Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/94

74 questions which only the successor of St Peter may resolve. Bespect the sacredness of the property of the Church. Lay down your arms, and refer your quarrel with France to the arbitration of the council. Revoke your concessions, or—cost us what it may—we must ourselves come forward, armed with the authority which God has given us, and act towards you as we shall regret that you have compelled us to act. We for ourselves shall at least have escaped the crime of Eli; and for yourself consider whether you will assist the efforts of the Father of Christendom to re-establish order and tranquillity, or lend yourself to those whose labour is to rend in pieces the Church of God.'

To the arguments of this letter no one who desired to retain the name of a Catholic prince could reply; and arriving at a moment when the admonitions which it contained coincided with the suggestions of interest, it may well have persuaded the Emperor that he might lawfully pursue a line of action which worldly honour might condemn, but religion would emphatically approve. The Pope and the Catholic ministers by whom Charles was surrounded would have replied, if interrogated on the point of conscience, that, as it was a sin to enter an alliance with England, so it was a duty to break from it even at the expense of perjury. The Catholic world must have united in the same conclusion, in proportion to the earnestness and consistency with which they adhered to their faith; and though Charles