rke may yet see the folly of remaining
obstinate, and may consent at the last to submit as the others have
done!"

"Have all done so?"

"There is Dalaber yet to win," answered the dean, "and there are a
few more--Sumner for one, and Radley for another--who have not
given the assurance yet. If Clarke would submit, they would do so
instantly; but they are near to him in the prison, and they can
speak with each other, and so they hang together as yet, and what
he does they will do. But their peril is not so great as his. The
bishop has not named any, save Garret, Ferrar, and Clarke, as the
victims of the extreme penalty of the law. Dalaber may well be
included if he remains obdurate, and therefore I am greatly
concerned that he should be persuaded.

"Think you that you can work upon him, were I to win you permission
to see him? I have heard that you did visit him awhile since, when
he was kept less strictly than is now the case. What was his frame
of mind then? and what hopes have you of leading him to a better
one?"

Arthur sat considering awhile, and then said:

"Dalaber is one of those upon whom none can rightly reckon. At one
moment he will be adamant, at another yielding and pliable. One day
his soul will be on fire, and nothing would move him; but in
another mood he would listen and weigh every argument, and might be
easily persuaded. One thing is very sure: gentleness would prevail
with him a thousand times more than harshness. A friend might
prevail where a foe would have no chance. I will gladly visit him,
and do what I can; but I would fain, if it might he accorded, see
Master Garret first, and take word to Dalaber of mine own knowledge
that he has promised submission."

The dean considered awhile, and then rose to his feet.

"Come, then," he said. "It is not known in Oxford yet; but the
cardinal has sent Garret here to me, to be kept in close ward till
the day of the reconciliation, now at hand. This is what is to take
place. The men who have been excommunicated and set in ward, but
who are ready to make submission, will be brought to trial a few
days hence, and will sign their recantation, as we call it, to the
cardinal, in the presence of the judges, who will then order them
to take part in this act of penance, after which they will be
admitted once more to communion, and have liberty to resume their
studies, or to return to their homes and friends, as best pleases
them. Thus we trust to purge Oxfor