he could not recover by force. Upon a supposition that Charles would not dare to detain the possessions of the Holy See, he proposed to reunite to it Parma and Placentia, by recalling his grant of Parma from Octavio, whom he could. indemnify in the mean time for the loss, by a new establishment in the ecclesiastical state; and by demanding Placentia from the emperor, as part of the patrimony of the church. But while Paul was priding him. self in this happy device, Octavio, an ambitious and high spirited young man, having little faith in such a refinement in policy, and not chusing to abandon certainty for hope, applied to the emperor to protect him in his duchy18. A. D. 1549. This unexpected defection of one of his own family, of the grandson whose fortune it had been the care of his declining years to build, to an enemy whom he hated, agitated the venerable pontiff beyond his strength, and is said to have occasioned that illness of which he soon after died19.—An historian, more sprightly than profound, and more keen than candid, has here affected to raise a smile, that "any other cause than old age should be assigned for the death of a man of fourscore20;" and a more respectable historian, one equally elegant and learned, and no less intelligent than judicious, has taken much pains to prove, that the pope's “dis 66 ease was the natural effect of old age, not one of those "occasioned by violence of passion"."-But both allow that Paul was violently affected, when informed of Octavio's undutiful conduct; and the latter informs us, that "he was "seized with such a transport of passion, and cried so bitterly, that his voice was heard in several apartments of the palace;" that "his mind was irritated almost to madness22 ̧” And weak and credulous as some historians may be, and fond of "attributing the death of illustrious persons to extraordinary causes," there is surely nothing extraordinary in 18. Thuanus, lib. vi. Palav. lib. ii. 19. Id. Ibid. 21. Robertson, Hist. Charles V. book x. supposing supposing that mental irritation and bitter crying might occasion a catarrh, the distemper of which the pope died, or a violent transport of passion increase the natural imbecility of old age, and hasten a man of fourscore to the grave. It is more extraordinary, how violently some great men, from a desire of being thought superior to vulgar prejudices, will struggle against common sense. A. D. 1550. Paul was succeeded in the papacy by the cardinal de Monte, who had been employed as principal legate in the council of Trent, and owed his election to the Farnese party. He assumed the name of Julius III. and, in order to express his gratitude towards his benefactors, he put Octavio Farnese in possession of Parma, which had been delivered up to his predecessor. “I "would rather,” replied he, when told what injury he did the Holy See by alienating a territory of such value, " be a "poor pope with the reputation of a gentleman, than a rich one with the infamy of having forgot the obligations con"ferred upon me, and the promise I made23." He discovered less inclination, however, to observe the oath which each cardinal had taken when he entered the conclave, that if the choice should fall on him, he would immediately call the general council to resume its deliberations. He knew, by experience, how difficult it was to confine the inquiries, or even the decisions of such a body of men, within the narrow limits which it was the interest of the court of Rome to prescribe. But as the emperor persisted in his resolution of forcing the Protestants to return into the bosom of the church, and earnestly solicited that a council might be called, in order to combat their prejudices, and support his pious intentions, Julius could not with decency reject his request; and, willing to assume to himself the merit of a measure become necessary, and also to ingratiate himself more particularly with Charles, he pretended to move, and VOL. II. 23. Mem. de Ribier. XX to to deliberate on the matter, and afterwards issued a bull for the council to re-assemble at Trent24. Meanwhile the emperor held a diet at Augsburg, in order to enforce the observation of the Interim, and to procure a more authentic act of the empire, acknowledging the jurisdiction of the council, as well as an explicit promise of conforming to its decrees. And such absolute ascendency had Charles acquired over the members of the Germanic body, that he procured a recess, in which the authority of the council was recognized, and declared to be the proper remedy for the evils which afflicted the church. The obser vation of the Interim was more strictly enjoined than ever; and the emperor threatened all who had hitherto neglected, or refused to conform to it, with the severest effects of his vengeance, if they persisted in their disobedience. During the meeting of this diet, a new attempt was made to procure liberty to the landgrave. Nowise reconciled by time to his condition, he grew every day more impatient of restraint; and having often applied to his sureties, Maurice and the elector of Brandenburg, who took every opportunity of soliciting the emperor in his behalf, though without effect, he now commanded his sons to summon them, with legal formality, to perform their engagements, by surrendering themselves to be treated as the emperor had treated him. Thus pushed to extremity, the sureties renewed their application to Charles. Resolved not to grant their request, but anxious to get rid of their inces sant importunity, the emperor endeavoured to prevail on the landgrave to give up the obligation which he had received from them; and when that prince refused to part with a security which he deemed essential to his safety, Charles, by a singular act of despotism, cut the knot which he could not untie. As if faith, honour, and conscience had been subjected to his sway, he, by a public deed, annulled the bond which Maurice and the elector of 24. Father Paul, lib. iii. Brandenburg Brandenburg had granted, and absolved them from all their obligations to the landgrave25! A power of canA. D. 1551. celling those solemn contracts which are the foundation of that mutual confidence whereby men are held together in social union, was never claimed by the most despotic princes or arrogating priests of heathen antiquity: that enormous usurpation was reserved for the Roman pontiffs, who had rendered themselves odious by the exercise of such a pernicious prerogative; all Germany was therefore filled with astonishment, when Charles assumed the same right. The princes who had hitherto contributed to his aggrandizement, began to tremble for their own safety, and to take measures for preventing the danger. The first check which Charles met with in his ambitious projects, and which convinced him that the Germans were not yet slaves, was in his attempt to transmit the empire, as well as the kingdom of Spain, and his dominions in the Low Countries, to his son Philip. He had formerly assisted his brother Ferdinand in obtaining the dignity of king of the Romans; and that prince had not only studied to render himself acceptable to the people, but had a son, who was born in Germany, grown up to the years of manhood, and who possessed in an eminent degree such qualities as rendered him the darling of his countrymen. The emperor, however, warmed with contemplating this vast design, flattered himself that it was not impossible to prevail on the electors to cancel their former choice of Ferdinand, or at least to elect Philip a second king of the Romans, substituting him the next in succession to his uncle. With this view he took Philip, who had been educated in Spain, along with him to the diet at Augsburg, that the Germans might have an opportunity to observe and become acquainted with the prince in whose behalf he solicited their interest: but no sooner was the proposal made known, than all the electors, the ecclesiastical as 25. Thuanus, lib. vi. well well as secular, concurred in expressing such strong disapprobation of the measure, that Charles was obliged to drop his project as impracticable26. They foresaw, that by continuing the imperial crown, like an hereditary dignity, in the same family, they should give the son an opportunity of carrying on that system of oppression which the father had begun, and put it in his power to overturn whatever was yet left entire in the ancient and venerable fabric of the German constitution. This plan of domestic ambition, which had long engrossed his thoughts, being laid aside,; Charles imagined he should now have leisure to turn all his attention towards his grand scheme of establishing uniformity of religion in the empire, by forcing all the contending parties to acquiesce in the decisions of the council of Trent. But the machine which he had to conduct was so great and complicated, that an unforeseen irregularity, or obstruction in one of the inferior wheels, often disconcerted the motion of the whole, and disappointed him of the effect which he depended upon with most confidence. Such an unlooked-for occurrence now happened, and created new obstacles against the execution of his plan in regard to religion. Though Julius III. during the first effusions of joy and gratitude on his promotion to the papal throne, had confirmed Octavio Farnese in the possession of the duchy of Parma, he soon began to repent of his generosity. The emperor still retained possession of Placentia; and Gonzaga, governor of Milan, a sworn enemy to the family of Farnese, was preparing, by Charles's permission, to make himself master of Parma. Octavio saw his danger: and sensible of his inability to defend himself against the imperial troops, he applied to the pope for protection, as a vassal of the Holy See. But the imperial minister having already pre-occupied the ear of Julius, Octavio's petition met with a cold reception. 26. Id. Ibid. Mem. de Ribier. Despairing |