THE EMPEROR CHARLES V 88 DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA, CERVANTES, AND DON QUIXOTE 114 PHILIP II; AND THE ARTERIO-SCLEROSIS OF STATESMEN 144 MR. AND MRS. PEPYS 157 EDWARD GIBBON 180 JEAN PAUL MARAT 191 NAPOLEON I 204 BENVENUTO CELLINI 226 DEATH 232 Illustrations The Emperor Charles V _Frontispiece_ Mary Tudor _Face p._ 16 The Empress Theodora ” 72 Perseus and the Gorgon’s Head ” 228 The Case of Anne Boleyn There is something Greek, something akin to Œdipus and Thyestes, in the tragedy of Anne Boleyn. It is difficult to believe, as we read it, that we are viewing the actions of real people subject to passions violent indeed yet common to those of mankind, and not the creatures of a nightmare. Yet I believe that the conduct of the three protagonists, Henry, Catherine, and Anne, can all be explained if we appreciate the facts and interpret them with the aid of a little medical knowledge and insight. Let us search for this explanation. Needless to say we shall not get it in the strongly Bowdlerized sketches that most of us have learnt at school; it is a pity that such rubbish should be taught, because this period is one of the most important in English history; the actors played vital parts; and upon the drama that they played has depended the history of England ever since. In considering an historical drama one has to remember the curtain of gauze which Time has drawn before us, and to allow for its colour and density. In the case of Henry VIII and his time, though the actual materials are enormous, yet everything has to be viewed through an _odium theologicum_ that is unparalleled since the days of Theodora. In the eyes of the Catholics, Henry was, if not the actual devil incarnate, at all events the next thing; and their opinion has survived among many people who ought to know better to the present day. Decidedly we must make a great deal of allowance.