Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/481

455 DEATH OF ALONSO DE AGUILAR. 455 CHAPTER VII. mind may be led, when it. introduces the refine- ment's of logic into the discussions of duty ; when, proposing to achieve some great good, whether in politics or religion, it conceives that the importance of the object authorizes a departure from the plain principles of morality, which regulate the ordinary affairs of life ; and when, blending these higher in- terests with those of a personal nature, it becomes incapable of discriminating between them, and is led insensibly to act from selfish motives, while it fondly imagines itself obeying only the conscien- tious dictates of duty.^^ With these events may be said to terminate the Last notice •' of the Moor history of the Moors, or the Moriscoes, as hence- forth called, under the present reign. Eight cen- turies had elapsed since their first occupation of the country ; during which period they had exhibited all the various phases of civilization, from its dawn to its decline. Ten years had sufficed to overturn the splendid remains of this powerful empire ; and in the pres- ent reign. 41 A memorial of the archbishop of Valencia to Philip III. affords an example of this moral obliquity, that may make one laugh, or weep, according to the temper of his phi- losophy. In this precious document he says, " Your Majesty may, without any scruple of conscience, make slaves of all the Moriscoes, and may put them into your own galleys or mines, or sell them to strangers. And as to their chil- dren, they may be all sold at good rates here in Spain ; which will be so far from being a punishment, that it will be a mercy to them ; since by that means they will all become Christians ; which they would never have been, had they continued with their parents. By the holy execution of which piece of justice, a great sum of money will flow into your Majesty^s treas- ury." (Geddes, Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. i. p. 71.) "II n'est point d'hostilite excellente comme la Chrestienne," says old Mon- taigne ; " nostre zele faict mer- veilles, quand il va secondant nostre pente verslahaine, lacruaute,l'am- bition, I'avarice, la detraction, la rebellion. Nostre religion est faicte pour extirper les vices ; elle les couvre, les nourrit, les incite." Es- sais, liv. 2, chap. 12.