sleep. The question of the succession to the crown
having been made so prominent, it would, and must, sooner or later, come
before the Legislature to be settled, and had already become a topic of
general consideration and anxiety. Mary's legitimacy had been impugned.
Falieri, writing from London and reporting what he heard in society, said
that "by English law females were excluded from the throne." Custom might
say so, for no female had, in fact, ever sat on the throne; but enacted
law or rule there was none: it was only one uncertainty the more. At any
rate, Falieri said that the King had determined to go on with the divorce,
that he might have a legitimate male heir.

Henry's experience of Clement had taught him that he need not fear any
further immediate steps. The advocation of the cause implied of itself a
desire for longer delay, and, with more patience than might have been
looked for in such a disappointment, he had resolved to wait for what the
Pope would do. That an English sovereign should plead before the Rota at
Rome was, of course, preposterous. The suggestion of it was an insult. But
other means might be found. He had himself proposed Cambray as a neutral
spot for a first commission; he really believed that the Pope was at
heart on his side, and therefore did not wish to quarrel with him. When
Campeggio was leaving England the King wrote to Clement more politely than
might have been expected. He did not insist that the English commission
should be renewed.

"We could have wished," he said, "not less for your sake than our own,
that all things had been so expedited as corresponded to our expectation,
not rashly conceived, but according to your promises. As it is, we have to
regard with grief and wonder the incredible confusion which has arisen. If
a Pope can relax Divine laws at his pleasure, surely he has as much power
over human laws. We have been so often deceived by your Holiness's
promises that no dependence can be placed on them. Our dignity has not
been consulted in the treatment which we have met with. If your Holiness
will keep the cause now advoked to Rome in your own hands, until it can be
decided by impartial judges, and in an indifferent place, in a manner
satisfactory to our scruples, we will forget what is past, and repay
kindness by kindness."[94]

As the Pope had professed to be ignorant of the extent of his dispensing
power, the King proposed to submit this part of the question to the ca