Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Observations Made In A Visit To The Tombs Of Westminster Abbey, In December. 1784,
times tools with which ministers work . But they were his tools with which he worked himself . When his offspring consisted of one son and two daughters , and the King of Scotland demanded the eldest in marriage , his ministers represented to him , that as the crown was thinly guarded with heirs , England mig ht in time become dependent upon Scotland . He
replied , with a smile , and a smile he seldom wasted , " The less can never draw the greater , but the greater may the less . " The event verified the prediction . He laid that foundation for a union , which was two hundred years in completing . Henry was well acquainted with the enormous power of the Lords . They had received it from William the First , as a reward for placing
him on the throne . By this power they had often humbled the Crown , had always held the rod over it , and led the people in chains . To reduce this great power without blood- was a master-piece of policy . The wealth of the kingdom was in their hands . They lived and acted like sovereign princes . Each of them was able to retain a
little arnry , dressed in a uniform , completely accoutred , and badged with the ensign of the lord . Vere , Earl of Oxford , had two thousand in his train : even Vesey , Bishop of Exeter , who resided at Sutton , in the neighbourhood of Birmingham , kept a hundred men in scarlet cloaks , and silver badges . Henry , well acquainted with the human heart , plainly saw a
strongbias to luxury . Though the nobility lived in a high stile , they wished to live higher , but the means were shut up ; they could not dispose of their land . Pie passed an act , therefore , which enabled every man to alienate this kind of property . The consequences of the act were not seen , except by the crafty monarch : for being gilded over with the idea of liberty , the favourite word in the English language , it Slave general satisfaction .
Henry had happily accomplished half his design . The market was soon crouded with sellers ; but , alas , money was not to be found . He , therefore , opened the sluices of commerce , as the only channels through which wealth could flow in . This completed his plan . Industry acquired property , which placed money , land , and power , in the hands of the gentry . The Barons no longer bullied the Crown , the feudal system was overturned , and Henry may be said to have given the political clue to the people .
DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM . In a glass case , near Henry ' s feet , on the ri ght , stands in wax , the effigy-of the Duchess of Buckingham , and that of her eldest son , who died an infant . She is dressed in the suit she wore at the coronation of George the Second , in 1727 . She was mother to the Duke , who lies iu state in St . Edward ' s Chapel .
DUCHESS OF RICHMOND . On the left of Henry ' s tomb , in another glass case , stands the Duchess of Richmond , and her parrot . The parrot and the lad y had VOL . vi . . n
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Observations Made In A Visit To The Tombs Of Westminster Abbey, In December. 1784,
times tools with which ministers work . But they were his tools with which he worked himself . When his offspring consisted of one son and two daughters , and the King of Scotland demanded the eldest in marriage , his ministers represented to him , that as the crown was thinly guarded with heirs , England mig ht in time become dependent upon Scotland . He
replied , with a smile , and a smile he seldom wasted , " The less can never draw the greater , but the greater may the less . " The event verified the prediction . He laid that foundation for a union , which was two hundred years in completing . Henry was well acquainted with the enormous power of the Lords . They had received it from William the First , as a reward for placing
him on the throne . By this power they had often humbled the Crown , had always held the rod over it , and led the people in chains . To reduce this great power without blood- was a master-piece of policy . The wealth of the kingdom was in their hands . They lived and acted like sovereign princes . Each of them was able to retain a
little arnry , dressed in a uniform , completely accoutred , and badged with the ensign of the lord . Vere , Earl of Oxford , had two thousand in his train : even Vesey , Bishop of Exeter , who resided at Sutton , in the neighbourhood of Birmingham , kept a hundred men in scarlet cloaks , and silver badges . Henry , well acquainted with the human heart , plainly saw a
strongbias to luxury . Though the nobility lived in a high stile , they wished to live higher , but the means were shut up ; they could not dispose of their land . Pie passed an act , therefore , which enabled every man to alienate this kind of property . The consequences of the act were not seen , except by the crafty monarch : for being gilded over with the idea of liberty , the favourite word in the English language , it Slave general satisfaction .
Henry had happily accomplished half his design . The market was soon crouded with sellers ; but , alas , money was not to be found . He , therefore , opened the sluices of commerce , as the only channels through which wealth could flow in . This completed his plan . Industry acquired property , which placed money , land , and power , in the hands of the gentry . The Barons no longer bullied the Crown , the feudal system was overturned , and Henry may be said to have given the political clue to the people .
DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM . In a glass case , near Henry ' s feet , on the ri ght , stands in wax , the effigy-of the Duchess of Buckingham , and that of her eldest son , who died an infant . She is dressed in the suit she wore at the coronation of George the Second , in 1727 . She was mother to the Duke , who lies iu state in St . Edward ' s Chapel .
DUCHESS OF RICHMOND . On the left of Henry ' s tomb , in another glass case , stands the Duchess of Richmond , and her parrot . The parrot and the lad y had VOL . vi . . n