chief, even when surrounded by veterans and crippled by the gout. He was
calm in great reverses. It was said that he was never known to change
color except upon two occasions: after the fatal destruction of his fleet
at Algiers, and in the memorable flight from Innspruck. He was of a
phlegmatic, stoical temperament, until shattered by age and disease; a
man without a sentiment and without a tear. It was said by Spaniards
that he was never seen to weep, even at the death of his nearest
relatives and friends, except on the solitary occasion of the departure
of Don Ferrante Gonzaga from court. Such a temperament was invaluable in
the stormy career to which he had devoted his life. He was essentially a
man of action, a military chieftain. "Pray only for my health and my
life," he was accustomed to say to the young officers who came to him
from every part of his dominions to serve under his banners, "for so,
long as I have these I will never leave you idle; at least in France.
I love peace no better than the rest of you. I was born and bred to
arms, and must of necessity keep on my harness till I can bear it no
longer." The restless energy and the magnificent tranquillity of his
character made him a hero among princes, an idol with his officers, a
popular favorite every where. The promptness with which, at much
personal hazard, he descended like a thunderbolt in the midst of the
Ghent insurrection; the juvenile ardor with which the almost bedridden
man arose from his sick-bed to smite the Protestants at Muhlberg; the
grim stoicism with which he saw sixty thousand of his own soldiers perish
in the wintry siege of Metz; all ensured him a large measure of that
applause which ever follows military distinction, especially when the man
who achieves it happens to wear a crown. He combined the personal
prowess of a knight of old with the more modern accomplishments of a
scientific tactician. He could charge the enemy in person like the most
brilliant cavalry officer, and he thoroughly understood the arrangements
of a campaign, the marshalling and victualling of troops, and the whole