or ought to be discoverable. The coarse hypothesis which has been generally offered of brutality and profligacy on the part of the King, if it could be maintained, would be but an imperfect interpretation; but, in fact, when we examine such details as remain to us of Henry's relations with women, we discover but few traces of the second of the supposed causes, and none whatever of the first. A single intrigue in his early years, with unsubstantiated rumours of another, only heard of when there was an interest in spreading them, forms the whole case against him in the way of moral irregularity. For the three years that he was unmarried after the death of his third wife, we hear of no mistresses and no intrigues. For six months he shared the bed of Anne of Cleves, and she remained a maiden; nor had he transferred his affections to any rival lady. The anxiety of his subjects, so far from being excited by his disposition to licentiousness, was rather lest his marriages should be uniformly unfruitful. The vigour of his youth was gone. His system was infirm and languid; and whenever his wedded condition was alluded to by himself, by the privy council, or by Parliament, it was spoken of rather as a matter politically of importance to the realm than of interest individually to the King himself. Again, his manner to his wives seems to have been no less kind than that of ordinary men. A few stern words to Anne Boleyn form the only approach to personal harshness recorded against him; and his behaviour, when he first heard of the misconduct of Catherine Howard, was manly, honourable, and generous.

Extraordinary circumstances, and the necessity of arriving at a just understanding of a remarkable man, must furnish my excuse for saying a few words upon a subject which I would gladly have avoided, and for calling in question one of the largest historical misconceptions which I believe has ever been formed. It is not easy to draw out in detail the evidence on which we form our opinion of character. We judge living men, not from single facts, but from a thousand trifles; and sound estimates of historical persons are pieced together from a general study of their actions, their writings, the description of friends and enemies, from those occasional allusions which we find scattered over contemporary correspondence, from materials which, in the instance of Henry VIII., consist of many thousand documents. Out of so large a mass tolerable evidence would be forthcoming of vicious tendencies, if vicious tendencies had existed. We rise from the laborious perusal with the conviction, rather, that the King's disposition was naturally cold. The indolence and gaiety of early years gave way, when the complications of his life commenced, to the sternness of a statesman engaged in incessant and arduous labours. He had no leisure, perhaps he had little inclination, to attend to the trifles out of which the cords of happy marriages are woven. A Queen was part of the State furniture, existing to be the mother of his children; and children he rather desired officially, than from any wish for them in themselves. Except in the single instance of Anne Boleyn, whom he evidently loved, he entered marriage for the

sake of the male heirs. which he so passionately desired; while, again, he combined with much refinement and cultivation an absence of reserve on certain subjects, which is startling even in the midst of the plain speech of the sixteenth century. It was not that he was loose or careless in act or word; but there was a business-like habit of proceeding about him which penetrated through all his words and actions, and may have made him as a husband one of the most intolerable that ever vexed and fretted the soul of woman.

A small share of the misdemeanour of Catherine Howard, however, can be laid to the charge of the King. Every day brought to light some fresh scandal. It soon appeared that the old Duchess of Norfolk, Lord William Howard, the Countess of Bridgewater, and many other members of the family, had been acquainted with her misconduct as a girl, and had nevertheless permitted the marriage to go forward, and had even furthered and encouraged it.

The misfortune was trebled in weight; and it was trebly necessary to act in the matter with entire openness, owing to so many questionable antecedents. No disgrace, however shameful, could be concealed. Circulars, detailed and explicit, were sent to the foreign ambassadors, and to the English ministers in Paris, Brussels, and Spain. The writs went out for a Parliament, to meet in January, and in the mean time, on the 12th of November, His Majesty's councillors of all sorts, spiritual and temporal,' were assembled, 'with the judges and learned men of the council,' when the

lord chancellor declared unto them the abominable demeanour of the Queen, that the world might know that which had been hitherto done to have a just ground and foundation.'I

The offending lady herself was removed to Sion House, where she was confined to three rooms, and, with Lady Rochford, waited for the judgment of Parliament upon her. Derham and Culpeper were left to the ordinary course of justice. On the 1st of December they were tried in the Guildhall before a special com

1 Friends of the Queen had attempted to discover that she had been 'precontracted with Derham,' in which case she, like Anne Boleyn, would never have been lawfully married to the King, and might thus escape conviction for high treason. The King would not hear of the excuse, or allow it to be mentioned. Cranmer was directed to assemble the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household and tell them what had happened, foreseeing always,' the council wrote to him, 'that you make not mention of any precontract; but, omitting that, to set forth such matters as might engrieve and confound the misdemeanour, and, as truth doth indeed truly bear, declare and set forth the King's Majesty's goodness, most unworthy to be troubled with any such mischance.' The Council to Cranmer: State Papers, vol. i. p. 693.

2 Chappuys, the Imperialist ambassador, who might have been expected to be favourable to the Queen,

|

betrays no interest in her fate. Nor does he affect to believe in the innocence of a person who fully admitted her own guilt. The Queen,' he wrote, on the 29th of January, to Charles, 'is still at Syon, very cheerful and more plump and pretty than ever she is as careful about her dress, she is as imperious and wilful, as at the time when she was with the King; notwithstanding that she expects to be put to death, that she confesses that she has well deserved it, and asks for no favour except that the execution shall be secret and not under the eyes of the world. Perhaps, if the King does not mean to marry again, he may show mercy to her; or if he find that he can divorce her on the plea of adultery, he may take another thus. The question, I am told, has been already debated among the learned theologians, although, so far, there is no appearance that the King thinks of any further marriage or of any other woman.'

mission. They pleaded guilty; and twelve days after they were hanged at Tyburn. In the world the King had many enemies, who of course made use of the opportunity of scandal; but Francis, although on doubtful terms with England, sent a warm and generous message. 'He was sorry,' he said, 'to hear of the displeasure and trouble which had been caused by the lewd and naughty demeanour of the Queen;' albeit, knowing his good brother to be a prince of prudence, virtue, and honour, he did require him to receive and shift off the said displeasures wisely, temperately, and like himself, not reputing his honour to rest in the lightness of a woman, but to thank God of all, comforting himself in God's goodness.'1

1542.

In England the feeling seems to have been January. unmixed compassion for Henry; and the meeting of Parliament made an opportunity for the country

the matter at length, to the intent she might declare the same when time and place required; 'for,' said she, there hath been (and named the constable), and yet be (and named the cardinal, and the chancellor, who gaped to be a cardinal) in this Court that be the gladdest of men in the world to deprave the King's Majesty's your master's doings; and to tell you,' quoth she,

1 State Papers, vol. i. p. 718. Sir | less glad that she knew the truth of William Paget's account of a conversation with the Queen of Navarre shows how necessary it was for Henry to have no concealment. After she had used a long discourse,' he said, ' of sundry matters, she entered on purpose of the Queen. And when I had made a declaration to her of the whole matter, so far forth as I knew of it, she said, with solemn addition in many words, how well she was affected towards your Majesty; that she was very sorry, as she knew the King her brother was, that your Majesty should be thus disquieted, and was neverthe

franchement, the King my brother hath been too much abused with them, and so,' quoth she, 'I have told him not long ago.''-Paget to Henry VIII.: ibid. vol. viii. p. 636.