Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/413

DEATH AND CHARACTER OF FERDINAND. 385 sires in his bosom, which could not fail to end in ciiapteu XXIV his disappointment, and perhaps destruction.^" - The king, who would never have made such a devise in his better days, was more easily turned from his purpose now, than he would once have been. " To whom then," he asked, " shall I leave the regency ? " " To Ximenes, archbishop of To- ledo," they replied. Ferdinand turned away his face, apparently in displeasure ; but after a few mo- ments' silence rejoined, " It is well ; he is certainly a good man, with honest intentions. He has no importunate friends or family to provide for. He owes every thing to Queen Isabella and myself; and, as he has always been true to the interests of our family, I believe he will always remain so."^' He, however, could not so readily abandon the idea of some splendid establishment for his favorite grandson : and he proposed to settle on him the grand-masterships of the military orders. But to this his attendants again objected, on the same grounds as before ; adding, that this powerful pa- tronage was too great for any subject, and imploring him not to defeat the object which the late queen had so much at heart, of incorporating it with the crown. " Ferdinand will be left very poor then," exclaimed the king, with tears in his eyes. " He will have the good-will of his brother," replied one of his honest counsellors, " the best legacy your Highness can leave him."^^ 30 CarbajalJ Anales, MS., aiio ^i ibid., ubi supra. 1516, cap. 2. 32 Ibid., ubi supra. VOL. III. 49