preservation were utilized for each other’s discomfiture. Alliances were formed with the infidel. Important fortresses were unhesitatingly surrendered to secure his favor. His garrisons were introduced into strongholds in the very heart of the Moslem territory. The Koran and the crucifix were carried side by side in campaigns against loyal and orthodox sectaries of Mohammed. In spite of the danger of familiarizing the Christian enemy with the position and strength of their defences, in spite of the well-known duplicity of that enemy in dealing with adversaries of another creed, a policy utterly subversive of national autonomy was encouraged. The fatal passions of the Desert, dormant for many centuries, revived with tenfold vigor. The relentless spirit of vengeance dominated every other feeling. A chieftain whose dominions embraced but a few square miles, whose castle was perched upon some isolated peak, and whose army numbered a few hundred banditti, cared not so much for the plunder by which he lived as for the destruction of his neighbor. The powerful emir, who governed great cities and aspired to the most grandiloquent titles of royalty, indulged without restraint his hereditary instincts of national, sectional, or tribal hatred. In vain wise statesmen, whose sagacity predicted the impending downfall of the Moslem power, represented the necessity for organization against the common foe. With sorrow those in whom the feelings of public spirit and pious zeal were not extinguished saw principality after principality enriched with the spoils of Moorish cities and, sustained by the aid of Moorish tribute, exalted to the rank of Christian kingdoms. With an apathy peculiar to those blinded by prejudice, the more bigoted partisans viewed the foundation and growth of a new state which, after many vicissitudes and reverses, having fixed its capital at the mouth of the Tagus, soon equalled in influence and wealth the more ancient kingdoms of Leon, Castile, and Aragon. Instead of there being one direction from which to expect the enemy, he now descended on every side. The Moslem territory was completely surrounded. The limits of that territory were annually contracting. The great naval powers of Italy dominated the Mediterranean. They were intimately connected with the Christian sovereignties of Spain; their aid had been conspicuously instrumental in effecting the capture of Almeria; their fleets were at the disposal of the Holy See, from which now issued bull after bull summoning the Faithful to new crusades in the Peninsula. Principally through this impulse, the armies of the Spanish princes were largely recruited from the most brutal and degraded populations in the world. Of these, returned adventurers from Palestine and outlawed bandits from England, France, and Italy formed no inconsiderable proportion. Such was the totally unprincipled character of these allies, that they did not hesitate, when opportunity offered, to plunder those in