ns, like the penitent thief upon the cross.

"Say not in your defence that you have done no violence, that you have
been kind and gentle in your daily life. Thus I know men speak of you;
but cheat not your conscience with so vain a plea. The devil, when
called to answer for the souls that he has slain, may plead likewise
that he did not desire their destruction; he thought only to make them
happy, to give them pleasure, honour, riches--all things which their
hearts desired. So did you with your king: you gave him the woman that
he lusted after; you gave him the honour which was not his due, and
the good things which were neither his nor yours; and, last and worst,
you gave him poison, in covering his iniquities with a cloak of
righteousness. Better, far better, you had offered him courtesans for
companions; better you and he had been open thieves and robbers. Then
he might have understood his crimes, and have repented of them; but
you tempted him into the place where there is no repentance, no hope
of salvation.

"Turn then yourself, and repent. See yourself as you are. Thus may you
escape your prison. Thus may you flee out of the darkness wherein you
have hid yourself. Thus may you come back to light and life, and earn
for yourself God's forgiveness. I know not how to deal with you. Your
examination at Oxford has but hardened you; yet the issue is with God.
I {p.249} at least can point out to you the way. If you, then,
persist in your vain opinions, may God have mercy on you."

The legate, in his office of guide, then travelled the full round of
controversy, through Catholic tradition, through the doctrine of the
sacraments and of the real presence, where there is no need to follow
him. At length he drew to his conclusion:

"You will plead Scripture to answer me. Are you so vain, then, are you
so foolish, as to suppose that it has been left to you to find out the
meaning of those Scriptures which have been in the hands of the
fathers of the church for so many ages? Confess, confess that you have
mocked God in denying that he is present on the altar; wash out your
sins with tears; and in the abundance of your sorrow you may find
pardon. May it be so. Even for the greatness of your crimes may it be
so, that God may have the greater glory. You have not, like others,
fallen through simplicity, or fallen through fear. You were corrupted,
like the Jews, by earthly rewards and promises. For your own profit
you denied the