The cairn

Chapter 208: Sir Thomas More.

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About This Book

A compact miscellany of short essays, anecdotes, prayers, poems, and biographical sketches that collects reflections on grief, maternal love, benevolence, virtue, taste, and historical episodes. The pieces alternate personal memories, moral aphorisms, humorous and touching anecdotes, and brief portraits of public figures, often framed as letters, epitaphs, or short narratives. Recurring themes include the effects of sorrow and joy, domestic affection, charity, the vicissitudes of fortune, and the consolations of faith and art. The tone moves between intimate recollection and light moralizing, presenting varied, self-contained vignettes meant to instruct, console, and amuse.

Sir Thomas More.

Quod mihi dixisti,

De corpore Christi,

Crede quod edas, et edis;

Sic tibi rescribo

De tuo Palfrido,

Crede quod habeas, ut habes.

This was a witty satire on the zeal of Sir Thomas for the dogma of the Romish church, Transubstantiation.

It was by Sir Thomas More that Hans Holbein was introduced to King Henry VIII. He resided during three years at his patron’s house at Chelsea. Holbein was born at Augsburgh in 1495 or 8. His father was a citizen of that place, and an esteemed painter. At Basil in Switzerland he became known to Erasmus, who sent him with his introduction to England, to Sir Thomas More.