Nothing could equal Henry's joy. "His majesty," said the vicar of Croydon, "would not exchange that name for all London and twenty miles round."[405] The king's fool, entering the room just as his master had received the bull, asked him the cause of his transports. "The pope has just named me _Defender of the Faith_!"--"Ho! ho! good Harry," replied the fool, "let you and me defend one another; but ... take my word for it ... _let the faith alone to defend itself_."[406] An entire modern system was found in those words. In the midst of the general intoxication, the fool was the only sensible person. But Henry could listen to nothing. Seated on an elevated throne, with the cardinal at his right hand, he caused the pope's letter to be read in public. The trumpets sounded: Wolsey said Mass; the king and his court took their seats around a sumptuous table, and the heralds at arms proclaimed: _Henricus Dei gratia Rex Angliæ et Franciæ, Defensor Fidei et Dominus Hiberniæ!_ [405] Foxe, Acts, iv, p. 596. [406] Fuller, book v, p. 168. Thus was the king of England more than ever united to the pope: whoever brings the Holy Scriptures into his kingdom shall there encounter that material sword, _ferrum et materialem gladium_, in which the papacy so much delighted. CHAPTER VI. Wolsey's Machinations to obtain the Tiara--He gains Charles V--Alliance between Henry and Charles--Wolsey offers to command the Troops--Treaty of Bruges--Henry believes himself King of France--Victories of Francis I--Death of Leo X. [Sidenote: WOLSEY DESIRES THE TIARA.] One thing only was wanting to check more surely the progress of the Gospel: Wolsey's accession to the pontifical throne. Consumed by the desire of reaching "the summit of sacerdotal unity,"[407] he formed, to attain this end, one of the most perfidious schemes ambition ever engendered. He thought with others: "The end justifies the means." [407] Unitatis sacerdotalis fastigium conscendere. Sanders, De Schism. Ang. 8. The cardinal could only attain the popedom through the emperor or the king of France; for then, as now, it was the secular powers that really elected the chief of catholicity. After carefully weighing the influence of these two princes, Wolsey found that the balance inclined to the side of Charles, and his choice was made. A close intimacy of long standing united him to Francis I, but that mattered little; he must betray his friend to gain his friend's rival.