hown that he
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself be
exalted. The preacher concluded with a strong personal exhortation to
do righteousness and justice alike to rich and poor, joined with truth
and mercy, setting God always before him.

The sermon ended, Wolsey knelt at the altar, and Archbishop Wareham,
who, like his immediate predecessors, held legatine authority, performed
the act of investiture, placing the scarlet hat with its many loops and
tassels on his brother primate's head, after which a magnificent _Te
Deum_ rang through the beautiful church, and the procession of prelates,
peers, and ecclesiastics of all ranks in their richest array formed to
escort the new Cardinal to banquet at his palace with the King and
Queen.

Ambrose, stationed by a column, let the throng rush, tumble, and jostle
one another to behold the show, till the Abbey was nearly empty, while
he tried to work out the perplexing question whether all this pomp and
splendour were truly for the glory of God, or whether it were a delusion
for the temptation of men's souls. It was a debate on which his old and
his new guides seemed to him at issue, and he was drawn in both
directions--now by the beauty, order, and deep symbolism of the Catholic
ritual, now by the spirituality and earnestness of the men among whom he
lived. At one moment the worldly pomp, the mechanical and irreverent
worship, and the gross and vicious habits of many of the clergy repelled
him; at another the reverence and conservatism of his nature held him
fast.

Presently he felt a hand on his shoulder, and started, "Lost in a stud,
as we say at home, boy," said the jester, resplendent in a bran new
motley suit. "Wilt come in to the banquet? 'Tis open house, and I can
find thee a seat without disclosing the kinship that sits so sore on thy
brother. Where is he?"

"I have not seen him this day."

"That did I," returned Randall, "as I rode by on mine ass. He was
ruffling it so lustily that I could not but give him a wink, the which
my gentleman could by no means stomach! Poor lad! Yet there be times,
Ambrose, when I feel in sooth that mine office is the only honourable
one, since who besides can speak truth? I love my lord; he is a kind,
open-handed master, and there's none I would so willingly serve, whether
by jest or earnest, but what is he but that which I oft call him in
joke--the greater fool than I, selling peace and ease, truth