THE ENGAGEMENT CONCEDED.
On the next day, the tempest having thoroughly abated,[790] Sanctorum Quatuor corrected the commission. It was signed, completed by a leaden seal attached to a piece of string, and then handed to Gardiner, who read it. The bull was addressed to Wolsey, and "authorized him, in case he should acknowledge the nullity of Henry's marriage, to pronounce judicially the sentence of divorce, but without noise or display of judgment;[791] for that purpose he might take any English bishop for his colleague."—"All that we can do, you can do," said the pope. "We are very doubtful," said the importunate Gardiner after reading the bull, "whether this commission, without the clauses of confirmation and revocation, will satisfy his majesty; but we will do all in our power to get him to accept it."—"Above all, do not speak of our altercations," said the pope. Gardiner, like a discreet diplomist, did not scruple to note down every particular in cipher in the letters whence these details are procured. "Tell the king," continued the pontiff, "that this commission is on my part a declaration of war against the emperor, and that I now place myself under his majesty's protection." The chief-almoner of England departed for London with the precious document.
But one storm followed close upon another. Fox had not long quitted Orvieto when new letters arrived from Wolsey, demanding the fourth of the acts previously requested, namely, the engagement to ratify at Rome whatever the commissioners might decide in England. Gardiner was to set about it in season and out of season; the verbal promise of the pope counted for nothing; this document must be had, whether the pope was ill, dying, or dead.[792] "Ego et Rex meus, his majesty and I command you;" said Wolsey; "this divorce is of more consequence to us than twenty popedoms."[793] The English envoy renewed their demand. "Since you refuse the decretal," he said, "there is the greater reason why you should not refuse the engagement." This application led to fresh discussion and fresh tears. Clement gave way once more; but the Italians, more crafty than Gardiner, reserved a loophole in the document through which the pontiff might escape. The messenger Thaddeus carried it to London; and Gardiner left Orvieto for Rome to confer with Campeggio.
Clement was a man of penetrating mind, and although he knew as well as any how to deliver a clever speech, he was irresolute and timid; and accordingly the commission had not long been despatched before he repented. Full of distress, he paced the ruined chambers of his old palace, and imagined he saw hanging over his head that terrible sword of Charles the Fifth, whose edge he had already felt. "Wretch that I am," said he, "cruel wolves surround me; they open their jaws to swallow me up.... I see none but enemies around me. At their head is the emperor.... What will he do? Alas! I have yielded that fatal commission which the general of the Spanish observance had enjoined me to refuse. Behind Charles come the Venetians, the Florentines, the duke of Ferrara.... They have cast lots upon my vesture.[794]... Next comes the king of France, who promises nothing, but looks on with folded arms; or rather, what perfidy! calls upon me at this critical moment to deprive Charles V of his crown.... And last, but not least, Henry VIII, the defender of the faith, indulges in frightful menaces against me.... The emperor desires to maintain the queen on the throne of England; the latter, to put her away.... Would to God that Catherine were in her grave! But, alas! she lives ... to be the apple of discord dividing the two greatest monarchies, and the inevitable cause of the ruin of the popedom.... Wretched man that I am! how cruel is my perplexity, and around me, I can see nothing but horrible confusion."[795]
CHAPTER XI.
Fox's Report to Henry and Anne—Wolsey's Impression—He demands the Decretal—One of the Cardinal's petty Manœuvres—He sets his Conscience at Rest—Gardiner fails at Rome—Wolsey's new perfidy—The King's Anger against the Pope—Sir T. More predicts Religious Liberty—Immorality of Ultramontane Socialism—Erasmus invited—Wolsey's last Flight—Energetic Efforts at Rome—Clement grants all—Wolsey triumphs—Union of Rome and England.
FOX'S REPORT TO HENRY AND ANNE.
During this time Fox was making his way to England. On the 27th of April he reached Paris; on the 2nd of May he landed at Sandwich, and hastened to Greenwich, where he arrived the next day at five in the evening, just as Wolsey had left for London. Fox's arrival was an event of great importance. "Let him go to Lady Anne's apartments," said the king, "and wait for me there." Fox told Anne Boleyn of his and Gardiner's exertions, and the success of their mission, at which she expressed her very great satisfaction. Indeed, more than a year had elapsed since her return to England, and she no longer resisted Henry's project. "Mistress Anne always called me Master Stephen," wrote Fox to Gardiner, "her thoughts were so full of you." The king appeared and Anne withdrew.
FOX REPORTS TO THE KING.