r
 
 HAITtUs JW. 
 
 IF 
 
 JIH TM1E 
 
 SGABJE2ID) < 

 
 THE 
 
 PICTURESQUE ANTIQUITIES 
 
 SPAIN; 
 
 DESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS, 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 REPRESENTING MOORISH PALACES, CATHEDRALS, 
 AND OTHER MONUMENTS OF ART, 
 
 CONTAINED IN THE CITIES OF 
 
 BY 
 
 NATHANIEL ARMSTRONG WELLS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 ltsfjer t'n rtfi'iiary to fler 
 
 M.DCCC.XLVI.
 
 i 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 * printed by S. & J. BEWTLRY, WILSON, and FLF.Y, 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane. 

 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE author of the following letters is aware that 
 his publication would have possessed greater utility, 
 had the architectural descriptions been more mi- 
 nute. He ventures to hope, however, that this im- 
 perfection may be in some measure balanced by the 
 
 more extended sphere opened to whatever informa- 
 tion it may contain. 
 
 The absence of many technical expressions, espe- 
 cially those which enter into a detailed description 
 of almost all Gothic buildings, and the employment 
 of which was forbidden by the occasion, may tend 
 to facilitate the satisfaction of popular curiosity 
 respecting Spanish art : the more so from the cir- 
 cumstance that the most intelligent in such subjects 
 are scarcely sufficiently agreed on the application
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 of technical terms, to allow of the compilation of a 
 standard vocabulary. His ambition will be more 
 than satisfied, should his past, and perhaps future 
 researches, succeed, in some degree, in pioneering 
 the path for a more scientific pen. 
 
 Should this work fall into the hands of any reader, 
 whose expectations of entertainment may have 
 been encouraged by the announcement of another 
 Spanish tour, but who may feel but moderate en- 
 thusiasm for the artistic and monumental glories 
 of the Peninsula, an explanation is due to him, 
 exonerative of the author from much of the respon- 
 sibility attached to the matter-of-fact tone of his 
 descriptions. It is no less his nature than it was 
 his wish to paint what he saw as he saw it. Un- 
 fortunately his visits to Spain took place after the 
 accomplishment of the revolution, the hardest blows 
 of which were aimed at her church. The confis- 
 cation of the ecclesiastical revenues has necessarily 
 stripped the processions and other ceremonies of 
 their former splendour, and by suppressing what con-
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 stituted one of their chief attractions to the native 
 population, transferred the interest of the lover of 
 the picturesque from the bright colours of animated 
 grouping, to the dead back-ground of stone and 
 marble they have left. 
 
 In studying, however, to preserve this strict accu- 
 racy in all that related to the principal subject of 
 his correspondence, his aim was to enliven it by 
 the introduction of any incidents worthy of notice 
 which came under his observation. In this object 
 he hopes he may have succeeded. 
 
 One more remark is necessary. The letters from 
 Seville, which form the second of the two parts 
 into which the volume is divided, although placed 
 last in order of succession, date in reality from 
 an earlier period than the rest ; and even from 
 a different tour, as will appear from the descrip- 
 tion of the route. They were addressed to vari- 
 ous individuals, whereas those forming the first 
 part were all written to the same person. They 
 are thus placed with a view to geographical order
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 and clearness, and ./to a sort of unity, which ap- 
 peared advisable in ^tie subject of a volume. The 
 two excursions having been separated by an interval 
 of three years, should alterations have taken place 
 during that period in the places described, the above 
 circumstance not being borne in mind might lead to 
 an appearance of J chronological inaccuracy in the 
 descriptions, although there is not much probability 
 of the existence of such changes.- 
 
 LOXDON. December 1845.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 To MRS. C R . . . . ~ . .1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE .... 9 
 
 LETTER III. 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES . . . . . .15 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. CATHEDRAL. . . . 28 
 
 LETTER V. 
 TOMB OF THE CID. CITADEL. . . . 52 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. . 70 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. MUSEO. . .78 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. FLORINDA. . 103 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO . . - .121
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CAFES. WEDDING CEREMONY. CATHEDRAL CONTINUED. ALCAZAR HOSPI- 
 TAL OF SANTA CRUZ. CONVENT OF LA CONCEPTION. MYSTERIOUS CA- 
 VERN. CONVENT OF SANTA FE, OR OF SANTIAGO. SONS-IN-LAW OF 
 THE CID. . . . . . . .143 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 STREETS OF TOLEDO. EL AMA DE CASA. MONASTERY OF SAN JUAN DE 
 LOS REYES. PALACE OF DON HURTADO DE MENDOZA. . 172 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 ARAB MONUMENTS. PICTURES. THE PRINCESS GALIANA. ENVIRONS. 195 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 CASTLES OF ALMONACID, GUADAMUR, MONTALBAN, AND ESCALONA. TOR- 
 RIJOS. . . . . . . . 214 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 VALLADOLID. SAN PABLO. COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. ROUTE BY 
 SARAGOZA. . . 240
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PART TT. -SEVILLE. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. CHARACTER OP THE SPANIARDS. VALLEY OF 
 THE RHONE. ..... 259 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 CADIZ. ARRIVAL AT SEVILLE. . 308 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 THE ARABS IN SPAIN. ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 315 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE . . . . . 350 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 SPANISH BEGGARS. HAIRDRESSING. THE GIRALDA. CASA DE PILATOS. 
 MONASTERIES. ITALICA. .... 369 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 PRIVATE HOUSES, AND LOCAL CUSTOMS IN SEVILLE . 399 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 INQUISITION. COLLEGE OF SAN TELMO. CIGAR MANUFACTORY. BULL 
 CIRCUS. EXCHANGE. AYUNTAMIENTO. . . 416
 
 ENGRAVED PLATES. 
 
 PA<JK 
 
 CHAPEL OF SAN ISIDRO, MADRID . To face Title. 
 
 TRANSEPT OF CATHEDRAL, BURGOS 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF MIRAFLOKES . 
 
 VIEW OF TOLEDO 
 
 INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL, TOLEDO . 
 
 FAADE OF SAN GREGORIO, VALLADOLID 
 
 FA9ADE OF THE ALCAZAR, SEVILLE 
 
 GREAT COURT OF DO. 328 
 
 HALL OF AMBASSADORS, DO. 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, SEVILLE . 353 
 
 WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 ARCO DE SANTA MARIA. BURGOS. ... 30 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE CHOIR, CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS 
 
 SCULPTURE IN THE APSE, DO. DO. 
 
 HEAD OF ST. FRANCIS ... .48 
 
 FOUNTAIN OF SANTA MARIA, BURGOS .... 69 
 
 ITALIAN GALLERY AT THE MUSEO, MADRID . . . .94 
 
 FLORINDA'S BATH, TOLEDO .... 112 
 
 APSE OF THE CATHEDRAL, TOLEDO ..... 129 
 
 COSTUME OF A MILITARY NUN, SANTA FE, TOLEDO . 165 
 
 CHURCH OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES, DO. . . .179 
 
 CLOISTER OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES, DO. . . .182 
 
 INTERIOR OF SANTA MARIA LA BLANCA, DO. . . .196 
 
 INTERIOR OF CHRISTO DE LA Luz, DO. . . .201 
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. ENVIRONS OF DO. . . . 226 
 
 FAgADE OF SAN PABLO. VALLADOLID .... 242 
 
 COURT OF SAN GREGORIO. VALLADOLID .... 249 
 
 COURT OF DOLLS, ALCAZAR, SEVILLE . . . .331 
 
 FOUNTAINS AT THE ALCAZAR ...... 339 
 
 PORTAL OF SAN TELMO, SEVILLE . . . . .422
 
 PICTURESQUE ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO MRS. C R. 
 
 Rue de Richelieu. 
 
 You perceived at a glance the satisfaction you 
 caused me, when, on receiving my temporary adieus, 
 you requested me to send you some account of my 
 travels in Spain. Had it not been so, you had not 
 been in possession, on that day, of your usual pene- 
 tration. Indeed, you no doubt foresaw it ; aware 
 that, next to the pleasure of acquiring ocular infor- 
 mation respecting the peculiar objects which interest 
 an individual, there is no greater one than that of 
 communicating to a spirit, animated by congenial 
 tastes, the results of his explorations. You must have 
 foreseen, that, with my recollections of the pleasure 
 I had derived from our excursions in one of the 
 most interesting regions of France, during which I 
 was witness to the intelligence and rapidity of percep- 
 
 B
 
 2 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 tion you displayed in the appreciation of the monu- 
 ments of the Middle Ages, the opportunity of commit- 
 ting to paper the impressions I should receive in a 
 country so rich in those treasures, with a view to 
 your information, would give an additional interest 
 to my tour, as well as encouragement in surmount- 
 ing the obstacles to be met with among a people 
 not yet broken in to the curiosity of tourists. 
 
 You professed also, with a modesty always becom- 
 ing to talent and worth, a complete ignorance re- 
 specting Spain : adding, that you would be grateful 
 for every sort of information ; and that you were 
 anxious to be enlightened on the subject not only 
 of the monuments and fine arts, but also of the 
 history of that country, of which you had never had an 
 opportunity of informing yourself; summing up by 
 the enumeration of the three names of the Cid, 
 Charles the Fifth, and Roderic the Goth, the entire 
 amount of your acquaintance with the leading 
 characters of Spanish history. 
 
 Indeed, the ignorance you profess with some 
 exaggeration, is more or less general in our coun- 
 try; nor is it surprising that such should be the 
 case. Spain has been in modern times in the back- 
 ground of European progress. The thousand in- 
 conveniences of its routes and inns have deterred 
 the most enterprising from making it a place of
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 3 
 
 resort ; and while a hundred less interesting scenes 
 of travel, such as Baden-Baden, Bohemia, sporting 
 adventures in Norway, or winterings in St. Peters- 
 burg, have claimed your attention during the re- 
 poses of quadrilles, and substantiated the con- 
 versation of several of your morning visitors, Spain 
 has been unnoticed and unknown laid on the 
 shelf with the Arabian Nights considered a sort of 
 fabulous country, which it would be charming to 
 know, but with which there would never be a 
 chance of forming an acquaintance ; and you have 
 contented yourself with a sort of general infor- 
 mation respecting it, derived from a few romances and 
 poems. You are intimate with Boabdil and the 
 wars of Granada, but to those events is limited 
 your knowledge of its ancient history ; and the 
 reigns of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second, 
 with the addition of some confused visions, in which 
 autos-da-fe and dungeons contrast in a rather 
 gloomy back-ground with laughing majas, whirling 
 their castagnettes to the soft cadences of guitars, 
 fill up the remaining space allotted to Spain in your 
 recollections. 
 
 It would be a task full of interest for me pos- 
 sessed, as I shall probably be, of ample opportunities 
 for its accomplishment to draw up for your in- 
 formation a summary of the leading events of 
 
 B 2
 
 4 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 Spanish history ; connecting them by the chain of 
 reigns of the successive sovereigns ; and thus to press 
 into a limited compass a sort of abstract of the 
 annals of this extraordinary nation : but I am 
 deterred by the certainty that such an attempt, by 
 me, would fail of its intended object. The events, 
 thus slurred over, would have the effect of whetting 
 the appetite for knowledge, which they would not 
 satisfy ; and the interminable lists of monarchs, of 
 successions, usurpations, alliances and intermarriages, 
 rendered doubly intricate by the continual recurrence 
 of the same names, without sufficient details to 
 particularise each a chaos of outlines without the 
 necessary shading to bring out the figures from the 
 canvass would not only set at defiance the clearest 
 memory, but would be a trial which I would not 
 for worlds impose upon your patience. No history 
 is more attractive than that of Spain ; and those 
 works which exist upon the subject, although all, 
 more or less, sullied with inaccuracies, and most of 
 them infected with prejudice, and immersed in super- 
 stitious delusion, are still well worth your perusal ; 
 but it would lead me out of my depth, were I to 
 undertake in my correspondence more than an oc- 
 casional historical quotation, when required by the 
 interest attached to any monument which it may 
 fall to my lot to describe.
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 5 
 
 Were I not to transmit to you a conscientious and 
 faithful account of all that I shall see, I should be 
 guilty of cruelty ; and that the more base, from the 
 certain impunity that must attend it. I say this, 
 from the impossibility of your ever undertaking the 
 same journey, and consequently of your ever being 
 able to compare my portraits with their originals. 
 In fact, the incompatibility of your nature, and that 
 of the Spanish climate, must ever be present to me, 
 who, during the vivifying heats of the late very bear- 
 able canicule, in your French chateau so constructed 
 as to perform the functions of an atmospheric sieve, 
 by separating the wind, which rushed through its 
 doors and windows, judiciously placed in parallels for 
 the purpose, from the warmer sunshine without 
 was witness, nevertheless, to your unaffected distress, 
 when you protested against any lofty, oak-panelled 
 room being sat or reclined in by more than one 
 humanlbeing at a time, lest it should be over-heated ; 
 placing thus an obstacle in the way of conversation, 
 in which to shine is your especial province, by ren- 
 dering it necessary to converse through various open 
 doors ; while, were an additional testimony necessary 
 to prove the sincerity of your sufferings, your favour- 
 ite of favourites, Caliph, repulsed and uncaressed, 
 hung his silken ears, as he solemnly retreated to coil
 
 6 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 himself on a distant rug, and voted the dog-days a 
 misnomer. 
 
 Nor were you contented with your atmosphere, 
 until, the season of insects and al-fresco suppers being 
 long left behind, and the autumnal equinox having 
 peremptorily closed the doors and windows, fitted, 
 alas ! by a carpenter who flourished in the reign of 
 Louis the Fourteenth, so plentiful a supply of air 
 was afforded by the handy-works of the said car- 
 penter, that the Chinese screen had some difficulty 
 in maintaining its post, and the flames of the well- 
 furnished elm-fire ascended with a roar that 
 would have shamed many a cataract of the rival 
 element. Not but that I would willingly forego 
 the opportunity of sending you erroneous in- 
 formation, in exchange for your presence in that 
 country ; and for your assistance in comprehending 
 the nature of a people apparently composed of such 
 contradictory ingredients. You might probably suc- 
 ceed in fathoming the hidden springs of character, 
 which give birth to a crowd of anomalies difficult to 
 explain. You would discover by what mystery of 
 organization a people, subject to the influence of 
 violent passions, combine an abject subjection to the 
 forms of etiquette, carried to its extreme in every-day 
 life, with occasional outbreaks of adventure and ro- 
 mance worthy of the days of Orlando and Rodo-
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 7 
 
 monte ; and account for a nation exchanging a cos- 
 tume which combines utility with grace, for one in- 
 ferior in both respects. Inventors of whatever is 
 most fascinating in dances and music you would 
 discover the motive which induces them to abandon 
 both, but principally the first, which they replace 
 by the French rigodon, or dancing-made-easy, and 
 adapted to youth, manhood, and all stages of para- 
 lysis ; and, possessing the cathedrals of Leon, Burgos, 
 and Seville, to denounce Gothic architecture as bar- 
 barous, and to brand it with the contemptuous deno- 
 mination of "crested masonry." 
 
 Should my mono- ( monument-) mania run riot, 
 and over-describe, over-taxing even your passion for 
 that branch of art, be assured and to this promise 
 you may always look back for consolation and en- 
 couragement that I will not write you a history of 
 the recent, or any previous Spanish revolution, 
 apropos of the first sentry-box I meet with, even 
 though its form be that of a Lilliputian brick castle. 
 Nor shall my first glimpse of a matador occasion you 
 a list of bull-fights, voluminous enough to line the 
 circumference of the barrera. No Diligence shall be 
 waylaid, nor in my presence shall any ladies' fingers 
 be amputated, the quicker to secure her rings, if I 
 can possibly avoid it ; and, as far as depends on me, 
 I shall arrive in a whole skin at each journey's end.
 
 8 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 and without poisoning you or myself with garlick, 
 unless the new Cortes pass a law for denying to the 
 stranger all other sorts of aliment. 
 
 I have resolved, by a process of reasoning which I 
 need not at present impart to you, and in virtue of 
 a permission which I have little doubt of your grant- 
 ing, to publish my part of our correspondence. I 
 think that neither of us will be a loser by this plan, 
 however conceited I may appear to you for saying so. 
 Yourself, in the first place, must be a gainer by the 
 perusal of descriptions, on which, from their being 
 prepared for the ordeal of a less indulgent eye, 
 greater care will necessarily be expended : the pub- 
 lic may benefit in obtaining information, which shall 
 be at all events accurate, relative to subjects as yet 
 inadequately appreciated by those they are the most 
 likely to interest : while the chief gainer, in the event 
 of these two ends being attained, will of course be 
 your devoted and humble correspondent.
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 Bayonne. 
 
 THE position of Burgos on the principal line of 
 communication by which Madrid is approached from 
 the north of Europe ; the fact of its being the first 
 city met with, after crossing the Pyrenees, in which 
 monuments are found remaining of the former genius 
 and grandeur of the country ; and the name of which 
 calls up the more stirring and eventful epochs of 
 Spanish history, render it, notwithstanding its actual 
 distance from the frontier, a sort of introduction or 
 gateway to Spain the Spain of the tourist. 
 
 The most agreeable and least troublesome way of 
 visiting the best parts of Spain excludes, it is true, 
 this route ; for the provinces of the Peninsula which 
 combine the greater number of requisites for the en- 
 joyment of life with the most attractive specimens of 
 the picturesque, whether natural or artificial, are 
 those nearest to the coast, and they are approached 
 more conveniently by sea. Those, however, who can
 
 10 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 devote sufficient time, will be repaid, by a tour in the 
 interior of the country, for the increase of trouble it 
 may occasion them ; and this tour should precede 
 the visit to the maritime provinces, as it will render 
 their superior comforts and climate the more accept- 
 able from the contrast. The scenery of the Pyrenees, 
 and the passing acquaintance formed with the 
 original and picturesque population of the Basque 
 provinces, secure the traveller against any danger of 
 ennui throughout the land-journey between the fron- 
 tier and the city of Burgos. 
 
 There does not exist the same security throughout 
 the extent of route which it is necessary to travel in 
 order to reach this frontier. The approach to Spain 
 across the south-western provinces of France offers 
 few objects worthy of detaining us on our way to the 
 Peninsula. It is one of the least interesting of 
 French routes. From Paris you pass through Orleans 
 and Tours. At Chatellerault between the latter 
 city and Poitiers the inn-door is besieged by women 
 offering knives for sale. It is everywhere known 
 that cutlery is not one of the departments of French 
 manufactures which have attained the greatest de- 
 gree of superiority. A glance at the specimens of- 
 fered for our choice while changing horses at Cha- 
 tellerault, showed them to be very bad, even for 
 France.
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 11 
 
 This did not, however, prevent a multitude of 
 travellers from purchasing each his knife, nor one of 
 them from laying in a plentiful stock, stating that 
 he destined a knife for each member of his family 
 evidently one of the most numerous in France. I 
 inquired of a native the explanation of this scene, 
 and whether these knives were considered superior 
 to those met with in other towns. " Oh no," was the 
 reply ; " but it is usual to buy knives here." I ven- 
 tured to say I thought them very bad. " That is of 
 no consequence ; because, whenever you have passed 
 through Chatellerault, every one asks you for a knife 
 made on the spot." These victims of custom had 
 paid enormous prices for their acquisitions. 
 
 Poitiers is a crazy old town, but contains one of 
 the most admirable specimens of the architecture im- 
 mediately preceding the pointed, or ogivale, and 
 which the French savans call "the Romane." I allude 
 to the church called " the Notre Dame de Poitiers." 
 The west front is highly ornamented, and unites all 
 the peculiar richness with the quaintness and sim- 
 plicity of design which characterize that fine old 
 style. I must not omit the forest of Chatellerault, 
 passed through on leaving that town. It is famous 
 as the scene of the picnic given to the ladies of the 
 neighbouring city by the officers of a Polish regiment 
 quartered there, immediately before the breaking out
 
 12 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 of the Peninsular war. It is related that Polish 
 gallantry overstepped etiquette to such a degree, 
 and that by premeditation, as to urge these cavaliers, 
 by force of bayonet, and sentries, to separate all the 
 husbands, and other male relatives, from the fairer por- 
 tion of the guests. The consequences of such a termi- 
 nation of the festivities may easily be imagined; Bona- 
 parte, a rigid judge with regard to all divorces except 
 his own, on receiving the complaint of the insulted 
 town, condemned the officers en masse to be decimated, 
 and the survivors degraded from their rank. He 
 relented, however, afterwards, on an understanding 
 that they were to regain their sullied laurels in the 
 Peninsula ; where, in fact, in consequence of his 
 orders, such opportunities were afforded them, that 
 scarcely a man in the regiment survived the earliest 
 campaigns. 
 
 The inhabitants of Chatellerault are said to take 
 great offence on being asked their age, suspecting the 
 inquirer of a malicious calculation. 
 
 The new quarter of Bordeaux is handsome, spacious, 
 and airy. In the promenade called " La Quinconce," 
 on the bank of the river, a large insulated edifice, 
 the most monumental in view, is discovered by the 
 inscription on its front to be an establishment for 
 warm baths. At one extremity of the principal 
 facade is seen, in sculptured letters, "Bains des
 
 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 13 
 
 dames ;" at the other, " Bains des hommes." At this 
 latter entrance a handsome staircase leads to the 
 corridor of general communication, on the unsullied 
 white wall of which the code of discipline of the 
 establishment, traced in large sable characters, forces 
 itself on the notice of the visitor. It consists of the 
 following single and rather singular statute : " II est 
 expressement defendu aux garcons de permettre a 
 deux hommes de se servir de la meme baignoire." 
 After some reflection I concluded it to be a measure 
 of precaution with regard to cleanliness, carried, no 
 doubt, to an extreme at Bordeaux. This town is 
 well deserving of a few days' halt, should the tra- 
 veller's object be amusement, or the pleasures of the 
 table, for which it enjoys a well-merited reputation. 
 It is a large and handsome city, the second in France 
 in beauty, and vies with the capital in the elegance 
 of its shops and principal streets. The theatre is, 
 externally, the finest in France ; and there is, besides 
 the cathedral, and surpassing it in interest and an- 
 tiquity, a remarkable Gothic church. 
 
 Of the sixty leagues which separate this town from 
 Bayonne, forty afford the most perfect example of 
 monotony. One sighs for the Steppes of Russia. 
 These are the well-known Landes, consisting of un- 
 cultivated sands and morass ; now covered league 
 after league with the unvarying gloom of the pine
 
 14 ROUTE TO SPAIN THROUGH FRANCE. 
 
 and cork forests, now dreary and bare, but ever 
 presenting to the wearied eye a wide interminable 
 waste, replete with melancholy and desolation. It is 
 true, that a day of pouring rain was not calculated to 
 set off to advantage the qualities of such a region, 
 and should in strict justice be admitted in evidence 
 before passing condemnation on the Landes.
 
 15 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 Burgos. 
 
 IT never causes me surprise when I see the efforts 
 made by persons of limited means to obtain the situ- 
 ation of Consul in a continental town. 
 
 In spite of one's being, as it were, tied to one's 
 residence, and that not one's home, there are ad- 
 vantages which counterbalance the evil. The place 
 carries with it a certain degree of consequence. One 
 feels oneself suddenly a man of influence, and a 
 respectable public character. I have heard one, cer- 
 tainly far from being high on the list of these func- 
 tionaries, termed by a humbler inhabitant of his 
 " residence," the " Premier Consul." 
 
 The income, too, is, it is true, limited ; but then 
 one is usually in a cheap place. In fact, I always 
 envied these favoured individuals. No calling, how- 
 ever, is without its deboires. It seems as if Pro- 
 vidence had decreed that an income cannot be fairly,
 
 16 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 if agreeably, earned. Thus, the set-off against the 
 bliss of the consul, is the necessity he is under of 
 holding out his hand for his fee. I make these re- 
 
 o 
 
 marks, to introduce to your notice an ingenious 
 method, put in practice probably invented by our 
 consul at Bayonne, for getting over the irksomeness 
 of this duty. I found him in his bureau, pen in 
 hand, and a large sheet of official-shaped paper before 
 him, half written over. On my passport being 
 presented for his visa, his countenance assumed 
 a painful expression, in which regret was blended 
 with a sort of tendency to compassion, and which at 
 first occasioned me a sensation of alarm, conjuring up 
 in my imagination all the consequences of an irre- 
 gular passport tedious routes to be retraced, time 
 lost, expense incurred, and suspicion, and even in- 
 carcerationinfection death ! 
 
 Meanwhile he pointed to the letter he was writing, 
 and, drawing forward with the other hand a chair, 
 said that he was at that moment memorializing the 
 Foreign Office on the subject of these visas ; that his 
 pain was extreme at seeing travellers compelled to 
 send or come to his office, and to lose thus much 
 valuable time ; he was likewise concerned at their 
 having to pay three francs each for so useless a cere- 
 mony as his visa ; but he wished it to be remarked, 
 that it was at present a ceremony quite indispensable ;
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 17 
 
 since, only four days back, a gentleman had been 
 compelled to return from the Spanish frontier (a 
 distance of seven leagues) in the middle of the night, 
 in consequence of his having neglected this, as yet, 
 necessary observance.* 
 
 Leaving Bayonne by Diligence, although still at 
 some distance from the frontier, you are already in a 
 Spanish vehicle. The only difference consists in its 
 being drawn by horses as far as Irun, a few hundred 
 yards in Spain, at which place they are replaced by 
 a team of mules ; but the mayoral is Spanish from 
 the commencement, as also usually the greater num- 
 ber of the travellers. From the first view of 
 Spanish ground, the monotony of the landscape 
 ceases, and gives place to picturesque scenery. This 
 effect is as sudden as if produced by the whistle of 
 a scene-shifter. From the brow of a hill the valley 
 of the Bidassoa opens on the view, the bay on the 
 right, two or three towns in the centre, and beyond 
 them, stretching to the left, the chain of the 
 Pyrenees. This opening scene is very satisfactory 
 to the newly arrived traveller, whose expectations 
 have been rising towards fever-heat as he gradually 
 neared the object of his dreams the "renowned 
 romantic land ; " the more so, as he is well prepared, 
 
 * The very polite individual alluded to no longer fills the post of 
 Consul at Bayonne. 
 
 C
 
 18 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 by the Landes of France, to enjoy to the utmost 
 the variety of scene afforded by the two days of 
 mountain and valley which separate the frontier 
 from the town of Vitoria. 
 
 The Diligence comes to a halt every afternoon ; 
 the day's journey having commenced at three in the 
 morning. There are three of these days between 
 Bayonne and Burgos. At Tolosa and Vitoria the 
 intermediate places of rest the system is as follows : 
 Arriving at about four in the afternoon, an interval 
 is allowed of about two hours, which in a long 
 journey can always be profitably employed, until the 
 meal, called supper. This is Hornerically plen- 
 tiful, and varied sufficiently to suit the tastes of 
 all such as are accustomed to the vicissitudes of 
 travelling. The repast over, all gradually retire to 
 their sleeping apartments, where they are undis- 
 turbed until two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 At this hour each passenger is furnished with a 
 candle, and requested to get up ; and at a quarter to 
 three the muchacha (chambermaid) reappears, bearing 
 in her hand a plate, on which, after rubbing his 
 eyes, the traveller may discover, if it be allowed so 
 to speak, an imperceptible cup, a xicara, since, having 
 the thing, they have a name for it, which is of 
 course untranslateable, of excellent chocolate, an 
 azucarillo (almost transparent sugar prepared for
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 19 
 
 instantaneous melting), a glass of water, and a piece 
 of bread. After partaking of this agreeable re- 
 freshment, you have just time left to pay your 
 bill, fold up your passport, which during the night 
 has remained in the hands of the police, and to 
 take your seat in the Diligence. 
 
 The towns of the Basque provinces appear not to 
 have been much maltreated during the Carlist war ; 
 not so the villages, most of which present a melan- 
 choly aspect of ruin and desolation. The churches, 
 built so as to appear more like keeps of castles, 
 have mostly withstood the shock. The destruction 
 was oftener the result of burning than of artillery. 
 The lover of the picturesque offers his silent gratitude 
 to the combatants on both sides, for sparing, although 
 unintentionally, some of the most charming objects 
 of all Spain. 
 
 Among the most striking of these is Hernani. 
 It is composed of one street, of the exact required 
 width for the passage of an ordinary vehicle. This 
 street is a perfect specimen of picturesque originality. 
 The old facades are mostly emblazoned with the 
 bearings of their ancient proprietors, sculptured in 
 high relief. On entering the place, the effect is 
 that of a deep twilight after the broad blaze of the 
 sunny mountains. This is caused by the almost 
 flat roofs, which advance considerably beyond the
 
 20 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 fronts of the houses, and nearly meet in the centre 
 of the street: the roof of each house is either 
 higher or lower, or more or less projecting, than 
 its neighbour ; and all are supported by carved 
 wood-work, black from age. The street terminates 
 on the brow of a hill, and widens at the end, so 
 as to form a small square, one retreating side of 
 which is occupied by the front of a church covered 
 with old sculpture; and the diligence, preceded 
 by its long team of tinkling mules, disappears 
 through the arched gateway of a Gothic castle. 
 
 In this part of Spain one does not hear the sounds 
 of the guitar; these commence further on. On 
 Sundays and holydays, the fair of Tolosa, and of the 
 other Basque towns, flourish their castagnettes to 
 the less romantic whinings of the violin ; but, in 
 traversing the country, the ear is continually met 
 by a sound less musical, although no less national, 
 than that of the guitar a sort of piercing and loud 
 complaint, comparable to nothing but the screams 
 of those who have " relinquished hope " at Dante's 
 grim gateway. 
 
 These unearthly accents assail the ear of the 
 traveller long before he can perceive the object 
 whence they proceed; but, becoming louder and 
 louder, there will issue from a narrow road, or 
 rather ravine, a diminutive cart, shut in between
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 21 
 
 two small round tables for wheels. Their voice 
 proceeds from their junction with the axle, by a 
 contrivance, the nature of which I did not examine 
 closely enough to describe. A French tourist ex- 
 presses much disgust at this custom, which he 
 attributes to the barbarous state of his neighbours, 
 and their ignorance of mechanical art ; it is, how- 
 ever, much more probable that the explanation 
 given by the native population is the correct one. 
 According to this, the wheels are so constructed 
 for the useful purpose of forewarning all other 
 drivers of the approach of a cart. The utility of 
 some such invention is evident. The mountain 
 roads are cut to a depth often of several yards, 
 sometimes scores of yards, (being probably dried-up 
 beds of streams,) and frequently for a distance of 
 some furlongs admit of the passage of no more than 
 one of these carts at a time, notwithstanding their 
 being extremely narrow. The driver, forewarned 
 at a considerable distance by a sound he cannot 
 mistake, seeks a wide spot, and there awaits the 
 meeting. 
 
 You need not be told that human experience 
 analysed resolves itself into a series of disappoint- 
 ments. I beg you to ask yourself, or any of your 
 acquaintances, whether any person, thing, or event 
 ever turned out to be exactly, or nearly, such as
 
 22 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 was expected he, she, or it would be. According 
 to the disposition of each individual, these com- 
 ponent parts of experience become the bane or 
 the charm of his life. 
 
 This truth may be made, by powerful resolve, 
 the permanent companion of your reflections, so as 
 to render the expectation of disappointment stronger 
 than any other expectation. What then? If you 
 know the expected result will undergo a metamor- 
 phosis before it becomes experience, you will not be 
 disappointed. Only try. For instance, every one 
 knows the Spanish character by heart ; it is the 
 burden of all literary productions, which, from the 
 commencement of time, have treated of that country. 
 A Carlist officer, therefore, the hopeless martyr in 
 the Apostolic, aristocratic cause of divine right ; the 
 high-souled being, rushing into the daily, deadly 
 struggle, supported, instead of pay and solid rations, 
 by his fidelity to his persecuted king ; such a 
 character is easily figured. The theory of disap- 
 pointments must here be at fault. He is a true 
 Spaniard ; grave, reserved, dignified. His lofty pre- 
 sence must impress every assembly with a certain 
 degree of respectful awe. I mounted the coupe, 
 or berlina, of the Diligence, to leave Tolosa, with 
 a good-looking, fair, well-fed native, with a long 
 falling auburn moustache. We commenced by ban-
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 23 
 
 dying civilities as to which should hold the door 
 while the other ascended. No sooner were we 
 seated than my companion inquired whether I was 
 military; adding, that he was a Carlist captain of 
 cavalry returning from a six months' emigration. 
 
 Notwithstanding the complete polish of his man- 
 ners in addressing me, it was evident he enjoyed an 
 uncommon exuberance of spirits, even more than 
 the occasion could call for from the most ardent 
 lover of his country ; and I at first concluded he 
 must have taken the earliest opportunity (it being 
 four o'clock in the morning) of renewing his long- 
 interrupted acquaintance with the flask of aguar- 
 diente : but that this was not the case was evident 
 afterwards, from the duration of his tremendous 
 happiness. During the first three or four hours, 
 his tongue gave itself not an instant's repose. 
 Every incident was a subject of merriment, and, 
 when tired of talking to me, he would open the 
 front-window and address the mayoral; then roar 
 to the postilion, ten mules ahead ; then swear 
 at the zagal running along the road, or toss his 
 cigar-stump at the head of some wayfaring peasant- 
 girl. 
 
 Sometimes, all his vocabulary being exhausted, 
 he contented himself with a loud laugh, long con- 
 tinued ; then he would suddenly fall asleep, and,
 
 24 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 after bobbing his head for five or six minutes, 
 awake in a convulsion of laughter, as though his 
 dream was too merry for sleep. Whatever he said 
 was invariably preceded by two or three oaths, 
 and terminated in the same manner. The Spanish 
 (perhaps, in this respect, the richest European 
 language) hardly sufficed for his supply. He there- 
 fore selected some of the more picturesque speci- 
 mens for more frequent repetition. These, in de- 
 fault of topics of conversation, sometimes served 
 instead of a fit of laughter or a nap: and once or 
 twice he hastily lowered the window, and gave 
 vent to a string of about twenty oaths at the 
 highest pitch of his lungs ; then shut it deliberately, 
 and remained silent for a minute. During dinner he 
 cut a whole cheese into lumps, with which he stuffed 
 an unlucky lap-dog, heedless of the entreaties of two 
 fair fellow-travellers, proprietors of the condemned 
 quadruped. This was a Carlist warrior ! 
 
 The inhabitants of the Basque provinces are 
 a fine race, and taller than the rest of the Spaniards. 
 The men possess the hardy and robust appearance 
 common to mountaineers, and the symmetry of form 
 which is almost universal in Spain, although the 
 difference of race is easily perceptible. The women 
 are decidedly handsome, although they also are any- 
 thing but Spanish-looking ; and their beauty is
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 25 
 
 often enhanced by an erect and dignified air, not 
 usually belonging to peasants, (for I am only speaking 
 of the lower orders,) and attributable principally to a 
 very unpeasant-like planting of the head on the neck 
 and shoulders. I saw several village girls whom 
 nothing but their dress would prevent from being 
 mistaken for German or English ladies of rank, 
 being moreover universally blondes. On quitting 
 Vitoria, you leave behind you the mountains and 
 the pretty faces. 
 
 For us, however, the latter were not entirely 
 lost. There were two in the Diligence, belonging 
 to the daughters of a Grandee of the first class, 
 Count de P. These youthful senoritas had taken 
 the opportunity, rendered particularly well-timed 
 by the revolutions and disorders of their country, 
 of passing three years in Paris, which they em- 
 ployed in completing their education, and seeing 
 the wonders of that town, soi-disant the most civilized 
 in the world ; which probably it would have been, had 
 the old regime not been overthrown. They were 
 now returning to Madrid, furnished with all the 
 new ideas, and the various useful and useless accom- 
 plishments they had acquired. 
 
 Every one whose lot it may have been to under- 
 take a journey of several days in a Diligence, that 
 is, in one and the same, and who consequently recol-
 
 26 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 lects that trembling and anxious moment during 
 which he has passed in review the various members 
 of the society of which he is to be, nolens volens, 
 a member ; and the feverish interest which directed 
 his glance of rapid scrutiny towards those in par- 
 ticular of the said members with whom he was to 
 be exposed to more immediate contact, and at the 
 mercy of whose birth and education, habits, opinions, 
 prejudices, qualities, and propensities, his happiness 
 and comfort were to be placed during so large and 
 uninterrupted a period of his existence, will com- 
 prehend my gratitude to these fair emigrees, whose 
 lively conversation shortened the length of each 
 day, adding to the charms of the magnificent 
 scenery by the opportunity they afforded of a congenial 
 interchange of impressions. Although we did not 
 occupy the same compartment of the carriage, their 
 party requiring the entire interior and rotonde, we 
 always renewed acquaintance when a prolonged 
 ascent afforded an opportunity of liberating our 
 limbs from their confinement. 
 
 The two daily repasts also would have offered no 
 charm, save that of the Basque cuisine, which, 
 although cleanly and solid, is not perfectly cordon bleu, 
 but for the entertaining conversation of my fair fel- 
 low-travellers, who had treasured up in their memory 
 the best sayings and doings of Arnal, and the other
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 27 
 
 Listens and Yateses of the French capital, which, 
 seasoned with a slight Spanish accent, were inde- 
 scribably piquant* and original. My regret was 
 sincere on our respective routes diverging at Bur- 
 gos; for they proceeded by the direct line over the 
 Somo sierra to Madrid, while I take the longer road 
 by the Guadarramas, in order to visit Valladolid. 
 I shall not consequently make acquaintance with 
 the northern approach to Madrid, unless I return 
 thither a second time ; as to that of my fellow- 
 travellers, I should be too fortunate were it to be 
 renewed during my short stay in their capital.
 
 28 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. CATHEDRAL. 
 
 Burgos. 
 
 THE chain of the Lower Pyrenees, after the ascent 
 from the French side, and a two days' journey of 
 alternate mountain and valley, terminates on the 
 Spanish side at almost its highest level. A gentle 
 descent leads to the plain of Vitoria ; and, after leav- 
 ing behind the fresh-looking, well-farmed environs of 
 that town, there remains a rather monotonous day's 
 journey across the bare plains of Castile, only varied 
 by the passage through a gorge of about a mile in 
 extent, called the Pass of Pancorbo, throughout which 
 the road is flanked on either side by a perpendicular 
 rock of from six to eight hundred feet elevation. 
 The ancient capital of Castile is visible from a con- 
 siderable distance, when approached in this direction ; 
 being easily recognised by the spires of its cathedral, 
 and by the citadel placed on an eminence, which 
 forms a link of a chain of hills crossing the route at 
 this spot.
 
 ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. 29 
 
 The extent of Burgos bears a very inadequate pro- 
 portion to the idea formed of it by strangers, derived 
 from its former importance and renown. It is com- 
 posed of five or six narrow streets, winding round 
 the back of an irregularly shaped colonnaded plaza. 
 The whole occupies a narrow space, comprised be- 
 tween the river Arlancon, and the almost circular 
 hill of scarcely a mile in circumference, (on which 
 stands the citadel) and covers altogether about 
 double the extent of Windsor Castle. 
 
 The city has received a sort of modern facing, 
 consisting of a row of regularly built white houses, 
 which turn their backs to the Plaza, and front the 
 river ; uniting at one extremity with an ancient gate- 
 way, which, facing the principal bridge, must origi- 
 nally have stood slightly in advance of the town, to 
 which it formed a very characteristic entrance. It is 
 a quadrangular edifice, pierced with a low semi- 
 circular arch. The arch is flanked on the river front 
 by small circular turrets, and surmounted by seven 
 niches, containing statues of magistrates, kings, and 
 heroes ; while over these, in a centre niche, stands a 
 semicolossal statue of the Virgin, from which the 
 monument derives its title of "Arco de Santa Maria." 
 Another arch, but totally simple, situated at the 
 other extremity of the new buildings, faces another 
 bridge; and this, with that of Santa Maria, and a
 
 ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. 
 
 ARCO DE SANTA MARIA. 
 
 third, placed halfway between them, leading to the 
 Plaza, form the three entrances to the city on the 
 river side. 
 
 The dimensions of this, and many other Spanish 
 towns, must not be adopted as a base for estimating 
 their amount of population. Irun, at the frontier 
 of France, stands on a little hill, the surface of which 
 would scarcely suffice for a country-house, with its
 
 ARRIVAL AT BURGOS. 31 
 
 surrounding offices and gardens : it contains, never- 
 theless, four or five thousand inhabitants, and com- 
 prises a good-sized market-place and handsome town- 
 hall, besides several streets. Nor does this close 
 packing render the Spanish towns less healthy than 
 our straggling cities, planned with a view to circu- 
 lation and purity of atmosphere, although the differ- 
 ence of climate would seem to recommend to each of 
 the two countries the system pursued by the other. 
 The humidity of the atmosphere in England would 
 be the principal obstacle to cleanliness and salubrity, 
 had the towns a more compact mode of construction ; 
 whilst in Spain, on the contrary, this system is ad- 
 vantageous as a protection against the excessive 
 power of the summer sun, which would render our 
 wide streets bordered by houses too low to afford 
 complete shade not only almost impassable, but 
 uninhabitable. 
 
 The Plaza of Burgos (entitled " de la Constitu- 
 cion," or "de Isabel II.," or "del Duque de la Vic- 
 toria," or otherwise, according to the government of 
 the day,) has always been the resort of commerce. 
 The projecting first-floors being supported by square 
 pillars, a sort of bazaar is formed under them, which 
 includes all the shop population of the city, and 
 forms an agreeable lounge during wet or too sunny 
 weather. Throughout the remainder of the town,
 
 32 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 with the exception of the modern row of buildings 
 above mentioned, almost all the houses are entered 
 through Gothic doorways, surmounted by armorial 
 bearings sculptured in stone, which, together with 
 their ornamental inner courts and staircases, testify 
 to their having sheltered the chivalry of Old Castile. 
 The Cathedral, although by no means large, appears 
 to fill half the town ; and considering that, in ad- 
 dition to its conspicuous and inviting aspect, it is the 
 principal remaining monument of the ancient wealth 
 and grandeur of the province, and one of the most 
 beautiful edifices in Europe, I will lose no time in 
 giving you a description of it. 
 
 This edifice, or at least the greater portion of it, 
 dates from the thirteenth century. The first stone 
 was laid by Saint Ferdinand, on the 20th of July 
 1221. Ferdinand had just been proclaimed king by 
 his mother Dona Berenguela, who had invested him 
 with his sword at the royal convent of the Huelgas, 
 about a mile distant from Burgos. Don Mauricio, 
 Bishop of Burgos, blessed the armour as the youthful 
 king girded it, and, three days subsequently to the 
 ceremony, he united him to the Princess Beatrice, in 
 the church of the same convent. This bishop assist- 
 ed in laying the first stone of the cathedral, and pre- 
 sided over the construction of the entire body of the 
 building, including half of the two principal towers.
 
 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 33 
 
 His tomb may be seen at tbe back of the Choir. 
 From the date of the building its style may at once 
 be recognised, allowing for a difference which existed 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE CHOIR. 
 
 between England and the Continent, the latter being 
 somewhat in advance. The original edifice must have 
 
 D
 
 34- CATHEDRAL. 
 
 been a very perfect and admirable specimen of the 
 pointed architecture of its time in all its purity As 
 it is, unfortunately, (as the antiquary would say, and, 
 I should add, the mere man of taste, were it not that 
 tastes are various, and that the proverb says they 
 are all in nature,) the centre of the building, form- 
 ing the intersection of the transept and nave, owing 
 to some defect in the original construction, fell 
 in just at the period during which regular archi- 
 tecture began to waver, and the style called in France 
 the "Renaissance" was making its appearance. 
 An architect of talent, Felipe de Borgona, hurried 
 from Toledo, where he was employed in carving 
 the stalls of the choir, to furnish a plan for the 
 centre tower. He, however, only carried the work 
 to half the height of the four cylindrical piers which 
 support it. He was followed by several others before 
 the termination of the work ; and Juan de Herrera, 
 the architect of the Escorial, is said to have com- 
 pleted it. In this design are displayed infinite talent 
 and imagination ; but the artist could not alter the 
 taste of the age. It is more than probable that he 
 would have kept to the pure style of his model, but 
 for the prevailing fashion of his time. Taken by itself, 
 the tower is, both externally and internally, admirable, 
 from the elegance of its form, and the richness of 
 its details ; but it jars with the rest of the building.
 
 CATHEDRAL. 35 
 
 Placing this tower in the background, we will 
 now repair to the west front. Here nothing is re- 
 quired to be added, or taken away, to afford the eye 
 a feast as perfect as grace, symmetry, grandeur, and 
 lightness, all combined, are capable of producing. 
 Nothing can exceed the beauty of this front taken 
 as a whole. You have probably seen an excellent 
 view of it in one of Roberts's annuals. The artists 
 of Burgos complain of an alteration, made some fifty 
 years back by the local ecclesiastical authorities, no- 
 body knows for what reason. They caused a mag- 
 nificent portal to be removed, to make way for a very 
 simple one, totally destitute of the usual sculptured 
 depth of arch within arch, and of the profusion of 
 statuary, which are said to have adorned the original 
 entrance. This, however, has not produced a bad 
 result in the view of the whole front. Commencing 
 by solidity and simplicity at its base, the pile only 
 becomes ornamental at the first story, where rows of 
 small trefoil arches are carved round the buttresses ; 
 while in the intermediate spaces are an oriel window 
 in an ornamental arch, and two narrow double arches. 
 The third compartment, where the towers first rise 
 above the body of the church, offers a still richer 
 display of ornament. The two towers are here con- 
 nected by a screen, which masks the roof, raising the 
 apparent body of the facade an additional story.
 
 36 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 Tliis screen is very beautiful, being composed of two 
 ogival windows in the richest style, with eight statues 
 occupying the intervals of their lower mullions. A 
 fourth story, equally rich, terminates the towers, on 
 the summits of which are placed the two spires. 
 
 These are all that can be wished for the com- 
 pletion of such a whole. They are, I imagine, not 
 only unmatched, but unapproached by any others, in 
 symmetry, lightness, and beauty of design. The 
 spire of Strasburg is the only one I am acquainted 
 with that may be allowed to enter into the com- 
 parison. It is much larger, placed at nearly double 
 the elevation, and looks as light as one of these ; but 
 the symmetry of its outline is defective, being un- 
 even, and producing the effect of steps. And then 
 it is alone, and the absence of a companion gives the 
 facade an unfinished appearance. For these reasons 
 I prefer the spires of Burgos. Their form is hexa- 
 gonal ; they are entirely hollow, and unsupported in- 
 ternally. The six sides are carved a jour, the design 
 forming nine horizontal divisions, each division pre- 
 senting a different ornament on each of its six sides. 
 At the termination of these divisions, each pyramid 
 is surrounded near the summit by a projecting gallery 
 with balustrades. These appear to bind and keep 
 together each airy fabric, which, everywhere trans- 
 parent, looks as though it required some such re-
 
 CATHEDRAL. 37 
 
 straint, to prevent its being instantaneously scattered 
 by the winds. 
 
 On examining the interior of one of these spires, 
 it is a subject of surprise that they could have been 
 so constructed as to be durable. Instead of walls, 
 you are surrounded by a succession of little balus- 
 trades, one over the other, converging towards the 
 summit. The space enclosed is exposed to all the 
 winds, and the thickness of the stones so slight as 
 to have required their being bound together with 
 iron cramps. At a distance of a mile these spires 
 appear as transparent as nets. 
 
 On entering the church by the western doors, the 
 view is interrupted, as is usual in Spain, by a screen, 
 which, crossing the principal nave at the third or 
 fourth pillar, forms the western limit of the choir ; 
 the eastern boundary being the west side of the tran- 
 sept, where there is an iron railing. The space be- 
 tween the opposite side of the transept and the apse 
 is the capilla mayor (chief chapel), in which is placed 
 the high altar. There are two lower lateral naves, 
 from east to west, and beyond them a series of 
 chapels. The transept has no lateral naves. Some 
 of the chapels are richly ornamented. The first or 
 westernmost, on the north side, in particular, would 
 be in itself a magnificent church. It is called the 
 "Chapel of Santa Tecla." Its dimensions are ninety-
 
 38 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 six feet in length, by sixty-three in width, and sixty 
 high. The ceiling, and different altars, are covered 
 with a dazzling profusion of gilded sculpture. The 
 ceiling, in particular, is entirely hidden beneath the 
 innumerable figures and ornaments of every sort of 
 form, although of questionable taste, which the rav- 
 ings of the extravagant style, called in Spain " Chur- 
 riguesco" (after the architect who brought it into 
 fashion), could invent. 
 
 The next chapel that of Santa Ana is not so 
 large, but designed in far better taste. It is Gothic, 
 and dates from the fifteenth century. Here are some 
 beautiful tombs, particularly that of the founder of 
 the chapel. But the most attractive object is a pic- 
 ture, placed at an elevation which renders difficult 
 the appreciation of its merits without the aid of a 
 glass, a Holy Family, by Andrea del Sarto. It is an 
 admirable picture ; possessing all the grace and sim- 
 plicity, combined with the fineness of execution, of 
 that artist. The chapel immediately opposite (on 
 the south side) contains some handsome tombs, and 
 another picture, representing the Virgin, attributed 
 by the cicerone of the place to Michael Angelo. We 
 next arrive at the newer part, or centre of the build- 
 ing, where four cylindrical piers of about twelve feet 
 diameter, with octagonal bases, form a quadrangle, 
 and support the centre tower, designed by Felipe
 
 CATHEDRAL. 39 
 
 de Borgona. These pillars are connected with each 
 other by magnificent wrought brass railings, which 
 give entrance respectively, westward to the choir, on 
 the east to the sanctuary, or capilla mayor, and north 
 and south to the two ends of the transept. Above is 
 seen the interior of the tower, covered with a pro- 
 fusion of ornament, but discordant with every other 
 object within view. 
 
 The high altar at the back of the great chapel is 
 also the work of Herrera. It is composed of a series 
 of rows of saints and apostles, superposed one over 
 the other, until they reach the roof. All are placed 
 in niches adorned with gilding, of which only partial 
 traces remain. The material of the whole is wood. 
 Returning to either side-nave, a few smaller chapels 
 on the outside, and opposite them the railings of the 
 sanctuary, conduct us to the back of the high altar, 
 opposite which is the eastern chapel, called " of the 
 Duke de Frias," or " Capilla del Condestable." 
 
 All this part of the edifice I mean, from the tran- 
 sept eastward is admirable, both with regard to 
 detail and to general effect. The pillars are carved 
 all round into niches, containing statues or groups ; 
 and the intervals between the six last, turning round 
 the apse, are occupied by excellent designs, sculptured 
 in a hard white stone. The subjects are, the Agony 
 in the Garden, Jesus bearing the Cross, the Cru-
 
 40 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 cifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. The 
 centre piece, representing the Crucifixion, is the most 
 striking. The upper part contains the three sufferers 
 in front ; and in the background a variety of build- 
 ings, trees, and other smaller objects, supposed to be 
 at a great distance. In the foreground of the lower 
 
 SCULPTURE IN THE APSE. 
 
 part are seen the officers and soldiers employed in 
 the execution ; a group of females, with St. John 
 supporting the Virgin, and a few spectators. The 
 costumes, the expression, the symmetry of the figures,
 
 CATHEDRAL. 41 
 
 all contribute to the excellence of this piece of sculp- 
 ture. It would be difficult to surpass the exquisite 
 grace displayed in the attitudes, and flow of the 
 drapery, of the female group ; and the Herculean 
 limbs of the right-hand robber, as he writhes in his 
 torments, and seems ready to snap the cords which 
 retain his feet and arms, the figure projecting in its 
 entire contour from the surface of the background, 
 present an admirable model of corporeal expression 
 and anatomical detail. 
 
 In clearing the space to make room for these 
 sculptures, the artist had to remove the tomb of a 
 bishop, whose career, if the ancient chronique is to 
 be depended on, must have been rather singular. 
 The information, it must be owned, bears the appear- 
 ance of having been transmitted by some contem- 
 porary annalist, whose impartiality may have perhaps 
 been biassed by some of the numerous incitements 
 which operate upon courtiers. 
 
 Don Pedro Fernandez de Frias, Cardinal of Spain, 
 Bishop of Osma and Cuenca, was, it is affirmed, of 
 low parentage, of base and licentious habits of life, 
 and of a covetous and niggardly disposition. These 
 defects, however, by no means diminished the high 
 favour he enjoyed at the successive courts of Henry 
 the Third and Juan the Second. The Bishop of 
 Segovia, Don Juan de Tordesillas, happened by an
 
 42 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 unlucky coincidence to visit Burgos during his resi- 
 dence there. The characters of the two prelates 
 were not of a nature to harmonise in the smallest 
 degree, and, being thrown necessarily much in each 
 other's way, they gave loose occasionally to expres- 
 sions more than bordering on the irreverent. It was 
 on one of these occasions, that, the eloquence of the 
 Cardinal Bishop here interred being at default, a 
 lacquey of his followers came to his assistance, and 
 being provided with a palo, or staff, inflicted on the 
 rival dignitary certain arguments ad humeros in fact, 
 gave the Bishop of Segovia a severe drubbing. The 
 Cardinal was on this occasion compelled to retire to 
 Italy. 
 
 Turning our backs to the centre piece of sculp- 
 ture last described, we enter the Capilla del Condes- 
 table through a superb bronze railing. In these 
 railings the Cathedral of Burgos rivals that of 
 Seville, compensating by number for the superior 
 size and height of those contained in the latter 
 church. That of the chapel we are now entering 
 entirely fills the entrance arch, a height of about 
 forty feet ; the helmet of a mounted knight in full 
 armour, intended to represent St. Andrew, which 
 crowns its summit, nearly touching the keystone 
 of the arch. This chapel must be noticed in detail. 
 Occupying at the extremity of the church a position
 
 CATHEDRAL. 43 
 
 answering to that of Henry the Seventh's Chapel 
 at Westminster Abbey, it forms a tower of itself, 
 which on the outside harmonises with peculiar felicity 
 with the three others, and contributes to the ap- 
 parent grandeur and real beauty of the exterior 
 view. The interior is magnificent, although its plan 
 and style, being entirely different from those of 
 Henry the Seventh's Chapel, prevent the comparison 
 from going further. Its form is octagonal, measuring 
 about fifty feet in diameter, by rather more than 
 a hundred in height. Its style florid Gothic of the 
 fourteenth century. The effect of its first view is 
 enhanced by its being filled, unlike the rest of the 
 church, with a blaze of light introduced through 
 two rows of windows in the upper part. 
 
 Two of the sides are furnished with recesses, 
 which form lesser chapels, and in one of which 
 there is a fine organ. Between the centre of the 
 pavement and the principal altar, a large square 
 block of mixed marble covers the remains of the 
 founders of the chapel, and bears on its surface their 
 recumbent figures executed in great perfection.* 
 
 * The following inscriptions are placed at the feet of the respective 
 statues : 
 
 " Aqui yace el muy Ilustre Senor Don Pedro Hernandez de Velasco, 
 Condestable de Castilla, Senor del estado, y gran casa de Velasco, hijo 
 de Don Pedro Hernandez de Velasco, y de Dona Beatrix Manrique, 
 Condes de Haro. Murio de setenta y siete anos, anno de mil cuatro
 
 44 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 This is the finest tomb in the cathedral. The em- 
 broidery of the cushions, the ornaments on the 
 count's armour, the gloves of the countess, are 
 among the details which merit particular notice 
 amidst the beautiful execution of the whole. The 
 high altar of this chapel does not accord with the 
 general effect, being designed in the style of the 
 renascimiento. In the centre of it is nevertheless 
 fixed a treasure that would compensate for worse 
 defects. A small circular medallion represents the 
 Virgin and Child, in an attitude very similar to 
 that of the Madonna della Seggiola, executed on por- 
 phyry. This delicious little work, of about nine 
 inches in diameter, forms the centre of attraction, 
 and is the most precious ornament of the chapel. 
 On the right hand, near the altar, a small door- 
 way admits to the sacristy. 
 
 This contains several relics of the founders. A 
 small portable altar of ivory, forming the base of a 
 crucifix of about eighteen inches in height, is an 
 
 exquisite model of delicate workmanship. Here 
 
 
 
 cientos y noventa y dos, siendo solo Virey de estos reynos por los Reyes 
 Catolicos." 
 
 " Aqui yace la muy Ilustre Senora Dona Mencia de Mendoza, Con- 
 desa de Haro, rauger del Condestable Don Pedro Hernandez de 
 Velasco, hija de Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, y de Dona Catalina 
 de Figueroa, Marqueses de Santillana. Murio de setenta y nueve 
 annos, anno de mil y quiniento."
 
 CATHEDRAL. 45 
 
 also has been treasured up a picture, behind a glass, 
 and in a sort of wooden case ; a bequest likewise 
 of the founders. Unfortunately they neglected to 
 impart the name of its author. The nebulous sort 
 of uncertainty thus made to surround this relic 
 has magnified its merits, which might otherwise per- 
 haps not have claimed particular notice, to the most 
 colossal dimensions. They scarcely at last know 
 what to say of it. At the period of my first visit 
 to Burgos, it was a Leonardo da Vinci ; but, after 
 a lapse of two years, the same sacristan inform- 
 ed me that it was uncertain whether the painting 
 was executed by Raffaelle or Leonardo, although 
 it was generally supposed to be by Raffaelle ; and a 
 notice, published since, gives the authority of an 
 anonymous connaisseur, who asserts it to be far su- 
 perior to Raffaelle's " Perle." It is now consequently 
 decided that it cannot be a Leonardo, and is scarcely 
 bad enough for a Raffaelle. 
 
 Without venturing tantas componere lites, I may 
 be allowed to give my impression, on an inspection as 
 complete as the studied darkness of the apartment, 
 added to the glass and wooden case, would permit. 
 It is a half-figure of the Magdalene. The execu- 
 tion is very elaborate and highly finished, but 
 there are evident defects in the drawing. In 
 colouring and manner it certainly reminds you of
 
 46 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 da Vinci of one of whose works it may probably 
 
 be a copy ; but, whatever it is, it is easy to dis- 
 cover that it is not a Raffaelle. 
 
 This chapel does not occupy the precise centre 
 of the apse. A line drawn from the middle of 
 the western door through the nave would divide it 
 into two unequal parts, passing at a distance of 
 nearly two yards from its centre. An examination 
 of the ground externally gives no clue to the cause 
 of this irregularity, by which the external symmetry 
 of the edifice is rendered imperfect, although in 
 an almost imperceptible degree ; it must therefore 
 be accounted for by the situation of the adjoining 
 parochial chapel, of more ancient construction, with 
 which it was not allowable to interfere, and by the 
 unwillingness of the founder to diminish the scale 
 on which his chapel was planned. 
 
 Before we leave the Chapel del Condestable, one 
 of its ceremonies deserves particular mention. I 
 allude to the missa de los carneros (sheep-mass). 
 At early mass on All Souls day, a feast celebrated 
 in this chapel with extraordinary pomp, six sheep 
 are introduced, and made to stand on a large block 
 of unpolished marble, which has been left lying 
 close to the tombs, almost in the centre of the 
 chapel ; near the six sheep are placed as many 
 inflated skins of pigs, resembling those usually rilled
 
 CATHEDRAL. 47 
 
 with the wine of the country ; to these is added 
 the quantity of bread produced from four bushels 
 of wheat : and all remain in view during the 
 performance of high mass. At the conclusion of 
 the final response, the sheep are removed from their 
 pedestal, and make for the chapel-gates, through 
 which they issue ; and urged by the voice of their 
 driver, the peculiar shrill whistle of Spanish shep- 
 herds, and by the more material argument of the 
 staff, proceed down the entire length of the cathedral 
 to the music of the aforesaid whistle, accompanied 
 by their own bleatings and bells, until they vanish 
 through the great western portal. 
 
 Returning to the transepts, we find two objects 
 worthy of notice. The cathedral having been erect- 
 ed on uneven ground, rising rapidly from south to 
 north, the entrance to the north transept opens 
 at an elevation of nearly thirty feet from the pave- 
 ment. To reach this door there is an ornamental 
 staircase, of a sort of white stone, richly carved in 
 the renaissance style. This door is never open, a cir- 
 cumstance which causes no inconvenience ; the steps 
 being so steep as to render them less useful than 
 ornamental, as long as any other exit exists. 
 
 A beautifully carved old door, of a wood become 
 perfectly black, although not so originally, gives 
 access to the cloister from the east side of the
 
 CATHEDRAL. 
 
 south transept. The interior of the arch which sur- 
 mounts it is filled with sculpture. A plain mould- 
 ing runs round the top, at the left-hand commence- 
 ment of which is carved a head of the natural size, 
 clothed in a cowl. 
 
 HEAD OF SAINT FRANCIS.' 
 
 The attention is instantly rivetted by this head : 
 it is not merely a masterpiece of execution. Added 
 to the exquisite beauty and delicate moulding of 
 the upper part of the face, the artist has succeeded 
 
 * The above woodcut may, it is hoped, serve as a guide to future 
 travellers in their search for this head, of which it has no pretension 
 to give an adequate idea.
 
 CATHEDRAL. 49 
 
 in giving to the mouth an almost superhuman ex- 
 pression. This feature, in spite of a profusion of 
 hair which almost covers it, lives and speaks. A 
 smile, in which a barely perceptible but irresistible 
 and, as it were, innate bitterness of satire and dis- 
 dain modifies a wish of benevolence, unites with 
 the piercing expression of the eyes in lighting up 
 the stone with a degree of intellect which I had 
 thought beyond the reach of sculpture until I saw 
 this head. Tradition asserts it to be a portrait of 
 Saint Francis, who was at Burgos at the period of 
 the completion of the cathedral ; and who, being 
 in the habit of examining the progress of the works, 
 afforded unconsciously a study to the sculptor. 
 
 The two sacristies are entered from the cloister : 
 one of them contains the portraits of all the bishops 
 and archbishops of Burgos. Communicating with 
 this last is a room destined for the reception of 
 useless lumber and broken ornaments. Here the 
 cicerone directs your attention to an old half-rotten 
 oaken chest, fixed against the wall at a considerable 
 height. This relic is the famous Coffre del Cid, the 
 self-same piece of furniture immortalised in the 
 anecdote related of the hero respecting the loan of 
 money obtained on security of the supposed treasure 
 it enclosed. The lender of the money, satisfied by 
 the weight of the trunk, and the chivalrous honour 
 
 E
 
 5o CATHEDRAL. 
 
 of its proprietor, never saw its contents until shown 
 them by the latter on the repayment of the loan : 
 they were then discovered to consist of stones and 
 fragments of old iron. 
 
 One is disappointed on finding in this cathedral 
 no more durable souvenir of the Cid than his rat- 
 corroded wardrobe. His remains are preserved in the 
 chapel of the Ayuntamiento ; thither we will conse- 
 quently bend our steps, not forgetting to enjoy, as we 
 leave the church, a long gaze at its elegant and symme- 
 trical proportions. It may be called an unique model 
 of beauty of its particular sort, especially when con- 
 templated without being drawn into comparison with 
 other edifices of a different class. Catalani is said, 
 on hearing Sontag's performance, to have remarked 
 that she was "la premiere de son genre, mais que 
 son genre n'etait pas le premier." Could the cathe- 
 dral of Seville see that of Burgos, it would probably 
 pronounce a similar judgment on its smaller rival. 
 
 The profusion of ornament, the perfection of 
 symmetry, the completeness of finish, produce an in- 
 stantaneous impression that nothing is wantingin this 
 charming edifice ; but any one who should happen to 
 have previously seen that of Seville cannot, after the 
 first moments of enthusiasm, escape the comparison 
 which forces itself on him, and which is not in 
 favour of this cathedral. It is elegant, but deficient
 
 CATHEDRAL. 51 
 
 in grandeur ; beautiful, but wanting in majesty. The 
 stern and grand simplicity of the one, thrown into 
 the scales against the light, airy, and diminutive, 
 though graceful beauty of the other, recalls the con- 
 trast drawn by Milton between our first parents ; 
 a contrast which, applied to these churches, must 
 be considered favourable to the more majestic, how- 
 ever the balance of preference may turn in the 
 poem.
 
 52 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 TOMB OF THE CID. CITADEL. 
 
 Burgos. 
 
 THE Ayuntamiento, or Town-hall, presents one 
 facade to the river, and the other to the Plaza 
 Mayor, being built over the archway which forms 
 the already mentioned entrance to the central por- 
 tion of the city. The building, like other town- 
 halls, possesses an airy staircase, a large public room, 
 and a few other apartments, used for the various 
 details of administration ; but nothing remarkable 
 until you arrive at a handsomely ornamented saloon, 
 furnished with a canopied seat fronting a row of arm- 
 chairs. This is the room in which the municipal 
 body hold their juntas. It contains several portraits : 
 two or three of kings, suspended opposite to an equal 
 number of queens; the two likenesses of the cele- 
 brated judges Nuno Rasura and Lain Calvo, near 
 which are seen the simple square oaken chairs from 
 within the angular and hard embrace of which they 
 administered the laws and government of Castile ;
 
 TOMB OF THE CID. 53 
 
 a full-length of Fernan Gonzalez ; and lastly, one 
 of the Cid. 
 
 Owing to the singularity of this last portrait, it 
 is the first to attract attention. The hero is repre- 
 sented in the most extraordinary of attitudes : the 
 head is thrown back, and the face turned towards 
 one side ; the legs in a sort of studied posture ; a 
 drawn sword is in the right hand, the point some- 
 what raised. The general expression is that of a 
 comic actor attempting an attitude of mock-heroic 
 impertinence ; and is probably the result of an un- 
 attained object in the mind of the artist, of produc- 
 ing that of fearless independence. 
 
 Beyond this apartment is the Chapel, a plain, not 
 large room, containing but two objects besides its 
 very simple altar, with its, almost black, silver 
 candlesticks. Over the altar is a Conception, by 
 Murillo ; and, in the centre of the chapel, a highly 
 polished and neatly ornamented funereal urn, com- 
 posed of walnut-wood, contains the remains of the 
 Cid : the urn stands on a pedestal. On its two ends 
 in letters of gold, are inscriptions, stating its con- 
 tents, and the date of its application to its present 
 purpose. I was told that the bones were contained 
 in a leaden box, but that a glass one was being pre- 
 pared, which, on opening the lid of the urn, would 
 afford a view of the actual dust of the warrior.
 
 ,54 TOMB OF THE CID. 
 
 The remains of the Cid have only recently been 
 conveyed to Burgos from the monastery of San Pedro 
 de Cardenas, about four miles distant. They had 
 been preserved there ever since his funeral, which 
 took place in the presence of King Alonzo the Sixth, 
 and the two Kings, sons-in-law of the hero, as soon 
 as the body arrived from Valencia. 
 
 This monastic retreat, if dependence may be placed 
 on the testimony of the Cerberus of the Alcalde, 
 the cicerone (when duly propitiated) of the muni- 
 cipal edifice, did not turn out to be altogether a 
 place of repose to the warrior. According to this 
 worthy, an amusing interpreter of the popular local 
 traditions, the exploits performed subsequently to 
 the hero's interment were such as almost to throw 
 a shadow over those he enacted during his mortal 
 existence. One specimen will suffice. Some twenty 
 thousand individuals, including the monks of all 
 the neighbouring monasteries, were assembled in the 
 church of San Pedro, and were listening to a sermon 
 on the occasion of the annual festival in honour of 
 the patron saint. Guided by curiosity, a Moor en- 
 tered the church and mingled with the crowd. After 
 remaining during a short time motionless, he ap- 
 proached a pillar, against which was suspended a por- 
 trait of the Cid, for the purpose of examining the 
 picture. Suddenly the figure was seen by all pre-
 
 TOMB OF THE CID. 55 
 
 sent, whose testimony subsequently established the 
 fact, to grasp with the right hand the hilt of its 
 sword, and to uncover a few inches of the naked 
 blade. The Moor instantly fell flat on the pave- 
 ment, and was found to be lifeless. 
 
 You would be surprised at the difficulty of form- 
 ing even here, in the midst of the scenes of his 
 exploits, a definite idea of this Hercules of the Middle 
 Ages. For those who are satisfied with the orthodox 
 histories of the monks, he is without defects a 
 simple unsophisticated demi-god. But there have 
 been Mahometan historians of Spain. These are 
 universally acknowledged to have treated of all that 
 concerned themselves with complete accuracy and 
 impartiality ; and, when this happens, it should seem 
 to be the best criterion, in the absence of other proof, 
 of their faithful delineation of others' portraits. 
 
 However that may be, here is an instance which 
 will give you an idea of the various readings of the 
 Cid's history. 
 
 Mariana relates, that an Arab expedition, headed 
 by five kings (as he terms them) of the adjoining 
 states, being signalized as having passed the moun- 
 tains of Oca, and being occupied in committing de- 
 predations on the Christian territory, Rodrigo sud- 
 denly took the field, recovered all the booty, and 
 made all five kings prisoners. All this being done
 
 56 TOMB OF THE C1D. 
 
 by himself and his own retainers. The kings he 
 released after signing a treaty, according to which 
 they agreed to pay him an annual tribute. It hap- 
 pened, that on the occasion of the first payment of 
 this, Rodrigo was at Zamora, whither he had accom- 
 panied the King of Castile ; and he took an oppor- 
 tunity of receiving the Arab messengers in presence 
 of the court. This was at least uncommon. The 
 messengers addressed him by the appellation of Syd 
 (sir) as they handed over the money. Ferdinand, 
 delighted with the prowess of his courtier, expressed 
 on this occasion the desire that he should retain the 
 title of Syd. 
 
 This anecdote undergoes, in the hands of the Arab 
 writers, a curious metamorphosis. According to them, 
 the expression Syd was employed, not by tributary 
 kings, but by certain chiefs of that creed whose pay 
 the Catholic hero was receiving in return for aid lent 
 against the Christians of Aragon. 
 
 They attribute, moreover, to this mirror of chi- 
 valry, on the surrender of Valencia, a conduct by no 
 means heroic not to say worthy a highwayman. 
 He accepted, as they relate, the pay of the Emyr of 
 Valencia to protect the city against the Almoravides, 
 who at that period were extending their conquests 
 all over Moorish Spain. The Cid was repulsed, and 
 the town taken. After this defeat he shut himself
 
 CITADEL. 57 
 
 up in a castle, since called the Pena del Cid (Rock 
 of the Cid), and there waited his opportunity. On 
 the departure of the conquerors from the city, in 
 which they left an insufficient garrison, he hastened 
 down at the head of his campeadores, and speedily 
 retook Valencia. 
 
 The Cadi, Ahmed ben Djahhaf, left in command 
 of the place, had, however, only surrendered on 
 faith of a capitulation couched in the most favour- 
 able terms. It was even stipulated that he should 
 retain his post of governor ; but no sooner was the 
 Cid master of the place than he caused the old man 
 to be arrested and put to the torture, in order to 
 discover from him the situation of a treasure 
 supposed to be concealed in the Alcazar ; after 
 which, rinding he would not speak, or had nothing 
 to reveal, he had him burned on the public place. 
 
 The Citadel of Burgos, at present an insignificant 
 fortress, was formerly a place of considerable impor- 
 tance, and commanded the surrounding country ; es- 
 pecially on the side on which the town placed at 
 the foot of the eminence lay beneath its immediate 
 protection, and could listen unscathed to the whiz- 
 zing of the deadly missiles of war as they passed 
 over its roofs. During the various wars of which 
 Castile has been the theatre at different periods, this 
 citadel has, from its important position, occupied the
 
 58 CITADEL. 
 
 main attention of contending armies; and, from form- 
 ing a constant point-de-mire to attacking troops, has 
 finally been almost annihilated. The principal por- 
 tion of the present buildings is of a modern date? 
 but, although garrisoned, the fortress cannot be said 
 to be restored. 
 
 The extent of the town was greater than at pre- 
 sent, and included a portion of the declivity which 
 exists between the present houses and the walls of 
 the fortress. At the two extremities of the town- 
 side of the hill, immediately above the level of the 
 highest-placed houses now existing, two Arab gate- 
 ways give access through the ancient town-walls, 
 which ascended the hill from the bottom. Between 
 these there exists a sort of flat natural terrace, above 
 the town, and running along its whole length, on to 
 which some of the streets open. On this narrow 
 level stood formerly a part, probably the best part, 
 of the city, which has shared the fate of its protect- 
 ing fortress ; but, not being rebuilt, it is now an 
 empty space, or would be so, but for the recent 
 erection of a cemetery, placed at about half the dis- 
 tance between the two extremities. 
 
 Before, however, the lapse of years had worn away 
 the last surviving recollections of these localities, 
 some worshipper of by-gone glory succeeded in dis- 
 covering, on the now grass-grown space, the situa-
 
 CITADEL. 59 
 
 tions once occupied by the respective abodes of the 
 Cid and of Fernan Gonzalez. On these spots monu- 
 ments have been erected. That of Gonzalez is a 
 handsome arch, the piers supporting which are each 
 faced with two pillars of the Doric order on either 
 side ; above the cornice there is a balustrade, over 
 which four small obelisks correspond with the respec- 
 tive pillars. The arch is surmounted by a sort of 
 pedestal, on which is carved an inscription, stating 
 the object of the monument. There is nothing on 
 the top of the pedestal, which appears to have been 
 intended for the reception of a statue. 
 
 The monument in memory of the Cid is more 
 simple. It consists of three small pyramids in a row, 
 supported on low bases or pedestals; that in the 
 centre higher than the other two, but not exceeding 
 (inclusive of the base) twenty feet from the ground. 
 On the lower part of the centre stone is carved an 
 appropriate inscription, abounding in ellipsis, after 
 the manner usually adopted in Spain. 
 
 It is not surprising that these monuments, together 
 with the memory of the events brought about by the 
 men in whose honour they have been erected, should 
 be fast hastening to a level with the desolation im- 
 mediately surrounding them. The present political 
 circumstances of Spain are not calculated to favour 
 the retrospection of by-gone glories. Scarcely is time
 
 60 CITADEL. 
 
 allowed so rapidly are executed the transmutations 
 of the modern political diorama for examining the 
 events, or even for recovery from the shock, of 
 each succeeding revolution ; nor force remaining to 
 the exhausted organs of admiration or of horror, to be 
 exercised on almost forgotten acts, since those per- 
 formed before the eyes of the living generation 
 have equalled or surpassed them in violence and 
 energy. The arch of Fernan Gonzalez, if not 
 speedily restored, (which is not to be expected,) 
 runs the risk, from its elevation and want of solidity, 
 of being the first of the two monuments to crumble 
 to dust ; a circumstance which, although not desti- 
 tute of an appearance of justice, from the fact of 
 the hero it records having figured on an earlier 
 page of Castilian annals, would nevertheless occasion 
 regret to those who prefer history to romance, and 
 who estimate essential services rendered to the 
 state, as superior to mere individual eclat, however 
 brilliant. 
 
 You will not probably object to the remainder 
 of this letter being monopolized by this founder 
 of the independence of Castile ; the less so, from 
 the circumstance of the near connection existing 
 between his parentage and that of the city we are 
 visiting, and which owes to him so much of its 
 celebrity. Should you not be in a humour to be
 
 CITADEL. 61 
 
 lectured on history, you are at all events forewarned, 
 and may wait for the next despatch. 
 
 Unlike many of the principal towns of the Penin- 
 sula, which content themselves with no more modern 
 descent than from Nebuchadnezzar or Hercules, 
 Burgos modestly accepts a paternity within the 
 domain of probability. A German, Nuno Belchides, 
 married, in the reign of Alonzo the Great, King of 
 Oviedo, a daughter of the second Count of Castile, 
 Don Diego Porcellos. This noble prevailed on his 
 father-in-law to assemble the inhabitants of the 
 numerous villages dispersed over the central part 
 of the province, and to found a city, to which he 
 gave the German name of "city" with a Spanish 
 termination. It was Don Fruela III., King of Leon, 
 whose acts of injustice and cruelty caused so violent 
 an exasperation, that the nobles of Castile, of whom 
 there existed several of a rank little inferior to that 
 of the titular Count of the province, threw up their 
 allegiance, and selected two of their own body, Nuno 
 Rasura and Lain Calvo, to whom they intrusted 
 the supreme authority, investing them with the 
 modest title of Judges, by way of a check, lest at 
 any future time they should be tempted, upon the 
 strength of a higher distinction, to make encroach- 
 ments on the common liberties. 
 
 The first of the two judges, Nuno Rasura, was the
 
 62 CITADEL. 
 
 son of the above-mentioned Nuno Belchides and 
 his wife, Sulla Bella (daughter of Diego Porcellos), 
 and grandfather of Fernan Gonzalez. His son Gon- 
 zalo Nuno, Fernan's father, succeeded on his death 
 to the dignity of Judge of Castile, and became 
 extremely popular, owing to his affability, and win- 
 ning urbanity of deportment in his public charac- 
 ter. He established an academy in his palace for 
 the education of the sons of the nobles, who were 
 instructed under his own superintendence in all 
 the accomplishments which could render them dis- 
 tinguished in peace or in war. The maternal 
 grandfather of Fernan Gonzalez was Nuno Fernan- 
 dez, one of the Counts of Castile who were treach- 
 erously seized and put to death by Don Ordoho, 
 King of Leon. The young Count of Castile is de- 
 scribed as having been a model of elegance. To 
 singular personal beauty he added an unmatched 
 proficiency in all the exercises then in vogue, prin- 
 cipally in arms and equitation. These accomplish- 
 ments, being added to much affability and good- 
 nature, won him the affections of the young nobles, 
 who strove to imitate his perfections, while they 
 enjoyed the festivities of his palace. 
 
 It appears that, notwithstanding the rebellion, and 
 appointment of Judges, Castile had subsequently 
 professed allegiance to the Kings of Leon; for a
 
 CITADEL. 63 
 
 second revolt was organized in the reign of Don 
 Ramiro, at the head of which we find Fernan Gon- 
 zalez. On this occasion, feeling themselves too 
 feeble to resist the royal troops, the rebels had 
 recourse to a Moorish chief, Aecipha. The King, 
 however, speedily drove the Moors across the frontier, 
 and succeeded in capturing the principal revolters. 
 After a short period these were released, on the sole 
 condition of taking the oath of allegiance ; and 
 the peace was subsequently sealed by the marriage 
 of a daughter of Gonzalez with Don Ordono, eldest 
 son of Ramiro, and heir to the kingdom. 
 
 The Count of Castile was, however, too powerful a 
 vassal to continue long on peaceable terms with 
 a sovereign, an alliance with whose family had 
 more than ever smoothed the progressive ascent of 
 his pretensions. Soon after the accession of his 
 son-in-law Don Ordono, he entered into an alliance 
 against him with the King of Navarre. This de- 
 claration of hostility was followed by the divorce 
 of Fernan's daughter by the King, who immediately 
 entered into a second wedlock. The successor of 
 this monarch, Don Sancho, surnamed the Fat, was 
 indebted for a large portion of his misfortunes and 
 vicissitudes to the hostility of the Count of Castile. 
 Don Ordono, the pretender to his throne, son of 
 Alonzo surnamed the Monk, with the aid of Gon-
 
 64- CITADEL. 
 
 zalez, whose daughter Urraca, the repudiated widow 
 of the former sovereign, he married, took easy 
 possession of the kingdom, driving Don Sancho for 
 shelter to the court of his uncle the then King of 
 Navarre. It is worth mentioning, that King Sancho 
 took the opportunity of his temporary expulsion 
 from his states, to visit the court of Abderrah- 
 man at Cordova, and consult the Arab physicians, 
 whose reputation for skill in the removal of obesity 
 had extended over all Spain. History relates that 
 the treatment they employed was successful, and 
 that Don Sancho, on reascending his throne, had 
 undergone so complete a reduction as to be desti- 
 tute of all claims to his previously acquired sob- 
 riquet. 
 
 All these events, and the intervals which separated 
 them, fill a considerable space of time ; and the estab- 
 lishment of the exact dates would be a very difficult, 
 if not an impossible, undertaking. Various wars 
 were carried on during this time by Gonzalez, and 
 alliances formed and dissolved. Several more or 
 less successful campaigns are recorded against the 
 Moors of Saragoza, and of other neighbouring states. 
 The alliance with Navarre had not been durable. In 
 959 Don Garcia, King of that country, fought a 
 battle with Fernan Gonzalez, by whom he was 
 taken prisoner, and detained in Burgos thirteen
 
 CITADEL. 65 
 
 months. The conquest of the independence of 
 Castile is related in the following manner. 
 
 In the year 958, the Cortes of the kingdom 
 were assembled at Leon, whence the King forwarded 
 a special invitation to the Count of Castile, requiring 
 his attendance, and that of the Grandees of the 
 province, for " deliberation on affairs of high im- 
 portance to the state." Gonzalez, although sus- 
 picious of the intentions of the sovereign, unable 
 to devise a suitable pretext for absenting himself, 
 repaired to Leon, attended by a considerable cortege 
 of nobles. The King went forth to receive him ; 
 and it is related, that refusing to accept a present, 
 offered by Gonzalez, of a horse and a falcon, both 
 of great value, a price was agreed on ; with the 
 condition that, in case the King should not pay the 
 money on the day named in the agreement, for each 
 successive day that should intervene until the pay- 
 ment, the sum should be doubled. Nothing extra- 
 ordinary took place during the remainder of the visit ; 
 and the Count, on his return to Burgos, married 
 Dona Sancha, sister of the King of Navarre. 
 
 It is probable that some treachery had been in- 
 tended against Gonzalez, similar to that put in 
 execution on a like occasion previous to his birth, 
 when the Counts of Castile were seized and put 
 to death in their prison ; for, not long after, a second
 
 66 CITADEL. 
 
 invitation was accepted by the Count, who was 
 now received in a very different manner. On his 
 kneeling to kiss the King's hand, Don Sancho burst 
 forth with a volley of reproaches, and, repulsing him 
 with fury, gave orders for his immediate imprison- 
 ment. It is doubtful what fate was reserved for 
 him by the hatred of the Queen-mother, who had 
 instigated the King to the act of treachery, in 
 liquidation of an ancient personal debt of ven- 
 geance of her own, had not the Countess of Cas- 
 tile, Dona Sancha, undertaken his liberation. 
 
 Upon receiving the news of her husband's im- 
 prisonment, she allowed a short period to elapse, 
 in order to mature her plan, and at the same 
 time lull suspicion of her intentions. She then 
 repaired to Leon, on pretext of a pilgrimage to 
 Santiago, on the route to which place Leon is 
 situated. She was received by King Sancho with 
 distinguished honours, and obtained permission to 
 visit her husband, and to pass a night in his prison. 
 The following morning, Gonzalez, taking advantage 
 of early twilight, passed the prison-doors in disguise 
 of the Countess, and, mounting a horse which was 
 in readiness, escaped to Castile, 
 
 This exploit of Dona Sancha does not belong to 
 the days of romance and chivalry alone : it reminds 
 us of the still more difficult task, accomplished by
 
 CITADEL. 67 
 
 the beautiful Winifred, Countess of Nithisdale, who, 
 eight centuries later, effected the escape of the 
 rebel Earl, her husband, from the Tower, in a 
 precisely similar manner ; thus rescuing him from 
 the tragic fate of his friends and fellow-prisoners, 
 the Lords Derwentwater and Kenmurev 
 
 Dona Sancha obtained her liberty without diffi- 
 culty, being even complimented by the King on her 
 heroism, and provided with a brilliant escort on her 
 return to Castile. Gonzalez contented himself with 
 claiming the price agreed upon for the horse and 
 falcon ; and the King not seeming inclined to liquid- 
 ate the debt, which, owing to the long delay, amount- 
 ed already to an enormous sum, or looking upon it 
 as a pretext for hostility, the absence of which would 
 not prevent the Count of Castile, in his then state 
 of exasperation, from having recourse to arms passed 
 the frontier of Leon at the head of an army, and, 
 laying waste the country, approached gradually 
 nearer to the capital. At length Don Sancho sent 
 his treasurer to clear up the account, but it was 
 found that the 'debt exceeded the whole amount of 
 the royal treasure ; upon which Gonzalez claimed 
 and obtained, on condition of the withdrawal of hi s 
 troops, a formal definitive grant of Castile, without 
 reservation, to himself and his descendants. 
 
 Before we quit Burgos for its environs, one more 
 
 F 2
 
 68 CITADEL. 
 
 edifice requires our notice. It is a fountain, occupy- 
 ing the centre of the space which faces the prin- 
 cipal front of the cathedral. This little antique 
 monument charms, by the quaint symmetry of its 
 design and proportions, and perhaps even by the 
 terribly mutilated state of the four fragments of 
 Cupids, which, riding on the necks of the same 
 number of animals so maltreated as to render im- 
 possible the discovery of their race, form projecting 
 angles, and support the basin on their shoulders. 
 Four mermaids, holding up their tails, so as not 
 to interfere with the operations of the Cupids, 
 ornament the sides of the basin, which are provided 
 with small apertures for the escape of the water; 
 the top being covered by a flat circular stone, 
 carved around its edge. This stone, a small, ele- 
 gantly shaped pedestal, which surmounts it, and 
 the other portions already described, are nearly 
 black, probably from antiquity ; but on the pedestal 
 stands a little marble virgin, as white as snow. 
 This antique figure harmonises by its mutilation 
 with the rest, although injured in a smaller degree; 
 and at the same time adds to the charm of the 
 whole, by the contrast of its dazzling whiteness 
 with the dark mass on which it is supported. The 
 whole is balanced on the capital of a pillar, of a
 
 CITADEL. 
 
 69 
 
 most original form, which appears immediately above 
 the surface of a sheet of water enclosed in a large 
 octagonal basin. 
 
 FOUNTAIN OF SANTA MARIA.
 
 70 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. 
 
 Burgos. 
 
 THE Chartreuse of Miraflores, situated to the 
 east of the city, half-way in the direction of the 
 above-mentioned monastery of San Pedro de Car- 
 denas, crowns the brow of an eminence, which, 
 clothed with woods towards its base, slopes gradually 
 until it reaches the river. This spot is the most 
 picturesque to be found in the environs of Burgos, 
 a region little favoured in that respect. The view, 
 extending right and left, follows the course of the 
 river, until it is bounded on the west by the town, 
 and on the east by a chain of mountains, a branch 
 of the Sierra of Oca. Henry the Third, grand- 
 father of Isabel the Catholic, made choice of this 
 position for the erection of a palace ; the only 
 remnant of it now existing is the church, which 
 has since become the inheritance of the Carthusian 
 monks, the successors of its royal founder.
 
 CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. 71 
 
 The late revolution, after sparing the throne of 
 Spain, displayed a certain degree of logic, if not in 
 all its acts, at least in sparing, likewise, two or 
 three of the religious establishments, under the pro- 
 tection of which the principal royal mausoleums 
 found shelter and preservation. The great Char- 
 treuse of Xeres contained probably no such palla- 
 dium, for it was among the first of the condemned: 
 its lands and buildings were confiscated ; and its 
 treasures of art, and all portable riches, dispersed, 
 as likewise its inhabitants, in the direction of all 
 the winds. 
 
 In England the name of Xeres is only generally 
 known in connection with one of the principal 
 objects of necessity, which furnish the table of the 
 gastronome ; but in Andalucia the name of Xeres de 
 la Frontera calls up ideas of a different sort. It is 
 dear to the wanderer in Spain, whose recollections 
 love to repose on its picturesque position, its sunny 
 skies, its delicious fruits, its amiable and lively 
 population, and lastly on its once magnificent monas- 
 tery, and the treasures of art it contained. The 
 Prior of that monastery has been removed to the 
 Cartuja of Burgos, where he presides over a com- 
 munity, reduced to four monks, who subsist almost 
 entirely on charity. This amiable and gentleman- 
 like individual, in whom the monk has in no degree
 
 72 CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. 
 
 injured the man of the world, although a large 
 estate, abandoned for the cloister, proved sufficiently 
 the sincerity of his religious professions, had well 
 deserved a better fate than to be torn in his old age 
 from his warm Andalucian retreat, and transplanted to 
 the rudest spot in the whole Peninsula, placed at an 
 elevation of more than four thousand feet above the 
 level of the Atlantic, and visited up to the middle of 
 June by snow-storms. At the moment I am writing, 
 this innocent victim of reform is extended on a bed 
 of sickness, having only recently escaped with his 
 life from an attack, during which he was given 
 over. 
 
 This Cartuja possesses more than the historical 
 reminiscences with which it is connected, to attract 
 the passing tourist. It owes its prolonged existence to 
 the possession of an admirable work of art, the tomb 
 of Juan the Second and his Queen Isabel, which stands 
 immediately in front of the high altar of the church. 
 This living mass of alabaster, the work of Gil de Siloe, 
 son of the celebrated Diego, presents in its general 
 plan the form of a star. It turns one of its points to 
 the altar. Its mass, or thickness from the ground 
 to the surface, measures about six feet ; and this is 
 consequently the height at which are laid the two 
 recumbent figures. 
 
 It is impossible to conceive a work more elaborate
 
 CARTUJA DE MIRAFLORES. 73 
 
 than the details of the costumes of the King and 
 Queen. The imitation of lace and embroidery, the 
 exquisite delicacy of the hands arid features, the 
 infinitely minute carving of the pillows, the archi- 
 tectural railing by which the two statues are sepa- 
 rated, the groups of sporting lions and dogs placed 
 against the foot-boards, and the statues of the four 
 Evangelists, seated at the four points of the star 
 which face the cardinal points of the compass, all 
 these attract first the attention as they occupy the 
 surface ; but they are nothing to the profusion of 
 ornament lavished on the sides. The chisel of the 
 artist has followed each retreating and advancing 
 angle of the star, filling the innermost recesses with, 
 life and movement. It would be endless to enter 
 into a detailed enumeration of all this. It is com- 
 posed of lions and lionesses, panthers, dogs, crouch- 
 ing, lying, sitting, rampant, and standing ; of saints, 
 male and female, and personifications of the cardinal 
 virtues. These figures are represented in every 
 variety of posture, some standing on pedestals, and 
 others seated on beautifully wrought arm-chairs, but 
 all enclosed respectively in the richest Gothic tracery, 
 and under cover of their respective niches. Were 
 there no other object of interest at Burgos, this 
 tomb would well repay the traveller for a halt of a 
 few days, and a country walk.
 
 74 CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. 
 
 At the opposite side of the town may be seen the 
 royal convent of Las Huelgas ; but as the nuns reserve 
 to themselves the greater part of the church, in- 
 cluding the royal tombs, which are said to be very 
 numerous, no one can penetrate to satisfy his cu- 
 riosity. It is, however, so celebrated an establish- 
 ment, and of such easy access from the town, that a 
 sight of what portions of the buildings are accessible 
 deserves the effort of the two hundred yards' walk 
 which separates it from the river promenade. This 
 Cistercian convent was founded towards the end of 
 the twelfth century by Alonzo the Eighth, the same 
 who won the famous battle of the Navas de Tolosa. 
 It occupies the site of the pleasure-grounds of a royal 
 retreat, as is indicated by the name itself. In its 
 origin it was destined for the reception, exclusively, 
 of princesses of the blood royal. It was conse- 
 quently designed on a scale of peculiar splendour. 
 Of the original buildings, however, only sufficient 
 traces remain to confirm the records of history, but not 
 to convey an adequate idea of their magnificence. 
 What with the depredations of time, the vicissitudes 
 of a situation in the midst of provinces so given to 
 contention, and repeated alterations, it has evidently, 
 as far as regards the portions to a view of which 
 admission can be obtained, yielded almost all claims 
 to identity with its ancient self.
 
 CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. 75 
 
 The entire church, with the exception of a small 
 portion partitioned off at the extremity, and contain- 
 ing the high altar, is appropriated to the nuns, and 
 fitted up as a choir. It is very large; the length, 
 of which an estimate may be formed externally, 
 appearing to measure nearly three hundred feet. 
 It is said this edifice contains the tomb of the 
 founder, surrounded by forty others of princesses. 
 The entrance to the public portion consists of a 
 narrow vestibule, in which are several antique tombs. 
 They are of stone, covered with Gothic sculpture, and 
 appear, from the richness of their ornaments, to have 
 belonged also to royalty. They are stowed away, 
 and half built into the wall, as if there had not 
 been room for their reception. The convent is said 
 to contain handsome cloisters, courts, chapter-hall, 
 and other state apartments, all of a construction long 
 subsequent to its foundation. The whole is sur- 
 rounded by a complete circle of houses, occupied by 
 its various dependants and pensioners. These are 
 enclosed from without by a lofty wall, and face 
 the centre edifice, from which they are separated by 
 a series of large open areas. Their appearance is 
 that of a small town, surrounding a cathedral and 
 palace. 
 
 The convent of the Huelgas takes precedence of 
 all others in Spain. The abbess and her successors
 
 76 CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. 
 
 were invested by the sovereigns of Leon and Castile 
 with especial prerogatives, and with a sort of au- 
 thority over all convents within those kingdoms. 
 Her possessions were immense, and she enjoyed the 
 sovereign sway over an extensive district, including 
 several convents, thirteen towns, and about fifty 
 villages. In many respects her jurisdiction resembles 
 that of a bishop. The following is the formula 
 which heads her official acts : 
 
 " We, Dona . . . ., by the grace of God and of the 
 Holy Apostolic See, Abbess of the royal monastery of 
 Las Huelgas near to the city of Burgos, order of the 
 Cister, habit of our father San Bernardo, Mistress, 
 Superior, Prelate, Mother, and lawful spiritual and 
 temporal Administrator of the said royal monastery, 
 and its hospital called ' the King's Hospital,' and of the 
 convents, churches, and hermitages of its filiation, 
 towns and villages of its jurisdiction, lordship, and 
 vassalage, in virtue of Apostolic bulls and conces- 
 sions, with all sorts of jurisdiction, proper, almost 
 episcopal, nullius diocesis, and with royal privileges, 
 since we exercise both jurisdictions, as is public and 
 notorious," &c. 
 
 The hospital alluded to gives its name to a village, 
 about a quarter of a mile distant, called " Hos- 
 pital del Rey." This village is still in a sort of 
 feudal dependance on the abbess, and is the only
 
 CONVENT OF LAS HUELGAS. 77 
 
 remaining source of revenue to the convent, having 
 been recently restored by a decree of Queen Isabella ; 
 for the royal blood flowing in the veins of the present 
 abbess had not exempted her convent from the 
 common confiscation decreed by the revolution. The 
 hospital, situated in the centre of the village, is a 
 handsome edifice. The whole place is surrounded 
 by a wall, similar to that which encloses the convent 
 and its immediate dependances, and the entrance pre- 
 sents a specimen of much architectural beauty. It 
 forms a small quadrangle, ornamented with an elegant 
 arcade, and balustrades of an original design.
 
 78 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. MUSEO. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 THE route from Burgos to Madrid presents few 
 objects of interest. The country is dreary and little 
 cultivated ; indeed, much of it is incapable of culture. 
 For those who are unaccustomed to Spanish routes, 
 there may, indeed, be derived some amusement from 
 the inns, of which some very characteristic specimens 
 lie in their way. The Diligence halts for the night 
 at the Venta de Juanilla, a solitary edifice situated 
 at the foot of the last or highest etage of the Somo 
 Sierra, in order to leave the principal ascent for 
 the cool of early dawn. The building is seen 
 from a considerable distance, and looks large ; 
 but is found, on nearer approach, to be a strag- 
 gling edifice of one story only. 
 
 It is a modern inn, and differs in some essential 
 points from the ancient Spanish posada, perfect 
 specimens of which are met with at Briviesca and
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 79 
 
 Burgos. In these the vestibule is at the same time a 
 cow-shed, sheepfold, stable, pigsty, in fact, a spacious 
 Noah's Ark, in which are found specimens of all 
 living animals, that is, of all sizes, down to the most 
 minute ; but for the purification of which it would 
 be requisite that the entire flood should pass within, 
 instead of on its outside. The original ark, more- 
 over, possessed the advantage of windows, the 
 absence of which causes no small embarrassment 
 to those who have to thread so promiscuous a 
 congregation, in order to reach the staircase ; once at 
 the summit of which, it must be allowed, one meets 
 with cleanliness, and a certain degree of comfort. 
 
 The Venta de Juanilla, on the Somo Sierra, is a 
 newish, clean-looking habitation, especially the in- 
 terior, where one meets with an excellent supper, 
 and may feast the eyes on the sight of a printed card, 
 hanging on the wall of the dining-room, announcing 
 that luxury of exotic gastronomy Champagne at 
 three crowns a bottle : none were bold enough that 
 evening to ask for a specimen. 
 
 There is less of the exotic in the bed-room arrange- 
 ments ; in fact, the building appears to have been 
 constructed by the Diligence proprietors to meet the 
 immediate necessity of the occasion. The Madrid 
 road being served by two Diligences, one, leaving 
 the capital, meets at this point, on its first night, the
 
 80 ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 other, which approaches in the contrary direction. 
 In consequence of this arrangement, the edifice is 
 provided with exactly four dormitories, two male, 
 and two female. 
 
 Nor is this the result of an intention to diminish 
 the numbers quartered in each male or female apart- 
 ment ; on the contrary, two rooms would have answer- 
 ed the purpose better than four, but for the incon- 
 venience and confusion which would have arisen 
 from the denizens of the Diligence destined to start 
 at a later hour being aroused from their slumbers, 
 and perhaps induced to depart by mistake, at the 
 signal for calling the travellers belonging to the 
 earlier conveyance, the one starting at two o'clock 
 in the morning, and the other at three. 
 
 On the occasion of my bivouaque in this curious 
 establishment, an English couple, recently married, 
 happened to be among the number of my fellow- 
 sufferers ; and the lady's report of the adventures of 
 the female dormitory of our Diligence afforded us 
 sufficient amusement to enliven the breakfast on 
 the other side of the mountain. It appeared, that, 
 during the hustling of the males into their enclo- 
 sure, a fond mother, moved by Heaven knows what 
 anxious apprehensions, had succeeded in abstracting 
 from the herd her son, a tender youth of fourteen. 
 Whether or not she expected to smuggle, without
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 81 
 
 detection, this contraband article into the female pen 
 we could not determine. If she did, she reckoned 
 somewhat independently of her host ; for on a fellow- 
 traveller entering in the dark, and groping about for 
 a considerable time in search of an unoccupied nest, 
 a sudden exclamation aroused the fatigued sleepers, 
 followed by loud complaints against those who had 
 admitted an interloper to this holy of holies of 
 feminine promiscuousness, to the exclusion of one 
 of its lawful occupants. The dispute ran high ; but it 
 must be added to the already numerous proofs of the 
 superior energy proceeding from aroused maternal 
 feelings, that the intruder was maintained in his 
 usurped resting-place by his determined parent* 
 notwithstanding the discontent naturally caused by 
 such a proceeding. 
 
 We have now reached the centre of these pro- 
 vinces, the destinies of which have offered to Europe 
 so singular an example of political vicissitude. It is 
 an attractive occupation, in studying the history of 
 this country, to watch the progress of the state, the 
 ancient capital of which we have just visited, a 
 province which, from being probably the rudest and 
 poorest of the whole Peninsula, became the most 
 influential, the wealthiest, the focus of power, as it is 
 geographically the centre of Spain, and to witness 
 its constantly progressive advance, as it gradually 
 
 G
 
 82 ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 drew within the range of its influence all the sur- 
 rounding states ; exemplifying . the dogged per- 
 severance of the Spanish character, which, notwith- 
 standing repeated defeat, undermined the Arab 
 power by imperceptible advances, and eventually 
 ridded the Peninsula of its long-established lords. 
 It is interesting to thread the intricate narrative of 
 intermarriages, treaties, wars, alliances, and succes- 
 sions, interspersed with deeds of heroic chivalry and 
 of blackest treachery, composing the annals of 
 the different northern states of Spain ; until at 
 length, the Christian domination having been borne 
 onward by successive advantages nearly to the ex- 
 treme southern shores of the Peninsula, a marriage 
 unites the two principal kingdoms, and leads to the 
 subjection of all Spain, as at present, under one 
 monarch. 
 
 It is still more attractive to repair subsequently to 
 the country itself; and from this central, pyramidal 
 summit elevated by the hand of Nature to a higher 
 level than the rest of the Peninsula ; its bare and 
 rugged surface exposed to all the less genial influences 
 of the elements, and crowned by its modern capital, 
 looking down in all directions, like a feudal castle 
 on the fairer and more fertile regions subject to its 
 dominion, and for the protection of which it is there 
 proudly situated, to take a survey of this extra-
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 83 
 
 ordinary country, view the localities immortalized by 
 the eventful passages of its history, and muse on its 
 still varying destinies. 
 
 Madrid has in fact already experienced threaten- 
 ing symptoms of the insecurity of this feudal tenure, 
 as it were, in virtue of which it enjoys the supreme 
 rank. Having no claim to superiority derived from 
 its commerce, the fertility of its territory, the facility 
 of its means of communication and intercourse with 
 the other parts of the kingdom or with foreign states, 
 nothing, in fact, but its commanding and central 
 position, and the comparatively recent choice made of 
 it by the sovereigns for a residence ; it has seen itself 
 rivalled, and at length surpassed in wealth and enter- 
 prize, by Barcelona, and its right to be continued as 
 the seat of government questioned and attacked. 
 Its fall is probably imminent, should some remedy 
 not be applied before the intermittent revolutionary 
 fever, which has taken possession of the country* 
 makes further advances, or puts on chronic symp- 
 toms ; but its fate will be shared by the power 
 to which it owes its creation. No residence in 
 Europe bears a prouder and more monarchical aspect 
 than Madrid, nor is better suited for the abode of the 
 feudal pomp and etiquette of the most magnificent 
 in its day of European courts : but riding and 
 country sports have crossed the Channel, and are
 
 84 ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 endeavouring to take root in France ; fresco-painting 
 has invaded England ; in Sicily marble porticoes 
 have been painted to imitate red bricks ; and a Con- 
 stitutional monarchy is being erected in Spain. 
 Spaniards are not imitators, and cannot change their 
 nature, although red bricks should become the 
 materials of Italian palazzi, Frenchmen ride after 
 fox-hounds, and Englishmen be metamorphosed to 
 Michael Angelos. The Alcazar of Madrid, com- 
 manding from its windows thirty miles of royal 
 domains, including the Escorial and several other 
 royal residences, is not destined to become the 
 abode of a monarch paid to receive directions from a 
 loquacious and corrupt house of deputies, the utmost 
 result to be obtained from forcing on states a form of 
 government unsuited to their character. If the 
 Spanish reigning family, after having settled their 
 quarrel with regard to the succession, (if ever they 
 do so,) are compelled to accept a (so-called) Constitu- 
 tional form of government, with their knowledge 
 of the impossibility of its successful operation, they 
 will probably endeavour, in imitation of the highly 
 gifted sovereign of their neighbours, to stifle it, and 
 to administrate in spite of it ; until, either wanting 
 the talent and energy necessary for the maintenance 
 of this false position, or their subjects, as may be 
 expected, getting impatient at finding themselves
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 85 
 
 mystified, a total overthrow will terminate the 
 experiment. 
 
 I am aware of the criticism to which this opinion 
 would be exposed in many quarters ; I already hear 
 the contemptuous upbraidings, similar to those with 
 which the " exquisite," exulting in an unexceptionable 
 wardrobe, lashes the culprit whose shoulders are 
 guilty of a coat of the previous year's fashion. We 
 are told that the tendency of minds, the progress 
 of intellect, the spirit of the age, all which, trans- 
 lated into plain language, mean (if they mean any- 
 thing) the fashion, require that nations should pro- 
 vide themselves each with a new Liberal govern- 
 ment ; claiming, in consideration of the fashionable 
 vogue and the expensive nature of the article, its 
 introduction (unlike other British manufactures) 
 duty-free. But it ought first to be established, 
 whether these larger interests of humanity are amen- 
 able to the sceptre of so capricious a ruler as the 
 fashion. It appears to me, that nations should be 
 allowed to adapt their government to their respect- 
 ive characters, dispositions, habits of life, and tra- 
 ditions. All these are more dependant than is sup- 
 posed by those who possess not the habit of reflection, 
 on the race, the position, the soil and climate each 
 has received from nature, which, by the influ- 
 ence they have exercised on their habits and dispo-
 
 s <; ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 sitions, have fitted them each for a form of con- 
 stitution equally appropriate to no other people ; 
 since no two nations are similarly circumstanced, 
 not only in all these respects, but even in any one of 
 
 them. 
 
 What could be more Liberal than the monarchy of 
 Spain up to the accession of the Bourbon dynasty? 
 the kings never reigning but by the consent of their 
 subjects, and on the condition of unvarying respect 
 for their privileges ; but never, when once seated on 
 the throne, checked and embarrassed in carrying 
 through the measures necessary for the administration 
 of the state. The monarch was a responsible but a 
 free monarch until these days, when an attempt is 
 being made to deprive him both of freedom of action 
 and responsibility almost of utility, and to render 
 him a tool in the hands of a constantly varying suc- 
 cession of needy advocates or military parvenus, whom 
 the chances of civil war or the gift of declamation 
 have placed in the way of disputing the ministerial 
 salaries, without having been able to furnish either 
 their hearts with the patriotism, or their heads with 
 the capacity, requisite for the useful and upright 
 administration of the empire. In Spain, the advo- 
 cates of continual change, in most cases in which 
 personal interest is not their moving spring, hope 
 to arrive ultimately at a republic. Now, no one
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 87 
 
 more than myself admires the theories of Consti- 
 tutional governments, of universal political power 
 and of republicanism : the last system would be 
 the best of all, were it only for the equality it is 
 to establish. But how are men to be equalised by 
 the manufacturers of a government ? How are the 
 ignorant and uneducated to be furnished with legis- 
 lative capacity, or the poor or unprincipled armed 
 against the seductions of bribery ? It is not, unfor- 
 tunately, in any one's power to accomplish these 
 requisite preliminary operations; without the per- 
 formance of which, these plausible theories will ever 
 lose their credit when brought to the test of experi- 
 ment. How is a republic to be durable without 
 the previous solution of the problem of the equal- 
 isation of human capacities ? In some countries 
 it may be almost attained for a time ; in others, 
 never put in motion for an instant. No one more 
 than myself abhors tyranny and despotism ; but, 
 after hearing and reading all the charges laid at 
 the door of Absolutism during the last quarter of 
 a century, I am at a loss to account for the still 
 greater evils and defects, existing in Constitutional 
 states, having been overlooked in the comparison. 
 The subject is far less free in France than in the 
 absolute states of Germany : and other appropriate 
 comparisons might be made which would bring us
 
 88 ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 still nearer home. I would ask the advocates for 
 putting in practice a republican form of govern- 
 ment, and by way of comparing the two extremes, 
 whether all the harm the Emperors of Russia have 
 ever done, or are likely to do until the end of the 
 world. according to whatever sect the date of that 
 event be calculated, will not knock under to one 
 week of the exploits of the French republicans of 
 the last century ? And if we carry on the observa- 
 tion to the consequences of that revolution, until we 
 arrive at the decimation of that fine country under 
 the military despotism which was necessarily its off- 
 spring, we shall not find my argument weakened. 
 
 I entreat your pardon for this political digression, 
 which I am as happy to terminate as yourself. I 
 will only add, that, should the period be arrived for 
 the Spanish empire to undergo the lot of all human 
 things decline and dissolution, it has no right to 
 complain, having had its day ; but, should that mo- 
 ment be still distant, let us hope to see that country, 
 so highly favoured by Nature, once more prosperous 
 under the institutions which raised her to the high- 
 est level of power and prosperity. 
 
 Meanwhile, the elements of discord still exist in 
 a simmering state close to the brim of the cauldron, 
 and a mere spark will suffice at any moment to make 
 them bubble over. The inhabitants of Madrid are
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 89 
 
 in hourly expectation of this spark ; and not without 
 reason, if the on-dits which circulate there, and reach 
 to the neighbouring towns, are deserving of credit. 
 Queen Christina, on her road from Paris to resume 
 virtually, if not nominally, the government, con- 
 ceived the imprudent idea of taking Rome in her 
 way. It is said that she confessed to the Pope, who 
 in the solemn exercise of his authority as repre- 
 sentative of the Deity, declared to her that Spain 
 would never regain tranquillity until the possessions 
 of the clergy should be restored to them. 
 
 Whatever else may have passed during the inter- 
 view is not stated ; but a deep impression was pro- 
 duced on the conscience of the Queen, to which is 
 attributed the change in her appearance evident 
 to those who may happen to have seen her a few 
 months since in Paris. This short space of time 
 has produced on her features the effect of years. 
 She has lost her embonpoint, and acquired in its 
 place paleness and wrinkles. She is firmly resolved 
 to carry out the views of the Pope. Here, there- 
 fore, is the difficulty. The leading members of her 
 party are among those who have profited largely by 
 the change of proprietorship which these vast pos- 
 sessions have undergone : being the framers or abet- 
 tors of the decree, they were placed among the 
 nearest for the scramble. In the emptiness of the
 
 q ROUTE TO MADRID. 
 
 national treasury, they consider these acquisitions 
 their sole reward for the trouble of conducting the 
 revolution, and are prepared to defend them like 
 
 tigers. 
 
 When, therefore, Queen Christina proposed her 
 plan * to Narvaez, she met with a flat refusal. He 
 replied, that such a decree would deluge the country 
 with blood. The following day he was advised to 
 give in his resignation. This he refused to do, and 
 another interview took place. The Queen-mother 
 insisted on his acceptance of the embassy to France. 
 He replied, that he certainly would obey her Ma- 
 jesty's commands ; but that, in that case, she would 
 not be surprised if he published the act of her 
 marriage with Mufios, which was in his power.f 
 This would compel Christina to refund all the in- 
 come she has received as widow of Ferdinand the 
 Seventh. The interview ended angrily ; and, doubt- 
 less, recalled to Christina's recollection the still 
 higher presumption of the man, who owed to her 
 the exalted situation from which, on a former oc- 
 casion, he levelled his attack on her authority. I 
 
 1 It will be seen that this letter was written shortly after the 
 Queen's return to Spain, and previous to the publication of her 
 marriage. 
 
 f It is probable that this threat, supposing it real, may have 
 assisted in determining the Queen's resolution, since executed, of 
 publishing the marriage.
 
 ROUTE TO MADRID. 91 
 
 am not answerable for the authenticity of these 
 generally received reports ; but they prove the un- 
 settled state of things, when the determined dis- 
 position of the two opposite parties, and the nearly 
 equal balance of their force, are taken into conside- 
 ration. 
 
 I was scarcely housed at Madrid, having only 
 quitted the hotel the previous day, when the news 
 reached me of the death of one of the fair and ac- 
 complished young Countesses the companions of 
 my journey from Bayonne to Burgos. You would 
 scarcely believe possible the regret this intelligence 
 occasioned me, more particularly from the peculiar 
 circumstances of the occurrence. Her father had 
 recently arrived from France, and the house was 
 filled for the celebration of her birthday ; but she 
 herself was forbidden to join the dinner-party, 
 being scarcely recovered from a severe attack of 
 small-pox. The father's weakness could not deny 
 her admission at dessert, and an ice. The follow- 
 ing day she was dead. 
 
 Acquaintances made on the high road advance far 
 more rapidly than those formed in the usual formal 
 intercourse of society. I can account in no other way 
 for the tinge of melancholy thrown over the com- 
 mencement of my sojourn at Madrid by this event, 
 befalling a person whose society I had only enjoyed
 
 92 MUSEO. 
 
 during three days, and whom I scarcely expected to 
 
 see again. 
 
 The modern capital of Spain is an elegant and 
 brilliant city, and a very agreeable residence ; but 
 for the admirer of the picturesque, or the tourist 
 in search of historical souvenirs, it contains few 
 objects of attraction. The picture-gallery is, how- 
 ever, a splendid exception ; and, being the best in the 
 world, compensates, as you may easily suppose, for 
 the deficiency peculiar to Madrid in monuments 
 of architectural interest. 
 
 To put an end to the surprise you will expe- 
 rience at the enumeration of such a profusion of 
 chefs dceuvre of the great masters as is here found, 
 it is necessary to lose sight of the present political 
 situation of Spain, and to transport ourselves to the 
 age of painting. At that time Spain was the most 
 powerful, and especially the most opulent empire 
 in Europe. Almost all Italy belonged to her; a 
 large portion actually owning allegiance to her 
 sceptre, and the remainder being subject to her pa- 
 ramount influence. The familiarity which existed 
 between Charles the Fifth and Titian is well 
 known ; as is likewise the anecdote of the pencil, 
 picked up and presented by the Emperor to the 
 artist, who had dropped it. 
 
 The same taste for, and patronage of, painting,
 
 MUSEO. 93 
 
 continued through the successive reigns, until the 
 period when painting itself died a natural death; 
 and anecdotes similar to that of Charles the Fifth 
 are related of Philip the Fourth and Velasquez. 
 All the works of art thus collected, and distributed 
 through the different palaces, have been recently 
 brought together, and placed in an edifice, some 
 time since commenced, and as yet not entirely com- 
 pleted. Titian was the most favoured of all the Italian 
 painters, not only with respect to his familiar in- 
 tercourse with the Emperor, but also in a professional 
 point of view. The Museo contains no less than 
 forty of his best productions. Nor is it surprising 
 that the taste of the monarch, being formed by his 
 masterpieces, should extend its preference to the 
 rest of the Venetian school in a greater degree 
 than to the remaining Italian schools. There are, 
 however, ten pictures by Raffaelle, including the 
 Spasimo, considered by many to be his greatest 
 work. 
 
 A cause similar to that above named enables us 
 to account for the riches assembled in the Dutch 
 and Flemish rooms, among which may be counted 
 more than two hundred pictures of Teniers alone. 
 I should observe, that I am not answerable for this 
 last calculation ; being indebted for my information 
 to the director, and distinguished artist, Don Jose
 
 MUSEO. 
 
 ITALIAN GALLERY AT THE MUSEO, MADRID. 
 
 Madrazo. There is no catalogue yet drawn up. 
 Rubens has a suite of rooms almost entirely to 
 himself, besides his just portion of the walls of the 
 gallery. The Vandykes and Rembrandts are in great 
 profusion. With regard to the Spanish schools, it 
 may be taken for granted that they are as well re- 
 presented as those of the foreign, although partially 
 subject, nations. The works of Velasquez are the 
 most numerous ; which is accounted for by his 
 situation of painter to the Court, under Philip the 
 Fourth. There are sixty of his paintings.
 
 MUSEO. 95 
 
 The Murillos are almost as numerous, and in his 
 best style : but Seville has retained the cream of 
 the genius of her most talented offspring ; and even 
 at Madrid, in the collection of the Academy, there 
 is a Murillo the Saint Elizabeth superior to any 
 of those in the great gallery. It is much to be wish- 
 ed that some artist, gifted with the pen of a Joshua 
 Reynolds, or even of a Mengs (author of a notice 
 on a small portion of these paintings), could be found, 
 who would undertake a complete critical review of 
 this superb gallery. All I presume to say on the 
 subject is, were the journey ten times longer and 
 more difficult, the view of the Madrid Museo would 
 not be too dearly purchased. 
 
 Before I left Madrid, I went to the palace, to 
 see the traces of the conspiracy of the 7th Octo- 
 ber, remaining on the doors of the Queen's apart- 
 ments. You will recollect that the revolt of October 
 1842 was that in favour of Christina, when the three 
 officers, Concha, Leon, and Pezuela, with a battalion, 
 attacked the palace in the night, for the purpose 
 of carrying off the Queen and her sister. On the 
 failure of the attempt, owing to its having been pre- 
 maturely put in execution, the Brigadier Leon was 
 shot, and the two others escaped. 
 
 It appears that the execution of this officer, unlike 
 the greater number of these occurrences, caused a
 
 96 PALACE. 
 
 strong sensation in Madrid, owing to the sympathy 
 excited by his popular character, and the impression 
 that he was the victim of jealousy in the mind of the 
 Recent. The fine speech, however, attributed to him 
 by some of the newspapers, was not pronounced by 
 him. His words were very few, and he uttered them 
 in a loud and clear tone, before giving the word of 
 command to his executioners. This, and his receiv- 
 ing the fire without turning his back, were the only 
 incidents worthy of remark. 
 
 One of the two sentries stationed at the door of 
 the Queen's anteroom when I arrived, happened to 
 have played a conspicuous part on the eventful night. 
 The Queen was defended by the guard of hallebar- 
 diers, which always mounts guard in the interior of 
 the palace. This sentinel informed me that he was 
 on guard that night, on the top step of the staircase, 
 when Leon, followed by a few officers, was seen to 
 come up. Beyond him and his fellow-sentry there 
 were only two more, who were posted at the door of 
 the Queen's anteroom, adjoining her sleeping apart- 
 ment. This door faces the whole length of the corri- 
 dor, with which, at a distance of about twenty yards, 
 the top of the staircase communicates. In order to 
 shield himself from the fire of the two sentinels at 
 the Queen's door, Leon grasped my informant by 
 the ribs right and left, and, raising him from the
 
 PALACE. 97 
 
 ground, carried him, like a mummy, to the corridor ; 
 and there, turning sharp to the left, up to the two 
 sentries, whom he summoned to give him admittance 
 in the name of the absent Christina. 
 
 On the soldiers' refusal, he gave orders to his battal- 
 ion to advance, and a pitched battle took place, which 
 was not ultimately decided until daybreak seven 
 hours after. The terror of the little princesses, dur- 
 ing this night, may be imagined. Two bullets pene- 
 trated into the bed-room ; and the holes made by 
 about twenty more in the doors of some of the 
 state apartments communicating with the corridor, 
 are still preserved as souvenirs of the event. The 
 palace contains some well-painted ceilings by Mengs, 
 and is worthy of its reputation of one of the finest 
 residences in Europe. The staircase is superb. It 
 was here that Napoleon, entering the palace on the 
 occasion of his visit to Madrid, to install Joseph 
 Buonaparte in his kingdom, stopped on the first 
 landing ; and, placing his hand on one of the white 
 marble lions which crouch on the balustrades, turned 
 to Joseph, and exclaimed, " Mon frere, vous serez 
 mieux loge que moi." 
 
 There is no road from Madrid to Toledo. On the 
 occasions of religious festivities, which are attended by 
 the court, the journey is performed by way of Aranjuez, 
 from which place a sort of road conducts to the an- 
 
 H
 
 .08 ROUTE TO TOLEDO. 
 
 cient capital of Spain. There is, however, for those 
 who object to add so much to the actual distance, 
 a track, known, in all its sinuosities, throughout its 
 depths and its shallows, around its bays, promon- 
 tories, islands, and peninsulas to the driver of the 
 diligence, and to the mounted bearer of the mail ; 
 both of whom travel on the same days of the week, 
 in order to furnish reciprocal aid, in case of damage 
 to either. A twenty-four hours' fall of rain renders 
 this track impassable by the usual conveyance ; a 
 very unusual sort of carriage is consequently kept in 
 reserve for these occasions, and, as the period of my 
 journey happened to coincide with an uncommonly 
 aqueous disposition of the Castilian skies, I was fortu- 
 nately enabled to witness the less every day, and more 
 eventful transit, to which this arrangement gave rise. 
 Accordingly at four o'clock on an April morning 
 an hour later than is the custom on the road from 
 France to Madrid I ascended the steps of a carriage, 
 selected for its lightness, which to those who know 
 anything of Continental coach-building, conveys a 
 sufficient idea of its probable solidity. There was not 
 yet sufficient daylight to take a view 7 of this fabric ; 
 but I saw, by the aid of a lantern, my luggage lifted 
 into a sort of loose net, composed of straw-ropes, and 
 suspended between the hind wheels in precisely such 
 juxta-position, as to make the portmanteaus, bags, &c.
 
 ROUTE TO TOLEDO. 99 
 
 bear the same topographic relation to the vehicle, as 
 the truffles do to a turkey, or the stuffing to a duck. 
 There was much grumbling about the quantity of my 
 luggage, and some hints thrown out, relative to the 
 additional perils, suspended over our heads, or rather, 
 under our seats, in consequence of the coincidence of 
 the unusual weight, with the bad state of the road, 
 as they termed it, and the acknowledged caducity of 
 the carriage. I really was, in fact, the only one to 
 blame ; for I could not discover, besides my things, 
 more than two small valises belonging to all the 
 other six passengers together. 
 
 At length we set off, and at a distance of four 
 miles from Madrid, as day began to break, we broke 
 down. 
 
 The break- down was neither violent nor danger- 
 ous, and was occasioned by the crash of a hind wheel, 
 while our pace did not exceed a walk : but it was 
 productive of some amusement, owing to the posi- 
 tion, near the corner of the vehicle which took the 
 greatest fancy to terra Jirma, of a not over heroic limb 
 of the Castilian law, who had endeavoured to be fa- 
 cetious ever since our departure, and whose counte- 
 nance now exhibited the most grotesque symptoms of 
 real terror. Never, I am convinced, will those mo- 
 ments be forgotten by that individual, whose vivacity 
 deserted him for the remainder of the journey ; 
 
 H 2
 
 100 ROUTE TO TOLEDO. 
 
 and whose attitude and expression, as his extended 
 arms failed to recover his centre of gravity exchang- 
 ed for the supine, folded-up posture, unavoidable 
 by the occupant at the lowest corner of a broken- 
 down vehicle, while his thoughts wandered to his 
 absent offspring, whose fond smiles awaited him in 
 Toledo, but to whom perhaps he was not allowed 
 to bid an eternal adieu will live likewise in the 
 memory of his fellow-travellers. 
 
 This denouement of the adventures of the first car- 
 riage rendered a long halt necessary ; during which, 
 the postilion returned to Madrid on a mule, and 
 brought us out a second. This proceeding occupied 
 four hours, during which some entered a neighbour- 
 ing venta, others remained on the road, seated on 
 heaps of stones, and all breakfasted on what provi- 
 sions they had brought with them, or could procure 
 at the said venta. The sight of the vehicle that now 
 approached, would have been cheaply bought at the 
 price of twenty up-sets. Don Quixote would have 
 charged it, had such an apparition suddenly pre- 
 sented itself to his view. It was called a phaeton, 
 but bore no sort of resemblance to the open car- 
 riage known in England by that name. Its form 
 was remarkable by its length being out of all pro- 
 portion to its width, so much so as to require three 
 widely-separated windows on each side. These were
 
 ROUTE TO TOLEDO. 101 
 
 irregularly placed, instead of being alike on the 
 two sides, for the door appeared to have been for- 
 gotten until after the completion of the fabric, and 
 to have taken subsequently the place of a window ; 
 which window pursuant to a praiseworthy sense 
 of justice was provided for at the expense of a 
 portion of deal board, and some uniformity. 
 
 The machine possessed, nevertheless, allowing for 
 its rather exaggerated length, somewhat of the form 
 of an ancient landau ; but the roof describing a 
 semicircle, gave it the appearance of having been 
 placed upside down by mistake, in lowering it on to 
 the wheels. Then, with regard to these wheels, 
 they certainly had nothing very extraordinary about 
 their appearance, when motionless ; but, on being 
 subjected to a forward or backward impulse, they 
 assumed, respectively, and independently of each 
 other, such a zigzag movement, as would belong 
 to a rotatory, locomotive pendulum, should the pro- 
 gress of mechanics ever attain to so complicated a 
 discovery. Indeed, the machine, in general, appear- 
 ed desirous of avoiding the monotony attendant on 
 a straight-forward movement ; the body of the mons- 
 ter, from the groans, sighs, screams, and other various 
 sounds which accompanied its heaving, pitching, and 
 rolling exertions, appearing to belong to some un- 
 wieldy and agonised mammoth and to move by its
 
 \(\-2 ROUTE TO TOLEDO. 
 
 own laborious efforts, instead of being indebted for 
 its progress to the half-dozen quadrupeds hooked to 
 its front projections. 
 
 The track along which this interesting production 
 of mechanical art now conveyed us, bore much re- 
 semblance to a river, in the accidents of its course. 
 Thus we were reminded at frequent intervals, by 
 the suddenly increased speed of our progress, that 
 we were descending a rapid : at other times the mo- 
 tion was so vertical, as to announce the passage down 
 a cataract. These incidents were not objectionable 
 to me, as they interrupted the monotony of the walk- 
 ing pace, to which we were condemned ; although one 
 or two passengers of rather burly proportions, seemed 
 not much to enjoy their repetition. However this 
 might be, assuredly we were none of us sorry to find 
 ourselves at eight o'clock that evening safely housed 
 at Toledo.
 
 103 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. FLORINDA. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 EVERY traveller I don't mean every one who 
 habitually assists in wearing out roads, whether of 
 stone or iron nor who travels for business, nor who 
 seeks to escape from himself meaning from ennui, 
 (a vain attempt, by the way, if Horace is to be de- 
 pended on ; since, even should he travel on horseback, 
 the most exhilarating sort of locomotion, ennui will 
 contrive to mount and ride pillion) but every one 
 who deserves the name of traveller, who travels for 
 travelling sake, for the pleasure of travelling, knows 
 the intensity of the feeling which impels his right 
 hand, as he proceeds to open the window-shutter 
 of his bed-room, on the morning subsequent to his 
 nocturnal arrival in a new town. 
 
 The windows of the Posada del Miradero at To- 
 ledo are so placed as by no means to diminish the 
 interest of this operation. The shutter being opened, 
 I found myself looking from a perpendicular ele-
 
 104 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 
 
 vation of several hundred feet, on one of the pret- 
 tiest views you can imagine. The town was at 
 my back, and the road by which we had arrived, 
 was cut in the side of the precipice beneath me. In 
 following that direction, the first object at all promi- 
 nent was the gate leading to Madrid a cluster of 
 half Arab embattled towers and walls, standing some- 
 what to the left at the bottom of the descent. These 
 gave issue to the track mentioned in my journey, 
 and which could now be traced straight in front, 
 to a considerable distance. 
 
 The ground rises slightly beyond the gates of the 
 town, and preserves a moderate elevation all across 
 the view, retreating right and left, so as to offer 
 the convex side of the arc of an immense circle. This 
 formation gives to the view a valley, extending on 
 either side, shut in on the left by mountains 
 at a distance of four miles ; while to the east it ex- 
 tends as far as the eye can reach, some mountains, 
 scarcely perceptible, crossing it at the horizon. The 
 Tagus advances down the eastern valley from Aran- 
 juez; which chateau is in view at the distance of 
 twenty-eight miles, and approaching with innumera- 
 ble zigzags to the foot of the town, suddenly forms a 
 curve, and, dashing into the rocks, passes round the 
 back of the city, issues again into the western valley, 
 and, after another sharp turn to the left, resumes the
 
 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 105 
 
 same direction as before. All this tract of country 
 owes to the waters of the Tagus a richness of vege- 
 tation, and a bright freshness nowhere surpassed. 
 So much for the distant view. 
 
 To judge of the nearer appearance of the town, I 
 crossed the bridge of Alcantara, placed at the en- 
 trance of the eastern valley, and leading to Aranjuez. 
 The situation may be described in a few words. To- 
 ledo stands on an eminence nearly circular in its 
 general form. It is a mass of jagged rock, almost 
 perpendicular on all its sides. The river flows rather 
 more than half round it, descending from the east, 
 and passing round its southern side. The left or south 
 bank is of the same precipitous formation ; but, in- 
 stead of presenting that peculiarity during only a 
 short distance, it continues so both above and below 
 the town ; while on the opposite side the only high 
 ground is the solitary mass of rock selected, whether 
 with a view to defence or to inconvenience, for the 
 position of this ancient city. The Tagus is crossed 
 by two bridges, one at each extremity of the semi- 
 circle described by it round the half of the town. 
 These bridges are both highly picturesque, from 
 their form no less than their situation. They are 
 raised upon arches of a height so disproportionate 
 to their width, as to appear like aqueducts ; and are 
 provided at each extremity with towers, all, with one
 
 10(j PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 
 
 exception, Moorish in their style. The lower bridge 
 (lower by position, for it is the higher of the two 
 in actual elevation) bears the name of San Martin, 
 and is traversed by the road to Estremadura ; the 
 other leads to Aranjuez, and is the puente de Alcan- 
 tara. We are now standing on this last, having 
 passed under the Arab archway of its tower. 
 
 Its width is just sufficient for the passage of two 
 vehicles abreast, and it is covered with flag-paving. 
 The river flows sixty feet below. At the back of the 
 tower which faces you, at the opposite end of the 
 bridge, rises a rock, almost isolated from the rest of 
 the cliff, and on its top the half-ruined towers and 
 walls of a Moorish castle. On the left hand extends 
 the valley, through which the river approaches in 
 a broad mass. The road to Aranjuez follows the 
 same direction, after having first disappeared round 
 the base of the rock just mentioned, and is bordered 
 with rose-trees, and occasional groups of limes, which 
 separate it from the portions set apart for pedes- 
 trians. On the right hand the river (still looking 
 from the bridge) is suddenly pressed in between 
 precipices, becomes narrow, and at the distance of 
 a few hundred yards, forms a noisy cascade. 
 
 Still looking in that direction, the left bank a 
 rocky precipice, as I mentioned before curves round 
 and soon hurries it out of sight. The lower part of
 
 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 107 
 
 the opposite or town bank is ornamented, close to 
 the cascade, with a picturesque ruin, on which you 
 look down from your position. This consists of three 
 stories of arches, standing partly in the water. 
 Above and behind them rise a few larger buildings, 
 almost perpendicularly over each other, and the sum- 
 mit is crowned with the colossal quadrangular mass 
 of the Alcazar. 
 
 The ruinous arches just mentioned, are the re- 
 mains of a building erected by a speculator, who had 
 conceived a plan for raising water to the Alcazar by 
 means of wheels, furnished with jars, according to the 
 custom of this part of Spain. The arrangement is 
 simple ; the jars, being attached round a perpendicu- 
 lar wheel, successively fill with water, as each arrives 
 at the bottom, and empty themselves, on reaching 
 the summit, into any receptacle placed so as to re- 
 ceive their contents. The speculator, having to ope- 
 rate on a colossal scale, intended probably to super- 
 pose wheel over wheel, and to establish reservoirs 
 at different elevations, as it would scarcely be pos- 
 sible to work a wheel of such dimensions as to carry 
 jars to the height required (more than three hundred 
 feet), even though furnished with ropes, which are 
 made to turn round the wheel and descend below 
 it. 
 
 Crossing the bridge, the road quits the river, or
 
 108 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 
 
 rather is left for a certain space by it, until it meets 
 it at the distance of a mile. This road is a favourite 
 promenade of the inhabitants, and deservedly so. On 
 each side, for the distance of a mile, it is bordered by 
 hedges of magnificent rose-trees. These hedges are 
 double on both sides, enclosing walks for the pro- 
 menaders on foot. Behind those on the outside, the 
 colours are varied by the pale green of the olive-tree ; 
 and over them occasional clusters of lime-trees, 
 mingled with the acacia and laburnum, furnish shade, 
 in case of an excess of sunshine. This promenade, 
 flanked on one side by the hills, and on the other, 
 by the highly cultivated plain, in parts of which the 
 Tagus is seen occasionally to peep through its wood- 
 ed banks, is most delicious during the rose season. 
 I should especially recommend the visitor of Toledo 
 to repair to it during the first hour after sunrise, 
 when thronged with birds, which are here almost 
 tame, and fill the air with their music ; and also in 
 the evening, when frequented by the mantilla-hooded 
 fair of the city. 
 
 There is, however, notwithstanding the beauty and 
 gay appearance of this profusion of roses, a singular 
 effect produced by their situation. Usually seen sur- 
 rounded by other flowers or by well-kept grass or 
 earth, they do not look quite themselves on the side 
 on which they rest their bushy foundations on a
 
 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF TOLEDO. 109 
 
 dusty road, covered with deep ruts. The fish out of 
 water forms a hackneyed, not to say a dried up, com- 
 parison ; but we can compare the rather pallid and 
 unnatural appearance of these plants to that of a 
 bevy of ladies, who, tired of the monotony of a ball- 
 room in Grosvenor Place, should resolve, precisely 
 at the crisis when candle-light is more than ever re- 
 quired for their rather suffering complexions, to com- 
 pel their partners to lead them, at sunrise, a galopade 
 down Tattersall's yard. The roses, thus misplaced, 
 are nevertheless roses, and cease not to be fair, in 
 spite of their unusual entourage, and to contribute 
 to the beauty and novelty of this picturesque pro- 
 menade. 
 
 Amongst the variety of harmless weaknesses by 
 which human imagination, and consequently human 
 locomotion are influenced, I look upon one of the 
 most irresistible (if such an epithet be applicable 
 to a weakness) to be that fractional component part 
 of the cravings of antiquarianism, which urges some 
 persons in the search after, and rewards their labours 
 on the discovery of, the locality supposed to be the 
 birthscene of some great historical event, however 
 insignificant in other respects, or even however loath- 
 some its actual state may be to the outward senses. 
 Thus, when, in Normandy, the worthy and probably 
 waggish majordomo of the crumbling old castle of
 
 110 FLORINDA. 
 
 Falaise, directs your attention to the window from 
 which Duke Robert caught the first glance of the 
 ankle of William the Conqueror's mother, as she 
 pursued her professional labours, and polluted with 
 her soapsuds the silver brook a quarter of a mile 
 below him, and suddenly yielded his soul to its irre- 
 sistible beauty : notwithstanding the impossibility of 
 the thing, many, and I confess myself one, are too 
 delighted with the window, and the rivulet, and the 
 majordomo, and the God knows what! perhaps 
 with the very impossibility to allow themselves a 
 moment's sceptical or sarcastic feeling on the subject. 
 
 I should mention that my visit to Falaise happen- 
 ing to take place shortly after the passage of the 
 King of the French on a tour through his western 
 provinces, the aforesaid cicerone pointed out a highly 
 suspicious-looking inscription, being the initials of 
 the monarch, carefully engraved in the stone ; which 
 he informed me had been cut by Louis Philippe, on 
 the occasion of his visit at midnight to the room 
 of Duke Robert ; but of which I took the liberty 
 of suspecting himself of being the sculptor, during 
 some idle moment, fond as he probably was of con- 
 templating the innocently expressive countenances 
 of his satisfied visitors. 
 
 Actuated by the feeling I have attempted to de- 
 scribe, one of my first inquiries at Toledo related to
 
 FLORINDA. Ill 
 
 the well-known story of Florinda and her bath, so 
 fatal to the Gothic sway in Spain. I was immediate- 
 ly directed to the spot, on which is seen a square 
 tower, pierced by arched openings through its two 
 opposite sides, and on a third side by a similar but 
 smaller aperture. The four walls alone remain, 
 and the whole is uncovered. This symmetrical-look- 
 ing edifice, well built and composed of large stones, 
 measures about sixteen feet square, and from forty 
 to fifty in elevation, and stands on the edge of 
 the river, on the town side, about a hundred yards 
 below the western bridge that called after Saint 
 Martin at the precise point at which the river 
 quits the town, and its north bank ceases to be 
 precipitous. 
 
 The extreme point of the termination of the high 
 ground is immediately over the building, and is 
 covered with the ruins of King Roderick's palace, 
 the outer walls of which descend to the water, and 
 are terminated by a small roundtower within a 
 few yards of the quadrangular edifice. The edi- 
 fice is called the Bano de la Cava, meaning Flo- 
 rinda's bath, although the native popular tradition, 
 losing sight of the events of the history, has me- 
 tamorphosed the heroine of the spot into a Moorish 
 princess. 
 
 In fact, the rocky precipice terminates at this
 
 112 
 
 FLOR1NDA. 
 
 FLORINDA S BATH. 
 
 spot, the last piece of rock forming part of the foun- 
 dation of the square tower, immediately beyond 
 which is a gently descending sand-bank most con- 
 venient and tempting to bathers. This circumstance, 
 added to the situation of Roderick's residence, im- 
 mediately above the scene, was delightfully corrobo- 
 rative of the tradition ; and proved sufficiently, had 
 all investigation ceased there, the identity of the spot 
 with the scene of the anecdote. Owing to an excess 
 of curiosity a new discovery threw a doubt over the 
 whole affair.
 
 FLORINDA. 113 
 
 A bridge is too public a thoroughfare to allow 
 of bathing to be practised in its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood : and, in fact, the erection of the neigh- 
 bouring one of St. Martin is of much later date 
 than the events of the history in question. Fatal 
 curiosity, however, led me to the back of the building, 
 the very bath of Florinda, where it was impossible 
 not to discover, even to conviction, that it, the square 
 tower itself, had formerly been the entrance of a 
 bridge. This is proved by the ruins of two piers* 
 which appear above the water, one near to the 
 shore on which I was standing, the other near to 
 the opposite bank, and both forming a line with the 
 square tower on looking through its two opposite 
 arches. The tower possesses other peculiarities 
 which, compared with those belonging to the bridges 
 actually in existence, fully confirm the supposition. 
 
 Now, although the tradition has christened the 
 spot Bauo de la Cava, which expression is translated 
 "bath of the prostitute," it is certain that Florinda 
 was the daughter of Count Julian, governor of the 
 Spanish possessions in Africa, and a personage of 
 sufficient rank and influence to obtain a hearing 
 at the court of the Arab Caliph, or at all events 
 of his viceroy in Africa, and to conceive the idea 
 of calling a foreign army to execute his private 
 vengeance, It is therefore extremely improbable that
 
 114 FLORINDA. 
 
 the daughter of such a person should have been 
 seen to measure and compare the proportions of 
 her legs with those of her companions in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of a bridge, necessarily the most 
 frequented of thoroughfares. 
 
 I confess I left the spot filled with disappoint- 
 ment. In vain I reflected that after all the fact 
 is fact that the sensual Roderick may certainly 
 have spied from behind a window-lattice the frolics 
 of some ladies at their bath ; and that, wherever his 
 espionage took place, he may for that purpose have 
 intentionally procured himself a place of conceal- 
 ment, and have formed the resolution of possessing 
 one of them. In fact, it was a matter of indifference 
 to me whether the circumstance had occurred or 
 not, provided I should ascertain its whereabouts, sup- 
 posing it real, instead of merely discovering the spot 
 on which it did not take place. 
 
 Having thus convicted the generally received tra- 
 dition of deceit, at least, in one of its parts, it be- 
 came an object to discover some other version of the 
 story, which might tally in a more satisfactory man- 
 ner with present existing proofs. The Arab his- 
 torians deny the invasion to have been brought 
 about by any such occurrence ; but Mariana, copied 
 by more recent writers, has either discovered or 
 compiled a very plausible story, clear in its details,
 
 FLORINDA. 115 
 
 only erroneous in respect of the heroine's name, 
 which he makes out to be Cava. From this version 
 the bath is entirely excluded. 
 
 According to the custom in Gothic Spain, the sons 
 of the nobles received their education in the royal 
 palace, and on attaining the age of manhood, they 
 formed an escort round the sovereign on all expe- 
 ditions, whether to the field or the chase. Their 
 daughters were likewise entrusted to the care of 
 royalty, and attended the person of the Queen, after 
 having completed their education and instruction in 
 the accomplishments suited to their sex, under her 
 superintendence. When these noble damsels could 
 number sufficient summers, their hands were be- 
 stowed according to the royal selection. 
 
 Among the attendants of Queen Egilona, was a 
 daughter of Count Julian, possessed of extreme 
 beauty. Florinda, while playing with her compa- 
 nions in a garden, situated on the banks of the 
 Tagus, and overlooked by a tower, which contained 
 a portion of Don Rodrigo's apartments, exposed to 
 view, more than accorded either with etiquette or 
 with her intention, the symmetry of her form. King 
 Rodrigo, who, favoured by the concealment of a win- 
 dow-blind, had been watching the whole scene, be- 
 came suddenly enamoured of her, and resolved to 
 obtain a return of his passion ; but, after finding 
 
 i 2
 
 1 1 6 FLORINDA. 
 
 every effort useless, and his object unattainable, he 
 at length employed violence. 
 
 Every circumstance of this story is corroborated, 
 as far as is possible in the present time, by the posi- 
 tion of the localities, the known customs of the 
 period, and the character of King Roderick. But 
 the historian Mariana, to show the minuteness and 
 triumph of research, on which he has founded his 
 relation, quotes the young lady's own version of 
 the affair ; in fact, no less interesting a document 
 than her letter to her father, then in Africa, dis- 
 closing the insult offered to the family. The follow- 
 ing is the translation of this portentous dispatch. 
 A billet-doux pregnant with greater events never 
 issued from the boudoir of beauty and innocence. 
 
 " Would to Heaven, my lord and father ! Would 
 to Heaven the earth had closed over me, before it 
 fell to my lot to write these lines, and with such 
 grievous news to cause you sadness and perpetual 
 regret! How many are the tears that flow while 
 I am writing, these blots and erasures are witnesses. 
 And yet if I do not immediately, I shall cause a 
 suspicion that not only the body has been polluted, 
 but the soul likewise blotted and stained with per- 
 petual infamy. Would I could foresee a term to 
 our misery ! Who but yourself shall find a remedy 
 for our misfortunes? Shall we delay, until time
 
 FLORINDA. 117 
 
 brings to light that which is now a secret, and the 
 affront we have received entail on us a shame more 
 intolerable than death itself? I blush to write that 
 which I am bound to divulge. O wretched and 
 miserable fate! In a word, your daughter your 
 blood, that of the kingly line of the Goths, has 
 suffered from King Rodrigo, to whose care, alas ! she 
 was entrusted like the sheep to the wolf, a most 
 wicked and cruel affront. It is for you, if you 
 are worthy the name of a man, to cause the sweet 
 draught of our ruin to become a deadly poison to 
 his life; nor to leave unpunished the mockery and 
 insult he has cast on our line and on our house." 
 
 Don Julian, who, as some say, was of royal descent, 
 and a relative, not far removed, of Roderick was 
 possessed of qualities no less marked by daring than 
 artifice. His plans well digested, he committed his 
 government in Africa to the charge of a deputy, and 
 repaired to the court at Toledo. There he made 
 it his business to advance in credit and favour until 
 the moment should arrive for action. His first step 
 was, by means of false alarms of attacks meditated 
 on the northern frontier, to get rid of the principal 
 part of the disposable forces in that direction. Mean- 
 while he caused a letter from his Countess, who re- 
 mained in Africa, to be forwarded to the King, in 
 which, on the plea of serious illness, she urgently
 
 118 FLORINDA. 
 
 entreats the royal permission for the departure of 
 Florinda to Ceuta. It is related that the profligate 
 Rodrigo consented to the journey with so much the 
 better grace, that possession had divested the attrac- 
 tions of his victim of all further hold of his passions, 
 already under the dominion of new allurements. 
 
 There is a gate at Malaga, giving issue towards 
 the sea-shore, which bears to this day the name of 
 Gate of the Cava : through it she is said to have 
 passed on embarking for Africa. 
 
 With regard to the name "la Cava" given to the 
 gate and to the bath, I am disposed to prefer the 
 popular notion to the assertion of Mariana, that it 
 was her name. It is a natural supposition that the 
 anecdote of the affair of Toledo, spread among the 
 Arabs, who, for centuries after this period, were the 
 depositaries of the annals and traditions of the Pen- 
 insula, should have become tinted with a colour de- 
 rived from their customs and ideas. Now it would 
 be difficult to persuade an Arab that the circum- 
 stances of the story in question could befal a vir- 
 tuous female, surrounded with the thousand precau- 
 tions peculiar to an oriental court. If we add to 
 this the contemptuous tone assumed by them towards 
 those of the hostile creed a tone that must have 
 suited in an especial degree with their way of think- 
 ing on the subject of female deportment among the
 
 FLORINDA. 11.9 
 
 Christians, which they look upon as totally devoid of 
 delicacy and reserve the epithet applied to Florinda 
 is easily accounted for. But to return to the story. 
 
 It only now remained for Don Julian to determine 
 the Caliph's viceroy in Africa in favour of the in- 
 vasion. Repairing to his court, he obtained an 
 audience, in which he painted to the Prince, in such 
 eloquent terms, the natural and artificial wealth 
 of the Spanish peninsula, the facility of the enter- 
 prise, owing to the absence of the principal part 
 of the disposable hostile force, and the unpopularity 
 of King Rodrigo, that an expedition was immedi- 
 ately ordered ; which, although at first prudently 
 limited to a small troop under Tharig, led to the 
 conquest, in a few campaigns, of the whole Pen- 
 insula. 
 
 Mingled with the ruins of Roderick's palace are 
 seen at present those of the monastery of Saint 
 Augustin, subsequently erected on the same site : 
 but on the side facing the river, the ancient wall 
 and turrets, almost confounded with the rock, on 
 which they were built, have outlived the more re- 
 cent erections, or perhaps have not been interfered 
 with by them. Immediately beyond the portion 
 of these walls, beneath which is seen the Bano de 
 la Cava, they turn, together with the brink of the 
 precipice, abruptly to the north, forming a right
 
 1 20 FLORINDA. 
 
 angle with the river bank : this part faces the western 
 vega or valley, and looks down on the site of the 
 ancient palace gardens, which occupied the first low 
 ground. They extended as far as the chapel of 
 Santa Leocadia. The ground is now traversed by 
 the road to the celebrated sword-blade manufactory, 
 situated on the bank of the river, half a mile lower 
 down. With the exception of the inmates of that 
 establishment, the only human beings who frequent 
 the spot are the votaries on their way to the shrine 
 of Santa Leocadia, and the convicts of a neighbour- 
 ing Presidio in search of water from the river.
 
 121 
 
 g LETTER IX. 
 
 CATHEDKAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 EVERY successive aera of civilization, with the con- 
 comitant religion on which it has been founded, 
 and from which it has taken its peculiar mould, has, 
 after maintaining its ground with more or less lus- 
 tre, and throughout a greater or smaller duration, 
 arrived at its inevitable period of decline and over- 
 throw. 
 
 In ceasing, however, to live, and to fill society 
 far and wide with its enlightening influence, in 
 exchanging its erect attitude for the prostrate one 
 consequent on its fall, seldom has a creed, which has 
 long held possession of the most enlightened intel- 
 lects of our race for the time being, undergone an 
 entire extinction, so as to disappear altogether from 
 the face of the earth, and leave no trace of its ex- 
 istence. The influence of the soil, formation, and 
 climate of the region, in the bosom of which such
 
 122 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 civilization has had its birth, on the dispositions 
 and faculties of the race which has become its de- 
 positary, has always set its peculiar mark on its 
 monuments, whether civil, military, or religious, 
 but especially the last ; which monuments, surviving 
 the reign of the power to which they owe their 
 existence, prolong and sanctify its memory, while 
 they stand, erect and silent, over its grave ; and 
 furnish valuable information and benefit to those 
 future generations sufficiently enlightened to con- 
 sult them. 
 
 If this theory of successions and vicissitudes be 
 consonant (which probably no one will deny) with 
 the march of events on the surface of this our planet, 
 then do the circumstances of the present situation 
 invest, as far as regards Spain, those relics of human 
 genius and human enthusiasm, the venerable temples 
 of her declining faith, with an interest beyond that 
 which they have possessed at any period since their 
 foundation. It is impossible to have paid any atten- 
 tion to the events of the last few years, without having 
 received the conviction that the reign of Christianity 
 is here fast approaching, not the commencement, 
 but the termination of its decline. Spaniards will 
 never do things by halves ; and will probably prefer 
 the entire overthrow of ancient customs to the system 
 pursued in France, of propping up, by government
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 123 
 
 enactments and salaries, a tottering edifice of ex- 
 ternal forms, long since divested of its foundation 
 of public belief. 
 
 To speak correctly, the decline of religious supre- 
 macy in Spain is by no means recent. It was coeval 
 with that of the arts, and of the political grandeur 
 of the country. The gradual cessation of the vast 
 gifts and endowments for the erection of the reli- 
 gious establishments was a symptom of devotional 
 enthusiasm having passed its zenith. Had not this 
 occurred nearly three centuries back, Madrid would 
 not have wanted a Cathedral. Nothing could ever 
 have tended more directly to compromise the dura- 
 bility of Christianity in Spain, than the final expul- 
 sion or extermination of the Moors and Jews. Had 
 Torquemada and a few others possessed heads as 
 clear and calculating as their hearts were resolute and 
 inexorable a knowledge of human nature as pro- 
 found as their ambition of divine honours was ex- 
 alted, they would have taken care not entirely to 
 deprive the Church of food for its passions and ener- 
 gies. They would not have devoured all their here- 
 tics at a single meal, but would have exercised more 
 management and less voracity. They would have 
 foreseen that by burning a few hundred Jews and 
 Arabs less each year, nourishment would remain to 
 animate the declamations of preachers, and the ener-
 
 124 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 gies of the faithful ; without which the fatal effects 
 of sloth and indifference must inevitably take root 
 in the imaginations, and eventually undermine their 
 lofty fabric. 
 
 The decline was, however, so gradual as to exer- 
 cise no perceptible influence on the general con- 
 duct of the population, by whom forms were still 
 observed, churches filled, and acts of devotion un- 
 ceasingly accomplished. A variety of causes (into 
 a description of which it is not my object, nor would 
 it be your wish, that I should enter, but of which 
 one of the most influential has been the importa- 
 tion of foreign ideas as well through natural chan- 
 nels, as by special and interested exertions) has pre- 
 cipitated the denouement of this long-commenced 
 revolution ; and that with so headlong a rapidity, 
 that, in that Spain which surpassed all other nations 
 in bigoted attachment to religious rites, the con- 
 fiscation of all the possessions of the Church, under a 
 promise (not to be performed) of salaries for a cer- 
 tain number of ecclesiastics, insufficient for the con- 
 tinuation of the ancient ceremonies, is received by 
 the population with indifference ! The Cathedral 
 of Toledo, deprived of the greater number of its 
 functionaries, including its archbishop and fifty-six 
 of its sixty canons, and no longer possessing, out of 
 an income of hundreds of thousands sterling, a trea-
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 125 
 
 sure sufficient for providing brooms and sweepers 
 for its pavement, will, in perhaps not much more 
 than another year, if the predictions of the inhabi- 
 tants be verified, be finally closed to public wor- 
 ship. 
 
 The same interest, therefore, which surrounded 
 the Arab monuments three centuries since, and the 
 Roman edifices of Spain in the fifth century, attaches 
 itself now to the Christian temples ; which, at this 
 crisis, offer themselves to the tourist in the sad but at- 
 tractive gloom of approaching death ; since depriving 
 them of the pomp and observances which filled their 
 tall arcades with animation, is equivalent to sepa- 
 rating a soul from a body. He will explore them and 
 examine their ceremonies with all the eagerness 
 and perseverance of a last opportunity, he will 
 wander untired through the mysterious twilight 
 of their arched recesses, and muse on the riches 
 lavished around him to so little purpose, and on 
 the hopes of those who entrusted their memories 
 to the guardianship of so frail and transient a de- 
 positary. The tones of their giant though melo- 
 dious voices, as, sent from a thousand brazen throats, 
 they roll through the vaulted space the dirge of 
 their approaching fate, will fill him with sadness ; 
 and the ray that streams upon him from each crimson 
 and blue rosace will fix itself on his memory, kind-
 
 126 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 ling around it an inextinguishable warmth, as though 
 he had witnessed the smile of a departing saint. 
 
 I had read of Toledo being in possession of the 
 finest church in Spain, and that in the book of a 
 tourist, whose visit to this town follows immediately 
 that to Seville. Begging pardon of the clever and 
 entertaining writer to whom I allude, the Cathe- 
 dral of Toledo strikes me as far from being the 
 finest in Spain ; nor would it be the finest in France, 
 nor in England, nor in other countries that might 
 be enumerated, could it be transported to either. 
 It is large ; but in this respect it yields to that 
 of Seville. What its other claims to pre-eminence 
 may be, it is difficult to discover. It is true that 
 its interior presents a specimen of the simple and 
 grand pointed style of its period. This being put 
 in execution on a large scale, would render it an 
 imposing and a beautiful edifice, but for a subse- 
 quent addition, which, to render justice to the archi- 
 tect, he certainly never could have contemplated. 
 The noble pillars, towering to a height of sixty feet, 
 have been clothed, together with their capitals, in 
 a magnificent coat of whitewash ! Without having 
 witnessed such a desecration in this or some similar 
 edifice, it is impossible to conceive the deadening 
 effect it produces on the feeling of admiration such 
 a building ought to excite. An inscription in dis-
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 127 
 
 tinct and large characters, over the southernmost 
 of the three western doors, after recording the con- 
 quest of Granada by the Catholic Kings, as Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella are here termed, the expulsion 
 of the Jews, and the completion of the Cathedral, 
 brands with this act of barbarism one Don Francisco 
 Fernandez de Cuenca, obrero mayor (almost a Dean) 
 of the Cathedral in the year 1493. 
 
 There is, however, a moment of each day when 
 the tall arcades vindicate their outraged majesty. 
 " La nuit tous les chats sont gris," says the proverb. 
 I therefore proceeded at the approach of twilight 
 (all access at a later hour being prohibited) to see 
 whether its application would extend to this church. 
 This is, in fact, the hour, just before the closing 
 of the doors, at which it should be visited. Dark- 
 ness has assumed his empire within these walls long 
 before the stirring labyrinth without has had warn- 
 ing of his approach. No colours nor gildings (the 
 latter being rather injudiciously distributed) are 
 visible nothing but a superb range of beautifully 
 painted windows ; and the columns only trace their 
 dim outline a little less black against the deep gloom 
 of the rest of the building. At this hour, could 
 it last, it would be impossible to tire of wandering 
 through this forest of magnificent stems, of which 
 the branches are only seen to spring, and imme-
 
 128 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 diately lose themselves beneath the glories of the 
 coloured transparencies rendered doubly brilliant 
 by their contrast with the gloom of all below them. 
 The principal merit, in fact, of this edifice, con- 
 sists in its windows. That of the purity of its 
 general style deserves also to be allowed ; but 
 with some reserve in the appreciation of the ac- 
 cessory points of the design. It depended, for 
 instance, on the judgment of the architect, to 
 diminish or to increase the number of columns 
 which separate the different naves, and by their 
 unnecessary abundance he has impaired the gran- 
 deur of the general effect. 
 
 The interior dimensions are as follows: Length, 
 including a moderately sized chapel at the eastern 
 extremity, three hundred and fifty English feet ; 
 width, throughout, one hundred and seventy-four 
 feet ; height of the principal nave and transept, 
 about one hundred and twenty feet. The width 
 is divided into five naves ; those at the outside rising 
 to about two-thirds of the height of the two next 
 adjoining ; and these to about half that of the centre 
 nave. An entire side of a chapel opening out of 
 the southernmost nave, is ornamented in the Arab 
 style having been executed by a Moorish artist at 
 the same period as the rest; and not (as might be 
 conjectured) having belonged to the mosque, which
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 129 
 
 occupied the same site previously to the erection 
 of the present cathedral. This small chapel would 
 be a beautiful specimen of the Arab ornament in 
 stucco, but for several coats of whitewash it has 
 received. An arched recess occupies the centre, 
 and is called the Tomb of the Alguazil. A hand- 
 some doorway in the same style is seen in the ante- 
 room of the Chapter-saloon. 
 
 APSE OF THK CATHEDRAL, TOLEDO. 
 
 Facing the entrance to the centre or extreme 
 eastern chapel, that of San Ildefonzo, the back of 
 the high altar, or, as it is vulgarly called, the Tras- 
 
 K
 
 1,30 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 coro, is not adorned, would it were possible not to 
 say disfigured, by an immense mass of sculpture 
 called the Transparente. It is not easy to imagine 
 the reason of this altarpiece having received its 
 name, for it is not more transparent than any other 
 mountain never was witnessed so lamentable a mis- 
 application of riches and labour ! Some of the marble 
 was brought from Carrara ; the rest is not of a 
 very good white, and being thus exposed to an 
 unfavourable contrast, adds to the displeasing effect 
 of the unwieldy forms which enter into the compo- 
 sition of this huge blunder of art this pile of masses 
 on masses of ugliness. At the sight of a large 
 spherical form rising abruptly from the surface of 
 some shaft of a pillar, you step back, and discover 
 that it forms part of the posteriors of a corpulent 
 cherub, as large as the column itself, which he has 
 thus unmercifully annihilated, in order to save him- 
 self the trouble of passing a few inches to the left 
 or right. But it is needless to notice the details 
 of this piece of sculpture, which being the largest, 
 and occupying the most conspicuous position in the 
 whole church, forcibly attracts the attention which, 
 but for that circumstance, one would rather be- 
 stow in another direction. 
 
 It is a relief to take one's station on the shining 
 mahogany benches adjoining the wall of the op-
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 131 
 
 posite chapel of San Ildefonzo ; and to contemplate 
 its chaste style and graceful proportions, and the 
 handsome tombs which occupy its octagonally di- 
 vided walls. The piece of sculpture in marble, 
 placed over the principal altar, is undeserving of 
 its conspicuous situation. It represents the Vision 
 of San Ildefonzo, to which we shall shortly have 
 occasion to direct our attention. 
 
 The adjoining chapel, as we proceed towards the 
 northernmost nave, that of Santiago, or more ge- 
 nerally called after its founder, Don Alvaro de Luna, 
 is still finer. It is larger and loftier, and of a more 
 ornamental design. It presents five sides of an oc- 
 tagon : the three remaining sides turning inwards 
 to suit the form of the apse. This Alvaro de Luna, 
 the Lord Essex of Juan the Second, having by 
 the high favour he enjoyed in the intimacy of the 
 monarch, given umbrage to the courtiers, was put to 
 death by the King, who gave credit to the charges 
 falsely brought against him. Don Juan, however, who 
 did not long survive his friend, had justice done to his 
 remains. Being found innocent by a posthumous 
 trial at Valladolid, his body was conveyed with great 
 pomp to Toledo, and placed in the centre of his 
 chapel. The tomb of his Countess stands close to 
 his own ; and in the niches of the surrounding walls, 
 those of his most distinguished relatives, one of whom,
 
 132 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 on the right of the altar, is represented in complete 
 armour, with a turban on his head. The treasures 
 bestowed on this favourite, flowed plentifully into 
 the Cathedral of Toledo. Besides his chapel, the 
 finest of all the elaborately executed enclosure of 
 the sanctuary, is one of his gifts : his arms are 
 there recognised, frequently recurring among the va- 
 rious designs of the external tracery. 
 
 A narrow passage, leading from the apse between 
 the chapel of Don Alvaro, and the entrance to the 
 sacristy, communicates with the chapel of the kings. 
 After passing through a simply designed anteroom 
 of more recent date, the eye reposes with pleasure 
 on a small interior in the pointed style of the latest 
 period of proportions, perhaps, not the less grace- 
 ful from their being rather narrow for the length. 
 Two richly ornamented arches, stretching across the 
 interior, divide it into three parts, in the first of 
 which is seen a gallery containing an elaborately 
 wrought gilded confessional. The walls of the two 
 other divisions are divided into six parts ; the chapel 
 having been constructed and endowed by Juan the 
 First, for the reception of six monuments : those 
 of himself and his Queen Isabella ; those of his 
 father Henry the Second, (natural son of Alonzo 
 the Eleventh, and who dethroned and killed with 
 his own hand his half-brother, Pedro the cruel,) and
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 133 
 
 Dona Juana his wife; and those of Henry the 
 Third, and Dona Catalina his wife. 
 
 Returning to the interior of the apse, and con- 
 tinuing in the direction of the north side, another 
 small passage and anteroom lead to the principal 
 sacristy, which communicates with the next chapel, 
 called the Sagrario, and composed of three apart- 
 ments. The great sacristy contains some good paint- 
 ings, particularly the ceiling by Giordano a modern 
 tomb of the late archbishop, Cardinal de Bourbon, 
 and a series of narrow doors, within which are re- 
 cesses. The first of these contains the crown and 
 bracelets of the Virgin of the Sagrario : in four 
 others are preserved magnificent ornaments of silver, 
 representing emblematically the four quarters of the 
 globe. Each quarter is personified by a figure in- 
 vested with the attributes which characterize the 
 region she represents, seated on a large silver globe, 
 on the front of which is traced the quarter repre- 
 sented. The globe is supported by figures of ani- 
 mals. In the last of these recesses is seen the sword 
 of Alonzo the Sixth, who won Toledo from the 
 Moors. It is small, and unornamented, except by a 
 hilt of embossed silver, on which the arms are re- 
 peated four times. In the smaller sacristy within 
 are several good pictures, but not so remarkable as 
 to prevent their being eclipsed by the splendid robe
 
 134 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 of the Virgin of the neighbouring Sagrario, here ex- 
 hibited, extended flat on a semicircular board, such 
 being the form of the garment. 
 
 No one knows the value of this treasure. During 
 the Peninsular War, the archbishop, in order to spare 
 the French Generals too great a temptation, con- 
 veyed it, together with whatever else deserved the 
 precaution, to Cadiz. It is embroidered almost en- 
 tirely with pearls on a tissue of silver; but none 
 of the silver is visible without separating the pearls, 
 diamonds, &c , with the fingers. Most of the larger 
 pearls possess the irregular sort of beaten shape 
 often observed in the best specimens. Some are 
 enormous. Numbers of diamonds, rubies, and other 
 stones are admitted in the upper part, to vary and 
 enliven the effect of the different designs of the 
 embroidery. In another case is extended the front- 
 piece, worn together with the robe, which is open 
 in front. The robe sits nearly in the fashion of a 
 lady's cloak, but perfectly stiff, and widening as it 
 descends, so much as to make the figure assume the 
 appearance of a triangle, of which the base is longer 
 than the two other sides. The opening in front 
 corresponds with the outline of the two sides, being 
 wider below than above, although not in as great 
 a degree. This opening is occupied by the front 
 piece, which is much smaller than the robe, but
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO- 135 
 
 still more valuable, being principally worked in bril- 
 liants. It contains also every variety of precious 
 stones, introduced as their colours may happen to ac- 
 cord with the design. 
 
 In addition to these is shown the dress of the 
 Bambino, similar in materials to the two others ; but 
 the pearls and diamonds more equally distributed. 
 
 But the marvel of this costume is the crown. This 
 
 * 
 
 ornament adds to the splendour of its materials, the 
 most exquisite and elaborate workmanship. It would 
 require hours to appreciate the labour and taste dis- 
 played in all its details. Marshal Soult, could he 
 but see it, would order masses for the soul of the 
 prelate who spared him such a temptation. The dia- 
 monds, especially those which compose a cross sur- 
 mounting the centre, are of the purest water, and of 
 immense size. But in the midst of the dazzling and 
 harmonious intricacy of this gem of all colours, there 
 is a centre of attraction, which took my fancy more 
 than the rest. Immediately under the centre ball, 
 an immense spherical emerald, which supports the 
 diamond cross), is a small bird suspended on a hook 
 within the crown. All the parts of this bird 
 are composed of white enamel, except the body, 
 around which the wings, legs, neck, and head, are 
 attached, and which consists of a pearl of an oval 
 form, about the size of a sparrow's egg. The move-
 
 136 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 ment of the statue during a procession, keeps the 
 bird (hanging from its hook) in constant agitation, 
 and produces the effect of a living bird enclosed in a 
 cage of precious stones.* 
 
 A pair of bracelets, possessing no less magnificence 
 than the crown, but rather too heavy and bulky to 
 be graceful, are suspended in the same recess, and 
 
 worn on the same occasions. 
 
 
 
 It should not be forgotten, as a proof of the judg- 
 ment shown in the choice of ornaments, which, as 
 far as regards the front, consist principally of dia- 
 monds, that the complexion of the Virgin of the 
 Sagrario, is more than dark in fact, quite black.f 
 The innermost of the three apartments forming the 
 chapel of the Sagrario is called the Ochavo, and is 
 the deposit of a collection of relics of all kinds. It is 
 an octagon, surmounted at an elevation of more than 
 double its diameter by a dome ornamented with 
 excellent painting. The walls are faced with the 
 best Spanish marbles. Each of the eight sides con- 
 tains an open recess reaching to the first cornice 
 an elevation of about twenty-five feet ; and in these 
 recesses are contained all the valuable relics belonging 
 
 The crown was valued in Cadiz at a hundred and sixty thousand 
 pounds, of which the emerald, which supports the cross, represents 
 forty thousand. 
 
 f She is of a wood, whether artificially or naturally, of a tint be- 
 tween the darkest mahogany and ebony.
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 137 
 
 to the cathedral ; a rich display of silver statues, 
 reliquaries, coffins, chests, and crosses of gold and 
 silver, some containing jewels of great value. A silver 
 statue of Saint Ferdinand wearing a golden crown 
 is among the objects most worthy of remark ; also 
 a cross containing a portion of the true cross, pre- 
 sented to the cathedral by St. Louis. This and 
 several other relics, such as a phial containing the 
 Virgin's milk, a portion of our Saviour's purple gar- 
 ment, &c., were presented to the cathedral by St. 
 Louis on his return from the east, and are here pre- 
 served, together with the letter in his own hand- 
 writing, which accompanied them. 
 
 The Virgin of the Sagrario receives by far the 
 greatest share of devotion brought to the numerous 
 shrines of this vast temple, even greater than that 
 offered at the high altar. More masses are per- 
 formed at her altar than at all the others added 
 together. The aisles facing her antechapel are 
 constantly filled with a crowd of kneeling votaries. 
 She stands in the second enclosure, turning her back 
 to the Ochavo. An iron railing separates her apart- 
 ment from the first chapel, which is usually open 
 to the aisles. She stands consequently in full view, 
 magnificently robed in a fac simile imitation of her 
 pearl dress, the original being only worn on one or 
 two occasions during the year.
 
 138 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 The interior of the Capilla Mayor, is ornamented 
 with several rows of statues, and some handsome 
 funereal monuments, forming together a sort of 
 transparent wall of sculpture on each of its sides. 
 In the midst of a series of mitred archbishops, and 
 coroneted princes, the figure of a peasant occupies 
 one of the most conspicuous positions. It stands 
 on the left side, as you face the High Altar, and 
 about twenty feet from the pavement. This statue 
 represents a celebrated historical personage. Alonzo 
 the Eighth, when penetrating across the Sierra Mo- 
 rena into Andalucia, in search of the Moorish army 
 under the King of Morocco, Mahomed ben Jacob, 
 was in danger of losing the fruit of his exertions, 
 in bringing together the forces of the Kings of Ara- 
 gon and Navarre, together with numerous other 
 confederates. He had led the combined army into 
 a defile, in which he would have had to receive the 
 attack of the Moor at an insuperable disadvantage. 
 The hostile forces occupied a height called the 
 Puerto del Miradal. 
 
 It was at the moment that retreat was the sub- 
 ject of deliberation, that a peasant presented him- 
 self, and offered to guide the army out of the pass. 
 Having assured himself of the man's sincerity, 
 Alonzo put himself under his conduct, and was 
 led to the summit of the mountain, where he
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 139 
 
 found himself on the border of an immense plain. 
 This decided the great victory of las Navas de 
 Tolosa gained over the Moors on the 16th of 
 July, 1212. Alonzo ordered a statue of the pea- 
 sant to be placed in this cathedral. He is repre- 
 sented in a costume not unlike that of an ancient 
 Roman rustic, a sort of tunic reaching to the knees, 
 and his face is covered with a profuse beard. 
 
 The interior of the choir is the work of Felipe 
 de Borgona, and Berruguete; the latter having been 
 employed, after the death of Felipe de Borgona, in 
 1548, in continuing the sculptures. The entire 
 south side was left for him to complete ; after which 
 he added a group in marble, representing the Trans- 
 figuration, placed rather injudiciously, since it out- 
 tops the screen or back of the choir ; thus pre- 
 senting to the view of those who enter from the 
 western or grand entrance, and who are more 
 likely to have come with the intention of viewing 
 the ornaments, than the canons who are seated in 
 the choir the back of the subject, or rather, forms 
 which represent no subject whatever. There is a 
 Virgin on a pedestal in the centre of the eastern 
 end of the choir, turning her back to the bronze 
 railing which separates it from the transept. This 
 statue has occupied its present position ever since 
 the erection of the cathedral ; and it is probable
 
 !40 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 would long since have quitted it, but for a still 
 0-reater inconvenience consequent on its removal. 
 The attempt was recently made, when a mass of 
 water issued with much violence from beneath the 
 pedestal, and putting to flight the canons who were 
 assembled to preside at the operation, instantly 
 inundated the whole church. The virgin occupies 
 probably the site of the fountain which must have 
 been the centre of the court, at the period of the 
 existence of the mosque. However that may be, 
 he spot is the exact centre of the present edifice. 
 
 At the two eastern angles of the quadrangle, 
 formed by the intersection of the transept and 
 principal nave, close to the railing of the capilla 
 mayor are two pulpits of bronze, excellently 
 wrought ; supported on short pillars of rare marbles. 
 
 A tall pyramidal Gothic edifice* of gilded and 
 painted wood, rising to the full height of the ceiling, 
 stands in front of a column of the second nave from 
 
 * The Author has in every instance made use of the word Gothic, 
 in preference to the employment of any sort of periphrasis ; con- 
 sidering that the chief intention of a name is, not that its applica- 
 tion should accord with its derivation, but rather that it should 
 present to all who know it, or have dictionaries, an identical mean- 
 ing, in order that the idea of the individual employing it may be 
 speedily caught. Now the word Gothic having always been applied 
 to this architecture, it is comprehended. A dismounted highway- 
 man is termed a pad. The oblong area in the centre of Madrid is 
 called a door. " What's in a name ?"
 
 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 141 
 
 the north side. All its sides are open, and furnished 
 with bronze railings, through which is seen an altar, 
 raised on three or four steps. In the centre of the 
 altar is inserted a marble slab a highly prized relic, 
 being the stone on which the Virgin placed her foot 
 on the occasion of her appearing in the cathedral 
 in proprid persona to the Archbishop San Ildefonzo. 
 This peculiar favour bestowed on the saint and a 
 robe with which she invested him with her own 
 hands, were bestowed, according to the historian 
 Mariana, in recompense of his zeal in opposing the 
 doctrine of the two Frenchmen, Pelagio and Hel- 
 vidio, whose writings and preachings tended to shake 
 the belief in the virginity of the Saviour's mother. 
 The occurrence is thus described : 
 
 " The night immediately preceding the feast of 
 the Annunciation, the archbishop entered the church, 
 surrounded by several of the clergy. As they en- 
 tered, the cathedral appeared filled with a brilliant 
 light. Those who accompanied the saint, overcome 
 with terror, turned and fled. Remaining alone, he 
 advanced to the foot of the high altar, and fell 
 on his knees ; when, on the chair from which it was 
 his custom to deliver his exhortations to the people, 
 clothed in more than human majesty appeared 
 the mother of Christ, who addressed him in the 
 following words : ' This gift, brought from Heaven,
 
 142 CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. 
 
 shall be the reward of the virginity which thou hast 
 preserved in thy body, joined with purity of mind, 
 and ardour of faith ; and for having defended our 
 virginity.' 
 
 " Having thus spoken, she placed on him, with 
 her own hands, a robe, which she commanded him 
 to wear on the celebration of her festivals, and 
 those of her Son." 
 
 The representations of this scene, from which is 
 derived the claim of superior sanctity assumed by 
 this cathedral, are multiplied both in marble and on 
 canvas in all parts of the edifice, as well as in almost 
 all the churches of Toledo. In most cases, the ex- 
 ecution of them has been intrusted to unskilful 
 hands. The best specimen is that executed in marble 
 over the small altar I have just noticed. It is re- 
 markable for the graceful and good-humoured ex- 
 pression of the Virgin, and the easy, almost merry, 
 demeanour of her celestial attendants. 
 
 The marble box which contains the Host is let 
 into the altar-piece, of which it appears to form 
 a part of the surface, only projecting slightly as its 
 sides are convex. Turning on a pivot, it presents 
 four different fronts, each representing, in well ex- 
 ecuted relief, a different scene in the Virgin's life.
 
 143 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 CAFES. WEDDING CEREMONY. CATHEDRAL CONTINUED. ALCAZAR 
 HOSPITAL OF SANTA CRUZ. CONVENT OF LA CONCEPTION. 
 MYSTERIOUS CAVERN. CONVENT OF SANTA FE, OR OF SANTIAGO. 
 SONS-IN-LAW OF THE CID. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 ONE of the first contrasts between this and 
 other countries, which forces itself on the observa- 
 tion, is the amalgamation of the different classes 
 of society in public places of resort. The grandee 
 is far too sure of his personal importance and con- 
 sideration, to entertain any fear of its being 
 diminished by contact with those of inferior rank ; 
 and the peasant is far too proud to importune 
 his superiors by any indiscreet efforts at familiarity. 
 
 At Burgos I found the Gefe politico, or governor 
 of the province, sipping his lemonade in the evening 
 at the cafe; his elbow brushing the back of a 
 mayoral of a diligence, and surrounded by an assem- 
 blage of all classes of the male inhabitants of the 
 town. These cafes are curious establishments ; they
 
 144 CAFJfiS. 
 
 are divided into two classes the Cafe, properly so 
 called, and the Botilleria in which tea and coffee 
 are not usually called for, but all the other refresh- 
 ments of the cafe ; such as helados (frozen beverages 
 of all sorts), sorbetes (ices), liqueurs, wines, &c. 
 These latter are the resort, in some towns, of both 
 sexes, and indeed the cafes also in a less degree. 
 But the etiquette in these things differs in the 
 different provinces. 
 
 At Madrid, where foreign customs first penetrate, 
 ladies are rarely seen in these resorts ; by which they 
 are considerable losers. No doubt, were the at- 
 tractions of French cafes sufficiently powerful, your 
 sex would not have withered them, by their disdain, 
 into the uncivilized dens which they are. You are 
 not of course invited by the billiard tables, or by 
 the allurements of black coffee and cognac; but 
 were the waiters to set before you a tumbler of 
 frozen lemonade after a July evening's dusty walk, 
 you would speedily bring such habits into fashion. 
 
 Much as the refreshments of Spanish cafes have 
 been celebrated, their fame is surpassed by the 
 reality. It is only when you have panted through a 
 southern summer's day, and breathed an atmosphere 
 of fire, that you are disposed to receive the illustra- 
 tion of the full sense of the word refreshment ; and 
 it is then they hand you a brobdignag goblet, brim
 
 145 
 
 full of frozen orange-water or lemonade, or snow- 
 white orgeat which, from the imperceptible inroads 
 made by the teaspoon on its closing-up surface, 
 appears likely to last you the whole night. These 
 and other similar luxuries, including the ices, at 
 which those of a Grange or Tortoni would melt with 
 jealousy, are plentiful in second and third-rate 
 towns, and rank among the necessaries of life, rather 
 than as objects of indulgence. They are of course 
 cheap, or it would not answer. 
 
 The poor apply to the distributors of iced barley- 
 water, who carry about a sort of cask, strapped 
 between their shoulders, and containing ice in the 
 centre, to maintain the frigidity of the beverage. 
 By lowering and advancing the left shoulder, the 
 vendor pours the contents of the cask through a 
 small neck or pipe into the glasses, which he carries 
 in a flat basket with cellaret partitions. A tumbler 
 of this costs a halfpenny ; its imbibing occupies two 
 or three minutes, and assuages for hours the suffer- 
 ings of the thirstiest palate, 
 
 At Madrid, the cafes have each its political 
 colour; except that called del Principe, after the 
 adjoining theatre. In this, politics are less charac- 
 terised, literature having here taken up her quarters. 
 It is probable that she is a less profitable customer, 
 being habitually less thirsty. Accordingly, on put-
 
 ting your head into the door, you see a saloon far 
 more brilliantly lighted up than the others; but 
 the peripatetic doctrines seem to prevail. Few per- 
 sons are seated at the tables; and instead of the 
 more profitable wear and tear of broken glasses, 
 the proprietor probably finds substituted a thankless 
 annual item for worn out floors. In the same street 
 there is a club ; but this is an exotic importation 
 and on the exclusive plan, not quite of London, but 
 of the Paris cercles. 
 
 In the cafes of Toledo, on the days of fiesta, the 
 fair sex predominates, especially in summer. The 
 great resort is, however, the Zocodover, from nine 
 to ten in the evening. This little irregularly 
 formed plaza is crowded like an assembly-room, 
 and possesses its rows of trees, although a respectable 
 oak would almost fill it. 
 
 A soiree has occasionally been known to be given 
 in Toledo, but it is an occurrence of much rarity, 
 and mostly occasioned by some unusual event, the 
 arrival of a public singer, or, still more unusual, a 
 newly made fortune. The other evening I was 
 admitted to one, the pretext for which was a wedding. 
 This ceremony takes place at the residence of the bride, 
 and although a subsequent formality is necessary in 
 the Church, its delay does not defer the validity of 
 the union, nor its consummation. The wedding-
 
 MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 147 
 
 day arrived, the families and friends of both parties 
 assemble at eight in the evening. 
 
 The bride was distinguishable by a white veil or 
 mantilla in the middle seat of a sofa, between her 
 mother and sister, who rose to receive the guests. 
 A narrow table had been dressed up into a tem- 
 porary altar, and furnished with a crucifix and 
 candles. All the party being arrived, a priest left 
 his chair, and entered an adjoining room to robe ; 
 on his reappearance the company rose and flocked 
 round the bride and bridegroom, who stood together 
 before the priest, doing penance each with a long 
 wax-light in the right hand, held in a muslin hand- 
 kerchief. 
 
 The ceremony lasts about ten minutes without any 
 change of posture. The priest departs to unrobe ; 
 the miserable bride and blushing bridegroom receive 
 felicitations ; and all resume their seats, and look 
 at each other. 
 
 Presently chocolate was handed round, and an 
 attempt at conversational murmur commenced, after- 
 wards ices. And now the minister took a formal 
 leave of the company, after complimenting the 
 bride. Two or three other holy men, obedient to 
 the signal, carried out their interminable hats before 
 them : when a sudden revolution broke out. At 
 the closing of the door on the hindmost ecclesiastic 
 
 L 2
 
 148 MAERIAGE CEREMONY. 
 
 the bridegroom rushed to the altar, and grasping 
 with one hand the crucifix, and with the other two 
 of the candlesticks, ran to the apartment that had 
 assumed the character of vestry, and deposited them 
 there, followed by officious friends bearing the re- 
 maining articles, until every awe-compelling symbol 
 had disappeared. One or two guitars were extracted 
 from their hiding-places under sofas, and sent forth 
 careless but lively preludes. The men stood up and 
 circulated ; the women talked and laughed ; a 
 quadrille was speedily formed, and concluded; waltz- 
 ing followed, and forfeits, and whatever you like, 
 and "the arrangements were on a scale of costly 
 magnificence, and the festivities were prolonged, &c." 
 
 But these events are rare in Toledo. The every- 
 day amusements consist in an infamous theatre, 
 and the promenade ; this is only on Saints' days ; 
 but these are almost every day. On six or seven 
 occasions in the year, these promenades are absolute 
 events, and much looked forward to. It is necessary 
 to inquire which is the promenade patronised by 
 the saint of the great day, whoever he is, and take 
 your place in the tide, for no one absents himself. 
 
 Dresses for these celebrations are things pre- 
 meditated ; and the effect produced, and all the 
 little events and rencontres of the day form for 
 each belle, thrilling subjects of retrospection. Man-
 
 MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 149 
 
 tillas may be trimmed, and innocent plots woven for 
 these occasions, without danger of disappointment 
 by clouds or storms ; and instead of the Virgin being 
 implored that the sun may shine, who never disap- 
 points them, she is sometimes requested to inspire 
 some ruse for a momentary escape from his too 
 searching effulgence. 
 
 Here may fair foreigners feast their eyes on fawn- 
 coloured majos, whose every step (although no more 
 exalted beings than butchers, postilions, horsedealers, 
 and such like) would be envied by Antinous and 
 Apollo. I should advise no veils, nor winkings, nor 
 blinkings on these occasions, but eyes wide open 
 for never more (the Pyrenees once repassed) will 
 their orbits expand to the forms and costumes of 
 blackguards half so beautiful. 
 
 But these are subjects slightly unsuited to the 
 interior of the cathedral, of our presence in which 
 we are evidently forgetful. The Mozarabic Chapel, 
 founded by Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros, is situ- 
 ated under the southern tower, and contains a Vir- 
 gin and Child executed in Mosaic, and a curious 
 old fresco painting, representing the battle of Oran, 
 at which the Cardinal was victorious over the Arabs. 
 This chapel is set apart for the performance of the 
 Mozarabic ritual, still retained by a portion of the 
 population of Toledo, and the exercise of which
 
 150 ANCIENT RITUAL. 
 
 was continued in several churches, until the closing 
 of some of them at the recent revolution. 
 
 The Arab conquerors of Spain exercised towards 
 the religion of the country, the most complete and 
 liberal tolerance. All who preferred remaining in the 
 conquered towns to flight and exile, were allowed 
 to retain a sufficient number of places of worship 
 for the free exercise of their religion. On the sub- 
 sequent introduction of the Italian missal, those 
 who retained the ancient gothic forms were called 
 Mozarabes (mixti Arabes, according to some, from 
 their service being the same as that in use during 
 the co-existence together of. the two creeds). A 
 more probable origin is attributed to the expres- 
 sion by some antiquaries, who derive it from Muza, 
 the name of the Moorish general. The mass of 
 the Christians who had taken refuge in the Asturias, 
 applied the term to their brethren, who preferred 
 accepting from the Arabs what they considered a 
 degrading tolerance. The following singular mode 
 of decision was adopted for the purpose of settling 
 the question between the two missals. 
 
 The King, Alonzo the Sixth, the Archbishop Don 
 Bernardo, and the court, were among the advocates 
 of the new missal, which, being adopted in Rome, 
 they were very desirous of establishing on the oc- 
 casion of the restoration of the Christian supremacy
 
 ANCIENT RITUAL. 151 
 
 at Toledo. The mass of the people were attached 
 to their ancient forms. It was resolved that the 
 question should be decided by an appeal to a sort 
 of neutral power; and Mars was selected, proba- 
 bly on account of his being a person disinterest- 
 ed in the affair. A champion was chosen by each 
 party, and a day appointed for settling the differ- 
 ence by single combat. Accordingly, the court, 
 the clergy, and the people being assembled, the 
 representatives of the two missals took their sta- 
 tion, lance in rest, and on the appointed signal 
 spurred to the encounter. The ancient missal was 
 approved of by the warlike god ; but the King 
 and his party were dissatisfied with the result, and 
 resolved on another trial. A large fire was lighted 
 in the principal plaza, and the two missals were 
 thrown into it. 
 
 Again the ancient forms conquered, the rival 
 parchment having caught the flame and being drawn 
 out in a blaze. The populace now commenced a 
 cry of triumph ; but, to their great disappoint- 
 ment, the King, in his quality of umpire, pro- 
 nounced a judgment which he might as easily have 
 put in execution before the trials : namely, that 
 considering that the Roman Missal, although on 
 fire, was not consumed, they were both equally 
 agreeable to the deity they should therefore both
 
 152 FRESCOS AND LIBRARY. 
 
 be preserved, and that some of the more ancient 
 churches should continue the exercise of the Moz- 
 arabic service, while the Roman ritual should be 
 established in the metropolitan temple, and in the 
 greater number of the parishes. 
 
 Before we leave the cathedral, the cloister claims 
 our attention. It is a spacious and handsome quad- 
 rangle, inclosing a garden. The eastern wall is 
 adorned with excellent frescos of comparatively 
 modern date, and all bearing the same signature- 
 Francisco Bayeu. There are seven subjects on 
 that side, being the number of intervals corre- 
 sponding with the arcades, and three more continuing 
 down another side. The best are two, taken from 
 the history of Saint Casilda ; and three from that 
 of San Eugenio, first archbishop of Toledo, mar- 
 tyrised in France. The arcades on the east side 
 are shut in by large pieces of sail-cloth, in order 
 to protect the paintings against the sun's rays. 
 
 The library of manuscripts belonging to this 
 cathedral is distinguished rather by the quality than 
 the quantity of its contents. It is approached by 
 a staircase communicating with the cloister, and 
 is a handsome room. It contains a copy of the 
 Talmud on the papyrus leaves, and in the Coptic 
 dialect. The following are also among its treasures : 
 The Book of Esther in Hebrew, on a single piece of
 
 ALCAZAR. 153 
 
 parchment ; two bibles of the seventh century, one 
 of which belonged to St. Isidore ; the missal used by 
 Charles the Fifth in the monastery of Yuste ; the 
 poems of Dante, manuscript of the poet's time, with 
 illustrations; the laws of Alonso the Tenth (sur- 
 named the wise), and a volume of his poetical works, 
 with the music opposite those intended to be sung : 
 two ancient Chinese volumes, one on botany, the 
 other on natural history, both illustrated. 
 
 The next edifice I visited was the Alcazar, the 
 largest and most conspicuous building in Toledo. I 
 expected to find there some Arab and Roman remains, 
 having so read in more than one tour. It was not 
 until some time after my visit that I obtained the 
 information that the Moorish palace occupied a 
 different site. The present comparatively modern 
 building is principally of two epochs. On the east is 
 the original portion erected by Alonzo the Sixth. The 
 entire north and south fronts are probably additions 
 of Philip the Second. The whole partakes of a 
 divided character between castle and palace : it is not 
 remarkable for any architectural merit, possessing 
 neither beauty as a palace, nor solidity as a fortress ; 
 and having been occupied as a military position during 
 the war of the succession, and more recently in that 
 of independence, its being already a ruin, before its 
 modern appearance would seem to legitimize such
 
 154 ALCAZAR. 
 
 a state, causes no surprise. But its position is 
 superb. Occupying the most elevated point of the 
 town, it far exceeds the whole by the immense height 
 of its walls, and commands an admirable view of the 
 surrounding country. The only object deserving 
 notice in this ruin is a colossal staircase, which 
 occupies an entire side of the court, a length of 
 about two hundred and fifty feet, and is orna- 
 mented by a light and elegant colonnade. This 
 edifice ceased to be a palace on the final establish- 
 ment of the court at Madrid, and after some time 
 became the manufactory whence issued the famous 
 silk and velvet brocades, the fabrication of which has 
 now ceased, but with which Toledo formerly sup- 
 plied the wardrobes of the court, and the well-gar- 
 nished sacristies of Spain's wealthiest cathedrals. 
 
 Descending from the Alcazar through the Plaza de 
 Zocodover, and thence towards the bridge of Alcan- 
 tara, a few yards from the Plaza bring us in view of 
 the facade of the Hospital of Santa Cruz, or " de los 
 ninos expositos," foundling hospital. The insti- 
 tution owes its origin to the Archbishop, Don Pedro 
 Gonzalez de Mendoza, called the Great Cardinal 
 of Spain. Although death prevented his witnessing 
 the execution of his project, his fortune, adminis- 
 tered by his next relatives and executors, the 
 Queen Isabella, and the Duke of Infantado, was
 
 HOSPITAL OF SANTA CRUZ. 155 
 
 employed in the erection of the buildings, and in 
 the endowment of the establishment. The plans 
 and conditions were not even drawn up until after 
 the Cardinal's death ; and they were never entirely 
 put in execution. The church consists of one nave, of 
 a length out of all proportion to its width and eleva- 
 tion. It was to have been crossed by another of the 
 same proportions, with the exception of the elevation? 
 which was to have been eighty feet in both. This 
 combined with the length about three hundred and 
 fifty feet, as is seen in the existing nave, would have 
 rendered the edifice one of the most extraordinary 
 in existence. The altar was to have stood in the 
 centre of the intersection of the two naves. As it 
 is, the long bare interior looks as though it had been 
 destined for a picture gallery or library, but rather 
 for the latter from the low-coved roof of cedar, 
 and from the inadequate distribution of light. % To 
 the left of the altar is seen a portrait of the founder ; 
 and on the opposite side, about a hundred feet fur- 
 ther down the nave, a large Adoration, a superior 
 painting, especially with regard to the colouring : the 
 author unknown. 
 
 There are two large courts surrounded by arcades : 
 one of them is a model of lightness and beauty, and 
 contains in one of its angles an admirably orna- 
 mented staircase. The architect of the Santa Cruz
 
 156 HOSPITAL OF SANTA CRUZ. 
 
 was Enrique Egas, who also built the celebrated 
 hospital of the same name at Valladolid. He de- 
 signed the whole according to the style then in- 
 troduced, after the pointed style had been aban- 
 doned, and which in Spain received vulgarly the 
 appellation of Plateresco, from the ornaments re- 
 sembling the embossing of a silversmith. Jt is also 
 confounded with the Renacimiento. The Plateresco 
 style, from the too great liberty it afforded the archi- 
 tect, of setting aside the classic models, and follow- 
 ing his own inventions, has produced in Spain, 
 more than in any other country, (from there being at 
 that period more wealth devoted to the construction 
 of public monuments there than elsewhere,) the evil 
 effects resulting from ill-guided and unrestrained 
 powers of imagination. Fortunately, however, a few 
 architects existed whose more correct taste kept them 
 within some bounds ; and who, in deserting the old 
 models, replaced them by a style, if less pure, yet by 
 no means inelegant. The architect Egas appears to 
 have partaken of both natures at different moments ; 
 for, while his court above-mentioned is a specimen of 
 consummate grace and good taste, the entrance front 
 of the building is one of the bad examples of the 
 style of the period. 
 
 The establishment covers a large space, about half 
 the extent occupied by the double palace of the
 
 HOSPITAL OF SANTA CRUZ. 157 
 
 Arab kings of Toledo. The remainder of the site 
 contains two convents, that of Santiago, and that 
 of the Conception. The hospital was conducted 
 formerly on a scale proportionate to the extent of its 
 accommodation ; but it is now no more than a remi- 
 niscence ; the revenues having probably been incor- 
 porated in the recent registrations of national pro- 
 perty. The number of inmates at present enjoying 
 the benefits of the foundation amounts to fourteen 
 only. 
 
 The Convent of la Conception adjoins the hospital 
 of Santa Cruz. From the exterior are seen two 
 churches, placed in close parallel contact, and each 
 composed of a single nave. Both are evidently 
 very ancient, one being in the Arab style ; but 
 the form of the other renders it probable that 
 it is the more ancient of the two. You are dis- 
 appointed after being shown this last, on being 
 informed that the Moorish portion is forbid- 
 den ground, being appropriated by the nuns to 
 their private use, and possessing no communica- 
 tion with the adjoining edifice, but a curtained 
 grating, through which its secluded inmates as- 
 sist at religious services. In the public church, 
 a singular ornament figures on a conspicuous 
 part of the wall near the entrance ; it is the carcass 
 of a large crocodile, fixed high enough to be
 
 158 CONVENT OF LA CONCEPTION. 
 
 out of reach, although no one would be likely to 
 purloin so unwieldy a curiosity. We are told the 
 animal frequented the neighbourhood of Toledo ; 
 where, under cover of the pine forests, which form- 
 erly extended far over this mountainous region, 
 its existence had long filled with terror the few 
 travellers whom their mercantile pursuits compelled 
 to pass within its accustomed haunts : that at length 
 a knight (it was in the reign of Ferdinand and 
 Isabella) clothed in a full suit of armour, rode forth 
 from Toledo, fully resolved to try conclusions with 
 the monster, in order if possible to immortalize his 
 name throughout the surrounding regions, by ridding 
 them of so dire a scourge. The battle took place, 
 and victory declaring for the knight, whose name 
 unfortunately does not figure in the legend, he 
 assembled the peasants, and had his enemy's carcass 
 borne in triumph to Toledo, where he made a 
 present of it to the convent. 
 
 While on the subject of traditions, it is worth 
 while adverting to a cavern, the entrance of which 
 exists in this part of the town ; and which is said to 
 extend to a distance of eight miles, passing under the 
 Tagus. It is related that somewhat less than a 
 century back, the government ordered this cavern 
 to be explored ; but the exploring party was met 
 at the commencement of the descent by so violent
 
 MYSTERIOUS CAVERN. 159 
 
 a gust of wind, as to extinguish all the torches, 
 and the courage of the explorers, for the attempt 
 was never resumed. The failure by no means con- 
 tributed to diminish the mysterious qualities attri- 
 buted to the cavern, on the subject of which the 
 wildest notions are currently entertained. 
 
 A worthy and excellent native of Toledo, to whose 
 antiquarian enthusiasm (a quality doubly valuable 
 here from its scarcity) I am indebted for some in- 
 formation and much entertainment, undertook one 
 day to enlighten me with regard to the origin of this 
 subterranean curiosity. Commencing by warning 
 my credulity against the innumerable fables current 
 on the subject, and which only resembled each other 
 in their absurdity and impossibility, he added, " The 
 real fact is this, the cavern is the work of Hercules, 
 who excavated it for the accommodation of* the 
 assemblies of the people, whom he instructed in the 
 elements of magic." 
 
 The convent of Santiago, or of Santa Fe, or of 
 Las monjas santiagistas, or Las cavalleras, occupies 
 the portion of the ancient Moorish alcazar, remaining 
 from the site of the two last-mentioned buildings. 
 It is built round two courts, one of which is divided 
 into planted parterres, intersected with brick-paved 
 walks. The architecture of this first court is very 
 simple ; it consists of a plain arcade of semicircular
 
 160 MYSTERIOUS CAVERN. 
 
 arches supported on square piers, and a repetition of 
 the same on the first story. From this court opens 
 the parlour of the Commendadora or abbess, and the 
 choir, which forms a continuation of the public 
 chapel. There is also under the arcade a folding 
 door, which, when opened exhibits a collection of 
 small pictures attached to it, as on the leaves of 
 an album, and others suspended against the portion 
 of wall it encloses. The centre painting of these 
 last represents the Mater dolorosa weeping over the 
 dead body of her Son. It has much of the manner of 
 Alonza Cano, and is an admirable painting, more 
 especially the dead body : the superior, however, 
 did not know the name of the artist. She com- 
 plained bitterly of the loss of a first-rate picture 
 of the Divino Morales, which formerly occupied the 
 place of her little collection, and which was taken 
 possession of by Marshal Soult. 
 
 The second court is highly ornamental owing to 
 the elegance of its architecture, and its magnificent 
 proportions ; it is a long quadrangle ; the pillars 
 below are very lofty, and support the gallery above 
 without intermediate arches. They are not of a pure 
 design, the shafts being too long for their diameter : 
 in other respects they imitate the Tuscan order. 
 Those of the arcade above are Ionic ; but the effect 
 here is destroyed by walls and windows, which have
 
 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 161 
 
 been constructed in their intervals, for the purpose 
 of converting the open gallery into a warmer 
 corridor. The walls below are clothed to the height 
 of about four feet with the azulejos, or porcelain 
 mosaic, of the sort originally employed by the Arabs, 
 and from which the ornament took its name, being 
 blue and white, without any other colour. 
 
 Opening from this court is the Sala Capitular 
 a handsome saloon used on occasions of elections 
 of the Commendadora, or other solemnities, which do 
 not take place in the church. It contains a portrait 
 of the sister of St. Ferdinand, a member of the 
 community ; and a curious picture of St. lago 
 leading to victory the Christian army of Don Ramiro 
 the First. In fulfilment of a promise made to the 
 king the night preceding the battle of Albayde, the 
 apostle, according to the historians, led the army in 
 person, mounted on a milk-white charger, which 
 cantered along at a sufficient elevation over the 
 heads of the combatants, to be visible to all ; thus 
 inspiring, simultaneously, his proteges with con- 
 fidence, and the Moors with terror. From that 
 victory the Spanish war-cry of Santiago is said to 
 derive its origin. 
 
 The buildings on the north side of the large 
 court stand on the brink of a perpendicular rock, 
 overhanging the faubourg on the Madrid side of 
 
 M
 
 162 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 
 
 Toledo, and commanding right and left the luxuriant 
 vega, to an extent of from forty to fifty miles. Over 
 the highest story of this portion of the building, and 
 forming a continuation of the rock, a Belvidere has 
 been constructed, the roof of which is supported 
 by piers, leaving all the sides open : it forms a 
 promenade of about a hundred feet in length, by 
 twenty-five in width. 
 
 The regulations of this convent are much less 
 strict than those observed by all other religious 
 communities. It would not otherwise have been 
 possible to obtain permission to visit the establish- 
 ment in detail. The monjas cavalleras (knight- 
 nuns) of the military order of Santiago, take the 
 white veil only, and not the black. If a nun inherits 
 a property, she obtains permission from the council 
 of military orders, sitting at Madrid, to absent herself 
 from the convent for the purpose of transacting all 
 necessary business. The same permission may be 
 obtained in cases of illness. In taking the vows 
 there is no prostration beneath the veil. The novice 
 crosses her hands in a kneeling posture, and takes 
 the oath on the Gospel. One is struck by something 
 invincibly puzzling in this amalgamation of military 
 regulation with religious hierarchy and female 
 seclusion. They call themselves knights ; their 
 abbess, commander. The king, as Grand Master
 
 CONVENT OF SANTA FlL 163 
 
 of the military orders (since Ferdinand the Fifth) 
 of Calatrava, Alcantara, and Santiago, is their recog_ 
 nised chief; and whenever military mass is required 
 to be performed, the troops march into their chapel 
 to beat of drum. 
 
 I was even assured that these recluses are not 
 obliged to refuse a hand offered for a waltz, if it 
 belongs to an arm having an epaulette at its other 
 extremity ; and that such scenes are known to occur 
 in the presence of the commandress herself. 
 
 Our party, formed for the visit to this convent, 
 having been presented to the superior, she gave 
 directions to a nun to show us every part of the 
 establishment. This sister, who, we were told, 
 bore the title and rank of serjeantess (sargenta), 
 possessed the remains of great beauty, and her 
 (probably) forty summers had not injured her 
 commanding and graceful figure. No sooner had 
 she ushered us into the choir than she left us for an 
 instant, and returned with her mantle of ceremony, 
 the costume in which they take the vow, and in 
 which they appear on all occasions of solemnity. It 
 was with evident satisfaction that she performed this 
 part of her duties of cicerone ; nor was it to be 
 wondered at. No costume could have been invented 
 better calculated to set off her natural advantages. 
 It is composed of a sort of white serge, and appears 
 
 M 2
 
 164 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 
 
 to have no seam. Attached round the shoulders 
 it sweeps the ground with a train of four or five 
 feet. A cross of scarlet cloth, bound with dark 
 brown edges, and of a graceful form, figures on the 
 portion which covers the left arm from the shoulder 
 to the elbow. The white cap, gathered all over into 
 minute plaits, rises into two parallel ridges, which 
 passing over to the back of the head, imitate the 
 form of a helmet. Two large lappets descend to the 
 shoulders and complete the costume, which is en- 
 tirely white, with the exception of the cross. In 
 walking round the choir to display to us the effect of 
 this dress, the fair santiagista was a model of majesty 
 and grace. 
 
 To judge from her replies to our questions, it 
 would appear that the system of softening the 
 severity of monastic seclusion, and of partial and 
 occasional communication with the beings of the 
 outer world, instead of producing more content- 
 ment in the minds of the recluses, may possibly 
 tend to unsettle them, and render them more dis- 
 satisfied with their lot. When asked how long 
 she had inhabited the convent, she replied with 
 an unrestrained and most pathetic inflation of the 
 chest, more eloquent than the loudest complaint 
 " A very long time ; nearly twenty years." The 
 white mantle, she told us, was an object the sight
 
 CONVENT OF SANTA 
 
 165 
 
 COSTUME OF A MILITARY NUN. 
 
 of which always gave hirth to serious reflections; 
 since it was destined not even to quit her after 
 death, but to serve also for her shroud. 
 
 The nun's choir is entirely separated from the 
 public chapel, with the exception of two gratings, 
 which admit to the latter the sound of the organ, 
 and through which the nuns have a better view of 
 the church than the public can obtain of the choir,
 
 166 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 
 
 this being less lighted, and on a lower level. Near 
 the choir a small oratory of no greater dimensions 
 than about seven feet square, appears to be the only 
 remains extant of the Arab buildings, which occupied 
 the site. The ceiling is hemispherical, and orna- 
 mented in the Arab style ; and one of the walls 
 contains a niche surrounded by Arab tracery. I 
 should mention likewise a fountain in the garden, 
 which bears a similar character. 
 
 These nuns live less in community with each other 
 than those of other convents ; in fact, their life re- 
 sembles in many respects that of independent single 
 ladies. Each inhabits her own suite of apartments, 
 and keeps her own servant. Her solitary repasts are 
 prepared in her own separate kitchen, and at the 
 hour chosen by herself. Once a-year only, on the 
 occasion of the festival of the patron Apostle, the 
 community assembles at dinner. The common re- 
 fectory is at present let to strangers, together with 
 other portions of the convent. The novice who 
 wishes to enter this convent must be of good family, 
 (proof of noble descent being demanded up to grand- 
 fathers and grandmothers inclusive) and possessed of 
 property. Of the entrance of the present commen- 
 dadora into the convent thirty years since, a romantic 
 story is related. She belongs to a family of rank in 
 the province of La Mancha, and it is worth men-
 
 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 167 
 
 tioning, that she recollects Espartero's father, who, 
 as she states, served a neighbouring family in the 
 capacity of cowherd. 
 
 A match, de convenance, had been arranged for her 
 by her parents, on the accomplishment of which they 
 insisted the more rigidly from her being known to 
 entertain an attachment, the object of which was 
 disapproved. No resistance being of any avail, the 
 wedding-day was named ; and she was taken to 
 Toledo for the purpose of making the necessary pur- 
 chases for the occasion. It so happened that she was 
 received by a relative, a member of the community 
 of Santiagistas ; and whether she confided her pains 
 to the bosom of this relative, and yielded to her per- 
 suasions nuns being usually given to proselytism ; 
 or perhaps acting on the impulse of the moment ; 
 she declared on the morning after her arrival her re- 
 solution never to quit the convent ; preferring, as she 
 resolutely affirmed, an entire life of seclusion, to an 
 union with a man she detested. Instead, therefore, 
 of the wedding dresses, a manton capitular was the 
 only ornament purchased. 
 
 The property of this establishment remaining for 
 the most part in possession of the respective original 
 possessors, and not forming a common stock, the 
 conscientious scruples of the revolution made an 
 exception in its favour, owing to which it is not
 
 168 CONVENT OF SANTA F. 
 
 reduced to so destitute a condition as that of the 
 other unclosed convents. The nuns of San Cle- 
 
 mente the principal convent of Toledo, and of 
 
 which the abbess alone possessed private property, 
 are reduced to a life of much privation, as are also 
 those of all the other convents. Some obtain pre- 
 sents in return for objects of manual industry, such 
 as dolls' chairs, and other similar toys. Those of San 
 Clemen te had, and still have, a reputation for supe- 
 rior skill in confectionary. A specimen of their 
 talent, of which I had an opportunity of judging in 
 the house of a friend of the abbess, appeared to me 
 to warrant the full extent of their culinary fame. 
 They do not, however, exercise this art for gain. At 
 San Clemente, and no doubt at all the others, the 
 new government besides the confiscation of all rents 
 and possessions in money and land seized the pro- 
 visions of corn and fruits which they found on 
 searching the attics of the building. 
 
 Immediately below the ruined modern Alcazar, 
 and facing the Expositos, is seen a vast quadrangular 
 building, each front of which presents from twenty 
 to thirty windows on a floor. It is without orna- 
 ment, and is entered by a square doorway, which 
 leads to an interior court. It is now an inn, called 
 Fonda de la Caridad, but was originally the residence 
 of the Cid, who built it simultaneously with the
 
 SONS-IN-LAW OF THE CID. 169 
 
 erection of the Alcazar, by Alonzo the Sixth, shortly 
 after the taking of the town ; Ruy Diaz being at that 
 time in high favour, and recently appointed first 
 Alcalde of Toledo, and governor of the palace. It 
 was on the occasion of the first cortez held in this 
 town, that the hero demanded a formal audience of 
 Alonzo, in which he claimed justice against his two 
 sons-in-law, the counts of Carrion 
 
 These were two brothers, who had married the 
 two Countesses of Bivar. On the occasion of the 
 double marriage, a brilliant party had assembled at 
 the Cid's residence, where all sorts of festivities had 
 succeeded each other. The two bridegrooms, finding 
 themselves, during their presence in this knightly 
 circle, in positions calculated to test their mettle, 
 instead of proving themselves, by a display of un- 
 equalled valour and skill, to be worthy of the choice 
 by which they had been distinguished, gave frequent 
 proofs of deficiency in both qualities ; and, long 
 before the breaking up of the party, their cowardice 
 had drawn upon them unequivocal signs of contempt 
 from many of the company, including even their 
 host. Obliged to dissimulate their vexation as long 
 as they remained at the chateau of the Cid, they 
 concerted a plan of vengeance to be put in execution 
 on their departure. 
 
 They took formal leave, and departed with their
 
 170 SONS-IN-LAW OF THE CID. 
 
 brides for their estate, followed by a brilliant suite. 
 No sooner, however, had they reached the first town, 
 than, inventing a pretext, they despatched all the 
 attendants by a different route, and proceeded on 
 their journey, only accompanied by their wives. To- 
 wards evening the road brought them to a forest, 
 which appeared to offer facilities for putting their 
 project in execution. Here they quitted the high- 
 way, and sought a retired situation. 
 
 It happened that an attendant of the Countesses, 
 surprised at the determination of the party to di- 
 vide routes, had been led by curiosity to follow 
 them unobserved. This follower, after having waited 
 some time for their return to the high-road, pene- 
 trated into the midst of the wood, in order to dis- 
 cover the cause of the delay. He found the two 
 brides lying on the ground, almost without cloth- 
 ing, and covered with blood, and learned that they 
 had just been left by their husbands, who had been 
 scourging them almost to death. 
 
 It was against the perpetrators of this outrage 
 that the Cid pleaded for justice. A certain number 
 of nobles were selected by Alonzo, and directed to 
 give a decision after hearing the accusation and the 
 defence. The offence being proved, the Counts had 
 nothing to urge in extenuation, and judgment was 
 pronounced. All the sums of money, treasures,
 
 SONS-IN-LAW OF THE CID. 171 
 
 gold and silver vases and goblets, and precious stones, 
 given by the Cid with his daughters as their dowry, 
 to be restored ; and (at the request of Ruy Diaz) 
 the two Counts of Carrion, and their uncle, who 
 had advised them to commit the act, were con- 
 demned to enter the lists against three of the fol- 
 lowers of the Cid. The last decision was moment- 
 arily evaded by the Counts ; who urged, that, hav- 
 ing come to Toledo to be present at the cortez, 
 they were unprovided with the necessary accou- 
 trements. The King, however, insisted that they 
 should not escape so mild a punishment, and re- 
 paired himself to Carrion, where he witnessed the 
 combat, in which, it is needless to add, the culprits 
 came off second best. The marriages being, at the 
 same time, declared null, the Cid's daughters were 
 shortly afterwards married a second time ; the eldest, 
 Dona Elvira, to Don Ramiro, son of Sancho, King 
 of Navarre ; and the younger, Dona Sol, to Don 
 Pedro, hereditary Prince of Aragon.
 
 172 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 STREETS OF TOLEDO. EL AMA DE CASA. MONASTERY OF SAN 
 JUAN DE LOS REYES. PALACE OF DON HURTADO DE MENDOZA. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 WE will now hasten to the opposite extremity of 
 the city, where the monastery of San Juan de los 
 Reyes lays claim to especial interest. But I already 
 hear you cry for mercy, and exclaim against these 
 endless convents and monasteries ; the staircases, 
 courts, and corridors of which cause more fatigue 
 to your imagination, than to the limbs of those who, 
 however laboriously, explore their infinite details. 
 Infinite they are, literally, in Toledo ; where the 
 churches, the greater number of which belong to 
 convents, are not seen, as elsewhere, scattered singly 
 among the masses of the habitations, but are fre- 
 quently to be found in clusters of three or four, 
 whether united by the same walls, or facing each 
 other at the two sides of a street. It may, perhaps, 
 afford you a short relief to pick your way over the
 
 STREETS OF TOLEDO. 173 
 
 somewhat rugged pavement of a few of the Toledo 
 streets, and take a survey of the exterior town, which 
 our present destination requires us to traverse in 
 its entire extent. I must inform you that, for the 
 success of this enterprise, the stranger stands in 
 absolute need of a pilot, without whose assistance 
 his embarrassments would be endless. 
 
 Toledo scarcely boasts a street in which two 
 vehicles could meet and continue their route. Most 
 are impassable for a single cart ; and, in more than 
 one, I have found it impossible to carry an open 
 umbrella. Such being the prevailing width of the 
 streets, their tortuous direction causes a more serious 
 inconvenience. He who has attempted the task of 
 Theseus, in the mazes of some modern garden 
 labyrinth, will comprehend the almost inevitable 
 consequence of relying on his own wits for find- 
 ing his way about Toledo, namely, the discovery 
 that he has returned to his point of departure at 
 the moment he imagined that half the town se- 
 parated him from it. This result is the more fa- 
 voured by the similarity of the streets and houses. 
 No such thing as a land-mark. All the convents 
 are alike. You recollect at a particular turning, 
 having observed a Moorish tower ; consequently, 
 at the end of the day, the sight of the Moorish 
 tower leads you on, buoyed up by doubly elevated
 
 174 STREETS OF TOLEDO. 
 
 spirits, in the required direction, most anxious to 
 bring the tiring excursion to a close : but this tower 
 leads you to the opposite extremity of the city to 
 that you seek, for there are half a dozen Moorish 
 towers, all alike, or with but a trifling difference 
 in their construction. 
 
 Nor is this obstacle to solitary exploration unac- 
 companied by another inconvenience. I allude to 
 the continual ascents and descents. The surface of 
 the mountain on which Toledo is built, appears to 
 have been ploughed by a hundred earthquakes, so 
 cut and hacked is it, to the exclusion of the smallest 
 extent of level ground. To carry a railroad across 
 it, would require an uninterrupted succession of 
 alternate viaducts and tunnels. In consequence of 
 this peculiarity, the losing one's way occasions 
 much fatigue. To do justice to the inhabitants, 
 an almost universal cleanliness pervades the town, 
 an excellence the attainment of which is not easy 
 in a city so constructed, and which gives a favour- 
 able impression of the population. It is one of the 
 towns in which is proved the possibility of carrying 
 on a successful war against the vermin for which 
 the Peninsula has acquired so bad a reputation, by 
 means of cleanliness maintained in the houses. 
 
 In the house I inhabited on my arrival, I had 
 suspected for some days an unusual neglect in the
 
 EL AMA DE CASA. 175 
 
 duties of the housemaid, to whose department it 
 belonged to sweep the esteras or matting, which 
 serve for carpets, from the circumstance of my 
 having been visited by one or two unwelcome tor- 
 mentors. I ventured a gentle remonstrance to the 
 anta (landlady), stating my reasons for the suspicion 
 I entertained. It happened that on the previous 
 day I had mentioned my having been shown over 
 the Archbishop's palace. This she had not for- 
 gotten ; for with a superb coolness, scarcely to be 
 met with out of Spain, she replied, " Fleas ! oh, no ! 
 sir ! we have none here, you must have brought 
 them with you from the Palace." Satisfied, how- 
 ever, with having maintained her dignity of land- 
 lady, she took care to have the nuisance removed. 
 
 This ama, as may be already judged, was a cu- 
 riosity. In the first place, she was a dwarf. The 
 Spaniards are not, generally speaking, a more dimi- 
 nutive race than the other inhabitants of Southern 
 Europe : but when a Spaniard, especially a woman, 
 takes it into her head to be small, they go beyond 
 other nations. Nowhere are seen such prodigies of 
 exiguity. The lady was, moreover, deformed, one of 
 her legs describing a triangle, which compelled her 
 in walking to imitate the sidelong progress of a crab. 
 Possessed of these peculiarities she had attained, as 
 spinster, that very uncertain age called by some
 
 176 EL AMA DE CASA. 
 
 "certain," but agreed by all to be nearer the end 
 than the commencement of life. 
 
 Although not an exception, with regard to temper, 
 to the generality of those whose fate it is to endure 
 such a complication of ills, she nevertheless on 
 frequent occasions gave way to much amiability, 
 and especially to much volubility of discourse. She 
 was not without a tinge of sentimentality ; and when 
 seated, fan in hand, and the mantilla puesta, on 
 one of the chairs shorn of almost their entire legs, 
 which were to be found in all parts of the house, 
 she made by no means a bad half-length represen- 
 tation of a fine lady. 
 
 She had apparently experienced some of the 
 sorrows and disappointments incident to humanity; 
 and on such occasions had frequently, no doubt, 
 formed the resolution of increasing, although in 
 a trifling degree, some religious sisterhood, of which 
 establishments she had so plentiful a choice in her 
 native city ; but, whether on a nearer approach, 
 she had considered the veil an unbecoming costume, 
 or her resolution had failed her on the brink of 
 the living tomb, the project had not as yet taken 
 effect. The turn, however, thus given to her re- 
 flections and inquiries, had perfected in her a branch 
 of knowledge highly useful to strangers who might 
 be thrown in her way. She was a limping ency-
 
 EL AMA DE CASA. 177 
 
 clopedia of the convents and monasteries of Toledo ; 
 and could announce each morning, with the precision 
 of an almanack, the name of the saint of the day, 
 in what church or convent he was especially feted, 
 and at what hour the ceremony would take place. 
 She was likewise au fait of the foundation, ancient 
 and modern annals, and peculiarities of every sort 
 which belong to every religious establishment of the 
 many scores existing in Toledo. Her administration 
 of the household affairs was admirably organized 
 owing to her energetic activity. Her love of cleanli- 
 ness would frequently induce her to take the sweep- 
 ing department into her own hands a circumstance 
 which was sure to render the operation doubly suc- 
 cessful, for the brooms, which in Toledo are not 
 provided with handles or broomsticks, were exactly 
 of a length suited to her stature. Before we take 
 leave of her, here is one more of her original replies. 
 I complained to her at breakfast that the eggs 
 were not as fresh as usual; and, suiting the action 
 to the word, approached the egg-cup containing the 
 opened one so near to her, that the organs of sight 
 and smell could not but testify to the justice of my 
 reclamation. Shrugging her shoulders, until they 
 almost reached the level of the table and with 
 much contempt depicted on her countenance : " How 
 could it be otherwise?" she exclaimed, "the egg 
 
 N
 
 178 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 
 
 was taken a quarter of an hour ago from under 
 the hen ; but you have broken it at the wrong end." 
 
 The monastery called San Juan de los Reyes, was 
 founded by Ferdinand and Isabella, on their return 
 from the conquest of Granada, and given to a fra- 
 ternity of Franciscan friars. An inscription to this 
 effect in gothic characters runs round the cloister 
 walls, where it forms a sort of frieze, in a line with 
 the capitals of the semi-columns. The inhabited 
 part of the establishment is in a state of complete 
 ruin, having been destroyed by the French during 
 the Peninsular War. The cloisters are, likewise, in 
 a semi-ruinous state : the part best preserved being 
 the church ; although that was not entirely, spared, 
 as may be supposed from its having been used as 
 cavalry stables. 
 
 The choice of a situation for the erection of this 
 convent was perfect in the then flourishing state 
 of Toledo ; and, even now, its picturesque position 
 lends a charm to the melancholy and deserted re- 
 mains still visible of its grandeur and beauty. It 
 stands on the brow of the cliff, commanding the 
 termination of the chasm already described as 
 commencing at the bridge of Alcantara. It com- 
 mands, therefore, the ruins of Roderick's palace, 
 placed a few hundred yards further on, and on a 
 lower level ; still lower the picturesque bridge of
 
 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 
 
 179 
 
 St. Martin, striding to the opposite cliff, over arches 
 of ninety feet elevation, and the lovely vega which 
 stretches to the west. 
 
 CHURCH OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 
 
 This monastery was one of the most favoured 
 amongst the numerous royal endowments of that 
 period. It is said that its foundation was the result 
 of a vow pronounced by Ferdinand and the Queen
 
 180 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 
 
 before the taking of Granada. In addition to the scale 
 of magnificence adopted throughout the entire plan, 
 the royal founders, on its completion, bestowed a 
 highly venerated donation the collection of chains 
 taken from the limbs of the Christian captives, res- 
 cued by them from the dungeons of the Alhambra. 
 They are suspended on the outside walls of the two 
 sides of the north-eastern angle of the church, and 
 are made to form a frieze, being placed in couples 
 crossing each other at an acute angle ; while those 
 that remained are suspended vertically in rows by 
 fours or fives, in the intervals of the pilastres. 
 
 The interior of the church is still sufficiently 
 entire to give some idea of its original splendour. 
 Its dimensions are rather more than two hundred 
 feet in length, by eighty in width, and as many in 
 height excepting over the intersection of the nave 
 and transept, where the ceiling rises to a hundred 
 and eight feet. These dimensions are exclusive of 
 three recesses on either side, forming chapels open 
 to the nave, there being no lateral naves or aisles. 
 The style of the whole is very ornamental ; but the 
 east end is adorned with an unusual profusion of 
 sculpture. The transept is separated from the east- 
 ern extremity of the building, by a space no greater 
 than would suffice for one of the arches ; and its 
 ends form the lines, which being prolonged, con-
 
 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 181 
 
 stitute the backs of the chapels. The royal arms, 
 supported by spread eagles, are repeated five times 
 on each end-wall ; separated respectively by statues 
 of saints in their niches, and surmounted by a pro- 
 fusion of rich tracery. These subjects entirely cover 
 the walls to a height of about forty feet, at which 
 elevation another inscription in honour of the 
 founders runs round the whole interior. The tran- 
 septs not being formed by open arches, the sides 
 afford space for a repetition of the same ornament, 
 until at their junction with the nave they are ter- 
 minated by two half-piers covered with tracery, and 
 surmounted by semi-octagonal balconies, beneath 
 which the initials of Ferdinand and Isabella, made 
 to assume a fancy shape, and surmounted by co- 
 ronets, are introduced with singularly graceful effect 
 But the chief attraction of this ruin is the cloister. 
 A small quadrangle is surrounded by an ogival or 
 pointed arcade, enriched with all the ornament that 
 style is capable of receiving. It encloses a garden, 
 which, seen through the airy-web of the surround- 
 ing tracery, must have produced in this sunny re- 
 gion a charming effect. At present, one side being 
 in ruins and unroofed, its communication with the 
 other three has been interrupted; and, whether or 
 not in the idea of preserving the other sides from 
 the infection, their arches have been closed nearly
 
 182 
 
 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 
 
 CLOISTER OF SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES, TOLEDO. 
 
 to the top by thin plaister walls. Whatever may have 
 been the motive of this arrangement, it answers 
 the useful purpose of concealing from the view a 
 gallery which surmounts the cloister, the arches of 
 which would neutralize the souvenirs created by the 
 rest of the scene, since they announce a far dif- 
 ferent epoch of art, by the grievous backsliding of 
 taste evinced in their angular form and uncouth 
 proportions.
 
 SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. 183 
 
 Until the destruction of the monastery by the 
 French, the number of monks was very considerable ; 
 and in consequence of the unusual privileges ac- 
 corded to their body, had become the objects of 
 especial veneration. A curious proof of this still 
 exists in the form of a printed paper, pasted on one 
 of the doors in the interior of the church, and no 
 doubt preserved carefully by the fifteen or sixteen 
 brothers, who continued after the dispersion of the 
 rest to inhabit the few apartments, which, by their 
 situation over the cloister, had escaped the flames ; 
 and who were only finally compelled to evacuate 
 their retreat on the occasion of the general convent 
 crusade of the late revolution. It is an announce- 
 ment of indulgences, of which the following is the 
 opening paragraph : 
 
 " Indulgence and days of pardon to be gained by 
 kissing the robe of the brothers of San Francisco. 
 
 " All the faithful gain, for each time that they 
 kiss the aforesaid holy robe with devotion of heart, 
 two thousand and seventy-five days of Indulgence. 
 Further than this, whosoever of the faithful shall 
 kiss the aforesaid holy robe devoutly, gains each time 
 eight thousand one hundred days of pardon. The 
 which urges to the exercise of this devotion the 
 Princes, Kings, Emperors, Bishops, and highest dig- 
 nitaries of the Church, and the monks of other re-
 
 184 PALACE OF MENDOZA. 
 
 ligious orders ; and even those of the same order 
 gain the same, according to the doctrine of Lan- 
 tusca, who writes, 'Videant religiosi quantum the- 
 saurum portent secum.' Since those who with hearts 
 filled with lowliness and love, bend the knees to kiss 
 the precious garment, which opens to so many souls 
 the entrance to Heaven, leading them aside from 
 the paths of perdition, with trembling and terror 
 of the entire hosts of hell, are doubtless those who 
 gain the above-mentioned Indulgences, &c." 
 
 Cardinal Ximenes had assumed the habit of this 
 monastery before his nomination to the see of To- 
 ledo. 
 
 Among the numerous relics of the ancient pros- 
 perity of this ruinous corner of Toledo, are seen the 
 walls of the palace of Don Juan Hurtado de Men- 
 doza. To them were confided the secret murmur- 
 ings of Charles the Fifth's vexation, when, elated 
 with his Italian successes lord of the greatest em- 
 pire of Christendom, and flattered by the magnifi- 
 cent hospitality of the Genoese, he only resorted 
 hither to be bearded by his Spanish vassals, and to 
 hear his request for supplies unceremoniously re- 
 fused. Although monarch of nearly half Europe, 
 and, better still, of Mexico and Peru, that sovereign 
 appears to have undergone the torments of a con- 
 stantly defective exchequer.
 
 PALACE OF MENDOZA. 185 
 
 His armies were not numerous for such an em- 
 pire, and yet they were frequently in revolt for 
 arrears of pay. Could at that time the inventor of 
 a constitution on the modern principle have pre- 
 sented himself to Charles, with what treasures would 
 he not have rewarded him ? On his arrival in Spain, 
 in the autumn of 1538, the emperor convoked the 
 cortez in Toledo, "for the purpose of deliberation 
 on the most grave and urgent causes, which obliged 
 him to request of his faithful vassals an inconsider- 
 able contribution, and of receiving the assurance 
 of the desire with which he was animated, of di- 
 minishing their burdens as soon as circumstances 
 should enable him to do so." All assembled on the 
 appointed day the prelates, the grandees, the 
 knights, the deputies of cities and towns. The 
 opening session took place in the great salon of the 
 house of Don Juan Hurtadb de Mendoza, Count 
 of Melita, in which the emperor had taken up his 
 abode ; and two apartments in the convent of San 
 Juan de los Reyes, were prepared for the remaining 
 meetings one for the ecclesiastical body, presided 
 by the Cardinal de Tavera, archbishop of Toledo, 
 accompanied by Fray Garcia de Loaysa, cardinal, 
 and confessor of the emperor, afterwards Archbishop 
 of Seville the other for the lay members of the 
 cortez.
 
 186 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 
 
 Although an adept at dissimulation, what must 
 have been the impatience of Charles, while under 
 the necessity of listening, day after day, to reports 
 of speeches pronounced by the independent mem- 
 bers of his junta on the subject of his unwelcome 
 proposition, without the consolation of foreseeing 
 that the supplies would eventually be forthcom- 
 ing. The orators did not spare him. The his- 
 torian, Mariana, gives at full length the speech of 
 the condestable Don Velasco, Duke of Frias, a 
 grandee enjoying one of the highest dignities at 
 the court, who commences 'by declaring that, " with 
 respect to the Sisa," (tax on provisions, forming the 
 principal subject of the emperor's demand,) "each 
 of their lordships, being such persons as they were, 
 would understand better than himself this business : 
 but what he understood respecting it was, that 
 nothing could be more contrary to God's service, 
 and that of his Majesty, and to the good of these 
 kingdoms of Castile, of which they were natives, and 
 to their honour, than the Sisa ;" and, further on, pro- 
 poses that a request be made to his Majesty, that 
 he would moderate his expenditure, which was 
 greater than that of the Catholic kings. 
 
 On an address to this effect being presented to 
 the emperor, he replied, that "he thanked them 
 for their kind intentions; but that his request was
 
 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 187 
 
 for present aid, and not for advice respecting the 
 future :" and finding, at length, that no Sisa was 
 to be obtained, he ordered the archbishop to dis- 
 solve the junta, which he did in the following 
 words : " Gentlemen, his Majesty says, that he 
 convoked your lordships' assembly for the purpose 
 of communicating to you his necessities, and those of 
 these kingdoms, since it appeared to him that, as they 
 were general, such also should be the remedy ; but 
 seeing all that has been done, it appears to him 
 that there is no need of detaining your lordships, 
 but that each of you may go to his house, or whi- 
 ther he may think proper." 
 
 It must be confessed that the grandees, who had 
 on this occasion complained of Charles's foreign 
 expeditions, and neglect of his Spanish dominions, 
 did not pursue the system best calculated to recon- 
 cile him to a residence among them. Instead of 
 taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by 
 social intercourse, for making amends for the repulse 
 he had suffered from the cortez, they appeared de- 
 sirous of rendering the amount of humiliation which 
 awaited him in Spain a counterpoise to his triumphs 
 in his other dominions. On the close of the above- 
 mentioned session, a tournament was celebrated in 
 the vega of Toledo. On arriving at the lists, an 
 alguadl of the court, whose duty it was to clear the
 
 188 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 
 
 way on the emperor's approach seeing the Duke 
 de 1'Infantado in the way, requested him to move 
 on, and on his refusal struck his horse with his 
 staff. The duke drew his sword and cut open the 
 officer's head. In the midst of the disturbance 
 occasioned by the incident, the alcalde Ronquillo 
 came up, and attempted to arrest the duke in the 
 emperor's name when the constable, Duke de 
 Frias, who had just ridden to the scene of bustle, 
 reining in his horse, exclaimed, "I, in virtue of 
 my office, am chief minister of justice in these king- 
 doms, and the duke is, therefore, my prisoner ;" and 
 addressing himself to the alcalde : " know better 
 another time, on what persons you may presume 
 to exercise your authority." The duke left the 
 ground in company of the last speaker, and was fol- 
 lowed by all the nobles present, leaving the em- 
 peror entirely unaccompanied. It appears that no 
 notice was taken by Charles of this insult ; his man- 
 ner towards the Duke of Infantado on the follow- 
 ing day being marked by peculiar condescension, and 
 all compensation to the wounded alguacil left to 
 the duke's generosity. 
 
 The personal qualities of this prince, as a monarch, 
 appear to have been overrated in some degree in his 
 own day ; but far more so by subsequent writers. 
 The brilliancy of his reign, and the homage which
 
 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 189 
 
 surrounded his person were due to the immense 
 extent of his dominions ; and would never have be- 
 longed to him, any more than the states of which 
 he was in possession, had their attainment depended 
 in any degree on the exercise of his individual 
 energies. When in the prime of youth, possessed 
 of repeated opportunities of distinguishing himself 
 at the head of his armies, he kept aloof, leaving the 
 entire conduct of the war to his generals. His 
 rival, Francis the First, wounded at Pavia in en- 
 deavouring to rally his flying troops, and at length 
 taken prisoner while half crushed beneath his dead 
 horse, was greater as he stood before the hostile 
 general, his tall figure covered with earth and blood 
 than the absent emperor, who was waiting at 
 Valladolid for the news of the war. 
 
 Nor were the qualities of the statesman more con- 
 spicuous than those of the warrior on this occasion. 
 Having received the intelligence of his victory, and 
 of the capture of his illustrious prisoner, he took 
 no measures gave no orders. To his general every 
 thing was left ; and when the captive King was, 
 at his own request, conveyed some time after to 
 Spain, the astonished emperor had received no pre- 
 vious notice of his coming. He allowed himself to 
 be out-manoeuvred in the treaty for the liberation 
 of his prisoner ; and when Francis broke the pledge
 
 190 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 
 
 he had given for the restitution of Burgundy, he 
 took no steps to enforce the execution of the stipu- 
 lations ; and he ultimately gave up the two French 
 princes, who remained in his power as hostages, in 
 return for a sum of money. 
 
 Far from maintaining the superiority in European 
 councils due to his extensive dominions, the Italian 
 republics were only prevented with the greatest 
 difficulty, and by the continual presence of armies, 
 from repeatedly declaring for France : and even the 
 popes, to whom he paid continual court, manifested 
 the small estimation in which they held his influence 
 by constantly deserting his cause in favour of 
 Francis, the cause of the champion of Christianity 
 in favour of the ally of the Infidel, and that fre- 
 quently in defiance of "good faith; shewing how 
 little they feared the consequences of the imperial 
 displeasure. 
 
 If these facts fail in affording testimony to his 
 energy and capacity, still less does his character 
 shine in consistency. He professed an unceasing 
 ardour in the cause of Christianity ; offering to the 
 French king the renunciation of his rights, and 
 a release from that monarch's obligations to him, 
 on condition of his joining him in an expedition 
 against the Infidels ; but when he found himself 
 at the head of an immense army under the walls of
 
 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 191 
 
 Vienna, he sat still and allowed Solyman to carry off 
 at his leisure the spoils of the principal towns -of 
 Hungary. 
 
 When at length he made up his mind to take 
 the field, he selected, as most worthy of the exercise 
 of his prowess, the triumph over the pirate Bar- 
 barossa and his African hordes : the most important 
 result of the campaign being the occupation of 
 Tunis, (where in his zealous burnings for Christianity 
 he installed a Mahometan sovereign,) and the 
 wanton destruction by his soldiers of a splendid 
 library of valuable manuscripts. 
 
 We have seen how little his Spanish subjects 
 allowed themselves to be dazzled by the splendours 
 of his vast authority, and history informs us how far 
 he was from conceiving the- resolution of reducing 
 them to obedience by any measures savouring of 
 energetic demonstration. The irreverence to his 
 
 o 
 
 person he calmly pocketed, and the deficiences in 
 his exchequer were supplied by means of redoubled 
 pressure on his less refractory Flemings. He sub- 
 mitted to the breach of faith of Francis of France, 
 and to the disrespect of his Castilian vassals ; but, 
 on the burghers of the city of Ghent being heard to 
 give utterance to expressions of discontent at the 
 immoderate liberties taken with their purse-strings, 
 he quits Madrid in a towering rage, crosses France at
 
 192 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 
 
 the risk of his liberty, and enters his helpless burg 
 at the head of a German army, darting on all 
 sides frowns of imperial wrath, each prophetic of a 
 bloody execution. 
 
 Aware of the preparations of Francis for attacking 
 his dominions simultaneously in three different 
 directions, he took insufficient or rather no measures 
 to oppose him, but turning his back, embarked for 
 Algiers, where he believed laurels to be as cheap as 
 at Tunis. There, however, he lost one half of his 
 armament, destroyed by the elements; and the 
 remainder narrowly escaping a similar fate, and 
 being dispersed in all directions, he returned in 
 time to witness the unopposed execution of the 
 plans of his French enemy. What measures are his 
 on such an emergency ? Does he call together the 
 contingents of the German States ? Unite the differ- 
 ent corps serving in Lombardy and Savoy, dispatch 
 an order to the viceroy of Naples to march for the 
 north of Italy; and having completed his combi- 
 nations, cross the Pyrenees at the head of a Spanish 
 army, and give the law to his far weaker antagonist ? 
 No ! nothing that could lead to an encounter with 
 the French king accorded with his policy, as it has 
 been called, but more probably with his disposition. 
 He quits Spain, it is true, and using all diligence, 
 travels round France, but not too near it, and arrives
 
 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 193 
 
 in Flanders. Here he puts himself at the head of 
 his Germans, and marches against the Duke of 
 Cleves ! who had formed an alliance with his 
 principal enemy. 
 
 Seeing the emperor thus engaged, Francis com- 
 pletes a successful campaign, taking possession of 
 Luxembourg and other towns. At length the 
 sovereign of half Europe, having received news of 
 the landing of an English army in Picardy, resolves 
 to venture a demonstration against France. He 
 therefore traverses Lorraine at the head of eighty 
 thousand troops, and makes himself master of Lune- 
 ville : after which, hearing that Francis had de- 
 spatched his best troops to oppose Henry the Eighth, 
 and was waiting for himself, as the less dangerous 
 foe, with an army of half the strength of his own, 
 and composed of recruits, he makes up his mind to 
 advance in the direction of Paris. After a fortnight's 
 march he finds himself in presence of the French 
 king, to whom he sends proposals of peace ! 
 
 These being rejected, he continues his march ; 
 when a messenger from Francis announces his con- 
 sent to treat. Under these circumstances, does he 
 require the cession of Burgundy, according to the 
 terms of the unexecuted treaty of Madrid? Does 
 he even stipulate for any advantage, for any equality ? 
 No ! he agrees, on the contrary, to cede Flanders 
 
 o
 
 194 CHARACTER OF CHARLES V. 
 
 to the French, under colour of a dowry with his 
 daughter the Infanta Maria, who was to be married 
 to the Duke of Orleans ; or else Milan, with his 
 niece the daughter of the King of the Romans ; and 
 he beats a retreat with his immense army, as if 
 taking the benefit of a capitulation. 
 
 There is something in the result of this French 
 campaign which appears to explain much of 
 Charles's previous conduct ; and shows that in 
 many instances he was actuated by personal fear 
 of his gallant rival. On this occasion he did not 
 hesitate to desert the King of England, who had no 
 doubt calculated on his cooperation, as much as 
 Charles had depended on the diversion created by 
 the British army. The more one reflects on the 
 passages of this emperor's history, the less one is 
 surprised at his resolution to abdicate. He gave 
 in this a proof of his appreciation of his real 
 character, which undoubtedly fitted him rather 
 for a life of ease and retirement, than for the arduous 
 duties of supreme power.
 
 195 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 ARAB MONUMENTS PICTURES. THE PRINCESS GALIANA. 
 ENVIRONS. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 RETURNING along the edge of the cliff, a very 
 short space separates the extreme walls of the ruined 
 monastery of Ferdinand and Isabella, from an edifice 
 of much greater antiquity, although not yet a ruin. 
 Its exterior as you approach, is more than sim- 
 ple. It is not even a neatly constructed building ; 
 but such a pile of rough looking mud and stone, 
 as, on the continent, announces sometimes a barn, 
 or granary of a farming establishment *mal monte. 
 A high central portion runs from end to end, from 
 either side of which, at about four-fifths of its height, 
 project lower roofs of brownish-red tiles. The old 
 square rotten door is in exact keeping with all 
 this exterior, and contributes its share to the sur- 
 prise experienced on entering, when you discover, 
 on a level with the eye, distributed over a spacious 
 
 o 2
 
 ARAB MONUMENTS. 
 
 quadrangular area, a forest of elaborately carved capi- 
 tals, surmounting octagon-shaped pillars, and sup- 
 porting innumerable horse-shoe arches, scattered 
 in apparent confusion. All these as you advance 
 
 INTERIOR OF SANTA MARIA LA BLANCA, TOLEDO. 
 
 down a flight of steps, fall into rank, and you 
 speedily find yourself in the centre of an orien- 
 tal temple in all its symmetry. 
 
 The principal light entering from the western 
 extremity, you do not at first perceive that three 
 of the five naves terminate at the opposite end, by
 
 ARAB MONUMENTS. 197 
 
 half domes of more modern invention. These have 
 since been almost built out, and do not form a part 
 of the general view, not in consequence of a de- 
 cree of a committee of fine arts, but for the con- 
 venience of the intendant of the province, who se- 
 lected the edifice, as long as it remained sufficiently 
 weather-proof for such a purpose, for a magazine 
 of government stores. There is no record of the 
 antiquity of this church, supposed to be the most 
 ancient in Toledo : at all events, it is the most an- 
 cient of those constructed by the Arabs. It was 
 originally a synagogue, and received the above men- 
 tioned half cupolas on its conversion to a Catho- 
 lic church ; since which period it has been known 
 by its present title of Santa Maria la Blanca. 
 
 A few hundred yards further on, following the 
 same direction, is the church called the Transito, 
 also in the oriental style, but on a different plan : 
 a large quadrangular room, from about ninety to a 
 hundred feet in length, by forty in width, and about 
 seventy high, without arches or columns, ornament- 
 ed with Arab tracery in stucco, on the upper part 
 of the walls, and by a handsome cedar roof. A 
 cement of a different colour from the rest runs round 
 the lowest portion of the walls, up to about breast 
 high ; no doubt filling the space formerly occupied 
 by the azulejos. Some remains of these still deco-
 
 108 ARAB MONUMENTS. 
 
 rate the seats, which are attached to the walls at 
 the two sides of the altar. The building is in ex- 
 cellent preservation, and until lately was used as 
 a church of the Mozarabic sect. The ornaments 
 are remarkable for the exquisite beauty of their 
 design, and are uninjured, excepting by the eternal 
 whitewash, the monomania of modern Spanish de- 
 corators. 
 
 The Jews were the primitive occupants of this 
 elegant temple also. Samuel Levi, treasurer and 
 favourite of Pedro the Cruel (who subsequently 
 transferred his affection from the person of his 
 faithful servant to the enormous wealth, amassed 
 under so indulgent a prince, and seized a pretext 
 for ordering his execution) was the founder of this 
 synagogue. The inauguration was accompanied by 
 extraordinary pomp. The treasurer being, from 
 his paramount position at the court of Castile, the 
 most influential personage of his tribe, the leading 
 members of Judaism flocked from all parts of Europe 
 to Toledo to be present on the occasion, and a 
 deputation from Jerusalem brought earth of the 
 Holy Land, which was laid down throughout the 
 whole interior before the placing of the pavement. 
 
 A very different origin, more suited to believers 
 in miracles, is attributed to this church by the 
 present titular sacristan. This Quasimodo of the
 
 ARAB MONUMENTS. 199 
 
 fabric, a simple and worthy functionary, enjoys a 
 sinecure, except, it is to be feared, with regard to 
 salary. Although, however, no duties confine him 
 to his post, his attachment to the edifice prevents 
 his ever being found further from it than the porch ; 
 under the cool shelter of which, as he leans against 
 the wall, he fabricates and consumes the friendly 
 cigarito. When questioned with an appearance of 
 interest on the subject of the building, he replies 
 with unrestrained delight. Its foundation he at- 
 tributes to Noah, fixing the date at seventeen 
 hundred years back ; but without adding any par- 
 ticulars relative to this miraculous visit paid to 
 Toledo, by the ghost of the patriarch. 
 
 As is the case with all other ecclesiastical edi- 
 fices closed pursuant to the recent decrees, this 
 building may become the property of any one, 
 who would offer a sufficient price, not according 
 to the real value, but to that to which such ob- 
 jects are reduced by the great number in the mar- 
 ket. Several other churches are simply closed and 
 left unguarded ; but the antiquarian sacristan above 
 mentioned, is placed here on account of the exis- 
 tence of a room in which are contained the archives 
 of the knights of Calatrava and Alcantara, until 
 recently its proprietors. No reparations, however, 
 are ordered ; and there is many an enthusiast in
 
 200 ARAB MONUMENTS. 
 
 archaeological research who, should such an edi- 
 fice fall under his notice, would, no doubt, rescue 
 it from its now imminent fate. It is not only a 
 monument admirable for the details of the orna- 
 ments, the best of its sort to be met with north 
 of Andalusia, but it forms a valuable link in the 
 chain of architectural history. It is the first ec- 
 clesiastical edifice of its style recorded as having 
 set the example of an open area, destitute of columns 
 and arcades. 
 
 At the distance of a few hundred yards from this 
 building, a portion of the precipice is pointed out, 
 to which was given in former times the name of 
 the Tarpeian rock. It was the spot selected by 
 the Jewish authorities, (who enjoyed in Toledo, 
 under the Kings of Castile, the right of separate 
 jurisdiction in their tribe,) for the execution of their 
 criminals. It is a perpendicular rock, but with 
 an intermediate sloping space between its base and 
 the Tagus. 
 
 One of the most curious of the Arab monuments 
 of Toledo, is the church called the Christo de la 
 Luz, formerly a mosque. It is extremely small; 
 a square of about twenty feet ; and is divided by 
 four pillars into three naves, connected with each 
 other, and with the surrounding walls, by twelve 
 arches. This disposition produces in the ceiling
 
 ARAB MONUMENTS. 
 
 201 
 
 INTERIOR OF CHRISTO DE LA LUZ. TOLEDO. 
 
 nine square compartments, which rise each to a 
 considerable height, enclosed by walls from the 
 tops of the arches upwards. Each small square 
 ceiling is coved and ornamented with high angu- 
 lar ribs, rising from the cornice and intersecting 
 each other, so as to form a different combination 
 in each of the nine. 
 
 The principal remaining Arab buildings are, the
 
 202 PICTURES. 
 
 beautiful gate called Puerta del Sol ; part of the 
 town walls with their towers ; the parochial church 
 of San Roman ; the tower of the church of St. 
 Thomas ; and two or three other similar towers. 
 Several private houses contain single rooms of the 
 same architecture, more or less ornamental. The 
 most considerable of these is situated opposite the 
 church of San Roman, and belongs to a family resid- 
 ing at Talavera. They have quitted the house in 
 Toledo, which is in a ruinous state. The Moor- 
 ish saloon is a fine room of about sixty feet in length 
 by upwards of forty high, and beautifully ornament- 
 ed. The Artesonado roof of cedar lets in already, in 
 more than one part, light and water ; and half the 
 remainder of the house has fallen. 
 
 The good pictures in Toledo are not very plen- 
 tiful. It is said some of the convents possessed good 
 collections, which were seized, together with all 
 their other property. Many of these are to be 
 seen in the gallery called the Museo Nacional, at 
 Madrid. Others have been sold. Those of the 
 cathedral have not been removed ; but they are not 
 numerous : among them is a St. Francisco, by Zur- 
 baran ; and a still more beautiful work of Alonzo 
 del Arco, a St. Joseph bearing the Infant. It is 
 in a marble frame fixed in the wall, and too high 
 to be properly viewed : but the superiority of the
 
 PICTURES. 203 
 
 colouring can be appreciated, and the excellence 
 of the head of the saint. In the smaller sacristy 
 are two pictures in Bassano's style, and some copies 
 from Raphael, Rubens, and others. At the head 
 of the great sacristy, there is a large work of Do- 
 menico Theotocopuli, commonly called El Greco, 
 (the head of the school of Toledo) which I prefer 
 much to the famous Funeral of the Count Orgaz, 
 in the church of Santo Tonie, which, according to 
 some, passes for his masterpiece. In the first are 
 traits of drawing, which forcibly call to mind the 
 style of the best masters of the Roman school, 
 and prove the obligation he was under to the in- 
 structions of his master Michel Angelo. The sub- 
 ject is the Calvary. The soldiery fill the back 
 ground. On the right hand the foreground is oc- 
 cupied by an executioner preparing the cross, and 
 on the left, by the group of females. The erect 
 figure of the Christ is the principal object, and 
 occupies the centre, somewhat removed from the 
 front. This is certainly a fine picture ; the com- 
 position is good, and the drawing admirable, but 
 the colouring of the Greco is always unpleasing. 
 
 In the Funeral of Count Orgaz it is insufferably 
 false ; nor, in fact, is it easy to conjecture to what 
 sort of merit this picture owes its celebrity. It 
 possesses neither that of conception, nor that of
 
 204 PICTURES. 
 
 composition, nor of expression : least of all that of 
 colouring. All that can be said in its favour is, 
 that the row of heads extending from one end of 
 the canvass to the other, across the centre, are cor- 
 rect portraits of personages of note, who figured 
 in the history of the epoch. The worst part of all 
 is, the Heaven of the upper plan of the picture, 
 into which the soul of the Count has the bad taste 
 to apply for admission. This was, in fact, one of 
 the works which gave occasion to the saying of a 
 critic of a contemporary school, who declared that 
 the Glorias (heavenly visions) of the Greco looked 
 like Infernos, and his Infernos like Glorias. 
 
 In the Transito there is an Adoration, a charm- 
 ing picture, apparently by Rembrandt. There are 
 here and there good pictures among the other 
 churches, but none very remarkable. In general, 
 the most attractive objects are the old picture-frames, 
 and other gilded ornaments and wood carvings. All 
 these, in the taste of the commencement of the last 
 century and earlier, which is at present so much 
 in request, are in such profusion, as would draw tears 
 of admiration from the eyes of a Parisian uphols- 
 terer, and showers of bank notes from the purses 
 of furniture collectors. 
 
 You will not, I am sure, by this time, object to 
 our quitting Toledo, and making a short excur-
 
 THE PRINCESS GALIANA. 205 
 
 sion in its environs. I shall therefore request you 
 to accompany me to the ruins of a Moorish palace, 
 on the banks of the Tagus, a mile distant from 
 the town, called the Palacio de Galiana. The Prin- 
 cess Galiana was the daughter of Galafre, one of 
 the earlier Arab Kings of Toledo. The widely 
 extended fame of her beauty, is said to have fired 
 the imagination of Charles, son of Pepin, King of 
 France, who resolved to throw himself at her feet 
 as a suitor, and forthwith repaired to Toledo. How- 
 ever glowing the terms in which report had repre- 
 sented her charms, he found them surpassed by the 
 reality; but a prince of a neighbouring state had 
 forestalled him in his suit. This obstacle did not, 
 however, deter him from persisting in his resolution. 
 He forthwith challenged his rival to mortal combat ; 
 and, clearing his road to the hand of the princess 
 with the point of his lance, married her, and carried 
 her back with him to Paris. 
 
 The attachment of her father to this princess is 
 said to have been such from her earliest childhood, 
 that he gave himself up entirely to this affection 
 devoting all his wealth to the gratification of her 
 caprices. The Arab palace, now no longer in ex- 
 istence, took its name from hers, in consequence of 
 a new one having been erected for her by her father, 
 adjoining his own, at a period at which she had
 
 206 THE PRINCESS GALIANA. 
 
 scarcely grown out of childhood. The two residences 
 being occupied by succeeding princes as one, received 
 the appellation of los Palacios, (the Palaces) of Ga- 
 liana. 
 
 In addition to her town residence, she soon after 
 had the other palace constructed about a mile from 
 Toledo. To arrive at the ruins, we pass the bridge 
 of Alcantara, and follow the rose-tree promenade. 
 From this a path on the left-hand leads to the spot 
 across a field in garden-like cultivation. The selec- 
 tion made by the Arab princess ' of this situation, 
 proves her to have possessed, in addition to her 
 beauty, a consummate taste and intelligence of rural 
 life. 
 
 The Tagus a name, by the way, more deserving 
 of poetic fame than many a more widely echoed 
 stream in this spot, as if conscious of the pains he 
 must shortly undergo, while dashing through the 
 deep and narrow chasm through which he must force 
 a passage around Toledo, seems to linger, desirous of 
 putting off the fated storm. His course becomes 
 more circuitous as he approaches ; and indulging in 
 a hundred irregularities of form, he plays round 
 several small thickly wooded islands, penetrating with 
 innumerable eddies and back currents, into flowery 
 nooks and recesses ; while here and there he spreads 
 out in a wide sheet his apparently motionless waters,
 
 ENVIRONS OF TOLEDO. 207 
 
 as if seeking to sleep away the remainder of his days 
 on these green and luxurious banks. 
 
 In the midst of this delicious region, which recalls 
 to the recollection some of the more favoured spots 
 in England, but which, with the addition of the 
 Spanish climate in early summer, is superior to them 
 all, was placed the palace. The valley for a con- 
 siderable distance still bears the name of the Garden 
 of the King, Huerta del Rey. The site of part of 
 the pleasure grounds immediately adjoining the 
 river, is left wild, and covered with woods ; and the 
 remainder is converted into a farm in the highest 
 state of cultivation. The ruin consists of three sides 
 of a not very large quadrangle ; the massive walls of 
 which are pierced with two stories of arched win- 
 dows. The remainder of the edifice was doubtless 
 less solid, and has entirely disappeared. 
 
 Many a tale of romance would be gathered many 
 a stirring scene recorded, could so precious a docu- 
 ment be brought to light as a chronicle drawn up by 
 some St. Simon of the Court of Toledo, who had 
 recorded the daily events of which this retreat was 
 the theatre, during the time it served as a residence 
 for several successive sovereigns. But in this land 
 words have always been fewer than deeds, and re- 
 cords are the rarest sort of subsisting monuments. 
 One anecdote, however, is transmitted, of which this
 
 208 ENVIRONS OF TOLEDO. 
 
 spot was the scene, in the time of the last but one of 
 the Moorish princes who reigned at Toledo, before 
 its surrender to Alonzo the Sixth. 
 
 Alonzo was himself one of the actors on the occa- 
 sion. In early life he had been deprived by his 
 brother Sancho, King of Castile, of the portion of the 
 kingdoms which fell to his share by the will of his 
 father, Ferdinand the First. On his expulsion from 
 his inheritance he took refuge at the court of the 
 Arab king of Toledo, by whom he was received with 
 every mark of favour which could have been lavished 
 on a friend. The Moor (for the family then reigning 
 was not Arab, although the two races are constantly 
 confounded in Spanish histories) gave him a palace, 
 and settled on him splendid revenues, to be con- 
 tinued during the time he should think fit to accept 
 his hospitality. He even sent invitations to all the 
 friends and followers of his guest, in order that he 
 might be surrounded with his own court. 
 
 Alonzo, touched by this delicate hospitality, at- 
 tached himself warmly to his host ; his friendship 
 for whom (I believe a solitary instance in those times 
 among the sovereigns in Spain) lasted until the death 
 of the latter. The youthful exile, thus handsomely 
 treated, passed much of his time in the society of his 
 royal protector. 
 
 On one occasion, the court being at the country
 
 PALACE OF GALIANA. 209 
 
 palace of Galiana, the king and his attendants were 
 reclining in the cool shade of the garden, and Alonzo 
 at a short distance, apparently asleep. The king, 
 pointing to the town, which towered on its precipice 
 immediately in front of the party, was expatiating on 
 the strength of its position. All agreed that it was 
 impregnable ; until a brother of the monarch ob- 
 served, that there was one mode of warfare against 
 which it would not hold out : and he proceeded to 
 explain his plan, which consisted of an annual de- 
 vastation of the valley of the Tagus at the time of 
 harvest, to be executed by an invading army, which 
 might be disbanded during the winter months. This 
 system, he maintained, would inevitably reduce the 
 city by famine to the necessity of a surrender. 
 
 No sooner was the last phrase uttered, than all pre- 
 sent in an instant struck by the same thought, turned 
 towards the sleeper ; and the greater number, filled 
 with suspicion respecting the reality of his slumbers, 
 addressed significant looks to the king, the intention 
 of which could not be mistaken, and which boded no 
 good to Alonzo. Whatever might have been the 
 feelings of the Moor at this moment, he took no 
 further notice of the incident, and allowed his guest 
 to terminate his nap when he thought proper. 
 
 When the death of Sancho took place before 
 Zamora, Alonzo was still at Toledo. The intelli-
 
 210 CASTLE OF SAN SERVANDO. 
 
 gence being conveyed to him by a confidential mes- 
 senger from his sister, he lost no time in taking 
 leave of his host, who wished him success with 
 every demonstration of friendship, and repairing to 
 Burgos. There, after some hesitation, the nobles 
 consented to his investiture with the sovereignty. 
 During his brilliant reign he resisted several tempt- 
 ing opportunities of breaking with his Moorish ally 
 and former host, and thus adding to his dominions, 
 and preserved his friendship and loyalty unstained. 
 After the death of the Moorish king, he, however, 
 speedily fell out with his successor. War was de- 
 clared on both sides, and it was resolved to attack 
 Toledo. The well known result was, the taking of 
 the town after seven years, the time mentioned in 
 the garden of Galiana, and by means of the annually 
 repeated devastation of the Vega, according to the 
 plan imagined and described in the above mentioned 
 conversation. 
 
 Returning by the Rose-tree Walk, immediately on 
 approaching the bridge, an advanced portion of the 
 cliff which bounds the road on the left detaches 
 itself from the rest towards the summit, which rises 
 in a circular form. On it stands the Castle of San 
 Servando, one of the most picturesque of the Arab 
 remains existing in this part of Spain. The origin 
 of this fort is uncertain. Some attribute it to the
 
 CASTLE OF SAN SERVANDO. 211 
 
 Romans, and consider the Moorish windows and 
 ornaments to be subsequent additions, from their 
 being constructed with bricks instead of the same 
 stone as the rest of the walls. But this is not a suffi- 
 cient reason, since the same peculiarity exists in all 
 the Arab edifices in Toledo. In fact, the reason is 
 evident. The hard black sort of stone used for the 
 walls, would almost have defied the chisel which 
 should have attempted to fashion its surface into the 
 delicate forms required by the Arab mode of deco- 
 rating. This argument, therefore, being set aside 
 remains the masonry, which is more likely from its 
 appearance to be Gothic or Arab, than Roman. 
 
 It is probably entirely Arab. It encloses a quad- 
 rangular space of about a quarter of an acre, and is 
 a ruin ; but the walls and towers are almost entire. 
 There are three small towers, that is of small 
 diameter, but lofty ; and two larger, one of which 
 is circular : the other is a parallelogram terminating 
 by a semicircle at one of its extremities. This tower 
 has lost apparently about a third of its elevation. 
 Their walls are so perfectly constructed as to appear 
 externally like solid rocks smoothed and rounded. 
 Each larger tower contains two rectangular brick 
 projections, in which are small elegantly- arched open- 
 ings for windows. 
 
 The edifice was thoroughly repaired by Don Pedro 
 
 p ~
 
 212 ANCIENT CIRCUS. 
 
 Tenorio, archbishop of Toledo ; the same who built 
 the bridge of San Martin. It has since played its 
 part in numberless wars, and was at length reduced 
 to a ruin during the insurrection headed by Juan de 
 Padilla, at the commencement of Charles the Fifth's 
 
 reign. 
 
 During the Peninsular war of the present cen- 
 tury, the old battlements echoed once more with 
 the sounds of warfare. It was occupied by a body 
 of French, who repaired a portion of the masonry 
 at the summits of the towers, and erected a low 
 wall along the whole length of the Toledo side. 
 They were able, from their position, to batter the 
 Alcazar, which is immediately opposite, but on a 
 higher level; and to command the bridge of Al- 
 cantara, and road to Aranjuez. 
 
 In the other valley which extends to the west 
 of Toledo exist the remains of a circus for chariot 
 races, generally supposed, at first sight, to be Roman. 
 They present, in fact, every characteristic of a Ro- 
 man work. The rough interior masonry is all that 
 remains ; and that only rising to a height of from 
 three to four feet from the ground, with the ex- 
 ception of a single arch. The earth mingled with 
 ruins, has apparently filled up much of the interior, 
 and surrounding the exterior simultaneously, has 
 only left visible the upper portion of the edifice.
 
 ANCIENT CIRCUS. 213 
 
 The end which is in the best preservation is of a 
 semicircular form. From it the sides run in parallel 
 directions, and lose themselves in the ruins of a more 
 recently erected convent. They are traceable to a 
 length of more than four hundred yards. The 
 width is two hundred and ninety feet within the 
 building, at the present elevation of the ground, 
 and three hundred and twenty feet on the outside, 
 which appears to have consisted of a series of arches. 
 There are also remains of an amphitheatre adjoin- 
 ing the semicircular end of the stadium. 
 
 There being no indication of the Romans hav- 
 ing at any period planted any considerable estab- 
 lishment at Toledo, in fact no author but Livy 
 having noticed the place, and he but slightly ; the 
 antiquaries have sought for the origin of these monu- 
 ments among Gothic traditions ; and it is believed 
 by them, that they were erected during the early 
 part of the sixth century, by Theudio, a Gothic 
 Kino', who manifested much attachment to Roman 
 customs.
 
 214 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 CASTLES OF ALMONACID, GUADAMUB, MONTALBAN, AND 
 ESCALONA. TORRIJOS. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 I MET this morning with an entertaining scene, 
 in a quarter in which it might be the least looked 
 for. The archiepiscopal palace contains an excel- 
 lent library, which has always been open to the 
 public. Although the revenues of the see are now 
 withdrawn, and the palace is vacant, the books remain 
 on the shelves, and the head librarian, a racionero 
 of the cathedral, has the good nature to throw open 
 the rooms from eleven to twelve, on all days of 
 labour, (as those are called on which no saint is ce- 
 lebrated,) although he no longer enjoys a salary, 
 nor the means of providing a single attendant to 
 see to what passes in the different apartments. 
 
 I was occupied this morning in the racionera's 
 room, when he received a visit from two French 
 tourists, both persons of notoriety ; one being a
 
 FRENCH TOURISTS. 215 
 
 member of the chamber of deputies, and one of 
 the leaders of the republican party ; and the other, 
 I believe, also in the chamber, but principally known 
 as a writer of political pamphlets, in which the 
 French reigning family, and the powers that be are 
 lashed with unwearying severity. The first men- 
 tioned personage commenced the conversation in 
 Spanish, which the other did not speak : but on 
 hearing the librarian make an observation in French, 
 the pamphleteer took up the argument in his own 
 language, and nearly in the following terms. 
 
 " As this gentleman understands French, I will 
 explain to him the object of my tour," and address- 
 ing himself to the Spaniard, he continued " I find 
 it a relief, in the midst of my arduous political 
 duties, to make an occasional excursion in a foreign 
 country, and thus to enlarge the sphere of my use- 
 fulness, by promoting the cause of humanity in the 
 various localities I visit. It is thus that I have 
 recently passed through Andalucia, and have recom- 
 mended, and, I doubt not, successfully, to the prin- 
 cipal personages possessed of influence in its nu- 
 merous cities, the establishment of all sorts of use- 
 ful institutions. I am now in Toledo, animated 
 with the same zeal. I have obtained an introduc- 
 tion to you, Sir, understanding that you are an 
 individual possessed of considerable influence, and
 
 216 FRENCH TOURISTS. 
 
 enjoying unbounded means of carrying out the 
 projects, which, I doubt not, you will agree with 
 ine in considering essential to the well being and 
 improvement, both moral and material, of your an- 
 cient locality." 
 
 During this exordium, the Spaniard, who hap- 
 pens to be possessed of a viyacity, unusual in his 
 countrymen, and a sort of impatience of manner, 
 had endeavoured more than once to obtain a hear- 
 ing. At length he replied, that he feared it would 
 not be in his power to carry out the views which 
 Monsieur did him the honour to communicate to 
 him, owing to the absence of sufficient resources 
 at his disposal, whether for public purposes, or in 
 his individual and private capacity. 
 
 The Frenchman was not, however, to be so easily 
 discouraged. " This, Sir," he replied, " is the re- 
 sult of your modesty ; but I am persuaded that I 
 have only to make my objects understood, in order 
 to obtain their complete execution. For instance, 
 one of the most insignificant in expense, but of 
 infinite utility, is this : it would be a source of 
 much gratification to me, if you would have the 
 most conspicuous spots throughout Toledo orna- 
 mented with statues, representing, with greater or 
 less resemblance, all the personages, distinguished 
 from various causes in the history of Spain, to whom
 
 ANCIENT CASTLES. 217 
 
 Toledo has given birth. These works I should 
 wish to be entrusted to artists of acknowledged ta- 
 lent, and" he was proceeding with constantly in- 
 creasing rapidity of enunciation, when the exhausted 
 librarian's patience being at an end, he interrupted 
 the torrent. "However grateful the city of Tole- 
 do and myself must be for your interest and ad- 
 vice, I am grieved to repeat that my anxiety to 
 comply with your wishes is totally powerless. We 
 are without funds ; and I, for my own part, can 
 assure you that I am sans le sou. Do me the favour 
 to name any service of a less expensive nature, and 
 I shall rejoice in proving to you my entire devo- 
 tion. Excuse my impolitesse. I am called for in 
 the next room. I kiss your hand." It is need- 
 less, in fact the attempt would baffle human intel- 
 ligence, to conjecture what the real object of these 
 very liberal and very political gentlemen might be, 
 in honouring all parts of Spain with their visit. 
 
 The more distant environs of Toledo, principally 
 towards the south arid south-east, are remarkable 
 for a profusion of ruined castles. Supposing a cir- 
 cle drawn at a distance of thirty miles from Toledo 
 as its centre, and divided, as it would be, by the 
 Tagus, descending from east to west, into two equal 
 parts, the southern half, and the western portion 
 of the other, are so plentifully strewed with these
 
 218 ANCIENT CASTLES. 
 
 fortresses, that, in many instances, five or six are 
 visible from the same point of view. 
 
 A chain of low mountains crosses the southern 
 portion of the semicircle, in a parallel line with 
 the Tagus. Some of its branches advance into 
 this region, and terminate in detached peaks, which 
 have afforded to the aristocracy of former times 
 favourable positions for their strongholds; and a 
 still greater number of proprietors, not being pos- 
 sessed of the same advantages of site, were com- 
 pelled to confide in the solidity of their walls and 
 turrets, which they constructed in the plain, usually 
 adjoining the villages or towns inhabited by their 
 vassals. The greater number of these edifices are 
 of a date subsequent to the surrender of Toledo 
 to the Christians, and were erected on the distri- 
 bution of the different towns and estates among 
 the nobility, on their being successively evacuated 
 by their Moorish proprietors. The Count of Fuen- 
 salida, Duke of Frias, is the most considerable land- 
 ed proprietor on this side of Toledo, and several 
 of the ruined castles have descended to him. 
 
 I will not fatigue you by the enumeration of all 
 these remains, of which but a few are remarkable 
 for picturesque qualities, and still fewer for the pos- 
 session of historical interest, as far as can be known 
 at present. One of them, situated ten miles to the
 
 CASTLE OF ALMONACID. 219 
 
 south-east of Toledo, and visible from its immedi- 
 ate neighbourhood, attracts notice owing to its strik- 
 ing position. Occupying the summit of a conical 
 hill, which stands alone on the plain, and placed 
 at four times the elevation of Windsor Castle, you 
 expect to find it connected with the history of some 
 knightly Peveril of the Peak, but learn with sur- 
 prise that it was the stronghold of the Archbishops 
 of Toledo ; and was erected by Don Pedro Tenorio, 
 the same prelate who rebuilt the bridge of San 
 Martin, and repaired the Moorish castle of San 
 Servando. 
 
 Before you ascend the peak, you pass through 
 the village of Almonacid, from which the castle 
 takes its name, and which, unlike that more recently 
 erected pile, is completely Arab in aspect. All the 
 houses are entered through back courts, and present 
 no difference of appearance, whether shops, taverns, 
 posadas, or private residences. After tying my horse 
 in the stable of the posada, and giving him his meal 
 of barley, which he had carried in the alforjas (tra- 
 velling bags) suspended behind the saddle, I took 
 my own provisions out of the opposite receptacle, 
 and established myself before the kitchen fire. 
 
 On my asking for wine, the hostess requested I 
 would furnish her with two quartos (one halfpenny) 
 with which she purchased me a pint, at the tavern
 
 220 CASTLE OF ALMONACID. 
 
 next door. The host of the posada, who was seat- 
 ed next me, and a friend at the opposite corner of 
 the fire-place, favoured me, during my meal, with 
 their reminiscences of a battle fought here, during 
 the Peninsular war. They had not heard of the 
 English having taken any part in the quarrel, with 
 the exception of the old woman, who recollected 
 perfectly the name of Wellington, and pronounced 
 it as perfectly, but thought he had been a Spanish 
 general. They described the battle as a hard fought 
 one, and won by the French, who marched up the 
 hill with fixed bayonets, as the old host, almost blind, 
 described by assuming the attitude of a soldier jog- 
 ging up a hill, and dislodged the Spanish garrison 
 from the castle. 
 
 I could have willingly passed a week in this vil- 
 lage, so exciting are the remains of Arab manners 
 to the curiosity. The name of the place had already 
 raised my expectations, but the blind landlord of 
 the posada unconsciously won my attachment from 
 the first moment. No sooner was I seated, than, 
 leaning towards me, and patting my arm to draw 
 my attention, he pointed to his two eyes. At first 
 I was at a loss to understand him ; but soon dis- 
 covered that he was desirous of knowing whether 
 I was sufficiently versed in the mysteries of Escula- 
 pius, to prescribe for the relief of his suffering
 
 CASTLE OF ALMONACID. 221 
 
 organs. To this trait he soon added one still more 
 characteristic, by actually speaking of Toledo, by 
 its Moorish appellation Tolaite. Had he worn a 
 turban, sat cross-legged and offered me coffee and 
 a pipe, I should not have been more taken by sur- 
 prise, than by this Arab expression assailing the 
 ear, in the heart of Spain, ten miles from the town 
 itself, in which the name had probably not Jbeen 
 uttered for three or four centuries. 
 
 The builder of the castle of Almonacid must have 
 placed more confidence in the difficulties of ap- 
 proach, than in the solidity of his structure. The 
 walls are partly of stone, and partly of tapia, or 
 earth. There only remain, the exterior wall, en- 
 closing an area of about sixty to seventy yards in 
 diameter, and of a pentagonal form ; and, in the 
 centre, the keep, a quadrangular tower, somewhat 
 higher than the rest of the buildings. There are 
 no traces of living apartments. At each of the five 
 angles of the outer wall, is a small tower, and others 
 in the centres of some of the fronts ; those looking 
 to the west are circular, the rest square. The nearer 
 view of this ruin causes disappointment, as it ap- 
 pears to have been a slovenly and hasty construc- 
 tion : but, at a distance, its effect is highly pictur- 
 esque. 
 
 The castle of Montalban is situated to the south-
 
 222 CASTLE OF MONTALBAN. 
 
 west of Toledo, at a distance of six Spanish leagues. 
 It resembles, in size and importance, some of the 
 largest English castles; and justifies thus far the 
 tradition preserved here, of its having for a short 
 period, served for a royal prison Juan the Second 
 being said to have been confined there by his ex- 
 asperated favourite, Don Alvaro de Luna. This 
 story is not, however, confirmed by historians, several 
 of whom I have vainly consulted, for the purpose 
 of discovering it. Ferreras mentions the castle, or 
 rather the town, which lies at a distance of two 
 leagues (eight miles) from it, as having belonged to 
 the queen of Juan the Second ; who, he states, was 
 deprived of it, against her will, in favour of Don 
 Alvaro, and another place given her in exchange. 
 On the confiscation of the favourite's possessions, 
 previous to his decapitation, it reverted to the crown ; 
 and there is no further notice taken of it in the 
 history, until the Emperor Charles the Fifth, 
 confers on its then proprietor the title of Count. 
 This personage was Don Alonzo Tellez Giron, third 
 in descent from Juan Pacheco, Duke of Escalona, 
 who had erected Montalban into a separate fief, in 
 favour of one of his sons and his descendants, on 
 the singular condition of the family name under- 
 going a change, on each successive descent. The 
 alternate lords were to bear the names respectively
 
 CASTLE OF GUEVARA. 223 
 
 of Giron and Pacheco. The first Count of Mon- 
 talban married a daughter of D. Ladron de Guevara, 
 proprietor, a propos of castles, of that of Guevara, 
 in the neighbourhood of Vitoria, constructed in an 
 extremely singular form. The centre tower appears 
 intended to imitate the castles of a chess-board. It 
 is situated on the southern declivity of the chain 
 of mountains, a branch of the Pyrenees, which sepa- 
 rates the province of Guipuscoa from those of Na- 
 varre and Alava. 
 
 On the opposite descent of the chain another for- 
 tress existed in remote times. Both were strongholds 
 of robbers, whose descendants derived their family 
 name, Ladron (robber) from their ancestors' profes- 
 sion. In a document signed by D. Garcia Ramirez, 
 King of Navarre in 1135, D. Ladron de Guevara, 
 governor of Alava, figures among the grandees of 
 the kingdom ; the descendants were afterwards called 
 lords of Onate, and the castle is at present the pro- 
 perty of the Count de Onate, a grandee of the first 
 class. From its occupying a point strategique of con- 
 siderable importance, commanding the plain of Alava, 
 and the high road as it enters the valley of Borunda, 
 it has been in recent times occupied by the Carlists, 
 and fortified. 
 
 Montalban belongs at present to the Count of 
 Fuensalida. It is completely ruinous, but the outer
 
 224 CASTLE OF MONTALBAN. 
 
 wall is almost entire ; and one of two lofty piles 
 of building, in the form of bastions, which flanked 
 the entrance, is in sufficient preservation to allow 
 the apartments to be recognised. Their floors were 
 at a height of about eighty feet from the ground ; 
 and the mass of masonry which supported them, 
 is pierced by an immense gothic arch reaching to 
 the rooms. The opposite corresponding mass re- 
 mains also with its arch; but the upper part which 
 contained rooms, no longer exists. On this, the en- 
 trance side, the approach is almost level, and the 
 defence consisted of a narrow and shallow moat ; 
 but the three other sides, the fortress being of a 
 quadrangular form, look down into a deep ravine, 
 through which a river, issuing from the left, passes 
 dawn^two sides of the castle, and makes for the val- 
 ley of the Tagus, which river is seen at a distance 
 of five or six miles. 
 
 The precipice at the furthest side descends per- 
 pendicularly, and is composed of rocks in the wildest 
 form. The river below leaps from rock to rock, and 
 foams through a bed so tormented, that, although 
 owing to its depth of at least five hundred feet from 
 the foundations of the castle, it looks almost like a 
 thread, it sends up a roar not less loud than that of 
 the breakers under Shakspeare's Cliff. The valley, 
 opening for its passage, gives to the view, first, the
 
 CASTLE OF MONTALBAN. 225 
 
 Tagus, on the opposite bank of which lies the town 
 of Montalban, dependant on the lords of the castle ; 
 beyond it an extensive plain, dotted with castles and 
 towns, most of them on the road from Madrid to 
 Talavera ; and at the horizon the Sierra del Duque, 
 coated with snow from about half its height upwards. 
 The extent of the view is about sixty miles. 
 
 The outer enceinte of the castle of Montalban en- 
 closes a space of five or six acres in extent, in which 
 no buildings remain, with the exception of the pic- 
 turesque ruin of a small chapel in the centre. Like 
 almost all other residences possessed of scenery suffi- 
 ciently precipitous, this castle boasts its lover's leap. 
 A projection of wall is pointed out, looking over the 
 most perpendicular portion of the ravine, to which a 
 tradition is attached, deprived by time of all tangible 
 distinctness, if ever it possessed any. The title given 
 to the spot in this instance is " The Leap of the 
 Moorish Girl," Despenadera de la Mora. The posi- 
 tion will probably bear no comparison with the Leu- 
 cadi an promontory ; nor is it equal to the Pena de 
 los Enamorados, near Antequera, in Andalucia, im- 
 mortal likewise in the annals of passion, and of which 
 the authentic story is preserved. Of those in our 
 country I could name one but I will not, though 
 few know it better nor is it the meanest of its tribe. 
 But with these exceptions I know of none among the 
 
 Q
 
 226 
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. 
 
 numerous plagiarisms of the famous lover's leap of 
 antiquity that offers to despair in search of the pic- 
 turesque more attractions than the Despeiiadera of 
 Montalban. 
 
 The best preserved castle of these environs, and 
 the handsomest building, is that of Guadamur. It is 
 not large, but it is impossible for a residence-fortress 
 to be more complete, and more compact. It is com- 
 posed of three enclosures, one within the other, and 
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. 
 
 forms a quadrangle, with the addition of a lofty and 
 massive tower, projecting from one of the angles. 
 The centre, or inner quadrangle, is about half the
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. 227 
 
 height of the tower, and has, at its three remaining 
 angles, and at the centre of each front, an elegant 
 circular turret. This portion of the edifice formed 
 a commodious and handsome residence. It was di- 
 vided into two stories, with vaulted ceilings, the 
 lower apartments being probably set apart for the 
 offices of attendants, and places of confinement for 
 prisoners : in the centre of the upper story was a 
 diminutive open court, supported by the vaults of 
 the ground-floor, and into which a series of elegantly 
 proportioned rooms opened on all sides. Although 
 the greater part of the vaults and interior walls are 
 fallen in, the rooms are all to be traced, and inscrip- 
 tions in the old Gothic letter run round the walls of 
 some of the apartments. A second enclosure rises 
 to about two-thirds of the elevation of the inner 
 quadrangle, and is provided with corresponding tur- 
 rets ; but the proportions of these are more spacious, 
 and their construction and ornament more massive. 
 Beyond this are the exterior defences rising out of the 
 moat, and very little above the surrounding ground. 
 
 Viewed from without, nothing indicates that this 
 edifice is a ruin. Over the entrance are the arms of 
 the Counts of Fuensalida. It is supposed by many 
 that this castle was erected by Garcilaso de la Vega, 
 grandfather of the " Prince of Spanish poets," as the 
 celebrated bard of Toledo is entitled. Others main- 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. 
 
 tain its founder to have been Pedro Lopez de Ayala, 
 first Count of Fuensalida. This latter story is the 
 more probable one ; since, besides its being confirmed 
 by the armorial shield above mentioned, it has been 
 adopted by Haro in his Nobiliario, a work drawn up 
 with care and research, in which Garcilaso de la 
 Vega is stated to have purchased some towns from 
 the family of Ayala, among others Cuerva, in the 
 near neighbourhood, but not Guadamur. 
 
 The Ayalas were descended from the house of 
 Haro, lords of Biscay. Several of them had held 
 high offices at the Court of Castile. The grandfather 
 of the founder of the castle had been High Chan- 
 cellor of Castile, and Great Chamberlain of Juan the 
 First ; and his father, the first lord of Fuensalida, 
 was High Steward, and first Alcalde of Toledo. He 
 lost an eye at the siege of Antequera, taken from 
 the Moors by Ferdinand, afterwards King of Aragon, 
 in the year 1410, and thus acquired the surname of 
 the One-eyed. To him Juan II. first granted the 
 faculty of converting his possessions into hereditary 
 fiefs : " Because," according to one of the clauses of 
 the act, " it was just that the houses of the grandees 
 should remain entire in their state for the eldest 
 son ; and in order that the eldest sons of the 
 grandees might be maintained in the estates of 
 their predecessors, that the name and memory of the
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. 229 
 
 grandees of the kingdom might not be lost, and that 
 the hereditary possessions and houses, and the gene- 
 rations of the sons of grandees might be preserved." 
 
 It was Pedro Lopez de Ayala, son of the one-eyed 
 lord of Fuensalida created Count by Enrique the 
 Fourth, that built the castle. He was a great favou- 
 rite with the king, and his constant companion, not- 
 withstanding his being afflicted with deafness a bad 
 defect in a courtier, and which procured him also 
 a surname. He succeeded his father in his diffe- 
 rent dignities. His loyalty did not keep pace with 
 his obligations to Henry the Fourth ; for, being first 
 Alcalde of Toledo, he made no effort to prevent that 
 town from joining the party of the Prince Alonzo, who 
 pretended to his brother's crown ; but he was recalled 
 to his allegiance by the devoted exertions of his wife. 
 
 This lady was Dona Maria de Silva, a daughter of 
 Alonzo Tenorio de Silva, Adelantado of Cazorla. On 
 the breaking out of the rebellion of Toledo, she 
 agreed with her brother Pedro de Silva, Bishop of 
 Badajos, to send a joint letter to the king, in which 
 they pressed him to come to Toledo in disguise. 
 Enrique the Fourth approved of the plan ; and 
 arriving in the night, accompanied by a single at- 
 tendant, was received by the bishop at his residence 
 in the convent of San Pedro Martir. Notwithstand- 
 ing the darkness, he had been recognised by a ser-
 
 A :r;vd 
 
 >r T<"ir<JC.*fr. ret IvlT 
 
 -~ J"**T 
 .T-^ _ X 
 
 j, pt 
 
 RiObeia* a putiaun of Prince 
 iwdialdhr leaning the 
 kalde. wi kad oot 
 wife, and called the 
 Ife great befl rf the 
 aesodbkd at the 
 
 bBtt F 
 
 '-rz* '!**. r. Iiaftl 
 
 and 
 
 it brPenfiMnfe Rihera. 
 avushal,. to entreat the 
 rr eoaaented; and at 
 bj the 
 
 is tr is 
 
 Ajrala to lad 
 
 ;Ll.f 
 1-ir: 
 
 :i 
 
 In 
 
 die tfu
 
 
 
 CASTLE OF GUADAMUR. i: 
 
 vie, a deed of gift of seventy thousand maravedu of 
 anual revenue. 
 
 The grief of Maria de Silva at the failure of her 
 piject was such as almost to deprive her of her 
 reson, and added to the eloquence of her en- 
 trades to win over her husband to the king's 
 
 Iinerests. He now, therefore, exerted himself to gain 
 th principal citizens, and succeeded so completely, 
 tht within three days from the departure of Enrique 
 th Fourth, he was enabled to recall the Bishop of 
 Bdajos to Toledo, and to banish in his stead the 
 Mrshal de Payo and his son, who retired to their 
 esttes. Unanimous was now the cry of **Viva 
 Erique Quarto, y Mueren los rebeldes!" and the 
 fobwing day, a Sunday, the king re-entered Toledo 
 in he midst of the general joy and festivity, and 
 preceded directly to the residence of the Alcalde, 
 in order to thank his wife for her loyal efforts. 
 A lodging was there in readiness to receive him, 
 wlch he occupied during his stay in Toledo. Pedro 
 Locz de Ayala received on the king's return to 
 Mdrid the title of Count of his town of Fuensalida, 
 an( shortly afterwards, at Medina del Carnpo, a grant 
 of he towns of Casaruvias del monte, Chocas, and 
 Arpyomolinos. 
 
 lie town and castle of Escalona are situated at 
 eigt leagues, or thirty-two miles, to the east of
 
 232 CASTLE OF ESCALONA. 
 
 Toledo. It is one of the towns, about a dozen in 
 number, the foundation of which is attributed by the 
 Count de Mora, in his history of Toledo, to the Jews. 
 He fixes the date at about five centuries before the 
 Christian era, when a large number of Israelites, to 
 whom Cyrus, king of Babylon, had granted their 
 liberty, arrived in Spain under the guidance of a 
 Captain Pirrus, and fixed themselves principally in 
 and around Toledo. He also states that the syna- 
 gogue of Toledo since called Santa Maria la Blanca 
 was erected by them. The name given by them to 
 Escalona was Ascalon. The neighbouring Maqueda 
 was another of their towns, and was called Mazeda. 
 It was created a duchy by Ferdinand and Isabella in 
 favour of their courtier Cardenas. I cannot learn 
 the date of the castle of Escalona. Alonzo the Sixth 
 won the town from the Moors ; and it is probable 
 that the castle was erected, at least in part, by Diego 
 and Domingo Alvarez, two brothers, to whom he 
 granted the place. After their death it reverted to 
 the crown of Castile, and continued to be royal pro- 
 perty until Juan II. gave it to his favourite Don 
 Alvaro de Luna. 
 
 . This grandee was known to have amassed great 
 treasures in the castle ; and on the confiscation of 
 his possessions at the period of his final disgrace, the 
 king marched an army to take possession of the
 
 CASTLE OF ESCALONA. 233 
 
 fortress ; but the countess held out successfully, and 
 obliged the royal troops to raise the siege. On a 
 second attempt, made after Don Alvaro's execution, 
 his widow considered she had no further object in 
 maintaining it, and lost no time in coming to terms. 
 The conditions of the surrender were, that the trea- 
 sure should be divided into three equal parts, one 
 for the king, another for herself, and the third for 
 her son. The son was likewise allowed to inherit the 
 castle, and by the marriage of his daughter, it came 
 into the possession of the Marquis of Villena, D. 
 Lopez Pacheco, created Duke of Escalona rbjTHenry 
 the Fourth. The family of Fellez Giron, proprietors 
 of Montalban, were descendants of this duke. At 
 present the castle of Escalona belongs to the Duke 
 of Ossuna. It is not only the most considerable of 
 the numerous ruins disposed over the territory of 
 Toledo, but one of the most interesting historical 
 relics of Spain, having filled an important place in 
 the annals of several of the most stirring periods. 
 The unfortunate Blanche, Queen of Pedro the Cruel, 
 was its inmate during several years ; as also her rival, 
 Maria de Padilla, at a subsequent period. 
 
 The best excursion from Toledo in point of archi- 
 tectural interest, is that to Torijos, a small town 
 situated rather to the left of the direct road to 
 Escalona, and five leagues distant. Immediately
 
 234 CASTLE OF BARCIENSE. 
 
 before arriving there, the castle of Barciense is met 
 with, situated on an eminence which commands an 
 admirable view, extending south and west to a semi- 
 circle of mountains, composed of the Sierra del 
 Duque, and the chain called the mountains of To- 
 ledo, and for a foreground looking down on a perfect 
 forest of olive-grounds, surrounding the town of 
 Torijos, two miles distant. The ruin of Barciense 
 consists of a lofty square tower, and the outer walls 
 of a quadrangle. There is nothing worth notice, 
 with the exception of a bas-relief, which occupies all 
 the upper half of the tower on the east side. It con- 
 sists of a solitary lion rampant ; probably the largest 
 crest ever emblazoned. The Dukes of Infantado 
 were proprietors of this castle. 
 
 The little town of Torijos contains a Gothic, or 
 rather semi-Moorish palace, two Gothic churches, an 
 ancient picturesque gateway, and the ruins of a mag- 
 nificent monastery. It is one of those towns here 
 and there met with on the Continent, which, at a 
 favourable crisis of the arts, have fallen to the pro- 
 prietorship of one of those individuals idolised by 
 architects men whose overplus of fortune is placed 
 at the disposal of their eyes, and employed in minis- 
 tering to the gratification of those organs. The 
 greater part of the decoration of Torijos dates from 
 the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic, when it be-
 
 TORIJOS. 235 
 
 longed to D. Gutiere de Cardenas, father of the first 
 duke of Maqueda. The following story is related 
 respecting the founding of the monastery by his 
 wife Teresa Enriquez. 
 
 This lady resided, when at Toledo, in a mansion, 
 the ruins of which still exist, on the opposite side of 
 the street to the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, 
 of which I sent you a description in a former letter. 
 Being warmly attached to religious observances, (for 
 she went by the name of Teresa la Santa,) and ani- 
 mated with an enthusiastic fervour towards everything 
 which appertained to the splendid establishment in 
 front of her residence, she had discovered a position, 
 from which a view could be obtained, overlooking 
 the principal scene of the religious ceremonies of the 
 Franciscans. She there caused a window to be 
 constructed, splendidly ornamented in the Arab style, 
 and kneeling on a rich prie-dieu, she united her daily 
 devotions with those of ihefrailes. 
 
 No small sensation was caused by this proceeding, 
 most perceptible probably within the monastery, on 
 the discovery being made by the brethren of the 
 addition to their holy fraternity. The cardinal be- 
 came alarmed, and intimated to Dona Teresa that 
 the window was ill-placed, that it admitted too much 
 light in a wrong direction; that, in short, it must 
 disappear. The veto of the all-powerful Ximenes de
 
 236 TORIJOS. 
 
 Cisneros, already regarded as the dispenser of the 
 royal frowns and favours, could not be resisted. The 
 window was blocked up ; but the interference was 
 replied to in terms pointed with pious pique and 
 holy revenge. The lady declared verbally to the 
 prelate that she had no need of his convent, for she 
 would found a more splendid one at Torijos. This 
 threat, immediately put in execution, produced the 
 building I mentioned above, the ruin of which is all 
 that now remains. 
 
 Of the inhabited portions the external walls alone 
 remain. The cloister is almost entire, and the church 
 has only lost its roof. The rich tracery surrounding 
 the doorways, and the sculpture in all parts of the 
 interior, consisting chiefly of repetitions of the 
 founder's armorial bearings in imitation or satire of 
 the profusion of similar ornament in San Juan de los 
 Reyes are entire, and appear as though they had 
 been recently executed. The church is designed 
 after the plan of San Juan, but the style of its orna- 
 ment is much more elegant. The cloister is, how- 
 ever, very inferior to that of Toledo, and the whole 
 establishment on a smaller scale. 
 
 Every traveller in search of the picturesque knows 
 in how great a degree his satisfaction has been in- 
 creased whenever the meeting with a scene deserving 
 of his admiration assumes the nature of a discovery.
 
 TORIJOS. 237 
 
 For this reason, the chapters of tourists should never 
 be perused before a journey independently of their 
 possessing more interest subsequently to an ac- 
 quaintance having been made with the country de- 
 scribed. Strictly speaking written tours are intended 
 for those who stay at home. 
 
 But the most favourable first view of a highly ad- 
 mirable building or landscape, is the one you obtain 
 after the perusal of tours and descriptions of the 
 country, in none of which any notice is taken of that 
 particular object or scene. The village of Torijos is 
 approached under these advantageous circumstances. 
 Every step is a surprise, owing partly to the abov 
 cause, and partly to one's being inured to the almost 
 universal dreariness and ugliness of the villages and 
 small towns of this part of Spain. The appearance 
 under these circumstances of a beautiful Gothic cross 
 and fountain, of an original and uncommon design, 
 outside the walls of the place, and the open tracery 
 of the tall windows of the ruined monastery at the 
 other side of a green meadow, creates an agreeable 
 surprise, and adds considerably to the pleasure which 
 would be derived from the same objects, had ex- 
 pectation been already feeding on their beauties. 
 Imagine, then, the discovery, after leaving behind 
 these monuments, (sufficient for the immortality of 
 a score of Castilian villages,) of the facade of the
 
 238 TORIJOS. 
 
 principal church, consisting of one of the richest and 
 most exquisite specimens of Gothic decoration in 
 Spain ; and, a street further on, of a second orna- 
 mental portal of a different sort, but Gothic likewise, 
 giving access to a half Arab palace. 
 
 The Count of Altamira is the proprietor of this 
 place, but neither he nor any of his family have 
 inhabited the edifice for several years, and it is al- 
 lowed to go to decay.' Some of the artesonado ceil- 
 ings, more especially that of the chapel in form of 
 a cupola, admit the light through the joinings of the 
 gilded woodwork. A large hall on the first-floor, 
 which formed the anteroom to a suite of inner apart- 
 ments, decorated in the Arab style, has been taken 
 possession of by the haute volee of Torijos for their 
 public ball-room. A tribune for musicians is placed 
 against one of the end walls, and adorned with paper 
 festoons. A placard, inscribed with the word galop, 
 was visible in front of the seat of the leader of the 
 band, indicating that the Torijos balls terminate with 
 that lively dance. There was no furniture in that 
 nor any other part of the house, with the exception 
 of an entresol inhabited by the count's steward. 
 This person no sooner learned that I was an English- 
 man, than he commenced setting in the best possible 
 light the advantages the premises possessed for the 
 establishment of every sort of manufactory.
 
 TORIJOS. 239 
 
 It appears the proprietor is anxious to dispose of 
 the building ; and as all the English pass here for 
 manufacturers, owing to the principal articles of 
 common use, introduced by smugglers, being Eng- 
 lish, the worthy factotum had instantly made up his 
 mind that I was the purchaser sent by Providence to 
 take the old edifice off his master's hands. He is 
 evidently either promised a bonus on the success of 
 his efforts to sell, or he wished to pass with the pro- 
 perty ; for his idea produced a degree of zeal most 
 useful towards the satisfaction of my curiosity, and 
 without which his patience would have been ex- 
 hausted before I had completed the view of the buil( 
 ing. One peculiarity of the rooms consists in the 
 ceilings that is, the ornamental ones being nearly 
 all either domes, or interiors of truncated pyramids. 
 There is only one flat. It is ornamented with the 
 shell of the arms of the Cardenas family each of the 
 hundreds of little square compartments having one 
 in its centre. The staircase is adorned with beau- 
 tiful Gothic tracery.
 
 240 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 VALLADOLID. SAN PABLO. COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. ROUTE 
 
 BY SARAGOZA. 
 
 Tolosa. 
 
 I SHOULD have sent you an account of my ex- 
 cursion to Valladolid at the time it took place, but 
 was prevented by the shortness of my stay and the 
 hurry of my departure from Madrid, which imme- 
 diately followed. I preserved, however, memoranda 
 of the limited explorations which were to be made 
 during a flying visit of three days, and will now 
 give you the benefit of them, such as they are ; as 
 also of my experience of the public travelling in that 
 direction. You will recommend your friends, who 
 may visit this land of adventure, and are careful at 
 the same time of their personal comforts, to wait the 
 introduction of railroads, before attempting this ex- 
 cursion, when you hear hat I met with three upsets 
 in one night, and was afforded, in all, nearly five 
 hours' leisure for contemplating the effect of moon- 
 light upon the sleeping mules and an upside-down 
 carriage !
 
 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 241 
 
 The town of Valladolid contains monuments of 
 much interest, although none of great antiquity. 
 The greater number date from the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries, and form a chain, illustrative 
 of the progress of architecture in this country, sub- 
 sequently to the abandonment of the Gothic style. 
 This style is, however, worthily represented by two 
 edifices, placed in juxtaposition, and ornamented 
 each with a facade of extraordinary richness. I will 
 content myself with the endeavour to give you some 
 idea of these two buildings, which, although belong- 
 ing to a style so common in Engtandr-an4^F 
 are totally unlike all the Gothic specimens I am 
 acquainted with in those countries. 
 
 The largest of the two is the monastery of San 
 Pablo. It was a foundation of much magnificence, 
 and the building has sustained very little injury, 
 owing to its having, immediately on the expulsion 
 of the monks, been applied to other uses, instead 
 of being deserted and left to decay. It is now a 
 Presidio, or central prison for condemned malefac- 
 tors. The cloister is a superb quadrangle, of the 
 pointed style of the end of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, and is the usual resort of the prisoners, who 
 are grouped so thickly over its pavement, that it 
 is with difficulty one passes between them, with- 
 out adding to the clanking of chains as their wearers 
 
 R
 
 242 
 
 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 
 
 change their posture to make way. The facade 
 of the church is enclosed between two small octagon 
 towers without ornament, like a picture in a frame. 
 Within these all is sculpture. The door-way is 
 formed of a triple concentric arch, flanked by rows 
 
 FAiJADE OF SAN PABLO. 
 
 of statues, all of which are enclosed within another 
 arch, which extends across the whole width, from
 
 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 243 
 
 tower to tower. Over this there is a circular win- 
 dow, surrounded with armorial escutcheons, and 
 the remainder of the facade is covered with groups 
 of figures in compartments, up to the summit, a 
 height of about a hundred and thirty feet, where 
 there is a pediment ornamented with an immense 
 armorial shield and lions rampant as supporters, 
 and the whole is surmounted by a cross. 
 
 The church was erected by the celebrated Tor- 
 quemada, who was a monk in the establishment. 
 Doria Maria, Queen of Sancho the Fourth, although 
 mentioned as the founder of the^ -monastery, only 
 completed a small portion of the edifice compared 
 to what was subsequently added. A handsome tomb 
 by Pompeyo Leoni, is seen in the church. It is 
 that of Don Francisco de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma, 
 and his wife. The woodwork of the stalls is by 
 Ferrara. It is adorned with fluted Doric columns, 
 and is composed of walnut, ebony, box and cedar. 
 The superb facade of this church and its sumptuous 
 tracery, had well nigh been the cause of a misun- 
 derstanding between the representative of the Span- 
 ish Government and myself. To obtain admission 
 to the interior of the building, which I was told 
 had become national property, I addressed my hum- 
 ble request in writing to the gefe politico, or gover- 
 nor of the province, resident at Valladolid. I left
 
 244 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 
 
 the note at his official residence, and was requested 
 to return at an hour appointed, when I was to ob- 
 tain an audience. The functions of a gefe politico 
 answer to those of no provincial functionary in Eng- 
 land, or any other constitutional state he has more 
 authority even than a Prefet in France. He re- 
 presents the monarchical power, with this difference, 
 that he is uncontrolled by parliament within the 
 limits of his province. Although not charged with 
 the military administration, he can direct and dis- 
 pose of the armed force ; besides being a sort of local 
 home minister and police magistrate ; in fact, the 
 factotum or dme damnee of the Cromwell of the 
 moment, with whom he is in direct and constant 
 communication on the affairs of his district. 
 
 I was at Valladolid during the regency of Es- 
 partero, when the cue given to these functionaries, 
 relative to the surveillance of foreigners was very 
 anti-French, and favourable to England. Now in 
 the eyes of a gens-d'armes every one is a thief 
 until he can bring proof to the contrary, just as by 
 the jurisprudence of certain continental countries, 
 every accused is presumed criminal just as every 
 one who comes to a Jew is presumed by him 
 to have old clothes to sell, or money to borrow. 
 Thus, owing to the nature of the duties of the 
 Governor of Valladolid, every foreigner who met
 
 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 245 
 
 his eye, was a Frenchman, and an intrigant, until 
 he should prove the reverse. 
 
 Not being aware of this at the time, I had drawn 
 up my petition in French. On my return for the 
 answer, my reception was any thing but encourag- 
 ing. The excessive politeness of the Spaniard was 
 totally lost sight of, and I perceived a moody-looking, 
 motionless official, seated at a desk, with his hat 
 resting on his eyebrows, and apparently studying a 
 newspaper. I stood in the middle of the room for 
 two or three minutes unnoticed ; after which, deign- 
 ing to lift his head, the personage inquired in a, grui 
 tone, why I did not open my cloak. I was not as 
 yet acquainted with the Spanish custom of draw- 
 ing the end of the cloak from off the left shoulder, 
 on entering a room. I therefore only half under- 
 stood the question, and, being determined, at what- 
 ever price, to see San Pablo, I took off my cloak, 
 laid it on a chair, and returned to face the official. 
 " I took the liberty of requesting your permission to 
 view the ancient monastery of San Pablo.'' " And, 
 pray, what is your reason for wishing to see San 
 Pablo ?" " Curiosity."" Oh, that is all, is it !" " I 
 own likewise, that, had I found that the interior 
 corresponded, in point of architectural merit, with 
 the facade, I might have presumed to wish to 
 sketch it, and carry away the drawing in my port-
 
 246 MONASTERY OF SAN PABLO. 
 
 manteau."- "Oh, no doubt very great merit. You 
 are a Frenchman?" "I beg your pardon, only an 
 Englishman."- " You! an Englishman!!" No an- 
 swer. " And pray, from what part of England do you 
 come ? " I declined the county, parish, and house. 
 
 These English expressions, which I had expected 
 would come upon his ear, with the same familiarity 
 as if they had been Ethiopian or Chinese, produced 
 a sudden revolution in my favour. The Solomon 
 became immediately sensible of the extreme tact 
 he had been displaying. Addressing me in perfect 
 English, he proceeded to throw the blame of my 
 brutal reception on the unfortunate state of his 
 country. " All the French," he said, " who come 
 here, come with the intention of intriguing and do- 
 ing us harm. You wrote to me in French, and that 
 was the cause of my error. The monastery is now 
 a prison ; I will give you an order to view it, but 
 you will not find it an agreeable scene, it is full of 
 criminals in chains." And he proceeded to prepare 
 the order. 
 
 Not having recovered the compliment of being 
 taken for a conspirator ; nor admiring the civilisa- 
 tion of the governor of a province, who supposed that 
 all the thirty-four millions of French, must be in- 
 trigant$t I received his civilities in silence, took the 
 order, and my departure. The most curious part
 
 COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. 247 
 
 of the affair was, that I had no passport at the time, 
 having lost it on the road. Had my suspicious in- 
 terrogator ascertained this before making the dis- 
 covery that I was English, I should inevitably have 
 been treated to more of San Pablo than I desired, 
 or than would have been required for drawing it in 
 detail. 
 
 The adjoining building is smaller, and with less 
 pretension to magnificence is filled with details far 
 more elaborate and curious. The Gothic architec- 
 ture, like the Greek, assumed as a base and principle 
 of decoration the imitation of the supposed primitive 
 abodes of rudest invention. The OreeLversiotf of 
 the idea is characterised by all the grace and finished 
 elegance peculiar to its inventors ; while the same 
 principle in the hands of the framers of Gothic archi- 
 tecture, gave birth to a style less pure and less re- 
 fined ; but bolder, more true to its origin, and ca- 
 pable of more varied application. In both cases may 
 be traced the imitation of the trunks of trees ; but 
 it is only in the Gothic style that the branches are 
 added, and that instances are found of the repre- 
 sentation of the knots and the bark. In this archi- 
 tecture, the caverns of the interior of mountains 
 are evidently intended by the deep, multiplied, and 
 diminishing arches, which form the entrances of ca- 
 thedrals ; and the rugged exterior of the rocky mass,
 
 248 COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. 
 
 which might enclose such a primaeval abode, is 
 imaged in the uneven and pinnacled walls. 
 
 The facade of the college of San Gregorio, adjoin- 
 ing San Pablo, furnishes an example of the Gothic 
 decoration brought back to its starting point. The 
 tree is here in its state of nature ; and contributes 
 its trunk, branches, leaves, and its handfuls of twigs 
 bound together. A grove is represented, composed 
 of strippling stems, the branches of some of which, 
 united and bound together, curve over, and form 
 a broad arch, which encloses the door-way. At each 
 side is a row of hairy savages, each holding in one 
 hand a club resting on the ground, and in the 
 other an armorial shield. The intervals of the sculp- 
 ture are covered with tracery, representing entwined 
 twigs, like basket-work. Over the door is- a stone 
 fourteen feet long by three in height, covered with 
 fleurs-de-lis on a ground of wicker-work, producing 
 the effect of muslin. Immediately over the arch is a 
 large flower-pot, in which is planted a pomegranate 
 tree. Its branches spread on either side and bear 
 fruit, besides a quantity of little Cupids, which cling 
 to them in all directions. In the upper part they 
 enclose a large armorial escutcheon, with lions for 
 supporters. The arms are those of the founder of 
 the college, Alonzo de Burgos, Bishop of Palencia. 
 On either side of this design, and separated respec-

 
 COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. 
 
 249 
 
 tively by stems of slight trees, are compartments 
 containing armed warriors in niches, and armorial 
 shields. All the ornaments I have enumerated cover 
 the facade up to its summit, along which project 
 entwined branches and sticks, represented as broken 
 off at different lengths. 
 
 The court of this edifice is as elaborately orna- 
 mented as the facade, but it was executed at a much 
 
 COURT OF SAN GREGORIO. VALLADOLID. 
 
 later period, and belongs to the renaissance. The 
 pillars are extremely elegant and uncommon. The 
 doorway of the library is well worthy of notice ; also
 
 250 COLLEGE OF SAN GREGORIO. 
 
 that of the refectory. The college of San Gregorio 
 was, in its day, the most distinguished in Spain. 
 Such was the reputation it had acquired, that the 
 being announced as having studied there was a 
 sufficient certificate for the proficiency of a professor 
 in science and erudition. It is still a college, but no 
 longer enjoys the same exclusive renown. In the 
 centre of the chapel is the tomb of the founder, 
 covered with excellent sculpture, representing the 
 four virtues, and the figures of three saints and the 
 Virgin. It is surrounded by a balustrade orna- 
 mented with elaborate carving. Berruguete is sup- 
 posed to have been the sculptor, but in the uncer- 
 tainty which exists on the subject, it would not be 
 difficult to make a better guess, as it is very superior 
 to all the works I have seen attributed to that artist. 
 At the foot of the statue of the bishop is the follow- 
 ing short inscription, " Operibus credite." To this 
 prelate was due the facade of San Pablo ; he was 
 a Dominican monk at Burgos, where he founded 
 several public works. He became confessor, chief 
 chaplain, and preacher to Isabel the Catholic : after- 
 wards Bishop of Cordova ; and was ultimately 
 translated to the see of Palencia. He received the 
 sobriquet of Fray Mortero, as some say from the 
 form of his face, added to the unpopularity which he 
 shared with the two other favorites of Ferdinand
 
 JOURNEY FROM TOLEDO. 251 
 
 and Isabella, the Duke of Maqueda, and Cardinal 
 Ximenes, with whom he figured in a popular triplet 
 which at that period circulated throughout Spain, 
 
 Cardenas, el Cardenal, 
 Con el padre Fray Mortero, 
 Fraen el reyno al retortero. ] 
 
 which may be freely translated thus : 
 
 What with his Grace the Cardinal, 
 With Cardenas, and Father Mortar, 
 Spain calls aloud for quarter ! quarter ! ", 
 
 The concise inscription seen on the tomb, was 
 probably meant as an answer to this satire, and to the 
 injurious opinion generally received respecting his 
 character. 
 
 I returned from Toledo by way of Madrid and 
 Saragoza. The diligence track from Toledo to 
 Madrid was in a worse state than at the time of my 
 arrival : a circumstance by no means surprising, since 
 what with the wear and tear of carts and carriages, 
 aided by that of the elements, and unopposed by 
 human labour, it must deteriorate gradually until 
 it becomes impassable. Since my last visit to the 
 Museo the equestrian portrait of Charles the Fifth 
 by Titian has been restored. It was in so degraded 
 a condition that the lower half, containing the fore- 
 ground and the horses' legs, presented scarcely a 
 distinguishable object. It has been handled with
 
 252 KINGDOM OF ARAGON. 
 
 care and talent, and, in its present position in the 
 centre of the gallery, it now disputes the palm with 
 the Spasimo, and is worth the journey to Madrid, 
 were there nothing else to be seen there. I paid 
 another visit to the Saint Elizabeth in the Academy, 
 and to the Museum of Natural History, contained 
 in the upper floor of the same building. This gallery 
 boasts the possession of an unique curiosity ; the 
 entire skeleton of a Megatherion strides over the 
 well-furnished tables of one of the largest rooms. I 
 believe an idea of this gigantic animal can nowhere 
 else be formed. The head must have measured 
 about the dimensions of an elephant's body. 
 
 From Castile into Aragon the descent is continual, 
 and the difference of climate is easily perceptible. 
 Vineyards here climb the mountains, and the plains 
 abound with olive-grounds, which are literally 
 forests, and in which the plants attain to the growth 
 of those of Andalucia. In corresponding proportion 
 to the improving country, complaints are heard of its 
 population. Murders and robberies form the subject 
 of conversations; and certain towns are selected 
 as more especially mal-composees, for the head- 
 quarters of strong bodies of guardia civile ; without 
 which precaution travelling would here be attended 
 with no small peril. This state of things is at- 
 tributed partly to the disorganising effects of the
 
 KINGDOM OF ARAGON. 253 
 
 recent civil war, which raged with peculiar violence 
 in this province. The same causes have operated 
 less strongly in the adjoining Basque provinces, from 
 their having to act on a population of a different 
 character, colder, more industrious, and more pacifi- 
 cally disposed, and without the desperate sternness 
 and vindictive temper of the Aragonese. 
 
 The inhabitants of this province differ in costume 
 and appearance from the rest of the Spaniards. Im- 
 mediately on setting foot on the Aragonese territory, 
 you are struck by the view of some peasant at the 
 road-side : his black broad-brimmed hat, waist- 
 coat, breeches, and stockings all of the same hue, 
 varied only by the broad faja, or sash of purple, 
 make his tall erect figure almost pass for that of 
 a Presbyterian clergyman, cultivating his Highland 
 garden. The natives of Aragon have not the 
 vivacity and polished talkativeness of the Andalucian 
 and other Spaniards ; they are reserved, slow, and 
 less prompt to engage in conversation, and often 
 abrupt ^nd blunt in their replies. These qualities 
 are not, however, carried so far as to silence the 
 continual chatter of the interior of a Spanish diligence. 
 Spanish travelling opens the sluices of communi- 
 cativeness even of an Aragonese, as it would those 
 of the denizens of a first class vehicle of a Great 
 Western train, were they exposed during a short 
 time to its vicissitudes.
 
 254 SARAGOZA. 
 
 However philosophers may explain the pheno- 
 menon, it is certain that the talkativeness of 
 travellers augments in an inverse ratio to their 
 comforts. The Spaniards complain of the silence 
 of a French diligence ; while, to a Frenchman, the 
 occupants of the luxurious corners of an English 
 railroad conveyance, must appear to be afflicted with 
 dumbness. 
 
 Saragoza is one of the least attractive of Spanish 
 towns. Its situation is as flat and uninteresting 
 as its streets are ugly and monotonous. The ancient 
 palace of the sovereigns of Aragon is now the 
 Ayuntamiento. It would form, in the present day, 
 but a sorry residence for a private individual, al- 
 though it presents externally a massive and imposing 
 aspect. Its interior is almost entirely sacrificed to an 
 immense hall, called now the Lonja. It is a Gothic 
 room, containing two rows of pillars, supporting a 
 groined ceiling. It is used for numerous assemblies, 
 elections, and sometimes for the carnival balls. The 
 ancient Cathedral of La Seu is a gothic edifice, of 
 great beauty internally ; but the natives are still 
 prouder of the more modern church called Nuestra 
 Senora del Pilar, an immense building in the 
 Italian style, erected for the accommodation of 
 a statue of the Virgin found on the spot, standing 
 on a pillar. This image is the object of peculiar 
 veneration.
 
 TUDELA. 255 
 
 After leaving Saragoza you are soon in the Basque 
 provinces. The first considerable town is Tudela in 
 Navarre ; and here we were strongly impressed with 
 the unbusinesslike nature of the Spaniard. This 
 people, thoroughly good-natured and indefatigable 
 in rendering a service, when the necessity arises for 
 application to occupations of daily routine appear to 
 exercise less intelligence than some other nations. 
 It is probably owing to this cause that at Madrid the 
 anterooms of the Foreign Office, situated in the 
 palace, are, at four in the afternoon, the scene of 
 much novelty and animation. In a town measuring 
 no more than a mile and a half in each direction, 
 the inexperienced stranger usually puts off to the last 
 day of his stay the business of procuring his passport, 
 and he is taken by surprise on finding it to be the 
 most busy day of all. Little did he expect that the 
 four or five visas will not be obtained in less than 
 forty-eight hours : and he pays for his place in 
 the diligence or mail (always paid in advance) 
 several days before. It is consequently worth while 
 to attend in person at the Secretary of State's 
 office, in search of one's passport, in order to witness 
 the scene. 
 
 The hour for the delivery of these inevitable 
 documents, coincides with the shutting up for the 
 day of all the embassies : so that those which
 
 256 TUDELA. 
 
 require the subsequent visa of an ambassador, have 
 to wait twenty-four hours. Hence the victims of 
 official indifference, finding themselves disappointed of 
 their departure, and minus the value of a place in the 
 mail, give vent to their dissatisfaction in a variety 
 of languages, forming a singular contrast to the 
 phlegmatic and impassible porters and ushers, ac- 
 customed to the daily repetition of similar scenes. 
 Some, rendered unjust by adversity, loudly accuse 
 the government of complicity with the hotel-keepers. 
 I saw a Frenchman whose case was cruel. His 
 passport had been prepared at his embassy, and as 
 he was only going to France, there were no more 
 formalities necessary, but the visa of the police, and 
 that of the foreign office. All was done but the 
 last, and he was directed to call at four o'clock. 
 His place was retained in that evening's mail, and 
 being a mercantile traveller, both time and cash were 
 of importance to him. On applying at the appointed 
 hour, his passport was returned to him without the 
 visa, because the French Secretary had, in a fit of 
 absence, written Cadiz, instead of Bordeaux he 
 was to wait a day to get the mistake rectified. 
 
 These inconveniences were surpassed by that to 
 which the passengers of our diligence were subjected 
 at Tudela. Imagine yourself ensconced in a cor- 
 ner of the Exeter mail (when it existed) and on
 
 TUDELA. 257 
 
 arriving at Taunton, or any intermediate town, 
 being informed that an unforeseen circumstance ren- 
 dered it necessary to remain there twenty-four hours, 
 instead of proceeding in the usual manner. On 
 this announcement being made at Tudela, I inquired 
 what had happened, and learned that a diligence, 
 which usually met ours, and the mules of which 
 were to take us on, was detained a day at Tolosa, 
 a hundred miles off. Rather than send a boy to 
 the next stage to bring the team of mules, which 
 had nothing to do, a dozen travellers had to wait 
 until the better fortunes of the previous vehicle 
 should restore it to its natural course. 
 
 As if this contretems was not sufficient, we were 
 subjected to the most galling species of tyranny, 
 weighing on the dearest of human privileges, I mean 
 that which the proprietor of a shilling, zwanziger, 
 franc, or pezeta, feels that he possesses of de- 
 manding to be fed. We had left Saragoza at nine in 
 the morning, and had arrived without stoppages at 
 six. A plentiful dinner, smoking on the table of the 
 comedor, might have produced a temporary forget- 
 fulness of our sorrows : but no entreaties could 
 prevail on the hostess to lay the table-cloth. It 
 was usual for the joint supper of the two coaches 
 to take place at nine, and not an instant sooner 
 should we eat. Weighed down by this complica-
 
 258 TUDELA. 
 
 tion of miseries, we sat, a disconsolate party, round 
 the brasero, until at about eight our spirits began 
 to rise at the sight of a table-cloth ; and during 
 half an hour, the occasional entrance of a waiting 
 woman, with the different articles for the table, 
 kept our hopes buoyed up, and our heads in motion 
 towards the door, each time it opened to give en- 
 trance, now to a vinegar cruet, now to a salt-cellar. 
 
 At length an angelic figure actually bore in a 
 large dish containing a quantity of vegetables, oc- 
 casioning a cry of joy to re-echo through our end 
 of the room. She placed it on a side-board and 
 retired. Again the door opened, when to our utter 
 dismay, another apparition moved towards the dish, 
 took it up and carried it away ; shutting the door 
 carefully behind her. This was the best thing 
 that could have occurred ; since it produced a sud- 
 den outburst of mirth, which accompanied us to 
 the table, now speedily adorned with the materials 
 of a plentiful repast. 
 
 The next town to Tudela, is the gay and elegant 
 little fortress of Pamplona, from which place an 
 easy day's journey, through a tract of superb moun- 
 tain scenery, brings you to Tolosa, the last resting- 
 place on the Spanish side.
 
 PART II. 
 
 SEVILLE. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. VALLEY 
 
 OF THE RHONE. 
 
 Marseille. 
 
 IN order to reach the south of Spain, the long- 
 est route is that which, passing through France, 
 leads by Bayonne to the centre of the northern 
 frontier of the Peninsula, which it then traverses 
 from end to end. It is not the longest in actual 
 distance ; but in regard to time, and to fatigue, 
 and (for all who do not travel by Diligence), by far 
 the longest, with regard to expense. Another route, 
 longer, it is true, in distance, but shorter with respect 
 to all these other considerations, is that by Lyons 
 and Marseille ; from either of which places, the 
 journey may be made entirely by steam. 
 
 The shortest of all, and in every respect, is that 
 by the Gibraltar mail, which leaves London and 
 Falmouth once a week. This is a quicker journey 
 
 s 2
 
 260 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. 
 
 than that through France, even for an inhabitant 
 of France, supposing him resident at Paris, and to 
 proceed to England via le Havre. But there is an 
 objection to this route for a tourist. Desirous of 
 visiting foreign scenes, he will find it too essentially 
 an English journey direct, sure, and horribly busi- 
 ness-like and monotonous. You touch, it is true, 
 at Lisbon, where during a few hours, you may es- 
 cape from the beef and Stilton cheese, if not from 
 the Port wine ; and where you may enjoy the view 
 of some fine scenery ; but all the rest is straight- 
 forward, desperate paddling night and day ; with the 
 additional objection, that being surrounded by Eng- 
 lish faces, living on English fare, and listening to 
 English voices, the object of the traveller that of 
 quitting England is not attained ; since he cannot 
 be said to have left that country, until he finds 
 himself quarrelling with his rapacious boatman on 
 the pier of the glittering Cadiz. 
 
 Although this arrangement may possess the merit 
 of the magic transition from England to Andalucia, 
 which, it must be allowed, is a great one many 
 will prefer being disembarked in France ; looking 
 forward, since there is a time for all things, to a 
 still more welcome disembarkation on England's 
 white shores, when the recollected vicissitudes of 
 travel shall have disposed them to appreciate more
 
 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. 261 
 
 than ever her comforts and civilization, and to be 
 more forgiving to her defects ; and, should they 
 not be acquainted with the banks of the Rhone 
 below Lyons, adopting that equally commodious and 
 infinitely more varied course. 
 
 In fact, there are few who will not agree with 
 me in pronouncing this the best way, for the tourist, 
 of approaching Spain. It is not every one, who will 
 not consider the gratifications which the inland terri- 
 tory of the Peninsula may offer to his curiosity too 
 dearly purchased by the inconveniences insepara- 
 ble from the journey. Add to this the superiority 
 of the maritime provinces, with scarcely any excep- 
 tion, in point of climate, civilization, and attractions 
 of every sort. Valencia, Barcelona, Malaga, and 
 Cadiz are more agreeable places of residence, and 
 possess more resources than even Madrid ; but their 
 chief advantage is a difference of climate almost 
 incredible, from the limited distance which separates 
 them from the centre of the Peninsula. The An- 
 dalucian coast enjoys one of the best climates in 
 the world ; while the Castiles, Aragon, and La Man- 
 cha can hardly be said to possess the average ad- 
 vantages in that respect; owing to the extremes of 
 cold and heat, which characterize their summer and 
 winter seasons, and which, during autumn and spring, 
 are continually alternating in rapid transition.
 
 262 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. 
 
 Andalucia unites in a greater degree than the 
 other maritime provinces, the advantages which con- 
 stitute their superiority over the rest of Spain. It 
 does more, for it presents to the stranger a combi- 
 nation of the principal features of interest, which 
 render the Peninsula more especially attractive to 
 the lover of travel. It is, in fact, to Spain what 
 Paris is to France ; Moscow and Petersburg to Rus- 
 sia. England, Italy, and Germany are not fit sub- 
 jects for illustrating the comparison; their charac- 
 teristic features of attraction and interest being dis- 
 seminated more generally throughout all their pro- 
 vinces or states. Whoever wishes to find Spain 
 herself, unalloyed, in her own character and cos- 
 tume, and in her best point of view, should dis- 
 embark in Andalucia. 
 
 There, unlike the Castiles, and the still more 
 northern provinces, in which only the earth and 
 air remain Spanish, and those not the best Spanish 
 where all the picturesque and original qualities 
 that distinguish the population, are fast fading away 
 the upper classes in their manners and costumes, 
 and the Radicals in their politics, striving to become 
 French there, on the contrary, all is natural and 
 national in its half-Arab nationality : and certainly 
 nature and nationality have given proof of taste 
 in selecting for their last refuge, the most deli-
 
 JOURNEY TO SEVILLE. 263 
 
 cious of regions ; where earth and heaven have 
 done their utmost to form an abode, worthy of 
 the most beautiful of the human, as well as the 
 brute creation. 
 
 I will not pause to inquire whether the reproach 
 be justly addressed by the other Spaniards, to the 
 inhabitants of this province, of indolence and 
 love of pleasure, and of a disposition to deceitful- 
 ness, concealed beneath the gay courtesy of their 
 manners ; it would, indeed, be a surprising, a mi- 
 raculous exception to the universal system of com- 
 pensations that we recognise as governing the world, 
 had not this people some prominent defect, or were 
 they not exposed to some peculiar element of suffer- 
 ing, to counterbalance in a degree the especial and 
 exclusive gifts heaped upon them. By what other 
 means could their perfect happiness be interfered 
 with? Let us, then, allow them their defects the 
 necessary shade in so brilliant a picture defects 
 which, in reducing their felicity to its due level, 
 are easily fathomed, and their consequences guarded 
 against, by sojourners amongst them, in whose eyes 
 their peculiar graces, and the charm of their man- 
 ner of life, find none the less favour from their 
 being subject to the universal law of humanity. 
 They cannot be better painted in a few words, than 
 by the sketch, drawn by the witty and graceful
 
 264 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 Lantier, from the inhabitants of Miletus. " Les 
 Milesiens," he says, "sont aimables. Us emportent, 
 peut-etre, sur les Atheniens" (read " Castillans") 
 " par leur politesse, leur amenite, et les agremens 
 de leur esprit. On leur reproche avec raison cette 
 facilite cette mollesse de moeurs, qui prend quel- 
 quefois 1'air de la licence. Tout enchante les sens 
 dans ce sejour fortune la purete de Pair la beaute 
 des femmes enfin leur musique leurs danses, leurs 
 jeux tout inspire la volupte, et penetre Tame d'une 
 langueur delicieuse. Les Zephirs ne s'y agitent que 
 pour repandre au loin 1'esprit des fleurs et des 
 plantes, et embaumer 1'air de leurs suaves odeurs." 
 
 This passage is, word for word, so exactly appli- 
 cable to the Andalucians and their land, that it is 
 difficult to imagine another people to have sat for 
 the portrait, nor to a more talented painter. It is 
 a pity that the author I quote, is a rarity in modern 
 libraries : owing, perhaps, to his descriptions being 
 at times rather warm, or, as his compatriotes would 
 say, un pen regence. 
 
 In Spain, the country of proverbs, they are very 
 fond of summing up, by the aid of a few epithets, the 
 distinctive character of each province. As bad qual- 
 ities frequently predominate in these estimates, it 
 is of course usual for the individual, who undertakes 
 the instruction of a foreigner in this department
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 265 
 
 of knowledge, to omit the mention of his own pro- 
 vince. After all, the defects attributed to the in- 
 habitants of one portion of a country by those of 
 another, are not to be taken for granted without 
 considerable reservation ; allowance must be made 
 for rivalry and jealousies. Almost every country 
 affords examples of these wholesale accusations laid 
 to the charge of particular counties or divisions of 
 territory. Thus the character usually attributed 
 in Spain to the Andalucians, is that of a people lively, 
 gay, of extreme polish and amiability of manners, 
 but false and treacherous. The Galicians are said 
 to be stupid and heavy, but remarkably honest ; the 
 Catalonians courageous but quarrelsome, mauvais cou- 
 cheurs. No doubt in some of these instances, the 
 general impression may be borne out to a certain 
 extent, by some particular class of the denizens of the 
 province alluded to ; but such distinctions are rarely 
 perceptible among the educated classes. It is per- 
 haps less easy in Spain than elsewhere, to establish 
 these classifications at all successfully, Contradictions 
 will be met with at every step, calculated to shake 
 their infallibility. To our eye, as foreigners, there 
 are sufficient peculiarities belonging to the nation 
 universally, and respecting which our knowledge 
 is far from being complete, without attempting to 
 classify a greater or smaller list of subdivisions, the
 
 266 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 appreciation of which would require a prolonged 
 residence in the country. 
 
 Spain is looked upon by the greater number of 
 strangers as a land delivered over to depredation, 
 and highly insecure. In fact, it is surprising that 
 such should not be the fate of a country in which 
 instruction is limited, and where, as I myself have 
 witnessed, servants may be known to be in the 
 daily practice of stealing without their dismissal 
 being by any means a necessary result. It is sur- 
 prising, that in the absence of any strong natural 
 objection to theft, any honesty should exist in the 
 presence of temptation ; yet I know no country 
 where there is more, if I may form an opinion from 
 the individuals of whom I have had an opportunity 
 of judging. However, as an instance of the contra- 
 dictions one meets with, the following event was 
 represented as having taken place in one of the 
 provinces in which I had received the favourable 
 impression abovementioned. 
 
 A cidevant colonel, just arrived in Madrid, related 
 the fact to me one evening, on which, as chance 
 would have it, I found him at supper. Immediately 
 on my entering the room he commenced complaining 
 of the lack of silver articles of necessity for the table, 
 and accounted for it in the following manner. He 
 had recently arrived with his family from a pro-
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 267 
 
 vincial town, in which he had filled a government 
 situation. Shortly before his departure he had in- 
 vited all his friends to a leave-taking repast; and 
 after the departure of his guests nearly two dozen 
 articles of plate were missing. " In packing up," 
 I observed, "no doubt some dishonest domestic " 
 " No, no," he interrupted, " they were all pocketed by 
 my guests." 
 
 That the man in office should have conciliated the 
 attachment of all his acquaintances to such a degree, 
 as that all should conceive simultaneously the idea 
 of preserving a souvenir of his person, and that in so 
 delicate and unostentatious a manner, was not pos- 
 sible. As, therefore, I still retained my impression of 
 the honesty of the lower classes, and as the sufferer 
 appeared to treat the occurrence as one by no means 
 extraordinary, I came to the conclusion, that either 
 Spanish integrity, unlike that of other nations, must 
 rise in an inverse ratio to men's fortunes and 
 stations ; or that the author of the anecdote had been 
 tempted, by the desire of masking the (perhaps un- 
 avoidable) deficiencies in his supper service, to have 
 recourse to his inventive talent, at the expense of his 
 absent friends' reputation. 
 
 I believe it must be allowed that with respect 
 to the disregard of the rights of proprietorship, of 
 which the lower classes are accused, there are suffi-
 
 268 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 cient instances on record to counterbalance, in some 
 degree, my personal experience ; but there is this to 
 be urged in favour of that class of culprits, where 
 such are met with, that their mode of operation is 
 far more manly and courageous than that of the 
 depredators of some other climes by which means 
 they obtain also the full reputation of their misdeeds. 
 There may scarcely be said to be anything mean or 
 degrading in their manner of thieving : and their 
 system is itself a proof that they see no sin in 
 it. They take to the mountains, and declare open 
 war again t those whom they consider the unjust 
 monopolizers of wealth. 
 
 Instances of this sort are no doubt frequent in 
 Spain ; in Toledo they relate that, some years since, 
 the passes of Estremadura were occupied by one of 
 the most formidable and best organized of these 
 bands, under the orders of a female. Various ver- 
 sions were given of this woman's history ; but the one 
 most accredited accounted in the following manner 
 for her having adopted the profession of freebooter. 
 A young lady of rank had disappeared from her 
 family residence, leaving no trace by which to guide 
 conjecture as to her fate. It was therefore presumed 
 she had been kidnapped. The event, however, had 
 already long ceased to be a subject of conversation 
 in the district, when three or four years after, a
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 269 
 
 traveller, who had escaped from an attack of banditti, 
 announced the fact of their being commanded by 
 a woman. Although well disguised, her voice, and 
 delicate figure had betrayed her sex. The fact was 
 subsequently confirmed by positive discoveries ; and, 
 at length, confiding in the alteration time and her 
 mode of life had produced in her appearance, she 
 ceased to make a mystery of the circumstance, and 
 headed the attacks, mounted usually on a large black 
 horse. Her age and beauty coinciding with the 
 description given of the young countess who had 
 disappeared some years previously, gave rise to the 
 supposition of their identity. The band has been 
 since dispersed, and many of them captured ; but 
 their chief has contrived to escape, and it is pro- 
 bable the truth respecting her may never be di- 
 vulged. 
 
 It is said she at times exercised more pitiless 
 cruelties than are usually practised by the male 
 chiefs of the regular banditti; and that, after such 
 acts, as though conscience-stricken, she would, by 
 way of compensation, allow parties to pass unmo- 
 lested. 
 
 From such instances as these a portion of the 
 Spanish population must be considered amenable 
 to the charge brought against them ; but there are 
 peculiarities of a different stamp, which mark the
 
 270 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 Spaniards in general, and are more deserving of 
 notice in a summary of the national characteristic 
 qualities. It is impossible, for instance, not to be 
 struck by the intelligence and tact, independent 
 of cultivation, which pervade all classes. Whether 
 the denizens of these southern climes are indebted to 
 the purity of their atmosphere, for this gift of rapid 
 perception, in which they surpass our northern organ- 
 izations, or to whatever cause they may owe it ; the 
 fact leads to involuntary speculation on what might 
 have been the results, in a country so distinguished, 
 besides, by its natural advantages, had the Arab su- 
 premacy lasted until our days. At a period when 
 education was generally held in no estimation in 
 Europe, the first care of almost every sovereign of 
 that race was usually directed to the establishment, 
 or improvement, of the public schools, in which the 
 sciences and languages were taught at the royal 
 expense. No town being unprovided with its schools, 
 it is difficult to imagine to what degree of superiority 
 over the rest of Europe the continuation of such 
 a system would have raised a people so gifted as 
 to be capable of supplying, by natural intelligence, 
 the almost universal absence of information and 
 culture. 
 
 You continually meet with such instances of un- 
 cultivated intelligence as the following. I was occu-
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 271 
 
 pied in sketching in a retired part of the environs of 
 Madrid, when a ragged, half-naked boy, not more 
 than ten or eleven years of age, and employed in 
 watching sheep, having to pass near me, stopped to 
 examine my work. He remained for nearly a 
 quarter of an hour perfectly still, making no move- 
 ment except that of his eyes, which continually 
 travelled from the paper to the landscape, and 
 back from that to the paper. At length, going 
 away, he exclaimed, " Que paciencia, Dios mio ! " 
 
 The following is an example of the absence of 
 cultivation, where it might have been expected to 
 exist. A student leaving the university of Toledo, 
 at the age of twenty-seven, told me he had studied 
 there eleven years, and had that day received his 
 diploma of barrister, which, when sent to Madrid, 
 where it would be backed by the sanction of the 
 minister, would authorise him to practise his pro- 
 fession in any town throughout Spain. In the course 
 of the same conversation, he asked me whether Russia 
 was not situated in the Mediterranean, and whether 
 England did not form a portion of that country. 
 
 Tact and good manners are so universal among 
 the lower classes, that a more familiar intercourse 
 than we are accustomed to, can be allowed between 
 persons of different ranks. Those of the highest 
 class are seen, during a journey, dining at the same
 
 272 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 table with their servants ; and on all other occasions 
 entering into conversation with them. This inter- 
 course of good nature and good understanding, 
 universally existing between superiors and inferiors, 
 and which is never known to degenerate into 
 familiarity, would preserve Spain a long time from 
 revolutions of a popular origin were she left to 
 herself. The Spaniard of the lowest station has as 
 considerable an idea of his personal consequence as a 
 marquis, and maintains with his equals all the forms 
 of high breeding. If you stop to listen to the dis- 
 cussions of a knot of ragged children playing at 
 marbles, you will hear them address each other by 
 the title of Senor. 
 
 The urbanity and polish which prevails through- 
 out all classes is genuine, and the result of good- 
 nature. This is proved by their readiness to render 
 all sorts of services as soon as they are acquainted 
 with you, and even before ; and that notwithstand- 
 ing their suspicion and dislike of strangers, a dispo- 
 sition for which they have ample cause. I don't 
 mean to include services which might incur pecu- 
 niary outlay ; it would be something like requesting 
 the loan of the Highlander's inexpressibles. Al- 
 though even of this a remarkable instance has fallen 
 under my observation, the capability existing, but 
 they will spare no trouble nor time : doubling the
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 273 
 
 value of the obligation by the graceful and earnest 
 manner of rendering it. 
 
 Should your reception by a Spaniard be marked 
 by coldness, it is generally to be accounted for by a 
 very excusable feeling. The Spaniard is usually deeply 
 preoccupied by the unfortunate state of his country. 
 This subject of continual reflection operating on a 
 character singularly proud, but which is at the same 
 time marked by a large share of modesty, qualities 
 by no means incompatible, occasions him a sensa- 
 tion when in presence of a foreigner nearly ap- 
 proaching to suifering. He feels a profound venera- 
 tion for the former glories of his land, and admira- 
 tion of its natural superiority ; but he is distrustful 
 of his modern compatriots, of whom he has no great 
 opinion. His anxiety is, therefore, extreme with re- 
 gard to the judgment which a Frenchman or English- 
 man may have formed respecting his countrymen and 
 country : and he is not at his ease until satisfied 
 on that point ; fearing that the backward state of 
 material civilization may be attributed by them to 
 hopeless defects in the national character, and di- 
 minish their respect for his country. He is restored 
 to immediate peace of mind by a delicate compli- 
 ment, easily introduced, on the ancient grandeur of 
 Spain, or the eternal splendour of her skies and soil, 
 and especially by an expression of disapproval of the
 
 274 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 
 
 influence which foreign governments seem desirous of 
 arrogating to themselves over her political destinies. 
 
 Should the stranger delay the application of some 
 such soothing balm, he will not hesitate to provoke 
 it, by ingeniously leading the conversation in the 
 direction he wishes, and then heaping abuse and 
 censure on his compatriots. 
 
 The interference of foreign governments in their 
 politics is, in fact, one of the consequences of the 
 present national inferiority, the most galling to their 
 feelings. This is accounted for by the high inde- 
 pendence, which is one of the principal features of 
 their character, and is observable in the most insig- 
 nificant events of their daily life. The practice 
 which prevails in some countries, of meddling each 
 with his (and even her) neighbour's concerns, and of 
 heaping vituperation where a man's conduct or 
 opinions differ from his who speaks, is one of the 
 most repugnant to the Spanish nature. If a 
 Spaniard hears such a conversation, he stares va- 
 cantly, as though he comprehended nothing; and 
 the natural expression traceable on not a few counte- 
 nances and attitudes may be translated, " I don't 
 interfere in your affairs, pray don't trouble yourself 
 about mine." 
 
 It is curious to trace this in their favourite sayings, 
 or proverbs (refrans), by which the national pecu-
 
 CHARACTER OF THE SPANIARDS. 275 
 
 liarities of character are admirably depicted. Of 
 these no people possess so complete a collection. 
 The following is one which expresses the feeling to 
 which I allude : 
 
 El Marques de Santa Cruz hizo 
 Un palacio en el Viso : 
 Porque pudo, y porque quiso. 
 
 or, translated, 
 
 What could induce Sir Santa Cruz to 
 
 Build a house the Viso close to ? 
 
 He had the money, and he chose to. 
 
 I place, in the translation, the edifice close to the 
 Viso, instead of upon it, as in the original text. I 
 doubt whether any apology is necessary for this 
 poetical licence, by which the intention of the 
 proverb undergoes no alteration. It is true, a house 
 may be close to a hill without being erected upon 
 it ; but if, as in this instance, it is on the top of the 
 hill, it is most certainly close to it likewise. 
 
 The submission of the Spaniards to the despotism 
 of etiquette and custom in trifles, does not (other- 
 wise than apparently) constitute a contradiction to 
 this independence of character. However that may 
 be, the breach of all other laws meets with easier 
 pardon, than that of the laws of custom. This code 
 is made up of an infinity of minute observances, 
 many of which escape the notice of a foreigner, until
 
 27fi NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 
 
 accustomed by degrees to the manners of those who 
 surround him. He will not, for instance, discover, until 
 he has made himself some few temporary enemies, 
 that no greater insult can be offered to a person of 
 rank, or in authority, than saluting him in a cloak 
 embozado the extremity thrown over the shoulder. 
 A similar neglect is not pardoned either by the fair 
 sex. The minutest peculiarities in dress are ob- 
 served, and if at all discordant with the received 
 mode of the day, incur universal blame. The situa- 
 tion of a stranger is, in fact, at first scarcely agreeable 
 in a country in which the smallest divergence from 
 established customs attracts general attention and 
 criticism. This does not, however, interfere with the 
 ready good-nature and disposition to oblige met with, 
 as I said before, on all occasions. 
 
 In some instances the attachment to external forms 
 operates advantageously. Such is that of the pictu- 
 resque practice prevailing in many of the provinces, 
 of assuming the quality of the Beata. In Toledo, 
 certain peculiarities in the toilette of one of a group 
 of young ladies attracted my curiosity. She was 
 apparently about seventeen ; pretty, but by no means 
 remarkably so for a Spaniard, and appeared to be 
 in deep mourning. Whenever, in speaking, a move- 
 ment of her right hand and arm lifted up her 
 mantilla, a japanned leather sash was exposed to
 
 NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 277 
 
 view, of about two inches in width, an end of which 
 hanging from the right side, reached rather lower 
 than the knee. On the right sleeve, half-way be- 
 tween the shoulder and the elbow, was fixed a small 
 silver plate, called an escudo, and a rosary was worn 
 round her neck. 
 
 I was informed, on inquiry, that she was una 
 beata ; and being still in the dark, my informant 
 related her story. He commenced by the inquiry, 
 whether I had heard of a young man being drowned 
 four months previously in the Tagus. I replied 
 that I had heard of thirty or forty ; for he referred 
 to the bathing season, during which, as the river is 
 sown with pits and precipices, and unprovided with 
 humane societies, accidents occur every day. He 
 then named the victim, of whose death I had in fact 
 heard. He was a youth of the age of twenty, and 
 the novio (intended) of the young lady in black. 
 On hearing suddenly, and without preparation, the 
 fatal news, she had been seized with a profuse 
 vomiting of blood, and had continued dangerously ill 
 during several weeks. She was now convalescent, and 
 had made her appearance in society for the first time. 
 
 My informant added, on my repeating the inquiry 
 respecting the costume, that it is the custom for 
 a young lady, on recovering from a serious illness, 
 to offer herself to the Firgen de los dolores ; the
 
 278 NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 
 
 external sign of the vow consisting in the adoption 
 of a dress similar to that worn by the Virgin in the 
 churches. The obligation assumed lasts generally 
 during a year ; although some retain the dress for 
 the remainder of their life. Examples are known 
 of this practice among the other sex ; in which case 
 the costume is that of a Franciscan friar ; but the 
 beato becomes the object of ridicule. 
 
 Among the forms of society to which especial im- 
 portance is attached are the ceremonies and duration 
 of mourning for relations. The friends of the near- 
 est relative, especially if a lady, of a person newly 
 deceased, assemble day after day for a considerable 
 time in her house. All are in full dress of deep 
 mourning ; and the victim of sorrow and society is 
 expected to maintain a continual outpouring of sighs 
 and tears, while she listens to each consoler in turn. 
 Much importance is attached to the display of the 
 usual appearances of grief, even when the circum- 
 stances of the case do not necessarily call for it. 
 Happening to enter a house in which news had been 
 received of the death of a relative, who resided in 
 another part of Spain, I found the lady of the 
 house discussing with a friend the form of her new 
 mourning dress. 
 
 Struck by the melancholy expression of her coun- 
 tenance, and the redness of her eyes, I inquired
 
 NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 279 
 
 whether any bad news had been received. My 
 question gave rise to a renewed flood of tears ; "Yes, 
 yes," was the reply; "I have had terrible news; my 
 poor uncle, who had been afflicted for years with 
 dropsy, died only six days ago." I expressed my 
 sincere regret at so sad an event, while she continued 
 her explanations to the other lady. " I understand," 
 she said, in a voice almost suffocated, "that this 
 sleeve is no longer to be drawn in ; and the front, 
 according to the last French fashion, is at least 
 an inch shorter." Taking the opportunity of the 
 first moment of silence, I asked for some further 
 details respecting this beloved uncle. " It was your 
 Senora mother's brother, I believe ? " " No, no, the 
 husband of my aunt : and what do you think of 
 the mantilla?" After the reply of the other visitor 
 to the latter question, I continued, " But your 
 profound regret, on occasion of the loss of so amiable 
 a companion, is natural." " Terrible, sir, yes my 
 poor uncle!" "Had you seen him shortly before the 
 sad event ? " " Alas ! no, sir, I never saw him but 
 once in my life ; and should not now have recog- 
 nized him for I was then only five years old." 
 
 The Spaniards are not a dinner-giving nation ; 
 obedient, as some suppose, to their proverb, which 
 although the effect, may also operate as a cause, 
 namely, ' Feasts are given by fools, and partaken of
 
 280 NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 
 
 "by wise men." This proverb, however, paints the 
 national character with less fidelity than most others ; 
 the parsimonious selfishness it implies is not Spa- 
 nish. Sufficient reasons exist to account for the rarity 
 of dinner invitations. 
 
 Although the English are not responsible for the 
 geniality of climate, which corks up their crystallized 
 souls to be enclosed fog-tight, until released by a 
 symbolical ceremony of the popping of champagne 
 corks, it is not the less true that dinners are their 
 only introductions to acquaintanceship. Spaniards 
 have corks also, and well worth the trouble of 
 drawing, as well as all the other materiel of convi- 
 viality ; but they despise it, finding the expansion 
 operated by their sunshine more complete and less 
 laborious. Their sociability no more requires dinner 
 parties than their aloes hedges do steam-pipes. 
 With the exception of their ungovernable passion 
 for cold water, their sobriety is extreme ; and this 
 may perhaps unite with a dislike to social ostentation 
 in resisting the exotic fashion of dinners. But bring 
 a good letter of introduction to a Spaniard, and you 
 will find a daily place at a well-supplied table, 
 the frequent occupation of which will give unmis- 
 takable pleasure. 
 
 In such case you are looked for as a daily visitor ; 
 not ceremoniously, but as using the house when in
 
 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 281 
 
 want of a more cheerful home than your posada. 
 ^Eolus has not yet been appointed here the arbiter of 
 smiles,* and your entrance is always the signal for 
 the same animated welcome. The only variation 
 will be a good-natured remonstrance, should your 
 visits have undergone any interruption. 
 
 To return to my route. Aware of the incon- 
 venience of Spanish inland travelling, and with 
 Seville for my object, I proceeded to Lyon. Nor 
 had I long to wait for the reward attendant on my 
 choice of route. Getting on board the steam-packet 
 at six o'clock on an autumn morning, I experienced 
 at first some discouragement, from the fog, which 
 I had not reflected was the natural or rather un- 
 natural atmosphere of that most discouraging of 
 all places, a prosperous manufacturing town. No 
 sooner, however, had we escaped, by the aid of high- 
 presaure steam, from these deleterious influences, than 
 our way gradually opened before us, rather dimly at 
 first, but more and more clear as the sun attained 
 height : the banks of the Rhone having, during this 
 time, been progressing also in elevation and grandeur? 
 by eight o'clock we were enjoying a rapidly moving 
 panorama of superb scenery. 
 
 This day's journey turned out unusually auspi- 
 
 * " Who does a kindness is not therefore kind. 
 
 Perhaps the wind has shifted from the East." POPE.
 
 282 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 
 
 cious. Owing to some favourable combination of 
 celestial influences, (although I perceived no one on 
 board likely to have an astrologer in his pay,) no 
 untoward accident so common on this line befell 
 us. No stoppages no running down of barges, nor 
 running foul of bridges nor bursting of engines. 
 The stream was neither too shallow, nor too full, 
 so that we were preserved both from running aground, 
 and from being run away with. Our boat was the 
 fastest of the six which started at the same time ; 
 and one is never ill-disposed by a speed of eighteen 
 miles an hour, although it may be acquired at an 
 imminent risk of explosion. 
 
 There is many a day's journey of equal or greater 
 beauty than the descent of the Rhone ; but I know 
 of none which operates a more singular effect on the 
 senses. It is that of being transported by a leap from 
 the north to the south of Europe. The IJhone 
 valley, in fine weather, enjoys a southern climate, 
 while all the region to the north of Lyon is marked 
 by the characteristics of the more northern pro- 
 vinces. That town itself, with its smoke, its gloom, 
 and its dirt, maintains itself at the latitude of Man- 
 chester ; whose excellent money-making inhabitants, 
 if thrown in the way of a party of Lyonnais, would 
 scarcely feel themselves among strangers, so com- 
 plete would be the similarity of habits and man-
 
 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 283 
 
 ners. The transition, therefore, to those wafted 
 down the sunny valley of the Rhone, is as theatrical 
 as the scenery itself, but with the agreeable addi- 
 tion of reality. Every surrounding object contri- 
 butes to the magic of the change. Taking leave 
 of a bare and treeless country, and its consequently 
 rough and ungenial climate, which, in its turn, will 
 necessarily exercise its influence on the character of 
 the population, you find yourself gliding between 
 vine-clad mountains, not black and rugged like those 
 of the Rhine, but soft and rosy, and lighted by a 
 sky, which begins here to assume a southern bril- 
 liancy. The influence of the lighter atmosphere 
 first begins to be felt, expanding the organs, and 
 filling the frame with a sensation, unknown to more 
 northern climes, of pleasure derived from mere ex- 
 istence. Then the language you hear on all sides 
 is new and musical ; for the crew of the steamer 
 is Provencal, and their patois falls on the ear with 
 something approaching the soft accent of Italy ; 
 while their expressive eyes, sunburnt faces, and a 
 certain mixture of animation and languor the ex- 
 act counterpart of the phlegmatic industry of the 
 north, complete the scene, with which they are in 
 perfect harmony. 
 
 A propos of harmony, when the sailors' dinner 
 hour arrived, they were summoned by an air of
 
 284 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 
 
 Rossini, played on a bugle; the performer one of 
 their number having first thrown himself flat on 
 the deck, in the attitude of a Turk about to receive 
 the bastinado, and then raising his chest, by the aid 
 of his two elbows, to the height required for the 
 inflation of the instrument. 
 
 Nor is this leap from north to south so purely 
 imaginary, since the boat Sirius, aided by the furious 
 current, actually paddled at the rate of from seven- 
 teen to eighteen miles an hour ; and we reached 
 Avignon at sunset, about five o'clock. The dis- 
 tance being calculated, allowing for the windings 
 of the river, will verify the rate maintained during 
 the day. Nowithstanding the odious nature of 
 comparisons, I could not help forming that between 
 this river and the Rhine, and giving the preference 
 to the first. The bold though gloomy precipices 
 of the Rhine yield, in point of charm, to the more 
 open expanse of the Rhone valley, and the larger 
 scale of the scenery, especially when the far more 
 brilliant lighting-up is considered. Nor does the 
 Rhone yield to its rival, in regard to the pictu- 
 resque form and position of its castles and other 
 buildings ; while its greater width, and handsome 
 bridges, add an additional feature. 
 
 The best scene of the day, and a fit climax for 
 its termination, was the approach to Avignon at
 
 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 285 
 
 sunset, a superb Claude. A turn of the river 
 placed the castle an immense mass crowning the 
 city, and presenting an irregular outline directly be- 
 tween us and the sun, the sky doing away, by its bright- 
 ness, with all the details of the landscape. The 
 principal objects were, the broad expanse of water, 
 and the mass of deep purple, tracing its dark but 
 soft outline on the blaze of gold at its back. On 
 turning to look in the opposite direction, a scene 
 equally striking presented itself. The mountains 
 between which we had been winding during the 
 last half of the day, are, from this point of view, 
 ranged in an immense semicircle, extending round 
 half the horizon, and at that moment were tinged 
 by the sun with a bright rose colour, while they 
 scarcely appeared at half their actual distance. 
 It looked like the final scene of an aerial ballet, 
 when a semicircle is formed by the rosy sylphs who 
 have figured during the representation. 
 
 After the hurly burly of debarkation at Avignon, 
 and forcing our way through the army of luggage 
 porters a ferocious race, notorious, at this place, 
 for the energy, amounting often to violence, with 
 which they urge the acceptance of their kind 
 offices the picturesque look of the place, and the 
 necessary hour of waiting for dinner, led me to a 
 scene, which I accepted as a satisfactory greeting
 
 286 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 
 
 on my arrival in the land of the troubadours. A 
 group of half a dozen labourers, returned from 
 their day's work, were lolling in every variety of 
 attitude, on some large stones placed in front of 
 the chateau. They were singing and with perfect 
 precision of ensemble each his part of the chorus. 
 At the conclusion of every morceau, the whole 
 party made the facade of the ancient palace echo 
 with peals of laughter ; after which they all talked 
 at once, until they had agreed on the choice of 
 the succeeding air. 
 
 The castle of Avignon ancient residence of 
 the Popes, shelters now a different sort of inmates. 
 It serves for barracks for a regiment of infantry. 
 At this moment the lamplighter had completed 
 his rounds in the interior, and given to each of 
 the innumerable windows an undue importance in 
 the architectural effect of the mass. Such is the 
 irregularity of their distribution over this vast facade 
 or such it appeared to be then, for I have not 
 seen it by daylight as to give them the appearance 
 of having been thrown at it by handfuls, and fixed 
 themselves each at its first point of contact with 
 the wall. 
 
 Or by way of compensation for the extravagant 
 supposition of so large a hand, we can suppose the 
 edifice diminished, and resembling with its jagged
 
 ROUTE TO SEVILLE. 287 
 
 outline, a ragged black cloak, which, having been 
 stretched out, to serve as a mark for rifle-shooters, 
 would admit the light through openings not less 
 symmetrically distributed than these windows. 
 
 Between Avignon and Marseille, by the land 
 route, the only spot of interest is Aix. It is a well 
 placed little town ; although, in the summer, its 
 position must procure for it rather too much warmth. 
 There are no remains of king Rene's palace ; nor 
 could I learn that any souvenir of him was extant, 
 with the exception of a statue, which represents 
 the jovial old king of the trouveres in the character 
 of Bacchus. This figure ornaments a hot fountain, 
 situated at the head of the wide street, planted 
 with trees, by which the town is entered.
 
 288 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 Cadiz. 
 
 I HAVE just returned from a visit to the signal- 
 tower the highest look-out in Cadiz; from which 
 is seen a panorama equalled by few in Europe. 
 The Atlantic, and its coast down to Trafalgar Cape 
 the mountain distances of the Ronda and Medina 
 Sidonia on its sugar-loaf rock, like an advanced 
 sentinel all Cadiz, with its hundreds of white 
 Belvideres and the bright blue bay, decked with 
 glittering white towns, and looking (but with more 
 sparkling glow) like an enormous turquoise set 
 round with pearls. But let not, I entreat you, these 
 magic words Cadiz Andalucia raise your expect- 
 ations unduly ; lest they be disappointed, on finding 
 that I fail in doing justice to this charming coun- 
 try. With regard to this town, not only would it 
 be a task beyond my powers to paint its bright 
 aspect and to give you a sufficiently glowing descrip-
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 289 
 
 tion of its pleasures. It is not even my intention 
 to partake of these being bent on accomplishing 
 my principal object the exploration of the monu- 
 ments of Seville. However let us not anticipate. 
 You ought to have had news of me from Gibraltar, 
 where I made a much longer stay than I had inten- 
 ded, owing to an unexpected meeting with an old 
 friend. 
 
 The fact is, I put off writing until I should again 
 be in movement, hoping that my letters might thus 
 acquire greater interest. I will resume my journey 
 from France, in which country we parted. 
 
 The steam-packets leave Marseille for the south 
 of Spain every tenth day ; and I happened to ar- 
 rive a day or two after one of the departures. 
 Rather than wait eight days, therefore, I agreed for 
 my passage on board a trader bound for Gibraltar ; 
 by which arrangement, as the captain assured me 
 that the voyage would only occupy five days, I was 
 to be at my journey's end before the departure of 
 the Phenicien, as the steam-packet was called. 
 The latter, moreover, made no progress excepting 
 during the night, in order to afford the passengers 
 an opportunity of passing each day in some town ; 
 and being anxious to arrive at Seville, I should not 
 have liked the delays thus occasioned. I do not, how- 
 ever, recommend the adoption of my plan ; for the 
 
 u
 
 290 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 five days, as it turned out, became twenty-four, and 
 the Phenicien arrived at Cadiz long before I reached 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 The captain's prognostic of course supposed a 
 favourable voyage ; and I was wrong in reckoning on 
 this, particularly at the time of year, and in the 
 Mediterranean. I was wrong, also, in confiding in 
 my Provencal captain, who, in addition to various 
 other bad qualities, turned out to be the most inept 
 ^blockhead to whom ever were entrusted lives and 
 cargoes. % 
 
 My fellow-passengers consisted of a Marseille 
 merchant, who possessed a trading establishment at 
 Gibraltar ; a young French officer, on leave of ab- 
 sence to visit his mother, who was Spanish ; and 
 a Moorish traveller, proceeding homeward to Te- 
 tuan. From certain hints dropped by the merchant, 
 who was well acquainted with the passage, we soon 
 learned the probable character of our captain, as he 
 belonged to a race not very favourably spoken of 
 by those whose goods and persons they were in 
 the habit of conveying; and these predictions be- 
 ing soon partially confirmed by the man's inci- 
 vility, we began to look upon him as our common 
 enemy. One of the accusations brought against 
 his class was, a disposition to reduce the supply 
 of provisions within undue limits. This, however,
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 291 
 
 we could not lay to his charge, as the adverse 
 winds rendered necessary an extreme prudence in 
 our daily consumption. My principal anxiety arose 
 from want of confidence in the capacity of the 
 man for the performance of his duties as a seaman. 
 This anxiety was grounded on various symptoms 
 sufficiently striking to attract the notice even of a 
 landsman ; and more particularly on a scene, during 
 which his presence of mind, if mind he possessed, 
 totally deserted him. 
 
 We had passed several days off the Balearic 
 Islands or rather on and off for each morning 
 we issued from behind Ivica, and returned at night 
 to take shelter under its cliffs ; ours being the only 
 vessel of several performing the same passage re- 
 strained by fear from attempting any progress 
 during these nights. The reason of this we learn- 
 ed subsequently. At length, when we did risk an 
 advance, we chose the worst moment of all : the 
 breeze becoming a gale, and almost a head-wind, 
 from having been less unfavourable. Whatever 
 may now have been our anxiety, we could easily 
 discover that the author of our misfortune was a 
 prey to more terror than ourselves. 
 
 Against this wind we proceeded, gaining about 
 a hundred yards an hour, during five days; at the 
 end of which it changed slightly, and allowed us to
 
 292 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 reach the entrance of the channel ; that is, we had 
 doubled the Cape de Gata, and were off the south 
 coast of the peninsula, nearly opposite Almeria, 
 and in the direct line of all the vessels entering 
 the Mediterranean ; which, as they are sometimes 
 delayed in expectation of a favourable wind for 
 passing the Straits of Gibraltar, were now bearing 
 down in great numbers. At this crisis the gale, 
 which had all along continued to be violent, became 
 once more almost directly adverse, and increased in 
 fury. 
 
 Our gallant captain's features always assumed to- 
 wards evening a more serious expression. A faint 
 tinge of green was observed to replace the yellow 
 of his usual complexion, and he passed the nights 
 on deck, as unapproachable as a hyena by the 
 way, also a most cowardly animal. At length one 
 day as evening approached, the wind was almost 
 doing its worst, and we went to bed tossed about 
 as if in a walnut-shelllulled by an incessant roar- 
 ing, as it were, of parks of Perkin's artillery. 
 
 It being essential to keep a good look-out, and 
 to show a light occasionally, in order to avoid 
 being run down the lantern unable to live on 
 deck, from the water as well as the wind, which 
 passed through the rigging was confided to the 
 passengers, with a recommendation, by no means
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 293 
 
 likely to be neglected, to keep it in good trim, and 
 to hand it up with promptitude when called for. 
 
 At about twelve o'clock, sure enough, the call was 
 heard, in the somewhat agitated tones of the captain. 
 The passenger, whose business it was, for we took 
 the watch each in his turn immediately jumped up 
 and handed up the lantern. Thinking this sufficient, 
 we remained as we were ; but in less than a minute, 
 it was brought back extinguished, and thrown down 
 into the cabin. Immediately after a general view 
 holloa was audible above the roar of the storm, and 
 the mate's voice was heard at the top of our stair- 
 case, begging us to get up as we were going to 
 be run down. 
 
 We now lost no time in making our way to the 
 deck ; no one speaking a word, but each waiting 
 for his turn to mount. Being furthest from the 
 staircase, or rather ladder, I arrived the last. On 
 reaching the deck, I was met by about a ton of 
 salt water, which appeared to have mistaken me 
 for a wicket, as it came in as solid a mass, and with 
 about the same impulse as a cricket ball. Finding 
 I was not to be dashed back again down stairs, it 
 took the opportunity of half filling the cabin, the 
 door of which I had not thought of shutting. On 
 recovering my breath and reopening my eyes, I 
 discerned, by aid of the white bed-apparel of my
 
 294 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 fellow passengers, a dim crowd, pressed together 
 at the bow of the vessel, consisting of all the inha- 
 bitants of the frail tenement, excepting the steers- 
 man and myself. I rushed forward ; but finding 
 my voice insufficient to add any effect to the cry 
 which had been set up, to give notice to the crew 
 of the approaching vessel, I made for the side, which 
 I saw, by the position of the group, was threatened 
 with the expected contact ; and catching at a rope 
 ladder, placed myself on the top of the bulwarks, 
 resolved on trying a jump as the only chance of 
 escape in case of meeting. 
 
 There was now time to examine our situation 
 perfectly well. I looked towards the stern, and 
 could see that the helm was not deserted : but it 
 was of no avail to save us from the danger ; since, 
 sailing as near the wind as we could, as far as I 
 understood the subsequent explanation of the sailors, 
 we could not change our direction on a sudden, other- 
 wise than by turning a sort of right-about-face. We 
 went on, therefore, trusting that the other crew 
 would hear the cry, and discover our position in 
 time. The night being extremely dark, and the sea 
 running high, the approaching vessel was scarcely 
 visible to us when first pointed out by the sailors ; 
 still less should I have looked forward to its threat- 
 ening us with any danger : but the eye of experience
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 295 
 
 had not been deceived, and from my perch I was 
 soon able to discover, as each passage over the summit 
 of a wave brought the dark mass against the sky, 
 that its approach was rapid, and directed with uner- 
 ring precision, so as to cross our course at the fatal 
 moment. She was scudding before the gale, with 
 almost all her sails set, and consequently, on striking 
 our ship, nothing could save us from an instanta- 
 neous founder. 
 
 At each successive appearance the mass became 
 larger and blacker ; but the cry of our crew, in 
 which I now joined, never ceased. At length we 
 were only separated by the ascent of one wave, at 
 the summit of which was balanced the huge bulk of 
 our antagonist, while we were far below the level of 
 her keel but her steersman had heard the cry ; for 
 at the moment when certainly no hope of saving 
 at least our ship, remained to any of us, we saw the 
 other swerve as she descended and after approach- 
 ing to within half her length of our starboard bow, 
 she glided by at the distance of a yard from where 
 I was standing. 
 
 I now drew a deep breath before I jumped down 
 on to the deck ; after which, beginning to perceive 
 that I was as wet as if we had been run down, I 
 was hastening to the cabin, when my progress was 
 stopped by the captain, who, without perceiving
 
 296 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 any one, was stamping up and down the centre of 
 the vessel, and actually tearing his hair with both 
 his hands. I paused to observe this tragic perform- 
 ance, which shortly gave place to an indistinct and 
 much interrupted speech, in which, in the intervals 
 left by all the oaths as yet invented in the French 
 and Languedoc tongues, there could be distinguished 
 dark threats of vengeance, addressed to the captain 
 of the large brig, whom he was to discover without 
 fail on his return to Marseille. 
 
 All the passengers now descended to the cabin, 
 and having stripped and rolled myself in my cloak 
 turned inside out, I threw myself on my couch. 
 We were now, in spite of recent experience, pro- 
 vided with a fresh lighted lantern, to be produced 
 on the next call. This we took care still to look to, 
 although we hardly expected more than one such 
 chance in one night. 
 
 It was past two, and we had scarcely left off 
 discussing our narrow escape, when another rapid 
 and significant demand for the lantern announced 
 a second peril. On this occasion I took my time, 
 for I had reflected on the odds, which were immense, 
 against our being a second time so exactly in any 
 one's way, where there was room for the whole na- 
 vigation of the world to pass abreast. Nor could 
 I suspect any of my fellow-passengers of being the
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 297 
 
 unlucky Jonas of our misfortunes; although the 
 Moor was looked upon by some of the sailors with 
 a suspicious eye, for not consenting to partake of 
 a leg of chicken, if the animal had been killed 
 and cooked by any other hand than his own, 
 and for the mysterious formalities they accused 
 him of observing in killing his poultry ; such as 
 turning his face in a particular direction, and re- 
 quiring the blood to flow in a particular manner 
 on failure of which last requisite, he threw the 
 fowl overboard. These things alarmed the sailors, 
 but helped, on the contrary, to encourage me ; as 
 I thought the man's being possessed of a conscience 
 and religious scruples, rather, if any thing, an ad- 
 ditional safeguard for us. 
 
 This time, therefore, I drew on my boots and 
 trowsers ; and, wrapped in my cloak, proceeded in 
 company with the Moor, who had taken it as lei- 
 surely as myself, to join the party on deck. They 
 had kept the lantern in a safe position until the 
 moment it would have the best chance of taking 
 effect, a proper precaution, as it was likely to be so 
 shortlived. And at the moment I arrived the order 
 was being given to shew it ahead. A sailor took 
 it, and before he could reach the bow of the vessel, 
 a wave broke over him and washed his lantern 
 fairly into the sea. Upon this the captain said not
 
 298 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 a word, but running to the helm, took it in hand, 
 and turned the ship right round, presenting her stern 
 to the wind, and to the approaching vessel, which 
 we now soon lost sight of, as we were not a slow sailing 
 craft in a fair wind. Having performed this mas- 
 terly feat, and given orders that no change should 
 be made in any respect, he went to bed ; muttering 
 as he left the deck various indistinct sounds between 
 his teeth. The next morning we had undone nearly 
 all our six day's work, and before evening of the 
 following day, had returned to within sight of 
 Cape St. Martin near Valencia. 
 
 It was now a fortnight since we had quitted 
 Marseille, and we were nearly half-way to our place 
 of destination ; but Neptune took pity on us, and 
 having given the usual scolding to Eolus, we were 
 allowed to resume our course, although not at as 
 good a rate as we could have wished. The tempest 
 had ceased, and by means of a feeble but fair wind 
 which succeeded, we regained in three days and 
 nights almost all our lost way, and were on the point 
 of doubling the Cape Gata. Here we remained 
 stationary in a dead calm during another three days, 
 after which an almost imperceptible movement in 
 the air in the wished-for direction bore us to within 
 sight of Gibraltar. 
 
 This progress along the southern coast lasted three
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 299 
 
 days more, and introduced me to the climate of An- 
 dalucia. At the end of November it was still a splen- 
 did summer but with just sufficient air to prevent 
 our suffering from the heat. The blue Mediterranean 
 at length vindicated her fair fame, and proved that 
 one of her smiles had the power of throwing oblivion 
 over all the harm of which she was capable during her 
 moments of fretfulness. As you will easily imagine, 
 I passed these delicious days, and nearly the entire 
 nights on deck. Our view consisted of the magni- 
 ficent precipices which terminate, at the shore, the 
 Alpuxarras chain of mountains. These are coloured 
 with the various tints peculiar to the ores and 
 marbles of which they are formed ; and now showed 
 us all their details, although we never approached 
 within twenty-five miles of shore. The purity of 
 the atmosphere added to their great elevation, gave 
 them the appearance of being only four or five miles 
 distant. The only means of proving the illusion 
 consisted in directing the telescope along the line 
 of apparent demarcation between the sea and the 
 rock, when the positions of the different towns 
 situated on the shore were indicated only by the 
 tops of their towers. Among others, the tower of 
 Malaga Cathedral appeared to rise solitarily from the 
 water, the church and town being hidden by the 
 convexity of the sea's surface.
 
 SOO VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 With the hright blue sea for a foreground, varied 
 by continually passing sails, these superb cliffs 
 formed the second plan of the picture ; while over 
 them towered the Granada mountains of the Sierra 
 Nevada, cutting their gigantic outlines of glittering 
 snow out of the dark blue of the sky, at a distance of 
 twenty leagues. The evenings more particularly 
 possessed a charm, difficult to be understood by the 
 thousands of our fellow creatures, unable to kill that 
 fragment of time without the aid of constellations 
 of wax-lights, and sparkling toilettes, not to men- 
 tion the bright sparks which conversation sometimes, 
 but not always, sprinkles o'er the scene. Now I do 
 not pretend to speak with disrespect of soirees, nor 
 even of balls or ra-outes, as our neighbours say; 
 Polka forfend I should blaspheme her deity, de- 
 preciate her loudly laudable energies, or apostrophize 
 her strangely muscular hamstrings ! I only main- 
 tain that a night passed at sea, off the southern 
 Spanish coast in fine weather, does not yield to the 
 best of nights. 
 
 The observation of the land, of the passing sails, 
 and the management of our own, and the various 
 phenomena of sea and sky, having gradually yielded 
 to sunset and twilight and these in their turn 
 leaving the vessel to its solitude, conversation became 
 amusing between people of such different origin,
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 301 
 
 habits, and ideas, brought together by chance, drawn 
 nearer to each other by the force of circumstances, 
 and by having partaken of the same buffetings. The 
 Moor would then offer a cup of his coffee, or rather, 
 according to the Oriental custom, a thimbleful 
 of his quintessence of that exquisite berry. Our 
 French ensign was a tolerable musician, and was 
 easily prevailed on to unpack his cornet-a-piston, 
 and to astonish the solitude of the night, and the 
 denizens of the deep, by the execution of the 
 favourite airs of Auber and Halevy. Sometimes a 
 bark too distant to be visible would hail us on 
 hearing these unusual strains ; and faint sounds of 
 applause would arrive as if from wandering naiads. 
 
 At length one afternoon brought us in sight of 
 Gibraltar. And now, lest we should arrive without 
 further mishap, our precious Provencal took care to 
 give us a parting proof of his incapacity, which 
 however, thanks to our good fortune, did not bring 
 upon us the annoyance it threatened. The rock 
 of Gibraltar was before us the whole of the following 
 day ; but there appeared also in sight, somewhat to 
 its left, and at a much greater distance, a sort of 
 double mountain, apparently divided from the middle 
 upwards by a wedge-formed cleft. The captain 
 replied to all questions by describing this object 
 as consisting of two distinct mountains, which he
 
 302 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 pronounced to be no others than the two Pillars of 
 Hercules, promising us that the next morning we 
 should see them separated by the entire width of 
 the Straits. 
 
 Far from suspecting the authenticity of this ex- 
 planation, I innocently inquired what was the large 
 rock (Gibraltar itself) apparently much nearer to us. 
 " Oh ! " he replied, " it was some promontory on the 
 coast of Andalucia, the name of which had escaped 
 his memory;" adding that we steered very slightly 
 to the left of the said rock, because the wind having 
 increased, and blowing off shore, we could not make 
 Gibraltar otherwise than by keeping well into the 
 shore, to prevent our being driven towards Africa. 
 All this about the wind was so true, that had we 
 preserved to the last the direction we were then 
 following, we must inevitably have gone to Africa, 
 and added a day and a night to our voyage. 
 
 The Marseille merchant, who had made the voyage 
 twenty times, listened to all this ; but although very 
 intelligent on most subjects, and more particularly 
 with regard to the qualities and value of silks and 
 quincaillerie, his notions of practical geography had 
 not probably attained any great development, as he 
 appeared perfectly satisfied. I therefore passed the 
 day and retired that night filled with curiosity 
 respecting this remarkable promontory, that had
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 303 
 
 escaped the notice of Arrowsmith and the con- 
 tinental geographers. The following morning, to 
 my extreme astonishment, the double mountain was 
 still as undivided as ever, notwithstanding our 
 having approached so near to the great rock as to 
 distinguish its colour, and the details of its surface. 
 We were still steering so as to leave it behind us. 
 
 I now began to suspect something was wrong ; and 
 getting hold of the merchant, proceeded to question 
 him closely, recalling to his recollection the captain's 
 explanation of the previous day, and the consequent 
 miraculous union of Gibraltar with the mountain 
 of the monkies, to accomplish which the former must 
 have quitted Europe subsequently to the publication 
 of the last newspapers we had seen at Marseille. 
 His replying that he certainly thought the great 
 rock put him in mind of Gibraltar confirmed my 
 suppositions ; and I prevailed upon him to repeat his 
 opinion to the ignoramus, who was peaceably eating 
 his breakfast on the bulwarks of the quarter-deck. 
 We went to him instantly, and on hearing the re- 
 mark, he merely observed that it was very possible ; 
 and leaving his sausage, quietly proceeded to the 
 helm, which he no more quitted until we were in the 
 bay at four in the afternoon. We had only lost 
 about five or six hours by the blunder ; but had we
 
 304 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 continued the same course another half-hour, we 
 could not possibly have made Gibraltar that day. 
 
 It was with more than the ordinary excitement of 
 the organ of travelling, for if phrenology deserves 
 to be called a science, such an organ must exist, 
 that I approached this great Leviathan of the seas ; 
 perhaps, all causes considered, the most remarkable 
 object in Europe. During the approach the interest 
 is absorbing ; and the two or three hours employed 
 in passing round the extremity of the rock, and 
 stretching sufficiently far into the Straits, to gain 
 wind and channel for entering the bay, slipped away 
 more rapidly than many a ten minutes I could have 
 called to my recollection. The simultaneous view of 
 Europe and Africa ; the eventful positions with 
 which you are surrounded, Tarifa, Algeciras, and 
 further on Trafalgar ; the very depths beneath you 
 too shallow for the recollections which crowd into 
 this limited space ; commencing with history so 
 ancient as to have attained the rank of fable, and 
 heroes long since promoted to derni-gods ; and reach- 
 ing to the passage of the injured Florinda, so quickly 
 responded to by that of Tharig, followed by a 
 hundred Arab fleets. The shipping of all nations 
 continually diverting the attention from these 
 souvenirs ; and, crowning all, the stupendous mass of 
 the now impregnable rock.
 
 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 305 
 
 Amidst all this, I could not drive from my 
 thoughts the simple and patriotic old Spanish his- 
 torian de Pisa, and the operation to which he attri- 
 butes the origin of this mountain. From him may 
 be learned all the details respecting this work of 
 Hercules ; as to which, as well as to the motives 
 of its fabricator, the poets of antiquity were in the 
 dark. Hercules had been induced, by the high 
 reputation of Spain, of her population, and her vari- 
 ous natural advantages, to conduct thither an army 
 for the purpose of taking possession of the country. 
 After having put his project in execution, he re- 
 mained in Spain, and enjoyed a long and prosperous 
 reign. The victory, which gave him possession of the 
 country, took place at Tarifa ; and it was in its 
 commemoration and honour that before he esta- 
 blished the seat of government at Toledo, he assem- 
 bled the conquered population, and compelled them 
 to throw stones into the sea, by which means, in 
 a short time, this monument was completed. 
 
 Before we set foot on this imperceptible trophy 
 of a league in length by two thousand feet high 
 the French ensign and myself hailed a steamer as 
 we passed by her in the offing, and found she was 
 bound for Cadiz, and we must go on board the 
 following afternoon. On landing, however, my pro- 
 jects underwent a change, as I told you at the 
 
 x
 
 306 GIBRALTAR. 
 
 commencement of my letter. There is not much 
 to be seen at Gibraltar that would interest you, 
 except indeed the unique aspect and situation of 
 the place. To military men its details offer much 
 interest. There is a large public garden on the 
 side of the mountain, between the town, which 
 occupies the inmost extremity, and the Governor's 
 house near the entrance of the bay. The batteries 
 constructed in the rock are extremely curious, and 
 calculated to embarrass an enemy whose object 
 should be to dismount them. I thought, however, 
 with deference to those conversant with these sub- 
 jects, that they were likely to possess an incon- 
 venience that of exposing to suffocation the gun- 
 ners employed in the caverns, out of which there 
 does not appear to exist sufficient means of escape 
 for the smoke. 
 
 The most amusing sight in Gibraltar is the 
 principal street, filled, as it is, with an infinitely 
 varied population. Here you see, crowded together 
 as in a fair, and distinguished by their various cos- 
 tumes, the representatives of Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa, Arabs, Moors, Italians, Turks, Greeks, Rus- 
 sians, English, and Spaniards, Jews, and, occasion- 
 ally, a holy friar conversing with some Don Basilio, 
 appearing, in his long cylindrical hat, as if blessed 
 with a skull sufficiently hard to have entered the side
 
 GIBRALTAR. 307 
 
 of a tin chimney-top, precipitated upon it by a gust 
 of wind. 
 
 Among all these a successful guess may here and 
 there be risked at the identity of the Andalucian 
 leader of banditti, lounging about in search of use- 
 ful information. The contrabandistas are likewise 
 in great plenty.
 
 308 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 CADIZ. ARRIVAL AT SEVILLE. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 CADIZ is the last town in Europe I should select 
 for a residence, had I the misfortune to become 
 blind. One ought to be all eyes there. It is the 
 prettiest of towns. After this there is no more to be 
 said, with regard, at least, to its external peculiarities. 
 It possesses no prominent objects of curiosity. 
 There is, it is true, a tradition stating it to have 
 possessed a temple dedicated to Hercules ; but this 
 has been washed away by the waves of the ocean, 
 as its rites have been by the influx of succeeding 
 populations. Nothing can be more remote from 
 the ideas of the visitor to Cadiz, than the existence 
 of anything antique ; unless it be the inclination 
 to prosecute such researches : the whole place is 
 so bright and modern looking, and pretty in a 
 manner peculiar to itself, and unlike any other 
 town, since, like everything else in Spain, beauty also
 
 CADIZ. 309 
 
 has its originality. Nothing can be gayer than the 
 perspective of one of the straight, narrow streets. 
 On either side of the blue ribbon of sky, which 
 separates the summits of its lofty houses, is seen 
 a confusion of balconies, and projecting box-windows, 
 all placed irregularly each house possessing only 
 one or two, so as not to interfere with each other's 
 view, and some placed on a lower story, others on 
 a higher ; their yellow or green hues relieving the 
 glittering white of the facades. Nor could any- 
 thing improve the elegant effect of the architec- 
 tural ornaments, consisting of pilasters, vases, and 
 sculpture beneath the balconies, still less, the animated 
 faces the prettiest of all Spain, after those of Malaga 
 whose owners shew a preference to the projecting 
 windows, wherever a drawing-room or boudoir pos- 
 sesses one. 
 
 The pavement of these elegant little streets, is 
 not out of keeping with the rest. It would be a 
 sacrilege to introduce a cart or carriage into them. 
 A lady may, and often does, traverse the whole 
 town on foot, on her way to a ball. It is a town 
 built as if for the celebration of a continual carnival. 
 Nor does the charge brought against the Gaditanas, 
 of devotion to pleasure, cause any surprise : were 
 they not, they would be misplaced in Cadiz. Hither 
 should the victim of spleen and melancholy direct
 
 310 CADIZ. 
 
 his steps. Let him choose the season of the carnival. 
 There is reason to suspect that the advertiser in the 
 Herald had this remedy in view, when he promised a 
 certain cure to " clergymen and noblemen, who suffer 
 from blushing and despondency, delusion, thoughts 
 of self-injury, and groundless fear :" these symptoms 
 being indications of an attack of that northern 
 epidemy, which takes its name from a class of 
 fallen angels of a particular hue. 
 
 In Cadiz, in fact, does Carnival that modern 
 Bacchus of fun, give a loose to his wildest eccentri- 
 cities nor may those who are least disposed to do 
 homage to the god escape his all-pervading influence. 
 All laws yield to his, during his three days of Saturn- 
 alia. Not the least eccentric of his code is that one, 
 which authorizes the baptism of every passenger in 
 a street with the contents of jugs, bestowed from 
 the fair hands of vigilant angels who soar on the 
 second-floor balconies. The statute enjoins also 
 the expression of gratitude for these favours, con- 
 veyed with more or less precision of aim, in the 
 form of hen's eggs of which there is consequently 
 a scarcity on breakfast-tables on the mornings of 
 these festive days. At eleven o'clock each night, 
 four spacious buildings scarcely suffice for the mas- 
 querading population. 
 But the paddles have been battering for some
 
 THE GUADALQUIVIR. 311 
 
 hours the waters of the Guadalquivir, and we are 
 approaching Seville, a city given to less turbulent 
 propensities where Pleasure assumes a more timid 
 gait, nor cares to alarm Devotion a partner with 
 whom she delights, hand in hand, to tread this 
 marble-paved Paradise. The passage between Cadiz 
 and Seville, is composed of two hours of sea, and 
 eight or nine of river. The beautiful bay, and its 
 white towns, with Cadiz itself, looking in the 
 sunshine like a palace of snow rising out of the 
 sea have no power now to rivet the attention, nor 
 to occupy feelings already glowing with the anticipa- 
 tion of a sail between the banks of the Guadalquivir. 
 A ridge of hidden rocks lengthens the approach, 
 compelling the pilot to describe a large semicircle, 
 before he can make the mouth of the river. This 
 delay is a violent stimulant to one's impatience. 
 At length we have entered the ancient Betis ; and 
 leaving behind the active little town of St. Lucar, 
 celebrated for its wines, and for those of the neigh- 
 bouring Xeres, of which it embarks large quantities 
 we are gliding between these famous shores. 
 
 Great, indeed, is the debt they owe to the stirring 
 events that have immortalized these regions, for they 
 are anything but romantic. Nothing can be less pic- 
 turesque ; all the flatness of Holland, without the 
 cultivation, and the numerous well-peopled villages,
 
 312 THE GUADALQUIVIR. 
 
 which diminish the monotonous effect. On the 
 right are seen at some distance the wooded hills 
 of Xeres ; but for scores of miles, on the opposite 
 side, all is either marsh, or half-inundated pasture, 
 with here and there some thinly-scattered olive 
 trees, and herds of oxen for its sole living occupants. 
 At a few leagues from Seville, the increased fre- 
 quency of the olive grounds a few villages and 
 convents, and at length the darker green masses of 
 the orange groves, give rapidly strengthening in- 
 dications of approaching civilization ; and you are 
 landed a short distance below the town, to reach 
 which, it is necessary to traverse the Christina 
 Gardens. The cathedral occupies this southern 
 extremity of the city ; and on your way to the 
 inn, you may make an estimate of the length of 
 one side of its immense quadrangular enclosure. 
 Immediately beyond this you are received into 
 the inevitable labyrinth of crooked lanes, peculiar 
 to an Arab town. 
 
 The steam trip from Cadiz is so easy a day's 
 journey, that no necessity for repose or refitting 
 interferes with the impatience of those who arrive 
 to explore the external town. You speedily, there- 
 fore, sally forth, and thread a few of the mazy 
 streets ; but without venturing too far, on account 
 of the evident risk of losing your way. Should
 
 ARRIVAL AT SEVILLE. 313 
 
 you chance to stumble on the Plaza Mayor, called 
 Plaza de San Francisco, you are at once rewarded 
 by the view of the ayuntamiento, one of the most 
 elegant edifices in Spain : otherwise the extreme 
 simplicity of the bare, irregular, but monotonous 
 white houses, will create disappointment you will 
 stare about in the vain search of the magnificence, 
 so much extolled, of this semi-Moorish capital, 
 and discover, that nothing can be plainer, more 
 simple, more ugly, than the exterior of the Seville 
 habitations. At length, however, some open door, 
 or iron grille, placed on a line with an inner court, 
 will operate a sudden change in your ideas, and 
 afford a clue to the mystery. Through this railing, 
 generally of an elegant form, is discovered a de- 
 licous vista, in which are visible, fountains, white 
 marble colonnades, pomegranate and sweet lemon- 
 trees, sofas and chairs (if in summer), and two or 
 three steps of a porcelain staircase. 
 
 You now first appreciate the utility of the more 
 than plain exteriors of the houses of this town ; and 
 you admire an invention, which adds to the already 
 charming objects, composing the interior of these 
 miniature palaces, a beauty still greater than that 
 which they actually possess, lent by the effect of con- 
 trast. It is calculated that there are more than eighty 
 thousand white marble pillars in Seville. For this
 
 314 ARRIVAL AT SEVILLE. 
 
 luxury the inhabitants are indebted in a great mea- 
 sure to the Romans, whose town, Italica, seated, in 
 ancient times, on the opposite bank of the river, four 
 miles above Seville, and since entirely buried, furn- 
 ished the Arab architects with a considerable portion 
 of their decorating materials. 
 
 In a future letter I hope to introduce you to the 
 interior of some of these abodes, where we shall dis- 
 cover that their inhabitants prove themselves not un- 
 worthy of them, by the perfect taste and conception 
 of civilized life, with which their mode of existence 
 is regulated.
 
 315 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 THE ARABS IN SPAIN. ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 THE chief attraction of this most interesting of 
 the provinces of the Peninsula, consists in the nu- 
 merous well preserved remains of Arab art. The 
 most sumptuous of their palaces are, it is true, no 
 longer in existence, nor the principal mosques, with 
 the exception of the metropolitan temple of Cor- 
 dova : but there remain sufficient specimens to shew, 
 that their architecture had attained the highest 
 excellence in two of the principal requisites for 
 excellence in that science solidity and beauty. 
 
 The superiority of the Arabs in this branch of 
 science and taste is so striking, that all other depart- 
 ments of art, as well as the customs and peculiarities 
 of that race, and the events of their dominion 
 in this country, become at once the subjects of 
 interest and inquiry. It is consequently very sa- 
 tisfactory to discover that one can examine almost
 
 318 SPANISH ARABS. 
 
 and some altogether to disappear, were bequeathed 
 by them. The Morocco preparation of leather is an 
 instance of these last. 
 
 Their high chivalry, added to their moderation 
 after victory, would have divested even war of much 
 of its barbarism, had they had to do with a race 
 less impenetrable, and more susceptible of polish 
 than were the iron legions of their Gothic antago- 
 nists. The persevering and repeated acts of treach- 
 ery practised by these, at last drew their civilized 
 adversaries, forcibly into the commission of acts of 
 a similar nature it being frequently necessary in 
 self-defence to adopt the same weapons as one's 
 enemy. When firmly settled in Spain, the Arabs 
 no longer appear to have taken the field with a 
 view to conquest. Abderahman the First, Almansor, 
 and other conquerors, returned from their victories 
 to repose in their capital ; contenting themselves 
 with founding schools and hospitals to commemorate 
 their successes, without making them instrumental 
 to the increase of their domination. After this time 
 campaigns seem frequently to have been undertaken 
 from motives of emulation, and for the purpose of 
 affording them opportunities for a display of their 
 prowess, and giving vent to their military ardour. 
 They considered an irruption on the hostile terri- 
 tory, or an attack on a town, in the light of a tour-
 
 SPANISH ARABS. 319 
 
 nament. The Christians, on the contrary, fought 
 with a view to exterminate, and without ever losing 
 sight of their main object the expulsion of the 
 Arabs and Moors from the Peninsula. It was thus 
 that they ultimately succeeded a result they pro- 
 bably would not have attained, had the Moorish 
 leaders been actuated by similar views, and displayed 
 less forbearance. 
 
 Much of the misapprehension which exists in 
 Europe respecting this race is attributable to the 
 exaggerations of writers ; much more to the absence 
 of reflection in readers, and to the almost universal 
 practice of bringing every act related of perso- 
 nages inhabiting remote and half-known climes, to 
 the test of the only customs and manners with 
 which we are familiar, and which we consider, for 
 no other reason, superior to all others making no 
 allowance for difference of education, climate, tra- 
 dition, race. An European, subjected to a similar 
 process of criticism, on the part of an inhabitant of 
 the East, would certainly not recognise his own por- 
 traita new disposition of light bearing upon pe- 
 culiarities, the existence of which had hitherto been 
 unsuspected by their owner ; and he would mani- 
 fest a surprise as unfeigned, as a Frenchman once 
 expressed in my hearing, on finding himself in a 
 situation almost parallel. Conversing on the subject
 
 320 SPANISH ARABS. 
 
 of a play, acted in Paris, in which an Englishman 
 cut a ridiculous figure a lady present remarked, 
 that, no doubt, in the London theatres the French 
 were not spared ; upon which the Frenchman I 
 allude to a person possessed of superior intelli- 
 gence exclaimed : " How could that be, since there 
 was nothing about a Frenchman that could be 
 laughed at?" 
 
 On reading of a reprehensible act attributed to a 
 Mahometan, some will brand Mahometanism in ge- 
 neral, and of all times and places, with the commis- 
 sion of the like crimes, placing the event at a dis- 
 tance of a thousand leagues, or of a thousand years 
 from its real place and date : forgetting that power 
 has been abused under all religions ; and that we 
 only hear one side of the question with respect to 
 all that relates to the Oriental races our information 
 only reaching us through the medium of writers of 
 different and hostile faith. It is a singular fact that 
 the popular terror, which so long attached itself to 
 the idea of a Saracen, and which derived its origin 
 from the conquests of the Mahometans, has its 
 equivalent in certain Mahometan countries. In 
 some parts of the empire of Morocco, the idea of a 
 Christian is that of a ruffian of immense stature 
 and terrific features ; calculated to inspire the ut- 
 most fear in the breasts of all who approach him.
 
 SPANISH ARABS. 321 
 
 Such is their notion of his ferocity, that one of the 
 emperors, Muley Ismael, in order to terrify his 
 refractory subjects into obedience, was in the habit 
 of threatening to have them eaten up by the 
 Christians. 
 
 From the inferior value set on human life by the 
 races of the East, we accuse them of barbarity : 
 forgetting, that, owing to the absence of all analogy 
 between our origin, races, and education, we are in- 
 competent to appreciate their feelings, and the mo- 
 tives of their conduct, and have consequently no 
 right to condemn them. If we abstain from taking 
 our neighbour's life, we set also a proportionate value 
 on our own : a native of the East displays, it is 
 true, less veneration for his own species. Deeply 
 impressed with the dogmas of his religion, which 
 form the guide of his every day life, the habit of act- 
 ing up to the doctrines which he has been taught to 
 believe, diminishes his estimate of the value of tem- 
 poral life, whether that of others, or his own, which 
 he exposes on occasions on which we should not be 
 inclined to do so. He does not take life for cruelty's 
 sake, nor without provocation. Were he to be fur- 
 nished with Arabian accounts of the treatment of a 
 London or Paris hackney-coach horse, he would 
 think of the noble and friendly animal which carries 
 him to battle, and turn in disgust from such a page. 
 
 Y
 
 322 SPANISH ARABS. 
 
 The system practised at Constantinople of nailing 
 to his door-post the ear of the culprit detected in the 
 employment of false weights, is, no doubt, very dis- 
 cordant with our customs; but this mode of pun- 
 ishment is said to be attended with such success, 
 as to do away almost entirely with the occasion for 
 it. Were it adopted in some other capitals, it would 
 certainly at first disfigure many a neatly adorned 
 entrance, and give additional occupation to painters ; 
 but the result might possibly be a more universal 
 observance of the injunction contained in the eighth 
 commandment. As far as regards the Arabs of 
 Spain, it may be securely affirmed, that, during the 
 course of their triumphs, and long before they had 
 attained their highest civilization, no cruelties were 
 exercised by them, which came near to the barbarity 
 of those practised subsequently by their Christian 
 adversaries on victims of a different creed, when in 
 their power. We may instance the example set by 
 St. Ferdinand, who, it is said, when burning some 
 Moors, piously stirred up the fire himself in the 
 public place of Palencia. 
 
 It cannot, however, be denied that cases of cruelty 
 have occurred, and are related in history of the 
 Arabs, although they are rare among those of Spain ; 
 but, if cruel, the Arab never added hypocrisy to his 
 cruelty. After having ravaged all Andalucia with
 
 SPANISH ARABS. 323 
 
 fire and famine, St. Ferdinand formed the project 
 of proceeding to Africa the following year, in order 
 to attack the inhabitants of that country. His death 
 interrupted the course of these humane projects. 
 Being dropsical, and feeling his end approaching, 
 he called for his son Alphonso, afterwards his suc- 
 cessor, to whom this prince cut off in the midst 
 of his thirsty longings for blood and slaughter 
 is related to have given "the counsels, which the 
 sentiments of piety, justice, and love for mankind, 
 with which he was filled, inspired so great a mon- 
 arch." 
 
 As for the degenerate modern tribes, descendants 
 of some of the most civilized of former days, we have 
 witnessed their contest, pro aris etfocis, during the 
 last few years, against a sample of the Christians 
 of to-day : the mode of making war is perfectly 
 similar on both sides. 
 
 It is a no less curious travers of human nature, 
 from its being an almost universal one that of 
 which the modern Spaniards afford an example. 
 They apply the term "barbarians" to the descend- 
 ants of their Moorish compatriots, although they 
 themselves have scarcely advanced a step in civili- 
 zation since the day that, in the public place of 
 Granada, Ferdinand the Catholic burned one million 
 five thousand Arab books, being all he could collect
 
 324 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 throughout Spain : showing what tremendous power 
 may be wielded by a single human hand, when ap- 
 plied to the task of undoing. That King, by a 
 single signature, accomplished an act which may be 
 considered as equivalent to retarding, by several 
 centuries, the civilization of a great country, per- 
 haps, even, to cutting it off from the only oppor- 
 tunity it was destined to possess, during the present 
 ages, of arriving at the summit which the more privi- 
 leged nations are permitted to attain ; while it in- 
 fluenced injuriously the progress of letters, science, 
 and art throughout Europe. But we will no longer 
 allow digressions to delay our visit to the Alcazar, 
 where we shall find visible proof of Arab superiority, 
 at least, in architectural science and invention. 
 
 Passing to the east of the cathedral through the 
 large open space, on the left of which is the Arch- 
 bishop's palace, and on the right the cathedral and 
 exchange, the embattled outer walls of the Alcazar 
 stop the view in front; varied here and there with 
 square towers, and containing in the centre an arched 
 entrance. The present buildings occupy the south- 
 eastern corner of the ancient enclosure of the royal 
 residence, which comprised all the remaining space 
 as far as the banks of the river, passing round the 
 south side of the cathedral, and, in fact, including 
 it in its precincts an enclosure of about a mile
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 325 
 
 and a half in circumference. An old tower, or scrap 
 of wall, indicates here and there the position of the 
 ancient buildings, the site of which is now occupied 
 by two or three plazuelas, or squares, and several 
 streets communicating between them. The present 
 palace scarcely covers a third of the original extent. 
 
 Having passed through the first entrance, you are 
 in a large square, surrounded with buildings with- 
 out ornament, and used at present as government 
 offices. At the opposite side another archway passes 
 under the buildings, and leads to a second large 
 court. This communicates on the left with one or 
 two others ; one of these is rather ornamental, 
 and in the Italian style, surrounded by an arcade 
 supported on double columns, and enclosing a garden 
 sunk considerably below the level of the ground. 
 This court is approached by a covered passage, lead- 
 ing, as already mentioned, from the left side of the 
 second large square, the south side of which the 
 side opposite to that on which we entered consists 
 of the facade and portal of the inner palace of all ; 
 the Arab ornamental portion, the residence of 
 the royal person. 
 
 At the right-hand extremity of this front is the 
 entrance to the first floor, approached by a staircase, 
 which occupies part of the building on that side of 
 the square, and which contains the apartments of
 
 326 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 the governor. The staircase is open to the air, and 
 is visible through a light arcade. The centre portal 
 of this facade is ornamented, from the ground to 
 the roof, with rich tracery, varied by a band of blue 
 and white azulejos, and terminating in an advancing 
 roof of carved cedar. Right and left, the rest of 
 the front consists of a plain wall up to the first floor, 
 on which small arcades, of a graceful design, enclose 
 retreating balconies and windows. 
 
 Entering through the centre door, a magnificent 
 apartment has been annihilated by two white par- 
 titions, rising from the ground to the ceiling, and 
 dividing it into three portions, the centre one form- 
 ing the passage which leads from the entrance to 
 the principal court. Several of the apartments are 
 thus injured, owing to the palace being occasionally 
 used as a temporary lodging for the court. Passing 
 across the degraded hall, a magnificent embroidered 
 arch for the carving with which it is covered more 
 resembles embroidery than any other ornament- 
 gives access to the great court. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain what portion of this 
 palace belongs to the residence of the Moorish Kings, 
 as Pedro the Cruel had a considerable portion of it 
 rebuilt by Moorish architects in the same style. 
 The still more recent additions are easily distin- 
 guished. One of them, in this part of the edifice,
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 327 
 
 is a gallery, erected by Charles the Fifth, over the 
 arcades of the great court. This gallery one would 
 imagine to have been there placed with a view to 
 demonstrate the superiority of Arab art over every 
 other. It is conceived in the most elegant Italian 
 style, and executed in white marble ; but, compared 
 with the fairy arcades which support it, it is clumsi- 
 ness itself. The court is paved with white marble 
 slabs, and contains in the centre a small basin of 
 the same material, of chaste and simple form, 
 once a fountain. The arcades are supported on 
 pairs of columns, measuring about twelve diameters 
 in height, and of equal diameter throughout. The 
 capitals are in imitation of the Corinthian. The 
 entire walls, over and round the arches, are covered 
 with deep tracery in stucco ; the design of which 
 consists of diamond-shaped compartments, formed 
 by lines descending from the cornice, and intersect- 
 ing each other diagonally. These are indented in 
 small curves, four to each side of the diamond. In 
 each centre is a shell, surrounded by fanciful orna- 
 ments. The same design is repeated on the inside 
 of the walls, that is, under the arcade, but only on 
 the outer wall ; and this portion of the court is 
 covered with a richly-ornamented ceiling of Alerce, 
 in the manner called artesonado. 
 
 On the opposite side of the court to that on which
 
 328 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 we entered, another semicircular arch, of equal rich- 
 ness, leads to a room extending the whole length of 
 the court, and similar in form to that situated at 
 the entrance, possessing also an ornamental ceiling, 
 but plainer walls. The left and right sides of the 
 court are shorter than the others. In the centre 
 of the left side, a deep alcove is formed in the wall, 
 probably occupied in former times by a sofa or 
 throne : at present it is empty, with the exception, 
 in one corner, of a dusty collection of azulejos fallen 
 from the walls, and exposing to temptation the itch- 
 ing palms of enthusiasts. At the opposite end a 
 large arch, admirably carved, and containing some 
 superb old cedar doors, leads to the Hall of Am- 
 bassadors. This apartment is a square of about 
 thirty-three feet, by nearly sixty in height. It is 
 also called the media naranja (half-orange), from 
 the form of its ceiling. 
 
 In the centre of each side is an entrance, that 
 from the court consists of the arch just mentioned, 
 forming a semicircle with the extremities prolonged 
 in a parallel direction. Those of the three other 
 sides are each composed of three arches of the horse- 
 shoe form, or three-quarters of a circle, and sup- 
 ported by two columns of rare marbles and jasper 
 surmounted by gilded capitals. The walls are en- 
 tirely covered with elegant designs, executed in

 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 329 
 
 stucco, the effect of which suffers from a series of 
 small arches, running round the upper part of the 
 room, having been deprived of their tracery to make 
 room for the painted heads (more or less resem- 
 bling) of the kings of Spain, Goths and their suc- 
 cessors, excepting the Arabs and Moors. This de- 
 gradation is, however, forgotten from the moment 
 the eye is directed to the ceiling. 
 
 In the Arab architecture, the ornament usually 
 becomes more choice, as it occupies a higher eleva- 
 tion ; and the richest and most exquisite labours of 
 the artist are lavished on the ceilings. The designs 
 are complicated geometrical problems, by means of 
 which the decorators of that nation of mathema- 
 ticians and artists attained to a perfection of orna- 
 ment unapproached by any other style. From the 
 cornice of this room rise clusters of diminutive gilded 
 semi-cupolas, commencing by a single one, upon 
 which two are supported, and multiplying so rapidly 
 as they rise, some advancing, others retreating, and 
 each resting on a shoulder of one below, that, by 
 the time they reach the edge of the great cupola, 
 they appear to be countless. The ornament of this 
 dome consists of innumerable gilt projecting bands, 
 of about two inches in width ; these intersect each 
 other in an infinite profusion of curves, as they 
 stretch over the hemispherical space. The artist,
 
 330 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 who would make a pencil sketch of this ceiling, 
 should be as deep a geometrician as the architect 
 who designed it. 
 
 On quitting the Hall of Ambassadors, we arrive 
 at the best part of the building. Passing through 
 the arcade at the right-hand side, a long narrow 
 apartment is crossed, which opens on a small court 
 called the Court of Dolls (Patio de los Mucefias). 
 No description, no painting can do justice to this 
 exquisite little enclosure. You stand still, gazing 
 round until your delight changes into astonishment 
 at such an effect being produced by immoveable 
 walls and a few columns. A space, of about twenty 
 feet by thirty, in which ten small pillars, placed 
 at corresponding but unequal distances, enclose a 
 smaller quadrangle, and support, over a series of 
 different sized arches, the upper walls, has fur- 
 nished materials to the artist for the attainment 
 of one of the most successful results in architecture. 
 The Alhambra has nothing equal to it. Its two 
 large courts surpass, no doubt, in beauty the princi- 
 pal court of this palace ; but, as a whole, this resi- 
 dence, principally from its being in better preser- 
 vation and containing more, is superior to that of 
 Granada, always excepting the advantage derived 
 from the picturesque site of the latter. The Court 
 of Dolls, at all events, is unrivalled.
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 331 
 
 COURT OF DOLLS, ALCAZAR, SEVILLE.* 
 
 The architect made here a highly judicious use 
 of some of the best gleanings from Italica, consisting 
 of a few antique capitals, which, being separated 
 from their shafts, have been provided with others, 
 neither made for them, nor even fitted to them. 
 
 * Feeling his powers as a draughtsman inadequate to do justice 
 to this court, the author has inserted the above sketch merely to 
 show the general architectural design.
 
 332 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 The pillars are small, and long for their diameter, 
 with the exception of the four which occupy the 
 angles, which are thicker and all white. The rest 
 
 O " 
 
 are of different coloured marbles, and all are about 
 six feet in height. The capitals are of still smaller 
 proportions ; so that at the junction they do not 
 cover the entire top of the shaft. This defect, from 
 what cause it is difficult to explain, appears to add 
 to their beauty. 
 
 The capitals are exquisitely beautiful. One in 
 particular, apparently Greek, tinged by antiquity 
 with a slight approach to rose colour, is shaped, as 
 if carelessly, at the will of the sculptor ; and derives 
 from its irregularly rounded volutes and uneven 
 leaves, an inconceivable grace. The arches are of 
 various shapes, that is, of three different shapes 
 and dimensions, and whether more care, or better 
 materials were employed in the tracery of the walls 
 in this court, or for whatever other reason, it is in 
 better preservation than the other parts of the palace. 
 It has the appearance of having been newly executed 
 in hard white stone. 
 
 Through the Court of Dolls you pass into an 
 inner apartment, to which it is a worthy introduc- 
 tion. This room has been selected in modern times, 
 as being the best in the palace, for the experiment 
 of restoring the ceiling. The operation has been
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 333 
 
 judiciously executed, and produces an admirable 
 effect. The design of this ceiling is the most taste- 
 ful of the whole collection. Six or seven stars 
 placed at equal distances from each other, form 
 centres, from which, following the direction of the 
 sides of their acute angles, depart as many lines ; 
 that is, two from each point ; or, supposing the star 
 to have twelve points twenty-four from each star: 
 but these lines soon change their directions, and 
 intersecting each other repeatedly, form innumerable 
 small inclosures of an hexagonal shape. The lines 
 are gilt. Each hexagonal compartment rises in 
 relief of about an inch and a half from the surface, 
 and is ornamented with a flower, painted in brilliant 
 colours on a dark ground. 
 
 The room is twenty-four feet in height by only 
 sixteen wide, and between sixty and seventy in 
 length. At the two ends, square spaces are sepa- 
 rated from the centre portion by a wall, advancing 
 about two feet from each side, and supporting an 
 arch, extending across the entire width. These 
 arches were probably furnished with curtains, which 
 separated at will the two ends from the principal 
 apartment, and converted them into sleeping retreats. 
 Their ornaments are still more choice than those 
 of the centre. With the exception of this room, 
 all the principal apartments, and the two courts, are
 
 334 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 decorated from the ground upwards to a height of 
 about five feet, with the azulejos, or mosaic of por- 
 celain tiles, the colours of which never lose their 
 brilliancy. 
 
 The first floor is probably an addition made 
 entirely subsequently to the time of the Moors. 
 It contains several suites of plain white-washed 
 rooms, and only two ornamental apartments, probably 
 of Don Pedro's time. These are equal to those on 
 the ground floor with respect to the tracery of the 
 walls, unfortunately almost filled with white- wash ; 
 but their ceilings are plainer. There is a gallery 
 over the Court of Dolls, of a different sort from the 
 rest, but scarcely inferior in beauty to any part of 
 the edifice. The pillars, balustrades, and ceilings, 
 are of wood. 
 
 One of the last mentioned apartments has an 
 advantage over all the rest of the palace, derived 
 from its position. It opens on a terrace looking 
 over the antique gardens, a view the most charm- 
 ing and original that can be imagined. This 
 room must be supposed to have been the boudoir 
 of Maria Padilla, the object of the earliest and 
 most durable of Pedro's attachments ; whose power 
 over him outlived the influence of all his future 
 liaisons. It is indeed probable that the taste for 
 this residence, and the creation of a large portion
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 335 
 
 of its beauties, are to be attributed to the mistress, 
 rather than to a gloomy and bloodthirsty king, as 
 Pedro is represented to have been, and whose ex- 
 istence was totally unsuited to such a residence. 
 In the Court of Dolls the portion of pavement is 
 pointed out on which his brother Don Fadrique fell, 
 slaughtered, as some say, by Pedro's own hand, at 
 all events in his presence, and by his order. 
 
 This monarch, were his palace not sufficient to 
 immortalize him, would have a claim to immortality, 
 as having ordered more executions than all the other 
 monarchs who ever ruled in Spain, added together. 
 It appears to have been a daily necessity for him ; 
 but he derived more than ordinary satisfaction when 
 an opportunity could be obtained of ordering an 
 archbishop to the block. The see of Toledo became 
 under him the most perilous post in the kingdom, 
 next to that of his own relatives : but he occasionally 
 extended the privilege to other archbishopricks. 
 It is a relief to meet with a case of almost merited 
 murder in so sanguinary a list. Such may be term- 
 ed the adventure of aa innocent man, who, seeing 
 before him a noose which closes upon everything 
 which approaches it, carefully inserts his neck within 
 the circumference. 
 
 This was the case of a monk, who, hearing that 
 Pedro, during one of his campaigns, was encamped
 
 336 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 in a neighbouring village, proceeded thither, and 
 demanded an audience. His request being imme- 
 diately granted, no doubt in the expectation of some 
 valuable information respecting the enemy's move- 
 ments, the holy man commenced an edifying dis- 
 course, in which he informed Don Pedro, that the 
 venerabilissimo San Somebody (the saint of his vil- 
 lage) had passed a considerable time with him in his 
 dream of the previous night : that his object in thus 
 miraculously waiting upon him was, to request he 
 would go to his Majesty, and tell him, that, owing 
 to the unpardonable disorders of his life, it was 
 determined he should lose the approaching battle. 
 It was the unhappy friar's last sermon; for in 
 less than five minutes he had ceased to exist. 
 
 It stands to reason, that, owing to the retired 
 habits of this friar, a certain anecdote had never 
 reached his ear relative to another member of a 
 religious fraternity. At a period that had not long 
 preceded the event just related, the misconduct of 
 this sovereign had drawn down upon him the dis- 
 pleasure of the head of the church.* The thun- 
 derbolt was already forged beneath the arches of 
 
 * He had put to death the " Master of St. Bernard," a title of 
 those days possessed by the chief of that order appointed by the 
 Pope. It was Urbano V, who, on the occasion of this act, resented 
 at the same time various other offences.
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 337 
 
 the Vatican ; but a serious difficulty presented itself. 
 The culprit was likely to turn upon the hand em- 
 ployed in inflicting the chastisement. At length 
 a young monk, known to a member of the holy 
 synod as a genius of promise, energetic and fertile 
 in resources, was made choice of, who unhesitat- 
 ingly undertook the mission. He repaired to Se- 
 ville, and after a few days' delay, employed in 
 combining his plan of operation, he got into a 
 boat, furnished with two stout rowers, and allow- 
 ing the current to waft him down the Guadal- 
 quivir, until he arrived opposite a portion of the 
 bank known to be the daily resort of the King, 
 the approached the shore, and waited his oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 At the accustomed hour the royal cavalcade was 
 seen to approach ; when, standing up in the boat, 
 which was not allowed to touch the shore, he made 
 signs that he would speak to the party. The monk- 
 ish costume commanded respect even from royalty, 
 and Don Pedro reined in his horse. The monk 
 then inquired whether it would gratify his Ma- 
 jesty to listen to the news of certain remarkable 
 occurrences that had taken place in the East, from 
 which part of the world he had just arrived. The 
 King approached, and ordered him to tell his story : 
 upon which he unrolled the fatal document, and
 
 338 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 with all possible rapidity of enunciation read it from 
 beginning to end. 
 
 Before it was concluded, the King had drawn his 
 sword, and spurred his horse to the brink of the 
 water ; but at his first movement the boat had push- 
 ed off, the reader still continuing his task, so that 
 by the time Pedro found himself completely ex- 
 communicated, his rage, passing all bounds, he had 
 dashed into the water, directing a sabre cut, which 
 only reached the boat's stern. He still, however, 
 spurred furiously on, and compelled his horse to 
 swim a considerable distance ; until, the animal 
 becoming exhausted, he only regained the shore 
 after being in serious danger of drowning. It may 
 easily be imagined that the papal messenger, satisfied 
 with his success, avoided the contact of terra 
 firma, until he found himself clear of Pedro's 
 dominions. 
 
 Quitting the room that of Maria Padilla (accord- 
 ing to my conjecture) by the door which leads to 
 the terrace, you look down on a square portion of 
 ground, partitioned off from the rest by walls, against 
 which orange-trees are trained like our wall-fruit 
 trees, only so thickly that no part of the masonry 
 is visible. All the walls in the garden are thus 
 masked by a depth of about eight inches of leaves 
 evenly clipped. In the fruit season the effect
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 339 
 
 is admirable. The small square portions next 
 to the palace thus partitioned off are laid out in 
 flower-beds, separated by walks of mixed brick and 
 porcelain, all of which communicate with fountains 
 in the centres. The fountains, simple and destitute 
 of the usual classical menagerie of marine zoology 
 
 FOUNTAINS AT THE ALCAZAR. 
 
 and gods and goddesses, whose cooperation is so 
 indispensable in most European gardens to the 
 propulsion of each curling thread or gushing mass of 
 the cold element, derive all their charm from the 
 purity and taste displayed in their design. One of 
 the most beautiful of them consists merely of a 
 raised step, covered with azulejos, enclosing a space 
 of an hexagonal form, in the centre of which the 
 water rises from a small block of corresponding form 
 and materials. The mosaic is continued outside the 
 step, but covers only a narrow space. 
 
 The terrace stretches away to the left as far as the 
 
 z 2
 
 340 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 extremity of the buildings, the facade of which is 
 hollowed out into a series of semicircular alcoves ; 
 there being no doors nor windows, with the excep- 
 tion of the door of the room through which we is- 
 sued. The alcoves are surrounded with seats, and 
 form so many little apartments, untenable during 
 the summer, as they look to the south, but forming 
 excellent winter habitations. Arrived at the ex- 
 tremity of the palace front, the promenade may be 
 continued at the same elevation down another whole 
 side of the gardens, along a terrace of two stories, 
 which follows the outer enclosure. This terrace is 
 very ornamental. From the ground up to a third of 
 its height, its front is clothed with the orange-tree, 
 in the same manner as the walls already described. 
 Immediately above runs a rustic story of large pro- 
 jecting stones, which serves as a basement for the 
 covered gallery, or lower of the two walks. This 
 gallery is closed on the outside, which is part of 
 the town wall. The front or garden side is com- 
 posed of a series of rustic arches, alternately larger 
 and smaller, formed of rugged stones, such as are 
 used for grottoes, and of a dark brown colour partly 
 natural, partly painted. 
 
 The arches are supported by marble columns, 
 or rather fragments of columns, all the mutilated an- 
 tique trunks rummaged out of Italica. For a shaft
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 341 
 
 of insufficient length a piece is found of the dimen- 
 sions required to make up the deficiency, and placed 
 on its top without mortar or cement. Some of the 
 capitals are extremely curious. Among them almost 
 every style may be traced, from the Hindoo to the 
 Composite : but no one is entire, nor matched with 
 any part of the column it was originally destined to 
 adorn. Over this gallery is the open terrace, which 
 continues that of the palace side on the same level. 
 The view extends in all directions, including the 
 gardens and the surrounding country ; for we are 
 here at the extremity of the town. At the furthest 
 end the edifice widens, and forms an open saloon, 
 surrounded with seats, glittering with the bright hues 
 of the azulejos. 
 
 From these terraces you look down on the portion 
 of the garden in which the royal arms are represent- 
 ed, formed with myrtle-hedges. Eagles, lions, cas- 
 tellated towers, all are accurately delineated. Myr- 
 tle-hedges are also used in all parts of the gardens as 
 borders to the walks. It is a charming evening's 
 occupation to wander through the different enclosures 
 of these gardens, which, although not very extensive, 
 are characterised by so much that is uncommon in 
 their plan and ornaments, that the lounger is never 
 weary of them. Nor is the visible portion of their 
 attractions more curious than the hidden sources of
 
 342 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 
 
 amusement and ablution, by means of which an 
 uninitiated wanderer over these china-paved walks, 
 may be unexpectedly, and more than necessarily re- 
 freshed. By means of a handle, concealed here in 
 the lungs of some bathing Diana in the recesses of 
 her grotto here in the hollow of a harmless looking 
 stone an entire line of walk is instantaneously con- 
 verted into a stage of hydraulics displaying to the 
 spectator a long line of embroidery, composed of thou- 
 sands of silver threads sparkling in the sunshine, as 
 issuing from unseen apertures in the pavement they 
 cross each other at a height of a few feet from the 
 ground, forming an endless variety of graceful curves. 
 Almost all the walks are sown with these burladores, 
 as they are termed. 
 
 A large portion of the grounds consists of an 
 orange-grove, varied with sweet lemon-trees. The 
 trees are sufficiently near to each other to afford 
 universal shade, without being so thickly planted as 
 to interfere with the good-keeping of the grass, nor 
 with the movement of promenading parties. In 
 the centre of this grove is a beautiful edifice, a 
 square pavilion entirely faced, within and without, 
 with the azulejos, with the exception only of the roof. 
 Around it is a colonnade of white marble, enclosing 
 a space raised two feet above the ground, and 
 surrounded by a seat of the same mosaic. The
 
 ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE. 343 
 
 interior is occupied by a table, surrounded with 
 seats. 
 
 The subterranean baths, called the baths of Maria 
 Padilla, are entered from the palace end of the gar- 
 den. They extend to a considerable distance under 
 the palace, and must during the summer heats, have 
 been a delightfully cool retreat. 
 
 This alcazar is probably the best specimen of a 
 Moorish residence remaining in Europe. The Al- 
 hambra would, no doubt, have surpassed it, but for 
 the preference accorded by the Emperor, Charles the 
 Fifth, to its situation over that of Seville: owing 
 to which he contented himself with building a 
 gallery over the principal court at the latter ; while 
 at Granada, he destroyed a large portion of the 
 old buildings, which he replaced by an entire Italian 
 palace. At present the ornamented apartments of 
 the Seville palace are more numerous, and in better 
 preservation than those of the Alhambra. 
 
 Both, however, would have been thrown into the 
 shade, had any proportionate traces existed of the 
 palace of Abderahman the Third, in the environs 
 of Cordova. Unfortunately nothing of this remains 
 but the description. It is among the few Arab 
 manuscripts which escaped the colossal auto-da-fe of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, and would appear too 
 extravagant to merit belief, but for the known
 
 o44 PALACE OF AZARAH. 
 
 minuteness and accuracy of the Arab writers, proved 
 by their descriptions of the palaces and other 
 edifices which remain to afford the test of com- 
 parison. 
 
 The immense wealth lavished by these princes, 
 must also be taken into consideration, and especially 
 by the Caliphs of Cordova, who possessed a far 
 more extended sway than belonged to the subse- 
 quent dynasties of Seville and Granada. According 
 to a custom prevalent at their court, rich presents 
 were offered to the sovereign on various occasions. 
 Among others, governors of provinces, on their 
 nomination, seldom neglected this practical demon- 
 stration of gratitude. This practice is to this day 
 observed at the court of the Turkish Sultan, and 
 serves to swell the treasury in no small degree. 
 Abderahman the Third, having granted a govern- 
 ment to the brother of his favourite, Ahmed ben 
 Sayd, the two brothers joined purses, and offered 
 a present made up of the following articles ac- 
 companied by delicate and ingenious compliments 
 in verse, for the composition of which they employed 
 the most popular poet of the day : Four hundred 
 pounds weight of pure gold ; forty thousand sequins 
 in ingots of silver ; four hundred pounds of aloes ; 
 five hundred ounces of amber ; three hundred 
 ounces of camphor ; thirty pieces of tissue of gold
 
 PALACE OF AZARAII. 345 
 
 and silk ; a hundred and ten fine furs of Khorasan ; 
 forty-eight caparisons of gold and silk, woven at 
 Bagdad; four thousand pounds of silk in balls 
 thirty Persian carpets; eight hundred suits of ar- 
 mour ; a thousand shields ; a hundred thousand 
 arrows; fifteen Arabian, and a hundred Spanish 
 horses, with their trappings and equipments ; sixty 
 young slaves forty male, and twenty female. 
 
 The palace near Cordova, erected by this sove- 
 reign, was called Azarah (the Flower) after the name 
 of his favourite mistress. Its materials consisted 
 entirely of marble and cedar wood ; and it contained 
 four thousand three hundred columns. It was 
 sufficiently spacious to lodge the whole court, besides 
 a guard of cavalry. The gardens, as was usual with 
 the Arabs, formed the part of the residence on 
 which were lavished the greatest treasures of wealth, 
 and the choicest inventions of taste. The fountains 
 were endless in number and variety. On one of the 
 most picturesque spots was situated an edifice called 
 the Caliph's Pavilion. It consisted of a circular 
 gallery of white marble columns with gilded capi- 
 tals ; in the centre rose a fountain of quicksilver, 
 imitating all the movements of water, and glittering 
 in the sun with a brightness too dazzling for the 
 eye to support. Several of the saloons of this palace 
 were ornamented with fountains. In one, which
 
 346 PALACE OF AZARAH. 
 
 bore the name of the Caliph's Saloon, a fountain of 
 jasper contained in the centre a golden swan of 
 beautiful workmanship and over it hung from 
 the ceiling a pearl, which had been sent from Con- 
 stantinople as a present from the Greek Emperor 
 to Abderahman. The mosque of this palace sur- 
 passed in riches, although not in size, the Aljama 
 of Cordova. 
 
 These were monuments worthy to have kings and 
 caliphs for architects, for such they had. There is 
 no doubt that the palace of Azahrah was planned 
 and designed by the Caliph himself; and the 
 founder of that dynasty, Abderahman the First, not 
 only designed the magnificent mosque of Cordova, 
 but presided daily over the progress of its erection. 
 Possessed, as these sovereigns were, as well as all 
 the well-born portion of their nation, of a highly 
 cultivated education, the intervals of leisure, left 
 them by war, were rarely thrown away in idleness. 
 Abderahman the First was a poet, besides being a 
 mathematician, an architect, and the first soldier of 
 his time. Some of his writings have been preserved, 
 and are among the Arab works collected and trans- 
 lated by Conde into Spanish. The following stanzas, 
 addressed to a palm-tree, must be, as is always the 
 case, still more beautiful in the original, although 
 charming in the Spanish. The monarch of the
 
 CALIPHS OF CORDOVA. 347 
 
 Western Empire, after having vanquished his ene- 
 mies, and pacified his dominions, beloved by his 
 subjects and by all who approached him, and possessed 
 of the resources of science to occupy his mind, was 
 nevertheless unhappy. He preferred his home in 
 Asia to the splendours of an imperial throne in such 
 a land as Andalucia. He caused a young palm-tree 
 to be brought from Syria, and planted in a garden 
 formed by him in the environs of Cordova ; and it 
 was his delight to sit in a tower constructed in the 
 garden, and gaze at his tree. 
 
 It was to this tree he addressed the lines thus 
 translated : 
 
 Tu tambien, insigne palnia, 
 Eres aqui forastera. 
 De Algarbe las dulces auras 
 Tu pompa halagan y besan. 
 En fecundo suelo arraigas, 
 Y al cielo tu cima elevas, 
 Tristes lagrimas lloraras, 
 Si qual io sentir pudieras. 
 
 Tu no sientes contratiempos 
 Como io de suerte aviesa : 
 A mi de pena y dolor 
 Continuas lluvias me annegan. 
 Con mis lagrimas regue 
 Las palmas que el Forat riega, 
 Pero las palmas y el rio 
 Se olvidan de mis penas.
 
 348 CALIPHS OF CORDOVA. 
 
 Cuando mios infaustos hados, 
 Y de Al. Abas la fiereza 
 Mi forzaron de dexar 
 Del alma las dulces prendas ; 
 A ti de mi patria amada 
 Ningun recuerda ti queda ; 
 Pero io, triste, no puedo 
 Dexar de llorar por ella. 
 
 It is probable that on the occasion of the sur- 
 render of Cordova to Ferdinand the Third, the 
 Moors destroyed their palace of Azarah, since they 
 were desirous of acting in a similar manner at 
 Seville, with regard to Geber's Tower. Perhaps 
 from disgust at the idea that a monument, the beauty 
 and grandeur of which had inspired them with a 
 sort of affection, would be, being gazed at, trodden, 
 and possibly disfigured, (as it turned out) by those 
 whom they looked upon as barbarians, and who would 
 not appreciate its perfection, they attempted to intro- 
 duce a clause into the conditions of the surrender 
 of Seville, stipulating the destruction of the tower. 
 
 By way of testifying to the accuracy of the 
 opinion they had formed of their adversaries, Saint 
 Ferdinand was on the point of agreeing to the 
 clause : when his son, afterwards his successor, 
 Alonso el Sabio, perhaps the only Christian present, 
 who felt sufficient interest in a square mass of 
 masonry, to care how the question was decided,
 
 CALIPHS OF CORDOVA. 349 
 
 energetically interfered, affirming that a single 
 brick displaced, should be paid with the lives of the 
 whole population. 
 
 This most perfect scientific monument left by 
 the Arabs, for the possession of which, after the 
 architect, Europe is indebted to Alonso the Tenth, 
 we will presently examine, together with the 
 cathedral, which was afterwards erected, so as to 
 include it in his plan.
 
 350 
 
 LETTER XIX 
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 WE have visited the most beautiful edifice in 
 Seville ; we are now approaching the most magni- 
 ficent. The native writers, participating somewhat 
 in the character attributed to the inhabitants of their 
 province, sometimes called the Gascony of Spain, de- 
 clare this cathedral to be the grandest in the world. 
 This is going too far ; setting aside St. Peter's, and 
 the Santa Maria del Fiore, the style of which renders 
 the comparison more difficult, the Duomo of Milan, 
 of which this building appears to be an imitation, 
 must be allowed to be superior to it, externally at 
 least, if not internally. Had they ranked it as the 
 finest church out of Italy, they would not have been 
 much in error, for such it probably is. 
 
 No one in approaching, excepting from the west, 
 would imagine it to be a Gothic edifice. You perceive 
 an immense quadrangular enclosure, filled apparently
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 351 
 
 with cupolas, towers, pinnacles of all sorts and styles, 
 but less of the Gothic than any other. These belong 
 to the numerous accessory buildings, subsequently 
 annexed to the church ; such as sacristies, chapels, 
 chapter-hall, each subsequent erection having been 
 designed in a different style. The cathedral is 
 inaccessible on the south side, that which we first 
 reach in coming from the Alcazar. It is enclosed 
 here within a long Italian facade of about thirty to 
 forty feet elevation, ornamented by a row of Ionic 
 pilasters, supporting an elegant frieze and balustrade. 
 We therefore ascend the raised pavement, which, 
 bounded by a series of antique shafts of columns, 
 surrounds the whole enclosure ; and having passed 
 down the greater part of the east end, find a small 
 portal close to the Giralda, which admits to the 
 church through the court of orange-trees. Before 
 we enter, we will look round on this view, which 
 possesses more of the Moorish character, than that 
 which awaits us in the interior. Some idea of the 
 general plan of these buildings will be necessary, 
 in order that you may perfectly understand our 
 present point of view. 
 
 I mentioned above, that the general enclosure 
 formed a square. This square, the sides of which 
 face the four points of the compass, is divided by a 
 straight line into two unequal parts, one being about
 
 352 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 a third wider than the other. The direction of the 
 line is east and west ; to the south of it is the 
 cathedral, to the north, the Moorish court of orange- 
 trees. The Arab Tower, now called the Giralda, 
 stands in the north-east angle of the cathedral, and 
 the small door, through which we have just en- 
 tered, in the south-eastern angle of the court, is 
 close by it. 
 
 The court is surrounded by buildings ; for besides 
 the church on its south side, a chapel called the Sa- 
 grario, runs down the entire western end. The east 
 side and half the north are occupied by arcades, 
 which support the library, the gift of the son of 
 Columbus to the cathedral ; and the remaining 
 half side by a sacristy. The buildings of the east 
 and north sides lean against the old embattled wall 
 on the outside. The chapel of the Sagrario to the 
 west is in the Italian style. Avenues of orange- 
 trees, and a marble fountain of a simple but choice 
 design, are the only objects which occupy the open 
 space. Throughout it reigns an eternal gloom, 
 maintained by the frowning buttresses and pin- 
 nacles of the cathedral, which overhang it from the 
 south. 
 
 A small doorway, near to that by which we enter- 
 ed the court, gives access to the cathedral at all 
 hours. On entering an almost more than twilight
 
 HA.H'ells dsl 

 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. .V>:{ 
 
 would confuse the surrounding objects, did it im- 
 mediately succeed the sunshine of Andalucia ; and 
 were not the transition rendered gradual to the eye 
 by the deep shades of the orange court. As you ad- 
 vance towards the centre nave, this darkness aids 
 in producing the effect of immensity, which is the 
 next idea that presents itself. In fact the enormous 
 elevation and width of the edifice is such as at first 
 to overpower the imagination, and to deprive you 
 of the faculty of appreciating its dimensions. It pro- 
 duces a novel species of giddiness arising from look- 
 ing upwards. 
 
 To arrive at the intersection of the principal nave 
 and transept, you traverse two side naves, both 
 about eighty-five feet in height, and spacious in 
 proportion. The centre nave is a hundred and 
 thirty-two feet, but rises at the quadrangle, forming 
 its intersection with the transept about twenty feet 
 higher. The ceiling here, and over the four sur- 
 rounding intercolumniations, is ornamented with 
 a groining of admirable richness. That of the cen- 
 tre quadrangle is here and there tinged with crim- 
 son and orange tints, proceeding from some diminu- 
 tive windows placed between the lower and upper 
 ceilings. 
 
 After having sufficiently examined the upper view, 
 the eye wanders over the immense vacuum of the 
 
 A A
 
 354 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 transept, and rests at length on the bronze railings 
 which, on the east, separate you from the high-altar, 
 and on the west from the choir. These are superb. 
 That of the Capilla Mayor rises to an elevation of 
 sixty feet, and is throughout of the most elaborate 
 workmanship. It is the work of a Dominican monk, 
 who also executed the two pulpits. The choir forms, 
 as usual, a sort of saloon, which occupies the centre 
 of the church, that is, in this instance, two of the 
 five intercolumniations which reach from the tran- 
 sept to the western portal. Passing round it, in 
 the direction of the western doors, where the view 
 is more open, the plan and style of the build- 
 ing are more easily distinguished. They are re- 
 markably simple. The area is a quadrangle of 
 three hundred and ninety-eight feet by two hundred 
 and ninety-one, and is divided into five naves by 
 four rows of pillars, all of about sixty feet elevation. 
 The width of the centre nave and transept is fifty- 
 nine feet, and the whole is surrounded by chapels. 
 The distance between the pillars, of which there are 
 only eight in each row, has the effect of generalizing 
 the view of the whole edifice, and imparting to it 
 a grandeur which is not obtained in the cathedral of 
 Toledo, of almost equal dimensions ; while the 
 smaller and less gaudily coloured windows shed a 
 more religious ray, and are preferable to those of
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 355 
 
 Toledo, which, magnificent in themselves, attract 
 an undue share of the observation, instead of blend- 
 ing into one perfect composition of architectural 
 harmony. 
 
 Immediately above the arches of the principal 
 nave and transept, at a height of about ninety 
 feet, runs a balustrade, the design of which con- 
 sists of a series of pointed arches. Above it are 
 the windows, reaching nearly to the ceiling. They 
 are painted in rather dark tints, and afford no more 
 than a sort of demi-jour, which at the east end de- 
 creases to twilight. Rather more light is admitted 
 towards the western extremity, from some windows 
 of plain glass, in the lateral chapels, without which 
 the pictures they contain could not be viewed ; but 
 from this end the high-altar is scarcely discernible. 
 The simple grandeur of this view loses nothing by 
 the absence of all ornamental detail : the portion 
 most ornamented is the pavement, composed of a 
 mosaic of the richest marbles. About half-way be- 
 tween the portals and the choir, are inserted two 
 or three large slabs, bearing inscriptions ; one of 
 them is to the memory of Christopher Columbus ; 
 another to his son. There are no other details to 
 draw the attention until we visit the chapels, in 
 which all the treasures of art are dispersed. A 
 few pictures are scattered here and there around 
 
 A \2
 
 356 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 the eastern part of the building ; all of them are 
 good A large one of Zurbaran, in the north tran- 
 sept, is a master-piece. It represents St. Jerome, 
 surrounded by an assembly of monks. 
 
 At the west end of the northernmost nave, the 
 first door opens to a vast church, called the chapel 
 of the Sagrario, already alluded to as forming the 
 western boundary of the orange-court. It is nearly 
 two hundred feet in length ; in the Italian style ; 
 the orders Doric and Ionic, but loaded with heavy 
 sculpture in the worst taste. After this a series 
 of chapels, of a style analogous to the body of 
 the edifice, succeed each other, commencing with 
 that of San Antonio, and continuing all round the 
 church. Several of them contain beautiful details 
 of ornament, and handsome tombs. That of the 
 Kings should be mentioned as an exception, with 
 regard to the architecture, since its style is the 
 plateresco. It contains the tombs of Alonzo the 
 Tenth, and his Queen Beatrix, with several others. 
 The most beautiful of these chapels is that of Nu- 
 estra Senora la Antigua, situated on the south 
 side, below the transept. It forms a square of 
 about thirty feet, and rises to an elevation of up- 
 wards of eighty. The walls are divided into stories 
 and compartments, and covered, as is also the ceil- 
 ing, with admirable frescos by Martinez and Rovera.
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 357 
 
 At a side door leading to the sacristy, are two beau- 
 tiful columns of verde antico. The high-altar is 
 composed of jasper, from quarries which existed 
 at the distance of a few leagues from Seville. 
 The statues are by Pedro Cornejo ; and there are 
 handsome tombs let into the lower part of the 
 walls. Four antique chandeliers, one in each cor- 
 ner, are designed with uncommon grace and origi- 
 nality. From the summit of a short column rises 
 a silver stem, from different parts of which spring 
 flat rods of the same metal, so slight as to bend with 
 the smallest weight : they are of various lengths, 
 and at the extremity of each waves an elegantly 
 formed lamp. Each of these clusters assumes a 
 pyramidal form, and produces a charming effect 
 when lighted up on days of ceremony, from their 
 harmonizing with the rest of the decorations of 
 the chapel, no less than from the elegance of their 
 form. 
 
 Some of the chapels of this side, and east of 
 the transept, communicate with other buildings, 
 erected subsequently to the principal edifice, and 
 consequently not comprised in its plan, nor analogous 
 to its style. Thus, after passing through the chapel 
 called Del Mariscal, situated at the south-east of 
 the apse, you enter an anteroom, which leads to 
 the chapter-hall. The anteroom is an apartment
 
 358 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 of handsome proportions, covered, in the intervals 
 of a row of Ionic pilasters, with a series of pieces 
 of sculpture in white marble. The hall itself is 
 magnificent. It is an oval of fifty-seven feet in 
 length, entirely hung with crimson velvet enrich- 
 ed with gold embroidery. Another of the side 
 chapels leads to the smaller sacristy. I call it 
 smaller because it is not so large as that which 
 adjoins the orange-court ; but it is the principal 
 of the two. It is a superb saloon, upwards of 
 seventy feet in length by about sixty wide, orna- 
 mented with a profusion of rich sculpture. The 
 architect was Juan de Herrera. 
 
 From the floor to a height of about four feet, a 
 spacious wardrobe, composed of large mahogany 
 drawers, runs down the two longer sides of the 
 room. These contain probably the richest collec- 
 tion that exists of gold and silver embroidered 
 velvets and silks, brocades lace scarfs and man- 
 tles ornamented with precious stones : all these are 
 the ornaments belonging to altars and pulpits ; 
 robes, trains, and vestures of different sorts, worn 
 on occasions of ceremony by the principal digni- 
 taries. The cathedral of Seville is said to surpass 
 all others in these ornaments. 
 
 In this sacristy are contained likewise the treasure 
 of gold and silver vessels, and basins; innumerable
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 359 
 
 crosses, reliquaries, chalices, boxes, and candlesticks ; 
 and, in an upright mahogany case of about twenty 
 feet elevation, lined with white silk, the front of 
 which opens like a door, stands the Custodia a 
 silver ornament about sixteen feet high, including 
 its base. On the day of the Corpus Christi, the 
 Host is placed in this Custodia, and carried in pro- 
 cession through Seville. The silver of which it is 
 composed weighs seven hundred weight. But it 
 must not be supposed from this circumstance that 
 the ornament has a heavy appearance. It is a taper- 
 ing edifice containing four stories, ornamented by as 
 many orders of architecture. The general form is 
 circular, diminishing up to the summit, which sup- 
 ports a single statue. Each story rests on twenty- 
 four columns, most of which are fluted, and all, toge- 
 ther with their capitals, remarkable for their delicacy 
 of finish. Among these are numerous statues of 
 saints, in whose costumes precious stones are intro- 
 duced. In that of the statue of Faith, which stands 
 in the centre of the lower story, are some of im- 
 mense value. This ornament was the work of Juan 
 de Arfe, the Cellini of Spain. 
 
 But the pictures are the richest treasure of this 
 apartment. It is an epitome of the Cathedral, which 
 may be called a gallery one of the richest that 
 exists of the paintings of Spanish schools : conse-
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 quently, according to the opinion of many one 
 of the best of all galleries. The pictures are not in 
 great numbers, but they are well adapted to their 
 situation, being the largest in dimension, and among 
 the most prominent in value and merit, that have 
 been produced by their respective painters. 
 
 By the greater portion of spectators, the Spanish 
 artists, of what may be called the golden age of 
 painting, \vill always be preferred to the Italian ; 
 because their manner of treating their subject, 
 appeals rather to the passions than to the under- 
 standing. It is the same quality which renders 
 the Venetian school more popular than the other 
 schools of Italy ; and the Italian music more at- 
 tractive than the German Rossini than Spohr or 
 Beethoven. I do not mean that the preference will 
 be the result of choice, in an individual who appre- 
 ciates the two styles perfectly; but that the dif- 
 ference I allude to renders the works of the 
 greatest masters of Italy less easily understood. 
 
 With all the intelligence and taste necessary for 
 the appreciation of a picture of Raffaelle, many 
 will have had a hundred opportunities of studying 
 such a picture, and will nevertheless have passed 
 it by, scarcely noticed ; merely, because on the 
 first occasion of seeing it, they have not imme- 
 diately caught the idea of the artist, nor entered
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 361 
 
 sufficiently into his feelings to trace the sparks of 
 his inspiration scattered over the canvass. How 
 many are there too careless to return to the 
 charge, and thus to acquire the cultivation neces- 
 sary to enable them to judge of such works, who 
 the moment a Murillo, or a Zurbaran meets their 
 view, will gaze on it with delight, for the simple 
 reason, that it is calculated to strike the intelligence 
 the least cultivated. 
 
 The Spanish artists usually endeavoured to pro- 
 duce an exact imitation of material nature ; while 
 the Italians aimed at, and attained higher results 
 The object of the Spaniards being less difficult of 
 attainment, the perfection with which they imitated 
 nature passes conception. To that they devoted 
 all the energies of their genius ; while you may 
 search in vain in the best productions of Italy, 
 not excepting the school of Venice, the one that most 
 resembles the Spanish, for anything approaching 
 their success in that respect. By way of an example, 
 in the Spasimo of Raffaelle, we trace the opera- 
 tions of the mind, as they pierce through every 
 feature of every countenance, and the attitude of 
 every limb throughout the grouping of that great 
 master-piece of expression ; from the brutal im- 
 patience of the one, and the involuntary compassion 
 of the other executioner, up to the intensity of
 
 862 SPANISH PAINTERS. 
 
 maternal suffering in the Virgin, and the indescri- 
 bable combination of heaven and earth, which 
 beams through the unequalled head of the Christ; 
 but there is no deception to the eye. No one 
 would mistake any of the figures for reality ; nor 
 exclaim that it steps from the canvass ; nor does 
 any one wish for such an effect, or perceive any 
 such deficiency. 
 
 What, on the contrary, was the exclamation of 
 Murillo before Campana's Descent from the Cross? 
 This master-piece of Pedro de Campana is seen 
 at the head of the sacristy of the cathedral. It was 
 so favourite a picture with Murillo, that he used 
 to pass much of his time every day, seated before 
 it. On one occasion, his presence being required 
 on an affair of importance, which he had forgotten, 
 his friends found him at his usual post before the 
 Descent ; when, pointing to the figure of the Christ, 
 he replied to their remonstrances, " I am only 
 waiting until they have taken him down." 
 
 Although Murillo admired this perfect represen- 
 tation of material nature, his own works are ex- 
 ceptions, in fact almost the only exceptions, to this 
 peculiarity of the Spanish masters. He partakes, 
 indeed, of the qualities of both schools in an eminent 
 degree. In .intellectual expression and delineation 
 of the operations of the mind, he is superior to
 
 SPANISH PAINTERS. 363 
 
 all his countrymen, but inferior to the first Italian 
 painters. In the material imitation of nature, he 
 is superior to the greater number of the Italians, but 
 inferior to the other principal Spanish artists. There 
 is, at Madrid, a Christ on the Cross, of his, in which he 
 has attempted this effect an effort he ought rather to 
 have despised. The picture contains no other object 
 than the figure, and the cross of admirably imitated 
 wood, on a simple black, or rather dark brown 
 background, representing complete darkness. After 
 sitting a short time before it, you certainly feel a 
 sort of uncomfortable sensation, caused by the 
 growing reality of the pale and tormented carcass ; 
 but it is not to be compared to the Descent of 
 Campana. There the whole group is to the life, 
 and no darkness called in to aid the effect. The 
 drooping body is exposed to a powerful light, and 
 hangs its leaden weight on the arms of those who 
 support it, with a reality perfectly startling. 
 
 This picture is placed in the centre of the upper 
 end of the sacristy, as being considered the best 
 of those therein contained : but it is not without 
 rivals. The few paintings placed here are first rate ; 
 particularly the portraits of the two archbishops 
 of Seville, San Leandro, and San Isidoro two of 
 Murillo's most exquisite productions. Some of the 
 greatest compositions of this painter are contained
 
 304 SPANISH PAINTERS. 
 
 in the chapels we have passed in review, where 
 they serve for altar-pieces, each filling an entire 
 side of a chapel. Of these large pictures, I think 
 the best on the side we are visiting is the Saint 
 Francis. The Saint is represented kneeling to a 
 vision of the Virgin. It may certainly be ranked 
 among Murillo's best efforts in the style he em- 
 ployed, when treating these celestial subjects, and 
 which has been called his vaporous manner. To 
 speak correctly, two of his three manners are em- 
 ployed in this picture, since the Saint is an instance 
 of that called his warm manner. 
 
 On the opposite or north side of the cathedral, 
 in the first chapel after passing the door of the Sa- 
 grario, is the San Antonio. This is probably the 
 greatest work of Murillo in the two styles just men- 
 tioned, and certainly the most magnificent picture 
 contained in the cathedral. On the lower fore- 
 ground is the Saint, in adoration before the Christ, 
 who appears in the centre, surrounded by the Hea- 
 venly Host. 
 
 No one but Murillo could ever have thus em- 
 
 
 
 bodied his conception of a supernatural vision. On 
 sitting down before this canvass, from which, as it 
 extends across the whole chapel, no other object 
 can draw off the attention, you speedily yield to 
 the irresistible power of abstraction, and are lost
 
 SPANISH PAINTERS. 365 
 
 in an ecstacy, nearly resembling that which the 
 artist has sought to represent in the countenance 
 and attitude of his Saint. The eye wanders in a 
 sort of trance through the glorious assemblage of 
 Heaven. The whole scene looks real : but it is only 
 on taking time to study the details that you discover 
 the prodigies of talent displayed in the drawing 
 and finishing of this picture. An angel, suspended 
 in front of the lower portion of the group, more es- 
 pecially attracts the attention. One leg is extended 
 towards the spectator, the foreshortening of which 
 is a marvel of execution. 
 
 Over the San Antonio, as it does not reach to 
 the ceiling, there is a smaller picture, representing 
 the Baptism of Christ, also by Murillo. In a chapel 
 at the south-west angle of the church, there are 
 several fine paintings by Luis de Vargas, one of 
 the founders of the school of Seville. 
 
 In the choir, the collection of books for the 
 chanting services is worth seeing. Of these im- 
 mense folios, enclosed in massive covers, bound 
 with a profusion of wrought metal mostly silver 
 may be counted upwards of a hundred. They are 
 filled with paintings, infinite in minuteness and 
 beauty. For the performances of the daily services 
 and all duties, ordinary and extraordinary, within 
 this edifice, more than eight hundred persons are
 
 366 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 employed. Five hundred masses are recited each 
 day at the different altars : all of which taking place 
 during the early part of the day, an idea may be 
 formed of the business which goes on. Of the six 
 or seven organs, I have heard three playing at the 
 same time in different parts of the church ; but so 
 widely separated, as by no means to interfere 
 with each other's harmony. One of them was one 
 of the two great organs which face each other 
 over the choir. These two play a duet once a year, 
 on the day of the Corpus. The effect they pro- 
 duce is not so powerful as that produced at Tole- 
 do, but far more beautiful. At Toledo the two 
 which correspond to these, are assisted on that oc- 
 casion by a third, as powerful as both the others 
 united, placed over the portal of the south transept, 
 at an elevation of about seventy feet from the 
 ground. 
 
 Among the ceremonies of the cathedral of Seville 
 is one sufficiently unique to be deserving of notice. 
 El baik de los seis (dance of the six), is performed 
 by eight youths probably by six originally 
 every evening during the feast of the Conception. 
 It takes place in front of the high-altar, on which 
 her statue is placed on that occasion. The ser- 
 vice is one of especial solemnity; and, as such, 
 accompanied, unfortunately as on all such occa-
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 367 
 
 sions, by an orchestra of violins, to the exclusion 
 of the organs. The singing commences at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon, in the choir, and con- 
 tinues until half-past six, when all move in pro- 
 cession through the great railing, across the tran- 
 sept, and ascend the flight of steps which lead 
 to the Capilla Mayor. Here they take their seats 
 according to rank, on benches placed in rows from 
 east to west, fronting a space which is left open 
 down the centre, in front of the altar. The or- 
 chestra occupies a corner near the railing ; and on 
 the two front benches are seated four facing four 
 the eight youths, dressed in the ancient Spanish 
 costume, all sky-blue silk and white muslin, and 
 holding each his hat, also light blue, with a flowing 
 white feather. 
 
 The chorus now recommences, but speedily drops ; 
 when the orchestra sounds a beautiful air in the 
 waltz measure. This is played once by the instru- 
 ments alone, and joined the second time by the 
 voices of the eight boys, or youths of the age of six- 
 teen to eighteen ; who, after having accompanied a 
 short time, start to their legs, and continue in the 
 same strain. At the next reprise they all, as if by 
 word of command, place their hats on their heads, 
 and one or two minutes after, the chant still contin- 
 uing, advance, and meet in the centre, then return
 
 368 CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. 
 
 each to his place ; advance a second time, and turn 
 round each other, using the waltz step. 
 
 After singing and dancing for about a quarter of 
 an hour, the voices are exchanged for the sounds of 
 castagnettes, which they have held all this time in 
 their hands, and the measure becomes more animat- 
 ed ; and thus they terminate the performance. The 
 same ceremony is repeated each night of the seven ; 
 only varying the air of the waltz, of which they 
 have two. 
 
 This ceremony, now belonging exclusively to the 
 cathedral of Seville, was originally performed in 
 some other cathedrals ; but has been gradually laid 
 aside in all the others, having been found to occa- 
 sion irreverent behaviour among a portion of the 
 spectators. It was originally introduced among 
 the observances in honour of the anniversary of the 
 Conception, as a natural manifestation of joy ; and 
 such a genuine Spanish bolero would have been : 
 but the slow time of the music, and the measured 
 movements, adopted for the purpose of suiting the 
 performance to the solemnity of the place, have 
 changed the nature of the dance, and deprived it 
 of everything approaching to cheerfulness.
 
 369 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 SPANISH BEGGARS. HAIRDRESSING. THE GIRALDA. CASA DE 
 PILATOS. MONASTERIES. ITALICA. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 MENDICITY is one of the Curiosities and not the 
 least picturesque one of this antique country. 
 There should be a Mendicity Society for its preser- 
 vation, together with other legacies of the middle 
 ages. An entertaining book might be filled with 
 its annals and anecdotes. 
 
 Nowhere, I should think, can beggary be a more 
 lucrative calling. The convents having been the 
 inexhaustible providence of these tribes, on their 
 suppression the well-born and bred Spaniards con- 
 sider the charge to have devolved upon them, 
 in the absence of all possible legislation on the 
 subject : and few, especially of the fair sex, turn a 
 deaf ear to the mute eloquence of the open hand. 
 Even a stranger, if possessed of an ear, resists with 
 difficulty the graceful appeal of the well trained 
 
 B B
 
 SPANISH BEGGARS. 
 
 proficient : Noble caballero, un ochavito por Dios. A 
 blind girl made no request; but exclaimed "Oh 
 that the Virgin of Carmen may preserve your 
 sight ! " 
 
 The mendicants are classified, and assume every 
 form of external humanity. Being in the coach- 
 office near the Plaza del Duque, a tall well-dressed 
 man, dangling a dark kid glove, entered, and, 
 walking up to the book-keeper, after having carefully 
 closed the door, made some communication to him 
 in a low voice. The other replied in a similar tone, 
 and they parted with mutual bows. I was puzzled 
 on the man's turning to me and observing that the 
 beggars were very annoying in Seville; but still 
 certain my conjecture could not but be erroneous, I 
 said " you don't mean to say that your acquaintance" 
 " Oh, no acquaintance ; I never saw him before : 
 he only came to beg." 
 
 This species of cavalkro pauper should by no 
 means be encouraged ; he is not of the picturesque 
 sort. Nowhere do the wretches look their character 
 better than at Seville; as all admirers of Murillo 
 can testify, without consulting any other nature 
 than his canvass. But these consider they confer 
 a sort of obligation on the individual they con- 
 descend to apply to. Nothing can exceed their 
 astonishment and indignation when refused. Their
 
 SPANISH BEGGARS. 371 
 
 great highway is the superb polished mosaic marble 
 of the Cathedral ; where they divide the authority 
 with the embroidered dignitaries of the choir. It 
 is useless to hope for an instant's leisure for the 
 contemplation of this unique temple, until you 
 have disposed of its entire population of ragged 
 despots. 
 
 A sort of chivalrous etiquette is observed, in 
 virtue of which a female chorus is the first to form 
 your escort from pillar to pillar. These dismissed, 
 you are delivered over to the barefooted Murillos. 
 There are two modes of escape. The rich man 
 should go in with his two hands filled with coin, 
 and distribute to all, even to many who will return 
 for a second contribution before he has done. But 
 if economical, you may attain the same end, and 
 more permanently, by sacrificing four or five days 
 to walking up and down the nave, without looking 
 at anything, but simply undergoing the persecution 
 of the mob. After the fourth visit you will be left 
 in peace. 
 
 These counsels I am competent to give you from 
 dreadful experience ; more dreadful from my having 
 pursued a middle course. To one barefooted and 
 rotten- scalped embryo brigand I only gave a two- 
 quarto piece (halfpenny) about equal in real con- 
 sequence to twopence in England. If you have 
 
 BB2
 
 372 SPANISH BEGGARS. 
 
 ever seen, in the era of mail coaches, the look of 
 quiet surprise on the countenance of the well-fed 
 charioteer, who, having, after the sixth or seventh 
 stage, opened the door, and muttered from behind 
 his cache-nez the usual "coachman, gen'lemen" 
 received a long-searched-for deprecatory sixpence 
 from some careful knight with a false shirt-collar 
 you have noticed the self-same look, which was 
 leisurely transferred by the urchin from the piece of 
 copper in the open palm to my face, and back to 
 the piece of copper. 
 
 Instead, however, of restoring it to me, his indig- 
 nation seemed to inspire him with a sudden reso- 
 lution. He rushed to a kneeling Seiiorita a few 
 paces distant, and interrupting her devotions by a 
 pull at the side of her mantilla, he showed the 
 coin in the open hand, while with the other he 
 pointed to the culprit. If he meditated revenge, 
 he should have made another choice, instead of 
 deranging a garment, from the folds of which a 
 real Andalucian mouth and pair of eyes, turning 
 full on me, aimed a smile which, I need not inform 
 you, was not dear at two quartos. 
 
 Could such a smile have been natural, and the 
 expression of mere curiosity, or was it intended for 
 a death-wound, dealt for another's vengeance ? and 
 did the velvet language of those eyes signify a
 
 SPANISH BEAUTY. 373 
 
 horrible " Pallas te hoc vulnere," in favour of the 
 ragamuffin I had offended ? At all events, the in- 
 cident lost him a more munificent remuneration, 
 by driving me from the spot, and expelling from 
 my head, a project previously formed, of inviting 
 him to myfonda to be sketched. 
 
 With regard to the oft and still recurring sub- 
 ject of Spanish beauty, you are hereby warned 
 against giving ear to what may be said by tourists, 
 who, by way of taking a new view of an old sub- 
 ject, simply give the lie to their predecessors. It 
 is true, that in the central provinces, the genuine cha- 
 racteristic Moro-Iberian beauty is rare, and that there 
 is little of any other sort to replace it ; but this is 
 not the case with Andalucia, where you may arrive 
 fresh from the perusal of the warm effusions of the 
 most smitten of poets, and find the Houris of real 
 flesh and blood, by no means overrated. 
 
 One of their peculiar perfections extends to all 
 parts of the Peninsula. This is the hair; every- 
 where your eye lights upon some passing specimen 
 of these unrivalled masses of braided jet ; at which 
 not unfrequently natives of the same sex turn 
 with an exclamation Que pelo tan hermoso ! 
 
 I surprised the other day a village matron, whose 
 toilette, it being a holiday afternoon, was in progress 
 in no more secluded a tocador than the middle of
 
 374 SPANISH BEAUTY. 
 
 the road. The rustic lady's-maid (whether the 
 practice be more or less fashionable I know not) 
 had placed on a stool, within reach of her right 
 hand as she stood behind her seated mistress, a jug 
 fresh water. This did she lift, just as I ap- 
 proached, up to her mouth, into which she re- 
 ceived as large a portion of its contents as could be 
 there accommodated; while with her left hand 
 she grasped the extremity of a mass of silken hair, 
 black as the raven's wing, and an ell in length. 
 Both hands now, stroking down the mass, spread 
 it out so as to present a horizontal surface of as 
 large an extent as possible, when, suddenly, from 
 the inflated cheeks of the abigail, re-issued with a 
 loud sound the now tepid liquid, and bathed the 
 entire surface, which it seemed to render, if possible, 
 still more glossy than before. The rest of the duty 
 of the hands appeared to consist in repeatedly 
 separating and replacing the handfuls, until the 
 same proceeding was reacted. 
 
 The entrance to the Giralda is outside the 
 cathedral. Before we make the ascent, we will walk 
 to the extremity of the Moorish enclosure of the 
 orange-court, along the raised pavement which 
 surrounds the whole. At the angle there is an 
 antique shaft of granite, higher than the rest of 
 those placed at equal distances along the edge of
 
 THE GIRALDA. 375 
 
 the pavement. From that point the proportions 
 of the tower are seen to advantage, while you are at 
 the same time sufficiently near to observe the details 
 of the carving, and of the windows, with their 
 delicately formed columns of rare marbles; and 
 to lose in a great measure the effect of the subse- 
 quent additions, which surmount and disfigure the 
 work of Geber. 
 
 The Arabian part of the building is a square 
 of about forty-five feet, and measures in elevation 
 four times its width. The ornaments are not 
 exactly alike on all the four sides. On the north 
 side (our present view) the tracery commences at a 
 height of eighty feet, up to which point the wall 
 of brick is perfectly plain and smooth, with only 
 the interruption of two windows, placed one above 
 the other in the centre. The ornament, from its 
 commencement to the summit, is divided into two 
 lofty stories, surmounted by a third, of half the 
 height of one of the others. The two first are 
 divided vertically into three parts by narrow 
 stripes of the plain wall. The centre portions 
 contain two windows in each story, one over the 
 other, making, with the two in the lower portion, 
 six altogether, which are at equal distances from 
 each other. The form of these windows is varied, 
 and in all uncommonly elegant; some are double,
 
 376 THE GIRALDA. 
 
 with a marble column supporting their two arches, 
 and all are ornamented round the arches with beau- 
 tiful tracery, and furnished with marble balconies. 
 At one of the balconies, the Muezzin, in Mahometan 
 times was accustomed to present himself at each of 
 the hours appointed for prayer, and to pronounce 
 the sentences ordained by that religion for calling 
 the people. The half-story at the summit is orna- 
 mented with a row of arches, supported by pilasters. 
 
 On the top of the tower were seen originally, four 
 gilded balls of different sizes, one over the other, 
 diminishing upwards ; the iron bar on which they 
 were fixed, was struck by lightning, and gave way, 
 leaving the balls to roll over ; since which period 
 they were never restored to their place. 
 
 The additional buildings were not erected until 
 the seventeenth century. They are not in them- 
 selves inelegant, with the exception of the portion 
 immediately rising from the old tower, and con- 
 taining the bells. This portion is of the same 
 width as the tower, and appears to weigh it down 
 with its heavy effect; on the summit of the whole, 
 at about three hundred feet from the ground, is a 
 colossal statue of bronze, representing Faith, holding 
 in one hand a shield, and in the other an olive- 
 branch. By means of the shield, the statue obeys 
 the movements of the wind, and thus gives the 
 name of Giralda (weather- cock) to the tower.
 
 THE GIRALDA. 377 
 
 An interior tower, rather more than twenty feet 
 square, runs up the whole height of the Moorish 
 portion of the building ; between which and the ex- 
 ternal walls an easy ascent is contrived on an inclin- 
 ed plane. The necessity of introducing light 
 throughout the ascent accounts for the different 
 elevation of the windows and ornaments of the dif- 
 ferent sides ; but the architect has so managed this 
 difficulty, that no bad effect is produced in the ex- 
 ternal view. At the lower part of the tower the 
 ascent is sufficiently wide to admit of the passage of 
 two men on horseback abreast ; but it becomes nar- 
 rower as it approaches the summit. Queen Christina 
 is said to have been drawn up in a small carriage. 
 The walls, both of the inner and outer tower, in- 
 crease in thickness as they rise, and as the ascending 
 plane decreases in width: a plan which appears op- 
 posed to the principle usually adopted by modern 
 architects. 
 
 It is known that Geber was the architect of the 
 Giralda, but no certainty exists respecting its date. 
 The Spanish antiquarian Don Rodrigo Caro supposes 
 it to have been erected during the reign of Benabet 
 Almucamus, King of Seville, shortly before the ap- 
 pearance in Spain of the Almoravides ; but this is no 
 more than a conjecture, founded on the supposed 
 wealth of that King, who possessed larger states
 
 378 THE GIRALDA. 
 
 than his successors, and who paid no tribute to the 
 sovereigns of Castile. 
 
 Immediately over the highest story of the Moorish 
 tower is the belfry. The bells are suspended on the 
 centre of revolving beams, which traverse the open 
 arches of the four faces of the tower. They are 
 consequently in full view, as they throw their somer- 
 sets and send forth their lively clatter on a dia de 
 fiesta. 
 
 Their effect is very original, and as unlike as pos- 
 sible to the monotonous and melancholy cadence 
 of an English peal. None of them are deep-toned 
 nor solemn, but all high and sharp : so that being 
 let loose in merry disorder, and without tune, they 
 somehow appear to harmonize with the brilliant skies, 
 just as the descending ding-dong in England suits 
 the gloom of the northern heavens. Leave Seville, 
 and never shall their tones steal on your memory 
 without your being transported into a blaze of bright 
 sunshine 
 
 In Spain the houses of the grandees are not 
 called palaces, as those of the same rank in Italy are 
 usually termed. There is not even an intermediate 
 term, such as mansion, still less the hall abbey, or 
 castle. They have the last, but only applied in cases 
 in which it is correctly and legitimately applicable. 
 The Arab expression alcazar, composed of the article
 
 CASA DE PILATOS. 379 
 
 al and cazar, is so like the Spanish la casa (the house), 
 that, not having at hand a professor of Arabic to 
 consult, I will risk the assertion that it bore the 
 same meaning; notwithstanding the opinion of 
 several French writers who translate it chateau. 
 Chenier, author of the history of Morocco/ derives 
 it from the word Caissar, which he considers synony- 
 mous with Caesar: but this derivation appears to 
 admit of much doubt, as the word would signify 
 the Emperor, instead of his residence. Supposing 
 it to signify the house, it must no doubt have meant 
 the principal, or royal house. At present the two 
 words are admitted into the Spanish language as one, 
 which is applied indiscriminately to royal town-resi- 
 dences, whether castles or not, as well as the term 
 palacio. But a private residence of whatever extent 
 is modestly termed a house. 
 
 In this instance, as in many others, the proud con- 
 tempt of high-sounding phraseology is common to 
 Spain and England, where some of the most palace- 
 like habitations are called Wentworth House, Hat- 
 field House, Burleigh House : the very porters' lodges 
 being sometimes such edifices as would claim the 
 title of chateau in some other countries. But this 
 same haughty modesty is rather individual than col- 
 lective, and does not prevail as applied to towns and 
 cities. In public acts and addresses, and even in the
 
 CASA DE PILATOS. 
 
 most homely precautionary warnings placarded at 
 the corners of streets or promenades, the form used 
 is, "The constitutional Alcalde of this heroic and 
 very invincible town of Madrid, or Seville, forbids, or 
 orders, &c ;" and still more splendid epithets are 
 found for the nation in general. 
 
 I don 't know whether it has occurred to you that 
 this progressive dereliction of consistency is universal 
 in human nature, although it assumes a variety of 
 forms. In the present instance modesty commences 
 at home, as they say charity should. 
 
 By the way, if charity should commence at home, 
 together with the other affections of the heart, such 
 as patriotism, then did the first Brutus make a mis- 
 take. If, on the contrary, his merit was great in 
 sacrificing his son to his nation, it follows, that, in 
 causing his entire nation to be butchered the first 
 time they were guilty of any encroachment on the 
 rights of the rest of the world, his glory would have 
 increased in the ratio of one to some millions. 
 
 He either acted on a principle of justice, or pre- 
 ferred the applause of his compatriots to the affection 
 of his son. If, therefore, an opportunity was ever 
 afforded him of doing the world the above-mention- 
 ed act of justice at the expense of his countrymen, 
 and he abstained from it, it being impossible to 
 suppose a Roman republican capable of a dereliction
 
 CASA DE PILATOS. 381 
 
 of principle it is clear that he preferred the applause 
 of his nation to that of the rest of the world ; and all 
 becomes a question of taste. But what, you exclaim, 
 has the first or any other Brutus to do with Pilate's 
 house, the description of which is preceded by this 
 long introduction ? And was not his murder of his 
 son benevolence itself, compared to the infliction of 
 these digressions on your patience ? 
 
 The Casa de Palatos is a palace belonging to the 
 Duke of Medina Cceli. One of his ancestors is said 
 to have built it in exact imitation of Pontius Pilate's 
 palace in Jerusalem, and to have obtained possession 
 of a large quantity of the ornaments and portable 
 furniture belonging to the ancient building, which, 
 on the completion of his edifice at Seville, he esta- 
 blished, each object in the place corresponding to that 
 which it originally occupied. 
 
 A lofty wall, filling the side of the small square, 
 called the Plaza de Pilatos, and surmounted by a 
 balustrade, forms the outer enclosure of the palace. 
 You enter through a large plain arched doorway, 
 and pass through a court, containing the porter's 
 house, and other out-buildings devoid of ornament. 
 A small door on the left leads from this enclosure 
 to the principal court. Here you might imagine 
 yourself still in the Alcazar. The ornament is in 
 the same style ; only the arcades are inferior in light-
 
 382 CASA DE PILATOS. 
 
 ness and beauty. It contains, however, a fountain 
 very superior to that of the principal court of the 
 Alcazar. 
 
 At the four angles are colossal statues of white 
 marble, representing deities of the Grecian mytho- 
 logy. They are antique, and of Roman origin. 
 Under the arcades a series of busts of the Roman 
 emperors, are placed round the walls ; the greater 
 part of them are also antique. On one side of this 
 court is the chapel, very small, and entirely covered 
 with Arabesque ornament. At one side is placed 
 erect against the wall a black cross, said to be a fac- 
 simile imitation of that actually carried by our Sa- 
 viour, which occupied a similar situation in the pa- 
 lace at Jerusalem. Its length is about seven feet, 
 and the thickness of the wood about four inches 
 by two. Opposite to the cross is a Madonna by Raf- 
 faelle. As no light enters the chapel, excepting 
 through a small door, and that placed under the ar- 
 cades, and the picture is hung at a considerable 
 height, it can only be examined by the aid of a lad- 
 der, which is kept near it, and then only very imper- 
 fectly. At the time the chapel was habitually used, 
 it probably contained candles always burning. 
 
 The great staircase is very ornamental and leads 
 to several handsome suites of rooms. There is a 
 colonnade on one side of the garden, under which
 
 CASA DE PILATOS. 383 
 
 lies a valuable collection of antique busts, columns, 
 capitals, and fragments of all sorts, "in tnost admired 
 disorder." The proprietor never visits this residence, 
 and every part of it is in a very neglected state. 
 
 Seville lays claim to no less a founder than Her- 
 cules. A magnificent temple dedicated to him is 
 said to have existed on the spot at present occu- 
 pied by the parish church of San Nicholas. Near 
 it a statue of the demigod has been discovered, to- 
 gether with six columns, four of which are sunk 
 so deeply in the earth that they cannot be brought 
 to light. The other two are placed on lofty pedes- 
 tals, and adorn the largest of the promenades of 
 Seville, that called the Alameda. One of them is 
 surmounted by the statue mentioned above, and the 
 other by one of Julius Caesar. Venus is also stated 
 to have shared with Hercules the devotions of the 
 Sevillanos. The existence of her worship in ancient 
 times is placed beyond a doubt by the well authenti- 
 cated martyrdom of Saints Justa and Rufina, con- 
 demned for refusing to do honour to the rites of 
 that goddess, and to figure in her processions. 
 
 These two martyrs to the Christian faith have 
 pursued, on various subsequent occasions, a conduct 
 calculated to afford a degree of advantage to an ad- 
 versary, should he presume to accuse them of rene- 
 gade propensities. They have manifested them-
 
 384 SAINTS JUSTA AND RUFINA. 
 
 selves determined protectors of the Arab tower, on 
 every occasion of its being threatened with danger. 
 Numerous instances are on record ; the most remark- 
 able of which, is one that has given rise to much 
 controversy, and employed in more recent times the 
 researches of learned men. The tradition states, 
 that, during an earthquake, which took place in the 
 year 1504, and of which a vivid description may be 
 found at the end of a book, called the Regla Vieja, 
 which exists in the archives of the cathedral the 
 two virgins were seen to support the tower and 
 prevent it from falling, surrounding it with their 
 arms, one on each side. It is also related that, on the 
 occasion of a previous earthquake, that of the year 
 1396, voices were heard in the air, articulated by 
 demons, crying, " Throw it down, throw it down ;" 
 and that others replied, " No, we cannot, for those 
 villanous saints, Justa and Rufina, are guarding it." 
 For these reasons it is usual, in paintings represent- 
 ing the Giralda, to place the figures of the two 
 virgin Saints supporting it, one on either side ; and 
 a small model thus supported by images of the two 
 martyrs, executed in wood, is carried in the principal 
 religious processions. In all these representations, 
 the figures stand rather taller than the tower. 
 
 The hospital of La Caridad is one of the principal 
 attractions to strangers at Seville ; for in its chapel
 
 MURILLO. 385 
 
 is contained the picture, which passes for the mas- 
 ter-piece of Murillo. The chapel is narrow and 
 lofty, and the picture placed as near as possible to 
 the ceiling. A sight of it can only be obtained at 
 an angle of about twenty degrees. But the aching 
 of the neck is unheeded during the examination of 
 this superb picture. It is called Las Aguas, the 
 Waters. Moses has just struck the rock, and stands 
 in a simple and dignified attitude. In the complete 
 contentment of his countenance there may be traced 
 a mingled expression of pity and gratitude, as he 
 looks on the scene which follows his action. The 
 artist has given proof of consummate talent in the 
 choice and treatment of his subject ; which afforded 
 him a variety of grouping, of expression, and of atti- 
 tude, of which few were capable of taking better ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 This picture is a specimen of his natural style, and 
 its success is considered, and I think justly, superior 
 to that of any other of his works. The imitation of 
 material nature is here carried to as great perfection 
 as in many of his paintings ; while at the same time 
 nothing can surpass the poetry of the composition, 
 nor the exquisitely harmonious grouping of the men 
 and animals. In this last quality, Murillo is cer- 
 tainly unequalled. He seems also in this instance, 
 to have reached the utmost limits of art in the ex- 
 
 c c
 
 MURILLO. 
 
 pression of the countenances, throughout the dif- 
 ferent groups, whether employed in offering silent 
 thanksgivings, or entirely absorbed in the eager ef- 
 fort to obtain for their parched lips a draught of the 
 bright liquid. In the feeling displayed in these 
 instances, and so well represented, there is, it is true, 
 nothing elevated, but still it is feeling ; and its ma- 
 teriality is amply made amends for, by the chief 
 personage of the scene, in whose countenance no- 
 thing but the sublime can be traced. 
 
 Had Murillo not painted this picture and the 
 Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Spanish art must have 
 contented itself with the second rank, and Raphael 
 would have continued without a rival. These pic- 
 tures occasion regret that such genius should have 
 employed itself during a long period, on works 
 of a different sort. The San Antonio and a few 
 others, were no doubt productions worthy of the paint- 
 er of the Aguas, and a hundred or two others are 
 magnificent paintings ; but the time employed on 
 some of these, and on a still greater number of less 
 prominent merit, would have been more profitably 
 devoted to the production of two or three which 
 might have ranked with these giant creations of 
 his talent. 
 
 In viewing either of these compositions, the other 
 speedily becomes present to the imagination, and
 
 MURILLO. 387 
 
 forces you to draw a comparison between them. 
 They have a sort of affinity in their subject as well 
 as in their style. The sufferers of the St. Eliza- 
 beth, occupied with their torments and their grati- 
 tude, answer to those of the Aguas, engrossed also 
 with almost parallel feelings. The Moses, tranquil 
 and erect in the midst of the action which surrounds 
 him, is the exact pendant of the majestic figure and 
 compassionate countenance of the youthful princess, 
 exercising her saintly charities. These pictures 
 ought to be companions in the same gallery, were 
 it possible for two such works to find their way 
 into one and the same apartment. But that would 
 be a consummation as hopeless as finding St. Peter's 
 and the Duomo of Milan in the same town ; Naples 
 and Seville in one province, a London and a Paris 
 in one country, an Ariosto and a Byron in the same 
 language. It has more than once occurred to me, 
 since I have seen these two pictures, that were 
 Raphael's Spasimo and Transfiguration placed on 
 one side of a room, and these two on the other, 
 and the choice offered me which pair I would pos- 
 sess, I should never be able to come to a decision. 
 
 Another large picture by Murillo, the multiplying 
 of the Loaves in the Desert, is suspended opposite 
 the Aguas, and at the same elevation. On attempt- 
 ing to examine it, you are forcibly reminded by ccr- 
 
 cc 2
 
 388 MURILLO. 
 
 tain acute sensations in the region of the neck, of 
 the unnatural position it has so long maintained, 
 and you leave this picture, together with two others, 
 placed near the entrance of the chapel, for a subse- 
 quent visit. 
 
 In the church of the Faubourg Triana, on the 
 right hand after passing the bridge, are some excel- 
 lent pictures, particularly a Conception by Murillo. 
 The multitude of paintings left by this artist is incre- 
 dible, when to all those scattered through Spain, 
 France, and England, are added those preserved in 
 this his native town. Almost all the good houses in 
 Seville contain collections of pictures ; and all the col- 
 lections have their Murillos. There are no fewer than 
 sixteen in the gallery of the Canon, Don Manuel Ce- 
 pero ; but this is the largest of the private collections, 
 and the best, as it ought to be, since it is contained in 
 Murillo's house. It is the residence occupied by him 
 during the latter part of his life, and in which he 
 died. Its dimensions and distribution are handsome. 
 At the back of it there is a garden of limited extent, 
 but in which not an inch of space is thrown away. 
 Where there remains no room for choice flowers 
 and orange trees, the walls are painted to prolong 
 the illusion. The Canon possesses also several good 
 paintings by Italian masters. I counted likewise 
 four Rembrandts, and two of Rubens. Among the
 
 LA CARTUJA. 339 
 
 other private collections, that of the Alcalde Don 
 Pedro Garcia is one of the richest ; it contains a 
 Santa Barbara of Cano, an exquisite picture. A Saint 
 Joseph by Murillo, in the collection of the French 
 Consul (a native of Seville) is admirable. 
 
 In most of the churches there is sufficient of this 
 sort of attraction to make them worth a visit. 
 In the convents nothing is left ; in fact they no 
 longer exist as convents. There may be one or 
 two remaining in Seville, but I did not hear of 
 them. The monastery of Jeronimites, and the 
 Chartreuse both situated in the environs were 
 the most considerable religious establishments of 
 Seville. They are converted, one into a school, and 
 the other into a porcelain manufactory. This last, 
 the Chartreuse, contains in its church and refectory, 
 plentiful traces of its former magnificence. An 
 Englishman has purchased the monastery with 
 three or four acres of ground, containing the im- 
 mediate dependencies ; and he is occupied with 
 the labours which necessarily precede its appear- 
 ance in its new character, replacing the butteries, 
 kitchens, storehouses, and cells, by rows of pudding- 
 shaped baking-houses. 
 
 He has, however, spared the chapel, which is to 
 continue in its former state. All the stalls, the 
 altar, and other immoveable furniture, remain as
 
 390 LA CARTUJA. 
 
 he found them. The pictures and statues had of 
 course been previously removed. The woodwork 
 is inimitable the best I have seen in Spain ; it would 
 be impossible in painting to represent with more 
 delicacy, the very texture of the drapery, the very 
 veins of the hands, and hair of the beards of figures 
 of a quarter the natural dimensions. You are 
 filled with astonishment, that the infinite patience 
 necessary for this mechanical labour should have 
 accompanied the genius which conceived and ex- 
 ecuted the incomparable figures and heads. The 
 refectory, of which the ceiling is the principal 
 ornament, is to be the great show-room for the 
 display of the china. The fortunate manufacturer 
 inhabits, with his family, the prior's residence one 
 of the most elegant habitations in the world : sur- 
 rounding a court, which contains of course its 
 white marble fountain and colonnades : and he is 
 in treaty for the purchase of the orange-grove, the 
 park of the monastery. This pleasure-ground is 
 ornamented here and there with Kiosks, from whfich 
 are obtained views of Seville, and the intervening 
 Guadalquivir. 
 
 On the confiscation of this monastery, several 
 magnificent pictures disappeared, a few of which 
 have since been placed in the cathedral. Two 
 alabaster monuments, belonging to the family of
 
 CONVENT OF S. GERONIMO. '391 
 
 Medina Caeli, were also removed; they are placed 
 in a church at present under repair. They are 
 erect, and fit into the wall ; measuring about forty 
 feet in height. Their upper portion is adorned with 
 several well-executed small statues. 
 
 The other convent that dedicated to S. Geronimo, 
 is situated on the opposite side of the river, about 
 a mile higher up. It is not so beautiful as the 
 Cartuja, but on a grander scale. The principal court 
 is magnificent ; it is surrounded with upper and 
 lower arcades, respectively of the Ionic and Doric 
 orders : the apartments and church are of corres- 
 ponding extent ; but have either been deprived of 
 their ornaments, or were originally but sparingly 
 decorated. A ci-devant governor of Seville a 
 general officer, very distinguished as a linguist, has 
 turned schoolmaster, and taken up his abode here. 
 The day of my visit happened to be the general's 
 birth-day, and a scene of much festivity presented 
 itself. The schoolmaster's successor in his former 
 post at Seville, had arrived, attended by the band 
 of a cavalry regiment ; and the great court having 
 been converted into a ball-room, the marble arcades 
 were made to ring with the thrilling cadences of 
 the hautbois and clarion ette by way of a fitting 
 afterpiece to the tragic chants of former days. 
 
 The relatives and friends of the students were
 
 392 ITALICA. 
 
 present, so that the youthful dancers were well- 
 provided with partners. The performances were 
 French quadrilles, English hornpipes, German 
 waltzes, Russian mazurkas, and Spanish fandangos. 
 I had arrived too late for the first part of the en- 
 tertainment, which consisted of a bull-fight, for 
 which a temporary arena had been enclosed. The 
 bulls were what are called novillos that is, scarcely 
 more than calves ; as the full-grown animals would 
 have been more than a match for their juvenile 
 antagonists. 
 
 The ruins of the Roman city of Italica, to which 
 I have already alluded, are situated four miles from 
 Seville in ascending the river and on the opposite 
 bank. The whole town is underground, with the 
 exception of a few houses in the part in which 
 excavations have been made, and of the amphitheatre 
 which -occupies an eminence. No notice was taken 
 in modern times of the existence of this buried town, 
 until towards the end of the last century, when the re- 
 mains of the amphitheatre, the only portion of the ruins 
 which were visible, drew the attention of travellers : 
 and the authorities of Seville received orders to com- 
 mence excavating. The search yielded a large quan- 
 tity of valuable remains ; a temple was discovered, 
 in the neighbourhood of which were found several 
 statues and capitals of columns. A choice was made
 
 ITALICA. 393 
 
 of the objects in the best state of preservation, 
 which were forwarded to Madrid in order to form 
 a museum. Large quantities of coins were also 
 sent, and collections of household utensils, and 
 ornaments. The Arabs, who did not consider these 
 Roman relics worthy objects of antiquarian re- 
 search, nevertheless had either discovered and laid 
 open a large portion of the town, or were them- 
 selves its destroyers. From it they extracted the 
 large quantities of marble columns and slabs with 
 which Seville is filled. The mutilated statues, 
 together with several funereal monuments, found in 
 later times, and not considered deserving of the 
 journey to Madrid, have been deposited in a large 
 room in the Alcazar of Seville, where they are now 
 exhibited. 
 
 No record exists of the foundation of Italica. 
 Its annals are traced to the time of Scipio African us, 
 who, on the completion of his conquest of Spain, 
 and the final expulsion of the Carthaginians, find- 
 ing himself embarrassed by the number of wounded 
 and sick among his troops, established them in 
 this town under the protection of a garrison. He 
 gave to the town its name of Italica,* its previous 
 
 * The above is gathered from the following passage of Appianus 
 Alexandrinus. " Relicto, utpote pacata regione, valido pracsidio, 
 Scipio milites omnes vulneribus debiles in unam urbem compulit,
 
 394 ITALIC A. 
 
 name being Sancius : the real situation of Italica 
 has been the subject of much controversy. Like 
 the Grecian cities, which claimed each to be the 
 birthplace of Homer, several of the towns in the 
 neighbourhood of Seville are candidates for the ho- 
 nour of being representatives of the ancient Italica ; 
 but ample proof exists of the identity of these 
 ruins with that city.* The Historia general, written 
 by Alonso el Sabio, book i., chap, xv., speaks of 
 Italica as a place of much importance in ancient 
 times, in allusion to the invasion of a people called 
 the Almunizes. He adds, in the antiquated Spanish 
 of his time, "Las nuevas fueron por todas las 
 tierras de como aquellas gentes avian ganado a 
 Espana, e todos los de las islas quel oyeron crecieron 
 les corazones por fazer otro tal, e ayuntaron muy 
 grandes navios, e vinieronse para Espana, e entraron 
 
 quam ab Italia Italicam nominavit, claram natalibus Trajani et 
 Adrian!, qui posteris temporibus Romanum imperium tenuere." 
 
 Elius Sparcianus, in the life of Adrian, says, " Origo imperatoris 
 Adriani vetustior a Picentibus, posterior ab Hispaniensibus manat ; 
 siquidem AdriS, ortos majores suos apud Italicam, Scipionum tempori- 
 bus resedisse in libris vitae suae Adrianus ipse commemorat." 
 
 * No other town is so placed as to accord with the description 
 given by Pliny, who passes it on the right bank of the river, and 
 arrives at Seville lower down on the left : " Italica et a laeva Hispalis 
 colonia cognomine Romulensis." 
 
 Lucas de Tuy, who wrote four centuries back, says, " Italica est 
 Hispalis Antigua."
 
 ITALICA. 395 
 
 por cuatro partes. Los que entraron por Cadiz 
 vinieron Guadalquibir arriba, e llegaron a Italica 
 e los de la villa salieron e lidiaron con ellos, e los 
 de fuera entraron con ellos de vuelta por medio 
 de la villa, e mataron los a todos, e ganaron la 
 villa." It is not clear what invasion is here al- 
 luded to. 
 
 The town of Italica was one of the six or seven 
 in these provinces which possessed the title of 
 municipia; a superior one to that of colonia, from 
 its involving the privilege of retaining its ancient 
 laws and customs, while on the colonies those of 
 Rome were imposed. It was among the cities 
 which sheltered some of the earliest converts to 
 Christianity. Its first bishop was the martyr Saint 
 Geruncio, put to death in prison. The prison, 
 being considered sanctified, from its containing the 
 saint's remains, became subsequently the resort of 
 pious votaries from all parts of the province. In 
 the Mozarabic ritual there is a hymn for the day 
 of this saint, one of the stanzas of which fixes 
 the epoque of his life and martyrdom, at that of 
 the apostles.* 
 
 * Hie fertur Apostolico 
 Vates fulsisse tempore : 
 Et praedicasse supremum 
 Patrein potcutis filii.
 
 396 ITALICA. 
 
 The centurion Cornelius, mentioned in the Acts 
 of the Apostles, as converted by the preaching of 
 St. Peter, was, it is said, a native of this' city, and 
 commanded a cohort raised in his native place. 
 
 The date of the destruction of Italica, is as un- 
 certain as that of its origin. The fact of its ex- 
 istence during almost the entire period of the Gothic 
 dominion, is established, by the presence of its 
 bishops being recorded at the different councils. 
 It is conjectured that its destruction was the work 
 of the Arabs, who were no sooner in possession of 
 Seville, than they considered it imprudent to allow 
 so large a town to be in the hands of enemies in 
 their immediate neighbourhood. This supposition 
 of Spanish antiquaries seems hazarded without suf- 
 ficient reflection ; since, in the first place, had the 
 occupants of Italica occasioned the Arabs any un- 
 easiness, nothing was easier than to occupy the 
 place themselves ; and secondly, the ruins bear 
 strong symptoms of having been reduced to their 
 present state by some convulsion of nature, rather 
 than by human agency : not to mention the coins 
 discovered in large quantities, which would not 
 have been neglected by human destroyers. It is 
 not likely that the destruction of so considerable 
 a place by the conquerors of the province, at the 
 time they were too few to defend it, would have
 
 ITALICA. 397 
 
 been overlooked by their historians who make no 
 allusion to the event. 
 
 The present appearance is that of a green un- 
 dulating hill, which no one would imagine to be 
 composed of the remains of streets, palaces, temples, 
 and market-places. The upper portion only of the 
 amphitheatre remains above-ground. Its form is 
 slightly oval, nearly approaching to a circle. The 
 greatest diameter is three hundred and twenty-five 
 feet. It has twenty rows of seats, half of which 
 are buried ; each seat is two feet and a half in 
 depth, and two in height. Part of the Podium 
 remains ; and enough of the entrance, to distin- 
 guish that it consisted of three large arches. It 
 was constructed with Roman solidity. Nothing less 
 than an earthquake could have toppled over the 
 masses of masonry, which appear in their confusion 
 like solid rocks. A very small portion of the ruins 
 has been explored: and part of that, for want of 
 being sufficiently cleared out, is again buried in 
 earth, and the work is discontinued. The objects 
 now above-ground, consist of five or six tessalated 
 floors, two of which have been considered of suf- 
 ficent value to be walled in, and locked up, but with- 
 out being roofed. 
 
 These ruins are well worth a visit, although the 
 road to them from Seville, bears terrible symptoms
 
 338 SANTI-PONCE. 
 
 of having been constructed before Macadam's day ; 
 perhaps even before that of the Scipios. 
 
 At the distance of a few hundred yards from 
 the nearest portion of the ruined town is situated 
 the village of Santi-porice, in which is the convent of 
 S. Isidoro, of the order of St. Jerome. The church 
 contains the tombs of Don Alonzo Perez de Guzman, 
 surnamed the Good, and of his wife Dona Maria 
 Alonzo Coronel, founders of the ducal house of 
 Medina Sidonia. This family obtained from Fer- 
 dinand the Fourth, a grant of Santi-ponce and old 
 Seville (Italica), with the district, and temporal and 
 spiritual jurisdiction. Don Sancho had already re- 
 warded the services and tried fidelity of Perez de 
 Guzman by presenting him with the town of Me- 
 dina Sidonia. An anecdote is told of him worthy 
 of a Roman republican. Being governor of Tari- 
 fa under Sancho the Fourth, he had to defend 
 the town against the Infant, Don Juan, who had 
 revolted against his brother. This prince, learning 
 that a child of Guzman was in his power, being at 
 nurse in the environs of the town, sent for it ; and, 
 presenting himself before the walls, declared to the 
 governor that he would kill the child, if the town 
 were not immediately surrendered. Guzman replied 
 by drawing his sword, and throwing it down to the 
 prince, who had the barbarity to order the infant 
 to be murdered before his father's eyes.
 
 399 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 PRIVATE HOUSES, AND LOCAL CUSTOMS IN SEVILLE. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 THE greater number of private houses are situ- 
 ated in an interminable labyrinth of winding streets, 
 between the Calle de la Sierpe, and Plaza de San 
 Francisco and the city wall, which connects the 
 Aqueduct of Carmona with the Alcazar. It is the 
 South-eastern half of the city. To the west of the 
 Calle de la Sierpe there are also a few streets 
 containing private residences, but they are not in 
 so large a proportion. Some of the most elegant 
 are, however, on this side ; which being less Moorish 
 and more modern, is less chary of its attractions, 
 and allows a part of its decoration to enliven the 
 external facades ; while its spacious doorways fre- 
 quently open to the view of the passer-by a gay 
 perspective of gardens and courts. 
 
 The sunny balcony, crowded with a crimson forest 
 of cactuses, is not more attractive to the sight,
 
 400 HOUSES OF SEVILLE. 
 
 than the more mysterious vista beneath it, of re- 
 treating colonnades, mingled with orange and pome- 
 granate trees, through which the murmur of the 
 fountain is scarcely audible. Few cities present 
 more charms to the wanderer than one in which the 
 houses offer a combination so luxurious as is met 
 with in the greater number of those of Seville. 
 The cool summer rooms opening into the court, in 
 which the drawing-room furniture is arranged on all 
 sides of a fountain, plentifully supplied from the 
 aqueduct of Carmona: and, on the upper floor, the 
 winter apartments, chosen from their being better 
 lighted, for the deposit of a collection of pictures 
 and these almost always excellent, and opening to 
 the gallery; to which, during this season, the furniture 
 having been removed from below, is placed, together 
 with the work frames and portable musical instru- 
 ments, on the side exposed to the sun. One sees 
 these houses and their amiable and happy-looking 
 inhabitants, and imagines there is no life to be com- 
 pared to it. Yet the experiment may be made, and 
 fail to answer the expectations of the stranger, who, 
 confident in his discovery of the road to happiness, 
 may have pitched his tent in the midst of these be- 
 witching regions. 
 
 Can it be fatality or is it essential in human 
 nature, to find ever the least felicitv there, where it
 
 HOUSES OF SEVILLE. 401 
 
 looks for the greatest ? The experiment, I say, was 
 made. An Englishman, possessing every advantage 
 of taste, talent, and wealth, took up his residence 
 here, resolved to devote the remainder of his days to 
 the peaceable enjoyments of a literary and social 
 life. Thanks to his literary propensities, we are 
 enabled to judge of the result of the trial. In a 
 book published by the person to whom I allude, we 
 find that no one could be less satisfied with his lot. 
 Seville and the Sevillanos meet with no mercy at his 
 hands, and must, if we may judge by his dislike of 
 them, have rendered his life a burden. 
 
 This, however, is a single example, and insufficient 
 to deter others from the attempt. It may be that 
 this individual had not entered fully into the spirit 
 of Andalucian existence. Every detail of life being 
 here adapted to the place and its customs and 
 climate, no custom can be erred against with im- 
 punity that is, without the forfeit of some corre- 
 sponding advantage. 
 
 Seville presents two so different aspects during the 
 two opposite seasons of the year, that to be well 
 understood it should be visited at both. During the 
 winter, the existence does not materially differ from 
 that of the inhabitants of most other European 
 towns ; excepting that the intercourse of society is 
 subjected to less formality. Cards of invitation are 
 
 D D
 
 402 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 
 
 rarely made use of; and you are not, consequently, 
 exposed to the annoyance of seeing and hearing your 
 house invaded by a dense crowd, on a night you have 
 appointed a month before, without any possibility of 
 foreseeing whether you would be disposed or not on 
 that particular night to undergo such a toil. 
 These crowds are, I believe, unheard of in Seville ; 
 but those who are pleased in each other's society, 
 know where to find each other ; and without waiting 
 for invitations, small circles are formed every even- 
 ing, from which all crushing, fatigue, and intense 
 dressing are excluded. 
 
 The winter is also a more advantageous season for 
 the stranger, who would be totally debarred by the 
 summer heats from the activity necessary for the 
 satisfaction of his curiosity, in visiting the objects of 
 interest contained in and around Seville. On the 
 other hand, the summer season offers to his contem- 
 plation the successful attainment of a mode of ex- 
 istence suited to the burning climate ; a problem 
 found to be solved but in few instances. The first 
 and most essential arrangement appears to be the 
 turning night into day, and vice versd, as far as 
 regards society and all locomotion. No one leaves 
 his house until long after sunset, and visiting com- 
 mences some hours later. The morning being con- 
 sequently the time for repose, and the breakfast hour
 
 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 403 
 
 nevertheless remaining the same all the year round, 
 the siesta is very essential, and is judiciously placed 
 between the dinner, which terminates at four, and 
 the hour for movement nine, when the Sevillano, 
 refreshed by three or four hours sleep, and a fresh 
 toilette, is infinitely better disposed for the evening's 
 amusements than the denizen of more northern 
 climes, who rises at that or a later hour from the 
 chief repast of the day, and is put en train by the less 
 natural and less durable stimulants of the table. 
 
 This mode of life presents other numerous advan- 
 tages. A very prominent one is the inviolable 
 division of time between society and solitude. We 
 suppose the hour for rising eight, immediately after 
 the chocolate, that of breakfast eleven. The inter- 
 vening hours are solitary, and are frequently divided 
 between the pillow and the toilette ; while they 
 are sometimes devoted to more useful occupations, 
 and added to by earlier risers. From the family 
 meeting at breakfast until the dinner hour, three, 
 the time may be employed in business, reading, 
 in fact, in every one's habitual pursuits. No intrusion 
 is to be feared. No accursed idler lounges in to 
 interrupt with his compliments, or gossip, your letter 
 to your lawyer, or, if you are a lawyer yourself, that 
 to your client ; nor is the conscience of scrupulous 
 porters burdened with the mendacious " not at home." 
 
 D D 2
 
 404 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 
 
 These hours are sacred, and guaranteed by the 
 very air, which renders the streets impassable, but 
 leaves the cool court protected from the sun's ray 
 by the toldo, (canvas awning spread at a level with 
 the roof, and which is reefed up at night like a sail,) 
 and refreshed by its ever-murmuring fountain and 
 cool marble pavement, to the peaceable enjoyment of 
 its owners. The female portion of the family are 
 thus enabled to devote themselves to household 
 occupations, or to their favourite employments, with- 
 out having to undergo, until the second getting 
 up in the evening, the fever of a complete toilette, 
 which would, during the day, be insupportable. 
 The time thus devoted to society, is amply sufficient ; 
 as it may be prolonged, as each party feels in- 
 clined, from an hour or two after sunset, until the 
 returning rays drive all back to their cool retreat. 
 
 The night of the festival of St. John is, in Seville, 
 sacred, from remote time, to amusement and fes- 
 tivity. During the five or six hours of darkness 
 accorded by the Midsummer sun, the banks of the 
 Guadalquivir echo the gay melodious laugh, which 
 enlivens the animated buzz of the crowd ; and the 
 morning ray gilds the upper windows of the 
 deserted houses before their doors are opened to the 
 supper-craving population. The rite practised on 
 this occasion is marked by a simplicity altogether
 
 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 405 
 
 antique. The youth of Seville, that is the mascu- 
 line portion, have provided themselves with small 
 boxes, containing a sort of sugar-plum of exquisite 
 flavour. One of these is held between the finger 
 and thumb of the cavallero, from the moment he sets 
 foot on the promenade. On the approach of a party 
 of ladies he endeavours to distinguish, as far off as 
 the gloom permits, the features or dress of an already 
 selected object of preference ; or, if still free to 
 make a selection, some countenance possessed of 
 sufficient attraction to determine his choice. On 
 discovering the owner of either of these requisites, he 
 watches a favourable opportunity, and approaching 
 the lady, offers the bonbon. 
 
 The senorita of course unmarried thus selected, 
 is obliged to accept the compliment if properly 
 offered, as well as the arm of the cavallero during 
 the rest of the night ; and, on arriving at her house, 
 he receives from her parents, or chaperon, as the 
 case may be, an invitation to supper. Should the 
 lady be desirous of avoiding the compliment, of 
 the approach of which she is usually aware, she 
 must exercise her ingenuity in putting obstacles 
 in the way of the attempt. In this effort many are 
 successful, since the peculiar mode of proceeding, 
 obligatory- on those who make the offer, affords 
 certain facilities. The condition is not binding on
 
 4-0(5 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 
 
 the fair object of the compliment, unless the lips 
 receive the bonbon immediately from the finger 
 and thumb of the cavalier. This is a source of 
 no small amusement to the senoritas at the expense 
 of strangers from other provinces of Spain. Con- 
 scious of being the object of preference of some 
 young beginner, or stranger uninitiated in the 
 mysteries of the rite and who, let it be understood, 
 does not happen to be an object of preference with 
 them they will afford him every facility of approach, 
 and on receiving the present in the hand, will 
 repulse without mercy the luckless wight, whose 
 retiring steps are accompanied by peals of laughter 
 from all the party. 
 
 The month of June is likewise distinguished by 
 the procession of the Corpus Christi. On this 
 occasion all the principal streets are protected from 
 the sun by canvas awnings ; and from the windows 
 of every house draperies are suspended, the materials 
 of which are more or less rich according to the 
 means of their respective proprietors. From an 
 early hour of the morning, ushered in by sunshine 
 and the gay orchestra of the Giralda bells, the vast 
 marble pavement of the cathedral begins to dis- 
 appear beneath the momentarily increasing crowd. 
 Here all classes are mingled; but the most con- 
 spicuous are the arrivals from the surrounding
 
 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 407 
 
 villages, distinguished by their more sunburnt com- 
 plexions and the showy colours of their costume, 
 contrasted with the uniformly dark tints of the 
 attire of the Sevillanos. 
 
 Here are seen also in great numbers, accompanied 
 by their relatives, the gay cigarreras, whose acquaint- 
 ance we shall presently make in ihefabrica de tabaco. 
 The instinctive coquetry discernible, no less in the 
 studied reserve of. their looks than in the smart step 
 and faultless nicety of costume, indicates how easy 
 would be the transition to the quality of the still 
 more piquant but somewhat less moral maja. The 
 black satin, low-quartered shoe is of a different 
 material ; but the snow-white stocking, and dark 
 green skirt the same and the black-velvet bor- 
 dered mantilla is the identical one, which was held 
 tight to the chin, when passing, the evening before, 
 under the city walls on the return from the manu- 
 factory to the faubourg at the other extremity of 
 Seville. 
 
 The procession, headed by a band of music, and 
 accompanied by the dignitaries of the diocese, and 
 civil authorities of the province, bearing cierges, 
 winds through the principal streets, and re-enters 
 the church to the sound of the two magnificent 
 organs, never heard in unison except on this anni- 
 versary. The exterior of the principal portal is
 
 408 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 
 
 ornamented on this occasion with a sort of curtain, 
 which is said to contain upwards of three thousand 
 yards of crimson velvet, bordered with gold lace. 
 The columns of the centre nave are also completely 
 attired from top to bottom with coverings of the 
 same material. The value of the velvet employed, 
 is stated at nearly ten thousand pounds. 
 
 Christmas-day is also solemnized at Seville, with 
 much zeal ; but the manner of doing it honour pre- 
 sents more of novelty than splendour. At the early 
 hour of seven the parish churches are completely 
 filled. The organ pours forth, from that time until 
 the termination of the service, an uninterrupted suc- 
 cession of airs, called seguidillas, from the dance to 
 which they are adapted. On the gallery, which ad- 
 joins the organ-loft of each church, are established 
 five or six muscular youths, selected for their un- 
 tiring activity. They are provided each with a tam- 
 bourine, and their duty consists in drawing from 
 it as much, and as varied sound as it will render 
 without coming to pieces. With this view they 
 enter upon the amiable contest, and try, during 
 three or four hours, which of their number, employ- 
 ing hands, knees, feet, and elbows in succession, 
 can produce the most racking intonations. On the 
 pavement immediately below, there is generally 
 a group, composed of the friends of the performers,
 
 LOCAL CUSTOMS OF SEVILLE. 409 
 
 as may be discerned from the smiles of intelli- 
 gence directed upwards and downwards. Some of 
 these appear, from the animated signs of approba- 
 tion and encouragement, with which they reward 
 each more than usually violent concussion, to be 
 backers of favourite heroes. During all this time 
 one or two priests are engaged before the altar in 
 the performance of a series of noiseless ceremonies ; 
 and the pavement of the body of the church is press- 
 ed by the knees of a dense crowd of devotees. 
 
 The propensity to robbery and assassination, at- 
 tributed by several tourists to the population of 
 this country, has been much exaggerated. The ima- 
 gination of the stranger is usually so worked upon 
 by these accounts, as to induce him never to set 
 foot outside the walls of whatever city he inhabits, 
 without being well armed. As far as regards the 
 environs of Seville, this precaution is superfluous. 
 They may be traversed in all directions, at all events 
 within walking distance, or to the extent of a moder- 
 ate ride, without risk. Far from exercising violence, 
 the peasants never fail, in passing, to greet the 
 stranger with a respectful salutation. But I can- 
 not be guarantee for other towns or environs which 
 I have not visited. It is certain that equal security 
 does not exist nearer the coast, on the frequented 
 roads which communicate between San Lucar, Xeres,
 
 410 STREET PERILS. 
 
 and Cadiz ; nor in the opposite direction, through- 
 out the mountain passes of the Sierra Morena. But 
 this state of things is far from being universal. 
 
 I would much prefer passing a night on a coun- 
 try road in the neighbourhood of Seville, to thread- 
 ing the maze of streets, which form the south-east- 
 ern portion of the town, mentioned above as con- 
 taining- the greater number of the residences of 
 private families. This quarter is not without its 
 perils. In fact, if dark deeds are practised, no situ- 
 ation could possibly be better suited to them. These 
 Arab streets wind, and twist, and turn back on 
 themselves like a serpent in pain. Every ten yards 
 presents a hiding-place. There is just sufficient 
 lighting up at night to prevent your distinguish- 
 ing whether the street is clear or not : and the 
 ground-floors of the houses, in the winter season, 
 are universally deserted. 
 
 An effectual warning was afforded me, almost im- 
 mediately on my arrival at Seville, against frequent- 
 ing this portion of the town without precaution after 
 nightfall. An acquaintance, a young Sevillano, who 
 had been my daily companion during the first five or 
 six days which followed my arrival, was in the habit 
 of frequenting with assiduity, some of the above- 
 mentioned streets. He inhabited one of them, and 
 was continually drawn by potent attraction towards
 
 STREET PERILS. 411 
 
 two others. In one, in particular, he followed a 
 practice, the imprudence of which, in more than one 
 respect, as he was much my junior, I had already 
 pointed out to him. A lady, as you have already 
 conjectured, resided in the house, in question. My 
 friend, like many of his compatriots, " sighed to 
 many ;" but he loved this one ; and she was pre- 
 cisely the one that "could ne'er be his." She -allowed 
 him, however, a harmless rendezvous, separated from 
 all danger, as she thought, by the distance from the 
 ground to the balcony, situated on the first-floor. 
 The lady being married, and regular visiting being 
 only possible at formal intervals, these interviews 
 had by degrees alarmingly, as appeared to me, in- 
 creased in frequency and duration ; until at length 
 during two hours each evening, my acquaintance 
 poured forth in a subdued tone, calculated to reach 
 only the fair form which bent over the balcony, his 
 tender complaints. 
 
 The youth of these climes are communicative on 
 subjects which so deeply interest their feelings ; and 
 whether willing or not, one is often admitted to share 
 their secrets at the commencement of an acquaint- 
 ance. It was thus that I had had an opportunity of 
 lecturing my friend on the various dangers attending 
 the practice in which he was persisting, and of 
 recommending him the best advice of all being,
 
 412 STREET PERILS. 
 
 of course, useless to revive the more prudent 
 custom of by-gone times, and if he must offer 
 nightly incense to the object of kis fire, to adopt the 
 mode sanctioned by Count Almaviva, and entrust 
 his vows to the mercenary eloquence of choristers 
 and catgut to anything or anybody, provided it 
 be done by proxy. My warning was vain ; but the 
 mischief did not befall him exactly in the manner 
 I had contemplated. 
 
 His cousin opened my door while I was breakfast- 
 ing, and informed me that L was in the house of 
 
 Don G A , and in bed, having received a 
 
 wound the previous night from some robbers ; and 
 that he wished to see me. I found him in a house, 
 into which I had already been introduced, being one 
 of those he most frequented. A bed had been pre- 
 pared in the drawing-room, all the window-shutters 
 of which were closed, and he was lying there, sur- 
 rounded by the family of his host, to whom was 
 added his sister. As he was unable to speak above a 
 whisper, I was given the seat by the bedside, while 
 he related to me his adventure. 
 
 He had just quitted the street of the balcony at 
 about nine o'clock, and was approaching the house 
 we were now in, when, on turning a corner, he was 
 attacked by three ruffians, one of whom demanded 
 his money in the usual terms, " Your purse, or your
 
 STREET PERILS. 413 
 
 life !" while, before he had time to reply, but was 
 endeavouring to pass on, a second faced him, and 
 stabbed him in th% breast through his cloak. He 
 then ran forward, followed by the three, down the 
 street, into the house, and up the staircase ; the 
 robbers not quitting the pursuit until he rang the 
 bell on the first-floor. The surgeon had been im- 
 mediately called, and had pronounced him wounded 
 within not an inch, but the tenth part of an inch 
 of his life ; for the steel had penetrated to within 
 that distance of his heart. 
 
 My first impression was that the robbers were 
 acting a part, and had been hired to get rid of him, 
 otherwise what were the utility of stabbing him, 
 when they might have rifled his pockets without 
 such necessity ? But this he assured me could not 
 be the case, as the person most likely to fall under 
 such suspicion, was incapable of employing similar 
 means ; adding, that that was the usual mode of 
 committing robberies in Seville. I left him, after 
 having assured him how much I envied his good 
 fortune ; seeing that he was in no danger, and only 
 condemned to pass a week or two in the society of 
 charming women, all zealously employed in nursing 
 him for such was the truth one of the young ladies 
 being supposed, and I fear with justice, to be the 
 object of his addresses.
 
 414 STREET PERILS. 
 
 The ungrateful wretch convinced me by his reply 
 (as we conversed in French, and were not understood 
 by those present) that his greatest torment was im- 
 patience to escape from his confinement, in order to 
 see or write to the other fair one. 
 
 At the end of a week he was sufficiently recovered 
 to be removed to the house of his family. From 
 certain hints, dropped during a conversation which 
 took place more than a month after the event, it is 
 to be feared that the knife of the assassin, in ap- 
 proaching so near to the heart of his intended 
 victim, succeeded, by some mysterious electric trans- 
 mission, in inflicting a positive wound on that of 
 the lady of the balcony. 
 
 I afterwards learned that it was usual for those 
 who inhabited or frequented this part of Seville, 
 and indeed all other parts, excepting the few prin- 
 cipal thoroughfares and streets containing the 
 shops and cafes, to carry arms after nightfall ; and 
 in shaking hands with an acquaintance, I have 
 sometimes perceived a naked sword-blade half 
 visible among the folds of his cloak. These perils 
 only exist in the winter, and not in all winters ; 
 only in those during which provisions increase in 
 price beyond the average, and the season is more 
 than usually rigorous : the poor being thus exposed 
 to more than the accustomed privations.
 
 STREET PERILS. 415 
 
 There are towns in which assassination and rob- 
 bery are marked by more audacity than is their 
 habitual character in this part of Andalucia. Of 
 these, Malaga is said to be one of the worst, 
 although perhaps the most favoured spot in Europe, 
 with respect to natural advantages. An instance of 
 daring ruffianism occurred there this winter. A 
 person of consideration in the town had been found 
 in the street stabbed and robbed. His friends, 
 being possessed of much influence, and disposing, 
 no doubt, of other weighty inducements to action, 
 the police was aroused to unusual activity ; the 
 murderer was arrested, and brought before the 
 Alcalde primero. A summary mode of jurisprudence 
 was put in practice, and the culprit was ordered for 
 execution on the following day. On being led from 
 the presence of the court, he turned to the Alcalde, 
 and addressing him with vehemence, threatened 
 him with certain death, in the event of the sen- 
 tence being put in execution. The Alcalde, although 
 doubtless not entirely free from anxiety, was, by 
 the threat itself, the more forcibly bound to carry 
 into effect the judgment he had pronounced. The 
 execution, therefore, took place at the appointed 
 hour. The following morning, the dead body of 
 the Alcalde was found in a street adjoining that 
 in which he resided.
 
 416 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 INQUISITION. COLLEGE OF SAN TELMO. CIGAR MANUFACTORY. 
 BULL CIRCUS. EXCHANGE. AYUNTAMIENTO. 
 
 Seville. 
 
 IN the faubourg of Triana, separated from the 
 town by the river, may be distinguished remains 
 of the ancient castle, which became the head- 
 quarters of the Inquisition, on its first creation, 
 in 1482. That body was, however, shortly after- 
 wards, compelled to evacuate the building, by a 
 great inundation of the Guadalquivir, which oc- 
 curred in the year 1626. It then moved into the 
 town, and, from that period to the close of its func- 
 tions, occupied an edifice situated in the parish 
 of Saint Mark. Its jurisdiction did not extend 
 beyond Andalucia. The entire body was composed 
 of the following official persons : three inquisitors, 
 a judge of the fisc, a chief Alguazil, a receiver, (of 
 fines,) five secretaries, ten counsellors, eighty quali- 
 fiers, one advocate of the fisc, one alcayde of the 
 prison, one messenger, ten honest persons, two sur-
 
 THE INQUISITION. 417 
 
 geons, and one porter. For the City of Seville, one 
 hundred familiars : for the entire district, the com- 
 missaries, notaries, and familiars, amounted to four 
 thousand. The ten honest persons cut but a sorry 
 figure in so long a list. Do they not tempt you to 
 parody Prince Hal's exclamation "Monstrous! but 
 one halfpenny-worth of bread to this intolerable 
 deal of sack ?" 
 
 The Inquisition of Seville is of an earlier date 
 than that of Toledo, and was the first established in 
 Spain. It was likewise the most distinguished by 
 the rigour of its sentences. The actual horrors of 
 the inquisitorial vaults were, I imagine, in general 
 much exaggerated. A few instances of severity, 
 accompanied by a mystery, skilfully designed to 
 magnify its effect, was sufficient to set on fire the 
 inflammable imaginations of these sunny regions, 
 and to spread universal terror. It was on find- 
 ing these means insufficient for the extirpation of 
 religious dissent, that, at length, executions were 
 decreed by wholesale. Rather than give credit to 
 the voluminous list of the secret cruelties, which 
 were supposed by many to be exercised by the mid- 
 night tribunals, and which could have no adequate 
 object, since a conversion brought about by such 
 means could not, when known, profit the cause. I 
 think it probable that all acts of severity were made 
 
 E E
 
 418 THE INQUISITION. 
 
 as public as possible, in order to employ the terror 
 they inspired as a means of swelling the ranks of 
 Catholicism. 
 
 My opinion is in some measure backed by what 
 occurred at Toledo. On the Inquisition of that 
 city being dislodged from its palace, now the seat 
 of the provincial administration, it was expected 
 that the exploration of the subterraneous range of 
 apartments, known to be extensive, would bring to 
 light a whole Apocalypse of horrors; and all who 
 had interest enough to obtain admission, pressed in 
 crowds to be present at the opening. The disap- 
 pointment was immense on finding not a single 
 piece of iron, not the shadow of a skeleton, not a square 
 inch of bloodstain. Each individual, however, during 
 the permanence of these tribunals, lived in awe of 
 their power ; and the daily actions of thousands were 
 influenced by the fear of becoming the victims of 
 their cruelties, whether real or imaginary. 
 
 The terror which surrounded the persons of their 
 agents invested them with a moral power, which 
 frequently rendered them careless of the precaution 
 of physical force in cases where it would have ap- 
 peared to be a necessary instrument in the execution 
 of their designs. This confidence was once well-nigh 
 fatal to two zealous defenders of the faith. The 
 Archbishop of Toledo, subsequently Cardinal
 
 THE INQUISITION. 419 
 
 Ximenes de Cisneros being on a visit at the resi- 
 dence of his brother of the see of Granada, it 
 occurred to them during an after-dinner conversation 
 that, could they accomplish the immediate conver- 
 sion of the few thousands of Moors remaining in 
 Granada, it would be the means of rendering a signal 
 service to the Catholic Roman Apostolic religion. 
 
 Inflamed with a sudden ardour, and rendered 
 doubly fearless of results by the excellence of the 
 archiepiscopal repast, they resolved that the project 
 should be put in execution that very evening. 
 
 Ever since the Conquest of Granada, a portion 
 of the city had been appropriated to the Moors who 
 thought proper to remain ; and who received on 
 that occasion the solemn assurance that no molesta- 
 tion would be offered to their persons or property, 
 nor impediment thrown in the way of their worship. 
 Their part of the town was called the Albaycin, and 
 was separated from the rest by a valley. It con- 
 tained some twenty to thirty thousand peaceably 
 disposed inhabitants. 
 
 The two enterprising archbishops, their plan 
 being matured (although insufficiently, as will ap- 
 pear) repaired to a house bordering on the Moorish 
 quarter; and, calling together all the Familiars of 
 the Inquisition who could be met with on the spur 
 of the occasion, divided them into parties, each of a 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 THE INQUISITION. 
 
 certain force, and dispatched them on their errand, 
 which was, to enter the houses of the infidels, and to 
 intimate to the principal families the behest of the 
 prelates, requiring them by break of day, to abjure 
 the errors of their creed, and to undergo the cere- 
 mony of baptism. 
 
 But in order that so meritorious a work should 
 meet with the least possible delay, all the children 
 under a certain age were to be conveyed instanta- 
 neously to the house occupied by the Archbishops, 
 in order that they might be baptised at once. 
 
 The agents opened the campaign, and had already 
 made away with a certain number of terrified in- 
 fants, whose souls were destined to be saved thus 
 unceremoniously, when the alarm began to spread ; 
 and, at the moment when the two dignitaries, impa- 
 tient to commence operations, were inquiring for the 
 first batch of unfledged heretics, an unexpected con- 
 fusion of sounds was heard to proceed simultaneously 
 from all sides of the house, and to increase rapidly 
 in clearness and energy : and some of the attend- 
 ants, entering, with alarm depicted on their coun- 
 tenances, announced that a few hundred armed 
 Moors had surrounded the house, and were search- 
 ing for an entrance. 
 
 It now, for the first time, occurred to the confeder- 
 ates, that difficulties might possibly attend the execu-
 
 THE INQUISITION. 421 
 
 tion of their project; and their ardour having had 
 nearly time to cool, Archbishop Ximenes, a personage 
 by no means wanting in prudence and energy, during 
 his moments of reason, employed the first instants 
 of the siege in taking what precautions the circum- 
 stances admitted. He next proceeded to indite a 
 hasty line, destined for the sovereigns Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, who were journeying in the province, 
 to inform them of his situation, and request im- 
 mediate assistance. A black slave was selected to 
 be the bearer of the letter : but, thinking to inspire 
 him with greater promptitude and zeal, an attendant 
 thrust into his hand a purse of money together with 
 the document. 
 
 The effect of this was the opposite to that which 
 was intended. The negro treated himself at every 
 house of entertainment on his road ; until, before 
 he had half accomplished his journey, he was totally 
 incapacitated for further progress. This circum- 
 stance could not, however, influence the fate of 
 the besieged prelates ; who would have had time 
 to give complete satisfaction to the offended Moors 
 before the King could receive the intelligence. For- 
 tunately for them, the news had reached the go- 
 vernor of Granada, a general officer in whose reli- 
 gious zeal they had not had sufficient confidence 
 to induce them to apply to him for aid in the emer-
 
 422 COLLEGE OF SAN TELMO. 
 
 gency. That officer, on hearing the state of things, 
 sent for a body of troops stationed at a neighbour- 
 ing village, to whose commander he gave orders 
 to place a guard, for the protection at the same time 
 of the churchmen from violent treatment, and of 
 the Moors from every sort of molestation. This 
 adventure of the Archbishop drew upon him the 
 temporary displeasure of the Court. 
 
 The public buildings of Seville are on as grand 
 a scale as those of some of the principal capitals 
 of Europe. The college of San Telmo, fronting 
 the Christina-gardens, is composed of two large 
 quadrangles, behind a facade of five or six hundred 
 feet in length, the centre of which is ornamented 
 by a portal of very elaborate execution in the plate- 
 resco style. The architect, Matias de Figueroa, has 
 literally crammed the three stories with carved 
 columns, inscriptions, balconies, statues single and 
 grouped, arches, medallions, wreaths, friezes. With- 
 out subjecting it to criticism on the score of purity, 
 to which it makes no pretension, it certainly is 
 rich in its general effect, and one of the best spe- 
 cimens of its style. This college was founded for 
 the instruction of marine cadets, and for that reason 
 named after S. Telmo, who is adopted by the 
 mariners for their patron and advocate, as Santa 
 Barbara is by the land artillery. He was a Do-
 
 COLLEGE OF SAN TELMO. 
 
 423 
 
 PORTAL OF SAN TELMO. SEVILLE. 
 
 minican friar, and is recorded to have exercised 
 miraculous influence on the elements, and thereby 
 to have preserved the lives of a boatful of sailors, 
 when on the point of destruction. The gardens 
 in front of this building are situated between the 
 river and the town walls. They are laid out in 
 flower beds and walks. In the centre is a raised
 
 424 CIGAR MANUFACTORY. 
 
 platform of granite, forming a long square of 
 about an acre or more in extent, surrounded with 
 a seat of white marble. It is entered at each end 
 by an ascent of two or three steps. This is called 
 the Salon, and on Sundays and Feast-days is the 
 resort of the society of Seville. In the winter the 
 hour of the promenade is from one to three o'clock ; 
 in the summer, the hours which intervene between 
 sunset and supper. During winter as well as sum- 
 mer, the scent of the flowers of the surrounding 
 gardens fills the Salon, than which it is difficult 
 to imagine a more charming promenade. 
 
 The cigar manufactory is also situated outside 
 the walls. It is a modern edifice of enormous di- 
 mensions, and not inelegant. In one of the rooms 
 between two and three hundred cigar eras, ,girls 
 employed in rolling cigars, are seen at work, and 
 heard likewise ; for, such a Babel of voices never 
 met mortal ear, although familiar with the music 
 of the best furnished rookeries. The leaden roof, 
 which covers the whole establishment, furnishes a 
 promenade of several acres. 
 
 I am anxious to return to the interior of Seville, 
 in order to introduce you to the Lonja; but we 
 must not omit the Plaza de los Toros, (bull cir- 
 cus,) situated likewise outside the walls, and in view 
 of the river. It is said to be the handsomest in
 
 
 PLAZA DE TOROS. 425 
 
 Spain, as well as the largest. In fact it ought to 
 be the best, as belonging to the principal city of 
 the especial province of toreadores. It is approached 
 by the gate nearest to the cathedral, and which 
 deserves notice, being the handsomest gate of Se- 
 ville. The principal entrance to the Plaza is on 
 the opposite side from the town, where the building 
 presents a large portion of a circle, ornamented 
 with plain arches round the upper story. This upper 
 portion extends only round a third part of the cir- 
 cus, which is the extent of the part completed with 
 boxes and galleries, containing the higher class seats. 
 All the remainder consists of an uniform series of 
 retreating rows of seats, in the manner of an amphi- 
 theatre, sufficient for the accommodation of an im- 
 mense multitude. These rows of seats are continued 
 round the whole circus : but those beneath the upper 
 building are not accessible to the same class of spec- 
 tators as the others the price of the place being dif- 
 ferent. This is regulated by the position with re- 
 gard to the sun, the shaded seats being the dearest. 
 The upper story consists of an elegant gallery, orna- 
 mented with a colonnade, in the centre of which the 
 box of the president is surmounted by a handsomely 
 decorated arch. 
 
 The circus, measured from the outside, is about 
 two hundred and fifty feet in diameter. Those who
 
 426 PLAZA DE TOROS. 
 
 are desirous of witnessing to what lengths human 
 enthusiasm may be carried, should see a representa- 
 tion in this Plaza. With seven prime bulls from 
 La Ronda, and a quadrille of Seville toreros the 
 enormous circumference as full as it can hold, (as it 
 always is,) it is one of the most curious sights that 
 can be met with. 
 
 The origin of this amusement is not easy to be 
 ascertained. It was undoubtedly in vogue among 
 the Spanish Arabs, and probably originated in the 
 time of the Goths, on the falling off of the repre- 
 sentations of the Roman amphitheatres for want of 
 a sufficient supply of wild beasts. In times not very 
 remote, it had become principally an amateur per- 
 formance, and the toreros were men of rank, who 
 made choice of this arena, subsequently to the falling 
 into disuse of the lists, in order to exhibit their 
 daring and dexterity before the objects of their flame. 
 The science is still studied by the greater part of 
 the Spanish youth ; just as, in England, the custom 
 is maintained of receiving instruction in pugilism ; 
 but an amateur is rarely seen in these days to figure 
 in a public arena. 
 
 The intense interest which absorbs the feelings of 
 those present at these representations, affords a faint 
 notion of what must have been the attractions of a 
 Roman circus, in which combats were sustained by
 
 PLAZA DE TOROS. 427 
 
 hundreds of wild beasts. In the bull-fight sus- 
 tained by a single animal, the interest would not 
 probably be excited by the mere contest for life 
 which takes place between the man and the brute, 
 and of which the ultimate result is foreseen. It 
 would, on the contrary, often yield to the disgust 
 produced by the needless massacre of the horses ; 
 were it not that the graceful performance of the 
 toreros, and their elegant costume, so well calculated 
 to set off the symmetry of their form, first draws the 
 attention, which, once fixed, is gradually absorbed by 
 the progress of the contest, and at length irresistibly 
 won by the variety of unforeseen incidents which 
 follow in rapid succession. 
 
 Frequenters of theatres have been seen to fall 
 asleep during the most stirring scene of a melo- 
 drame ; and a continual murmur of conversation 
 usually forms a running accompaniment to the voices 
 of opera singers ; but no one was ever detected slum- 
 bering in a plaza de toros ; nor is a remark uttered 
 that does not relate to the performance. This dif- 
 ference may probably be explained by the superior 
 attraction of the imprevu. In the playhouse not 
 only is the event known beforehand, but also every 
 incident by which it is preceded ; whereas, through- 
 out a corrida de toros nothing can be foreseen. No 
 one knows, during the present minute, whether the
 
 428 PLAZA DE TOROS. 
 
 next will give birth to the direst of tragedies, or to 
 the most exhilarating farce. 
 
 At Madrid the representations are inferior to those 
 at Seville. They are able, it is true, to procure as 
 fierce bulls ; but they are brought from a consider- 
 able distance, and are much more expensive. The 
 principal inferiority consists in the men, who at 
 Madrid are wanting in the rapidity of eye, and 
 careless courage of the Andaluz. On the entrance 
 of a bull on the arena, whose attitude gives pro- 
 mise of an animated course, almost all the Madrid 
 toreros, (I have seen all,) will, at his first onset, dis- 
 appear simultaneously over the barrera. The barrera 
 is the enclosure of stout planks, strengthened by 
 posts, which separates the performers from the spec- 
 tators. It is about six feet in height. At a height 
 of three feet a projecting ledge runs round the 
 whole, upon which, in vaulting over, the toreador 
 places his foot. Behind this enclosure an open space 
 of four feet in width is left, and serves as a refuge 
 for those who are hard pressed. Very different is 
 the graceful and careless attitude with which the 
 Andaluz awaits the approach of the infuriated brute, 
 and quietly springs aside with a flourish of his 
 mantle of silk, while he knows there are others at 
 hand to draw off the animal's attention. 
 
 With the exception of the Toros the public amuse-
 
 THE OPERA OF SEVILLE. 429 
 
 ments of Seville are limited to the balls at the Lonja 
 during the Carnival, and to the opera. The opera 
 varies its own pleasures, while it distributes its 
 favours between the two western capitals of the pro- 
 vince. From midsummer to midwinter Cadiz re- 
 ceives her share of melody, and the remaining six 
 months are bestowed on Seville. Xeres has, I be- 
 lieve, a company to itself, supplied by a different 
 impresario. 
 
 The Rossi is an excellent primera dama, although 
 wanting in animation ; and Comfortini is by no 
 means a bad tenor. The second tenor, Tosi, is said 
 to be ambitious of displaying his somewhat exag- 
 gerated attitudes on the boards of the Haymarket. 
 There is a deficiency of ensemble, since the severe 
 discipline necessary for obtaining that result does 
 not accord with the genius of the place or perhaps 
 an unexceptionable maestro de capetta is too expen- 
 sive a luxury to suit the Seville purses. However 
 this may be, the easy inhabitants, who hear the same 
 opera frequently six times in a week, and would 
 hear it seven times had not the performers a holiday 
 on Saturday may be taken grievous liberties with 
 before they utter a complaint. They, in fact, look 
 upon the performance chiefly as an excuse for resort- 
 ing to this their habitual lounge. 
 
 The Barbiere di Seviglia should, however, be wit-
 
 430 THE OPERA OF SEVILLE. 
 
 nessed here by every amateur. It is only here that 
 justice is done to the libretto of Rossini's master- 
 piece. Figaro becomes a real barber, and scorns all 
 velvets and finery ; and Almaviva leaves his court- 
 dress at home, and takes a good capo, of pano pardo 
 for his nocturnal excursions. The scenery repre- 
 sents the actual streets of Seville. Local customs 
 are introduced, and local expressions interspersed in 
 the Italian dialogue. On this occasion one spirit 
 animates boxes, lunetas, orchestra, and stage. At 
 the opening note of the first melody the allegro, 
 passing like electricity from the corner of the page 
 through the eye, brain, and arm of the leader, ap- 
 pears as though it spirted like wildfire from the 
 extremity of his bow over stage, boxes, stalls, and 
 galleries, lighting up in an instant all eyes with 
 animation and pleasure. 
 
 In the scene of old Bartolo's discomfiture the 
 melodies of the maestro are totally extinguished be- 
 neath the din of overturned tables and chairs, and 
 cracking furniture ; and the joyous exclamations of 
 the entire assembly, unite with the jibes of the actors, 
 and seem to pursue the poor old guardian with one 
 overwhelming peal of derision. 
 
 But it is only in this one instance that represen- 
 tations come off in such a manner. On the contrary, 
 the company exhibit habitually all the aristocratic
 
 THE OPERA OF SEVILLE. 431 
 
 nonchalance of larger capitals. Their business there 
 is society. It is there that les affaires de cceur hold 
 their Royal Exchange ; and observation, conjecture, 
 and speculation, but usually without ill-nature, 
 sufficiently occupy those who are not actors in this 
 general by-play. The youth of these climes do not 
 put in practice the same arts of concealment and 
 reserve as are adopted in colder cities ; but each, 
 unconscious of evil, makes for the box of his enamo- 
 rata ; or, if that is impossible, for the nearest vacant 
 situation. Advise, therefore, any friend who may 
 intend visiting Seville, not hastily to pay his visit of 
 curiosity to the opera, but to wait, if possible, until 
 offered a seat by some habituee in her box. This 
 Senora may possibly not have any affaire of her own 
 on hand ; in fact the married ladies of course form 
 an exception, if not in all cases, at least as far as 
 regards such undisguised manifestations of prefer- 
 ence : in this case she will take delight in putting 
 him aufait of all those that are going forward. 
 
 If in a conversable humour she will do more. 
 Commencing with the nearest, or the most con- 
 spicuous of the performers in these mute dramas, she 
 will relate to him the vicissitudes of the respective 
 histories up to the time then present, and the pro- 
 babilities which each case may suggest for the future. 
 Thus your friend, instead of having sacrificed an
 
 432 THE LONJA. 
 
 entire evening to the dubious amusement of follow- 
 ing the plot of a single opera, which may have been 
 a bad one, or interpreted by bad actors, will return 
 to rest with some score of plots and romances filling 
 all the corners of his memory all possessing the 
 zest of reality and actuality, as he will have contem- 
 plated the heroes and heroines in their mortal shape, 
 and clothed in indisputable capas and mantillas ; be- 
 sides, another advantage which these romances will 
 possess over all the popular and standard novels 
 that of omitting the most insipid chapter of all, the 
 one containing the denouement. 
 
 There only remain two public buildings worthy of 
 notice ; but they are such as to rank among the most 
 remarkable of Spain. The Lonja (Exchange) was 
 erected during the reign of Philip the Second, in the 
 year 1583, by Juan de Herrera. At this period the 
 excesses committed 'in all parts of Spain by the 
 architects, no longer restrained by rule of any sort, 
 had brought about a salutary effect, after a suffi- 
 ciently lengthened surfeit of extravagance. Herrera 
 took the lead in the reaction, and followed the more 
 correct models of art. 
 
 Among the authors of some of the most lamentable 
 specimens of aberration of style scattered throughout 
 Spain, are found several names high in rank among 
 the painters of the best period. These artists, de-
 
 SPANISH ARCHITECTS. 433 
 
 sirous of emulating some of the great masters of 
 Italy, who had attained equal superiority in archi- 
 tecture, painting, and sculpture, risked their reputa- 
 tion in these different pursuits with greater con- 
 fidence than just appreciation of their peculiar 
 genius. At the head of them was Alonzo Cano, one 
 of the most distinguished painters of the schools of 
 Andalucia ; and who has been called the Guido of 
 Spain. He may certainly lay a more legitimate claim 
 to that title than to that of the Michael Angelo of 
 Spain, accorded to him by some of the less judicious 
 of his admirers for no other reason than that of his 
 combining the three above mentioned arts. 
 
 His paintings are characterized by a peculiar 
 delicacy of manner, correct drawing, and exquisite 
 finish. The sickly paleness of his flesh is sometimes 
 unpleasing, and his personages are gainers by the 
 addition of drapery, in the arrangement of which 
 he approaches to the excellence of the best Italian 
 schools. The life of this artist was varied by more 
 adventure than usually falls to the lot of those of his 
 profession. His talent as a painter had already 
 become celebrated while he was still a monk, having 
 taken the vows very early in life. He had been 
 from the first an enemy to the subordination of the 
 cloister, and at length a series of irregularities led to 
 his expulsion from his monastery. 
 
 F F
 
 434 JUAN DE HERRERA. 
 
 Alonzo was not, however, the original inventor of 
 this eccentric style. A Roman architect, Francisco 
 Borromini, the rival of Bernini, and of whom it was 
 said, that he was the first of his time in elevation of 
 genius, and the last in the employment of it, is 
 supposed to have first introduced it. Followers and 
 imitators of these sprung up in great numbers, and 
 Spain was speedily inundated with extravagancies : 
 facades, moulded into more sinuosities than a laby- 
 rinth, cornices, multiplying their angles like a saw, 
 murderously amputated columns, and broken-backed 
 pediments. Juan de Herrera was not, probably, 
 possessed of more talent than the Roman ; but of 
 what he had he made a better use. His reputation 
 was beginning to make rapid progress, when he was 
 selected, on the death of Juan Baptista de Toledo, to 
 continue the Escorial. His task there was not the 
 simple one of continuing the unfinished pile accord- 
 ing to the plans already traced. 
 
 The religious fervor of Philip the Second was on 
 the ascent, and during the progress of the building 
 he had resolved to double the number of monks, for 
 whom accommodation had been provided by the 
 original plan. To meet this necessity, Herrera 
 raised the buildings to double their intended eleva- 
 tion. His completion of this immense work, 
 rendered more difficult than it would have been 
 had the original design been his own, or even had
 
 JUAN DE HERRERA. 435 
 
 that of his predecessor been persisted in (for various 
 other modifications were commanded, especially with 
 regard to the plan of the church,) fully established 
 his fame ; and the edifice would probably have 
 gained, had Philip not, at the last moment, yielded 
 to a new caprice, and called in another artist (the 
 architect of the famous country-house of the Viso) to 
 erect the great staircase. 
 
 The object of Herrera, traceable in all his works, 
 was the re-establishment of antique art in all its 
 purity. In cathedrals success was more difficult of 
 attainment than in civil edifices ; but the effort is 
 easily discerned, striving against the difficulties in- 
 separable from the system, which applies to the pur- 
 poses of one creed the principles of art invented for 
 ministering to other forms. His cathedral of Valla- 
 dolid is an instance of this : the most unsuccessful por- 
 tion of which (the tower) has fallen before the com- 
 pletion of the edifice. Should the works ever be 
 continued, this would be a most fortunate circum- 
 stance, were it not that the future builders are sure 
 to persist in the same course, and to disfigure the 
 pile with another similar excrescence, in contempt 
 of symmetry and rule. 
 
 The Lonja of Seville is a structure so perfect as to 
 bid defiance to criticism. It might have been built 
 by Vitruvius. The general plan is a quadrangle, en- 
 closing a court surrounded by an afcade. There are
 
 436 THE AYUNTAMIENTO. 
 
 two stories, ornamented externally by pilasters. 
 The order is Tuscan, both above and below. The 
 court, staircase, and various apartments, are decorated 
 with a profusion of the rarest marbles. The whole 
 is a specimen, almost unique, of chaste elegance and 
 massive solidity. In this edifice, the resort of 
 wealthy traders during the period of the colonial 
 prosperity of Spain, are contained, among the 
 archives, the original despatches of Columbus : and, 
 it is also said, those of Cortez and Pizarro. 
 
 The. Ayuntamiento, or Town Hall, is an edifice 
 of another sort. It is of the *plateresco epoch. But 
 Seville, having been apparently preserved by especial 
 favour from the introduction of specimens of bad 
 taste ; it is a building of extreme beauty. The 
 facade is divided into two unequal parts. The 
 smaller of the two is covered with sculpture, and 
 contains an open porch or vestibule, decorated 
 throughout with a profusion of ornament. I could 
 not learn the name of the artist to whom these 
 sculptures are attributed, but they are worthy of the 
 chisel of John of Bologna. The other portion of the 
 front is without ornament from the ground to the 
 ^ first story, along the whole extent of which runs a se- 
 ries of open arches supported by columns. These co- 
 lumns and arches are models of lightness and grace. 
 The Ayuntamiento is situated in the Plaza de 
 San Francisco ; from one extremity of which a street
 
 THE AYUNTAMIENTO. 437 
 
 leads to the cathedral : at the other commences the 
 principal street of Seville, called the Calle de la 
 Sierpe. Here are all the best shops, and the princi- 
 ple cafes. It leads also to the post-office, to the 
 opera, and to the Plaza del Duque, so called from 
 its containing the house of the Duke of Medina 
 Sidonia ; but it possesses, likewise, two other ducal 
 residences, besides others of almost equal pretension. 
 These mansions are scarcely ever occupied by their 
 proprietors. It is a small irregularly formed place, 
 and its ducal habitations, whatever they may be in- 
 ternally, by no means improve its appearance. 
 
 A few streets further on is the Alameda. This is 
 a place magnificent in extent, but possessing no 
 architectural merit. Its principal ornament is an 
 avenue of elms, of about half a mile in length, at the 
 head of which are placed the two antique columns 
 and statues of the temple of Hercules. At the 
 further extremity, on the left, is the church of the 
 Jesuits, closed since the revolution. 
 
 * 
 
 THE END.
 
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