the king held him in reverence. But Anne Boleyn demanded his death,
and so Thomas More must be executed. Oh, believe me, Jane, that was
an important and sad hour for all England, the hour when Thomas More
laid his head upon the block. We only, we gay people in the palace
of Whitehall, we were cheerful and merry. We were dancing a new kind
of dance, the music of which was written by the king himself, for
you know the king is not merely an author, but also a composer, and
as he now writes pious books, so he then composed dances. [Footnote:
Granger's "Biographical History of England," vol. I, p. 137. of
Tytler, p. 354.] That evening, after we had danced till we were
tired, we played cards. Just as I had won a few guineas from the
king, the lieutenant of the Tower came with the tidings that the
execution was over, and gave us a description of the last moments of
the great scholar. The king threw down his cards, and, turning an
angry look on Anne Boleyn, said, in an agitated voice, 'You are to
blame for the death of this man!' Then he arose and withdrew to his
apartments, while no one was permitted to follow him, not even the
queen. [Footnote: Tytler, p. 354] You see, then, that Anne Boleyn
had a claim on our gratitude, for the death of Thomas More delivered
Old England from another great peril. Melanchthon and Bucer, and
with them several of the greatest pulpit orators of Germany, had set
out to come to London, and, as delegates of the Germanic Protestant
princes, to nominate the king as head of their alliance. But the
terrible news of the execution of their friend frightened them back,
and caused them to return when half-way here. [Footnote: Tytler, p.
357. Leti, vol. I, p. 180. Granger, vol. I, p. 119.]

"Peace, then, to the ashes of unhappy Anne Boleyn! However, she was
avenged too, avenged on her successor and rival, for whose sake she
was made to mount the scaffold--avenged on Jane Seymour."