of this conspiracy; but the guardian, before the time appointed for his execution, was murdered by his incensed accomplices, whom he had seduced from their allegiance, and six of the youngest were pardoned.

While war thus raged in Italy and the Low Countries, accompanied with all its train of miseries, and all the crimes to which ambition gives birth, Germany enjoyed such profound tranquillity, as afforded the diet full leisure to confirm and perfect the plan of religious pacification agreed upon at Passau, and referred to the consideration of the next meeting of the Germanic body. For this purpose a diet had been summoned to meet at Augsburg, soon after the conclusion of the treaty; but the commotions excited by Albert of Brandenburg, and the attention which Ferdinand was obliged to pay to the affairs of Hungary, had hitherto obstructed its deliberations. The following stipulations were at last settled, and formally published, namely, "That such princes "and cities as have declared their approbation of the Con"fession of Augsburg, shall be permitted to profess and "exercise, without molestation, the doctrine and worship "which it authorizes; that the popish ecclesiastics shall "claim no spiritual jurisdiction in such cities or principali"ties, nor shall the protestants molest the princes and states "that adhere to the church of Rome; that no attempt shall "be made for the future, toward terminating religious dif"ferences, except by the gentle and pacific methods of per"suasion and conference; that the supreme civil power in establish what form of doctrine and worevery state may "ship it shall deem proper, but shall permit those who refuse "to conform, to remove their effects; that such as had "seized the benefices or revenues of the church, previous "to the treaty of Passau, shall retain possession of them, "and be subject to no prosecution in the imperial chamber "on that account; but if any prelate or ecclesiastic shall "hereafter abandon the Romish religion, he shall instantly

66

9. Id. ibid.

"relinquish

"relinquish his diocese or benefice, and that it shall be law"ful for those in whom the right of nomination is vested, to "proceed immediately to an election, as if the office was "vacant by death or translation1."

These, my dear Philip, are the principal articles in the famous Recess of Augsburgh, which is the basis of religious peace in Germany. The followers of Luther were highly pleased with that security which it afforded them, and the Catholics seem to have had no less reason to be satisfied. That article which preserved entire to the Romish church the benefices of such ecclesiastics as should hereafter renounce its doctrines, at once placed a hedge around its patrimony, and effectually guarded against the defection of its dignitaries. But cardinal Caraffa, who was now raised to the papal throne, under the name of Paul IV. full of high ideas of his apostolic jurisdiction, and animated with the fiercest zeal against heresy, regarded the indulgence given to the Protestants, by an assembly composed of laymen, as an impious act of that power which the diet had usurped. He therefore threatened the emperor and the king of the Romans with the severest effects of his vengeance, if they did not immediately declare the Recess of Augsburgh illegal and void; and as Charles shewed no disposition to comply with this demand, the pope entered into an alliance with the French king, in order to ruin the imperial power in Italy.

During the negociation of that treaty, an event happened which astonished all Europe, and confounded the reasonings of the wisest politicians. The emperor Charles V. though no more than fifty-six, an age when objects of ambition operate with full force on the mind, and are generally pursued with the greatest ardour, had for some time formed the resolution of resigning his hereditary dominions to his son Philip. He now determined to put it in execution. Various have been the opinions of historians concerning a reso

10. Father Paul, lib. v. Pallavicini, lib. xiii.

lution so singular and unexpected: but the most probable seem to be, the disappointments which Charles had met with in his ambitious hopes, and the daily decline of his health. He had early in life been attacked with the gout; and the fits were now become so frequent and severe, that not only the vigour of his constitution was broken, but the faculties of his mind were sensibly impaired. He therefore judged it more decent to conceal his infirmities in some solitude, than to expose them any longer to the public eye; and as he was unwilling to forfeit the fame, or lose the acquisitions of his better years, by attempting to guide the reins of government, when he was no longer able to hold them with steadiness, he prudently determined to seek in the tranquillity of retirement, that happiness which he had in vain pursued amid the tumults of war and the intrigues of state.

In consequence of this resolution, Charles, who had already ceded to his son Philip the kingdom of Naples and the duchy of Milan, assembled the states of the Low Countries at Brussels; and seating himself, for the last time, in the chair of state, he explained to his subjects the reasons of his resignation, and solemnly devolved his authority upon Philip. He recounted with dignity, but without ostentation, all the great things which he had undertaken, and performed since the commencement of his administration; and that enumeration gives us the highest idea of his activity and industry. "I have dedicated," observed he, "from the seventeenth year of my age, all my thoughts and "attention to public objects, reserving no portion of my "time for the indulgence of ease, and very little for the "enjoyment of private pleasure. Either in a pacific or "hostile manner, I have visited Germany nine times; Spain "six times; France four times; Italy seven times; the Low "Countries ten times; England twice: Africa as often; and "while my health permitted me to discharge the duties of "a sovereign, and the vigour of my constitution was equal

"in any degree to the arduous office of governing such "extensive dominions, I never shunned labour, nor re"pined under fatigue; but now when my health is broken, "and my vigour exhausted by the rage of an incurable dis"temper, my growing infirmities admonish me to retire ; "nor am I so fond of reigning as to retain the sceptre in an impotent hand, which is no longer able to protect my "subjects.

"Instead of a sovereign worn out with diseases," continued he," and scarce half alive, I give you one in the

prime of life, already accustomed to govern, and who "adds to the vigour of youth all the attention and sagacity "of maturer years." Then turning towards Philip, who fell on his knees and kissed his father's hand, "It is in your "power," said Charles, " by a wise and virtuous adminis “tration, to justify the extraordinary proof which I give "this day of my paternal affection, and to demonstrate that

you are worthy of the confidence which I repose in you. "Preserve," added he, " an inviolable regard for religion; "maintain the Catholic faith in its purity; let the laws of

your country be sacred in your eyes; encroach not on "the rights of your people; and if the time should ever "come, when you shall wish to enjoy the tranquillity of private life, may you have a son, to whom you can resign "your sceptre with as much satisfaction as I give mine to "you." A few weeks after, the emperor also resigned to Philip the Spanish crown, with all the dominions depending upon it, in the Old as well as in the New World; reserving nothing to himself, out of all those vast possessions, but an annual pension of one hundred thousand ducats".

Charles was now impatient to embark for Spain, where he had fixed on a place of retreat. But, by the advice of his physicians, he put off his voyage for some months, on account of the severity of the season; and, by yielding to

11. Godlev. Relat. Abdicat. Car. V. Thuan. lib. xvi. Sandov. vol. ii. Robertson, book ix.

their judgment, he had the satisfaction, before he left the Low Countries, of taking a considerable step towards a peace with France. This he ardently longed for; not only on his son's account, whose administration he wished to commence in quietness, but that he might have the glory, when quitting the world, of restoring to Europe that tranquillity which his ambition had banished from it, almost since the day that he assumed the reins of government.

The great bar against such a pacification, on the part of France, was the treaty which Henry II. had concluded with the court of Rome; and the emperor's claims were too numerous to admit any hope of adjusting them suddenly. A truce of five years was therefore proposed by Charles, during which term, without discussing their respective pretensions, each should retain what was in his possession; and Henry, through the persuasion of the constable Montmorency, who represented the imprudence of sacrificing the true interests of his kingdom to the rash engagements he had come under with the pope, authorised his ambassadors to sign at Vaucelles a treaty, which would insure to him, for so considerable a period, the important conquests which he had made on the German frontier, together with the greater part of the duke of Savoy's dominions.

Paul IV. when informed of this transaction, was filled no less with terror and astonishment, than with rage and indignation. But he took equal care to conceal his fear and his anger. He affected to approve highly of the truce; and he offered his mediation, as the common father of Christendom, in order to bring about a permanent peace. Under this pretext, he dispatched cardinal Rebiba, as his nuncio, to the court of Brussels, and his nephew cardinal Caraffa, to that of Paris. The public instructions of both were the same; but Caraffa, besides these, received a private commission, to spare neither entreaties, promises, nor bribes, in order to induce the French monarch to renounce the truce, and renew his engagements with the court of Rome.