New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-30

i
IuteIy contradictory, views held among previous
historians But there is ambiguity about
his statement of those leading facts which il is
we'll for the reader to have in mind as he ap-
proaches the subject. This statement is so ad-
mirable that we make excuse for quoting it
| almost intact
The dictates of his will seemed memorable
as the DEGREES of fate and the history of his
reign is strewn with records of the ruin of those
who failed to prOpitiate the wrath of an i'm
placable deity. OF the six queens he married.
two he divorced and two he beheaded. -Four
English cardinals lived in his reign; persisted
| by the eXecutiOner'S axe, one escaped II by abb
sence and a third by a timely but natural
death OF a similar number of dukes half were
condemned by atJainder and the same method
OF speedy dispatch accounted for six or seven
earls and viscounts and for scores OF lesser de-
gree He began his reign by executing the min
listers of his father; he continued it by sending
ms own TO tEe scahod- Wolsey anu
More, Cromwell and Norfolk, trod the same
dizzy path to the same fatal end, and the Eng
lish people looked on pOwerless OF unmOved-
They sent their burgeSSeS and knights Of the
shire to Westminster without let hindrance.
and Parliament met with a regularity that grew
with the rigor of Henry's rule to register the
royal edicts and clothe with the forms OF law
the naked violence of Henrys acts II remem-
bered its privileges only to lay them at Henry's
feet it cancelled his debts. endowed his procla-
nations with the force of law, and authorized
him to repeal acts of attainder and dispose OF
his crown at will. Secure of its support, Henry
turned and rent the spiritual unity of Western
Christendom. and settled at a blow that peren-
| MIL struggle between church and state In
which kings and empeTOrS had bitten the dust
Others had made themselves despots by
their mastery of many lesions through the
agency of a secret police. by means of an
ganized bureaucracy. Henrys standing army
consisted of a few gentlemen pensioners and
yeOmen of the guard: he had neither secret po-
lice nor organized bureaucracy He eS-
chewed that air of mystery with which tyrants
had usually thought to impose on the minds
and almost unguarded in the midst of his sub
jects. and he died in his bed. full Of years with
the spell of his power unbroken and the terror
of his name unimpaired
Half dozen of the questions which the reader
of these lines is bound ask, Mr. Pollard him
| self proceeds to ask. and first among them Is
the following: What p1anner Of man was this,
and wherein lay the secret OF his strength The
answer is given, in part. in this volume. but
throughout his narrative the author interests
the reader more by reference to the condition
of England just before and during Henry.s reign
than by discussion of the King Henry
VII had passionate sohcitude for the fortunes
of his house. No doubt il was with a sincere
concern for the welfare of the people that he
strove to unite the Iancastrian and Yorkist fac
tons; but, as Mr.. Pollard says All his state
craft, his patience and labor would have been
writ in water without children TO succeed him
and carry the work which he had begun
Accordingly. the history of his reign while rich
in testimonies to his skill in the UpbuiIding OF
/ St'ttt II CoIoTeu throughout by MS pIeOCEuEhd-
ton with purely dynastic plans In consequence
we find in his time administrative
archy' which cried aloud for the appearance
upon the scene Of some with keen insight
into the art OF governing. a mighty viii and
iron hand. The needed man appeared in the
person of Henry VIII lie is for this reason. as
well as in the light Of his personal traits. por-
tentous figure to the modern imagination, but
Mr.. Pollard is at pains to show that Henry's de-
veIopment into an extraordinarily effective mon
arch was at bottom normal.
The stories Of his PrecOcity. we'll authenticated
as they are. need not beguiIe us into thinking OF
him $ miraculous gift vouchsafed to the Eng
lish people. and marked from the beginning by
all the signs or supernatural origin. II Eras-
mus amazed by the mental aptitude Of
the young prince. If Henry showed even in his
youth that taste for the liberal arts which
stayed with him through life. he was also de-
voted sportsman. "A fine jouster.- and alto
gether a lover OF amusement and Of his own
ways. In the earlier years Of his reign he
strikes the student better and worse
than many another young ruler-only too glad
to leave public affairs in the hands of his coun-
cillors The rise OF WolSey due not merely
to the tremendous ambition and maSterful quail
tiles of that great prelate, but to Henry's
willingness to be spared some of the labor OF
ruling But Mr.. Pollard brings out with great
vividness the growth OF the Kings Independence
Of IT.,