of the Dutch, and the
concession to them of free trade to India, now assailed the prestige of
Spanish supremacy in Europe, and the commerce of Portugal, at that time
subject to Spain. From that hour the Peninsula declined with unexampled
rapidity; and though, in course of time, the progress of decay became
less marked, it was not finally arrested until two centuries after, when
the invasion of Napoleon re-awakened Spanish energies, and freed them
from the trammels which had impeded their development. Two centuries of
degradation are a heavy penalty for a nation to pay for pride and
intolerance; though not heavier than Spanish perfidy and cruelty to the
Moors most richly deserved. In accordance with his design of treating of
the Moors as a subject race, the Count de Circourt has given only a
brief summary of their early history when they were ascendant in Spain.
With the rise of the Christian and decline of the Mahometan power, the
subject is more minutely, but still succinctly treated, the four
centuries from the capture of Toledo to that of Granada being comprised
in the first volume. The two remaining volumes are occupied exclusively
with the history of the Moors from the overthrow of Grenada to their
final expulsion from Spain. The various efforts made to convert and
control them, and their struggles to regain their independence and
preserve their faith, are copiously treated, but a subject so peculiar
and hitherto so unjustly neglected, needed early discussion. We know not
where the character of that worst species of oppression, where the
antagonism of race is aggravated by differences of creed, can be so
advantageously studied as in this portion of Spanish history. Nor is the
early history when the Moors, still a powerful people, were treated with
comparative consideration by their antagonists, deficient in traits of
the highest interest, and lessons which oppressors of the present day
would do well to lay to heart.

We observe that M. de Circourt agrees very nearly with Madame Anita
George (whose views upon the subject we recently noticed in _The
International_) respecting Queen Isabella. He says:

"The Spaniards speak only with enthusiasm of this Princess.
They place her in the rank of their best monarchs, and history,
adopting the popular judgment, has given her the title of
"Great." If we consider merely the grandeur of the fabric she
erected, the appellation will appear merited; if i