1729.
1. King Henry the Eighth, and Anna Bullen. "Very indifferent." This plate has very idly been imagined to contain the portraits of Frederick Prince of Wales and Miss Vane;[1] but the stature and faces, both of the lady and Percy, are totally unlike their supposed originals. Underneath are the following verses by Allan Ramsay:
Here struts old pious Harry, once the great
Reformer of the English church and state:
'Twas thus he stood, when Anna Bullen's charms
Allur'd the amorous monarch to her arms;
With his right hand he leads her as his own,
To place this matchless beauty on his throne;
Whilst Kate and Piercy mourn their wretched fate,
And view the royal pair with equal hate,
Reflecting on the pomp of glittering crowns,
And arbitrary power that knows no bounds.
Whilst Wolsey, leaning on his throne of state,
Through this unhappy change foresees his fate,
Contemplates wisely upon worldly things,
The cheat of grandeur, and the faith of kings.
Mr. Charlton, of Canterbury, has a copy of this print, with the following title and verses: "King Henry VIII. bringing to court Anne Bullen, who was afterwards his royal consort." Hogarth design. &. sculp.
See here the great, the daring Harry stands,
Peace, Plenty, Freedom, shining in his face,
With lovely Anna Bullen joining hands,
Her looks bespeaking ev'ry heav'nly grace.
See Wolsey frowning, discontent and sour,
Feeling the superstitious structure shake:
While Henry's driving off the Roman whore,
For Britain's weal, and his Lutherian's sake.
Like Britain's Genius our brave King appears,
Despising Priestcraft, Avarice, and Pride;
Nor the loud roar of Babel's bulls he fears,
The Dagon falls before his beauteous bride.
Like England's Church, all sweetness and resign'd,
The comely queen her lord with calmness eyes;
As if she said, If goodness guard your mind,
You ghostly tricks and trump'ry may despise.
[1] To the fate of this lady Dr. Johnson has a beautiful allusion in his Vanity of Human Wishes:
"Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring,
And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king."
Perhaps the thought, that suggested this couplet, is found in Loveling's Poems, a work already quoted: