Chapter VIII: Death of Isabella (8)

[1290] Boisgelin, on the authority of Matthew Paris, says that, in 1224, the Knights of St. John had 19,000 manors in different parts of Europe, while the Templars had but 9,000. Ancient and Modern Malta, (London, 1805, 4to.,) vol. II. p, 19.

[1291] For an account of the institutions of the order of St. John, see Helyot, Ordres Réligieux, tom. II. p. 58 et seq.; also the Old and New Statutes, appended to vol. II. of Vertot's History of the Knights of Malta.

[1292] The original deed of cession, in Latin, is published by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 157 et seq.

[1293] "Rhodes," from the Greek {Greek: rhodon}. The origin of the name is referred by etymologists to the great quantity of roses which grew wild on the island. The name of _Malta_ (_Melita_) is traced to the wild honey, {Greek: meli}, of most excellent flavor, found among its rocks.

[1294] A recent traveller, after visiting both Rhodes and Malta, thus alludes to the change in the relative condition of the two islands. "We are told that, when L'Isle Adam and his brave companions first landed on this shore, their spirits sank within them at the contrast its dry and barren surface presented to their delicious lost Rhodes; I have qualified myself for adjudging that in most respects the tables are now turned between the two islands, and they certainly afford a very decisive criterion of the results of Turkish and Christian dominion." The Earl of Carlisle's Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters, (Boston, 1855,) p. 204;--an unpretending volume, which bears on every page evidence of the wise and tolerant spirit, the various scholarship, and the sensibility to the beautiful, so characteristic of its noble author.

[1295] For the account of Malta I am much indebted to Boisgelin, "Ancient and Modern Malta." This work gives the most complete view of Malta, both in regard to the natural history of the island and the military and political history of the order, that is to be found in any book with which I am acquainted. It is a large repository of facts crudely put together, with little to boast of on the score of its literary execution. It is interesting as the production of a Knight of St. John, one of the unhappy few who survived to witness the treachery of his brethren and the extinction of his order. The last of the line, he may well be pardoned, if, in his survey of the glorious past, he should now and then sound the trumpet of glorification somewhat too loudly.

[1296] "The galleys of the order alone resisted the fury of the waves; and when Charles the Fifth was told that some vessels appeared still to live at sea, he exclaimed, 'They must, indeed, be Maltese galleys which can outride such a tempest!' The high opinion he had formed of this fleet was fully justified; for the standard of the order was soon in sight." Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. p. 34.

[1297] Ibid., p. 61 et alibi.

[1298] The value of the freight was estimated at more than 80,000 ducats.--"Se estimo la presa mas de ochenta mil ducados, de sedas de levante, y alombras y otras cosas, cada uno piense lo que se diria en la corte del Turco, sobre la perdida desta nave tan poderosa, y tan rica." La Verdadera Relacion de todo lo que el Año de M.D.LXV. ha succedido en la Isla de Malta, por Francisco Balbi de Correggio, en todo el Sitio Soldado, (Barcelona 1568,) fol. 19.

[1299] Ibid., fol. 17.

[1300] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 192-195.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 244.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26 et seq.--Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. pp. 71-73.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. pp. 51-53--J. M. Calderon de la Barca, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 28.

[1301] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 197.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 28.--The latter chronicler, who gives a catalogue of the forces, makes the total amount of fighting men not exceed six thousand one hundred. He speaks, however, of an indefinite number besides these, including a thousand slaves, who in various ways contributed to the defence of the island.

[1302] "De modo que qu[=a]do los turcos llegaron sobre sant Ermo, hauia ochocientos hombres dentro para pelear." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37.

[1303] Ibid., fol. 31.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 198.

[1304] "En este tiempo ya todos los esclauos assi de sant Juan como de particulares estauan en la carcel, que seri[=a] bien mil esclauos. Y quando los sacauan a trabajar a las postas adonde se trabajaua, los sacauan de dos en dos, asidos de vna cadena." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37.

[1305] Ibid., fol. 23.

[1306] Ibid., fol. 21.--Vertot says, of a hundred and sixty pounds'weight. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 202.) Yet even this was far surpassed by the mammoth cannon employed by Mahomet at the siege of Constantinople, in the preceding century, which, according to Gibbon, threw stone bullets of six hundred pounds.

Since the above lines were written, even this achievement has been distanced by British enterprise. The "Times" informs us of some "monster guns," intended to be used in the Baltic, the minimum weight of whose shot is to be three cwt., and the maximum ten.

[1307] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26.--The old soldier goes into the composition of the Turkish force, in the general estimate of which he does not differ widely from Vertot.

[1308] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 84.

[1309] Ibid., ubi supra.

[1310] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 200-202.--- Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 42.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 24.

[1311] In Vertot's account of this affair, much is said of a nondescript outwork, termed a _cavalier_,--conveying a different idea from what is understood by that word in modern fortifications. It stood without the walls, and was connected with the ravelin by a bridge, the possession of which was hotly contested by the combatants. Balbi, the Spanish soldier, so often quoted,--one of the actors in the siege, though stationed at the fort of St. Michael,--speaks of the fight as being carried on in the ditch. His account has the merit of being at once the briefest and the most intelligible.

[1312] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 40, 41.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 203-205.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 48 et seq.--Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 24.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 4.

[1313] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 39

[1314] Ibid., fol. 39-42.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 46.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 58.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 204.--Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 350.

[1315] For the preceding pages, setting forth the embassies to La Valette, and exhibiting in such bold relief the character of the grand-master, I have been chiefly indebted to Vertot (Knights of Malta, vol. I. pp. 309-312). The same story is told, more concisely, by Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 60-67; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25; De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 61; Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159; Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 44, 45.

[1316] The remains of Medran were brought over to Il Borgo, where La Valette, from respect to his memory, caused them to be laid among those of the Grand Crosses.--"El gran Maestre lo mando enterrar era una sepultura, adonde se entierran los cavalleros de la gran Cruz, porque esta era la mayor honra, que en tal tiempo le podia hazer, y el muy bien la merecia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51.

[1317] The invention of this missile Vertot claims for La Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 215.) Balbi refers it to a brother of the Order, named Ramon Fortunii. (Verdadera Relacion, p. 48.)

[1318] The first shot was not so successful, killing eight of their own side!--"Mas el artillero, o fuesse la prissa, o fuesse la turbacion que en semejantes casos suele sobre venir en los hombres el se tuvo mas a mano drecha, que no deviera, pues de aquel tiro mato ocho de los nuestros que defendian aquella posta." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 50.

[1319] Ibid., fol. 49-51.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 72 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 214-216.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 6

[1320] "En este assalto y en todos me han dicho cavalleros, que pelear[=o] no solamente ellos, y los soldados, mas que los forçados, bonas vollas, y Malteses murieron con tanto animo, como qualquiera otra persona de mayor estima." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51.

[1321] "Que si su señoria Illustrissima tenia otra persona, para tal cargo mejor, [~q] la embiasse, quel lo obedeceria como a tal, mas quel queria quedar en sant Ermo, como privado cavallero, y por sa religion sacrificar su cuerpo." Ibid., fol 44.

[1322] "La escuridad de la noche, fue luego muy clara, por la gr[=a]de c[=a]tidad de los fuegos artificiales, que de ambas partes se arojavan, y de tal manera que los que estavamos en san Miguel, veyamos muy claramente sant Ermo, y los artilleros de sant Angel y de otras partes apuntavan, a la lumbre de los fuegos enemigos." Ibid., fol 48.

[1323] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 53.

[1324] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 214.

[1325] Ibid., pp. 216, 217.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 54.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 80 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.

[1326] "Ellos como aquellos [~q] la mañana navia de ser su postrer dia en este m[=u]do, unos con otros se confessavan, y rogavan a nuestro señor que por su infinita misericordia, la tuviesse de sus animas, pues le costaron su preciossissima sangre para redemirlas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 54.

See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 217, 218;--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.

[1327] Vertot, whose appetite for the marvellous sometimes carries him into the miraculous, gives us to understand that not one of the garrison survived the storming of St. Elmo. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219.) If that were so, one would like to know how the historian got his knowledge of what was doing in the fortress the day and night previous to the assault. The details quoted above from Balbi account for this knowledge, and carry with them an air of probability. (Verdadera Relacion, fol. 55.)

[1328] "Luego que entraron los Turcos en sant Ermo, abatieron el est[=a]darte de san Juan, y en su lugar plantaron una vandera del gran Turco, y en todo aquel dia no hizieron otra cosa, que plantar v[=a]deras, y vanderillas por la muralla, segun su costumbre." Ibid., fol. 55.

See also, for the storming of St. Elmo, Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 81-84; Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 351; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25; Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245; Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219 et seq.

[1329] "A todos nos pesava en el anima porque aquellas eran fiestas que solian hazer los cavalleros en tal dia, para honor deste su santo avogado." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 55.

[1330] Ibid., fol. 58.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 220.

[1331] Balbi has given a catalogue of the knights who fell in the siege, with the names of the countries to which they respectively belonged. Verdadera Relacion, fol. 56.

[1332] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219.

No name of the sixteenth century appears more frequently in the ballad poetry of Spain than that of Dragut. The "_Romancero General_" contains many _romances_, some of them of great beauty, reciting the lament of the poor captive chained to the galley of the dread rover, or celebrating his naval encounters with the chivalry of Malta,--"_las velas de la religion,_" as the squadrons of the order were called.

[1333] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 33.

[1334] The two principal authorities on whom I have relied for the siege of Malta are Balbi and Vertot. The former was a soldier, who served through the siege, his account of which, now not easily met with, was printed shortly afterwards, and in less than three years went into a second edition,--being that used in the present work. As Balbi was both an eye-witness and an actor, on a theatre so limited that nothing could be well hidden from view, and as he wrote while events were fresh in his memory, his testimony is of the highest value. It loses nothing by the temperate, home-bred style in which the book is written, like that of a man anxious only to tell the truth, and not to magnify the cause or the party to which he is attached. In this the honest soldier forms a contrast to his more accomplished rival, the Abbé de Vertot.

This eminent writer was invited to compose the history of the order, and its archives were placed by the knights at his disposal for this purpose. He accepted the task; and in performing it he has sounded the note of panegyric with as hearty a good will as if he had been a knight hospitaller himself. This somewhat detracts from the value of a work which must be admitted to rest, in respect to materials, on the soundest historical basis. The abbé's turn for the romantic has probably aided, instead of hurting him, with the generality of readers. His clear and sometimes eloquent style, the interest of his story, and the dramatic skill with which he brings before the eye the peculiar traits of his actors, redeem, to some extent, the prolixity of his narrative, and have combined, not merely to commend the book to popular favor, but to make it the standard work on the subject.

[1335] By another ordinance, La Valette caused all the dogs in La Sangle and Il Borgo to be killed, because they disturbed the garrisons by night, and ate their provisions by day. Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 29.

[1336] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 2.

[1337] Ibid., p. 4.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 64.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 94.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 296.

[1338] Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 91.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 3.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 67.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 246

[1339] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61, 62, 68.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 95-100.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 4-7.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 7.

[1340] "No avia hombre que no truxesse aljuba, el que menos de grana, muchos de tela de oro, y de plata, y damasco carmesi, y muy buenas escopetas de fez, cimitaras de Alexandria, y de Damasco, arcos muy finos, y muy ricos turbantes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 70.

[1341] "Cargadas de gente muy luzida, vista por cierto muy linda, sino fuera tan peligrosa." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1342] "Nuestro predicador fray Ruberto, el qual en todo el assalto yva por todas las postas con un crucifixo en la una mano, y la espada en la otra: animandonos a bien morir, y pelear por la fe de Iesu Christo: y fue herido este dia su paternidad." Ibid., fol. 73.

[1343] "Echo nueve barcas delas mayores a fondo que no se salvo ninguno, y auria en estas barcas ochocientos Turcos." Ibid., fol. 72.

[1344] This seems to have been Balbi's opinion.--"En conclusion, la casa mata del comendador Guiral fue este dia a juyzio de todos la salvacion de la Isla, porque si las barcas ya dichas echavan su g[=e]te en tierra, no les pudieramos resistir en ninguna manera." Ibid., fol. 73.

[1345] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13.

[1346] Compare Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13, and Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73.--The latter chronicler, for a wonder, raises the sum total of the killed to a somewhat higher figure than the abbé,--calling it full four thousand.

[1347] The particulars of the assaults on St. Michael and the Spur are given by Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61-74; and with more or less inaccuracy by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 8-13; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 110-116; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. pp. 72-74; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 26; Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 7; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 246; Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160.

[1348] Cruel indeed, according to the report of Balbi, who tells us that the Christians cut off the ears of the more refractory, and even put some of them to death,--_pour encourager les autres_.--"Han muerto en esta jornada al trabajo mas de quinientos esclavos; mas los pobres llegaron atal de puros cansados y acabados del trabajo continuo, que no podían estar en pie, y se dexavan cortar las orejas y matar por no poder trabajar mas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66.

[1349] Ibid., fol. 67, 77.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 18.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160.

[1350] "En fin era in todo diligente, vigilante y animoso, y jamas se conoscio en su valeroso semblante ninguna señal de temor, antes con su presencia dava esfuerço y animo à sus cavalleros y soldados." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 77.

[1351] "Luego que todas estas baterias començaron de batir, y todas en un tiempo, era tanto el ruydo y temblor que parecia quererse acabar el m[=u]do, y puedese bien creer que el ruydo fuesse tal, pues se sentia muy claramente dende Caragoça, y dende Catania, que ay ciento y veynte millas de Malta a estas dos ciudades." Ibid., fol. 78.

[1352] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 21, 22.

[1353] "Dixo publicamente, que el no aguardava socorro ya sino era del omnipotente Dios el qual era el socorro verdadero, y el que hasta entonces nos havia librado, y que ni mas ni menos nos libraria por el avenir, delas manos delos enemigos da su santa fee." Balbi, Verdadera Relación, fol. 81.

[1354] "Esta habla del gran Maestre luego fue divulgada, y asi toda la gente se determino de primero morir que venir a manos de turcos vivos, pero tambien se determino de vender muy bien sus vidas, y asi ya no se tratava de socorro." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1355] "No quedo hombre ni muger de edad para ello que no lo ganasse con devocion grandissima, y con muy firme esperança y fe de yr ala gloria, muriendo en la jornada." Ibid., fol. 71.

[1356] "Tenia mandado, que en todos los dias de assalto se llevassen por todas las postas adonde se peleasse, muchos buyvelos de vino aguado, y pan para refrescar su gente, pues de gente no podia." Ibid., fol. 91.

[1357] "Si todas estas buenas ordenes no uviera, no baeraran fuerças humanas para resistir a tanta furia pertinacia, principalm[=e]te, siendo nosotros tan pocos, y ellos tantos." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1358] "El gran Maestre sin mudarse, ni alterarse de su semblante valeroso, dixo, Vamos a morir alla todos cavalleros, [~q] oy es el dia." Ibid., fol. 90.

[1359] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 24.

[1360] Vertot speaks of this last attack as having been made on the eighteenth of August. His chronology may be corrected by that of Balbi, whose narrative, taking the form of a diary, in which the transactions of each day are separately noted, bears the stamp of much greater accuracy. Balbi gives the seventh of August as the date. For the preceding pages see Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 89-93; Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 18-24; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 146-150; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 83 et seq.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 27; Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 16; Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 450.

[1361] "Y sino solenne como en esta religion se suele hazer, alomenos c[=o]trita a lo que las lagrimas de muchos hombres y mugeres davan señal." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94

[1362] "Y como el comendador era hombre de linda disposicion, y armado de unas armas doradas y ricas, los turcos tiraron todos a el." Ibid., fol. 76.

[1363] Ibid., ubi supa.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 14.

[1364] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66, 82.

[1365] Ibid. fol. 78.

[1366] "Muchas vezes solo se yva a san Lorenço, y alli en su apartamiento hazia sus oraciones. Y eneste exercicio se occupava quando se tenia algun sosiego." Ibid., fol. 84.

[1367] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29.

[1368] "Lo qual sabido por el gran Maestre como aquel que jamas penso sino morir el primo por su religion, y por quitar toda sospecha despues de aver hecho llevar en sant Angel todas las reliquias y cosas de mas valor, mando quitar la puente, dando a entender a todo el mundo que enel no avia retirar, sino morir en el Burgo, o defenderlo." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94.

See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29.; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 167 et seq.

[1369] "Ya seles canocia, que les faltavan muchas pieças que avian embarcado, y cada noche se sentia como las retiravan, ala sorda sin los alaridos que davan al principio quando las plantaron." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 101.

[1370] Ibid., fol. 106 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 33.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 172-176.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 88.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 28.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 166.

[1371] "Como nuestra armada estuvo en parte [~q] la descubriamos claramente, cada galera tiro tres vezes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 104.

[1372] "En el retirar su artilleria, tan calladamente que no se sentia sino el chillido de las ruedas, y Dios sabe lo que al gran Maestre pesava, porque siempre tuvo especrança de ganarle parte della, si el socorro se descubriera." Ibid., fol. 105.

[1373] The armory, in the government palace of Valetta, still contains a quantity of weapons, sabres, arquebuses, steel bows, and the like, taken at different times from the Turks. Among others is a cannon of singular workmanship, but very inferior in size to the two pieces of ordnance mentioned in the text. (See Bigelow's Travels in Malta and Sicily, p. 226.) Those glorious trophies of the great siege should have found a place among the national relics.

[1374] "Yo no creo que musica jamas consolasse humanos sentidos, como á nosotros consolo el son de nuestras campanas, alos ocho, dia dela Natividad de nuestra señora. Porque el gran Maestre las hizo tocar todas ala hora que se solia tocar al arma, y avía tres meses que no las aviamos oydo sino para arma." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 105.

[1375] "Esta mañana pues tocaron la missa, la cual se canto muy de mañana, y en pontifical, muy solemnemente, dando gracias á nuestro señor Dios, y á su bendita madre por las gracias que nos avian hecho." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1376] "No dexando de pelear aquel dia, y en sangrentar muy bien sus espadas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 119.

[1377] "Lo qual se vio claramente dende a dos o tres dias porque los cuerpos que se avian ahogado subieron encima del agua, los quales eran tantos que parecian mas de tres mil, y avia tanto hedor en todo aquello que no se podia hombre llegar ala cala." Ibid., fol. 120.

As an offset against the three thousand of the enemy who thus perished by fire and water, the chronicler gives us four Christians slain in the fight, and four smothered from excessive heat in their armor!

[1378] For the preceding pages see Balbi, (Verdadera Relacion, fol. 117-121,) who contrived to be present in the action; also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 35-37; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 89; Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 353; Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II, p. 160; Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 591; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 180 et seq.

[1379] "Se vinieron al Burgo, tanto por ver la persona del gran Maestre tan dichosa y valerosa, como por ver la grandissima disformidad y llaneza de nuestras baterias." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121.

[1380] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 39.

[1381] "Al entrar del qual despues que la Real capitana uvo puesto sus estandartes los pusieron todas las demas, y muy ricos, la Real traya enla flama un crucifixo muy devoto." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 122.

[1382] "Fueronse para Palacio, adonde dio el gran Maestre a todos muy realmente de cenar, porque ya el governador del Gozo le avia embiado muchos refrescos, y don Garcia y todos los capitanes del armada le presentaron de la misma manera." Ibid., ubi supra.

[1383] Balbi expresses his satisfaction at the good cheer, declaring that the dainties brought by the viceroy, however costly, seemed cheap to men who had been paying two ducats for a fowl, and a real and a half for an egg. Ibid., ubi supra.

[1384] Herrera, Historia General, vol. I. p. 592.

[1385] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38.

[1386] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121.--De Thou reduces the mortality to twenty thousand. (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 592.) Herrera, on the other hand, raises it to forty thousand. (Historia General, tom. I. p. 90.) The whole Moslem force, according to Balbi, was forty-eight thousand, exclusive of seamen. Of these about thirty thousand were Turks. The remainder belonged to the contingents furnished by Dragut and Hassem. Conf., fol. 25 and 121.

[1387] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128.--Balbi gives a list of all the knights who perished in the siege. Cabrera makes a similar estimate of the Christian loss. (Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 28.) De Thou rates it somewhat lower (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 90); and Vertot lower still. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38.) Yet Balbi may be thought to show too little disposition, on other occasions, to exaggerate the loss of his own side for us to suspect him of exaggeration here.

[1388] "En todo este sitio no se a justiciado sino un solo Italiano Senes el qual mando justiciar Melchior de Robles: porque dixo publicamente estando en el mayor aprieto, que mas valiera que tomaramos las quatro pagas que los turcos nos ofrecian, y el passage." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128.

[1389] For this act of retributive justice, so agreeable to the feelings of the reader, I have no other authority to give than Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 18.

[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 [~q] 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, OEuvres, 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. Mta 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 Md 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 Md 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.