them. No other passage in the literature of the time gives so clear a description of what the Palace was like at this date, or of Wolsey's manner of entertaining in it, and even now much of the course of the festivities can be traced as we walk through the rooms and the cloisters. Cavendish speaks of what was chiefly his own business, and with a relish which time had not made him forget for the magnificence of the "honest poor man's son," whom "in his life I served." When the King's orders were given, he says, "Then was there no more to do but to make preparation of all things for this great assembly at Hampton Court the day appointed. My Lord Cardinal called before him his principal officers—steward, treasurer, controller, and the clerks of his kitchen, to whom he declared his full mind touching the entertainment of the Frenchmen at Hampton Court; whom he commanded neither to spare for any costs, expenses, or travail, to make them such a triumphant banquet, as they may not only wonder at it here, but also make a glorious report thereof in their country, to the great honour of the King and his realm. His pleasure to them known, to accomplish his commandment they sent out all the caterers, purveyors, and divers other persons to my Lord's friends, to prepare. Also they sent for all their expert cooks and cunning persons in the art of cookery, which were within London or elsewhere, that might be gotten, to beautify this noble feast.
"Then the purveyors provided, and my Lord his
