the king, but by one of themselves, Tonstall, bishop of Durham.[250] He ran no risk of contradicting himself. In spite of this ill-will, the Germans remained not only one month but two. Their conduct, like that of Cranmer, was upright, devoted, noble, and Christian; while the bishops of London and Durham and their friends, clever men no doubt, were souls of a lower cast, who strove to escape by chicanery from the free discussion proposed to them, and passed off their knavery as prudence. [Sidenote: DEPARTURE OF THE GERMANS.] The German doctors had now nothing more to do. They had offered the hand and it had been rejected. The vessel which was to convey them was waiting. They were exhausted with fatigue; and one of them, Myconius, whom the English climate appeared not to suit, was very ill. They set out at the beginning of October, and gave an account of their mission to their sovereigns and to Melanchthon. The latter thought that, considering the affection which the king displayed towards him, he might, if he intervened at this time, do something to incline the balance the right way. He therefore wrote to Henry VIII. a remarkable letter, in which, after expressing his warm gratitude for the king's good-will, he added:--'I commend to you, Sire, the cause of the Christian religion. Your majesty knows that the principal duty of sovereigns is to protect and propagate the heavenly doctrine,[251] and for this reason God gives them the same name as his own, saying to them, _Ye are gods_ (Ps. lxxxii. 6). My earnest desire is to see a true agreement, so far as regards the doctrine of piety, established between all the churches which condemn Roman tyranny, an agreement which should cause the glory of God to shine forth, should induce the other nations to unite with us and maintain peace in the churches.' Melanchthon was right as to the last point; but was he right as to the office he assigned to kings? In his view it was a heroic action to take up arms for the church.[252] But what church was it necessary to protect and extend sword in hand? Catholic princes, assuredly, drew the sword against the Protestants rather than the Protestants against the Catholics. The most heroic kings, by this rule, would be Philip II. and Louis XIV. Melanchthon's principle leads by a straight road to the Inquisition. To express our whole thought on the matter,--what descendant of the Huguenots could possibly acknowledge as true, as divine, a principle by virtue of which his forefathers, men of whom the world was not worthy, were stripped of every thing, afflicted, tormented, scattered in the deserts, mountains, and caves of the earth, cast into prison, tortured, banished, and put to death? Conscience, which is the voice of God, is higher than all the voices of men. CHAPTER II. HENRY VIII., SUPREME HEAD OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH--A MARTYR. (1538.) [Sidenote: RETURN OF GARDINER.]