found occasion of boast; the triumph of There was an immense development of the Spaniard was bought at a price, and wealth. Their members were called someaccompanied with a shock, which no for- times to the privy council, and associated eign wealth, which no distant settlements, in a regency. Concession after concession ever can compensate or repair. was made to the commons. The son of the burgess was considered as honorable a hostage as the son of the noble. No country could unfold equal advantages for all. The progress of these liberties is supposed to have reached its highest point under Henry the Third, of Trastamara, in 1393. But the aristocracy was constantly gaining ground on the people. Their riches and retinues exceed belief. They urged patent rights to every office. They headed expeditions in their own quarrel. The grand-masterships of the military orders were grasped by them as special prizes, giving them the means of unbounded ascendancy. And yet their very arrogance only aroused the people, and the victory was not seldom on the side of liberal principles and demands. In the middle of the fifteenth century, the number of states was but four-Castile, Arragon, Navarre, and Granada. Of this last we have spoken, and again must speak. Navarre long maintained an independence, partly from the disagreement of other powers to which it ought to be attached. In the feebleness of its defence, and in the ease with which at any time it might be overcome, it found its safety. Castile and Arragon were the two great divisions. They must express to our minds much more than the modern demarcations. Arragon comprehended Catalonia and Valencia; it thus possessed a genial climate and a fine coast from the Gulf of Rosas to Cape Saint Martin, with the mouths of the Ebro between. It recounted foreign conquests in Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples; the islands lying in its The spiritual power was not of quick seas-Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica-were maturity, so far as the Roman papacy was like domestic possessions. A larger por- involved. The native ecclesiastics possesstion fell to Castile; her sway was far more ed large influence. Their conventional inthan all the line of the great Biscayan sea stitutions were numerous and opulent; but in a solid oblong square of dominions, that fearful domination which a central suleaving Portugal and omitting Granada, perstition can wield, was scarcely known. from Corunna to Alicant, from Pampeluna Its delay only strengthened its ultimate esto Cadiz. It was quite colossal for those days. It asserted its preeminence. Arragon did homage for part of its territory until the twelfth century; Navarre, Portugal, and subsequently Granada, were its tributaries. But Castile was not only powerful; it was comparatively free. The feudal system lost While Arragon was shut up in itself, no its hold far earlier there than in many parts of state could deserve less consideration. It Europe. The noble was brought within the was but one of many which rose and sunk, limits of law and of penal accountability. and were swallowed up finally in the whirlMunicipalities were established in the towns pools of superior power. But through its as well as in the cities. The crown collect- union to Catalonia, by a royal marriage, ed the revenue. The troops employed by and the conquest of the Moors in Valencia, it were the citizens formed into a national it acquired that without which no country militia, mustering at the call of danger, but can be great. The Arragonese still might otherwise dwelling among their own fam- have gazed on their inland champagne terilies, in their own habitations. A repre- ritory, and remained as monotonous in charsentative government was established so acter as its weary level or sluggish undulaearly as 1169. The use of the Cortes, and tion. They might still have sown the field their various powers, form an inquiry and hunted the prey. But when magnifiwhich we cannot touch. The Hermandad, cent maritime possessions were set before that singular banding together of cities for them, the very ocean breeze seemed to wake the preservation of their freedom, electing and brace them for every enterprise. Their deputies and employing forces for these navy grew into great renown. Its disciends-that irresponsible community for re- pline was rigid. It often sought other reciprocal aid and defence, might tempt a few wards than those of merchandise. animadversions, but we restrain ourselves. bold Catalans 'once on a day' seized Great trading corporations were established. | Athens, and the sovereigns of Spain yet tablishment; once established, it was invested with unprecedented terrors. Bigotry built its high places here. An oppression more perfect never was conceived. It was the iron glaive-it was the ghostly wand. The and most favorably remembered as the father of ISABELLA. Her birth was at Madrigal, April 22, 1451. claim the dukedom of that splendid ruin in their style. Barcelona became the emporium of commerce. Within its walls there was a series of guilds, out of which were Arragon was to know its troubles. A selected its counsellors, men who possessed royal minority was the source of not a few. almost sovereignty. They were very near- The absence of Alfonso V. in Naples, where ly an independent executive. They demand- he fixed his residence, was no small aggraed a subsidy upon every new reign. They vation. John II. (to be distinguished from extorted also a navigation act. The laws his namesake of Castile) married for his of this country were not dissimilar to those second queen, Joan Henriquez. Of her was of its neighboring monarchy. The regal born in Sos, on the 10th of March, 1452, office was elective. The power of choosing our hero-if he has not been lost in the hewas vested in twelve peers. The most ad- roine-FERDINAND. The cruel persecution mirable ordinance prevailed in the person of Carlos, (an unfortunate name in the royal of the Justicia. He was the genius of law. lineage of Spain) the eldest son by a forIn administering the coronation oath he sat mer mother, was frightfully augmented by covered, while the newly-acceding prince this occurrence. Denied by his father the knelt bareheaded before him. In 1442, undoubted title to Navarre-driven as an this office was secured for life. This inde- outcast from shore to shore, he was honored pendence of a judge must have proved a state by all for his virtues, as much as pitied for of substantial liberty and equal protection. his misfortunes. Catalonia rose in his beAges rolled on ere it was established in that half. His native kingdom joined that of his land which exults in its Magna Charta and parent in enforcing his claims. Both were its Bill of Rights. Here were also Cortes, covered with one flame of indignant resentin four chambers, or ranks. It may be af- ment. The palace of Lerida was stormed firmed, as a general result, that commerce and rifled. Carlos was restored, John and and travel are most favorable to literature. Joan being struck with dismay at the spirit Barcelona founded a university. Among of their subjects. He received a national the Catalans and Valencians was kindled a welcome, and advanced in royal progress. poetic power which was allowed competi- But fever or poison cut short his days. His torship with Italy and Provence. Consistories were appointed for its encouragement and fosterage. The Limousin verse of the troubadours was cultivated to its highest excellence. And certainly Arragon, which laid claim to these two states, was inferior to either in national spirit and polite learning. father had long schemed the espousal of the now infants of Castile and Arragon, and of these kindoms in their united dynasty: their age seemed almost conformable: the consort used all her persuasive arts, and the step-son was the victim. The future sovereigns were cradled in the storm. John had provoked his people Heavy clouds were now hanging ever to exasperation. The wrongs of Blanche these kingdoms, kingdoms which were soon were now added to those of Carlos. The to be consolidated into an empire of match- magnificos of Barcelona renounced their less fame. Civil feuds broke out in Cas- allegiance and repudiated the title of his tile. John II. was a tyrant, yet with some son. Cancer destroyed his proud and crurelentings of a better nature; he was also el queen. He was smitten with temporary learned, and might have been another blindness. He fled before his own armies; Beauclerc. These discontents were over- he was abandoned of all. The boy, who powered by the constable of the kingdom, the accomplished minister and favorite, Alvaro de Luna. This has been deemed a golden period for Castilian literature, but it languishes in contrast with that of the Arragonese. Its praises cannot be just when the collected books of the Marquis of Villana a scholar who would have adorned any court or any country-were burnt at his death, as savoring of necromancy. John had been a patron of knowledge, but his reign, through the power of his minion, had been most disastrous. He will be best was the innocent cause of all these political insurrections, was in iminent danger, when his party was compelled to take refuge in the tower of a church of Gerona. The Catalans had very nearly seized him. The Duke of Lorraine was the monarch of their hearts. His death deprived them of a leader; but they buried him like a king. They laid him in the sepulchre of their own kings, ere their annexation to Arragon. This latter country, though not so openly insurgent, expostulated with Jo on his carriage towards his son. The enthroniza tion of Isabella seemed as hopeless as that She was now the rose and expectancy of Ferdinand. Her elder brother, Henry of that fair state.' Many a suitor came; IV., now reigned in Castile. His gascona- our crook-backed Richard is supposed, ding valor disgusted all the true warrior though not by personal courtship, to have race. His unblushing licentiousness de- negotiated the important question from graded his court to the lowest degree. The afar. Her affections were fixed on Ferdiprofligacy of the clergy was proverbially nand. He was rather younger than herabandoned and gross. The coinage was self, of comely features and proportions, debased. The rule became arbitrary as it addicted to manly exercises, and endowed was imbecile. A strong confederacy of with many generous qualities. She also disgraced nobles and favorites menaced the perceived the immense advantage of this integrity of the kingdom. The king, lost union of kingdoms. The disposition in in guilty pleasures, alone seemed unaware this case was mutual. Their peoples were of the danger. A little rival-the future of the same race and tongue. Their naqueen might think, intruder-was announc- tional character was of one mould. Mutued as the daughter of Joanna, his spouse. al safety required the intermixture. But He demanded the accustomed oath of fealty when she gave her consent to her youthful to her, as presumptive heiress. Her ille- admirer, when the articles of marriage had gitimacy can scarcely be doubted. Alfon- been signed, her course of true love, like so, her brother, then crossed her path, that of humbler channels, ran not smooth. Henry consenting to his succession, on the She escaped from espionage and durance terms of marrying the little child, his own to Valladolid. But where was Ferdinand? niece. The confederates, when the king He must come as bridegroom and king. disavowed this paction, absolutely, by a Never had his fortunes apparently sunk so public masque of justice, discrowned his low. He was found at Saragossa. The image and cast it to the dust. Alfonso, frontier was watched by his enemies. Amwho was present, only eleven years old, was bushes were set to surprise and intercept then proclaimed. Isabella must have been him. He set out, travelling chiefly by happy, for she was enriched with intellectu- night, as a muleteer. He had but six atal gifts and pious virtues, but that she was tendants, and the better to preserve his disborn to reign. Her preferences were not guise, whenever the party reached an inn, consulted; she was made the puppet of he waited upon them. Princes do not esstate policy or royal caprice. Once was she cape common accidents; at one of these doomed to the arms of a man of as hateful inns he left a no very well-furnished purse character as low pretensions, but the Mas- behind. Reaching Osma, where his friends ter of Calatrava died while journeying to awaited him, they mistaking him, a lomreceive his bride. Her example, when re- bard discharged from the rampart a heavy moved to the licentious court of her brother, stone, which shot very near his head. But remained spotlessly pure. The battle nov all was safe. Success only was reserof Olmedo only protracted the civil struggle ved for him. He was in his eighteenth which now raged through the land. She, year, she a year older. His expression however, sought the protection of her brother of countenance, according to the pictures Alfonso, a youth, like Carlos, worthy of of him, is rather serious and downcast ; the highest esteem and admiration. He hers more animated, steady, and serene. fell, most likely by treacherous means, into Their moral physiognomies it is more inan untimely grave. It was then that she teresting and useful to study! was tried, as was Jane Grey, by the confed- The happy couple were about equally erates, to accept the crown. She solemnly poor. The exchequer of Arragon was exrefused, maintaining that so long as Henry hausted. That of Castile was not at comlived it could not be vacant. The Mar-mand. But on the morning of the 19th of quis de Villana, unlike our Northumber-October, 1469, their nuptials were celebraland, could not prevail. The reward of ted most publicly, if not magnificently. A loyalty and purity came at last. At Toros dispensation was necessary, as they were de Guisardo, amidst a splendid convocation within the prohibited degrees of blood. of the highest dignitaries of the realm, Henry embraced his sister, recognized her as his successor, while, shortly after, the Cortes confirmed her title amidst the people's acclamations of applause. This proved to be a forgery, but they were ignorant of it. When a true one was obtained, some years afterwards, she learnt, for the first time, the fraud that had been practised upon her. Great was her pious Law indignation at the imposture. The perfidies | zed to the ground. The sovereigns themof Henry had not ceased. They were con- selves dispensed justice. Weekly they sat stantly plied to harass and embroil the little in a public tribunal for the purpose. court of Aranda. Twice in this interval Ferdinand had been summoned to the assistance of his father and liege in Arragon. The death of her wretched brother placed the crown upon Isabella's head, 11th of December, 1474. She was the people's choice. She knew that no descent, that no testament, was equal to this. She was proclaimed in Segovia, queen proprietor. was revised and digested. The license of the nobles was restrained. The Popedom was resisted with a firmness which it had not hitherto known. Its legate was spurned. It was compelled to yield every disputed point. All the great sees, contrary to long usage, were filled with natives. The coinage was restored to its denominated and standard value. All foreign books Their happiness seemed to be in danger were admitted free of duty. Agriculture and of an early wreck. She having been in-trade revived. Education advanced. If the augurated during his absence, though his prerogatives of the monarchy were enlargname was announced before hers; and the ed, it was only by its being more respected. ceremonial having conceded to her the sove- We are compelled to vision for ourselves reignty of right, and intimating that he the happiness of a country now made onereigned only by that right; it became a se- where traffic knows no restriction, property rious difficulty how their relative powers suffers no exaction, and liberty brooks no should be adjusted. A Castilian would on-bond-governed both by manly and feminine ly be governed by a native sovereign. excellence-blest with the finest of climates That title must, therefore, be always pre- and the richest of soils-veined by minerals served and understood. She could not be sluiced by rivers-varied by the softest val'imperial jointress.' The royal seizin was leys and the sublimest mountain-crestsin her. William and Mary of England do covered with a people of generous ardor, and not offer illustration. The latter ascended solemn sedateness-justice impartial, law the throne by her birthright; but her birth-supreme-that people sprung from the noright was absorbed in the Act of Settle- blest stems-and, as we imagine the happiment. A shadow was only left her. She ness of such a country and such a people, we was not queen regnant in any virtual sense. at once pronounce that Spain must have been Her effigies upon the coinage was almost its chosen home. And so, when this royal the only fact which seemed to bespeak her pair sate at first upon their common throne, vested power. But the case of Isabella was the fifteenth century could show no comdifferent. Ferdinand was the first male parison with the true glories of their realm. heir to the throne of Castile: the Stadthol- Charles VIII., a minor, has succeeded the der had no such claim. But she was di-infamous Lewis XI. Edward V., likewise a rect heiress, and no Salique law affected minor, has the bloody Gloucester for his the succession. No paternal abdication protector, and England is ravaged by the and outlawry brought her right into bloody and deceitful boar.' The star of the shade. The husband was at first offended, Tudors is about to rise, but most baleful is but soon grew reconciled to the partition its general influence. We shall see that of power with one so reasonable and good. all was calculated to confer transcendent They were called the Royes. The claims happiness on this nation, but that there was of her rival kept him in the field. There an element, soon to be disclosed, which he displayed both skill and prowess. The marred it all! victory of Toro all but cleared the domin- What a theatre of wonders swells out upions of a rebel, and gave him time to expel on us! The organization of the kingdom the French from Guipuscoa, and to settle is a model for states. It is a noble pyrathe feuds of Navarre. The crown of Arra- mid. It is based upon the popular consent gon, which had now devolved upon him, and love. The dread of an all-searching required his frequent presence in his he- justice casts the brigand and the wrong-doer reditary kingdom, while the queen stands out of the land. Reform is carried into forth the more conspicuously in her diver-every administration. The traveller is as sified greatness. Whether it be in the ar- safe as the citizen. The mountain villa, rangement of police, or the suppression of amidst its vineyards, smiles secure. The tumult, or the reformation of abuses, she burghers treasures the charter of his en franpresided in person, and her spirit pervaded chisement. The rustic eats the bread of all. The castles of robber-chiefs were ra- content. Labor obtains its just rewards. Serfdom and feudalism are swept away. red-cross knight. But chivalry was a high Was literature wanting? Repairing the mood of mind. In its proper age, it softendefects of her own education, though from ed and humanized the fiercer passages of childhood acquainted with the principal war. Its voice was courtesy. Its bearing foreign languages, Isabella gathered and be- was generosity. It could not draw its stowed libraries, precious remains of which sword nor tilt its lance but in a quarrel form the foundation of the great Bibliothe- which was approved. It had its courts, and ca of the Escurial. She sought to make laws, and appeals. Reproach was as fatal her children, the infantas, as well as the to its scarf and braveries as fear. It may heir-apparent, well versed in all substantial be compared (we confess that we prefer a and elegant knowledge. As devotedly did pagan illusion in any deeds of force) to she urge and provide for the education of some goddess interposing herself between the youthful nobility. The scholars of dis- ancient heroes. Every thing is to be meastant countries were invited for this special ured according to its times. A modern purpose. Nor was it unavailing. The son author has denounced it because it fosof the Duke of Alva taught in the universi- tered a sense of honor rather than of duty.' ty of Salamanca. The son of the Count of The charge is just. But was it not much Xaro, who, like his father, became grand that such honor could be felt, and its dicconstable of Castile, read lectures on Pliny tates obeyed, in so tumultuous an age? A and Ovid. The son of the Count of Pa- siege was raised, when it was asked, ought redes occupied the chair of Greek in the woman-for a woman defended the castle university of Alcala. Lebrica and Barbosa -to be thus assailed? When the Count de are inextinguishable names. Professorships Cifuentes was surrounded by six Moors, were even held by illustrious females. their leader rebuked them for their cowardNames live in the history of those colleges ice. To this we may assign the quarter that vindicate the intellectual equality of the sex. The influence of the queen's example is here fairly inferred. The most learned authors even requested her criticism and suggestions. Happily, printing was introduced into this country in the first year of her reign. Seven thousand students were at one time at Salamanca. The course of learning was well begun. The ancient languages were cultivated. The classic stores were unburied. Antiquity was awakened unto the minister of instruction and arbiter of taste. To more solid erudition, the char of a lighter literature may be added. Minstrelsy never sung a more pleasing lay. The romanceros survive, in their flowing redoudilla, full of tenderness and melancholy mirth. These collections preserve high specimens of lyric, ballad, and ditty. The dramatic mind did not very fully evolve itself at this period; but preparations were accumulating, and germs were bursting even then, which were afterwards more matured in Lope de Vega and Calderon. Was chivalry wanting? We speak not now of that pedantic adventure which the satire of Cervantes scourged and destroyed, the solemn buffoonery of what had passed away. We speak not of that religious type which it expresses-a cruel zealotism against the disciple of another faith; for the pomegranate, the symbol of Granada, was often borne in the turban of the Mussulman, when he closed with the Castilian offered to the fallen foe, little known in for Was conquest wanting? Reserving our views of war, we can speak but historically, nor can we hide from ourselves that nations which exist later than the fifteenth century, place much of their glory in victory, and raise monuments to their champions. Spain would not have been rated powerful and glorious without the success of arms. And one domestic field was yet left her! Granada had promised, by the most solemn treaty, to pay tribute. It was now refused The Rev. Dr. Arnold, |