All men are to be judged by what they do, and the way in which they do
it. In the case of great statesmen there is a third consideration which
challenges our judgment--what they choose to do. This consideration only
presents itself in the case of great statesmen, and even then is not
always recognised. For the average statesman does from day to day the
business which has to be done, takes affairs as he finds them, and makes
the best of them. Many who deliberately selected the questions with
which they dealt have yet shrunk from the responsibility of their
choice, and have preferred to represent their actions as inevitable. Few
can claim the credit of choosing the sphere of their activity, of
framing a connected policy with clear and definite ends, and of applying
their ideas to every department of national organisation. In short,
statesmen are generally opportunists, or choose to represent themselves
as such; and this has been especially the case with English
statesmen--amongst whom Wolsey stands out as a notable exception. For
Wolsey claims recognition on grounds which apply to himself alone. His
name is not associated with any great achievement, he worked out no
great measure of reform, nor did he contribute any great political idea
which was fruitful in after days. He was, above all things, a practical
man, though he pursued a line of policy which few understood, and which
he did not stop to make intelligible. No very definite results came of
it immediately, and the results which came of it afterwards were not
such as Wolsey had designed. Yet, if we consider his actual
achievements, we are bound to admit that he was probably the greatest
political genius whom England has ever produced; for at a great crisis
of European history he impressed England with a sense of her own
importance, and secured for her a leading position in European affairs,
which since his days has seemed her natural right.
Thus Wolsey is to be estimated by what he chose to do rather than by
what he did. He was greater than his achievements. Yet Wolsey's
greatness did not rise beyond the conditions of his own age, and he left
no legacy of great thought or high endeavour. The age in which he lived
was not one of lofty aspirations or noble aims; but it was one of large
designs and restless energy. No designs were cast in so large a mould as
were those of Wolsey; no statesman showed such skill as he did in
weaving patiently the web of diplomatic intrigue. His resources were
small, and he husbanded them with care.
it. In the case of great statesmen there is a third consideration which
challenges our judgment--what they choose to do. This consideration only
presents itself in the case of great statesmen, and even then is not
always recognised. For the average statesman does from day to day the
business which has to be done, takes affairs as he finds them, and makes
the best of them. Many who deliberately selected the questions with
which they dealt have yet shrunk from the responsibility of their
choice, and have preferred to represent their actions as inevitable. Few
can claim the credit of choosing the sphere of their activity, of
framing a connected policy with clear and definite ends, and of applying
their ideas to every department of national organisation. In short,
statesmen are generally opportunists, or choose to represent themselves
as such; and this has been especially the case with English
statesmen--amongst whom Wolsey stands out as a notable exception. For
Wolsey claims recognition on grounds which apply to himself alone. His
name is not associated with any great achievement, he worked out no
great measure of reform, nor did he contribute any great political idea
which was fruitful in after days. He was, above all things, a practical
man, though he pursued a line of policy which few understood, and which
he did not stop to make intelligible. No very definite results came of
it immediately, and the results which came of it afterwards were not
such as Wolsey had designed. Yet, if we consider his actual
achievements, we are bound to admit that he was probably the greatest
political genius whom England has ever produced; for at a great crisis
of European history he impressed England with a sense of her own
importance, and secured for her a leading position in European affairs,
which since his days has seemed her natural right.
Thus Wolsey is to be estimated by what he chose to do rather than by
what he did. He was greater than his achievements. Yet Wolsey's
greatness did not rise beyond the conditions of his own age, and he left
no legacy of great thought or high endeavour. The age in which he lived
was not one of lofty aspirations or noble aims; but it was one of large
designs and restless energy. No designs were cast in so large a mould as
were those of Wolsey; no statesman showed such skill as he did in
weaving patiently the web of diplomatic intrigue. His resources were
small, and he husbanded them with care.
