Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/300

280 acted, leaning for support, meanwhile, on the arm of a powerful prince.

To these dark hints Mary ever listened eagerly. Meantime she was harassed painfully from another quarter.

Reginald Pole, as might have been expected from his temperament, could ill endure the delay of his return to England. The hesitation of the Queen and the objections of the Emperor were grounded upon arguments which he assured himself were fallacious; the English nation, he continued to insist, was devoted to the Holy See; so far from being himself unpopular, the Cornish in the rebellion under Edward had petitioned for his recall, and had even designated him by the forbidden name of Cardinal; they loved him and they longed for him; and, regarding himself as the chosen instrument of Providence to repair the iniquities of Henry VIII., he held the obstructions to his return not only to be mistaken, but to be impious. The duty of the returning prodigal was to submit; to lay aside all earthly considerations—to obey God, God's vicegerent the Pope, and himself the Pope's representative.

Mendoza had been sent by Charles to meet Pole on his way to Flanders, and reason him into moderation. In return the legate wrote himself to Charles's confessor, commanding him to explain to his master the sin which he was committing. 'The objection to his going to England,' as Pole understood, 'was the supposed danger of an outbreak. Were the truth as the Emperor feared, the Queen's first duty would be, nevertheless, to God,