A more formidable adversary than Standish aspired to combat the Reformation, not only in England, but in all the West. One of those ambitious designs, which easily germinate in the human heart, developed itself in the soul of the chief minister of Henry VIII; and if this project succeeded, it promised to secure for ever the empire of the papacy on the banks of the Thames, and perhaps in the whole of Christendom. Wolsey, as chancellor and legate, governed both in state and in church, and could, without an untruth, utter his famous _Ego et rex meus_. Having reached so great a height, he desired to soar still higher. The favourite of Henry VIII, almost his master, treated as a brother by the emperor, by the king of France, and by other crowned heads, invested with the title of Majesty, the peculiar property of sovereigns,[338] the cardinal, sincere in his faith in the popedom, aspired to fill the throne of the pontiffs, and thus become _Deus in terris_. He thought, that if God permitted a Luther to appear in the world, it was because he had a Wolsey to oppose to him. [338] Consultissima tua Majestas. Vestra sublimis et longe reverendissima, Majestas, etc. Fiddes, Bodleian Papers, p. 178. It would be difficult to fix the precise moment when this immoderate desire entered his mind: it was about the end of 1518 that it began to show itself. The bishop of Ely, ambassador at the court of Francis I, being in conference with that prince on the 18th of December in that year, said to him mysteriously: "The cardinal has an idea in his mind ... on which he can unbosom himself to nobody ... except it be to your majesty." Francis understood him. [Sidenote: AMBITION OF FRANCIS I.] An event occurred to facilitate the cardinal's plans. If Wolsey desired to be the first priest, Henry desired to be the first king. The imperial crown, vacant by the death of Maximilian, was sought by two princes:--by Charles of Austria, a cold and calculating man, caring little about the pleasures and even the pomp of power, but forming great designs, and knowing how to pursue them with energy; and by Francis I, a man of less penetrating glance and less indefatigable activity, but more daring and impetuous. Henry VIII, inferior to both, passionate, capricious, and selfish, thought himself strong enough to contend with such puissant competitors, and secretly strove to win "the monarchy of all Christendom."[339] Wolsey flattered himself that, hidden under the cloak of his master's ambition, he might satisfy his own. If he procured the crown of the Cæsars for Henry, he might easily obtain the tiara of the popes for himself; if he failed, the least that could be done to compensate England for the loss of the empire, would be to give the sovereignty of the church to her prime minister. [339] Cotton MSS. Brit. Mus. Calig. D. 7, p. 88.