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    December 4, 1852.] ^THE LEADER. 1166

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    Til 10 Oloistnit Ukic Oh(Miakliw V. The ...

    more than sufficient to hang the rest of the apartments ; the supply of cushions , eider-down quilts , and linen , was luxuriously ample ; his friends sat on chairs covered with black velvet ; and he himself reposed either on a chair with wheels , or in an easy chair which is described , as having six cushions and a footstool belonging to it . Of gold and silver plate , he had upwards of thirteen thousand ounces ; he washed his hands in silver basins with water poured from silver ewers ; the meanest utensil of his chamber was the same noble material ; and from the brief descriptions of his cups , vases , candlesticks , and salt-cellnrs , it seems probable that his table was graced with several masterpieces of Tobbia and Cellini .

    " In his dress he had ever been plain to parsimony , and therefore it was not very likely that he should turn dandy in the cloister . His suit of sober black was no doubt the same , or such another , as that painted by Titian in the fine portrait where the emperor still sits before us , pale , thoughtful , and dignified , in the Belvidere palace at Vienna ; and he probably often gave audience in such a ' gowne of black taffety and furred nightcap , like a great codpiece , ' as Roger Ascham saw him in , ' sitting sick in his chamber' at Augsburg , and looking so like Roger ' s friend , ' the parson of Epurstone . ' In his soldier-days he would knot and patch a broken sword belt until it would have disgraced a private trooper ; and he even carried his love of petty economy so far , that being caught near Naumburg in a shower , he took off his velvet cap , which happened to be new , and sheltered it under his arm ,

    going bareheaded in the rain until an old cap was brought him from the town . His jewel-case was , as might be supposed , rather miscellaneous than valuable in its contents , amongst which may be mentioned a few rings and bracelets , some medals and buttons to be worn in the cap , several collars and badges of various sizes of the Grolden Fleece , some crucifixes of gold and silver , various chaftns , such as the bezoar-stone against the plague , and gold rings from England against cramp , a morsel of the true cross , and other reliques , three or four pocket-watches , and several dozen pairs of spectacles . " If the emperor despised the vulgar gew-gaws of wealth and power , his retreat was adorned with some pictures , few , but well chosen , and worthy of a discerning lover of art , and the patron and friend of Titian . A composition on the subject of

    the Trinity , and three pictures of Our Lady , by that great master , filled the apartments with poetry and beauty ; and as specimens of his skill in another style , there were portraits of the recluse himself and of his empress . Our Lord bearing his cross , and several other sacred pictures , canie from the easel of ' Maestro Miguel 'probably Michael Cock , of Antwerp , famous for his skill in copying , and his dishonesty in appropriating the works of Eaphael . Three cased miniatures of the empress , painted in her youthful beauty , and soon after the honeymoon in the Alhambra , kept alive Charles ' s recollection of the wife whom he had lost ; and Mary Tudor , knitting her forbidding brows on a pane l of Antonio Moore , hung on the wall , to remind him of the wife whom he had escaped , and of the kingdom which his son had conquered in that prudent alliance . Philip himself , his sisters

    the princess-regent , the queen of Bohemia , and the duchess of Parma , and the king of France , portrayed on canvas , or in relief on plain medallions , likewise helped by their effigies to enliven the apartments of the emperor , as well as by their policy to occupy his daily thoughts and nightly dreams . Long tradition , which there seems little reason to doubt , adds , that over the high-altar of the convent , and in sight of his own bed , he had placed that celebrated composition called the ' Glory of Titian , ' a picture of the last judgment , in which Charles , his wife , and their royal children were represented in tho master ' s grandest style , as conducted by angels into life eternal . And another masterpiece of the great Venetian—St . Jerome praying in his cavern , with a sweet landscape in the distance—is also reputed to have formed the apposite altar-piece in the private oratory of the emperor .

    " Music , ever one of the favourite pleasures of Charles , here also lent its charms to soothe the cares which followed him from the world , the dyspepsia from which he would not even try to escape . A little organ , of exquisite tone , was long kept at the Escorial , with the tradition , thsit it had been the companion of his journeys , and the solace of liis evenings , when encamped before Tunis . The order of St . Jerome being desirous to gratify the taste of their guest , the general had reinforced tho choir of Yusto with fourteen or fifteeh friars , chosen from the different monasteries under his sway , for their fine voices and musical skill . In the management of tho choir and organ , the emperor took a lively interest ; and from the window of Iris bedroom his voice might often bo heard to accompany the chunt of tho friars . His cur never failed to detect a wrong note , and tho mouth whence it came ; mid ho would frequently mention the name of the offender ^ with tho addition of hideptda bernwjo , or some other epithet savouring more of the camp than the cloister . A singing master from Plascneia being ono day in tho church , ventured to join in the service ; but he had not sung many bars before orders came

    down from the palace that the iuterlomr . should be silenced or turned out . ( Juerrero , u chapel-master of Seville , having composed and presented to the emperor a book of musses and motets , ono of the former was soon selected for performance at Yuste . When it was ended , the imperial critic remarked to Ins confessor that Guerrero was a cunning thief ; and going over the piece , ho pointed out tho stolen passages , and named the masters whose works bad suHcrccl pillage . ****** " The Hin . ple and regular l . abifs of Charles accorded well with tho monotony of monastic life . Every morning , father Kegla appeared at tho bed-side to inqu . ro how ho had passed the night , and to assist him in his private devotion * , lie then rose and was dressed by his valets ; after which he heard mass ^ gon . g ( own , when his health permitted , into tin . church . According to bin invariable custom , winch dalla U

    in Italy was Hi iid to have given rise to tho . saying , mrs-sa , aU * m <> nsa ,- < nn mum to mess , lie went from these devotions < o dinner about noon Iho meal wan long ; for his appetite was voracious ; his bands were so disabled with gout that carving which lie neverthele . ss insisted on doing for liin . Mclf , was a tedious process ; and oven mastication was Hlo « r and dinioult , his teeth being so few and far between 'IW physician attended him « t <> d , le , and at least learned the causes of tho nusohicf which his art was to counteract . The patient , while he dined converse , with tho doctor on matters of science , genernlly of natural history ; and if any < Werenco of opinion arose , father U « 'f ? la was sent for to settle tho nomt out of IMmy . 1 ho do 1 , 1 m » .. k drawn / the confessor usually read aloud from ono o the emperor « avounfo divines , AuKUHtin ... . !««»'"" . «» r »«»'" ' < ' ><^' wh . eJi was followed by conversation , and an hour of slumber . At three o ' clock the monks wore "' - <> - < - tho convent to bear a sor . nou delivered by ono of tho . mpena preach y , ma , shu o read by Kn . y Hornnrdino do Salinas from tho JJiblo , frequently i « m tho cpfcllo to thoVo nL , tho book which tho emperor preferred . To hose < hscour » e « « r readings ChiirloB always listened with profound attention ; and if wckiiCBB or

    business compelled him to be absent , he never failed to send a formal excuse'to the prior , and to require from his confessor an account of what had been preached or read . The rest of the afternoon was devoted to seeing the official people from court , or to the transaction of business with his secretary . " Sometimes the workshop of Torriano was the resource of the emperor ' s spare time . He was very fond of clocks and watches , and curious in reckoning to a fraction the hours of his retired leisure . # # „ * # * ¦ * . '' Sometimes the emperor fed his pet birds—of the sylvan sort— -which appear to have succeeded in his affections the stately wolf-hounds that followed at his heel in the days when he sat to Titian ; or he sauntered among his trees and flowers ,

    down to the little summer-house looking out upon the Vera ; or sometimes , but more rarely , he strolled into the forest with his gun , and shot a few of the woodpigeons which peopled the great chestnut-trees . His out-door exercise was always taken on foot , or if the gout forbade , in his chair or litter ; for the first time that he mounted his pony he was seized with a violent giddiness , and almost fell into the arms of his attendants . Such was the last appearance in the saddle of the accomplished cavalier , of whom his soldiers used to say , ' that had he not been born a king he would have been the prince of light-horsemen , and whose seat and hand on the bay charger presented to him by our bluff king Hal , won , at Calais-gate , the applause of the English knights fresh from those tournays , —

    Where England vied with France in pride on the famous field of gold . Next came vespers ; and after vespers supper , a meal very much like the dinner , consisting frequently of pickled salmon and other unwholesome dishes , which made Quixada ' s loyal heart quake within him . " Did Charles ever repent the step ? " It has been frequently asserted that the emperor ' s life at Yuste was a Jong repentance for his resignation of power ; and that Philip was constantly tormented , in England or in Flanders , by the fear that his father might one day return to the throne . This idle tale can be accounted for only by the melancholy fact , that historians have found it easier to invent than to investigate . So far from regretting his retirement , Charles refused to entertain several proposals that he should quit it . Although he had abdicated the Spanish crowns , Philip had not yet formally taken

    possession of them ; and the princess-regent , fearing that the turbulent and still free people of Aragon might make that a pretext for refusing the supplies , was desirous that her father should summon and attend a Cortes at Monzon , in which the oath might be solemnly taken to the new king . The emperor ' s disinclination to move obliged her to find other means of meeting the difficulty , which was finally surmounted without disturbing his repose . Later in the year , in the autumn of 1557 , it was confidently reported that the old cloistered soldier would take the command of an army which it was found necessary to assemble in Navarre , and at one mournful moment he had actually taken it into consideration whether he should leave his choir , his sermons , and his flowers , for the fatigues and privations of a camp . He was often urged , both by the king and the princess-regent , directly by letters , and covertly throug h his secretary and chamberlain , to instruct

    the prince of Orange to keep in abeyance as long as possible the deed of imperial abdication ; the reason alleged being that when the sceptre had absolutely departed Spanish influence would be woefully weakened , in the duchy of Milan especially , and generally throughout Europe . But on this point Charles would listen neither to argument nor to entreaty : he was willing to exercise his imperial rights so long as they remained to him ; but he would not retard by an hour the fulfilment of the exact conditions to which he bad subscribed at Brussels . Philip , on his side , seem to have been as free from jealousy as his father was free from repentance . Although frequently implored by his sister to return to Spain and relieve her of the burden of power , lie continued in Flanders , maintaining that his

    presence was of greater importance near the seat of war , and that so long as their father lived and would assist her with his counsel , she would find no great difficulty in conducting the internal affairs of Castillo . In truth , Philip ' s filial affection and reverence shines like a grain of fine gold in the base metal of his character : his father was the one wise and strong man who crossed his path whom ho never suspected , undervalued , or used ill . ' The jealousy of which he is popularly accused , however , seems at first sight probable , considering the many blacker crimes of which he stands convicted before tho world . But the repose of Charles cannot have been troubled with regrets for Ins resigned power , seeing that in truth he never resigned it at all , but wielded it at Yusfe as firmly as ho had wielded it at Augsburg or Toledo . lie had given up little beyond the trappings of royalty ; and his was not

    n mind to regret the pageant , tho guards , and the gold sticks . ' We would fain linger over those pages , but have only room for—TIIIO LAST SC . KNK OV ALL . " About this time , according to the historian of St . . Icroine , his thoughts seemed to turn more than usual upon religion and its rites . Whenever , during his stay at Yuste , any ol' his friends , of the degree of princes or knights of tho fleece , had died , he had ever boon punctual in doing honour to their memory , by causing their obsequies to he performed by the friars ; and these lugubrious services may be said to have formed the festivals of the gloomy life of the cloister , The daily masses said for his own soul were always accompanied by others for the souls of his father , mother , and wife . But now he ordered further solemnities of the funeral kind to be performed in behalf of these relations , each on a different day , and attended them himself , preceded by a page bearing a taper , and joining in tho ehaunt , ia a very devout and audible manner , out of a tattered prayer-book .

    " These rites ended , lie asked his confessor whether he might not now perform his own funeral , and so do for himself what would noon have to be done for him by others . Ifogla replied that his majesty , please ( Jod , might live iiiiiny yearn , and that when his time * came those services would be gratefully rendered , without bin taking any thought about the matter . ' Hut , ' persisted Charles-, ' would it not bo good for my soul ? ' Tlio monk said that cerlainly it would ; pious works done ( luring lif'o being far more efficacious than when piwtponed till after death .

    Preparations were therefore , at once net on foot ; a catafalque which had served boforo on similar occasion * " was erected ; and on tho following day , tho thirtieth of August , as tho monkish historian relates , thin celebrated service was actually performed . The high altar , the catafalque , and the whole church shone with a blaze of wax lights ; the friars wore all in their places , at the altars , and in tho choir , and tho household of the emperor attended in deep mourning . - Tho pious monarch himself was there attired in sable weed * , and bearing a taper , to seo himself interred and to celebrate his own obsequies . ' While this solemn mass for the ( lead waH Hung ho camd forward and gave his taper into the hands of flio officiating priest ,

    December 4, 1852.] ^The Leader. 1166

    December 4 , 1852 . ] ^ THE LEADER . 1166

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1852, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04121852/page/17/