appeared thronged with phantoms of possible contingencies. The hasty expectations of the noble lords were checked by Henry's prudence; and though parties were rapidly arranging themselves, there was still confusion. The city, though disinclined to the Pope and the Church, continued to retain an inclination for the Emperor; and the Pope had friends among Wolsey's enemies, who, by his overthrow, were pressed forward into prominence, and divided the victory with the reformers. The presence of Sir Thomas More in the council was a guarantee that no exaggerated measures against the Church would be permitted so long as he held the seals; and Henry, perhaps, was anxious to leave room for conciliation, which he hoped that the Pope would desire as much as himself, so soon as the meeting of Parliament had convinced him that the mutinous disposition of the nation had not been overstated by his own and Wolsey's letters.
The impression conceived two years before of the hostile relations between the Pope and Charles had not yet been wholly effaced; and even as late as September, 1529, after the closing of the legates' court, in the very heat of the public irritation, there were persons who believed that when Clement met his Imperial captor face to face, and the interview had taken place which had been arranged for the ensuing January, his eyes would be opened, and that he would fall back upon England.[1] At the same time, the incongruities in the constitution of
- ↑ Legrand, vol. iii. p. 355.
