created a Knight, and after the death of Mr. Weston, he was made
Treasurer of the Exchequer, and one of the Privy Council. He was now
Speaker of the House of Commons, and thus exalted in dignity, the
eyes of the nation were fixed upon him. Wolsey, who then governed the
realm, found himself much grieved by the Burgesses, because all their
transactions were so soon made public, and wanting a fresh subsidy,
came to the house in person to complain of this usage. When the
burgesses heard of his coming, it was long debated whether they should
admit him or no, and Sir Thomas strongly urged that he should be
admitted, for this reason, that if he shall find fault with the
spreading of our secrets, (says he) we may lay the blame upon those
his Grace brought with him. The proud Churchman having entered the
House, made a long speech for granting the subsidy, and asked several
of the Members opinion concerning it; they were all so confounded as
not to be able to answer, and the House at last resolved that their
Speaker should reply for them. Upon this Sir Thomas shewed that the
cardinal's coming into the House was unprecedented, illegal, and a
daring insult on the liberty of the burgesses, and that the subsidy
demanded was unnecessary; upon which Wolsey suddenly departed in
a rage, and ever after entertained suspicions of More, and became
jealous of his great abilities. Our author's fame was not confined
to England only; all the scholars and statesmen in every country in
Europe had heard of, and corresponded with him, but of all strangers
he had a peculiar esteem for Erasmus, who took a journey into England
in order to converse with him, and enter more minutely into the merit
of one whose learning he had so high an opinion of. They agreed to
meet first at my Lord Mayor's table, and as they were personally
unknown, to make the experiment whether they could discover one
another by conversation. They met accordingly, and remained some hours
undiscovered; at last an argument was started in which both engaged