a handle, came upon
a time into the wood, making his moan to the great trees, that he wanted
a handle to work withal, and for that cause he was constrained to sit
idle; therefore he made it his request to them, that they would be
pleased to grant him one of their small saplings within the wood to
make him a handle; who, mistrusting no guile, granted him one of their
smaller trees to make him a handle. But now becoming a complete axe, he
fell so to work within the same wood, that in process of time, there was
neither great nor small trees to be found in the place where the
wood stood. And so, my lords, if you grant the king these smaller
monasteries, you do but make him a handle, whereby, at his own pleasure,
he may cut down all the cedars within your Lebanons." Dr. Bailie's Life
of Bishop Fisher, p. 108.]

[Footnote 13: NOTE M, p. 244. There is a curious passage with regard
to the suppression of monasteries to be found in Coke's Institutes, 4th
Inst. chap. i. p. 44. It is worth transcribing, as it shows the ideas of
the English government, entertained during the reign of Henry VIII., and
even in the time of Sir Edward Coke, when he wrote his Institutes. It
clearly appears, that the people had then little notion of being jealous
of their liberties, were desirous of making the crown quite independent,
and wished only to remove from themselves, as much as possible, the
burdens of government. A large standing army, and a fixed revenue,
would, on these conditions, have been regarded as great blessings; and
it was owing entirely to the prodigality of Henry, and to his little
suspicion that the power of the crown could ever fail, that the English
owe all their present liberty. The title of the chapter in Coke, is,
"Advice concerning new and plausible Projects and Offers in Parliament."
"When any plausible project," says he, "is made in parliament, to draw
the lords and commons to assent to any act, (especially in matters of
weight and importance,) if both houses do give upon the matter projected
and promised their consent, it shall be most necessary, they being
trusted for the commonwealth, to have the matter projected and promised
(which moved the houses to consent) to be established in the same act,
lest the benefit of the act be taken, and the matter projected and
promised never performed, and so the houses of parliament perform not
the trust reposed in them, as it fell out (taking one example for many)
in the reign of H