Plesure ys a pryvie prycke Wich vyce doth styll provoke; Who meenethe to remoofe the rocke Shall myre hymselfe, and hardlie scape These lines are remarked by lord Orford to be "meJancholy and simple, as we should expect, and not better than a saint might compose3." They are followed, however, by two moral sentences in prose, which merit a less equivocal commendation. "Patyence ys the armore and conqueste of the 2 These stanzas, I have lately discovered, form part of a poetical legend in the Mirror for Magistrates, 1559, which relates, "How king Henry the syxt, a vertuous prince, was, after many other miseries, cruelly murdered in the tower of London." How far they are likely to have been the composition of the monarch himself may therefore become a disputable point. In an earlier stanza, Henry is made to exclaim, "Would God the rufull toumbe had bene my royall trone, So should no kingly charge have made me make my mone; O! that my soule had flowen to heaven with the joy, When one sort cryed, God save the king! another, Vive le roy!" The pious resignation of this prince was so remarkable, that when in the most distressful state, reft of his crown, and a prisoner to his worst enemies, he would offer up his thanks to Heaven for these misfortunes, since he was led to hope by such temporal sufferings he might escape the punishment due to his sins in another world. See Andrews' Hist. vol. ii. p. 88. 3 Works, vol. i. p. 526. godlie: thys merytythe mercie, when cawslesse ys soffered sorrowe." "Noughte els ys warre bote furie and madnesse, whereyn ys not advyse, bote rashnesse; not ryghte, bote rage, rulethe and raignethe." HENRIE 4. In a manuscript manual which was in the possession of the late Dr. Pegge, that learned antiquary has pointed out "A Prayer by Henry VI. of England 5.” A monk's cowl, says Granger, would have fitted this prince's head much better than a crown. Though he might have made an amiable prelate, adds Mr. Andrews, he appeared completely misplaced when on a regal throne: yet whatever cruelties were acted in his reign, must be charged to the account of his masculine consort, Margaret; Henry would not have hurt the meanest reptile'.] Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. 386, edit. 1804. Biog. Hist. vol. i. p. 19. 7 Hist. of G. B. ubi sup. HENRY THE EIGHTH. As all the successors of this prince owe thei unchangeable title of DEFENDER OF THE FAITH to his piety and learning, we do not presume to question his pretensions to a place in this catalogue. Otherwise, a little scepticism on his majesty's talents for such a performance, mean as it is, might make us question whether he did not write the Defence of the Sacraments against Luther, as one of his sucesssors is supposed to have written the Εικων Βασιλική; that is, with the pen of some court prelate *. It happened unfortunately, that the champion of the church. neither convinced his antagonist nor himself. Luther died a heretic; his majesty would have been one, if he had not erected himself into the head of that very church which he had received so glorious a compliment for opposing. But by a singular felicity in the wording of the title, it [This title was given to Henry by Leo the tenth. Clement the seventh added to it, Liberator Urbis Romana.] 4 3 Charles I. • Saunders and Bellarmine ascribed it to bishop Fisher, others to sir Thomas More. Vide Ld. Herbert's Life of Hen. VIII. p. 420. [Vide article of Cha. I.] |