ected. He has a happy
disposition, is magnanimous, liberal, generous--but what of it, since
these qualities contribute to his country's ruin?" So reserved was the
royal youth in his manner, so slow of speech, that his mental capacity
began to be suspected. People remembered his mother. The story of the
troubled beginnings of what proved to be one of the most remarkable
reigns in modern history, is related in the _Opus Epistolarum_. The
writer watched from vantage-ground the conflict of interests, the
strife of parties; zealous for the welfare of his adopted country,
he was still a foreigner, identified with no party. Gifted with
rare perspicacity, moderation, and keen judgment, he maintained his
attitude of impartial observation. By temperament and habit he was an
aristrocrat--_placet Hispana nobilitas_--he confessed, admitting also
that _de populo nil mihi curae_, yet he sided with the _comuneros_
against the Crown. While deploring their excesses, he sympathised with
the cause they defended, and he lashed the insolence and the rapacity
of the Flemish favourites with all the resources of invective and
sarcasm of which he was master. In one of his letters (Ep. 709), he
describes the disorders everywhere prevalent throughout the country.
"The safest roads are no longer secure from brigands and you enrich
bandits and criminals, and oppress honest folks. The ruling power is
now in the hands of assassins." Despite his undisguised hostility to
the Flemings and his outspoken criticisms on the abuses they fomented,
Charles V. bestowed new honours and emoluments upon the favoured
counsellor of his grandparents. In September, 1518, the Royal Council
proposed his name to the King as ambassador to Constantinople, there
to treat with the victorious Sultan, whose sanguinary triumphs in
Persia and Egypt were feared to foreshadow an Ottoman invasion of
Europe. Alleging his advanced age and infirmities, the cautious
nominee declined the honour, preferring doubtless to abide by his
facile diplomatic laurels won in Cairo. There was reason to anticipate
that the formidable Selim would be found less pliant than Cansu
Alguri. The event proved his wisdom, as Garcia Loaysa who went in his
stead, learned to his cost.

[Note 5: Guillaume de Croy, Sieur de Chievres, who had been the
young prince's governor during his minority, became all powerful in
Spain, where he and his Flemish associates pillaged the treasury,
trafficked in benefices and off