character, appointed him one of the royal chaplains. He now left
Cambridge and removed to Windsor, but only to treat his royal patron as
freely as he had treated the Cambridge doctors--not with any absence of
respect, for he was most respectful, but with that highest respect which
dares to speak unwelcome truth where the truth seems to be forgotten. He
was made chaplain in 1530--during the new persecution, for which Henry was
responsible by a more than tacit acquiescence. Latimer, with no authority
but his own conscience, and the strong certainty that he was on God's side,
threw himself between the spoilers and their prey, and wrote to the king,
protesting against the injustice which was crushing the truest men in his
dominions. The letter is too long to insert; the close of it may show how a
poor priest could dare to address the imperious Henry VIII.:

"I pray to God that your Grace may take heed of the worldly wisdom which is
foolishness before God; that you may do that [which] God commandeth, and
not that [which] seemeth good in your own sight, without the word of God;
that your Grace may be found acceptable in his sight, and one of the
members of his church; and according to the office that he hath called your
Grace unto, you may be found a faithful minister of his gifts, and not a
defender of his faith: for he will not have it defended by man or man's
power, but by his word only, by the which he hath evermore defended it, and
that by a way far above man's power or reason.

"Wherefore, gracious king, remember yourself; have pity upon your soul; and
think that the day is even at hand when you shall give account for your
office, and of the blood that hath been shed by your sword. In which day,
that your Grace may stand steadfastly, and not be ashamed, but be clear and
ready in your reckoning, and have (as they say), your _quietus est_ sealed
with the blood of our Saviour Christ, which only serveth at that day, is my
daily prayer to Him that suffered death for our sins, which also prayeth to
his Father for grace for us continually; to whom be all honour and praise
for ever. Amen. The Spirit of God preserve your Grace."[566]

These words, which conclude an address of almost unexampled grandeur, are
unfortunately of no interest to us, except as illustrating the character of
the priest who wrote them, and the king to whom they were written. The hand
of the persecutor was not stayed. The rack and the lash and the stake
con