Page:The religious life of King Henry VI.djvu/39



N passing to the consideration of the inner life of Henry VI, at the outset it may be useful to state that, in spite of the many political enemies of the King, there has never, from the first, been any breath of scandal or reproach against his reputation. That he was a weak and vacillating ruler is about all that has ever been said against him. His weakness he inherited probably from his Lancastrian ancestors, and his impaired mind, which he manifested for a brief period at one time of his reign, came almost certainly from his connection with the family of Charles VI of France. Fortunately for our present purpose there has been preserved an intimate account of the King's private life, written by his chaplain and private secretary, one John Blackman, who, after the death of his royal master, entered the Carthusian Order. The author solemnly declares that in this life he has set down only