Joanna, arrived in Spain, and were acknowledged the legal successors to the crowns of Castile and Arragon..

Upon the first intelligence of a rupture between the emperor and the court of France, the archduke resolved upon returning into his own dominions, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the king and the earnest entreaties of his princess. He, accordingly, set out from Madrid on the 19th of December, and gave a fresh cause of offence to his father-in-law, by concluding a treaty with the king of France. On the 10th of March, Donna Joanna was delivered of a son, who was baptized by the name of Ferdinand; but the consequences of her delivery deranged her mind; and this circumstance hurried the queen, Isabella, to her grave. By her will she left the crown of Castile to her daughter Joanna, and after her to her grandson Charles; and the guardianship of the kingdom to king Ferdinand until Charles should come of age.

A. D:

1504.

As soon as a scaffold could be erected in the Medina del Campo, the king caused his daughter to be proclaimed with the usual solemnities; yet great jealousies began to arise between him and the archduke; insomuch that the latter disputed the queen's will as a mere forgery, and openly avowed his intention of maintaining his right to govern without an associate. Ferdinand, however, acted with great prudence, and was acknowledged administrator, with very trifling oppo

sition.

On the 10th of January, the archduke and Donna Joanna embarked for Spain; but, being driven

driven by stress of weather into an English port, Henry VII. would not permit them to resume their voyage till they had an interview at Windsor. Some authors have supposed that Philip's stay in England was protracted against his will; but he was certainly treated with all possible respect, and entered into a close alliance with the British monarch. On his return to Spain, he required his father-in-law to abdicate the regency; and Ferdinand, after several conferences, consented to retire into his own do, minions. But the Castilians had ample cause to regret this change of the administration, and on the death of* Philip, which happened on the 25th of September 1506, the principal nobility determined to recal the king of Arragon. There were, indeed, many persons in Castile, at this period, who refused to submit to Ferdinand's authority, and clamoured for the interference of Maximilian: but these were eventually silenced by spirited measures; and a successful expedition against the, city of Oran, in Africa, added fresh lustre to the regent's farme.

Upon this, and several other occasions, Ferdinand received much important service from cardinal Ximenes, who united in his character some uncommon qualities, and who employed the revenues of his benefice in augmenting the glory of his country. He raised himself to the archbishopric of Toledo by his extraordinary merit, and his actions, both of a public and private nature, were highly creditable to the

* The death of Philip completed the mental derangement of his unfortunate wife, and rendered it indispensibly necessary that Ferdinand should resume the administration.

ecclesiastical

ecclesiastical profession. A singular anecdote is related of this amiable man. Having paid a visit to the place of his nativity, he surprised a female relation, who was not very opulent, in the act of preparing bread for her family. The woman felt embarrassed at the entrance of her noble visitor, and attempted to retire in order to change her apparel: but the good cardinal stopped her and said, "Your dress and employment are extremely becoming. I therefore desire that you will give yourself no trouble about any thing but your bread, and take care that it does not burn." He always expressed the warmest gratitude to God for his good fortune, and exerted himself, upon all occasions, to alleviate the sorrows or to supply the wants of his indigent countrymen: and Spain was indebted to him for several establish ments worthy of royal magnificence.

About the close of the year 1511, Ferdinand sent the duke of Alva, with a small army, to demand a passage through the king of Navarre's territories into France; and, on the rejection of his request, made himself master of Pampeluna and the greatest part of the kingdom. The French made some vigorous attempts to recover it, but they were soon repulsed with considerable loss, and the duke of Alva completed a conquest, which added great lustre to the Spanish crown, and augmented the fame of Ferdinand's admirable policy.

In the ensuing spring, his catholic majesty fell into a languishing habit of body, and a deep melancholy settled upon his mind, which admitted of no diversion, and baffled all the skill of the most able physicians. However,

he

he attended regularly to the affairs of govern ment, and took every possible precaution to preserve the tranquillity of his people, till the 22d of January 1516, when he expired, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and the forty-se cond of his reign. By his last will, Donna Jo. anna was declared sole heiress of all his do minions, or, failing her, his grandson Don Carlos. He left the infant Don Ferdinand a reve nue of fifty thousand ducats; and bequeathed an annual pension of thirty thousand florins to his queen Germana. The regency of Castile

was entrusted to the hands of cardinal Ximenes; and that of Arragon was vested in the archbishop of Saragossa. The royal corpse was interred, near that of Isabella, in the city of Granada; and the public loss was lamented with marks of universal and unfeigned sorrow. The ene mies of Ferdinand have endeavoured to blacken his character with several base imputations; but, upon an impartial review of his conduct, it appears that he was one of the wisest and most illustrious princes that ever enjoyed sovereign

power.

As soon as the last mournful duties had been paid to the deceased monarch, a letter arrived from Brussels, in which the archduke confirmed Ximenes in the regency, and expressed his intention of assuming the regal title. Accord ingly the royal standard was displayed in the name of Charles the First, and the council unanimously expressed their approbation of a measure which they could not have opposed with any probability of success.

Some of the Castilian nobles, however, were displeased with the regent's conduct, and sent a deputation

a deputation to demand a sight of the powers by which he acted. Ximenes readily consented to gratify their request, and, at an appointed time, showed them a corps of two thousand veteran troops drawn up, with their artillery, before the palace. "These," said he, " are the powers with which I shall govern Spain till the arrival of my sovereign." The malecontents were astonished at this unexpected spectacle, and withdrew in silence.

As the government of Ferdinand had thrown a considerable weight of property into the hands of the commonalty, Ximenes granted commissions of array, and by this stroke of policy created a standing army of thirty thousand men, who were willing to serve upon any emergency without any pecuniary remuneration. About the same time, the dethroned king of Navarre was defeated in an attempt for the recovery of his dominions; and the famous corsair Barbarossa took possession of Algiers.

Ximenes continued the discharge of his important duties with equal firmness and moderation, till he was apprised of the king's arrival at St. Andero: but his administration does not seem to have given universal satisfaction; for whilst he was hastening to meet his royal mas ter, his viands were poisoned, and he expired on the 8th of November 1517, after devoting the greatest part of his life to the encouragement of literature, the alleviation of distress, and the general benefit of his country. One instance of his amiable generosity is too interesting to be passed over in silence. Being shown a remark. ably fine jewel, and urged to purchase it, he observed, "This jewel is extremely pretty, and

may