132 THE SHEEP. 



and Isabella, wise and sagacious as their general administra- 

 tion was, were embued with all the bigotry of the age in 

 which they lived. They established the Inquisition, one of 

 the most savage institutions which has arisen since the dark 

 ages. This junta of sanguinary priests directed their ven- 

 geance against the Jews, in whose hands was the principal 

 part of the internal traffic of the country. It has been com- 

 puted, that, within four years after the establishment of that 

 tribunal, six thousand of these unfortunate persons were pub- 

 licly burned, and that a hundred thousand suffered every 

 cruelty short of death. But it was against the Moors, who, 

 in the days of their prosperity, had shewn so noble a for- 

 bearance, that the rage of these merciless ruffians was espe- 

 cially directed. No sooner had Granada fallen, than this 

 unhappy race was doomed to all the cruelty and indignity 

 which savage minds could devise ; and by degrees all the be- 

 nefits of their industry were lost to the country which they 

 had enriched. Such was the state of Spain when Charles V. 

 succeeded to the fairest dominions that ever European prince 

 had possessed. The history of his ambitious life is known 

 to all the world. With the glory of his magnificent reign, 

 the decay of Spanish power proceeded with silent steps. At 

 the age of fifty-six, amidst the germs of future wars, he re- 

 signed his crown to his son Philip, who, though not destitute 

 of talents, never arrived at the reputation of his father. This 

 cruel Prince was defeated in almost all his schemes of selfish 

 ambition ; and the treasures of America, so far from adding 

 to the wealth of his country, destroyed its prosperity, by 

 withdrawing the attention of the inhabitants from those arts 

 which could give it true riches. The persecution of the 

 Moors was continued by him with increasing atrocity. The 

 fires of the Holy Inquisition continued to burn by his com- 

 mand. The resistance which this provoked in the victims, 

 was the signal for further butcheries ; and, in the reign of 

 his successor Philip III., the ruin of the industry of the 

 country w T as completed by the expulsion of the remnant of the 



