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Show J "Senex," the .controversialist Kf the I Baltimore Catholic Mirror, writes, an open letter to Kishop Potter, head of I the Episcopal church in New York. On the subject, of divorco which is now i aitatiiiR the pood people of the east. No controversy of late'- years has ,-i roused more general interest than this ; one on divorce. i In his letter Scnex" shows that the I Catholic Church was the nole custodian of the sanctity, of marriage, and that I the Protestant church or the-different I 3'rotesiant sects wert founded 'upon the 1 divorces of Henry VIII. The writer 1 details the connection of the notorious I Cranmer with the corrupt monarch's amours and divorces. Cranmer he de- j scribes as a Protean character whose f ik- it would take a. thousand years to i t produce. ' trfer." he -writes, "to the modern ; Musos' chief, Hierophant the Aaron of the new dispensation, whose presence j rendered the so-called reformation I feasible in the highest degree. This ? man is Thomas Cranmer, the first ! I'rotest.tnt Archbishop of Canterbury. "The subject of the presect letter was I bom July 2. 14S9. At the age of .14 he was sent by his widowed mother to Cambridge, where he entered Jesus col-I col-I h'ge. He became .a fellow of his col-! I li'se in 1511. when he was 22 years old, I but was obliged soon after to vacate ! his fellowship, having married "Black ! Joan." a relative of the landlady of the I .ilphin Inn. contrary to the statutes i .if the college. Anyhow, after expul-1 expul-1 simi he succeeded in being restored to the olliee of lecturer at Magdalen col- ge. His aiiologists (and they are le- gion) pretend that his wife died in child J birth, but this is mere suggestion and i is llatly contradicted by honest Pro-; Pro-; instant writers. Cranmer, anyhow, -ver fertile in expedients, succeeded in evading the authorities and was re-is re-is stored to his office, where he continued i UNTIL 1523. WHEN HE BECAME A PK1EST. I In the vear 152$. durinsr the plague I called the sweating sickness, he left I Cambridge with two of his pupils. named Cressy, relatives of his through his mother, where he found the king hoarding with his secretary of state, Cardiner, and Fox, the king's lord high sa!moner. These men afterwards became bishops. bish-ops. In Cranmer's interview with these officials he broached his vionvs k iative to the divorce question, declaring de-claring that the sentence passed by the universities as to the validity of Henry's marriage to Catharine would suffice without any appeal to the Pope. The king having heard from his officials offi-cials above named Cranmer's views, ordered him into his presence in these terms: "I will speak to him. Let him be sent for out of hand. This man. I trow, has got the right sow by the ear." He was ordered immediately to prepare pre-pare an essay on the'subject of the divorce. di-vorce. He accepted the hospitajity of Sir Thomas Boleyn, already ennobled by the title of Earl of "Whitshire. by the prostitution of his daughter Anne as concubine of Henry, where Cranmer resided for some time, preparing his thesis on the divorce. All this, as to facts. i. recorded in the Encyclopedia Brittanica (Cranmer). Cranmer was ar.nointfsi archdeacon of Taunton and royal chaplain, to which was added a parochial benetiee. In 1530. an embassy, embas-sy, headed by Cranmer and the new Earl of "Wiltshire (Anne's degenerate father), visited Home. The Pope honored hon-ored Cranmer with the title of Grand Penitentiary, but HIP AIU'GMENTS IN FAVOR OF THE DIVORCE PliOVED TO BE FUTILE. He returned via Germany. Ho re-j mained only a short time in England, v hen he was again deputed to visit Germany, and while there he tarried some time at Nuremberg with Osian-der, Osian-der, and became .enamored of the lat-j tcr's niece. Margaret, going through j the. formula of a marriage early in 15.;2. (Ency. Brit.) Before I proceed j further, reverend sir. let us reflect on Cranmer's new situation. He is a priest of the Church, had taken his' vow of ct-libacy at his ordination. As such I he derived a fat living from hjs archdeaconry arch-deaconry of Taunton, as royal Chaplain and parochial benefice. Added to this, when the weight of testimony (Protestant) (Protest-ant) points to the fact that "Black Bess" was yet living when he made his vow of elibacy by going through the mockery of another marriage with Osi-ander's Osi-ander's niece, what language. I ask. can adequately measure up to the infamy in-famy of this vile bigamist and vow-breaker'.' vow-breaker'.' When we once more reflect I on the association of Cranmer at this period, we find all in good keeping. He lived beneath the roof of a man whose " new title was the price paid for the prostitution of his daughter, and whose wife (Lady Boe'.yn. now Countess Coun-tess of Wiltshire) was iiot only con-f-juiiH of the relations between the king and her daughter, but who affer- wards upbraided the king with his im proper relations with herself before he ascended the throne, the fruit of which was their daughter. Anne. It is no' casv matter to take a duly appreciative diagnosis of Cranmer's part in this filthy and brutal medley. Himself a bigamist, a violator of vows that contravened both the civil and ec-. clesiasiieal laws of the rea!m. intimately intimate-ly associated with and residing beneath ihf roof of a fa mil v fattening on the lust of a brute-,king with himself, while the head of that family, had journeyed with him on an embassy to Home to -' soeli to I . DISSOLVE AN HONEST MARRIAGE fur the purpose eif making the daughter daugh-ter of. the house "an honest woman!" The hlstorv of England never before bore testimony to. "Horresco rcferens!" an aggregation of crime and criminals analogous to this. The Christian minister, min-ister, tho imiierson ition of the worst -rim in the calerdar mi?:eJ up. for the purpose of aiding and abetting therein in a idot that for infamy and nvfariousness history fails to record its eu'ial. And vet. vcurself. Reverend Sir, and; those who think with you. regard this trio or malefactors as the apostles of the ij-w dispensation authorized by God t dispense a pure gospel to the Christian Chris-tian world. Coliier informs us that wh-n ouestioned by Henry, whether his bed chamber would stand the test of the six oracles, Cranmer replied that he had s?nt his wife back to (Germany. Aproius of this wife. He is. said to have brought her to England in a large chest, which, being' landed at Grave-s Grave-s lei. and sM on the wrong end. the pom woman saved her life by crying" out. This is attested to by Parsons, who learned it from Cranmer's daughter-in-law, then living. It is a.!-o admitted by Mason in his defense of English contstf- cra nuns. But let us proceed with Cranmer's ' carrying out of the divorce business. Rome's delay in deferring to Henry's appeal ami the absolute necessity for sp'-edy action owing to Anne'.s delicate condition, compelled Henry to hasten the nuptials. Just here it is necessary to observe dates with precision. Dr. Rowland Lee, one of the royal chap lains, was summoned to perform the nuptial ceremony. Cranmer was present pres-ent as a witness to the contract. On the 11th of the following March Cranmer Cran-mer writes a letter to Henry from pure, motives of conscience," urging him to allow him to take immediate ."tens towards to-wards pronouncing the divorce all by preconcerted schemes. In this fetter he solicits the king to furnish him with the necessary jurisdic tion to decide the quemion between the queen and him-vlf him-vlf in court. Hence., on the following-vlay following-vlay 20, Crancner declared the marriage bet ween the royal couple null and void, leaving the king free to approach second sec-ond nuptials. This 'authorization took place many months i-f ter Cranmer, then present, signed as ONE OF THE WITNESSES OF THE MARRIAGE to Anne. The letter above referred to i was written "from motives of con- science" his exact words; whereas his i signature to the marriage was recorded j many months before, i Who tern. adequately sound the true j. depth of t hat r expression adopted by I C ranmer "fr.om motives of conscience?" Making use of the most sacred expres-j expres-j sion, "motives of conscience," this ! Prince of hypocrites admonishes the ; royal brute; that the time has come , when,. a his spiritual adviser, it behooves be-hooves him -to summon the king and ; queen to-'anrjul-; their marriage, and thereby leave the king free to consult ! for the weal of his kingdom by selecting a new wife. The public records testify ; that this marriage, or rather sham, had j taken place -many months before, of which this same archhypocrite had I signed his name as witness! I Reverend sir., the perpetrator of this scandalous moral crime, appealing: as he does to his "conscience" for the -in-! dication of this act of unqualified ty- pocrisy and genuine duplicity, is the j high priest of themew evangel expressly express-ly deputed by his immaculate master, the modern Mcses, to furnish of his spiritual abundance the wherewithal to I enable the chosen people of Britain to escape the Egyptian bondage of Rome, and arrive at length in the promised land of a pure gospel to which Cran-I Cran-I mer's "Book of Common Prayer," filched filch-ed by him, like everything else, from the MissaG of the Uatholic church, has been conducting, them for the past twelve generations. I shall now,' reverend sir, beg leave to introduce our Protean acrobat in one of his sleight-of-hand tricks of lofty tumbling. In the month of May, 1536. Henry and Anne were present at a tilting match at Greenwich. During the proceedings, the King observed special marks of favor conferred on one of the young bloods of the regal party by Anne, who for three months held undisputed claim to the title of Queen the broken-hearted Catherine having died -within that period, without having once been al lowed to see her child, the Princess Mary. And as ,if to testify her contempt con-tempt for Catherine. Anne was dressed the whole day of the former's funeral in white. Henry, on observing Anne's behavior at' Greenwich, immediately left for Westminster, and gave orders that the Queen follow him next day. In the meantime, however, he changed his mind, and ordered her to the tower. Steps were immediately inaugurated for her trial and that. of five of her accomplices ac-complices in "treason" to the person of the King. Four were executed, while Anne and her brother, Lord Rochford, were charged with incest and convicted convict-ed by twenty-three peers of the realm. ANNE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH on May 15. However, it must be remembered re-membered that she had "a friend at court" in the person of Archbishop Cranmer, who for years had been the recipient of countless favors from her family. He had been domesticated in her father's house while concocting the plans of Henry's divorce from Catherine. Cather-ine. He w as one of the embassy sent to Rome with Lord Wiltshire, Anne's father. It- was through this family, especially through Anne's powerful influence in-fluence with the King, he attained the highest ecclesiastical position in Eng- Who. reverend sir .would not suggest that just here that brother and sister, Anne and Rochford, should never suffer the extreme penalty, of the law whilst the beneficiary of their house still enjoyed en-joyed the King's favor? But. alas for human expectations: Cranmer's treachery treach-ery never before evinced itself in its truest colors. There was not a word of expostulation from his lips. On the contrary, the formality of an order to open his court was arranged, and Anne, who had already received sentence of death on the 15th, .was cited before it, together with Henry." They obeyed the citation by proxy. The purport of the citation having declared that their marriage was unlawful, they were, therefore, living in adultery, and, "for the salvation of their souls," they were required to show cause why they should not be separated.. This citation took effect on May- 17, , two days after the sentence of death had been passed on her. THIS BLASPHEMOUS WRETCH, CRANMER. delivered, with his wonted hypocrisy, the sentence of the court by pronouncing pronounc-ing "in the name of Christ, and for the honor, of God, that the marriage of Henry and Anne was, and always had been, null and void." This hypocritical j caitiff had already pronounced Henry and Catherine's marriage "null and void," thereby declaring the living issue of that marriage illegitimate, for the purpose of opening the way for the marriage of Anne, at which he was a formal signing- witness. ; Now the same caitiff, Cranmer, in open court pronounces Anne's marriage, i w hich he had himself compassed, "null and void," thereby involving the illegit- i imacy of Elizabeth. Reverend sir, have the kindness to say whether it was the spirit of God or the evil spirit that controlled con-trolled or rather inspired Cranmer to j acquiesce in the death sentence of Anne ! on May 15. as the wife of Henry, for treason committed against his conjugal rights (for adultery in this ease involved in-volved treason), and on the 17th, two j days later, he pronounced the sentence i iVi.-ji Oi hurl never been his wife: while two days later, the 19th of May, she is beheaded because she has been the unfaithful un-faithful wife of Henry? Well did the Psaitist say.' "Trtiquitas mentita est sibit." Iniquity hath lied to itself. But this was only one of the playful eccentricities eccen-tricities of our hero. The next exploit of our St. Thomas, first Protestant apostle of England, in the line of divorce was when he pronounced pro-nounced his master's marriage with the German princess, Anne of Cleves. And this feat did not. in the slightest degree, militate against his already well-achieved well-achieved reputation for brazen-faced duplicity. Antecedent to the marriage of the royal brute to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, which was highly-pleasing highly-pleasing to Cranmer and Cromwell, she being a professed Protestant, Cranmer was commissioned to examine carefully whether any canonical impediments existed ex-isted on Anne's part. It was a fact that .in engagement' had existed between be-tween her and the son of the Duke of Lorraine. The investigation elicited the fact that the engagement had been confined to the parents of both while they were yet infants, which engage-j engage-j ment they themselves broke w hen they l attained the proper age. with the consent con-sent of their parents. Cranmer having thoroughly sifted the case in all its bearing reported to his master that not even a shadow of impediment existed; exist-ed; hence Henry could legitimately APPROACH AUl'ilALS i'Uli THE ' FOURTH TIME. Five months had not elapsed before Henry began to tire of his Dutch wife (No. 4).. and the vile panderer to his brntal appetite : was' on hand to invite the world once more to witness his next acrobatic feat. Cranmer once more reopened hi. ecclesiastical court, and lo! he very soon discovered that the exhaustive ex-haustive investigation he had previously previous-ly made should have been concluded in accordance with his master's views of five months' later date. Henry lost all patience with Anne; hence the former decision of the non-existence of any impediment im-pediment must be recalled, and a verdict ver-dict declarative of the invalidity of the recent marriage; and with a disgusting sycophancy pronouncing that every argument ar-gument offered and approved in favor ; of the absence of any -impediment whatsoever was false and baseless. The Protestant historian Collier, with many-other many-other apologists of Cranmer, is obliged to condemn him for his utter abandonment abandon-ment of right and selfrespect to eaten to the vile passion of.hiJ royal libertine liber-tine master. - . ,. :. - . -( Let us, without commenting further on this montrous act of duplicity on the part of our "artful dodger," pass on to another of his acts of patent hypocrisy. Fox, in his "Book of Martyrs," declares Cranmer to have been a Lutheran in principle, A. D. 1529. In the embassy to Rome he accepted from the Pope the office of penitentiary; penitentia-ry; afterwards, on the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was nominated nom-inated and selected successor to the latter. lat-ter. For nearly a thousand years each Archbishop from Augustine down swore spiritual allegiance to the Popes. A difficulty here arose. It was suggested that a substitute be sent to Rome to impersonate Cranmer, to take the oath by proxy. But a still greater difficulty presented itself on the arrival of the bull for his consecration. There was no way of dodging the issue here. But Cranmer's astuteness seemed to be equal to the emergency. Taking with apart three or four witnesses, he assured as-sured them that he had no intention of being bound by the oath of ALLEGIANCE TO THE POPE. which could not be eliminated from the ceremony. With this mental reservation reserva-tion he swore "to be faithful and obedient ob-edient to the Holv Apostolic: Roman Church, to Pope Clement VIII. and to his successors. Cranmer had, when he took that oath to be true and faithful faith-ful to the Pone, declared in heart and intention, his deliberate purpose to reject re-ject the Popes authority; in a word, he solemnly swore to do what he had already determined not to do. How can such a condition of things be designated as other than" an act of deliberate, wilful perjury? And this act alone left unatoned for constitutes Cranmer a base and deliberate perjurer, per-jurer, from which imputation (because he was a polished scholar and a profound pro-found student of the Scripture--?) nor his studied evasion nor his attempt at mental reservation can excuse him or diminish his guilt; nay, it but added to his gross culpability. Nor is this my sentiment only: it is the deliberate conclusion of Collier, one of .the historians (Protestant) of the reformation, who thus expresses himself on the above sacrilegious perjury per-jury (Collier, vol. 2, See. 22.): "If is true he made an act of protestation in opposition to the tenor of his .consecration .conse-cration oath; but this reservation, so far from' diminishing, rather augument-cd augument-cd his guilt. Whenever . Ceillier can. shield' Cranmer he' is, ready to-do so; but in! this instance be despairs altogether al-together of bein able to utter'" aVword in his' behalf; Ttay, brands him;as' deliberate, de-liberate, double-distilled perjurer! Let us, before proceeding to others of tha ' many edifying attributes of the' prii mate, call attention to his daily life I during the fourteen yeare of his occu' I pation of the se of Canterbury. On the day of his consecration he said ! Mass. This was, according to his ! principles, an act of idolatry, for Fox says he was a Lutheran since' 1520. He constantly officiated in his cathedral during that period both in saying Mass (Henry- demanded a belief in the veal j presence), which was in every instance to him an act of idolatry. He ordained I Priests and consecrated Bishops re-' re-' peatedly. during, this long period, exacting ex-acting from each one of them the observation ob-servation of that continency which he never himself observed. In a word, if the sacred Scripture refers to Satan as "a liar from, the beginning, what language caa adequately do justice to I this. . . '; .-. BIGAMIST, VOW BREAKER AND PERJURER. from the beginning of his career at Cambridge to his well-merited execution, execu-tion, implying base perfidy to his dead master Henry, and treason to his children, chil-dren, Mary and Elizabeth, whose interests in-terests he had, in conformity with- Henrys will, sworn to maintain, but which he had basely betrayed by leading lead-ing a conspiracy to deprive them of their crown, substituting Lady Jane Grey for Henrys daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Let the annals of the world be ransacked ran-sacked closely and narrowly to find the equal of Cranmer for every vice that can disgrace human nature, and absolute abso-lute failure awaits the investigation. But his worst vices yet remain to be discussed, and vet millions of well-dis-poeed but grossly-tleceived Protestants believe that this monster representative representa-tive of every-vice this wolf in sheep's clothing was the impersonation of every. Christian virtue. The historic conspiracy against the truth must be I unfolded, and from Protestant testi- mony alone. The world shall judge of i the. Apostles, confessors and martyrs j of the glorious reformation, as they I stand in the-true light of history. |