CHAPTER II. Henry's aversion to Anne increases—Her dower—The divorce agitated—Oromwelts advice to Anne detected by Henry—Arrest and execution of Cromwell—Ballad on his fall—Anne sent to Richmond—The preliminaries of the divorce—The marriage of Henry the Eighth and Anne of Gleves nullified by the convocation and the parliament—The divorce pronounced by Cranmer—A commission of the council visits Anne—Her terror—Consent to the divorce—Letters on the subject—Friend' ship between Anne and the King—He visits her—Scandals against her and the King investigated by the council-— Vain endeavours to procure her restoration as Queen—Her virtues overdraivn by some authors—Death of her mother ; and of Henry the Eighth—Friendship with the Frincesses Mary and Elizabeth—Her death— Will—Burial—Tomb. LTIIOTJGH after her marriage, the King at first showed Anne every outward mark of respect, his aver sion to her hourly increased. Nor is this so much to be wondered at, considering that Henry looked only to his own personal gratification, and that Anne, though well intentioned and pure in thought, was deficient in beauty, wit, vivacity, accomplishments, the art of flattery, and that insinuating womanly softness, so invariably admired by the sterner sex, Henry repeatedly told Cromwell that he believed Anne to he no maid when he had her, and therefore his feelings would not permit him to consummate his marriage with her. About the middle of Lent he reiterated this complaint to his secretary, declaring that she began to wax stubborn and wilful, and as his heart would not permit him to have children by her, he could not consider her as his lawful wife. Matters were in this state, when, singular as it may appear, Henry permitted the parliament, which met on the twelfth of April, to acknowledge Anne's rights as Queen Consort of England, by settling her dower according to the usual form. On the first of May, Anne appeared for the last time in public with the King, at a tournament held at Durham House. Shortly afterwards, that unprincipled tool of .royalty, "Wrothesly, paved the way for the divorce by, in the privy council, lamenting that the King's highness was married to a princess whom he loved not, and hinting at the expediency of dissolving the union. Henry next expressed scruples of conscience at retaining a Lutheran for a consort. And, if possible, to render Anne's situation insupportable to her, discharged all her foreign attendants, and himself appointed English ladies to fill their place. The Queen had exerted her utmost endeavours to please her husband, but now she lost all heart, and in a domestic jar told him to his face that had she not have been forced to become his bride, she might have married the prince to whom she had promised her hand, who if not handsomer, was at least younger and better disposed than himself. This warm remark so greatly enraged Henry, that he at once resolved to put away Anne, and to destroy Cromwell, the minister who had induced him to marry her. Cromwell, being awaro of his critical position, had kept aloof from all communication with Anne, till her Flemish maids of honour were about to depart, when, as they applied to him to grant them a safe conduct, he seized the opportunity to dispatch a secret message to the Queen, urging her for her life's sake to render herself more agreeable to her royal husband. Anne followed Cromwell's advice ; but not being an adept in the art of duplicity, she overacted her part, and Henry at once perceived the deception, and rightly attributed it to the counsel of his prime minister, whom he had just informed of