[1390] Ibid., pp. 39, 40.—Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 189, 190.—De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 91.

[1391] "Havia en la Isla de Malta quinze mil hombres de pelea, los quales bastaran para resistir a qualquiera poder del gran Turco en campaña rasa." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 129.

Besides the Spanish forces, a body of French adventurers took service under La Valette, and remained for some time in Malta.

[1392] Vertot tells us that the projected expedition of Solyman against Malta was prevented by the destruction of the grand arsenal of Constantinople, which was set on fire by a secret emissary of La Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 41.) We should be better pleased if the abbé had given his authority for this strange story, the probability of which is not at all strengthened by what we know of the grand-master's character.

[1393] It was common for the Maltese cities, after the Spanish and Italian fashion, to have characteristic epithets attached to their names. La Valette gave the new capital the title of "Umillima,"—"most humble,"—intimating that humility was a virtue of highest price with the fraternity of St. John. See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. p. 29.

[1394] "Plus de huit mille ouvriers y furent employés; et afin d'avancer plus aisément les travaux, le Pape Pie V. commanda qu'on y travaillât sans discontinuer, même les jours de Fêtes." Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Religieux.

[1395] The style of the architecture of the new capital seems to have been, to some extent, formed on that of Rhodes, though, according to Lord Carlisle, of a more ornate and luxuriant character than its model. "I traced much of the military architecture of Rhodes, which, grave and severe there, has here both swelled into great amplitude and blossomed into copious efflorescence; it is much the same relation as Henry VII.'s Chapel bears to a bit of Durham Cathedral." Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters, p. 200.

The account of Malta is not the least attractive portion of this charming work, to which Felton's notes have given additional value.

[1396] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 42.

[1397] Ibid., pp. 42-48.—Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. pp. 127-142.

[1398] An interesting description of this cathedral, well styled the Westminster Abbey of Malta, may be found in Bigelow's Travels in Sicily and Malta (p. 190),—a work full of instruction, in which the writer, allowing himself a wider range than that of the fashionable tourist, takes a comprehensive survey of the resources of the countries he has visited, while he criticizes their present condition by an enlightened comparison with the past.

[1399] "Lorsqu'on commence l'Evangile, le Grand-Maître la prend des mains du Page et la tient tonte droite pendant le tems de l'Evangile. C'est la seule occasion où l'on tient l'épée nue à l'Eglise." Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Religieux, tom. III. p. 93.

[1400] Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. p. 35.

The good knight dwells with complacency on the particulars of a ceremony in which he had often borne a part himself. It recalled to his mind the glorious days of an order, which he fondly hoped might one day be restored to its primitive lustre.

[1401] Alfieri, Schiller, and, in our day, Lord John Russell, have, each according to his own conceptions, exhibited the poetic aspect of the story to the eyes of their countrymen. The Castilian dramatist, Montalvan, in his "Príncipe Don Carlos," written before the middle of the seventeenth century, shows more deference to historic accuracy, as well as to the reputation of Isabella, by not mixing her up in any way with the fortunes of the prince of Asturias.

[1402] This correspondence is printed in a curious volume, of the greatest rarity, entitled, Elogios de Don Honorato Juan, (Valencia, 1659,) p. 60 et seq.

[1403] "Egli in collera reiterò con maraviglia et riso di S. M. et de'circumstanti, che mai egli non saria fuggito." Relatione di Badoaro, MS.

[1404] "Reprehendio al Principe su nieto su poca mesura i mucha desenboltura con que vivia i trataba con su tia, i encomendòla su correcion, diziendo era en lo q̃ mas podia obligar a todos." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 11.

[1405] "Ne attende ad altro che a leggirli gli officii di M. Tullio per acquetare quei troppo ardenti desiderii." Relatione di Badoaro, MS.

[1406] "En lo del estudio esta poco aprovechado, porque lo haze de mala gana y ausy mesmo los otros exercicios de jugar y esgremyr, que para todo es menester premya." Carta de García de Toledo al Emperador, 27 de Agosto, 1557, MS.

[1407] "Hasta agora no se que los medicos ayan tratado de dar ninguna cosa al principe para la colera, ny yo lo consintiera hazer, sin dar primero quenta dello a vuestra magestad." Ibid.

[1408] "Deseo mucho que V. M. fuese servido que el principe diese una buelta por allá para velle por que entendidos los impedimentos que en su edad tiene mandasse V. M. lo que fuera de la horden con que yo le sirvo se deba mudar." Del mismo al mismo, 13 de Abril, 1558, MS.

[1409] So cruel, according to the court gossip picked up by Badoaro, that, when hares and other game were brought to him, he would occasionally amuse himself by roasting them alive!—-"Dimostra havere un animo fiero, et tra gli effetti che si raccontana uno è, che alle volte, che dalla caccia gli viene portato o lepre o simile animale, si diletta di vedirli arrostire vivi." Relatione de Badoaro, MS.

[1410] "Da segno di dovere essere superbissimo, perchè non poteva sofferire di stare lungamente nè innanzi al padre nè avo con la berretta in mano, et chiama il padre fratello, et l'avo padre." Ibid.

[1411] "Dice a tutti i propositi tante cose argute che 'l suo ministro ne raccolse un libretto." Ibid.

Another contemporary also notices the precocious talents of the boy, as shown in his smart sayings.—"Dexo de contar las gracias que tiene en dichos maravillosos que andan por boca de todos desparzidos, dexo de contar lo que haze para provar lo que dize." Cordero, Promptuario de Medallas, ap. Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Españoles, p. 328.

[1412] "Le pauvre prince est si bas et exténué, il va d'heure a heure tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de ceste court en ont bien petite espérance." L'Evêque de Limoges au Roi, 1^er Mars, 1559, ap. Négociations relatives an Règne de François II., p. 291.

[1413] "Delante de la Princesa venia don Carlos a su juramento con mal calor de quartanaria en un cavallo blanco con rico guarnimiento i gualdrapa de oro i plata bordado sobre tela de oro parda, como el vestido galan con muchos botones de perlas i diamantes." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7.

[1414] Ibid., ubi supra.

[1415] Strada, in a parallel which he has drawn of the royal youths, gives the palm to Don John of Austria. His portrait of Carlos is as little flattering in regard to his person as to his character.—"Carolus, præter colorem et capillum, ceterùm corpore mendosus; quippe humero clatior, et tibia alterâ longior erat; nee minus dehonestamentum ab indole feroci et contumaci." De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 609.

[1416] "Este dia despues de haber comido queriendo Su Alteza bajar por una escalera escura y de ruines pasos echó el pie derecho en vacio, y dió una vuelta sobre todo el cuerpo, y así cayó de cuatro ó cinco escalones. Dió con la cabeza un gran golpe en una puerta cerrada, y quedó la cabeza abajo y los pies arriba." Relacion de la enfermedad del Príncipe por el Doctor Olivares, Documentos Inéditos, tom. XV. p. 554.

[1417] According to Guibert, the French ambassador, Carlos was engaged in a love adventure when he met with his fall,—having descended this dark stairway in search of the young daughter of the porter of the garden. See Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 119.

[1418] Ferreras, Hist. de l'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 429.

[1419] Dr. Olivares bears emphatic testimony to this virtue, little to have been expected in his patient.—"Lo que á su salud cumplia hizo de la misma suerte, siendo tan obediente á los remedios que á todos espantaba que por fuertes y recios que fuesen nunca los reusó, antes todo el tiempo que estuvo en su acuerdo él mismo los pedia, lo cual fué grande ayuda para la salud que Dios le dió." Documentos Inéditos, tom. XV. p. 571.

[1420] Another rival appeared, to contest the credit of the cure with the bones of Fray Diego. This was Our Lady of Atocha, the patroness of Madrid, whose image, held in the greatest veneration by Philip the Second, was brought to the chamber of Carlos, soon after the skeleton of the holy friar. As it was after the patient had decidedly begun to mend, there seems to be the less reason for the chroniclers of Our Lady of Atocha maintaining, as they sturdily do, her share in the cure. (Perada, La Madona de Madrid, (Valladolid, 1604,) p. 151.) The veneration for the patroness of Madrid has continued to the present day. A late journal of that capital states that the queen, accompanied by her august consort and the princess of Asturias, went, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1854, in solemn procession to the church, to decorate the image with the collar of the Golden Fleece.

[1421] "Con todo eso tomando propriamente el nombre de milagro, á mi juicio no lo fué, porque el Príncipe se curó con los remedios naturales y ordinarios, con los cuales se suelen curar otros de la misma enfermedad estando tanto y mas peligrosos." Documentos Inéditos, tom. XV. p. 570.

[1422] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132.

[1423] "Il aymoit fort à ribler le pavé, et faire à coups d'espée, fust de jour, fust de nuit, car il avoit avec luy dix ou douze enfans d'honneur des plus grandes maisons d'Espagne.... Quand il alloit par les ruës quelque belle dame, et fust elle des plus grandes du pays, il la prenoit et la baisoit par force devant tout le monde; il l'appelloit putain, bagasse, chienne, et force autres injures leur disoit-il." Brantôme, Œuvres, tom. I. p. 323.

[1424] "Dió un bofeton a Don Pedro Manuel, i guisadas i picadas en menudas pieças hizo comer las votas al menestral." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.

De Foix, a French architect employed on the Escorial at this time, informed the historian De Thou of the prince's habit of wearing extremely large leggings, or boots, for the purpose mentioned in the text. "Nam et scloppetulos binos summa arte fabricatos caligis, quæ amplissimæ de more gentis in usu sunt, eum gestare solitum resciverat." (Historiæ sui Temporis, lib. XLI.) I cite the original Latin, as the word caligæ has been wrongly rendered by the French translator into culottes.

[1425] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.

[1426] "Curilla vos os atreveis a mi, no dexando venir a servirme Cisneros? por vida de mi padre que os tengo de matar" Ibid., ubi supra.

[1427] "Il qual Niccolo lo fece subito et co'parole di Complimento rende gratie à sua Altezza, offerendoli sempre tutto quel che per lui si poteva." Lettera di Nobili, Ambasciatore del Granduca di Toscagna al Re Philippo, 24 di Luglio, 1567, MS.

[1428] "Ci si messe di mezzo Ruigomes et molti altri nè si è mai possuto quietar'fin tanto che Niccolo no'li ha prestato sessantamila scudi co'sua polizza senza altro assegniamento." Ibid.

[1429] "Mostra di esser molto religioso solicitando come fa le prediche et divini officii, anzi in questo si può dir che eccede l'honesto, et suol dire, Chi debbe far Elemosine, se non la danno i Prencipi?" Relatione di Tiepolo, MS.

[1430] "È splendetissimo in tutte le cose et massime nel beneficiar chi lo serve. Il che fa così largamente che necessita ad amarlo anco i servitori del Padre." Ibid.

[1431] "È curioso nel intendere i negozii del stato, ne i quali s'intrometterebbe volontieri, et procura di saper quello che tratta il Padre, et che egli asconde gli fa grande offesa." Ibid.

Granvelle, in one of his letters, notices with approbation this trait in the character of Carlos. "Many are pleased with the prince, others not. I think him modest, and inclined to employ himself, which, for the heir of such large dominions, is in the highest degree necessary." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 128.

[1432] "Mi mayor amigo que tengo en esta vida, que harè lo que vos me pidieredes." Elogios de Honorato Juan, p. 66.

The last words, it is true, may be considered as little more than a Castilian form of epistolary courtesy.

[1433] "Su Alteza añada, y quite todo lo que le pareciere de mi testamento, y este mi Codicilo, que aquello que su Alteza mandare lo doy, y quiero que sea tan valido como si estuviesse expressado en este mi Codicilo, o en el testamento." Ibid., p. 73.

[1434] "Così come sono allegri i Spagnuoli d'haver per loro Sig^re un Rè naturale così stanno molto in dubio qual debbe esser il suo governo." Relatione di Tiepolo, MS.

[1435] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132.

[1436] Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 680.

[1437] Raumer (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153), who cites a manuscript letter of Antonio Perez to the councillor Du Vaire, extant in the Royal Library of Paris. A passage in a letter to Carlos from his almoner, Doctor Hernan Suarez de Toledo, has been interpreted as alluding to his intercourse with the deputies from Flanders: "Tambien he llorado, no haber parecido bien que V. A. hablase a los procuradores, como dicen que lo hizo, no se lo que fue, pero si que cumple mucho hacer los hombres sus negocios propios, con consejo ageno, por que los muy diestros nunca fian del suyo." The letter, which is without date, is to be found in the archiepiscopal library of Toledo.

[1438] De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 376.

[1439] "È principe," writes the nuncio, "che quello, che ha in cuore, ha in bocca." Lettera del Nunzio al Cardinale Alessandrini, Giugno, 1566, MS.

[1440] "Que eran de grandisimo engaño, y error peligrosisimo, inventado y buscado todo por el demonio, para dar travajo a V. A. y pensar darle á todos, y para desasogear, y aun inquietar la grandeza de la monarquia." Carta de Hernan Suarez al Príncipe, MS.

[1441] The intimate relations of Doctor Suarez with Carlos exposed him to suspicions in regard to his loyalty or his orthodoxy,—we are not told which,—that might have cost him his life, had not this letter, found among the prince's papers after his death, proved a sufficient voucher for the doctor's innocence. Soto, Anotaciones a la Historia de Talabera, MS.

[1442] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 13.—Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 376.—Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, (Madrid, 1627,) fol. 37.

[1443] Letter of Fourquevaulx, January 19, 1568 ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 85.

[1444] "Avia muchos dias, que el Príncipe mi Señor andaba inquieto sin poder sosegar, y decia, que avia de matar á un hombre con quien estaba mal, y de este dió parte al Señor Don Juan, pero sin declararle quien fuese." De la Prision y Muerte del Príncipe Don Carlos, MS.

[1445] "Pero el Prior le engaño, con persuadirle dixese cual fuese el hombre, por que seria possible poder dispensar conforme à la satisfaccion, que S. A. pudiese tomar, y entonces dixo, que era el Rey su Padre con quien estaba mál, y le havia de matar." Ibid.

[1446] Ibid.

[1447] "Ya avia llegado de Sevilla Garci Alvarez Osorio con ciento y cincuenta mil escudos de los seiscientos mil que le avia embiado a buscar y proveer: y que assi se apercibiesse para partir en la noche siguiente pues la resta le remitirian en polizas en saliendo de la Corte." Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 40.

[1448] Ibid., ubi supra.—Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.

[1449] "Sono molti giorni che stando il Ré fuori comandò segretamente che si facesse fare orationi in alcuni monasterii, acciò nostro Signore Dio indrizzasse bene et felicemente un grand negotio, che si li offeriva. Questo è costume di questo Prencipe veramente molto religioso, quando li occorre qualche cosa da esseguire, che sia importante." Lettera del Nunzio, 24 di Gennaio, 1568, MS.

[1450] "On the next day, when I was present at the audience, he appeared with as good a countenance as usual, although he was already determined in the same night to lay hands on his son, and no longer to put up with or conceal his follies and more than youthful extravagances." Letter of Fourquevaulx, February 5, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 138.

[1451] Ibid., ubi supra.—Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.

[1452] Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.—Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS.

De Thou, taking his account from the architect Louis de Foix, has provided Carlos with still more formidable means of defence. "Ce Prince inquiet ne dormoit point, qu'il n'eût sous son chevet deux épées nues et deux pistolets chargez. Il avoit encore dans sa garderobe deux arquebuses avec de la poudre et des balles, toujours prêtes à tirer." Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 439.

[1453] Ibid., ubi supra.

[1454] "Così S. M^ta fece levare tutte l'armi, et tutti i ferri sino à gli alari di quella camera, et conficcare le finestre." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS.

[1455] "Aquí alço el principe grandes bozes diziendo, mateme Vra M^d y no me prenda porque es grande escandalo para el reyno y sino yo me mataré, al qual respondio el rey que no lo hiciere que era cosa de loco, y el principe respondio no lo hare como loco sino como desesperado pues Vra M^d me trata tan mal." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.

[1456] "Erasi di già tornato nel letto il Principe usando molte parole fuor di proposito: le quali non furno asverttite come dette quasi singhiozzando." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1568, MS.

[1457] "Y á cada uno de por sí con lagrimas (segun me ha certificado quien lo vió) les daba cuenta de la prission del Príncipe su hijo." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.

[1458] "Martes veinte de Enero de 1568, llamó S. M. á su cámara á los de el Consejo de Estado, y estubieron en ella desde la una de la tarde asta las nueve de la noche, no se sabe que se tratase, el Rey hace informacion, Secretario de ella és Oyos, hallase el Rey pressente al examen de los testigos, ay escripto casi un feme en alto." Ibid.

I have two copies of this interesting MS., one from Madrid, the other from the library of Sir Thomas Phillips. Llorente's translation of the entire document, in his Histoire de l'Inquisition, (tom. III. pp. 151-158,) cannot claim the merit of scrupulous accuracy.

[1459] "Unos le llamaban prudente, otros severo, porque su risa i cuchillo eran confines." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.

These remarkable words seem to escape from Cabrera, as if he were noticing only an ordinary trait of character.

[1460] "Mirabanse los mas cuerdos sellando la boca con el dedo i el silencio." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1461] "In questo mezo è prohibito di mandar corriero nessuno, volendo essere Sus Maestà il primo á dar alli Prencipi quest'aviso." Lettera del Nunzio, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS.

[1462] "En fin yo he querido hacer en esta parte sacrificio à Dios de mi propia carne y sangre y preferir su servicio y el bien y beneficio público á las otras consideraciones humanas." Traslado de la Carta que su magestad escrivió à la Reyna de Portugal sobre le prision del Principe su hijo, 20 de Enero, 1568, MS.

[1463] "Solo me ha parecido ahora advertir que el fundamento de esta mi determinacion no depende de culpa, ni inovediencia, ni desacato, ni es enderezada à castigo, que aunque para este havia la muy suficiente materia, pudiera tener su tiempo y su termino." Ibid.

[1464] "Ni tampoco lo he tomado por medio, teniendo esperanza que por este camino se reformarán sus excesos y desordenes. Tiene este negocio otro principio y razon, cuyo remedio no consiste en tiempo, ni medios; y que es de mayor importancia y consideracion para satisfacer yo á la dicha obligacion que tengo á Dios nuestro señor y á los dichos mis Reynos." Ibid.

[1465] "Pues aunque es verdad que en el discurso de su vida y trato haya habido ocasion de alguna desobediencia ó desacato que pudieran justificar qualquiera demostracion, esto no me obligaría á llegar á tan estrecho punto. La necesidad y conveniencia han producido las causas que me han movido muy urgentes y precisas con mi hijo primogenito y solo." Carta del Rey á su Embajador en Roma, 22 de Enero, 1568, MS.

[1466] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries vol. I. p. 136.

[1467] "Querria el Papa saber por carta de V. M. la verdad." Carta de Zuñiga al Rey, 28 de Abril, 1568, MS.

[1468] Lorea, Vida de Pio Quinto, (Valladolid, 1713,) p. 131.

[1469] In the Archives of Simancas is a department known as the Patronato, or family papers, consisting of very curious documents, of so private a nature as to render them particularly difficult of access. In this department is deposited the correspondence of Zuñiga, which, with other documents in the same collection, has furnished me with some pertinent extracts.

[1470] "Estan en el archivo de Simancas, donde en el año mil i quinientos i noventa i dos los metio don Cristoval de Mora de su Camara en un cofrecillo verde en que se conservan," Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.

[1471] It is currently reported, as I am informed, among the scholars of Madrid, that in 1828, Ferdinand the Seventh caused the papers containing the original process of Carlos, with some other documents, to be taken from Simancas; but whither they were removed is not known. Nor since that monarch's death have any tidings been heard of them.

[1472] "Rispose che questo saria el manco, perchè se non fosse stato altro pericolo che della persona del Rè si saria guardata, et rimediato altramente, ma che ci era peggio, si peggio può essere, al che sua Maestà ha cercato per ogni via di rimediare due anni continui, perchè vedeva pigliarli la mala via, ma non ha mai potuto fermare ne regolare questo cervello, fin che è bisognato arrivare a questo." Lettera del Nunzio, Gennaio 24, 1568, MS.

[1473] "Non lascerò però di dirle, ch'io ho ritratto et di luogo ragionevole, che si sospetta del Prencipe di poco Cattolico: et quello, che lo fà credere, è che fin'adesso non li han fatto dir messa." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1698, MS.

[1474] "El Papa alaba mucho la determinacion de V. M. porque entiende que la conservacion de la Christianidad depende de que Dios de à V. M. muchos años de vida y qu edespues tenga tal sucesor que sepa seguir sus pisadas." Carta de Zuñiga, Junio 25, 1568, MS.

[1475] Leti has been more fortunate in discovering a letter from Don Carlos to Count Egmont, found among the papers of that nobleman at the time of his arrest. (Vita di Filippo II. tom. I. p. 543.) The historian is too discreet to vouch for the authenticity of the document, which indeed would require a better voucher than Leti to obtain our confidence.

[1476] De Castro labors hard to prove that Don Carlos was a Protestant. If he fails to establish the fact, he must be allowed to have shown that the prince's conduct was such as to suggest great doubts of his orthodoxy, among those who approached the nearest to him. See Historia de los Protestantes Españoles, p. 319 et seq.

[1477] "Sua Maestà ha dato ordine, che nelle lettere, che si scrivono a tutti li Prencipi et Regni, si dica, che la voce ch'è uscita ch 'l Prencipe havesse cercato di offendere la Real persona sua propria è falsa, et questo medesimo fa dire a bocea da Ruy Gomez all'Imbasciatori." Lettera del Nunzio Gennaio 27, 1568, MS.

[1478] "Si tien per fermo che privaranno il Prencipe della successione, et non lo liberaranno mai." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS.

[1479] "Para rezarse le diesen las Oras, Breviario i Rosario que pidiese, i libros solamente de buena dotrina i devocion, si quisiese leer y oir." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, b. VII. cap. 22.

[1480] The montero was one of the body-guard of the king for the night. The right of filling this corps was an ancient privilege accorded to the inhabitants of a certain district named Espinosa de los Monteros. Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 163.

[1481] The regulations are given in extenso by Cabrera, (Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22,) and the rigor with which they were enforced is attested by the concurrent reports of the foreign ministers at the court. In one respect, however, they seem to have been relaxed, if, as Nobili states, the prince was allowed to recreate himself with the perusal of Spanish law-books, which he may have consulted with reference to his own case. "Hà domandato, che li siano letti li statuti, et le leggi di Spagna: ne'quali spende molto studio. Scrive assai di sua mano, et subito scritto lo straccia." Lettera di Nobili, Giugno 8, 1568, MS.

[1482] "Per questa causa dunque il Rè et Regina vechia di quel regno hanno mandato qui un ambasciatore a far offltio col Rè cattolico per il Prencipe, dolersi del caso, offerirsi di venire la Regina propria a governarlo como madre." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS.

[1483] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 141.

[1484] Ibid., pp. 146-148.

[1485] "Reyna y Princesa lloran: Don Juan vá cada noche á Palacio, y una fué muy llano, como de luto, y el Rey le riñió, y mandó no andubiesse de aquel modo, sino como solia de antes." Relación del Ayuda de Cámara, MS.

[1486] "Sua Maestà ha fatto intendere a tutte le città del Reyno, che non mandino huomini o imbasciator nessuno, ne per dolersi, ne per cerimonia, ne per altro; et pare che habbia a caro, che nessuno glie ne parli, et così ogn'huomo tace." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS.

[1487] Letter of Fourquevaulx, April 13, 1568. ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 143.

A letter of condolence from the municipality of Murcia was conceived in such a loyal and politic vein as was altogether unexceptionable. "We cannot reflect," it says, "without emotion, on our good fortune in having a sovereign so just, and so devoted to the weal of his subjects, as to sacrifice to this every other consideration, even the tender attachment which he has for his own offspring." This, which might seem irony to some, was received by the king, as it was doubtless intended, in perfect good faith. His indorsement, in his own handwriting, on the cover, shows the style in which he liked to be approached by his loving subjects. "This letter is written with prudence and discretion."—A translation of the letter, dated February 16, 1568, is in Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 161.