CHAP. XXXII. Seal. He therefore made suit, through his "singular good friend the Duke of Norfolk," that he might have leave to resign the Great Seal, -the plea of declining health being urged to He resigns soften the King's displeasure. After much hesitation the the Great King consented, and on the 10th day of May, 1532, the ceremony took place at Whitehall, when "it pleased his Highness to say to him, that for the good service which he before had done him, in any suit which he should after have unto him, that should either concern his honour (for that word it pleased his Highness to use unto him) or that should appertain unto his profit, he should not fail to find him a good and gracious Lord." "But," says his great-grandson," how true these words proved let others be judges, when the King not only not bestowed upon him the value of one penny, but took from him and his posterity all that ever he had either given him by himself, or left him by his father, or purchased by himself.”* More, 200. It rather seems strange that the pious biographer should not have thought it worth while to introduce the chopping off of his ancestor's head on the most frivolous of pretexts, as an item in the bill of particulars to prove his Highness's ingratitude and breach of promise. CHAPTER XXXIII. LIFE OF SIR THOMAS MORE FROM HIS RESIGNATION OF THE GREAT CHAP. XXXIII. More's high spirits on his re signation. Jesting mode of announc ing it to his wife. It is said that the two happiest days of a man's life are the day when he accepts a high office, and the day when he resigns it; and there can be no doubt that with Sir Thomas More the resignation day was by far the more delightful. He immediately recovered his hilarity and love of jest, and was "himself again." He had not consulted his wife or his family about resigning, and he concealed from them the step he had taken till next day. This was a holyday; and there being no Court Circular or Newspaper on the breakfast table, they all went to church at Chelsea, as if nothing extraordinary had happened. "And whereas upon the holydays during his High Chancellorship one of his gentlemen, when the service at the church was done, ordinarily used to come to my Lady his wife's pew-door, and say unto her, Madam, my Lord is gone,' he came into my Lady his wife's pew himself, and making a low courtesy, said unto her, Madam, my Lord is gone,' which she, imagining to be but one of his jests, as he used many unto her, he sadly affirmed unto her, that it was true. This was the way he thought fittest to break the matter unto his wife, who was full of sorrow to hear it."* He immediately set about providing for his officers and servants who were to leave him, and he succeeded in placing them with bishops and noblemen. His state barge, which carried him to Westminster Hall and Whitehall, he transHis "Fool." ferred, with his eight watermen, to his successor. His Fool, who must have been a great proficient in jesting, practising under such a master, he made over to the Lord Mayor of London, with a stipulation that he should continue to serve CHAP. the office of fool to the Lord Mayor for the time being.* XXXIII. mode of After this he called together all his children and grandchildren who had dwelt with him, and asked their advice how he might now, in the decay of his ability, bear out the whole charges of them all, as he gladly would have continued to do. When they were all silent" Then will I (said he) More's show unto you my mind: I have been brought up at Oxford, life in reat an Inn of Chancery, at Lincoln's Inn, and in the King's tirement. Court, from the lowest degree to the highest; and yet have I, in yearly revenues at this present, little left me above a hundred pounds by the year: so that now, if we wish to live together, you must be content to be contributaries together. But my counsel is, that we fall not to the lowest fare first: we will not, therefore, descend to Oxford fare, nor to the fare of New Inn, but we will begin with Lincoln's Inn diet, where many right worshipful men, of great account and good years, do live full well; which, if we find ourselves the first year not able to maintain, then will in the next year come down to Oxford fare, where many great, learned, and ancient fathers and doctors are continually conversant; which, if our purses stretch not to maintain neither, then may we after, with bag and wallet, go a begging together, hoping that for pity some good folks will give us their charity, and at every When at a Sir Tho mas More's "This fool, whose name was Pattison, appears in Holbein's famous picture Sayings of of the More family. One anecdote of him has been often related. dinner at Guildhall, the subject of his old master having refused to take the oath of supremacy was discussed, the fool exclaimed, Why, what aileth him that he will not swear? Wherefore should he stick to swear? I have sworn the oath myself."' In the "Il Moro," an Italian account of Sir Thomas More, printed at Florence, and dedicated to Cardinal Pole, there is another anecdote of this jester, supposed to be related by the Chancellor himself, giving us not a very exalted notion of the merriment caused by these simpletons. "Yesterday, while we were dining, Pattison, seeing a guest with a very large nose, said 'there was one at table who had been trading to the PROMONTORY OF NOSES.' All eyes were turned to the great nose, though we discreetly preserved silence, that the good man might not be abashed. Pattison perceiving the mistake he had made, tried to set himself right, and said, 'He lies who says the gentleman's nose is large, for on the faith of a true knight it is rather a small one.' At this all being inclined to laugh, I made signs for the fool to be turned out of the room. But Pattison, who boasted that he brought every affair that he commenced to a happy conclusion, resisted, and placing himself in my seat at the head of the table said aloud, with my tone and gesture, There is one thing I would have you to know. That gentleman there has not the least bit of nose on his face."" fool. CHAP. man's door to sing a Salve Regina, whereby we shall still keep company, and be merry together."* XXXIII. His letter to Archbishop Warham. In those times there were no pensions of 5000l. a year for Ex-chancellors, nor sinecures for their sons; and More might truly have said "Virtute me involvo, probamque Pauperiem sine dote quæro." He certainly never repented the step he had taken, although, after severe sufferings, it led him to the scaffold; and, but for the persecutions of the tyrant whom he refused to serve, there can be no doubt that he would have spent most happily the remainder of his days in the bosom of his family, ardently engaged in those literary and philosophical pursuits which professional avocations and official duties had so often interrupted. He had not treated the law as a mere trade; and when the first day of term afterwards came round he had no inclination to join in the procession to Westminster Hall-not participating the feelings of the retired tallowchandler, who could not keep away from his old shop on "melting-days." He now experienced the delightful calm which he describes in his letter of congratulation on the resignation of Lord Chancellor Warham:-"I have always esteemed your most reverend fatherhood happy in your courses, not only when you executed, with great renown, the office of Chancellorship, but also more happy now, when, being rid of that great care, you have betaken yourself to a most wished quietness, the better to live to yourself, and to serve God more easily; such a quietness, I say, that is not only more pleasing than all these troublesome businesses, but also more honourable far, in my judgment, than all those honours which you there enjoyed. Wherefore many, and amongst them myself, do applaud and admire this your act, which proceeded from a mind, I know not whether more modest in that you would willingly forsake so magnificent a place, or more heroical in that you could contemn it, or more innocent in that you feared not to depose yourself from it; but, surely, most excellent and prudent it was to do so; for which, your rare * More, 203. deed, I cannot utter unto you how I rejoice for your sake, and how much I congratulate you for it, seeing your fatherhood to enjoy so honourable a fame, and to have obtained so rare a glory, by sequestering yourself far from all worldly businesses, from all tumults of causes, and to bestow the rest of your days, with a peaceable conscience for all your life past, in a quiet calmness, giving yourself wholly to your book, and to true Christian philosophy."" CHAP. XXXIII. Erasmus. Writing now to Erasmus, he says that "he himself had Letter to obtained what, from a child, he had continually wishedthat, being freed from business and public affairs, he might live for a time only to God and himself." Accordingly, he passed the first year of his retirement in reviving his recollection of favourite authors, in bringing up his acquaintance with the advancing literature of the day, in retouching his own writings, and planning new works for the further increase of his fame and the good of his fellow-creatures. His happiness was only alloyed by witnessing the measures in progress under his successor and Cromwell, which he had the sagacity to foresee would soon lead to others more violent and more mischievous. The threats to break off all intercourse with Rome having proved ineffectual, it was at last openly resolved to carry them into effect, and, without any divorce from Catherine by the Pope's authority, that the King should marry Anne Boleyn. In September, 1532, she was created Marchioness of Pembroke, and, notwithstanding the gallant defence of Burnet and other zealous Protestants, who think that the credit of the Reformation depends upon her purity, it seems probable that Queen Catherine, having been banished from Court, and taken up her abode at Ampthill, Anne, in the prospect of the performance of the ceremony, had, after a resistance of nearly six years, consented to live with Henry as his wife. † On the 25th of January, 1533, she being then in a state of pregnancy, they were privately married. ‡ * More, 207. I must be allowed to say that I consider still more absurd the attempts of Romish zealots to make her out to have been a female of abandoned character from her early youth. See Lingard, vol. vi. ch. iii. An attempt has been made to show a marriage on the 14th Nov. 1532, nine His occu pations. A. D. 1532. King's marriage with Anne Boleyn. |