"Grant, O God, that I may punish Thine enemies, and everywhere dash
in pieces the guilty!"
"Amen!" said Gardiner, as he repeated with solemn earnestness the
king's words.
"Send us the thunderbolt of Thy wrath," prayed Wriothesley, "that we
may teach the world to recognize Thy power and glory!"
Earl Douglas took care not to pray aloud. What he had to request of
God was not allowed to reach the ear of the king.
"Grant, O God," prayed he in his heart, "grant that my work may
prosper, and that this dangerous queen may ascend the scaffold, to
make room for my daughter, who is destined to bring back into the
arms of our holy mother, the Church--guilty and faithless king."
"Now my lords," said the king, fetching a long breath, "now tell me
how stand matters in my kingdom, and at my court?"
"Badly," said Gardiner. "Unbelief again lifts up its head. It is a
hydra. If you strike off one of its heads, two others immediately
spring up in its place. This cursed sect of reformists and atheists
multiplies day by day, and our prisons are no longer sufficient to
contain them; and when we drag them to the stake, their joyful and
courageous death always makes fresh proselytes and fresh apostates."
"Yes, matters are bad," said the Lord Chancellor Wriothesley; "in
vain have we promised pardon and forgiveness to all those who would
return penitent and contrite; they laugh to scorn our offers of
pardon, and prefer a death of torture to the royal clemency.
Pages:
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181