The spirit that breathes through this prayer is not a martial spirit, and no doubt More's feelings represented those of Wolsey, who, though carried away by the king's military zeal, had little hopes of any great success, and such hopes as he had were rapidly destroyed. The campaign did not begin till the end of September; the contingent from the Netherlands was late in appearing and was ill supplied with food. Till the last moment Wolsey urged, as the first object of the campaign, the siege of Boulogne, which, if successful, would have given England a second stronghold on the French coast; but Wolsey was overruled, and an expedition into the interior of France was preferred. It was a repetition of the raid made in the last year, and was equally futile. The army advanced to Montdidier, and expected tidings of its confederate; but nothing was to be heard of Bourbon; his lanzknechts began to devastate France and then disbanded. The army of Charles V. contented itself with taking Fontarabia, and did not co-operate with the English forces. After the capture of Montdidier the troops, who were attacked by sickness, and had difficulty in finding provisions, withdrew to the coast; and the Duke of Suffolk brought back his costly army without having obtained anything of service to England. This expedition, which was to do so much, was a total failure—there was positively nothing to be shown in return for all the money spent.

Again the wisdom of Wolsey's policy was fully justified. He was right in thinking that England had neither troops nor generals who were sufficient for an expedition on the Continent, where there was nothing tangible to be gained. So long as England was a neutral and mediating power she could pursue her own interests; but her threats were more efficacious than her performances. She could not conquer unaided, and her allies had no intention of allowing her to win more than empty glory. Even this had been denied in the last campaigns. England had incurred debts which her people could ill afford to pay, and had only lowered her reputation by a display of military incompetence. Moreover, her expedition against France involved her in the usual difficulties on the side of Scotland. Again there was a devastating war along the Border; again the Duke of Albany was sent from France and raised an army for the invasion of England. But this time Wolsey had taken his precautions, and the Earl of Surrey was ready to march against him. When in November Albany crossed the Tweed and besieged the Castle of Wark, Surrey took the field, and again Albany showed his incapacity as a leader. He retired before Surrey's advance, and wished to retire to France, but was prevented by the Scottish lords. Again the Border raids went on with their merciless slaughter and plunder, amidst which was developed the sternness and severity which still mark the character of the northern folk.

Still, though the Scots might be defeated in the field, their defeat and suffering only served to strengthen the spirit of national independence. The subjugation of Scotland to England was hindered, not helped, by the alliance with the Emperor, which only drew Scotland nearer to France, and kept alive the old feeling of hostility. It was hard to see what England had to gain from the imperial alliance, and events soon proved that Charles V. pursued his own interests without much thought of the wishes of Henry VIII.

On 14th September died Pope Adrian VI., a weary and disappointed man. Again there was a prospect of Wolsey's election to the papacy; again it might be seen how much Charles V. would do for his English ally. Wolsey had little hope of his good offices, and was his own negotiator in the matter. He was not sanguine about his prospects of success, as he knew that Cardinal Medici was powerful in Rome; and the disasters of the pontificate of Adrian VI. led the cardinals to wish for a return to the old policy of Leo X., of which Medici held the threads. So two letters were sent to the English representatives in Rome, one in behalf of Wolsey, the other in behalf of Medici. If things were going for Medici, Wolsey was not to be pressed; only in case of a disagreement was Wolsey to be put forward, and then no effort was to be spared; money was to be of no object, as Henry would make good any promises made on his behalf to secure Wolsey's election.

The conclave was protracted; it sat from 1st October to 17th November, and there was ample opportunity for Charles to have made his influence felt in Wolsey's behalf. He professed to Henry that he was doing so. He wrote a letter recommending Wolsey to his envoy in Rome, and then gave orders that the courier who carried the letter should be detained on the way. Really his influence was being used for Medici, and though a strong party in the conclave opposed Medici's election, it does not appear that Wolsey was ever put forward as a competitor. The cardinals would hear nothing of a foreigner, and the stubbornness of Medici's party was at length rewarded by his election. There is no trace that Wolsey was keenly disappointed at this result. In announcing it to Henry VIII., he wrote, "For my part, as I take God to record, I am more joyous thereof than if it had fortuned upon my person, knowing his excellent qualities most meet for the same, and how great and sure a friend your Grace and the Emperor be like to have of him, and I so good a father."

Few popes came to their office amid greater expectations, and few more entirely disappointed them than did Guilio de' Medici. Clement VII., whose election Charles, Henry, and Wolsey united in greeting with joy, suffered in a brief space entire humiliation at the hands of Charles, caused the downfall of Wolsey, and drove Henry to sever the bond between the English Church and the Holy See. It is impossible not to think how different would have been the course of events if Wolsey had presided over the destinies of the Church.

CHAPTER VII
RENEWAL OF PEACE
1523-1527

The events of the year 1523 had practically made an end of the imperial alliance. Henry VIII. was not in a position to go to war again, and his confidence in Charles V.'s good intentions towards him was dispelled. Charles and Francis had had enough of war, and both of them secretly desired peace, but neither would make the first move towards it. Wolsey watched their movements keenly, and strove that English interests should not be entirely sacrificed in the pacification which seemed imminent. He strove to induce Charles to allow proposals of peace to proceed from England, which should arbitrate on the differences between him and Francis. He urged that in any negotiations which Charles himself undertook he was bound to consider how Henry could be recompensed for his losses. Moreover, he secretly opened up negotiations of his own with the French Court, and used the imperial alliance as a means to heighten England's value to France.

The more Wolsey watched events the more he became convinced that the best thing was to make a separate peace with France, yet in such a way as to avoid an open breach with the Emperor. There were other reasons besides the failure of military expeditions, and the distrust in any good result from their continuance, which impelled Wolsey to a pacific policy. He knew only too well that war was impossible, and that the country could not bear the continued drain on its resources. If Henry VII. had developed the royal power by a parsimony which enabled him to be free from parliamentary control, Henry VIII. had dazzled his people by the splendour of royalty, and had displayed his magnificence to such an extent that Englishmen were beginning to doubt if they could afford much longer to be so important, or rather if England's importance in Continental affairs were worth all the money that it cost. Of late years the weight of taxation had become oppressive, and the expenses of the last campaign were difficult to meet.