Thus did the theologians of Wittenberg talk of the matter. Calvin thought with them, and he wrote, almost on the same day, that the king of England had distinctly shown his disposition by the impious edict which he had published.[299] The doctors of Wittenberg referred to the Elector; and the latter, to whom Henry VIII. had communicated the Six Articles, requested them to make one more attempt to influence the king. Melanchthon therefore wrote to him; and after an exordium in which he endeavored to prepare the mind of Henry, he said, 'What affects and afflicts me is not only the danger of those who hold the same faith as we do; but it is to see you making yourself the instrument of the impiety and cruelty of others; that the doctrine of Christ is set aside in your kingdom, superstitious rites perpetuated, and debauchery sanctioned; in a word, to see that the Roman antichrist is rejoicing in his heart because you take up arms on his side and against us, and is hoping, by means of your bishops, easily to recover what by wise counsel has been taken from him.' Melanchthon then combats the several articles and refutes the sophisms of the Catholic party on the subject. 'Illustrious king,' he continued, 'I am grieved at heart that you, while condemning the tyranny of the bishop of Rome, should undertake the defence of institutions which are the very sinews of his power. You are threatening the members of Jesus Christ with the most atrocious punishments, and you are putting out the light of evangelical truth which was beginning to shine in your churches. Sire, this is not the way to put away antichrist, this is establishing him ... this is confirmation of his idolatry, his errors, his cruelty, and his debaucheries.
'I implore you, therefore, to alter the decree of your bishops. Let the prayers offered up to God by so many pious souls throughout the world, for the true reformation of the Church, for the suppression of impious rites, and for the propagation of the Gospel, move you. Do justice to those pious men who are now in prison for the Lord's sake. If you do this, your great clemency will be praised by posterity as long as learning exists. Behold how Jesus Christ wandered about from place to place. He was hungry, he was thirsty, naked and bound; he complained of the raging of the priests, of the unjust cruelty of kings; he commands that the members of his body should not be torn in pieces, and that his Gospel should be honored. It is the duty of a pious king to receive this Gospel and to watch over it. By doing so, you will be rendering to God acceptable worship.'[300]
Had these eloquent exhortations any influence on Henry VIII.? On a former occasion he had shown himself rather provoked than pleased by letters of the reformer.[301] However, after the loud peal of thunder which had alarmed evangelical Christians in every part of Europe, the horizon cleared a little, and the future looked less threatening.
There was one point on which Henry did incline rather to Cranmer's side; this was auricular confession. Perhaps he dreaded it on political grounds. Now the bishops were urgent for its universal adoption, and Tonstall wrote to the king on the subject. Henry rejected his demand and called him a self-willed man. He seemed thus to draw towards reconciliation with his primate. Nor was this all. A bill had passed withdrawing heretics from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and subjecting them to the secular courts. The chancellor, supported by Cranmer, Cromwell, and Suffolk, and with the sanction of the king, set at liberty the five hundred persons who had been committed to prison. The thunderbolt had indeed trenched the seas, but nobody was hurt—at least for the moment.[302]
THE MOCK SEA-FIGHT.
Henry resorted to other means for the purpose of reassuring those who imagined that the pope was already re-established in England. He exhibited to the citizens of London the spectacle of one of those sea-fights, on which the ancient Romans used to lavish such enormous sums. Two galleys, one of them decorated with the royal ensigns, the other with the papal arms, appeared on the Thames, and a naval combat began. The two crews attacked each other; the struggle was sharp and obstinate; at length the soldiers of the king boarded the enemy and threw into the water amidst the shouts of the people an effigy of the pope and images of several cardinals. The pontifical phantom, seized by bold hands, was dragged through the streets; it was hung, drowned, and burnt.[303] It would have been better for the king to let alone such puerile and vulgar sports, which pleased none but the mob, and to give more serious proofs of his attachment to the Gospel.
CHAPTER IV.
HENRY VIII. AND ANNE OF CLEVES.