what stupendous successes it had led him! Three years before he had
routed at Muhlberg his most powerful rivals. As prisoners they still
felt his avenging hand.

And now? At this hour?

The hope of the sovereignty of the world lay shattered at his feet.
The wish to obtain the German imperial crown for his heir and successor,
Philip, had proved unattainable. It was destined for his brother,
Ferdinand of Austria, and afterward for the latter's son, Maximilian.
To lead the defeated German Protestants back to the bosom of the Holy
Church appeared more and more untenable. Here in the Netherlands the
heretics, in consequence of the Draconian severity of the regulations
which he himself had issued, had been hung and burned by hundreds, and
hitherto he had gained nothing but the hatred of the nation which he
preferred to all others. His bodily health was destroyed, his mind had
lost its buoyancy, and he was now fifty years old. What lay before him
was a brief pilgrimage--perchance numbering only a few years--here on
earth, and the limitless eternity which would never end. How small and
trivial was the former in comparison with the latter, which had no
termination! And would he desire to rear for the space of time that
separates the grave from the cradle the child for whom he desired the
best blessings, instead of securing for him salvation for the never-
ceasing period of eternal life?

No! This beauty, this strength, should be consecrated to no vain secular
struggle, but to Heaven. The boy when he matured to a correct judgment
would thank him for this decision, which was really no easy one for his
worldly vanity.