that statute, till after he had been legally presented, on the oaths of twelve men, before such commissioners as are mentioned in this Act, and referred to in another; nor was he, till then, to be imprisoned. No reputed offence of an older date than one year was to be actionable; nor was any preacher to be indicted, if forty days had elapsed after any sentiment he had uttered in the pulpit. The accused might also challenge any juryman. These provisions formed so many very important alleviations in the fury of persecution; though two years hence, as in the cases of Anne Askew and others, they were most scandalously disregarded.

By the time that Henry departed for France, not only were Norfolk and Gardiner withdrawn from the country, but the new Queen, Catherine Parr, was Regent; and with Cranmer at the head of her Council, the chief man bent upon cruelty and mischief, or Bonner of London, must have been under certain restraint. Nor was this all. Just before his Majesty left, it deserves notice that prayers in the English tongue were directed to be generally used. This fact in itself was important; but in reference to past times, and royal influence, not so much so as another, which now comes out incidentally—

"We have sent unto you," says the King to all the Bishops of his realm, "We have sent unto you these suffrages, not to be for a month or two observed, and after slenderly considered, as other our injunctions, to our no little marvel, have been used, but to the intent that as well the same, as other our injunctions, may be earnestly set forth," &c.

Thus it was officially acknowledged that the King's former injunctions had carried no powerful or prolonged influence. Before this we have frequently had occasion to observe, that the cause of God and His truth had been so peculiarly conducted, as to have no leaning or dependence on him whatever. We have seen, by many striking proofs, that it went on in its course, first in defiance, and then independently of royal interference. But now, towards the close of his reign, lest posterity should mistake, or not observe it; as far as his own name and authority had been employed, here is an artless and very frank confession of impotence, on the part of his Majesty, if not also of Cranmer, who is supposed to have drawn up the injunction.

So far, indeed, from being a consistent friend to the progress of Divine Truth amongst his subjects, only last year Henry had lent his authority to the reprobation of the original translator, at whose death he had winked so hard; and frowned upon the poor for reading the Sacred Volume. His injunctions, like himself, staggering from side to side, must have confounded the public mind; and considering what had passed in Parliament last year, in reprobating the name and writings of Tyndale, it was not wonderful that the indignity should be resented. Tyndale's very name had become precious to many, and his translations of Scripture were now carefully preserved or hoarded in many a corner throughout England, far beyond the ken of Bishop, or King, or any underling.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no account whatever upon record of the seizure or burning of the New Testament, though there might have been, had foreign politics and preparations for war not engrossed attention; but Lewis and some others have gone too far when they have stated that Day and Seres printed the Pentateuch this year. Day had not yet begun to print at all, and the volume must belong to a subsequent impression, or that of 1549. It is, however, curious, and more to the purpose, that a foreign press was at work even this year, and with an edition of Tyndale's New Testament. This must have been in the face of the recent anathema. A copy, once in the possession of the Earl of Oxford, is mentioned in the Harleian Catalogue, with this remark-" It seems to be a foreign print." Indeed it must have been so; and it may be put down in these troublous days, as a serenade from Antwerp or elsewhere, in answer to the contemptible brawl in Parliament last year.

MDXLV.

UNDERMINING CRANMER-HIS ENEMIES COVERED WITH SHAME-HENRY ADDRESSING HIS PRIVY COUNCIL-HIS OPINION OF IT-ADDRESSING HIS PARLIAMENT FOR THE LAST TIME.

E are now within two years of the King's death, and the entire period was fraught with great misery to his subjects, though, generally speaking, not after the fashion in which they had been tormented in past times. His Majesty and the government, with all the strength of the kingdom, were at present fully occupied in preparing for self-defence against a French invasion. It was a year pregnant with misery and confusion to the country; and it might appear difficult to imagine where a moment was left for the gentlemen of the "old learning" to display their hostility; but in the autumn, after the King's return from Portsmouth, such a moment was found.

Cranmer had not failed to improve the absence of Gardiner and Norfolk. Last year, as we have seen, the former had been in Germany or Flanders, the latter in France; and up to this period the Duke had been very busy at home, surveying the sea-coast, and harassed by the war of defence. But now in September or October, a select number of the Privy Council had found a little space to breathe and look round, when an opportunity seemed to present itself, for trying their skill once more. It was to be concentrated on the Archbishop, and for the last time. The incidents are important, not in reference to the accusers only, but as giving farther insight to the character of the King himself, in connexion with his precious Council.

In the afternoon of the 22nd of August, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, died; perhaps the most powerful friend that Cranmer now had. The companion of the King from his earliest youth, and possessing throughout life considerable influence over him; Henry was sitting in Council when first informed of his decease, and could not suppress his feelings. He then declared that, during the whole course of their friendship, the Duke had never made one attempt to injure an adversary, nor had ever whispered a word to the disadvantage of any person. "Is there

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any of you, my Lords, who can say as much ?" When his Majesty had uttered these words, he looked round in all their faces, and saw them confused with the consciousness of secret guilt. Thus so emphatically checked, one might have supposed that they would have been careful not to verify the character which their Sovereign had seemed to insinuate: but no; it was but shortly after the Duke's remains were interred with splendour at Windsor, that certain Privy Councillors had resolved to move. When the King gave his significant look round the Council, there can be little or no doubt that his Grace of Norfolk, Wriothesly the Lord Chancellor, and even Stephen Gardiner, were present; for the latter had returned in spring, and been ever since actively engaged. The fears of the party must have led them to exaggerate; but from the expressions employed, the reader will at least learn what was their estimate of the progress now made, in a cause which they denounced as heretical, and so detested. Another mistake they made, not unwillingly, was their ascribing so much to one man, and that one man the Archbishop; but he was near to them, and a perpetual eye-sore; they hated him from the heart fervently, and must play their last game, under Henry, with a view to his ruin.

Being, as they imagined, now fully prepared to carry their purpose into effect, the Privy Councillors waited on his Majesty, when they grievously accused Cranmer; saying, "that he, with his learned men, had so infected the whole realm with their unsavoury doctrines, that THREE PARTS of the land were become abominable heretics; and that this might prove dangerous to the King, as likely to produce such commotions and uproars as had sprung up in Germany." They, therefore, "requested that the Archbishop might be committed to the Tower, till he might be examined." To their mode of procedure the King at once objected, when they told him, "that the Archbishop being one of the Privy Council, no man dared to object matter against him, unless he were first committed to durance; but that if this were done, men would be bold to tell the truth, and deliver their consciences!" Yet Henry still would proceed no farther than this-that Cranmer should appear next day before the Council, to be examined by themselves, and should they then judge it to be advisable, so commit him to the Tower.

His Majesty, however, knowing the men well, and reflecting on what he had done, about midnight ordered Sir Anthony Denny to cross the river to Lambeth, and command Cranmer's immediate attendance at Whitehall. The Archbishop was in bed, but, of course, instantly rose, and presented himself before his royal Master, whom he found in the gallery of the palace. Henry very frankly told him the whole, and what he had done in granting their request; but concluded by saying-" Whether I have done well or no, what say you, my Lord ?" Cranmer, having first thanked his Majesty for the information, went on to say, that he was well content to be committed to the Tower for the trial of his doctrine, if he might be fairly heard, not doubting but that his Majesty would see that he was so treated. Upon hearing these words Henry, with a profane exclamation, in his own characteristic manner, rallied him on his simplicity; for once in prison, every secret enemy, now silent, would open upon him, and false witness be easily obtained to condemn him. Determined that things should not go this length, he advised him to attend the Council on the morrow, if summoned; but if there his enemies should insist on his going to the Tower, before trial, with his accusers face to face, he was to appeal from them to the King. "Take this ring," said Henry, "by the which they shall well understand that I have taken your cause from them into mine own hand. This ring they well know I use for no other purpose but to call matters from the Council into mine own hands, to be ordered and determined." Cranmer having received the ring, humbly thanked his Majesty, and withdrew for the night.

It was

Next morning, and by eight o'clock, a message arrived from the Privy Council requiring Cranmer's attendance. immediately obeyed, but when the Primate made his appearance in the ante-room, he was not permitted to proceed any farther. There he was kept waiting, among servants and ushers, nearly an hour, while other members of the Council were, in the meantime, passing both in and out. Fortunately, Ralph Morrice, the Archbishop's secretary, was with him; and indignant at this treatment, he slipped off, and informed a warm friend of his master, Dr. William Butts, the King's physician. He first came, and, once witness to the fact, proceeded to the royal presence.