The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-08-28
The Iaat Au.trian KIM Of spain.

Spain 10 from the fifth volume Of Macaa-
lays History Of England, left incom-
plote by its author. Itis one Of the finest
efforts ofthe great historian, Charles, the
great grandson Philip II. and son Of Philip
", by HE niece, was iabecilc IN mind,
and diseased in body. His whole life was
shrouded in the gloom OF supersiilution,
and his last hours we're ombittered by the
intriguesof France and Spain for the sue
cession 10 HE crown, a. he was childless.
lie died in 1900 at The age Of CO. BY
brihing the Kings Confessor, Louls XIV.
of France gained his canse though
Charles favored the Austrian claimant
A grandson of the French monarch as
cended The Spanish throne, but was har-
rassed by war of thirteen years with
Austria and England, Thus ended and
thus began the soyereignties of the
Ansirians and Bourbons in Spain.
The scene portrayed in the subjoined
extract occurred two or three years
before the death Of Charles. We quote:
The Prince on whom so much depend
\ ed was the most miserable of human
! beings. In old times he would have been
| exposed as soon as he came into the world;
and to expose him would have been a
kindness From his birth blight was
on his body and on his mind With
| difficulty his almost imperceptible spark
! life had been screened and famed into
a dim aud Pickering flame. His child
hood except when he could be rocked
and sung into sickly sleep, was one long
1 piteOus wall Till he was ton years old
his days were passed on The laps of wO-
men, and he was never once suffered Go
stand on his ricketty legs. None of those
/ tawny little urchins, clad in rags stolen
/ fEom scaTecrows, whom Murillo loved 20
paint begging Or rolling in the sand,
! owed less TO education than this despotic
ruler of thirty millions Of subjects. The
most important events in the history of
bis own kingdom, the very names of
| provinces and cities which were among
his most valuable possessions, were un-
known TO him. II may well be doubted
| whether he was aware that Sicily was
an island, that Christopher Columbss had
discovered America, or that sthe English
were not Mahommedans. In his youth,
however though too imbecile for study
or for business, he was not incapable Of
being amused. He shot hawked and
hunted. He enjoyed with the delight Of
true Spaniard two delightful spectaeles
"a horse with its bowels gored out, and
] Jew writhing in the flre. The time
came when the mightiest Of instincts or
dinarily wakens from its repOse. II was
hoped that the young king would not
prove invincible 10 female attractions
and that he would have a Prince of Aus
tria TO succeed him. A consort was
found for him in the royal family Of
France, and her beauty and grace gave
him languid pleasure. He liked TO
adom her with jewels, 10 see her dance,
and to tell her what sport he had with
his dogs and his falcons. But il was
soon whispered that she was a wife only
in name. She died and her place was
supplied by a German Princess nearly
| allied 10 the Imperial house. But tie
second marriage, like the first, proved
barren, and long before the King had
passed the prime Of life, all the politi.
clans Of Europe had begun 10 take il for
granted, in all their calculations, that
he would be the last defendant, in the
male line. OF Charles the Fifth. Mean
while a cullen and abiect melancholy
took po8session Of his soul The diver
sinns which had been the serious en-
ployment Of his youth became distaste-
ful TO him. lie ceased b. find pleasure
in his nets and boar-spears, in the fam
dango and the bull-fght. Sometimes he
shut himself mp in an inner chamber
from the eyes of his cOurtiers Some
times he loitered alone, from sunrise 70
sunset, in the dreary aud rugged wilder
ness which surrounds the lGscurial The
hours which he did not waste in laless
Incidence were divided between child
iah sports and childish devotons
He delighted in rare animals, and
still moro In dwarfs When neither
strange beasts nor little men could dis
pei the black thoughts which gathered
on his mind, he repeated ayes aud cred
Os he walked ia professions; some
times lac starved himself; sometimes he
whipped himself At length q compli-
cation of maladies completed the ruin Of
all his faculties His stomach failed; nor
was this strange, for in him the malfor-
nation Of the jaw, characteristic OF his
family was 80 serious that he could not
masticato his food, and he was in the
habit Of swallowing Ollas aud sweet
meats in the state in which they were set
before him. While suffering from indi-
gcstion he was attacked by ague. Every
third day his convulsive emblings his
I \ A. II. Il 4
10 indicate the approach Of dissolution
His misery was increased by the knowl-
edge that everybody was calculating how
long lao had 10 live, and wondering what
would become Of his kingdoms when h,
should be dead. The stately dignita,
] ries Of his household, the physicianl
who ministercd TO his diseased body
+ the divinos whose business was 10 soothC
his not less diseased mind, the very
wife who should have been intent OF
= those gentle Offices by which female ten
T dorness can alleviate even the misery o
. hopeless decay, were all thinking Of tbl
I new world which was 20 commence will
, his death, and would have been perfectly
willing 20 have seen him In the hands o
4 the embalmer il they could have beei
= certain that his successor would be thl
3 Prince whose interest they espoused. Al
e yet She party Of the Emperor seemed 4
e predominant. Charles had faint s0r
. Of preference for the house Of Austria
C which was his own house, and a fain
}. sort Of antipaihy 10 the house Of Bour
s bon, with which be had been .quarreline
70 he did not know why, ever since he coul'
j. remember. His Queen, whom be did no
e love, but Of whom he stood greatly il
awe, WAS devoted 20 the interests OF be