John Tulloch · 22 of 27

III. Latimer. · Part 5

Nothing is more remarkable in Latimer than this cheerfulness. Ill in body, tried and persecuted, and cast down by many troubles, he is always cheerful,—cheerful at Cambridge, amidst the scowls of friars—cheerful in his parish, under Episcopal frowns, and in his diocese, amidst an obtuse and opposing clergy—cheerful in the Tower when nearly starved to death with cold—cheerful at the stake, in the thought of the illumining blaze that he and Ridley would make for the glory of the Gospel and the happiness of England. An earnest, hopeful, and happy man, honest, fearless, open-hearted, hating nothing but baseness, and fearing none but God—not throwing away his life, yet not counting it dear when the great crisis came—calmly yielding it up as the crown of his long sacrifice and struggle. There may be other reformers who more engage our admiration; there is no one who more excites our love.