not wanton, and it was not an act of tyranny. It was an inevitable and painful incident of an infinitely blessed revolution.
The received accounts of his trial are confirmed with slight additions by a paper of news from England which was sent to the Imperial Court.
More was charged with having deprived the King of the title of "Supreme Head of the Church," which had been granted to him by the last Parliament. He replied that, when questioned by the King's Secretary what he thought of the statute, he had answered that, being a dead man to the world, he cared nothing for such things, and he could not be condemned for silence. The King's Attorney said that all good subjects were bound to answer without dissimulation or reserve, and silence was the same as speech. Silence, More objected, was generally taken to mean consent. Whatever his thoughts might be, he had never uttered them.
He was charged with having exchanged letters with the Bishop of Rochester in the Tower on the replies which they were to give on their examination. Each had said that the statute was a sword with two edges, one of which slew the body, the other the soul. As they had used the same words it was clear that they were confederated.
More replied that he had answered as his conscience dictated, and had advised the Bishop to do the same. He did not believe that he had ever said or done anything maliciously against the statute.
The jury consulted only for a quarter of an hour and returned a verdict of "guilty." Sentence passed as a matter of course, and then More spoke out. As he was condemned, he said he would now declare his opinion. He had studied the question for seven
