so fast and firmly eight of his ten opinions, that all the doctors of London could not turn her from one of them; and when it was told her that she should be burned for her obstinancy and false belief, she set nothing by their menacing words, but defied them, for she said she was so beloved of God and his holy angels, that she passed [cared] not for the fire; and in the midst thereof she cried to God to take her soul into his holy hands." Several other persons suffered death for holding similar opinions:

"Their blood (was) shed

In confirmation of the noblest claim,
Our claim to feed upon immortal truth,
To walk with God, to be divinely free,

To soar and to anticipate the skies.

Yet few remember them. They lived unknown,
Till persecution dragg'd them into fame,

And chased them up to heaven."*

It does not appear that the cruelties of which the Romish clergy were guilty, diminished the numbers of those who sought to realize the spiritual joys and blessings which are the portion of those who, through faith, are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. On the contrary, the blood of the martyrs proved the seed of the church.

Henry built a ship called the "Great Harry," at a cost of 14,000%. Hume says, "that she was, properly speaking, the first ship in the English navy." In 1485 a new disease, called the sweating sickness, prevailed, and in a month carried off many thousands; and in 1500 the plague swept off 30,000 people in London alone.

[The Moorish kingdom of Granada conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella, 1491. America discovered by Columbus, 1492. Charles VIII led an expedition to Naples, 1494. Newfoundland discovered by Sebastian Cabot, 1497. The Cape of Good Hope doubled, and a new passage opened to the East Indies

* Cowper's "Task."

by Vasco de Gama, 1497. League of Cambray against the Venetians, 1508.]

Death.-Henry died at Richmond, April 21, 1509.

HENRY VIII.

Reigned from 1509 to 1547.

Birth.-Henry was born at Greenwich, June 28, 1491. Descent. He was the son of Henry VII, by Elizabeth of York, and therefore in him the rights of the two families were united.

Marriage He had six wives :

:

1. Catherine of Arragon, his sister-in-law. She was divorced in 1533, and died at Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire, Jan. 8, 1536.

2. Anne Boleyn, daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn (afterwards Earl of Wiltshire), privately married to the king either in November, 1532, or January, 1533. She was charged with adultery, and being convicted, was executed, May, 1536. The general belief was that the charges were totally unfounded.

3. Jane Seymour (daughter of Sir John Seymour), whom the king married on the very day following the decapitation of the unfortunate Anne. Jane died in October, 1537.

4. Anne of Cleves (daughter of the Duke of Cleves), whom the king married at the instigation of Cromwell, Jan., 1540. From the first he exhibited a repugnance to her; and by his subservient parliament the marriage was abrogated, July, 1540.

5. Catherine Howard (niece of the Duke of Norfolk), whom the king espoused in July, 1540. She was accused of infidelity to Henry, and beheaded in February, 1542.

6. Catherine Parr, widow of Lord Latimer. Henry married her, July, 1543; and she had the good fortune to survive him, though, on one or two occasions, she was exposed to some danger from her adherence to the doctrines of the Reformers.

A

Children.-Mary, daughter of Catherine of Arragon; Elizabeth, of Anne Boleyn; and Edward, son of Jane Seymour.

Important Events.-On Henry's accession, he gratified the people by committing Empson and Dudley, and their subordinates, to prison. The two principals were executed the next year on a charge of high treason, which there is every reason to believe was utterly false.

In 1511 the king concluded a league with Ferdinand, for the purpose of conquering Guienne, and sent an army to Biscay; but the Spanish monarch, instead of assisting him, effected the conquest of Navarre, and the troops returned home without having performed any serviceable exploit.

Two years after, Henry, aided principally by the Emperor Maximilian, invaded France and laid siege to Terouenne (1513). The French attempted to relieve it, but were defeated in the BATTLE OF SPURS (Aug. 16), and that town, as well as Tournay, fell into Henry's hands. While he was in France, James IV advanced into England, but was vanquished and slain at FLODDEN, by the Earl of Surrey (Sept. 9). Henry made peace with Louis XII, in 1514; and the alliance was cemented by Louis' marriage to Mary, sister of the English monarch.

Wolsey (said to have been the son of a butcher of Ipswich) obtained rapid and large preferment early in this reign; and as the king's chief adviser, he exercised great influence in the affairs of church and state. In 1515 he was made cardinal, and a few weeks after was appointed chancellor. He also received the office of papal legate, with the power of suspending the laws and canons of the church. On two or three occasions he made an attempt to obtain the papal chair.

In the peculiar condition of Europe at this period, Henry's friendship was sought both by the Emperor Charles V (the queen's nephew), and by Francis I, the successor of Louis XII. To secure his goodwill, Francis invited him to pay a visit to France, and the meeting took place on The Field of the Cloth of Gold, between Guisnes and Ardres. Some days were spent

in magnificent displays; but Charles, prior to the event, had dexterously obtained the confidence of his uncle-in-law (1520).

About the year 1527 Henry professed to entertain doubts relative to the validity of his marriage with Catherine. Some historians think that these scruples were increased, if not raised, through his desire to espouse Anne Boleyn, a young lady distinguished for her beauty and accomplishments. The queen's relationship to the emperor, who had the pope virtually in his power, placed the latter in a difficult position, but he granted a commission to the Cardinals Campeggio and Wolsey to inquire into the question. They commenced their sittings in 1529; but, without coming to any decision, the court was adjourned and the cause removed to Rome. These proceedings led to the fall of Wolsey, who was deprived of his offices, and sentenced to forfeiture of goods and imprisonment for violating the statute of præmunire* (Oct., 1529). He subsequently received a general pardon, and retired to his see of York, but was, after a few weeks, re-arrested; and as he was being brought towards London, he fell ill and died at Leicester (Nov. 28, 1530). A little before he expired, he said to the constable of the Tower, "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs. But this is the just reward that I must receive for my diligent pains and study, not regarding my service to God, but only to my prince."

Wolsey's servant, Cromwell, rose into favour on his master's fall; and Cranmer, a clergyman, who suggested to the king that he should ask the opinions of the universities as to his marriage, was made Archbishop of Canterbury (1533), not long after the death of Warham.

This was an act passed in 1392, and was so called from the words of the writ issued for the execution of the statute-" Præmunire facias A. B., etc.," i.e., "Cause A. B. to be forewarned, etc." It ordained that any person purchasing provisions, excommunications, bulls, or any instruments, in the court of Rome, or elsewhere, or bringing them into the country, should be put out of the sovereign's protection, and his lands and goods forfeited.

In 1533, and the following year, the parliament passed several acts which put an end to the pope's authority in England. Appeals to Rome in ecclesiastical causes were prohibited; the pecuniary contribution, called Peter-pence,* was abolished; and the supremacy of the church was transferred from the pope to the king by an act in which were these words: "Your majesty is supreme head of the church of England, as the prelates and clergy of your realm representing the said church in their synods and convocations have recognised, in whom consisteth the authority to ordain and enact laws by the assent of your lords spiritual and temporal, and commons in the parliament assembled." The breach was widened in the succeeding year by the excommunication of the king, who showed that he was determined to carry out with rigour the provisions of the lastmentioned act; for both Fisher, the aged Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, a man of distinguished ability and probity, were sent to the block for refusing to recognise him as head of the church (1535).

Cromwell, with the title of vicar-general, appointed a commission to visit the monasteries, and on their report (which described most of these institutions as ill-conducted, and some as notoriously immoral) the lesser monasteries were dissolved in 1536, and the greater in 1539.+ It is but fair to add that the

A tribute granted to the pope; it was a penny for every house, and received its name because collected on the day of St. Peter ad Vincula.

+ About this time some of the impostures of the monks were discovered and exposed. At the abbey of Hales, in Gloucestershire, there was a phial which, the priests told the people, contained a portion of the Redeemer's blood; the blood, it was said, could not be seen by any one in mortal sin, but it became visible to those who paid for a sufficient number of masses. The secret was found to be that the vessel, which contained the blood of a duck, was thin and transparent on one side, and thick and opaque on the other, and by a little dexterity the priests could turn it about to suit their purpose. At Boxley, in Kent, was a crucifix, known as the Rood of Grace. the head, eyes, and lips of which moved on the approach of a worshipper; but on examination it was discovered that these movements were effected by secret cords and wire. This crucifix was brought to St. Paul's Cross, where the machinery was disclosed to the public by Hilsey, the Bishop of Rochester.