ever elevated rank, or any other circumstance, prevents that fear from operating, the man will appear such as He who searches the heart has described him; unless the constraining love of Christ, and the sanctifying power of the Spirit, abide perpetually in our bosoms. And though king Henry had dignified ministers in his council, bearing the title of overseers of Christ's flock, he had no true servant of God to lead him to put faith in the gracious assurance, that our Heavenly Father is much more ready to give the needful help of the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him*, than is an indulgent parent to gratify his child's desire. The bishops who were Henry's most confidential advisers, could not pretend to be zealous for the service of GOD, without contradicting our Lord's express declaration, that we cannot serve GOD and mammont. Indeed, one of them, bishop Fox, in a letter written to beg exemption from court-attendance, in the next reign, confesses, "Of four several cathedral churches that I have successively had, there be two, Exeter and Wells, that I never saw.'

It was creditable to Henry that, remembering how much Morton had contributed to his own elevation, he not only raised him to the highest rank a subject could hold, but continued his favour to him to the close of that prelate's life. And archbishop Morton, being a sensible man, was aware that his church must be losing influence, if the conduct of the clergy made them notoriously undeserving of the respect of the people. Hence, very soon after his promotion, he issued an order to the priests in and about London, reprimanding them for passing whole days in alehouses, and for getting rid of those distinctions in their dress and appearance which had been intended to mark them out as a separate class from the laity; whilst he further commanded them to discontinue wearing swords or daggers. Had he been

* Luke xi. 13.

+ Matt, vi. 24.

STATE OF THE RULING CHURCH.

1488.

85

qualified to teach it, the time was not favourable for impressing upon them a due abhorrence of sin. For the head of their church, pope Innocent VIII., had just sent over an Italian, named Giglis, with a papal order for making proclamation from Sept. 18, all the pulpits in England, that any person who would pay the said Giglis thirty, twenty, or even ten shillings, might choose a confessor for himself; and, on submitting to the penance imposed by this friend, he should receive full remission of all his sins, "however serious and enormous," even of those he might forget to confess; the crime of smiting a bishop alone excepted. And the pope had dared to assert, in this same official document, that he had been induced to offer these indulgences, as they were called, for sale, from his zeal to obey the commands of the Lord to St. Peter; that he might thereby raise a fund, wherewith to combat the Turkish Sultan, Bajazet, for the defence of Christendom. Now we know that our Lord had expressed his disapprobation of all attempts to defend His kingdom by violence, saying to Peter, Put up thy sword: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword*. And if the pope was ignorant of this, he was at least conscious that he himself had come to an understanding with Bajazet, and was receiving a pension from him; as a bribe for detaining the Sultan's brother in Rome. Innocent had, however, no objection to gratifying Morton, at the king's request, by sending him a bull; whereby the archbishop was authorized to examine into the state of the English monasteries, and to correct what he might find amiss; as the pope said he had heard with sorrow that the monks had taken, for some time back, to leading profligate lives. And we accordingly find Morton sending a monition to the abbot of St.

March 6,

1490.

July 5.

Alban's, in which the archbishop tells him that it was notorious, that he had cut down timber and underwood on the estates of the abbey, to the value of 8,000l., and had allowed his monks to rob and sell even the jewels in their saint's shrine, for money to spend in dissolute living; and that he and they had conspired together to place a well-known adulteress in the holy office of prioress of the adjacent nunnery at Prae, besides filling another nunnery at Sapwell, likewise under their jurisdiction, with women of infamous character *. And yet the archbishop does not even threaten to remove this man from what he was bound to regard as a very sacred trust. But merely tells him, that whereas he had warned him before, to no purpose, he had now authority to proceed beyond monitions; if the abbot should not abstain from any further wasting of the property of the church; and take care to make an effectual reform in himself, his monks, and the said nuns, within thirty days from the date thereof. And it does not appear that the archbishop took any farther steps to punish these offenders against the laws of the land, of the church, and of GOD. We are therefore left to suppose, that he thought it more prudent to accept the abbot's assurances that they would all reform themselves forthwith, than to bring so many ecclesiastics to a public trial, for violations of common decency, which would have scandalized the laity.

*The Scriptures declare the offensiveness of pride in the sight of God in no less decisive language, than they condemn such things as are here laid to the abbot's charge. See Prov. vi. 17.; xvi. 5.; xxi. 4. Yet no one seems to have thought, in those days, that there was any thing objectionable in the abbot of St. Alban's assuming such state, as the proudest noble could not exceed. Thus, when he dined, it was on a platform, raised fifteen steps above the body of the hall. There he sat,

in the middle of his table; and if distinguished guests were allowed seats at each end of it, they must not approach him too nearly. Whilst the monks brought up the dishes, making an obeisance at every fifth step, as they advanced; and offering each delicacy to him, before it was presented to those who shared his ample meal.

1

STATE OF THE TRUE CHURCH.

1494.

87

But whilst these nuns and prioresses, who thus polluted the abodes professedly devoted to especial holiness, received rebukes only; a widow of above fourscore years, Joan Boughton, mother to the lady Young, was condemned to be burned April 28, alive in Smithfield; though no worse charge was brought against her than that she held, what they called, the errors of Wickliffe. Yet this aged martyr was not forsaken by her Redeemer, in the hour of trial. For He gave her courage to say, "That she thought little of the fire, seeing it must bring her into the presence of GOD, who loved her." And her feeble voice was heard, amidst the flames, crying to him, "to take her soul into His holy hands."

About the same time William Smith, first bishop of Coventry, and then promoted to Lincoln, was haling men and women to prison, for speaking of the heresies of the Romish superstition. And this frightful sin is laid to his charge; that he forced the daughter of one William Tylsworth, of Amersham, to set fire to the fagots that were piled around her pious father, to burn him, for having taught her to search the Scriptures.

Nor was the king, on his part, merely guilty of suffering the prelates to put these Christian martyrs to death. He openly sanctioned such crimes. So that there was a general revival of that persecution of the Gospel readers, which had comparatively slept during the civil wars. And thus the Tudors became implicated in the same career of murderous hostility against the faithful worshippers of God, whereby the Plantagenets had deserved His wrath; and our Saviour has declared, that He will avenge His own elect *.

How ignorant both of the will and word of God were the king and his counsellor, the archbishop,

who thus took upon them to prevent the people from searching the Scriptures for instruction, may be imagined from their uniting in a request to the papal court, that Henry VI., late king of England, might be placed, by its authority, in the list of those falsely supposed mediators between GOD and man*, to whom the church of Rome teaches its followers to pray for help. And pope Alexander sanctioned their application; commissioning archbishop Morton and bishop Fox to make inquiry, whether the blind were restored to sight, the deaf to their hearing, and the lame enabled to walk, after visiting the tomb of Henry VI., which he affected to have learnt, from common report, to be the case. He farther directed these commissioners to be particular in inquiring, whether the miracles were brought about by solemn adjurations to GOD, or by the merit of the man! And he told them, that when he was satisfied with the result of such enquiries, he felt it his duty to command all faithful Christians to worship, venerate and adore the person whom the church should, by his mouth, declare to be a saint. But the archbishop was also informed, that the papal court would not accept less than 850 golden ducats, as fees upon the occasion; besides a long list of perquisites for the pope's attendants. The prospect of this expence put a stop to the king's proceeding with the business. And yet Henry was so desirous to have his subjects witness this pope's approbation of his conduct, that when Alexander sent him a present of a sword, over which he had repeated a prayer of consecration, the king ordered the mayor and aldermen, and city companies, to receive the pope's messenger at the foot of London Bridge, and conduct him to the bishop's palace; and, on the following day, they all went in stately procession to St. Paul's, where archbishop Morton harangued the audience on the

* 1 Tim. ii. 5.