Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/410

382 382 DEATH OF GONSALVO. PART n. Ferdinand's illness in- creases. 1516. Jan. Ferdinand's health, in the mean time, had de- clined so sensibly, that it was evident he could not long survive the object of his jealousy. ^^ His dis- ease had now^ settled into a dropsy, accompanied vi^ith a distressing affection of the heart. He found difficulty in breathing, complained that he was stifled in the crowded cities, and passed most of his time, even after the weather became cold, in the fields and forests, occupied, as far as his strength permitted, with the fatiguing pleasures of the chase. As the winter advanced, he bent his steps towards the south. He passed some time, in December, at a country-seat of the duke of Alva, near Placentia, where he hunted the stag. He then resumed his journey to Andalusia, but fell so ill on the way, at the little village of Madrigalejo, near Truxillo, that it was found impossible to advance further. ^^ 25 The miraculous bell of Veli- 11a, a little village in Arap^on, nine leagues from Saragossa, about this time gave one of those prophet- ic tintinnabulations, which always boded some great calamity to the country. The side on which the blows fell, denoted the quarter where the disaster was to hap- pen. Its sound, says Dr. Dormer, caused dismay and contrition, with dismal " fear of change," in the hearts of all who heard it. No arm was strong enough to stop it on these occasions, as those found to their cost who profanely attempt- ed it. Its ill-omened voice was heard for the twentieth and last time, in March, 1679. As no event of importance followed, it probably tolled for its own funeral. — See the edifying history, in Dr. Diego Dormer, of the miraculous powers and performances of this celebrated bell, as duly authenticated by a host of witnesses. Discursos Va- rios, pp. 198-244. 26 Carbajal, Anales, MS., afios 1513-1516. — Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 146. — Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 542,558,561, 564. — Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 10, cap. 99. Carbajal states, that the king had been warned, by some sooth- sayer, to beware of Madrigal, and tliat he had ever since avoided en- tering into the town of that name in Old Castile. The name of the place he was now in was not pre- cisely that indicated, but corre- sponded near enough for a predic- tion. The event proved, that the witches of Spain, like those of Scotland, " Could keep the word of promise to the ear, And break it to the hope." The story derives little confirma-