There is a black marble monument in the ancient church of Horndon-on-the-Hill, in Essex, pointed out as the burial place of Anne Boleyn, but as it bears no name, no notice or inscription of any kind, there is no proof that her body lies there.
A great epic poet has beautifully said:—
"Tradition! oh, tradition! thou of the seraph tongue;
The ark that links two ages, the ancient and the young."
CHAPTER XXIV. JANE SEYMOUR, THIRD QUEEN OF HENRY VIII.
(A.D. 1536-1537.)
Jane Seymour has always been pronounced the most beautiful of all the wives of Henry VIII. But she has also been presented to the world as a meritorious, discreet, young woman. We cannot consider her so when we remember that within twenty-four hours after Anne Boleyn's head was cut off she became the king's wife. For it must have been while acting as maid of honor for that unhappy lady that she not only received the attentions of her fickle, heartless husband, but even made all the necessary arrangements for her marriage with him. We shudder at the thought of the preparations that must have been going forward for the wedding-feast at the palace, while the Tower was the scene of heart-rending agony to the queen, who was about to sacrifice her life for the gratification of a tyrant.