the desired end. Once for all Henry could not consent to plead out of England; while an appeal to a council would occupy more time than the condition of the country could conveniently allow. But the offer had been courteously made; it had been accompanied with language which might be sincere: and the King replied with grace, and almost with cordiality; not wholly giving Clement his confidence, but expressing a hope that he might soon be no longer justified in withholding it. He was unable, he said, to accept the first condition, because it was contrary to his coronation oath; 'it so highly touched the prerogative royal of the realm, that though he were minded to do it, yet must he abstain without the assent of the court of Parliament, which he thought verily would never condescend to it.'[1] The other suggestion he did not absolutely reject, but tho gathering of a council was too serious a matter to be precipitated, and the situation of Christendom presented many obstacles to a measure which would be useless unless it were carried through by all the great powers in a spirit of cordial unanimity. He trusted therefore that if the Pope's intentions were really such as he pretended to entertain, he would find some method more convenient of proving his sincerity.
It was happy for Henry that experience had taught him to be distrustful. Events proved too clearly that Clement's assumed alteration of tone was no more than a manœuvre designed to entice him to withdraw from
- ↑ Henry VIII. to the Ambassadors with the Pope: Rolls House MS.
