Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/388

244 244 THE INQUISITION. I. PART the sanctity of religious houses by the violation or seduction of their inmates. They were an exceed- ingly politic and ambitious people, engrossing the most lucrative municipal offices ; and preferred to gain their livelihood by traffic, in which they made exorbitant gains, rather than by manual labor or mechanical arts. They considered themselves in the hands of the Egyptians, whom it was a merit to deceive and plunder. By their wicked contrivan- ces they amassed great wealth, and thus were often able to ally themselves by marriage with noble Christian families." ^^ It is easy to discern, in this medley of credulity and superstition, the secret envy, entertained by the Castilians, of the superior skill and industry of their Hebrew brethren, and of the superior riches which these qualities secured to them ; and it is im- possible not to suspect, that the zeal of the most orthodox was considerably sharpened by worldly motives. Be that as it may, the cry against the Jewish abominations now became general. Among those most active in raising it, were Alfonso de Ojeda, a Dominican, prior of the monastery of St. Paul in Seville, and Diego de Merlo, assistant of that city, who should not be defrauded of the meed of glory to which they are justly entitled by their exertions for the establishment of the modern Inquisition. These persons, after urging on the sovereigns the alarming extent to which the Jewish leprosy pre- 31 ReyesCat6licos, MS.jCap. 43.