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Nov. 10, 1855.] __ THE LEADER. 1087
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Histoey Of The Reign Of Philip The Secon...
under jhisjipvemineiit , attained -her height of glory ; -but * e bequeathed an -moire diminished , divided , corrupted , which had lost at once its prestige and its integrity . Charles the Fifth , viewed in comparison with this sombre Mm ? presents a more astonishing figure . He was not the ally of so many rovai houses ; he accredited no Duke of Alva to emulate a Tartar viceroy ; he equipped no armada to ravage England , but he ruled his immense dominions with vigour and policy ; he was the virtual , before he was the titular sole sovereign of Spain ; he gamed the German crown ; his generals sonquered two vast Western empires ; and though in rivalry with him , other prmces rose to prove that the sway of Europe was in future to be divided , Charles stood at the head of the Catholic dynasties , their champion against Sulyman and against the Lutheran League . His successes at Muhlberg and Pavia are , indeed , balanced by his failure at Metz , and his capitulation at Passau . With the brilliance of his earlier career was ignominiously contrasted his relapse into superstition and gluttony ; yet the Fifth Charles will ever be ranked among ereat politicians and conquerors . For his son , a similar , but
not an equal eminence is to be claimed . He found Spain mighty , and left her degraded and reduced . He lost a kingdom in the Netherlands , and a navy in the Spanish sea . Spain , after bis death , was hurried speedily and violently through the stages of her long decline . When the successor of Charles acquired his throne , he had not , like Charles , to subjugate Mexico and Peru ; he had not to inspire and encourage those desperate warriors who plundered for Spanish treasuries the riches of Zacatecas and Potosi . He had not to form the army which conquered at Pavia ; he had not to found the navy which rode the waters of the East and West , ascendant everywhere except in the narrow seas ; he had not to teach the martial Ottoman nation that there existed a Power which could repel its fury . He was related , by his first marriage , to Portugal , and by his second to England . In Italy his Neapolitan , Sicilian , and Lombard territories gave him an influence almost supreme . Castile , Arragou , and Granada , which , when his father began to reign , were separate and dangerous states , were now provinces of a consolidated empire .
In addition to these advantages , Philip enjoyed others in the internal condition of liis empire . He was a Caesar , not a king in council . The dependencies of Spain were governed by Spanish viceroys ; in Spain itself the power 'of the nobles was extinct ; the laws were edicts ; its legislator was the monarch alone . At Villalar the authority of the Commons had disappeared . Even the Netherlands , though jealous of their ancient institutions , " consented to supply the necessities of the crown by a tax larger than the revenues of America . " Such was the position of Philip when he ascended the Spanish throne . Nevertheless , his reign was disturbed by numerous dangers , and marked by numerous disgraces . Parallel with almost its entire course is traced the conflict with the Netherlands , exasperated by his policy , and irreconcileably
alienated by the atrocities of the Duke of Alva . Philip avowed as his leading principle the inviolability and universality of the Papal power ; yet he was so unfortunate at the very commencement of his reign , as to engage in a war with the Pope , who , though his temporal forces were routed in every engagement , was still able to bring the Spanish commander upon his knees , sueing for forgiveness , and confessing on act of treason against the Church . Thus , though successful in a military point of view , Philip had been ibrced into an attitude of humility . The victories of St . Quentin , and of Gravelines came , however , to enhance the military renown of Spain , and the King erected , as the first trophy of his reign , the magnificent palace of the Escurial .
Mr . Prescott's history has been written in good faith , and with admirable art . It brings together a profusion of orig inal materials , collected from the principal libraries of Europe , and patiently and skilfully analysed . The whole narrative of the reformation and revolt in the Netherlands , of the Norman crusade against the orders of Christian chivalry , of the English episode in Philip ' s career , of his domestic policy , and of his family life , required to be illustrated by new evidence ; but this evidence lay in public and private collections of ancient date , involved with masses of irrelevant annals , and it was a work of great labour to extract and arrange it . All this portion of his task Mr . Prescott has completed with as much ingenuity as diligence . But—and every one knows this—he is more than a superior compiler . He has a style of his own , and it is a vigorous , pointed , aud pictorial style , exactly suited to a historian of the highest class .
The reader who may be tempted to study , in this masterly narrative , the history of Philip the Second , has probably studied other subjects in Other of Mr . Prescott ' s works . Therefore , he does not want to know what Mr . Prescott ' s general mannor is : it will content him to learn that the story of Philip contains as much gmphic matter , colours as bright , anecdotes as pleasant , criticism as sound , historical y iews as broad and luminous , as the story of Ferdinand and Isabella . It is the book to sustain a reputation— -and to increase it . We will quote three passages , to illustrate tlic variety of Mr . Prencott's style . Tho lirst is a battle-scene from the narrative of the Siogc of Malta . The Turks have given the assault : —
Two mortars were mounted on th . ; rampart . But , through some mismanagement , they wore not worked ; and tho uasailants wore allowed to reach the foot of the bastion , which they prepared to carry by o-calude . Applying their ladders , they speedily began to mount , when they were assailed by showers of stones , hand-grenades , and combustibles of various kinds ; while huge fragments of rock wore rolled over tho parapet , crushing men and ladders , and scattering them in ruin below . Tho ramparts were covered with knights nnd soldiery , among whom the stately form of Antonio do Zanoguerra , tho commander of the post , was conspicuous , towering above his comrades , and cheering thorn on to the fight . Meantime the assailants , mustering like a swurm of hornets to tho attuck , were soon seen replacing tho broken ladders , and again clambering up the walle . Tho loading ( Uoa were pushed upward by those below ; yot Boarcely bad the bold adventurers risen above tho purapot , when they were pierced by the pikoa of tho soldiora , or struck down by tho awords nnd buttle- axes f tho knights . At this crisis , a spark unfortunately falling into the magazine of combustibles , it took fire , and blowup with a terrific explosion , killing or maimijig numbers of the garrison , and rolling volumes of blinding smoke along tho bastion . Tho boaiogors profited by tho confusion to gain a footing on tho ramparts j and , when the clouds
of vapour began to dissipate , 4 he garrison were astonished to find their enemies ~* t their side , and a number of small banners , such as the Turks usually bore into the fight , planted on the walls . The contest now raged fiercer than ever , as the parties fought on more equal terms ;—the Mussulmans smarting under their wounds , and the Christians fired with the recollection of St . Elmo , and the desire of avenging their slaughtered brethren . The struggle continued long after the sun , rising high in the h ' -vens , poured down a flood of heat on the combatants ; and the garrison ,, pressed by superior numbers , weary and faint with wounds , were hardly able to keep their footing on the slippery ground , saturated with their own blood and that of their enemies . Still the cheering battle-cry of St . John rose in the air ; and their brave leader , Zanoguerra , at the head of his knights , was to be seen in the thickest of the fight . There , too , was Brother Robert , an ecclesiastic of the order , with a sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other , though wounded himself , rushing among the ranks , and exhorting the men " to fight for the faith of Jesus Christ , and to die in its defence . "
Secondly , a portrait of Queen Isabella , Pinup s third wife , and a glimpse of her nuptials : — It was the first time that Isabella had seen her destined lord . She now gazed on him so intently , that he good-humouredly asked her if " she were looking to see if he had any gray ha \ rs in his head ? " The bluntness of the question somewhat disconcerted her . Philip ' s age was not much less than that at which the first gray hairs made their appearance on his father ' s temples . Yet the discrepancy between the ages of the parties in the present instance was not greater than often happens in a royal union . Isabella was in her fifteenth year , and Philip in his thirty-fourth . From all accounts , the lady ' s youth was her least recommendation . " Elizabeth de Valois , " says Brantome , who knew her well , " was a true daughter of France , —discreet , witty , beautiful , and good , if ever woman -was so . " She was well made , and tall of stature , and on this account the more admired in Spain , where the women are rarely above the middle height . Her eye 3 were dark , and her luxuriant tresses , of the same dark colour , shaded features that were delicately fair . There was sweetness mingled with dignity in her deportment , in which Castilian stateliness seemed to ba happily tempered by the vivacity of her osvn nation .
For some weeks , during which the sovereigns remained in the capital , there was a general jubilee . All the national games of Spain were exhibited to the young queen ; the bull-fight , the Moorish sport of the canas , or tilt of reeds , and tournaments on horseback and on foot , in both of which Philip often showed himself armed cap-a-pie in the lists , and did his devoir in the presence of his fair bride , as became a loyal knight . Another show , which might have been better reserved for a less joyous occasion , was exhibited to Isabella . As the court and the cortes were drawn together in Toledo , the Holy Office took the occasion to celebrate an auto de Je , which , from the number of the victims and quality of the spectators , was the most imposing spectacle of the iind ever "witnessed in that capital . . _ . .... instructed for the
If Isabella was not a scholar , like Mary , -she at least was well time , and was fond of reading , especially poetry . She had a ready apprehension , and learned in a short time to speak the Castilian with tolerable fluency , while there waa something pleasing in her foreign accent , that made her pronunciation the more interesting . She accommodated herself so well to the usages of her adopted nation , that she soon won the hearts of the Spaniards , " No queeu of Castile , ' says the loyal Brantome , " with due deference to Isabella the Catholic , was ever so popular in the country . " When she went abroad , it was usually with her face uncovered , after the manner of her countrywomen . The press was always great arouud her whenever she appeared in public , and happy was the man who could approach so near as to get a glimpse
of her beautiful countenance . Mr . Prescott elaborately investigates the tragedy of the death ot IJon Carlos and of Isabella , clearing it of much false romance , but leaving it still enveloped in mystery . The behaviour of tho Prince during Ins short captivity was that of a madman : — The mortal excitement under -which he laboured , combined with the want of air ana exercise , produced its natural effect on his health . Every day he became more and more emaciated ; whilo the fever which had so long preyed on His constitution now burned in ms veins with greater fury than ever . To allay the intolerable heat , he resorted to such desperate expedients as seemed to intimate , says the Papal nuncio , that , if debarred from laying violent hands on himself , he would accomplish tho same end in a slower wav , but not less sure . He deluged the floor with water , not a little and walked about for hours half
to the inconvenience of the companions of his prison , naked , with bare feet , on the cold pavement . He caused a warming-pan tilled with i « e and snow to be introduced several times in a night into his bed , and let it remain there for hours together . As if this were not enough , he would gulph down such draughts of snow-water a « distance any achievement on record in the annals of hydropathy . He pursued the same mad course in what he eat . He would abstain from food an incredible number of days , and then , indulging in proportion to his former abstinence , would devour a pastry of four partridges , with all tho paste , at a sitting , washing it down with three gallons or more of iced water ! . These and other circumstances , encouraged the propagation ot various stories , of which tho following , though not the most credible , is one of tho most curioua . Philip , it was said , had been exhorted to spare tho life of
'i i r son * To this tho king replied , that , though his feelings moved him to follow tho Buggeat tion of his ministers , his conscience would not permit it . Ho could not think that he should consult tho good of his people by placing over them a monarch so vicious in hia disposition , and so lierco and sanguinary in his temper , as Carlos . However agonising it mi ( jht bo to his feelings n 3 a father , ho must allow tho law to take its course . Yet , after all , ho said , it might not bo necessary to proceed to this extremity . Tho princes health was in so critical a state , that it was only necessary to relax tho precautions m regard to his diet , find his excesses would soon conduct him to tho tomb I Ono point only was essential , that ho should be so well advised of his situation that ho should bo willing to confess , and make his peace with Heaven before ho died . . Thin was tho greatest proof of love which he could give to iiis son and to tho Spanish nation . from this ebullition of
Kuy Gomez und Espinosa both of them informed aingular pnronlul tenderness , that they could not further the real intentions of the king botter than by expediting as much as possible tho death of ( Jarlofl . liny Qomw accordingly communicated his views to Olivares , the prince ' s physician . This ho did in huoIi « n ambiguous and mysterious phrase , as , while it intimated his meaning , might HOrve to von the enormity of tho crime from the eyea of the party who Wtt VV . 'TT ! , ? fom ,, man was moro competent to this delicate tank than tho prince of Mioli , h . oj nom ' i youth in courts , and trained to a life of dbsimulation . OHvarea ram X " <> ' »»»™ J £ flu drift of his discourse , —that the thing required of him w «» o dwpoao o tno pn sonar , in such a way that his death should appear natural , and th it th « » ' ^ , 1 hia piking Bliould not bo compromised . He raised no scruples , ""' 'T '""? b ireumHtMq « . lingua , faithfully to execute the will of his s |« a . Unucr t . « o uj » tam ^ , on tho twentieth of July , a purgative doao was « lm » iM « J % ^ lMion Jinn father , that who , ue may bo imugined , rapidly grew won * . «» confessor . Thus , though the when advised of his danger , Carloa consented to receive mo o dy perished , tho soul was eavod .
Nov. 10, 1855.] __ The Leader. 1087
Nov . 10 , 1855 . ] __ THE LEADER . 1087
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 10, 1855, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10111855/page/19/
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