e. "There is as little
said now on the subject of the prince," writes the French ambassador,
Fourquevaulx, "as if he had been dead these ten years."[1488] His name,
indeed, still kept its place, among those of the royal family, in the
prayers said in the churches. But the king prohibited the clergy from
alluding to Carlos in their discourses. Nor did any one venture, says
the same authority, to criticize the conduct of the king. "So complete
is the ascendancy which Philip's wisdom has given him over his subjects,
that, willing or unwilling, all promptly obey him: and if they do not
love him, they at least appear to do so."[1489]

Among the articles removed from the prince's chamber was a coffer, as
the reader may remember, containing his private papers. Among these were
a number of letters intended for distribution after his departure from
the country. One was addressed to his father, in which Carlos avowed
that the cause of his flight was the harsh treatment he had received
from the king.[1490] Other letters, addressed to different nobles, and
to some of the great towns, made a similar statement; and, after
reminding them of the oath they had taken to him as successor to the
crown, he promised to grant them various immunities when the sceptre
should come into his hands.[1491] With these papers was also found one
of most singular import. It contained a list of all those persons whom
he deemed friendly, or inimical to himself. At the head of the former
class stood the names of his step-mother, Isabella, and of his uncle Don
John of Austria,--both of them noticed in terms of the warmest
affection. On the catalogue of his enemies, "to be pursued to the
death," were the names of the king, his father, the prince and princess
of Eboli, Cardinal Espinosa, the duke of Alva, and others.[1492]--Such
is the strange account of the contents of the coffer given to his court
by the papal nuncio. These papers, we are told, were submitted to the
judges who conducted the process, and formed, doubtless, an important
part of the testimony against the prince. It may have been from one of
the parties concerned that the nuncio gathered his information. Yet no
member of that tribunal would have ventured to disclose its secrets
without authority from Philip; who may possibly have consented to the
publication of facts that would serve to vindicate his course. If these
facts are faithfully reported, they must be allowed to furnish some
evidence o