PHILIP THE SECOND.From the Original by Titian in the
Royal Museum at Madrid.
London, George Routledge & Sons, Broadway, Ludgate Hill.
HISTORY
OF
THE REIGN
OF
PHILIP THE SECOND,
KING OF SPAIN.
BY
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT,
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, OF THE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID, ETC.
VOLUMES FIRST AND SECOND.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE
NEW YORK. 416, BROOME STREET.
PREFACE.
The reign of Philip the Second has occupied the pen of the historianmore frequently—if we except that of Charles the Fifth—than any otherportion of the Spanish annals. It has become familiar to the Englishreader through the pages of Watson, who has deservedly found favor withthe public for the perspicuity of his style,—a virtue, however, notuncommon in his day,—for the sobriety of his judgments, and for theskill he has shown in arranging his complicated story, so as to maintainthe reader's interest unbroken to the end. But the public, in Watson'sday, were not very fastidious in regard to the sources of theinformation on which a narrative was founded. Nor was it easy to obtainaccess to those unpublished documents which constitute the best sourcesof information. Neither can it be denied that Watson himself was not sosolicitous as he should have been to profit by opportunities which alittle pains might have put within his reach,—presenting, in thisrespect, a contrast to his more celebrated predecessor, Robertson; thathe contented himself too easily with such cheap and commonplacematerials as lay directly in his path; and that, consequently, thefoundations of his history are much too slight for the superstructure.For these reasons, the reign of Philip the Second must still be regardedas open ground for English and American writers.<