Chapter I: 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 Manœuvres--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.