not yet been declared[144] against him by Henry; nor was he anxious himself to precipitate a quarrel from which, if possible, he would gladly escape.  He had a powerful party in England, which it was unwise to alienate by hasty, injudicious measures; and he could gain all which he himself desired by a simple policy of obstruction.  His object was merely to protract the negotiation and prevent a decision, in the hope either that Henry would be wearied into acquiescence, or that Catherine herself would retire of her own accord, or, finally, that some happy accident might occur to terminate the difficulty.  It is, indeed, much to the honour of Charles V. that he resolved to support the queen.  She had thrown herself on his protection; but princes in such matters consider prudence more than feeling, and he could gain nothing by defending her:  while, both for himself and for the church he risked the loss of much.  He over-rated the strength of his English connection, and mistook the English character; but he was not blind to the hazard which he was incurring, and would have welcomed an escape from the dilemma perhaps as warmly as Henry would have welcomed it himself.  The pope, who well knew his feelings, told Gardiner, “It would be for the wealth of Christendom if the queen were in her grave; and he thought the emperor would be thereof most glad of all;” saying, also, “that he thought like as the emperor had destroyed the temporalities of the church, so should she be the destruction of the spiritualities."[145]

In the summer of 1528, before the disaster at Naples, Cardinal Campeggio had left Rome on his way to England, where he was to hear the cause in conjunction with Wolsey.  An initial measure of this obvious kind it had been impossible to refuse; and the pretexts under which it was for many months delayed, were exhausted before the pope’s ultimate course had been made clear to him.  But Campeggio was instructed to protract his journey to its utmost length, giving time for the campaign to decide itself.  He loitered into the autumn, under the excuse of gout and other convenient accidents, until the news reached him of De Lautrec’s death, which took place on the 21st of August; and then at length proceeding, he betrayed to Francis I., on passing through Paris, that he had no intention of allowing judgment to be passed upon the cause.[146] Even Wolsey was beginning to tremble at what he had attempted, and was doubtful of success.[147] The seeming relief came in time, for Henry’s patience was fast running out.  He had been over-persuaded into a course which he had never cordially approved.  The majority of the council, especially the Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Suffolk, were traditionally imperial, and he himself might well doubt whether he might not have found a nearer road out of his difficulties by adhering to Charles.  Charles, after all, was not ruining the papacy, and had no intention of ruining it; and his lightest word weighed more at the court