Henry soon hit upon a very ingenious scheme for introducing a sufficient force into the north without exciting suspicion. He had originally intended that Queen Jane should be crowned at Westminster on the Sunday before the feast of All Hallows 1536, but when the day came round the northern rebellion was at an acute stage, and the King had neither money nor men to waste over pageants. A convenient excuse for postponing the coronation was supplied by the prevalence of the plague in London during the autumn[123]. At Christmas, however, the King’s policy was to make a lavish display of splendour and security, and he allowed it to be known that not only would he himself travel to York to hold his parliament, but the Queen would accompany him to be crowned in York minster[124]. No one could object to such an honour being conferred upon the city of York, while at the same time it gave a good excuse for extensive military preparations, and for filling the city with the King’s own men. The only one of the concessions made at Doncaster which Henry could not tolerate was the general pardon. The rising had been a stain upon his honour which blood must cleanse. He had brought himself to consent to certain limitations; he would be content with a specified number of victims, and that number should be a small one; if he could not have the leaders, he would be satisfied with vile persons; but executions there must be, and he would not feel he had done his duty as a king until someone had suffered. His council advised that he should allure the northern gentlemen into obedience by affability, and thereby “by little and little find out the root of this matter”; also that those whose goods had been spoiled should be encouraged to prosecute the robbers, “whereby some offenders may yet be punished, and the beginners of the rebellion detected.”[125] In the meanwhile there was no help for the general pardon, and the heralds were accordingly sent out to proclaim it. An inclusive pardon for all the rebellious districts, provided that the inhabitants made submission to the Duke of Norfolk or the Earl of Shrewsbury, was issued on 9 December, and an order was given for separate pardons to be granted to applicants from the various counties[126]. Suffolk had already received the pardon for Hull, Marshland, Howden, Holderness, Beverley and the East Riding[127]. It was at first proposed that Thomas Hawley, Clarencieux King-of-Arms, should carry the pardon to the North Riding, Richmond, Durham and Northumberland, while Thomas Miller, Lancaster Herald, should take it to the West Riding, Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland. But as the former was considered the more dangerous mission, it was finally assigned to Lancaster Herald, who had acquitted himself so well before among the rebels. This was a slight which Clarencieux King-of-Arms never forgave[128], and the effect of his resentment will be apparent later[129].