The Historic Gallery of Portraits and Paintings (Volume 3); Or, Biographical Review (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1808 Excerpt: ... wa3's ridiculous and inconsistent in his proceedings, be indiscriminately punished the defenders of the pope's supremacy, and the partizans of Luther. The stake or the scaffold equally awaited those who adhered to their ancient faith, and the-more rigid reformers who denied the necessity of ecclesiastical celibacy, the efficacy of the mass, and the advantages of auricular confession. The religious opinions of the parliament and people were guided by the capricious decrees of the sovereign, and their faith was narrowed or enlarged in proportion as he retrenched or extended the articles of his creed. When his passion for Bolcyn had subsided by possession, the parliament readily undertook to invent, and punish her imaginary crimes. She was accused of adultery and incest, and expatiated, on the scaffold, the occasional levity of her conduct, and the errors of mistaken ambition. With her perished Norris, Brereton, and Smeton, 'who had roused the cruel jealousy of the king by their respectful attention and tender admiration, which her rank exacted, and which beauty seldom fails to command. Her singular fortune had excited envy; but it was lost in the sweetness of her temper, and the benevolence of her disposition. Jane Seymour received the hand of Henry on the day which followed the death of her predecessor; and she herself expired, the next year, another victim, perhaps, to the injurious treatment of her husband. But the impressions of horror and of pity which the death of Boleyn excited, were weakened by the fate of the numerous victims who daily fell under the axe of the executioner. Some were condemned as Papists, others as Lutherans. A few years witnessed the death of Cromi well, who, by his great talents, and the favour of th- sNGLANn/J HENRY VIII. kin...