way, was only losing so much time. They insinuated too, that a Secular Supremacy, established at home, would abundantly supply all his Majesty's present wants and pressing necessities, and completely furnish him with what he seemed to despair of obtaining from the Vatican. And in the con clusion, they forgot not to put him in mind, that since the Spirituality were now entangled in a Præmunire, his Majesty had nothing more to do, than to seize the favourable opportunity, and to push the advantage. These sentiments, so plausible in themselves, and so perfectly agreeable to his inclinations, the King, without much hesitation, embraced; and the hopeful scheme being thus preconcerted, it was signified to the Clergy in pretty strong terms, that "The King would not be satisfied with the payment of the money, except also they would acknowledge him to be the Supreme Head of the Church." Now here was a new difficulty started, and the Clergy found themselves plunged into new troubles. The King rises in his demands upon them, and he is fixed and unalterable in his resolution, to allow them no other terms of accommodation; with which if the Clergy did not think fit to comply, they were to be informed (by a messenger sent expressly from court for that purpose) that their humble Petition for a discharge of the Præmunire would be rejected with contempt. This was indeed a terrible dilemma! but how to get cleverly out of it; how to secure so many estates, lives, and liberties, as now lay at the mercy of an enraged tyrant, Hic labor, hoc opus! However, after it had been long and much debated in the Convocation- House, the Clergy stretched the point so far at last, as to recognize the King's New Title, and to acknowledge His Majesty to be the singular Protector, the only and supreme Lord, and also supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England, As far as is consistent with the Law of Christ. And with this restriction, or limitative clause (of which Bishop Fisher is said to have been the author) the Supremac was submitted to in that Convocation; and by passing both Houses of Parliament, the Submission passed into a law, the King very readily gave his assent to it. See a remarkable dissuasive speech on this subject, spoken by a member of the Privy Council in the King's presence, Appendix, No. II. + Fuller's Ch. Hist. B. v. p. 184. $ 3. Cromwell is advanced to the Dignity of The King's Vicar-General in Spirituals. ... Mr. Salmon's Mistake, occasioned by his implicit Faith in Bp. Burnet.....King Henry discovers the Cruelty of his Temper..... He puts to Death the Old Catholics and the New Gospellers promiscuously..... And why..... An Abstract of his Six famous Articles of Religion.. Mr. Fuller's Character of K. Henry VIII. Ir was not long before Cardinal Wolsey's vacant post at court was filled up with the person of his quondam Secretary, Mr. Thomas Cromwell. This man, during the short time of his administration, is said to have done many great things, but not one good thing that I have been able to discover. Perhaps his greatest merit lay in suggesting to the King the Dissolution of the Religious Houses, and his bearing hard upon the Jurisdiction of the Clergy. By walking in these paths of iniquity, he soon made his way to the King's confidence. He soon became a star of the first magnitude at court. In short, his pliant conformity with the King's will and pleasure in all things, was amply rewarded with a multiplicity of lucrative posts as well as titles of honour; for he enjoyed successively the dignities of Master of the Rolls and Lord Privy Seal: he was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, created Earl of Essex, appointed Lord High Chamberlain; but higher, and far above all the rest of his titles, was that of The King's Vicar-General in Spirituals; a dignity never heard of before, either in the list of officers belonging to the crown of England, or to any other kingdom within the limits of Christianity. Nevertheless, this perhaps might be thought to be no impolitic step in those unhappy days of confusion; and perchance the King could not so conveniently rear the grand structure of his Lay-supremacy, without making use of such a scaffold. But be that as it will, this however is pretty certain, that Cromwell's important commission qualified him, not only to take his seat above the Archbishop of Canterbury in the ConvocationHouse, but also to transact every thing relative to the King's Supremacy in all its branches; of which a modern historian thus very frankly delivers his opinion. "As the Supremacy was then explained and practised, it was pretty difficult for a man to subscribe to it, for the ‡ Salmon's History of England, vol. i. p. 230. King seemed to claim a power [N. B.] equal to Christ himself, when he issued commissions to the Bishops to or dain, consecrate, and administer the Sacraments, and perform all the other parts of their Spiritual Function. The Church was now indeed a Creature of the State, and the Religion of those days not improperly styled A Parliamentary Religion. And the King not only looked upon himself as Supreme Head of the Church in the most extended sense, but that he had a power to delegate it to whom he pleased, and accordingly made Cromwell his Vicar-General, and afterwards his Vicegerent, by virtue whereof he took place of the Archbishops and Bishops, as well as the lay nobility." Now here I must beg leave to take notice, en passant, of a mistake our historian has inadvertently made, perhaps by his too implicit faith in Bishop Burnet. This unaccountable man (and Mr. Salmon after him) very whimsically splits Thomas Cromwell into a Vicur-General and a Vicegerent whereas it plainly appears (even from Burnet's own Collection of Records) that the Vicar-Generalship and Vicegerency of that famous minister were only two different names expressive of one and the same office. “‡ For, as it happens, this commission of Cromwell is still extant. Now by inspecting this instrument, it appears that Cromwell, by being made Vicar-General, had an entire delegation of the King's Supremacy; that he had an authority to visit all the Bishops and Archbishops in the kingdom; and that Vicar General and Vicegerent were only two names for the same thing. When this learned historian (as Mr. Collier is pleased to style Burnet) wrote his Second Part, he met with Cromwell's commission for Vicar-General but then he was not so fortunate as to recollect himself, and acquaint the reader with his former mistake."-No: no. This was something more than could well be expected from one who had made it the business of his whole life to propagate wilful mistakes, to mislead the unguarded, and to impose upon mankind. And let this be a warning to all future historians, never to advance any thing upon the bare credit and sole authority of Bp. Burnet. For if that disingenuous writer cannot be relied on in such immaterial incidents as these, how can he be safely trusted to in matters of greater moment? Especially when it is to be considered that, from the time that he first commenced au See Collier's Eccl, Hist, vol. ii, b. 2. p. 104; and his Collection of Records, No. XXX. thor, (if not before) he has had the misfortune to be accounted one of those unhappy folks who are never to be believed, even when they speak truth. But to return to the King. Now began his Sublime Highness (more like a Grand Signor than a Christian Prince) to rule, not the Clergy alone, but all the rest of his subjects, with a rod of iron! The cruelty of his temper had hitherto been pretty much suspended; but now he begins, with a vengeance, to dip his hands in blood! the natural consequence of his claim to a new title! for, from the moment of his usurping the Spiritual Headship over this National Church, we may date the commencement of that fatal, blood-thirsty frenzy and madness which continued upon him (bating now and thea a lucid interval) to his dying day! People of all persuasions lived in continual fear and trembling; and cruel as King Henry was to the Catholics, yet neither did he spare the Reformers. Witness John Lambert and Ann Askew, who were both condemned to the flames, and executed in Smithfield pursuant to their sentence, for denying the Real Presence. It would take up too much of our time, to give our Reader, in this place, a particular list of the names of all those that were put to death during the latter (and most exceptionable) part of this Prince's reign: so we think it sufficient to observe, in general, with Dr. Heylin, that "+King Henry never spared man in his anger.-For proof of which, it is to be observed, that he brought to the block two Queens, two noble Ladies, one Cardinal declared; of Dukes, Marquises, Earls, and the Sons of Earls, no fewer than twelve; Lords and Knights eighteen; of Abbots and Priors thirteen; Monks and religious Persons about seventy-seven; and more of both religions to a very great number." Not that persons of both religions were executed on the same pretence for as their religions were different, so were their crimes, and their punishments too. The Old Catholics underwent the rigours of the law, as in cases of Treason (for it was made High Treason to deny the King's Supremacy, and the New Gospellers suffered death as Heretics, for refusing their assent to the famous Six Articles, of which the following is an abstract. Heylin's Hist. Ref. p. 15. Majestatis crimen crat, noluisse hunc Nebucodonoserem adorare, tanquam Christi, ea in Regno Vicarium. Pal. His. Con. Trid. lib. iv. c. 7, p. 126. Art. I. That in the Sacrament of the Altar, after consecration, no substance of Bread or Wine remaineth, but only the natural Body of Jesus Christ. II. That the Communion in both kinds is not necessary to salvation, by the law of God, to all persons. III. That Priests, after orders received, may not marry, by the law of God. IV. That vows of chastity ought to be observed. · V. That it is meet and necessary that private Masses be admitted, and continued in churches. VI. That auricular Confession ought to be frequented by people, as of necessity to salvation.' The penalty for writing, preaching, or disputing against the first article, was, to suffer judgment and execution of a heretic convert; and it was made felony without benefit of Clergy, or privilege of Church, or Sanctuary, to declare, either by writing or otherwise, against any of the other five. Such was the purport, and such the penalties annexed to King Henry's celebrated Six Articles of Religion, styled by Mr. Fuller, The Lash with six Stings, to claw the pour Protestants' Backs. But while the King continued the rigour of his persecution against both religions indiscriminately, he gave a handle to his enemies to represent him as one, who (by siding with neither party) seemed to have no religion at all himself. I shall close this section with Mr. Fuller's character of King Henry VIII. "All the virtues and vices of his predecessors from the conquest, may seem in him fully represented, both in their kind and degree; learning, wisdom, valour, magnificence, cruelty, avarice, fury, and lust."That all the vices of his predecessors, of every kind, should chance to centre in King Harry the Eighth, is no incredible thing: but I cannot easily be induced to believe, that he inherited all their virtues in any degree. Vide Fuller's Ch. Hist. book v. p. 230. |