Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/205

MINORITY OF FERDINAND. 6 1 were to be allowed to depart in safety ; and such chapter of the natives, as should refuse to renew their , '. allegiance to their ancient sovereign within a year, might have the liberty of removing with their effects wherever they would. One provision may be thought somewhat singular, after what had occurred ; it was agreed that the king should cause the Barcelonians to be publicly proclaimed, through- out all his dominions, good, faithful, and loyal sub- jects ; which was accordingly done ! The king, after the adjustment of the prelimina- ries, " declining," says a contemporary, " the tri- umphal car which had been prepared for him, made his entrance into the city by the gate of St. Antony, mounted on a white charger ; and, as he rode along the principal streets, the sight of so many pallid countenances and emaciated figures, bespeaking the extremity of famine, smote his heart with sorrow." He then proceeded to the hall of the great palace, and on the 22d of December, 1472, 1479. solemnly swore there to respect the constitution and laws of Catalonia.^^ Thus ended this long, disastrous civil war, the fruit of parental injustice and oppression, which had nearly cost the king of Aragon the fairest portion of his dominions ; which devoted to dis- quietude and disappointment more than ten years of life, at a period when repose is most grateful ; and which opened the way to foreign wars, that 52 L. Marineo, Cosas Memora- Alonsode Palencia, Cor6nica,MS., bles, fol. 144, 147. — Zurita, An- part. 2, cap. 1. ales, torn. iv. fol. 187, 188. —