The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

64 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
of his sovereign. God, Who knew the king's intentions, and
Who had the situation in His keeping, would find a way out
of the difficulty, which would be in keeping with the dignity
of His service. Philip also blamed Vargas for having openly
opposed Gonzaga and having thereby drawn down upon the
king the enmity of the Itahan princes. He complained of
the divisions in the Spanish party and of the Cardinals' want
of discretion in openly announcing that they were waiting
for the royal courier and his decision. Finally, Philip declared
his fear that the world would accuse him of having been the
cause of the delay in the election ; it was certainly not his
wish that the Church should remain any longer without a
chief pastor because of any special interests of his own. Without
excluding or naming anyone, he instructed the ambassador
to exhort and call upon the Cardinals in the king's name to
choose a good Pope without delay, such a one as the Church
needed, and who was worthy of such a high office. If they
acted in this manner the king would be gracious to them,
and would honour and promote them as persons who perform
what is required of them for the service of God and the king.
In the other case, however, the king would be compelled to
act towards them in a manner that would be most unpleasant
to himself.
In the instructions for Francisco de Mendoza/ issued at the
same time, but which were no longer in force since the election
was already accomphshed, the king says that he would, at
any rate, prefer the exclusion of Gonzaga, but that if this
could not be carried out, Vargas was to put the general interest
before the private wishes of the king. A concession of such
importance goes a long way to prove that Philip was in earnest
in his oft repeated assurance that in the Papal election he
had in view, above all things, the weU-being of the Church.
Vargas answered the complaints of the king in a long
letter of defence,- which i«i expressed in rather self-assured
^ See MiJLLER, 206 seq.
'Printed in Dollingpr, Beitrage, I., 329-335. Cf. Susta,
Pius IV., 142,