For account of Carlos III's reign, see Manuel Danvila y Collado's Reinado de Carlos III (Madrid, 1894). An interesting description of this monarch's character and mode of life may be found in the Dublin Magazine for April, 1763, pp. 238, 239; it is written by a clergyman named Clark, "chaplain to the Earl of Bristol, late ambassador at the court of Madrid." He says, among other things: "He is the greatest Nimrod of his time: he sacrifices everything to this favorite pleasure; he was disgusted at his public entry, because it hindered him of four days sport. He stayed three days at Toledo, and killed six wild mountain-cats, which, as I was well informed by those who had calculated the expence of that expedition, cost him exactly 1000 l. a cat." "It has been imagined that he is a very weak prince, and of little or no understanding: Ir is a great mistake; he has some parts, but is mulish and obstinate to the last degree; and, by being constantly flattered, he imagines that he has more understanding than he really possesses. He is reserved beyond the common reserve of princes, has no confidant, and communicates his will only by his orders to put into execution. He can neither be led nor driven; all must come from himself." "He allows no minister to remonstrate or argue with him." "He arrested and banished the inquisitor-general, and sent him prisoner to a convent. He engaged in the present war with England, contrary to the sentiments of his ministers, and in direct opposition to the voice of the whole nation." [63] A copy of the naturalization papers of Nicolas Norton y Nicols as a Spaniard exists in the Archivo general de Indias at Sevilla; its pressmark is, "Est. 105, caj. 2, leg. 13, libro 12, fol. 226b-229b," and the document is dated at Aranjuez, August 3, 1758. Norton became a Catholic, and was allowed to trade in the Philippines. The allusion to "192 years" is somewhat incorrect, if he refers to the first discovery of the islands, which occurred in 1565; or else he may have begun to write out this proposal to the king as early as 1757, which would tally with the above numbers. [64] In the text, Bisarjas, evidently a clerical error. This, and a few similar discrepancies in the MS., strengthen the conjecture that it is not written by Norton's own hand; it was probably dictated by him to an amanuensis.