Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/353

329 CAMPAIGNS OF GONSALVO. 329 arrived at results the most honora- ble and cheering to humanity. Fortunately, his own mind was deeply penetrated with reverence for the free institutions, which he has analyzed. If it is too much to say, that the historian of republics should be himself a republican, it is at least true, that his soul should be penetrated to its very depths with the spirit which animates them. No one, who is not smitten with the love of freedom, can fur- nish the key to much that is enig- matical in her character, and rec- oncile his readers to the harsh and repulsive features, that she sometimes wears, by revealing the beauty and grandeur of the soul within. That portion of our narrative which is incorporated with Italian story, is too small to occupy much space on Sismondi's plan. He has discussed it, moreover, in a manner not very favorable to the Spaniards, whom he seems to have regarded with somewhat of the aversion, with which an Italian of the six- teenth century viewed the ultra- montane barbarians of Europe. Perhaps the reader may find some advantage in contemplating another side of the picture, and studying the less famihar details presented by the Spanish authorities. CHAPTER II. VOL. II. 42