anity
of his great rivals. He was parsimonious in such matters and hated to
see good clothes spoilt, as he showed when he removed a new velvet cap
in a sudden storm and sent to his palace for an old one! He observed
{73} fast-days, though he did not dine with the monks, and he lived the
regular life of the monastery. The monks grew restive under the
constant supervision which he exercised, and one of them is said to
have remonstrated with the royal inmate, saying, "Cannot you be
contented with having so long turned the world upside down, without
coming here to disturb the quiet of a convent?"

Charles amused many hours of leisure by mechanical employments in which
he was assisted by one Torriano, who constructed a sundial in the
convent-garden. He had a great fancy for clocks, and had a number of
these in his royal apartments. The special triumphs of Torriano were
some tin soldiers, so constructed that they could go through military
exercises, and little wooden birds which flew in and out of the window
and excited the admiring wonder of the monks walking in the convent
garden.

Many visitors were received by the Emperor in his retirement. He still
took an interest in the events of Europe, and received with the deepest
sorrow the news that Calais had been lost by Philip's English wife. He
was always ready to give his successor advice, and became more and more
intolerant in religious questions. "Tell the Grand Inquisitor from
me," he wrote, "to be at his post and lay the axe to the root of the
tree before it spreads further. I rely on your zeal for bringing the
guilty to punishment and for having them punished without favour to
anyone, with all the severity which their crimes demand." After this
impressive exhortation to Philip, he added a codicil to his will,
conjuring him earnestly to bring to justice every heretic in his
dominions.

{74}

Chapter VII

The Beggars of the Sea

The Netherlands, lying like a kind of debateable land between France
and Germany, were apt to be influenced by the different forms of
Protestantism which were established in those countries. The
inhabitants were remarkably quick-witted and attracted by anything
which appealed to their reason. Their breadth of mind and cosmopolitan
outlook was, no doubt, largely due to the extensive trade they carried
on with eastern and western nations. The citizens of the well-built
towns studding the Low Countries, had become very weal