meaning that they were not “puffy,” as were the cheeks of Henry the Eighth) and of a good colour, and his lips of a vermilion hue. His limbs were strongly and handsomely formed, with bones and sinews firmly knit together. The chronicler Hall gives a description which is substantially the same: “He was of stature more than the common sort, of body lean, well-membered and strongly made, a face beautiful, somewhat long-necked, black haired.” Black as the colour of his hair is doubtless a mistake for brown, the epithet used by the contemporary chronicler. The author of this description goes on to relate the royal virtues. Henry was regular in his attendance at mass, which he heard in his private closet, diligently abstracting his mind at the time from worldly cares. He made weekly confession. He was moderate in food and drink, liberal in almsgiving, regular in his fasts. His mood varied between liveliness and gravity (_morosus_). He was diligent in the administration of justice, specially ready to help the cause of the widow, prompt to put down abuses, “often reading books he surrenders himself to an honourable occupation; and,” goes on the writer with an abrupt transition, “as a bold archer he avoids inaction; therefore he is not fleshy, nor burdened with corpulence, but a handsome man, never weary, whether he be on horseback or on foot.” Elsewhere, too, he speaks of the King’s fondness for hunting, fowling, and fishing, and of his activity as a walker and rider, characteristics which follow his praises as “one who was not given to vice or gluttony.” There can be no doubt that, at least from the time when his father’s death brought home to him the responsibilities of power, he emphatically deserved the praise of purity of life.