The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part C.: From Henry VII. to Mary
David Hume · en
Anne was blest with a happy insensibility of temper, ever in the points
which the most nearly affect her sex; and the king’s aversion towards
her, as well as his prosecution of the divorce, had never given her the
least uneasiness. She willingly hearkened to terms of accommodation with
him; and when he offered to adopt her as his sister, to give her place
next the queen and his own daughter, and to make a settlement of three
thousand pounds a year upon her; she accepted of the conditions, and
gave her consent to the divorce.[***] She even wrote to her brother,
(for her father was now dead,) that she had been very well used in
England, and desired him to live on good terms with the king. The only
instance of pride which she betrayed was, that she refused to return to
her own country after the affront which she had received; and she lived
and died in England.
* Burnet, vol. i. p. 172.
** See note P, at the end of the volume.
*** Herbert, p. 458 459.
Notwithstanding Anne’s moderation, this incident produced a great
coldness between the king and the German princes; but as the situation
of Europe was now much altered, Henry was the more indifferent about
their resentment. The close intimacy which had taken place between
Francis and Charles had subsisted during a very short time: the
dissimilarity of their characters soon renewed, with greater violence
than ever, their former jealousy and hatred. While Charles remained at
Paris, Francis had been imprudently engaged, by his open temper, and
by that satisfaction which a noble mind naturally feels in performing
generous actions, to make in confidence some dangerous discoveries to
that interested monarch; and having now lost all suspicion of his rival,
he hoped that the emperor and he, supporting each other, might neglect
every other alliance. He not only communicated to his guest the state
of his negotiations with Sultan Solyman and the Venetians; he also laid
open the solicitations which he had received from the court of England
to enter into a confederacy against him.[*] Charles had no sooner
reached his own dominions, than he showed himself unworthy of the
friendly reception which he had met with. He absolutely refused to
fulfil his promise, and put the duke of Orleans in possession of the
Milanese; he informed Solyman and the senate of Venice of the treatment
which they had received from their ally; and he took care that Henry
should not be ignorant how readily Francis had abandoned his ancient
friend, to whom he owed such important obligations, and had sacrificed
him to a new confederate: he even poisoned and misrepresented many
things which the unsuspecting heart of the French monarch had disclosed
to him. Had Henry possessed true judgment and generosity, this incident
alone had been sufficient to guide him in the choice of his ally. But
his domineering pride carried him immediately to renounce the friendship