openly at his table before more than a hundred gentlemen. A person present exclaimed, 'That speech has lost the Emperor more than a hundred thousand hearts among us;'[1] an expression which reveals at once the strength and the weakness of the imperial party. England might have its own opinions of the policy of the government, but it was in no humour to tolerate treason, and the first hint of revolt was followed by an instant recoil. The discovery of more successful intrigues in Scotland and Ireland completed the destruction of Charles's influence;[2] and the result of these ill-judged and premature efforts was merely to unite the nation in their determination to prosecute the divorce.
Thus were the various parties in the vast struggle which was about to commence gravitating into their places; and mistake combined with policy to place them in their true positions. Wolsey, in submitting 'the King's matter' to the Pope, had brought to issue the question whether the Papal authority should be any longer recognized in England; and he had secured the ruin of that authority by the steps through which he hoped to establish it; while Charles, by his unwise endeavours to foment a rebellion, severed with his own hands the links of a friendship which would have been seriously embarrassing if it had continued. By him, also, was dealt the concluding stroke in this first act of the drama; and though we may grant him credit for the ingenuity of his contrivance, he can claim it only at the expense of his probity.
