“That the Kings of England, our predecessors, those illustrious champions of Christ, those defenders of the Faith, those” [listen!] “zealous asserters of the rights of the Holy Roman Church, and devout observers of her commands, that they or we should deserve this unkindness, we neither know nor believe.  And though, for this very reason many do say—­though we say not so—­that this aiding of our enemies against us, seems neither the act of a father nor of a mother towards us, but rather of a stepmother; yet this notwithstanding, we constantly avow that we are” [remember, it is still the King of England speaking], “and shall continue to be, to your Holiness and to your seat, a devout and humble son, and not a step-son”.

Can any one imagine greater reverence or greater loyalty to the Vicar of Christ than is shown forth in these words?  Can you, dear readers, by any stretch of the imagination, conceive any one who is not a Roman Catholic giving vent to such sentiments as are here expressed?  Have words lost their plain meaning for the Bishop of London, and for those who (we must in charity suppose, blindly) follow him?

The letter is a long one, and we need not transcribe the whole of it, but we will offer for your consideration just one more paragraph.  The King writes:  “Your Holiness best knows the measure of good and just, in whose hands are the keys to open and to shut the gates of heaven on earth, as the fulness of your power and the excellence of your judicature requires....  We being ready to receive information of the truth, from your sacred tribunal, which is over all,” etc.

Observe these words were written over five hundred years ago, long before the present Anglican Establishment was so much as dreamed of; yet, even if King Edward III. had actually foreseen the craze that would seize Anglicans of to-day to prove that he, and his subjects were not loyal Roman Catholics, he could not have expressed his Catholicity and his loyalty to the Vicar of Christ in more unmistakable or in more explicit terms.

Whom shall we believe?  King Edward III. himself, who, in the above words, declares he is a staunch Roman Catholic, and an obedient son of the Pope, ready to defend his rights against all, or the present Bishop of London, who declares he was not?

There is one sentence in the King’s letter which is especially worthy of consideration, as it is so pregnant with meaning.  We refer to the following:  knowing that “your Holiness presides over every creature, which to deny is heresy”.

You will observe that the King not only believes, but that he here practically makes an explicit profession of faith in the spiritual supremacy of St. Peter and his successors, the Popes.  In fact, he not only admits and confesses the Pope’s supremacy to be true, which is one thing, but he declares it to be a revealed truth, taught by Our Blessed Lord Himself, which is a great deal more.  How does he do this?  Suffer us to explain.