men) he has great influence with the people among whom he lives. He is a prophet having honor in his own country. So we are glad to receive the expression of his good will, in the dedication of his last Volume. say I? Why, they do. This is plain enough: for hardly has the lawyer aforesaid blown off half his steam of verbiage, than the strong America spoke out, and warmed up, and common sense, the good kindly heart of declared that the very thought of another quarrel with England was a monstrous folly and a huger crime. And so, Mr. AttorneyGeneral, nationally snubbed, became suddenly as quiet and as dumb as a defunct raven. At the head of his Preface, or Dedication, is a picture of Jonathan sitting on the floor, his legs not crossed under him, but as far from it as possible, reading a volume of Punch. And at the foot is the American Eagle, with Among other scandals, it was wickedly a jacket spotted with stars, and pantaloons rather let me say to your indignation — that preached to your discredit, Jonathancovered with stripes; his feet on the mantel- the American cagle was to keep company piece, a broad hat, a cigar in his beak, and awhile with the cagle of Muscovy, swooping whittling a stick. Behind him, with tail alike at the same quarry, ravening alike on between his legs, heads drooping, and having the same victims. We should as soon think a general parboiled appearance, was slinking of seeing the small pig-tail of Benjamin Franklin (a relic, of course, in the possesaway the Austrian Eagle. sion of the respected Mr. Barnum) — enlargBROTHER JONATHAN,-Your friend Punched and elongated into the knout of the Czar. makes you the very handsome Christmas We should as soon believe that the key of offering of this, his TWENTY-NINTH VOLUME. Franklin, that sublimed his soul with the The best of friends will now and then have conviction that he had drawn down the eleclittle wrinkles of temper; but then a little tric fire from the clouds, could be fitted to calm consideration, a little tolerance towards the lock of a dungeon for the liberty of the one another, smoothes them out, and all is human race. No, no, Jonathan! As it is clear again. So, dear Jonathan, let it be with sometimes said of cocks, so Punch says of you and me, even with Jonathan and Punch, the likelihood of the conjoined American and as the two representatives of the great Saxon Russian eagles - those eagles won't fight! family; between whom let there be nothing rougher than Atlantic billows. Let us, then, for all future time take good heed that we be mutually moderate; mutually forbearing. As for that matter of Cuba, I confess, I can hardly see why, if you paid for it, you should not have it. I don't think it would prove the bargain, even at a gift-(and Spain is quite as likely to give as she is to pay) — that you in your present exaltation believe it. Cuba is called a jewel: nevertheless, is there not a little too much black blood in the ruby to make it very valuable to yourself, all Southern circumstances considered? Long before George Washington spun his peg-top, your friend Punch was a bit of living, stirring wood the real lignum vitæ in hearty England. Genealogists, with a small envy, have dated the family of Punch no later than the time of Queen Anne. I have, I hope, a very proper contempt of this heraldic disparagement. I believe the family tree to have sprung from an acorn dropt, and mysteriously picked up, and as secretly dropped again in more congenial soil, from an oak of the Druids. Be this as it may, the Any way, Jonathan, let us, at this season, deeds of Punch have become his ancestors: making long arms, shake hands across the and how many of your forefathers have Atlantic, let our amity remain as green as laughed and meditated, and given their cop-holly leaves, our hearts unspotted by black as pers, small but willing oblations at the shrine, the holly berries. And so to the end let all that is, stage, of Punch. You and he, Jona- asperities" be worn away, than, both speak a common language. When Punch cries out in the streets, does not Jonathan regard him? 66 "That the smooth temper of our age may be Like the high leaves upon the holly tree." I am happy to find, dear friend, that ChristYou may acknowledge this Christmas trimas will close in about us, and find us once bute in any cordial manner — -after your more heart-whole and amicable. Pray give own cordial nature - you may please. A a hint - one of the strongest-to President few bouquets the more, an extra cheer or so, Pierce to put a muzzle now and then upon to our literary plenipotentiary, William his Attorney-General. Here has that amia-Makepeace Thackeray, now in the States, ble lawyer been doing his best to blow red will be blithely taken in full quittance, by, coals between England and the States, and Dear JONATHAN, that too at a time when the heartiest good wishes and best sympathies of Jonathan ought to attend upon his relations. Ought, Your affectionate Friend PUNCH. LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-No. 613.-23 FEBRUARY, 1856. From the British Quarterly Review. History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain. By WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. 2 vols. Bentley. theme for the superficial historical student; for, along the whole course of his life, with how many kingdoms and peoples was he brought in contact ! England, with the strife of her reformation and the rise of her proud nationality; Flanders, with its deadlier strife for religion and freedom; Germany, with the feuds of its princes and the contests of its people; and France, with her fierce conflict of rival parties, the treachery of the Guises and Catherine de Medicis, and that crowning atrocity, the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. Even signal victories over the Turks- the Cross, as of yore, triumphant over the Crescent-cast a romantic splendor over that long reign. And all along there is the sullen countenance and cold but expres sive features of Philip the Second looking out upon us; and his dark sinister eye glares forth like that of some evil spirit, bent on the work AMONG the many important subjects of inquiry which the history of the sixteenth century suggests, few are more striking than the sudden and prominent part taken by Spain in European politics. During the long succession of the middle ages, nearly every other European state and kingdomItaly, France, Germany, England, the free cities of Flanders, the flourishing towns on the shores of the Baltic, even remoter kingdoms, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, by turns, or together, took part in the stirring drama of those times; while Spain, separated only by the chain of the Pyrenees, appeared as utterly cut off from the great European family as the regions beyond the Caucasus. Indeed, from those half mythic times when of destruction, fearful indeed to contemplate, the chronicler told of Charlemagne's paladins and the fatal pass of Rouncevalles, to the day when Columbus laid a new world at her feet, Spain scarcely ever appears on the pages of European history, scarcely even in European legend and romance. Even their deadliest foemen, the Saracens, held a far more prominent place in the popular mind than the Spaniard. but from whence shall eventually arise abiding good. We are gratified to find that Mr. Prescott has undertaken this important history. No one can be better qualified for the task than himself, both from his previous knowledge of the history of Spain, and his command of hitherto unemployed materials, but, more than all, his skill and judgment in using them. Only the two first volumes are, as yet, before us, and to them we will now proceed to direct the attention of the reader. It was not until almost the close of the fifteenth century that Spain first challenged a place in the councils of Europe. But, under Charles V., mighty was her power and in- Philip the Second was born at Valladolid, fluence, and as mighty during the reign of on the 21st of May, 1527. Ere the festivhis son. Unlike his father, who, not content | ities customary on the birth of an heir to the with the strifes of diplomacy, charged with crown could be completed, tidings of the his armies, mounted on his war-steed, and capture of Clement the Seventh and of the even when struck down by his "old enemy," atrocious sack of Rome arrived, and the Emand helpless as an infant, was borne in a peror, who, doubtless, shared the general inlitter at their head- Philip withdrew from dignation, although he cannot be altogether personal warfare; but then, in the privacy acquitted of participation in the earlier steps of his cabinet, he wove those intricate webs which led to these results, immediately gave of state-policy, and issued those sanguinary orders that all public rejoicings should cease. mandates, which made the influence of the The disappointed Spaniards obeyed this manEscorial to be felt beyond the uttermost date most reluctantly, and, singularly enough, bounds of Europe. The history of this prophesied that the reign of the prince, who, great Archimago of the Romish faith is, in after years, became so uncompromising indeed, an important one- not to be manu- and unscrupulous a champion of the Church, factured with scissors and paste; nor is it a would be injurious both to her and to Spain. DCXIII. LIVING AGE. VOL. XII. 29 would dazzle the imagination of the people among whom he passed," and should flatter his Flemish subjects, too, by the assumption of a state to which they had been accustomed by their Burgundian princes. Sailing from Rosas with a fleet of fifty-eight vessels, commanded by the illustrious Andrew Doria, Philip arrived at Genoa, and after a few days' festivity, during which, however, we find he made his first essay in kingcraft most successfully, the narrator informing us that, while his answer to the suppliant was exceedingly complimentary, "it was sufficiently ambiguous as to the essentials," he proceeded to Milan, and, crossing the Tyrol, took the road past Munich and Heidelberg towards Flanders. Four months were occupied by this splendid progress; and, as the heir of the great Emperor rode slowly along, each village sent Well had it been for that age had the augury proved true. Charles seems to have exereised a praiseworthy care in the education of his only son. The first seven years of the boy's life were passed with his mother, Isabella of Portugal, an excellent woman, worthy of her namesake ancestress, and then he was transferred to the superintendence of Juan Martinez Seliceo, a professor in the college of Salamanca, under whose teaching he became a tolerable Latin scholar, and also made some progress in French and Italian. Philip's proficiency in languages, however, never rivalled his father's, for, in conversation, he was rarely inclined to venture beyond his own mother-tongue. He is said to have own a more decided taste for science, especially the mathematics, while to the arts, especially architecture, he in after life paid much attention. While the learned professor of Salamanca thus superintended Philip's out its inhabitants to gaze, and each town literary education, Don Juan de Zuñiga, and city reverently opened its gates, and welcommendador mayor of Castile, was charged comed him with thunders of artillery, with with his instruction in all those athletic and humblest addresses, and not infrequently with graceful exercises which were indispensable to silver goblets brimful of golden ducats. the accomplished cavalier of the sixteenth These last were received by Philip himself century. But little taste had Philip for these with gracious condescension. The reply to accomplishments, in which in youth his the addresses the taciturn prince delegated to the Duke of Alva, who, already high in favor, rode beside him. At length the gorgeous procession entered Flanders; and, as it drew near Brussels, the eager crowds rushed forth, greeting their future ruler with wild enthusiasm, and amid the roaring of cannon, the merry peals of myriad bells, and the shouts of heartiest welcome, Philip, with Alva at his bridle rein, entered the festive city. Philip and Alva in Brussels! What would have been the greeting could a prophet voice have foretold the unimaginable miseries these two should inflict on its inhabitants? father had delighted, and, far worse, still less inclination had he to receive those lessons of lofty principle, of honor, and truthfulness, which his noble-hearted tutor was well qualified to impart, and for which the wise father had warmly eulogized him. As Philip "grew in years, and slowly unfolded the peculiar qualities of his disposition," caution, reserve, suspicion, and an utter absence of generous feeling, became strongly marked, and, together with the acuteness beyond his years, which he is said to have displayed, and his perfect self-possession, must, even in his boyhood, have indicated "what manner of man he should be." The loss of his mother ere he was twelve years old, his appointment to the regency, his marriage with his first cousin, Mary of Portugal, at the early age of sixteen, and the birth of his son, the illfated Don Carlos, with the consequent death of his young wife within two years after, may be noticed as we pass on to the first important event of Philip's history, his visit to his father at Brussels, in the autumn of 1548. This visit was arranged with the greatest magnificence, for "the emperor was desirous that his son should make an appearance that The meeting between the father and son was affectionate; it was nearly seven years since they had met, and Charles, ambitious and grasping as he was, was not deficient in natural affection. "He must have been pleased with the alteration which time had wrought in Philip's appearance," Mr. Prescott remarks, and we subjoin his full-length portrait. "He was now twenty-one years of age, and marked upon by more than one who had access was distinguished by a comeliness of person, reto his presence. That report is confirmed by the portraits of him, from the pencil of Titian, taken before the freshness of youth had faded and in the great square of Brussels, opposite into the sallow hue of disease, and when care the palace, and arrayed in unaccustomed and anxiety had not yet given a sombre, perhaps sullen, expression to his features. He splendor of cloth of gold and violet velvet, had a fair and even delicate complexion. His he ran the first course againt Count Manshair and beard were of a light yellow; his eyes feldt, and received a brilliant ruby as the blue, with the eyebrows somewhat too close prize. There is a mournful interest in the together. His nose thin and aquiline. The principal blemish in his countenance was his details of this tournament, so graphically and thick Austrian lip; his lower jaw protruded spiritedly described by Mr. Prescott. Count even more than his father's. To his father, Hoorne, among the challengers, and the indeed, he bore a great resemblance in his linea- gallant Count Egmont, with lance in rest, ments, though those of Philip were of a less in- supporting Philip; and Alva sitting among below the middle height, with a slight symmet- the judges, while the emperor, beneath the rical figure, and well-made limbs. He was gorgeous canopy of crimson and gold, his attentive to his dress, which was rich and elegant, sisters, the regent, and the dowager queon but without any affectation of ornament. His of France, on either hand, occupied almost demeanor was grave, with that ceremonious observance which marked the old Castilian, and which may be thought the natural result of Philip's slow and phlegmatic temperament." tellectual cast. In stature he was somewhat the very spot where, on that sad morning twenty years after, the tolling bells, the black scaffold, and the headsman, drew together a greater, but heartbroken crowd, to witness the execution of those two gallant nobles, while Alva, drunk with blood, but with thrist yet unsatiated, watched behind the lattice the fall of their gory heads. A residence of more than two years in Flanders, if insufficient to reconcile Philip to the habits of his Flemish subjects, was an amply sufficient space of time for Charles to initiate his son into that science of government which he understood so well. Every day Philip passed some time in his father's cabinet conversing on public affairs, or in attending the sittings of the council of state; and it is probable that Charles "found his was still wanting to the father's wishes; that in addition to the crown of Spain, the diadem of the Germanic empire should be secured to his son; and earnest was Charles with his brother Ferdinand to induce him to waive his But Philip, although resembling his father in some points, both in person and character, was, in many essential respects, widely different. Charles was far more Fleming than Spaniard; Philip far more Spaniard than Fleming-indeed, altogether Spanish in tastes and feeling. The free and frank deportment of the emperor, which, despite of his tyrannical measures, rendered him so popular with his Flemish and German subjects, contrasted strangely in their eyes with the cold, formal demeanor of his son. The love of athletic sports which Charles in his youth displayed, his taste for gorgeous ceremonial and a splendid court, even his love of good cheerson an apt and docile scholar." One thing the potted capon and eel-pasties, for which he endured a penance far more severe than hair-shirt or scourge could inflict and his deep potations—the mighty goblet, containing a full quart of Rhenish, drained at a single draught, as Roger Ascham, who wit-prospective claim in favor of his nephew. nessed this feat of imperial excess, so wonderingly records—all these endeared him to the wealthy, pomp-loving, luxurious burghers of Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp, who could scarcely comprehend, far less admire, the prince who, although but just past twenty, rigidly adhered to one system of diet, who seldom took part in the tourney, scarcely ever hunted, but preferred to pass his hours in the privacy of his own apartment, in company with a favorite few, but talking of nothing and thinking of nothing but Spain. But however distasteful to Philip, he was compelled, in conformity with his father's will, to take part in the festivities in his honor; But Ferdinand was unyielding; while to the suggestion that Philip might at least become king of the Romans, the plea that this was in the gift of the electors was urged-a plea unanswerable, and at once fatal to the claims of Philip of Spain; for, as Sorriano remarks, while his manners had been "little pleasing to the Italians, and positively displeasing to the Flemings, they were altogether odious to the Germans." A kind of compromise was at length entered into between the two brothers, and Philip prepared for his departure. Ile had now accomplished the object of his visit in regard to his Flemish subjects; bat even then "the symptoms of alienation be tween the future sovereign and his people, | stipulated that Mary should be brought up which was afterwards to widen into a perma- in the habits, the language, even the costume nent and irreparable breach, might be discov- of Spain. "And who is so well qualified to ered," and when Philip again visited Flanders, instruct her in all this as the queen, her there was little of that wild enthusiasm which mother?" said Henry.* hailed his first appearance. Charles, well acquainted with the inveterate nationality of his aunt, willingly acquiesced, and thus the princess royal of England was educated as an alien in her own land! Up to the year 1525, this engagement was still considered binding; and an emerald ring, in token of constancy, was presented by the grave ambassadors to Charles, as a love-token from the little princess, which he as gravely received, saying "he wolde weare it for hir sayke." But Charles was now twenty-six years of age, and, naturally enough, his subjects desired to see him married without delay, rather than wait some years longer for It was without reluctance, therefore, that Philip returned to Spain. In July, 1551, he relanded at Barcelona, proceeding to Valladolid, and there quietly resumed the duties of the regency during the next three years; while his father, humiliated by his flight from Innspruck, and the disastrous results of the siege of Metz, at length began to meditate that abdication which ere long was to startle Europe. Ere this step had been arranged probably ere it was definitely decided upon death, which, if it so often extinguishes ambitious hopes, so often, on the other hand, awakens or aids them, offered a new prize to his English cousin; so only two months later the still grasping emperor. Young Edward of England had died, and Mary, the cruellyused daughter of Katharine of Arragon, the persecuted sister of the protestant boy-king, the desolate princess, on whose behalf, and for the free exercise of whose faith, Charles, as her nearest maternal relative, had repeatedly interfered, was now actually queen, and unwedded! What a prize for his still widower son! The history of Philip of Spain now links itself with that of England; and in entering upon it we shall refer to English affairs more largely than Mr. Prescott has done, since scarcely any portion of our annals requires so much to be re-written as those of the reign of Mary. he wrote to the king and cardinal requesting their assent to his marriage with another first cousin of more suitable age, Isabella of Portugal, who became, as we have seen, mother of Philip II. Ere long, Henry and Francis again made peace, and then Francis, now a widower, obligingly offered either himself or his second son. After many negotiations, the subject was dropped, and during the subsequent years the divorce of Katharine fully occupied Henry's mind, while, cast out from court favor and disgracefully branded with illegitimacy, few European princes would be likely to seek an alliance with the portionless " Lady Mary." Soon after Katharine's death, however, we find Charles again interfering on behalf of his cousin, and proFew kings' daughters, from their very posing a marriage with his nephew the Infant cradle up to womanhood, have been the of Portugal; but ere the arrangements were object of so many marriage treaties as Mary completed, Francis again came forward with Tudor. Giustinian has told us how Bonni-a renewed offer of his second son. Soon vet placed the diminutive ring on the little child's finger as she stood on her mother's knee, thus betrothing her to the Dauphin, then a babe in his nurse's arms. (B. Q., No. XLII., page 462.) But the peace thus solemnly ratified between Henry and Francis was ere long again broken, and then Charles V. sought a closer alliance with his cousin, still the heir-presumptive of the English crown, although then but six years old, and by the treaty of Windsor stipulated that at the age of twelve she should be sent to Spain to complete her education. This treaty is very important, for we find that it was there after there were proposals from the Duke of Cleves, and then from the Duke of Urbino, both at the suggestion of Charles, who dreaded above all a French alliance, and to these a third was subsequently added, from Duke Philip of Bavaria. The latter visited England and presented Mary with a diamond "For if her father shuld seke a maistresse for hir to frame hir after the maner of Spayne, and of whom she myghte take example of vertue, he shulde not fynde in all Xtendome a more mete than she now hathe, the quene's and who for th' affection she berith to the emperer will grace, her mother, who is comen of this house of Spayne, norish her, and bringe her up, as may hereafter be to his most contentacion."-Letter of the Ambassador's, July 8th, Cotton MSS. |