History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 5: The Reformation in EnglandMerle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
History
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 5: The Reformation in England
Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
Reformation
In fact Wolsey was deeply irritated at seeing the college [Christ
Church], which he had intended should be "the most glorious in the
world," made the haunt of heresy, and the young men, whom he had so
carefully chosen, become distributors of the New Testament. By
favouring literature, he had had in view the triumph of the clergy,
and literature had on the contrary served to the triumph of the
Gospel. He issued his orders without delay, and the university was
filled with terror. John Clark, John Fryth, Henry Sumner, William
Betts, Richard Taverner, Richard Cox, Michael Drumm, Godfrey Harman,
Thomas Lawney, Radley, and others besides of Cardinal's College; Udal,
Diet, and others of Corpus Christi; Eden and several of his friends of
Magdalene; Goodman, William Bayley, Robert Ferrar, John Salisbury of
Gloucester, Barnard, and St. Mary's Colleges; were seized and thrown
into prison. Wolsey had promised them glory; he gave them a dungeon,
hoping in this manner to save the power of the priests, and to repress
that awakening of truth and liberty which was spreading from the
continent to England.
Under Cardinal's College there was a deep cellar sunk in the earth, in
which the butler kept his salt fish. Into this hole these young men,
the choice of England, were thrust. The dampness of this cave, the
corrupted air they breathed, the horrible smell given out by the fish,
seriously affected the prisoners, already weakened by study. Their
hearts were bursting with groans, their faith was shaken, and the most
mournful scenes followed each other in this foul dungeon. The wretched
captives gazed on one another, wept, and prayed. This trial was
destined to be a salutary one to them: "Alas!" said Fryth on a
subsequent occasion, "I see that besides the word of God, there is
indeed a second purgatory ... but it is not that invented by Rome; it
is the cross of tribulation to which God has nailed us."[623]
[623] God naileth us to the cross to heal our infirmities. Tyndale and
Fryth's Works, iii. p. 91. (ed. Russell.)
[Sidenote: CONDEMNATION AND HUMILIATION.]
At last the prisoners were taken out one by one and brought before
their judges; two only were released. The first was Betts, afterwards
chaplain to Anne Boleyn: they had not been able to find any
prohibited books in his room, and he pleaded his cause with great
talent. The other was Taverner; he had hidden Clark's books under his
school-room floor, where they had been discovered; but his love for
the arts saved him: "Pshaw! he is only a musician," said the cardinal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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