[1206] It is doubted, if I rightly remember, by Mr. Prescott. But the opinion of that able historian is entitled to less weight from his want of acquaintance with Dutch literature, where the principal evidence must be sought for. On this, as on many other matters, the valuable work of Mr. Motley leaves little to desire.

[1207] Prescott's Philip II., vol. i. pp. 196, 197. In 1523, the first persons were burned. Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 69. The mode of burying alive is described in Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 383, vol. ii. pp. 311, 312.

[1208] He died on the 21st September; and on the 9th he signed a codicil, in which he ‘enjoined upon his son to follow up and bring to justice every heretic in his dominions, and this without exception, and without favour or mercy to any one. He conjured Philip to cherish the holy inquisition as the best means of accomplishing this good work.’ Prescott's Additions to Robertson's Charles V., p. 576. See also his instructions to Philip in Raumer's History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 91; and on his opinion of the Inquisition, see his conversation with Sir Thomas Wyatt, printed from the State Papers in Froude's History of England, vol. iii. p. 456, London, 1858. This may have been mere declamation; but in Tapia's Civilizacion Española, Madrid, 1840, vol. iii. pp. 76, 77, will be found a deliberate and official letter, in which Charles does not hesitate to say, ‘La santa inquisicion como oficio santo y puesto por los reyes católicos, nuestros señores y abuelos á honra de Dios nuestro señor y de nuestra santa fé católica, tengo firme é entrañablemente asentado y fijado en mi corazon, para la mandar favorecer y honrar, como principe justo y temeroso de Dios es obligado y debe hacer.’

The codicil to the will of Charles still exists, or did very recently, among the archives at Simancas. Ford's Spain, 1847, p. 334. In M. Lafuente's great work, Historia de España, vol. xii. pp. 494, 495, Madrid, 1853, it is referred to in language which, in more senses than one, is perfectly Spanish: ‘Su testamento y codicilo respiran las ideas cristianas y religiosas en que habia vivido y la piedad que señaló su muerte.’ … ‘Es muy de notar en primera cláusula [i.e.] of the codicil

[1209] Native testimony may perhaps be accused of being partial; but, on the other hand, Raumer, in his valuable History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 22, justly observes, that his character has been misrepresented ‘by reason that historians have availed themselves by preference of the inimical narratives of French and Protestant writers.’ To steer between these extremes, I will transcribe the summing up of Charles's reign as it is given by a learned and singularly unprejudiced writer. ‘Tortuous as was sometimes the policy of the emperor, he never, like Francis, acted with treachery; his mind had too much of native grandeur for such baseness. Sincere in religion and friendship, faithful to his word, clement beyond example, liberal towards his servants, indefatigable in his regal duties, anxious for the welfare of his subjects, and generally blameless in private life, his character will not suffer by a comparison with that of any monarch of his times.’ Dunham's History of Spain, vol. v. p. 41. ‘Clemency was the basis of his character.’ p. 30.

[1210] ‘The Spaniards, as he grew in years, beheld, with pride and satisfaction, in their future sovereign, the most perfect type of the national character.’ Prescott's History of Philip II. vol. i. p. 39. So, too, in Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 128, ‘he was entirely a Spaniard;’ and in Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. i. p. 155, ‘pero el reinado de Felipe fué todo Español.’

[1211] Prescott's Philip II. vol. i. pp. 68, 210, vol. ii. p. 26. Watson's Philip II. p. 55. Compare Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxxiv. p. 273.

[1212] ‘Como era tan zeloso en la extirpación de la heregía, uno de sus primeros cuidados fué el castigo de los Luteranos; y á presencia suya, se executó en Valladolid el dia ocho de Octubre el suplicio de muchos reos de este delito.’ Miñana, Continuacion de Mariana, vol. ix. p. 212.

[1213] ‘The contest with Protestantism in Spain, under such auspices, was short. It began in earnest and in blood about 1559, and was substantially ended in 1570.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. p. 425. See also M'Crie's History of the Reformation in Spain, pp. 336, 346. Thus it was that ‘España se preservó del contagio. Hizolo con las armas Carlos V., y con las hogueras los inquisidores. España se aisló del movimiento europeo.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. i. p. 144, Madrid, 1850. M. Lafuente adds, that, in his opinion, all Christendom is about to follow the good example set by Spain of rejecting Protestantism. ‘Si no nos equivocamos, en nuestra misma edad se notan sintomas de ir marchando este problema hácia su resolucion. El catolicismo gana prosélitos; los protestantes de hoy no son lo que antes fueron, y creemos que la unidad católica se realizará.’

[1214] Before the arrival of Alva, ‘Philip's commands to Margaret were imperative, to use her utmost efforts to extirpate the heretics.’ Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 551; and in 1563 he wrote, ‘The example and calamities of France prove how wholesome it is to punish heretics with rigour.’ Raumer's History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 171. The Spaniards deemed the Dutch guilty of a double crime; being rebels against God and the king: ‘Rebeldes á Dios por la heregía, y á su Principe á quien debian obedecer.’ Mariana, Historia de España, vol. vii. p. 410. ‘Tratauan de secreto de quitar la obediencia á Dios y á su Principe.’ Vanderhammen's Don Filipe el Prudente Segundo deste Nombre, Madrid, 1632, p. 44 rev. Or, as Miñana phrases it, Philip ‘tenia los mismos enemigos que Dios.’ Continuacion de Mariana, vol. x. p. 139.

[1215] Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. p. 229. Watson's Philip II. pp. 51, 52, 177.

[1216] Mr. Motley, under the year 1566, says, ‘The Prince of Orange estimated that up to this period fifty thousand persons in the provinces had been put to death in obedience to the edicts. He was a moderate man, and accustomed to weigh his words.’ Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. i. pp. 424, 425.

[1217] Watson's Philip II. pp. 248, 249. Tapia (Civilizacion Española, vol. iii. p. 95) says, ‘quitó la vida á mas de diez y ocho mil protestantes con diversos géneros de suplicios.’ Compare Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. ii. p. 423, and Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 608.

[1218] Davies' History of Holland, vol. i. p. 567. Vanderhammen (Don Filipe el Prudente, Madrid, 1632, p. 52 rev.), with tranquil pleasure, assures us that ‘muriessen mil y setecientas personas en pocos dias con fuego, cordel y cuchillo en diuersos lugares.’

[1219] ‘El duque de Alba, obrando en conformidad á las instrucciones de su soberano, y apoyado en la aprobacion que merecian al rey todas sus medidas.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xiii. p. 221.

[1220] ‘It was to restore the Catholic Church that he desired to obtain the empire of Europe.’ Davies' History of Holland, vol. ii. p. 329. ‘El protestó siempre “que sus desinios en la guerra, y sus exercitos no se encaminauan á otra cosa, que el ensalçamiento de la Religion Christiana.”’ Vanderhammen's Don Filipe el Prudente, p. 125. ‘El que aspiraba á someter todas las naciones de la tierra á su credo religioso.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xv. p. 203. The bishop of Salamanca in 1563 openly boasted ‘que son roi ne s'étoit marié avec la reine d'Angleterre que pour ramener cette isle à l'obéissance de l'église.’ Continuation de Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. xxxiii. p. 331. Compare Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vi. p. 204. ‘Este casamiento no debió de tener otras miras que el de la religion.’

[1221] On this treaty, the only humiliating one which he ever concluded, see Prescott's Philip II. vol. i. p. 104. His dying advice to his son was, ‘Siempre estareis en la obediencia de la Santa Iglesia Romana, y del Sumo Pontifice, teniendole por vuestro Padre espiritual.’ Davila, Historia de la Vida de Felipe Tercero, Madrid, 1771, folio, lib. i. p. 29. According to another writer, ‘La ultima palabra que le salió con el espiritu, fue: “Yo muero como Catolico Christiano en la Fe y obediencia de la Iglesia Romana, y respeto al Papa, como á quien trae en sus manos las llaues del Cielo, como á Principe de la Iglesia, y Teniente de Dios sobre el imperio de las almas.”’ Vanderhammen, Don Filipe el Prudente, p. 124.

[1222] Elizabeth, uniting the three terrible qualities of heresy, power, and ability, was obnoxious to the Spaniards to an almost incredible degree, and there never was a more thoroughly national enterprise than the fitting out of the Armada against her. One or two passages from a grave historian, will illustrate the feelings with which she was regarded even after her death, and will assist the reader in forming an opinion respecting the state of the Spanish mind. ‘Isabel, ó Jezabel, Reyna de Inglaterra, heretica Calvinista, y la mayor perseguidora que ha tenido la sangre de Jesu-Christo y los hijos de la Iglesia.’ Davila, Historia de Felipe Tercero, p. 74. ‘Los sucesos de fuera causaron admiracion; y el mayor y muy esperado de toda la Christiandad fue la muerte de Isabela, Reyna de Inglaterra, heretica Calvinista, que hizo su nombre famoso con la infamia de su vida, y perseguir á la Iglesia, derramando la sangre de los Santos, que defendian la verdadera Religion Catolica, dexando registradas sus maldades en las historias públicas del mundo, pasando su alma á coger el desdichado fruto de su obstinada soberbia en las penas del Infierno, donde conoce con el castigo perpetuo el engaño de su vida.’ pp. 83, 84.

[1223] One of the most eminent of living historians well says, ‘It was Philip's enthusiasm to embody the wrath of God against heretics.’ Motley's Dutch Republic, vol. ii. p. 155. ‘Philip lived but to enforce what he chose to consider the will of God.’ p. 285.

[1224] ‘Personne vivante ne parloit à lui qu'à genoux, et disoit pour son excuse à cela qu'estant petit de corps, chacun eust paru plus eslevé que lui, outre qu'il sçavoit que les Espagnols estoient d'humeur si altiere et hautaine, qu'il estoit besoin qu'il les traittast de cette façon; et pour ce mesme ne se laissoit voir que peu souvent du peuple, n'y mesme des grands, sinon aux jours solemnels, et action necessaire, en cette façon? il faisoit ses commandemens à demy mot, et falloit que l'on devinast le reste, et que l'on ne manquast à bien accomplir toutes ses intentions; mesmes les gentilshommes de sa chambre, et autres qui approchoient plus près de sa personne, n'eussent osé parler devant luy s'il ne leur eust commandé, se tenant un tout seul à la fois près de la porte du lieu où il estoit, et demeurant nud teste incessamment, et appuyé contra une tapisserie, pour attendre et recevoir ses commandemens.’ Mémoires de Cheverny, pp. 352, 353, in Petitot's Collection des Mémoires, vol. xxxvi. Paris, 1823.

[1225] These are the words of Contarini, as given in Ranke's Ottoman and Spanish Empires, London, 1843, p. 33. Sismondi, though unacquainted with this passage, observes in his Literature of the South of Europe, vol. ii. p. 273, London, 1846, that Philip, though ‘little entitled to praise, has yet been always regarded with enthusiasm by the Spaniards.’ About half a century after his death, Sommerdyck visited Spain, and in his curious account of that country he tells us that Philip was called ‘le Salomon de son siècle.’ Aarsens de Sommerdyck, Voyage d'Espagne, Paris, 1665, 4to, pp. 63, 95. See also Yañez, Memorias para la Historia de Felipe III., Madrid, 1723, p. 294. ‘El gran Felipe, aquel Sabio Salomon.’ Another writer likens him to Numa. ‘Hacia grandes progresos la piedad, á la qual se dedicaba tanto el Rey Don Felipe, que parecia su reynado en España lo que en Roma el de Numa, despues de Rómulo.’ Miñana Continuacion de Mariana, vol. ix. p. 241. When he died, ‘celebradas sus exêquias entre lágrimas y gemidos.’ vol. x. pp. 259, 260. We further learn from Vanderhammen's Filipe Segundo, Madrid, 1632, p. 120 rev., that the people ascribed to him ‘una grandeza adorable, y alguna cosa mas que las ordinarias á los demas hombres.’

[1226] ‘Habits of reverence, which, if carried into religion, cause superstition, and if carried into politics, cause despotism.’ Buckle's Hist. of Civilization, vol. ii. p. 117.

[1227] ‘More ballads are connected with Spanish history than with any other, and, in general, they are better. The most striking peculiarity of the whole mass is, perhaps, to be found in the degree in which it expresses the national character. Loyalty is constantly prominent. The Lord of Butrago sacrifices his own life to save that of his sovereign,’ &c. Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. p. 133. ‘In the implicit obedience of the old Spanish knight, the order of the king was paramount to every consideration, even in the case of friendship and love. This code of obedience has passed into a proverb—“mas pesa el Rey que la sangre,”’ Ford's Spain, p. 183. Compare the admirable little work of Mr. Lewes, The Spanish Drama, London, 1846, p. 120, ‘ballads full of war, loyalty, and love.’

[1228] See some interesting remarks in M. Tapia's Civilizacion Española, vol. i. He observes that, though cruelly persecuted by Alfonso, the first thing done by the Cid, after gaining a great victory, was to order one of his captains ‘para que lleve al rey Alfonso treinta caballos árabes bien ensillados, con sendas espadas pendientes de los arzones en señal de homenage, á pesar del agravio que habia recibido.’ p. 274. And at p. 280, ‘comedido y obediente súbdito á un rey que tan mal le habia tratado.’ Southey (Chronicle of the Cid, p. 268) notices with surprise that the Cid is represented in the old chronicles as ‘offering to kiss the feet of the king.’

[1229] ‘Le xvi^e Concile de Tolède appelait les rois “vicaires de Dieu et du Christ;” et rien n'est plus fréquent dans les conciles de cette époque que leurs exhortations aux peuples pour l'observation du serment de fidélité á leur roi, et leurs anathêmes contre les séditieux.’ Sempere, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. i. p. 41. ‘Aparte de los asuntos de derecho civil y canonico y de otros varios que dicen relacion al gobierno de la iglesia, sobre los cuales se contienen en todos ellos disposiciones muy útiles y acertadas, la mayor parte de las leyes dictadas en estas asambleas tuvieron por objeto dar fuerza y estabilidad al poder real, proclamando su inviolabilidad y estableciendo graves penas contra los infractores; condenar las heregías,’ &c. Antequera, Historia de la Legislacion Española, p. 47.

[1230] ‘Loyalty to a superior is carried to a more atrocious length by the Spanish law than I have seen it elsewhere.’ … ‘The Partidas (P. 2, T. 13, L. 1) speaks of an old law whereby any man who openly wished to see the King dead, was condemned to death, and the loss of all that he had. The utmost mercy to be shown him was to spare his life and pluck out his eyes, that he might never see with them what he had desired. To defame the King is declared as great a crime as to kill him, and in like manner to be punished. The utmost mercy that could be allowed was to cut out the offender's tongue. P. 2, T. 13, L. 4.’ Southey's Chronicle of the Cid, p. 442. Compare Johnston's Civil Law of Spain, London, 1825, p. 269, on ‘Blasphemers of the King.’

[1231] Thus, Montalvan, the eminent poet and dramatist, who was born in 1602, ‘avoided, we are told, representing rebellion on the stage, lest he should seem to encourage it.’ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. ii. p. 283. A similar spirit is exhibited in the plays of Calderon and of Lope de Vega. On the ‘Castilian loyalty’ evinced in one of Calderon's comedies, see Hallam's Literature of Europe, 2d edit. London, 1843, vol. iii. p. 63; and as to Lope, see Lewes on the Spanish Drama, p. 78.

[1232] ‘His Majesty's horses could never be used by any other person. One day, while Philip IV. was going in procession to the church of Our Lady of Atocha, the Duke of Medina-de-las-Torres offered to present him with a beautiful steed which belonged to him, and which was accounted the finest in Madrid; but the King declined the gift, because he should regret to render so noble an animal ever after useless.’' Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 372. Madame d'Aulnoy, who travelled in Spain in 1679, and who, from her position, had access to the best sources of information, was told of this piece of etiquette. ‘L'on m'a dit que lors que le Roy s'est servy d'un cheval, personne par respect ne le monte jamais.’ D'Aulnoy, Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, Lyon, 1693, vol. ii. p. 40. In the middle of the eighteenth century, I find another notice of this loyal custom, which, likely enough, is still a tradition in the Spanish stables. ‘If the king has once honoured a Pad so much as to cross his back, it is never to be used again by anybody else.’ A Tour through Spain, by Udal ap Rhys, 2d edit. London, 1760, p. 15.

[1233] Madame d'Aulnoy, who was very inquisitive respecting these matters, says (Relation du Voyage d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 411), ‘Il y a une autre étiquette, c'est qu'après que le Roi a eu une Maitresse, s'il vient à la quitter, il faut qu'elle se fasse Religieuse, comme je vous l'ai déjà écrit; et l'on m'a conté que le feu Roi s'estant amoureux d'une Dame du Palais, il fut un soir fraper doucement à la porte de sa chambre. Comme elle comprit que c'estoit lui, elle ne voulut pas lui ouvrir, et elle se contenta de lui dire au travers de la porte, Baya, baya, con Dios, no quiero ser monja; c'est à dire, “Allez allez, Dieu vous conduise, je n'ai pas envie d'estre Religieuse.”’ So too Henry IV. of Castile, who came to the throne in the year 1454, made one of his mistresses ‘abbess of a convent in Toledo;’ in this case to the general scandal, because, says Mr. Prescott, he first expelled ‘her predecessor, a lady of noble rank and irreproachable character.’ Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 68.

[1234] There is, however, one very remarkable old law, in the form of a canon enacted by the third Council of Saragossa, which orders that the royal widows ‘seront obligées à prendre l'habit de religieuses, et à s'enfermer dans un monastère pour le reste de leur vie.’ Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique, vol. ix. p. 104. In 1065 Ferdinand I. died; and, says the biographer of the Spanish Queens, ‘La Reyna sobrevivió: y parece, que muerto su marido, entró en algun Monasterio; lo que expressamos no tanto por la costumbre antigua, quanto por constar en la Memoria referida de la Iglesia de Leon, el dictado de ‘Consagrada á Dios,’ frasse que denota estado Religioso.’ Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, Madrid, 1761, 4to, vol. i. p. 148. In 1667 it was a settled principle that ‘les reines d'Espagne n'en sortent point. Le couvent de las Señoras descalças reales est fondé afin que les reines veuves s'y enferment.’ Discours du Comte de Castrillo à la Reine d'Espagne, in Mignet's Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, vol. ii. p. 604, Paris, 1835, 4to. This valuable work consists for the most part of documents previously unpublished, many of which are taken from the archives at Simancas. To the critical historian, it would have been more useful if the original Spanish had been given.

[1235] See some good remarks on San Phelipe, in Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, vol. iii. pp. 213, 214, which might easily be corroborated by other testimony; as, for instance, Lafuente under the year 1710: ‘Ni el abandono de la Francia, ni la prolongacion y los azares de la guerra, ni los sacrificios pecuniarios y personales de tantos años, nada bastaba á entibiar el amor de los castellanos á su rey Felipe V.’ (Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 258); and Berwick (Mémoires, vol. ii. p. 114, edit. Paris, 1778): ‘La fidélité inouie des Espagnols;’ and, nine years earlier, a letter from Louville to Torcy: ‘Le mot révolte, pris dans une acception rigoureuse, n'a pas de sens en Espagne.’ Louville, Mémoires sur l'établissement de la Maison de Bourbon en Espagne, edit. Paris, 1818, vol. i. p. 128. See also Memoirs of Ripperda, London, 1740, p. 58; and Mémoires de Gramont, vol. ii. p. 77, edit. Petitot, Paris, 1827. All these passages illustrate Spanish loyalty in the eighteenth century, except the reference to Gramont, which concerns the seventeenth, and which should be compared with the following observations of Madame D'Aulnoy, who writes from Madrid in 1679: ‘Quelques richesses qu'ayent les grands Seigneurs, quelque grande que soit leur fierté ou leur présomption, ils obéïssent aux moindres ordres du Roy, avec une exactitude et un respect que l'on ne peut assez loüer. Sur le premier ordre ils partent, ils reviennent, ils vont en prison, ou en exil, sans se plaindre. Il ne se peut trouver une soûmission, et une obéïssance plus parfaite, ni un amour plus sincère, que celui des Espagnols pour leur Roi. Ce nom leur est sacré, et pour réduire le peuple à tout ce que l'on souhaite, il suffit de dire, “Le Roi le veut.”’ D'Aulnoy, Voyage, vol. ii. pp. 256, 257.

[1236] ‘And Olivarez had been heard to censure very severely the duke's (Buckingham's) familiarity and want of respect towards the prince, a crime monstrous to the Spaniard.’ … ‘Their submissive reverence to their princes being a vital part of their religion.’ Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, ed. Oxford, 1843, p. 15. For the religion of loyalty, in an earlier period, see Florez, Reynas Catholicas, vol. i. p. 421: ‘La persona del Rey fue mirada de sus fieles vassallos con respeto tan sagrado,’ that resistance was ‘una especie de sacrilegio.’

[1237] These impediments to intercourse were once deemed almost invincible. Fontenay-Mareuil, who visited Spain in 1612, and was not a little proud of the achievement, says, ‘Au reste, parcequ'on ne va pas aussy ordinairement en Espagne qu'en France, en Italie et ailleurs; et qu'estant comme en un coin, et séparée du reste du monde par la mer ou par les Pyrénées, on n'en a, ce me semble, guere de connoissance, j'ay pense que je devois faire icy une petite digression pour dire ce que j'en ay appris dans ce voyage et despuis.’ Mémoires de Fontenay-Mareuil, in Collection des Mémoires par Petitot, vol. i. p. 169, 1^e Série, Paris, 1826. Seventy years later, another writer on Spain says of the Pyrenees, ‘Ces montagnes sont à nos voyageurs modernes, ce qu'étoit aux anciens mariniers le Non plus ultra et les colomnes du grand Hercule.’ L'Estat de l'Espagne, Geneve, 1681 Epistre, p. ii. This work, little known and not much worth knowing, forms the third volume of Le Prudent Voyageur.

[1238] ‘Con razon se miró la conquista de Granada, no como un acontecimiento puramente español, sino como un suceso que interesaba al mundo. Con razon tambien se regocijó toda la cristiandad. Hacia medio siglo que otros mahometanos se habian apoderado de Constantinopla; la caida de la capital y del imperio bizantino en poder de los turcos habia llenado de terror á la Europa; pero la Europa se consoló al saber que en España habia concluido la dominacion de los musulmanes.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xi. p. 15.

[1239] ‘L'Espagne, long-temps partagée en plusieurs états, et comme étrangère au reste de l'Europe, devint tout-à-coup une puissance redoutable, faisant pencher pour elle la balance de la politique.’ Koch, Tableau des Révolutions de l'Europe, Paris, 1823, vol. i. p. 362. On the relation between this and some changes in literature which corresponded to it, see Bouterwek's History of Spanish Literature, vol. i. pp. 148–152, where there are some ingenious, though perhaps scarcely tenable, speculations.

[1240] ‘The holy war with the infidels’ (Mohammedans) ‘perpetuated the unbecoming spectacle of militant ecclesiastics among the Spaniards, to a still later period, and long after it had disappeared from the rest of civilized Europe.’ Prescott's History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 162.

[1241] A learned Spanish lawyer has made some remarks which are worth quoting, and which contain a curious mixture of truth and error: ‘Comment la monarchie espagnole fut-elle déchue de tant de grandeur et de gloire? Comment perdit-elle les Pays-Bas et le Portugal dans le dix-septième siècle, et s'y trouva-t-elle réduite à n'être qu'un squelette de ce qu'elle avait été auparavant? Comment vit-elle disparaître plus d'une moitié de sa population? Comment, possédant les mines inépuisables du Nouveau Monde, les revenus de l'état n'étaient à peine que de six millions de ducats sous le règne de Philippe III? Comment son agriculture et son industrie furent-elles ruinées? et comment presque tout son commerce passa-t-il dans les mains de ses plus grands ennemis? Ce n'est point ici le lieu d'examiner les véritables causes d'une métamorphose si triste; il suffira d'indiquer que tous les grands empires contiennent en euxmêmes le germe de leur dissolution,’ &c. ‘D'ailleurs les successeurs de ces deux monarques’ (Charles V. and Philip II.) ‘n'eurent point les mêmes talens, ni les ducs de Lerme et d'Olivarès, leurs ministres, ceux du cardinal Cisneros; et il est difficile de calculer l'influence de la bonne ou de la mauvaise direction des affaires sur la prospérité ou les malheurs des nations. Sous une même forme de gouvernement, quel qu'il puisse être, elles tombent ou se relèvent suivant la capacité des hommes qui les dirigent, et d'après les circonstances où ils agissent.’ Sempère, Histoire des Cortès, Bordeaux, 1815, pp. 265–267. Of the two passages which I have marked with italics, the first is a clumsy, though common, attempt to explain complicated phenomena by a metaphor which saves the trouble of generalizing their laws. The other passage, though perfectly true as regards Spain, does not admit of that universal application which M. Sempere supposes; inasmuch as in England, and in the United States of America, national prosperity has steadily advanced, even when the rulers have been very incapable men.

[1242] ‘With Philip II. ends the greatness of the kingdom, which from that period declined with fearful rapidity.’ Dunham's History of Spain, vol. v. p. 87. And Ortiz (Compendio, vol. vii., Prologo, p. 6) classes together ‘la muerte de Felipe II. y principios de nuestra decadencia.’ The same judicious historian elsewhere observes (vol. vi. p. 211), that if Philip III. had been equal to his father, Spain would have continued to flourish. Several of the more recent Spanish writers, looking at the heavy expenses caused by the policy of Philip II., and at the debts which he incurred, have supposed that the decline of the country began in the latter years of his reign. But the truth is, that no great nation ever was, or ever will be, ruined by the prodigality of its government. Such extravagance causes general discomfort, and therefore ought not to be tolerated; but if this were the place for so long an argument, I could easily show that its other and more permanent inconveniences are nothing like what they are commonly supposed to be.

[1243] ‘Abstraido Felipe III. en devociones, amante Felipe IV. deregocijos, mortificado Carlos II. por padecimientos, cuidáronse poco ó nada de la gobernacion del Estado, y confiaronla á validos altaneros, codiciosos, incapaces, y de muy funesta memoria.’ Rio, Historia del Reinado de Carlos III., Madrid, 1856, vol. i. p. 33.

[1244] ‘Sans espérance de postérité.’ Millot, Mémoires de Noailles, vol. i. p. 419. ‘Incapaz de tener hijos.’ Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vi. p. 560. See also Mémoires de Louville, vol. i. p. 82; and the allusions in Lettres de Madame de Villars, edit. Amsterdam, 1759, pp. 53, 120, 164. She was ambassadress in Spain in the reign of Charles II. M. Lafuente, who, if I rightly remember, never quotes these interesting letters, and who indeed, with very few exceptions, has used none but Spanish authorities, ventures nevertheless to observe that ‘La circunstancia de no haber tenido sucesion, falta que en general se achabaca mas al rey que á la reina,’ &c. Historia de España, vol. xvii. pp. 198, 199, Madrid, 1856. According to the biographer of the Spanish Queens, some persons imputed this to sorcery, ‘y aun se dijo si intervenia maleficio.’ Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, vol. ii. p. 973, Madrid, 1761, 4to.

[1245] In 1696, Stanhope, the English minister at Madrid, writes: ‘He has a ravenous stomach, and swallows all he eats whole, for his nether jaw stands so much out that his two rows of teeth cannot meet; to compensate which, he has a prodigious wide throat, so that a gizzard or liver of a hen passes down whole, and his weak stomach not being able to digest it, he voids it in the same manner.’ Mahon's Spain under Charles II., London, 1840, p. 79; a very valuable collection of original documents, utterly unknown to any Spanish historian I have met with. Some curious notices of the appearance of Charles II. in his childhood may be seen published for the first time in Mignet's Négociations relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, Paris, 1835–1842, 4to. vol. i. pp. 294, 295, 310, 396, 404, 410, vol. ii. p. 130, vol. iii. pp. 418, 419, 423. See also vol. iv. p. 636, for an instance of his taciturnity, which was almost the only mark of sense he ever gave, ‘Le roi l'écouta, et ne lui répondit rien.’

[1246] ‘Le Roy demeuroit dans une profonde ignorance et de ses affaires et même des Etats de sa couronne; à peine connoissoit-il quelles étoient les places qui lui appartenoient hors du continent d'Espagne.’ … ‘La perte de Barcelone lui fut plus sensible qu'aucune autre, parce que cette ville, capitale de la Catalogne, et située dans le continent de l'Espagne, lui étoit plus connue que les villes de Flandre, dont il ignoroit l'importance au point de croire que Mons appartenoit au roi d'Angleterre, et de le plaindre lorsque le Roi fit la conquête de cette province.’ Mémoires du Marquis de Torcy, vol. i. pp. 19, 23, edit. Petitot, Paris, 1828.

[1247] ‘Fancying everything that is said or done to be a temptation of the devil, and never thinking himself safe but with his confessor, and two friars by his side, whom he makes lie in his chamber every night.’ Mahon's Spain under Charles II., p. 102. On account, no doubt, of this affection for monks, he is declared by a Spanish historian to have possessed a ‘corazon pio y religioso.’ Bacallar, Comentarios de la Guerra de España, vol. i. p. 20. The best notice of the exorcism will be found in Lafuente's Historia de España, vol. xvii. pp. 294–309, where there is an entire chapter, headed ‘Los Hechizos del Rey.’

[1248] ‘La foiblesse de l'Espagne ne permettoit pas à son roi de se ressentir du traitement dont il croyoit à propos de se plaindre.’ Mémoires de Torcy, vol. i. p. 81. Or, as an eminent native writer bitterly says, ‘Las naciones estrangeras disponiendo de la monarquia española como de bienes sin dueño.’ Tapia, Civilizacion Española, vol. iii. p. 187.

[1249]

[1250] The Spanish theory of government is well stated in the following passage in Davila's Life of Philip III. The remarks apply to Philip II. ‘Que solo havia gobernado sin Validos ni Privados, tomando para sí solo, como primera causa de su gobierno, el mandar, prohibir, premiar, castigar, hacer mercedes, conocer sugetos, elegir Ministros, dar oficios, y tener como espiritu que andaba sobre las aguas, ciencia y providencia de todo, para que nada se hiciese sin su saber y querer: no serviendo los Ministros mas que de poner por obra (obedeciendo) lo que su Señor mandaba, velando sobre cada uno, como pastor de sus ovejas, para ver la verdad con que executan sus mandamientos y acuerdos.’ Davila, Historia de Felipe Tercero, lib. i. pp. 22, 23.

[1251] Even Philip II. always retained a certain ascendency over the ecclesiastical hierarchy, though he was completely subjugated by ecclesiastical prejudices. ‘While Philip was thus willing to exalt the religious order, already far too powerful, he was careful that it should never gain such a height as would enable it to overtop the royal authority.’ Prescott's History of Philip II., vol. iii. p. 235. ‘Pero este monarca tan afecto á la Inquisicion mientras le servia para sus fines, sabia bien tener á raya al Santo Oficio cuando intentaba invadir ó usurpar las preeminencias de la autoridad real, ó arrogarse un poder desmedido.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xv. p. 114.

[1252] ‘Por cuyo absoluto poderío se executaba todo.’ Yañez, Memorias para la Historia de Felipe III., Prologo, p. 150. ‘An absoluteness in power over king and kingdom.’ Letter from Sir Charles Cornwallis to the Lords of the Council in England, dated Valladolid, May 31, 1605, in Winwood's Memorials, vol. ii. p. 73, London, 1725, folio. ‘Porque no era fácil imaginar entónces, ni por fortuna se ha repetido el ejemplo después, que hubiera un monarca tan pródigo de autoridad, y al propio tiempo tan indolente, que por no tomarse siquiera el trabajo de firmar los documentos de Estado, quisiera dar á la firma de un vasalla suyo la misma autoridad que á la suya propia, y que advirtiera y ordenára, como ordenó Felipe III. á todos sus consejos, tribunales, y súbditos, que dieran á los despachos firmados por el duque de Lerma el mismo cumplimiento y obediencia, y los ejecutáran y guardáran con el mismo respeto que si fueran firmados por él.’ Lafuente, Historia de España, vol. xv. pp. 449, 450. ‘El duque de Lerma, su valído, era el que gobernaba el reino solo.’ vol. xvii. p. 332. His power lasted from 1598 to 1618. Ortiz, Compendio, vol. vi. pp. 290, 325.

[1253] Davila (Historia de Felipe Tercero, lib. ii. p. 41), after eulogizing the personal qualities of Lerma, adds, ‘Y sin estas grandes partes tuvo demostraciones christianas, manifestandolo en los conventos, iglesias, colegiatas, hospitales, ermitas y catedras, que dejó fundadas, en que gastó, como me consta de los libros de su Contaduría, un millon ciento cincuenta y dos mil doscientos ochenta y tres ducados.’ After such monstrous prodigality, Watson might well say, in his rather superficial, but, on the whole, well-executed History, that Lerma showed ‘the most devoted attachment to the church,’ and ‘conciliated the favour of ecclesiastics.’ Watson's History of Philip III., London, 1839, pp. 4, 8, 46, 224.

[1254] The only energy Philip III. ever displayed, was in seconding the efforts of his minister to extend the influence of the Church; and hence, according to a Spanish historian, he was ‘monarque le plus pieux parmi tous ceux qui out occupé le trône d'Espagne depuis saint Ferdinand.’ Sempère, Monarchie Espagnole, vol. i. p. 245. ‘El principal cuidado de nuestro Rey era tener á Dios por amigo, grangear y beneficiar su gracia, para que le asistiese propicio en quanto obrase y dixese. De aqui tuvieron principio tantos dones ofrecidos á Dios, tanta fundacion de Conventos, y favores hechos á Iglesias y Religiones.’ Davila, Historia de Felipe Tercero, lib. ii. p. 170. His wife, Margaret, was equally active. See Florez, Reynas Catholicas, vol. ii. pp. 915, 916. ‘Demas de los frutos que dió para el Cielo y para la tierra nuestra Reyna, tuvo otros de ambas lineas en fundaciones de Templos y obras de piedad para bien del Reyno y de la Iglesia. En Valladolid fundó el Convento de las Franciscas Descalzas. En Madrid trasladó á las Agustinas Recoletas de Santa Isabel desde la calle del Principe al sitio en que hoy estan. Protegió con sus limosnas la fundacion de la Iglesia de Carmelitas Descalzas de Santa Ana; y empezó á fundar el Real Convento de las Agustinas Recoletas con titulo de la Encarnacion en este misma Corte, cuya primera piedra se puso á 10 de Junio del 1611. En la parroquia de S. Gil junto al Palacio introdujo los Religiosos Franciscos, cuyo Convento persevera hoy con la misma advocacion.’ How the country fared, while all this was going on, we shall presently see.