had lain a plan
for surprising Charles at Innspruck, and getting possession of his
person, and the daring attempt had almost succeeded. Charles was forced
to escape by night during a storm, in a paroxysm of gout, and was
carried across the Alps in a litter. These disputes were adjusted in
1555, at the diet of Augsburg, by the solemn grant of entire freedom of
worship to the Protestants. The King of France was abandoned by his
allies, and scarcely named in the treaty.

[Illustration: Charles V. on his way to the convent.]

Henry resolved to defend his acquisition of the three bishoprics, and
Charles to employ his whole force for their recovery. The Duke of
Guise made adequate preparations for the defence of Metz, the siege of
which the emperor was compelled to raise after sixty-five days spent in
fruitless efforts, with the loss of 30,000 men by skirmishes and
battles, and by diseases incident to the severity of the season. "I
perceive," said he, "that Fortune, like other females, forsakes old men,
to lavish her favors on the young." This sentiment probably sunk deeper
into his reflections than might be inferred from the sarcastic terms in
which it was clothed: for in the year 1556, after various events of war,
alternately calamitous to the subjects of both nations, he astonished
Europe by his abdication in favor of his son. In an assembly of the
states at Brussels, he addressed Philip in a speech which melted the
audience into tears. The concluding passage, as given by Robertson, is
worth transcribing. "Preserve an inviolable regard for religion;
maintain the Catholic faith in its purity; let the laws of your country
be sacred in your eyes; encroach not on the rights and privileges of
your people; and if the time should ever come when you shall wish to
enjoy the tranquillity of private life, may you have a son endowed with
such qualities that you can resign your sceptre to him with as much
satisfaction as I give up mine to you!" Charles retired into a
monastery, where he died after more than two years passed in deep
melancholy, and in practices of devotion inconsistent with sound health,
when only between fifty-eight and fifty-nine years of age. His activity
and talents had been the theme of universal admiration, the ardor of his
ambitious policy had been extreme, and his knowledge of mankind
profound; but he should have followed up the objects of his high
aspirations by a straighter road. His glory would have been tr