THE REFORMERS.
They who do not study deeply the spirit of those days, can form no
idea of the nature of the Papal superstition, which could subjugate
kings, princes, rulers, men of letters, men of judgment, men of
talent, men of thought, and men of such comprehensive minds as those
of the great Cardinal Wolsey.
People should read his letters concerning the views that he
entertained of the Popedom. In spite of an accusation of prolixity,
and of being a little too learned for the general reader, it will be
as well to insert here the Cardinal's own letter to Gardiner
concerning the Popedom, because it will show, even to the cursory
reader, the nature of that supreme temporal, instead of spiritual
authority, which such a man aimed at.
It shows that he viewed the Popedom as the father of princes, instead
of kings and queens being the nursing fathers and mothers of the
church; but let this letter speak for itself.
THE CARDINAL'S LETTER TO GARDINER ABOUT THE POPEDOM,
'Coll. No. 99, b. B. III. c. II.
'C. C. C. Camb.
'MR. STEVINS,
'Albeit ye shall be sufficiently with your Collegys, by such
instructions as be given to Monk Vincent, informed of the King's
minde and mine, concerning my advancement unto the dignity papelle,
'Not dowtting but that for the singular devotion which ye bere
towards the Kinge and his affaires, both generall and particular, and
perfyte love which ye have towards me, ye will omitt nothing that may
be _excogitat_ to serve and to conduce to that purpose,
'Yet I thought convenient, for the more fervent expression of mine in
that behalf, to wryte to you, as to the person whom I most entirely
do trust. And by whome this thing shall be most Rightly set forth
these few wordys followyng of mine own hande.
'I dowt not but ye do profoundely consider as well the state wherein
the Church and all _C'tendome_ doth stand now presently, as also the
state of the Realme, and of the King's secret Matter, which if it
shoulde be brought to passe, by any other Meanyes than by the
Authority of the Church, I accounte this Prince and realme utterly
undone.
'Wherefor that is expedient to have such one to be _Pope and Commyn
Father to all Princes_, as may, can, and wold geve remedy to the
premises.
'And albeit I accompt myself much ounabill, and that shall be now
incommodious in mine old age to be the said Commyn Father yet when
all things be well ponderyd, and the qualitys of all the Cardinalls
well considered, _absit verbum jactantiœ_, ther shall be none
found that can and will sett remedy in the forsaid things, but only
the Cardinall Ebor; whos good will and holi ys not to you of all men
unknowne.
'And were it not for the re-integration of the state of the Churche
and See Apostolique, to the prestine dygnite, and for the conducinge
of peace amongst C'tian princes, and especially to relieve this
prince and realme from the calamities that the same be now in, all
the riches or honor of the world should not cause me--_nedum aspirare
sed ne consentire_--to accept the seid dignite, and altho' the same
with all Commodytes were offeryed unto me.
'Neverthelesse, conforming myself to the necessity of the time and
the will and pleasure of these two princes, I am content to appone
all my witt and study, and to set forth all meanys and ways, _et bene
faciam rebus C'tianitatis_, for the atteyning of the said dignite.
'For the atcheving and atteyning whereof for as muche as thereupon
dependeth the health and wealth, not only of these two princes and
their realms, _but all C'tendome_, nothing is to be omitted that may
conduce to the said end and purpose.
'Wherfore, Mr. Stevins, since now ye be so plainly advertised of my
mind and intent, I shall pray you to extend, Omnes nervos ingenij
tui, ut ista res, ad effectum perduci possit, nullis parcendo
sumptibus, pollicitationibus sive laboribus, ita ut horum viris in
genia, et affectiones sive ad privata sive ad publica ita accomodes
actiones tuas.
'Non deest tibi, et Collegis tuis amplissima potestas nullis terminis
aut conditionibus limitata sive restricta, et quicquid feceris, scito
omuia apud hunc Regem et me esse grata et rata. Nam omnia, ut paucis
absolvam, in tuo ingenio, et fide reposuimus.
'Nihil superest aliud scribendum, nisi quod supplex orem ut ones
actiones tuas secundet Deus optimus Maximusq; et ex corde vale.
'Ex œdibus meis West Monast. vij., Februarij.
'Tuæ salutis et amplitudinis cupidissimus.
'T. Car, lis Ebor, propria Manu.'*
* _Stevin_ (_i.e._) Stephen Gardiner, then at Rome, called Dr.
Stevens.
This letter will sufficiently show that confidence which the Cardinal
had then in himself, when he said, that upon his being made Pope
depended not only the health and wealth of princes and their realms,
but all Christendom. The man who could have such conceit of himself,
might well be unable to endure the growing boldness of the
Reformation.
Though his learning was so vast, and his influence at home and abroad
so great, never did a subject rise to higher splendor, and never did
a great man fall more suddenly.
How ephemeral is the favor of princes! Few historical records give
any but mortifying pictures of the misfortunes and discomfitures of
great men. Few, either warriors or statesmen, but well know the
reverses of public favor, and few poets, authors, artists, and
skilful men in science, or in law, physic, or divinity, but have to
contend with poverty and persecution, even in their eminence.
What a happy man is he who trusts in God, and takes all things as he
has them, coming from Him who '_lifteth up and putteth down_.'
In the very year of the Cardinal's utmost ambition and presumption,
when he sought to raise himself above all princes--in the very year
of his greatest splendor and wealth, the same man is made to exclaim,
according to his faithful historian and apologist, Cavendish:
'Now it is come to pass that it hath pleased the King to take all
that I have into his hands, so that I have now nothing to give you,
for I have nothing left me but the bare clothes on my
back.'--(Fiddes, p. 47, 5 fol. ed.)
One instance, however, of the softening of the heart of this great
man remains to be told, which does him honor; but, to be rightly
understood, the reader must be referred to those stirring times when
the Papal power, having reached the summit of its presumption, began
to be looked at with the eyes of truth, and the unnatural and impious
monstrosity of its proceedings began to be questioned openly by the
Reformers.
Poor Bilney was at this time preaching at Ipswich. He, though
conscious that he should meet with as little pity as his former
friends, Thomas Ayers, who was burnt at Eccles, in Norfolk, and
Thomas Bingay, who was four score and six years of age when he was
burnt at Norwich, yet boldly attacked the blasphemous doctrines of
the Church of Rome.
He exposed the folly of pilgrimages, the absurdity of miracles said
to be done at Walsingham, Canterbury, and even in Ipswich, and
hesitated not to call them the inventions of the devil to delude the
souls of men.
The lights set up before images, he designated as meteors of
deception, which would lead men into darkness. He had been well
acquainted with De Freston and Latimer, Notcote and Bailee, and many
more in the town previous to his appearing among them as an advocate
for their religious liberties.
He was grown a bold man, strong in confidence of the rectitude of the
cause he was advocating.
Intimate as he was with Hugh Latimer, the after celebrated martyr,
cousin to William Latimer, of Ipswich, it was at the house of the
latter, which Daundy and De Freston had obtained from Antony
Wingfield, that Bilney, Arthur, John of Alneshborne, and John Bale,
so often held learned, sound, and judicious disquisitions concerning
the errors then so prevalent in matters of faith and duty.
Of far too high a character for anything that was seditious,
inflammatory, or even despiteful of dignities, these truly gifted men
looked only at the truth, as laid down in the Revelation of God, and
applying their hearts to God in prayer, that their understandings
might be opened, they beheld, with light as clear as the sun in broad
day, all the fooleries then practised to deceive; the pomposities of
the processions to the shrines of saints, and all the tinsel flummery
of an external parade of devotion which imposed upon the senses, and
filled the minds of the people with fancies.
Thomas, Arthur, and Bilney were cited to appear before the Cardinal,
at the Chapter House in Westminster.
Nothing could equal the rage of the friars at Ipswich against Bilney.
He had assembled before him a multitude of hearers to whom he exposed
in clear and concise language the distinction between the duties of
obedience to God and obedience to man.
He cut them to the heart when he told them that in the various
protestations they made to the images, and the offerings they made to
them, they were serving senseless devils and not God: that though in
all legal matters submission even unto death was a duty, yet nothing
ought to hinder them from protesting against idolatry, in matters of
faith and good works; and that obedience to man, when in direct
opposition to God's commands was, however urgent that command, not to
be complied with.
He instanced Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over all of
whom God had power, so that they suffered no injury.
But if they had, if they had as the sufferers for Christianity been
burnt to death, or been devoured by lions, their duty was to adhere
to the truth, and yet not rebel against the lawfully constituted
authorities of the realm.
He proved that the sins of idolatry in the palmy days of Babylon,
were as nothing compared with those existing in his day. A
Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon could exclaim: 'I thought it good to show
the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How
great are his signs! how mighty are his wonders, his kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to
generation.'
But in his day, people were to confess that the Pope hath the supreme
authority, and that his mandates are above the commands of God; and
that the Virgin Mary is an object of worship even in heaven; and,
therefore, must be so upon earth.
Men marvelled, indeed, at the plain, strong, and conclusive arguments
which this enlightened man brought forward to prove the wickedness of
that spiritual Babylon in which he who called himself the father of
princes sat enthroned.
He told them that they would even in that chapel see the rage of the
Popish priests presently displayed: and had enough to do to restrain
the people from rebellion, when the Bailiff, Prior Brown, and the
Dominican Friars, entered the congregation, seized him, and conveyed
him to prison.
His affectionate appeal to them to possess their souls in patience,
and to submit even as he did, was more touching than even his strong
and forcible doctrine against the superstitions of his country.
He was taken to London, and there, like Peter, he showed at first the
weakness of his flesh, and, as is well known, through many terrors,
was induced to recant; but his after sufferings were infinitely
greater; his conscientious soul was troubled to the very depths of
chaotic darkness, until, as the heavenly-minded Cranmer afterwards
did, he again stepped forth from his hades of death, to shine
conspicuous in faith and martyrdom.
It is not the object of these pages to show the sufferings of
martyrs, though here and there to introduce a word of admiration of
their constancy will not be found irrelevant to the subject of
Freston Tower.
It is said by some, that the great Cardinal was not so severe a bigot
as Sir Thomas More, Cuthbert Tonstall, Nix, Bishop of Norwich,
Gardiner, and others. Severity, however, he did use, and issued his
mandates to his inquisitors to search out all suspected Lutherans and
summon them to London.
His early disciplinarian was by his order confined, though not for
the faith, by the space of four years. Sir Amias Pawlet felt the
weight of his revenge, but by bending to the great man's vanity, he
obtained his release. The Cardinal, however, was much more severe
than Sir Amias was to him.