son of the Emperor Charles V. and of Isabella of Portugal, was born at Valladolid on the 21st of May 1527, and became king of Naples and Sicily on his father's abdication in 1554. The reign of this prince touches the contemporary history of Europe at so many important points, that a brief notice of it will not perhaps be thought superfluous. He ascended the throne of Spain on the 17th of January 1556. Charles had made a truce with the French, but his son broke it, and having formed an alliance with England, poured into Picardy an army of forty thousand men. The French were cut to pieces at the battle of St Quintin, which was fought on the 20th of August 1557; that town was taken by assault, and the day on which the breach was stormed, Philip appeared armed cap-a-pied, in order to animate the soldiers. It was the first and last time that he was observed to wear the military dress. It is well known, indeed, that during the heat of the action his terror was so great that he made two vows; one, that he should never again be present in a battle; and the other, that he would build a magnificent monastery, dedicated to St Lawrence, to whom he attributed the success of his arms. After the engagement, the Duke of Savoy, who commanded, attempted to kiss his hand; but Philip prevented him, saying, "It is rather my duty to kiss yours, who have the merit of so glorious a victory," and immediately presented him with the colours taken during the action. The taking of Caletet, Ham, and Noyon, were the only advantages derived from a victory which might have proved the ruin of France. When Charles V. was informed of this success, it is said he asked the person who brought him the intelligence, if his son was at Paris; and being answered in the negative, he went away without uttering a single word. The Duke of Guise having had time to assemble an army, repaired the disgrace of his country by the taking of Calais and Thionville. But whilst the duke was animating the French, Philip defeated Marshal de Thermes in a combat near Gravelines. His army was, on this occasion, commanded by Count Egmont, whom he afterwards caused to be beheaded. The conqueror made no better use of the victory of Gravelines than he had done of that of St Quintin; but he reaped considerable advantage from the glorious peace of Chateau-Cambresis, the masterpiece of his policies. By that treaty, which was concluded on the 13th of April 1559, he gained possession of the strong places of Thionville, Marienbourg, Montmedy, Hesdin, and the county of Charolais. This war, so terrible in itself, and attended with so much cruelty, was, like many others, terminated by a marriage. Philip took for his third wife Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II., who had been promised to his son Don Carlos.

After these glorious achievements, Philip returned in triumph to Spain without having drawn a sword. His first care, upon his arrival at Valladolid, was to demand of the grand inquisitor the spectacle of an auto-da-fe. This was immediately granted him, and forty wretches, some of them priests and monks, were strangled and burned. Don Carlos de Seza, one of these unfortunate victims, ventured to draw near to the king, and said to him, "How, Sir, can you suffer so many wretches to be committed to the flames? Can you be witness of such barbarity without weeping?" To this Philip coolly replied, "If my own son were suspected of heresy, I would myself give him up to the severity of the Inquisition. Such is the horror which I feel when I think of you and your companions, that if an executioner were wanting, I would myself supply his place." On other occasions he conducted himself agreeably to the spirit which had dictated this answer. In a valley of Piedmont, bordering on the country of the Milanese, there were some heretics, the followers of Peter Valdo; and these the governor of Milan was commanded to put to death by the gibbet. The new opinions having found their way into some of the districts of Calabria, Philip gave orders that the innovators should be put to the sword.

This spirit of cruelty, and shameful abuse of power, had the effect of weakening that power itself. The Flemings, no longer able to endure so hard a yoke, revolted. The revolution began in the fine and large provinces of the Continent; but the maritime provinces alone obtained their liberty. In 1579 they formed themselves into a republic, under the title of the United Provinces. Philip sent the Duke of Alva to reduce them; but the cruelty of that general only served to exasperate the spirit of the rebels. Never did men fight with more courage or greater fury. The Spaniards, at the siege of Haarlem, having thrown into the town the head of a Dutch officer who had been killed in a skirmish, the inhabitants threw back to them the heads of eleven Spaniards, with this inscription: "Ten heads for the payment of the tenth penny, and the eleventh for interest." Haarlem having surrendered at discretion, the conquerors caused all the magistrates, pastors, and above 1500 citizens, to be hanged.

The Duke of Alva being at length recalled, the grand commander of the Requesnes was sent in his place, and after his death Don John of Austria; but neither of these generals could restore tranquillity in the Low Countries. To the latter succeeded a grandson of Charles V., Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, the greatest commander of his time; but he could neither prevent the independence of the United Provinces, nor check the advancement of that republic which arose under his very eye. It was then that Philip, always at his ease in Spain, instead of coming to reduce the rebels in Flanders, proscribed the Prince of Orange, and set 25,000 crowns upon his head. But William, superior to Philip, disdained having recourse to any similar proceeding, and trusted to his sword for his preservation. In the mean time the king of Spain succeeded to the crown of Portugal, to which he had a right by his mother Isabella. This kingdom had been subdued by the Duke of Alva in the space of three weeks, during the year 1580. Antony, prior of Crato, having been proclaimed king by the populace of Lisbon, had the resolution to come to an engagement; but he was vanquished, pursued, and obliged to fly for his life.

A cowardly assassin, Balthazar Gerard, killed the Prince of Orange by a pistol-shot, and thereby delivered Philip from his most implacable enemy. Philip was charged with this crime, but it is believed without reason; although, when the tidings were communicated to him, he was imprudent enough to exclaim, "If this blow had been given two years ago, the Catholic religion and I would have gained a great deal by it." This murder had not the effect of restoring to Philip the Seven United Provinces; and that republic, already powerful by sea, assisted England against him. In the year 1588, Philip, having resolved to distress Elizabeth, fitted out a fleet called the Invincible Armada. It consisted of 150 large ships, on board of which were mounted 2650 pieces of cannon, 8000 seamen, 20,000 soldiers, and the flower of the Spanish nobility. This fleet, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, sailed from Lisbon when the season was too far advanced; and, being overtaken by a violent storm, a great part of it was dispersed. Twelve ships, driven upon the coast of England, were captured by the English fleet, which consisted of 100 sail; fifty were wrecked upon the coasts of France, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, and Denmark. Such was the disastrous fate of an expedition, from which nothing less than the subjugation of England had been anticipated.

This enterprise, which cost Spain forty millions of ducats, 20,000 men, and 100 ships, was productive only of disgrace. But Philip supported his misfortune with heroic resolution. When one of his courtiers told him, with an air of consternation, what had happened, he coolly replied, "I sent to fight the English, and not the winds. God's will be done." The day after, Philip ordered the bishops to return thanks to God for having preserved some remains of his fleet; and he wrote thus to the pope: "Holy father, as long as I remain master of the fountain-head, I shall not much regard the loss of a rivulet. I will thank the Supreme Disposer of empires, who has given me the power of easily repairing a disaster which my enemies must attribute solely to the elements, that have fought for them."

At the same time that Philip openly attacked England, he was secretly encouraging the league in France, the object of which was to overturn the throne and divide the state. The leaguers conferred upon him the title of protector of their association, which he eagerly accepted, from a persuasion that their exertions would soon conduct him, or one of his family, to the throne of France. So sure did he think himself of his prey, that when speaking of the principal cities in France, he used to say, "my fine city of Paris, my fine city of Orleans," in the same manner as he would have spoken of Madrid or Seville. What was the result of all these intrigues? Henry IV. embraced the Catholic religion, and by his abjuration of Protestantism annihilated the hopes of his rival.

At length Philip, worn out by the debaucheries of his youth, and by the toils of government, drew near to his last hour. But a slow fever, the most painful gout, and a complication of other disorders, could not disengage him from business, or draw from him the least complaint. "What?" said he to the physician, who hesitated about letting blood of him, "are you afraid of drawing a few drops of blood from the veins of a king who has made whole rivers of it flow from heretics?" At last, exhausted by a complication of disorders, which he bore with heroic patience, he expired on the 13th of September 1598, aged seventy-two years, after a reign of forty-three years and eight months. During the last fifty days of his illness he showed a deep sense of religion, and had his eyes almost constantly turned towards heaven.

No character was ever drawn by different historians in more opposite colours than that of Philip; and yet, considering the length and activity of his reign, there is none which it should seem more easy to ascertain. From the facts recorded in history, we cannot doubt that he possessed, in an eminent degree, penetration, vigilance, and a capacity for government. His attention was continually directed towards every part of his extensive dominions. He entered into every branch of administration; watched over the conduct of his ministers with unwearied attention; and in his choice both of them and of his generals discovered a considerable share of sagacity. He had at all times a composed and settled countenance, and never appeared to be either elated or depressed. His temper was the most imperious, and his looks and demeanour were haughty and severe; yet amongst his Spanish subjects he was of easy access, listened patiently to their representations and complaints, and, where his ambition and bigotry did not interfere, was generally willing to redress their grievances. But when we have said this much in his praise, we have said all that truth requires or truth permits. It is indeed impossible to suppose that he was insincere in his zeal for religion. But as his religion was of the most corrupt kind, it served to increase the natural depravity of his disposition; and not only allowed, but even prompted him to commit the most odious and shocking crimes. Although a prince in the bigoted age of Philip might be persuaded that the interest of religion would be advanced by falsehood and persecution, yet it might have been expected that, in a virtuous prince, the sentiments of honour and humanity would on some occasions triumph over the dictates of superstition. But of this triumph there occurs not a single instance in the reign of Philip, who, without hesitation, violated his most sacred obligations as often as religion afforded him a pretence for doing so; and, under that cloak, he exercised for many years the most unrelenting cruelty without reluctance or remorse. His ambition which was exorbitant, his resentment which was implacable, his arbitrary temper which would submit to no control, concurred with his bigoted zeal for the Catholic religion, and carried the sanguinary spirit which that religion was supposed to inspire, to a greater height in Philip than it had ever attained in any other prince of that or of any previous or succeeding age.

Although of diminutive size, he had an agreeable person. His countenance was grave, his air tranquil, and one could not discover from his looks either joy in prosperity or chagrin in adversity. The wars against Holland, France, and England, cost Philip 564 millions of ducats; but America furnished him with more than the half of that sum. His revenues, after the junction of Portugal, are said to have amounted to twenty-five millions of ducats, of which he only laid out 100,000 for the support of his own household. Philip was very jealous of outward respect; and he was unwilling that any person should speak to him except kneeling. The Duke of Alva having one day entered his cabinet without being introduced, the king, with a stormy countenance, exclaimed, "An impudence like this of yours would deserve the hatchet." If he thought only how to make himself feared, he succeeded in doing so; for few princes have been more dreaded, more abhorred, or have caused more blood to flow, than Philip II. of Spain. He had successively, if not all at once, to maintain war against Turkey, France, England, Holland, and almost all the Protestant states of the empire, without having a single ally, not even the branch of his own house in Germany. But, notwithstanding so many millions employed against the enemies of Spain, Philip found in his economy resources wherewith to build thirty citadels, sixty-four fortified places, nine seaports, twenty-five arsenals, and as many palaces, without including that of the Escorial. His debts amounted to 140 millions of ducats, of which, after having paid seven millions of interest, the greater part was due to the Genoese. Moreover, he had sold or alienated a capital stock of 100 millions of ducats in Italy. He made a law, fixing the majority of the kings of Spain at fourteen years of age. He affected to be more than commonly devout; he ate often at the refectory with the monks; he never entered the churches without kissing all the relics they contained; he caused his bread to be kneaded with the water of a fountain which was thought to possess a miraculous virtue; he boasted of never having danced, and of never wearing breeches after the Grecian fashion. Grave and solemn in all his actions, he drove from his presence a lady who had incautiously smiled whilst he was blowing his nose. One great event of his domestic life is the death of his son Don Carlos. The manner of this prince's death is not certainly known. His body, which is interred in the Escorial, built by Philip in execution of his vow on the field of battle, is there separated from his head; but it is pretended that the head is separated only because the leaden coffin which contains the body proved too small. The particulars of his crime are as little known as the manner in which it was committed. There is no evidence, nor is there any probability, that Philip had caused him to be condemned by the Inquisition. All that we know of the matter is, that in 1568 his father, having discovered that he had some correspondence with the Hollanders, arrested him in his own room, and had him placed in confinement. At the same time he wrote to Pope Pius V., giving him an account of his son's imprisonment; and in his letter to the sovereign pontiff, dated the 20th of January 1568, he says, "that from his earliest years the strength of a wicked nature has stifled in Don Carlos every paternal instruction." It was Philip II. who caused to be printed at Antwerp, between 1569 and 1572, in eight vols. folio, the fine Polyglot Bible which bears his name; and it was also he who subjected the islands afterwards called the Philippines.