tion unto you, as to him that she loveth very well; and
both she and I would fain know when you would repair unto us." Great news
came that the Emperor and his allies were brilliantly successful in the
war, but in the midst of victory the great Medici, Pope Leo X., though
still a man in his prime, died. There is no doubt that a secret promise
had been made by Charles to Wolsey of his support in case a vacancy in the
Papacy arose, but no one had dreamed of its occurring so quickly,[32] and
Charles found his hand forced. He needed for his purpose a far more
pliable instrument in the pontifical chair than the haughty Cardinal of
York. So, whilst pretending to work strenuously to promote Wolsey's
elevation, and thus to gain the goodwill of Henry and his minister, he
took care secretly that some humbler candidate, such as the one
ultimately chosen by the Conclave, his old schoolmaster, Cardinal Adrian,
should be the new Pope. Wolsey was somewhat sulky at the result of the
election, and thenceforward looked with more distrust on the imperial
connection; but, withal, he put as good a face on the matter as possible;
and when, at the end of May 1522, he again welcomed the Emperor in Henry's
name as he set foot on English soil at Dover, the Cardinal, though
watchful, was still favourable to the alliance. This visit of the young
Emperor was the most splendid royal sojourn ever made in England; and
Henry revelled in the ceremonies wherein he was the host of the greatest
monarch upon earth.

Charles came with a train of a thousand horse and two thousand courtiers;
and to feed and house such a multitude, the guilds of London, and even the
principal citizens, were obliged to make return of all their spare beds
and stocks of provisions in order to provide for the strangers. The
journey of the monarchs was a triumphal progress from Dover through
Canterbury, Sittingbourne, and Rochester to Gravesend. On the downs
between Dover and Canterbury, Henry and a great train of nobles was to
have met his nephew; but the more to do him honour the King rode into
Dover itself, and with pride showed his visitor his new great ship the
_Harry Grace a Dieu_, and the rest of the English fleet; whereupon, "the
Emperor and his lords much praised the making of the ships, and especially
the artillery: they said they had never seen ships so armed." From
Gravesend the gallant company rowed in the royal barges amidst salvoes of
guns to Greenwich. There at the ha