and a degree of solicitude and address on that of Wolsey, who, in the earnestness of his letters to the ambassadors, and of his representations to the pope, shows how much he really had the divorce at heart, it was thought expedient by the English council to send Stephen Gardiner, the king's secretary, and Edward Fox, his almoner, two of the ablest canonists among the British clergy, to Rome, in order to promote the business of the king with all the address in their power. With this accession to the diplomacy, so great a progress was made in favour of the divorce, that in April 1527 the pope at length consented to send, as legate, Campeggio, who was particularly agreeable to Henry, and attached to the interests of that monarch by the see of Salisbury which he held, and by many other favours. But Campeggio, who preferred the situation he then enjoyed as legate at Rome, and who dreaded lest he might offend in this business either the pope or the emperor, declined for some time to enter upon his new office. When this reluctance was known in England, Wolsey wrote a pressing letter to Campeggio, entreating him to comply with the king's desires, and to bring with him such authority as should render the sentence firm and irreversible. This letter is still preserved, and is written in the hand of Wolsey's secretary: the

conclusion is thus worded: "I hope all things shall be done according to the will of God, the desire of the king, the quiet of the kingdom, to our honour, and with a good conscience." It is a curious fact that Wolsey, who perhaps felt some scruples in invalidating, by the bull of one pope, what had been licensed by another, dashed out, with his own hand, the words "with a good conscience," in this document. Hypocrisy was not, it must be allowed, the vice of his powerful and independent mind.

Campeggio, however, did not hasten his journey to England, and this delay afforded the agitated and unhappy Katharine time to contemplate her difficulties, and to take such steps as might best avert the crisis of her fate. She wrote, therefore, to her two nephews, the emperor and his brother Ferdinand, complaining much of the king, and bitterly of the cardinal, desiring the advice and assistance of her relatives, and informing them of the objections, made by the king's advocates, to the bull granted by Julius the Second. The emperor and his brother evinced a determination to protect her cause; but, to obviate the exceptions to the bull, had recourse to an unworthy artifice, which shows, among innumerable other instances, to how low a standard honour is, sometimes, placed in the estimation of statesmen. They caused a breve to be forged, bearing the same date as the bull,

but differing from it in such essential points, that no doubt can be entertained of its spuriousness. This breve, the imperial party pretended to have found at Rome, and they produced it as supplying the principal defects of the bull: but unfortunately for the cause of the unhappy queen, it gained no credence, and a simple inaccuracy of date plainly proved its invalidity. It was, therefore, justly concluded, that a cause must indeed be weak, which required such measures to give it support.

Katharine, distracted by jealousy of Henry's affections, concern for her own honour, and for the legitimacy of her daughter, was somewhat comforted by the assurance which Henry gave to the pope, that the divorce should not affect the interests of the Princess Mary. Solicitous, if possible, to regain the semblance of the king's regard, and to retain his society, she wisely promoted amusements which she had hitherto rather permitted than enjoyed: determined, as she declared, to stand to that marriage which the Roman church had allowed, and not to acquiesce in the decision of partial judges, she manifested her indignation against Wolsey in a manner which proves her to have been of a resolute spirit; nor would she listen to the Archbishop of Canterbury who interceded with her on behalf of the Cardinal, and who represented, that it was only to refute the surmises

of the Bishop of Tarbe that the appeal to the pope had been made. It was in vain too, that Wolsey endeavoured to destroy the rumours concerning the divorce which had gained belief in the court of Spain; for Katharine had her agents there and at Rome, who both reported what was passing abroad, and supplied statements of her affairs to the pope and the emperor. Instigated by her complaints, Charles, after adjuring Henry not to proceed in the divorce as he intended by commission, but to allow a process to be entered into at Rome, finding this remonstrance ineffectual, intimated to the English ambassadors that he intended to send his protestations against the divorce both to England and to Rome.

Affairs were in this unsettled and disturbed state; Wolsey trembling for his power, whether his enemy Katharine were re-established, or his enemy Anne elevated to the throne; Campeggio delaying, and excusing his delays; the pope inclined to favour England, and fearful of offending Spain; Katharine determined not to yield her rights, and Henry resolved not to lose the object of his passion: in this condition, during six tedious months, each party looked anxiously to the arrival of Campeggio to decide the interesting and momentous question which occupied all minds.

9

CHAP. III.

Katharine of Arragon: her injuries. - Protest of Henry at Bridewell. - Anne Bullen's dismissal from Court: her resentment.-Campeggio's arrival in England. Illness of Clement the Seventh. - Wolsey again attempts the Papacy.-Charles the Fifth protests against the Legacy in his Aunt's name: enters into a treaty with Clement. Henry recalls his Ambassadors from Rome. -Dispatch of the two Legates to Rome. - The Imperialists propose an avocation of the cause to Rome. Proceedings begun in England. - Interview between the Queen and the Legates. - Preparations for the Queen's trial. The King and Queen cited to appear in court. Katharine's address to the King: she leaves the court: Henry's commendations of her.- Dispute between Warham and Fisher. The Queen refuses to re-appear before the Legates: appeals to Rome. - Conduct of the Pope.-Delays of the Legates. The King consults with Wolsey.- Proceedings of the legatine court. - Intemperate conduct of the Duke of Suffolk. Henry meets the Legates at Grafton.- Wolsey warned of the King's Campeggio obtains leave to depart: insult offered to him before his departure. -Wolsey sits for the last time in Chancery: the Seals required of him: commanded to retire to Esher: an inventory taken of his goods: his abject conduct.

alienation.

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WHATEVER may have been the expediency

of those measures which were intended 1528. to procure an undisputed succession to