"
"Is it then to be dissolved?"
"Didn't you know? Yes, it is. If Julius II could grant a
dispensation, Clement VII can grant an absolution."
"It is not just towards the Queen."
"The country demands it--the kingdom--the nation! The King's
conscience...."
"Oh! is it the fair Anne?"
"No, not she!"
"Is it...."
"Don't ask any more."
"Then I answer, Margaret of Valois."
"I give no answer at all, but I am not responsible for your life, if
you talk out of season! The Bible won't help you there."
"It would be a useful reform, if we could cancel the Old Testament
as a Jewish book."
"But we cannot cancel the Psalms of David, which are our only Church
canticles. Luther himself has taken his hymns from the Psalter, and
'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott' from the Proverbs of Solomon; he has
borrowed the melody from the Graduale Romanum."
"But we must relegate the law of Moses to the Apocrypha, otherwise
we are Pharisees and Jewish Christians. What have we to do with
circumcision, the paschal lamb, and levitical marriage? Wait till I
am Pope."
"Must we really wait so long?"
"Hush! The noon-bell is ringing. Do not let us neglect our duties.
The flesh must have its due, in order not to burn. Come with me to
Westminster; then you can go on to Chelsea afterwards.
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