es lightly in his Introduction over
the sixteenth century, and the reign of Henry VIII., or at least the
latter part of it, had never been so copiously illustrated before.
The Oxford Movement, which treated the Reformation as a
discreditable incident worthy of oblivion, had not much influence
with the laity. Nine Englishmen in ten were quite prepared to
glorify the reformers, and were by no means sorry to find how much
evidence there was for the good old English view of a Parliamentary
Church. The Statutes of Supremacy and of Praemunire, even the
execution of More and Fisher, reminded them that the Bishop of Rome
neither had nor ought to have any jurisdiction within this realm of
England. That "gospel light first dawned from Boleyn's eyes" might
be a paradox. It was, however, a paradox which contained a truth,
and it was by no means disagreeable to find that a popular king was
not a mere monster of iniquity. If Henry had been what Catholic
historians represented him, the mob would have pulled his palace
about his ears. The public bought the book, and read it; for the
style, though very unlike Macaulay's, was quite as easy to read. In
1860 appeared the two volumes dealing with Edward VI. And Mary,
which complete the former half of this great book. After the brief
and disturbed period of Edward's minority and Somerset's
Protectorate, the country enjoyed a true Catholic reign. Whatever
may have been the religion of Henry, there could be no doubt about
Mary's. Mary had only one use for Protestants, and that was to burn
them. Among her first victims were Latimer and Ridley, two bright
ornaments of Christian faith and practice, who committed the deadly
sin of believing that it was against the truth of Christ's natural
body to be in heaven and earth at the same time. To them soon
succeeded Cranmer, the father of the English liturgy, not a man of
unblemished character, but incomparably superior to Gardiner, to
Bonner, or to Pole. For Cranmer Froude had a peculiar affection, and
his account of the Archbishop's martyrdom is unsurpassed by any
other passage in the History. I need make no apology for quoting the
end of it; "So perished Cranmer. He was brought out with the eyes of
his soul blinded to make sport for his enemies, and in his death he
brought upon them a wider destruction than he had effected by his
teaching while alive. Pole was appointed next day to the See of
Canterbury; but in other respects the Court had overreache