Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/344

 LATIMER most trusted coadjutor, incurred the displeasure of Wolsey, and did humiliating penance for his offences. Latimer however, besides possessing far-seeing sagacity, quick insight into character, and a ready and formidable wit which thoroughly disconcerted and confused his opponents, had naturally a distaste for mere theological discussion, and the truths he was in the habit of inculcating could scarcely be controverted, although, as he stated them, they were diametrically contradictory of prevailing errors both in doctrine and practice. In December 1529 he preached his two &quot; Sermons on the Cards,&quot; which awakened a turbulent controversy in the university, and his opponents, finding that they were unable to cope with the dexterity and keen ness of his satire, would undoubtedly have succeeded in getting him silenced by force, had it not been reported to the king that Latimer &quot; favoured his cause,&quot; that is, the cause of the divorce. While, therefore, both parties were imperatively commanded to refrain from further dispute, Latimer was invited to preach before Henry in the Lent of 1530. The king was so pleased with the sermon that after it &quot; he did most familiarly talk with him in a gallery.&quot; Of the special regard which Henry seemed to have con ceived for him Latimer took advantage to pen the famous letter on the free circulation of the Scriptures, an address remarkable, not only for what Mr Froude justly calls &quot;its almost unexampled grandeur,&quot; but for its striking repudia tion of the aid of temporal weapons to defend the faith ; &quot; for God,&quot; he says, &quot; will not have it defended by man or man s power, but by his word only, by which he hath evermore defended it, and that by a way far above man s power and reason.&quot; Though the appeal was without effect on the immediate policy of Henry, lie could not have been displeased with its tone, for shortly afterwards he appointed Latimer one of the royal chaplains. In times so &quot; out of joint&quot; Latimer soon became &quot;weary of the court,&quot; and it was with a sense of relief that he accepted the living of West Kington, Wiltshire, conferred on him by the king in 1531. Harassed by severe bodily ailments, encompassed by a raging tumult of religious conflict and persecution, and aware that the faint hopes of better times, which seemed to gild the horizon of the future, might be utterly darkened by a failure either in the constancy of his courage or in his discernment and discretion, he exerted his eloquence with unabating energy in the furtherance of the cause he had at heart. At last a sermon he was persuaded to preach in London exasperated Stokesley, bishop of the diocese, and seemed to furnish that fervent persecutor with an opportunity to overthrow the most dangerous champion of the new opinions. Biluey, of whom Latimer wrote, &quot; if such as he shall die evil, what shall become of me 1 ?&quot; perished at the stake in the autumn of 1531, and in January following Latimer was summoned to answer before the bishops in the consistory. After a tedious and captious examination, he was in March brought before convocation, and on refusing to subscribe certain articles was excommunicated and imprisoned ; but through the interference of the king he was finally released after he had voluntarily signified his acceptance of all the articles except two, and confessed that he had erred not only &quot; in discretion but in doctrine.&quot; If in this confession he to some extent tampered with his conscience, there is every reason to believe that his culpable timidity was occasioned, not by personal fear, but by anxiety lest by his death he should hinder instead of promoting the cause of truth. After the consecration of Cranmer in 1533 his position was completely altered. A commission appointed to inquire into the disturbances caused by his preaching in Bristol severely censured the conduct of his opponents ; and, when the bishop prohibited him from preaching in his diocese, he obtained from Cranmer a special licence to preach throughout the province of Canter bury. In 1534 Henry formally repudiated the authority of the pope, and from this time Latimer was the chief co- operator with Cranmer and Cromwell in advising the king regarding the series of legislative measures which rendered that repudiation complete and irrevocable. It was, however, the preaching of Latimer more than the edicts of Henry that established the principles of the Reformation in the minds and hearts of the people ; and from his preaching the movement received its chief colour and complexion. The sermons of Latimer possess a com bination of qualities which constitute them unique examples of that species of literature. It is possible to learn from them more regarding the social and political condition of the period than perhaps from any other source, for they abound, not only in exposures of religious abuses, and of the prevailing corruptions of society, but in references to many varieties of social injustice and unwise customs, in racy sketches of character, and in vivid pictures of special features of the time, occasionally illustrated by interesting incidents in his own life. The homely terseness of his style, his abounding humour, rough, cheery, and playful, but irresistible in its simplicity, and occasionally display ing sudden and dangerous barbs of satire, his avoidance of dogmatic subtleties and noble advocacy of practical righteousness, his bold and open denunciation of the oppression practised by the powerful, his scathing diatribes against ecclesiastical hypocrisy, the transparent honesty of his fervent zeal, tempered by sagacious moderation these are the qualities which not only rendered his influence so paramount in his lifetime, but have transmitted his memory to posterity as perhaps that of the one among his contem poraries most worthy of our interest and admiration. In September 1535 Latimer was consecrated bishop of Worcester. While holding this office he was selected to officiate as preacher when the friar Forest, whom he vainly endeavoured to move to submission, was burned at the stake for teaching treason to his penitents. In 1539, being- opposed to the &quot; Act of the Six Articles,&quot; Latimer resigned his bishopric, learning from Cromwell that this was the wish of the king. It would appear that on this point he was deceived, but as he now declined to accept the articles he was confined within the precincts of the palace of the bishop of Chichester. After the attainder of Cromwell little is known of him until 154G, when, on account of his connexion with the preacher Crome, he was summoned before the council at Greenwich, and committed to the Tower. Henry died before his final trial could take place, and the general pardon at the accession of Edward VI. procured him his liberty. He declined to resume his see, notwithstanding the special request of the Commons, but in January 1548 again began to preach, and with more effectiveness than ever, crowds thronging to listen to him both in London and in the country. Shortly after the accession of Mary in 1553 a summons was sent to Latimer to appear before the council at Westminster. Though he might have escaped by flight, and though he knew, as he quaintly remarked, that &quot; Smithfield already groaned for him,&quot; he at once joyfully obeyed. The pursuivant, he said, was &quot;a welcome messenger.&quot; The hardships of his imprisonment, and the long disputations at Oxford, told severely on his health, but he endured all with unbroken cheerfulness. On October 1C, 1555, he and Ridley were led to the stake at Oxford. Never was man more free than Latimer from the taint of fanaticism or less dominated by &quot; vainglory,&quot; but the motives which now inspired his courage not only placed him beyond the influence of fear, but enabled him to taste in dying an ineffable thrill of victorious achievement. Ridley he greeted with the words, &quot; Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man ; we shall this day light such a candle by God s grace in