When at length he made up his mind to take the field, he selected, as most worthy of the exercise of his prowess, the triumph over the pirate Barbarossa and his African hordes: the most important result of the campaign being the occupation of Tunis, (where in his zealous burnings for Christianity he installed a Mahometan sovereign,) and the wanton destruction by his soldiers of a splendid library of valuable manuscripts.
We have seen how little his Spanish subjects allowed themselves to be dazzled by the splendours of his vast authority, and history informs us how far he was from conceiving the resolution of reducing them to obedience by any measures savouring of energetic demonstration. The irreverence to his person he calmly pocketed, and the deficiences in his exchequer were supplied by means of redoubled pressure on his less refractory Flemings. He submitted to the breach of faith of Francis of France, and to the disrespect of his Castilian vassals; but, on the burghers of the city of Ghent being heard to give utterance to expressions of discontent at the immoderate liberties taken with their purse-strings, he quits Madrid in a towering rage, crosses France at the risk of his liberty, and enters his helpless burg at the head of a German army, darting on all sides frowns of imperial wrath, each prophetic of a bloody execution.
Aware of the preparations of Francis for attacking his dominions simultaneously in three different directions, he took insufficient or rather no measures to oppose him, but turning his back, embarked for Algiers, where he believed laurels to be as cheap as at Tunis. There, however, he lost one half of his armament, destroyed by the elements; and the remainder narrowly escaping a similar fate, and being dispersed in all directions, he returned in time to witness the unopposed execution of the plans of his French enemy. What measures are his on such an emergency? Does he call together the contingents of the German States? Unite the different corps serving in Lombardy and Savoy,—dispatch an order to the viceroy of Naples to march for the north of Italy; and having completed his combinations, cross the Pyrenees at the head of a Spanish army, and give the law to his far weaker antagonist? No! nothing that could lead to an encounter with the French king accorded with his policy, as it has been called, but more probably with his disposition. He quits Spain, it is true, and using all diligence, travels round France, but not too near it, and arrives in Flanders. Here he puts himself at the head of his Germans, and marches—against the Duke of Cleves! who had formed an alliance with his principal enemy.
Seeing the emperor thus engaged, Francis completes a successful campaign, taking possession of Luxembourg and other towns. At length the sovereign of half Europe, having received news of the landing of an English army in Picardy, resolves to venture a demonstration against France. He therefore traverses Lorraine at the head of eighty thousand troops, and makes himself master of Luneville: after which, hearing that Francis had despatched his best troops to oppose Henry the Eighth, and was waiting for himself, as the less dangerous foe, with an army of half the strength of his own, and composed of recruits, he makes up his mind to advance in the direction of Paris. After a fortnight's march he finds himself in presence of the French king, to whom he sends proposals of peace!
These being rejected, he continues his march; when a messenger from Francis announces his consent to treat. Under these circumstances, does he require the cession of Burgundy, according to the terms of the unexecuted treaty of Madrid? Does he even stipulate for any advantage, for any equality? No! he agrees, on the contrary, to cede Flanders to the French, under colour of a dowry with his daughter the Infanta Maria, who was to be married to the Duke of Orleans; or else Milan, with his niece the daughter of the King of the Romans; and he beats a retreat with his immense army, as if taking the benefit of a capitulation.
There is something in the result of this French campaign which appears to explain much of Charles's previous conduct; and shows that in many instances he was actuated by personal fear of his gallant rival. On this occasion he did not hesitate to desert the King of England, who had no doubt calculated on his coöperation, as much as Charles had depended on the diversion created by the British army. The more one reflects on the passages of this emperor's history, the less one is surprised at his resolution to abdicate. He gave in this a proof of his appreciation of his real character, which undoubtedly fitted him rather for a life of ease and retirement, than for the arduous duties of supreme power.
LETTER XII.
ARAB MONUMENTS. PICTURES. THE PRINCESS GALIANA. ENVIRONS.
Toledo.
Returning along the edge of the cliff, a very short space separates the extreme walls of the ruined monastery of Ferdinand and Isabella, from an edifice of much greater antiquity, although not yet a ruin. Its exterior as you approach, is more than simple. It is not even a neatly constructed building; but such a pile of rough looking mud and stone, as, on the continent, announces sometimes a barn, or granary of a farming establishment mal monté. A high central portion runs from end to end, from either side of which, at about four-fifths of its height, project lower roofs of brownish-red tiles. The old square rotten door is in exact keeping with all this exterior, and contributes its share to the surprise experienced on entering, when you discover, on a level with the eye, distributed over a spacious quadrangular area, a forest of elaborately carved capitals, surmounting octagon-shaped pillars, and supporting innumerable horse-shoe arches, scattered in apparent confusion. All these as you advance down a flight of steps, fall into rank, and you speedily find yourself in the centre of an oriental temple in all its symmetry.