[48] A MS. copy of this book, apparently the original which was sent by Pole, is preserved among the _Records_ in the Rolls House, scored and underlined in various places, perhaps by members of the Privy Council. A comparison of the MS. with the printed version, shows that the whole work was carefully rewritten for publication, and that various calumnies in detail, which have derived their weight from being addressed directly to the king, in what appeared to be a private communication by a credible accuser--which have, therefore, been related without hesitation by late writers as ascertained facts--are not in the first copy. So long as Pole was speaking only to the king, he prudently avoided statements which might be immediately contradicted, and confined himself to general invective. When he gave his book to the world he poured into it the indiscriminate slanders which were floating in popular rumour. See _Appendix_ to the Fourth Volume. [49] Partus Naturæ laborantis. [50] Populus enim regem procreat. [51] In the printed copy the king is here accused of having intrigued with Mary Boleyn before his marriage with Anne. See _Appendix_. [52] Elsewhere in his letters Pole touches on this string. If England is to be recovered, he is never weary of saying, it must be recovered at once, while the generation survives which has been educated in the Catholic faith. The poison of heresy is instilled with so deadly skill into schools and churches, into every lesson which the English youth are taught, that in a few years the evil will be past cure. He was altogether right. The few years in fact were made to pass before Pole and his friends were able to interfere; and then it _was_ too late; the prophecy was entirely verified. But, indeed, the most successful preachers of the Reformation were neither Cranmer nor Parker, Cromwell nor Burleigh, Henry nor Elizabeth, but Pole himself and the race of traitors who followed him. [53] These paragraphs are a condensation of five pages of invective. [54] Reginald Pole to the King, Venice, May 27. MS. _penes me_. Instructions to one whom he sent to King Henry by Reginald Pole.--Burnet's _Collectanea_, p. 478. [55] Starkey to Pole: Strype's _Memorials_, Vol. II. p. 282.