CHAPTER VI.

AFTER THE STORM.

1536-1537.

Amid all the fencing and diplomatic insincerities that went on between Henry and Charles, concerning Mary’s status, his cousin’s real welfare had but a small share in the policy of the Emperor. Persecuted by her father, Mary had taken counsel with the powerful kinsman who, she thought, had her interests, and the cause for which she was suffering, at heart. But Charles was a much better politician than kinsman, and had no cause so much at heart as his own advantage, and that of the empire. He was anxious to be at peace with Henry for more reasons than one, and cared little what temporary concessions his cousin made, so long as they furthered this object. He had not seen his way to make war, when she and her mother had looked to him as their avenger, and now that the principal cause of estrangement between himself and Henry had been removed by death, he was eager to sacrifice Mary on the altar of peace. Her eyes were never opened to the treacherous part he had played, but Henry was not ignorant of the fact that she was entirely influenced by the Emperor. If she had yielded, he knew that she had done so with Charles’s approval, a circumstance that made largely for political amity. The days of chivalry were done, and Mary’s trust and confidence were ruthlessly employed to pave a way out of the imperial difficulties.

Great stress was laid by Charles on the axiom, that concessions extracted by force or fraud had no binding power, so long as formal protests against the compulsion exercised were secretly made and signed. This principle was frequently applied between the three chief rulers of Europe at this period, and sometimes led to curious results.

Meanwhile, Mary was not yet in calm waters. Cromwell, for the sake of his own safety, required her to express in a letter addressed to him, but intended for Henry’s eye, all that she owed him as a mediator. He had not forgotten what he had undergone, during the six days’ uninterrupted sitting of the Council, when he had considered himself “a dead man,” and when, in fact, his own and Mary’s fate had trembled in the balance. Even yet, his capricious master might again suspect him of having encouraged Mary in her resistance, and he was anxious that there should be no mistake in Henry’s mind, as to his share in her submission. Besides this, the King’s tyranny required a declaration from Mary, that she not only abandoned her title but agreed in its being given to Anne’s daughter Elizabeth (although she, too, had been declared illegitimate and was not allowed to use it any longer), and that as to her own future position she made no claim, but was content to accept whatever was conceded. Another point left vague had been her attitude respecting Henry’s disposal of doctrines, which concerned purgatory, pilgrimages, relics, etc., and her father must be satisfied in this matter also. Having swallowed the whole, Mary made no further resistance as to the parts, and wrote to Cromwell as he desired, probably copying his entire draft.

“GOOD MASTER SECRETARY,

“How much am I bound unto you, which hath not only travailed, when I was almost drowned in folly to recover me before I sunk and was utterly past recovery, and so to present me to the fire of grace and mercy, but also desisteth not sithence with your good and wholsome counsels, so to arme me from any relapse, that I cannot, unless I were too wilfull and obstinate, whereof there is now no spark in me, fall again into any danger! But leaveing the recital of your goodness apart, which I cannot recount, for answer to the particulerities of your credence, sent by my friend Master Wrythesley; first concerning the Princess (so I think I must call her yet for I would be loath to offend) I offered at her entry to that name and honour, to call her sister; but it was refused, unless I would also add the other title unto it, which I denyed not then more obstinately than I am now sorry for it; for that I did therein offend my most gracious father and his just lawes, and now that you think it meet, I shall never call her by any other name than sister. Touching the nomination of such women as I would have about me, surely Mr. Secretary, what men or women soever the King’s Highness shall appoint to wait on me, without exception, shall be unto me right heartily, and without respect welcome; albeit to express my mind to you, whom I think worthy to be accepted for their faithfull service done to the King’s Majestie and to me, sythens they came into my company, I promise you on my faith, Margery Baynton and Susan Clarcencyeus have in every condition used themselves as faithfully, painfully and diligently as ever did women in such a case; as sorry when I was not so conformable, as became me, as glad when I enclined anything to my duty, as could be devised. One other there is, that was sometime my maid, whom for her vertue I love, and could be glad to have in my company, that is Mary Brown; and here be all that I will recommend; and yet, my estimation of these shall be measured at the King’s Highness, my most mercifull father’s pleasure and appointment, as reason is. For mine opinion touching pilgrimages, purgatory, relicks and such like, I assure you, I have none at all, but such as I shall receive from him, that hath mine whole heart in keeping, that is the King’s most gracious Highness, my most benign father, who shall imprint in the same touching these matters and all other, what his inestimable vertue, high wisdome and excellent learning shall think convenient, and limit unto me; to whose presence I pray God I may once come or I dye. For every day is a year, till I may have the fruition of it. Beseeching you, good Mr. Secretary, to continue mine humble sute for the same, and for all other things whatsoever they be, to repute mine heart so firmly knit to his pleasure, that I can by no mean vary from the direction and appointment of the same. And thus most heartily fare you well.

“From Hounsdon this friday at 10 of the clock at night.

“Your assured loving friend during my life,

“MARYE.”[192]

Henry was at last pleased to forgive her, and by common consent, Cromwell had all the credit of the peacemaking. Chapuys told Cardinal Perrenot de Granvelle, President of the Emperor’s Council, that the Secretary was also doing his best to promote friendship between their masters, and that, having carried it into effect, he would die proud of that feat, and of having reconciled the Princess to her father, “not wishing to live one day longer”. On the 6th July, Chapuys applied for an audience with the King for the next day, but was told that he could not then have one, as both the King and Queen were to visit the Princess secretly. Cromwell added that it would be far better for the advancement of business, if Chapuys spoke to him after his return, “knowing well that after seeing the beauty, goodness, prudence and virtue of the same Princess, the King would be more inclined to the matter in question”. The letter in which this news is communicated then breaks off, and later on Chapuys continues:—

“The day before yesterday (6th inst.) the King and Queen left this, with a small and secret company to visit the Princess, three miles from here, where they remained till yesterday about vespers. The kindness shown by the King to the Princess was inconceivable, regretting that he had been so long separated from her. He made good amends for it in the little time he was with her, continually talking with her, with every sign of affection, and with ever so many fine promises. The Queen gave her a beautiful diamond, and the King about 1000 crowns in money for her little pleasures, telling her to have no anxiety about money, for she should have as much as she could wish. He promised her that when he returned from Dover, she should come to court. She will no doubt by her great prudence remedy many things.”[193]

On the same day, however, he had cause to modify this account somewhat, in a subsequent letter to Granvelle, in which he says:—

“What I have told his Majesty about this King’s singularly kind behaviour to his daughter the Princess, when he saw her the other day, I have on the authority of one of her own servants, the very same one who, for some time past, has been the bearer of her messages to me. Yesterday, as he was imparting the said news, and conveying his mistress’s commendations to me, I naturally concluded that he himself was speaking in the Princess’s name, but I am afraid such is not the case, and that the man only repeated what he had heard, for I have since been told, that mixed with the sweet food of paternal kindness, there were a few drachmas of gall and bitterness. But after all, we must set that down to paternal authority, and pray God to inspire the King to behave still better to the Princess, and work with more zest and sincerity than he has hitherto done, towards the establishment and extension of the confederacy with your Majesty, which, as may be gathered from my previous despatches, has hitherto been surrounded by much artifice and subterfuge.”[194]

Henry was much perplexed as to the exact position Mary was to occupy thenceforth. Cromwell told Chapuys that “the great and almost excessive love and affection that the English have always shown for the Princess” had so increased of late, that they were determined to risk everything for her sake. This attitude of the people roused her father’s jealousy and suspicion, and Cromwell was observed no longer to give her her title, a habit which he had already resumed. He not only avoided speaking of Mary as Princess, but requested Chapuys to do the same, which made him think that instead of declaring her to be Princess of Wales, she would be called Duchess of York. “Considering,” continued Cromwell, “the King’s versatility and, on the other hand, the rumours current among the people, I hesitate to say what the Princess’s future is likely to be; but this I can assure you (Chapuys), that the whole business will be conducted to her honor and profit”—“giving me,” said the ambassador, “to understand thereby that she will be appointed heiress to the Crown, should the King have no male issue.”

On the 22nd July, the Duke of Richmond died of consumption, and Mary’s prospects immediately brightened. Chapuys informed the Emperor of the fact, assuring him that the Princess had plenty of company, “even of the following of the little Bastard who will henceforth pay her court”. Her household had not yet been appointed, but nothing was wanting except her name and title of princess. “Nor need we make too much of the name,” said Chapuys, “seeing that it has not been usual to give such a title to a daughter, while there is any hope of male issue, and the Cardinal, for some particular reasons, had broken that custom in her case. Nevertheless, Cromwell says, that title will be restored to her before many days, and there is no doubt, if she comes to court, she will have that, and everything she can desire, for her incomparable beauty, grace and prudence. And I think that your Majesty’s affairs will proceed all the better for it; at all events, it will not be for want of goodwill that your affairs do not go on more prosperously than her own. I sent lately to warn the Princess, that there was some talk of marrying her in this kingdom to some very unsuitable person [perhaps he means to Cromwell, who had been suggested as a possible husband for her], and she sent to assure me, that she would never make any match without the express consent of your Majesty; protesting that except for some great advantage to the peace of Christendom, she would not care to be married at all.”[195]

Chapuys could never admire and praise Mary enough. Even in communicating officially the news of the Duke of Richmond’s death, eulogy of the Princess formed the chief part of his despatch. “Few are sorry,” he wrote to Perrenot de Granvelle, “because of the Princess. Even Cromwell has congratulated her in his letters, and thank God, she now triumphs, and it is to be hoped that the dangers are laid, with which she has been surrounded, to make her a paragon of virtue, goodness, honor and prudence: I say nothing of beauty and grace, for it is incredible. May God raise her soon to the Crown, for the benefit of his Majesty and of all Christendom.”[196]

Those who wished for a return to the old order in England looked to Mary’s influence to bring it about. She was in some miraculous way, by her very presence at court, to exercise power over her father’s indomitable will (the will that had crushed her into submission), to reconcile him with the Pope, and undo all the mischief he had been doing for the last ten years.

“It is to be hoped,” wrote Chapuys to the Empress Isabella, “that through the Princess’s means, and through her great wisdom and discretion she may hereafter little by little bring back the King, her father, and the whole of the English nation to the right path. It would indeed have been a great pity to lose such a gem, her virtues being of such a standard, that I know not how to express and define her great accomplishments, her wisdom, beauty, prudence, virtue, austere life, and her other great qualities, for certainly all those who have been and are acquainted with her, cannot cease from praising her any more than I can.”[197]

He was indefatigable in promoting Mary’s interests in every possible way. On being presented to Queen Jane, he seems to have thought of nothing else, regarding her merely as a useful friend, who had it in her power to smooth the Princess’s paths. His account of the interview is interesting:—

“Mass over, I accompanied the King to the apartments of the Queen, whom, with the King’s pleasure, I kissed, congratulating her on her marriage, and wishing her prosperity. I told her besides, that although the device of the lady who had preceded her on the throne was ‘The happiest of women,’ I had no doubt she herself would fully realise that motto....

“Among the many felicities which I enumerated, I said to the Queen, that certainly the chief one was the Princess, in whom, without having had the pain and trouble of bringing her into the world, she had such a daughter, that she would receive more pleasure and consolation from her, than from any other she might have. I ended by begging her to take care of the Princess’s affairs; which she kindly promised to do, saying that she would work in earnest to deserve the honourable name which I had given her of pacificator, that is preserver and guardian of the peace. After this address of mine, the King, who had been talking with the ladies of the Court, approached us, and began making excuses for the Queen, saying that I was the first ambassador to whom she had spoken; she was not used to that sort of reception, but he imagined that she would do her utmost to obtain the title of pacificator which I had greeted her with, as being herself of kind and amiable disposition, and much inclined to peace, she would make the greatest efforts to prevent his taking part in a foreign war, were it for no other thing than the fear of having to separate herself from him.”[198]

A charming trait in Mary’s character was the protection which the now happier sister pityingly extended to Anne Boleyn’s unfortunate daughter. For the next three years, they continued to live chiefly at Hunsdon, under the same roof, but while Mary was treated with a certain amount of consideration, Elizabeth was wholly neglected, disgraced, and unprovided with the commonest necessaries of life, at one time having “neither gown nor kirtle, nor petticoat, nor linen for smocks, nor kerchiefs, rails, body-stychets, handkerchiefs, mufflers nor begens”.[199] But Mary’s relations with her father, although cordial on the whole, were lacking in every element of stability. All depended on his caprice, as the Princess well knew, and had she been worldly minded, she might have hesitated to take up the cause of one, to whom he was now far less favourably inclined than to herself. But Mary was not worldly, and she took care to say a good word for the child when she could. Thus at the end of a letter to her father she wrote: “My sister Elizabeth is in good health, thanks be to our Lord, and such a child toward, as I doubt not but your highness shall have cause to rejoyce of, in time coming, as knoweth Almighty God, who send your Grace, with the Queen my good Mother, health with the accomplishment of your desires.

“From Hownsdon, the 21 day of July (1536).

“Your Hignes most humble daughter handmaid, and faithfull subject,

“MARYE.”[200]

The _Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary_ abound in entries for presents “to the Lady Elizabeth’s grace,” and in the notification of sums expended on her amusements.

The art with which Mary received gifts was no less happy than her manner of giving, and the letter of thanks which she wrote to Cromwell, just after he had been made Lord Privy Seal, in acknowledgment of his services to her, is a pleasant contrast, in its spontaneous expressions of gratitude, to the former grovelling effusions, which purported to have emanated from her, but which were really the compositions of Cromwell himself.

“MY LORD,

“In my heartiest manner I commend me unto you, as she which cannot express in writing the great joy and comfort that I have received as well by your letters as by the report of my servant this bearer, concerning the King my Sovereign father’s goodness towards me; which I doubt not but I have obtained much the better by your continual suit and means. Wherefore I think myself bound to pray for you during my life; and that I both do and will continue with the Grace of God. Sir, as touching mine apparel, I have made no bill. For the King’s Highnes favour is so good cloathing unto me, that I can desire no more; and so have written to his Grace, resting wholly in him, and willing to wear whatever his Grace shall appoint me. My Lord, I do thank you with all my heart for the horse that you sent me with this bearer. Wherein you have done me a great pleasure. For I had never a one to ride upon sometimes for my health, and besides that my servant sheweth me that he is such a one, that I may of good right accept not only the mind of the giver, but also the gift. And thus I commit you to God, whom I do and shall daily pray to be with you in all your business, and to reward you for so exceeding great pains and labours that you take in my sutes.”[201]

And again:—

“MY LORD,

“After my most hearty commendations, I think the time so long since I heard from the King’s Highness, my most benign father, that nature moveth me to be so bold as to send my servant this bearer with letters to his Grace, and also to the Queen, because I would very fain know how their Graces do, desiring you, my Lord, if for lack of witt I have sent sooner than I should have done, molesting his Grace with my rude letters, you will make such an excuse for me as your wisdom shall think best. For till it may please his Highness to license me to come into his presence which of all worldly things is my chiefest desire, my next comfort is, to hear often of his Grace’s health and prosperous estate; which I beseech our Lord long to preserve. My lord, your servant hath brought me the well-favoured horse that you have given me, with a very goodly saddle; for the which I do thank you with all my heart. For he seemeth to be, indeed as good as I have heard report of him, which was that he had all the qualities belonging to a good horse. Wherefore I trust in time to come, the riding upon him shall do me very much good concerning my health. For I am wont to find great ease in riding.”[202]

Mary’s appearance at court was still delayed, probably on account of the difficulty with regard to her rank. If the King’s eldest daughter was thenceforth to be regarded as heiress apparent, she must appear as Princess of Wales, with pomp and circumstance, but all was as yet uncertain, and for the same reason, Henry came to no conclusion, respecting the various marriages again proposed for her. If he had no son, he would be unwilling for her to leave the kingdom, but in any case hers was a name to intrigue with. “He feels,” wrote Chapuys to the Emperor, “that he is getting old, and has no male children to succeed him on the throne, and knows that he will have enough to do to keep the peace in his own kingdom, where the novelties he has introduced are not generally approved of. He therefore thinks of nothing else save making of good cheer, and filling his coffers with the feathers of those whom he wishes to put down. All his late shifting and dissimulation have no other origin, than the fear he has of your Majesty’s affairs becoming prosperous again, and your coming over to England to chastise him.”[203]

But unpopular as Henry was, Cromwell was looked upon as the evil genius of the throne. It was he who had inspired the divorce of Katharine, the disinheriting of Mary, the suppression of the monasteries, the execution of those who denied the royal supremacy, and the introduction of such heretics as Cranmer and Latimer into the sees of Canterbury and Worcester. In the south, the general discontent was paralysed by dread, but the hardy, frugally living people of the eastern and northern counties knew no fear. The dissolution of the smaller monasteries was the signal for revolt. The Canons of Hexham fortified their house. One of their number appeared in armour on the leads, and declared to the King’s Commissioners, that the twenty inmates would all die before they would yield, and the Commissioners thought it prudent to withdraw. But the Lincolnshire men rose first. The rebels in the east numbered at the outset from forty to fifty thousand men, and their ranks swelled daily. They would undoubtedly have carried all before them, had not the leaders of the King’s army been as prompt as they were efficient. The Duke of Suffolk swept up from the south, the Earl of Shrewsbury from the west, and the King himself would have headed a third contingent, had it been necessary. But no sooner were Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk subdued, than Yorkshire, Lancashire and all the northern counties were up in arms. Soon, Skipton Castle, held by the Earl of Cumberland for the King, was the only spot north of the Humber that Henry could count upon. If the rebels had triumphed, there is no doubt that Mary would have been placed on the throne.[204]

A statute had been passed on the 8th July 1536, declaring Elizabeth base-born,[205] and on Sunday, 30th August, Mary was proclaimed heiress-apparent in one of the London churches. When the Yorkshire men rose, on the 9th October, they swore to be true “to the King’s lawful issue and the noble blood”. Robert Aske, leader of the insurgents, was declared Grand Captain of the Commons of Yorkshire. He could rely on the staunch loyalty of 30,000 “tall men and well horsed,” as well as on the enthusiastic adherence of the whole population, while the King’s forces, under the Duke of Norfolk, only amounted to 6,000 men, hampered in their every movement northwards by the disaffection of the midland and eastern counties. Had all these advantages been husbanded by the rebels, they might have dictated terms to Henry; but the strongest arm is powerless against a subtle brain, and Cromwell soon perceived that his one chance lay in negotiation. The word meant with him stratagem and fraud. The promise of a free pardon, and a Parliament at York was so worded, that it was understood by all the leaders of the rising to mean consent to their demands. They disbanded their troops, and by degrees order was restored. Then, all the northern towns were strongly garrisoned by the King, and the last palpitating throes of the rebellion were eagerly seized upon as a pretext for withdrawing every concession that had been made. The Lords Dacre and Hussey were arrested and sent to the block. The Earl of Northumberland and Sir Robert Constable, with the Abbots of Barlings, of Fountains and of Jervaulx, were hanged in chains. Lady Bulmer, for encouraging the rebels, was burned at the stake. A letter from Henry to his lieutenant in the north gave him _carte blanche_ for every atrocity. The King wrote:—

“We approve of your proceeding in the displaying of your banner, which, being now spread, till it is closed again, the course of our laws must give place to martial law; and before you close it up again, you must cause such dreadful execution upon a good number of the inhabitants, hanging them on trees, quartering them and setting their heads and quarters in every town, as shall be a fearful warning, whereby shall ensue the preservation of a great multitude.”[206]

It is noticeable that the King does not here speak of the execution of the leaders, but of “a good number of the inhabitants,” an order which resulted in the most fearful carnage. The Duke of Norfolk, anxious to prove his loyalty, declared that his only regret was that there were not enough iron chains in the country in which to hang the prisoners; ropes must serve for some. But he flattered himself that so great a number put to death at one time had never yet been heard of.[207] “It was,” says one writer, “as if the earth had broken out into gibbets, but in spite of them the people, though coerced, were not cowed.”

Lord Dacre, speaking before the Council, had a tongue as free as when he led his Yorkshire yokels to battle. “It is thou,” he said boldly, confronting Cromwell, “that art the very special and chief cause of all this rebellion and wickedness, and dost daily travail to bring us to our ends and strike off our heads. I trust that ere thou diest, though thou wouldst procure all the noblest heads within the realm to be stricken off, yet there shall one head remain that shall strike off thy head.” After the pardon at Doncaster, three hundred persons wished to pull the curate out of the pulpit at Kendal Church, crying out: “He shall proclaim the Pope to be supreme head of the Church, or be cast into the water!”[208]

But in spite of the anxieties caused by the rebellion, the perennial subject of the disposal of Mary’s hand in marriage was occupying public attention both at home and abroad. It kept the possibility of an alliance with Henry perpetually before the arbiters of European affairs, and did more to avert war than all his other tactics. But it is clear, with the whole history of his negotiations before us, that he never intended Mary to leave the country, and risk her repudiation of all that he had been at so great pains to wring from her.

Already, in February 1536, the Emperor had devised a marriage between his cousin Mary, and Don Loys, brother of King Emanuel of Portugal, his brother-in-law. Henry appeared to look favourably on the proposed match, and in June, a formal demand was made for her hand. The matter was allowed to drag on indefinitely; raised from time to time with much affectation of seriousness, to suit Henry’s policy, it was again repeatedly dropped, for the nice adjustment of the scale, when Francis became restive, at the apparent understanding between his ally and his enemy. Then the proposed union of the Princess Mary with the Duke of Orleans was once more brought forward, and so the changes rang for some time. But all this was merely on the surface; and the question of Mary’s legitimacy was the only real point at issue, for it involved the whole series of events which had landed Henry in his actual position with regard to his own subjects, to his fellow-sovereigns, and to the Pope, still a power to be reckoned with. To yield that point was to give up all he had been fighting for during the last ten years, and to cut away the ground from under his feet. If he temporised long enough, the possible birth of a son might allow him to restore his daughter without loss of his own dignity.

Charles V., in putting forward Don Loys as a suitor, made the condition, that the slur cast by Henry on Mary’s birth should be removed; and Henry’s instructions to his special envoy, Sir Thomas Wyatt, on the renewal of his amity with the Emperor, show the use her father intended to make of her renunciation of her birthright.

“If,” the instructions ran, “the Emperor is grieved that the lady Mary is declared illegitimate, although born _in bona fide parentum_, Wyatt must declare that when the prohibition is of the law of God, _bona fides_ cannot be alleged; moreover, that the assertion of her illegitimacy will irritate the King, and Wyatt shall deliver a letter to the Emperor from the lady Mary _showing how she reputes herself_. If the Emperor speaks of an overture of marriage that was lately made for her with the Infant of Portugal, he shall say he has no commission therein, but thinks the matter might be arranged, if the Infant will take her, as only to succeed to the Crown in default of issue male or female from his present queen.”[209]

Chapuys’ letter to the Emperor on the 7th October proves that her difficulties were not yet at an end:—

“I have just this moment received a letter from the Princess, saying that yesterday, the King her father sent her the draft of a letter which he wished her to write to your Majesty, the substance of which is, that being now better informed than she was before, through reading books and continually consulting learned and holy persons, perhaps also inspired by the grace of the Holy Ghost, she has of her own free will, without compulsion of any sort, suggestion, impression, respect or regard for any person whomsoever, acknowledged, confirmed, and approved the statutes of this kingdom, declaring her mother’s marriage to have been unlawful, and the King her father to be the chief of the Church, at the same time, begging and entreating your Majesty to allow truth to prevail, and not disturb nor impede it at the General Council or anywhere else—all this, in order that the King, who has behaved so kindly towards the Princess, may not have occasion to treat her differently. The Princess desires me to inform your Majesty of this, and wishes to know what answer she is to give to her father’s request. She would also be glad for your Majesty to show discontent at her and her acts. Though it seems to me, that this is not the time nor the opportunity for doing so, I could not do otherwise than obey the Princess, and express her wishes in that particular. It might be that your Majesty could find hereafter some excuse for dissembling, not meddling in the affair, but giving some evasive answer or other; for although this King may insist upon the letter being written, perhaps he may not send it on, and will keep it by him, to use at the proper time and place. This has been the cause of my reporting, as fully as I have done, on the contents of the draft which the Princess has in her possession, I have taken care to inform Count Cifuentes of everything, even of the protest which she has already signed, as well as of that which she ought to make, before the letter demanded of her is written, that the Count may speak (to the Pope) and answer as the case requires.”[210]

The next day, he wrote again to Cifuentes, saying that it would be necessary to warn his Holiness of all that was going on, that he might not, in the event of the said letter being written, or of a similar one being shown to him, reply to the Princess as if he were angry for what had been done. “As these people have their doubts, as to the precise wording of the Princess’s renunciation, and have their fears and suspicions concerning the future, they are now taking their measures, and trying to make sure of her before they bring her back to court. Should she come, I will do my best to find out a remedy in all this business; for the present nothing more can be done. Her Highness must be advised and encouraged to listen to the words of these people, and not let them imagine that under what her Highness is now doing there lies a danger for them. If your Lordship does not know it already, I can tell you that for a long time back, her Highness has, by my advice, applied such a remedy, and drawn such protests for the safeguarding of her right, that I do not think any more are required. To the protest formerly made, the Princess herself has since added, after consulting over the matter with me, certain clauses and words which render all other precautions perfectly useless. Your Lordship however must keep profoundly secret in these matters, for should these people hear of our precautionary measures for the future, the Princess would not be allowed to live long. It is therefore necessary that no living person should know of this save your Lordship, to whom I cannot at present sufficiently declare the precise text of the letters which her Highness, as aforesaid, will be compelled to write. You may however be sure of one thing, namely, that those who have the charge of making the draft thereof will forget no circumstance nor expression likely to serve their purpose, and will make the Princess sign it. The Princess herself being apprehensive of what may come out of all this, has sent me orders to communicate with his Imperial Majesty, and with your most illustrious Lordship on the subject, that you may be warned, and prepared to answer whenever the thing be made public; but above all, let it be settled, that whatever papers and letters her Highness is made to sign on this occasion, there is no truth whatever in them, and that she signs them by sheer force.”[211]

The drafts above alluded to consisted of two letters, one addressed to the Pope, the other to the Queen of Hungary. The contents were practically a repetition of the declarations which Cromwell drew up for Mary to transcribe six months before. The expressions used were of course less abject than those which purported to be addressed by her to her father, but the renunciation was the same. The conclusion of the letter addressed to the Pope was to the effect that he should no longer trouble himself with the affairs of England, since the King had really and truly the right on his side, and reasons of his own to act as he