WOLSEY 



6345 



WOLSEY 



in 1852, he first saw service in the second Bur- 

 mese War, and was severely wounded and sent 

 home as unfit to take further part in the cam- 

 paign. In the Crimean War he performed dis- 

 tinguished sen-ice and received the French 

 Legion of Honor and the war medal, as well 

 as a promotion to the rank of major. After 

 serving in India, where in the Sepoy Rebellion 

 he took part in the capture of Lucknow, he 

 was placed in command of the British troops 

 in the Chinese War of 1860, being present at 

 the most important engagements. 



Afterwards sent to Canada, he successfully 

 crushed the first rebellion of Louis Kiel (1870) 

 at Fort Garry, now the city of Winnipeg, but 

 then a mere outpost in the wilderness. Wolse- 

 ley received credit for his admirable arrange- 

 ment of transport and supplies on this expedi- 

 tion, and was made K. C. M.G. and C.B. (see 

 ABBREVIATIONS). 



Wolseley's next and most important cam- 

 paign was in 1873, when he commanded the 

 Ashanti expedition, winning decisively and re- 

 turning home in two months. He was thanked 

 by Parliament, and received also a grant of 

 $125,000 and many honors. His name was at 

 the time a household word, and he was every- 

 where recognized as Britain's foremost soldier. 



Placed in command of operations against 

 Arabi Pasha in Egypt in 1882, he conducted a 

 brilliant campaign and defeated and captured 

 Arabi at Tel-el-Kebir. On his return to Eng- 

 land he was raised to the peerage as Baron 

 Wolseley. He was again sent to Egypt in 1884 

 to rescue General Gordon at Khartum, but 

 arrived too late, the defender of Khartum hav- 

 ing hern killed two days before. He was 

 created Viscount Wolseley on his return and 

 made commander-in-chief of the British army, 

 in which capacity he did much to improve the 

 methods of the English war office and increase 

 th. tlinrncy of the troops. F.ST.A. 



WOLSEY, wul'zi, THOMAS (about 1475- 

 1530), an English statesman and cardinal of the 

 Roman Catholic Church, for years the most 

 powerful man in England, whose ultimate 

 downfall resulted because he trusted too much 

 "to the power of princes." He was born at 

 Ipswich, the son of a butcher without standing 

 in his community. Thomas was sent to Mag- 

 dalen College, Oxford, and was elected fellow 

 of his college some years after his graduation ; 

 after his ordination to the priesthood m 1 I'.is 

 he became rector of Liinmirtnn. m Somerset. 

 It seems to have been easy for him to find 

 patrons who would advance his interests ; there- 



fore by 1507 he had become chaplain to Henry 

 VII. The king found Wolsey useful as a diplo- 

 matic agent, and frequently employed him. 



Henry VIII at his accession made him royal 

 almoner (alms dispenser) and bestowed upon 

 him other ecclesiastical preferments, but it was 

 not until 1511, when he became a member of 

 the Privy Council, that Wolsey exercised a di- 

 rect influence on the government. Before long 

 his voice was the controlling one in all matters 

 of state, so much so that he practically ruled 

 the country. His ecclesiastical advancement 

 continued also, for in 1514 he became bishop of 

 Lincoln, and later in the same year Archbishop 

 of York ; in 1515 he received the cardinal's hat. 

 He lived in royal state, exacted the utmost 

 reverence and subservience from all who ap- 

 proached him, and made no secret of the fact 

 that he hoped to be elevated to the Papacy. 

 Like his royal master, he was lax in his morals, 

 but he had undoubted qualities of statesman- 

 ship, and faithfully considered the king's inter- 

 ests in shaping his policies. 



Most of his energies were devoted to ad- 

 vancing the cause of England in foreign affairs. 

 At the outset of his ministry he favored France 

 in opposition to the Holy Roman Empire, but 

 later, when Charles V became emperor, he 

 shifted and concluded an alliance with him 

 against Francis I, hoping thereby to win the 

 support of Charles in his struggle for the 

 Papacy. When the Empire became so strong 

 that it seemed to Wolsey to threaten the bal- 

 ance of power in Europe, he again took sides 

 with France, thus involving England in a war 

 with Charles. 



Meanwhile, his unpopularity, always great, 

 was increasing, and his enemies influenced the 

 king against him. though it was not until a 

 (U finite occasion arose that Henry really turned 

 against his favorite. Wishing to secure a di- 

 vorce from Catharine of Aragon, Henry com- 

 mitted the matter to Wolsey, who did not pro- 

 ceed energetically enough to please the hn pa- 

 tient monarch. The result was that he waa 

 stripped of his honors, removed from his hmh 

 place and forced to face a bill of attain 

 Tins failed of passage by the Commons, but 

 Wolsey was accused of treason and summoned 

 to London to meet th< charges. On the jour- 

 ney he died, and was buried at Leicester Ab- 

 bey. In Shakespeare's Henry VIII, Wolsey 

 his downfall is made to say: 



I but forved my God wltb half the seal 

 i i vod my kins:. He would not In mine age 

 Have left me naked to mine enemies. 



