Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/212

186 186 ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA. PART II. Her magna- nimity. no relish for it in private, and she freely gave away her clothes^^ and jevvels,^^ as presents to her friends. Naturally of a sedate, though cheerful temper,^' she had little taste for the frivolous amusements, which make up so much of a court life ; and, if she encouraged the presence of minstrels and mu- sicians in her palace, it was to wean her young nobility from the coarser and less intellectual pleas- ures to which they were addicted. ^° Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit, in which they were conceived. She never employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, but the most direct and open policy. ^^ She scorned to avail herself of advantages offered by the perfidy of others. °^ Where she had once given her confi- dence, she gave her hearty and steady support ; and she was scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her cause, however 27 Florez quotes a passage from an original letter of the queen, writ- ten soon after one of her progresses into Galicia, showing her habitual liberality in this way. " Decid a dona Luisa, que porque vcngo de Galicia desecha de vestidos, no le envio para su hcrmana ; que no tengo agora cosa buena ; mas yo ge los enviare presto buenos." Rey- nas Catholicas, torn. ii. p. 839. 28 See the magnificent inventory presented to her daughter-in-law, Margaret of Austria, and to her daughter Maria, queen of Portugal, apuid Mem. de la Acad, dc Hist., torn. vi. Ilust. 12. 29 " Alegre," sa)'s the author of the " Carro de las Doilas," " de una alegria honesta y mui mesura- da." Ibid., p. 558. 30 Among the retainers of the court, Bernaldez notices "lamolti- tud de poetas, dc trobadores, e mii- sicos de todas partes." Reyes Ca- t61icos, MS., cap. 201. 31 " Queria que sus cartas e man- damientos fucsen complidos con diligencia." Pulgar, Reyes Cat6- licos, part. 1, cap. 4. 32 See a remarkable instance of this, in her treatment of the faith- less Juan de Corral, noticed in Part I. Chapter 10, of this History.