The Scottish Reformation Part 18

(_From the 'Responsio ad Cochlei Calvmnias.'_)

"With all his scribbling, he [_i.e._, Cochlaeus] has never yet, so far as I know, disclosed what are his own opinions about Christian doctrine; and therefore his empty and scurrilous treatises miss their mark, and are justly held in derision by learned men.... But I, renowned monarch, that you may know that my alliance is with the Church of Christ and not with any other factions, do not refuse before you and other good men to give a simple and clear account of my faith as I formerly wrote to you, for I believe the prophetical and apostolical Scriptures, and embrace the consensus of the holy fathers whom the Church approves. I also reverence the ecclesiastical authority, being one who, especially in doubtful matters, will obey and follow its decisions. Does Cochlaeus ask anything further? I myself will add, I approve of nothing seditious.

With my whole heart and soul I abhor the ravings of the Anabaptists. No new doctrine, unsupported by the testimony of the ancient Church, is acceptable to me. Further still, as I do not undertake the defence of Luther, so, on the other hand, I do not approve of all the dreams of the monks which have been received, not only contrary to the decision of the Scripture, but also to the authority of the ancient church. Moreover, I cannot approve of the cruelty which is everywhere being practised against those who, following the judgment of Scripture and of the fathers, reject or censure any manifest abuse or error that in the course of time may have crept into the Church. Such is my faith, O Cochlaeus, use it if you are pleased with it; if not, show me a better.

If the unjust punishments inflicted on the truly pious afford you pleasure, you are not only a miserable, but a contemptible wretch. I neither can nor will ever knowingly burden or pollute my conscience by approving of these parricides. I saw in my own country the punishment of one, born in a most honourable station, and innocent of any serious crime, Patrick [Hamilton]. I saw burned at Cologne two men of pious and orthodox sentiments, and most averse to the fanatical opinions of the Anabaptists. Nor can I express in words how deeply I was grieved by these mournful spectacles. And I did not grieve only over the fate of those who were punished, in whom because, as the poet says, 'grace shone through their very anguish,' their singular bravery and constancy brought some alleviation to my grief; but much more did I grieve over the fate of the Church, which is disordered in many ways, and likely yet to be more so, by the practice of such cruelty. Finally, there is no doubt that the State will, in G.o.d's appointed time, have to suffer heaviest punishment for its guilt in permitting such parricides; yet I do not impugn the laws as to the punishment of heretics, if only there is due cognition of each case, and care is taken that those who are really innocent of perverting the true Christian faith may not be punished."

Then follows a paragraph of great importance in itself, and of almost as much from the light it casts on its author's state of mind, and, perhaps, also on Melanchthon's, at that particular time:--

"I myself also desire moderation in certain things on the part of the Lutherans, and reasonableness. To this they may be recalled if the matters in dispute are duly examined into. It is the duty of the bishops to do their utmost that learned men of either side should lovingly confer together on Christian doctrine, that some one certain form of doctrine, founded only upon the Word of G.o.d and the teaching of the primitive fathers, should be framed; and if this were done, the Church might easily be brought to coalesce again into one body. Nor do I doubt that good men on both sides are so disposed that they would not only willingly proffer their opinions, but also yield their individual convictions if they should hear more weighty reasons from the other side. For it is tyrannical, and specially unbecoming in a theologian, to do that which the son reproves in the tyrant, his father, in the tragedy. He wishes, the son says, to speak but to hear nothing in reply.

At present the good men who are most desirous to provide some remedy for public evils keep silence, and secretly bewail the fate of the Church, not only alarmed by fear of those in power, but crushed by a sort of despair in this so great madness of slanderers, who have become so domineering that they would suffer no one but themselves to gain a hearing."

[APPENDIX F (p. 267).

THE DREAM OR VISION OF ALESIUS CONCERNING THE DECAPITATION OF ANNE BOLEYN.

I take to witness Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, that I am about to speak the truth. On the day upon which the Queen was beheaded, at sunrise between two and three o'clock, there was revealed to me (whether I was asleep or awake I know not) the Queen's neck after her head had been cut off, and this so plainly that I could count the nerves, the veins, and the arteries.

Terrified by this dream, or vision, I immediately arose, and, crossing the river Thames, I came to Lambeth (this is the name of the Archbishop of Canterbury's palace), and I entered the garden in which he was walking.

When the archbishop saw me, he inquired why I had come so early, for the clock had not yet struck four. I answered that I had been horrified in my sleep, and I told him the whole occurrence. He continued in silent wonder for a while, and at length broke out into these words, "Do not you know what is to happen to-day?" and when I answered that I had remained at home since the date of the Queen's imprisonment, and knew nothing of what was going on, the archbishop then raised his eyes to heaven and said, "She who has been the Queen of England upon earth will to-day become a queen in heaven." So great was his grief that he could say nothing more, and then he burst into tears.

Terrified at this announcement, I return[ed] to London sorrowing.

Although my lodging was not far distant from the place of execution, yet I could not become an eye-witness to the butchery of such an ill.u.s.trious lady, and of the exalted personages who were beheaded along with her.--(Foreign Calendar, Elizabeth, i. 528).]

[APPENDIX G (p. 269).

THE DEPARTURE OF ALESIUS FROM ENGLAND.

As soon as the king [_i.e._, Henry VIII.] began to hate her [_i.e._, Anne Boleyn], laws hostile to the purer doctrine of the Gospel appeared.

When I could not bear these with a good conscience, nor could my profession allow me to dissemble them (for I was filling the office of the ordinary reader in the celebrated University of Cambridge by the king's orders), I came to the Court, and asked for my dismissal by means of Crumwell. But he retained me for about three years with empty hopes, until it was decreed and confirmed by law that married priests should be separated from their wives and punished at the king's pleasure. But before this law was published, the Bishop of Canterbury sent Lord Pachet [_i.e._ Paget] from Lambeth to me at London.... He directed me to call upon the archbishop early in the morning. When I called upon him, "Happy man that you are," said he, "you can escape! I wish that I might do the same; truly my see would be no hindrance to me. You must make haste to escape before the island is blocked up, unless you are willing to sign the decree, as I have, compelled by fear. I repent of what I have done. And if I had known that my only punishment would have been deposition from the archbishopric (as I hear that my Lord Latimer is deposed), of a truth I would not have subscribed. I am grieved, however, that you have been deprived of your salary for three years by Crumwell;[322] that you have no funds for your travelling expenses, and that I have no ready money. Nor dare I mention this to my friends, lest the king should become aware that warning had been given by me for you to escape, and that I have provided you with the means of travelling. I give you, however, this ring as a token of my friends.h.i.+p. It once belonged to Thomas Wolsey, and it was presented to me by the king when he gave me the archbishopric."

When I heard what the bishop had to say, I immediately caused my property to be sold, and I concealed myself in the house of a German sailor until the s.h.i.+p was ready, in which I embarked, dressed as a soldier, along with other German troops, that I might not be detected.

When I had escaped a company of searchers, I wrote to Crumwell (although he had not behaved well towards me) and warned him of the danger in which he stood at that time, and about certain other matters. For this I can vouch the testimony of John Ales, Gregory, and the Secretary, and Pachet himself. But Christopher Mount said that Crumwell did not dare to speak to me when I was going away and soliciting my dismissal, nor could he venture to give me anything, lest he should be accused to the king, but that he would send the sum that he owed me into Germany.[323]

The next intelligence, however, which I heard of him was that he had undergone capital punishment by order of the king; to whom he had written, when in prison, saying that he was punished by the just judgment of G.o.d, because he had loved the king more than G.o.d; and that out of deference to his sovereign he had caused many innocent persons to be put to death, not sparing your [_i.e._, Elizabeth's] most holy mother, nor had he obeyed her directions in promoting the doctrine of the Gospel.--(Foreign Calendar, Elizabeth, i. 532-534).]

FOOTNOTES:

[322] [In Crumwell's accounts there are payments of 5 to Alesius on each of the following dates: 4th January 1536-37, 28th March, 28th May, and 24th October 1537; of 10 merks, on 19th February 1537-38; and of 5, on 13th October 1538, to Ric. Morison, which he gave "by my lord's command" to Alesius (Letters and State Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xiv.

part ii. 328-338).]

[323] [Alesius arrived at Wittenberg on the 9th of July 1539, and from thence informed Crumwell that he was encouraged to hope that he would receive a post in the University there (Letters and State Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xiv. part i. 583, 584). Melanchthon wrote to the Elector's chancellor, on the 1st of December 1539, recommending him for the University of Frankfort (Corpus Reformatorum, iii. 842-844).]

APPENDIX H (p. 281).

ALESIUS' INVITATION OF MELANCHTHON TO HIS DAUGHTER'S WEDDING.

Nockau, 11 _August_ 1557.

ALEXANDER ALESIUS AU MELANCHTHON.

S.D. Quod flix faustumque sit. Dilectissima filia mea Anna, cui nomen in baptismo indidit bonae memoriae primogenita vestra, desponsata est honesto iuveni Martino Luxsolario (nam solem etiam pro insigni habet), doctoris Martini filio, petente id sua matre per cognatos et affines, et suadentibus communibus amicis nostris. Dictus est autem dies nuptiarum ultimus Augusti, circa quod tempus vos ad colloquium profecturum (_sic_) spero. Peto igitur reverenter et amanter, ut una c.u.m honestissima coniuge vestra, genero, filia ac nepte nuptias vestra praesentia ornare velitis. Existimo autem magistrum Paulum, amanuensem vestrum, una venturum, sed tamen ut eum c.u.m uxore invitetis meis verbis ad nuptias oro. Scitis autem summum sacerdotem et pontificem nostrum filium Dei, qui primos parentes in paradyso copulavit, et non minore magnificentia quam sapientia et potencia suam ordinationem contra sophistica et tyrannidem diaboli et multiplicem ingrat.i.tudinem nostram defendit, ut totam actionem, ita etiam invitacionem hospitum et communia officia sua presentia et primo miraculo comproba.s.se[t] ac monstra.s.se[t], quantum dilectetur (_sic_) istis congressibus. Nos autem parentes et amici, sponsi et sponsae, una c.u.m eis, pro hoc officio et molestia profectionis grat.i.tudinem pollicemur per omnem occasionem.

Ex pago Nockau postridie Laurentii 1557.

ALEXANDER ALESIUS.

_Adresse:_ Clarissimo et ornatissimo viro d. Philippo Melanchthoni, suo praeceptori carissimo.

APPENDIX I (p. 283).

THE WORKS OF ALESIUS.

The following is a list of the published writings of Alesius, so far as I have been able to trace them:--

1. Epistola contra decretum quoddam Episcoporum in Scotia, 1533. [For a full copy of the t.i.tle see p. 259 n. No place, date, or printer's name is given on the t.i.tle-page. This small 8vo consists of only 14 leaves.

It begins: "Inclyto Regis Scotorum D. Iacobo Quinto Duci Albaniae, Principi Hiberniae & Orchadum Domino suo clementissimo Allexander Alesius S. D." At the end there is the date, "Anno. M.D.x.x.xIII." In Cooper's 'Athenae Cantabrigienses' (i. 239), 1542 and 1543 are given as the dates of other two editions.]

2. Responsio ad Cochlei Calumnias, 1533. [The full t.i.tle is: "Alexandri Alesii Scotti Responsio ad Cochlei Calvmnias." No place, date, or printer's name is given.]

3. Oratio de Grat.i.tudine et Rest.i.tuendis Scholis. Lipsiae (?), 1541. [In the 'Athenae Cantabrigienses,' the 'Oratio de Grat.i.tudine' and the 'De Rest.i.tuendis Scholis' are entered as separate works published in Leipsic in 1541. They may, however, have been also issued as one. In the 'Corpus Reformatorum,' xi. 251-257, is printed the "Oratio de Grat.i.tudine M.

Alexandri Alesii Scoti, Decani, in promotione Magistrorum anno M.D.x.x.xIV." The full t.i.tle of the other is: "De Rest.i.tvendis Scholis Oratio habita ab Alexdro (_sic_) Alesio, in celebri Academia Fracofordiana ad Oderam. An. M.D.XL. Mense Iunio. Francofordiae apud Ioannem Hanaw." The dedication ends: "Francofordiae ad Oderam caledis Iunij. An. M.D.XL." There are only 19 leaves in this small tract.]

4. De Auctore et Utilitate Psalmorum. 1542.

5. De Auctoritate Verbi Dei contra Episcopum Lundensem. 1542. [See p.

264 n.]

6. Of the Auctorite of the Word of G.o.d agaynst the Bisshop of London.

[For a full copy of the t.i.tle, see p. 268 n. This small 8vo black-letter tract of 46 leaves bears no place, date, or printer's name. In the British Museum Catal., _Leipsic_ is given as the probable place of printing, and 1537 as the supposed date. Perhaps the date has been inferred from the opening sentence of the tract: "Abowt V yere agone I wrote to the n.o.ble king of Scottys the father of my contry complanning of a certen proclamacyon wherin the bisshops had forbidden the Holy Scripture to be redd in the mother tong." It is rather curious that in the Latin version this sentence runs thus; "Ante _biennium_ scripsi inclyto regi Scotorum patri meae patriae, et questus sum de edicto quodam, quo episcopi prohibebant lectionem sacrorum librorum lingua patria."]

7. Cohortatio ad concordiam pietatis ac doctrinae Christianae defensionem.

Lipsiae, 1544.