worshippfull vertuous and well learned men as were in the Parlemēt assembled at the making of that law euer meant to haue anie man punished by death in whome there could be found no malice taking malitia for maleuolentia for if malitia be taken in a generall significacion for anie sinne no man there is that can excuse himselfe thereof Wherefore this very word malitiously is only materiall in this Statute as the word forcible is in the Statute of forcible entrie for in that Case if 〈◊〉 enter peaceably and putt his aduersarie out forcibly it is no offence but if he enter forcibly he shall be punished by that Statute Besides all the vnspeakable goodnesse of the king's highnesse towards me who hath bene so manie wayes my singular good Lord and gracious Soueraigne he I say who hath so dearely loued trusted me euen from my first coming into his royall seruice vouchsafing to grace me with the dignitie of being one of his Priuie Councell and hath most liberally aduanced me to offices of great Creditt and worshipp finally with the chiefe dignitie of his Maiestie's high Chancellour the like whereof he neuer did to anie Temporall man before which is the highest office in this noble realme and next to his royall person so farre aboue my meritts and qualities honouring and exalting me of his incomparable benignitie by the space of these twentie yeares and aboue shewing his continuall fauours towards me and now at last it hath pleased his Highnesse at mine owne humble suite 〈◊〉 me licence with his Maiestie's fauour to bestowe the residue of my life in the seruice of God for the better prouision of my soule to discharge and disburthen me of that weightie dignitie before which he had still heaped honours more and more vpon me all this his highnesse's bountie so long and so plentiefully powred vpon me were in my minde matter sufficient to conuince this slaunderous accusation so wrongfully by this man surmized and vrged against me which I committ to your Lordshipps honourable consideracions whether this oath be likelie or not to be true M. r Rich seing himselfe so euidently to be disproued and his Creditt so fowlely defaced caused Sr. Richard Southvvell M. r Palmer who in the time of their communication were in the same chamber with them two to be there sworne what words had passed betweene them wherevpon M. r Palmer vpon his deposition sayd that he was so busie in the thrusting vp of Sir THOMAS'S bookes in to a sacke that he tooke no heede to their talke S. r Richard Southvvell also sayde likewise that because he was appointed only to looke to the conueying of the bookes he gaue no eare vnto them And after all this Sir THOMAS alleaged manie other reasons in his owne defence to the vtter discreditt of M. r Riche's foresayde euidence and for proofe of the clearenesse of his owne Conscience 4. But for all that euer he could doe or say the Iurie of Twelue men whose names were S. r Thomas Palmer S. r Thomas Peirt George Louell esquier Thomas Burbage esquier Geoffrey Chamber gentleman Edvvard Stockmore gentleman William Browne gentleman Iaspar Leake gentleman Thomas Billington gentleman Iohn Parnel gentleman Richard Bellame gentleman George Stoakes gentleman These I say going togeather and staying scarce one quarter of an hower for they knew what the king would haue donne in that Case returned with their verdict Guiltie Wherefore the Lo Chancellour as Chiefe Iudge in that matter beganne presently to proceede to Iudgemēt which Sir THOMAS hearing sayd vnto him My Lord when I was towards the law the manner in such cases was to aske the prisonner before sentence whether he could giue anie reason why Iudgement should not proceede against him Vpon which words the Lo Chancellour staying his sentence wherein he had alreadie partely proceeded asked Sir THOMAS what he was able to say to the contrarie who forthwith made answer in this sorte For as much as my Lords this Inditement is grounded vpon an acte of Parlement directly repugnant to the lavves of God and his holie Church the supreme gouernement of vvhich or of anie parte thereof no Temporall person may by anie lavv presume to take vpon him that vvhich rightfully belongeth to the Sea of Rome vvhich by speciall prerogatiue vvas granted by the mouth of our Sauiour Christ himself to S. Peter and the Bishops of Rome his successours only vvhilst he liued and vvas personally present here vpon earth it is therefore amongst Catholike Christiās insufficient in lavv to charge anie Christian man to obey it And for proofe of this sound assertion he declared amongst manie reasons sound authorities that like as this realme alone being but one member and a small parte of the Church might not make a particular lavv disagreing with the generall lavv of Christ's vniuersall Catholike Church no more then the Cittie of London being but one member in respect of the vvhole realme may enact a 〈◊〉 against an Act of Parlement to binde thereby the vvhole kingdome So shevved he further that this lavv vvas euen contrarie to the lavves and statuies of this our realme not yet repealed as they might euidently see in Magna Charta vvhere it is sayd that Ecclesia Anglicana libera sit habeat omnia iura integra libertates suas illaesas And it is contrarie also to that sacred oath vvhich the king's highnesse himself and euerie other Christian prince alvvaies receaue vvith great sollemnitie at their Coronatiōs Moreouer he alleaged that this realme of England might vvorse refuse their obdience to the Sea of Rome then anie childe might to their naturall father For as S. Paul sayd to the Corinthians I haue regenerated you my children in Christ so might that vvorthie Pope of Rome S. Gregorie the Great say to vs Englishmen yee are my Children because I haue giuen you euerlasting saluation For by S. Augustin and his follovvers his immediate messengers England first receaued the Christian Faith vvhich is a farre higher and better inheritance then anie carnall father can leaue to his children for a sonne is only by generation vve are by regeneration made the spirituall Children of Christ and the Pope To these wordes the Lo Chancellour replied that seing all the Bishopps Vniuersities best learned men of this realme had agreed to this Act it was much marueled that he alone should so stiffely sticke thereat and so vehemently argue there against it To which wordes Sir THOMAS answered that if the number of Bishopps and vniuersities vvere so materiall as his Lordshipp seemeth to make it then doe I my Lord see little cause vvhy that thing in my conscience 〈◊〉 make anie change for I do not doubt but of the learned and vertuous men that are yet aliue I speake not only of this realme but of all Christendome about there are ten to one that are of my minde in this matter but if I should speake
D. O. M. S. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SIR THOMAS MOORE Lord high Chancellour of England WRITTEN BY M. T. M. and dedicated to the Queens most gracious Maiestie TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE PRINCESSE OVR MOST GRATIOVS QVEENE AND SOVERAIGNE MARIE HENRIETTE QVEENE OF GREAT BRITAINE FRANCE AND IRLAND LADIE OF THE ILES OF THE British Ocean MOST GRATIOVS AND SOVERAIGNE LADIE The authour of this Treatise eldest sonne by descent heire by nature of the family of that vvorthy Martyr vvhose life is described in it had he liued himselfe to haue set it forth to the vievv of Christian eies vvould not haue thought vpon any other patron and protectour to dedicate it vnto then your most excellēt Maiestie For he vvas most constantly affected alvvayes to the French Nation and crovvne next after the dutifull obedience vvhich he ought to his ovvne natural Lord and soueraigne And this his affection did he manifest in all occasions but especiallie in the treatie of the happie mariage of your highnes vvith the King our soueraigne Lord and maister Assembling at his ovvne costes and charges vvith vnvvearied industrie all the English persons of note and esteeme that then vvere in and about Rome vvith thē all as the mouth of thē all supplicating to his Holines for the dispatch of this most hope-full and happie contract yeelding such reasons for the effecting thereof as highlie pleased the chiefe Pastour of the Church vnder Christ our Sauiour The same affection did he testifie sufficiently in the last period of his life leauing his bodie to be buried in the French church at Rome vvhere vvith great contēr of the French Nobilitie it lieth interred This being the affection of the author of this treatise I should much vvronge his memorie if these labours of his should be offred to the patronage of anie other then of your roiall Maiestie The glorious Martyr himselfe demāds likevvise that his life should be read vnder your Maiesties protection since he lost his life in this vvorld to gaine it in the next in defence of an innocent stranger Queene for reasons not to be mētioned by vs debarred from her lavvfull bed Although God be praised and magnified therefore the heauens haue rained such graces vpon your Maiestie that there neuer can happen any such causes of defence your glorious Husband and Lord our soueraigne King so dearlie affecting you and the hope-full yssue the chiefest bond of matrimonial loue so povverfully knitting your hearts together and your gratious Maiesties goodnes virtues and debonnaire discretion so recommending you to him first and then to all his true loyall subiects of this great vnited Monarchie That vve may vndoubtedlie expect from almightie God a long and prosperous enioyāce of your jointgouerment and a glorious race of happie successours to this crovvne frō your royall loines vvhich happines and heauen after long prosperitie on earth vpon my knees I vvish vnto your royall grace remaining for euer Your Maiesties loyall and obedient subiect seruant M. C. M. E. The Preface to the Reader 1. AS I cannot but daily thinke of the rare and admirable vertues both of nature and grace which did shine most perspicuot in the blessed life and glorious death of that worthie Champion of Christs Church Sr. THOMAS MORE so also haue I often had an earnest desire especially for the spirituall behoofe of my selfe and my Children who are as small brookes deriued by naturall propagation frō that spacious sea of rare perfections or like tender twigs drawing sappe from the fruitfull roote of his noble excellēcies to giue them a taste according to my poore abilitie of some few of his most heroical vertues professing my self vtterly vnable to sett downe his life in writing as he deserueth 2. For if that Apelles the principall paynter that euer liued was thought only fitt to drawe with his pencell the pourtraicture of Alexander the Great or if Lysippus the most curious engrauer was the onlie man which was suffered to carue in brasse the beauteous feature of the same so worthie a personage for feare least that some vnskillfull workeman might rather blemish his fauour then anie waies grace it what courage can I haue to vndertake a worke of so great difficultie as this who know my selfe a verie puney in comparison of so manie famous men that haue vndergone this businesse alreadie finding in the verie beginning of this mine enterprise my small capacitie ouerwhelmed with the plentie and copiousnesse of this subiect and vf I should boaste my witt and skill to be equall with learned Stapleton's who at large and with great diligence and dexteritie hath sett forth the life of this great seruant of God in his booke intituled The three Thomases I should vanish away in mine owne pride knowing my self right well most vnworthie to be compared vnto him or if I should challenge vnto my selfe more certaintie of the matter related then my great vncle Mr. William Rooper could haue euerie one might iudge me both vaine and arrogant of whose sin ceritie none that euer knewe him or heard of him can doubte I being the third in descent from S. THOMAS and he his owne sonne-in law with whome he had familiarly conuersedy space of sixteene yeares togeather as he himself confesseth yet for all this I haue now at last ventured to discourse a little of the life and death of this glorious Martyr for so without enuie I hope I may call him non vt electus ex 〈◊〉 sed quasi relictus ex omnibus not as one that may be thought fitt to sett his life forth with good grace but as he who only vpon a naturall affection to his Ancestour trusting 〈◊〉 of Gods ayde and this Saint's holie praiers is emboldened to say somewhat thereof this being one propertie of affection to suppose that whosoeuer hath spoken or whatsoeuer hath benesayd of him whome we loue all that we thinke nothing if we ourselues haue not sayd somewhat in his praise although alas we are often the vnfittest men for that purpose we being not able to vtter what we conceaue because our passion taketh away much of our conceipt and therefore we vtter for the most parte either broken words or vnperfect sentences more intelligible to him that searcheth the secretts of mens harts then to others that heare them spoken or reade them in our writings 3. But one may aske me why I should challenge more affection to this man then anie other of my kinne of whome few or none haue endeauoured to write any thing hitherto I answer that though I haue had more cause perhaps then anie man else to loue him and honour him which is best knowen to my selfe and not fitt to be related vnto all men secretum meum mihi yet will I not ascribe to my selfe so great a priuiledge of louing him best I being the yongest and meanest of all my familie lett this suffice him that is a curious searcher of this my deede that
would say that he was neuer moued with friēdshipp stirred vp with hope of gaine nor wrested by anie threates but still performed his dutie and that he shutt vp alwaies his left eie to all affection of friendshipp and from all briberie Cambden also reporteth of him for proofe of his pleasantnesse of witt that he would compare the multitude of women which are to be chosen for wiues vnto a bagge full of snakes hauing amongst them but one eele now if a man should putt his hand into this bagg he may chance to light on the eele but it is a hundred to one he shall be stung with a snake Manie such like wittie similitudes would he vse in his priuate discourses and in publike auditorie By these his perfections of witt and grace one might guesse that this Childe was likelie to proue singular hauing so good a father but he farre surpassed him in all these and manie more excellencies so that our Familie hath bene much more dignified by this sonne then he anie way drew worth and dignitie from his Anncestours the consideration whereof hath caused manie to thinke and say that SIR THOMAS was of meane parentage and the first of his house yea some haue not stucke to write by birth no gentleman grounding their errour vpon these wordes which he setteth downe in his Epitaphe Thomas More borne of noble familie but of an honest stock which is true as we here in England take Nobilitie and Noble For none vnder a Baron except he be of the Priuie Councell doth challenge it and in this sence he meaneth it but as the Latine word Nobilis is taken in other Countries for Gentrie it was otherwise For Iudge More bare Armes from his birth hauing his Coate quartered which doth argue that he came to his inheritannce by descent and therefore although by reason of king Henries seasure of all our Euidences we can not certainely tell who were Sir Iohn's Anncestours yet must they needes be Gentlemen and as I haue heard they either came out of the Mores of Ireland or they of Ireland came out of vs. And as for SIR THOMAS he was as I haue sayd a Knight's eldest sonne and sole heyre to a Iudge of this realme But whatsoeuer the Familie was or is if Vertue can ennoble anie surely it hath by these two excellent men bene made much more to be respected yet if we as God forbidde we should degenerate from their footestepps we may cause it soone to be base of small reckoning vice being the chiefe stayne that tainteth euen the noblest Families The name of SIR THOMAS his mother was 〈◊〉 of Holicvvell in the Countie of Bedford yet Doctour Stapleton had not heard so much who sayth that her name was vnknowne by reason of which wordes some haue taken greate exceptions as though she had bene a base woman though he doth in the same place tell this reason thereof because she dyed soone after she had brought forth this childe but to haue bene a woman of more then ordinarie vertue that which Doctor Clement reporteth from SIR THOMAS his owne mouth of a vision which she had the next night after her marriage seemeth in my iudgement forcible to argue in which she sawe in her sleepe as it were ingrauen in her wedding ring the number and fauour of all her children she was to haue whereof the face of one was so darke and obscure that she could not well discerne it and indeede afterwards she suffered of one of her children an vntimclie deliuerie but the face of one of her other she beheld shining most gloriously whereby no doubt Sir THOMAS his fame and sanctitie was foreshened and presignifyed She brought forth before him to Sir Iohn two daughters one called Iane afterwards married to à noble gentleman Mr. Richard Staffretō Elizabeth wife to the worthie gētleman Mr. Iohn Rastall Iudge Rastall's father Sir Iohn after his first wife's death married successiuely two others whereof the last as I haue heard was called Alice one of the Mores of Surrey and great aunte to Sir William More whose sonne now liuing is Sir George lieftennant of the Tower a man little inferiour to his noble Anncestours if his religion were answerable to theirs This Ladie outliued her sonne in law Sir THOMAS dwelling vpon her Iointure in Hartfordshire at a Capitall messuage then called More-place now Gubbons in the parish of Northmimes but being a little before her death thrust out of all by king Henry's furie she dyed at Northall a mile from thence and lieth buried in the church there 2. Sir THOMAS MORE was borne at London in Milke-streete where the Iudge his father for the most parte dwelt in the yeare of our Lord 1480. in the twentieth yeare of Edvvard the Fourth Shortly after his birth God would shew by another signe how deare this babe was vnto him For his nurce chancing to ride with him ouer à water and her horse stepping aside into a deepe place putt both her and her Childe in great danger and ieopardie whose harmes she seeking suddenly to preuent threw the infant ouer a hedge into a fielde neere adioyning and after by God's helpe escaping safe also when she came to take him vp againe she found him to haue no hurt at all but sweetely smiled vpon her that it might well be sayd of him Angelis suis Deus mandauit de te ne fortè offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum and not his foote only but his whole bodie 3. This was no doubt a happie presage of his future holinesse and putt his parents in minde that he was that shining Childe of whome his mother had that former vision wherefore his father had the greater care to bring him vp in learning as soone as his tender age would permit it and so he putt him to the Free-schoole of London called S. Anthonies where he had a famous and learned man called Nicolas Holt for his maister vnder whome when he had rather greedily deuoured then leasurely chewed his Grammar rules he outstripped farre both in towardnesse of witt and diligence of endeauours all his schoole fellowes with whome he was matched And being borne to farre greater matters his father procured him to be placed shortly after in the house of the most worthie prelate that then liued in England both for wisedome learning and vertue whose like the world scarcely had Cardinall Morton Archbishopp of Canterburie and Lord high Chancellour of England whose graue countenance and carriage was such that he easily allured all men to honour and loue him a man as Sir THOMAS MORE describeth him in his Vtopia of incomparable iudgement a memorie more then is credible eloquent in speach and which is most to be wished in Clergiemen of singular wisedome and vertue so that the King and the Common wealth relyed chiefly vpon this mans counsell as he by whose policie King Henrie the Seauenth both gott the Crowne of
confesseth that he hated those seditious opinions with the which the world was then cruelly shaken He would often talke with his wife and Children of the exceeding ioyes in heauen and terrible paines of hell of the liues of holie Martyrs what torments they endured for the loue of God of their maruelous patiēce deathes which they suffered most willingly rather then they would offende Gods diuine Maiestie and what an honourable thing it was for the loue of our Lord IESVS-CHRIST to abide imprisonment losse of goods lands and life adding also what a comfort it would be to him if he might finde that his wife and children would encourage him to dye in a good cause for it would cause him for ioye thereof merrily to runne to death besides as prophecying of his future troubles he would tell them what miseries might chance to happen vnto him With which vertuous discourses he had so encouraged them that when these things after fell vpon him indeede their miserie seemed the more tolerable vnto them because Shafts foreseene hurt not so much 2. Within a while after the resigning of his Office M. r Cromevvell now highly in the King's fauour came of a message from the king to Sir THOMAS wherein when they had throughly talked togeather before his going away Sir THOMAS sayd vnto him M. r Cromevvell you are entred into the seruice of a most noble wise and liberall Prince yf you will followe my poore aduise you shall in your counsell giuing to his Maiestie euer tell him what he ought to doe but neuer what he is able to doe so shall you shew yourself a true and faithfull seruant and a right worthie counsellour for yf a lyon knew his owne strength hard were it for anie man to rule him But Cromevvell neuer learned this lesson for he euer gaue that counsell to his prince which he thought would best please him and not what was lawfull For it was he that was the mischieuous instrument of king Henry to pull downe all abbies and religious houses yea to ruinate religiō vtterly whereby you may see the difference betweene king Henry a iust prince whilst he followed Sir THOMAS MORE' 's counsell and after a cruell tyrant and bloudsucker when he practised Thomas Cromevvells plotts and deuises and also we may see the issue of both these counsellours the one hauing gotten great fame for his iust deserts the other hauing purchased eternall infamie yea the ouerthrow of himself and his familie For though he attayned to be Lord Cromevvell yea afterwards Earle of Essex yet his honour and life was soone taken away from him most iustly and now there is scarce anie of his posteritie left his lands are all solde yea such was his grandchild's miserie that he complayned verie lamen tably to some gentlemen that he had not bread to putt into his mouth whereas Sir THOMAS MORE' 's great grandchildren though they liue not in great abundance yet haue they God be blessed sufficient to maintaine the estate of honest Gentlemen which God of his mercie continue 3. Now had King Henry also chosen an Archbishop of Canterbury for his owne tooth promoted by the King as I haue heard say at a beare-bayting soone after VVarham's death his name was Thomas Cranmer Anne Bullen's Chaplaine a man wholy bent to fullfill the king's pleasure in all things By his counsell Q. Marie was after disinherited and all men were sworne to the succession of Q. Anne's issue and to renounce the Pope's authoritie by acknowledging king Henry and his Successours supreme head of the church of England Vnto this man there was Commission granted vnder the great Seale to determine the marriage who had a conscience large enough to putt in execution what the king did fancie sitting at S. Albans about this new match all things were easily accorded The king pretended that he could gett no iustice at the Pope's hands wherefore from thenceforth he sequestred himself and his kingdome from the Sea of Rome marrying Q. Anne in priuate for she was not sollemnely carried through London before she was great with childe of Q. Elizabeth Thus euerie man may see the cause of our breach from Rome the vnion whereof had cōtinued more then nine hundred yeares euer since holie Pope Gregorie first conuerted vs would haue remayned God knowes how long if that either king Henry would not haue cast his liking vpon a wanton damsell or else the Pope's conscience could haue stretched to dispense with a king to haue two wiues togeather for the king still would praise his former wife and tearme her a vertuous woman only forsooth scruple of cōscience was pretēded but he could not see anie cause of scruple in breaking his promise vpon his appeale whereby he professed he would stay vntill the determination of a generall Counsell to which from the Pope he had already appealed As soone as Sir THOMAS had heard that king Henry was married he sayd to my vncle Roper God giue grace sonne that these matters within a while be not confirmed with oathes My vncle then although he saw likeliehood thereof yet fearing alwaies that that would fall out which Sir THOMAS foretolde waxed for these wordes verie sore grieued For he had manie times had experience that he spoke prophetically of diuerse things 4. Before that Q. Anne should be carried in triumphe from the Tower to Westminster through the streetes of London with manie pagents sumptuous shewes which proued after but a may-game Sir THOMAS receaued a letter from three greate Bishops Durham VVinchester Bath requesting him both to keepe them companie to her Coronation and also to take twentie pounds which by the bearer thereof they had sent him to buy him a gowne the money he thankefully receaued yet stayde he still at home and at their next meeting he sayd merrily thus vnto them In the letter my Lords which you lately sent me you requested two things of me the one whereof I was well content to graunt you that the other I might the bolder denye and like as the one because I tooke you for no beggars and my selfe I knew to be no rich man I thought the rather to fullfill so the other putt me in minde of an Emperour that ordained a law that whosoeuer had committed a certaine offence which now I remember not except she were a virgin should suffer death for it such reuerence had he to virginitie now it happened that the first that offended in that crime was a virgin which the Emperour hearing of was in a perplexitie as he that by some example would fayne haue that law putt in execution Wherevpon when his counsell had sitt long debating this case very sollemnely suddenly rose there vp one plaine man of the Counsell and sayd why make you so much adoe my lords about so small a matter lett her be deflowred and after denoured So though your
vvhich thinke as I doe I am not boūd to cōforme my selfe to these alone hauing the Doctours of the Church on my side vvho could not be dravven neither for hopes nor feares Finally to the last he wisely answered that although to denye the decree of a generall Councell vvere a damnable acte yet to vvithstande a statute of one realme's making vvhich contradicteth the constant opinion of the vvhole Church is neither a rash deede nor an obstinate but most laudable and Christianlike All which disputation my aunte Rooper sett downe in a letter to her sister Alington printed togeather with Sir THOMAS his letters After all this my aunte Rooper sought to fright him with the danger of death which might perhaps moue him to relente when he cannot hinder his mishappes but now he might preuēt all being yet not too late wherevnto how hūbly he speaketh of his owne frailtie and how confidently he relyeth vpon Gods mercie may be seene at large whose wordes are so humble so zealous so godlie that they are able to pierce anie mans hart that will reade them in the latter ende of his workes they breathe out an Angelicall spiritt farre different from the presumptuous speaches of either heretike or desperate man Lord helpe me yf God for my manie and grieuous sinnes vvill suffer me to be damned his Iustice shal be praised in me but I hope he vvill procure for me that his mercie shall haue the vpper hand nothing can happen but that vvhich God pleaseth and vvhat that is though it should seeme euill vnto vs yet it is truly the best 4. At another time when he had questioned with my aunte Rooper of his wife childrē and state of his house in his absence he asked her at last how Q. Anne did In sayth Father sayd she neuer better there is nothing else in the Courte but dancing and sporting Neuer better sayd he alas Megg alas it pittieth me to remember vnto what miserie poore soule she will shortly come these dances of hers will proue such dances that she will spurne our heads of like foote bals but it will not be lōg ere her head will dance the like dance And how prophetically he spoke these words the ende of her Tragedie proued it most true M. r Lieutenant coming into his chamber to visite him rehearsed the manie benefitts and friendshipps that he had often receaued from him and therefore that he was bound to entertaine him friendly and make him good cheare but the case standing as it did he could not doe it without the king's displeasure wherefore he hoped that he would accept of his good will of the poore fare he had whereto he answered I verily belieue you good M. r Lieutenant and I thanke you most hartily for it and assure yourselfe I doe not mislike my fare but whensoeuer I doe then spare not to thrust me out of your doores Now whereas the oath of Supremacie and marriage was comprized in few wordes in the first Statute the Lo Chancellour and M. r Secretarie did of their owne heads adde more wordes vnto it to make it seeme more plausible to the king's eares and this Oath so amplifyed they had exhibited to Sir THOMAS and others of which their deede Sir THOMAS sayde to his daughter I may tell thee Megg that they who haue committed me hither for refusing an oath not agreable with their owne statute are not able by their owne law to iustifye mine imprisonment wherefore it is great pittie that anie Christian prince should be drawen to followe his affections by flexible counsell and by a weake Clergie lacking grace for want of which they stande weakely to their learning abuse themselues with flatterie so shamefully Which wordes coming to the Councell's eares they caused another Statute espying their ouersight to be enacted with all these conditions Another time looking out of his windowe to beholde one M. r Reynolds a religious learned and vertuous Father of Sion and three monkes of the Cbarterhouse going forth of the Tower to their executiō for now king Henry beganne to be fleshed in bloud hauing putt to death the Nunne and diuerse others and manie after for the Supremacie and his marriage Sir THOMAS as one that longed to accompanie them in that iourney sayde to his daughter thē standing besides him Loe doest not thou see Megg that these blessed Fathers be now as chearefully going to death as if they were bridegroomes going to be married whereby good daughter thou maist see what a great difference there is betweene such as haue in effect spentall their daies in a straight hard and penitentiall life religiously and such as haue in the world like worldlie wretches as thy poore father hath donne consumed all their time in pleasure and ease licentiously For God considering their lōg continued life in most sore and grieuous pennance will not suffer them anie longer to remaine in this vale of miserie but taketh them speedily hence to the fruitiō of his euerlasting deitie whereas thy sillie father who hath most like a wicked Caytife passed forth most sinfully the whole course of his miserable life God thinketh him not worthie to come so soone to that eternall felicitie but leaueth him still in the world further to be plunged and turmoiled with miserie By which most humble and heauenlie meditation we may easily guesse what a spirite of Charitie he had gotten by often meditation that euerie sight brought him new matter to practise most heroicall resolutions Within a while after this M. r Secretarie coming to him from the king who still gaped more for Sir THOMAS his relenting then all his other subiects pretended much friendshipp towards Sir THOMAS and for his comfort tolde him that the king was his good and gratious Lord and minded not to vrge him to anie matter wherein he should haue anie cause of scruple from thenceforth to trouble his consciēce As soone as M. Secretarie was gone to expresse what comfort he receaued of his words he wrote with a coale as he did vsually manie other letters because all his Inke had bene taken from him by the king's expresse commaundement certaine wittie verses which are printed in his booke All the while Sir THOMAS was in the Tower he was not idle but busied himself in writing with a coale for the most parte spirituall treatises as the Three bookes of Comfort in Tribulation where in a dialogue manner vander the names of two Hungarians fearing the Turkes running ouer their Countrie who had made great preparations therefore he paynteth out in liuelie coulours both the danger that England stoode then in to be ouerwhelmed with heresie and how good Catholikes should prepare themselues to loose libertie life and lands and whatsoeuer can be most deare vnto them rather then to forsake their fayth It is a most excellent booke full of spirituall and forcible motiues expressing liuely Sir THOMAS his singular resolution to apply all those
neuer take vpon him to aduise any man in that point though much vrged thereto by letters especially of Doctour Willson his fellow prisoner in the Tower knowing himself being a lay man not to be bound to perswade a Clergie man much lesse a Doctour of Diuinitie Fourthly when he was brought from the Tower to Westminster to answer his Inditement therevpon arraigned at the King's-Bench-barre where he had often asked his father's blessing he openly tolde the Iudges that he would haue abidden in law and demurred vpon the Inditement but that he should haue bene driuen thereby to confesse of himselfe that he had denyed the kings Supremacie which he protested he neuer had donne And indeede the principall faulte there Layde to his charge was that he maliciously traiterously and Diabolically would not vtter his minde of that Oath Whereto Sir THOMAS pleaded not guiltie reserued to himselfe aduantage to be taken of the bodie of the matter after verdict to auoyde that Inditemēt adding moreouer that if only those odious tearmes were taken out he saw nothing that could charge him of anie Treason THE TENTH CHAPTER THE ARRAIGNEMENT condemnation of Sir THOMAS MORE 1. Sir Thomas Mores arraignement at the kings-benche 2. His vvorthy resolute and discreet ansvver to his inditement 3. Maister Riche his false oath against Sir Thomas cleerly reiected 4. The Iurours verdict excepted against by Sir Thomas vvith a noble confession of ecclesiasticall supremacy 5. Sentence of condemnation pronounced against Sir Thomas 6. He deliuereth fully plainly his iudgemēt touching the act and oath of supremacy 1. AFter that the king had endeauoured by all meanes possible to gett Sir THOMAS his consent vnto his lawes knowing that his example would moue manie being so eminent for wisedome and rare vertues and could by no meanes obtaine his desire he commaunded him to be called to his Arraignemēt at the kings-bench barre hauing bene a prisoner in the Tower somewhat more then a twelue-moneth for he was Committed about midde-Aprill and this happened the seauenth of May 1535. the yeare following He went thither leaning on his staffe because he had bene much weakened by his imprisonment his countenance chearefull and constant his Iudges were Andley the Lo Chancellour Fitz Iames the Lo Chiefe Justice Sir Iohn Baldvvin Sir Richard Leister Sir Iohn Port Sir Iohn Spilman Sir Walter Luke Sir Antonie Fitzherbert where the king's Attornye reading a long odious Inditement contayning all the crimes that could be layd against anie notorious malefactour so long as Sir THOMAS professed he could scarce remember the third parte that was obiected against him but the speciall faulte was that of the refusall of the oath as is before spoken for proose whereof his double examination in the tower was alleaged the first before Cromevvell Thomas Beade Iohn Tregunnell c. To whome he professed that he had giuen ouer to thinke of titles either of Popes or Princes although all the whole world should be giuen him being fully determined only to serue God the second before the Lo Chancellour Duke of Suffolke Earle of Wiltshire and others before whome he compared that Oath to a two-edged sword for if he should take it his soule should be wounded yf he refused it his bodie That he had written letters to Bishopp Fisher to perswade him therein because their answers were alike vpon all which it was concluded that Sir THOMAS was a traytour to his Prince and realme for denying the king's supreme Iurisdiction in ecclesiasticall gouernement presently after this Inditement was read the Lo Chancellour and the Duke of Norfolke spoke to this effect vnto him you see now how grieuously you haue offended his Maiestie Yet he is so merciefull that yf you will lay away your obstinacie and change your opinion we hope you may obtaine pardon of his highnesse Whereto the stoute Champion of Christ replyed Most noble Lords I haue great cause to thanke your Honours for this your courtesie but I beseech Almightie god that I may continue in the minde I am in through his grace vnto death by which three words he exercised the actes of three vertues humanitie 〈◊〉 and fortitude shewing himself a Ciuile man a godlie Christian and a noble Confessour of Christ's truth 2. After this he was suffered to saye what he could in his owne defence and then he beganne in this sorte When I thinke hovv long my accusation is and vvhat haynous matters are-layed to my charge I am stroken vvith feare least my memorie and vvitt both vvhich are decayed togeather vvith the health of my bodie through a long impediment contracted by my imprisonmēt be not novv able to ansvver these things on the suddaine as I ought and othervvise could After this there was brought him a chaire in which when he was sate he beganne againe thus There are foure principall heads yf I be not deceaued of this my Inditement euerie of vvhich I purpose God vvilling to ansvver in order To the first that is obiected against me to vvitt that I haue bene an enemie of a stubbernesse of minde to the king's second marriage I confesse that I alvvaies tolde the king my opinion therein as my conscience dictated vnto me vvhich I neither euer vvould nor ought to haue concealed for vvhich I am so farre from thinking myself guiltie of high treason as that of the contrarie I being demaunded my opinion by so great a prince in a matter of such importance vvherevpon the quietnesse of a kingdome dependeth I should haue basely flattered him against mine ovvne cōscience and not vttered the truth as I thought then I should vvorthily haue bene accounted a most vvicked subiect and a persidious trayter to God yf herein I had offended the king if it can be an offence to tell one's minde plainely vvhen our prince asketh vs I suppose I haue bene alreadie punished enough for this falte vvith most grieuous afflictions vvith the losse of all my goods and committed to perpetuall imprisonment hauing bene shutt vp alreadie almost these 15. monethes My second accusation is that I haue transgressed the Statute in the last parlement that is to say being a prisonner and tvvice examined by the Lords of the Councell I vvould not disclose vnto them my opinion of a malignant perfidious obstinate and trayterous minde vvhether the king vvere supreame head of the Church or no but ansvvered them that this lavv belonged not not to me vvhether it vvere iust or vniust because I did not enioye anie benefice from the churche yet I then protested that I neuer had sayd or donne anie thing against it neither can anie one vvord or action of mine be produced to make me culpable yea this I confesse vvas then my speach vnto their Honours that I hereafter vvould thinke of nothing else but of the bitter passion of our blessed Sauiour and of my passage out of this miserable vvorld I vvishe no harme to anie and
yf this vvill not keepe me aliue I desire not to liue by all vvhich I knovve that I could not transgresse anie lavv or incurre anie crime of treason for neither this Statute nor anie lavv in the vvorld can punish anie man for holding his peace for they only can punish either words or deedes God only being Iudge of our secrett thoughts Of which words because they were vrgent indeede the king's Atturnie interrupted him and sayd Although we haue not one word or deede of yours to obiect against you yet haue we your silence which is an euident signe of a malicious minde because no dutiefull subiect being lawfully asked this question will refuse to answer To which Sir THOMAS replyed saying my silēce is no signe of anie malicious minde vvhich the king himself may knovv by manie of my dealings neither doth it conuince anie man of breache of your lavv For it is a maxime amongst the Ciuilians and Canonists Qui tacet consentire videtur he that holdeth his peace seemeth to consente And as for that you say no good subiect will refuse to ansvver directly I thinke it verily the dutie of a good subiect except he be such a subiect as vvill be an euill Christian rather to obey God then man to haue more care of offending his Conscience then of anie other matter in the vvorld especially if his Conscience procure neither heauie scandall nor sedition to his Prince or Coūtrie as mine hath not donne for I here proteste vnfaynedly that I neuer reuealed it to anie man liuing I novv come to the third Capitall matter of my Inditement vvhereby I am accused that I malitiously attempted trayterously ende auoured and persidiously practised against this Statute as the vvordes thereof affirme because I vvrote eight sundrie packetts of letters vvhilst I vvas in the Tovver vnto Bishopp Fisher by vvhich I exhorted him to breake the same lavve and induced him to the like obstinacie I vvould haue these letters produced and read against me vvhich may either free me or conuince me of a lye But because you say the Bishopp burnt them all I vvill here tell the truth of the vvhole matter some vvere only of priuate matters as about our olde friendshipp and acquaintance one of them vvas in ansvver to his vvhereby he desired of me to knovve hovv I had ansvvered in my examinations to this Oath of Supremacie touching which this only I vvrote vnto him againe that I had already settled my conscience lett him settle his to his ovvne good liking and no other ansvver I gaue him God is my vvittnesse as God I hope shall saue this my soule and this I trust is no breache of your lavves The last obiected crime is that being examined in the tovver I did say that this lavv vvas like a tvvo-edged svvord for in cōsenting thereto I should endanger my soule inrefusing it I should leese my life vvhich ansvver because B. Fisher made the like it is euidently gathered as you say that vve both cōspired togeather Whereto I replye that my ansvver there vvas but Conditionall yf there be danger in both either to allovve or disallovve this Statute and therefore like a tvvo-edged svvord it seemeth a hard thing that it should be offered to me that neuer haue hitherto contradicted it either in vvord or deede These vvere my vvordes What the Bishopp ansvvered I knovve not Yf his ansvver vvere 〈◊〉 mine it proceeded not from anie Conspiracie of ours but from the likenesse of our vvitts learning To conclude I vnfaynedly auouche that I neuer spake vvord against this lavv to anie liuing man although perhaps the king's Maiestie hath bene tolde the contrarie 3. To this full answer the Atturnye did not replye anie more but the word Malice was in the mouth of all the Courte but noe man could produce either word or deede to proue it yet for all this clearing of himself for a last proofe to the Iurie that Sir THOMAS was guiltie M. r Rich was called forth to giue euidence vnto them vpon his oath which he did forthwith affirming that which we haue spokē of before in their Communication in the Tower against whome now sworne and forsworne Sir THOMAS beganne in this wise to speake Yf I were a man my Lords that did not regarde an oath I needed not at this time in this place as is well knowē vnto euerie one to stande as an accused person And yf this oath M. r Rich which you haue taken be true then I pray that I neuer see God in the face which I would not say were it otherwise to gaine the whole world Then did he recite before all the Courte the whole discourse of all their Communication in the Tower according as it was truly sincerely adding this In good fayth M. r Rich I am more sorie for your periurie then for mine owne perill and knowe you that neither I nor anie man else to my knowledge euer tooke you to be a man of such creditt as either I or anie other would vouchsafe to communicate with you in anie matter of importance You knowe that I haue bene acquaynted with your manner of life and conuersation a long space euen from your youth to this time for we dwelt long togeather in one parish where as yourself can well tell I am sorie you compelle me to speake it you were alwaies esteemed very light of your toung a greate dycer and gamester not of anie commendable fame either there or at your house in the Temple where hath bene your bringing vp Can it therefore seeme likelie to your Hon ble Lordshipps that in so weightie a Cause I should so vnaduisedly ouershoote myselfe as to trust M. r Rich a man alwaies reputed of me for one of so little truth and honestie so farre aboue my Soueraigne Lord the king to whome I am so deepely indebted for his manifolde fauours or anie of his noble and graue Counsellours that I would declare only to M. r Rich the secretts of my Conscience touching the king's Supremacie the speciall poynt and onlie marke so long sought for at my hands which I neuer did nor neuer would reueale after the Statute once made either to the king's highnesse himselfe or to anie of his noble Councellours as it is well knowen to your Honours who haue bene sent for no other purpose 〈◊〉 sundrie seuerall times from his Maiesties person to me in the tower I referre it to your iudgements my Lords whether this can seeme a thing credible to anie of you And yf I had donne as M. r Rich hath sworne seing it was spoken but in familiar secret talke affirming nothing but only in putting of Cases without anie vnpleasing circumstances it cannot iustly be taken to be spoken maliciously and where there is no malice there can be no offence Besides this my Lords I cannot thinke that so manie worthie Bishops so manie honourable personages so manie
it selfe speaketh abundantly that the cause was most vniust the manner thereof most infamous and Sir THOMAS MORE' 's patience most admirable his pietie his learning his vertues incomparable famous was he for his noble martyrdome infamous king Henry for his most vniust condemnation These things doe aggrauate king Henry's faulte First that he killed him by a law wherein he neuer offended either by word or deede and by that which concerned not Temporall policie but religion only not rebellious against the king but fearefull to offende his owne Conscience which though he refused to approue yet did he neuer reproue it or anie other man for taking it Secondly that he putt to death so rare a man so beloued of all so vertuous so wise so courteous and wittie which might be motiues sufficient euer to pardon a guiltie offender Thirdly for beheading a man that had donne him so much seruice yea the whole kingdome such good offices his faythfull Counsellour for twentie yeares togeather his expert Embassadour his just Lo Chancellour the verie flower of his realme Manie things also doe amplifye and in crease Sir THOMAS MORE' 's immortall glorie first in that to all the king's demaunds he had behaued himselfe so sincerely and impartiall opening his minde ingenuously so that the king seemed still to like him though his opiniō were contrarie to his liking Secondly that he had suffered alreadie the losse of all his goods being condemned to perpetual imprisonment and only for silence Thirdly in that he tooke all crosses for the loue of God most patiently Fourthly that he dyed for a controuersie in religion neuer before called in question by anie precedent example Finally that he only of all the Councell would not flatter the king nor keepe either goods dignitie or life with the dāger of the losse of his soule All which proue what a rare man how admirable and vertuous a Christian and how glorious a martyr he is 9. But because one bauld English Chronicler Hall tearmeth him a scoffing man because his writings and doings were full of wittie ieastes calling him a wise foolish man or a foolish wiseman lett vs see by his owne writings the reason why he hath vsed so manie pleasant tales in his bookes and it is this Euen as some sicke men sayth he will take no medicines vnlesse some pleasant thing be putt amongst their potions although perhaps it be somewhat hurtefull yet the phisician suffereth them to haue it So because manie will not willingly hearken to serious and graue documents except they be mingled with some fable or ieaste therefore reason willeth vs to doe the like And in his greate Volume page 1048. he sayth that ieastes are as it were sawce whereby we are recreated that we may eate with more stomake but as that were an absurde bankett in which there were few dishes of meate and much varietie of sawces and that an vnpleasant one where there were no sawce at all euen so that life were spent idely wherein nothing were but mirth and iolitie and againe that tedious and vncomfortable wherein no pleasure or myrth were to be expected Which mirth as it may become all men so most especially did it become such a one as Sir THOMAS MORE was being a married man yea a Courtier end a companion to a Prince of whome that may worthily be spoken which Titus Liuius recounteth of Cato thus In this man there was such excellencie of witt and wisedome that he seemeth to haue bene able to haue made his fortune in what place soeuer he had bene borne he wanted no skill either for the managing of priuate or publike businesses he was skillfull both in Countrie and Cittie affayres some are raysed to honour either because they are excellent lawyers singularly eloquent or of admirable vertues but the towardlienesse of this man's vnderstanding framed him so to all matters that you would deeme him to be borne for one alone In the practise of vertues you would iudge him rather a monke then a Courtier in learning a most famous writer yf you would aske his counsell in the law he was most readie to aduise you the best yf he were to make an Oration he would shew maruelous eloquence he was admirable in all kinde of learning Latine Greeke Prophane Diuine yf there were an Embassage to be vndertooke none more dexterous to finish it in giuing sound counsell in doubtfull Cases none more prudent to tell the truth without feare none more free as farre from all flatterie as open and pleasant full of grace in deliuering his iudgement and that which Cato had not therein was he most happie For Liuie saith that he had a sower carriadge and a toung immoderate free and full of taunting But Sir THOMAS being Christ's schollar and not anie Stoick's was milde and of an humble hart neither sadde nor turbulent and besides of a pleasant conuersation neuer sterne but for righteousnesse a great contemner either of vnlawfull pleasures or of mordinate riches and glorie As Cato had much enmitie with diuerse Senatours so manie of them on the other side did exercise his patience that one can hardly discerne whether the Nobilitie did presse him more or he the Nobilitie but on the contrarie side Sir THOMAS MORE neuer had anie priuate or publike quarrell with anie man yea no man can reckon anie to haue bene his enemie being borne wholy to friendshipp and affabilitie wherefore being nothing inferiour to Cato for grauitie integritie and innocency as exact a hater of all vice and sterne to all wicked men as he yet did he farre excelle him in mildenesse sweetenesse of behauiour and pleasantnesse of witt yea I doe him iniurie to compare him to anie morall philosopher whatsoeuer for he was absolutely well seene in the schoole of Christ endewed with all supernaturall perfections a greate Saint of Christ's Church and a holie Martyr of his fayth and high in Gods fauour which was well testifyed in his daughter my aunte Dauney who being sore sick of that disease of which she after dyed fell into a lōg traunce and afterwards returning to herselfe she professed with abundance of teares that she had felt in that while most grieuous torments and should haue suffered them for euer had not her fathers prayers and intercession begged of God a little longer space to repente her of her former life It was also credibly reported that two of Iohn Haywood's sons Iasper and Ellis hauing one of the teeth of Sir THOMAS MORE betweene them and either of them being desirous to haue it to himselfe it suddenly to the admiration of both parted in two 10. Now to conclude lett vs consider why God culled out this man aboue all other to preserue the vnitie of the Church and to be an illustrious wittnesse of the glorious cause for the which he dyed for least men should thinke that yf only the Clergie had dyed they might seeme partiall in their owne Cause beholde God