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

TO support him Sixteenth century Englishmen.
he maintains, had of their chief char
acteristics IAN absolute Indifference to human
suffering" Thus the blooder aspects of Henrys
reign, which wake such horror in the modern
reader and do much to affect his conception
of the Kings character meant little to the
masses that looked on them in all their lurid
reality-little of loathing or compassion. The
populace was more often inclined to approve,
seeing that many Of the executions formed part
Of the Kings broad scheme for putting his
house, and theirs in order.
In dealing with Henry's matrimonial ad-
ventures. and especially with the divorce of
Catherine Of Aragon, Mr.. Pollard discloses the
same sympathetic attitude which marks his re-
Elections on the Kings administrative record.
He rejects the theory that Henry's object in
Seeking the divorce from Catherine and separa-
ton from Rome the qualification Of his
passion for Anne Boleyn." He is inclined rather
TO lay stress on the recrudescence In Henry's
reign OF that dynastic anxiety which had added
50 much TO his fathers burden A male heir
was essential The divorce, therefore was in
evitable, and Mr.. p Hard points out that, how
ever fantastic il may seem TO our eyes, Henry
believed that he acting according to the
dictates Of conscience when he sought to put
away his faithful wife. His contemporaries had
their doubts on the subject, however. and if this
book has a defect il resides in the authors too
matter Of fact treatment Of his hero's moral
obhquty. He admits that il vas there. but he is
so intent on showing that the people needed
Henry TO keep them in order and TO strengthen
the realm that he underestimate the part which
the baser side Of his nature should play in his
biography This book gives US, we repeat, a
portrait Of king rather than a portrait OF a
man We wish that. in addition to the notes he
gives Us here and there on some Of Henry's
traits and on his physical appearance, he had
given Us a fuller study Of his whole nature.
But We are grateful for what We receive. In its
elucldation Of Henry's reign, Of his dealings
with foreign States and with the Church, this Is
an absoTbingly interesting narrative.
We cannot relinquish the volume without
paying special tribute to the gallery of por-
traits II contains Holbein and his followers
loom large in the artistic annals of the period.
and Mr.. Pollard's publishers have drawn upon
the royal collection at Windsor Castle and other
galleries, public and private. for illustrations so
important and SO beautiful that they almost dis
tract attention from the text. Here, in mag
nifcent plates. not only familiar master
pieces like the great portrait Of Henry in his
maturity at Windsor, like the Erasmus in the
Louvre, and like the enchanting Prince Ed
ward" in the Royal Gallery at Hanover but
rarities Ike the portrait Of Queen Elizabeth in
her maidenhood and the portraits of her father
IN infancy and in his early prime. Indeed, the
greater number OF these beautiful plates are
from originals scarcely known to the public, II
known at all They put the finishing touch to
the spIendor Of a memorable publication.