himself, early in his reign, had shared in this delusive ambition; and but three years before the sack of Rome, when the Duke of Suffolk led an army into Normandy, Wolsey's purposed tardiness in sending reinforcements had alone saved Paris.[1]
There could be no doubt, therefore, that a breach with the Emperor would in a high degree be unwelcome to the country. The King, and probably such members of the council as were aware of his feelings, shrank from offering an open affront to the Spanish people, and anxious as they were for a settlement of the succession, perhaps trusted that advantage might be taken of some political contingency for a private arrangement; that Catherine might be induced by Charles himself to retire privately, and sacrifice herself, of her free will, to the interests of the two countries. This, however, is no more than conjecture; I think it probable, because so many English statesmen were in favour at once of the divorce and of the Spanish alliance—two objects which, only on some such hypothesis, were compatible. The fact cannot be ascertained, however, because the divorce itself was not discussed at the council table until Wolsey had induced the King to change his policy by the hope of immediate relief.
Wolsey has revealed to us fully his own objects in a letter to Sir Gregory Cassalis, his agent at Eome. He shared with half Europe in an impression that the Emperor's Italian campaigns were designed to further the
- ↑ Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne, Legrand, vol. iii.; Hall, 669.
