And thus Philip II. vindicates his conduct during this reign of terror: “What I have done has been for the repose of the provinces, and for the defence of the Catholic faith. If I had respected justice less, I should have despatched the whole business in a single day. No one acquainted with the state of affairs, will find reason to censure my severity. Nor would I do otherwise than I have done, though I should risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands,—no, though the world should fall in ruins around me!” The young Queen Isabella having died, Philip II. married for his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, who had also been affianced to his son Carlos. Then came the rebellions of the Moriscoes, who were the descendants of the Moors in southern Spain. In 1569, the Moriscoes rose in a general insurrection against the Christians. Many a Moor had perished in the flames of the Inquisition, and they now retaliated with bloodthirsty ferocity. The horrors which ensued cannot be described. Before these Moors had been goaded by the cruel edicts of Philip, they had been kind neighbors. The cruelties committed by the Spanish troops sent against the Moors, were as shocking as the deeds of the barbarians. The Spanish army, before entering into a battle, knelt in prayer, invoking God’s blessing; and after a victory, reeking with the blood of their victims, they marched, under the banner of the cross, to the cathedrals, and chanted the _Te Deum_. Thus was religion turned into a mockery of a merciful God, and a cloak for the vilest of crimes. Philip brought his fourth bride, Anne of Austria, to the magnificent palace or monastery of the Escurial. She lived ten years. Her children all died in infancy, except one son, who lived to succeed his father on the throne as Philip III. Spain was now rapidly on the decline. Civil war, persecution, banishment and emigration, were fast depopulating the country. The population diminished from ten to six millions.