And also where a grete nombre of holy daies whiche nowe at this p_re_sent tyme w_i_t_h_ veray smalle Devocion be solempnised and kept thorough oute this yo_ur_ Realme vppon the whiche many grete abhomynable and execrable vices idle and wanton sportes ben vsed and ex_er_cised whiche holy daies if it may stond w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ gracious pleasure _and specyall suche as Fall in the heruest_ myght by yo_ur_ maiestie by thadvice of yo_ur_ most honourable counseill prelates and ordinaries be made fewer in nombre and those that shall herafter be ordeyned to stond & contynue myght and may be the more Devoutely religiously & reu_er_ently obs_er_ued to the Laude of almyghty god and to thencrease of your high hono_ur_ & fame.’ _Endd._ ‘A boke ayenst the clergy for takyng excessyve Fees’ CHAPTER VII INTERNAL POLICY From the close of the year 1532 until his fall, the entire domestic administration of England was in Cromwell’s hands. From the moment that he entered the King’s service he had definitely committed himself to the policy which he was to follow till the end of his days. His own theories of internal government, the traditions of the Tudor monarchy, and the situation of the realm at the time of his accession to power, combined to convince him that the maintenance of an all-powerful kingship was indispensable to England’s safety; the nature of the proposal by which he first won Henry’s confidence was tantamount to an irrevocable declaration of that principle, and a promise that it should be the guiding thought of his entire administration. The revolt from Rome was an incident rather than an aim of his policy. He had suggested it at first as offering the only possible solution of the immediate difficulties of the Crown, and as affording golden opportunities for the increase of the power of the monarchy; but as soon as the decisive step had been taken, he saw that the security of his own position had become conditional upon the permanence of the new ecclesiastical system, which in turn could only be ensured if the King, for whose sake it had been created, was rendered supreme in Church and State. Cromwell’s very existence had thus become dependent on the success of his endeavours to maintain and carry further the policy initiated by Henry VII., and to elevate the Crown to sovereign power above every other institution in the realm. Perhaps no minister has ever had more varied problems to confront him, than those which Cromwell had to deal with during these eight years; and yet his action in every case is a logical, intelligent application of the theory of internal government, which he believed was the only sure road to national greatness. With this great principle firmly borne in mind, the history of Cromwell’s domestic administration becomes comparatively simple.