Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/272

252 perfect. The German commission was as expeditious as the Spanish had been dilatory. To allay any uneasiness which might remain with respect to the Six Articles, and to furnish a convincing evidence of the toleration which was practised, Dr Barnes was sent over as one of the English representatives; and he carried with him the comforting assurance that the persecution had been terminated, and that the Gospel had free way. His assertions were afterwards confirmed by unsuspicious and independent evidence. 'There is no persecution,' wrote a Protestant in London, a few months later, to Bullinger. 'The Word is powerfully preached. Books of every kind may safely be exposed to sale.' 'Good pastors,' wrote another, 'are freely preaching the truth, nor has any notice been taken of them on account of the articles.' Even the Elector of Saxony, jealous and distrustful as he had ever been of Henry, was so far satisfied as to write to him that he understood 'the sharpness of the decree of the Six Articles to be modified by the wisdom and moderation of his Highness, and the execution of it not put in use.'

All promised well; but it is not to be supposed that Cromwell was allowed without resistance to paralyze a measure which had been carried by an almost unanimous Parliament. More than half the privy council, the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Bishops of