his reign, and desirous of procuring that change which could only be effected by a divorce from Catherine, the most active and efficient was probably his own self-will, strengthened by the indulgence of so many years. But in addition thereto, attachment to casuistical divinity rendered his mind very susceptible of scruples as to the lawfulness of the union. No one who looks into the mazes of those writings can wonder that Henry was led onward in a course of proceedings very different in their results from what he first contemplated. His scruples seem to have been both excited and strengthened by doubts respecting the lawfulness of the marriage, thrown out by the bishop of Tarbes, who was appointed by the French court to treat respecting a union between the duke of Orleans and Henry's only daughter, the princess Mary. These doubts were founded on the view, that the pope had not authority to dispense with any direct command of Scripture. The usual course then adopted in all cases of difficulty, was to consult Aquinas and the school divines.

There appears full reason to believe that Wolsey originated the idea of a separation from Catherine, and that he suggested to the bishop of Tarbes to put the question. He saw that the queen was losing the affection of Henry, and acted upon the king's feelings of superstition, using the king's confessor, bishop Longland, as an instrument to infuse doubts. Wolsey had at this period been deceived by the emperor, and now desired to promote the interests of the French king; this could not be done better than by removing the emperor's aunt from her station as queen, which enabled her to exert some influence in favour of her nephew. If that could be done, the cardinal's desire for revenge, and the political interests influencing him at that period, would be promoted, while his interest would be strengthened by the favour of a new queen, mainly indebted to him for her elevation. If Henry could be induced to desire this course, there was no reason to doubt the pope's readiness to sanction the divorce, when plausible

grounds were assigned; and the whole affair might have been easily effected, had not other circumstances arisen. Catherine herself openly charged Wolsey with being the originator of the separation; the emperor, and a historian who was intimate with the pope, did the same. De Bellay, the French ambassador, wrote to his court, that Wolsey avowed to him that he had suggested the subject, to break the union with the emperor. The precise date of these occurrences is not known; probably they belong to the year 1526, at which time the cardinal instructed the English ambassador to pay particular attention to the duchess of Alençon. Early in 1527, the bishop of Tarbes openly stated the above-mentioned difficulty. One subject of Wolsey's negotiations when in France, in July, 1527, appears to have been a marriage with Renee, another French princess; the sister of Francis having refused a union, which, however gratifying to her, must have inflicted wretchedness on Catherine. While on this embassy, Wolsey was received with many honours; the French king even empowered him to release any transgressors imprisoned in the towns through which he passed. He wrote to the king respecting the divorce "his great and secret affair," which would give him deliverance out of a thralled, pensive, and dolorous life," and referred to it as "desirable for his health, and for the surety of his realm and succession." It also appears, from a letter Wolsey wrote when setting out, that he knew queen Catherine was aware of his plans, and would not willingly consent to them.

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At this time, rumours of the separation were so public, that the lord mayor was commanded to stop them, the avowal being then premature. But the subject occupied Henry so fully, that it could not be set aside without complete examination.

Wolsey returned from France in October, 1527, having taken measures to obtain the papal consent to a divorce; though, with his usual duplicity, he forbade the English ambassadors to the emperor to mention it,

but the report had already reached Charles, and of course it was resented by him. The king had till now intended that the decision of the question should rest upon the sufficiency of the bull of dispensation of Julius II. that allowed his marriage, saying to Wolsey's agent, the bishop of Bath, If it be nought, let it be so declared ; and if it be good, it shall never be broken by no ways for me.

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On his return to England, Wolsey discovered that the king's affections were placed upon Anne Boleyn, the daughter of sir Thomas Boleyn, a gentleman of estate in Norfolk. When a mere child of seven years old, she accompanied the king's sister on her marriage to Louis XII., in 1514, and remained in France after the return of that princess to England. There she was carefully instructed in the accomplishments of that age, being much favoured by the new queen and the duchess of Alençon. After the marriage of the latter to the king of Navarre, she returned to England, in February, 1527. Her father, who had been employed in several embassies on the continent, and was now a regular attendant at court, obtained for her the appointment of a maid of honour. Beautiful in person, lively and attractive in her manners, Anne Boleyn soon engaged attention. The king sought her favour on dishonourable terms, which she steadily refused. There is no ground for the vulgar calumnies and vile obloquy which the papists endeavour to heap upon her memory, while a principal cause for their hatred appears in her early inclination to the principles of the reformers, which she imbibed in the family of Margaret, queen of Navarre, who was much attached to the study of the Holy Scriptures.

Here, then, was another and a still more powerful inducement for Henry to desire a separation from Catherine; but his wish for a union with Anne Boleyn was not the cause of the plan for a divorce being proposed, though many writers have so asserted. There is no reason to suppose that the king manifested attach

ment to her before the cardinal's absence; and though Wolsey had previously desired her father to withdraw her from court at the king's command, he assigned a sufficient reason-the favour with which she was regarded by the son and heir of the earl of Northumberland, a match supposed to be above her pretensions. Wolsey now found himself entangled in his own devices. His desire for revenge against queen Catherine and the emperor might still be gratified, but his other plans would be impeded by the king's marriage with one whose connexions were inclined to support the feelings then rising against popery, and whose influence was more likely to oppose than to promote his own. He knelt before the king, vainly trying to dissuade him from thinking of a union with one of his subjects; but found it useless to oppose the arbitrary will he had himself contributed to strengthen. He hesitated, dissembled, and even directed his agent at Rome not to urge the pontiff to favour the divorce. At that time Clement showed a disposition to forward the measure, but finding the cardinal not anxious for it, he hesitated; and afterwards, from a dread of the emperor, to whose army Rome was exposed, and to whom he was himself a prisoner, he dared not countenance a measure at once displeasing to Charles, and distasteful to every bigoted papist. How complicated are human events, and how continually do the children of men counteract their own darling schemes !

"Blindly the wicked work

The righteous will of Heaven."-SOUTHey.

Early in the year 1528, Wolsey found that he no longer possessed undivided influence over Henry. Anne Boleyn had more power than himself, and his own ruin would probably ensue from any opposition to her. He, therefore, again changed his course, and endeavoured to induce the pope to countenance the divorce, by declaring that the circumstances of the case, if proved, would render the marriage invalid. Authority was delegated to Wolsey to inquire into these cir

cumstances. But Charles had interfered to bind the pope against granting a divorce, so that Wolsey, with increasing apprehension, saw the king's mind more and more fixed upon Anne Boleyn. With difficulty he obtained from the pope a verbal consent to the divorce; but the pontiff refused to give the written engagements Wolsey desired; and when, at length, he affixed his signature, empowering Wolsey to proceed with the divorce, it was on the express condition that no attempt should be made to act upon the document, while the pontiff was in the emperor's power. The grounds, also, on which the king urged the divorce, namely, that the papal sanction to the marriage with Catherine was void, inasmuch as it was contrary to the express directions of Scripture, could not be acceded to without giving up that powerful engine of Rome, the papal infallibility. The details given by Gardiner and Fox, the agents for Wolsey and the king, are minute; they show the pope in a very humiliating light. Desirous to avoid displeasing either Henry or Charles, his great aim was to gain time, and defer his decision, hoping that some change of affairs might extricate him from his difficulties; but the result was unsatisfactory, and England was lost to the papal see. The descriptions the ambassadors gave of their reception at the papal court are almost ludicrous. Gardiner chided the pope till he drew from him tears of vexation or regret; on another occasion, when strongly urged, "the pope said nothing, but sighed, and wiped his eyes." He cared not for the matter in a religious or moral view, but he dreaded being again a close prisoner to the

emperor.

It was apparent that Anne Boleyn was willing to become the queen of Henry, if the divorce could be obtained. This was an act of treachery to Catherine, which would have been rejected by a right-minded woman; but the crown had charms for Anne. Deeply did she afterwards lament her departure from the high principle by which she ought to have been actuated.