t of eleven children. In his childhood
he discovered such promise, that the chancellor bestowed much pains
personally on his instruction. At fourteen he was sent to Padua, and
after some years was removed to Louvain, then the university of greatest
repute in the Netherlands. It was not till later that the seminary of
Douay was founded, under the auspices of Philip the Second.[421] At the
university, the young Perrenot soon distinguished himself by the
vivacity of his mind, the acuteness of his perceptions, an industry
fully equal to his father's, and remarkable powers of acquisition.
Besides a large range of academic study, he made himself master of seven
languages, so as to read and converse in them with fluency. He seemed to
have little relish for the amusements of the youth of his own age. His
greatest amusement was a book. Under this incessant application his
health gave way, and for a time his studies were suspended.

Whether from his father's preference or his own, young Granvelle
embraced the ecclesiastical profession. At the age of twenty-one he was
admitted to orders. The son of the chancellor was not slow in his
advancement, and he was soon possessed of several good benefices. But
the ambitious and worldly temper of Granvelle was not to be satisfied
with the humble duties of the ecclesiastic. It was not long before he
was called to court by his father, and there a brilliant career was
opened to his aspiring genius.

The young man soon showed such talent for business, and such shrewd
insight into character, as, combined with the stores of learning he had
at his command, made his services of great value to his father. He
accompanied the chancellor on some of his public missions, among others
to the Council of Trent, where the younger Granvelle, who had already
been promoted to the see of Arras, first had the opportunity of
displaying that subtle, insinuating eloquence, which captivated as much
as it convinced.

[Sidenote: RISE AND CHARACTER OF GRANVELLE.]

The emperor saw with satisfaction the promise afforded by the young
statesman, and looked forward to the time when he would prove the same
pillar of support to his administration that his father had been before
him. Nor was that time far distant. As the chancellor's health declined,
the son became more intimately associated with his father in the
counsels of the emperor. He justified this confidence by the unwearied
toil with which he devoted himself to th