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 the country. The lords replied that he had come at their invitation, and that they would stand by him to the death. Neither party, however, was prepared to prosecute war in earnest, and the chief effect, as regards England, of Albany's return was to give Henry one slight addition to his flimsy pretexts of complaint against France. In March, however, Francis ordered the goods of Englishmen to be arrested at Bordeaux, and withheld the annual pensions that he had hitherto paid to England. Clarenceux was accordingly despatched to France, and on 29 May intimated to the French king at Lyons that Henry was his mortal enemy. Just at that time the emperor was paying a second visit to England. He reached Dover on the 26th, and the king soon after conducted him to London. On the way (5 June) they received news of Clarenceux's defiance of the French king. On the 19th he made a new treaty with Henry against France at Windsor, and after having fully arranged with him a plan of joint hostilities, on 6 July he sailed from Southampton for Spain.

The Earl of Surrey was despatched to sea with a squadron, as if to accompany the emperor and secure his safety; but he made for Brittany, sacked the town of Morlaix, and set it and the shipping on fire. Shortly afterwards the king sent him with an army to ravage Picardy. To support these operations the king called upon his subjects for a loan, assessed by commissioners throughout the country, of one-tenth of each man's income. A few months later, when parliament met (in April 1523), this was supplemented by a four years' subsidy, made up of a graduated income and property tax, which pressed with unexampled severity, and was voted with extreme reluctance. The war then went on more vigorously than ever, both with France and Scotland. Surrey was now sent against the latter country, while Suffolk took his place in France.

But Henry's generals spent his treasure without profit, and it became manifest that the emperor, who alone derived benefit from these operations, gave no very energetic assistance. Francis was not deterred from invading Italy to secure the duchy of Milan, but in February 1525 was himself taken prisoner at Pavia. It was at once obvious that the emperor had gained all that he could possibly hope for from war, and that England would be left in the lurch. Wolsey had, however, to some extent provided against even such an unexpected issue as this by underhand negotiations with France, which might either serve to keep the emperor in check, or be disowned if necessary. And when the imperial ambassador's suspicions were aroused, Wolsey with sublime audacity caused his despatches to be intercepted, and having read their contents (expressing a strong opinion of his own duplicity), got the king to write with his own hand to the emperor demanding the punishment of an agent who had expressed sentiments so destructive of a good understanding between allied princes. This was just before the capture of Francis. But, unexpected as was his good fortune, the emperor could not afford to quarrel with England. He was afraid that the secret negotiation between England and France would develope (as it subsequently did) into an alliance against himself.

The capture of Francis, if the emperor had meant to keep faith with his ally, presented an excellent opportunity for extorting from France concessions of territory alike to the emperor and to England. Henry accordingly made offers for a joint invasion, declaring that his army was ready, and he himself would lead it over in person; that he expected, after a triumphant campaign, to accompany the emperor to Rome; and that Charles, with his prospective marriage to the Princess Mary, would then be master of all Christendom. Charles in reply was obliged to confess that he was in no condition to prosecute the war, and that unless Mary were sent over to Spain at once with a dowry of four hundred thousand ducats, and Henry (to whom he was deeply in debt already) would contribute half as much again to the expenses of the war, he was not prepared to take action. These demands were only intended to cover the emperor's secret purpose to break off his engagement with Mary, marry Isabella of Portugal, and leave Henry to make war on his own account, so as to enhance the terms he himself might exact from Francis for a separate peace. Wolsey, however, not only saw through this policy, but told the imperial agents in England plainly that he could checkmate the emperor by offering Mary to the Dauphin, and allying England not only with France, but even with the Turk. The warning passed unheeded.

Meanwhile it was given out in England that the king would personally invade France, and as this was presumed to be in the highest degree expedient, commissions were sent out in March over all the kingdom demanding an immediate advance of money to the king at the rate of 3s. 4d. in the pound on the higher incomes according to the valuations already made, and on smaller incomes at lower rates. The demand took the nation by surprise. In some places it was grudgingly conceded; elsewhere it was resisted as intolerable. The