not retract. They did not ask her whether she would do
this--they racked her. But her soul was strong and full of courage;
and, under the tortures of the executioner, her lips remained mute. Let
theologians say and determine whether Anne Askew's faith was a false
one; but this they will not dare deny: that in the noble enthusiasm
of this faith, she was a heroine who at least did not deny her God.
At length, worn out with so much useless exertion, the assistant
executioners discontinued their bloody work, to rest from the tortures
which they had prepared for Anne Askew. The lieutenant of the Tower
declared the work of the rack ended. The highest degrees had been
applied, and they had proved powerless; cruelty was obliged to
acknowledge itself conquered. But the priests of the Church, with savage
vehemence, demanded that she should be racked once more. Dare deny
that, ye lords, whom I behold standing there opposite with faces pale
as death! Yes, my king, the servants of the rack refused to obey the
servants of God; for in the hearts of the hangman's drudges there was
more pity than in the hearts of the priests! And when they refused to
proceed in their bloody work, and when the lieutenant of the Tower, in
virtue of the existing law, declared the racking at an end, then I
saw one of the first ministers of our Church throw aside his sacred
garments; then the priest of God transformed himself into a hangman's
drudge, who, with bloodthirsty delight, lacerated anew the noble mangled
body of the young girl, and more cruel than the attendants of the rack,
unsparingly they broke and dislocated the limbs, which they had
only squeezed in their screws. [Footnote: Burnet's "History of the
Reformation," vol. i, p. 132.] Excuse me, my king, from sketching this
scene of horror still further! Horrified and trembling, I fled from that
frightful place, and returned to my room, shattered and sad at heart."

Catharine ceased, exhausted, and sank back into her seat.

A breathless stillness reigned around. All faces were pale and
colorless. Gardiner and Wriothesley stood with their eyes fixed, gloomy
and defiant, expecting that the king's wrath would crush and destroy
them.

But the king scarcely thought of them; he thought only of his fair young
queen, whose boldness inspired him with respect, and whose innocence and
purity filled him with a proud and blissful joy.

He was, therefore, very much inclined to forgive those who in reality
had