ocess was threatened, had written earnestly to deprecate such a
measure;[157] and though he took the interference "very
displeasantly,"[158] the pope could not afford to lose, by premature
impatience, the fruit of all his labour and diplomacy, and had yielded
so far as to promise that nothing of moment should be done. To this
state of mind he had been brought one day in the second week of June.
The morning after, Bennet found him "sore altered." The news of "my Lord
of Canterbury's proceedings" had arrived the preceding night; and "his
Holiness said that [such] doings were too sore for him to stand still at
and do nothing."[159] It was "against his duty towards God and the world
to tolerate them." The imperialist cardinals, impatient before,
clamoured that the evil had been caused by the dilatory timidity with
which the case had been handled from the first.[160] The consistory sate
day after day with closed doors;[161] and even such members of it had
before inclined to the English side, joined in the common indignation.
"Some extreme process" was instantly looked for, and the English agents,
in their daily interviews with the pope, were forced to listen to
language which it was hard to bear with equanimity. Bennet's well-bred
courtesy carried him successfully through the difficulty; his companion
Bonner was not so fortunate. Bonner's tongue was insolent, and under bad
control. He replied to menace by impertinence; and on one occasion was
so exasperating, that Clement threatened to burn him alive, or boil him
in a caldron of lead.[162] When fairly roused, the old man was
dangerous; and the future Bishop of London wrote to England in
extremity of alarm. His letter has not been found, but the character of
it may be perceived from the reassuring reply of the king. The agents,
Henry said, were not to allow themselves to be frightened; they were to
go on calmly, with their accustomed diligence and dexterity, disputing
the ground from point to point, and trust to him. Their cause was good,
and, with God's help, he would be able to defend them from the malice of
their adversaries.[163]

[Sidenote: The consistory cools into prudence.]

[Sidenote: July 12. The pope declares the divorce illegal, and commands
Henry to cancel the process. If he fails to obey, he is declared
excommunicated.]

Fortunately for Bonner, the pope's passion was of brief duration, and
the experiment whether Henry's arm could reach to the dungeons of the