CARDINAL WOLSEY-SIR JOHN MASON-EMPEROR CHARLES V. -SIR THOMAS SMITH-BERNARD GILPIN-JANE, QUEEN OF NAVARRE-SIR FRANCIS WALSINGHAM-LADY JANE GREY -SIR WALTER RALEIGH-RICHARD HOOKER.

SECTION I.

CARDINAL WOLSEY.

THOMAS WOLSEY, a distinguished person in the reign of Henry VIII., was born in the year 1471; and it is said he was the son of a butcher at Ipswich. Being made chaplain to the king, he had great opportunities of gaining his favor; to obtain which he practised all the arts of obsequiousness. Having gradually acquired an entire ascendency over the mind of Henry, he successively obtained several bishoprics; and, at length, was made archbishop of York, lord high chancellor of England, and prime minister; and was, for several years, the arbiter of Europe.

The emperor Charles the Fifth, and the French king Francis the First, courted his interest, and loaded him with favors. As his revenues were im

mense, and his influence unbounded, his pride and ostentation were carried to the greatest height. He had eight hundred servants; amongst whom were nine or ten lords, fifteen knights, and forty esquires.

From this great height of power and splendor, he was suddenly precipitated into ruin. His ambition to be pope, his pride, his exactions, and his opposition to Henry's divorce, occasioned his disgrace. This sad reverse so affected his mind as to bring on a severe illness, which soon put a period to his days.

A short time before he left the world, the review of his life, and a consciousness of the misapplication of his time and talents, drew from him this sorrowful declaration: "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs. But this is the just reward that I must receive for my incessant pains and study, not regarding my service to God, but only to my prince."

With these painful reflections this famous cardinal finished his course. He affords a memorable instance of the vanity and inconstancy of human things, both in his rise and fall; and a striking admonition to those who are abusing the talents and opportunities, which God has given them to promote his honor and the happiness of men.

SIR JOHN MASON.

A STRONG testimony to the importance of religion, is given by Sir John Mason, who, though but 63 years old at his death, had flourished in the reign of four sovereigns, (Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth,) had been privycounsellor to them all, and an attentive observer of the various revolutions and vicissitudes of those times.

Towards his latter end, being on his death-bed, he spoke thus to those about him: "I have lived to see five sovereigns, and have been privy-counsellor to four of them. I have seen the most remarkable things in foreign parts, and have been present at most state transactions for the last thirty years: and I have learned, from the experience of so many years, that seriousness is the greatest wisdom, temperance the best physic, and a good conscience the best estate. And were I to live again, I would change the court for a cloister, my privy-counsellor's bustle for a hermit's retirement, and the whole life I have lived in the palace, for an hour's enjoyment of God in the chapel. All things now

forsake me, except my God, my duty, and my prayers."

The chief field, both of the duty and of the improvement of man, lies in active life. By the graces and virtues which he exercises amidst his fellow-creatures, he is trained up for heaven. And since Divine Providence has established government and subordination amongst men, it follows, that high offices and stations of dignity, are compatible with true religion. It is, however, possible, that the minds of persons in authority, may be so much engaged with temporal concerns, as to leave little or no place for the higher duties of piety and devotion; duties which purify and exalt our nature, and give a proper direction and limitation to all our labors for the good of others.

From the regret expressed by Sir John Mason, it appears that his error consisted, not in having served his king and country, in the eminent stations in which he had been placed; but in having suffered his mind to be so much occupied with business, as to make him neglect, in some degree, the proper seasons of religious retirement, and the prime duties which he owed to his Creator.

CHARLES V. EMPEROR OF
GERMANY.

CHARLES V. emperor of Germany, king of Spain, and lord of the Netherlands, was born at Ghent, in the year 1500.

He is said to have fought sixty battles, in most of which he was victorious; to have obtained six triumphs, conquered four kingdoms, and to have added eight principalities to his dominions: an almost unparalleled instance of worldly prosperity, and the greatness of human glory.

But all these fruits of his ambition, and all the honors that attended him, could not yield true and solid satisfaction. Reflecting on the evils and mis eries which he had occasioned, and convinced of the emptiness of earthly magnificence, he became disgusted with all the splendor that surrounded him; and thought it his duty to withdraw from it, and spend the rest of his days in religious retirement.

Accordingly, he voluntarily resigned all his dominions to his brother and son; and after taking an affectionate and last farewell of the latter, and