ilful hands of their
successors.

Yet this benefit to agriculture did not appeal to the ruling powers in
Spain. The Moriscos were not Spaniards, and could not easily become so
while deprived of all civil rights. While nominally Christian, there was a
suspicion that at heart they were still Moslems. And their relations to
the Moors of Africa and possible league with the corsairs of the
Mediterranean aroused distrust. Under Philip III., a timid and incapable
king, the final act came. He was induced to sign an edict for the
expulsion of the Moriscos, and this quiet and industrious people, a
million in number, were in 1610, like the Jews before them, forced to
leave their homes in Spain.

It is not necessary to repeat the story of the suffering which necessarily
followed so barbarous an act. What has been said of the circumstances
attending the expulsion of the Jews will suffice. That of the Moriscos was
not so inhuman in its consequences, but it was serious enough.
Fortunately, in view of the intense impolicy and deep intolerance
indicated in the act, its evil effects reacted upon its advocates. To the
Moriscos the suffering was personal; to Spain it was national. As France
half-ruined herself by expelling the Huguenots, the most industrious of
her population, Spain did the same in expelling the Moriscos, to whose
skill and industry she owed so much of her prosperity. So it ever must be
when bigotry is allowed to control the policy of states. France recovered
from the evil effects of her mad act. Spain never did. The expulsion of
the Moriscos was one of the most prominent causes of her decline, and no
indications of a recovery have yet been shown.

The expulsion of the Jews and Moriscos was not sufficient to satisfy the
intolerant spirit of Spain. Heresy had made its way even into the minds of
Spaniards. Sons of the Church themselves had begun to think in other lines
than those laid down for them by the priestly guardians of their minds.
Protestant books were introduced into the ever-faithful land, and a
considerable number of converts to Protestantism were made.

Upon these heretics the Inquisition descended with all its frightful
force. Philip, in a monstrous edict, condemned all to be burned alive who
bought, sold, or read books prohibited by the Church. The result was
terrible. The land was filled with spies. Arrests were made on all sides.
The instruments of torture were kept busy. In all the principal cities of
S