he would have me wait.  I came thither and he both; and by one of the clock the king entered in.  It was in a gallery.  There were Mr. Secretary, Mr. Provost, Mr. Latimer, Mr. Proctor, and I, and no more.  The king then talked with us until six of the clock.  I assure you he was scarce contented with Mr. Secretary and Mr. Provost, that this was not also determined, an Papa possit dispensare.  I made the best, and confirmed the same that they had shewed his Grace before; and how it would never have been so obtained.  He opened his mind, saying he would have it determined after Easter, and of the same was counselled awhile.

“Much other communication we had, which were too long here to recite.  Then his Highness departed, casting a little holy water of the court; and I shortly after took my leave of Mr. Secretary and Mr. Provost, with whom I did not drink, nor yet was bidden, and on the morrow departed from thence, thinking more than I did say, and being glad that I was out of the court, where many men, as I did both hear and perceive, did wonder at me.  And here shall be an end for this time of this fable.

“All the world almost crieth out of Cambridge for this act, and specially on me; but I must bear it as well 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[283] 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 aemuli ejus graviter ferunt.

“Thus fare you well.  Your own to his power,
WILLIAM BUCKMASTER.[284]
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 upon those considerations of policy for which it had been first demanded, and which formed the true justification of it.  Not only might a shameful chapter of scandal have been spared out of the world’s history, but the point on which the battle was being fought lay beside the real issue.  Europe was shaken with intrigue, hundreds of books were written, and tens of thousands