ning) as "will soon make you glad I 

 to go." The only answer to this 

 threat was a smile of derision that 

 sent his moustache bristling 

 against his nose. " Lightning !" 

 he sneered ; " your lightning can't 

 touch a fuqueer ; the gods take care 

 of him." Without more ado I 

 charged the battery and connected 

 it with a coil machine, which, as 

 those who have tried it are aware, 

 is capable of racking the nerves in 

 such a way as few people care to try, 

 and which none are capable of vo- 

 luntarily enduring beyond a few 

 seconds. The fuqueer seemed rather 

 amused at the queer-looking im- 

 plements on the table, but other- 

 wise maintained a look of lofty 

 stoicism ; nor did he seem in any 

 way alarmed when I approached 

 with the conductors. Some of my 

 servants who had ah'eady experi- 

 enced the process now came clus- 

 tering about with looks of ill-sup- 

 pressed merriment to witness the 

 fuqueer's ordeal. I fastened one 

 wire to his still extended tongs, 

 and the other to the foot on the 

 ground. As the coil machine 

 was not yet in action, beyond dis- 

 concerting him a little, the attach- 

 ment of the wires did not otherwise 

 affect him. But when I pushed 

 the magnet into the coil, and gave 

 him the full strength of the bat- 

 tery, he howled like a demon ; the 

 tongs, to which his hand was now 

 fastened by a force against his 

 will, quivered in his unwilling 

 grasp as if it were burning the 

 flesh from his bones. He threw 

 himself on the ground, yelling and 

 gnashing his teeth, the tongs 

 clanging an irregular accompani- 

 ment. Never was human pridr so 

 abruptly cast down. He was roll- 

 ing about in such a frantic way 

 that I began to fear he would do 

 himself mischief ; and, thinking he 

 had now had as much as was good 

 for him, I stopped the machine and 

 released him. (Household Words.) 



325 



CRAXMER AND IIEXRY VIII. 



The following is Dr. Merle 

 D'Aubigne's sketch of Cranmer at 

 the time of his first introduction to 

 the notice of Hemy VIII. during 

 the negotiations for that monarch's 

 divorce : 



" Cranmer was descended from an 

 ancient family, which came into 

 England, as is generally believed, 

 with the Conqueror. He was born 

 at Aslacton, in Nottinghamshire, on 

 the 2nd July 1489, six years after 

 Luther. His early education had 

 been very much neglected ; his 

 tutor, an ignorant and severe priest, 

 had taught him little else than pa- 

 tiently to endure severe chastise- 

 ment a knowledge destined to be 

 very useful to him in after-life. 

 His father was an honest country 

 gentleman, who cared for little be- 

 sides hunting, racing, and military 

 sports. At this school the son 

 learnt to ride, to handle the bow 

 and the sword, to fish, and to 

 hawk ; and he never entirely ne- 

 glected these exercises, whichN he 

 thought essential to his health. 

 Thomas Cranmer was fond of 

 walking, of the charms of nature, 

 and of solitary meditations ; and a 

 hill, near his father's mansion, used 

 often to be shown where he was 

 wont to sit, gazing on the fertile 

 country at his feet, fixing his eyes 

 on the distant spires, listening with 

 melancholy pleasure to the chimo 

 of the bells, and indulging in sweet 

 contemplations. About 1504, he 

 was sent to Cambridge, where 

 bai-barism still prevailed, says an 

 historian. His plain, noble, and 

 modest air conciliated the affections 

 of many, and, in 1510, he was 

 elected fellow of Jesus College. 

 Possessing a tender heart, he be- 

 came attached, at the age of twenty- 

 three, to a young person of good 

 birth (says Fox), or of inferior rank, 

 as other writers assert. Cranmer 

 was unwilling to imitate the disor- 



