Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/351

1547.] they conld not safely repair thither, and now, when peace was re-established, the council had been broken up. They entreated that it might assemble again. If his Holiness consented, he would give peace to Europe and to the Church; if he refused, they would not answer for the consequences.

The language was impatient and almost menacing. Never since his accession had Paul III. yielded to entreaty, and the council, the action of which at Trent might be uncertain, was in his own dominions safe, convenient, and manageable. It was a view of things which the French, during the summer, had studiously humoured, and a difficulty was evidently looked for. Moreover, Paul was not only the chief prelate of Catholic Christendom, but he had children in a more earthly sense for whom he had the affection of an earthly father. He had dismembered the States of the Church for a favourite child, whom he had invested with the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza. Louis Farnese had distinguished his administration by atrocities unusual even in an Italian despot, and had just been murdered by his subjects. The conspirators had placed themselves under the protection of the Emperor; and Gonzaga, governor of Milan, who was believed to have been in the secret of the assassination, sent troops to Piacenza, and prevented the indignant Pope from revenging his son's death.

The wound was but a few weeks old when the