Pope in his tottering supremacy over England. On the other hand, he obtained from Clement a declaration, that, if Henry would dispatch his proxy to Rome, he might assuredly expect a determination in his favour. The zeal of Francis, seconded by the dexterity of Bellay, was, to all appearance, successful. A courier was sent by Henry, with the formal submission recommended by the Bishop; and every thing seemed to threaten the realm of England with a continuance of its ancient ecclesiastical servitude.

These appearances of vacillation must have been observed by Cranmer with intense anxiety. It seemed as if the splendid vision which had, hitherto, animated his exertions, was about to dissolve and vanish, at the very moment when his arms were stretched forth to embrace it. His terrors were happily dissipated by one of those accidents which a grateful and religious mind is strongly disposed to invest with the character of a providential interference.

When the day was come, which was appointed for the arrival of the despatch announcing the submission of the King, no courier from England appeared. On this, the imperial Cardinals immediately renewed their clamours for a definitive sentence. It was in vain that Bellay (who was then at Rome to forward the business) protested against this precipitation. It was in vain that he insisted on the probability that the delay of the express was accidental, and that the elements might be in fault, and not the King of England. These prudent suggestions were overborne by the imperial influence, which still retained its predo

minance in the Romish counsels.

The Pope was

easily persuaded that the procrastination was nothing more than an expedient for enabling Henry to proceed at leisure in his course of aggression against the Apostolic See. The question was accordingly brought before the Consistory, a plurality of voices decided that the marriage with Catharine was good and valid, -contrary to the usual practice, the decision was concluded and confirmed in a single day,—and on the 23d March, 1534, it was resolved that sentence of excommunication should go forth against the King, unless he consented to take back the consort, whom he had presumed to put away. Two days afterwards, the messenger from England (who had been detained by contrary winds) arrived at Rome, with Henry's submission under his own hand, together with earnest entreaties from the French King, that it might be favourably received!

The Pontiff and his Cardinals stood aghast at the apparition of the English Courier; and he, and his more prudent counsellors, would doubtless have gladly retraced the step which brought them into deadly conflict with the schismatical Monarch. But it was now too late. The Imperialists steadily opposed the revocation of the sentence. The decision was once more confirmed by the Pontiff and his Consistory; and the rupture with England became manifestly irreparable.

It may be remarked here, by way of anticipation, that the 23d of March, 1534, the day on which the sentence was pronounced at Rome, was also the very

day on which the Act for the succession to the crown was passed in England; and that the Parliament, which completed the great ecclesiastical revolution, was prorogued, before it was possible that intelligence should arrive from Rome'. From this it would appear that Henry was an antagonist who thought that negociation and hostility might well proceed hand in hand together. How he could have extricated himself from his embarrassment, had the intercession of Francis terminated successfully, it is not an easy matter to conjecture. In his own dominions, the Pontifical authority was well nigh in ruins, even before the issue of the negociation could possibly be known: and it seems scarcely credible that the Parliament would, in any event, have consented to undo, in a moment, the work which, through good report and evil report, they had been carrying on for the last two or three years together2. If the King was conscious that the measures then actually in progress3 were irrevocable, he can hardly be acquitted of duplicity, either in appealing to a General Council, or in accepting the mediation of the King of France. But it is by no means unlikely that he relied, throughout, on the resources of his own arbitrary character, and of his almost unlimited power, for the means of trampling down all difficulties which might, from time to time, spring up in his path. He probably saw but little hope of any cordial or permanent union with

Burnet, vol. i. p. 133-136; and vol. iii. p. 82–92. 2 Burnet, vol. iii. p. 92.

3 See the following chapter.

the Court of Rome, and therefore declined to suspend his adverse operations. If, however, the event should turn out to be different from his anticipations, he felt that he had a ponderous prerogative, and a light obsequious Legislature; and, with the help of these, he possibly trusted that the kingdom might, at any moment, be brought back to that state of ecclesiastical dependence, which he had so long been teaching them to renounce and to forget.

CHAPTER IV.

1533-1535.

Difficulties of Cranmer's situation-Spirit of dissension among the Clergy The Nun of Kent-Cranmer's account of her—Birth of the Princess Elizabeth-Various statutes against the PopeAcquiescence of the Clergy-Assent of the Convocation, and subscription of the Chapters and Universities—Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More-Cranmer's interference in their behalf -The Ecclesiastical Supremacy conferred upon the King-The Clergy ordered to publish and inculcate the King's Supremacy -Cranmer's letter to the King respecting it-Expectations of a General Council-Cranmer's discussions of this subject-The 'King's Primer."

66

Difficulties

of

WHEN Cranmer was advanced to the Primacy of England, and had time to survey the variety and extent of his responsibili- Cranmer's situaties, the prospect must have been sufficient to appal him, and to show that, so far as his own personal ease was concerned, he did well to de

tion.

precate the preferment. For several years past, the mind of England had been in a state of incessant commotion. Questions had been freely agitated, the discussion of which was sure to send a feeling of restlessness and impatience throughout the whole mass of the community. A force had been incessantly at work, gradually to loosen the connexion