A.D. 1534. comply with the revolution, but inwardly CH. 9. treasured privileges. The theory of an Anglican Erastianism found favour with some of the higher The clergy church dignitaries, and with a section perhaps of the secular priests; but the transfer to the crown of the first-fruits, which in their original zeal for a have little free Church of England, the ecclesiastics had hoped heart for it. to preserve for themselves, the abrupt limitation of the powers of convocation, and the termination of so many time-honoured and lucrative abuses, had interfered with the popularity of a view which might have been otherwise broadly welcomed; and while growing vigorously among the country gentlemen and the middle classes in the towns, among the clergy it throve only within the sunshine of the court. The rest were overawed for the moment, and stunned by the suddenness of the blows which had fallen upon them. As far as they thought at all, they believed that the storm would be but of brief duration, that it would pass away as it had risen, and that for the moment they had only to bend. The modern Englishman looks back upon the time with the light of after history. He has been inured by three centuries of division to the spectacle of a divided church, and sees nothing in it either embarrassing or fearful. The ministers of a faith which had been for fifteen centuries as the seamless vesture of Christ, the priests of a church supposed to be founded on the everlasting rock against which no power could prevail, were in a very different position. They obeyed for the time the strong hand which was upon them, trusting to the interference of accident or providence. They comforted before the trusting to themselves with the hope that the world would CH. 9. speedily fall back into its old ways, that Christ A.D. 1534. and the saints would defend the church against They bend sacrilege, and that in the meantime there was no storm, occasion for them to thrust themselves upon time. voluntary martyrdom.* But this position, natural as it was, became difficult to maintain when they were called upon not only themselves to consent to the changes, but to justify their consent to their congregations, and to explain to the people the grounds on which the government had acted. The kingdom was by implication under an interdict,† yet the services went on as usual; the king was excommunicated; doubt hung over the succession; the facts were imperfectly known; and the never-resting friars mendicant were busy scattering falsehood and misrepresentation. It was of the highest moment that on all these important matters the mind of the nation should if possible be set at rest; and the clergy, whose loyalty was presumed rather than trusted, furnished the only means by which *These be no causes to die for,' was the favourite phrase of the time. It was the expression which the Bishop of London used to the Carthusian monks (Historia Martyrum Anglorum), and the Archbishop of York in his diocese generally.ELLIS, third series, vol. ii. p. 375. † Si Rex Præfatus, vel alii, inhibitioni ac prohibitioni et interdicto hujusmodi contravenerint, Regem ipsum ac alios omnes su pradictos, sententias censuras et A.D. 1534. are called. CH. 9. the government could generally and simultaneously reach the people. The clergy therefore, The clergy as we have seen, were called upon for their services; the pope's name was erased from the mass the people books; the statute of appeals and the statute of the changes succession were fixed against the doors of every upon to explain to which have place. taken parish church in England, and the rectors and curates were directed every week in their sermons to explain the meaning of these acts. The bishops were held responsible for the obedience of the clergy; the sheriffs and the magistrates had been directed to keep an eye upon the bishops; and all the machinery of centralization was put in force to compel the fulfilment of a duty which was well known to be unwelcome. That as little latitude as possible might be left for resistance or evasion, books were printed by order of council, and distributed through the hands of the bishops, containing a minute account of the whole proceedings on the divorce, the promises and falsehoods of the pope, the opinions of the European universities, and a general epitome of the course which had been pursued.* These were to be read aloud to the congregations; The order and an order for preaching was at the same time. for preach- circulated, in which the minuteness of the direcpreacher tions is as remarkable as the prudence of them. Every preacher was to deliver one sermon at least the papal (and after at his liberty') on the encroachments usurpation. and usurpations of the papal power. He was to ing. Every to deliver one sermon against * STRYPE'S Memorials, vol. i. p. 292. ELLIS, third series, vol. ii. p. 336. A.D. 1534. bishop's be held a verity, not called in preach against it, to expose and refute it to the Cn. 9. best of his ability, and to declare that it was done away, and might neither be obeyed nor defended further. Again in all places where the king's The archjust cause in his matter of matrimony had been sentence to detracted, and the incestuous and unjust [matri- thing of mony] had been set forth [and extolled],' the clergy were generally directed 'to open and de- to be again clare the mere verity and justness' of the matter, question. declaring it'neither doubtful nor disputable, but to be a thing of mere verity, and so to be allowed of all men's opinions.' They were to relate in detail the pope's conduct, his many declarations in the king's favour; the first decretal, which was withheld by Campeggio, in which he had pronounced the marriage with Catherine invalid; his unjust avocation of the cause to Rome; his promises to the King of France; and finally, his engagement at Marseilles to pronounce in the King of England's favour, if only he would acknowledge the papal jurisdiction.* They were therefore to represent the king's conduct as the just and necessary result of the pope's duplicity. These things the clergy were required to teach, not as matters A.D. 1534. The clergy are for bidden to preach upon dis puted points of CH. 9. of doubt and question, but as vital certainties on which no difference of opinion could be tolerated. Finally, there were added a few wholesome admonitions on other subjects, which mark the turning of the tide from catholic orthodoxy. The clergy were interdicted from indulging any longer in the doctrine. polemics of theology. "To keep unity and quietness in the realm it' was ordained that no preachers' should contend openly in the pulpit one against another, nor uncharitably deprave one another in open audience. If If any of them' were 'grieved one with another,' they were to complain to the King's Highness or the archbishop or bishop of the diocese.' They were 'purely, sincerely, and justly' to 'preach the scripture and words of Christ, and not mix them with men's institutions, or make men believe that the force of God's law and man's law was the like.' On subjects such as purgatory, worship of saints and relics, marriage of the clergy, justification by faith, pilgrimages and miracles, they were to keep silence for one whole year, and not to preach at all.* These instructions express distinctly the convictions of the government. It would have been well if the clergy could have accepted them as they were given, and submitted their understandings once for all to statesmen who were wiser than themselves. The majority (of the parish clergy at least) were perhaps outwardly obedient; but the surveillance which the magistrates were * An Order for Preaching: printed in BURNET's Collectanea, P. 447. |