Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/567

1550.] The Bishop said that he had been treated with injustice; but, for that matter, he was ready to let the past be the past: as to the Prayer-book, if he accepted it as a prisoner, it would seem as if he had accepted it under constraint; he desired them, however, to leave the book with him; he would examine it, and give them an answer. They complied, and after a few days they returned. The Bishop then told them that, if he had had the making of the book, he would not pretend that he would have made it as it was; but the doctrine of the real presence being recognized, his conscience was satisfied; he would obey the law, and do his best to make his clergy obey. This seemed to be enough. He was weary with his imprisonment, he said. They promised that it should not last any longer; in two days he should be free. The rumours of his approaching liberation spread over London; he himself gave his farewell dinner at the Tower; and the Duke of Somerset, had it rested with him, would have kept his word.

But it was the misfortune of Somerset that he could not do one thing at a time; or, perhaps, in making the promise, he had exceeded his powers. The connection of Warwick with the ultra-Protestants created on his part an extreme unwillingness to see Gardiner again at liberty. Somerset was exerting himself at the same time to obtain the pardon of two of the Arundels, who had been concerned in the Cornwall insurrection. He had taken the part of the Earl of Arundel, who was in disgrace and had been fined; and Warwick's faction