CARDINAL WOLSEY. tions of that wary king, than pecuniary remuneration for the services rendered to him. Beside the sums reaped from this commercial scheme of managing ecclesiastical affairs, Wolsey derived the privileges of patronage in each diocese; for the disposal of the livings in the presentation of the foreign bishops was included in his bargain: and, with his usual dexterity in turning all things to the best account, it may be conjectured that this authority was not unproductive of emolument, as well as power. To the funds arising from these sources were added those proceeding from the rich abbey of Saint Albans, held by him in commendam, although he did not enter upon its temporalities until 1521. It is true that when Tournay was afterwards restored to the French, he was compelled of course to resign the bishopric of that city; but he received twelve thousand livres yearly by way of compensation: and the bishopric of Durham, which he also held, but resigned into the King's hands upon the death of Bishop Fox, he relinquished in like manner for the see of Winchester, to which he was immediately advanced.* That Wolsey, possessing such opportunities of accumulating money, should not have provided for a reverse of fortune but too probable in his case, by transmitting sums of money to some foreign agent, appears to indicate a remarkable want of foresight, or a strangely overweening confidence in a man otherwise so gifted. He seems, indeed, while he collected rapaciously, to have spent lavishly; and there are few narratives which present a more curious detail of combined luxury and pomp, than the account given by Cavendish of the household arrangements, the dress, and the retinue of Wolsey. In compliance with the practice • See Lord Herbert, p. 78-Cavendish, p. 95. interposition of the salt-cellar, to divide the superior from the inferior classes, was as widely at variance with our present improved notions of right, as with all the feelings of propriety which forbid the appearance of any distinction whatever between guests who are admitted to the same board. It is probable that, in Wolsey's household, the various ranks and offices of each individual were more systematically defined, than among the numerous, but sometimes ill-arranged domestics of the nobles of that day. Three tables were placed daily in the hall of the Cardinal, each being superintended by an officer, suitable in station to those over whom he presided. At the head of the first table sat a priest or dean, who fulfilled the capacity of steward, and whose company at the table consisted of the first class of domestics; while the treasurer, who was always a knight, and the comptroller, an esquire, each of whom bore white staves of office, took their seats at the head of the second and third tables. The lower class of domestics, who permeals in the hall kitchen, under the diformed the menial offices, took their rection of two clerks, besides a clerk of the kitchen, a surveyor of the dresser, and other agents in this well-arranged system of luxury. But in addition to the tables thus enumerated, as daily spread for the accommodation of the At one board household, there were others prepared in separate apartments. sat a company of young lords, who were placed under the roof of the Cardinal for the purpose of polite education, and who paid for their board and tuition. These youths were intrusted to the care and guidance of an instructor of the wards, whose duty it was to initiate his pupils in the forms of graceful behaviour, and in the mode of exhibiting a proper deference toward superiors. Each of these noblemen was allowed several servants; the Earl of Derby, son of the Earl of Northumberland, who, as well as Lord Henry Percy, the was an inmate of Wolsey's, had five, but most of the young lords were contented with two, attendants. The gentlemen ushers, among whom was Cavendish, the biographer of Wolsey, were permitted to sit at the "mess of lords:" but another table was prepared for the chamberlains and gentlemen waiters, although these were men sprung chiefly from good families. Of Wolsey's individual repast, nothing is said by Ca vendish; but it is probable that he sat the full strains which were sung at the with the young lords. The kitchen of the Cardinal was under the direction of a master cook, who went about daily, in garments of damask satin, or of velvet, and wore a chain of gold round his neck. To execute the commands of this distinguished and important personage, were two grooms, six labourers, and as many children, who probably assisted in turning the spit; a laborious, but indispensable occupation, both degrading and unwholesome, the necessity of which has been happily superseded by well-known machines of modern invention. The allied offices of larder, scalding-house, wafery, bake-house, scullery, buttery, pantry, ewery, chaundery, cellar, and garden, together with the laundry, and wardrobe of beds, had each distinct grooms, yeomen, and pages, varying in number according to the occupation required in each province. To this list must be added two tall yeomen and two grooms, who acted as porters; a yeoman of the barge; a master of the horse, a clerk and yeoman of the stable; a saddler, a farrier, a yeoman of the chariot, a sumpter-man, a yeoman of the stirrup; a muleteer, and sixteen grooms of the stable, each of them keeping four great geldings. A yet more numerous and more expensive order of inmates, however, deserve notice. Much of the expenditure of a nobleman, or dignitary of the church, in those days, went to support a numerous and luxurious body of chaplains, who were liberally paid, sumptuously maintained, and, when officiating in their sacred office, magnificently attired. There were in the service of Wolsey, a dean, who was always a great divine; a sub-dean, a repeater of the quire, a gospeller, or reader of the gospel, a pisteller or reader of the epistle, and twelve singing priests. These clerks all found means to enrich themselves in the household of their opulent and lavish patron; and were proved at the exposure of his affairs, which eventually took place, to be the richest of his dependants. To assist in the performance of the fascinating, but unsatisfactory service which the church then enjoined, these clergymen had twelve singing children, and sixteen adult choristers, with a master to instruct the children, and a servant to attend upon them; and occasionally there came, says Cavendish, divers retainers of cunning singing men," to swell 66 principal feasts. Our simpler and more rational notions of the services acceptable to the Most High have banished, perhaps with too unsparing a hand, the luxury of hearing fine devotional music in our churches; but it is agreeable to reflect on the improvement of taste which has abolished the gorgeous dresses, approved even by the cultivated and fastidious taste of Wolsey. The furniture of his chapel, the jewels, ornaments, and garments placed there for the use of the priests, the crosses, candlesticks, and other implements of devotional splendour, were more than ordinarily costly and abundant; and Cavendish enumerates forty-four copes of the richest materials to have been occasionally displayed by the chaplains of the Cardinal, when in solemn procession. Beside this clerical establishment, Wolsey had an almoner, whose usual office in such households was to attend upon the lord and master at dinner, in conjunction with the carver, the cup-bearer, the gentlemen yeomen, and gentlemen waiters, and, in some families, to have the residue of the repast at which they had assisted.* This class of attendants amounted, in the household of Wolsey, to forty-six in number, and with the chamberlain, vice-chamberlain, gentlemen ushers, yeomen ushers, grooms of the chamber, and yeomen of the chamber, may be considered as the peculiar and personal servants of the Cardinal. These formed, all together, a body of one hundred and forty-three persons. The secretaries, clerks of the signet, and counsellors of Wolsey, of whom he had six, were always persons of infor mation and character. Sir Thomas More, Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and Thomas Cromwell, afterwards prime minister, each at some period of their lives held one or other of those offices in the establishment of Wolsey; a mutual advantage being afforded to master and dependant by the free intercourse of powerful, though dissimilar minds. The manner in which it was the daily custom of this proud prelate to repair to the exercise of his public duties, was suitable to his domestic splendour. In the morning, after being apprized that a number of peers and of commoners awaited his appearance, Wolsey came forth from his chamber, into his state • See Northumberland Household Book, pref, 417. apartments, in his cardinal's dress of crimson or scarlet satin or damask, the richest that could be procured, and wearing upon his head a "pillion" or cushion, surmounted with a noble, or elevation of black velvet, attached to the cushion. About his neck he wore a tippet of fine sables; nor was the magnificence of his attire confined to the more conspicuous parts; even his shoes were the subjects of wonder and of ridicule to a satirical contemporary of the cardinal, in a supposed dialogue between two priests' servants. "Rede me, and be not wrothe, To be eased of his visitacion." Thus attired, and holding to his nose the peel of an orange filled with sponge dipped in "vinegar, and other confections against the pestilent air," Wolsey walked with great pomp to the outer door of his mansion, the great seal of England being carried before him, and after that, the cardinal's hat borne by some nobleman, or gentleman, bareheaded. And thus passing on, preceded also by his two great crosses of silver, and followed by two pillars, and a large silver mace, gilt, the Cardinal, amidst the cries of his gentlemen ushers, "On, on, my lords and masters," amidst the envy of some beholders, and the admiration of others, bent his course to the court of chancery, riding upon a mule splendidly caparisoned, and attended by his pillars, his crosses, his pole-axes, and running footmen. While condemning as frivolous and pompous this ostentatious array, the benevolent mind reverts with pleasure to one cireumstance, which presents the character of Wolsey in a more favourable aspect. It was not until after he had paid his early and private tribute of devotion at the shrine of "Him who doth dispose and govern the hearts of princes," that Wolsey resorted to the business of that world, the enjoyments and even the cares of which render such a preparatory service but too requisite. See Dialogue between Watkins and Jeffrey, two Priests' Servants, by William Roy; the first person, according to Anthony Wood, who reported Wolsey to be the son of a butcher. Wood's Athenæ Oxoniensis, vol. ii., p. 734. † Cavendish, p. 105. To attend the performance of the ordinary masses, merely, might have been deemed by the Cardinal a customary act of decorum, with which no head of a household could, with propriety, dispense. But Wolsey, not satisfied with this observance only, retired within his closet, and alone with his chaplain, a man of learning, and of veracity, he went through his daily service; nor did he, according to the testimony of that person, retire to bed, however he might be oppressed with fatigue of body, or anxiety of mind, with even one collect omitted, in his customary and prescribed devotions.* It was both the interest and the inclination of the Cardinal to render the banquets which he gave to the king more agreeable to Henry, and more dazzling to the courtiers, than the entertainments given by any other person of rank. The king had a childish delight in a surprise, which then constituted the chief spirit of a courtly assembly: accordingly, it was his whim to arrive suddenly at the episcopal palace of Whitehall in a mask, with a small group of companions, dressed to represent shepherds, but with garments made of fine cloth of gold, and their hair and beards composed of silver and gold wire. was The Cardinal, who was seated under his cloth of estate, at a sumptuous banquet, graced by the presence of mingled gentlemen and gentlewomen, warned of the approach of the royal shepherd by the discharge of "chambers," or small cannon, so called from their being little more than chambers for powder, resting upon no carriages, and adapted only for festive occasions. To play disguised at a game of dice, called num-chance; to dance with the ladies assembled on the occasion; to challenge the guesses of the Cardinal as to which of the newly arrived band was the king, and to enjoy his mistake in fixing on Sir Edward Nevill, a comely and portly knight, for his royal master, constituted the chief diversion of the night, the business of which was eating and carousing. Unsuitable indeed were such amusements to the situation of Wolsey as a dignitary of the church, to his occupations as a minister and as a judge, and to his character as a man; and perhaps they contributed, in reality, ⚫ Cavendish, p. 105. † See Cavendish, Note by Singer, p. 113, but little to the influence which he long held over the mind of his sovereign. The position of foreign affairs, during the early part of the reign of Henry the Eighth, assisted in augmenting the power which Wolsey already possessed. Peace had indeed been concluded with Louis the Twelfth, and it was cemented by the sacrifice of Mary, the young and beautiful sister of Henry, at the altar of policy, where she was united to the king of France, a man nearly three times her age, with the consolation only of being as conspicuous for her rank, as she had before been for her personal charms. The death of Louis had dissolved this unnatural bond; but while it rendered the continuance of the treaty uncertain, it imparted happiness to the queen widow, who almost immediately bestowed her hand on Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Henry was at first indignant at the choice which his sister had made, having probably cherished the intention of advancing the interests of his kingdom by seeking another alliance between some foreign potentate and his sister. The part which Wolsey took in this affair was conciliatory, and it may have been disinterested. He warned the young dowager against a hasty marriage, immediately after the death of her royal consort: but, when the consequence of an ardent and mutual attachment became irrevocable, and was avowed, he endeavoured to reconcile the mind of the king to an event which could not be recalled. Henry, who began to perceive that it would be more for the honour of his sister to return to her country with her rich dowry, than to bestow it upon some foreign nobleman, or petty prince, was consoled, also, by the partiality which he entertained for Brandon, one of the earliest and latest of his friends. The peace which had been concluded between England and France, before the death of Louis the Twelfth, was not of long continuance after the accession of Francis the First. That monarch, brave, generous, and accomplished, was by no means the first aggressor in the hostilities with which he was for some time menaced by Henry. Disposed both by policy and inclination to maintain a close alliance with England, he had, nevertheless, the ill-luck to incur the See Ellis's Original Letters, vol. i. p. 118. † Herbert, p, 55, resentment of Wolsey, who too frequently allowed his private interests to affect the great affairs of his country. The cause which has been assigned for the animosity expressed by Wolsey towards the French king, related to the bishopric of Tournay, which, while it yielded an ample revenue to the Cardinal, had occasioned him considerable trouble and anxiety, from the unwillingness of Guillart, the deposed bishop, to resign his spiritual jurisdiction. Strengthened by a bull from the pope, Guillart had acquired a number of partisans both within the city and elsewhere; and Wolsey, alarmed for the consequences of this success, solicited Francis to confer another bishopric upon Guillart, in order to divert him from prosecuting his designs upon Tournay. Francis either declined, or delayed to comply with this request; and the indifference thus evinced to his interests was not forgiven by the Cardinal, until he had been conciliated by the flattering terms of "Pater" and "Dominus" addressed to 1518. him by Francis, and more effectually appeased by the powerful agency of gifts and promises.* While a sentiment of displeasure towards Francis prevailed in the breast of the Cardinal, the measures pursued by the English government tended to an alliance with Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, with Pope Leo the Tenth, and with the wily Ferdinand of Spain. The death of Ferdinand, the discovery of the artful and plausible character of the emperor, and the skilful negotiations of Francis, produced a manifest change in the politics of the English court. Wolsey was employed as the mediator between Francis and Henry, and he displayed so much address in this important matter, that Henry, in the exultation of his heart, declared "that Wolsey would govern both him and the King of France." Ambassadors were soon afterwards dispatched from France to London, and a treaty was concluded, containing a clause relative to the restitution of Tournay, a point which Henry, prompted by the representations of his minister, was induced to concede.Wolsey had long been weary of the trouble and insecurity of his foreign see, and the compensation offered to him was a desirable equivalent for sums which were collected and transmitted with dif • Herbert, p. 74 CARDINAL WOLSEY. ficulty. The other Englishmen, officially concerned in the garrison of Tournay, were also remunerated for the loss of their posts by the distribution amongst them of money furnished by the French king. While thus engaged in foreign negotiations, Wolsey exercised, 1518. with diligence and impartiality, his authority as chancellor, an office in which he is said to "have spared neither high nor low, but to have judged every estate according to their merits and deserts." * popularity attended the necessary duty The first measures of the Cardinal, in this capacity, were unpopular, and in some instances frivolous and injudicious. Considerable importance was at this time attached to the subject of apparel, and by a recent act, the dress of the laity of every condition had been regulated, forfeitures being assigned for the neglect of its observances. To enforce the new statute, Wolsey sent commissioners into different counties, with charges also to regulate the wages of labourers, their hours of meals, and of rest, settled, in these despotic times, by act of parliament. These agents exceeding probably the injunctions given them, a degree of tyranny was exercised which occasioned the loudest discontent. At Rochester, the just indignation of the populace broke forth on seeing a man pilloried for no greater offence than that of wearing a shirt made of a particular kind of cloth called “ryven." It is difficult to comprehend why so much stress was placed upon a mere distinction in the texture of habiliments, unless it may have originated in a desire for the protection and benefit of some particular manufacture, at that time in need of encouragement. Wolsey was not, it appears, at all times superior to the indulgence of petty irritation, and he even committed his dignity in the dispute, by taking the law into his own hands. Observing, one day, an elderly man in an old crimson jacket, adorned with various brooches, the Cardinal, with his own hands, took from him a dress which the offender was probably not entitled by his rank to wear, but which compassion and decorum should have spared to the aged and defenceless delinquent. This act of severity excited much animadversion upon the conduct of Wolsey; and a similar degree of un Cavendish, p. 107. † Hall's Chronicles. Herbert, p. 67. † Strype's Ecclesiastic Memorials, vol. i., p. 193, |