proceedings, is one of the most remarkable in history. That the crown of
the monarch is lined with thorns, is a trite maxim; and it requires no
philosophy to teach us that happiness does not depend on station. Yet,
numerous as are the instances of those who have waded to a throne
through seas of blood, there are but few who, when they have once tasted
the sweets of sovereignty, have been content to resign them; still fewer
who, when they have done so, have had the philosophy to conform to their
change of condition, and not to repent it. Charles, as the event proved,
was one of these few.

On the sixteenth day of January, 1556, in the presence of such of the
Spanish nobility as were at the court, he executed the deeds by which he
ceded the sovereignty of Castile and Aragon, with their dependencies, to
Philip.[9]

The last act that remained for him to perform was to resign the crown of
Germany in favor of his brother Ferdinand. But this he consented to
defer some time longer, at the request of Ferdinand himself, who wished
to prepare the minds of the electoral college for this unexpected
transfer of the imperial sceptre. But, while Charles consented to retain
for the present the title of Emperor, the real power and the burden of
sovereignty would remain with Ferdinand.[10]

At the time of abdicating the throne of the Netherlands, Charles was
still at war with France. He had endeavored to negotiate a permanent
peace with that country; and, although he failed in this, he had the
satisfaction, on the fifth of February, 1556, to arrange a truce for
five years, which left both powers in the possession of their respective
conquests. In the existing state of these conquests, the truce was by no
means favorable to Spain. But Charles would have made even larger
concessions, rather than leave the legacy of a war to his less
experienced successor.

[Sidenote: HIS RETURN TO SPAIN]

Having thus completed all his arrangements, by which the most powerful
prince of Europe descended to the rank of a private gentleman, Charles
had no longer reason to defer his departure, and he proceeded to the
place of embarkation. He was accompanied by a train of Flemish
courtiers, and by the foreign ambassadors, to the latter of whom he
warmly commended the interests of his son. A fleet of fifty-six sail was
riding at anchor in the port of Flushing, ready to transport him and his
retinue to Spain. From the imperial household, consisting of seven
h