ecial with men
in honour and authority." He was faithful to his master in disgrace, and
showed the courage of the "loyal servitor." It is plain that he enjoyed
Wolsey's closest confidence to the end, for after the cardinal's death
George Cavendish was called before the privy council and closely
examined as to Wolsey's latest acts and words. He gave his evidence so
clearly and with so much natural dignity, that he won the applause of
the hostile council, and the praise of being "a just and diligent
servant." He was not allowed to suffer in pocket by his fidelity to his
master, but retired, as it would seem, a wealthy man to his estate of
Glemsford, in West Suffolk, in 1530. He was only thirty years of age,
but his appetite for being acquainted with strange acts and persons was
apparently sated, for we do not hear of his engaging in any more
adventures. It is not to be doubted that Cavendish had taken down notes
of Wolsey's conversation and movements, for many years passed before his
biography was composed. At length, in 1557, he wrote it out in its final
form. It was not, however, possible to publish it in the author's
lifetime, but it was widely circulated in MS. Evidently one of these
MSS. fell into Shakespeare's hands, for that poet made use of it in his
_King Henry VIII._, although it is excessive to say, as Singer has done,
that Shakespeare "merely put Cavendish's language into verse." The book
was first printed in 1641, in a garbled text, and under the title of
_The Negotiations of Thomas Wolsey_. The genuine text, from contemporary
MSS., was given to the world in 1810, and more fully in 1815. Until that
time it was believed that the book was the composition of George
Cavendish's younger brother William, the founder of Chatsworth, who also
was attached to Wolsey. Joseph Hunter proved this to be impossible, and
definitely asserted the claim of George. The latter is believed to have
died at Glemsford in or about 1562. The intrinsic value of Cavendish's
_Life of Cardinal Wolsey_ has long been perceived, for it is the sole
authentic record of a multitude of events highly important in a
particularly interesting section of the history of England. Its
importance as a product of biographical literature was first emphasized
by Bishop Creighton, who insisted over and over again on the claim of
Cavendish to be recognized as the earliest of the great English
biographers and an individual writer of particular charm and
originali