before his death, and was probably soon cancelled.]

[Footnote 87: Among the saints to whose custody he
bequeaths his soul, his favourite and patron, John
of Bridlington, finds a place. Among the legacies
connected with his family history, we meet with a
bequest, to the "Bishop of Durham, of the Missal
and Portophore which he had received as a present
from his dear grandmother Joan, Countess of
Hereford." To the same countess a gold cyphus,--a
proof that in 1415 his maternal grandmother was
still alive. It may be worth observing that, in
this will, there is no legacy to the Queen, his
father's widow. He had, however, on the 30th June
preceding, "granted of especial grace to his
dearest mother, Joanna, Queen of England, licence
to live, during his absence, in his castles of
Windsor, Wallingford, Berkhamstead, and Hertford."]

The subscription to this testament is couched in these words: "This
is my last Will subscribed with my own hand. R.H. Jesu Mercy and
Gramercy Ladie Mary Help:" and on these words the same author makes
this observation: "According to all the biographers of Henry,
extraordinary piety was a leading trait in his character, from which
feeling the addition to his Will appears to have arisen. It seems
indeed difficult to reconcile the _lawless ambition_, much less the
_hypocrisy_,[88] which Henry displayed in his negociations, with an
obedience to the genuine dictates of Christianity; but as he (p. 112)
rigidly observed every rite of the church, was bountiful towards its
members, and uniformly ascribed success to the Almighty, it is not
surprising that his contemporaries should have described him as
eminently pious."

[Footnote 88: In a few pages further, the same
writer thinks himself justified in adding this note
on a letter of Henry to Charles, "A translation of
this _hypocritical_ letter is given in the
Appendix."]

On this passage the biographer of Henry had rather that his readers
should form their own comment, than that he should express the
sentiments which he cannot but entertai