into a garden, of which Charles himself had given the plan, and had
filled it with various plants which he intended to cultivate with his
own hands. On the other side, they communicated with the chapel of the
monastery, in which he was to perform his devotions. Into this humble
retreat, hardly sufficient for the comfortable accommodation of a
private gentleman, did Charles enter, with twelve domestics only. He
buried there, in solitude and silence, his grandeur, his ambition,
together with all those vast projects which, during almost half a
century, had alarmed and agitated Europe, filling every kingdom in it,
by turns, with the terror of his arms, and the dread of being subdued by
his power.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] Don Levesque, in his memoirs of Cardinal Granvelle, gives a reason
for the Emperor's resignation, which, as far as I recollect, is not
mentioned by any other historian. He says that, the Emperor having ceded
the government of the kingdom of Naples and the duchy of Milan to his
son upon his marriage with the Queen of England, Philip, notwithstanding
the advice and entreaties of his father, removed most of the ministers
and officers whom he had employed in those countries, and appointed
creatures of his own to fill the places which they held. That he aspired
openly, and with little delicacy, to obtain a share in the
administration of affairs in the Low Countries. That he endeavored to
thwart the Emperor's measures and to limit his authority, behaving
toward him sometimes with inattention, and sometimes with haughtiness.
That Charles, finding that he must either yield on every occasion to his
son, or openly contend with him, in order to avoid either of these,
which were both disagreeable and mortifying to a father, he took the
resolution of resigning his crowns, and of retiring from the world (vol.
i. p. 24, etc.). Don Levesque derived his information concerning these
curious facts, which he relates very briefly, from the original papers
of Cardinal Granvelle. But as that vast collection of papers, which has
been preserved and arranged by M. l'Abbe Boizot of Besancon, though one
of the most valuable historical monuments of the sixteenth century, and
which cannot fail of throwing much light on the transactions of Charles
V, is not published, I cannot determine what degree of credit should be
given to this account of Charles' resignation. I have, therefore, taken
no notice of it in relating this event.

AKBAR