Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/89

1544.] Charles desired to entangle England and France in an exhausting war, that he might be at liberty to follow his own designs upon Germany, reflects scarcely less discredit upon him. At the close of the Diet of Spires he expressed himself in terms of the most confidential affection to the Landgrave; and if he was then meditating treachery, Philip II. was a bungler in deception compared with his father.

It is certainly possible that, at St Dizier, the desertion of England was deliberately contemplated, that the advance into France was the result of a secret understanding with D'Annebault, and that the object of the apparent rashness was to place the army deliberately in a position where Charles might plead necessity for the desertion of his ally. The danger of such a movement was not so great as it might seem, for the good faith of Henry might be relied upon with certainty; and as long as France was at war with England, the Emperor might calculate on separate terms whenever he pleased to accept them.

Another explanation may be suggested, however, which, if less simple, reflects upon his character with less fatal weight. Charles V. was a singular mixture of the statesman, the soldier, and the devotee. The spirits of the three professions alternately took possession of him; and his periods of superstition, as he grew older, recurred more frequently, and were more tenacious in their hold. In the letters of ambassadors from his