USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The Congress of Women : held in the Woman's building, World's Columbian exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893 : with portraits, biographies and addresses > Part 61
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men have builded better than they knew.
Again, what a lesson of the universality of law, written as on a Bible page before us, in all these facts of applied science. Law, sacred, inviolable but with incalculable harm to the violator, be it man or thing-law governing everything, from the infinitesi- mal atoms, millions of which are massed in a single dewdrop, to the invisible electric bolt that glides harmless and noiseless along its law-abiding path to its destined end, but transcending its limitations by the millionth part of one of the scintillating atoms in the dewdrop, it might in the thousandth part of a second, shatter to atoms the fairest structure in this city of the sciences and art.
These Auxiliary Congresses, taking for their motto " Not matter but mind, " sug- gest that there are suitable forces analagous to those already discovered, but greater than those of which we yet know, which will be sought out through suggestions here made to the great discoverers of our age in realms of mind, morals, spirit, beyond those yet explored. Says the greatest seer of our age: "We do not yet half possess ourselves." But he also adds; "By every throe of growth the man expands there where he works." This is the key to growth. If we had learned nothing else than this, that through work is growth, this World's Fair would have been a rewardful out-
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lay. We have taken for our motto "Not matter but mind;" avowed ourselves as no longer limited by the restrictions of matter. Who shall prescribe limitations to the soul ? This to me, is what all this wonderful Exposition with its crowning congresses, is sub- limely, religiously teaching. It is the turning of swords into plowshares, of spears into pruning hooks, until the Eden of past story shall lie before us in the attainable, not a lost good. Has the beautiful, odorous white lily, and the gentain of cerulean blue, in our horticultural show, blossoming over fetid mud, no lessons of evolution that have been seized upon and applied in art, in the creation of some of the wonders of this Fair? Has this Fair no suggestions that shall reappear in higher spheres of life and thought like the light of Portia's little candle, suggesting "good deeds in a naughty world? "
There is one more lesson which has greatly impressed me, and which I can not for- bear to note. It is the spirit of oneness through which ten thousand men and women have wrought, as to one end, in creating the wonders of this Fair. I do not believe we begin to comprehend the miracles here displayed, which have been wrought by this new gospel of oneness; and yet, altruism, the spirit of which is beginning to pervade the world as never before-it is by this divine instrumentality that these miracles have been wrought. Artisan working together with artist, the so-called working men with both, different nationalities commingling, men and women working together without jealously or selfish competition, all have been working together with God in a sense never before realized in the world's history, and the result is a miracle of harmonious achievement, such as has been frequently observed, but was never before attained.
" There is no stoppage," says a great poet recently departed, "and never can be stoppages. If you and I and all the worlds, and all beneath or upon their surfaces, were this moment reduced back to a pallid float, it would not avail in the long run; we should surely bring up again to where we now are, and as surely go on as much farther, and then farther and farther."
Eternity has no limits, and we are in it; the infinite has no bounds, and we are a part of it.
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LIFE AND TIMES OF ISABELLA OF CASTILE. By MISS LORAINE PEARCE BUCKLIN.
In the fifteenth century humanity emerged from the darkness of the middle ages and saw the commencement of modern times. It was one of those rare episodes in the history of the world in which all men seemed possessed with a thirst for new truths and for dis- covery in every realni of thought. It was the age of Columbus, of Sebastian Cabot, Vasco da Gama, and of the discovery of printing. A new life of intelligent thought, bold hopes and rash illusions penetrated all ranks, and in the next century the reformation of Luther preceded reform in state policy that found its perfect development many years later in a country that became the refuge of all opinions and all beliefs.
The first link in this complicated series of human events was the thought and energetic will of the Genoese navigator, Christopher Columbus; the sec- ond was forged by the delicate hand of a woman, who recognized and accepted the word of genius as proph- etic truth.
It was Isabella of Castile who listened when all beside were deaf, who gave intelligent sympathy when all were cold or incredulous, and, aroused to generous enthusiasm when reminded of her empty treasury, cried: " For this enterprise I will pledge my jewels and my crown."
MISS LORAINE PEARCE BUCKLIN.
Isabella of Castile was born in the little city of Madrigal on the 27th of April, 1451. Her father was John II. of Castile, and her mother was his second wife, Isabella, a princess of Portugal. Her father died when she was scarcely four years old leaving his kingdom to his eldest son, Henry, the child of his first wife.
The widowed queen retired with her children, Isabella and the infant prince Alphonso, to the castle of Arevallo, near Segovia and devoted herself to their educa- tion. She had ample means, was a woman of sound mind and a pure heart, and she directed her daughter's life with rare judgment and ability.
In the solitude of the country the young girl led a serious but busy existence. She was taught all the learning and accomplishments possible to the age in which she lived.
Isabella showed in all she undertook the perseverance and the energy which after- ward became her most marked characteristics.
In the Castilian chronicles of the time her beauty is portrayed in glowing words. They praise her figure, straight as a palm; her complexion pale, but flushed by the slightest emotion like jasmine mingled with the wild rose; her eyes blue as sapphires; her hair a reddish chestnut and her serene expression typical of her pure and gentle spirit.
Miss Loraine Pearce Bucklin is a native of Rhode Island, U. S. A. She was born October, 1836. Her parents were James C. Bucklin, architect of many public buildings in Providence, notably of the Arcade, a unique building, and Lucy Daily Bucklin, prominent in patriotic and charitable work in her state. She was educated in the private and public schools of Providence, R. I. Miss Bucklin's literary works are articles for magazines and newspapers and lectures on art and history. In religious faith she is a Unitarian. Her postoffice address is Providence, R. I.
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In the years passed so peacefully by Isabella, Henry IV. had proved himself incapable of ruling the kingdom left him by his father. Dissolute, proud and frivo- lous, he found the cares of state so distasteful that he left them to unworthy favorites, who robbed the treasury and oppressed the people. The country was in a state bor- dering on ruin, public faith was a jest, the treasury bankrupt, private morals too loose and audacious to seek even the veil of hypocrisy. The troubles culminated in civil war, and Henry, despairing of being able to conquer his rebellious subjects, sought a compromise by proposing to marry his sister Isabella to the brother of the rebel leader. Isabella was sixteen years old at this time, and her horror of the thought of this marriage was so great as to almost deprive her of her reason. She fasted and prayed for twenty-four hours. beseeching God to spare her the disgrace by taking her life. Among her youthful companions at Arevallo was one named Beatrix de Bova- dilla. Beatrix, to console Isabella, said: "God will never permit this to be, and I swear to you by all that is sacred before it happens I will myself plunge a poignard into his breast." Her courage and fidelity were not put to the test, for the sudden death of the bridegroom put an end to the king's plans for his sister's marriage.
One year after these events the archbishop of Toledo, as the representative of the dissatisfied subjects of Henry, offered Isabella the throne of Castile. He assured her that her strong and elevated character was so well known that her sex offered no objection, and that God Himself had destined her to save the honor of Castile. Isa- bella, with wonderful judgment for so young a woman, refused to accept the crown. She gave her reasons in the following words: "The work of rebellion is only to excite passions and sow discord, to light the blaze of civil war and to put all in danger; to prevent such evils is it not better to tolerate in the state some abuses of which the con- sequences are not so fatal? A fruit which ripens before its time can never last. Ambi- tion to reign has no place in my heart, and I desire that the crown of Castile shall not be mine until death shall have ended the reign of my brother. Make the evils to cease which have for so long a time cursed Castile, and I shall look upon your submission as the most signal service you can give to me, and the best mark of your affection."
This advice was followed and in the terms made by the rebels with Henry, Isa- bella was recognized as the sole heir to the Castilian throne, but she could not marry without the consent of her brother.
Three suitors now appeared for her hand. The Duke of Gloucester, afterward Richard III. of England, the Duke of Guienne, brother of Louis IX. of France, and Ferdinand, Prince of Aragon and heir to its throne. A marriage with Ferdinand would best advance the political and national interests of Castile. It would unite the two kingdoms and make one nation of their peoples, who were of the same race, spoke the same language and had similar customs, religions and laws. United, their strength would equal that of any European power, while, separated, they must remain inferior. A favorable answer was sent to the Court of Aragon, and was received with joy by the king and the Prince Ferdinand.
In a letter remarkable for the sense it displayed Isabella asked the consent of her brother to her marriage with Ferdinand. Henry did not even answer the letter. Isa- bella asked the help of the bishop of Toledo, who had always been her friend and dis- liked the king. Protected by him she defied her brother and signed the articles of agreement for her marriage with Ferdinand on January 4, 1469. By this contract her rights to the crown of Castile were absolutely secured to her and Ferdinand promised to continue the war against the infidels. A few days before the wedding, which occurred on the 18th of October, Ferdinand went secretly to the palace to see Isabella. In this interview, which lasted two hours, the beauty and spirit of the Princess delighted Ferdinand, and Isabella admired equally well the manly bearing and affable manners of the Prince who, although but seventeen years old had already acquired a soldierly reputation.
Henry IV. died in December, 1474, and two days afterward Isabella proclaimed herself Queen of Castile. She was then in Segovia, and it was in the cathedral of that
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city that she took the oath to serve her country faithfully and well. The first seven years of her reign were disturbed by a war in which she was made to defend her rights against the followers of Jane, the natural daughter of the Queen whose dissolute life had disgraced the Court of Henry IV. In these years of warfare, Isabella displayed the devotion to her country and to the duties of her position which was distinctive of her life. She was constantly in the saddle, devoted her nights to official business, risked her health, and, when her friends begged her not to expose herself to such dangers, answered their entreaties by saying: " It is not for me to calculate perils or fatigues in my own cause, or by unreasonable timidity to dishearten those who share these dangers and fatigues."
When the war was ended Isabella walked with naked feet through the streets of Tordesillas, to the church where she offered thanks for the victory and praises for the valor that had won it. In 1479 the death of Ferdinand's father united the crowns of Castile and Aragon and the escutcheon of Spain now carried the lions of Castile and the towers of Aragon on one shield. Ferdinand was occupied with the cares of his kingdom, for he ruled Aragon with undivided authority, as Isabella governed Castile, and to her alone were confided the reforms in government and the condition of her people. She found the royal authority overshadowed and weakened by the power of the clergy and the nobles.
The nobles lived in magnificence on their vast estates like petty sovereigns, and their privileges equaled their wealth. The people, instead of being subjects of the crown, had become vassals of their lords and were subject to his tyranny and caprice; and Isabella was convinced that force, united with stern and unyielding justice, could alone restore order and security, and to aid her in this task she employed the league known as the Santa Hermanadad. This brotherhood had been organized by the mid- dle class in the larger cities of Castile for self-protection; but, accustomed to the authority of the feudal lord, they had often answered his call and had helped him in acts of rebellion against the crown. Isabella convened them at Madrigal and changed their office and their work. She gave them royal authority to preserve public order, and remained the central power which supported the association. In this way she taught the peasant and the citizen to take arms in the name of the queen instead of obeying the call of his feudal chief, convinced them at the same time that the noble was a sub- ject like himself, and must be made to yield to royal authority. In a few years the Santa Hermanadad became a strong support to the throne, and cost the treasury nothing, being maintained by a tax levied in cach district upon those who had prop- erty to protect. Isabella also restored estates to the crown, and annulled pensions that had been granted by her brother to his favorites, and immediately distributed one-half the sum thus obtained among the widows and orphans of those who had died in the war since her accession.
The nobles, who saw with dismay their powers and privileges gradually lessened, addressed a remonstrance and threatened to retire to their estates and rise in rebel- lion if these measures and the authority of the Hermanadad were not changed. They also demanded that they alone should be chosen as members of the privy council. Isabella answered their threats by saying, "You can do as you choose, but as long as God permits us to keep the rank to which He has called us we will never become a plaything in the hands of the nobility, who, when made powerful, seek to destroy the throne. We are accountable to God alone for the measures we take for the peace and happiness of our people." Surprised by her spirit and stern resolution, the nobles submitted.
The Marquis of Villena, one of the most powerful and defiant, when told reproach- fully by a vassal that his father would never have yielded to a king of Castile, replied: "King Henry no longer reigns in Castile."
By convincing the Pope that it was imperative for the safety of her kingdom that she should appoint the bishops of the church in Spain, Isabella restored to the crown power over the church benefices. When a bishop died the Queen took care that his
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chair should be filled by a priest who was obedient to lawful authority and devoted to his religious duties, with no ambition for worldly honors. She thus made it impossi- ble for any dignitary of the church to threaten her, as the Bishop of Toledo did when angered, that "he would replace the distaff in the hands to which he had given the sceptre."
Isabella also reorganized the legal code of Spain. Among the best reforms she introduced were a change in the government of prisons, the right given to every one to appeal for justice to the royal council, and the appointment of an officer called the advocate of the poor, who was paid from the public funds to plead the cause of those unable to pay for their own defense.
The Queen's interest in all intellectual pursuits was very great, and her plans for the education of the young nobles of her kingdom showed a spirit far in advance of her age. She asked Peter Martyr, a learned Italian, to open a school in Toledo for the young men of her court, and paid him from her private purse a liberal salary for his services. To make his lectures fashionable she sent her son to attend them, and in six months the success of the school was assured. Another Italian scholar, Marineo, was encouraged to give lectures on classical learning, and the Queen saw with pleas- ure crowds of students filling the halls where the professors spoke. She carefully watched the young girls of noble families who lived in the palace, and, with her own daughters, gave them equal advantages of education with the young men. Loyal to her own sex, she helped women to larger opportunity whenever she saw them possess ability and ambition. She chose for her own teacher in Latin a lady who was called from her attainments " La Latina," and through her influence two women were appointed to professorships in Spanish universities; one filled the chair of rhetoric at Alcala, and the other taught the Latin classics at Salamanca.
Isabella encouraged the art of printing in Spain, granting to a German printer who came to Castile to pursue his calling freedom from taxation, and gave him sev- eral orders for books for herself. She also allowed foreign books of every descrip- tion to enter Spain free of duty. By her own example she made purity of manners and morality the rule of conduct in her court, and her conversation was generally on serious subjects. She had no local prejudices, and could adapt herself with ease to the customs and habits of the people in whose province she might be, for Spain, even in her reign, was more like a union of provinces than a nation.
The three great events of Isabella's reign were the establishment of the Inquisi- tion in Spain, the conquest of Granada, and the protection of Christopher Columbus, which led to the discovery of America. The Inquisition had existed in Spain since the thirteenth century, but, with Ferdinand and Isabella's consent, its power was increased until it became a terrible agent in the hands of men whose avarice or fan- aticism made them merciless.
It is only just to the religion which permitted the atrocities of the Inquisition, to recall the brighter pages of its history, illumined by the deeds of men devoted to their church and humanity. One of the noblest among them was Talavera, whose charity, when bishop of Granada, was so universal and benignant that the Moors called him the holy priest of the Christians and declared that a halo surrounded his head when he spoke to them of eternal and spiritual truths. With all his humility Talavera had a profound sense of the dignity of his office. Appointed confessor to the Queen, he heard her first confession seated; when reminded by her that it was customary for her confessor to kneel with her, he replied: "This is God's tribunal; I act as his minister, and it is right that I should remain seated while your majesty kneels before me." And we must add to Isabella's honor her reply: "This proves you to be the right confessor for me."
We must also recall Aimenes, the great cardinal, whose life of purity and charity gave him the name of Saint Augustine in devotion, a Saint Jerome in austerity and a Saint Ambrose in zeal and generosity. His great intellect made him supreme in coun- cil and in government, but he lived in his palace the simple, austere life of a monk,
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and in the midst of power could find time and opportunity for acts of kindness to all who needed charity and help.
In the conquest of Granada Isabella finished a work begun by her ancestors. From the foot of the mountains that separate it from Castile, the valleys and plains of Granada extended to the Mediterranean. It bristled with fortresses, some built to guard the fronticrs, on mountain peaks far above the flight of birds or drift of clouds; others near the cities, to protect the homes and industries of the citizens. The Moors, loving Granada with patriotic passion, believed that the paradise of Mahomet was placed in the heavens that overhung it. The delicious climate, the beautiful scenery, the limpid rivers and the fields that, flooded with almost constant sunshine, bloomed with flowers or bore golden harvests, made it worthy of their love and pride. The splendor of an oriental civilization was developed in Granada by the Moors. The wealth they gained in commerce they spent in lavish profusion on palace and garden, city and suburb. The suburbs of Baza were under such perfect cultivation that they were called "the garden." Here, surrounded by trees, were the homes of rich mer- chants. During the war of the conquest of Granada cach house became a fortress, every thicket was an ambush, every arbor hid a Moorish knight, defending his home with desperate valor. It took seven weeks and the labor of four thousand prisoners to clear this tract of four miles of its trees and mansions and convert it into a desert that offered no obstable in the path of the victorious Spaniard. The province of Granada and its capital city bore the same name.
Built on the slopes of two hills whose summits were crowned with the fortresses Albaycin and Alhambra, divided by the rivers Genil and Darro, the city of Granada enclosed within its walls a population of two hundred thousand souls. This did not include those who dwelt in the fortresses, at least forty thousand more of soldiers and members of the sultan's royal household. Granada stood first among the principal Moorish cities for her wealth and the learning, industry and bravery of her citizens. Seventy public libraries affirmed their intelligence, and the palace of the Alhambra, even in decay, still proves their taste in architecture and suggests the luxury of their lives. The Moors sought to reproduce in their palaces the delights of the Mohammedan paradise.
In spite of their voluptuous lives, they were brave in war, skilled in manufactures and accomplished in science and literature. The reigning sultan in 1478 was Muley Abdul Hassan, the eldest son of Ismail, who, by a treaty made with Isabella's brother, Henry IV., had agreed to pay tribute to the king of Castile. When a child, he had scen this tax paid to the Spanish ambassador sent to receive it and had resented with a boy's impotent rage the scoffs and taunts of the guards who escorted the embassy. When he came to the throne he received the officers sent by Ferdinand and Isabella to demand the tribute with marked courtesy and splendid gifts, but returned the fol- lowing haughty answer to the sovereigns: "Tell your masters that those who paid tribute are dead, and Granada has only for the Christian iron for spears and steel for swords." From that moment Isabella decided to drive the Moor from Spain. She spent three years in preparation, for she fully realized the magnitude of the task she had undertaken. She reorganized her army, sent for skillful armores from France and Italy to build cannon, imported gunpowder from Sicily and Portugal, and heard in the first battles of this long war the artillery mingle with the cries of knightly con- flict.
Isabella gave especial attention to measures for the care of the sick and wounded of her army. Large movable tents supplied with every comfort for the injured were made for transportation in the rear of the troops and were named the "queen's hospital." They contained everything that could relieve suffering, and each tent had its number of surgeons to dress the wounds, and priests to soothe the last moments of those who were beyond mortal help. This was the first recorded attempt of the organization of camp hospitals. Ten years of incessant fighting were ended at last by the fall of the city of Granada and the close of over seven hundred years of
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Moorish domain in Spain. Throughout the long contest Isabella conducted the cam- paign with unceasing energy. She re-made roads, bridged rivers, cut passes through mountain defiles, raised money in every way: begged of the Pope because it was a religious war, begged from her nobles, appealing to their patriotism, and proved her own sincerity by selling some of the royal domains and pledging some of the crown jewels to the merchants of Barcelona. Ferdinand fought by her side, and won his right to command by his wisdom in council and his reckless daring in battle.
The city of Granada was surrendered to Isabella on the second of January, 1492. For ten years the Moor had fought for his country with matchless heroism. Boabdil, the reigning Sultan then of Granada, gave the keys of the city to Ferdinand with the words, " I firmly believe you will use your victory with justice and moderation." In his address to the Moorish chiefs he said, " Courage has never been wanting among the faithful; it has been the strength of their defense. Fatality has paralyzed our arms; men escaped from terrible peril fear new dangers when there is no hope for better fortune. What resource; the tempest has destroyed all!" The gate by which the royal household left Granada was walled up by the Sultan's request, and the peak of Talmud, where he saw for the last time his beloved city, has since borne the name of " The Last Sigh of the Moor." As the Moorish Sultan went on his way to exile he shed bitter tears of grief.
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