Page:The religious life of King Henry VI.djvu/125

Rh turned his mind or his will from the "zeal of filial devotion, reverence and affection, with which, following in the footsteps of my predecessors, as a devoted son of the Church, I intend to uphold all who labour for Holy Mother Church and its prosperity and peace."

He desires nothing more on earth than peace, and he prays that the grace of the Holy Spirit may inspire and enlighten the minds and hearts of the Fathers at Basle to help to calm the dangerous storm and to assist in bringing the bark of Peter into a port of safety.

In 1438 the Pope convoked the Council of Florence, and the following year the English King expressed himself delighted to hear that the union of the Greeks had been effected on the 5th July. The opposition of the disloyal party at Basle, however, still continued, and Henry wrote again to Pope Eugenius. "If this continues," he says, "Christian princes should come together and with their united forces rally to the support of your Holiness and the Chair of Peter; leaving no means untried to secure pacific unity. Lest there should be any doubt whatever of the filial sincerity of our adherence to and our