Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/309

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1540.]

ANNE OF CLEVES: FALL OF CROMWELL.

289

Thus was Henry left alone, having been betrayed into an attitude which he was unable to support, and deserted by the allies for whom he had entangled himself in a marriage which he detested. Well might his confidence have been shaken in the minister whose fortune and whose sagacity had failed together. Driven forward by the necessity of success or destruction, Cromwell was, at the same time, precipitating the crisis in England. Gardiner, Tunstall, and Sampson the Bishop of Chichester, were his three chief antagonists. In April, Sampson was sent to the Tower, on a charge of having relieved 'certain traitorous persons' who had denied the King's supremacy.^[1] The two others, it is likely, would

↑ Hall, p. 839. The case broke down, and Sampson was afterwards restored to favour; but his escape was narrow. Sir Ralph Sadler, writing to Cromwell, said, 'I declared to the King's Majesty how the Bishop of Chichester was committed to ward to the Tower, and what answer he made to such things as were laid to his charge, which in effect was a plain denial of the chief points that touched him. His Majesty said little thereto, but that he liked him and the matter much the worse because he denied it, seeing his Majesty perceived by the examinations there were witnesses enough to condemn him in that point.'—State Papers, vol: i. p. 627.
Marillac saw that a crisis was coming, and that either Cromwell or the Bishop would fall. On the 1st of June he wrote to Francis: 'The Bishop of Chichester and the Dean of the Chapel Royal, whom your Majesty may remember as ambassador at your Court, have been arrested on a charge of high treason; and with them one of the King's chaplains, a man of reputation for learning. This last is said to have been in correspondence with Rome in the times of the late marquis. The rest of the bishops are in terror. They are afraid that they also may be made out guilty; and their fate will be certain. The religious strife has become so bitter that each party will destroy their antagonists if they can. There will be prisoners enough between them by and by; and when Parliament will now end, it is impossible to say.'

[1] Hall, p. 839. The case broke down, and Sampson was afterwards restored to favour; but his escape was narrow. Sir Ralph Sadler, writing to Cromwell, said, 'I declared to the King's Majesty how the Bishop of Chichester was committed to ward to the Tower, and what answer he made to such things as were laid to his charge, which in effect was a plain denial of the chief points that touched him. His Majesty said little thereto, but that he liked him and the matter much the worse because he denied it, seeing his Majesty perceived by the examinations there were witnesses enough to condemn him in that point.'—State Papers, vol: i. p. 627.
Marillac saw that a crisis was coming, and that either Cromwell or the Bishop would fall. On the 1st of June he wrote to Francis: 'The Bishop of Chichester and the Dean of the Chapel Royal, whom your Majesty may remember as ambassador at your Court, have been arrested on a charge of high treason; and with them one of the King's chaplains, a man of reputation for learning. This last is said to have been in correspondence with Rome in the times of the late marquis. The rest of the bishops are in terror. They are afraid that they also may be made out guilty; and their fate will be certain. The religious strife has become so bitter that each party will destroy their antagonists if they can. There will be prisoners enough between them by and by; and when Parliament will now end, it is impossible to say.'

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