Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/427

Rh peculiar genius of the age. While Isabella, discarding all the petty artifices of state policy, and pursuing the noblest ends by the noblest means, stands far above her age.

In his illustrious consort Ferdinand may be said to have lost his good genius. From that time his life. fortunes were under a cloud. Not that victory sat less constantly on his banner; but at home he had lost

His ill-advised marriage disgusted his Castilian subjects. He ruled over them, indeed, but more in severity than in love. The beauty of his young queen opened new sources of jealousy; while the disparity of their ages, and her fondness for frivolous pleasure as little qualified her to be his partner in