From Cranmer's "Remains", page 223, we quote his account of "his first breaking of the matter of the Pope's supremacy to King Henry ", i.e., his first interpretation of the prelates' equivocal submission :— "He would accept the see of Canterbury of his Majesty, and of none other stranger, who had no authority within this realm, neither in any such gift, nor in any other thing. Whereat the king, said he, staying- a while, and musing, asked me how I was able to prove it. At which time I alleged many texts out of Scripture, and the fathers also, approving the supreme and highest authority of kings in their realms and dominions, disclosing therewithal the intolerable usurpation of the Pope of Rome". The King might well "muse"; no monarch of his race had ever heard such doctrine from any member of the "spiritual estate": and, though after this he applied to Rome for the bulls for Cranmer's promotion, yet no long time passed ere he turned to good account his novel instruction. In 1533, Burnet, III., part ii., 95, we find Henry accepting at the hands of Cromwell the following counsel :-- "First, to send for all the bishops of this realm, and specially for such as be nearest unto the court; and to examine them apart, whether they, by the law of God, can prove and justify that he that now is called the Pope of Rome is above the general council, or the general council above him? Or whether he hath given unto him, by the law of God, any more authority within the realm than any other foreign bishop? Henry publishes a treatise against the Pope. "2. Item, To desire, with all the bishops of this realm, to set forth, preach, and cause to be preached to the king's people, that the said Bishop of Rome, called the Pope, is not in authority above the general council, but the general council is above him and all bishops. And that he hath not, by God's law, any more jurisdiction within this realm than any other foreign bishop (being of any other realm) hath. And that such authority as he before this hath usurped within this realm, is both against God's law and also against the general council's. Which usurpation of authority only hath grown to him by the sufferance of the princes of this realm, and by none authority from God. "3. Item, Therefore that order be taken for such as shall preach at Paul's Cross from henceforth, shall continually from Sunday to Sunday preach there, and also teach and declare to the people that he that now calleth himself Pope, nor any of his predecessors, is and were but only the bishops of Rome; and hath no more authority and jurisdiction, by God's law, within this realm, than any other foreign bishop hath, which is nothing at all. And that such authority as he hath claimed heretofore hath been only by usurpation and sufferance of princes of this realm. And that the Bishop of London may be bound to suffer none other to preach at Paul's Cross, as he will answer, but such as will preach and set forth the same." And, in the course of the year, the monarch who had been so proud to employ his pen in favour of the Pope, now publishes the treatise “De Potestate Christianorum Regum in suis ecclesiis, contra Pontificis tyrannidem et horribilem impietatem". The year 1534 was the epoch of Henry's final and irrevocable decision. Early in 1533 he sent his "submission" to the Pope, but he did not wait D the result the Pope was equally precipitate. The former friends, without the least concert, agreed to separate; and, as soon as Henry heard from Rome how "he was used with so much scorn and contempt", his hatred became absolutely inveterate. At the close of 1533 Cranmer advocated in Parliament the utter rejection of the Pope: his views are preserved to us at length in his Answer to the Devon Rebels, his letters to Queen Mary, and his last examination: he urgently maintained that "there is no true subject unless the Pope be abrogate". After four years the truth received a national assent. Burnet, I., part i., 225. "Upon the whole matter it was concluded, that the Pope's power in England had no good foundation, and had been managed with as much tyranny as it had begun with usurpation. The exactions of their courts were everywhere heavy, but in no place so intolerable as in England: and though many complaints were made of them in these last three hundred years, yet they got no ease, and all the laws about provisors were still defeated and made ineffectual; therefore they saw it was impossible to moderate their proceedings; so that there was no other remedy but to extirpate their pretended authority, and thenceforth to acknowledge the Pope only Bishop of Rome, with the jurisdiction about it defined by the ancient canons; and for the king to re-assume his authority, and the prerogatives of his crown; from which the kings of England had never formally departed, though they had for this last hundred years connived at an invasion and usurpation upon them, which was no longer to be endured". Accordingly, on the 20th March, 1534, was passed the "25 Hen. VIII., c. 21," "An Act concerning Peter-Pence and Dispensations", whose object was "to cut off that base trade of indulgences about Divine laws which had been so gainful to the Church of Rome", and to humble the religious houses. This Act treats Antichrist with studied obloquy by styling him Bishop of Rome called the Pope"; and section XXIII. requires religious houses to renounce his obedience : "Provided always, that the abbots, priors, and other chief rulers and governors of such monasteries, abbeys, priories, and other houses and places exempt, shall not hereafter pay any pension, portion, or other cense to the See of Rome; nor admit or accept any visitation, nor any confirmation, from or by the said See of Rome, or by authority thereof, of or for any person to be elected, named, or presented to be heads of any such monasteries, abbeys, priories, places, or houses exempt: nor shall make any corporal oath to the Bishop of Rome, otherwise called the Pope, upon the pains limited in this Act".Gibson's "Codex", i., p. 110. Upon thus first quoting from our ecclesiastical statutes we would remind the reader of the limitation which necessity imposes upon our extracts. We can only select just so much of their negative provisions as bears directly upon our argument: but this by no means will do justice to their anti-Papal spirit. Every clergyman who desires to understand his present position in the State, should examine Bishop Gibson's voluminous work. The preceding statute was not passed "to lie dead among the records", as those of præmunire had done through centuries: in virtue of it, "Works of Whitgift", Park. Soc., vol. iii., 12, the "Court of Faculties" was established, "to the suppressing and utter abolishing of the Bishop of Rome's jurisdiction". From this date the war of extermination was pushed with vigour; and its records leave no room for questioning the object of the Crown. We shall cull those from the hands of the leading actors; some actually penned by Henry and Cranmer: all breathing the purpose-not a subject of the English Crown, within the realm, shall yield any manner of voluntary spiritual obedience to the Pope of Rome. Henry's marriage with Ann Boleyn was an open con.empt of the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction; and this contempt, so far as the merits of the case were concerned, rendered the extirpation of the Pope's rule a political necessity. This necessity inspired the "26 Hen. VIII., c. 2”, an Act titled “ Oath taken by all the King's subjects for the 26 Hen. VIII., c. 2. surety of the succession of the Crown of England”; and whose section II. contains the subjoined abjuration of the Pope : "II. Ye shall swear to bear faith, truth, and obedience alonely to the King's Majesty, and to his heirs of his body of his most dear and entirely beloved lawful wife Queen Anne begotten and to be begotten. And further to the heirs of our said sovereign lord, according to the limitation in the statute made for surety of his succession in the Crown of this realm mentioned and contained, and not to any other within this realm, nor foreign authority or potentate. And in case any oath be made, or hath been made, by you to any person or persons, that then ye do repute the same as vain and annihilate. And that to your cunning, wit, and uttermost of your power, without guile, fraud, or other and undue mean, ye shall observe, keep, maintain, and defend the said act of succession, all the whole effects and contents thereof, and all other acts and statutes made in confirmation, or for execution of the same, or for anything therein contained. And this ye shall do against all manner of persons, of what estate, dignity, degree, or condition soever they be. And in no wise do or attempt, nor to your power suffer to be done or attempted, directly or indirectly, any thing or things, privately or appertly, to the let, hinderance, damage or derogation thereof, or of any part of the same, by any manner of means, or for any manner of pretence: So help you God, and all saints, and the holy evangelists."Gibson's "Codex", i., 27. Nor were this Act and oath allowed to remain in neglect: the Parliament was sworn ere it was prorogued; and the entire realm also was forced to abjure. Henry was in earnest, and left his subjects no choice. On the 31st of March, in obedient conformity, the Convocation of Canterbury recorded the vote : 66 'Item, 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 Diocesi". -Idem, 26. "This", says Strype, "would not serve them till all the learned and spiritual men in England had subscribed to it". On the 5th of May of this year, 1534, the heads of six religious houses signed "A Renunciation of the Pope's Supremacy", from which we extract:"Item, quod confirmatum ratumque habemus semperque perpetuo habituri sumus, quod prædictus Rex noster Henricus est Caput Ecclesiæ Anglicana. Item, 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 diocesi ". . . . "Episcopi Romani legibus, decretis, et canonibus, si qui contra legem Divinam et Sacram Scripturam esse invenientur, in perpetuum renunciantes ".-Burnet, I., Pt. ii., 188. : On the 1st of June in the same year was formally delivered: "THE JUDGMENT OF THE CONVOCATION OF THE PROVINCE OF YORK, REJECTING THE POPE'S AUTHORITY. "Illustrissimo et excellentissimo Principi et Domino Henrico VIII. Dei Gratiâ Angliæ et Francis Regi, Fidei Defensori, et Domino Hiberniæ. Edwardus Permissione Divinâ Eboacensis Archiepiscopus, Angliæ Primas et Metropolitanus, Salutem in eo, per quem Reges regnant, et Principes dominantur. Vestræ Regiæ Celsitudini, Tenore Præsentium, innotescimus et significamus, Quod, cum juxta vestræ Regiæ Majestatis Mandatum, coram Prælatis et Clero Eboracensi, Provinciæ in Sacra Synodo Provinciali, sive Convocatione Prælatorum et Cleri ejusdem Provinciæ Eboracensis, in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiæ Metropolitica Eborum, quinto Die Mensis Maij, Anno Domini MDXXXIV. jam instanti, celebrata, et de Diebus indies continuata congregatis proposita fuit sequens conclusio, Quod Episcopus Romanus in Sacris Scripturis non habet aliquam majorem Jurisdictionem in Regno Angliæ, quam quivis alius extraneus Episcopus. Ac insuper, ex Parte Præsidentium in eadem Synodo per Nos deputatorum memorati Prælati et Clerus, rogati et requisiti ut illam Conclusionem suo Consensu confirmarent et corroborarent, si illam Veritati consonam, et Sacris Scripturis non repugnantem, existimarent aut judicarent. Tandem dicti Prælati, et Clerus Eboracensis Provinciæ antedictæ, post diligentem Tractatum in ea Parte habitum, ac maturam Deliberationem, unanimiter et concorditer, nemine eorum discrepante, prædictam Conclusionem fuisse et esse veram affirmarunt, et eidem concorditer consenserunt. "Quæ omnia et singula vestræ Regiæ Celsitudini, Tenore Præsentium, intimamus et significamus. "In quorum omnium et singulorum Fidem et Testimonium, Sigillum nostrum apponi fecimus. Dat. in Manerio nostro de Cawodd, Primo Die Mensis Junij, Anno Domini MDXXXIV. et nostræ Consecrationis Anno Tertio."-Burnet, III., Pt. ii., 69. In obedience to the King's command, the University of Oxford held a "long deliberation" concerning the power and primacy of the Bishop of Rome: "it lasted about five weeks after the King's letter, and was a very full and clear determination of the point ". The official report we extract: "THE UNIVERSITY'S ANSWER TO THE KING. "Universis Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ Filiis, ad quos præsentes Literæ pervenerint, Johannes, Permissione Divina, Lincolniensis Episcopus, Alma Universitatis Oxon. Cancellarius: Nec non universus Doctorum ac Magistrorum, Regentium et non Regentium in eadem Cætus, Salutem in Auctore Salutis. Quum Illustrissimus simul ac Potentissimus Princeps et Dominus noster Henricus Octavus, Dei Gratia, Angliæ et Francia, Rex, Fidei Defensor, et Dominus Hiberniæ assiduis Petitionibus et Querelis Subditorum suorum in summo suo Parliamento, super intolerabilibus Exterarum Potestatum, Exactionibus nuper Propositis, Controversiisque quibusdam habitis, super Potestate ac Jurisdictione Romani Episcopi, variisque et urgentibus Causis, contra eundem Episcopum tunc ibidem expositis et declaratis, aditus atque rogatus fuerit, ut commodis suorum Subditorum in hac parte consuleret, et Querelis satisfaceret: Ipse tanquam prudentissimus Solomon, sollicite curans quæ suorum sunt Subditorum, quibus in hoc Regno, divina disponente Clementia, præest, altiusque secum considerans quo Pacto commodissimas Regno suo sanciret Leges denique ante omnia præcavens, ne contra Sacram Scripturam aliquid statuat (quam vel ad Sanguinem usq; defendere semper fuit, eritque paratissimus) solerti suo Ingenio, sagaciq; Industria, quandam Quæstionem ad hanc ejus Academiam Oxon. publicè et solenniter, per Doctores et Magistros ejusdem disputandam transmisit: viz., An Romanus Episcopus habeat majorem aliquam Jurisdictionem, sibi à Deo collatam in Sacra Scriptura, in hoc Regno Angliæ, quàm alius quivis externus Episcopus? Mandavitque, ut habita super hac Questione matura Deliberatione, et Examinatione diligenti, quid Sacra Litera in hac Parte nostro Judicio statuunt, eundem certiorem facere suo Instrumento, Sigillo communi Universitatis, communito et firmato curaremus. Nos igitur Cancellarius, Doctores ac Magistri prædicti, sæpe reminiscentes, ac penitus apud nos pensitantes, quanta sit Virtus, Sanctitas, ac nostræ Professioni quam consona res, et debita Submissioni, Obedientiæ, Reverentiæ, ac Charitati congrua, præmonstrare viam Justitiæ ac Veritatis cupientibus, Sacrarum Literarum Vestigiis insistere, securiorique et tranquilliori Conscientia, in Lege Dei Sacram, ut aiunt, suam Anchoram reponere; non potuimus non invigilare, sedulo quin in Petitione tam justa ac honesta, tanto Principi (cui velut auspicatissimo nostro Supremo Moderatori obtemperare tenemur) modis omnibus satisfaceremus. Post susceptam itaque per nos Quæstionem antedictam, cum omni Humilitate, Devotione, ac debita Reverentia, convocatis undique dictæ nostræ Academiæ Theologis, habitoque complurium dierum spatio, ac deliberandi tempore satis amplo, quo interim cum omni qua potuimus Diligentia, Justitiæ, Zelo, Religione, et Conscientia incorrupta, perscrutaremur tam Sacræ Scripturæ Libros, quam super eisdem approbatissimos Interpretes, et eos quidem sæpe ac sæpius à nobis evolutos et exactissimè collatos, repetitos et examinatos; deinde et Disputationibus solennibus, palam et publicè habitis et celebratis, tandem in hanc Sententiam unanimiter omnes convenimus, ac concordes fuimus; viz., Romanum Episcopum majorem aliquam Jurisdictionem non habere, sibi à Deo collatam in Sacra Scriptura, in hoc Regno Angliæ, quam alium quemvis externum Episcopum. Quam nostram Assertionem, Sententiam, sive Determinationem, sic ex Deliberatione discussam, ac juxta Exigentiam Statutorum et Ordinationum, hujus nostræ Universatatis per nos conclusam, publicè totius Academiæ Nomine, tanquam veram, certam, Sacræq; Scripturæ consonam, affirmamus (et) testificamur per Præsentes. In quorum omnium et singulorum Fidem et Testimonium has Literas fieri, et Sigillo nostræ Universitatis communi, roborari fecimus, Dat. in Domo Congregationis nostræ 27. Die Mensis Junij, Anno à Christo nota M.D.XXXIV."—Idem, 71. In "An Order for Preaching", which Strype assigns to 1534, the third instruction runs :— "It is ordained that every preacher shall preach once in the presence of the greatest audience against the usurped power of the Bishop of Rome, and so after at his liberty; |