It may seem a work of supererogation to traverse once more a portion of the ground covered by Irving and Prescott. The final episode in the fall of a great empire could not, however, with propriety be omitted. Moreover, the accounts of these two famous writers swarm with errors, as any one can readily discover who will consult the chronicles of Pulgar and Bernaldez, eye-witnesses, and consequently the most reliable authorities concerning what they relate. The quotations of Irving, it may be added, indicate a surprising want of familiarity with the Castilian language. That writer best fulfils the office of an historian who passes before the mind of the reader, as in a panorama, not merely the more striking events of war and diplomacy, but circumstances often regarded as unimportant, yet which illustrate, as no others can do, the condition of the masses as well as the policy of the prince; which indicate the condition of public and private morals; which exhibit the effects of domestic manners, of ingenious inventions, of literary progress and artistic development; which reveal the unfolding of national taste--which present, in short, the portraiture of every material and intellectual feature necessary to the elucidation of the character, the aspirations, and the foibles of a people. With this end in view, sources of information usually regarded as beneath the dignity of an historical work have been drawn on for material in the following pages. The author cherishes no feeling of animosity towards the Spanish people. He remembers with pleasure a long sojourn among them. He can never forget the dignified courtesy of their men, the incomparable grace and fascinations of their women. Their faults are those entailed by a pernicious inheritance and a corrupt religion, which have perverted their principles, destroyed their power, and tarnished their glory. As the greater part of this book was written before 1898, any unfavorable criticism of Spanish politics or manners which it contains must be attributed to a desire to adhere to historic truth, and not to a contemptible prejudice engendered by our unfortunate “War of Humanity.” PHILADELPHIA, 1903. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. CHAPTER I THE ANCIENT ARABIANS PAGE