Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/283

257 FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES. 257 with his remarkable son. He was rash and impet- chapter uous in his temper, frank, and careless. He was 1 —. born to great expectations, and early accustomed to command, which seemed to fill him with a crude, intemperate ambition, impatient alike of control or counsel. He was not without generous, and even magnanimous sentiments ; but he abandoned him- self to the impulse of the moment, whether for good or evil ; and, as he was naturally indolent and fond of pleasure, he willingly reposed the burden of gov- ernment on others, who, as usual, thought more of their own interests than those of the public. His early education exempted him from the bigotry characteristic of the Spaniards ; and, had he lived, he might have done much to mitigate the grievous abuses of the Inquisition. As it was, his premature death deprived him of the opportunity of compen- sating, by this single good act, the manifold mis- chiefs of his administration. This event, too improbable to have formed any part of the calculations of the most far-sighted poli- tician, spread general consternation throughout the country. The old adherents of Ferdinand, with Ximenes at their head, now looked forward with confidence to his reestablishment in the regency. Many others, however, like Garcilasso de la Vega, whose loyalty to their old master had not been proof against the times, viewed this with some ap- prehension.^ Others, again, who had openly from — Garcilasso de la Vega appears modern phrase, are always " on 10 have been one of those dubious the fence." The wags of his day politicians, who, to make use of a applied to him a coarse saying of VOL. III. 33