Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/503

1542.] impunity by the intermixture of worldly intrigues; and a signal and tremendous retaliation, perhaps greater than the measure of the offence, followed on the rashness which dared to serve Heaven with impure instruments.

But the retribution was now over. Once more the King ventured into marriage. Catherine, widow of Lord Latimer, his last choice, was selected, not in the interest of politics or religion, but by his own personal judgment; and this time he found the peace which he desired. The number of his children, indeed, had been completed; neither son nor daughter was to increase further the family of the Tudors. The last of the race had been already long in the world. But he had chosen at least an honourable and prudent companion; and this forlorn chapter of Henry's life may be considered as closed. We turn gladly its last page, and pass to the outward business of life, where nature had better qualified him to play his part successfully.

In spite of his exhortation to the Houses, and the hints in the speech at the opening, the remainder of the session was not distinguished by any very serious measures. An Act against witchcraft is noticeable, as illustrating the intellectual condition of the time.

By the 8th of the 33rd of Henry VIII. it was enacted that 'whereas divers and sundry persons unlawfully have devised and practised invocations and conjurations of spirits, pretending by such means to understand and get knowledge for their own lucre, in what places treasures of gold or silver should