If we except our Elizabeth, and Catherine of Russia, no princess of modern times can equal Isabel in ability, or in the success of her administration: and, in the qualities of her heart, in Christian fervour, and an unspotted life, how far does she not exceed either! Prudent in the formation, yet prompt in the execution, of her plans; severe towards guilt, yet merciful towards misfortune; unbending in her purposes, yet submissive to her husband; of rigid virtue, yet indulgent to minor frailties; devout without ostentation, and proud without haughtiness; feeling towards the pains of others, yet exhibiting no sentiment of her own, she might well command the respect, no less than the affection, of her people. Of her humble piety an anecdote is related, with great applause, by catholic writers. When the sovereigns of Castile were at confession, it was usual for the priest to kneel at the same time with themselves. The first time she attended this duty, after her elevation to the throne, she knelt; but the priest, Fernando de Talavera, quietly seated himself beside her. On her expressing some surprise that he also did not kneel, the friar replied, "This, senora, is the tribunal of God, whom I here represent, and I shall therefore remain seated; your highness will continue to kneel!" After her devotions were concluded, instead of expressing any resentment, she observed to an attendant, "This is just the director I have long sought!" The friar became archbishop of Granada. Her only defect—yet it is surely great enough—is her approval of the infernal tribunal which consigned to torture, imprisonment, or death, so many thousands of her subjects. Strange that this very lady, whom sufferings so exquisite could not move, should have been the constant and successful advocate of the Moors, whenever any town or fortress was taken by storm.
To Isabel must be ascribed the glory of the enterprise of Columbus in his discovery of America. At first she received with natural coldness the proposals of this wonderful man; but overcome at length by the representation of a monk, the friend of Columbus, and still more by the resistless reasoning of the navigator himself, whom she admitted to her presence, she borrowed the sum of money necessary for the armament, and bade him depart.
THE GATHERER.
Garratt Election.—Proclamation issued by the Mayor of Garratt.—Whereas his Majesty, the King and Queen, is expected to honour this ancient Corporation with his presence, in their tour to Coxheath; in order to prevent his Majesty from no impediment in his journey, the worshipful the Mayor and Bailiff, has thought proper the following regulations should be prohibited as following:—Nobody must not leave no dirt, nor any thing in that shape, before the doors nor shops. And all wheelbarrows, carts, dunghills, oyster-shells, cabbage-stalks, and other four-wheeled carriages, must be swept out of the streets. Any one who shall fail of offending in any article, shall be dealt with according to law.
J. DUNSTAN, Mayor.
Punishment of Death.—The Morning Herald of the 14th states—"We have it on the authority of one who heard the fact from a member of the Privy Council, (at present a Cabinet Minister,) that he frequently saw George the Fourth in a state of extraordinary agitation at the meeting of the Council, when the fate of a criminal was under consideration. He would contend the matter with the ministers and leave the table, and lean sometimes on the chimney-piece, advocating the cause of mercy, until overruled by his responsible advisers."
Erratum in the Washington "Globe."—For "Bumbleton's storm destroying porringers," read "Hamilton's worm-destroying lozenges."