Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/601

1543.] it was to the purpose, and would secure Sadler's safety.

For the rest, the King would waste no more time in recrimination or argument. 'When words and writings confirmed solemnly by oath would not serve,' he said, 'such unfaithful people must be constrained to know their duties.' He sent orders to Berwick for ten thousand men at once to enter Scotland, and, if possible, to march on the capital. It was the middle of September, and in favourable weather there would have been still a month for active operations. But the autumn had been rainy; the roads were impracticable for the movements of so large a force; and on the representation of Sir Thomas Wharton, Sir Ralph Evers, and others, the invasion was postponed to the spring. The Cardinal had the winter before him to prepare, and as falsehood cost him nothing, he thought it worth his while to practise even further with English simplicity. After making various efforts to obtain a private audience, he at last secured the English ambassador alone, and expressed his deep regret that he should have offended the King. His conduct had been misunderstood; his motives had been misrepresented. There was no prince in the world, he said, whose favour he desired so much as the King's Majesty's; and no one in Scotland would do more than than he would do, saving his allegiance, to further the wishes of the English Government. If his own persuasions could effect anything, the whole nobility and clergy of the realm should concur in the execution of the treaties.