Antonio Pérez

“ It was sombrely magnificent, and it was gravely cruel; it adhered to the forms of sovereignty as rigidly as to the outward practices of religion; its power extended to the ends of the world, and the most remote countries sent their homage and obeisance to its head; and beneath the dark splendour that surrounded its gloomy sovereigns there was passion and hatred and intrigue. Beside Don John of Austria stood Antonio Perez, and under the same roof with Dolores de Mendoza dwelt Ana de la Cerda, Princess of Eboli, and in the midst of them all Miguel de Antona, the King's fool. ”

“ An extraordinary coincidence kept the memory of his misfortunes ripe in Spain. His last persecution is intimately connected with the abolition of Aragonese fueros, when, a fugitive from prison, Antonio Perez presented himself in Saragossa, imploring the aid of the country’s laws, and appealed [256] to the magistrates of the town, and his personal friends watched that no harm should come to his person. Provocations on one side, excesses and disorders on the other, brought about a revolution ”

“ Antonio Pérez was the brilliant and able favorite of Philip II, who in 1571 succeeded his patron, Ruy Gómez, Prince of Eboli, in acquiring his master’s fullest confidence and becoming the most powerful subject in Spain. In 1573, the Venitian envoy Badoero describes him as a most accomplished man, whose courtesy and attractive manners soothed the sensibilities of those provoked by the delays and penuriousness of the king, while his dexterity and ability promised soon to make him the principal minister. ”

“ But the principal exception to be made in favor of Spanish epistolary correspondence is found in the case of Antonio Perez, secretary of Philip the Second, and for some time his favorite minister. His father, who was a scholar, and made a translation of the “Odyssey,” [196] had been in the employment of Charles the Fifth, so that the younger Perez inherited somewhat of the court influence which was then so important; but his rapid advancement was owing to his own genius, and to a love of intrigue and adventure, which seemed to be a part of his nature. ”

“ His majesty, however, reserved to himself the right of making use of his privileges; and to prevent Perez from obtaining his liberty, he caused another trial to be commenced, under the form of an inquest [69] , before the regent of the royal audience of Aragon. To give occasion for this trial, it was decided that the domestics of the king were exempted from the privileges of the Fueros, and that Antonio Perez was the king's servant, in the office of Secretary of State. ”

“ Martinez proposed a certain Antonio Enriquez, one of Antonio Pérez's pages, a clever, determined man, and of the stuff assassins are made of. Diego Martinez interviewed him, and revealed the affair to him little by little, as had been arranged. He asked him first whether he knew of any bravo who was capable of dealing a blow that would bring much gain and little danger, as secret protection would be forthcoming. ”

“ A celebrated victim of Philip II., Antonio Perez (d. 1611) , revenged himself on his master by relating in innumerable letters, addressed during his exile to his friends and protectors, all the incidents of his disgrace, and by selling to the ministers of France and England the secrets of the Spanish policy in which he had a hand; some of these letters are perfect specimens of urbane gallantry.
Philosophy is rather poorly represented in the 16th and 17th centuries in the literature of the vernacular. ”

“ According to Antonio Perez, the Flemings then at the court made positive overtures to the prince to head the revolt. [1437] Strada speaks of Bergen and Montigny, then at Madrid, as the channel of communication through which Carlos engaged to settle the affairs of that distracted country. [1438] That a person of his ardent temper should have felt sympathy with a people thus bravely struggling for its liberties, is not improbable; nor would one with whom "to think and to speak was the same thing," [1439] be at all unlikely to express himself on the subject with much more freedom than discretion. ”

“ By the King’s favour he had swept over Italy, Sicily, Africa, a conqueror, almost within touch [94] of a throne; by the King’s favour he had been sent to crush the rebel heretics who were rising against the might of Spain in the Low Countries.
And now the King was silent; it seemed as if he meant to abandon Don Juan. Antonio Perez was always at the King’s ear, and he hated Don Juan; Escovedo, the Prince’s Secretary and favourite, was assassinated in the streets of Madrid by order of Perez. ”

“ Raumer (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153) , who cites a manuscript letter of Antonio Perez to the councillor Du Vaire, extant in the Royal Library of Paris. A passage in a letter to Carlos from his almoner, Doctor Hernan Suarez de Toledo, has been interpreted as alluding to his intercourse with the deputies from Flanders: "Tambien he llorado, no haber parecido bien que V. A. hablase a los procuradores, como dicen que lo hizo, no se lo que fue, pero si que cumple mucho hacer los hombres sus negocios propios, con consejo ageno, por que los muy diestros nunca fian del suyo." ”

“ He rode on a mule with no other escort than a groom on foot, and he leant over the mule's neck like a man either very ill or very much preoccupied. Pérez thought that the poison was already taking effect, and, full of impatience, Antonio Enriquez says in his declaration, "he made an excuse and joined the witness and his steward in one of the chambers near the courtyard, where he learnt the amount of water that had been given to the secretary Escovedo, and then went back to play." ”

“ Whatever flaws are revealed in Luis de Leon's manner, he is nearly always vital, nearly always has something elevating, illuminating and beautiful to say. As a human being, too, he is not above criticism. There is an unpleasant savour in the story that he asked Antonio Perez to let him have the Chrysostom manuscript {231}which he proposed to translate in Paris, the profits to be divided. We need not believe this perhaps calumnious little tale. Antonio Perez is open to suspicion of being an assassin and a traitor ”

“ To this Enriquez answered roughly that if the Lord Antonio desired to make him kill a man, he should tell him so openly and by his own mouth, otherwise he would not kill anyone. Accordingly Pérez made an appointment at the "Casilla" one afternoon with Enriquez, according to the declaration of the same, and said, "As it is important that the secretary Escovedo should die, he had been instructed to give the poison the day that he was a guest, and in order to do so he must see and communicate with the said Diego Martinez, giving him his word and promise and friendship in all things. ”

“ Philip II. and the inquisitors offered life, offices, money, and honours, to any condemned criminal who would kill Perez or bring him as a prisoner into Spain. I refer the reader for all that relates to this part of the history to the work entitled Relations, in which Perez takes the name of Raphaël Peregrino. Perez obtained leave from Henry IV. to go to London, where he was extremely well received by Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Leicester; he afterwards went to Paris, where he passed the rest of his life, pining unceasingly for his wife and children. ”

“ Perez. The attendant of Donna Serafina; then are my doubts confirmed. Treacherous sex!—but I'll be revenged! Did you speak to them?
San. Not when Antonio was there. I never interfere between man and wife, the blessed saint knows that.
Perez. His wife!
San. Yes, his wife; but when Antonio quitted her, I then accosted her; and to my cross questions—
Perez. She gave you crooked answers.
San. Precisely so, signor, and record it, Saint Petronila; she said that I was a fool!
Perez. The wisdom of the woman! Come, Felix—Sancho, you will go home and await my return. ”

“ After his second flight from Saragossa, their imprisonment became still more rigorous. It is proved by the trial of Perez, that he often said when in prison, that nothing should induce him to renounce the privileges of the prison of the kingdom, except the assurance that his wife and children enjoyed their liberty; but that he was certain if he gave himself up to the inquisitors he should be sent to Madrid and executed. ”

“ For a time Philip was both willing and able to protect his accomplice, but ultimately he appears to have listened to those who, whether truly or falsely, were continually suggesting that Perez had had motives of his own, arising out of his relations with the princess of Eboli, for compassing the assassination of Don John’s secretary, be this as it may, from trying to screen Perez the king came to be the secret instigator of those who sought his ruin. ”

“ He had escaped capture because he could shoot five-sixths of a second sooner than any sheriff or ranger in the service, and because he rode a speckled roan horse that knew every cow-path in the mesquite and pear thickets from San Antonio to Matamoras.
Tonia Perez, the girl who loved the Cisco Kid, was half Carmen, half Madonna, and the rest—oh, yes, a woman who is half Carmen and half Madonna can always be something more—the rest, let us say, was humming-bird. She lived in a grass-roofed jacal near a little Mexican settlement at the Lone Wolf Crossing of the Frio. ”

“ Perez, in his Relations, informs us that the father of the Count d'Aranda above mentioned, and several other persons, claimed and were allowed the privileges of the Fuero de Manifestados, when arrested by the Inquisition.
When Perez was transferred to the prison of the holy office, he told his servants to inform the Baron de Barboles and several other gentlemen of the circumstance. At this news the Aragonese excited the people of Saragossa to revolt, by cries of "Treason! Treason! Live the nation! Live our liberty! Live the Fueros! Death to the traitors!" ”

“ With the king’s full cognisance, accordingly, Perez, after several unsuccessful attempts to poison Escovedo, succeeded in procuring his assassination in a street of Madrid on the 31st of March 1578. The immediate effect was to raise Perez higher than ever in the royal confidence and favour, but, wary though the secretary had been, he had not succeeded in obliterating all trace of his connexion with the crime, and very soon a prosecution was set on foot by the representatives of the murdered man. ”

“ Augustine of the Philippine Islands.”]
[Endorsed: “I received it September [sic: perhaps, December] 18, 1599.”] [428]
1 The information given by Pérez concerning Tomás Márquez (in view of the present document) is unsatisfactory. He was a minister of Cagayán in 1587 and 1590, where he taught the natives to develop their natural agricultural resources. In 1597 he was elected commissary-procurator in Spain, but did not make the voyage. He died in Manila in 1616. The present document would indicate that Márquez did go to Spain, and probably Rome. See Pérez’s Catálogo, p. 33. ”

“ They say that the gentlemen of the green cross have not challenged him, thanks to his influence among the magnates of Madrid. He only comes to church to hear the music; and if Maese Pérez does not bring tears as big as one's fist to his eyes, it will no doubt be because his soul, instead of being where it belongs, is frying somewhere in the Devil's caldron. ”

“ That man cannot have played what we have just been hearing. A thousand times have I heard him in San Bartolomé,{19} his parish church, from which the priest had to send him away for his bad playing,—enough to make you stop your ears with cotton. Besides, all you need is to look at his face, which, they say, is the mirror of the soul. I remember, poor dear man, as if I were seeing him now,—I remember Master Pérez’s look when, on a night like this, he would come down from the organ loft, after having entranced the audience with his marvels. ”

“ Never, I hope: women are my game; and I live but on the chase. Sighs, oaths, and amorous ditties are my ammunition; my guitar is my fowling-piece, and you must acknowledge that I seldom miss my aim.
Felix. I grant it, Perez, but it's cruel sport, and quite unworthy of a cavalier. How many wounded birds have hid themselves to die!
Perez. Poor things—why did they not keep out of shot range? It's useless to preach, Felix, I must have my amusement.
Felix. Be careful, Perez, that it prove not dangerous; there is no honour gained by broken vows, false oaths, and tampering with maidens' hearts. ”

“ Alonso Celdran, lieutenant of the governor, rushed to Calatayud and, after some difficulty, forcibly removed Pérez from the convent, but the veguero of the Justicia came with letters of manifestacion and obliged him to surrender his prey. Nobles and gentlemen flocked to Calatayud, and Pérez was conducted to Saragossa in a veritable triumphal procession, where he was received by the populace as though he were a king and was safely lodged in the cárcel de los manifestados. ”

“ Perez had resumed his seat.
"In my life," he began, speaking of himself quite without formality, "I have suffered more than most men, in being bereaved of the persons to whom I have been most sincerely attached. The most fortunate and successful sovereign in the world has been and is the most unhappy man in his kingdom. One after another, those I have loved have been taken from me, until I am almost alone in the world that is so largely mine. I suppose you cannot understand that, my dear, for my sorrows began before you were born. ”

“ For what Juan Perez had taken in his frenzy to be a lifeless picture was a living thing with breath and motion! A living thing — a living man, but a man clothed with glory! A living man who, how he knew not, had left the Cross and was even then moving towards him with arms extended as if he would clasp him to his heart. Was he dreaming? Nay, he was not dreaming. For a touch as soft and noiseless as a flake of snow had fallen upon his shoulder — lingered there wistfully. Eyes looked into his that confounded his senses and bewildered his brain with their sweetness. ”