as I may. I have lost a benefice by it, which I should have had within these ten days; for there hath one fallen in Mr Throgmorton's[1] gift which he hath faithfully promised unto me many a time, but now his mind is turned and alienate from me. If ye go to Court after Easter I pray you have me in remembrance. Mr Latimer preacheth still,—quod æmuli ejus graviter ferunt.
'Thus fare you well. Your own to his power,
- 'William Buckmaster.[2]
- 'Cambridge, Monday after Easter, 1530.'
It does not appear that Cambridge was pressed further, and we may, therefore, allow it to have acquitted itself creditably. If we sum up the results of Cranmer's measure as a whole, it may be said that opinions had been given by about half Europe directly or indirectly unfavourable to the Papal claims; and that, therefore, the King had furnished himself with a legal pretext for declining the jurisdiction of the court of Rome, and appealing to a general council. Objections to the manner in which the opinions had been gained could be answered by recriminations equally just; and in the technical aspect of the question a step had certainly been gained. It will be thought, nevertheless, on wider grounds, that the measure was a mistake; that it would have been far better if the legal labyrinth had never been entered, and if the divorce had been claimed only
