"Our enemies, not being able to catch Master Tyndale in any of their traps, did show their spite and anger by destroying all his books they could lay their hands upon. My Lord Bishop of London hath more than once bought up all the New Testaments there were to be had in London, and a rare burning of the books was witnessed at Paul's Cross. And the money thus collected from the Bishop and his agents hath forthwith been sent to Master Tyndale, that he might prepare another and more perfect edition, for each fresh one has been carefully revised; and though for my own part I am well content with the book that you and I helped to carry ashore that winter's night, still there are those who say that the last sent over, and that is the fourth edition, is a marvel. I am no scholar myself, I can just read in the English tongue, and that is why I can prize, more than many, this English Testament. But I tell you, Sir Miles, these new doctrines are attracting the notice of learned and thoughtful men, though as yet the poorer folk do not seem to care which shall succeed,—the Reformers, who would fain see a New Testament in every house, or the priests, who fill their pockets from the scanty earnings of the poor, under the pretence of offering Masses for the dead, whereby the souls of departed friends shall the sooner be released from the pains of Purgatory."
"Ah! the poor witless knaves have little time to think of anything but the earning of a rye loaf, and the buying of meat for Sunday. We must think tenderly of the poor, for they are hardly dealt with on all hands," said Sir Miles, pityingly.
"Well, we must try to grasp the prize now it is within our reach, that they may share it with us by-and-bye. To have got rid of the Pope and all his pretensions, we owe to what some of our forefathers did two hundred years ago. Wycliffe, and a few like him, tried to shake off his power then, and the Parliament passed what is called the 'Statutes of Prœmunire and Provisors,' and this gave the King and Parliament the right to prohibit the admission or execution of any bulls or briefs within the realm of England; and also denied the Papal claim to dispose of any benefices. Well, the Reformers of that day were not able to do much with this new law when they had got it, but it has never been repealed, and somebody must have told Master Cromwell of this old Statute of Prœmunire; and so, when the Pope threatened to put the kingdom under an interdict, and absolve every man from obeying the King, my Lord Cromwell went and asked the King why he should bow his neck to the Pope, when Pope and clergy had all alike broken the English law concerning the paying of taxes to a foreign power, and the publishing of bulls and briefs, that were no longer lawful in this kingdom.
"Ah! the King would have a keen nose for the taxes," remarked Sir Miles, recalling the time when his old master, Wolsey, often found himself on the horns of a dilemma over this very question of taxation, and he wondered whether Wolsey knew of the existence of this old statute, that had probably been forgotten in the lapse of time, or surely it would have been expunged from the roll of English laws long since.
But it surprised him that a plain, simple cloth-merchant like Monmouth had so clear a grip of the situation, as his explanation of this old statute proved. Truly the plain man and simple citizen, as well as those of the university, were awakening, and it was not likely that they would allow themselves to be fitted with grave-clothes again, and so the priests and monks must also arise out of the torpor that held them, or they must go under in the struggle that was fast approaching.
Sir Miles stayed talking at "The Golden Fleece" until all the shops in the neighbourhood had securely fastened their one-flat shutter for the night; and then Monmouth told him that he was expecting a few friends to come in almost immediately, and begged him to stay the night and take part in their Scripture reading, and the devotions which would follow.
This Sir Miles readily consented to do, although he declined to take any other part than that of a listener in the reading and expounding which was to follow.
In the discourse that followed the reading, he noted the same independence of thought that testified to the general awakening that was taking place in men's minds, and how the Mass, and the Papal pretensions arising out of it, were the main points of attack. The bread and wine, which the priests claimed they had the power to change into the very body, bones, and blood of Christ by the prayer of consecration, these Reformers declared was unchanged, and still remained bread and wine; and that it was only in a spiritual sense that the Lord Jesus said, "Take, eat; this is my body." This would be the battle-cry. Round this would the tumult rage; and all at once Sir Miles felt he should like to take his part as a man in the struggle and strife. No, the battle was not won yet, he felt sure, although Master Monmouth and most of his friends thought that there would be little more persecution, now that the Pope's power was broken. But he reflected that they did not know King Henry the Eighth as he did; and, though Queen Anne might foster the new opinions, and give her protection to the Reformers, who could tell how long her power might last. The King had loved his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, quite as much as he loved Queen Anne; and thinking thus, Sir Miles wondered whether it would be possible for him to spend at least part of every year in London. He was still thinking thus when the meeting broke up, and then his host showed him how some curious hiding-places had been contrived in one or two parts of the house.
"We thought we might need them a year or two back; but, thank God, that danger is over, and we can come and go now with nothing more to fear than that the vagabonds of the streets may molest us."
"May it always be so," said Sir Miles, as he bade his host good-night, and retired to his chamber.