ve to the treatment of the prince, which may
give some idea of the rigor of his confinement. He was given in especial
charge to Ruy Gomez, who was placed at the head of the establishment;
and it was from him that every person employed about Carlos was to
receive his commission. Six other nobles were appointed both to guard
the prince and render him service. Two of the number were to remain in
his apartment every night,--the one watching, while the other slept;
reminding us of an ingenious punishment among the Chinese, where a
criminal is obliged to be everywhere followed by an attendant, whose
business it is to keep an unceasing watch upon the offender, that,
wherever he turns, he may still find the same eye riveted upon him!

During the day, it was the duty of these nobles to remain with Carlos
and lighten by their conversation the gloom of his captivity. But they
were not to talk on matters relating to the government, above all to the
prince's imprisonment, on which topic, if he addressed them, they were
to remain obdurately silent. They were to bring no messages to him, and
bear none from him to the world without; and they were to maintain
inviolable secrecy in regard to all that passed within the walls of the
palace, unless when otherwise permitted by the king. Carlos was provided
with a breviary and some other books of devotion; and no works except
those of a devotional character were to be allowed him.[1479]--This last
regulation seems to intimate the existence of certain heretical
tendencies in Carlos, which it was necessary to counteract by books of
an opposite character,--unless it might be considered as an ominous
preparation for his approaching end. Besides the six nobles, no one was
allowed to enter the apartment but the prince's physician, his
_barbero_, or gentleman of the chamber, and his valet. The last was
taken from the _monteros_, or body-guard of the king.[1480] There were
seven others of this faithful corps who were attached to the
establishment, and whose duty it was to bring the dishes for his table
to an outer hall, whence they were taken by the _montero_ in waiting to
the prince's chamber. A guard of twelve halberdiers was also stationed
in the passages leading to the apartment, to intercept all communication
from without. Every person employed in the service, from the highest
noble to the meanest official, made solemn oath, before the prince of
Eboli, to conform to the regulations. On this noble