cept was enforced by example. In all that was pure, in all that was
true, in all that was noble and magnanimous, Isabella, in private life,
was a witness unto her people. No calumny of any kind, even in a
depraved age, was ever cast upon Isabella of Castile or upon any one of
her royal children. But the strongest characteristic of Isabella, that
which colored her whole life and gave force to every public action, was
her fervent piety and her unfaltering [perhaps blind] faith in the
divine authority of the Roman Catholic Church. For all the evils that
grew out of the latter she is still branded, even among the
liberal-minded of to-day, regardless of her illiberal age, with that
worst of all brands, "a religious bigot." This side of her character we
will not discuss, but refer our readers to the history of Christianity
during the fifteenth century, when the great flood-tide of religious
intolerance reached its height.

It was in the fulness of this tide that the great historic events of her
reign occurred, viz., the conquest of Granada, the expulsion of the
Jews, the Inquisition, and the discovery of America. After each of
these, for honor or dishonor, we interline the name of Isabella. Yet the
conquest of Granada, or the reconquest of every foot of land which the
Moors had taken from the Goths, was foreordained in Castilian councils
centuries before Isabella was born. The expulsion of the Jews, the
so-called "enemies of Christ," was but a part of the same effort "to rid
the land of unbelieving invaders." The Inquisition, with all its
horrors, was re-established by the Church during that age of
intolerance to which the reign of Isabella belongs. Yet these are still
named to the dishonor of Isabella.

But the discovery of America, with all its lasting benefits to mankind,
is the immortal crown which the world has woven out of her proffered
"Jewels;" and with this crown it has crowned Isabella of Castile.

In the marriage contract of the youthful prince and princess it was
agreed that Ferdinand should lead the armies of Castile against the
Moors as soon as the affairs of the kingdom would permit. The
opportunity and the provocation came after twelve years, when the
sovereigns sent to demand of the Moors the long unpaid tribute, and
received only the defiant answer, "Tell your masters that the Moors who
paid tribute to Castile are dead. Our mints no longer coin gold, but
steel!" And to prove the efficacy of their steel the