Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/522

502 that you will assist her in her general difficulties, as a good lord and husband ought to do.

'The council must be reformed, if possible, and the number diminished; those who remain must be invited to renew their oaths to your Majesty. Regard must be had to the navy, and especially to the admiral Lord William Howard; and above all there must be no more of this barbarous precipitancy in putting heretics to death. The people must be won from their errors by gentleness and by better instruction. Except in cases of especial scandal, the bishops must not be permitted to irritate them by cruelty, and the legate must see that a better example is set by the clergy themselves. The debts of the Crown must be attended to; and your Majesty should endeavour to do something which will give you popularity with the masses. Before all things, attend to the succession.

'You cannot set aside the dispositions of King Henry in favour of Elizabeth without danger of rebellion. To recognize her as heir-presumptive without providing her with a husband, who can control her, will be perilous to the Queen. The mean course between the