Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/367

223 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 223 singular modesty, as to require to be urged to ac- chapter cept the dignities to which their merits entitled them. ^^ V. The regulation of trade. It will be readily Eestoration " •'of trade. conceived that trade, agriculture, and every branch of industry must have languished under the misrule of preceding reigns. For what purpose, indeed, strive to accumulate wealth, when it would only serve to sharpen the appetite of the spoiler ? For what purpose cultivate the earth, when the fruits were sure to be swept away, even before harvest time, in some ruthless foray ? The frequent famines and pestilences, which occurred in the latter part of Henry's reign and the commencement of his successor's, show too plainly the squalid condition of the people, and their utter destitution of all use- ful arts. We are assured by the Curate of Los Palacios, that the plague broke out in the southern districts of the kingdom, carrying off eight, or nine, or even fifteen thousand inhabitants from the vari- ous cities ; while the prices of the ordinary aliments of life rose to a height, which put them above the reach of the poorer classes of the community. In addition to these physical evils, a fatal shock was given to commercial credit by the adulteration of the coin. Under Henry the Fourth, it is computed that there were no less than one hundred and fifty 49 Salazar de Mendoza, Cron. similar independent conduct pur- del Gran Cardenal, lib. l,cap. 53. sued by Ferdinand, three years — Idem, Dignidadesde Castilla, p. previous, with reference to the see 374. — Pulgar Reyes Catolicos, of Tara^ona, related by Zurita, part. 2, cap. 104. — See also the Anales, tom. iv. fol. 304.