and soon discovered his proficiency, by translations from the classics, and by epigrams composed in the learned languages. But his father having destined him to the profession of the law, looked with a jealous eye upon elegant literature, fearing that it might engross the time and attention of his son, and thus obstruct his future fortune. He determined, therefore, as the most effectual means of checking this propensity, to make his allowance so scanty, that nothing could be spared from it to procure instruction in his favourite studies. More's uncommon industry would, however, in all probability, have compensated for the want of a master, had not the displeasure of a father, whom he tenderly loved and respected, compelled him to give another direction to his talents.

After having spent two years at Oxford, More returned to London, and prepared to enter on the study of the law, at Lincoln's Inn. He did this with reluctance, because other circumstances, besides his love of polite literature, gave a different bent to his inclinations. His mind, naturally ardent and susceptible, had imbibed strong feelings of devotion, and had not entirely escaped that degrading superstition which characterized the religion of the times. Particularly addicted to the practice of those

austerities, on which so much reliance was then placed, he perpetually mortified himself with watching and fasting, and used to wear a shirt of hair-cloth next to his skin. Every Friday, and also on high fast days, he subjected himself to the discipline of a hard, knotted cord; and when he indulged in what he called a night of repose, he was accustomed to lie on a bench, or on the bare ground, with a log for his pillow, allowing himself only four or five hours' sleep. That he might be animated to perseverance by examples of similar penance, he took lodgings near the Charter House, among the Carthusians, a religious order remarkable for their austerities; and here, during four years, he continued to practise a rigid course of mortification.

At this period he diligently attended the preaching of dean Colet, whom he had chosen for his confessor*. Confession, in the church of Rome, is a declaration of the sins a person has committed, made to a priest, in order to obtain absolution. The priest thus applied to acts as a judge, taking upon himself to remit the sins of such as he judges to be penitent, or inclines to favour. He does this either absolutely, or on condition of performing certain acts

* Macdiarmid, p. 6—10.

These

of penance, prescribed by himself. penances usually consisted in the repetition of certain forms of devotion, the payment of a stipulated sum of money, going on pilgrimage, fasting, or the infliction of scourging or other corporal discipline, on the person of the penitent. It is evident that any, or all of these acts might be performed, without one feeling of contrition being excited by them; and though it was convenient for the priests to uphold a custom which had so direct a tendency to increase their power and influence, it appears astonishing that the human understanding could ever be so grossly imposed upon, as to place any dependence on such methods of reconciliation with Heaven. Like other corruptions of religion, the practice of confession was introduced by degrees, and seems to have been of much later date than the doctrine of purgatory*: it was first established by pope Innocent the Third, in the year 1215, and, about the middle of the 16th century, it was declared by the council of Trent to be necessary to salvation +.

Dean Colet, the confessor of More, was a man of great talents, and in many points an enemy to superstition; but he was remarkable

English Stories, ii. p. 54-56.

+ Chambers, Art. CONFESSION, POPERY.

for the austerity of his temper, and thoroughly persuaded that the irregular passions of our nature require to be subdued by incessant severities*. How different this slavish bondage, this abject dependence on the judgment of men, from that spirit of adoption, which inculcates moral self-denial on the principle of love, and, by inducing a habit of daily watchfulness over the springs of action, suppresses evil in its birth!

The object proposed by More, in pursuing this course of discipline and instruction, was to prepare himself for entering the rigid order of St. Francis. But the authority of his father was opposed to the execution of this design; and More's increasing acquaintance with his own character, induced a persuasion, that he was better fitted for the duties of active and social life, than for the seclusion of a cloister; he therefore resolved to turn his thoughts to the profession which his father had chosen for him. Neither his legal studies, nor his literary pursuits, appear to have been abandoned during his course of monkish austerities; for he no sooner appeared at the bar, than he began to practise with flattering prospects of success. He had already attracted public notice by de

* Macdiarmid, p. 10, &c.

livering lectures on St. Augustine's work, De Civitate Dei. The eloquence and learning displayed in these lectures, which were designed to explain the more important principles of morals, and to clear up historical difficulties, attracted crowded audiences. Even aged priests sought instruction from a youth and a layman; and More had the pleasure of observing among his hearers the learned Grocyn, who had been his classical tutor at Oxford *.

At the accession of Henry the Eighth, More, then in the twenty-ninth year of his age, had risen to great eminence in his profession. He possessed a profound knowledge of the laws of his country; and his general information, his acquaintance with elegant literature, and his early habits of public speaking, gave to his eloquence an energy and attraction which never failed to make a powerful impression. He was, therefore, eagerly consulted and retained in most causes of importance, and in his practice and gains he soon equalled the most popular of his rivals. When any cause was offered to him, he scrupulously inquired into its circumstances, that he might ascertain whether the person who desired to be his client had justice on his side. If he found it otherwise, he re

* Macdiarmid, p. 11, &c.