Cardinal Pole, in the report which he sent to Julius III. of the ceremony in Parliament on St. Andrew’s Day, prognosticated nothing but good for the future of the country. After bestowing much praise on the King and Queen, he continues rather quaintly: “Philip is the spouse of Mary, but treats her so deferentially as to appear her son, thus giving promise of the best result. Mary has spiritually generated England, before giving birth to that heir of whom there is very great hope.”[492] The Pope’s response to this eulogy was the sending to Mary of the golden rose, and to Philip the sword and hat which sometimes accompanied it, when the Pope desired to honour in this manner both a King and a Queen. The Venetian ambassador thus chronicled the event. Writing on the 26th March 1555 he says: “Three days ago, there arrived here Monsignor Antonio Agustini, auditor di Rota, sent by the Pope to visit and thank their Majesties for the auspicious events of the religion, and to present them with the rose, sword and hat which his Holiness is in the habit of sending to one prince or another; and so yesterday, the day of the Annunciation and commencement of the year, according to the English style, the ceremony was performed in the private chapel of her Majesty’s palace, there being present the most illustrious Legate, all the ambassadors, and the lords of the Court. Monsignor Agostini (_sic_) after the Mass, presented the rose to the most serene Queen, and the sword and hat to the most serene King, accompanying the presents with a brief from his Holiness, which was read in public, replete with praise of their Majesties, and of his Holiness’s great love and affection for them; and the most illustrious Legate, in his episcopal habit, with mitre and cope, having recited certain prayers over the presents, and given the usual benediction, the most serene Queen evinced the utmost delight at hers, for after a short prayer, she carried it in her own hand, and placed it on its altar.”[493] In the midst of her joy and hope, Mary was mindful of the afflicted. Many were still in the Tower for having been implicated in Wyatt’s rebellion. They would have been liberated at her marriage, but it had been thought that the fear of death might induce them to make important confessions. They were however released in January 1555, under personal recognisances for their future good behaviour, subject to the payment of sundry fines. Several of them were, notwithstanding, engaged in another rebellious enterprise, a few months later.[494]