Page:The religious life of King Henry VI.djvu/52

32 he was accustomed to forbid any novel fashion of dress for himself.

On the chief feasts of the year and in particular on the annual celebration of his coronation, he always wore a hair-shirt next to his skin, so that by the sharp pain of the cloth he might remember to shun all thoughts of luxury, and that every idea of pride or vainglory, which are too prone to arise under such circumstances, might be instantly repressed.

Many people still living, writes Blackman in the reign of King Henry VII, can speak of the way in which the King occupied his time during life. Sundays and other solemn festivals he always spent in hearing the divine offices and in devout prayer, both for himself and his people. Lest his enemies should have cause to laugh at his Sunday practices, he earnestly tried to induce others to follow his example; and for this reason some who at times attended upon him assert that his greatest pleasure and delight was in following exactly and with devotion the services of the Church. The less solemn days he did not spend in mere idleness or useless vanities: "non in commessationibus aut ebrietatibus, non in vaniloquiis aut coeteris nocivis dictis aut loquelis"