Cromwell a member of his Council, but told nobody about it for four months. This tale is in many respects similar to the account contained in Pole’s Apologia: but the story of the Cardinal does not mention the quarrel with Wallop, and the report of Chapuys does not say a word about the plan for the solution of Henry’s ‘grete matier’ by which Cromwell, according to Pole, completely fascinated the King. All the accounts, however, seem to agree that by some means he managed to secure an interview with Henry soon after Wolsey’s death, at which he clinched everything that he had already gained, and obtained the favour of the King by one master-stroke. Pole’s story of this interview contains information which leads us into the thick of Cromwell’s political career. Before we proceed to examine it in detail a brief chapter must be devoted to a description of the actors and past events of the great political drama in which Cromwell was to play a part, and to a further analysis of his own character and ideals. CHAPTER V THE CHARACTER AND OPPORTUNITY OF THOMAS CROMWELL The condition of England at the time of Wolsey’s death was in many ways an extraordinary one. At home and abroad she had already begun to reap glorious fruits from the untiring efforts and masterful policy of the first Tudor. United under a powerful monarchy, which had strengthened itself at the expense of every other institution in the realm, she rested secure in the enjoyment of internal peace and of a high degree of estimation and respect in foreign lands. That she had lost nearly all those continental possessions which had been the proudest boast of Edward III. and Henry V. now proved an inestimable advantage. The wise Cardinal had made use of England’s insular position to such good advantage, that she had been able, at least up to the time when the political situation had been complicated by the question of the divorce, to keep the Emperor and the King of France in a state of constant anxiety concerning her real attitude, and often to force the two rivals to bid against each other for her alliance. In 1521 Henry had dedicated to Leo X. a treatise which he had written against the heresies of Luther, and had been rewarded with the proud title of ‘Defensor Fidei.’ Success abroad meant popularity at home, at least for the King, whose enthusiasm and winning manners endeared him to his subjects, and who usually contrived to shift the blame for the unwelcome measures of his government on to the shoulders of the Cardinal. As long as the national honour was upheld on the Continent without draining too deeply the resources of the people at home, the country seemed quite willing to trust the King to the full and to allow him to rule as well as govern.