[50] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8.
[51] Zurita, Anales, ubi supra.
[52] Idem, ubi supra.
Ferdinand's manifesto, as well as the instrument declaring his daughter's incapacity, are given at length by Zurita. The secret protest rests on the unsupported authority of the historian; and surely a better authority cannot easily be found, considering his proximity to the period, his resources as national historiographer, and the extreme caution and candor with which he discriminates between fact and rumor. It is very remarkable, however, that Peter Martyr, with every opportunity for information, as a member of the royal household, apparently high in the king's confidence, should have made no allusion to this secret protest in his correspondence with Tendilla and Talavera, both attached to the royal party, and to whom he appears to have communicated all matters of interest without reserve.
[53] This motive is charitably imputed to him by Gaillard. (Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 311.) The same writer commends Ferdinand's habilité, in extricating himself from his embarrassments by the treaty, "auquel il fit consentir Philippe dans leur entrevue"! p. 310.
[54] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 21.—Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 64.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 210.
[55] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1. quinc. 3, dial. 9.
[56] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.—See also the melancholy vaticinations of Martyr, (Opus Epist., epist. 311,) who seems to echo back the sentiments of his friends Tendilla and Talavera.