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Hector of St. Martm^s Church, JHotUreal. V;, ■>*■ ■^* \ fiotmxta HUNGER, ROSE\& CO., WELUNGTON STREET ^ \j882 -*v -%H*^ 4^ 'm.M'^-^h&>, ^#. THOMAS CRANMER ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR ^n ^ss»£| BY THE EEY. JAMES S. STO]NE, E.D. Sector of St. Martinis Church, Montreal, # -^ i^ ft HUNTEE, ROSE & CO., WELLINGTON STREET 3883 - " g4l303 FB4 1951 «.( • • •• • • • ••• • ••• TO Pjj Atmt ^.xitnAUt THE MEMBERS OF ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH, TORONTO. t ■p^^ PREFACE. The following pages were written at the sugges- tion of some leading Churchmen in Toronto. It was thought by them that more efficient, perhaps sim- pler, means were needed to bring to the attention of our people the men who made the Church of Eng- land great, and the principles and customs which distinguish her among the churches of Christendom. Whether I have been successful in helping to meet this want and in recasting an old and oft-told story others must judge. I have written under the heavy pressure of parish work, and the little time which any city clergyman can give to things of this kind, is not enough to ensure perfection. They, however, who are familiar with the subject will, I trust, re- cognise the care with which I have selected and stated my facts. I have not burdened the book with references, but I know that every sentence rests upon authority. ;»! mm^mfm Tl PREFACE. While writing this, the words of a graceful tribute paid to the fathers of the English Church by the Right Reverend the Assistant Bishop of Maryland, in a sermon preached at the recent Commencement of the Divinity School in Philadelphia, ring in my ears like the pleasant refrain of a sweet and familiar song. " There are no divines," said he, " in the Greek or Latin Churches of any age greater than the divines of the Church of England. Their learning, piety, breadth and self-devotion are unsurpassed, and no man can do better than make them his constant study." I would that I could send his glowing sen- tences, so true and so eloquent, echoing throughout the world, so that every Churchman might learn to value the treasures his Church contains. Among all who wrought and died for the Church we love so dear none stands higher or is better known than Archbishop Cranmer. Some have disparaged him, some who have despised the Reformation of the Six- teenth Century, but all who love the principles of that Reformation must love him who, under God, was the chief worker in it. I do not know the time ^w * PREFACE. Vll whoa his naino was not dear to me. In my child- hood days, the two great points of interest in my frequent journeys from my village-home to Oxford, were Hampden's monument on Chalgrove Field and the Martyrs* Memorial in St. Giles' Street. There fell one fighting for the freedom of his country, and there died others in defence of their Church. No schoolboy's soul glowed more than mine when I heard as I did again and again, the story of their noble lives and heroic self-sacrifice. I cannot give expression to the emotions, the tender, trembling memories, that the mere mention of their names creates within me. My powers of language fail, but I know that the same love burns in untold thousands of other hearts as brightly and as lastingly as in mine, and if, in reference to Cranmer, I shall but impart one spark of that fire to any who have it not, or succeed in giving renewed strength to it in those who have it, I shall be satisfied. I have but to add that I have inscribed this essay to the members of St. Philip's Church, Toronto, as a farewell token of my love and esteem for them • • • VIU PREFACE. I did not think, when these pages were sent to press, that I should so soon be removed from the pastorate of that church. I can only say, that the recollections of four years spent among people who have so heartily and sympathetically supported me in my work, and made my life so pleasant, will not readily be forgotten, and, melancholy as the occa- sion may be, it gives me pleasure to dedicate to them this humble offering. TorxONTO, October IGth, 1882. ^^..-■m^ THOMAS CRANMER. Cranmer was born July 2nd, 1489. The dark, dreary night of the Middle Ages was then passing away, and the world's new life was coming on apace. In the same decade were born Martin Luther, Coverdale and Gardiner; two 3'^ears later than Cranmer, Henry the Eighth; while Christopher Columbus, Giovanni, Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci were on the eve of revealing to Europe a vast continent in the western ocean. Ere long Coperni- cus would tell the mysteries of the starry sky, Ariosto sing his southern songs, and Raffaelt, Titian, Vinci and Corregio display their transcendant genius in the domain Oi art. Soon England would learn from such men as Colet at St. Paul's, Grocyn at Oxford, Erasmus at Cambridge, and Warham at Lambeth, the noble language and literature of ancient Greece, which fugitive scholars from Con- stantinople were teaching the Florentines. Linacre should distinguish himself in medicine ; Sir Thomas More, Cardinal Wolsey and Cromwell in statecraft ; '". LIJIfH^lliB 10 THOMAS CRANMER. Tyndale should give his countrymen the Word o£ God in their own tongue, Lylye teach them gram- mar, Leland antiquities and Elyot morality. The newly-discovered art of printing should receive its first glories at the hands of Caxton, the Aldi and the Elzevirs ; the sacred scriptures in the original and vulgar tongues, the classics and the speculations of the Renascence should be scattered far and wide : and books such as the " Utopia " of More and the " St. Jerome " of Erasmus should sound the death-knell of the superstitions and mental and spiritual slavery of the past centuries. True, the political atmosphere of Europe was far from bright. The Turk had established his position in the east, the rival cities of Italy were struggling for the mastery, Emperor and Pope were at variance, and England had just passed through the horrors of the Lancastrian and Yorkist wars, in which her fair fields had been dyed with the blood of the fiower of her nobilit}'^ and a hundred thousand of her sons. But for all this the signs were abundant that a great revolution in thought, religion and political economy was at hand. The dawn of the better times was told as surely as the soft, rosy light of the eastern sky proclaims the /-•*•;.» tM ■■ m ""'" - ("•^-J* THOMAS CRANMEB. 11 coming of the summer day, and fills all nature with a feeling of relief and gladness. Unconscious of the promises of the future, uncon- scious of the part he was himself to play in that future, Cranmer passed his childhood days in his ancestral home in Nottinghamshire. His parents were wealthy, and of ancient lineage — his father claiming descent from one of the followers of the Norman Conqueror. Less than a century since, the villagers of Aslacton could still point out places of interest connected with his early home. There were the walks and pleasure-grounds which belonged to the old mansion ; there was the hill whence the future hero of the Reformation beheld the glories of the surrounding scenery, the beauties of the county of the merry Sherwood. Of his boy- hood we know but little. We may reasonably suppose he was brought up in a manner suitable to his condition and in accordance with the custom of the age. Society had changed materially within the previous fifty years. Feudalism was in its decay, and the power of the great lords had long since been broken ; but there yet remained extensive baronial establishments where young men of noble birth n jS*"^' 12 THOMAS CRANMER. were received and trained in the manners of the day. Of true home-life there was little or none. Child- ren, and especially girls, seem to have been a burden that parents were only too glad to get rid of. Ac- cordingly, the more wealthy sent their sons at an early age to some nobleman's house, and their daugh- ters to the families of great ladies, to acquire such accomplishments as were considered fitting for their station. The discipline was severe, the life rough, coarse and affectionless,the education such as to draw out the physical rather than the mental powers, and the morality too often most questionable. It is very possible that Cranmer went through the course thus common in his times. At any rate, somewhere or other he learned the noble exercises which were deemed necessary for gentlemen of position. We may hope that he acquitted himself well in the sports and games of the period, rode with the swiftest in the chase, and cast off his hawk as well as the most accomplished falconer. His university life began in 1503, when he was fourteen years of age. He entered Jesus College, Cambridge, and soon distinguished himself for the assiduity and success with which he devoted himself T us or m '» !ve Ve he he ell as ?e, he elf '"OS T—^i THOMAS CRANMER. 13 to his work, and especially to the study of the sacred scriptures. In 1510 he was elected a fellow of his college, but on his marriage in 1512 this office was forfeited. Twelve months later his wife died, and he being reinstated in his fellowship, continued his studies till 1523, when he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and soon after was made theo- logical lecturer and examiner. Gladly would Car- dinal Wolsey have had him join the new college just founded at Oxford ; but his proffers and prom- ises were in vain. The career of Cranmer at Cam- bridge is sufficient refutation of the idle stories as to his origin and profession which were afterwards invented by his opponents ; but even were those same stories true, much greater is the credit belong- ing to one who was able from such obscurity to attain to so great rank in the University, and even- tually reach the primacy of all England. He was esteemed by his contemporaries as a learned and a holy man, and if he had not yet renounced the follies of Medievalism, which still held their own among the masses, there was every evidence that under the mighty influence of the new learning their power over him was passing away as the night n i&. 14 THOMAS CRANMER. mists disappear before the bright beams of the rising sun. The echoes of Luther's hammer on the church- door at Wittenburg had been heard throughout Eu- « rope, and with the Bible in their hands men were be- ginning to question the pretensions and doctrines of Rome. In His own way, little by little, God was preparing Cranmer for his life of toil and tribulation, of great usefulness and great sorrow. In order to understand the subject aright it is necessary that we should review the religious state of England in the period immediately preceding the Reformation. All must acknowledge that the Middle Age is the age of art and splendour. In nothing is this more manifest than in the superb buildings, the cathe- drals, churches and abbeys, which adorn the mother- land. The grandeur of their conception, their mar- vellous beauty, vast size and evident costliness, fill us with wonder. They rise before us as an ever- living song in stone. What is more majestic than the cathedral at Durham, the noblest Norman edifice in all England, standing so proudly on the heights above the Weir ? What more graceful than Lich* r > THOMAS CRANMER. 13 field or Salisbury, or more perfectly beautiful than Canterbury, or the stately towers and vast eastern window of York ? Yet these are but a few out of many, each of which is in itself a distinct creation, with its own peculiar features. Even the ruins par- take of the same glory. Crowland, in the Fens ; Fountains, in Yorkshire ; and Furness, in Lanca- shire, stir the deepest emotions in one's soul. These structures were the expression of a deep religious feeling. They were the offerings of a grateful people to God. They were the offerings of a people who were taught, and who believed, that no temple could be too beautiful or costly for the worship of the Lord of nations. The adornments of choir and nave and aisle displayed the same spirit as the exterior of the building. Rich stained-glass win- dows, costly shrines, altars bedecked with jewels,, gold and precious woods, images and pictures of wondrous workmanship, met the eye on entering the sacred walls. Scripture scenes were depicted here and there ; monuments and effigies, to the memory of the great and good, were raised in chapels within or adjoining the church. Nothing was left undone, no cost or labour was spared, thi^i was cal' i i IG THOMAS CUANMER. culated to move the spirit of devotion or show honour to God. Earth had nothing too valuable for this purpose. Princes and barons gladly gave of the abundance of their wealth ; yeomen and serfs contributed according to their substance. Nor was it the mere love of display that led to this magnificence. Everything had a deep meaning and touching'symbolism. If on the outside walls of the church hideous figures were carved to denote the evil spirits fleeing from the abode of God's pres- ence, inside the sweetest grace in pillar, arch and tracery suggested the beauty and majesty of God's love and mercy to man. The ground plan of the building was that of a cross, reminding man of the mystery of redemption, and oftentimes with a de- flection in the lines of the walls at the east end to denote the drooping head of the Saviour in His last moments. The spire pointing ever to the sky told of the unity of the faith, the appealing prayer and the constancy of the worshippers ; while the bird of warning upon its top recalled the Master's solemn charge to His people. The nave by name and form spoke of the " ark of Christ's Church ; " the rood-screen of the veil that still hides from us that X THOMAS CUANMER. 17 blessed place into which none can enter save by the cross of Jesus ; the angel-faces on the windows of heavenly minstrels, of the King's messengers. The suggestion ever presented was of the Eternal Tem- ple above. There was a yearning to make this the House of God and the home of man. The very light was tinted as though to contrast the beauty of grace with the coldness of nature ; and thus men saw the King's daughter all glorious within, and the Church on earth, adorned as a bride for her Hus- band, not only pointed on to the golden days yet to come, but also spoke of the beauty of holiness that should adorn the inner soul of every Christian man. Ah, yes, and even now in these days of hurry and faithlessness, there is a sweet rest and gentle awe that steal upon one when, with the door closed upon the outer world, we stand within the ancient sanc- tuary. A holy peace falls upon the soul, the sense of the Divine presence makes itself felt, and the knee bends and the heart in joyous emotion pours itself out to Him whom we may have sought in the world, in fields and gardens, but have only found in His Temple. Never again shall we behold such art as our fathers had j its secrets have perished J ! 18 THOMAS CRANMER. shall we ever again see faith and devotion such as theirs ? The same magnificence and symbolism that adorned the buildings extended themselves to the services. Doubtless the people loved ornate display, but there was a far deeper feeling than that. They may have gazed with wonder and fear upon the mystic sanctuary, where, amid the clouds of incense, white-robed choir and blaze of candles, the priest arrayed in gorgeous vestments consecrated the sacred host ; but they were in hearty sympathy and doubted nothing. They bowed with deepest reve- rence as the procession of priests, and monks, and singers, bearing cross and banner, holy relic or mys- terious sacrament, passed by, reminding them of man's pilgrimage through this world. The organ sent its music echoing through the aisles, now in sub- dued strains of hushed supplication, now in thun- dering peals of glad praise, and with hallowed chant and well-sung anthem, moved and softened the roughest nature, and made the weary heart long to sing its song and mingle its voice with the great multitude above. Nor were these services rare things. They came daily, and many times a day. f\W. THOMAS CRANMER. 19 The churches were ever open, the lamp before the altar ever burning. At no time, day or night, was the voice of prayer for the church's safety, the nation's welfare, the preservation of travellers, the conversion of the heathen, or the everlasting rest of the departed, silent. In the monasteries the twenty four hours were one round of devotion. Lauds, prime, tierce, sext, nones and compline were sung in every religious house in the land. At day-break matins, at sunset evensong, brought rough hind and belted knight, rustic maiden and high-born lady, to their beads and meditation. Ever and anon there broke upon the air the sweet melody of the mur- muring chimes, telling of joy and gladness, or per- chance the heavy, sad tone of the passing bell, speak- ing of mortality and of the duty to pray for the dying. Everything marked their faith and devo- tion. " The Holy Trinity— the Almighty Father- have you in His holy keeping," is the style in which they conclude their letters. The Paston correspon- dence, covering the greater part of the fifteenth cen- tury, is most interesting for the deep reverential spirit of its greetings; perhaps, too often merely formal, but still a quaint, sweet form. So the far- f. i ' SO THOMAS CRANMEtt. famed " Treatyso of Fysshyngo with an Angle," after enjoining the rules of the art and certain moral precepts thereby suggested, ends with, " and all those tliat done after this rule shall have the blcsaynge of God and Saint Peter ; which he theym graunte that wy th his precyous blood us boughte." In the legend of Guy of Warwick, that doughty hero is made to reflect and utter words worthy of a Christian war- rior : " How many men I have slain, how many bat- tles I have fought, how many lands I have taken and destroyed ! All for a woman's love ; and not one single deed done for my God ! " Among other things every knight was charged by the dignity of his order to uphold maidens' and widows' right, to truly hold his promise to his friend and foe, to honour his father and mother, to do no harm to the poor, but to be merciful and to hold with the sacrifice of the great God of heaven. Maxims such as the following were enjoined upon all Christian men : " Arise early, serve God devoutly and the world busily ; do thy work wisely, give thine alms secretly, and go by the way sadly." Surely these things indicate the reality and practical nature of the religion of those days. Nor were the clergy ignorant of what we regard THOMAS CRANMER. 21 as necessary doctrinal truth. It was an old monk of Erfurt who taught Luther the doctrine of tho Forgiveness of Sins ; it was from the monasteries and universities that the intellectual giants of tho Reformation came. They taught the people at least the stories and general truths of Scripture, and un- doubtedly sought according to tho light they had, the good of the Church and nation. In a period strongly marked by caste, tliey moved between tho court and the cabin, from the mansion of the peer to the mud-hut of the peasant, and endeavoured to soften the piide of the one, and to better the hard lot of the other, and to bind all together in a true Christian biotherhood. Even the monks had had their use. Tho early ecclesiastics had gone out into the wilderness and barren places, far away from the haunts of men, where they might worship God in peace and live in solitude. They had toiled and struggled on till they had converted the desert into a paradise. The richest and most beautiful of modern abbey-lands had originally been desolate, uninhabited and worthless. In some deep seques- tered glen, the home of the wild boar, the bittern and the crane, or beside the waters of some almost 22 THOMAS CRANMER. I unknown stream, or by the shore of the great, lonely ocean itself, they built their house and sanctuary, and lived roughly and rudely by the labours of their hands. Here they gradually gathered around them a village of artizans and labourers, who depended upon them for support and protection. The most liberal hos- pitality was given to all who needed it. The fathers cared for the poor and sick, administered justice and kept good order on their estates, and supplied the neiorhbourino: villages with the ministrations of reli- gion. And there were legends and traditions, V.y no means so horrible and false as some have imagined, but on the contrary, having a sweet though perhaps strange beauty, and a real though it may be a veiled truth. Men listened with a childlike interest to the stories of how in this parish an invisible hand had thrown down the walls and removed the foundations of the church when in building, and had taken them to a more desirable site ; how in that parish a mysterious power had wrought whilst the earthly workmen slept, and i.hus the fair edifice arose with the silence and the grandeur of that temple in the Holy City in which neither the sound of hammer nor axe was 4 THOMAS CRANMER. 23 heard. Perhaps the legend of the dead arising, " clad in war-stained armour," in one of the cathe- dral graveyards to defend the man who had never entered the place without praying for them, may be rather too " ghostly " for days when people are try- ing to persuade themselves there are no such things ; but who has not heard with feelings of respect at least of St. Cuthbert and Durham, of Joseph of Arimathea and Glastonbury, of St. Aldhelm and Malmesbury ? Who that remembers the story of the angel supplying the sleeping monk with the epithet he had wearied himself out in seeking, will not recall the holy and touching death of the Vene- rable Bede ? Tn the magnificent minster at Beverley, beneath a canopied tomb lie two maiden sisters. Tradition tells us, to use the words of the Rev. M. E.G. Walcott in his " English Minsters," that " on Christ- mas Eve, after the midnight mass, they passed out of the choir, the youngest and last of the convent, in order to watch the star of the Nativity. The vigil of St. John came round, but their stalls re- mained vacant, until by chance, the abbess in her search entered the tower ; there they lay asleep in each other's arms — they had seen, so they said, ,y*im»S*-' ! I 24, THOMAS CRANMER. dreams of paradise in that short hour. After com- pline they knelt to receive her benediction. * Go in peace, my daughters/ she said. In the midst of the sisterhood, they sank upon the floor, and the bells, rung by unseen hands, poured forth a peal of joy for two more lilies planted in paradise !" Mediaeval lore abounds in stories such as this one. All are not of course so beautiful and affecting, but there is a golden thought running through most of them which is in- tended to lift up and ennoble the soul. Even the popular romances, full of violence and bloodshed as they may be, are not void of the same spirit. Men of the nineteenth century cannot read without dis- cerning more or less the fine conception and morality of such famous tales as those of Roland, Beowulf, Havelok, Bevis and Olger the Dane. And before any shall condemn this style of mediaeval literature, let the Chap-books of the last century be recalled, and let men remember the absurd and unpoetical rubbish that a Protestant age gave to the masses in such vile productions as the " Fortunes and Misfor- tunes of Moll Flanders," or the " Merry Frolicks of Swalpo." Nay, Fielding, Smollett and Richard- son wrote things at which the people of Eng- THOMAS CRANMER. 25 land's darkest days before the Reformation would blush. I cannot turn aw«ay from a period which I regard with the deepest interest and respect, with the deep- est reverence, without bringing to mind the influence which the Church had upon the social and political life of the people. From the very first, Christianity buried its roots deep in the English heart. The people made religion the chief end of their life. This is true whether the Church be under Encjlish or Norman sovereigns, whether it be free as in Anglo- Saxon days, or bound in popish chains as in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The reality and prominence of religion were ever remembered. Eng- land was in the fullest sense of the term a Christian nation. In the witenagemot and on the bench of justice, as in the parliaments and courts of later times, the bishops sat with equal authority beside princes and barons. Their voice was ever heard for right and liberty. They sounded the death-knell of serfdom and first gave freedom to their own slaves. It is a Grosteste that denounces the sins of the papal court ; it is a Langton that wrests from King John the Magna Carta. The state learns its lesson of I i i i ( 26 THOMAS CRANMER. unity, liberty and justice from the Church, and for many a century its destinies and welfare are in the hands of ecclesiastical chancellors and councillors. Are there poor in the land ? Guilds are formed for their relief, almshouses are built, bequests of l?nds and moneys made, the monastery doors thrown open, and the fourth part of the Church revenues devoted to their succour. Were the times rough and right hardly maintained ? There was the privilege of sanctuary, by which the weak were protected from the mighty, and the hand of revenge stayed till the law had pronounced its sentence. All have heard how the monks of Durham threw the robe with St. Cuthbert's cross upon it around the breathless fugi- tive who stood at their door for asylum ; while in all history there is no story so touching as that of the abbot of Tewkesbury standing with sacrament in hand and forbidding the revengeful Edward IV. from shedding the blood of the defeated Lancastrians who had taken refuge within his abbey. Nor was there aught but the warmest sympathy between the clergy and the people. Few families were there in the land that had not brothers or sisters in monas- tery or abbey. The poorest man's son had the way I THOMAS CRANMER. 27 ifor the lors. cl for ?nd3 open, voted right ige of I from ill the heard ith St. 3s fuiri- hile in that of rament ard IV. istrians •J^or was een the ihere in monas- ;he way- opened by which he might enter Orders, nor did his birth or poverty hinder him from obtaining the highest offices in the Church. If ho had the will and ability, the Church gladly gave the education and training. All classes therefore were represented in the clergy; and the esteem and respect which Sequin has so beautifully and truthfully described in his " Rural England " as existing at the present day between the parish priest and his people, is no deeper or greater than the mutual love of the olden time. A glance through such authorities as the " Paston Letters " would sufficiently prove all this. " If it please you," wrote Margaret Paston to her hus- band in 1465, in reference to a church of which he was patron, " to give it to one Sir Thomas Lyndis, I trust verily that ye should like him right well, for he is a priestly man and virtuously disposed. I have known him this twenty year and more ; he was bro- ther to the good parson of Saint Michael's that ye loved right well." The proofs might be multi- plied ; but I must forbear. Such, however, is the Middle Age seen in its brightest colours. Such is the suggestive picture I would fain dwell upon. But there is another side. % % ^-^MPfPRPM^BJSIHI* ); 28 THOMAS CRANMER. Magnificence in church edifices and services is not religion ; and people may rehearse scripture stories and make pious expressions and yet know nothing of the truth. Long before Cranmer's day the bet- ter features of this period had been hid in the darkness. Universal corruption overspread the land. The bishops had left their primitive sim- plicity and assumed a state even exceeding that of the greatest of the lay lords. Their households and equipages were on the most extensive scale. Clerks and servitors and armed men attended them in large numbers. Their mansions were most sumptuous ; their tables replenished with a lavish- ness known only in the king's palace : their hospi- tality without restraint. Pride took the place of humility and general worldliness the place of devo- tion and piety, while their spi/ita.^J functions were too often neglectvsd and their dioceses seldom visit- ed. The life of the bishops was reflected in the life of the parochial clergy. Free from the fear of episcopal visitation or reprimand the priests gave themselves up to that which pleased them best. They became largely non-resident, "strawberries," a? I^atimer called them, visiting their cures bi;t I , *.- t^^i,i^:. THOMAS CRANMER. 29 is not toriea thin Of e bet- n the tho e siin- hat of seholds 5 scale. d them J most , lavish- • hospi- place of 3f devo- >ns were im visit- L the life I fear of sts gave 3m best, rberries," ures bi^t once a year. These spent their time in London or in the gay houses of lords and ladies, sometimes holding positions as stewards. Their people were left unsh riven, unprayed for, untaught. Not even Lent brought them home. In their dress, in open defiance of the canons of the Church, they imitated the extravagances of the period, and wore among other habits, richly ornamented gowns of scarlet and green glittering with gold, and thus with their broad bucklers, long swords and gay baldricks were not to be known from the laity. Those who re- mained in their parishes were a like scandal and disgrace. Ignorant and worldly, they had no inter- est in the things of the altar. They reeled from the tavern-table to the mass, and from the mass back again to their dice and beer. They knew the sports and games of the village green, the customs and dangers of the chase, better than their brevi- ary or canons. The coarse oath and lewd jest too often fell from lips that were consecrated to utter holy things. Nor were these vices all. There yet remained the foul blot of a celibate clergy, so deep and dark, as to excite, even in that grossly immoral age, the astonishment of the simple villagers. Of 4- -^ if h ,! I fi 80 THOMAS CRANMER. course there must have been exceptions to this sad condition of affairs. Chaucer's well-known and beautiful description of a poor parson rises up like a bright column of light out of the black gloom ; and even if, as the poet assures us, there were none better than his ideal, there were doubtless many who for earnestness and godliness approached very near- ly that perfect pattern. But I have not to do with possible exceptions. The secular clergy, however, were no worse than the monks or regulars. With the probable excep- tion of the greater monasteries such as Glaston- bury or Bury St. Edmunds, where discipline was better administered, the abbeys and convents be- came the nests of vice and the hotbeds of corrup- tion. Their original object had long been lost sight of. Luxury, idleness and pride had destroyed the glory which had once shone so brightly from these establishments. Vowed to personal poverty, the corporate wealth of the monks was immense. Vowed to self-denial and abstemiousness, they cul- tivated and indulged in the pleasures of the table, so that princes were glad to become the guests of the good-living brethren. The choicest wines from THOMAS CRANMER. 31 sad and like loom ; none '■who near- with je than excep- rlaston- Ine was ents be- corrup- ost sight )yed the om these jrty, the immense, they cul- the table, guests of ines from the vineyards of France, the richest venison from the neighbouring forest, fish from the " stewe," and fruits from the well-kept garden were placed before my lord abbot and his guests. There was no stint, no lack of variety. The three courses embraced every luxury that could be procured, from cream of almonds and fruit jelly, by way of swans, capons, herons, peacock, rabbits, turbot, eel and porpoise, down to the richest baked meats. At the end of each course every man's huge cup was filled with the foaming ale or blood-red wine, and emptied as none but the men of the olden time could have emptied it. With these accomplishments the monks' usefulness came to an end. In former ages they had done much towards the evangelization of the country, but all that was over now. There was no attempt made to shake off the spiritual lethargy which had come upon them. The friars were even worse. Once they had been useful and earnest. Their primary intention had been to bring the Church down to the neglected poor. They took a vow to hold no property but to live by the alms, the meal, salt, figs and apples, stale beer and milk, they could collect from the people. They built their tiK r '. ijTw- |*, i^r. M h i m i i' !': ^1 !i !i. u THOMAS CUANMER. coals Upon which St. Lawrence was toaHted, the paring's of St. Edmund's nails, the penknife and boots of St. Thomas of Canterbury. Other places had treasures no less interesting. Tlie people were taught to believe these relics to be genuine, audacity meet- ing any charge of imposition that might arise. If two places had each a skull of St, John the Baptist^ in one place it was his skull when a young man, in the other when advanced in years. If St. Philip had three feet, or St. Sebastian four bodies, or the ass on which the Saviour rode into Jerusalem half-a-dozen jawbones, had not these precious relics the means of reproduction ? Were they not wonders, and could they not multiply themselves ? None but the un- believing could question, and for the unbelieving were reserved the awful pains of the eternal hell. So the masses bowed and worshipped, and gave their gold and silver to the monks and friars, and made their pilgrimages to popular shrines, and thought that they had saved their souls. Nor was this all. Under the name of mystery plays, the prominent events of Scripture, irom the Creation of the World down to the Last Judgment, were exhibited on stages often erected in the churches themselves, and as THOMAS CllANMEn. 35 joots had lught meet- c. H iptist, vAXi, in lip had I ass on i-dozcn leans of i could the un- cUeving nal hell, live their ,nd made thought s this all. )rominent ,he World I on stages cs, and as often acted by eccluHiastius. Tlic comic and the Hcrious were thus curiously blended together. The moat singular jests would be thrown into the most solemn scene ; the pun made upon the holiest per- son. The actors wore costumes according to the character they represented ; divine and saintly indi- viduals being distinguished by gilt hair and beard, demons by hideous heads, angels by gold skin and wings, and souls by white and black coats, accord- ing to their kind. What Scripture lacked legend supplied, as, for example, in the famous play in the Townley mysteries of " Noah and the Flood," where the patriarch's wife was adopted as the type of the shrew. She quarrels and fights with her husband when he is working at the ark, laughs at it when finished and refuses to go in, until frightened at the rising waters she jumps in of her own accord, and immediately begins another dispute. This was one of the most popular of the mysteries. The effect was to destroy the spirit of reverence which preceding generations had endeavoured to inculcate. And when the clergy allowed the most sacred rites of the Church to be acted over, even the mass at the high altar itself, by fun-loving and often half -drunken ^.^ * ■♦ -»- '*^^-. ■ g B LJfe -r:: 30 THOMAS CRANMElR. I laymen, the last lioldseemedbroken,and men talked, and treated the grand and beautiful edifices that their fathers had raised, and the services that good men of old had devised, with that lightness and carelessness which could be the only result of such a treatment of religion. With all the mingled super- stition, irreligion and unbelief, immorality in its grossest forms abounded, and while few, even of the priests and monks, to say nothing of the laity, un- derstood intelligibly the simplest truths of Chris- tianity, thousands could have told all about witches and ghosts and dreams. Nor must we forget the dire effects of papal pre- tensions. Assuming himself to be the Vicar of Christ, the Pope held that he had power to depor^e kings, to set aside Acts of Parliament and to reverse decisions of courts, at will. In spite of the Statute of Pro visors, he appointed his minions to the bishop- rics and filled the parishes with his nominees. He claimed an appellate jurisdiction,and,contrary to the Praemunire, cases were removed from England to Rome at an enormous cost. It seemed almost use- less for the Parliament of 1899 to declare that the crown and realm of England had ever been, and THOMAS CRANMER. 37 should ever be, free from all papal or other outside interference ; as useless as the first clause of the Magna Carta which pronounced that the Church of England should be free. For centuries the popes bled England. An enormous revenue arising from first fruits, annates, Peter's pence and direct taxes enriched the Pope's coffers and impoverished the English people. " In truth," said Innocent the Fourth, in 1246, " England is our pleasant garden, a Well-spring that cannot be exhausted, a land of rich abundance ; and where much is, much may be taken." So said they all ; and hence we see the interest the Roman Court had in retaining its hold upon Eng- land. From the days of John to the beginning of the sixteenth century, the life-blood of England's Church and people went to fatten the jackals, vul- tures and reptiles of Rome, and to support the mis- tresses and bastards of popes and cardinals. What cared they for religion ? Money came flowing in like a river pouring its waters into the sea ; and that was all they wanted. Men's sins were for- given, for money. Souls prayed out of purgatory, for money. Bishops made and offices granted, for money. The fact that the people were dying in m r 'T IJ :k 38 THOMAS CRANMER. Jl- ignorance of the truth, that drunkenness, licentious- ness and unbelief had overspread Christendom, was nothing. Indulgences were invented, and for money men got pardons for the sins of the past and for sins yet uncommitted. Any attempt at reformation, which meant the cutting off of the sources of papal revenue, was at once crushed, until we behold the hands of the Church dripping with the blood of the saints. Demon-like, the Popes anathematized and consigned to hell all that dared to differ from them. There is no century in the Christian era so dark — so irredeemably dark — as that fifteenth. It was as though the world had gone back to its old pagan- ism, and had crucified the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame. Such was the state of religion and of England when Cranmer was a youth. Was it any wonder the reaction came ? Is it any wonder that men dread a return of days such as those days were ? If many hate Rome, is there not, indeed, a cause ? Cranmer remained in comparative seclusion till 1529, when his opinion was sought concerning the proposed divorce of Henry the Eighth and Cathe- ilil^ uP I THOMAS CRANMER. 89 rine of Aragon. No page of English history is more memorable or better known than this. For- tunately Henry was not a Protestant, but a loyal son of the Roman Church. Had he not written against the arch-heretic Luther, and received from the Pope the title of Defender of the Faith ? I am not therefore interested in vindicating his character. I am willing to admit that he was everything the opponents of the Reformation say he was, even bad enough to use Protestantism for his own vile pur- poses ; but he does not belong to us. Beyond re- nouncing the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome he remained a Romanist to the day of his death. He had married the widow of his elder brother, Arthur ; but the question did not turn so much upon that violation of canon law and of public opinion, as upon the right of the Pope to grant dispensations. Could the Pope set aside at his own will the decrees and customs of Christendom ? This he had done to enable Henry and Catherine to marry, and the Mid- dle ages admitted his power even when it became an iron rod in his hand. But when the question was brought to Cranmer he declared the power a usurpa- tion and the dispensation unlawful and worthless. / ') if 40 THOMAS CRANMER. No one on earth had authority to make a wrong thing right ; and all Europe then believed that mar- riage with a deceased brother's wife was wrong. The opinion pleased the king and Cranmer was immedi- ately brought to court. He was sent to Rome and also to the Emperor to plead his prince's cause, but in both embassies he was unsuccessful. However in 1633, the king made him Archbishop of Canterbury, and then claiming plenary ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the realm, he pronounced the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void from the first. There bad been no lawful marriage and therefore no divorce was needed. But when in the course of time Mary, the daughter of Catherine, became Queen of Eng- land the part which Cranmer had taken in her mother's sorrow and her own disgrace was not forgotten. It was on the thirtieth day of March, 1533, in St, Stephen's Church, Westminster, that Cranmer was consecrated to the primacy by John Longlands of Lincoln, John Voysey of Exeter and Henry Standish of St. Asaph. The position he had now attained and the favour of the king enabled him to further the new views of religion then filling men's minds. in St. was ids of Indish lained irther linds. THOMAS CRANMER. 41 From henceforth he was the moving spirit of the Reformation in England. At the consecration he solemnly declared first iii the Chapter-house, then on the steps of the altar, and lastly when about to receive the pall, that by any oaths he might " for form's sake " be compelled to take, " I do not in- tend to oblige myself, in any manner whatsoever, so as to disable myself freely to speak, consult, and consent, in all and singular the matters and things any way concerning the Reformation of Christian religion, the government of the Church of England, or the prerogatives of the crown thereof, or the good of tlie commonwealth ; and everywhere to exe- cute and reform those things, which I shall think Jit to he reformed in the Church of England." * The very next year the papal authority in England was abolished, the payment of first fruits to the Pope was forbidden, and the king was recognised as the Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England. The importance of these acts is seen at once when we remember that the canon law held such tenets as these : " He that acknowledgeth not himself to be under the Bishop of Rome, and that the Bishop * Le Bas' " Life of Cranmer," vol. i. p. 275. I I :m 'II i 42 THOMAS CRANMER. > r of Rome is ordained by God to have primacy over all the world, is an heretic, and cannot be saved, nor is not of the flock of Christ ; " and " All the decrees of the Bishop of Rome ought to be kept perpetually of every man, without any repugnance, as God's word spoken by the mouth of Peter ; and whosoever doth not receive them, neither availeth them the Catholic faith, nor the four evangelists ; but they blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and shall have no forgiveness/'f The Vatican Council in the year 1870, not only reiterated these doctrines, but also enjoined faith in the personal infallibility of the Pope under pain of anathema. It is worthy of note, however, that the great majority of the bishops and clergy of the realm accepted without a murmur the legislation above referred to. Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More did indeed object and were promptly beheaded, but most men wheeled round at the bidding of the king. Before long the monasteries were dissolved and their estates con- fiscated. The number of these houses broken up was 645, with 90 colleges, 2374 chantries and free chapels and 110 hospitals. They owned more than + Cranmer's " Works," vol. ii.^p. 68, The original authorities ftre there given. THOMAS CRANMER. 43 one-fifth of the whole country, their treasures were enormous and their annual revenue upwards of £150,000. For the most part they were the strong- holds not only of vice and superstition, but also of the papal authority. It is but fair, however, to add that the discipline of some such as Godstow was perfect, while at Glastonbury and other great houses letters and arts were encouraged and large schools were maintained. Nor can one sympathize with the rapacious king and courtiers who tore down churches, appropriated estates and wealth, and encouraged stories of scandal, that they might enrich themselves. It was in vain for Bishop Lati- mer to tell Henry to his face that abbeys were not built to serve as royal stables, and to beseech him that " two or three houses in every shire might be spared for preaching, prayer and study." The evil wrought by these houses in their latter days was nothing beside the good they had effected during the thousand years of their existence, and without robbing the Church surely the evil might have been overcome. Monasticism had seen its day and had outlived its usefulness ; but that, while it was the best of reasons for its abolition, was no reason why i 11 ■rtt rf M y 44 THOMAS CRANMER. its wealth instead of being appropriated to building and endowing cliurches, to educational and mission- ary purposes, or even to the improvement of the roads and defences of the country, should have gone into the pockets of king and lords. However let that be as it may, the abbeys were swept away, and so far as Protestantism was concerned that meant more than the declarations of the act of su- premacy. But an event far more important, and far more fatal to the interests of Rome, was the giving of the Sacred Scriptures in the English language to the people. It must not by this be implied that the Bible had been always or for long withholden from the laity. Versions in the vernacular had been fre- quently made, while to those who knew Latin the Vulgate was an open book. The misfortune was that few could read their own mother tongue, and still fewer a dead language ; and worse than that the supremacy of the Scriptures had been seriously im- paired, in the minds of the laity at least, by the "Lives of the Saints," which were given to them with as great favour as, and of almost equal import- ftljQe to, the Word of Inspiration. It was not until THOMAS CUANMEU. 45 men began to speak of the Bible as the final and in- fallible source of authority, and to point out there- from the inconsistencies and errors of the Church, that the attempt was made to withhold it from the laity. In the early part of the thirteenth century at least, councils prohibited laymen possessing or reading any of the sacred books in their native lan- guage ; and in England later on the bitterest hos- tility was aroused against Wycliffe's translation. That intrepid reformer scattered the Word broadcast throughout the land, so much so that Knighton, a contemporary, complains that it was " common, and more open to laymen and to women who can read than it is wont to be to clerks well learned and of good understanding." Vigorous, and even cruel at- tempts were made to suppress all English versions ; in utter forgetfulness of the practice of the early Church, and contrary to the spirit of such men as Aldhelm, Alfred and Bede. Surely, as Cranmer says in his Preface to the Bible, " to the reading of the Scripture none can be enemy, but that either be so sick that they love not to hear of any medicine, or else that be so ignorant that they know not Scrip- ture to be the most healthful medicine." Tyndale's i-i 1 \ 1 • 1 i ! Ji :ZL... '"' ?Si /■ 46 THOMAS CllANMER. m IP It translation of the New Testament came out in 152o, and Coverdale's version of the whole Bible in 1535. The king ordered the latter to be laid in the choir of every church, " for every man that will to look and read therein ; " and Bibles may still be found in remote country churches chained to the lectern. Cranmer's version, the first printed by authority, and known as the " Great Bible," was published in 1539. This translation was made under the arch- bishop's supervision by the most learned of the bishops and divines, and remained the authorized version of the English Church till the " Bishop's Bible" came out in 15G8. The version of the Psalms in the Prayer Book was taken from it, and in spite of subsequent translations has remained there as being well adapted for chanting. One can imagine the poor priestridden people thronging to the churches to hear what the Infalli- ble Book said. One can imagine their astonishment when they found therein not one word about masses fior the dead, the worship of saints and angels, or the supremacy and authority of the Pope. There was a simple way of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, and not through priests or penances or pil- mimim:ai i m- *l»i THOMAS CRANMER. 47 grimages, that must have made many a heart glad in those weary days. True, Rome did not claim to find in the Bible hei* many strange and fanciful tenets. Tradition is in her estimation equal to the written word of God, but England was to see the day when the doctrine should be proclaimed throughout the land, nay, made the foundation of spiritual freedom in the greater England beyond the setting sun, that ** Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." That doctrine strikes at the very root of Romanism. It lifts ofT the burdens which priest- craft lays upon the people. Rome abhorred it and still abhors it. She appealed to the sayings of the fathers, the decrees of councils and to supposititious miracles rather than to the Bible. In the Syllabus Errorum, published in 1864, Pope Pius IX. con- demned in the severest terms such " pests " as Bible Societies ; while the Vatican Council, six years later, forbade all interpretation of the Scriptures contrary to that " which our Holy Mother Church hath held and holds." \! ! \ ,. tl r/\ ^r ' j: ^ 48 THOMAS fJRANMER, 'L • % I do not purpoHo tracin;^ out the dovolopmcnt, either chronologically or otherwise, of Cranuier's Protestant views. Ho necessarily began life far more in sympathy with Romish doctrines than ho ended it. There was his time of transition, as there must be in the life of Qw^y^ man who has passed as he passed out of darkness into light. So there was a certain conservrtism or tlinidity, call it which you will, that could scarcely be avoided in a high eccle- siastical dignitary, and even less so in one in Cran- mer's peculiar and difficult position. His views un- doubtedly changed, but they changed in a Protestant direction. He urged the reluctant Henry to attempt further reformation, with, it is true, but ill success. He bravely withstood the reactionary party, and in 1544, introduced the English Litany with responses. And if in 1537 he believed in the bodily presence of the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament, as is shewn by his assisting in the condemnation of one who denied it, he also on the other hand expressed the opinion that princes and governors, and even the people, may make bishops and priests, and that by the Scripture no consecration whatever was needed. It was not, however, till 1547, when Henry the Eighth died, *m '**wff ' ' ^y ! I '1 THOMAS CllANMEH. 49 that Cranmor was able to carry out the designs which ho had long since detorinincd upon. Edward the Sixth was but nine years old when ho received the crown of England. Ho was a sickly lad, precocious and pious. His wisdom was that of one of maturer age ; his religion the irtcnsost Protestantism. The Duke of Somerset, his mother's brothet", became protector during the king's minor- ity, and as his views agreed with those of Cranmer the two worked together, though from very differ^, eut motives, for the Reformation. The influence of the archbishop over the young prince was very gi'eat ; in fact the king was necessarily a mere puppet in the hands of 1 is ministers, and though he threw himself heart and soul into the new religious movement, and was impatient for its advancement, the real success was due to the ability, sagacity and perseverance of Or^bumer. In ever^ step that was taken on behalf of Protestantism during the six years of Edward*^ reign, Cranmer was the moving spirit. His w«n the hand that guided the Church through thcNu days of trouble. His was the mind that devised the course and controlled the actions 4( .11 A I 50 THOMAS CRANMER. of the more hasty and less judicious of his party. The opposition to Protestantism was now well-defined and vigorous, and the difficulties became more every day, but the archbishop moved on with a persistency and wisdom that marked his greatness and proved his sincerity. A serious obstacle in his way was the ignorance of the clergy. When Bishop Hooper, in 1550, proceeded to examine 311 of the clergy of the Diocese of Gloucester, he found 168 of them unable to repeat the ten commandments, and 31 of that number further unable to state in what part of the Scriptures they were to be found ; there were 40 who could not tell where the Lord's prayer was written, and 31 of this number ignorant who was its author. Cranmer once asked a priest for the name of the father of King David. He pleaded for- getfulness, but was also unable to remember who was Solomon's father. This was not exceptional, Tyndale declares that " a great part of them do understand no Latin at all, but sing, and say, and patter all day, with the lips only, that which the heart understandeth not." A remedj^ for this igno- rance was attempted in the book of homilies, which was published in 1547. It consisted of twelve ser- V THOMAS CRANMEU. 51 mons on such subjects as the Reading of Holy Scripture, The True and Lively Faith, and Good Works. Three, at least, were written by the arch- bishop himself. Visitations were held throughout the country by the bishops, and the most searching enquiry made into the sins and shortcomings of the clergy. The reminiscences of the old popish wor- ship were to be swept clean out. The royal injunc- tions of 1.547 directed that the priests should " take away, utterly extinct, and destroy all shrines, covering of shrines, all tables, candlesticks, trindles or rolls of wax, pictures, paintings, and all other monuments of feigned miracles, pilgrimages, idolatry, and superstition ; so that there remain no memory of the same in walls, glass windows, or elsewhere within their churches or houses." The altars were also ordered to be removed, and plain, honest tables set up instead. The great means used, however, for reaching the multitude was the Apostolic plan of preaching. Sadly indeed had this duty been neg- lected ; as Latimer said, "When the devil gets influ- ence in a church, up go candles and down goes preaching." By this weapon the first ministers of the Gospel won the world for Christ ; and the Re- 52 THOMAS CllANMER. lormers fully proved its great and almost invincible power. At St. Paul's Cross, the best preachers of the Reformed Church proclaimed their glad message to thronging thousands. The truth found its way to their hearts, and when once an indiscreet preacher ventured to advocate praying for the dead, and to denounce Ridley, he barely escaped with his life. But far away, in remote country places, the people still clung to the darkness. In Devonshire they openly demanded the mass, and broke out into a rebellion which was with difficulty suppressed. Next to the Bible in English and to preaching, the most powerful agency of the Reformation in England was the Book of Common Prayer. Hither- to the services had been in Latin ; now they were to be rendered in the common tongue. Hitherto the clergy had worshipped for the people, as they still do in the Roman and most Protestant denomina- tions ; now the people were called up into the chan- cel to worship for themselves. A committee of representative divines, with Cranmer at their head, was appointed to prepare from the ancient service books a new liturgy. This liturgy, known as the '• First Prayer-book of Edward the Sixth," was pub- iiMBlimiHn MBHMMi THOMAS CTtANMEtt. 5.^ lished and ordered to be used in 1549. It was an ingenious and admirable compilation, sparkling with spiritual and literary glories, and in every sense superior to any service-book the Christian Church had ever known. But it retained certain objection- able ceremonies and expressions, such for instance as the terms " mass " and " altar," the reservation of the sacramental elements, prayers for the dead, ex- orcism and chrism in Baptism, and anointing in the Visitation of the Sick. A new committee, with the same president, was therefore appointed to revise the book and bring it more into harmony with Protestant principles. The revision was set forth in 1552, and from that date the " Second Book of Ed- ward the Sixth " became the authorized liturgy of England. With the exception of some few improve- ments in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Charles the Second, the book has remained substantially the same from that day to this. Its influence upon the relijjious life of the Church has been and still is immeasurable. There is a dignity and majesty in its language that have never been equalled, not even by the authorized version of the Sacred Scriptures. The healthiest spirituality and noblest thoughts and i i 7 54 THOMAS CRANMEa « • ' v aspirations run like golden rays of heavenly light through every page, making one's soul to glow and expand with divine gladness. Its atmosphere is that of sweet, calm, restful peace. Its words fall upon the ear like music ; rich and satisfying and suggesting the worship of the Temple above. It never grows monotonous, but is as fresh and wel- come as the morning sun, or the blooming spring. We want nothing better than a book which has moulded the worship and devotions of our fathers for three hundred years, and which to-day stands ' without a rival among the liturgies of Christendom. Rome has nothing like it. She depends upon an ornate ceremonial to supply her deficiency, while others make up for their lack either by declaiming against all pre-composed forms of prayer, though without an exception they all use pre-composed forms of praise, or by denying us heart-felt devo- tion, forgetting that in an extempore mode of wor- ship the intellectual faculties are brought into play at the expense of all spirituality. It is of course impossible to make all men think alike, but surely it is an ennobling thought that every Sunday the hallowed words of this sublime liturgy become the ^^. THOMAS CHANMER. 55 expression of the faith and devotion of a great Communion, thus linking together in one mystic tie those who worship, whether it be in grand cathedral or lowly chapel, in the sick-room or on the lonely ships in the ocean wilderness. We value the book that has so endeared itself to the heart of the Church as we value nothing else save the in- spired word of God. We would allow no irreverent hand to touch it, nor any profane spirit to revile it ; nay, we would not remove the ancient landmark which our fathers have set. Nor can we even doubt that, though the work of men, it was indeed composed " by the aid of the Holy Ghost." Men such as Cranmer and Ridley and their learned and pious co-labourers must have again and again in- voked the Blessed Spirit to assist them in their work, and surely we have every reason to believe that their prayers were answered. Another most important work in which Cranmer was engaged was the formulation of the faith of the Church of England. In 1553 the " Articles of Reli- gion " were published. There were forty -one, but in 1571 they were reduced to thirty-nine, and have remained unchanged both in number and expres- \%. r ^> I ":$\ ',1 •V \^ I) I \i 5G THOMAS CllANMER. sion ever since. In these articles the Reformation of the Church of England may be said to have been completed. Here we behold the gems of truth for which her bravest and best sons fought and died' shining with lustrous beauty and precious as jewels must ever be which are brought from the heavenly quarry. Crowned with this crown of pure faith she may indeed be called the queen of the churches of Christendom. Here we may discern the desire for truth struggling with the spirit of conservatism. Not one iota of primitive or even mediteval doctrine shall be given up if it be true ; but the axe is laid at the root of the tree of error in the famous de- claration — " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation." Justification is determined to be through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone ; free-will, works of supererogation and sinless per- fection on earth are disallowed. Purgatory, the worship of saints, angels and relics, indulgences, penance and extreme unction are condemned^ General Councils, which many regard as the panrof a for all the Church's woes, are mentioned, but only to affirm that they may and have erred. The Church of Rome is solemnly pronounced to have ^' THOMAS CRANMEll. 57 erred not only in her living and manner of ceremo- nies, but also in matters of faith. The sternest and most uncompromising Protestantism is here asserted; so much so that Romish sympathizers within our Church speak of the Articles as " the forty stripes save one." True, in the question of soteriology they hold to the Augustinian doctrine of predesti- nation and election, but if any imagine that this is unintentional, or contrary to the spirit of the Church, or that I misinterpret their phraseology, let him read carefully Augustus Toplady's "Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England." There may be found, besides much tes- timony to this fact adduced from the writings of our best divines, a sentence^ amply justified, in which the learned author says, " We must admit, either thatCranmer was as absolute a predestinarian as Calvin himself, or charge the venerable arch- bishop with such extreme dissimulation and hypo- crisy as are utterly incompatible with common honesty." On what has in these latter days become a crucial question, viz: What is it that con- stitutes a true Church, the Articles are decidedly plain and emphatic. The nineteenth, wlxich deals ^•^ / ^ftl' u 58 THOMAS CRANMER. \\ upon this point, demands neither apostolic succes- sion nor even episcopal organization ; nothing more than this, that the members be faithful men, and that in it the pure word of God is preached and the sacraments be duly administered. Indeed Cranmer and his fellow-labourers were on terms of the most cordial intimacy and good- will with the continental reformed churches, though they were organized on a presbyterian model. The archbishop himself invited John a Lasco, Melancthon, Albert Harden- berg and Martin Bucer to come to England and assist in the English Reformation ; and when many of the fugitive Protestants fled to Kent, they were allowed to retain their organization and hold their services in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, and there beneath the metropolitical church of Angli- canism, while the English ritual has been rendered in fullest magnificence, aided by all the glories of art and music, the simple and unadorned Huguenot worship has been offered up from that day to this. One fact we should lemember in reference not only to the Articles but also to the Prayer-book, that while they bear the impress of Archbishop Cranmer, they also owe much to Christians of communions differing widely from our own. THOMAS CIlxVNMKn. 59 Cranmcr's hand is also to be discerned in the Ordi- nal. The Preface, written by himself, is temperate and inoffensive. It simply asserts the historic fact of the three orders in the ministry, and declares that so far as the Church of England is concerned none shall officiate within her borders who has not re- ceived episcopal ordination. Such a decree was not intended to imply any defect in, or condemnation of, those Churches which are differently organized. The Church of Scotland adopted a Presbyterian form of government, and with right; the Church of England, with equal right, retained an Episcopal polity. This is a point upon which there should be no misunderstanding. Cranmer, and the men who prepared our Ordinal, would have been the last in the world to adopt the spirit of exclusion, which admits the orthodoxy of certain religious bodies, and yet damns them for lack of their compliance with what all must admit, however desirable, is neither enjoined in Scripture, nor necessary to salvation. We do not wish to imitate those, who, having ima- gined that a certain form of Baptism is alone right, regard all other Christians as unbaptized, and there- fore under the just condemnation of God ; and still ;■! CO THOMAS CRANMER. less those unfortunate visionaries who conceive them- selves to be alone the Temple of the Lord, and all others as heathens and publicans. We believe Epis- copacy to be the best form of church government, most conducive to the well-being of the Church, easily adapted to the changes of time and circum- stances, ancient and not contrary to Scripture, and we have it, and intend to keep it, within our own household of faith ; but God forbid that we should find fault with, or exclude from Christ's Holy Cath- olic Church, those who think otherwise. I believe these views to have been the sentiments of Arch- bishop Cranmer, and to be in fullest harmony with the authoritative teaching of the Church of England. I do not, however, for one moment expect that all who will read these pages will agree with me. The influence of Cranmer on the Church of Eng- land is thus seen to have been very great. He was the leader of the Reformation. He gave his country- men the Bible in their own tongue, and very mate- rially moulded the Prayer-book, articles, homilies and ordinal. We may indeed regard these authori- tative documents as a reflection of the mind and hear 1. of Cranmer, and for nothing have Englishmen I TIfOMAS CRANMER. (>l greater cause of thankfulness than that in those troublous times God raised up to the Church a ruler and guide so wise, so judicious, learned, conserva- tive and pious as that great and good man. It is, however, in his famous work on the Lord's Supper that we have the best display of his vast in- tellectual powei's. Here we discern the soundest Scriptural criticism, the fullest knowledge of the patristic and scholastic writings, only second in- deed to that of Bishop Jewel's, and the most un- compromising and inexorable logic. So important is the subject of this book, and so great its influence upon English theology generally, that a sketch of its contents seems absolutely necessary. It will be remembered that while in Germany the battle of the Reformation was fought out on the question of Justification, in England it centred it- self almost entirely upon the doctrine of the Real Presence. How was Christ present in the elements of the Holy Communion ? What did He mean when in the institution of that Sacrament, He said, speaking of the bread, ** This is my Body," and of the wine, " This is iny Blood ? " The Ilom- /• r-> i r~-» cac»aJ I I 68 THOMAS ('RANMKR. ■*»i ^ ' t r I , I kUl ish doctrine was, and had boon more or loss since the ninth century, that the words were to be taken literally. The Council of Trent declared that, " by the consecration of the bread and of the wine, a con- version is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood ; which conversion is, by the Holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation." The necessary corollary to this is given by the same Council : " Wherefore, there is no room left for doubt, that all the faithful of Christ may, according to the custom ever (sic !) received in the Catholic Church, render in veneration the worship of latria, which is due to the true God, to the most holy Sacrament." It is against this doc- trine of Transubstantiation and its consequences that Cranmer and all the English Refonners lift up their voice. In this they but walked in the foot- steps of the great iElfric, who, at the beginning of the eleventh century, had written : " The housel is Christ's body, not bodily but spiritually; not the body in which He suffered, but the body about which He spake, when He blessed bread and wine for housel." THOMAS CIIANMKU. C3 Ci'amnor (Uv'kIoh his work into fivo books, of which tho first treats of tho Sacrament generally ; the second of Transubstantiation ; tho third of the Pre- sence of Christ; the fourth of tho Eating and Drink- ing ; and tho fifth of the Oblation and Sacrifice of Ciirist. Ho invites discussion. " What hurt, I pray you," says lie, " can gold catch in tho fire, or truth with discussing? Lies only fear discussing. The devil hateth the light, because ho hath been a liar from the beginning, and is loth that his lies should come to light and trial. And all hypocrites and papists be of a like sort afraid, that their doctrine should come to discussing, whereby it may evidently appear that they be endued with the spirit of error and lying." * He thus states tho errors of Rome in reference to the Presence : 1. They teach that Christ is in the bread and wine ; but we say that He is in them that worthily eat and drink the bread and wine. 2. They say, that when any man eateth the bread, and drinketh the cup, Christ goeth into his mouth or stomach with the bread and wine, and no further. But we say, that Christ is in tlie whole man, both in body and soiil of him that wor- thily eateth the bread, and drinketh the cup, and not in the mouth or stomach only. * Cranmer on the " Lord's Supper" p. 61. ; 1 'C ! 64 THOMAS CRANMER. 3. TBey say, that Christ is received in the mouth, and en- tereth in with the bread and wine. We say that He is received in the heart, and entereth in by faith. 4. They say, that Christ is really in the sacramental bread, being reserved a whole year, or so long as the form of bread re- maineth : but after the receiving thereof He fleeth up, Ray they, from the receiver into heaven, as soon as the bread is chewed in the mouth, or changed in the stomach : but we say, t^at Christ remaineth in the man that worthily receiveth it, so long as the man remaineth a member of Christ. 5. They say, that in the sacrament the corporal members of Christ be not distant in place one from another, but that where- soever the head is, there be the feet ; and wheresoever the arms be, there be the legs : so that in every part of the bread and wine is altogether whole head, whole feet, whole flesh, whole blood, whole heart, whole lungs, whole breast, whole back, and altogether whole, confused and mixed without distinction or diversity. 6. Furthermore, the papists say, that a dog or a cat eateth the body of Christ, if they by chance do eat the sacramental bread. We say, that no earthly creature can eat the body of Christ, nor drJnk His blood, but only man. 7. They say, that every man, good and evil, eateth the body of Christ. We say, that both do eat the sacramental bread, and drink the wine ; but none do eat the very body of Christ, and drink His blood, but only they that be lively members of His body. 8. They say, that good men eat the body of Christ and drink His blood, only at that time when they receive the sacrament. We say, that they eat, drink, and feed of Christ continually, so long as they be members of His body. 9. They say, that the body of Christ that is in the sacrament, hath His ot»ti proper form and quantity. We say, that Christ 8 there sacramentally and spirituallj', without form or quan tity. in THOMAS CRANMER. 65 bnt, IriBt Ian 10. They say, that the fathers and prophets of the Old Tes- tament did not eat the body, nor drinlc the blood of Christ. We say, that they did eat His body and drink His blood, al- though He was not yet born nor incarnated. 11. They 3ay, that the body of Christ is every day many times made, as often as there be masses said, and that then and there He is made of bread and wine. We say, that Christ's body was never but once made, and then not of the ?atu" .a substance of bread and wine, but of the substance of His bk ised mother. 12. They say, that the mass is a sacrifice satisfactory for sin, by the devotion of the priest that off ereth, and not by the thing that is offered. But we say, that their saying is a most heinous, yea, and detestable error against the glory of Christ : for the satisfaction for our sins is not the devotion nor offering of the priest, but the only host and satisfaction for all the sins of the world is the death of Christ, and the oblation of His body upon the cross, that is to say, the oblation that Christ Himself offered once upon the cross, and never but once, nor never any but He. And therefore that oblation which the priests make daily in their papistical masses, cannot be a satisfaction for other men's sins by the priest's devotion : but it is a mere illu- sion, and subtile craft of the devil, whereby antichrist hath many years blinded and deceived the world. 13. They say, that Christ is corporally in many places atone time, affirming that His body is corporally and really present in as many places as there be hosts consecrated. We say, that as the sun corporally is ever in heaven, and no where else, and yet by his operation and virtue the sun is here in earth, by whose influence and virtue all things in the world be corporally regenerated, increased, and grow to their perfect state ; so like- wise our Saviour Christ bodily and corporally is in heaven, sitting at the right hand of His Father, although spiritually He hath promised to be present with us upon earth unto the world's end. And whensoever two or three be gathered toge- ther in His name, He is there in the midst among them, by 5 '— •-- — ^— •- 66 THOMAS CBANMER. whoae supernal grace all godly men be first by Him spiritually regenerated, and after increase and grow to their spiritual per- fection in God, spiritually by faith eating His flesh, and drink- ing His blood, although the same corporally be in heaven, far distant from our sight. ^ In order to prove Transubstantiation, Roma, he al- leges, advances the following reasons : — 1. The greatest reason and of most importance, is this : " Our Saviour Christ, taking the bread, brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying ' This is my body.' " " Now," say they, ** as soon a3 Christ had spoken these words, the bread was straightway altered and changed, and the substance thereof was converted into the substance of His precious body." 2 2. If the bread should remain, say they, then should follow many absurdities, and chiefly, that Christ hath taken the nature of bread, as He took the nature of man, and so joined it to His substance. And then, as we have God verily incarnate for our redemption, so should we have Him im- panate. 3 3. Taken out of the sixth of St. John. If the bread which Christ gave be His flesh, then it cannot also be material bread ; and so it must also needs follow, that the natural bread is gone, and that none other substance remainetb, but the flesh of Christ only. * These reasons he readily demolishes, again and again disclaiming that the Saviour in the sixth chapter of St. John referred to this Sacrament,^ and with a masterly skill he proves Transubstantiation 1 Idem, pp. 52-89. 2 Idem, p. 302 3 Idem, p. 305. 4 Idem, p. 307. 5 Idem, pp. 25, 74, 77, 307. PL THOMAS CRANMER. 67 to be contrary to God's Word/ to reason/ to our senses/ and to the teaching of the Fathers.4 He adds the following absurdities which flow from the Romish doctrine : — 1. If the papists be demanded, what thing it is that is broken, what is eaten, what is drunken, and what is chawed with the teeth, lips, and mouth in this Sacrament, they have nothing to answer, but the accidents. For, as they say, *' bread and wine be not the visible elements in this Sacrament, but only their accidents." And so they be forced to say, that accidents be broken, eaten, drunken, chawn, and swallowed without any substance at all ; which is not only against all reason, but also againbt the doctrine of all ancient authors. 2. These transubstantiators do say, contrary to all learn- ing, that the accidents of bread and wine do hang alone in the air, without any substance wherein they may be stayed. And what can be said more foolishly ? 3. That the substance of Christ's body is there really, cor- porally, and naturally present, without any accidents of the same. And so the papists make accidents to be without sub- stances, and substances to be without accidents. 4. They say, that "the place where the accidents of bread and wine be, hath no substance there to fill that place, and so must they needs grant vacuum, which nature utterly ab horreth." 5. They are not ashamed to say, " that substance ia made of accidents, when the bread mouldeth or is turned into worms, or when the wine soureth." 6. That substance is nourished without substance, by acci dents only, if it chance any cat, mouse, dog, or other thing to eat the Sacramental bread, or drink the Sacramental wine.^ (1) Idem, p. 241. (2) Idem, p. 250. (3) Idem, p. 255. (4) Idem, p. 263. (5) Idem, pp. 324-332. ''^ M '- ' I i m G8 THOMAS CRANMER. In the course of the work many awkward dilem- mas are brought out, such, for example, as this : " If Judas received Christ with the bread, as you say, and the devil entered with the bread, as St. John saith, then was the devil and Christ in Judas both at once. And then how they agreed I marvel : for St. Paul saith, that Christ and Belial cannot agree."* The following has a bearing upon the whole ques- tion : — " It is not a sufficient proof in Scripture, to say, God doth it, because He can do it, for He can do many things which He neither doth, nor will do. He could have sent more than twelve legions of an- gels to deliver Christ from the wicked Jews, and yet He would not do it. He could have created the world and all things therein in one moment of time, and yet His pleasure was to do it in six days."-f- Nor may I omit a crucial passage such as this : " If Christ had never ordained the Sacrament, yet should we have eaten His flesh, and drunken His blood, and have had thereby everlasting life ; as all the faith- ful did before the Sacrament was ordained, and do daily when they receive not the Sacrament."]: Or * Idem, p. 58. t Idem, p. 34. Z Idem, p. 25. This passage reminds one of that important luhric in the ' Communion of the Sick,' beginning, " But if a man." THOMAS CRANMER. 69 this : " The greatest blasphemy and injury that can be against Christ, and yet universally used through the popish kingdom, is this, that the priests make their mass a sacrifice propitiatory, to remit the sins as well of themselves, as of others, both quick and dead, to whom they list to apply the same. Thus under pretence of holiness, the papistical priests have taken upon them to be Christ's successors, and to make such an oblation and sacrifice as never crea- ture made but Christ alone, neither He made the same any more times than once, and that was by His death upon the cross." * It is not contended that Cranmer always held views such as these. He once undoubtedly taught the Popish doctrine of the Real, Objective Presence; he then upheld Consubstantiation ; and from that advanced to the position maintained in his book and in which he died. In the moulding of his sacramental views Ridley took an important part. It should, however, be clearly recognised that Cran- mer's doctrine, and that which he imparted to the Church of England, while condemning Romanism does not go to the other extreme of Zuinglianism — * Idem, p. 346. f1: 70 THOMAS CRANMER. a mere empty memorial of an absent Lord ; but is rather one with Calvin's doctrine of a real, but spiritual presence. Christ is not locally, but dyna- mically, in the sacred elements. Just as the sun is in the heavens and yet his light and heat are present upon the earth, so is the Lord Jesus though in heaven present by His gracious influence in the hearts of those who faithfully receive the consecra- ted bread and wine. Calvin, therefore, held, and after him Cranmer and the greatest divines of the English Church have held, that •* there was some- thing not only supernatural, but truly miraculous, in this divine ordinance." And surely there is a vast, irreconcilable difference between this spiritual view, and the carnal, sensual opinion of the Church of Kome. The devout soul may, and indeed does, discern in this Sacrament the Beatific Vision, and as he gazes upon his crucified Redeemer is lost in His love and life ; but the doctrine of Rome, by which a piece of bread is converted into the actual flesh of Christ involves an admiration for the won- derful powers of the priest who performs so stupen- dous a miracle, which grov/s into a fear and dread r---^ ^ THOMAS CRANMER. 71 13 lut la- lUQ ire igh of one so endowed, and thus the tyranny and bond- age of priestcraft are developed and maintained. Cranmer was twice married. His first wife, Joan, — " black Johanna of the Dolphin," some called her, — was of humble though reputable connexions ; a relative of the landlady of the Dolphin Inn — a then popular hostelry near Jesus College in Cambridge, which has long since perished. Within a short year Joan died ; and nineteen years later, in 1832, after he had received hol}'^ orders, Cranmer married Anne, the niece of the famous German theologian Andreas Osiander. No violent opposition was made to a married archbishop till 1539, whea parliament an- nulled the marriages of ecclesiastics. Cranmer then sent his wife to her friends in Germany, and not until the accession of Edward VI was he able to live with her openly. Then for the first time, perhaps ever, certainly for many centuries, a lady ruled in Lambeth and presided over a primate's household. And more than that we may well imagine that the happy voices of children were heard in the great hall and the Lollard's Tower, and merry games were played in the ancient cloisters A, -^ ■ — ■*■ - -■*■*►. -f- t 72 THO»LA.S CRANMER. ! I ! i { ( ■ ' Ik '''■\ and the sacred "bishop's walk." One daughter, Anne, died before her father ; the other daughters Margaret, and the only son, Thomas, sui-vived Of course the archbishop's enemies censured this violation of the vow of celibacy. They had better reason for finding fault with the manner in which he sought to advance the interests of his relatives. He married his sister Dorothy to Harold Rosell, a gentleman of Nottinghamshire and clerk of the archiepiscopal kitchen, and endeavoured to further their welfare out of the confiscated Church lands. He besought Cromwell to bestow the goodly house and property of the Grey Friars in Canterbury, upon his niece's husband, Thomas Cobham; but this application was unsuccessful. To his brother Edmund besides other rich preferments he gave the archdeaconry of Canterbury and the provostship of Wingham, and later on a prebondary's stall in Christ Church and the rectories of Cliffe and Ick- ham in Kent, If, hovi'^ever, Cranmer was not the first prelate guilty of nepotism, he was one of the first who surrendered to the kintj church estates belonging to the metropolitan see. On one occa- ^: THOMAS CllANMER. 73 sion he gave up four of the oldest and richest ma- nors in his diocese, and hiter on the palace of Can- terbury itself. His duties as primate justified his non-residence, and the attention he was compelled to give to the greater affairs of the Church at large v/ould account for his ignorance of the needs of his diocese. His visits to Canterbury were few and far between. But at Lambeth he maintained all the state and pomp the age demanded of one in his exalted office. His household was large, and his hospitality unbounded. No man is faultless, but one of the best proofs of Cranmer's sterlins; character is in the hold he main- tained through life upon the affections of Henry. That monarch selfish and soulless as he proved himself to be, was nevertheless a keen discerner of character. He saw in Cranmer nothing but honest, downright sincerity ; he knew that his professions of religion, friendship and obedience were real and to be depended upon. While others were set aside by the suspicious and capricious king without com- punction, he clung to Cranmer as his one true friend to the very last. Nor was Henry alone in his estimate of Cranmer. His contemporaries re- /■-r-^ 74 THOMAS CRANMER. 'm garded him as a good and pious man. We know that his learning and ability were considerable — scarcely perhaps of the very highest order, but still equal to any save a very few of the most brilliant divines and bishops of the English Church. Yet had it not been for the king's favour he would scarcely have attained to the Archbishopric of Can- terbury. He owed much to his exalted position ; suffice it to say he proved himself a useful, holy, faithful bishop, a brave champion of the eternal truths of Protestantism. The reign of Edward soon came to an end. A few short years, and the bright mom of promise was darkened with heavy clouds. But no clouds could put back the hand of time. The Reformation had been begun in England, the people had tasted the sweets of spiritual freedom, and no persecution, re- pression or inquisition could undo what had been done. The seed had been sown, and if it were destined that it should be watered with the blood of many martyrs, it was also destined that it should take deep root, and in strength and beauty bear fruit such as should grow in no other land or among THOMAS CRANMER. 75 no other race. There were doubtless heavy hearts around the death-bed of the young king. Men trembled when they thought of what the future might bring forth. " my Lord God," cried the dying prince, " defend this Thy realm, and protect it from popery, and maintain the true religion and pure worship of Thy name." A dreadful storm swept over the country ; trees were uprooted ; dark- ness, thunder, wind and flood, such as few remem- bered, seemed to portend terrible evil ; and ere long death cast his shadow upon the tender, pure, holy and simple-hearted boy — blessed prelude to an eternal rest and a heavenly crown. " We have lost our good king," laments John Bradford ; and Protes- tant Switzerland and Saxony wept with bereaved and unhappy England. And for a time it seemed that there was good reason for weeping. The new queen indeed permit- ted Cranmer to read the burial service according to the Book of Common Prayer over the king, but the anticipations of the Reformers were speedily realized. Bradford, Hooper, Ridley, Latimer and many another faithful witness of the truth, were cast into prison. Burning with bigotry and the desire of revenge, >- ■» tUUl !Ji-'- '-■ ..wmw I l^ t ! ' I If f! rli 7G THOMAS CRANMER. Mary soon made England feel that the reign of terror had begun. The most violent of the popish bishops were placed in power, and Rome ruled again with an iron hand. Who can tell the story of the days of darkness and of blood ? Who can think calmly of deeds that have made the people of England execrate the name and memory of Mary to this very day? It was on the sixth of July, 1553, King Edward died, [and by the end of the month Mary had crushed the attempt in favour of Lady Jane Grey, and had taken the reins of power in her hand. Cranmer soon found that he could expect no mercy. His position as primate of the English Church and archbishop in the second see of western Christen- dom did not save him. He had rejected and defied the papal authority, had declared the marriage of Henry VIII. and Catherine of Aragon null and void, had spoken, written and worked against the errors of Rome, and had been concerned in the mat- ter of Lady Jane Grey, and therefore vengeance marked him as a victim. Early in August he was commanded to keep his house at Lambeth, and about the middle of the following month he was THOMAS CRANMER. 77 committed to the Tower. Iloro, with Ridley and Latimer, he remained till March, 1554, when with them he was removed to Oxford that he might there dispute with the doctors and divines. In April he was examined, condemned and excommunicato'! ; then sent to the common f^aol. As yet no blood had been shed for religion's sake. Perhaps Mary was reluctant to proceed to that extreme, and the eccle- siastical authorities were content to try the effect of imprisonment, disputations, and the spiritual weapon of excommunication. But when in July, Mary mar- ried the cruel and cold Philip of Spain, grand- nephew of Catharine of Aragon, the *' secular arm " began to move more vigorously. The Jesuit Car- ranza was placed in charge of the Queen's con- science, and soon the fires were kindled. In the spring of 1555, Rogers at Smithfield, Saunders at Coventry, Hooper at Gloucester, Taylor at Hadleigh, and Farrer at Carmarthen, died at the stake ; the holy John Bradford suffered at Smithfield in July, and in October brave Latimer and gentle Ridley were burnt in the streets at Oxford. Ere long it might be truly said the land was defiled with blood. Thus Rome sought to reconcile Englan^d to herself ; ■■-—--■••^^— 1 s 1 III I '! I I f ' :i I 1^*' ^ hl^ 78 THOMAS CRANMER. and when with courtly pomp and haughty pride the papal legate in November, 1555, declared Eng- land forgiven and at peace and unity with the holy see, if the sufferings of the martyrs went for any- thing surely the atonement was well wrought and well deserved. Mary rejoiced, the lovers of truth and freedom wept, while on high from under the altar the cry of them that had been slain for the word of God went up, " How long, Lord, how long?" In the meantime Cranmer remained in prison. Before ho should suffer, his enemies had determined to cover him with shame. A braver man than he was might well have flinched in the hour of trial. Naturally timid, the indignities he had already suf- fered, the loneliness of his position and the horrors of his prison life, had their effect upon him. He leanied to dread the fiery death. There was none ■of Latimer's dauntless spirit, nor yet of Bradford's exultant joy. And when life was offered him, is it any wonder he grasped eagerly for this last hope ? We may blush for his weakness, but if we could appreciate his peculiar temperament, his surround- ings in the Bocardo, and the beguilements of his . »-»<».-i • «»- THOMAS CRANMER. 79 persecutors, we should rather blush that men who called themselves Christians could force an unhappy old man to give the lie to his life. Cranmer needs no pity ; that he stumbled is true, but he was not responsible in a day when a torturing death stared him in the face, and the memory of more than two years' imprisonment haunted him. They ,:^ ive him mock trials; they cited him to appear in Rome while they still kept fast his prison-doors ; six times they induced him to write and sign submissions to the Pope and recantations of his heresies. The price they offered was life ; but they lied. Cranmer was the author of the English Reformation ; and worse than that, he had shamed the mother of Mary, the great-aunt of Philip. There was for him no forgive- ness. Spanish malice and popish malignity could not spare him. But they could flaunt his recanta- tions before Europe, and lay them upon the altar of Baal. They could heap shame and dishonour upon the hoary head of England's primate. They could play with, and trample in the dust the feelings of a poor, weary, care-worn prisoner. And so in spite of their promises and of what he had done, they proceeded in February, 1550, to de- 80 THOMAS CRANMER. grade him from his episcopal dignity and minis- terial office. Then Cranmer pronounced his solemn appeal from the Pope to the next General Council 5 but in vain. He was condemned to die, and the twenty-first day of March was appointed for the day of his execution. On the morning of that day, it was a foul and a rainy day, says Foxe, the archbishop clad in a bare and ragged gown with an old square cap, was led through a great assembly of spectators to St. Mary's Church, there to hear a sermon. It was ex- pected that he would confirm his recantations, and therefore he was suffered to address the congregation, but to the astonishment of all and to the utter con- fusion of the papists, he boldly, clearly and uncom- promisingly declared his repudiation of Rome, and the Pope, and his adherence to the principles of the Reformation. " I renounce and refuse," said he, "as things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might be." They who had looked for a signal triumph now fretted and fumed and gnashed their teeth in rage. They insulted, threatened, and maltreated him ; THOMAS CRANMER. SI and with furious hatred and haste hurried hiin from the church to the place of execution. Tliere on the very spot where six months before Latimer and Ridley were burned, they chained him to the stake and heaped the faggots around him. Just twenty-one years had passed since he was conse- crated to the see of Canterbury ; now bare-headed and bare-footed, in a long, coarse garment, he sto^-d waiting for the end. The fire was kindled and in the flames the old man thrust the hand that had signed the recantations, exclaiming, " That un- worthy hand — that unworthy hand ! " There was no more flinching ; no more fear. From amid the darkening smoke and the lurid flames, above the crackling of the faggots and the tumult of the crowd, men heard the dying hero cry again and again " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! " Ere long a heap of ashes, a charred stake and a chain, alone remained. England's truest and best reformer had joined the noble army of martyrs. The streets were deserted, the rain fell, a painful silence pre- vailed. Rome had done all, and Rome could do no ujore. ■ She had struck her sting deep, and the Pro- testant cause lay quivering beneath the blow. Ah, "•im j-"!. . ♦•'"'WW^^wiy; I: i 82 THOMAS CRANMER. but not destroyed ! From that hea]) of ashes which tlie rain is fast washing away, the spirit of freedom shnll arise, and the mantle of Cranrner shall fall upon unnumbered sons and daughters of England who shall cling to his principles and transmit them to posterities yet unborn ! That heap of ashes, is an insurmountable barrier between us and Rome ! Never again can the great Protestant Church, and least of all that branch of it in which Cranmer was so distinguished a leader, unite with her who is stained and drunken with the blood of the saints ! There were those, gentle reader, in the Middle Ages who thought no greater martyr ever died than Thomas a Becket ; in later times the palm has by some been given to William Laud : but Thomas* Cranmer in the usefulness of his life and the grandeur of his death is the peer of either. He is deserving of a place beside the learned Lanfranc and the saintly Anselm ; worthy of being numbered amongst the holiest of the prelates who have sat in the patriarchal chair of Saint Augustine. I admit he had faults. I admit all that is true concerning him; but when all that can be said against him is said, he still remains a noble char- ■""'» *rTifT» iiiioi yajr^^,^ THOMAS CRANMER. 83 acter. Tho people of Oxford have in the stately memorial cross in St. Giles' Street an ever-present reminder of the great archbishop ; but a grander monument than that, more enduring and more precious, is in the hand of every Churchman throughout the world. The Book of Common Prayer, the Homilies and the Thirty-nine Articles — ringing with their clear, sweet silvery tones, so full of Evangelical truth — are an undying memorial to us of Cranmer. We cannot hear the wondrous words of that sublime liturgy without remember- ing that they were sealed with the blood of the martyrs, and without determining that, by the grace of God, neither we nor our children shall ever undo the work those martyrs wrought. i^f^B;^^^^^