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 SIE THOMAS MOBE
 
 
 Sik Thomas Moke. 
 
 From the draining by Holbein. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE.
 
 SIR THOMAS MOEE 
 
 WILLIAM HOLDEN HUTTON, B.D. 
 
 FELLOW, TUTOR, PRECENTOR, AND LIBRARIAN OF S. JOHN BAPTIST COLLEGE, 
 
 OXFORD, AND EXAMINER IN THE HONOUR SCHOOL OF MODERN 
 
 HISTORY : BIRKBECK LECTURER IN ECCLESIASTICAL 
 
 HISTORY AT TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 Ars utinam mores animumque efflngere possit : 
 Pulchrior in terris nulla tabella foret.— Martial. 
 
 METHUEN & CO. 
 30 ESSEX STREET, W.C. 
 LONDON 
 1895
 
 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited. 
 London & Bckgay.
 
 PEEFACE 
 
 It is now twelve years since I began to study 
 the life and writings of the great hero of conscience 
 whom this book commemorates. The work has 
 been often laid aside, but never wholly abandoned, 
 and in spite of the demands of a laborious profession 
 I have been able, I think, to become acquainted with 
 most of the literature which describes and illustrates 
 More's beautiful life. 
 
 With the exception of Mr. S. L. Lee's admirable, 
 and, for its length, exhaustive, contribution to the 
 Dictionary of National Biography, which cannot be 
 obtained in a separate form, and Father Bridgett's 
 valuable biography, which is concerned primarily 
 with the life of More as a defender of the Papal 
 Supremacy, there are no modern works which have 
 made use of all the material that is at the disposal 
 of students of this period. 
 
 Much interest attaches to the earlier biographies 
 from the circumstances connected with their compo- 
 sition and publication. 
 
 When England, under Mary, had returned to the 
 Roman obedience, William Roper wrote the life of
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 his father-in-law ; Rastell, his nephew, published the 
 great folio of his English Works; his friend, Ellis 
 Heywood, composed his Italian memorial II Moro, and 
 Nicholas Harpsfield the biography, which is still in 
 manuscript in the Library of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury at Lambeth. In 1555 and 1556 the 
 Latin works were published at Louvain with intro- 
 ductory verses and eulogies. 
 
 When Roman projects were most rife under 
 Elizabeth additions were made to the literature of 
 the subject. Stapleton published his Trcs Thomae 
 when the Armada was about to sail ; and an anony- 
 mous life, also in the Lambeth Library, was written 
 in 1599. 
 
 After the marriage of Charles I., Roper's biography 
 was published abroad, and Cresacre More's in Eng- 
 land. Hoddesdon's compilation appeared in 1662, 
 when secret negotiations were being carried on 
 between the Papacy and the Monarchy of the 
 Restoration ; and Stapleton's life was reprinted 
 under James II. 
 
 Roper wrote almost entirely from personal know- 
 ledge and from memory. Thus, his work, in spite of 
 its deep interest, is occasionally inaccurate. Staple- 
 ton added to the statements of Roper much that he 
 had himself heard from members of More's house- 
 hold, and also collated many of his letters. The 
 anonymous life published by Dr. Wordsworth 1 is 
 apparently based on those of Roper and Harpsfield. 
 It has been attributed to More's nephew, Rastell; 
 and a chance reference in Lord Herbert of Cherbury's 
 1 Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. ii.
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 History of Henry VIII. 1 may afford a slight confirm- 
 ation of the supposition. Cresacre More, the great- 
 grandson of Sir Thomas, had undoubtedly some 
 original information, but his work is mainly founded 
 on those of Roper and Stapleton, and its chief 
 interest lies in the spirit in which it is written. Its 
 authorship was for a long time attributed to his 
 brother Thomas More, a Jesuit; but the mistake 
 was corrected by Mr. Hunter in the edition 
 of 1828. 
 
 Among later English biographies the most notable 
 are those by Arthur Cay ley (London, 1808), Sir 
 James Mackintosh (1807, republished 1844), and 
 Mr. Walter, a Roman Catholic writer (London, 1830), 
 with Mr. Seebohm's interesting study, The Oxford 
 Reformers. Among German lives may be men- 
 tioned those of Rudhart (1829) and Baumstark 
 (1879), works of very different character and value. 
 
 Some years ago Mr. Cotter Morison undertook to 
 write a life for the series called English Worthies, 
 but Mr. Andrew Lang has been kind enough to in- 
 form me that he made no progress in the work. 
 
 In 1891, following on the Beatification of Sir 
 Thomas More by Leo XIII. in 1886, Father Bridgett 
 published his interesting book. 
 
 Those who know the literature of the subject will 
 admit, I think, that there is still room for another 
 biography. 
 
 My aim has been to lay most stress on the 
 personal interest of the subject. To this object the 
 introduction of the history of the times, and the 
 1 Edit. 1682, p. 286.
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 discussion of critical questions of theology and his- 
 tory, have been subordinated. I have endeavoured 
 not to write as the partisan of any school or opinion, 
 but as a student of the past. I certainly do not 
 claim to be unbiassed ; and I must admit that to- 
 wards such a character as More's I find it very 
 difficult even to fancy myself critical. But I have 
 tried to tell my story simply, briefly, and truthfully, 
 with no extenuation or apology. 
 
 That it is impossible to speak rightly of a past age 
 without allowing it to speak for itself is often more 
 true in biography than in history. No apology is 
 therefore needed for the frequent use of the actual 
 words of the early biographers of More, especially of 
 his son and his great-grandson, in whose very 
 language there seems to linger a spirit which modern 
 English could with difficulty preserve. I cannot for- 
 bear to add that I have used the copy of More's 
 English Works which belonged to William Roper 
 himself, and which by the bequest of Nathaniel 
 Crynes in 1745 came into the possession of the 
 College of which I have the honour to be Librarian. 
 
 My references in the early lives are almost invari- 
 ably to the original authority for the particular 
 statement. Thus, for instance, Cresacre More is not 
 mentioned in the notes when he merely repeats 
 Roper or Stapleton. 
 
 Of the mass of English and foreign contemporary 
 books and documents illustrating the life of More it 
 is unnecessary to speak. The references I have 
 given in the notes do not claim to be exhaustive. 
 Erasmus is the most delightful of guides; but the
 
 PREFACE ix 
 
 late Mr. Fronde's " abbreviated substitute " for his 
 writings, charming though it is, is far too untrust- 
 worthy to be regarded as a serious authority by 
 any one who has studied the letters and treatises for 
 himself. 
 
 Every student of English History is under almost 
 immeasurable obligation to the labours of the late 
 Mr. Brewer, of Mr. James Gairdner, whose authority 
 on the period is beyond appeal, and of D. Pascual de 
 Gayangos, through whom the Domestic and Spanish 
 Papers of the reign of Henry VIII. have been 
 rendered accessible to the public. 
 
 Lastly, I have to thank the Editor and Publishers 
 of the English Historical Bevieiv and the Guardian 
 for permission to reprint matter which I have 
 contributed to their columns. 
 
 W. H. Hutton. 
 
 The Great House, Burford. 
 S. Alphege, 1895.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. TACK 
 
 I. EARLY LIFE I INFLUENCES OF RELIGION AND 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE 
 II. HOME AND FRIENDS ... 
 
 III. LITERARY WORK \ THE ' UTOPIA ' 
 
 IV. POLITICAL LIFE 
 V. RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS ... 
 
 VI. TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 
 INDEX ... 
 
 1 
 
 40 
 96 
 143 
 184 
 229 
 285
 
 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE: INFLUENCES OF RELIGION AND THE 
 RENAISSANCE. 
 
 " Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, 
 Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der "Welt." — Gothe. 
 
 England at the end of the fifteenth century was 
 beginning to pass out from the medieval world 
 towards that expanded horizon which stretched ever 
 further as she advanced. The world it seemed was 
 being recreated as the years drew on. The age of 
 English discovery had begun. Piloted by Italians 
 and with as yet no certain knowledge of how widely 
 they were extending the boundaries of European 
 enterprise, and still outstripped by the great feats of 
 the Portuguese and of Columbus, Englishmen had 
 heard of the new world in the Northern Ocean with 
 its riches and its strange peoples. But as yet they 
 looked within rather than without. An Englishman 
 who had been to Italy was more thought of than 
 one who had seen the New found land. Poliziano and
 
 2 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Pico della Mirandola were, for years to come, more 
 famous names than Cabot and Vespuce. England's 
 keenest interest lay in learning, in literature, and in 
 art. Foreign painters were finding in England 
 welcome and reward. Foreign scholars were received 
 with enthusiasm which almost reached adoration. 
 And in England every production of the continental 
 Press, Italian, German, French, was awaited with 
 eagerness, and read with avidity. Small though the 
 literary public may have been, it was extremely 
 important. England entered into the literary comity 
 of nations ; and her students wherever they wandered 
 in their scholar-pilgrimage still found themselves 
 at home. Whatever were the dark stains on the 
 picture, Europe still stood outwardly undivided. 
 Churchmen were not all ignorant, nor Popes luxurious 
 and worldly. Satire might fix its sharpest darts in 
 the hearts of Monasticism, and indignant reformers 
 might repeat the strange stories that men told of 
 Papal avarice and lust. But society was not yet 
 separated into bitterly hostile sections, Art was not 
 yet corrupt, and the gorgeous pride with which 
 ^Religion was surrounded still left it power to inform 
 the mind and purify the heart. 
 
 In a country of great churches, of rich merchandise 
 and pomp, great ideas were in the air. The men 
 who read and pondered were coming out into the 
 world, and the world was ready to listen to them. 
 And great ideas were represented in great men. 
 Between 1485 and 1535 England had two great 
 cardinals and two greater kings. Fascinating per- 
 sonalities too gave expression to the marvellous
 
 s 
 
 EARLY LIFE 
 
 richness of the national life. Pico was striving to 
 reconcile the purity of the Christian belief with the 
 beautiful paganism of Greece ; Amerigo Vespucci 
 was sailing " to see and know the far countries of the 
 world " ; Wolsey was giving England a firm adminis- 
 tration and a skilful diplomacy ; Erasmus was 
 pleading as a scholar for the liberty of reason while 
 he clung to the faith of the Catholic Church. Of all 
 these and their work More knew well, and with all 
 he sympathized ; and so it came about that no one 
 represents more highly or more nobly the greatness 
 and the attraction of the age in which he lived. 
 
 The life of More falls within the years in which 
 Europe was passing through a great transition, and 
 England through a great awakening. In his days, 
 as in his person, the Kenaissance and the Reformation 
 seemed to meet on British soil. No Englishman was 
 ever more profoundly influenced by the feeling of his 
 age. The delight with which Italian scholars had 
 pored over the precious manuscripts of the classics, 
 and found in them a new completeness in Humanity 
 and a new excellence in Art — the zeal with which 
 German printers had multiplied the opportunities of 
 knowledge and enriched them with every device which 
 labour and ingenuity could suggest — the enthusiasm 
 with which eager priests of every nationality had 
 welcomed the new light that was beginning to shine 
 upon the sacred heritage of the Christian world — 
 appealed to him with an invitation to which he 
 eagerly responded. Not less was he touched by the 
 claims of music, of painting, of the instinct for 
 discovery and distant quest which was coming to be
 
 4 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 as the breath of life to the Englishman of the next 
 age. And with all this his life was passed in the 
 period of the profoundest religious, political, and social 
 change that our nation has witnessed. He first saw the 
 light in an age of civil conflict : he died when religious 
 strife was at its fiercest. The year of his birth saw 
 the murder of Clarence ; the year of his death found 
 the English King deposed and excommunicated by 
 the Pope. As a boy he heard tell of the last 
 intrigues and the last battles of the War of the Roses 
 — as a man he took part in the measures by which 
 England under Wolsey and Henry VIII. was assuming 
 a position in Europe which the proudest of her 
 ancient kings might have envied. It was a period 
 of profound disturbance. Without were [fightings, 
 within were fears. "But it was above all a time of 
 vigorous and exultant vitality. And in all the varied 
 manifestations of national life, the literary and artistic 
 interests, and the political and religious struggles, no 
 man played a more prominent part than the man who 
 among all changes kept untarnished honour till the 
 end.^,- 
 
 Thomas More was born in Milk Street, Cheap- 
 side, in the ward of Cripplegate Within, on February 
 7, 1478. 1 His father was John More, afterwards to 
 become Knight and a Justice of the King's Bench. 
 His mother's name is less easily ascertained. " Matris 
 nomen nescitur, quippe quae adhuc infante Thoma 
 Moro mortua est," says one of his earliest bio- 
 
 1 See on this point, the appendix to Mr. Seehohm's 
 Oxford Reformers (2nd edition), where the question is finally 
 settled ; and Notes and Queries, 4th Series, ii, 365.
 
 EARLY LIFE 5 
 
 graphers. His great-grandson, Cresacre More, states 
 that her name was " Handcombe, of Holiewell in the 
 countie of Bedford," but the discovery of Mr. Aid is 
 Wright— a contemporary family register — has gener- 
 ally been accepted as proof that she was really Agnes, 
 daughter of Thomas Granger. 1 
 
 He was of gentle, not noble, blood: " familia 
 non celebri sed honesta natus," says the epitaph 
 he wrote for himself. Little else is known, for the 
 family papers were seized by Henry VIII. and have 
 not been discovered. Cresacre More is anxious 
 to show that "Judge More bare arms from his 
 birth, having his coat quartered, which doth argue 
 that he came to his inheritance by descent"; yet 
 he can say no more of his family than, " as I heard, 
 they either came out of the Mores of Ireland, or 
 they of Ireland came out of us." Mr. Foss, however, 
 has entered into a lengthy examination, the result 
 of which has satisfied him that Sir Thomas More's 
 grandfather was a certain John More, first butler, 
 afterwards steward, and finally reader, of Lincoln's 
 Inn. 2 It seems clear too that the Mores held 
 property in Hertfordshire for several generations. 
 Thomas More had one brother, John, who was his 
 clerk in later days. Of his two sisters, Joan married 
 a certain Richard Stafferton, and Elizabeth became 
 the wife of John Rastell, the poet, and second printer 
 of note in England. 
 
 The vision of his mother on her wedding night, 
 recorded by the biographer, differs little from those 
 
 1 See note, p. 4. 
 
 2 Judges of England, vol. v. pp. 190—203.
 
 6 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 told of many mothers of famous men in early times, 
 f While he was still an infant he had a narrow 
 escape of being drowned, which is noted with much 
 earnestness by Dr. Stapleton, whose Tres Thomae 
 was the earliest printed life, and who delighted to 
 find resemblances in the minutest details between 
 More and S. Thomas of Canterbury. " This escape," 
 says his grandson, " was no doubt a happy presage 
 of his future holiness, and put his parents in mind 
 that he was that shining child, of whom his mother 
 had that former vision; wherefore his father had 
 the greater care to bring him up in learning.", A He 
 himself tells an anecdote of his childhood which may 
 serve to remind us of the exciting events among 
 which it was passed. When all London was talking 
 of King Edward's death, he heard his father told 
 how, on the very night of the decease, a neigh- 
 bour had said, "By my troth, man, then will my 
 master, the Duke of Gloucester, be king." Thomas 
 More was then little over five years old; 1 but he 
 never forgot the terror that that grim name evoked. 
 Before long he was placed under a school-master 
 of fame, one Nicholas Holt, at S. Anthony's in 
 Threadneedle Street. This school, one of the grammar 
 schools founded by Henry VI., had at the time a 
 great reputation, and its master had already taught 
 William Latimer and John Colet, the future Dean. 
 
 1 Latin Works, p. 46. That he heard the story told to his 
 father is in the Latin, but not in the English version of the 
 History of Richard III.; cf. English Works, p. 38. Cf. Letters 
 etc. of Richard III. and Henry VII., vol. ii, Preface (by Mr. 
 James Gairdner), p. xxi.
 
 EARLY LIFE 7 
 
 The school maintained its fame down to the days 
 of Stowe, who tells us that in the disputation of the 
 London schools in the churchyard of S. Bartholomew, 
 Smithfield, the boys of S. Anthony's usually carried 
 away the pi'ize. After Thomas More had there 
 " been brought up in the Latin tongue, he was by 
 his father's procurement received into the house of 
 the right reverend, wise, and learned prelate, Cardinal 
 Morton," 1 probably about 1489. 
 
 Morton, then Archbishop and Lord Chancellor, but 
 not to receive the red hat till 1493, was at that 
 time probably the most important man in England ; 
 and it may be reasonably inferred from young More's 
 reception into so distinguished a household that his 
 father had then reached a position of some dignity, 
 though he had not yet become a serjeant-at-law. 
 No choice could have been wiser. Morton was a 
 man of learning as well as a sagacious statesman ; 
 and the discretion which was his most charac- 
 teristic quality may well have impressed itself on 
 More. His rise had been due to Cardinal Bourchier, 
 by whom he was originally introduced at Court, 
 and whom he ultimately succeeded in the archi- 
 episcopate, and he was as fortunate in the enmity 
 of Richard III. as he had been in the favour of 
 Edward IV. In his History of Packard III., More 
 says that he " was a man of great natural wit, very 
 well learned, honourable in behaviour, lacking in no 
 wise to win favour;" 2 a character which is improved 
 
 1 Roper, Life of More (edit. Lumby : Cambridge, 1880), 
 p. 6. 
 
 * English Works, p. 70.
 
 8 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 and amplified in the Utopia, in a passage so 
 significant of More's position and advantages in his 
 house that it may well be quoted here. "He was 
 of mean stature, and though stricken in age yet bare 
 he his body upright. In his face, did shine such an 
 amiable reverence as was pleasant to behold ; gentle 
 in communication, yet earnest and sage. He had 
 great delight many times with rough speech to his 
 suitors to prove, but without harm, what prompt wit 
 and what bold spirit were in every man. In the which, 
 as in a virtue much agreeing with his nature, so that 
 therewith were not joined impudency, he took great 
 delectation. And the same person as apt and meet 
 to have an administration in the weal public he 
 did lovingly embrace. In his speech he was fine, 
 eloquent, and pithy. In the law he had profound 
 knowledge, in wit he was incomparable, and in 
 memory excellent. These qualities which in him 
 were by nature singular, he by learning and use 
 had made perfect." x 
 
 This is the description which his young proUgt 
 gives of the great counsellor of Henry VII. — " The 
 King," he makes Master Hythlodaye add, " put 
 much trust in his counsel, and the commonwealth 
 also in a manner leaned unto him when I was 
 there." The whole passage — an imaginary convers- 
 ation at the Chancellor's house, in which Hythlodaye 
 takes the chief part — may not improbably be a re- 
 collection, rather than an invention, of More's, for 
 the social questions of the day undoubtedly received 
 much attention from Morton. He is now remem- 
 1 Ralph Robinson's Translation, Arber's edit. p. 36.
 
 EARLY LIFE 9 
 
 bered chiefly by " Morton's Fork," and the Union 
 of the Roses; and the active good that he did is 
 forgotten. Yet he has left more permanent me- 
 morials. Not only did he repair at his own cost the 
 official residence of his See, and carry out various 
 works at Oxford, of which the completion of the 
 Divinity School is the most famous, but he cut the 
 drain from Peterborough to Wisbeach still known as 
 " Morton's Leam," and is credited with the erection 
 of the Tower of Wisbeach and the rebuilding of 
 Rochester Bridge. He was in fact a man from whom 
 More would obtain the training of a philanthropist 
 as well as of a courtier. It is probable also that the 
 very definite views on the position of the English 
 Church for which More afterwards laid down his life 
 had their origin in the archbishop's tuition. Morton 
 was one of the archbishops who followed the ex- 
 ample of Chichele and Beaufort, under whom men 
 were taught to forget the claim of the English 
 primate to be altcrius orbis papa. The very words 
 used by Sir Thomas More on his trial seem an 
 echo of the policy of Morton, a complete abnegation 
 of the ancient national tradition. 
 
 Whatever influence his surroundings may have 
 exercised upon him, More seems — child though he 
 was — to have been no unimportant person in the 
 household of the Chancellor. " Though he was young 
 of years," says Roper in a well-known passage, 1 " yet 
 would he at Christmas-tide suddenly step in among 
 the players, and, never studying for the matter, make 
 a part of his own there presently before them, which 
 1 Pace 6.
 
 10 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 made the lookers-on more sport than all the players 
 beside. In whose wit and learning the Cardinal 
 much delighting would often say of him unto the 
 nobles that divers times dined with him, ' This child 
 here waiting at the table, whosoever shall live to 
 see it, will prove a marvellous man.' " A happy life it 
 was in the old world state of the medieval prelates. 
 Art flourished in all its richness under the shelter 
 of the Church. The sharp division of classes which 
 the Reformation was to accentuate was hardly felt 
 as yet, and the New Learning from Italy was begin- 
 ning to brighten the lives of priest and noble alike. 
 Perhaps it was of this time that Erasmus writes — 
 " Adolescens comoediolas et scripsit et egit." 1 His 
 life at any rate was a very happy one, and he looked 
 back to the archbishop in later years with the rever- 
 ence and gratitude that belong naturally to the first 
 who loves and fosters the bright hopes of boyhood. 
 " I assure you, Master Raphael," he makes himself 
 to say in the Utopia, " I took great delectation in 
 hearing you . . . and methought myself to be in 
 the mean time not only at home in mine own country, 
 but also through the pleasant remembrance of the 
 Cardinal, in whose house I was brought up of a 
 child, to wax a child again. And, friend Raphael, 
 though I did bear very great love towards you before, 
 yet, seeing you do so earnestly favour this man, you 
 will not believe how much my love towards you is 
 now increased." 
 
 How long More remained in the Chancellor's 
 household is uncertain, but the year of his removal 
 1 Epp. x. 30.
 
 EARLY LIFE 11 
 
 to Oxford is now believed to be 1492. That he 
 was sent to the University — no necessary introduc- 
 tion to the profession of the Law, for which his father 
 designed him — was due to the care of his patron, 
 who, says his grandson, " saw that he could not profit 
 so much in his own house as he desired, where there 
 were many distractions of public affairs." 1 Thus, 
 at fourteen, he was introduced to the great centre 
 of culture in England, where already the material 
 prosperity of the time was providing new endowments 
 for scholars, and whence students were crossing to 
 Italy to study Greek at what seemed to be the 
 fountain of all learning. At Morton's table, no 
 doubt, he would have heard talk of the subjects 
 which enchained men's minds in Italy and had 
 begun to touch the colder hearts of Englishmen ; 
 but the learning of the ecclesiastics and lawyers of 
 More's childhood belonged to an age that was rapidly 
 passing away, and even in the archbishop's house he 
 could have had little hint of the fulness of that new 
 light to the dawnings of which he was introduced 
 at Oxford. His juvenile performances show the 
 development of his mind very clearly. The string 
 of verses, hardly to be called a poem, entitled 
 " A merry jest how a sergeaunt would learne to 
 playe the frere," in default of any evidence of date, 
 would seem to belong to an earlier period than that 
 to which Sir James Mackintosh assigned it. Its 
 merit hardly deserves the eulogies passed upon it 
 by that author. 2 It is no doubt true that English 
 
 1 Cresacre More, p. 9. 
 
 2 Life of More, pp. 15—17.
 
 12 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 poetry was then at a low ebb, but the fact is hardly 
 to be accepted as proof of genius in all who essayed 
 to write verses. The whole jingle, which fills four 
 pages of the collected edition of More's English 
 Works, gives indications of juvenility in the writer 
 as well as of the decadence of English verse, and 
 shows no trace of the higher culture by which More 
 was marked after his Oxford studies had begun. 
 To the view that these lines were written when 
 More was quite a boy some support is also given by 
 the fact that they are printed at the beginning of 
 the collection above-mentioned, in which chrono- 
 logical order is clearly attempted. 
 
 An advance is to be traced in the lines which he 
 wrote, probably in some Oxford vacation, under the 
 nine allegorical representations of the ages of man 
 devised by him for his father's house in London. 
 In these a certain elegance of force appears : he was 
 learning at the University that sense of form and 
 style which he never lost. On the first pageant, for 
 instance, was depicted on the "goodly hanging of 
 fine painted cloth " a boy whipping a top, with these 
 lines appended — 
 
 " I am called Chyldhod, in play is all my mind, 
 To cast a coyte, a cokstele, and a ball. 
 A toppe can I set and drive it in Ms kynde, 
 But would to God these hatefull bookes all 
 Were in a fyre brent to poutler small. 
 Then myght I lede my lyfe alwayes in play : 
 Which life God send me to myne endyng daye." l 
 
 In the second pageant was shown a " goodly freshe 
 
 1 English Works, edit. 1537 ; and cf. Warton, History of 
 English Poetry (1st edit.), vol. iii. p. 101.
 
 EARLY LIFE 13 
 
 yonge man," riding, with a hawk on his wrist, followed 
 by a brace of greyhounds. On this the verses were — 
 
 " Manhod I am. Therefore I me delyght 
 To hunt ami hawk, to nourish up and fede 
 The grayhounde to the course, the hawke to the flyght, 
 And to bestride a good and lusty stede. 
 These thynges become a very man indede 
 Yet thinketh this boy his pevishe game swetter, 
 But what no force, his reason is no better." 
 
 The third represented the triumph of Cupid, who 
 stood upon the prostrate body of the " freshe yonge 
 man," with Venus at his side — 
 
 " Who so ne knoweth the strength and power and myght 
 Of Venus and me her lytle sonne Cupyde 
 Thou Manhod shalt a mirrour bene a ryght 
 By us subdued for all thy great pryde 
 My fyry dart perceth thy tender syde. 
 Now thou which erst despiseth children small 
 Shall waxe a chylde again and be wythall." 
 
 For the fourth there was Old Age — 
 
 " Old Age am I, with lokkes thynne and hore, 
 Of our short lyfe the last and best part. 
 Wyse and discrete : the publike wele therefore 
 I help to rule to my labour and smart. 
 Therefore, Cupyde, withdraw thy fyry dart. 
 Chargeable matters shall of love oppresse 
 The chyldish game and ydle business." l 
 
 For the others, Death, Fame, Time, Eternity, and 
 the Poet (whose verses are, significantly, in Latin), 
 the treatment is entirely conventional, and the 
 expression much weaker. 
 
 Upon these, again, a further advance, with the 
 distinct influence of Italian models, is to be seen in 
 
 1 English Works, pp. 3, 4.
 
 14 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the Bufull Lamentation of 1503; while the English 
 style comes out with ease and freshness in the prose 
 of the life of Pico della Mirandola, in 1504. We 
 can trace in the beginnings of his literary work the 
 influence of the Oxford of his day. But, to return. 
 More was entered at Canterbury College, one of the 
 foundations which afterwards made way for Christ 
 Church, and seems to have occupied a room also 
 in S. Mary Hall. 1 There he remained for two 
 years. Of the state of learning in Oxford at that 
 time very different opinions have been expressed. 
 Many, relying on the strong condemnation of 
 Erasmus and More, and forgetting that such lan- 
 guage has been used by the more advanced scholars 
 of all ages, would consider that no interest in 
 literature or culture was apparent. This is, surely, 
 a mistake. Though the Universities of England 
 had not the support which was afforded in Italy by 
 the circles of distinguished patrons of learning, the 
 great leaders of the English Renaissance and Reform- 
 ation, as well as their opponents, had received an 
 academical training. It was already fashionable to 
 patronize learning. Henry VII. was not forgetful 
 of his cultured mother, and Prince Arthur was a 
 constant visitor at Oxford. More significant still, 
 the University had chosen Morton as its Chancellor. 
 When More began to study in Oxford the attempt 
 to transplant Italian culture was being made with 
 energy and success. Grocyn, who had visited Italy 
 
 1 Vide Ant. Wood, Athenae Oxonienses (1st edit.), p. 32, 
 quoting Miles Windsor : cf. Cres. More, p. 9, and Hoddesdon, 
 p. 3 ; also Hearne's edition of Roper.
 
 EARLY LIFE 15 
 
 in 1488, was teaching Greek to an eager and in- 
 creasing audience. Linacre, a younger man, who 
 had also breathed the delicate atmosphere of the 
 Florentine Academy, and studied under Chalcondylas 
 and Poliziano, was More's especial instructor. 1 While 
 these men lectured on the classic literatures, and the 
 hearers began to perceive the dimensions of that 
 vast world of literature and art which it seemed to 
 be within their power to revivify and reconstruct, 
 not only boys like More, but men already working 
 in the world, professed ecclesiastics and parish priests 
 like Colet, gave up active life to enter on the new 
 course of study. For them, as for those who were 
 carrying the English name across the far seas, a new 
 world seemed to be open. Then it was that Colet 
 (the phrase is Mr. Seebohm's) "fell in love with" 
 More. The expression is hardly too strong. He was 
 now only fourteen, but there seems always to have 
 been all through his life a fascination about More 
 which no cultured man could resist. It was the union 
 of simplicity of manner and purity of soul with a swift 
 appreciation of the thoughts, and a true sympathy 
 for the sorrows of others, — of a keen intellect and 
 deep earnestness of purpose, softened by a bright 
 and continual humour. More might well be the 
 "soul" of Colet, as Tommaso Cavalieri was a few 
 years later of the great Florentine sculptor. Colet 
 was then twenty-six. He had already taken the 
 degree of Master of Arts, and was now studying 
 Greek with an intensity which soon induced him, 
 
 1 See ]n's Epistle to Dorpius; and Stapleton, de Tribua 
 Thomds {More), cap. I.
 
 16 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 not satisfied with what Grocyn and Linacre could 
 teach, to travel to France and Italy in pursuit of 
 wider culture. The friendship thus begun was to 
 last as long as Colet's life. The stern but saintly 
 priest never forgot his young Oxford friend. Of his 
 love and prayers he may well have thought when 
 in old age he bade the children of " Paul's " lift up 
 their little white hands for him. We have little 
 information of the actual course of More's studies 
 at Oxford beyond the bare statement of his letter 
 to Dorpius already referred to. His life could not 
 have been an easy one. The accounts we hear of 
 the hardships of students in Edward VI.'s reign 
 would probably be as true of forty years earlier. 
 Many rose between four and five, and after prayer 
 in the College chapel, studied till ten, when they 
 dined on very meagre fare — " content with a penny 
 piece of beef between four, having a pottage made 
 of the same beef with salt and oatmeal, and nothing 
 else. After their dinner," continues the description, 
 " they are reading or learning till five in the evening, 
 when they have a supper not better than their 
 dinner, immediately after which they go to reasoning 
 in problems or to some other study till nine or ten ; 
 and then being without fire are fain to walk or run 
 up and down for half-an-hour to get a heat in the 
 feet, when they go to bed." x 
 
 The path of study was not made smooth to More, 
 for in spite, or perhaps in consequence, of his dili- 
 gence, " in his allowance his father kept him very 
 
 1 T. Leaver, 1551, in a sermon at S. Paul's Cross, reprinted 
 by Mr. Arber.
 
 Sir John More. 
 
 From the drhiving by Holbein. 
 
 '"''.<<■' n
 
 EARLY LIFE 17 
 
 short, suffering him scarcely to have so much money 
 in his own custody as would pay for the mending of 
 his apparel," and demanding a strict account of his 
 expenses. This treatment, says his grandson, he 
 would often speak of and praise when he came to 
 riper }^ears, "affirming that by this means he was 
 curbed from all vice and withdrawn from many idle 
 expenses, either of gaming or keeping naughty com- 
 pany, so that he knew neither play nor other riot, 
 wherein most young men in these our lamentable 
 days plunge themselves too timely, to the utter over- 
 throw as well of learning and future virtue as of their 
 temporal estates." x Though the assiduity with which 
 More pursued his studies must have satisfied his 
 father, their direction was not so pleasing, for the 
 worthy Judge believed that Greek literature was not 
 likely to be of use to a lawyer. 2 Little practical 
 advantage indeed was to be gained at Oxford by one 
 destined for the Bar. The Medieval Universities of 
 the North were as a rule unfavourable to the study 
 of Jurisprudence and of Medicine. At Oxford a 
 degree in Law could not be obtained without seven 
 years' study after the completion of the Arts' course, 
 and this might well seem a waste of time to the keen 
 lawyer whose shrewd face we know so well from Hol- 
 bein's masterly drawing. Harpsfield, who adds a 
 few touches to Roper's record of these early years, 
 says that in the short time young More stayed at 
 Oxford — " being not fully two years, he wonderfully 
 profited in the Latin and Greek tongues." It was 
 these on which Colet too was at work : neither of the 
 
 1 Cres.More, p. 9. 2 Stapleton, p. 168. 
 
 C
 
 18 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 two fellow-students, it may well be, ran their " full 
 race in the study of the liberal sciences and divinity." 
 It was said of More that he did not learn the meaning 
 of a sentence from the knowledge of the words which 
 composed it, but that rather his swift appreciation of 
 the meaning of a sentence taught him the meaning 
 of the words themselves. He had a genius above 
 grammar, thought Pace. " Est enim Moro ingenium 
 plusque humanum." He learnt to write Latin with 
 great ease, says Erasmus, and to speak it as well as 
 his own tongue. 1 These studies, fruitful as they came 
 to be, were not to the taste of the hardworking 
 lawyer, and so the lad was taken away from Oxford, 
 when he had but learnt to love Colet much and to 
 love true religion and sacred learning more. It was 
 well for poor clerks like Thomas Wolsey to linger on 
 teaching their lads the grammar, or for scholars 
 like Colet and Linacre and Latimer to dally with 
 their books. There was other work for one who would 
 be a lawyer. 
 
 Accordingly young More was removed from 
 Oxford, and in 1494 or 1495 entered at New Inn, 
 a House which had not long been made an Inn 
 of Chancery. 2 There he gave his attention to law, 
 
 1 See Pace, De Fructu qui ex Doctrind Percipitur; Basle, 
 1517 ; and many passages in the Letters of Erasmus. 
 
 2 "The entry under 11 Henry VII. is as follows : ' Thomas 
 More admissus est in Societat. xij die Februar. a° sup. dicto 
 et pardonat. est quatuor vacacoes ad instanciam Johis. More 
 patris sui.' Although his name is not to be found on the books 
 of New Inn, a Society then recently established, there is no 
 doubt that he was placed there for some time. ... He 
 was in due time removed to Lincoln's Inn, and, having 
 passed through the usual course of study, he was admitted as 
 an utter barrister, but the early books of that Society do not
 
 EARLY LIFE 19 
 
 but not even then with an entire devotion. He 
 could not forget the studies of his childhood or the 
 teachings of his good friend Colet ; for to this 
 period may probably be attributed the composition 
 of his Latin epigrams, published some years later, 
 and those discursive wanderings among the writings 
 of the Fathers which he afterwards utilized in his 
 theological controversies. On February 12, 1496, he 
 was admitted a student of Lincoln's Inn, where he 
 was to obtain a more severe legal training. Here 
 he continued " with a very small allowance " 1 until 
 his call to the Bar in 1500. 
 
 Meanwhile he formed another friendship, which 
 partook, perhaps even more than his affection 
 for Colet, of the nature of love. Erasmus, already 
 famous, came to England with his pupil and friend, 
 William Blount, Lord Mountjoy, and may have 
 met More at the table of Colet's father on his 
 way through London, as Mr. Seebohm suggests. 2 
 Cresacre More tells us that at their first meeting, 
 and before they were known to each other, an argu- 
 ment arose between them, in which Erasmus, after 
 the scholastic fashion defending the weaker side, 
 
 give the date of the calls to the Bar. The character he 
 acquired as a lawyer may be judged from his soon after being 
 selected by the governors to deliver lectures on the science 
 at one of the Inns of Chancery dependent on their house. 
 Furnival's Inn was the scene of his readings, which were so 
 highly estimated that this annual appointment was renewed 
 for three successive years." — Foss, Judges of England, vol. v. 
 p. 206. 
 
 1 Roper, p. 6. 
 
 2 Oxford Reformers, p. 113. See too Professor Jebb's 
 delightful Rede Lecture on Erasmus, p. 13.
 
 20 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 was so hardly beset by the wit of his antagonist, 
 that, remembering whom Colet declared to be " the 
 one genius of England," he cried out, "Aut tu es 
 Morus, aut nullus." " Aut tu es Erasmus, aut 
 diabolus," was the retort. The acquaintance thus 
 begun became a deep affection ; before a few months 
 had passed Erasmus is found speaking 1 of " my own 
 More," and complaining, in all the glowing phrases of 
 Renaissance friendship, of his delay in writing. Years 
 did not change their feelings ; their affection became 
 famous : twenty years afterwards Tyndale sneeringly 
 spoke of Erasmus as More's "darling," and in 1533 
 Erasmus himself says, " In Moro mihi videor extinctus 
 adeoju/a <pvxv juxta Pythagoram duobus erat." It is 
 the phrase of Michaelangelo in the very same year. 
 "I cannot enjoy life without the soul," he wrote to 
 Angelini, and it was Cavalieri that he meant by 
 that endearing title. The Renaissance differed 
 indeed in England and in Italy, but it had the 
 same passionate sense of the value of friendship 
 and fellow-work. Again, wrote Erasmus to Ulrich 
 von Hutten, "More seems to be born for friend- 
 ship, of which he is a true follower and fast keeper. 
 ... If any man desires a perfect pattern of friend- 
 ship, there is none better than More." "When," 
 says he, writing of his first introduction to English 
 society, " when did Nature mould a character more 
 gentle, endearing, and happy, than that of Thomas 
 More ? " 
 
 The friends did not often meet during the first 
 two years of their acquaintance, for Erasmus was at 
 1 Epp. vi. 11, p. 354.
 
 EARLY LIFE 21 
 
 Oxford. He left England in 1500, the last week 
 of his stay being enlivened by a practical joke of 
 More's, who, when they were both guests of Lord 
 Mountjoy at Greenwich, induced Erasmus to take a 
 walk, and led him to the royal nursery, where the un- 
 fortunate scholar was called upon for Latin verses, and 
 was quite unable to produce them without preparation. 1 
 
 Though Erasmus left England, More had now 
 many friends around him. Grocyn had received the 
 Rectory of S. Lawrence in the Old Jewry ; Linacre 
 was also living in London ; a new friend, Lilly, also 
 a scholar from Italy, lodged in the Charterhouse ; and 
 early in 1505 Colet came into residence at S. Paul's. 2 
 
 Having been called to the Bar, More returned, 
 under the influence perhaps of his old friends, to 
 the study of other than legal subjects. He delivered 
 lectures in Grocyn's church on the De Civitate Dei, 
 dwelling on the historical and philosophical lessons 
 of that great work rather than on its theology. 
 That the lectures were intended to advance the 
 cause of the " New Learning " is evident from the 
 manner in which Cresacre More speaks of them. 
 He tells us also, following Stapleton, that Grocyn 
 was deserted : " almost all England left his lecture 
 and flocked to hear More." He was equally success- 
 ful at the Bar ; he obtained a good practice, though 
 he never undertook a case of the justice of which 
 he was not satisfied ; 3 and he was appointed a 
 
 1 The letter describing the scene is given by Jortin, vol. iii. 
 p. 105 sqq. 
 
 2 Knight's Life of Colet, p. 63. 
 
 * Stapleton, c. ii. ; Roper, p. 6 ; Cres. More, p. 44.
 
 22 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 reader at Furnival's Inn, where he delivered lectures 
 for more than three years. 1 
 
 But he did not therefore relax his study of 
 
 theology, or vary his own religious life. He " applied 
 
 his whole mind," says Erasmus, " to exercises of piety, 
 
 looking to and pondering over the priesthood in vigils, 
 
 fastings and prayers and the like austerities. In 
 
 the which thing he showed himself far more prudent 
 
 than most candidates, who thrust themselves rashly 
 
 into that arduous profession, without any previous 
 
 trial of their powers." He wore a hair shirt next 
 
 his skin, fasted much, and heard mass every day. He 
 
 lived, too, near the Charterhouse, daily attending 
 
 its services, but without taking any vow. In spite 
 
 of this devotion, and of his earnest desire for 
 
 religious work, which induced him at one time to 
 
 think of becoming a Franciscan, secular business 
 
 increased upon him. In January 1504, he was 
 
 returned to Parliament ; for what constituency there 
 
 seems to be no means of discovering. His return, 
 
 probably due to Court influence, may be attributed 
 
 — though there is no such hint in any of his 
 
 biographies — to his recent poetical lament on the 
 
 death of the Queen. Elizabeth, wife of Henry 
 
 VII, died in February 1503, and More celebrated 
 
 her virtues and deplored her loss in strains which 
 
 may well have reached the royal ear. The Bufull 
 
 Lamentation is in itself a work of little merit. 
 
 Written on the model of the tragical soliloquies 
 
 which had been introduced to English readers by 
 
 Lydgate in his adaptation of Boccaccio's De Casibus 
 
 1 Life by R. B. : Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. ii. p. 64.
 
 EARLY LIFE 23 
 
 Virorum Illustrium, it is in form much more elegant 
 than in matter. The attempt at such a metre 
 showed that English poetry would not long remain 
 content with the shuffling jingle of its decadence, 
 but the expression rarely rises above the common- 
 place. Two stanzas, however, may be quoted, the 
 one as a specimen of the style, the other as an illus- 
 tration of More's own views. 
 
 " If worship might have kept me, I had not gone ; 
 If wit might have me saved, I needed not fear : 
 If money might have holp I lacked none. 
 But, good God, what vayleth all this gear ? 
 When death is come, Thy mighty messenger, 
 Obey we must, there is no remedy. 
 Me hath he summoned and lo now here I lie." 
 
 " Yet was I late promised otherwise 
 This year to live in wealth and delice. 
 Lo, where unto cometh thy blandishing promise, 
 false astrology and devinatrice. 
 Of God's secret making thyself so wise. 
 How true for this year thy prophecy : 
 The year yet lasteth and lo now here I lie." 
 
 This latter stanza shows that thus early More had 
 repudiated the belief in astrology common even 
 among the educated and eminent men of his time. 
 He ro ppfltpd big PAnr)pTr>nnthrn in several Latin 
 pjwraTTiS n/nd i n thft UfnrtJf^Fnr his v7ews7)rTtnTs 
 subject More may have been indebted to the writings 
 of Pico della Mirandola, who, though he had not seen 
 the folly of all magic, had denounced the imposture 
 of judicial astrology. There was, perhaps, less crying 
 cause for the denunciation in England than in Italy, 
 where, in the midst of a laxity of religious and moral 
 life, the pernicious superstition had managed subtly
 
 24 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 to link itself even with the victorious Humanism of 
 the asfe ; but the manner in which More derided the 
 professors of the " science " at such a moment and in 
 such a poem was not therefore the less daring. 
 
 The Parliament of 1504 met in a troublous time. 
 Fears of dynastic war had not yet passed away, and 
 men were feeling under Empson and Dudley, 
 " those two catterpi liars of the common wealth," the 
 power of an administration far more tyrannical than 
 that of Morton. For seven years Parliament had not 
 been summoned : money had been obtained from 
 submissive convocations and from the exactions of the 
 King's ministers. Notwithstanding the unpopularity 
 of these men, in which the King shared, the royal 
 influence was strong enough to procure the choice 
 of Dudley for Speaker in the Parliament of 1504. 
 
 According to Roper 1 three fifteenths were de- 
 manded as aids for the knighting of Prince Arthur, 
 and the marriage of Margaret, the King's eldest 
 daughter, to the King of Scots. Thomas More came 
 into notice by his strong opposition to their request : 
 " at the last debating whereof he made such arguments 
 and reasons there against that the King's demands 
 were thereby overthrown ; so that one of the King's 
 Privy Chamber, named Mr. Tyler, brought word to the 
 King out of the Parliament house, that a beard- 
 less boy had disappointed all his purposes." The 
 Court, in fact, had to be contented with a grant of 
 £20,000 for each demand, of which £10,000 was 
 remitted. This is the story told by Roper. But 
 there seems reason to suppose that he has made 
 1 Roper, p. 7.
 
 EARLY LIFE 25 
 
 a mistake, and has either confused the Parliament 
 of 1504 with the great Council of 1488 or Parliament 
 of 1489, or refers to some debate in a Council still 
 later, not relating to a demand for any feudal aid. 
 At any rate it is not recorded that three fifteenths 
 were demanded in 1504, or that there was any 
 opposition in Parliament on a monetary question. 1 
 
 The opposition — to return to Roper's story — was 
 not forgotten or forgiven. The King's indignation 
 could not vent itself on Thomas More, "forasmuch 
 as he nothing having, nothing could lose"; he 
 therefore revenged himself on his father, who was 
 one of the Commissioners for the collection of the 
 grant, by putting him in the Tower, and making 
 him pay a fine of £100. Nor was the matter thus 
 ended. Bishop Fox of Winchester, the Keeper of 
 the Privy Seal, endeavoured to induce Thomas 
 More to confess his offence, and thus become amen- 
 able to punishment, and he was only saved by a 
 timely warning from the bishop's chaplain. 2 
 
 To this year also belongs a most interesting record 
 of More's private life, a letter to Colet, printed by 
 
 1 The difficulties of the question are considerable, and I 
 cannot consider any suggestion that has yet been offered as 
 wholly satisfactory. Perhaps the clearest statement is that 
 of Bishop Stubbs {Lectures on Medieval and Modem History, 
 p. 365) : " The story that Sir Thomas More in a Parliament in 
 1502 prevented the Commons from granting an aid for the 
 marriage of Margaret, though told on good authority, falls to 
 the ground for the good reason that no Parliament was held in 
 1502, and that in 1504 the grant was actually made. More 
 probably was instrumental in limiting the sum." But Roper 
 is the original authority for the statement, and he does not 
 mention the year. 
 
 2 Roper, pp. 7, 8.
 
 26 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Stapleton. 1 We learn from it that tlie young lawyer 
 was living in seclusion, and under the spiritual direc- 
 tion of his old friend. His mind was disturbed by 
 temptation and anxiety : at one moment he was 
 determined to seek refuge in the cloister : at the next 
 his ambition and his strong social sympathies were 
 predominant. Of this state of mind the letter, 
 written in October 1504, gives very clear indica- 
 tion. A short extract will suffice : " What is there 
 here in this city which would move any man to 
 live well, and doth not rather by a thousand devices 
 draw him back, and with as many allurements 
 swallow him up in all manner of wickedness who 
 of himself were otherwise well disposed, and doth 
 endeavour accordingly to climb up the painful 
 hill of Virtue ? Whithersoever that any man 
 cometh, what can he find but fained love and 
 the honey-poison of venomous flattery? In one 
 place he shall find cruel hatred, in another hear 
 nothing but quarrels and suits. Whithersoever we 
 cast our eyes, what can we see but victualling-houses, 
 fishmongers, butchers, cooks, pudding-makers, fishers 
 or fowlers, who minister matter to our bellies and 
 set forward the service of the world and the prince 
 thereof and devil ? Yea, the houses themselves, 2 I 
 know not how, do deprive us of a great part of our 
 sight of Heaven, so as the height of our buildings 
 and not the circle of our horizon doth limit our 
 prospect." Then after speaking of the simplicity 
 
 1 Stapleton, cap. ii. p. 163. 
 
 2 A significant comparison might be made between this 
 passage and the Utopia, pp. 78, 79. (Arber's edition.)
 
 EARLY LIFE 27 
 
 of the country, More turns to the difficulty of finding 
 spiritual instruction skilful enough for the urban 
 population. "There came into the pulpit at S. 
 Paul's divers men that promise to cure the diseases 
 of others ; but when they have all done, and made 
 a fair and goodly discourse, their life on the other 
 side doth so jar with their saying that they rather in- 
 crease than assuage the griefs of their hearers. . . . 
 But if such a man be accounted by learned men 
 most fit to cure in whom the sick man hath greatest 
 hope, who doubteth then but that you alone are the 
 fittest in all London to heal their maladies whom 
 every one is willing to suffer to touch their wounds 
 and in whom what confidence every one hath and how 
 ready every one is to do what you prescribe, both you 
 have heretofore sufficiently tried, and now the desire 
 that everybody hath of your speedy return may 
 manifest the same. ... In the meanwhile, I pass my 
 time with Grocyn, Linacre, and Lilly ; the first, as 
 you know, the director of my life in your absence, 
 the second the master of my studies, and the third 
 my most dear companion. Farewell : and love me 
 as you have ever done." London, October 21. 
 
 To the perplexity which this letter suggests 
 More had returned to his old Humanist studies, 
 and his final decision was due probably in equal 
 proportions to the living example of Colet, and 
 to the direction which his literary interests now 
 happily took. It is absurd to assert that More 
 was disgusted with monastic corruption — that he 
 "loathed monks as a disgrace to the Church." 
 He was throughout his life a warm friend of the
 
 28 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 religious orders, and a devoted admirer of the 
 monastic ideal. He condemned the vices of indi- 
 viduals; he said, as his great-grandson says, "that at 
 that time religious men in England had somewhat 
 degenerated from their ancient strictness and fervour 
 of spirit " ; but there is not the slightest sign that his 
 decision to decline the monastic life was due in the 
 smallest degree to a distrust of the system or a 
 distaste for the theology of the Church. 
 
 On the other hand, it would be idle to deny that 
 More turned now to what seemed to him a wider 
 sphere, and that he was profoundly influenced in 
 his choice of the New Learning and the Humanism 
 of the day. The cloister, it was unquestionable, did 
 not encourage literary pursuits. No one laughed 
 more loudly than the young lawyer at the Epistolae 
 Obscurorum Virorum. He knew something of the 
 miseries Erasmus had endured at Stein. At the 
 same moment he was allured by the extraordinary 
 attraction of the Italian scholar life. It was in fact not 
 the Reformation but the Renaissance which took More 
 from the cloister. 1 More turned then from the life of 
 a professed religious to that of a Christian scholar 
 and man of the world. He read at first in conjunction 
 with Lilly, with whom he translated Greek epigrams. 
 He wrote also " certain meters for the boke of 
 Fortune and caused them to be printed in the 
 
 1 Froude, Life and Letters of Erasmus, p. 97. Mr. Seehohm 
 asserts, most unwarrantably, so far as I can see — and I believe 
 I have read all the Catholic biographies, certainly all the 
 English ones — that " More's Catholic biographers have acknow- 
 ledged that he turned in disgust from the impurity of the 
 cloister."
 
 EARLY LIFE 29 
 
 begynnyng of that boke." * Of these the following 
 lines in his description of the fickle divinity may well 
 be preserved — 
 
 " Fast by her side doth weary Labour stand, 
 Pale Fear also and Sorrow all bewept ; 
 Disdain and Hatred on that other hand 
 Eke restless watch from sleep with travail kept ; 
 His eyes drowsy and looking as he slept. 
 Before her standeth Danger and Envy, 
 Flattery, Deceit, Mischief, and Tyranny." 
 
 It is impossible to read the lines attentively 
 without being reminded of some picture of Botti- 
 celli's. There is the same quaint beauty and far- 
 away suggestiveness of an underlying pathos. More 
 was learning to understand the complexity of life 
 and struggling to embrace, maybe, all its many and 
 divergent interests. His "Fortune" is like Botti- 
 celli's Calumny. It appeals as strangely, and as 
 widely, at the parting of two ways of life. 
 
 It is no affectation to assume that More at this 
 period was profoundly influenced by the Italian 
 Renaissance. It is certain that his chief interest 
 during these years was reserved for the works of Pico 
 della Mirandola, to which he had been about this time 
 directed. No attraction could have been more happy. 
 From the narrowness which might not unnaturally 
 have arisen from the severe attention which he had 
 so long paid to the study of the law and from 
 the self-centred religion which his Carthusian vigils 
 had fostered, he must be aroused if he were to be of 
 the real service to his country for which his eminent 
 abilities and virtues qualified him. But to wean 
 
 1 Eng. Works, p. v.
 
 30 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 More from the purely ascetic and studious life which 
 possessed such great attraction for his lofty spirit 
 could be no easy task. That it was attempted by 
 Colet is very probable, for we know that he advised 
 More to marry. But the ultimate direction of the 
 young lawyer's life was very greatly influenced by 
 the life and writings of Pico. No example could 
 be more fitting. In that fascinating hero of the 
 Renaissance there was every beauty to attract, every 
 virtue to secure, and every talent to confirm the 
 admiration of such a man as More. In him no 
 keen eye could detect the subtle flavour of a Pagan 
 life. Nor was his Christianity cold, unsympathetic, 
 or unreal. His abilities were remarkable even 
 among his contemporaries, and his energy and 
 devotion were as extraordinary. The whole story 
 of his life, of its fair hopes, bitter disappoint- 
 ments, and calm peaceful ending, sounds like one 
 of the poetic legends which the fancy of the age 
 so freely created and cherished. In him men 
 might seem to see the Tannhaiiser whose fond and 
 fickle passion for the Pagan goddess had vanished 
 in the glorious dawn of Christianity. A young man, 
 " of feature and shape seemly and beauteous, of 
 stature goodly and high, of flesh tender and soft, 
 his visage lovely and fair, his colour white inter- 
 mingled with comely reds, his eyes grey and quick 
 of look, his teeth white and even, his hair yellow and 
 not too picked" 1 — so More describes him in his 
 quaint translation of Gian Francesco's biography. 
 " Nature," said Poliziano, 2 " seemed to have showered 
 
 1 English Works, p. 3. 
 
 2 Quoted by Symoiids, Revival of Learning, p. 329.
 
 EARLY LIFE 31 
 
 on this man, or hero, all her gifts. He was tall and 
 finely moulded; from his face a something of divinity 
 shone forth. Acute, and gifted with prodigious 
 memory, in his studies he was indefatigable, in his 
 style perspicuous and eloquent. You could not say 
 whether his talents or his moral qualities conferred 
 on him the greater lustre." 
 
 Pico indeed fills a unique, if not a large, space in 
 the history of the Renaissance. Learned like the 
 ablest of his contemporaries in the classical languages, 
 he was almost alone in making some claim to be an 
 Orientalist, for he studied Hebrew, Arabic, and 
 Chaldee. The favourite of Lorenzo de' Medici, he 
 was also the friend and disciple of Savonarola, and 
 in that age of strong temptations, intellectual and 
 sensual, he had the wisdom to refuse the evil and 
 choose the good. He combined in a remarkable 
 degree the charm and the address of a man of the 
 world with the studious devotion of a man of letters. 
 " I desire you," he wrote to Andrea Corneo, " not so 
 to embrace Martha that you should utterly forsake 
 Mary. Love them and use them both, as well study 
 as worldly occupation." Lorenzo had no courtier 
 more courtly than he, yet he was always a bookworm 
 at heart. His nephew says of him, at the time 
 when he was most earnestly given to religion, that — 
 
 " He said once that whatsoever should happen, 
 fell there never so great misadventure, he could 
 never, as him thought, be moved to wrath, but if 
 his chests perished in which his books lay that he 
 had with great travail and watch compiled ; but 
 forasmuch as he considered that he laboured only
 
 32 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 for the love of God and profit of His Church and 
 that he had dedicate unto Him all his works, his 
 studies, and his doings, and sith he saw that sith 
 God is almighty they could not miscarry but if it 
 were either by His commandment or by His suffer- 
 ance, he verily trusted sith God is all good that 
 He would not suffer him to have that occasion of 
 heaviness." 
 
 His curious learning was put to a curious use. 
 He clung passionately to the idea of the unity of 
 knowledge, the unity of truth. Thus he gave 
 himself to an attempt to reconcile Platonic, neo- 
 PJ atonic, and neo-Pythagorean opinions with Christi- 
 anity. The difficulty of explaining the extraordinary 
 complications into which Pico's strange jumble of 
 erudition led him is very considerable. Confused 
 he certainly was by his linguistic and cabalistic 
 vagaries ; but heretical, so far as he can be understood, 
 he was not. He died at peace with the Church, and 
 was buried in a Dominican habit in Savonarola's 
 own San Marco, where the plain marble tablet that 
 records his virtues and his fame may still be seen. 
 It is rather from the writings of others, and es- 
 pecially from the touching little biography which 
 More translated, little from his own books or the 
 somewhat prim portrait in the Ufflzi, 1 that we learn 
 his mental and physical semblance. Almost all 
 those who write about him dwell upon his rare 
 physical beauty. It was the special goodness of God, 
 they say, that kept him pure in his later life. He 
 
 1 This picture, long believed to be that of Pico, seems now 
 to be asserted with authority to be that of one of the Medici.
 
 EARLY LIFE 33 
 
 was born, indeed, to be above sensual temptations ; 
 his mind was essentially that of a mystic, and, 
 having once tasted the joys of the spiritual life, 
 lie could never abandon them. There is much in 
 his sayings and doings that reminds one of Molinos 
 and his followers — 
 
 " Of outward observances," says his nephew, Gian 
 Francesco, " he gave no very great force — we speak 
 not of those observances which the Church com- 
 mandeth to be observed, for in those he was diligent, 
 but we speak of those ceremonies which folk bring 
 up, setting the very service of God aside, which is, 
 as Christ saith, to be worshipped in spirit and in 
 truth. But in the inward affects of the mind he 
 cleaved to God with very fervent love and devotion." 
 
 And worthy of Pascal are those famous words of 
 his to Poliziano — 
 
 "Love God, while we be in this body, we rather 
 may than either know Him or by speech utter Him : 
 and yet had we rather alway by knowledge never 
 find the thing that we seek than by love possess the 
 thing which also without love were in vain found." 
 
 Typical as Pico was of the best side of the Italian 
 Renaissance, no better influence could have touched 
 More at the turning-point of his life, and his transla- 
 tion of the biography, with the letters and poems, 
 marks a definite influence on the life of the English 
 statesman. He was engaged on it, there seems no 
 doubt, at the very time when he abandoned the idea 
 of becoming a Carthusian and decided to live in the 
 world, a student, a lawyer, a man of affairs, but 
 always before all things a Christian. More had 
 
 D
 
 34 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 assimilated a great deal of the Italian culture of his 
 age without adopting its vices. He was an " Italian- 
 ate Englishman " in a different sense fom that which 
 the expression bore fifty years after his death. He 
 had a genuine love of learning for its own sake and 
 was a strenuous champion of the Greek as well as 
 the Latin classics. He was himself already well 
 acquainted with the chief savants and litterateurs of 
 Europe, and his introduction of Pico to the English 
 reader was probably undertaken with the intention 
 of making England alive to the importance of the 
 movement in Italian thought, as well as of showing 
 how the progress of learning and inquiry was 
 intimately bound up in the noblest lives with 
 religion. 
 
 There is much similarity between Pico and More. 
 Both were keen classical scholars, tinged with the 
 mysticism of Renaissance imaginings, men of wide 
 human interests, bent on bringing the Divine Spirit 
 into every sphere of human thought. What has 
 been said with such fine clearness of Pico's position 
 is almost equally true of More's — 
 
 " This high dignity of man " — which was the 
 characteristic belief of both Italian and Englishman 
 in the revival of learning — " thus bringing the dust 
 under his feet into sensible communion with the 
 thoughts and affections of the angels, was supposed 
 to belong to him, not as renewed by a religious 
 system, but by his own natural right ; and it was a 
 counterpoise to the increasing tendency of medieval 
 religion to depreciate man's nature, to sacrifice this 
 or that element in it, to keep the degrading or
 
 EARLY LIFE 35 
 
 painful accidents of it always in view. It helped 
 man onward to that reassertion of himself, that 
 rehabilitation of human nature, the body, the senses, 
 the heart, the intelligence, which the Renaissance 
 fulfils." 
 
 Like the Italian Humanist, More was penetrated 
 with the sense of the beauty and the mystery of 
 life. Rich colours and the strange recesses of occult 
 investigation, the quaintness of old world learning, 
 and the pure human beauty of classic ideals of 
 literature and art, the thrilling chords of music and 
 the simple innocence of animal life, the triumph of 
 self-sacrifice, the joys of friendship and of love, 
 the thoughts of Plato and the divine mysteries of the 
 Christian religion, appealed each in their turn to his 
 sensitive consciousness, and ascetic though he was 
 his inner contemplation never blinded him to the 
 loveliness of human life. Pico was as far removed 
 from the ignorant bigotry satirized in the Letters 
 of obscure men as from the scarce veiled Paganism 
 of many disciples of the New Learning. To him it 
 did not seem that Christianity was less true because 
 Paganism was so beautiful, and the same thought 
 was never absent from the mind of More. 
 
 The kinship of soul was natural. Powerfully in- 
 fluenced himself by the story of Pico's life, it was 
 natural that More should desire to share the benefit 
 with others. He accordingly published a translation 
 of the life and Works, 1 which he dedicated as a New 
 
 1 " The Life of John Picus, Earl of Mirandula, a great 
 Lorde of Italy, an excellent connyng man in all sciences, and 
 vertuous of liuing : with divers Epistles and other workes of 
 y° sayd John Picus, full of greate science, vertue and
 
 36 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Year's gift to his "right entirely beloved sister in 
 Christ Joyeuce Leigh." 
 
 The life begins with mention of the noble ancestry 
 of Pico, and passes on to his extraordinary aptitude 
 for study, reaching its chief interest with the chapter 
 on his famous challenge at Rome. " There nine 
 hundred questions he proposed of diverse and sundry 
 matters, as well in logic and philosophy as in divinity, 
 with great study picked and sought out as well of 
 the Latin authors as of the Greeks; and partly set 
 out of the secret mysteries of the Hebrews, Chaldees, 
 and Arabies, and many things drawn out of the old 
 obscure philosophy of Pythagoras, Trismegistus, and 
 Orpheus, and many other things strange to all folk 
 (except right few special excellent men), before that 
 day not unknown only but also unheard." The story 
 then tells how disappointment and failure attended 
 this hardy challenger, and how he was led to think 
 more especially of the religious life than he had yet 
 done : how he burned five books of love-verses, " with 
 other like fantasies he had made in his vulgar 
 tongue " : how he studied the sacred Scriptures and 
 gave himself to prayer and almsgiving, purposing to 
 walk from town to town, crucifix in hand, preaching 
 Christ; how he died, and how the holy friar 
 Savonarola glorified his memory. To this simple 
 story were added two letters to his nephew Gian 
 
 wisedome : whose life and woorkes bene worthy and digne to 
 be read, and often to be had in memory. Translated out of 
 Latin into Englishe by Maister Thomas More," occupies pp. 
 1 — 34 in More's English Works. It has also been edited by 
 Mr. J. M. Rigg, London, 1890.
 
 EARLY LIFE 37 
 
 Francesco Pico, and one to his famous merchant 
 friend, Andrea Corneo, marked by a strange spiritual 
 beauty. There is also a meditation on Psalm xvi., 
 and renderings of some of Pico's religious poetry. 
 Quotations from these have been given by Mr. 
 Seebohm in his Oxford Reformers: they are interest- 
 ing rather as illustrating the character of Pico than 
 that of More. It is sufficient to say that the spirit 
 of piety which they breathe was as natural to the 
 Englishman as to the Italian. 
 
 To the firm independent tone which marks the 
 whole volume has been attributed, perhaps with 
 truth, the step that More now took. He aban- 
 doned the idea of a monastic life, and, in 1505, he 
 married. 
 
 The tale of his courtship as told by his son-in-law 
 is peculiar, but characteristic both of the times and 
 of the man. 1 It seems that Master John Colt, of 
 the Essex family of that name, 2 having (as Roper 
 significantly remarks) three daughters, often invited 
 him to his house, New Hall. More thought the 
 second daughter the " fairest and best favoured," and 
 would gladly have made her his wife, but when he 
 thought of the slight that might seem to be thrown 
 upon her elder sister by the choice, he " of a certain 
 pity framed his fancy towards her, and soon after- 
 wards married her." Whatever may be truth of this 
 story, there is no doubt that More was devotedly 
 
 1 Roper, p. 6 ; Ores. More, p. 29. 
 
 2 I may be permitted here to refer to the valuable and com- 
 plete History and Genealogy of the Colts (Edinburgh, 1887), by 
 my brother-in-law, the present head of the family.
 
 38 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 attached to his wife, and lived most happily with 
 her. Erasmus, writing some years after her death, 
 says that she was quite young, and that More had 
 her taught various kinds of learning, and especially 
 music. " His affection " — Father Bridgett very 
 prettily notes in his Life of More, 1 — " is shown by one 
 little word in his own epitaph, composed more than 
 twenty years after her death. He calls her More's 
 dear little wife (uxorcida Ifori)." She was not his 
 first love. As a boy of sixteen he fell in love. He 
 was but a poor scholar. 
 
 "Then the duenna and the guarded door 
 Baffled the stars and bade us meet no more." 
 
 A quarter of a century later they met again, in 
 1519, and More wrote some pretty verses. 
 
 On his marriage he took a house in Bucklersbury, 
 to be near his father. For the next few years we 
 have only scattered notices of his life. He was 
 evidently still studying and practising the Law. 
 Erasmus seems to have visited him towards the 
 end of the year 1505, 2 to have found him writing 
 Latin epigrams, and to have written with him a 
 declamation in the style of Lucian. The visit, how- 
 ever, was not a long one, and though More was 
 surrounded by his friends, Colet, Grocyn, Lilly, and 
 Linacre, he was by no means safe from the King's 
 resentment. He had even serious thoughts of 
 flight, 3 and apparently did visit Paris and Lou vain. 4 
 
 1 Page 54. 2 Erasm. Epp. x. 30. 3 Roper, p. 8. 
 
 4 Ep. ad Dorpium.
 
 EARLY LIFE 39 
 
 Meanwhile several children were born to him : 
 three daughters, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Cicely : 
 and lastly, in 1509, his son John. In this year 
 the clouds which had overhung More's course dis- 
 persed, and on the accession of Henry VIII. he 
 sprang, almost at one bound, into fame.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS. 
 
 " Vidisti ne unquam hoc horto quidquam amoenius ? Vix 
 opinor in insulis Fortunatis esse quidquam jucundius. 
 Plane mihi videor videre paradisum." — Erasmus, Colloq. 
 Symposium. 
 
 The accession of Henry VIII. may not unjustly be 
 considered a decisive epoch. As far as such arbi- 
 trary divisions are ever satisfactory, it may seem 
 to us now to have marked in England the end of 
 what we call the Middle Ages, and the first distinct 
 indication of the rise of the modern framework 
 of society. Whatever be the value we may attach 
 to modern statements of this kind, we cannot fail 
 to recognize the fact that to the Englishmen of 
 that age the year 1509 appeared undoubtedly to 
 be the beginning of a new era. The country seemed 
 to cast her nighted colour off, to awake from the 
 sullen torpor in which she had watched the harsh 
 avarice of the old King's declining years. All had 
 been repression, and national policy had spoken 
 only through the monarch ; public feeling finding 
 no congenial expression had been'heard but as a 
 stifled undercurrent of complaint. Now all was
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 41 
 
 changed. The King was young and gallant, the 
 representative of all the interests and thoughts of 
 the nation. The daring spirit of adventure and 
 excitement, which was still as much that of the 
 knight-errant as that of the explorer ; the delight in 
 luxury, in rich, oriental, imaginative grandeur ; the 
 wide social and literary interests of the time, — were 
 all reflected in Henry VIII. He was, in fact, at his 
 accession, as prominent a figure in England's Renais- 
 sance as he afterwards became in her Reformation. 
 All that spoke of the past gloom was removed. 
 Empson and Dudley were hastily destroyed by a form 
 of justice, with the spirit of which the new King 
 could hardly have been in harmony. For ecclesiastics 
 and lawyers the new Court substituted gallants and 
 noblemen. And, for the first two years of the reign 
 at least, King and people alike gave themselves up to 
 enjoyment. The fairest hopes surrounded the new 
 King; hopes of which More's congratulatory verses 
 on the accession are the scarcely extravagant ex- 
 pression. The young barrister joined in the chorus 
 of joy which greeted Henry VIII., and commemo- 
 rated the coronation in several Latin poems. Of 
 these the carmen gratulatorium 1 presented to the 
 King himself is the longest and most important. 
 It is introduced by a skilful explanation of the delay 
 which occurred in its presentation. The artist who 
 was to have illustrated it has been ill, More says; 
 but his neglect is after all, perhaps, of no conse- 
 quence, for so joyful an event must remain ever fresh 
 
 1 Latin Works (edit. Louvain, 1569), p. 21.
 
 42 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 in men's memories. The poem itself contains several 
 characteristic passages, including no obscure reference 
 to the tyranny of Henry VII. The following is 
 More's description of the new King. 
 
 " Tanta tibi est majestatis reverentia sacrae, 
 
 Virtutes merito quam peperere tuae. 
 Quae tibi sunt fuerant patrum quacunque tuorum, 
 
 Secula prisca quibus nil habuere prius. 
 Est tibi namque tui princeps prudentia patris 
 
 Estque tibi matris dextra benigna tuae. 
 Est tibi mens aviae, mens religiosa paterna, 
 
 Est tibi materni nobile pectus avi. 
 Quid mirum ergo novo si gaudeat Anglia more 
 
 Cum qualis nunquam rexerat ante regat ? " 
 
 It has been remarked that prudence is the sole 
 virtue with which Henry VII., in a somewhat 
 emphatic manner, is credited. The Queen Katherine 
 has her full share in the compliments of the ode. 
 She is compared to Cornelia, Tanaquil, Alcestis, and 
 Penelope. The birth of a son is foretold ; but the 
 succession is regarded as already strong, in the pre- 
 sence of a nobility rejoiced at recovering their glory 
 "nomen inane diu" — and of unshackled trade. The 
 conclusion of the dedication shows the feeling of the 
 whole composition. " Vale, princeps illustrissime, et, 
 qui nobis ac rarus regum titulus est, amantissime." 
 
 Other poems of More's describe the splendour of the 
 coronation, when the gorgeous procession was blessed 
 both by Phoebus and " Jovis uxor," and the tourna- 
 ments passed off without any disaster. Two poems 
 also describe, one the union of the two roses in 
 Henry VIII., the other the beginning of the golden 
 age. The latter gives so characteristic an example
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 43 
 
 of the style of More's Latin poems, that it may 
 well be quoted — 
 
 Ad Regan. 
 
 "Cuncta Plato cecinit tempos quae proferat ullum, 
 
 Saepe fuisse olirn, saepe aHquando fore. 
 Ver fugit ut celeri, celerique revertitur anno, 
 
 Bruma pari ut spacio quae fuit ante, redit. 
 Sic, inquit, rapidi post longa volumina co3li 
 
 Cuncta per innumeros sunt reditura vices. 
 Aurea prima sata est aetas, argentea post hanc. 
 
 ^Erea post illam, ferrea nuper erat. 
 Aurea te, princeps, redierunt principe saecla 
 
 O possit vater hactenus esse Plato." 
 
 The exaggeration which some writers consider to be 
 too apparent in the whole series of verses may well 
 be excused by the consideration that the accession of 
 Henry VIII. was a personal relief to More, as well as 
 a national joy. The cloud which had hung over him 
 was removed ; and nothing now interfered with his 
 prospects of success. Ere long he began his public 
 career. Before we follow him into his political life 
 it may be well to collect the many notices in the 
 biographies and letters which touch upon his personal 
 appearance, his home, his friends — and, abandoning 
 a strictly chronological progress, to examine the more 
 famous of his literary works. By this arrangement a 
 certain connection of idea is obtained, which would 
 otherwise of necessity be sacrificed. 
 
 Cresacre More gives a description of his grand- 
 father's appearance derived from that of Erasmus, 
 but the original is clearer and more precise. With 
 it may well be compared that of Harpsfield, and the 
 whole must be read in the light of Holbein's famous
 
 44 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 portraits. 1 He was of middle height and well-propor- 
 tioned figure, save that through his habit of much 
 writing, his right shoulder became higher than his 
 left. His limbs were well formed, but his hands were 
 a little clumsy — the pictures generally conceal them. 
 His colour was pale, heightened only by a faint 
 bloom ; his hair dark-brown. His eyes were grey 
 and speckled, " which," says Erasmus, " as a mark of 
 genius are much admired in England." His expres- 
 sion, as can well be understood from Holbein's 
 masterly representation, was keen and inquiring, but 
 entirely gentle and kind. " His voice was neither 
 boisterous nor big ; nor yet too small and shrill ; 
 he spake his words very distinctly, without any 
 manner of hastiness or stuttering ; and, albeit he 
 delighted in all kinds of melody, he seemed not 
 of his own nature to be apt to sing himself." 2 
 He was intensely humorous. Yet " whatsoever jest 
 he brought forth, he never laughed at any himself, 
 but spoke always so sadly that few could see by his 
 look whether he spoke in earnest or in jest." 3 He 
 was careless, as men of quick humour often are, about 
 his attire. He wore his gown awry, a habit which 
 Ascham tells us was imitated by succeeding barris- 
 ters. 4 He wore no silk or purple or chains of gold 
 except when he could not avoid it : 5 he left the 
 
 1 Ores. More, p. 281 ; Erasm. Ejjp. x. 30 ; Wordsworth's 
 Eccl. Biog. ii. p. 229. 
 
 2 Yet like many who have "no vocal talents," he delighted 
 to sing in choir. 
 
 3 Ores. More, p. 179; cf. Pace, I)e Fructil Doctrinae (ed 
 1517), p. 82. 
 
 4 Walter, Life of More, p. 373. 5 Erasm. Epp. x. 30.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 45 
 
 direction of his wardrobe entirely in the hands of 
 one of his servants, whom he would call his " tutor." l 
 He cared as little about his food as about his dress. 
 He rarely ate of more than one dish, though in the 
 time of his wealth his table was always well pro- 
 vided 2 ; and he preferred vegetables, milk, or eggs. 
 He generally drank water ; sometimes, to please 
 others, very small beer ; and, when it was necessary 
 to drink a guest's health, a little wine. He was 
 never a strong man, but was able to go through his 
 work well until a short time before his imprison- 
 ment. His temperament was calm and equable : of 
 his remarkable presence of mind a curious anecdote 
 has been told. One day as he was meditating on 
 the leads of his gatehouse at Chelsea, a madman 
 who had managed to follow him, seized and at- 
 tempted to hurl him over the battlements. More> 
 encumbered by his gown, and unable to struggle 
 with the strong man, bethought him of a happy 
 expedient. His little dog was with him — " Stay," 
 he cried, " let us throw the dog down first, and see 
 what sport that will be." The madman left hold 
 of him and tossed the dog over. " This is fine 
 sport," said More, "let us fetch him up and try it 
 again." Then, as the madman went down the stairs, 
 More fastened the door and cried for help. 3 
 
 He was an assiduous student and a fluent talker. 
 His humour was suited to all kinds of society, but 
 especially, says Erasmus, to that of ladies. He was 
 charitable to a remarkable degree : one of his bio- 
 
 1 Cres. More, p. 27. 2 Ibid. p. 26. 
 
 3 Seward's Anecdotes, vol. iv. p. 111.
 
 46 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 graph ers calls him " the public patron of the poor." * 
 Not only did he invite his poor neighbours to his 
 table, and hire a house at Chelsea for use as an 
 hospital where he maintained many aged, sick, and 
 indigent people at his own cost, but he would go 
 privately among the poor and aid them by advice and 
 liberal alms, "not by the penny or halfpenny, but 
 sometimes five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty shillings, 
 according to every one's necessity." He was greatly 
 interested in natural history, and bought every strange 
 creature from foreign lands that he could find. There 
 was hardly any species of bird that he had not, says 
 Harpsfield. " He kept an Ape, a Fox, a Wesill, a 
 Feritt, and other beasts more rare. If there had been 
 anie strange thing brought out of other countries and 
 worthie to be looked upon, he was desirous to buie 
 it ; and all this was to the contentation and pleasure 
 of such as came to him ; and himself now and then 
 would make his recreation in beholding them." 2 
 The story which Erasmus tells of his animals is 
 famous. As one reads the passage in the colloquy 
 de Amicitia one can imagine the grave smile of 
 the great scholar as he saw the ape save the tame 
 rabbits from the weasel — " ex quo perspicuum hoc 
 animantium genus simiis esse carum. Ipsi cuniculi 
 non intelligebant suum periculum ; sed hostem suum 
 per cancellam osculabantur. Simis opitulatus est 
 pericli tanti simplicitati." 3 
 
 1 The Anonym. Life, printed by Wordsworth, Eccl. Biog. 
 ii. 85. 
 
 2 Wordsworth, Ecclesiastical Biography, ii. 230. 
 
 3 Golloq. Amicitia, p. 529. The ape also appears in Holbein's 
 picture.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 47 
 
 Like many other naturalists, he was very severe 
 in his condemnation of hunting. Several of his 
 epigrams contain stinging reflections on those who 
 find their pleasure in it, and the Utopia contains 
 perhaps the strongest indictment of field sport that 
 an Englishman ever wrote. "All this exercise of 
 hunting, as a thing unworthy to be used of free men, 
 the Utopians have rejected to their butchers, to 
 which craft, as we said before, they appoint their 
 bondmen. For they count hunting the lowest, the 
 vilest, and the most abject part of butchery, and 
 the other part of it more profitable and more honest, 
 as bringing much more commodity in that they kill 
 beasts only for necessity. Whereas the hunter 
 seeketh nothing but pleasure of the silly and woful 
 beasts' slaughter and murder. The which pleasure 
 in beholding death they think doth rise in the very 
 beasts, either of a cruel affection, or else to be 
 changed in continuance of time into cruelty, by long- 
 use of so cruel a pleasure." l 
 
 Second only to More's love of animals was his 
 passion for music. Like Erasmus, he is painted 
 by Holbein with a glass of flowers near him; but 
 more especially " Klavikordi und ander seyten Spill 
 uf ein Bretz." 2 He took care that his first wife 
 
 1 To More'a love of animals a very interesting note has been 
 furnished me by a friend in which the likeness between the 
 Chancellor and one of his descendants — the famous Charles 
 Waterton (by the marriage of Charles "Waterton to Anne 
 More, c. 1720, eighth in descent from Sir Thomas) — is 
 suggested. 
 
 * MS. note of Holbein's on the Basle sketch of the picture 
 of More's family.
 
 48 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 should become an accomplished musician, and he 
 induced his second to learn to play on several instru- 
 ments. For music, as he says in the Utopia} 
 though it neither actually gives pleasure to any 
 member of the body nor removes pain, "neverthe- 
 less tickleth and moveth our senses with a certain 
 secret efficacy, and with a manifest motion turneth 
 them to it." 2 He cared for few other amusements, 
 hating dice, tennis, and other games. 3 One of the 
 traits which his biographers seem to have passed over 
 is referred to in a letter of Erasmus — his fondness 
 for the sea. 4 
 
 Such was More as his friends saw him in his 
 prosperity. Of his conduct in sorrow, before the 
 days of affliction closed around him, two instances, 
 too touching to be forgotten, are happily preserved. 
 When the terrible sweating sickness had slain thou- 
 sands in England, and the King and Wolsey were 
 flying from place to place, to keep, if possible, out 
 of the hands of Death, More's daughter, Margaret 
 Roper, whom he loved most of all his children, 
 was stricken with the fearful plague, " so that both 
 physicians and all others despaired of her re- 
 covery." More "as he that most entirely tended 
 her, being in no small heaviness for her, by prayer 
 at God His hands sought to get remedy, where- 
 upon after his usual manner going up into his 
 
 1 Utopia, p. 113, R. Robinson's trans. 
 
 2 Erasm . Epp. x. 30. 
 
 3 More was no indifferent musician himself. Pace, De Fructu 
 Doctrinae, p. 53. 
 
 4 Erasm. Epp. App. 183 (Ley den edition of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2).
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 49 
 
 new Lodging, there in his chapel upon his knees 
 most devoutly besought Almighty God that it should 
 like His goodness, unto Whom nothing was im- 
 possible, if it were His blessed will, to vouchsafe 
 graciously to hear his petition." 1 And, as they 
 believed, his prayer was heard, and she was " miracu- 
 lously recovered, whom if it had pleased God at that 
 time to take to His mercy, her father said he would 
 never have meddled with worldly matters after." 
 
 In a lesser grief the same spirit of deep spiritual 
 trust is evident. The occasion was on More's return 
 from his second embassy to the Netherlands, in 
 1529. He had not been able to go home to his 
 family, but was obliged to go straight to Court, 
 where he learnt that a severe misfortune had hap- 
 pened to his household at Chelsea, and thereupon 
 wrote to his wife the most simple and beautiful, 
 perhaps, of all his letters. " Mistress Alice : — In my 
 most hearty wise I recommend me to you. And 
 whereas I am informed by my son Heron of the loss 
 of our barns and of our neighbours also, with all the 
 corn that was therein ; albeit, saving God's pleasure 
 it is a great pity of so much good corn lost, yet, 
 as it hath liked Him to send us such a chance, 
 we must and are bounden not only to be content 
 but also to be glad of this visitation. He sent us 
 all we have lost; and since He hath by such a 
 chance taken it away again, His pleasure be fulfilled. 
 Let us never grudge thereat, but take it in good 
 worth, and heartily thank Him as well for adversity 
 as for prosperity. And peradventure we have more 
 
 1 Eloper, p. 18. 
 
 E
 
 50 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 cause to thank Him for our loss than for our winning, 
 for His wisdom better seeth what is good for us 
 than we do ourselves. Therefore, I pray you, be 
 of good cheer, and take all the household with you 
 to church and there thank God both for what He 
 hath given us, and for that which He hath taken 
 from us, and for that which He hath left us, which, 
 if it please Him, He can increase when He will; 
 and if it please Him to leave us yet less, as His 
 pleasure be it. I pray you to make good onsearch 
 what my poor neighbours have lost, and bid them 
 take no thought therefor ; for if I should not have 
 myself a spoon there shall be no poor neighbours 
 of mine bear less by any chance happened in my 
 house. I pray you be, with my children and your 
 household, merry in God : and devise somewhat with 
 your friends what way were best to take for pro- 
 vision to be made for corn for our household, and 
 for seed this year coming, if we think it good that 
 we keep the land still in our hands. And whether 
 we think it good that we shall do so or not, yet 
 I think it were not best suddenly thus to give it 
 all up, and to put away our folk from our farm 
 till we have somewhat advised us thereon. Howbeit 
 if we have more now than we shall need, and which 
 can get them other masters, ye may then discharge 
 us of them ; but I would not that any man were 
 suddenly sent away, he wot not whither. At my 
 coming hither I perceived none other than that 
 I should have to abide the King's grace : but now 
 I shall, I think, because of this chance, get leave 
 to come home and see you ; and then we shall
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 51 
 
 further devise together upon all things, what order 
 shall be best to take. And thus as heartily fare 
 you well, with all our children, as ye can wish. — 
 At Woodstock, the third day of September, by the 
 hand of Thomas More." x 
 
 It was natural that the household of such a man 
 should be a marvel of order and happiness. All who 
 saw it united in praise, and to their admiration we 
 owe a more minute knowledge of the daily life of 
 More's family than can be obtained of any other 
 household of the time. The two guiding princi- 
 ples of the domestic life were religion and learning. 
 He rose early, Stapleton says at two in the morning, 
 and was at prayer and study till seven. Every day 
 he, after private prayer with his children, said the 
 Litanies of the Saints and the Seven Penitential 
 Psalms ; and never did he omit to hear mass. Every 
 evening he had a short service, which all the house- 
 hold attended, in his chapel. He was not satisfied, 
 however, with this : he always retained his love for 
 seclusion in religious exercises. After he had lived 
 a while at Chelsea he built a chapel, library, and 
 gallery, apart from his house, where he studied and 
 prayed alone, and where on Fridays he usually 
 remained the whole day. He undertook no business 
 of importance without, after confession, receiving the 
 Holy Sacrament. He enforced the meaning of his 
 example by constant exhortation. He would often 
 say to his wife and children, " We may not look at 
 our pleasure to go to Heaven in feather-beds : it is 
 not the way. For our Lord Himself went thither 
 1 Eng. Works, p. 1419.
 
 52 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 with great pain and many tribulations, which is the 
 path wherein He walked there, and the servant 
 may not look to be in better case than his master," * 
 and that he may well be admitted to Heaven who 
 is very desirous of seeing God ; 2 but that he that 
 hath no such desire shall never gain admittance. 
 Roper tells how the Duke of Norfolk coming one 
 day to see his father-in-law, when he was Lord 
 Chancellor, found him in church, in a surplice, sing- 
 ing among the choir. And "as they went home 
 together arm in arm, the Duke said, ' Godbody, 
 Godbody, my Lord Chancellor, a parish clerk, a 
 parish clerk, you do dishonour the King and his 
 office.' ' Nay,' quoth Sir Thomas, smiling upon the 
 Duke, 'your grace may not think that the King, 
 your master and mine, will with me for serving 
 God, his Master, be offended, or thereby count his 
 office dishonoured.' " 3 He would often also carry 
 the cross in the customary religious processions, and 
 when advised during the lengthy progress at Roga- 
 tion-tide to ride on account of his age and dignity, 
 he answered that it beseemed not the servant to 
 follow his Master on horseback when his Master 
 had gone on foot. 4 
 
 Such humility was natural to him, and he w r as as 
 stern to himself in private as he was humble abroad. 
 He ever wore a hair shirt, which only his confessor 
 and his wife and daughter Margaret knew of, till 
 one clay his daughter-in-law, a girl of a very different 
 spirit, discovered the secret. " It pained his flesh," 
 
 1 Roper, p. 17. 2 Cres. More, p. 108. 
 
 3 Roper, p. 30. 4 St.ipleton, cap. vi. p. 22L
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 53 
 
 says his confessor, "till the blood was seen in his 
 clothes." x Stern to himself, he was yet of a 
 deeply loving nature — a man certainly very lovable 
 and human, with keen and wide interests, and a 
 gentle, kindly heart. The trifles of Court observ- 
 ance were irksome to him. " It is wonderful how 
 negligent he is," wrote Erasmus in 1519, "as regards 
 all the ceremonious forms in which most men 
 make politeness to consist. He does not require 
 them from others, nor is he anxious to use them 
 himself in conversation or in feastings, though he 
 is not ignorant of their use. But he thinks it 
 unmanly to spend much time in such trifling. 
 Once he was most adverse to attendance at Court, 
 fur he hates tyrants, 2 and he loves equality. It 
 was only with much trouble that he was drawn 
 to King Henry's Court, though nothing more gentle 
 and unassuming than that King can be wished for. 
 By nature he is fond of freedom and of leisure ; yet 
 though he enjoys leisure, no one is more watchful 
 and patient when business demands." 3 
 
 His first wife, whom there is little doubt — 
 whether we accept the description of a good woman 
 in his Latin poems 4 as applying to her or not — 
 that he devotedly loved, died about six years after 
 her marriage, and in a very short time the needs 
 of his motherless children induced him to marry 
 
 1 See the letter discovered in the Public Record Office and 
 published by Mr. James Gairdner in the English Historical 
 lievietv, Oct. 1892 : and Wordsworth's Eccl. Biogr. ii. 82. 
 
 2 One thinks of the many epigrams in tyrannos. 
 
 3 Erasm. Epp. x. 30. 
 
 * To Oandidw, Epigrams, ed. 1520, pp. 59 — 63.
 
 54 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 asfain. 1 Within a month from her burial he came 
 late on a Sunday night to his confessor, bringing a 
 dispensation to be married next day "without any 
 banns asking." 2 His second wife was a widow named 
 Alice Middleton, whom he jestingly said was " nee 
 bella nee puella." 3 It was reported that he had 
 wooed her at first for a friend, and had married her 
 rather at her suggestion than by his own desire. 
 " No husband," said Erasmus, " ever gained from his 
 wife by authority and severity so much obedience as 
 More won by gentleness and pleasantry." 4 Several 
 of the letters of his friends contain complimentary 
 references to her. Ammonius, Latin secretary to 
 Henry VIII., who was intimate both with More and 
 Erasmus, writes to the latter in 1515, "Morus noster 
 melitissimus cum sua facillima conjuge, quae nun- 
 quam tui meminit quin tibi bene precetur, et liberis 
 ac universa familia pulcherime valet." 5 
 
 Two years later More says to Erasmus, " My wife 
 desires a million compliments, especially for your 
 careful wish that she should live many years. She 
 says she is the more anxious for this as she will 
 have the longer to plague me." 6 Again, Erasmus, 
 ridiculing, in 1518, the contemplated war against 
 the Turks, with the Papal ordinances thereon — 
 "prohibet Pontifex ne uxores absentium in bello 
 donii voluptuentur, sed abstineant a cultus elegantia, 
 
 1 " Within two or three years," Cres. More, p. 32. "Within 
 a few months," Erasm. Epp. x. 30. 
 
 2 English Historical Review, vii. 14 (as above). 
 
 3 Erasm. Epp. Ibid. i Ibid. 
 5 Letters and Papers, Henry VIII. (Brewer), vol. ii. 477. 
 
 15 Dec. 1517: Erasm. Epp. App. 221. (Leyden edit, of 
 Works, vol. iii. pt. 2.)
 
 •■ 
 
 f$m~ ■ 
 
 )>'k\ More 
 (son of s1k thomas more). 
 
 From the drawing by Holbein. 
 
 To face page _>_>".
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 55 
 
 ne utantur sericis, auro, aut gemmis aliis, fucuni 
 nullum attiiigant, vinum ne bibant, jejunent alternis 
 diebus" — says, jokingly, that More's wife is so good 
 that she would gladly obey these orders. Dame 
 Alice, however, does not seem to have been entirely 
 amiable. There are several stories recorded by 
 Roper and Cresacre More which depict her as a 
 careful but irritable housekeeper, fond of show, slow 
 to appreciate her husband's wit, and too little in 
 harmony with his deep spiritual religion. " Yet 
 she proved a kind and careful stepmother to his 
 children," x And with his children it was that 
 More's heart lay. 
 
 His only son, John, has been supposed by several 
 writers to have been of somewhat weak mind or 
 character. Their conjecture has the support of a 
 saying of Sir Thomas, that his mother " had prayed 
 so long for a boy that she brought forth one at last 
 that would be a boy as long as he lived." On 
 the other hand, his face in Holbein's portrait is 
 refined and intellectual, and he is represented with 
 a book, as a student. In one of his father's letters 
 there occurs a marked commendation of his dili- 
 gence and ability. 2 " My son John's letter pleaseth 
 me best, both because it was longer than the others, 
 and because that he seems to me to have taken more 
 pains than the rest : for he not only pointeth at the 
 matter becomingly and speaketh elegantly, but he 
 playeth also pleasantly with me and returneth my jests 
 upon me again very wittily. And this he doth not 
 
 1 Ores. More, p. 32. 2 Stapleton, x. p. 258.
 
 56 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 only pleasantly but temperately withal, showing that 
 he is mindful with whom he jesteth, — his father, 
 whom he endeavoureth so to delight that he is also 
 afraid to offend." Erasmus, too, speaks of him in 
 complimentary terms, and in 1531 dedicated to him 
 a translation of Aristotle. 1 He was married in 1519 
 to Anne Cresacre, daughter and heiress of Edward 
 Cresacre of Barnborough, Yorkshire, a ward of the 
 King, 2 — by an arrangement usual in those times. 
 A mistake, however, is said to have occurred in this 
 selection, and it has been conjectured that the 
 damsel whom John More should have married was 
 one of the four co-heiresses of Sir John Dynham, to 
 whom the other part of Barnborough belonged. 3 
 
 More's eldest daughter, Margaret, was remarkable 
 both for learning and virtue. References to her 
 ability are constant in the correspondence of the 
 happier years of her father's life, and the memory of 
 her devoted attachment is indissolubly linked with 
 the sad story of his death. She married, about 1520, 
 William Roper, son of Sir John Roper, a protho- 
 notary of the King's Bench, and " a man of good 
 fortune and blameless morals and with an inclina- 
 tion to learning," 4 who wrote the singularly beauti- 
 ful biography which has been frequently referred to. 
 " Margaret," says Cresacre More, " was likest her 
 father as well in favour as in wit." 5 Reginald Pole 
 
 1 Walter's Life of More, p. 56. 2 Ores. More, p. 31. 
 
 3 Hunter, preface to his edit, of Ores. More : q. v. also for a 
 further account of John More. See also the list of his children 
 in the entries in his book of Hours. Auction catalogue of 
 Books of Baron v. Druffel, Munster, 1894. 
 
 4 Stapleton, cap. v. p. 118. 5 Ores. More, p. 139.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 57 
 
 was once conversing with Sir Thomas when he received 
 a letter from her. It was shown to the brilliant 
 young scholar, who was astonished at it, and pro- 
 fessed himself unable to believe that it had been 
 the unaided composition of a woman. 1 The Bishop 
 of Exeter on a similar occasion was equally de- 
 lighted. 2 But no one gave her praise more 
 judiciously or more gladly than More himself. 3 
 
 Elizabeth, the second daughter, married a Mr. 
 Dauucey, of whom we hear nothing but that on one 
 occasion he complained of his father-in-law, when 
 Chancellor, showing him no favour, and was justly 
 reproved. 4 A special passage in Elizabeth's praise 
 occurs in one of More's letters — " I take joy to hear 
 that my daughter Elizabeth hath shown as great 
 modesty in her mother's absence as any one could do 
 if she had been present : let her know that that thing 
 pleased me more than all the letters." 5 
 
 Cicely, the youngest daughter, was as carefully 
 taught as the others. She married Giles, sun and 
 heir of Sir John Heron, to whom Sir Thomas had 
 been appointed guardian by the King in 1523 and 
 1524.° Giles Heron also seems to have expected 
 countenance in an unjust suit from his father-in- 
 law, but to have been met by a "flat decree against 
 him." 7 
 
 We have a charming illustration of More's affection 
 
 1 Stapleton. cap. x. p. 263 : cap. xi. pp. 266, 267, 268, etc. 
 
 2 Roper, p. 25. 3 Stapleton, cap. x. p. 253. 
 4 Roper, p. 25. 5 Stapleton, cap. x. p. 253. 
 
 6 See grants dated March 5, 1523, and May 8, 1524, in 
 Brewer, L,:ll, :i -s and Papers, Henry VIIL, vol. iii. 2900; 
 vol. iv. 314. 7 Roper, p. 25.
 
 58 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 for his children in his poetical epistle to them, 1 
 written when he was away on an embassy. We 
 see from these tender verses how deeply he entered 
 into all their pleasures, how gladly anticipated their 
 desires, how sorrowfully reproved their faults. 
 
 " Ah ferns est, dicique pater non ille meretur 
 Qui laclirymas nati non fieat ipse sui." 
 
 Besides his own children there were his wife's 
 daughter Alice, " a girl of great beauty and talent," 2 
 who married the son of Sir Giles Alington, and who 
 was devotedly attached to her stepfather, and an 
 orphan girl named Margaret Griggs, receiving the 
 same education, and as deeply loved by More. 
 
 For instruction there were always learned masters 
 in the house at Chelsea. At first there was a little 
 boy, John Clement, whose marvellous proficiency in 
 study is noted with delight in the earlier letters 
 between More and Erasmus, 3 and who afterwards 
 married Margaret Gila's and became a learned 
 physician and " reader of the phisicke-lecture at 
 Oxford." To him succeeded William Gunnel, a Cam- 
 bridge scholar of celebrity, and others named Drue, 
 Nicholas, and Hart. To the first of these a most 
 interesting letter of More's has been preserved by 
 Stapleton, 4 in which his scheme of education is 
 drawn out, and great stress laid on the care that 
 
 1 Epigrammata (2nd edit. Basil, 1520), p. 110. Seebohm, 
 pp. 421, 422 ; and Philomorus. 
 
 2 Erasmus, Epp. xvii. 16. 
 
 3 Brewer, ii. 1552 ; Erasm. Epp. App. 52. (Leyden edit, of 
 Works, vol. iii. pt. 2.) See also Utopia, p. 23, and Ores. 
 More, p. 126. * Cap. x. p. 253.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 59 
 
 should bo taken lost the children should become 
 proud of their learning or ability. Of Drue and 
 Nicholas the following mention occurs in another 
 letter. 1 "I rejoice that Master Drue is returned 
 safe, of whose safety you know I was careful. If I 
 loved you not exceedingly I should envy this your 
 so great happiness, to have had so many great 
 scholars for your masters. For I think Master 
 Nicholas is with you also, and that you have learned 
 of him much Astronomy ; so that I hear that you 
 have proceeded so far in this science that you now 
 know not only the pole-star, the dog, and such like 
 of the common constellations, but also — which 
 argueth an absolute and cunning astronomer — the 
 chief planets themselves ; and you are able to discern 
 the sun from the moon." 
 
 Besides More's children, who after their marriages 
 still lived with their father and brought up their 
 own children under his roof, at last he had eleven 
 grandchildren to form a new " school." The family 
 included also his father, Sir John More, who, in 
 1519, married a third wife, 2 and who lived in full 
 possession of his faculties and in active discharge of 
 his judicial duties till 1531. Of the filial reverence 
 paid to him by his son many anecdotes are told, 
 of which the most famous is that preserved by 
 Roper. 3 "Whensoever he passed through West- 
 minster Hall to his place in the Chancery, by the 
 court of the King's Bench, if his father, one of the 
 judges there, had been satte ere he came, he would 
 
 1 More to Us whole School, Stapleton, cap. x. p. 257. 
 
 2 Erasra. Epp. x. 30. 3 Page 26.
 
 60 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 go into the same court and there reverently kneeling 
 downe in the sight of them all duely aske his father's 
 blessing." 
 
 The fullest contemporary description of this happy 
 household is the famous letter of Erasmus to Ulrich 
 von Hutten. It has formed the groundwork of the 
 pictures of all the biographers. There is another 
 letter of the great Dutch scholar to the learned 
 French humanist, Budaeus, which is not so frequently 
 quoted. A passage may here be given which 
 has an interest of its own as bearing upon the 
 educational movement of the age. " It has been 
 said that learning is unfavourable to common sense. 
 There is no greater reader than More, and yet you 
 will not find a man who is more complete master 
 of all his faculties, on all occasions, and with all 
 persons, more accessible, more ready to oblige, more 
 quick-witted in conversation, or who combines such 
 true prudence with such agreeable manners. His 
 influence has been such that there is scarce a 
 nobleman in the land who considers his children 
 fit for their rank unless they have been well- 
 educated, and learning has become fashionable at 
 Court. I once thought with others that learning 
 was quite useless to the female sex. More has quite 
 changed my opinion. . . . Nor do I see why hus- 
 bands should fear lest a learned wife should be less 
 obedient, except they would exact from their wives 
 what should not be exacted from honest and virtuous 
 dames." He goes on to talk of the uselessness 
 of sermons to foolish women, and adds — " More's 
 daughters, and such as they, can form an opinion on
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 61 
 
 what they have heard and discriminate the good 
 from the bad." He concluded with an anecdote — 
 that he had once told More that he would grieve 
 with greater sorrow if he lost his daughters upon 
 whom he had bestowed so much care, and was 
 answered — " If they are to die, I would rather they 
 died learned than ignorant." * ' 
 
 Among More's household a word must be given to 
 the "steward and the fool. John Harris, " a man of 
 good understanding and judgment, and a very trusty 
 servant," 2 was often consulted by More "in his 
 greatest affairs and studies." Henry Pattison, the 
 fool, was deeply attached to his master. An interest- 
 ing passage in the Utopia well illustrates his position 
 in More's household. " They [the Utopians] have 
 singular delight and pleasure in fools : and as it is 
 a great reproach to do any of them hurt or injury, 
 so they prohibit not to take pleasure of foolishness. 
 For that, they think, doth much good to the fools. 
 And if any man be so sad and stern that he cannot 
 laugh neither at their words, nor at their deeds, none 
 of them be committed to his tuition ; for fear lest 
 he should not entreat them gently and favourably 
 enough, to whom they should bring no delectation 
 (for other goodness in them is none), much less any 
 profit should they yield him." 3 An anecdote of 
 Pattison, which has been preserved by Ellis Hey- 
 wood, shows that he was one of those jesters who 
 owed their position as much to infirmity as wit. 
 One day he was standing by the table when More 
 
 1 Erasm. 13pp. xvii. 16; Brewer, iii. 1527. 
 
 2 Cres. More, p. 27. :! Uloj>i<i, p. 126.
 
 62 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 was dining, and, noticing that one of the guests had 
 a remarkably large nose, after he had gazed upon 
 it for some time, suddenly exclaimed — "What a 
 terrific nose that gentleman has ! " When all pre- 
 tended not to hear him, Pattison saw that he had 
 made a mistake, and tried to set himself right by 
 saying, " How I lied in my throat when I said that 
 that gentleman's nose was so monstrously large. 
 On the faith of a gentleman, it is in reality rather 
 a small one." At this the company with difficulty 
 restrained their laughter, and More made signs that 
 the fool should be turned out of the room. But 
 Pattison, who had a great opinion of his own powers 
 of bringing everything to a hapjDy conclusion, deter- 
 mined to recover his credit by a great effort, placed 
 himself in More's seat at the head of the table, and 
 called out — " There is one thing I would have you 
 know — that gentleman has not the least atom of a 
 nose." 1 
 
 Erasmus says that so admirable was the manage- 
 ment of the household — for no idleness was allowed, 
 but some worked in the garden, others sang or 
 played instruments, 2 but none were allowed cards 
 or dice — so careful the training, "that there was 
 happiness fated for the servants of that house ; none 
 lived but in better estate after More's death ; none 
 ever was touched with the least aspersion of any evil 
 fame." 3 Such was the happy household which had 
 grown up around More in his home at Chelsea, 
 whither he had removed from Bucklersbury after 
 
 1 Ellis Hey wood, H Mora (Florence, 1556), pp. 52, 53. 
 
 2 Cres. More, p. 91. . 3 Stapleton, cap. ix. p. 249.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 63 
 
 his first wife's death. The house was situated about 
 a hundred yards from the Thames, at the north end 
 of Beaufort Row, and remained standing for more 
 than two centuries after his death, until it was at 
 last pulled down by Sir Hans Sloane. 
 
 Ellis Heywood, in introducing a dialogue on the 
 sources of happiness, supposed to take place in More's 
 garden, has given a beautiful description of the scene 
 and of the man. 1 
 
 " Along the banks of the Thames there are many 
 fine houses and castles situated in beautiful spots, 
 in one of which dwelt Sir Thomas More, ' huomo 
 per la sua virtu assai conosciuto.' It was a splendid 
 and comfortable residence, and to this place it was 
 his custom to retire when weary of the city. There, 
 both because of its nearness to London and of the 
 admirable character of its owner, men distinguished 
 for wit and learning who dwelt in the city were 
 accustomed frequently to meet; where when alone 
 and at ease they would enter into some argument 
 or discourse on things pertaining to human life ; 
 and, since each used as he could his intellect and 
 knowledge, their arguments were attended with 
 great profit to each other." One day he tells us 
 that six friends, who had dined with More, "retired 
 after dinner into the garden, distant about two 
 stone-throws from the house, and all went together 
 to stand upon a small green mound. . . . From one 
 part almost the whole of the noble city of London 
 was visible, and from another the beautiful Thames, 
 with green meadows and wooded hills all around." 
 1 II Moro, p. 9, et seq.
 
 64 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 The scene too " had a charm of its own. It was 
 crowned with an almost perpetual verdure, and had 
 flowering shrubs and the branches of fruit trees that 
 grew near interwoven in a manner so beautiful that 
 it seemed like a living tapestry worked by Nature 
 herself." There the friends discussed in true 
 Renaissance fashion one of the common topics of 
 humanistic inquiry. 
 
 To this house so rare in beauty, external and 
 spiritual, there were naturally many visitors. Never 
 came there to London a poor student from Oxford 
 or Cambridge but he was sure of a welcome at 
 Chelsea. "Quern ille vel mediocriter eruditum ab 
 se dimisit indonatum ? " says one of More's friends. 
 "Aut quis fuit tam alienus, de quo non studierit 
 bene mereri ? Multi non favent nisi suis, Galli 
 Gallis, Germani Germanis, Scoti Scotis: at ille in 
 Hybernos, in Germanos, in Gallos, in Scythas et 
 Indos amico fuit animo." 1 And besides such stray 
 guests there were the old and tried friends, who, 
 when they could not be at Chelsea, preserved 
 their memory of More by constant letters. Erasmus, 
 who had made so firm a friendship with him in his 
 3 r outh, loved him till his death. He had spent 
 several weeks in the house at Bucklersbury, during 
 the first year of More's married life. There he 
 completed that biting satire, whose punning title 
 was to be a remembrance of the friend who sym- 
 pathized so warmly with its method, and whose 
 presence was to the author " more sweet than any 
 
 1 Epistola fidelis de morte Thomae Mori. Cf. also Roper, 
 p. 13 ; Ores. More, p. 59.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 65 
 
 thing in life." * The Encomium Moriae gives a very 
 clear insight into the feelings with which the 
 purer spirits of those eventful years looked upon 
 the confusion of the world in which they lived. As 
 an exposition of the fears and the aspirations of the 
 two friends it may well be regarded as a sportive 
 prologue to the more serious work Utopia. Its 
 appearance was naturally not unnoticed or its 
 matter uncondemned : and More came forward to 
 defend it. 
 
 It was a happy idea to send Folly abroad with her 
 caps and bells to satirize the grossness and the ignor- 
 ance that wise men .noted and Popes seemed to wink 
 at. It was the first attempt of the new humanism 
 to treat the absurdities of decadent scholasticism and 
 decaying religion in a popular style. In Moria 
 Erasmus spoke ad popwlvm? as in the Novum 
 Instrujucatum, four years later, 3 he spoke ad clerum. 
 It was the hasty work of a few days' writing, and the 
 iron was red-hot on which it so sharply struck. 
 Folly is the mistress and teacher of the world, he 
 cried ; and most of all she dwells among philosophers 
 and theologians and monks. She is never so much 
 
 1 Preface to Encomium Moriae. 
 
 2 The learned writer of an extremely able and valuable 
 article in the Quarterly Review, January 1895, states that 
 none " of Erasmus's works" appeal adpopuktm. But 1 think 
 it is accurate to say that the Moria and the Colloquies certainly 
 appeal to a wide public. 
 
 '■'- Mr. Fronde states wrongly (Erasmus, p. 122) that the 
 Encomium Moriae "was brought out almost simultaneously 
 with an edition of the New Testament." Probably he was 
 confusing the former with Erasmus's edition of 8. Jerome. 
 which appeared in 1516. 
 
 F
 
 66 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 at home as when she teaches her children to explain 
 the mysteries of faith and to justify the practices of 
 superstition. To her is due the belief in the miracu- 
 lous working of images, in indulgences as bills drawn 
 upon the spiritual treasury of the Church, in the 
 automatic efficacy of vain repetitions of sacred offices. 
 The questions, he says, that belong to " illuminated " 
 theologians are such as these — "Does the category 
 of time belong to the Divine generation ? Is there 
 more than one relation of filiation in Christ? 
 Whether the proposition God the Father hates the 
 Son can be maintained ? Whether God could be 
 hypostatically united to a woman, the devil, an ass, 
 a gourd, a flint ? " x And then he bitterly adds, " no 
 doubt they devoutly consecrated the Eucharist," 
 little as they were competent to define the doctrine. 
 Nor was he content to deal with generalities — monks 
 in their ignorant idleness, friars in their dirt and 
 buffoonery, cardinals in their avarice, even Pope 
 Julius II. himself in his mad scheming for power, all 
 come under the lash of Folly. Not only obscurantism 
 was scourged, but every form of spiritual wickedness 
 in high places. And who could answer ? Might not 
 Folly speak, and should wise men reply ? 
 
 It was a masterly book — and its strength lay not a 
 little in the fact that it was an appeal from a be- 
 sotted Theology to a Religion that had learnt to keep 
 its eyes open, and from the false scholasticism to 
 the true. It was certainly not intended "to turn 
 
 1 I venture to use, with a slight alteration, the translation 
 of this passage given in the article already referred to in the 
 Quarterly Bevieiv, January 1895.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 67 
 
 the whole existing system of Theology into ridi- 
 cule :" l it was a protest on behalf of that system 
 against the ignorance of those who professed to 
 interpret it. 
 
 Such, very briefly, was the book which Erasmus 
 wrote in More's house. It was the fruit of their 
 talks together, and it came more nearly than any- 
 thing else that the tAvo friends did to be a piece of 
 fellow-work. Erasmus wrote it ; More defended it 
 — and they both spoke as loyal sons of the Catholic 
 Church. And the rulers of the Church spoke no 
 word of condemnation. Julius himself did not pro- 
 test, and his successor, Leo X., spoke of the book 
 with admiration and delight. 
 
 The work of Folly ended, the two friends turned 
 aside to more serious business — More to his I/topi", 
 and Erasmus to S. Jerome and the New Testament. 
 In the former the great Dutch scholar was to range 
 himself on the side of the Fathers in the questions 
 that were soon to be debated by the world ; in the 
 latter he was to appeal to the critical study of the 
 Bible as the one true basis of the Church's doctrine. 
 Erasmus did not give the Bible to an ignorant age. 
 " Popular stories of the Bible being unknown, of the 
 total indifference of the friars to learning, rest like 
 most popular stories on vulgar credulity." 2 He was 
 attacked not because he revealed mysteries to the 
 vulgar, but because of his audacity in attempting to 
 revise the Vulgate, and because it was said he could 
 
 1 Froude, Erasmus, p. 124. 
 
 2 Brewer, ltoj<pi of Henry VIII., i. 287 ; contrast Fronde's 
 Erasmus, pp. 112, 113.
 
 68 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 neither translate nor comment with accuracy upon 
 Holy Writ. Not as an iconoclast, but as the father 
 of modern exegesis, it was that he needed, and found, 
 a defender in the educated orthodoxy of More. 
 
 From the time of the completion of the Encomium 
 Moriae until July 1514, Erasmus remained in Eng- 
 land, and the friends saw each other constantly. 
 Erasmus was principally at Cambridge; and be- 
 tween him and More several interesting letters 
 passed. In December 1510, we find an epistle from 
 the Dutch to the English scholar, detailing the diffi- 
 culties which he met with in the study of Greek 
 from the ignorant Masters at Cambridge, and urging 
 the English humanist to throw his weight into the 
 scale in favour of the New Learning. 1 
 
 Writing in August 1511, to Ammonius, Erasmus 
 complains of More's negligent correspondence, but 
 says that he would be unreasonable indeed if he 
 did not pardon him, as he is now immersed in grave 
 business. 2 The letters of this year show also the 
 intimate connexion between Ammonius, whose praise 
 of the household at Chelsea has already been men- 
 tioned, and the two friends. During the long vacation 
 of 1511, while Erasmus was in London, Ammonius 
 was staying with More, and there was much re- 
 gret that they chanced to miss each other, 3 but 
 the scholar hoped to meet the diplomatist in 
 January, when he would find London more pleasant 
 than Cambridge. 4 The letters of the same period 
 contain constant references also to the intimacy 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. vii. 15. 2 Ibid. Epp. viii. 1. 
 
 3 Ibid. viii. 2 ; viii. 23. 4 Ibid. viii. 7.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 69 
 
 existing between Warham, Fisher, Colet — who was 
 then busy with his new school — and More. For a 
 time the correspondence almost ceased. More was 
 deep in business : his work at the Bar increased 
 rapidly, and he had been made under-sheriff of 
 London. He was being slowly drawn too into the 
 service of the Court, and what leisure he had was 
 given to the composition of his History of Richard 
 III., and afterwards to the preparation of his Utopia. 
 After a while the circle of friends gathered again 
 around him, as after his second marriage he removed 
 to Chelsea. In May 1515, he was sent on a mission 
 to Bruges, which will be mentioned more fully in 
 connexion with his political life. Meanwhile Eras- 
 mus had left England, and had been deeply engaged 
 in literary work, having completed — besides many 
 books of very different sorts — his great Novum 
 Testamcnkwi. 
 
 More, on his return to England, at the successful 
 termination of his embassy, wrote to him in 
 February 1516, 1 complaining that he had only 
 written thrice since he left England. "Were I to 
 lie with most solemn countenance," he continues, 
 " and swear I had replied to you as often, it is ten to 
 one you would not believe me ; especially as you 
 know me so well, how idle I am in answering letters, 
 and not so superstitiously veracious as to reckon 
 every white lie as black as murder." More's return 
 to Court is mentioned by Ammonius in a letter 
 to Erasmus on the 17th of the same month, 2 and 
 his devotion to Wolsey noticed. Writing a few 
 1 Brewer, ii. 1512. 2 Ibid. ii. 1551.
 
 70 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 days later, More sent £20 from Warham, perhaps 
 in answer to the verses which he had addressed to 
 him on the appearance of his friend's New Testa- 
 ment. The archbishop, said More, had made the 
 great work possible for Erasmus. 
 
 " Hanc petit ille sui fructum, Pater alme, laboris, 
 Chains ut hoc tu sis omnibus, ille tibi." 
 
 In the autumn of the same year Erasmus came to 
 England, and during his visit — he was staying princi- 
 pally with Fisher at Rochester — constant letters of 
 the old mirthful style passed between him and More. 
 The chief part of the Utopia had now been finished, 
 and the first or introductory portion was being 
 prepared. On November 12, Gerard Bronchorst, a 
 scholar of Nimeguen, wrote to Erasmus that he had 
 arranged for Thierry, who was bringing out the 
 Institutio Principis Christians, to publish the Utopia. 
 
 It appeared at the end of 1516, and at once 
 achieved an enormous success. More, known before 
 to a wide circle of friends as possessed of great 
 talents, became a man of European fame. Before 
 three months had passed, a new edition was being 
 thought of. On March 1, 1517, Erasmus wrote to 
 More, sending him Reuchlin's works, and saying 
 that as soon as the MS. had been revised he would 
 send it to Basle or Paris. 1 It was decided that the 
 second edition should be published at Basle; and, 
 on August 25, Erasmus wrote from Louvain to the 
 great printer, Froben, sending him the Utopia and 
 Epigrams, with a warm eulogy of More. He rejoices, 
 1 Erasm. Epp. vii, 16.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 71 
 
 says the letter, to see the high opinion he always 
 held now confirmed by all the learned. What, he 
 adds, might not this great genius, now overwhelmed 
 by political and domestic cares, have accomplished 
 had he been educated in Italy, or devoted himself 
 entirely to letters ? 1 
 
 More wrote to Erasmus on September 3, sending 
 a revised copy, and giving suggestions as to the 
 contemplated publication of his ISpigra/ms. 2 Mean- 
 while a second edition of the Utopia had been 
 brought out at Paris by Lupset, with an eulogistic 
 epistle from Budaeus; and the Basle edition ap- 
 peared in November. 
 
 On October 7, More wrote again to his friend, 3 
 having received a picture of Erasmus and Petrus 
 iEgidius, sent him by the latter, 4 and said with great 
 simplicity and feeling, that if there was one thought 
 of ambition in his mind it was the pleasure he felt 
 in knowing that his name would always hereafter 
 be associated with that of Erasmus. The corre- 
 spondence was now constant ; not only did the two 
 friends write on every subject of interest, but More 
 was of great use to Erasmus in business affairs, 
 such as the matter of his pension from Warham, 
 paid through the banker Maruffo. 5 
 
 At the beginning of 1518, Erasmus utters a 
 plaintive regret that More, " though he will serve 
 
 1 Brewer, ii. 3627. 
 
 2 Erasra. Epp. App. 174. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) 3 Erasm. Epp. App. 193. 
 
 4 See his verses thereon {Epigrams). Brewer suggests that 
 it was by Quintin Matsys. 
 6 E. (j. Brewer, ii. 2004 ; ii. 23G7 ; ii. 2409.
 
 72 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the best of kings," is, by his employment at Court, 
 lost to him and to letters. 1 The fame of the dis- 
 coverer of Utojrict had now become so great that men 
 were anxious to hear of his private life, and in July 
 1519, Erasmus had to write to Ulrich von Hutten 
 a description of how perfectly the ideal state was 
 pictured in little in More's household at Chelsea — 
 a letter to which frequent reference has already 
 been made. At the same time More was defending 
 his friend against the attacks of the more bigoted and 
 ignorant of the clergy. A monk had written to him, 
 warning him lest he should be corrupted by associ- 
 ating with the contemner of the Vulgate. More 
 immediately replied.' 2 He would be indeed ungrate- 
 ful, he said, if he did not thank his correspondent 
 who dashes over rocks and precipices at the imminent 
 hazard of his life to save More from stumbling, who 
 is leisurely walking in perfeot security on level 
 ground. 
 
 That one who had been so candid should become 
 a violent partisan was indeed a wonder to the gentle 
 soul of More. 3 The monk has been his "dearest 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. App. 311. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) _ 
 
 2 Epistolae aliquot eruditorum virorum. Basil, 1520, pp. 
 02 — 138. Jortin's Erasmus, iii. 365 sgq. See also Froude's 
 Erasmus, p. 135 sqq., an extremely inaccurate version, entirely 
 altering the tone of More's letter, which is one of temperate 
 and friendly remonstrance. 
 
 3 It need hardly be said that More's Latin does not contain 
 the words, " Before you were a priest you had candour and 
 charity ; now that you have become a monk some devil has 
 possession of you." The Latin also by no means warrants some 
 of the worst charges that Mr. Froude appears to make More 
 bring against monks.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 73 
 
 friend," but no less dear was Erasmus ; and the cause 
 of truth, with which his great work seemed to be 
 indissolubly connected, was dearer still. It is clear 
 that More felt both that the question of the study of 
 Greek was vital alike to Christianity and to learning, 
 and also that the enmity of the monastic clergy to 
 the new studies, and in particular to Erasmus, alike 
 in his serious and in his satirical writing, was based 
 only on ignorance, and could be overcome by a 
 temperate and intelligent statement of the case from 
 a learned and Catholic layman. More, throughout 
 his very lengthy letter, argues that it is Erasmus not 
 his opponents who represents the mind of the Church, 
 and points the contrast between the good work he 
 was doing and the wickedness of those who distorted 
 Scripture and those who used the rules of their 
 orders only as the groundwork of debate and faction. 
 A friend of Erasmus and of More himself in his 
 youth, the monk who received this appeal may well 
 have been won over to see the New Learning in a 
 new light. The names of Colet, Fisher, Warham, 
 Mountjoy, Pace and Grocyn — representing in such 
 different stations the wide influence of the move- 
 ment — may well have brought him to see that 
 Erasmus was the friend, not the enemy, of the 
 Church. And so More leaves him, and it must have 
 been in sadness. His whole tone shows the intensity 
 with which he felt the brute force of the dense 
 ignorance with which the Church Reformers had to 
 contend; and he felt it most when he wrote this 
 letter, for just then his dear friend, the most 
 enthusiastic and impetuous, yet the saintliest, of the
 
 74 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 new party, had passed away. John Colet died on 
 September 15, 1519. " For centuries," said More, 
 " we have not had among us any man more learned 
 or more holy." 
 
 More, Colet, and Erasmus had felt for each other 
 as perhaps none others at the time had felt, and 
 their characters had strengthened each other where 
 they most needed support. Colet's holiness had 
 been an inspiration to Erasmus, his perfect sanity 
 of judgment a wise restraint on More. Now the two 
 friends who were left were drawn more closely 
 together by the loss of him they loved. 
 
 In 1520, their correspondence was chiefly con- 
 cerned with the testy French poet Brixius, and we 
 may leave the mention of it till we treat of the 
 Epigrams which refer to him. But the year also 
 served to turn More's thoughts into another channel. 
 He was forsaking literature for politics, and the 
 change is clearly reflected in his correspondence. 
 Instead of weekly or monthly letters to Erasmus, he 
 wrote almost daily to Wolsey. Political and religious 
 troubles were thickening around him, and he was 
 being forced into practical contact with those great 
 problems which in the Utopia he had examined from 
 a distance. In 1525, Erasmus wrote to him to 
 make up some quarrel that had arisen with Poly- 
 dore "Vergil, the historian. 1 At last More broke his 
 silence, and writing on December 18, 1525, 2 acknow- 
 
 1 The letter is lost, but that of Erasmus to Polydore Vergil 
 is Epp. p. 888. 
 
 2 Erasm. Epp. App. 334. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) Brewer, iv. 1826.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 75 
 
 leered that he had left several letters unanswered. 
 Anxious thoughts — the progress of Lutheran opinions 
 and the King's answer to the heretic's book, the 
 terrible Bauerrikricg, and Erasmus's own illness — 
 weighed upon him, yet he did not forget to promise 
 his best help to Holbein, whom his friend had 
 recently committed to his charge. Then follows 
 another break in the correspondence. At length, in 
 February 1528, 1 Erasmus wrote to More speaking of 
 Henry VIII.'s request to him to return to England, 
 but complaining that there wag no hope of peace 
 but in the grave. The new development of Ana- 
 baptist doctrines — more widespread, he declares, than 
 any one conjectures — filled him with horror. In 
 the next year Erasmus received Holbein's sketch 
 for the picture of More's family, and immediately 
 wrote to Margaret Roper to express his delight. 2 
 " Methought," he said, " I saw shining through this 
 beautiful household a soul even more beautiful " ; 
 and he sent the warmest messages to the kinsfolk 
 in their home. 
 
 Then another pause occurs. More, as Chancellor, 
 was overweighted with work, religious and secular, 
 and the letters to his friend, so constant in the 
 happy, peaceful portion of his life, ceased altogether. 
 But when he resigned the office which had become 
 daily more and more irksome to him, he at once 
 resumed the correspondence. On June 5, 1532, 
 More gave up the great seal into the hands of the 
 King; two days later he wrote to tell the story 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. p. 1062. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. pt. 2.) 
 2 Ibid. Epp. p. 1232 {ibid.).
 
 76 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 to Erasmus, 1 rejoicing in being freed from public 
 affairs, that he might live only to God and himself. 
 Yet even then he thought most of the religious 
 troubles, and his letter is almost entirely taken up 
 with fears of the progress of heresy. Erasmus sent 
 the letter to John, Bishop of Vienne, with a high 
 eulogium of the writer. At the beginning of the 
 next year More wrote again, 2 thanking Erasmus 
 for two letters, expressing his joy that Cranmer, 
 the new archbishop, was as favourable to his friend 
 as Warham had been, and dwelling with pathetic 
 emphasis on the bitterness of public reports. But 
 " so long as God approves of my doings I do not 
 care what men say," was his conclusion, and might 
 well be the motto of his life. The misery of his 
 last days was now upon him ; and thus in silence 
 the well-tried friendship ended. " Men can neither 
 speak nor hold their peace without danger," wrote 
 Vives to Erasmus, when telling him of More's im- 
 prisonment. Letters passed constantly between the 
 great foreign scholar and his English friends. To 
 More himself it was dangerous to write, but in his 
 silence Erasmus thought the more deeply ; and when 
 at length More fell a victim to the King's policy and 
 passion, his voice was the keenest and most bitter 
 that was raised in execration of the deed. 
 
 The intimate and long - continued friendship 
 between More and Erasmus is a significant fact in 
 the history of the Reformation. It shows that in 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. p. 1856. 
 
 2 Ibid. Epp. p. 1432. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) Stapleton, c. vii. p. 231.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 77 
 
 the minds of the clearest thinkers of the day there 
 was no necessary opposition between Religion and 
 Humanism, between the Catholic Faith and the 
 internal reforms which the Church's organization 
 was everywhere felt to need. When it is sought to 
 paint More as a convinced and constant supporter 
 of the whole system of the unreformed Church and 
 the medieval Papacy, it can only be by ignoring his 
 consistent friendship with the sharpest of its critics. 
 He knew as well as his friend the stern truth of 
 many charges against monastic discipline, to which 
 Popes themselves listened in silence, and the voice 
 of Moria was little less his than that of the man 
 who actually gave it to the world. It is impossible 
 to read M ore's wri tings with an unbiassed mind 
 without feeling that he, who laid down his life for 
 the Church, yet felt to the full the horror and the 
 danger of her corruptions. His satires against 
 worldliness and ignorance among the clergy are as 
 keen as those of Erasmus, if they are less numerous. 
 Yet he died in persistent opposition to a Lutheran 
 or an Erastian Revolution. Was he inconsistent ? 
 Erasmus did not think so. Together they had 
 thought, in mirth and yet half tearfully, of the 
 wounds the Church was receiving in the house of 
 her friends, and, when death came to one of them, 
 in heart they were not divided. "Erasmus, my 
 darling," said his life-long friend, " is my dear darling 
 still." 
 
 Next to this classic friendship, More owed most to 
 the companionship of Colet. When they both lived 
 in London they often met — and thus few traces of
 
 78 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 their connexion, which their letters might have given, 
 are preserved. More aided Colet in the founding of 
 his school by advice and inquiry. Little more do 
 we know of their common work. Theirs was a 
 peaceful friendship, into which no disturbing element 
 entered, for Colet died before More had been drawn 
 into the troubles of the time. 
 
 Among other scholars whose friendship More had 
 first known at Oxford, we find occasional reference 
 in his later life to Grocyn, Lilly, whom Colet sought 
 as master of his school, and Linacre, and a few 
 humorous notices of William Latimer. 
 
 Warham was a friend rather of Erasmus than of 
 More, but the latter was constantly a means of 
 communication between the archbishop and the 
 Dutch scholar. From no man had the earlier efforts 
 of the two friends met with warmer encouragement. 
 The letter which More wrote to him on his resigna- 
 tion of the Chancellorship was friendly as well as 
 respectful. 1 After compliments on his conduct of 
 the office and expressions of sympathy with his 
 intention in resigning it, he lays before the arch- 
 bishop, in modest phrase, his own " little book," 
 which had just been published. "Though fully 
 aware how unworthy it is of your dignity, learning, 
 and experience, yet, knowing your candour and in- 
 dulgence to every endeavour of mine, I have sum- 
 moned up courage enough to send it to you ; and, 
 should the writing be deemed of little worth, the 
 writer is anxious to find favour." 
 
 Cuthbert Tunstal, Master of the Rolls, his com- 
 1 Stapleton, cap. 7.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 79 
 
 panion in his first embassy, occupied a place next 
 to Erasmus in More's heart. 1 The references to 
 him in the letters are always most affectionate ; 
 and of no man has More left on record a higher 
 opinion. In the Epitaph which he wrote for him- 
 self he refers with pride to his having been joined 
 in embassy with one " than whom the whole world 
 hath not a man more learned, wise, or good." The 
 name of Tunstal also has been immortalized in 
 the first book of the Utopia? But the amplest 
 memorial of their friendship is contained in two 
 letters of More's. 3 " Although every letter I receive 
 from you, dearest friend, is very pleasant to me, yet 
 that which you wrote last was most welcome, for, 
 besides the other praises which the rest of your letters 
 deserve for their eloquence, this last yields a peculiar 
 grace, for that it contains your own opinion (I would 
 that it were as true as it is favourable) of my 
 Utopia. ... I almost persuade myself that all 
 those things which you speak of it are true, knowing 
 you to be far from all dissimulation, and myself too 
 humble to need flattery and too dear to you to be 
 mocked. Wherefore, whether you have seen the 
 truth unfeignedly, I rejoice in your judgment, or 
 whether your affection to me hath blinded your 
 judgment, I am no less delighted by your love." Or, 
 again, " The amber which you sent me — being a 
 precious sepulchre of flies — was in many respects 
 most welcome to me; for the matter thereof may 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. App. 150. (Ley den edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) 2 Page 27. 
 
 3 Stapleton, 0. G., p. 201, et seq.
 
 80 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 bear comparison in colour and brightness with any 
 precious stone, and the form is more excellent because 
 it represents the figure of a heart, as it were the 
 emblem of our love ; from which I take your meaning 
 to be that between us it will never fly away, and yet 
 be always without corruption ; because I see the fly 
 — which hath wings like Cupid, and is as fickle — so 
 shut up and enclosed in the amber that it cannot fly 
 away, and so embalmed and preserved that it cannot 
 perish. I am not so much as once troubled that I 
 cannot send you a like gift ; for I know you do not 
 expect an interchange of tokens." 
 
 That TuDstal fully reciprocated More's affection is 
 seen in his dedication to him of his treatise Be Arte 
 Supputandi. "When I considered to which of all 
 my friends I should dedicate their collection, I thought 
 you the most fit, because of the tender friendship 
 which of a long time hath been between us, and of 
 the sincerity of your mind." 
 
 Another of More's friends was Richard Pace, hardly 
 less famous as a scholar than as a diplomatist. He 
 had been educated in Italy, and there had become 
 acquainted with Erasmus, Tunstal, and William 
 Latimer, 1 through whom he gained the friendship 
 of More. Writing in February 1516, 2 to Erasmus, 
 More says that Pace is away on an embassy : and 
 thus, missing both Pace and Erasmus, he has " lost 
 both parts of himself." How fully he returned this 
 affection Pace showed in his book, Be Frucbu qui 
 
 1 Brewer, vol. iv., preface p. liv. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 1552. Cf. also Erasm. Epp. 1097. (Leyden 
 edit, of Works, vol. iii.)
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 81 
 
 ex Doctrind Pcrcipitur, 1 which contains one of the 
 earliest public recognitions of More's remarkable 
 genius. " His ability in the rapid understanding of 
 Greek," he says, " may be part, perhaps, of the art 
 of any grammarian ; but he has far more than this, 
 — genius ; for his ability is something more than 
 human." 
 
 More's friendship with Fisher, confirmed and hal- 
 lowed at the last by suffering, was begun in earlier 
 and happier years, when many a jest passed between 
 them. 2 Among More's younger friends Lupset and 
 Pole claim a word of notice. The former, a pupil 
 of Colet and friend of Erasmus, was a welcome guest 
 at Chelsea. 3 By him the second edition of the 
 Utopia, a reprint of the first, was brought out at Paris 
 in 1517. 4 Through him we find More corresponding 
 with Budaeus. 5 On no one do More's talents and 
 virtues seem to have made a greater impression than 
 on Reginald Pole. When More was ill on one occa- 
 sion, Pole, then at Oxford with John Clement, sent 
 him the opinions of the most learned physicians in 
 the University, and wrote to his mother, the proud 
 Countess of Salisbury, to make up the prescription/' 
 Sir Thomas acknowledged the courtesy in a cordial 
 letter. 7 
 
 Pole was deeply impressed by the beauty of More's 
 character, and it was his indignation at his friend's 
 
 1 Basil : 1517, p. 82. 
 
 2 Stapleton prints two letters between them ; c. v. p. 200. 
 See also Brewer, ii. 3418. 3 Erasm. Epp. viii. 15. 
 
 4 Brewer, ii. 1162. 6 Bud. Epp. 9. Brewer, ii. 4421. 
 
 8 Life of Pole (2nd edit. 1767), p. 67. 
 
 7 Stapleton, cap v. p. 198 ; Ores. More, p. 69.
 
 82 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 murder which cut off all hope of his restoration to 
 the favour of Henry VIII. 1 To him Ellis Hey- 
 wood in 1556 dedicated his commemorative study II 
 Moro. 2 
 
 More's friendships were not confined to English 
 scholars. On his first embassy More made the 
 acquaintance of Jerome Busleiden (Buslidius) and 
 Peter Giles (Petrus iEgidius). The former was a 
 very rich and hospitable scholar of Mechlin, founder 
 of the college of the Three Languages at Lou- 
 vain. Of him More wrote to Erasmus 3 — "Among 
 other things which delighted me much in my 
 embassy, not the least is that I made the acquaint- 
 ance of Busleiden, who entertained me most court- 
 eously according to his great wealth and exceeding 
 good nature. The elegance of his house, his 
 admirable domestic arrangements, the monuments 
 of antiquity which he possesses, wherein you know 
 I take great delight, and lastly his splendid library 
 and the fund of learning and eloquence which he 
 possesses in himself, completely astonished me." 
 To this subject he constantly returned, especially 
 in his Epigrams, where there are several poems 
 complimenting Buslidius on his coins, his medals, 
 and his beautiful house, and begging him to publish 
 his own Latin verses. With Petrus iEgidius, who 
 was a magistrate of Antwerp and had been a pupil 
 of Erasmus, 4 More seems to have been equally 
 
 1 See Pole's treatise De Unitate Ecclesiae, lib. i. p. 21. 
 
 2 It Moro : especially Dedication, p. 7. 
 
 3 Stapleton, cap. v. p. 208. 
 
 4 Rudhart, TJwmae Morus, p. 153.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 83 
 
 pleased ; he was admitted, with Buslidius, as it were 
 behind the scenes of the Utopia; the introductory 
 epistle was addressed to him, and the most elaborate 
 scheme of mystification concerning "Raphael Hythlo- 
 daye " was concocted between them. 1 The text of the 
 book itself contains a high eulogium upon him, as a 
 politician and as a friend.' 2 Guillaume Bude (Buda- 
 eus) was another of the foreign scholars with whom 
 the publication of the Utopia made More intimate. 
 The French writer contributed a laudatory preface 
 to Lupset's Paris edition of 1518. His works then 
 came into the hand of More. On this a corre- 
 spondence began which lasted during the next 
 fifteen years, and they met once, when in attendance 
 on Henry VIII. and Francis I. respectively. Writing 
 in September 1518, 3 Budaeus thanks More for 
 the gift of a pair of English greyhounds. He is 
 still more pleased, he declares, with his letter, 
 and says that More's name should be changed to 
 Oxymorus. More replied in equally complimentary 
 style. 4 To Budaeus, Erasmus wrote one of his long 
 descriptions of More's academy, from which extracts 
 have already been given. 5 In it he contrasted with 
 shrewd humour the pains of a student's life as 
 described by the French scholar, with its pleasures 
 as expressed by More. " Budaeus complains that he 
 has brought a scandal upon learning because it 
 has entailed upon him two evils — ill health and 
 ill husbandry. More, on the other hand, produces 
 
 1 Utopia, pp. 21—26 : 103— 66. 2 Ibid. p. 28. 
 
 3 Bud. Epp. 9. 4 Stapleton, cap. v. p. 204. 
 
 G Erasm. Epp. xvii. 62.
 
 84 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the opposite impression. He says that his health 
 is the better for study — that he has more influence 
 with the King — more popularity at home and 
 abroad — is more pleasant and useful to his friends 
 and relations — abler for the business of life generally 
 — and more thankful to Heaven." 
 
 Buslidius, iEgidius, and Budaeus knew only by 
 repute of More's beautiful home life, but there were 
 many others who had seen it. Polydore Vergil, 
 Vives, and Antonio Bonvisi 1 may be considered as 
 naturalized Englishmen ; but Hans Holbein from 
 his first arrival in England was the guest of More. 
 He came introduced by warm commendations from 
 Erasmus, and was already known to More not only 
 by his widespread fame, but by his illustrations to 
 Froben's exquisite edition of the Utopia. The 
 connexion between the English scholar and the 
 German painter is too interesting to be passed by 
 without a word of notice. Holbein had shown by 
 the skill with which he interpreted and expressed 
 the ideas of Erasmus in the Encomium Moriae that 
 he had a quick appreciation of literature in addition 
 to his technical power. He was known already as 
 the first artist of the age, and his skill was at the 
 command of Froben. He was obviously the fit man 
 to illustrate Utopia, and his work for the Basle 
 
 1 For the connexion of these men with More, see Erasm. 
 Epp. App. 326 (Leyden edit, of Worts, vol. iii. pt. 2), p. 888 ; 
 Vives, opera, vii. 180. Roper : More's Works, passim. Antonio 
 Bonvisi was godfather to one of his grandsons (Augustine, son 
 of John More). See Book of Hours, formerly in possession of 
 Baron von Druffel. He was a staunch friend to More till his 
 death.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 85 
 
 edition has undoubtedly great merit. It lacks, how- 
 ever, the appropriateness of his Encomium Moriac ; 
 and, admirable as are the headpieces and initial 
 letters, it is difficult to see, for instance, the object of 
 a title-page representing Lucretia plunging a dagger 
 into her bosom with Tarquin looking on, in fashion 
 rather humorous than solemn. 1 The chart of the 
 happy island is, however, admirable. Utopia stands 
 in the midst of tempestuous seas, and is itself of 
 a marvellously uneven surface. Three groups of 
 houses are indicated, over each of which hangs a 
 label from the clouds, Amauroti urls, Ostium awydri, 
 Fons anydri. In the foreground, on the main-land, 
 stands Hythlodaye in mariner's boots, " his sea-gown 
 girt about him," conversing with a learned doctor, 
 and enforcing his remarks by much gesticulation. 
 More was much pleased with the illustrations, and 
 from this time frequent mention of Holbein occurs 
 in his correspondence with Erasmus. The edition 
 of the Epigrams which Froben brought out in 1520, 
 has an elaborate title-page and tail-piece, as well as 
 some rich initial letters from his hand. Porsenna 
 interrogates Martius Scaevola, and putti like the 
 bacchanals of Michelangelo blow trumpets and frisk 
 upon the greensward above. 
 
 A few years later the painter was advised to 
 visit England, and in 1525, Erasmus wrote letters 
 to bespeak a welcome for him. More, replying 
 from the royal palace at Greenwich (December IS, 
 1525j, says— "Thy painter is a wonderful artist, but 
 
 1 There is no explanation why Tarquin should lie there 
 at all.
 
 86 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 I fear he will not find England as productive as 
 he hopes, although I will do the best, as far as I 
 am concerned, that he should not find it altogether 
 barren." x Holbein left Basle in the autumn of 
 1526, and we hear of him in England in 1527. 
 Whether he was immediately or for the whole of 
 his sojourn the guest of More is uncertain, but he 
 undoubtedly spent a long time at Chelsea. 2 He 
 was thus at once introduced at Court, and soon 
 found plenty of work. One of his first pictures 
 seems to be the portrait of More, dated mdxxvii. 
 It is life-size, half-length, and the face and expres- 
 sion are depicted with the intense reality character- 
 istic of Holbein's best work. 3 Two drawings in the 
 Windsor collection are, in their way, equally admir- 
 able. They may have been sketches for the known 
 portrait, or — as is more probable, since they are of the 
 same size and style as those of his father, his son, 
 and two of his daughters — studies for the large 
 picture of the More family which is now known only 
 through the original sketch and a number of later 
 copies. It was probably in the same year (1527) 
 that Holbein at least began the picture. 
 
 The Baroness Burdett Coutts possesses an ex- 
 tremely striking portrait, which is not dated. It 
 is probably not Holbein's work, but in details of 
 pose and costume — the furred cape, hat and collar 
 of S.S. — it resembles the other portraits. The face, 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. App. 336. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii. 
 pt. 2.) 
 
 2 Vide North Brit. Review, vol. xxx. p. 102 et seq. 
 
 3 It is now the property of Mr. Edward Hutli,
 
 i*-J 
 
 I-. i.i, bi < i 1 1 ;cv. 
 
 DAI '.II I EN OF SIH in 
 
 From the drawing by Holbct 
 
 I'll /,!,,
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS S7 
 
 however, is thinner and older than the Windsor 
 drawings, and much darker in tone. It is unques- 
 tionably an original portrait, and is worthy of much 
 more attention than it seems to have received from 
 biographers. 
 
 A number of small portraits are to be found in 
 English country houses, 1 most of them copies taken 
 when More's martyrdom had made him greatly vener- 
 ated. The great picture of the More family seems 
 to be irreparably lost; but the authenticity of the 
 sketch preserved in the Musee at Basle is unquestion- 
 able. This is undoubtedly the original design for the 
 picture sent by More to Erasmus on Holbein's return 
 to Basle, and acknowledged by him in the letter to 
 Margaret Roper mentioned above. In this sketch 
 More is seated in the middle, having his father on 
 his right hand, and his son on his left. Behind him 
 stands Anne Cresacre, further to his right Margaret 
 Giggs holding an open book, and Elizabeth Dauncey 
 drawing on a glove. Behind young John More 
 stands Harris — or, as some say, Pattison ; to More's 
 left Cicely Heron and Margaret Roper, while slightly 
 behind them Dame Alice, a portly woman, kneels 
 before a jyric-dicu, and is distracted in her devotion 
 by a monkey. How far the sketch was reproduced 
 in the picture is impossible to say ; but it is probable 
 from some of the manuscript notes on the drawing 
 that Holbein intended to vary the details; and the 
 known copies present such variations. 
 
 1 One of the most interesting is in the possession of T. H. 
 Cheatle, Esq., of Burford. In tins the face La smaller, sharper, 
 and more swarthy than in the better known works.
 
 88 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Two of the pictures demand special notice. Lord 
 St. Oswald at Nostell Priory possesses a large copy, 
 certainly taken in the sixteenth century, which gives 
 probably the truest reproduction of the original that 
 now exists. 
 
 In this the family are grouped in a circle. In 
 the middle is Sir Thomas More in a dark furred 
 gown with dog lying at his feet. His face is sad 
 and slim and darkly shadowed, unlike the larger, 
 clearer, and happier countenance of the brighter of 
 the Windsor drawings. To his right sits his father 
 in his red justice's robes — a hale and hearty old man, 
 with a red and shining face. At his feet, too, lies 
 a little dog. Next to Sir John is Sir Thomas's 
 daughter, Elizabeth Dauncey, standing, and drawing 
 on a glove ; by her side, at the extreme left of the 
 picture, is Margaret Giggs, the wife of John Clement, 
 holding a book. There are sketches for both of 
 these in the Windsor collection, erroneously entitled 
 Lady Berkeley and Mother Jak. The pose and 
 dress of Mrs. Clement differ in the picture from the 
 drawing. Behind this group is a table with books, 
 and a sideboard with tall grasses in a bowl, and a 
 lute and flowers. Over More's head hangs a clock 
 with long weights. By his right shoulder and be- 
 hind him and his father stands Anne Cresacre, the 
 betrothed of his son John, who stands also behind 
 him, on his left, a delicate-looking lad reading a 
 book. Sitting next to Sir Thomas is his daughter, 
 Celia Heron, with a book, and by her side her sister 
 Margaret Roper with the CEdipus of Seneca open on 
 her lap. At the extreme right is Lady More, a
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 89 
 
 comfortable but rather ugly-looking woman, seated 
 in an arm-chair, a monkey plucking at her gown. 
 Behind Lady More is a window with flowers and 
 oranges on the sill. John Harris stands behind with 
 papers, and by him Henry Pattison the fool — while 
 in the far background a secretary sits writing in an 
 inner room by a window. All the family wear dark 
 clothes, except Sir John, who is in bright red. The 
 servants are in yellow, and have their hats on. It 
 will be seen that there are considerable differences 
 in this picture from the Basle sketch ; but we can- 
 not tell if these were to be found in Holbein's own 
 picture. The Nostell work, interesting as it is, is 
 not a complete guide to its original; and it has 
 suffered severely from the attention -of restorers. 
 
 The second picture referred to is of note because 
 it has received several additions since it was first 
 painted, and because it is in a much better condition 
 than the Nostell picture. It was at one time at 
 Burford Priory, when that house belonged to the 
 Lenthalls. 1 It is now at Cokethorpe Park near 
 Witney. The general scheme of the picture is the 
 same as the Basle drawing and the Nostell copy ; but 
 Sir John More is at the extreme left of the picture. 
 He is dressed in his judge's robes, and his face is 
 less fat and altogether much more intelligent and 
 interesting than in the Nostell picture, though the 
 drawing is not nearly so striking as in the Windsor 
 
 1 Mr. Hunter, Preface to Ores. More's Life, \>. xxxviii, 
 note, thinks "it probably came from More Place, when the- 
 Mores abandoned their estates iu Hertfordshire, and returned 
 to the north,"
 
 90 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 sketch. The face of Sir Thomas, too, is far more 
 characteristic and expressive than in the Nostell 
 picture. It is extremely pale and sad, but full of 
 determination and power. At each side, behind, 
 stand Anne Cresacre in dark green, and John More 
 in black. These closely follow the Nostell picture. 
 Next to her brother sits Cicely Heron, and by her side 
 Margaret Roper, the latter a very pleasing present- 
 ment of a kindly and intelligent face. Behind the 
 two seated sisters — a variation from the drawing 
 and from the Nostell picture — stands Elizabeth 
 Dauncey. Her attitude is the same as in the other 
 copy ; but her position is changed from the left to 
 the right of the picture. From this point it appears 
 that what originally occupied the right of the 
 picture — probably the figures of Lady More and 
 of the attendants — has been painted out, as the 
 space is now occupied by later representatives of 
 the More family, a man with a high colour wearing 
 a sugar-loaf hat, and an elderly woman, both seated, 
 and behind them a handsome man of middle age, 
 and a boy just growing into manhood. These may 
 probably be identified, by an inscription at the 
 extreme right of the picture, and by the coats of 
 arms that are painted above them, as Thomas More 
 (son of John More and Anne Cresacre), his wife 
 Mary Scrope, and their eldest and youngest sons, 
 John and Christopher Cresacre. On the wall be- 
 hind hangs the portrait of a lady, who may possibly 
 be Anne More, only daughter of John More and 
 Anne Cresacre, or Anne Cresacre herself. The 
 additional figures appear to have been painted in
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 91 
 
 1503 "anno regni Elizabethae 35," when Thomas 
 More was sixty-two and his wife was fifty-nine. 
 The dates of the original family group imply that 
 the original picture was being painted in 1530. It 
 may thus have been an early copy of Holbein's 
 great picture, or even a replica from the master's 
 hand. It is in every way superior to the Nostell 
 picture, and is by no means unworthy of the great 
 artist. 1 The interest of the added figures is con- 
 siderable, not least since the dark thoughtful youth 
 who stands between his father and mother can be 
 identified as the Cresacre More who wrote the 
 beautiful biography of his great-grandfather. 
 
 Though it is impossible to be satisfied with the 
 pictures we have, we may at least learn from them 
 how truly Holbein entered into the beautiful family 
 life of which he was for a time a sharer. A man 
 he was worthy to be admitted and to appreciate — " a 
 grave man," as Mr. Ruskin says, " knowing what steps 
 of men keep truest time to the chaunting of death," 
 and hearing it may be the soft singing which images 
 the truthfulness of a beautiful life "perhaps ever 
 low in the room of that family of Sir Thomas More, 
 or mingling with the hum of bees in the meadows 
 
 1 The picture is of great historical and genealogical interest. 
 The identification of the persons added to the Holbein picture 
 is rendered practically certain by the discovery of the Book 
 of Hours belonging to the family, which was sold with the 
 collection of the Baron von Druffel of Munster, Westphalia, 
 in January 1894. The dates of the ages of the three figures, 
 Thomas, John and Cresacre, as given on the picture, tally 
 exactly with the family entries in the book. The writer of 
 the entries is evidently the Thomas More of the picture. He 
 refers to his brother-in-law "Mr. Raufe Scrope."
 
 92 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 outside tlie towered wall of Basle, or making the 
 words of that book more tuneable, which meditative 
 Erasmus looks upon." A fit man truly to paint 
 Erasmus and More, the scholar and the saint. 
 
 Holbein returned to Basle in 1528, and when he 
 next visited England in 1531, probably did not 
 reside at Chelsea. 
 
 More's house was not only a home for artists and 
 scholars. Diplomatists and men of action eagerly 
 sought his society, among them the Venetian ambas- 
 sador Giustiniani, and his secretary Nicolo Sagudino. 
 In 1517, especially, they were constant guests at 
 Chelsea. Their literary society, says the former — 
 containing probably, Pace, Tunstal, Ammonius, Lin- 
 acre, and More — exerted itself strenuously, " ne dies 
 ullus musis vacuis dilabatur," lest any day should 
 pass without literature. 1 Sagudino seems to have 
 been admitted to a close friendship with More, 
 for he writes, " totum me ei addixi ; in cujus 
 melitissima consuetudine tanquam in amcenissimo 
 diversorio saepe acquiescere soleo ; ille que qua est 
 humanitate vir, per benigne amanterque me vidit et 
 excipit; quo fit ut nunquam eum conveniam quin 
 me doctiorem suique ainantiorem dimittat." 2 Many 
 more of the distinguished men of the day might 
 here take their places among More's friends; but 
 enough has been said to show the deep impression 
 which the beauty of his family life made upon his 
 contemporaries. 
 
 Yet there is one other figure, most significant and 
 
 1 Rawdon Brown, Giust. ii. 68. 
 
 2 To Marcus Muslims, April 22, 1517.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 93 
 
 most sinister, constantly at one period to be seen 
 at Chelsea, which must not be forgotten. Of the 
 familiar intercourse between Henry VIII. and his 
 faithful servant, the words of Roper give the best 
 picture. " So from time to time was he by the 
 Prince advanced, continuing in his singular favour 
 and trusty service twenty years and above. A good 
 part whereof used the King upon holidays, when he 
 had done his own devotions, to send for him into his 
 travers, and there some time in matters of Astronomy, 
 Geometry, Divinity, and such other Faculties, aud 
 some time in his worldly affairs, to sit and confer 
 with him : and otherwise would he in the night 
 have him up into the leads there to consider with 
 him the diversities, courses, motions, and operations 
 of the stars and planets. And because he was of a 
 pleasant disposition, it pleased the King and Queen 
 after the council had supped, at the time of their 
 supper for their pleasure commonly to call for him, 
 and to be merry with him. When he perceived so 
 much in his talk to delight that he could not once in a 
 month get leave to go home to his wife and children 
 (whose company he most desired), and to be absent 
 from the Court two days together, but that he should 
 be thither sent for again, he much misliking this 
 restraint of liberty, began thereupon somewhat to 
 dissemble his nature, and so by little and little from 
 his former mirth to disuse himself, that he was of 
 them from thenceforth no more so ordinarily sent 
 for." And, yet later on, " for the pleasure he took 
 in his company would his grace suddenly sometimes 
 come home to his house at Chelsea, to be merry
 
 94 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 with him, whither on a time unlooked for he came 
 to dinner, and after dinner in a fair garden of his 
 walked with him by the space of an hour, holding 
 his arm about his neck. As soon as his grace 
 was gone, I rejoicing, told Sir Thomas More how 
 happy he was whom the King so familiarly enter- 
 tained, as I had never seen him do to any 
 before, except Cardinal Wolsey, whom I saw his 
 srace once walk with arm-in-arm. ' I thank our 
 Lord, son,' quoth he, 'I find his grace my very 
 good lord indeed, and I do believe he doth as 
 singularly favour me as any subject within this 
 realm. Howbeit, son Koper, I may tell thee, I have 
 no cause to be proud thereof. For if my head would 
 win him a castle in France — for then there was war 
 between us — it would not fail to go.' " l It was this 
 guest, hasty, eager, active, seeking into all the 
 branches of human inquiry, who disturbed the quiet 
 of More's home. He was a king whom men were 
 proud to serve, and on whose praise they seemed 
 almost to live : one who knew how to reward, and 
 better to appreciate, services ; but one whose will 
 was relentless and whose heart without pity. More, 
 at least, knew well what was the value set upon his 
 own work, and did not misunderstand the meaning 
 of a Court life. 
 
 It was a time, as More well knew, of startling 
 contrasts. As we read of the happy company of 
 scholars and children in the garden at Chelsea, play- 
 ing soft instruments and singing old songs, we pass 
 
 1 Roper, pp. 7, 15 ; cf. Harpsfield.
 
 HOME AND FRIENDS 95 
 
 in thought not unnaturally to that sad scene in the 
 garden at Bridewell, as our great dramatist has 
 shown it to us, when the forsaken Queen would fain 
 for a moment disperse her sorrows with the lute : 
 
 In sweet Music is such art, 
 Killing care and grief of heart 
 Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LITERARY WORK : THE ' UTOPIA.' 
 
 " We need some imaginative stimulus, some not impossible 
 ideal which may shape vague hope, and transform it into 
 effective desire, to carry us year after year, -without 
 disgust, through the routine-work which is so large a part 
 of life." — Walter Pater. 
 
 More will ever be remembered as a lawyer and 
 statesman of honour and conscience, and the beauty 
 of his home life remains a priceless record of family 
 sanctity : but even more enduring is his fame as a 
 man of letters. He lived at a turning-point in 
 English literature, and he did much to guide the 
 flowing stream into the channel which it has ever 
 since pursued. English literature with him became 
 romantic, keenly alive to the sentiment of the past, 
 imaginative, practical, and pure. The characteristics 
 of the great age of Elizabeth, which was so soon to 
 make the little island that had long seemed to live 
 apart from the culture of Europe to claim rank with 
 the Italy of the Renaissance, are seen not dimly in 
 the master touches of his work. More belonged in 
 spirit to the future — to the England of Elizabeth, 
 even to the England which centuries' later pictures 
 the art, the beauty, and the happiness that may
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 97 
 
 come from fellow-work and common life. But he 
 belonged to the past as well. His intense reverence, 
 his quaintness, his absolute submission to the one 
 single Church of Christ, his reminiscences of Chau- 
 cerian medievalism and of the literature of Chivalry, 
 show that he had been born when men still wrote 
 laborious manuscripts and painted with the minute 
 devotion of a lifetime. A scholar of the New Learn- 
 ing, to whom Italy had revealed all that the Florentine 
 Academy had made the heritage of the world, a man 
 of letters steeped in the literature of past ages and 
 other tongues, he was yet alert with all the foresight 
 and inquisitiveness of the seamen and the free- 
 thinkers of his day. And thus it is that when life 
 and learning have passed on in triumphant march 
 far beyond the point of vantage from which his eager 
 gaze pierced into futurity, men turn back with fresh 
 love and curiosity to the scholar and the historian 
 who gave them the Utopia. 
 
 More lived a busy life, but one which rarely failed 
 to find time for books. His works were, with some 
 short intervals, the continuous expression of his mind 
 as thought and work and tribulation shaped it. 
 Routine-work indeed occupied a large part of his 
 days ; from it he sought relief in religion, in scholar- 
 ship, and in the stimulus of an imaginative ideal. 
 
 His literary work then may well precede the record 
 of his public life ; and we may speak first concern- 
 ing his History of Richard III., his lesser Latin 
 compositions, and the Utopia. 1 
 
 1 For a complete list of More'* Works, see Rudliart, TJi. 
 iilfortw, pp. 430—438. 
 
 H
 
 98 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Of the lesser Latin works the Epigrams and the 
 Letter to the University of Oxford alone need mention 
 here. The Epigrams are a collection of verses, on 
 every possible variety of subject, composed at differ- 
 ent times and in entirely different strains. They 
 are neither much better nor much worse than 
 similar compositions of More's contemporaries. 
 Their merit consists in the easy adaptation to 
 poetic uses of the colloquial Latin of the time, not 
 in style or accuracy of scholarship — for More was 
 by no means always careful of the rules of prosody 
 and metrical composition. They are in fact com- 
 positions remarkable neither in their own age nor 
 in ours. In the early part of the sixteenth century 
 every scholar wrote Latin verses, and many gave 
 them to the world. More, at least, showed no 
 anxiety for the publication of his epigrams. A few 
 of them had appeared separately, but the first 
 collected edition was produced under the superin- 
 tendence of Erasmus from the press of Froben. As 
 the work of More, and as appearing when the Utopia 
 had made men aware of his remarkable talents, the 
 Epigrams were sure of a cordial reception from the 
 learned world. 
 
 " What might have been expected," wrote Erasmus, 
 " if Italy had given birth to a genius so happy, if he 
 had given himself entirely to the Muses, and if his 
 talent had ripened into autumn's fruit ? For he was 
 but a youth when he amused himself with these 
 epigrams, and no more than a boy when he wrote 
 many others." " Progymnasmata " he called the first 
 part of his book ; and his friend, the scholar Lilly,
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 99 
 
 contributed verses to the volume. It was a fellow- 
 work, " Thomae Mori et Gulielmi Lilii solatium." 
 Dedicated to Bilibald Pirchheimer, who was famous 
 as a statesman and man of letters, it could hardly 
 fail to attract immediate attention. 
 
 Stapleton, who is followed by Cresacre More, 1 has 
 collected some of the extravagant commendations 
 which the book received. From these high-pitched 
 laudations a great deal must be subtracted ; it must 
 be remembered, for example, that More praises the 
 poems of Bude and Busleiden as warmly as they 
 eulogize his epigrams. 
 
 A cursory glance at the volume will suffice. Its 
 wide scope faithfully reflects the wide interests of 
 the age. Politics and literature, the scholar's studies 
 and the exercises of the religious life, loyal eulogies 
 and vers de socMW, all find place. 
 
 Among the political epigrams are those on the 
 capture of Norham Castle by the Scots, and its 
 recovery after the battle of Flodden, a sort of con- 
 demnatory epitaph on the unhappy James IV., con- 
 gratulations on the capture of Tournay — in which 
 Henry VIII. is compared to Caesar — and two which 
 are so important as the expression of views rare 
 indeed at that epoch as to justify their insertion here. 
 
 Popuhis consentiens regnvm dot et aufert : 
 Quicunque raultis vir viris unus praeest 
 
 Hoc debet his quibus praeest, 
 Praesse debet neutiquam diutius 
 
 Hi quam volent quibus praeest. 
 Quid impotentes prmcipes supcrbiunt 1 
 
 Quod imperant precario ? 2 
 
 1 Stapleton, cap. ii. ; Cres. More, p. 12. 2 Page 53.
 
 100 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 De Bono JRege et Popvlo : 
 Totum est imus homo regnum, idque cohaeret amore 
 
 Rex caput est, populus caetera membra facit. 
 Rex quoque habet cives (dolet ergo perdere quemquam), 
 
 Tot munerat partes corporis ipse sui, 
 Exponit populus sese pro rege putatque 
 
 Qui libet buuc proprii corporis esse caput. 1 
 
 Among the poems on matters of personal interest 
 there are the verses, to which some fame has been 
 given, on More's meeting a lady whom he had 
 loved twenty years before. Their fame has arisen 
 from the conjecture, which it is impossible to verify 
 but which the text of the poem renders exceedingly 
 improbable, that the lady was the younger sister 
 of his first wife ; 2 and from the curious coincidence 
 that he expresses his hope of meeting her again 
 after another twenty, years have elapsed — in the 
 year, as it turned out, of his own death. In the 
 same division may be placed the exquisite letter 
 to his children, 3 several epigrams addressed to Bus- 
 leiden, three on the New Testament of Erasmus, 
 one on an escape from drowning, in which he seems 
 to have felt a momentary presentment of the manner 
 of his death, and those relating to his controversy 
 with Brixius. 
 
 A word may be permitted on this typical literary 
 squabble. A French scholar named de Brie (Brixius) 
 had written a poem called Chordigcra, on the fight 
 between the English ship Regent and the French La 
 GordelUre in 1513. More, fired by the derision heaped 
 on the English, wrote several epigrams, exposing the 
 malevolence, bad faith, and vanity of the French 
 
 1 Pages 50, 51. 2 Vide above, p. 38. 3 Epigrams, p. 110.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA 1 101 
 
 writer. When these came to the ears of Brixius he 
 revenged himself by an elegy, entitled Anti-Morus, 
 pointing out all the faults in the poems of More with 
 which he was acquainted, and commenting especially 
 on the implied slight to Henry VII. in the Carmen 
 gratulatoriuni, on the accession of Henry VIII. This 
 poem remained for some time unpublished, but at 
 last made its appearance at Paris in 1520. More 
 at once wrote indignantly to Erasmus, 1 asking his 
 advice, and also put forth a pasquinade in answer. 2 
 He detailed the whole occasion of the quarrel, from 
 the burning of the Regent to the A?Ui-3Iorus, and 
 complained of its publication at a time when England 
 and France were in close alliance. His defence, 
 however, of the expressions in the coronation ode on 
 which Brixius had commented is, naturally, somewhat 
 lame. This had hardly been published when More 
 received a letter from Erasmus, 3 urging him to treat 
 the matter with silent contempt and to suppress the 
 version which had given offence. More felt the 
 justice of this advice, and recalled the work from 
 circulation. Brixius, however, did not escape without 
 punishment, for he received a scathing letter from 
 Erasmus, 1 in which the highest praises of More were 
 joined with the most contemptuous reference to his 
 opponent. " I have not seen many of your writings," 
 wrote the scholar, " of More's I have read several and 
 know them well. I think of their writer as all men 
 who know him think ; — as a man of incomparable 
 genius, a most happy memory, a most ready elo- 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. xv. 1G. 2 Mori Opera, p. 319. 
 
 3 Erasm. Epp. xv. 15. 4 Ibid. xiii. 33.
 
 102 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 quence. When a boy he learnt Latin, when a young 
 man Greek, under the ablest teachers, especially 
 Linacre and Grocyn. In divinity he has made so 
 much progress that he is not to be despised even by 
 the most eminent theologians : the liberal arts too 
 he has touched not unhappily : in philosophy he is 
 beyond mediocrity : to say nothing of his profession 
 of the law in which he yields to no one." x 
 
 Among the epigrams on subjects of literary and 
 general interest, there are several directed against 
 women, — written indeed more bitterly than we 
 might have imagined More could write. On the 
 other hand, there is the description of a per- 
 fect wife, addressed to "Candidus," which in itself 
 would be sufficient to show that More was no 
 woman-hater. 
 
 The vices of monks and of particular ecclesiastics 
 are satirized in other epigrams : several painters and 
 poetasters are also derided. A French writer is told 
 that " he is undoubtedly animated by the spirit of 
 the ancients, for he hits upon the self-same lines 
 that have been composed by them." Two smart 
 pieces describe the extravagances of the topers 
 " Fuscus " and " Marcellus." Another tells how More 
 had agreed to write an epitaph on a singer named 
 Henry Abyngdon. His first composition, written in 
 elegiacs, was not " tuneful " enough for the bereaved 
 relations; he then wrote another in the rhyming 
 style of the ' medieval Latinists, which was much 
 preferred to his first. On this he wrote an epigram 
 
 1 For the disputes with Brixius, in addition to the ordinary- 
 biographers, see Cayley, Memorials of Sir Thomas More, p. 79.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 103 
 
 declaring that he who considered the second superior 
 to the first ought to be buried in the same tomb, 
 and bear the same epitaph as Abyngdon now had. 
 
 His derision of the Frenchified fashions of the day 
 may be compared with the passage in Shakespeare's 
 Henry VIII. on the same subject. More ridicules 
 his friend " Lalus," who has imitated the French in 
 his outward attire, cloak, hat, belt, sword, gloves, 
 and — still more — 
 
 " One only man lie keeps, and he from France, 
 Who by the French themselves could not, I think, 
 Be treated more in fashion of the French. 
 He never pays his wages,— that is French. 
 Stints him with meagre victuals,— French again ; 
 Works him to death,— and this again is French." 1 
 
 Finally, there are several epigrams against astrology 
 and astrologers, evidently one of Mores pet subjects 
 of aversion. As a specimen of the style of these 
 compositions one, addressed In Fabianum Astrologvm, 
 may be quoted — 
 
 " Uno multa die de rebus fata futuris, 
 
 Credula quum de te turba frequenter emat. 
 
 Inter multa ununi si fors mendacia verum est 
 Illico vis vatem te, Fabiane, patem. 
 
 At tu de rebus semper mentire futuris 
 Si potes hoc, vatem te Fabiane putem." 
 
 Not the least striking of his epigrams are those in 
 which he scourges the vices of the clergy. He shows 
 certainly no reluctance to expose private vices or to 
 condemn public errors. " Candidus " is spoken of 
 
 1 Archdeacon Wranghani's translation, quoted mPhttomorua 
 (1st edit. 1848 ; 2nd, 1879) : q. 0. for an excellent account of 
 More's Latin poems.
 
 104 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 as endowed with a combination of virtues rare among 
 the fathers of the Church. 
 
 As a faithful mirror view it, 
 
 Showing what to do, — what shun. 
 
 All he shuns, take care to do it : 
 All he does, take care to shun. 1 
 
 He can see humour in sacred matters too, and 
 objects of satire in lazy friars and worldly priests. 
 Nowhere are More's candour and freedom better 
 seen than in his epigrams. 
 
 While his Latin verse represents one side of the 
 interests of this English disciple of the Renaissance 
 — the application of the ancient languages and the 
 classic models to the events of the day — another 
 aspect is illustrated by his famous defence of the 
 study of Greek, a letter addressed to the University 
 of Oxford. This was a composition to which he 
 seems to have attached some value, for we are told 
 by Stapleton that he gave it to his " school," as he 
 called his family, to put into English and then again 
 to translate into Latin. The cause of the letter 
 was the commotion which had been taking place in 
 Oxford ever since Grocyn first lectured, but which 
 had much increased in the year 1518. The study 
 of Greek was regarded by the older men as useless 
 and dangerous; and the students had formed bands 
 of "Trojans" and "Greeks." In Lent a foolish 
 preacher had delivered a violent diatribe against 
 the classics. The Court heard of the commotion. 
 Henry was at the time at Abingdon, whither he had 
 fled from London oh account of the sweating sick- 
 
 1 PMlomorus, 2nd edit. p. 126.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 105 
 
 ness. More was with him, and wrote an indignant 
 but respectful letter to the " Fathers and Proctors " 
 of the University. 1 He described the struggle, 
 which he had at first regarded as a mere childish 
 freak, and commented severely on the folly of the 
 preacher who had attacked the study of Greek 
 from the University pulpit. " What will be thought 
 of our University abroad ? " he exclaimed ; and, 
 after an eloquent, if narrow, panegyric of the great 
 poets, historians, and orators of Greece, he insisted 
 on the necessity of a liberal education as the basis 
 for a study of Theology. He contrasted the activity 
 of Cambridge with the apathy of Oxford ; brought 
 forward the examples of Warham, Wolsey — " liter- 
 arum promotor, et ipse literatissimus " — and the 
 King himself, as diligent students; and earnestly 
 exhorted the authorities to put down the ridiculous 
 squabble. 
 
 The letter is valuable as an illustration of the 
 liberality of More's views and of his deep interest 
 in his University. It was successful: "the King," 
 says Erasmus, " imposed silence on the rabble." Nor 
 was More's intervention ill received in Oxford, for 
 we find him High Steward of the University in 1524. 
 
 To the end of his life he retained his interest in 
 his University. In 1529, Wolsey proposed that he 
 should arbitrate between the University and the 
 Town in one of their perennial quarrels; but the 
 citizens would not agree then to settle the dispute. 2 
 
 1 Jortin's Eramm, ill. 358 : Hearne's edition of Roper, 
 pp. 159—167. The letter was republished, Oxford, 1(533. 
 - See Maxwell Lyte, History of University of Oxford, p. 429.
 
 106 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 In 1530, he joined with Gardiner in pleading for 
 the maintenance of Wolsey's noble foundation of 
 Cardinal College. 1 
 
 But More was not only a satirist and a scholar ; 
 he had already begun to write vigorous English 
 prose. In the year 1513, "being at the time under- 
 sheriff of London," he wrote his History of Richard 
 III. 2 The work was unfinished, whether from dis- 
 inclination to the kind of writing or from the 
 increase of business does not appear. Not only was 
 it unfinished, but it was neglected and forgotten, and 
 did not see the light until 1543, when it appeared in 
 Grafton's continuation of Hardyng's City Chronicle. 
 It at once took its place as the standard account of 
 the period of which it treated, and was reprinted by 
 Hall, Holinshed, and Stow. In the original publi- 
 cation, however, it had been edited carelessly or 
 garbled intentionally, and in the collected edition of 
 Mores English Works, in 1557, Rastell gave, for 
 the first time, the true copy from his uncle's 
 manuscript. 
 
 Only in title and in intention is the work a 
 history of Richard III., and even without the ex- 
 press declaration of Rastell it would have been 
 evident that it was incomplete. To go no further, 
 the second page of the history shows its aim : 
 " this Duke's (Gloucester) demeanour ministreth in 
 effect all the whole matter whereof this book shall 
 entreat." 3 As printed by Rastell, it stops abruptly 
 
 1 Maxwell Lyte, History of University of Oxford, p. 482. 
 
 2 English Works, p. 35. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 36. Mackintosh, Life of More, p. 44, note.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 107 
 
 just after the murder of the princes. Incomplete 
 as it is, it is a work of the highest value ; and 
 this not only as an authority, for in style and 
 method it far surpasses any previous history written 
 in English. A question, however, arises as to the 
 part More took in its composition. May it not 
 have been in reality the work of Cardinal Morton, 1 
 whether in design or in execution ? Or again, was 
 its original form the English of Rastell's edition 
 of 1557, or the Latin of the Louvain edition of 
 1566 ? Though Morton must almost certainly have 
 been the authority from whom most of the minute 
 information was obtained, there can be little doubt 
 that the history as published by Rastell was written 
 by More. Nor is there any reason to suppose that 
 the Latin version was the composition of Morton. 
 The one, however, is not a translation of the other, 
 and Mr. Gairdner's conclusion is, that while the 
 English history is certainly More's, there is " no 
 very sufficient ground for rejecting the voice of 
 tradition which ascribes the Latin version to More 
 also." 2 
 
 So much for the authenticity of the work : what 
 then is its value ? It is undoubtedly written 
 in somewhat of a partisan spirit ; there is no 
 pretence of that absolute balance of judgment 
 to which modern historians lay claim. 3 A few 
 statements have been shown not to be severely 
 
 1 Harrington, Metamorphosis of Ajax, p. 46. Mr. Clements 
 Markham has also argued for Morton's authorship. Eny. Hist. 
 Rev. vol. vi. p. 807. 
 
 2 Letters of Richard II f. and flrnrij VII. vol. ii. p. xviii. 
 
 3 Gairdner, Early Chroniclers, p. 295.
 
 108 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 accurate, but the main question depends on the 
 view of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, which is 
 there set forth with so much force, and which has 
 been impressed on the popular imagination ever 
 since. Here More makes no timid utterances : 
 the portrait, whether accurate or not, is distinct and 
 unmistakable. The first mention of the Duke is 
 decisive — " Richard, Duke of Gloucester, by nature 
 their uncle, by office their protector, to their father 
 beholden, to themselves by oath and allegiance 
 bounden, all the bands broken that bind man and 
 man together without any respect of God or of the 
 world, unnaturally contrived to bereave them, not 
 only of their dignity, but also of their lives." 1 
 
 This is hardly the place for an examination of the 
 truth of More's view ; all that need be said is that 
 recent investigations tend more and more to confirm it. 
 It must be remembered that the later period of the 
 reign is never reached ; and thus there is no opportu- 
 nity for a judgment on the general policy of Richard 
 as king. As far as facts are concerned, it is the steps 
 by which he reached the throne of which More treats, 
 and it is on Richard as a man that condemnation is 
 passed. 
 
 In spite of all that has been said about the in- 
 tentional misrepresentations of Tudor historians, the 
 considerations of ordinary probability would lead to 
 the conclusion that the history of a time which many 
 of its readers could remember, could not have become 
 so extraordinarily popular if it had not been in 
 sentiment and substance true. Nor had a sufficient 
 1 Eng. Works, p. 36.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 109 
 
 period elapsed to allow of the falsification of facts even 
 if false theories would have been accepted. More 
 unquestionably learnt from Morton ; and there is no 
 sufficient reason to think that Morton lied. 
 
 Of the literary merit of the history there cannot 
 be the shadow of a doubt. The story is unfolded 
 with admirable clearness, and the progress of events 
 is followed by the reader with intense interest. The 
 characters are drawn with remarkable precision and 
 power, and the speeches are not the rhetorical off- 
 spring of the historian's imagination, but might well 
 be the direct utterances of the historical characters 
 themselves. The facts tell their own tale untram- 
 melled by tedious moral commentary. The result is 
 that an extraordinarily vivid picture is presented, the 
 leading features of which are impressed upon the 
 mind with striking and peculiar force. The characters 
 of Richard of Glo'ster and of Jane Shore, the scenes 
 at the deathbed of Edward IV. and in the council 
 chamber of the Tower on the morning of Hastings' 
 execution, are drawn with a vivid power equal to 
 that of Macaulay. From a literary point of view a 
 double interest is attached to this work of More, from 
 the use made of it by Shakespeare, in whose hands 
 its phrases are utilized with wonderful skill. The 
 soliloquies of Richard, the dying speech of Edward 
 IV., and the whole Hastings episode are the most 
 prominent examples ; but a minor, though no less 
 insignificant, instance, is the use of chance references 
 to Glo'ster's restless sleep. 
 
 The anonymous life in the Lambeth library says 
 that More " wrote also a book of the history of Henry
 
 110 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 VII.; but either the book is smothered amongst his 
 kinsmen, or lost by the injury of this time." 1 Of 
 such a work we have only this notice ; and inquiry 
 or conjecture on this subject have been at present 
 unfruitful. 
 
 It is by the history of Richard III. that More's 
 place as a historian must be estimated. It was he 
 unquestionably who did most to originate the histor- 
 ical sympathy for the Tudor dynasty which has been so 
 striking a feature of English literature. The policy 
 of Henry VII. may have found its gratification in the 
 material prosperity which it fostered, and even may 
 have realized during the first year of Henry VIII. the 
 width of the interests continental and cosmopolitan 
 among which the land had began so freely and power- 
 fully to move. But the last of the Plantagenets died 
 hard : the insecurity of the first Tudor's throne 
 had shown it : and it needed a literary masterpiece to 
 found the security of the new dynasty on the horrors 
 and crimes of the last of the ancient line. More save 
 to English history an indelible portrait of Richard 
 Crookback, and in giving it, his clear and incisive 
 style taught a new school of historians to write so 
 that all might read. With More history passed from 
 the monastery into the market-place, and where he 
 began, Holinshed, Cavendish, and Stow followed; 
 and Bacon on his lines gave his masterly portrait 
 of Henry VII. 
 
 From Richard III. to the Utopia is a far cry. 
 We pass from the realism of historic crime to the 
 ideal presentment of a poetic and philanthropic 
 1 Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. ii. 49.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 111 
 
 vision. If in his History More spoke directly to 
 his own day, in his Utopia he spoke to the dim 
 future. From the Humanists of the sixteenth 
 century to the Socialists of the Victorian age 
 readers have read and re-read it with unqualified 
 delight. 
 
 So much has been written on this beautiful idyll 
 that it may well seem that no aspect of it has 
 remained unstudied ; and yet, whether in the clear 
 dignity of the original Latin or in the quaint 
 translation of Ralph Robinson ' — itself an English 
 classic — it is as fresh to-day as when it was first 
 given to the enthusiastic world of scholars. 
 
 The Utopia has so generally been accepted as a 
 political ideal of the writer's, or as a dream of the 
 distant future, that its practical importance has been 
 in danger of being forgotten. It is by no means in 
 the first place a philosopher's dream, applicable to 
 all time : it is a scheme of very practical inquiry 
 
 1 Of many good editions, perhaps the best are Mr. Robert 
 Roberts' re-issue (1878) of Dibdin's, and Mr. Edward Arber's 
 reprint (1869). Robinson first published his version in 1551. 
 Of the other renderings that have appeared, Bishop Burnet's 
 contains some trifling improvements in accuracy of trans- 
 lation, and Mr. Seebohm in some of the notes to his Oxford 
 Reformers has given the exact meaning which in our time 
 we attach to the Latin words of the original; but such 
 •alterations are, after all, but half benefits, for it is not so 
 important to translate the sixteenth -century Latin of More 
 with all the refinements of modern scholarship, as to under- 
 stand what his meaning was as it would be understood by 
 sixteenth-century readers. For this cause Robinson's trans- 
 lation is to be preferred, for its very quaintnesses, even 
 where they do not exactly correspond to the intention of 
 the original, have an intrinsic value which must not be 
 overlooked.
 
 112 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 and construction, which receives a thousandfold 
 more force when read by the light of sixteenth- 
 century history. It is, in fact, an earnest examin- 
 ation of the phenomena of More's own time, 
 constructed mainly by the help of Plato. 
 
 The groundwork of the Utopia is a supposed 
 conversation between the writer, when a guest of 
 Petrus iEgidius, at Antwerp, and a mariner named 
 Raphael Hythlodaye, who had sailed with the navi- 
 gator Amerigo Vespucci. Hythlodaye, being left 
 behind his companions, discovered and lived for five 
 years in an unknown island called Utopia, and it is 
 his account of his sojourn which More professes to 
 have written down. The idea was a very natural 
 one at that date. Within men's memories the 
 barriers which seemed of old to shut in the world 
 had all been cast down, and a limitless extent of un- 
 known land lay before the imagination of the age. 
 The results of the voyages of the great explorers 
 had been so marvellous that nothing in discovery 
 could seem too wonderful to be true. At the 
 very time when the intellectual world was being 
 rejuvenated by the power of the ancient literatures, 
 its imagination was aroused and its sympathies 
 were quickened by the revelation of a New World. 
 What wonder then if the men who awoke to the 
 realization of the terrible evils of the social and 
 political organization in which they lived should 
 fondly hope to find in the New World a society 
 purer than their own? This longing created its 
 own answer. The earnest thinkers of Europe 
 yearned for the explorers to find an ideal State.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 113 
 
 More sailed over the sea of troubles in which 
 England was set, and discovered Utopia. 
 
 It was indeed the discovery of a new land, a 
 revelation of beauty and righteousness to that 
 hardened age. Instead of empty glitter and show, 
 there was a deep and simple pleasure, so pure and 
 yet so enticing that the most constant courtier 
 mio-ht si°h when he thouo-ht of its contrast to his 
 own. The great aim of the Utopia was to point 
 out the evil of certain conditions of life, and to 
 suggest remedies, by placing a perfectly different 
 state before men's minds. More's book, in fact, was 
 eminently practical : he had no pet theory or philo- 
 sophic craze to establish. He endeavoured merely 
 to declare the wrongs which the age tolerated; 
 trusting that when they were plainly and unanswer- 
 ably set forth men would have no difficulty in 
 redressing them. 
 
 As has been already stated, the second book of 
 the Utopia was written some months before the 
 first, probably about November 1515, while the 
 work was completed in the earlier months of 
 1516. 
 
 The work in the first edition x was prefaced by 
 various letters and poems, complimentary and intro- 
 ductory. In these the fiction was maintained with 
 solemn gravity. Apologizing for the delay which 
 had taken place between the publication of the 
 book and the conversation which it recorded, More, 
 
 1 " Libellvs vere aurevs nee minvs salvtaria ouam festiuus, 
 de optimo reip. statu digne una Insula Vtopia." Louvain, 
 1516. 
 
 I
 
 114 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 blending truth with fable, gave a very interesting 
 account of his daily work. 
 
 " Whiles x I do daily bestow my time about law 
 matters : some to plead, some to hear, some as 
 arbitrator with mine award to determine, some as 
 an umpire or judge with my sentence finally 
 to discuss. Whiles I go one way to see and visit 
 my friend : another way about mine own private 
 affairs. Whiles I spend almost all the day abroad 
 amongst other and the residue at home among 
 mine own : I leave to myself, I mean to my book, 
 no time. For when I am come home, I must com- 
 mune with my wife, chat with my children, and talk 
 with my servants. All the which things I reckon 
 and account among business for as much as they 
 must of necessity be done: and done must they 
 needs be unless a man will be stranger in his own 
 house. And in any wise a man must so fashion 
 and order his conditions, and so appoint and dispose 
 himself, that he be merry, jocund, and pleasant 
 among them, whom either nature hath provided, or 
 chance hath made, or he himself hath chosen, to be 
 the fellows and companions of his life : so that with 
 too much gentle behaviour and familiarity he do 
 not mar them, and by too much sufferance of his 
 servants make them his masters. Among these 
 things now rehearsed stealeth away the day, the 
 month, the year. And when do I write then ? 
 And all this while have I spoken no word of sleep, 
 neither yet of meat, which among a great number 
 doth waste no less time ' than doth sleep, wherein 
 1 Utopia, Robinson's translation, p. 21.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 115 
 
 almost half the lifetime of man creepeth away. 
 I therefore do win and get only that time which 
 I steal from sleep and meat." 
 
 After this passage the fiction is continued, and 
 many little details are thrown in to complete the 
 deception. More concludes the letter to Petrus 
 iEgidius by a question whether after all, consider- 
 ing the ignorance, dullness, and perversity of many 
 men, he is wise in publishing the record. 
 
 In the letter of iEgidius to Busleiden, also pre- 
 faced to the book itself, Hythlodaye's power of 
 narration is very highly commended, but More's 
 work is still more warmly praised. " I promise you," 
 says iEgidius, " I can scarce believe that Raphael 
 himself, by all that five years' space that he was 
 in Utopia abiding, saw there so much as here in 
 Master More's description is to be seen and per- 
 ceived." The whole origin of the fiction is touched 
 when iEgidius explains the absence of Utopia from 
 the charts of the ancient geographers; perhaps its 
 name has been changed, but " now in our time 
 divers lands be found which to the old geographers 
 were unknown." Numberless other instances of 
 similar treatment might be pointed out ; and there 
 can be no wonder that when men were deceived 
 by the Epistolae Ohscurorum Virorum they should 
 be duped by the Utopia. 
 
 The first book begins by an accurate description of 
 More's embassy and of his introduction to ^Egidius. 
 To this succeeds a minute description of his meet- 
 ing with Raphael Hythlodaye in the cathedral of 
 Antwerp, and of their subsequent converse on a
 
 116 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 bench outside More's house. From this point the 
 real importance of the study begins ; hitherto in the 
 prefatory letters and the introductory narrative the 
 basis on which the work is to rest has been laid ; 
 now we are at once brought face to face with the 
 evils which More deplored and to expose which 
 was his main object in writing. 1 
 
 While in the first book certain political and social 
 questions of the time are discussed, and in the 
 second the commonwealth of Utopia is described, 
 the division between the two books is really an 
 arbitrary one. The object of both is the same, 
 though the end is obtained in one case by the direct 
 reprobation of evils, and in the other generally by 
 inference from the perfect State the constitution 
 of which is described. To all appearance, More, 
 after he had written the second book, saw that 
 the nature of the fiction would prevent it contain- 
 ing much that he wished to declare ; he therefore 
 wrote an introductory book in which he expressed 
 his meaning more fully. The first book, then, is 
 so plainly the necessary complement of the second, 
 that the evils of which More complained may be 
 gathered indifferently from each. 
 
 We have, firstly, the objections to taking service 
 at any Court, put into the mouth of Hythlodaye. 2 
 Although More is represented as answering them, 
 there can be no doubt that they were substantially 
 his own views. His political life will show that 
 it was only with great reluctance, and when he 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. x. 30. 
 
 2 R. Robinson's translation, p. 35.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 117 
 
 had made public these very declarations of its evils, 
 that he had entered the royal service. Not only, 
 then, does Hythlodaye desire no riches or honours 
 for himself, but he has no faith in his being able 
 to do any good for the State, by taking a posi- 
 tion at Court. For most princes delight only in 
 war and feats of chivalry (" the knowledge whereof I 
 neither have nor desire "), and seek to increase their 
 possessions by fair means or foul. Not only is 
 submission to their will in this matter obligatory 
 on a courtier ; but the great ministers also must be 
 obeyed and flattered. Nor is there hope of any 
 reform ; for all advice is met by a resolute determin- 
 ation to resist every change : the minister when 
 asked to ameliorate distress is a consistent " laudator 
 temporis acti." " These things, say they, pleased our 
 forefathers and ancestors : would God we could be as 
 wise as they were." These evils are common to all 
 European Courts, and every reader of sixteenth- 
 century history will be able to give instances of their 
 truth. Hythlodaye then turns to speak especially of 
 England. He significantly introduces his observa- 
 tions by saying that they were the substance of a 
 conversation which took place in the house of 
 Cardinal Morton, four or five months after the 
 Cornish insurrection of 1495 x ; and we can perhaps 
 hardly be wrong in inferring that it was this very 
 revolt which first drew More's attention to the social 
 wrongs of his time. 
 
 The first of the great evils in England is the wholc- 
 sale execution of thieves, 2 often " twenty hanged 
 
 1 R. Robinson's translation, p. 30. 2 Page 'M et sen.
 
 118 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 together on one gallows." This severity is useless; 
 " much rather provision should have been made that 
 there were some means whereby they might get 
 their living, so that no man should be driven to this 
 extreme necessity, first to steal and then to die." 
 In answer to objections it is asserted that this 
 infliction of the capital penalty submits God's ordin- 
 ance to man's judgment. The sanctity of human life 
 was declared by the Mosaic Law, by which theft 
 was not punished with death, and we cannot think 
 " that God in the new law of clemency and mercy " 
 has given license to greater cruelty. And not only 
 is the punishment in the highest sense unlawful : 
 it is also unreasonable. The law which lays the 
 same penalty on the murderer and the thief is an 
 encouragement to murder. 
 
 The whole history of the English statute book is a 
 commentary on these noble words of More. As we 
 pursue the slow record of the gradual restriction of 
 the extreme sentence of the law, we wonder again 
 that a truth so clearly expressed in the sixteenth 
 century should have been so long in winning recog- 
 nition even from intelligent thinkers. Sad indeed is 
 the satire on men's slowness to learn the simple 
 lessons of Christianity, when we remember that a 
 later generation was aroused not by the arguments 
 of More, but by those of Beccaria. In the time of 
 Henry VIII. there seemed a terrible necessity for 
 the wholesale executions which marked his reign ; 
 and there were not wanting eminent and humane 
 thinkers to defend them on practical grounds. 
 England was overrun by " sturdy beggars." In the
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 119 
 
 towns skilled labour was well paid, but in the 
 country the great change in the agricultural system 
 had led to fearful misery ; men, as More said, were 
 forced to be thieves, and the result, in the words of 
 Latimer, was that "two acres of hemp sown up and 
 down England would be all too little to hang the 
 thieves in it." 1 More, however, is not without his 
 own opinion as to what should be the punishment 
 of thieves. He refers to the Roman custom of set- 
 ting the criminals to work in mines, and recommends 
 the practice of an imaginary people called the " Poly- 
 lerites." This passage, in spite of a touch of what 
 we should call insular narrowness, is an exquisite 
 picture of an ideal society. 2 " Their land is both 
 large and ample, and also well and wittily governed : 
 and the people in all conditions free and ruled by 
 their own laws, saving that they pay a yearly tribute 
 to the great King of Persia. But because they be far 
 from the sea, compassed and enclosed almost round 
 about with high mountains, and do content them- 
 selves with the fruits of their own land, which is of 
 itself very fruitful and fertile : for this cause neither 
 they go to other countries nor other come to them. 
 And according to old custom of the land they desire 
 not to enlarge the bounds of their dominions : and 
 those that they have by reason of the high hills 
 be easily defended : and the tribute which they pay 
 to their chief lord and king setteth them free from 
 tribute. Thus their life is commodious rather than 
 gallant, and may better be called happy or wealthy 
 
 1 Of. Erasmus to Henry VIII. ; Brewer, L> tters unci Tapers, 
 Uervry VIII., iii. 220. 2 Utopia, pp. 47, 48.
 
 120 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 than notable or famous." Among these people 
 thieves are compelled to restore what they have 
 stolen, to the rightful owner — " not as they do in 
 other lands, to the king, -whom they think to have 
 no more right to it than the thief himself hath " — 
 and then to become bondmen. They are well 
 treated ; but a number of precautions are taken to 
 prevent their running away or conspiring against the 
 State. Death is the punishment of those bondmen 
 who accept alms in money, or give money to any one, 
 or touch alms, or cast off their distinctive badges, or 
 talk with a bondman of another shire. More seems 
 here to forget his own canon of the authority of the 
 Mosaic Law ; for, if it is not allowable for the 
 English Government to take life for any crime but 
 murder, why does he, through the mouth of Hyth- 
 lodaye, praise the wisdom of the Polylerites? 
 Cardinal Morton is at length made to join in 
 the conversation — which had hitherto been carried 
 on by Hythlodaye and a lawyer — and to admit that 
 it might be allowable in England for the King to 
 reprieve those condemned to death in order to see if 
 their plan would succeed. And it would be equally 
 applicable to vagabonds. Of these plans for treating 
 thieves Ave can only say that they are inconsistent 
 and inadequate. To return ; other evils have been 
 introduced as causing the great number of thieves 
 and vagabonds. The abuse of livery is commented 
 on in justly severe terms, and needs no special 
 notice here. Nor need we dwell on More's con- 
 demnation of the enormous luxury of the age. 
 The agricultural distress which had followed the
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 121 
 
 change of arable land into pasture, and on the 
 raising of the rents, is pointed out with deep feel- 
 ing: " Therefore that one covetous and insatiable 
 cormorant may compass about and enclose many 
 thousand acres of ground together within one pale 
 or hedge, the husbandmen be thrust out of their 
 own, or by violent oppression they be put beside it, 
 or by wrongs and injuries they be so wearied that 
 they be compelled to sell all : by one means, there- 
 fore, or another,, either by hook or crook, they must 
 needs depart away, poor, silly, wretched souls, men, 
 women, husbands, wives, fatherless children, widows, 
 woful mothers with their young babes, and their 
 whole household, small in substance and much in 
 number, as husbandry requireth many hands. Away 
 they trudge, out of their known and accustomed 
 houses, finding no place to rest in. And their house- 
 hold stuff, which is very little worth, though it might 
 well abide the sale ; yet, being suddenly thrust out, 
 they be constrained to sell it for a thing of nought. 
 And when they have wandered abroad till that be 
 spent, what can they then else do but steal, and then, 
 justly, pardy, be hanged or else go about a begging." 1 
 Then More put before the learned world of Europe 
 the complaint of the poor. On all sides we meet 
 with confirmation of his statements : Brinklow, 
 Latimer, Starkey, deplored what Kett rashly tried 
 to remedy. 
 
 Such are some of the evils which England suffers ; 
 and More sadly asks why Hythlodaye, as a philo- 
 sopher, will not be the King's instructor, since 
 1 Page 41.
 
 122 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Plato's ideal of the philosopher king seems far from 
 fulfilment. Then we return to the reasons against 
 Court service, 1 for Hythlodaye replies by a bitter 
 description of the French foreign policy, and demands 
 how his advice would be taken if he were to tell the 
 French King that " it were best for him to content 
 himself with his own kingdom of France as his fore- 
 fathers and predecessors did before him; to make 
 much of it, to enrich it and to make it as flourishing 
 as he could, to endeavour himself to love his sub- 
 jects and again to be beloved of them, willing to live 
 with them, peaceably to govern them, and with other 
 kingdoms not to meddle seeing that which he hath 
 already is even enough for him, yea, and more than 
 he can well turn him." Obviously, he would not 
 be heard for a moment. It needs little sagacity to 
 see the bearing of this passage on the politics of 
 England under Henry VIII. Other grievances from 
 which the people suffer are then brought forward, in 
 a remarkable passage where More, especially glancing 
 at the particular acts of tyranny for which Henry 
 VII. was responsible, seems to foresee the expedients 
 of the whole Tudor dynasty and even of the Stewarts 
 — such as tampering with the coinage, wars feigned 
 for the sake of exacting subsidies, the enforcement 
 of obsolete laws, the use of the dispensing power 
 for the sake of pecuniary profit, the bribing and 
 coercion of the judges. " If I should rise up," he 
 says, " and boldly affirm that all these counsels be 
 to the king dishonour and reproach, whose honour 
 and safety is more and rather supported and up- 
 1 Page 55 et seq.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 123 
 
 hold en by the wealth and riches of his people than 
 by his own treasures : and if I should declare that 
 the commonalty chooseth the king for their own 
 sake and not for his own sake : to the intent that by 
 his labour and study they might all live wealthy, 
 safe from wrongs and injuries, and that therefore the 
 kino* ought to take more care for the wealth of the 
 people than for his own wealth, even as the office 
 and duty of a shepherd is in that he is a shepherd to 
 feed his sheep rather than himself, what heed would 
 they pay ? " He continues in the same strain, laying- 
 down in terms that seem to belong in turn to the 
 fourteenth and to the nineteenth century, 1 a theory 
 of the duties of a king such as was rarely heard in 
 his time. Then returning again to the main question, 
 More says that because- good advice or the highest 
 rules of government would be unheeded at Court, a 
 philosopher ought not to refuse his help to a king : 
 " you must not forsake the ship in a tempest because 
 you cannot rule and keep down the winds." Yet 
 Hythlodaye still holds his opinion, and declares that 
 there can be no amelioration of existing evils until 
 the State is constituted on communistic principles. 
 Here the arguments are marshalled with great skill, 
 and little space is allotted to the answers to them ; 
 but the question remains, how far were these More's 
 own opinions ? It is possible that, looking at' the 
 condition of his own time, at the coarse luxury of the 
 upper and the degradation of the lower classes, he 
 
 1 E. rj. the king is "to live of his own." We may wonder if 
 More knew the history of this ruinous phrase, oi thought 
 merely of its recent use ; vide Rolls of Parlt, G Hen. VIII. c. 24.
 
 124 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 may have conceived that redress could be obtained 
 by a restoration of the primitive practice of Christi- 
 anity, a voluntary and temporary communism. It is 
 a question impossible to decide ; it can only be said 
 that there is no support whatever in any other of 
 bis works to any socialistic scheme. The passage 
 referred to runs thus — " Howbeit l where the posses- 
 sions be private, where money beareth all the stroke, 
 it is hard and almost impossible that there the 
 commonwealth may justly be governed and prosper- 
 ously flourish. Unless you think thus — that justice 
 is there executed where all things come into the 
 hands of evil men, or that prosperity there flourisheth 
 where all is divided among a few ; which few never- 
 theless do not lead their lives very wealthily and the 
 residue live miserably, wretchedly, and beggarly. . . 
 For where every man under certain titles and pre- 
 tences draweth and plucketh to himself as much as 
 he can so that a few divide among themselves all the 
 whole riches, be there never so much abundance and 
 store, there to the residue is left lack and poverty. 
 And for the most part it chanceth that this latter 
 sort is more worthy to enjoy that state of wealth than 
 the other be : because the rich be covetous, crafty, 
 and unprofitable. On the other part the poor be 
 lowly, simple, and by their labour more profitable to 
 the commonwealth than to themselves. Thus I do 
 fully persuade myself that no equal and just distri- 
 bution of things can be made, nor that perfect 
 wealth shall ever be among men, unless this private 
 ownership be exiled and banished. But so long as 
 1 Pasie 67.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 125 
 
 it shall continue, so long shall remain among the 
 most and best part of men the heavy and inevitable 
 burden of poverty and wretchedness." The com- 
 munistic society, says Hythlodaye, is to be seen in 
 the utmost prosperity in the New World. 
 
 Here the first book ends. In the second, Utopia, 
 the communistic state, is described. So far the 
 actual evils from which England was then suffering 
 have been plainly set forth : now we see them 
 rather by inference from the perfect constitution of 
 Utopia. 
 
 There is no need to linger on the description of 
 the island, of the method by which the inhabitants in 
 turn spend two years in the country, of the " strange 
 fashion in hatching and bringing up pulleyne," or 
 other schemes which are in turn serious suggestions 
 or simply humours to preserve the spirit of the 
 fiction, in which there is so curious a blending of 
 jest and earnest. The description of the typical 
 city, Amaurote, is more tangible ; and the marginal 
 note of the translator is not needed to point out that 
 London is always in the writer's mind. The beauti- 
 ful houses with their gardens and vineyards behind ; 
 the streets twenty feet broad, with public halls at 
 equal distances — everything clean, public, and pros- 
 perous, because all was common — are a strange 
 contrast to the houses "made of every rude piece 
 of timber that came first to hand, with mud walls, 
 and ridged roofs, thatched over with straw," which 
 "their old chronicler" described as having existed 
 long ago in Utopia, and which the eyes of every 
 reader of More's book saw all around, replenished
 
 126 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 " with much uncleanness and filth, with pits, cellars 
 and vaults lying open and uncovered, to the great 
 peril and danger of the inhabitants." 1 The work 
 of every household is brought to the market-places 
 whence the heads of families take whatever they 
 need ; there is no sale or barter. There are meat 
 markets also ; but the slaughter-houses are outside 
 the city, and the meat is only brought within 
 the walls when it has been thoroughly cleansed. 
 " Neither they suffer anything that is filthy, loath- 
 some, or unclean, to be brought into the city, lest 
 the air by the stench thereof infected and corrupt 
 should cause pestilent diseases." With this one can- 
 not but compare the accounts of the terrible sweat- 
 insf sickness with which the histories of the time are 
 charged. By this fearful scourge Wolsey was several 
 times stricken down; and the King but narrowly 
 escaped. In More's own household his favourite 
 daughter was brought to death's door ; and his 
 friend Ammonius died after a day's illness. Con- 
 stantly recurring during the reign, it was especially 
 severe during the years 1516, 1517, and 1518. When 
 in attendance on the King at Abingdon during the 
 last year, More himself had to take precautions for 
 the safety of the Court. 2 
 
 The sickness had broken out at Oxford ; More at 
 once sent orders to the Mayor " that the inhabitants 
 of those houses that be and shall be infected shall 
 keep in, put out wispes, and bear white rods," which 
 
 1 32 Henry VIII. cap. 18. 
 
 1 Dr. John Clerk to Wolsey, 25 April, 1508 ; Brewer, ii. 
 4125.
 
 LITERARY WORK : THE ' UTOPIA ' 127 
 
 was the precaution that Wolsey had previously 
 directed to be observed in London. The fearful 
 ravages of this plague are not to be wondered at 
 when we recall Erasmus's description of the condition 
 of the houses and streets in his time, which gives a 
 pathetic force of contrast to More's picture of the 
 Utopian towns. Erasmus attributed the spreading 
 of the sickness to " bad houses and bad ventilation, 
 to the clay floors, the unchanged and festering 
 rushes with which the rooms were strewn, and the 
 putrid offal, bones, and filth which reeked and 
 rotted together in the unswept and unwashed dining 
 halls and chambers." x In Utopia not only was all 
 precaution taken to preserve the public health, but 
 the most tender care was bestowed on the sick. 
 Heights of social benevolence are here reached 
 which with all our vast and sympathetic organiza- 
 tions we can hardly be said to have yet realized. ■%[" 
 " In the circuit of the city, a little within the 
 walls, they have four hospitals, so big, so wide, 
 so ample and so large, that they may seem four 
 little towns ; which were devised of that bigness, 
 partly to the intent the sick, be they never so many 
 in number, should not lie so throng or strait, and 
 therefore uneasily, and partly that they which were 
 taken and holden with contagious diseases, such as 
 be wont by infection to creep from one to another, 
 might be laid apart, far from the company of the 
 residue. These hospitals be so well appointed and 
 with all things necessary to health so furnished, 
 and moreover so diligent attendance through the 
 1 Brewer, pref. to vol. ii. p. ccix. 
 
 1 ^
 
 128 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 continual presence of cunning physicians is given, 
 that though no man be sent thither against his will, 
 yet notwithstanding, there is no sick person in all 
 the city that had not rather lie there than at home 
 in his own house." 
 
 The government of Utopia is somewhat compli- 
 cated ; but the distinguishing feature is the responsi- 
 bility of the Prince, whose office is elective, to the 
 people, by whom he can be deposed for suspicion of 
 tyranny. 
 
 The chapter " of sciences, crafts, and occupations " 
 is one of the most interesting in the book, as 
 breathing a spirit of enlightened humanity of which 
 few traces are to be found in the history or legisla- 
 tion of the Tudor sovereigns, and as anticipating 
 the conclusioDS to which public opinion has but 
 gradually and recently been brought. All the 
 Utopians, men and women, learn husbandry, besides 
 which every one has a trade. " And the chief and 
 almost only office of the Syphograuntes is to see 
 and take heed that no man sit idle ; but that 
 every one apply his own craft with earnest dili- 
 gence. And yet for all that not to be wearied 
 from early in the morning till late in the even- 
 ing with continual work, like labouring and toil- 
 ing beasts. For this is worse than the miserable 
 and wretched condition of bondmen, which never- 
 theless is almost everywhere the life of workmen 
 and artificers saving in Utopia." There the workmen 
 work only for six hours : yet there is no lack of "all 
 things that be requisite either for the necessity or 
 commodity of life." This is possible since all work,
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 129 
 
 whereas in Christendom, women, priests, and rich 
 men are generally idle, besides the many engaged 
 in "vain and superfluous occupations." The 
 Utopians have, however, a few citizens who are set 
 apart and devoted to learning, and perform no 
 handicraft. From these are chosen the ' Philarchs,' 
 and officers of state. Finally " in the institution 
 of that commonwealth this end is only and chiefly 
 pretended and minded, that what time may pos- 
 sibly be spared from the necessary occupations and 
 affairs of the commonwealth, all that the citizens 
 should withdraw from the bodily service to the free 
 liberty of the mind and garnishing of the same. 
 For herein they suppose the felicity of their life to 
 
 consist." 
 
 Over bopulation\ they avoid by migration and 
 colonization: what one city lacks in goods another 
 supplies. Families live together : all the sons, 
 married or single, under the rule of the eldest of 
 the house. It need hardly be said that in all that 
 relates to the position of women and their relation 
 to the children there is an entire and fundamental 
 divergence from the famous doctrines of the Re- 
 public : natural affection is glorified, not abased. All 
 dine in the public halls, except for urgent cause. 
 " They begin every dinner and supper with reading 
 something that pertains to good manners and virtue. 
 But it is short, because no man shall be grieved 
 therewith. Hereof the elders take occasion of honest 
 communication, but neither sad nor unpleasant. 
 Howto it tiny do not spend all the whole dinner 
 time themselves with lung tedious talks, but they 
 
 K
 
 130 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 gladly hear also the young men, — yea, and purposely 
 provoke them to talk to the intent that they may 
 have a proof of every man's wit and towardness, 
 or disposition to virtue, which commonly by the 
 liberty of feature doth show and utter itself." 
 
 Such is the common life of the Utopians ; cheer- 
 ful, innocent, happy : and as More after writing the 
 beautiful description of his ideal would leave the 
 library in his " New Lodging " and walk across the 
 soft turf to his house he may well have thought 
 how nearly it was realized in his own family, and 
 have forgotten, perhaps, how very exceptional were 
 the causes required to establish such a home. 
 
 The Utopians trade in all the things of which 
 they have a superfluity. Of the price they always 
 give one-seventh to the poor of the country where 
 they trade. Now, however, they no longer ask 
 immediate payment for their goods, but leave the 
 money in charge of the foreign magistrates, of 
 whom they demand it in case of war. Gold and 
 silver they consider base things, and use them for 
 the meanest purposes. " To gold and silver Nature 
 hath given no use that we may not well lack, if that 
 the folly of men had not set it in higher estimation 
 for the rareness' sake. But, of the contrary part, 
 Nature as a most tender and loving mother hath 
 placed the best and most necessary things open 
 abroad ; as the air, the water, and the earth 
 itself; and hath removed and put further from us 
 vain and unprofitable things." Here More abandons 
 himself to his humour, and gives a picture, ludicrous 
 enough, of the pains the Utopians take to show the
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 131 
 
 low value they set on gold, silver, and precious 
 stones; resuming his serious tone in a description of 
 the evils of a plutocracy. 
 
 In Utopia education is carefully considered : the 
 inhabitants are as well instructed as we are, save 
 that they have not our refinements of Logic. " In 
 their place," remarks Robinson in the margin, 
 " seemeth to be a nipping taunt." Astronomy and 
 meteorology they have studied with success ; but 
 astrology " they never so much as dreamed of." 
 They welcomed Hythlodaye's somewhat peculiar 
 selection of Greek authors with delight; and from 
 "a certain affinity" easily learned the language. 
 
 The Utopian code of ethics is thus expounded, 
 in a passage which seems to be chiefly based 
 on Aristotle and Cicero, though the references to 
 Plato are numerous. The Utopians declare that 
 "the felicity of man" consists in pleasure: "and, 
 which is more to be marvelled at, the defence of 
 this so dainty and delicate an opinion they fetch 
 even from their grave, sharp, bitter, and rigor- 
 ous religion." But " they think not," says More 
 further on, " felicity to consist in all pleasure, but 
 only in that pleasure that is good and honest, 
 and that here, as to perfect blessedness, our nature 
 is allured and drawn even of virtue, whereto only 
 they that be of the contrary opinion do attribute 
 felicity. For they define virtue to be life ordered 
 according to nature, and that we be hereunto 
 ordained even of God. And that he doth follow the 
 course of nature, who in desiring and refusing 
 things is ruled by reason." Eow far this may be
 
 132 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 consistent it is not necessary here to inquire. In 
 the exposition of the Utopian philosophy all is high 
 and ennobling, whether the basis on which it is 
 founded is really capable of sustaining the ideal, or 
 not. Intellectual pleasures are regarded as the 
 highest : virtue is pursued for the sake of a spiritual 
 payment. Examples of the pleasures which the 
 Utopians accepted and rejected are given. In the 
 former passage may be noticed the Platonic idea of 
 pleasure in motion and of the distinction between 
 pure and mixed pleasures. In the latter any delight in 
 fine clothes, jewels, gambling, hunting is condemned. 
 In illustration of the Utopians' position their repro- 
 bation of fasting is referred to. This is a point 
 which serves to remind the reader that More, 
 throughout the book, mingles in a very subtle 
 manner his own opinions with views to which he 
 was entirely opposed. He himself fasted continually, 
 and was as scrupulous in the preservation of the 
 outward forms of religion as he was deeply penetrated 
 by its spirit. 
 
 We now return to the social institutions of Utopia. 
 Slavery exists in the ideal State ; but the bondmen 
 are only those who have been guilty of heinous 
 offences, or have been bought when condemned 
 to death in foreign countries. To those who are 
 afflicted with any incurable disease of a very painful 
 nature the priests and magistrates advise suicide, 
 " but they cause none such to die against his will." 
 
 The Utopians alone " of the nations in that part 
 of the world be content eveiy man with one wife 
 apiece."
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 133 
 
 Their rulers have no pomp of office ; only the 
 prince has a sheaf of corn borne before him, and the 
 bishop a waxen taper. 
 
 Their laws are few and simple, and the whole 
 race of lawyers " they utterly exclude and banish." 
 
 The subject of their foreign relations is made the 
 occasion for bitterly ironical reference, both direct 
 and implied, to the politics of the day. They make 
 no leagues, and that " chiefly because that in those 
 parts of the world leagues between princes be wont 
 to be kept and observed very slenderly. For here 
 in Europe, and especially in those parts where the 
 faith and religion of Christ reigneth, the majesty of 
 leagues is everywhere considered holy and inviolable : 
 partly through the justice and goodness of princes, 
 and partly at the reverence and motion of the head 
 bishops. Which, like as they make not promises 
 themselves but they do very religiously perform the 
 same, so they exhort all princes in any wise to abide 
 by their promises, and them that refuse or deny so 
 to do, by their pontifical power and authority they 
 compel thereto. And surely they think well that 
 it might seem a very reproachful thing, if in the 
 leagues of them which by a peculiar name be called 
 faithful, faith should have no place. 
 
 " But in that new found part of the world, which 
 is scarcely so far from us beyond the line equinoctial 
 as our life and manners be dissident from theirs, no 
 trust nor confidence is in leagues. But the more 
 and holier ceremonies the league is knit up with, 
 the sooner it is broken by some cavillation found 
 in the words, which many times of purpose be so
 
 134 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 craftily put in and placed that the bands can never 
 be so sure nor so strong but they will find some hole 
 open to creep out at, and to break both league and 
 truth. The which crafty dealing, yea the which 
 fraud and deceit, if they should know it to be 
 practised among private men in their bargains and 
 contracts, they would incontinent cry out at it with 
 an open mouth and a sour countenance as an offence 
 most detestable and worthy to be punished with a 
 shameful death, — yea, even very they that avaunce 
 themselves authors of like counsel given to princes.. 
 Wherefore it may well be thought, either that all 
 justice is a base and low virtue and which avaleth 
 itself" (subsided, original) "far under the high dignity 
 of kings ; or at the leastwise that there be two 
 justices; the one meet for the inferior sort of the 
 people, going afoot and creeping low by the grouud, 
 and bound down on every side with many bands 
 because it shall not run at rovers ; the other a 
 princely virtue, which, like as it is of much higher 
 majesty than the other poor justices, so also it is 
 of much more liberty, as to the which nothing is 
 unlawful that it lusteth after." 
 
 There could be no clearer reprobation of any 
 difference between political and individual morality. 
 The reference to the events of the European history 
 of the last twenty years was one which he who ran 
 might read. Every line, almost every word contains 
 a sting : and yet there was nothing that authority 
 could reprehend. As Mr. Seebohm puts it — " Upon 
 any other hypothesis than that the evils against 
 which its satire was directed were admitted to be
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 135 
 
 real, the romance of Utopia must also be admitted 
 to be harmless. To pronounce it to be dangerous 
 was to admit its truth." 
 
 The Utopians abhor war, and fight only in defence 
 of their own country, or to defend some oppressed 
 nation. They fight also, by preference, with cunning, 
 to avoid bloodshed. They offer large bribes for the 
 assassination of the chiefs of their adversaries, and 
 for treason among their enemies. Here again the 
 inference was obvious. If these actions seemed a 
 detestable contrast to the lofty morality of the 
 'Utopians, much more was it a dishonour to a Chris- 
 tian Government to engage in such intrigues as at 
 that very time Henry VIII. was carrying on in 
 Scotland. An equally severe condemnation is implied 
 in the reference to the Utopians' employment of 
 mercenaries. It could have needed no acute intel- 
 ligence to recognize the Swiss — whom the King was 
 then employing — in the Zapoletes, "dwelling in wild 
 woods and high mountains," who basely hire them- 
 selves to the highest bidder, and whom it would be 
 well if war had utterly destroyed. 
 
 Lastly we reach the most interesting chapter 
 in the whole book — " Of the religions in Utopia." 
 Of this the barest notice must suffice. 
 
 There are several religions in the happy island, 
 but Christianity has been introduced and has made 
 many converts. By an ancient law of King Utopus, 
 who believed that if one religion was absolutely 
 true it must eventually prevail, there is perfect 
 liberty for every man to hold what views he will. 
 This complete toleration excludes only him who
 
 136 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 does not believe the immortality of the soul ; be- 
 cause he lowers the dignity of humanity to the 
 level of the beasts. He is excluded from all public 
 office, but undergoes no punishment, " because," 
 says More, with the great saying of Cassiodorus in 
 his mind, no doubt, " they be persuaded that it is 
 not in any man's power to believe what he list." 
 He is not, however, allowed to propagate his opinions. 
 The Utopians do not mourn for the dead, — save 
 for those who seem to depart against their will. 
 They honour them by memorials recording their 
 virtues, and believe in their continual, though in- 
 visible, presence. Soothsaying and divination they 
 reject, but they are firmly persuaded of the truth 
 of miracles. 
 
 There are two kinds of religious orders among 
 them : men who take upon themselves all hard, 
 vile, unpleasant labours, and perform every kind of 
 spiritual and manual work, yet "neither reprove 
 other men's lives, nor glory in their own " ; some 
 of whom are vegetarians, ascetic, and celibate, while 
 others marry and enjoy all pleasures which do not 
 hinder their labour. "They have priests of exceed- 
 ing holiness, and therefore very few." These have 
 power to excommunicate, and are the instructors of 
 children. There are women-priests, — though few, 
 and those widows, and old. The male priests marry. 
 " To no office among the Utopians is more honour 
 and pre-eminence given. Insomuch that if they 
 commit any crime they be under no common judg- 
 ment, but be left only to God and themselves. For 
 they think it not lawful to touch him with man's
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 137 
 
 hand, be he never so vicious, which after so singular 
 a sort was dedicate and consecrate to God, as a holy 
 offering." 
 
 In the churches there is a dim religious light, 
 conducive to concentration of thought and devotion 
 of soul. Though there are many sects, " nothing is 
 seen or heard in the churches but that seemeth to 
 agree indifferently with them all." The sacrifices 
 of the sects are private, but all attend the public 
 services. There is no image of God in the church, 
 " to the intent it may be free for every man to 
 conceive God by their religion after what likeness 
 and similitude they will." 
 
 The wives and children always confess at home 
 to the head of the family, before the sacrifice. The 
 offering is not of any living thing, but " they burn 
 frankincense and other sweet savours, and light also 
 a great number of wax candles and tapers, not 
 supposing this to be anything available to the 
 divine nature, as neither the prayers of men ; but 
 this unhurtful and harmless kind of worship pleaseth 
 them. And by these sweet savours and lights and 
 other such ceremonies men feel themselves secretly 
 lifted up and encouraged to devotion with more 
 willing and fervent hearts." 
 
 The vestments of the priests are embroidered 
 with birds' feathers, and have a solemn signification. 
 At the beginning of the service praises are sung 
 to an exquisitely harmonious accompaniment of 
 various instruments. Afterwards priests and people 
 pray, in words which every one can apply to him- 
 self. God is adored as Creator and Governor, and
 
 138 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 is implored to show the right way of life, the best 
 government, and the true religion, — that if the 
 people do not possess these they may be led to the 
 knowledge of them — and He is asked to take His 
 servants to Himself when He will. 
 
 When the service is over, the rest of the day is 
 spent in " play and exercises of chivalry." 
 
 No part of the Utopia has been more often the 
 subject of commentary than this ; and certain modern 
 writers have discovered in it many of their own 
 opinions. This may be more fitly discussed when 
 More's religious writings are examined. But such 
 points are of importance in the discussion of the 
 question which every reader of the Utopia must 
 desire to solve, — how far the views of More are 
 expressed in his book. In the condemnation of the 
 political and social evils of the day there can be 
 no doubt that he was speaking his own opinions 
 through a safe disguise ; but more than this we 
 can hardly with any certainty declare. It may 
 be that, eminent lawyer though he was, he felt 
 deeply the injuries of the law's delay; but his other 
 writings almost necessarily forbid us to think that 
 he seriously advocated communism. The arguments 
 against it which he gives, though slight, are con- 
 clusive; and we may infer that he rather looked 
 for an equality in the future by the influence of 
 Christianity and the true recognition of its human- 
 izing spirit. 1 Nor again can the voluntary suicide 
 
 1 Utopia, p. 144 — " Howbeit I think this was no small 
 help and furtherance in the matter that they heard us say, 
 that Christ instituted among his all things common : and that
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 139 
 
 of the incurable be supposed to be sanctioned by 
 More himself. The plain opposition between his 
 own custom and the Utopian opinion of fasting 
 has already been pointed out. A similar diver- 
 gence is evident on the subject of images or 
 pictures in churches, which he expressly defends in 
 one of his more serious works. Nor can we believe 
 that More would for a moment have tolerated 
 women as priests, or indeed have suffered the 
 marriage of the clergy : of the latter at least there 
 is no sanction in any other of his writings. His 
 own words at the end of the book confirm this 
 view : many things, he says, in the manners and 
 laws of Utopia seemed to him " to be instituted and 
 founded of no good reason." 
 
 Was the Utopia a lamentation for the Middle 
 Ages which the Renaissance was everywhere burying, 
 not without contempt ? Was it a passionate prophecy 
 of the dim future which More's keen insight fore- 
 saw ? No doubt it was in some measure at least a 
 regret for the past. The old system of mutual help, 
 the old relations of society, its feudally patriarchal 
 obligations, and its ties of fraternity and guild, were 
 certainly to him very beautiful, and he witnessed 
 their destruction with something like dismay. But 
 for much of the past he had no reverence and no 
 regret. Wars and the delights of a half-barbarous 
 age had no charm in his eyes. "Hunting and 
 hawking are no longer the choice pleasures of knight 
 
 the same community doth yet remain among the rightest 
 Christian companies."
 
 140 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 and lady, but are jeered at by him as foolish and 
 unreasonable pieces of butchery; his pleasures are in 
 the main the reasonable ones of learning and music." * 
 That his book was a prophecy of the future, or 
 even the full expression of his own idea for England, 
 it would be difficult to show. It has become, we 
 are told, in our own day, " a necessary part of a 
 Socialist's library," 2 but it conflicts with much of 
 the authorized socialist programme. 3 It is rather 
 wide in its scope than definite in its intentions, save 
 only in its direct references to the pressing evils of 
 the day. And its indebtedness to the past is general 
 rather than particular. More " is penetrated with 
 the spirit of Plato, and quotes or adapts many 
 thoughts both from the Mepublic and the Timaeus." 4 
 But the ideal is still modern, practical, and Christian, 
 and its application is permanent. More looks every- 
 where to common effort for the redress of wrongs, 
 and to an underlying equality, which yet suffers kings 
 and serfs, priests and officers, to reconcile the wrongs 
 of an age of selfish struggles. He has no toleration 
 for the iniquities of man against man, for luxury 
 and chicanery and oppression, but his remedies are 
 wrapt in an intentional obscurity and exaggeration. 
 
 1 William Morris, Forewords to Utopia : Kelmscott Press, 
 1893. 
 
 2 Ibid. : Mr. Morris's beautiful edition which every one would 
 like to possess, but only the very rich can afford to buy. 
 
 3 The instances Mr. Morris gives are those relating to 
 government, the priesthood, and the obligation of the mar- 
 riage contract, and in the " atmosphere of asceticism, which 
 has a curiously blended savour of Cato the Censor and a 
 mediaeval monk." Ibid. 
 
 4 Jowett, Introduction to the Republic, Dialogues of Plato, 
 3rd edition, vol. iii. p. ccxxiv.
 
 LITERARY WORK: THE 'UTOPIA' 141 
 
 It is with an earnest exhortation to common work, 
 to which the continuity of our social order still gives 
 a profound significance, that More ends his picture 
 of "Nowhere." He describes with bitter and in- 
 dignant remonstrance the glaring inequalities and 
 injustice of the so-called Commonwealths of his day 
 — the "conspiracy of rich men procuring their own 
 ends" ; the patient suffering of the poor; the triumph 
 of that " scornful lady," Pride, who " measureth not 
 wealth and prosperity by her own commodities, but 
 by the misery of others." And yet he sorrowfully 
 admits — " As I cannot agree and consent to all things 
 that he (Hythlodaye) said ... so I must needs 
 confess and grant that many things be in the Utopian 
 Commonwealth which in our cities I may rather 
 wish for than hope after." 
 
 Utopia indeed could never be brought down to 
 earth ; and More never lost touch of his own practical 
 business, fondly though he might dream of a perfect 
 in his imaginary state. Writing to Erasmus soon 
 after the book was published, he says quaintly that 
 he is in the clouds with the dream of a government 
 offered to him by the Utopians; there he will be 
 too high to think of common acquaintances, yet 
 there will always be a place in his heart for Erasmus 
 and Tunstal — and if they visit him, his subjects 
 shall do them honour as the prince's friends. So he 
 dreams on till morning dawns, and as his royalty 
 vanishes he sinks back into what had now become 
 his familiar mill-round at Court. 1 
 
 In politics and in religion More had to meet the 
 1 Erasm. Epp. App. 250. (Leyden ed. of Works, vol iii. lit. 2.)
 
 142 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 stern realities of an age of crises ; but the longing 
 for brotherhood which illuminates every page of the 
 Utopia remained the expression of his deepest 
 thoughts. It was to the union between the Church 
 and the New Learning that he looked for the great 
 hope of the future. " No such cry " as his " of pity 
 for the poor, of protest against the system of agrarian 
 and manufacturing tyranny, had been heard since the 
 days of Piers Ploughman." 1 It was the echo, he 
 thought, of the Church's teaching. For Christ Him- 
 self would have all men brothers, and He " instituted 
 among His all things common — and . . . the same 
 community doth yet remain among the rightest 
 Christian companies." It was in this longing for 
 brotherhood that the Utopians with glad minds 
 received the faith of Christ 2 ; and it was in the 
 community of the Catholic Church that More 
 believed all wrongs could be redressed and the world 
 pass to its New Birth. 
 
 1 A. W. Hutton, Sir Thomas More and his Utopia, p. 17. 
 3 Arbei^s edition of B. Robinson's Transl. p. 144.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POLITICAL LIFE. 
 
 " So lieb mir nieiner Seele Seligkeit ist, so lieb wird niir 
 seyn wenn ich dem allgemeinen Wesen dienen kann." — 
 Wcdkustein. 
 
 More's political life may be said to have begun 
 almost at the same time as the reign of Henry VIII. 
 His professional income, gradually increasing, had 
 reached little less than £400 (or about £5000 as the 
 value of money is now) a year ; and work of a more 
 public character was coming to him. On July 5, 
 1509, he was named in commission with his father 
 and another lawyer to take inquisition as to the 
 possessions in Middlesex of William, Viscount Beau- 
 mont, deceased. And from February 22, 1510, he 
 was for many years in the Commission of the Peace 
 for Hampshire. 1 On September 3, 1510, he was 
 elected one of the under-sheriffs of the city of 
 London, and thus acted as judge in the County 
 Court of London and Middlesex. Erasmus has given 
 a description of the office and of More's conduct 
 
 1 Feb. 22, 1510 : Dec. 15, 1510 : July 18, 1511 (Commission 
 of Array): March !•">, 1512: June 3, 1513: -Ian. 24, 1514, 
 etc. etc.
 
 114 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 iu it, in his letter to Ulricli von Hntten. 1 " This 
 office, though not laborious, for the court sits only 
 on every Thursday till dinner-time, is accounted 
 very honourable. No judge of that court ever went 
 through more causes ; none ever decided them more 
 uprightly; often remitting the fees to which he 
 was entitled from the suitors. His deportment in 
 this capacity endeared him extremely to his fellow- 
 citizens." Of his exercise of the judicial duties of 
 this post two amusing anecdotes have been told — 
 one of his restoring a beggar's dog which his wife 
 had found, and another of a trick he played on a 
 conceited old justice, who declared that only fools 
 could have their pockets picked. 
 
 In 1509, he became a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn, 
 and he was reader there in 1511 and 151 G. On 
 February 1, 1514, we find him in the Commission 
 of Sewers for the district extending along the 
 Thames between East Greenwich and Lambeth. 
 
 In such employments the earlier years of the 
 reign were passed, but with the new development 
 of foreign policy into which England gradually 
 drifted, More was forced into a wider sphere of 
 action. For the first four years of the reign the 
 peaceful traditions of Henry VII. had been main- 
 tained. Warham and Fox were both peace ministers, 
 and Henry, though eager to enter into the European 
 struggle which it was only a question of time how 
 long England could avoid, perceived the deficiency 
 of trained soldiers, and waited till some organization 
 should have been attempted. 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. x. 30.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 115 
 
 When at length war had been made it had been 
 carried on with wonderful success, and the peace 
 which concluded it had been in every way honour- 
 able. The remarkable development of diplomacy 
 brought England, now regarded universally as the 
 great home of money, more and more closely into 
 connexion with the continental powers. The in- 
 sincerity of the great States and their distrust of 
 each other caused constant revolutions in the political 
 arrangements of Europe ; no sooner was one power 
 victorious, than an ally would immediately make a 
 treaty with the vanquished. A network of hypocrisy 
 and tortuous procedure arose, which necessitated 
 the employment of a large body of professed diploma- 
 tists, whether ambassadors, special envoys, or spies. 
 Into this system More was introduced almost as it 
 were by chance. The relations of England with 
 Charles of Castile and the Netherlands had been 
 much strained, and it was decided to send an 
 embassy to the Netherlands "for the continuance 
 of the treaties of intercourse between the late Kings 
 of England and Castile." 1 On hearing of this, the 
 London merchants, who had suffered from the sus- 
 pension of commercial intercourse, desired to be 
 especially represented. More was already well 
 known to the merchants of the Steelyard, whose 
 interests were at stake; and his reputation had 
 already reached the ears of Wolsey. Thus readily 
 at their request 2 the King joined More to the 
 Commission, 3 which consisted of Cuthbert Tunstal, 
 
 1 Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. ii. 422. 2 Roper, p. 8. 
 3 Ibid, (us above), May 1516.
 
 146 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Master of the Rolls and Archdeacon of Chester ; 
 Sir Thomas Spynell, resident at Bruges ; Dr. 
 Sampson, vicar-general of Tournay ; and John 
 Clifford, "governor of the English merchants." 
 
 The next day, May 8, 1514, the Court of Alder- 
 men gave permission for More to appoint a deputy 
 in his office, 1 and he started for Flanders on May 12. 
 Spynell announced his arrival at Bruges with 
 Tunstal 2 on the 18th, and on the 20th Sampson 
 wrote to Wolsey expressing his pleasure at the 
 honour of being named in the King's Commission 
 with Dr. Tunstal and " young More." 3 The busi- 
 ness, in which More and Clifford were specially 
 charged with the commercial interests, was a 
 tedious one : French influence was all powerful 
 at the Court of Flanders, and the English envoys 
 met with " taunts and checks, scarce within the 
 bounds of friendly consideration." The Flemish 
 merchants complained of many injuries in their 
 commerce with England, besides the constant 
 grievance of the Staple. Nor were the personal 
 comforts of the ambassadors enviable. More, whose 
 salary was only 13s. 4<d. a day, 4 had not been paid ; 
 and it was not till Tunstal wrote to Wolsey to tell 
 of his distress — " Master More at this time, as 
 being at a low ebb, desires by your grace to be set 
 on float again " — that a remittance of £20 was sent 
 to him. 5 The Commission moved from Bruges to 
 
 1 Extracts from City Records : App. to Mackintosh, Life 
 of Mure. 2 Brewer, ii. 473. 3 Ibid. ii. 480. 
 
 4 King's Book of Payments, Brewer, ii. 1647 
 
 5 July 9, 1515, Brewer, ii. 679. Tunstal and Sampson 
 received £30. See King's Book of Payments as above.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 147 
 
 Brussels, arid eventually to Antwerp, where More 
 made the acquaintance of Petrus iEgidius. At last 
 the negotiations were completed, and soon after the 
 besfinnino- of 1516 x More was able to return to 
 England. He had not enjoyed his experience of 
 diplomacy. The honour, such as it was, scarcely 
 counterbalanced the inconveniences of the position. 
 Yet More had been able to gain an insight into the 
 evils of the then-existing international relations, which 
 he made abundant use of in his Utopia. Writing 
 to Erasmus on his return to Court in February, 
 he gives an amusing picture of its disadvantages. 
 Tunstal, he said, had hardly been ten days in 
 London, " when 2 he was sent off on another embassy ; 
 yet such an employment could not be half so 
 inconvenient to him as it was to a layman. We 
 laymen and you priests are not on equal terms on 
 such occasions ; for you leave no wives nor children 
 at home, whereas whenever we laymen are away, 
 we are called back by the love of our wives and 
 families. When a priest starts on his mission, he 
 can take his whole family with him, and feed at 
 the king's expense those whom he must otherwise 
 have fed at home. But whenever I am absent, I 
 have two families to keep, one at home, and one 
 
 1 Erasm. Epp. ii. 16. 
 
 2 Some dilliculty arises here about the dates. Roper states 
 that More was sent on two embassies to Flanders, ami almost 
 every succeeding writer has accepted his statement— Mr. 
 Seebohm without any comment. It appears, however, that 
 the second embassy was that to Calais in Augu-t 1577, after 
 More's knighthood and employment a1 Court. Of three em- 
 
 • there is no record. Vide Erasmus to Ammonius, 
 Brewer, ii. 3003, 3634, et seq.
 
 148 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 abroad. The king provides tolerably well for those 
 whom I must take with me ; but no consideration 
 is paid to those whom I leave behind. You know 
 what a kind husband I am, what an indulgent father 
 and lenient master : and yet for all this I cannot 
 prevail on my wife, children and servants, to close 
 their mouths and stop eating till I return." With 
 his conduct of the negotiations the King and Wolsey 
 were much pleased, and he was requested to enter 
 the royal service. He showed his reluctance to obey, 
 even when a pension was pressed upon him, as large 
 as the income he would lose by withdrawal from 
 practice. 1 In the letter above quoted More mentions 
 this to Erasmus, and declares that he believes he shall 
 always decline a pension and office at Court, because 
 it would oblige him either to resign his office in 
 the city, which he preferred to a higher one, or to 
 encourage suspicions of being biassed in favour of 
 the Crown in case of any contest concerning privileges. 
 For a short time the King consented to press no 
 further; but a little later More was induced to 
 accept a pension of £100 for life. 2 But less than 
 a year passed before another occasion brought More 
 into public notice. A Papal vessel at Southampton 
 had been seized probably as a droit of the Admiralty, 
 and claimed as a forfeiture by the King. The Papal 
 envoy, Campeggio, demanded counsel to defend the 
 right of the Pope; and More, who was appointed, 
 argued with such learning and acuteness, that the 
 cause was decided in favour of the Holy See. 3 The 
 
 1 Roper, p. 10. 
 
 2 Letters and Papers, ii. 8 Roper, p. 8.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 149 
 
 King, who had been present at the hearing of the 
 suit, was so delighted with More's ability, that he 
 could no longer submit to be without his service. 
 The appointment of Master of Requests was con- 
 ferred upon him in 1518, and a month later he 
 was sworn of the Privy Council. In March 1517, 
 Erasmus, writing to Tunstal, 1 notices that More, 
 hitherto so inflexible, has been carried away to Court. 
 In the interval, however, between his rejection and 
 his acceptance of the royal offer, More had published 
 his Utopia, and thus given decisively to the world 
 his views of international and domestic policy. 
 The King accepted his services under no decep- 
 tion, and More fifteen years afterwards was able 
 to remind him of the " most godly words that his 
 Highness spake unto him at his first coming into his 
 service, the most virtuous lesson that ever prince 
 taught his servant, willing him first to look unto God 
 and after God to him." 2 Thus, reluctant as he had 
 been to take it, More could not but regard his new 
 position as an honour to his opinions as well as to 
 his abilities. Writing to Fisher, 3 he said—" I have 
 come to court entirely against my will, and as the 
 king himself often jestingly reproaches me for. And 
 I am as uncomfortable as a carpet knight in the 
 saddle. . . . Yet such is the virtue and learning of 
 the king, and his daily increasing progress in both, 
 that the more I see him increase in these kingly 
 ornaments the less troublesome the courtier's life 
 becomes to me." 
 
 1 Brewer, ii. 3003. - Roper, p. 29. 
 
 3 Stapleton, cap. vii. p. -l-l'.).
 
 150 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 In the few months that passed between his summons 
 to Court and his appointment to another foreign 
 mission, More was able to perform some slight service 
 in London, both as a member of the Council, and as 
 still holding the office of under-sheriff, which he did 
 not resign till July 23, 1519. 1 A great tumult took 
 jjlace on April 28, 1517, which was only put down 
 with much difficulty. The jealousy of the London 
 traders against foreigners, who in the last few years 
 had been settling in London in great numbers, had 
 risen to a high pitch. One John Lincolne, having 
 failed to induce the famous Dr. Standish in the Spital 
 Sermon on the Monday in Easter week to introduce 
 the subject, prevailed upon a certain Dr. Bell to do 
 so. From the text, Coelum cocli Domino, ten-am 
 autem dedit filiis hominum, this worthy divine 
 aroused his audience to frenzy by declaring that 
 England was given to its natives, and not to strangers. 
 The Council had due notice of the danger, and sent 
 to enforce precautionary measures, but the very exe- 
 cution of the order caused a riot, which soon assumed 
 alarming proportions. The prisons were broken open 
 and foreigners' houses burnt; and tranquillity was 
 only secured by an armed force, after the heavy 
 ordnance in the Tower had been directed against the 
 city. More had been unremitting in his personal 
 efforts to allay the disturbance, and had only been 
 frustrated by the folly of his companions. 2 
 
 1 Extracts from City Records, App. to Mackintosh, Life of 
 More. 
 
 2 Stow, Annals (ed. 1631,) p. 505 et scq. Cres. More, p. 
 49. Walter's Life of More, p. 67.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 151 
 
 He was himself appointed when the riots were over 
 to inquire into their origin. In his Apology he 
 thns described his action. 1 " Even here in London 
 after the great business that was there on a May- 
 day in the morning, by a rising made against 
 strangers, for which divers of the prentices and 
 journeymen suffered execution of treason, by an old 
 statute made long before, against all such as would 
 violate the king's safe conduct ; I was appointed 
 among others to search out and enquire by diligent 
 examination in what wise and by what persons that 
 privy confederacy began. And in good faith after 
 great time taken and much diligence used therein, 
 we perfectly tried out at last that all that business of 
 any rising to be made for the matter, began only by 
 the conspiracy of two young lads that were prentices 
 in Cheapside, which, after the thing devised first and 
 compared between them twain, perused privily to 
 journeymen first, and after the prentices, of many of 
 the mean crafts in the city, bearing the first that they 
 spake with in hand, that they had secretly spoken 
 with many other occupations already and that they 
 were all agreed thereunto, and that besides them 
 there were two or three hundred serving men of 
 divers lords' houses and some of the king's too, which 
 would not be named nor known, that would yet in the 
 night be at hand, and when they were once up, would 
 not fail to fall in with them and take their part. 
 Now this ungracious invention and these words of 
 those two lewd lads (which yet in the business fled 
 id ways themselves and never came again after) did 
 1 Apology, ed. 1533, pp. 261, 2G2.
 
 152 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 put some other, by their oversight and lightness, in 
 such a courage and boldness that they wende them- 
 selves able to avenge their displeasure in the night, 
 and after either never to be known or to be strong 
 enough to bear it out and go farther." From such 
 small causes do great confusions spring, thought 
 More ; and he had henceforth a fine contempt for 
 popular demonstrations. He compared the heretics 
 to these misguided prentices, misled by their " pot- 
 headed apostles." 
 
 But More was not only useful at home. The 
 tortuous negotiations with France, which Wolsey dis- 
 guised with so much care even from the keen inquiry 
 of the Venetian Ambassador, were at this time drag- 
 ging their slow course, and a suitable cloak for deeper 
 projects was obtained in the sending of an embassy 
 to Calais, to settle the disputes between the French 
 and English merchants. On August 27, 1517, a 
 Commission 1 was issued to Sir Richard Wingfield, 
 then deputy of Calais, Dr. William Knight, and 
 Thomas More. They were to meet the French 
 representatives, having full power to receive and 
 adjudicate upon complaints, and make the necessary 
 compensation. It was hoped that the merchants 
 would be thus saved the expenses of the law courts. 
 This negotiation was even more tedious than the 
 former, and from the incomplete records of its progress 
 that are obtainable, we should infer that it lasted for 
 at least six months. The Commissioners' allowance 
 seems to have been higher than on More's previous 
 mission 2 ; but Erasmus, writing to iEgidius, declared 
 
 1 Brewer, ii. 3634. 2 King's Booh of Payments, Aug. 1517.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 153 
 
 that More was living at great expense, and engaged 
 in business most odious to him. The French Commis- 
 sioners did all in their power to delay any result, 
 declaring that their commission was not complete. 1 
 They appear however to have been reasonable in 
 their demands. 2 More hoped at one time to have 
 seen Erasmus at Calais, but apparently was disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 On his return to England, More was in constant 
 attendance on the Court. In April 1518, Pace, 
 writing from Abingdon to Wolsey, complains of the 
 inconveniences which the Master of Requests was 
 undergoing, his daily allowance of meat not being 
 provided by the Lord Steward, and therefore having 
 to be bought in the town, " which is to him intoler- 
 able, and to the king's grace dishonourable." 3 In 
 September we have an amusing admission in the 
 letter of the acute Giustiniani of how difficult it was 
 to extract information from the newly made councillor. 
 On October 4, More was one of the signatories of 
 the treaty between England and France, in which 
 the marriage of the Dauphin with the Princess Mary 
 was arranged. 4 As soon as the negotiations at Calais 
 had been over, there had been others at Bruges, 
 and More's name appears constantly in diplomatic 
 memoranda, and at home, especially during 1519, 
 in correspondence with Wolsey as to politics and 
 international relations. 5 In April 1520, his name 
 occurs among those who signed the treaties between 
 
 1 Letters ah 1 1 Papers, ii. 3750. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 3766, :i773, 3803. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. 4055. 4 Ibid. ii. 4409. 
 6 E. g. Ibid. vol. ill. 333, 35G.
 
 154 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Henry and Charles V., 1 and he rode in the gallant 
 train which met the Emperor at Canterbury. In 
 the autumn of that year he was again at Bruges, 
 negotiating with the representatives of the Hanse 
 towns. It was then that he tricked the boastful 
 Fleming who offered to dispute with any man on 
 any thesis, by propounding that fine question of 
 English law — " an averia capta in withernamia sunt 
 irreplegiabilia " — whether cattle seized under writ of 
 distress are irrepleviable. 
 
 Abroad he made many friends : but he was most 
 needed at home. The King, so Pace wrote to Wolsey, 
 was earnest to put young men into his affairs, since 
 "old men decay greatly," 2 and so in 1521 More was 
 knighted, and succeeded Weston as Treasurer of the 
 Exchequer, 3 and from this time was closely attached 
 to the Court. In 1522 he took an important part in 
 the ceremonies attending the second visit of Charles V. 
 At this time he was one of the King's chief secretaries, 
 and through him Henry communicated with Wolsey 
 whenever the Cardinal was not at Court. A number 
 of letters, which passed at this period between Wolsey 
 and More, exist, but the matters with which they are 
 concerned are of no private interest. From chance 
 expressions however various details of More's position 
 at Court may be obtained, which fully confirm Roper's 
 account of the familiarity to which he was admitted. 4 
 At present the first stirrings of the Reformation had 
 
 1 Letters and Papers, ii. 739, 740. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. iii. 2900. 
 
 3 Erasm. Epp. xvii. 16. 
 
 4 E. g. Sept. 21, 1522. Letters and Papers, iii. 2555.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 155 
 
 served to bring him more closely into connexion 
 with the King, especially in the matter of Luther's 
 book. Nor was his service unrewarded : he shared in 
 the spoil of the unhappy Buckingham, receiving the 
 manor of South, Kent. 1 
 
 The Parliament which was summoned on account 
 of the necessities of the great French war, met on 
 Wednesday, April 15, 1523, in the magnificent hall 
 at Blackfriars. More was a member, but no inquiries 
 as to his constituency have as yet been successful. 2 
 If we can reason from precedents, however, it was 
 almost certainly one of the counties. His friend 
 Tunstal preached the opening sermon, and, probably 
 by the King's direction, the House of Commons, 
 on Saturday, April 18, presented as their chosen 
 Speaker, Sir Thomas More. He made the usual 
 excuse of disability, comparing himself to Phormio, 
 and the King to Hannibal, in the tale. Wolsey, as 
 Chancellor, replied that ' his majesty, by long 
 experience of his services, was well acquainted with 
 
 1 Letters and Papers, iii. 2239. 
 
 2 " As the whole of his life passed during the great chasm in 
 writs for election and returns of members of parliament, from 
 1 177 to 1542, the places for which Sir T. More sat, and the 
 year of his early opposition to a subsidy, are unascertained ; 
 notwithstanding the obliging exertions of the gentlemen 
 employed in the repositories at the Tower and in the Rolls' 
 chapel. We know that he was Speaker of the House of 
 Commons in 1523 and 1524. Browne WiUia owns his in- 
 ability to fix the place (Notit. Parliament, iii. 112) ; but he 
 conjectured it to have been 'either Middlesex, where he 
 resided, or Lancaster, of which he was chancellor.' But that 
 writer would not have mentioned the latter branch of his 
 alternative, if he had known that More was not chancellor of 
 the duchy till two years after his speakership."— Mackintosh, 
 Life <f More, preface. See LetU rs am I Papers, iii. 2956.
 
 156 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 his wit, learning, and discretion ; and therefore he 
 thought that the Commons had chosen the fittest 
 person to be their speaker.' 1 More again replied 
 according to usage, accepting the office with reluct- 
 ance, and demanding the recognition of the privileges 
 of the Speaker and the House. Roper 2 thinks this 
 speech worthy of insertion in his work, probably 
 from his father-in-law's manuscript, but it contains 
 no point of great interest. 
 
 The critical period of More's life now begins. 
 Wolsey, having obtained a large grant from Convo- 
 cation, in spite of the opposition of Fisher and Fox, 
 went down to the House of Commons on April 29, 
 and, having dilated upon the perfidy of the French 
 King, and the necessity of giving powerful aid to 
 the Emperor, demanded £800,000, and proposed 
 that it should be obtained by a fifth of all goods 
 for four years. 3 Of the subsequent debates Roper 
 gives a dramatic account, which has found its way 
 into most of the biographies of More, but which is 
 hardly reconcilable with our information from other 
 sources. 
 
 " At this Parliament Cardinal Wolsey found himself 
 much grieved with the Burgesses thereof, for that 
 nothing was so soon done or spoken therein, but that 
 it was immediately blown abroad in every alehouse. 
 It fortuned at that Parliament a very great subsidy 
 
 1 Brewer (pref. to Letters and Papers, vol. iii. p. 237) 
 thinks it probable, Walter (Life of Mure, p. 87) states for 
 certain, that More was chosen Speaker by the King's command. 
 The latter writer gives no authority. 
 
 2 Pages 10—12. 
 
 3 Lord Herbert's Henry VIII. p. 134.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 157 
 
 to be demanded, which the Cardinal fearing it would 
 not pass the common house, determined for the further- 
 ance thereof, to be there present himself; before 
 whose coming after long debating there, whether it 
 were better but with a few of his lords (as the most 
 opinion of the house was), or with a whole train 
 royally to receive him there amongst them, ' Masters,' 
 quoth Sir Thomas More, ' forasmuch as my Lord 
 Cardinal lately, you wot well, laid to our charge the 
 lightness of our tongues for things uttered out of 
 this house, it shall not be amiss in my mind to 
 receive him with all his pomp, with his maces, his 
 pillars, his poleaxes, his crosses, his hat, and great 
 seal too ; to the intent that if he find the like fault 
 with us hereafter, we may be the bolder from our- 
 selves to lay the blame upon those that his grace 
 bringeth with him.' Whereunto the house wholly 
 agreeing, he was received accordingly. Where after 
 he had in a solemn oration by many reasons proved 
 how necessary it was the demands there moved to be 
 granted, and further said that less would not serve 
 the king's purpose; he seeing the company still 
 silent, and thereunto nothing answering, and con- 
 trary to his expectation shewing in themselves 
 towards his requests no towardness of inclination, 
 said unto them: 'Masters, ye have many wise and 
 learned men among you, and sith I am from the 
 king's own person sent hither unto you, for the 
 preservation of your own selves and all the Realm, I 
 think it meet you give me a reasonable answer.' 
 Whereat every man holding his peace, then began 
 he to speak to one Mr. Marney, who making him no
 
 158 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 answer neither, he severally asked the same question 
 of divers others accounted the wisest of the company. 
 To whom when none of them all would give so much 
 as one word, being before agreed, as the custom was, 
 by their speaker to make answer ; ' Masters/ quoth 
 the Cardinal, ' unless it be the manner of your house, 
 as of likelihood it is, in such causes to utter your 
 minds by the mouth of your speaker, whom ye have 
 chosen for trusty and wise (as indeed he is), here is 
 without doubt a marvellous obstinate silence ' ; and 
 thereupon required the answer of Mr. Speaker, who 
 reverently upon his knees excusing the silence of the 
 house, abashed at the presence of so noble a personage, 
 able to amaze the wisest and best learned in a Realm, 
 and after by many reasons proving, that for them to 
 make answer was it neither expedient, nor agreeable 
 with the ancient liberty of the house ; in conclusion 
 for himself shewed, that though they had all with 
 their voices trusted him, yet except every one of 
 them could put into his own head all their several 
 wits, he alone in so weighty a matter was unmeet to 
 make his Grace answer. Whereupon the Cardinal 
 displeased with Sir Thomas More, that had not in 
 this Parliament in all things satisfied his desire, 
 suddenly rose and departed." x Roper then goes on 
 to relate that Wolsey resented the action of his 
 courageous opponent, and cried, " Would God you 
 had been at Rome when I made you Speaker ! " and 
 that he wished to have him sent as ambassador to 
 Spain to get rid of him, but that Henry readily 
 accepted More's excuses, saying, " It is not our 
 1 Koper, pp. 12 — 14.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 159 
 
 pleasure to do you hurt, but to do you good we 
 should be glad." 
 
 Any statement of Roper's, who lived in the closest 
 intimacy with his father-in-law under the same roof 
 for more than sixteen years, must have great weight. 
 In this case, the story is told with remarkable cir- 
 cumstance of detail ; and Roper, living at that very 
 time at Chelsea, could hardly be ignorant of the 
 doings of this Parliament and of its Speaker. At 
 the same time there is no support whatever to his 
 statement from any other source, and other informa- 
 tion seems directly to point to the improbability of 
 such a scene having occurred ; nor must it be for- 
 gotten that Roper has made other evident mistakes, 
 though none of such importance as this. It can 
 hardly be conceived that Wolsey would be so ignorant 
 of the privileges and customs of the House of 
 Commons, as he appears in this scene ; nor, even on 
 & priori grounds, would it be likely that one of the 
 royal secretaries, living in daily intercourse with the 
 Kins and his great minister as the confidant of most 
 if not of all their plans, would make himself the 
 exponent of direct opposition to a proposal, to which 
 he had previously in all probability agreed. Not 
 only this : but the utmost cordiality seems to have 
 existed between Wolsey and More ; and it is certain 
 that in the discussions on the subsidy More constantly 
 supported the royal demands, and at the end of the 
 session received, by Wolsey's express request, a 
 substantial mark of the royal gratitude. 
 
 The debates seem in reality to have proceeded 
 quite otherwise than as Roper tells the story. On
 
 160 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Wolsey's departure, after his explanation of the royal 
 demand, there was much discussion. On the next 
 day More supported the Chancellor's plan, and showed 
 that four shillings in the pound could not be con- 
 sidered extravagant on such an occasion. Opposition 
 was raised on the ground that " though some were 
 well monied, in general the fifth part of men's goods 
 was not in plate or money, but in stock or cattle, 
 and that to pay away all their coin would alter 
 the frame and intercourse of all things." * Another 
 position was taken in the speech made by Cromwell, 
 who opposed the King's going to the war, and 
 advocated fighting the French on Scots ground. 
 A long speech for the Court is epitomized by Lord 
 Herbert of Cherbury : 2 it is attributed to More, and 
 is certainly much in his style of argument and 
 expression. By this taxation, it was said, the money 
 was not lost to the nation : no more indeed happened 
 than by the ordinary course of markets. Let the rich 
 men go to the war themselves, and show that they 
 deserve their great possessions by the courage Avith 
 which they can defend them. The objection that the 
 money would be carried out of England was unreason- 
 able, for would it not carry the men also ? " Notwith- 
 standing," continued the Speaker, " if you be so 
 obstinate as to believe that making war in a country 
 brings money into it, do but conceive awhile that 
 the French had invaded us. Would the money 
 they brought over, think you, enrich our country, 
 or should any of us be the better for it ? Let us 
 
 1 Henry VIII. (edit. 1682), p. 134. 
 
 2 Ibid., and Walter's Life of More, p. 91.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 161 
 
 therefore lay aside those poor scruples and do what 
 ma} 7 be worthy the dignity and honour of our nation. 
 When you did conceive the worst that can fall out, 
 you should yet eat your beef and mutton here, and 
 wear your country cloth ; while others, upon a short 
 allowance, fought only that you might enjoy your 
 families and liberty. But I say confidently, you need 
 not fear this penury or scarceness of money, the 
 intercourse of things being so established throughout 
 the w r orld that there is perpetual derivation of all 
 that can be necessary to mankind. Thus your 
 commodities will ever find out money ; while, not 
 to go far, I shall produce our ow r n merchants only, 
 who, let me assure you, will be always as glad of 
 your corn and cattle as you can be of anything 
 they bring you. Let us, therefore, in God's name, 
 do what becomes us; and for the rest, entertain 
 so good an opinion of our soldiers as to believe 
 that, instead of leaving our country bare, they will 
 add new provinces to it, or at least, bring rich 
 spoils and triumphs home." 
 
 After debate it was agreed that a subsidy on 
 a graduated scale should be granted ; but the sum 
 did not reach what Wolsey had asked. Then the 
 Cardinal came down again to the House to address 
 the members. His speech was heard in silence, but, 
 say Hall and Lord Herbert, More intimated that it 
 could not be discussed in his presence, — " it was the 
 order of the House to hear, and not to reason, save 
 among themselves." Subsequently it was decided 
 that a fifth should be granted by those holding lands 
 to the value of five pounds and upwards. On the 
 
 u
 
 162 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 reassembling of the House after an adjournment, 
 the knights of the shire agreed to continue their 
 grant to a fourth year, and proposed that it should 
 be paid also by those who had five pounds in gold. 
 After a heated discussion More interfered as a peace- 
 maker, and secured the acceptance of the motion. 
 
 It was natural that Wolsey, though all that he 
 had asked had not been obtained, should be grate- 
 ful to More : and on August 24 x he wrote to the 
 King, advising the gift of £100 to the Speaker for 
 his household, in addition to the ordinary fee of 
 £100. The reward can never have been better 
 deserved than by the " faithful diligence " of More 
 " in all your causes treated in this your late parlia- 
 ment, as well as for your subsidy." He adds, "I 
 am the rather moved to put your highness in mind 
 thereof, because he is not the most ready to speak 
 and solicit his own cause." So far was Wolsey from 
 feeling any displeasure against More. The latter, 
 writing to the Cardinal two days afterwards, men- 
 tions that the King has ordered that he receive 
 the £200 from the exchequer. 2 As the relations 
 between More and Wolsey have here come into 
 prominence, it may be well to notice other references 
 to their connexion. They are to said to have 
 first become acquainted at Oxford, 3 when More 
 was a student at Canterbury College and Wolsey 
 bursar of Magdalen ; and the " epigrams " of the 
 former contain a high compliment to the latter. 
 Writing to Erasmus in February 1516, More 
 
 1 Letters and Papers, iii. 3267. 
 
 2 Ibid. iii. 3270, s Walter, p. 6.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 163 
 
 spoke in the highest terms of the new Chan- 
 cellor. " He acquits himself," said the young 
 barrister, "so well as to outdo expectation, and, 
 what must be admitted to be very difficult, even 
 after so excellent a predecessor he gives the greatest 
 satisfaction." Ammonius, speaking of Morc's return 
 to England after his first embassy, describes him as 
 among the earliest in paying salutations to Wolsey. 
 The Cardinal fully appreciated his ability, and was 
 at least as anxious as the King to bring- him to 
 Court; nor can his subsequent promotions have 
 taken place without the minister's approbation. At 
 the time of the Parliament of 1523, and for some 
 years afterwards, the two statesmen were in con- 
 stant correspondence : More was acting, on occa- 
 sion, as the medium of communication between the 
 King and the Chancellor, explaining, illustrating, 
 enforcing, the views of the latter, with all his energy 
 and skill. The letters that passed between them 
 were always of the most cordial kind. Wolsey 
 commits the most delicate matters to the chnrgc 
 of More, sure of his appreciation and diligence : 
 More repays the confidence with zeal and affection. 
 The biographers of the latter have invariably 
 endeavoured to suggest a hostility between their 
 hero and the great Cardinal, but their case is almost 
 entirely without support. No good minister was 
 ever condemned by his fall to such immediate as 
 well as enduring unpopularity as was Wolsey. Of 
 this feeling Erasmus, probably because he did not 
 consider that he had been sufficiently noticed by 
 the fallen statesman, and quite inconsistently with
 
 Kit SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the opinions lie had expressed during the Cardinal's 
 exercise of power, made himself one of the ex- 
 ponents ; and — as far as we can see — gratuitously, 
 informed the world when it was mourning for the 
 death of More, that the conscientious statesman 
 "had never been liked by Wolsey." Roper and 
 succeeding Roman Catholic writers, among whom 
 Wolsey has never been popular, gave credit to the 
 same view. 
 
 That the relations between the Cardinal and 
 More continued to be cordial, a glance at some of 
 the letters that passed between them suffice to 
 show. 
 
 Writing to " my Lord Legate" 1 on September 1, 
 1523, More described how he had shown his letters 
 to the King, and how Henry had been delighted 
 with his skill and wisdom in the difficult business 
 regarding Scotland, and " perceived what great 
 labour Wolsey had taken when the reading only of 
 those papers had held him more than two hours." 
 " I never saw him like things better," added the 
 writer, "and, in my poor fantasy, not causelessly; 
 for it (the letter to the King's sister, the Queen of 
 Scots) is one of the best made letters for words, 
 matter, sentence, and couching, that ever I read in 
 my life." On the 4th, 2 More wrote again — this 
 time on the directions to be given for the move- 
 ment of Suffolk's army from Calais — and expressed 
 his pleasure "that his own services were so well 
 liked " by Wolsey. The correspondence was constant. 
 
 1 State Papers, i. 128 ; Ellis, Letters, 1st Series, i. 203. 
 2 State Papers, i. 130.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 165 
 
 Mure wrote ou the 12th, 1 about the preparation 
 for the siege of Boulogne ; on the 13th, about the 
 negotiations with Bourbon ; 2 on the 22nd and on the 
 24th, concerning the Scotch difficulty; 3 and on the 
 30th, in joyful acknowledgment of the success of 
 Suffolk's army. 4 Nor was he solely engaged in 
 attendance on the King; he was on the Commission 
 for Middlesex, to collect the subsidy in the grant of 
 which his own exertions had so greatly aided. He 
 was also on the Commission of the Peace 5 for the 
 same county, and on his own account he seems to 
 have entered into mercantile undertakings. 
 
 During the years 1524 and 1525 there is little to 
 notice in the correspondence between More and 
 Wolsey, except the amusing incidents connected 
 with the arrest of one of the servants of the 
 Imperial ambassador by a patrol, and the perusal of 
 the ambassador's reports by More (to whom they 
 were taken when he was still in bed very early 
 one morning) and Wolsey. These are detailed at 
 great length in the indignant correspondence of dc 
 Pract, and led to the writing of a great number of 
 State Papers, ending in the publication of an official 
 Vindication of the English. 7 
 
 In 1526, More's name occurs among those who 
 took part in the ceremony with which, on June 10, 
 
 1 State Papers, i. 131. 2 Ibid. 130. 3 U>!<1 140. 
 
 4 Ellis, Letters, 1st Series, i. 210. 
 
 6 April and October 1523; Letters "ml Papers, iii. 3l9o, 
 2993. 
 
 G E. g. Letters and Papers, iv. 2248 j License to export 1000 
 woollen cloths. 
 
 7 See Spanish 8t ■< Papers, 1525-2G, especially pp. 50, 62.
 
 16G SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the King's natural son Henry, a little boy of six, was 
 created Duke of Richmond. On August 14, he was 
 among the signatories of the truce between England 
 and France, and on the 30th, of the " treaty of the 
 More." He received a further acknowledgment of 
 his services on the death of Sir Richard Wingneld, 
 when he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy 
 of Lancaster. 1 
 
 In 1526, too, he was made one of a Committee of 
 the Council of but three members, of whom two 
 were every day to see the King, 1 waiting for him 
 " every day in the forenoon by ten of the clock at 
 the furthest, and at afternoon by two of the clock.'' - 
 
 Thus almost daily More had long speech with the 
 King, and the talk began more and more to turn 
 upon the religious matters in which he had become 
 keenly interested. 
 
 Critical questions began to press on him both in his 
 own thoughts and on behalf of the Kiug in the con- 
 troversy with Luther. Nor had he been able, much 
 as he wished it, to keep out of the discussions and 
 projects to which the question of the Divorce gave 
 rise. The King early mooted to him his 'secret 
 matter,' and ' sore pressed him ' for an answer on 
 it. After excusing himself as long as he could, he 
 at last agreed to confer with the Bishops of Durham 
 and Bath, and taking with him the passages from 
 Scripture with which the King had supported his 
 argument, compared them ' with the exposition of 
 divers of the old holy doctors.' When he returned to 
 
 1 Mackintosh, p. 91, note. 
 
 2 Brewer, Henry VIII. i. .">4.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 167 
 
 the King, " in talking with his grace of the foresaid 
 matter, he said, ' To be plain with your grace, neither 
 my lord of Durham nor my lord of Bath, though I 
 know them both to be wise, virtuous, and learned, 
 and honourable prelates, nor myself with the rest of 
 your council, being all your grace's own servants, for 
 your manifold benefits daily conferred upon us so 
 most bounden unto you, be in my opinion meet 
 counsellors for your grace herein ; but if your grace 
 minds to understand the truth, such counsellors may 
 you have devised, as neither for respect of their own 
 worldly commodity, nor for fear of your princely 
 authority will be inclined to deceive you.' To whom 
 he named ' S. Jerome, S. Augustine, and divers other 
 holy doctors, both Greeks and Latins ; and more- 
 over showed him what authority he had gathered 
 out of them, which although the king did not very 
 well like of, yet were they by Sir Thomas More (who 
 in all his communications with the king in that 
 matter had always most wisely behaved himself) so 
 wisely tempered, that he both presently took them in 
 good part and often times had thereof conference 
 with him again." l 
 
 When Campeggio arrived and was received in 
 London with solemn formality by the religious and 
 secular authorities, to More was committed the task 
 of delivering the Latin oration with which he was 
 greeted. In such ceremonies his position entitled 
 and obliged him to share ; but he took no part in 
 advancing the King's great desire. Henry employed 
 him in other matters. It was rumoured at one time 
 1 Roper, pp. 20, 21,
 
 168 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 that be was to be sent to Ireland ; l but we bear no 
 more of it. On May 29, 1529, be was Commissioner 2 
 witb Stephen Gardiner, then Archdeacon of Taunton, 
 for the signature of a new engagement with Francis 
 I., in which Wolsey's visit to France was arranged. 
 On July 3, the Cardinal arrived at Calais, attended 
 by a gorgeous train, among whom were the Bishop 
 of London, the Lord Chamberlain, the Master Con- 
 trotter, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 
 
 It is no part of our task to give any account of 
 the mission ; More has unfortunately left no record 
 of it, and, indeed, his concern in it seems to have 
 been purely ceremonial. Wolsey returned to Court 
 at the end of September, and was followed by a 
 French embassy, by which ' pensions ' were lavishly 
 distributed, More receiving one hundred and fifty 
 crowns. 3 
 
 In July, the Chancellor of the Duchy accompanied 
 Tunstal to Cambray, to mediate, on the part of 
 England, between Charles V. and Francis I. Their 
 commission was issued on June SO. 1 After attesting 
 the treaty of Cambray on August 5, 5 and signing also 
 a mercantile treaty with the Archduchess Margaret, 
 they returned to England. On this mission, says 
 Roper, " Sir Thomas More so worthily handled him- 
 self (procuring in our league far more benefits unto 
 bis realm than at that time by the king and council 
 was possible to be compassed), that for his good service 
 on that voyage, the king, when he after made him 
 
 1 Du Bellay to Montmorency, Letters and Papers, iv. 5679. 
 
 2 Ibid. iv. 3138. 3 Letters and Papers, iv. 3619. 
 
 4 Ibid. iv. 5744. s Ibid. iv. 5829. e Pages 22, 23.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE L69 
 
 Lord Chancellor, caused the Duke of Norfolk openly 
 to declare unto the people, how much all England 
 •was bound unto him." 
 
 Yet all this while he was sad at heart. "So on a 
 time," says Roper, 1 with the quaint pathos which is 
 the great charm of his work, " walking along the 
 Thames side with me at Chelsea, in talking of other 
 things, he said to me, ' Now would to God, son Roper, 
 upon condition three things were well established in 
 Christendom I were put in a sack and here presently 
 cast into the Thames.' ' What great things be these, 
 sir,' quoth I, ' that would move you so to wish ? ' 
 'Wouldst thou know, son Roper, what they be?' 
 quoth he. 'Yea, marry, sir, with a good will if it 
 please you,' quoth I. ' I'faith they be these, son,' 
 quoth he. ' The first is, that whereas the most part 
 of Christian princes be at mortal wars, they were at 
 universal peace. The second, that where the Church 
 of Christ is at this present sore afflicted with many 
 heresies and errors, it were well settled in an unifor- 
 mity of Religion. The third, that where the king's 
 matter of his marriage is now come into question, it 
 were to the glory of God and quietness of all parties 
 brought to a good conclusion;' whereby, as I could 
 gather, he judged that otherwise it would be a dis- 
 turbance to a great part of Christendom. Thus .lid 
 it by his doings throughout the whole course of his 
 lite appear that all his travails and pains, without 
 respect of earthly commodities either to himself or 
 any of his, were only upon the service of God, the 
 prince and the realm, wholly bestowed and employed. 
 
 1 Pa^es 1G, 17.
 
 170 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Whom in his latter time I heard to say that he 
 never asked of the king the value of one penny." 
 
 No sooner had More returned from Cambray than 
 he found the King had by no means given up the 
 hope of winning him over to his views. Henry 
 insisted on his conferring with Stokesley, then 
 Archdeacon of Dorset, who was elevated to the see 
 of London in the next year. 1 Still More remained 
 firm in his opinion, though he made no boast of it, 
 anxious even to see as the King saw, if in honour 
 and conscience he might. The theologian, partisan 
 thouo-h he was, admitted " that he found him in his 
 grace's cause very toward, and desirous to find some 
 good matter wherewith he might truly serve his 
 grace to his content." It was a dangerous moment. 
 At the council held, as usual to prepare business 
 fur Parliament, the King had treated Wolsey with 
 contempt ; yet, in spite of the disgrace which he had 
 seen preparing for some time, the Cardinal clung 
 to office. It might have seemed that when he fell 
 More would fall with him. Not only, however, 
 was Henry's animosity always personal rather than 
 extensive, but he well knew the value of such 
 a servant. Moreover the Duke of Norfolk, the 
 leader of the party that now had the royal ear, was 
 More's "singular dear friend." 2 Wolsey himself 
 declared, it was said, that More was the only person 
 fit to succeed him. 3 Thus it was, and also, as men 
 
 1 Here occurs another of Roper's inaccuracies. He makes 
 Stokesley Bishop of London before More was Chancellor. One 
 must therefore choose at will the date of the conference 
 between them. _ 2 Roper, p. 30. 
 
 3 Erasmus to John Faber, Bishop of Vienne.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 171 
 
 suspected, 1 from a hope that by such promotion he 
 might be inclined towards the divorce, that when 
 Wolsey had reluctantly yielded up the great seal, 
 it was delivered by the King to Sir Thomas More. 
 
 That his greatness was thrust upon him, no one 
 who knows anything of his character can doubt. 
 Long before, he had seen the nature of the King's 
 confidence, and it can hardly be doubted that he 
 foresaw, if not the circumstances, yet certainly the 
 result of his taking office. His onward path was no 
 "blindfold walking"; he well knew that "behind 
 him stalked the headsman." His acceptance of the 
 great seal, rightly estimated, seems one of the 
 noblest and most conscientious acts of a noble and 
 conscientious life. 
 
 On Tuesday, October 20, 1529, Sir Thomas More 
 took the oaths in the great hall at Westminster, 
 in the presence of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk 
 and many of the nobility. 2 Not a murmur, open 
 or secret, arose at the appointment ; the people 
 "were gathered together with great applause and 
 joy"; 3 even Wolsey, in his misery, declared that 
 no man in England was more worthy. 4 The new 
 Chancellor was installed by the Duke of Norfolk, 
 who delivered a speech, not preserved by Roper, but 
 given in full by Cresacre More. 5 "The king's 
 
 1 So said Pule (Stapleton, cap. xiv. p. 294) and Thuanus 
 Hist, mi temporis, lib. ii. cap. 16, "Neutiipam Regis 
 causae aequior ). 
 
 - Rymer, xiv. 349. Ores. More, p. 156. 
 
 * Stapleton, cup. iii. p. 172. 
 
 ■ Pages 166— 168. It may seem the language of the even 
 teenth rather than the sixteenth century.
 
 172 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 majesty," lie said, "bath raised to the most high 
 dignity of Chancellorship Sir Thomas More, a man 
 for his extraordinary worth and sufficiency well 
 known to himself and the whole realm, for no other 
 cause or earthly respect, but for that he hath plainly 
 perceived all the gifts of nature and grace to be 
 heaped upon him, which either the people could 
 desire or himself wish for, for the discharge of so 
 great an office. For the admirable wisdom, integrity, 
 and inuocence, joined with most pleasant facility of 
 wit, that this man is endowed withal, have been 
 sufficiently known to all Englishmen from their 
 youth, and for these many years to the king's 
 majesty himself. ... He hath perceived no man 
 in his realm to be more wise in deliberating, more 
 sincere in opening to him what he thought, or more 
 eloquent in expressing what he uttered." Then, 
 after declaring that More's virtues were such as 
 made permissible the elevation of a layman to an 
 office which custom of recent times had given to 
 ecclesiastics, he commended the Chancellor to the 
 "joyful acclamations of the people." 
 
 It is difficult to regard the speech in the form 
 given by Cresacre More, or, indeed, the reply of 
 the Chancellor, as authentic ; both seem to be an 
 expansion, not altogether free from anachronisms, 
 of the simple statement of Roper, who confesses that 
 the speeches " are not now in his memory." Taking, 
 then, the probably more accurate words of Roper, 
 we are told that More, " among many other his 
 humble and wise sayings, answered that though he 
 had good cause to rejoice of his highness' singular
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 173 
 
 favour towards him, that ho had far above his deserts 
 
 so highly commended him, yet nevertheless he must 
 for his own part needs confess that in all things by 
 his grace alleged he had done no more than -was his 
 duty. And further disabled himself as unmeet for 
 that room, wherein considering how wise and 
 honourable a prelate had lately before taken so 
 great a fall, he had, he said, thereof no cause to 
 rejoice." x And so at the moment when all men 
 were reviling Wolsey, the new Chancellor took office 
 with words of praise as honourable to the fallen 
 statesman as to himself. 
 
 On the 3rd of November the Parliament assembled 
 at Blackfriars, the King being present. According 
 to the brief account in the Parliament Rolls,' 2 Sir 
 Thomas More, as Chancellor, in the opening speech 
 declared the cause of the summons to be, " to reform 
 such things as have been used or permitted in 
 England by inadvertence or by the changes of time 
 have become inexpedient, aiad to make new statutes 
 and laws, where it is thought fit." " On these errors 
 and abuses he discoursed," continues the Roll, " in 
 a long and elegant speech, declaring with great 
 eloquence what was needful for their reformation : 
 and in the end he ordered the Commons in the 
 king's name to assemble next day in their accustomed 
 house, and choose a Speaker, whom they should 
 present to the king." 
 
 Of More's speech Hall 3 gives a more full account, 
 which is scarcely reconcilable with the statement of 
 
 1 Roper, p. 24. 2 Letters and Papers, vol, ii. 0013. 
 
 3 Pnse 764.
 
 174 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 the Roll, 1 and still less with More's character. 
 " When the king was seated on his throne, Sir 
 Thomas More, his chancellor, standing on his right 
 hand, made an eloquent oration : ' Like as a good 
 shepherd, which not only keepeth and attendeth well 
 his sheep, but also foreseeth and provideth for all 
 things that may be hurtful or noisome to the flock : 
 so the king, which is the shepherd, ruler, and governor 
 of his realm, vigilantly foreseeing things to come, con- 
 sidering how divers laws by the mutation of things are 
 insufficient and imperfect, and also by the frail con- 
 dition of man divers new enormities are sprung up 
 among the people, for the which no law is yet made 
 to reform the same — for this cause the king at this 
 time hath summoned his high court of Parliament. 
 And I liken the king to a shepherd . « . and as you 
 see that, amongst a great flock, some are rotten and 
 faulty, which the good shepherd sendeth from the 
 sound sheep, so the great wether, which is of late 
 fallen, as you all know, so craftily, so scabbedly, yea, 
 so untruly, juggled with the king, that all men must 
 needs guess that he thought in himself either the 
 king had no wish to perceive his crafty doings, or 
 else that he would not see nor know them. But he 
 was deceived ; for his grace's sight was so quick and 
 penetrable, that he saw him, yea, and saw through 
 him, both within and without : and according to his 
 desert he hath a gentle correction ; which small 
 punishment the king will not to be an example to 
 other offenders, but openly declareth that whosoever 
 hereafter shall make the like attempts, or counsel 
 1 Letters and Papers, vol. iv. Preface, p. 538.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 175 
 
 the like offences shall not escape with the like 
 punishment.'" This report bears an appearance of 
 exactness, which makes it impossible, in the face of 
 the rather negative than positive evidence of the 
 Parliament Rolls, at once to condemn it as untrue ; 
 and it is to some extent corroborated by the long- 
 letter which Chapuys wrote to the Emperor de- 
 tailing the events of the opening of Parliament. 
 More, as Chancellor, was bound to vindicate Henry's 
 action, but there are some considerations tending to 
 throw discredit upon the speech as Roper gives it. If 
 we have been right in inferring that in their account 
 of the Parliament of 1523, the early biographers 
 of More were misled by their feeling against Wolsey 
 into evident inaccuracy, there is no reason why a 
 similar error should not have been committed by 
 a writer who is well known as extremely hostile 
 both to Wolsey and More. The speech is incon- 
 sistent with Roper's account of his father-in-law's 
 words in the Chancery, and even more so with the 
 tone of his long correspondence with the Cardinal. 
 Nor was More a man to turn on a fallen minister in 
 such a manner, or join in a popular cry of resent- 
 ment. 1 It must not be forgotten that Hall is the 
 only authority for the speech in this form. 
 
 It must be added, however, that the name of the 
 Chancellor appears at the head of the signatures to 
 the articles against Wolsey presented by the House 
 
 1 I speak ii' >t without temerity, for Bishop Crei^hton, whom 
 it i^ rash indeed to oppose, accepts the speech without demur, 
 and write of "unworthy taunts at his defeated adversary" 
 \\ r ni , ,i. p, L90), But Wolsey was not More'fl adver ar]
 
 170 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 of Lords to the King, on December 1. And Chapuys 
 shows that More did vindicate the King's action, 
 and speak severely of Wolsey's policy. 1 
 
 During the short session of this Parliament 
 much important business was done, but we have 
 no record of More's share in it. There can be 
 no doubt that when the prorogation came, the 
 release from his parliamentary duties would be 
 felt as a great relief; for he had little sympathy 
 with the work that was now in hand. The legal 
 work of his office, especially during the prevalence 
 of heresy, was sufficient to tax the energies of any 
 man. Of the Chancellor's duties, apart from those 
 connected with religion, a few words will suffice. It 
 may be noticed in passing that for salary More 
 received £142 15s., and 'for his attendance in the 
 Star Chamber,' £200 a year. ' Also the chief 
 butler was to allow him £64 a year for the price of 
 12 tuns of wine, and the keeper of the great state 
 robe £16 a year for wax.' 2 
 
 The occupation of the Court of Chancery was, of 
 course, trifling, according to more modern ideas. In 
 the century after More's time — when it seems to 
 have decided on an average a hundred and sixty suits 
 a year — its business had increased tenfold. " At the 
 utmost," says Sir James Mackintosh, 3 "More did 
 not hear more than two hundred cases and argu- 
 ments yearly, including those of every description. 
 No authentic account of any case tried before him, 
 
 1 Spanish State Papers, 1529-3), pp. 322-323. 
 
 2 Letters and Papers, iv. 6079. 
 
 3 Life of More, p. 125.
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 177 
 
 it' any such be extant, has yet been brought to light. 
 No law book alludes to any part of his judgments 
 or reasonings. Nothing of this higher part of his 
 judicial life is preserved which can justify us in 
 believing more than that it must have displayed 
 his never -failing integrity, reason, learning, and 
 eloquence." 
 
 He sat every afternoon in " his open hall, to the 
 intent that if any person had any suit unto him they 
 might the more boldly come into his presence, and 
 there open complaints before him." x 
 
 So indefatigable was he in the exercise of his 
 office that on one occasion when he called for the 
 next case, he was answered that the list was 
 exhausted. 2 He ordered the fact to be put upon 
 record, "and deservedly so," says one of his modern 
 biographers, "as it is probably the only miracle of 
 the kind mankind will ever witness." 3 Though his 
 strict justice was remarkable in that age, his 'in- 
 junctions' did not pass without complaint from the 
 common lawyers. This was brought to his notice 
 by Roper, and he thereupon so satisfactorily explained 
 all the injunctions that he had issued that the 
 judges were forced to confess that they in similar 
 cases would have done the same. 
 
 When they declined themselves to attempt any- 
 humane interpretation of the law, More said — " For- 
 asmuch as yourselves, my lords, drive me to that 
 necessity for awarding out injunctions to relieve the 
 people's injury, you cannot hereafter any more justly 
 
 1 Roper, p. 25. a Stapleton, cap. hi. p. IT.). 
 
 a Walter, Life of More, p. 17 J. 
 
 N
 
 178 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 blame me." To Eoper he added — " I perceive, sir, 
 why they like not so to do : for they see that they 
 may, by the verdict of the jury, cast off all quarrels 
 from themselves upon them, which they account 
 their chief defence, and therefore am I compelled to 
 abide the adventure of all such reports." * 
 
 Parliament was repeatedly prorogued " on account 
 of the pestilence in London and its suburbs," and 
 did not reassemble until January 6, 1531. During 
 the recess More had as far as possible confined 
 himself to his legal duties, for he was gradually 
 more and more estranged from the Court in the 
 matter which the King had most at heart. To 
 the famous address to Clement VII. his name was 
 not appended. 2 Yet while he never yielded un- 
 conscientious compliance, he shunned unnecessary 
 disobedience. Indeed, the great difference between 
 More and Henry VIII., even were we to accept Mr. 
 Froude's apologies for the King, can never be 
 obliterated. The former never thought it right to 
 do for the sake of public policy what in private 
 life would have been a wrong act. 3 
 
 On March 31, More, as Chancellor, went down 
 
 1 Roper, p. 27. 
 
 2 The date of the address has been the subject of dis- 
 cussion : Lord Herbert puts it, probably correctly, under 
 the year 1530. Mr. Froude assigned it to 1531, giving 
 arguments for the date, in which he cuiite forgot that the 
 signature of Wolsey, who died Nov. 29, 1530, is appended 
 to it. 
 
 3 Cf. Froude, Hid. Eng. vol. i. p. 417— " Let us compensate 
 the poor queen's sorrows with unstinted sympathy, but letus 
 not trifle with history by confusing a political necessity with 
 a moral crime."
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 170 
 
 to the House of Commons to declare the favourable 
 answers of the Universities on the Divorce, 'and to 
 exhibit above an hundred books of several doctors, 
 confirming the same opinion.' * Yet his views on 
 this question, as well as on that of the supremacy, 
 were perfectly well known. The letters of Chapuys 
 to Charles V. contain very interesting references 
 to the Chancellor's position. Of the assumption of 
 the supremacy the ambassador wrote — " There is 
 none that do not blame this usurpation, exccjDt those 
 who have promoted it. The Chancellor is so morti- 
 fied at it that lie is anxious above all things to 
 resign his office. 2 And again, of his feeling towards 
 Queen Katherine and the Emperor 3 — " The Chan- 
 cellor, as I have formerly written, has conducted 
 himself most virtuously in this matter of the Queen, 
 and certainly showed himself as well inclined to- 
 wards your majesty as could be. He is the true 
 father and protector of your majesty's subjects. 
 Whenever any man of my suite has been at court, 
 he has broken off his conversation with everybody 
 else to attend to our business, and every one whom 
 I have recommended to him he has despatched with 
 a favourable answer." There are many other pas- 
 sages which show that More was in constant com- 
 munication with the imperial agents and a most 
 loyal supporter of the cause of the unhappy Katherine. 
 More retained his office for two years ;ind a half. 
 Amid ceaseless anxiety on account of the pro- 
 
 1 Lord Herbert, \>. 352. 
 
 - Letters and Papers, v. 112, from Vienna Arcliiv 
 
 8 Ibid. v. 120.
 
 180 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 gress of heresy, and domestic grief — the death of 
 his father whom he loved with such devotion and 
 reverence — in spite, too, of the beginnings of a 
 painful disease, he endeavoured manfully to do his 
 duty according to his conscience. But the legisla- 
 tion of 1531 and 1532 was carried against all his 
 sympathies, and the King still pressed him " to 
 weigh and consider his great matter." l During 
 the session of 1532 he continued to support the 
 political and financial projects of the Court; 2 but 
 he opposed the King's wishes in religious matters. :J 
 The passing of the Annates Act confirmed the 
 resolution he had already formed, and he begged 
 the Duke of Norfolk to submit his resignation to 
 the King. After some trouble it was accepted ; and 
 on May 16, "about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
 in the garden of York Place, by Westminster," he 
 delivered the great seal into the King's hands. 
 Henry seemed for the moment to feel a return of 
 his old affection. " So pleased it his highness to 
 say unto him, that for the good service he before 
 had done him, in any suit which he should after 
 have unto him, that either should concern his 
 honour (for that word it liked his highness to use 
 unto him) or that should appertain to his profit, he 
 would find his highness a good and gracious lord 
 unto him." 4 More himself gave as his reason for 
 resigning, "a sharp and constant pain in the chest " ; 5 
 
 1 Roper, p. 29. 
 
 2 See Chapuys to Charles V., April 10, 1532 : Letters and 
 Papers, v. 941. 
 
 3 Ibid. v. 1013, 1046. * Roper, p. 30. 
 
 6 Erasm. Ep. 1857. (Leyden edit, of Works, vol. iii.)
 
 POLITICAL LIFE 181 
 
 but public opinion took another view. " The Chan- 
 cellor," wrote Chapuys to his master, "has resigned, 
 seeing that affairs are going on badly, and likely to 
 be worse, and that if he retained, his office he would 
 be obliged to act against his conscience or incur the 
 King's displeasure — as he had already begun to do, 
 for refusing to take his part against the clergy. His 
 excuse is that his entertainment was too small, and 
 that he was not equal to the work. Every one is 
 concerned : for there never was a better man in the 
 office." x 
 
 The morning after his resignation of the Chancel- 
 lorship, More took a strange means of telling his 
 wife what he had done. It was the custom for one 
 of his attendants to go to Dame Alice's pew in 
 Chelsea Church, on Festival Days when Mass was 
 over, and tell her that " ' my lord had gone before.' 
 So on this morning More himself came, and, opening 
 the door for her, said, ' Madam, my lord is gone.' '' 
 Then, as she imagined it to be but "one of his jests, 
 as he used many unto her," he told her his meaning. 2 
 
 After the resignation of his office, — receiving now 
 no income from his profession or from the city as 
 he had done when he entered the royal service, — 
 he had only £50 a year, independent of grants 
 from the Crown. 3 It was thus impossible for him 
 to maintain his former household. For his gentle- 
 men and servants, though with tears in their 
 eyes they declared that they would rather Berve 
 
 Letters "ml "Papers, v. 101C : from Vienna Archives. 
 2 Roper, p. 32, and Ores. More, in further detail, j>. 186.
 
 182 SIB THOMAS MORE 
 
 him for nothing* than others for high salaries, 
 
 he found good positions. 1 His barge and eight 
 
 watermen he gave to his successor, Sir Thomas 
 
 Audley; his fool to the Lord Mayor. Then he 
 
 called all his children together and told them how 
 
 poor he had become : much as he wished that they 
 
 should continue to live together, he could no longer 
 
 pay for them all. " When he saw us all silent, and 
 
 in that case not ready to show our opinions unto 
 
 him " — so Roper describes the scene - — " * Then will 
 
 I,' said he, ' show my poor mind unto you. I have 
 
 been brought up at Oxford, at an Inn of Chancery, 
 
 at Lincoln's Inn, and in the King's Court, so forth 
 
 from the lowest degree to the highest ; and yet have 
 
 I in yearly revenues little more than one hundred 
 
 pounds at this present left me. So that we must 
 
 be hereafter contributors together, if we look to 
 
 live together. But by my counsel it shall not be 
 
 best for us to fall to the lowest fare first. We 
 
 will not therefore descend to Oxford fare, nor to 
 
 the fare of New Inn, but we will begin with Lincoln's 
 
 Inn diet, where many right worshipful and of good 
 
 years do live full well, which if we find not ourselves 
 
 able the first year to maintain, then will we the 
 
 next year after go one step down to New Inn fare, 
 
 wherewith many an honest man is well contented. 
 
 If that exceed our ability too, then will we the 
 
 next year after descend to Oxford fare, where many 
 
 grave, ancient, and learned fathers be conversant 
 
 continually; which if our ability stretch not to 
 
 maintain neither, then may we yet with bags and 
 
 1 Cres. More, p. 187. - Roper, p. 31,
 
 POLITICAL LI] L83 
 
 wallets go a bogging together, and, hoping for pity 
 some good folk will give their charity, at every 
 man's door to sing Salve Begina, and so keep com- 
 pany merrily together.' " And Roper adds that when 
 Sir Thomas's debts were paid he had not in his 
 possession gold and silver, excepting his chain, to 
 the amount of £100. There is a pathetic touch to 
 be found in Harpsfield's Life, 1 which shows that 
 this poverty, so cheerfully borne, was full of real 
 hardships. "He was not able for the maintenance 
 of himself and such as necessarily belonged to him, 
 sufficiently to find meat, drink, fuel, apparel and 
 such other necessary things; but was enforced and 
 compelled, for lack of other fuel, every night before 
 he went to bed, to cause a great burden of ferns to 
 be brought into his own chamber, and with the blaze 
 thereof to warm himself, his wife and his children ; 
 and so, without any other fire, to go to their beds." 
 There could, indeed, be no better proof than his own 
 life of the truth of his saying, " Good deeds the world, 
 being ungrateful, is wont never to recompense ; 
 neither can it, were it grateful." 
 
 1 Harpsfield, Life of More. Lambeth MS. No. 827, quoted 
 in a note, pp. 93-99 of Wordsworth's /.' ch iastical Biography, 
 vol. ii.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS. 
 
 " Philosophia veritatem quaerit, theologia invenit, religio 
 possidet." — Pico della Mibahdola. 
 
 The early theological studies of More have already 
 been mentioned, and his connexion with the awaken- 
 ing of religious inquiry in England has been referred 
 to. A few words may recall his position, before his 
 writings are specifically examined. 
 
 That his views were throughout his life in substan- 
 tial accordance with those of Erasmus there can be 
 little reason to doubt. In so far as humanism " con- 
 sisted in a new and vital perception of the essential 
 dignity of man apart from theological determinations " 
 the whole tone of More's writings proves him to 
 have been a humanist. But this consciousness of 
 man's own dignity and power was combined in him 
 with no under-estimation of the value of Christian 
 doctrine. Rather was the ideal of his humanism 
 distinctly the product of Christian thought. He was 
 thus able to combine intense devotion to the Church 
 with the strongest reprobation of ecclesiastical 
 scandals and the most acute perception of the follies 
 of a stagnant theology. He wrote some of his most
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 185 
 
 stinging epigrams against ignorant ami immoral 
 priests and incompetent bishops. Before the publi- 
 cation of the Utopia, his antagonism to the tyranny 
 of the Scotist theologians was well known, and he 
 was looked upon with suspicion by those who thought 
 that knowledge of Greek fostered heresy. In 1517 
 Pace could say of him (it was after telling an 
 amusing story of one of his wit-combats with dull 
 theologians) — 
 
 " This one piece of ill-luck, I grieve to tell you, 
 follows More : whenever he speaks most skilfully and 
 acutely among your white-mitred fathers with refer- 
 ence to their special science, they always condemn 
 him and call all he says childish folly, not because 
 they really think him worthy of condemnation, but 
 because they are envious of his remarkable genius 
 and his knowledge of other sciences whereof they are 
 ignorant — in a word, because a mere boy (so they 
 call him) a long way excels his elders in wisdom." l 
 
 When Erasmus published his New Testament, 
 More warmly commended it to the great men of the 
 time, exclaiming in his verses to the reader (printed 
 among his epigrams) — 
 
 " Xova Christi lex nova luce nitet." 
 
 In 1519, he gave a most clear exposition of his 
 dissent from the extravagances of popular belief and 
 practice in a letter to a monk who had warned him 
 against associating with the contemner of the Vulgate. 2 
 
 i De Frucbu qui ex Doctrind Praecipitur, pp. 83, 84. Basil. 
 1517. 
 
 a Epidolae aliquot erudiborum virorwm, up. 02— 138. Basil. 
 1520. See above, pp. 72 sag.
 
 is,, SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 In spite, however, of his sense of the vices of the 
 clergy, More had abandoned few, if any, of the doc- 
 trines of the Church, in whose name it was that lie 
 rebuked sin and defended learning. This is most 
 clearly seen in his controversial works, but even the 
 Utopia is not without traces of the same attitude. 
 No portion of More's ideal republic has been more 
 often the subject of commentary than the chapter 
 Be Beligionibus Utopicnsivm. On the beautiful 
 picture of a benign and rational toleration which it 
 presents Mr. Seebohm x has rightly laid much stress, 
 but he has surely gone beyond his text when he 
 finds in the Utopians a " fearless faith in the con- 
 sistency of Christianity with science " and a " signi- 
 ficant denial of any sacerdotal sense" to their 
 priesthood. Is there any less slender foundation for 
 a statement of the Utopians' faith in the consistency 
 of Christianity with science than the words gratum 
 Deo cv.ltv.m putant natures contemplationcm laudemqiic 
 ah ca?' 2 The "significant denial" of sacerdotalism 
 Mr. Seebohm supports by a quotation which is 
 scarcely correct ; and he does not observe the pros- 
 tration of the people on the priest's entrance, or the 
 distinctly mentioned eucharistic significance of his 
 vestments. The question is of interest only as 
 showing how far the Utopia represents More's own 
 opinions, for few who have read any of his writings 
 would imagine that any question of the " consistency 
 
 1 Oxford Reformers, pp. 355 sqq. 
 
 2 Latin Works, Louvain, 1555, p. 17a. Translated by 
 Ralph Robinson, " They think that the contemplation of 
 nature and the praise thereof coming is to God a very accept- 
 able honour" (Arber's reprint, p. 149).
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS L87 
 
 of Christianity with science " ever occurred to him ; 
 
 nor can there be the least doubt that More attributed 
 a " sacerdotal sense " to the Christian priesthood. 
 In so thinking he may of course have been bigoted 
 and ignorant, but he can hardly be said to deserve 
 an undenominationalist's eulogy. Indeed, all such 
 arguments, both on the religion and on the philo- 
 sophy of the Utopians, are based on an inference 
 which, whether just or not, More himself never 
 draws. For instance, it has been said that the 
 Utopians " recognized, as Mr. Mill urges that Chris- 
 tians ought to do now, ' in the golden rule of Jesus 
 of Nazareth the complete spirit of the ethics of 
 utility.' " x Now the passage which is alluded to 
 refers unquestionably to the views of the Utopians 
 before their conversion to Christianity, and therefore 
 cannot prove any connexion between their philosophy 
 and the revelation of Christ. It is, of course, open 
 to any one to say that their conversion would have 
 made no change in their philosophic opinions, but 
 it is hardly permissible to take the point for granted. 
 It must indeed be admitted that throughout his 
 book Mr. Scebohm, while he rightly lays stress on 
 the agreement between the views of Colet, Erasmus, 
 and More, seems to exaggerate the freedom of their 
 opinions. One instance of their cordial acceptance 
 of views which we are accustomed to regard as 
 especially medieval will suffice. The question of 
 ecclesiastical privilege may be regarded as a typical 
 one. In England at least the claim to exemption 
 from civil jurisdiction had always been warmly 
 1 T) mers, 1 t edition, p. 2
 
 188 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 contested, and the progress of the Reformation pro- 
 nounced more and more decisively against it. But 
 More, even in his Utopia, uses the strongest argu- 
 ments in its favour, while Colet, in his famous sermon 
 before the Convocation of 1512, 1 expressly declared 
 it to be just. The " Oxford reformers " were indeed 
 liberal, tolerant, and pious beyond the standard of 
 their time, but in doctrine they firmly maintained 
 the principles of the Catholic Church. Colet did 
 not live to express an opinion on the great move- 
 ments of the foreign reformers ; Erasmus, after 
 hesitating for a while, opposed them ; More strongly 
 and decisively condemned their whole position. 
 x* Before he was forced into the arena of theological 
 controversy More had begun to write a short devo- 
 tional treatise of great value on the text Memorare 
 novissima, et in aetemum non peccabis. 2 The book, 
 which is almost unknown, is well worthy to be 
 reprinted : it is exceedingly interesting, not only as 
 an illustration of the sincerity and beauty of More's 
 character, but also as an example of the highest 
 standard of Catholic devotion immediately before 
 the Reformation. The title names it a " treatysse 
 ^(unfynysshed) upon these wordes of Holye Scrypture, 
 Memorare nouissima, et in etemum non pcccahis, 'Re- 
 member the last thynges, and thou shalt ncuer 
 synne,' " and adds that it was " made about the yere 
 of our Lorde 1522." The interest which attaches 
 to the few pages lies not only in the quaint and 
 
 1 Given in The Oxford Reformer*. 
 
 2 English W&rlis, 1557 s pp. 72—102. The treatise is un- 
 finished.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 189 
 
 peculiar style in which the deepest thoughts are 
 with all sincerity expressed, but also in the period 
 at which they were written. In 1522 More was on 
 the point of making that choice between politics and 
 literature which has come to so many great men at 
 the crisis of their lives. He was already famous in 
 Europe as a scholar, as a writer of brilliant epigrams, 
 as the author of a book of which every one was still 
 speaking, which had run through three editions in 
 a year, and which had put forth such keen criticism 
 of the age and such bold schemes for reformation. 
 " What might not this great genius have accom- 
 plished," said Erasmus, " had he been educated in 
 Italy, or were he not beiug overwhelmed by political 
 and domestic cares ? " More had already performed 
 several important diplomatic missions, and was 
 gradually more and more sought after by the King, 
 whose offers he had at first steadily refused. He 
 had assisted him in his book against Luther; he 
 was probably already preparing his own reply to 
 that heretic, which was published in the next year. 
 He was in almost daily correspondence with Wolsey. 
 A great political career seemed open to him. 
 
 It was at such a time that More deliberately turned 
 his thoughts to the most solemn of all matters, 
 Mmwrare novissima, ct in aetemvm non pecedbis. 
 The little meditation, as we should call it, which he 
 wrote on this text, evidently came freely and sin- 
 cerely from his heart. It is the ready humour, 
 playing even round subjects the most tremendous 
 that man can contemplate, that gives it distinction 
 and freshness. Not seldom does the treatment, and
 
 190 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 sometimes even the style, remind us of Jeremy 
 Taylor, for the quaint incongruity which admits 
 " the Ephesian woman that the soldier, told of in 
 Petronius "to a share in our thoughts at the very 
 moment when we are preparing the bodies of our 
 friends for the grave, has its parallel again and again 
 in the thirty pages of More's little work. In other 
 w T ays the writing recalls the dignity of Hooker and 
 the tenderness of George Herbert. It is a model 
 of clear and expressive English. The subject itself 
 may have been suggested by the Cordiall ch Quatuqr 
 Novissimis, attributed to Henricus de Hassia, of 
 which an English version by Anthony Wydville, 
 Earl Rivers, had been printed by Caxton ; but the 
 matter is entirely original. 
 
 The scheme was not completed — we have indeed 
 not finished the consideration of the least terrible 
 of the Four Last Things — when the meditation 
 suddenly breaks off. Yet there is enough to show 
 on what practical lines the religion of the great 
 lawyer and humanist ran, and how much there was 
 in the devotion of the Catholic Church in our land 
 on the eve of the Reformation which, in modern 
 phrase, was thoroughly Anglican in temper. The 
 book, indeed, might have been written by an 
 English writer, not of the Puritanical school, either 
 before or after the Reformation, and is a striking- 
 instance of how little our devotional standards are 
 modelled upon foreign examples, and how distinct 
 a style the mental attitude of our own race has 
 contributed to the devotional treasury of the uni- 
 versal Church. This is well illustrated also by a
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 191 
 
 comparison with that earlier religious work of More's 
 own — Lis translation of Gian Francesco's biography 
 of Pico della Mirandola, with its devotional letters 
 and verses, which contain such a touching picture 
 of the deep religious earnestness of the fascinating 
 hero. 
 
 More, it is plain to see, had been profoundly in- 
 fluenced by the Renaissance spirit in general and by 
 the beautiful soul of Pico in particular. Yet his 
 meditation on the Four Last Things, which miffht 
 bear for a motto the last words of the dying humanist 
 to his nephew, is in literary tone and style utterly 
 unlike anything that the Italian mystic left behind. 
 The treatise indeed is as thoroughly English in its 
 manner as it is in its matter ; it is truly a work of 
 English literature as well as of English religion. 
 
 The thought of death, so he begins, is a sovereign 
 melicine for the soul's diseases — 
 
 "The phisicion sendeth his bill to the poticarv, 
 and therin writeth sommetime a costlye receite of 
 many straunge herbes and rootes, set out of far 
 countreis, long lien drugges, al the strength worn 
 out, and some none such to be goten. But thvs 
 phisicion sendeth his bill to thyselfe, no strange 
 thing therein, nothing costly to bie, nothing farre to 
 set, but to be gathered at times of the yere in the 
 gardein of thyne owne soule." 
 
 It is no doubt a bitter and painful medicine, yet 
 this should in no way dissuade us from its use — 
 
 " Nowe yf amanne bee so dayntyc stomaked, that, 
 goyng where contagion is, he would grudge to take 
 a lyttlc tryacle, yet were he very nycely wanton if
 
 192 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 he might not at the lestwise take a little vynegre 
 and rose water in his handkercher." 
 
 Pleasure, indeed, stands in the way of solemn 
 thoughts ; yet how much superior is spiritual to 
 worldly delight ! And a joy in spiritual exercises is 
 of all things the best preventive of sin. But here 
 the chief end of the Christian life, it will be argued, 
 is not attained — 
 
 " Thou wilt happely say, that it is not ynough that 
 a man do none euyl, but he must also do good. This 
 is verye truth that ye say. But first if ther be but 
 these two steppes to heaven, he that getteth him 
 on the one is halfe up. And over it, who so docth 
 none euil, it will be very hard but he must nedes do 
 good, syth man's mind is neuer ydle, but occupyed 
 commonly either with good or euil." 
 
 Let the mind ever be occupied with good thoughts 
 or with good speech, and yet not ever babbling. 
 There is a 
 
 " Time to speke and time to keep thy tong. 
 Whansoever y e communicacion is nought and un- 
 godly, it is better to holde thy tong and think on 
 some better thing the while, than to giue ear therto 
 and underpinne the tale. And yet better were it 
 then holdynge of thy tong properly to speake, and 
 with som good grace and pleasant fashion to break 
 into some better matter. By which thy speache and 
 talking thou shalt not onely profitc thyselfe as thou 
 sholdest have done by thy well-minded sylence, but 
 also amend the whole audience, which is a thynge 
 farre better and of much more merite. Howbeit, if 
 thou can find no proper meane to break the tale,
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS L93 
 
 than excepte thy bare autboritie suffice to com- 
 mauude silence, it were paradventure good rather to 
 keep a good silence thyself, than blunt forth rudely 
 and yrryte them to anger, which shall happely there- 
 fore not let to talk on, but speake much the mure, 
 lest thei should seme to lene at thy commandement. 
 And better were it for y c while to let one wanton 
 worde pass uncontrolled than geue occasyon of 
 twain." 
 
 But to join in good conversation is far better than 
 silence, for to sit in meditation till folk suddenly 
 say, " A penny for your thought," is neither wisdom 
 nor good manners. 
 
 So far More has spoken by way of introduction. 
 He then turns to the remembrance of death. He 
 begins by drawing the awful moment in all its 
 terrors. "Never were we so greatly moved," he 
 says, " by the beholding of the daunce of death 
 pictured in Poules," as by imagining of the hour 
 itself. Imagination can with readiness call up the 
 pains of the very easiest death in bed — 
 
 " Thy hed shooting, thy backe akyng, thy vaynes 
 beating, thine heart panting, thy throte ratelyng, 
 thy fleshe trembling, thy mouthc gaping, thy nose 
 sharping, thy legges coling, thy fingers Ambling, thy 
 breath shorting, all thy strength fainting, thy lyfc 
 vanishing, and thy death drawyng on." 
 
 There are few more vividly realistic descriptions 
 in the English language than that which follows on 
 this passage. As the dying man lies helpless in bed, 
 friends and executors flock round him troubling him 
 with questions he has no strength to answer ; children
 
 i94 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 lament; and the wife (it is a sudden touch of almost 
 coarse irony), who before spoke not one sweet word 
 in six weeks, now weeps, not without an eye to the 
 future. And all the while the devil is never absent 
 from him that draws towards the end ; for at death 
 the final destiny is fixed, and afterwards no change 
 can touch the salvation or the loss of the soul. 
 Temptations throng around, be it through a false 
 hope of life or a false security of salvation " as a 
 thing well won by our own works." So instead of 
 sorrow for sin the enemy of the soul 
 
 " putteth us in mind of provision for some honour- 
 able burying, so many torches, so many tapers, so 
 many black gownes, so many merry mourners laughing 
 under black hodes, and a gay hers, withe delite of 
 goodly and honorable funeralles, in which the folish 
 sicke man is sometyme occupied, as though he thought 
 that he should stand in a window and see how woor- 
 shipfullye he shall be broughte to church." 
 
 There is a false feeling of security which buoys up 
 both old and young for a while. There is no man so 
 old, "as Tully saith," but he expects to live a year 
 longer. The young think not upon those dead 
 younger than themselves, but measure their own 
 prospects of life by the age of the oldest man they 
 know. Sickness is a preparation for death, but it 
 is not a preparation that all obtain. And in a sense 
 all life is a sickness, and so all life should be a 
 preparation. 
 
 The thought of death is then taken as a medicine 
 for many diseases of the soul. Pride, the " mother 
 of all vice," stands first, and next ambition, which
 
 RELIGI01 s LIFE \M> WORKS L95 
 
 tricks out a man in borrowed robes like those of the 
 actor who, after playing a great lord on the stage, 
 goes out again " a knave in his red coat.' ; Envy 
 and wrath, too, are vices for which the contemplation 
 of death is a meet cure. At the root of all these 
 sins lies our self-exaltation — 
 
 " By which, though we marke it not, yet indeedc 
 we recken our selfe worthye more reuerencc than we 
 do God Himselfe. . . . Loke not whether we be not 
 more angry with our seruantes for the brcch of one 
 commaundement of our owne than for the breche of 
 God's al tenne, and whether we be not more wroth 
 with one contumelious worde spoken against ourself 
 than with many blasphemous wordes unreuerently 
 spoken of God." 
 
 Behind the wrath which blazes out on trivial 
 occasion lies the cardinal vice of pride — 
 
 " Now shal ye see men fall at varyance for kissyng 
 of the pax, or goyng before in procession, or setting 
 of their wives' pewes in the church. Doubt ye 
 whether this wrath be pride ? I dout not but wise 
 men will agree that it is cither foolyshc pride or 
 proud foly." 
 
 And so in the same strain he speaks of " covetise " 
 and "glotony." Of the vice of intemperance he says 
 much that is forcible and pointed, and there is ever 
 in his keenest sayings a deep spiritual earnestness 
 and a true sympathy with tempted souls. Enough 
 is quoted to show the style of his work, but yet it 
 reads far better as it was written than in fragmentary 
 extracts. Standing alone, it might only deserve 
 notice for its quaintnesses, but when it is considered
 
 196 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 in connexion with the other religious writings of 
 the author — such as the Treatise on the Passion, the 
 Booh of Comfort in Tribulation, and the private 
 prayers — it will be seen to be worthy of remembrance 
 as a touching and characteristic work of one of the 
 purest and most single-hearted of England's worthies. 
 Unfortunately More's theological studies could not 
 be confined to such devotional exercises ; he was led 
 into religious controversy, as he was led into politics, 
 by the King. 
 
 As early as 1518, Henry VIII. had been preparing 
 a book against the heretics, which, if the conjecture 
 of Mr. Brewer be correct, 1 was the original draft of 
 the attack upon Luther published in 1521. It was 
 natural that Pace and More should be frequently 
 consulted during the progress of this work, but it 
 does not appear that they took any actual part in 
 the authorship,'- their aid at most extending to the 
 composition and the correction of the Latin style. 
 Of a conversation which he had with the King at 
 this time More has left a curious record. 3 
 
 "I was myself" [he says] "sometime not of the 
 mind that the primacy of the [Roman] see should 
 be begun by the institution of God, until I read in 
 the matter those things that the king's highness had 
 written in his most famous book against the heresies 
 of Martin Luther. At the first reading whereof I 
 
 1 Calendar of State Papers, vol. ii. Preface, p. 202. 
 
 2 More stated that he was only "a sorter out and placer 
 of the principal matters therein contained." — Roper, Life of 
 More (Pitt Press ed. p. 37). 
 
 3 Letter to Cromwell, English Works, the two pages Loth 
 numbered by mistake 1427. Cf. Roper, pp. 37, 38.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 197 
 
 moved the king's highness cither to leave out that 
 poiiit or else to touch it more slenderly, for doubt 
 of such thing as after might hap to fall in question 
 between his highness and some pope, as between 
 princes and popes divers times have done. Where- 
 unto his highness answered me that he would in no 
 wise anything minish of that matter, of which thing 
 his highness showed me a secret cause, whereof I 
 never had anything heard before. But surely after 
 I had read his grace's book thereon, and so many 
 other things as I have seen in that point of the 
 controversy of this ten x years since and more, I 
 have found a general consent of fathers and councils 
 agreeing in that point." 
 
 It is evident, then, that the opinion for which 
 More died was first instilled into him by the King- 
 by whose orders he was executed. A very important 
 question arises from this statement of his as to what 
 may have been the " secret matter " which induced 
 Henry VIII. in his book against Luther so strongly 
 to support the Papal supremacy, and which, when 
 declared to More, who was before incredulous of the 
 Papal claim, convinced him of its importance and 
 finally made a " Romanist " of him. Mr. Seebohm 
 has suggested 2 that the secret was that the marriage 
 between Arthur and Katherine had been consum- 
 mated. Thus in view of the succession of the 
 Princess Mary or of any child that the King might 
 have by Katherine, and of the social position of 
 others married in the same way, More would feel 
 
 1 "Seven" in More's Works, but "ten" in the original 
 - Fortnightly Bevieio, ix, 508, 599.
 
 L98 SIB THOMAS MOKE 
 
 with overpowering force the necessity of maintaining 
 the Papal authority in granting dispensations and 
 the other powers of the holy see which required a 
 similar belief in the supremacy for their basis. The 
 conjecture is ingenious, but is open to obvious ob- 
 jections. As, however, it is quite impossible to 
 discover with certainty what the " secret matter " 
 may have been, the subject need be no further 
 alluded to here. 
 
 Henry's book won him the title of " defender of 
 the faith," and exposed him to an answer from 
 Luther which no one denies to be violent and in- 
 decent to the last degree. Seeing the King thus 
 attacked, More was moved to take up the cudgels 
 in his defence, writing, says his great-grandson, 1 in 
 accordance with the precept Ecsf)onde stulto secundum 
 stultitiam ejus, and with such effect that his worthy 
 descendant considers that " to see how he handleth 
 Luther would do any man good." 2 His Vindicatio 
 Hcnrici VIII a calumniis Luthcri, published under 
 the name of " Gulielmus Eosseus," appeared in 
 1523." Though there has been some question, 
 there can be no real doubt, of the authorship. The 
 style in all its good points is eminently character- 
 istic of More, but it is unfortunately quite foreign 
 in tone to what we should have expected from his 
 mild and beautiful nature. It is sad that he should 
 have descended to coarse and scurrilous jesting, and 
 have made no attempt to raise the tone of the 
 
 1 Cresacre More, Life of Sir Thomas More, ed. 1726, p. 311. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 110. 
 
 3 It is published in the Latin Worts, ed. 1565, pp. 57—117.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 199 
 
 controversy into which he had Hung himself. With 
 all Luther's honor of monastic degradation and 
 longing for reform he could fully sympathize ; but 
 he was aroused by the same feelings to amend 
 rather than to destroy. It was the coarseness of 
 the attacks upon all which he held dear that moved 
 him to write; Savonarola he could have followed, 
 but not Luther. The whole attitude, indeed, of 
 More towards the Reformation may be very largely, 
 though not entirely, explained by his mental con- 
 stitution. A disposition such as his, in which the 
 feelings of charity and veneration were so promi- 
 nent, could not easily lend itself to the iconoclastic 
 vehemence in which the energy of Luther took 
 refuge, and which demanded of necessity a harsh 
 rending of old ties and a cruel treatment of even 
 honest opponents. When More answered the re- 
 formers in their own strain he was simply using the 
 weapon which they had proved to be effective, but 
 his conduct is none the less to be regretted. It 
 may, however, be said that his controversial works 
 show that he put some restraint upon himself, while 
 there is no sign that Luther ever did so. Nor 
 should the spirit in which More wrote be forgotten. 
 He says with much feeling at the end of this work — 
 " Imo nihil mihi magis in votis est quam ut illam 
 aliquando diem videam, qua et has nugas meas et 
 illius omnes insanas haereses mortales omnes abjici- 
 ant; ut obruto pessimarum rerum studio, sepultis 
 jurgiorum stimulis et contentionum obliterata me- 
 moria, illucescat animis serenum fidei lumen : redeat 
 syncera pietas et verc Christiana concur* I ia : quam
 
 200 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 aliquando procor, ut reddat, ac restituat terras, Qui 
 in terram venit pacem daturas e coelo." x 
 
 It is not surprising that More, like so many other 
 opponents of the reformers, blamed Luther and his 
 followers for the excesses of the Bauernlcricg of 
 1525. In that year Bugenhagen, then newly con- 
 verted to the Lutheran opinions, addressed his 
 letter "to the saints in England," and More, who 
 heard all the most terrible stories of the peasants' 
 excesses from Goclenius, thought it necessary to 
 reply to it. Here, however, he had no desire to 
 enter into public controversy ; his letter was entirely 
 private, 2 and was written in a most conciliatory tone. 
 He took pains to refute the Antinomian opinions 
 of the Anabaptists, which he attributed to Luther, 
 and called attention to much in the writings of the 
 Wittenberg doctor which it seemed impossible to 
 reconcile with any reasonable standard of theology. 
 From such violence of opinion and expression he 
 thought that the revolts and massacres were legiti- 
 mate deductions. He was at pains also to point out 
 that the true Catholic doctrines were misrepresented 
 by the reformers, and instanced the famous point of 
 justification by faith. 
 
 " The Church both believes and teaches that 
 man's works cannot be well done without the grace 
 of God, or be of any merit without faith in Christ. 
 Nor are they, even in that case, in their nature fit 
 
 1 Latin Worl;s, p. 118«. 
 
 2 Mori epistola in qua non ■minus faeete quam j>i<: respondet 
 litteris Jdhannis Pomerani. Louvain. It was not published 
 till 1568.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 201 
 
 for heaven. When we have done all, we are un- 
 profitable servants, we have done no more than we 
 ought to have done. We do not fight against grace 
 or deny Christ, or confide, like the Pharisees, in 
 works; for we know well that they are worth 
 nothing without faith, that they have no value 
 except from the pure bounty of God. But they 
 fight against faith and deny Christ, Avho, while they 
 extol only grace and faith, deny the value of faith 
 and make men callous to living well." l 
 
 Nothing, surely, could be more sound than this 
 statement, and a comparison with the thirteenth 
 article of the Church of England is immediately 
 suggested. From such passages we are encouraged 
 to inquire what More's position would have been 
 if he had lived a little later. Mr. Froude assures us 
 that " his mind was too clear and genuine to allow 
 him to deceive himself with the delusive mirage 
 of Anglicanism." Rather, in one sense More was 
 Anglican, while in another sense ' Anglicanism ' 
 was never placed before him. And, in spite of the 
 vehemence with which he defended some of the 
 more especially medieval doctrines, it is interesting 
 to notice several occasions on which he clearly held 
 and expressed the views of primitive Christianity 
 as they have been expounded by Anglican theologians 
 since the Reformation. 
 
 1 I use the translation of tins passage given in an article in 
 the North British Zfeciew, vol, xxx. pp. 102 sqq., to which I 
 am much indebted. I believe that .Mr. Seebohm lias some- 
 where admitted the authorship of this article. If so, our regrel 
 must be the greater that he ha nol given at a complete life 
 of M
 
 202 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 The progress of events soon brought More forward 
 agrain as a controversialist, and in 1528 he assumed 
 the position, which he maintained almost until his 
 death, of the most prominent defender of the Church 
 against the attacks of the English reformers. The 
 writings of the heretics had been largely dissemin- 
 ated in England, and it was felt that some stronger 
 weapon than the law afforded was necessary for 
 general use. More, as a layman whose tolerant 
 views were well known and whose literary fame 
 was European, was admirably fitted to meet the 
 pamphleteers on their own ground. Accordingly, 
 in March 1528, Tunstal entreated him to come 
 forward as the defender of the Church, and sent 
 him a formal license " to read and keep certain 
 books of Luther and certain other heretical publi- 
 cations," in order that he might write an answer 
 to them in the vernacular tongue. 1 More at once 
 applied himself to the study of the volumes, and 
 was not long in discovering that side by side with 
 Luther as a powerful antagonist of the Church he 
 must place William Tyndale, the translator of the 
 New Testament and author of The Wicked Mammon, 
 and The Obedience of a Christian Man. The result 
 of his reading was the publication of ' A Dialogue 
 of Sir Thomas More, Knighte ; one of the Counsaill 
 of our Sovereign Lorde the Kinge, and Chancellour 
 of his duchy of Lancaster. Wherein be treated 
 divers maters, as of the veneracion and worship of 
 ymages and relyques, praing to Saintes, and goying 
 on pylgrimage. With many other thinges touchyng 
 1 Letters and Papers, ir. 4028.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE \N!> WORKS 203 
 
 the pestilente secte of Luther and Tyadale, by the 
 tone bygone in Saxony and by the tother labored 
 to be brought into England.' l This was a work 
 of remarkable skill, and has always been considered 
 by Roman writers to be More's greatest achieve- 
 ment. It must in justice be admitted that the 
 questions discussed are treated with ability and 
 tact, and in a much more moderate tone than was 
 usual in the controversies of the time. The method 
 of the book was admirably chosen. It professes to 
 be a dialogue on the great questions of the day 
 between More and a messenger from one of his 
 friends who was imbued with many of the opinions 
 of the reformers. The objections of the heretics are 
 brought forward with some force and are met with 
 every artifice of ridicule and illustration as well as 
 of sober argument. Thus the simplicity of the 
 reformer who considers " logic but babbling, music 
 to serve for singers, arithmetic meet for merchants, 
 geometry for masons, astronomy good for no man, 
 and as for philosophy, the most vain of all," 2 and 
 knows nothing but a little Latin and the Bible, 
 is sketched with delightful humour. Turning to 
 argument, More cites a number of examples to 
 prove that images were not forbidden to Christians. 
 In attempting a dilemma as to the reverence to be 
 paid to the name of Jesus, More seems as oblivious 
 of logic as his opponent, but with regard to the 
 veneration of saints he is more straightforward. 
 " Well they [the heretics] wot that the Church 
 
 1 First edition, 1529. English Works, ed. 1557, pp. 10 I 
 228. - "Dialogue," English Works, p. HI.
 
 204 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 worshippeth not saints as God, but as God's good 
 servants, and therefore the honour that is done to 
 them redoundeth principally to the honour of their 
 Master, like as in common custom of people we do 
 reverence sometimes, and make great cheer to some 
 men for their master's sake whom else would we 
 not haply bid once good-morrow." * 
 
 Speaking of pilgrimages he denies that they are 
 maintained because they are a source of revenue 
 to the clergy, and defends the consecration of special 
 places for God's service. 
 
 " Where ye say that in resorting to this place and 
 that place, this image and that image, we seem to 
 reckon as though God were not in every place alike 
 mighty or not alike present, this reason [he says] 
 proceedeth no more against pilgrimages than against 
 all the churches in Christendom; for God is as 
 mighty in the stable as in the temple." 2 
 
 He thus narrows down the question to a point, 
 the decision of which does not affect the question 
 that he is supposed to answer. Because God had 
 set apart certain places to be hallowed to Him, and 
 ordered men to assemble together to worship Him, 
 it did not follow that prayers " should be better 
 heard of our Lord in Kent than at Cambridge." 
 
 For the proof that special localities are more 
 pleasing to God than others, More relies on the 
 evidence of miracles. This introduces several very 
 interesting chapters in which he meets the argu- 
 ments against the possibility of miraculous mani- 
 festations. Into this subject he enters at great 
 1 English Works, p. 118. 2 Ibid. p. 121.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 length and with much skill, distinguishing between 
 a belief in miracles in general and the evidence for 
 particular cases. While admitting that the devil can 
 work miracles, he declares that if the Church had 
 acknowledged such the Holy Spirit would have 
 deserted her. The rest of the first book explains 
 and defends at great length the doctrine of the 
 Church and of her interpretation of the Holy Scrip- 
 ture. On this latter point More maintains that the 
 Church cannot err on any necessary article of the 
 faith, and arrives at the following conclusion — 
 
 " Whoso will not unto the study of Scripture take 
 the points of the Catholic faith as a rule of inter- 
 pretation, but of diffidence and mistrust study to 
 seek in Scripture whether the faith of the Church 
 be true or not, he cannot fail to fall in worse 
 errors and far more jeopardous than any man can 
 do by philosophy, whereof the reasons and argu- 
 ments in matters of our faith have nothing in like 
 authority." x 
 
 In the second book the subject of the Church is 
 continued. What, asks the objector, is the Visible 
 Church ? More replies that it must be open and 
 obvious, a city set on an hill that cannot be hid ; 
 no sect can be the Church, for the Church existed 
 before them all, the tree from which they, as 
 withered branches, dropped. The Church also must 
 contain good and bad men together, and is, in fact, 
 " the common known multitude of Christian nations 
 not cut off nor fallen off by heresies." - The subject 
 of the views of the reformers is then again intro- 
 i English Works,?. 1G3. - Ibid. p. L85.
 
 206 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 duced ; for the objector asks why, if the good and 
 bad be together in the Church, the good may not 
 be those who believe the worship of images to be 
 idolatry. More then defends in turn the invocation 
 of saints, the reverence paid to relics, and pilgrim- 
 ages. The canonized saints must be saints indeed, 
 or the Church would have erred in a matter nearly 
 touching God's honour, which cannot be. To the 
 objector's complaints about relics it is answered that 
 the Church could not have received pig's bones, or 
 the bones of the damned, as worthy of reverence, 
 for she is guided by the same Spirit through whom 
 the Canon of Scripture was chosen. And, even if 
 God permitted a mistake to be undiscovered for a 
 while, no harm would happen, for the intention of 
 those that pay reverence is good, as though there 
 could be no harm in paying reverence to an uncon- 
 secrated host. Nor do the bad customs that dis- 
 grace some shrines prove that the shrines themselves 
 should be destroyed any more than that holy da} ? s 
 should be abolished because in some places foolish 
 or wicked deeds are done on them. "In some 
 countries they go a-hunting on Good Friday in the 
 morning : will ye break that evil custom, or cast 
 away Good Friday ? " 1 
 
 More begins the third book of his dialogue by 
 deciding the question whether belief is to be 
 accorded first to the Scripture or to the Church. 
 He declares that faith is before Scripture, as well 
 chronologically as logically. The trial and abjur- 
 ation of Bilney are then described, and the burning 
 1 English Works, p. 198.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AM> WORKS 
 
 of Tyndale's Now Testament is praised. Move's 
 criticism of the reformer's translation is extremely 
 bitter. He distrusts the spirit in which it was 
 undertaken, and points out many instances in which 
 new renderings of words have been adopted for the 
 purpose of concealing the meaning of the original. 
 His deepest anger is reserved for the change by 
 which "priest" becomes "senior," "the Church," 
 "the congregation," and "charity," "love." Nor 
 was this all, " for he changcth," cries More, " grace 
 into this word ' favour,' whereas every favour is not 
 grace in English, for in some favour there is little 
 grace. 'Confession' he translateth into 'knowledg- 
 ing,' 'penance' into 'repentance.' 'A contrite 
 heart' he changcth into 'a troubled heart,' and 
 many more things like and many texts untruly 
 translated for the maintenance of heresy." ! Of 
 Tyndale's other works More also speaks in strong 
 condemnation. " Tyndale," he says, " hath put out 
 in his own name another book entitled Mammona, 
 which book is very mammona iniquilutis, a very 
 treasury and well-spring of wickedness. And yet 
 hath he sithence put forth a worse also named The 
 Obedience of a Christian Man, a book able to make 
 a Christian man that would believe it leave off all 
 good Christian virtues, and lose the merits of his 
 Christendom." 2 Turning then to the attacks made 
 upon the priesthood, More says much in answer that 
 is fair and just. He could not deny that many of 
 the clergy lived scandalous lives, but he attributed 
 that to episcopal neglect of the canon that none 
 1 English Works, p. 222. tbid, p 223.
 
 208 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 should be ordained for whom provision was not 
 made. He also reminded the objector how eagerly 
 every one caught up tales against any particular 
 priest, and straightway condemned the order. If 
 priests were bad, how much worse were laymen ! 
 And he quoted a sermon of Colet to the same 
 effect. 1 
 
 On the marriage of the clergy he has an important 
 chapter, in which his argument is that the Church 
 binds no man to chastity against his will, for men 
 only take sacred orders by their own desire. " And 
 as touching whether the order of the Church therein 
 is better than the contrary, good men and wise men 
 both had the proof of both before the law was made, 
 and it was well allowed through Christendom long 
 time since. Which ere I would assent to change I 
 would see a better author thereof than such an 
 heretic as Luther and Tyndale, and a better sample 
 than the seditious and schismatic priests of 
 Saxony.'- This position, it will be observed, though 
 not extreme, is quite incompatible with a belief that 
 the Utopia was intended to advise the marriage of 
 priests. 
 
 More recognizes the wisdom of having the Bible 
 translated, though he says much of the danger of 
 an unauthorized translation. Yet how r narrow was 
 the liberty that he would concede may be seen by 
 the following passage — 
 
 " It might be with diligence well and truly trans- 
 lated by some good Catholic and well-learned man, 
 or by divers dividing the labour among them, and 
 1 English Work*, p. 226. 2 Ibid. p. 233.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 209 
 
 after conferring their several parts together, each 
 with other. And after that might the work be 
 allowed and approved by the ordinaries, and by 
 their authorities so put into print as all the copies 
 should come whole into the bishop's hand. Which 
 he may after his discretion and wisdom deliver to 
 such as he perceiveth honest, sad, and virtuous, with 
 a good monition and fatherly counsel to use it 
 reverently with humble heart and lowly mind, rather 
 seeking therein occasion of devotion than of despi- 
 cion. And providing as much as may be that the 
 book be after the decease of the party brought again 
 and reverently restored under the ordinary." x 
 
 The fourth book contains a violent attack upon 
 Luther and his followers, a repetition, with all the 
 force of More's ability, of the charges to which they 
 had long been exposed. Speaking of the burning 
 of heretics, More lays great stress on the fact that 
 it is the work of the secular power, and declares 
 that just as princes are bound to resist the Turks, 
 so are they bound to destroy heretics who reject all 
 the offers of the long-suffering Church. With this, 
 the conversion of the objector being complete, More 
 departs to the Court. 
 
 Such is a most imperfect sketch of the contents 
 of the Dialogue. From a perusal of it, it becomes 
 evident that any attempt to represent the author as 
 satisfied with a latitudinarian or even a purely 
 spiritual creed must break down. There is no 
 reason to assume that More's views had changed 
 since he wrote the Utopia, and the distinct declar- 
 EngUtHi Works, p. 245.
 
 210 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 ation of them in his controversial works seems to 
 prove that no importance is to be attached to the 
 ideal picture of religion in the happy island. It is 
 equally plain that More was well aware of the 
 strength of the reformers, that he had clearly 
 grasped many of their arguments and decisively 
 rejected their whole teaching. It is at least possible 
 also that he saw much of the weakness of his own 
 cause ; the significant changes of style and the 
 absence of even casual allusion to points of extreme 
 importance seem to suggest this conclusion. From 
 this work also an opinion may be formed as to 
 the extent of More's theological knowledge. The 
 Dialogue is most evidently the work of a layman, 
 who had a taste for but had made no special study 
 of divinity. It owes all to its skill, nothing to its 
 learning. The reading of its author appears to be 
 confined to some of the works of S. Augustine, to 
 Peter Lombard, and to the canon law. The strength 
 of More's books lay in the popular ground which 
 they took up; they were almost the only works 
 which attempted to answer the reformers after their 
 own fashion. Fresh, unforced humour is visible on 
 nearly every page. Surely it is a special touch of 
 English religious writers that they blend delightful 
 humour with their serious thought. What is true 
 of Hooker and Jeremy Taylor and George Herbert 
 is doubly true of Sir Thomas More. Some extracts 
 we cannot refrain from quoting. The following 
 has additional interest from its autobiographical 
 reference — 
 
 "If he mean to read his riddle on this fashion,
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE WD Work's 211 
 
 then he soyleth his strange riddle as bluntly aa an 
 
 old wife of Culnaw (? Cumnor) did once among the 
 scholars of Oxenford that sojourned with her for 
 death [in the time of the plague]. Which, while 
 they were on a time for their sport purposing riddles 
 among them, she began to put forth one of her'a 
 too, and said, ' A read my riddle, what is that ? I 
 knew one that shot at a hart and killed a haddock.' 
 And when we had everybody much mused how 
 that might be and then prayed her to declare her 
 riddle herself, after long request, she said at the 
 last that there were once a fisher that came a land 
 in a place where he saw a hart and shot thereat, 
 but he hit it not; and afterwards he went asrain to 
 the sea and caught a haddock and killed it." 
 
 No less quaint is the story of Davy the Dutchman, 
 who was about to marry a second time, when it was 
 discovered that his first wife was still alive — 
 
 " ' Marry, master,' quoth he, ' that letter saith, me- 
 think, that my wife is alive.' ' Yea, beast,' quoth I, 
 ' that she is.' ' Marry,' quoth he, ' then I am well apaid, 
 for she is a good woman.' ' Yea/ quoth I, ' but why 
 art thou such a naughty, wretched man, that thou 
 wouldest here wed another ? Didst thou not say 
 she was dead ? ' ' Yes, marry,' quoth he, ' men of 
 Worcester told me so.' ' Why,' quoth I, ' thou false 
 beast, did'st thou not tell me and all my house 
 that thou wort at her grave thyself?' 'Yea, marry, 
 master,' quoth he, 'so I was, but I could not look 
 in, ye wot well.' " 
 
 Such passages abound in his writings, as do quaint 
 saws and old proverbs, many of which arc -till in
 
 212 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 use. Nor are passages of genuine eloquence and 
 deep solemnity wanting. More's style was indeed 
 the mirror of the man ; he wrote as he lived, abso- 
 lutely without ostentation, simply, merrily, honour- 
 ably and in the true faith and fear of Christ. In 
 such a passage as this he touches the true note of 
 genuine devotion — 
 
 " When we feel us too bold, remember our own 
 feebleness. When we feel us too faint, remember 
 Christ's strength. In our fear, let us remember 
 Christ's painful agony that Himself would (for our 
 comfort) suffer before His passion, to the intent that 
 no fear should make us despair. And ever call for 
 His help, such as Himself list to send us, and then 
 need we never to doubt but that either He shall 
 keep us from the painful death, or shall not fail so 
 to strength us in it that He shall joyfully bring us 
 to heaven by it. And then does He much more for 
 us than if He kept us from it. For as God did 
 more for poor Lazar in helping him patiently to die 
 for hunger at the rich man's door, than if He had 
 brought him to the door all the rich glutton's 
 dinner ; so, though He be gracious to a man whom 
 He delivereth out of painful trouble, yet doth He much 
 more for a man if through right painful death He de- 
 liver him from this wretched world into eternal bliss." 
 
 Passages such as these — and More's works are full 
 of them — show how close to him always was the 
 divine beauty of the spiritual life. 
 
 It was evident that the controversy would not 
 cease with the publication of the Dialogue. Tyndale, 
 then in safety in the Netherlands, was anxious to
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 213 
 
 meet it, but while he was preparing to do so More 
 entered into a new contest. On May 24, 1530, the 
 Council, by the King's command, issued a declaration 
 against Luther's writings, and a list of the errors 
 contained in certain heretical books, English and 
 Latin, among others Tyndale's translation of the 
 Scriptures, for the benefit of preachers, to be published 
 by them in their sermons. It had been drawn up 
 by Warham, Tunstal, More, Gardiner, Hugh Latimer, 
 and others. Meanwhile a tract had been published, 
 probably at the same time as the Dialogue, which 
 took up with considerable force a peculiar mode of 
 attack. The SuppVkatvm for the Beggars struck at 
 the Church through the clergy. In language of 
 extreme violence " the foul, unhappy sort of lepers 
 and other sore people, needy, impotent, blind, lame, 
 and sick, that live only on alms," petition the King 
 to grant them succour. They declare that they arc 
 dying of hunger because of the multitude of stout 
 and strong beggars, the clergy, who possess more 
 than a third part of the kingdom, and obtain by 
 their numberless exactions more than £40,000 a year 
 in addition to the tithes. They demand that " these 
 sturdy lobies" and "holy idle thieves" be driven 
 abroad into the world, "to get them wives of their 
 own, to get their living with their labour in the 
 sweat of their faces, according to the commandment 
 of God," and that they should be " tied to the carts 
 to be whipped naked about every market town till 
 they will fall to labour." l 
 
 1 A Shipptication f<n the Beggars, by Simon l'i-b, reprinted 
 by Mr. Arbor, 1878.
 
 214 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Mr. Dixon speaks of More as " condescending " to 
 answer the "atrocities" of Simon Fish. 1 The ex- 
 pression is scarcely too strong ; the work was indeed 
 far below the level of those which he had previously 
 attacked, and it was only the knowledge that its 
 very vehemence would win it credit among a certain 
 class that induced him to notice it. His answer was 
 written in a very different tone. It took the form 
 of a pathetic appeal from "the poor prisoners of 
 God," the souls in purgatory, " to all good Christian 
 people." 2 The Supplication of Souls is in every way 
 more interesting than the Dialogue. In exposing 
 the extravagant follies of such a work as that of 
 Fish, More is at his best, clear, trenchant, and ex- 
 haustive, and not only does he completely defeat his 
 adversary — which he can hardly be said to have 
 done in the Dialogue — but it is possible to feel a 
 certain satisfaction in his victory. The exquisite 
 humour of the first part will scarce admit of detached 
 quotation, since it owes its success to the accuracy 
 with which, while following closely the steps of its 
 original, it ridicules and exposes its statements. The 
 elaborate calculations of the " beggars " are entirely 
 upset. More points out the inconsistency of declar- 
 ing in one place that the clergy are so many as to 
 check the growth of population and prevent a proper 
 supply of merchants and soldiers, and in another 
 that they are not one in every four hundred of the 
 population, that they are the cause of the increase 
 of beggary, and yet that they should be turned 
 
 1 History of the Chwrch of England, i. 142. 
 
 2 « A Supplication of Souls," English Work*, pp. 288—339 .
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 215 
 
 adrift to diminish the number of beggars. There 
 are several other features of interest in the book, 
 such as the remarks on Peter's pence and Kin- 
 John's gift of the kingdom to the Pope, and the 
 prophecy that any robbing of the Church would be 
 followed by a great increase of pauperism. The 
 doctrine of purgatory is introduced by the consider- 
 ation that the majority of religious establishments 
 were endowed for the express purpose of insuring 
 supplication for the souls of the founders. Thus 
 More declares that the confiscation of the endow- 
 ments would be not only an injury to the living, 
 but a most grievous cruelty to the dead. Into his 
 arguments in defence of the doctrine it is unnecessary 
 to enter. He fights, not without effect, by confusing 
 the intermediate state with a state of torment, by 
 lavish reference to the Church's authority, and by 
 incorrect accounts of the belief of early Christianity. 
 Yet there is a pathos worthy of the writer in the 
 passage where the suffering souls plead their member- 
 ship in the Catholic Church, their claim on the 
 prayers of the faithful, and their right to the com- 
 passion which by their benefactions they had shown 
 to those on earth. 
 
 At this point in More's life he was brought into 
 active personal relation to heretics by his duties as 
 Lord Chancellor. 
 
 That he had frequently attended the examination 
 of heretics is proved by several passages in the 
 Dialogue: it was not, however, until his appointmenf 
 as Lord Chancellor that his official duties obliged 
 him tu do so. As Chancellor he took the oath " to
 
 216 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 use all his power to destroy all manner of heresies." x 
 It was one of his duties to the discharge of which 
 he could give himself with much sympathy ; but we 
 should be surprised to discover that he used with 
 harshness or violence the power committed to him. 
 His conduct, however, in all that relates to heresy 
 has been the subject of such vehement attacks from 
 Protestant writers, that an impression has arisen 
 that he at this period belied the promise of his past 
 life and became a relentless persecutor. Wolsey's 
 mildness has almost universally been contrasted with 
 More's severity; and, while it has been commonly 
 supposed that the latter exercised the duties of his 
 office with stern rigour, Mr. Froude has gone so far 
 as to accuse him of distinctly illegal acts. A closer 
 examination, however, seems to show that not only did 
 he keep strictly within the limits of his duty, and 
 do no more than he was legally bound to do, but 
 that he took especial pains — and for some time 
 successfully — to avoid the infliction of the extreme 
 penalty. Mr. Froude, after dwelling on the illegal 
 imprisonments which followed Wolsey's resignation, 
 declares that " no sooner had the seals changed 
 hands than the Smithfield fires recommenced." - It 
 appears, rather, that not only were the imprisonments 
 to which the Protestants were subjected the strictly 
 legal acts of the bishops rather than of the Chan- 
 cellor, but that for nearly two years after More's 
 appointment — and he did not hold his office three 
 
 1 2 Henry V. stat. 1 : see also Proclamation A 1527, Fuxe, 
 ed. 1597, p. 930. 
 
 2 Hist. England, vol. ii. p. 83.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 217 
 
 years — there was no infliction of the extreme 
 penalty. 
 
 The law provided that if a heretic, arrested and 
 examined by the bishops, refused to recant, he 
 should be burnt. The decision once made, and 
 sentence passed, the end could not be avoided. 
 But by the proclamation of 1529 power was given 
 to the bishops to imprison, at their discretion, both 
 before and after conviction. Thus to More in the 
 execution of his office the only escape from his clear 
 legal obligation to destroy the heretics was by ad- 
 vising the bishops to use the power committed to 
 them. By the exercise of this power many were 
 saved who must otherwise have been burned; and 
 there can be little doubt that those whose petitions 
 to the Crown after More's resignation have caused 
 much of the blame that has been attached to him, 
 would, but for his intervention, have suffered death. 
 
 It may be well to notice the cases of those who 
 were burned during More's Chancellorship and of 
 those who were, according to Mr. Froude, illegally 
 imprisoned, and the accusations of personal cruelty 
 alleged by Foxe against the Chancellor. 
 
 It was not till within the last nine months of his 
 tenure of the seals that any execution took place. 
 Bilney, Bayfield, Tewkesbury, and Bainham, who 
 had previously abjured, relapsed into heresy. In 
 such cases the law was explicit. The Chancellor 
 had no power to save. He was forced to issue the 
 writ ordered by the statute Dc Haeretico Com- 
 burendo; and he can with no more justice be 
 considered responsible for the law he carried out
 
 218 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 than the many judges who in this century con- 
 demned men to death for forgery and theft. He is 
 thus without doubt legally absolved. The stories of 
 his cruelty to these prisoners rest only on the 
 unreliable assertions of Foxe ; and there can be no 
 higher testimony to his personal conduct than that 
 afforded by the martyrs themselves, who died with 
 such prayers on their lips as " May the Lord open 
 the eyes of Sir Thomas More ! " 
 
 The two cases of the Chancellor's illegal action 
 quoted by Mr. Froude are those of Thomas Philips 
 and John Field. 1 The only evidence for the first is 
 the petition of the sufferer, and even there Sir 
 Thomas is not mentioned except as issuing the 
 warrant for his arrest, and as examining him from 
 time to time, in conjunction with the Bishop of 
 London. The whole responsibility lies upon the 
 Bishop; and the proclamation of 1529 gave him his 
 authority. Mr. Froude has not thought it necessary 
 to notice More's own account of the matter, which 
 bears the strongest marks of truth. " When," wrote 
 Sir Thomas, 2 " I had spoken with Philips [on first 
 sending for him] and honestly entreated him one 
 day or twain in mine house, and laboured about his 
 amendment in as hearty, loving wise as I could : 
 when I perceived finally the person such that I 
 could find no truth, neither in his word nor in his 
 oath, and saw the likelihood that he was in the 
 setting forth of such heresies a man meet to do 
 many folk much harm, I by indenture delivered 
 
 1 Hid. England, vol. ii. pp. 70—83. 
 ' A Apology : Eng. Works, p. 905.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 219 
 
 him to his ordinary." After explaining how the 
 prisoner was transferred to the Tower, he adds, " and 
 yet after that he complained thereof, not against 
 me but against the ordinary." 
 
 "If, however," says Mr. Froude, "it be thought 
 unjust to charge a good man's memory with an 
 offence in which his part was only secondary, the 
 following iniquity was wholly and exclusively his 
 own." He then quotes, "without comment," the 
 petition of the sufferer. In this case it has been 
 well argued 1 that the petition itself 2 proves that 
 the offence of Field was not heresy at all. It is 
 to be noticed that the bishops were not concerned 
 in it; that after Field had been set free for a 
 time he was re-arrested by the Duke of Norfolk 
 who had no connexion whatever with ecclesiastical 
 jurisdiction ; that he was examined before tho Star 
 Chamber, and imprisoned in the Fleet; and that the 
 books taken from him were not heretical writings, 
 but " a Greek Vocabulary, S. Cyprian's Worl a, with a 
 book of the same Sir. Thomas More's making, The 
 Supplication of Souls." Finally, not only is there 
 no allusion in the petition' to heresy ; but Foxe, who 
 would hardly have neglected so remarkable a case, 
 makes no mention of it whatever, and More, in his 
 Apology, where he defends himself specifically 
 concerning his treatment of heretics, is equally 
 silent. 
 
 As to the minor cases of cruelty we shall find 
 them most clearly stated in More's own answer. 
 
 1 North Brit. R v. vol. xxx. p. L62 ei •</• 
 
 - Letters <md Papers, Hen. VlIL, vol. v. 1059.
 
 220 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 " Divers of them have said that of such as were in 
 my house when I was chancellor I used to examine 
 them with torments, causing them to be bound to 
 a tree in my garden and there piteously beaten. 
 . . . What cannot these brethren say that can be 
 so shameless to say thus ? . . . I never did cause 
 any such thing to be done to any at all in all my 
 life, except only twain. One was a child and a 
 servant of mine in mine own house, whom his 
 father, ere he came to me, had nursed up in such 
 matters, and set him to attend upon George Joy. 
 This Joy did teach the child his heresy against the 
 Blessed Sacrament of the altar : which heresy this 
 child in my house began to teach another child. 
 And upon that point I charged a servant of mine to 
 strip him like a child before mine household, for 
 amendment of himself and ensample of such other. 
 The other was one which after that he had fallen 
 into these frantic heresies fell soon after into plain 
 open frenzy." More then declares that he had the 
 man beaten, as the common method of recovering 
 lunatics, the result being that the man came to 
 himself. "And verily, God be thanked, I hear no 
 harm of him now. And of all that ever came into 
 my hand for heresy, else had never any of them any 
 stripe or stroke given them, so much as a fillip on 
 the forehead. And some have said that when 
 Constantine (a heretic who had been put in the 
 stocks at Chelsea) was gotten away, I was fallen for 
 anger into a wonderful rage. But surely, though I 
 would not have suffered him to go if it would have 
 pleased him to have tarried still in the stocks . . .
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 never will 1 be so unreasonable as to be angry with 
 any man that riseth if he can, when he findeth 
 himself that he sitteth not at his ease." There can 
 be no reason to doubt this statement. It was made at 
 a time when More was known to have lost the Kino's 
 
 O 
 
 favour and to be in imminent danger, and it was 
 never contradicted, though many must have been 
 aware of its truth or falsehood. It may be added 
 that a humorous instance of his leniency is given 
 by Strype — " Examining a Protestant, whose name 
 w r as Silver, he told him, after his jesting way, 
 that ' Silver must be tried in the fire.' ' Ay,' said 
 Silver, ' but quick-silver will not abide it ' — with which 
 ready answer being delighted, he dismissed him." 
 
 The case of Bainham has been brought also as 
 conclusive evidence of More's cruelty, but the 
 evidence of Foxe is certainly not conclusive. It has 
 been shown that the martyrologist, after making in 
 one edition the cases of Tewkesbury and Bainham 
 present an extraordinary parallel, in another trans- 
 ferred the statements concerning the former entirely 
 to the latter. And Foxe, it must be remembered, 
 was neither a contemporary writer nor a man of 
 balanced or critical j ndgment. 
 
 That he searched for heretical books — that he 
 chastised offenders in his own garden, that he 
 imprisoned prisoners in his own house — an act of 
 lenity rather than harshness — is admitted; but it 
 may fairly be said that, although the scarcity of 
 record makes it difficult to speak with certainty, as 
 far as has appeared, on evidence at present known, 
 the charges against More made by Foxe, mid re
 
 222 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 pcatecl, among others, by Burnet, Strype, and Mr. 
 Froude, have not been substantiated. We are 
 therefore justified in forming a conclusion in 
 harmony with all that we know of More's character. 
 
 It only remains to notice More's religious writings 
 subsequent to his acceptance of the seals. These 
 are a confutation of Tyndale's answer to his 
 Dialogue, a letter impugning the erroneous writing 
 of John Frith against the Blessed Sacrament, the 
 Apology, the Debellation of Salem and Bizance, an 
 answer to the book of a " nameless heretic " l on 
 the Lord's Supper, and several lesser books written 
 in prison. 
 
 Tyndale's answer to More's Dialogue was published 
 in the spring or early summer of 1531. In it 
 he explained his view of the Church, defended his 
 translation of the New Testament, and scornfully 
 disposed of his antagonist's book. He did not adopt 
 the comparatively moderate tone of More, but, 
 moved apparently by personal animosity, wrote in a 
 coarse and violent manner. He believed More to 
 have been actuated by the basest motives in his 
 opposition to the reformers. Speaking of the Council 
 which had taken place in London in May 1530, 
 at which his own works had been condemned, he 
 declared that " More was the special orator of the 
 bishops, to feign lies for their purpose." 2 Not only 
 this, but he specifically charged the Chancellor with 
 
 1 Tyndale (Demaus, Life of Tyndale, p. 281), or George Joy 
 (Lumby, Notes to Roper, Utopia, Pitt Press ed. p. 180). 
 
 2 Tyndale's Answer to More, p. 168, quoted by Demaus, 
 p. 272.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 223 
 
 having accepted bribes from the bishops, and with 
 writing against his convictions. Little as More was 
 inclined to heed personal accusations, it was impos- 
 sible for him, for the sake of the Church as well 
 as of his own reputation, to leave this book un- 
 answered. The charges against himself he barely 
 referred to, but the whole system of Tyndale he 
 once more denounced in the voluminous Confutation 
 which he published in 1532, and revised and 
 continued up to within a short time of his death. 
 The first three books appeared in 1532, the second 
 part, containing the next five, in 1533, and the ninth 
 book was first published in the collected edition of 
 his English works. The enormous length of this 
 Confutation prevents any reasonable analysis, nor 
 does its interest demand one. It is concerned 
 chiefly with a recapitulation of the writer's previous 
 arguments, especially on the character of the visible 
 Church, and does not possess the vivacity and clear- 
 ness of the Dialogue. To say that it is a keen 
 and powerful work is only to say that it is More's ; 
 but it must be admitted that, in spite of the success 
 with which the Chancellor treated particular points — 
 such as the relation of the early Church to the gospel 
 and the degrading views of his opponents concerning 
 marriage — the victory on the whole remained with 
 Tyndale. One passage, however, for its autobio- 
 graphical interest, may find a place here. 
 
 " He asketh me why I have not contended with 
 Erasmus, whom he calleth my derling, of all this 
 long while, for translating this word ecclesia into 
 this word congregatio, And then he cometh forth
 
 224 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 with his lit proper taunt that I favour him of 
 likelihood for making of his book Moria in my 
 house. There had he hit me, save for lack of a 
 little salt. I have not contended with Erasmus, 
 my derling, because I find no such malicious intent 
 with Erasmus, my derling, as I find with Tyndale. 
 For had I found with Erasmus, my derling, the 
 shrewd intent and purpose that I find with Tyndale, 
 Erasmus, my derling, should be no more my derling. 
 But I find in Erasmus, my derling, that he detesteth 
 and abhorreth the errors and heresies that Tyndale 
 plainly teacheth and abideth by; and therefore 
 Erasmus, my derling, shall be my dear derling still. 
 ... As touching Moria in which Erasmus doth 
 merely touch and reprove such faults and follies as he 
 found in any kind of people, perusing every state 
 and condition, spiritual and temporal, leaving almost 
 none untouched, ... in these days in which men 
 by their own default misconster and take harm of 
 the very scripture of God, if any man would now 
 translate Moria into English, or some works either 
 that I have myself written ere this, 1 albeit there 
 be none harm therein, folk yet being (as they be) 
 given to take harm of that is good, I would not 
 only my derling's books but mine own also help 
 to burn them both with mine own hands, rather 
 than folk should (though through their own fault) 
 take any harm of them, seeing that I see them 
 likely in these days so to do." 2 
 
 In the eighth book of his Confutation, which he 
 
 1 la this an allusion to the Utopia ? 
 8 English Works, pp. 421—423.
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 225 
 
 styled a Confutation of Frcre Barnes Church, More 
 gained a partial victory. He exposed the error 
 in defining the Church as merely the invisible 
 company of the elect, but his claim for it of absolute 
 freedom from all error is not, perhaps, equally 
 successful. It is interesting to notice that in the 
 course of his argument More enunciates the dogma 
 of the infallibility of the Pope. 
 
 He had now other antagonists besides Tyndale. 
 He wrote a letter on the Blessed Sacrament, 
 impugning the treatise which John Frith had 
 written in prison. 1 It is pleasant to find him here 
 writing in a tone of tender remonstrance rather 
 than of indignant denunciation. From this short 
 letter and from the larger work, "The Answer to 
 the Poisoned Book which a Nameless Heretic hath 
 named the Swpp&r of the Lord," 2 More's views on the 
 doctrine of the Eucharist may be seen to have not 
 departed from those of the medieval Church. 
 
 . After his resignation of the Chancellorship More 
 wrote also his Apology 3 and the Debellation of 
 Salem and Bizance.* In addition to its personal 
 interest the former of these books is to be noticed 
 as an answer to a treatise called The Padju r, 
 written by a lawyer named Saintgerman. More's 
 main thesis was that heresy, being a great crime 
 against God, deserved a severe punishment from 
 the secular power. The latter Avas an answer to 
 Saintgerman's rejoinder, Salem and Bizance. Its 
 
 i English Works, pp. 833— 844. 
 
 - Ibid. pp. 1035—1138. 
 
 I Ibid. pp. 845—929. 4 
 
 pp. 845—929. ' Ibid. pp. 929—1025. 
 
 Q
 
 226 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 plan is that which More had adopted in all his 
 later works, a minute quotation and answer of his 
 opponent, point by point, but there is nothing in 
 the substance that had not been suggested in his 
 earlier writings. The Answer on the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment was the last of More's controversial works. 
 During his imprisonment he wrote several devo- 
 tional studies, but the spirit of strife and contention 
 he laid for ever aside. 
 
 His services were not unappreciated by the clergy. 
 The bishops were so delighted by his support of the 
 Church that they offered him a large sum of money, 
 to which the clergy liberally subscribed. When 
 their deputation appeared to present it, More told 
 them " that like as it were no small comfort to him 
 that so wise and learned men so well accepted his 
 simple doing, for which he intended never to receive 
 reward but at the hands of God only, to whom alone 
 was thanks thereof chiefly to be ascribed, so gave 
 he most humble thanks unto them for all their 
 bountiful consideration." 
 
 " When they [continues Koper, who tells the 
 story], for all their importunate pressing upon him, 
 could by no means make him take it, then they 
 besought him to be content yet that they might 
 bestow it upon his wife and children. ' Not so, my 
 lords,' quoth he ; ' I had liever see it all cast into 
 the Thames than I or any of mine should have 
 thereof the worth of one penny. For though your 
 offer, my lords, be indeed very friendly and honour- 
 able, yet set I so much by my pleasure and so little 
 by my profit that I would not, in good faith, for as
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND WORKS 227 
 
 much more have lost the rest of so many a night's 
 sleep as was spent upon the same. And yet wish 
 I would, for all that, upon conditions that all heresies 
 were suppressed, that all my books were burned and 
 my labour utterly suppressed.' Thus departing, they 
 were fain to restore to every man his own again." x 
 
 The value of More's controversial works has, 
 indeed, always been recognized by the Roman 
 Church, and, as one of its writers confesses, they 
 " have often been resorted to by later divines as 
 arsenals stored with materials for the defence of the 
 faith." 2 
 
 Vehement as had been More's partisanship, he 
 had not carried it into his private life. Miles 
 Coverdale, while working at his translation of the 
 Bible, was a guest at Chelsea. 3 Protestant servants 
 were not excluded from the Chancellor's household. 4 
 Even Roper was at one time " weary of auricular 
 confession, fasting, and vigils, and vehement in the 
 new opinions," yet lost none of his father-in-law's 
 affection. Sir Thomas argued with him in vain ; 
 then at length "in sober sadness said, 'I see, son, 
 no disputations will do thee any good : henceforth 
 therefore I will dispute with thee no more, only 
 will I pray for thee that God will be so favourable 
 as to touch thy heart.' " It was not long before 
 this gentle silence succeeded. 5 Such facts as these 
 must always be remembered when the violence of 
 
 1 Roper, pp. 27, 28. Cf. More'. English Works, p. 867. 
 
 ' Walter, Life of More, p. 204. 
 
 • State Papers,!. 383. * English Works, \>. 901. 
 
 5 Cres. More, Life of More, pp. 120, 121.
 
 228 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 More's controversial writings seems to invite a stern 
 condemnation on the man. It is easy for one who 
 is not moved to preserve a calm balance of language ; 
 but to More the religious questions of the day were 
 matters of life and death, and he could not restrain 
 his fears for the result of the struggle. 
 
 " If any of the new learned," 1 he wrote — and the 
 passage contains the only excuse that can be made 
 for his language — 
 
 " If any of the new learned use their words at 
 their own pleasure, as evil and villanous as they 
 list, against myself, I am content to forbear the 
 requiting thereof and give them no worse words 
 again than if they had spoken me fair. . . . But 
 railing as they do against all holy things, I purpose 
 not to bear that so patiently as to forbear to let 
 them hear some parts of their language, though not 
 with the grace that they use it. But to match 
 them herein I neither can, though I would not if I 
 could ; thinking it much worth rebuke therein to 
 strive for mastery." 
 
 Again — 
 
 " If these gospellers will not cease to be heretics, 
 let them at least be reasonable heretics and honest 
 men : let them write, if not reason, at least after a 
 reasonable manner, and leave railing. Then hardly 
 let these evangelical brethren find fault with me if 
 I use them not in words as fair as the matter may 
 bear, but assure them, if they write as they do, I will 
 handle them no otherwise than I have done." 
 
 1 English Works, pp. 865, 866.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH. 
 
 "Virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are 
 incensed or crushed : for prosperity doth best discover 
 vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue." — Bacon. 
 
 Whatever may be the differences of opinion on 
 More's religious life, there can be no feeling but 
 admiration for his conduct in adversity. His resig- 
 nation of the Seals was made, as has been said, 
 without apparent loss of the King's favour. For 
 some time afterwards Henry gave no sign of his 
 displeasure. In November 1532, he pricked More 
 as Sheriff for Somerset and Dorset ; but he did not 
 recall him to Court. He remained in comparative 
 seclusion at Chelsea, writing his theological works 
 and avoiding as far as possible all conversation on 
 politics. But the sinister figure of Cromwell had 
 already risen into prominence. Roper mentions that 
 when the new minister came one day to see him, 
 More gave him some advice which showed how 
 thoroughly he understood his master. "Master 
 Cromwell," quoth he, "you are now entered into the 
 service of a most noble, wise, and liberal prince : if 
 you will follow my poor advice, you shall in counsel
 
 230 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 giving unto his grace ever tell hirn what he ought 
 to do, but never tell him what he is able to do, so 
 shall you show yourself a true faithful servant and 
 a right worthy counsellor. For if the Lion knew 
 his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule 
 him." l More soon suffered from Cromwell's neglect 
 of this advice. The Lion at last knew his own 
 strength, and rejoiced in the declaration of it. Sir 
 Thomas foresaw the result : when the King's mar- 
 riage to Anne Bullen was announced, he said to 
 Roper, " God give us grace, son, that these matters 
 within a while be not confirmed with oaths." 2 
 
 While preparations were being made for the 
 coronation of the new Queen, More received a letter 
 from Tunstal and the Bishops of Winchester and 
 Bath asking him to join in the pageant. The King 
 had ordered also that they should send him £20 
 to buy a fitting robe. But More, though he saw 
 his danger, would not be led into apparent consent 
 to Henry's marriage or take part in the joyful 
 celebration of what was to him a sorrowful event. 
 His refusal was the signal for the crowd of courtiers 
 to fall upon him. As early as July 1533, he com- 
 plained to Sir William Fitzwilliam that a gentleman 
 had used him very ill, and requested the intervention 
 of Cromwell. 3 He had congratulated himself that 
 not one voice had been raised against the justice of 
 his conduct as Chancellor ; but no sooner was it 
 known that he had lost the King's favour than several 
 accusations of corruption were brought against him. 
 
 1 Roper, p. 32. 2 Ihid. p. 33. 
 
 3 Ellis, Letters, 3rd Series, ii. 244.
 
 TROUBLES. IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 231 
 
 A man named Parnell charged him with accepting a 
 " great gilt cup " as a bribe. More, when examined 
 before the Council, admitted having received it, 
 whereon Queen Anne's father, now Earl of Wiltshire, 
 broke out into unseemly rejoicing. More with calm 
 humour continued the story, when it appeared that 
 he had only accepted the cup to restore it imme- 
 diately as a new year's gift. Two other accusations 
 failed as signally. 1 His enemies then tried another 
 plan. They charged him with writing a book pub- 
 lished by his nephew William Rastell against the 
 Articles on the Marriage and Divorce which had 
 been officially issued at Christmas 1532. It was 
 an accusation which he was able easily to rebut, for 
 his last book, The Answer on the Sacrament, had 
 been printed before the issue of the Articles, and 
 had no reference whatever to them. 2 
 
 He was soon, however, in much greater danger. 
 The visions and prophecies of the Nun of Kent had 
 become too evidently the instruments of others in 
 attacking the King's proceedings to be suffered by 
 the Government to continue. Cromwell had received 
 intelligence of all that she said, and of the intrigues 
 in which her supporters were engaged. Among the 
 eminent men who had been led by curiosity or 
 credulity to encourage her, More had taken some 
 slight part. All that passed between them was at 
 once made known to Cromwell, 3 and More's name 
 
 1 Roper, pp. 34, 38. 
 
 2 English Works, p. 1422. 
 
 :; Sec the letter (Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. vi. 
 1 167) in which information is given exactly corresponding to 
 More'.-i subsequent explanation.
 
 232 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 began to occur ominously in the Minister's " remem- 
 brances." * When the imposture was exposed, and 
 the offenders brought to trial, the utmost eagerness 
 was shown to implicate the Bishop of Rochester, and 
 More. In March 1534, 2 More wrote a long letter to 
 Cromwell at his request conveyed through Roper, 
 explaining his whole connexion with the Nun. 
 
 Eight or nine years before, he said, Warham had 
 given to the King " a roll with certain words spoken 
 in trances," and Henry had asked More his opinion 
 of it. He had replied that " there was nothing in 
 it that he could at all regard or esteem, for except 
 that some was in rhyme, and that full rude, there 
 was nothing that a right simple woman might not 
 speak of her own wit " ; but he added that as men 
 talked of a miracle, he must not be bold to judge. 
 Henry it seemed thought the matter, said More, 
 " as light as it afterwards proved lewd." 
 
 From that time till Christmas 1532, More heard no 
 more of the Nun. Then Father Resbye spoke of her 
 one day as one in whom God wrought most wonder- 
 ful works, and began to speak of her political 
 revelations. More refused to speak of " the king's 
 matter " — and so Resbye left him with a last eulogy 
 of the Nun as having saved Wolsey's soul by her 
 mediation. A few months later Father Rich ques- 
 tioned him, but he still avoided all talk of politics, 
 for he thought some of her 'revelations' were 
 very strange and some very childish. Finally the 
 Fathers of Sion House told of things they misliked 
 
 1 See Letters and Papers, vi. 49, 108, etc. 
 
 2 Rid. vol. vii. 287.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 233 
 
 in her, and thereupon begged him to see her. He 
 was in danger, he may already have felt, of being 
 mixed up in some treasonous plottings, but he 
 willingly saw her privately "in a little chapel 
 there." His own account of his interview is worth 
 quotation. 
 
 " In the beginning thereof I showed that my coming 
 to her was not of any curious mind to hear of such 
 things as folk talked that it pleased God to reveal and 
 show unto her, but for the great virtue that I had 
 heard so many years every day more and more spoken 
 and reported of her. I therefore had a great mind 
 to see her and be acquainted with her, that she 
 might have somewhat the more occasion to remember 
 me to God in her devotion and prayers." To this 
 she gave a very good and virtuous answer, that as 
 God did far better by her than such a poor wretch 
 was worthy, she feared that many people spoke 
 more favourably of her than was the truth, and that 
 she had already prayed for him. He spoke then of 
 how she had told a certain Ellen of Tottenham, who 
 professed also to have visions, that they were but 
 illusions of the devil, whereon the maid had been 
 less visited by them. So the Nun of Kent said to 
 him that folk avIio are visited with such visions have 
 great need to prove of what spirit they come, and 
 that lately the devil in the form of a bird had been 
 flickering about her chamber, and suffered himself 
 to be caught and then suddenly changed into such 
 a strange ugly-fashioned bird that they were all 
 afraid and threw it out of the window. This was 
 very midsummer madness indeed, but More seems
 
 234 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 to have been so impressed with the woman's sincerity 
 that he was content merely to ask her prayers and 
 warn her not to speak of politics, and that by a 
 special letter. The Fathers of the Charterhouse 
 and of Sion still tried to entangle him in talk about 
 her, but he would not speak; and when at length 
 she made her open confession of hypocrisy at Paul's 
 Cross, he sent his servant " to tell the proctor of 
 the Charterhouse that she was undoubtedly proved 
 a false deceiving hypocrite." The "good man had 
 so good an opinion of her that he could scarcely 
 believe it." 
 
 The letter was indeed a full vindication ; and no 
 repudiation of any connexion with the nun could be 
 more complete. 1 More told Cromwell that he had 
 done a very meritorious deed in bringing forth 
 to light such detestable hypocrisy. 
 
 More's candid explanation did not satisfy Cromwell 
 or the King. Inquiries were made on all sides, and 
 information of all kinds was greedily sought for, 
 even as to More's " mumbling " in his son-in-law's 
 parlour at Shacklewell about the King's immoral 
 Court. 2 
 
 When the bill of attainder against the Nun and 
 her adherents was introduced into the House of 
 
 1 F r . Bridgett prints the letter in extenso in his Life of More, 
 pp. 323 sqq. I have been content to abridge it, with the 
 help of Mr. Gairdner's abstract in the Letters and Papers of 
 Henry VIII. Burnet, History of the Preformation, v. 431, 
 accused Rastell of suppressing the letter in his edition of 1557, 
 but the charge was satisfactorily disproved by Mr. Bruce 
 (Archaeologia, xxx. 149). For further references to the case in 
 the State Papers, see vol. vi. 1468. 
 
 2 Letters and Papers, vi. 290,
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 235 
 
 Lords it was found that the name of the late 
 Chancellor was inserted, — a proceeding so entirely 
 without even colour of justice that Roper may be 
 supposed to be right in ascribing it solely to the 
 King's anger. 1 More at once wrote to Cromwell, 2 
 expressing his surprise, and asking for a copy of 
 the bill that he might point out its errors in a 
 petition to the King ; for he had, as we have seen, 
 previously written a full account of his knowledge 
 of the Nun. 
 
 In addition to this letter to the minister, More 
 wrote also to the King, 3 reminding him of his 
 promise on his resignation of the Chancellorship. 
 He begged that he might lose all, even life, if 
 Henry thought that he could be so monstrously 
 ungrateful as for a moment to digress from his 
 allegiance; but that if, on the other hand, his 
 master perceived his faithfulness, his name might 
 be put out of the bill. On the same day, March 5, 
 he wrote again to Cromwell, 4 this time a full 
 and clear defence of his whole conduct. He 
 reiterated his assertions of the perfect harmlessness 
 of his intercourse with the Nun. He then described 
 his behaviour throughout the history of the Divorce 
 question. He recalled the King's constant solicita- 
 tions, and his own ready willingness to study that 
 he might come to be reconciled to the Divorce, 
 wherein he "would have been more glad than of 
 any worldly commodities to have served his grace." 
 
 » Roper, p. 36. - English Works, p. Mi':? 
 
 ? ' Letters find Paper*, vii. 288. 
 1 English Works, p. 1424.
 
 236 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 The King had seemed to take his conduct in good 
 part, and had used only those in the business " whose 
 conscience his grace perceived well and truly per- 
 suaded." " So I am he," added More — and surely 
 no more could have been desired — " that among 
 other his grace's faithful subjects, his highness being 
 in possession of his marriage and this noble woman 
 really anointed queen, neither murmur at it nor 
 dispute upon it, nor never did nor will, but without 
 any other manner meddling of the matter among his 
 other faithful subjects, faithfully pray to God for his 
 grace and hers both long to live and well, and their 
 noble issue too, in such wise as may be to the pleasure 
 of God, honour and surety to themselves, rest, peace, 
 wealth and profit unto this noble realm." 1 Thirdly, 
 as to the primacy of the Pope, he gave the account 
 of the King's conversation with him ten years before, 
 which has been mentioned above. 2 He declared his 
 own opinion now to be that there was a primacy 
 instituted of the " corps of Christendom " for a 
 thousand years past. " I cannot perceive," he added, 
 " how any member thereof without the common 
 assent of the body depart from the common head." 
 Thus it did not matter whether the primacy was 
 instituted directly by God or by a general council. 
 Since the King had appealed to a general council, 
 he wished him all success, for he had never con- 
 sidered, the Pope to be above a general council. His 
 
 1 This passage is omitted by Rastell — who dedicated his 
 edition to Queen Mary — though found in the original letter, 
 but see Archaeologia, xxx. p. 155, Rastell did not print from 
 the originals. 
 
 2 Pao-es 196, 197,
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 237 
 
 own writings that seemed to exalt the Papacy he 
 had utterly suppressed — a proof that he never meant 
 to " meddle in the matter against the king's gracious 
 pleasure whatsoever his own opinion might be." 
 Finally, he asked Cromwell to explain all this to the 
 King — " that in the matter of that wicked woman 1 or 
 in anything else, there was not on his part any other 
 will than good." The last words are most character- 
 istic of the tender yet conscientious mind of the 
 writer. " Nor yet in anything else never was there 
 nor never shall there be any further fault found 
 in me than that I cannot in everything think the 
 same way that other men of more wisdom and 
 deeper learning do ; nor can find in mine own heart 
 otherwise to say than as mine own conscience giveth 
 me ; which condition hath never grown in anything 
 that ever might touch his gracious pleasure of any 
 obstinate mind or misaffectionate appetite, but of 
 a timorous conscience rising haply for lack of better 
 perceiving and yet not without tender respect unto 
 my most bounden duty towards his noble grace, 
 whose only favour I so much esteem that I nothing 
 have of mine own in all this world except only 
 my soul, but that I will with better will forego than 
 abide of his highness one heavy displeasant look." 2 
 The day after these letters were written 3 the 
 Lords addressed the King praying him to declare 
 whether Sir Thomas More and others should not be 
 heard in their defence " before the Lords in the royal 
 
 1 The printed text simply reads "of the nounc." 
 
 2 English Worjca, p. 1428. 
 
 3 Lords' Journals, March G.
 
 238 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 senate called the Star Chamber." The King had 
 already found out that he would not be able to 
 proceed severely against his late Chancellor, and had 
 contented himself with taking away his salary or 
 pension. He was not willing that More should have 
 an opportunity of speaking before so large an 
 audience as the Lords, and accordingly ordered the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, 
 the Duke of Norfolk, and Cromwell to examine 
 him privately. Roper entreated his father-in-law 
 " earnestly to labour unto these lords for the help 
 of his discharge out of the parliament bill," and 
 More promised to do so. The examination was 
 conducted at first in a friendly manner, but the 
 questions were not confined to his connexion with 
 the Nun. Promises were soon succeeded by threats, 
 and he was accused of inducing the King to main- 
 tain the Pope's authority in his book against Luther. 
 Nothing could be clearer than his denial of this, 
 or more evidently truthful than his account of his 
 interview with the King. 
 
 Henry's relations with the Papacy ten years before 
 had been on a very different footing — " We are so 
 much bounden," the King had said, " to the See of 
 Rome that we cannot do too much honour unto it." 
 When More reminded him of the Statute of 
 Praemunire, Henry had replied, " Whatsoever im- 
 pediment be to the contrary, we will set forth that 
 authority to the uttermost : for we received from 
 that see our crown imperial" — to which More with 
 some shrewdness added, " till his grace with his own 
 mouth told me it, I never heard of it before." So
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, A^D DEATH 239 
 
 the examination ended. More indeed hoped always 
 that a change of Pope might set all things right again. 
 " In the next general council it may well happen 
 that this Pope may be deposed and another substi- 
 tuted in his place, with whom the king's highness 
 may be very well content." He had never thought 
 the Pope above the general council. But this was 
 not all Henry wished. 
 
 " Then x took Sir Thomas More his boat towards 
 Chelsea, wherein the way he was very merry, and 
 for that I was nothing sorry, hoping that he had 
 gotten himself discharged out of the parliament 
 bill. When he was come home then walked we 
 two alone into his garden together, where I, 
 desirous to know how he had sped, said, ' Sir, I 
 trust all is well, because you are so merry.' ' It is 
 so indeed, son Roper, I thank God,' quoth he. ' Are 
 you put out of the parliament bill, then ? ' said I. 
 ' By my troth, son Roper,' quoth he, ' I never remem- 
 bered it.' ' Never remembered it, sir ? ' quoth I ; 
 ' a case that touched yourself so near and us all, for 
 your sake. I am sorry to hear it, for I verily trusted 
 when I saw you so merry, that all had been well.' 
 ' In good faith, I rejoice, son,' quoth he, ' that I had 
 given the devil so foul a fall, and that with these 
 lords I had gone so far as without great shame I 
 could never go back again.' At which words waxed 
 I very sad." 
 
 Thus More met whatever temptation to insincerity 
 may but too naturally have beset him. There had 
 been a struggle. " As " 2 he lay by his wife's side many 
 1 Ituper, p. 38. - Ores. More, \>. 204.
 
 240 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 nights he slept not forethinking the worst that could 
 happen unto him ; and by his prayers and tears he 
 overcame the frailties of his flesh, which, as he con- 
 fessed of himself, could not endure a fillip." The 
 victory was won. More now tried to prepare his 
 family for what he knew would happen before long. 
 " He hired a pursuivant to come suddenly to his 
 house, when he was one time at dinner, aud knock- 
 ing hastily at his door, to warn him to appear the 
 next day before the Commissioners." * 
 
 Henry was very reluctant to spare More; but 
 the urgent entreaty of the Chancellor, who declared 
 that the Lords would never pass the bill at all if 
 his name were in it, induced him at last to yield ; 
 and Cromwell meeting Roper at Westminster was 
 able to tell him that his father-in-law was " put out 
 of the bill." He at once sent a message to his wife, 
 who told her father. "I faith, Meg," said More 
 when he heard it, " quod differtur non aufertur." 
 On March 28, John Granfyld, who held office in 
 the Chancery, was able to write to the deputy of 
 Calais, " My old master, Sir Thomas More, is clearly 
 discharged of his trouble." 2 Yet More well knew 
 that his fate could not be long avoided. When the 
 Duke of Norfolk, trying to win him to approve of 
 the King's acts, said, " Indignatio principis mors 
 est ": " Is that all, my lord ? " More answered. " Is 
 there no more difference between your grace and 
 me but that I shall die to-day and you to-morrow ? " 
 
 Before a month had passed a new trouble had 
 
 1 Cres. More, p. 205. 
 
 2 Letters and Papers, Hennj VIII., vol. vii. 384.
 
 TROUBLES. IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 241 
 
 arisen, and this the last. In the spring the Act of 
 Succession had been passed. It was to be fortified 
 by an oath which all persons might be called upon 
 to take, or on refusal be considered guilty of mis- 
 prision of treason. The oath itself was not fixed by 
 the statute, but was submitted to the House of 
 Lords, just as the prorogation was taking place. 
 Its form, thus agreed upon without any close exam- 
 ination, was extremely strict. Allegiance was to be 
 sworn to the King and to the heirs of his body, " of 
 his most dear and entirely lawful wife Queen Anne 
 begotten and to be begotten." Oaths made to 
 another (that is to the succession of Mary) were to 
 be vain and annihilate ; and all men were to defend 
 to the uttermost "the said Act of Succession and 
 all other acts and statutes made in confirmation or 
 for execution of the same, or for anything herein 
 contained," — and this " against all manner of persons 
 of what state, dignity, degree, or condition soever 
 they be," 1 and repudiating oaths to "any foreign 
 authority, prince or potentate." Cranmer, the secre- 
 tary, Cromwell, the abbat of Westminster, and the 
 Lord Chancellor Audley were appointed Commis- 
 sioners to administer the oath. On April 13, they 
 summoned More before them. He rose early, then 
 confessed and received the Blessed Sacrament in 
 Chelsea Church. His children used always, when 
 he went to London, to come down with him to the 
 boat, where he would kiss and bid them farewell ; 
 
 1 The actual oath is recited in 20 Henry VIII. c. 2, the Act 
 passed to confirm it, but the form in the Lords' Journals, 
 
 vol. i. p. 82, is incomplete. 
 
 It
 
 242 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 but on that morning he would not suffer them, but 
 parted ^from them at the wicket-gate of his garden, 
 and with a sad heart took boat with Roper. He sat 
 silent for a while ; then said, " Son Roper, I thank 
 our Lord the field is won." And his biographer 
 adds x one of those touches of nature which are so 
 pathetic in their simple truth. " What he meant 
 thereby, then, I wist not. Yet loth to seem ignorant 
 I answered, ' Sir, I am thereof very glad.' But as I 
 conjectured afterwards, it was for that the love he 
 had to God wrought in him so effectually that it 
 conquered in him all his casual affections utterly." 
 When he arrived at Lambeth he found many there 
 before him, but he was at once admitted to the Com- 
 missioners. More, having read over the oath and the 
 statute, at once declared that it was not in his purpose 
 to point out any fault in the Act or in those that swore 
 to it, or to condemn the conscience of any other 
 man ; but that his conscience would not suffer him 
 to take that oath, though he would swear to the 
 succession. Then they all said that the King would 
 have great indignation against him, for he was the 
 first that had refused the oath ; and they showed him 
 the roll of those who had sworn. As he still refused, 
 they bade him leave them for a while. So he went 
 into " the old burned chamber that looketh into the 
 garden, and would not go down because of the heat." 
 As he sat there patiently waiting, and unmoved in 
 mind, he saw the London clergy joyfully going to 
 take the oath and passing out again with great mirth ; 
 Latimer, as though he had " waxed wanton," and the 
 1 Roper, p. 40.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 243 
 
 Vicar of Croydon calling loudly for wine, " either for 
 gladness or dryness, or else that it might be seen 
 quod ilk notus crat pontifici." And he saw Dr. Wilson, 
 one of the King's chaplains, who refused it, led off to 
 the Tower. When the Commissioners had decided 
 upon their further course, they called him back. 
 Again they reminded him of the members who had 
 sworn : again he replied that he blamed no man, but 
 could not go against his conscience. They asked him 
 to declare what part of the oath he objected to. He 
 answered that he feared by doing so still further to 
 exasperate the King. Yet when they reproached him 
 with stubbornness he said that he would state his 
 objections in writing, as well as promise to take the 
 oath if any man would satisfy his conscience, if he 
 received license to do so freely from the King. The 
 Commissioners answered that a license from the Kins: 
 would be no defence against the laws — thus declaring 
 a constitutional doctrine which was not regarded as 
 fixed until a century and a half later. More said 
 that he would trust to the King's honour : " so if 
 he might not declare his objections without peril, 
 to leave them undeclared was no obstinacy." Then 
 Cranmer tried to find an escape for him, and said 
 that if he condemned not those who swore he was 
 not certain, evidently, that it was wrong to take the 
 oath ; on the other hand, his duty to the King was 
 certain. More paused, struck by the subtlety of the 
 suggestion ; but after ajnomenthe answered that in 
 conscience the truth seemed not to be on the Bong's 
 side. The abbat of Westminster reminded him of 
 the whole Parliament that was against him. More
 
 244 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 replied by a reference to the general opinion of 
 Christendom ; an incautious saying which would be 
 sure to incense the King when he heard it. On 
 hearing this last refusal Cromwell swore that he had 
 rather his only son had lost his head than that this 
 should have happened, and declared that Henry 
 would now think that the matter of the Nun was all 
 More's contrivance. Sir Thomas answered that the 
 truth was well known, and that whatever should be- 
 fall him it lay not in his power to help it without 
 the peril of his soul. 1 And so, the Chancellor repeat- 
 ing what More had said to Cromwell, who was to 
 convey it to the King, the examination ended, and 
 Sir Thomas was committed to the custody of the 
 abbat of Westminster. 
 
 During the following days there was great dis- 
 cussion in the council as to what should be done 
 with him. Fisher, who, according to the graphic 
 phrase of the Bishop of Lichfield, was so worn with 
 age that his body could not bear the clothes on his 
 back, had given a similar answer. It may be inferred 
 that it was to the preamble of the Act of Succession 
 that they especially objected, for it contained a 
 denunciation of the Pope ; and the oath' committed 
 them to all the statements of the Act. Cranmer 
 wrote to Cromwell asking that they might be sworn 
 to the Act alone, without the preamble; but the 
 King would not suffer it. 2 Nor was another sug- 
 gested compromise — that they should swear not to 
 
 1 The account of this examination is taken from More's 
 letter to Margaret Roper, Eng. Works, pp. 1428, 1430. 
 
 2 Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vii. 499, 500.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 245 
 
 divulge •whether they had taken the oath or not — 
 accepted. Having again refused the oath, on Friday, 
 April 17, More was committed to the Tower. He 
 had at first his own servant, John Wood, to attend 
 on him, who was sworn to reveal anything that he 
 might say against the King, the realm, or the council. 
 
 When he had been in prison a few days he wrote, 
 with a coal, one of his most beautiful letters to his 
 dearest daughter — 
 
 " My own good daughter, our Lord be thanked I 
 am in good health of body and in good quiet of 
 mind : and of worldly things I no more despair than 
 I have. I beseech Him make you all merry in the 
 hope of Heaven. And such things as I somewhat 
 longed to talk with you all our Lord put them into 
 your minds, and better too, by His Holy Spirit, Who 
 bless you and preserve you all. Written with a coal 
 by your tender loving father, who in his prayers 
 forgetteth none of you all, nor your babes, nor your 
 nurses, nor your good husbands, nor your good 
 husband's shrewd wives, nor your father's shrewd 
 wife neither, nor our other friends. And thus fare 
 ye heartily ever, for lack of paper." 1 
 
 Margaret Roper longed to see him, and knowing 
 that all his letters were intercepted, wrote to him 
 seeming to advise him to take the oath, hoping that 
 Cromwell might then allow her to visit him. More 
 replied sadly — " I hear many terrible things towards 
 me ; but they all never touched me never so near, 
 nor were they so grievous unto me, as to see you, my 
 well-beloved child, in such vehement piteous manner 
 1 English Works, i>. 1430.
 
 246 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 labour to persuade unto rne the thing wherein I 
 have of pure necessity, for respect unto mine own 
 soul, so often given you so precise answer before." 1 
 Her answer to this showed that she had never meant 
 to advise him against his conscience. " Father," she 
 wrote, " what think you hath been our comfort since 
 your departing from us ? Surely, the experience we 
 have had of your life past, and godly conversation, 
 and wholesome counsel, and virtuous example, and 
 a surety not only of the continuance of that same, 
 but also a great increase by the goodness of our 
 Lord to the great rest and gladness of your heart/' 2 
 Before long, however, she was allowed to visit him : 
 a little more than a month after his incarceration. 
 First, before they talked of any worldly matter, they 
 said the Seven Penitential Psalms and the Litany, 
 and then they spoke freely. More said, " I believe, 
 Meg, that they that have put me here ween they 
 have done me a high displeasure. But I assure 
 you on my faith, mine own dear daughter, if it 
 had not been for my wife and you that be my 
 children whom I account the chief part of my 
 charge, I would not have failed long ere this to have 
 closed myself in as strait a room, and straiter too " — 
 thus showing that his longing for the monastic 
 life had never left him. 3 After this his daughter 
 was allowed to visit him constantly. He wrote a 
 letter to be shown to all his friends asking them to 
 regard all her requests as his own. 4 Once when she 
 was with him he inquired how Queen Anne did. 
 
 1 English Works, p. 1431. 2 Ibid. p. 1432. 
 
 3 Roper, pp. 41, 42. i English Works, p. 1432.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 247 
 
 " In good faith, father," said Margaret, " never bettor. 
 There is nothing in the court but dancing and sport- 
 ing." "Never better," said More, "alas, it pitieth 
 me to remember unto what misery, poor soul, she 
 will shortly come. These dances of hers will prove 
 such dances that she will spurn our heads off like 
 footballs. But it will not be long ere her head will 
 dance the like dance." l He had no scruple in speak- 
 ing of the illegality of his own imprisonment. " I 
 may tell thee, Meg," said he one day, "they that 
 have committed me hither for refusing of the oath 
 not agreeable to the statute are not able by their 
 own law to justify my imprisonment. And surely it 
 is a great pity that a Christian prince should by a 
 flexible council ready to follow his affections, and by 
 a weak clergy lacking grace constantly to stand by 
 their learning, with flattery so shameful be abused." 2 
 Indeed the oath was not strictly legal until the 
 Second Act of Succession passed in the autumn 
 session of 1534, which declared that the oath that 
 had before been taken by so many should be reputed 
 to be the very oath intended by the former Act. 3 
 
 During the first few months of his imprisonment 
 More had his own servant and his books, and besides 
 his daughter, his wife was once allowed to visit him. 
 Of their interview Roper gives a quaint account, 1 
 Dame Alice reproached him for his scruples, and 
 asked how he could prefer a prison to his happy 
 household at Chelsea. After he had a while quietly 
 heard her, with a cheerful countenance he said unto 
 
 > Cres. More,]). 231. Roper, p. 13. 
 
 3 25 Henry VIII. cap. xxii. eel. 9 Eloper, p. 15.
 
 248 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 her — " ' I pray thee tell me one thing : is not this 
 house as nigh heaven as mine own ? ' To whom she 
 after her accustomed fashion, not liking such talk, 
 answered, ' Tilly vally, tilly vally.' ' How say you, 
 Mistress Alice, is it not so ? ' quoth he. ' Bone 
 Deus, Bone Deus, man, will this gear never be left ? ' 
 quoth she. ' Well, then, if it be so, it is very well,' 
 said More. ' Why should I joy in my gay house, 
 when, if I should rise from my grave seven years 
 hence, I should not fail to find some one there would 
 bid me get out of the doors ? What cause have I 
 then to like such an house as would so soon forget 
 its master ? ' " 
 
 In August, More's step-daughter Alice happened 
 to see the Lord Chancellor, and wrote to tell Mar- 
 garet Boper of what had passed between them. 1 
 Sir Thomas Audley had expressed his surprise that 
 More was so obstinate, and declared that he was glad 
 that he himself had no learning save in a few of 
 iEsop's fables, of which he would tell her one. So 
 he told a tale of a country where the rain that fell 
 made all whom it wetted fools. The wise men kept 
 underground till it was over, thinking then to come 
 forth and rule. But the fools would have none of 
 them, so the wise men wished they had been in the 
 rain too. And he told her another fable " of a lion, 
 an ass, and a wolf, and of their confession," in which 
 the ass appeared over-scrupulous, and thus got the 
 most severe penance. Thus the Chancellor told 
 
 1 English Works, pp. 1434—1443. The letter seems to be 
 the composition of Margaret, though Rastell says it is not 
 known whether she or More wrote it.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 249 
 
 fables to Mistress Alington, and she knew not how to 
 answer him, but wrote to tell her "own good sister." 
 Then Margaret Roper at her next going to the 
 Tower, told her father of the letter, and wrote l of 
 the interview to Alice Alington. She found him in 
 health not much worse. " His diseases, both of his 
 breast of old, and his reins now by reason of gravel 
 and stone, and of the cramp also that divers nights 
 grippeth him in his legs," she found were not much 
 increased; and after they had said the psalms and 
 litany, he was ready to sit and talk and be merry. 
 Then she told him of the good comfort of his 
 wife and children disposing themselves every day 
 more and more to set little by the world, and 
 draw more and more to God, and that his house- 
 hold and his friends diligently remembered him in 
 their prayers. Then she touched upon her sister's 
 letter, and told him that "if he changed not his 
 mind, he was like to lose all his friends," and so she 
 hoped that he might find some way to satisfy his 
 own conscience and please the King. More smiled 
 upon her and said— "What, Mistress Eve (as I 
 called you when you came first), hath my daughter 
 Alington played the serpent with you, and with a 
 letter set you awork to come tempt your father 
 again, and for the favour that you bear him, labour 
 to make him swear against his conscience, and so 
 send him to the devil ? " After that he looked sadly, 
 and said, "Daughter Margaret, oftcner than twice or 
 thrice I have answered you that in this matter if it 
 were possible for me to do the thing that might 
 ' English Works, p. 1483.
 
 250 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 content the king's grace, and God therewith not 
 offended, there hath no man taken this oath already 
 more gladly than I would do. But since I cannot 
 take it, I have no remedy. And albeit I know mine 
 own frailty full well, yet if I had not trusted that 
 God would give me strength rather to endure all 
 things than offend Him by swearing ungodly against 
 mine own conscience, you may be very sure I would 
 not have come here." Still Margaret urged the 
 same arguments, and showed him her sister's letter. 
 When he had read it carefully, he thanked God for 
 so good a daughter, and declared how often he prayed 
 for her and all hers. He thought that both the 
 Chancellor and Cromwell were his friends. " But in 
 this matter, Meg, to tell the truth between thee and 
 me," he said, " my lord's iEsop's fables do not greatly 
 move me." He had often before, he continued, 
 heard the first fable, of the rain that washed away 
 all their wits, that stood abroad : it had been a tale 
 so often told among the King's Council by the Lord 
 Cardinal, when his grace was Chancellor, that he 
 could not lightly forget it. . . . That fable had in 
 his days helped the King and the realm to spend 
 many a fair penny. He thought the fable obscure, 
 and he could not well tell who were the fools and 
 who wise. " I cannot well read such riddles, for, as 
 Davus saith in Terence, ' Non sum CEdipus,' I may 
 say, you wot well, ' Non sum CEdipus, sed Morus ' : 
 which name of mine what it signifieth in Greek, I 
 need not tell you." So he was glad to be counted a 
 fool, but his life proved that he had rjever desired 
 power.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 251 
 
 Of the second fable, for which he did not envy 
 iEsop the credit, though confession was not introduced 
 into Greece until after Christ — it was too subtle for 
 him. He supposed that the Chancellor and many 
 others accounted him the over-scrupulous ass ; yet he 
 did not believe that all who said so thought so. 
 However that might be, even if Fisher took the 
 oath, with whom no man in the world could be com- 
 pared for learning, wisdom, and virtue, yet he himself 
 could not. " Verily, daughter," he said, " I never 
 intend to pin my soul to another man's back, not 
 even the best man I know at this day living, for I 
 know not whither he may haply carry it." So they 
 argued together, till at last Margaret, seeing her 
 father fixed in his determination, became very sad. 
 He perceived it, and said, " How now, Mother Eve, 
 where is your mind now ? Sit not musing with some 
 serpent in your breast, upon some new persuasion to 
 offer father Adam the apple once again." "In good 
 faith, father," said she, " I can no further go, but am, 
 as I trow Cresede saith in Chaucer, come to Dul- 
 camon, even at my wit's end. For sith the example 
 of so many wise men cannot in this matter move 
 you, I see not what to say more, but if I should look 
 to persuade you in the reason Master Harry Pattison 
 made. For he met one day one of our men, and 
 when he bad asked where you were, and heard you 
 were in the Tower, he waxed even angry with you, 
 and said, 'Why, what aileth him, that he will not 
 swear ? Wherefore should he stick to swear '. I 
 have sworn the oath myself.' And so I can in good 
 faith "0 no further neither, but if 1 should like
 
 252 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 Master Harry say, why should you refuse to swear, 
 father, for I have sworn myself ? " * More laughed 
 and answered — "That word was like Eve, too; for 
 she offered Adam no worse fruit than she had eaten 
 herself." She could say nothing to move him, and 
 so at last desisted. Then he sent messages to all his 
 friends, and prayed his children to " be comfortable 
 and serviceable to their good mother," and at last 
 said — " If anything hap me that you would be loath, 
 pray to God for me, but trouble not yourself; as I 
 shall full heartily pray for us all, that we may meet 
 together in heaven, where we shall make merry for 
 ever, and never have trouble after." 
 
 This was the last attempt that any of his family 
 made to change his resolution. As his imprison- 
 ment dragged on, though he remained firm in his 
 own opinion, he was ever ready to excuse others. 
 Two letters of his to Dr. Wilson, who had been im- 
 prisoned on the same day as himself, show how 
 tender was his regard for the welfare of others. 2 
 
 Meanwhile, though his imprisonment was lenient 
 and he was attended by his own servant, the Govern- 
 ment was proceeding against him in Parliament. 
 He was attainted of misprision of treason, and the 
 grants made to him in 1523 and 1525 were rescinded ; 
 even the small corrody which the Abbey of Glaston- 
 bury had bestowed on him was taken away, and 
 Abbot Whiting, eager to flatter the powers that 
 
 1 She had taken the oath with the addition " as far as will 
 stand with the law of God " — a relaxation which would not 
 be offered to her father. 
 
 2 English Works, pp. 1431—1446.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 253 
 
 were, conferred it on Cromwell with regret that 
 it was of no greater value. 1 Save for a pension 
 from the Order of S. John of Jerusalem,' 3 he was 
 utterly penniless — and the whole of his lands and 
 goods and the inheritance of his children was taken 
 away. Only the kind assistance of friends preserved 
 his family from actual want. 3 
 
 In the State Papers is a pathetic document, the 
 ' Petition of the Avife and children of Sir Thomas 
 More,' for the pardon and release of the said Sir 
 Thomas, who has remained more than eight months 
 in the Tower of London, " in great continual sickness 
 of body and heaviness of heart." 4 
 
 They besought that his wife might be allowed to 
 retain his goods and the revenue of his lands so that 
 some provision such as the King might think fit " in 
 the way of mercy and pity to grant to him," might 
 be made for the poor prisoner. Lady More also 
 wrote to Cromwell as to a private friend, whose 
 " manifold goodness " was her husband's and her own 
 " greatest comfort." She had been compelled to sell 
 her very clothes to provide the fifteen shillings a 
 week charged for her husband and his servant in the 
 Tower. She begged to be admitted to the King 
 himself. 5 
 
 1 Father Gasquet, from whom hetter things might have 
 heen expected, in his very special pleading life of The Lad 
 Abbot of Qlasboribwry (pp. 70, 71), makes no reference to the 
 wretched time-serving tone of the letter Whiting wrote to 
 Cromwell on the matter. 2 Letters and Papers, vii. 1675. 
 
 3 See the very heautiful letter of More to his " old and dear 
 friend," Antonio Bonvisi. Works, 1455—1457. 
 
 4 Lettersand Papers, vii. 1591. Archaeologia, xxvii. 301 
 
 Letters and Papers, vii 30O.
 
 254 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 No notice was taken of these requests, and More's 
 position was daily becoming more dangerous. Par- 
 liament had now conferred on the King the title of 
 ' Supreme Head of the Church of England,' and 
 made it high treason to ' imagine ' anything against 
 his titles. ' Malicious ' silence was accepted as 
 evidence of evil imaginings. Thus More's life was 
 at last brought by law within the King's power. 
 
 The Government, however, had not yet abandoned 
 all hope of overcoming his scruples. One day 
 Cromwell visited him, and with great friendliness 
 assured him that the King would henceforth trouble 
 his conscience no more. When he was gone, the 
 prisoner, " to express what comfort he conceived of 
 his words, wrote with a coal (for ink he had none) 
 these verses following — 
 
 Fye, flattering fortune, look thou ne'er so fair, 
 
 Or ne'er so pleasantly begin to smile ; 
 
 As though thou would'st my ruin all repair : 
 
 During my life thou shalt not me beguile. 
 
 Trust shall I God, to enter in a while 
 
 His haven of Heaven sure and uniform : 
 
 Ever after thy calm, look I for a storm. 1 " 
 
 He was far from idle in his solitude ; but turned 
 with more zeal than ever to writing devotional trea- 
 tises : a Dialogue of comfort against Tribulations ; 2 
 a Devotional preparation for the Holy Communion ; 3 
 a treatise on the Passion, 4 which he was not able 
 to complete, for all his books and writing materials 
 were taken away, and several prayers and medita- 
 
 1 EnaVtsh Works, p. 1432. Roper's version (p. 44) is slightly 
 
 different. 2 Ibid. pp. 1139-1264. 
 
 3 Ibid. pp. 1264—1269. 4 Ibid. pp. 1270—1404.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 255 
 
 tions. 1 Of these writings it may be said that, 
 tedious as the style may appear to modern readers, 
 there are no more deeply devotional works in the 
 English language. He managed also to correspond 
 with Fisher, but this was no sooner discovered than 
 he was subjected to much more rigorous treatment. 
 After this he was not allowed to attend any religious 
 services, and his wife and children were no longer 
 admitted to see him. He gave himself to medita- 
 tion, and kept his windows fast shut. Still he 
 kept his quaint humour. When the Lieutenant of 
 the Tower asked his reason for this, he answered, 
 " When all the wares are gone, the shop- windows 
 are put up." 2 
 
 He was now able to write but very rarely, and 
 with great caution, 3 and had begun to see clearly 
 that his life would probably be taken. In the only 
 two letters which he was able to write during the 
 rest of the year, there are signs that he foresaw the 
 end approaching. In this spirit he wrote, 4 " Thus, 
 mine own good daughter, putting you finally in 
 remembrance that albeit if the necessity so should 
 require I thank our Lord in this comfort in mine 
 heart at this day, and I trust in God's goodness 
 so shall have grace to continue, yet I verily trust 
 that God shall so inspire and govern the king's 
 heart that he shall not suffer his noble heart and 
 
 1 Rid. pp. 1404—1418. 2 Stapleton, cap. xiii. p. 28G. 
 
 - " Yet still by stealth lie could yet a little piece of paper in 
 which he would write down letters with a coal : of which my 
 father left me one, which was to his wil'e, which 1 acCOUHl 
 peculiar jewel/' Ciee. More, p. 240. 
 
 * EnijUsh Works, pp. 1440—1451.
 
 256 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 courage to requite my true faithful service with 
 such extreme uncharitable and unlawful dealings, 
 only for the displeasure that I cannot think so as 
 others do. But his true subject will I die, and truly 
 pray for him will I, both here and in the other 
 world. And then, my good daughter, have me com- 
 mended to my good bedfellow and all my children, 
 men, women and all, with all your babes and your 
 nurses, and all the maids and all the servants, and 
 all our kin and all our other friends abroad. And I 
 beseech our Lord to save them all, and keep them, 
 and I pray you all to pray for me, and I will pray for 
 you all. And take no thought for me, whatsoever 
 you shall hap to hear, but be merry in God." 
 
 The new year found More still firm in his opinion. 1 
 After a long silence, he found means again to write to 
 his daughter, on May the 2nd or 3rd, 1534, to tell her 
 of his last examination. The Charterhouse monks 
 had been condemned, and on every side there were 
 signs that the King's indignation was at its height. 
 On April 30, More was called before Cromwell and 
 others of less note. Cromwell asked if he had 
 heard of the statutes lately passed in Parliament. 
 More replied that he had, but had not thought 
 it needful to peruse them carefully. Cromwell 
 then reminded him of the Act giving the title 
 of Supreme Head of the Church, under Christ, to 
 the King, and asked his opinion on it. "Where- 
 unto," says More in his letter to his daughter, " I 
 answered ' that I had well trusted that the king's 
 
 1 See his letter to a priest named Lever. English Works, 
 p. 1450.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH L'57 
 
 highness would never have commanded any such 
 question to be demanded of me, considering that I 
 ever from the beginning well and truly from time to 
 time, declared my mind unto his highness, and since 
 that time' I said ' unto your mastership, master Secre- 
 tary, also, both by mouth and by writing.' And now I 
 have in good faith discharged my mind of all such 
 matters, and neither will dispute king's titles or 
 pope's. But the king's true subject I am and will 
 be, and daily I pray for him and all his, and for you 
 all that are of his honourable council, and for all the 
 realm. And otherwise than this I never intend to 
 meddle." To this Cromwell replied that he feared 
 that would not satisfy the King. Several more 
 questions were put him. More simply said, " I am 
 the king's faithful subject and daily bedesman. I 
 say no harm, I think no harm, but I wish everybody 
 good. And if this be not enough to keep a man 
 alive, in good faith I long not to live." * It seems 
 that now his relations were less strictly excluded ; 
 for on May 4, 2 when the monks of the Charterhouse 
 were led to execution, Margaret Roper Avas with 
 her father as ho looked out on them from lii.s 
 window. 3 " Look, dost thou see, Meg ? " said More 
 sadly, " that these blessed fathers be now as cheerful 
 going to their deaths as bridegrooms to their mar- 
 riages. For God, considering their long-continued 
 life in most sore and grievous penance will no long* r 
 suffer them to remain here in this vale of misery 
 
 i English Wvrl i, pp. I 151, I 152. Ropi r, p. 54. 
 
 Che cond band of I be mon iited on J une L9. 
 
 Tin i referred to by Mr. S. L. Lee, Diet. Nati raphy. 
 
 s
 
 258 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 and iniquity, but speedily hence take them to the 
 fruition of His Everlasting Deity. Whereas thy 
 silly father, Meg, that like a most wicked caitiff hath 
 passed forth the whole course of his miserable life 
 most pitifully, God, thinking him not worthy so 
 soon to come to that eternal felicity, leaveth him 
 here yet, still in the world further to be plunged 
 and turmoiled with misery." But it was not for 
 much longer. Three days afterwards Cromwell 
 came to him, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Suffolk, and 
 the Earl of Wiltshire. Cromwell declared that the 
 King was not satisfied with his previous answers, 
 and commanded him on his allegiance either to con- 
 fess it to be lawful that he should be the Supreme 
 Head of the Church of England, " or else utter 
 plainly his malignity." More answered that he had 
 no malignity and therefore could utter none ; that 
 he could say no more than he had said ; and, remem- 
 bering the King's charge to him when he entered 
 his service, he would take comfort from knowing 
 that the time would come when God would declare 
 his truth before the King and the whole world. 
 Then the Chancellor and Cromwell said the King 
 could force him to answer ; to which he replied that 
 it would be hard to make him choose between the 
 loss of his soul and the destruction of his body — a 
 saying on which much stress was laid at his trial. 
 Then Cromwell reminded him of his duty as 
 Chancellor to examine heretics, and said that 'men 
 were as well beheaded now for denying the King's 
 supremacy as they were then burned for denying the
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 259 
 
 Pope's." To this More replied that there was a 
 difference between a national law and a law of all 
 Christendom. Then they asked him to swear to 
 answer their questions concerning the King. He re- 
 fused, saying that he had not so little foresight as not 
 to conjecture what the questions might be. Then 
 they told him that the questions were whether he 
 had seen the statute and whether he believed it to 
 be lawful. He declared that he had before admitted 
 the first, but would not answer the second question. 
 The full brutality of his persecutors appeared in their 
 last taunt. They said, " Why, then, did he not speak 
 out against the statute if he cared not for life ? it 
 appeared well that he was not content to die." 
 More answered with noble simplicity : " I have not 
 been a man of such holy living that I might be bold 
 to offer myself to death, lest God for my presumption 
 might suffer me to fall." So the examination ended, 
 Cromwell declaring that he thought worse of More 
 and believed him not to mean well. 1 
 
 He was again examined more than once, 2 the 
 object being to obtain sufficient evidence from his 
 own lips, to make a case against him. He was 
 examined twice by the Commissioners, and after- 
 wards the Solicitor-General, Rich, Sir Richard 
 Southwell, and Mr. Palmer were sent to take away 
 his books. While the two last were packing them 
 up Rich began to talk to More, asking, "If there 
 were an Act of Parliament that all the realm should 
 
 1 English Works, pp. 1452— Mr. I. 
 
 2 E. a. June 3. Letters and Papers, viii. 814, where his 
 answers are given.
 
 260 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 take me for the King, would not you, Master More, 
 take me for the King ? " " Yes, sir," replied More, 
 " that would I." " I put the case farther," said Rich, 
 " that there were an Act of Parliament that all the 
 realm should take me for Pope, would not you take 
 me for the Pope ? " " For answer," said Sir Thomas, 
 " to your first case, the Parliament may well meddle 
 with the state of temporal princes : but to make 
 answer to your second case, I will put you this case. 
 Suppose the Parliament should make a law that God 
 should not be God, would you then, Master Rich, say 
 God were not God ? " " No, sir," said Rich, " I would 
 not, sith no Parliament may make any such law." 
 When More was brought to trial Rich swore that 
 he had replied to this, " No more could the Parlia- 
 ment make the King Supreme Head of the 
 Church." i 
 
 On June 14, minute interrogations were put to 
 him as to his correspondence with Fisher. 2 He 
 admitted writing "divers scrolls" to the Bishop. 
 In them, beside " comforting words," he had merely 
 stated on his first imprisonment that he had refused 
 the oath, and that in his last examination he had 
 declared that he would meddle with nothing hence- 
 forth, but give his mind to God. Fisher had ques- 
 tioned him on the meaning of the word " maliciously " 
 in the recent statute, — whether a man speaking no- 
 thing of malice did offend against it ; to which he had 
 answered that he took that to be its meaning, but 
 
 1 Roper, p. 46 ; cf. Lord Herbert's Henry VIII. pp. 421, 422. 
 
 2 His servants were also examined ; and interesting details 
 may be found in Letters and Papers, vol. viii. 856.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 261 
 
 that " the interpretation of the statute would not 
 be taken after their mind ; and therefore it was 
 not good for any man to trust to any such thing." 
 Further, he had advised the Bishop " to make his 
 answer according to his own mind and to meddle 
 with no such thing as he had written unto him, 
 lest he should give the Council occasion to ween 
 that there was some confederacy between them 
 both." Finally he had warned him that Rich had 
 told him that it was all one not to answer and 
 to say against the statute what a man would, and 
 had begged his prayers. Further he had written to 
 his daughter of his last examinations, fearing lest 
 she should suffer from hearing of them suddenly. 
 Then for the last time the following questions were 
 put to him — "whether he would obey the King's 
 highness as Supreme Head on earth immediately 
 under Christ, of the Church of England, and him so 
 repute, take, accept, and recognize, according unto 
 the statute in that behalf made ? " To this he said 
 that he could make no answer. Secondly — " whether 
 he would consent and approve the King's highness' 
 marriage with the most noble Queen Anne that now 
 is to be good and lawful; and affirm that the mar- 
 riage between the King's said highness and the Lady 
 Katherine, Princess Dowager, was and is unjust and 
 unlawful." He answered " that he never did speak or 
 meddle against the same; nor thereunto could make 
 answer." Thirdly, it was declared that he being one 
 of the King's subjects was bound to answer both the 
 questions, and recognize the King as Supreme Head 
 of the Church as all are bound to do by statute.
 
 262 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 He replied that he could make no answer. 1 His 
 answers were taken down at length and are pre- 
 served in the State Papers. It was found impossible 
 to extract from him evidence incriminating either 
 Fisher or himself. He steadfastly denied all collu- 
 sion and any discussion with others upon political 
 matters. 
 
 But it was not evidence of Fisher's guilt that 
 the Government desired to draw from More. The 
 Bishop was executed on June 22. 2 Four days later 
 a Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer for 
 Middlesex was issued to the Lord Chancellor 
 Audley, the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, other 
 lords, including Anne Boleyn's father and brother— 
 his bitter enemies — Cromwell, and nine judges. The 
 grand jury of Westminster returned a true bill ; and 
 the petty jury was summoned to meet on July l. 3 
 
 On that day More was brought to the bar by Sir 
 Edward Walsingham, Lieutenant of the Tower. He 
 was very weak from his long imprisonment, and as 
 he leant upon his staff, his hair now gray and his 
 beard long, his face still cheerful and content, many 
 must have thought of the strong man who five years 
 before, as Lord High Chancellor of England, in that 
 same Court of King's Bench, had knelt down every 
 morning to ask his father's blessing. 
 
 1 State Papers, Henry VIII. vol. i. p. 432. 
 
 2 Mr. S. L. Lee, Dictionary of National Biography, says he 
 was executed "sis days later" than the Carthusians, who died 
 on June 19. 
 
 3 Details of the trial are to he found in letters and Papers, 
 vol. viii. 974, 996, 997, in Spanish Papers, v. 180, Archaeologia, 
 xxvii. 361 sqq. etc.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 263 
 
 The indictment was long. It charged him first 
 with traitorously attempting to deprive the King 
 of his title of Supreme Head of the Church of 
 England, inasmuch as he had refused to answer on 
 May 7 to the questions of the Councillors whether 
 he would accept the King as Supreme Head 
 pursuant to the statute, saying, " I will not meddle 
 with any such matters, for I am fully determined to 
 serve God and to think upon His Passion and my 
 passage out of this world " ; further that he agreed 
 with Fisher in his treason, and wrote to him the 
 words which he afterwards used to the Council — 
 " The Act of Parliament is like a sword with two 
 edges, for if a man answer one way it will confound 
 his soul, and if he answer the other way it will 
 confound his body " ; further that he, on June 3, 
 falsely, maliciously, and traitorously persevered in 
 "refusing to give a direct answer, but imagining 
 to deprive the king of the dignity, title, or name of 
 his royal estate and to sow and generate sedition 
 and malignity in the hearts of his true subjects, 
 spoke openly " the same words as Fisher had used ; 
 that he and Fisher had burnt all the letters that 
 passed between them, in order to conceal their most 
 false and wicked treason; and lastly, that in con- 
 versation with the Solicitor-General Rich he had 
 denied the right of Parliament to confer on the 
 King the title of Supreme Head — "as to the primacy, 
 a subject cannot be bound because he cannot give 
 his consent to that in Parliament ; and although the 
 king is so accepted in England, yet many foreign 
 countries do not affirm the same." When the
 
 264 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 indictment was read, the Lord Chancellor And ley, 
 and the Duke of Norfolk, turned to him and said, 
 "You see, Master More, that you have grievously 
 offended his royal Majesty; yet if you will repent 
 and change that opinion in which you have hitherto 
 most obstinately persevered, we trust so much in 
 his majesty's clemency and kind heart, that pardon 
 and mercy will, we have no doubt, be obtained for 
 you." 
 
 More answered — " My lords, I thank you very much 
 for your good will, but yet I pray God Almighty 
 to keep me firm in this opinion of mine that I 
 may continue in it till the hour of my death. 
 ^Respecting the charges brought against me, I doubt 
 whether my understanding, my memory or my 
 tongue will be sufficient to compass them all, grave 
 and manifest as they are, especially considering 
 my present imprisonment and great infirmity." 
 
 Thereupon a chair was brought him : when he 
 was seated, he resumed. He pleaded "not guilty," 
 declaring that if the terms " maliciously, traitorously 
 and diabolically " were withdrawn, he saw no 
 treason with which he could be charged. Concern- 
 ing the King's second marriage, he asserted that 
 it was his duty as a good subject to answer when 
 the King asked him according to his conscience ; 
 and that when he had done so years before, it could 
 have been no offence, or, if it had been, an imprison- 
 ment of fifteen months with forfeiture was sufficient 
 punishment. With regard to the examinations, 
 he saw no harm in his answers. " I wish no harm 
 to any," he said, repeating words he had formerly
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 265 
 
 used, " and if this will not keep me alive, then 
 I desire not to live. By all which I know that 
 I could not transgress any statute, or incur any 
 crime of treason. For neither this statute nor any 
 law in the world can punish any man for holding 
 his peace. For they only can punish words or 
 deeds, God only being Judge of our secret thoughts." 
 Fearing lest these words, if repeated, might influence 
 even the packed jury, 1 the Attorney-General hastily 
 interrupted him, declaring that malicious silence 
 to such a question, which all dutiful subjects would 
 answer, was proof of treason. "Nay," said More, 
 " my silence is no sign of any malicious mind, which 
 the king himself may know by many of my dealings : 
 neither doth it convince any man of breach of your 
 laws, for it is a maxim among the Civilians and 
 Canonists, 'Qui tacet, consentire videtur.' You 
 say that all good subjects are bound to reply; but 
 I say that the faithful subject is more bound to his 
 conscience and his soul than to anything else in the 
 world, provided his conscience, like mine, does not 
 raise scandal or sedition, and I assure you that I 
 have never discovered what is in my conscience 
 to any person living. As to the second article, 
 that I have conspired against the statute by writing 
 eight letters to the Bishop of Rochester, advising 
 him to disobey it, I could wish these letters had 
 been read in public, but as you say the Bishop has 
 burnt them, I will tell you the substance of them. 
 Some were about private matters connected with our 
 
 1 One at least of the jury, Parnoll, was a personal enemy of 
 More.
 
 266 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 old friendship. Another was a reply to one of his 
 asking how I had answered in the Tower to the first 
 examination about the statute. I said that I had 
 informed my conscience, and so he ought also to do 
 the same. I swear that this was the tenor of the 
 letters, for which I cannot be condemned by your 
 statute." 
 
 He thus repeated the assertion of the innocence of 
 
 his correspondence with Fisher, which he had made 
 
 at his last examination. With regard to the saying 
 
 that the law was a two-edged sword, he urged that 
 
 his answer was but conditional. "If there be 
 
 danger in both either to allow or to disallow this 
 
 statute, and, therefore, like a two-edged sword, it 
 
 seemeth a hard thing that it should be offered to 
 
 me, that never have hitherto contradicted it either 
 
 in word or deed." Those had been his words : what 
 
 the Bishop answered, he knew not ; " if his answer 
 
 was like mine, he said, it proceeded not from any 
 
 conspiracy of ours, but from the likeness of our wits 
 
 and learning. To conclude : I unfeignedly avouch 
 
 that I never spake such against this law to any 
 
 living man : although, perhaps, the king's majesty 
 
 hath been told the contrary." Then the j ury of twelve 
 
 men was summoned, and the charges proceeded with. 
 
 The Solicitor-General, Rich, was then called to give 
 
 evidence of his interview with Sir Thomas in the 
 
 Tower : which he did in the manner that has been 
 
 already noticed. 1 Then said More : " If I were a 
 
 man, my Lords, that did not regard an oath, I need 
 
 not, as it is well known, in this place at this time 
 
 » Above, pp. 260, 261.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 267 
 
 or in this case, stand as an accused person. And if 
 this oath of yours, Mr. Rich, be true, then I pray 
 that I may never see God in the face : which I 
 would not say were it otherwise, to gain the 
 whole world." He then reluctantly spoke of the 
 badness of Rich's character, and asked if it were 
 likely that he would trust to such a man an opinion 
 on the Supremacy, which he had carefully con- 
 cealed from the King and all his Council. Again, 
 even if he had thus spoken, which he denied, 
 any statement in ' familiar secret talk ' could not be 
 construed into 'malicious' speaking. Sir Richard 
 Southwell and Mr. Palmer, who were called in 
 support of Rich, admitted that they had heard 
 nothing of the conversation. In spite of this, the 
 jury, staying out of Court " scarce one quarter of an 
 hour, for they knew," says Cresacre More, "what 
 the King would have done in that case," returned 
 a verdict of guilty. It must be admitted in- 
 deed that as the law stood the trial itself was not 
 unjust. If the evidence were to be believed and 
 the law to be obeyed, the jury had no choice but 
 to find More guilty. 
 
 The Chancellor was about to pass sentence imme- 
 diately, when More demanded the usual license to 
 show cause why judgment should not be passed upon 
 him. He spoke simply and directly in solemn pro- 
 test against the injustice of the law by which he was 
 condemned. He declared that Parliament could not 
 give the King a spiritual pre-eminence, or supreme 
 government of the Church ; or make a law for the 
 Church against the consent of Christendom, and con-
 
 268 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 trary to Magna Charta. The Chancellor demanded 
 how he could stand against the bishops, and the 
 Universities of the land. More replied — " If the 
 number of bishops and universities be so material 
 as your lordship seemeth to take it, I see little cause 
 why that thing in my conscience should make any 
 change. For I doubt not, but of the learned and 
 virtuous men that be yet alive, not only of this 
 realm, but of all Christendom, there are ten to 
 one that are of my mind in this matter : but 
 if I should speak of those learned and virtuous 
 doctors that be already dead, of whom many are 
 now saints in heaven, I am very sure that they are 
 far more who, while they lived, thought in this case 
 as I think now. And therefore am I not bound, my 
 Lords, to conform my conscience to the counsel of one 
 realm, against the general counsel of Christendom : 
 for one bishop of your opinion I have a hundred 
 saints of mine ; and for one parliament of yours, and 
 God knows of what kind, I have all the General 
 Councils for one thousand years ; and for one kingdom 
 I have France and all the kingdoms of Christendom." 
 Norfolk told him that now his malice was clear. He 
 forgot how readily such weapons as Henry now used 
 might be turned against himself. More replied — 
 " What I say is necessary for the discharge of my 
 conscience and satisfaction of my soul, and to do this 
 I call God to witness, the sole Searcher of human 
 hearts. I say further, that your statute is ill made, 
 because you have sworn never to do anything against 
 the Church, which through all Christendom is one 
 and undivided, and you have no authority, without the
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 269 
 
 common consent of all Christians, to make a law or 
 Act of Parliament or Council against the union of 
 Christendom." The Chancellor then asked the opinion 
 of the Lord Chief Justice on the sufficiency of the 
 indictment. The reply was cautious : " My Lords 
 all, by S. Julian, I must needs confess that, if the 
 Act of Parliament be not unlawful, then is not the 
 indictment in my conscience insufficient." The Chan- 
 cellor then passed sentence " according to the form 
 of the new law." More, now throwing away all 
 disguise, declared that he had studied the matter 
 for seven years, and " could find no colour for holding 
 that a layman could be head of the Church." Once 
 more the judges asked if he had anything to say. 
 He replied — " More have I not to say, my Lords ; but 
 like as the blessed Apostle S. Paul, as we read in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, was present and consenting 
 to the death of S. Stephen, and held their clothes, that 
 stoned him to death ; and yet be they now both holy 
 saints in heaven, and shall continue there friends for 
 ever, so I verily trust and therefore right heartily 
 pray, that, though your Lordships have now in earth 
 been judges to my condemnation, we may yet, here- 
 after in heaven, merrily all meet togother to our 
 everlasting salvation." 
 
 The trial ended, More was led back by his old 
 friend, Sir William Kingston, the Constable of the 
 Tower, who could not restrain his tears. On the 
 way, his son threw himself at his feet, and implored 
 his blessing; yet even at this parting More remained 
 calm. When the sad procession reached the Old 
 Swan by London Bridge, there was a short pause.
 
 270 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 There More was in a familiar place, very near to 
 S. Anthony's School. The scene must have recalled 
 strange thoughts and memories at such a moment. 
 
 " Life all past 
 Is like the sky, when the sun sets in it, 
 Clearest when farthest off." 
 
 There he parted with Sir William Kingston, whom 
 he comforted with the thought of a happy meeting 
 in heaven. " In faith," said Kingston, when he spoke 
 of it afterwards to Roper, " I was ashamed of myself, 
 that at my departure from your father, I found my 
 heart so feeble, and his so strong, that he was fain 
 to comfort me, which should rather have comforted 
 him." x 
 
 There was still the last and saddest parting 
 of all. 2 As he came to Tower-wharf, his dearest 
 daughter, Margaret, pushed her way through the 
 sympathetic crowd and past the guard which sur- 
 rounded him, and flung herself into his arms, " not 
 able to say any word but ' Oh, my father ! Oh, my 
 father ! ' " 3 He was still calm enough to give her 
 his blessing, "and many goodly words of comfort." 
 " Take patience, Margaret," he said, " and do not 
 grieve ; God has willed it so. For many years didst 
 thou know the secret of my heart." They had already 
 parted once, when she ran back and threw her arms 
 around him. " Whereat he spoke not a word, but 
 carrying still his gravity, tears fell from his eyes : 
 yea, there were very few in all the group who could 
 refrain thereat from weeping, no, not the guard 
 
 1 Roper, p. 52. 2 Ibid. p. 53. 3 Cres. More, p. 264.
 
 Margarei Giggs 
 (married john clement). 
 
 From the drawing by Holbein. 
 
 To face page >-i .
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 271 
 
 themselves." So, too, Margaret Clement l embraced 
 him, and Dorothy Colley, one of Margaret Roper's 
 maids, and so they parted. 
 
 The few days of life that were still left him, 
 More spent in severe mortification, and wore his 
 shroud constantly. He had no intimation of when 
 his sentence was to be carried out; but on the 
 5th he seemed to feel that death was at hand. 
 He sent to his daughter Margaret his hair shirt, 
 which he had worn secretly for many years, with the 
 last of his tender letters, so beautiful in its pathetic 
 simplicity. " Our Lord bless you, good daughter, 
 and your good husband, and your little boy, and all 
 yours, and all my children, and all my god-children, 
 and all our friends. Recommend me, when you may, 
 to my good daughter Cicely, whom I beseech our 
 Lord to comfort : and I send her my blessing, and to 
 all my children, and pray her to pray for me. I send 
 her an handkercher. And God comfort my good son 
 her husband. My good daughter Daunce hath the 
 picture in parchment that you delivered me from my 
 lady Conyers. Her name is on the back side. Shew 
 her that I heartily pray her that you may send it in 
 my name to her again, for a token from me to pray 
 for me. I like special well Dorothy Colley. I pray 
 you be good unto her. I would not whether this be 
 she you wrote me of. If not yet I pray you be good 
 to the other, as you may, in her affliction, and to my 
 good daughter 2 Joan Aleyn too. Give her, I pray 
 
 1 Margaret Ciggs, his adopted daughter, now married to 
 Dr. Clement. 
 
 2 Note by Rastell to edit. 1557. "This was not one of his
 
 272 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 you, some kind answer, for she sued hither to me 
 this day to pray you be good to her. I cumber you, 
 good Margaret, much : but I would be sorry if it 
 should be any longer than to-morrow. For it is 
 Saint Thomas even, and the utas of Saint Peter : 
 therefore to-morrow long I to go to God : it were a 
 day very meet and convenient for me. I never liked 
 your manner toward me better than when you kissed 
 me last : for I love when daughterly love and dear 
 charity hath no leisure to look to worldly courtesy. 
 Farewell, my dear child, and pray for me and I shall 
 for you and all your friends that we may merrily 
 meet in Heaven. I thank you for your great cost. 
 I send now to my good daughter Clement her 
 algorism stone, and I send her and my godson and 
 all others, God's blessing and mine. I pray you at 
 good time convenient recommend me to my good 
 son, John More ; I liked well his natural fashion. 1 
 Our Lord bless him and his good wife, my loving 
 daughter: to whom I pray him be good as he hath 
 good cause : and that if the land of mine come into 
 his hand he break not my will concerning his sister 
 Daunce. And our Lord bless Thomas, and Austin, 2 
 and all that they shall have." 3 
 
 Even in his last hours he was exposed to inter- 
 ruption and vexation : yet he still maintained his 
 playful humour. He had thought of shaving off his 
 
 daughters, nor no kin to him, but one of Mistress Roper's 
 maids." 
 
 1 At his last meeting when he came from judgment: John 
 More was now in prison. 
 
 2 John More's children. 3 Eng. Works, pp. 1457, 1458.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 273 
 
 beard, and coming forth to his execution that all 
 might see him as he had been, his clear pale features 
 as we know them in Holbein's drawing. A courtier 
 came troubling him with exhortations to change his 
 mind. " Well," said More at last, " I have changed 
 it." This was at once reported to the King, by whom 
 a message was sent to the prisoner to know what 
 was the change. " Then Sir Thomas rebuked the 
 courtier for his lightness that he would tell the king 
 every word that he spoke in jest : for he had meant 
 merely that he would not be shaven." x 
 
 When it was communicated to him that, by the 
 King's merciful pardon, the horrible sentence of the 
 law would be commuted into beheading, he exclaimed, 
 "God forbid that the king should use any more such 
 mercy unto any of my friends ; and God bless all my 
 posterity from such pardons." 2 
 
 Very early in the morning of July 6, Sir Thomas 
 Pope, "his singular dear friend," came from the King 
 and Council, to say that his execution would take 
 place that day before nine o'clock. " Master Pope," 
 said More, " for your good tidings I most heartily 
 thank you. I have always been bounden much to 
 the king's highness for the benefits and honours 
 which he hath from time to time heaped on me. 
 Yet more bounden am I to his grace for putting me 
 into this place where I have had convenient time 
 and space to have remembrance of my end ; and 
 most of all that it pleased him so shortly to rid me 
 of the miseries of this wretched world. And there- 
 fore will I not fail to pray for his grace, both here 
 
 1 Stapleton, cap. xvi. p. 322. 2 Ores. More, p. 268. 
 
 T
 
 274 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 and in another world." Pope then told him that the 
 King wished him not to use many words at his exe- 
 cution. "You do well to give me warning of his 
 grace's pleasure," he replied, " for otherwise I had 
 purposed somewhat to have spoken, but of no matter 
 wherewith his grace or any other should have cause 
 to be offended. Nevertheless I am ready to obey 
 his command." Then they spoke of his burial, at 
 which the King gave leave for his wife and children 
 to be present. So they bade farewell, and, as Pope 
 could not refrain from tears, More comforted him — 
 " Quiet yourself, good Master Pope, and be not dis- 
 comforted ; for I trust that we shall once in Heaven 
 see each other full merrily, where we shall be sure to 
 live and love together in eternal bliss." 
 
 When his friend had left him, More dressed himself 
 in his best apparel, ' and put on his silk camlet gown 
 which his entire friend Mr. Antonio Bonvisi gave him.' 
 The Lieutenant of the Tower begged him to change 
 it, ' for the executioner, who should have it, was but 
 a javill.' " What," said More, " shall I account him 
 a javill that will do me this day so singular a benefit ? 
 Nay, I assure you, were it cloth of gold, I would 
 think it well bestowed on him, as S. Cyprian did, 
 who gave his executioner thirty pieces of gold." He 
 was persuaded, however, to change it for a ' gown of 
 friese,' but he sent an angel to the executioner. 
 " He l was therefore brought by Master Lieu- 
 
 1 Mr. Froude professes to quote throughout his account of 
 More' a last days from Cres. More : he does so however very 
 loosely, and Roper is in many places much more simple and 
 beautiful. The following short passage is Cres. More's own 
 words, not Mr. Froude's version.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 275 
 
 tenant out of the Tower, his beard being long, which 
 fashion he had never before used, carrying in his 
 hands a red cross, casting his eyes often towards 
 heaven." A woman on the way to Tyburn offered 
 him wine, which he refused. Another called after 
 him that he had done her wrong when he was Chan- 
 cellor, to whom he gave answer, " that he remembered 
 her cause very well, and that if he were now to give 
 sentence thereof, he would not alter what he had 
 already done." 1 A man whom his counsel had often 
 restrained from religious despair, cried to him with 
 great earnestness that he was again in terrible 
 temptation. " Go and pray for me," said More, " and 
 I will pray for you." 
 
 When he came to the scaffold, he was too -weak 
 to mount it, and nearly fell. " I pray you, Master 
 Lieutenant," he exclaimed, " see me safe up, and 
 for my coming down let me shift for myself." 
 Then he asked the prayers of all the people, 
 and said to them simply that he died in and 
 for the faith of the Holy Catholic Church. Then 
 kneelincr down he said the Miserere. When the 
 executioner asked his forgiveness he kissed him. 
 '■'Thou wilt do me this day a greater benefit 
 than ever any mortal man can be able to do me. 
 Pluck up thy spirit, man, and be not afraid to do 
 thine office. My neck is very short: take heed 
 therefore that thou strike not awry, for saving of 
 thine honesty." When they would have covered 
 his eyes, he said, " I will cover them myself," and 
 wrapped them with a cloth he had brought with 
 1 Cres. More, p. 273.
 
 276 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 him. As he laid his head on the block, he put aside 
 his beard, saying, ' that that had never committed 
 any treason.' 1 
 
 " Thus," as Addison beautifully says, " the innocent 
 mirth which had been so conspicuous in his life did 
 not forsake him to the last. His death was of a 
 piece with his life : there was nothing in it new, 
 forced, or affected. He did not look upon the 
 severing of his head from his body as a circumstance 
 which ought to produce any change in the dis- 
 position of his mind : and as he died in a fixed and 
 settled hope of immortality, he thought any unusual 
 degree of sorrow and concern improper." 2 
 
 Of all the brave deaths upon English scaffolds 3 
 which that sad century and the next produced, there 
 was none more calm and bright than his. Of one 
 who a hundred and ten years later died also for his 
 conscience, it was said that "never did man put off 
 mortality with better courage." Of More at least it 
 may be declared that no man was ever more willing 
 to die. And not only death was welcome, but happy 
 was the path of affliction that led to it. More had 
 learnt to tread in the road of the Passion of his 
 Master, and it seemed to him to be strewn with 
 flowers. With Mason he might cry — 
 
 " I sing to think this is the way 
 Unto my Saviour's Face." 
 
 Whatever may be thought by theologians or 
 
 1 Ores. More, p. 275. 2 Spectator, No. 349. 
 
 3 I do not understand the statement, Diet. Nut. Biog. 
 xxxviii. 439, that " his composure on the scaffold is probably 
 without parallel." Strafford, Laud, Charles I. do not seem to 
 have shown anything but composure.
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 277 
 
 historians of the speculative opinion for which More 
 shed his blood, there can be no doubt that he died a 
 martyr. 
 
 A candid examination of the Act of Supremacy, in 
 the light of legal interpretation and constitutional 
 precedent, must show that it was not necessarily 
 contradictory to the opinionswhich Roman theologians 
 held dear. It was accepted by many who are still 
 revered on the Continent as pillars of the orthodox 
 faith. 1 But no man can deny that More was a 
 witness to the absolute supremacy of conscience. 
 He was also, in the words of Pope Paul III., 
 excellent in sacred learning and bold in the defence 
 of truth. He laid down his life rather than surrender 
 for fear of death what he again and again admitted ^ai 
 to be but an opinion. He would lay no burden 
 on the souls of other men : he would not speak 
 against the new laws, the divorce, the King's 
 marriage, the measures by which the Church was 
 freed from foreign subjection. These were matters 
 upon which his own views had changed, aud upon 
 which he could not feel that his judgment need be 
 final or binding for other men. He condemned no 
 man ; but he would not yield an inch himself. To 
 him almost alone among his contemporaries the con- 
 clusions of the intellect seemed no less sacred than 
 the chastity of the body. He died rather than tarnish 
 the whiteness of his soul. 
 
 His position was the more noble because some of his 
 dearest friends were not of his mind. Colet had spoken 
 
 1 I', g. Abbats Whiting and others; cf. Gasquet'a The Last 
 [bbot of Glasboribv/ry, p. -17.
 
 278 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 too freely for us to doubt that he would not thus have 
 interpreted the historic claim of Rome. On Erasmus 
 the critic the Papal authority sat but lightly. 
 Tunstal declared clearly that " the Church of Rome 
 had never of old such a monarchy as of late it hath 
 usurped." 1 But the foreign scholars to whom he had 
 appealed were, from the first, in almost every case in 
 his favour. 2 Lutherans condemned him as an enemy 
 of the Gospel, 3 but Italians saw in him a martyr and 
 a saint. 4 Gregory XIII. in 1572 did honour to his 
 memory, but it was not till December 29, 1886, that 
 a decree of Beatification was issued from Rome. 
 
 More's fame did not wait for such tardy honours. 
 He had been for many years renowned among the 
 writers of Europe. It may be doubted indeed if any 
 event in English history since the murder of S. Thomas 
 
 1 I venture to quote the passage from Fr. Bridgett's valuable 
 Life of More, p. 347, who has taken the extract from British 
 Museum MS. Cleopatra, E. vi. f. 389. Tunstal states that 
 the meaning of the Royal Supremacy was "to reduce the 
 Church of England out of all captivity of foreign powers, 
 heretofore usurped therein, into the pristine estate that all 
 Churches of all realms were in at the beginning, and to 
 abolish and clearly put away such usurpation as theretofore 
 the Bishops of Rome have, to their great advantage and im- 
 poverishing of the realm and the king's subjects, of the same. 
 . . . Would to God you had been exercised in reading the 
 ancient councils, that you might have known from the begin- 
 ning, from age to age, the continuance and progress of the 
 Catholic Church, by which you should have perceived that the 
 Church of Rome had never of old such a monarchy as of late 
 it hath usurped." 
 
 2 Cf. Letter of Cochlaeus to Henry VIII., Leipzig, 1536. 
 Letters and Papers, x. 34. 
 
 3 Cf . Letters and Papers, x. 587. 
 
 4 Cf. Poem of Zenobio Ceffino (see Letters and Papers, x. 
 844).
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 279 
 
 of Canterbury had excited such universal interest 
 abroad. Letter after letter published throughout 
 the Continent proclaimed his merits and deplored 
 the barbarity of his death. An " expositio fidelis de 
 niorte Thomae Mori," appeared before the year was 
 out. Almost every foreign nation issued its own 
 record of his pathetic fate. Erasmus called heaven 
 and earth to witness against the monstrous cruelty 
 of the King,' and Pole in his bitter remonstrance 
 on the Unity of the Church cried out, " You have 
 slain, you have slain, the best Englishman alive." 
 
 The excitement aroused by his execution was felt 
 to be a real political danger. The King caused a 
 formal defence of his action to be put forth. For 
 years after the State Papers show how minute was 
 the investigation into any circumstances which 
 seemed to show personal association with the 
 murdered man. 1 From the first his memory was 
 regarded in England with extraordinary reverence. 
 But strange to say, no certain record of his burial is 
 preserved, and it is not even clear whether the story 
 of Margaret Roper's devotion which Tennyson has 
 made immortal is more than a pathetic fiction. 2 
 
 A number of relics of him were preserved, many 
 of which are now at Stonyhurst. 3 His descendants 
 were careful to claim kinship to the martyr. It is a 
 common thing to see on the tombs of even remote 
 kindred in different parts of England some reference 
 
 1 E. g. Letters hi, rJ Papers, vol. xiii. pt. i. Feb. 30, 1538; 
 pt. ii. 695, 702, 828, 854. 
 
 2 The whole question is exhaustively discussed hy Fr. 
 BridKttt, pp. 435 sqq. 
 
 3 See Fr. Bridgett's Life of More, Appendix A.
 
 280 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 to the stock of the great man from which they 
 came. 1 In the male line the family became extinct 
 with the death of Father Thomas More, sometime 
 English provincial of the Jesuits, in 1795. His sister, 
 Bridget More, by her marriage with Peter Metcalfe, 
 left a daughter who is represented by the Eyston 
 family of East Hendred. There are probably many 
 descendants of More in the female line. The male 
 line of the Ropers died out, but females of their 
 families became ancestresses of the Winns, Constables 
 and others. 2 
 
 The multiplication of portraits is a prominent 
 proof of the permanent interest taken in the great 
 man's memory. The fame of such a man was indeed 
 what neither England nor the world would willingly 
 let die. 
 
 " The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good 
 and ill together : our virtues would be proud if our 
 faults whipped them not." More's character was 
 not faultless. In his youth indeed he wrote not a 
 little that his religion in later life must have de- 
 plored. He was beset by keen temptations of the 
 flesh. But certainly the spirit triumphed. His life 
 was not without its mistakes ; but no man ever 
 redeemed his errors more nobly. A great historian 
 has said that there are no famous men of the six- 
 
 1 A curious instance of this is afforded by a slab in Brize- 
 Norton Church, Oxfordshire, in memory of " Thomas Green- 
 wood, e Thoma Moro olim Angl. Cancell. Oriundus," who 
 died in 1678. 
 
 2 See Fr. Bridgett's Life, Appendix E, and Hunter's edition 
 of Cresacre More's Life, Freface, part iv.; and Auction Catalogue 
 of Books of Baron von Druffel (Minister, 1894).
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 281 
 
 teenth century whom it is possible wholly to admire ; l 
 but it is difficult uot to claim that More forms an 
 exception to this stern judgment. The fascination 
 which won the hearts of his contemporaries affects 
 even the least emotional of his biographers. Admir- 
 ation is no sufficient tribute : we love him as if he 
 were our own friend. 
 
 Of such a character it is difficult to speak critic- 
 ally. His was not a mind of the subtlety which is 
 the fit subject for psychological analysis. The leading- 
 lines stand clearly out. He was a man of very 
 single-minded purpose, laboriously studious and con- 
 scientious in public as in private life. Deeply 
 reverent and truly pious, he had yet a keen sense of 
 the follies of his fellow-men ; but his mirth was that 
 of the humorist, not the cynic. He was sensitive 
 and therefore observant ; affectionate and of a beau- 
 tiful patience. Few men have had more power of 
 inspiring love. His wide tastes — learned, musical, 
 scientific — no doubt helped to win him so wide a 
 fame ; but the deepest cause was the beauty of bis 
 life. His character, perfect as it is, is delightful 
 chiefly because it is so natural. There was never 
 in him anything strained or affected, weak imitation 
 
 1 Bishop Creigliton, in the Land Commemoration Vohnu,^ 
 p. 14—" It is well to abandon all illusions about the sixteenth 
 century. There were strong men, there were powerful minds, 
 hut there was a dearth of beautiful characters. A time of 
 revolt and upheaval is a time of one-sided energy, and of 
 moral uncertainty, of hardness, of unsound argument, of im- 
 perfect self-control, of vacillation, of self-seeking. It is 
 difficult in Buch atime to find heroes, to discover a man whom 
 wecan unreservedly admire." In delivering his lecture the 
 i;i bop added emphatically, "I know none."
 
 282 SIR THOMAS MORE 
 
 of others, or striving after what he could never be. 
 Its beautiful calmness, its even tenor, the peace 
 that seems always to hang over it, make it easy to 
 forget the troublous scenes in which his life was 
 passed. It was an age of fightings and fears. More 
 passed through the thick of them ; and no man, it 
 may be said truly, passed through so unscathed. 
 Well may his reverent descendant proclaim that 
 " his soul was carried by angels into everlasting 
 glory, where a crown of martyrdom was put on him 
 which can never fade nor decay." 
 
 No estimate of More's life would be satisfactory 
 which did not consider his position and his influence 
 in relation to the great movements of his age. Pos- 
 terity will here rank him at least as highly as did 
 his contemporaries. No one who reverences the 
 heritage of faith bequeathed to the Christian Church 
 will remember him without gratitude. He was 
 placed suddenly in face of a critical question. He 
 answered it as his successors in the English Church 
 would not now answer. But it would be difficult 
 to find in his writings any formal statement of 
 doctrine which the English Church since his day 
 has ever formally abandoned. It would be idle 
 indeed to dispute with Roman hagiologists their 
 right to revere him as a martyr of their own ; but 
 no true theological estimate would deny that he 
 belongs to the historic and continuous Church of 
 England. A close study of his religious writings, 
 as of his life, shows that More was a saint of whom 
 England may still be proud. 
 
 As a man of letters he has claims as great upon
 
 TROUBLES, IMPRISONMENT, AND DEATH 2s: 1 , 
 
 the reverence of literary men. It would not be a 
 mistake to regard him as the founder of modern 
 English literature. His fresh and vigorous use of 
 a vocabulary hardly any part of which is yet obsolete, 
 his power of narration, of declamation, and of 
 criticism, make him to stand out among the earliest 
 masters of English prose. As a scholar he linked the 
 learning of the Renaissance to the faith of the 
 medieval Church, and he brought classical interests 
 within the range of ordinary English men of affairs. 
 He was one of the first of our fathers to whom 
 rightly belonged the titles of a scholar and a 
 gentleman. 
 
 Most of all, perhaps, he will be remembered as 
 the years go on for his passionate ideal of social 
 progress. So long as men suffer and thinkers search 
 for remedies for human misery and human sin, the 
 author of the Utopia is immortal. And it should 
 never be forgotten that the social ideal which ho 
 gave to the world came from a heart and a mind 
 stored with practical statesmanship and Christian 
 theology.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aijxgtox, Sin Gilf.*, 58 
 Ammonius, 54, 58, 69, 126, 163 
 Annates Act passed, 180 
 Anne, Queen (Bullen), 230, 240, 
 
 261 
 Antwerp, the Commission at, 147 
 Apology of Sir Thomas More, 
 
 151, 219, 222, 225 
 Arthur, Prince, 14, 24, 197 
 Ascham, Nicholas, 44 
 Audley, Sir Thomas, succeeds 
 
 More as Chancellor, 182, 241, 
 
 248, 262, 264 
 
 Bainham, 217, 221 
 
 Basle, 70, 84, 86, 87 
 
 Bayfield, 217 
 
 Beaumont, Viscount, 143 
 
 Bell, Dr., 150 
 
 Bilney, 206, 217 
 
 Blackfriars, Parliament held at, 
 
 155, 173 
 Bonvisi, Antonio, 84, 274 
 Boulogne, siege of, 165 
 Bourchier, Cardinal, 7 
 Bridgett, Father, author of Life 
 
 of Sir Thomas More, 38, 278 
 Brixius, a French poet, 74, 100, 
 
 101 
 Bronchorst, Gerard, 70 
 Bruges, 146, 153, 154 
 Jiueklersbury, 38, 62, 64 
 Budaeus, 60, 71, 81, 83, 84, 99 
 Bugenhagen, 200 
 Busleiden, Jerome (Buslidius), 
 
 82, 84, 99, 100 
 
 Calais, Embassy sent to, 150, 
 
 164 
 Cambray, treaty of, 168 
 Campeggio, l l , 167 
 
 Cardinal College, 106 
 
 Carmen gralulatorium, 41, 101 
 
 Caxton, the printer, 190 
 
 Chalcondylas, 15 
 
 Chapuys, 175, 176, 179, 181 
 
 Charles, V., 145, 154, 168, 179 
 
 Charterhouse, the, 21, 22 
 
 Charterhouse, Fathers of the, 
 234 ; are condemned by the 
 King, 256 ; executed, 257 
 
 Chelsea, 45, 46, 81, 86 
 
 . a poem by Brixius, 
 
 ■ 100 
 
 Christ Church, Oxford, 14 
 
 Clement VII., 178 
 
 Clement, John, 58, 81 
 
 Clifford, John, 116 
 
 Colet, John, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
 19, 20, 21, 25, 30, 38, 69, 73, 
 74, 77, 78, 81, 187, 188, 208, 
 277 
 
 Colt, John, Sir Thomas More's 
 father-indaw, 37 
 
 Confutation, by Sir Thomas More, 
 223, 224, 225 
 
 Corneo, Andrea, 31, 36 
 
 Coverdale, Miles, 227 
 
 Craumer, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, 76, 238, 241, 244, 258 
 
 Cromwell, Thomas, 160, 229, 
 230, 231, 234, 235, 237, 238, 
 241, 214, 250, 253, 254, 256, 
 257, 258, 259, 262 
 
 Dauncey, Elizabeth, Sir Thomas 
 
 More's daughter, 57, 87, 98, 
 
 271, 272 
 Debellation of Salem ami Bi- 
 
 zance, bv Sir Thomas More, 
 
 225 
 I ij ilogue, A, of Sir Thomas More, 
 
 202, 209, 210, 212, 213, 21 1, 
 
 215, 222, 223
 
 286 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Dorpius, 16 
 
 Dudley, chosen Speaker of the 
 House of Commons, 24 ; exe- 
 cuted, 41 
 
 Dynham, Sir John, 56 
 
 Edward VI., 16 
 
 Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII., 
 died February 1503, 22 
 
 Ellen of Tottenham, 233 
 
 Empson, 24, 41 
 
 Encomium Moriae, 65, 68, 77, 
 84, 85 
 
 Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum, 
 28, 115 
 
 Erasmus, friend of Sir Thomas 
 More's, 3 ; at Oxford, 14, 18 ; 
 tutor to William Blount, 19 ; 
 his great friendship for More, 
 20, 64 ; leaves England, 21, 
 22, 28, 38 ; on More's ap- 
 pearance, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 
 48 ; dedicates his translation 
 of Aristotle to Sir Thomas 
 More's only son, John, 56 ; 
 his letter to Hutten, 60, 62 ; 
 his Moria, 65, 67 ; at Cam- 
 bridge, 68 ; leaves England, 
 69 ; returns to England, 70, 
 71, 73, 74 ; his illness, 75 ; 
 proves his friendship for More, 
 76, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85, 87 ; 
 his New Testament, 100 ; his 
 opinion of the cause of the 
 plague, 127, 141 ; his descrip- 
 tion of More's conduct as 
 Under-Sheriff of London, 143 ; 
 letter from More to Erasmus, 
 147, 148 ; writes to Tunstal, 
 149; his letter to iEgidius, 152, 
 153, 162; condemns Wolsey, 
 163, 164, 184, 185, 187 ; op- 
 poses the foreign reformers, 
 188, 189, 223, 224, 278, 279 
 
 Exeter, Bishop of, 57 
 
 Field, John, 218, 219 
 
 Fish, Simon, 214 
 
 Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 69, 
 
 70, 73, 81, 149, 156, 232, 244, 
 
 251, 255, 260, 262, 263, 265, 
 
 266 
 Fitz william, Sir William, 230 
 Fox, Bishop of Winchester, 
 
 Keeper of Privy Seal, 25, 144, 
 
 156, 217, 219, 221 
 Francesco, Gian, nephew of Pico, 
 
 30, 33, 36, 191 
 Francis I., 83, 168 
 French Commissioners, the, 153 
 Frith, John, 222, 225 
 Froben, the printer, 70, 84, 
 
 85 
 Froude, Mr., 178, 201, 216, 
 
 217, 218, 219, 222 
 
 Gardiner, Stephen, Archdeacon 
 
 of Taunton, 168, 213 
 Giggs, Margaret, wife of John 
 
 Clement, 58, 88, 271, 272 
 Giustiniani, the Venetian Am- 
 bassador, 92, 153 
 Gloucester, Richard, Duke of, 
 
 108, 109 
 Goclenius, 200 
 Granfyld, 240 
 Granger, Agnes, mother of Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 5, 82 
 Grocyn, William, 14, 16, 21, 27, 
 
 38, 73, 102, 104 
 Gunnel, William, tutor to More's 
 
 children, 58 
 
 Hall, 161, 173, 175 
 Harpsfield, 17, 43, 46 
 Hassia, Henricus de, 190 
 Henry VII., 14, 42, 101, 110, 
 
 122, 144 
 Henry VIII., 4, 5, 39, 40, 41, 
 
 42, 75, 82, 83, 93, 101, 103, 
 
 118, 122, 135, 178, 196, 197, 
 
 229, 230, 232, 238, 239, 244, 
 
 273 
 Henry, son of Henry VIII., 
 
 created Duke of Richmond, 
 
 160 
 Herbert of Cherbury, Lord, 160, 
 
 161, 210
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 Heron, Giles, son-in-law of Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 49, 57 
 Hevwood, Ellis, his II Moro, 63, 
 
 82 
 Holbein, 17, 43, 44, 47, 75, 
 
 84, 85, 86, 87, 273 
 Holinshed, 110 
 
 Holt, Nicholas, schoolmaster, 6 
 Hooker, Richard, 190, 210 
 Hutten, Ulrich von, 20, 60, 71, 
 
 144 
 
 Imtitutio Principis Christiani,70 
 
 Joy, George, punished by More, 
 
 220 
 Julius II., Pope, 66, 67 
 
 Katherine, Queen, 42, 179, 197, 
 261 
 
 Kent, the Nun of, 231, 232, 233, 
 234, 235, 238, 244 
 
 Kingston, Sir William, the Con- 
 stable of the Tower, 269, 270 
 
 Knight, Dr. William, 152 
 
 Latimer, Hugh, 213, 242 
 Latimer, William, 6, 18, 78, 80, 
 
 121 
 Leigh, Joyeuce, 36 
 Leo X., Pope, 67 
 Lilly, William, friend of More, 
 
 21, 27, 28, 38, 78, 98 
 Linacre, 15, 16, 18, 21, 27, 38, 
 
 78, 102 
 Lincolne, John, 150 
 London, Stokesley, Bishop of, 
 
 168, 218 
 Lupset, 81 ; brings out a second 
 
 edition of Utopia in Paris, 83 
 Luther, Martin, 166, 189, 196, 
 
 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 
 
 208, 209, 213 
 Lydgate, 22 
 
 Mackintosh, Sir James, Life of 
 
 More, 11, 176 
 Margaret, daughter of Henry 
 
 VII., 24 
 
 Medici, Lorenzo de', 31, 32 
 
 bis, by Sir Thomas 
 More, 188 
 Mel salfe, Peter, 2^0 
 Middleton,-<awSe J the second 
 wife of 15ir Thomas More, 54, 
 55, 87, 247, 248, 253 
 Mirandola, Pico della, 2, 3, 14, 
 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 
 37, 191 
 More, Bridget, sister of Father 
 Thomas More, and wife of 
 Peter Metcalfe, 280 
 More, Cicely, daughter of Sir 
 Thomas More, wife of Giles 
 Heron, 39, 57, 87, 88, 90, 271 
 More, Cresacre, great-grandson 
 of Sir Thomas More, 5, 21, 
 43, 55, 56, 59, 171, 172, 198, 
 267 
 More, Elizabeth, sister of Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 5 
 More, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir 
 Thomas More, 39 ; marries 
 Mr. Dauncey, 57, 87, 90 
 More, Joan, sister of Sir Thomas 
 
 More, 5 
 More, Sir John, father of Sir 
 Thomas More, 4, 5, 17, 25, 59 ; 
 his death, 180 
 More, John, son of Sir Thomas 
 More, born 1509, 39, 55 ; 
 marries Anne Cresacre, 56, 
 272 
 More, John, grandfather of Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 5 
 More, Father Thomas, descendant 
 
 of Sir Thomas More, 280 
 More, Sir Thomas, his birth, 
 4 ; childhood, 11 ; schooldays, 
 11; entered Canterbury Col- 
 lege, 14, 15, 16, 17 ; left Ox- 
 ford, 18 ; entered New Inn, 
 18 ; admitted student at Lin- 
 coln's Inn, 19; called to tho 
 Bar, i:», 20, 21 ; appoint d 
 reader ,ii Purnival's Inn, 21, 
 22; returned to Parliament,
 
 288 
 
 INDEX 
 
 22 ; wrote poetical lament on 
 the death of the Queen, 22, 23, 
 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 ; influenced 
 by the Italian Renaissance, 29, 
 30, 33 ; marries, 37 ; his fame, 
 39 ; his prosperity, 48 ; poems 
 on accession of Henry VIII., 
 41 ; his appearance and cha- 
 racter, 43 ; returns from the 
 Netherlands, 49 ; letter to his 
 wife, 49 ; his second marriage, 
 54 ; his filial reverence, 59 ; 
 his home, 60 ; friendship with 
 Erasmus, 64 ; sent on a mission 
 to Bruges, 69 ; letter to a 
 monk, 72 ; his work as Chan- 
 cellor, 75 ; resigns the Chan- 
 cellorship, 75 ; is imprisoned, 
 76 ; his friends, 76, 86 ; his epi- 
 grams, 98, 104 ; quarrels with 
 Brixius, 100, 102 ; his letter 
 to the " Fathers and Proctors " 
 of the Oxford University, 
 104, 105 ; appointed High 
 Steward of the University, 
 105 ; his History of Richard 
 III., 106, 109 ; his position as 
 an historian, 110 ; his Utopia, 
 and whence the groundwork 
 of it was derived, 111, 116 ; 
 his opinion as to the punish- 
 ment of thieves, 118, 120 ; his 
 theory as to the duty of a king, 
 121, 123 ; the government of 
 Utopia ; 125, 129 ; the Uto- 
 pians' mode of life and educa- 
 tion, 129, 131, 132, 136, 138, 
 139, 140 ; writes to Erasmus, 
 141 ; elected Under-Sheriff of 
 London, 143 ; becomes Bencher 
 of Lincoln's Inn, 144 ; goes to 
 Flanders, 146 ; returns to Eng- 
 land, 147 ; writes to Erasmus, 
 147, 148 ; requested to enter 
 the Royal Service, 149 ; ap- 
 pointed Master of Requests, and 
 member of the Privy Council ; 
 149 ; his connexion with the 
 riots in London, 150 ; his 
 
 apology, 151, 152 ; goes to 
 Calais to negotiate with the 
 French merchants, 152, 153 ; 
 returns to England, 153 ; signs 
 treaty between England and 
 France, 153 ; meets the Em- 
 peror at Canterbury, 154 ; 
 tricks the boastful Fleming, 
 154 ; is knighted and made 
 Treasurer of the Exchequer, 
 is one of the King's chief 
 secretaries, 154 ; receives the 
 manor of South, and is chosen 
 Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons, 155 ; his speech in 
 Parliament, 157, 158, 159; 
 receives mark of royal grati- 
 tude, 159, 160 ; receives gift 
 from the Exchequer, 162 ; 
 his letters to Wolsey, 164, 
 165; signs "treaty of the 
 More," and appointed Chan- 
 cellor of the Duchy of Lan- 
 caster, 166 ; his speeches with 
 the King, 166 ; confers with 
 the Bishops of Durham and 
 Bath concerning Henry's in- 
 tended divorce, 166, 167 ; goes 
 to Canterbury, 168 ; receives 
 the great seal, and takes the 
 oaths, 171 ; appointed Chan- 
 cellor, 172 ; his opening speech, 
 173, 175 ; his duties as Chan- 
 cellor and in the Court of 
 Chancery, 176, 177 ; supports 
 Queen Katherine, 179 ; resigns 
 Chancellorship, ISO ; his 
 poverty, 181, 183 ; his religious 
 works, 184 ; condemns the 
 position of the foreign re- 
 formers, 188 ; led into religious 
 controversy by the King, 196 ; 
 defends Henry against Luther, 
 198, 200 ; defends the Church 
 against the attacks of the 
 English reformers, 202 ; his 
 Dialogue, 202, 209 ; extracts 
 from his Dialogue, 210, 212, 
 213 ; his Supplication of Souls,
 
 INDEX 
 
 289 
 
 214, 215 ; his duties as Lord 
 Chancellor oblige him to at- 
 tend the examination of here- 
 215, 2^2 ; his reply to 
 Tyndale, 223 ; enunciates the 
 dogma of the Pope's infalli- 
 bility, 225 ; resigns the Chan- 
 cellorship, 225 ; refuses help 
 from the clergy, 226, 227, 228 ; 
 appointed Sheriff for Somerset 
 and Dorset, 229 ; counsels 
 Cromwell how to act towards 
 Henry, 229, 230 ; refuses his 
 consent to Henry's marriage, 
 
 230 ; accused of corruption,230, 
 
 231 ; interview with the Nun 
 of Kent, 233 ; writes to Crom- 
 well and to the King, 235 ; 
 and again to Cromwell, 235, 
 237 ; is examined, 238, 239 ; 
 his troubles, 240 ; fresh troubles 
 arise, 240 ; summoned before 
 the Commissioners, 241 ; com- 
 mitted to the abbat of West- 
 minster's custody, 244 ; refuses 
 the oath, and is committed to 
 the Tower, 245 ; is visited there 
 by his wife Alice, 247, 248 ; 
 all his possessions taken away, 
 252, 253 ; his writings whilst 
 imprisoned, 254, 255 ; his letter 
 to his daughter, 255, 256 ; be- 
 fore Cromwell and others, 256, 
 259 ; still further examined, 
 259, 260 ; before a Special 
 Commission, 262 ; the indict- 
 ment, 263 ; his reply to same, 
 264, 269 ; is found guilty, 267 ; 
 sad partings, 270, 271 ; his 
 letter to his daughter Margaret, 
 271, 272 ; his last days, 273, 
 276 ; his death, 276 
 
 Morton, Cardinal, 7—11, 14, 24, 
 
 107, 109, 120 
 Mountjoy, Lord, William Blount, 
 
 pupil and friend of Erasmus, 
 
 19, 21, 73 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of, 52, 168, 170, 
 
 171, ISO, 219, 238, 240, 262. 
 264, 268 
 
 ■iiiiViitum, Erasmus's 
 edition, 65, 69. 
 
 Oxford, sickness breaks out at, 
 
 126 ; More's relations with the 
 
 University, 104, sqq. 
 Oxymorus, suggested by Budaeus 
 
 as a name for Sir Thomas 
 
 More, 83 
 
 Pace, friend of More, IS, 73, 80 ; 
 
 writes to Wolsey, 153, 154 
 
 185, 196 
 Pacifier, the, written by Saint- 
 
 german, 225 
 Palmer, Mr., 259, 267 
 Parnell, accuses More of accepting 
 
 a bribe, 231 
 Petrus (Egidius (Peter Gile^), 
 
 friend of More, 71, 82, 84 ; his 
 
 association with the Utopia, 
 
 112, 115, 147, 152 
 Philips, Thomas, 218 
 Piers Ploughman, 142 
 Pirchheimer, Bilibald, 99 
 Pole, Reginald, Cardinal, 56, 81, 
 
 279 
 Poliziano, 1, 15, 30, 33 
 Pope, Sir Thomas, 273, 274 
 
 Rastell, John, the poet and 
 
 printer, husband of Elizabeth 
 
 More, 5, 106 
 Rastell, William, nephew of Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 231 
 Reformation, the, 3, 14, 28, 76, 
 
 154, 188, 190, 199, 201 
 Renaissance, the, 3, 14, 28, 139 
 Resbye, Father, 232 
 Reuchlin, 70 
 Rich, Father, 232 
 Rich, the Solicitor-General, 259, 
 
 260, 261, 263, 266, 267 
 Richard III., History of, by Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 69, 97, 110 
 Robinson, Ralph, bis translation 
 
 of the Utopia, 111, 114 A?;., 131
 
 290 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Roper, William, 9, 17, 24, 25, 
 37, 52, 55 ; marries More's 
 daughter Margaret, 56, 59, 93, 
 94, 154, 155, 156, 159, 164, 
 168, 169, 171, 172, 175, 177, 
 226, 227, 229, 235, 238, 239, 
 242, 247, 270 
 
 JRufull Lamentation, written by 
 Sir Thomas More, 14, 22 
 
 Sagudino, Nicolo, Secretary to 
 
 Giustiniani, 92 
 Saintgerman, a lawyer, author 
 
 of The Pacifier, 225 
 S. Mary Hall, Oxford, 14 
 St. Oswald, Lord, his picture at 
 
 Nostell Priory, 88 
 Salisbury, Countess of, 81 
 Sampson, Dr., Vicar-general of 
 
 Tournay, 146 
 Savonarola, 31, 32, 36, 199 
 Scotland, 164 
 Seebohm, Mr. F., 134, 186, 187, 
 
 197 
 Shore, Jane, 109 
 Sion, Fathers of, 232, 234 
 Southwell, Sir Richard, 259, 267 
 Spynell, Sir Thomas, 146 
 StafTerton, Richard, husband of 
 
 Joan More, 5, 83 
 Standish, Dr., 150 
 Stapleton, Dr., Trcs Thomae, 6, 
 
 21, 26, 58, 99, 104 
 Stow, 110 
 Strype, 221, 222 
 Succession, Act of, passed, 241 ; 
 
 second do. do. 247 
 Suffolk, Charles Brandon, Duke 
 
 of, 171, 258, 263 
 Siqjplication of Souls, by Sir 
 
 Thomas More, 214, 219 
 Supremacy, Act of, 277 
 
 Thierry, publisher of Utopia, 70 
 Tunstal, Cuthbert, Master of the 
 Rolls, Archdeacon of Chester, 
 and Bishop of Durham, 78, 79, 
 80, 92, 141, 145, 146, 147, 
 149, 155, 168, 202, 213, 230, 
 278 
 Tyudale, William, 20, 202, 203 ; 
 his New Testament, 207, 208, 
 212, 213, 222 ; attacks More, 
 222, 223, 224, 225 
 
 Utopia, 23, 47, 48, 61. 70, 72, 
 79, 83, 84, 85, 97, 110 sqq., 
 131, 134, 142, 147, 149, 185, 
 186, 188, 208, 209, 283 
 
 Vergil, Polydore, 74, 84 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 2, 3, 112 
 
 Walsingham, Edward, Lieut, of 
 the Tower, 262, 274, 275 
 
 Warham, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, 69, 70, 71, 73, 76, 78, 
 
 144, 213, 232 
 Whiting, Abbat, 252 
 
 Wilson, Dr., one of the King's 
 
 chaplains, 243, 252 
 Winchester, Bishop of, 230 
 Wingfield, Sir Richard, 152 ; his 
 
 death, 166 
 Wiltshire, Earl of, father of 
 
 Queen Anne, 231, 258, 262 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, 3, 4, 18, 69, 
 
 74, 94, 105, 106, 126, 127, 
 
 145, 146, 148, 149, 152, 153, 
 154, 155, 156, 158, 159, 160, 
 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 168, 
 170, 171, 173, 175, 189, 216, 
 232 
 
 Wood, John, More's servant, 245 
 Wydville, Anthony (Earl Rivers), 
 190 
 
 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay.
 
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 SEPTEMBER 1895
 
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 Hosken. VERSES BY THE WAY. By J. D. Hosken. 
 
 Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 Gale. CRICKET SONGS. By Norman Gale. Crown Zvo. 
 Linen. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Also a limited edition on hand-made paper. Demy 8vo. ios. 6d. 
 net. 
 ' As healthy as they are spirited, and ought to have a great success.' — Times. 
 ' Simple, manly, and humorous. Every cricketer should buy the book.' — Westminster 
 Gazette. ' Cricket has never known such a singer.' — Cricket. 
 
 Langbridge. BALLADS OF THE BRAVE : Poems of Chivalry, 
 Enterprise, Courage, and Constancy, from the Earliest Times to the 
 Present Day. Edited, with Notes, by Rev. F. Langbridge. 
 Crown 8vo. Buckram $s. 6d. School Edition, is. 6d. 
 'A very happy conception happily carried out. These "Ballads of the Brave" are 
 intended to suit the real tastes of boys, and will suit the taste of the great majority. 
 —Spectator. ' The book is full of splendid things.'— World- 
 
 English Classics 
 
 Edited by W. E. Henley. 
 
 Messrs. Methuen are publishing, under this title, a series of the masterpieces of the 
 English tongue, which, while well within the reach of the average buyer, shall be 
 at once an ornament to the shelf of him that owns, and a delight to the eye of 
 him that reads. 
 
 The series, of which Mr. William Ernest Henley is the general editor, will confine 
 itself to no single period or department of literature. Poetry, fiction, drama, 
 biography, autobiography, letters, essays — in all these fields is the material of 
 many goodly volumes. 
 
 The books, which are designed and printed by Messrs. Constable, are issued in two 
 editions — (1) A small edition, on the finest Japanese vellum, demy 8vo, i\s. a 
 volume net ; (2) the popular edition on laid paper, crown 8vo, buckram, -$s. 6d. a 
 volume. 
 
 THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF TRISTRAM SHANDY. 
 
 By Lawrence Sterne. With an Introduction by Charles 
 
 Whibley, and a Portrait. 2 vols. *]s. 
 60 copies on Japanese paper. 42s. net. 
 ' Very dainty volumes are these ; the paper, type and light green binding are all 
 
 very_ agreeable to the eye. "Simplex munditiis " is the phrase that might be 
 
 applied to them. So far as we know, Sterne's famous work has never appeared in 
 
 a guise more attractive to the connoisseur than this.' — Globe. 
 ' The bookis excellently printed by Messrs. Constable on good paper, and being 
 
 divided into two volumes, is light and handy without lacking the dignity of a 
 
 classic' — Manchester Guardian.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 13 
 
 'This new edition of a great classic might make an honourable appearance in any 
 library in the world. Printed by Constable on laid paper, bound in most artistic 
 and restful-lookins fi^-green buckram, with a frontispiece portrait and an introduc- 
 tion by Mr. Charles Whibley, the book might well be issued at three times its 
 present price.' — Irish Independent. 
 
 'Cheap and comely; a very agreeable edition.'— Saturday Rn'iew. 
 
 ' A real acquisition to the library.'— Birmingham Post. 
 
 THE COMEDIES OF WILLIAM CONGREVE. With 
 an Introduction by G. S. Street, and a Portrait. 2 vols. Ts. 
 25 copies on Japanese paper. 42^. net. 
 
 'The comedies are reprinted in a good text and on a page delightful to look upon. 
 The pieces are rich reading.' — Scotsman. 
 
 •So long as literature thrives, Congreve must be read with growing zest, in virtue of 
 qualities which were always rare, and which were never rarer than at this moment. 
 All that is best and most representative of Congreve's genius is included in this 
 latest edition, wherein for the first time the chaotic punctuation of its forerunners 
 is reduced to order— a necessary, thankless task on which .Mr. Street has mani- 
 festly spent much pains. Of his introduction it remains to say that it is an ex- 
 cellent appreciation, notable for catholicity, discretion, and finesse : an admirable 
 piece of work.' — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 'Two volumes of marvellous cheapness.' — Dublin Herald. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN. 
 By James Morier. With an Introduction by E. G. Browne, M.A. 
 and a Portrait. 2 vols. "js. 
 
 25 copies on Japanese paper. 21s. net. 
 
 History- 
 
 Flinders Petrie. A HISTORY OF EGYPT, from the 
 Earliest Times to the Hyksos. By W. M. Flinders Petrie, 
 D. C. L. , Professor of Egyptology at University College. Fully Illus- 
 trated. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 'An important contribution to scientific study.'— Scotsman. 
 
 ' A history written in the spirit of scientific precision so worthily represented by Dr. 
 Petrie and his school cannot but promote sound and accurate study, and supply a 
 vacant place in the English literature of Egyptology.'— Times. 
 
 Flinders Petrie. EGYPTIAN TALES. Edited by W. M. 
 
 Flinders Petrie. Illustrated by Tristram Ellis. Crown 8vo. 
 
 In two volumes. 35. 6d. each. 
 'A valuable addition to the literature of comparative folk-lore. '1 he drawings aie 
 
 really illustrations in the literal sense of the word.'— Globe. 
 ' It hai a scientific value to the student of history and archaeology.'— Scotsman. 
 'Invaluable as a picture of life in Palestine and Egypt.'- Daily News.
 
 14 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 Clark. THE COLLEGES OF OXFORD : Their History and 
 their Traditions. By Members of the University. Edited by A. 
 Clark, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Lincoln College. 8vo. 12s. 6d. 
 
 ' A delightful book, learned and lively." — Academy. 
 
 'A work which will certainly be appealed to for many years as the standard book on 
 the Colleges of Oxford.' — Athenaum. 
 
 Perrens. THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE FROM THE 
 TIME OF THE MEDICIS TO THE FALL OF THE 
 REPUBLIC. By F. T. Perrens. Translated by Hannah 
 Lynch. In Three Volumes. Vol. I. 8vo. 12s. 6d. 
 
 ' This is a standard book by an honest and intelligent historian, who has deserved 
 well of all who are interested in Italian history.' — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 George. BATTLES OF ENGLISH HISTORY. By H. B. 
 George, M.A., Fellow of New College, Oxford. With numerous 
 Plans. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' Mr. George has undertaken a very useful task — that of making military affairs in- 
 telligible and instructive to non-military readers — and has executed it with laud- 
 able intelligence and industry, and with a large measure of success.' — Times. 
 
 'This book is almost a revelation ; and we heartily congratulate the author on his 
 work and on the prospect of the reward he has well deserved for so much con- 
 scientious and sustained labour.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 Browning. GUELPHSAND GHIBELLINES: A Short History 
 of Mediaeval Italy, a.d. 1250-1409. By Oscar Browning, Fellow 
 and Tutor of King's College, Cambridge. Second Edition. Crown 
 8vo. 55. 
 
 'A very able book.' — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 'A vivid picture of mediaeval Italy.' — Standard. 
 
 Browning. THE AGE OF THE CONDOTTIERI : A Short 
 Story of Italy from 1409 to 1530. By Oscar Browning, M.A., 
 Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Crozvn %vo. $s. 
 This book is a continuation of Mr. Browning's 'Guelphs and Ghibellines,' and the 
 
 two works form a complete account of Italian history from 1250 to 1530. 
 'Mr. Browning is to be congratulated on the production of a work of imn.eiise 
 labour and learning.' — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 O'Grady. THE STORY OF IRELAND. By Standish 
 O'Grady, Author of ' Finn and his Companions.' Cr. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 ' Novel and very fascinating history. Wonderfully alluring.' — Cork Examiner. 
 
 'Most delightful, most stimulating. Its racy humour, its original imaginings, 
 make it one of the freshest, breeziest volumes.' — Methodist Times. 
 
 'A survey at once graphic, acute, and quaintly written.' — Times. 
 
 Maiden. ENGLISH RECORDS. A Companion to the 
 History of England. ByH. E. Malden, M.A. Crown Svo. $s. 6d. 
 A book which concentrates information upon dates, genealogy, officials, constitu- 
 tional documents, etc., which is usually found scattered in different volumes.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 15 
 
 Biography 
 
 Collingrwood. THE LIFE OF JOHN RUSKIN. By\Y.(;. 
 
 Collingwood, M.A., Editor of Mr. Rutin's Poems. With 
 
 numerous Portraits, and 13 Drawings by Mr. Ruskin. 2 vols. Svo. 
 
 32.J. Second Edition. 
 ' No more magnificent volumes have been published for a long time. . . .' — Times. 
 1 It is long since we have had a biography with such delights of substance and of 
 
 form. Such a book is a pleasure for the day, and a joy for ever.' — Daily 
 
 Chronicle. 
 'A noble monument of a noble subject. One of the most beautiful books about oue 
 
 of the noblest lives of our century.' — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 Waldstein. JOHN RUSKIN : a Study. By Charles Wald- 
 STEIN, M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. With a Photo- 
 gravure Portrait after Professor Herkomer. Post 8vo. $s. 
 Also 25 copies on Japanese paper. Demy Svo. 21s. net. 
 
 'A thoughtful, impartial, well-written criticism of Kuskin's teaching, intended to 
 separate what the author regards as valuable and permanent from what is transient 
 and erroneous in the great master's writing.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 Kaufmann. CHARLES KINGSLEY. By M. Kaufmann, 
 M.A. Crown Svo. Buckram. $s. 
 A biography of Kingsley, especially dealing with his achievements in social reform. 
 ' The author has certainly gone about his work with conscientiousness and industry.' — 
 Slieffield Daily Telegraph. 
 
 Robbins. THE EARLY LIFE OF WILLIAM EWART 
 GLADSTONE. By A. F. Robbins. With Portraits. Crown 
 Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' Considerable labour and much skill of presentation have not been unworthily 
 
 expended on this interesting work.' — Times. 
 ' Not only one of the most meritorious, but one of the most interesting, biographical 
 works that have appeared on the subject of the ex-Premier. ... It furnishes a 
 picture from many points original and striking ; it makes additions of value to the 
 evidence on which we are entitled to estimate a great public character ; and it 
 gives the reader's judgment exactly that degree of guidance which is the function 
 of a calm, restrained, and judicious historian.' — Birmingliam Daily Post. 
 
 Clark Russell. THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL LORD COL- 
 LINGWOOD. By W. Clark Russell, Author of « The Wreck 
 of the Grosvenor.' With Illustrations by F. Brangwyn. Second 
 Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'A really good book.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 'A most excellent and wholesome book, which we should like to sec iu ihe bands of 
 tvery boy in the country." — St. James's Catette.
 
 16 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 Southey. ENGLISH SEAMEN (Howard, Clifford, Hawkins, 
 Drake, Cavendish). By Robert Southey. Edited, with an 
 Introduction, by David Hannay. Crown %vo. 6s. 
 This is a reprint of some excellent biographies of Elizabethan seamen, written by 
 Southey and never republished. They are practically unknown, and they de- 
 serve, and will probably obtain, a wide popularity. 
 
 General Literature 
 
 Gladstone. THE SPEECHES AND PUBLIC ADDRESSES 
 OF THE RT. HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P. With Notes 
 and Introductions. Edited by A. W. Hutton, M.A. (Librarian of 
 the Gladstone Library), and H. J. Cohen, M.A. With Portraits. 
 8vo. Vols. IX. and X. 12s. 6d. each. 
 
 Henley and Whibley. A BOOK OF ENGLISH PROSE. 
 Collected by W. E. Henley and Charles Whibley. Cr. 8vo. 6s. 
 Also 40 copies on Dutch paper. 21s. net. 
 Also 15 copies on Japanese paper. 42^. net. 
 'A unique volume of extracts— an art gallery of early prose.'— Birmingham Post. 
 ' An admirable companion to Mr. Henley's " Lyra Heroica.'"— Saturday Review. 
 ' Quite delightful. The choice made has been excellent, and the volume has been 
 most admirably printed by Messrs. Constable. A greater treat for those not well 
 acquainted with pre-Restoration prose could not be imagined.'— A tkenaum. 
 
 Wells. OXFORD AND OXFORD LIFE. By Members of 
 the University. Edited by J. Wells, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of 
 Wadham College. Crown 8zv. 35. 6d. 
 This work contains an account of life at Oxford— intellectual, social, and religious— 
 a careful estimate of necessary expenses, a review of recent changes, a statement 
 of the present position of the University, and chapters on Women's Education, 
 aids to study, and University Extension. 
 'We congratulate Mr. Wells on the production of a readable and intelligent account 
 of Oxford as it is at the present time, written by persons who are possessed of a 
 close acquaintance with the system and life of the University.'— Athentzum. 
 
 Ouida. VIEWS AND OPINIONS. By Ouida. Crown Zvo. 6s. 
 
 'Her views are always well marked and forcibly expressed, so that even when you 
 most strongly differ from the writer you can always recognise and acknowledge 
 her ability.' — Globe. 
 
 1 Ouida is outspoken, and the reader of this book will not have a dull moment. The 
 book is full of variety, and sparkles with entertaining matter.'— Speaker. 
 
 Bowden. THE EXAMPLE OF BUDDHA: Being Quota- 
 tions from Buddhist Literature for each Day in the Year. Compiled 
 by E. M. Bowden. With Preface by Sir Edwin Arnold. Third 
 Edition, \6tno. 2s. 6d.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 17 
 
 Bushill. PROFIT SHARING AND THE LABOUR QUES- 
 TION. By T. W. BUSHILL, a Profit Sharing Employer. With an 
 Introduction by Sedley Taylor, Author of ' Profit Sharing between 
 Capital and Labour.' Crown Svo. 2s. 6J. 
 
 Maiden. THE ENGLISH CITIZEN : His Rights and 
 Duties. By H. E. Malden, M.A. Crown Svo. is. 6J. 
 
 A simple account of the privileges and duties of the English citizen. 
 
 John Beever. PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING, Founded on 
 Nature, by John Beever, late of the Thwaite House, Coniston. A 
 New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author by W. G. Collingwood, 
 M.A. Crown Svo. %s. 6d. 
 A little book on Fly-Fishing by an old friend of Mr. Ruskin. 
 
 Science 
 
 Freudenreich. DAIRY BACTERIOLOGY. A Short Manual 
 for the Use of Students in Dairy Schools, Cheesemakers, and 
 Farmers. By Dr. Ed. von Freudenreich. Translated from the 
 German by J. R. Ainsworth Davis, B.A. (Camb.), F.C.P., Pro- 
 fessor of Biology and Geology at University College, Aberystwyth. 
 Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Chalmers Mitchell. OUTLINES OF BIOLOGY. By P. 
 
 Chalmers Mitchell, M.A., F.Z.S. Fully Illustrated. Crown 
 
 Svo. 6s. 
 A text-book designed to cover the new Schedule issued by the Royal College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 Massee. A MONOGRAPH OF THE MYXOGASTRES. By 
 
 George Massee. With 12 Coloured Plates. Royal Svo. \Ss.net. 
 'A work much in advance of any book in the language treating of this group of 
 organisms. It is indispensable to every student of the Myxogastres. The 
 coloured plates deserve high praise for their accuracy and execution.'— Nature. 
 
 Theology 
 
 Driver. SERMONS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT. ByS. R. Driver, D.D., Canon of 
 
 Christ Church, Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University of 
 
 Oxford. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 A welcome companion to the author's famous ' Introduction.' No man can read these 
 discourses without feeling that Dr. Driver is fully alive to th< iiinjrof 
 
 the Old Testament.' — Guardian.
 
 18 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 Cheyne. FOUNDERS OF OLD TESTAMENT CRITICISM : 
 Biographical, Descriptive, and Critical Studies. By T. K. Cheyne, 
 D.D., Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at 
 Oxford. Large crown Zvo. Js. 6d. 
 
 This important book is a historical sketch of O. T. Criticism in the form of biographi- 
 cal studies from the days of Eichhorn to those of Driver ajid Robertson Smith. 
 It is the only book of its kind in English. 
 
 'A very learned and instructive work.' — Times. 
 
 Prior. CAMBRIDGE SERMONS. Edited by H. C. Prior, 
 M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Pembroke College. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 A volume of sermons preached before the University of Cambridge by various 
 preachers, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Westcott. 
 
 'A representative collection. Bishop Westcott's is a noble sermon.' — Guardian. 
 
 ' Full of thoughtfulness and dignity.' — Record, 
 
 Beeching. SERMONS TO SCHOOLBOYS. By H. C. 
 
 Beeching, M.A., Rector of Yattendon, Berks. With a Preface by 
 Canon Scott Holland. Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 Seven sermons preached before the boys of Bradfield College. 
 
 Layard. RELIGION IN BOYHOOD. Notes on the Reli- 
 gious Training of Boys. With a Preface by J. R. Illingworth. 
 By E. B. Layard, M.A. iSmo. is. 
 
 HDetjotional 25oofe& 
 
 With Full-page Illustrations. 
 
 THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By Thomas A Kempis. 
 With an Introduction by Archdeacon Farrar. Illustrated by 
 C. M. Gere, and printed in black and red. Fcap. 8vo. 35. 6d. 
 
 ' We must draw attention to the antique style, quaintness, and typographical excel- 
 lence of the work, its red-letter " initials" and black letter type, and old-fashioned 
 paragraphic arrangement of pages. The antique paper, uncut edges, and illustra- 
 tions are in accord with the other features of this unique little work.' — Newsagent. 
 
 'Amongst all the innumerable English editions of the '' Imitation," there can have 
 been few which were prettier than this one, printed in strong and handsome type 
 by Messrs. Constable, with all the glory of red initials, and the comfort of buckram 
 binding.' — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. By John Keble. With an Intro- 
 duction and Notes by W. Lock, M.A., Sub- Warden of Keble 
 College, Author of 'The Life of John Keble.' Illustrated by R. 
 Anning Bell. Fcap. Svo. $s. [October.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 19 
 
 3/6 
 
 Leaders of Religion 
 
 Edited by H. C. BEECHING, M.A. With Portraits, crown Svo. 
 
 A series of short biographies of the most prominent leaders 
 of religious life and thought of all ages and countries. 
 
 The following are ready — 
 CARDINAL NEWMAN. By R. H. Hutton. 
 JOHN WESLEY. By J. H. Overton, M.A. 
 BISHOP WILBERFORCE. By G. W. Daniel, M.A. 
 CARDINAL MANNING. By A. W. Hutton, M.A. 
 CHARLES SIMEON. By H. C. G. Moule, M.A. 
 JOHN KEBLE. By Walter Lock, M.A. 
 THOMAS CHALMERS. By Mrs. Oliphant. 
 LANCELOT ANDREWES. By R. L. Ottley, M.A. 
 AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY. By E. L. Cutts, D.D. 
 WILLIAM LAUD. By W. H. Hutton, M.A. 
 
 Other volumes will be announced in due course. 
 
 Works by S. Baring Gould 
 
 OLD COUNTRY LIFE. With Sixty-seven Illustrations by 
 W. Farkinson, F. D. Bedford, and F. Masey. Large Crown 
 Svo, cloth super extra, top edge gilt, los. 6d. Fifth and Cheaper 
 Edition, 6s. 
 
 ' " Old Country Life," as healthy wholesome reading, full of breezy life and move- 
 ment, lull of quaint stories vigorously told, will not be excelled by any book to be 
 published throughout the year. Sound, hearty, and English to the core.' — World. 
 
 HISTORIC ODDITIES AND STRANGE EVENTS. Third 
 Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' A collection of exciting and entertaining chapters. The whole volume is delightful 
 reading.' — Times. 
 
 FREAKS OF FANATICISM. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 'Mr. Baring Gould has a keen eye for colour and effect, and the subjects he has 
 chosen give ample scope to his descriptive and analytic faculties. A | 
 fascinating book.' — Scottish Leader. 
 
 A GARLAND OF COUNTRY SONG : English Folk Songs 
 with their traditional melodies. Collected and arranged by S. 
 Baring Gould and II. Fleetwood Sheppard. Demy <\to. 6.f.
 
 20 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 SONGS OF THE WEST : Traditional Ballads and Songs of 
 the West of England, with their Traditional Melodies. Collected 
 by S. Baring Gould, M.A., and H. Fleetwood Sheppard, 
 M.A. Arranged for Voice and Piano. In 4 Parts (containing 25 
 Songs each), Parts I., II., III., 35. each. Part IV., $s. In one 
 Vol., French morocco, i$s. 
 'A rich collection of humour, pathos, grace, and poetic fancy.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 A BOOK OF FAIRY TALES retold by S. Baring Gould. 
 With numerous illustrations and initial letters by Arthur J. Gaskin. 
 Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 'Mr. Baring Gould has done a good deed, and is deserving of gratitude, in re-writing 
 in honest, simple style the old stories that delighted the childhood of " our fathers 
 and grandfathers." We do not think he has omitted any of our favourite stories, 
 the stories that are commonly regarded as merely " old fashioned." As to the form 
 of the book, and the printing, which is by Messrs. Constable, it were difficult to 
 commend overmuch.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 YORKSHIRE ODDITIES AND STRANGE EVENTS 
 
 Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 STRANGE SURVIVALS AND SUPERSTITIONS. With 
 
 Illustrations. By S. Baring Gould. Crown Svo. Second Edition. 
 
 6s. 
 
 ' We have read Mr. Baring Gould's book from beginning to end. It is full of quaint 
 and various information, and there is not a dull page in it.' — Notes and Queries. 
 
 THE TRAGEDY OF THE CAESARS: The 
 
 Emperors of the Julian and Claudian Lines. With numerous Illus- 
 trations from Busts, Gems, Cameos, etc. By S. Baring Gould, 
 Author of ' Mehalah,' etc. Third Edition. Royal Svo. i$s. 
 ' A most splendid and fascinating book on a subject of undying interest. The great 
 feature of the book is the use the author has made of the existing portraits of the 
 Caesars, and the admirable critical subtlety he has exhibited in dealing with this 
 line of research. It is brilliantly written, and the illustrations are supplied on a 
 scale of profuse magnificence.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 ' The volumes will in no sense disappoint the general reader. Indeed, in their way, 
 there is nothing in any sense so good in English. . . . Mr. Baring Gould has 
 presented his narrative in such a way as not to make one dull page.' — Athetuetun. 
 
 THE DESERTS OF SOUTHERN FRANCE. By S. Baring 
 Gould. With numerous Illustrations by F. D. Bedford, S. 
 Hutton, etc. 2 vols. Demy Svo. 325. 
 
 This book is the first serious attempt to describe the great barren tableland that 
 extends to the south of Limousin in the Department of Aveyron, Lot, etc., a 
 country of dolomite cliffs, and canons, and subterranean rivers. The region is 
 full of prehistoric and historic interest, relics of cave-dwellers, of mediaeval 
 robbers, and of the English domination and the Hundred Years' War. 
 
 'His two richly-illustrated volumes are full of matter of interest to the geologist, 
 the archaeologist, and the student of history and manners.' — Scotsman. 
 
 • It deals with its subject in a manner which rarely fails to arrest attention.' — Times.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 21 
 
 Fiction 
 
 8IX SHILLING NOVELS 
 
 Marie Corelli. BARABBAS : A DREAM OF THE WORLD'S 
 
 TRAGEDY. By Marie Corelli, Author of ' A Romance of Two 
 
 Worlds,' ' Vendetta,' etc. Seventeenth Edition. Crown Sz'o. 6s. 
 
 ' The tender reverence of the treatment and the imaginative beauty of the writing 
 have reconciled us to the daring of the conception, and the conviction is forced on 
 us that even so exalted a subject cannot be made too familiar to us, provided it be 
 presented in the true spirit of Christian faith. The amplifications of the Scripture 
 narrative are often conceived with high poetic insight, and this " Dream ot the 
 World's Tragedy " is, despite some trifling incongruities, a lofty and not inade- 
 quate paraphrase of the supreme climax of the inspired narrative.' — Dublin 
 Review, 
 
 Anthony Hope. THE GOD IN THE CAR. By Anthony 
 Hoi'E, Author of ' A Change of Air,' etc. Sixth Edition. Crown 
 8vo. 6s. 
 ' Ruston is drawn with extraordinary skill, and Maggie Dennison with many subtle 
 strokes. The minor characters are clear cut. In short the book is a brilliant one. 
 "The God in the Car" is one of the most remarkable works in a year that has 
 given us the handiwork of nearly all our best living novelists.' — Standard. 
 
 ' A very remarkable book, deserving of critical analysis impossible within our limit ; 
 brilliant, but not superficial ; well considered, but not elaborated ; constructed 
 with the proverbial art that conceals, but yet allows itself to be enjoyed by readers 
 to whom fine literary method is a keen pleasure; true without cynicism, subtle 
 without affectation, humorous without strain, witty without offence, inevitably 
 sad, with an unmorose simplicity.'— The World. 
 
 Anthony Hope. A CHANGE OF AIR. By Anthony Hope, 
 Author of ' The Prisoner of Zenda,' etc. Second Edition. Crown 
 %vo. 6s. 
 'A graceful, vivacious comedy, true to human nature. The characters are traced 
 with a masterly hand.' — Times. 
 
 Anthony Hope. A MAN OF MARK. By Anthony Hope, 
 Author of 'The Prisoner of Zenda,' 'The God in the Car,' etc. 
 Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'A bright, entertaining, unusually able book, quite worthy of its brilliant author.'— 
 
 Queen. 
 ' Of all Mr. Hope's books, " A Man of Mark " is the one which best compares with 
 " The Prisoner of Zenda." The two romances are unmistakably the work of the 
 same writer, and he possesses a style of narrative peculiarly seductive, piquant, 
 comprehensive, and— his own.' — National Observer. 
 
 Conan Doyle. ROUND THE RED LAMP. By A. Conan 
 Doyle, Author of 'The White Company,' 'The Adventures of 
 Sherlock Holmes,' etc. Fourth Edition. Crown &vo. 6s. 
 'The book is, indeed, composed of leaves from life, and is far ami away the best view 
 that has been vouchsafed us behind the icetN a of the consulting-room. It is very 
 superior to " The Diary of a late Physician." '—Illustrated London IVni's.
 
 22 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 'Dr. Doyle wields a cunning pen, as all the world now knows. His deft touch is 
 seen to perfection in these short sketches — these "facts and fancies of medical 
 life," as he calls them. Every page reveals the literary artist, the keen observer, 
 the trained delineator of human nature, its weal and its woe.' — Freeman 's Journal. 
 
 'These tales are skilful, attractive, and eminently suited to give relief to the mind 
 of a reader in quest of distraction.' — Athenaum. 
 
 Stanley Weyman. UNDER THE RED ROBE. By Stanley 
 Weyman, Author of ' A Gentleman of France.' With Twelve Illus- 
 trations by R. Caton Woodville. Seventh Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 A cheaper edition of a book which won instant popularity. No unfavourable review 
 occurred, and most critics spoke in terms of enthusiastic admiration. The ' West- 
 minster Gazette ' called it ' a book of which we have read every word for the sheer 
 pleasure of reading, and which we put down with a pang that we cannot forget 
 it all and start again.' The ' Daily Chronicle' said that ' every one who reads 
 books at all must read this thrilling romance, from the first page of which to the 
 last the breathless reader is haled along.' It also called the book ' an inspiration 
 of manliness and courage.' The ' Globe ' called it ' a delightful tale of chivalry 
 and adventure, vivid and dramatic, with a wholesome modesty and reverence 
 for the highest.' 
 
 Emily Lawless. MAELCHO : a Sixteenth Century Romance. 
 By the Hon. Emily Lawless, Author of ' Grania,' ' Hurrish,' etc. 
 Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 'A striking and delightful book. A task something akin to Scott's may lie before 
 Miss Lawless. If she carries forward this series of historical pictures with the 
 same brilliancy and truth she has already shown, and with the increasing self- 
 control one may expect from the genuine artist, she may do more for her country 
 than many a politician. Throughout this fascinating book, Miss Lawless has 
 produced something which is not strictly history and is not strictly fiction, but 
 nevertheless possesses both imaginative value and historical insight in a high 
 degree.' — Times. 
 
 'A really great book.' — Spectator. 
 
 'There is no keener pleasure in life than the recognition of genius. Good work is 
 commoner than it used to be, but the best is as rare as ever. All the more 
 gladly, therefore, do we welcome in " Maelcho " a piece of work of the first order, 
 which we do not hesitate to describe as one of the most remarkable literary 
 achievements of this generation. Miss Lawless is possessed of the very essence 
 of historical genius.'— Manchester Guardian. 
 
 E. F. Benson. DODO : A DETAIL OF THE DAY. By E. F. 
 Benson. Crown Svo. Sixteenth Edition. 6s. 
 A story of society which attracted by its brilliance universal attention. The best 
 critics were cordial in their praise. The ' Guardian ' spoke of ' Dodo ' as ' un- 
 usually clever and interesting ; tiie ' Spectator ' called it ' a delightfully witty 
 sketch of society ; ' the ' Speaker ' said the dialogue was ' a perpetual feast of 
 epigram and paradox' ; the 'Athenaeum' spoke of the author as 'a writer 
 of quite exceptional ability' ; the 'Academy' praised his ' amazing cleverness ;' 
 the ' World ' said the book was ' brilliantly written ' ', and half-a-dozen papers 
 declared there was ' not a dull page in the book.' 
 
 E. F. Benson. THE RUBICON. By E. F. Benson, Author of 
 'Dodo.' Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 Of Mr. Benson's second novel the 'Birmingham Post' says it is 'well written, 
 stimulating, unconventional, and, in a word, characteristic ' : the ' National 
 Observer congratulates Mr. Benson upon 'an exceptional achievement,' and 
 calls the 'book ' a notable advance on his previous work.'
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 23 
 
 M. M. Dowie. GALLIA. By Menie Muriel Dowie, Author 
 of 'A Girl in the Carpathians.' Second Edition. Crown Szo. 6s. 
 
 'The style is generally admirable, the dialogue not seldom brilliant, the situations 
 surprising in their freshness and originality, while the subsidiary as wejl as the 
 principal characters live and move, and the story itself is readable from title-page 
 to colophon.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 ' A very notable book; a very sympathetically, at times delightfully written book.' 
 — Daily Graphic. 
 
 MR. BARING GOULD'S NOVELS 
 
 4 To say that a book is by the author of " Mehalah " is to imply that it contains a 
 story cast on strong lines, containing dramatic possibilities, vivid and sympathetic 
 descriptions of Nature, and a wealth of ingenious imagery.' — Speaker. 
 'That whatever Mr. Baring Gould writes is well worth reading, is a conclusion that 
 may be very generally accepted. His views of life are fresh and vigorous, his 
 language pointed and characteristic, the incidents of which he makes use are 
 striking and original, his characters are life-like, and though somewhat excep- 
 tional people, are drawn and coloured with artistic force. Add to this that his 
 descriptions of scenes and scenery are painted with the loving eyes and skilled 
 hands of a master of his art, that he is always fresh and never dull, and under 
 such conditions it is no wonder that readers have gained confidence both in his 
 power of amusing and satisfying them, and that year by year his popularity 
 widens.' — Court Circular. 
 
 Baring Gould. URITH : A Story of Dartmoor. By S. Baring 
 Gould. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' The author is at his best.' — Times. 
 ' He has nearly reached the high water-mark of " Mehalah." '—National Observer. 
 
 Earing Gould. IN THE ROAR OF THE SEA: A Tale of 
 the Cornish Coast. By S. Baring Gould. Fifth Edition. 6s. 
 
 Baring Gould. MRS. CURGENVEN OF CURGENVEN. 
 By S. Baring Gould. Fourth Edition. 6s. 
 
 A story of Devon life. The ' Graphic ' speaks of it as ' a novel of vigorous humour and 
 sustained power' ; the ' Sussex Daily News ' says that ' tlu swing of the narrative 
 is splendid' ; and the ' Speaker' mentions its ' bright imaginative power.' 
 
 Baring Gould. CHEAP JACK ZITA By S. Baring Gould. 
 Third Edition. Crown Zvo. 6s. 
 A Romance of the Ely Fen District in 1815, which the 'Westminster Gazette' calls 
 ' a powerful drama of human passion'; and the ' National Observer ' ' a story 
 worthy the author.' 
 
 Baring Gould. THE QUEEN OF LOVE. By S. Baring 
 Gould. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 The ' Glasgow Herald ' says that ' the scenery is admirable, and the dramatic inci- 
 dents are most striking'.' The 'Westminster Gazette' calls the book strong, 
 interesting, and clever.' ' Punch ' says that 'you cannot put it down until you 
 have finished it.' 'The Sussex Daily News' says il 
 mended to all who care for cleanly, energetic, and interesting fit Hon.
 
 24 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 Baring Gould. KITTY ALONE. By S. Baring Gould, 
 Author of 'Mehalah,' 'Cheap Jack Zita,' etc. Fourth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ' A strong and original story, teeming with graphic description, stirring incident, 
 and, above all, with vivid and enthralling human interest.' — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 ' Brisk, clever, keen, healthy, humorous, and interesting.' — National Observer. 
 
 ' Full of quaint and delightful studies of character.'— Bristol Mercury. 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant. SIR ROBERT'S FORTUNE. By Mrs. 
 Oliphant. Crown %vo. 6s. 
 ' Full of her own peculiar charm of style and simple, subtle character-painting comes 
 her new gift, the delightful story before us. The scene mostly lies in the moors, 
 and at the touch of the authoress a Scotch moor becomes a living thing, strong, 
 tender, beautiful, and changeful. The book will take rank among the best of 
 Mrs. Oliphant's good stories.' — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 W.E. Norris. MATTHEW AUSTIN. By W. E. Norris, Author 
 of ' Mademoiselle de Mersac,' etc. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' "Matthew Austin" may safely be pronounced one of the most intellectually satis- 
 factory and morally bracing novels of the current year.' — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 'Mr. W. E. Norris is always happy in his delineation of every-day experiences, but 
 rarely has he been brighter or breezier than in " Matthew Austin." The pictures 
 are in Mr. Norris's pleasantest vein, while running through the entire story is a 
 felicity of style and wholesomeness of tone which one is accustomed to find in the 
 novels of this favourite author.' — Scotsman. 
 
 W. E. Norris. HIS GRACE. By W. E. Norris, Author of 
 'Mademoiselle de Mersac' Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'Mr. Norris has drawn a really fine character in the Duke of Hurstbourne, at once 
 unconventional and very true to the conventionalities of life, weak and strong in 
 a breath, capable of inane follies and heroic decisions, yet not so definitely por- 
 trayed as to relieve a reader of the necessity of study on his own behalf.' — 
 A thenceum. 
 
 W. E. Norris. THE DESPOTIC LADY AND OTHERS. 
 By W. E. Norris, Author of 'Mademoiselle de Mersac.' Crown 
 8z>o. 6s. 
 'A delightfully humorous tale of a converted and rehabilitated rope-dancer. — 
 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 'The ingenuity of the idea, the skill with which it is worked out, and the sustained 
 humour of its situations, make it after its own manner a veritable little master- 
 piece.' — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 ' A budget of good fiction of which no one will tire.' — Scotsman. 
 
 'An extremely entertaining volume — the sprightliest of holiday companions.' — 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 Gilbert Parker. MRS. FALCHION. By Gilbert Parker, 
 Author of ' Pierre and His People.' Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 Mr. Parker's second book has received a warm welcome. The ' Athenaeum ' called 
 it ' a splendid study of character' ; the ' Pall Mall Gazette ' spoke of the writing as 
 ' but little behind anything that has been done by any -writer of our time ' ; the 
 ' St. James's' called it 'a very striking and admirable novel' ; and the ' West- 
 minster Gazette ' applied to it the epithet of ' distinguished.' 
 
 Gilbert Parker. PIERRE AND HIS PEOPLE. By Gilbert 
 Parker. Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 'Stories happily conceived and finely executed. There is strength and genius in Mr. 
 Parker's style.' — Daily Telegraph.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 25 
 
 Gilbert Parker. THE TRANSLATION OF A SAVAGE. By 
 Gilbert Parker, Author of 'Pierre and His People,' 'Mrs. 
 Falchion,' etc. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 •The plot is original and one difficult to work out; but Mr. Parker has done it with 
 great skill and delicacy. The reader who is not interested in this original, fresh, 
 and well-told tale must be a dull person indeed.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 'A strong and successful piece of workmanship. The portrait of Lali, strong, digni- 
 fied, and pure, is exceptionally well drawn.' — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 'A very pretty and interesting story, and Mr. Parker tells it with much skill. The 
 story is one to be read.' — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 Gilbert Parker. THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD. By Gilbert 
 Parker, Author of 'Pierre and his People,' etc. Third Edition. 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 'Everybody with a soul for romance will thoroughly enjoy "The Trail of the 
 Sword." ' — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 'A rousing and dramatic tale. A book like this, in which swords flash, great sur- 
 prises are undertaken, and daring deeds done, in which men and women live and 
 love in the old straightforward passionate way, is a joy inexpressible to the re- 
 viewer, brain-weary of the domestic tragedies and psychological puzzles of every- 
 day fiction ; and we cannot but believe that to the reader it will bring refreshment 
 as welcome and as keen.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 Gilbert Parker. WHEN VALMOND CAME TO PONTIAC : 
 The Story of a Lost Napoleon. By Gilbert Parker. Second 
 Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'Here we find romance — real, breathing, living romance, but it runs flush with our 
 own times, level with our own feelings. Not here can we complain of lack of 
 inevitableness or homogeneity. The character of Valmond is drawn unerringly ; 
 his career, brief as it is, is placed before us as convincingly as history itself. The 
 book must be read, we may say re-read, for any one thoroughly to appreciate 
 Mr. Parker's delicate touch and innate sympathy with humanity.' — Pall Mall 
 Gazette. 
 
 Arthur Morrison. TALES OF MEAN STREETS. By Arthur 
 Morrison. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 'Told with consummate art and extraordinary detail. He tells a plain, unvarnished 
 tale, and the very truth of it makes for beauty. In the true humanity of the book 
 lies its justification, the permanence of its interest, and its indubitable triumph.' — 
 A thi nceum. 
 
 ' A great book. The author's method is amazingly effective, and produces a thrilling 
 sense of reality. The writer lays upon us a master hand. The book is simply 
 appalling and irresistible in its interest. It is humorous also ; without humour 
 it would not make the mark it is certain to make.'— World. 
 
 Julian Corbett. A BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS. By 
 Julian Corbett, Author of ' For God and Gold,' ' Kophetua 
 XHIth.,' etc. CrownSvo. 6s. 
 'There is plenty of incident and movement in this romance. It is interesting as a 
 novel framed in an historical setting, and it is all the more worthy of attention 
 from the lover of romance as being absolutely free from the morbid, the frivolous, 
 and the ultra-sexual.' — Athenaum. 
 ' A stirring tale of naval adventure during the Great French War. The book is full 
 of picturesque and attractive characters.'— Glasgow Herald.
 
 26 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 Robert Barr. IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS. By Robert 
 
 Barr, Author of ' From Whose Bourne,' etc. Second Edition. 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' A book which has abundantly satisfied us by its capital humour.' — Daily Chronicle. 
 ' Mr. Barr has achieved a triumph whereof he has every reason to be proud.' — Pall 
 
 Mall Gazette. 
 'There is a quaint thought or a good joke on nearly every page. The studies of 
 
 character are carefully finished, and linger in the memory.' — Black and White. 
 'Distinguished for kindly feeling, genuine humour, and really graphic portraiture.' 
 
 — Sussex Daily News. 
 'A delightful romance, with experiences strange and exciting. The dialogue is 
 
 always bright and witty ; the scenes are depicted briefly and effectively ; and 
 
 there is no incident from first to last that one would wish to have omitted.' — 
 
 Scotsman. 
 
 Mrs. Pinsent. CHILDREN. OF THIS WORLD. By Ellen 
 F. Pinsent, Author of 'Jenny's Case.' Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 ' There is much clever writing in this book. The story is told in a workmanlike 
 manner, and the characters conduct themselves like average human beings.' — 
 Daily News. 
 
 ' Full of interest, and, with a large measure of present excellence, gives ample pro- 
 mise of splendid work.' — Birmingham Gazette. 
 
 ' Mrs. Pinsent's new novel has plenty of vigour, variety, and good writing. There 
 are certainty of purpose, strength of touch, and clearness of vision.' — Athenaunt. 
 
 Clark Russell. MY DANISH SWEETHEART. By W. 
 Clark Russell, Author of 'The Wreck of the Grosvenor,' etc. 
 Illustrated. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 Pryce. TIME AND THE WOMAN. By Richard Pryce, 
 
 Author of ' Miss Maxwell's Affections,' 'The Quiet Mrs. Fleming,' 
 etc. Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 ' Mr. Pryce's work recalls the style of Octave Feuillet, by its clearness, conciseness, 
 its literary reserve.' — Athcnaum. 
 
 Mrs. Watson. THIS MAN'S DOMINION. By the Author 
 of 'A High Little World.' Second Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 'It is not a book to be read and forgotten on a railway journey, but it is rather a 
 , study of the perplexing problems of life, to which the reflecting mind will 
 frequently return, even though the reader does not accept the solutions which the 
 author suggests. In these days, when the output of merely amusing novels is so 
 overpowering, this is no slight praise. There is an underlying depth in the story 
 which reminds one, in a lesser degree, of the profundity of George Eliot, and 
 " This Man's Dominion " is by no means a novel to be thrust aside as exhausted at 
 one perusal.' — Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 Marriott Watson. DIOGENES OF LONDON and other 
 Sketches. By H. B. Marriott Watson, Author of ' The Web 
 of the Spider.' Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 'By all those who delight in the uses of words, who rate the exercise of prose above 
 the exercise of verse, who rejoice in all proofs of its delicacy and its strength, who 
 believe that English prose is chief among the moulds of thought, by these 
 Mr. Marriott Watson's book will be welcomed.' — National Observer.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 27 
 
 Gilchrist. THE STONE DRAGON. By Murray Gilchrist. 
 
 Crown Svo. Buckram. 6s. 
 'The author's faults are atoned for by certain positive and admirable merits. The 
 romances have not their counterpart in modern literature, and to read them is a 
 unique experience.' — National Observer. 
 
 THREE-AND-SIXPENNY NOVELS 
 
 Edna Lyall. DERRICK VAUGHAN, NOVELIST. By 
 Edna Lyall, Author of ' Donovan,' etc. Forty-first Thousand. 
 Crown Svo. 3s. 6J. 
 
 Baring Gould. ARMINELL: A Social Romance. By S. 
 Baring Gould. New Edition. Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Baring Gould. MARGERY OF QUETHER, and other Stones. 
 By S. Baring Gould. Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Baring Gould. JACQUETTA, and other Stories. By S. Baring 
 Gould. Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Miss Benson. SUBJECT TO VANITY. By Margaret 
 
 Benson. With numerous Illustrations. Second Edition. Crown 
 
 Svo. 35. 6d. 
 ' A charming little book about household pets by a daughter of the Archbishop of 
 
 Canterbury.' — Speaker. 
 'A delightful collection of studies of animal nature. It is very seldom that we get 
 
 anything so perfect in its kind. . . . The illustrations are clever, and the whole 
 
 book a singularly delightful one.' — Guardian. 
 'Humorous and sentimental by turns, Miss Benson always manages to interest us 
 
 in her pets, and all who love animals will appreciate her book, not only for their 
 
 sake, but quite as much for its own.' — Times. 
 ' All lovers of animals should read Miss Benson's book. For sympathetic under- 
 standing, humorous criticism, and appreciative observation she certainly has not 
 
 her equal.' — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 Gray. ELSA. A Novel. By E. M'Queen Gray. Crown Svo. 
 
 2,s. 6d. 
 'A charming novel. The characters are not only powerful sketches, but minutely 
 and carefully finished portraits.' — Guardian. 
 
 J. E. Pearce. JACO TRELOAR. By J. H. Pearce, Author of 
 
 ' Esther Pentreath.' New Edition. Crown Svo. y.6d. 
 The 'Spectator' speaks of Mr. Pearce as ' awriter 0/ exceptional power'; the 'Daily 
 Telegraph' calls the book 'powerful and picturesque ' ; the ' Birmingham Post" 
 asserts that it is 'a novel 0/ high quality.' 
 
 X. L. AUT DIABOLUS AUT NIHIL, and Other Stories. 
 By X. L. Crown Svo. 3^. Cd. 
 
 ' Distinctly original and in the highest degree imaginative. The conception is almost 
 as lofty as Milton's.' — Spectator. 
 
 ' Original to a degree of originality that may be called primitive — a kind of passion- 
 ate directness that absolutely absorbs us.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 ' Of powerful interest. There is something st mal in the treatment of the 
 
 themes. The terrible realism leaves no doubt of the author's power.'— A the <j.. um.
 
 28 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 O'Grady. THE COMING OF CUCULAIN. A Romance of 
 the Heroic Age of Ireland. By Standish O'Grady, Author of 
 « Finn and his Companions,' etc. Illustrated by Murray Smith. 
 Crown Svo. 3*. 6d. 
 
 ' The suggestions of mystery, the rapid and exciting action, are superb poetic effects.' 
 — Speaker. 
 
 ' For light and colour it resembles nothing so much as a Swiss dawn.' — Manchester 
 Guardian. 
 
 'A romance extremely fascinating and admirably well knit.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 Constance Smith. A CUMBERER OF THE GROUND. 
 By Constance Smith, Author of ' The Repentance of Paul Went- 
 worth,' etc. New Edition. Crown Svo. 3 s. 6d. 
 
 Author of 'Vera.' THE DANCE OF THE HOURS. By 
 
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 Author of 'Muriel's Marriage,' 'Virginia's Husband,' etc. New 
 Edition. Crown Svo. 35. 6d. 
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 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 Fenn. THE STAR GAZERS. By G. Manville Fenn, 
 Author of ' Eli's Children,' etc. New Edition. Cr. Svo. 31. 6d. 
 
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 2. DISENCHANTMENT. By F. Mabel Robinson. 
 
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 5. ELI'S CHILDREN. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 
 6. A DOUBLE KNOT. By G. Manville Fenn. 
 
 7. DISARMED. By M. Betham Edwards.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's List 29 
 
 8. A LOST ILLUSION. By Leslie Keith. 
 
 9. A MARRIAGE AT SEA. By W. Clark Russell. 
 
 10. IN TENT AND BUNGALOW. By the Author of ' Indian 
 
 Idylls.' 
 
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 12. A REVEREND GENTLEMAN. By J. M. COBDAN. 
 
 13. A DEPLORABLE AFFAIR. By W. E. NORRIS. 
 
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 30 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
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 PROBLEMS OF POVERTY : An Inquiry into the Industrial 
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 PSYCHOLOGY. By F. S. Granger, M.A., Lecturer in Philo- 
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 Messrs. Methuen's List 31 
 
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 LAND NATIONALIZATION. By Harold Cox, B.A. 
 
 A SHORTER WORKING DAY. By H. DE 1). GiBBINS 
 and R. A. HAD] mi d, "I the I [ecla Works, Shi
 
 32 Messrs. Methuen's List 
 
 BACK TO THE LAND : An Inquiry into the Cure for Rural 
 
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