Old Times in the Colonies & The Story of Liberty. Charles Carleton Coffin
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than they. Through their aid, Ferdinand and Isabella keep their armies in the field, winning battle after battle, taking town after town, driving the Moors at last to their last stronghold, the old city of Granada, in which is the Alhambra, the gorgeous palace, one from which for centuries the Moorish flag has waved in triumph; but on the 2d of January, 1492, the banner with the crescent moon upon its folds gives place to the flag bearing the cross, and Ferdinand and Isabella take possession of the Alhambra.
In all the wide world there is no palace like this, with its massive walls, spacious halls, marble floors, elaborately chiselled columns and arabesque roofs; its gardens, where the roses are always in bloom, where fountains are ever playing. For six hundred years the Moors have ruled in Granada, but to-day they surrender all to Ferdinand and Isabella.
"You shall still be a free people; you shall be treated with respect; shall have your own customs, and shall not be molested in your religion. No Moor shall be compelled to become a Christian." It is Ferdinand's promise.
The Spanish troops march into the city, the Moors lay down their arms, the crescent flag comes down, and the cross takes its place. In the courts of the Alhambra a Te Deum is chanted, and Father Fernando de Talavera, Isabella's old confessor, is appointed archbishop in a city in which till now there has not been a Christian. All are Moors or Jews. Ferdinand and Isabella are masters of all Spain. All Christian heretics have been rooted out. The fires have blazed, thousands have been burned, other thousands have fled, and from the confiscated estates the king and queen, Torquemada and the Pope, have reaped rich harvests. But there are the Jews. Their ancestors crucified the Saviour. they will not eat pork, and they will persist in eating meat on Fridays. They read the Old Testament and the Talmud. They are sharp at a bargain, and are getting rich. But what rights has a Jew? Not any. they must become Christians, or they shall be turned over to be dealt with by Torquemada.
On the 30th of March, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella issue this proclamation:
"If after July 31st a Jew is found in the country, he shall be put to death. No one shall give shelter to a Jew. Any one doing so shall forfeit all his property. The Jews may sell their houses and farms, but no one shall be permitted to carry any gold or silver out of the country."
That is the order which Ferdinand and Isabella issue on the last day of March. If the Jews cannot carry gold or silver, what can they carry? Who will buy their farms ? Who pay a tithe of the value of the property?
Rabbi Abarbanal is an old man who has been of great service to the king and queen. When they wanted money to carry on the war against the Moors, he supplied them, paid the troops, and so enabled them to conquer. He enters the Alhambra, and kneels before them on the marble pavement.
"Have mercy, O king! Use us not so cruelly. I will pay six hundred thousand crowns of gold for the ransom of my people."
"Do not take it." Isabella speaks the words. Thomas de Torquemada is her confessor, and now he rushes into the audience - chamber, with a crucifix in his hand.
"Judas sold the son of God once for thirty pieces of silver, and you are going to sell him again. Do it! Here he is. Sell Jesus!"
He throws the crucifix upon the table, and runs out of the hall. The
good old rabbi turns away, for Ferdinand has a deaf ear to his entreaty. Perhaps an idea has dawned upon him. Will he not, by the confiscation of all the property of the Jews, get more than six hundred thousand crowns?
From the ports o£ Carthagena, Valencia, Cadiz, Gibraltar, ships are Bailing away, carrying the fugitives to Africa, Italy, and the East Some are shipwrecked, some murdered; many die of disease, more by famine. Some are sold into slavery. Remorselessly the edict is carried out Their property is seized, and Ferdinand grows rich upon the spoils.
Through the waning summer months the stricken Jews take their departure: five hundred thousand are driven from the country! With them go the thrift and industry of Spain. Isabella, Ferdinand, and the Pope, through the Holy Office, have possession of the property; but estates without tenants bring no income to the treasury. In driving them out, Ferdinand and Isabella kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
Besides the five hundred thousand Jews driven out, more than one hundred thousand heretics are burned to death, or are thrown into prison, or lose their property by confiscation. The records of the Holy Office show how zealously Torquemada worked to exterminate heretics.
This is the record:
Torquemada dies; but Diego Deza steps into his place as chief questioner, and the terrible machine of the Holy Office goes on night and day grinding men and women, humanity, liberty, justice, right, and truth into the dust.
"The Moors must become Christians, or be banished," says the new chief questioner to Ferdinand.
"The treaty stipulates that they shall hive peaceable enjoyment of their religion," Ferdinand replies.
"Their religion is an abomination in the sight of God. It is right to break faith with infidels.
Ferdinand sees an opportunity to fill his treasury. The Holy Office urges him to show his zeal for the Church, and he makes his decision:
"The Moors must become Christians, or leave the country."
The expulsion begins, and year after year goes on. The conquered Moslems, since their surrender, have been dutiful subjects Many of them are wealthy. They offer to buy their ransom, but they appeal to deaf ears and to stony hearts. Pity has fled, and humanity is dead. Into the treasury of the Church and the king flows the accumulated wealth of six hundred years. Some of the Moors have professedly become Christians; but they will eat no pork, and they will eat meat on Friday, as the Holy Office discovers, and they are hurried to the stake to pay the penalty with their lives. Fires blaze. Men, women, and children are burned to death. Weeping and wailing is heard on every hand; dismay and despair are seen in the face of every Moor. On the side of Ferdinand, Isabella, and the Pope there is power; but for the Moors there is no comforter. So Ferdinand and Isabella rear the foundations of their united thrones on the graves of hundreds of thousands of the victims of their broken faith: while the Pope joins them in exterminating the last vestige of liberty, honor, justice, and right.
The king, queen, and the Pope take possession of the estates; and the country is filled with beware, who wander homeless, friendless, through the land, holding out their hands to the passers-by, in the streets of the cities, for a morsel of bread.
CHAPTER VI
HOW A MAN TRIED TO REACH THE EAST BY SAILING WEST
IT is the month of February, 1492. The skies are mild, the flowers, in bloom, and the birds are singing in the orange gardens of the Alhambra, in the old town of Granada. Notwithstanding this joy and gladness in nature, there is one man in Granada who has no heart to enjoy it, for he has just seen a great hope, one which he has cherished many years, go down, never to rise again, so far as he can see. He comes out from the Alhambra — leaving its magnificent colonnades, its babbling fountains, its beautiful gardens, never expecting again to behold them — mounts a mule, rides out through the narrow streets, through the city gate, with his head bowed upon his breast. He is a gray-bearded man, and time is deepening the furrows in his forehead, and on this day they are deeper than ever. He has a proud spirit, and it is hard to