Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/521

1542.] gales to navigate his own vessel securely, listened, so long as they were offered, to counter-overtures from France. The French Court was divided into two factions, one of them the Ultramontanists, the party of the Constable Montmorency, the Chancellor, and the Guises, hating England and the Reformation, inclined to the Pope, and opposed to the war with the Empire; the other the party of the Admiral de Bryon, the Queen of Navarre, and the Duchess d'Estampes, who were more than inclining to Protestantism, and would have had Francis follow the example of Henry, and declare the independence of the Gallican Church. Francis alternately gave his ear to one set of advisers or the other, as suited his convenience, reserving his own opinions and playing upon theirs. He used the Catholics to keep England separate from Scotland, to protect Romanist refugees, to shuffle over his debts, to 'engrieve' the petty differences at Calais; but the Catholics discouraged his designs on Milan, and therefore it was necessary to goad them forward with dread of worse evil than a breach with Charles; and their liberal opponents were permitted to suggest to Henry a marriage between the Lady Mary and the Duke of Orleans.

When a scheme bears no fruit we can but conjecture whether fruit was seriously expected from it: yet, the proposals for this marriage were laid out with a show of serious intentions; the conditions were discussed; the English privy council applied to the King to learn whether the separation of France from