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speed and shrive him apace. For, by Saint Poule,' quoth he, 'I will not dine till I see thy head off.' It booted him not to ask why, but heavily he took a priest at a venture, and made a short shrift, for a longer would not be suffered, the Protector made so much haste to his dinner, which might not go to it till this murder were done, for saving of his ungracious oath. So was he brought forth into the green, beside the chapel within the Tower, and his head laid down on a log of timber, that lay there for building of the chapel, and there tyrannously stricken off, and after his body and head were interred at Windsor, by his master, King Edward the Fourth; whose souls Jesu pardon. Amen.

After Fortescue, the first prose writer who mingled just and striking thought with his language, and was entitled to the appellation of a man of genius, was unquestionably Sir Thomas More, the celebrated chancellor of Henry the Eighth.

THOMAS MORE, was the son of Sir John More, and was born in London 1480. His early education was conducted at St. Anthony's free school in London, after which he was placed, for instruction, in the family of cardinal Morton, archbishop of Canterbury-a method of education much practiced at that time in England, though such favors were generally extended to the sons of the nobility only. The cardinal was so greatly pleased with young More's ingenuous modesty, and with the vivacity and quickness of his wit, that he bestowed especial attention upon his studies, and was accustomed to remark to his friends, that' More, whoever should live to see it would one day prove a marvellous man.'

In 1497, he entered Canterbury College, Oxford, soon after which he gave evidence of remarkable attainments for one so young in both the Latin and the Greek languages, by the production of some Epigrams and translations of very rare merit. After having passed two years at Oxford he removed thence to New Inn, London, in order to enter upon the study of the law. He soon discovered, however, that Lincoln's Inn would be more favorable to his purpose, and thither he accordingly removed, and there remained until he became a barrister.

At the age of twenty-one, More became a member of parliament, and two years after, greatly distinguished himself by opposing a subsidy demanded by Henry the Seventh, with such strength of argument, that the parliament actually refused to grant the king's request. As soon as the vote to this effect was taken, one of the king's privy-council hastened to his majesty and informed him that his design had been overthrown by a beardless boy. This so incensed the king that he devised a causeless quarrel against More's father, who was a judge of the king's bench, caused him to be conveyed to the Tower, and would not suffer him to be released until he had paid a fine imposed upon him of a hundred pounds.

This event so powerfully wrought upon the mind of the young barrister that he seriously designed an abode upon the continent; and with this view he made himself familiar with the French language, and also with such sciences as he might there find useful: but by the death of Henry the

Seventh, which occurred before these preparations were completed, his apprehensions were removed, and he accordingly, returned to his legal practice. In 1510, he was appointed judge of the sheriff's court in the city of London; made a justice of the peace; and became so eminent in the practice of the law, that scarcely a case of importance was tried at the bar, in which he was not concerned.

Before More entered directly into the service of Henry the Eighth, he was repeatedly engaged in connection with different embassies upon the continent, in all of which he evinced such learning, ability in the law, and dexterity in the management of business, that on his return from the last of these embassies, the king ordered cardinal Wolsey to engage him in the service of the court. With this view the cardinal offered him a pension; but this More refused, not thinking it equal to his deserts. With this spirited conduct on his part, the king was so well pleased that he insisted upon his accepting the office of Master of the Requests, within a month after which he was knighted, and appointed one of the king's privy-council.

In 1520, Sir Thomas was made treasurer of the Exchequer; and as his income was now such as to render his circumstances easy, he bought a house at Chelsea, and there settled with his family. With all his excellent endowments for public business, Sir Thomas was particularly formed for the enjoyment of the sweets of private life; and the king having once realized this engaging part of his new favorite's character, became impatiently eager for his society and conversation. With this view he was in the habit of sending for him into his private apartments, and there conversing familiarly with him on divinity, and various other parts of learning. There was, perhaps, another motive which induced this familiarity on the part of the king; for as he was at this time preparing his famous answer to Luther, he required the assistance of Sir Thomas to mould the work into proper shape.

In 1523, Sir Thomas More was chosen speaker of the House of Commons; and soon after evinced great intrepidity in frustrating a motion for an oppressive subsidy, promoted by Cardinal Wolsey. The cardinal afterward, in the gallery at Whitehall, severely reproached him for it, and said, 'Would to God, you had been at Rome, Mr. More, when I made you speaker. To which Sir Thomas immediately replied, 'Your grace not offended, so would I too.' The cardinal now perceiving that he could not make More's course of conduct subservient to his own purposes, endeavored to have him sent abroad; but the king had other designs in view with regard to him, and he therefore accepted Sir Thomas's plea of delicate health, and allowed him to remain at home, with an occasional short embassy to France, and other neighboring countries.

When Cardinal Wolsey was disgraced, Henry intrusted the Great Seal to Sir Thomas, which was delivered to him on the 25th of October, 1530. This favor was the more signal as he was the first layman who had ever enjoyed it; but the evident object of the king was to engage Sir Thomas to favor H

his intended divorce from Catherine of Arragon. More was, however, a rigid Romanist, and he not only opposed the divorce, but when the king's supremacy in the church was declared by parliament, he refused to take the oath which it required, and was, therefore, condemned to be executed, and accordingly beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 5th of July, 1535, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Thus ignominiously perished Sir Thomas More, confessedly the most illustrious personage of Henry the Eighth's reign.

The benignity and kindness of Sir Thomas More's character are strikingly evinced in the letter which he wrote to his ill-tempered wife after the accidental burning of some of his property during his absence upon the continent. It is at the same time a good specimen of his English prose. Most of his other English writings are tracts on the religious controversies of the day, besides which he wrote a history of Richard the Third, which, though an unfinished production, is regarded by Mr. Hallam as the first English prose work free from vulgarisms and pedantry.

The Utopia, written in Latin, is, however, Sir Thomas More's greatest literary performance. It is a pure romance, and was composed in 1516. The design of the author was to set forth his idea of those social arrangements by which the happiness and improvement of the people might be secured to the utmost extent of which human nature is susceptible. He imagines an island all the inhabitants of which are contented with the necessities of life; all are employed in useful labor; no one desires, in clothing, any other quality than durability; and since wants are few, and every member of the community engages in labor, there is no need for working more than six hours a day. Neither laziness nor avarice finds a place in this happy region; for the people have no inducement to be indolent when they have so little toil, or avaricious when they know that there is an abundance for all. This, however, is all incompatible with principles inherent in human nature: man requires the stimulus of self-interest to render him industrious and persevering; he loves not utility merely, but ornament also; he possesses a spirit of emulation which induces him to strive to outstrip his fellows, and a desire to accumulate property even for its own sake.

But with much that is chimerical, the 'Utopia' still contains many sound suggestions. Thus, instead of severe punishment for theft, the author would improve the morals and condition of the people, so as to take away the temptation to crimes; for he observes, 'If you suffer your people to be illeducated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their early education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, than that you first make thieves and then punish them.' And again, 'It being a fundamental opinion among them, that a man can not make himself believe any thing he pleases; nor do they drive any to dissemble their thoughts by threatnings, so that men are not tempted to lie or disguise their feelings among them; which, being

a sort of fraud, is abhorred by the Utopians. Every man may endeavor to convert others to his views by the force of amicable and modest argument, without bitterness against those of other opinions; but whoso adds reproach and violence to persuasion, is to be condemned to banishment or slavery.'

Such liberal views were extremely rare in the days of Sir Thomas More, and in later life were lamentably departed from by himself in practice; for in persecuting the Protestants, he displayed a degree of intolerance and severity which were strangely at variance, both with the opinions of his youth, and the general mildness of his disposition.

The descriptive parts of the work are beautiful beyond any thing that had hitherto appeared in the language; but as the style in which the whole performance is dressed in English is bishop Burnet's, and not Sir Thomas More's, we do not deem it necessary to make any quotation from it.

The following is the letter to his wife, to which we have already alluded:

Mistress Alice, in my most hearty wise, I recommend me to you. And whereas I am informed by my son Heron of the loss of our barns and our neighbour's also, with all the corn that was therein; albeit (saving God's pleasure) it is a great pity of so much good corn lost; yet since it has liked him to send us such a chance, we must and are bounden not only to be content, but also to be glad of his visitation. He sent us all that we have lost; and since he hath by such a chance taken it away again his pleasure be fulfilled! Let us never grudge thereat, but take it in good worth, and heartily thank him, as well for adversity as for prosperity. And peradventure we have more cause to thank him for our loss than for our winning, for his wisdom better seeth what is good for us than we do ourselves. Therefore, I pray you be of good cheer, and take all the household with you to church, and there thank God, both for that he has given us and that he has taken from us. and for that he has left us; which, if it please him, he can increase when he will, and if it please him to leave us yet less, at his pleasure be it!

I pray you to make some good onsearch what my poor neighbours have lost, and bid them take no thought therefore; for, if I should not leave myself a spoon, there shall no poor neighbour of mine bear no loss by my chance, happened in my house. I pray you be, with my children and your household, merry in God; and devise somewhat with your friends what way were best to take, for provision to be made for corn for our household, and for seed this year coming. if we think it good that we keep the ground still in our hands. And whether we think it good that we so shall do or not, yet I think it were not best suddenly thus to leave it all up, and to put away our folk from our farm, till we have somewhat advised us thereon. Howbeit, if we have more now than ye shall need, and which can get them other masters, ye may then discharge us of them. But I would not that any man were suddenly sent away, he wot not whither.

At my coming hither, I perceived none other but that I should tarry still with the king's grace. But now I shall, I think, because of this chance, get leave this next week to come home and see you, and then shall we farther devise together upon all things, what order shall be best to take.

And thus as heartily fare you well, with all our children, as ye can wish. At Woodstock, the third day of September, by the hand of Thomas More.

To this letter we shall add our author's account of Richard the Third,

which was closely followed by Shakspeare in his tragedy of the same

name.

CHARACTER OF RICHARD III.

Richard, the third son, of whom we now entreat, was in wit and courage egal1 with either of them; in body and prowess, far under them both; little of stature, illfeatured of limbs, crook-backed, his left shoulder much higher than his right, hardfavoured of visage. He was malicious, wrathful, envious, and from afore his birth ever froward. It is for truth reported, that the duchess his mother had so much ado in her travail, that she could not be delivered of him uncut; and that he came into the world with the feet forward, as men be born outward; and (as the fame runneth) also not untoothed (whether men of hatred report above the truth, or else that nature changed her course in his beginning, which, in the course of his life, many things unnaturally committed.)

None evil captain was he in the war, as to which his disposition was more meetly than for peace. Sundry victories had he, and sometime overthrows, but never in default for his own person, either of hardiness or politic order. Free was he called of dispense, and somewhat above his power liberal. With large gifts he get him unsteadfast friendship, for which he was fain to pil and spoil in other places, and get him stedfast hatred. He was close and secret; a deep dissimuler, lowly of countenance, arrogant of heart; outwardly coumpinable where he inwardly hated, not letting to kiss whom he thought to kill; dispitious and cruel, not for evil will alway, but oftener for ambition, and either for the surety and increase of his estate. Friend and foe was indifferent, where his advantage grew; he spared no man's death, whose life withstood his purpose. He slew with his own hands king Henry VI., being prisoner in the Tower.

Contemporary with Sir Thomas More though greatly inferior to him in intellect, was Alexander Barclay, an English clergyman. He was born at Barclay in Somersetshire, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford. After having completed his studies at home, he travelled abroad, visiting Holland, Germany, France, and Italy; and on his return to England he was preferred, first to Baddow Magna, in Essex, and afterward to Allhollows, Lombard St., London. He died at a very advanced age at Croydon, but in what year is uncertain.

Besides a curious work in prose and verse, entitled The Ship of Fooles, in which is described a great variety of human absurdities, Barclay translated many Latin works, including Sallust's History of the Jugurthine War, which was among the earliest English versions of classical authors produced in England.

JOHN FISCHER, a fellow-martyr with Sir Thomas More, and somewhat his seniour in years, was born at Beverley in Yorkshire, 1459. He lost his father when very young; but by the assiduous care of his mother, he was prepared for college in his native place, and educated at the university of Cambridge. In consequence of his extensive learning and exemplary virtues, he was selected, in 1495, by the Countess of Richmond, mother of king Henry the Seventh, as her chaplain and confessor; and such were his wisdom and piety, that she committed herself entirely to his government and

1 Equal.

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