the subsequent commissioners of Charles ever had any real share of power. In September 1517 Charles landed in the province of Asturias, and Jimenes hastened to meet him. On the way, however, he fell ill, not without a suspicion of poison. While thus feeble, he received a letter from Charles coldly thanking him for his services, and giving him leave to retire to his diocese. A few hours after this virtual dismissal, which some, however, say the cardinal never saw, Francisco Jimenes died at Roa, on the 8th of November 1517. Jimenes was a bold and determined statesman. Sternly and inflexibly, with a confidence that became at times overbearing, he carried through what he had decided to be right, with as little regard for the convenience of others as for his own. In the midst of a corrupt clergy his morals were irreproachable. He was liberal to all, and founded and maintained very many benevolent institutions in his diocese. His whole time was devoted either to the state or to religion; his only recreation was in theological or scholastic discussion. Perhaps one of the most noteworthy points about the cardinal is the advanced period of life at which he entered upon the stage where he was to play such leading parts. Whether his abrupt change from the secular to the regular clergy was the fervid outcome of religious enthusiasm or the far-seeing move of a wily schemer has been disputed; but the constant austerity of his life, his unvarying superiority to small personal aims, are arguments for the former alternative that are not to be met by merely pointing to the actual honours and power he at last attained.