onfidently forward to the day when he should rival the glory of his
grandfather, Charles the Fifth. But he was born under an evil star,
which counteracted all the gifts of fortune, and turned them into a
curse. His naturally wild and headstrong temper was exasperated by
disease; and, when encountered by the distrust and alienation of him who
had the control of his destiny, was exalted into a state of frenzy, that
furnishes the best apology for his extravagances, and vindicates the
necessity of some measures, on the part of his father, to restrain them.
Yet can those who reject the imputation of murder acquit that father of
inexorable rigor towards his child in the measures which he employed, or
of the dreadful responsibility which attaches to the consequences of
them?

CHAPTER VIII.

DEATH OF ISABELLA.

Queen Isabella.--Her Relations with Carlos.--Her Illness and Death.--Her
Character.

1568.

Three months had not elapsed after the young and beautiful queen of
Philip the Second had wept over the fate of her unfortunate step-son,
when she was herself called upon to follow him to the tomb. The
occurrence of these sad events so near together, and the relations of
the parties, who had once been designed for each other, suggested the
idea that a criminal passion subsisted between them, and that, after her
lover's death, Isabella was herself sacrificed to the jealousy of a
vindictive husband.

[Sidenote: HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS.]

One will in vain look for this tale of horror in the native historians
of Castile. Nor does any historian of that day, native or foreign, whom
I have consulted, in noticing the rumors of the time, cast a reproach on
the fair fame of Isabella; though more than one must be allowed to
intimate the existence of the prince's passion for his
step-mother.[1539] Brantome tells us that, when Carlos first saw the
queen, "he was so captivated by her charms, that he conceived from that
time, a mortal spite against his father, whom he often reproached for
the great wrong he had done him, in ravishing from him this fair prize."
"And this," adds the writer, "was said in part to have been the cause of
the prince's death; for he could not help loving the queen at the bottom
of his soul, as well as honoring and reverencing one who was so truly
amiable and deserving of love."[1540] He afterwards gives us to
understand that many rumors were afloat in regard to the manner of the
queen's death; and te