of a fine figure, oval countenance, but very pale, with bad teeth, deformed in her right hand, and a swelling in her neck.” Had Anne really resembled this portrait, we think that England would never have apostatized from the Church of the Living God. She was as much celebrated for her natural beauty as for her coquetry, and a poet has compared her eyes to two bright stars. (a) She was very clever, a good musician, playing well on the flute and violin,(b) accompanied herself on the lute, danced too well for an honest woman, and even composed verses. She was quoted at Paris and Nerac as a model of taste; it was Anne Boleyn who led the fashion of the day. None could put a gold pin so well in the hair, or a pearl bracelet on the forehead.

Anne returned to England in 1523, and was, immediately on her introduction at court, surrounded by admirers. The poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt, the friend of her childhood, paid his addresses to her, but was refused.(c) Thomas Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, was more successful. They met for the first time at one of the cardinal's masquerades, and confided to each other their mutual love.(d) But their affection was not of long continuance : Henry, for a long time disgusted with Katharine, saw Anne Boleyn and fell in love with her. They also first met at one of the cardinal's masked balls at his archiepiscopal residence, at Battersea, formerly called Bridge House, and afterwards York House. This ball took place in a magni

is extremely curious for its costume; but we can see nothing in Anne Boleyn, a slight woman with red hair, which could have excited the adulterous passion of Henry VIII." The poet Wyatt even praises the two fingers she had on her right hand; "but that which in others might have been regarded as a defect, was to her an occasion of additional grace." We are told in the "Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales" (art Cas. rares.) that she had six fingers on each hand, and was multimammiferous, and in the "Dictionnaire Historique de Chaudon et Delandine," that she had a swelling in her neck and a tooth too many.

(a) Whose eyes like twinkling stars in evening clear,

(b) Chateaubriand's Memoires (inédites) quoted by Jacob.

(c) Wyatt's Memoirs.

(d) Cavendish.

Anne and Percy took no precaution in concealing their love from the world; while the minister, in whose service he was, would be in conference with the king, Percy was with Anne in Katharine's ante-chamber, among the maids of honour attached to the queen, where he proposed an immediate marriage.(f) The object of these secret

meetings was unknown to Katharine and Wolsey, but Henry soon perceived that he had a rival, and ordered the cardinal to separate the lovers.(8) Wolsey, on his return from Westminster, sent for Percy, and, in a long interview, the details of which have been preserved by Cavendish,(h) advised him to give up all idea of Anne Boleyn. He expected obedience, but met with so great an opposition that he was obliged to appeal to the youth's father. The Earl of Northumberland, on hearing of the king's anger with Percy, returned in haste to London, reprimanded his son, and compelled him to marry; and, accordingly, a few weeks after, Percy led Lady Mary Talbot, one of the daughters of the Earl of Shrewsbury, to the altar.(i) As a punishment for her attachment to Percy, Anne was obliged to leave Katharine's service, and retire to the solitude of Hever Castle,(j) but a few miles from the royal residence at Greenwich. Sir Thomas Boleyn made no complaint against the cardinal who had thus foiled all his child's expectations; but Anne resolved to have her revenge at the earliest opportunity. She had been deprived, she knew not why, of the heart and hand of one whom she loved, of the hope of an immense fortune, and of a fine title. She had therefore every right to curse the very name of Wolsey.

These events occurred iu 1523, and not in 1527, as some historians would wish us to believe, being interested in concealing from their too credulous readers the real date of this royal act of jealousy.

As it is certain that Henry conceived his scruples of conscience (to use Burnet's official expression) respecting the validity of his marriage with Katharine in 1526, if Anne had appeared at court in 1527, it is evident that she could have nothing to do with his scruples; but now-a-day's Burnet's dates, as well as those of his followers, are acknowledged to be false. Percy married the daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, on the 12th of September, 1523,(a) and on the 19th of May, 1527, succeeded to the titles of his father, who died about that time.(b) Anne was, therefore, in England in 1523. She was not exiled more than two months,(c) and reappeared more lovely than ever at court, thinking no longer of Thomas Percy.

Henry, before he attempted to seduce the daughter,(d) bought the father's silence. Sir Thomas Boleyn was created Viscount Rochford and Treasurer of the royal household, and on the same day, Anne was presented with a magnificent set of diamonds by her royal lord. Sir Thomas Bolevn offered no opposition to the king's wishes, nor was he tormented by any scruple of conscience. He had shut his eyes when his eldest daughter, Mary, had fallen a victim to Henry's blandishments, and now he sold his second daughter's honour for a viscountcy; but Anne, brought up at the court of Francis, was not so simple as her sister. She knew how a woman could resist and yet encourage. In this respect, she was like Poppoa, as described by Tacitus, who treated the affairs of the heart as if they

had been matters of diplomacy.(e) When then the king, after having addressed to her a sonnet, more poetical than amorous, (f) spoke to her of his affections, she replied like the heroine of one of the Duchess of Alençon's tales, “Your concubine, NEVER; your wife if you will."(g)

Anne had profited by having been educated in Margaret's school. This was doubtless the first time that Henry had found a woman unwilling to yield her honour at his solicitation; but her refusal fascinated the despotic and debauched monarch, and inflamed his passion for her. The reader will remember his behaviour to Montague when he wished to be obeyed, he had only to lay his hand on a head, and say it shall fall or bend, and immediately it would be beneath the ground. Here was a mistress whom he desired to have; and to obtain her he implored, promised, swore, but all in vain. It might have been supposed that he was treating with Francis, but the young maiden, perfect in the art of coquetry, resisted. Her conditions were ever the same,—a THRONE.(h)

The opposition displayed by Anne Boleyn, which some historians (i) have imagined was serious, lasted more than a twelvemonth; but it was invariably tempered with those little arts which one of Margaret's scholars could so well bring into play. Anne, while at London, had had frequent interviews with the king. She saw him in Katharine of Arragon's apartments. She was his constant partner in the ball-room. She was the queen of his festivities. Absent froin London, she would at one time receive letters, at another presents, from her lover. One day "he sent her his portrait set in a bracelet, with

a wish that he could be with her whenever he wished." At another time, "a buck killed late yester-even by his hand, with a hope that while eating of it she would think of the hunter." She also wrote to Henry; but none of her letters are in existence. If, however, we are to judge by his replies, they must have been couched in language calculated rather to whet than to weaken his passion. It seems that Henry, emboldened by some expression penned in rather too affectionate a tone by Anne, was not quite so delicate in his language as he should have been, and had accordingly given great annoyance to his mistress. Henry, truly repentant for what he had said, consoled her by assuring her that "Heaven alone could put an end to his torments; and that if God heard his prayers, Anne would soon, together with the crown, share the royal bed." And the following note succeeded in appeasing his mistress: "Nevertheless, it by no means becomes a gentleman to treat his wife as a servant. However, I shall obey you, if thereby you will be more at your ease than you have been in the position assigned by me. I heartily thank you for still occasionally thinking of me. 6 n. A. 1 de A. o na. v. e. z."(a)

(a) The library of the Vatican at Rome possesses seventeen autograph letters from Henry to Anne Boleyn (Cod. No. 3731), of which eight are in French, and nine in English, all signed by him. The king's writing is very legible; they are written on a kind of cartridge-paper and have no superscription or date. The first is thus terminated: Vostre loyall serviteur et amy; the third; escrit de la main de celluy qui est et toujours sera vostre immuable, H. Rex; the fourth escripte de la main de celluy qui voulontiers se moureroyt vostre H. R. A letter, deficient in the Vatican collection, and which has been published by Mr. J. Hearne, is thus worded: "Votre loyall et plus assure serviteur, H. autre A. B. ne cerche R. Mr. Gunn has published a very exact edition of these letters in the Pamphleteer, Nos. 42 and 43, which have been published by M. Crapelet, under the title of "Lettres de Henri VIII. a Anne Boleyn." At the commencement of this collection are lithographic portraits of Anne and Henry VIII. Anne's is copied from the one in the Latin version of the "History of the Reformation," by Burnet, (Geneva), and which is an exact copy of Holbein's, with this dif ference, that the old master has represented Anne with her dress cut low, while M Crapelet, with a modesty which we are far from censuring, has made the queen's dress somewhat higher. From a portrait at Rome, it seems that Anne,

Historians have asserted that Wolsey first suggested the idea of a divorce to Henry, () (but Wolsey himself indignantly rejected the idea as an insult); (c) Longland, the king's confessor, the Bishop of Tarbes, and a few other theologians, of no distinction,(4) were of like opinion,(e) but they had not perused Henry's letters. Had Anne consented to have been his mistress, Henry would never have dreamt of a divorce, but she wanted a bridal wreath and a crown, and then she would belong, soul and body, to the monarch. It was then that the king thus wrote to her: "Assuring you that henceforward my heart will be yours alone, desiring that my body may be so, and it will be if God will, whom I pray earnestly for the arrival of that day." It is certain that Henry's first scruples respecting the validity of his marriage with Katharine of Arragon, were after he had seen Anne Boleyn, a marriage blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and which Julius II., as we are aware, had authorised by a special bull. Henry opened the Old Testament and read, in Leviticus xviii. 16: "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife; because it is the nakedness of thy brother." Thus the Mosaic law forinally prohibited a marriage between a brother and sister-in-law; this was indeed a ray of hope for his heart, tormented by his passions. From that moment the monarch felt great "remorse," and believed that he would be accursed by God as long as he cohabited with Katharine, with whom, however, he had lived without the slightest scruple for eighteen years. But he took care, after reading the above verse in Leviticus, to close the sacred volume; for had he but turned over a few more leaves, his eyes would have glanced on the following: "When brethren dwell together and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another, but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed to his brother." (Deut. xxv. 5.) (f)

Such was precisely Henry's case at the

death of Arthur.

The king communicated his doubts to certain casuists; but, notwithstanding the scruples of a timorous conscience and the fears of a disputed succession, he could not conceal his wishes, and they descried the secret thoughts of his innermost heart. Henry, weary of Katharine, who was sick and infirm, desired to marry again. Theclogians, tired of living in their presbyteries, desirous of an abbey or a bishopric, examined the sacred text, and concluded that no dispensation could legalize marriage with a brother's widow; but when shown the text in Deuteronomy, and being at a loss for a reply, they determined to deny the validity of the bull; first, on account of its not being sufficiently explicit; secondly, because it had been granted on a palpable falsity; and lastly, because Henry had never recognised it.(a) Henry could scarcely repress his joy. He had found friends and accomplices. However, as it was essentially necessary that he should be guided by a living authority, though he had a text from holy writ, even from the book of Leviticus, on his side, he laid his scruples before the cardinal.(b) Whether Wolsey was ignorant of the value at which Anne prized her beauty, or that he imagined that this penchant of the capricious monarch would pass away, or that he hoped to influence Katharine to take the veil, his eminence promised to do all in his power for the granting of the divorce; but when a few days later, Henry mentioned to him the name of Katharine's successor, the minister, throwing himself at his royal master's feet, implored him, with clasped hands, to renounce an idea so full of melancholy presentiments for himself and his country; but his prayer was useless.(c) The king, who in his love-fit had consulted every one, had just received a written consultation from his ambassador at Rome.

Pace laid no weight on the text from the Vulgate, but believed that the Hebrew would be more to his purpose. However,

before giving his opinion, he wished to consult Robert Wakefield, as learned an Hebraist as Reuchlin, but as poor as Job, without, however, the simplicity of the dove. Robert replied, from Oxford, that he was ready to enter the lists of controversy, and to dispute as well vivá voce as with his pen. He imagined, on second thought, that it might be one of those idle questions studied in the schools, and only given him to try his skill, without bringing him profit or honour. He therefore requested to have a few lines from the king, in order that he might be certain that he was not deceived; and with the royal letter in his hand, he was ready to defend Leviticus or Deuteronomy, or vice versa, as his majesty pleased, (d) and with an erudition of which England could not possibly form a conception.

She

While the island was being thus agitated to deprive Katharine of her titles as queen, wife and mother, what was she herself doing? Luther drew her portrait without being aware it: "The woman that fears God is a treasure a thousand times more valuable than a pearl from the East. She possesses the confidence of her husband, whom she loves. Her husband is her joy, her happiness, her life. She obeys without a murmur, works without ceasing, and watches over her household affairs. rises early in the morning, allots their work to her servants, gathers the fruits, plants, and prunes. She does not sleep the whole night. She thinks of the wants of her family. In the day, she works with her fingers at the spindle, and is never idle for a second. The poor come and knock at her door: quickly she replies 'come in,' and gives them alms. Does any one complain of hunger, she quickly gives him bread. She succours all that are in distress. See how carefully and cleanly she dresses! Her house is the picture of neatness. She opens her lips at proper times, and her tongue only gives utterance to words of charity. The bread that she eats is not the bread of idleness; her children sing her praise, and the world blesses her."(e)

(d) Richardi Pacei, Decani Sancti Pauli ad Regem Henricum Octavum, 1526. Le Grand. (e) Tisch-Reden.

Luther, while drawing this Scriptural portrait, would seem to have had Katharine of Arragon in his eye. During the eighteen years that she had been married, God had afflicted her in soul and body. Her beauty faded before she was stricken in years. She was afflicted with a chronic complaint, from which she was a great sufferer. It often prevented her from sleeping. All her children, save Mary, were in heaven. In vain had she besought God to give her a son, the sole object of Henry's wishes. He had not granted her prayer; but she resigned herself to His holy will. She knew that her faithless husband lavished his caresses, of which she was wont to be so proud, on others, and yet she never murmured. The splendours of royalty had no attraction in her eyes. Seated near a small table, Mary at her feet, her maids of honour around her, she delighted in tapestry, sewing, or turning the spindle. Ever calm, affable, and good-natured, she

was an affectionate mother, a doating wife, an admirable Christian, and endued with every virtue that could adorn a woman. There are many who, on seeing her kindness to Anne Boleyn, her maid of honour, would think Katharine dull, in not perceiving, with true feminine quickness, that she was her rival; but such persons do her great injustice, as Katharine, purified by prayer, shut her eyes and ears to all that passed around her. She seldom went out; and, when obliged to appear at court, left as soon as she could, to return to her beloved solitude. Had it not been for the unanimous praise bestowed on her for her charities, the citizens of London might well have doubted her existence. The poor alone knew her worth. Anne Boleyn, who had in Katharine a second mother, seemed also to dote on her in return, and used to read every evening to her mistress. Look at her; neither her voice nor hand trembles, and not a tear falls on her prayer-book.

THE walls of her hermitage were not by any means so thick as to prevent Katharine hearing that she had been betrayed. Francis was no longer the emperor's prisoner; he had been, by the treaty of Madrid, affianced to Leonora, sister of Charles V.; but the marriage had been postponed in consequence of his having refused to fulfil the terms of the treaty by which he had regained his liberty. It was then that Henry of England, hoping thereby to involve the two sovereigns in a quarrel, offered his daughter, the Princess rary, then only eleven years of age, to with a mothe proposition was accepted,(a)

Anne

has made the

From a portrait a(a) Herbert.

and his ambassadors, the Bishop of Tarbes and the Viscount de Turenne, signed, on the 30th April, 1527, a treaty, wherein it was agreed that Mary should marry Francis, on her gaining the age of puberty, if he were unmarried, or his second son, the Duke of Orleans.(Þ) Before the French ambassadors left England, Henry gave a magniffcent festival in their honour at Greenwich, when three hundred lances were broken, and a ball given in the evening in the queen's apartments.

Hall has left a detailed account of the feté aux flambeaux, where the "ladies were rather angels descended from heaven than

(b) Lingard. MSS. bib. du roi Loménie.