asters of the Indies--could at any time lay claim. But the
imputation of parsimony, or even indifference, on the part of the
latter, in his relations with his father, is fully disproved by the
subsequent history of that monarch at the convent of Yuste.[14]

[Sidenote: BIRTH OF PHILIP.]

This place, it is said, had attracted his eye many years before, when on
a visit to that part of the country, and he marked it for his future
residence. The convent was tenanted by monks of the strictest order of
Saint Jerome. But, however strict in their monastic rule, the good
fathers showed much taste in the selection of their ground, as well as
in the embellishment of it. It lay in a wild, romantic country,
embosomed among hills that stretch along the northern confines of
Estremadura. The building, which was of great antiquity, had been
surrounded by its inmates with cultivated gardens, and with groves of
orange, lemon, and myrtle, whose fragrance was tempered by the
refreshing coolness of the waters that gushed forth in abundance from
the rocky sides of the hills. It was a delicious retreat, and, by its
calm seclusion and the character of its scenery, was well suited to
withdraw the mind from the turmoil of the world, and dispose it to
serious meditation. Here the monarch, after a life of restless ambition,
proposed to spend the brief remainder of his days, and dedicate it to
the salvation of his soul. He could not, however, as the event proved,
close his heart against all sympathy with mankind, nor refuse to take
some part in the great questions which then agitated the world. Charles
was not master of that ignoble philosophy which enabled Diocletian to
turn with contentment from the cares of an empire to those of a
cabbage-garden.--In this retirement we must now leave the royal recluse,
while we follow the opening career of the prince whose reign is the
subject of the present history.

CHAPTER II.

EARLY DAYS OF PHILIP.

Birth of Philip the Second.--His Education.--Intrusted with the
Regency.--Marries Mary of Portugal.--Visit to Flanders.--Public
Festivities.--Ambitious Schemes.--Returns to Spain.

1527-1551.

Philip the Second was born at Valladolid, on the twenty-first of May,
1527. His mother was the Empress Isabella, daughter of Emanuel the Great
of Portugal. By his father he was descended from the ducal houses of
Burgundy and Austria. By both father and mother he claimed a descent
from Ferdinand and Isabella t