FRATRICIDE.
Juan, waking with a start, rose and went out of his chamber, half-dressed, and received with kindliness his brother's messenger. The latter handed a letter to him. The still faint light of the dawn scarcely penetrated into the room; Juan went to the window and began reading. Alonzo expressed to his brother the fears he felt for his personal safety. 'Above all,' said he, 'do not trust Malvenda, who only thirsts for the blood of the saints. From afar I watch over you, and in giving you this warning I discharge a duty of brotherly piety.'[178] While Diaz was reading, the murderer approached him, and, armed with the hatchet which he had concealed under his cloak, plunged it up to the handle in the skull of the unfortunate man, over the right temple. So violent was the blow that the victim fell without uttering a word. The assassin caught him in his arms and laid him quietly upon the floor, and then fled without making any noise which might have betrayed the horrible deed which had just been done.
The friend of Diaz, Senarclens, who was sleeping in his own chamber, heard nothing but the footsteps of the murderer as he descended the stairs. He rose hastily, ran to his friend, and found him dying. The hatchet had been left buried in the wound. Juan Diaz lived an hour longer but did not speak again. His hands were joined, his lips moved as if in prayer, and his eyes fixed on heaven showed the mark toward which he pressed.
Meanwhile the assassins were flying as fast as their horses could carry them. Swiftly pursued, they passed through Augsburg without stopping, and at length found refuge at Innspruch, in the dominions of the archduke Ferdinand, king of the Romans. All Germany was stirred by this odious crime; and the punishment of the guilty was demanded from all quarters. But by the intervention of the emperor they escaped the condemnation which they had deserved, and, if we are to believe Castro,[179] Charles even raised the fratricide to the highest honors and dignities.
CHAPTER VI.
SPANIARDS IN SPAIN.
(1534-1542.)
The doctrines of the Gospel were slowly spreading in Spain; their advance was silent, but it was none the less rapid. The Catholic Illescas, in his Historia Pontifical, asserts that 'so great were the number, the rank, and the importance of the culprits, that if the application of the remedy had been delayed for two or three months, the whole of Spain would have been on fire.' The Reformation would have wrought the salvation of this people, not only in a moral and religious sense, but also in respect to national prosperity and greatness. Unfortunately the papacy and Philip II. had the last word, and they ensured its ruin.
BARTHOLOMEW CARRANZA.