the pope could for money deliver one soul out of purgatory, then, if he chose, he could deliver him as well without money; and, if he could deliver one, he might, if he were so charitably disposed, deliver a thousand; and, if a thousand, then he might deliver them all, and so at once destroy purgatory; and that he must be a cruel tyrant, without charity, to keep souls in pain and torment until he be paid for their release. They say the same of all the spirituality; that if they will pray for no man without money, and will suffer those souls to be tormented for want of their prayers, they are tyrants without one spark of real charity." We shall close our extract from the Beggars' Supplication, by giving the last paragraph.

"But what remedy to relieve us poor sick and lame beggars? To make more hospitals for the relief of the poor! Nay, truly. The more the worse; for the fat of the whole foundation hangeth on the priests' beards. Several of your noble predecessors, kings of this realm, have given lands to monasteries, to give a certain sum of money to the poor annually, of which the poor never receive one penny. If the abbot of Westminster should sing every day as many masses for his founders as he is bound to by the tenure of their bequests, he would find full employment for a thousand monks. Wherefore, if your grace will build a sure hospital to relieve all us, your poor beggars, then take from them all these things.

"Send these sturdy loobies into the world, to

take wives of their own, and get their living by their labour, and thereby set an example to other idle people to work also. And, if these holy idle thieves will not act like honest men, tie them to the carts, and whip them through every market town till they fall to labour. By these means you will soon reduce the number of bawds, whores, thieves, and other idle people. Then shall these great yearly exactions cease; then shall not your sword, power, crown, dignity, and obedience of your people be translated from you; then shall the idle people be set to work; then shall matrimony be much better kept; then shall the generation of your people be increased; then shall the Gospel be preached; then shall your commons increase in riches; then shall none beg our alms from us; then shall we have enough, and more than will suffice us, which shall be the best hospital that ever was founded for us; then shall we daily pray to God for your most noble estate long to endure."

A number of the vilest impostures, consisting of counterfeit relics and mechanical images, were discovered when the larger monasteries were suppressed. The one found at Boxley, in Kent, may serve as a specimen. It was a crucifix that sometimes moved the head, the eyes, and bent the whole body to express the receiving of prayers; and was made to perform other gestures to indicate their rejection. A person of the name of Partridge suspected the fraud, and, by removing the image, exposed the whole apparatus, which consisted of a

number of springs, by which all its movements were performed. It was afterwards removed to Maidstone, where the imposition was publicly exposed. From thence it was taken to London, where all the machinery was exposed and its various movements performed before the king and his court.

His majesty's council directed the bishop of Rochester to preach a sermon on the occasion at St. Paul's, where the whole apparatus was publicly exposed; when, to express their abhorrence of the imposture, the whole image was cast into a large fire, and burned.*

It was generally believed that King Henry had a stronger affection for his queen, Jane Seymour, than he had for either of his two former queens. Not long after her marriage, she afforded him prospect of legitimate issue, and on the 12th of October, 1537, she gave birth to a son at Hampton Court. The king was transported with pleasure at this event, and in every part of the kingdom demonstrations of joy were expressed by his loyal subjects. A disputed succession is one of the severest national calamities, from which the kingdom was now happily relieved by the birth of a prince. The baptism of the prince was celebrated with great splendour on the fifteenth of October, and he was named Edward. The sponsors were archbishop Cranmer, the duke of Norfolk, and the princess Mary. But the joy of the court occasioned by the birth of the prince was soon * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 160, 161.

converted into mourning by the death of the queen, which melancholy event took place twelve days after she had given birth to the prince. It was well for this queen that she did not outlive the love of her vacillating husband; for he appeared to be greatly affected by her death.

Though Henry had emancipated both himself and his subjects from the dominion of the pope, his attachment to some of the absurd tenets of the church of Rome remained unabated, particularly to that of transubstantiation; and those who called the truth of that doctrine in question he persecuted with as much cruelty as the pope possibly could. The first on whom the weight of his ire fell was one John Nicolson, who, to avoid the fury of his former persecutors, had assumed the name of Lambert, and taught a school in London. Lambert one day heard Dr. Taylor preach a sermon to prove the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. After the sermon, Lambert gave the doctor a paper containing a number of reasons against the doctrine. Taylor took the paper to archbishop Cranmer, who at that time was a Lutheran, and he charged Lambert with heresy for denying the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament. Lambert unhappily appealed to the king as the supreme head of the church of England; who, vain of his theological learning, and instigated by Bishop Gardiner, a most artful and cruel man, determined to bring the accused to a solemn trial in Westminster Hall. On the day appointed, the

king appeared in great state, clothed in white and seated under a canopy of the same colour, to denote the purity of his faith. of spiritual lords and temporal witness this extraordinary trial.

A vast concourse peers attended, to The sight of this

august assembly, and the stern countenance of the king, who commanded one of the bishops to announce the occasion of the meeting, almost enervated the poor prisoner. The king opened the business by railing at the prisoner for changing his name, and asked him, "Dost thou believe in the real corporal presence of the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the altar?" Lambert replied, "I believe, with St. Augustine, the presence of Christ in the sacrament, in a certain manner." The king, in a passionate tone, commanded him to give a direct answer to the question. Lambert fell upon his knees and began to praise the king for condescending to hear one of the humblest of his subjects, when Henry interrupted him by saying he did not come there to hear his own praises, and commanded him instantly to answer his question, which he did, by openly declaring that he did not believe the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament. Ten bishops had been appointed to manage this debate, of whom Cranmer was the first. He endeavoured to convince Lambert that a body may be in more places than one at the same time, from our Saviour's appearing to Paul at his conversion. But Bishop Gardiner, thinking that Cranmer was dealing too