rity and the greatness of human glory.

But all these fruits of his ambition, and all the honors which attended
him, could not yield true and solid satisfaction. Reflecting on the evils
and miseries which he had occasioned, and convinced of the emptiness of
earthly magnificence, he became disgusted with the splendor that
surrounded him, and thought it his duty to withdraw from it, and spend the
rest of his days in religious retirement. Accordingly, he voluntarily
resigned all his dominions to his brother and son; and, after taking an
affectionate and last farewell of the latter, and a numerous retinue of
princes and nobility who respectfully attended him, he repaired to his
chosen retreat, which was situated in Spain, in a vale of no great extent,
watered by a small brook, and surrounded with rising grounds covered with
lofty trees.

A deep sense of his frail condition and great imperfections appears to
have impressed his mind in this extraordinary resolution, and through the
remainder of his life. As soon as he landed in Spain, he fell prostrate on
the ground, and considering himself now as dead to the world, he kissed
the earth, and said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked I
now return to thee, thou common mother of mankind!"

In this humble retreat, he spent his time in religious exercises and
innocent employments, and buried here, in solitude and silence, his
grandeur and his ambition, together with all those vast projects, which,
for near half a century, had alarmed and agitated Europe, and filled every
kingdom in it, by turns, with the terror of his arms, and the dread of
being subjected to his power. Far from taking any part in the political
transactions of the world, he restrained his curiosity even from any
inquiry concerning them, and seemed to view the busy scene he had
abandoned with an elevation and indifference of mind which arose from his
thorough experience of its vanity, as well as from the pleasing reflection
of having disengaged himself from its cares and temptations.

Here he enjoyed more complete contentment than all his grandeur had ever
yielded him; as a full proof of which he has left this short but
comprehensive testimony:--"I have tasted more satisfaction in my solitude,
in one day, than in all the triumphs of my former reign. The sincere
study, profession, and practice, of the Christian religion have in them
such joys and sweetness as are seldom found in courts and grandeur."