Publication of the Arti cles followed by revolt. adverted to were the identical document, which forms the subject of the present chapter, answers then elicited from the northern clergy in Convocation' testify the deep repugnance of that district to the measures of their brethren in the south. This hatred, based on Medieval theories and wounded superstition, was exasperated by the recent acts of the civil legislature, which had called upon the northern clergy to exhibit dispensations granted to them by the pope. No sooner therefore had the bishops given orders for circulating the new 'Articles about Religion,' than the disaffected of all classes flew to arms in vindication of the ancient system. This booke,' as Hall observes2, had specially mentioned but three sacramentes, with the whiche the Lyncolneshyremen (I meane their ignoraunt priestes) were offended, and of that occasion depraued the Kinges doynges.' In the sketches left by him and others of the frightful insurrection which now blazed in every town and village to the north of the Trent, we see how strong and general was the feeling that the bishops would not rest until they had completely undermined the fundamental doctrines3. One of the last incidents connected with the publication of the Ten Articles, grew out of this rebellion in the north. To do away with the suspicion of abetting heresy, to satisfy the formidable insurgents that the document in question had been duly sanctioned by the Church, and was accordingly no wanton innovation of the monarch or his council, printed copies of it were liberally dispersed by III. 812; Strype, Eccl. Mem. 1. 247, 1 They had been charged to do so kins, III. 825), and a mandate of the bishop of Lincoln (Longland) enjoins the beneficed clergymen to avoid all controversial topics, and to preach four times a year, 'secundum Articulos, qui nuper per serenissimam regiam majestatem, ac totum hujus regni Angliæ cleri in convocatione sua sanciti fuere.' Ibid. 829. Chronicle, fol. ccxxviii. ed. 1583. For a graphic picture of the whole struggle, see Froude, Hist. III. 95 sq. 3 Collier, II. 131. the commander of the royal forces, who had also with him the original work as signed and authorized in Convocation1. Articles superseded. But this early set of Articles was virtually superseded The Ten in the course of the next year (1537), on the of appearance a second Formulary of Faith, entitled the 'Institution of a Christian Man.' On it, however, many of the Articles of 1536 had been substantially engrafted; and as the new work never gained the formal sanction2 either of Convocation or the crown, those Articles were really in force until supplanted by the 'Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man,' set forth as late as 15433. 1 Strype, Cranmer, 1. 84, ed. E. H. S. 2 Jenkyns' Cranmer, I. xviii. and the 'Letter' there referred to. The Institution was drawn up by a number of Commissioners (Collier most erroneously affirms three years before its circulation, II. 139); but never regularly submitted to Convocation: and although published by the king's printer, it was not, like the former book of Articles, provided with a preface by his Majesty, commanding it to be received by his subjects. Being thus destitute of the royal authority, it was called the Bishops' Book. It consists of an Exposition of the Creed, the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, the Paternoster, Ave-Maria, Justification, and Purgatory. The introduction to it is no more than a letter from the Commissioners to the king announcing its completion. This drew from him a very guarded answer (Jenkyns' Cranmer, 1. 188) which, while assenting to the publication 3 This work (the King's Book) is CHAPTER IV. THE XIII. ARTICLES:-CONFERENCES WITH THE LUTHERAN REFORMERS. General sympathy between the English and Lutheran reformers. NOTHING OTHING was more natural in the earlier stage of reformation, than the strong anxiety evinced by many of the English to secure the good opinion of their fellow-workers in Germany. They all had felt the pressure of the papal yoke; they had lamented, each in his own province of the Christian Church, the rank and deadly weeds which had been mingled with the true religion; they had all embarked with equal earnestness of purpose on the same remedial project; and despairing in the end of a true general council,' they had simultaneously arrived at the conclusion, that it was the paramount duty of 'every prince to redress his own realm1.' The greatest obstacle in the way of friendly intercourse had been the quarrel which broke out in 1521 between Henry VIII. and Luther: but as neither of the combatants appeared unwilling to forget his early fulminations, the estrangement could no longer be regarded as incurable. A positive bond of union was moreover furnished by the partiality which Henry afterwards conceived for Luther's chief companion. As early as the spring of 1534, Melancthon was invited to come over and assist in the reforming of the English Church,-an invitation which appears to have been warmly supported by the King himself on many subsequent occasions. Henry saw that 1 Cf. the Causes why the Germans did not recognise the Council of Mantua (quoted above, pp. 11, 12), with the contemporary Protestation of the English on this subject, in Fox, p. 1085.. 2 * Archbp. Laurence, Bampton Lectures, Serm. 1. note (3); Serm. II. while Melancthon and his colleagues were possessed by the idea of national independence, and contended also for the primitive faith, they felt no sympathy with the licentiousness and misbelief, which sometimes followed in the track of reformation both at home and on the continent. The Saxons had, for instance, kept aloof entirely from the wild and rationalistic speculations of such men as Carlstadt; they had vigorously opposed the fermentation of political theories which resulted in the 'Peasants' War; they had repudiated the whole swarm of sectaries who bore the name of 'Anabaptists.' Their main principles had thus been vindicated in the eyes of all candid critics; and therefore we are not surprised to witness the increasing confidence reposed in them by many of our cautious fellow-countrymen who had no dealings with the school of Zwingli and the other Swiss' reformers. 6 ciations in A perception of this common basis in religious matters, Actual nego aided by strong reasons of diplomacy, suggested the com- 1535. mencement of negociations with the 'princes of the Augsburg Confession,' as early as the year 1535. The first English envoy sent among them was Robert Barnes, the victim, only five years later, of his predilection for the new opinions. He was followed to Germany in the autumn of 1535 by Bishop Fox and Dr Heath', who found the Lutheran states in anxious consultation respecting the religious and political alliance, entered into at Schmalkald in 1534. The message of the English monarch, as delivered by his delegates (Dec. 24), was gratefully acknow note (3). In 1538, Henry wrote as follows to the Elector of Saxony : 'Pro his, quæ feliciter agi cœpta sunt, felicius absolvendis concludendisque expectamus, ut Dominum Philippum Melancthonem, in cujus excellenti eruditione et sano judicio a bonis omnibus multa spes reposita est, doctosque alios et probos viros, primo quoque tempore, ad nos mittat.' Seckendorf, Histor. Luther. Lib. III. § 66. add. 1: Francof. 1692: cf. Ratzeberger's Handschr. Ges chichte über Luther, &c. ed. Neu- 1 Strype, Eccl. Mem. 1. 225-228. How frustrated or deferred. ledged by the members of the 'Schmalkaldic League,' who signified their readiness to take him into their confederacy on his acceding to the usual conditions. Of these the most important was that he should publicly adopt, or should at least approve in general terms1, the true doctrine of Christ, as laid down in the Confession of Augsburg, and hereafter join them in defending it, under the title of 'Patron and Protector of the League.' This project, full of most momentous bearings, seems to have been frustrated almost entirely through the arts of bishop Gardiner, then acting as ambassador at the court of France. He represented, that the King would be so entangled by this treaty in the affairs of the German nation, as to be unable without their consent to do what the Word of God shall permit;' that as Henry was 'head of the Church of England,' by the authority of Scripture, so the emperor was 'head' of the Germanic Churches; and that consequently princes who were subject to his jurisdiction, ought not to combine for public objects without his consent. By these and other arguments, applied with his peculiar tact, the bishop of Winchester succeeded in restraining the alacrity of his master, and eventually defeated the intentions of the League. At present, it is true, the language of the English monarch, though less cordial than his first communication, opens out some distant prospect of success. He does not absolutely decline the honour proffered to him by the German princes, but postpones the acceptance of it, until agreement shall be had betwixt him and their Orators,' respecting the particular terms of a religious union. For it should not be sure nor honourable for his Majesty, before they shall be with his Grace agreed upon a certain concord of doctrine, to take such a province upon his Highness. And forasmuch as his Majesty desireth much that his bishops and learned men might agree with theirs; but seeing 1 The English were required to conform to the Confession and Apology, 'nisi forte quædam...ex verbo Dei merito corrigenda aut mutanda videbuntur.' Ranke, III. 661: cf. 2 |