ecommended, moreover, by a classic elegance of style which has justly
given him a preeminence among the historians of the great emperor. But
in his account of the latter days of Charles, Robertson mainly relies on
commonplace authorities, whose information, gathered at second hand, is
far from being trustworthy,--as is proved by the contradictory tenor of
such authentic documents as the letters of Charles himself, with those
of his own followers, and the narratives of the brotherhood of Yuste.
These documents are, for the most part, to be found in the Archives of
Simancas, where, in Robertson's time, they were guarded, with the
vigilance of a Turkish harem, against all intrusion of native as well as
foreigner. It was not until very recently, in 1844, that the more
liberal disposition of the government allowed the gates to be unbarred
which had been closed for centuries; and then, for the first time, the
student might be seen toiling in the dusty alcoves of Simancas, and
busily exploring the long-buried memorials of the past. It was at this
period that my friend, Don Pascual de Gayangos, having obtained
authority from the government, passed some weeks at Simancas in
collecting materials, some of which have formed the groundwork of the
preceding chapter.

While the manuscripts of Simancas were thus hidden from the world, a
learned keeper of the archives, Don Tomas Gonzalez, discontented with
the unworthy view which had been given of the latter days of Charles the
Fifth, had profited by the materials which lay around him, to exhibit
his life at Yuste in a new and more authentic light. To the volume which
he compiled for this purpose he gave the title of "_Retiro, Estancia, y
Muerte del Emperador Carlos Quinto en el Monasterio de Yuste_." The
work, the principal value of which consists in the copious extracts with
which it is furnished from the correspondence of Charles and his
household, was suffered by the author to remain in manuscript; and, at
his death, it passed into the hands of his brother, who prepared a
summary of its contents, and endeavored to dispose of the volume at a
price so exorbitant that it remained for many years without a purchaser.
It was finally bought by the French government at a greatly reduced
price,--for four thousand francs. It may seem strange that it should
have even brought this sum, since the time of the sale was that in which
the new arrangements were made for giving admission to the archive