ened Roman Catholicism, in case the Christine party should
triumph.

Thus far we have spoken of the influence exercised by the national
character on the religion of Spaniards. That influence has not been
lessened by the circumstance that some of their monarchs have exercised
it, and, among others deserving particular mention, the three gigantic
models, viz., Isabella the Catholic, Charles V., and Philip II. Each one
of the distinctive features which we have hitherto noted in the religion
of Spaniards is represented in history by one or another of those three
sovereigns: Isabella represented the tender, affectionate, and
correlative; Charles, the knight of chivalry and the warrior; Philip, the
cruel and sanguinary persecutor.

Isabella united to her eminent qualities, to her profound policy, to her
unrivalled valour, to her constancy in the prosecution of her designs,
and to the elevation and grandeur of her views, a heart full of
tenderness and benevolence, and an ardent disposition to contribute, by
all possible means, toward the good of her fellow-creatures. Persuaded
that religion was the greatest good which it was possible for man to
enjoy, all her anxiety was concentrated in extending that benefit to the
greatest number of human beings. It was this which induced her to show
herself benevolent and compassionate toward the Moors of Granada after
the conquest of that city; it was this, also, which induced her to lavish
her gifts upon, and afterwards to take under her protection, such of
those Moors as submitted to baptism. All the incidents of her private
life, all her letters, many of which are still extant, show that she was
actuated by the most ardent spirit of Christian charity.

History accuses Isabella of having established the Inquisition in Spain.
This great blot in her character, the origin of many of the misfortunes
and of all the intellectual drawbacks which that nation has experienced,
explains, if it cannot justify, itself, by the circumstances in which, at
that time, the people of the Peninsula were placed. After the surrender
of Granada, there remained in the kingdom a great part of the Mussulman
population. The queen fostered the hope of their conversion to
Christianity and omitted no means to realise it. But the Moors, with
very few exceptions at the beginning, resisted every effort whether by
persuasion or by promises; they became but the more firmly addicted to
their own faith, and being p