sehold. Either, therefore, the act was not worth the parchment on which
it was written, or the penalties of it must be enforced: no middle way, no
compromise, no acquiescent reservations, could in such a case be admitted.
The law must have its way.

The recusants were committed for four days to the keeping of the Abbot of
Westminster; and the council met to determine on the course to be pursued.
Their offence, by the act, was misprision of treason. On the other hand,
they had both offered to acknowledge the Princess Elizabeth as the lawful
heir to the throne; and the question was raised whether this offer should
be accepted. It was equivalent to a demand that the form should be altered,
not for them only, but for every man. If persons of their rank and
notoriety were permitted to swear with a qualification, the same privilege
must be conceded to all. But there was so much anxiety to avoid
extremities, and so warm a regard was personally felt for Sir Thomas More,
that this objection was not allowed to be fatal. It was thought that
possibly an exception might be made, yet kept a secret from the world; and
the fact that they had sworn under any form might go far to silence
objectors and reconcile the better class of the disaffected.[717] This view
was particularly urged by Cranmer, always gentle, hoping, and
illogical.[718] But, in fact, secresy was impossible. If More's discretion
could have been relied upon, Fisher's babbling tongue would have trumpeted
his victory to all the winds. Nor would the government consent to pass
censure on its own conduct by evading the question whether the act was or
was not just. If it was not just, it ought not to be: maintained at all; if
it was just, there must be no respect of persons.

The clauses to which the bishop and the ex-chancellor declined to bind
themselves were those which declared illegal the marriage of the king with
Catherine, and the marriage legal between the king and Queen Anne. To
refuse these was to declare Mary legitimate, to declare Elizabeth
illegitimate, and would do more to strengthen Mary's claims than could be
undone by a thousand oaths. However large might be More's estimate of the
power of parliament, he could have given no clear answer--and far less
could Fisher have given a clear answer--if they had been required to say
the part which they would take, should the emperor invade the kingdom under
the pope's sanction. The emperor would come to execute a sentence