by burning or otherwise, as shall please the King's Majesty.'
This was the last measure of consequence in the session. Three days after, it closed. On the 24th the King came down to Westminster in person, to thank the Parliament for the subsidy. The Speaker of the House of Commons congratulated the country on their sovereign. The chancellor replied, in his Majesty's name, that his only study was for the welfare of his subjects; his only ambition was to govern them by the rule of the Divine law, and the Divine love, to the salvation of their souls and bodies. The bills which had been passed were then presented for the royal assent; and the chancellor, after briefly exhorting the members of both Houses to show the same diligence in securing the due execution of these measures as they had displayed in enacting them, declared the Parliament dissolved.[1]
The curtain now rises on the closing Act of the
- ↑ Lords Journals, 32 Henry VIII. The clerk of the Parliament has attached a note to the summary of the session declaring that throughout its progress the peers had voted unanimously. From which it has been concluded, among other things, that Cranmer voted for Cromwell's execution. The Archbishop was present in the House on the day on which the bill for the attainder was read the last time. There is no evidence, however, that he remained till the question was put; and as he dared to speak for him on his arrest, he is entitled to the benefit of any uncertainty which may exist. It is easy to understand how he, and the few other peers who were Cromwell's friends, may have abstained from a useless opposition in the face of an overwhelming majority. We need not exaggerate their timidity, or reproach them with an active consent of which no hint is to be found in any contemporary letter, narrative, or document.
