duced to declare war against his brother-in-law, and to invade England, notwithstanding the earnest remonstrances of queen Margaret, aided by his best counsellors. The earl of Surrey, with an equal English force, encountered the Scots at Flodden, September the 9th, 1513, when James fell, with most of his nobles, among whom was an archbishop and three bishops. This defeat was most disastrous to the power of Scotland. The earl of Surrey was created duke of Norfolk in consequence of his success.

The state of affairs on the continent changed: but there is no need to go into detail; while the objects immediately in dispute were insignificant, the results obtained were unimportant. Henry found that his allies, when they had gained their own ends, ceased to prosecute the war; the archduke Charles declined to marry Henry's sister Mary, and the popedom had passed into other hands. Henry, therefore, made peace with Lewis; a marriage with the princess Mary and the French king was planned and carried into effect, in the autumn of 1514; but that sickly, aged monarch died within three months, on January 1, 1515; and was succeeded on the throne by his kinsman, Francis I. His widow, in a few weeks, gave her hand to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, who had been sent to conduct her to England. Anne Boleyn was one of her attendants, then merely a child; she remained at the French court. The indiscreet second marriage of his sister much displeased Henry, for she would have been sought after by other monarchs: but the princess resolved not to be again sacrificed to political interests; and her brother was reconciled, after a short interval of resentment. Suffolk enjoyed the royal favour till his decease, shortly before the death of Henry. The new king of France gladly remained at peace with England, as it left him at liberty to invade Italy, where he gained a most obstinately disputed victory at Marignan, and took possession of the duchy of Milan for a time.

Wolsey had by this time established his power. He encouraged the king in scholastic studies, and engaged him in showy and expensive pleasures, himself undertaking all the cares of government. The king gladly adopted this course, believing that all matters of moment would be brought before him for final decision, so as to remain under his own direction. In 1513, Wolsey was appointed bishop of Tournay, in the following year bishop of Lincoln, and soon after archbishop of York. He rapidly ascended the pinnacle of human greatness. The king and queen wrote to him, using confidential terms; every affair of importance was referred to him. He grasped at universal control, and accumulated wealth with an unsparing hand. Ambition, with the thirst for power and flattery, were Wolsey's ruling passions; these were gratified by his influence over the king, which was so great, that some contemporaries ascribed it to the power of Satan. There can be no doubt that it was promoted by Satanic principles, but it was the immediate result of the efforts of a mind at once supple and resolute. He ruled the king by humouring his views and feelings, whether praiseworthy or evil. Wolsey avoided the error into which Becket fell; he defied not the power of the king; but by submitting to his caprices, he obtained direct mastery over all others, in reality controlling the king himself. Wolsey also possessed a master mind; he had access to the various means most influential over the different classes of that day, and availed himself of them. Fox, bishop of Winchester, archbishop Warham, the duke of Norfolk, even the personal favourite, the duke of Suffolk, all retired before him, losing their political power. In 1515, Wolsey obtained the dignity of cardinal, which placed him above every other subject in the realm. In the following year he reached the summit of grandeur, both civil and ecclesiastical: the former by taking the office of lord chancellor, which Warham resigned, disgusted at the arrogance of the new favourite; the latter, by obtaining from the pope

the appointment of legate in England. Other bishoprics and abbeys were added to his benefices, to increase his wealth. He now sat at the right hand of the king, and claimed the honours due to royalty alone. He assumed a state and pomp which excited the wonder and displeasure of the nobility and gentry, but they dazzled the populace for a time: his power was increased, while his vanity was gratified; but his downfall was hastened thereby. At first this new title strengthened his influence over Henry, who gratified his taste for display and showy amusements, by beholding the state of the cardinal, and partaking of the entertainments Wolsey provided or suggested.

Hall, in his Chronicles, minutely describes several of these shows: one extract may be given as a specimen ; the scene was at Greenwich, at Christmas, in the year 1516. "There entered into the hall an artificial garden, called the Garden of Esperance. This garden was towered at every corner, and railed with gilt rails. All the banks were set with artificial flowers of silk and gold, the leaves cut of green satin, so that they seemed real flowers. In the midst of this garden was a pillar of antique work, all gold, set with pearls and stones; and on the top of this pillar, which was six square, was an arch embowed around with gold; within which stood a bush of red and white roses, all of silk and gold, and a bush of pomegranates of like stuff. In this garden walked six knights, and six ladies, richly apparelled; and then they descended and danced many goodly dances, and so ascended the garden again, and were conveyed out of the hall; and then the king was served with a great banquet." It seems to have been much such a show, except as to the expense, as might now be got up to amuse a party of children. A cart, decked out with artificial flowers of satin and gold, was drawn into the hall, with twelve people standing in it: after they had got down, and jumped about the hall for a time, they climbed up into the cart, and it was drawn out again!

Yet, in many respects, Wolsey benefited his country; he often restrained the wealthy and powerful from acts of violence towards the lower classes; he collected around him men of ability, whom he placed in various offices of power and business; he encouraged literature -no trifling benefit in an age when a nobleman maintained to the royal secretary Pace, that it was enough for noblemen's sons to sound their hunting horns well, and carry their hawks, while study and learning might be left to the children of labourers. In many respects, Wolsey thus unconsciously prepared the way for the beneficial changes that followed.

Coming events cast their shadows before; the first direct indications of the approaching storm, which overthrew the usurpations of the Romish clergy, appeared in 1515. It arose from what appeared a trifling matter. Richard Hunne, a citizen of London, refused to pay an extortionate fee claimed by a priest, on account of the death of his child: for this he was prosecuted in an ecclesiastical court, but he retorted by suing the priest in the King's Bench. A charge of heresy was then brought against Hunne, which enabled the ecclesiastics to imprison him in the Lollards' Tower, the bishops' prison for heretics, adjoining the cathedral of St. Paul. Here he was found hanging; the priests affirmed that he had committed self-murder, but a coroner's inquest being held, it was proved that Hunne had been murdered by Dr. Horsey, the chancellor of the diocese, with two assistants, one of whom afterwards confessed his guilt: and that they had hung up the body after death, to make it pass for an act of self-destruction. The popular indignation was roused. Bishop Fitzjames thought to stop it by pronouncing the deceased to have been guilty of heresy, merely because a copy of the English Bible was found among his effects. The body was sentenced to be dug up, and to be burned!

This proceeding only increased the popular feeling against the priests. The House of Commons restored

the property of Hunne to his children, and brought forward a bill against the assassins, which was strenuously opposed by the bishop of London. The contest took an important form. It was assumed by the clergy, that for all offences, even the most heinous, they were amenable only to their own courts, where they could only be tried by prelates and ecclesiastical officers. The king, with the nation at large, would not submit to this iniquitous claim of privilege, which had enabled many ecclesiastics to commit the vilest crimes with impunity. A compromise was effected. The murderers of Hunne submitted to the civil power; it being privately arranged that the prosecution should be dropped. Thus the clergy escaped the disgrace incurred by one of their order, but were compelled to give way to the royal prerogative. The citizens of London were fully convinced of the evil principles and practices of the Romish ecclesiastics. From that time an increasing number in the metropolis were disposed to forward the Reformation. The clergy were also compelled to drop proceedings against Dr. Standish, the king's counsel, who vehemently opposed their usurpations, and was bitterly persecuted by his brethren. All this gave Henry an advantage which he soon pressed further.

Wolsey saw that his master was decidedly bent upon hindering the ecclesiastics from making themselves independent of the other orders of society. He did not oppose the royal will, though he desired that the ecclesiastical order should be pre-eminent. The details thus given show that the awful proceedings of the priesthood in that day, required very high authority and strong power to keep these persecutors of God's heritage from assuming absolute sway. We need scarcely advert to the unholy and licentious lives of many of the leading clergy. Wolsey himself did not hesitate to procure appointments and honours for his own illegitimate children.

The principal event in the year 1516 was closely connected with the subject just adverted to, the supre