[431] _Epist. Reg. Pol._ Vol. II. p. 191, &c. The disappointment of the Roman ecclesiastics led them so far as to antic.i.p.ate a complete apostacy on the part of Charles. The fears of Cardinal Contarini make the hopes so often expressed by Henry appear less unreasonable, that Charles might eventually imitate the English example. On the 8th of July, 1539, Contarini writes to Pole:--

"De rebus Germaniae audio quod molestissime tuli, indictum videlicet esse conventum Norimburgensem ad Kal. Octobris pro rebus Ecclesiae componendis, ubi sunt conventuri oratores Caesaris et Regis Christianissimi; s.e.x autem pro parte Lutheranorum et totidem pro partibus Catholicorum, de rebus Fidei disputaturi; et hoc fieri ex decreto superiorum mensium Conventus Francford; in quo nulla mentio fit, nec de Pontifice, nec de aliquo qui pro sede Apostolica interveniret.

Vides credo quo ista tendunt. Utinam ego decipiar; sed hoc prorsus judico; etsi praesentibus omnibus conatibus regis Angliae maxime sit obstandum, tamen non hunc esse qui maxime sedi Apostolicae possit nocere; ego illum timeo quem Cato ille in Republica Romana maxime timebat, qui sobrius accedit ad illam evertendam; vel potius illos timeo (nec enim unus est hoc tempore) et nisi istis privatis conventibus cito obviam eatur, ut non brevi major scissura in ecclesia c.u.m majori detrimento autoritatis sedis Apostolicae oriatur, quam multis saeculis fuerit visa, non possum non maxime timere. Scripsit ad me his de rebus primus nuncius ex Hispania; et postea certiora de iisdem ex Reverendissimo et Ill.u.s.trissimo Farnesio c.u.m huc transiret cognovi cui sententiam meam de toto periculo exposui. Ego certe talem nunc video Ecclesiae statum, ut si unquam dixi ulla in causa c.u.m Isaia, mitte me, nunc potius si rogarer dicerem c.u.m Mose, Dominus mitte quem missurus es."--_Epist. Reg. Pol._ Vol. II. p. 158.

[432] Account of the Muster of the Citizens of London in the thirty-first Year of the Reign of King Henry VIII., communicated (for the _Archaeologia_), from the Records of the Corporation of London, by Thomas Lott, Esq.

[433] Royal Proclamation: _Rolls House MS._ A 1, 10.

[434] In "l.u.s.ty Juventus" the Devil is introduced, saying,--

"Oh, oh! full well I know the cause That my estimation doth thus decay: The old people would believe still in my laws, But the younger sort lead them a contrary way.

They will not believe, they plainly say, In old traditions made by men; But they will live as the Scripture teacheth them."

Hawkins's _Old Plays_, Vol. I. p. 152.

[435] "The king intended his loving subjects to use the commodity of the reading of the Bible humbly, meekly, reverently, and obediently; and not that any of them should read the said Bible with high and loud voices in time of the celebration of the ma.s.s, and other divine services used in the Church; or that any of his lay subjects should take upon them any common disputation, argument, or exposition of the mysteries therein contained."--Proclamation of the Use of the Bible: Burnet's _Collectanea_, p. 138.

In a speech to the parliament Henry spoke also of the abuse of the Bible: "I am very sorry to know and hear how unreverendly that most precious jewel, the Word of G.o.d, is disputed, rhymed, sung, and jangled in every alehouse and tavern. I am even as much sorry that the readers of the same follow it in doing so faintly and coldly."--Hall, p. 866.

[436] The Bishop of Norwich wrote to Cromwell, informing him that he had preached a sermon upon grace and free-will in his cathedral; "the next day," he said, "one Robert Watson very arrogantly and in great fume came to my lodgings for to reason with me in that matter, affirming himself not a little to be offended with mine a.s.sertion of free will, saying he would set his foot by mine, affirming to the death that there was no such free will in man. Notwithstanding I had plainly declared it to be of no strength, but only when holpen by the grace of G.o.d; by which his unG.o.dly enterprise, perceived and known of many, my estimation and credence concerning the sincere preaching of the truth was like to decay." The bishop went on to say that he had set Watson a day to answer for "his temerarious opinions," and was obliged to call in a number of the neighbouring county magistrates to enable him to hold his court, "on account of the great number which then a.s.sembled as Watson's fautors."--The Bishop of Norwich to Cromwell: _MS. State Paper Office_, first series, Vol. X.

[437] For instance, in Watson's case he seems to have rebuked the bishop. Ibid.

[438] Very many complaints of parishioners on this matter remain among the _State Papers_. The difficulty is to determine the proportion of offenders (if they may be called such) to the body of the spiritualty.

The following pet.i.tion to Cromwell, as coming from the collective inc.u.mbents of a diocese, represents most curiously the perplexity of the clergy in the interval between the alteration of the law and the inhibition of their previous indulgences. The date is probably 1536. The pet.i.tion was in connexion with the commission of inquiry into the general morality of the religious orders:--

"May it please your mastership, that when of late we, your poor orators the clergy of the diocese of Bangor, were visited by the king's visitors and yours, in the which visitation many of us (to knowledge the truth to your mastership) be detected of incontinency, as it appeareth by the visitors' books, and not unworthy, wherefore we humbly submit ourselves unto your mastership's mercy, heartily desiring of you remission, or at least wise of merciful punishment and correction, and also to invent after your discreet wisdom some lawful and G.o.dly way for us your aforesaid orators, that we may maintain and uphold such poor hospitalities as we have done hitherto, most by provision of such women as we have customably kept in our houses. For in case we be compelled to put away such women, according to the injunctions lately given us by the foresaid visitors, then shall we be fain to give up hospitality, to the utter undoing of such servants and families as we daily keep, and to the great loss and harms of the king's subjects, the poor people which were by us relieved to the uttermost of our powers, and we ourselves shall be driven to seek our living at alehouses and taverns, for mansions upon the benefices and vicarages we have none. And as for gentlemen and substantial honest men, for fear of inconvenience, knowing our frailty and accustomed liberty, they will in no wise board us in their houses."--Pet.i.tion of the Clergy of Bangor to the Right Hon. Thomas Cromwell: _MS. State Paper Office_, second series, Vol. x.x.xVI.

[439] This story rests on the evidence of eye-witnesses.--Foxe, Vol. V.

p. 251, &c.

[440] The late parliament had become a byword among the Catholics and reactionaries. Pole speaks of the "Conventus malignantium qui omnia illa decreta contra Ecclesiae unitatem fecit."--_Epist. Reg. Pol._ Vol. II. p.

46.

[441] "For your Grace's parliament I have appointed (for a crown borough) your Grace's servant Mr. Morison, to be one of them. No doubt he shall be able to answer or take up such as should crack on far with literature of learning."--Cromwell to Henry VIII.: _State Papers_, Vol.

I. p. 603.

[442] Letter to Secretary Cromwell on the Election of the Knights of the Shire for the County of Huntingdon: _Rolls House MS._

[443] Lady Blount to the King's Secretary: Ibid.

[444] The Earl of Southampton to Cromwell: _MS. Cotton. Cleopatra_, E 4.

[445] The two persons whom Cromwell had previously named.

[446] Letters of the Mayor of Canterbury to Cromwell: _MS. State Paper Office_, second series, Vol. V.

In the first edition this affair is referred to the election of 1539. We are left almost invariably to internal evidence to fix the dates of letters, and finding the second of those written by the Mayor of Canterbury, on this subject, addressed to Cromwell as Lord Privy Seal, I supposed that it must refer to the only election conducted by him after he was raised to that dignity. I have since ascertained that the first letter, the cover of which I did not see, is addressed to Sir Thomas Cromwell, chief secretary, &c. It bears the date of the 20th of May, and though the year is not given, the difference of the two styles fixes it to 1536. The election was conducted while Cromwell was a commoner. He was made a peer and Privy Seal immediately on the meeting of parliament on the 2d of July.

[447] Cromwell to Henry VIII.: _State Papers_, Vol. I. p. 693.

[448] "The King's Highness desiring that such a unity might be established in all things touching the doctrine of Christ's religion, as the same so being established might be to the honour of Almighty G.o.d, and consequently redound to the commonwealth of this his Highness's most n.o.ble realm, hath therefore caused his most High Court of Parliament to be at this time summoned, and also a synod and convocation of all the archbishops, bishops, and other learned men of the clergy of this his realm to be in like manner a.s.sembled."--31 Henry VIII. cap. 14.

[449] "Post missarum solemnia, decenter ac devote celebrata, divinoque auxilio humillimi implorato et invocato."--_Lords Journals_, 31 Henry VIII.

[450] _Lords Journals_, 31 Henry VIII.

[451] A Device for extirpating Heresies among the People: _Rolls House MS._

[452] "Nothing has yet been settled respecting the marriage of the clergy, although some persons have very freely preached before the king upon the subject."--John Butler to Conrad Pellican, March 8, 1539: _Original Letters on the Reformation_, second series, p. 624.

[453] Lady Exeter was afterwards pardoned. Lady Salisbury's offences, whatever they were, seem to have been known to the world, even before Lord Southampton's visit of inspection to Warblington. The magistrates of Stockton in Suss.e.x sent up an account of examinations taken on the 13th of September, 1538, in which a woman is charged with having said, "If so be that my Lady of Salisbury had been a young woman as she was an old woman, the King's Grace and his council had burnt her."--_MS. State Paper Office_, second series, Vol. x.x.xIX. The act of attainder has not been printed (31 Henry VIII. cap. 15: _Rolls House MS._); so much of it, therefore, as relates to these ladies is here inserted:--

"And where also Gertrude Courtenay, wife of the Lord Marquis of Exeter, hath traitorously, falsely, and maliciously confederated herself to and with the abominable traitor Nicholas Carew, knowing him to be a traitor and a common enemy to his Highness and the realm of England; and hath not only aided and abetted the said Nicholas Carew in his abominable treasons, but also hath herself committed and perpetrated divers and sundry detestable and abominable treasons to the fearful peril of his Highness's royal person, and the loss and desolation of this realm of England, if G.o.d of his goodness had not in due time brought the same treason to knowledge:

"And where also Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, and Hugh Vaughan, late of Bekener, in the county of Monmouth, yeoman, by instigation of the devil, putting apart the dread of Almighty G.o.d, their duty of allegiance, and the excellent benefits received of his Highness, have not only traitorously confederated themselves with the false and abominable traitors Henry Pole, Lord Montague, and Reginald Pole, sons to the said countess, knowing them to be false traitors, but also have maliciously aided, abetted, maintained, and comforted them in their said false and abominable treason, to the most fearful peril of his Highness, the commonwealth of this realm, &c., the said marchioness and the said countess be declared attainted, and shall suffer the pains and penalties of high treason." I find no account of Vaughan, or of the countess's connexion with him. He was probably one of the persons employed to carry letters to and from the cardinal.

[454] "Immediate post Billae lectionem Dominus Cromwell palam ostendit quandam tunicam ex albo serico confectam inventam inter linteamina Comitissae Sarum, in cujus parte anteriore existebant sola arma Angliae; in parte vero posteriore insignia illa quibus nuper rebelles in aquilonari parte Angliae in commotione sua utebantur."--_Lords Journals_, 31 Henry VIII.

[455] In quoting the preambles of acts of parliament I do not attach to them any peculiar or exceptional authority. But they are contemporary statements of facts and intentions carefully drawn, containing an explanation of the conduct of parliament and of the princ.i.p.al events of the time. The explanation may be false, but it is at least possible that it may be true; and my own conclusion is, that, on the whole, the account to be gathered from this source is truer than any other at which we are likely to arrive; that the story of the Reformation as read by the light of the statute book is more intelligible and consistent than any other version of it, doing less violence to known principles of human nature, and bringing the conduct of the princ.i.p.al actors within the compa.s.s of reason and probability. I have to say, further, that the more carefully the enormous ma.s.s of contemporary evidence of another kind is studied, doc.u.ments, private and public letters, proclamations, council records, state trials, and other authorities, the more they will be found to yield to these preambles a steady support.

[456] 31 Henry VIII. cap. 8.

[457] The limitation which ought to have been made was in the time for which these unusual powers should be continued; the bill, however, was repealed duly in connexion with the treason acts and the other irregular measures in this reign, as soon as the crisis had pa.s.sed away, or when those who were at the head of the state could no longer be trusted with dangerous weapons.--See 1 Edward VI. cap. 7. The temporary character of most of Henry's acts was felt, if it was not avowed. Sir Thomas Wyatt in an address to the Privy Council, admitted to having said of the Act of Supremacy, "that it was a goodly act, the King's Majesty being so virtuous, so wise, so learned, and so good a prince; but if it should fall unto an evil prince it were a sore rod:" and he added, "I suppose I have not mis-said in that; for all powers, namely absolute, are sore rods when they fall into evil men's hands."--Oration to the Council: Nott's _Wyatt_, p. 304.

[458] The same expressions had been used of the Lollards a hundred and fifty years before. The description applied absolutely to the Anabaptists; and Oliver Cromwell had the same disposition to contend against among the Independents. The least irregular of the Protestant sects were tainted more or less with anarchical opinions.

[459] A considerable part of this address is in Henry's own handwriting See Strype's _Memorials,_ Vol. II. p. 434.

[460] See Fuller, Vol. III. p. 411.

[461] 31 Henry VIII. cap. 9

[462] In some instances, if not in all, this was actually the case.--See the Correspondence between Cromwell and the Prior of Christ Church at Canterbury: _MS. State Paper Office_, second series.

[463] Oxford, Peterborough, Bristol, Gloucester, Chester, and Westminster.

[464] Canterbury, Winchester, Ely, Norwich, Worcester, Rochester, Durham, and Carlisle.

[465] "Per Dominum cancellarium declaratum est quod c.u.m non solum proceres spirituales verum etiam regia majestas ad unionem in precedentibus articulis conficiendam multipliciter studuerunt et laboraverunt ita ut nunc unio in eisdem confecta sit regia igitur voluntatis esse ut penale aliquod statutum efficeretur ad coercendum suos subditos, ne contra determinationem in eisdem articulis confectam contradicerent, aut dissentirent, verum ejus majestatem proceribus formam hujusmodi malefactorum hujusmodi committere. Itaque ex eorum communi consensu concordatum est quod Archiepiscopus Cant., Episcopus Elien., Episcopus Menevensis et Doctor Peter, unam formam cujusdam actus, concernentem Punitionem hujusmodi malefactorum dictarent et componerent similiterque quod Archiepisc. Ebor., Episc. Dunelm., Episc.

Winton et Doctor Tregonwell alteram ejusmodi effectus dict.i.tarent et componerent formam."--_Lords Journals_, 31 Henry VIII.

[466] Foxe's rhetoric might be suspected, but a letter of Melancthon to Henry VIII. is a more trustworthy evidence: "Oh, cursed bishops!" he exclaims; "oh, wicked Winchester!"--Melancthon to Henry VIII.: printed in Foxe, Vol. V.

[467] "The judge shall be bounden, if it be demanded of him, to deliver in writing to the party called before him, the copy of the matter objected, and the names and depositions of the witnesses ... and in such case, as the party called answereth and denyeth that that is objected, and that no proof can be brought against him but the deposition of one witness only, then and in that case, be that witness never of so great honesty and credit, the same party so called shall be without longer delay absolved and discharged by the judge's sentence freely without further cost or molestation."--The Six Articles Bill as drawn by the King: Wilkins's _Consilia_, Vol. III. p. 848.

[468] Act for Abolishing Diversity of Opinions: 31 Henry VIII. cap. 14.