ANTIQUITIES. 



883 



tnoistened with liis reciting. To 

 God be the honour of such a death, 

 equal to the death of Omar. In 

 the most pacific state of his reign, 

 it was permitted, that lie being so 

 lofty, should receive felicity from 

 the hands of one of low birth and 

 station, in order that the most in- 

 advertent of all might meet with 

 an unexpected event. And it must 

 not be reckoned as an affront, that 

 the great receives an offence from 

 the small, because the reasons for 

 the judgments of God are too high 

 for our comprehension ; as was 

 All offended by Aben Mulgera, 

 and Hanza the Valiant byGuahxi. 

 Let us hold our arms ready, and 

 our lances, and let us submit to 

 the Divine will, even when we 

 cannot comprehend it ; and thus 

 he who trusts in this world, of 

 whatever condition he may be, 

 shall find himself deceived and lost 

 in that trust. Then, O King of 

 that kingdom which lasts for ever, 

 and whose prerogative it is solely 

 to command men, and all crea- 

 tures ! cover our faults with the 

 veil of thy mercy ; for it is in thy 

 mercy alone that we can trust for 

 a refuge. And cover the King of 

 the true believers with thy mercy, 

 which may lead him to peace and 

 joy ; for he who is near to thee, 

 O our God ! shall not be shaken ; 

 and the life of man is a deception, 

 and without security. May God 

 cover with his mercy our sove- 

 reign, and join him to his blessed 

 predecessor in glory 1" 



Connected with the old fortifi- 

 cations of the Alhambra are seve- 

 ral towers, the highest of which is 

 used as a prison. I was surprised 

 to see confined here a number of 

 men, whom, from their dress, lan- 

 guage, and manners, 1 took to be 



Spaniards. I was told that they 

 were Frenchmen, many of whom 

 had been resident in Granada for 

 upwards of thirty years ; and al- 

 most all of them married to Spanish 

 women. Their sole crime was that 

 of being Frenchmen by birth, for 

 they certainly did not appear to be 

 !>uch in any other respect. Some 

 of them were engaged in various 

 games, some conversed, whilst 

 others mounted on the highest 

 platform of the tower, looked 

 down upon the city, where they 

 might with ease discover the roofs 

 of their own houses from which 

 they had been so cruelly torn. It 

 does not appear possible, by any 

 sophistry, to justify the act of seiz- 

 ing and imprisoning men reposing 

 in all the security of citizenship. 

 The just canse of the Spaniards 

 should not have been tarnished by 

 so base and cowardlj- a proceeding. 

 It may perhaps be said that they 

 were placed there to be protected 

 againstanysuddenburstsof thefury 

 of the populace. I do not, however, 

 believe this to have been the original 

 motive ; and, even if it were, it 

 might justify the government, but 

 not the national character. On 

 the summit of the tower is a great 

 bell, which is never rung except 

 on particular occasions. The sound 

 extends over the whole plain of 

 Granada, and never fails to bring 

 immense crowds from all the sur- 

 rounding country to learn the 

 cause. It had been sounded, I 

 was told, for three days succes- 

 sively, not long ago, for the pur- 

 pose of collecting recruits, and 

 that upwards of twenty thousand 

 men were thus attracted to the 

 city in that space of time. 



Upon the whole, the Alhambra, 

 like every other Moorish monument 



3 L 2 that 



