THE VISIT.
The outer wall of St. Peter's Priory then abutted upon the waters of
the Orwell, and formed a long river border, from the Common Quay
nearly to the first lock gates where the Orwell and Gipping meet. At
the junction of the two rivers, where the salt water and fresh salute
each other at high tide, there was formerly the termination wall of
the Priory, and the southern gate to the town of Ipswich.
At this point was, at low water, the celebrated Stoke Ford, where the
Danes entered the town; and Terkettel, the Danish giant, was slain by
an archer from the wall. The channel of the river swept along close
under the walls of the Priory; and though the cells of the monks did
not face the waves, yet there were light niches or loop holes in
those walls, through which, if occasion required, any one ascending
by ladder, or frame, might discharge his arrows upon an enemy.
There were small Saxon arches, equidistant along the wall, which gave
a degree of light and elegance to that otherwise dark and dreary
brick fortification. The Priory was then in its greatest prosperity
and had vast possessions in the town, on the banks of Stoke, and
along the meadows of the winding Gipping.
De Freston's barge had been espied coming up the river, and the
Prior, for many reasons, paid court to the lords of De Freston.
Independently of the many donations he received from the charity of
his ancestors, he had only a few days before received substantial
proof of the liberality of the present lord, who had presented to the
fraternity, for the shrine of St. Peter, two massive candlesticks of
silver, together with twelve ornamental brass ones for the chapel.
There was, therefore, nothing surprising in the fact, that when De
Freston came to St. Peter's, or the Southern Gate, he should be met
by the Prior and six canons, bareheaded, to solicit a visit to their
monastery.
'Prior John.' said the nobleman, 'I am sensible of thy kindness, but
I cannot now accept the offer of thine hospitality. I am visiting
Ipswich upon business, and must return again by moonlight to my own
castle. But I would crave thy charity for these my boatmen, if thou
wilt give them rest and refreshment, beneath the roof of the porter
until such time as we come back.'
'Most assuredly, De Freston! We should have been proud to have
entertained thee, thy daughter, and thy friends; for we are not
unmindful of thy love for our institution, and know well thy devotion
to the ways of thine ancestors. Our books record thy gifts.'
'Say nothing of them, Father John, say nothing of them, and think of
them less. If thou wilt receive my men, I will not forget it when I
next pay my vows at St. Peter's shrine.'
'They shall be made welcome. The boat can be moored to the Priory
steps, and, Antony, conduct the men to the lodge. We will see that
they shall be taken care of.'
The men were glad enough to be so located for a time, for they knew
well that, however seemingly self-denying and outwardly stern the
Prior and his brotherhood might be in ceremonious matters of
religion, there was no lack of good cheer within their walls, and no
failure in their supply to any whom they made welcome. Gladly they
followed Antony, after their master had departed with his daughter
and the young men for the interior of the town.
They had not long been seated on the polished oaken benches of the
lofty room, in the interior of Antony's lodge, before they were
visited by some of the fraternity, under pretence of seeing if they
fared well. There was no doubt of that; but the Friar was curious,
and when did a monk note a stranger of any consequence and not desire
to know more of him?
'Who is the young man with thy master?' asked the inquisitive Simon,
as he placed a huge leathern black jug of Prior's ale upon the table
before Herbert, the pilot.
'That is Master William Latimer, my master's kinsman, from Oxford.'
'Ho! from Oxford! and dost thou know why and wherefore he is come?'
'I know not, your reverence, why or wherefore he is come; but we have
our thoughts, good father.'
'So have all men, Herbert, so have all men; and I dare say now thy
thoughts were as much toward thy mistress as towards the young man?'
'I don't know that, father; I seldom trouble my head about things
that don't concern me; and when I said we had our thoughts, I was not
then thinking of our mistress.'
'Humph!'--and the Friar seemed a little disappointed--'hath he been
long at the castle?'
'But three days, father. He came to see Freston Tower finished and
adorned, and to bring his presents of learned books to the Lady
Ellen.'
'And did he bring them for her? I have heard thy mistress is
wonderfully clever for her years. Our young townsman, who
accompanies them, tells me thus much. But dost thou know the object
of thy master's visit to Ipswich this afternoon?'
'We have our thoughts, and it is said amongst us that it is to settle
about Master Thomas Wolsey's going back with this young learned
Latimer, to Oxford.'
'Ho! ho! that is it, is it?' and the brother returned from the lodge
to report to his principal what he had made out of the Lord De
Freston's visit.
Now there was nothing uncommon in all this, for the monks of Ipswich
knew everything going on around them. They had time to talk over the
condition of every nobleman, and to calculate upon what might be got
from them, for the benefit of their community. Prior John had
noticed the abilities of Wolsey, and, as books were scarce, and more
valuable than land, and he saw his great love for these, he had
indulged the youth with many an hour's study in his own cell, and had
hopes that he would one day be useful to the Priory.
It was the fact that at that very time the party were on their way to
the house of Edmund Daundy, the wealthiest man in Ipswich, who was
related to Wolsey, and connected with De Freston.
He was one of the most benevolent-minded men of his day, whose works
of charity remain to this hour. Singularly upright, generous, pious,
and devout, he conceived it to be his duty to devote the first fruits
of all he obtained to purposes of benevolence, so that no ship
brought home his merchandise, no speculation answered in which he
engaged, but he set apart a portion of his profits upon every article
to a fund for doing good. His prosperity became so great, and his
punctuality so conspicuous, and his store laid by for charity so
accumulated, that he seldom refused the prayer of an applicant for
his bounty. He founded schools for the young, alms-houses for the
aged, a market-cross for traffic, and a chauntry for a priest to pray
for his own soul and those of his relatives. His munificence was
proverbial:
'If bricks be sold for Daundy's gold,
The town of Gypesswick will ne'er be old.'
As much as to say that his wealth could purchase bricks, for which
Ipswich was then celebrated, more than could be made and used for
centuries in renewing the town.
His magnificently old carved and ornamented house stood in the very
centre of the town, in St. Lawrence parish, and nearly fronting the
then gates of St. Lawrence Church. It was situated between two very
opulent mansions, that of John Fastolf and John Sparrowe, gentlemen,
who, together with the said Edmund Daundy, at different periods,
represented the borough of Ipswich in parliament. The family of
Fastolf had a residence in Ipswich, and at the Haugh, beyond
Alneshborne Priory; and though they had castles at Caister and at
Woodbridge, they resided the greater part of the year at Ipswich.
Edmund Daundy, though he had so much interest with the monks of
Alneshborne as always to have apartments in that Priory devoted to
him, never deserted his native town, but lived and died in it,
beloved for every amiable virtue, and deeply regretted when he was
taken away.
The object of De Freston's visit was to persuade him to intercede
with Dame Joan Wolsey, or, as it was then termed, Wuley, to part with
her son for a time, that he might go to Oxford. There was no kind of
difficulty, in a pecuniary view; though, had there been such, it
would have been no disgrace whatever to his after career. But, as we
have said, Wolsey was related to Edmund Daundy, a man who was ready
to serve him, hand and heart. With such powerful friends as De
Freston and Daundy, there could be no difficulty, as has been stated
there was by some writers, in his being sent to Oxford. All the
circumstances of the time tend to corroborate this fact.
His father, likewise, was an independent man, upon the most intimate
terms of friendship with all the leading men and merchants in
Ipswich, and had no mean estates at the very period when some
biographers speak of his poverty. His will is fortunately in
existence, and is now acknowledged, by all modern historiographers,
to prove that he was a man of considerable possessions.
He leaves his property to his wife--for his son Thomas had, before
his decease, intimated his intention of becoming a priest; and this
may be the reason for the father's 'lands and tenements in St.
Nicholas' parish, and his bond and free lands in the parish of Stoke,
being left to his widow, and only a priest's portion, for prayers,
being appointed for his son in that will.'
The fact was, Thomas Wolsey was an only child, the pride of his
parents, and the particular hope and delight of his attached mother.
She had been alive to his disposition from infancy; she saw his eager
aptitude for learning; she first fed and then encouraged it, and,
being herself a woman of considerable attainments for her day, she
rejoiced in the growing fame of her son. She had, however, taken a
decided aversion to the priesthood as a profession for her son, and
fearful lest, by going to Oxford, she should lose him, she had set
her face against all the suggestions of his friends, and the
arguments of her relatives.
If prejudice alone had operated upon the mind of this excellent
woman, she would not have been, as she was, so calmly forcible in her
decisions against the measure; but she little thought what a powerful
battery was to open its artillery upon her that day.
The party arrived at the mansion of the wealthy burgess, and was
welcomed by him with that hearty favor which he always bore to De
Freston and his friends.
'Right welcome art thou, most noble lord--right welcome to my house
and home. I did not expect to see thee, fair maiden, but, as thou
art come, thou must be a coadjutor in our suit; and, if I mistake
not, thou wilt carry more weight with Mistress Joan than all our
united forces.'
The maiden felt a little surprised, and, if truth be told, young
Wolsey felt a no small degree of joy in the interest excited at the
moment. Ellen could not help saying--
'I cannot conceive, my dear friend, how I can have more weight with
Wolsey's mother than thou hast. She has been very kind and attentive
to me in a thousand ways; but she is no kind of debtor to me. I am
rather under obligation to her. Is it not so, my father?'
'She has always shown herself very partial to thee, Ellen, and, I
must say, has taken a most motherly interest in thy behalf; for, as
soon as I lost thy mother, she was incessant in her kindness towards
thee, and recommended that good old faithful nurse, Dorothea, whom
thou didst lose last year. Thou art indebted to her likewise for thy
present maid, Fanny; and she has worked with her own hand, and sent
thee by this young scholar many a little comfort for the furnishing
of thy tower. These certainly are indications, as Master Daundy
says, of strong predilection; and if those who love us are in any way
to be influenced by us, I see here a very proper occasion for the
exercise of that influence which thou mayest possess.'
'And I can tell thee,' added Daundy, 'more than this. It was but
last evening I was speaking to her upon the very subject which we now
discuss, when she said: "If anything could induce me to let Thomas go
to Oxford, it would be Ellen De Freston expressing a wish that he
should go."'
A blush mantled upon the cheek of Ellen, as she looked innocently
enough at Wolsey, and caught his glance of intercession. The boy's
whole soul was wrapt up in the interest he then excited. His own
heart told him at once the cause of his mother's favor towards Ellen,
and though he dare not, even to his heart, breathe the hope that she
would see it--nay, indeed, hoped that she would not--yet he
entertained a sort of indefinite idea, that she might one day
perceive that, for her sake, he would do anything. The youth's
animated countenance must have quickened her perception, or she was
struck with the possibility of doing him service, for she replied--
'Could I but think I could persuade her, the effort would be nothing
for me to make. I have strong arguments to back me, have I not,
cousin Latimer?'
'Indeed you have, Ellen! I will say it before my young friend, that,
in your letters, you only did him justice. I did not expect to find
your descriptive power of character so just as I have found it in the
talents of this youth. Thomas Wolsey, you are little aware what an
advocate you have had.'
If ever Wolsey felt abashed, it was at that moment, yet he found
words to reply--.
'I know not,' he said, 'how to speak my gratitude to Ellen De
Freston, or her father. They have been the brightest fosterers of my
love of literature, and of every virtue which can prompt a young man
to exertion. Should Ellen succeed in her petition to my mother, for
my father has already acceded to the persuasions of his friends, I
shall for ever feel indebted to her, and in future years, if my
exertions should be crowned with success, the greatest joy I can feel
will arise from the consciousness of the approbation of such a
friend.'
'Come, then,' said Daundy, 'I can see clearly we shall be able to
effect our purpose. I never saw a mother more against her son's
entering the Church than is Dame Joan. She trembles, Thomas, lest
thou shouldst become a priest, and, knowing the restrictions which
would be placed upon thee, as the child of Rome that thou must then
become, she fears that thou wouldst be sworn to give away all thine
affections, and that she should lose thy love, thy attention to her,
and thine interest in life.'
'I know my mother's fears. I have, however, endeavored to combat
them; first, upon the grounds that I never think of becoming a
priest, though I told her then that it would be wrong in me to make a
vow that I would not. Then I have represented to her the field of
glory open to one who enters the cloister, and would show her what
fame, what present and future joy, there was in the employment which
the Pope now gives to all the sons of the Church. She thinks every
priest must be lazy, bigotted, and superstitious, and, at times,
almost makes me think she is, or would be, an heretic. But she
shakes her head at me, tells me I am young, that we think differently
as we grow older, and often take steps too precipitately in our
youth, before our judgments are formed, of which we afterwards
bitterly repent. Now I wish to go to Oxford that I may obtain an
insight into learning, such as this, my native town, cannot afford
me. I wish to study logic and the laws of my country, as well as all
the literature of this and foreign lands, and I cannot do it better
than by going to Oxford; can I, Master Latimer?'
'Most assuredly not. I can be of some service to you, and will, if
your parents consent. I am very intimate with Grocyn the learned and
newly-elected prebend of Lincoln. He has more influence with
Magdalen College than any man. He wishes, most heartily, to
introduce into that society men of first-rate classical ability; and,
as he is Divinity Reader there, he has obtained a promise that those
whom he can recommend for letters, shall be admitted upon that
foundation. Now I know Grocyn would be glad to hear from me, and if
friends here will find me a messenger, I will forthwith write and
recommend Master Thomas Wolsey; and I greatly deceive myself if he do
not distinguish himself and gratify us all. This is what I can do!'
'And, doing this!' added De Freston, 'you will lay us all under
obligation. Come, Thomas, your prospects brighten! I think, with
all these promises in hand, we cannot fail in obtaining our suit.'
'Then let us no longer delay. Ellen, as the oldest friend of Dame
Joan's, I shall offer thee my hand. We will walk to St. Nicholas. I
have but to leave a message for Master Cady, upon the subject of the
market, and it is not out of our way. So let us be moving; we shall
be back in time for our evening meal.'
The party were soon ready, and Daundy and Ellen led the way.