Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers--Effects of Philip’s routine on the administration--Social condition of Spain and the colonies--Dr. Lopez and Antonio Perez--Philip II. and Tyrone’s rebellion--The English sacking of Cadiz--Philip’s resignation--His last illness and death--Results of his life--Causes of the decadence of the Spanish power.....249 GENEALOGICAL TABLE SHOWING PHILIP’S CLAIM TO THE ENGLISH CROWN.....263 APPENDIX.....265 CHAPTER I Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it--His birth and infancy--His appearance and character--His education by Siliceo and Zuñiga--The emperor meets his son--The consolidation of authority in Spain--Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne d’Albret--Philip made Regent of Spain--The emperor’s instructions to his son--His system of government--Character of his councillors--Philip’s marriage with Maria of Portugal--Birth of Don Carlos and death of the princess--Doña Isabel de Osorio--Philip in his domestic relations--Project for securing to Philip the imperial crown--The suzerainty of Spain over Italy--Philip’s voyage through Germany. For three hundred years a bitter controversy has raged around the actions of Philip II. of Spain. Until our own times no attempt even had been made to write his life-history from an impartial point of view. He had been alternately deified and execrated, until through the mists of time and prejudice he loomed rather as the permanent embodiment of a system than as an individual man swayed by changing circumstances and controlled by human frailties.