and Dr. Benet who
had joined him from England, pointed out the inevitable consequences if he
allowed himself to be governed by the Emperor. The Pope replied with
lamentations that none saw that better than he, but he was so placed
between the hammer and the anvil, that, though he wished to please the
King, the whole storm would fall on him. The Emperor would not endure an
insult to his family, and had said that he regarded the cause more than
all his kingdoms. Those were only ornaments of fortune, while this touched
his honour. He would postpone the advocation for a few days, but it could
not be refused. He was in the Emperor's power, and the Emperor could do as
he pleased with him.

The few days' respite meant a hope that news of some decisive act might
arrive meanwhile from England. The King must determine, Casalis and Benet
thought, whether it would be better to suspend the process at his own
request, or to proceed to sentence before the advocation.[74] The Pope,
the Commissioners added, was well disposed to the King, and would not
refuse to shed his blood for him; but in this cause and at this time he
said it was impossible.

While matters were going thus at Rome, the suit in England went forward.
The Cardinals availed themselves of every excuse for delay; but in the
presence of Catherine's determined refusal to recognise the court, delay
became daily more difficult. The King pressed for judgment; formal
obstacles were exhausted, and the Roman Legate must either produce his
last instructions, which he had been ordered not to reveal, or there was
nothing left for him to urge as a reason for further hesitation. It was
not supposed that in the face of a distinct promise the Pope would revoke
the commission. Campeggio and Wolsey were sitting with full powers to hear
and determine. Determine, it seemed, they must; when, at the fifth
session, uncalled on and unlooked for, the Bishop of Rochester rose and
addressed the court. The King, he said, had declared that his only
intention was to have justice done, and to relieve himself of a scruple of
conscience, and had invited the judges and everyone else to throw light
upon a cause which distressed and perplexed him. He [the Bishop], having
given two years' diligent study to the question, felt himself bound in
consequence to declare his opinion, and not risk the damnation of his soul
by withholding it. He undertook, therefore, to declare and demonstrate
that the marriage of