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326 YORK.
and the other old services and usages with great
unanimity and contentment. In the autumn of the
following year (1554), Cardinal Pole arrived in England,
bringing with him the formal documents issued
by Pope Julius III. for the reconciliation of the nation
to the see of Rome. They were produced before
Parliament by the cardinal on the 30th November,
when both Houses received on their knees the absolution
which he was authorised by the Apostolic See to
pronounce after he had received, through its representatives,
the submission of the nation. On Advent
Sunday a solemn service was held at St. Paul's, when
the apostolic benediction was imparted by the cardinal
to the assembled multitude in the presence of
the queen, the lord mayor, and aldermen, and others
of importance in the city,
Bishop Gardiner preaching
the sermon. A few days afterwards both Houses of
Convocation made their submission to the Holy See
with all due form and solemnity.
But there was one concession the queen could not
obtain. The Houses of Parliament acquiesced in an
acknowledgment of the papal jurisdiction, though it
was by no means a unanimous feeling in the Lower
House ; but they steadfastly resisted anything which
wore the semblance of a resumption of the lands of
the monastic houses, the chantries, and the gilds.
Those lands had now been dispersed, had been
bought and sold and re-sold, and thousands of her
subjects, of all ranks and degrees, regarded themselves
as their rightful owners. Mary was constrained
to forego her own feeling on the subject, and the consent
of the pope was obtained that the church lands