archbishop or bishop, nor pay any sums of money for annates, first fruits, or otherwise, for expedition of such bulls, breves, or palls"; and provided, that archbishops and bishops should be elected by the deans and chapters, or priors and convents, under a license of the king; or in default of such election, should be presented by his letters patent. The act also directed how the consecration should be conducted.*

Thus was England's independency of the pope most emphatically asserted, and the needful provision made for carrying on all ecclesiastical affairs within the kingdom without any aid from Rome. And yet it is observable, as illustrating the temper of the times, that in this long and severe act, in which the ecclesiastical independence of the realm is most distinctly asserted, in which all payments of every kind to Rome are prohibited, and all appeals and suits to the Roman court are cut off, under the pains and penalties of a præmunire, and all ecclesiastical, as well as civil authority is declared to be in the kingdom, without any recourse to Rome in this very act there is this remarkable clause: "Provided, always, that this act, nor any thing or things therein contained, shall be hereafter interpreted or explained, that your grace, your nobles and subjects intend by the same to decline or vary from the congregation of Christ's church, in any things concerning the very articles of the Cath

* Statutes, 25 Hen. VIII. ch. 20.

olic faith of Christendom; or in any other things declared by the holy Scripture and the Word of God necessary for your and their salvation."*

66

A long act of attainder was passed by this parliament against Elizabeth Barton, the "Maid of Kent," and her clerical accomplices, Bocking, Deering, Rich, Risby, Goold, and Maister, who, by feigned and dissembled revelations, traitorously conspired against our said sovereign lord * * * to the intent traitorously to destroy our said sovereign lord, and to deprive him and his lawful succession from the crown and dignity royal of this realm," etc. etc.†

Bishop Fisher and Ex-Chancellor More were concerned in this extraordinary and impudent cheat; but were let off without serious difficulty, though possibly their connection with this popish soothsayer, if not their actual complicity in the plot, may have been remembered against them when they refused to take the oath of succession to the crown, which was tendered soon after the adjournment of parliament.

A still more noticeable act was passed by the convocation of the clergy which sat during the session of this parliament. In this act the clergy acknowledged that all their convocations ought to be assembled by the king's writ; and promised, "in verbo sacerdotii," that they would never make

* Statutes, 25 Hen. VIII. ch. 21, sect. 13.

↑ Statutes, vol. 111. 25 Hen. VIII. ch. 12; Burnet, vol. 1. pt. 1. bk. 11. p. 302–

nor execute any canons or constitutions without the royal assent to them, and that measures should be taken to reform or abrogate all existing canons. which were prejudicial to the king's prerogative, contrary to the laws of the land, and heavy to the subjects. All this was confirmed by an act of parliament.*

The above were the principal reformatory acts of this celebrated parliament and convocation. With a strong hand did the king thus drive on the herculean work of demolishing the papal fortresses in England: not without opposition and resistance from the popish clergy, however, but in spite of all resistance; for Henry VIII. was not a man to quail before opposition, nor to allow his own imperious will to be effectually resisted in his own kingdom.

What is more remarkable than any reformatory act of parliament, or convocation even, was the fact that the very monks, the élite of the Romish host, were also induced to renounce the pope's supremacy, and to swear allegiance to Henry as the head of the church of England; and to promise submission to him, notwithstanding the pope's censures; who, they were made to say, had no more authority or jurisdiction than any other bishop, beyond the limits of his own diocese.†

* Statutes, 25 Hen. VIII. ch. 19; Burnet, vol. 1. pt. 1. bk. II. p. 299

† Burnet, vol. 1. pt. 1. bk. II. p. 314. In the Records, vol. 1. pt. II. bk. 11. No. 50, may be found what is declared, by the priors of

In addition to these several acts, by which the pope's authority was officially and legally overthrown in England, the press and the pulpit were assiduously used for the same purpose. The pope's name was struck out of all the service-books of the church; books were published, and preachers were required constantly to preach, against the pope's supremacy, and in favor of the king's; and instructions were sent to all the sheriffs to keep a vigilant eye on the clergy everywhere, to see that they were faithful to the king in these matters; and still further, spies were sent out by Cromwell, who was now (1534) at the head of the government next to the king, to watch the clergy and the sheriffs, with orders to report all delinquencies to the govern

ment.

Thus were the tables completely turned on the papists. The time was, when the spies of the clergy were everywhere, to detect the poor men and women who ventured to speak or act in opposition to the usurped authority of the bishop of Rome; and when all officers of state were required, by

six religious houses, to be the free and unconstrained opinion and assent of themselves and all the brethren of their respective houses uno ore et voce, atque unanime omnium et singulorum consensu et assensu," etc. In this document they say of the king: "Rex noster Henricus est caput ecclesiæ Anglicanæ "; and of the pope : Quod episcopus Romanus, qui in suis bullis papæ nomen usurpat, et summi pontificis principatum sibi arrogat, nihilo majoris neque auctoritatis aut jurisdictionis habendus sit, quam cæteri quivis episcopi in Anglia alibi in sua cujusque diocese."

royal authority, to aid the clergy to their utmost in bringing the heretic Lollards to the stake. But now, the king, the parliament, and the convocation even, proclaim as the doctrine of the church of England and the law of the state, the very truths for which the Lollards died; and spies are everywhere watching the clergy and the state officials, to see that they are faithful to these Lollard doctrines!

Even a cursory reader of the history of the English Reformation must be impressed with the conviction that wise and far-reaching minds were employed in shaping the public acts of this period, and minds pretty thoroughly protestantized too. These acts appear generally to have been carefully matured, and skilfully adjusted to the circumstances of the country in its new position towards popery. Thomas Cromwell, chancellor of the kingdom, and Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, were the directing spirits of the Reformation; and most diligently must they have labored in maturing and carrying forward the important measures which characterize those stirring times. A glance at the minutes of the privy council will show that the utmost pains were taken to prepare the minds of the people for the new measures, and to set them forward in the best possible manner. Take the following memoranda of subjects to be considered, or work to be done, by the privy council, at a meeting on December 2d, 1534: - 1. That all the bishops were to be sent for and