[59] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, nos. 7, 11, 28, 29.— Seyssel, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 228-230.—St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 184.
[60] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 61.—"This prince," says Lord Herbert, who was not disposed to overrate the talents, any more than the virtues, of Ferdinand, "was thought the most active and politique of his time. No man knew better how to serve his turn on everybody, or to make their ends conduce to his." Life of Henry VIII., p. 63.
[61] According to them, the Catholic king took no great pains to conceal his treachery. "Quelqu'un disant un jour à Ferdinand, que Louis XII. l'accusoit de l'avoir trompé trois fois, Ferdinand parut mécontent qn'il lui ravît une partie de sa gloire; Il en a bien menti, l'ivrogne, dit-il, avec toute la grossièreté du temps, je l'ai trompé plus de dix." (Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 240.) The anecdote has been repeated by other modern writers, I know not on what authority. Ferdinand was too shrewd a politician, to hazard his game by playing the braggart.
[62] Paolo Giovio strikes the balance of their respective merits in this particular, in the following terms. "Ex horum enim longè maximorum nostrae tempestatis regum ingeniis, et turn liquidò et multùm anteà praclarè compertum est, nihil omnino sanctum et inviolabile, vel in ritè conceptis sancitisque foederibus reperiri, quòd, in proferendis imperiis augendisque opibus, apud eos nihil ad illustris famae decus interesset, dolone et nusquam sine fallaciis, an fide integrâ verâque virtute niterentur." Hist. sui Temporis, lib. 11, p. 160.
[63] An equally pertinent example occurs in the efficient support he gave Caesar Borgia in his flagitious enterprises against some of the most faithful allies of France. See Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. xiii. cap. 101.
[64] Read the honeyed panegyrics of Seyssel, St. Gelais, Voltaire even, to say nothing of Gaillard, Varillas, e lulti quanti, undiluted by scarce a drop of censure. Rare indeed is it to find one so imbued with the spirit of philosophy, as to raise himself above the local or national prejudices which pass for patriotism with the vulgar. Sismondi is the only writer in the French language, that has come under my notice, who has weighed the deserts of Louis XII. in the historic balance with impartiality and candor. And Sismondi is not a Frenchman.
[65] Giovio, Hist. sui Temporis, lib. 16, p. 335.
[66] Ferdinand left four natural children, one son and three daughters. The former, Don Alonso de Aragon, was born of the viscountess of Eboli, a Catalan lady. He was made archbishop of Saragossa when only six years old. There was little of the religious profession, however, in his life. He took an active part in the political and military movements of the period, and seems to have been even less scrupulous in his gallantries than his father. His manners in private life were attractive, and his public conduct discreet. His father always regarded him with peculiar affection, and intrusted him with the regency of Aragon, as we have seen, at his death.
Ferdinand had three daughters, also, by three different ladies, one of them a noble Portuguese. The eldest child was named Doña Juana, and married the grand constable of Castile. The others, each named Maria, embraced the religious profession in a convent in Madrigal. L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 188.—Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 410.
[67] "Enfin il surpassa tous les Princes de son siècle en la science du Cabinet, et c'est à lui qu'on doit attribuer le premier et le souverain usage de la politique moderne." Varillas, Politique de Ferdinand, liv. 3, disc. 10.