The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume III Part 24

[38] Quintana, Espanoles Celebres, tom. i. pp. 322-334.--Giovio, Vitae Ill.u.s.t. Virorum, p. 286.--Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7-9.-- Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 560.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv.

pp. 77, 78.

CHAPTER XXI.

XIMENES.--CONQUESTS IN AFRICA--UNIVERSITY OF ALCALa.--POLYGLOT BIBLE.

1508-1510.

Enthusiasm of Ximenes.--His Warlike Preparations.--He Sends an Army to Africa.--Storms Oran.--His Triumphant Entry.--The King's Distrust of Him.

--He Returns to Spain.--Navarro's African Conquests.--Magnificent Endowments of Ximenes.--University of Alcala.--Complutensian Polyglot.

The high-handed measures of Ferdinand, in regard to the marquis of Priego and some other n.o.bles, excited general disgust among the jealous aristocracy of Castile. But they appear to have found more favor with the commons, who were probably not unwilling to see that haughty body humbled, which had so often trampled on the rights of its inferiors. [1] As a matter of policy, however, even with the n.o.bles, this course does not seem to have been miscalculated; since it showed, that the king, whose talents they had always respected, was now possessed of power to enforce obedience, and was fully resolved to exert it.

Indeed, notwithstanding a few deviations, it must be allowed that Ferdinand's conduct on his return was extremely lenient and liberal; more especially, considering the subjects of provocation he had sustained, in the personal insults and desertion of those, on whom he had heaped so many favors. History affords few examples of similar moderation on the restoration of a banished prince, or party. In fact, a violent and tyrannical course would not have been agreeable to his character, in which pa.s.sion, however strong by nature, was habitually subjected to reason. The present, as it would seem, excessive acts of severity are to be regarded, therefore, not as the sallies of personal resentment, but as the dictates of a calculating policy, intended to strike terror into the turbulent spirits, whom fear only could hold in check.

To this energetic course he was stimulated, as was said, by the counsels of Ximenes. This eminent prelate had now reached the highest ecclesiastical honors short of the papacy. Soon after Ferdinand's restoration, he received a cardinal's hat from Pope Julius the Second; [2]

and this was followed by his appointment to the office of inquisitor general of Castile, in the place of Deza, archbishop of Seville. The important functions devolved on him by these offices, in conjunction with the primacy of Spain, might be supposed to furnish abundant subject and scope for his aspiring spirit. But his views, on the contrary, expanded with every step of his elevation, and now fell little short of those of an independent monarch. His zeal glowed fiercer than ever for the propagation of the Catholic faith. Had he lived in the age of the crusades, he would indubitably have headed one of those expeditions himself; for the spirit of the soldier burned strong and bright under his monastic weeds. [3]

Indeed, like Columbus, he had formed plans for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, even at this late day. [4] But his zeal found a better direction in a crusade against the neighboring Moslems of Africa, who had retaliated the wrongs of Granada by repeated descents on the southern coasts of the Peninsula, calling in vain for the interference of government. At the instigation and with the aid of Ximenes, an expedition had been fitted out soon after Isabella's death, which resulted in the capture of Mazarquivir, an important port, and formidable nest of pirates, on the Barbary coast, nearly opposite Carthagena. He now meditated a more difficult enterprise, the conquest of Oran. [5]

This place, situated about a league from the former, was one of the most considerable of the Moslem possessions in the Mediterranean, being a princ.i.p.al mart for the trade of the Levant. It contained about twenty thousand inhabitants, was strongly fortified, and had acquired a degree of opulence by its extensive commerce, which enabled it to maintain a swarm of cruisers, that swept this inland sea, and made fearful depredations on its populous borders. [6]

No sooner was Ferdinand quietly established again in the government, than Ximenes urged him to undertake this new conquest. The king saw its importance, but objected the want of funds. The cardinal, who was prepared for this, replied, that "he was ready to lend whatever sums were necessary, and to take sole charge of the expedition, leading it, if the king pleased, in person." Ferdinand, who had no objection to this mode of making acquisitions, more especially as it would open a vent for the turbulent spirits of his subjects, readily acquiesced in the proposition.

The enterprise, however disproportionate it might seem to the resources of a private individual, was not beyond those of the cardinal. He had been carefully husbanding his revenues for some time past, with a view to this object; although he had occasionally broken in upon his appropriations, to redeem unfortunate Spaniards, who had been swept into slavery. He had obtained accurate surveys of the Barbary coast from an Italian engineer named Vianelli. He had advised, as to the best mode of conducting operations, with his friend Gonsalvo de Cordova, to whom, if it had been the king's pleasure, he would gladly have intrusted the conduct of the expedition. At his suggestion, that post was now a.s.signed to the celebrated engineer, Count Pedro Navarro. [7]

No time was lost in completing the requisite preparations. Besides the Italian veterans, levies were drawn from all quarters of the country, especially from the cardinal's own diocese. The chapter of Toledo entered heartily into his views, furnis.h.i.+ng liberal supplies, and offering to accompany the expedition in person. An ample train of ordnance was procured, with provisions and military stores for the maintenance of an army four months. Before the close of the spring, in 1509, all was in readiness, and a fleet of ten galleys and eighty smaller vessels rode in the harbor of Carthagena, having on board a force, amounting in all to four thousand horse and ten thousand foot. Such were the resources, activity, and energy, displayed by a man whose life, until within a very few years, had been spent in cloistered solitudes, and in the quiet practices of religion, and who now, oppressed with infirmities more than usual, had pa.s.sed the seventieth year of his age.

In accomplis.h.i.+ng all this, the cardinal had experienced greater obstacles than those arising from bodily infirmity or age. His plans had been constantly discouraged and thwarted by the n.o.bles, who derided the idea of "a monk fighting the battles of Spain, while the Great Captain was left to stay at home, and count his beads like a hermit." The soldiers, especially those of Italy, as well as their commander Navarro, trained under the banners of Gonsalvo, showed little inclination to serve under their spiritual leader. The king himself was cooled by these various manifestations of discontent. But the storm, which prostrates the weaker spirit, serves only to root the stronger more firmly in its purpose; and the genius of Ximenes, rising with the obstacles it had to encounter, finally succeeded in triumphing over all, in reconciling the king, disappointing the n.o.bles, and restoring obedience and discipline to the army. [8]

On the 16th of May, 1509, the fleet weighed anchor, and on the following day reached the African port of Mazarquivir. No time was lost in disembarking; for the fires on the hill-tops showed that the country was already in alarm. It was proposed to direct the main attack against a lofty height, or ridge of land, rising between Mazarquivir and Oran, so near the latter as entirely to command it. At the same time, the fleet was to drop down before the Moorish city, and by opening a brisk cannonade, divert the attention of the inhabitants from the princ.i.p.al point of a.s.sault.

As soon as the Spanish army had landed, and formed in order of battle, Ximenes mounted his mule, and rode along the ranks. He was dressed in his pontifical robes, with a belted sword at his side. A Franciscan friar rode before him, bearing aloft the ma.s.sive silver cross, the archiepiscopal standard of Toledo. Around him were other brethren of the order, wearing their monastic frocks, with scimitars hanging from their girdles. As the ghostly cavalcade advanced, they raised the triumphant hymn of _Vexilla regis_, until at length the cardinal, ascending a rising ground, imposed silence, and made a brief but animated harangue to his soldiers. He reminded them of the wrongs they had suffered from the Moslems, the devastation of their coasts, and their brethren dragged into merciless slavery. When he had sufficiently roused their resentment against the enemies of their country and religion, he stimulated their cupidity by dwelling on the golden spoil, which awaited them in the opulent city of Oran; and he concluded his discourse by declaring, that he had come to peril his own life in the good cause of the Cross, and to lead them on to battle, as his predecessors had often done before him. [9]

The venerable aspect and heart-stirring eloquence of the primate kindled a deep, reverential enthusiasm in the bosoms of his martial audience, which showed itself by the profoundest silence. The officers, however, closed around him at the conclusion of the address, and besought him not to expose his sacred person to the hazard of the fight; reminding him, that his presence would probably do more harm than good, by drawing off the attention of the men to his personal safety. This last consideration moved the cardinal, who, though reluctantly, consented to relinquish the command to Navarro, and, after uttering his parting benediction over the prostrate ranks, he withdrew to the neighboring fortress of Mazarquivir.

The day was now far spent, and dark clouds of the enemy were seen gathering along the tops of the sierra, which it was proposed first to attack. Navarro, seeing this post so strongly occupied, doubted whether his men would be able to carry it before nightfall, if indeed at all, without previous rest and refreshment, after the exhausting labors of the day. He returned, therefore, to Mazarquivir, to take counsel of Ximenes.

The latter, whom he found at his devotions, besought him "not to falter at this hour, but to go forward in G.o.d's name, since both the blessed Saviour and the false prophet Mahomet conspired to deliver the enemy into his hands." The soldier's scruples vanished before the intrepid bearing of the prelate, and, returning to the army, he gave instant orders to advance.

[10]

Slowly and silently the Spanish troops began their ascent up the steep sides of the sierra, under the friendly cover of a thick mist, which, rolling heavily down the skirts of the hills, s.h.i.+elded them for a time from the eye of the enemy. As soon as they emerged from it, however, they were saluted with showers of b.a.l.l.s, arrows, and other deadly missiles, followed by the desperate charges of the Moors, who, rus.h.i.+ng down, endeavored to drive back the a.s.sailants. But they made no impression on the long pikes and deep ranks of the latter, which remained unshaken as a rock. Still the numbers of the enemy, fully equal to those of the Spaniards, and the advantages of their position enabled them to dispute the ground with fearful obstinacy. At length Navarro got a small battery of heavy guns to operate on the flank of the Moors. The effect of this movement was soon visible. The exposed sides of the Moslem column, finding no shelter from the deadly volleys, were shaken and thrown into disorder.

The confusion extended to the leading files, which now, pressed heavily by the iron array of spearmen in the Christian van, began to give ground.

Retreat was soon quickened into a disorderly flight. The Spaniards pursued; many of them, especially the raw levies, breaking their ranks, and following up the flying foe without the least regard to the commands or menaces of their officers; a circ.u.mstance which might have proved fatal, had the Moors had strength or discipline to rally. As it was, the scattered numbers of the Christians, magnifying to the eye their real force, served only to increase the panic, and accelerate the speed of the fugitives. [11]

While this was going on, the fleet had anch.o.r.ed before the city, and opened a very heavy cannonade, which was answered with equal spirit from sixty pieces of artillery which garnished the fortifications. The troops on board, however, made good their landing, and soon joined themselves to their victorious countrymen, descending from the sierra. They then pushed forward in all haste towards Oran, proposing to carry the place by escalade. They were poorly provided with ladders, but the desperate energy of the moment overleaped every obstacle; and planting their long pikes against the walls, or thrusting them into the crevices of the stones, they clambered up with incredible dexterity, although they were utterly unable to repeat the feat the next day in cold blood. The first who gained the summit was Sousa, captain of the cardinal's guard, who, shouting forth "St. Jago and Ximenes," unfurled his colors, emblazoned with the primate's arms on one side, and the Cross on the other, and planted them on the battlements. Six other banners were soon seen streaming from the ramparts; and the soldiers leaping into the town got possession of the gates, and threw them open to their comrades. The whole army now rushed in, sweeping everything before it. Some few of the Moors endeavored to make head against the tide, but most fled into the houses and mosques for protection. Resistance and flight were alike unavailing. No mercy was shown; no respect for age or s.e.x; and the soldiery abandoned themselves to all the brutal license and ferocity, which seem to stain religious wars above every other. It was in vain Navarro called them off. They returned like bloodhounds to the slaughter, and never slackened, till at last, wearied with butchery, and gorged with the food and wine found in the houses, they sunk down to sleep promiscuously in the streets and public squares. [12]

The sun, which on the preceding morning had shed its rays on Oran, flouris.h.i.+ng in all the pride of commercial opulence, and teeming with a free and industrious population, next rose on it a captive city, with its ferocious conquerors stretched in slumber on the heaps of their slaughtered victims. [13] No less than four thousand Moors were said to have fallen in the battle, and from five to eight thousand were made prisoners. The loss of the Christians was inconsiderable. As soon as the Spanish commander had taken the necessary measures for cleansing the place from its foul and dismal impurities, he sent to the cardinal, and invited him to take possession of it. The latter embarked on board his galley, and, as he coasted along the margin of the city, and saw its gay pavilions and sparkling minarets reflected in the waters, his soul swelled with satisfaction at the glorious acquisition he had made for Christian Spain.

It seemed incredible, that a town so strongly manned and fortified, should have been carried so easily.

As Ximenes landed and entered the gates, attended by his train of monkish brethren, he was hailed with thundering acclamations by the army as the true victor of Oran, in whose behalf Heaven had condescended to repeat the stupendous miracle of Joshua, by stopping the sun in his career. [14] But the cardinal, humbly disclaiming all merits of his own, was heard to repeat aloud the sublime language of the Psalmist, "Non n.o.bis, Domine, non n.o.bis," while he gave his benedictions to the soldiery. He was then conducted to the alcazar, and the keys of the fortress were put into his hand. The spoil of the captured city, amounting, as was said, to half a million of gold ducats, the fruit of long successful trade and piracy, was placed at his disposal for distribution. But that which gave most joy to his heart was the liberation of three hundred Christian captives, languis.h.i.+ng in the dungeons of Oran. A few hours after the surrender, the _mezuar_ of Tremecen arrived with a powerful reinforcement to its relief; but instantly retreated on learning the tidings. Fortunate, indeed, was it, that the battle had not been deferred to the succeeding day. This, which must be wholly ascribed to Ximenes, was by most referred to direct inspiration. Quite as probable an explanation may be found in the boldness and impetuous enthusiasm of the cardinal's character. [15]

The conquest of Oran opened unbounded scope to the ambition of Ximenes; who saw in imagination the banner of the Cross floating triumphant from the walls of every Moslem city on the Mediterranean. He experienced, however, serious impediments to his further progress. Navarro, accustomed to an independent command, chafed in his present subordinate situation, especially under a spiritual leader, whose military science he justly held in contempt. He was a rude, unlettered soldier, and bluntly spoke his mind to the primate. He told him, "his commission under him terminated with the capture of Oran; that two generals were too many in one army; that the cardinal should rest contented with the laurels he had already won, and, instead of playing the king, go home to his flock, and leave fighting to those to whom the trade belonged." [16]

But what troubled the prelate more than this insolence of his general, was a letter which fell into his hands, addressed by the king to Count Navarro, in which he requested him to be sure to find some pretence for detaining the cardinal in Africa, as long as his presence could be made any way serviceable. Ximenes had good reason before to feel that the royal favor to him flowed from selfishness, rather than from any personal regard. The king had always wished the archbishopric of Toledo for his favorite, and natural son, Alfonso of Aragon. After his return from Naples, he importuned Ximenes to resign his see, and exchange it for that of Saragossa, held by Alfonso; till, at length, the indignant prelate replied, "that he would never consent to barter away the dignities of the church; that if his Highness pressed him any further, he would indeed throw up the primacy, but it should be to bury himself in the friar's cell from which the queen had originally called him." Ferdinand, who, independently of the odium of such a proceeding, could ill afford to part with so able a minister, knew his inflexible temper too well ever to resume the subject. [17]

With some reason, therefore, for distrusting the good-will of his sovereign, Ximenes put the worst possible construction on the expressions in his letter. He saw himself a mere tool in Ferdinand's hands, to be used so long as occasion might serve, with the utmost indifference to his own interests or convenience. These humiliating suspicions, together with the arrogant bearing of his general, disgusted him with the further prosecution of the expedition; while he was confirmed in his purpose of returning to Spain, and found an obvious apology for it in the state of his own health, too infirm to encounter, with safety, the wasting heats of an African summer.

Before his departure, he summoned Navarro and his officers about him, and, after giving them much good counsel respecting the government and defence of their new acquisitions, he placed at their disposal an ample supply of funds and stores, for the maintenance of the army several months. He then embarked, not with the pompous array and circ.u.mstance of a hero returning from his conquests, but with a few domestics only, in an unarmed galley, showing, as it were, by this very act, the good effects of his enterprise, in the security which it brought to the before perilous navigation of these inland seas. [18]

Splendid preparations were made for his reception in Spain, and he was invited to visit the court at Valladolid, to receive the homage and public testimonials due to his eminent services. But his ambition was of too n.o.ble a kind to be dazzled by the false lights of an ephemeral popularity.

He had too much pride of character, indeed, to allow room for the indulgence of vanity. He declined, these compliments, and hastened without loss of time to his favorite city of Alcala. There, too, the citizens, anxious to do him honor, turned out under arms to receive him, and made a breach in the walls, that he might make his entry in a style worthy of a conqueror. But this also he declined choosing to pa.s.s into the town by the regular avenue, with no peculiar circ.u.mstances attending his entrance, save only a small train of camels, led by African slaves, and laden with gold and silver plate from the mosques of Oran, and a precious collection of Arabian ma.n.u.scripts, for the library of his infant university of Alcala.

He showed similar modesty and simplicity in his deportment and conversation. He made no allusion to the stirring scenes in which he had been so gloriously engaged; and, if others made any, turned the discourse into some other channel, particularly to the condition of his college, its discipline, and literary progress, which, with the great project for the publication of his famous Polyglot Bible, seemed now almost wholly to absorb his attention. [19]

His first care, however, was to visit the families in his diocese, and minister consolation and relief, which he did in the most benevolent manner, to those who were suffering from the loss of friends, whether by death or absence, in the late campaign. Nor did he in his academical retreat lose sight of the great object which had so deeply interested him, of extending the empire of the Cross over Africa. From time to time he remitted supplies for the maintenance of Oran; and he lost no opportunity of stimulating Ferdinand to prosecute his conquests.

The Catholic king, however, felt too sensibly the importance of his new possessions to require such admonition; and Count Pedro Navarro was furnished with ample resources of every kind, and, above all, with the veterans formed under the eye of Gonsalvo de Cordova. Thus placed on an independent field of conquest, the Spanish general was not slow in pus.h.i.+ng his advantages. His first enterprise was against Bugia, whose king, at the head of a powerful army, he routed in two pitched battles, and got possession of his flouris.h.i.+ng capital. Algiers, Tennis, Tremecen, and other cities on the Barbary coast, submitted one after another to the Spanish arms. The inhabitants were received as va.s.sals of the Catholic king, engaging to pay the taxes usually imposed by their Moslem princes, and to serve him in war, with the addition of the whimsical provision, so often found in the old Granadine treaties, to attend him in cortes. They guaranteed, moreover, the liberation of all Christian captives in their dominions; for which the Algerines, however, took care to indemnify themselves, by extorting the full ransom from their Jewish residents. It was of little moment to the wretched Israelite which party won the day, Christian or Mussulman; he was sure to be stripped in either case. [20]

On the 26th of July, 1510, the ancient city of Tripoli, after a most b.l.o.o.d.y and desperate defence, surrendered to the arms of the victorious general, whose name had now become terrible along the whole northern borders of Africa. In the following month, however, he met with a serious discomfiture in the island of Gelves, where four thousand of his men were slain or made prisoners. [21] This check in the brilliant career of Count Navarro put a final stop to the progress of the Castilian arms in Africa under Ferdinand. [22]

The results already obtained, however, were of great importance, whether we consider the value of the acquisitions, being some of the most opulent marts on the Barbary coast, or the security gained for commerce, by sweeping the Mediterranean of the pestilent hordes of marauders, which had so long infested it. Most of the new conquests escaped from the Spanish crown in later times, through the imbecility or indolence of Ferdinand's successors. The conquests of Ximenes, however, were placed in so strong a posture of defence, as to resist every attempt for their recovery by the enemy, and to remain permanently incorporated with the Spanish empire.

[23]

This ill.u.s.trious prelate, in the mean while, was busily occupied, in his retirement at Alcala de Henares, with watching over the interests and rapid development of his infant university. This inst.i.tution was too important in itself, and exercised too large an influence over the intellectual progress of the country, to pa.s.s unnoticed in a history of the present reign.

As far back as 1497, Ximenes had conceived the idea of establis.h.i.+ng a university in the ancient town of Alcala, where the salubrity of the air, and the sober, tranquil complexion of the scenery, on the beautiful borders of the Henares, seemed well suited to academic study and meditation. He even went so far as to obtain plans at this time for his buildings from a celebrated architect. Other engagements, however, postponed the commencement of the work till 1500, when the cardinal himself laid the cornerstone of the princ.i.p.al college, with a solemn ceremonial, [24] and invocation of the blessing of Heaven on his designs.

From that hour, amidst all the engrossing cares of church and state, he never lost sight of this great object. When at Alcala, he might be frequently seen on the ground, with the rule in his hand, taking the admeasurements of the buildings, and stimulating the industry of the workmen by seasonable rewards. [25]

The plans were too extensive, however, to admit of being speedily accomplished. Besides the princ.i.p.al college of San Ildefonso, named in honor of the patron saint of Toledo, there were nine others, together with an hospital for the reception of invalids at the university. These edifices were built in the most substantial manner, and such parts as admitted of it, as the libraries, refectories, and chapels, were finished with elegance, and even splendor. The city of Alcala underwent many important and expensive alterations, in order to render it more worthy of being the seat of a great and flouris.h.i.+ng university. The stagnant water was carried off by drains, the streets were paved, old buildings removed, and new and s.p.a.cious avenues thrown open. [26]

At the expiration of eight years, the cardinal had the satisfaction of seeing the whole of his vast design completed, and every apartment of the s.p.a.cious pile carefully furnished with all that was requisite for the comfort and accommodation of the student. It was, indeed, a n.o.ble enterprise, more particularly when viewed as the work of a private individual. As such it raised the deepest admiration in Francis the First, when he visited the spot, a few years after the cardinal's death. "Your Ximenes," said he, "has executed more than I should have dared to conceive; he has done, with his single hand, what in France it has cost a line of kings to accomplish." [27]

The erection of the buildings, however, did not terminate the labors of the primate, who now a.s.sumed the task of digesting a scheme of instruction and discipline for his infant seminary. In doing this, he sought light wherever it was to be found; and borrowed many useful hints from the venerable university of Paris. His system was of the most enlightened kind, being directed to call all the powers of the student into action, and not to leave him a mere pa.s.sive recipient in the hands of his teachers. Besides daily recitations and lectures, he was required to take part in public examinations and discussions, so conducted as to prove effectually his talent and acquisitions. In these gladiatorial displays, Ximenes took the deepest interest, and often encouraged the generous emulation of the scholar by attending in person.

Two provisions may be noticed as characteristic of the man. One, that the salary of a professor should be regulated by the number of his disciples.

Another, that every professor should be re-eligible at the expiration of every four years. It was impossible, that any servant of Ximenes should sleep on his post. [28]

Liberal foundations were made for indigent students, especially in divinity. Indeed, theological studies, or rather such a general course of study as should properly enter into the education of a Christian minister, was the avowed object of the inst.i.tution. For the Spanish clergy up to this period, as before noticed, were too often deficient in the most common elements of learning. But in this preparatory discipline, the comprehensive mind of Ximenes embraced nearly the whole circle of sciences taught in other universities. Out of the forty-two chairs, indeed, twelve only were dedicated to divinity and the canon law; while fourteen were appropriated to grammar, rhetoric, and the ancient cla.s.sics; studies, which probably found especial favor with the cardinal, as furnis.h.i.+ng the only keys to a correct criticism and interpretation of the Scriptures.

[29]

Having completed his arrangements, the cardinal sought the most competent agents for carrying his plans into execution; and this indifferently from abroad and at home. His mind was too lofty for narrow local prejudices, and the tree of knowledge, he knew, bore fruit in every clime. [30] He took especial care, that the emolument should be sufficient to tempt talent from obscurity, and from quarters however remote, where it was to be found. In this he was perfectly successful, and we find the university catalogue at this time inscribed with the names of the most distinguished scholars in their various departments, many of whom we are enabled to appreciate by the enduring memorials of erudition, which they have bequeathed to us. [31]

In July, 1508, the cardinal received the welcome intelligence, that his academy was opened for the admission of pupils; and in the following month the first lecture, being on Aristotle's Ethics, was publicly delivered.

Students soon flocked to the new university, attracted by the reputation of its professors, its ample apparatus, its thorough system of instruction, and, above all, its splendid patronage, and the high character of its founder. We have no information of their number in Ximenes's lifetime; but it must have been very considerable, since no less than seven thousand came out to receive Francis the First on his visit to the university, within twenty years after it was opened. [32]

Five years after this period, in 1513, King Ferdinand, in an excursion made for the benefit of his declining health, paid a visit to Alcala. Ever since his return from Oran, the cardinal, disgusted with public life, had remained with a few brief exceptions in his own diocese, devoted solely to his personal and professional duties. It was with proud satisfaction that he now received his sovereign, and exhibited to him the n.o.ble testimony of the great objects, to which his retirement had been consecrated. The king, whose naturally inquisitive mind no illness could damp, visited every part of the establishment, and attended the examinations, and listened to the public disputations of the scholars with interest. With little learning of his own, he had been made too often sensible, of his deficiencies not to appreciate it in others. His acute perception readily discerned the immense benefit to his kingdom, and the glory conferred on his reign by the labors of his ancient minister, and he did ample justice to them in the unqualified terms of his commendation.