THE SHEEP. 
39 
THE MERINO BREED. 
of the country. Religious intolerance and the usurpations of priestly authority aggravated the civil disorders, and triumphs which 
should have been hailed as the harbingers of peace did nothing to promote the industry and happiness of the country. Ferdinand 
and Isabella, wise and sagacious as their general administration 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 vengeance against the Jews, in whose hands was the principal part of the internal traffic of the 
country. It has been computed that within four years after the establishment of this tribunal, six thousand of these unfortunate 
persons were publicly 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 shown so noble a forbearance, that the rage of these merciless ruffians was especially 
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 benefits 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 resigned 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 Ploly Inquisition continued to burn by his command. 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 was completed by the expulsion of the remnant of the devoted race. Those that survived 
had conformed to the observances of the Christian faith, but they were now to be driven away like felons from the land. The 
pretence was, that, though Christians in appearance, they were Mahommedans in their hearts. Thirty days were allowed these 
victims, above six hundred thousand in number, to prepare for their departure; after which it was death for any one to remain. 
Spain thus lost, by acts of imbecility and tyranny, the most industrious of her population. The effects of this loss she never recovered, 
but, exhausted by wars, emigration, and imposts, sank into a state of languor and impotence which rendered fruitless the blessings 
that Nature had left her. The flocks of her mountains remained, but the industry that gave them value was taken away. In place 
of the beautiful fabrics which the arts of her people produced, it is the raw produce only which is now exported, and that in a 
diminishing quantity from year to year. 
The Spanish Sheep, it has been said, consist of two general classes, comprehending, (1:) those which produce long wool, and 
which are generally the inhabitants of the more cultivated countries; and, (2.) those which produce short and felting wool, and 
which are chiefly found on the mountains, elevated plains, and downs. Of the latter varieties of Sheep, greatly the most numerous 
and valuable are termed Merino,—a word of doubtful origin, but derived from the adjective Merino, applied by the Spaniards to 
sheep moving from pasture to pasture; whence, too, the word Merino, signifying a judge of the sheep-walks, and Merinadad, 
denoting the jurisdiction of the judge. Numerous conjectures have been formed regarding the origin of this race of Sheep, so 
distinct from any other indigenous to Europe. It cannot, however, now be known from what beginning, or by what progressive 
steps, this remarkable race has acquired its distinctive properties, nor does it seem necessary to resort to any extreme supposition 
to explain the effects. Spain appears to have been distinguished in every known age for the fineness of the wool of its Sheep, 
which we may reasonably believe to be due to the climate, herbage, and other physical circumstances of the country in which the 
animals are naturalized. It is, however, a reasonable supposition that the Merino race, which produces not only a fine, but a 
remarkably oily and felting wool, has been formed by some mixture of other races with the Sheep indigenous to the country. 
It has been supposed by some that it is derived from the Oves Molles, or fine-woolled Sheep of ancient Italy; but the evidence 
upon which this opinion rests cannot be regarded as satisfactory. Columella, a native of the south of Spain, informs us 
that his uncle of the same name introduced some of the fine-woolled Sheep of Italy into his Spanish farm; but he likewise 
informs us that he procured some African rams which had been brought to be exhibited at the public shows at Rome. How far 
these crosses affected the native breeds cannot be known ; but the facts may lead, perhaps, to the conclusion that the wool of Spain, 
although distinguished for its fineness, had not attained the perfection at which it afterwards arrived. There is great probability 
that the Sheep of Northern Africa were mingled in blood with those of Spain during the long period of Moorish dominion. 
We have no accounts, indeed, of the importation of African Sheep by the Moors; but if Sheep existed in Africa capable of 
yielding wool suited to the manufacture of the finer cloths and tissues, it is certain the Moors would obtain them; and we 
learn from the chronicles of the Spanish writers, that one at least of their own princes resorted to Africa for Sheep, and the 
illustrious Cardinal Ximenes, who governed the country during the minority of Chari.es V., is distinctly reported to have 
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