which gathered around her, she looked with the eye of faith to the brighter prospects which unfolded of the future; and, when she resigned her last breath, it was amidst the tears and universal lamentations of her people.

It is in this undying, unabated attachment of the nation, indeed, that we see the most unequivocal testimony to the virtues of Isabella. In the downward progress of things in Spain, some of the most ill-advised measures of her administration have found favor and been perpetuated, while the more salutary have been forgotten. This may lead to a misconception of her real merits. In order to estimate these, we must listen to the voice of her contemporaries, the eyewitnesses of the condition in which she found the state, and in which she left it. We shall then see but one judgment formed of her, whether by foreigners or natives. The French and Italian writers equally join in celebrating the triumphant glories of her reign, and her magnanimity, wisdom, and purity of character."

74 "Quum generosi," says Paolo Giovio, speaking of her, “prudentisque animi magnitudine, tum pudicitiæ et pietatis laude antiquis heroidibus comparanda." (Vitæ Illust. Virorum, p. 205.) Guicciardini eulogizes her as "Donna di onestissimi costumi, e in concetto grandissimo nei Regni suoi di magnanimità e prudenza." (Istoria, lib. 6.) The loyal serviteur notices her death in the following chivalrous strain: "L'an 1506, une des plus triumphantes et glorieuses dames qui puis mille ans ait esté sur terre alla de vie a trespas; ce fut la royne Ysabel de Castille, qui ayda, le bras armé, à conquester le royaulme de Grenade sur les Mores. Je veux bien asseurer aux lecteurs de ceste presente hystoire, que sa vie a esté telle, qu'elle a bien mérité couronne de laurier après sa mort." Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 26. -See also Comines, Mémoires, chap. 23.-Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 27. et al. auct.

Her own subjects extol her as "the most brilliant exemplar of every virtue," and mourn over the day of her death as "the last of the prosperity and happiness of their country;"75 while those who had nearer access to her person are unbounded in their admiration of those amiable qualities whose full power is revealed only in the unrestrained intimacies of domestic life.7 The judgment of posterity has ratified the sentence of her own age. The most enlightened Spaniards of the present day, by no means insensible to the errors of her government, but more capable of appreciating its merits than those of a less instructed age, bear honorable testimony to her deserts; and, while they pass over the bloated magnificence of succeeding monarchs, who arrest the popular eye, dwell with enthusiasm on Isabella's character, as the most truly great in their line of princes.”7

75 I borrow the words of one contemporary: "Quo quidem die omnis Hispaniæ felicitas, omne decus, omnium virtutum pulcherrimum specimen interiit;" (L. Marineo, Cosas memorables, lib. 21,)— and the sentiments of all.

76 If the reader needs further testimony of this, he will find abundance collected by the indefatigable Clemencin, in the 21st Ilust. of the Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi.

77 It would be easy to cite the authority over and over again of such writers as Marina, Sempere, Llorente, Navarrete, Quintana, and others, who have done such honor to the literature of Spain in the present century. It will be sufficient, however, to advert to the remarkable tribute paid to Isabella's character by the Royal Spanish Academy of History, who in 1805 appointed their late secretary, Clemencin, to deliver a eulogy on that illustrious theme, and who raised a still nobler monument to her memory, by the publication, in 1821, of the various documents compiled by him for the illustration of her reign, as a separate volume of their valuable Memoirs.*

* [The glowing picture here presented of Isabella's character has, it must be confessed, something of an ideal aspect, owing perhaps to a

lack of those strong and expressive touches which stamp a likeness as authentic even when other evidence is wanting. It is, however, the portrait bequeathed to us by her contemporaries; and recent investigation has brought nothing to light that calls for its rejection. Ber genroth, it is true, has endeavored to reverse the common opinion, depicting Isabella not only as bigoted and tyrannical, but also as untruthful and hypocritical. But in support of this view he adds little to the well-known facts of her history, except the distorted medium through which he examines them. Even the meagre evidence he adduces from the results of his own discoveries would bear in some instances a construction the very opposite of that which he puts upon it. Citing a long letter addressed by the Catholic Queen to Henry VII. of England, under date of September 15, 1496, he thus refers to the strong professions it contains of a desire for peace: "No words can be more becoming a great and pious Queen. It is to be regretted that in the same letter she urged the King of England to declare war upon France, and thereby to render the bloodshed and slaughter more general than it was." (Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, vol. i., Introduction.) Now, the argument of the letter is, that the war undertaken by the French king for the conquest of Italy was one of mere aggression, that he had not himself been assailed or menaced by other powers, and that it was a matter of common interest that he should be restrained from putting his designs into execution. England is invited to join the league against him, not, as Bergenroth puts it, in order "to render the bloodshed and slaughter more general," but as the most effectual means of re-establishing general tranquillity. "It is certain," says this letter,-which its German critic, had he lived a few years longer, would probably have commented upon in a different spirit,— "that there is nothing which would sooner put a stop to his avarice, abate his pride, compel him to desire peace, and to be content with his own, leaving to others what is not his." Other points raised by the same inquirer are noticed elsewhere. The conclusions are in general so strained, and the arguments often so puerile, that the only doubt we can feel is whether to ascribe them to a want of critical power or to a strong bias perverting its exercise. In either case the defect is remarkable in a mind which was otherwise admirably fitted for the work of historical investigation.-ED.]

CHAPTER XVII.

FERI INAND REGENT.-HIS SECOND MARRIAGE.-DISSENNS WITH PHILIP.-RESIGNATION OF THE REGENCY.

1504-1506.

Ferdinand Regent.-Philip's Pretensions.-Ferdinand's Perplexities. -Impolitic Treaty with France.-The King's second Marriage.— Landing of Philip and Joanna.-Unpopularity of Ferdinand.-His Interview with his Son-in-law.-He resigns the Regency.

THE death of Isabella gives a new complexion to our history, a principal object of which has been the illustration of her personal character and public administration. The latter part of the narrative, it is true, has been chiefly occupied with the foreign relations of Spain, in which her interference has been less obvious than in the domestic. But still we have been made conscious of her presence and parental supervision, by the maintenance of order and the general prosperity of the nation. Her death will make us more sensible of this influence, since it was the signal for disorders which even the genius and authority of Ferdinand were unable to suppress.

While the queen's remains were yet scarcely cold, King Ferdinand took the usual measures for announcing the succession. He resigned the crown of Castile, which he had worn with so much glory for thirty years. From a platform raised in the great square of Toledo, the heralds proclaimed, with sound of trumpet, the

accession of Philip and Joanna to the Castilian throne, and the royal standard was unfurled by the duke of Alva in honor of the illustrious pair. The king of Aragon then publicly assumed the title of administrator or governor of Castile, as provided by the queen's testament, and received the obeisance of such of the nobles as were present, in his new capacity. These proceedings took place on the evening of the same day on which the queen expired.'

A circular letter was next addressed to the principal cities, requiring them, after the customary celebration of the obsequies of their late sovereign, to raise the royal banners in the name of Joanna; and writs were immediately issued in her name, without mention of Philip's, for the convocation of a cortes to ratify these proceedings."

The assembly met at Toro, January 11th, 1505. The queen's will, or rather that portion of it which related to the succession, was read aloud, and received the entire approbation of the commons, who, together with the grandees and prelates present, took the oaths of allegiance to Joanna as queen and lady proprietor, and to Philip as her husband. They then determined that the

'Gomez, De Rebus gestis, fol. 52.-Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 279.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 20, cap. 1.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1504.-Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 9.-" Sapientiæ alii," says Martyr, in allusion to those prompt proceedings, "et summæ bonitati adscribunt; alii, rem novam admirati, regem incusant, remque arguunt non debuisse fieri." Ubi supra.

2 Philip's name was omitted, as being a foreigner, until he should have taken the customary oath to respect the laws of the realm, and especially to confer office on none but native Castilians. Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 84.