Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

was to advertise the writings of Luther to the
people of England. The car of Reformation was
advancing; the priests had taken counsel to stop it,
but the only effect of their interference was to
make it move onwards at an accelerated speed.
At this stage of the controversy an altogether
unexpected champion stepped into the arena to do
battle with Luther. This was no less a personage
than the King of England. The zeal which animated
Henry for the Roman traditions, and the fury wit]h
which he was transported against the man who was
uprooting them, may be judged of from the letter
he addressed to Louis of Bavaria. "That this fire,"
said he, "which has been kindled by Luther, and
fanned by the arts of the devil, should have raged
for so long a time, and be still gathering strength,
has been the subject to me of greater grief than
tongue or pen can express…. For what could have
happened more calamitous to Germany than that
she should have given birth to a man who has
dared to interpret the Divine law, the statutes of the
Fathers, and those decrees which have received the
consent of so many ages, in a manner totally at
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