Historical Miniatures Part 45

"Sire, it is already at an end; I have written to Anne's father to call her home to Hever."

"You did well in that, by heaven! Two such families, who both aim at the succession, ought not to unite."

"Who is there that does _not_ aim at the throne? Just now it was Buckingham, now it is Northumberland, and only because there is no proper heir. Sire, you must consider the country, and your people, and name a successor."

"No! I will not have anyone waiting for my decease."

"Then we shall have the Wars of the Roses again, which cost England a million men and eighty of our n.o.blest families."

The King smiled. "Our n.o.blest!" Then he rose and stepped to the window: "I must now accompany the Queen home," he said. "She has gone to sleep outside, and this damp is not good for her in her weak condition."

"At her Majesty's age one must be very careful," replied the Cardinal.

He emphasized the word _age_, for Katherine was forty, and gave no more hopes of an heir to the throne. Her daughter Mary might certainly be married, but one did not know to whom.

"Sire," he continued, "do not be angry, but I have just now opened the Holy Scripture.... It may be an accident--will you listen?"

"Speak."

"In the third Book of Moses, the twentieth and twenty-first chapters, I read the following--but you will not be angry with your servant?"

"Read."

"These are the Lord's solemn words: 'If any man take his brother's wife, it is evil; they shall be childless.'"

The King was excited, and approached the Cardinal.

"Is that there? Yes, truly! G.o.d has punished me by taking my sons one after the other. What a wonderful book, in which everything is written!

That is the reason then! But what says Thomas Aquinas, the 'Angel' of the Schoolmen?"

"Yes, sire, if you wish the matter elucidated, we must consult the learned."

"Let us do so,--but quietly and cautiously. The Queen is blameless, and nothing evil must happen to her. Quietly and cautiously, Wolsey! But I must know the truth."

In a room near the "b.l.o.o.d.y Tower," the Cardinal and More were carrying on a lively conversation.

"What is happening now in Germany?" asked the Cardinal.

"While Luther was in the Wartburg, his pupil Karlstadt came to Wittenberg, and turned everything upside down. Citing the prohibition of images in the Old Testament, he stirred up students and the rabble to attack the churches and throw all sacred objects outside."

"That's the result of the Bible! To give it into the hands of the unlearned means letting h.e.l.l loose."

"Then...."

"What did Luther say to that?"

"He hurried down from the Wartburg and denounced Karlstadt and his followers, but I cannot say that he confuted them. A councillor quoted the book of Moses, 'Thou shalt not make to thee any image nor likeness.'

And a shoemaker answered, 'I have often taken off my hat before images in a room or in the street; but that is idolatry, and robs G.o.d of the glory which belongs to Him alone.'"

"What did Luther say?"

"That then, on account of occasional misuse, one must kill all the women, and pour all the wine into the streets."

"That was a stupid saying; but that is the result of disputing with shoemakers. Besides, it is degrading to compare women to wine! He is a coa.r.s.e fellow who sets his wife on the same level with a beer-barrel."

"Logic is not his strong point, and his comparisons halt on crutches. In his answer to the Pope's excommunication, he writes, among other things: 'If a hay-cart must move out of the way of a drunken man, how much more must Peter and Jesus Christ keep out of the way of the Pope?'"

"That is a pretty simile! Let us return to James Bainham."

"But let me tell you a little more about the fanatics in Germany.

Besides Karlstadt and his followers, other enthusiasts, quoting the Bible and Luther, have had themselves rebaptized; their leader has taken ten wives, supporting his action by the example of David, Solomon, and even Abraham."

"The Bible again!--Call in Bainham, and then we will hear how the matter stands! He was a lawyer in the Temple, you say, and has been spreading Luther's teaching. Have we not had enough of Wycliffe and the Lollards? Must we have the same thing again, grunted out by this German plagiariser?"

"I am not an intolerant man," said More, "but a State must be h.o.m.ogeneous, or it will fall to pieces. Ignoramuses and lunatics must not come forward and sniff at the State religion, be it better or worse."

"Let Bainham come, and we will hear him."

More went to a door which was guarded on the outside by soldiers, and gave an order.

"You examine him, and I will listen," said the Cardinal.

After a time Bainham was brought into the room in chains.

More sat at the end of a table, and commenced.

"James Bainham, can you declare your belief in a few words?"

"I believe in G.o.d's Word--_i.e._ the whole of Holy Scripture."

"Do you really--in the Old as well as the New Testament?"

"In both."

"In the Old also?"

"In both."

"Very well, then, you believe in the Old Testament. Now, you have had yourself baptized again, for the Bible says, 'Go, and teach all nations and baptize them.' Good. But have you had yourself circ.u.mcised, as the Bible commands?"

Bainham looked confounded, and the Cardinal had to turn his head, in order not to smile.

"I am not an Israelite," answered Bainham.

"No! but Nathanael, who sought our Saviour and believed on him, was called by John 'an Israelite indeed.' If you are not an 'Israelite indeed,' you are not a Christian."

"I cannot answer that."