XII. $559. BOOK all the world, and disgusted even with his own nephews. They, persecuted by Philip, and deserted by the succeeding pope, whom they had raised by their influence to the papal throne, were condemned to the punishment which their crimes and ambition had merited, and their death was as infamous as their lives had been criminal. Thus most of the personages, who had long sustained the principal characters on the great theatre of Europe, disappeared about the same time. A more known period of history opens at this era; other actors enter upon the stage, with different views, as well as different passions; new contests arose, and new schemes of ambition occupied and disquieted mankind. review of A general Upon reviewing the transactions of any active period the whole in the history of civilized nations, the changes which are period, accomplished appear wonderfully disproportioned to the efforts which have been exerted. Conquests are never very extensive or rapid, but among nations whose progress in improvement is extremely unequal. When Alexander the Great, at the head of a gallant people, of simple manners, and formed to war by admirable military institutions, invaded a state sunk in luxury, and enervated by excessive refinement; when Genchizcan and Tamerlane, with their armies of hardy barbarians, poured in upon nations enfeebled by the climate in which they lived, or by the arts and commerce which they cultivated, these conquerors, like a torrent, swept every thing before them, subduing kingdoms and provinces in as short a space of time as was requisite to march through them. But when nations are in a state similar to each other, and keep equal pace in their advances towards refinement, they are not exposed to the calamity of sudden conquests. Their acquisitions of knowledge, their progress in the art of war, their political sagacity and address, are nearly equal. The fate of states in this situation depends not on a single battle. Their internal resources are many and various. Nor are they themselves alone interested in their own safety, or active in their own defence. Other XII. slates interpose, and balance any temporary advantage BOOK which either party may have acquired. After the fiercest and most lengthened contest, all the rival nations are exhausted, none are conquered. At length they find it necessary to conclude a peace, which restores to each almost the same power and the same territories of which they were formerly in possession. tions of state dur tury. Such was the state of Europe during the reign of The naCharles V. No prince was so much superior to the rest Europe in in power, as to render his efforts irresistible, and his con- a similar quests easy. No nation had made progress in improve-ing the sixment so far beyond its neighbours, as to have acquired a teenth cen very manifest pre-eminence. Each state derived some advantage, or was subject to some inconvenience, from its situation or its climate; each was distinguished by something peculiar in the genius of its people or the constitution of its government. But the advantages possessed by one state were counterbalanced by circumstances favourable to others; and this prevented any from attaining such superiority as might have been fatal to all. The nations of Europe in that age, as in the present, were like one great family; there were some features common to all, which fixed a resemblance; there were certain peculiarities conspicuous in each, which marked a distinction. But there was not among them that wide diversity of character and of genius, which, in almost every period of history, hath exalted the Europeans above the inhabitants of the other quarters of the globe, and seems to have destined the one to rule, and the other to obey. But though the near resemblance and equality in im- A remarkprovement among the different nations of Europe pre-able change vented the reign of Charles V. from being distinguished of Europe, by such sudden and extensive conquests as occur in some during the reign of other periods of history, yet, during the course of his ad- Charles V. ministration, all the considerable states in Europe suffered a remarkable change in their political situation, and felt the influence of events, which have not hitherto spent their force, but still continue to operate in a greater or in a less XII. 1559. BOOK his consent. Having secured an honourable establishment for his sister and his daughter, he, in consideration of these, granted terms, both to Philip and the duke of Savoy, of which he would not, on any other account, have ventured to approve. The terms of pacification; The principal articles in the treaty between France and Spain were, that sincere and perpetual amity should be established between the two crowns and their respective allies; hat the two monarchs should labour, in concert, to procure the convocation of a general council, in order to check the progress of heresy, and restore unity and concord to the Christian church; that all conquests made by either party, on this side of the Alps, since the commencement of the war in one thousand five hundred and fiftyone, should be mutually restored; that the duchy of Savoy, the principality of Piedmont, the country of Bresse, and all the other territories formerly subject to the dukes of Savoy, should be restored to Emanuel Philibert, immediately after the celebration of his marriage with Margaret of France, the towns of Turin, Quiers, Pignerol, Chivaz, and Villanova excepted, of which Henry should keep possession, until his claims to these places, in right of his grandmother, should be tried and decided in course of law; that as long as Henry retained these places in his hands, Philip should be at liberty to keep garrisons in the towns of Vercelli and Asti; that the French king should immediately evacuate all the places which he held in Tuscany and the Sienese, and renounce all future pretensions to them; that he should restore the marquisate of Montferrat to the duke of Mantua; that he should receive the Genoese into favour, and give up to them the towns which he had conquered in the island of Corsica; that none of the princes or states, to whom these cessionswere made, should call their subjects to account for any part of their conduct while under the dominion of their enemies, but should bury all past transactions in oblivion. The pope, the emperor, the kings of Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, the king and queen of Scots, and al most every prince and state in Christendom, were comprehended in this pacification, as the allies either of Henry or of Philip ". BOOK XII. 1559 горе. Eu Thus, by this famous treaty, peace was re-established which rein Europe. All the causes of discord which had so long quelliembroiled the powerful monarchs of France and Spain, that had transmitted hereditary quarrels and wars from Charles to Philip, and from Francis to Henry, seemed to be wholly removed, or finally terminated. The French alone complained of the unequal conditions of a treaty, into which an ambitious minister, in order to recover his liberty, and an artful mistress, that she might gratify her resentment, had seduced their too easy monarch. They exclaimed loudly against the folly of giving up to the enemies of France an hundred and eighty-nine fortified places, in the Low Countries, or in Italy, in return for the three insignificant towns of St Quintin, Ham, and Catelet. They considered it as an indelible stain upon. the glory of the nation, to renounce in one day territories so extensive, and so capable of being defended, that the enemy could not have hoped to wrest them out of its hands, after many years of victory. between France and fied. But Henry, without regarding the sentiments of his The peace people, or being moved by the remonstrances of his council, ratified the treaty, and executed, with great fidelity, ratiwhatever he had stipulated to perform. The duke of Savoy repaired, with a numerous retinue, to Paris, in order to celebrate his marriage with Henry's sister. The duke of Alva was sent to the same capital, at the head of a splendid embassy, to espouse Elizabeth in the name of his master. They were received with extraordinary magnificence by the French court. Amidst the rejoicings and Death of festivities on that occasion, Henry's days were cut short enry. by a singular and tragical accident. His son, Francis II. a prince under age, of a weak constitution, and of a mind still more feeble, succeeded him. Soon after, Paul ended his violent and imperious pontificate, at enmity with e Recueil des Traitez, tom. ii, 287. July ic. XII. BOOK all the world, and disgusted even with his own nephews. They, persecuted by Philip, and deserted by the suc$559. ceeding pope, whom they had raised by their influence to the papal throne, were condemned to the punishment which their crimes and ambition had merited, and their death was as infamous as their lives had been criminal. Thus most of the personages, who had long sustained the principal characters on the great theatre of Europe, disappeared about the same time. A more known period of history opens at this era; other actors enter upon the stage, with different views, as well as different passions; new contests arose, and new schemes of ambition occupied and disquieted mankind. A general review of Upon reviewing the transactions of any active period the whole in the history of civilized nations, the changes which are period accomplished appear wonderfully disproportioned to the efforts which have been exerted. Conquests are never very extensive or rapid, but among nations whose progress in improvement is extremely unequal. When Alexander the Great, at the head of a gallant people, of simple manners, and formed to war by admirable military institutions, invaded a state sunk in luxury, and enervated by excessive refinement; when Genchizcan and Tamerlane, with their armies of hardy barbarians, poured in upon nations enfeebled by the climate in which they lived, or by the arts and commerce which they cultivated, these conquerors, like a torrent, swept every thing before them, subduing kingdoms and provinces in as short a space of time as was requisite to march through them. But when nations are in a state similar to each other, and keep equal pace in their advances towards refinement, they are not exposed to the calamity of sudden conquests. Their acquisitions of knowledge, their progress in the art of war, their political sagacity and address, are nearly equal. The fate of states in this situation depends not on a single battle. Their internal resources are many and various. Nor are they themselves alone interested in their own safety, or active in their own defence. Other |