Edward Wolseley

“ Throughout his life he was strongly opposed to looting, which he regarded as immoral and injurious to discipline, and on the first occasion when he had authority, at the capture of Kumassi (1874) , he insisted on King Koffee's treasure being regularly valued and systematically sold. The close of the China campaign, at the end of which he was awarded a substantive majority, marks the end of the first period of Wolseley's career. ”

“ As the inn-keeper went on with his story of how one and another had been arrested and tortured, Sir Miles reflected with bitterness that his late master, the Cardinal, whose memory he revered, had first planted this seed. Wolsey had never ceased to teach other men, and, to the last, inculcate in his own acts, the doctrine that men only held their property at the will of the king, and that if he chose to recall it, he had a perfect right to do so. ”

“ He was also able to quote Wolseley's statement to a Royal Commission, that "if a hostile force of, say, 100,000 men were to land upon our shores, there is no reason whatever, if that 100,000 were properly led, why they should not take possession of London.... We are not in the position we ought to be in, nor do I believe we are in the position we should be in if the English people were told the whole truth." ”

“ And then he suddenly remembered that Wolsey was not above employing this un-English means of attaining his ends; but as he listened to the inn-keeper's account of what was the known practice of the present Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell, who practically ruled the kingdom as Wolsey had done, he was almost aghast; for it seemed that no man's life or liberty were safe if they stood in the way of this man's plans, which were to make the king such an absolute ruler, that neither the Law nor the Church should stand in the way of his power. ”

“ Intensely religious, with a simple form of Irish Protestantism, she took the Bible as her one guide, and from her Wolseley acquired a profound belief, which lasted until his death, that his life was in God's hands. To this faith he added from the first a keen ambition to make a name for himself, while his parentage made him turn naturally to the army for a career. In after-life he said that the first business of the young officer who wishes to distinguish himself in his profession is to seek to get himself killed, and he did his best to apply that principle to himself. ”

“ The ascent of Wolsey was now rapid. From the very commencement of his career at Court no man had been able to stand before him. Bishop Fox had first recommended his introduction into the Privy Council because, growing old himself, he perceived that the Earl of Surrey, afterwards conqueror of Flodden, and Duke of Norfolk, was winning higher favour with the king than the [117] ancient bishop; because his martial tastes and more courtly character were more attractive to Henry. Wolsey soon showed himself so successful that he not only cast Surrey, but his own patron, into the shade. ”

“ But never had any king so devoted a servant as had Henry VIII., in Wolsey; and this devotion was not entirely due to motives of selfish calculation or to personal attraction. Wolsey saw in the royal power the only possible means of holding England together and guiding it through the dangers of impending change. In his eyes the king and the king alone could collect and give expression to the national will. England itself was unconscious of its capacities, and was heedless about the future. The nobles, so far as they had any policy, were only desirous to win back their old position. ”

“ In ‘Why come ye not to court?’ (in the same metre as ‘Colyn Cloute’) he turned upon Wolsey the full force of his invective, and denounced the cardinal's luxurious life, insatiate ambition, and insolence of bearing. The confused and fantastic ‘boke’ called ‘Speake Parrot’ (in Chaucer's seven-line stanza) is also largely aimed at Wolsey. ‘Bo-ho doth bark well, but Hough-ho he ruleth the ring,’ is the burden of the poem—Bo-ho being the king, and Hough-ho Wolsey. According to popular tradition, Wolsey retaliated by sending Skelton more than once to prison. ”

“ Such was Wolsey at this moment; such he continued for a decade of remarkable years. His eye was constantly traversing Europe. In every court and country he had his secret, as well as his avowed, agents. The most hidden movements were quickly revealed to him, and all his machinery was instantly in motion to promote or counteract. In the pursuance of his objects he shamefully abused the confidence of his royal patron, and sacrificed the honour and the interests of the country, and of Europe, in the indulgence of his passions, and the prosecution of his private interests. ”

“ The words of the dying man are often quoted as showing the misery of those who trust in princes' favour. But they are not merely an echo of a far-off state of things which has passed by for ever. "To serve one's country" may have a loftier and more noble sound than "to serve one's king," but the meaning is not necessarily different. The thought in Wolsey's heart was this—"If I had served the spiritual interests of my country as I have striven to serve its material interests my conscience would be more at rest." For Wolsey was a true patriot, and had noble aims. ”

“ Like a wise minister, Wolsey did not neglect to entertain the King and keep his mind on trivial things. Hampton Court had become the scene of unrestrained gaiety. Music was always played on these occasions, and the King frequently took part in the revels, dancing, masquerading and singing, accompanying himself on the harpsichord or lute.
The description in Cavendish’s “Life of Wolsey” of the famous feast given by the Cardinal to the French ambassadors gives a graphic account of his prodigal splendour. ”

“ In at least one of his telegrams, Wolseley has expressed a very keen desire to get the British army out of the Soudan.326 He has now made very large demands for the autumn expedition, which, judging from previous experience and from general likelihood, are almost certain to grow larger, as he comes more closely to confront the very formidable task before him; while in his letter to Lord Hartington he describes this affair to be the greatest “since 1815,” and expresses his hope that all the members of the cabinet clearly understand this to be the case. ”

“ For the present there is nothing for you to do, save perhaps to ascertain from the natives what is the present whereabouts of the Ashantis. When Sir Garnet Wolseley arrives he will no doubt have work for you. You look thin and pale. Take a rest, my boy. A white man cannot work for so long out here in the forest without feeling the effects of the climate.”
But Dick Stapleton was young and inclined at times to be foolhardy. He had the objection to remaining still common to every lad of his age. ”

“ He was in thoughtful mood this morning, for having lit his pipe he sat at his desk with his blank note-paper in front of him, lost in a deep reverie.
Suddenly his thoughts were brought back to the present. From behind the laurels of the curving drive there came a low, clanking sound, which swelled into the clatter and jingle of an ancient car. Then from round the corner there swung an old-fashioned Wolseley, with a fresh-complexioned, yellow-moustached young man at the wheel. Sir Henry sprang to his feet at the sight, and then sat down once more. ”

“ What figures stand out conspicuous in the life of the nation? In whose hands did administrative power lie? In what directions were events moving? In the forefront of the nation strode Wolsey, clothed with power, dominating every avenue of corporate action, the master of church and state, and irresistible so long as he could retain the indulgence of the king. It was the time when Wolsey {2} had succeeded in substituting royal despotism for quasi-representative government, and had himself risen to giddy heights of power and affluence, only to fall headlong in infamy and remorse. ”

“ Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk, and received so excellent an education that he became a tutor to the family of the Marquis of Dorset, who afterwards got him appointed one of the late King's chaplains. On the accession of Henry the Eighth, he was promoted and taken into great favor. He was now Archbishop of York; the Pope had made him a Cardinal besides; and whoever wanted influence in England or favor with the King—whether he were a foreign monarch or an English nobleman—was obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal Wolsey. ”

“ Few strangers are dead, but an immense number of Englishmen. On going to visit Wolsey, he found that he had the sweat; many of the cardinal’s household had died of it, including some of his chief attendants; the bishop of Winchester also had taken it. On the 12th of August, the Venetian envoy writes that he himself and his son have had the sweat; Wolsey has had it three times in a few days, many of his people being dead of it, especially his gentlemen [496] . In London “omnes silent.”
Wolsey’s attack and relapses are confirmed by his own letter to the king ”

“ The officer whom we. are now about to present to the reader’s notice, is a son of the late Robert Wolseley, Esq. (great grandson of Robert, who was created a Baronet Nov. 28, 1628; and great uncle of the present possessor of the title) , by Miss Warren, of Kilkenny in the kingdom of Ireland. He obtained the rank of Post-Captain Sept. 14, 1782 [1] , on which occasion he was appointed to the Alarm frigate; and soon after the commencement of the war with France, 1793, we find him commanding the Lowestoffe of 32 guns, under the orders of Lord Hood, on the Mediterranean station. ”

“ Lord Wolseley considers books and horses among the greatest comforts a man can have. He has every work written on the life or times of the great Duke of Marlborough—a man whom he considers far greater than Wellington. The early hours of the day—for Lord Wolseley is down at six every morning—find him at work adding something to the history of the Duke which he is writing. ”

“ The spirit which animated the England of the sixteenth century was due in no small degree to the splendour of Wolsey's successes, and to the way in which he stamped upon men's imagination a belief in England's greatness. If it is the characteristic of a patriot to believe that nothing is beyond the power of his country to achieve, then Wolsey was the most devoted patriot whom England ever produced. ”

“ Neither for his mental nor for his moral qualities can Wolsey be reckoned among men of the first rank; yet his position and the ability which he showed in it, his ambition and his political plans, what he did and what he suffered, his success and his fall, have won him an imperishable name in English history. His attempt to link the royal power with the Papacy by the closest ties rent them asunder for ever. No sooner was he dead than the clergy became subject to the Crown—a subjection which could forebode nothing less than this final rupture. ”

“ He went to France with the king in 1513 with a hundred men, but was sent back to England when James IV threatened war. He took a great part in the preparations for defence, and wrote to Wolsey after Flodden. He was present at the marriage of Louis XII and the Princess Mary in 1514, and in 1516 was made keeper of the privy seal. In 1518 he was present when Wolsey was made legate, and was one of the commissioners when the Princess Mary was betrothed to the Dauphin. He was at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, and was again at Calais with Wolsey in 1521. ”

“ The conduct of the king, moreover, towards the fallen man continued in other respects to keep alive his hopes, and fill his rivals with terror, who felt that if he were returned to power there was no safety for them. Wolsey found the episcopal house at Esher large, but almost destitute of furniture, or of any means of comfort or convenience. He found that neither his accommodation nor his funds would permit him to retain his retinue of attendants, and on the 5th of November he dismissed the greater part of them, amid floods of tears shed both by himself and them ”

“ At the end of the summer Wolsey removed from Southwell to another manor-house at Scrooby, where he continued the same mode of life. All this time his actions were jealously watched by his enemies, who suspected him of trying to gain popularity and raise up a party in his favour. They did their best to keep him in perpetual annoyance by threats of legal proceedings touching the possessions of the see of York. The king paid no heed to him save to exact all the money he could from his forfeiture. ”

“ The lives of great men compose themselves dramatically; Wolsey’s end was indeed a fit theme for the dramatist.
His Fall
In his later years, Wolsey began to totter on his throne. The King had become more and more masterful. It was impossible for two such stormy men to act permanently in concord. In 1528, Wolsey said that as soon as he had accomplished his ambition of reconciling England and France, and reforming the English laws and settling the succession, “he would retire and serve God for the rest of his days.” In 1529 he lost his hold over Parliament and over Henry. ”

“ Early in 1799 he was appointed to the 74-gun ship Terrible, one of the Channel fleet under Lord Bridport, and in 1800 under Lord St. Vincent. In December 1800 he was moved into the St. George, but on that ship being selected as the flagship of Lord Nelson, in February 1801, Wolseley was transferred to the San Josef, which was paid off on the signing of the peace of Amiens. He afterwards had command of the sea fencibles of the Shannon district till his promotion to the rank of rear-admiral on 23 April 1804. ”