Prince of Orange, because he was unable to stand without support, he
addressed himself to the audience, and from a paper which he held in his
hand, in order to assist his memory, he recounted with dignity, but
without ostentation, all the great things which he had undertaken and
performed since the commencement of his administration. He observed
that, from the seventeenth year of his age, he had dedicated all his
thoughts and attention to public objects, reserving no portion of his
time for the indulgence of his ease, and very little for the enjoyment
of private pleasure; that, either in a pacific or hostile manner, he had
visited Germany nine times, Spain six times, France four times, Italy
seven times, the Low Countries ten times, England twice, Africa as
often, and had made eleven voyages by sea; that while his health
permitted him to discharge his duty, and the vigor of his constitution
was equal, in any degree, to the arduous office of governing such
extensive dominions, he had never shunned labor, nor repined under
fatigue; that now, when his health was broken, and his vigor exhausted
by the rage of an incurable distemper, his growing infirmities
admonished him to retire; nor was he so fond of reigning as to retain
the sceptre in an impotent hand, which was no longer able to protect his
subjects, or to secure to them the happiness which he wished they should
enjoy; that instead of a sovereign worn out with diseases, and scarcely
half alive, he gave them one in the prime of life, accustomed already to
govern, and who added to the vigor of youth all the attention and
sagacity of maturer years; and if, during the course of a long
administration, he had committed any material error of government, or
if, under the pressure of so many and great affairs, and amid the
attention which he had been obliged to give to them, he had either
neglected or injured any of his subjects, he now implored their
forgiveness; that, for his part, he should ever retain a grateful sense
of their fidelity and attachment, and would carry the remembrance of it
along with him to the place of his retreat, as his sweetest consolation,
as well as the best reward for all his services, and in his last prayers
to Almighty God would pour forth his most earnest petitions for their
welfare.
Then, turning toward Philip, who fell on his knees and kissed his
father's hand--"If," said he, "I had left you by my death this rich
inheritance, to which I have made such large additions, some regard
would have been justly due to my memory on that account; but now, when I
voluntarily resign to you what I might have still retained, I may well
expect the warmest expression of thanks on your part. With these,
however, I dispense, and shall consider your concern for the welfare of
your subjects, and your love of them, as the best and most acceptable
testimony of your gratitude to me. It is in your power, by a wise and
virtuous administration, to justify the extraordinary proof which I this
day give of my paternal affection, and to demonstrate that you are
worthy of the confidence which I repose in you. 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."
As soon as Charles had finished this long address to his subjects and to
their new sovereign, he sank into the chair, exhausted and ready to
faint with the fatigue of such an extraordinary effort. During his
discourse the whole audience melted into tears, some from admiration of
his magnanimity, others softened by the expressions of tenderness toward
his son, and of love to his people; and all were affected with the
deepest sorrow at losing a sovereign who, during his administration, had
distinguished the Netherlands, his native country, with particular marks
of his regard and attachment.
Philip then arose from his knees, and after returning thanks to his
father, with a low and submissive voice, for the royal gift which his
unexampled bounty had bestowed upon him, he addressed the assembly of
the states, and, regretting his inability to speak the Flemish language
with such facility as to express what he felt on this interesting
occasion, as well as what he owed to his good subjects in the
Netherlands, he begged that they would permit Granvelle, bishop of
Arras, to deliver what he had given him in charge to speak in his name.
Granvelle, in a long discourse, expatiated on the zeal with which
Philip was animated for the good of his subjects, on his resolution to
devote all his time and talents to the promoting of their happiness, and
on his intention to imitate his father's example in distinguishing the
Netherlands with peculiar marks of his regard. Maes, a lawyer of great
eloquence, replied in the name of the states, with large professions of
their fidelity and affection to their new sovereign.
Then Mary, Queen dowager of Hungary, resigned the regency with which she
had been intrusted by her brother during the space of twenty-five years.
Next day Philip, in the presence of the states, took the usual oaths to
maintain the rights and privileges of his subjects; and all the members,
in their own name and in that of their constituents, swore allegiance to
him.
A few weeks after this transaction, Charles, in an assembly no less
splendid and with a ceremonial equally pompous, resigned to his son the
crowns of Spain, with all the territories depending on them, both in the
Old and in the New world. Of all these vast possessions, he reserved
nothing for himself but an annual pension of a hundred thousand crowns,
to defray the charges of his family, and to afford him a small sum for
acts of beneficence and charity.
As he had fixed on a place of retreat in Spain, hoping that the dryness
and the warmth of the climate in that country might mitigate the
violence of his disease, which had been much increased by the moisture
of the air and rigor of the winters in the Netherlands, he was extremely
impatient to embark for that kingdom, and to disengage himself entirely
from business, which he found to be impossible while he remained in
Brussels. But his physicians remonstrated so strongly against his
venturing to sea at that cold and boisterous season of the year, that he
consented, though with reluctance, to put off his voyage for some
months.
He retained the imperial dignity, not from any unwillingness to
relinquish it, for, after having resigned the real and extensive
authority that he enjoyed in his hereditary dominions, to part with the
limited and often ideal jurisdiction which belongs to an elective crown
was no great sacrifice. His sole motive for delay was to gain a few
months for making one trial more, in order to accomplish his favorite
scheme in behalf of his son. At the very time Charles seemed to be most
sensible of the vanity of worldly grandeur, and when he appeared to be
quitting it not only with indifference but with contempt, the vast
schemes of ambition, which had so long occupied and engrossed his mind,
still kept possession of it. He could not think of leaving his son in a
rank inferior to that which he himself had held among the princes of
Europe. As he had, some years before, made a fruitless attempt to secure
the imperial crown to Philip, that, by uniting it to the kingdoms of
Spain and the dominions of the house of Burgundy, he might put it in his
power to prosecute, with a better prospect of success, those great plans
which his own infirmities had obliged him to abandon, he was still
unwilling to relinquish this flattering project as chimerical or
unattainable.
Notwithstanding the repulse which he had formerly met with from his
brother Ferdinand, he renewed his solicitations with fresh importunity,
and during the summer had tried every art, and employed every argument,
which he thought could induce him to quit the imperial throne to Philip,
and to accept of the investiture of some province, either in Italy or in
the Low Countries, as an equivalent. But Ferdinand, who was so firm and
inflexible with regard to this point that he had paid no regard to the
solicitations of the Emperor, even when they were enforced with all the
weight of authority which accompanies supreme power, received the
overture, that now came from him in the situation to which he had
descended, with great indifference, and would hardly deign to listen to
it. Charles, ashamed of his own credulity in having imagined that he
might accomplish now that which he had attempted formerly without
success, desisted finally from his scheme. He then resigned the
government of the empire, and, having transferred all his claims of
obedience and allegiance from the Germanic body to his brother the King
of the Romans, he executed a deed to that effect, with all the
formalities requisite in such an important transaction. The instrument
of resignation he committed to William, Prince of Orange, and empowered
him to lay it before the college of electors.
Nothing now remained to detain Charles from that retreat for which he
languished. The preparations for his voyage having been made for some
time, he set out for Zuitburg, in Zealand, where the fleet which was to
convoy him had orders to assemble. In his way thither he passed through
Ghent, and after stopping there a few days, to indulge that tender and
pleasing melancholy which arises in the mind of every man in the decline
of life on visiting the place of his nativity, and viewing the scenes
and objects familiar to him in his early youth, he pursued his journey,
accompanied by his son Philip, his daughter the archduchess, his sisters
the dowager Queens of France and Hungary, Maximilian his son-in-law, and
a numerous retinue of the French nobility. Before he went on board he
dismissed them with marks of his attention or regard, and, taking leave
of Philip with all the tenderness of a father who embraced his son for
the last time, he set sail on September 17th, under the convoy of a
large fleet of Spanish, Flemish, and English ships. He declined a
pressing invitation from the Queen of England to land in some part of
her dominions, in order to refresh himself, and that she might have the
comfort of seeing him once more. "It cannot, surely," said he, "be
agreeable to a queen to receive a visit from a father-in-law who is now
nothing more than a private gentleman."
His voyage was prosperous, and he arrived at Laredo, in Biscay, on the
eleventh day after he left Zealand. As soon as he landed he fell
prostrate on the ground, and, considering himself now as dead to the
world, he kissed the earth and said, "Naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked I now return to thee, thou common mother of mankind."
From Laredo he pursued his journey to Burgos, carried sometimes in a
chair and sometimes in a horse-litter, suffering exquisite pain at every
step, and advancing with the greatest difficulty. Some of the Spanish
nobility repaired to Burgos, in order to pay court to him, but they were
so few in number, and their attendance was so negligent, that Charles
observed it, and felt, for the first time, that he was no longer a
monarch. Accustomed from his early youth to the dutiful and officious
respect with which those who possess sovereign power are attended, he
had received it with the credulity common to princes, and was sensibly
mortified when he now discovered that he had been indebted to his rank
and power for much of that obsequious regard which he had fondly thought
was paid to his personal qualities. But though he might have soon
learned to view with unconcern the levity of his subjects, or to have
despised their neglect, he was more deeply afflicted with the
ingratitude of his son, who, forgetting already how much he owed to his
father's bounty, obliged him to remain some weeks at Burgos before he
paid him the first moiety of that small pension which was all that he
had reserved of so many kingdoms. As, without this sum, Charles could
not dismiss his domestics with such rewards as their services merited,
or his generosity had destined for them, he could not help expressing
both surprise and dissatisfaction. At last the money was paid, and
Charles having dismissed a great number of his domestics, whose
attendance he thought would be superfluous or cumbersome in his
retirement, he proceeded to Valladolid. There he took a last and tender
leave of his two sisters, whom he would not permit to accompany him to
his solitude, though they requested him with tears, not only that they
might have the consolation of contributing by their attendance and care
to mitigate or to soothe his sufferings, but that they might reap
instruction and benefit by joining with him in those pious exercises to
which he had consecrated the remainder of his days.
From Valladolid he continued his journey to Plazentia in Estremadura. He
had passed through this place a great many years before, and having been
struck at that time with the delightful situation of the monastery of
St. Justus, belonging to the order of St. Jerome, not many miles distant
from the town, he had then observed to some of his attendants that this
was a spot to which Diocletian might have retired with pleasure. The
impression had remained so strong in his mind that he pitched upon it as
the place of his own retreat. It was seated in a vale of no great
extent, watered by a small brook, and surrounded by rising grounds,
covered with lofty trees; from the nature of the soil, as well as the
temperature of the climate, it was esteemed the most healthful and
delicious situation in Spain. Some months before his resignation he had
sent an architect thither to add a new apartment to the monastery, for
his accommodation; but he gave strict orders that the style of the
building should be such as suited his present station, rather than his
former dignity. It consisted only of six rooms, four of them in the form
of friars' cells, with naked walls; the other two, each twenty feet
square, were hung with brown cloth, and furnished in the most simple
manner. They were all on a level with the ground, with a door on one
side into a garden, of which Charles himself had given the plan, and had
filled it with various plants which he intended to cultivate with his
own hands. On the other side, they communicated with the chapel of the
monastery, in which he was to perform his devotions. Into this humble
retreat, hardly sufficient for the comfortable accommodation of a
private gentleman, did Charles enter, with twelve domestics only. He
buried there, in solitude and silence, his grandeur, his ambition,
together with all those vast projects which, during almost half a
century, had alarmed and agitated Europe, filling every kingdom in it,
by turns, with the terror of his arms, and the dread of being subdued by
his power.
FOOTNOTES:
[58] Don Levesque, in his memoirs of Cardinal Granvelle, gives a reason
for the Emperor's resignation, which, as far as I recollect, is not
mentioned by any other historian. He says that, the Emperor having ceded
the government of the kingdom of Naples and the duchy of Milan to his
son upon his marriage with the Queen of England, Philip, notwithstanding
the advice and entreaties of his father, removed most of the ministers
and officers whom he had employed in those countries, and appointed
creatures of his own to fill the places which they held. That he aspired
openly, and with little delicacy, to obtain a share in the
administration of affairs in the Low Countries. That he endeavored to
thwart the Emperor's measures and to limit his authority, behaving
toward him sometimes with inattention, and sometimes with haughtiness.
That Charles, finding that he must either yield on every occasion to his
son, or openly contend with him, in order to avoid either of these,
which were both disagreeable and mortifying to a father, he took the
resolution of resigning his crowns, and of retiring from the world (vol.
i. p. 24, etc.). Don Levesque derived his information concerning these
curious facts, which he relates very briefly, from the original papers
of Cardinal Granvelle. But as that vast collection of papers, which has
been preserved and arranged by M. l'Abbe Boizot of Besancon, though one
of the most valuable historical monuments of the sixteenth century, and
which cannot fail of throwing much light on the transactions of Charles
V, is not published, I cannot determine what degree of credit should be
given to this account of Charles' resignation. I have, therefore, taken
no notice of it in relating this event.
AKBAR ESTABLISHES THE MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA
A.D. 1556
J. TALBOYS WHEELER
Between the years 1494 and 1526 Baber, great-grandson of
Timur (Tamerlane), the Tartar conqueror, made extensive
conquests in India. There he laid the first foundations of
the Mahometan Tartar empire of the Moguls, as his followers
are called. This empire reached its height under Akbar
(Jel-al-eddin Mahomet), who succeeded his father Humayun,
son of Baber, in 1556. Humayun did little toward uniting the
various territories which Baber had conquered.
Akbar was the contemporary of Queen Elizabeth of England,
and his reign is as important in the history of India as is
hers in the history of the western world. He ascended the
throne at the age of fourteen. At the time of his accession
he was in the Punjab warring against the revolted Afghans.
The commander of the Mogul armies was Bairam Khan, and when
Humayun died that general became Akbar's guardian.
Wheeler's account of this great ruler's achievements
presents throughout a most interesting portrayal of his
personality and character, and is especially remarkable for
its simplicity and its oriental atmosphere.
The reign of Akbar bears a strange resemblance to that of Asoka.[59]
Indeed, the likeness between Akbar and Asoka is one of the most
remarkable phenomena in history. They were separated from each other by
an interval of eighteen centuries; the main features of their respective
lives were practically the same. Asoka was putting down revolt in the
Punjab when his father died; so was Akbar. Asoka was occupied for years
in conquering and consolidating his empire; so was Akbar. Asoka
conquered India to the north of the Nerbudda; so did Akbar. Asoka was
tolerant of other religions; so was Akbar. Asoka went against the
priests; so did Akbar. Asoka taught a religion of his own; so did Akbar.
Asoka abstained from flesh meat; so did Akbar. In the end Asoka took
refuge in Buddha, the law, and the assembly. In the end Akbar recited
the formula of Islam: "There is but one God, and Mahomet is his
prophet."
Some of these coincidents are mere accidents. Others reveal a similarity
in the current of religious thought, a similarity in the stages of
religious development; consequently they add a new chapter to the
history of mankind.
The wars of Akbar are only interesting so far as they bring out types of
character. When the news reached the Punjab that Humayun was dead, other
news arrived. Hemu had recovered Agra and Delhi; he was advancing with a
large army into the Punjab. The Mogul force was very small. The Mogul
officers were in a panic; they advised a retreat into Kabul. Akbar and
Bairam Khan resolved on a battle. The Afghans were routed. The Hindu
general was wounded in the eye and taken prisoner. Bairam Khan bade
Akbar slay the Hindu, and win the title of "champion of the faith."
Akbar drew his sword, but shrunk back. He was as brave as a lion; he
would not hack a wounded prisoner. Bairam Khan had no such sentiment. He
beheaded Hemu with his own sword.
This story marks the contrast between the prince and his guardian. Akbar
was brave and skilful in the field; he was outwardly gracious and
forgiving when the fight was over. Bairam Khan was loyal to the throne;
he slaughtered enemies in cold blood without mercy. It was impossible
that the two should agree. Akbar grew more and more impatient of his
guardian; for years he was self-constrained at Rama. He thought a great
deal, but did nothing; he bided his time.
Within four years Bairam Khan had laid the foundations of the Mogul
empire. Its limits were as yet restricted. The Mogul pale only covered
the Punjab, the northwest provinces, and Oude; it is only extended from
the Indus to the junction of the Jumna and Ganges. On the south it was
bounded by Rajputana. It included the three capitals of Lahore, Delhi,
and Agra. So far it coincided with the kingdom of Ala-ud-din, who
conquered the Deccan and Peninsula.
At the end of the four years Akbar was a young man of eighteen. He
resolved to throw off the authority of his guardian. He carried out his
designs with the artifice of an Asiatic. He pretended that his mother
was sick. He left the camp where Bairam Khan commanded, in order to pay
her a visit. He proclaimed that he had assumed the authority of
Padishah; that no orders were to be obeyed save his own. Bairam Khan was
taken by surprise. Possibly, had he known what was coming, he would have
put Akbar out of the way; but his power was gone. He tried to work upon
the feelings of Abkar; he found that the Padishah was inflexible. He
revolted, but was defeated and forgiven. Akbar offered him any post save
that of minister; he would be minister or nothing. In the end he elected
to go to Mecca, the last refuge for Mussulman statesmen. Everything was
ready for his embarkation; suddenly he was assassinated by an Afghan. It
was the old story of Afghan revenge. He had killed the father of the
assassin in some battle: in revenge the son had stabbed him to death.
Akbar was now free to act. The political situation was one of extreme
peril. The Afghans were fighting one another in Kabul in the northwest;
they were also fighting one another in Behar and Bengal in the
southeast. When he marched against one, his territories were exposed to
the raids of the other. Meantime his Mogul officers often set his
sovereignty at defiance; when brought to task they broke out in mutiny
and rebellion. Two events at this period will show the actual state of
affairs.
Far away in the south of Rajputana lies the remote territory of Malwa.
It was originally conquered by Ala-ud-din. During the decline of the
Tughlaks the governor Malwa became an independent ruler. At the
beginning of the reign of Akbar, Baz Bahadur was ruler of Malwa. He was
a type of the Mussulman princes of the time; no doubt he went to mosque;
he surrounded himself with Hindu singing and dancing girls; he became
more or less Hinduized. Akbar sent an officer named Adham Khan to
conquer Malwa. Adham Khan had no difficulty. Baz Bahadur abandoned his
treasures and harem and fled. Adham Khan distributed part of the spoil
to the Padishah. Akbar could not brook such disobedience.
Notwithstanding the distance he hurried to Malwa. He received his
rightful share of the plunder; he professed to accept the excuses of the
defaulter. When he returned to Agra he recalled Adham Khan to court; he
sent another governor to Malwa. Adham Khan obeyed; he went to Agra; he
found that he had lost favor. Commands were given to others. He could
get nothing. He was driven mad by delay and disappointment. He did not
suspect Akbar; he threw the blame upon the minister. One day he went to
the palace; he stabbed the minister to death in the hall of audience; he
ran up to an outer terrace. Akbar heard the uproar; he rushed in and
beheld the bleeding corpse. He saw the stupefied murderer on the
terrace; he half drew his sword, but remembered himself. Adham Khan
seized his hands and begged for mercy. Akbar shook him off and ordered
the servants to throw him from the terrace. The order was obeyed; Adham
Khan was killed on the spot.
Another officer, named Khan Zeman, played a similar game in Behar. He
was warned that Akbar was on the move; he escaped punishment by making
over the spoil before Akbar came up. This satisfied Akbar; he returned
part of the spoil and went back to Agra. Henceforth Khan Zeman was a
rebel at heart. Some Usbeg chiefs revolted in Oudh; they were joined by
Khan Zeman. Akbar was called away to the Punjab by an Afghan invasion;
on his return the rebels were in possession of Oudh and Allahabad. Akbar
marched against them in the middle of the rains. He outstripped his
army; he reached the Ganges with only his bodyguard. The rebels were
encamped on the opposite bank; they had no fear; they expected Akbar to
wait until his army came up. That night Akbar swam the river with his
bodyguard. At daybreak he attacked the enemy. The rebels heard the
thunder of the imperial kettle-drums; they could not believe their ears.
They fled in all directions. Khan Zeman was slain in the pursuit. The
other leaders were taken prisoners; they were trampled to death by
elephants. Thus for a while the rebellion was stamped out.