igh birth, even been
cut off from the common benefits of nature, now at last deprived of life
itself, merely for attempting to shake off that oppression under which
he labored. In vain did Henry endeavor to alleviate the odium of this
guilt, by sharing it with his ally, Ferdinand of Arragon, who, he said,
had scrupled to give his daughter Catharine in marriage to Arthur while
any male descendant of the house of York remained. Men, on the contrary,
felt higher indignation at seeing a young prince sacrificed, not to
law and justice, but to the jealous politics of two subtle and crafty
tyrants.

But though these discontents festered in the minds of men, they were so
checked by Henry's watchful policy and steady severity, that they seemed
not to weaken his government; and foreign princes, deeming his
throne now entirely secure, paid him rather the greater deference and
attention. The archduke Philip, in particular, desired an interview with
him; and Henry, who had passed over to Calais, agreed to meet him in
St. Peter's church, near that city. The archduke, on his approaching the
king, made haste to alight, and offered to hold Henry's stirrup; a mark
of condescension which that prince would not admit of. He called
the king "father," "patron," "protector;" and by his whole behavior
expressed a strong desire of conciliating the friendship of England. The
duke of Orleans had succeeded to the crown of France by the appellation
of Lewis XII.; and having carried his arms into Italy, and subdued the
duchy of Milan, his progress begat jealousy in Maximilian, Philip's
father, as well as in Ferdinand, his father-in-law. By the counsel,
therefore, of these monarchs, the young prince endeavored by every
art to acquire the amity of Henry, whom they regarded as the chief
counterpoise to the greatness of France. No particular plan, however, of
alliance seems to have been concerted between these two princes in their
interview: all passed in general professions of affection and regard;
at least, in remote projects of a closer union, by the future
intermarriages of their children, who were then in a state of infancy.

{1500.} The Pope, too, Alexander VI., neglected not the friendship of a
monarch whose reputation was spread over Europe. He sent a nuncio
into England, who exhorted the king to take part in the great alliance
projected for the recovery of the Holy Land, and to lead in person his
forces against the infidels. The general frenzy