t the general anticipation,
justified by the event, was that Charles would carry the day.

[Footnote 418: "To hear how rich and poor lament
the war would grieve any man's heart" (Fitzwilliam
to Wolsey, 18th Jan., 1521-22, _L. and P._, iii.,
1971).]

[Footnote 419: _L. and P._, ii., 3702-3.]

[Footnote 420: _Ibid._, iii., 378.]

[Footnote 421: _Ibid._, iii., 404; _cf._ iii., 2446
_ad fin._]

[Footnote 422: Michelet, x., 131.]

No possible advantage could accrue to England from such a destruction
of the balance of power; her position as mediator was only tenable so
long as neither Francis nor Charles had the complete mastery. War on
the Emperor was, no doubt, out of the question, but that was no reason
for war on France. Prudence counselled England to make herself strong,
to develop her resources, and to hold her strength in reserve, while
the two rivals weakened each other by war. She would then be in a far
better position to make her voice heard in the settlement, and would
probably have been able to extract from it all the benefits she could
with reason or justice demand. So obvious was the advantage of this
policy that for some time acute French statesmen refused to credit
Wolsey with any other. They said, reported an English envoy to (p. 152)
the Cardinal, "that your grace would make your profit with them and
the Emperor both, and proceed between them so that they might continue
in war, and that the one destroy the other, and the King's highness
may remain and be their arbiter and superior".[423] If it is urged
that Henry was bent on the war, and that Wolsey must satisfy the King
or forfeit his power, even the latter would have been the better
alternative. His fall would have been less complete and more
honourable than it actually was. Wolsey's failure to follow this
course suggests that, by involving Henry in dazzling schemes of a
foreign conquest, he was seeking to divert his attention from urgent
matters at home; that he had seen a vision of impending ruin; and that
his actions were the frantic efforts of a man to turn a steed, over
which he has imperfect control, from the gulf he sees yawning ahead.
The only other explanation is that Wolsey sacrificed England's
interests in the hope of securing from Charles the gift of the papal
tiara