The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1904-03-14
A PREJUDICED VIEW

amiable terms. After she had gone
TO bed the farmer and sat together
chatting about the dull winters in the
country and the want OF means of
amusement, especially for the older
people. asked him II he liked to
read.
"Waal, stranger" he said, Il reckon
I do Ike TO read eff l kin git the books.
For long time had nothin' but
Shakespeare and the Bible. But last
winter | got historical book about
them kings and queens OF England. /
was interested In one of 'em, a king
called Henry VIII. That king was the
only man ! ever read or heered about
that got ahead of six wimmen. all his
wives. and didn't hey to kill more'n
two Of 'em neither
"He was monster" protested.
WAL, now, stranger. hain't so
sartin about that. | don't know that
he was quite excusable in the matter OF
his first wife. the Spanish womaff; but,
ye see. a man TO git ahead OF six VIM
min has got TO be mighty sharp. III
remember right, Henry he'd married his
brothers wilder. which Is contrary to
Scripture, and after Twin with her
twenty years his conscience troubled
him. II may be tibet he hadn't orter
married her In the first place, but It
makes good deal OF difference wheth-
er woman's young and amiable or
old and spiteful. No, | think. under
the circumstances. Henry was excusa-
Bile for gittin' a tender conscience at
the right time. Most peoples con.
sciences pr.cks 'em at the wrong time
Henry's come in remarkable handy"
you surely don't approve of his be-
heading Anne Boleyn, his second wife:r
''Waal, now. hain't so sartin about
that neither Henry's conscience was
very tender one and, as said afore.
always pricked him at convenient
time. When his first wife died. he
wanted TO show her every mark of >
spec and ordered his court to put on
black. Anne Boleyn showed what kind
of woman she was when she ordered
her wimmen to wear yaller That made
Henry mad. 1t was convenient time
to be mad. He was gittln' ready for
his next wife. | reckon ef hr llala't
been king and wise ~ 4 sarpiin iie
sides he'd never "a done what he did
with the hull six on EN-"
His third wife," | remarked. "Jane
Seymour, was. / believe. the only one
of the six who died natural death
while married TO him. The next, Anne
of Cleves, he divorced"
"The Cleves woman was the only
sensible one o the lot. the only one
that come any ways near gittin, even
with the king. When he said, You gitr
she was very much pleased to go. This
wounded the king sorely. A man don't
like TO be trken Mt his word by a wom-
an. no matter how onruly she is
What do You think of the case Of
Katherine Howard?'
'Lemme see. WHAT did she dol
There's so many of 'em forglt."
"As mere child she had been led
into several indiscretions, including a
sort of marriage with low bred fell |
low who afterward turned pirate. As
soon as she married the king all those
WIZ Iuu leu llpT HstT1N
Il remember now. They all turned |
office seekers. and the queen had 10
give 'em situations or they'd blow ON
her WAL, now, don't see how Hen.
~ could a done any different. He |
wouldn't believe nothin' ag'in her till |
the hull thing was out. katherine was |
one o. them middle-o'-the-road VIM |
min. She might "a lived eff she'd only
given in. She wouldn't own up to her |
first marriage The king couldn't Git |
'nulment OF his marriage on any 9TH |
er ground, so lie had TO chop her head |
on. She done that; Henry didn't. You
see, stranger. there's popularity |
about wimmin that it requires list
such man as Henry TO handle They |
never give in. katherine preferred to
lose her head. and in dom so she only
showed a woman's natur.
There's another point in Henry's IA |
vor He had two gals TO leave the |
crown to-and only one boy. an he n |
weakling. Henry had a material insight |
into wimmen's onfitness to run things,
and. having a tender conscience, II |
grieved him TO think O. leavin' his people |
TO suffer under 'em. And 1t turned out lie
was right His first darter was Bloody
Mary, whose name speaks for her. Then
comes Elizabeth. who cut Off the heads |
OF the men she loved, and loved her |
cousin, Mary. queen o Scots, so well
that she cut her head Off too.
NO, stranger; in summln' up the
married life o Henry VIII. I consider |
that he was remarkable man and a |
very conscientious one. He done all he |
could TO keep England from bein' pes
tered with wimmen rulers, and for that |
alone he orter be honored by his CRATE. |
full corntrymen. Six of 'em, Jist think |
OF 1t, stranger. Six OF 'em! What |
would you and do with such a lot, re.
stricted by law as we air? Henry VIII. |
was great and good man"
The farmers arguments set me TO
thinking. OF late years we have had |
lives OF Aaron Burr. setting forth his |
virtues. and Of Benedict Arnold, show.
Ing how bad treatment and inexorable
fate compelled him to betray his coun.
try. confess the farmers logic i'm
pressed me as favorably as many lives