wished nor approved. The interests of the nation were in fact his own. He could ill afford to forsake a religion which allowed him. so pleasantly to compound for his amatory indulgences by the estrapade[1] and a zeal for orthodoxy.
It became evident to Henry early in the spring that he was left substantially alone. His marriage had been kept secret with the intention that it should be divulged by the King of France to the Pope when he met him at Marseilles; and as the Pope had pretended an anxiety that either the King of England should be present in person at that interview, or should be represented by an ambassador of adequate rank, a train had been equipped for the occasion,, the most magnificent which England could furnish. Time, meanwhile, passed on; the meeting, which was to have taken place first in January, and then in April, was delayed till October, and in the interval the Papal brief had appeared in Flanders; the Queen's pregnancy could not admit of concealment; and the evident proof which appeared that France was no longer to be depended upon, convinced the English Government that they had nothing to hope for from abroad, and that Henry's best resources were to be found, where in fact they had always been, in the strength and affection of his own people.
- ↑ The estrapade was an infernal machine introduced by Francis into Paris for the better correction of heresy. The offender was flung by a chain over a fire, and by means of a crane was dipped up and down into the flame, the torture being thus prolonged for an indefinite time. Francis was occasionally present in person at these exhibitions, the executioner waiting his arrival before commencing the spectacle.
