LTA.

Condition of Malta--Arrival of the Turks--They reconnoitre the
Island--Siege of St. Elmo--Its Heroic Defence--Its Fall 414

CHAPTER IV.

SIEGE OF MALTA.

Il Borgo invested--Storming of St. Michael--Slaughter of the
Turks--Incessant Cannonade--General Assault--The Turks
Repulsed--Perilous Condition of Il Borgo--Constancy of La Valette 432

CHAPTER V.

SIEGE OF MALTA.

The Turks dispirited--Reinforcement from Sicily--Siege raised--Mustapha
defeated--Rejoicings of the Christians--Mortification of Solyman--Review
of the Siege--Subsequent History of La Valette 445

CHAPTER VI.

DON CARLOS.

His Education and Character--Dangerous Illness--Extravagant
Behavior--Opinions respecting him--His Connection with the
Flemings--Project of Flight--Insane Conduct--Arrest 456

CHAPTER VII.

DEATH OF DON CARLOS.

Causes of his Imprisonment--His Rigorous Confinement--His Excesses--His
Death--Llorente's Account--Various Accounts--Suspicious
Circumstances--Quarrel in the Palace--Obsequies of Carlos 471

CHAPTER VIII.

DEATH OF ISABELLA.

Queen Isabella--Her Relations with Carlos--Her Illness and Death--Her
Character 490

FOOTNOTES

HISTORY OF PHILIP THE SECOND.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.

ABDICATION OF CHARLES THE FIFTH.

Introductory Remarks.--Spain under Charles the Fifth.--He prepares to
resign the Crown.--His Abdication.--His Return to Spain.--His Journey to
Yuste.

1555.

In a former work, I have endeavored to portray the period when the
different provinces of Spain were consolidated into one empire under the
rule of Ferdinand and Isabella; when, by their wise and beneficent
policy, the nation emerged from the obscurity in which it had so long
remained behind the Pyrenees, and took its place as one of the great
members of the European commonwealth. I now propose to examine a later
period in the history of the same nation,--the reign of Philip the
Second; when, with resources greatly enlarged, and territory extended by
a brilliant career of discovery and conquest, it had risen to the zenith
of its power; but when, under the mischievous policy of the
administration, it had excited the jealousy of its neighbors, and
already disclosed those germs of domestic corruption which gradually led
to its dismemberment and decay.

By the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella,