st crieth out of Cambridge for this act, and specially
on me; but I must bear it as well as I may. I have lost a benefice by it,
which I should have had within these ten days; for there hath one fallen in
Mr. Throgmorton's[283] gift which he hath faithfully promised unto me many
a time, but now his mind is turned and alienate from me. If ye go to court
after Easter I pray you have me in remembrance. Mr. Latimer preacheth
still,--quod aemuli ejus graviter ferunt.

"Thus fare you well. Your own to his power,
WILLIAM BUCKMASTER.[284]
Cambridge, Monday after Easter, 1530."

It does not appear that Cambridge was pressed further, and we may,
therefore, allow it to have acquitted itself creditably, If we sum up the
results of Cranmer's measure as a whole, it may be said that opinions had
been given by about half Europe directly or indirectly unfavourable to the
papal claims; and that, therefore, the king had furnished himself with a
legal pretext for declining the jurisdiction of the court of Rome, and
appealing to a general council. Objections to the manner in which the
opinions had been gained could be answered by recriminations equally just;
and in the technical aspect of the question a step had certainly been
gained. It will be thought, nevertheless, on wider grounds, that the
measure was a mistake; that it would have been far better if the legal
labyrinth had never been entered, and if the divorce had been claimed only
upon those considerations of policy for which it had been first demanded,
and which formed the true justification of it. Not only might a shameful
chapter of scandal have been spared out of the world's history, but the
point on which the battle was being fought lay beside the real issue.
Europe was shaken with intrigue, hundreds of books were written, and tens
of thousands of tongues were busy for twelve months weaving logical
subtleties, and all for nothing. The truth was left unspoken because it was
not convenient to speak it, and all parties agreed to persuade themselves
and accept one another's persuasions, that they meant something which they
did not mean. Beyond doubt the theological difficulty really affected the
king. We cannot read his own book[285] upon it without a conviction that
his arguments were honestly urged, that his misgivings were real, and that
he meant every word which he said. Yet it is clear at the same time that
these misgivings would not have been satisfied, if all the wisdom of th