years, one hundred and sixty thousand pounds had thus been sent from England to Rome, from this one source of papal revenue alone,—­equal to three million pounds at the present time, or fifteen millions of dollars, from a country of only three millions of people.  It was the passage of that act which induced Sir Thomas More (a devoted Catholic, but a just and able and incorruptible judge) to resign the seals which he had so long and so honorably held,—­the most prominent man in England after Cromwell and Cranmer; and it was the execution of this lofty character, because he held out against the imperious demands of Henry, which is the greatest stain upon this monarch’s reign.  Parliament also called the clergy to account for excessive acts of despotism, and subjected them to the penalty of a premunire (the offence of bringing a foreign authority into England), from which they were freed only by enormous fines.

Thus it would seem that many abuses were removed by Cromwell and the Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII. which may almost be considered as reforms of the Church itself.  The authority of the Church was not attacked, still less its doctrines, but only abuses and privileges the restraint of which was of public benefit, and which tended to reduce the power of the clergy.  It was this reduction of clerical usurpations and privileges which is the main feature in the legislation of Henry VIII., so far as it pertained to the Church.  It was wresting away the power which the clergy had enjoyed from the days of Alfred and Ina,—­a reform which Henry II. and Edward I., and other sovereigns, had failed to effect.  This was the great work of Cromwell, and in it he had the support of his royal master, since it was a transfer of power from the clergy to the throne; and Henry VIII. was hated and anathematized by Rome as Henry IV. of Germany was, without ceasing to be a Catholic.  He even retained the title of Defender of the Faith, which had been conferred upon him by the Pope for his opposition to the theological doctrines of Luther, which he never accepted, and which he always detested.

Cromwell did not long survive the great services he rendered to his king and the nation.  In the height of his power he made a fatal mistake.  He deceived the King in regard to Anne of Cleves, whose marriage he favored from motives of expediency and a manifest desire to promote the Protestant cause.  He palmed upon the King a woman who could not speak a word of English,—­a woman without graces or accomplishments, who was absolutely hateful to him.  Henry’s disappointment was bitter, and his vengeance was unrelenting.  The enemies of Cromwell soon took advantage of this mistake.  The great Duke of Norfolk, head of the Catholic party, accused him at the council-board of high treason.  Two years before, such a charge would have received no attention; but Henry now hated him, and was resolved to punish him for the wreck of his domestic happiness.