It was not long after the appearance of this work that M. Gachard, whom I have elsewhere noticed as having been commissioned by the Belgian government to make extensive researches in the Archives of Simancas, gave to the public some of the fruits of his labors, in the first volume of his "_Retraite et Mort de Charles-Quint_." It is devoted to the letters of the emperor and his household, which form the staple of the Gonzalez MS.; thus placing at the disposition of the future biographer of Charles the original materials with which to reconstruct the history of his latter days.
Lastly came the work, long expected, of M. Mignet, "_Charles-Quint; son Abdication, son Séjour, et sa Mort au Monastère de Yuste_." It was the reproduction, in a more extended and elaborate form, of a series of papers, the first of which appeared shortly after the publication of Mr. Stirling's book. In this work the French author takes the clear and comprehensive view of his subject so characteristic of his genius. The difficult and debatable points he discusses with acuteness and precision; and the whole story of Charles's monastic life he presents in so luminous an aspect to the reader as leaves nothing further to be desired.
The critic may take some interest in comparing the different manners in which the several writers have dealt with the subject, each according to his own taste, or the bent of his genius. Thus through Stirling's more free and familiar narrative there runs a pleasant vein of humor, with piquancy enough to give it relish, showing the author's sensibility to the ludicrous, for which Charles's stingy habits, and excessive love of good cheer, even in the convent, furnish frequent occasion.
Quite a different conception is formed by Mignet of the emperor's character, which he has cast in the true heroic mould, not deigning to recognize a single defect, however slight, which may at all impair the majesty of the proportions. Finally, Amédée Pichot, instead of the classical, may be said to have conformed to the romantic school in the arrangement of his subject, indulging in various picturesque episodes, which he has, however, combined so successfully with the main body of the narrative as not to impair the unity of interest.