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    more than sufficient to hang the rest of the apartments ; the supply of cushions , eider-down quilts , and linen , was luxuriousl y 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 g ° ld 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-cellars , it seems probable that his table was g raced 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 wherein the emperor still sits before us , pale , thoughtful , and dignified , in the Belr videre 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 Eoger ' 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 fai , 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 Golden Fleece , some crucifixes of gold and silver , various charms , 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 beaut \ ; 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 , came 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 Raphael . 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 . brt > ws on 3 , panel 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 Prance , 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 the 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 .

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    " Music , ever one of the favourite pleasures of Charles , here also lent its charms to soothe the cares which followed him from the world , and 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 , that it had been the companion of his journeys , and the solace of his evenings , when encamped before Tunis . The order of St . Jerome being desirous to gratify the taste of their guest , the general had reinforced the choir of Yuste with fourteen or fifteen friars , chosen from the different monasteries under his sway , for their fine voices and musical skill . In the management of the choir and organ , the emperor took a lively interest ; and from the vvTndow of his bedroom his voice might often be heard to accompany the chant of the friars . II is ear never failed to detect a wrong note , and tho mouth whence iteaine- and he would frequently mention tho name of the offender , with the

    addition of hideputa hvrmejo , or some other epithet savouring more of tho camp than the cloister . A singing master from Plasencia being one day in the church , ventured to join in the ; service ; but he had not sung many bars before orders came down from tho palace that the interloper should be silenced or turned out . Guerrero ,, a chapel-master of Seville , having composed and presented to tho emperor a book of manses and motets , one of the former was soon selected for performance at YusLo . When it was ended , the imperial critic remarked to his confessor that Guerrero was a cunning thief ; and going over the piece , ho pointed out ( ho . stolen passages , and named the masters whose works had mi Herod pillage .

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    " The simple and regular hahit . s of Charles accorded well with tho monotony of nionaHtio lift ; . Kvery morning , father Hegla appeared at tho bed-side to inquire how he l . ad passed lie night , mid to assist him in his private devotion * . He then rose ami was dressed by his viiMs ; mH . lt which ho heard mass , going down , when his health permitted , into tho ehtircb . According to his invariable , custom , which in I | , sily was said to have given rise to tho Haying , dalta messa , alia wensa , from mass to mess , lie went from these devotions to dinner about noon . The meal was long ; lor bis appetite was voracious ; his hands were so disabled with gout that nirvinir which ho nevertheless insisted on doii . tf for himself , was a tedious process ; and oven m-. sfieafion was slow and dinio . lt , his teeth being so few and far between . The physician attended him ait . table , mid at least learned the causes of the mischief which bis art was to counteract . The patient , while he dined , conversed w . th the doctor «„ , matters of science , ^ "orall y of natural history ; and if any dif e . coe of opinion arose , father Ke ^ la was seat for to will ., the point out of IMiny . ^ ho cloth being draw ,., tbe conlessor usually read aloud from one of tho en . po . or s avounto divines , Augustine , . lorome , or I 5 onii . nl , an exercise which wuh followed by conversation , and an hour of slumber . At Him , o ' clock tho monks were mustered m < ho convent to hear a . sermon delivered by one of tho imperial preachers , or a jmsn » K « rend by Fray Bernardino do Salinas from tho Hible , frequently from tho 'piHtlo to the " UomniiH , tho book wind , tho emperor preferred . To thjwo discount »«¦ i-uulimn . Charles ulwuyn listened with profound attention ; and il wckneiw 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 p reached 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—whieh 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 kniajhts fresh from those tournays , —

    Where England vied -with Franco 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 p ickled salmon and other unwholesome dishes , winch 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 long 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 through 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 he 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 lie would not retard by an hour the fulfilment of the exact conditions to which he had 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 bis 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 he 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 lie stands convicted before tho world . But the repose of Charles cannot have been troubled with regrets for bis resigned power , seeing that in truth ho never resigned it at all , but wielded it at Yusto as firmly as he had wielded it at Augsburg or Toledo . He had given up little beyond the trappings of royalty ; and his was not 11 mind to regret tho pageant , the guards , and the gold sticks . " Wo would fain linger over these pn ^ es , hut have only room

    for—Til 10 T . 1 A 8 T HCKNK OK A 1 , I .. " About this time , according to the historian of St . Jerome , his thoughts seemed to turn more than usual upon religion and its rites . Whenever , during ) . is stay at Yuste , any of bis friends , of the degree of princes or knights of the Heoco , liaxl died , ho had over boon punctual in doing honour to their memory , by causing their obsequies to be performed by tho friars ; and those lugubrious services may bo said to have formed the festivals of tl . o gloomy life of tl . o cloister , The daily masses said for his own soul were always accompanied by others for the Koulsof his father , mother , and wife . Hut now ho ordered further solemnities of tin : funeral kind to bo performed in behalf of those relations , each on a different day , and attended them himself , preceded by » i page bearing a taper , and joining in tho el . aunt , in u very devout and uudible manner , out , of a tattered i > raycr-book .

    " These rites ended , he asked bis confessor whether he might not now perform bin own funenil , and ho do for himself what , would soon have to be done for him by others . Itoglai replied that his majesty , please God , might live many yearn , and that when his time ennio these ; . services would be gnifefully rendered , without bin Inking any thought about , the matter . ' Uiif , ' persisted Charles , ' would it not ho good for my soul ? ' ' Tim monk said that certainly it would ; pious works done during life being far more ; efficacious than wl . 011 postponed fill alter death . Preparations were therefore at , mice set on foot ; 11 catafalque which had served lioforo

    on similar occasions was erected ; and 01 . the following day , the thirtieth of August , as the monkish historian relates , this celebrated service was actually pcrforincd . The high altar , the catafalque , mid tl . o whole church nhono with a hla / o of win lights ; the friars wore all in their places , at , the altars , and in tho choir , ami tho household of the emperor attended in deep mourning . ' The pious monarch himself was ( hero attired in nablc weeds , and hearing a taper , to see himself interred , mid to celebrate his own obsequies . ' While this Holo . nn mass for the dead wmj Hung ho cuiuo forward and gave hia tuper into tho hands of the officiating pricut ,

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    December 4 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1 W *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1852, page 1165, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1963/page/17/