Latimer, bishop of Worcester, did more than Cranmer. On July 1, eight days after the close of the session, he resigned his bishopric, and his heart leaped for joy as he laid aside his episcopal vestments. 'Now I am rid of a heavy burden,' he said, 'and never did my shoulders feel so light.' One of his former colleagues having expressed his surprise, he replied: 'I am resolved to be guided only by the Book of God, and sooner than depart one jot from that, let me be trampled under the feet of wild horses!' He now withdrew into the country, intending to lead there a quiet life. He took care of his flowers and gathered his fruit. Having had a fall from a tree, he found it necessary to return to London for the purpose of procuring surgical attendance. When the government was informed of this, orders were given to arrest and commit him to the Tower, and there he remained till the king's death. Shaxton, bishop of Salisbury, likewise resigned his see, on what grounds we do not know. Under Queen Mary he became a violent persecutor. Many evangelical Christians quitted England, and among them especially to be noted are Hooper, Rogers, and John Butler.[293] Cranmer remained in his archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth; but he sent away his wife and children to his wife's relations in Germany.
This want of fidelity on Cranmer's part is only explicable on the ground of the efforts made by Henry VIII. to retain him. On the day of the prorogation of parliament, June 28, 1539, Henry, fearing lest the archbishop, disheartened and distrusted, should offer to him his resignation, sent for him, and, receiving him with all the graciousness of manner which he knew so well how to assume when he wished, said: 'I have heard with what force and learning you opposed the Six Articles. Pray state your arguments in writing, and deliver the statement to me.' Nor was this all that Henry did. Desirous that all men, and particularly the adherents of Anglo-Catholicism should know the esteem which he felt for the primate, he commanded the leader of this party, the duke of Norfolk, his brother-in-law, the duke of Suffolk, Norfolk's rival, Lord Cromwell, and several other lords to dine the next day with the archbishop at Lambeth. You will assure him, he said, of my sincere affection, and you will add that although his arguments did not convince the parliament, they displayed much wisdom and learning.
THE KING AND THE PRIMATE.
The company, according to the king's request, arrived at the archbishop's palace, and Cranmer gave his guests an honorable reception. The latter executed the king's commission, adding that he must not be disheartened although the parliament had come to a decision contrary to his opinion. Cranmer replied that 'he was obliged to his majesty for his good affection, and to the lords for the pains they have taken.' Then he added resolutely: 'I have hope in God that hereafter my allegations and authorities will take place, to the glory of God and commodity of the realm.' They sat down to table. Every guest apparently did his best to make himself agreeable to the primate. 'My lord of Canterbury,' said Cromwell, 'you are most happy of all men; for you may do and speak what you list, and, say what all men can against you, the king will never believe one word to detriment or hindrance.' The meal, however, did not pass altogether so smoothly. The king had brought together, in Cromwell and Norfolk, the most heterogeneous elements; and the feast of peace was disturbed by a sudden explosion. Cromwell, continuing his praises, instituted a parallel between Cardinal Wolsey and the archbishop of Canterbury. 'The cardinal,' he said, 'lost his friends by his haughtiness and pride; while you gain over your enemies by your kindliness and your meekness.' 'You must be well aware of that, my lord Cromwell,' said the duke of Norfolk, 'for the cardinal was your master.' Cromwell, stung by these words, acknowledged the obligations under which he lay to the cardinal, but added; 'I was never so far in love with him as to have waited upon him to Rome if he had been chosen pope, as I understand, my lord duke, that you would have done.' Norfolk denied this. But Cromwell persisted in his assertion, and even specified a considerable sum which the duke was to receive for his services as admiral to the new pope, and for conducting him to Rome. The duke, no longer restraining himself, swore with great oaths that Cromwell was a liar. The two speakers, forgetting that they were attending a feast of peace, became more and more excited and did not spare hard words. Cranmer interposed to pacify them. But from this time these two powerful ministers of the king swore deadly hatred to each other. One or other of them must needs fall.[294]
CRANMER'S TIME-SERVING.
The king's course with respect to Cranmer is not so strange as it appears. Without Cranmer, he would have been under the necessity of choosing another primate, and what a task would that have been. Gardiner, indeed, was quite ready to take the post; but the king, although he sometimes listened to him, placed no confidence in him. Not only did it seem to Henry difficult to find any other man than Cranmer; but there was a further difficulty of appointing an archbishop in due form. Could it be done by the aid of the pope? Impossible. Without the pope? This too was very difficult. The priesthood would not concede such a power to the king, nor was it probable that they would accept his choice. The king foresaw troubles and conflicts without end. The best course was to keep the present primate, and this was the course adopted. Herein lay the security of the archbishop in the midst of the misfortunes and scenes of blood around him. He had made a declaration of his faith, and he did not withdraw from it. He hoped for better things, according to the advances which were made him. He believed that by keeping his post he might prevent many calamities. The Six Articles were a storm which must be allowed to blow over; and, in accordance with his character, he bowed his head while the wind blew in that direction.
The bloody statute was the cause of profound sorrow among the evangelical Christians. Some of them, more hasty than others, making use of the strong language of the time, asserted that the Six Articles had been written, not with Gardiner's ink, as people said, 'but with the blood of a dragon, or rather the claws of the Devil.'[295] They have been spoken of, even by Roman Catholics of our own age, as 'the enactments of this severe and barbarous statute.'[296] But the Catholics of that age rejoiced in them, and believed that it was all over with the Reformation. Commissioners were immediately named to execute this cruel law, and there was always a bishop among them. These commissioners, who sat in London, in Mercer's Chapel, formerly a dwelling house and the place of Becket's birth,[297] even exaggerated the harshness of the Six Articles. Fifteen days had not elapsed before five hundred persons were imprisoned, some for having read the Bible, others for their posture at church. The greatest zeal was displayed by Norfolk among the lords temporal, and by Stokesley, Gardiner, and Tonstall among the lords spiritual. Their aim was to get a Book of Ceremonies, a strange farrago of Romish superstitions, adopted as the rule of worship.
The violent thunder-clap which had suddenly pealed over England, and occasioned so much trouble, was nowhere on the Continent more unexpected, nowhere excited a greater commotion than at Wittenberg. Bucer on one side, and several refugees arriving at Hamburg on the other, had made known this barbarous statute to the reformers, and had entreated the Protestants of Germany to interpose with Henry in behalf of their fellow-religionists. Luther, Melanchthon, Jonas, and Pomeranus met together, and were unanimous in their indignation. 'The king,' they said, 'knows perfectly well that our doctrine concerning the sacrament, the marriage of priests, and other analogous subjects, is true. How many books he has read on the subject! How many reports have been made to him by the most competent judges! He has even had a book translated, in which the whole matter is explained, and he makes use of this book every day in his prayers. Has he not heard and approved Latimer, Cranmer, and other pious divines? He has even censured the king of France for condemning this doctrine. And now he condemns it himself more harshly than the king or the pope. He makes laws like Nebuchadnezzar, and declares that he will put to death any one who does not observe them. Great sovereigns of our day are taking it into their heads to fashion for themselves religions which may turn to their own advantage, like Antiochus Epiphanes of old. I have power, says the king of England, to require that any one of my courtiers shall not marry so long as he intends to remain at court; for the same reason I have also power to forbid the marriage of priests. We are now entreated to address remonstrances to this prince. The Scriptures certainly teach us to endeavor to bring back the weak; but it requires that the proud who compound with their conscience should be left to go in their own way. It is clear that the king of England makes terms with conscience. He has already been warned, and has paid no attention; there is, therefore, no hope that he will listen to reason if he be warned anew. Consider, besides, what kind of men those are in whose hands he places himself. Look at Gardiner, who while exposing before all the nation his scandalous connections (liaisons) dares to assert that it is contrary to the law of God for a minister of God to have a lawful wife.'[298]
EXCITEMENT IN GERMANY.