wife was in the right, he had been hospitable and charitable far beyond what even his very ample means had allowed, when first he entered the service of the King he threw up a handsome income of £400 a year, which, in those far off days, represented some thousands of our money at its present worth. He then engaged in weighty causes concerning the King and the realm, toiling away many of the best years of his life in other countries, in like matters, and thus consumed the gains of his whole life; so that at this time he had positively not sufficient for necessaries for himself and those belonging to him, for, previous to his acceptance of the Great Seal, he had not purchased land above the value of twenty marks a year, and after paying his debts, his gold chain of office excepted, he had only about the value of £100.* It may well be imagined that the contemplated change was a heavy blow to his family, and that the breaking up of his extensive household was not effected without great sorrow. One was located here, another there, all apart, except Margaret and her husband, who hired for their use a house immediately adjoining his own, so that the ex-chancellor and his eldest daughter enjoyed each other's society almost as much as hitherto. Thus, having settled his family and disposed of his servants, in the houses of others, not forgetting his fool, Pattison, who was now no longer necessary in his humble establishment, More sold much of his furniture and other property, and devoted the rest of this year of 1532, the year which preceded his great trials, to acts of mortification, prayer, and study. * Roper. A letter to Erasmus from More, written about this time, runs as follows: . "I have a good while expected, if any man could accuse me of anything, since I gave up the office of Chancellor, but as yet no man hath come forward to complain of any act of injustice. Either I must have been so innocent or so crafty that my enemies must suffer me to glory in the one, if they abide, I should glory in the other. The King's Majesty also, as well in private conversation as twice in public, hath witnessed for that, which I am ashamed to say for myself; he commended the Duke of Norfolk, when my successor (an excellent man) was settled in my place, to testify this to all the assembly, that he, with difficulty, at my earnest entreaty, suffered me to go; and, not content with that favour, he caused it to be referred to again in his own presence, when at a meeting of the Nobility and Commons, my successor made his first speech in Parliament." In another letter to Erasmus he writes : - "From childhood unto this day, I have constantly desired, my dear Desiderius, to be freed from public affairs, so that I might for some time live only to God and myself; I have now, by the special grace of God and the kindness of my Prince, obtained this favour. Having often thought I must resign my office or fail in the performance of my duty, for that I could no longer dispatch its business, but by endangering my life, I resolved to forego one rather than both. So that as it was necessary to be as careful of the public affairs as of my health, I earnestly begged the King, that because I began to grow weary of my burthen, I might be rid of it, honourable office as it was, whereto his favour had raised me, as far above my deserving as it was wholly out of my seeking. I beseech, therefore, all the saints in heaven, that by their intercession, God would reward the affection of the King for me, and that He will give me grace to spend the rest of my life profitably, and not idly or vainly, granting me bodily health, so that I may take greater pains therein." To his friend Cochleus he wrote as follows: "I have been of late sorely sick for months together, not so much to the sight of others as to my own feelings, an infirmity of which I need scarcely allude to, now that I have resigned my office, for I could not hold it and discharge my duties without danger to my health. "The hope of final recovery, and the fear I had that my health would interfere with the justice due to the public, moved me to resign my office, aware that I should greatly hinder the former, if, being sick, I endeavoured to look to business matters as when in stronger health, and the leisure which the benignity of my most gracious Prince hath granted me, I propose to dedicate wholly to study and the honour of God." As if aware of the peril that still lay before him, for the King shewed a certain coolness of manner towards More such as he had never before exhibited, he seemed desirous to withdraw himself daily more and more within the bosom of his family, and with them even, he became more grave and serious than of old, often talking with them of the joys of the bright hereafter, of the lives of the holy martyrs, of their wondrous patience and happy death, and that it was an honour for the love of our Lord to suffer loss of goods, imprisonment, lands and life, adding, that it would be a comfort to him if his wife and children would encourage him to die in so good a cause. Then he would speak of the kind of death which might happen to him, intending by so doing to take off the sharpness of the sorrow whensoever it should happen, for said he, " shafts foreseen hurt us not so much." Cromwell had taken his place in the favour of the King, and, coming to him once with a message from the latter, when he was taking his leave, Sir Thomas said : : "Mr. Cromwell, you are entered into the service of a wise, noble, and liberal Prince; if you will follow my poor advice, you will, when giving counsel to his Majesty, always tell him what he ought to do, but, never what he is able to do; in this way you may prove yourself a true and faithful servant, and a good counsellor, for if a lion knew his own strength, hard would it be to rule him.” The straightforward More, however, poured his advice into unwilling ears, for Cromwell always gave the King the advice that would please him best, and not that which was lawful. 192 CHAPTER XII. QUEEN ANNE Boleyn. AFTER her expulsion from Court, Queen Katherine wrote a letter to the Pope to apprise him of the treatment she had received, when the Pontiff, in the most forcible but affectionate terms, addressed a letter to the King, painting in its true colours the infamy he was stamping on his character, by introducing his mistress to the court in place of his wife, and requesting him to recall his Queen and dismiss her rival. This was a duty he owed to himself, but Clement declared he would receive it as a signal favour to himself. The King, however, no longer sought to conciliate, and, assembling his parliament, an act was passed for the abolition of the annates, or first fruits, an ecclesiastical impost paid to the Roman see. Then Cromwell proceeded to other matters hostile to the clergy, and the interests of the Pontiff, by annexing to the Crown supreme jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters, and it was enacted that if any prelate should pay first fruits to Rome, he should forfeit his personalities to the King, and the profits of his see as long as he held it. A promise from convocation was also exacted never to enact or enforce any constitutions without the royal authority and assent. In the September of 1532, the King had created mistress Anne, Marchioness of Pembroke. On the 25th of the next |