ngs with the Roman Catholic Church may have been only selfish--they
resulted in the emancipation of England from the tyranny of Popedom. A
Catholic estimate of him would, of course, have been wholly condemnatory,
yet it must be remembered that his quarrel was entirely with the supremacy
of the Pope, and that otherwise Henry's Church retained every dogma and
every observance believed in and practised by Roman Catholics.

_His Greatness_

His learning was great, and it was illuminated by his genius. Gradually he
learned to control others--to do this he learned to control his temper,
when control was useful, but he was always able to make diplomatic use of
his rage--a faculty ever helpful in the conduct of one's life! In fact, it
is difficult to determine whose genius was greater--Wolsey's as the
diplomatist and administrator, or Henry's as the man of action, the
figurehead of the State. Around him he gathered the great men of his time,
and their learning he turned to his own account, with that adaptiveness
which is the peculiar attribute of genius. Shakespeare himself was not
more assimilative. In Wolsey, Henry appreciated the mighty minister, and
this is one of his claims to greatness, for graciously to permit others to
be great is a sign of greatness in a King.

WOLSEY

_His Early Life_

Wolsey was born at Ipswich, probably in the year 1471. His father, Robert
Wolsey, was a grazier, and perhaps also a butcher in well-to-do
circumstances. Sent to Oxford at the age of 11, at 15 he was made a
Bachelor of Arts. He became a parish priest of St. Mary's, at Lymington,
in 1500. Within a year he was subjected to the indignity of being put into
the public stocks--for what reason is not known. It has been said that he
was concerned in a drunken fray. I prefer to think that, in an unguarded
moment, he had been tempted to speak the truth. No doubt this was his
first lesson in diplomacy.

In 1507 Wolsey entered the service of Henry VII. as chaplain, and seems to
have acted as secretary to Richard Fox, Lord Privy Seal. Thus Wolsey was
trained in the policy of Henry VII., which he never forgot.

_His Growing Power_

When Henry VIII. came to the throne, he soon realised Wolsey's value, and
allowed him full scope for his ambition.

Wolsey thought it desirable to become a Cardinal--a view that was shared
by Henry, whose right hand Wolsey had become. In 1514 Henry wrote to the
Pope asking that the Hat should be confer