Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/93

1544.] who have paid honour to the Church, and have respected the rights of the holy priesthood—princes such as Constantine was, as Theodosius was, as Charlemagne was.

'For the rest, we will not speak now of Nero, of Domitian, or of the persecutors—but princes in later times have set themselves in opposition to the Popes, and what has been their fate? Anastasius, Maurice, Henry IV., Frederick II., have borne witness, all of them, in their miserable ends, to the truth and power of the Almighty. Bad sovereigns, it may be, have sometimes seemed to prosper, in the opinion of the Fathers, lest, if all men were to suffer their just deserts in this world, it might be thought that there was no retribution elsewhere. But the heaviest judgment is the permission to sin and to appear to prosper. May your Majesty beware in time: you as yet are not given over to evil, but tremble at the future which may await you. Take example from Constantine, who, when desired to arbitrate among the bishops, refused to judge those who had power to judge all men. You desire a reformation in the Church. It is well. But your place is to assist, not to originate. We, too, desire reformation. We have laboured for a council—God knows how earnestly. We have failed; but we shall persevere. A council alone will heal the wounds of Christendom; and for a council there must be peace, which we implore your Majesty to grant. You have been our dearest child: as a tender parent, we counsel you for your own good. Assume to yourself no functions which do not belong to you. Forbid the Diet of the Empire to touch