ANNE BOLEYN was the second daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, afterwards created Viscount Rochford, and of the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the celebrated Earl of Surrey, afterwards Duke of Norfolk. If the family of Boleyn were not orginally among the ancient nobility of England, they intermarried into some of the highest of that class, for the grandfather of Anne, Sir William, married the co-heiress of the last Earl of Ormond,' who brought him vast pos 1 "Sa mère étoit une des filles et héritières du Comte de Wiltshire et d'Ormond."-Tindal, quoted by Rapin. B sessions, so that on the maternal side at least, for two or three generations, Anne could claim alliance with some of the noblest houses in the land. The title of Rochford, which appertained to the family of Ormond, was revived in Sir Thomas Boleyn, as were subsequently the titles of Ormond and Wiltshire. 1 Great doubts exist as to the precise age of Anne Boleyn when she left England in the suite of the Princess Mary, sister of Henry the Eighth, for the solemnization of her nuptials with Louis the Twelfth of France. Several historians assert that Anne was then only in the seventh year of her age; but this can hardly be true, for what position could a female child fill in that courtly train? After the death of Louis the Twelfth, which occurred in the February following his nuptials, and the marriage of his widowed queen with Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, Anne Boleyn did not return with her, but remained in France for the completion of her education, and after some time is said to have entered the service of the queen of Francis the First, in which it is asserted by Camden, that she not only remained until the death of that queen, which occurred in 1524, but subsequently accepted the protection of the Duchess d'Alençon, sister to Francis the First, and afterwards Queen of Navarre, so celebrated for her wit. Historians differ as to whether Anne Boleyn returned to England or not, from the time she went to France with the Princess Mary, to the period when she finally left it with her father-the precise date of which is disputed. Two French authors 2 state that she went to England in 1522, and Lord Herbert asserts the same, but without giving his authorities. The only importance of the 1 Ce qu'il y a de certain, c'est qu'une fille de cet âge n'étoit pas en état de rendre des grands services.-Rapin, liv. xv. p. 256. 2 Du Tillet et Du Pleix exact date of her return from France is to prove by it, if, as has been often stated, that the passion for her first instigated Henry the Eighth to urge his divorce from Queen Catherine of Arragon. It does not seem to be doubted that Anne Boleyn did accompany Princess Mary to France in 1514, though doubts exist as to her being only seven years old at that epoch. If she returned to England on the death of the Queen Claud in 1524, she must have been in her seventeenth year, an age when beauty is peculiarly attractive, retaining still a considerable portion of the charms of childhood joined to the loveliness of dawning womanhood; and such a fascinating person as Anne is represented to have been must have proved a dangerous temptation to a monarch who was not prone to resist the attractions of youth and beauty, as witness his love for the fair wife of Sir Gilbert Talboys, governor of Calais. If, however, she only returned to England in 1527, with her father, who was sent to France in September of that year, to conclude the treaty agreed on the previous April, then was she blameless of the accusation of being the cause of first suggesting the divorce, as it is well known Henry had adopted the resolution of seeking it before Anne's father had brought her back to England. It is an undisputed fact, proved by his letters in the Cotton manuscripts, addressed to the King and Cardinal Wolsey, that Sir Thomas Boleyn was in France in 1519, having been chosen by Henry the Eighth to arrange with Francis the First for the intended. interview of the two sovereigns in Picardy, as well as to lead Francis to count on the support of Henry in the approaching imperial election, while, as it subsequently was proved, he was secretly aiding Charles the Seventh. Anne might have then returned to England with her father, although no proof exists that such was the case; and, if she did, Henry might have seen and loved her, though it is difficult to believe that, B 2 if he had, he would have permitted her to return to France; and that she was there in 1524, when the queen of Francis the First died, is positively asserted. One thing, however, is clear, which is, that if Henry's passion for Anne Boleyn was not the cause of his first desiring a divorce from Queen Catherine, it is quite certain that it urged him to pursue it with a zeal and obstinacy that he might never have employed, had he not loved her. As to his alleged excuse for repudiating Catherine, namely, scruples of conscience, his afterconduct furnished too many and too positive examples that his was not a conscience to be troubled by scruples. Henry was probably led to desire a divorce because he was tired of a wife whose gravity reminded him that she was some years his senior, and by whom he despaired of having a male heir to his crown, long the object of his anxious desire. It is probable that had the two sons whom Catherine presented him with lived, he would have contented himself with being an unfaithful husband, without breaking the bond that united him to the mother of his children. We have the authority of Lord Herbert for stating, that Henry had often remarked the peevishness of his queen, even while admitting the many virtues she possessed; and the ennui that follows a sated affection, in a breast like his, would have been quite sufficient motive for his wishing to get wholly rid of her who no longer ministered to his pleasures, or lent a charm to his society. The high moral principles of Catherine must have often served as a constraint, if not as a reproach, to her selfish husband, from which he was glad to emancipate himself in the pursuit of gaieties with his sensual courtiers, who had no will but his, and who lent themselves to his gross pleasures. The descriptions of Anne Boleyn, handed down to posterity by her contemporaries, prove that she must have been indeed a very attractive person, and although the well-known passion entertained for her by Wyatt may lead us to suppose that his description of her charms partakes the exaggeration of the lover as well as of the poet, the more sober one of Chateaubriant, and the less flattering one of Sanders, convey an impression very favourable to her personal appearance. Even with less attractions than "a stature tall and slender, an oval face, black hair, beauty and sprightliness hovering on her lips, in readiness for repartee, skill in the dance and in playing on the lute," and, though last not least, a rare and judicious taste in dress, which led to her being "the glass of fashion" by which all her companions wished to attire themselves, Anne must have been very captivating. Naturally lively and witty, with an uncommon facility in acquiring whatever was taught her, Anne Boleyn must have greatly profited by her abode with the clever and brilliant Duchess d'Alençon, whose fascination of manner and sprightly conversation were so universally acknowledged by her contemporaries. But while acquiring accomplishments, and the art of pleasing, with the beloved sister of Francis the First, it is but too probable that the moral principles of Anne were little cultivated, and that to her séjour beneath Marguerite's roof she owed the vivacity and levity, often passing the bounds of strict propriety, with which she was in after-years charged, and which furnished weapons to wound her. These peculiarities, which probably formed her greatest attractions in the eyes of Henry when she first won his selfish heart, became sins of deep die when, sated with her charms, he sought to hurl her from the giddy height to which he had raised her. During her residence in France, although greatly admired, the reputation of Anne Boleyn was never assailed, and she returned to England free in heart, and spotless in character. Lord Herbert and others, among whom was Fiddes, state that Anne continued to dwell with the Duchess d'Alençon |