544
REIGN OF EDWARD THE SIXTH.
[ch. 27.
he said, 'were so ill-contented, as never looked the lark so much for the day as they did for the entry of some foreign prince; so was it the easiest thing in the world not only to annoy England, but de nous emporter de tout, and now was the time to recover all the dishonour that France had in times past sustained by that peevish isle.'[1]
Indeed, the ambassador said, something must be done, and done quickly; 'were it nothing more than the stay of our own people at home; we are at this present so loose with all the world, that our surety hangeth as it were but in the wind; a strait league with a notable knot would restore unto us our reputation abroad, which undoubtedly is not undecayed.'[2]
- ↑ Mason to the Council: MS. France, bundle 9, State Paper Office.
- ↑ Among the Cotton MSS. Vespasian, D. 18, is a paper on the state of public affairs by William Thomas, clerk of the council, addressed to Edward, to whom at this time he was acting as a sort of political tutor. It is headed, 'My private opinion touching your Majesty's outward affairs at the present,' and has been printed by Strype: Memorials, vol. iv. p. 382. The following extract is the sketch of the position of England:—'Time was, in the days of your father of famous memory, that this estate, being dreaded of all neighbours, needed not to esteem any of them more than itself was esteemed; but now the case is so altered, that, because we are both hated and contemned of them all, we must either redeem our estimation or else perish. One of two things must be won—either friendship to help us, or time to make ourselves strong. As for friendship, I see not which way any is to be gotten without either an extreme disadvantage or the denying of our faith, neither of which is tolerable. And as I believe it is impossible we should have any perfect amity with any foreign prince that dissenteth from us in religion, so, because we have no neighbour of uniform religion, we can find no friend whose amity is to be trusted. Wherefore we must of force turn unto time, to see how much we may win thereof, and what we may win withal; and because neither is our
