[317] The Emperor intimates his wishes in regard to his grandson's succession in a letter addressed, at a later period, to Philip. (Carta del Emperador al Rey, 31 de Marzo, 1558, MS.) But a full account of the Portuguese mission is given by Cienfuegos, Vida de S. Francisco de Borja, (Barcelona, 1754,) p. 269. The person employed by Charles in this delicate business was no other than his friend Francisco Borja, the ex-duke of Gandia, who, like himself, had sought a retreat from the world in the shades of the cloister. The biographers who record the miracles and miraculous virtues of the sainted Jesuit, bestow several chapters on his visits to Yuste. His conversations with the emperor are reported with a minuteness that Boswell might have envied, and which may well provoke our scepticism, unless we suppose them to have been reported by Borja himself. One topic much discussed in them was the merits of the order which the emperor's friend had entered. It had not then risen to that eminence which, under its singular discipline, it subsequently reached; and Charles would fain have persuaded his visitor to abandon it for the Jeronymite society with which he was established. But Borja seems to have silenced, if not satisfied, his royal master, by arguments which prove that his acute mind already discerned the germ of future greatness in the institutions of the new order.—Ibid., pp. 273-279.—Ribadeneira, Vita Francisci Borgiæ, (Lat. trans., Antverpiæ, 1598,) p. 110 et seq.
[318] Carta del Emperador al Rey, 25 de Mayo, 1558, MS.
On the margin of this letter we find the following memoranda of Philip himself, showing how much importance he attached to his father's interposition in this matter. "Volvérselo a suplicar con gran instancia, pues quedamos in tales términos que, si me ayudan con dinero, los podríamos atraer à lo que conviniesse." "Besalle las manos por lo que en esto ha mandado y suplicalle lo lleve adelante y que de acá se hará lo mismo, y avisarle de lo que se han hecho hasta agora."
[319] Carta del Emperador á Juan Vazquez, 31 de Marzo, 1557, MS.
[320] Carta del Emperador á la Princesa, 31 de Marzo, 1557, MS.—The whole letter is singularly characteristic of Charles. Its authoritative tone shows that, though he had parted with the crown, he had not parted with the temper of a sovereign, and of an absolute sovereign too.
[321] "Es tal su indignacion y tan sangrientas las palabras y vehemencia con que manda escribir á v.m. que me disculpará sino lo hago con mas templança y modo." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu á Juan Vazquez, 12 de Mayo, 1557, MS.
[322] "His majesty was so well," writes Gaztelu, early in the summer of 1557, "that he could rise from his seat, and support his arquebuse, without aid." He could even do some mischief with his fowling-piece to the wood-pigeons. Carta de Gaztelu, á Vazquez, 5 de Junio, 1557, MS.
[323] "Porque desde tantos de noviembre hasta pocos dias hame ha dado [la gota] tres vezes y muy rezio, y me ha tenido muchos días en la cama, y hestado hasta de poco acá tan trabajado y flaco que en toda esta quaresma no he podido oyr un sermon, y esto es la causa porque no os escribo esta de mi mano." Carta del Emperador al Rey, 7 de Abril, 1558, MS.
[324] "Sintiólo cierto mucho, y se le arrasáron los ojos, y me dijo lo mucho que él y la de Francia se habian siempre querido, y por cuan buena cristiana la tenia, y que le llevaba quince meses de tiempo, y que, según él se iba sintiendo, de poco acá podria ser que dentro de ellos le hiciese compañía." Carta de Gaztelu á Vazquez, 21 de Febrero, 1558, ap. Gachard, Retraite et Mort, tom. I, p. 270.—See also Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 339.
[325] "Y que para ello les deis y mandeis dar todo el favor y calor que fuere necenario y para que los que fueren culpados sean punidos y castigados con la demostracion y rigor que la cualidad de sus culpas mereceran y esto sin exception de persona alguna." Carta del Emperador á la Princesa, 3 de Mayo, 1558, MS.