these matters, would have granted Henry a divorce without hesitation*.

A memorial, which had been signed by Warham and Wolsey, and by four bishops, twenty-two abbots, and several of the temporal nobility, was now transmitted to Rome, praying his holiness to attend to the opinions of so many eminent men, and to decide the question, but hinting that if he did not it would be decided in England without him. Clement was in the utmost perplexity; he feared lest England might follow the example of the north of Germany, and cast off her allegiance to the holy see; at the same time he stood in awe of the emperor, who steadfastly maintained the cause of his aunt, and would only consent to Henry's espousing Anne by what is termed a left-handed marriage, thus reserving all their rights to Catherine and her daughter. But Henry spurned at this when it was hinted to him: he would be regularly divorced, and would have no compromise.

Thomas Cromwell, who had so honourably distinguished himself by fidelity to his patron Wolsey in his fall, was now in the service of the king. He was of humble origin, being the son of a fuller or a blacksmith at Putney. He served as a private soldier in Italy, and was then for some time in a mercantile house at Venice. On his return to England he commenced the study of the law, and Wolsey, who knew so well how to appreciate talent, having had occasion to notice his abilities, took him into his service. In a conversation one day with Reginald Pole, Cromwell spoke slightingly of the notions of vice and virtue held by men who dwelt in academic shades away from the world, and said that the business of the man who would rise was to divine if possible the real thoughts and wishes of his prince, and gratify them in such a manner as to save all appearances. He also praised Machiavel, and offered to lend him that

* Only a few years before, Louis XII. of France had been divorced in order to enable him to marry Anne of Bretagne. In our own day we have seen a similar favour conferred on Napoleon.

1531-32.]

CROMWELL.

19

writer's 'Prince.' Pole, who was really an upright virtuous man, and who cordially detested the principles that work appeared to inculcate, and which he inferred were those on which Cromwell acted, instantly conceived the worst opinion possible of him; and that opinion has been of course propagated by all the writers of his communion, while Protestants are perhaps too anxious to justify the conduct of so important an agent in the Reformation. Cromwell was in fact an ambitious man, and little scrupulous about means, provided he could gratify the wishes of his royal master.

Cromwell, who had been appointed by Wolsey to manage the revenues of the monasteries which that prelate had dissolved with the papal approbation, had imbibed no very high notions of the rights and authority of the holy see. He now boldly advised Henry to take to himself the supremacy over the church and clergy of England. Henry listened with approbation. As Wolsey had not pleaded the royal permission for exercising his legatine authority, the whole of the clergy were liable to the penalty of a præmunire for having submitted to it, and proceedings accordingly were instituted against them. Flagrantly unjust as this procedure was, they saw no remedy but that of purchasing indemnity; and when the convocation met (1531) they voted the king 100,000l., under the name of a benevolence for his services in writing against Luther and protecting the church. But this peace-offering did not suffice, and after some opposition, they were obliged to acknowledge him as supreme head of the church of England, as far as the law of Christ will allow. A formal indemnity was then granted to them. The connection between the papacy and the English clergy was thus nearly dissolved; and in the parliament of the following year (1532) a further blow was given to the influence of the court of Rome, by a bill reducing the first-fruits to be paid by bishops to five per cent. on the net income of the see, and adding that, if the bull of consecration was withheld on account of them,

the bishop-elect should be consecrated by a mandate from the crown, and all interdicts and other censures be disregarded. Other measures against the papacy were proposed, but the appearance of the plague caused a prorogation. At this time sir Thomas More, who was sincerely devoted to the church, seeing whither the king and parliament were tending, desired, and with some difficulty obtained, permission to resign the great seal. It was then given to sir Thomas Audeley.

But while the clergy were thus made to infringe on the claims of the head of the church, they were left full power to persecute those who rejected the real presence and derived their religion from the Scriptures. At this time Thomas Bilney, a fellow of Trinity-hall, Cambridge, was burnt as a heretic at Norwich; and Richard Bayfield, a Benedictine monk, James Bainham, of the Middle Temple, and a tradesman named Tewksbury underwent the same fate in Smithfield.

For a person of his temper, and in love with one whose virtue was invincible, Henry had shown marvellous patience. But that patience was now nearly exhausted. Hitherto he had treated Catherine with all due respect as his queen; but when she could not be induced to withdraw her appeal to Rome, it was signified to her (July 14, 1531,) that she must leave Windsor, where the court then was, and retire to one of three abodes which were specified. She replied, "that to whatever place she might remove nothing could remove her from being the king's lawful wife." She went from one place to another, and finally fixed at Ampthill in Bedfordshire. The pope wrote to expostulate with Henry for thus putting away his queen; but he received rather a sharp reply. It was then proposed to cite Henry again to Rome. On hearing of this, the king sent thither as his excusator sir Edward Karne, who was accompanied by one Edmund Bonner, afterwards so notorious. Karne purchased over some of the leading cardinals; but still the pope shuffled and twisted; and at length

1533.]

CRANMER MADE PRIMATE.

21

Karne told him that, as the church of England was an independent church, the matter could be decided without any reference to him whatever. Henry himself had an interview with the king of France, to confirm their friendship and alliance; and on the death of that estimable prelate archbishop Warham (Aug. 22), he resolved to confer the see of Canterbury on Cranmer, who had now been for some time resident ambassador at the imperial court.

Cranmer had by this time embraced most of the reformed doctrines; he had moreover formed a matrimonial union with the niece of Osiander, one of the German divines. He saw the difficulties which environed him, and would most willingly have declined the proffered honour; but he had to deal with one who would not lightly suffer his will to be disputed. He made all the delay he possibly could, and did not reach England till the month of November. He tried to turn Henry from his purpose, by stating that if he received the dignity it must be from the pope, which he neither would nor could do, as the king was the only governor of the church in all causes, temporal or spiritual. Henry, unable to overcome this objection, took the opinion of some eminent civilians on it, and they advised that the prelate elect should, previous to taking the oath to the pope, make a solemn protest that he did not consider himself thereby bound to do anything contrary to the law of God or his duty as a subject. Cranmer, whose modesty and diffidence always led him to receive with deference the opinions of those learned in their profession, ceased from opposition. The king applied at Rome for the pall and the usual bulls. Clement, aware of Cranmer's principles, hesitated at first, but he finally sent them. The consecration was appointed to take place on the 30th of March, 1533, in St. Stephen's chapel at Westminster. On that day Cranmer went into the chapter-house, and in the presence of five most respectable witnesses made his protest; he then proceeded to the chapel, where the bishops of Lincoln, Exeter and St. Asaph stood ready to perform the cere

mony. He there again declared that he would take the oath only as limited by his protest, and on receiving the pall he made this declaration for the third time. Cranmer thus attained the highest dignity in the English church in the forty-fourth year of his age, and within four years of the time when he became first known to the king.

Opinions are divided with regard to the conduct of Cranmer on this occasion: we ourselves highly condemn the principle on which he acted, and agree with Dr. Lingard, that "oaths cease to offer any security if their meaning may be qualified by previous protestations made without the knowledge of the party who is principally interested*." But at the same time we are fully convinced that Cranmer was satisfied in conscience of the rectitude of his proceeding, and that Clement must have known in his heart that the new prelate would not and could not take the oath of canonical obedience unreservedly.

Either the virtue of Anne had at length yielded, and its consequences would soon be apparent, or the passion of the king would brook no longer delay. In the autumn of the preceding year he had raised her to the dignity of marchioness of Pembroke; he now resolved to advance her to the throne. Early in the morning of the 25th of January, 1533, he was secretly married to her by Dr. Rowland Lee, one of his chaplains.

On Easter-eve Anne appeared as queen, and on the 8th of May Cranmer and those appointed to act with him repaired to Dunstable, within six miles of Ampthill, to hold a court for trying the question of the divorce. As Catherine took no notice of the citation, she was pronounced contumacious; the former evidence was all gone through again, and on the 23rd of May the marriage between Henry and Catherine was pronounced to have been null and void from the commencement. On Whit-Sunday (June 1) Anne was

* In 1526, Francis I. before signing the treaty of Madrid made a secret protest against it, and the pope felt no hesitation in freeing him from the

oath.