Vatican, having been stolen and sent to his Holiness the Pope. Copies of them have, however, been published. Had these four years of retirement from the English Court been spent usefully by poor Anne, how different might have been the character of the rest of her short life! But at their close she returned thither, and once more entered the service of Queen Katharine. CHAPTER V. Verily, I swear, 'tis better to be lowly born, SPEECH OF ANNE BULLEN, SHAKSPEARE, HENRY VIII. HE wise man hath said, "he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:" and daily experi ence corroborates the saying: our hearts deceive ourselves. How often do we give ourselves credit for that which we possess not good motives, strength of prin ciple, firmness of purpose: alas! these melt away like the early dew that the rising sun exhales, unless a power that is not in ourselves or of ourselves, strengthens our weakness, and sustains our strength. Anne Boleyn returned to the court of England in the year 1527; and in the same year, the news of King Henry's intended divorce from his excellent wife Queen Katharine became pretty generally known. That poor lady's life seemed doomed to be one of little content and enjoyment. Left a widow and a stranger, at the age of eighteen, in a foreign land, and married, contrary to her own wishes, to the brother of her deceased husband, she saw herself, at a mature age, supplanted by a proud and fascinating rival ; and daily felt more deeply that she no longer possessed her husband's affections. Queen Katharine's health and spirits had for some time been declining: she led a private life; and before Anne Boleyn had come to court, though unconscious of her rival, she was sensible that her influence with the King, and her place in his affections, were lost. Katharine of Arragon, although- generally reputed a more decided Roman Catholic than Anne Boleyn, was known to study the Holy Scriptures. The learned Erasmus said to King Henry, "Your noble wife spends that time in reading the sacred volume which other Princesses devote to cards and dice:" and where can a sorrowful heart find greater comfort than in the holy word of God, when, in meekness and in faith, it is enabled to commit its cause unto Him who judgeth righteously. Anne by degrees permitted, and at length encouraged, and gloried in, King Henry's attentions; she saw her way open to a crown, and all the ambition of her heart arose and stifled every better feeling: it was the idea of his getting a divorce from the Queen on the plea of her being his sister in law, that first tempted the ambitious beauty; and the prospect of reaching a throne finally hardened her heart against every tender and repentant movement towards her royal and unhappy mistress. The tone and address of Henry's letters to her, shew how altered her manner towards him had become. Some of these commence with, "My own sweet heart," others with simple "Darling:” all breathe the most ardent affection and extreme solicitude. The poor Queen could not long remain unconscious of her rival. It is related that once, while she was playing at cards with the fair favourite, she said, with allusion to the game, but in a way Anne's guilty conscience readily interpreted: "My Lady Anne, you have the good fortune ever to stop at a King: but you are like others; you will have all or none." This was indeed what Anne aimed at, she would be the King's wife, or she would have nothing to say to him. His |