Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/100

76 76 WAR OF GRANADA. PART I. timid councils of the leaders, after the disasters of the garden, and encouraged them to persevere in the siege. She procured all the supplies, con- structed the roads, took charge of the sick, and furnished, at no little personal sacrifice, the immense sums demanded for carrying on the war; and, when at last the hearts of the soldiers were fainting under long-protracted sufferings, she appeared among them, like some celestial visitant, to cheer their faltering spirits, and inspire them with her own energy. appeased the sultan's resentment, but obtained several important im- munities for his Christian subjects, in addition to those previously en- joyed by them. He also wrote an account of the discoveries of the new world, enti- tled " De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe," (Coloniae, 1574,) a book largely consulted and commended by subsequent historians. But the work of principal value in our re- searches is his " Opus Epistola- rum," being a collection of his multifarious correspondence with the most considerable persons of his time, whether in political or literary life. The letters are in Latin, and extend from the year 1488 to the time of his death. Althougb not conspicuous for ele- gance of diction, they are most valuable to the historian, from the fidelity and general accuracy of the details, as well as for the intelligent criticism in which they abound, for all which, uncommon facilities were afforded by the writer's inti- macy with the leading actors, and the most recondite sources of in- formation of the period. This high character is fully au- thorized by the judgments of those best qualified to pronounce on their merits, — Martyr's own contempo- raries. Among these. Dr. Galin- dez de Carbajal, a counsellor of King Ferdinand and constantly em- ployed in the highest concerns of state, commends these epistles as " the work of a learned and up- right man, well calculated to throw light on the transactions of the period." (Anales,MS.,pr61ogo.) Alvaro Gomez, another contem- porary who survived Martyr, in the Life of Ximenes, which he was selected to write by the University of Alcala, declares, that " Martyr's Letters abundantly compensate by their fidelity for the unpolished style in which they are written." (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 6.) And John de Vergara, a name of the highest celebrity in the literary annals of the period, expresses himself in the following emphatic terms. " I know no record of the time more accurate and valuable. I myself have often witnessed the promptness with which he put down things the moment they oc- curred. I have sometimes seen him write one or two letters, while they were setting the table. For, as he did not pay much attention to style and mere finish of expres- sion, his composition required but little time, and experienced no in- terruption from his ordinary avoca- tions." (See his letter to Florian de Ocampo, apud Quiiitanilla y Mendoza, Archetypo de Virtudcs, Espejo de Prelados, el Venerable