"The Reign of Mary Tudor" from James Anthony Froude. English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine (1818-1894).

The mythic element cannot be eliminated out of history. Men who play leading parts on the world's stage gather about them the admiration of friends and the animosity of disappointed rivals or political enemies. The atmosphere becomes charged with legends of what they have said or done-some inventions, some distortions of facts, but rarely or never accurate.