the third day of November, on which day he came by water to his palace of Bridewell, and there he and his nobles put on their robes of Parliament, and so came to the Black Friar Church, where a mass of the Holy Ghost was solemnly sung by the King's chaplain; and after the mass, the King, with all his Lords and Commons which were summoned to appear on that day, came into the Parliament. The King sate on his throne or seat royal, and Sir Thomas More, his chancellor, standing on the right hand of the King, made an eloquent oration, setting forth the causes why at that time the King so had summoned them.'[1]
'Like as a good shepherd,' More said, 'which not only keepeth and attendeth well his sheep, but also foreseeth and provideth for all things which either may be hurtful or noysome to his flock; so the King, which is the shepherd, ruler, and governor of his realm, vigilantly foreseeing things to come, considers how that divers laws, before this time made, are now, by long continuance of time and mutation of things, become very insufficient and imperfect; and also, by the frail condition of man, divers new enormities are sprung amongst the people, for the which no law is yet made to reform the same. For this cause the King at this time has summoned his high Court of Parliament; and I liken the King to a shepherd or herdsman, because if a prince be compared to his riches, he is but a rich man; if a prince be compared to his honour, he is but an honourable man; but compare him to
- ↑ Hall, p. 764.
