party spoke of Wolsey, whom he called 'a stubborn and churlish prelate, and one that never could abide any nobleman;' 'and that,' he added, 'you know well enough, my Lord Cromwell, for he was your master.' Cromwell answered that it was true that he had been Wolsey's servant, nor did he regret his fortune. 'Yet was I never so far in love with him,' he said, 'as to have waited upon him to Rome, which you, my lord, were, I believe, prepared to have done.' It was not true, the first speaker said. Cromwell again insisted that it was true, and even mentioned the number of florins which were to have been paid him for his services. The other said 'he lied in his teeth, and great and high words rose between them.'[1]
The King's peace-making prospered little. The impetus of a great victory was not to be arrested by mild persuasions. A commission was appointed by the Catholic leaders to reap the desired fruits. Such of the London citizens as had most distinguished themselves as opponents of reformation in all its forms—those especially who had resisted the introduction of the Bible—formed a court, which held its sittings in the Mercers' Chapel. They 'developed the statute' in what were termed 'branches of inference;' they interpreted 'speaking against masses' to comprehend 'coming seldom to mass.' Those who were slow in holding up their hands 'at sacring time,' or who did not strike their breasts with adequate fervour, were held to have denied the
- ↑ Foxe, vol. v. p. 265.
