Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/847

Rh MORE 817 More s father, whom upon some pretext he threw into the Tower, and he only released him upon payment of a fine of 100. Thomas More even found it advisable to with draw from public life into obscurity. During this period of retirement the old dilemma recurred. One while he devoted himself to the sciences, &quot;perfecting himself in music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, learning the French tongue, and recreating his tired spirits on the viol,&quot; 1 or translating epigrams from the Greek anthology ; another while resolving to take priest s orders. From dreams of clerical celibacy he was roused by making acquaintance with the family of John Colt of New Hall, in Essex. The &quot;honest and sweet conversation&quot; of the daughters attracted him, and though his inclination led him to prefer the second he married the eldest, not liking to put the affront upon her of passing her over in favour of her younger sister. The death of the old king in 1507 restored him to the practice of his profession, and to that public career for which his abilities specially fitted him. From this time there was scarce a cause of import ance in which he was not engaged. His professional in come amounted to 400 a year, equal to 4000 in present money, and, &quot;considering the relative profits of the law and the value of money, probably indicated as high a station as 10,000 at the present day&quot; (Campbell). It was not long before he attracted the attention of the young king and of Wolsey. The Latin verses which he pre sented to Henry on the occasion of his coronation did not deserve particular notice amid the crowd of congratulatory odes. But the spirit with which he pleaded before the Star Chamber in a case of the Crown v. the Pope recom mended him to the royal favour, and marked him out for employment. More obtained in this case judgment against the crown. Henry, who was present in person at the trial, had the good sense not to resent the defeat, but took the counsel to whose advocacy it was due into his service. In 1514 More was made master of the requests, knighted, and sworn a member of the privy council. He was repeatedly employed on embassies to the Low Countries, and was for a long time stationed at Calais as agent in the shifty nego tiations carried on by Wolsey with the court of France. In 1519 he was compelled to resign his post of under- sheriff to the city and his private practice at the bar. [n 1521 he was appointed treasurer of the exchequer, and in the parliament of 1523 he was elected speaker. The choice of this officer rested nominally with the House itself, but in practice was always dictated by the court. Sir Thomas More was pitched upon by the court on this occasion in order that his popularity with the Commons might be employed to carry the money grant for which Wolsey asked. To the great disappointment of the court More remained firm to the popular cause, and it was greatly owing to his influence that its demands were resisted. From this occurrence may be dated the jealousy which the cardinal began to exhibit towards More. Wolsey made an attempt to get him out of the way by sending him as ambassador to Spain. More defeated the design by a personal appeal to the king, alleging that the climate would be fatal to his health. Henry, who saw through the artifice, and was already looking round for a more popular successor to Wolsey, made the gracious answer that he would employ More otherwise. In 1525 More was appointed chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and no pains were spared to attach him to the court. The king frequently sent for him into his closet, and discoursed with him on astronomy, geometry, and points of divinity. This growing favour, by which many men would have been carried away, did not impose upon More. He dis- 1 Roper, Life. couraged the king s advances, showed reluctance to go to the palace, and seemed constrained when there. Then the king began to come himself to More s house at Chelsea, and would dine with him without previous notice. Roper mentions one of these visits, when the king after dinner walked in the garden by the space of an hour, holding his arm round More s neck. Roper afterwards congratu lated his father-in-law on the distinguished honour which had been shown him. &quot; I thank our Lord,&quot; was the reply, &quot; I find his grace my very good lord indeed ; and I believe he doth as singularly favour me as any subject within this realm. Howbeit, son Roper, I may tell thee I have no cause to be proud thereof, for if my head would win him a castle in France, it should not fail to go.&quot; As a last resource More tried the expedient of silence, dissembling his wit and affecting to be dull. This had the desired effect so far that he was less often sent for. But it did not alter the royal policy, and in 1529, when a successor had to be found for Wolsey, More was raised to the chancellorship. The selection was justified by More s high reputation, but it was also significant of the modification which the policy of the court was then undergoing. It was a concession to the rising popular party, to which it was supposed that More s politics inclined him. The public favour with which his appointment had been received was justified by his conduct as judge in the Court of Chancery. Having heard causes in the forenoon between eight and eleven, after dinner he sat again to receive petitions. The meaner the suppliant was the more affably he would speak to him, and the more speedily he would despatch his case. In this respect he formed a great contrast to his predecessor, whose arrears he soon cleared off. One morning being told by the officer that there was not another cause before the court, he ordered the fact to be entered on record, as it had never happened before. He not only refused all gifts, such as had been usual, himself, but took measures to prevent any of his connexions from interfering with the course of justice. One of his sons-in-law, Heron, having a suit in the chan cellor s court, and refusing to agree to any reasonable accommodation, because the judge &quot;was the most affec tionate father to his children that ever was in the world,&quot; More thereupon made a decree against him. Unfortunately for Sir Thomas More, a lord chancellor is not merely a judge, but has high political functions to perform. In raising More to that eminent position, the king had not merely considered his professional distinction but had counted upon his avowed liberal and reforming- tendencies. In the Utopia, which, though written earlier, More had allowed to be printed as late as 1516, he had spoken against the vices of power and declared for indif ference of religious creed with a breadth of philosophical view of which there is no other example in any English man of that age. At the same time, as he could not be suspected of any sympathy with Lutheran or Wickliffite heretics, he might fairly be regarded as qualified to lead the party which aimed at reform in state and church within the limits of Catholic orthodoxy. But in the king s mind the public questions of reform were entirely sunk in the personal one of the divorce. The divorce was a point upon which Sir Thomas would not yield. And, as he saw that the marriage with Anne Boleyn was determined upon, he petitioned the king to be allowed to resign the great seal, alleging failing health. With much reluctance, the royal permission was given and the resignation accepted, 10th May 1532, with many gracious expressions of good will on the part of the king. The promise held out of future bounty was never fulfilled, and More left office, as he had entered it, a poor man. His necessitous condition was so notorious that the clergy in convocation voted him XVI. 103