Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/494

348 WAR OF GRANADA. PART it taught the nation to entertain greater respect ^' for an enemy, who, whatever might be his natural strength, must become formidable when armed with the energy of despair. Revolution At thls luncture, a division among the Moors ill Oraiiadi. »/ ' o themselves did more for the Christians, than any successes of their own. This division grew out of the vicious system of polygamy, which sows the seeds of discord among those, whom nature and our own happier institutions unite most closely. The old king of Granada had become so deeply enamoured of a Greek slave, that the Sultana Zo- raya, jealous lest the offspring of her rival should supplant her own in the succession, secretly con- trived to stir up a spirit of discontent with her husband's government. The king, becoming ac- quainted with her intrigues, caused her to be im- prisoned in the fortress of the Alhambra. But the sultana, binding together the scarfs and veils be- longing to herself and attendants, succeeded, by means of this perilous conveyance, in making her escape, together with her children, from the upper apartments of the tower in which she was lodged. She was received with joy by her own faction. The insurrection soon spread among the populace, who, yielding to the impulses of nature, are readily roused by a tale of oppression ; and the number was still further swelled by many of higher rank, who had various causes of disgust with the op- pressive government of Abul Hacen. "^ The strong ' Conde, Dominacion ae ios Cardonne, Ilist. d'Afrique et d'Es- Arabes, loin. iii. pp. 211-217. — pagne, torn. iii. pp. 2G2, 203. —