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themselves and their effects, free of charge, from whatever port they should prefer."

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In January 1492, the Spanish sovereigns made their entry into the Moorish capital, while the fallen monarch quitted it. The following is Mr Irving's fine description of the departure of the latter: Having surrendered the last symbol of power, the unfortunate Boabdil continued on towards the Alpuxares, that he might not behold the entrance of the Christians into his capital. His devoted band of cavaliers followed him in gloomy silence; but heavy sighs burst from their bosoms as shouts of joy and strains of triumphant music were borne on the breeze from the victorious army. Having rejoined his family, Boabdil set forward with a heavy heart for his allotted residence, in the valley of Porchena. At two leagues' distance, the cavalcade, winding into the skirts of the Alpuxares, ascended an eminence commanding the last view of Granada. As they arrived at this spot, the Moors paused involuntarily, to take a farewell gaze at their beloved city, which a few steps more would shut from their sight for ever. Never had it appeared so lovely in their eyes. The sunshine, so bright in that transparent climate, lighted up each tower and minaret, and rested gloriously upon the crowning battlements of the Alhambra; while the vega spread its enamelled bosom of verdure below, glistening with the silver windings of the Xenil. The Moorish cavaliers gazed with a silent agony of tenderness and grief upon that delicious abode, the scene of their loves and pleasures. While they yet looked, a light cloud of smoke burst forth from the citadel, and presently a peal of artillery, faintly heard, told that the city was taken possession of, and the throne of the Moslem kings was lost for ever. The heart of Boabdil, softened by misfortunes, and overcharged with grief, could no longer contain itself. Allah achbar!-(God is great!)' said he; but the words of resignation died upon his lips, and he burst into a flood of tears. His mother, the intrepid Sultana Ayxa la Horra, was indignant at his weakness. 'You do well,' said she, 'to weep like a woman for what you failed to defend like a man!' The vizier, Aben Comixa, endeavoured to console his royal master. Consider, sire,' said he, 'that the most signal misfortunes often render men as renowned as the most prosperous achievements, provided they sustain them with magnanimity. The unhappy monarch, however, was not to be consoled. His tears continued to flow. Allah achbar!' exclaimed he; when did misfortunes ever equal mine?' From this circumstance the hill, which is not far from Padul, took the name of Feg Allah Achbar; but the point of view commanding the last prospect of Granada is known among Spaniards by the name of El ultimo suspiro del Moro, or, "The last sigh of the Moor."

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It was not in accordance with the spirit of the age, above all, with the spirit of such a devotedly-Catholic country as Spain,

that a portion of the subjects of a kingdom, however peaceable and useful, should be allowed to remain undisturbed in the exercise of a religion different from that of the majority. Accordingly, within ten years of the conquest of Granada, the system of forced conversions was employed. Thousands of Moors and Jews, to save their lives, allowed themselves to be baptised; and thousands more left the peninsula for Africa and the East. In the reigns of the successors of Ferdinand and Isabella, the same policy was continued. The bigoted Philip II. especially distinguished himself by his persecuting zeal against the Moors; insomuch that, during his reign, Granada was often in a state of revolt. To crush the Moorish spirit more effectually, and secure their conversion to Christianity, Philip removed them from their original seats on the sea-coast, and distributed them through the interior of Spain. Crushed and conquered as they had been, these sons of Arabia still retained much of their ancient superiority of temperament; and wherever they went, it was remarked that they monopolised all places of wealth and commercial consequence, so that a Moor thrived where a Spaniard would have starved. This, co-operating with the hereditary dislike which no intermixture or studied conformity on the part of the Moors could extinguish-at last determined the Spanish government to adopt the atrocious policy of expelling the Moors from Spain. The expulsion was finally carried into effect in the reign of Philip III., at the beginning of the seventeenth century. By a decree of that monarch, upwards of one million of his most industrious subjects were expelled from the kingdom in the course of a few months, because they were of Moorish blood. It is calculated that two millions had, in the course of the previous century, voluntarily left Spain. By the edict of Philip III., six Moorish families out of every hundred were to be allowed, or rather forced, to remain for a time in Spain, to teach the Spaniards certain arts and manufactures for which the Moors were celebrated. This was a miserable device to save the country from the effects of the expulsion of her best subjects; and it proved so; for the decline of Spain, as a commercial country, dates from this disastrous event. The fate of the poor outcasts themselves we need not trace. Such of them as survived the sufferings which attended the act of their expulsion, took root in other countries, principally Mohammedan, and there lived in peace.

Thus, after nine centuries, during which they performed successively the parts of invaders, conquerors, rulers, joint occupants, and subjects, were the Arabs expelled from Spain. Besides their imperishable contributions to the civilisation of Europe, there are numerous local traces of their residence in the Spanish peninsula. The anniversary of the surrender of Granada to the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella, is still celebrated by festivities, rejoicings, and grotesque processions in all the towns and vil lages of the south of Spain.

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ANTOINE DE MONTYON, whose life affords one of the most brilliant examples of practical and judicious benevolence, was born at Paris on the 23d of December 1733. His father, a respectable accountant, bred up his son to the profession of the law; and such was the early proficiency of young Montyon in his studies, that, when only twenty-two years of age, he was admitted an advocate at the Châtelet-a court of civil and criminal jurisprudence in the French capital. Here he distinguished himself by his talents, and, when still in middle life, he was raised to the dignity of counsellor of state, and was also appointed to the government of Auvergne, a central province in France, where he speedily obtained the love, respect, and gratitude of the inhabitants, not only by his great integrity and justice, but his benevolence on many occasions of suffering.

To make room for some ministerial favourites of the day, he was first shifted from the government of Auvergne to that of Marseilles, from Marseilles afterwards to Rochelle, and finally he lost his situations altogether. By the accession of Louis XVI., and a change from the dissolute state of affairs which had previously prevailed at court, Montyon again came into favourable notice, and was appointed chancellor of the royal household. Previous to his receiving this situation, and also when he enjoyed it, he occupied himself in devising and executing useful foundations; but this career of benevolence was brought to a close by the Revolution, an event which caused him to remove first to Switzerland, and afterwards to England, to which

country he wisely transferred his fortune. While in England, Montyon devoted himself to scientific pursuits, and found scope for his benevolence in relieving the necessities of poor emigrants, and also in sending occasional contributions to the poor French prisoners of war. Returning to France in 1815, he resumed his labours of public usefulness; and these he continued till the period of his death, on the 29th of December 1820.

Such are the few leading facts in the biography of this remarkable man, whose life was destitute of all stirring incident, and is only memorable for an untiring course of unostentatious benevolence. Montyon appears to have been one of the kindesthearted men of whom we have any account; but with this kindness was united the not less rare quality of prudence. His charity was not lavish or indiscriminate; it was founded on comprehensive views of society, and had usually moral advancement for its special object. Influenced by the responsibility which wealth imparts, he seems to have spent the greater part of a long life in organizing and establishing beneficiary institutions entirely at his own cost. Besides dispensing large sums for this purpose, he resorted to the plan, more common in France than in England, of founding prizes, to be awarded annually on various objects of benevolence and utility. Among the various foundations which he instituted, we select the following five as the more remarkable:

1. A foundation destined to restore to the poor those articles which they had been driven by necessity to pledge, but had not the means of redeeming—the value of each article to be under five francs.

2. A foundation to award donations of money for the good behaviour of children bred up in the army.

3. A foundation for the relief of convalescent hospital patients, whose weakness incapacitates them from work; but who, being eured, can no longer remain in the asylum which had been opened to them.

4. A foundation to purchase small annuities for poor and infirm persons.

5. A foundation to award annual prizes for acts of virtue and heroism in humble life.

Of this last-mentioned endowment, the greatest and most popular of all Montyon's benevolences, it is our object to speak at some length; for no act of his life was so considerate, or has been attended with such important results.

The foundation consists of a large sum of money, productive of about twenty thousand franes, or £800 annually, which is placed at the disposal of the French Academy—a literary and scientific association of gentlemen in Paris. The sum yearly dispensed is sometimes more, sometimes less, according to circumstances. In 1845 the sum bestowed was £760, in different allotments. In the first place, there were three large prizes: one of £120, a

second of £80, and a third of £60. Next, there were seventeen inferior prizes, called medals, consisting of eight of £40 each, and nine of £20 each. The sums are publicly mentioned by the Academy, with the names of those who receive them, and are paid at the secretary's office in Paris on personal application, or to any individual properly authorised to receive them.

All the departments of France have an equal right to furnish or mention candidates for the prizes; and the mode of application is as follows. When any person has become conspicuous in the exercise of either private or public duties, the local authorities, acquainted with the circumstance, make the case known to the Academy, along with the necessary details and vouchers. Their application embraces a full account of the action or actions by which the individuals have become remarkable in the district, their age, means of existence, length of time they have distinguished themselves, and the objects that appear to have influenced their conduct. Great care is taken to prevent imposition. The memorial must be signed by neighbours, and the chief persons of the place-such as large proprietors of land, and the parish priest. Being corroborated by the mayor, it is handed to the prefect of the department, who, should the facts therein stated be known to him, certifies their truth, and in either case sends the whole to the secretary of the Academy, whom the application must reach before the 15th of January.

With respect to the plan on which this foundation proposes to act, it is undoubtedly true that the encouragement of virtuous actions by money payments, or indeed by any mark of public approbation, is not consistent with the soundest principle in morals. So much may be allowed; and yet, as a measure of social policy, the dispensation of rewards of one kind or other is not only far from being injudicious, but obviously commendable. In all questions of this kind we require to look at the actual condition of society, the generally uncultured habits and feelings of the people, the cheerless lot which it is the inheritance of so many to struggle with, the readiness to punish, and the little consideration of provocatives to crime, which unfortunately sig nalise all governments. These, and other circumstances, show that rewards may be judiciously administered as stimulants to virtue; and that such is the general impression of mankind, is evidenced by the distribution of honours among the higher orders of every community. On this topic it may not be inappropriate to give a short extract from the speech of the celebrated statesman Dupin, pronounced with regard to the Montyon Prizes, at the sitting of the Academy on the 11th of December 1845. After stating the great difficulty of properly recompensing virtue, M. Dupin observed-" When the French Academy distributes, as it will to-day, the prizes founded by M. de Montyon, it does not pretend to exercise that high justice which human institutions can never attain. For a few traits which are brought under its

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