he unfortunate Boabdil had possessed the will, he had not the power
to comply with this demand. He was shut up in the Alhambra, while a
tempest of popular fury raged without. Granada was thronged by refugees
from the captured towns, many of them disbanded soldiers, and others
broken-down citizens rendered fierce and desperate by ruin. All railed
at him as the real cause of their misfortunes. How was he to venture
forth in such a storm? Above all, how was he to talk to such men of
surrender? In his reply to Ferdinand he represented the difficulties of
his situation, and that, so far from having control over his subjects,
his very life was in danger from their turbulence. He entreated the
king, therefore, to rest satisfied for the present with his recent
conquests, promising that should he be able to regain full empire over
his capital and its inhabitants, it would be but to rule over them as
vassal to the Castilian Crown.

Ferdinand was not to be satisfied with such a reply. The time was come
to bring his game of policy to a close, and to consummate his conquest
by seating himself on the throne of the Alhambra. Professing to consider
Boabdil as a faithless ally who had broken his plighted word, he
discarded him from his friendship, and addressed a second letter, not
to him, but to the commanders and council of the city. He demanded a
complete surrender of the place, with all the arms in the possession
either of the citizens or of others who had recently taken refuge
within its walls. If the inhabitants should comply with this summons, he
promised them the indulgent terms granted to Baza, Guadix, and Almeria;
if they should refuse, he threatened them with the fate of Malaga.*

* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 96.

This message produced the greatest commotion in the city. The
inhabitants of the Alcaiceria, that busy hive of traffic, and all others
who had tasted the sweets of gainful commerce during the late cessation
of hostilities, were for securing their golden advantages by timely
submission: others, who had wives and children, looked on them with
tenderness and solicitude, and dreaded by resistance to bring upon them
the horrors of slavery.

On the other hand, Granada was crowded with men from all parts,
ruined by the war, exasperated by their sufferings, and eager only for
revenge--with others who had been reared amidst hostilities, who had
lived by the sword, and whom a return of peace would leave without ho