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146 to the honour of Charles V. that he resolved to support the Queen. She had thrown herself on his protection; but princes in such matters consider prudence more than feeling, and he could gain nothing by defending her: while, both for himself and for the Church, he risked the loss of much. He over-rated the strength of his English connection, and mistook the English character; but he was not blind to the hazard which he was incurring, and would have welcomed an escape from the dilemma perhaps as warmly as Henry would have welcomed it himself. The Pope, who well knew his feelings, told Gardiner, 'It would be for the wealth of Christendom if the Queen were in her grave; and he thought the Emperor would be thereof most glad of all;' saying, also, 'that he thought like as the Emperor had destroyed the temporalities of the Church, so should she be the destruction of the spiritualities.'

In the summer of 1528, before the disaster at Naples, Cardinal Campeggio had left Rome on his way to England, where he was to hear the cause in conjunction with Wolsey. An initial measure of this obvious kind it had been impossible to refuse; and the pretexts under which it was for many months delayed, were exhausted before the Pope's ultimate course had been made clear. to him. But Campeggio was instructed to protract his journey to its utmost length, giving time for the campaign to decide itself. He loitered into the autumn, under the excuse of gout and other convenient accidents, until the news