The Express.
London, England, 1859-02-01 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1, 1859.

LITERATUBB.

History rf the Reign r. Philip thu Second.
By W. H. Paeseorr. Vol. 111. Routledge.
The literary position of Mr. Prescott among his-
torical writers has long been fixed with • degree of
definiteness which makes it unnecessary to estimate
his qualifications anew with every addition to
his works. Mr. Prescott does not wield quite
so dramatic a pen as Thierry, nor has his style per-
haps all the masculine vigour of our own most popu-
lar historian t but then, if he is not so bright and
dazzling as the former, he is more natural and easy
to read ; and if we sometimes mile the strong mental
muscle of Macaulay, we have equal copiousness of
reference, equal conscientiousness of analysis, and
equal anxiety to deduce clear and intelligible gene-
ral principles from the mass of details with which
it is the arduous task of the honest historian to
deal. In the portion of the reign of Philip the
Second with which the new volume of this history
is occupied, the paralysis which is the consequence
of too suddenly and too easily acquired wealth was
gradually creeping over the once vigorous and
mighty yof Spain. The nobles of Castile
and had ceased to take the Cid as their
model, bad beams 'apple and effeminate cour-
tiers. Anadenal (Meek gorged to repletioarerith
the death-bed spoils of the sinners of the Amer can
were, sat like a nightmare on the energies of the
people, or only allowed vigour to be exhibited in the
persecution of the enemies of the faith. The
Cortes, the "Faithful Commons" of the time, were a
nullity, commanded first to vote the supplies in
silence, and then graciously permitted to vent their
complaints to the idle winds, while the decay of
patriotic feeling in the mass of the people threw the
brunt of the foreign wars epos Italian, and German,
and Flemish mercenaries. In two hemispheres the
problem of how to deal with a conquered race was
being worked out according to the approved theorise
of the time, and cruelty to the verge of extermina-
tion was the system practised in both, with what
fatal effect to the conquerors was already beginning
to be seen, long before the grim creator of
the Escurial had been gathered to his fathers.
What was the result to Spain of Spanish
cruelty in America Mr. Prescott has eloquently told
us in former works: what it more gradually but as
surely produced in the parent country it is the
business of the present volume to relate. The
struggle of the Gothic race with the Moors was in
the beginning • patriotic war, and whilst it was
a patriotic war, it was a glorious one ;
but when once the full tide of success had been
established by the soldiers, the church stept in,
making it what they profanely called a holy war, and
then it became a mere &situ, and a slaughter, ruth-
lessly. destroying a refined, a useful, and a pro.
gressive people, and transforming the once manly,
chivalrous, and dignified Spaniard, into the san-
guinary monster which to this day he shows himself
to be whenever the sight of blood amass his
lethargic ferocity. In Philip's time the poor
Morisooea had submitted, had sued for mercy, and
had, in appearance, conformed to the religion of
the conquered ; but they still had Granada and the
Alhambra, still had fertile lands and rich jewels
and beautiful women, and therefore, bigotry and
avarice and lust still refused to sheath the sword, or
to cast down the gibbet.
The counsellors who surrounded the throne of
Philip incessantly goaded him on to acts of which
they were to reap the profit and theiroountry ultimately
to bear the irreparable lose. It was a great crime
then in Spain to be a Morisco. The ruling race were
determined that their miserable slaves should remain
in'-bionic revolt, and everything that • fiendish in-
genuity could devise was made law o.ae. fn keen
up the irritation. The privacy of their houses was
violated, the costume of their women was changed
by offensive sumptuary laws, and they were
forbidden the use of the bath, which was
to them at once a religions rite and a
physical necessity. In this way was the
poor worm trodden upon, and when it turned at
last the iron heel of the conqueror was always ready
to crush it without mercy. Then, when cruelty
was sated with blood, expediency stept in, and
deported the last remnant of a miserable race from
the region which their arms had made their own,
and which their genius and civilisation had trans-
' formed into a paradise. The immediate result
of this summary treatment of the Moriscoee
was, of course, an immense accession of wealth
to the church which had hounded on the soldiers,
I and to the generals who had commanded in
the wars. There was much military glory ac-
quired, for the "enemies of the faith" fought with
the courage of despair, and the Spanish troops had
not yet reached that pitch of demoralisation in
which mere physical courage, the lowest of the sol-
dier's virtues, disappears. The traditions of Fer-
dinand and Isabella were still preserved, although
horribly perverted, and the famous infantry of
Charles the Fifth could still avail themselves of the
discipline which they had learned in worthier wars.
But evenalready the symptoms of national gangrene
bad begun to appear. The soldiers frequently threw
off the authority of their officers when invoked in
the cause of humanity, and a very slight cause of
offence was sufficient to dissolve • regiment,
and to send its rank and file marauding
over the country. Treachery, intrigue, and pecula-
tion were everywhere at work; and when the last
act of cruel conquest had been completed, and the
Moors were completely banished from their beloved
Granada, the decadence of Spain could be seen to
commence even under the ken of then living ob-
servers.

Mr. Preeoott lingers over the structural pecu-
liarities of the old Moorish towns with the
love of en architect, and places them before
his readers with the brilliancy of a painter.
His sieges and' battles are full of life and motion,
while those pedantic details which only confuse the
non-military reader are skilfully avoided. The per-
sonages of the volume are not merely described, they
are re-vivified for us with complete dramatic effect,
and we become as interested in their fate as in that of
the hero or heroine of our favourite romance.

It is not easy to detach passages from such a his-
tory. The siege of Oalera is too long for extract,
although it will be read with intense interest in the
book ; and the battle of Lepanto can hardly be under-
stood, although as fine an account of a sea fight as
ever was written, without • previous reading of a
rather long introductory chapter. We shall there-
fore confine ourselves to the account of the death of
Aben-Humeya, the Moorish King, a tale of love,
jealousy, and aasassinatiou, which is complete in
itself, and a pleasing specimen of the narrative
power of the author :
Among Aben-Hurneys's °fibers !was one named Diego
who had a beautiful kioewocosn, with whom he
lived, it is .aid, on tams of gloater Intimacy than wee juati-
&ad by the relationship of the parties. As be was mte day
imprudently apsaklog of bar to Aben-Howeya In the glow-
ing languago of a lamer the cariosity of the king was so
munch inflamed by it that be desired to ass her. ID addition
to her personal charms, Abe fair Zplaara was mistress of

many accompliehmeets which rendered bee still more attrac-
tive. Bbe bad • sweet voice, which she accompanied be-
witchingly on the lute, and in hardanciegdisplaj ed all the soft
and voloptoons movements of the dark-eyed besotted of
Aedolnaia. When brought before the king, sbe did her
beet to please him ; for, though attached, la it seems, to her
kinsman, the ambitious coquette bad no objection to bsving a
royal suitor in her chains. In this ah• pet fectly succeeded;
and the enamoured prince intimated hie desire to Algae:ll
tbat he would midge to him the looesseeiost of his mistress.
But the Morisco loved her too well • said neither thrsets ace
promises of the most extravagant kind' wen able to extort his
content. Thos baffled, the reckless Aben- If coneys, consult-
ing only his passion. caused the perhaps not relacteut
Zithers to be token by force and lodged in his harem. By
this act he tonic a mortal enemy of Algae:B.
Nor did he long enjoy the favour of his new mistress,
who, come of an ancient lineage in Granada, had hoped to
there the throne of the Morisco monarch. But Aben-
Hunseyes porton did not carry him to this tritest of com-
plasmas; and Zebus, Indignant at finding herself degraded
to the reek and file of the seraglio, soon breathed only' desire
for vengeance. is this state of tbtage elm Mad the means of
I communicating with her kinsman, and arranged with him •
pion for cerrying their murderous intent into szocatke.
The most Important corps in the Maim alley was that of

the Turkish mercenaries. Bat they were so fierce and turbu-
lent a race, that Abet:L./Loney& paid dear for their services.
A strong body of then troops lay on the frontiers of Orgibe,
under the counnaad of Aber-Aboo—a near relative of the
Morisco prince, whose life, it may be remembered, he had
Once saved, by submitting to every extremity of torture rather
than betray hie looking-pleas. To this commander Aben-
Hemeya despatched a messenger, directing him to engage
the Turks in a certain expeditioe, which would serve both
to give them employment and to satisfy their appetite for
plunder.
The time named for the toesesega's departure wee com-
municated by Zithers to her kinsman, who caused him to be
waylaid and murdered, and his despatches to be secured.
He then lied a letter written to Aben-Aboo, which bore, ap-
parently, the royal signature. This was counterfeited by his
.1 an
_, a young m then holding the post of secretary to
ueseys, with whom he had lately conceived Dome
ream of tinge.. The letter stated that the insubordination
' of the Turks made them dangerous to the state ; and that
in same way er other they most be removed, and that
epsedily. With this view, Aben-Aboo was directed to march
them to Manna, on the frontiers of the Sierra Nevada, where
be rapid be joined by Diego Algumil, with a party of sol-
dier,' le snit him In carrying the plan into execution. The
beet soda, it wee =grated, of getting rid of the Turks,
would be by
was
This Wee dispatched by a courier, who was speedily
followed by Aiming end a hundred soldiers, as the cunning
compbeter desired to present himself before Aben-Aboo
whine* Wein bier time for emedelseatime.
He keel float ocrammiler in a state of the utmost im
161.4inteeetes tfaismil"ibeas of tet&girlettait&tie btbeadt reedlenthe
from the king, of too atrocious a native for him to execute.
Abut-Abdo bad as little mind to perform the bloody work
sarned to him. He had no distrust of the genuineness of
the letter. Ho:seem the connessiler of the Turks, happen-
ing to pan the house at that time, was called in and the
despatches were shown to him. The fiery chief insisted on
communicating them to some of his comrades. The greatest
indignation prevailed among the Turkish leaden, outraged
by this bass treachery of the very man whom they bad come
to neve at the peril of their lives. They one and all de-
mended, not his deposition, but his death. Diego Atoned
saw that his scheme was working well. He artfully fanned
the dame, and professed to share deeply in the indigestion
of the Moslems. It was at length anted to put the tyrant
to death, end to offer the crown to Abis-Aboo.
This chieftain enjoyed a high reputation for sagacity end
prudence. His passions, unlike those of Aben-Humeya,
seemed ever under the control of his reason ; and, far from
indulging an ill-regulated ambition, he had been always
faithful to his treat. But the present temptation wee too
strong for his virtue. He may have thought that, since the
throne was to be vacant, the descendant of the Orneyas had
a better claim to it than any other. Whatever may have
been the sophistry to which be yielded, he knew that those
who now promised him the crown had the power to make
their peones good. He gave his seeent, on condition that,
In the course of three months, his election should be oon-
Read by the Dey of Algiers, as the representative of the
Terkhlt Sultan.

-IlavinitTrranged their pine, the conspirators lost to time
to putting them to execution. They set out that very hour,
on the evening of the 3rd of Weber, for Lenjaron, with a
body of four hundred troops—one-half being Turks, the
other Morisooes. By midnight they embed their place of
destination, Diego dlgusril and the Turkish captains were
too well known so enjoying the confidence of Aben-Hurosya
to meet with any opposition to their entrance into the town.
Nor, though the Morisco king had retired to rest, did the
any difficulty to their passing into his telt.
resod rag i o his chamber, they found the doors
but speedily forced an estrum Neither arm nor voice was
raised in has defines. _ _

Aben-Humeya, roused from sleep by the tumult, would
have sprung from his couch ; bat the faithless Zoltan held
him fast in her embrace, untU Diego Alguezil and PM
others of the conspirators, rushing la, bound his arms toge-
ther with a Mooemh veil. Indeed, ha wee so much bewil-
dered ea scarcely to attempt meistason
The Turkish commander then showed him the letter.
Aben-Hutneya recognised the writing of his secretary,
but declared that he had never dictated such a letter, nor
was the signature his. How far his assartioa gained credit '
we are not inkonned. But the conspfratore bed ahead, gene
too far to be forgiven. To recede was death. Either Ahem-
Humeya or they must be saarißead. Itwas is vela thathspro-
teeted his innocence, and that be offered to leave the question
to the Sultan, or to the Dey of Algiers, or to any person com-
petent to decide it. But little heed was given to his pongee-
tationa, as the conspirators dragged him into an adjobeing
apartment. The unhappy young man perceived that his
hour was come—that than was no one of all his hinds
or meows to Interpose between him and his fate. Yrom
that moment be changed his toss, and assumed a bearing
more worthy of hie station. " They are mistaken," he said,
" who suppose me to be • follower of the Prophet. I die, u
I have lived, in the Christian faith. I accepted the poet of
head of the rebellion that I might the better avenge the
wrong' heaped on me end my family by the Spaniards.
They have been avenged la full measure. and I am now
' ready to die. Neither," said he, turning to Aben-Aboo, hie
destinedsuccemor, "do I envy you. it will not be long
bdore you will follow me." He then, with his own hands,
coolly arranged around hie neck the cord with which be waa
to be strangled, adjusted bin robe., and covering Ma face
with his mantle, submitted himself, without a struggle, to
hie executioners.

Hie body was thrown into a neighbouring sower, with as
little concern se if had been that of a dog. There it conti-
nued, till Don John of Austria, hearing that Aban-llume3a
had died a Christian, caused him remains to be removed to
Dirndls, and laid is the ground with the solemnities of
Christian burial.

SIR .1.4188 .P. RAY BHUTTLZWORTII O,N EDI:-