the unseen world and other essays-第43节

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antagonist；　however；the　Philip　whom　God　for　some　inscrutable　purpose　permitted　to　afflict　Europe　during　a　reign　of　forty…two　years；accompanies　us　nearly　to　the　end　of　the　present　work；　dying　just　in　time　for　the　historian　to　sum　up　the　case　against　him；　and　pronounce　final　judgment。　For　the　memory　of　Philip　II。　Mr。　Motley　cherishes　no　weak　pity。　He　rarely　alludes　to　him　without　commenting　upon　his　total　depravity；　and　he　dismisses　him　with　the　remark　that　〃if　there　are　vicesas　possibly　there　arefrom　which　he　was　exempt；　it　is　because　it　is　not　permitted　to　human　nature　to　attain　perfection　in　evil。〃　The　verdict　is　none　the　less　just　because　of　its　conciseness。　If　there　ever　was　a　strife　between　Hercules　and　Cacus；　between　Ormuzd　and　Ahriman；　between　the　Power　of　Light　and　the　Power　of　Darkness；　it　was　certainly　the　strife　between　the　Prince　of　Orange　and　the　Spanish　Monarch。　They　are　contrasted　like　the　light　and　shade　in　one　of　Dore's　pictures。　And　yet　it　is　perhaps　unnecessary　for　Mr。　Motley　to　say　that　if　Philip　had　been　alive　when　Spinola　won　for　him　the　great　victory　of　Ostend；　〃he　would　have　felt　it　his　duty　to　make　immediate　arrangements　for　poisoning　him。〃　Doubtless　the　imputation　is　sufficiently　justified　by　what　we　know　of　Philip；　but　it　is　uncalled　for。　We　do　not　care　to　hear　about　what　the　despot　might　have　done。　We　know　what　he　did　do；　and　the　record　is　sufficiently　damning。　There　is　no　harm　in　our　giving　the　Devil　his　due；　or　as　Llorente　wittily　says；　〃Il　ne　faut　pas　calomnier　meme　l'Inquisition。〃

Philip　inherited　all　his　father's　bad　qualities；　without　any　of　his　good　ones；　and　so　it　is　much　easier　to　judge　him　than　his　father。　Charles；　indeed；　is　one　of　those　characters　whom　one　hardly　knows　whether　to　love　or　hate；　to　admire　or　despise。　He　had　much　bad　blood　in　him。　Charles　the　Bold　and　Ferdinand　of　Aragon　were　not　grandparents　to　be　proud　of。　Yet　with　all　this　he　inherited　from　his　grandmother　Isabella　much　that　one　can　like；　and　his　face；　as　preserved　by　Titian；　in　spite　of　its　frowning　brow　and　thick　Burgundian　lip；　is　rather　prepossessing；　while　the　face　of　Philip　is　simply　odious。　In　intellect　he　must　probably　be　called　great；　though　his　policy　often　betrayed　the　pettiness　of　selfishness。　If；　in　comparison　with　the　mediaeval　emperor　whose　fame　he　envied；　he　may　justly　be　called　Charles　the　Little；　he　may　still；　when　compared　to　a　more　modern　emulator　of　Charlemagne；the　first　of　the　Bonapartes；be　considered　great　and　enlightened。　If　he　could　lie　and　cheat　more　consummately　than　any　contemporary　monarch；　not　excepting　his　rival；　Francis；　he　could　still　be　grandly　magnanimous；　while　the　generosity　of　Francis　flowed　only　from　the　shallow　surface　of　a　maudlin　good…nature。　He　spoke　many　languages　and　had　the　tastes　of　a　scholar；　while　his　son　had　only　the　inclinations　of　an　unfeeling　pedagogue。　He　had　an　inkling　of　urbanity；　and　could　in　a　measure　become　all　things　to　all　men；　while　Philip　could　never　show　himself　except　as　a　gloomy；　impracticable　bigot。　It　is　for　some　such　reasons　as　these；　I　suppose；　that　Mr。　Buckleno　friend　to　despotsspeaks　well　of　Charles；　and　that　Mr。　Froude　is　moved　to　tell　the　following　anecdote：　While　standing　by　the　grave　of　Luther；　and　musing　over　the　strange　career　of　the　giant　monk　whose　teachings　had　gone　so　far　to　wreck　his　most　cherished　schemes　and　render　his　life　a　failure；　some　fanatical　bystander　advised　the　Emperor　to　have　the　body　taken　up　and　burned　in　the　market…place。　〃There　was　nothing；〃　says　Mr。　Froude；　〃unusual　in　the　proposal；　it　was　the　common　practice　of　the　Catholic　Church　with　the　remains　of　heretics；　who　were　held　unworthy　to　be　left　in　repose　in　hallowed　ground。　There　was　scarcely；　perhaps　another　Catholic　prince　who　would　have　hesitated　to　comply。　But　Charles　was　one　of　nature's　gentlemen。　He　answered；　'I　war　not　with　the　dead。'　〃　Mr。　Motley　takes　a　less　charitable　view　of　the　great　Emperor。　His　generous　indignation　against　all　persecutors　makes　him　severe；　and　in　one　of　his　earlier　volumes；　while　speaking　of　the　famous　edicts　for　the　suppression　of　heresy　in　the　Netherlands；　he　somewhere　uses　the　word　〃murder。〃　Without　attempting　to　palliate　the　crime　of　persecution；　I　doubt　if　it　is　quite　fair　to　Charles　to　call　him　a　murderer。　We　must　not　forget　that　persecution；　now　rightly　deemed　an　atrocious　crime；　was　once　really　considered　by　some　people　a　sacred　duty；　that　it　was　none　other　than　the　compassionate　Isabella　who　established　the　Spanish　Inquisition；　and　that　the　〃bloody〃　Mary　Tudor　was　a　woman　who　would　not　wilfully　have　done　wrong。　With　the　progress　of　civilization　the　time　will　doubtless　come　when　warfare；　having　ceased　to　be　necessary；　will　be　thought　highly　criminal；　yet　it　will　not　then　be　fair　to　hold　Marlborough　or　Wellington　accountable　for　the　lives　lost　in　their　great　battles。　We　still　live　in　an　age　when　war　is；　to　the　imagination　of　some　persons；　surrounded　with　false　glories；　and　the　greatest　of　modern　generals＇32＇　has　still　many　undiscriminating　admirers。　Yet　the　day　is　no　less　certainly　at　hand　when　the　edicts　of　Charles　V。　will　be　deemed　a　more　pardonable　offence　against　humanity　than　the　wanton　march　to　Moscow。

＇32＇　This　was　written　before　the　deeds　of　Moltke　had　eclipsed　those　of　Napoleon。


Philip　II。　was　different　from　his　father　in　capacity　as　a　drudging　clerk；　like　Boutwell；　is　different　from　a　brilliant　financier　like　Gladstone。　In　organization　he　differed　from　him　as　a　boor　differs　from　a　gentleman。　He　seemed　made　of　a　coarser　clay。　The　difference　between　them　is　well　indicated　by　their　tastes　at　the　table。　Both　were　terrible　gluttons；　a　fact　which　puritanic　criticism　might　set　down　as　equally　to　the　discredit　of　each　of　them。　But　even　in　intemperance　there　are　degrees　of　refinement；　and　the　impartial　critic　of　life　and　manners　will　no　doubt　say　that　if　one　must　get　drunk；　let　it　be　on　Chateau　Margaux　rather　than　on　commissary　whiskey。　Pickled　partridges；　plump　capons；　syrups　of　fruits；　delicate　pastry；　and　rare　fish　went　to　make　up　the　diet　of　Charles　in　his　last　days　at　Yuste。　But　the　beastly　Philip　would　make　himself　sick　with　a　surfeit　of　underdone　pork。

Whatever　may　be　said　of　the　father；　we　can　hardly　go　far　wrong　in　ascribing　the　instincts　of　a　murderer　to　the　son。　He　not　only　burned　heretics；　but　he　burned　them　with　an　air　of　enjoyment　and　self…complacency。　His　nuptials　with　Elizabeth　of　France　were　celebrated　by　a　vast　auto…da…fe。　He　studied　murder　as　a　fine　art；　and　was　as　skilful　in　private　assassinations　as　Cellini　was　in　engraving　on　gems。　The　secret　execution　of　Montigny；　never　brought　to　light　until　the　present　century；　was　a　veritable　chef　d'oeuvre　of　this　sort。　The　cases　of　Escobedo　and　Antonio　Perez　may　also　be　cited　in　point。　Dark　suspicions　hung　around　the　premature　death　of　Don　John　of　Austria；　his　too　brilliant　and　popular　half…brother。　He　planned　the　murder　of　William　the　Silent；　and　rewarded　the　assassin　with　an　annuity　furnished　by　the　revenues　of　the　victim's　confiscated　estates。　He　kept　a　staff　of　ruffians　constantly　in　service　for　the　purpose　of　taking　off　Elizabeth；　Henry　IV。；　Prince　Maurice；　Olden…Barneveldt；　and　St。　Aldegonde。　He　instructed　Alva　to　execute　sentence　of　death　upon　the　whole　population　of　the　Netherlands。　He　is　partly　responsible　for　the　martyrdoms　of　Ridley　and　Latimer；　and　the　judicial　murder　of　Cranmer。　He　first　conceived　the　idea　of　the　wholesale　massacre　of　St。　Bartholomew；　many　years　before　Catharine　de'　Medici　carried　it　into　operation。　His　ingratitude　was　as　dangerous　as　his　revengeful　fanaticism。　Those　who　had　best　served　his　interests　were　the　least　likely　to　escape　the　consequences　of　his　jealousy。　He　destroyed　Egmont；　who　had　won　for　him　the　splendid　victories　of　St。　Quentin　and　Gravelines；　and　〃with　minute　and　artistic　treachery〃　he　plotted　〃the　disgrace　and　ruin〃　of　Farnese；　〃the　man　who　was　his　near　blood…relation；　and　who　had　served　him　most　faithfully　from　earliest　youth。〃　Contemporary　opinion　even　held　him　accountable　for　the　obscure　deaths　of　his　wife　Elizabeth　and　his　son　Carlos；　but　M。　Gachard　has　shown　that　this　suspicion　is　unfounded。　Philip　appears　perhaps　to　better　advantage　in　his　domestic　than　in　his　political　relations。　Yet　he　was　addicted　to　vulgar　and　miscellaneous　incontinence；　toward　the　close　of　his　life　he　seriously　contemplated　marrying　his　own　daughter　Isabella；　and　he　ended　by　taking　for　his　fourth　wife　his　niece；　Anne　of　Austria；　who　became　the　mother　of　his　half…idiotic　son　and　successor。　We　know　of　no　royal　family；　unless　it　may　be　the　Claudians　of　Rome；　in　which　the　transmission　of　moral　and　intellectual　qualities　is　more　thoroughly　illustrated　than　in　this　Burgundian　race　which　for　two　centuries　held　the　sceptre　of　Spain。　The　son　Philip　and　the　grandmother　Isabella　are　both　needful　in　order　to　comprehend　the　strange　mixture　of　good　and　evil　in　Charles。　But　the　descendants　of　Philiptwo　generations　of　idiocy；　and　a　third　of　utter　impotenceare　a　sufficient　commentary　upon　the　organization　and　character　of　their　progenitor。

Such　was　the　man　who　for　two　generations　had　been　considered　the　bulwark　of　the　Catholic　Church；　who；　having　been　at　the　bottom　of　nearly　all　the　villany　that　had　been　wrought　in　Europe　for　half　a　century；　was　yet　able　to　decla