rom a favorite theologian. In
his worldly days, the book he most affected is said to have been
Comines's Life of Louis the Eleventh,[295]--a prince whose maxim, "_Qui
nescit dissimulare, nescit regnare_," was too well suited to the genius
of the emperor. He now, however, sought a safer guide for his spiritual
direction, and would listen to a homily from the pages of St. Bernard,
or more frequently St. Augustine, in whom he most delighted.[296]
Towards evening, he heard a sermon from one of his preachers. Three or
four of the most eloquent of the Jeronymite order had been brought to
Yuste for his especial benefit. When he was not in condition to be
present at the discourse, he expected to hear a full report of it from
the lips of his confessor, Father Juan de Regla. Charles was punctual in
his attention to all the great fasts and festivals of the Church. His
infirmities, indeed, excused him from fasting, but he made up for it by
the severity of his flagellation. In Lent, in particular, he dealt with
himself so sternly, that the scourge was found stained with his blood;
and this precious memorial of his piety was ever cherished, we are told,
by Philip, and by him bequeathed as an heirloom to his son.[297]

Increasing vigilance in his own spiritual concerns made him more
vigilant as to those of others,--as the weaker brethren sometimes found
to their cost. Observing that some of the younger friars spent more time
than was seemly in conversing with the women who came on business to the
door of the convent, Charles procured an order to be passed, that any
woman who ventured to approach within two bowshots of the gate should
receive a hundred stripes.[298] On another occasion, his officious
endeavor to quicken the diligence of one of the younger members of the
fraternity _is said_ to have provoked the latter testily to exclaim,
"Cannot you be contented with having so long turned the world upside
down, without coming here to disturb the quiet of a poor convent?"

[Sidenote: HIS MODE OF LIFE.]

He derived an additional pleasure, in his spiritual exercises, from his
fondness for music, which enters so largely into those of the Romish
Church. He sung well himself, and his clear, sonorous voice might often
be heard through the open casement of his bedroom, accompanying the
chant of the monks in the chapel. The choir was made up altogether of
brethren of the order, and Charles would allow no intrusion from any
other quarter. His