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 THOMAS

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THOMAS

hough without any approach to folly or huffoonory. rhe right shoulder is a little higher than the left, specially when he walks. This is not a defect of iirth, but the result of habit such as we often con- ract. lu the rest of his person there is nothing to iffend. . . . He seems born and framed for friend- hip, and is a most faithful and enduring friend. . . . Vhen he finds any sincere and according to his heart, le so delights in their society and conversation as to ilace in it the principal charm of life. ... In a word, f you want a perfect model of friendship, you will ind it in no one better than in More. ... In human .ffairs there is nothing from which he does not extract njoyment, even from things that are most serious, f hi' converses with the learned and judicious, he leliglits in their talent, if with the ignorant and fool- sh, he enjoys their stupidity. He is not even offended )y professional jesters. With a woiiderful dexterity le accommodates himself to every disposition. As a ule, in talking with women, even with his own wife, If is full of jokes and banter. No one is less led by the ipiiiions of the crowd, yet no one departs less from ommon sense. ..." (see Father Bridgett's Life, ). .iti-60, for the entire letter). More married again erv soon after his first wife's death, his choice being I w'idow, Alice Middleton. She was older than he by even years, a good, somewhat commonplace soul vithout beauty or education; bat she w;is a capital lousewife and was devoted to the care of More's ■oung children. On the whole the marriage seems to lave been quite satisfactory, although Mistress More isually failed to see the point of her husband's jokes. More's fame as a lawyer was now very great. In 1.310 he wras made Under-Sheriff of London, and four .-ears later was chosen by Cardinal Wolsey as one of m embassy to Flanders to protect the interests of iinglish merchants. He was thus ab.sent from Eng- aiicl for more than six montlis in 1.515, diiring which leriod he niach' the first sketch of the "Utopia", his nost f;imous work, which was published the following I'ear. Both Wolsey and the king were anxious to secure More's services at Court. In 1516 he was ^ranted a pension of £100 for life, Wiis made a mem- jer of the embassy to Calais in the next year, and secanie a jjrivy councillor about the same time. In 1510 he resigned his post as Under-Sheriff and became completely attached to the Court. In June, 1.520, he ivxs in Henry's suite at the "Field of the Cloth of CJold", in 1521 was knighted and made sub-tre;usurer to the king. When the Emperor Charles V visitcfl London in the following year. More was chosen to ieliver the Latin address of welcome; and grants of land in Oxford and Kent, made then and three years later, gave further proof of Henry's favour. In 1523 be was elected Speaker of the House of Commons on Wolsey 's recommendation; became High Steward of Cambridge University in 1525; and in the same year w;is made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to be held in addition to his other offices. In 1523 More had purchased a piece of land in Chelsea, where he built himself a mansion about a hundred yards from the north bank of the Thames, with a large garden stretching along the river. Here at times the king would come as an unbidden guest at dinner time, or would walk in the garden with his arm round More's neck enjoying his brilliant conversation. But More had no illusions about the royal favour he enjoyed. "If my head should win him a castle in France," he said to Roper, his son-in-law, in 1.525, "it should not fail to go." The Lutheran controversy hiid now spread throughout Europe and. with some reluctance, More wiLs drawn into it. His controversial writing.s are mentioned below in the list of his works, and it is sufficient here to say that, while far more refined than most polemical writers of the period, there is still a certain amount that tastes unpleasant to the modern reader. At first he wrote in Latin but, when the

books of Tindal and other English Reformers began to be read by people of all classes, he adopted English as more fitted to his purpose and, by doing so, gave no little aid to the development of English prose.

In October, 1529, More succeeded Wolsey as Chan- cellor of England, a post never before held by a lay- man. In matters political, however, he in nowise succeeded to Wolsey's position, and his tenure of the chancellorship is chiefly memorable for his un- paralleled success as a judge. His despatch was so great that the supply of causes was actually ex- hausted, an incident commemorated in the well- known rhyme,

"When More some time had Chancellor been

"No more suits did remain. "The like will never more be seen,

"Till More be there again." As chancellor it was his duty to enforce the laws against heretics and, by doing so, he provoked the attacks of Protestant writers both in his own time and since. The subject need not be discussed here, but More's attitude is patent. He agreed with the principle of the anti-heresy laws and had no hesita- tion in enforcing them. As he himself wrote in his "Apologia" (cap. 49) it was the vices of heretics that he hated, not their persons; and he never proceeded to extremities until he had made every efTort to get those brought before him to recant. How successful he was in this is clear from the fact that only four persons sufTered the supreme penalty for heresy during his whole term of office. More's first public appearance as chancellor was at the opening of the new Parhament in November, 1.529. The accounts of his speech on this occasion vary considerably, but it is quite certain that he had no knowledge of the long series of encroachments on the Church which tins very Parliament was to accomplish. A few months later came the royal proclamation ordering the clergy to acknowledge Henry as "Supreine Head" of the Church "as far as the law of God will permit", and we have Chapuy's testimony that More at once proffered his resignation of the chancellorship, which however was not accepted. His firm iipjxisi- tion to Henry's designs in regard to the divorce, the papal supremacy, and the laws against heretics, speedily lost him the royal favour, and in May, 1532, he resigned his post of lord chancellor after holding it less than three years. This meant the loss of all his income except" about £100 a year, the rent of some property he had purchased; and, with cheerful indifference, he at once reduced his style of living to match his straitened means. The epitaph which he wrote at this time for the tomb in Chelsea church states that he intended to devote his last years to preparing himself for the life to come.

For the next eighteen months More lived in seclu- sion and gave much time to controversial writing. Anxious to avoid a public rupture with Henry he stayed away from Aime Boleyn's coronation, and when, in 1533, his nephew William Rastell wrote a pamphlet supporting the pope, which was attributed to More, he wrote a letter to Cromwell disclaiming any share therein and declaring that he knew his duty to his prince too well to criticise his policy. Neutrality, however, did not suit Henr\-, and More's name was included in the Bill of Attainder introduced into the Lords against the Holy Maid of Kent and her friends. Brought before four members of the Council, More was asked why he did not approve Henry's anti- papal action. He answered that he had several times explained his position io the king in person and without incurring his displeasure. Eventually, in view of liis ext raordinarj' jjopularity, Ilcnry thought it expedient to remove his name from the Bill of Attainder. The incident showed what he might expect, howc\(r. and the Duke of Norfolk personally warned him of his grave danger, adding "indignatio