has fully availed himself of all the picturesque and animating movement of this romantic era; and the reader who will take the trouble to compare his Chronicle with the present (Mr. Prescott's own) more prosaic and literal narrative, will see how little he has been seduced from historic accuracy by the poetical aspect of his subject. The fictitious and romantic dress of his work, has enabled him to make it the medium of reflecting more vividly the floating opinions, and chimerical fancies of the age, while he has illuminated the picture with the dramatic brilliancy of colouring denied to sober history.” If such even-handed judgment, balancing praise with prudence in his estimate of a professedly historic work, be deemed just by a partial friend and fellow-countryman, trained in the school of a sober, and therefore safer historical authorship, how necessary the warning of watchfulness, to those who hazard the deluding witchery of the protean "Tales of the Alhambra !"

The lofty canopy spread above the Hall of Ambassadors is of dark, panelled, cedar-wood, inlaid with mother of pearl, and other precious materials; most of which have paid a heavy toll to the avarice of misnamed custodians. One can well imagine, that, when the cellular and fretwork ornamentation of the walls was coloured in just gradations of gold, pink, blue, and purple, forming infinite lights and shadows; and gleaming shell and ivory, looked down like canopied stars, upon the rare richness below; this hall must have presented such a realization of Oriental splendour as we learn of now only from eastern tales. A double arched doorway leads from the Hall of the Ambassadors to the "Sala de la Barca "-so called from the inverted boat

shaped ceiling. This is the ante-chamber to the Hall of Ambassadors, and is of a conforming size, style of architecture, and munificent decoration. The stalactitic archivolts at each end of this ante-room, the honeycomb arches under which is the entrance to the Great Hall, and that over the entrance to the Court of Myrtles, retain traces of Moorish colouring, showing the effectiveness of that style of art.

It was in this Hall of Ambassadors that the Moorish monarch Abul Hassan received Don Juan de Vera, deputed by Ferdinand to demand the payment of long withheld tribute to the Spanish crown. Passing through the kingdom of Granada on his way to the capital, he had, as a quick observer of national resources, been struck, not merely with its natural capacities, and ample artificial means of defence, but with its great fertility and abundant supplies of provisions. Thus regarding this unsurpassed domain, once the home of his own race, it was natural for him "to long to see it restored to the dominion of the true faith, and the sway of the Christian monarchs." But if such impressions of its strength and wealth came of his progress through the country, what must have been his feelings, when, arriving at the end of his journey, he beheld the formidable fortress of the Alhambra, with its impenetrable walls and towers; and was ushered into the presence of the Moorish monarch, seated in his Hall of State on a golden throne, beneath a canopy as of gems, and in a twilight touched as if with the tints of the setting sun; with silken carpets and couches spread abroad amid wares of precious woods and curious workmanship, and costly ornaments known only to the Moresco art of that

day; all within walls hung as if with lace-work woven in Cashmerian looms. With a fortress-palace of such unexampled resources and riches, before the eyes of the stern warrior-who was more familiar with the hazards and wants of the camp, than with the safety and luxuries of such a residence of royalty-the hope, inspired by his faith and loyalty, of their possession by Spain, might well be strengthened by the reply to his demand of the Moorish King, that-as tersely rendered by Prescott "The mints of Granada no longer coined gold, but steel." War, de Vera knew, must be the result of a refusal couched in such pointed terms of defiance. Nor, when he was about to depart from the Alhambra, and the King presented him in token of his royal courtesy, a scimetar of Damascus steel enriched with precious stones, was his remark to attendant courtiers less significant of readiness to accept events. After trying the temper of the blade, he said, "His Majesty has given me a trenchant weapon: I trust a time will come when I may show him that I know how to use his royal present."

263

CHAPTER XV.

THE ALHAMBRA CONTINUED. VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE TOWER OF COMARES. PATIO DE LA REJA. DOÑA JUANA'S REPUTED PRISON. SHE DIED ON HER WAY TO GRANADA WITH THE BODY OF HER HUSBAND. GARDEN OF LINDARAJA. SALA DE LOS SECRETOS. TREASURY. PATIO DE LOS BAÑOS. CHAMBER OF REPOSE. BATHROOMS. COURT OF THE MOSQUE. RECENTLY DISCOVERED ENTRANCE TO THE SUMMER PALACE. MOORISH MOSQUE CONVERTED INTO A CHAPEL. PALACE PRISON UNDER THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS, WHENCE BOABDIL ESCAPED-CONFLICTING STATEMENTS ABOUT THIS. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF BOABDIL'S AND HIS MOTHER'S CONSPIRACY AGAINST ABUL HASSAN. THE CURSE OF GOD UPON THEIR THREE-FOLD TREACHERY. THE ALAMBRA PALACE VIEWED AS A WHOLE.

No one can fail to be charmed by the views of surrounding scenery from the towers of the Alhambra Hill. Some of these take in a greater range of objects than others; that from the Vela being undoubtedly the most comprehensive, surpassing even that of the great Tower of Comares, which is necessarily obstructed by the pyramidal tile roof; although from the battlemented base of the pyramid, overlooking them directly, the relations of the buildings and courts of the Palace to each other are seen to best advantage. If it be intended to ascend this tower, it may prove a pleasant

episode to the steady pursuit of objects within walls, to do so after looking at the Hall of Ambassadors it overtops, in the ante-room of which is the entrance to the staircase.

Returning from the Hall of Ambassadors into the corridor by which awhile since we came from Charles' dilapidated chambers, near to the entrance into the hall a winding stairway leads down to the Patio de la Reja, where cypresses and a silent fountain are the mournful mementos of the past. Here again is seen the rude. railing of Doña Juana's reputed prison. To dispose of this invention about her confinement in the Alhambra, it will suffice to call to mind the facts, that the first signs of the Infanta's eccentric conduct appeared at Medina del Campo, in the north of Spain, during the absence of her husband Philip in Flanders — 1503. Shortly after, she joined him in Flanders, where she remained until they returned together to Spain in 1506, to take possession of the crown after the death of her mother Isabella. Their Court was in Burgos, where, in September, 1506-a little more than two months after they came to the throne-Philip died. His body was deposited in the convent of Miraflores, near Burgos; there it remained until the December following, when she determined to remove it to Granada, where her mother's remains were entombed. Reaching Tordesillas, where she was detained by unforeseen circumstances, the body was placed in the monastery at Santa Clara adjoining the palace, from the windows of which she could see the sepulchre at all times. From that time until her death, which happened forty-seven years after, she never left her apartments. Of her, it has been