figures, to which a label was suspended, having some witty or puzzling writing upon it, intended to exercise the curiosity and ingenuity of the guests. On perches overhead stood the favorite hawks and falcons of the lord of the feast, whilst his hounds, of which there was a goodly number, lay at his feet. Three hours were consumed at dinner, during which the hall was filled with jugglers, minstrels, tumblers, and jesters, who performed antics for the amusement of the company. The motley dress of the fool, having the edges hung round with little sheep-bells, his cap, to which were hung asses' ears, and which was ridiculously ornamented with a feather, and his bauble or staff, finished off with the carved head of a zany;-all these, together with his broad jokes at the expense of the highest in the land, furnished an inexhaustible fund of amusement to the coarse taste of that age. The passion for tournaments somewhat declined by the close of the fifteenth century, but the taste for a species of exhibition called pageants was at its height. When Henry V. returned the victor from Agincourt, he was greeted by the citizens of London with a splendid pageant. On London Bridge stood the figure of a huge giant, which declaimed in rhyme a welcome to the king. On a turret stood a troop, representing angels, singing "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." As he rode into the town through streets draped with silk and tapestry, he was met at intervals by similar displays. On a great conduit running with wine in Cheapside, stood figures of the twelve apostles, all chanting a welcome to the king. Cards, which were invented in this century, by a painter of Paris, were so costly, being richly illuminated, like the missals, by hand, that only the rich could afford to play with them. Among the lower classes, besides wrestling and archery, games of ball and bowls were much indulged in. Blindman's-buff, battledore and shuttlecock, swimming on bladders, twirling hoops, and skating, were favorite amusements among the young people of this age. The Wars of the Roses, although productive of so much evil, led to one grand result-they hastened the abolition of villanage and serfdom in England. The great lords were obliged to arm their villains in these wars, and it was difficult to compel their return to a state of servitude. Consequently, at the close of this century, we find the condition of the common people so prosperous, that laws were made to prevent their indulging in certain articles of luxury, which were considered as the exclusive privilege of their superiors. The House of Commons during this period claimed two important rights: the one calling for an account of the expenditure of the supplies voted by them, and the other the right to impeach the ministers of the king for misconduct. Philip de Comines, a celebrated French chronicler of these times, makes the following declaration: "Of all the states in the world that I know, England is the country where the commonwealth is best governed, and the people least oppressed." QUESTIONS.-Describe the instances given of religious persecution during this period.-Mention some of the superstitions which prevailed greatly in the fifteenth century.-Describe the effect of the Wars of the Roses upon learning. What distinguished lawyers flourished in this century?-Describe the various foundations for learning during this period. What retarded the progress of true science in this age?-By whom and when was printing introduced?—What was the first book printed in England? What kind of books found greatest favor in those days? What prevented the English language becoming fixed by one standard?-What was the consequence of the neglect of agriculture during this period? How was architecture affected by the tumults of the time?-How did the buildings which were erected after the wars differ from those of a former age?-Relate the account given of the silk manufacture. Repeat what is said of the styles and materials of dress in this century.-Describe the arrangement of the dining-table in a great lord's hall.-Describe the pageant which the citizens of London prepared, to do honor to Henry V.-How did the lower orders and children amuse themselves?-What great good was brought out of the evil of the wars of this age?-What two important rights were claimed by the Commons during this century?—What does a French writer say of England at this period? PART VIII. ENGLAND DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. HENRY VIII.-EDWARD VI.-MARY-ELIZABETH. A. D. 1509-1603. 66 They sing a service which they feel, Of a pure faith the vernal prime, In the great Tudor's golden time." WORDSWORTH. CHAPTER XXXI. HENRY VIII.—THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF HIS REIGN. WARS-WOLSEY-RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN PRINCES-THE KING'S DIVORCE-WOLSEY'S FALL. 1509. THUS early in the sixteenth century was Henry VIII., the second monarch of the house of Tudor, firmly seated upon the throne, which the battle of Bosworth had won for his predecessor. In former ages, kings had ruled by force of arms, rather than by policy. The only check which the power of the monarch received had been from the great barons with whom he was occasionally at war. But now, the twenty battles of the wars of York and Lancaster, and the executions which too often followed them, had cut off the greatest of England's aristocracy. The commons were not yet strong enough to oppose the power of the kings, so that the royal authority in the hands of the spirited sovereigns of the house of Tudor, was more absolute than at any other period of English history. In the pleasure-loving prince of eighteen who now ascended the throne, the people little dreamed they saw one who, before his reign of thirty-eight years should end, would prove one of the most violent and absolute monarchs that ever swayed a sceptre. But now "all went merry as a marriage bell." Amidst jousts and tournaments, feasts and pageantries, the coronation of Henry VIII. and his young queen, Katherine of Arragon, was celebrated. The people rejoiced in the death of Empson and Dudley, the rapacious lawyers of Henry VII. They did not reflect that when the large treasures which these unprincipled men had amassed, should be spent in gratifying the magnificent tastes of the young monarch, the royal coffers of the spendthrift son would be supplied by means similar to those which had made the reign of the miser father so odious. 1513. 66 Henry, possessing none of the talents of a great general, yet loved the pomp and circumstance of glorious war," and thus was easily persuaded by his crafty father-in-law, the king of Spain, to engage in hostilities with France. With a well-equipped army, Henry crossed the Channel, and, announcing his arrival by the firing of great guns, coasted along the French shores. Nothing very important was done in this war, in which Henry was but a tool in the hands, first of the Spanish king, and finally of Maximilian, the emperor of Germany. In one battle the English gained a complete victory; the enemy, being seized with a panic, fled so rapidly from the field, that the French prisoners themselves merrily named it "The Battle of the Spurs." Although King James IV. of Scotland was brother-in-law to Henry VIII., he had become the ally of France, and whilst Henry was in that country, the war-challenge of the Scottish monarch was sent to him. Henry committed the conduct of an expedition against his hostile relative, into the hands of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. At Flodden 1513. Field, among the Cheviot Hills, the English and Scotch armies met in combat, and there was fought one of the famous battles in English history. When night ended the conflict, King James of Scotland, with nine thousand of his noblest subjects, lay dead upon the field. "Scarce a Scottish family of eminence," says Sir Walter Scott, "but has an ancestor killed at Flodden; and there is no province in Scotland, even at this day, where the battle is mentioned without a sensation of sorrow and terror." "Tradition, legend, tune, and song, Still many an age that wail prolong, Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear, And broken was her shield!"-Marmion. By a treaty which terminated in 1514 the war with France, Mary, Henry VIII.'s youngest sister, was given in marriage to Louis XII., the French king. Among those who accompanied the Princess Mary to France, was a pretty child, a maid of honor to the queen, named Anna Boleyn. At the French court she was to learn graces and accomplishments which, unaccompanied by principle, were destined to work sorrow enough on her return to England. A few months after his marriage with Mary of England, the French king died, and was succeeded by Francis I., a young, gay, and ambitious monarch. Four years later, died Maximilian, emperor of Germany, and to the imperial throne succeeded 1519. Charles V., one of the ablest princes in Europe. Before the election of Charles, the French king had hoped to gain for himself the crown of the German Empire. When, therefore, Charles was chosen, Francis, from being his rival, became his enemy. Both these sovereigns sought the friendship and alliance of the king of England. But Henry VIII. was now hardly master in his own dominions. The |