them
in Castile, knowing that I should instantly have been deprived of them,
and with them of my last hope. They remained concealed against precisely
such a time as this, when, beyond the immediate reach of Philip's
justice, I should startle the world and clear my own character by their
production.

You know the ancient privileges enjoyed by Aragon, privileges of which
the Aragonese are so jealous that a King of Castile may not assume the
title of King of Aragon until, bareheaded, he shall have received from
the Grand Justiciary of Aragon the following admonition: "We, who are of
equal worth and greater power than you, constitute you our king on the
condition that you respect our privileges, and not otherwise." And to
that the king must solemnly bind himself by oath, whose violation would
raise in revolt against him the very cobbles of the streets. No king of
Spain had ever yet been found to dare violate the constitution and
the fueros of Aragon, the independence of their cortes, or parliament,
composed of the four orders of the State. The Grand Justiciary's Court
was superior to any royally constituted tribunal in the kingdom; to
that court it was the privilege of any man to appeal for justice in any
cause; and there justice was measured out with a stern impartiality that
had not its like in any other State of Europe.

That was the tribunal to which I made surrender of my person and my
cause. There was an attempt on the part of Philip to seize me and drag
me back to Castile and his vengeance. His officers broke into the prison
for that purpose, and already I was in their power, when the men of the
Justiciary, followed by an excited mob, which threatened open rebellion
at this violation of their ancient rights, delivered me from their
hands.

Baffled in this--and I can imagine his fury, which has since been vented
on the Aragonese--Philip sent his representatives and his jurists to
accuse me before the Court of the Grand Justiciary and to conduct my
prosecution.

The trial began, exciting the most profound interest, not only in
Aragon, but also in Castile, which, as I afterwards learnt, had openly
rejoiced at my escape. It proceeded with the delays and longueurs that
are inseparable from the sluggish majesty of the law. One of these
pauses I wrote to Philip, inviting him to desist, and to grant me the
liberty to live out my days in peace with my family in some remote
corner of his kingdom. I warned him that I was