And Lee of York was so far from consenting to it that he strugled long against it after Warham and his Synode had past it And whereas he pretends that the King drew his pretence to be Head of the Church of England from a general acknowledgment that they had made of the King's Authority over Churchmen this is so far from true that the whole Clergy even his admired Fisher not excepted did in the Title of the Submission to which they all set their hands call the King in so many formal Words supream Head of the Church and Clergy of England in so far as was agreable to the Law of Christ and this was done during More 's Ministry who continued Chancellour 15 Months after this 43. He says that upon More 's laying down his Office the King gave the Seals to another Churchman that was no less devoted to him than Granmer whose name was Andley on whom he bestows a character thô he knows nothing concerning him Andley was no Churchman but a common Lawyer as More was that had been Chancellour before him and the Gentlemen of that Robe being raised upon Merit and not by their Birth his low Extraction was no extraordinary matter 44. He says the King finding that the Pope was ofraid that he should contract a secret Mariage with Anne Boleyn resolved to do it on design to do the Pope a Spite so the Day being set one Polland a Priest being appointed to do the Office demanded the Pope's Bull for the Mariage which he was made believe that the King had procured but the King swore to him that he had it in his Closet and that nothing made him not go immediatly to fetch it but his unwillingness to retard that Action This is so ill told that Mr. Varillas ought to have imploied a little of his Religious Zeal to make it more plausible for it was then so well understood that the Pope was entirely united to the Emperour that Polland Lee could not imagine there was any Bull granted and he was all his Life of too complying a Temper to need such Artifices to oblige him to do any thing that might serve to advance him Mr. Varillas represents the King here too much like a private Gentleman that keeps his Papers in his own Closet of several Popes the Canons of many Synodes and Councils â—nd by the concurring Testimonies of almost all the Greek and Latin Fathers both Ancient and Modern and by the agreeing Doctrines both of Schoolmen Canonists and Casuists and if Tradition was the true Expounder of Scripture and the sure Conveyance of Doctrine the Mariage was certainly incestuous so that according to the fundamental Doctrine of the Church of Rome the Mariage was unlawful and by the same Authorities it was also proved that the Pope's Dispensation could not make void the Law of God and that the Clergy of England were the proper Judges of what fell out in England This being the State of that Matter and almost all the Universities of Europe that of Bologna it self not excepted thô it was the Pope's own Town having declared in the King's Favours it was no wonder if Cranmer upon such Grounds proceeded to give Sentence 47. He dresses up a Speech for Card. Bellay all out of his own Fancy but one thing is remarkable he makes the Cardinal represent to the King that if he went to separate himself from the Communion of the Church of Rome either he would succeed in it or not if he succeeded in it besides that he put himself in a state of Damnation there would be no place found that would be safe for his sacred Person against the attempts of zealous Catholicks who would endeavour to kill him that they might preserve their ancient Religion and if he succeeded not he might be assured that he would lose both his Crown and his Life in a general Revolt Mr. Varillas is now in a Fit of Religion of another sort for as there are hot and cold Fits of Agues so if some of his Fits make him forget the obligations of speaking truth this makes him speak out a Truth indeed but of that nature that if he had been long practised in the Secrets of the Court of Rome or of the Jesuite Order he would have known that thô during the Minority of a King a Cardinal Perron might speak it boldly or during the confusions of a Civil War the whole Sorbonne might declare in Favours of it yet under such a Reign and in the present Conjuncture it was to be denied boldly And one would not have thought that at this time a Clement or a Ravilliae would have had no worse character but that of zealous Catholicks So we have now an entire notion of a zealous Catholick from Mr. Varillas he does not trouble himself to examine what he says whither it is true or false nor will he stick at any Crime if it may tend to preserve his Religion And if a Prince goes about to change his Religion and to depart from the Communion of the See of Rome he must at first look for a general Revolt which must end in his Deprivation and Death and if that fails there is a reserve of zealous Catholicks who will pursue him into every corner and never give over till they have sacrificed him to the interest of their Religion This is the severest thing that the greatest Ennemy to their Church could possibly object to it and yet Mr. Varillas has so little judgment as to put it in the Mouth of a Cardinal But it is but lately that he has got his Pension and he has not past a long Noviciat or perhaps he is now too old to learn the refayings that his Pattern Mr. Maimbourg would have taught him who in such a Reign as this is in France must dress up their Religion as a Doctrine all made up of Obedience and Submission But perhaps some had told Mr. Varillas that the late Articles of the Clergy lookt like the beginning of a Separation from the Court of Rome so that he thought it was fit to let the King know his Danger if he went a step further either in that Matter or in a Reformation of Religion of which there has been so much noise made lately in France thô it is visible that this has been set on foot meerly to deceive those that had a mind to cosen themselves by the hopes of some Amendments to make Shipwrack of their Faith and of a good Conscience 48. He makes the Hopes that the Cardinal Bellay had of succeeding in his Negotiation to be chiefly founded on the King's being weary of Anne Boleyn and his becoming in love with Iane Seimour and that therefore he concluded that time and a little Patience might infallibly dispose him to return back again to Queen Katherine He makes here strange Discoveries in the matters of Love since he fancies that the King 's falling in love with a new Mistress might
writ his Life tells us in how great State he went to York with a Train of 160 Horse and an Equipage of 72 Carts following him with his Houshold-stuf for the King restored him not only his Archbishoprick of York but also his Bishoprick of Winchester which Mr. Varillas fancies he took from him and it was impossible for a Man that had those two great Benefices to be reduced to any degrees of Want 38. He says Anne Boleyn raised Cranmer to the Dignity of chief Minister of State who was one of the profligatest Men of England that had nothing of Christianity in him but the outward appearances being ambitious voluptuous bold turbulent and capable of all sorts of Intrigues He had studied long in Germany where he was infected with Lutheranisme thô he did not outwardly profess it He took a Concubine in Germany whom he afterwards married by the King's permission He had been Chaplain long in the Family of Boleyn so when the See of Canterbury fell vacant Anne Boleyn presented him The Fit here is extream hot and long and shews how entirely Mr. Varillas was subdued by it since it is hardly possible for a Man to spit out more Venome and Falsehood at once Cranmer was never in the Affairs of State much less chief Minister And any Ignorance less than Mr Varillas's would have found that Cromwel succeeded Wolsey in the Ministry As for Cranmers Ambition as he had passed the greatest part of his Life in a secret Retirement so he was in Germany when the See of Canterbury fell vacant and when he understood that the King intended to raise him to that Dignity he excused himself all he could and delaied his Return to England some Months that so the King might have time given him to change his Mind He was so far from being turbulent and hardy and from being a Man of Intrigues that his plain Simplicity made him to be despised by his Enemies till they found that there was a wise Conduct under all that Mildness and Slowness And it was this simplicity and his keeping himself out of all Intrigues that preserved him in K. Henry's esteem He never went to study in Germany but was sent into Italy and Germany to reason with the learned Men in the Universities concerning the King's Divorce He married a Wife in Germany and was so far from obtaining the King's Permission to marry her that upon a severe Law that was afterwards made against the Mariage of the Clergy he sent her into Germany for some time yet he franckly owned his Mariage to the King when he questioned him upon it and there was never the least imputation laid upon his Chastity except this of his Mariage which we think none at all He was never Chaplain in the Boleyn Family but lived private in Cambridg when the King came to hear of him and to imploy him in the Prosecution of the Divorce And so far was he from being presented by Anne Boleyn upon the Vacancy of Canterbury that he was then in Germany And now it appears what a secret Mr. Varillas has of making as much Falsehood go into one Period as would serve another to scatter up and down a whole Book but we know the Society that has this secret and it is certain that Mr. Varillas has learnt it to perfection 39. He says the King accepted Cranmer upon condition that he would pronounce the Sentence of Divorce between their Majesties of England in case that the Pope ratified their contested Mariage and thus by a way so uncanonical he was made Archbishop of Canterbury There was no occasion of demanding any such Promise of Cranmer for he had openly declared his opinion that the Mariage was incestuous and unlawful so that his Judgment was already known But Mr. Varillas shews how little he knew our matters when he says that Cranmer was made Archbishop in an uncanonical way for as he was chosen by the Chapter of Canterbury so he had his Bull from Rome and how little soever this is Canonical according to the Canons of the Ancient Church yet Mr. Varillas has no reason to except to the Uncanonicalness of it 40. He says he was installed by another Artifice for being required to swear the Oath to the Pope he had a Notary by him who attested that he took this Oath against his Will and that he would not keep it to the prejudice of the King He made no Protestation that he took that Oath against his Will but he repeated a Protestation twice at the high Altar that he intended not by that Oath to the Pope to oblige himself to any thing that was contrary to the Law of God to the King's Prerogative or to the Laws of the Land nor to be restrained by it from proposing or consenting to any thing that might concern the Reformation of the Christian Faith the Government of the Church of England or the Prerogatives of the King and Kingdome This is a different thing from protesting that he took the Oath against his Will which as it had been ridiculous in it self so was very far contrary to that native Singleness of Heart in which he always acted 41. He says there was an ancient Law against the Subjects of England's acknowledging a forreign Jurisdiction upon which the King raised a Sute against his Clergy for owning the Pope's Jurisdiction in that which was a mixt Court relating both to the Temporal and the Spiritual And he adds that the Clergy had an easy Answer to this Charge since that Law had no regard to the Spiritual Authority Matters of Law are things of too delicate a nature for so slight a Man as Mr. Varillas to look into them He represents this as one single Law that was very old and that related only to Temporals whereas if he had known any thing of our Laws he would have seen that there was a vast number of Laws made in the Reigns of many of our Kings such as Edward the first Edward the third Richard the second Henry the 4th and Henry the 5th all relating to this matter and these Laws were made in express Words against all that brought Bulls and Provisions from Rome to Ecclesiastical Benefices 42. He says the motions of the Clergy in their own defence could not but be feeble since they had two such treacherous Heads as Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury and Lee Archbishop of York so they made a submission to the King but he would not receive it unless they would acknowledg that he had the same Authority over the Ecclesiastical Body that he had over his other Subjects and thus without thinking on what they did they furnished the King with a pretence of calling himself Head of the Church of England Cranmer was so little concerned in this matter that it was past two years before he was Archbishop while Warham was Archbishop of Canterbury for the Submission was made in March 1531 and he was consecrated in March 1533.
dispose him to return to his old and abandoned Queen The thing is also so falsely timed that it was two years and almost a half after this before there appeared any beginnings either of the King's Dislike of Anne Boleyn or of his Love to Iane Seimour But the made up of Obedience and Submission But perhaps some had told Mr. Varillas that the late Articles of the Clergy lookt like the beginning of a Separation from the Court of Rome so that he thought it was fit to let the King know his Danger if he went a step further either in that Matter or in a Reformation of Religion of which there has been so much noise made lately in France thô it is visible that this has been set on foot meerly to deceive those that had a mind to cosen themselves by the hopes of some Amendments to make Shipwrack of their Faith and of a good Conscience 48. He makes the Hopes that the Cardinal Bellay had of succeeding in his Negotiation to be chiefly founded on the King's being weary of Anne Boleyn and his becoming in love with Iane Seimour and that therefore he concluded that time and a little Patience might infallibly dispose him to return back again to Queen Katherine He makes here strange Discoveries in the matters of Love since he fancies that the King 's falling in love with a new Mistress might dispose him to return to his old and abandoned Queen The thing is also so falsely timed that it was two years and almost a half after this before there appeared any beginnings either of the King's Dislike of Anne Boleyn or of his Love to Iane Seimour But the true Account of this last Negotiation of the Cardinal de Bellay is that at Marseilles the Pope had promised to Francis the first that if K. Henry would submit the matter to him and send a Proxy to Rome he would judg in his favours against the Queen because he knew that his cause was just and good and the Cardinal was sent over to induce the King to make his Submission but the King would not upon verbal Promises make so great a step yet he promised that if Assurances were sent him that were formal and binding he would upon that send a Submission in full form to Rome and when the Cardinal procured these from the Court of Rome the King did send over the Submission So that Mr. Varillas having supprest the true Account of this Negotiation he thought he must make it up with somewhat of his own Invention and as all Liquors drawn out of a musty Barrel tast of the Calk so there are so many characters that belong to Mr. Varillas's imagination that it is hard for him to venture on inventing without discovering that he has full as little Judgment as he has Sincerity 49. He lays the blame of the slowness of the Courier on the care that the Emperour's Ministers had taken to stop the passages But this was a ridiculous observation for there being a Day set for the Courier's Return he hapned only to come two Days after his time and it being in the Winter in which the Sea was to be twice past there is no need to run to any other speculation for a slowness of two Days in such a Voyage and at such a Season but it is often observed of those that have contracted ill habits as lying in particular that their naughty customes return upon them even when there is no provocation lying on them to tempt them to them so Mr. Varillas has given himself such a liberty to interweave his own Fancies with all the Transactions that he relates that he cannot let the flightest thing pass without bringing in a stroak of his Politicks to adorn it 50. He says the Pope having past Sentence against the King the King did upon that hold a Parliament on the 24 of April 1534 in which he made himself to be acknowledged supream Head of the Churches of England and Ireland and got his former Mariage to be condemned and his second to be confirmed upon which Q. Katherine died of Grief In such publick things Mr. Varillas should be wiser than to venture on the giving of Dates for it is at least two to one that he gives them wrong The Parliament that past all these Laws sate down on the 15th of Ianuary and was prorogued on the 29th of March and Sentence was given against the King at Rome the 23 of March for the truth is the King did not expect sincere dealing from the Court of Rome and therefore he looking on this last Proposition as a Delusion to divert him from passing the Acts that he had projected for this Session resolved to go on with his Design knowing that if the Pope would grant him that which he desired it would not be uneasy for him to get those Acts repealed Q. Katherine lived two years after this so that thô the Melancholy which this gave her did very likely shorten her Days yet it was too Poetical to make her just to die at the end of that Parliament 51. He says that the King upon the first informations of Anne Boleyn's Disorders would not believe them but at last he found such proofs as fully convinced him upon which he waited till he found a fit opportunity to let his Jealousy break out It agrees ill with what he had said before that K. Henry was become weary of Anne Boleyn to make him now so uneasy to believe ill of her for nothing disposes so much to Jealousy as a Dislike already conceived which naturally inclines one to think ill of a Person whom he does not love but it is certain K. Henry never pretended that he saw any thing that was dishonourable in her and the ridiculous Tale of the Tilling at Greenwich was a ly too ill contrived to be again taken up for the Queen 's dropping a Handkerchief was a favour of too publick a nature and is not at all credible considering that she found the King's affections were straying from her And even that was too slight a matter to have wrought her ruin thô it had been true 52. He says her own Father was one of her Judges but thô she made a cunning Defence yet she was condemned together with four of her Adulterers and after that she went to meet Death with more of fierceness than of a true greatness of Soul and she died as exactly in all the Maximes of the Stoical Philosophy as if she had studied them This assertion of her Father's being one of her Judges has past so current that I have no reason to charge Mr. Varillas for it because I my self yeelded to the current of Writers yet having procured a sight of the Original Record of her Process I found it was a falsehood and in the end of my first Volume I had corrected the Errour in which I had fallen so I must at least conclude that Mr. Varillas never read any