[675]... It is generally believed that even at this period -Wolsey had discovered Henry's eyes turned complacently on the young -maid of honour, and that this induced him to thwart Percy's love; but -this seems improbable. Of all the women in England, Anne was the one -whose influence Wolsey would have had most cause to fear, and he -really did fear it; and he would have been but too happy to see her -married to Percy. It has been asserted that Henry prevailed on the -cardinal to thwart the affection of the two young people; but in that -case did he confide to Wolsey the real motive of his opposition? Did -the latter entertain criminal intentions? Did he undertake to yield up -to dishonour the daughter and niece of his political adversaries? This -would be horrible, but it is possible, and may even be deduced from -Cavendish's narrative; yet we will hope that it was not so. If it -were, Anne's virtue successfully baffled the infamous plot. - - [675] Meteren's Hist. of the Low Countries, folio, 20. - -But be that as it may, one day when Percy was in attendance upon the -cardinal, the latter rudely addressed him: "I marvel at your folly, -that you should attempt to contract yourself with that girl without -your father's or the king's consent. I command you to break with her." -Percy burst into tears, and besought the cardinal to plead his cause. -"I charge you to resort no more into her company," was Wolsey's cold -reply,[676] after which he rose up and left the room. Anne received an -order at the same time to leave the court. Proud and bold, and -ascribing her misfortune to Wolsey's hatred, she exclaimed as she -quitted the palace, "I will be revenged for this insult." But she had -scarcely taken up her abode in the gothic Halls of Hever Castle, when -news still more distressing overwhelmed her. Percy was married to Lady -Mary Talbot. She wept long and bitterly, and vowed against the young -nobleman who had deserted her a contempt equal to her hatred of the -cardinal. Anne was reserved for a more illustrious, but more unhappy -fate. - - [676] Cavendish's Wolsey. p. 123. Cavendish was present at this - conversation. - -This event necessarily rendered her residence in this country far from -attractive to Anne Boleyn. "She did not stay long in England," says -Burnet, following Camden; "she served queen Claude of France till her -death, and after that she was taken into service by King Francis' -sister." Anne Boleyn, lady-in-waiting to Margaret of Valois, was -consoled at last. She indulged in gaieties with all the vivacity of -her age, and glittered among the youngest and the fairest at all the -court festivities. - -In Margaret's house she met the most enlightened men of the age, and -her understanding and heart were developed simultaneously with the -graces. She began to read, without thoroughly understanding it, the -holy book in which her mistress (as Brantome informs us) found -consolation and repose, and to direct a few light and passing -thoughts to that "mild Emmanuel," to whom Margaret addressed such -beautiful verses. - -[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF ROME--CROMWELL.] - -At last Anne returned definitively to England. It has been asserted -that the queen-regent, fearing that Henry after the battle of Pavia -would invade France, had sent Anne to London to dissuade him from it. -But it was a stronger voice than hers which stopped the king of -England. "Remain quiet," wrote Charles V to him; "I have the stag in -my net, and we have only to think of sharing the spoils." Margaret of -Valois having married the king of Navarre at the end of January 1527, -and quitted Paris and her brother's court, it is supposed that Sir -Thomas Boleyn, who was unwilling that his daughter should take up her -abode in the Pyrenees, recalled her to England probably in the winter -or spring of the same year. "There is not the least evidence that she -came to it earlier," says a modern author.[677] She appeared once more -at court, and the niece of the Duke of Norfolk soon eclipsed her -companions, "by her excellent gesture and behaviour,"[678] as we learn -from a contemporary unfriendly to the Boleyns. All the court was -struck by the regularity of her features, the expression of her eyes, -the gentleness of her manners, and the majesty of her carriage.[679] -"She was a beautiful creature," says an old historian, "well -proportioned, courteous, amiable, very agreeable, and a skilful -musician."[680] - - [677] Turner, Hist. Henry VIII. ii. p. 185. - - [678] Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. 120. - - [679] Memoirs of Sir Thomas Wyatt, in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. - 424. - - [680] Meteren's Hist. of the Low Countries, folio. 20. - -While entertainments were following close upon each other at the court -of Henry VIII, a strange rumour filled all England with surprise. It -was reported that the imperialist soldiers had taken Rome by assault, -and that some Englishmen were among those who had mounted the breach. -One Thomas Cromwell was specially named[681]--the man who nearly -twenty years before had obtained certain indulgences from Julius II, -by offering him some jars of English confectionary. This soldier -carried with him the New Testament of Erasmus, and he is said to have -learnt it by heart during the campaign. Being gay, brave, and -intelligent, he entertained, from reading the gospel and seeing Rome, -a great aversion for the policy, superstitions, and disorders of the -popedom. The day of the 7th May 1527 decided the tenor of his life. To -destroy the papal power became his dominant idea. On returning to -England he entered the cardinal's household. - - [681] Foxe, vol. v. p. 365. - -However, the captive pope and cardinals wrote letters "filled with -tears and groans."[682] Full of zeal for the papacy, Wolsey ordered a -public fast. "The emperor will never release the pope, unless he be -compelled," he told the king. "Sir, God has made you _defender of the -faith_; save the church and its head!"--"My lord," answered the king -with a smile, "I assure you that this war between the emperor and the -pope is not for the faith, but for temporal possessions and -dominions." - - [682] Plenas lacrymarum et miseriae. State Papers, vol. i. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S EMBASSY TO FRANCE.] - -But Wolsey would not be discouraged; and, on the 3rd of July, he -passed through the streets of London, riding a richly caparisoned -mule, and resting his feet on gilt stirrups, while twelve hundred -gentlemen accompanied him on horseback. He was going to entreat -Francis to aid his master in saving Clement VII. He had found no -difficulty in prevailing upon Henry; Charles talked of carrying the -pope to Spain, and of permanently establishing the apostolic see in -that country.[683] Now, how could they obtain the divorce from a -_Spanish_ pope? During the procession, Wolsey seemed oppressed with -grief, and even shed tears;[684] but he soon raised his head and -exclaimed: "My heart is inflamed, and I wish that it may be said of -the pope _per secula sempiterna_, - - "Rediit Henrici octavi virtute serena." - - [683] The see apostolic should perpetually remain in Spain. Ibid. i. - p. 227. - - [684] I saw the lord cardinal weep very tenderly. Cavendish, p. 151. - -Desirous of forming a close union between France and England for the -accomplishment of his designs, he had cast his eyes on the princess -Renee, daughter of Louis XII, and sister-in-law to Francis I, as the -future wife of Henry VIII. Accordingly the treaty of alliance between -the two crowns having been signed at Amiens on the 18th of August -(1527), Francis, with his mother and the cardinal, proceeded to -Compiegne, and there Wolsey, styling Charles the most obstinate -defender of Lutheranism,[685] promising "perpetual _conjunction_ on -the one hand [between France and England], and perpetual _disjunction_ -on the other." [between England and Germany],[686] demanded Renee's -hand for king Henry. Staffileo, dean of Rota, affirmed that the pope -had been able to permit the marriage between Henry and Catherine only -by an error of the keys of St. Peter.[687] This avowal, so remarkable -on the part of the dean of one of the first jurisdictions of Rome, -induced Francis' mother to listen favourably to the cardinal's demand. -But whether this proposal was displeasing to Renee, who was destined -on a future day to profess the pure faith of the Gospel with greater -earnestness than Margaret of Valois, or whether Francis was not -over-anxious for a union that would have given Henry rights over the -duchy of Brittany, she was promised to the son of the Duke of Ferrara. -It was a check to the cardinal; but it was his ill fortune to receive -one still more severe on his return to England. - - [685] Omnium maxime dolosus et haeresis Lutherianae fautor acerrimus. - (State Papers, i. p. 274.) By far the most cunning and violent - favourer of the Lutheran heresy. - - [686] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, i. p. 186. - - [687] Nisi clave errante. (State Papers, i. p. 272.) Unless by an - erring key. - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN'S SUCCESS.] - -The daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, (who had been created Viscount -Rochford in 1525,) was constantly at court, "where she nourished in -great estimation and favour," says Cavendish, "having always a private -indignation against the cardinal for breaking off the pre-contract -made between Lord Percy and her," little suspecting that Henry had had -any share in it.[688] Her beauty, her graceful carriage, her black -hair, oval face, and bright eyes, her sweet voice in singing, her -skill and dignity in the dance, her desire to please which was not -entirely devoid of coquetry, her sprightliness, the readiness of her -repartees, and above all the amiability of her character, won every -heart. She brought to Greenwich and to London the polished manners of -the court of Francis I. Every day (it was reported) she invented a new -style of dress, and set the fashion in England. But to all these -qualities, she added modesty, and even imposed it on others by her -example. The ladies of the court, who had hitherto adopted a different -fashion (says her greatest enemy), covered the neck and bosom as she -did;[689] and the malicious, unable to appreciate Anne's motives, -ascribed this modesty on the young lady's part to a desire to hide a -secret deformity.[690] Numerous admirers once more crowded round Anne -Boleyn, and among others, one of the most illustrious noblemen and -poets of England, Sir Thomas Wyatt, a follower of Wickliffe. He -however, was not the man destined to replace the son of the Percies. - - [688] For all this while she knew nothing of the king's intended - purpose, said one of his adversaries. Cavendish's Wolsey, p. 129. - - [689] Ad illius imitationem reliquae regiae ancillae colli et pectoris - superiora, quae antea nuda gestabant, operire coeperunt. Sanders, p. 16. - In imitation of her, the other ladies of the court began to cover - their neck and bosom which formerly they had worn exposed. - - [690] See Sanders, Ibid. It is useless to refute Sanders' stories. We - refer our readers to Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation, to Lord - Herbert's life of Henry VIII, to Wyatt, and others. We need only read - Sanders to estimate at their true value the _foul calumnies_, as these - writers term them, of the man whom they style the _Roman legendary_. - -[Sidenote: ANNE REJECTS THE KING.] - -Henry, absorbed in anxiety about his divorce from Catherine, had -become low-spirited and melancholy. The laughter, songs, repartees, -and beauty of Anne Boleyn struck and captivated him, and his eyes were -soon fixed complacently on the young maid of honour. Catherine was -more than forty years old, and it was hardly to be expected that so -susceptible a man as Henry would have made, as Job says, _a covenant -with his eyes_ _not to think upon a maid_. Desirous of showing his -admiration, he presented Anne, according to usage, with a costly -jewel; she accepted and wore it, and continued to dance, laugh, and -chatter as before, without attaching particular importance to the -royal present. Henry's attentions became more continuous; and he took -advantage of a moment when he found Anne alone to declare his -sentiments. With mingled emotion and alarm, the young lady fell -trembling at the king's feet, and exclaimed, bursting into tears: "I -think, most noble and worthy king, your majesty speaks these words in -mirth to prove me.... I will rather lose my life than my virtue."[691] -Henry gracefully replied, that he should at least continue to hope. -But Anne, rising up, proudly made answer: "I understand not, most -mighty king, how you should retain any such hope; your wife I cannot -be, both in respect of mine own unworthiness, and also because you -have a queen already. Your mistress I will not be." Anne kept her -word. She continued to show the king, even after this interview, all -the respect that was due to him; but on several occasions she proudly, -violently even, repelled his advances.[692] In this age of gallantry, -we find her resisting for nearly six years all the seductions Henry -scattered round her. Such an example is not often met with in the -history of courts. The books she had read in Margaret's palace gave -her a secret strength. All looked upon her with respect; and even the -queen treated her with politeness. Catherine showed, however, that she -had remarked the king's preference. One day, as she was playing at -cards with her maid of honour, while Henry was in the room, Anne -frequently holding the _king_, she said: "My Lady Anne, you have good -hap to stop ever at a _king_; but you are not like others, you will -have all or none." Anne blushed: from that moment Henry's attentions -acquired more importance; she resolved to withdraw from them, and -quitted the court with Lady Rochford. - - [691] Sloane MSS. No. 2495; Turner's Hist. Eng. ii. p. 196. - - [692] Tanto vehementius preces regias illa repulit. (Sanders, p. 17.) - So much the more vehemently she repelled the king's entreaties. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S LETTER TO ANNE.] - -The king, who was not accustomed to resistance, was extremely grieved; -and having learnt that Anne would not return to the court either with -or without her mother, sent a courier to Hever with a message and a -letter for her. If we recollect the manners of the age of Henry VIII, -and how far the men, in their relations with the gentler sex, were -strangers to that reserve which society now imposes upon them, we -cannot but be struck by the king's respectful tone: He writes thus in -French:-- - - "As the time seems to me very long since I heard from you or - concerning your health, the great love I have for you has - constrained me to send this bearer to be better informed - both of your health and pleasure; particularly, because - since my last parting with you, I have been told that you - have entirely changed the mind in which I left you, and that - you neither mean to come to court with your mother nor any - other way; which report, if true, I cannot enough marvel at, - being persuaded in my own mind that I have never committed - any offence against you; and it seems hard, in return for - the great love I bear you, to be kept at a distance from the - person and presence of the woman in the world that I value - the most. And if you love me with as much affection as I - hope you do, I am sure the distance of our two persons would - be equally irksome to you, though this does not belong so - much to the mistress as to the servant. - - "Consider well, my mistress, how greatly your absence - afflicts me. I hope it is not your will that it should be - so; but if I heard for certain that you yourself desired it, - I could but mourn my ill-fortune, and strive by degrees to - abate of my great folly. - - "And so for lack of time I make an end of this rude letter, - beseeching you to give the bearer credence in all he will - tell you from me. Written by the hand of your entire - servant, - - "H. R."[693] - - [693] Pamphleteer, No. 42, p. 347. It is difficult to fix the order - and chronology of Henry's letters to Anne Boleyn. This is the second - in the Vatican Collection, but it appears to us to be of older date. - It is considered as written in May 1528; we are inclined to place it - in the autumn of 1527. The originals of these letters, chiefly in old - French, are still preserved in the Vatican, having been stolen from - the royal cabinet and conveyed thither. - -The word _servant_ (serviteur) employed in this letter explains the -sense in which Henry used the word _mistress_. In the language of -chivalry, the latter term expressed a person to whom the lover had -surrendered his heart. - -It would seem that Anne's reply to this letter was the same she had -made to the king from the very first; and Cardinal Pole mentions more -than once her obstinate refusal of an adulterous love.[694] At last -Henry understood Anne's virtue; but he was far from _abating of his -great folly_, as he had promised. That tyrannical selfishness, which -the prince often displayed in his life, was shown particularly in his -amours. Seeing that he could not attain his end by illegitimate means, -he determined to break, as quickly as possible, the bonds which united -him to the queen. Anne's virtue was the third cause of Henry's -divorce. - - [694] Concubina enim tua fieri pudica mulier nolebat, uxor volebat. - Illa cujus amore rex deperibat, pertinacissime negabat sui corporis - potestatem. (Polus ad Regem, p. 176.) For a modest woman, though - willing to be thy wife refused to become thy concubine. Though a king - was consumed by love for her, she obstinately refused to yield to him - the power over her person. Cardinal Pole is a far more trust-worthy - authority than Sanders. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S OPPOSITION.] - -His resolution being once taken, it must needs be carried out. Henry -having succeeded in bringing Anne back to court, procured a private -interview with her, offered her his crown, and seizing her hand, took -off one of her rings. But Anne, who would not be the king's mistress, -refused also to be his wife. The glory of a crown could not dazzle -her, said Wyatt, and two motives in particular counterbalanced all the -prospects of greatness which were set before her eyes. The first was -her respect for the queen: "How could I injure a princess of such -great virtue?" she exclaimed.[695] The second was the fear that a -union with "one that was her lord and her king," would not give her -that freedom of heart and that liberty which she would enjoy by -marrying a man of the same rank with herself.[696] - - [695] The love she bare even to the queen whom the served, that was - also a personage of great virtue. Wyatt, Mem. of A. B. p. 428. - - [696] Ibid. - -Yet the noblemen and ladies of Henry's court whispered to one another -that Anne would certainly become queen of England. Some were tormented -by jealousy; others, her friends, were delighted at the prospect of a -rapid advancement. Wolsey's enemies in particular were charmed at the -thought of ruining the favourite. It was at the very moment when all -these emotions were so variously agitating the court that the -cardinal, returning from his embassy to Francis, re-appeared in -London, where an unexpected blow struck him. - -Wolsey was expressing his grief to Henry at having failed in obtaining -either Margaret or Renee for him, when the king interrupted him: -"Console yourself, I shall marry Anne Boleyn." The cardinal remained -speechless for a moment. What would become of him, if the king placed -the crown of England on the head of the daughter and niece of his -greatest enemies? What would become of the church, if a second Anne of -Bohemia should ascend the throne? Wolsey threw himself at the feet of -his master, and entreated him to renounce so fatal a project.[697] It -was then no doubt that he remained (as he afterwards said) _an hour or -two_ on his knees before the king in his privy chamber,[698] but -without prevailing on Henry to give up his design. Wolsey, persuaded -that if he continued openly to oppose Henry's will, he would for ever -lose his confidence, dissembled his vexation, waiting an opportunity -to get rid of this unfortunate rival by some intrigue. He began by -writing to the pope, informing him that a young lady, brought up by -the queen of Navarre, and consequently tainted by the Lutheran heresy, -had captivated the king's heart;[699] and from that hour Anne Boleyn -became the object of the hatred and calumnies of Rome. But at the same -time, to conceal his intentions, Wolsey received Henry at a series of -splendid entertainments, at which Anne outshone all the ladies of the -court. - - [697] Whose persuasion to the contrary, made to the king upon his - knees. Cavendish, p. 204. - - [698] Ibid. p. 388. - - [699] Meteren, Hist. of the Low Countries, folio, 20. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - Bilney's Preaching--His arrest--Arthur's Preaching and - Imprisonment--Bilney's Examination--Contest between the - Judge and the Prisoner--Bilney's weakness and Fall--His - Terrors--Two Wants--Arrival of the Fourth Edition of the New - Testament--Joy among the Believers. - - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S PREACHING.] - -While these passions were agitating Henry's palace, the most moving -scenes, produced by Christian faith, were stirring the nation. Bilney, -animated by that courage which God sometimes gives to the weakest men, -seemed to have lost his natural timidity, and preached for a time with -an energy quite apostolic. He taught that all men should first -acknowledge their sins and condemn them, and then hunger and thirst -after that righteousness which Jesus Christ gives.[700] To this -testimony borne to the truth, he added his testimony against error. -"These five hundred years," he added, "there hath been no good pope; -and in all the times past we can find but fifty: for they have neither -preached nor lived well, nor conformably to their dignity; wherefore, -unto this day, they have borne the keys of simony."[701] - - [700] Ut omnes primum peccata sua agnoscant et damnent, deinde - esuriant et sitiant justitiam illam. Foxe, iv. p. 634. - - [701] Ibid. p. 627. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY ARRESTED.] - -As soon as he descended from the pulpit, this pious scholar, with his -friend Arthur, visited the neighbouring towns and villages. "The Jews -and Saracens would long ago have become believers," he once said at -Wilsdown, "had it not been for the idolatry of Christian men in -offering candles, wax, and money to stocks and stones." One day when -he visited Ipswich, where there was a Franciscan convent, he -exclaimed: "The cowl of St. Francis wrapped round a dead body hath no -power to take away sins.... _Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peccata -mundi._" (John i, 29.) The poor monks, who were little versed in -Scripture, had recourse to the _Almanac_ to convict the _Bible_ of -error. "St. Paul did rightly affirm," said Friar John Brusierd, "that -there is but one mediator of God and man, because as yet there was no -_saint_ canonized or put into the calendar."--"Let us ask of the -Father in the name of the Son," rejoined Bilney, "and he will give -unto us."--"You are always speaking of the Father and never of the -_saints_," replied the friar; "you are like a man who has been looking -so long upon the sun that he can see nothing else."[702] As he uttered -these words the monk seemed bursting with anger. "If I did not know -that the saints would take everlasting vengeance upon you, I would -surely with these nails of mine be your death."[703] Twice in fact did -two monks pull him out of his pulpit. He was arrested and taken to -London. - - [702] Foxe, iv. p. 629. - - [703] Ibid. p. 630. - -Arthur, instead of fleeing, began to visit the flocks which his friend -had converted. "Good people," said he, "if I should suffer persecution -for the preaching of the Gospel, there are seven thousand more that -would preach it as I do now. Therefore, good people! good people!" -(and he repeated these words several times in a sorrowful voice) -"think not that if these tyrants and persecutors put a man to death, -the preaching of the Gospel therefore is to be forsaken. Every -Christian man, yea every layman, is a priest. Let our adversaries -preach by the authority of the cardinal; others by the authority of -the university; others by the pope's; we will preach by the authority -of God. It is not the man who brings the word that saves the soul, but -the word which the man brings. Neither bishops nor popes have the -right to forbid any man to preach the Gospel;[704] and if they kill -him he is not a heretic but a martyr."[705] The priests were horrified -at such doctrines. In their opinion, there was no God out of their -church, no salvation out of their sacrifices. Arthur was thrown into -the same prison as Bilney. - - [704] Ibid. p. 623. - - [705] Collyer's Church History, vol. ii, p. 26. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY AND ARTHUR BEFORE THE BISHOP.] - -On the 27th of November 1527 the cardinal and the archbishop -Canterbury, with a great number of bishops, divines, and lawyers, met -in the chapter-house of Westminster, when Bilney and Arthur were -brought before them. But the king's prime minister thought it beneath -his dignity to occupy his time with miserable heretics. Wolsey had -hardly commenced the examination, when he rose, saying: "The affairs -of the realm call me away; all such as are found guilty, you will -compel them to abjure, and those who rebel you will deliver over to -the secular power." After a few questions proposed by the bishop of -London, the two accused men were led back to prison. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S STRUGGLE.] - -Abjuration or death--that was Wolsey's order. But the conduct of the -trial was confided to Tonstall; Bilney conceived some hope.[706] "Is -it possible," he said to himself, "that the bishop of London, the -friend of Erasmus, will gratify the monks?... I must tell him that it -was the Greek Testament of his learned master that led me to the -faith." Upon which the humble evangelist having obtained paper and -ink, set about writing to the bishop from his gloomy prison those -admirable letters which have been transmitted to posterity. Tonstall, -who was not a cruel man, was deeply moved, and then a strange struggle -took place: a judge wishing to save the prisoner, the prisoner -desiring to give up his life. Tonstall, by acquitting Bilney, had no -desire to compromise himself. "Submit to the church," said the bishop, -"for God speaks only through it." But Bilney, who knew that God speaks -in the Scriptures, remained inflexible. "Very well, then," said -Tonstall, taking up the prisoner's eloquent letters, "in discharge of -my conscience I shall lay these letters before the court." He hoped, -perhaps, that they would touch his colleagues, but he was deceived. He -determined, therefore, to make a fresh attempt. On the 4th of -December, Bilney was brought again before the court. "Abjure your -errors," said Tonstall. Bilney refusing by a shake of the head, the -bishop continued: "Retire into the next room and consider." Bilney -withdrew, and returning shortly after with joy beaming in his eyes, -Tonstall thought he had gained the victory. "You will return to the -church, then?" said he.... The doctor answered calmly: "_Fiat judicium -in nomine Domini_."[707] "Be quick," continued the bishop, "this is -the last moment, and you will be condemned." "_Haec est dies quam fecit -Dominus_," answered Bilney, "_exultemus et laetemur in ea_!" (Psalm -cxviii, 24). Upon this Tonstall took off his cap, and said: "_In -nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.... Exsurgat Deus et -dissipentur inimici ejus!_" (Ps. lxviii, 1). Then making the sign of -the cross on his forehead and on his breast, he gave judgment: "Thomas -Bilney, I pronounce thee convicted of heresy." He was about to name -the penalty ... a last hope restrained him; he stopped: "For the rest -of the sentence we take deliberation until to-morrow." Thus was the -struggle prolonged between two men, one of whom desired to walk to the -stake, the other to bar the way as it were with his own body. - - [706] In talem nunc me judicem incidisse gratulor. (Foxe, iv, p. 633.) - Now I congratulate myself that I have fallen into the hands of such a - judge. - - [707] Let judgment be done in the name of the Lord. - -"Will you return to the unity of the church?" asked Tonstall the next -day. "I hope I was never separated from the church," answered Bilney. -"Go and consult with some of your friends," said the bishop, who was -resolved to save his life; "I will give you till one o'clock in the -afternoon." In the afternoon Bilney made the same answer. "I will give -you two nights' respite to deliberate," said the bishop; "on Saturday -at nine o'clock in the forenoon, the court will expect a plain -definitive answer." Tonstall reckoned on the night with its dreams, -its anguish, and its terrors, to bring about Bilney's recantation. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY'S FALL.] - -This extraordinary struggle occupied many minds both in court and -city. Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII watched with interest the various -phases of this tragic history. What will happen? was the general -question. Will he give way? Shall we see him live or die? One day and -two nights still remained; everything was tried to shake the Cambridge -doctor. His friends crowded to his prison; he was overwhelmed with -arguments and examples; but an inward struggle, far more terrible than -those without, agitated the pious Bilney. "Whoever will save his soul -shall lose it," Christ had said. That selfish love of his soul, which -is found even in the advanced Christian,--that self, which after his -conversion had been not absorbed, but overruled by the Spirit of God, -gradually recovered strength in his heart, in the presence of disgrace -and death. His friends who wished to save him, not understanding that -the fallen Bilney would be Bilney no longer, conjured him with tears -to have pity on himself; and by these means his firmness was overcome. -The bishop pressed him, and Bilney asked himself: "Can a young soldier -like me know the rules of war better than an old soldier like -Tonstall? Or can a poor silly sheep know his way to the fold better -than the chief pastor of London?"[708] His friends quitted him -neither night nor day, and entangled by their fatal affection, he -believed at last that he had found a compromise which would set his -conscience at rest. "I will preserve my life," he said, "to dedicate -it to the Lord." This delusion had scarcely laid hold of his mind -before his views were confused, his faith was vailed, the Holy Ghost -departed from him, God gave him over to his carnal thoughts, and under -the pretext of being useful to Jesus Christ for many years, Bilney -disobeyed him at the present moment. Being led before the bishops on -the morning of Saturday the 7th of December, at nine o'clock, he fell -... (Arthur had fallen before him), and whilst the false friends who -had misled him hardly dared raise their eyes, the living church of -Christ in England uttered a cry of anguish. "If ever you come in -danger," said Latimer, "for God's quarrel, I would advise you, above -all things, to abjure all your friendships; leave not one unabjured. -It is they that shall undo you, and not your enemies. It was his very -friends that brought Bilney to it."[709] - - [708] Foxe, iv. p. 638. - - [709] Latimer's Sermons (Parker Society), p. 222. - -On the following day (Sunday, 8th December) Bilney was placed at the -head of a procession, and the fallen disciple, bareheaded, with a -fagot on his shoulders, stood in front of St. Paul's cross, while a -priest from the pulpit exhorted him to repentance; after which he was -led back to prison. - -What a solitude for the wretched man! At one time the cold darkness of -his cell appeared to him as a burning fire; at another he fancied he -heard accusing voices crying to him in the silence of the night. -Death, the very enemy he had wished to avoid, fixed his icy glance -upon him and filled him with fear. He strove to escape from the -horrible spectre, but in vain. Then the friends who had dragged him -into this abyss, crowded round and endeavoured to console him; but if -they gave utterance to any of Christ's gentle promises, Bilney started -back with affright and shrank to the farthest part of the dungeon, -with a cry "as though a man had run him through the heart with a -sword."[710] Having denied the word of God, he could no longer endure -to hear it. The curse of the Apocalypse: _Ye mountains, hide me from -the wrath of the Lamb!_ was the only passage of Scripture in harmony -with his soul. His mind wandered, the blood froze in his veins, he -sank under his terrors; he lost all sense, and almost his life, and -lay motionless in the arms of his astonished friends. "God," exclaimed -those unhappy individuals who had caused his fall, "God, by a just -judgment, delivers up to the tempests of their conscience all who -deny his truth." - - [710] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD ARRESTED.] - -This was not the only sorrow of the church. As soon as Richard -Bayfield, the late chamberlain of Bury, had joined Tyndale and Fryth, -he said to them: "I am at your disposal; you shall be my head and I -will be your hand; I will sell your books and those of the German -reformers in the Low Countries, France, and England." It was not long -indeed before he returned to London. But Pierson, the priest whom he -had formerly met in Lombard Street, found him again, and accused him -to the bishop. The unhappy man was brought before Tonstall. "You are -charged," said the prelate, "with having asserted that praise is due -to God alone, and not to saints or creatures."[711] Bayfield -acknowledged the charge to be true. "You are accused of maintaining -that every priest may preach the word of God by the authority of the -Gospel without the license of the pope or cardinals." This also -Bayfield acknowledged. A penance was imposed on him; and then he was -sent back to his monastery with orders to show himself there on the -25th of April. But he crossed the sea once more, and hastened to join -Tyndale. - - [711] That all laud and praise should be given to God alone. Foxe, iv, - p. 682. - -[Sidenote: FOURTH EDITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -The New Testaments, however, sold by him and others, remained in -England. At that time the bishops subscribed to suppress the -Scriptures, as so many persons have since done to circulate them; and, -accordingly, a great number of the copies brought over by Bayfield and -his friends were brought up.[712] A scarcity of food was erelong added -to the scarcity of the word of God; for as the cardinal was -endeavouring to foment a war between Henry and the emperor, the -Flemish ships ceased to enter the English ports. It was in consequence -of this that the lord mayor and aldermen of London hastened to express -their apprehensions to Wolsey almost before he had recovered from the -fatigues of his return from France. "Fear nothing," he told them; "the -king of France assured me, that if he had three bushels of wheat, -England should have two of them." But none arrived, and the people -were on the point of breaking out into violence, when a fleet of ships -suddenly appeared off the mouth of the Thames. They were German and -Flemish vessels laden with corn, in which the worthy people of the Low -Countries had also concealed the New Testament. An Antwerp bookseller, -named John Raimond or Ruremond, from his birthplace, had printed a -fourth edition more beautiful than the previous ones. It was enriched -with references and engravings on wood, and each page bordered with -red lines. Raimond himself had embarked on board one of the ships with -five hundred copies of his New Testament.[713] About Christmas 1527, -the book of God was circulated in England along with the bread that -nourishes the body. But certain priests and monks having discovered -the Scriptures among the sacks of corn, they carried several copies to -the bishop of London, who threw Raimond into prison. The greater part, -however, of the new edition escaped him. The New Testament was read -everywhere, and even the court did not escape the contagion. Anne -Boleyn, notwithstanding her smiling face, often withdrew to her closet -at Greenwich or at Hampton Court, to study the Gospel. Frank, -courageous, and proud, she did not conceal the pleasure she found in -such reading; her boldness astonished the courtiers, and exasperated -the clergy. In the city things went still farther: the New Testament -was explained in frequent conventicles, particularly in the house of -one Russell, and great was the joy among the faithful. "It is -sufficient only to enter London," said the priests, "to become a -heretic!" The Reformation was taking root among the people before it -arrived at the upper classes. - - [712] Anderson, Annals of the Bible, i. p. 158. - - [713] Foxe, v, p. 27. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Papacy intercepts the Gospel--The King consults Sir - Thomas More--Ecclesiastical Conferences about the - Divorce--The Universities--Clark--The Nun of Kent--Wolsey - decides to do the king's Will--Mission to the Pope--Four - Documents--Embarrassment of Charles V--Francis Philip at - Madrid--Distress and Resolution of Charles--He turns away - from the Reformation--Conference at the Castle of St. - Angelo--Knight arrives in Italy--His Flight--Treaty between - the Pope and the Emperor--Escape of the Pope--Confusion of - Henry VIII--Wolsey's Orders--His Entreaties. - - -[Sidenote: POPERY INTERCEPTS THE GOSPEL.] - -The sun of the word of God, which daily grew brighter in the sky of -the sixteenth century, was sufficient to scatter all the darkness in -England; but popery, like an immense wall, intercepted its rays. -Britain had hardly received the Scriptures in Greek and Latin, and -then in English, before the priests began to make war upon them with -indefatigable zeal. It was necessary that the wall should be thrown -down in order that the sun might penetrate freely among the -Anglo-Saxon people. And new events were ripening in England, destined -to make a great breach in popery. The negotiations of Henry VIII with -Clement VII play an important part in the Reformation. By showing up -the Court of Rome, they destroyed the respect which the people felt -for it; they took away that _power and strength_ as Scripture says, -which the monarchy had given it; and the throne of the pope once -fallen in England, Jesus Christ uplifted and strengthened his own. - -Henry, ardently desiring an heir, and thinking that he had found the -woman that would ensure his own and England's happiness, conceived the -design of severing the ties that united him to the queen, and with -this view he consulted his most favourite councillors about the -divorce. There was one in particular whose approval he coveted: this -was Sir Thomas More. One day as Erasmus's friend was walking with his -master in the beautiful gallery at Hampton Court, giving him an -account of a mission he had just executed on the continent, the king -suddenly interrupted him: "My marriage to the queen," he said, "is -contrary to the laws of God, of the church, and of nature." He then -took up the Bible, and pointed out the passages in his favour.[714] "I -am not a theologian," said More, somewhat embarrassed; "your majesty -should consult a council of doctors." - - [714] Laid the Bible open before me, and showed me the words. More to - Cromwell, Strype, i, 2nd part, p. 197. - -Accordingly, by Henry's order, Warham assembled the most learned -canonists at Hampton Court; but weeks passed away before they could -agree.[715] Most of them quoted in the king's favour those passages in -Leviticus (xviii, 16; xx, 21,) which forbid a man to take _his -brother's wife_.[716] But Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and the other -opponents of the divorce, replied that, according to Deuteronomy (xxv, -5,) when a woman is left a widow without children, her brother-in-law -ought to take her to wife, to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel. -"This law concerned the Jews only," replied the partisans of the -divorce; they added that its object was "to maintain the inheritances -distinct, and the genealogies intact, until the coming of Christ. The -Judaical dispensation has passed away; but the law of Leviticus, -which is a moral law, is binding upon all men in all ages." - - [715] Consulting from day to day, and time to time. Cavendish, p. 209. - - [716] Ex his doctoribus asseritur quod Papa non potest dispensare in - primo gradu affinitatis. (Burnet's Reform, ii, Records, p. 8. Lond. - 1841.) By these doctors it is asserted that the Pope is not able to - grant a dispensation in the first degree of affinity. - -To free themselves from their embarrassment, the bishops demanded that -the most eminent universities should be consulted; and commissioners -were forthwith despatched to Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Orleans, -Toulouse, Louvain, Padua, and Bologna, furnished with money to reward -the foreign doctors for the time and trouble this question would cost -them. This caused some little delay, and every means was now to be -tried to divert the king from his purpose. - -[Sidenote: CLARKE'S OBJECTION.] - -Wolsey, who was the first to suggest the idea of a divorce, was now -thoroughly alarmed. It appeared to him that a nod from the daughter of -the Boleyns would hurl him from the post he had so laboriously won, -and this made him vent his ill-humour on all about him, at one time -threatening Warham, and at another persecuting Pace. But fearing to -oppose Henry openly, he summoned from Paris, Clarke, bishop of Bath -and Wells, at that time ambassador to the French court. The latter -entered into his views, and after cautiously preparing the way, he -ventured to say to the king: "The progress of the inquiry will be so -slow, your majesty, that it will take more than seven years to bring -it to an end!"--"Since my patience has already held out for _eighteen_ -years," the king replied coldly, "I am willing to wait _four_ or -_five_ more."[717] - - [717] Since his patience had already held out for eighteen years. - Collyer, ii. p. 24. - -[Sidenote: FOUR DOCUMENTS REQUIRED OF THE POPE.] - -As the political party had failed, the clerical party set in motion a -scheme of another kind. A young woman, Elizabeth Barton, known as _the -holy maid of Kent_, had been subject from childhood to epileptic fits. -The priest of her parish, named Masters, had persuaded her that she -was inspired of God, and confederating with one Bocking, a monk of -Canterbury, he turned the weakness of the prophetess to account. -Elizabeth wandered over the country, passing from house to house, and -from convent to convent; on a sudden her limbs would become rigid, her -features distorted; violent convulsions shook her body, and strange -unintelligible sounds fell from her lips, which the amazed by-standers -received as revelations from the Virgin and the saints. Fisher, bishop -of Rochester, Abel, the queen's ecclesiastical agent, and even Sir -Thomas More, were among the number of Elizabeth's partisans. Rumours -of the divorce having reached the _saint's_ ears, an angel commanded -her to appear before the cardinal. As soon as she stood in his -presence, the colour fled from her cheeks, her limbs trembled, and -falling into an ecstasy, she exclaimed: "Cardinal of York, God has -placed three swords in your hand: the spiritual sword, to range the -church under the authority of the pope; the civil sword, to govern the -realm; and the sword of justice, to prevent the divorce of the -king.... If you do not wield these three swords faithfully, God will -lay it sore to your charge."[718] After these words the prophetess -withdrew. - - [718] Strype, vol. i. part i. p. 279. - -But other influences were then dividing Wolsey's breast: hatred, which -induced him to oppose the divorce; and ambition, which foreboded his -ruin in this opposition. At last ambition prevailed, and he resolved -to make his objections forgotten by the energy of his zeal. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE CANNOT ERR.] - -Henry hastened to profit by this change. "Declare the divorce -yourself," said he to Wolsey, "has not the pope named you his -vicar-general."[719] The cardinal was not anxious to raise himself so -high. "If I were to decide the affair," said he, "the queen would -appeal to the pope; we must therefore either apply to the holy father -for special powers, or persuade the queen to retire to a nunnery. And -if we fail in either of these expedients, we will obey the voice of -conscience, even in despite of the pope."[720] It was arranged to -begin with the more regular attempt, and Gregory Da Casale, secretary -Knight, and the prothonotary Gambara, were appointed to an -extraordinary mission at the pontifical court. Casale was Wolsey's -man, and Knight was Henry's. Wolsey told the envoys: "You will demand -of the pope, _1stly_, a _commission_ authorizing me to inquire into -this matter; _2ndly_, his promise to pronounce the nullity of -Catherine's marriage with Henry, if we should find that her marriage -with Arthur was consummated; and _3rdly_, a _dispensation_ permitting -the king to marry again." In this manner Wolsey hoped to make sure of -the divorce without damaging the papal authority. It was insinuated -that false representations, with regard to the consummation of the -first marriage, had been sent from England to Julius II, which had -induced the pontiff to permit the second. The pope being deceived as -to the _fact_, his infallibility was untouched. Wolsey desired -something more; knowing that no confidence could be put in the good -faith of the pontiff, he demanded a fourth instrument by which the -pope should bind himself _never to recall_ _the other three_; he only -forgot to take precautions in case Clement should withdraw _the -fourth_. "With these four snares, skilfully combined," said the -cardinal, "I shall catch the hare; if he escapes from one, he will -fall into the other." The courtiers anticipated a speedy termination -of the affair. Was not the emperor the declared enemy of the pontiff? -Had not Henry, on the contrary, made himself _protector of the -Clementine league_? Could Clement hesitate, when called upon, to -choose between his jailor and his benefactor? - - [719] When Napoleon, from similar motives, desired to separate from - Josephine, fearing the unwillingness of the pope (as Henry did), he - entertained, like him, the design of doing without the pontiff, and of - getting his marriage annulled by the French bishops. As he was more - powerful, he succeeded. - - [720] Quid possit clam fieri quoad forum conscientiae. Collyer, ii. p. - 24. - -Indeed, Charles V, at this moment, was in a very embarrassing -position. It is true, his guards were posted at the gates of the -castle of St. Angelo, where Clement was a prisoner, and people in Rome -said to one another with a smile: "Now indeed it is true, _Papa non -potest errare_."[721] But it was not possible to keep the pope a -prisoner in Rome; and then what was to be done with him? The viceroy -of Naples proposed to Alercon, the governor of St. Angelo, to remove -Clement to Gaeta; but the affrighted colonel exclaimed: "Heaven forbid -that I should drag after me the very body of God!" Charles thought one -time of transporting the pontiff to Spain; but might not an enemy's -fleet carry him off on the road? The pope in prison was far more -embarrassing to Charles than the pope at liberty. - - [721] The pope cannot err,--a play upon the double meaning of the word - _errare_. - -[Sidenote: A CONFERENCE AT ST. ANGELO.] - -It was at this critical time that Francis Philip, Queen Catherine's -servant, having escaped the snares laid by Henry VIII and Wolsey, -arrived at Madrid, where he passed a whole day in conference with -Charles V. This prince was at first astonished, shocked even, by the -designs of the king of England. The curse of God seemed to hang over -his house. His mother was a lunatic; his sister of Denmark expelled -from her dominions; his sister of Hungary made a widow by the battle -of Mohacz; the Turks were encroaching upon his territories; Lautrec -was victorious in Italy, and the catholics, irritated by the pope's -captivity, detested his ambition. This was not enough. Henry VIII was -striving to divorce his aunt, and the pope would naturally give his -aid to this criminal design. Charles must choose between the pontiff -and the king. The friendship of the king of England might aid him in -breaking the league formed to expel him from Italy, and by sacrificing -Catherine he would be sure to obtain his support; but placed between -reasons of state and his aunt's honour, the emperor did not hesitate; -he even renounced certain projects of reform that he had at heart. He -suddenly decided for the pope, and from that very hour followed a new -course. - -Charles, who possessed great discernment, had understood his age; he -had seen that concessions were called for by the movement of the human -mind, and would have desired to carry out the change from the middle -ages to modern times by a carefully managed transition. He had -consequently demanded a council to reform the church and weaken the -Romish dominion in Europe. But very different was the result. If -Charles turned away from Henry, he was obliged to turn towards -Clement; and after having compelled the head of the church to enter a -prison, it was necessary to place him once more upon the throne. -Charles V sacrificed the interests of Christian society to the -interests of his own family. This divorce, which in England has been -looked upon as the ruin of the popedom, was what saved it in -continental Europe. - -[Sidenote: KNIGHT HURRIES FROM ROME.] - -But how could the emperor win the heart of the pontiff, filled as it -was with bitterness and anger? He selected for this difficult mission -a friar of great ability, De Angelis, general of the Spanish -Observance, and ordered him to proceed to the castle of St. Angelo -under the pretext of negotiating the liberation of the holy father. -The cordelier was conducted to the strongest part of the fortress, -called the Rock, where Clement was lodged; and the two priests brought -all their craft to bear on each other. The monk, assisted by the -artful Moncade, adroitly mingled together the pope's deliverance and -Catherine's marriage. He affirmed that the emperor wished to open the -gates of the pontiff's prison, and had already given the order;[722] -and then he added immediately: "The emperor is determined to maintain -the rights of his aunt, and will never consent to the divorce."[723]-- -"If you are a _good shepherd_ to me," wrote Charles to the pope with -his own hand on the 22nd of November, "I will be a _good sheep_ to -you." Clement smiled as he read these words; he understood his -position; the emperor had need of the priest, Charles was at his -captive's feet; Clement was saved! The divorce was a rope fallen from -the skies which could not fail to drag him out of the pits; he had -only to cling to it quietly in order to reascend his throne. -Accordingly from that hour Clement appeared less eager to quit the -castle than Charles to liberate him. "So long as the divorce is in -suspense," thought the crafty De' Medici, "I have two great friends; -but as soon as I declare for one, I shall have a mortal enemy in the -other." He promised the monk to come to no decision in the matter -without informing the emperor. - - [722] La Caesarea Majesta si come grandamente desidera la liberatione - de nostro signor, cosi efficacemente la manda. Capituli, etc. Le - Grand, iii. p. 48. - - [723] That in anywise he should not consent to the same. State Papers, - vol. vii. p. 29. - -Meantime Knight, the envoy of the impatient monarch, having heard, as -he crossed the Alps, that the pope was at liberty, hastened on to -Parma, where he met Gambara: "He is not free yet," replied the -prothonotary; "but the general of the Franciscans hopes to terminate -his captivity in a few days.[724] Continue your journey," he added. -Knight could not do so without great danger. He was told at Foligno, -sixty miles from the metropolis, that if he had not a safe-conduct he -could not reach Rome without exposing his life; Knight halted. Just -then a messenger from Henry brought him despatches more pressing than -ever; Knight started again with one servant and a guide. At Monte -Rotondo he was nearly murdered by the inhabitants; but on the next day -(25th November), protected by a violent storm of wind and rain,[725] -Henry's envoy entered Rome at ten o'clock without being observed, and -kept himself concealed. - - [724] Quod sperabat intra paucos dies auferre suae Sanctitati squalorem - et tenebras. (State Papers, vol. vii. p. 13.) Because he hoped that - within a few days the miserable captivity of his Holiness would be - terminated. - - [725] Veari trobelous with wynde and rayne, and therefore more mete - for our voyage. Ibid. p. 16. - -It was impossible to speak with Clement, for the emperor's orders were -positive. Knight, therefore, began to _practise_ upon the cardinals; -he gained over the Cardinal of Pisa, by whose means his despatches -were laid before the pontiff. Clement after reading them laid them -down with a smile of satisfaction.[726] "Good!" said he, "here is _the -other_ coming to me now!" But night had hardly closed in before the -Cardinal of Pisa's secretary hastened to Knight and told him: "Don -Alercon is informed of your arrival; and the pope entreats you to -depart immediately." This officer had scarcely left him, when the -prothonotary Gambara arrived in great agitation: "His holiness presses -you to leave; as soon as he is at liberty, he will attend to your -master's request." Two hours after this, two hundred Spanish soldiers -arrived, surrounded the house in which Knight had concealed himself, -and searched it from top to bottom, but to no purpose; the English -agent had escaped.[727] - - [726] Reponed the same saufly, as Gambara showed unto me. Ibid. p. 17. - - [727] I was not passed out of Rome, by the space of two hours, ere two - hundred Spaniards invaded and searched the house. Burnet, Records, ii. - p. 12. - -[Sidenote: THE KING'S REMORSE.] - -Knight's safety was not the true motive which induced Clement to urge -his departure. The very day on which the pope received the message -from the king of England, he signed a treaty with Charles V, -restoring him, under certain conditions, to both his powers. At the -same time the pontiff, for greater security, pressed the French -general Lautrec to hasten his march to Rome in order to save him from -the hands of the emperor. Clement, a disciple of Machiavelli, thus -gave the right hand to Charles and the left to Francis; and as he had -not another for Henry, he made him the most positive promises. Each of -the three princes could reckon on the pope's friendship, and on the -same grounds. - -The 10th of December (1527) was the day on which Clement's -imprisonment would terminate; but he preferred owing his freedom to -intrigue rather than to the emperor's generosity. He therefore -procured the dress of a tradesman, and, on the evening before the day -fixed for his deliverance, his ward being already much relaxed, he -escaped from the castle, and, accompanied only by Louis of Gonzago in -his flight, he made his way to Orvieto. - -While Clement was experiencing all the joy of a man just escaped from -prison, Henry was a prey to the most violent agitation. Having ceased -to love Catherine, he persuaded himself that he was the victim of his -father's ambition, a martyr to duty, and the champion of conjugal -sanctity. His very gait betrayed his vexation, and even among the gay -conversation of the court, deep sighs would escape from his bosom. He -had frequent interviews with Wolsey. "I regard the safety of my soul -above all things,"[728] he said; "but I am concerned also for the -peace of my kingdom. For a long while an unceasing remorse has been -gnawing at my conscience,[729] and my thoughts dwell upon my marriage -with unutterable sorrow.[730] God, in his wrath, has taken away my -sons, and if I persevere in this unlawful union, he will visit me with -still more terrible chastisements.[731] My only hope is in the holy -father." Wolsey replied with a low bow: "Please your majesty, I am -occupied with this business, as if it were my only means of winning -heaven." - - [728] Deumque primo et ante omnia ac animae suae quietem et salutem - respiciens. Barnet's Reformation, II. Records p. vii. - - [729] Longo jam tempore intimo suae conscientiae remorsu. Ibid. - - [730] Ingenti cum molestia cordisque perturbatione. Ibid. - - [731] Graviusque a Deo supplicium expavescit. Ibid. p. viii. - -And indeed he redoubled his exertions. He wrote to Sir Gregory Da -Casale on the 5th of December (1527): "You will procure an audience of -the pope at any price. Disguise yourself, appear before him as the -servant of some nobleman,[732] or as a messenger from the duke of -Ferrara. Scatter money plentifully; sacrifice every thing, provided -you procure a secret interview with his holiness; ten thousand ducats -are at your disposal. You will explain to Clement the king's scruples, -and the necessity of providing for the continuance of his house and -the peace of his kingdom. You will tell him that in order to restore -him to liberty, the king is ready to declare war against the emperor, -and thus show himself to all the world to be a true son of the -church." - - [732] Mutato habitu et tanquam alicujus minister. (Ibid.) The dress - being changed, and as if somebody's servant. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S ALTERNATIVE.] - -Wolsey saw clearly that it was essential to represent the divorce to -Clement VII, as a means likely to secure the safety of the popedom. -The cardinal, therefore, wrote again to Da Casale on the 6th of -December: "Night and day, I revolve in my mind the actual condition of -the church,[733] and seek the means best calculated to extricate the -pope from the gulf into which he has fallen. While I was turning these -thoughts over in my mind during a sleepless night ... one way suddenly -occurred to me. I said to myself, the king must be prevailed upon to -undertake the defence of the holy father. This was no easy matter, for -his majesty is strongly attached to the emperor;[734] however, I set -about my task. I told the king that his holiness was ready to satisfy -him; I staked my honour; I succeeded.... To save the pope, my master -will sacrifice his treasures, subjects, kingdom, and even his -life.[735]... I therefore conjure his holiness to entertain our just -demand." - - [733] Diuque ac noctu mente volvens quo facto. (State Papers, vol. - vii. p. 18.) Day and night revolving in my mind the state of matters. - - [734] Adeo tenaciter Caesari adhaerebat. (Ibid.) He still adhered - closely to Caesar. - - [735] Usque ad mortem. (Ibid. p. 19.) Even to death. - -Never before had such pressing entreaties been made to a pope. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The English Envoys at Orvieto--Their Oration to the - Pope--Clement gains Time--The Envoys and Cardinal Sanctorum - Quatuor--Stratagem of the Pope--Knight discovers it and - returns--The Transformations of Antichrist--The English - obtain a new Document--Fresh Stratagem--Demand of a second - Cardinal-legate--The Pope's new Expedient--End of the - Campaign. - - -[Sidenote: THE ENGLISH ENVOYS AT ORVIETO.] - -The envoys of the king of England appeared in the character of the -saviours of Rome. This was doubtless no stratagem; and Wolsey -probably regarded that thought as coming from heaven, which had -visited him during the weary sleepless night. The zeal of his agents -increased. The pope was hardly set at liberty, before Knight and Da -Casale appeared at the foot of the precipitous rock on which Orvieto -is built, and demanded to be introduced to Clement VII. Nothing could -be more compromising to the pontiff than such a visit. How could he -appear on good terms with England, when Rome and all his states were -still in the hands of Catherine's nephew? The pope's mind was utterly -bewildered by the demand of the two envoys. He recovered however; to -reject the powerful hand extended to him by England, was not without -its danger; and as he well knew how to bring a difficult negotiation -to a successful conclusion, Clement regained confidence in his skill, -and gave orders to introduce Henry's ambassadors. - -Their discourse was not without eloquence: "Never was the church in a -more critical position," said they. "The unmeasured ambition of the -kings who claim to dispose of spiritual affairs at their own pleasure -(this was aimed at Charles V) holds the apostolical bark suspended -over an abyss. The only port open to it in the tempest is the favour -of the august prince whom we represent, and who has always been the -shield of the faith. But, alas! this monarch, the impregnable bulwark -of your holiness, is himself the prey of tribulations almost equal to -your own. His conscience torn by remorse, his crown without an heir, -his kingdom without security, his people exposed once more to -perpetual disorders.... Nay, the whole Christian world given up to the -most cruel discord.[736]... Such are the consequences of a fatal union -which God has marked with his displeasure.... There are also," they -added in a lower tone, "certain things of which his majesty cannot -speak in his letter ... certain incurable disorders under which the -queen suffers, which will never permit the king to look upon her again -as his wife.[737] If your holiness puts an end to such wretchedness by -annulling his unlawful marriage, you will attach his majesty by an -indissoluble bond. Assistance, riches, armies, crown, and even -life--the king our master is ready to employ all in the service of -Rome. He stretches out his hand to you, most holy father ... stretch -out yours to him; by your union the church will be saved, and Europe -will be saved with it." - - [736] Discordiae crudelissimae per omnem christianum orbem. State - Papers, vol. vii. p. 19. - - [737] Nonnulla sunt secreta S.D.N. secreto exponenda et non credenda - scriptis .... ob morbos nonnullos quibus absque remedio regina - laborat. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT'S EMBARRASSMENT.] - -Clement was cruelly embarrassed. His policy consisted in holding the -balance between the two princes, and he was now called upon to decide -in favour of one of them. He began to regret that he had ever received -Henry's ambassadors. "Consider my position," he said to them, "and -entreat the king to wait until more favourable events leave me at -liberty to act."--"What!" replied Knight proudly, "has not your -holiness promised to consider his majesty's prayer? If you fail in -your promise now, how can I persuade the king that you will keep it -some future day?"[738] Da Casale thought the time had come to strike a -decisive blow. "What evils," he exclaimed, "what inevitable -misfortunes your refusal will create!... The emperor thinks only of -depriving the church of its power, and the king of England alone has -sworn to maintain it." Then speaking lower, more slowly, and dwelling -upon every word, he continued: "We fear that his majesty, reduced to -such extremities ... of the two evils will choose the _least_,[739] -and supported by the purity of his intentions, will do _of his own -authority_ ... what he now so respectfully demands.... What should we -see then?... I shudder at the thought.... Let not your holiness -indulge in a false security which will inevitably drag you into the -abyss.... Read all ... remark all ... divine all ... take note of -all.[740]... Most holy father, this is a question of life and death." -And Da Casale's tone said more than his words. - - [738] Perform the promise once broken. Burnet's Ref. ii. Records, p. - xiii. - - [739] Ex duobus malis minus malum eligat. State Papers, vii. p. 20. - - [740] Ut non gravetur, cuncta legere, et bene notare. Ibid. p. 18. - -Clement understood that a positive refusal would expose him to lose -England. Placed between Henry and Charles, as between the hammer and -the forge, he resolved to gain time. "Well then," he said to Knight -and Da Casale, "I will do what you ask; but I am not familiar with the -_forms_ these dispensations require.... I will consult the Cardinal -_Sanctorum Quatuor_ on the subject ... and then will inform you." - -[Sidenote: THE DISPENSATION GRANTED.] - -Knight and Da Casale, wishing to anticipate Clement VII, hastened to -Lorenzo Pucci, cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and intimated to him that -their master would know how to be grateful. The cardinal assured the -deputies of his affection for Henry VIII, and they, in the fulness of -their gratitude, laid before him the four documents which they were -anxious to get executed. But the cardinal had hardly looked at the -first--the proposal that Wolsey should decide the matter of the -divorce in England--when he exclaimed: "Impossible! ... a bull in such -terms would cover with eternal disgrace not only his holiness and the -king, but even the cardinal of York himself." The deputies were -confounded, for Wolsey had ordered them to ask the pope for nothing -but his signature.[741] Recovering themselves, they rejoined: "All -that we require is a _competent_ commission." On his part, the pope -wrote Henry a letter, in which he managed to say nothing.[742] - - [741] Alia nulla re esset opus, praeterquam ejus Sanctitatis signatura. - (State Papers, vii, p. 29.) There was need of no other thing besides - the signature of his holiness. - - [742] Charissime in Christo fili, etc., dated 7th December 1527. Ibid. - p. 27. - -Of the four required documents there were two on whose immediate -despatch Knight and Da Casale insisted: these were the _commission_ to -pronounce the divorce, and the _dispensation_ to contract a second -marriage. The _dispensation_ without the _commission_ was of no value; -this the pope knew well; accordingly he resolved to give the -_dispensation_ only. It was as if Charles had granted Clement when in -prison permission to visit his cardinals, but denied him liberty to -leave the castle of St. Angelo. It is in such a manner as this that a -religious system transformed into a political system has recourse, -when it is without power, to stratagem. "The _commission_," said the -artful Medici to Knight, "must be corrected according to the style of -our court; but here is the _dispensation_." Knight took the document; -it was addressed to Henry VIII and ran thus: "We accord to you, in -case your marriage with Catherine shall be declared null,[743] free -liberty to take another wife, provided she have not been the wife of -your brother...." The Englishman was duped by the Italian. "To my poor -judgment," he said, "this document will be of use to us." After this -Clement appeared to concern himself solely about Knight's health, and -suddenly manifested the greatest interest for him. "It is proper that -you should hasten your departure," said he, "for it is necessary that -you should travel _at your ease_. Gambara will follow you post, and -bring the commission." Knight thus mystified, took leave of the pope, -who got rid of Da Casale and Gambara in a similar manner. He then -began to breathe once more. There was no diplomacy in Europe which -Rome, even in its greatest weakness, could not easily dupe. - - [743] Matrimonium cum Catharina nullum fuisse et esse declarari. - Herbert's Henry VIII, p. 280. - -[Sidenote: KNIGHT DUPED BY THE POPE.] - -It had now become necessary to elude the commission. While the king's -envoys were departing in good spirits, reckoning on the document that -was to follow them, the general of the Spanish Observance reiterated -to the pontiff in every tone: "Be careful to give no document -authorising the divorce, and above all, do not permit this affair to -be judged in Henry's states." The cardinals drew up the document under -the influence of De Angelis, and made it a masterpiece of -insignificance. If good theology ennobles the heart, bad theology, so -fertile in subtleties, imparts to the mind a skill by no means common; -and hence the most celebrated diplomatists have often been churchmen. -The act being thus drawn up, the pope despatched three copies, to -Knight, to Da Casale, and to Gambara. Knight was near Bologna when the -courier overtook him. He was stupefied, and taking post-horses -returned with all haste to Orvieto.[744] Gambara proceeded through -France to England with the useless _dispensation_ which the pope had -granted. - - [744] Burnet's Reformation, Records, ii. p. xiii. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE GIVES THE COMMISSION.] - -Knight had thought to meet with more good faith at the court of the -pope than with kings, and he had been outwitted. What would Wolsey and -Henry say of his folly? His wounded self-esteem began to make him -believe all that Tyndale and Luther said of the popedom. The former -had just published the _Obedience of a Christian Man_, and the -_Parable of the Wicked Mammon_, in which he represented Rome as one of -the transformations of Antichrist. "Antichrist," said he in the latter -treatise, "is not a man that should suddenly appear with wonders; he -is a spiritual thing, who was in the Old Testament, and also in the -time of Christ and the apostles, and is now, and shall (I doubt not) -endure till the world's end. His nature is (when he is overcome with -the Word of God) to go out of the play for a season, and to disguise -himself, and then to come in again with a new name and new raiment. -The Scribes and Pharisees in the gospel were very Antichrists; popes, -cardinals, and bishops have gotten their new names, but the thing is -all one. Even so now, when we have uttered [detected] him, _he will -change himself once more_, and turn himself into an angel of light. -Already _the beast_, seeing himself now to be sought for, roareth and -seeketh new holes to hide himself in, and changeth himself into a -thousand fashions."[745] This idea, paradoxical at first, gradually -made its way into men's minds. The Romans, by their practices, -familiarized the English to the somewhat coarse descriptions of the -reformers. England was to have many such lessons, and thus by degrees -learn to set Rome aside for the sake of her own glory and prosperity. - - [745] Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 42, 43. - -Knight and Da Casale reached Orvieto about the same time. Clement -replied with sighs: "Alas! I am the emperor's prisoner. The -imperialists are every day pillaging towns and castles in our -neighbourhood.[746]... Wretch that I am! I have not a friend except -the king your master, and he is far away.... If I should do anything -now to displease Charles, I am a lost man.... To sign the commission -would be to sign an eternal rupture with him." But Knight and Da -Casale pleaded so effectually with Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and so -pressed Clement, that the pontiff, without the knowledge of the -Spaniard De Angelis, gave them a more satisfactory document, but not -such as Wolsey required. "In giving you this commission," said the -pope, "I am giving away my liberty, and perhaps my life. I listen not -to the voice of prudence, but to that of affection only. I confide in -the generosity of the king of England, he is the master of my -destiny." He then began to weep,[747] and seemed ready to faint. -Knight, forgetting his vexation, promised Clement that the king would -do everything to save him.--"Ah!" said the pope, "there is one -effectual means."--"What is that?" inquired Henry's agents.--"M. -Lautrec, who says daily that he will come, but never does," replied -Clement, "has only to bring the French army promptly before the gates -of Orvieto; then I could excuse myself by saying that he constrained -me to sign the commission."[748]--"Nothing is easier," replied the -envoys, "we will go and hasten his arrival." - - [746] The imperialists do daily spoil castles and towns about Rome ... - they have taken within three days two castles lying within six miles - of this. Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii. - - [747] Cum suspiriis et lacrymis. (Ibid p. xii.) With sighs and tears. - - [748] And by this colour he would cover the matter. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: HENRY DEMANDS ANOTHER LEGATE.] - -Clement was not even now at ease. The safety of the Roman church -troubled him not less than his own ... Charles might discover the -trick and make the popedom suffer for it. There was danger on all -sides. If the English spoke of _independence_, did not the Emperor -threaten a _reform_?... The catholic princes, said the papal -councillors, are capable, without perhaps a single exception, of -supporting the cause of Luther to gratify a criminal ambition.[749] -The pope reflected, and withdrawing his word, promised to give the -commission when Lautrec was under the walls of Orvieto; but the -English agents insisted on having it immediately. To conciliate all, -it was agreed that the pope should give the required document at once, -but as soon as the French army arrived, he should send another copy -bearing the date of the day on which he saw Lautrec. "Beseech the king -to keep secret the commission I give you,"[750] said Clement VII to -Knight; "if he begins the process immediately he receives it, I am -undone forever."[751] The pope thus gave permission to act, on -condition of not acting at all. Knight took leave on the 1st of -January 1528; he promised all the pontiff desired, and then, as if -fearing some fresh difficulty, he departed the same day. Da Casale, on -his side, after having offered the Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor a gift -of 4000 crowns, which he refused, repaired to Lautrec, to beg him to -_constrain_ the pope to sign a document which was already on its way -to England. - - [749] Non potest Sua Sanctitas sibi persuadere ipsos principes (ut - forte aliqui jactant) assumpturos sectam Lutheranam contra ecclesiam. - (State Papers, vii. p. 47.) His Holiness is not able to persuade - himself that these princes (as some perchance assert) are capable of - supporting the Lutheran sect against the church. - - [750] State Papers, vii. p. 36. - - [751] Is fully in your puissance with publishing of the commission to - destroy for ever. Ibid. - -But while the business seemed to be clearing at Rome, it was becoming -more complicated in London. The king's project got wind, and Catherine -gave way to the liveliest sorrow. "I shall protest," said she, -"against the commission given to the cardinal of York. Is he not the -king's subject, the vile flatterer of his pleasures?" Catherine did -not resist alone; the people, who hated the cardinal, could not with -pleasure see him invested with such authority. To obviate this -inconvenience, Henry resolved to ask the pope for another cardinal, -who should be empowered to terminate the affair in London with or -without Wolsey. - -The latter agreed to the measure: it is even possible that he was the -first to suggest it, for he feared to bear alone the responsibility of -so hateful an inquiry. Accordingly, on the 27th of December, he wrote -to the king's agents at Rome: "Procure the envoy of a legate, and -particularly of an able, easy, _manageable_ legate ... desirous of -meriting the king's favour,[752] Campeggio for instance. You will -earnestly request the cardinal who may be selected, to travel with all -diligence, and you will assure him that the king will behave liberally -towards him."[753] - - [752] Eruditus, indifferens, tractabilis, de regia majestate bene - merendi cupidus. Ibid. p. 33. - - [753] Regia majestas sumptus, labores, atque molestias liberalissime - compenset. (Ibid. p. 34.) His majesty will liberally compensate his - outlay, toil, and labour. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S NEW EXPEDIENT.] - -Knight reached Asti on the 10th of January, where he found letters -with fresh orders. This was another check: at one time it is the pope -who compels him to retrograde, at another it is the king. Henry's -unlucky valetudinarian secretary, a man very susceptible of fatigue, -and already wearied and exhausted by ten painful journeys, was in a -very bad humour. He determined to permit Gambara to carry the two -documents to England; to commission Da Casale, who had not left the -pope's neighbourhood, to solicit the despatch of the legate; and as -regarded himself, to go and wait for further orders at Turin:--"If it -be thought good unto the king's highness that I do return unto -Orvieto, I shall do as much as _my poor carcass_ may endure."[754] - - [754] Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii. - -When Da Casale reached Bologna, he pressed Lautrec to go and constrain -the pontiff to sign the act which Gambara was already bearing to -England. On receiving the new despatches he returned in all haste to -Orvieto, and the pope was very much alarmed when he heard of his -arrival. He had feared to grant a simple paper, destined to remain -_secret_; and now he is required to send a prince of the church! Will -Henry never be satisfied? "The mission you desire would be full of -dangers," he replied; "but we have discovered another means, alone -calculated to finish this business. Mind you do not say that I pointed -it out to you," added the pope in a mysterious tone; "but that it was -suggested by Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor and Simonetta." Da Casale was -all attention. "There is not a doctor in the world who can better -decide on this matter, and on its most private circumstances, than the -king himself.[755] If therefore he sincerely believes that Catherine -had really become his brother's wife, let him empower the cardinal of -York to pronounce the divorce, and let him take another wife without -any further ceremony;[756] he can then afterwards demand the -confirmation of the consistory. The affair being concluded in this -way, I will take the rest upon myself."--"But," said Da Casale, -somewhat dissatisfied with this new intrigue, "I must fulfil my -mission, and the king demands a legate."--"And whom shall I send," -asked Clement. "Da Monte? he cannot move. De Caesis? he is at Naples. -Ara Coeli? he has the gout. Piccolomini? he is of the imperial -party.... Campeggio would be the best, but he is at Rome, where he -supplies my place, and cannot leave without peril to the church."... -And then with some emotion he added, "I throw myself into his -majesty's arms. The emperor will never forgive what I am doing. If he -hears of it he will summon me before _his council_; I shall have no -rest until he has deprived me of my throne and my life."[757] - - [755] Nullus doctor in mundo est, qui de hac re melius decernere - possit quam ipse rex. Ibid. p. xiv. - - [756] Aliam uxorem ducat. Ibid. - - [757] Vocabit eum ad concilium, vel nihil aliud quaeret, nisi ut eum - omni statu et vita privet. Ibid. p. xxvi. - -Da Casale hastened to forward to London the result of the conference. -Clement being unable to untie the knot, requested Henry to cut it. -Will this prince hesitate to employ so easy a means, the pope (Clement -declared it himself) being willing to ratify everything? - -Here closes Henry's first campaign in the territories of the popedom. -We shall now see the results of so many efforts. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Disappointment in England--War declared against Charles - V--Wolsey desires to get him deposed by the Pope--A new - Scheme--Embassy of Fox and Gardiner--Their Arrival at - Orvieto--Their first interview with Clement--The Pope reads - a treatise by Henry--Gardiner's Threats and Clement's - Promise--The Modern Fabius--Fresh Interview and Menaces--The - pope has not _the key_--Gardiner's Proposition--Difficulties - and delays of the Cardinals--Gardiner's last Blows--Reverses - of Charles V in Italy--The Pope's Terror and Concession--The - _Commission_ granted--Wolsey demands the _Engagement_--A - Loophole--The Pope's Distress. - - -[Sidenote: DISAPPOINTMENT IN ENGLAND.] - -Never was disappointment more complete than that felt by Henry and -Wolsey after the arrival of Gambara with the commission; the king was -angry, the cardinal vexed. What Clement called the _sacrifice of his -life_ was in reality but a sheet of paper fit only to be thrown into -the fire. "This commission is of no value,"[758] said Wolsey.--"And -even to put it into execution," added Henry, "we must wait until the -imperialists have quitted Italy! The pope is putting us off to the -Greek calends."--"His holiness," observed the cardinal, "does not bind -himself to pronounce the divorce; the queen will therefore appeal from -our judgment."--"And even if the pope had bound himself," added the -king, "it would be sufficient for the emperor to smile upon him, to -make him retract what he had promised."--"It is all a cheat and a -mockery," concluded both king and minister. - - [758] Nullius sit roboris vel effectus. (State Papers, vii. p. 50.) It - is of no power or effect. - -[Sidenote: WAR DECLARED AGAINST CHARLES.] - -What was to be done next? The only way to make Clement ours, thought -Wolsey, is to get rid of Charles; it is time his pride was brought -down. Accordingly, on the 21st of January 1528, France and England -declared hostilities against the emperor. When Charles heard of this -proceeding he exclaimed: "I know the hand that has flung the torch of -war into the midst of Europe. My crime is not having placed the -cardinal of York on St. Peter's throne." - -A mere declaration of war was not enough for Wolsey; the bishop of -Bayonne, ambassador from France, seeing him one day somewhat -excited,[759] whispered in his ear: "In former times popes have -deposed emperors for smaller offences." Charles's deposition would -have delivered the king of France from a troublesome rival; but Du -Bellay, fearing to take the initiative in so bold an enterprise, -suggested the idea to the cardinal. Wolsey reflected: such a thought -had never before occurred to him. Taking the ambassador aside to a -window, he there swore _stoutly_, said Du Bellay, that he should be -delighted to use all his influence to get Charles deposed by the pope. -"No one is more likely than yourself," replied the bishop, "to induce -Clement to do it."--"I will use all my credit," rejoined Wolsey, and -the two priests separated. This bright idea the cardinal never forgot. -Charles had robbed him of the tiara; he will retaliate by depriving -Charles of his crown. _An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth._ -Staffileo, dean of the Rota, was then in London, and still burning -with resentment against the author of the Sack of Rome, he favourably -received the suggestions Wolsey made to him; and, finally, the envoy -from John Zapolya, king-elect of Hungary, supported the project. But -the kings of France and England were not so easily induced to put the -thrones of kings at the disposal of the priests. It appears, however, -that the pope was sounded on the subject; and if the emperor had been -beaten in Italy, it is probable that the bull would have been -fulminated against him. His sword preserved his crown, and the plot of -the two bishops failed. - - [759] Du Bellay to Francis I. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 64. - -The king's councillors began to seek for less heroic means. "We must -prosecute the affair at _Rome_," said some.--"No," said others, "in -_England_. The pope is too much afraid of the emperor to pronounce the -divorce in person."--"If the pope fears the emperor more than the king -of England," exclaimed the proud Tudor, "we shall find some other way -to set him at ease."[760] Thus, at the first contradiction, Henry -placed his hand on his sword, and threatened to sever the ties which -bound his kingdom to the throne of the Italian pontiff. - - [760] Burnet's Reformation, i. p. 50. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S NEW PROJECT.] - -"I have hit it!" said Wolsey at length; "we must combine the two -clans--judge the affair in London, and at the same time bind the -Pontiff at Rome." And then the able cardinal proposed the draft of a -bull, by which the pope, delegating his authority to two legates, -should declare that the acts of that delegation should have a -perpetual effect, notwithstanding any contrary decrees that might -subsequently emanate from his infallible authority.[761] A new mission -was decided upon for the accomplishment of this bold design. - - [761] Non obstantibus quibuscunque decretis revocatoriis praesentis - concessionis nostrae. (Burnet, Records, ii, p. 17.) No revocatory - decrees whatsoever shall invalidate my present concession. - -Wolsey, annoyed by the folly of Knight and his colleagues, desired men -of another stamp. He therefore cast his eyes on his own secretary, -Stephen Gardiner, an active man, intelligent, supple, and crafty, a -learned canonist, desirous of the king's favour, and, above all, a -good Romanist, which at Rome was not without its advantage. Gardiner -was in small the living image of his master; and hence the cardinal -sometimes styled him _the half of himself_.[762] Edward Fox, the chief -almoner, was joined with him--a moderate, influential man, a -particular friend of Henry's, and a zealous advocate of the divorce. -Fox was named first in the commission; but it was agreed that Gardiner -should be the real head of the embassy. "Repeat without ceasing," -Wolsey told them, "that his majesty cannot do otherwise than separate -from the queen. Attack each one on his weak side. Declare to the pope -that the king promises to defend him against the emperor; and to the -cardinals that their services will be nobly rewarded.[763] If that -does not suffice, let the energy of your words be such as to excite a -wholesome fear in the pontiff." - - [762] Mei dimidium. Ibid. p. 15. - - [763] Money to present the cardinals. Strype's Mem. i, p. 137. - -Fox and Gardiner, after a gracious reception at Paris (23rd February), -by Francis I, arrived at Orvieto on the 20th of March, after many -perils, and with their dress in such disorder, that no one could have -taken them for the ambassadors of Henry VIII. "What a city!" they -exclaimed, as they passed through its streets; "what ruins, what -misery! It is indeed truly called Orvieto (_urbs vetus_)!" The state -of the town gave them no very grand idea of the state of the popedom, -and they imagined that with a pontiff so poorly lodged, their -negotiation could not be otherwise than easy. "I give you my house," -said Da Casale, to whom they went, "my room and my own bed;" and as -they made some objections, he added: "It is not possible to lodge you -elsewhere; I have even been forced to borrow what was necessary to -receive you."[764] Da Casale, pressing them to change their clothes, -which were still dripping (they had just crossed a river on their -mules), they replied, that being obliged to travel post, they had not -been able to bring a change of raiment. "Alas!" said Casale, "what is -to be done? there are few persons in Orvieto who have more garments -than one;[765] even the shopkeepers have no cloth for sale; this town -is quite a prison. People say the pope is at liberty here. A pretty -liberty indeed! Want, impure air, wretched lodging, and a thousand -other inconveniences keep the holy father closer than when he was in -the Castle of St. Angelo. Accordingly, he told me the other day, it -was better to be in captivity at Rome than at liberty here."[766] - - [764] Borrowing of divers men so much as might furnish three beds. - Ibid. p. 139. - - [765] Strype's Mem. i. p. 139. - - [766] State Papers, vii. p. 63. - -[Sidenote: FIRST AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE.] - -In two days, however, they managed to procure some new clothing; and -being now in a condition to show themselves, Henry's agents were -admitted to an after-dinner audience on Monday the 22nd of March -(1528). - -Da Casale conducted them to an old building in ruins. "This is where -his holiness lives," he said. They looked at one another with -astonishment, and crossing the rubbish lying about, passed through -three chambers whose ceilings had fallen in, whose windows were -curtainless, and in which thirty persons "_riff-raff_ were standing -against the bare walls for a garnishment."[767] This was the pope's -court. - - [767] Strype, i. p. 139. - -At length the ambassadors reached the pontiff's room, and placed -Henry's letters in his hands. "Your holiness," said Gardiner, "when -sending the king a dispensation, was pleased to add, that if this -document were not sufficient, you would willingly give a better. It is -that favour the king now desires." The pope with embarrassment strove -to soften his refusal. "I am informed," he said, "that the king is led -on in this affair by a secret inclination, and that the lady he loves -is far from being worthy of him." Gardiner replied with firmness: "The -king truly deserves to marry again after the divorce, that he may have -an heir to the crown; but the woman he proposes to take is animated by -the noblest sentiments; the cardinal of York and all England do homage -to her virtues."[768] The pope appeared convinced. "Besides," -continued Gardiner, "the king has written a book on the motives of his -divorce."--"Good! come and read it to me to-morrow," rejoined Clement. - - [768] The cardinal's judgment as to the good qualities of the - gentlewoman. Ibid. p. 141. - -[Sidenote: SECOND AUDIENCE.] - -The next day the English envoys had hardly appeared, before Clement -took Henry's book, ran over it as he walked up and down the room, and -then seating himself on a long bench covered with an old carpet, "not -worth twenty pence," says an annalist, he read the book aloud. He -counted the number of arguments, made objections as if Henry were -present, and piled them one upon another without waiting for an -answer. "The marriages forbidden in Leviticus," said he, in a short -and quick tone of voice, "are permitted in Deuteronomy; now -Deuteronomy coming after Leviticus, we are bound by the latter. The -honour of Catherine and the emperor is at stake, and the divorce would -give rise to a terrible war."[769] The pope continued speaking, and -whenever the Englishmen attempted to reply, he bade them be silent, -and kept on reading. "It is an excellent book," said he, however, in a -courteous tone, when he had ended; "I shall keep it to read over again -at my leisure." Gardiner then presenting a draft of the commission -which Henry required, Clement made answer: "It is too late to look at -it now; leave it with me."--"But we are in haste," added -Gardiner.--"Yes, yes, I know it," said the pope. All his efforts -tended to protract the business. - - [769] Quis praestabit ne hoc divortium magni alicujus belli causam - praebeat. Sanderus, p. 26. - -On the 28th of March, the ambassadors were conducted to the room in -which the pope slept; the cardinals Sanctorum Quatuor and De Monte, as -well as the councillor of the Rota, Simonetta, were then with him. -Chairs were arranged in a semicircle. "Be seated," said Clement, who -stood in the middle.[770] "Master Gardiner, now tell me what you -want."--"There is no question between us but one of _time_. You -promised to ratify the divorce, as soon as it was pronounced; and we -require you to do _before_ what you engage to do _after_. What is -right on one day, must be right on another." Then, raising his voice, -the Englishman added: "If his majesty perceives that no more respect -is paid to him than to a common man,[771] he will have recourse to a -_remedy_ which I will not name, but which will not fail in its -effect." - - [770] In medio semicirculi. Strype, Records, i, p. 81. - - [771] Promiscuae plebis. Ibid. p. 82. - -[Sidenote: THE TEMPORIZER.] - -The pope and his councillors looked at one another in silence;[772] -they had understood him. The imperious Gardiner, remarking the effect -which he had produced, then added in an absolute tone: "We have our -instructions, and are determined to keep to them."--"I am ready to do -everything compatible with my honour," exclaimed Clement, in -alarm.--"What your honour would not permit you to grant," said the -proud ambassador, "the honour of the king, my master, would not permit -him to ask." Gardiner's language became more imperative every minute. -"Well, then," said Clement, driven to extremity, "I will do what the -king demands, and if the emperor is angry, I cannot help it." The -interview, which had commenced with a storm, finished with a gleam of -sunshine. - - [772] Every man looked on other and so stayed. Ibid. - -That bright gleam soon disappeared: Clement, who imagined he saw in -Henry a Hannibal at war with Rome, wished to play the temporizer, the -_Fabius Cunctator_. "_Bis dat qui cito dat_,"[773] said Gardiner -sharply, who observed this manoeuvre.--"It is a question of law," -replied the pope, "and as I am very ignorant in these matters, I must -give the doctors of the canon law the necessary time to make it all -clear."--"By his delays Fabius Maximus saved Rome," rejoined Gardiner; -"you will destroy it by yours."[774]--"Alas!" exclaimed the pope, "if -I say the king is right, I shall have to go back to prison."[775]-- -"When truth is concerned," said the ambassador, "of what consequence -are the opinions of men?" Gardiner was speaking at his ease, but -Clement found that the castle of St. Angelo was not without weight in -the balance. "You may be sure that I shall do everything for the -best," replied the modern Fabius. With these words the conference -terminated. - - [773] He gives twice who gives quickly. - - [774] In Fabio Maximo qui rem Romanam cunctando restituit. Strype, p. - 90. - - [775] Materia novae captivitatis. Ibid. p. 86. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE WITHOUT THE KEY.] - -Such were the struggles of England with the popedom--struggles which -were to end in a definitive rupture. Gardiner knew that he had a -skilful adversary to deal with; too cunning to allow himself to be -irritated, he coolly resolved to frighten the pontiff: that was in his -instructions. On the Friday before Palm Sunday, he was ushered into -the pope's closet; there he found Clement attended by De Monte, -Sanctorum Quatuor, Simonetta, Staffileo, Paul, auditor of the Rota, -and Gambara. "It is impossible," said the cardinals, "to grant a -decretal commission in which the pope pronounces _de jure_ in favour -of the divorce, with a promise of confirmation _de facto_." Gardiner -insisted; but no persuasion, "neither dulce nor poynante,"[776] could -move the pontiff. The envoy judged the moment had come to discharge -his strongest battery. "O perverse race," said he to the pontiff's -ministers, "instead of being harmless as doves, you are as full of -dissimulation and malice as serpents; promising everything but -performing nothing.[777] England will be driven to believe that God -has taken from you the key of knowledge, and that the laws of the -popes, ambiguous to the popes themselves, are only fit to be cast into -the fire.[778] The king has hitherto restrained his people, impatient -of the Romish yoke; but he will now give them the rein." A long and -gloomy silence followed. Then the Englishman, suddenly changing his -tone, softly approached Clement, who had left his seat, and conjured -him in a low voice to consider carefully what justice required of him. -"Alas!" replied Clement, "I tell you again, I am ignorant in these -matters. According to the maxims of the canon law _the pope carries -all laws in the tablets of his heart_,[779] but unfortunately God has -never given me _the key_ that opens them." As he could not escape by -silence, Clement retreated under cover of a jest, and heedlessly -pronounced the condemnation of the popedom. If he had never received -the famous _key_, there was no reason why other pontiffs should have -possessed it. The next day he found another loophole; for when the -ambassadors told him that the king would carry on the matter without -him, he sighed, drew out his handkerchief, and said as he wiped his -eyes:[780] "Would to God that I were dead!" Clement employed tears as -a political engine. - - [776] Ibid. p. 114. - - [777] Pleni omni dolo et versatione et dissimulatione. Verbis omnia - pollicentur, reipsa nihil praestant. Ibid. p. 98. - - [778] Digna esse quae mandentur flammis pontificia jura. Ibid. - - [779] Pontifex habet omnia jura in scrinio pectoris. Strype, p. 99. - - [780] Ibid. p. 100. - -"We shall not get the _decretal_ commission," (that which pronounced -the divorce) said Fox and Gardiner after this, "and it is not really -necessary. Let us demand the _general_ commission (authorizing the -legates to pronounce it), and exact a promise that shall supply the -place of the act which is denied us." Clement, who was ready to make -all the promises in the world, swore to ratify the sentence of the -legates without delay. Fox and Gardiner then presented to Simonetta a -draft of the act required. The dean, after reading it, returned it to -the envoys, saying, "It is very well, I think, except _the end_;[781] -show it Sanctorum Quatuor." The next morning they carried the draft to -that cardinal: "How long has it been the rule for the patient to write -the prescription? I always thought it was the physician's -business."--"No one knows the disease so well as the patient," replied -Gardiner; "and this disease may be of such a nature that the doctor -cannot prescribe the remedy without taking the patient's advice." -Sanctorum Quatuor read the prescription, and then returned it, saying: -"It is not bad, with the exception of _the beginning_.[782] Take the -draft to De Monte and the other councillors." The latter liked neither -beginning, middle, nor end. "We will send for you this evening," said -De Monte. - - [781] The matter was good saving in the latter end. Ibid. p. 102. - - [782] The beginning pleased him not. - -[Sidenote: A NEW TRAGEDY.] - -Three or four days having elapsed, Henry's envoys again waited on the -pope, who showed them the draft prepared by his councillors. Gardiner -remarking in it additions, retrenchments, and corrections, threw it -disdainfully from him, and said coldly: "Your holiness is deceiving -us; you have selected these men to be the instruments of your -duplicity." Clement, in alarm, sent for Simonetta; and after a warm -discussion,[783] the envoys, more discontented than ever, quitted the -pope at one in the morning. - - [783] Incalescente disputatione. Strype, p. 104. - -The night brings wisdom. "I only desire two little words more in the -commission," said Gardiner next day to Clement and Simonetta. The pope -requested Simonetta to wait upon the cardinals immediately; the latter -sent word that they were at dinner, and adjourned the business until -the morrow. - -When Gardiner heard of this Epicurean message, he thought the time had -come for striking a decisive blow. A new tragedy began.[784] "We are -deceived," exclaimed he, "you are laughing at us. This is not the way -to gain the favour of princes. Water mixed with wine spoils it;[785] -your corrections nullify our document. These ignorant and suspicious -priests have spelled over our draft as if a scorpion was hidden under -every word.[786]--You made us come to Italy," said he to Staffileo and -Gambara, "like hawks which the fowler lures by holding out to them a -piece of meat;[787] and now that we are here, the bait has -disappeared, and, instead of giving us what we sought, you pretend to -lull us to sleep by the sweet voice of the sirens."[788] Then, turning -to Clement, the English envoy added, "Your holiness will have to -answer for this." The pope sighed and wiped away his tears. "It was -God's pleasure," continued Gardiner, whose tone became more -threatening every minute, "that we should see with our own eyes the -disposition of the people here. It is time to have done. Henry is not -an ordinary prince,--bear in mind that you are insulting _the defender -of the faith_.... You are going to lose the favour of the only monarch -who protects you, and the apostolical chair, already tottering, will -fall into dust, and disappear entirely amidst the applause of all -Christendom." - - [784] Here began a new tragedy. Ibid. p. 105. - - [785] Vinum conspurcat infusa aqua. Ibid. - - [786] Putantes sub omni verbo latere scorpionem. Ibid. - - [787] Praetendere pugno carnem. Ibid. - - [788] Dulcibus sirenum vocibus incantare. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S TERROR.] - -Gardiner paused. The pope was moved. The state of Italy seemed to -confirm but too strongly the sinister predictions of the envoy of -Henry VIII. The imperial troops, terrified and pursued by Lautrec, had -abandoned Rome and retired on Naples. The French general was following -up this wretched army of Charles V, decimated by pestilence and -debauchery; Doria, at the head of his galleys, had destroyed the -Spanish fleet; Gaeta and Naples only were left to the imperialists; -and Lautrec, who was besieging the latter place, wrote to Henry on the -26th of August that all would soon be over. The timid Clement VII had -attentively watched all these catastrophes. Accordingly, Gardiner had -hardly denounced the danger which threatened the popedom, before he -turned pale with affright, rose from his seat, stretched out his arms -in terror, as if he had desired to repel some monster ready to devour -him, and exclaimed, "Write, write! Insert whatever words you please." -As he said this, he paced up and down the room, raising his hands to -heaven and sighing deeply, while Fox and Gardiner, standing -motionless, looked on in silence. A tempestuous wind seemed to be -stirring the depths of the abyss; the ambassadors waited until the -storm was abated. At last Clement recovered himself,[789] made a few -trivial excuses, and dismissed Henry's ministers. It was an hour past -midnight. - - [789] Compositis affectibus. Strype, p. 106. - -It was neither morality, nor religion, nor even the laws of the church -which led Clement to refuse the divorce; ambition and fear were his -only motives. He would have desired that Henry should first constrain -the emperor to restore him his territories. But the king of England, -who felt himself unable to protect the pope against Charles, required, -however, this unhappy pontiff to provoke the emperor's anger. Clement -reaped the fruits of that fatal system which had transformed the -church of Jesus Christ into a pitiful combination of policy and -cunning. - -[Sidenote: THE ENGAGEMENT CONCEDED.] - -On the next day, the tempest having thoroughly abated,[790] Sanctorum -Quatuor corrected the commission. It was signed, completed by a leaden -seal attached to a piece of string, and then handed to Gardiner, who -read it. The bull was addressed to Wolsey, and "authorized him, in -case he should acknowledge the nullity of Henry's marriage, to -pronounce judicially the sentence of divorce, but without noise or -display of judgment;[791] for that purpose he might take any English -bishop for his colleague."--"All that we can do, you can do," said the -pope. "We are very doubtful," said the importunate Gardiner after -reading the bull, "whether this commission, without the clauses of -_confirmation_ and _revocation_, will satisfy his majesty; but we -will do all in our power to get him to accept it."--"Above all, do not -speak of our altercations," said the pope. Gardiner, like a discreet -diplomist, did not scruple to note down every particular in cipher in -the letters whence these details are procured. "Tell the king," -continued the pontiff, "that this commission is on my part a -declaration of war against the emperor, and that I now place myself -under his majesty's protection." The chief-almoner of England departed -for London with the precious document. - - [790] The divers tempests passed over. Ibid. - - [791] Sine strepitu et figura judicii sententiam divortii judicialiter - proferendam. Rymer, Foedera, vi, pars. ii, p. 95. - -But one storm followed close upon another. Fox had not long quitted -Orvieto when new letters arrived from Wolsey, demanding the fourth of -the acts previously requested, namely, the _engagement_ to ratify at -Rome whatever the commissioners might decide in England. Gardiner was -to set about it _in season and out of season_; the verbal promise of -the pope counted for nothing; this document must be had, whether the -pope was ill, dying, or dead.[792] "_Ego et Rex meus_, his majesty and -I command you;" said Wolsey; "this divorce is of more consequence to -us than twenty popedoms."[793] The English envoy renewed their demand. -"Since you refuse the decretal," he said, "there is the greater reason -why you should not refuse _the engagement_." This application led to -fresh discussion and fresh tears. Clement gave way once more; but the -Italians, more crafty than Gardiner, reserved a loophole in the -document through which the pontiff might escape. The messenger -Thaddeus carried it to London; and Gardiner left Orvieto for Rome to -confer with Campeggio. - - [792] In casu mortis pontificis, quod Deus avertat. (Burnet, Records, - p. xxviii.) In case of the death of the pope, which may God avert. - - [793] The thing which the king's highness and I more esteem than - twenty papalities. Ibid. p. xxv. - -Clement was a man of penetrating mind, and although he knew as well as -any how to deliver a clever speech, he was irresolute and timid; and -accordingly the commission had not long been despatched before he -repented. Full of distress, he paced the ruined chambers of his old -palace, and imagined he saw hanging over his head that terrible sword -of Charles the Fifth, whose edge he had already felt. "Wretch that I -am," said he, "cruel wolves surround me; they open their jaws to -swallow me up.... I see none but enemies around me. At their head is -the emperor.... What will he do? Alas! I have yielded that fatal -commission which the general of the Spanish observance had enjoined me -to refuse. Behind Charles come the Venetians, the Florentines, the -duke of Ferrara.... They have cast lots upon my vesture.[794]... Next -comes the king of France, who promises nothing, but looks on with -folded arms; or rather, what perfidy! calls upon me at this critical -moment to deprive Charles V of his crown.... And last, but not least, -Henry VIII, _the defender of the faith_, indulges in frightful menaces -against me.... The emperor desires to maintain the queen on the throne -of England; the latter, to put her away.... Would to God that -Catherine were in her grave! But, alas! she lives ... to be the apple -of discord dividing the two greatest monarchies, and the inevitable -cause of the ruin of the popedom.... Wretched man that I am! how cruel -is my perplexity, and around me, I can see nothing but horrible -confusion."[795] - - [794] Novo foedere inito super vestem suam miserunt sortem. (Strype, - Records, i. p. 109.) A new treaty being entered upon they have cast - lots upon his vesture. - - [795] His holiness findeth himself in a marvellous perplexity and - confusion. Ibid. p. 108. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Fox's Report to Henry and Anne--Wolsey's Impression--He - demands the Decretal--One of the Cardinal's petty - Manoeuvres--He sets his Conscience at Rest--Gardiner fails at - Rome--Wolsey's new perfidy--The King's Anger against the - Pope--Sir T. More predicts Religious Liberty--Immorality of - Ultramontane Socialism--Erasmus invited--Wolsey's last - Flight--Energetic Efforts at Rome--Clement grants - all--Wolsey triumphs--Union of Rome and England. - - -[Sidenote: FOX'S REPORT TO HENRY AND ANNE.] - -During this time Fox was making his way to England. On the 27th of -April he reached Paris; on the 2nd of May he landed at Sandwich, and -hastened to Greenwich, where he arrived the next day at five in the -evening, just as Wolsey had left for London. Fox's arrival was an -event of great importance. "Let him go to Lady Anne's apartments," -said the king, "and wait for me there." Fox told Anne Boleyn of his -and Gardiner's exertions, and the success of their mission, at which -she expressed her very great satisfaction. Indeed, more than a year -had elapsed since her return to England, and she no longer resisted -Henry's project. "Mistress Anne always called me Master Stephen," -wrote Fox to Gardiner, "her thoughts were so full of you." The king -appeared and Anne withdrew. - -[Sidenote: FOX REPORTS TO THE KING.] - -"Tell me as briefly as possible what you have done," said Henry. Fox -placed in the king's hands the pope's insignificant letter, which he -bade his almoner read; then that from Staffileo, which was put on one -side; and lastly Gardiner's letter, which Henry took hastily and read -himself. "The pope has promised us," said Fox, as he terminated his -report, "to confirm the sentence of the divorce, as soon as it has -been pronounced by the commissioners."--"Excellent!" exclaimed Henry; -and then he ordered Anne to be called in. "Repeat before this lady," -he said to Fox, "what you have just told me." The almoner did so. "The -pope is convinced of the justice of your cause," he said in -conclusion, "and the cardinal's letter has convinced him that my lady -is worthy of the throne of England."--"Make your report to Wolsey this -very night," said the king. - -It was ten o'clock when the chief almoner reached the cardinal's -palace; he had gone to bed, but immediate orders were given that Fox -should be conducted to his room. Being a churchman, Wolsey could -understand the pope's artifices better than Henry; accordingly, as -soon as he learnt that Fox had brought the commission only, he became -alarmed at the task imposed upon him. "What a misfortune!" he -exclaimed; "your commission is no better than Gambara's.... However, -go and rest yourself; I will examine these papers to-morrow." Fox -withdrew in confusion. "It is not bad," said Wolsey the next day, "but -the whole business still falls on me alone!--Never mind, I must wear a -contented look, or else...." In the afternoon he summoned into his -closet Fox, Dr. Bell, and Viscount Rochford: "Master Gardiner has -surpassed himself," said the crafty supple cardinal; "What a man! what -an inestimable treasure! what a jewel in our kingdom!"[796] - - [796] O non aestimandum thesaurum margaritamque regni nostri. Strype, - Records, i, p. 119. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S FRAUD.] - -He did not mean a word he was saying. Wolsey was dissatisfied with -every thing,--with the refusal of the _decretal_, and with the drawing -up of the _commission_, as well as of the _engagement_ (which arrived -soon after in good condition, so far as the outside was concerned). -But the king's ill humour would infallibly recoil on Wolsey; so -putting a good face on a bad matter, he ruminated in secret on the -means of obtaining what had been refused him. "Write to Gardiner," -said he to Fox, "that every thing makes me desire the pope's -_decretal_--the need of unburdening my conscience, of being able to -reply to the calumniators who will attack my judgment,[797] and the -thought of the accidents to which the life of man is exposed. Let his -holiness, then, pronounce the divorce himself; we engage on our part -to keep his resolution secret. But order Master Stephen to employ -every kind of persuasion that his _rhetoric_ can imagine." In case the -pope should positively refuse the decretal, Wolsey required that at -least Campeggio should share the responsibility of the divorce with -him. - - [797] Justissime obstruere ora calumniantium et temere dissentientium. - Ibid. p. 120. - -This was not all: while reading the engagement, Wolsey discovered the -loophole which had escaped Gardiner, and this is what he -contrived:--"The _engagement_ which the pope has sent us," he wrote to -Gardiner, "is drawn up in such terms that he can retract it at -pleasure; we must therefore find some _good way_ to obtain another. -You may do it under this pretence. You will appear before his holiness -with a dejected air, and tell him that the courier, to whom the -conveyance of the said engagement was intrusted, fell into the water -with his despatches, so that the rescripts were totally defaced and -illegible; that I have not dared deliver it into the king's hands, and -unless his holiness will grant you a duplicate, some notable blame -will be imputed unto you for not taking better care in its -transmission. And further, you will continue: I remember the -expressions of the former document, and to save your holiness trouble, -I will dictate them to your secretary. Then," added Wolsey, "while the -secretary is writing, you will find means to introduce, without its -being perceived, as many _fat_, _pregnant_, and available words as -possible, to bind the pope and enlarge my powers, the politic handling -of which the king's highness and I commit unto your good -discretion."[798] - - [798] Burnet, Records, p. xxx. - -Such was the expedient invented by Wolsey. The papal secretary, -imagining he was making a fresh copy of the original document (which -was, by the way, in perfect condition), was at the dictation of the -ambassador to draw up another of a different tenor. The "politic -handling" of the cardinal-legate, which was not very unlike forgery, -throws a disgraceful light on the policy of the sixteenth century. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S HYPOCRISY.] - -Wolsey read this letter to the chief-almoner; and then, to set his -conscience at rest, he added piously: "In an affair of such high -importance, on which depends the glory or the ruin of the realm,--my -honour or my disgrace--the condemnation of my soul or my everlasting -merit--I will listen solely to the voice of my conscience,[799] and I -shall act in such a manner as to be able to render an account to God -without fear." - - [799] Reclamante conscientia. Strype, Records, i. p. 124. - -Wolsey did more; it seems that the boldness of his declarations -reassured him with regard to the baseness of his works. Being at -Greenwich on the following Sunday, he said to the king in the presence -of Fox, Bell, Wolman, and Tuke: "I am bound to your royal person more -than any subject was ever bound to his prince. I am ready to sacrifice -my goods, my blood, my life for you.... But my obligations towards God -are greater still. For that cause, rather than act against his will, I -would endure the extremest evils.[800] I would suffer your royal -indignation, and, if necessary, deliver my body to the executioners -that they might cut it in pieces." What could be the spirit then -impelling Wolsey? Was it blindness or impudence? He may have been -sincere in the words he addressed to Henry; at the bottom of his heart -he may have desired to set the pope above the king, and the church of -Rome above the kingdom of England; and this desire may have appeared -to him a sublime virtue, such as would hide a multitude of sins. What -the public conscience would have called treason, was heroism to the -Romish priest. This zeal for the papacy is sometimes met with in -conjunction with the most flagrant immorality. If Wolsey deceived the -pope, it was to save popery in the realm of England. Fox, Bell, -Wolman, and Tuke listened to him with astonishment.[801] Henry, who -thought he knew his man, received these holy declarations without -alarm, and the cardinal having thus eased his conscience, proceeded -boldly to his iniquities. It seems, however, that the inward -reproaches which he silenced in public, had their revenge in secret. -One of his officers entering his closet shortly afterwards, presented -a letter addressed to Campeggio for his signature. It ended thus: "I -hope all things shall be done according to the will of God, the desire -of the king, the quiet of the kingdom, and to our honour _with a good -conscience_." The cardinal having read the letter, dashed out the four -last words.[802] Conscience has a sting from which none can escape, -not even a Wolsey. - - [800] Extrema quaeque.....contra conscientiam suam. (Strype, Records, - i. p. 126.) Any extreme whatever ... contrary to his conscience. - - [801] To my great mervail and no less joy and comfort. Ibid. p. 126. - - [802] Burnet's Ref. vol. i, p. 41. - -However, Gardiner lost no time in Italy. When he met Campeggio (to -whom Henry VIII had given a palace at Rome, and a bishopric in -England), he entreated him to go to London and pronounce the divorce. -This prelate, who was to be empowered in 1530 with authority to crush -Protestantism in Germany, seemed bound to undertake a mission that -would save Romanism in Britain. But proud of his position at Rome, -where he acted as the pope's representative, he cared not for a charge -that would undoubtedly draw upon him either Henry's hatred or the -emperor's anger. He begged to be excused. The pope spoke in a similar -tone. When he was informed of this, the terrible Tudor, beginning to -believe that Clement desired to entangle him, as the hunter entangles -the lion in his toils, gave vent to his anger on Tuke, Fox, and -Gardiner, but particularly on Wolsey. Nor were reasons wanting for -this explosion. The cardinal, perceiving that his hatred against -Charles had carried him too far, pretended that it was without his -orders that Clarencieux, bribed by France, had combined with the -French ambassador to declare war against the emperor; and added that -he would have the English king-at-arms put to death as he passed -through Calais. This was an infallible means of preventing -disagreeable revelations. But the herald, who had been forewarned, -crossed by way of Boulogne, and, without the cardinal's knowledge, -obtained an interview with Henry, before whom he placed the _orders_ -he had received from Wolsey in _three_ consecutive letters. The king, -astonished at his minister's impudence, exclaimed profanely: "O Lord -Jesu, the man in whom I had most confidence told me quite the -contrary." He then summoned Wolsey before him, and reproached him -severely for his falsehoods. The wretched man shook like a leaf. Henry -appeared to pardon him, but the season of his favour had passed away. -Henceforward he kept the cardinal as one of those instruments we make -use of for a time, and then throw away when we have no further need of -them. - -[Sidenote: HE BEGINS TO TREMBLE.] - -The king's anger against the pope far exceeded that against Wolsey; he -trembled from head to foot, rose from his seat, then sat down again, -and vented his wrath in the most violent language:--"What!" he -exclaimed, "I shall exhaust my political combinations, empty my -treasury, make war upon my friends, consume my forces ... and for -whom?... for a heartless priest who, considering neither the -exigencies of my honour, nor the peace of my conscience, nor the -prosperity of my kingdom, nor the numerous benefits which I have -lavished on him, refuses me a favour, which he ought, as the common -father of the faithful, to grant even to an enemy.... Hypocrite!... -You cover yourself with the cloak of friendship, you flatter us by -crafty practices,[803] but you give us only a bastard document, and -you say like Pilate: It matters little to me if this king perishes, -and all his kingdom with him; take him and judge him according to your -law!... I understand you ... you wish to entangle us in the -briers,[804] to catch us in a trap, to lure us into a pitfall.... But -we have discovered the snare; we shall escape from your ambuscade, and -brave your power." - - [803] By crafty means and under the face and visage of entire amity. - Strype, vol. i, p. 166. - - [804] To involve and cast us so in the briers and fetters. Strype, - vol. i. p. 166. - -[Sidenote: SIR T. MORE'S PROPHECY.] - -Such was the language then heard at the court of England, says an -historian.[805] The monks and priests began to grow alarmed, while the -most enlightened minds already saw in the distance the first gleams of -religious liberty. One day, at a time when Henry was proving himself a -zealous follower of the Romish doctrines, Sir Thomas More was sitting -in the midst of his family, when his son-in-law, Roper, now become a -warm papist, exclaimed: "Happy kingdom of England, where no heretic -dares show his face!"--"That is true, son Roper," said More; "we seem -to sit now upon the mountains, treading the heretics under our feet -like ants; but I pray God that some of us do not live to see the day -when we gladly would wish to be at league with them, to suffer them to -have their churches quietly to themselves, so that they would be -content to let us have ours peaceably to ourselves." Roper angrily -replied:[806] "By my word, sir, that is very desperately spoken!" -More, however, was in the right; genius is sometimes a great diviner. -The Reformation was on the point of inaugurating religious liberty, -and by that means placing civil liberty on an immovable foundation. - - [805] Ibid. - - [806] My uncle said in a rage. More's Life, p. 132. - -[Sidenote: ROMANISM AND CONSCIENCE.] - -Henry himself grew wiser by degrees. He began to have doubts about the -Roman hierarchy, and to ask himself, whether a priest-king, -embarrassed in all the political complications of Europe, could be the -head of the church of Jesus Christ. Pious individuals in his kingdom -recognized in Scripture and in conscience a law superior to the law of -Rome, and refused to sacrifice at the command of the church their -moral convictions, sanctioned by the revelation of God. The -hierarchical system, which claims to absorb man in the papacy, had -oppressed the consciences of Christians for centuries. When the Romish -Church had required from such as Berengarius, John Huss, Savonarola, -John Wesel, and Luther, the denial of their consciences enlightened by -the word, that is to say, by the voice of God, it had shown most -clearly how great is the immorality of ultramontane socialism. "If the -Christian consents to this enormous demand of the hierarchy," said -the most enlightened men; "if he renounces his own notions of good and -evil in favour of the clergy; if he reserves not his right to obey -God, who speaks to him in the Bible, rather than men, even if their -agreement were universal; if Henry VIII, for instance, should silence -his conscience, which condemns his union with his brother's widow, to -obey the clerical voice which approves of it; by that very act he -renounces truth, duty, and even God himself." But we must add, that if -the rights of conscience were beginning to be understood in England, -it was not about such holy matters as these that the pope and Henry -were contending. They were both intriguers--both dissatisfied, the one -desirous of love, the other of power. - -Be that as it may, a feeling of disgust for Rome then took root in the -king's heart, and nothing could afterwards eradicate it. He -immediately made every exertion to attract Erasmus to London. Indeed, -if Henry separated from the pope, his old friends, the humanists, must -be his auxiliaries, and not the heretical doctors. But Erasmus, in a -letter dated 1st June, alleged the weak state of his health, the -robbers who infested the roads, the wars and rumours of wars then -afloat. "Our destiny leads us," he said; "let us yield to it."[807] It -is a fortunate thing for England that Erasmus was not its reformer. - - [807] Fatis agimur, fatis oedendum. Erasm. Epp. p. 1032. - -Wolsey noted this movement of his master's, and resolved to make a -strenuous effort to reconcile Clement and Henry; his own safety was at -stake. He wrote to the pope, to Campeggio, to Da Casale, to all Italy. -He declared that if he was ruined, the popedom would be ruined too, so -far at least as England was concerned: "I would obtain the _decretal_ -bull with my own blood, if possible,"[808] he added. "Assure the holy -father on my life that no mortal eye shall see it." Finally, he -ordered the chief-almoner to write to Gardiner: "If Campeggio does not -come, _you shall never return_ to England;"[809] an infallible means -of stimulating the secretary's zeal. - - [808] Ut vel proprio sanguine id vellemus posse a S. D. N. impetrare. - Burnet, Records, ii. p. 19. - - [809] Neither should Gardiner ever return. Strype, i. p. 167. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT GRANTS ALL THE BULLS.] - -This was the last effort of Henry VIII. Bourbon and the Prince of -Orange had not employed more zeal a year before in scaling the walls -of Rome. Wolsey's fire had inflamed his agents; they argued, -entreated, stormed, and threatened. The alarmed cardinals and -theologians, assembling at the pope's call, discussed the matter, -mixing political interests with the affairs of the church.[810] At -last they understood what Wolsey now communicated to them. "Henry is -the most energetic defender of the faith," they said. "It is only by -acceding to his demand that we can preserve the kingdom of England to -the popedom. The army of Charles is in full flight, and that of -Francis triumphs." The last of these arguments decided the question; -the pope suddenly felt a great sympathy for Wolsey and for the English -Church; the emperor was beaten; therefore he was wrong. Clement -granted everything. - - [810] Negotia ecclesiastica politicis rationibus interpolantes. Sand. - p. 27. - -First, Campeggio was desired to go to London. The pontiff knew that he -might reckon on his intelligence and inflexible adhesion to the -interests of the hierarchy; even the cardinal's gout was of use, for -it might help to innumerable delays. Next, on the 8th of June, the -pope, then at Viterbo, gave a new commission, by which he conferred on -Wolsey and Campeggio the power to declare null and void the marriage -between Henry and Catherine, with liberty for the king and queen to -form new matrimonial ties.[811] A few days later he signed the famous -_decretal_ by which he himself annulled the marriage between Henry and -Catherine; but instead of intrusting it to Gardiner, he gave it to -Campeggio, with orders not to let it go out of his hands. Clement was -not sure of the course of events: if Charles should decidedly lose his -power, the bull would be published in the face of Christendom; if he -should recover it, the bull would be burnt.[812] In fact the flames -did actually consume some time afterwards this decree which Clement -had wetted with his tears as he put his name to it. Finally, on the -23rd of July, the pope signed a valid _engagement_, by which he -declared beforehand that all retractation of these acts should be -_null and void_.[813] Campeggio and Gardiner departed. Charles's -defeat was as complete at Rome as at Naples; the justice of his cause -had vanished with his army. - - [811] Ad alia vota commigrandi. Herbert, p. 262. - - [812] State Papers, vol. vii. p. 78. Dr. Lingard acknowledges the - existence of this bull and the order to burn it. - - [813] Si (quod absit) aliquid contra praemissa faciamus, illud pro - casso, irrito, inani et vacuo omnino haberi volumus. (Herbert, p. - 250.) If (which, however, let it not happen) we should do anything - contrary to this despatch, we wish it to be regarded as useless, - invalid, worthless, and altogether void. - -[Sidenote: JOY IN ENGLAND.] - -Nothing, therefore, was wanting to Henry's desires. He had Campeggio, -the commission, the decretal bull of divorce signed by the pope, and -the engagement giving an irrevocable value to all these acts. Wolsey -was conqueror,--the conqueror of Clement!... He had often wished to -mount the restive courser of the popedom and to guide it at his will, -but each time the unruly steed had thrown him from the saddle. Now he -was firm in his seat, and held the horse in hand. Thanks to Charles's -reverses, he was master at Rome. The popedom, whether it was pleased -or not, must take the road he had chosen, and before which it had so -long recoiled. The king's joy was unbounded, and equalled only by -Wolsey's. The cardinal, in the fulness of his heart, wishing to show -his gratitude to the officers of the Roman court, made them presents -of carpets, horses, and vessels of gold.[814] All near Henry felt the -effects of his good humour. Anne smiled; the court indulged in -amusements; the _great affair_ was about to be accomplished; the New -Testament to be delivered to the flames. The union between England and -the popedom appeared confirmed for ever, and the victory which Rome -seemed about to gain in the British isles might secure her triumph in -the west. Vain omens! far different were the events in the womb of the -future. - - [814] Num illi, aulaea, vas aureum aut equi maxime probentur. Burnet, - Records, i. p. xv. - - - - -BOOK XX. - -THE TWO DIVORCES. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Progress of the Reformation--The two Divorces--Entreaties to - Anne Boleyn--The Letters in the Vatican--Henry to - Anne--Henry's Second Letter--Third--Fourth--Wolsey's - Alarm--His fruitless Proceedings--He turns--The Sweating - Sickness--Henry's Fears--New Letters to Anne--Anne falls - sick; her Peace--Henry writes to her--Wolsey's - Terror--Campeggio does not arrive--All dissemble at Court. - - -While England seemed binding herself to the court of Rome, the general -course of the church and of the world gave stronger presage every day -of the approaching emancipation of Christendom. The respect which for -so many centuries had hedged in the Roman Pontiff was everywhere -shaken; the Reform, already firmly established in several states of -Germany and Switzerland, was extending in France, the Low Countries, -and Hungary, and beginning in Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland. The South -of Europe appeared indeed submissive to the Romish church; but Spain, -at heart, cared little for the pontifical infallibility; and even -Italy began to inquire whether the papal dominion was not an obstacle -to her prosperity. England, notwithstanding appearances, was also -going to throw off the yoke of the bishops of the Tiber, and many -faithful voices might already be heard demanding that the word of God -should be acknowledged the supreme authority in the church. - -[Sidenote: TWO SORTS OF TEACHING.] - -The conquest of Christian Britain by the papacy occupied all the -seventh century, as we have seen. The sixteenth was the counterpart of -the seventh. The struggle which England then had to sustain, in order -to free herself from the power that had enslaved her during nine -hundred years, was full of sudden changes; like those of the times of -Augustine and Oswy. This struggle indeed took place in each of the -countries where the church was reformed; but nowhere can it be traced -in all its diverse phases so distinctly as in Great Britain. The -positive work of the Reformation--that which consisted in recovering -the truth and life so long lost--was nearly the same everywhere; but -as regards the negative work--the struggle with the popedom--we might -almost say that other nations committed to England the task by which -they were all to profit. An unenlightened piety may perhaps look upon -the relations of the court of London with the court of Rome, at the -period of the Reformation, as void of interest to the faith; but -history will not think the same. It has been too often forgotten that -the main point in this contest was not the divorce (which was only the -occasion), but the contest itself and its important consequences. The -divorce of Henry Tudor and Catherine of Aragon is a secondary event; -but the divorce of England and the popedom is a primary event, one of -the great evolutions of history, a creative act (so to speak) which -still exercises a normal influence over the destinies of mankind. And -accordingly everything connected with it is full of instruction for -us. Already a great number of pious men had attached themselves to the -authority of God; but the king, and with him that part of the nation, -strangers to the evangelical faith, clung to Rome, which Henry had so -valiantly defended. The word of God had spiritually separated England -from the papacy; the _great matter_ separated it materially. There is -a close relationship between these two divorces, which gives extreme -importance to the process between Henry and Catherine. When a great -revolution is to be effected in the bosom of a people (we have the -Reformation particularly in view), God instructs the minority by the -Holy Scriptures, and the majority by the dispensations of the divine -government. Facts undertake to push forward those whom the more -spiritual voice of the word leaves behind. England, profiting by this -great teaching of facts, has thought it her duty ever since to avoid -all contact with a power that had deceived her; she has thought that -popery could not have the dominion over a people without infringing on -its vitality, and that it was only by emancipating themselves from -this priestly dictatorship that modern nations could advance safely in -the paths of liberty, order, and greatness. - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S HESITATION.] - -For more than a year, as Henry's complaints testify, Anne continued -deaf to his homage. The despairing king saw that he must set other -springs to work, and taking Lord Rochford aside, he unfolded his plans -to him. The ambitious father promised to do all in his power to -influence his daughter. "The divorce is a settled thing," he said to -her; "you have no control over it. The only question is, whether it -shall be you or another who shall give an heir to the crown. Bear in -mind that terrible revolutions threaten England, if the king has no -son." Thus did every thing combine to weaken Anne's resolution. The -voice of her father, the interests of her country, the king's love, -and doubtless some secret ambition, influenced her to grasp the -proffered sceptre. These thoughts haunted her in society, in solitude, -and even in her dreams. At one time she imagined herself on the -throne, distributing to the people her charities and the word of God; -at another, in some obscure exile, leading a useless life, in tears -and ignominy. When, in the sports of her imagination, the crown of -England appeared all glittering before her, she at first rejected it; -but afterwards that regal ornament seemed so beautiful, and the power -it conferred so enviable, that she repelled it less energetically. -Anne still refused, however, to give the so ardently solicited assent. - -Henry, vexed by her hesitation, wrote to her frequently, and almost -always in French. As the court of Rome makes use of these letters, -which are kept in the Vatican, to abuse the Reformation, we think it -our duty to quote them. The theft committed by a cardinal has -preserved them for us; and we shall see that, far from supporting the -calumnies that have been spread abroad, they tend, on the contrary, to -refute them. We are far from approving their contents as a whole; but -we cannot deny to the young lady, to whom they are addressed, the -possession of noble and generous sentiments. - -Henry, unable to support the anguish caused by Anne's refusal, wrote -to her, as it is generally supposed, in May 1528:[815] - - "By revolving in my mind the contents of your last letters, I - have put myself into great agony, not knowing how to - interpret them, whether to my disadvantage, as I understand - some passages, or not, as I conclude from others. I beseech - you earnestly to let me know your real mind as to the love - between us two. It is needful for me to obtain this answer of - you, having been for a whole year wounded with the dart of - love, and not yet assured whether I shall succeed in finding - a place in your heart and affection. This uncertainty has - hindered me of late from declaring you my mistress, lest it - should prove that you only entertain for me an ordinary - regard. But if you please to do the duty of a true and loyal - mistress, I promise you that not only the name shall be given - to you, but also that I will take you for my mistress, - casting off all others that are in competition with you, out - of my thoughts and affection, and serving you only. I beg you - to give an entire answer to this my rude letter, that I may - know on what and how far I may depend. But if it does not - please you to answer me in writing, let me know some place - where I may have it by word of mouth, and I will go thither - with all my heart. No more for fear of tiring you. Written by - the hand of him who would willingly remain yours, - - "H. REX." - - [815] Vatican Letters. Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 114. The date in the - text is that assigned by the editor; we are inclined to place it - somewhat earlier. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S SECOND LETTER.] - -Such were the affectionate, and we may add (if we think of the time -and the man) the respectful terms employed by Henry in writing to Anne -Boleyn. The latter, without making any promises, betrayed some little -affection for the king, and added to her reply an emblematical jewel, -representing "a solitary damsel in a boat tossed by the tempest," -wishing thus to make the prince understand the dangers to which his -love exposed her. Henry was ravished and immediately replied:-- - - "For a present so valuable, that nothing could be more - (considering the whole of it,) I return you my most hearty - thanks, not only on account of the costly diamond, and the - ship in which the solitary damsel is tossed about, but - chiefly for the fine interpretation, and the too humble - submission which your goodness hath made to me. Your favour I - will always seek to preserve, and this is my firm intention - and hope, according to the matter, _aut illic aut nullibi_. - - "The demonstrations of your affections are such, the fine - thoughts of your letter so cordially expressed, that they - oblige me for ever to honour, love, and serve you sincerely. - I beseech you to continue in the same firm and constant - purpose, and assuring you that, on my part, I will not only - make you a suitable return, but outdo you, so great is the - loyalty of the heart that desires to please you. I desire, - also, that if, at any time before this, I have in any way - offended you, that you would give me the same absolution that - you ask, assuring you, that hereafter my heart shall be - dedicated to you alone. I wish my person were so too. God can - do it, if he pleases, _to whom I pray once a-day_ for that - end, hoping that at length _my prayers will be heard_. I wish - the time may be short, but I shall think it long till we see - one another. Written by the hand of that secretary, who in - heart, body, and will, is - - "Your loyal and most faithful Servant, - - "H. T. REX."[816] - - [816] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 115. After the signature comes the - following device: - - _Nulle autre que [Illustration: initials AB inside heart shape] ne - cherche H. T._ - - - * * * * * - - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S THIRD AND FOURTH LETTERS.] - -Henry was a passionate lover, and history is not called upon to -vindicate that cruel prince; but in the preceding letter we cannot -discover the language of a seducer. It is impossible to imagine the -king praying to God _once a-day_, for anything but a lawful union. -These daily prayers seem to present the matter in a different light -from that which Romanist writers have imagined. - -Henry thought himself more advanced than he really was. Anne then -shrank back; embarrassed by the position she held at court, she begged -for one less elevated. The king submitted, although very vexed at -first: - - "Nevertheless that it belongeth not to a gentleman," he wrote - to her, "to put his _mistress_ in the situation of a - _servant_, yet, by following your wishes, I would willingly - concede it, if by that means you are less uncomfortable in - the place you shall choose than in that where you have been - placed by me. I thank you most cordially that you are pleased - still to bear me in your remembrance. - - "H. T." - -Anne, having retired in May to Hever castle, her father's residence, -the king wrote to her as follows:-- - - "My Mistress and my Friend, - - "My heart and I surrender ourselves into your hands, and we - supplicate to be commended to your good graces, and that by - absence your affections may not be diminished to us. For that - would be to augment our pain, which would be a great pity, - since absence gives enough, and more than I ever thought - could be felt. This brings to my mind a fact in astronomy, - which is, that the longer the days are, the farther off is - the sun, and yet the more scorching is his heat. Thus is it - with our love; absence has placed distance between us, - nevertheless fervour increases, at least on my part. I hope - the same from you, assuring you that in my case the anguish - of absence is so great that it would be intolerable were it - not for the firm hope I have of your indissoluble affection - towards me. In order to remind you of it, and because I - cannot in person be in your presence, I send you the thing - which comes nearest that is possible, that is to say, my - picture, and the whole device, which you already know - of,[817] set in bracelets; wishing myself in their place when - it pleases you. This is from the hand of "Your Servant and - Friend, - - "H. T. REX." - - [817] Doubtless the _aut illic aut nullibi_. For this letter see the - Pamphleteer, No. 42, p. 346. - -[Sidenote: ANNE GIVES HER CONSENT.] - -Pressed by her father, her uncles, and by Henry, Anne's firmness was -shaken. That crown, rejected by Renee and by Margaret, dazzled the -young Englishwoman; every day she found some new charm in it; and -gradually familiarizing herself with her new future, she said at last: -"If the king becomes free, I shall be willing to marry him." This was -a great fault; but Henry was at the height of joy. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY STRIVES TO DISSUADE HENRY.] - -The courtiers watched with observant eyes these developments of the -king's affection, and were already preparing the homage which they -proposed to lay at Anne Boleyn's feet. But there was one man at court -whom Henry's resolution filled with sorrow; this was Wolsey. He had -been the first to suggest to the king the idea of separating from -Catherine; but if Anne is to succeed her, there must be no divorce. He -had first alienated Catherine's party; he was now going to irritate -that of the Boleyns; accordingly he began to fear that whatever might -be the issue of this affair, it would cause his ruin. He took frequent -walks in his park at Hampton Court, accompanied by the French -ambassador, the confidant of his sorrows: "I would willingly lose one -of my fingers," he said, "if I could only have two hours' conversation -with the king of France." At another time, fancying all England was -pursuing him, he said with alarm, "The king my master and all his -subjects will cry murder against me; they will fall upon me more -fiercely than on a Turk, and all Christendom will rise against me!" -The next day Wolsey, to gain the French ambassador, gave him a long -history of what he had done for France _against the wishes of all -England_: "I need much dexterity in my affairs," he added, "and must -use a terrible _alchymy_."[818] But alchymy could not save him. -Rarely has so much anguish been veiled beneath such grandeur. Du -Bellay was moved with pity at the sight of the unhappy man's -sufferings. "When he gives way," he wrote to Montmorency, "it lasts a -day together;--he is continually sighing.--You have never seen a man -in such anguish of mind."[819] - - [818] Une terrible Alquemie. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 157. - - [819] 26th April, 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 93. - -In truth Wolsey's reason was tottering. That fatal idea of the divorce -was the cause of all his woes, and to be able to recall it, he would -have given, not a _finger_ only, but an arm, and perhaps more. It was -too late; Henry had started his car down the steep, and whoever -attempted to stop it would have been crushed beneath its wheels. -However, the cardinal tried to obtain something. Francis I had -intercepted a letter from Charles V in which the emperor spoke of the -divorce as likely to raise the English nation in revolt. Wolsey caused -this letter to be read to the king, in the hope that it would excite -his serious apprehensions; but Henry only _frowned_, and Du Bellay, to -whom the monarch ascribed the report on these troubles foreboded by -Charles, received "a gentle lash."[820] This was the sole-result of -the manoeuvre. - - [820] _Quelque petit coup de fouet._ 24th May, 1528. Du Bellay to - Montmorency. Ibid. p. 102. - -Wolsey now resolved to broach this important subject in a -straightforward manner. The step might prove his ruin; but if he -succeeded he was saved and the popedom with him. Accordingly one day -(shortly before the sweating sickness broke out, says Du Bellay, -probably in June 1528) Wolsey openly prayed the king to renounce his -design; his own reputation, he told him, the prosperity of England, -the peace of Europe, the safety of the church,--all required it; -besides the pope would never grant the divorce. While the cardinal was -speaking, Henry's face grew black; and before he had concluded the -king's anger broke out. "The king used terrible words," said Du -Bellay. He would have given a thousand Wolseys for one Anne Boleyn. -"No other than God shall take her from me," was his most decided -resolution. - -Wolsey, now no longer doubting of his disgrace, began to take his -measures accordingly. He commenced building in several places, in -order to win the affections of the common people; he took great care -of his bishoprics, in order that they might ensure him an easy -retreat; he was affable to the courtiers; and thus covered the earth -with flowers to deaden his fall. Then he would sigh as if he were -disgusted with honours; and would celebrate the charms of -solitude.[821] He did more than this. Seeing plainly that the best -way of recovering the king's favour would be to conciliate Anne -Boleyn, he made her the most handsome presents,[822] and assured her -that all his efforts would now be directed to raise her to the throne -of England. Anne believing these declarations replied, that she would -help him in her turn, "As long as any breath was in her body."[823] -Even Henry had no doubt that the cardinal had profited by his lesson. - - [821] 20th August, 1528. Ibid. p. 165. - - [822] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 150. - - [823] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE SWEATING SICKNESS.] - -Thus were all parties restless and uneasy--Henry desiring to marry -Lady Anne, the courtiers to get rid of Wolsey, and the latter to -remain in power--when a serious event appeared to put every one in -harmony with his neighbour. About the middle of June, the terrible -sweating sickness (_sudor anglicus_) broke out in England. The -citizens of London, "thick as flies," said Du Bellay,[824] suddenly -feeling pains in the head and heart, rushed from the streets or shops -to their chambers, began to sweat, and took to their beds. The disease -made frightful and rapid progress, a burning heat preyed on their -limbs; if they chanced to uncover themselves, the perspiration ceased, -delirium came on, and in four hours the victim was dead and "stiff as -a wall,"[825] says the French ambassador. Every family was in -mourning. Sir Thomas More, kneeling by his daughter's bedside, burst -into tears, and called upon God to save his beloved Margaret.[826] -Wolsey, who was at Hampton Court, suspecting nothing amiss, arrived in -London as usual to preside in the court of Chancery; but he ordered -his horses to be saddled again immediately and rode back. In four -days, 2000 persons died in London. - - [824] Dru comme mouches. Le Grand. Preuves, p. 138. - - [825] Raide comme un pan de mur. Ibid. - - [826] More's Life, p. 136. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S TERROR.] - -The court was at first safe from the contagion; but on the fourth day -one of Anne Boleyn's ladies was attacked; it was as if a thunderbolt -had fallen on the palace. The king removed with all haste, and staid -at a place twelve miles off, for he was not prepared to die. He -ordered Anne to return to her father, invited the queen to join him, -and took up his residence at Waltham. His real conscience awoke only -in the presence of death. Four of his attendants and a friar, Anne's -confessor, as it would appear,[827] falling ill, the king departed for -Hunsdon. He had been there two days only when Powis, Carew, Carton, -and others of his court, were carried off in two or three hours. Henry -had met an enemy whom he could not vanquish. He quitted the place -attacked by the disease; he removed to another quarter; and when the -sickness laid hold of any of his attendants in his new retreat, he -again left that for a new asylum. Terror froze his blood; he wandered -about pursued by that terrible scythe whose sweep might perhaps reach -him; he cut off all communication, even with his servants; shut -himself up in a room at the top of an isolated tower; ate all alone, -and would see no one but his physician;[828] he prayed, fasted, -confessed, became reconciled with the queen; took the sacrament every -Sunday and feast day; received _his Maker_,[829] to use the words of a -gentleman of his chamber; and the queen and Wolsey did the same. Nor -was that all: his councillor, Sir Brian Tuke, was sick in Essex; but -that mattered not; the king ordered him to come to him, even in his -litter; and on the 20th of June, Henry after hearing three masses (he -had never done so much before in one day) said to Tuke: "I want you to -write _my will_." He was not the only one who took that precaution. -"There were _a hundred thousand_ made," says Du Bellay. - - [827] Votre pere maitre Jesonere est tombe malade. Henry to Anne. - Pamphleteer. No. 42, p. 347. - - [828] With his physician in a chamber within a tower to sup apart. - State Papers, vol. i, p. 296. - - [829] Ibid. p. 290. - -During this time, Anne in her retirement at Hever was calm and -collected; she prayed much, particularly for the king and for -Wolsey.[830] But Henry, far less submissive, was very anxious. "The -uneasiness my doubts about your health gave me," he wrote to her, -"disturbed and frightened me exceedingly; but now, since you have as -yet felt nothing, I hope it is with you as it is with us.... I beg -you, my entirely beloved, not to frighten yourself, or be too uneasy -at our absence, for wherever I am, I am yours. And yet we must -sometimes submit to our misfortunes, for whoever will struggle against -fate, is generally but so much the farther from gaining his end. -Wherefore, comfort yourself and take courage, and make this misfortune -as easy to you as you can."[831] - - [830] I thank our Lord that them that I desired and prayed for are - escaped, and that is the king's grace and you. Anne to Wolsey. - Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 150. - - [831] Ibid. No. 42, p. 347. - -As he received no news, Henry's uneasiness increased; he sent to Anne -a messenger and a letter: "to acquit myself of the duty of a true -servant, I send you this letter, beseeching you to apprize me of your -welfare, which I pray may continue as long as I desire mine own." - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TERRORS.] - -Henry's fears were well founded; the malady became more severe; in -four hours eighteen persons died at the archbishop of Canterbury's; -Anne Boleyn herself and her brother also caught the infection. The -king was exceedingly agitated; Anne alone appeared calm; the strength -of her character raised her above exaggerated fears; but her enemies -ascribed her calmness to other motives. "Her ambition is stronger than -death," they said. "The king, queen, and cardinal tremble for their -lives, but she ... she would die content if she died a queen." Henry -once more changed his residence. All the gentlemen of his -privy-chamber were attacked with one exception; "he remained alone, -keeping himself apart," says Du Bellay, and confessed every day. He -wrote again to Anne, sending her his physician, Dr. Butts:[832] "The -most displeasing news that could occur came to me suddenly at night. -On three accounts I must lament it. One, to hear of the illness of my -mistress, whom I esteem more than all the world, and whose health I -desire as I do my own. I would willingly bear half of what you suffer -to cure you. The second, from the fear that I shall have to endure my -wearisome absence much longer, which has hitherto given me all the -vexation that was possible; and when gloomy thoughts filled my mind, -then I pray God to remove far from me such troublesome and rebellious -ideas. The third, because my physician, in whom I have most -confidence, is absent. Yet, from the want of him, I send you my -second, and hope that he will soon make you well. I shall then love -him more than ever. I beseech you to be guided by his advice in your -illness. By your doing this, I hope soon to see you again, which will -be to me a greater comfort than all the precious jewels in the world." - - [832] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 120. - -The pestilence soon broke out with more violence around Henry; he fled -in alarm to Hatfield, taking with him only the gentleman of his -chamber; he next quitted this place for Tittenhanger, a house -belonging to Wolsey, whence he commanded general processions -throughout the kingdom in order to avert this scourge of God.[833] At -the same time he wrote to Wolsey: "As soon as any one falls ill in the -place where you are, fly to another; and go thus from place to place." -The poor cardinal was still more alarmed than Henry. As soon as he -felt the slightest perspiration, he fancied himself a dead man. "I -entreat your highness," he wrote trembling to the king on the 5th of -July, "to show yourself full of pity for my soul; these are perhaps -the last words I shall address to you ... the whole world will see by -my last testament that you have not bestowed your favour upon an -ungrateful man." The king, perceiving that Wolsey's mind was affected, -bade him "put apart fear and fantasies,"[834] and wear a cheerful -humour in the midst of death. - - [833] State Papers, i, p. 308. - - [834] State Papers, i, p. 314. - -[Sidenote: DISSIMULATION AT COURT.] - -At last the sickness began to diminish, and immediately the desire to -see Anne revived in Henry's bosom. On the 18th of August she -re-appeared at court, and all the king's thoughts were now bent on the -divorce. - -But this business seemed to proceed in inverse ratio to his desires. -There was no news of Campeggio; was he lost in the Alps or at sea? Did -his gout detain him in some village, or was the announcement of his -departure only a feint? Anne Boleyn herself was uneasy, for she -attached great importance to Campeggio's coming. If the church -annulled the king's first marriage, Anne seeing the principal obstacle -removed, thought she might accept Henry's hand. She therefore wrote to -Wolsey: "I long to hear from you news of the legate, for I do hope -(an' they come from you) they shall be very good." The king added in a -postscript: "The not hearing of the legate's arrival in France causeth -us somewhat to muse. Notwithstanding we trust by your diligence and -vigilancy (with the assistance of Almighty God) shortly to be eased -out of that trouble."[835] - - [835] Pamphleteer, No. 48, p. 149. - -But still there was no news. While waiting for the long desired -ambassador, every one at the English court played his part as well as -he could. Anne, whether from conscience, prudence, or modesty, refused -the honours which the king would have showered upon her, and never -approached Catherine but with marks of profound respect. Wolsey had -the look of desiring the divorce, while in reality he dreaded it, as -fated to cause his ruin and that of the popedom. Henry strove to -conceal the motives which impelled him to separate from the queen; to -the bishops, he spoke of his _conscience_, to the nobility _of an -heir_, and to all of the sad obligation which compelled him to put -away so justly beloved a princess. In the meanwhile, he seemed to live -on the best terms with her, from what Du Bellay says.[836] But -Catherine was the one who best dissembled her sentiments; she lived -with the king as during their happiest days, treated Anne with every -kindness, adopted an elegant costume, encouraged music and dancing in -her apartments, often appeared in public, and seemed desirous of -captivating by her gracious smiles the good-will of England. This was -a mournful comedy, destined to end in tragedy full of tears and agony. - - [836] 16th October 1528. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 170. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Coverdale and Inspiration--He undertakes to translate the - Scriptures--His Joy and Spiritual Songs--Tyball and the - Laymen--Coverdale preaches at Bumpstead--Revival at - Colchester--Incomplete Societies and the New - Testament--Persecution--Monmouth arrested and released. - - -[Sidenote: COVERDALE AND INSPIRATION.] - -While these scenes were acting in the royal palaces, far different -discussions were going on among the people. After having dwelt for -some time on the agitations of the court, we gladly return to the -lowly disciples of the divine word. The Reformation of England (and -this is its characteristic) brings before us by turns the king upon -his throne, and the laborious artisan in his humble cottage; and -between these two extremes we meet with the doctor in his college, and -the priest in his pulpit. - -[Sidenote: MILES COVERDALE.] - -Among the young men trained at Cambridge under Barnes's instruction, -and who had aided him at the time of his trial, was Miles Coverdale, -afterwards bishop of Exeter, a man distinguished by his zeal for the -Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some time after the prior's fall, on Easter -Eve, 1527, Coverdale and Cromwell met at the house of Sir Thomas More, -when the former exhorted the Cambridge student to apply himself to the -study of sacred learning.[837] The lapse of his unhappy master had -alarmed Coverdale, and he felt the necessity of withdrawing from that -outward activity which had proved so fatal to Barnes. He therefore -turned to the Scriptures, read them again and again, and perceived, -like Tyndale, that the reformation of the church must be effected by -the word of God. The inspiration of that word, the only foundation of -its sovereign authority, had struck Coverdale. "Wherever the Scripture -is known it reformeth all things. And why? Because it is given _by the -inspiration of God_."[838] This fundamental principle of the -Reformation in England must, in every age, be that of the church. - - [837] Coverdale's Remains (Parker Society), p. 490. The authority for - this statement is a letter from Coverdale to Cromwell, which the - editor of the "remains" assigns to the year 1527. Mr. Anderson (Annals - of the Bible, i. p. 239), places it four years later, in 1531. Foxe - asserts that Cromwell was at the siege of Rome in May 1527, on the - authority of Cranmer and Cromwell himself (Acts and Mon. v. p. 365). - If so, the letter cannot belong to that year; but 1531 is improbable. - I am inclined to think it was written in 1528; but any way there is a - difficulty with the date. - - [838] Ibid. p. 10. - -Coverdale found happiness in his studies: "Now," he said, "I begin to -taste of Holy Scriptures! Now, honour be to God! I am set to the most -sweet smell of holy letters."[839] He did not stop there, but thought -it his duty to attempt in England the work which Tyndale was -prosecuting in Germany. The Bible was so important in the eyes of -these Christians, that two translations were undertaken -simultaneously. "Why should other nations," said Coverdale, "be more -plenteously provided for with the Scriptures in their mother-tongue -than we?"[840]--"Beware of translating the Bible!" exclaimed the -partisans of the schoolmen; "your labour will only make divisions in -the faith and in the people of God."[841]--"God has now given his -church," replied Coverdale, "the gifts of translating and of printing; -we must improve them." And if any friends spoke of Tyndale's -translation, he answered: "Do not you know that when many are starting -together, every one doth his best to be nighest the mark?"[842]--"But -Scripture ought to exist in Latin only," objected the priests.--"No," -replied Coverdale again, "the Holy Ghost is as much the author of it -in the Hebrew, Greek, French, Dutch, and English, as in Latin.... The -word of God is of like authority, in what language soever the Holy -Ghost speaketh it."[843] This does not mean that translations of Holy -Scripture are inspired, but that the word of God, faithfully -translated, always possesses a divine authority. - - [839] Coverdale's Remains, p. 490. - - [840] Ibid. p. 12. - - [841] Ibid. - - [842] Ibid. p. 14. - - [843] Ibid. p. 26. - -Coverdale determined therefore to translate the Bible, and, to procure -the necessary books, he wrote to Cromwell, who, during his travels, -had made a collection of these precious writings. "Nothing in the -world I desire but books," he wrote; "like Jacob, you have drunk of -the dew of heaven.... I ask to drink of your waters."[844] Cromwell -did not refuse Coverdale his treasures. "Since the Holy Ghost moves -you to bear the cost of this work," exclaimed the latter, "God gives -me boldness to labour in the same."[845] He commenced without delay, -saying: "Whosoever believeth not the Scripture, believeth not Christ; -and whoso refuseth it, refuseth God also."[846] Such were the -foundations of the reformed church in England. - - [844] De tuo ipso torrente maxime potare exopto. Ibid. p. 491. - - [845] Ibid. p. 10. - - [846] Ibid. p. 19. - -Coverdale did not undertake to translate the Scriptures as a mere -literary task: the Spirit which had inspired him spoke to his heart; -and tasting their life-giving promises, he expressed his happiness in -pious songs:-- - - Be glad now, all ye christen men, - And let us rejoyce unfaynedly. - The kindnesse cannot be written with penne, - That we have receaved of God's mercy; - Whose love towarde us hath never ende: - He hath done for us as a frende; - Now let us thanke him hartely. - - These lovynge words he spake to me. - I wyll delyver thy soule from payne; - I am desposed to do for thee, - And to myne owne selfe thee to retayne. - Thou shalt be with me, for thou art myne; - And I with thee, for I am thyne; - Such is my love, I cannot layne. - - They wyll shed out my precyous bloude, - And take away my lyfe also; - Which I wyll suffre all for thy good: - Beleve this sure, where ever thou go. - For I will yet ryse up agayne; - Thy synnes I beare, though it be payne, - To make thee safe and free from wo. - -[Sidenote: TYBALL AT BUMPSTEAD.] - -Coverdale did not remain long in the solitude he desired. The study of -the Bible, which had attracted him to it, soon drew him out of it. A -revival was going on in Essex; John Tyball, an inhabitant of -Bumpstead, having learnt to find in Jesus Christ the _true bread from -heaven_, did not stop there. One day as he was reading the first -epistle to the Corinthians, these words: "eat of this _bread_," and -"drink of this _cup_," repeated four times within a few verses, -convinced him that there was no transubstantiation. "A priest has no -power to create the body of the Lord," said he, "Christ truly is -present in the Eucharist, but he is there only _for him that -believeth_, and by a spiritual presence and action only." Tyball, -disgusted with the Romish clergy and worship, and convinced that -Christians are called to a universal priesthood, soon thought that men -could do without a special ministry, and without denying the offices -mentioned in Scripture, as some Christians have done since, he -attached no importance to them. "Priesthood is not necessary,[847]" he -said: "every layman may administer the sacraments as well as a -priest." The minister of Bumpstead, one Richard Foxe, and next a -greyfriar of Colchester named Meadow, were successively converted by -Tyball's energetic preaching. - - [847] Strype, Records, i. p. 51. - -[Sidenote: CONVERSION OF TOPLEY AND PYKAS.] - -Coverdale, who was living not far from these parts, having heard speak -of this religious revival, came to Bumpstead, and went into the -pulpit in the spring of 1528, to proclaim the treasures contained in -Scripture. Among his hearers was an Augustine monk, named Topley, who -was supplying Foxe's place during his absence. This monk, while -staying at the parsonage, had found a copy of Wickliffe's _Wicket_, -which he read eagerly. His conscience was wounded by it, and all -seemed to totter about him.[848] He had gone to church full of doubt, -and after divine service he waited upon the preacher, exclaiming: "O -my sins, my sins!" "Confess yourself to God," said Coverdale, "and not -to a priest. God accepteth the confession which cometh from the heart, -and blotteth out all your sins."[849] The monk believed in the -forgiveness of God, and became a zealous evangelist for the -surrounding country. - - [848] I felt in my conscience a great wavering. Anderson's Annals of - the Bible, vol. i. p. 185. - - [849] Coverdale's Remains, p. 481. - -The divine word had hardly lighted one torch, before that kindled -another. At Colchester, in the same county, a worthy man named Pykas, -had received a copy of the Epistles of Saint Paul from his mother, -with this advice: "My son, live according to these writings, and not -according to the teaching of the clergy." Some time after, Pykas -having bought a New Testament, and "read it thoroughly many -times,"[850] a total change took place in him. "We must be baptized by -the Holy Ghost," he said, and these words passed like a breath of life -over his simple-minded hearers. One day, Pykas having learnt that -Bilney, the first of the Cambridge doctors who had known the power of -God's word, was preaching at Ipswich, he proceeded thither, for he -never refused to listen to a priest, when that priest proclaimed the -truth. "O, what a sermon! how full of the Holy Ghost!" exclaimed -Pykas. - - [850] Strype, vol. i. ch. i. p. 121. - -From that period meetings of the brothers in Christ (for thus they -were called) increased in number. They read the New Testament, and -each imparted to the others what he had received for the instruction -of all. One day when the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew had been -read, Pykas, who was sometimes wrong in the spiritual interpretation -of Scripture, remarked: "When the Lord declares that _not one stone of -the temple shall be left upon another_, he speaks of those haughty -priests who persecute those whom they call heretics, and who pretend -to be the temple of God. God will destroy them all." After protesting -against the priest, he protested against the host: "The real body of -Jesus Christ is in the Word," he said; "God is in the Word, the Word -is in God.[851] God and the Word cannot be separated. Christ is the -living Word that nourishes the soul." These humble preachers -increased. Even women knew the Epistles and Gospels by heart; Marion -Matthew, Dorothy Long, Catherine Swain, Alice Gardiner, and, above -all, Gyrling's wife, who had been in service with a priest lately -burnt for heresy, took part in these gospel meetings. And it was not -in cottages only that the glad tidings were then proclaimed; Bower -Hall, the residence of the squires of Bumpstead, was open to Foxe, -Topley, and Tyball, who often read the Holy Scriptures in the great -hall of the mansion, in the presence of the master and all their -household: a humble Reformation more real than that effected by Henry -VIII. - - [851] Ibid. p. 130. - -[Sidenote: TWO FORMS OF THE CHURCH.] - -There was, however, some diversity of opinion among these brethren. -"All who have begun to believe," said Tyball, Pykas, and others, -"ought to meet together to hear the word and increase in faith. We -pray in common ... and that constitutes a church." Coverdale, Bilney, -and Latimer willingly recognised these incomplete societies, in which -the members met simply as _disciples_; they believed them necessary at -a period when the church was forming. These societies (in the -reformers' views) proved that organization has not the priority in the -Christian church, as Rome maintains, and that this priority belongs to -the faith and the life. But this imperfect form they also regarded as -provisional. To prevent numerous dangers, it was necessary that this -society should be succeeded by another, the church of the New -Testament, with its elders or bishops, and deacons. The word, they -thought, rendered a ministry of the word necessary; and for its proper -exercise not only piety was required, but a knowledge of the sacred -languages, the gift of eloquence, its exercise and perfection. -However, there was no division among these Christians upon secondary -matters. - -For some time the bishop of London watched this movement with -uneasiness. He caused Hacker to be arrested, who, for six years past, -had gone from house to house reading the Bible in London and Essex; -examined and threatened him, inquired carefully after the names of -those who had shown him hospitality; and the poor man in alarm had -given up about forty of his brethren. Sebastian Harris, priest of -Kensington, Forman, rector of All Hallows, John and William Pykas, and -many others, were summoned before the bishop. They were taken to -prison; they were led before the judges; they were put in the stocks; -they were tormented in a thousand ways. Their minds became confused; -their thoughts wandered; and many made the confessions required by -their persecutors. - -[Sidenote: MONMOUTH ARRESTED.] - -The adversaries of the gospel, proud of this success, now desired a -more glorious victory. If they could not reach Tyndale, had they not -in London the patron of his work, Monmouth, the most influential of -the merchants, and a follower of the true faith? The clergy had made -religion their business, and the Reformation restored it to the -people. Nothing offended the priests so much, as that laymen should -claim the right to believe without their intervention, and even to -propagate the faith. Sir Thomas More, one of the most amiable men of -the sixteenth century, participated in their hatred. He wrote to -Cochlaeus: "Germany now daily bringeth forth monsters more deadly than -what Africa was wont to do;[852] but, alas! she is not alone. Numbers -of Englishmen, who would not a few years ago even hear Luther's name -mentioned, are now publishing his praises! England is now like the -sea, which swells and heaves before a great storm, without any wind -stirring it."[853] More felt particularly irritated, because the -boldness of the gospellers had succeeded to the timidity of the -Lollards. "The heretics," he said, "have put off hypocrisy, and put on -impudence." He therefore resolved to set his hand to the work. - - [852] More's Life, p. 82. - - [853] Ibid. p. 117. - -On the 14th of May 1529, Monmouth was in his shop, when an usher came -and summoned him to appear before Sir J. Dauncies, one of the privy -council. The pious merchant obeyed, striving to persuade himself that -he was wanted on some matter of business; but in this he was deceived, -as he soon found out. "What letters and books have you lately received -from abroad?"[854] asked with some severity, Sir Thomas More, who, -with Sir William Kingston, was Sir John's colleague. "None," replied -Monmouth. "What aid have you given to any persons living on the -continent?"--"None, for these last three years. William Tyndale abode -with me six months," he continued, "and his life was what a good -priest's ought to be. I gave him ten pounds at the period of his -departure, but nothing since. Besides, he is not the only one I have -helped; the bishop of London's chaplain, for instance, has received of -me more than L50."--"What books have you in your possession?" The -merchant named the New Testament and some other works. "All these -books have lain more than two years on my table, and I never heard -that either priests, friars, or laymen learnt any great errors from -them."[855] More tossed his head. "It is a hard matter," he used to -say, "to put a dry stick in the fire without its burning, or to -nourish a snake in our bosom and not be stung by it.[856]--That is -enough," he continued, "we shall go and search your house." Not a -paper escaped their curiosity; but they found nothing to compromise -Monmouth; he was however sent to the Tower. - - [854] Strype's Records, p. 363. - - [855] Ibid. p. 365. - - [856] More's life, p. 116. - -[Sidenote: HE IS INTERROGATED BY MORE.] - -After some interval the merchant was again brought before his judges. -"You are accused," said More, "of having bought Martin Luther's -tracts; of maintaining those who are translating the Scriptures into -English; of subscribing to get the New Testament printed in English, -with or without glosses; of having imported it into the kingdom; and, -lastly, of having said that faith alone is sufficient to save a -man."[857] - - [857] Strype's Mem. i. p. 490. - -There was matter enough to burn several men. Monmouth, feeling -convinced that Wolsey alone had power to deliver him, resolved to -apply to him. "What will become of my poor workmen in London and in -the country during my imprisonment?" he wrote to the cardinal. "They -must have their money every week; who will give it them?... Besides, I -make considerable sales in foreign countries, which bring large -returns to his majesty's customs.[858] If I remain in prison, this -commerce is stopped, and of course all the proceeds for the -exchequer." Wolsey, who was as much a statesman as a churchman, began -to melt; on the eve of a struggle with the pope and the emperor, he -feared, besides, to make the people discontented. Monmouth was -released from prison. As alderman, and then as sheriff of London, he -was faithful until death, and ordered in his last will that thirty -sermons should be preached by the most evangelical ministers in -England, "to make known the holy word of Jesus Christ."--"That is -better," he thought, "than founding masses." The Reformation showed, -in the sixteenth century, that great activity in commerce might be -allied to great piety. - - [858] Strype, Records, i. p. 367. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Political Changes--Fresh Instructions from the Pope to - Campeggio--His delays--He unbosoms himself to Francis--A - Prediction--Arrival of Campeggio--Wolsey's - Uneasiness--Henry's Satisfaction--The Cardinal's - Project--Campeggio's Reception--First Interview with the - Queen and with the King--Useless Efforts to make Campeggio - part with the Decretal--The Nuncio's Conscience--Public - Opinion--Measures taken by the King--His Speech to the Lords - and Aldermen--Festivities--Wolsey seeks French - Support--Contrariety. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE CHANGES.] - -While these persecutions were agitating the fields and the capital of -England, all had changed in the ecclesiastical world, because all had -changed in the political. The pope, pressed by Henry VIII and -intimidated by the armies of Francis I, had granted the decretal and -despatched Campeggio. But, on a sudden, there was a new evolution; a -change of events brought a change of counsels. Doria had gone over to -the emperor; his fleet had restored abundance to Naples; the army of -Francis I, ravaged by famine and pestilence, had capitulated, and -Charles V, triumphant in Italy, had said proudly to the pope: "We are -determined to defend the queen of England against King Henry's -injustice."[859] - - [859] Cum Caesar materterae suae causam contra injurias Henrici - propugnaverit. Sanders, p. 28. - -Charles having recovered his superiority, the affrighted pope opened -his eyes to the justice of Catherine's cause. "Send four messengers -after Campeggio," said he to his officers; "and let each take a -different road; bid them travel with all speed and deliver our -despatches to him."[860] They overtook the legate, who opened the -pope's letters. "In the first place," said Clement VII to him, -"protract your journey. In the second place, when you reach England, -use every endeavour to reconcile the king and queen. In the third -place, if you do not succeed, persuade the queen to take the veil. And -in the last place, if she refuses, do not pronounce any sentence -favourable to the divorce without a new and express order from me. -This is the essential: _Summum et maximum mandatum_." The ambassador -of the sovereign pontiff had a mission to do nothing. This instruction -is sometimes as effective as any. - - [860] Quatuor nuncios celerrimo cursu diversis itineribus ad Campegium - misit. Ibid. et Herbert, p. 253. - -Campeggio, the youngest of the cardinals, was the most intelligent -and the slowest; and this slowness caused his selection by the pope. -He understood his master. If Wolsey was Henry's spur to urge on -Campeggio, the latter was Clement's bridle to check Wolsey.[861] One -of the judges of the divorce was about to pull forwards, the other -backwards; thus the business stood a chance of not advancing at all, -which was just what the pope required. - - [861] Fuller, book v. p. 172. - -The legate, very eager to relax his speed, spent three months on his -journey from Italy to England. He should have embarked for France on -the 23rd of July; but the end of August was approaching, and no one -knew in that country what had become of him.[862] At length they -learnt that he had reached Lyons on the 22nd of August. The English -ambassador in France sent him horses, carriages, plate, and money, in -order to hasten his progress; the legate complained of the _gout_, and -Gardiner found the greatest difficulty in getting him to move. Henry -wrote every day to Anne Boleyn, complaining of the slow progress of -the nuncio. "He arrived in Paris last Sunday or Monday," he says at -the beginning of September; "Monday next we shall hear of his arrival -in Calais, and then I shall obtain what I have so longed for, to God's -pleasure and both our comforts."[863] - - [862] State Papers, vii. p. 91, 92. - - [863] Pamphleteer, No. 43, p. 117. - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S LETTER TO WOLSEY.] - -At the same time, this impatient prince sent message after message to -accelerate the legate's rate of travelling. - -Anne began to desire a future which surpassed all that her youthful -imagination had conceived, and her agitated heart expanded to the -breath of hope. She wrote to Wolsey: - - "This shall be to give unto your grace, as I am most bound, - my humble thanks for the great pain and travail that your - grace doth take in studying, by your wisdom and great - diligence, how to bring to pass honourably the greatest - wealth [well-being] that is possible to come to any creature - living; and in especial remembering how wretched and - unworthy I am in comparison to his highness.... Now, good my - lord, your discretion may consider as yet how little it is - in my power to recompense you but alonely [only] with my - good will; the which I assure you, look what thing in this - world I can imagine to do you pleasure in, you shall find me - the gladdest woman in the world to do it."[864] - - [864] Ibid. p. 151. - -[Sidenote: A CRUEL PROPHECY.] - -But the impatience of the king of England and of Anne seemed as if it -would never be satisfied. Campeggio, on his way through Paris, told -Francis I that the divorce would never take place, and that he should -soon go to _Spain_ to see Charles V.... This was significative. "The -king of England ought to know," said the indignant Francis to the duke -of Suffolk, "that Campeggio is _imperialist_ at heart, and that his -mission in England will be a mere mockery."[865] - - [865] The cardinal intended not that your Grace's matter should take - effect, but only to use dissimulation with your Grace, for he is - entirely imperial. Suffolk to Henry, State Papers, vii. p. 183. - -In truth, the Spanish and Roman factions tried every manoeuvre to -prevent a union they detested. Anne Boleyn, queen of England, -signified not only Catherine humbled, but Charles offended; the -clerical party awakened, perhaps destroyed, and the evangelical party -put in its place. The Romish faction found accomplices even in Anne's -own family. Her brother George's wife, a proud and passionate woman, -and a rigid Roman catholic, had sworn an implacable hatred against her -young sister. By this means wounds might be inflicted, even in the -domestic sanctuary, which would not be the less deep because they were -the work of her own kindred. One day we are told that Anne found in -her chamber a book of pretended prophecies, in which was a picture -representing a king, a queen shedding tears, and at their feet a young -lady headless. Anne turned away her eyes with disgust. She desired, -however, to know what this emblem signified, and officious friends -brought to her one of those pretended wise men, so numerous at all -times, who abuse the credulity of the ignorant by professing to -interpret such mysteries. "This prophetic picture," he said, -"represents the history of the king and his wife." Anne was not -credulous, but she understood what her enemies meant to insinuate, and -dismissed the mock interpreter without betraying any signs of fear; -then turning to her favourite attendant, Anne Saville, "Come hither, -Nan," said she, "look at this book of prophecies; this is the king, -this the queen wringing her hands and mourning, and this (putting her -finger on the bleeding body) is _myself_, with my head cut off."--The -young lady answered with a shudder: "If I thought it were true, I -would not myself have him were he an emperor."--"Tut, Nan," replied -Anne Boleyn with a sweet smile, "I think the book a bauble, and am -resolved to have him, that my issue may be royal, whatever may become -of me."[866] This story is based on good authority, and there were so -many predictions of this kind afloat that it is very possible one of -them might come true; people afterwards recollected only the -prophecies confirmed by the events. But, be that as it may, this -young lady, so severely chastised in after-days, found in her God an -abundant consolation. - - [866] Wyatt, p. 430. - -[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF CAMPEGGIO.] - -At length Campeggio embarked at Calais on the 29th of September, and -unfortunately for him he had an excellent passage across the channel. -A storm to drive him back to the French coast would have suited him -admirably. But on the 1st of October he was at Canterbury, whence he -announced his arrival to the king. At this news, Henry forgot all the -delays which had so irritated him. "His majesty can never be -sufficiently grateful to your holiness for so great a favour," wrote -Wolsey to the pope; "but he will employ his riches, his kingdom, his -life even, and deserve the name of _Restorer of the Church_ as justly -as he has gained that of _Defender of the Faith_." This zeal alarmed -Campeggio, for the pope wrote to him that any proceeding which might -irritate Charles would inevitably cause the ruin of the church.[867] -The nuncio became more dilatory than ever, and although he reached -Canterbury on the 1st of October, he did not arrive at Dartford until -the 5th, thus taking four days for a journey of about thirty -miles.[868] - - [867] Sanga to Campeggio, from Viterbo, 27th September. Ranke, - Deutsche Gesch. iii, p. 135. - - [868] State Papers, vii. p. 94, 95. - -Meanwhile preparations were making to receive him in London. Wolsey, -feeling contempt for the poverty of the Roman cardinals, and very -uneasy about the equipage with which his colleague was likely to make -his entrance into the capital, sent a number of showy chests, rich -carpets, litters hung with drapery, and harnessed mules. On the other -hand Campeggio, whose secret mission was to keep in the back-ground, -and above all to do nothing, feared these banners, and trappings, and -all the parade of a triumphal entry. Alleging therefore an attack of -gout in order to escape from the pomps his colleague had prepared for -him, he quietly took a boat, and thus reached the palace of the bishop -of Bath, where he was to lodge. - -While the nuncio was thus proceeding unnoticed up the Thames, the -equipages sent by Wolsey entered London through the midst of a gaping -crowd, who looked on them with curiosity as if they had come from the -banks of the Tiber. Some of the mules however took fright and ran -away, the coffers fell off and burst open, when there was a general -rush to see their contents; but to the surprise of all they were -empty. This was an excellent jest for the citizens of London. "Fine -outside, empty inside; a just emblem of the popedom, its embassy, and -foolish pomps," they said; "a sham legate, a procession of masks, and -the whole a farce!" - -[Sidenote: ANNE'S INDECISION TERMINATED.] - -Campeggio was come at last, and now what he dreaded most was an -audience. "I cannot move," he said, "or endure the motion of a -litter."[869] Never had an attack of gout been more seasonable. -Wolsey, who paid him frequent visits, soon found him to be his equal -in cunning. To no purpose did he treat him with every mark of respect, -shaking his hand and making much of him;[870] it was labour lost, the -Roman nuncio would say nothing, and Wolsey began to despair. The king, -on the contrary, was full of hope, and fancied he already had the act -of divorce in his portfolio, because he had the nuncio in his kingdom. - - [869] Despatch from the bishop of Bayonne, 16th October, 1529. Le - Grand, Preuves, p. 169. - - [870] Quem saepius visitavi et amantissime sum complexus. (State - Papers, vii, p. 103.) Whom often I have visited, and most lovingly - embraced. - -The greatest effect of the nuncio's arrival was the putting an end to -Anne Boleyn's indecision. She had several relapses: the trials which -she foresaw, and the grief Catherine must necessarily feel, had -agitated her imagination and disturbed her mind. But when she saw the -church and her own enemies prepared to pronounce the king's divorce, -her doubts were removed, and she regarded as legitimate the position -that was offered her. The king, who suffered from her scruples, was -delighted at this change. "I desire to inform you," he wrote to her in -English, "what joy it is to me to understand of your conformableness -with reason, and of the suppressing of your inutile and vain thoughts -and fantasies with the bridle of reason. I assure you all the -greatness of this world could not counterpoise for my satisfaction the -knowledge and certainty thereof.... The unfeigned sickness of this -well-willing legate doth somewhat retard his access to your -person."[871] It was therefore the determination of the pope that made -Anne Boleyn resolve to accept Henry's hand; this is an important -lesson for which we are indebted to the _Vatican letters_. We should -be grateful to the papacy for having so carefully preserved them. - - [871] Pamphleteer, No. 43. p. 123. - -[Sidenote: CAMPEGGIO'S INTERVIEW WITH THE QUEEN.] - -But the more Henry rejoiced, the more Wolsey despaired; he would have -desired to penetrate into Clement's thoughts, but could not succeed. -Imagining that De Angelis, the general of the Spanish Observance, knew -all the secrets of the pope and of the emperor, he conceived the plan -of kidnapping him. "If he goes to Spain by sea," said he to Du Bellay, -"a good brigantine or two would do the business; and if by land, it -will be easier still." Du Bellay failed not (as he informs us himself) -"to tell him plainly that by such proceedings he would entirely -forfeit the pope's good will."--"What matter?" replied Wolsey, "I -have nothing to lose." As he said this, tears started to his -eyes.[872] At last he made up his mind to remain ignorant of the -pontiff's designs, and wiped his eyes, awaiting, not without fear, the -interview between Henry and Campeggio. - - [872] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 21st October. Le Grand, Preuves, p. - 185. - -On the 22nd of October, a month after his arrival, the nuncio, borne -in a sedan chair of red velvet, was carried to court. He was placed on -the right of the throne, and his secretary in his name delivered a -high-sounding speech, saluting Henry with the name of Saviour of Rome, -_Liberator urbis_. "His majesty," replied Fox in the king's name, "has -only performed the duties incumbent on a Christian prince, and he -hopes that the holy see will bear them in mind."--"Well attacked, well -defended," said Du Bellay. For the moment, a few Latin declamations -got the papal nuncio out of his difficulties. - -Campeggio did not deceive himself: if the divorce were refused, he -foresaw the reformation of England. Yet he hoped still, for he was -assured that Catherine would submit to the judgment of the church; and -being fully persuaded that the queen would refuse the holy father -nothing, the nuncio began "his approaches," as Du Bellay calls them. -On the 27th of October, the two cardinals waited on Catherine, and in -flattering terms insinuated that she might prevent the blow which -threatened her by voluntary retirement into a convent. And then, to -end all indecision in the queen's mind, Campeggio put on a severe look -and exclaimed: "How is it, madam, explain the mystery to us? From the -moment the holy father appointed us to examine the question of your -divorce, you have been seen not only at court, but in public, wearing -the most magnificent ornaments, participating with an appearance of -gaiety and satisfaction at amusements and festivities which you had -never tolerated before.... The church is in the most cruel -embarrassment with regard to you; the king, your husband, is in the -greatest perplexity; the princess, your daughter, is taken from you -... and instead of shedding tears, you give yourself up to vanity. -Renounce the world, madam; enter a nunnery. Our holy father himself -requires this of you."[873] - - [873] Ibid. 1st November, p. 195. - -[Sidenote: CATHERINE'S REPLY.] - -The agitated queen was almost fainting; stifling her emotion, however, -she said mildly but firmly: "Alas! my lords, is it now a question -whether I am the king's lawful wife or not, when I have been married -to him almost twenty years and no objection raised before?... Divers -prelates and lords are yet alive who then adjudged our marriage good -and lawful,--and now to say it is detestable! this is a great marvel -to me, especially when I consider what a wise prince the king's father -was, and also the natural love and affection my father, King -Ferdinand, bare unto me. I think that neither of these illustrious -princes would have made me contract an illicit union." At these words, -Catherine's emotion compelled her to stop.--"If I weep, my lords," she -continued almost immediately, "it is not for myself, it is for a -person dearer to me than my life. What! I should consent to an act -which deprives my daughter of a crown? No, I will not sacrifice my -child. I know what dangers threaten me. I am only a weak woman, a -stranger, without learning, advisers, or friends ... and my enemies -are skilful, learned in the laws, and desirous to merit their master's -favour ... and more than that, even my judges are my enemies. Can I -receive as such," she said as she looked at Campeggio, "a man extorted -from the pope by manifest lying?... And as for you," added she, -turning haughtily to Wolsey, "having failed in attaining the tiara, -you have sworn to revenge yourself on my nephew the emperor ... and -you have kept him true promise; for all his wars and vexations, he may -only thank you. One victim was not enough for you. Forging abominable -suppositions, you desire to plunge his aunt into a frightful abyss.... -But my cause is just, and I trust it in the Lord's hand." After this -bold language, the unhappy Catherine withdrew to her apartments. The -imminence of the danger effected a salutary revolution in her; she -laid aside her brilliant ornaments, assumed the sober garments in -which she is usually represented, and passed days and nights in -mourning and in tears.[874] - - [874] Regina in luctu et lacrymis noctes diesque egit. Sanders, p. 29. - -Thus Campeggio saw his hopes deceived; he had thought to find a nun, -and had met a queen and a mother.... He now proceeded to set every -imaginable spring at work; as Catherine would not renounce Henry, he -must try and prevail upon Henry to renounce his idea of separating -from the queen. The Roman legate therefore changed his batteries, and -turned them against the king. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S INTERVIEW WITH THE NUNCIO.] - -Henry, always impatient, went one day unannounced to Campeggio's -lodging, accompanied by Wolsey only:[875] "As we are without -witnesses," he said, taking his seat familiarly between the two -cardinals, "let us speak freely of our affairs.[876]--How shall you -proceed?" But to his great astonishment and grief,[877] the nuncio -prayed him, with all imaginable delicacy, to renounce the -divorce.[878] At these words the fiery Tudor burst out: "Is this how -the pope keeps his word? He sends me an ambassador to annul my -marriage, but in reality to confirm it." He made a pause. Campeggio -knew not what to say. Henry and Catherine being equally persuaded of -the justice of their cause, the nuncio was in a dilemma. Wolsey -himself suffered a martyrdom.[879] The king's anger grew fiercer; he -had thought the legate would hasten to withdraw an imprudent -expression, but Campeggio was dumb. "I see that you have chosen your -part," said Henry to the nuncio; "mine, you may be sure, will soon be -taken also. Let the pope only persevere in this way of acting, and the -apostolical see, covered with perpetual infamy, will be visited with a -frightful destruction."[880] The lion had thrown off the lamb's skin -which he had momentarily assumed. Campeggio felt that he must appease -the monarch. "Craft and delay" were his orders from Rome; and with -that view the pope had provided him with the necessary arms. He -hastened to produce the famous _decretal_ which pronounced the -divorce. "The holy father," he told the king, "ardently desires that -this matter should be terminated by a happy reconciliation between you -and the queen; but if that is impossible, you shall judge yourself -whether or not his holiness can keep his promises." He then read the -bull, and even showed it to Henry, without permitting it, however, to -leave his hands. This exhibition produced the desired effect: Henry -grew calm. "Now I am at ease again," he said; "this miraculous -talisman revives all my courage. This decretal is the efficacious -remedy that will restore peace to my oppressed conscience, and joy to -my bruised heart.[881] Write to his holiness, that this immense -benefit binds me to him so closely, that he may expect from me more -than his imagination can conceive." - -And yet a few clouds gathered shortly after in the king's mind. - -Campeggio having shown the bull had hastened to lock it up again. -Would he presume to keep it in his own hands? Henry and Wolsey will -leave no means untried to get possession of it; that point gained, and -victory is theirs. - - [875] Regia majestas et ego ad eum crebro accessimus. State Papers, - vii. p. 103. - - [876] Rex et duo cardinales, remotis arbitris, de suis rebus multum et - diu collocuti. Sanders, P. 29. - - [877] Incredibili utriusque nostrum animi moerore. State Papers, vii. - p. 104. - - [878] Conatus est omne divortium inter regiam majestatem et reginam - dissuadere. Ibid. - - [879] Non absque ingenti cruciatu. Ibid. - - [880] Ingemiscendum excidium, perpetua infamia. Ibid. - - [881] Remedium levamenque afflictae oppressaque conscientiae. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY REFUSED THE DECRETAL.] - -Wolsey having returned to the nuncio, he asked him for the decretal -with an air of candour as if it was the most natural thing in the -world. He desired, he said, to show it to the king's privy-councillors. -"The pope," replied Campeggio, "has granted this bull, not to be used, -but to be kept secret;[882] he simply desired to show the king the -good feeling by which he was animated." Wolsey having failed, Henry -tried his skill. "Have the goodness to hand me the bull which you -showed me," said he. The nuncio respectfully refused. "For a single -moment," he said. Campeggio still refused. The haughty Tudor retired, -stifling his anger. Then Wolsey made another attempt, and founded his -demand on justice. "Like you, I am delegated by his holiness to decide -this affair," he said, "and I wish to study the important document -which is to regulate our proceedings."--This was met by a new refusal. -"What!" exclaimed the minister of Henry VIII, "am I not, like you, a -cardinal?... like you, a judge? your colleague?" It mattered not, the -nuncio would not, by any means, let the decretal go.[883] Clement was -not deceived in the choice he had made of Campeggio; the ambassador -was worthy of his master. - - [882] Non ut ea uteremur, sed ut secreta haberetur. State Papers, vii. - p. 104. - - [883] Nullo pacto adduci vult, ut mihi, _suo collegae_, commissionem - hanc decretalem e suis manibus credat. (Ibid. p. 105.) By no - engagement could he be induced, to trust out of his hands, to me, his - colleague that decretal commission. - -It was evident that the pope in granting the bull had been acting a -part: this trick revolted the king. It was no longer anger that he -felt, but disgust. Wolsey knew that Henry's contempt was more to be -feared than his wrath. He grew alarmed, and paid the nuncio another -visit. "The _general_ commission," he said, "is insufficient, the -_decretal_ commission alone can be of service, and you do not permit -us to read a word of it.[884]... The king and I place the greatest -confidence in the good intentions of his holiness, and yet we find our -expectations frustrated.[885] Where is that paternal affection with -which we had flattered ourselves? What prince has ever been trifled -with as the king of England is now? If this is the way in which the -_Defender of the Faith_ is rewarded, Christendom will know what those -who serve Rome will have to expect from her, and every power will -withdraw its support. Do not deceive yourselves: the foundation on -which the holy see is placed is so very insecure that the least -movement will suffice to precipitate it into everlasting ruin.[886] -What a sad futurity!... what inexpressible torture!... whether I wake -or sleep, gloomy thoughts continually pursue me like a frightful -nightmare."[887] This time Wolsey spoke the truth. - - [884] Nec ullum verbum nec mentionem ullam. Ibid. - - [885] Esse omnni spe frustratos quam in praefata Sanctitate tam ingenue - reposueramus. Ibid. - - [886] A fundamento tam levi, incertaque statera pendeat, ut in - sempiternam ruinam. State Papers, vii, p. 106. - - [887] Quanto animi cruciatu ... vigilans dormiensque. Ibid. p. 108. - -[Sidenote: THE NUNCIO REFUSES EVERYTHING.] - -But all his eloquence was useless; Campeggio refused to give up the so -much desired bull. When sending him, Rome had told him: "Above all, do -not succeed!" This means having failed, there remained for Wolsey one -other way of effecting the divorce. "Well, then," he said to -Campeggio, "let us pronounce it ourselves."--"Far be it from us," -replied the nuncio; "the anger of the emperor will be so great, that -the peace of Europe will be broken for ever."--"I know how to arrange -all that," replied the English cardinal, "in political matters you may -trust to me."[888] The nuncio then took another tone, and proudly -wrapping himself up in his morality, he said: "I shall follow the -voice of my conscience; if I see that the divorce is possible, I shall -leap the ditch; if otherwise, I shall not."--"Your conscience! that -may be easily satisfied," rejoined Wolsey. "Holy Scripture forbids a -man to marry his brother's widow; now no pope can grant what is -forbidden by the law of God."--"The Lord preserve us from such a -principle," exclaimed the Roman prelate; "the power of the pope is -unlimited."--The nuncio had hardly put his conscience forward before -it stumbled; it bound him to Rome and not to heaven. But for that -matter, neither public opinion nor Campeggio's own friends had any -great idea of his morality; they thought that to make him _leap the -ditch_, it was only requisite to know the price at which he might be -bought. The bishop of Bayonne wrote to Montmorency: "Put at the close -of a letter which I can show Campeggio something _promissory_, that he -shall have _benefices_.... That will cost you nothing, and may serve -in this matter of the marriage; for I know that he is longing for -something of the sort."--"What is to be done then," said Wolsey at -last, astonished at meeting with a resistance to which he was -unaccustomed. "I shall inform the pope of what I have seen and heard," -replied Campeggio, "and I shall wait for his instructions." Henry was -forced to consent to this new course, for the nuncio hinted, that if -it were opposed he would go in person to Rome to ask the pontiff's -orders, and he never would have returned. By this means several months -were gained. - - [888] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 266. - -[Sidenote: THE PEOPLE SUPPORT CATHERINE.] - -During this time men's minds were troubled. The prospect of a divorce -between the king and queen had stirred the nation; and the majority, -particularly among the women, declared against the king. "Whatever may -be done," the people said boldly, "whoever marries the princess Mary -will be king of England."[889] Wolsey's spies informed him that -Catherine and Charles V had many devoted partizans even at the court. -He wished to make sure of this. "It is pretended," he said one day in -an indifferent tone, "that the emperor has boasted that he will get -the king driven from his realm, and that by his majesty's own -subjects.... What do you think of it, my lords?"--"Tough against the -spur," says Du Bellay, the lords remained silent. At length, however, -one of them more imprudent than the rest, exclaimed: "Such a boast -will make the emperor lose more than a hundred thousand Englishmen." -This was enough for Wolsey. To _lose_ them, he thought, Charles must -_have_ them. If Catherine thought of levying war against her husband, -following the example of former queens of England, she would have, -then, a party ready to support her; this became dangerous. - - [889] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 8th November 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 204. - -The king and the cardinal immediately took their measures. More than -15,000 of Charles's subjects were ordered to leave London; the arms of -the citizens were seized, "in order that they might have no worse -weapon than the tongue;"[890] the Flemish councillors accorded to -Catherine were dismissed after they had been heard by the king and -Campeggio, "for they had no commission to speak to _the other_ -[Wolsey]"--and finally, they kept "a great and constant watch" upon -the country. Men feared an invasion of England, and Henry was not of a -humour to subject his kingdom to the pope. - - [890] Ibid. p. 232. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S SPEECH.] - -This was not enough; the alarmed king thought it his duty to come to -an explanation with his people; and having summoned the lords -spiritual and temporal, the judges, the members of the privy-council, -the mayor and aldermen of the city, and many of the gentry, to meet -him at his palace of Bridewell on the 13th of November,[891] he said -to them with a very condescending air: "You know, my lords and -gentlemen, that for these twenty years past divine Providence has -granted our country such prosperity as it had never known before. But -in the midst of all the glory that surrounds me, the thought of my -last hour often occurs to me,[892] and I fear that if I should die -without an heir, my death would cause more damage to my people than my -life has done them good. God forbid, that for want of a legitimate -king England should be again plunged into the horrors of civil war!" -Then calling to mind the illegalities invalidating his marriage with -Catherine, the king continued: "These thoughts have filled my mind -with anxiety, and are continually pricking my conscience. This is the -only motive, and God is my witness,[893] which has made me lay this -matter before the pontiff. As touching the queen, she is a woman -incomparable in gentleness, humility, and buxomness, as I these twenty -years have had experiment of; so that if I were to marry again, if the -marriage might be good, I would surely choose her above all other -women. But if it be determined by judgment that our marriage was -against God's law, and surely void, then I shall not only sorrow in -departing from so good a lady and loving companion, but much more -lament and bewail my unfortunate chance, that I have so long lived in -adultery, to God's great displeasure, and have no true heir of my body -to inherit this realm.... Therefore I require of you all to pray with -us that the very truth may be known, for the discharging of our -conscience and the saving of our soul."[894] These words, though -wanting in sincerity, were well calculated to soothe men's minds. -Unfortunately, it appears that after this _speech from the crown_, the -official copy of which has been preserved, Henry added a few words of -his own. "If, however," he said, according to Du Bellay, casting a -threatening glance around him, "there should be any man whatsoever who -speaks of his prince in other than becoming terms, I will show him -that I am the master, and there is no head so high that I will not -roll it from his shoulders."[895] This was a speech in Henry's style; -but we cannot give unlimited credit to Du Bellay's assertions, this -diplomatist being very fond, like others of his class, of "seasoning" -his despatches. But whatever may be the fact as regards the -postscript, the speech on the divorce produced an effect. From that -time there were no more jests, not even on the part of the Boleyns' -enemies. Some supported the king, others were content to pity the -queen in secret; the majority prepared to take advantage of a -court-revolution which every one foresaw. "The king _so plainly_ gave -them to understand his pleasure," says the French ambassador, "that -they speak more soberly than they have done hitherto." - - [891] This act is dated Idibus Novembris. Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. - 714. Herbert and Collyer say the 8th November. - - [892] In mentem una venit et concurrit mortis cogitatio. Ibid. - - [893] Haec una res quod Deo teste et in regis oraculo affirmamus. - Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 714. - - [894] Hall, p. 754. - - [895] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 17th November 1528. Le Grand, Preuves, - p. 218. - -[Sidenote: DU BELLAY SOLICITS CAMPEGGIO.] - -Henry wishing to silence the clamours of the people, and to allay the -fears felt by the higher classes, gave several magnificent -entertainments at one time in London, at another at Greenwich, now at -Hampton Court, and then at Richmond. The queen accompanied him, but -Anne generally remained "in a very handsome lodging which Henry had -furnished for her," says Du Bellay. The cardinal, following his -master's example, gave representations of French plays with great -magnificence. All his hope was in France. "I desire nothing in -England, neither in word nor in deed, which is not French,"[896] he -said to the bishop of Bayonne. At length Anne Boleyn had accepted the -brilliant position she had at first refused, and every day her stately -mansion (Suffolk House) was filled with a numerous court,--"more than -ever had crowded to the queen."--"Yes, yes," said Du Bellay, as he saw -the crowd turning towards the _rising sun_, "they wish by these -_little_ things to accustom the people to endure her, that when -_great_ ones are attempted, they may not be found so strange." - - [896] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 1st January. Le Grand, p. 268. - -[Sidenote: TRUE CATHOLICITY.] - -In the midst of these festivities the grand business did not slumber. -When the French ambassador solicited the subsidy intended for the -ransom of the sons of Francis I, the cardinal required of him in -exchange a paper proving that the marriage had never been valid. Du -Bellay excused himself on the ground of his age and want of learning; -but being given to understand that he could not have the subsidy -without it, he wrote the memoir in a single day. The enraptured -cardinal and king entreated him to speak with Campeggio.[897] The -ambassador consented, and succeeded beyond all expectation. The -nuncio, fully aware that a bow too much bent will break, made Henry by -turns become the sport of hope and fear. "Take care how you assert -that the pope had not the right to grant a dispensation to the king," -said he to the French bishop, "this would be denying _his power, which -is infinite_. But," added he in a mysterious tone, "I will point out a -road that will infallibly lead you to the mark. Show that the holy -father has been deceived by false information. _Push me hard on -that_," he continued "so as to force me to declare that the -dispensation was granted on erroneous grounds."[898] Thus did the -legate himself reveal the breach by which the fortress might be -surprised. "Victory!" exclaimed Henry, as he entered Anne's apartments -all beaming with joy. - - [897] Ibid. p. 200. - - [898] Poussez-moi cela raide. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, - Preuves, p. 217. - -But this confidence on the part of Campeggio was only a new trick. -"There is a great rumour at court," wrote Du Bellay soon after, "that -the emperor and the king of France are coming together, and leaving -Henry alone, so that all will fall on his shoulders."[899] Wolsey, -finding that the intrigues of diplomacy had failed, thought it his -duty to put fresh springs in motion, "and by all good and honest means -to gain the pope's favour."[900] He saw, besides, to his great sorrow, -the new catholicity then forming in the world, and uniting, by the -closest bonds, the Christians of England to those of the continent. To -strike down one of the leaders of this evangelical movement might -incline the court of Rome in Henry's favour. The cardinal undertook, -therefore, to persecute Tyndale; and this resolution will now -transport us to Germany. - - [899] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 219. - - [900] Ibid. p. 225. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - True Catholicity--Wolsey--Harman's Matter--West sent to - Cologne--Labours of Tyndale and Fryth--Rincke at - Frankfort--He makes a Discovery--Tyndale at Marburg--West - returns to England--His Tortures in the Monastery. - - -The residence of Tyndale and his friends in foreign countries, and the -connections there formed with pious Christians, testify to the -fraternal spirit which the Reformation then restored to the church. It -is in protestantism that true catholicity is to be found. The Romish -church is not a catholic church. Separated from the churches of the -east, which are the oldest in Christendom, and from the reformed -churches, which are the purest, it is nothing but a sect, and that a -degenerated one. A church which should profess to believe in an -episcopal unity, but which kept itself separate from the episcopacy of -Rome and of the East, and from the evangelical churches, would be no -longer a catholic church; it would be a sect more sectarian still than -that of the Vatican, a fragment of a fragment. The church of the -Saviour requires a truer, a diviner unity than that of priests, who -condemn one another. It was the reformers, and particularly -Tyndale,[901] who proclaimed throughout Christendom the existence of a -_body of Christ_, of which all the children of God are members. The -disciples of the Reformation are the true catholics. - - [901] The Church of Christ is the multitude of all them that believe - in Christ, etc. Exposition of Matthew, Prologue. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S CATHOLICITY.] - -It was a catholicity of another sort that Wolsey desired to uphold. He -did not reject certain reforms in the church, particularly such as -brought him any profit; but, before all, he wished to preserve for the -hierarchy their privileges and uniformity. The Romish Church in -England was then personified in him, and if he fell, its ruin would be -near. His political talents and multiplied relations with the -continent, caused him to discern more clearly than others the dangers -which threatened the popedom. The publication of the Scriptures of God -in English appeared to some a cloud without importance, which would -soon disappear from the horizon; but to the foreseeing glance of -Wolsey, it betokened a mighty tempest. Besides, he loved not the -fraternal relations then forming between the evangelical Christians of -Great Britain and of other nations. Annoyed by this spiritual -catholicity, he resolved to procure the arrest of Tyndale, who was its -principal organ. - -Already had Hackett, Henry's envoy to the Low Countries, caused the -imprisonment of Harman, an Antwerp merchant, one of the principal -supporters of the English reformer. But Hackett had in vain asked -Wolsey for such documents as would convict him of _treason_ (for the -crime of loving the Bible was not sufficient to procure Harman's -condemnation in Brabant); the envoy had remained without letters from -England, and the last term fixed by the law having expired, Harman and -his wife were liberated after seven months' imprisonment. - -And yet Wolsey had not been inactive. The cardinal hoped to find -elsewhere the co-operation which Margaret of Austria refused. It was -Tyndale that he wanted, and everything seemed to indicate that he was -then hidden at Cologne or in its neighbourhood. Wolsey, recollecting -senator Rincke and the services he had already performed, determined -to send to him one John West, a friar of the Franciscan convent at -Greenwich. West, a somewhat narrow-minded but energetic man, was very -desirous of distinguishing himself, and he had already gained some -notoriety in England among the adversaries of the Reformation. -Flattered by his mission, this vain monk immediately set off for -Antwerp, accompanied by another friar, in order to seize Tyndale, and -even Roy, once his colleague at Greenwich, and against whom he had -there ineffectually contended in argument. - -While these men were conspiring his ruin, Tyndale composed several -works, got them printed, and sent to England, and prayed God night and -day to enlighten his fellow-countrymen. "Why do give you give yourself -so much trouble," said some of his friends. "They will burn your books -as they have burnt the Gospel." "They will only do what I expect," -replied he, "if they burn me also." Already he beheld his own burning -pile in the distance; but it was a sight which only served to increase -his zeal. Hidden, like Luther at the Wartburg, not however in a -castle, but in a humble lodging, Tyndale, like the Saxon reformer, -spent his days and nights translating the Bible. But not having an -elector of Saxony to protect him, he was forced to change his -residence from time to time. - -[Sidenote: GENESIS AND DEUTERONOMY TRANSLATED.] - -At this epoch, Fryth, who had escaped from the prisons of Oxford, -rejoined Tyndale, and the sweets of friendship softened the bitterness -of their exile. Tyndale having finished the New Testament, and begun -the translation of the Old, the learned Fryth was of great use to him. -The more they studied the word of God, the more they admired it. In -the beginning of 1529, they published the books of Genesis and -Deuteronomy, and addressing their fellow-countrymen, they said: "As -thou readest, think that every syllable pertaineth to thine own self, -and suck out the pith of the Scripture."[902] Then denying that -visible signs naturally impart grace, as the schoolmen had pretended, -Tyndale maintained that the sacraments are effectual only when the -Holy Ghost sheds his influence upon them. "The ceremonies of the Law," -he wrote, "stood the Israelites in the same stead as the sacraments do -us. We are saved not by the power of the sacrifice or the deed itself, -but by virtue of _faith in the promise_, whereof the sacrifice or -ceremony was a token or sign. The Holy Ghost is no dumb God, no God -that goeth a mumming. Wherever the word is proclaimed, this inward -witness worketh. If baptism preach me the washing in Christ's blood, -so doth the Holy Ghost accompany it; and that deed of preaching -through faith doth put away my sins. The ark of Noah saved them in the -water through faith."[903] - - [902] Prologue to the Book of Genesis (Doctr. Tr.) p. 400. - - [903] Prologue to the Book of Leviticus (Doctr. Tr.) p. 423, 424, - 426. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE SOUGHT AT FRANKFORT.] - -The man who dared address England in language so contrary to the -teaching of the middle ages must be imprisoned. John West, who had -been sent with this object, arrived at Antwerp; Hackett procured for -him as interpreter a friar of English descent, made him assume a -secular dress, and gave him "three pounds" on the cardinal's account; -the less attention the embassy attracted, the more likely it would be -to succeed. But great was West's vexation, on reaching Cologne, to -learn that Rincke was at Frankfort. But that mattered not; the -Greenwich monk could search for Tyndale at Cologne, and desire Rincke -to do the same at Frankfort; thus there would be two searches instead -of one. West procured a "swift" messenger, (he too was a monk,) and -gave him the letter Wolsey had addressed to Rincke. - -It was fair-time at Frankfort, and the city was filled with merchants -and their wares. As soon as Rincke had finished reading Wolsey's -letter, he hastened to the burgomasters, and required them to -confiscate the English translations of the Scriptures, and, above all, -to seize "the heretic who was troubling England as Luther troubled -Germany." "Tyndale and his friends have not appeared in our fairs -since the month of March 1528," replied the magistrates, "and we know -not whether they are dead or alive." - -Rincke was not discouraged. John Schoot of Strasburg, who was said to -have printed Tyndale's books, and who cared less about the works he -published than the money he drew from them, happened to be at -Frankfort. "Where is Tyndale?" Rincke asked him. "I do not know," -replied the printer; but he confessed that he had printed a thousand -volumes at the request of Tyndale and Roy. "Bring them to me," -continued the senator of Cologne--"If a fair price is paid me, I will -give them up to you." Rincke paid all that was demanded. - -Wolsey would now be gratified, for the New Testament annoyed him -almost as much as the divorce; this book, so dangerous in his eyes, -seemed on the point of raising a conflagration which would infallibly -consume the edifice of Roman traditionalism. Rincke, who participated -in his patron's fears, impatiently opened the volumes made over to -him; but there was a sad mistake, they were not the New Testament, not -even a work of Tyndale's, but one written by William Roy, a changeable -and violent man, whom the reformer had employed for some time at -Hamburg, and who had followed him to Cologne, but with whom he had -soon become disgusted. "I bade him farewell for our two lives," said -Tyndale, "and a day longer." Roy, on quitting the reformer, had gone -to Strasburg, where he boasted of his relations with him, and had got -a satire in that city printed against Wolsey and the monastic orders, -entitled _The Burial of the Mass_: this was the book delivered to -Rincke. The monk's sarcastic spirit had exceeded the legitimate bounds -of controversy, and the senator accordingly dared not send the volumes -to England. He did not however discontinue his inquiries, but searched -every place where he thought he could discover the New Testament, and -having seized all the suspected volumes, set off for Cologne.[904] - - [904] Anderson, Annals of the Bible, i. p. 203: "I gathered together - and packed up all the books from every quarter." - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE AT MARBURG.] - -Yet he was not satisfied. He wanted Tyndale, and went about asking -every one if they knew where to find him. But the reformer, whom he -was seeking in so many places, and especially at Frankfort and -Cologne, chanced to be residing at about equal distances from these -two towns, so that Rincke, while travelling from one to the other, -might have met him face to face, as Ahab's messenger met Elijah.[905] -Tyndale was at Marburg, whither he had been drawn by several motives. -Prince Philip of Hesse was the great protector of the evangelical -doctrines. The university had attracted attention in the Reform by the -paradoxes of Lambert of Avignon. Here a young Scotchman named -Hamilton, afterwards illustrious as a martyr, had studied shortly -before, and here too the celebrated printer, John Luft, had his -presses. In this city Tyndale and Fryth had taken up their abode, in -September 1528, and, hidden on the quiet banks of the Lahn, were -translating the Old Testament. If Rincke had searched this place he -could not have failed to discover them. But either he thought not of -it, or was afraid of the terrible landgrave. The direct road by the -Rhine was that which he followed, and Tyndale escaped. - - [905] I Kings xviii, 7. - -When he arrived at Cologne, Rincke had an immediate interview with -West. Their investigations having failed, they must have recourse to -more vigorous measures. The senator, therefore, sent the monk back to -England, accompanied by his son Hermann, charging them to tell Wolsey: -"To seize Tyndale we require fuller powers, ratified by the emperor. -The traitors who conspire against the life of the king of England are -not tolerated in the empire, much less Tyndale and all those who -conspire against Christendom. He must be put to death; nothing but -some striking example can check the Lutheran heresy.--And as to -ourselves," they were told to add, "by the favour of God there may -possibly be an opportunity for his royal highness and your grace to -recompense us."[906] Rincke had not forgotten the subsidy of ten -thousand pounds which he had received from Henry VII for the Turkish -war, when he had gone to London as Maximilian's envoy. - - [906] Cotton MSS. Vitellius, B, xxi. fol. 43. Bible Annals, i, p. 204. - -[Sidenote: WEST'S ANNOYANCES.] - -West returned to England sorely vexed that he had failed in his -mission. What would they say at court and in his monastery? A fresh -humiliation was in reserve for him. Roy, whom West had gone to look -for on the banks of the Rhine, had paid a visit to his mother on the -banks of the Thames; and to crown all, the new doctrines had -penetrated into his own convent. The warden, father Robinson, had -embraced them, and night and day the Greenwich monks read that New -Testament which West had gone to Cologne to burn. The Antwerp friar, -who had accompanied him on his journey, was the only person to whom he -could confide his sorrows; but the Franciscans sent him back again to -the continent, and then amused themselves at poor West's expense. If -he desired to tell of his adventures on the banks of the Rhine, he was -laughed at; if he boasted of the names of Wolsey and Henry VIII, they -jeered him still more. He desired to speak to Roy's mother, hoping to -gain some useful information from her; this the monks prevented. "It -is in my commission," he said. They ridiculed him more and more. -Robinson, perceiving that the commission made West assume unbecoming -airs of independence, requested Wolsey to withdraw it; and West, -fancying he was about to be thrown into prison, exclaimed in alarm: "I -am weary of my life!" and conjured a friend whom he had at court to -procure him before Christmas an _obedience_ under his lordship's hand -and seal, enabling him to leave the monastery; "What you pay him for -it," he added, "I shall see you be reimbursed." Thus did West expiate -the fanatical zeal which had urged him to pursue the translator of the -oracles of God. What became of him, we know not: he is never heard of -more. - -At that time Wolsey had other matters to engage him than this -"obedience." While West's complaints were going to London, those of -the king were travelling to Rome. The great business in the cardinal's -eyes was to maintain harmony between Henry and the church. There was -no more thought about investigations in Germany, and for a time -Tyndale was saved. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Necessity of the Reformation--Wolsey's Earnestness with Da - Casale--An Audience with Clement VII--Cruel Position of the - Pope--A Judas' Kiss--A new Brief--Bryan and Vannes sent to - Rome--Henry and Du Bellay--Wolsey's Reasons against the - Brief--Excitement in London--Metamorphosis--Wolsey's - Decline--His Anguish. - - -[Sidenote: NECESSITY OF THE REFORMATION.] - -The king and a part of his people still adhered to the popedom, and so -long as these bonds were not broken the word of God could not have -free course. But to induce England to renounce Rome, there must indeed -be powerful motives: and these were not wanting. - -Wolsey had never given such pressing orders to any of Henry's -ambassadors: "The king," he wrote to Da Casale on the 1st of November -1528, "commits this business to your prudence, dexterity, and -fidelity; and I conjure you to employ all the powers of your genius, -and even to surpass them. Be very sure that you have done nothing and -can do nothing that will be more agreeable to the king, more desirable -by me, and more useful and glorious for you and your family."[907] - - [907] Vobis vestraeque familiae utilius aut honorificentius. State - Papers, vii, p. 114. - -[Sidenote: CLEMENT BETWEEN CHARLES AND HENRY.] - -Da Casale possessed a tenacity which justified the cardinal's -confidence, and an active excitable mind: trembling at the thought of -seeing Rome lose England, he immediately requested an audience of -Clement VII. "What!" said he to the pope, "just as it was proposed to -go on with the divorce, your nuncio endeavours to dissuade the -king!... There is no hope that Catherine of Aragon will ever give an -heir to the crown. Holy father, there must be an end of this. Order -Campeggio to place the _decretal_ in his majesty's hands."--"What say -you?" exclaimed the pope. "I would gladly lose one of my fingers to -recover it again, and you ask me to make it public ... it would be my -ruin."[908] Da Casale insisted: "we have a duty to perform," he said; -"we remind you at this last hour of the perils threatening the -relations which unite Rome and England. The crisis is at hand. We -knock at your door, we cry, we urge, we entreat, we lay before you the -present and future dangers which threaten the papacy.[909]... The -world shall know that the king at least has fulfilled the duty of a -devoted son of the church. If your holiness desires to keep England in -St. Peter's fold, I repeat ... now is the time ... now is the -time."[910] At these words, Da Casale, unable to restrain his emotion, -fell down at the pope's feet, and begged him to save the church in -Great Britain. The pope was moved. "Rise," said he, with marks of -unwonted grief,[911] "I grant you all that is in my power; I am -willing to confirm the judgment which the legates may think it their -duty to pass; but I acquit myself of all responsibility as to the -untold evils which this matter may bring with it.... If the king, -after having defended the faith and the church, desires to ruin both, -on him alone will rest the responsibility of so great a disaster." -Clement granted nothing. Da Casale withdrew disheartened, and feeling -convinced that the pontiff was about to treat with Charles V. - - [908] Burnet, Records, ii. p. 20. Unius digiti jactura....quod factum - fuit revocarem. - - [909] Admonere, exclamare, rogare, instare, urgere, pulsare, pericula - praesentia et futura demonstrare. State Papers, vii, p. 112. - - [910] Tempus jam in promptu adest. State Papers, vii. p. 112. - - [911] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 44. Records, p. xx. - -Wolsey desired to save the popedom; but the popedom resisted. Clement -VII was about to lose that island which Gregory the Great had won with -such difficulty. The pope was in the most cruel position. The English -envoy had hardly left the palace before the emperor's ambassador -entered breathing threats. The unhappy pontiff escaped the assaults of -Henry only to be exposed to those of Charles; he was thrown backwards -and forwards like a ball. "I shall assemble a general council," said -the emperor through his ambassador, "and if you are found to have -infringed the canons of the church in any point, you shall be -proceeded against with every rigour. Do not forget," added his agent -in a low tone, "that your birth is _illegitimate_, and consequently -excludes you from the pontificate." The timid Clement, imagining that -he saw the tiara falling from his head, swore to refuse Henry every -thing. "Alas!" he said to one of his dearest confidants, "I repent in -dust and ashes that I ever granted this decretal bull. If the king of -England so earnestly desires it to be given him, certainly it cannot -be merely to know its contents. He is but too familiar with them. It -is only to tie my hands in this matter of the divorce; I would rather -die a thousand deaths." Clement, to calm his agitation, sent one of -his ablest gentlemen of the bed-chamber, Francis Campana, apparently -to feed the king with fresh promises, but in reality to cut the only -thread on which Henry's hopes still hung. "We embrace your majesty," -wrote the pope in the letter given to Campana, "with the paternal -love your numerous merits deserve."[912] Now Campana was sent to -England to burn clandestinely the famous decretal;[913] Clement -concealed his blows by an embrace. Rome had granted many divorces not -so well founded as that of Henry VIII; but a very different matter -from a divorce was in question here; the pope, desirous of upraising -in Italy his shattered power, was about to sacrifice the Tudor, and to -prepare the triumph of the Reformation. Rome was separating herself -from England. - - [912] Nos illum paterna charitate complecti, ut sua erga nos atque - hanc sedem plurima merita requirunt. State Papers, vii. 116. - - [913] To charge Campegius to burn the decretal. Herbert, p. 250. - Burnet's Ref. i, 47. - -[Sidenote: SECRET BRIEF OF JULIUS II.] - -All Clement's fear was, that Campana would arrive too late to burn the -bull; he was soon reassured; a dead calm prevented the _great matter_ -from advancing. Campeggio, who took care to be in no hurry about his -mission, gave himself up, like a skilful diplomatist, to his worldly -tastes; and when he could not, due respect being had to the state of -his legs, indulge in the chase, of which he was very fond, he passed -his time in gambling, to which he was much addicted. Respectable -historians assert that he indulged in still more illicit -pleasures.[914] But this could not last for ever, and the nuncio -sought some new means of delay, which offered itself in the most -unexpected manner. One day an officer of the queen's presented to the -Roman legate a _brief_ of Julius II, bearing the same date as the -_bull_ of dispensation, signed too, like that, by the secretary -Sigismond, and in which the pope expressed himself in such a manner, -that Henry's objections fell of themselves. "The emperor," said -Catherine's messenger, "has discovered this brief among the papers of -Puebla, the Spanish ambassador in England, at the time of the -marriage."--"It is impossible to go on," said Campeggio to Wolsey; -"all your reasoning is now cut from under you. _We must wait for fresh -instructions._" This was the cardinal's conclusion at every new -incident, and the journey from London to the Vatican being very long -(without reckoning the Roman dilatoriness), the expedient was -infallible. - - [914] Hunting and gaming all the day long, and following harlots all - the night. Ibid. p. 52. - -Thus there existed two acts of the same pope, signed on the same -day--the one secret, the other public, in contradiction to each other. -Henry determined to send a new mission to Rome. Anne proposed for this -embassy one of the most accomplished gentlemen of the court, her -cousin, Sir Francis Bryan. With him was joined an Italian, Peter -Vannes, Henry's Latin secretary. "You will search all the registers of -the time of Julius II," said Wolsey to them; "you will study the -hand-writing of secretary Sigismond, and you will attentively examine -the ring of the fisherman used by that pontiff.[915]--Moreover you -will inform the pope that it is proposed to set a certain greyfriar, -named De Angelis, in his place, to whom Charles would give the -_spiritual_ authority, reserving the _temporal_ for himself. You will -manage so that Clement takes alarm at the project, and you will then -offer him a guard of 2000 men to protect him. You will ask whether, in -case the queen should desire to embrace a religious life, on condition -of the king's doing the same, and Henry should yield to this -wish,[916] he could have the assurance that the pope would afterwards -release him from his vows. And, finally, you will inquire whether, in -case the queen should refuse to enter a convent, the pope would permit -the king to have _two wives_, as we see in the Old Testament."[917] -The idea which has brought so much reproach on the landgrave of Hesse -was not a new one; the honour of it belongs to a cardinal and legate -of Rome, whatever Bossuet may say. "Lastly," continued Wolsey, "as the -pope is of a timid disposition, you will not fail to season your -remonstrances with threats. You, Peter, will take him aside and tell -him that, as an Italian, having more at heart than any one the glory -of the holy see, it is your duty to warn him, that if he persists, the -king, his realm, and many other princes, will for ever separate from -the papacy." - - [915] State Papers, vii. p. 126, note. - - [916] Only thereby to conduce the queen thereunto. Ibid. p. 136, note. - -[917] De duabus uxoribus. Henry's Instructions to Knight, in the - middle of December 1528. Ibid. p. 137. Some great reasons and - precedents of the Old Testament appear. Instructions to same, 1st Dec. - Ibid. p. 136, note. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S CONFERENCE WITH DU BELLAY.] - -It was not on the mind of the pope alone that it was necessary to act; -the rumour that the emperor and the king of France were treating -together disturbed Henry. Wolsey had vainly tried to sound Du Bellay; -these two priests tried craft against craft. Besides, the Frenchman -was not always seasonably informed by his court, letters taking _ten -days_ to come from Paris to London.[918] Henry resolved to have a -conference with the ambassador. He began by speaking to him of _his -matter_, says Du Bellay, "and I promise you," he added, "that he needs -no advocate, he understands the whole business so well." Henry next -touched upon the _wrongs_ of Francis I, "recalling so many things that -the envoy knew not what to say."--"I pray you, Master Ambassador," -said Henry in conclusion, "to beg the king, my brother, to give up a -little of his amusements during a year only for the prompt despatch of -his affairs. Warn those whom it concerns." Having given this spur to -the king of France, Henry turned his thoughts towards Rome. - - [918] La dite lettre du roi, combien qu'elle fut du 3, je l'ai recue - sinon le 13; le pareil m'advint quasi de toutes autres. Du Bellay to - Montmorency, 20th Dec. Le Grand, Preuves. - -[Sidenote: NON-AUTHENTICITY OF THE BRIEF.] - -In truth, the fatal brief from Spain tormented him day and night, and -the cardinal tortured his mind to find proofs of its non-authenticity; -if he could do so, he would acquit the papacy of the charge of -duplicity, and accuse the emperor of forgery. At last he thought he -had succeeded. "In the first place," he said to the king, "the brief -has the same date as the bull. Now, if the errors in the latter had -been found out on the day it was drawn up, it would have been more -natural to make another than to append a brief pointing out the -errors. What! the same pope, the same day, at the petition of the same -persons, give out two rescripts for one effect,[919] one of which -contradicts the other! Either the bull was good, and then, why the -brief? or the bull was bad, and then, why deceive princes by a -worthless bull? Many names are found in the brief incorrectly spelt, -and these are faults which the pontifical secretary, whose accuracy is -so well known, could not have committed.[920] Lastly, no one in -England ever heard mention of this brief; and yet it is here that it -ought to be found." Henry charged Knight, his principal secretary, to -join the other envoys with all speed, in order to prove to the pope -the supposititious character of the document. - - [919] State Papers, vol. vii. p. 130. - - [920] Queen _Isabella_ was called _Elizabeth_ in the brief; but I have - seen a document from the court of Madrid in which Queen Elizabeth of - England was called Isabella; it is not therefore an error without a - parallel. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TROUBLE.] - -This important paper revived the irritation felt in England against -Charles V, and it was resolved to come to extremities. Every one -discontented with Austria took refuge in London, particularly the -Hungarians. The ambassador from Hungary proposed to Wolsey to adjudge -the imperial crown of Germany to the elector of Saxony or the -landgrave of Hesse, the two chiefs of protestantism.[921] Wolsey -exclaimed in alarm: "It will be an inconvenience to Christendom, _they -are so Lutheran_." But the Hungarian ambassador so satisfied him that -in the end he did not find the matter quite so inconvenient. These -schemes were prospering in London, when suddenly a new metamorphosis -took place under the eyes of Du Bellay. The king, the cardinal, and -the ministers appeared in strange consternation. Vincent da Casale had -just arrived from Rome with a letter from his cousin the prothonatory, -informing Henry that the pope, seeing the triumph of Charles V, the -indecision of Francis I, the isolation of the king of England, and -the distress of his cardinal, had flung himself into the arms of the -emperor. At Rome they went so far as to jest about Wolsey, and to say -that since he could not be St. Peter they would make him St. Paul. - - [921] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 12 Jan. 1529. Le Grand, Preuves, p. - 279. - -While they were ridiculing Wolsey at Rome, at St. Germain's, they were -joking about Henry. "I will make him get rid of the notions he has in -his head," said Francis; and the Flemings, who were again sent out of -the country, said as they left London, "that this year they would -carry on the war so vigorously, that it would be really a sight worth -seeing." - -Besides these public griefs, Wolsey had his private ones. Anne Boleyn, -who had already begun to use her influence on behalf of the despotic -cardinal's victims, gave herself no rest until Cheyney, a courtier -disgraced by Wolsey, had been restored to the king's favour. Anne even -gave utterance to several biting sarcasms against the cardinal, and -the duke of Norfolk and his party began "to speak big," says Du -Bellay. At the moment when the pope, scared by Charles V, was -separating from England, Wolsey himself was tottering. Who shall -uphold the papacy?... After Wolsey, nobody! Rome was on the point of -losing the power which for nine centuries she had exercised in the -bosom of this illustrious nation. The cardinal's anguish cannot be -described; unceasingly pursued by gloomy images, he saw Anne on the -throne causing the triumph of the Reformation: this nightmare was -stifling him. "His grace, the legate, is in great trouble," wrote the -bishop of Bayonne. "However ... he is more cunning than they -are."[922] - -To still the tempest Wolsey had only one resource left: this was to -render Clement favourable to his master's designs. The crafty Campana, -who had burnt the decretal, conjured him not to believe all the -reports transmitted to him concerning Rome. "To satisfy the king," -said he to the cardinal, "the holy father will, if necessary, descend -from the pontifical throne."[923] Wolsey therefore resolved to send to -Rome a more energetic agent than Vannes, Bryan, or Knight, and cast -his eyes on Gardiner. His courage began to revive, when an unexpected -event fanned once more his loftiest hopes. - - [922] Le Grand, Preuves, p. 295, 296. - - [923] Burnet, Hist. Ref. vol. i. p. 60. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - The Pope's Illness--Wolsey's Desire--Conference about the - Members of the Conclave--Wolsey's Instructions--The Pope - recovers--Speech of the English Envoys to the Pope--Clement - willing to abandon England--The English demand the Pope's - Denial of the Brief--Wolsey's Alarm--Intrigues--Bryan's - clearsightedness--Henry's Threats--Wolsey's new Efforts--He - calls for an Appeal to Rome, and retracts--Wolsey and Du - Bellay at Richmond--The Ship of the State. - - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S ILLNESS.] - -On the 6th of January 1529, the feast of Epiphany, just as the pope -was performing mass, he was attacked by a sudden illness; he was taken -to his room, apparently in a dying state. When this news reached -London, the cardinal resolved to hasten to abandon England, where the -soil trembled under his feet, and to climb boldly to the throne of the -pontiffs. Bryan and Vannes, then at Florence, hurried on to Rome -through roads infested with robbers. At Orvieto they were informed the -pope was better; at Viterbo, no one knew whether he was alive or dead; -at Ronciglione, they were assured that he had expired; and, finally, -when they reached the metropolis of the popedom, they learnt that -Clement could not survive, and that the imperialists, supported by the -Colonnas, were striving to have a pope devoted to Charles V.[924] - - [924] State Papers, vii. p. 143-150. - -[Sidenote: PARTIES AMONG THE CARDINALS.] - -But great as might be the agitation at Rome, it was greater still at -Whitehall. If God caused De' Medici to descend from the pontifical -throne, it could only be, thought Wolsey, to make him mount it. "It is -expedient to have such a pope as may save the realm," said he to -Gardiner. "And although it cannot but be incommodious to me in this -mine old age to be the common father, yet, when all things be well -pondered, the qualities of all the cardinals well considered, I am the -only one, without boasting, that can and will remedy the king's secret -matter. And were it not for the redintegration of the state of the -church, and especially to relieve the king and his realm from their -calamities, all the riches and honour of the world should not cause me -to accept the said dignity. Nevertheless I conform myself to the -necessities of the times. Wherefore, Master Stephen, that this matter -may succeed, I pray you to apply all your ingenuity, spare neither -money nor labour. I give you the amplest powers, without restriction -or limitation."[925] Gardiner departed to win for his master the -coveted tiara. - - [925] Foxe, Acts, iv. p. 601. - -Henry VIII and Wolsey, who could hardly restrain their impatience, -soon heard of the pontiff's death from different quarters.[926] "The -emperor has taken away Clement's life,"[927] said Wolsey, blinded by -hatred. "Charles," rejoined the king, "will endeavour to obtain by -force or fraud, a pope according to his desires." "Yes, to make him -his chaplain," replied Wolsey, "and to put an end by degrees both to -pope and popedom."[928] "We must fly to the defence of the church," -resumed Henry, "and with that view, my lord, make up your mind to be -pope."--"That alone," answered the cardinal, "can bring your Majesty's -weighty matter to a happy termination, and by saving you, save the -church ... and myself also," he thought in his heart.--"Let us see, -let us count the voters." - - [926] By sundry ways hath been advertised of the death of our holy - father. Ibid. The king's instructions. - - [927] By some detestable act committed for the late pope's - destruction. Ibid. p. 603. - - [928] By little and little utterly to exclude and extinguish him and - his authority. Ibid. - -Henry and his minister then wrote down on a strip of parchment the -names of all the cardinals, marking with the letter _A_ those who were -on the side of the kings of England and France, and with the letter -_B_ all who favoured the emperor. "There was no _C_," says a -chronicler sarcastically, "to signify any on _Christ's_ side." The -letter _N_ designated the neutrals. "The cardinals present," said -Wolsey, "will not exceed thirty-nine, and we must have two-thirds, -that is, twenty-six. Now, there are twenty upon whom we can reckon; we -must therefore, at any price, gain six of the neutrals." - -[Sidenote: MEANS TO GAIN THE TIARA.] - -Wolsey, deeply sensible of the importance of an election that would -decide whether England was to be reformed or not, carefully drew up -the instructions, which Henry signed and which history must register. -"We desire and ordain," the ambassadors were informed in them, "that -you secure the election of the cardinal of York; not forgetting that -next to the salvation of his own soul, there is nothing the king -desires more earnestly. - -"To gain over the neutral cardinals you will employ two methods in -particular. The first is, the cardinals being present, and having God -and the Holy Ghost before them, you shall remind them that the -cardinal of York alone can save Christendom. - -"The second is, because human fragility suffereth not all things to be -pondered and weighed in a just balance, it appertaineth in matter of -so high importance, to the comfort and relief of all Christendom, to -succour the infirmity that may chance ... not for corruption, you will -understand ... but rather to help the lacks and defaults of human -nature. And, therefore, it shall be expedient that you promise -spiritual offices, dignities, rewards of money, or other things which -shall seem meet to the purpose. - -"Then shall you, with good dexterity, combine and knit those -favourable to us in a perfect fastness and indissoluble knot. And that -they may be the better animated to finish the election to the king's -desire, you shall offer them a guard of 2000 or 3000 men from the -kings of England and France, from the viscount of Turin, and the -republic of Venice. - -"If, notwithstanding all your exertions, the election should fail, -then the cardinals of the kings shall repair to some sure place, and -there proceed to such an election as may be to God's pleasure. - -"And to win more friends for the king, you shall promise, on the one -hand, to the Cardinal de' Medici and his party our special favour; and -the Florentines, on the other hand, you shall put in comfort of the -exclusion of the said family De' Medici. Likewise you shall put the -cardinals in perfect hope of recovering the patrimony of the church; -and you shall contain the Venetians in good trust of a reasonable way -to be taken for Cervia and Ravenna (which formed part of the -patrimony) to their contentment."[929] - - [929] Foxe, iv. p. 604-608. - -Such were the means by which the cardinal hoped to win the papal -throne. To the right he said _yes_, to the left he said _no_. What -would it matter that these perfidies were one day discovered, provided -it were after the election. Christendom might be very certain that the -choice of the future pontiff would be the work of the Holy Ghost. -Alexander VI had been a poisoner; Julius II had given way to ambition, -anger, and vice; the liberal Leo X had passed his life in worldly -pursuits; the unhappy Clement VII had lived on stratagems and lies; -Wolsey would be their worthy successor: - - "All the seven deadly sins have worn the triple crown."[930] - - [930] Les sept peches mortels ont porte la tiare. Casimir Delavigne, - Derniers chants, le Conclave. - -[Sidenote: THE DIVORCE DEMANDED.] - -Wolsey found his excuse in the thought, that if he succeeded, the -divorce was secured, and England enslaved for ever to the court of -Rome. - -Success at first appeared probable. Many cardinals spoke openly in -favour of the English prelate; one of them asked for a detailed -account of his life, in order to present it as a model to the church; -another worshipped him (so he said) as a divinity.... Among the gods -and popes adored at Rome there were some no better than he. But ere -long alarming news reached England. What grief! the pope was getting -better. "Conceal your instructions," wrote the cardinal, "and reserve -them _in omnem eventum_." - -Wolsey not having obtained the tiara, it was necessary at least to -gain the divorce. "God declares," said the English ambassadors to the -pope, "_except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that -build it_.[931] Therefore, the king, taking God alone for his guide, -requests of you, in the first place, an engagement to pronounce the -divorce in the space of three months, and in the second the avocation -to Rome."--"The promise first, and only after that the avocation," -Wolsey had said; "for I fear that if the pope begins with the -avocation, he will never pronounce the divorce."--"Besides," added the -envoys, "the king's second marriage admits of no refusal, whatever -bulls or briefs there may be.[932] The only issue of this matter is -the divorce; the divorce in one way or another must be procured." - - [931] Where Christ is not the foundation, surely no building can be of - good work. State Papers, vii. p. 122. - - [932] Convolare ad secundas nuptias non patitur negativum. Ibid. p. - 138. - -Wolsey had instructed his envoys to pronounce these words with a -certain air of familiarity, and at the same time with a gravity -calculated to produce an effect.[933] His expectations were deceived: -Clement was colder than ever. He had determined to abandon England in -order that he might secure the States of the Church, of which Charles -was then master, thus sacrificing the spiritual to the temporal. "The -pope will not do the least thing for your majesty," wrote Bryan to the -king; "your matter may well be in his _Pater noster_, but it certainly -is not in his _Credo_."[934] "Increase in importunity," answered the -king; "the cardinal of Verona should remain about the pope's person -and counterbalance the influence of De Angelis and the archbishop of -Capua. I would rather lose my two crowns than be beaten by these two -friars." - - [933] Which words, fashioned with a familiarity and somewhat with - earnestness and gravity. Ibid. - - [934] Ibid. vol. i, p. 330. - -[Sidenote: THE POPE'S TERGIVERSATIONS.] - -Thus was the struggle about to become keener than ever, when Clement's -relapse once more threw doubt on every thing. He was always between -life and death; and this perpetual alternation agitated the king and -the impatient cardinal in every way. The latter considered that the -pope had need of _merits_ to enter the kingdom of heaven. "Procure an -interview with the pope," he wrote to the envoys, "even though he be -in the very agony of death;[935] and represent to him that nothing -will be more likely _to save his soul_ than the bill of divorce." -Henry's commissioners were not admitted; but towards the end of March, -the deputies appearing in a body,[936] the pope promised to examine -the letter from Spain. Vannes began to fear this document; he -represented that those who had fabricated it would have been able to -give it an appearance of authenticity. "Rather declare immediately -that this brief is not a brief," said he to the pope. "The king of -England, who is your holiness's son, is not so like the rest of the -world. We cannot put the same shoe on every foot."[937] This rather -vulgar argument did not touch Clement. "If to content your master in -this business," said he, "I cannot employ my head, at least I will my -finger."[938]--"Be pleased to explain yourself," replied Vannes, who -found the _finger_ a very little matter.--"I mean," resumed the -pontiff, "that I shall employ every means, provided they are -_honourable_." Vannes withdrew disheartened. - - [935] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 49. - - [936] Postquam conjunctim omnes. State Papers, vii. p. 154. - - [937] Uno eodemque calceo omnium pedes velle vestire. Ibid. p. 156. - - [938] Quod forsan non licebit toto capite assequi, in eo digitum - imponam. Ibid. p. 157. - -He immediately conferred with his colleagues, and all together, -alarmed at the idea of Henry's anger, returned to the pontiff; they -thrust aside the lackeys, who endeavoured to stop them, and made their -way into his bed-chamber. Clement opposed them with that resistance of -inertia by which the popedom has gained its greatest victories: -_siluit_, he remained silent. Of what consequence to the pontiff were -Tudor, his island, and his church, when Charles of Austria was -threatening him with his armies? Clement, less proud than Hildebrand, -submitted willingly to the emperor's power, provided the emperor would -protect him. "I had rather," he said, "be Caesar's servant, not only in -a temple, but in a stable if necessary, than be exposed to the insults -of rebels and vagabonds."[939] At the same time he wrote to Campeggio: -"Do not irritate the king, but spin out this matter as much as -possible;[940] the Spanish brief gives us the means." - - [939] Malle Caesari a stabulo nedum a sacris inservire, quam inferiorum - hominum subditorum, vassalorum, rebellium injurias sustinere. Herbert, - vol. i, p. 261. - - [940] Le Grand, vol. i, p. 131. - -[Sidenote: STRATAGEMS AND DELAYS.] - -In fact, Charles V had twice shown Lee the original document, and -Wolsey, after this ambassador's report, began to believe that it was -not Charles who had forged the brief, but that Pope Julius II had -really given two contradictory documents on the same day. Accordingly -the cardinal now feared to see this letter in the pontiff's hands. "Do -all you can to dissuade the pope from seeking the original in Spain," -wrote he to one of his ambassadors; "it may exasperate the emperor." -We know how cautious the cardinal was towards Charles. Intrigue -attained its highest point at this epoch, and Englishmen and Romans -encountered craft with craft. "In such ticklish negotiations," says -Burnet, (who had had some little experience in diplomacy) "ministers -must say and unsay as they are instructed, which goes of course as a -part of their business."[941] Henry's envoys to the pope intercepted -the letters sent from Rome, and had Campeggio's seized.[942] On his -part the pope indulged in flattering smiles and perfidious -equivocations. Bryan wrote to Henry VIII: "Always your grace hath done -for him in deeds, and he hath recompensed you with fair _words_, and -fair _writings_, of which both I think your grace shall lack none; but -as for the _deeds_, I never believe to see them, and especially at -this time."[943] Bryan had comprehended the court of Rome better -perhaps than many politicians. Finally, Clement himself, wishing to -prepare the king for the blow he was about to inflict, wrote to him: -"We have been able to find nothing that would satisfy your -ambassadors."[944] - - [941] Burnet's Ref. vol. i. p. 54. - - [942] De intercipiendis literis. State Papers, vol. vii, p. 185. - - [943] Ibid. p. 167. - - [944] He added: Tametsi noctes ac dies per nos ipsi, ac per -juris-peritissimos viros omnes vias tentemus. (Ibid. p. 165.) Although -night and day by ourselves, and along with the most skilful lawyers, -we try all ways. - -Henry thought he knew what this message meant: that he had found -nothing, and would find nothing; and accordingly this prince, who, if -we may believe Wolsey, had hitherto shown incredible patience and -gentleness,[945] gave way to all his violence. "Very well then," said -he; "my lords and I well know how to withdraw ourselves from the -authority of the Roman see." Wolsey turned pale, and conjured his -master not to rush into that fearful abyss;[946] Campeggio, too, -endeavoured to revive the king's hopes. But it was all of no use. -Henry recalled his ambassadors. - - [945] Incredibili patientia et humanitate. Burnet, Records, p. xxxii. - - [946] Ne praeceps huc vel illuc rex hic ruat curamus. Ibid. p. xxxiii. - -Henry, it is true, had not yet reached the age when violent characters -become inflexible from the habit they have encouraged of yielding to -their passions. But the cardinal, who knew his master, knew also that -his inflexibility did not depend upon the number of his years; he -thought Rome's power in England was lost, and placed between Henry -and Clement, he exclaimed: "How shall I avoid Scylla, and not fall -into Charybdis?"[947] He begged the king to make one last effort by -sending Dr. Bennet to the pope with orders to support the avocation to -Rome, and he gave him a letter in which he displayed all the resources -of his eloquence. "How can it be imagined," he wrote, "that the -persuasions of sense urge the king to break a union in which the -ardent years of his youth were passed with such purity?[948]... The -matter is very different. I am on the spot, I know the state of men's -minds.... Pray, believe me.... The divorce is the secondary question; -the primary one is the _fidelity of this realm_ to the papal see. The -nobility, gentry, and citizens all exclaim with indignation: Must our -fortunes, and even our lives, depend upon the nod of a foreigner? We -must abolish, or at the very least diminish, the authority of the -Roman pontiff.[949]... Most holy father, we cannot mention such things -without a shudder."... This new attempt was also unavailing. The pope -demanded of Henry how he could doubt his good will, seeing that the -king of England had done so much for the apostolic see.[950] This -appeared a cruel irony to Tudor; the king requested a favour of the -pope, and the pope replied by calling to mind those which the papacy -had received from his hands. "Is this the way," men asked in England, -"in which Rome pays her debts?" - - [947] Hanc Charybdin et hos scopulos evitasse. Burnet, Records, p. - xxxii. - - [948] Sensuum suadela eam abrumpere cupiat consuetudinem. Ibid. p. - xxxiii. - - [949] Qui nullam aut certe diminutam hic Romani pontificis - auctoritatem. Ibid. - - [950] Dubitare non debes si quidem volueris recordare tua erga nos - merita. State Papers, vii, p. 178. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S EARNESTNESS.] - -Wolsey had not reached the term of his misfortunes. Gardiner and Bryan -had just returned to London: they declared that to demand an avocation -to Rome was to lose their cause. Accordingly Wolsey, who turned to -every wind, ordered Da Casale, in case Clement should pronounce the -avocation, to appeal from the pope, the false head of the church, _to -the true vicar of Jesus Christ_.[951] This was almost in Luther's -style. Who was this true vicar? Probably a pope nominated by the -influence of England. - - [951] A non vicario ad verum vicarium Jesu Christi. Ibid. p. 191. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S GRIEF.] - -But this proceeding did not assure the cardinal: he was losing his -judgment. A short time before this Du Bellay, who had just returned -from Paris, whither he had gone to retain France on the side of -England, had been invited to Richmond by Wolsey. As the two prelates -were walking in the park, on that hill whence the eye ranges over the -fertile and undulating fields through which the winding Thames pours -its tranquil waters, the unhappy cardinal observed to the bishop: "My -trouble is the greatest that ever was!... I have excited and carried -on this matter of the divorce, to dissolve the union between the two -houses of Spain and England, by sowing misunderstanding between them, -as if I had no part in it.[952] You know it was in the interest of -France; I therefore entreat the king your master and her majesty to do -every thing that may forward the divorce. I shall esteem such a favour -more than if they made me pope; but if they refuse me, my ruin is -inevitable." And then giving way to despair, he exclaimed: "Alas! -would that I were going to be buried to-morrow!" - - [952] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 22nd May. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 319. - -The wretched man was drinking the bitter cup his perfidies had -prepared for him. All seemed to conspire against Henry, and Bennet was -recalled shortly after. It was said at court and in the city: "Since -the pope sacrifices us to the emperor, let us sacrifice the pope." -Clement VII, intimidated by the threats of Charles V, and tottering -upon his throne, madly repelled with his foot the bark of England. -Europe was all attention, and began to think that the proud vessel of -Albion, cutting the cable that bound her to the pontiffs, would boldly -spread her canvass to the winds, and ever after sail the sea alone, -wafted onwards by the breeze that comes from heaven. - -The influence of Rome over Europe is in great measure political. It -loses a kingdom by a royal quarrel, and might in this same way lose -ten. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - Discussion Between the Evangelicals and the Catholics--Union - of Learning and Life--The Laity--Tewkesbury--His Appearance - before the Bishop's Court--He is tortured--Two Classes of - Opponents--A Theological Duel--Scripture and the - Church--Emancipation of the Mind--Mission to the Low - Countries--Tyndale's Embarrassment--Tonstall wishes to buy - the Books--Packington's Stratagem--Tyndale departs for - Antwerp--His Shipwreck--Arrival at Hamburg--Meets Coverdale. - - -[Sidenote: EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS.] - -Other circumstances from day to day rendered the emancipation of the -church more necessary. If behind these political debates there had -not been found a Christian people, resolved never to temporize with -error, it is probable that England, after a few years of independence, -would have fallen back into the bosom of Rome. The affair of the -divorce was not the only one agitating men's minds; the religious -controversies, which for some years filled the continent, were always -more animated at Oxford and Cambridge. The _Evangelicals_ and the -_Catholics_ (not very catholic indeed) warmly discussed the great -questions which the progress of events brought before the world. The -former maintained that the primitive church of the apostles and the -actual church of the papacy were not identical; the latter affirmed, -on the contrary, the identity of popery and apostolic Christianity. -Other Romish doctors in later times, finding this position somewhat -embarrassing, have asserted that Catholicism existed only _in the -germ_ in the apostolic church, and had subsequently developed itself. -But a thousand abuses, a thousand errors may creep into a church under -cover of this theory. A plant springs from the seed and grows up in -accordance with immutable laws; whilst a doctrine cannot be -transformed in the mind of man without falling under the influence of -sin. It is true that the disciples of popery have supposed a constant -action of the Divine Spirit in the Catholic church, which excludes -every influence of error. To stamp on the development of the church -the character of truth, they have stamped on the church itself the -character of infallibility; _quod erat demonstrandum_. Their reasoning -is a mere begging of the question. To know whether the Romish -development is identical with the Gospel, we must examine it by -Scripture. - -It was not university men alone who occupied themselves with Christian -truth. The separation which has been remarked in other times between -the opinions of the people and of the learned, did not now exist. What -the doctors taught, the citizens practised; Oxford and London embraced -each other. The theologians knew that learning has need of life, and -the citizens believed that life has need of that learning which -derives the doctrine from the wells of the Scriptures of God. It was -the harmony between these two elements, the one theological, the other -practical, which constituted the strength of the English reformation. - -[Sidenote: TEWKESBURY BEFORE THE BISHOPS.] - -The evangelical life in the capital alarmed the clergy more than the -evangelical doctrine in the colleges. Since Monmouth had escaped, they -must strike another. Among the London merchants was John Tewkesbury, -one of the oldest friends of the Scriptures in England. As early as -1512 he had become possessor of a manuscript copy of the Bible, and -had attentively studied it; when Tyndale's New Testament appeared, he -read it with avidity; and, finally, _The Wicked Mammon_ had completed -the work of his conversion. Being a man of heart and understanding, -clever in all he undertook, a ready and fluent speaker, and liking to -get to the bottom of every thing, Tewkesbury like Monmouth became very -influential in the city, and one of the most learned in Scripture of -any of the evangelicals. These generous Christians, being determined -to consecrate to God the good things they had received from him, were -the first among that long series of laymen who were destined to be -more useful to the truth than many ministers and bishops. They found -time to interest themselves about the most trifling details of the -kingdom of God; and in the history of the Reformation in Britain their -names should be inscribed beside those of Latimer and Tyndale. - -The activity of these laymen could not escape the cardinal's notice. -Clement VII was abandoning England: it was necessary for the English -bishops, by crushing the heretics, to show that they would not abandon -the popedom. We can understand the zeal of these prelates, and without -excusing their persecutions, we are disposed to extenuate their crime. -The bishops determined to ruin Tewkesbury. One day in April 1529, as -he was busy among his peltries, the officers entered his warehouse, -arrested him, and led him away to the bishop of London's chapel, -where, besides the ordinary (Tonstall), the bishops of Ely, St. Asaph, -Bath, and Lincoln, with the abbot of Westminster, were on the bench. -The composition of this tribunal indicated the importance of his case. -The emancipation of the laity, thought these judges, is perhaps a more -dangerous heresy than justification by faith. - -[Sidenote: MORE'S ATTACK ON TYNDALE.] - -"John Tewkesbury," said the bishop of London, "I exhort you to trust -less to your own wit and learning, and more unto the doctrine of the -holy mother the church." Tewkesbury made answer, that in his judgment -he held no other doctrine than that of the church of Christ. Tonstall -then broached the principal charge, that of having read the Wicked -Mammon, and after quoting several passages, he exclaimed: "Renounce -these errors."--"I find no fault in the book," replied Tewkesbury. "It -has enlightened my conscience and consoled my heart. But it is not my -Gospel. I have studied the Holy Scriptures these seventeen years, and -as a man sees the spots of his face in a glass, so by reading them I -have learnt the faults of my soul.[953] If there is a disagreement -between you and the New Testament, put yourselves in harmony with it, -rather than desire to put that in accord with you." The bishops were -surprised that a leather-seller should speak so well, and quote -Scripture so happily that they were unable to resist him.[954] Annoyed -at being catechised by a layman, the bishops of Bath, St. Asaph, and -Lincoln thought they could conquer him more easily by the rack than by -their arguments. He was taken to the Tower, where they ordered him to -be put to the torture. His limbs were crushed, which was contrary to -the laws of England, and the violence of the rack tore from him a cry -of agony to which the priests replied by a shout of exultation. The -inflexible merchant had promised at last to renounce Tyndale's Wicked -Mammon. Tewkesbury left the Tower "almost a cripple,"[955] and -returned to his house to lament the fatal word which the question had -extorted from him, and to prepare in the silence of faith to confess -in the burning pile the precious name of Christ Jesus. - - [953] Foxe, iv. p. 690. - - [954] Ibid. p. 689. - - [955] Ibid. - -We must, however, acknowledge that the "question" was not Rome's only -argument. The gospel had two classes of opponents in the sixteenth -century, as in the first ages of the church. Some attacked it with the -torture, others with their writings. Sir Thomas More, a few years -later, was to have recourse to the first of these arguments; but for -the moment he took up his pen. He had first studied the writings of -the Fathers of the church and of the Reformers, but rather as an -advocate than as a theologian; and then, armed at all points, he -rushed into the arena of polemics, and in his attacks dealt those -"technical convictions and that malevolent subtlety," says one of his -greatest admirers,[956] "from which the honestest men of his -profession are not free." Jests and sarcasms had fallen from his pen -in his discussion with Tyndale, as in his controversy with Luther. -Shortly after Tewkesbury's affair (in June, 1529) there appeared _A -Dialogue of Sir Thomas More, Knt., touching the pestilent Sect of -Luther and Tyndale, by the one begun in Saxony, and by the other -laboured to be brought into England_.[957] - - [956] Nisard, Hommes illustres de la renaissance. _Revue des Deux - Mondes._ - - [957] The Dialogue consisted of 250 pages, and was printed by John - Rastell, More's brother-in-law. Tyndale's answer did not appear until - later; we have thought it our duty to introduce it here. - -[Sidenote: A THEOLOGICAL DUEL.] - -Tyndale soon became informed of More's publication, and a remarkable -combat ensued between these two representatives of the two doctrines -that were destined to divide Christendom--Tyndale the champion of -Scripture, and More the champion of the church. More having called his -book a _dialogue_, Tyndale adopted this form in his reply,[958] and -the two combatants valiantly crossed their swords, though wide seas -lay between them. This theological duel is not without importance in -the history of the Reformation. The struggles of diplomacy, of -sacerdotalism, and of royalty were not enough; there must be struggles -of doctrine. Rome had set the hierarchy above the faith; the -Reformation was to restore faith to its place above the hierarchy. - - [958] Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue. - -MORE. Christ said not, the Holy Ghost shall _write_, but shall -_teach_. Whatsoever the church says, it is the word of God, though it -be not in Scripture. - -TYNDALE. What! Christ and the apostles not spoken of _Scriptures!... -These are written_, says St. John, _that ye believe and through belief -have life_. (1 John ii, 1; Rom. xv, 4; Matthew xxii, 29.)[959] - - [959] Ibid. p. 101. - -[Sidenote: APOSTLES AND REFORMERS.] - -MORE. The apostles have taught by _mouth_ many things they did not -_write_, because they should not come into the hands of the heathen -for mocking. - -TYNDALE. I pray you what thing more to be mocked by the heathen could -they teach than the resurrection; and that Christ was God and man, and -died between two thieves? And yet all these things the apostles -_wrote_. And again, purgatory, penance, and satisfaction for sin, and -praying to saints, are marvellous agreeable unto the superstition of -the heathen people, so that they need not to abstain from writing of -them for fear lest the heathen should have mocked them.[960] - - [960] Ibid. p. 28, 29. - -MORE. We must not examine the teaching of the church by Scripture, but -understand Scripture by means of what the church says. - -TYNDALE. What! Does the air give light to the sun, or the sun to the -air? Is the church before the Gospel, or the Gospel before the church? -Is not the father older than the son? _God begat us with his own will, -with the word of truth_, says St. James (i, 18.) If he who begetteth -is before him who is begotten, the _word_ is before the _church_, or, -to speak more correctly, before the _congregation_. - -MORE. Why do you say _congregation_ and not _church_? - -TYNDALE. Because by that word _church_, you understand nothing but a -multitude of shorn and oiled, which we now call the spirituality or -clergy; while the word of right is common unto all the congregation of -them that believe in Christ.[961] - - [961] Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue, p. 12, 13. - -MORE. The church is the pope and his sect are followers. - -TYNDALE. The pope teacheth us to trust in holy works for salvation, as -penance, saints' merits, and friars' coats.[962] Now, he that hath no -faith to be saved through Christ, is not of Christ's church.[963] - - [962] Ibid. p. 40. - - [963] Ibid. p. 39. - -MORE. The Romish church from which the Lutherans came out, was before -them, and therefore is the right one. - -TYNDALE. In like manner you may say, the church of the Pharisees, -whence Christ and his apostles came out, was before them, and was -therefore the right church, and consequently Christ and his disciples -are heretics. - -MORE. No: the apostles came out from the church of the Pharisees -because they found not Christ there; but your priests in Germany and -elsewhere, have come out of our church, because they wanted wives. - -TYNDALE. Wrong: ... these priests were at first attached to what you -call _heresies_, and then they took wives; but yours were first -attached to the _holy_ doctrine of the pope, and then they took -harlots.[964] - - [964] Ibid. p. 104. - -MORE. Luther's books be open, if you will not believe us. - -TYNDALE. Nay, ye have shut them up, and have even burnt them.[965]... - - [965] Ibid. p. 189. - -MORE. I marvel that you deny _purgatory_, Sir William, except it be a -plain point with you to go straight to hell.[966] - - [966] Ibid. p. 214. - -TYNDALE. I know no other purging but faith in the cross of Christ; -while you, for a groat or a sixpence, buy some secret pills -[indulgences] which you take to purge yourselves of your sins.[967] - - [967] Ibid. - -MORE. Faith, then, is your purgatory, you say; there is no need, -therefore, of works--a most immoral doctrine! - -TYNDALE. It is faith _alone_ that saves us, but not a _bare faith_. -When a horse beareth a saddle and a man thereon, we may well say that -the horse only and alone beareth the saddle, but we do not mean the -saddle empty, and no man thereon.[968] - - [968] Ibid. p. 197. - -In this manner did the catholic and the evangelical carry on the -discussion. According to Tyndale, what constitutes the true church is -the work of the Holy Ghost within; according to More, the constitution -of the papacy without. The spiritual character of the Gospel is thus -put in opposition to the formalist character of the Roman church. The -Reformation restored to our belief the solid foundation of the word of -God; for the sand it substituted the rock. In the discussion to which -we have just been listening, the advantage remained not with the -catholic. Erasmus, a friend of More's, embarrassed by the course the -latter was taking, wrote to Tonstall: "I cannot heartily congratulate -More."[969] - - [969] Thomae More non admodum gratulor. Erasm. Epp. p. 1478. - -Henry interrupted the celebrated knight in these contests to send him -to Cambray, where a peace was negotiating between France and the -empire. Wolsey would have been pleased to go himself; but his enemies -suggested to the king, "that it was only that he might not expedite -the matter of the divorce." Henry, therefore, despatched More, Knight, -and Tonstall; but Wolsey had created so many delays that he did not -arrive until after the conclusion of the _Ladies' Peace_ (August -1529). The king's vexation was extreme. Du Bellay had in vain helped -him to spend a _good preparatory July_ to make him _swallow the -dose_.[970] Henry was angry with Wolsey, Wolsey threw the blame on the -ambassador, and the ambassador defended himself, he tells us, "with -tooth and nail."[971] - - [970] Juillet preparatoire pour lui faire avaler la medecine. - - [971] Du bec et des ongles. Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, iii. - p. 328. - -[Sidenote: TREATY AGAINST LUTHERAN BOOKS.] - -By way of compensation, the English envoys concluded with the emperor -a treaty prohibiting on both sides the printing and sale of "any -Lutheran books."[972] Some of them could have wished for a good -persecution, for a few burning piles, it may be. A singular -opportunity occurred. In the spring of 1529, Tyndale and Fryth had -left Marburg for Antwerp, and were thus in the vicinity of the English -envoys. What West had been unable to effect, it was thought the two -most intelligent men in Britain could not fail to accomplish. "Tyndale -must be captured," said More and Tonstall.--"You do not know what sort -of a country you are in," replied Hackett. "Will you believe that on -the 7th of April, Harman arrested me at Antwerp for damages, caused by -his imprisonment? If you can lay anything to my charge as a private -individual, I said to the officer, I am ready to answer for myself; -but if you arrest me as ambassador, I know no judge but the emperor. -Upon which the procurator had the audacity to reply, that I was -arrested _as ambassador_; and the lords of Antwerp only set me at -liberty on condition that I should appear again at the first -summons.[973] These merchants are so proud of their franchises, that -they would resist even Charles himself." This anecdote was not at all -calculated to encourage More; and not caring about a pursuit, which -promised to be of little use, he returned to England. But the bishop -of London, who was left behind, persisted in the project, and repaired -to Antwerp to put it in execution. - - [972] Herbert, p. 316. - - [973] Hackett to Wolsey, Brussels, 13th April, 1529. Bible Annals, - vol. i. p. 199. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S DANGER.] - -Tyndale was at that time greatly embarrassed; considerable debts, -incurred with his printers, compelled him to suspend his labours. Nor -was this all: the prelate who had spurned him so harshly in London, -had just arrived in the very city where he lay concealed.... What -would become of him?... A merchant, named Augustin Packington, a -clever man, but somewhat inclined to dissimulation, happening to be at -Antwerp on business, hastened to pay his respects to the bishop. The -latter observed, in the course of conversation: "I should like to get -hold of the books with which England is poisoned." "I can perhaps -serve you in that matter," replied the merchant. "I know the Flemings, -who have bought Tyndale's books; so that if your lordship will be -pleased to pay for them, I will make you sure of them all."--"Oh, oh!" -thought the bishop, "Now, as the proverb says, I shall have God by the -toe.[974] Gentle Master Packington," he added in a flattering tone, "I -will pay for them whatsoever they cost you. I intend to burn them at -St. Paul's cross." The bishop, having his hand already on Tyndale's -Testaments, fancied himself on the point of seizing Tyndale himself. - - [974] Foxe, iv, p. 670. - -Packington, being one of those men who love to conciliate all parties, -ran off to Tyndale, with whom he was intimate, and said:--"William, I -know you are a poor man, and have a heap of New Testaments and books -by you, for which you have beggared yourself; and I have now found a -merchant who will buy them all, and with ready money too."--"Who is -the merchant?" said Tyndale.--"The bishop of London."--"Tonstall?... -If he buys my books, it can only be to burn them."--"No doubt," -answered Packington; "but what will he gain by it? The whole world -will cry out against the priest who burns God's word, and the eyes of -many will be opened. Come, make up your mind, William; the bishop -shall have the books, you the money, and I the thanks."... Tyndale -resisted the proposal; Packington became more pressing. "The question -comes to this," he said; "shall the bishop pay for the books or shall -he not? for, make up your mind ... he will have them."--"I consent," -said the Reformer at last; "I shall pay my debts, and bring out a new -and more correct edition of the Testament." The bargain was made. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE SHIPWRECKED.] - -Erelong the danger thickened around Tyndale. Placards, posted at -Antwerp and throughout the province, announced that the emperor, in -conformity with the treaty of Cambray, was about to proceed against -the Reformers and their writings. Not an officer of justice appeared -in the street but Tyndale's friends trembled for his liberty. Under -such circumstances, how could he print his translation of Genesis and -Deuteronomy? He made up his mind about the end of August to go to -Hamburg, and take his passage in a vessel loading for that port. -Embarking with his books, his manuscripts, and the rest of his money, -he glided down the Scheldt, and soon found himself afloat on the -German ocean. - -But one danger followed close upon another. He had scarcely passed the -mouth of the Meuse when a tempest burst upon him, and his ship, like -that of old which bore St. Paul, was almost swallowed up by the -waves.--"Satan, envying the happy course and success of the Gospel," -says a chronicler, "set to his might how to hinder the blessed labours -of this man."[975] The seamen toiled, Tyndale prayed, all hope was -lost. The reformer alone was full of courage, not doubting that God -would preserve him for the accomplishment of his work. All the -exertions of the crew proved useless; the vessel was dashed on the -coast, and the passengers escaped with their lives. Tyndale gazed with -sorrow upon that ocean which had swallowed up his beloved books and -precious manuscripts, and deprived him of his resources.[976] What -labours, what perils! banishment, poverty, thirst, insults, watchings, -persecution, imprisonment, the stake!... Like Paul, he was in perils -by his own countrymen, in perils among strange people, in perils in -the city, in perils in the sea. Recovering his spirits, however, he -went on board another ship, entered the Elbe, and at last reached -Hamburg. - - [975] Foxe, v, p. 120. - - [976] Lost both his money, his copies.... Ibid. - -Great joy was in store for him in that city. Coverdale, Foxe informs -us, was waiting there to confer with him, and to help him in his -labours.[977] It has been supposed that Coverdale went to Hamburg to -invite Tyndale, in Cromwell's name, to return to England;[978] but it -is merely a conjecture, and requires confirmation. As early as 1527, -Coverdale had made known to Cromwell his desire to translate the -Scriptures.[979] It was natural that, meeting with difficulties in -this undertaking, he should desire to converse with Tyndale. The two -friends lodged with a pious woman named Margaret van Emmersen, and -spent some time together in the autumn of 1529, undisturbed by the -sweating sickness which was making such cruel havoc all around them. -Coverdale returned to England shortly after; the two reformers had, no -doubt, discovered that it was better for each of them to translate the -Scriptures separately. - - [977] Coverdale tarried for him and helped him. Ibid. - - [978] Anderson's Annals of the Bible, i. p. 240. - - [979] This is the date assigned in Coverdale's Remains. (Par. Soc.) p. - 490. - -Before Coverdale's return, Tonstall had gone back to London, exulting -at carrying with him the books he had bought so dearly. But when he -reached the capital, he thought he had better defer the meditated -_auto da fe_ until some striking event should give it increased -importance. And besides, just at that moment, very different matters -were engaging public attention on the banks of the Thames, and the -liveliest emotions agitated every mind. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - The Royal Session--Sitting of the 18th June; the Queen's - Protest--Sitting of the 21st June--Summons to the King and - Queen--Catherine's Speech--She retires--Impression on the - audience--The King's Declaration--Wolsey's Protest--Quarrel - between the Bishops--New sitting--Apparition to the Maid of - Kent--Wolsey chafed by Henry--The Earl of Wiltshire at - Wolsey's--Private Conference between Catherine and the two - Legates. - - -[Sidenote: THE ROYAL SESSION.] - -Affairs had changed in England during the absence of Tonstall and -More; and even before their departure, events of a certain importance -had occurred. Henry, finding there was nothing more to hope from Rome, -had turned to Wolsey and Campeggio. The Roman nuncio had succeeded in -deceiving the king. "Campeggio is very different from what he is -reported," said Henry to his friends; "he is not for the emperor, as I -was told; I have said somewhat to him which has changed his -mind."[980] No doubt he had made some brilliant promise. - - [980] Burnet, Records, p. xxxv. - -[Sidenote: THE COMMISSION OPENED.] - -Henry therefore, imagining himself sure of his two legates, desired -them to proceed with the matter of the divorce without delay. There -was no time to lose, for the king was informed that the pope was on -the point of recalling the commission given to the two cardinals; and -as early as the 19th of March, Salviati, the pope's uncle and -secretary of state, wrote to Campeggio about it.[981] Henry's process, -once in the court of the pontifical chancery, it would have been long -before it got out again. Accordingly, on the 31st of May, the king, by -a warrant under the great seal, gave the legates _leave_ to execute -their commission, "without any regard to his own person, and having -the fear of God only before their eyes."[982] The legates themselves -had suggested this formula to the king. - - [981] E quanto altro non si possa, forse si pensera ad avvocare la - causa a se. Lettere di XIII uomini illustri, 19th March 1529. - - [982] Ut solum Deum prae oculis habentes. Rymer, Acta ad annum. - -On the same day the commission was opened; but to begin the process -was not to end it. Every letter which the nuncio received forbade him -to do so in the most positive manner. "Advance slowly and never -finish," were Clement's instructions.[983] The trial was to be a -farce, played by a pope and two cardinals. - - [983] Sua beatitudine ricorda, che il procedere sia lento ed in modo - alcuno non si _venghi al giudicio_. To Card. Campeggio, 29th May, - 1529. Lett. di Principi. - -The ecclesiastical court met in the great hall of the Blackfriars, -commonly called the "parliament chamber." The two legates having -successively taken the commission in their hands, devoutly declared -that they were resolved to execute it (they should have said, to elude -it), made the required oaths, and ordered a peremptory citation of the -king and queen to appear on the 18th of June at nine in the morning. -Campeggio was eager to proceed _slowly_; the session was adjourned for -three weeks. The citation caused a great stir among the people. -"What!" said they, "a king and a queen constrained to appear, in their -own realm, before their own subjects." The papacy set an example which -was to be strictly followed in after-years both in England and in -France. - -[Sidenote: A ROYAL SITTING.] - -On the 18th of June Catherine appeared before the commission in the -parliament chamber, and stepping forward with dignity, said with a -firm voice: "I protest against the legates as incompetent judges, and -appeal to the pope."[984] This proceeding of the queen's, her pride -and firmness, troubled her enemies, and in their vexation they grew -exasperated against her. "Instead of praying God to bring this matter -to a good conclusion," they said, "she endeavours to turn away the -people's affections from the king. Instead of showing Henry the love -of a youthful wife, she keeps away from him night and day. There is -even cause to fear," they added, "that she is in concert with certain -individuals who have formed the horrible design of killing the king -and the cardinal."[985] But persons of generous heart, seeing only a -queen, a wife, and a mother, attacked in her dearest affections, -showed themselves full of sympathy for her. - - [984] Se in illos tanquam judices suos non assentire, ad papam - provocavit. (Sanders, p. 32.) Refusing to acknowledge them as her - judges, she appealed to the pope. - - [985] Burnet's Ref. i. p. 54. - -On the 21st of June, the day to which the court adjourned, the two -legates entered the parliament chamber with all the pomp belonging to -their station, and took their seats on a raised platform. Near them -sat the bishops of Bath and Lincoln, the abbot of Westminster, and -Doctor Taylor, master of the Rolls, whom they had added to their -commission. Below them were the secretaries, among whom the skilful -Stephen Gardiner held the chief rank. On the right hung a cloth of -estate where the king sat surrounded by his officers; and on the left, -a little lower, was the queen, attended by her ladies. The archbishop -of Canterbury and the bishops were seated between the legates and -Henry VIII, and on both sides of the throne were stationed the -counsellors of the king and queen. The latter were Fisher, bishop of -Rochester, Standish of St. Asaph, West of Ely, and Doctor Ridley. The -people, when they saw this procession defile before them, were far -from being dazzled by the pomp. "Less show and more virtue," they -said, "would better become such judges." - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S APPEAL TO THE KING.] - -The pontifical commission having been read, the legates declared that -they would judge without fear or favour, and would admit of neither -recusation nor appeal.[986] Then the usher cried: "Henry, king of -England, come into court." The king, cited in his own capital to -accept as judges two priests, his subjects, repressed the throbbing of -his proud heart, and replied, in the hope that this strange trial -would have a favourable issue: "Here I am." The usher continued: -"Catherine, queen of England, come into court." The queen handed the -cardinals a paper in which she protested against the legality of the -court, as the judges were the subjects of her opponent,[987] and -appealed to Rome. The cardinals declared they could not admit this -paper, and consequently Catherine was again called into court. At this -second summons she rose, devoutly crossed herself, made the circuit of -the court to where the king sat, bending with dignity as she passed in -front of the legates, and fell on her knees before her husband. Every -eye was turned upon her. Then speaking in English, but with a Spanish -accent, which by recalling the distance she was from her native home, -pleaded eloquently for her, Catherine said with tears in her eyes, and -in a tone at once dignified and impassioned: - -"SIR,--I beseech you, for all the love that hath been between us, and -for the love of God, let me have justice and right; take some pity on -me, for I am a poor woman and a stranger, born out of your dominions. -I have here no assured friend, much less impartial counsel, and I flee -to you as to the head of justice within this realm. Alas! Sir, wherein -have I offended you, or what occasion given you of displeasure, that -you should wish to put me from you? I take God and all the world to -witness, that I have been to you a true, humble, and obedient wife, -ever conformable to your will and pleasure. Never have I said or done -aught contrary thereto, being always well pleased and content with all -things wherein you had delight; neither did I ever grudge in word or -countenance, or show a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all -those whom you loved, only for your sake. This twenty years I have -been your true wife, and by me ye have had divers children, although -it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which yet hath -been no default in me." - - [986] The king's letter to his ambassadors at Rome, 23rd June. Ibid. - Records, p. liv. - - [987] Personas judicum non solum regi devinctas verum et subjectas - esse. (Sanders, p. 35.) Her judges were not only in the interest of - the king, but were even his subjects. - -[Sidenote: THE QUEEN WITHDRAWS.] - -The judges, and even the most servile of the courtiers, were touched -when they heard these simple and eloquent words, and the queen's -sorrow moved them almost to tears. Catherine continued:-- - -"SIR,--When ye married me at the first, I take God to be my judge I -was a true maid; and whether it be true or not, I put it to your -conscience.... If there be any just cause that ye can allege against -me, I am contented to depart from your kingdom, albeit to my great -shame and dishonour; and if there be none, then let me remain in my -former estate until death. Who united us? The king, your father, who -was called the second Solomon; and my father, Ferdinand, who was -esteemed one of the wisest princes that, for many years before, had -reigned in Spain. It is not, therefore, to be doubted that the -marriage between you and me is good and lawful. Who are my judges? Is -not one the man that has put sorrow between you and me?[988]... a -judge whom I refuse and abhor!--Who are the councillors assigned me? -Are they not officers of the crown, who have made oath to you in your -own council?... Sir, I conjure you not to call me before a court so -formed. Yet, if you refuse me this favour ... your will be done.... I -shall be silent, I shall repress the emotions of my soul, and remit my -just cause to the hands of God." - - [988] Qui dissensionem inter ipsam et virum suum. (Polyd. Virg. p. - 688.) Who put dissension between her and her husband. - -Thus spoke Catherine through her tears;[989] humbly bending, she -seemed to embrace Henry's knees. She rose and made a low obeisance to -the king. It was expected that she would return to her seat; but -leaning on the arm of Griffiths, her receiver-general, she moved -towards the door. The king, observing this, ordered her to be -recalled; and the usher following her, thrice cried aloud: "Catherine, -queen of England, come into court."--"Madam," said Griffiths, "you are -called back."--"I hear it well enough," replied the queen, "but go you -on, for this is no court wherein I can have justice: let us proceed." -Catherine returned to the palace, and never again appeared before the -court either by proxy or in person.[990] - - [989] Haec illa flebiliter dicente. Polyd. Virg. p. 686, and Cavendish. - - [990] Burnet, Records, p. 36. In this letter the king says: Both we - and the queen appeared in person. - -She had gained her cause in the minds of many. The dignity of her -person, the quaint simplicity of her speech, the propriety with which, -relying upon her innocence, she had spoken of the most delicate -subjects, and the tears which betrayed her emotion, had created a deep -impression. But "the sting in her speech," as an historian says,[991] -was her appeal to the king's conscience, and to the judgment of -Almighty God, on the capital point in the cause. "How could a person -so modest, so sober in her language," said many, "dare utter such a -falsehood? Besides, the king did not contradict her." - - [991] Fuller, p. 173. - -[Sidenote: HENRY JUSTIFIES HIMSELF.] - -Henry was greatly embarrassed: Catherine's words had moved him. -Catherine's defence, one of the most touching in history, had gained -over the accuser himself. He therefore felt constrained to render this -testimony to the accused: "Since the queen has withdrawn, I will, in -her absence, declare to you all present, that she has been to me as -true and obedient a wife as I could desire. She has all the virtues -and good qualities that belong to a woman. She is as noble in -character as in birth." - -But Wolsey was the most embarrassed of all. When the queen had said, -without naming him, that one of her judges was the cause of all her -misfortunes, looks of indignation were turned upon him.[992] He was -unwilling to remain under the weight of this accusation. As soon as -the king had finished speaking, he said: "Sir, I humbly beg your -majesty to declare before this audience, whether I was the first or -chief mover in this business." Wolsey had formerly boasted to Du -Bellay, "that the first project of the divorce was set on foot by -himself, to create a perpetual separation between the houses of -England and Spain;"[993] but now it suited him to affirm the contrary. -The king, who needed his services, took care not to contradict him. -"My lord cardinal," he said, "I can well excuse you herein. Marry, so -far from being a mover, ye have been rather against me in attempting -thereof. It was the bishop of Tarbes, the French ambassador, who begot -the first scruples in my conscience by his doubts on the legitimacy of -the princess Mary." This was not correct. The bishop of Tarbes was not -in England before the year 1527, and we have proofs that the king was -meditating a divorce in 1526.[994] "From that hour," he continued, "I -was much troubled, and thought myself in danger of God's heavy -displeasure, who, wishing to punish my incestuous marriage, had taken -away all the sons my wife had borne me. I laid my grief before you, my -lord of Lincoln, then being my ghostly father; and by your advice I -asked counsel of the rest of the bishops, and you all informed me -under your seals, that you shared in my scruples."--"That is the -truth," said the archbishop of Canterbury.--"No, Sir, not so, under -correction," quoth the bishop of Rochester, "you have not my hand and -seal."--"No?" exclaimed the king, showing him a paper which he held in -his hand; "is not this your hand and seal?"--"No, forsooth," he -answered. Henry's surprise increased, and turning with a frown to the -archbishop of Canterbury, he asked him: "What say you to that?" "Sir, -it is his hand and seal," replied Warham.--"It is not," rejoined -Rochester; "I told you I would never consent to any such act."--"You -say the truth," responded the archbishop, "but you were fully resolved -at the last, that I should subscribe your name and put your -seal."--"All which is untrue," added Rochester, in a passion. The -bishop was not very respectful to his primate. "Well, well," said the -king, wishing to end the dispute, "we will not stand in argument with -you; for you are but one man."[995] The court adjourned. The day had -been better for Catherine than for the prelates. - - [992] Vidisses Wolseum infestis fere omnium oculis conspici. (Polyd. - Virg. p. 688.) You might see almost all eyes indignantly turned on - Wolsey. - - [993] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, pp. 186, 319. - - [994] See Pace's letter to Henry in 1526. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 1. - Pace there shows that it is incorrect to say: _Deuteronomium abrogare - Leviticum_ (Deuteronomy abrogates Leviticus), so far as concerns the - prohibition to take the wife of a deceased brother. - - [995] Cavendish's Wolsey, p. 223. - -In proportion as the first sitting had been pathetic, so the -discussions in the second between the lawyers and bishops were -calculated to revolt a delicate mind. The advocates of the two parties -vigorously debated pro and con respecting the consummation of Arthur's -marriage with Catherine. "It is a very difficult question," said one -of the counsel; "none can know the truth."--"But I know it," replied -the bishop of Rochester.--"What do you mean?" asked Wolsey.--"My -lord," he answered, "he was the very Truth who said: '_What God hath -joined together, let not man put asunder_' that is enough for -me."--"So everybody thinks," rejoined Wolsey; "but whether it was God -who united Henry of England and Catherine of Aragon, _hoc restat -probandum_, that remains to be proved. The king's council decides that -the marriage is unlawful, and consequently it was not _God who joined -them together_." The two bishops then exchanged a few words less -edifying than those of the preceding day. Several of the hearers -expressed a sentiment of disgust. "It is a disgrace to the court," -said Doctor Ridley with no little indignation, "that you dare discuss -questions which fill every right-minded man with horror." This sharp -reprimand put an end to the debate. - -[Sidenote: MESSAGE OF THE MAID OF KENT.] - -The agitations of the court spread to the convents; priests, monks, -and nuns were every where in commotion. It was not long before -astonishing revelations began to circulate through the cloisters. -There was no talk then of an old portrait of the Virgin that winked -its eyes; but other miracles were invented. "An angel," it was -rumoured, "has appeared to Elizabeth Barton, the maid of Kent, as he -did formerly to Adam, to the patriarchs, and to Jesus Christ." At the -epochs of the creation and of the redemption, and in the times which -lead from one to the other, miracles are natural; God then appeared, -and his coming without any signs of power, would be as surprising as -the rising of the sun unattended by its rays of light. But the Romish -Church does not stop there; it claims in every age, for its saints, -the privilege of miraculous powers, and the miracles are multiplied in -proportion to the ignorance of the people. And accordingly the angel -said to the epileptic maid of Kent: "Go to the unfaithful king of -England, and tell him there are three things he desires, which I -forbid now and for ever. The first is the power of the pope; the -second the new doctrine; the third Anne Boleyn. If he takes her for -his wife, God will visit him." The vision-seeing maid delivered the -message to the king,[996] whom nothing could now stop. - - [996] She showed this unto the king. Letter to Cromwell in Strype, - vol. i. p. 272. - -[Sidenote: A HOT DAY.] - -On the contrary, he began to find out that Wolsey proceeded too -slowly, and the idea sometimes crossed his mind that he was betrayed -by this minister. One fine summer's morning, Henry as soon as he rose -summoned the cardinal to him at Bridewell. Wolsey hastened thither, -and remained closeted with the king from eleven till twelve. The -latter gave way to all the fury of his passion and the violence of his -despotism. "We must finish this matter promptly," he said, "we must -positively." Wolsey retired very uneasy, and returned by the Thames to -Westminster. The sun darted his bright rays on the water. The bishop -of Carlisle, who sat by the cardinal's side, remarked, as he wiped his -forehead: "A very warm day, my lord."--"Yes," replied the unhappy -Wolsey, "if you had been _chafed_ for an hour as I have been, you -would say it was a _hot_ day." When he reached his palace, the -cardinal lay down on his bed to seek repose; he was not quiet long. - -Catherine had grown in Henry's eyes, as well as in those of the -nation. The king shrank from a judgment; he even began to doubt of his -success. He wished that the queen would consent to a separation. This -idea occurred to his mind after Wolsey's departure, and the cardinal -had hardly closed his eyes before the Earl of Wiltshire (Anne Boleyn's -father) was announced to him with a message from the king. "It is his -majesty's pleasure," said Wiltshire, "that you represent to the queen -the shame that will accrue to her from a judicial condemnation, and -persuade her to confide in his wisdom." Wolsey, commissioned to -execute a task he knew to be impossible, exclaimed: "Why do you put -such fancies in the king's head?" and then he spoke so reproachfully -that Wiltshire, with tears in his eyes, fell on his knees beside the -cardinal's bed.[997] Boleyn, desirous of seeing his daughter queen of -England, feared perhaps that he had taken a wrong course. "It is -well," said the cardinal, recollecting that the message came from -Henry VIII, "I am ready to do every thing to please his majesty." He -rose, went to Bath-Place to fetch Campeggio, and together they waited -on the queen. - - [997] Cavendish, p. 226. - -[Sidenote: THE LEGATES VISIT THE QUEEN.] - -The two legates found Catherine quietly at work with her maids of -honour. Wolsey addressed the queen in Latin: "Nay, my lord," she said, -"speak to me in English; I wish all the world could hear you."--"We -desire, madam, to communicate to _you alone_ our counsel and -opinion."--"My lord," said the queen, "you are come to speak of things -beyond my capacity;" and then, with noble simplicity, showing a skein -of red silk hanging about her neck, she continued: "These are my -occupations, and all that I am capable of. I am a poor woman, without -friends in this foreign country, and lacking wit to answer persons of -wisdom as ye be; and yet, my lords, to please you, let us go to my -withdrawing room." - -At these words the queen rose, and Wolsey gave her his hand. Catherine -earnestly maintained her rights as a woman and a queen. "We who were -in the outer chamber," says Cavendish, "from time to time could hear -the queen speaking very loud, but could not understand what she said." -Catherine, instead of justifying herself, boldly accused her judge. "I -know, Sir Cardinal," she said with noble candour, "I know who has -given the king the advice he is following: it is you. I have not -ministered to your pride--I have blamed your conduct--I have -complained of your tyranny, and my nephew the emperor has not made you -pope.... Hence all my misfortunes. To revenge yourself you have -kindled a war in Europe, and have stirred up against me this most -wicked matter. God will be my judge.... and yours!" Wolsey would have -replied, but Catherine haughtily refused to hear him, and while -treating Campeggio with great civility, declared that she would not -acknowledge either of them as her judge. The cardinals withdrew, -Wolsey full of vexation, and Campeggio beaming with joy, for the -business was getting more complicated. Every hope of accommodation was -lost: nothing remained now but to proceed judicially. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The Trial resumed--Catherine Summoned--Twelve Articles--The - Witnesses' Evidence--Arthur and Catherine really - married--Campeggio opposes the Argument of Divine - Right--Other Arguments--The legates required to deliver - judgment--Their Tergiversations--Change in men's - minds--Final Session--General Expectation--Adjournment - during Harvest--Campeggio Excuses this impertinence--The - King's indignation--Suffolk's violence--Wolsey's Reply--He - is ruined--General Accusations--The Cardinal turns to an - Episcopal Life. - - -[Sidenote: THE TRIAL RESUMED.] - -The trial was resumed. The bishop of Bath and Wells waited upon the -queen at Greenwich, and peremptorily summoned her to appear in the -parliament-chamber.[998] On the day appointed Catherine limited -herself to sending an appeal to the pope. She was declared -contumacious, and the legates proceeded with the cause. - - [998] In quadam superiori camera: _the queen'a dining-chamber_, - nuncupata, 26 die mensis junii Rymer. Acta. p. 119. - -Twelve articles were prepared, which were to serve for the examination -of the witnesses, and the summary of which was, that the marriage of -Henry with Catherine, being forbidden both by the law of God and of -the church, was null and void.[999] - - [999] Divino, ecclesiastico jure....nullo omnino et invalidum. - Herbert, p. 163. - -The hearing of the witnesses began, and Dr. Taylor, archdeacon of -Buckingham, conducted the examination. Their evidence, which would now -be taken only with closed doors, may be found in Lord Herbert of -Cherbury's History of Henry VIII. The duke of Norfolk, high-treasurer -of England, the duke of Suffolk, Maurice St. John, gentleman-carver to -Prince Arthur, the Viscount Fitzwalter and Anthony Willoughby, his -cup-bearers, testified to their being present on the morrow of the -wedding at the breakfast of the prince, then in sound health, and -reported the conversation that took place.[1000] The old duchess of -Norfolk, the earl of Shrewsbury, and the marquis of Dorset, confirmed -these declarations, which proved that Arthur and Catherine were really -married. It was also called to mind that, at the time of Arthur's -death, Henry was not permitted to take the title of prince of Wales, -because Catherine hoped to give an heir to the crown of England.[1001] - - [1000] Quod Arthurus mane postridie potum flagitaret, idquo ut - alebant, quoniam diceret se ilia nocte in calida Hispaniarum regione - peregrinatum fuisse, Sanders, p. 43. - - [1001] Foxe, v, p. 51. - -[Sidenote: SECONDARY ARGUMENTS.] - -"If Arthur and Catherine were really married," said the king's -counsellors after these extraordinary depositions, "the marriage of -this princess with Henry, Arthur's brother, was forbidden by the -divine law, by an express command of God contained in Leviticus, and -no dispensation could permit what God had forbidden." Campeggio would -never concede this argument, which limited the right of the popes; it -was necessary therefore to abandon the _divine right_ (which was in -reality to lose the cause), and to seek in the bull of Julius II and -in his famous brief for flaws that would invalidate them both;[1002] -and this the king's counsel did, although they did not conceal the -weakness of their position. "The motive alleged in the dispensation," -they said, "is the necessity of preserving a cordial relation between -Spain and England; now, there was nothing that threatened their -harmony. Moreover, it is said in this document that the pope grants it -at the prayer of Henry, prince of Wales. Now as this prince was only -thirteen years old, he was not of age to make such a request. As for -the brief, it is found neither in England nor in Rome; we cannot -therefore admit its authenticity." It was not difficult for -Catherine's friends to invalidate these objections. "Besides," they -added, "a union that has lasted twenty years, sufficiently establishes -its own lawfulness. And will you declare the Princess Mary -illegitimate, to the great injury of this realm?" - - [1002] Herbert gives them at length, pp. 264-267. - -The king's advocates then changed their course. Was not the Roman -legate provided with a decretal pronouncing the divorce, in case it -should be proved that Arthur's marriage had been really consummated? -Now, this fact had been proved by the depositions. "This is the moment -for delivering judgment," said Henry and his counsellors to Campeggio. -"Publish the pope's decretal." But the pope feared the sword of -Charles V, then hanging over his head; and accordingly, whenever the -king advanced one step, the Romish prelate took several in an opposite -direction. "I will deliver judgment in _five_ days," said he; and when -the five days were expired, he bound himself to deliver it in six. -"Restore peace to my troubled conscience," exclaimed Henry. The legate -replied in courtly phrase; he had gained a few days' delay, and that -was all he desired. - -[Sidenote: DIFFERENT OPINIONS.] - -Such conduct on the part of the Roman legate produced an unfavourable -effect in England, and a change took place in the public mind. The -first movement had been for Catherine; the second was for Henry. -Clement's endless delays and Campeggio's stratagems exasperated the -nation. The king's argument was simple and popular: "The pope cannot -dispense with the laws of God;" while the queen, by appealing to the -authority of the Roman pontiff, displeased both high and low. "No -precedent," said the lawyers, "can justify the king's marriage with -his brother's widow." - -There were, however, some evangelical Christians who thought Henry was -"troubled" more by his passions than by his conscience; and they asked -how it happened that a prince, who represented himself to be so -disturbed by the possible transgression of a law of doubtful -interpretation, could desire, after twenty years, to violate the -indisputable law which forbade the divorce?... On the 21st of July, -the day fixed _ad concludendum_, the cause was adjourned until the -Friday following, and no one doubted that the matter would then be -terminated. - -All prepared for this important day. The king ordered the dukes of -Norfolk and Suffolk to be present at the sitting of the court; and -being himself impatient to hear the so much coveted judgment, he stole -into a gallery of the parliament-chamber facing the judges. - -[Sidenote: THE LEGATE'S REASONS.] - -The legates of the holy see having taken their seats, the -attorney-general signified to them, "that every thing necessary for -the information of their conscience having been judicially laid before -them, that day had been fixed for the conclusion of the trial." There -was a pause; everyone feeling the importance of this judgment, waited -for it with impatience. "Either the papacy pronounces my divorce from -Catherine," the king had said, "or I shall divorce myself from the -papacy." That was the way Henry put the question. All eyes, and -particularly the king's, were turned on the judges; Campeggio could -not retreat; he must now say _yes_ or _no_. For some time he was -silent. He knew for certain that the queen's appeal had been admitted -by Clement VII and that the latter had concluded an alliance with the -emperor. It was no longer in his power to grant the king's request. -Clearly foreseeing that a _no_ would perhaps forfeit the power of Rome -in England, while a _yes_ might put an end to the plans of religious -emancipation which alarmed him so much, he could not make up his mind -to say either _yes_ or _no_. - -At last the nuncio rose slowly from his chair, and all the assembly -listened with emotion to the oracular decision which for so many years -the powerful king of England had sought from the Roman pontiff. "The -general vacation of the harvest and vintage," he said, "being observed -every year by the court of Rome, dating from to-morrow the 24th of -July, the beginning of the dog-days, we adjourn, to some future -period, the conclusion of these pleadings."[1003] - - [1003] Feriae generales messium et vindemiarum. (Herbert, p. 278; - Cavendish, p. 229) The general vacation of harvest and vintage. - -The auditors were thunderstruck. "What! because the _malaria_ renders -the air of Rome dangerous at the end of July; and compels the Romans -to close their courts, must a trial be broken off on the banks of the -Thames, when its conclusion is looked for so impatiently?" The people -hoped for a judicial sentence, and they were answered with a jest; it -was thus Rome made sport of Christendom. Campeggio, to disarm Henry's -wrath, gave utterance to some noble sentiments; but his whole line of -conduct raises legitimate doubts as to his sincerity. "The queen," he -said, "denies the competency of the court; I must therefore make my -report to the pope, who is the source of life and honour, and wait his -sovereign orders. I have not come so far to please any man, be he king -or subject. I am an old man, feeble and sickly, and fear none but the -Supreme Judge, before whom I must soon appear. I therefore adjourn -this court until the 1st of October." - -It was evident that this adjournment was only a formality intended to -signify the definitive rejection of Henry's demand. The same custom -prevails in the British legislature. - -The king, who from his place of concealment had heard Campeggio's -speech, could scarcely control his indignation. He wanted a regular -judgment; he clung to forms; he desired that his cause should pass -successfully through all the windings of ecclesiastical procedure, and -yet here it is wrecked upon the vacations of the Romish court. Henry -was silent, however, either from prudence, or because surprise -deprived him of the power of speech, and he hastily left the gallery. - -[Sidenote: SUFFOLK'S VIOLENCE.] - -Norfolk, Suffolk, and the other courtiers, did not follow him. The -king and his ministers, the peers and the people, and even the clergy, -were almost unanimous, and yet the pope pronounced his _veto_. He -humbled the Defender of the Faith to flatter the author of the sack of -Rome. This was too much. The impetuous Suffolk started from his seat, -struck his hand violently on the table in front of him, cast a -threatening look upon the judges and exclaimed: "By the mass, the old -saying is confirmed to-day, that no cardinal has ever brought good to -England."[1004]--"Sir, of all men in this realm," replied Wolsey, "you -have the least cause to disparage cardinals, for if I, poor cardinal, -had not been, you would not have had a head on your shoulders."[1005] -It would seem that Wolsey pacified Henry, at the time of the duke's -marriage with the Princess Mary. "I cannot pronounce sentence," -continued Wolsey, "without knowing the good pleasure of his holiness." -The two dukes and the other noblemen left the hall in anger, and -hastened to the palace.[1006] The legates, remaining with their -officers, looked at each other for a few moments. At last Campeggio, -who alone had remained calm during this scene of violence, arose, and -the audience dispersed. - - [1004] Mensam quae proponebatur magno ictu concutiens: Per sacram, - inquit, missam, nemo unquam legatorum aut cardinalium quicquam boni ad - Angliam apportavit. Sanders, p. 49. - - [1005] Cavendish, p. 233. - - [1006] Duces ex judicio discedentes, ut ipsi omnibus iracundiae flammis - urebantur. Sanders, p. 49. - -Henry did not allow himself to be crushed by this blow. Rome, by her -strange proceedings, aroused in him that suspicious and despotic -spirit, of which he gave such tragic proofs in after-years. The papacy -was making sport of him. Clement and Wolsey tossed his divorce from -one to the other like a ball which, now at Rome and now at London, -seemed fated to remain perpetually in the air. The king thought he had -been long enough the plaything of his holiness and of the crafty -cardinal; his patience was exhausted, and he resolved to show his -adversaries that Henry VIII was more than a match for these bishops. -We shall find him seizing this favourable opportunity, and giving an -unexpected solution to the matter. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY ACCUSED BY ALL.] - -Wolsey sorrowfully hung his head; by taking part with the nuncio and -the pope, he had signed the warrant of his own destruction. So long as -Henry had a single ray of hope, he thought proper still to dissemble -with Clement VII; but he might vent all his anger on Wolsey. From the -period of the _Roman Vacations_ the cardinal was ruined in his -master's mind. Wolsey's enemies seeing his favour decline, hastened to -attack him. Suffolk and Norfolk in particular, impatient to get rid of -an insolent priest who had so long chafed their pride, told Henry that -Wolsey had been continually playing false; they went over all his -negotiations month by month and day by day, and drew the most -overwhelming conclusions from them. Sir William Kingston and Lord -Manners laid before the king one of the cardinal's letters which Sir -Francis Bryan had obtained from the papal archives. In it the -cardinal desired Clement to spin out the divorce question, and finally -to oppose it, seeing (he added) that if Henry was separated from -Catherine, a friend to the reformers would become queen of -England.[1007] This letter clearly expressed Wolsey's inmost thoughts: -Rome at any price ... and perish England and Henry rather than the -popedom! We can imagine the king's anger. - - [1007] Edm. Campion _De divortio_. Herbert, p. 289. - -Anne Boleyn's friends were not working alone. There was not a person -at court whom Wolsey's haughtiness and tyranny had not offended; no -one in the king's council in whom his continual intrigues had not -raised serious suspicions. He had (they said) betrayed in France the -cause of England; kept up in time of peace and war secret intelligence -with Madam, mother of Francis I; received great presents from -her;[1008] oppressed the nation, and trodden under foot the laws of -the kingdom. The people called him _Frenchman_ and _traitor_, and all -England seemed to vie in throwing burning brands at the superb edifice -which the pride of this prelate had so laboriously erected.[1009] - - [1008] Du Bellay's Letters, Le Grand, Preuves, p. 374. - - [1009] Novis etiam furoris et insaniae facibus incenderunt. (Sanders, - p. 49.) They burned with new brands of rage and madness. - -Wolsey was too clearsighted not to discern the signs of his -approaching fall. "Both the rising and the setting sun (for thus an -historian calls Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon) frowned upon -him,"[1010] and the sky, growing darker around him, gave token of the -storm that was to overwhelm him. If the _cause_ failed, Wolsey -incurred the vengeance of the king; if it succeeded, he would be -delivered up to the vengeance of the Boleyns, without speaking of -Catherine's, the emperor's and the pope's. Happy Campeggio! thought -the cardinal, he has nothing to fear. If Henry's favour is withdrawn -from him, Charles and Clement will make him compensation. But Wolsey -lost every thing when he lost the king's good graces. Detested by his -fellow-citizens, despised and hated by all Europe, he saw to whatever -side he turned nothing but the just reward of his avarice and -falseness. He strove in vain, as on other occasions, to lean on the -ambassador of France; Du Bellay was solicited on the other side. "I am -exposed here to such a heavy and continual fire that I am half dead," -exclaimed the bishop of Bayonne;[1011] and the cardinal met with an -unusual reserve in his former confidant. - - [1010] Fuller, p. 176. - - [1011] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 15th June. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 324. - -Yet the crisis approached. Like a skilful but affrighted pilot, -Wolsey cast his eyes around him to discover a port in which he could -take refuge. He could find none but his see of York. He therefore -began once more to complain of the fatigues of power, of the weariness -of the diplomatic career, and to extol the sweetness of an episcopal -life. On a sudden he felt a great interest about the flock of whom he -had never thought before. Those around him shook their heads, well -knowing that such a retreat would be to Wolsey the bitterest of -disgraces. One single idea supported him; if he fell, it would be -because he had clung more to the pope than to the king: he would be -the martyr of his faith.--What a faith, what a martyr! - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Anne Boleyn at Hever--She Reads the Obedience of a Christian - Man--is recalled to Court--Miss Gainsford and George - Zouch--Tyndale's Book converts Zouch--Zouch in the - Chapel-Royal--The Book seized--Anne applies to Henry--The - King reads the Book--Pretended Influence of the Book on - Henry--The Court at Woodstock--The Park and its - Goblins--Henry's Esteem for Anne. - - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN AT HEVER.] - -While these things were taking place Anne was living at Hever Castle -in retirement and sadness. Scruples from time to time still alarmed -her conscience. It is true, the king represented to her unceasingly -that his salvation and the safety of his people demanded the -dissolution of a union condemned by the divine law, and that what he -solicited several popes had granted. Had not Alexander VI annulled, -after ten years, the marriage of Ladislaus and Beatrice of Naples? Had -not Louis XII, the father of his people, been divorced from Joan of -France? Nothing was more common, he said, than to see the divorce of a -prince authorized by a pope; the security of the state must be -provided for before every thing else. Carried away by these arguments -and dazzled by the splendour of a throne, Anne Boleyn consented to -usurp at Henry's side the rank belonging to another. Yet, if she was -imprudent and ambitious, she was feeling and generous, and the -misfortunes of a queen whom she respected soon made her reject with -terror the idea of taking her place. The fertile pastures of Kent and -the gothic halls of Hever Castle were by turns the witnesses of the -mental conflicts this young lady experienced. The fear she entertained -of seeing the queen again, and the idea that the two cardinals, her -enemies, were plotting her ruin, made her adopt the resolution of not -returning to court, and she shut herself up in her solitary chamber. - -[Sidenote: ANNE RECALLED TO COURT.] - -Anne had neither the deep piety of a Bilney, nor the somewhat vague -and mystic spirituality observable in Margaret of Valois; it was not -feeling which prevailed in her religion, it was knowledge, and a -horror of superstition and pharisaism. Her mind required light and -activity, and at that time she sought in reading the consolations so -necessary to her position. One day she opened one of the books -prohibited in England, which a friend of the Reformation had given -her: _The Obedience of a Christian Man_. Its author was William -Tyndale, that invisible man whom Wolsey's agents were hunting for in -Brabant and Germany, and this was a recommendation to Anne. "If thou -believe the promises," she read, "then God's truth justifieth thee; -that is, forgiveth thy sins and sealeth thee with his Holy Spirit. If -thou have true faith, so seest thou the exceeding and infinite love -and mercy which God hath shown thee freely in Christ: then must thou -needs love again: and love cannot but compel thee to work. If when -tyrants oppose thee thou have power to confess, then art thou sure -that thou art safe.[1012] If thou be fallen from the way of truth, -come thereto again and thou art safe. Yea, Christ shall save thee, and -the angels of heaven shall rejoice at thy coming."[1013] These words -did not change Anne's heart, but she marked with her nail, as was her -custom,[1014] other passages which struck her more, and which she -desired to point out to the king if, as she hoped, she was ever to -meet him again. She believed that the truth was there, and took a -lively interest in those whom Wolsey, Henry, and the pope were at that -time persecuting. - - [1012] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, vol. i. 295. - - [1013] Tyndale's Works, vol. i. p. 300. - - [1014] Wyatt's Memoirs, p. 438. - -Anne was soon dragged from these pious lessons, and launched into the -midst of a world full of dangers. Henry, convinced that he had nothing -to expect henceforward from Campeggio, neglected those proprieties -which he had hitherto observed, and immediately after the adjournment -ordered Anne Boleyn to return to court; he restored her to the place -she had formerly occupied, and even surrounded her with increased -splendour. Every one saw that Anne, in the king's mind, was queen of -England; and a powerful party was formed around her, which, proposed -to accomplish the definitive ruin of the cardinal. - -[Sidenote: MISS GAINSFORD AND GEORGE ZOUCH.] - -After her return to court, Anne read much less frequently _The -Obedience of a Christian Man_ and the _Testament of Jesus Christ_. -Henry's homage, her friends' intrigues, and the whirl of festivities, -bade fair to stifle the thoughts which solitude had aroused in her -heart. One day having left Tyndale's book in a window, Miss Gainsford, -a fair young gentlewoman[1015] attached to her person, took it up and -read it. A gentleman of handsome mien, cheerful temper, and extreme -mildness, named George Zouch, also belonging to Anne's household, and -betrothed to Miss Gainsford, profiting by the liberty his position -gave him, indulged sometimes in "love tricks."[1016] On one occasion -when George desired to have a little talk with her, he was annoyed to -find her absorbed by a book of whose contents he knew nothing; and -taking advantage of a moment when the young lady had turned away her -head, he laughingly snatched it from her. Miss Gainsford ran after -Zouch to recover her book; but just at that moment she heard her -mistress calling her, and she left George, threatening him with her -finger. - - [1015] Strype, i. p. 171. - - [1016] Ibid. p. 172. - -As she did not return immediately, George withdrew to his room, and -opened the volume; it was the _Obedience of a Christian Man_. He -glanced over a few lines, then a few pages, and at last read the book -through more than once. He seemed to hear the voice of God. "I feel -the Spirit of God," he said, "speaking in my heart as he has spoken in -the heart of him who wrote the book."[1017] The words which had only -made a temporary impression on the preoccupied mind of Anne Boleyn, -penetrated to the heart of her equerry and converted him. Miss -Gainsford, fearing that Anne would ask for her book, entreated George -to restore it to her; but he positively refused, and even the young -lady's tears failed to make him give up a volume in which he had found -the life of his soul. Becoming more serious, he no longer jested as -before; and when Miss Gainsford peremptorily demanded the book, he -was, says the chronicler, "ready to weep himself." - - [1017] Ibid. - -Zouch, finding in this volume an edification which empty forms and -ceremonies could not give, used to carry it with him to the king's -chapel. Dr. Sampson, the dean, generally officiated; and while the -choir chanted the service, George would be absorbed in his book, where -he read: "If when thou seest the celebration of the sacrament of the -Lord's Supper, thou believest in this promise of Christ: _This is my -body that is broken for you_, and if thou have this promise fast in -thine heart, thou art saved and justified thereby; thou eatest his -body and drinkest his blood. If not, so helpeth it thee not, though -thou hearest a thousand masses in a day: no more than it should help -thee in a dead thirst to behold a bush at a tavern door, if thou -knewest not thereby that there was wine within to be sold."[1018] The -young man dwelt upon these words: by faith he ate the body and drank -the blood of the Son of God. This was what was passing in the palaces -of Henry VIII; there were saints in the household of Caesar. - - [1018] Tyndale and Fryth's Works, vol. i. p. 286. - -[Sidenote: ANNE BOLEYN BEFORE THE KING.] - -Wolsey, desirous of removing from the court everything that might -favour the Reformation, had recommended extreme vigilance to Dr. -Sampson so as to prevent the circulation of the innovating books. -Accordingly, one day when George was in the chapel absorbed in his -book, the dean, who, even while officiating, had not lost sight of the -young man, called him to him after the service, and rudely taking the -book from his hands, demanded: "What is your name, and in whose -service are you?" Zouch having replied, the dean withdrew with a very -angry look, and carried his prey to the cardinal. - -When Miss Gainsford heard of this mishap, her grief was extreme; she -trembled at the thought that the _Obedience of a Christian Man_ was in -Wolsey's hands. Not long after this, Anne having asked for her book, -the young lady fell on her knees, confessed all, and begged to be -forgiven.[1019] Anne uttered not a word of reproach; her quick mind -saw immediately the advantage she might derive from this affair. -"Well," said she, "it shall be the dearest book to them that ever the -dean or cardinal took away." - - [1019] She on her knees told it all. Strype, vol. i. p. 172. - -"The noble lady," as the chronicler styles her, immediately demanded -an interview of the king, and on reaching his presence she fell at his -feet,[1020] and begged his assistance. "What is the matter, Anne," -said the astonished monarch. She told him what had happened, and Henry -promised that the book should not remain in Wolsey's hands. - - [1020] Upon her knees she desireth the king's help for her book. Ibid. - -[Sidenote: THE KING READS TYNDALE'S BOOK.] - -Anne had scarcely quitted the royal apartments when the cardinal -arrived with the famous volume, with the intention of complaining to -Henry of certain passages which he knew could not fail to irritate -him, and to take advantage of it even to attack Anne, if the king -should be offended.[1021] Henry's icy reception closed his mouth; the -king confined himself to taking the book, and bowing out the cardinal. -This was precisely what Anne had hoped for. She begged the king to -read the book, which he promised to do. - - [1021] Wyatt's Memoirs, p. 411. - -And Henry accordingly shut himself up in his closet, and read the -_Obedience of a Christian Man_. There were few works better calculated -to enlighten him, and none, after the Bible, that has had more -influence upon the Reformation in England. Tyndale treated of -_obedience_, "the essential principle," as he terms it, "of every -political or religious community." He declaimed against the unlawful -power of the popes, who usurped the lawful authority of Christ and of -his Word. He professed political-doctrines too favourable doubtless to -absolute power, but calculated to show that the reformers were not, as -had been asserted, instigators of rebellion. Henry read as follows:-- - -"The king is in the room of God in this world. He that resisteth the -king, resisteth God; he that judgeth the king, judgeth God. He is the -minister of God to defend thee from a thousand inconveniences; though -he be the greatest tyrant in the world, yet is he unto thee a great -benefit of God; for it is better to pay the tenth than to lose all, -and to suffer wrong of one man than of every man."[1022] - - [1022] Tyndale's Works, edited by Russel, vol. i. p. 212 - -These are indeed strange doctrines for _rebels_ to hold, thought the -king; and he continued:-- - -"Let kings, if they had lever [rather] be Christians in deed than so -to be called, give themselves altogether to the wealth [well-being] of -their realms after the ensample of Jesus Christ; remembering that the -people are God's, and not theirs; yea, are Christ's inheritance, -bought with his blood. The most despised person in his realm (if he is -a Christian) is equal with him in the kingdom of God and of Christ. -Let the king put off all pride, and become a brother to the poorest of -his subjects."[1023] - - [1023] Ibid. p. 233. - -[Sidenote: TYNDALE'S DOCTRINE ON KINGS.] - -It is probable that these words were less satisfactory to the king. He -kept on reading:-- - -"Emperors and kings are nothing now-a-days, but even hangmen unto the -pope and bishops, to kill whomsoever they condemn, as Pilate was unto -the scribes and pharisees and high bishops to hang Christ."[1024] - - [1024] Ibid. p. 274. - -This seemed to Henry rather strong language. - -"The pope hath received no other authority of Christ than to preach -God's word. Now, this word should rule only, and not bishops' decrees -or the pope's pleasure. _In praesentia majoris cessat potestas -minoris_, in the presence of the greater, the less hath no -power.[1025] The pope, against all the doctrine of Christ, which -saith, _My kingdom is not of this world_, hath usurped the right of -the emperor. Kings must make account of their doings only to -God.[1026] No person may be exempt from this ordinance of God; neither -can the profession of monks and friars, or anything that the popes or -bishops can lay for themselves, except them from the sword of the -emperor or king, if they break the laws. For it is written, (Rom. -xiii.) Let every soul submit himself unto the authority of the higher -powers."[1027] - - [1025] Tyndale's Works, p. 243. - - [1026] Ibid. p. 220. - - [1027] Ibid. p. 213. - -"What excellent reading!" exclaimed Henry, when he had finished; "this -is truly a book for all kings to read, and for me particularly."[1028] - - [1028] Strype, i. p. 172. - -Captivated by Tyndale's work, the king began to converse with Anne -about the church and the pope; and she who had seen Margaret of Valois -unassumingly endeavour to instruct Francis I strove in like manner to -enlighten Henry VIII. She did not possess the influence over him she -desired; this unhappy prince was, to the very end of his life, opposed -to the evangelical reformation; protestants and catholics have been -equally mistaken when they have regarded him as being favourable to -it. "In a short time," says the annalist quoted by Strype at the end -of his narrative, "the king, by the help of this virtuous lady, had -his eyes opened to the truth. He learned to seek after that truth, to -advance God's religion and glory, to detest the pope's doctrine, his -lies, his pomp, and pride, and to deliver his subjects from the -Egyptian darkness and Babylonian bonds that the pope had brought him -and his subjects under. Despising the rebellions of his subjects and -the rage of so many mighty potentates abroad, he set forward a -religious reformation, which, beginning with the triple-crowned head, -came down to all the members of the hierarchy." History has rarely -delivered a more erroneous judgment. Henry's eyes were never opened to -the truth, and it was not he who made the Reformation. It was -accomplished first of all by Scripture, and then by the ministry of -simple and faithful men baptized of the Holy Ghost. - -[Sidenote: THE COURT AT WOODSTOCK.] - -Yet Tyndale's book and the conduct of the legates had given rise in -the king's mind to new thoughts which he sought time to mature. He -desired also to conceal his anger from Wolsey and Campeggio, and -dissipate his _spleen_, says the historian Collyer; he therefore gave -orders to remove the court to the palace of Woodstock. The magnificent -park attached to this royal residence, in which was the celebrated -bower constructed (it is said) by Henry II to conceal the fair -Rosamond, offered all the charms of the promenade, the chase, and -solitude.[1029] Hence he could easily repair to Langly, Grafton, and -other country seats. It was not long before the entertainments, -horse-races, and other rural sports began. The world with its -pleasures and its grandeur, were at the bottom the idols of Anne -Boleyn's heart; but yet she felt a certain attraction for the new -doctrine, which was confounded in her mind with the great cause of all -knowledge, perhaps even with her own. More enlightened than the -generality of women, she was distinguished by the superiority of her -understanding not only over her own sex, but even over many of the -gentlemen of the court. While Catherine, a member of the third order -of St. Francis, indulged in trifling practices, the more intelligent, -if not more pious Anne, cared but little for amulets which the friars -had blessed, for apparitions, or visions of angels. Woodstock -furnished her with an opportunity of curing Henry VIII of the -superstitious ideas natural to him. There was a place in the forest -said to be haunted by evil spirits; not a priest or a courtier dared -approach it. A tradition ran that if a king ventured to cross the -boundary, he would fall dead. Anne resolved to take Henry there. -Accordingly, one morning she led the way in the direction of the place -where these mysterious powers manifested their presence (as it was -said) by strange apparitions; they entered the wood; they arrived at -the so much dreaded spot; all hesitated; but Anne's calmness reassured -her companions; they advanced; they found ... nothing but trees and -turf, and, laughing at their former terrors, they explored every -corner of this mysterious resort of the evil spirits. Anne returned to -the palace, congratulating herself on the triumph Henry had gained -over his imaginary fears.[1030] This prince, who could as yet bear -with superiority in others, was struck with Anne Boleyn's. - - [1029] The letters from the king's secretaries Gardiner and Tuke to -Wolsey, dated Woodstock, run from 4th August to 8th September. State -Papers, i. p. 335-347. - - [1030] Foxe, v. p. 136; Miss Benger's life of Anne Boleyn, p. 299. - - Never too gay nor yet too melancholy, - A heavenly mind is hers, like angels holy. - None purer ever soared above the sky. - O mighty Marvel, thus may every eye - See of what monster strange the humble serf am I; - - Monster indeed, for in her frame divine - A woman's form, man's heart, and angel's head combine.[1031] - - [1031] - - Jamais trop gay, ne trop melancolique, - Elle a au chef un esprit angelique, - Le plus subtil qui onc au ciel vola. - O grand' merveille! on peut voir par cela - Que je suis serf d'un monstre fort etrange: - Monstre je dy, car pour tout vray elle a - Corps feminin, coeur d'homme et tete d'ange - -These verses of Clement Marot, written in honour of Margaret of -Valois, faithfully express what Henry then felt for Anne, who had been -with Marot in the household of that princess. Henry's love may perhaps -have deceived him, as to Anne's excellencies. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Embarrassment of the pope--The Triumphs of Charles decide - him--He traverses the Cause to Rome--Wolsey's - Dejection--Henry's Wrath--His fears--Wolsey obtains - comfort--Arrival of the two Legates at Grafton--Wolsey's - reception by Henry--Wolsey and Norfolk at Dinner--Henry with - Anne--Conference between the King and the Cardinal--Wolsey's - Joy and Grief--The Supper at Euston--Campeggio's Farewell - Audience--Wolsey's Disgrace--Campeggio at Dover--He is - accused by the courtiers--Leaves England--Wolsey foresees - his own Fall and that of the Papacy. - - -[Sidenote: EMBARRASSMENT OF THE POPE.] - -While the court was thus taking its pleasure at Woodstock, Wolsey -remained in London, a prey to the acutest anguish. "This avocation to -Rome," wrote he to Gregory De Casale, "will not only completely -alienate the king and his realm from the apostolic see, but will ruin -me utterly."[1032] This message had hardly reached the pope, before -the imperial ambassadors handed to him the queen's protest, and added -in a very significant tone: "If your holiness does not call this cause -before you, the emperor, who is determined to bring it to an end, will -have recourse to _other arguments_." The same perplexity always -agitated Clement: Which of the two must be sacrificed, Henry or -Charles? Anthony de Leyva, who commanded the imperial forces, having -routed the French army, the pope no longer doubted that Charles was -the elect of Heaven. It was not Europe alone which acknowledged this -prince's authority; a new world had just laid its power and its gold -at his feet. The formidable priest-king of the Aztecs had been unable -to withstand Cortez; could the priest-king of Rome withstand Charles -V? Cortez had returned from Mexico, bringing with him Mexican chiefs -in all their barbarous splendour, with thousands of _pesos_, with gold -and silver and emeralds of extraordinary size, with magnificent -tissues and birds of brilliant plumage. He had accompanied Charles, -who was then going to Italy, to the place of embarkation, and had sent -to Clement VII costly gifts of the precious metals, valuable jewels, -and a troop of Mexican dancers, buffoons, and jugglers, who charmed -the pope and the cardinal above all things.[1033] - - [1032] Non solum regium animum et totum hoc regnum a sedis apostolicae - devotione penitus abalienabit, ac me omnino perdet et funditus - destruet. State Papers, vii, p. 189. - - [1033] Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, book vii, chap. iv. - -[Sidenote: PEACE BETWEEN CLEMENT AND CHARLES.] - -Clement, even while refusing Henry's prayer, had not as yet granted -the emperor's. He thought he could now resist no longer the star of a -monarch victorious over two worlds, and hastened to enter into -negotiations with him. Sudden terrors still assailed him from time to -time: My refusal (he said to himself) may perhaps cause me to lose -England. But Charles, holding him in his powerful grasp, compelled him -to submit. Henry's antecedents were rather encouraging to the pontiff. -How could he imagine that a prince, who alone of all the monarchs of -Europe had once contended against the great reformer, would now -separate from the popedom? On the 6th of July Clement declared to the -English envoys that he _avoked to Rome_ the cause between Henry VIII -and Catherine of Aragon. In other words, this was refusing the -divorce. "There are twenty three points in this case," said the -courtiers, "and the debate on the first has lasted a year; before the -end of the trial, the king will be not only past marrying but past -living."[1034] - - [1034] Fuller, p. 178. - -When he learned that the fatal blow had been struck, Bennett in a tone -of sadness exclaimed: "Alas! most holy father, by this act the Church -in England will be utterly destroyed; the king declared it to me with -tears in his eyes."[1035]--"Why is it my fortune to live in such evil -days?" replied the pope, who, in his turn, began to weep;[1036] "but I -am encircled by the emperor's forces, and if I were to please the -king, I should draw a fearful ruin upon myself and upon the church.... -God will be my judge." - - [1035] Burnet, Records, ii, p. 37. - - [1036] Ibid. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S ANGER.] - -On the 15th of July Da Casale sent the fatal news to the English -minister. The king was cited before the pope, and in case of refusal -condemned in a fine of 10,000 ducats. On the 18th of July peace was -proclaimed at Rome between the pontiff and the emperor, and on the -next day (these dates are important) Clement, wishing still to make -one more attempt to ward off the blow with which the papacy was -threatened, wrote to Cardinal Wolsey: "My dear son, how can I describe -to you my affliction? Show in this matter the prudence which so -distinguishes you, and preserve the king in those kindly feelings -which he has ever manifested towards me."[1037] A useless attempt! Far -from saving the papacy, Wolsey was to be wrecked along with it. - - [1037] Ut dictum regem in solita erga nos benevolentia retinere velis. - Burnet, Records, ii. p. xxxviii. - -Wolsey was thunderstruck. At the very time he was assuring Henry of -the attachment of Clement and Francis, both were deserting him. The -"politic handling" failed, which the cardinal had thought so skilful, -and which had been so torturous. Henry now had none but enemies on the -continent of Europe, and the Reformation was daily spreading over his -kingdom. Wolsey's anguish cannot be described. His power, his pomp, -his palaces were all threatened; who could tell whether he would even -preserve his liberty and his life.--A just reward for so much -duplicity. - -[Sidenote: HENRY CONCEALS HIS AFFRONT.] - -But the king's wrath was to be greater than even the minister's alarm. -His terrified servants wondered how they should announce the pontiff's -decision. Gardiner, who, after his return from Rome, had been named -secretary of state, went down to Langley on the 3rd of August to -communicate it to him. What news for the proud Tudor! The decision on -the divorce was forbidden in England; the cause avoked to Rome, there -to be buried and unjustly lost; Francis I treating with the emperor; -Charles and Clement on the point of exchanging at Bologna the most -striking signs of their unchangeable alliance; the services rendered -by the king to the popedom repaid with the blackest ingratitude; his -hope of giving an heir to the crown disgracefully frustrated; and -last, but not least, Henry VIII, the proudest monarch of Christendom, -summoned to Rome to appear before an ecclesiastical tribunal ... it -was too much for Henry. His wrath, a moment restrained, burst forth -like a clap of thunder,[1038] and all trembled around him. "Do they -presume," he exclaimed, "to try my cause elsewhere than in my own -dominions? I, the king of England, summoned before an Italian -tribunal!... Yes, ... I will go to Rome, but it shall be with such a -mighty army that the pope, and his priests, and all Italy shall be -struck with terror.[1039]--I forbid the letters of citation to be -executed," he continued; "I forbid the commission to consider its -functions at an end." Henry would have desired to tear off Campeggio's -purple robes, and throw this prince of the Roman church into prison, -in order to frighten Clement; but the very magnitude of the insult -compelled him to restrain himself. He feared above all things to -appear humbled in the eyes of England, and he hoped, by showing -moderation, to hide the affront he had received. "Let everything be -done," he told Gardiner, "to conceal from my subjects these letters of -citation, which are so hurtful to my glory. Write to Wolsey that I -have the greatest confidence in his dexterity, and that he ought, by -good handling, to win over Campeggio[1040] and the queen's -counsellors, and, above all, prevail upon them at any price not to -serve these citatory letters on me." But Henry had hardly given his -instructions when the insult of which he had been the object recurred -to his imagination; the thought of Clement haunted him night and day, -and he swore to exact a striking vengeance from the pontiff. Rome -desires to have no more to do with England.... England in her turn -will cast off Rome. Henry will sacrifice Wolsey, Clement, and the -church; nothing shall stop his fury. The crafty pontiff has concealed -his game, the king shall beat him openly; and from age to age the -popedom shall shed tears over the imprudent folly of a medici. - - [1038] He became much incensed. Herbert, p. 187. Supra quam dici - potest excanduit Sanders, p. 50. - - [1039] He would do the same with such a mayn [great] and army royal, - as should be formidable to the pope and all Italy. State Papers, vii. - p. 194; Burnet, Records, p. xxxvii. - - [1040] Your grace's dexterity ... by good handling of the cardinal - Campeggio. State Papers, vol. 1. p. 336. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DISFAVOUR.] - -Thus after insupportable delays which had fatigued the nation, a -thunderbolt fell upon England. Court, clergy, and people, from whom it -was impossible to conceal these great events, were deeply stirred, and -the whole kingdom was in commotion. Wolsey, still hoping to ward off -the ruin impending over both himself and the papacy, immediately put -in play all that dexterity which Henry had spoken of; he so far -prevailed that the letters citatorial were not served on the king, but -only the brief addressed to Wolsey by Clement VII.[1041] The cardinal, -all radiant with this trivial success, and desirous of profiting by it -to raise his credit, resolved to accompany Campeggio, who was going -down to Grafton to take leave of the king. When the coming of the two -legates was heard of at court, the agitation was very great. The dukes -of Norfolk and Suffolk regarded this proceeding as the last effort of -their enemy, and entreated Henry not to receive him. "The king will -receive him," said some. "The king will not receive him," answered -others. At length one Sunday morning it was announced that the -prelates were at the gates of the mansion. Wolsey looked round with an -anxious eye for the great officers who were accustomed to introduce -him. They appeared, and desired Campeggio to follow them. When the -legate had been taken to his apartments, Wolsey waited his turn; but -great was his consternation on being informed that there was no -chamber appointed for him in the palace. Sir Henry Norris, groom of -the stole, offered Wolsey the use of his own room, and the cardinal -followed him, almost sinking beneath the humiliation he had -undergone.[1042] He made ready to appear before the king, and -summoning up his courage, proceeded to the presence-chamber. - - [1041] Ibid. p. 343. - - [1042] Cavendish, p. 237-245. - -The lords of the council were standing in a row according to their -rank; Wolsey, taking off his hat, passed along saluting each of them -with affected civility. A great number of courtiers arrived, impatient -to see how Henry would receive his old favourite; and most of them -were already exulting in the striking disgrace of which they hoped to -be witnesses. At last the king was announced. - -Henry stood under the cloth of state; and Wolsey advanced and knelt -before him. Deep silence prevailed throughout the chamber.... To the -surprise of all, Henry stooped down and raised him up with both -hands.... Then, with a pleasing smile, he took Wolsey to the window, -desired him to put on his hat, and talked familiarly with him. "Then," -says Cavendish, the cardinal's gentleman usher, "it would have made -you smile to behold the countenances of those who had laid wagers that -the king would not speak with him." - -But this was the last ray of evening which then lighted up the -darkening fortunes of Wolsey: the star of his favour was about to set -for ever.... The silence continued, for every one desired to catch a -few words of the conversation. The king seemed to be accusing Wolsey, -and Wolsey to be justifying himself. On a sudden Henry pulled a letter -out of his bosom, and showing it to the cardinal, said in a loud -voice: "How can that be? is not this your hand?" It was no doubt the -letter which Bryan had intercepted. Wolsey replied in an under-tone, -and seemed to have appeased his master. The dinner hour having -arrived, the king left the room telling Wolsey that he would not fail -to see him again; the courtiers were eager to make their profoundest -reverences to the cardinal, but he haughtily traversed the chamber, -and the dukes hastened to carry to Anne Boleyn the news of this -astonishing reception. - -Wolsey, Campeggio, and the lords of the council sat down to dinner. -The cardinal, well aware that the terrible letter would be his utter -ruin, and that Henry's good graces had no other object than to prepare -his fall, began to hint at his retirement. "Truly," said he with a -devout air, "the king would do well to send his bishops and chaplains -home to their cures and benefices." The company looked at one another -with astonishment. "Yea, marry," said the duke of Norfolk somewhat -rudely, "and so it were meet for you to do also."--"I should be very -well contented therewith," answered Wolsey, "if it were the king's -pleasure to license me with leave to go to my cure at Winchester."-- -"Nay, to your benefice at York, where your greatest honour and charge -is," replied Norfolk, who was not willing that Wolsey should be living -so near Henry.--"Even as it shall please the king," added Wolsey, and -changed the subject of conversation. - -[Sidenote: HENRY AND ANNE BOLEYN.] - -Henry had caused himself to be announced to Anne Boleyn, who (says -Cavendish) "kept state at Grafton more like a queen than a simple -maid." Possessing extreme sensibility, and an ardent imagination, -Anne, who felt the slightest insult with all the sensibility of her -woman's heart, was very dissatisfied with the king after the report of -the dukes. Accordingly, heedless of the presence of the attendants, -she said to him: "Sir, is it not a marvellous thing to see into what -great danger the cardinal hath brought you with all your -subjects?"--"How so, sweetheart?" asked Henry. Anne continued: "Are -you ignorant of the hatred his exactions have drawn upon you? There is -not a man in your whole realm of England worth one hundred pounds, but -he hath made you his debtor." Anne here alluded to the loan the king -had raised among his subjects. "Well, well," said Henry, who was not -pleased with these remarks, "I know that matter better than you."--"If -my lord of Norfolk, my lord of Suffolk, my uncle, or my father had -done much less than the cardinal hath done," continued Anne, "they -would have lost their heads ere this." "Then I perceive," said Henry, -"you are none of his friends."--"No, sir, I have no cause, nor any -that love you," she replied. The dinner was ended; the king, without -appearing at all touched, proceeded to the presence-chamber where -Wolsey expected him. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S LAST INTERVIEW.] - -After a long conversation, carried on in a low tone, the king took -Wolsey by the hand and led him into his private chamber. The courtiers -awaited impatiently the termination of an interview which might decide -the fate of England; they walked up and down the gallery, often -passing before the door of the closet, in the hope of catching from -Wolsey's looks, when he opened it, the result of this secret -conference; but one quarter of an hour followed another, these became -hours, and still the cardinal did not appear. Henry having resolved -that this conversation should be the last, was no doubt collecting -from his minister all the information necessary to him. But the -courtiers imagined he was returning into his master's favour; Norfolk, -Suffolk, Wiltshire, and the other enemies of the prime minister, began -to grow alarmed, and hastened off to Anne Boleyn, who was their last -hope. - -It was night when the king and Wolsey quitted the royal closet; the -former appeared gracious, the latter satisfied; it was always Henry's -custom to smile on those he intended to sacrifice. "I shall see you in -the morning," he said to the cardinal with a friendly air. Wolsey made -a low bow, and, turning round to the courtiers, saw the king's smile -reflected on their faces. Wiltshire, Tuke, and even Suffolk, were full -of civility. "Well," thought he, "the motion of such weathercocks as -these shows me from what quarter the wind of favour is blowing."[1043] - - [1043] Burnet's Ref. vol. i, p. 59. - -But a moment after the wind began to change. Men with torches waited -for the cardinal at the gates of the palace to conduct him to the -place where he would have to pass the night. Thus he was not to sleep -beneath the same roof with Henry. He was to lie at Euston, one of -Empson's houses, about three miles off. Wolsey, repressing his -vexation, mounted his horse, the footmen preceded him with their -links, and after an hour's riding along very bad roads, he reached the -lodging assigned him. - -[Sidenote: THE KING'S FAREWELL TO WOLSEY.] - -He had sat down to supper, to which some of his most intimate friends -had been invited, when suddenly Gardiner was announced. Gardiner owed -every thing to the cardinal, and yet he had not appeared before him -since his return from Rome. He comes no doubt to play the hypocrite -and the spy, thought Wolsey. But as soon as the secretary entered, -Wolsey rose, made him a graceful compliment, and prayed him to take a -seat. "Master Secretary," he asked, "where have you been since your -return from Rome?"--"I have been following the court from place to -place."--"You have been hunting then? Have you any dogs?" asked the -prime minister, who knew very well what Gardiner had been doing in the -king's closet. "A few," replied Gardiner. Wolsey thought that even the -secretary was a bloodhound on his track. And yet after supper he took -Gardiner aside, and conversed with him until midnight. He thought it -prudent to neglect nothing that might clear up his position; and -Wolsey sounded Gardiner, just as he himself had been sounded by Henry -not long before. - -The same night at Grafton the king gave Campeggio a farewell audience, -and treated him very kindly, "by giving him presents and other -matters," says Du Bellay. Henry then returned to Anne Boleyn. The -dukes had pointed out to her the importance of the present moment; she -therefore asked and obtained of Henry, without any great difficulty, -his promise never to speak to his minister again.[1044] The insults of -the papacy had exasperated the king of England, and as he could not -punish Clement, he took his revenge on the cardinal. - - [1044] Du Bellay to the Grand Master. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 375; also - Cavendish. - -The next morning, Wolsey, impatient to have the interview which Henry -had promised, rode back early to Grafton. But as he came near, he met -a numerous train of servants and sumpter-horses; and presently -afterwards Henry, with Anne Boleyn and many lords and ladies of the -court, came riding up. "What does all this mean?" thought the cardinal -in dismay. "My lord," said the king, as he drew near, "I cannot stay -with you now. You will return to London with cardinal Campeggio." Then -striking the spurs into his horse, Henry galloped off with a friendly -salutation. After him came Anne Boleyn, who rode past Wolsey with head -erect, and casting on him a proud look. The court proceeded to -Hartwell Park, where Anne had determined to keep the king all day. -Wolsey was confounded. There was no room for doubt; his disgrace was -certain. His head swam, he remained immovable for an instant, and then -recovered himself; but the blow he had received had not been -unobserved by the courtiers, and the cardinal's fall became the -general topic of conversation. - -After dinner, the legates departed, and on the second day reached Moor -Park, a mansion built by Archbishop Neville, one of Wolsey's -predecessors, who for high treason had been first imprisoned at -Calais, and afterwards at Ham. These recollections were by no means -agreeable to Wolsey. The next morning the two cardinals separated, -Campeggio proceeded to Dover and Wolsey to London. - -[Sidenote: CAMPEGGIO SEARCHED AT DOVER.] - -Campeggio was impatient to get out of England, and great was his -annoyance, on reaching Dover, to find that the wind was contrary. But -a still greater vexation was in reserve. He had hardly lain down to -rest himself, before his door was opened, and a band of sergeants -entered the room. The cardinal, who knew what scenes of this kind -meant in Italy, thought he was a dead man,[1045] and fell trembling at -his chaplain's feet begging for absolution. Meantime the officers -opened his luggage, broke into his chests, scattered his property -about the floor, and even shook out his clothes.[1046] - - [1045] Le Grand, vol. ii. p. 156. Life of Campeggio, by Sigonius. - - [1046] Sarcinas excuti jussit. Sanders, p. 51. - -Henry's tranquility had not been of long duration. "Campeggio is the -bearer of letters from Wolsey to Rome," whispered some of the -courtiers; "who knows but they contain treasonable matter?" "There is, -too, among his papers the famous _decretal_ pronouncing the divorce," -said one; "if we had but that document it would finish the business." -Another affirmed that Campeggio "had large treasure with him of my -lord's (Wolsey's) to be conveyed in great tuns to Rome,"[1047] whither -it was surmised the cardinal of York would escape to enjoy the fruits -of his treason. "It is certain," added a third, "that Campeggio, -assisted by Wolsey, has been able to procure your majesty's -correspondence with Anne Boleyn, and is carrying it away with him." -Henry, therefore, sent a messenger after the nuncio, with orders that -his baggage should be thoroughly searched. - - [1047] Cavendish, p. 216. See also Le Grand, ii. 258 - -Nothing was found, neither letters, nor bull, nor treasures. The bull -had been destroyed; the treasures Wolsey had never thought of -intrusting to his colleague; and the letters of Anne and Henry, -Campeggio had sent on before by his son Rodolph, and the pope was -stretching out his hands to receive them, proud, like his successors, -of the robbery committed by two of his legates. - -Campeggio being reassured, and seeing that he was neither to be killed -nor robbed, made a great noise at this act of violence, and at the -insulting remarks which had given rise to it. "I will not leave -England," he caused Henry to be informed, "until I have received -satisfaction." "My lord forgets that he is legate no longer," replied -the king, "since the pope has withdrawn his power; he forgets, -besides, that, as bishop of Salisbury, he is my subject; as for the -remarks against him and the cardinal of York, it is a liberty the -people of England are accustomed to take, and which I cannot put -down." Campeggio, anxious to reach France, was satisfied with these -reasons, and soon forgot all his sorrows at the sumptuous table of -cardinal Duprat. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S DESOLATION.] - -Wolsey was not so fortunate. He had seen Campeggio go away, and -remained like a wrecked seaman thrown on a desert isle, who has seen -depart the only friends capable of giving him any help. His necromancy -had forewarned him that this would be a fatal year.[1048] The angel of -the maid of Kent had said: "Go to the cardinal and announce his fall, -because he has not done what you had commanded him to do."[1049] Other -voices besides hers made themselves heard: the hatred of the nation, -the contempt of Europe, and, above all, Henry's anger, told him that -his hour was come. It was true the pope said, that he would do all in -his power to save him;[1050] but Clement's good offices would only -accelerate his ruin. Du Bellay, whom the people believed to be the -cardinal's accomplice, bore witness to the change that had taken place -in men's minds. While passing on foot through the streets of the -capital, followed by two valets, "his ears were so filled with coarse -jests as he went along," he said, "that he knew not which way to -turn."[1051] "The cardinal is utterly undone," he wrote; "and I see -not how he can escape." The idea occurred to Wolsey, from time to -time, to pronounce the divorce himself; but it was too late. He was -even told that his life was in danger. Fortune, blind and bald, her -foot on the wheel, fled rapidly from him, nor was it in his power to -stop her. And this was not all: after him (he thought) there was no -one who could uphold the church of the pontiffs in England. The ship -of Rome was sailing on a stormy sea among rocks and shoals; Wolsey at -the helm looked in vain for a port of refuge; the vessel leaked on -every side; it was rapidly sinking, and the cardinal uttered a cry of -distress. Alas! he had desired to save Rome, but Rome would not have -it so. - - [1048] He had learnt of his necromancy that this would be a jeopardous - year for him. Tyndale's Works, i, p. 480. - - [1049] Strype. i. p. 373. - - [1050] Herbert, p. 289. - - [1051] Du Bellay to Montmorency. 12th October. Le Grand, Preuves, - p.365. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - A Meeting at Waltham--Youth of Thomas Cranmer--His early - Education--Studies Scripture for Three Years--His functions - as Examiner--The Supper at Waltham--New View of the - Divorce--Fox communicates it to Henry--Cranmer's - Vexation--Conference with the King--Cranmer at the Boleyns. - - -[Sidenote: THOMAS CRANMER.] - -As Wolsey's star was disappearing in the West in the midst of stormy -clouds, another was rising in the East, to point out the way to save -Britain. Men, like stars, appear on the horizon at the command of God. - -On his return from Woodstock to Greenwich, Henry stopped full of -anxiety at Waltham in Essex. His attendants were lodged in the houses -of the neighbourhood. Fox, the almoner, and Secretary Gardiner, were -quartered on a gentleman named Cressy, at Waltham Abbey. When supper -was announced, Gardiner and Fox were surprised to see an old friend -enter the room. It was Thomas Cranmer, a Cambridge doctor. "What! is -it you?" they said, "and how came you here?" "Our host's wife is my -relation," replied Cranmer, "and as the epidemic is raging at -Cambridge, I brought home my friend's sons, who are under my care." As -this new personage is destined to play an important part in the -history of the Reformation, it may be worth our while to interrupt our -narrative, and give a particular account of him. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S FIRST MARRIAGE.] - -Cranmer was descended from an ancient family, which came into England, -as is generally believed, with the Conqueror. He was born at Aslacton -in Nottinghamshire on the 2nd of July 1489, six years after Luther. -His early education had been very much neglected; his tutor, an -ignorant and severe priest, had taught him little else than patiently -to endure severe chastisement--a knowledge destined to be very useful -to him in after-life. His father was an honest country gentleman, who -cared for little besides hunting, racing, and military sports. At this -school, the son learnt to ride, to handle the bow and the sword, to -fish, and to hawk; and he never entirely neglected these exercises, -which he thought essential to his health. Thomas Cranmer was fond of -walking, of the charms of nature, and of solitary meditations; and a -hill, near his father's mansion, used often to be shown where he was -wont to sit, gazing on the fertile country at his feet, fixing his -eyes on the distant spires, listening with melancholy pleasure to the -chime of the bells, and indulging in sweet contemplations. About 1504, -he was sent to Cambridge, where "barbarism still prevailed," says an -historian.[1052] His plain, noble, and modest air conciliated the -affections of many, and, in 1510, he was elected fellow of Jesus -College. Possessing a tender heart, he became attached, at the age of -twenty-three, to a young person of good birth (says Foxe,) or of -inferior rank, as other writers assert. Cranmer was unwilling to -imitate the disorderly lives of his fellow-students, and although -marriage would necessarily close the career of honours, he married the -young lady, resigned his fellowship (in conformity with the -regulations), and took a modest lodging at the Dolphin. He then began -to study earnestly the most remarkable writings of the times, -polishing, it has been said, his old asperity on the productions of -Erasmus, of Lefevre of Etaples, and other great authors; every day his -crude understanding received new brilliancy.[1053] He then began to -teach in Buckingham (afterwards Magdalene) College, and thus provided -for his wants. - - [1052] Faeda barbaries. Melch. Adam. Vitae Theol. i. - - [1053] Ad eos non aliter quam ad cotem, quotidie priscam detergebat - scabritiem. (Ibid.) Coming to them as to a whetstone, he daily rubbed - off his old asperity. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER ON THE DIVORCE.] - -His lessons excited the admiration of enlightened men, and the anger -of obscure ones, who disdainfully called him (because of the inn at -which he lodged) _the hostler_. "This name became him well," said -Fuller, "for in his lessons he roughly rubbed the backs of the friars, -and famously curried the hides of the lazy priests." His wife dying a -year after his marriage, Cranmer was re-elected fellow of his old -college, and the first writing of Luther's having appeared, he said: -"I must know on which side the truth lies. There is only one -infallible source, the Scriptures; in them I will seek for God's -truth."[1054] And for three years he constantly studied the holy -books,[1055] without commentary, without human theology, and hence he -gained the name of the _Scripturist_. At last his eyes were opened; he -saw the mysterious bond which unites all biblical revelations, and -understood the completeness of God's design. Then without forsaking -the Scriptures, he studied all kinds of authors.[1056] He was a slow -reader, but a close observer;[1057] he never opened a book without -having a pen in his hand.[1058] He did not take up with any particular -party or age; but possessing a free and philosophic mind, he weighed -all opinions in the balance of his judgment,[1059] taking the Bible -for his standard. - - [1054] Behold the very fountains. Foxe, viii, p. 4. - - [1055] Totum triennium Sacrae Scripturae monumentis periegendis - impendit. M. Adam. p. 1. - - [1056] Like a merchant greedy of all good things. Foxe. viii, p. 4. - - [1057] Tardus quidem lector sed vehemens observator. M. Adam. p. 1. - - [1058] Sine calamo nunquam ad scriptoris eujusquam librum accessit. M. - Adam. p. 1. - - [1059] Omnes omnium opiniones tacito secum judicio trutinabat. Ibid. - -Honours soon came upon him; he was made successively doctor of -divinity, professor, university preacher, and examiner. He used to say -to the candidates for the ministry: "Christ sendeth his hearers to the -Scriptures, and not to the church."[1060]--"But," replied the monks, -"they are so difficult."--"Explain the obscure passages by those which -are clear," rejoined the professor, "Scripture by Scripture. Seek, -pray, _and he who has the key of David_ will open them to you." The -monks, affrighted at this task, withdrew bursting with anger; and -erelong Cranmer's name was a name of dread in every convent. Some, -however, submitted to the labour, and one of them, Doctor Barret, -blessed God that the examiner had turned him back; "for," said he, "I -found the knowledge of God in the holy book he compelled me to study." -Cranmer toiled at the same work as Latimer, Stafford, and Bilney. - - [1060] Cranmer's Works, p. 17, 18. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S CHARACTER.] - -Fox and Gardiner having renewed acquaintance with their old friend at -Waltham Abbey, they sat down to table, and both the almoner and the -secretary asked the doctor what he thought of the divorce. It was the -usual topic of conversation, and not long before, Cranmer had been -named member of a commission appointed to give their opinion on this -affair. "You are not in the right path," said Cranmer to his friends; -"you should not cling to the decisions of the church. There is a surer -and a shorter way which alone can give peace to the king's -conscience."--"What is that?" they both asked. "The true question is -this," replied Cranmer: "_What says the Word of God?_ If God has -declared a marriage of this nature _bad_, the pope cannot make it -_good_. Discontinue these interminable Roman negotiations. When God -has spoken man must obey."--"But how shall we know what God has -said?"--"Consult the universities; they will discern it more surely -than Rome." - -This was a new view. The idea of consulting the universities had been -acted upon before; but then their own opinions only had been demanded; -now, the question was simply to know _what God says in his word_. "The -word of God is above the church," was the principle laid down by -Cranmer, and in that principle consisted the whole of the -Reformation. The conversation at the supper-table of Waltham was -destined to be one of those secret springs which an invisible Hand -sets in motion for the accomplishment of his great designs. The -Cambridge doctor, suddenly transported from his study to the foot of -the throne, was on the point of becoming one of the principal -instruments of Divine wisdom. - -The day after this conversation, Fox and Gardiner arrived at -Greenwich, and the king summoned them into his presence the same -evening. "Well, gentlemen," he said to them, "our holidays are over; -what shall we do now? If we still have recourse to Rome, God knows -when we shall see the end of this matter."[1061]--"It will not be -necessary to take so long a journey," said Fox; "we know a shorter and -surer way."--"What is it?" asked the king eagerly.--"Doctor Cranmer, -whom we met yesterday at Waltham, thinks that the Bible should be the -sole judge in your cause." Gardiner, vexed at his colleague's -frankness, desired to claim all the honour of this luminous idea for -himself; but Henry did not listen to him. "Where is Doctor Cranmer?" -said he, much affected.[1062] "Send, and fetch him immediately. Mother -of God! (this was his customary oath) this man has the right sow by -the ear.[1063] If this had only been suggested to me two years ago, -what expense and trouble I should have been spared." - - [1061] God knows, and not I. Foxe, viii, 7. - - [1062] Burnet, vol. i, p. 60. - - [1063] Ibid. - -Cranmer had gone into Nottinghamshire; a messenger followed and -brought him back. "Why have you entangled me in this affair?" he said -to Fox and Gardiner. "Pray make my excuses to the king." Gardiner, who -wished for nothing better, promised to do all he could; but it was of -no use. "I will have no excuses," said Henry. The wily courtier was -obliged to make up his mind to introduce the ingenuous and upright -man, to whom that station, which he himself had so coveted, was one -day to belong. Cranmer and Gardiner went down to Greenwich, both alike -dissatisfied. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER'S INTERVIEW WITH HENRY.] - -Cranmer was then forty years of age, with pleasing features, and mild -and winning eyes, in which the candour of his soul seemed to be -reflected. Sensible to the pains as well as to the pleasures of the -heart, he was destined to be more exposed than other men to anxieties -and falls; a peaceful life in some remote parsonage would have been -more to his taste than the court of Henry VIII. Blessed with a -generous mind, unhappily he did not possess the firmness necessary in -a public man; a little stone sufficed to make him stumble. His -excellent understanding showed him the better way; but his great -timidity made him fear the more dangerous. He was rather too fond of -relying upon the power of men, and made them unhappy concessions with -too great facility. If the king had questioned him, he would never -have dared advise so bold a course as that he had pointed out; the -advice had slipped from him at table during the intimacy of familiar -conversation. Yet he was sincere, and after doing everything to escape -from the consequences of his frankness, he was ready to maintain the -opinion he had given. - -Henry, perceiving Cranmer's timidity, graciously approached him. "What -is your name," said the king endeavouring to put him at his ease? "Did -you not meet my secretary and my almoner at Waltham?" And then he -added: "Did you not speak to them of my great affair?"--repeating the -words ascribed to Cranmer. The latter could not retreat: "Sir, it is -true, I did say so."--"I see," replied the king with animation, "that -you have found the breach through which we must storm the fortress. -Now, Sir doctor, I beg you, and as you are my subject I command you, -to lay aside every other occupation, and to bring my cause to a -conclusion in conformity with the ideas you have put forth. All that I -desire to know is, whether my marriage is contrary to the laws of God -or not. Employ all your skill in investigating the subject, and thus -bring comfort to my conscience as well as to the queen's."[1064] - - [1064] For the discharging of both our consciences. Foxe, VIII, p. 8. - -Cranmer was confounded; he recoiled from the idea of deciding an -affair on which depended, it might be, the destinies of the nation, -and sighed after the lonely fields of Aslacton. But grasped by the -vigorous hand of Henry, he was compelled to advance. "Sir," said he, -"pray intrust this matter to doctors more learned than I am."--"I am -very willing," answered the king, "but I desire that you will also -give me your opinion in writing." And then summoning the earl of -Wiltshire to his presence, he said to him: "My lord, you will receive -Doctor Cranmer into your house at Durham Place, and let him have all -necessary quiet to compose a report for which I have asked him." After -this precise command, which admitted of no refusal, Henry withdrew. - -[Sidenote: CRANMER MEETS ANNE BOLEYN.] - -In this manner was Cranmer introduced by the king to Anne Boleyn's -father, and not, as some Romanist authors have asserted, by Sir -Thomas Boleyn to the king.[1065] Wiltshire conducted Cranmer to Durham -House (now the Adelphi in the Strand,) and the pious doctor on whom -Henry had imposed these quarters, soon contracted a close friendship -with Anne and her father, and took advantage of it to teach them the -value of the Divine word, as _the pearl of great price_.[1066] Henry, -while profiting by the address of a Wolsey and a Gardiner, paid little -regard to the men; but he respected Cranmer, even when opposed to him -in opinion, and until his death placed the learned doctor above all -his courtiers and all his clerks. The pious man often succeeds better, -even with the great ones of this world, than the ambitious and the -intriguing. - - [1065] Sanders, p. 57; Lingard, vol. vi. chap. iii. Compare Foxe, vol. - viii, p. 8. - - [1066] Teque nobilis illius margaritae desiderio teneri. Erasm. Epp. p. - 1754. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - Wolsey in the Court of Chancery--Accused by the - Dukes--Refuses to give up the Great Seal--His Despair--He - gives up the Seal--Order to depart--His - Inventory--Alarm--The Scene of Departure--Favourable Message - from the King--Wolsey's Joy--His Fool--Arrival at Esher. - - -While Cranmer was rising notwithstanding his humility, Wolsey was -falling in despite of his stratagems. The cardinal still governed the -kingdom, gave instructions to ambassadors, negotiated with princes, -and filled his sumptuous palaces with his haughtiness. The king could -not make up his mind to turn him off; the force of habit, the need he -had of him, the recollection of the services Henry had received from -him, pleaded in his favour. Wolsey without the seals appeared almost -as inconceivable as the king without his crown. Yet the fall of one of -the most powerful favourites recorded in history was inevitably -approaching, and we must now describe it. - -[Sidenote: THE CARDINAL'S LAST SITTING.] - -On the 9th of October, after the Michaelmas vacation, Wolsey, desirous -of showing a bold face, went and opened the high court of chancery -with his accustomed pomp; but he noticed, with uneasiness, that none -of the king's servants walked before him, as they had been accustomed -to do. He presided on the bench with an inexpressible depression of -spirits, and the various members of the court sat before him with an -absent air; there was something gloomy and solemn in this sitting, as -if all were taking part in a funeral: it was destined indeed to be the -last act of the cardinal's power. Some days before (Foxe says on the -1st of October) the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, with other lords of -the privy-council, had gone down to Windsor, and denounced to the king -Wolsey's unconstitutional relations with the pope, his usurpations, -"his robberies, and the discords sown by his means between Christian -princes."[1067] Such motives would not have sufficed; but Henry had -stronger. Wolsey had not kept any of his promises in the matter of the -divorce; it would even appear that he had advised the pope to -excommunicate the king, and thus raise his people against him.[1068] -This enormity was not at that time known by the prince; it is even -probable that it did not take place until later. But Henry knew -enough, and he gave his attorney-general, Sir Christopher Hales, -orders to prosecute Wolsey. - - [1067] Du Bellay to Montmorency, 22nd October. Le Grand, Preuves. p. - 377. - - [1068] Range, Deutsche Geschichte, iii. p. 140. - -Whilst the heart-broken cardinal was displaying his authority for the -last time in the court of chancery, the attorney-general was accusing -him in the King's Bench for having obtained papal bulls conferring on -him a jurisdiction which encroached on the royal power; and calling -for the application of the penalties of _praemunire_. The two dukes -received orders to demand the seals from Wolsey; and the latter, -informed of what had taken place, did not quit his palace on the 10th, -expecting every moment the arrival of the messengers of the king's -anger; but no one appeared. - -The next day the two dukes arrived: "It is the king's good pleasure," -said they to the cardinal, who remained seated in his arm-chair, "that -you give up the broad seal to us and retire to Esher" (a country-seat -near Hampton Court.) Wolsey, whose presence of mind never failed him, -demanded to see the commission under which they were acting. "We have -our orders from his majesty's mouth," said they.--"That may be -sufficient for you," replied the cardinal, "but not for me. The great -seal of England was delivered to me by the hands of my sovereign; I -may not deliver it at the simple word of any lord, unless you can show -me your commission." Suffolk broke out into a passion, but Wolsey -remained calm, and the two dukes returned to Windsor. This was the -cardinal's last triumph. - -[Sidenote: HE GIVES UP THE GREAT SEAL.] - -The rumour of his disgrace created an immense sensation at court, in -the city, and among the foreign ambassadors. Du Bellay hastened to -York Place (Whitehall) to contemplate this great ruin and console his -unhappy friend. He found Wolsey, with dejected countenance and -lustreless eyes, "shrunk to half his wonted size," wrote the -ambassador to Montmorency, "the greatest example of fortune which was -ever beheld." Wolsey desired "to set forth his case" to him; but his -thoughts were confused, his language broken, "for heart and tongue -both failed him entirely;" he burst into tears. The ambassador -regarded him with compassion: "Alas!" thought he, "his enemies cannot -but feel pity for him." At last the unhappy cardinal recovered his -speech, but only to give way to despair. "I desire no more authority," -he exclaimed, "nor the pope's legation, nor the broad seal of -England.... I am ready to give up every thing, even to my -shirt.[1069]... I can live in a hermitage, provided the king does not -hold me in disgrace." The ambassador "did all he could to comfort -him," when Wolsey, catching at the plank thrown out to him, exclaimed: -"Would that the king of France and madame might pray the king to -moderate his anger against me. But above all," he added in alarm, -"take care the king never knows that I have solicited this of you." Du -Bellay wrote indeed to France, that the king and madame alone could -"withdraw their affectionate servant from the gates of hell," and -Wolsey being informed of these despatches, his hopes recovered a -little. But this bright gleam did not last long. - - [1069] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 371. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S LAST HOPES.] - -On Sunday the 17th of October, Norfolk and Suffolk re-appeared at -Whitehall, accompanied by Fitzwilliam, Taylor, and Gardiner, Wolsey's -former dependant. It was six in the evening; they found the cardinal -in an upper chamber, near the great gallery, and presented the king's -orders to him. Having read them he said: "I am happy to obey his -majesty's commands;" then having ordered the great seal to be brought -him, he took it out of the white leather case in which he kept it, and -handed it to the dukes, who placed it in a box, covered with crimson -velvet, and ornamented with the arms of England,[1070] ordered -Gardiner to seal it up with red wax, and gave it to Taylor to convey -to the king. - -Wolsey was thunderstruck; he was to drink the bitter cup even to the -dregs: he was ordered to leave his palace forthwith, taking with him -neither clothes, linen, nor plate; the dukes had feared that he would -convey away his treasures. Wolsey comprehended the greatness of his -misery; he found strength however to say: "Since it is the kings' good -pleasure to take my house and all it contains, I am content to retire -to Esher." The dukes left him. - - [1070] In quadam theca de veluto crimisino. Rymer, Act. p. 138. - -Wolsey remained alone. This astonishing man, who had risen from a -butcher's shop to the summit of earthly greatness--who, for a word -that displeased him, sent his master's most faithful servants (Pace -for instance) to the Tower--and who had governed England as if he had -been its monarch, and even more, for he had governed without a -parliament: was driven out, and thrown, as it were, upon a dunghill. A -sudden hope flashed like lightning through his mind; perhaps the -magnificence of the spoils would appease Henry. Was not Esau pacified -by Jacob's present? Wolsey summoned his officers: "Set tables in the -great gallery," he said to them, "and place on them all I have -entrusted to your care, in order to render me an account." These -orders were executed immediately. The tables were covered with an -immense quantity of rich stuffs, silks and velvets of all colours, -costly furs, rich copes and other ecclesiastical vestures; the walls -were hung with cloth of gold and silver, and webs of a valuable stuff -named baudykin,[1071] from the looms of Damascus, and with tapestry, -representing scriptural subjects or stories from the old romances of -chivalry. The gilt chamber and the council chamber, adjoining the -gallery, were both filled with plate, in which the gold and silver -were set with pearls and precious stones: these articles of luxury -were so abundant that basketfulls of costly plate, which had fallen -out of fashion were stowed away under the tables. On every table was -an exact list of the treasures with which it was loaded, for the most -perfect order and regularity prevailed in the cardinal's household. -Wolsey cast a glance of hope upon this wealth, and ordered his -officers to deliver the whole to his majesty. - - [1071] Baldekinum, pannus omnium ditissimus cujus utpote stamen ex - filo auri, subtegmen ex serico texitur, plumario opere intertextus. - (Ducange's Glossary.) Baudskin, the richest of all kinds of cloth, - inasmuch as its warp is of gold thread, the woof of silk, and the - whole interwoven with rich embroidery. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY LEAVES WHITEHALL.] - -He then prepared to leave his magnificent palace. That moment of -itself so sad, was made sadder still by an act of affectionate -indiscretion. "Ah, my lord," said his treasurer, Sir William -Gascoigne, moved even to tears, "your grace will be sent to the -Tower." This was too much for Wolsey: to go and join his victims!... -He grew angry, and exclaimed: "Is this the best comfort you can give -your master in adversity? I would have you and all such blasphemous -reporters know that it is untrue." - -It was necessary to depart; he put round his neck a chain of gold, -from which hung a pretended relic of the true cross; this was all he -took. "Would to God," he exclaimed, as he placed it on, "that I had -never had any other." This he said alluding to the legate's cross -which used to be carried before him with so much pomp. He descended -the back stairs, followed by his servants, some silent and dejected, -others weeping bitterly, and proceeded to the river's brink, where a -barge awaited him. But, alas! it was not alone. The Thames was covered -with innumerable boats full of men and women. The inhabitants of -London, expecting to see the cardinal led to the Tower, desired to be -present at his humiliation, and prepared to accompany him. Cries of -joy hailing his fall were heard from every side; nor were the -cruellest sarcasms wanting. "The butcher's dog will bite no more," -said some; "look, how he hangs his head." In truth, the unhappy man, -distressed by a sight so new to him, lowered those eyes which were -once so proud, but now were filled with bitter tears. This man, who -had made all England tremble, was then like a withered leaf carried -along the stream. All his servants were moved; even his fool, William -Patch, sobbed like the rest. "O, wavering and newfangled multitude," -exclaimed Cavendish, his gentleman usher.[1072] The hopes of the -citizens were disappointed; the barge, instead of descending the -river, proceeded upwards in the direction of Hampton Court; gradually -the shouts died away, and the flotilla dispersed. - - [1072] Cavendish, Wolsey, p. 251. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S JESTER.] - -The silence of the river permitted Wolsey to indulge in less bitter -thoughts; but it seemed as if invisible furies were pursuing him, now -that the people had left him. He left his barge at Putney, and -mounting his mule, though with difficulty, proceeded slowly with -downcast looks. Shortly after, upon lifting his eyes, he saw a -horseman riding rapidly down the hill towards them. "Whom do you think -it can be?" he asked of his attendants. "My lord," replied one of -them, "I think it is Sir Henry Morris." A flash of joy passed through -Wolsey's heart. Was it not Norris, who, of all the king's officers, -had shown him the most respect during his visit to Grafton? Norris -came up with them, saluted him respectfully, and said: "The king bids -me declare that he still entertains the same kindly feelings towards -you, and sends you this ring as a token of his confidence." Wolsey -received it with a trembling hand: it was that which the king was in -the habit of sending on important occasions. The cardinal immediately -alighted from his mule, and kneeling down in the road, raised his -hands to heaven with an indescribable expression of happiness. The -fallen man would have pulled off his velvet under-cap, but unable to -undo the strings, he broke them, and threw it on the ground. He -remained on his knees bareheaded praying fervently amidst profound -silence. God's forgiveness had never caused Wolsey so much pleasure as -Henry's. - -Having finished his prayer, the cardinal put on his cap, and remounted -his mule. "Gentle Norris," said he to the king's messenger, "if I were -lord of a kingdom, the half of it would scarcely be enough to reward -you for your happy tidings; but I have nothing left except the clothes -on my back." Then taking off his gold chain: "Take this," he said, "it -contains a piece of the true cross. In my happier days I would not -have parted with it for a thousand pounds." The cardinal and Norris -separated: but Wolsey soon stopped, and the whole troop halted on the -heath. The thought troubled him greatly that he had nothing to send to -the king; he called Norris back, and looking round him saw mounted on -a sorry horse poor William Patch, who had lost all his gaiety since -his master's misfortune. "Present this poor jester to the king from -me," said Wolsey to Norris; "his buffooneries are a pleasure fit for a -prince; he is worth a thousand pounds." Patch, offended at being -treated thus, burst into a violent passion, his eyes flashed fire, he -foamed at the mouth, he kicked and fought, and bit all who approached -him;[1073] but the inexorable Wolsey, who looked upon him merely as a -toy, ordered six of his tallest yeomen to lay hold of him. They -carried off the unfortunate creature, who long continued to utter his -piercing cries. At the very moment when his master had had pity on -him, Wolsey, like the servant in the parable, had no pity on his poor -companion in misfortune. - - [1073] The poor fool took on, and fired so in such a rage. Cavendish, - p. 237. - -At last they reached Esher. What a residence compared with -Whitehall!... It was little more than four bare walls. The most urgent -necessaries were procured from the neighbouring houses, but Wolsey -could not adapt himself to this cruel contrast. Besides, he knew Henry -VIII; he knew that he might send Norris one day with a gold ring, and -the executioner the next with a rope. Gloomy and dejected, he remained -seated in his lonely apartments. On a sudden he would rise from his -seat, walk hurriedly up and down, speak aloud to himself, and then -falling back in his chair, he would weep like a child. This man who -formerly had shaken kingdoms, had been overthrown in the twinkling of -an eye, and was now atoning for his perfidies in humiliation and -terror,--a striking example of God's judgment. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - Thomas More elected Chancellor--A lay Government one of the - great Facts of the Reformation--Wolsey accused of - subordinating England to the Pope--He implores the King's - Clemency--His Condemnation--Cromwell at Esher--His - Character--He sets out for London--Sir Christopher Hales - recommends him to the King--Cromwell's Interview with Henry - in the Park--A new Theory--Cromwell elected Member of - Parliament--Opened by Sir Thomas More--Attack on - ecclesiastical Abuses--Reforms pronounced by the - Convocation--Three Bills--Rochester attacks them--Resistance - of the House of Commons--Struggles--Henry sanctions the - three Bills--Alarm of the Clergy and Disturbances. - - -[Sidenote: LORD CHANCELLOR MORE.] - -During all this time everybody was in commotion at court. Norfolk and -Suffolk, at the head of the council, had informed the Star Chamber of -the cardinal's disgrace. Henry knew not how to supply his place. Some -suggested the archbishop of Canterbury; the king would not hear of -him. "Wolsey," says a French writer, "had disgusted the king and all -England with those subjects of two masters who, almost always, sold -one to the other. They preferred a lay minister." "I verily believe -the priests will never more obtain it," wrote Du Bellay. The name of -Sir Thomas More was pronounced. He was a layman, and that quality, -which a few years before would, perhaps, have excluded him, was now a -recommendation. A breath of Protestantism wafted to the summit of -honours one of its greatest enemies. Henry thought that More, placed -between the pope and his sovereign, would decide in favour of the -interests of the throne, and of the independence of England. His -choice was made. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY THREATENED WITH PRAEMUNIRE.] - -More knew that the cardinal had been thrown aside because he was not a -sufficiently docile instrument in the matter of the divorce. The work -required of him was contrary to his convictions; but the honour -conferred on him was almost unprecedented--very seldom indeed had the -seals been intrusted to a mere knight.[1074] He followed the path of -ambition and not of duty; he showed, however, in after-days that his -ambition was of no common sort. It is even probable that, foreseeing -the dangers which threatened to destroy the papal power in England, -More wished to make an effort to save it. Norfolk installed the new -chancellor in the Star Chamber. "His majesty," said the duke, "has not -cast his eyes upon the nobility of the blood, but on the worth of the -person. He desires to show by this choice that there are among the -laity and gentlemen of England, men worthy to fill the highest offices -in the kingdom, to which, until this hour, bishops and noblemen alone -think they have a right."[1075] The Reformation which restored -religion to the general body of the church, took away at the same time -political power from the clergy. The priests had deprived the people -of Christian activity, and the governments of power; the Gospel -restored to both what the priests had usurped. This result could not -but be favourable to the interests of religion; the less cause kings -and their subjects have to fear the intrusion of clerical power into -the affairs of the world, the more will they yield themselves to the -vivifying influence of faith. - - [1074] It has been often asserted that Sir Thomas More was the first - layman to whom the office of chancellor was intrusted; but there were - no less than _six_ between A.D. 1342 and 1410; viz. Sir Robert - Boucher, knight; Sir Robert de Thorp, knight; Sir R. de la Serope, - knight; Sir M. de la Pole; R. Neville, earl of Salisbury; and Sir T. - Beaufort, knight. - - [1075] More's Life, p. 172. - -More lost no time; never had lord-chancellor displayed such activity. -He rapidly cleared off the cases which were in arrear, and having been -installed on the 26th of October he called on Wolsey's cause on the -28th or 29th. "The crown of England," said the attorney-general, "has -never acknowledged any superior but God.[1076] Now, the said Thomas -Wolsey, legate _a latere_, has obtained from the pope certain bulls, -by virtue of which he has exercised since the 28th of August 1523 an -authority derogatory to his majesty's power, and to the rights of his -courts of justice. The crown of England cannot be put under the pope; -and we therefore accuse the said legate of having incurred the -penalties of _praemunire_." - - [1076] The crown of England, free at all times, has been in no earthly - subjection, but immediately subject to God in all things. Herbert, p. - 231. See also Articles of Impeachment, section 1. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S REAL CRIME.] - -There can be no doubt that Henry had other reasons for Wolsey's -disgrace than those pointed out by the attorney-general; but England -had convictions of a higher nature than her sovereign's. Wolsey was -regarded as the pope's accomplice, and this was the cause of the great -severity of the public officer and of the people. The cardinal is -generally excused by alleging that both king and parliament had -ratified the unconstitutional authority with which Rome had invested -him; but had not the powers conferred on him by the pope produced -unjustifiable results in a constitutional monarchy? Wolsey, as papal -legate, had governed England without a parliament; and, as if the -nation had gone back to the reign of John, he had substituted _de -facto_, if not in theory, the monstrous system of the famous bull -_Unam Sanctum_[1077] for the institution of _Magna Charta_. The king, -and even the lords and commons, had connived in vain at these -illegalities; the rights of the constitution of England remained not -the less inviolable, and the best of the people had protested against -their infringement. And hence it was that Wolsey, conscious of his -crime, "put himself wholly to the mercy and grace of the king,"[1078] -and his counsel declared his ignorance of the statutes he was said to -have infringed. We cannot here allege, as some have done, the -prostration of Wolsey's moral powers; he could, even after his fall, -reply with energy to Henry VIII. When, for instance, the king sent to -demand for the crown his palace of Whitehall, which belonged to the -see of York, the cardinal answered: "Show his majesty from me that I -must desire him to call to his most gracious remembrance that there is -both a heaven and a hell;" and when other charges besides those of -complicity with the papal aggression were brought against him, he -defended himself courageously, as will be afterwards seen. If -therefore the cardinal did not attempt to justify himself for -infringing the rights of the crown, it was because his conscience bade -him be silent. He had committed one of the gravest faults of which a -statesman can be guilty. Those who have sought to excuse him have not -sufficiently borne in mind that, since the Great Charter, opposition -to Romish aggression has always characterized the constitution and -government of England. Wolsey perfectly recollected this; and this -explanation is more honourable to him than that which ascribes his -silence to weakness or to cunning. - - [1077] Since the 13th of Nov. 1302, Raynold ad ann. Uterque ergo - gladius est in potestate ecclesiae, spiritualis scilicet et materialis. - Both the one sword, and the other therefore, is, in the power of the - church, the spiritual undoubtedly and the material also. - - [1078] Cavendish, p. 276. - -The cardinal was pronounced guilty, and the court passed judgment, -that by the statute of _praemunire_ his property was forfeited, and -that he might be taken before the king in council. England, by -sacrificing a churchman who had placed himself above kings, gave a -memorable example of her inflexible opposition to the encroachments of -the papacy. Wolsey was confounded, and his troubled imagination -conjured up nothing but perils on every side. - -While More was lending himself to the condemnation of his predecessor, -whose friend he had been, another layman of still humbler origin was -preparing to defend the cardinal, and by that very act to become the -appointed instrument to throw down the convents in England, and to -shatter the secular bonds which united this country to the Roman -pontiff. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL'S RESOLUTION.] - -On the 1st of November, two days after Wolsey's condemnation, one of -his officers, with a prayer-book in his hand, was leaning against the -window in the great hall, apparently absorbed in his devotions. -"Good-morrow," said Cavendish as he passed him, on his way to the -cardinal for his usual morning duties. The person thus addressed -raided his head, and the gentleman-usher, seeing that his eyes were -filled with tears, asked him: "Master Cromwell, is my lord in any -danger?"--"I think not," replied Cromwell, "but it is hard to lose in -a moment the labour of a life." In his master's fall Cromwell -foreboded his own. Cavendish endeavoured to console him. "God willing, -this is my resolution," replied Wolsey's ambitious solicitor; "I -intend this afternoon, as soon as my lord has dined, to ride to -London, and so go to court, where I will either make or mar before I -come back again."[1079] At this moment Cavendish was summoned, and he -entered the cardinal's chamber. - - [1079] Cavendish, p. 280. - -Cromwell, devoured by ambition, had clung to Wolsey's robe in order to -attain power; but Wolsey had fallen, and the solicitor, dragged along -with him, strove to reach by other means the object of his desires. -Cromwell was one of those earnest and vigorous men whom God prepares -for critical times. Blessed with a solid judgment and intrepid -firmness, he possessed a quality rare in every age, and particularly -under Henry VIII,--fidelity in misfortune. The ability by which he was -distinguished was not at all times without reproach: success seems to -have been his first thought. - -[Sidenote: CROMWELL'S INTERVIEW WITH HENRY.] - -After dinner Cromwell followed Wolsey into his private room: "My lord, -permit me to go to London, I will endeavour to save you." A gleam -passed over the cardinal's saddened features.--"Leave the room," he -said to his attendants. He then had a long private conversation with -Cromwell,[1080] at the end of which the latter mounted his horse and -set out for the capital, riding to the assault of power with the same -activity as he had marched to the attack of Rome. He did not hide from -himself that it would be difficult to procure access to the king; for -certain ecclesiastics, jealous of Wolsey, had spoken against his -solicitor at the time of the secularization of the convents, and Henry -could not endure him. But Cromwell knew that fortune favours the bold, -and, carried away by his ambitious dreams, he galloped on, saying to -himself: "One foot in the stirrup, and my fortune is made!" - - [1080] Long communication with my lord in secret. Ibid. p. 270. - -Sir Christopher Hales, a zealous Roman-catholic, entertained a sincere -friendship for him; and to this friend Cromwell applied. Hales -proceeded immediately to the palace (2nd November), where he found a -numerous company talking about the cardinal's ruin. "There was one of -his officers," said Hales, "who would serve your majesty well."--"Who -is he?" asked Henry.--"Cromwell."--"Do not speak to me of that man, I -hate him," replied the king angrily;[1081] and upon that all the -courtiers chimed in with his majesty's opinion. This opening was not -very encouraging; but Lord Russell, earl of Bedford, advancing to the -midst of the group around the king, said boldly:[1082] "Permit me, -Sir, to defend a man to whom I am indebted for my life. When you sent -me privately into Italy, your majesty's enemies, having discovered me -at Bologna, would have put me to death, had not Thomas Cromwell saved -me. Sir, since you have now to do with the pope, there is no man (I -think) in all England who will be fitter for your purpose."--"Indeed!" -said the king; and after a little reflection, he said to Hales: "Very -well then, let your client meet me in Whitehall gardens." The -courtiers and the priests withdrew in great discomfiture. - - [1081] The king began to detest the mention of him. Foxe, v. p. 368. - - [1082] In a vehement boldness. Ibid. p. 367. - -[Sidenote: LIBERTY SHOULD BE RESTORED TO THE CHURCH.] - -The interview took place the same day at the appointed spot. "Sir," -said Cromwell to his majesty, "the pope refuses your divorce.... But -why do you ask his consent? Every Englishman is master in his own -house, and why should not you be so in England? Ought a foreign -prelate to share your power with you? It is true, the bishops make -oath to your majesty, but they make another to the pope immediately -after, which absolves them from the former. Sir, you are but half a -king, and we are but half your subjects.[1083] This kingdom is a -two-headed monster. Will you bear with such an anomaly any longer? -What! are you not living in an age when Frederick the Wise and other -German princes have thrown off the yoke of Rome? Do likewise; become -once more a king; govern your kingdom in concert with your lords and -commons. Henceforward let Englishmen alone have any thing to say in -England; let not your subjects' money be cast any more into the -yawning gulf of the Tiber; instead of imposing new taxes on the -nation, convert to the general good those treasures which have -hitherto only served to fatten proud priests and lazy friars. Now is -the moment for action. Rely upon your parliament; proclaim yourself -the head of the church in England. Then shall you see an increase of -glory to your name, and of prosperity to your people." - - [1083] Foxe, v. p. 367. See also Apol. Regin. Poli ad Car. i. p. 120, - 121. - -Never before had such language been addressed to a king of England. It -was not only on account of the divorce that it was necessary to break -with Rome; it was, in Cromwell's view, on account of the independence, -glory, and prosperity of the monarchy. These considerations appeared -more important to Henry than those which had hitherto been laid before -him; none of the kings of England had been so well placed as he was to -understand them. When a Tudor had succeeded to the Saxon, Norman, and -Plantagenet kings, a man of the free race of the Celts had taken on -the throne of England the place of princes submissive to the Roman -pontiffs. The ancient British church, independent of the papacy, was -about to rise again with this new dynasty, and the Celtic race, after -eleven centuries of humiliation, to recover its ancient heritage. -Undoubtedly, Henry had no recollections of this kind; but he worked in -conformity with the peculiar character of his race, without being -aware of the instinct which compelled him to act. He felt that a -sovereign, who submits to the pope, becomes, like King John, his -vassal; and now, after having been the second in his realm, he desired -to be the first. - -The king reflected on what Cromwell had said; astonished and -surprised, he sought to understand the new position which his bold -adviser had made for him. "Your proposal pleases me much," he said; -"but can you prove what you assert?" "Certainly," replied this able -politician; "I have with me a copy of the oath the bishops make to the -Roman pontiff." With these words he drew a paper from his pocket, and -placed the oath before the king's eyes. Henry, jealous of his -authority even to despotism, was filled with indignation, and felt the -necessity of bringing down that foreign authority which dared dispute -the power with him, even in his own kingdom. He drew off his ring and -gave it to Cromwell, declaring that he took him into his service, and -soon after made him a member of his privy-council. England, we may -say, was now virtually emancipated from the papacy. - -Cromwell had laid the first foundations of his greatness. He had -remarked the path his master had followed, and which had led to his -ruin,--complicity with the pope; and he hoped to succeed by following -the contrary course, namely, by opposing the papacy. He had the king's -support, but he wanted more. Possessing a clear and easy style of -eloquence, he saw what influence a seat in the great council of the -nation would give him. It was somewhat late, for the session began on -the next day (3rd November), but to Cromwell nothing was impossible. -The son of his friend, Sir Thomas Rush, had been returned to -parliament; but the young member resigned his seat, and Cromwell was -elected in his place. - -[Sidenote: MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.] - -Parliament had not met for seven years, the kingdom having been -governed by a prince of the Roman church. The reformation of the -church, whose regenerating influence began to be felt already, was -about to restore to the nation those ancient liberties of which a -cardinal had robbed it; and Henry being on the point of taking very -important resolutions, felt the necessity of drawing nearer to his -people. Everything betokened that a good feeling would prevail between -the parliament and the crown, and that "the priests would have a -terrible fright."[1084] - - [1084] Du Bellay to Montmorency. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 378, 380. - -While Henry was preparing to attack the Roman church in the papal -supremacy, the commons were getting ready to war against the numerous -abuses with which it had covered England. "Some even thought," says -Tyndale, "that this assembly would reform the church, and that the -golden age would come again."[1085] But it was not from acts of -parliament that the Reformation was destined to proceed, but solely -from the word of God. And yet the commons, without touching upon -doctrine, were going to do their duty manfully in things within the -province, and the parliament of 1529 may be regarded (Lord Herbert of -Cherbury observes) as the first protestant parliament of -England.[1086] "The bishops require excessive fines for the probates -of wills," said Tyndale's old friend, Sir Henry Guilford. "As -testamentary executor to Sir William Compton I had to pay a thousand -marks sterling."--"The spiritual men," said another member, "would -rather see the poor orphans die of hunger than give them the lean -cow, the only thing their father left them."[1087]--"Priests," said -another, "have farms, tanneries, and warehouses, all over the country. -In short, the clerks take everything from their flocks, and not only -give them nothing, but even deny them the word of God." - - [1085] Works, i. p. 481. - - [1086] It was the first step, a great and bold sally towards that - Reformation. Herbert, p. 320. - - [1087] Rather than give to them the silly cow, if he had but only one. - Foxe, iv. p. 611. - -The clergy were in utter consternation. The power of the nation seemed -to awaken in this parliament for the sole purpose of attacking the -power of the priest. It was important to ward off these blows. The -convocation of the province of Canterbury, assembling at Westminster -on the 5th of November, thought it their duty, in self-defence, to -reform the most crying abuses. It was therefore decreed, on the 12th -of November, that the priests should no longer keep shops or taverns, -play at dice or other forbidden games, pass the night in suspected -places, be present at disreputable shows,[1088] go about with sporting -dogs, or with hawks, falcons, or other birds of prey, on their -fist;[1089] or, finally, hold suspicious intercourse with women.[1090] -Penalties were denounced against these various disorders; they were -doubled in case of adultery; and still further increased in the case -of more abominable impurities.[1091] Such were the laws rendered -necessary by the manners of the clergy. - - [1088] Quod non exerceant tabernas, nec ludant taxillis vel aliis - ludis prohibitis; quod non pernoctent in locis suspectis quod non - intersint inhonestis spectaculis, etc. Convocatio praelatorum. Wilkins, - Concilia, iii. p. 717. - - [1089] Canes venaticos loris ducere ac accipitres manibus. Ibid, p. - 723. - - [1090] Mulierum colloquia suspecta nullatenus habeant. Ibid. p. 722. - - [1091] Et in caeteris carnis spurcitiis poena crescat. Ibid. p. 721. - -[Sidenote: THREE BILLS OF REFORM.] - -These measures did not satisfy the commons. Three bills were -introduced having reference to the fees on the probate of wills, -mortuaries, pluralities, non-residence, and the exercise of secular -professions. "The destruction of the church is aimed at," exclaimed -Bishop Fisher, when these bills were carried to the lords, "and if the -church falls, the glory of the kingdom will perish. Lutheranism is -making great progress amongst us, and the savage cry that has already -echoed in Bohemia, _Down with the church_, is now uttered by the -commons.... How does that come about? Solely from want of faith.--My -lords, save your country! save the church!" Sir Thomas Audley, the -speaker, with a deputation of thirty members, immediately went to -Whitehall. "Sir," they said to the king, "we are accused of being -without faith, and of being almost as bad as the _Turks_. We demand an -apology for such offensive language." Fisher pretended that he only -meant to speak of the _Bohemians_; and the commons, by no means -satisfied, zealously went on with their reforms. - -These the king was resolved to concede; but he determined to take -advantage of them to present a bill making over to him all the money -borrowed of his subjects. John Petit, one of the members for the city, -boldly opposed this demand. "I do not know other persons' affairs," he -said, "and I cannot give what does not belong to me. But as regards -myself personally, I give without reserve all that I have lent the -king." The royal bill passed, and the satisfied Henry gave his consent -to the bills of the commons. Every dispensation coming from Rome, -which might be contrary to the statutes, was strictly forbidden. The -bishops exclaimed that the commons were becoming schismatical; -disturbances were excited by certain priests; but the clerical -agitators were punished, and the people, when they heard of it, were -delighted beyond measure. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - The last hour--More's Fanaticism--Debates in - Convocation--Royal Proclamation--The Bishop of - Norwich--Sentences condemned--Latimer's Opposition--The New - Testament burnt--The Persecution - begins--Hitton--Bayfield--Tonstall and Packington--Bayfield - arrested--The Rector Patmore--Lollards' Tower--Tyndale and - Patmore--a Musician--Freese the Painter--Placards and - Martyrdom of Bennet--Thomas More and John Petit--Bilney. - - -The moment when Henry aimed his first blows at Rome was also that in -which he began to shed the blood of the disciples of the gospel. -Although ready to throw off the authority of the pope, he would not -recognise the authority of Christ: obedience to the Scriptures is, -however, the very soul of the Reformation. - -[Sidenote: JOY OF THE BELIEVERS.] - -The king's contest with Rome had filled the friends of Scripture with -hope. The artisans and tradesmen, particularly those who lived near -the sea, were almost wholly won over to the gospel. "The king is one -of us," they used to boast; "he wishes his subjects to read the New -Testament. Our faith, which is the true one, will circulate through -the kingdom, and by Michaelmas next those who believe as we do will be -more numerous than those of a contrary opinion. We are ready, if needs -be; to die in the struggle."[1092] This was indeed to be the fate of -many. - - [1092] The bishop of Norwich to Primate Warham, 14th May 1530, Cotton - MSS. Cleopatra. E. v. folio 360; Bible Annals. i. p. 256. - -[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE CLERGY--THE BISHOP'S DEMAND.] - -Language such as this aroused the clergy: "The last hour has come," -said Stokesley, who had been raised to the See of London after -Tonstall's translation to Durham; "if we would not have Luther's -heresy pervade the whole of England, we must hasten to throw it in the -sea." Henry was fully disposed to do so; but as he was not on very -good terms with the clergy, a man was wanted to serve as mediator -between him and the bishops. He was soon found. - -Sir Thomas More's noble understanding was then passing from ascetic -practices to fanaticism, and the humanist turning into an inquisitor. -In his opinion, the burning of heretics was just and necessary.[1093] -He has even been reproached with binding evangelical Christians to a -tree in his garden, which he called "the tree of truth," and of having -flogged them with his own hand.[1094] More has declared that he never -gave "stripe nor stroke, nor so much as a fillip on the forehead," to -any of his religious adversaries;[1095] and we willingly credit his -denial. All must be pleased to think that if the author of the -_Utopia_ was a severe judge, the hand which held one of the most -famous pens of the sixteenth century never discharged the duties of an -executioner. - - [1093] More's Works; A Dialogue concerning Heresies, p. 274. - - [1094] Strype's Mem. vol. i. p. 315; Foxe, iv. p. 638. - - [1095] Apology. ch. xxxvi, p. 901, 904. - -The bishops led the attack. "We must clear the Lord's field of the -thorns which choke it," said the archbishop of Canterbury to -Convocation on the 29th of November 1529; immediately after which the -bishop of Bath read to his colleagues the list of books that he -desired to have condemned. There were a number of works by Tyndale, -Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle, OEcolampadius, Pomeranus, Brentius, Bucer, -Jonas, Francis Lambert, Fryth, and Fish.[1096] The Bible in particular -was set down. "It is impossible to translate the Scripture into -English," said one of the prelates.[1097]--"It is not lawful for the -laity to read it in their mother tongue," said another.--"If you -tolerate the Bible," added a third, "you will make us all -heretics."--"By circulating the Scriptures," exclaimed several, "you -will raise up the nation against the king." Sir T. More laid the -bishops' petition before the king, and some time after, Henry gave -orders by proclamation, that "no one should preach, or write any book, -or keep any school without his bishop's license;--that no one should -keep any heretical book in his house;--that the bishops should detain -the offenders in prison at their discretion, and then proceed to the -execution of the guilty;--and, finally, that the chancellor, the -justices of the peace, and other magistrates, should aid and assist -the bishops."[1098] Such was the cruel proclamation of Henry VIII, -"the _father_ of the English Reformation." - - [1096] See the catalogue in Wilkins, Concilia, p. 713 to 720. Wilkins - is of opinion (p. 717, note) that this document belongs to the year - 1529. There are, however, some portions of these statuta which have - evident reference to the year following. - - [1097] Tyndale's Works, i, p. 1. - - [1098] Foxe, iv. pp. 677, 678. - -The clergy were not yet satisfied. The blind and octogenarian bishop -of Norwich, being more ardent than the youngest of his priests, -recommenced his complaints. "My diocese is _accumbered_ with such as -read the Bible," said he to the archbishop of Canterbury, "and there -is not a clerk from Cambridge but _savoureth of the frying-pan_. If -this continues any time, they will undo us all. We must have greater -authority to punish them than we have." - -Consequently, on the 24th of May 1530, More, Warham, Tonstall, and -Gardiner, having been admitted into St. Edward's chamber at -Westminster, to make a report to the king concerning heresy, they -proposed forbidding, in the most positive manner, the New Testament -and certain other books in which the following doctrines were taught: -"That Christ has shed his blood for our iniquities, as a sacrifice to -the Father.--Faith only doth justify us.--Faith without good works is -no little or weak faith, it is no faith.--Labouring in good works to -come to heaven, thou dost shame Christ's blood."[1099] - - [1099] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. pp. 728-731. - -[Sidenote: LATIMER SEEKS CHRIST'S VOICE.] - -Whilst nearly every one in the audience-chamber supported the prayer -of the petition, there were three or four doctors who kept silence. At -last one of them, it was Latimer, opposed the proposition. Bilney's -friend was more decided than ever to listen to no other voice than -God's. "Christ's sheep hear no man's voice but Christ's," he answered -Dr. Redman, who had called upon him to submit to the church; "trouble -me no more from the talking with the Lord my God."[1100] The church, -in Latimer's opinion, presumed to set up its own voice in the place of -Christ's, and the Reformation did the contrary; this was his -abridgement of the controversy. Being called upon to preach during -Christmas tide, he had censured his hearers because they celebrated -that festival by playing at cards, like mere worldlings, and then -proceeded to lay before their eyes Christ's _cards_, that is to say, -his laws.[1101] Being placed on the Cambridge commission to examine -into the question of the king's marriage, he had conciliated the -esteem of Henry's deputy, Doctor Butts, the court physician, who had -presented him to his master, by whose orders he preached at Windsor. - - [1100] Latimer's Remains, p. 297. - - [1101] Latimer's Sermons p. 8. - -Henry felt disposed at first to yield something to Latimer. "Many of -my subjects," said he to the prelates assembled in St. Edward's hall, -"think that it is my duty to cause the Scriptures to be translated and -given to the people." The discussion immediately began between the two -parties;[1102] and Latimer concluded by asking "that the Bible should -be permitted to circulate freely in English."[1103]--"But the most -part overcame the better," he tells us.[1104] Henry declared that the -teaching of the priests was sufficient for the people, and was content -to add, "that he would give the Bible to his subjects when they -renounced the arrogant pretension of interpreting it according to -their own fancies."--"Shun these books," cried the priests from the -pulpit, "detest them, keep them not in your hands, deliver them up to -your superiors.[1105] Or, if you do not, your prince, who has received -from God the sword of justice, will use it to punish you." Rome had -every reason to be satisfied with Henry VIII. Tonstall, who still kept -under lock and key the Testaments purchased at Antwerp through -Packington's assistance, had them carried to St. Paul's Churchyard, -where they were publicly burnt. The spectators retired shaking the -head, and saying: "The teaching of the priests and of Scriptures must -be in contradiction to each other, since the priests destroy them." -Latimer did more: "You have promised us the word of God," he wrote -courageously to the king, "perform your promise now rather than -to-morrow! The day is at hand when you shall give an account of your -office, and of the blood that hath been shed with your sword."[1106] -Latimer well knew that by such language he hazarded his life; but that -he was ready to sacrifice, as he tells us himself.[1107] - - [1102] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 736. - - [1103] Latimer's Remains, p. 305. - - [1104] Ibid. - - [1105] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p.736. - - [1106] Latimer's Remains, p. 308. - - [1107] I had rather suffer extreme punishment. Ibid. p. 298. - -[Sidenote: THE PERSECUTION BEGINS.] - -Persecution soon came. Just as the sun appeared to be rising on the -Reformation, the storm burst forth. "There was not a stone the bishops -left unremoved," says the chronicler, "any corner unsearched, for the -diligent execution of the king's proclamation; whereupon ensued a -grievous persecution and slaughter of the faithful."[1108] - - [1108] Foxe, iv. p. 679. - -Thomas Hitton, a poor and pious minister of Kent, used to go -frequently to Antwerp to purchase New Testaments. As he was returning -from one of these expeditions, in 1529, the bishop of Rochester caused -him to be arrested at Gravesend, and put to the cruelest tortures, to -make him deny his faith.[1109] But the martyr repeated with holy -enthusiasm: "Salvation cometh by faith and not by works, and Christ -giveth it to whomsoever he willeth."[1110] On the 20th of February -1530, he was tied to the stake and there burnt to death.[1111] - - [1109] Dieted and tormented him secretly. Tyndale's Works, vol. i. p. - 485. - - [1110] For the constant and manifest testimony of Jesus Christ and of - his free grace and salvation. Foxe, vol. iv. p. 619. - - [1111] The bishops murdered him most cruelly. Tyndale, vol i. p. 485. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD IMPORTS THE NEW TESTAMENT.] - -Scarcely were Hitton's sufferings ended for bringing the Scriptures -into England, when a vessel laden with New Testaments arrived at -Colchester. The indefatigable Bayfield, who accompanied these books, -sold them in London, went back to the continent, and returned to -England in November; but this time the Scriptures fell into the hands -of Sir Thomas More. Bayfield, undismayed, again visited the Low -Countries, and soon reappeared, bringing with him the New Testament -and the works of almost all the Reformers. "How cometh it that there -are so many New Testaments from abroad?" asked Tonstall of Packington; -"you promised me that you would buy them all."--"They have printed -more since," replied the wily merchant; "and it will never be better -so long as they have letters and stamps [types and dies]. My lord, you -had better buy the stamps too, and so you shall be sure."[1112] - - [1112] Foxe, vol. iv. p. 670. - -Instead of the stamps, the priests sought after Bayfield. The bishop -of London could not endure this godly man. Having one day asked -Bainham (who afterwards suffered martyrdom) whether he knew _a single -individual_ who, since the days of the apostles, had lived according -to the true faith in Jesus Christ, the latter answered: "Yes, I know -Bayfield."[1113] Being tracked from place to place, he fled from the -house of his pious hostess, and hid himself at his binder's, where he -was discovered, and thrown into the Lollard's tower.[1114] - - [1113] Ibid. p. 699. - - [1114] Ibid. p. 681. - -As he entered the prison, Bayfield noticed a priest named Patmore, -pale, weakened by suffering, and ready to sink under the ill-treatment -of his jailers. Patmore, won over by Bayfield's piety, soon opened his -heart to him. When rector of Haddam, he had found the truth in -Wickliffe's writings. "They have burnt his bones," he said, "but from -his ashes shall burst forth a well-spring of life."[1115] Delighting -in good works, he used to fill his granaries with wheat, and when the -markets were high, he would send his corn to them in such abundance as -to bring down the prices.[1116] "It is contrary to the law of God to -burn heretics," he said; and growing bolder, he added: "I care no more -for the pope's curse than for a bundle of hay."[1117] - - [1115] Ibid vol. v. p. 34. - - [1116] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 681. - - [1117] Ibid. - -His curate, Simon Smith, unwilling to imitate the disorderly lives of -the priests, and finding Joan Bennore, the rector's servant, to be a -discreet and pious person, desired to marry her. "God," said Patmore, -"has declared marriage lawful for _all men_; and accordingly it is -permitted to the priests in foreign parts."[1118] The rector alluded -to Wittemberg, where he had visited Luther. After his marriage Smith -and his wife quitted England for a season, and Patmore accompanied -them as far as London. - - [1118] Yet it was in other countries beyond sea. Foxe, vol iv. p. 681. - -The news of this marriage of a priest--a fact without precedent in -England--made Stokesley throw Patmore into the Lollards' tower, and -although he was ill, neither fire, light, nor any other comfort was -granted him. The bishop and his vicar-general visited him alone in his -prison, and endeavoured by their threats to make him deny his faith. - -[Sidenote: BAYFIELD IN THE COAL-CELLAR.] - -It was during these circumstances that Bayfield was thrust into the -tower. By his Christian words he revived Patmore's languishing -faith,[1119] and the latter complained to the king that the bishop of -London prevented his feeding the flock which God had committed to his -charge. Stokesley, comprehending whence Patmore derived his new -courage,[1120] removed Bayfield from the Lollards' tower, and shut him -up in the coal-house, where he was fastened upright to the wall by the -neck, middle, and legs.[1121] The unfortunate gospeller of Bury passed -his time in continual darkness, never lying down, never seated, but -nailed as it were to the wall, and never hearing the sound of human -voice. We shall see him hereafter issuing from this horrible prison to -die on the scaffold. - - [1119] Confirmed by him in the doctrine. Ibid. - - [1120] Ibid. - - [1121] Ibid. - -Patmore was not the only one in his family who suffered persecution; -he had in London a brother named Thomas, a friend of John Tyndale, the -younger brother of the celebrated reformer. Thomas had said that the -truth of Scripture was at last reappearing in the world, after being -hidden for many ages;[1122] and John Tyndale had sent five marks to -his brother William, and received letters from him. Moreover, the two -friends (who were both tradesmen) had distributed a great number of -Testaments and other works. But their faith was not deeply rooted, and -it was more out of sympathy for their brothers that they had believed; -accordingly, Stokesley so completely entangled them, that they -confessed their "crime." More, delighted at the opportunity which -offered to cover the name of Tyndale with shame, was not satisfied -with condemning the two friends to pay a fine of L100 each; he -invented a new disgrace. He sewed on their dress some sheets of the -New Testament which they had circulated, placed the two penitents on -horseback with their faces towards the tail, and thus paraded them -through the streets of London, exposed to the jeers and laughter of -the populace. In this, More succeeded better than in his refutation of -the reformer's writings. - - [1122] Ibid. vol. v. p. 34. - -[Sidenote: EDWARD FREESE GOES MAD.] - -From that time the persecution became more violent. Husbandmen, -artists, tradespeople, and even noblemen, felt the cruel fangs of the -clergy and of Sir Thomas More. They sent to jail a pious musician who -used to wander from town to town, singing to his harp a hymn in -commendation of Martin Luther and of the Reformation.[1123] A painter, -named Edward Freese, a young man of ready wit, having been engaged to -paint some hangings in a house, wrote on the borders certain sentences -of the Scripture. For this he was seized and taken to the bishop of -London's palace at Fulham, and there imprisoned, where his chief -nourishment was bread made out of sawdust.[1124] His poor wife, who -was pregnant, went down to Fulham to see her husband; but the bishop's -porter had orders to admit no one, and the brute gave her so violent a -kick, as to kill her unborn infant, and cause the mother's death not -long after. The unhappy Freese was removed to the Lollards' tower, -where he was put into chains, his hands only being left free. With -these he took a piece of coal, and wrote some pious sentences on the -wall: upon this he was manacled; but his wrists were so severely -pinched, that the flesh grew up higher than the irons. His intellect -became disturbed; his hair in wild disorder soon covered his face, -through which his eyes glared fierce and haggard. The want of proper -food, bad treatment, his wife's death, and his lengthened -imprisonment, entirely undermined his reason. When brought to St. -Paul's, he was kept three days without meat; and when he appeared -before the consistory the poor prisoner, silent and scarce able to -stand, looked around and gazed upon the spectators, "like a wild man." -The examination was begun, but to every question put to him Freese -made the same answer: "My Lord is a good man." They could get nothing -from him but this affecting reply. Alas! the light shone no more upon -his understanding, but the love of Jesus was still in his heart. He -was sent back to Bearsy Abbey, where he did not remain long; but he -never entirely recovered his reason.[1125] Henry VIII and his priests -inflicted punishments still more cruel even than the stake. - - [1123] His name was Robert Lambe. Foxe, vol. v. p. 34. - - [1124] Fed with fine manchet made of sawdust, or at least a great part - thereof. Ibid. iv. p. 625. - - [1125] Foxe, iv, p. 695. - -[Sidenote: AGITATION IN EXETER.] - -Terror began to spread far and wide. The most active evangelists had -been compelled to flee to a foreign land; some of the most godly were -in prison; and among those in high station there were many, and -perhaps Latimer was one, who seemed willing to shelter themselves -under an exaggerated moderation. But just as the persecution in London -had succeeded in silencing the most timid, other voices more -courageous were raised in the provinces. The city of Exeter was at -that time in great agitation; placards had been discovered on the -gates of the cathedral containing some of the principles "of the new -doctrine." While the mayor and his officers were seeking after the -author of these "blasphemies," the bishop and all his doctors, "as hot -as coals," says the chronicler,[1126] were preaching in the most fiery -style. On the following Sunday, during the sermon, two men who had -been the busiest of all the city in searching for the author of the -bills, were struck by the appearance of a person seated near them. -"Surely, this fellow is the heretic," they said. But their neighbour's -devotion, for he did not take his eyes off his book, quite put them -out; they did not perceive that he was reading the New Testament in -Latin. - - [1126] Ibid. v. p. 19. - -This man, Thomas Bennet, was indeed the offender. Being converted at -Cambridge by the preaching of Bilney, whose friend he was, he had gone -to Torrington for fear of the persecution, and thence to Exeter, and -after marrying to avoid unchastity (as he says)[1127] he became -schoolmaster. Quiet, humble, courteous to every body, and somewhat -timid, Bennet had lived six years in that city without his faith being -discovered. At last his conscience being awakened he resolved to -fasten by night to the cathedral gates certain evangelical placards. -"Every body will read the writing," he thought, "and nobody will know -the writer." He did as he had proposed. - - [1127] Ut ne scortator aut immundus essem, uxorem duxi. Foxe, v. p. - 19. - -[Sidenote: THE GREAT CURSE.] - -Not long after the Sunday on which he had been so nearly discovered, -the priests prepared a great pageant, and made ready to pronounce -against the unknown heretic the great curse "with book, bell, and -candle." The cathedral was crowded, and Bennet himself was among the -spectators. In the middle stood a great cross on which lighted tapers -were placed, and around it were gathered all the Franciscans and -Dominicans of Exeter. One of the priests having delivered a sermon on -the words: _There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O -Israel_,[1128] the bishop drew near the cross and pronounced the curse -against the offender. He took one of the tapers and said: "Let the -soul of the unknown heretic, if he be dead already, be quenched this -night in the pains of hell-fire, as this candle is now quenched and -put out;" and with that he put out the candle. Then, taking off a -second, he continued: "and let us pray to God, if he be yet alive, -that his eyes be put out, and that all the senses of his body may fail -him, as now the light of this candle is gone;" extinguishing the -second candle. After this, one of the priests went up to the cross and -struck it, when the noise it made in falling re-echoing along the -roof, so frightened the spectators that they uttered a shriek of -terror, and held up their hands to heaven, as if to pray that the -divine curse might not fall on them. Bennet, a witness of this comedy, -could not forbear smiling. "What are you laughing at?" asked his -neighbours; "here is the heretic, here is the heretic, hold him fast." -This created great confusion among the crowd, some shouting, some -clapping their hands, others running to and fro; but, owing to the -tumult, Bennet succeeded in making his escape. - - [1128] Joshua, vii. 12. - -The excommunication did but increase his desire to attack the Romish -superstitions; and accordingly, before five o'clock the next morning -(it was in the month of October 1530,) his servant-boy fastened up -again by his orders on the cathedral gates some placards similar to -those which had been torn down. It chanced that a citizen going to -early mass saw the boy, and running up to him, caught hold of him and -pulled down the papers; and then dragging the boy with the one hand, -and with the placards in the other, he went to the mayor of the city. -Bennet's servant was recognised; his master was immediately arrested, -and put in the stocks, "with as much favour as a dog would find," says -Foxe. - -[Sidenote: BENNET'S MARTYRDOM.] - -Exeter seemed determined to make itself the champion of sacerdotalism -in England. For a whole week, not only the bishop, but all the priests -and friars of the city, visited Bennet night and day. But they tried -in vain to prove to him that the Roman church, was the true one. "God -has given me grace to be of a better church," he said.--"Do you not -know that ours is built upon St. Peter?"--"The church that is built -upon a man," he replied, "is the devil's church and not God's." His -cell was continually thronged with visitors; and, in default of -arguments, the most ignorant of the friars called the prisoner a -heretic, and spat upon him. At length they brought to him a learned -doctor of theology, who, they supposed, would infallibly convert him. -"Our ways are God's ways," said the doctor gravely. But he soon -discovered that theologians can do nothing against the word of the -Lord. "He only is my way," replied Bennet, "who saith, _I am the way, -the truth, and the life_. In his _way_ will I walk;--his _truth_ will -I embrace;--his everlasting _life_ will I seek." - -He was condemned to be burnt; and More having transmitted the order -_de comburendo_ with the utmost speed, the priests placed Bennet in -the hands of the sheriff on the 15th of January, 1531, by whom he was -conducted to the Livery-dole, a field without the city, where the -stake was prepared. When Bennet arrived at the place of execution, he -briefly exhorted the people, but with such unction, that the sheriff's -clerk, as he heard him, exclaimed: "Truly this is a servant of God." -Two persons, however, seemed unmoved: they were Thomas Carew and John -Barnehouse, both holding the station of gentlemen. Going up to the -martyr, they exclaimed in a threatening voice: "Say, _Precor sanctam -Mariam et omnes sanctos Dei_."--"I know no other advocate but Jesus -Christ," replied Bennet. Barnehouse was so enraged at these words, -that he took a furze-bush upon a pike, and setting it on fire, thrust -it into the martyr's face, exclaiming: "Accursed heretic, pray to our -Lady, or I will make you do it."--"Alas!" replied Bennet patiently, -"trouble me not;" and then holding up his hands, he prayed: "Father, -forgive them!" The executioners immediately set fire to the wood, and -the most fanatical of the spectators, both men and women, seized with -an indescribable fury, tore up stakes and bushes, and whatever they -could lay their hands on, and flung them all into the flames to -increase their violence. Bennet, lifting up his eyes to heaven, -exclaimed: "Lord, receive my spirit." Thus died, in the sixteenth -century, the disciples of the Reformation sacrificed by Henry VIII. - -[Sidenote: JOHN PETIT, M. P. FOR LONDON.] - -The priests, thanks to the king's sword, began to count on victory; -yet schoolmasters, musicians, tradesmen, and even ecclesiastics, were -not enough for them. They wanted nobler victims, and these were to be -looked for in London. More himself, accompanied by the lieutenant of -the Tower, searched many of the suspected houses.[1129] Few citizens -were more esteemed in London than John Petit, the same who, in the -house of commons, had so nobly resisted the king's demand about the -loan. Petit was learned in history and in Latin literature: he spoke -with eloquence, and for twenty years had worthily represented the -city. Whenever any important affair was debated in parliament, the -king, feeling uneasy, was in the habit of inquiring which side he -took? This political independence, very rare in Henry's parliaments, -gave umbrage to the prince and his ministers. Petit, the friend of -Bilney, Fryth, and Tyndale, had been one of the first in England to -taste the sweetness of God's word,[1130] and had immediately -manifested that beautiful characteristic by which the gospel-faith -makes itself known, namely, charity. He abounded in almsgiving, -supported a great number of poor preachers of the gospel in his own -country and beyond the seas; and whenever he noted down these generous -aids in his books, he wrote merely the words: "Lent unto -Christ."[1131] He, moreover, forbade his testamentary executors to -call in these debts. - - [1129] Strype, i, p. 312. - - [1130] Strype, i, p. 312. - - [1131] Ibid. p. 314. - -Petit was tranquilly enjoying the sweets of domestic life in his -modest home in the society of his wife and two daughters, Blanche and -Audrey, when he received an unexpected visit. One day, as he was -praying in his closet, a loud knock was heard at the street-door. His -wife ran to open it, but seeing Lord-chancellor More, she returned -hurriedly to her husband, and told him that the lord-chancellor wanted -him. More, who followed her, entered the closet, and with inquisitive -eye ran over the shelves of the library, but could find nothing -suspicious. Presently he made as if he would retire, and Petit -accompanied him. The chancellor stopped at the door and said to him: -"You assert that you have none of these new books?"--"You have seen my -library," replied Petit.--"I am informed, however," replied More, -"that you not only read them, but pay for the printing." And then he -added in a severe tone: "Follow the lieutenant." In spite of the tears -of his wife and daughters this independent member of parliament was -conducted to the Tower, and shut up in a damp dungeon where he had -nothing but straw to lie upon. His wife went thither each day in vain, -asking, with tears, permission to see him, or at least to send him a -bed. The jailors refused her every thing; and it was only when Petit -fell dangerously ill that the latter favour was granted him. This took -place in 1530, sentence was passed in 1531;[1132] we shall see Petit -again in his prison. He left it, indeed, but only to sink under the -cruel treatment he had there experienced. - - [1132] Ibid. p. 312. - -[Sidenote: BILNEY RECOVERS FROM HIS FALL.] - -Thus were the witnesses to the truth struck down by the priests, by -Sir Thomas More, and by Henry VIII. A new victim was to be the cause -of many tears. A meek and humble man, one dear to all the friends of -the gospel, and whom we may regard as the spiritual father of the -Reformation in England was on the point of mounting the burning pile -raised by his persecutors. Some time prior to Petit's appearance -before his judges, which took place in 1531, an unusual noise was -heard in the cell above him; it was Thomas Bilney whom they were -conducting to the Tower.[1133] We left him at the end of 1528, after -his fall. Bilney had returned to Cambridge tormented by remorse; his -friends in vain crowded round him by night and by day; they could not -console him, and even the Scriptures seemed to utter no voice but that -of condemnation.[1134] Fear made him tremble constantly, and he could -scarcely eat or drink. At length a heavenly and unexpected light -dawned in the heart of the fallen disciple; a witness whom he had -vexed--the Holy Spirit--spoke once more in his heart. Bilney fell at -the foot of the cross, shedding floods of tears, and there he found -peace. But the more God comforted him, the greater seemed his crime. -One only thought possessed him, that of giving his life for the truth. -He had shrunk from before the burning pile; its flames must now -consume him. Neither the weakness of his body, which his long anguish -had much increased, nor the cruelty of his enemies, nor his natural -timidity, nothing could stop him: he strove for the martyr's crown. At -ten o'clock one night, when every person in Trinity Hall was retiring -to rest, Bilney called his friends round him, reminded them of his -fall, and added: "You shall see me no more.... Do not stay me: my -decision is formed, and I shall carry it out. My face is set to go to -Jerusalem."[1135] Bilney repeated the words used by the evangelist, -when he describes Jesus going up to the city where he was to be put to -death. Having shaken hands with his brethren, this venerable man, the -foremost of the evangelists of England in order of time, left -Cambridge under cover of the night, and proceeded to Norfolk, to -confirm in the faith those who had believed, and to invite the -ignorant multitude to the Saviour. We shall not follow him in this -last and solemn ministry; these facts and others of the same kind -belong to a later date. Before the year 1531 closed in, Bilney, -Bainham, Bayfield, Tewkesbury, and many others, struck by Henry's -sword, sealed by their blood the testimony rendered by them to the -perfect grace of Christ. - - [1133] Strype, i, p. 313. - - [1134] He thought that all the while the Scriptures were against him. - Latimer's Sermons, p. 52. - - [1135] Foxe, iv. p. 642. See Luke ix, 51. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - Wolsey's Terror--Impeachment by the Peers--Cromwell saves - him--The Cardinal's Illness--Ambition returns to him--His - Practices in Yorkshire--He is arrested by - Northumberland--His departure--Arrival of the Constable of - the Tower--Wolsey at Leicester Abbey--Persecuting - Language--He dies--Three Movements: Supremacy Scripture, and - Faith. - - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S TERROR.] - -While many pious Christians were languishing in the prisons of -England, the great antagonist of the Reformation was disappearing from -the stage of this world. We must return to Wolsey, who was still -detained at Esher.[1136] - - [1136] Burnet and some more modern historians are, in my opinion, - mistaken when they state that Wolsey was present in parliament at the - close of 1529. See State Papers, i. p. 347, 351. - -The cardinal, fallen from the summit of honours, was seized with those -panic-terrors usually felt after their disgrace by those who have made -a whole nation tremble, and he fancied an assassin lay hid behind -every door. "This very night," he wrote to Cromwell on one occasion, -"I was as one that should have died. If I might, I would not fail to -come on foot to you, rather than this my speaking with you shall be -put over and delayed. If the displeasure of my Lady Anne be somewhat -assuaged, as I pray God the same may be, then I pray you exert all -possible means of attaining her favour."[1137] - - [1137] State Papers, vol. 1. p. 351, mutilated by fire. - -In consequence of this, Cromwell hastened down to Esher two or three -days after taking his seat in parliament, and Wolsey, all trembling, -recounted his fears to him. "Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lady Anne perhaps, -desire my death.[1138] Did not Thomas a Becket, an archbishop like me, -stain the altar with his blood?"... Cromwell reassured him, and, moved -by the old man's fears, asked and obtained of Henry an order of -protection. - - [1138] Timebat sibi damnum et periculum de corpore suo per quosdam - suos aemulos. (Rymer, Foedera, p. 139.) He feared loss and bodily injury - at the hands of some of his rivals. - -[Sidenote: GRIEVANCES OF THE PEERS AGAINST WOLSEY.] - -Wolsey's enemies most certainly desired his death; but it was from the -justice of the three estates, and not by the assassin's dagger that -they sought it. The House of Peers authorized Sir Thomas More, the -dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and fourteen other lords, to impeach the -cardinal-legate of high treason. They forgot nothing: that haughty -formula, _Ego et rex meus_, I and my king, which Wolsey had often -employed; his infringement of the laws of the kingdom; his -monopolizing the church revenues; the crying injustice of which he had -been guilty,--as, for instance, in the case of Sir John Stanley, who -was sent to prison until he gave up a lease to the son of a woman who -had borne the cardinal two children; many families ruined to satisfy -his avarice; treaties concluded with foreign powers without the king's -order; his exactions, which had impoverished England; and the foul -diseases and infectious breath with which he had polluted his -majesty's presence.[1139] These were some of the forty-four grievances -presented by the peers to the king, and which Henry sent down to the -lower house for their consideration. - - [1139] Article vi. Herbert, p. 295. - -It was at first thought that nobody in the commons would undertake -Wolsey's defence, and it was generally expected that he would be given -up to the vengeance of the law (as the bill of impeachment prayed), -or, in other words, to the axe of the executioner. But one man stood -up, and prepared, though alone, to defend the cardinal: this was -Cromwell. The members asked of each other who the unknown man was; he -soon made himself known. His knowledge of facts, his familiarity with -the laws, the force of his eloquence, and the moderation of his -language, surprised the house. Wolsey's adversaries had hardly aimed a -blow before the defender had already parried it. If any charge was -brought forward to which he could not reply, he proposed an -adjournment until the next day, departed for Esher at the end of the -sitting, conferred with Wolsey, returned during the night, and next -morning reappeared in the commons with fresh arms. Cromwell carried -the house with him; the impeachment failed, and Wolsey's defender took -his station among the statesmen of England. This victory, one of the -greatest triumphs of parliamentary eloquence at that period, satisfied -both the ambition and the gratitude of Cromwell. He was now firmly -fixed in the king's favour, esteemed by the commons, and admired by -the people: circumstances which furnished him with the means of -bringing to a favourable conclusion the emancipation of the church of -England. - -[Sidenote: HENRY'S PRESENT TO WOLSEY.] - -The ministry, composed of Wolsey's enemies, was annoyed at the -decision of the lower house, and appointed a commission to examine -into the matter. When the cardinal was informed of this he fell into -new terrors. He lost all appetite and desire of sleep,[1140] and a -fever attacked him at Christmas. "The cardinal will be dead in four -days," said his physician to Henry, "if he receives no comfort shortly -from you and Lady Anne."--"I would not loose him for twenty thousand -pounds," exclaimed the king. He desired to preserve Wolsey in case his -old minister's consummate ability should become necessary, which was -by no means unlikely. Henry gave the doctor his portrait in a ring, -and Anne, at the king's desire, added the tablet of gold that hung at -her girdle. The delighted cardinal placed the presents on his bed, and -as he gazed on them he felt his strength return. He was removed from -his miserable dwelling at Esher to the royal palace at Richmond; and -before long he was able to go into the park, where every night he read -his breviary. - - [1140] Cum prostratione appetitus et continuo insomnio. (Wolsey to - Gardiner; Cavendish, Appendix, p. 474.) With loss of appetite and - continual want of sleep. - -Ambition and hope returned with life. If the king desired to destroy -the papal power in England, could not the proud cardinal preserve it. -Might not Thomas Wolsey do under Henry VIII what Thomas a Becket had -done under Henry II. His see of York, the ignorance of the priests, -the superstition of the people, the discontent of the great,--all -would be of service to him; and indeed, six years later, 40,000 men -were under arms in a moment in Yorkshire to defend the cause of Rome. -Wolsey, strong in England by the support of the nation, (such, at -least was his opinion,) aided without by the pope and the continental -powers, might give the law to Henry and crush the Reformation. - -The king having permitted him to go to York, Wolsey prayed for an -increase to his archiepiscopal revenues, which amounted, however, to -four thousand pounds sterling.[1141] Henry granted him a thousand -marks, and the cardinal, shortly before Easter 1530, departed with a -train of 160 persons. He thought it was the beginning of his triumph. - - [1141] State Papers. vol. i. p. 354. - -Wolsey took up his abode at Cawood Castle, Yorkshire, one of his -archiepiscopal residences, and strove to win the affections of the -people. This prelate, once "the haughtiest of men," says George -Cavendish, the man who knew him and served him best, became quite a -pattern of affability. He kept an open table, distributed bounteous -alms at his gate, said mass in the village-churches, went and dined -with the neighbouring gentry, gave splendid entertainments, and wrote -to several princes imploring their help. We are assured that he even -requested the pope to excommunicate Henry VIII.[1142] All being thus -prepared, he thought he might make his solemn entry into York, -preparatory to his enthronization, which was fixed for Monday the 5th -of November. - - [1142] Hall, p. 773. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY IS ARRESTED BY NORTHUMBERLAND.] - -Every movement of his was known at court; every action was canvassed, -and its importance exaggerated. "We thought we had brought him down," -some said, "and here he is rising up again." Henry himself was -alarmed. "The cardinal, by his detestable intrigues," he said, "is -conspiring against my crown, and plotting both at home and abroad;" -the king even added, _where_ and _how_.[1143] Wolsey's destruction was -resolved upon. - - [1143] Cosi mi disse el Re, che contra de S. M. el machinava nel regno - e fuori, et m'a detto dove e come. Le Grand, Preuves. p. 529. - -The morning after All Saints day (Friday, 2nd November), the earl of -Northumberland, attended by a numerous escort, arrived at Cawood, -where the cardinal was still residing. He was the same Percy whose -affection for Anne Boleyn had been thwarted by Wolsey; and there may -have been design in Henry's choice. The cardinal eagerly moved forward -to meet this unexpected guest, and, impatient to know the object of -his mission, took him into his bedchamber, under the pretence of -changing his travelling dress.[1144] They both remained some time -standing at a window without uttering a word; the earl looked confused -and agitated, whilst Wolsey endeavoured to repress his emotion. But at -last, with a strong effort, Northumberland laid his hand upon the arm -of his former master, and with a low voice said: "My lord, I arrest -you for high treason." The cardinal remained speechless, as if -stunned. He was kept a prisoner in his room. - - [1144] And there you may shift your apparel. Cavendish, p. 347. - -It is doubtful whether Wolsey was guilty of the crime with which he -was charged. We may believe that he entertained the idea of some day -bringing about the triumph of the popedom in England, even should it -cause Henry's ruin; but perhaps this was all. But, an idea is not a -conspiracy, although it may rapidly expand into one. - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY PREACHES PERSECUTION.] - -More than three thousand persons (attracted, not by hatred, like the -Londoners, when Wolsey departed from Whitehall, but by enthusiasm) -collected the next day before the castle to salute the cardinal. "God -save your grace!" they shouted on every side, and a numerous crowd -escorted him at night; some carried torches in their hands, and all -made the air re-echo with their cries. The unhappy prelate was -conducted to Sheffield Park, the residence of the earl of Shrewsbury. -Some days after his arrival, the faithful Cavendish ran to him, -exclaiming: "Good news, my lord! Sir William Kingston and twenty-four -of the guard are come to escort you to his majesty."--"Kingston!" -exclaimed the cardinal, turning pale, "Kingston!" and then, slapping -his hand on his thigh, he heaved a deep sigh. This news had crushed -his mind. One day a fortune-teller, whom he consulted, had told him: -"_you shall have your end at Kingston_;" and from that time the -cardinal had carefully avoided the town of Kingston-on-Thames. But now -he thought he understood the prophecy.... Kingston, constable of the -Tower, was about to cause his death. They left Sheffield Park; but -fright had given Wolsey his death-blow. Several times he was near -falling from his mule, and on the third day, when they reached -Leicester Abbey, he said as he entered: "Father abbot, I am come -hither to leave my bones among you;" and immediately took to his bed. -This was on Saturday the 26th of November. - -On Monday morning, tormented by gloomy forebodings, Wolsey asked what -was the time of day. "Past eight o'clock," replied Cavendish.--"That -cannot be," said the cardinal, "eight o'clock.... No! for by eight -o'clock you shall lose your master." At six on Tuesday, Kingston -having come to inquire about his health, Wolsey said to him: "I shall -not live long."--"Be of good cheer," rejoined the governor of the -Tower.--"Alas, Master Kingston", exclaimed the cardinal, "if I had -served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have -given me over in my gray hairs!" and then he added with downcast head: -"This is my just reward." What a judgment upon his own life! - -On the very threshold of eternity (for he had but a few minutes more -to live) the cardinal summoned up all his hatred against the -Reformation, and made a last effort. The persecution was too slow to -please him: "Master Kingston," he said, "attend to my last request: -tell the king that I conjure him in God's name to destroy this new -pernicious sect of Lutherans." And then, with astonishing presence of -mind in this his last hour, Wolsey described the misfortunes which the -Hussites had, in his opinion, brought upon Bohemia; and then, coming -to England, he recalled the times of Wickliffe and Sir John Oldcastle. -He grew animated; his dying eyes yet shot forth fiery glances. He -trembled lest Henry VIII, unfaithful to the pope, should hold out his -hand to the reformers. "Master Kingston," said he, in conclusion, "the -king should know that if he tolerates heresy, God will take away his -power, and we shall then have mischief upon mischief ... barrenness, -scarcity, and disorder to the utter destruction of this realm." - -[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S CHARACTER.] - -Wolsey was exhausted by the effort. After a momentary silence, he -resumed with a dying voice: "Master Kingston, farewell! My time -draweth on fast. Forget not what I have said and charged you withal; -for when I am dead ye shall peradventure understand my words better." -It was with difficulty he uttered these words; his tongue began to -falter, his eyes became fixed, his sight failed him; he breathed his -last. At the same minute the clock struck _eight_, and the attendants -standing round his bed looked at each other in affright. It was the -29th of November 1530. - -Thus died the man once so much feared. Power had been his idol: to -obtain it in the state, he had sacrificed the liberties of England; -and to win it or to preserve it in the church, he had fought against -the Reformation. If he encouraged the nobility in the luxuries and -pleasures of life, it was only to render them more supple and more -servile; if he supported learning, it was only that he might have a -clergy fitted to keep the laity in their leading-strings. Ambitious, -intriguing, and impure of life, he had been as zealous for the -sacerdotal prerogative as the austere Becket; and by a singular -contrast, a shirt of hair was found on the body of this voluptuous -man. The aim of his life had been to raise the papal power higher than -it had ever been before, at the very moment when the Reformation was -attempting to bring it down; and to take his seat on the pontifical -throne with more than the authority of a Hildebrand. Wolsey, as pope, -would have been the man of his age; and in the political world he -would have done for the Roman primacy what the celebrated Loyola did -for it soon after by his fanaticism. Obliged to renounce this idea, -worthy only of the middle ages, he had desired at least to save the -popedom in his own country; but here again he had failed. The pilot -who had stood in England at the helm of the Romish church was thrown -overboard, and the ship, left to itself, was about to founder. And -yet, even in death, he did not lose his courage. The last throbs of -his heart had called for victims; the last words from his failing -lips, the last message to his master, his last testament had been ... -Persecution. This testament was to be only too faithfully executed. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE.] - -The epoch of the fall and death of Cardinal Wolsey, which is the point -at which we halt, was not only important, because it ended the life of -a man who had presided over the destinies of England, and had -endeavoured to grasp the sceptre of the world, but it is of especial -consequence, because then three movements were accomplished, from -which the great transformation of the sixteenth century was to -proceed. Each of these movements has its characteristic result. - -The first is represented by Cromwell. The supremacy of the pope in -England was about to be wrested from him, as it was in all the -reformed churches. But a step further was taken in England. That -supremacy was transferred to the person of the king. Wolsey had -exercised as vicar-general a power till then unknown. Unable to become -pope at the Vatican, he had made himself a pope at Whitehall. Henry -had permitted his minister to raise his hierarchical throne by the -side of his own. But he had soon discovered that there ought not to be -two thrones in England, or at least not two kings. He had dethroned -Wolsey; and resolutely seating himself in his place, he was about to -assume at Whitehall that tiara which the ambitious prelate had -prepared for himself. Some persons, when they saw this, exclaimed, -that if the papal supremacy were abolished, that of the word of God -ought alone to be substituted. And, indeed, the true Reformation is -not to be found in this first movement. - -The second, which was essential to the renewal of the church, was -represented by Cranmer, and consisted particularly in re-establishing -the authority of holy Scripture. Wolsey did not fall alone, nor did -Cranmer rise alone: each of these two men carried with him the systems -he represented. The fabric of Roman traditions fell with the first; -the foundations of the holy Scriptures were laid by the second; and -yet, while we render all justice to the sincerity of the Cambridge -doctor, we must not be blind to his weaknesses, his subserviency, and -even a certain degree of negligence, which, by allowing parasitical -plants to shoot up here and there, permitted them to spread over the -living rock of God's word. Not in this movement, then, was found the -Reformation with all its energy and all its purity. - -The third movement was represented by the martyrs. When the church -takes a new life, it is fertilized by the blood of its confessors; and -being continually exposed to corruption, it has constant need to be -purified by suffering.[1145] Not in the palaces of Henry VIII, nor -even in the councils where the question of throwing off the papal -supremacy was discussed, must we look for the true children of the -Reformation; we must go to the Tower of London, to the Lollards' -tower of St. Paul's and of Lambeth, to the other prisons of England, -to the bishops' cellars, to the fetters, the stocks, the rack, and the -stake. The godly men who invoked the sole intercession of Christ -Jesus, the only head of his people, who wandered up and down, deprived -of every thing, gagged, scoffed at, scourged, and tortured, and who, -in the midst of all their tribulations, preserved their Christian -patience, and turned, like their Master, the eyes of their faith -towards Jerusalem:--these were the disciples of the Reformation in -England. The purest church is the church under the cross. - - [1145] 1 Peter iv, 17--Plerumque ecclesia est coetus exiguus sustinens - varias et iugentes aerumnas. (Melancthon, loci.) The church for the - most part is a small company, enduring various and great sufferings. - -[Sidenote: OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.] - -The father of this church in England was not Henry VIII. When the king -cast into prison or gave to the flames men like Hitton, Bennet, -Patmore, Petit, Bayfield, Bilney, and so many others, he was not "the -father of the Reformation of England," as some have so falsely -asserted; he was its executioner. - -The church of England was foredoomed to be in its renovation a church -of martyrs; and the true father of this church is our Father which is -in heaven. - - - END OF VOLUME V. - - GLASGOW: JAMES KAY, PRINTER. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained -except in obvious cases of typographical error. 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