Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/349

1540.] fetched a great sigh, and spake no more 'till the conclusion, when he answered, 'he could nor would take any other opinion of his Highness but as his loving brother and friend should do;' for the particular matter, 'his Highness's conscience must be judge therein.'

'The Emperor,' wrote the resident Pate, 'when I declared my commission, gave me good air, with one gesture and countenance throughout, saving that suddenly, as I touched the pith of the matter, thereupon he steadfastly cast his eye upon me a pretty while, and then interrupting me, demanded what the causes were of the doubts concerning the marriage with the daughter of Cleves.' Pate was not commissioned to enter into details; and Charles, at the end, contented himself with sending his hearty recommendations, and expressing his confidence that, as the King was wise, so he was sure he would do nothing 'which should not be to the dischargeof his conscience and the tranquillity of his realm.' In confidence, a few days later, he avowed a hope that all would now go well in England; the enormities of the past had been due to the pernicious influence of Cromwell; or were 'beside the King's pleasure or knowledge, being a prince,' the Emperor said, 'no less godly brought up than endued and imbued with so many virtuous qualities as whom all blasts and storms could never alter nor move, but as vice might alter true virtue.' On the whole, the impression left by the affair on the Continent was that Henry 'had lost the hearts