Bonner was gone he had a last interview with the pope, in which he urged
upon him the necessity of complying with Henry's demands; and the pope on
this occasion said that he was satisfied that the King of England was
right; that his cause was good; and that he had only to acknowledge the
papal jurisdiction by some formal act, to find sentence immediately
pronounced in his favour. Except for his precipitation, and his refusal to
depute a proxy to plead for him, his wishes would have been complied with
long before. In the existing posture of affairs, and after the measures
which had been passed in England with respect to the see of Rome, he
himself, the pope said, could not make advances without some kind of
submission; but a single act of acknowledgment was all which he
required.[630]

Extraordinary as it must seem, the pope certainly bound himself by this
engagement: and who can tell with what intention? To believe him sincere
and to believe him false seems equally impossible. If he was persuaded that
Henry's cause _was_ good, why did he in the following year pronounce
finally for Catherine? why had he imperilled so needlessly the interests of
the papacy in England? why had his conduct from the beginning pointed
steadily to the conclusion at which he at last arrived? and why throughout
Europe were the ultramontane party, to a man, on Catherine's side? On the
other hand, what object at such a time can be conceived for falsehood? Can
we suppose that he designed to dupe Henry into submission by a promise
which he had predetermined to break? It is hard to suppose even Clement
capable of so elaborate an act of perfidy; and it is, perhaps, idle to
waste conjectures on the motives of a weak, much-agitated man. He was,
probably, but giving a fresh example of his disposition to say at each
moment whatever would be most agreeable to his hearers. This was his
unhappy habit, by which he earned for himself a character for dishonesty, I
labour to think, but half deserved.

If, however, Clement meant to deceive, he succeeded, undoubtedly, in
deceiving the French king. Francis, in communicating to Henry the language
which the pope had used, entreated him to reconsider his resolution. The
objection to pleading at Rome might be overcome; for the pope would meet
him in a middle course. Judges could be appointed, who should sit at
Cambray, and pass a sentence in condemnation of the original marriage; with
a definite promise that their se