HENRY VIII & DONALD TRUMP
By Christopher B. Daly
All hail Hilary Mantel, the author of the wonderful trilogy about the life and career of Thomas Cromwell, counselor to England’s King Henry VIII during the 1500s. Mantel is, of course, English, and she began working on the trilogy during the Obama administration or earlier.
Nevertheless, she has somehow given American readers a user’s manual for dealing with a selfish, impulsive, obese red-haired autocrat who courts his enemies and destroys his followers. I just finished the third book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, and I was struck again and again about Mantel’s uncanny ability to dramatize and explain life with a man who has great power over others but thinks only of himself.
Herewith some of the most remarkable passages from Mantel’s manual:
— Cromwell reflects that some of his letters to Henry had little effect: “They [his letters] did not touch the king’s heart. What touches his heart is giving him everything he wants: and in such form that, until he had it, he did not know what he lacked.” (p. 109)
— Henry, in a rare moment of self-awareness, observes that his advisers deceive him. “As soon as you are king, nobody tells you the truth.” (309)
— Cromwell, who has mastered the political science of Niccolo Machiavelli, reflects on why he is not thanked for his labors on Henry’s behalf. “You must never let a prince know he needs you; he does not like to think he has incurred a debt to a subject.” (312)
— During a rare bout of illness, Cromwell is forced onto the sidelines of Henry’s court for a period. “If kings do not see you they forget you. Even though nothing in the realm is done without you [Cromwell), kinds think they do it all themselves.” (575)
— Arrested and facing his own execution, Cromwell reflects on the fate that awaits all those who enable the king: “. . .the wise councillor must always prepare for his fall.” (699)
Exeunt omnes
