olly of his position;]

Fisher's conduct was very different; his fault had been far greater than
More's, and promises more explicit had been held out to him of
forgiveness. He replied to these promises by an elaborate and ridiculous
defence,--not writing to the king, as Cromwell desired him, but
vindicating himself as having committed no fault; although he had
listened eagerly to language which was only pardonable on the assumption
that it was inspired, and had encouraged a nest of fanatics by his
childish credulity. The Nun "had showed him not," he said, "that any
prince or temporal lord should put the king in danger of his crown." He
knew nothing of the intended insurrection. He believed the woman to have
been a saint; he supposed that she had herself told the king all which
she had told to him; and therefore he said that he had nothing for which
to reproach himself.[245] He was unable to see that the exposure of the
imposture had imparted a fresh character to his conduct, which he was
bound to regret. Knowingly or unknowingly, he had lent his countenance
to a conspiracy; and so long as he refused to acknowledge his
indiscretion, the government necessarily would interpret his actions in
the manner least to his advantage.

[Sidenote: Which Cromwell exposes,]

[Sidenote: And once more urges him to apologize.]

If he desired that his conduct should be forgotten, it was indispensable
that he should change his attitude, and so Cromwell warned him. "Ye
desire," the latter wrote, "for the passion of Christ, that ye be no
more quickened in this matter; for if ye be put to that strait ye will
not lose your soul, but ye will speak as your conscience leadeth you;
with many more words of great courage. My Lord, if ye had taken my
counsel sent unto you by your brother, and followed the same, submitting
yourself by your letter to the King's Grace for your offences in this
behalf, I would have trusted that ye should never be quickened in the
matter more. But now where ye take upon you to defy the whole matter as
ye were in no default, I cannot so far promise you. Wherefore, my Lord,
I would eftsoons advise you that, laying apart all such excuses as ye
have alleged in your letters, which in my opinion be of small effect, ye
beseech the King's Grace to be your gracious lord, and to remit unto you
your negligence, oversight, and offence committed against his Highness
in this behalf; and I dare undertake that his Highness shall benig