Perchance this spoil, so impiously begun

By wretched men, will not destroy the whole: All righteous Providence! Thy will be done! O Lord of heav'n and earth!

Receive my soul!

The falt'ring accents sunk to broken sighs-
And o'er the Abbot Reeve the brothers hung;
With holy sighs and tears they clos'd his eyes;
And then with solemn pomp his Requiem sung.

His Epitaph.

With mem'ry's grateful tribute Bury owns
Her mitred Lord: here rests his humble bones :
His honour'd birth shall Suffolk's Melford claim;
John his baptismal, Reeve his natal name.
Heroic, prudent, learned and benign,
And just was he, and lov'd his vows divine.
The day he saw, when our eighth Henry's hand
For one and thirty years had rul'd this land!
And when the spring, her charming course begun,
In March an equal term of days had run ;
Sped by the angels bright, he reach'd his goal;
O gracious God! have mercy on his soul!

A SONG OF AN ENGLISH KNIGHT,

that married the Royal Princess Mary, Sister to King Henry the VIIIth. which Knight was afterwards made Duke of Suffolk.

To the tune of "Who list to lead a Soldier's life."

Charles Brandon, the celebrated Duke of Suffolk, was son and heir of Sir William Brandon, standardbearer to Henry, Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth. The family is represented to be of great antiquity, and to have assumed its name from the lordship of Brandon in this county.

He was remarkable for the dignity and gracefulness of his person, and his robust and athletic constitution. He distinguished himself in tilts and tournaments, the favorite exercises of Henry, by his consummate dexterity, gallantry, and valour. He was brought up with that prince, studied his disposition, and exactly conformed to it. That conformity gradually brought on a stricter intimacy, and from thenceforth his advancement to royal favor and honors was rapid and extraordinary.

His first creation to nobility was to the title of viscount Lisle, the 5th of Henry VIIIth. for his eminent services in the campaign against France; and Soon after he was raised to the dignity of Duke of Suffolk. It was thought at the time the king conferred this honor upon him, that he intended him a far greater, by giving him his sister Mary in marriage, who had long won his heart by her beauty, grace, accomplishments. But policy and the etiquette of courts forbade their union, and consigned the young and beautiful Mary to the arms of an aged and infirm monarch. For just at this period, Lewis the XIIth. of France, seeking the alliance of the English King, a match was made up between him and the princess, to

and

the great grief of the duke; who, however, though he dearly loved her, had sufficient honor not to use the least means for preventing the marriage. After her short-lived and unnatural union with that monarch, the duke became her husband. When the news was brought to Henry, he seemed much dissatisfied with it, and at first kept Suffolk at a distance; but the king of France and others interceding in his behalf, he was soon reconciled, and the duke had no small share afterwards in the administration of affairs. During the period of that capricious reign of vanity, extravagance, and blood, he preserved his influence to the last, and died, in the estimation of his king and country, in the year 1545, with this character, that although a better courtier than a statesman, yet he used his prince's favors with so much moderation, as not to disoblige any one. He was interred in the south aisle of St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle.

The duke had four wives; and by the Princess Mary, his third wife, he had one son, Henry, who was created, the 17th of Henry VIIIth. Earl of Lincoln; and two daughters, of which Frances married, first, Henry Grey, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, and secondly, Adrian Stokes; and Eleanor, Henry Earl of Cumberland.

This nobleman is one instance that Henry was not altogether incapable of a cordial and steady friendship; and Suffolk seems to have been worthy of the favor, which, from his earliest youth, he had enjoyed with his master. The king was sitting in council when informed of his death; and he took the opportunity both to express his own sorrow for the loss, and to celebrate the merits of the deceased. He declared, that during the whole course of their friendship, his brother-in-law had never made one attempt to injure an adversary, and had never whispered a word to the disadvantage of any person. "Is there any one of you, my lords, who can say as much?" When the king subjoined these words, he looked round in all their faces, and saw that confusion, which the consciousness of secret guilt naturally threw upon them.

The duke generally resided, with his royal consort, at his noble mansion of Westhorp Hall, in this county. The cloister, the chapel, with its painted windows, and the original furniture, were kept up till about half a century ago, when it was entirely pulled down, and the furniture and materials dispersed.

EIGHTH Henry ruling in this land,
He had a sister fair,

That was the widow'd Queen of France,
Enrich'd with virtues rare:

And being come to England's court,
She oft beheld a knight,

Charles Brandon nam'd, in whose fair eyes,
She chiefly took delight.

And noting in her princely mind,

His gallant sweet behaviour,
She daily drew him by degrees,

Still more and more in favour:
Which he perceiving, courteous knight,
Found fitting time and place,
And thus in amorous sort began,
His love-suit to her grace:

I am at love, fair queen, said he,

Sweet let your love incline,

That by your grace Charles Brandon may

On earth be made divine:

If worthless I might worthy be

To have so good a lot,

To please your highness in true love

My fancy doubteth not.

Or if that gentry might convey
So great a grace to me,

I can maintain the same by birth,
Being come of good degree.
If wealth you think be all my want,
Your highness hath great store,
And my supplement shall be love;
What can you wish for more?

It hath been known when hearty love
Did tie the true-love knot,
Though now if gold and silver want,
The marriage proveth not.

The goodly queen hereat did blush,
But made a dumb reply;
Which he imagin'd what she meant,
And kiss'd her reverently.

Brandon (quoth she) I greater am,
Than would I were for thee,
But can as little master love,
As them of low degree.
My father was a king, and so

A king my husband was,
My brother is the like, and he
Will say I do transgress.

But let him say what pleaseth him,
His liking I'll forego,

And chuse a love to please myself,
Though all the world say no:
If plowmen make their marriages,
As best contents their mind,
Why should not princes of estate
The like contentment find?