it met with from the Christian warriors, that we cannot forbear communicating it to our readers.

"In one of the sallies, when skirting the Christian camp, this arrogant Moor outstripped his companions, overleaped the barriers, and galloping close to the royal quarters, lanched his lance so far within, that it remained quivering in the earth close by the pavilions of the sovereigns. The royal guards rushed forth in pursuit, but the Moorish horsemen were already beyond the camp, and scouring in a cloud of dust for the city. Upon wresting the lance from the earth, a label was found upon it importing that it was intended for the queen. Nothing could equal the indignation of the Christian warriors at the insolence of the bravado and the discourteous insult offered to the queen. Fernando Perez del Pulgar, surnamed, 'El de las hazanas,' (he of the exploits) was present and resolved not to be outbraved by this daring infidel—' who will stand by me,' said he, 'in an enterprise of desperate peril? The Christian cavaliers well knew the hairbrained valour of del Pulgar, yet not one hesitated to step forward. He chose fifteen companions, all men of powerful arm and dauntless heart. In the dead of night he led them forth from the camp and approached the city. The gate was forced, and a confused chance medley skirmish ensued. Fernando del Pulgar stopped not to take part in the affray. Putting spurs to his horse, he galloped furiously through the streets, striking fire from the stones at every bound. Arrived at the principal mosque, he sprang from his horse, and, kneeling at the portal, took possession of the edifice as a Christian chapel, dedicating it to the Blessed Virgin. In testimonial of the ceremony, he nailed with his dagger to the door of the mosque, a tablet on which was inscribed AVE MARIA. He remounted his steed and galloped back to the gate. The alarm had been given, the city was in an uproar, soldiers were gathering from every direction. They were astonished at seeing a Christian warrior galloping from the interior of the city. He overturned some, cut down others, and rejoining his companions, they all made good their retreat to the camp. Not many days after this, a Moorish horseman armed at all points was seen to issue forth, followed by a rabble which drew back as he approached the Christian camp. He was more robust and brawny than was common with his countrymen; his visor was closed; he bore a huge buckler, and a ponderous lance; his scimitar was of a Damascus blade; and his richly ornamented dagger was wrought by an artificer of Fez. He was known by his device to be Tarfe. As he rode slowly along in front of the army, his very steed prancing with fiery eye and distended nostril, seemed to breathe defiance to the Christians. But what were the feelings of the Spanish cavaliers when they beheld tied to the tail of his steed, and dragged in the dust, the very inscription-AVE MARIA which Fernando Perez del Pulgar had affixed to the door of the mosque! A burst of horror and indignation burst forth from the army. Fernando del Pulgar was not at hand to maintain his previous achievement, but one of his young companions in arms, Garcilasso de la Vega, after obtaining permission from the king, closed his helmet graced by four sable plumes, grasped his buckler of Flemish workmanship, and his lance of matchless temper, and defied the haughty Moor in the midst of his career. After a desperate conflict, they both fell to the earth; the Moor succeeded in placing his knee on the breast of his victim, and brandishing his dagger, aimed a blow at his throat. A cry of despair was uttered by the Chris. tian warriors, when suddenly they beheld the Moor rolling lifeless in the dust. Garcilasso had shortened his sword, and as the Moor raised his arm to strike, had pierced him to the heart. The laws of chivalry were observed throughout the combat. The knight now despoiled his adversary; then rescuing the holy inscription of AVE MARIA from its degrading situation, he elevated it on the point of his sword, and bore it off as a signal of triumph, amidst the rapturous shouts of the Christian army."

The spirit which animated Tarfe glowed in the hearts of many of the Moorish cavaliers; the bravest warriors of the kingdom, driven from all other parts, were collected within the walls; despair increased their energies; and sally after sally showed the

boldness and resolution with which they were determined to defend the last hold of their faith. For nine long months did this warfare continue. At length however, pressed by famine, beaten in their assaults, and without hope of succour, the counsellors of Boabdil advised him to surrender. All seemed to feel the fatal necessity to which they were reduced, and Muza, the bravest of his generals, was the only one who lifted his voice in opposition. Ferdinand, glad thus to conclude a protracted siege, offered to the inhabitants liberal and even generous terms. He agreed that certain valuable territories in the Alpuxarra mountains should be given to Boabdil for his maintenance and residence; that the Moors of Granada should be protected in their own religion, customs and laws; that they should pay the same tribute they had been accustomed to render to their own monarchs; and that those who chose to depart for Africa, should be provided with a passage for themselves and their effects. When these terms were laid before the council, all but Muza advised the acceptance of them, and a submission to what they deemed the will of heaven. That indignant warrior vehemently opposed the surrender, and urged them rather to perish, with their faith and their empire, beneath the ruins of their sole remaining city. When he found that his words were vain, he strode haughtily from the palace, repaired to his dwelling, armed himself at all points, mounted his favourite war-horse, and issuing forth from the gate of Elvira, was never seen nor heard of more.

On the 2d of January 1492, Boabdil, having agreed to the terms, of capitulation, met the Castilian sovereigns at a small mosque near the banks of the Xenel, which remains to the present day, consecrated as the hermitage of St. Sebastian. He there delivered to king Ferdinand the keys of the city, the last reliques of the Arabian empire in Spain; and accompanied by his family and a devoted band of cavaliers, set out for the domains reserved to him in the Alpuxarras.

"At two leagues distance," says Fray Antonio Agapida, "the cavalcade winding into the skirts of the mountains, ascended an eminence commanding the last view of Granada. As they arrived at this spot, the Moors paused voluntarily to take a farewell gaze at their beloved city, which a few steps more would shut from their sight for ever. Never had it appeared so lovely in their eyes. The sunshine, so bright in that transparent climate, lit up each tower and minaret and rested gloriously upon the crowning battlements of the Alhambra, while the vega spread its enamelled bosom of verdure below, glistening with the silver windings of the Xenel. The Moorish cavaliers gazed with a silent agony of tenderness and grief upon that delicious abode, the scene of their loves and pleasures. While they yet looked, a light cloud of smoke burst forth from the citadel, and presently a peal of artillery, faintly heard, told that the city was taken possession of, and the throne of the Moslem kings was lost for ever. The heart of Boabdil, softened by misfortunes and overcharged with grief, could no longer contain itself. Allah Achbar! God is great!' said he, but the words of resignation died upon his lips and he burst into a flood of tears. His mother, the intrepid sultana Ayxa la Horra, was indignant at his weakness-'You do well,' said she 'to weep like a woman, for what you failed to defend like a man.' The vizier Aben Co

mixa endeavoured to console his royal master. Consider, sire!' said he, 'that the most signal misfortunes often render men as renowned as the most prosper ous achievements, provided they sustain them with magnanimity.' The unhappy monarch, however, was not to be consoled; his tears continued to flow. Allah Achbar!' exclaimed he, 'when did misfortunes ever equal mine!' From this circumstance the hill, which is not far from Padal, took the name of Feg Allah Achbar: but the point of view commanding the last prospect of Granada, is known among Spaniards by the name of 'El ultimo suspiro del Mora'-or the last sigh of the Moor."

The abstract of the Chronicle of Fray Antonio Agapida, has reached a length so much greater than was anticipated, that we are compelled to abridge our intended remarks on the general merits of the work.

Mr. Irving, by assuming the fictitious character of Fray Antonio Agapida, has at once given to his story a picturesque and even a poetic interest; he has enabled himself to dwell on minute incidents with pardonable and agreeable fulness, and avoided without impropriety those elaborate disquisitions, deeper studies, and more profound reflections which are deemed necessary in modern history, and which, as we have remarked, would certainly be required where the Moorish empire was the theme. Collecting his materials from various historians, and adopting in some degree the tone and manner of a monkish chronicler, he has embodied them in a narrative which in manner reminds us of the rich and storied pages of Froissart. He dwells on the feats of chivalry performed by the Christian knights with all the ardour which might be expected from a priest, who mixed according to the usages of the times, not only in the palaces of courtly nobles and their gay festivals, as an honoured and welcome guest, but who was their companion in camps, and their spiritual and indeed bodily comforter and assistant on the field of battle. He delights to record heroic acts which had their pretext at least in the triumph of the cross, and the extension of his holy faith; and like the canon of Chimay, he describes with delight, honourable emprises, and noble adventures, and deeds of arms, which he thinks will encourage the valiant and the good to pursue the same virtuous career.

*

These circumstances have of course given to the style a peculiarity, a sort of mannerism; but this is not unpleasant, and in other respects it is lively, rapid, and less artificial than in the previous works of Mr. Irving. He delineates with evident delight and with great effect pictures of gay and smiling nature; and the fair fields and glowing skies of Andalusia are described with the same fondness as the rural beauties which occupy so large a portion of the Sketch Book and Bracebridge Hall. The tone of feeling preserved throughout the volume is liberal and manly.

Afin que honorables emprises et nobles aventures et faits d'armes, soient notablement registrées et mises en mémoire perpétuelle, parquoi les preux aient example d'eux encourager en bien faissant, je veux traiter et recorder histoire et matiére de grand louange. Froissart, c. 1.

The sufferings of the Moors, their unceasing but useless struggles, their gradual but certain and irresistible destruction, their captivity, their expulsion, and their sorrows, are delineated with great gentleness and true pathos, though these perhaps lose some of their effect from too frequent recurrence. The episodes and anecdotes are neither so numerous nor characteristic as might be desired, and the stories of successive sieges and forays, are described occasionally with a minuteness which the frequent repetition and similarity of them render unnecessary.

The narrative, however, presents a historical picture which can never cease to claim attention. It leads to one of the most striking contrasts to be found in the annals of modern timesa contrast which displays the same country, possessing the same resources, the same fertile soil, spoiled by no foreign invasion, changed by no great domestic revolution, at one time first in the rank of nations-at another among the most degraded. Four centuries ago it was the treasury of Europe; now all that tyranny can extort from desolated fields and exhausted commerce is insufficient to support a government weak and inefficient at home and despised abroad. The union of all the rival provinces, the discovery of a new world boundless in wealth, the extension of her influence over remote parts of Europe, seemed to place Spain high in the career which was to lead to prosperity and glory; but they proved the signal of her decline and ruin. The free character of her people sunk into that of submission to the hand of power, and her government became gradually one of diversified oppression. This weakness was only equalled or exceeded by another-the unresisted sway of superstition. That passion, the most degrading of those which affect human destiny either in individuals or nations, since it looks with even more pleasure on the debasement of its own votaries and ministers than on the destruction of its enemies, first exercised its power by the expulsion of the most enterprising, populous and wealthy race of subjects, inhabiting the most fertile provinces; from that period its power has been progressive until it seems to have filled the cup of bitterness and misery to overflowing. Yet may we not hope from recent events, that some healing cordial is still mingled in the chalice; that the time of regeneration is neither hopeless nor distant; that the fertile vegas of Granada may again teem with a numerous and happy people; that the descendants of those who first crossed the Atlantic may pursue commerce to her most distant abodes; that the free principles of liberty once maintained by Gothic firmness, may be restored to those who have suffered them to expire; and that the Christian altar, no longer a shrine of intolerance or superstition, shall extend the blessings of charity and benevolence to all the brethren of the human race.

ART. X.-MEMOIRS OF DR. PARR.

1.-Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Opinions of the Rev. Samuel Parr, LL. D., with Biographical Notices of many of his Friends, Pupils, and Contemporaries. By the Rev. WILLIAM FIELD. 2 vols. 8vo. London: 1828.

2.-The Works of Samuel Parr, LL. D.; with Memoirs of his Life and Writings, and a Selection from his Correspondence. By JOHN JOHNSTONE, M. D., Fellow of the Royal Society, &c. In eight volumes. London: 1828.

SINCE the demise of Dr. Johnson, no author has passed from the stage of life in Great Britain, about whom so much has been published, and in whose memory so much interest has been displayed, as the renowned Samuel Parr. Sketches and anecdotes of this mighty scholar abound even in the common journals; the attention of the British literati, and of all the reading loungers, has been called on every side to every trait of his character and the whole tenor of his long life. Already, we possess distinct and copious memoirs from two of his most intimate friends and associates, those mentioned at the head of our article. The compeer of Johnson has not indeed been resuscitated by a Boswell; but some magician of this order may yet accomplish more than a galvanic revival of his intellectual being, and reproduce his colloquial wisdom and acrid flow of eloquence. We need still -to use his own phrase,-the droppings of his tongue; for his biographers concur in declaring that, in richness and felicity of conversation, he more than equalled the other oracle. In the present Memoirs we have ample accounts of his education, studies, professional labours, sermons and tracts, correspondence and connexions, family affairs and personal habits, but only a few examples of the profound or acute remarks, the splendid sentences, the classsical lore and novel imagery, the piercing shafts and overwhelming bolts, by which he delighted or astonished his mere hearers, and uniformly vanquished his antagonists, in social discussion.

Dr. Blomfield styled Parr "the profoundest scholar and most sagacious critic of the age." Archdeacon Butler pronounced him to be "in classical knowledge supreme," and other testimony not less authoritative could be adduced to the same effect. Both his biographers assert and almost prove his superiority in Greek and Latin learning, and even in powers of general authorship, over his British contemporaries. After having read again, in this new collection of his works, such specimens of his Latin compo