Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/457

429 XXVI. CHAPTER XXVI. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Policy of the Crown. — Towards the Nobles. — The Clergy. — Con- sideration of the Commons. — Advancement of Prerogative. — Legal Compilations. — The Legal Profession. — Trade. — Manufsio- tures. — Agriculture. — Restrictive Policy. — Revenues. — Progress of Discovery. — Colonial Administration. — General Prosperity. — Increase of Population. — Chivalrous Spirit. — The Period of Na- tional Glory. We have now traversed that important period chapter of history, comprehending the latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centu- ry ; a period when the convulsions, which shook to the ground the ancient political fabrics of Europe, roused the minds of its inhabitants from the lethar- gy in which they had been buried for ages. Spain, as we have seen, felt the general impulse. Under the glorious rule of Ferdinand and Isabella, we have beheld her, emerging from chaos into a new existence ; unfolding, under the influence of insti- tutions adapted to her genius, energies of which she was before unconscious ; enlarging her resour- ces from all the springs of domestic industry and commercial enterprise ; and insensibly losing the