CEAlsTIER AND HENKY VIII. 327 



league's frankness, desired to claim ! advise so bold a course as that lie 



all the honour of this luminous idea 

 for himself; but Henry did not' 

 listen to him. 'Where is Doctor 

 Cranmer V said he, much affected. 

 * Send, and fetch him immediately. 

 Mother of God ! (this was his cus- 

 tomary oath) this man has the right 

 sow by the ear. If this had only 

 been suggested to me two years 

 , what expense and trouble I 

 should have been spared!' Cran- 

 mer had gone into Nottinghamshire ; 

 a messenger followed and brought 

 him back. 'Why have you en- 

 tangled me in this affair ?' he said 

 to Fox and Gardiner. ' Pray make 

 my excuses to the king.' Gardiner, 

 who wished for nothing better, pro- 

 mised to do all he could ; but it was 

 of no use. ' I will have no excuses,' 

 said Henry. The wily courtier 

 was obliged to make up his mind 

 to introduce the ingenuous and up- 

 right man, to whom that station, 

 which he himself had so coveted, 

 was one day to belong. Cranmer 

 and Gardiner went down to Green- 

 wich, both alike dissatisfied. Cran- 

 mer was then forty years of age, 

 with pleasing features, and mild 

 and winning eyes, in which the 

 candour of his soul seemed to be 

 reflected. Sensible to the pains as 

 well as to tho pleasures of the heart, 

 he was designed to be more exposed 

 than other men to anxieties and 

 falls ; a peaceful life in some remote 

 parsonage would have been more 

 to his taste than the court of Henry 

 VIII. Blessed with a generous 

 mind, unhappily he did not possess 

 the firmness necessary in a public 

 man ; a little stone sufficed to make 

 him stumble. His excellent under- 

 standing showed him the better 

 way ; but his great timidity made 

 him fear the more dangerous. He 

 was rather too fond of relying upon 

 the power of men, and made them 

 unhappy concessions with too great 

 facility. If the king had questioned 

 him, he would never have dared 



had pointed out ; the advice had 

 slipped from him at table during 

 the intimacy of familiar conversa- 

 tion. Yet he was sincere, and after 

 doing everything to escape from the 

 consequences of his frankness, he 

 was ready to maintain the opinion 

 he had given. Henry, perceiving 

 Cranmer's timidity, graciously ap- 

 proached him. 'What is your 

 name ?' said the king, endeavouring 

 to put him at his ease. ' Did you 

 not meet my secretary and my al- 

 moner at Waltham?' And then 

 he added: 'Did you not speak to 

 them of my great affair?' repeat- 

 ing the words ascribed to Cranmer. 

 The latter could not retreat : ' Sir, 

 it is true, I did say so.' ' I see,' re- 

 plied the king with animation, 'that 

 you have found the breach through 

 which we must storm the fortress. 

 Now, sir doctor, I beg you, and as 

 you are my subject I command you, 

 to lay aside every other occupation, 

 and to bring my cause to a conclu- 

 sion in conformity with the ideas 

 you have put forth. All that I 

 desire to know is, whether my 

 marriage is contrary to the law of 

 God or not. Employ all your skill 

 in investigating the subject, and 

 thus bring comfort to my conscience 

 as well as to the queen's.' Cranmer 

 was confounded ; he recoiled from 

 the idea of an affair on which de- 

 pended, it might be, the destinies 

 of the nation, and sighed after the 

 lonely fields of Aslacton. But 

 grasped by the vigorous hand <>t' 

 Henry, he was compelled to ad- 

 vauiv." 



GOOD COM PA XV 



The Rev. Mr. Moffat , ih.- mis- 

 sionary in South Africa, n 

 the following incident, which it is 

 to be feared will ivlmkc multitudes 

 in more highly favoured circum- 

 stances: "One there was, a young 

 man of talent and genuine piety, 

 and from whom I expected valuable 



