tion of that monarch, and at once refumed whatever he had alienated. The effects of thefe revocations extended to many perfons of great rank; for though Ferdinand was a prince of little generofity, yet he and Ifabella having been raised to the throne of Caftile by a powerful faction of the nobles, they were obliged to reward the zeal of their adherents with great liberality, and the royal demeines were their only fund for that purpofe. The addition made to the revenue of the crown by thefe revocations, together with his own frugal economy, enabled Ximenes not only to difcharge all the debts which Ferdinand had left, and to remit confiderable fums to Flanders, but to pay the officers of his new militia, and to eftablifh magazines more numerous, and better furnished with artillery, arms, and warlike ftores, than Spain had ever poffeffed in any former age. The prudent and difinterefted application of thefe fums was a full apology to the people for the rigour with which exacted.

they were

The nobles alarmed at thefe repeated attacks, thought it neceffary to take precautions for the fafety of their order. Many cabals were formed, loud complaints were uttered, and defperate refolutions taken; but before they proceeded to extremities, they appointed fome of their number to examine the powers in confequence of which the Cardinal exercifed acts of fuch high authority. The admiral of Caftile, the dake de Infantado, and the condé de Benevento, grandees of the firft rank, were entrusted with this commiffion. Ximenes received them with cold civility, and in anfwer to their demand pro

duced the teftament of Ferdinand, by which he was appointed regent, together with the ratification of that deed by Charles. To both these they objected; and he endeavoured to establish their validity. As the converfation grew warm, he led them infenfibly towards a balcony, from which they had a view of a large body of troops, under arms, and of a formidable train of artillery, "Behold," fays he, pointing to these, and raifing his voice, "the powers which I have received from his Catholic Majefty. With thefe I govern Caftile; and with thefe I will govern it, till the king your mafter and mine takes poffeffion of his kingdom." A declaration fo bold and haughty filenced them, and aftonished their affociates. To take arms against a man aware of his danger, and prepared for his defence, was what defpair alone would dictate. All thoughts of a general confederacy against the Cardinal's administra

tion

were laid afide; and except from fome flight commotions, excited by the private refentment of particular noblemen, the tranquillity of Caftile fuffered no interruption.

It was not only from the oppofition of the Spanish nobility that obftacles arofe to the execution of the Cardinal's fchemes; he had a conftant ftruggle to maintain with the Flemish minifters, who, prefuming upon their favour with the young king, aimed at directing the affairs of Spain, as well as thofe of their own country. Jealous of his great abilities, and independent fpirit, they confidered him rather as a rival who might circumfcribe their power, than as a minifter, who by his prudence and vigour was adding to the grandeur and autho

rity of their mafter. Every complaint againft his adminiftration was liftened to with pleafure by the courtiers in the Low Countries. Unneceffary obftructions were thrown by their means in the way of all his meafares, and though they could not, either with decency or fafety, deprive him of the office of regent, they endeavoured to leffen his authority by dividing it. They foon difcovered that Adrian of Utrecht, already joined with him in office, had neither genius nor fpirit fufficient to give the leaft check to his proceedings, and therefore Charles, by their advice, added to the commiffion of regency La Chau, a Flemish gentleman, and afterwards Amerstorf, a nobleman of Holland; the former diftinguished for his addrefs, the latter for his firmnefs. Ximenes, though no ftranger to the malevolent intention of the Flemish courtiers, received them with all the external marks of diftinction due to the office with which they were invefted; but when they came to enter upon bufinefs, he abated nothing of that air of fuperiority with which he had treated Adrian, and still retained the fole direction of affairs. The Spaniards, more averfe, perhaps, than any other people to the government of ftrangers, approved of all his efforts to preferve his authority; and even the nobles, influenced by this national paffion, and forgetting their jealoufies and discontents, chofe rather to fee the fupreme power in the hands of one of their countrymen, whom they feared, than in thofe of foreigners, whom they hated.

Ximenes, though engaged in fuch great fchemes of domeftic policy, and embarraffed by the artifices and

intrigues of the Flemish minifters, had the burden of two foreign wars to fupport. The one was in Navarre, invaded by its unfortunate monarch, John d'Albret. The death of Ferdinand, the abfence of Charles, and the difcord and difaffection which reigned among the Spanish nobles, feemed to prefent him with a favourable opportunity of recovering his dominions. The Cardinal's vigilance, however, defeated a meafure fo well concerted. Forefeeing the danger to which that kingdom might be expofed, one of his firft acts of adminiftration was to order thither a confiderable body of troops. While the king was employed with one part of his army in the fiege of St. Jean Pied en Port, Villalva, an officer of great experience and courage, attacked the other by furprize, and cut it to pieces. The king inftantly retreated with precipitation, and an end was put to the war. But as Navarre was filled at that time with towns and caftles, flightly fortified, and weakly garrifoned, which being unable to refift ferved only to furnish him with places of retreat; Ximenes, always bold and decifive in his measures, ordered every one of these to be difmantled, except Pampeluna, the fortifications of which he proposed to render very ftrong. To this uncommon precaution Spain owes the poffeffion of Navarre. French, fince that period, have often entered, and have as often overrun the open country; but while they were expofed to all the inconveniences attending an invading army, the Spaniards have eafily drawn troops from the neighbouring provinces to oppofe them; and the French, being deftitute of

C 2

an enemy,

The

ftrong

ftrong towns to which they could retire, have been obliged to abandon their conqueft with as much rapidity as they gained it.

The war which he carried on in Africa, againft the famous adventurer Horuc Barbaroffa, who, from a private corfair, raifed himfelf, by his fingular valour and addrefs, to be king of Algiers and Tunis, was far from being equally fuccefsful. The ill conduct of the Spanish general, and the rafh valour of his troos, prefented Barbaroffa with an eafy victory. Many perifhed in the battle, more in the retreat, and the remainder returned into Spain covered with infamy. The magnanimity, however, with which the cardinal bore this difgrace, the only one he experienced during his administration, added new luftre to his character. Great compofure of temper, under a difappointment, was not expected from a man fo remarkable for the eagerness and impatience with which he urged on the execution of all his fchemes.

[Our author, after fhewing how this great minifter was continually thwarted in his defigns, and his conduct mifreprefented, by the king's Flemish minifters and evil counsellors, gives the following account of the ungrateful return he met with from his royal mafier, and the manner of his death.]

Ximenes, who confidered the prefence of the king as the greateft bleffing to his dominions, was advancing towards the coaft, as faft as the infirm ftate of his health would permit, in order to receive him. Dering his regency, and notwithftanding his extreme old age, he abated, in no degree, the rigour or frequency of his mortifications;

and to these he added fuch laborious affiduity in bufinefs, as would have worn out the most youthful and vigorous conftitution. Every day he employed feveral hours in devotion; he celebrated mass in perfon; he even allotted fome space for ftudy. Notwithstanding thefe occupations, he regularly attended the council; he received and read all papers prefented to him; he dictated letters and inftructions; and took under his infpection all bufinefs, civil, ecclefiaftical, or military. Every moment of his time was filled up with fome ferious employment. The only amufement in which he indulged himfelf, by way of relaxation after bufinefs, was to canvafs, with a few friars and divines, fome intricate article in fcholaftic theology. Wafted by fuch a courfe of life, the infirmi ties of age daily grew upon him. On his journey, a violent diforder feized him at Bos Equillos, attended with uncommon fymptoms; which his followers confidered as the effect of poifon; but could not agree whether the crime ought to be imputed to the hatred of the Spanish nobles or to the malice of the Flemish courtiers. This accident obliging him to ftop fhort, he wrote to Charles, and, with his ufual boldnefs, advised him to difmifs all the ftrangers in his train, whofe numbers and credit gave offence already to the Spaniards, and would ere long alienate the affections of the whole people. At the fame time, he earnestly defired to have an interview with the king, that he might inform him of the state of the na tion, and the temper of his fubjects. To prevent this, not only the Flemings, but the Spanish grandees, employed all their ad

drefs,

drefs, and induftrioufly kept Charles at a distance from Aranda, the place to which the cardinal had removed. Through their fuggeftions, every measure that he, recommended was rejected; the utmost care was taken to make him feel, and to point out to the whole nation, that his power was on the decline; even in things purely trivial, fuch a choice was always made, as was deemed moft difagreeable to him. Ximenes did not bear this treatment with his ufual fortitude of fpirit. Confcious of his own integrity and merit, he expected a more grateful return from a prince to whom he delivered a kingdom more flourishing than it had been in any former age, and authority more extenfive and better eftablished, than the

moft illuftrious of his ancestors had ever poffeffed. He could not, therefore, on many occafions, refrain from giving vent to his indignation and complaints. He lamented the fate of his country, and foretold the calamities it would fuffer from the infolence, the rapaciousness, and ignorance of ftrangers. While his mind was agitated by thefe paffions, he received a letter from the king, in which, after a few cold and formal expreffions of regard, he was allowed to retire to his diocefe; that after a life of fuch continued labour, he might end his days in tranquillity. This meffage proved fatal to Ximens. His haughty mind, it is probable, would not furvive difgrace; perhaps, his generous heart could not bear the profpect of the misfortunes ready to fall on his country. Whichfoever of thefe opinions we embrace, certain it is, that he expired a few hours after reading the letter. The variety, the grandeur, and the fuc

cefs of his fchemes, during a regency of only twenty months, leave it doubtful, whether his fagacity in council, his prudence in conduct, or his boldness in execution, deserve the greatest praife. His reputation is ftill high in Spain, not only for wifdom, but for fanctity; and he is the only prime minifter mentioned in hiftory, whom his cotemporaries reverenced as a faint, and to whom the people under his government afcribed the power of working miracles.

Of the famous Corfairs Horuc Barbaroffa, and his brother Hayradin.

ABOUT the beginning of the

was

fixteenth century a fudden revolution happened, which, by rendering the ftates of Barbary formidable to the Europeans, hath made their history worthy of more attention. This revolution brought about by perfons born in a rank of life which entitled them to act no fuch il trious part. Horuc and Hayradin, the fons of a potter in the ifle of Lefbos, prompted by a reftlefs and enterprifing fpirit, forfook their father's trade; ran to fea, and joined a crew of pirates. They foon diftinguished themfelves by their valour and activity; and becoming masters of a fmall brigantine, carried on their infamous trade with fuch conduct and fuccefs, that they affembled a fleet of twelve galleys, befides many veffels of fmaller force. this fleet Horuc, the eldest brother, called Barbaroffa from the red colour of his beard, was admiral, and Hayradin fecond in command, but with almoft equal authority. They C 3

Of

called

had come to affift, and caufed him, felf to be proclaimed king of Al giers in his ftead. The authority which he had thus boldly ufurped, he endeavoured to established by arts fuited to the genius of the people whom he had to govern; by liberality, without bounds, to thofe who favoured his promotion, and by cruelty, no lefs unbounded, towards all whom he had any reason to diftruft. Not fatisfied with the throne which he had acquired, he attacked the neighbouring king of Tremecen, and having vanquished him in battle, added his dominions to thofe of Algiers. At the fame time he continued to inveft the coafts of Spain and Italy, with fleets, which refembled the armaments of a great monarch, rather than the light fquadrons of a corfair. The devaftations which thefe committed, obliged Charles, about the beginning of his reign, to furnifh the Marquis de Commares, governor of Oran, with troops fufficient to attack him. That officer, affifted by the dethroned king of Tremecen, executed the commiffion with fuch fpirit, that Barbaroffa's troops being beat in feveral rencounters, he himself was fhut up in Tremecen; after defending it to the laft extremity, he was overtaken in attempting to make his efcape, and flain while he fought with an obftinate valour, worthy of his former fame and exploits.

called themselves the friends of the fea, and the enemies of all who fail upon it; and their names foon became terrible, from the ftraits of the Dardanelles to thofe of Gibraltar. Together with their fame and power, their ambitious views opened and enlarged; and, while acting as corfairs, they adopted the ideas, and acquired the talents of conquerors. They often carried the prizes which they took on the coafts of Spain and Italy, into the ports of Barbary; and enriching the inhabitants by the fale of their booty, and the thoughtlefs prodigality of their crews, were welcome guefts in every place at which they touched. The convenient fituation of thefe harbours lying fo near the greatest commercial lates, at that time in Christendom, made the brothers wish for an eftablishment in that country. An opportunity of accomplishing this quickly prefented itself, which they did not fuffer to pafs unimproved. Eutemi, king of Algiers, having attempted feveral times, without fuccefs, to take a fort which the Spanish governor of Cran had built not far from his capital, was fo ill adifed as to apply for aid to Barbaroffa, whofe valour the Africans confidered as irrefiftible. The active corfair gladly accepted of the invitation; and leaving his brother Hayradin with the fleet, marched at the head of five thousand men to Algiers, where he was received as their deliverer. Such a force gave him the command of the town; and obferving that the Moors neither fufpected him of any bad intention, nor were capable with their light-armed troops of oppofing his difciplined veterans, he fecretly murdered the monarch whom he

His brother Hayradin, known likewife by the name of Barbarofa, affumed the fceptre of Algiers with the fame ambition and abilities, but with better fortune. His reign being undisturbed by the arms of the Spaniards, which had full occupation in the wars among European powers, he regulated, with

the

admirable