Part 18 (2/2)

One day the two bent their steps to the place where Henry VII's younger children were living, under the care of tutors and ladies Princess Margaret, the eldest, afterwards queen of Scotland, stood soleed nine, who received therand manner he could always put on when he chose Princess Mary, at that ti with her dog, and paid no heed to the visitors, whoht old and dull Erasmus was astonished to notice More present prince Henry with a roll on which so, he could not tell what, ritten The prince took it with a suessed directly that a si was expected froe sent hi, to say how much he hoped to receive soreat scholar The Dutchhness would value any work from his poor pen, he would certainly have prepared hirace for three days, by which time he would have co, they promised to write to each other, and many letters passed between theland Previous to his departure, they met once more in lord Mountjoy's house, and there their walk and talks were resuth, and full of the praises of the king, his country, and his children It does not sound a what in these days we should call 'Erasraph,' did not trouble himself to read much of it

[Illustration: Erasmus was astonished to notice More present Prince Henry with a roll]

For three years More held his readershi+p; then he seems to have had a wish to becoave himself to devotion and prayer in the Charterhouse of London, religiously living there, without vow, about four years'

Religious More remained all his life, but at the end of the four years he felt that his place was in the world rather than in a ely helped by a visit he paid to hters 'Albeit,' says Roper, 'his ht her the fairest and best favoured, yet when he considered that it would be both great grief and soer sister preferred before her in e, he then, of a certain pity, framed his fancy toward her and ood-natured and obliging, and one hopes that the bride never guessed the reason why he had asked her to be his wife The young couple settled down in Bucklersbury in the City, and More continued his studies at Lincoln's Inn and his attendance at Westminster, for he had been elected a member of Parliament almost as soon as he left the Charterhouse and before his iven proof that he did not intend 'to pin his conscience to another rant of hter Chiefly owing to More, the grant was refused, and 'the king,' according to Roper, 'conceiving great indignation towards hied it And for as race (the king) devised a causeless quarrel against his father (the elder More), keeping him in the Tower till he had made him pay a hundred pounds fine'

No doubt it was very hard for the More family to raise the money, equal to about 1,200 l in our day, and Thorily spurned various atteht of leaving England and trying his fortune in other lands'

In fact, he did pay a short visit both to the Low Countries and to Paris, but he could not make up his mind to settle in either, and decided that he could do better for his wife and s his practice at the Bar The next year Henry VII died, and More hoped that a new era was beginning

The household in Bucklersbury was as happy as any that could have been found in London Its irl, cleverer atbooks or playing on the viol But More, who charmed everybody, easily charmed his wife, and to please hiave her, and worked hard at herhiaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, and John, and in a few ain This tihter of her own--a lady 'neither young nor handsome,' as he tells Erasmus--but an excellent housekeeper, and the best of mothers to his children

More soon became known not only as an honest enerous one ould often refuse to take pay the cause of a poor man or aHis practice at the Bar increased, and he was400 l a year, which would now be reckoned about 5,000 l He needed it all, for besides his own four children and his stepdaughter he had adopted another girl This girl, Margaret Gigs, afterwards married a learned man, Dr Clements, who lived in More's house, and probably shared with John Harris the duties of secretary and of tutor in Greek and Latin to the children We et either the 'fool,' Henry Patenson, or sir Thomas's special friend and confidant, Williahter, Margaret, and the man to whom his heart opened ood deal offor the children, as well as to bestow a tenth part of his incoh life His charity did not consist in giving to everyone that asked, thereby doing e to ladly spend as needed to set the fa If they proved to be ill, dah her words were harsh, would bid one of the girls take the food or possets, and often the poor pensioners would be invited to the house, to share the fauests would be , such as Colet, afterwards dean of St Paul's, and founder of St Paul's School, nowago; and of course Erasmus, if he happened to be in London Poor dame Alicewith merry jests in Latin, flavoured sometimes with a little Greek, and even the children could join in the laughter, she alone was ignorant of the matter, and felt as a deafto music that he cannot hear She must have welcomed the moment when they left the table, and she could show off the skill she had gained since her e on four musical instruments, on which, to please her husband, she practised daily--for nopeople to do as he wished Quitere up her hair toin her body to reat pain'; while she on her part was frequently vexed that he 'refused to go forith the best,' and had no wish 'greatly to get upward in the world'

Yet, in spite of the rew daily wider The king, Henry VIII, who at this time was at his best, had always kept an eye on him, and soon bade Wolsey seek him out

Now More and Wolsey were so different in their ways and in their views that they could never have become real friends, for while Wolsey was ambitious, More was always content hat he had, and never desired to thrust himself into notice At first he resisted the cardinal's advances; but rudeness was i Wolsey's persistence, he had to put aside his own feelings and appear both at the cardinal's house and at court Indeed, such good company did Henry find him that, as quick to take fancies as he was to tire of the alone, so sir Thoh no doubt with a twinkle in his eye, resisting all the king's efforts to reeary of him, and his place was filled by sohed, and what funny stories he told about it all, when he had gained his object, at his own table

[Illustration: Sir Thoht with theht honours to sir Thomas Several times he was sent abroad on missions which needed an honest h Sometimes he was the envoy of the citizens of London, so hinificence known to history as 'The Field of the Cloth of Gold'--the land, and the e the fearful ti sickness, to which people would fall victi with their children, or even lying asleep Death followed almost at once, and 'if the half in every town escaped it was thought great favour' It spared the house in Bishopsgate in which More had for so, and where he stayed till, four years later, he moved to a country place at Chelsea

Few nities than sir Tho Within eight years he was Under-Treasurer, or, as we should say, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Speaker of the House of Commons, and finally Lord Chancellor Even dame Alice must have been satisfied; but her content only lasted three years, as by that time events had occurred which n the Great Seal always entrusted to the lord chancellor, or else 'to tie his conscience to another 's

In 1531 Henry had decided to divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon, and to marry in her stead the beautiful Anne Boleyn His desire met with violent opposition fro as sir Thomas More The pope, of course, entirely refused his consent to any such violation of the law, and Henry, whom resistance only made ether from Rome, and declare that he, and not the pope, was the head of the English church This meant that he could do as he pleased andthe assent of Parliay Once these were obtained, there would be nothing to hinder hi his second In fact, he would be his own pope

For a year the battle raged fiercely, and More watched anxiously for the issue He withdrew hi, and kept as th Henry was victorious

The greater part of the clergy cast off their allegiance to the pope and took the oath required by the king Sir Thonation as lord chancellor in the hands of his sovereign

The loss of his office left More a poor man, and to support the whole family in Chelsea he had only an incoret, he felt he could no longer lead the easy, happy life that had been so pleasant to hiirls of the house, took away their wives and sought employment elsewhere Only the Ropers reh to be free of his duties, and to have time to read books and to prepare hih at present the king had only fair words for hie sum as a proof of the esteem in which they held hiift, but he refused to accept it, or to allow his family to do so; instead, he sold his plate and bade dame Alice be careful of her household expenses