more prudently in future; for they might rest assured, that he would hang them all, for an example to deter others from the like presumption.

Notwithstanding this, some of the Catholic nobility, and Viglius, who had formerly concurred in all the arbitrary measures of Granvelle, but whose heart melted at the present misery of his countrymen, had the courage to remonstrate to the king against the governor's barbarity. Even the Pope exhorted him to greater moderation. Philip, however, refused to countermand the orders which he had given, till he should hear from Vargas; who advised him to persevere in the plan which he had adopted, assured him of its success, and at the same time flattered him with the hopes of an inexhaustible fund of wealth that would arise from confiscation. Vargas being seconded by the inquisitors at Madrid, Philip lent a deaf ear to the remonstrance which had been made to him, and the persecutions were continued with the same unrelenting fury as before.

The people of the Netherlands were confirmed in their despair of obtaining mercy from Philip, by the accounts transmitted to them, at this time, from Spain, of his cruel treatment of his son Don Carlos. Various relations are given of that tragical and mysterious affair by the contemporary historians; but the following appears the most consistent and probable. This young prince had from his earliest youth been noted for the impetuosity and violence of his temper; and though he never gave reason to think favourably of his understanding, or his capacity for government, he had discovered the most intemperate ambition to be admitted by his father to a share in the administration of his dominions. Philip, whether from jealousy, or a conviction of his son's unfitness for any important trust, refused to gratify his ambition, and behaved towards him with distance and reVOL. II.

Оо

serve; while he gave all his confidence to the Duke of Alva, Ruy Gomez de Sylva, and the president Spinosa; against whom Don Carlos, partly on this account, and partly because he considered them as spies upon his conduct, had conceived the most irreconcilable aversion. In this disposition he did not scruple, on different occasions, to censure the measures of his father's government, and particularly those which had been adopted in the Netherlands. He had sometimes expressed his compassion for the people there; had threatened the Duke of Alva, and even made an attempt upon his life, for accepting the the government; had been suspected of holding secret interviews with the Marquis of Mons and the Baron de Montigny; and had afterwards formed the design of retiring into the Netherlands, with an intention to put himself at the head of the malcontents.

Of this design intelligence was carried, by some of the courtiers, to the king; who, after having consulted with the inquisitors, at Madrid, as he usually did in matters of great importance and difficulty, resolved to prevent the prince from putting his scheme into execution, by depriving him of his liberty. For this purpose he went into his chamber in the middle of the night attended by some of his privy counsellors and guards; and, after reproaching him with his undutiful behaviour, told him that he had come to exercise his paternal correction and chastisement. Then having dismissed all his attendants, he commanded him to be clothed in a dark coloured mourning dress, and appointed guards to watch over him, and to confine him to his chamber. The high spirited young prince was extremely shocked at such unworthy treatment, and prayed his father and his attendants to put an immediate end to his life. He threw himself headlong into the fire, and would have put an end to his life had he not been prevented by the guards. During his confinement, his de

spair and anguish rose to a degree of frenzy. He would fast sometimes for whole days together, then eat voraciously, and endeavour to choke himself by swallowing his victuals without chewing. Several princes interceded for his release, as did many of the principal Spanish nobles. But his father was relentless and inexorable. After six months imprisonment, he caused the inquisition of Madrid to pass sentence against his son, and, under the cover of that sentence, ordered poison to be given him, which in a few hours put a period to his miserable life, at the age of twenty-three.

Philip had, before this time, given a proof of the cruelty of his disposition; when, as above related, he chose to be present at the execution of his Protestant subjects in Spain. His singular conduct on that occasion, and the composure with which he beheld the torments of the unhappy sufferers, were ascribed by some to the power of superstition; while they were regarded by others, as the most convincing evidence of the sincerity of his zeal for the true religion. But his severity towards his son did not admit of any such interpretation. It was considered by all the world as a proof that his heart was dead to the sentiments of natural affection and humanity; and his subjects were everywhere filled with astonishment. It struck ter or, in a particular manner, into the inhabitants of the Low Countries; who saw how vain it was to expect mercy from a prince, who had so obstinately refused to exercise it towards his own son; whose only crime, they believed, was his attachment to them, and his compassion for their calamities.*

* Watson's History of Philip II. Vol. I, b. viii

SECTION IV.

The history of the Waldenses continued, from the middle of the sixteenth to the beginning of the seventeenth century. A.D. 1551-1600.

AMONG the distinguished favours which it hath pleased the Father of Lights to confer upon mankind, the invention of the art of printing has been, in its consequences, none of the least beneficial. Before this discovery, learning was accessible to none but persons of princely fortunes; but by this means it was brought within the reach of almost every one; and that information became generally diffused which was necessary to subvert the cause of tyranny and superstition; thus, through the over-ruling providence of God, the art of printing turned out to be one of the most important events that have happened since the first promulgation of the gospel. Knowledge, which had indeed been gaining ground for some centuries before, was now wonderfully accelerated in its progress. The light acquired by one, was quickly diffused abroad, and communicated to multitudes. The facility of communication brought learning within the reach of the middle ranks-the dead languages became a general object of study-the Scriptures began to be consulted, not only in the Latin Vulgate, but also in the Greek-reading produced reflection, and thus diffused a light which it was no longer possible to conceal under a bushel. It would have been strange indeed, had the advocates of a system which was founded in ignorance, expressed no apprehensions of alarm at the introduction of these novelties. The faculty of theology at Paris declared before the assembled Parliament, that religion was undone, if the study of Greek and Hebrew was permitted.

But the language of the monks of those days is still more amusing. We are informed by Conrad of Heresbach, a very grave and respectable author of that period, that one of their number is said thus to have expressed himself. "They have invented a new language, which they call Greek; you must be carefully on your guard against it ; it is the mother of all heresy. I observe in the hands of many persons a book written in that language, which they call the New Testament. It is a book full of daggers and poison. As to the Hebrew, my dear brethren, it is certain that all those who learn it immediately become Jews." *

The art of printing, which originated with John Gutenberg, a citizen of Mentz, was first attempted by him at Strasburg, from 1436 to 1440. His efforts, which were, no doubt, at first very rude and indigested, had been greatly matured by skill and experience in the course of a century; and, consequently, about the year 1535, we find the Waldenses of Piedmont anxious to avail themselves of it, with a view to a more general circulation of the word of life. Hitherto they had been obliged to confine themselves to manuscripts; and, in the Waldensian tongue, they seem not to have generally possessed an entire version of the whole Bible, but the New Testament only, and some particular books of the Old. They now, however, contracted with a printer at Neufchatel, in Switzerland, for an entire impression of the whole Bible in French, for the sum of fifteen hundred crowns of gold. An elaborate preface, somewhat too declamatory for a publication of that kind, was prefixed by Robert Olivetan, who appears to have been one of their number, and who professes to have translated it for the use of the churches. Both Perrin and Sir Samuel Morland affirm this to have been the first French

See Villers' Essay on the Reformation, by Luther, translated by Mill, p. 94. yote.-And Mr. Cox's Life of Melancthon, p. 29.