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TABLE-TALK AND VARIETIES. 



derly lives of his fellow-students, ! 

 and although marriage would ne- 

 cessarily close the career of hon- 

 ours, he married the young lady, 

 resigned his fellowship (in confor- 

 mity with the regulations), and 

 took a modest lodging at the Dol- 

 phin. He then began to study ear- 

 nestly the most remarkable writings 

 of the times ; polishing, it has been 

 said, his old asperity on the produc- 

 tions of Erasmus, of Lefevre, of 

 Etaples, and other great authors ; 

 every day his crude understanding 

 received new brilliancy. He then 

 began to teach in Buckingham 

 (afterwards Magdalene) College, and 

 thus provided for his wants. His 

 lessons excited the admiration of 

 enlightened men, and the anger of 

 obscure ones, who disdainfully 

 called him (because of the inn at 

 which he lodged) the hostler. 'This 

 name became him well,' said Fuller, 

 'forinhislessons he roughly rubbed 

 the back of the friars, and famously 

 curried the hides of the lazy priests.' 

 His wife dying a year after his 

 marriage, Cranmer was re-elected 

 fellow of his old college, and the 

 first writing of Luther's having ap- 

 peared, he said : ' I must know on 

 which side the truth lies. There is 

 only one infallible source, the 

 Scriptures ; in them I will seek for 

 God's truth.' And for three years 

 he constantly studied the holy 

 books, without commentary, with- 

 out human theology, and hence he 

 gained the name of the Scripturist. 

 At last his eyes were opened; he 

 saw the mysterious bond which 

 unites all biblical revelations, and 

 understood the completeness of 

 God's design. Then, without for- 

 saking the Scriptures, he studied 

 all kinds of authors. He was a slow 

 reader, but a close observer; he 

 never opened a book without having 

 a pen in his hand. He did not take 

 up with any particular party or 

 age ; but possessing a free and 

 philosophic mind, he weighed all 



opinions in the balance of his judg- 

 ment, taking the Bible for his stan- 

 dard. Honours soon came upon 

 him : he was made successively 

 doctor of divinity, professor, uni- 

 versity preacher, and examiner. 

 * * Fox and Gardiner having re- 

 newed acquaintance with their old 

 friend at Waltham Abbey, they 

 sat down to table, and both the al- 

 moner and the secretary asked the 

 doctor what he thought of the di- 

 vorce. It was the usual topic of 

 conversation, and not long before, 

 Cranmer had been named member 

 of a commission appointed to give 

 their opinion on this affair. ' You 

 are not in the right path,' said 

 Cranmer to his friends ; ' you should 

 not cling to the decisions of the 

 church. There is a surer and a 

 shorter way, which alone can give 

 peace to the king's conscience.' 

 "What is that? 'they both asked. 

 ' The true question is this,' re- 

 plied Cranmer : ' What says the 

 Word of God ? If God has declared 

 a marriage of this nature bad, the 

 pope cannot make it good. Dis- 

 continue these interminable Horn an 

 negotiations. When God has 

 spoken man must obey.' ' But how 

 shall we know what God has saidf 

 ' Consult the universities ; they 

 will discern it more surely than 

 Borne.' * * The day after this 

 conversation, Fox and Gardiner 

 arrived at Greenwich, and the king 

 summoned them into his presence 

 the same evening. ' Well, gentle- 

 men,' he said to them, 'our holidays 

 are over ; what shall we do now '( 

 If we still have recourse to Borne, 

 God knows when we shall see the 

 end of this matter.' ' It will not be 

 necessary to take so long a journey,' 

 said Fox ; ' we know a shorter and 

 surer way.' 'What is it?' asked 

 the king eagerly. 'Doctor Cran- 

 mer, whom we met yesterday at 

 Waltham, thinks that the Bible 

 should be the sole judge in your 

 cause.' Gardiner, vexed, at his col- 



