The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-30 00:00:00

LITERATU.RE.

The Autobiography of the Emperor Charles the
Fifth. Recently discovered in the Portuguese
Language by Baron Kervyn de Lettenhove, mem-
ber of the Royal Academy of Belgium. The
English translation by Leonard Francis Simpson,
M.R.S.L. Longman and Co.

This autobiography, the importance of which, in
I an izistorieal point of view, needs no comment, is
a brief an' simple narrative, by the Emperor, of
the principa; avents which took place in his reign
between 1516 and 1548, and is marked by a total
absence of displ.a.v, either rhetorical or descriptive.
That he wrote suet a work is clear from the testi-
mony of his secretary, William Van Male, who, in
a letter addressed by him on July 17, 1550, to Sig-
neur de Preet, said, " In the leisnres of his naviga-
tion on the Rhine, the Emperor, having plenty of
leisure time on hoard ship, undertook to write his
journeys and expulitions from the year 1515 up to
the present moment. The work is admirably
polished and elegant, And the style attests great
strength of mind and elnquence. Surely, I should
not easily have imagined that the Emperor pos-
sessed such qualifications, as he has avowed to me
himself that he was indebted for nothing to educa-
tion, and that he had racquired them entirely by his
own meditations and labour. As regards the weight
and value of the work, they consist especially in
that fidelity and that gravity to which history
owes its credit and its power." The work appears
to have been completed, as ,oar as it goes, at Augs-
burg in 1551, after which the Emperor took up his
residence at Inspruck, whence he was compelled to
decamp precipitately during t.he night, lest he
should fall into the hands of his et.'emies. " Under
these grave circumstances, Charles V., threaten ed in
his autbority and in his liberty, was cmlcerned about
the fate reserved to his memoirs, in wl. ich he had
explained the secrets of his policy, and judged the
nults of the Protestant princes of Germany. He (
thought it prudent to intrust them to some devoted
servant, who could take them to Spain beyond all I
danger,and he added a fevr lines addressed to his son,
in which he revealed to him the importance of this
deposit, which was not to be opened until at an
epoch, or on an eventuality which he meant to in-
dicate. In the midst of the alarms and emotions of
Inspruck those lines remained incomplete ; but
despite the French and Turkish galleys which were
cruizing in the Mediterranean, the mission was
faithfully executed, and the narrative dictated by
Charles V. to Van Male was remitted (everything
at least announces it) to the young Prince of Spain."
The translation here given is not taken from the
original manuscript, the existence of which at pre-
sent is problematical ; but from a Portuguese manu-
script in the Imperial Library at Paris, which bears
the following title (translation) :—" The History
of the Most Invincible Emperor Charles V., King
of Spain, composed by his Imperial Majesty (or
his Cesarean Majesty, as Brantome styles him), as
is shown by the paper on the following page, trans-
lated from the French, and from the original at
Madrid in 1620." Judging from intet nal evidence,
we should say that Mr. Simpson's version gives a
very fair idea of the original ; the style of which
will be sufficiently indicated by the following ex-
tract from the commencement of the work :
" After the death of King Philip, there were at intervals
various wars in the States of Flanders, which we call the
Netherlands. One of these wars was that undertaken by
the Emperor Maximilian, in concert with King Henry of
England, against Lou's, King of France. By the prudence
as well as by the habitual bravery of the Emperor, the
French were defeated whilst endeavouring to relieve Tero-
natio. After the capture of that city, siege was laid to
Tourney, which shortly afterwards surrendered. The re-
sult was, that the Archduke Charles, grandson of the Em-
peror, proceeded to Tourney, which was then in the hands
of King Henry, and to Lille, where he had his first inter-
view with the same King, and where, amongst other
things, his emancipation was discussed and resolved upon
This took place in the year 1515, during which he was im-
mediately recognised as Lord of the said States of Flanders.
Shortly afterwards the same Archduke sent ambassadors to
King Francis of France, who at the same period had inhe-
rited that kingdom, on the death of King Loais. These
ambassadors negotiated and concluded peace. In the same
Fear his Majesty visited a portion of the States of Flan•
ders, and whilst making the visit, there arrived at the
Hague, in Holland, M. de Vendome, sent by the King of
France to ratify that peace. That portion of his States
which he had not time to visit this year, was visited by him
in the following year, 1516, and he held his first Chapter
of the Order of the Golden Fleece at Brussels. This was
the year of the death of the Catholic King; and, dating
from that moment, the Archduke assumed the title of
King."