Wolsey changed companies in London, and had now joined a party of Flemish manufacturers, who were going down to his native town, to teach the weavers there the manufacture which afterwards raised Ipswich to such notoriety. These men were a contrast to those with whom he had journeyed to London. These were consumers, and teachers of consumers, of that very article for the preservation of which, to this country, he had been so strong an advocate. He was now more convinced than before of the folly of sending the flocks out of the country when such good workmen came from foreign countries, to teach our men their value. He found these foreigners intelligent and industrious, acting under the guidance of a leader, who undertook to give them wages from the time of their starting from their own country. With them he entered freely into conversation, speaking to them in their own language, and astonishing their minds with the knowledge he seemed to possess of their country and people as well as of the town to which he was bound. It was upon this journey, too, that Wolsey had an opportunity of discovering that he had made friends with a worthy, honest class of men, as stout-hearted as they were strong-armed; and that they were ready to look upon him with respect as their superior, though by no means better mounted or provided with cash. Not far from Ingatstone they were met by a very formidable body of the idlers who infested that neighborhood, half gipsies, half robbers--men and women, travelling in company, tinkers, shoeing-smiths, and braziers, yet of such a wild character, that they never failed to tax all they met who happened to be too weak to resist. They were headed by a tall, swarthy man, commonly called the Ingatstone Bear, or Wild Man of Brentwood. He was known as King of the Gipsies far and near. He had come over from Spain, having escaped the violent persecution at Toulon, which those unfortunate people had aroused, in consequence of their having had a deadly encounter with some Turkish traders, whom they had murdered to a man. Stanton, as he was called among his own people, was a sinewy and bony man, who never did any work, but led his people about the country, occasionally haranguing them in a circle, and appointing the different men their specific duties. The King of the Gipsies understood the handicraft of all his people. He also had a very quick apprehension of character, such as he found among the gentry and commonalty of England, though he pretended to understand nothing of their language. The party of Flemings then journeying to Ipswich in company had hired a guide who undertook to see them safe through the country. Whether this man was in league with the gipsies or not, it was never strictly ascertained, though this was much suspected.