he emperor's advancement; seeming to be at the pope's
commandment to come or tarry as he or his cardinals shall appoint; and to
depend upon his pleasure when to meet--that is to say, when he list or
never. If our good brother and we were either suitors to make request, the
obtaining whereof we did much set by, or had any particular matter of
advantage to entreat with him, these proceedings might be the better
tolerated; but our good brother having no particular matter of his own, and
being ... that [no] more glory nor surety could happen to the emperour than
to obtain the effect of the three articles moved by the pope and his
cardinals, we think it not convenient to attend the pleasure of the pope,
to go or to abyde. We could have been content to have received and taken at
the pope's hand, jointly with our good brother, pleasure and friendship in
our great cause; [but] on the other part, we cannot esteem the pope's part
so high, as to have our good brother an attendant suitor therefore ...
desiring him, therefore, in anywise to disappoint for his part the said
interview; and if he have already granted thereto--upon some new good
occasion, which he now undoubtedly hath--to depart from the same.

"For we, ye may say, having the justness of our cause for us, with such an
entire and whole consent of our nobility and commons of our realm and
subjects, and being all matters passed, and in such terms as they now be,
do not find such lack and want of that the pope might do, with us or
against us, as we would for the obtaining thereof be contented to have a
French king our so perfect a friend, to be not only a mediator but a suitor
therein, and a suitor attendant to have audience upon liking and after the
advice of such cardinals as repute it among pastymes to play and dally with
kings and princes; whose honour, ye may say, is above all things, and more
dear to us in the person of our good brother, than is any piece of our
cause at the pope's hands. And therefore, if there be none other thing but
our cause, and the other causes whereof we be advertised, our advice,
counsel, special desire also and request is, [that our good brother shall]
break off the interview, unless the pope will make suit to him; and
[unless] our said good brother hath such causes of his own as may
particularly tend to his own benefit, honour, and profit--wherein he shall
do great and singular pleasure unto us; _giving to understand to the pope,
that me know