of Henry's inconstancy, or caprice, submitted to the passion for aggrandizing her family, to dreams of regal greatness, and romantic anticipations of fame and glory.*

It is worthy of remark, that even Cavendishf, the servant and eulogist of Wolsey, although he complains of her ill offices to his master, adduces against her no other proof

* ، Some, with the ladie herself, plotted to break, or stay at the least, till something might fall betweene the cup and the lip, that might break all this purpose; with one of them, if it might have bin, and verily one of them might seem, for this present occasion, not unmeet to be recounted, which was this :-Ther was conveyed to her a book pretending old prophecies, wherein was represented the figure of some personages, with the letter H. upon one, and A. upon another, and K. upon the third, which an expounder thereupon took upon him to interpret by, the King and his wives; and to her personage certain destruction, if she married the King. This book coming into her chamber, she opened, and finding the contents, called to her maid, of whom we have spoken afore, and who also bore her name. Come hither, Nan, said she; see here a book of prophecies; this, he said, is the King; this the Queen, mourning and wringing her hands; and this is myself with my head off. The maid answered, If I thought it true, though he were an Emperor, I would not myself marry him, with that condition. Tut, Nan, replied the lady, I think the book a babel; yet for the hope I have, that this realm may be happy by my issue, I am resolved to have him, whatever might become of me."-Wiatt's Queene Anne Bolen. This circumstance is also adverted to by Fox.

† By Cavendish, her chastity is unimpeached, and he expressly says, she flourished in general estimation. Yet Cavendish composed his memoirs of Wolsey during the reign of Mary, to whom nothing could be so acceptable as abuse of Anne Boleyn.

of arrogance, or malevolence, and far from insinuating suspicions injurious to her fame, contents himself with alluding to her habits of dress, and magnificence, and her keen relish for gaiety and luxury. In Anne Boleyn, the love of power appears to have been tempered, if not corrected, by benevolence. Of the mercenary calculation usually discovered in female favorites, she was absolutely incapable. She might be susceptible of flattery, or caprice, but spurned the meanness of either seeking or accepting a venal recompence, and never were her services bartered for gold. With her vanity was mingled a pardonable enthusiasm, inspired by the persuasion, that she was predestined to achieve some great object, a persuasion carefully fostered by the partisans of the Reformation, who hovered round her with demonstrations of zeal and devotion.*

* Anne was a devout admirer of Tindall's works, and particularly of his Christian Obedience, which, with other heretical books, had been proscribed by Cardinal Wolsey; of this work a curious anecdote, related by Wiatt, is corroborated in Strype's Memorials. In reading books, she made, on such passages as she most relished, private marks, which could be understood only by her familiar friends. Tindall's volume lying in her gentlewoman's apartment, was by her lover purloined, and carried to another house, and afterwards accidently fell into the hands of Wolsey's chaplain, by whom it came into the Cardinal's possession. Observing Anne Boleyn's annotations, he instantly carried the book to the King, thinking his affections would be alienated on discovering her heretical principles; but Anne, who had anticipated his intentions, had already not only obtained Henry's abso

Amidst all these brilliant prospects, it was impossible that she should always forget her privations in exchanging, for dry disquisitions of polemics and politicians, the wit and eloquence of Wiatt, the vivacity of Sir Francis Brian, or the gaiety and elegance of her brother's conversation. That she passionately admired Wiatt's poems is well known; and it may fairly be presumed, she was at least equally sensible to the charms of his conversation, which was confessedly still more attractive but the influence of his society must have inflamed her ambition to signalize herself as a reformer, since the arrogance and corruption of the Roman hierarchy formed his favorite theme of satire, on which he wrote, and spoke with equal spirit; and the sentiments expressed in the following lines, though written ten years after, had long been habitual to his mind.

I am not now in France, to judge the wine,
With savoury sauce and delicates to feed,
Nor yet in Spain, where one must him incline,
Rather than to be, outwardly to seem:

I meddle not with wits that be so fine.

lution for reading the book, but prevailed on him to read it with her, and to become its advocate. There is some discrepancy in the account given by Strype and Wiatt. Thelatter is palpably incorrect, since he represents Anne as being already married, which was not till after the Cardinal's death; but both persist in attributing the motive to Wolsey. It is notorious, that the persecution for heresy was considerably remitted after her marriage, which may in part be ascribed to her influence.

Nor Flanders cheer letteth not my sight to deem
Of black and white, nor taketh my rest away

With beastliness, they beasts do so esteem.
Nor I am not where Christ is given in prey,
For money, poison, and trahison at Rome,
A common practice, used night and day;
But here I am, in Kent, in Christendom.

It may be doubted, whether Ann had naturally any aptitudes to the character of a stateswoman; but her deficiences were well supplied by her father, or, in his absence, her brother; and she was unhappily under the influence of her secret enemy the Duke of Norfolk, who sought, by her means, to displace Wolsey, but was wholly indifferent to her real interest or prosperity. Of all her familiar associates the most congenial to her taste and temper were Wiatt, and her brother, George Boleyn, his chosen friend, and in some personal qualities his acknowledged rival. Like his sister, this young cavalier was distinguished by the elegant symmetry of his form, and the winning sweetness of his manners: like his companion, he loved and cultivated poetry; nor is it a feeble commendation of his talents to add, that his verses were often associated with the poems of Surrey, and sometimes mistaken for the productions of Wiatt's pen. With these young and brilliant reformers were connected Sir Francis Brian, a veteran cavalier, and the youthful Earl of Surrey, about not only to build the lofty rhyme, but to raise, in the production of blank verse, a monument of his taste and genius, imperishable as the English language.

Henry Howard was at once the favorite of nature and fortune; but like Wiatt, and the accomplished George Boleyn, he had been united, by parental authority, to the Lady Frances Vere, before he was of an age to form a deliberate choice. His fancy was captivated by another object, whom he has immortalised by the name of Geraldine, but who participated so little in his passion, that she voluntarily pledged her nuptial faith to the old but wealthy diplomatist, Sir Anthony Brown. By a similar fate, Wiatt had given his hand, without his heart, to Elizabeth, the daughter of Lord Cobham. After the impetuous season of youth was past, both these marriages were productive of as much happiness as is commonly to be found in domestic life: but for George Boleyn was reserved a less fortunate destiny. In pledging his faith to the daughter of Lord Morley, a nobleman celebrated for literary taste and talent, he probably offered no violence to his inclinations, since the bride was young and handsome, and the connexion advantageous and honorable; but as the lady's character developed, he detected in it qualities the most adverse to domestic peace and harmony. To an inflammable and stubborn temper, she united pride, jealousy, and malignity; and, fatally for her husband, these passions were soon excited by Anne Boleyn, whom she envied for her attractions, or detested for her celebrity. Another circumstance conspired, not only to heighten, but, in her own eyes, perhaps, to justify her hatred. As a rigid Catholic, she re