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A NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF

KATHARINE PARR,

SIXTH QUEEN OF HENRY THE EIGHTH.

BY THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON.

KATHARINE PARR, although not of a noble, was of a very ancient descent, connected paternally and maternally with some of the noblest families in England, and even with royalty itself, though it would be tedious to trace the precise degree of this relationship. It was, however, much clearer than that of Henry the Eighth with some of his former queens for whom he claimed the distinction, although in this instance he did not deem a dispensation from the pope necessary, on the ground of consanguinity. Katharine Parr lost her father when not more than five years old; but this loss was little injurious to her future welfare, for her mother, a domestic and sensible woman, bestowed such pains on her education as to fully cultivate her abilities, which, even while yet in childhood, gave proof that they were of no ordinary stamp. It is pleasing to look back on the domestic picture of the fair and youthful widow Lady Parr, surrounded by her three children, two daughters and a son, to whom she devoted all her thoughts and time in the tranquil solitude of the country seat bequeathed to her by her husband, while yet young enough-being only in her twentysecond year when her husband died—to entertain projects of forming another marriage.

Under the care of this excellent lady, and with the tuition of those capable of instructing her, Katharine Parr acquired

a knowledge, not only of the usual rudiments of female education, but of ancient and modern languages. Far from considering her studies as a wearisome task, she applied to them with a diligence which proved her pleasure in them, and her maturity bore plentiful fruits of her industry and love of learning.

Katharine married at a very early age the Lord Borough, a descendant of the de Burghs, celebrated in the reign of Henry the Third by the prominent part taken by one of its members, Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, in the transactions of those troubled times. Many years the senior of his youthful bride, and with children by a former marriage older than her, Lord Borough found no cause to regret having chosen a wife of such tender age. They are said to have lived harmoniously during their union, and he died when she was only in her sixteenth year, leaving her a large dowry, which, added to her personal charms and cultivation of mind, rendered her one of the most attractive women in England: no wonder, then, that she had many suitors. Lord Latimer, although past his youth, and twice a widower, was the preferred; nor can this preference be attributed to mercenary motives, for Katharine's own fortune precluded these, though the vast wealth and noble seats of Lord Latimer might have tempted a less richly-dowered bride. Lord Latimer was the father of a son and daughter by his second wife, and such was the judicious and gentle conduct of Katharine towards them, and her unvaried kindness to their father, that she secured the affection and formed the happiness of the family. So admirable were the qualities of Lady Latimer, and so prudent and decorous were her manners, that she was looked up to with an esteem and veneration seldom accorded to so youthful a woman. She passed the greater portion of her time in the peaceful seclusion of the country, discharging, with zeal and tenderness, the duties of a wife and stepmother, proving herself the soother of the cares and infirmities of an elderly hus

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