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cruelty of the Inquisition. Oran, in the language of the times, was Christian. Thus the fight of faith was fought in the days of Romish sway, and the shadow of the cross was thrown over the horrors of an assault.

We must not stay to relate with what envy Ferdinand beheld his Chancellor's fortune, or the humiliation which the crusading monk suffered, till he would brook it no more, and retreated to his favourite Alcala, where he enriched the library with manuscripts saved from the sack of Oran. This expedition was long a sore in the heart of Ximenes ; and his "Christian oasis," as he called Oran, bore him nothing but thorns. He and Ferdinand fell to quarrelling over the spoil; and the King's commissioners searched the Cardinal's palace, as though he were a receiver of stolen goods. At these tidings, a grim smile would light up many a Morisco face, and more than a little satisfaction be felt at the humiliation of the proud churchman.

Far away in Cuba was a certain busy priest, more farmer than priest, a good gold-digger, owner of a fair proportion of slaves; but compelled to leave these things, to prepare homilies for Whitsuntide. While searching for a text, his eye fell on Ecclesiasticus xxxiv., where the son of Sirach says some hard things of oppressors; as, for example, "He who wrongs a hireling of his wages, poureth out blood." Then the priest thought of some who paid no wages to the hirelings in homesteads and mines. He remembered, too, how, a long time before, he had heard a Dominican friar declare that all slaveholders live in mortal sin; and how, when the congregation resented this, the friar took for his text, on the next Sunday, Job xxxvi. 3, and read, in a sonorous voice, to the scandal of all who knew Latin, Repetam scientiam meam à principio, et operatorem meum probabo justum :—a promise he faithfully redeemed in very plain Spanish, not only repeating his doctrine, but persuading all who could be persuaded that it was a just work to let the slave go free. That Whitsuntide, Las Casas (for he was the priest) gave up his slaves, and proved himself a father to the Indians in more than name.

Strong in the justice of his cause, Las Casas determined to have an audience with Ferdinand, but found it easier to cross the seas than to reach the throne: for between the advocate of the Indians, and the King, stood the heartless Bishop of Burgos, who said, when he had heard of all the miseries the natives suffered, "Look you, what a droll fool! What is this to me, and what is it to the King ?" Well might Las Casas exclaim, in the bitterness of despair, "O great and eternal God! to whom, then, is it of consequence ?" He who "beholds mischief and spite, to requite it with His hand," had seen a laughing child taken and thrown into a river, that a Spaniard might jest at its death! He had seen a thousand friends and servants murdered in a paroxysm of anger, and no one of the perpetrators of that massacre could tell why the sword was drawn! He had seen the inhabitants of Hispaniola

dwindle, in little more than twenty years, from three millions to thir teen thousand! And to Him who suffers no sparrow to fall unheeded, this was "of consequence." He moved the King's heart to appoint a Commission to inquire into these things, and used the great power and inflexible will of Ximenes to soften the woes of His children in the western world.

In one of the meetings of this Commission there was a curious scene. The clerk of the court was called on to read certain regulations touch. ing the Indians, and for some cause chose to read wrongly. "That is not the law," cried Las Casas. "Read it again," said Ximenes. Again the clerk read it, and again came the protest. "Be silent," thundered Ximenes. "Your lordship may cut off my head, if that is the law," answered the intrepid advocate of the Indians. Some members of the Junta interposed, and the clerk's fraud was discovered. This overwhelmed him with shame,-" while no one," says Las Casas, "thought any worse of the clerigo that contradicted the Cardinal."

On the death of Ferdinand, Ximenes was virtually king of Spain; and he ruled with an iron hand. But toward the Indians he turned the sunny side of his character. The following is an abstract of the regulations given to the commissioners despatched to America to investigate the state of the Indians :-They were to make a strict investigation into the complaints of the natives. Villages were to be built, and churches, to which priests were to be attached; tribal rights were to be secured to the chiefs; all labour was to be rewarded; law was to be righteously administered, and an officer appointed for the protection of the aborigines; farming-stock and implements were to be supplied by the Government; and it was to be understood that the Indians were capable of civilization, and of Christianity. No African Negroes were to be imported, "as they were a warlike people, and would breed disturbances." The Cardinal found, in this, how hard great plans are to be achieved: for the instruments on which he relied broke in his hand, like a badly-tempered sword; and sometimes he found that men are never merely instruments, but have hearts, passions, and the like, which stubbornly refuse to be swayed by any but their proper owners. The persistent opposition of the Spanish colonists thwarted all the Cardinal's plans; and the impulsive nature of Las Casas rendered him unfit to legislate, or be content with anything like partial measures. "Inasmuch as it was in thine heart," is the epitaph written over the tomb of many a generous scheme; and, among them, over the scheme of Ximenes, the abolitionist.

In the short interval between the accession of Charles and the death of Ximenes, the Cardinal held almost supreme power in Spain. It is true, that it was not yet that empire on which the royal recluse at Yuste cast languid glances, as he listened to St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei, and half regretted the most splendid gift a living father ever made his son. But, even then, Spain was a great and growing

power. The foundations of her supremacy were laid; and, in one capacity or another, Ximenes had much to do in rearing the stately edifice destined to be the envy and admiration of the world. This octogenarian monk ruled, as he haughtily expressed it, "by the will of his lord and master," and scrupled at no arbitrary deed. The King's brother did not yield the Regent implicit obedience. The Cardinal swore," By the head of Charles, this household shall be disbanded before sunset;" and night fell on a friendless prince. Already the storm beat on the vessel of the state; but the old man still stood to his post. One of the nobles assured the Regent that a certain measure would kindle war. "Be composed," was the answer; "I will so manage, that all shall be well." That day a strong force marched to the seat of the threatened insurrection, and trod out its embers as soon as kindled. The nobles of Spain murmured, the courtiers were rapacious, the King drained his kingdom of its treasure; and yet his minister maintained the army in full efficiency, proceeded to remodel the navy, improved the finances, put the country in a state of perfect defence, and ruled it as well as it was possible for any to rule in the absence of the monarch. The body of the statesman showed signs of decrepitude; his mind was still vigorous and commanding. The costliest furs were heaped on him in vain; he still shivered with the cold. The silver chafing-dish almost fell from his trembling hands; and yet his mind revolved new projects, and his rule was as severe as that of some eastern despot, whose proud boast is, "My finger shall be thicker than my father's loins," Civil wars, attempted poisonings, and a monarch's ingratitude, closed in on his last years, as clouds round the setting sun. But before the letter of the boyish monarch reached the servant of three kings, and with scant courtesy dismissed him from the royal cabinet, the Conqueror of kings had laid Ximenes low. At that hour in which the world grew dim, his three friends ceased their monotonous chant of the psalms for the dying; and he who had never bowed to human power said, in faltering accents, In te, Domine, speravi. Silence sealed his lips, and the busy life was done.

Ximenes has often been compared with his French rivals, D'Amboise and Richelieu; with his Spanish predecessor, Mendoza; and with his English companion in royal displeasure, Wolsey. And, though each had "such an honest chronicler as Griffith," Ximenes would maintain the superiority. The great scheme of his life was, to render the King absolute in the state, the priest absolute over the conscience. As a politician, he has won the most generous tributes of praise, from Burke especially, (if we trust Madame D'Arblay,) from Prescott, and a multitude of others; while Sismondi, M'Crie, and the majority of liberal authors, call attention to the narrowness of his political and religious opinions. A careful study of his life and political principles would furnish a clue to the often-debated question, why Spain so rapidly declined from her greatness. At heart, Ximenes was a despot: he derided

every instrument of government, but force. His liberal measures were taken, just that by the power of the people he might balance the influence of the nobles, and so render the sovereign absolute. Liberty was dawning on every country in Europe, but the lofty mind of Ximenes caught no rays from the sun which shone into many valleys. A more favourable specimen of a Papist ruler cannot be found in those times, -a man of unexceptionable morals, of great forbearance, of immovable integrity, and capable of grand conceptions. And yet, when we close the story of his life, we thank God that He sent us the Reformation, and delivered us from such men as Ximenes.

Leeds.

F. E. T.

MEMOIR OF ROBERT TOWNEND, ESQ.,

OF HIGHER BROUGHTON, MANCHESTER:

BY THE REV. L. H. WISEMAN.

THERE may possibly be some foundation for the complaint, that biographies are occasionally drawn in too favourable colours. But it must be remembered, on the other hand, that in the church of Christ we are favoured sometimes to meet with persons of rare and admirable excellence, whose memory can be contemplated with unfeigned and unalloyed satisfaction. Such a person was the subject of this brief record; a man whose goodness became the more apparent, the more intimately he was known. His very first appearance struck you with an impression of kindness, and of refinement. His whole bearing was that of the Christian gentleman. And this pleasing and winning exterior was a faithful indication of beautiful qualities of the inner man, which developed more and more upon a longer and a closer acquaintance. Of some men, who are among the excellent of the earth, the exterior is rugged and forbidding; reminding one of an unwieldy and ugly ship, though safe and strong, freighted with costly jewels and with royal beauty. Our dear friend was not so. The vessel itself was goodly to behold, like the freight it bore; and the graces of the mind were not unworthily represented by the graces of the outer man.

MR. TOWNEND was descended from a respectable family in the West Riding of Yorkshire, connected with the manufactures of that district. Several generations of Townends now sleep side by side in the churchyard of Haworth, a place which has long been familiar to Wesleyan Methodists as the parish of William Grimshaw, and which has recently become familiar to the general public as the early home of Charlotte Bronté. From his dawning youth, Robert was always serious, and there was a lovely promise of piety. Before he came of age, he had decided, through the assistance of grace, to consecrate himself to the Lord, and had obtained, through faith in Christ, (as I have learnt from his own

lips,) that blessed sense of sins forgiven, and of acceptance with God, which continued to dwell within him to the close of life. I am not able to state the exact date, but he was still quite a young man when he became a member of the Wesleyan-Methodist Society. Before long he was appointed to the office of a class-leader; and it is a sufficient proof of the consistency of his Christian profession before his own family and household, that his elder brother George, being brought under serious conviction, and determining to offer himself in membership to the church, selected him for his class-leader, and continued to meet with him till Mr. Townend's removal to Manchester, which took place about twenty-nine years ago. Indeed, although the whole circle was well-ordered and devout, he was eminently the pious one of the family; and in early life, as well as in the riper and richer experience of maturer years, he let his light so shine before men, that they saw his good works, and were led, through him, to glorify his Father in heaven.

It pleased God to prosper his engagements in business. He was happily married, in the fear of God; and four sons and three daughters are left, with their honoured mother, to recall the memory, and to mourn the loss, of one whose Christian virtue shone nowhere with a sweeter, brighter, or more even lustre than in the bosom of his own family. As he had been somewhat delicate from his boyhood, so his health became gradually more and more impaired: yet there was an innate strength of constitution, which enabled him to rally surprisingly from fits of asthma which appeared at the moment truly alarming. There can be no doubt that this discipline of bodily suffering was blessed, in the hands of his all-wise Guide and Saviour, to the ripening and perfecting of his soul's health. With peculiar fitness he could adopt the language of Scripture: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes." Being more and more weaned and withdrawn from the things of earth and time, he became more and more instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven. His acquaintance with God's word was that of one who intellectually entered into its varied meaning, and who also had been taught by that unerring Wisdom, that "Interpreter Divine," who alone can open the understanding fully to understand the Scriptures, and to enter into the deep things of God. His love for the inspired law, and his unfailing delight in it, were beautifully manifested on the last Sabbath evening of his life; when, the whole family being around his bed, he requested me to read Isaiah liii., and to explain how the exact fulfilment of the predictions of that chapter, in the person and work of the Lord Christ, furnish a clear and certain evidence of the Divine authority and inspiration of the blessed word; and, also, how clearly the Gospel doctrine, that Jesus Christ has made a full atonement and satisfaction for sin, upon which we may with full confidence fix our hopes of everlasting life, is stated and set forth in the same memorable

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