beacon lights of history-iii-2-第43章
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Church was not attacked; still less its doctrines; but only abuses
and privileges the restraint of which was of public benefit; and
which tended to reduce the power of the clergy。 It was this
reduction of clerical usurpations and privileges which is the main
feature in the legislation of Henry VIII。; so far as it pertained
to the Church。 It was wresting away the power which the clergy had
enjoyed from the days of Alfred and Ina;a reform which Henry II。
and Edward I。; and other sovereigns; had failed to effect。 This
was the great work of Cromwell; and in it he had the support of his
royal master; since it was a transfer of power from the clergy to
the throne; and Henry VIII。 was hated and anathematized by Rome as
Henry IV。 of Germany was; without ceasing to be a Catholic。 He
even retained the title of Defender of the Faith; which had been
conferred upon him by the Pope for his opposition to the
theological doctrines of Luther; which he never accepted; and which
he always detested。
Cromwell did not long survive the great services he rendered to his
king and the nation。 In the height of his power he made a fatal
mistake。 He deceived the King in regard to Anne of Cleves; whose
marriage he favored from motives of expediency and a manifest
desire to promote the Protestant cause。 He palmed upon the King a
woman who could not speak a word of English;a woman without
graces or accomplishments; who was absolutely hateful to him。
Henry's disappointment was bitter; and his vengeance was
unrelenting。 The enemies of Cromwell soon took advantage of this
mistake。 The great Duke of Norfolk; head of the Catholic party;
accused him at the council…board of high treason。 Two years
before; such a charge would have received no attention; but Henry
now hated him; and was resolved to punish him for the wreck of his
domestic happiness。
Cromwell was hurried to that gloomy fortress whose outlet was
generally the scaffold; he was denied even the form of trial。 A
bill of attainder was hastily passed by the Parliament he had
ruled。 Only one person in the realm had the courage to intercede
for him; and this was Cranmer; Archbishop of Canterbury; but his
entreaties were futile。 The fallen minister had no chance of life;
and no one knew it so well as himself。 Even a trial would have
availed nothing; nothing could have availed him;he was a doomed
man。 So he bade his foes make quick work of it; and quick work was
made。 In eighteen days from his arrest; Thomas Cromwell; Earl of
Essex; Knight of the Garter; Grand Chamberlain; Lord Privy Seal;
Vicar…General; and Master of the Wards; ascended the scaffold on
which had been shed the blood of a queen;making no protestation
of innocence; but simply committing his soul to Jesus Christ; in
whom he believed。 Like Wolsey; he arose from an humble station to
the most exalted position the King could give; and; like Wolsey; he
saw the vanity of delegated power as soon as he offended the source
of power。
〃He who ascends the mountain…tops shall find
The loftiest peak most wrapped in clouds and storms。
Though high above the sun of glory shines;
And far beneath the earth and ocean spread;
Round HIM are icy rocks; and loudly blow
Contending tempests on his naked head。〃
On the disappearance of Cromwell from the stage; Cranmer came
forward more prominently; he was a learned doctor in that
university which has ever sent forth the apostles of great
emancipating movements。 He was born in 1489; and was therefore
twenty years of age on the accession of Henry VIII。 in 1509; and
was twenty…eight when Luther published his theses。 He early
sympathized with the reform doctrines; but was too politic to take
an active part in their discussion。 He was a moderate; calm;
scholarly man; not a great genius or great preacher。 He had none
of those bold and dazzling qualities which attract the gaze of the
world。 We behold in him no fearless and impetuous Luther;
attacking with passionate earnestness the corruptions of Rome;
bracing himself up to revolutionary assaults; undaunted before
kings and councils; and giving no rest to his hands or slumber to
his eyes until he had consummated his protests;a man of the
people; yet a dictator to princes。 We see no severely logical
Calvin;pushing out his metaphysical deductions until he had
chained the intellect of his party to a system of incomparable
grandeur and yet of repulsive austerity; exacting all the while the
same allegiance to doctrines which he deduced from the writings of
Paul as he did to the direct declarations of Christ; next to Thomas
Aquinas; the acutest logician the Church has known; a system…maker;
like the great Dominican schoolmen; and their common master and
oracle; Saint Augustine of Hippo。 We see in Cranmer no
uncompromising and aggressive reformer like Knox;controlling by a
stern dogmatism both a turbulent nobility and an uneducated people;
and filling all classes alike with inextinguishable hatred of
everything that even reminded them of Rome。 Nor do we find in
Cranmer the outspoken and hearty eloquence of Latimer;appealing
to the people at St。 Paul's Cross to shake off all the trappings of
the 〃Scarlet Mother;〃 who had so long bewitched the world with her
sorceries。
Cranmer; if less eloquent; less fearless; less logical; less able
than these; was probably broader; more comprehensive in his views;
adapting his reforms to the circumstances of the age and country;
and to the genius of the English mind。 Hence his reforms; if less
brilliant; were more permanent。 He framed the creed that finally
was known as the Thirty…nine Articles; and was the true founder of
the English Church; as that Church has existed for more than three
centuries; neither Roman nor Puritan; but 〃half…way between Rome
and Geneva;〃 a compromise; and yet a Church of great vitality; and
endeared to the hearts of the English people。 Northern Germany
the scene of the stupendous triumphs of Lutheris and has been;
since the time of Frederick the Great; the hot…bed of rationalistic
inquiries; and the Genevan as well as the French and Swiss churches
which Calvin controlled have become cold; with a dreary and formal
Protestantism; without poetry or life。 But the Church of England
has survived two revolutions and all the changes of human thought;
and is still a mighty power; decorous; beautiful; conservative; yet
open to all the liberalizing influences of an age of science and
philosophy。 Cranmer; though a scholastic; seems to have perceived
that nothing is more misleading and uncertain and unsatisfactory
than any truth pushed out to its severest logical conclusions
without reference to other truths which have for their support the
same divine authority。 It is not logic which has built up the most
enduring institutions; but common…sense and plain truths; and
appeals to human consciousness;the cogito; ergo sum; without
whose approval most systems have perished。 In mediis tutissimus
ibis; is not indeed an agreeable maxim to zealots and partisans and
dialectical logicians; but it seems to be induced from the varied
experiences of human life and the history of different ages and
nations; and applies to all the mixed sciences; like government and
political economy; as well as to church institutions。
As Cromwell made his fortune by advising the King to assume the
headship of the Church in England; so Cranmer's rise is to be
traced to his advice to Henry to appeal to the decision of
universities whether or not he could be legally divorced from
Catharine; since the Popetrue to the traditions; of the Catholic
Church; or from fear of Charles V。would not grant a dispensation。
All this business was a miserable quibble; a tissue of scholastic
technicalities。 But it answered the ends of Cranmer。 The schools
decided for the King; and a great injustice and heartless cruelty
was done to a wo