Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/353

1547.] for them that the removal from Trent had been the act of a majority, and was therefore legal. If they were to return, their Spanish brethren, who had remained behind, must first submissively rejoin them; they must have a promise further that no secular power should interfere with their freedom of debate; that the Lutherans should submit without reserve; and, finally, that they should be at liberty to leave Trent again, should it seem at any time desirable to them.

The unpromising reply was transmitted to Charles, and once more he despatched a protest both to Bologna and to Rome. He had done his best for the Catholic religion, he said, and the prelates of the council had done their worst. The Germans had promised to acknowledge them if they sat anywhere but in Italy. In the Papal dominions their assembly was an illusion and a pretence. For the last time he insisted that they should return to Trent, or on them would rest the guilt of the misfortunes which they were dragging down upon Christendom. The fathers replied, like themselves, that they were met in the name of the Holy Ghost, that the Emperor was the son of the Church, not the master of it, and that secular magistrates must not dictate to the ministers of Christ. The Pope, equally determined, shielded himself behind equivocation, and affected to hold out hopes of arrangement; but his insincerity was transparent; and Charles, exasperated