Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

W 0 1. S E Y, THE CARDINAL-CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND. AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] CHAPTER XXXII. Mournful, drary, wasting, crumbling, ern blemE of a time gone by, OROe in power and once in beauty, prostrate now in wreck ye lie; yrom the day the noble Saxon gave the land for God s good centuries oiiwaras, when the Saxon's tortiired X0 race, BuKting wide the bonds that galled them, tittered loud the freeman's cry, 40 In the wreck of tyrant kingcraft, let the tyrant's prison lie! yow the chains that bound our fathers, forged alike by king and Are the silkeu threads of freedom, as for ever there have ceased Through our England's fair dominion all the terror of a throne And the haughty prelate's mandate, and the serf's unheeded groan. -From a Monody on the Ruins of Cawood Castle. It is probable that Wolsey was happier during the brief period of his residence at Cawood Cast's to which he was about to journey than at any other portion of lijfl public career. Mr. Wheater in his interesting history of Shot-burn and Cawood calls attention to the fact that the place feH into a dilapidated condition in consequence of the Cardinal's neglect of his diocesan affairs, and his prolonged absence from the See. That prelate's devotion to temporal affairs rendered it necessary for him to reside at the Ceurt, and the noble old palace, robbed of its natural guardian, b<?san to crumble, and showed signs of rapid decay. When, however, the Cardinal felt into disgrace and was ordered to his northern home, no sooner had he become domiciled within its venerable w&lis than the keen eye of oce whom nature and b&btt made decisive and prompt in all circumstances, saw the evil ejects wrought upon the fabric by the neglect resulting from his absence, and he at once resolved to restore the palace to its farmer grandeur. Such a course was characteristic pf the man who bad swayed kingdoms and empires; even in his retreat his spirit coutd not be caged in the once deserted and stiil crumbling walls, and he began to repair the damage with bis accustomed energy." Hollinsbed says: Cardinal! Wolsie, being at Ctwood, bad there an honourable and plentifull house for all comers, and atsa rebuilt and repaired the CasteH, which watt greatly in decaie, having arti- Acers and labourers above three hundred persoM dtUe in wages." The fondness for building and the display of archi- tectural ski!l peculiar to Wolaey f 3und illustration to the last. Histriumphalprogressthroughthe country during his journey to the north made it evident that the Cardinal was still popular, and he doubtless made Many Mends who helped Mm with money, and enabled him to carry onJhr wstJy works undertaken r teouui-ufs )*i).e!- without scarcely have any foundation in fact. Mr. Wheater says that Wolsey's energetic inter- ference soon arrested the process of dilapidation, the apparently inevitable ruin was averted, once more the grandeur of the park was restored, aad all this was ordered by the good discretion of the right reverend the Cardinal of York." The gateway erected by Cardinal Kempc, the predecessor of Archbishop NevjUe, brother of the "King Maker"—to who&e profuse boBpitafity at Cawood i-eferpcce has alreatly been made-was reotorpd. This pre)ate, Wolsey, was of very humbte origin, being the son of a paor Keatish husbandman; but, beyond the fact that he is known to have been successively bishop of Rochester, Chicbester, London, Archbishop of York, Cardinal-Bishop of S! RufHinus, and Arch- bishop of Canterbury, Ipss is recorded of him than couid be wished. There is no memorial of him in tha Spe of Ycrb but what he has left hiBMetf, which was the gatehouse of the palace at Cawood, adorned both inside and out W)th his arms and the ensign of a Cafdioa.1. Thf-ra were likewise several sunh testimoni&ls in the wocd- work of this now d-solate palace which denote tbiLt if was part!y built and repaired by this pretate. Whether Wolsey was his own architect or not bag been made the subject of curious inquiry. Mention is made in old records of severat persons who dis- charged highly important functions at Hampton Court, but, Mr. Ernest Law. who has closely studied the subject under exception&Hy favourable circum- stances, statea that the name of no one occurs who could he Axed on as holding the office of designer and of architect. In a parchment written in Latin re- ference& ara made to workmen of different kinds, and James Bettes, Master of the Works to Thomas, Cardinal of York," is mentioned. The,) are grounds for believing tha.t: one \'dliiams, a pries)', was in his capacity of Surveyor of the Wnr'k?', responsible for much of the artistic detxil of Hamn'on P&)&ce." Whether be accompamed Wo!spy to Cawood 'K :tot known, but it is extrerody iLoprob;tl)le, siu.cl'\Henrv would naturally bavH retained so importtmc an official about his own pprson, w!C,h a view to turn- ing him to account in furtherance of his own plans at Hampton. The concluston which bas been arrived at is that Wolsey, being possessed of "universal genius," planned all the work and bad the details-or a port:on of them—carried cut bv SHbordjnates. One style prevailed, and it is so different from ordinary ecctCBiaRtical gotbic." a-a to have won the distinctive appellation of Woisey ttrchitecture." It has been said that the Cardinal during his stay at Cawood, appeared delighted with the composure of rurat affairs, and by the equity of his demeanour and a mild condescension, which belied the reports of I his haughtiness, he won the hearts of the clergy. He professed himself a convert from ambition," Gait telia us, that having suffered the perils and terrors of shipwreck he was thankful that at length I be had cast anchor in a calm and pleasant haven, with the expectation of safety and rest." Wolsey his mind burdened with anxious thoughts and many perplexities, clang fondly to Cawood. There he was in his own baronia! bouse, and yet sumciently sepa- rated from the scene of his legitimate but neglected ttbours to spare him the feelinga of remorse that a life immediately beside his magnificent cathedral coutd not have failed to instil into his breast. Yet it it said that he delighted to ascend to the topmost tower of Cawood and thence gain an almost unin- terrupted view of the stately cathedral he was never deatmedtp enter."

Executed at the Chrtnicle Office, Penarth. !'o.

P" The pT3ce was we![ sufted to repose. and it is on 1, record that aH the Archbishops of York 1 esorted t tbitbf'r when their presence was not required in that citv." BoJJinNbed savs: "At is a ca5rell belonging to the Archbishop of Yorke, where ho usotb ott to he whfn he .-efrpc<hptb. bimsetf wt'h change of aire and shift ct habitation for the avoiding of such infection as may otherwiHe ingcndpr by his long &bode in one place, for w&nt of due purgation and airing of his house.' It is known tha.t Wolsey 'was fond of retirement and found great recuperative iaOucHce in repose. He frequently deaied personages of importaBce KudienXM at Hamptou Coutt. and went thither when suffering from the sweating sic :nesa," supposed to have, been contracted by hica white presiding in his Court. In consequence of his avocations in London," Mr. Law remarks, "and his business with the King, and especially the negotiations that followed on the death of the Emperor, for which dignity Henry had been a candidate. Wolsey did not visit Hampton Court between the year 1517 and 1520. But he oc- casionally went down there to spend a few r;ays of teat and quiet in the country air. and would give rder. that he was not to be troubled with business until he camd back to town." It is easy therefore to understand how acceptable the quiet of Cawood muat hay be(-t to him. Alton, le confidential agent of the Ear!, of Shrews- bury, Lord Steward of the Royal Household, om- plains bitter!y of the difficulty he had in obta-mug answers to letters or an interview. "Hethfttsba.H be a suitor to him," observes Alien, must baTe no other business but to attend upon his pleasure. To get him to attend when he does not choose nust be a wiser man than I am He adds that be hat heard oa another occasion, when importuned by someone on a matter of business, the Cardinal reptied, I ye be not content to tarry my leisure, depart when/e will." And Alien further declares that, he would rtther be commanded to Rome, than deliver letters to Jim and wait for an answer. When he walks in thepark he I will suffer no suitor to come nigh unto bm; but orders him away as far as a man will aioot an arrow." This course of action, however, is said to have been due to the sickness from which he suff&ed, and was not uncommonly imitated by other pe-sons of distinction and authority when the plagte was <agiDg. John Skelton, who took infinite deught in .tiril!ling SM Cardinal, refers to this demeanour: His countenance 1ike a My Jord is not at layser Sir you must tarry a stoutid Till better layser be found Sir we must dance attendaunce And take patient auifera.nce For my lorde's grace Has now no time nor place To speak with you &s yet, And so they may sit or flit, Sit. or walk, or ride, And his layser abide; Perch aunce, wait a. vere, And yet be never the Wolsey also commonly held to his note tn orange whereof the meat or substance was taken out, and 6Hed up again with part of a sponge, wherein was vinegar and other confections against pestilent airs." Mr. Brewer is of opinion that his haughty conduct was due to the impatience of a man of g'eat peno- Cont:r!M!CLiune"9 a.<thH interrupttons. i0.llicp' and ceited mediocrity or pprtma.cious self-icterest. By nature, however, tit" Cardinal was "atun<Hy coa- sidera.te man." Sb&kespesre makes Griffith aitv of him to Queen Kathenne tb&the was Lofty sour to that Joved him Dot, Ent to those lllel1 tha,t hinl as öllltlnlcr." It mu&t have bppn in this iatter chara.ctembat he was best known at Cawood. AKhough Suftering from dropsy and stoBe, ague, quinsey, and colic," the Cardinal won the stft'ection. of his 'clergv, and wa< highly esteemed by them. Be, was so ill that he bs.a been coTMpeHed to obt;?UH a dispsasation from the Pope for the Lenten observance. 4rid in a letter to Hf-nry tha Eighth, rem.M-ks that his diges- tion ha.d been so impaired a,s tha.t he collli on!y ea.t tpuder food. When settled down at Cwood it is recorded of him Khnd. bo emp:oyed himstif by doing deeds of charity," a.nd was speoi&Hy "kiad to the poor." It was white rpsfdtng at the cast!e tha.t! Wo!sey made arrangements for be)Dg !nsta.t!.ed Archbishop, "a ceremony which ha.ct. been postponed on kccount of the mujtlfarí()u, du'dca which previously preveuted him coming into hiR dioceae. The iI13ta.U¡;¡,tí°tl. bow- ever, never took pJa.co, a.lthlJ\Jgh the ofKcisi!! of the tathedral visited nim at Cawood, and urged upon him the necessity of its performacce, representing to him at the same time the loss bis dignity would suffer, should he happen to die before being en- throned." It will not be forgotten that Henry, atteoaed by Catherine Howard, whom he b&d recently m&r)r'ed, I visited Cawood, and as Mr. Wheater reminds us, it was in the h&!Js of Pontefract and Cawood that the King drank joy from lips prostituted to Mother." The sunny smile in which he delighted so much to bask was the treacherous fascination of a lewd and impure woman. It was not surprising, under &)! the ¡ circumstances of the case-infamOl1!1 as had been 100 monarch's own conduct-that, whea the taTe of her j base intrigues ia those places was unfolded to his astonished ears, "tha bewildered husband spurned the wretched woman on whom he had doated vvith all the exquisite fondness of his sensual natuM." When Wolsey fell the glory of Cawood departed. Edward Lee, the Cardinal's successor in the See of York, converted the castle iato a prison for the recep- t tion of captives taken at the battle of Solvvay Moss. During the Civil Wars the place was destroyed. The tenor bell in Cawood Church is a pro-Reformation beti, bearing the legend Sancte Andree, ora pro Mo&M, and the tradition is that it was brought from the castle chapel wrecked in 1646. Be this as it inay, little else remains to attest the grandeur of the Arch- bishops' home. But to return to the Cardinal's f journey—com- menced by the way in Passion Week-it will susice to notice briefly that be lodged for the nrst night at Hendon, in the house of the Abbot of Westtnicster, the next day removing to & place called Bye, &n abode of the Lady Parry." On the third night be elept in the monastery at Royston, and was vety ill; oo the fourth day he reached Huntingdon, and remained at the Abbey. On Patm Sunday, Cavendish recorda that his master, being still sick and teeble, reached the Abbey of Peterborough, which he raade his abode until the Thursday in Easter week, hift train for the most part being at board wages in the town." Hera it was that the fallen Cardinal celebrated Palm Sunday, going with the monks in processions and bearing his palm with great humility." On the ? ThuMday he kept hja Maanday, witj:1 accustomed

-7 Meremonies and Bounties to tllifpoor." On Bastef Sunday "he also went in procession, wearing his Cardinal's habit, aad performed theaervicoofhigh mass very devoutly." About four miles from Peterborough an old friend of the Cardinal, Sir William FitzwiHiams, had a resi- dence, and he resotved to pay him a visit. The knight made him cordially welcome and ''received hit) grace with great joy and hospitality." The next stage on the ensuing Monday was to Sta.mford, where he remained all night, and on Tuesday went to Grant- ham, sleeping in the bouae of a gentleman named Halt. On Wednesday Newark Castle received him and his train, and on Thursday the Cardinal reached Southwell, but the palace there belonging to his See of York being out of repair he was lodged in the bouse of one of the prebends." There Wolsey resided until Whitsuntide, when he femoved into the palace, keeping a noble table, where he was visited by the chief persons of the country." Here he made himself so popular with the people by his generosity and affable conduct, that when, at the latter end of grease time' he removed to Scroby, another house belonging to the See of York," he wa& "as much regretted at Southwell as he was greeted at his new abode." On his way to Scroby the Cardinal cauod at Welbcck or Newstead Abbey, oa going from thence to Rufford Abbey, where he dined, and sleeping at Blythe Abbey. On the morrow he reached Scroby, in an exhausted con- dition, and tarriew their until Michaelmas." At leng h Wolsey, auffering in mind and body, took up his residence at Cawood Castle, having on his way ) thither held a confirmation at St. Oswald's Abbey. It was but a short time, however, that he was destined to abide !n the historic home of the Arch- bishops of the Northern Province, where, as his gentleman-usher records, he "lay with much honour." The ctprgy, happy to see their bishop among them, waited upon Woisey "to take order for his en- thromxation" in York Minster, and received in- structions from him to the effect that the ceremony should be performed with "as little pomp as possible." It was never performed 'at all. Nemesis was at band and the sword was about to fall. It was Anno Boieyn and the King now for a time, and not Wolsfey and the King. The i)!-fatcd woman, tike Deliah, bad the giant in her bimds, and for a while be was content to be her puppet. The Catdinal was to have, t&ken his seat on the archiepiscopal throne the Monday after All Ha!!own Tide, but he was arrested on the Friday before, the 4th of November, at Cawood, by the Earl of Northumberland and Mr. Wetsh." No doubt the original intention of the King watt that Wolsey shoufd go to Winchester, but the Duk,& of Norfolk, anxious to remove him as far as possible beyond reach of Henry, and being furthermore desirous of affording Anne ampte opportunity of bringing her influence to bear on the King, conspired with other nobles, bent upon advancing the cause of reform, and possibly with an eye to persons! pront. Nay, he shal! not go to Winchester," said the Duke. Lot him go to bis province of York whereof he hath receiver his honour, and where )!eth the spiritu&t burden and charge of his conscience." The plurHoIist Cardinal-the greatest probably evef l'J?om"V6ipm.. t:11_.e:.r311ye but to comply, for Duke. -———— -f f-,hn Tha lords, who were not all his friends," says Cavendish, having jteligence of his intent thought to withdraw bis appetite from Winchester, and would in no wise permit him to p)a.nt himself so nigh the King." Therefore they invoked Henry to g:ve a pension to the Cardinal of four thousand m&rks out of Win- chester, aEd to distribute the rest among thi nobility and other of his worthy servants, and in likewise to to do the ssme with tho revenues of St. Albans. and the revenues of bis coHoges ia Oxford and Ipswich which the King took into his own hands; whereof Master Cromwell had the receipt and government before my lord's assignment." Their plans succeeded in part, and so well as that while Wo!sey was away in Yorkshire, far beyond restch of the Kmg's ear, these nobles obtained speech with Henry, and arranged for the charge of hish treason. Among those who obtained pensions out of the See of Winchester were Lord Sandys and his son Thomas Sir William Fitzwiniam, Sir Henry GuiMford, Sir John Russe!, and Sir Henry Norris, from whom some of the most innuentia! noblemen of later times derived their estates. CHAPTER THE LAST. Great princes' favourites their fair Jeaves sprfac,, But as the mangold at the sun's eye And in themselves their pride lies buried For a,t a. frown they in their glory die. ? His overthrow heaped happhiess upon him, For then, and not till then, he felt himself, And found the blessedness of being little And, to add greater honours to hi?ae-e Than man could give him, he died fearing Gtod. A SINISTER accusation having been made against Wolsey, Sir Waiter Walshe, Knight, one of the genMe. men of the King's Privy Chamber, was sent into the country unto the Earl of Northumberland," with orders to co operate with him in arresting the Car- dinal on a charge of hautt treason." In due course the sa.ri and the knight, jointly in communion, reached Cawood CasMe. When they arrived the Archbishop was at dinner, and he seema to h&ve been greatly concerned to provide for them with wosted hospitality. At nrst: he was ignorant of the! errand, although it is not improb&Na that the coming ov< nt citst its shadow before. Always a believer in omens Wolsey found one in am mcicienE which occurred upon AUhaUoun Day at Cawood—just at the moment Sir Walter Wa!she "took horse to ride north, with orders to arrest the Car- dinal. The Primate, his frienda and retinue, in common with the nodes ia that age, dined together. His &rat:e. with his principa.: guests, occupied the upper end of the Btet table in the gire&t chamber," which was known as ttM Lord's Board-end." The onicerof his household, and mfenor guest! sa,t at )onf tabteat below in the b?:. In the middle of Mch table stood a gre&t s&tt-coliar and as particular care was t&ken to p[&ce the guests according to their rank. it bec&me a mark of diistinc'.icm whether a person sat above or below the nait. On the day in question the Cardinal had "at his beam's end divers of his most worthiest haplains sitting at dinner to keep him company for lack of straNgeirs. A great cross of Stiver, whiett usually stood at the ta.bf.e'e end, was leaning against the tappet cr hanging of the chamber. Im 81.ngl one Doctor Augustine, a cbystCiac, bemg a.