eave that point out
in order to carry the others, provided the King did not require him
directly to countenance what he had done. As to the Princess, care would
have to be taken not to compromise the honour of the late Queen, or the
legitimacy and rights of her daughter. If her father would not consent to
recognise formally her claim on the succession, that too might be left in
suspense till the King's death; and Charles was willing to undertake that,
as long as Henry lived, no action was to be taken against him, and none
permitted to be taken on the part of any one, not even of the Pope, to
punish him for his treatment of Catherine--not though her end had been
hastened, as some suspected, by sinister means. A marriage could be
arranged for Mary between the King and the Emperor; and, should the King
himself decide to abandon the Concubine and marry again in a fit and
convenient manner, Chapuys was to offer no opposition, and the Emperor
said that he would not object to help him in conformity with the
treaty.[385]

It was obvious to everyone that, if Henry separated from Anne, an
immediate marriage with some other person would follow. Charles was
already weighing the possibility, and when the event occurred it will be
seen that he lost not a moment in endeavouring to secure Henry's hand for
another of his own relations. Princes and statesmen are not scrupulous in
arranging their political alliances, but, considering all that had
happened and all that was about to happen, the readiness of Charles V. to
bestow a second kinswoman on the husband of Queen Catherine may be taken
to prove that his opinion of Henry's character was less unfavourable than
that which is generally given by historians.

Cromwell had been premature in allowing a prospect of the restoration of
the Papal authority in England. Charles, in his eagerness to smooth
matters, had suggested that a way might be found to leave the King the
reality of the supremacy, while the form was left to the Pope. But no such
arrangement was really possible, and Henry had gone on with his
legislative measures against the Church as if no treaty was under
consideration. Parliament had met again, and had passed an Act for the
suppression of the smaller monasteries. That the Emperor should be suing
to him for an alliance while he was excommunicated by the Pope, and was
deliberately pursuing a policy which was exasperating his own clergy, was
peculiarly agreeable to Henry, and h