THE SUN OF WITTENBURG.
Among the engagements fought by the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries,no victory was more hotly contested and more hardly won than the battleof Wittenburg, in 1548. Some who were present at it, when they cameback to Spain, magnified, as old soldiers are wont, the wonders ofthe day; and among other extravagant exaggerations, it was reportedthat the sun had stood still to give the victorious Spaniards timeto pursue their enemies.
When the Duke of Alva returned, Charles Quint inquired of him hisaccount of the event. The Duke, who did not wish either to compromisehis veracity or diminish the honours of the day, replied, "Sire,I had too much occupation on earth for my thoughts to have leisureto observe what took place in the heavens."