CHAPTER XXXV. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR WRIOTHESLEY FROM HIS BIRTH TILL CHAP. THE new Chancellor displayed very different qualities from XXXV. his predecessor, being a man of principle; but he was, if possible, a worse minister; for, when invested with power, he proved narrow-minded, bigoted, and cruel. Fortunately, he was likewise rash and headstrong, so that his objects were generally defeated, and his political career was short. Character of new Chancellor. His descent. Renounces heraldry. the bar. Obtains Thomas Wriothesley was sprung from a family long distinguished in "Arms," for they were Heralds. John, his grandfather, was Garter King at Arms to Edward IV. Thomas, his uncle, filled the same office under Henry VII. William, his father, was Norroy King at Arms to that Sovereign. Thomas, the future Peer and Chancellor, early initiated in heraldic lore, was not contented with the prospect of wearing a tabard, making visitations, examining pedigrees, and marshalling processions. He therefore abjured the Heralds' College, Is called to took to the study of the common law, and was called to the bar. He was a diligent student, and made considerable proficiency in his legal studies, but he does not seem ever to have risen into much practice as an advocate; and he showed a preference of politics to law. In 1535, having recommended himself to Lord Chancellor Audley,-through his interest an office of considerable emolument was conferred upon him in the Court of Common Pleas. Three years after he was made Secretary of State, a post beginning to be important, but still very inferior to its present rank, as then the Lord Chancellor conducted foreign negotiations, and attended to the internal administration of the country. He was a warm adherent of the old faith, to which Henry himself was sincerely attached, office in Common Pleas. Made Secretary of State. CHAP. XXXV. except in as far as the "supremacy" was concerned; and with the Duke of Norfolk and Gardyner, he formed the party actually opposed to the Reformation, who procured the pass- Opposed to ing of "the Six Articles." Reforma tion. A. D. 1538. sador to negotiate He was now in such high favour, that he was employed in the embassy sent by Henry during his widowhood, after the Ambas. death of Jane Seymour, to negotiate a marriage for him with Christiana, the Duchess Dowager of Milan, then in Flanders, the King's at the Viceregal Court. This negotiation failed, and so did marriage. another of the same kind, in which Wriothesley was engaged for an alliance with Mary of Guise, who preferred the youthful King of Scotland, James V., Henry's nephew. The negotiator, in consequence, was some time in disgrace: but luckily for him he had strenuously opposed a match with a German Princess, from the dread of the introduction of Lutheranism; and the sight of Anne of Cleves obtained for him warm thanks for the advice he had given. Cromwell as chief After the fall of Cromwell, Wriothesley might be con- Succeeds sidered prime minister; for Audley did not aspire higher than to remain in office to execute the measures of others. As minister. the chief in the King's confidence, he went abroad to negotiate in person the treaty with the Emperor Charles V., which, to his great delight, led to the restoration of the Princess Mary to her place in the line of the royal succession, and opened the prospect of the suppression of Lutheranism. The bounties of the Crown were now lavished upon him. On the death of Robert Earl of Sussex, he was made Chamberlain of the Exchequer, and Constable of Southampton and Porchester castles; the possessions of the dissolved abbey of Tichfield were granted to him, and he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Wriothesley of Tichfield, in the County of Hants. on the detection of the CathoCatherine lic Queen, The disgrace of Queen Catherine Howard had been a His dismay heavy affliction to him and to all true Roman Catholics, as she was an avowed protectress of the old faith; and very anxious to have seen another of the same ecclesiastical opinions succeed her as consort to the Sovereign, he from time to Howard; time recommended alliances with reigning houses in Europe who remained true to Rome. He was exceedingly surprised CHAP. XXXV. and the King's marriage with the Queen, Catherine Par. and shocked, therefore, when he was told one morning by the King that he had resolved to marry the Lady Catherine Par, a widow of unimpeached private character; but, in religion, regarded as little better than a Lutheran. He was very much alarmed by apprehension of the influence she might Protestant acquire, and the advantage she might give to the cause of the Reformation, which, in spite of frequent executions for heresy, was daily gaining ground in England. He did not venture upon the idle task of combating the King's inclination; and he passively saw the ceremony of the marriage performed by Gardyner, Bishop of Winchester, in the Queen's Privy Closet at Hampton Court, although Cranmer, actuated by contrary feelings, -to hasten and secure the match, had granted a special licence, dispensing with the publication of banns and all contrary ordinances. His plans new Queen. Wriothesley, nevertheless, actuated by misguided zeal, against the resolved, for the good of the Church, to take the earliest opportunity of making the new Queen share the fate of her predecessors; sanguine in the hope that she would be indiscreet, and that the King would be relentless. He is made The declining health of Lord Audley showed that a vacancy in the office of Chancellor was at hand, and Wriothesley, without hesitation, agreed to accept it; for its duties were not considered at all incompatible with those of prime minister; and the patronage and emoluments peculiarly belonging to it, made it always an object of the highest ambition. Audley's resignation taking place on the 22d of April, 1544, we have seen that on the same day the Great Seal was delivered to Wriothesley, with the modest title of "Lord Keeper during the illness of the Chancellor." Having gratefully received it from the King at Whitehall, he carried it to his house in Cannon Row, and there, the following day, "he held a Seal." On Friday, the 30th of April, the first day of Easter term, while Audley was breathing his last, the Lord Keeper publicly took the oaths in the Court of Chancery Rot. Cl. 36 H. 8. CHAP. XXXV. in Westminster Hall. His abjuration of the Pope was very ample, and must have cost him a severe pang, unless he had a dispensation for taking it. "I, Thomas Wriothesley, His abjuraKnyght, Lorde Wriothesley, Lorde Keeper of the Brode tion of the Pope. Seale, havynge now the vaile of darkness of the usurped power, auctoritie, and jurisdiccion of the See and Bishoppes of Rome clearly taken away from myne eyes, do utterly testifie and declare in my conscience, that neyther the See, nor the Bishop of Rome, nor any foraine potestate, hath nor ought to have any jurisdiccion, power, or auctoritie within this realme, neither by Godd's lawe, nor by any other juste lawe or meanes; and though by sufferance and abusions in tymes passed, they aforesaide have usurped and vendicated a fayned and unlawful power and jurisdiccion within this realme, whiche hath ben supported tyll fewe yeres passed, therefore, by cause it myght be denied, and thought thereby that I toke or take it for just and good, I therefore nowe do clerely and frankeley renounce, refuse, relinquishe, and forsake the pretended auctoritie, power, and jurisdiccion both of the See and Bishop of Rome, and of all other foraine powers; and that I shall never consent nor agre that the foresaid See or Bishop of Rome, or any of their successours, shall practise, exercise, or have any manner of auctoritie, jurisdiccion, or power within this realme, or any other the Kynge's realmes or domynions, nor any foraine potestate, of what estate, degree, or condiccion soever he be, but that I shall resiste the same at all tymes to the uttermost of my power, and that I shall accepte, repute, and take the Kynge's majestie, his heyres, and successors, when they or any of them shall enjoy his place, to be the only supreme Head in earth, under God, of the Churche of England and Ireland, and of all other his Hignesse's dominions; and in case any other hathe ben made by me to any person or persons in maintenance, defence, or favour of the Sce and Bishop of Rome, or his auctoritie, jurisdiccion, or power, I reporte the same as vague and adnihilate, and shall holly and trewely observe and kepe this othe. So helpe me God, all Sainctes, and the Holy Evangelists.' *Rot. Cl. 36 H. 8. CHAP. XXXV. May 3. 1544. Lord The old Duke of Norfolk, who had so often officiated on such occasions, attended this installation, but we have no account of any orations delivered, and probably the ceremony was made as short and simple as possible, out of delicacy to the dying Audley. On the third day after his death the Lord Keeper brought the Great Seal to the King at Whitehall, and resigned it Chancellor. into his hands. His Majesty, sitting on his throne, having accepted it, re-delivered it to him, with the title of "Lord Chancellor," making a speech very complimentary both to the deceased and the living Chancellor.* His installation. His deficiency in law. A very in. competent Judge. There was then a grand procession from the Palace to Westminster Hall; and in the Court of Chancery the Duke of Norfolk, by the King's command, again administered the oaths to the new Chancellor, and installed him in his office. Although bred to the law, he had never been thoroughly imbued with its principles nor versed in its forms; and his scanty legal learning had been almost entirely forgotten by him since he had abandoned professional for political pursuits. He accordingly found himself very inadequate to the discharge of the judicial duties of his office, and the public complained loudly of his delays and mistakes. He continued to sit during Easter and Trinity terms, pelted by motions which he knew not how to dispose of, and puzzled by causes the bearings of which he could hardly be made to understand; -perplexed by the conflicting assertions of the opposite counsel as to the doctrine and practice of the Court; — his chief solicitude being to conceal his ignorance from the bar and the by-standers ;-desirous to do what was right both for his own conscience and his credit,-but with constant apprehensions that his decisions were erroneous, and that he was * «Dms Rex in solio suo regali sedens et sigillum prdum in baga predicta inclusum manu sua tenens post verba ad prftum Thomam Wriothesley et alios ibidem prestes habita, sigillum illud pretto Thome Dno Wriothesley tanqm Dno Cancellario Anglie tradidit et redeliberavit ipsumque Thomam Dmm Wriothesley Cancellarium suum Anglie constituit." The entry then goes on to specify the names of the Master of the Rolls, and a large assemblage present, and to state that the Chancellor having opened the bag and taken out the seal, sealed a writ with it and restored it to the bag, carried it off with him, and describes the ceremony of his swearing in; but instead of again setting out the oath of supremacy, merely says, "I, Thomas Wriothesley, Knight, Lorde Wriothesley, Lorde Chancellor of England, havynge now the vaile of darknes, &c., ut supra." |