N°

HENRY VIII.

prince ever came to the throne with a conjuncture of circumstances more in his favour than Henry VIII. who now, in the eighteenth year of his age, undertook the government of the kingdom.

A. D. 1509.

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And as he was at the head of a formidable army, fifty thousand strong, and as a war with France was the most pleasing to the people, he determined to head his forces for the conquest of that kingdom. But France was not threatened by him alone: the Swiss, on another quarter, with twenty-five thousand men, were preparing to invade it; while Ferdinand of Arragon, whom no treaties could bind, was only waiting for a convenient opportunity of attack on his side to advantage. Never was the French inonarchy in so distressed a situation; but the errors of its assailants procured its safety.

After an ostentatious but ineffectual campaign, a truce was concluded between the two kingdoms; and Henry continued to dissipate, in more peaceful follies, those immense sums which had been amassed by his predecessor for very different purposes.

In this manner, while his pleasures on the one hand engrossed Henry's time, the preparations for repeated expeditions exhausted his treasures on the other. As it was natural to suppose the old ministers, who were appointed to direct him by his father, would not willingly concur in these idle projects, Henry had, for some time, discontinued asking their advice,

and chiefly confided in the councils of Thomas, afterwards Cardinal Wolsey, who seemed to second him in his favourite pursuits. Wolsey was a minister who complied with all his master's inclinations, and flattered him in every scheme to which his sanguine and impetuous temper was inclined. He was the son of a private gentleman, and not of a butcher, as is commonly reported, of Ipswich. He was sent to Oxford so early, that he was a bachelor at fourteen, and at that time was called the Boy Bachelor. He rose by degrees, upon quitting college, from one preferment to another, till he was made Rector of Lymington by the Marquis of Dorset, whose children he had instructed. He had not long resided at this living, when one of the justices of the peace put him in the stocks, for being drunk and raising disturbances at a neighbouring fair. This disgrace, however, did not retard his promotion; for he was recommended as chaplain to Henry the Seventh; and being employed by that monarch in a secret negotiation, respecting his intended marriage with Margaret of Savoy, he acquitted himself to that king's satisfaction, and obtained the praise both of diligence and dexterity. That prince having given him a commission to Maximilian, who at that time resided at Brussels, was surprised, in less than three days after, to see Wolsey present himself before him; and, supposing that he had been delinquent, began to reprove his delay. Wolsey, however, surprised him with the assurance that he was just returned from Brussels, and had successfully fulfilled all his majesty's commands. His dispatch, on that occasion, procured him the Deanery of Lincoln; and in this situation it was that he was introduced by Fox, Bishop of Winchester, to the young king's notice, in hopes that he would have talents to supplant the Earl of Surrey, who was the favourite at that time; and in this Fox was not out in his conjectures. Presently after, being introduced at court, he was made a privy-counsellor; and, as such, had frequent opportunities of ingratiating himself with the young king, as he appeared at once complying, submissive, and enterprising. Wolsey used every art to suit himself to the royal temper; he sung, laughed, and danced, with every libertine of the court: neither his own years, which were near forty, nor his character as a clergyman, were any restraint upon him, or tended to check, by ill-timed severities, the gaiety of his companions. To such a weak and vicious monarch as Henry, qualities of this nature were highly pleasing; and Wolsey was soon acknowledged as his chief favourite, and to him was intrusted the chief adminis

tration of affairs. The people began to see with indignation the new favourite's mean condescensions to the king, and his arrogance to themselves. They had long regarded the vicious haughtiness and the unbecoming splendour of the clergy, with envy and detestation; and Wolsey's greatness served to bring a new odium upon that body, already too much the object of the people's dislike. His character being now placed in a more conspicuous point of light, daily began to manifest itself the more. Insatiable in his acquisitions, but still more magnificent in his expence; of extensive capacity, but still more unbounded in enterprise; ambitious of power, but still more desirous of glory; insinuating, engaging, persuasive, and at other times lofty, elevated, and commanding; haughty to his equals, but affable to his dependents; oppressive to the people, but liberal to his friends; more generous than grateful; formed to take the ascendant in every intercourse, but vain enough not to cover his real superiority.

A. D. 1520.

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In order to divert the envy of the public from his inordinate exaltation, he soon entered into a correspondence with Francis the First, of France, who had taken many methods to work upon his vanity, and at last succeeded. In consequence of that monarch's wishes, Henry was persuaded by the cardinal to an interview with that prince. This expensive congress was held between Guisnes and Ardres, near Calais, within the English pale, in compliment to Henry for crossing the sea. Some months before, a defiance had been sent by the two kings to each other's court, and through all the chief cities of Europe, importing that Henry and Francis, with fourteen aids, would be ready in the plains of Picardy to answer all comers, that were gentlemen, at tilt and tournay. Accordingly, the monarchs, now all gorgeously apparelled, entered the lists on horseback; Francis surrounded with Henry's guards, and Henry with those of Francis. They were both at that time the most comely personages of their age, and prided themselves on their expertness in the military exercises. The ladies were the judges in these feats of chivalry; and they put an end to the encounter whenever they thought proper. It is supposed that the crafty French monarch was willing to gratify Henry's vanity, by allowing him to enjoy a petty pre-eminence in these pastimes. He ran a tilt against Monsieur Crandeval, whom he disabled at the second encounter, He engaged Monsieur de Montmorency, whom, however, he could not throw from the saddle. He fought at faulchion with

gestions of his conscience. It happened, that among the maids of honour then attending the queen, there was one Anna Bullen, the daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen, a gentleman of distinction, and related to most of the nobility. He had been employed by the king in several embassies, and was married to a daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. The beauty of Anna surpassed whatever had hitherto appeared at this voluptuous court; and her education, which had been at Paris, tended to set off her personal charms. Her features were regular, mild, and attractive; her stature elegant, though below the middle size; while her wit and vivacity exceeded even her other allurements. Henry, who had never learned the art of restraining any passion that he desired to gratify, saw and loved her; but after several efforts to induce her to comply with his criminal desires, he found that without marriage he could have no chance of succeeding. This obstacle, therefore, he hardily undertook to remove; and, as his own queen was now become hateful to him, in order to procure a divorce, he alledged that his conscience rebuked him for having so long lived in incest with the wife of his brother. In this pretended perplexity, therefore, he applied to Clement the Seventh, who owed him many obligations, desiring him to dissolve the bull of the former pope, which had given him permission to marry Catharine; and to declare that it was not in the power, even of the holy see, to dispense with a law so strictly enjoined in scripture. The unfortunate pope, unwilling to grant, yet afraid to refuse, continued to promise, recant, dispute, and temporize; hoping that the king's passion would never hold out during the tedious course of an ecclesiastical controversy. In this he was entirely mistaken. Henry had been long taught to dispute as well as he, and quickly found, or wrested, many texts in scripture to favour his opinions or his passions.

During the course of a long perplexing negotiation, on the issue of which Henry's happiness seemed to depend, he had at first expected to find in his favourite Wolsey a warm defender, and a steady adherent; but in this he found himself mistaken. Wolsey seemed to be in pretty much the same dilemma with the pope. On the one hand, he was to please his master the king, from whom he had received a thousand marks of favour; and, on the other hand, he feared to disoblige the pope, whose servant he more immediately was, and who besides had power to punish his disobedience. He therefore resolved to continue neuter in this controversy; and, though of all men the most haughty, he gave way, on this occasion, to Campegio,

the pope's nuncio, in all things, pretending a deference to his skill in canon law. Wolsey's scheme of temporizing was highly displeasing to the king, but for a while he endeavoured to stifle his resentment, until he could act with more fatal certainty. He for some time looked out for a man of equal abilities and less art; and it was not long before accident threw in his way one Thomas Cranmer, of greater talents, and probably of more integrity.

Thus finding himself provided with a person who could supply Wolsey's place, he appeared less reserved in his resent ments against that prelate. The attorney-general was ordered to prepare a bill of indictment against him; and he was soon after commanded to resign the great seal. Crimes are easily found out against a favourite in disgrace, and the courtiers did not fail to increase the catalogue of his errors. He was ordered to depart from York-place palace; and all his furniture and plate were converted to the king's use. The inventory of his goods being taken, they were found to exceed even the most extravagant surmises. Of fine holland alone there were found a thousand pieces; the walls of his palace were covered with cloth of gold and silver; he had a cupboard of plate of massy gold; all the rest of his riches and furniture were in proportion, and probably their greatness invited the hand of power. He was soon after arrested by the Earl of Northumberland, at the king's command, for high treason, and preparations were made for conducting him from York, where he then resided, to London, in order to take his trial. He at first refused to comply with the requisition, as being a cardinal; but finding the earl bent on performing his commission, he complied, and set out by easy journies for London, to appear as a criminal where he had acted as a king. In his way, he stayed a fortnight at the Earl of Shrewsbury's; where, one day at dinner, he was taken ill, not without violent suspicions of having poisoned himself. Being brought forward from thence, he with much difficulty reached Leicester abbey; where the monks coming out to meet him, he said, " Father Abbot, I am come to lay my bones among you ;" and immediately ordered his bed to be prepared. As his disorder increased, an officer being placed near, at once to guard and attend him, he spoke to him, a little before he expired, to this effect: "I pray you have me heartily recommended unto his royal majesty; he is a prince of a most royal carriage, and hath a princely heart, and rather than he will miss, or want any part of his will, he will endanger one half of his kingdom. I do assure you I have kneeled before