only adds to the abhorrence with which we regard him; and his humility
in face of death is neither better nor worse than the assumed humility
which had become second nature to Uriah Heep. In short, take him for
all in all, he was probably the most loathsome character in all European
history. He has frequently been called, by Protestant historians,
an incarnate devil; but we do not think that Mephistopheles would
acknowledge him. He should rather be classed among those creatures
described by Dante as "a Dio spiacenti ed ai nemici sui."

The abdication of Charles V. left Philip ruler over wider dominions than
had ever before been brought together under the sway of one man. In his
own right Philip was master not only of Spain, but of the Netherlands,
Franche Comte, Lombardy, Naples, and Sicily, with the whole of North and
South America; besides which he was married to the Queen of England. In
the course of his reign he became possessed of Portugal, with all its
vast domains in the East Indies. His revenues were greater than those of
any other contemporary monarch; his navy was considered invincible, and
his army was the best disciplined in Europe. All these great advantages
he was destined to throw to the winds. In the strife for universal
monarchy, in the mad endeavour to subject England, Scotland, and
France to his own dominion and the tyranny of the Inquisition, besides
re-conquering the Netherlands, all his vast resources were wasted. The
Dutch war alone, like a bottomless pit, absorbed all that he could pour
into it. Long before the war was over, or showed signs of drawing to an
end, his revenues were wasted, and his troops in Flanders were mutinous
for want of pay. He had to rely upon energetic viceroys like Farnese and
the Spinolas to furnish funds out of their own pockets. Finally, he was
obliged to repudiate all his debts; and when he died the Spanish empire
was in such a beggarly condition that it quaked at every approach of a
hostile Dutch fleet. Such a result is not evidence of a statesmanlike
ability; but Philip's fanatical selfishness was incompatible with
statesmanship. He never could be made to believe that his projects had
suffered defeat. No sooner had the Invincible Armada been sent to the
bottom by the guns of the English fleet and the gales of the German
Ocean, than he sent orders to Farnese to invade England at once with the
land force under his command! He thought to obtain Scotland, when, after
the