her prosperity made her numberless friends; but in her falling fortunes, no one even attempted to interpose between her and the fury of the king; she, whose appearance had dressed every face in smiles, was now abandoned, unpitied and alone, to her adverse destiny. Anne addressed to her husband a letter from the Tower, full of protestations of her innocence; of which the following is the conclusion: 66 If you have already determined of me, and that my death not only, but an infamous slander, must bring you the enjoying of your desired happiness, then I desire of God that he will pardon your great sin therein, and likewise mine enemies, the instruments thereof; and that he will not call you to a strict account for your unprincely usage of me, at his general judgment-seat, where both you and myself must shortly appear, and in whose judgment I doubt not, (whatsoever the world may think of me,) mine innocence shall be openly known, and sufficiently cleared. 66 My last, and only request shall be, that myself may only bear the burden of your grace's displeasure, and that it may not touch the innocent souls of those poor gentlemen, who (as I understand,) are likewise in strait confinement for my sake. If ever I have found favor in your sight, if ever the name of Anne Boleyn hath been pleasing to your ears, then let me obtain this request, and I will so leave to trouble your grace any farther, with mine earnest prayers to the Trinity, to have your grace in his good keeping, and to direct you in all your actions. actions. From my doleful prison in the tower, this sixth of May, "Your most loyal and ever faithful wife, This address, so pathetic and eloquent, failed to touch the heart of a tyrant, which licentious and selfish gratification had steeled. The gentlemen who were imprisoned on her account, although no proof of their guilt was made out, were condemned and executed. The queen and her brother, the viscount Rocheford, were tried by a jury of peers; their uncle, and implacable enemy, the duke of Norfolk, presiding as lord high steward. ទ Anne, though unassisted by counsel, defended herself with so much clearness and presence of mind, that the spectators unanimously believed her to be guiltless. Judgment was, however, passed by the court both against her and her brother; she was sentenced by the verdict to be beheaded or burned, according to the king's pleasure. "O Father," said she, lifting up her eyes when this dreadful sentence was pronounced, "O Creator, thou who art the way, the truth, and the life, thou knowest that I have not deserved this death!" Then, turning to the judges, she pathetically declared her innocence. In her last message to the king, she thanked him for having advanced her from private life to the throne, and now, since he could raise her no higher in this world, he was sending her to heaven. She earnestly recommended her daughter to his care, and renewed her protestations of innocence and fidelity. At the scaffold she prayed for the king, and said to the lieutenant of the tower, "the executioner is, I hear, very expert, and my neck, (grasping it with her hand, and laughing heartily,) is very slender." She met death with firmness, and her body was thrown negligently into a common elm chest, made to hold arrows, and buried in the tower. JANE DE BELLEVILLE, was wife of Oliver III., lord of Clisson. Philip de Valois, king of France, having caused her husband to be beheaded, in 1343, on unauthenticated suspicion of correspondence with England, Jane, burning with revenge, sent her son, but twelve years of age, secretly to London; and having no more fear for him, sold her jewels, armed three vessels, and with them assailed all the French she met with. The new corsair made descents in Normandy, and took their castles; and the inhabitants of the villages saw frequently, one of the most beautiful women in Europe, with a sword in one hand, and a flambeau in the other, enforce, with inhuman pleasure, the horrors of her cruel and misplaced revenge. CATHERINE BROWN, a half-blooded Cherokee, was born about the year 1800, at Willis Valley, in Alabama. It was a which is "drowned by a bear." father, was John Brown. romantic country where she first drew her breath, and she seems to have acquired a natural taste for fine scenery. Her father's name, in the Indian language, was Yau-nu-gung-yah-ski, His English name, from his Her mother's name was Tsa-luh, in the Cherokee. Her English name was Sarah. They were people of property, and far above the level of their race, but still had no education, they could not speak a word of English. In 1816, the American Board of Foreign Missions, sent the Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury to the Cherokee nation, for permission to establish a school in their territory. This was granted, and a school opened at Chickamaugah, within the territory of Tennessee. Catherine had heard of the school, although living at the distance of a hundred miles. She had learned to speak English, by ́residing at the house of a Cherokee friend, and could read in words of one syllable She was now seventeen years of age, possessing very fine features, and of roseate complexion. She was decidedly the first of Cherokee beauties. She was modest, gentle and virtuous, with a sweet and affectionate disposition. From her wealth and beauty, she had been indulged as the pride of her parents; but she was the most docile of all the missionary pupils. Her progress was wonderfully rapid. In three months she learned to read and write. This exceeds the progress of any one on record, in this or any other country. She soon became serious, and then religious; and was baptised in January, 1818. In June, 1820, she undertook to teach a school at Creek-path, near her father's house. She showed the greatest zeal in the cause of lightening her country women; for those of all ages came to learn something of her. She established religious exercises in her father's house, and brought many to Christianity. She was not contented with the measure of information she had acquired, but intended to push her studies into higher branches of knowledge, which she knew to exist; but while she was contemplating great things for herself and her nation, her health began to decline. She had probably injured herself by too close application to her studies. The change from flying through the groves and paddling the canoe, to such a sedentary life, which she must have led, in acquiring so much knowledge in so short a time, would have naturally undermined the strongest constitution. In her sickness she discovered the greatest resignation, and the most exalted piety. She had made a deep impression on the honest hearts of her people; and they watched the progress of her disease with most poignant anxiety. She died July 18th, 1823, aged twenty-three, and was buried at Creek-path, by the side of her brother John, who had died the preceeding year, having, through her instrumentality, embraced the Christian religion. She would have been, in the early ages of Christianity, ranked with saints, and martyrs; and at this time, deserves to be held in sweet remembrance. By her conversion, her parents became of the household of the faithful; and a mission was established at Creek-path, which has been productive of much good. Catharine Brown must be ranked with Pocahontas, the loveliest daughter of the wilderness; both forming the highest proof that the children of the forest have talents, and strong and noble affections; and only require instruction to rival those of the Anglo-Saxon blood. When we discover such talents and virtues in the aborigines, the philanthropist, as well as the Christian, mourns to think that this race of beings will soon disappear in our country. They are passing away as the summer cloud; but we must console ourselves that the hand of God is in this. ANNA BATES, wife of Joshua Bates, D. D., president of Middlebury College, was the daughter of Deacon N. Poor, of Andover, in Massachusetts; she was born about the year 1783 and resided chiefly in that place. She was the charm of the social circle in that delightful town; which has since been selected for the site of a theological seminary, all things considered, the first in the United States. Miss Poor had several sisters Her father's house was older than herself, and one younger. a pleasant place, for those who were engaged in literary pursuits, to spend a social evening. They had a kind reception, and were sure to have an hour's improving conversation. Subjects of a literary nature were discussed, without staidness or controversy. It was a family circle which every one in the neighborhood was happy in being permitted to enter. Miss Poor, her elder sisters being married, met her friends with a sweet smile, and where she was, all were sure to be happy. In the year 1804, she was married to Mr. Bates, who had been an instructor in Phillip's Andover Academy, and afterwards a resident in the town as a student in divinity, but was at the time of their union a clergyman in the first parish in Dedham, in the same commonwealth. Here a new circle of duties fell to her share. It is one of the most difficult tasks in the world to act the clergyman's wife in New-England. Every eye is upon her; if too solemn they complain; and if of a cheerful, lively disposition, they seem to doubt her piety. But Mrs. Bates had nothing to change, and no habit to get rid of. She soon was as popular there as a matron, as she had been in her father's house as a young lady. She visited the sick, fed the poor, clothed the naked, and rejoiced with the happy. She was orthodox, according to the faith of her fathers, but the Unitarians in Dedham were foremost in her praise, for her virtues did not depend upon creeds. She would have been pious under any form of belief. Some years after the settlement of Mr. Bates in Dedham, he was appointed president of Middlebury College; an office for which he was eminently qualified, He was learned, pious, social, dignified, and possessed a happy faculty of inspiring respect and confidence. The institution has flourished under his auspices, and is now one of the most repu table in New-England. Mrs. Bates was precisely fitted for this new situation. Accustomed to see company without parade, to make her house a resort for the enlightened in an easy and pleasant way, she had nothing new to learn, but only to pursue the course she had followed from childhood. The same round of philanthropic deeds, and the same Christian courtesies, made her as happy here, as it had done when her usefulness was more confined. She had a large family of children, and spared no pains in instructing them. It was not her destiny to live to old age. She died after a short illness, in 1826, and was most deeply mourned by all who ever knew her, in any walk of life, |