But the Parliament did not suffer itself to be stopped by declarations of this kind. Already in January, 1532, the House of Commons renewed its representations to the King respecting various ecclesiastical abuses, in particular that laymen were summoned as heretics without being confronted with their accusers, and that they were compelled either to take an oath renouncing their religious persuasion, or were burnt. In the following sittings they went much further; nay, even before the news of the excommunication pronounced against Henry had reached England, the Parliament had annihilated almost all the rights of the Pope. Indulgencies, nominations, dispensations from Rome were forbidden, the spiritual jurisdiction limited, the Monasteries placed under Henry's superintendence, the election of Bishops, the convocation of Synods, and the final decision of all ecclesiastical disputes placed in his hands. Instead of contending for their rights in the Upper House, most of the Bishops and Abbots foolishly absented themselves from the debate, as if every decision would thereby be prevented or rendered invalid; and thus the bill, which annihilated the power of the Clergy in all essential points, passed almost without opposition. More objections were made in the Convocation, when it was called upon to declare the King the supreme head of the Church. The whole

Church, they said, could have only one head, that is, Christ, and his Vicar upon earth. Temporal and spiritual things were separated from each other by divine laws, and arbitrarily to confound them necessarily led to the greatest mischief. When the arguments, which were adduced to refute these views of the meaning, the extent and the limits of the spiritual power made little impression on the Convocation; the King had recourse to violent means, and declared that the whole of the Clergy had, by recognising Wolsey as legate, made themselves liable to the penalties of Præmunire, and forfeited their property. (15) Those who were

so arbitrarily sentenced, in vain alleged that the King himself had recognised and confirmed the power of the Legate, and directed every body to obey it; they were compelled to pay 118,000l., an immense sum for that time, and to purchase exemption from further ill treatment, by greater concessions. Accordingly the discussion being renewed in the Convocation, the formula respecting the supremacy of the Church was drawn up to the following effect; the King is the head of the Church, as far as the law of Christ allows. (16)

The Parliament proceeded far more rapidly, or rather with culpable precipitation. The Bill which overthew the whole constitution of the Church was read, in one and the same day, three times in the Upper House, three times in the Lower House, and

returned to the Lords. It passed in February, 1535, and it says: though Henry VIII. is recognised by the Clergy in the Convocation as Head of the Church, it is determined, for the annihilation of all errors, heresies, and abuses, that the King and his heirs are the Supreme Heads of the English Church upon earth. Therefore, all those honours, dignities, prerogatives, rights, privileges, liberties, revenues, &c., are given to him, which belong to such a Supreme Head. He has full power and authority to examine, suppress, remove, improve, order, change, reprove, and reject all errors, heresies, abuses, offences, violations, and irregularities which may and ought to be examined, suppressed, &c., by any kind of ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction. Scarcely any Catholic made any opposition in Parliament: even the zealous Bishop Gardiner gave his vote for the royal supremacy, and believing that the Reformation could be accomplished only by this means Cranmer was one of the chief promoters of the measure, though it could not possibly be believed that the King was actuated solely by pious motives and opinions. Greater caution and moderation would doubtless have spared the kingdom many misfortunes and sufferings. But in the zeal to throw off the Romish yoke, it was not perceived how an unconditional Mahometan union of spiritual and temporal power in the hands of Henry, would lead to a new and by no means less oppressive slavery. The Parliament, otherwise so

tenacious of its rights, and so inclined to extend them, renounced, with almost inconceivable thoughtlessness, all share in the ecclesiastical legislation,— hereupon maintained in vain a long struggle to regain what it had thrown away,-then abused the superiority which it had acquired, and it was not till after the lapse of centuries, of manifold errors and mistakes, nay, of the most sanguinary feuds and atrocities, that the just equilibrium was found which might have been so easily established at this moment! The Convocation lost all its importance; nay, it was almost thrown aside, for which reason the inferior Clergy justly required, in the year 1547, that they should be represented in Parliament as in former times, and no resolution adopted in affairs of religion without hearing them. › This application, however, was contrary to that law on the royal Papacy, and thus, by a strange turn of things, the inferior Clergy in England were at length excluded from all influence in public affairs. In the sequel it was attempted to refer this phenomenon, which was produced by violence, to principles, or to deduce them from it; whereas, it might be more easy to prove, that the predominance of the purely temporal party, and the promotion of merely material interests, rests on partial theory, and leads to partial practice.

So long as these temporal matters, taxes, privileges, rights of Sovereignty, were in question, the

VOL. I.

D

Clergy and Laity placed themselves, in a very natural manner, opposite to each other, and the movements were directed by simple laws. But when the examination of doctrines was gradually entered upon, (respecting which most of the Clergy and Laity were in the most profound ignorance, and of which in a great degree no human mind can attain a perfectly clear view,) many became confused, fluctuated between one extreme and the other; were intolerant, declaring others for heretics, as soon as they had taken up an opinion and adhered to it. The gratification of being allowed to examine and decide, where formerly unconditional obedience was required; the novelty of the doctrines; the pleasure of conquering in the disputes; the zeal and perseverance of the Reformers; aversion to the exercises of the old doctrine and to its priests, may be considered as the main reasons of the rapid progress of innovations. On the other hand, the right conceded to the people of examining and deciding matters of such importance, appeared to be prejudicial to the doctrine of temporal prerogatives, and to the new ecclesiastical power of the King; and the insurrections of the peasants in Germany were considered as a confirmation of the anxious suspicion. To this it must be added that Henry, notwithstanding his having broken with the Pope, hated Luther and his doctrines as much as ever; (16) would not upon any account be called a heretic,