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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ. Queens of England. Vol.1.

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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ.
Queens of England. Vol.1.
page 393



a third, which an expounder thereupon took upon him to interpret by the king and his wives, and to her personage cer-. tain destruction if she married the King, This book coming into her chamber, she opened, and finding the contents, called to her maid who also bore her name. " ' Come hither, Kan,' said she, 'see here a book of prophecies, this is the King, this is the Queen mourning and wringing her hands, and this is myself with my head cut off.' " Tbe maid answered, 1 If I thought it true, though he were an Emperor I would not marry him with that condition.' " ' Tut Nan,' replied Anne lìolcyn, *I think the book a bauble, and for the hope I have that this realm may be happy by my issue, I am resolved to havekim whatever may become of me.' " But whatever might be Anne's desire to become the wife of Henry, the opinion of all Christendom was greatly against her, Luther and many others declared that it would even be better for the King to marry a second wife, than to dissolve his present marriage. The Pope secretly favoured this view of the ease, and indeed Anne's path to the queenly chair would long have remained rugged and doubtful, had not Cromwell prevailed upon the King to adopt his hold expedient of separating the English church from the Papal See. From this time all the obstructions to the consummation of her desires fast disappeared. The King, after driving Katherine of Arragon from Windsor, made Anne his constant companion, and on the ninth of September, 1532, conferred on her the handsome sum of one thousand pounds per year for life, and created her Marchioness of Pembroke, a title rare and honourable in England, and never before conferred on any unmarried female. The habits and manners of Henry and Anne at this period are thus described by the French ambassador, Cardinal du Bellai, " I should be unjust not to ac knowledge the handsome and very friend ly attentions I have received from the King and bis court, and in particular the familiar intimacy to which be has ad mitted me. I am every day'along with him hunting, he chats familiarly of his private affairs, and takes as much trouble to make me a partaker of his sports and pleasures, as if I were in reality the superior personage. Sometimes Madam Anne joins our party, when each of them are equipt with tbe bow and arrows, as is, you know, the English style of hunting. Sometimes he places us both in a spot where we shall be sure to see him shoot the deer as they pass, and whenever he reaches a lodge appropriated to his servants, he alights to tell them of all the feats he has performed, and of all that he is about to do. The Lady Anne presented me with a complete hunting suit, including a hat, a bow and arrows, and a greyhound. Do not fancy I announce this gift to make you believe I am thought worthy to possess a lady's favour, I merely state it to let you see how much this prince values the friendship of our monarch, for whatever this lady does is by King Henry's suggestion." In another letter, dated lianwell, the Cardinal intimates how anxiously Henry desires that Anne Boleyn should be invited to his intended meeting with Francis the First. " I am convinced," proceeds du Bellai, " our sovereign, if he wished to gratify the King and Madam Anne, could devise nothing better than to authorize me to entreat that she may accompany him to Calais, to be there received and entertained with due respect. It is nevertheless desirable that there be no company of ladies, since there is always better cheer without them, but in that case it would be necessary the King of France should bring the Queen of Navarre to Boulogne, that she might in like manner receive and entertain the King of England. I shall not mention with whom this idea originates, being pledged to secrecy, but you may be well assured I do not write without authority. As to the Queen of France she is quite out of question, as he would not meet her for the world, that Spanish costume is to him as abhorrent as the very devil. The Duke of Norfolk assures me that much good may be expected to result from this interview, and that it will redound to the honour and glory of both nations. Lot me, however, whisper that our King ought to exclude from his train


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