s brethren in the
apartments of Ruy Gomez.[1501] Their remedies failed to restore the
exhausted energies of nature; and it was soon evident that the days of
Charles were numbered.

[Sidenote: HIS LAST MOMENTS.]

To no one could such an announcement have given less concern than to
Carlos; for he had impatiently looked to death as to his release. From
this hour he seemed to discard all earthly troubles from his mind, as he
fixed his thoughts steadfastly on the future. At his own request his
confessor, Chavres and Suarez, his almoner, were summoned, and assisted
him with their spiritual consolations. The closing scenes are recorded
by the pen of the nuncio.

"Suddenly a wonderful change seemed to be wrought by divine grace in the
heart of the prince. Instead of vain and empty talk, his language became
that of a sensible man. He sent for his confessor, devoutly confessed,
and, as his illness was such that he could not receive the host, he
humbly adored it; showing throughout great contrition, and, though not
refusing the proffered remedies, manifesting such contempt for the
things of this world, and such a longing for heaven, that one would have
said, God had reserved for this hour the sum of all his grace."[1502]

He seemed to feel an assurance that he was to survive till the vigil of
St. James, the patron saint of his country. When told that this would be
four days later, he said, "So long will my misery endure."[1503] He
would willingly have seen his father once more before his death. But his
confessor, it is said, dissuaded the monarch, on the ground that Carlos
was now in so happy a frame of mind, that it were better not to disturb
it by drawing off his attention to worldly objects. Philip, however,
took the occasion, when Carlos lay asleep or insensible, to enter the
chamber; and, stealing softly behind the prince of Eboli and the
grand-prior, Antonio de Toledo, he stretched out his hand towards the
bed, and, making the sign of the cross, gave the parting benediction to
his dying son.[1504]

Nor was Carlos allowed the society of his amiable step-mother, the
queen, nor of his aunt Joanna, to sweeten by their kind attentions the
bitterness of death.[1505] It was his sad fate to die, as he had lived
throughout his confinement, under the cold gaze of his enemies. Yet he
died at peace with all; and some of the last words that he uttered were
to forgive his father for his imprisonment, and the ministers--naming
Ruy Go