Thus ended “in smoke,” as Granvelle had foretold, the famous mission of Archduke Charles.  The Holy Roman Emperor withdrew from his pompous intervention, abashed by a rebuke, but consoled by a promise.  If it were good to be guardian of religious freedom in Upper and Nether Germany, it was better to be father-in-law to the King of Spain and both the Indies.  Hence the lame and abrupt conclusion.

Cardinal Granvelle had been very serviceable in this juncture.  He had written to Philip to assure him that, in his, opinion, the Netherlands had no claim, under the transaction of Augsburg, to require the observance within their territory of the decrees of the Empire.  He added, that Charles the Fifth had only agreed to the treaty of Passau to save his brother Ferdinand from ruin; that he had only consented to it as Emperor, and had neither directly nor indirectly included the Netherlands within its provisions.  He stated, moreover, that the Emperor had revoked the treaty by an act which was never published, in consequence of the earnest solicitations of Ferdinand.

It has been seen that the King had used this opinion of Granvelle in the response presented to the Archduke.  Although he did not condescend to an argument, he had laid down the fact as if it were indisputable.  He was still more delighted to find that Charles had revoked the treaty of Passau, and eagerly wrote to Granvelle to inquire where the secret instrument was to be found.  The Cardinal replied that it was probably among his papers at Brussels, but that he doubted whether it would be possible to find it in his absence.  Whether such a document ever existed, it is difficult to say.  To perpetrate such a fraud would have been worthy of Charles; to fable its perpetration not unworthy of the Cardinal.  In either case, the transaction was sufficiently high-handed and exceedingly disgraceful.

ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: 

Age when toleration was a vice
An age when to think was a crime
Business of an officer to fight, of a general to conquer
Cruelties exercised upon monks and papists
For faithful service, evil recompense
Pathetic dying words of Anne Boleyn
Seven Spaniards were killed, and seven thousand rebels
The calf is fat and must be killed
The illness was a convenient one
The tragedy of Don Carlos

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