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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ. Queens of England. Vol.1.

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FRANCIS LANCELOTT, ESQ.
Queens of England. Vol.1.
page 421



were masses said for her, to the number of twelve hundred, in every church in London. On the stone over her grave was engraved the following lines, in Latin :— " Here lies a phœnix, Lady Jane, Whose death another phoenix hare; Oh, grief! two phoenix at one time, Together never were." Henry the Eighth did not put off his widower's weeds till the second of February, 1538. He had been twice married, and although he was thrice married afterwards, this was the first and the only time that he assumed the garb of mourning for a wife ; and as he had an utter horror of black, or any thing that reminded of death, and would permit no one to enter his presence in mourning saving on the present occasion, we may fairly presume that he sincerely lamented the loss of Jane Seymour ; and this presumption is strengthened by the fact, that from many of the prelates and nobles he received letters of condolence on the demise of Jane. As a specimen of their epistles, we insert the following, addressed to Henry by the Bishop of Durham, on the thirteenth of November :— " Please your highness to understand that now of late it hath pleased the Almighty to take unto his mercy, out of this present life, the most blessed and virtuous lady, your Grace's most dearest wife, the Queen's grace, whose soul God pardon, and news thereof, sorrowful unto all men, came into these parts ; surelv it cannot well bo expressed how all men of all degrees did greatly lament and moan that noble lady and princess, taken out of this world by bringing forth of that noble fruit that is sprung of your Majesty and her, to the great joy'and inestimable comfort of all your subjects; considering withal that this noble fruit, my Lord Prince, in his ten der age, entering into this world, is, by her death, left a dear orphan, commencing thereby this miserable and mortal life, not only by weeping and wailing, as the misery of mankind vequireth, but also reft, in the beginning of his life, from the comfort of his most dear mother. Albeit to him, by tenderness of his age, it is not known what he hath lost, yet in that we know and feel it, have much cause to moan, seeing that such a virtuous and promising Princess is so suddenly taken from us. * * * And when Almighty God hath taken from your Grace, to your great discomfort, a most blessed and virtuous lady, consider what he hath given your highness again to your comfort, and to the rejoicing of all us, your subjects, our most noble Prince, to whom God hath ordained your majesty not only to be father, but also, as the time now requireth, to supply the place of a mother. * * * God gave your Grace that noble lady, and God hath taken her away, as it pleased him. So it is done, laud be given to him. Consider, too, how Job exhorteth, by his example, all men being in like case to patience, which your highness, for your great wisdom and learning, can much better consider than I can advertise the same, unless sorrowfulness for the time put it out of remembrance.** So great was Henry the Eighth's regard for Jane Seymour, probably because she was the mother of his only legitimate son, that, by his last will, he commanded that her remains should be placed in his tomb. He also gave instructions for the erection of a superb monument to the mutual memory of his best-beloved Queen and himself. The former order was complied with, and Henry the Eighth's remains were laid by the side of those of " his dearest Jane ;" but the monument, although begun, was never finished.


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