The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Lines of the .Bachelor Kings of England. By Agnes
Strickland, author of " Lives of the Queens of
England," &c. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
Miss Stzickiand is so well known as the first of
our feminine historians, that a fresh work from her
pen cannot fail to attract the attention of the read-
ing community. The volume before us forms a sort
of supplement to her largest and best known work,
on the lives of our English Queens, since it fills up
the gaps left in that interesting series by the inter-
vening reigns of kings without consorts. These
were but three in number, two of whom were never
possessed of uncontrolled authority. The hist)ry
of their reigns, however, illustrates very eventful
epochs, and fthe characteristics of their times are
thus briefly alluded to in the preface :

hip,
monumental tyrant lire,
In the reign of William Rufus we trace the commencement
of our national greatness, the dawn of the age of chivalry,
coaftreiode tirny,illu►uin y literature,enmaas and of the tine arts, as in li-
and, above all, the glorious style of architecture, which
for strength and beauty has never been surpassed,
With the life of Edward V. we enter upon a still more In-
teresting era; the erection of England's first printing press •
—that true organ of civilisation and liberty—was co, val
with his birth. He was the first prince in sthose education
printed books were used, and one of the earli,rst works
printed in England was dedicated to him.
The life and reign of our third bachelor King, Edward
VI., are blended with the third momentous period of Eng-
lish history, that of the Reformation. Much curious infor-
mation is introduced into this portion of the volume, de-
rived from sources not accessible to the general reader, of
the personal characteristics and court of our first Protes-
tant Sovereign—
Who, born to guide such high emprize,
For Albion's weal was early wise.
Alas I to whom the Almighty gave
For Albion's sins, an early grave !"
The reign of Edward V. was merely nominal. In the
reigns of William Rufus and Edward VI. the absence of a
queen was severely felt. Female royalty has always been
most beneficial to England, both from its refining influence
on the manners of the court, and the impetus it has given
to trade, the encouragement of domestic manufactures, and
the employment of native produce and native industry.
" A court without ladies," observed Francis I. of France,
"is like a spring without flowers." But a court full of
ladies, without a queen, would soon fall into disrepute with
the nation at large. It is, therefore, sincerely to be hoped
that we may never be required to write the Biography of a
Bachelor King of Great Britain.
The distinction drawn by Miss Strickland in her
last paragraph refers to the fact of Edward VI.
having been the last'King of England--the next male
sovereign, James 1., assuming the more impressive
title of :King of Great Britain. William Rufus, of
sporting memory, bears the same character in Miss
Strickland's pages as in those of most other histo-
rians. She shows him some favour, however, by
recording occasional acts of impulsive generosity
on his part flat always mentioned. Some tales
less to his credit are told, such as his indignant
query in answer to a remonstrance on a broken.
pledge—"
keep all Whether it were possible for a king to
his promises ?" With regard to the accu-
sation frequently brought against the Norman
ofobthseervienstrtohdautetthioenyowf
etrhee
au-
thoress
theg
bitterlyam ecomplained laws,
kings
of during the Danish rule and probably were among
the impositions of the Romans. There is no doubt,
however, of the cruel severity with which both
the Williams revived and enforced them, and those
who remembered the depopulated villages which
had made way for the hunting grounds probably
saw a direct retribution in Rufus's violent death.
While preparing for the fatal sport, an armourer
craved permission to present the king with six new.
arrows. The king received them with pleasure,
kept four for himself and gave two to his favourite
Tyrrel saying, " The sharpest arrows for the best
marksman." The architectural achievements of the
Red King's reign are his most remarkable exploits,
although the money necessary for them wag
extorted from an oppressed and heavily taxed
people. He completed the Tower of Lon-
don, built London Bridge, finished Battle
Abbey, and rebuilt a great part of the me-
tropolis which had been destroyed by a conflagra-
tion and a hurricane, both of which calamities
were attributed by the superstitious to the king's
evil ways. " This. William," says an old chronicler,
was much addicted to building royal castles and
palaces, as the castles. of Dover, Windsor, Norwich,
Exeter, the banqueting-hall at Westminster, and
many others can testify. Never was there a king
of England before him that erected so many and
such noble edifices." The reign of the hapless little
monarch, Edward V., is necessarily very short,
though many interesting particulars of the young
prince's brief career are given, from his birth in
Westminster Sanctuary to his burial in the
Wakefield Tower. This part of the Tower
had been strengthered and improved with great
cost by Edward IV. Well might a poet of the time
make the royal father say—
" I made the Tower strong, I wilt not why,
Knew not for whom."
One of the most interesting incidents in the short
life of this prince was the following :-
- -

It was. during "the glorious summer of the house of
York," when no one foresaw the train that selfishness was
getting ready for explosion and sudden downfall, that
patronage for the first book printed in England was claimed
from the young Prince of Wales. The claim was appropriate
enough, as the infant printing press sprang to birth within
a few feet of the spot where young Edward of the Sanctuary
first saw the light. It has been mentioned that the
Almoury of Westminster Abbey almost abutted on the
Sanctuary, and in this building had the Abbot cf West-
minster given Caxton, the goldsmith, leave to set up his
printing presses and work them, when the distribution of
alms was not going forward. Possibly the first sounds that
fell on the ear of the royal child of the Sanctuary was the
working of that press which was the precursor of all his
country's subsequent literature.

The life of Edward the Sixth is naturally the
longest in the book, and bears full testimony to the
precocious intelligence, gentleness, and P
strongly
this short-lived monarch. His
andspirihe
spirit of toleration
was of
ob-
jectedfartninthe advance of
whichhis
age,
religious
carrie
of reflectiondintliose and judgmentdays. A
by possessed by
theremarkablepersecutionwas proofthepowers
King exists in an essay
Parliament,the
evils
then andsitt i
ng,
abutsne s which
consider.written he wished the
wise remarks, the young King say After many
s :
" Devising of good laws, I have shown my opinion here-
tofore what statutes I think most necessary to be enacted
this sessions. Nevertheless I would wish that beside them
hereafter, when time shall serve, the superfluous and
tedious were brought into one union together, and made
more plain and short, to the intent that men might the better
understand ttlem, which thing shall much help, to advance
the profit of the commonwealth."
How often, observes Miss Strickland, has a wish
for the consolidation and simplifying of the statute
ab rye wise
t that
stminster, on
and beenl
learned
dd during
men, thew iwithout
lnanstt
theirthree
being
aw
the first suggestion of the exopfeLdioenncoyn,
pre iched
of
measure emanated from this youthfuld Suvesrueeihgna.
hOenfnorneeEodcwcaasriodny, Rl.i,dalet Westminster, , Bishop
s
the duties
of the rich, and especially those in authority, towards
w
the poor. The young King
abounded in London, mpressed by the pie-
turethoefmth,
immediately sins
andSocrartioss i
which he was tol d
d inquiry to be withoutmade
any heeding or tend-
ing
en the subject by
the Lord Mayor and other auther
rities. The result
of their deliberation was,
" That the poor of London might be divided into
three classes. The •
poor by impotency,such :as
the decayed, the cripple
d
and fatherless children, - '
and the old. The
poor by casualty; as the maimed,
the sick, and the diseased. Thriftless poor, whoa'
idleness and vice had reduced to indigence and
want." Three asylums were accordingly founded
for the relief of these three classes. Christ's Church
School, from the monastery of the Grey Friars, for
the education of poor children ; St. Thomas's Hos-
pital for the relief of the sick and diseased ; and
Bridewell for the correction and amendment of the
idle and vagabonds. For the latter purpose Edward
gave his Royal Palace so called. Holbein's
painting of the young King presenting the charter
of Bridewell to the Lord Mayor has been
preserved, and it is from that picture that the por-
trait of King Edward, given in this volume, as a
vignette, representing the ceremony, is taken.
The young monarch was then sinking under • his
slow but inexorable doom, and his air is conse-
quently expressive of langour and pensiveness. It
seems, however, that in the days of health his
bearing
was spirited and cheerful. It might teach a lesson
to older and more powerfulrulersth t
a the three great
institutions alluded to should owetheir origin to
an inexperienced youth's immediate application. of
a moral lesson. " Thirty-nine
free schools and
several hospitals," sayswere
founded during the brief reign Miss Strickland, I
V trlie
of Edwaird
majority of them through influence
and munificenceof the
personal
this accomlished young sove-
reign." Well might the nation deplore the loss of
a prince who promised to o well and so wisely.
rule s h
In his short reign as e was by those
hampered
around him, he left more tangible legacies to pos-
terity than most of our kings have done. Three
handsome portraits adorn this volume besides
numerous small engravings. Although filling up,
as we have said, the broken links in the chain of
English history existing in the lives of the Queens,
the volume is complete in itself, and will amply
repay the reader for its perusal, independently of its
connection with its authoress's celebrated work.

It is stated that Sir Edwurd Coey, the mayor of
Belfast, who was knighted the other day, entered Belfast
a poor boy about forty yearsseeking employment
without a shilling in his pocket., Now he is one of the
wealthiest men in the communit y. He has purchased, at a
cost of £BO,OOO, the ancestral es tate of the Earl of Antrim,
and he now ranks among the h lading gentry
of his natty()
country.
'eked
LAMLASH, Aug. 13.—Tli.e following was pi
up in a bottle at Lamlash Quay on the 12th of August :
" Gone down in the Bay of Biscay the screw steamer Hier.
Have taken to the boats, but don 't expect to see 1 and again.
May the Lord have mercy on in ii—j enN Son .zoN, First
Mate. July 17, 1861."