same text, being spoken to all the church, as well as to the apostles, gave power to the whole church to make laws, and restrained the peculiar authority of the apostles in that behalf.

6. That the successors of the apostles have not like authority in all points as the apostles had. That to affirm the Bishop of Rome to be head of the universal church, and thereby to have authority to summon general councils, is heresy; and that the authority to summon general councils doth belong to kings and princes.

7. That the king may abolish, but cannot appoint, holydays, without the authority of parliament.

8. That the text in Acts xx. 28, Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, was not meant of such bishops only as be now of the clergy; but was, as well, meant and spoken of every ruler and governor of the Christian people.

This paper is without a date; and it must remain doubtful whether it should be referred to the year 1534, when the act was made for constituting the king supreme head of the Church of England,* or to a period somewhat earlier. In either case, it furnishes sufficient evidence of the principles and views which, about that time, were becoming familiar, not only to licentious thinkers among the lower orders of the laity, but to persons in the habit of professional inquiry into such matters. And, therefore, without undertaking the defence of every opinion propounded in this document, we may at least rely upon it as a very striking indication of the change which was then passing over the public mind.

The state of religious feeling and opinion in England, then, about the time of Cranmer's advancement to the primacy, may be sufficiently collected from the foregoing compendious exposition. The Romish

*See Strype, Eccl. Mem. vol. i. c. 17.

1532.

feeling and opin

reformation.

corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, were very freely questioned in the humble walks of life; a bitter impatience of ecclesiastical General s'ate of usurpation was beginning to pervade the ion relative to higher regions of society; and the king had already succeeded in obtaining from the convocation, at least a partial and qualified acknowledgment of his prerogative, as supreme governor of the Church of England. Neither can it reasonably be doubted that the doctrines of Luther had begun to produce formidable disturbance in the principles of a considerable portion of the clergy, both with respect to discipline and faith. Even among the hierarchy, individuals were to be found who, though still faithful to the dogmatical theology of the papal church, were by no means unprepared for some abridgment of the pontifical power and jurisdiction. In common with the whole realm, the priesthood had long been grievously oppressed by the exactions of the court of Rome, and must have seen, with just indignation, the encroachments of the monastic orders. They might, consequently, not be unwilling to hear of such a reformation of the existing system as would offer them relief from servitude and extortion, and restore them to the dignity and influence which had been wrested from them by the intrigues or the violence of the regular clergy. This feeling, however, though unquestionably_natural, had the effect of weakening their power of opposition to the spirit which was abroad. It disabled them from presenting a front of resistance either so extended or so compact as the dangers of their condition seemed to require, and the consequence was, that the perishable portions of the ancient structure sank beneath repeated assaults. It now remains for us to contemplate the perseverance and the wisdom with which one man laboured gradually to clear away the worthless and ruinous materials, and to exhibit the enduring parts of the fabric in their original simplicity and grandeur.

CHAPTER II.'

A. D. 1489-1531.

Parentage and Birth of Cranmer-His early Education-Sent to Cambridge-Is elected Fellow of Jesus College-His first Marriage-The Story that he was Ostler at the Dolphin-Appointed Reader at Buckingham College-Becomes a Widower, and is restored to his Fellowship-Is offered promotion to Wolsey's College at Oxford, which he declines-Proceeds to the degree of D.D.-Is appointed Divinity Lecturer to his College, and Public Examiner in Theology-Becomes Tutor to the Cressys-Is nominated a Delegate on the Matrimonial Cause, but is unable to attend-Avocation of the Cause to RomeCranmer's opinion respecting the Divorce-His Introduction to the King-Is commanded to put his Opinion in writing-Is sent with the Embassy to Rome-Opinions of the Universities-Memorial to the Pope Cranmer offers to maintain his Opinion by Disputation at Rome -Returns to England-His Account of Pole's Book on the DivorceHis second Mission to the Continent-His Marriage with the Niece of Osiander.

Parentage and

mer.

THOMAS CRANMER was the second son of a gentleman, whose family had, for several generations, been settled in the county of Nottingham, Birth of Cran- and who traced his lineage to a follower of the Norman conqueror. It was at the village of Aslacton in that county that Thomas was born: and we are told that, so recently as the year 1790, traces might be seen of the walks and pleasure-grounds which belonged to the mansion of his fathers. Tradition likewise speaks of a small rising ground or mount, in the immediate neighbourhood of the house, from the summit of which, in his more peaceful days, the future primate of England was accustomed to survey the beauties of the surrounding scenery, and to listen to the music of the village bells. It is unpleasing to know that this

memorial of the archbishop has now wholly disappeared.*

66

tion.

The day of Cranmer's birth was 2d July, 1489. Of his boyhood little is known, except 1489. that he was placed under the care of a His early educachurlish pedagogue, á rude parishclerk," whose manners and temper were fitted to make learning hateful to his pupils; and that, while at home, he was trained, like the sons of other gentlemen, to the various sports and exercises of rural life. In these pursuits his proficiency appears to have been highly respectable, notwithstanding the shortness of his sight. In horsemanship, more especially, he acquired a degree of mastery which enabled him, after his highest advancement, to mount, without fear, the roughest and most unruly horses that could be found in his own stables.

A. D. 1503.

to Cam

Early in life he had the misfortune to lose his father. At the age of fourteen, however, he was placed by his mother at Jesus College, Cambridge, of which society he was elected fellow in 1510 or 1511. Some consider- 1510. able portion of the interval between his sent admission and election was, unavoidably, bridge. devoted to the scholastic discipline then predominant in the university. This course of mental exercise, whatever were its defects, was well fitted to sharpen and invigorate his faculties; and to prepare him for his subsequent exertions in supplanting the injurious dominion of the schoolmen over the realms of theology. From the period of his election, his studies took a wider and more liberal range. Erasmus was, at that time, resident in the university; and by his presence and his example, as well as by his writings, contributed essentially to that revolution of literary taste, which opened the stores of sound and

* Add. to Thornton's Notting. vol. i. p. 264, cited in Todd's Cranmer, vol. i. p. 2. † Strype, Cranm. b. i, c. 1.

useful learning to the curiosity of the studious. That Cranmer became familiar with the works of this illustrious scholar and wit is testified by all his biographers; and the impulse communicated by them could hardly fail to carry him forward into the regions of ancient and classic literature. Greek and Hebrew, accordingly, are known to have entered largely into his scheme of study; and it may be proper to notice, in this place, once for all, that it was uniformly his habit, like that of the great Lord Burleigh, to read with a pen in his hand; and to fill his adversaria with every thing that appeared eminently worth noting, either by way of reference, or of actual transcription.* The collections which were thus accumulated by his industry became an armory of strength to him in the warfare to which he subsequently devoted his life.

Before he attained the age of twenty-three, he married a woman, possibly of humble, First marriage of but still of reputable connexions. It so Cranmer. happened that she was related, by affinity, to the wife of a person who kept the Dolphin Inn, at Cambridge; and for this reason Cranmer, instead of procuring apartments for her elsewhere, allowed her to reside in the house with her kinswoman, and there openly resorted to her society. An arrangement like this might, reasonably enough, excite considerable surprise in the present age of delicacy and refinement. It attracted no ordinary degree of notice even at that time; and has been made, by Roman Catholic writers, the foundation of a contemptible story, that Cranmer not only married, in an ostler at the private, a woman of low condition, but was himself an ostler at the Dolphin! It would be a waste of time to examine and expose this silly fiction, which places Cranmer in the stable

Story that he was

Dolphin.

* Strype, Cranm. b. i. c. i.

† Foxe says, "the daughter of a gentleman," Eccl. Biog. vol. iii. p. 432.