The Press.
London, England, 1855-11-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Montigny died a natural death. Most of the few Ministers
whom the King took into his confidence on the occasion
were of opinion that it would be best to bring the prisoner's
death about by means of a slow poison administered in his
drink, or some article of his daily food. This would give
him time, moreover, to provide for the concerns of his soul.
But Philip objected to this, as not fulfilling what he was
pleased to call the ends of justice. He at last decided on
the garrote,—the form of execution used for the meaner
sort of criminals in Spain, but which, producing death by
suffocation, would be less likely to leave its traces on the
body.
With his own hand Philip drew up minute
details for the murder of the unhappy baron.
First, a report was spread of his dangerous
illness. and, when this had been sufficiently
published, the deadly tragedy was perpe-
trated
At about two o'clock on the morning of the sixteenth of
October, when the interval allowed for this solemn prepara-
tion bad expired, Father Castillo waited on the governor
and the alcalde, to inform them that the hour had come,
and that their prisoner was ready to receive them. Tbey
went, without further delay, to the chamber of death, at-
tended by the notary and the executioner. Then, in their
presence, while the notary made a record of the proceed-
ings, the grim minister of the law did his work on his un-
resisting victim.
No sooner was the breath out of the body of Montigny,
than the alcalde, the priest, and their two companions
were on their way back to Valladolid, reaching it before
dawn, so as to escape the notice of the inhabitants. All
were solemnly bound to secrecy in regard to the dark act
in which they had been engaged. The notary and the
hangman were still further secured by the menace of death,
in case they betrayed any knowledge of the matter; and
they knew full well that Philip was nut a man to shrink
from the execution of his menaces.
The corpse was arrayed in a Franciscan habit, which,
coming up to the throat, left the face only exposed to ob-
servation. It was thus seen by Montigny 's servants, who
recognised the features of their master, hardly more dis-
torted than sometimes happens from disease, when the
agonies of death have left their traces. The story went
abroad that their lord had died of the fever with which he
had been so violently attacked.
It is characteristic of Philip's self-com-
placency that he placed all the circumstances
of this treacherous and bloody deed on record
After the lapse of three centuries the royal
archives bear irrefragable testimony to his
fiendish policy.
The author has not been successful in
throwing any new light on the fate of the un-
happy son of Philip, Don Carlos. He sup-
poses that there is no ground for believing
that there was any fatal passion between the
Prince and the beautiful Isabella, the third
queen of Philip. Carlos was probably of a
highly susceptible temperament, wrought up
almost to madness by the harsh treatment of
his father. The deaths within a few weeks of
each other of the impetuous Prince and the
lovely Queen, are a gloomy episode in one of
the gloomiest reigns on record.
It is at this period (1568) that Mr. Prescott's
second volume ends. He deals leniently
with Philip on the whole, and gives him credit
for "politic sagacity," of which he had really
none. It may safely be affirmed that no
monarch ever did more for the degradation of
a great kingdom than was effected by Philip 11.
for the realm of Spain.

The Poetical Wotks of Samuel Butler. Vol. I.
Edited by Robert Bell. " Annotated Edition
of the English Poets." London : J. W.
Parker and Son.

-
Is the criticism of English wit the word
" splendid" is rarely used. We talk and
think of the dazzling Congreve, the poignant
Swift, the sparkling Vanbrugh, the playful
Addison, the brilliant Sheridan, but for the
peculiar genius of the author of " Hudibras "
the word "splendid" is appropriately reserved ;
and, strong as is that superlative, the epithet
is critically applied in Butler's case. It is
not merely the brightness, but the breadth of
his wit that is remarkable. He illumines all
his subject; he shines, and does not merely
sparkle ; he blazes and gives warmth, and
does not flash out in transient coruscation.
His distinctive merit is in the union of such
force of logic with so much fire of wit,
exhibited in a style remarkable for its ease,
vivacity, and that hearty freshness which
never can grow stale.
It is common to speak of Swift as presenting
the nearest English analogue to Rabelais, but
we think that Butler would be a better parallel.
His genius is vulgarly supposed to have been
narrower than it actually was. The subject of
" Uudibras ' was on the faction of his time,