The etiquette, or rules to be observed in royal palaces, is necessary
for keeping order at court. In Spain it was carried to such lengths as
to make martyrs of their kings. Here is an instance, at which, in spite
of the fatal consequences it produced, one cannot refrain from smiling.
Philip the Third was gravely seated by the fire-side: the fire-maker of
the court had kindled so great a quantity of wood, that the monarch was
nearly suffocated with heat, and his _grandeur_ would not suffer him to
rise from the chair; the domestics could not _presume_ to enter the
apartment, because it was against the _etiquette_. At length the Marquis
de Potat appeared, and the king ordered him to damp the fire; but _he_
excused himself; alleging that he was forbidden by the _etiquette_ to
perform such a function, for which the Duke d'Ussada ought to be called
upon, as it was his business. The duke was gone out: the _fire_ burnt
fiercer; and the _king_ endured it, rather than derogate from his
_dignity_. But his blood was heated to such a degree, that an erysipelas
of the head appeared the next day, which, succeeded by a violent fever,
carried him off in 1621, in the twenty-fourth year of his reign.
The palace was once on fire; a soldier, who knew the king's sister was
in her apartment, and must inevitably have been consumed in a few
moments by the flames, at the risk of his life rushed in, and brought
her highness safe out in his arms: but the Spanish _etiquette_ was here
wofully broken into! The loyal soldier was brought to trial; and as it
was impossible to deny that he had entered her apartment, the judges
condemned him to die! The Spanish Princess however condescended, in
consideration of the circumstance, to _pardon_ the soldier, and very
benevolently saved his life.
When Isabella, mother of Philip II., was ready to be delivered of him,
she commanded that all the lights should be extinguished: that if the
violence of her pain should occasion her face to change colour, no one
might perceive it. And when the midwife said, "Madam, cry out, that will
give you ease," she answered in _good Spanish_, "How dare you give me
such advice? I would rather die than cry out."
"Spain gives us _pride_--which Spain to all the earth
May largely give, nor fear herself a dearth!"--_Churchill._
Philip the Third was a weak bigot, who suffered himself to be governed
by his ministers. A patriot wished to open his eyes, but he could not
pierce through the crowds of his flatterers; besides that the voice of
patriotism heard in a corrupted court would have become a crime never
pardoned. He found, however, an ingenious manner of conveying to him his
censure. He caused to be laid on his table, one day, a letter sealed,
which bore this address--"To the King of Spain, Philip the Third, at
present in the service of the Duke of Lerma."
In a similar manner, Don Carlos, son to Philip the Second, made a book
with empty pages, to contain the voyages of his father, which bore this
title--"The great and admirable Voyages of the King Mr. Philip." All
these voyages consisted in going to the Escurial from Madrid, and
returning to Madrid from the Escurial. Jests of this kind at length cost
him his life.