The Irish standard., 1898-04-30
A NON-CATHOLIC WRITER TELLS !,
GRUESOME TALE.
SCHEMES OF HENRY The VIII OF ENGLAND
HOW THE FOUNDER OF PROTESTANT
ISM GOT RID OF HIS WIVES.
He GAVE DIVORCE ITS FIRST START.
AND NOW PROTEsTANTs ARE FIGHT.
ING AGAINST IT'S SPREAD.

A writer In Munsey's Magazine tells
afresh the awful story of Henry's crimes
against religion, morality and the sacred
ness OF the marriage tie. He writes: "It
may sound like a paradox, but the eighth
Henry of England, looked at from one
point OF view, might almost be consid-
cred pattern Of kingly morality. He
was sometimes praised as such by saints
like Cranmer Other rulers have left us
rows Of brilliant faces on their palace
walls, painted in all their blooming beau
ty and insolence by the monarchs own
painters. They are pointed out as the
duchess of this and the marchioness Of
that the kings favorites. But when we
see the row that Henry left, they are all
wives.
GAS it was against the feeling Of Eng
land that he should have more than one
Queen at a time, he was sometimes driv-
en- to harsh measures to make the way
clear for his latest fancy; but he always
succeeded.
I'm the midst of Henrys reign, the
French ambassador wrote home to his
king, This is an extraordinary monarch,
in the midst of an extraordinary people,
and without doubt he was right. In his
childhood Henry was designed to lie
archbishop of Canterbury It is a re-
gret to the student of human nature that
his elder brother, Arthur, died, and left
him heir to the throne. 1t would have
been spectacle In history to have seen
Henry as churchman. Had he been at
its head, the church Of England might
never have been separated from Rome,
unless he had taken a fancy to set him
self up as the English Pope, and England
would probably be a Roman Catholic
country to this day. And there would
have been no Elizabeth to settle Britain
hard and fast upon her present founda-
tion.
'In succeeding to his brothers place.
Henry also succeeded to his brothers
wife, Catharine of Aragon. She was the
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, who
was one Of the heiresses to the wealth
Of the new world. She had been mar
ried to Arthur, tho English Prince of
Wales, when he was Is and she 1G, but
their marriage was of only short dura-
ton. Her father had not paid down all
of her dowry, and sly old Henry VII.
saw no way of keeping what he already
had and of getting the rest save by mar
rying the 10-year-old Prince Henry to his
brothers widow.
cat first Catharine utterly refused her
consent. But they kept her in England,
and as the years went hy she changed
her mind. At Is, Henry was feet 4
inches in height, master Of fence and
all games of prowess, and the most
magnificently attired young gentleman in
tho kingdom; and Catharine, who was
%, fell in love with him. She is proba.
bly, the only woman who ever did so,
and through her affection she held him
for years. Until the day Of her death
she was the only woman who ever de-
fed him with impunity.
''She did not marry Henry until he
was IS, and had come to the throne.
Catharine was so beautiful that nobody
wondered at Henrys love for her, al
though she was so much his senior
Her hair was very black, and so long
that 1t hung to her feet, and she wore
it "at length" with a crown of jewels
on her head, when she and Henry rode
through London in state after their we'd
ding. They lived together for twenty
four years, and, while Henry was not a
pattern Of faithfulness, he certainly
treated the dignified, elegant and good
queen with the respect and honor which
she demanded, until the merry Boleyns
crossed his path.
MARY Boleyn, Sir Thomas Bolcyn's
elder daughter, was a favorte OF Hcnry's
long before her younger sister came to
court as maid of honor to the queen;
but when the fair Anne attracted his
attention, he forgot everything else.
Catharine must be gotten rid Of. Az
usual, the king called in his spiritual
advisers, of whom the good Cranmer was
one, and they thought out a plan. OF
course Henry's marriage was wrong. was
indeed no marriage, because Catherine
had been his brothers wife, That the
Pope had given a special dispensation
made no difference at all, Henry said
His conscience hurt him. Catharine was
again called Princess of Wales, after be-
ing queen for twenty-four years, and
Anne Boleyn, her maid of honor, was
put into her place.
when Henry grew tried Of Anne he
began to hate her. When Catharjne
died in 1886 he shed tears, and he seemed
to have felt that he might ease his con-
science for his denial Of his only real
wife, the only woman who ever cared