By law, Anne had a right to be tried by jury; but on June 28, 1546, she was condemned by the lord chancellor and the council, without further process, to be burnt, for having denied the corporal presence of Christ. They asked her whether she wished for a priest; she smiled and said she would confess her faults unto God, for she was sure that He would hear her with favor. She added: 'I think his grace shall well perceive me to be weighed in an uneven pair of balances.... Here I take heaven and earth to record that I shall die in mine innocency.'[441]

ROYAL PROCLAMATION.

It was proved that Anne had derived her faith from the Holy Scriptures. Gardiner and his partisans therefore prevailed upon the government, eight days before the death of this young Christian, to issue a proclamation purporting 'that from henceforth no man, woman or person of what estate, condition or degree soever he or they be [consequently including the ladies and gentlemen of the court as well as others], shall, after the last day of August next ensuing receive, have, take or keep in their possession the text of the New Testament, of Tyndale's or Coverdale's translation in English, nor any other than is permitted by the Act of Parliament; ... nor after the said day shall receive, have, take or keep in his or their possession any manner of books printed or written in the English tongue which be or shall be set forth in the names of Fryth, Tyndale, Wycliffe, ... Barnes, Coverdale, ... or by any of them; ... and it was required that all such books should be delivered to the mayor, bailiff or chief constable of the town to be openly burned.[442]

This was a remarkable proceeding on the part of Henry VIII. But events were stronger than the proclamation, and it remained a dead letter.

TORTURE OF ANNE ASKEW.

Anne's sentence was pronounced before the issue of the proclamation. The trial was over, and there was to be no further inquiry. But her death was not enough to satisfy Rich, Wriothesley and their friends. They had other designs, and were about to perpetrate the most shameful and cruel acts. The object which these men now proposed to themselves was to obtain such evidence as would warrant them in taking proceedings against those ladies of the court who were friends of the Gospel. They went (July 13) to the Tower, where Anne was still confined, and questioned her about her accomplices, naming the duchess-dowager of Suffolk, the countess of Sussex and several others. Anne answered, 'If I should pronounce any thing against them, I should not be able to prove it.' They next asked her whether there were no members of the royal council who gave her their support. She said, none. The king is informed, they replied, that if you choose you can name a great many persons who are members of your sect. She answered that 'the king was as well deceived in that behalf as dissembled with in other matters.' The only effect of these denials was to irritate Wriothesley and his colleague; and, determined at any cost to obtain information against influential persons at the court, they ordered the rack to be applied to the young woman. This torture lasted a long time; but Anne gave no hint, nor even uttered a cry. The lord chancellor, more and more provoked, said to Sir Antony Knevet, lieutenant of the Tower, 'Strain her on the rack again.' The latter refused to do this. It was to no purpose that Wriothesley threatened him if he would not obey.

Rich, a member of the privy council, had frequently given proof of his baseness. Wriothesley was ambitious, inflated with self-conceit, haughty, and easily angered if his advice was not taken. These two men now forgot themselves; and the spectacle was presented of the lord chancellor of England and a privy councillor of the king turned into executioners. They set their own hands to the horrible instrument, and so severely applied the torture to the innocent young woman, that she was almost broken upon it and quite dislocated. She fainted away and was well-nigh dead.[443] 'Then the lieutenant caused me to be loosed; incontinently I swooned, and then they recovered me again. After that I sat two long hours, reasoning with my Lord Chancellor on the bare floor, where he, with many flattering words, persuaded me to leave my opinion.'[444] Henry VIII. himself censured Wriothesley for his cruelty, and excused the lieutenant of the Tower. 'Then was I brought to a house,' says Anne, 'laid in a bed, with as weary and painful bones as ever Job had.' The chancellor sent word to her that if she renounced her faith she should be pardoned and should want for nothing, but that otherwise she should be burnt. She answered, 'I will sooner die.' At the same time she fell on her knees in the dungeon and said: 'O Lord, I have more enemies now than there be hairs on my head; yet, Lord, let them never overcome me with vain words, but fight thou, Lord, in my stead, for on thee I cast my care. With all the spite they can imagine, they fall upon me, who am thy poor creature. Yet, sweet Lord, let me not set by them that are against me; for in thee is my whole delight. And, Lord, I heartily desire of thee, that thou wilt of thy most merciful goodness forgive them that violence which they do, and have done, unto me. Open also thou their blind hearts, that they may hereafter do that thing in thy sight, which is only acceptable before thee, and to set forth thy verity aright, without all vain fantasies of sinful men. So be it, O Lord, so be it.'[445]

The 16th of July, the day fixed for the last scene of this tragedy, had arrived; every thing was ready for the burning of Anne at Smithfield. The execution was to take place not in the morning, the usual time, but at nightfall, to make it the more terrible. It was thus, in every sense, a deed of darkness. They were obliged to carry Anne to the place of execution, for in her state at that time she was unable to walk. When she reached the pile, she was bound to the post by her waist, with a chain which prevented her from sinking down. The wretched Shaxton, nominated for the purpose, then completed his apostasy by delivering a sermon on the sacrament of the altar, a sermon abounding in errors. Anne, who was in full possession of her faculties, contented herself with saying, 'He misseth and speaketh without the Book.' Three other evangelical Christians were to die at the same time with her: Belenian, a priest; J. Lacels (Lascelles), of the king's household, probably the man who had revealed the incontinence of Catherine Howard, a deed for which the Roman party hated him; and one Adams, a Colchester man. 'Now, with quietness,' said Lacels, 'I commit the whole world to their pastor and herdsman Jesus Christ, the only Saviour and true Messias....' The letter from which we quote is subscribed, 'John Lacels, late servant to the king, and now I trust to serve the everlasting King, with the testimony of my blood in Smithfield.'[446]

MARTYRDOM.

There was an immense gathering of the people. On a platform erected in front of St. Bartholomew's church were seated, as presidents at the execution, Wriothesley, lord chancellor of England, the old duke of Norfolk, the old earl of Bedford, the lord-mayor Bowes, and various other notabilities. When the fire was going to be lighted, the chancellor sent a messenger to Anne Askew, instructed to offer her the king's pardon if she would recant. She answered, 'I am not come hither to deny my Lord and Master.' The same pardon was offered to the other martyrs, but they refused to accept it and turned away their heads. Then stood up the ignorant and fanatical Bowes, and exclaimed with a loud voice, 'Fiat justitia!' Anne was soon wrapt in the flames; and this noble victim who freely offered herself a sacrifice to God, gave up her soul in peace. Her companions did likewise.[447]