Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

6 articles on this Page

----"-----Afoot Street Wesleyan…

Mistake by the Police.!

- Penarth Football Glub.

- "A:' TEAM FIXTURES.

Advertising

w-''.-———----——— WOLSEY, THE…

News
Cite
Share

CHAPTER XXX. A well there is at Carshalton, And a neater one never was seen; There is not a maid of Cii-shalton But has heard of the well of Boleyne. It stands near the rustic churchyard, Not far from the village green; > And the villagers show with rustic pride, The quaint old well of Boleyne.-Old Ballad. HENRY, before he married Anne, in privacy," fre" quentiy rode abroad in her company from Wickham House, albeit his visits to her were in direct opposi- tion to the wishes of her uncle, Sir Thomas Heydon. The knight, however, was not powerful enough to withstand the aggressive importunity of the King. Near the churchyard at Carshalton, about a couple of miles from Wickham House, a stone, carefully railed in, is still pointed out which, according to tradition, covers a fountain associated with the luck- less Anne. The story is to he effect that as Henry and the lady were riding along the road her horse began prancing about and sturck its foot into the ground, causing a spring to burst forth. Another tale is that the incident occurred after Anne had been proclaimed Queen, and was on her way with her liege lord from Nonsuch Palace to visit Sir Nicholas Carew at Beddington Park. Be this as it may, the fact that, 11 the inhabitants, in order to com- memorate the event, erected a stone dome over it and named it Anne Boleyn's Well" may be accepted as evidence of the servile adulation offered to her by the people at large and the popularity which she attained under the foster wing of Benry. The probability is that the well was there long before Tudor times, and that, like many another in the kingdom, as for instance at Malvern, it had been dedicated to St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. However, a bowl is attached by a chain to the railings surrounding it, from which many a thirsty traveller has quaffed a refreshing draught of water. It was while riding with Lady Anne near this spot that Henry assured her of the certainty of his obtaining a divorce. Wilt thou then wed me ?" she asked. Aye, sweetheart, that will I," replied the King, and in token whereof I have caused a clock to be made by a famous borologer for thee," that thou mayest measure time aright, and think of my pledge as the tardy hours flee away." This clock presented to Anne by Henry, was pre- served for many years by Horace Walpole at Straw- berry Hill, onfy some two miles from Hampton Court. Wolsey's red hat," well known as part of the insignia of a Cardinal, was also among the treasures there, having been found in the great wardrobe by Bishop Burnet when Clerk of the Closet. What will Migo de Mendoza think of thy resolve ?" Anne required. "As Envoy of the Emperor Charles, and the friend of Katherine, he may U Object, thou wouldst say," interposed HeBry. "Now mark my words, fair mistress; it is not in me to brook opposition from any soul on earth; neither Emperors, Popes, nor Kings, even if backed by armies and supported by ecclesiastics endowedjwith authority to hurl anathemas at my anointed head, can restrain me from my purpose. Thou art already mine, and thou shalt be my wife 1" It were best methinks," said Asne in a calm and suasive tone of voice," to remove Mendoza 11 That cannot b--i done without a breach with Charles, which just now I must avoid," the King ob- served, interrupting her; "it is for the Emperor to recall his repressntafcives at my Court." Aye, but my dear liege," the lady continued, look- ing in the King's face with a smile on her own, a pretext might readily be: found for his withdrawal. Harry of England hath tact as well as courage." Anne's complimentary grandiloquence touched the King's vanity, and, after a brief pause, he said It may e'en be so, sweetheart: we will consider what may be most wisely done. Thou'rt a diploma- tist, fair mistress, and hast winning ways "There is Eustache Craperis," remarked Anne; he is more pliable and hath a less resolute will than Mendoza; cause Charles to send him as Envoy to London, and let Katherine's favourite"—this was said with the emphasis of a sneer—" be supplanted in his office and sent home." Beshrew me," said the King, reining up his horse and wheeling round in frolicsome mood let me look at thee! By the Rood, methinks I might do worse than send thee as Envoy to the Emperor. Cousin Charles might be won over to thy way of thinkinp I" My lord Cardinal has made a brave show," said Anne to one of her attendants as they were about to set forth in the morning; but his light will speedily begin to flicker and die out." Wilt thou attend mass, my lady,"asked a gent'e- man usher, approaching the rising favourite with reverence, before leaving ?" By whom wert thou sent, sir ?" she inquired in a peremptory tone. The Lord Cardinal bade me await upon thee Say to the Cardinal that only at his request, con- veyed by himself in person, could 1 consent to pay my orisons in public," exclaimed the lady. His grace wished to be excused, having to attend upon his guests-" Of whom I am one," cried Anne no, sir, we have offered our prayers in private, that will suffice; and we must away; I pray thee, good Master Cavendish," said the irate Maid of Honour, some- what mollified by the usher's bearing and a con- viction that she had shown too much temper," send our horses to the door-they ought to have been saddled and bitted by this time." In due course the ladies mounted thtfr palfreys, and with only a small escort, comprising two or three pages and as many grooms, rode through Bushey Park and Teddington, past the ancient church to the ford, which, having struck, they passed over in safety to Ham common. Galloping across that open and hrepxp plain in high spirits, they speedily reached the then newly-enlarged palace of Rich- mond. The ambassadors attended mass in the chapel, and afterwards proceeded to the Presence Chamber-an apartment that still contains many rare tapestries of the Cardinal's age, and in which it is traditionally believed Shakespeare read his "Fall of Wolsey" to Queen Elizabeth—where the great Minister bade them farewell. Thpy then left, accompanied by a brilliant escort, -for Windsor, whither Henry had gone on a hunting expedition, and in connection with which he subse- quently astounded them with daring feats of the chase.. chap 29 Other guests remained at Hampton Court that night, and among them were Sir Herbert RoundeU and his lady. On both of them the Cardinal bestowed .,Spedal favours, and presents of great worth. "IV" -w Anne laughed at the King's irony, but she felt it nevertheless. Nor did she fail to perceive that there was something strangely anomalous in the conduct of a Sovereign who professing to feel it due to conscience that he should discard a Queen to whom he had been married eighteen years, could yet reconcile himself to live in a state of concubinage, without undergoing ) any marital ceremony at all. In due course Migo de Mendoza pave place to Eustache Chaperis at Henry's Court, the new ambas- sador arriving in England during th" autumn of the year in which Wolsey was deprived of power: and Anne—three years before her marriage-wae found publicly sitting in Queen Katherine's seat Chaperis is credited with having bepn a man of exceptional ability, who spared no pains to keep his master accurately informed of all that was passing In England. As the servant of Katherine's nephew, he naturally took the Spanish view of Henry's con- duct, but he does not appear to have been personally embittered against the King an Lady Anne, as his predecessor undoubtedly was. Chap 30 Anne had been Henry's mistress for some time in more senses than one, and it was mainly by force of will that she sucepeded in making him keep his promise to marry her. How the King turned on her, as he did on Wolsey, Cromwell, and all others whose ascendancy humiliated his inordinate vanity, history proves to demonstration. But the tyrant was served by many unscrupulous Ministers, and by agen- s who believed, or professed to believe, -n the Divine right of I monarchs to do wrong. They were for the most part men who knew that a rnpe waf round their necks, and that the other end of it » in the hands of a master always reaoy to sacrifice a servant, who was entirely free from any 8" j-sle about lying, and de- voured by consuming selhshnesp and passion, Wolsey saw that the clour's were beginning t) obscure the light of royal favour in which he had I basked, and his gift of Parapron Court-wliieh would assuredly have been taken from him-to use a nautical simile, was bur- a tub thrown to the whale." The Manor of Richmond, the favuurite residence of Henry the Seventh, and often occupied by his son, was nominally bestowed on the Cardinal, and, according to Stow, "he lay there at certain times." There is little of the building left beyond an arch- way bearing the escutcheon of the first Tudor King, and the room over, in which tradition says Queen Elizabeth died. The old moated and fortified Palace of Sheen was destroyed by fire in the previous reign, and the royal residence at Richmond arose a Phoenix in its place," magnificent in size, and sheltering by its "lofty and numerous turrets a monastery of Friars Observant." Of thif, great Tudor palace there remains only, besides the gateway, the Wardrobe buildings, in which were lodged the carver, the cup- bearer, the groom of the spicery, and other officers of the Court. Some of the apartments are still known as the Pages' Chambers." Here it was, the palace being then in its prime, that the Cardinal sojourned for a brief space of time after the departure of the French Ambassadors for their home, and here, wandering in musing mood, on 1 the banks of the Thames, with Cromwell and Cavendish in attendance upon him, Wolsey meditated on the mutability of earthly splendour, and realised the fact that time and chance await all men."