His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him;
For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
And found the blessedness of being little :
And, to add greater honours to his age

Than man could give him, he died fearing God.”

Wolsey had injured the Queen in the most bitter way, and had been her most active opponent, but the charity which the solemn approach of Death brings made her heart gentle and forgiving. "Peace be with him," she said, and looking upon her servant she continued:

66

After my death I wish no other herald,

No other speaker of my living actions,

To keep more honour from corruption,

But such an honest chronicler as Griffith."

From the presence of Death we turn to a brighter picture. Soon the bells rang out a joyous peal because to Anne Boleyn was born a daughter, who in happier times was to play her great part in English history. A winsome bonnie babe who crept into her father's heart, and made all England rejoice in the promise of a noble life. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, prophesied for her great things and said:

“This royal infant—heaven still move about her !—
Though in her cradle, yet now promises

Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness: she shall be-
But few now living can behold that goodness—

A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed: Saba was never
More covetous of wisdom and fair virtue

Than this pure soul shall be: all princely graces,

That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
With all the virtues that attend the good,

Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse her,
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her:

She shall be loved and fear'd: her own shall bless her ;
Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,
And hang their heads with sorrow. Good grows with her :
In her days every man shall eat in safety,
Under his own vine, what he plants, and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours :
God shall be truly known; and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood."

Thus with stately word of prophetic insight were the spacious days of great Elizabeth ushered in, and the curtain falls upon the magnificent series of historical plays which the kingly genius of Shakespeare has presented as a precious heritage to Britain's sons and daughters.

AFTERWORD

"In all the work of Shakespeare there is nothing more like himself than those quiet words of parting'Be cheerful, sir; our revels now are ended.'

"Yet they are not ended; and the generations who have come after him, and have read his book, and have loved him with an inalterable personal affection, must each as they pass the way that he went, pay him their tribute of praise. His living brood have survived him, to be the companions and friends of men and women as yet unborn. His monument is still a feasting presence, full of light..

"That short and troubled time of his passage during which he was hurried onward at an ever-increasing pace, blown upon by hopes and fears, cast down and uplifted, has gone like a dream, and has taken him bodily along with it. But his work remains. He wove upon the roaring loom of Time the garment that we see him by; and the earth at Stratford closed over the broken shuttle."

PROFESSOR SIR WALTER RALEIGH