ch used to be
called) were brought thither, and established in their new and most
commodious quarters. And amongst the first of these so-called
Canons or Senior Fellows of the Foundation was Master John Clarke,
a Master of Arts at Cambridge, who was also a student of divinity,
and qualifying for the priesthood. Wolsey had made a selection of
eight Cambridge students, of good repute for both learning and good
conduct, and had brought them to Oxford to number amongst his
senior fellows or canons; and so it had come about that Clarke and
several intimate associates of his had been translated from
Cambridge to Oxford, and were receiving the allowance and benefits
which accrued to all who were elected to the fellowships of
Cardinal College.

But though Wolsey had made all due inquiries as to the scholarship
and purity of life and conduct of those graduates selected for the
honour done them, he had shown himself somewhat careless perhaps in
the matter of their orthodoxy, or else he had taken it too much for
granted. For so it was that of the eight Cambridge men thus removed
to Oxford, six were distinctly "tainted" by the new opinions so
fast gaining ground in the country, and though still deeply
attached to the Holy Catholic Church, were beginning to revolt
against many of the abuses of the Papacy which had grown up within
that church, and were doing much to weaken her authority and bring
her into disrepute with thinking laymen--if not, indeed, with her
own more independent-minded priests.

John Clarke was a leading spirit amongst his fellows at Cardinal
College, as he had been at Cambridge amongst the graduates there.
It was not that he sought popularity, or made efforts to sway the
minds of those about him, but there was something in the
personality of the man which seemed magnetic in its properties; and
as a Regent Master in Arts, his lectures had attracted large
numbers of students, and whenever he had disputed in the schools,
even as quite a young man, there had always been an eager crowd to
listen to him.

Last summer an unwonted outbreak of sickness in Oxford had driven
many students away from the city to adjacent localities, where they
had pursued their studies as best they might; and at Poghley, where
some scholars had been staying, John Clarke had both preached and
held lectures which attracted much attention, and aroused
considerable excitement and speculation.

Dr. Langton had taken his two daughters to Pog