ing, accommodations were provided for the deputies of the
provinces, who were to be seated on benches arranged according to their
respective rights of precedence.[3]

[Sidenote: CEREMONY OF ABDICATION.]

On the twenty-fifth of October, the day fixed for the ceremony, Charles
the Fifth executed an instrument by which he ceded to his son the
sovereignty of Flanders.[4] Mass was then performed; and the emperor,
accompanied by Philip and a numerous retinue, proceeded in state to the
great hall, where the deputies were already assembled.[5]

Charles was, at this time, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. His form
was slightly bent,--but it was by disease more than by time,--and on his
countenance might be traced the marks of anxiety and rough exposure. Yet
it still wore that majesty of expression so conspicuous in his portraits
by the inimitable pencil of Titian. His hair, once of a light color,
approaching to yellow, had begun to turn before he was forty, and, as
well as his beard, was now gray. His forehead was broad and expansive;
his nose aquiline. His blue eyes and fair complexion intimated his
Teutonic descent. The only feature in his countenance decidedly bad was
his lower jaw, protruding with its thick, heavy lip, so characteristic
of the physiognomies of the Austrian dynasty.[6]

In stature he was about the middle height. His limbs were strongly knit,
and once well formed, though now the extremities were sadly distorted by
disease. The emperor leaned for support on a staff with one hand, while
with the other he rested on the arm of William of Orange, who, then
young, was destined at a later day to become the most formidable enemy
of his house. The grave demeanor of Charles was rendered still more
impressive by his dress; for he was in mourning for his mother; and the
sable hue of his attire was relieved only by a single ornament, the
superb collar of the Golden Fleece, which hung from his neck.

Behind the emperor came Philip, the heir of his vast dominions. He was
of a middle height, of much the same proportions as his father, whom he
resembled also in his lineaments,--except that those of the son wore a
more sombre, and perhaps a sinister expression; while there was a
reserve in his manner, in spite of his efforts to the contrary, as if he
would shroud his thoughts from observation. The magnificence of his
dress corresponded with his royal station, and formed a contrast to that
of his father, who was quitting t