| 1 | <html>
|
|---|
| 2 |
|
|---|
| 3 | <head>
|
|---|
| 4 | <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
|
|---|
| 5 | <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
|
|---|
| 6 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
|
|---|
| 7 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
|
|---|
| 8 | <title>Primary Sources: Henry VIII's speech before Parliament, 1545</title>
|
|---|
| 9 | <style fprolloverstyle>A:hover {color: #0000FF; font-weight: bold}
|
|---|
| 10 | </style>
|
|---|
| 11 | </head>
|
|---|
| 12 |
|
|---|
| 13 | <body link="#0000FF" vlink="#0000FF" alink="#0000FF">
|
|---|
| 14 |
|
|---|
| 15 | <div align="center">
|
|---|
| 16 | <center>
|
|---|
| 17 | <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4" width="94%">
|
|---|
| 18 | <tr>
|
|---|
| 19 | <td valign="bottom" colspan="3">
|
|---|
| 20 | <p align="center"> <br>
|
|---|
| 21 | <p align="center">
|
|---|
| 22 | <img border="0" src="h8speech.gif" width="575" height="87"><p align="center"> </td>
|
|---|
| 23 | </tr>
|
|---|
| 24 | <tr>
|
|---|
| 25 | <td></td>
|
|---|
| 26 | <td></td>
|
|---|
| 27 | <td></td>
|
|---|
| 28 | </tr>
|
|---|
| 29 | <tr>
|
|---|
| 30 | <td valign="top" width="48%" bgcolor="#FFFFE8"><font size=-1>This speech,
|
|---|
| 31 | given on 24 December 1545, was recorded by a member of Parliament.</font><p><font size=-1>
|
|---|
| 32 | These words bring Henry VIII's personality to life - at times belligerent,
|
|---|
| 33 | then coaxing, mixing flattery and threats. Unlike his descendants,
|
|---|
| 34 | Henry had few problems with parliament; his domination of its members was
|
|---|
| 35 | legendary.</font><p> </td>
|
|---|
| 36 | <td width="4%"></td>
|
|---|
| 37 | <td valign="top" width="48%">
|
|---|
| 38 |
|
|---|
| 39 | On 24 December the king's majesty came into the parliament
|
|---|
| 40 | house, to give his royal assent to such acts as had been passed there,
|
|---|
| 41 | where the speaker made to him an eloquent oration, to which it has always
|
|---|
| 42 | been the custom for the lord chancellor to answer, but at this time it
|
|---|
| 43 | was the king's pleasure that it should be otherwise, for the king himself
|
|---|
| 44 | answered, as follows word for word, as near as I was able to report it.
|
|---|
| 45 | <p>'Although my Chancellor for the time being has been used, before
|
|---|
| 46 | this time, very eloquently and substantially to answer such orations as
|
|---|
| 47 | have been set forth in this high court of parliament, yet he is not so
|
|---|
| 48 | able to open and set forth my mind and meaning and the secrets of my heart
|
|---|
| 49 | in so plain and ample manner as I myself can. Wherefore, taking it
|
|---|
| 50 | upon myself to answer your eloquent oration, master speaker, I say that
|
|---|
| 51 | where you, in the name of our well beloved commons, have both praised and
|
|---|
| 52 | extolled me for the notable qualities which you have conceived to be in
|
|---|
| 53 | me, I most heartily thank you all that you have reminded me of my duty,
|
|---|
| 54 | which is to endeavor myself to obtain and get such excellent qualities
|
|---|
| 55 | and necessary virtues as a prince or governor should or ought to have,
|
|---|
| 56 | of which gifts I recognize myself both bare and barren. But for such
|
|---|
| 57 | small qualities as God has endowed me with I render to his goodness my
|
|---|
| 58 | most humble thanks, intending with all my wit and diligence to get and
|
|---|
| 59 | acquire for myself such notable virtues and princely qualities as you have
|
|---|
| 60 | alleged to be incorporated in my person. Having first remembered
|
|---|
| 61 | these thanks for your loving admonition and good counsel, I next thank
|
|---|
| 62 | you again because, considering our great charges (not for our pleasure
|
|---|
| 63 | but for your defense, not for our gain but to our great cost) which we
|
|---|
| 64 | have lately sustained, as well in defense against our and your enemies
|
|---|
| 65 | as for the conquest of that fortress which was to this realm most displeasant
|
|---|
| 66 | and noisome, and shall be by God's grace hereafter most profitable and
|
|---|
| 67 | pleasant to our nation, you have freely of your own decision granted to
|
|---|
| 68 | us a certain subsidy, specified here in an act, which truly we take in
|
|---|
| 69 | good part, regarding more your kindness than the profit thereof, as he
|
|---|
| 70 | that sets more by your loving hearts than by your substance. Besides
|
|---|
| 71 | this hearty kindness I cannot a little rejoice when I consider the perfect
|
|---|
| 72 | trust and sure confidence which you have put in me, as men having undoubted
|
|---|
| 73 | hope and unfeigned belief in my good deeds and just proceedings for you,
|
|---|
| 74 | since without my desire or request you have committed to my order and disposition
|
|---|
| 75 | all chantries, colleges, hospitals and other places specified in a certain
|
|---|
| 76 | act, firmly trusting that I will order them to the glory of God and the
|
|---|
| 77 | profit of the commonwealth. Surely if, contrary to your expectation,
|
|---|
| 78 | I should suffer the ministries of the church to decay, or learning (which
|
|---|
| 79 | is so great a jewel) to be diminished, a poor and miserable people to be
|
|---|
| 80 | unrelieved, you might say that I, being put in so special a trust as I
|
|---|
| 81 | am in this case, were no trusty friend to you, nor a charitable man to
|
|---|
| 82 | my fellow Christians, nor a lover of the public wealth, nor yet one who
|
|---|
| 83 | feared God, to whom account must be rendered of all our doings. Doubt
|
|---|
| 84 | not, I pray you, that you expectations will be fulfilled more Godly or
|
|---|
| 85 | goodly than you will wish or desire, as you will plainly see afterwards. </p>
|
|---|
| 86 |
|
|---|
| 87 | <p>'Now, since I find such kindness on your part towards me, I cannot choose
|
|---|
| 88 | but to love and favor you, affirming that no prince in the world more favors
|
|---|
| 89 | his subjects than I do you, and no subjects or commons more love and obey
|
|---|
| 90 | their sovereign lord than I see you do me, for whose defense my treasure
|
|---|
| 91 | shall not be hidden, nor if necessity requires it will my person be not
|
|---|
| 92 | risked. But although I with you and you with me are in this perfect
|
|---|
| 93 | love and concord, this friendly amity cannot continue unless both you,
|
|---|
| 94 | my lords temporal, and you, my lords spiritual, and you, my loving subjects,
|
|---|
| 95 | study and take pains to amend one thing which is surely amiss and far out
|
|---|
| 96 | of order, which I most heartily require you to do, which is that charity
|
|---|
| 97 | and concord is not amongst you, but discord and dissension bears rule in
|
|---|
| 98 | every place. St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in the 12th chapter:
|
|---|
| 99 | 'Charity is gentle, Charity is not envious, Charity is not proud,' and
|
|---|
| 100 | so on in that chapter. Behold then what love and charity is amongst
|
|---|
| 101 | you when one calls another heretic and anabaptist and he calls him back
|
|---|
| 102 | papist, hypocrite, and pharisee. Are these tokens of charity amongst
|
|---|
| 103 | you? No, no, I assure you that this lack of charity amongst yourselves
|
|---|
| 104 | will be the hindrance and assuaging of the fervent love between us, as
|
|---|
| 105 | I said before, unless this is healed and clearly made whole. I must
|
|---|
| 106 | judge the fault and occasion of this discord to be partly the negligence
|
|---|
| 107 | of you, the fathers and preachers of the spirituality. For if I know
|
|---|
| 108 | a man who lives in adultery I must judge him to be a lecherous and carnal
|
|---|
| 109 | person; if I see a man boast and brag about himself I cannot but deem him
|
|---|
| 110 | a proud man. I see and hear daily that you of the clergy preach against
|
|---|
| 111 | each other without charity or discretion. Some are too stiff in their
|
|---|
| 112 | old 'Mumpsimus', others are are too busy and curious in their new 'Sumpsimus'.
|
|---|
| 113 | Thus almost all men are in variety and discord, and few or none truly and
|
|---|
| 114 | sincerely preach the word of God as they ought to do. Shall I now
|
|---|
| 115 | judge you to be charitable persons who do this? No, no, I cannot
|
|---|
| 116 | do so. Alas, how can the poor souls live in concord when you preachers
|
|---|
| 117 | sow amongst them in your sermons debate and discord? They look to
|
|---|
| 118 | you for light and you bring them darkness. Amend these crimes, I
|
|---|
| 119 | exhort you, and set forth God's word truly, both by true preaching and
|
|---|
| 120 | giving a good example, or else, I, whom God has appointed his vicar and
|
|---|
| 121 | high minister here, will see these divisions extinct, and these enormities
|
|---|
| 122 | corrected, according to my true duty, or else I am an unprofitable servant
|
|---|
| 123 | and an untrue officer'. ....
|
|---|
| 124 | <p align="center"> <p align="center"><a href="primary.html">
|
|---|
| 125 | <font size="2">to Primary Sources</font></a></td>
|
|---|
| 126 | </tr>
|
|---|
| 127 | </table>
|
|---|
| 128 | </center>
|
|---|
| 129 | </div>
|
|---|
| 130 |
|
|---|
| 131 | </body>
|
|---|
| 132 |
|
|---|
| 133 | </html><!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="http://hostingprod.com/js_source/geov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082603" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
|
|---|
| 134 | <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001524&t=1108082603" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1>
|
|---|
