The horror felt on the Continent for the excesses and cruelty of the Bluebeard of England was such that it was long believed that Anne had either died by unfair means or had escaped from her “cruel imprisonment.” An impostor, therefore, for a time was enabled to take her place at one of the German courts—that of Coburg, where she was treated with royal consideration—but the fraud was afterwards discovered. This is mentioned in Shobert’s History of the House of Saxony. Upon the whole, Anne of Cleves may be considered as the most fortunate among the many women whose lives were connected with that of King Henry VIII.
IN MEMORY OF HARRIET RYAN ALBEE.
Like as remembered music long asleep
Within the heavy, o’erencumbered brain,
When touched by some remote, unheeded strain,
Returns as turning tides from ocean creep
Along the sandy flats, and fill again
All the least wrinkles and each minute bowl
Which in their ebbing had imprinted been,