opposed by Sir Thomas, that he exclaimed in Latin with some vehemence, "You are either More, or nobody." To this Sir Thomas replied in the same language, with great vivacity, "You are either Erasmus, or the devil." *

It has been remarked that, of all the servants and favourites of Henry VIII., he never treated any with so much tenderness and good-humour, as More. The answer which he made to the King, when he requested his opinion on the subject of his marriage with Queen Katharine, does honour to his memory. Clark and Tonstal, Bishops of Bath and Durham, with others of the privy-council, having been ordered to consult with him; "To be plain with your Grace," said Sir Thomas, "neither my Lord of Durham, nor my Lord of Bath, nor myself, nor any of your privy-council, being all your servants and greatly indebted to your goodness, are in my judge

* Erasmus, however, upon another occasion, had the advantage of his English friend. He had borrowed a horse of More, and took it over to Holland: but instead of returning it to the owner, he sent him the following epigram, alluding to Sir Thomas' argument on the subject of Transubstantiation :

Quod mihi dixisti

De corpore Christi,

Crede quod edas, et edis;'

Sic tibi rescribo

De tuo palfrido,

Crede quod habeas, et habes.'

IMITATED.

What you firmly, dear Sir,

Of Christ's body aver―

'Believe that you eat, and you eat it indeed

Suffer me to repeat,

Nor conclude me a cheat

'Believe that you have, and you straight have your steed.*

ment proper counsellors for your Grace upon this point; but, if you please to understand the very truth, you may have counsellors who, neither for respect of their own worldly profit, nor for fear of your princely authority, will deceive you:" and then he named Jerome, Austin, and several other ancient fathers, producing the opinions which he had collected out of their works. Self-willed as Henry was, he did not take this ill of him; and soon afterward, intending to forego farther proceedings in his divorce, he appointed Sir Thomas in 1529, together with his friend Tonstal Bishop of Durham, embassadors to negociate a peace between the Emperor, himself, and the King of France. By this, which was concluded at Cambray, More procured so much higher advantages to the kingdom than had been anticipated, that for his eminent services his royal master, on the disgrace of Wolsey, bestowed upon him the great seal.*

The speech made by the Duke of Norfolk, on conducting him to this lofty station, with More's reply, have been preserved by Stapleton. The latter commemorates the matchless favour of his sovereign (which, however, he does not appear to have regarded as likely to continue steadfast) his own unworthiness and unwillingness to accept so important and responsible a proof of it, the overwhelming burthen of his new charge, and the inglorious ruin into which his predecessor, notwithstanding his singular wisdom, his peculiar acuteness, and his splendid and long-prosperous fortune, had sunk under it. "And

* October 25, 1529. He is the first lay-chancellor upon record. Those, who affect to say, since the reign of Henry II.,' forget that Becket who then bore that office, though he had thrown off the clerical habit, was actually in holy orders.

unless, under these circumstances (he adds) the incredible propension of his Majesty toward me, and the good-will of you all which I gather from your agreeable countenances, recreated and refreshed me, I might stumble at this very entrance and perhaps faint this seat would not seem pleasanter to me, than did the sword which hung by a horse-hair over the head of Damocles, while he occupied the statechair of Dionysius in the midst of honours and delicacies. This then will I ever keep in mind, this have alway before my eyes, that this seat will in such degree be honourable to me, full of dignity and splendor, a new and renowned preferment, as I continue with all care and vigilance to administer my high office with fidelity and wisdom, and as I keep in mind that my enjoyment of it may be but short and precarious. The one, my diligence ought to accomplish; the other, the example of my predecessor teach me." " And as they had before charged him (continues Roper) on the King's behalf, uprightly to administer indifferent justice to the people, without corruption or affection; so did he likewise charge them again, that if they saw him at any time in any thing to digress from any part of his duty in that honourable office, even as they would discharge their own duty and fidelity to God and the King, so should they not fail to disclose it to his Grace, who otherwise might have just occasion to lay his fault wholly to their charge."

Upon his entrance on his new office, a surprising change took place for notwithstanding Wolsey's extraordinary abilities, such was his pride, that he would scarcely notice any of the common rank, and it was difficult without a bribe to his servants to gain admission into his presence; whereas in More it was observed

that, the meaner his suitors were, the more attentively he heard their business, and the more readily he de spatched it. It is said that Mr. Dancy, one of his sonsin-law, found fault with him once, between jest and earnest, for this extraordinary condescension; adding, "You are so ready to hear every man, poor as well as rich, that there is no getting any thing under you: whereas, were you otherwise, some for friendship, some for kindred, and some for profit, would gladly have my interest to bring them to you. I know I should do them wrong, if I took any thing from them, because they might as readily prefer their suits to you themselves; but this, though I think it very commendable in you, yet to me, who am your son, I find it not profitable." "You say

well, son," cried the Chancellor, "I am glad you are of a conscience so scrupulous; but there are many other ways that I may do good to yourself, and pleasure your friends: and this be assured of upon my faith, that if the parties will call for justice at my hands, then though it were my father, whom I love so dearly, stood on one side, and the devil, whom I hate so extremely, stood on the other, the cause being good, the devil should have it." As a proof, indeed, that he would not for any consideration deviate from justice in the smallest matter, the following instance is decisive: Another of his sonsin-law, Mr. Heron, having a cause depending, was advised to put it into arbitration; but he in the confidence of his father's favour having rejected the proposal, the Chancellor, upon hearing the cause, made a decree directly against him. No subpoena was issued, no order was granted, except what had previously undergone his inspection; and such was his application to business, that after he had occupied

his office about two years, on a cause being finished and another called for, he was told there was not one cause more depending, which he ordered immediately to be recorded.*

During his chancellorship, his father was one of the oldest Judges in the King's Bench; and, whenever More entered the hall, if that court was sitting, his first step was to kneel down in the sight of every body, and ask the paternal blessing. Upon their occasionally meeting likewise at the readings in Lincoln's Inn, he always offered him the precedence; though, on account of the higher dignity attached to the seals, Sir John as constantly declined accepting it.

Living much at court, a cheerful man, and a man of business, More nevertheless invariably retained a deep impression of religion upon his mind. We are told, in particular, that it was his constant custom, beside his private prayers, to read the Psalms and Litany with his wife and children in a morning; and every night with his whole family to read, in the chapel, the Psalms and the Collects. But that he might now and then retire, even from his family, and shut out the world altogether, he built at some distance from his mansion-house a gallery, a library, and a chapel; where he every day spent some time in study and devotion, employing the whole of his Fridays in such exercises, as he thought might best improve his mind in religious matters. His high offices, which he always executed with a splen

* This gave rise to the following epigram:

When More some time had Chancellor been,

No more suits did remain ;

The same shall never more be seen,

Till More be there again.

-A prophecy, not yet falsified!