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 The same policy is continued, and for the present under the same influences. The Acts gravely affecting the above relations are:—

31 Hen. VIII. c. 8, i.e. the Act of Proclamations, which had the effect of giving to the King's proclamations the force of law.

31 Hen. VIII. c. 9; enabling the King to make bishops by letters patent.

31 Hen. VIII. c. 13; decreeing the dissolution of abbeys and giving them to the King.

31 Hen. VIII. c. 14; an Act for abolishing diversity of opinions. This was the famous Act of Six Articles, or Whip with Six Strings.

It is of importance that we should know not only the fact of the passing of this last Act, but as much as can be learned as to the mode in which it passed, the source from which it sprang, the influences by which it was affected, and the feeling with which it was regarded by contemporary persons. Its origin may surely be attributed to the mind of Henry himself, acted upon by Cromwell. It was but one step, though an advanced step, and, as it turned out, almost the last which Cromwell was to take in his general policy of rendering the Crown of England supreme both in Church and State, and using Parliament as the means of establishing its supremacy. Yet it was a step taken, not because it formed a natural part of that policy, but because it was necessary in order to accommodate it to the circumstances of the moment, and the predilections of the King. Like other able artificers, Cromwell found it necessary to modify his work in accordance with the tools wherewith he had to perform it, and the material which he had to use.