ard him say, that he had attained the
summit of his happiness, the goal of his wishes, for the queen had borne
him a daughter, and so there was a regular and legitimate successor to
his throne. But this happiness lasted only a brief time.

"The king conceived one day that Anne Boleyn was not, as he had hitherto
believed, the most beautiful woman in the world; but that there were
women still more beautiful at his court, who therefore had a stronger
vocation to become Queen of England. He had seen Jane Seymour, and she
without doubt was handsomer than Anne Boleyn, for she was not as yet the
king's consort, and there was an obstacle to his possession of her--the
Queen Anne Boleyn. This obstacle must be got out of the way.

"Henry, by virtue of his plentitude of power, might again have been
divorced from his wife, but he did not like to repeat himself, he wished
to be always original; and no one was to be allowed to say that his
divorces were only the cloak of his capricious lewdness.

"He had divorced Catharine of Aragon on account of conscientious
scruples; therefore, some other means must be devised for Anne Boleyn.

"The shortest way to be rid of her was the scaffold. Why should not Anne
travel that road, since so many had gone it before her? for a new
force had entered into the king's life: the tiger had licked blood! His
instinct was aroused, and he recoiled no more from those crimson rills
which flowed in the veins of his subjects.

"He had given Lady Anne Boleyn the crimson mantle of royalty, why then
should she not give him her crimson blood? For this there was wanted
only a pretext, and this was soon found. Lady Rochfort was Jane
Seymour's aunt, and she found some men, of whom she asserted that they
had been lovers of the fair Anne Boleyn. She, as the queen's first lady
of the bed-chamber, could of course give the most minute particulars
concerning the matter, and the king believed her. He believed her,
though these four pretended lovers of the queen, who were executed for
their crime, all, with the exception of a single one, asseverated that
Anne Boleyn was innocent, and that they had never been in her presence.
The only one who accused the queen of illicit intercourse with him was
James Smeaton, a musician. [Footnote: Tytler.] But he had been promised
his life for this confession. However, it was not thought advisable to
keep this promise, for fear that, when confronted with the queen, he
might not have the