Believe me, sir, she is the goodliest woman
That ever lay by man. Which when the people
Had the full view of, 'such a noise arose
As the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tempest,
As loud and to as many tunes'.
The character of Henry VIII is drawn with great truth and spirit. It
is like a very disagreeable portrait, sketched by the hand of a
master. His gross appearance, his blustering demeanour, his
vulgarity, his arrogance, his sensuality, his cruelty, his
hypocrisy, his want of common decency and common humanity, are
marked in strong lines. His traditional peculiarities of expression
complete the reality of the picture. The authoritative expletive,
'Ha!' with which ne intimates his indignation or surprise, has an
effect like the first startling sound that breaks from a thunder-
cloud. He is of all the monarchs in our history the most disgusting:
for he unites in himself all the vices of barbarism and refinement,
without their virtues. Other kings before him (such as Richard III)
were tyrants and murderers out of ambition or necessity: they gained
or established unjust power by violent means: they destroyed their
or made its tenure insecure. But Henry VIII's power is most fatal to
those whom he loves: he is cruel and remorseless to pamper his
luxurious appetites: bloody and voluptuous; an amorous murderer; an
uxorious debauchee.
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