"The state of things was atrocious enough apparently to have caused the bones of the English plape to stir in his grave with indignation. Ample i)rovocation had been given for the extreme exercise of the powers granted by the head of the Church thus disgraced and outraged ; but archbishop Morton presently found that he had com- menced a task which he had neither the power nor the courage to complete. Probably he was made awaie that the abbot William had influential friends in England as well as in Rome, as such delinqueuts could always secure, and that his proper punishment was impossible; or dis- covered that St. Alban's was only one of the many estab- lishments In England in which prodigality and profligacy flourished— in short, that the evil was too formidable to be grappled with successfully by him. So no fm'ther step was taken in the reformation that even then had become imperative in the opinion of right-minded Catholics. Sev- eral attempts had previously been made to check clerical foppery, but with scarcely any result. The archlnsh- op made a strenuous eff'ort at reform in this direction, threatening with sequestration those who offended by assuming the extravagances of fashion adopted by the laity. Priests were prohibited wearing hoods, with fur or without, doubled with silk, or adorned with a horn or short tail, or having camlet about the neck. They were not to array themselves with sword or dagger, or with
decorated belts, btit were to walk abroad in their proper crowns and tonsures, showing their ears.
"A most remarkable document was the bull of Pope Innocent VIII, published in 14S9, stating that the English clergy were for the most part dissolute and reprobate, and giving authority to the primate for their correction and reformation. The latter was earnest in the cause, for he got the pope's bull backed by an act of Parliament for the sure and likely reformation of priests, clerks, and re- ligions men, culpable, or by their demerits openly reputed of incontinent living in their bodies, contrary to their or- der, and directed punishment to be awarded to fornica- tion, incest, or any other fleshly iucontinency {.statutes at Lai-ge,u, 65). The king took special iiUerest in this praiseworthy movement, and encouraged the primate to go through with his work. With the co-operation of pope, king, and Parliament, he increased his exertions, and proceeded with all the state he could assume, in ac- cordance with his exalted spiritual and temporal ofHces, to make visitation after visitation— at Rochester, Worces- ter, and Salisbury, twice; Lichfield and Coveutrv, Bath and Wells, Winchester, Lincoln, and Exeter. While he corrected abuses, he collected money, as he found the of- fenders ready to
"'Compound for sins they were inclined to. By damning those they had no mind to.'"
That Morton found favor in the eyes of his king is ev- ident, inasmuch as he made this archbishop also lord chancellor. In a council of his suffragans, which the archbishop held in February, 1486, at St. Paid's, in Lon- don, the corruptions in the Anglican Church were fur- ther considered, and measures adopted to deepen the religious fervor of the people. It was also provided that '• every bishop of the province shall cause a ser- vice and six masses to be said for the soul of a departed bishop, within a month from the time of their liearing of his death." Some measures adopted by this council were made the subjects of attack. Among other arrange- ments it was provided that ecclesiastics should not preach against the papacy or against any ecclesiastical officers before the lay people. Morton's intent, no doubt, was to favor and please the papacy in so far as was at all consistent with the end he desired to attain. He cer- tainly did not mean to check any reforms. Thus he provided that if any spiritual person behaved himself wickedly, the ordinary ^vas to be informed ; and if the ordinary did not correct sucli offender, the archbishop was to be appealed to; and, finally, if he did not punish the delintpient, then it was the said prelate's will that the preachers generally should declaim against him.
In 1493 Morton, after repeated and urgent requests of the English king, was created a cardinal by pope Alex- ander VI. Tlie few years that remained him for activity he employed in the work to wliich he had dedicated his life. He instituted and promoted reforms in the Church wherever his lieen eye could detect their need. He also labored assiduously to advance the interests of his roj'al master, and even went so far as to urge upon the pope the canonization of Henry VI. He failed in this, but succeeded in securing the canonization of Anselm, which he had also desired. He died, according to the Canterbury Obituarj-, Tuesday, 16 kal. Oct. ; but accord- ing to the Register of Ely, Sept. 15, 1500. Leland says that cardinal Morton employed the fortune he possessed in building and repairing Church property at Canter- hmy, Lambeth, Maidstone, AUington Park, Charing, Ford, and Oxford; it is said also that he repaired the canon-law school, assisted in the building of the divin- ity school, and the rebuilding of St. Mary's Church. In Feb., 1494, he was elected chancellor of the University of Oxford, in which year. Fuller says, he greatly pro- moted the rebuilding of Rochester bridge. Among other public-spirited enterprises which his liberality con- duced to execute, was tlie famous cut or drain from Peterborough to Wisbeach, a tract of upwards of twelve miles across a fenny country, which proved a great ben- efit to his diocese and to the public, and was completed entirely at his expense. This is still known by the name of Jlorton's Leame. "Cardinal Morton," says Williams, " has left solid claims on the respect of pos- terity ; but more enduring than his benevolent bequests, and his useful biiUdings and improvements, have been