His Majesty's principal amusement was gambling in its most extensive and diversified shapes, and all his relaxations from the duties of his station in a greater or less degree partook of it. The philosopher will be at no loss to account for the fact; for it is the frequent attendant upon that satiety which unlimited power is sure to produce, though it is often equally the passion of those who want even the necessaries of life. That Henry, tired of more rational enjoyment, and incapable of finding a permanent relief from the ennui of greatness, should have indulged to excess in games of chance is not surprising; and to shew the extent to which that passion was carried, it is sufficient to state that the whole amount paid for his losses at cards, dice, tennis, and other games, together with those lost in wagers amounted in three years to 3243_l._ 5_s._ 10_d._ It is not a little singular that though passionately addicted to gambling himself he was sufficiently careful of the morals of his subjects to issue a proclamation in the 18th year of his reign, forbidding them to play at cards and bowls. Of his "out-of-door" amusements, shooting at the rounds, hunting, hawking, fishing, horse-racing, bowls, and tennis, were the chief; and in his palaces many hours were daily passed at "the tables" or back-gammon, shovel-board, dice, and cards: wagers on races run against dogs, or at shooting or hunting; payments to people for making dogs perform tricks; gratuities to persons for different feats, as eating a buck, riding two horses at once; and others of a similar description are continually mentioned. Music and literature also occasionally lent their aids to his enjoyments; and that he encouraged the latter is manifest from the exhibitions he founded at the Universities, his occasional gratuities to scholars, and his support of boys at St. Paul's, and other schools, both in this country and Paris. His love of architecture is shewn by the money he expended in building, at his different residences, and we find that he spent on York Place, from April, 1530 to July, 1532, 2400_li._, besides 10_l._ 19_s._ 2_d._ for glazing it, and 20_l._ 0_s._ 8-1/2_d._ for iron work, on the house at More Park, 60_l._ in April, and 50_l._ in June, 1530; and on his buildings at Hunsdon 1533_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ between May, 1530, and April, 1532; forming a total, exclusive of repairs and alterations, of 4064_li._ 5_s._ 10_d._ within three years. Nor was he indifferent to painting, as several entries occur of money given to painters for their works; but as they have been commented upon by Horace Walpole in his "Anecdotes of Painting," they afford no new information on that interesting subject. That writer also gives several entries relative to Hans Holbein from the "Book of Quarterly Payments" in the library of the Royal Society; and as they are intimately connected with the allusion here made to Henry's taste for the arts, accurate copies have