cipal courts of Europe. These, though singularly vague and
mysterious in their language, were more pregnant with suggestions, at
least, than the letters to his subjects. The most curious, on the whole,
and the one that gives the best insight into his motives, is the letter
he addressed to his aunt, the queen of Portugal. She was sister to the
emperor, his father,--an estimable lady, whom Philip had always held in
great respect.

"Although," he writes, "it has long been obvious that it was necessary
to take some order in regard to the prince, yet the feelings of a father
have led me to resort to all other means before proceeding to extremity.
But affairs have at length come to such a pass, that, to fulfil the duty
which, as a Christian prince, I owe both to God and to my realm, I have
been compelled to place my son in strict confinement. Thus have I been
willing to sacrifice to God my own flesh and blood, preferring his
service and the welfare of my people to all human considerations.[1462]
I will only add, that this determination has not been brought about by
any misconduct on the part of my son, or by any want of respect to me;
nor is this treatment of him intended by way of chastisement,--for that,
however just the grounds of it, would have its time and its limit.[1463]
Neither have I resorted to it as an expedient for reforming his
disorderly life. The proceeding rests altogether on another foundation;
and the _remedy I propose is not one either of time or expedients_, but
is of the greatest moment, as I have already remarked, to satisfy my
obligations to God and my people."[1464]

In the same obscure strain, Philip addressed Zuniga, his ambassador at
the papal court,--saying, that, "although the disobedience which Carlos
had shown through life was sufficient to justify any demonstration of
severity, yet it was not this, but the stern pressure of necessity, that
could alone have driven him to deal in this way with his first-born, his
only son."[1465]

This ambiguous language--implying that the imprisonment of Carlos was
not occasioned by his own misconduct, and yet that both the interests of
religion and the safety of the state demanded his perpetual
imprisonment--may be thought to intimate that the cause referred to
could be no other than insanity. This was plainly stated by the prince
of Eboli, in a communication which, by the king's order, he made to the
French minister, Fourquevaulx. The king, Gomez said, had f