]

Such was the temper of England at the end of 1539. Cromwell and his
policy, the union with the German princes and the marriage with Anne
of Cleves were merely makeshifts. They stood on no surer foundation
than the passing political need of some counterpoise to the alliance
of Francis and Charles. So long as that need remained, the marriage
would hold good, and Henry would strive to dissemble; but not a moment
longer. The revolution came with startling rapidity; in April, (p. 393)
1540, Marillac, the French ambassador, reported that Cromwell was
tottering.[1088] The reason was not far to seek. No sooner had the
Emperor passed out of France, than he began to excuse himself from
fulfilling his engagements to Francis. He was resolute never to yield
Milan, for which Francis never ceased to yearn. Charles would have
found Francis a useful ally for the conquest of England, but his own
possessions were now threatened in more than one quarter, and especially
by the English and German alliance. Henry skilfully widened the breach
between the two friends, and, while professing the utmost regard for
Francis, gave Charles to understand that he vastly preferred the
Emperor's alliance to that of the Protestant princes. Before April he
had convinced himself that Charles was more bent on reducing Germany
and the Netherlands to order than on any attempt against England, and
that the abandonment of the Lutheran princes would not lead to their
combination with the Emperor and Francis. Accordingly he returned a
very cold answer when the Duke of Cleves's ambassadors came, in May,
to demand his assistance in securing for the Duke the Duchy of
Guelders.[1089]

[Footnote 1088: _L. and P._, xv., 486.]

[Footnote 1089: _Ibid._, xv., 735.]

Cromwell's fall was not, however, effected without some violent
oscillations, strikingly like the quick changes which preceded the
ruin of Robespierre during the Reign of Terror in France. The Vicegerent
had filled the Court and the Government with his own nominees; at
least half a dozen bishops, with Cranmer at their head, inclined to
his theological and political views; Lord Chancellor Audley and the
Earl of Southamton were of the same persuasion; and a small but (p. 394)
zealous band of reformers did their best, by ballads and sermons, to
prove that the people were thirsting for further religious change. The
Council, said Marillac, was divided, each party se