and put into print; which ever since that time hath been commonly sold, and gone abroad among the people."

Trances and somnambulism have generally been the medium of imposition. Cranmer goes on to say, that he had "sent for the holy maid and examined her, and now she confessed all, and said she never had a vision in her life; but all that she ever said was feigned of her own imagination, to satisfy the minds of them that resorted unto her, and to obtain worldly praise."

She and her accomplices were arraigned and committed to the Tower. On the 20th of April, the Nun or Holy Maid, with her instigators, were brought to Tyburn. Whatever might have been her misdoings in other respects, it is shocking to think that a poor epileptic woman, the tool of others, should have been executed for treason. Her speech at the scaffold is such, as in lucid moments and removed from improper influence, might be expected. "Hither I am come to die; and I have been not only the cause of my own death, which most justly I have deserved, but also am the cause of the death of all those persons who suffer here at this time. And yet, to say the truth, I am not much to be blamed, considering that it was well known to these learned men that I was a poor wench, without learning, and therefore they might easily have perceived that

the things that were done by me could not proceed in no such sort; but their capacities and learning could right well judge from whence they proceeded, and that they were altogether feigned. But because the thing which I feigned was altogether profitable to them, therefore they much praised me, and bore me in hand, that it was the Holy Ghost and not I that did them; and then, I being puffed up with their praises, fell into a certain pride and foolish fantasy with myself, and thought I might feign what I would, which thing hath brought me to this case; and for the which now, I cry God and the King's Highness most heartily mercy, and desire you all good people to pray to God to have mercy on me, and on all them that here suffer with me."

Warham and Fisher were for a time duped by the delusion, and even Sir Thomas More thought the matter worth investigating; but it does not appear that he was decided, as he always spoke of her as the " silly nun. Those who were executed with her as abettors, have been called the first martyrs of reform; with how much justice is easily determined.

When the imposition was first discovered, Cromwell, then Secretary of State, sent to Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, a reproof, and advised him to write an humble letter to the King, and desire his pardon, saying, he knew the King

would grant it. Fisher, however, evaded the advice, and said that he was induced to have faith in her from what is said in the Prophet Amos, "that God will do nothing without revealing it to his servants." He continued obstinate, and would make no submission.

The oath of succession for Anne's issue was now administered, including many other articles. It was generally accepted and sworn to; but Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester refused to take the oath. The Archbishop, who had a sincere respect for More, urged him most earnestly to subscribe to it, and used arguments convincing to his own mind.

"You say," said Cranmer, " that you are not persuaded that it is a sin, but a doubtful matter. You certainly know you ought to obey the King and the law; therefore there is a certainty on the one hand, and only a doubt on the other."

"I have weighed the matter," he replied, "and examined it carefully, and my conscience leans to the other side. I am willing to take my oath that this is a matter of principle, and not done from disrespect or obstinacy.'

Gardiner, the Abbot of Westminster, then said, that he might see that his conscience was erroneous, since the great council of the realm was of another mind, and therefore he ought to change his conscience.

"If I were alone," said More," against the whole Parliament, I might suspect my own judgment; but I have the whole council of Christendom on my side."

Secretary Cromwell, who tenderly loved him, began to fear that his ruin was inevitable, and protested that his refusal of the oath was to him like losing his only son.

Cranmer, now finding that neither More nor Fisher could be wrought upon to sign what was called the succession, asked them if they would swear to the succession of the crown for the issue of the King's present marriage, and let the other articles rest.

After deliberation they consented, and Cranmer wrote an earnest and touching letter to Cromwell, entreating these terms might be accepted. But the King was too much irritated, and determined the thing should proceed according to law; and they were indicted and committed to the Tower. There they were imprisoned for a year. More was supplied with the necessaries of life by his favorite daughter, Margaret Roper; but Fisher, in his seventy-seventh year, with all the infirmities of old age, was left without suitable clothing, and compelled to solicit it even from his persecutors.

There is something in this proceeding, that calls forth our extreme indignation. Two men,

distinguished for their piety and truth, educated as Catholics, were thus condemned for asserting that Henry was not the supreme head of the Catholic Church. Fisher was the last surviving counsellor of Henry the Seventh, and to his care the Countess of Richmond, the King's grandmother, on her death-bed, recommended her royal grandson, Henry the Eighth. For a time, the young monarch had revered him, and even boasted, that no one possessed a prelate equal in virtue and learning to the Bishop of Rochester. opposition to the divorce first alienated the King; then the affair of Elizabeth Barton drew upon him an attainder for treason; and the third opposition in refusing to take the oath of succession, sealed his ruin.

His

After Fisher was imprisoned, and before the news of his condemnation had reached Rome, Paul the Third, the successor of Clement, named him for a Cardinal. When this information reached Henry, he said with much jocularity, "Paul may send the hat, but we will take care that he shall have no head to wear it on."

Cranmer did not cease exerting his influence to save the lives of these two men. When More was to appear at the bar, he was conducted on foot through the most frequented streets, on the 7th of May, 1535, and entered the court leaning on his staff, for he was much