t he had dressed
himself under his other clothes, in a new shroud; and, as he stood in it
before all the people, it was noted of him, and long remembered, that,
whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a few minutes before, he now
stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge that he was dying for a just
and a great cause. Ridley's brother-in-law was there with bags of
gunpowder; and when they were both chained up, he tied them round their
bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon the pile to fire it. 'Be of good
comfort, Master Ridley,' said Latimer, at that awful moment, 'and play
the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in
England, as I trust shall never be put out.' And then he was seen to
make motions with his hands as if he were washing them in the flames, and
to stroke his aged face with them, and was heard to cry, 'Father of
Heaven, receive my soul!' He died quickly, but the fire, after having
burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he lingered, chained to the iron
post, and crying, 'O! I cannot burn! O! for Christ's sake let the fire
come unto me!' And still, when his brother-in-law had heaped on more
wood, he was heard through the blinding smoke, still dismally crying, 'O!
I cannot burn, I cannot burn!' At last, the gunpowder caught fire, and
ended his miseries.

Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous
account before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in
committing.

Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out again in
February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop of London:
another man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner's work, even in his
lifetime, when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer was now degraded as a
priest, and left for death; but, if the Queen hated any one on earth, she
hated him, and it was resolved that he should be ruined and disgraced to
the utmost. There is no doubt that the Queen and her husband personally
urged on these deeds, because they wrote to the Council, urging them to
be active in the kindling of the fearful fires. As Cranmer was known not
to be a firm man, a plan was laid for surrounding him with artful people,
and inducing him to recant to the unreformed religion. Deans and friars
visited him, played at bowls with him, showed him various attentions,
talked persuasively with him, gave him money for his prison comforts, and
induced him to sign, I fear, as many as six rec