Caesar of Castile. And
indeed, though a saint, and an advocate for the mortification of all
worldly desires, he was hardly capable of advising the imperial author
to put his manuscript in one of his Flemish fireplaces. The stern
ascetic had not quite cast off, or, at least, on occasion he could
reassume, the ways and language of the insinuating chamberlain. To one
of the devout queries of the emperor, he replied in a style of courtly
gallantry, which sounds strange in the mouth of the friend of Francis
Xavier, and would have done honor to a later Jesuit, who labored in the
vineyard of Versailles. Narrating the course of his penances and
prayers, Charles asked him whether he could sleep with his clothes on;
"for, I must confess," added he, contritely, "that my infirmities, which
prevent me from doing many things of the kind that I would gladly do,
render this penance impossible in my case." Borja, who practised every
kind of self-punishment, and had in early life in one year fasted down a
cubit of his girth, eluded the question by an answer, which was perhaps
as remarkable for modesty as for dexterity. "Your majesty," said he,
"cannot sleep in your clothes, because you have watched so many nights
in mail. Let us thank God that you have done more service by keeping
those vigils in arms, than many a cloistered monk who sleeps in his
hair-shirt."

The new allegiance of the Jesuit did not permit him to spare more than
three days to his old master. Duty required him once more to take his
staff in his hand, and proceed on his visitation of the rising schools
and colleges of the company. While at Yuste he had been treated with
marked distinction. Not only did his host arrange the upholstery of his
apartment, but he sent him each day the most approved dish from his own
table, the only part of his establishment which was somewhat removed
from conventual meagerness. The honored guest set forth to Valladolid,
with the pleasing impression that he left regrets behind him; and he
likewise carried away two hundred ducats for alms, which Luis Quixada
had been directed to force upon his acceptance. "It is a small sum,"
said the mayordomo; "but in comparison with the present revenues of my
lord the emperor, it is the largest bounty which he ever bestowed at one
time."

John III., king of Portugal, dying on the 11th of June, 1557, state or
family affairs required Charles to send a trusty messenger to his
sister, the widowed queen Cather