SPANISH KKVOLirno.N Tins Day was Published, BY G. AND W. B. WHITTAKKII, AVE-MARIA LANE, LUDGATE STREET, lu One thick Volume, 8vo. illustrated with a Map, |)rice 18*. hoards, AN HISTORICAL REVIEW OK THE SPANISH REVOLUTION; INCLUDING SOME ACCOUNT OF RELIGION, MANNERS, AND LITERATURE IN SPAIN. By EDWARD BLAQUIERE, Esg. Author of ^^ Letters from the Mediterranean," ijc. " It is impossible to peruse this volume without teelinys ot the most affpct- inj,*- and irresistible nature. The proudest deed to which a human hein"- can aspire is to put his hand to sucii a work as this; and, in the belief that Mr. Bla- quiere's labours are calculated materially to promote its success, we congratulate him in the devotion of his time and thoughts to so noble an object." Monthly Blagnzine, Sept. 1822. " The affairs of the country to whieh Europe is indebted for its liberation from the dominion of Napoleon, and the recent example of political freedom, acquire every day an increaspd interest with all liberal Englishmen. No complete ac- count, however, of the Spanish Revolution, was in possession of the public, till the above work of Mr. Blaquiere made its appearance. It is written with much spirit and animation, and a zeal for truth is one of its most characteristic features." Morning Chronicle, Sept. 13, 1822. " A Work has just been published, entitled An Historical Review of the Spanish Revolution. None can find fault with the author's selection of his subject; and he has executed his task in a manner not unworthy of it. This book contains much and various information, entirely new to the public." British Press, Sept. 11, 1822. " The Work before us affords ample proof that its author is possessed of ])owers of research, and of acute observation. The limits and nature of our work prevent our doing more than passing a favorable judgment, and giving this general outline of the design and execution of Mr. Blaquiere's volume ; but there is no class of readers who can peruse the work without an acquisition of valuable knowledge, or without awakening in him a train of the most useful and pleasurable reflectious." — European Magazine, Nov. 1822. " We certainly want such books as that now before us: we do not know enough of the most interesting events of which it treats; at least, we have seldom been called upon to look at them through so impartial and national a medium as Mr. Blaquiere's Review." — Literary Register, Sept. 7, 1822. " Mr. Blaquiere's former productions have established for him an honorable place in English Literature ; and the ardent spirit of integrity, and love of right, which breathe through the present pages, entitle him to considerable distinction as a philanthropist, while the composition does him great credit as au author." Paris Monthly Rciieic, Nov. 1822. JUST PdllLlSUED, Iliiiiclsonicly priiiUd upon a shtct of drawing paper, and embellished with the Coronets of the several Orders of Nobility, tastifully eolourering; Where a projid j)Coplo frame their laws. And where the laws control their king! The Peninsula ha^ resounded with patriotic songs during the whole of last year ; this is but a just compensation for the uninterrupted silence of three centuries, except by the most sombre psalmody. It would appear that the soldiery for- get the fatigues of their marches, at the sound of these songs. The airs are executed with uncommon effect by the ^^ery fifers ; but the Spaniards are said to have made use of sucli instruments in the days of Sertorius. Apropos of music, you must know that Rossini is the adopted Orpheus of Spain. The inhabitants of Barcelona are quite enthusiastic in his praise ; and those of Madrid still more so if possible. At London and Paris, the music of this exquisite composer has shared the fate of Beer, which only pleases after long use; but here, where people judge from sentiment, and not according to the fashion of former days, it has pleased from the first moment. .50 CERVANTr.S. Liberty has the effect of bringing forth all tlie innate qnahties of nations. The Spaniard ah^eady begins to assume an air of serenity and to indulge in the gaiety of his natural character. The national dances, comedies, and Sainetcs or after })ieces, respire nothing but animation and cheerfidness. Cervantes could not lose his gaiety even during the five vears he was a slave at Al>>:iers : what wonderful humour has he not displayed in his immortal romance ! When returning home at night, I have always to pass before a guard house, and generally see one or more of the soldiers seated at the door, touching their guitars, as if to make their time seem lighter to the sentinels. Having on a late occasion, asked one of these Troubadours, whether he was singing the praises of his dulcinea, he replied — " my country is my mistress, I am play- ing for my amusement ; you seem to forget our proverb ; Quien canta sus males, espanla; a cheer- ful lay drives grief away !'* I have been for some days affected with feelings and sentiments, for which I cannot in any way account. It has even become impossible to hear the music of Rossini, without becoming sorrowful, and yet I attended to witness his masterpieces, while in Italy, with comparative indifference. I was, however, last night, forced to leave the theatre before the performance of La Gazza Ladra had been half finished ; for I could no ^nSERIKS OF EXILE. 51 longer resist tlie oppression that came over my spiiits. I suppose it was the malady of absence and exile. What a sorcery does not the sweet recollection of country exercise on us ! It is a phantom which appears as often as something national calls it forth, pursuing and forsaking us, after having made our tears flow. — By way of increasing the miseries of exile to an Italian, tliere is scarcely an agreeable sensation that does not remind him of Italy. A bouquet of flowers, a limpid stream, statue, picture, or a beautiful woman, are all so many mementos of ill-fated Italy, But I must stop, lest this should become an elegy instead of a letter. P. 8. I have at last received a letter from mv sister, via Huningen, without date or signature ; written with an apparent coldness, and in a strain of tantalizing enigma. What, therefore, must be the terror spread through all the families of Lom- bardy by the Austrian Inquisition, since a sister cannot afford the consolations of relationship to her brother ? I tremble ! The newly enacted laws in Piedmont, menace fathers, wives and sisters who send any relief to relatives accused of state crimes, or who are exiled from the kingdom, with the severest penalties : yet there are thou- sands who labour night and day to convince us ti)at oiu- fellow citizens, the people, have neither E "2 52 REFUGEES. any riglit nor motive for demanding a reform of their government and laws ! I understand there are more than five hun- dred Piedmontese refugees at Barcelona, Tarra- gona, and Valencia. The Cortes have just decreed that a monthly stipend shall be allowed to each, to be proportioned to their rank in life, or the place they filled under the Constitutional govern- ment. The Spaniards have acted towards Italy like him who allows his friend to be knocked down without coming to his assistance, and then runs to raise him up, overpowering him with the most generous care and sympathy. ORIGINALITY. 53 LETTER IX. iMatlml, lOth July, 1821. Your own country possesses a number of ori- ginals, but the people of Spain are all original ; they resemble no other nation, nor is it possible to define them. The European public, fancy they can become acquainted with the Spanish character through the perusal of histories and romances : although both have given but very imperfect no- tions on the subject. Don Quixote and Gil Bias may be said to describe the manners and customs of the people, rather than their real character ; while the history of Spahi, like all other histories, pourtrays the bad passions of princes, rather than the qualities of their subjects. Who does not expect to find hypocrisy, espion- age and superstition, deep rooted amongst all classes of a people, which has been governed by priests and the Inquisition for the last three hun- dred years ? Yet this is very far from being the case : it would be difficult if not impossible to name a country, wherein so few hypocrites are to S4f MISTAKEN NOTIONS. be found, if we except siicli places as the Royal Chapel, where sinners meet to beat their breasts in token of false contrition, under the very eyes of the sovereign. Even the monks have more ferocity than deception : as to spies and informers they are held in the greatest abhorrence here. The late infamous government was extremely anxious to organize a police system on the model of various others scattered about Europe, more especially that of France and Austria, but the plan could not be carried into effect, for want of instru- ments sufficiently base and abandoned to put it into execution. A French novel, entitled " Le Compare Ma- thieiiy'^ represents the Spaniards as being ridicii- loHsly superstitious. This opinion is about as well founded, as would that of a reader of " Don Quixote,'* who supposed every body in Spain was a knight errant. Great care should always be taken to distinguish between superstition and into- lerance. If the latter error, or rather crime, be laid to the charge of Spain, I am sorry I cannot defend her. There are unhappily too many M^itnesses to prove the fact ! Moors, Jews, Americans : nay the Constitution itself j which declares Catholicism to be the only trite religion /* The legislators of * ha unica verdadera. However absurd anil irrational this article of the political code may appear, it was considered as in- dispensable by the framcrs of tho social compact, as the only FANATICISM. 5.5 1812, were obliged to pay this humiliating tribute to universal prejudice ; but with respect to super- stition and bigotry, I laugh with the " Compere MathieUf*^ because he makes me do so, though 1 differ from him most decidedly. There were no less than eighty churches here some years ago,* ninety at Seville, and an equal proportion in all the other large cities. There were also above three thousand convents in Spain ; and yet the people are not so full of religious habits as in Italy. You do not for in- stance, see half so many Madonas, saints, angels and devils at every corner in the towns of Spain, as are so conspicuous at Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples and Venice ; nor so many sanctuaries, crosses, and crucifixes on all the paths and high- ways in Lombardy ;t on Sunday the people do not go and shut themselves up in church-yards, and methodist chapels, as in England, nor do they count half so many rosaries as in Italy. Having seen the ceremony of Corpus Domini since my arrival at Madrid, I can assure you that the most means of securing the co-operation of the more ignorant portion of the comruiinity.— Ed, * The author is considerably under the mark. There being- even now, above a iiundrod and forty churches at Madrid. — Ed. t He might also have added France, where tliis symbol has been amazingly nndtiplied since the return of the Bourbons and their ultra-royalist followers. — Ed. o6 PAPAL INFLUENCK. brilliant public walk of Italy is neither so gay nor amusing. The devotion might have been inwardly felt, but it certainly did not appear on the coun- tenances of the multitude. I should even have been almost justified in accusing the patron saint of vanity, as he was placed in the midst of an ele- gant parterre of flowers, ornamented with festoons of silver lace, as if the pageant had been intended for the celebration of a wedding. When the Monks excited the people to rise against the French in 1812, by declaring them heretics, the former were abolished by the Cortes, and both them and the people were tranquil. Lately, when the Pope refused to grant Bulls to the two Bishops named by government, a statesman, who was well acquainted with his country, said : *• The Court of Rome had better take care, it does not perhaps know that the people of Spain may before ten years elapse, end by shaking off the Papal yoke altogether." I again repeat that this Ration is undefinable. Who would not also imagine that after having lived under a despotic sceptre ever since the reign of Charles V. the people of Spain did not become mean, corrupt and grovelling ? Such a supposi- tion would be as incorrect as the former : the Spaniard has lived as proudly under slavery as Ciiarles XII, at Bender, and has emerged from it more pure, than any nation of Europe. A Spa- niard will bow to one who is richer than himself EQUALITY. 57 from politeness, but never through a feeling oi' inferiority. When he goes before a person of rarik you do not see him bend to the earth, nor is he either embarrassed or confused ; he proceeds as every one ought who feels the dignity of his na- ture. While on our journey to Madrid, I observed that after saluting M. Bardaxi with the greatest ease, postmasters and alcaldes entered into fami- liar conversation with the minister, and even lighted their segars with that which he himself was smoking : do not however conclude from this, that it partakes of an undue relaxation of man- ners. The Duke de Medinaceli, though a pre- tender to the throne, is at this moment. Constitu- tional Alcalde to one of the districts of the capital, that is to say a high constable. In this office, which was conferred on his Grace by the people last year, he is as subordinate to the Municipality, as the shoemaker who happens to be placed in a similar situation. There are many parts of the Peninsula in which the ears of a Spaniard were never struck by the sound of 1/ our excelleiici/. The same difficulty of com- munication, that impeded the circulation of know- ledge, also prevented the progress of corruption. Excepting a few grandees, scarcely any of the rich live in the villages ; so that the eyes of the poor are not offended by the presence of luxury and parade : thus it is too, that the people are not accustomed to the language of arrogance and pride. 58 DIGNITY AND PRIDE. SO prevalent in otlier countries. I once ventured to raise my voice a little above the ordinary pitch, to a j)ostilion, who seemed to be as indifferent about the safety of my neck as his own, when his com- panions immediately reminded me that, *' I was no longer in Italy, where the people are treated like negroes." It is needless to add, that I took the hint. A peasant who had furnished some supplies to the British army, during the late war, one day attended at the head-quarters of the English general Beresford to be paid. After hav- ing dismissed several other Portuguese claimants, this officer told the Spaniard, who came last, to witlidraw, for he had not time to attend to him ; scarcely had the mandate escaped liis lips, when the enraged Iberian drew a poignard from imder his cloak, and flew at the general, who would infallibly have perished, had it not been for the prompt interference of those present. That prodigious difference between the higher and lower classes observable in Italy, is altogether unknown in the Spanish provinces. Here, there are no exclusive privileges for the rich and great in society. Spain has its follies like other coun- tries. There is still a good deal of Mahometan blood to be met with, and as to genealogical, they are much more numerous than fruit trees : but you look in vain for what are called the fashiona- ble circle. Thus it is that the less custom with- draws us from our natural wants, the less inequal- INDEPENDENCE. ,'5f) ity do we find amongst mankind. The eloak, oil, segar, siesta, and bull feasts, place all the inhabi- tants of Spain nearly on a level. Those travellers, who represent a Spaniard enveloped in his cloak up to the eyes, with a frowning aspect and silent as one who meditates some act of vengeance against a rival, have formed an erroneous opinion. It is true, re- venge is not only a pleasure, but also a duty, since he who suffers an affront to pass unpunished becomes himself an object of public scorn ; but revenge is not that which engrosses his thoughts. When I see a Castilian wrapped up in his mantle, and standing still for several hours, without speak- ing or appearing to suffer the least tedium, I am rather inclined to regard him as a being who depends neither on men nor events, who though he may despise nothing, is yet indifferent to fate and a stranger to fear. Neither honorary decora- tions, fine uniforms, laced coats, nor powdered wigs, excite his notice or respect ; woman alone is an objectof curiosity and homage with a Spaniard. We passe'd through four provinces with two carriages of an elegant form and almost unknown to Spain, yet I never saw a single individual deign to turn his head aside to look at us during the whole of our route. On expressing my astonishment to those around me, they merely replied, that Wellington, crowned with victory, had experienced the same fate ! Go PECULIARITIES. Spanish pride, is neither the vanity of France, the bombast of Germany, nor the feudal ferocity of Russia. It is not exercised by one chiss towards another : it does not exist amongst any particular cast, but is general throughout the whole popula- tion. The Royal Family, Grandees, and Ministers are alike affable, it is the people who are proud. So that what is a vice in an individual becomes a virtue with the nation. Spaniards will not yet admit having discomfited Napoleon by the assist- ance of the English : they are more ready to praise the valour of their enemies than that of their allies. In 1808, Spain was nearly over-run by the French armies, Cadiz and Corunna were the only points that resisted. There were neither troops, arms nor money, when General Moore present- ed himself before these places, with twenty thousand men, and ten millions in specie ; yet his proffered aid was rejected at both places. Where, except amongst the heroes of Ariosto, are such romantic acts to be found ? The Romans boasted of selling the camp of Hannibal w hile he besieged the city : in 1811, when Cadiz was closely invested by a French army, the Cortes discussed and com- pleted the constitutional code, although the ene- mies shells were falling at the doors of Compress ! One of the most extraordinary circumstances connected with the national character of Spain, is the state of abandonment in which the past fame and glories of the nation are left There INDIFFERENCE. 61 is not a single history, nor even any memoirs of the late war,*- so proHfic in great actions : poople speak of it, as of a matter that is out of date ; it would seem, in fact, that in the eyes of the nation at least,the traits of valour, unexampled sacrifices, and sufferings of every kind, so widely extended and patiently borne during the war of independ- ence, were concerns of the most natural and ordi- nary description. Spain has required no other recompence, nor given itself any title but that of heroic. This appellation is perhaps somew^hat gigantic, but it offends no one ; on the contrary, when France styled itself la grande nation^ it wounded the self-love of all others, which, by a parity of reasoning, then became petty states. After the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon con- sidered the English nation as the most generous ; he deceived himself, and found chains where he expected hospitality. If the people of Spain had been free in 1815, they would not have outraged and sacrificed the modern Themistocles who so- locited an asylum on their shores : do not remind me of the detention experienced by Francis I., in * It can hardly be wondered at, that tlie author did not see the memoirs of the late war, by Salmon, of which four small volumes were published at Madrid, in 1812, containing a mere dry detail of facts, without having any claims to the dignity ol history. — Ed. 62 NAPOLEON. a tower of Madrid for nearly two years ; it was the effect of a base vengeance on the part of an Anstrian, Charles V., wlio, like the princes of Bar- bary, ill-treated his prisoner, in order to obtain a larii^er ransom. Scarcely had Napoleon been over- thrown, when the hatred of the Spaniards ceased. The late Emperor is only spoken of here, as the greatest man who has appeared since the time of Julius Caesar. Not the smallest insult was pro- nounced on his tomb ; so far from it, his eulo- gium was heard wdthout a single dissentient voice ; while the journals of Madrid spoke of this immor- tal man, with the same impartiality that history will judge him.* The character of the Spanish people was ob- scured and disfigured by the rust of despotism ; and like an old picture covered with dust, it requires much rubbing to bring out the brilliancy of its colours ; this work will be accomplished by liberty. Even now, Europe has no longer the * No people of Europe, not even those who had been so often vanquished and humiliated by Napoleon, had a greater dislike to the Conqueror while he reigned, than the people of Spain. Yet is it a positive fact, that his death has not produced a more painful sen- sation any where, than throughout the Peninsula. It was impossible for the people of this country to witness the rights of hospitality and laws of nations violated in his person, with indifference ; much less see a great man, abandoned by the whole universe, suffered to perish on a rock, after having filled the world with his fame. ECCENTRICITY. 63 same opinion she formerly entertained of tlic Peninsula, and from satire has passed to admira- tion. Why, I would ask, cannot the people of Spain, who are so attached to fre dom, preserve that Avhich they have recently conquered : since they could, during three centuries, bear up against an unexampled despotism, with a degree of patience and constancy that has no precedent ? Why can- not such a people support the blessings of liberty ? I trust and hope this country may remain free, if not through its virtues, at least by its character. This singular people may be compared to a bonze, which having once assumed an attitude, preserves it during the rest of his life. Perhaps you ima- gine that it was through corruption or debasement, the Spaniard bore his slavery so long? By no means, it has been tolerated, not through vice, but from a principle of virtue. I will explain m} self : the same firmness which enabled him to sustain hunger, thirst, and every other privation, whether in the wars of Europe, or wilds of Ame- rica, has also induced him to tolerate the caprice of Kings and the atrocities of Inquisitors ; and finally, since nothing has been done for the last twenty years to eradicate the plague, why should they think of destroying the Constitution ? P. S. You tell me that Roscoe, the historian of the Medici family, is occupied in writing a f)'l< ROSCOE AND SISMONDI. book against Sismondi, and in defence of the for- mer. Brav^o ! It is not enough that the British Cabinet should protect the Uving oppressors of ItaUan Uberty, but the literati of that nation must write panegyrics on her former tyrants ! Will the libraries, statues, pictures and public edifices of the Medici, ever compensate the Tuscans, for the liberty which was torn from them by this hypocritical family ? Are not the tactics of des- potism sufficiently notorious ? From Pericles down to the present day, have not despots made use of the fine arts and splendid monuments to amuse the people, as play-things are given to children ? A STATEMENT. f)5 LETTER X. Madrid, July 25th, 1821. I PERCEIVE by your last letter, that you are not satisfied as to the solidity of the constitutional edifice in Spain. The national character which I lately sketched, does not afford sufficient data, and is too philosophic ; hence your wish to know whether there are no other pillars to support the structure, because, we ought not to calculate too much on the disposition of a people, nor that of an individual. Gil Bias, as you very justly observe, was born to be an honest member of society, and ended by becoming a highwayman. Since, however, you prefer demonstrations to conjecture, I will proceed to speak arithmetically, in the following debtor and creditor statement of the Spanish constitution. Aujciliari/ Aids of the Constitution. 1st. The standing, now the national army, and that which effected the revolution. The fear Gf) NATIONAL MILITIA. of ignominy and public opinion ; its interest in a system of equality and impartiality in the promo- tions : above all, the love of glory and wish to identify the regular army and political code. 2nd. The national militia ; distinguished by the title of active and local : the former, are well dressed, disciplined and armed ; they super- intend the internal tranquillity of the com- munes. There are at Barcelona alone, six thousand men of this description, which would bear an advantageous comparison with the best regiments of the line. The active militia is a very old institution in several of the provinces, which has been improved and extended to all the rest since the establishment of the constitutional system ; when completely organized, it will amount to eighty- seven thousand men. 3rd. Secret societies, thus called, though they are only so by name : these are powerful by their number, activity and vigilance ; patriotic Juntas, which are established in all the large towns. Lastly, all the enlightened portion of the com- munity, who were, and would again become, objects of persecution to despotism and the Inquisition, if a re-action took place. 4th. The creditors of the state, who calculate on being reimbursed by the sale of the national domains, church property and inscriptions on the great book, as it is called. The public debt of Spain does not exceed one hundred and fifty mil- FEUDAL RieHTS. C)"/ lions sterling ; while it is calculated that there is capital to treble that amount, to cov^r it, between the church property already ap})ropriatcd and that which is still to be made available to the wants of the nation. To the above may be added, the purchasers of national property ; and com- mercial men of every class, who feel they can only prosper under laws which shall afford protection to their persons and property. 5th. All those to whom the country is dear, and who so bitterly deplored the degradation of the monarchy under the late destructive system. Every one who foresees centuries of riches and prosperi y, if Spain will but patiently wait the effects of the new institutions. 6th. The great mass of the peasantry, which is already relieved from half the weight of tythes as it will doubtless be so ere long, from the feudal imposts paid to the grandees.* * The aulbor has been misinfonned, there are no feudal rights left in Spain : those to which he doubtless alludes, are certain charges which the public still pay to the grandees, and of which the origin is buried in obscurity. The latter pretend that these tributes originated in purchases and loans at interest, while the forroer maintain thoy spring from concessions and feudal privileges arbitrarily exacted : these imposts only exist in some^ of the provinces. The last Cortes prepared and discussed a law on this subject, but it did not receive the royal sanction. By the terms of this decree, all those who insisted on the payment of such imposts, F 'Z (58 ARISTOCRACY. ytli. The younger sons of noblemen and otliers, \vho, by the extinction of the laws on primogeniture, regain their natural rights. 8th. Though last not least ; the spirit of the age, which has an inevitable tendency towards freedom. Forces operating against the Constitution. 1st. The drones of the Court ; all those who are accustomed to live by favours and gifts. The majority of the nobles who enjoy privileges and distinctions. It is, however, but justice to add, that up to the present moment, the nobility have tranquilly borne the sacrifices required by their country. 2nd. The elder sons of those families in which there were large entails, (their number is very small). Those proi)rietors to whose prejudice the feudal rights and privileges wdll be abolished, are powerful though not numerous. were required to produce their original titles of acquisition ; but as during the various wars to which Spain has been exposed, a great number of Archives have become a prey to the flames and other accidents, it would have been impossible for the grandees to produce such documents and proofs as were callecl for, the law would have been very prejudicial to many proprietors. In order to conciliate the interests of the people with that jus- tice and respect which is due to property, M. Garelli, the new miaister of justice, has presented the draft of another law to the Cortes. CLEllGY. 69 3rd. Archbisliops, bishops, chapters, canons, &c. who lose their enormous revenues and fat livings. There were two thousand of the hitter, many of whom enjoyed prebendaries to the amount of £10,000 per annum. The numerous troops of monks who have lost the fruits of their benefices, and their influence on society. The clergy of Spain, secular and regular, docs not, however, ex- ceed, 80,000 individuals.* 4th. Nearly all the old generals, and to whom the nation in a great measure owes its independence. How is it possible for the victors of Baylen and San Marcial patiently to suffer their names to be forgotten for those of the heroes of Las Cabezas and San Fernando.f 6th. Old habits of slavery, and the idolatiy of the throne.J * This number is considerably under-rated, with the exception of the bishops and a few monks, it may be said tliat the Spanish clergy is satisfied with the new order of things, since it facilitates their secularization, and permits them to leave their cloisters, which they very generally detest. t The general officers here alluded to, form but a very small number, and are not all enemies to the constitutional system, which has in no respect, clashed either witli their self-love or personal interest. Nearly all those who have contributed to the establishment of the Constitution fought at the battles of Haylen and San Marcial. t The habits of slavery are neither so great or inveterate in Spain, as most people suppose. Besides those provinces that have 70 LA SIKSTA. 6tli. Tlie new duties of registry and patents, which oppose sellers, buyers and artisans. 7th. I leave you to divine wliat is the seventh counteracting power, for I will have no dispute with any thing that emanates from the divi- nity. From the above picture, you will perceive that the numerical force, that which is armed, and the moral power of the nation, defend the new code. It can therefore onlv die throuofh suicide. I shall quit pohtics for a moment, to inform you that the heat is insupportable. The thermo- meter has been at above ninety degrees of Faren- heit for more than a week. During the day time, all the houses of Madrid continue in the greatest obscurity ; and the shops are shut from two till four, as these are the hours in which every body indulges in the siesta, an operation so simulta- neous, that it resembles a military evolution. always enjoyed a certain degree of liberty, more especially Na- varre, Biscay, and the Asturias, the natural pride of Spaniards and their love of independence, have preserved a firmness of character which would never suffer them to humiliate or debase themselves. The respect for the throne has never degenerated into idolatry : it must also be allowed that anarchy has more frequently dominated in Spain than despotism : nothing is more common than to hear a Spaniard of the lowest class exclaim, " Yo so^ tan bueno corno el Rey;" " I am as good as the King!" ^' Yo no vulgn menon que el Rey,'' ANDALUSIA. Jl The inhabitants of Andalusia contrive to kill time somewhat better than their neighbours ; the Moors, the former masters of that province, having been for many centuries obliged to carry on a de- fensive war against the sun, constructed porticoes all round the internal square or court yard of their houses, in the midst of which are seen fountains : an awning shields the whole of the court from its rays, while the water is thrown up to a consi- derable height, thus refreshing and purifying the air. It is under these porticoes, and in the midst of vases filled with orange trees and flowers, that the Andalusians pass their hours during the intense heat of summer. It is also in these bowers that the tall and slender gaditanas exercise the magic of their killing eyes and graceful forms, embellish- ed by a much softer and more agreeable pronunci- ation than that of the Castilian fair. Lord Byron did not exaggerate when he compared Andalusia to a harem. '1^ SPANISH \VOMEN. LETTER XL Madrid, July 30, 1821. I TOTALLY forgot ill my last letter to point out another very powerful support of the new code. You must know that in Spain, all the pretty women are constitutionalists. If, for example, yourself and your three sisters, were walking on the Prado, the crowd would immediately exclaim, " there goes a family of liberals !'^ Because here, youth and beauty are the surest signs of liberalism. Last year when Riego made his triumphant en- try into Madrid, the most beautiful women of Spain smiled upon him, while the fairest hands threw flowers into the vehicle which bore him through the streets. All the remarkable days of Spanish liberty are celebrated by dances ; women are the first to applaud those passages in plays, which are favourable to freedom, some of them even address the editors of newspapers in praise of the goddess. Many celebrated Amazons of Spanish freedom are to be found at Cadiz and A rORTKAIT. 7'3 Valencia : but the most interestiiiix of all, is a young female, to whom T had the satisfaction of being introduced some days after my arrival at Madrid. You will now be able to judge whether I know liow to select a fine picture in the living gallery of Spain. Her head })artakes of that charming contour which foreigners are never tired of admiring in most of the Spanish women ; though somewhat fiery, there is yet an ineffable expression of suavity in her large blue eyes : her cheeks bear those tints which excited the fears of Caesar on the part of Brutus and Cassius, rather than the carnation that bespeaks a heart at ease ; it can- not be said she is as beautiful as one of Morillo's virgins, but she possesses that which painters find most difficult to pourtray — expression. One day she is gay and animated as a bacchante, and on the next, sorrowful as a Madonna. Her feet, person and gait are those of a Terpsichore ; with her, no- thing is studied, all is natural. Her dress is com- posed of black silk, trimmed with a long fringe of the same material, and reaching down to an instep of the most perfect symmetry. A rose placed in the midst of her ebon tresses, forms a delightful contrast to their glossy hues ; these and a white embroidered veil thrown over her shoulders, and reaching nearly to the ground, is her invariable costume, for it is national. She never appears in public, except accompanied by some officer who /i RIEGO. has deserved well of his country : when at liome, she resembles Armida in the camp of Godfrey, surrounded by adoring warriors. She surpasses every other Spanish beauty in the eloquence of the flm, expressing in its varied movements, resent- ment, forgiveness, indifference, affection, and all the sentiments of the mind. In days of calmness and tranquillity, she touches her piano ; when the nation is agitated, recourse is had to the harp, which by her manner of striking its cords, would appease tlie most irritated combatants : if liberty be menaced, she seizes her lute and makes the house resound with lliego's hymn. This wonderful girl, is no less attached to liberty than she is to the object of her affections. Her heart was given to a young officer who was last year one of the first to raise the cry of Spanish regeneration. Figure to yourself, what must have been her suffering's durino; the tlirce months he was figliting for iieedom in the midst of so many perils ! The day in wliich Riego entered Madrid, and just as he alighted from his carriage, a young and beautiful female was seen making her way through the crowd which surrounded the patriot chief: on reaching the spot, she took his arm, and would not give it up till he retired from public view. This was the modern Armida; she could not be prevailed on to leave the hero who had encoun- I'EIISECUTION. 7<5 tered the same dangers as her lover ! Mow easy would it have been for Madame de Stael to convert this real heroine into the Corinna of Spain ! Radice,* has this moment entered my room, and produced a list of condemned Piedmontese patriots as long as a piece of cambric, in which himself and about thirty more, are said to have been hung a fortnight ago at Turin. Thanks to the metem- psychosis, these pretended sufferers have all resuscitated, either in Switzerland or Spain. Be this as it may, the odds are most unequal. In order to punish the errors of Princes, the people content themselves with offering a constitution, as a kind of Jubilee to their sins. Princes on the other hand, are revenged by trampling on their subjects. Will a constitution be always the sign of a general absolution ? Time, a better oracle than I am, will answer this question. Meanwhile, I can assure you Radice is safe and sound at Madrid ; he intends moreover to preserve the sentence as a precious title deed, that will one day insure him the thanks of his country. * This bravo and amiable young officer, is araongst those Piedmontese patriots condemned to deatli since tlie accession of Charles Felix. He is like the rest of his countrymen suffering all the evils which follow in the train of proscription and exile. — Ed. 7^ A GEXKKAL. LETTER XII. Madrid, August 5th, 1821. You wish to kno\^^the general who is likely to command the Spanish army, if this country is menaced by its enemies ? I can safely reply they do not any longer stand in need of the great Wel- lington, they possess one still more phlegmatic and redoubtable. The general to wliom I allude, fought through all the campaigns during the war of independence, is still in the vigour of manhood, and known to every Spaniard, for he is in the mouths of all. 15ut it is time to mention -his name : he is called General No Importa ! It is an incontestible fact that these two words, emble- matical of the most obstinate courage, performed prodigies in the course of the late struggle, if they were not these which vanquished the legions of Napoleon. On hearing of defeat after defeat, the invariable answer of government was. No Importa^ No Reinara en Espaha^ Jose Napoleon. No mas- ter, Joseph Napoleon shall not rule in Spain. REFLECTIONS. 77 When routed, soldiers and generals fled, and unit- ed at some other point to be again beaten and again encouraged with the official reply of No Importa. Of what importance in fact, could the lossof a battle or fortress be, where the people had sworn to bury themselves under the ruins of their country rather than submit to a foreign yoke ? The object of the Spaniards was not glory, but independence : and this was to be more easily attained by constancy than valour. Had they only fought for honour, the war would have terminated with the battle of Tudela. Honour is of such a mysterious and inexplicable nature, that on receiving the least check, it often loses the power of action ; this is so true, that the man who looks to the end instead of glory has always an advantage over his rival or opponent. It was thus, that both Charles V. without the bravery of Francis I. and Peter the Great, without being so great a general as Charles XII. of Sweden, ended by being victorious. The Spanish army, also imbued with the prejudices so generally entertained with regard to honour, at first conceived that all was lost because it hap- pened to be beaten. Government had great dif- ficulty in destroying this fatal prepossession, and only succeeded in doing so, by creating the Guer- illas, who had no other ambition than of discom- fiting the enemy, not by a few partial advantages, but at the termination of the war. With tliese views, if beaten and dispersed, they lost no time 78 ITALY. in re-uniting to renew the contest ; when inferior in number they fled : if advantageously posted they held out, and when strongest, lost no time in attacking. The troops of the line, ani- mated by this example, were at length convinced that the best player is him who gains in the end. The above tact, or rather philosophy, is perhaps applicable to the fate of Italy. What if she has yielded to an auxiliary and preponderating force ; and through unheard of treasons ! She has now passed under the miserable and iron sway of Austria, but with the firm determination to raise the standard of independence on a future day. My unhappy country ought to act like a wounded combatant, who only w\aits the cure of his wounds to return to the charge. LA BELLA SFORTUNATA. 79 LETTER XIII. MadriJ, August 10th, 1821. La Bella Sfortunatay and under which you so aptly designate Italy, is more wretched than ever. Every day adds to the number of exiles, transpor- tations, plunder of property under the title of confiscations, and sentences of death. The Italian courier who brings the mail to Spain is styled the messenger of Avernus, because he brings little more than lists of persons who have been juri- dically assassinated. I would have defied Shake- speare himself, to conceive a more atrocious tragedy than that which is now representing in Italy. To complete the barbarous absurdity, and at the same time amuse the spectators, by some- thing burlesque, all that they require is, a bull of excommunication from the Pope. In order to dissipate the impression which the above intelligence produced on my spirits this morning, I determined to visit the booksellers of Madrid, in whose sliops Spanish sobriety is also observable. After much research, I at last found 80 LORD BYRON. Walter Scott, tlic object of your predilection, in tiie shop of a iMenchnian established here. I do not know whetiier this M'riter has yet found his way to Spanish readers ; but I should think not. The Spaniards are completely cured of the mania of romance reading ; with them, the day for idyls and sonnets has gone by ; so that their trouba- dours are now converted into journalists. Though I also looked for Byron with as much zeal and avidity, as an Inquisitor would some years ago have sought to discover the Social Contract of Rousseau, 1 have never been able to iind any of his works ; I am however told, a com- plete edition may be shortly expected. I am im- patient to read the prophecy of Dante and Marino Faliero ; I hope his Lordship's magnanimous bile has not forgotten the Austrian government. It has indeed, however, a powerful enemy in this great poet, and yet it has not ventured to disturb the tranquillity he continues to enjoy at Ravenna. A simple citizen of England insults the Atlas of des- potism with impunity ! Is not the courage which Byron now displays in Italy more to be applauded than that of Lord Ex mouth before Algiers ? Schiller and Byron are the two bards of liberty, whose verses are not yet known here. Alfieri was more fortunate ; his tragedies are read and under- stood throughout Spain : a few, such as Virginia, Brutus, and Philip, have been translated. The last named has been performed here two or three times NATIONAL LIBIIAUY. 81 (luring tlie present week ; the actors were not ap- plauded because they did not deserve it, but ani])le justice was done to the author, by the flattering tes- timonies of the audience, many of wliich I myself heard. Rossini, with his brilHant musical compo- sitions, and Alfieri, by his splendid tragedies, serve to draw still closer those ties which should bind Italy and Spain together. I have visited the public, or national library, close to the Hall of Cortes ; the warders and ser- vants are more numerous than readers.* Like the AJrancesadoSy the philosophers of the eighteenth century have only been amnestied by halves, and are therefore as yetfarfrom enjoying all their riglits. Voltaire still inhabits a cave underground, enclosed by two iron doors, like the dens of wild animals. On askine: for Robertson's Charles V., I was told that this heretical writer had never been admitted into tlie library, though a great heretical general had been allowed to re-establish the Grand Inquisitor. * I have reason to tliink the above is a soniew^bat hasty con- clvision ; it is true, the present state of Spain affords but very Uttlo time to those who might wish to profit by the national hbrary; but it is impossible to visit Madrid and the other large towns of Spain, without being forcibly struck by the spirit of inquiry that has sprung up ; and above all, the activity of booksellers. It is even probable that if the author was called upon to revise his tour, the population of the capital would be introduced as showing a very great disposition to profit by this establishment, which bids fair to be one of the finest in Europe. — Ed. G 8^ SPANISH PIITLOSOPHERS. If you could see the booksellers' shops of Madrid, and more especially the private houses, you would never be induced to attribute the enthusiasm of li- berty to an over fondness for reading. It is, how- ever, much better that a love of freedom should be a natural sentiment, as it is in Spain, for it is then sure to be more resolute and solid. A man of letters one day observed to me, that he thought the priests would never dare impute the propaga- tion of liberal ideas to the philosophers of Spain, which she did not possess.* In my opinion, either too much injury or too much honour has been done to writers of this class in attributing revolu- tions to them. In Spain, where nothing could or has been read for above three centuries, can it be said that books brought about the revolution of 1812? Was it books or the good sense of the people, that established liberty at Rome and Athens ? Was it philosophy or tyranny that ex- cited the people to raise the statue of liberty in the early republics of Italy, Switzerland and Hol- land? Was it not the injustice and impolicy of the English minister rather than dangerous doc- * Notwithstanding the opinion of the priest above cited, few countries can boast so bright a galaxy of native philosophers. Tlie best answer that could be given to such an assertion, is to repeat the names of Feijoo, Maycns, Isla, Campomanes, Jovellanos, and many others. — Ed. SPIRIT OF INQUIRY. 83 trines and books that led to the resistance of the North American colonies, where, as Franklin tells us, there were not two printing offices nor a single newspaper ? I even think, and perhaps with reason, that the French revolution was not brought about by the books of the eighteenth century. Without the depravity of the Court, and oppression of the people, the philosophical theories of France would have run the risk of continuing as siich to this hour. You ask if people read in Spain ? Yes, daily and with great attention : but never to the prejudice of the siesta and segar, which is eternally burning in the mouths of Spaniards. You will also ask what do they read ? The newspapers, because these discuss the interests of the nation with the greatest freedom. You are awakened at day-break, not by the notes of the nightingale, but by the hoarse and shrilly cries of all the blind of both sexes, who possess the exclusive right, founded on universal custom, of selling all the newspapers of Madrid. Towards six o'clock, the hour at which I generally take my morning walk, all the waiters of the Cruz de Malta, where I now reside, are collected round Julian, whose lungs are somewhat more indefatigable than those of his fellow servants, to hear him go through every journal that is published here. On my return to the hotel, Julian, whose mind is as sound as his lungs, points out the articles most worthy of being read : as I have never found tliat G 2 84 NEWSrArERS. he formed an erroneous opinion, lie has become quite an oracle with nie, and thus saves me a great deal of unnecessary reading. The coffee-houses, door-ways, staircases, sliops, and Puerto del Sol are filled with readers every day till noon. Here, you see an officer of La Isla, with his cocked hat i)laced cross-ways, curled musta- chios, and sabre hanging from his side, grinding liis teeth at the ImparciaL* There, is seen a man turned of fifty, powdered and pomatumed, who throws aside the Echo de Padillayf as a phrenzied ])roduction : farther on, an orator of the Fontana de Oro, is refuting El Universal,t the daily trumpeter of the minister. From twelve till two, most of the readers of newspapers digest what they have been perusing in the Puerto del Sol. This spot is so called, from having formerly been the site of one of the city gates ; it has become very celebrated since the memorable 2nd of May, 1808, the era of national Independence. Idlers arc to be found in this Madrid forum at all hours of the day. * Tliis journal espoused the cause of the iirst constitutional ministry and joined in the ovitcry against Riogo. — Ed. t The Picho de Padilla was admirably conducted by M. do Mora at this period, but has since ceased. — Ed. X This ncvA'sjiapor is said to have been cs])ecially patronised by the men of 1812. If so, its conductors only laboured in tiioir vocation whon they paid a l)Iin(l deference to tlic caprice and riilly of Ihoii- jtalrons. — Ed. LOS COMUNEIIOS. 85 It is eight o'clock, and I must liaslen to the theatre, to witness the pei-formance of a new tragedy, entitled Los Comimeros. Tlie subject of this drama is taken from the destruction of the Comuneros, which took place in 1520. Juan de Padilla is introduced as being elected to the chief command by several cities and towns, after which, he continues to fight bravely, but without success, to establish the rights of the people, against the usurpations of Charles V. Although the piece is not considered as possessing much merit, it excites applause from the analogy between the former and present epoch ; at all events, there is no doubt but that the party which has now established itself in the Peninsula, with the same title and similar views, will often flock to see this tragedy. I am invited to take a seat in Armida's box. The agi- tation she experienced, at the thought of seeing the Comuneros performed, gave a colour to her cheeks much more beautiful than the rose which ornaments her tresses. 86 AN OPrORTUNITY LOST. LETTER XIV. T Madrid, August lOth, 1821. Spain, does not yet perceive, that, in abandon- ing the NeapoUtans to their fate last year, she renounced the most glorious supremacy. By a different policy, she would have become the pro- tecting Minerva of liberal constitutions throughout Europe : her moral influence would have been so great, that no one would have any longer dreamed of estimating her })ower by statistical rules, any more than the genius of man is measured by his physical powers. Now, on the contrary, this in- fluence can only be calculated in the European ba- lance, by length and breadth of territory ; and she certainly loses greatly by this species of estimate, for notwithstanding her immense extent, there is no proportion between that and her intrinsic importance. According to the division of population adopt- ed to regulate the recruiting of the national army and militia, the whole number does not exceed eleven millions ; but the connnission ap})ointed by SUGGESTIONS. 87 the Cortes to establish a new territorial division, states the population of Spain at twelve millions of souls. The permanent army has been fixed at sixty- six thousand men, and the active militia, which forms part of the army in time of war, at eighty- seven thousand. The idea of keeping the regular army below the militia, is a most wise precaution, imitated from the English and Americans.* It is highly proper that the nation should possess a larger force for defence than attack, in case of treachery or weak- ness on the part of the executive. But from the situation of Europe, and the state of war or enmity in which Spain is placed with regard to the triumvirate of the north, by its new social com- pact, ought not the Cortes to suspend the above law for at least four years ? Is there not imprudence in laying down their arms, while despotism is armed from head to foot ? Would it not be to accord a confidence worthy of the heroism which the army has shown in the regeneration of their country, were the congress to augment the army to a hundred and fifty thousand men ? Lafitte * It is deeply to be lamented that this comparison only applies to one of the countries mentioned. But the friends of England's freedom and prosperity at length begin to hope that the time is not far distant, when the policy of our anccbtors will be restored in this respect as well as many others. — Ed. 88 A PATRIOT BANKER. and Rothschild would have smoothened every dif- ficulty, since the bankers of the present day lend their money to all governments, as the Swiss used to sell their soldiers to the highest bid- ders.* Scarcely had Bardaxi entered the ministry, than he made the proposition, but want of confi- dence in the executive, national vanity, and a persuasion that they are invincible, would not allow the Cortes to adopt his proposal, which if carried, must have proved to be the firmest sup- port of European emancipation. The local militia increases daily ; these citizen soldiers inspire confidence, and maintain good * The French editor of Count Pccchio's letters, says that lio fonus an erroneous judgment of M. Latitte : addhig that tliis Millionnaire, will only lend his money to those who can give guarantees, that is to say, constitutional governments. I feel hajipy in tliis opportunity of expressing my conviction s& to the con^ectness of the above opinion, nor can I omit availing myself of the occasion to compliment the Parisian banker on his patriot- ism generally; not satisfied with his persevering and eloquent exer- tions in the chamber of deputies, where he invariably co-operates with the Lafayettes, Constants, Manuels, Foys, D'Argensons and Roycr-Collards, of the French Senate, he is known to bo a liberal patron of merit wherever it is fotmd ; and to his honour be it spoken, the purse of M. Lafitte has ever been opened to the persecuted friends of liberty. When this patriot banker reflects that statues may one day be raised to his fame, the stale charge of being a promoter of revohition, ought to sit very lightly on his head. — Ki> MIRABEAU. ^9 order wlicrevcr they appear, so tliat this force is universally ])opular. Wluit an admirable gift did not Mirabeau make to the French people in sui^- gesting the national guards ! Liberty was ex- tremely ephemeral, without the intervention of this ^cris.* The annual revenue of Spain does not amount to nine millions sterling. A country that had so louse been regarded as the kinf]edom of Croesus, and which the imagination presented to itself as paved with gold and silver, has become, almost without being aware of it, one general scene of penury ! Whilst alchymists were stud}ang the means of turning paper into gold, Spain has foiuul out the secret of converting gold into paper ! The large doubloons v/hich continue to be struck off, seem like the arms which remind one of the for- mer opulence of Spain. This is perhaps the only real proof of ostentation with which the nation * This observation only applies to the national guards formed at the period when the eloquence of its immortal founder tended so materially to keep the flame of liberty alive during the first stages of the revolution. As if the return of the old dynasty vva^ destined to strike at the root of freedom in all its branches, the great majority of the national guard of France is now composed of men who are much more ready to oppress their fellow citizens than'aid in their emancipation. It is, however, gratifying to reflect that whenever the standard of freedom is raised, the shopkeepers and petit-maitrcs who compose this mongrel force will be put to flight by a mere sight of the patriot banners Eu. 90 EFFECTS OF DESPOTISM. can be reproached. Tlie amount of the Spanish budget nuist excite a smile to those who are accustomed to see that of Enghmd. Here it re- quires all the efforts of government to make it enter the treasury. Such are the remains of Charles V.'s monarchy; of a giant, the miracles of an Inquisition, and the blessed effects of despotism ! The Spanish system of government, has for the last three hundred years been infinitely worse than that of Turkey. In order that it might not be inferior in any re- spect to the latter, Spain has been inoculated with the plague, nor has a single effort been made to eradicate that scourge. Indolence, apathy, and weakness, have reduced the nation to such a pitch of dilapidation and decay, that it could not possi- bly be in a more wretched plight. A crisis was therefore inevitable : a revolution could not fail to be salutary. The national regene- ration takes its date from 18!20 : this term could not be a])plied with more justice to any nation of Europe, than to Spain ; for the Constitution has in fact, drawn her almost lifeless from a heap of ruins that had been accumulating ever since the reign of Charles V. To form an idea of the indolent character of the late government, it is merely ne- cessary to glance at the space in front of the royal palace ; which resembles a spot that liad been torn up by an earthquake or some other violent explosion. In looking out of his windows, the King of Spain FUTURE PROSPECTS. 91 sees nothing hut ruins on one side, and sterile de- serts on the other. If endowed with an active and vivid imagination, he would often ticmhle and think himself transferred to the inhospitable wilds of Siberia.* Spain having reached the perigeum of deca- dence, she has necessarily begun to run the period of her prosperity. I have stated the mmi- num of its power, but it would not be so easy to calculate the maximum of that force to which she could attain under the impulsion of an energetic and liberal government. Her population might be easily doubled ; her natural productions might be tripled, and her revenue augmented in propor- tion. Russia, Turkey and Austria, are the three powers of Europe, which can most easily increase their population and territorial riches, without having recourse to conquest. Yet Spain enjoys infinite advantages over all of these countries, both by the superiority of her climate, and the operation of a constitutional government. I am even of opinion, that under the new system, the progress of Spain towards prosperity of every kind will be more rapid than that of the United States. * Although there is much truth in this remark, yet is there a considerable degree of splendour and magnificence in the view, as seen from the royal palace at Madrid. The building itself is, even in the present unfinished state, almost unequalled by any other edifice of a similar description in Europe.— Ed. 92 JOVELLANOS AND CA13AK11US. To obtain this })rodigy, S])aiii docs not require a geiihis:* she ouglit not therefore to be discouraged, it' tliis genius is wanted. Pubhc felicity woukl march alone in Europe, if left unshackled and to its own movements ; but in the present state of things, it is like a machine encumbered with a thousand checks. Let those only be removed and the machine will work of its own accord. There is no necessity for either guide or impul- sion to promote the prosperity of Spain ; the Cortes have only to enact a few laws that sliall remove the obstacles opposed to commercial in- tercourse throughout the monarchy. Jovellanos and Cabarrus, in the various works which they wrote for the improvement of the kingdom, merely recommended the removal of these impe- diments, physical and moral, that opposed the developement of the national wealth in their day. What in fact are the law^s promulgated by Cortes, relative to church property, and reducing the monkish orders — if not the eradication of these obstacles. If the happiness of nations depended * This alludes to a remark which has been made in the Penin- sula, that the revolution had not produced any of those groat cha- racters who have sprung uj> in other countries to give an extra- ordinary impulse to national cnorgies. It is perhaps fortunate for Spain, tliut her greatest heroes, both civil and military, are those who I'oel most warmly attached U> the Constitutional system.- En. USEFUL HINTS. 93 on the number of its laws, could not Spain boast of possessing above thirty-six thousand })revious to the establishment of the new code ? There is more need of roads and canals in this country, than of laws. The transport of merchan- dize is always expensive and olten impossible. There used to be more facility of communication between Spain and South America, than there is between many of the provinces here at this mo- ment. There w^as also a time, when notwithstanding the excessive heat of Madrid, its supply of eggs came from France ; and it was much easier to get a bill of exchange on London or Paris, than Corunna or Valladolid ! Even now the inhabi- tants of Andalusia consume the wheat of Odessa, whilst the harvest of several seasons is rotting in the Castiles. The more capital government em- ploys to open new channels of communication, and flicilitate the transport of goods, the more rapidly will agriculture and connnerce advance. Whatever interest Spain pays for a loan destined to promote these objects, will be repaid a hundred fold. Napoleon w^ould have rendered Spain more productive than France itself in less tlian twenty years. 94' FONTANA UE ORO. LETTER XV. Madrid, August 22d, 1821. I PASSED the whole of yesterday evening at the Fontana de Oro ; do not be alarmed at the sound, amiable lady, nor believe that the above place of resort is a Pandemonium such as that described by your Milton ; neither the blood of Kings nor ministers are drank at this assemblage. I will endeavour to make you somewhat better ac- quainted with the said Fontana de Oro, and which so many represent as a monster more horrible than that of the Apocalypse. The place known by the name of Fontana de Oro, is nothing more than a large room on the ground floor, capable of containing nearly a thou- sand persons. In the midst of this saloon are placed two pulpits, whence the tribunes address the sove- reign people. The sovereign wears neither diadem nor mantle, he generally appears in a plain coat ; instead of a sceptre, he carries a stick, no less respectable, upon which he leans for support. The orators give their names in to the political NUNEZ. 95 chief, in tlie morning of the day in which they are to speak, thus securing- their responsibiHty. The debates begin at nine o'clock, and in two hours after, a bell which is heard through tlie hall, puts an end to the speaking and dismisses the auditory. Last night's meeting was likely to be very stormy, as Morillo, who was falsely informed that the people intended to assail a military guard, mounted his horse, and followed by an orderly, rushed into the crowd, which he treated with great violence, trampling those who came in his way under foot, and threatening others with his sabre. The sovereign people, who have also the same rights to inviolability as other sovereigns, de- manded the punishment of this act of less ma- jesty. The first orator who mounted the tribune, after having pathetically recapitulated what every one present already knew, decided that Morillo should be punished at once, by the hands of the people whom he had offended. This imprudent Demos- thenes, was a very young man, who did not evi- dently foresee what would be the probable effects of the instrument which he wished to see used, yet several voices wxre instantly heard calling for the head of Morillo. But another speaker, Nunez, took possession of the rostrum, and exclaimed that crimes ought not to be expiated by crimes ; that in such an affair as this, they could not be at the same time, prosecutor, judge and jury. The sove- 96 A TRANSITIOX. reign ))eoplc, which also occasionally I'alls into tlie error of not liking the truth, bellowed, ajul roared with considerable violence, initil at lengtli it forced the moderator to quit the tribune before his speecli liad been half completed. A third orator next came forward, and after in- geniously humouring the anger of the people, in exaggerating Morillo's crime, and representing it in the blackest colours, he suddenly recalled the general's bravery to the mind of his hearers. *' Let an over impetuous general be by all means strip- ped of the delicate situation of Captain-General,'* said he, " but why not retain him as a warrior worthy of again leading our battalions to victory ? Morillois a soldier of fortune ; he has ennobled the rank from which he sprung, by his military ex- })loits. Let us be generous towards a man whose elevation is due to his sword, and not to coiu't favour." At these words, the cries of rage were , converted into murmurs of approbation ; but while the auditors were balancing between the sentiment of vengeance and that of justice, a sono- rous voice was suddenly heard to exclaim Dios ! at the sound of which the orator and audience im- mediately fell on their knees. It was the Viatica, which passed the door in the midst of torches ; it w^as borne by a priest dressed in superb cano- nicals and seated in an elegant Landau. Here it may be proper to inform you, that whenever Dios leaves a church, he has a right to enter the first A LUDICROUS SCENE. 97 carriage he meets ; if it even happened to be that of the king : all occupation, even to an air of Catalani, must cease, in the vicinity of his passage. After this interruption, which does not prove that the liberals are atheists, murmurs recom- menced ; nevertheless, tlie orator continued his speech ; but a beggar, who had contrived to slip into the crowd, occasioned considerable annoyance by his efforts to express some words which no person could understand : being repeatedly called to order, without effect, an officer, w^ho, from the broadness of his shoulders, and his attention to the proceedings, might be regarded as the lictor of the tribunes, seized the obstreperous mendicant by the collar, and raising him above the heads of the assembly, thrust him out of tlie nearest window with a degree of agility and ease which gave ample scope to the risible faculties of all present. When order was restored, the auditory betrayed signs of regret at having interru})ted an orator who had always shown himself so faithful to the interests of the people ; A^unez was therefore unanimously called back to the tribune, which he ascended amidst the plaudits of the whole audi- ence. He began by reproaching the assem- bly, as gently as if he had been speaking to his mistress, with the suspicion of infidelity which it had entertained of him, and then continu- ing his task, he proved that Morillo could only be punished by the laws. He ended by triumphing H yS MODERATION. over every prejudice, and thus prevented the laws from being \iolated. The meeting was then adjourned at its usual hour, amidst cries of " Long live the Constitution !"* I have thus sketched one of those tempests that sometimes break out at the celebrated Fontana de Oro ; but be assured they never occur, except when provoked by an irresistible cause : at all other times, nothing can exceed the decorum and silence that pervades the whole auditory : eight or nine hiuidred persons of both sexes and all ages attend every night, to hear the constitutional cate- chism read. This ceremony generally continues two hours, during which the hearers remain standing, and pay the most marked attention to what is passing. The orators are never betrayed into frivolity nor the audience into levity. If, as w^ill sometimes occur, the speaker is embarrassed for a word, it is suggested by several voices in the most good-natured manner, after which the silence is uninterrupted. An orator having lately exclaimed, that he was ready to accuse any func- tionary whatever, even though " as high as" ** as high as" but would most probably never have reached the point of comparison, if one of the spectators, who appeared to be placed near him, had not drily observed, as " Chimborazo." *' Aye !" repeated the orator, " as high as Chimborazo 1" and tranquilly continued his harangue. AN AXIOM. 99 I know tliat this assemblage is a sentinel in advance which incommodes the ministry : I also know these ministers, accustomed to a long lethargy, are made uneasy by a spirit of inquiry and alertness, which obliges them to be more attentive to their duties ; but those who are sin- cerely attached to liberty, ought they not to repeat with the President of a Polish Diet. — Malo /?m- culosam libertatem quam qidetum servitmm ? H 2 100 SPANISH LOVE. LETTER XVI. Madrid, Septombor olh, 1821. When a Spaniard loves, his heart is a volcano. Yesterday, the attachment of [the people for Riego burst forth in the most violent way. A silent murmur accused the hero of infidelity to the con- stitution ; it was at the same time announced that he had just been deprived of the military com- mand in Aragon. Is it likely that Riego would attempt to destroy the constitution which he had himself restored ? — would he tear it up in tliat very Zaragoza, which, in 1809, was buried in' its own ruins to establish the sacred compact ? To these first interrogatories, wliich ev^ery one made to himself in public and private, in the streets and in society, succeeded that species of fury which takes possession of a lover when he hears the idol of his soul calumniated. Riego is innocent ! cried tlie whole population ; the king is deceived by his perfidious counsellors : — this is an iniquitous plot — a horrible mystery. — All Madrid was instantly in motion, the Puerto del Sol, became crowded to A UErLECTIO.V. 101 excess, thence the multitude rushed to the muni- cipality, and demanded the king's return to his capital ; meanwhile, all the frequenters of the Fontana, assembled and commenced debating in the midst of a violent tumult, which only served to increase the irritation. At night the people went again to the municipality and reiterated their demand for tlie monarch's return. When Riego hears of these demonstrations, in his exile at Lerida, they w^ill serve to console him for the injustice of the ministers. The municipality would not yield to the wishes of the people ; but continued to display the utmost firmness and dignity ; declaring that it would never give in to a handful of mutineers who made an illegal demand : the clouds were thus dissipated, without any farther inconvenience. These momentary agitations, ought not to create any fears for Spanish liberty ; they are like those trifling apertures which we see in all new buildings before the cement has been properly consolidated. Such effervescences among a real- ly free people, are sure proofs of vigilance an4 vigour. 10'2 BIEGO. LETTER XVII. Madrid, .September ISth, ]821. You are anxious to become acquainted with Riego, at least through his portrait : if I sent that engraved here a year ago, I should be deceiving you, for it resembles most of those unfaithful miniatures which are sent, previous to the celebra- tion of certain marriages, and which are generally very bad prognostics for conjugal faith. I will not therefore forward what cannot be consider- ed at all like the original, I do not besides wish to expose your heart to a disappointment. As, however, I am determined your curiosity shall not go altogether unsatisfied, I will subjoin an extempore sketch drawn by the beautiful young Spanish heroine to whom I have occasion- ally alluded in the preceding letters. Having had the good fortune to find her alone yesterday evening, I profited by the circumstance, and beg- ged she would describe the hero of Las Cabezas. Without betraying the least hesitation, I imme- .diately received the following answer : ** I have RIEGO. 1 03 SO perfect a recollection, that if I was an adept in portrait painting, I should be able to draw as cor- rect a likeness of Riego from memory, as if he sat to me for his picture, but to give his physiognomy all its expression, it is necessary to be something more than an artist, he who attempts to paint Riego, should feel the same sacred fire of liberty that burns in tlie soul of his orioinal. Rieffo is not handsome, but of what consequence is per- sonal beauty : he possesses those of the under- standing, which are infinitely more important : I think I now see his dark eyes full of vivacity and enterprise ; his manly complexion, and that mouth which seems to express all the refined deli- cacy of his sentiments : his hair is also dark : he is of middling stature, and has a very mar- tial air. His gait and general appearance is that of a hero. Riego is incessantly consumed by his love of liberty, and such is the natural intensity of his feelings, that it was easy to perceive him falling away, during the five days of agitation occasioned by his visit to this place last year. I should be justified in saying that Riego is diaplianous, for every body can penetrate his thoughts. His countenance is not impregnated with that myste- rious melancholy, which is so often the charac- teristic of ambition : the Spanisli liero is too ardent and enterprising, long to remain wrapped up in his own thoughts. He is a brother to the soldiery. A private and serjeant of the guards, lOi JEALOUSY. dine at his table every day. He was above two years a prisoner in France during the war of inde- pendence, and while there,, employed the time in cultivating his mind and reading the best authors : he speaks French and Italian with fluency. But how am I to express the amiability of his manners to my own sex ! I could not possibly leave him on the day of his entry into Madrid : I knew he was aware of my attachment to an officer of his battalion, who had participated in all his recent perils and fatigues ; he spoke frequently of my friend and seemed to dwell with pleasure on his courage and constancy. It is reported that Riego is about to marry ; if so I shall be truly morti- fied, for then we can no longer say, that he only lives for his country, and is exclusively attached to liberty ! No ! He ought not to marry ; the marriage of such a man seems an act of infidelity to the nation : is he not her lover ? And then other women would no longer enjoy the privilege of admiring him !'** A blush followed the last short sentence, which had been scarcely pronounced, when a young officer rushed in almost breathless, to inform us that Ricgo's portrait had just been captured by a party of the militia. Here it becomes necessary * The heroine's fears were realized soon after the date of the above letter. — Ed. HIECtO's I'OKTUAIT. 105 to inform you, that Riego has become the consti- tutional saint ; and that his friends, by way of compensating him for the treatment he has expe- rienced from government, had fixed on yester- day for carrying his portrait in procession through the streets of the capital. Ministers forbade this ceremony, and at the same time orders were issued to shut up the Fontana de Oro. But the hero's friends were not to be so easily deterred from putting their design into execution. They accordingly provided themselves with branches of palm, and having placed the portrait on a trium- phal car, paraded the streets singing patriotic hymns. Although orders were issued to the gar- rison to disperse the people by main force, the troops of the line ranged along the streets, re- mained tranquil spectators of the scene, awed into respect by the mere^inanimate representation of the popular hero, or as he is more generally called, the father of his country, they suffered the joyous procession to pass without interruption. No sooner however, had the crowd, which was immense, reached the Municipality, than the militia station- ed there, immediately attacked the multitude, dis- persed it, and thus obtained possession of the portrait. On hearing this piece of news, the heroine burst forth in the most eloquent and severe philippic against the authors of the profanation, as she termed it. " Wretches !'* exclaimed the modern 10() A THIUJVIPII. Armida, *' dare you thus insult tlie idol of his coun- try ? What bravery is there for armed men to attack those who have no weapons to defend themselves ? To point bayonets against the breasts of those who offered palm branches : how truly heroic ! What proofs of fraternity !" This day has also passed without there being any person killed or wounded : and there was only one prisoner made — the portrait; which the victors treated with all possible respect, carefully placing it in a room of the municipality. VALENCIA. 107 LETTER XVllI. Madrid, Oct. 15th, 1821. Here I am, returned from the fertile province of Valencia ; a highly cultivated region, whose productions are nearly all similar to those of Italy. Its rivers, meadows, and mulberry-trees, reminded me of the plains of Lombardy, whilst the olive and orange groves, present a scene in every way simi- lar to the coast of Genoa. Valencia is generally styled the garden of Spain. I found Madrid dull and melancholy after the battle of the procession. The Fontana is mute : Nunez and Macron, two of its orators, accu- sed of having stimulated the offensive act, are imprisoned. Patriotic songs ar§ no longer heard, or, according to the enemies of the system, do not disturb the nights. The newspapers are at dag- gers drawn : as to the partisans of Riego, they are furious : what their opponents call tranquillity. 108 CONJECTURKS. they regard as the silence of the grave. The ministry is made tlie snbject of violent attacks, but it is inexorable and ^^erseveres without change in its plan of consolidating the executive, and to punish those who infringe the laws. Many persons out of Spain are rejoiced at this struggle, buttheir joy is most irrational. They donot perceive that in being frank and firm, tlie govern- ment can only strengthen the constitutional sys- tem. So long as the ministers respect the Code themselves, and cause it to be respected by others, their victories will always be so many trophies in favour of liberty. The great majority of the people wish for order and tranquillity, as well as obedience to the laws. The enemies of Spain deceive themselves, in thinking tliat the resistance of the ministers, to the errors of the liberales, is likely to add to the fall of the social edifice. Who was it that induced the king to consent to the convocation of the extraordinary Cortes ? Cer- tainly the ministers, by their candid and press- ing representations. Was it not also the present ministry, which, by oflPering to resign, made Fer- dinand desist from the two offensive nominations to the war department ; appointments not less ridicu- lous in themselves than unworthv of the nation. Was it not the same administration, that rewarded by an honourable distinction, tlie soldiers who destroyed the bands under Merino ? The really OPINIONS. 101-) Constitutional sentiments expressed by the king, in his two speeches, at opening and closing the session of Cortes, were they not also dictated by the ministry ? The ministry might easily con- found its enemies bv disclosing various acts of which Spain is ignorant; but they do not think it necessary to divulge that which ought to remain concealed for the honour and interest of the administration. A government whose intentions are pure, and whose conduct was always guided by equity, ought only to justify its measures before a competent tribunal, and this tribunal, is the Cortes. Let the assembled Cortes put them in accusation, and the ministers will present docu- ments to justify their conduct. But the ultra liberals ought to offer up prayers to prevent things from comins: to that extremity ; as it would be no less fatal to themselves then the new constitutional system.* * However creditable it is for the author to adliere to his friend M. Bardaxi, who was at the head of tiie ministry he thus defends, and who I am willing to believe did not join in the^scandalous outcry against Riego, it is much to be regretted that he did not see with less partial eyes. — If public opinion had not so loudly and unequivocally condemned the men of 1812, Moreno Guerra's pamphlet contains facts and observations which place the matter beyond all controversy. — Ed. 110 ARANJUEZ. The weather is so fine that I shall profit by it, in order once more to visit the gardens of Aranjuez, its majestic elms, groves of palm trees, and enor- mous oaks ; the Tagus, which surrounds this Oasis, where the kings of Spain have enjoyed the Siesta of their monarchy, is certainly deserving a second visit. MODERN CRUSADERS. Ill LETTER XIX. Madrid, November 6th, 1821. This will, perhaps, be the last letter I shall have the pleasure of addressing you from Madrid : a favourable opportunity offering, to visit Lisbon, I mean to take advantage of it. My travelling companion is a Piedmontese officer of the consti- tutional army, who is going to embark thence for Greece, in order to fight for the liberty of that country, since he cannot do so for his own. This resolution is extremely praiseworthy and honora- ble to the character of the persons who have formed it, and cannot fail to be useful to the good cause. Several others will follow his example and embark at Marseilles, where a crusade of French and Gernian youth are collecting, with the gene- rous intention of tendering their services to the Greeks. The Spanish government will amply defray all the expences of the voyage for the Piedmontese refugees. I shall most probably pass the winter at Lisbon ; it will indeed afford me infinite pleasure to see 112 MEMORANDA. the country of Cainoens and the Alberquciques, also arisen from its inanimate ashes. I have not been a niggard of Spanish news ; I also promise not to be so, with regard to the affairs of Portugal. But previous to quitting the delicious atmo- sphere of Iberia, I wish to leave you a few memo- randums, to prevent your being deceived by the absurd reports which wall not fail to be circulated on the momentary agitations, that may, for a short time, disturb the tranquillity of the Penin- sula. It is useless to disguise the fact, that this heroic nation is not yet happy : it may be com- pared to a hero who has experienced the destiny of all heroes. He is loaded w ith debt, afflicted with the plague, tormented by banditti and rebels, and deprived at the same time, of his vast domains of South America. No Importa ! He possesses a sufficient stock of courage and patience to surmount and vanquish all these sources of adversity. With respect to the debts, he will pay them, for he is an honest fellow, and has where- withal to do so. His finances, it is true, resemble those of a Spanish grandee ; they are in a state of dilapidation and neglect ; but with skill and economy order may be re-established and the rich patrimony saved. As to the rebels, they are by no means numer- ous, and are only protected by the forests and COMMON SENSE. 113 mountains. If they do not perish by the sword, they must sliortly do so througli hunger. America has freed itself from Spain ; but the latter has good sense enough to feel, that it is impossible to preserve that vast continent, either as a colony, or an integral part of the constitutional monarchy. The mother country has for many years been accustomed to live without the aid of her colonies. She ought therefore to be glad to make any terms, even to signing a treaty which shall acknowledge their independence and emancipation. This magnanimous act, would be like a comet in the political world ; it would make every government tremble, that has usurped dominion over nations entitled to their independence. The Spanish people are ignorant, — that is to say, they do not know that the sound of their bells attracts lightning ; they are not versed in the attributes of the thermometer and barome- ter, nor do they know much about vaccination. But they have good sense enough to know% that the most iniquitous native government is prefer- able to a foreign yoke ; also, that civil war is one of the greatest calamities, and most heinous crimes. It therefore appears to me, quite impossible for the people to interfere with political dissensions to any great extent ; they will even show a com- parative indifference, except in the event of foreign invasion. So that as parties will never be able to move large masses in their favour, they I J 14 ELECTIONS. cannot carry on a very destructive war against each other, they will consequently confine themselves to cabals and a war of the pen. The Cortes are the anchor and idol of the nation. The people admire themselves in their deputies, as every one admires himself in his portrait. All attempts against the country and constitution will vanish at their presence. We may therefore fairly calculate that the code will not be violated between this and June 1822. The new elections are conducted with a degree of order, dignity and general decorum, which confute the censure of French publicists on the different degrees. The nomination of Electors, which took place on the 4th instant, holds out an assurance that this new Cortes will be composed of honest men and liberal politicians. By showing a proper degree of vigour, the minis- ters acquire an increased degree of independence every day. It is true, they are often renewed, but they are not overtiu-ned by unworthy cabals ; it is they themselves who voluntarily abandon their places, because they have not as yet had intre- pidity enough to sustain individual attacks. On the renewal of the Cortes, there will no longer be a scarcity of men well attached to the new system, and who can fill public situations. Five months will add amazingly to the moral force of the government. The two points of the constitution, which are TRIBUNALS. lli> perfectly known to the king, are, the inviolabiUty of his person, and the faculty of naming to all the offices of trust. He knows that in a constitu- tional system, all the good ought to be attributed to the king, and all the bad to his ministers ; as in the christian doctrine, good springs from God, and ill from the evil spirit. It appears to me that the tribunals are not exempt from passion ; but this scourge cannot be imputed to the ministers, since it is the council of state that proposes the judge on a triple list. It is unpleasant to be obliged to add, that the king is exceedingly unfortunate in his choice of such officers. Do not be afflicted, therefore, if the constitution does not make so rapid a progress as you wish. It is a new machine, of which several of the parts require to be kept in constant activity. Its move- ment is as slow as that of the hand in a clock ; it advances without being perceived by the eye, but it cannot retrograde. Recollect also, that the Spanish are an original people, as I have already taken occasion to observe, and that they will belie the calculations of the profoundest politicians. Napoleon is ex- cusable for not having known them better. Adieu ! I 'i 116 COLUMBIA. LETTER XX. Cadiz, January 3nth, 1822. Do not call me a truant if I already quit Spain to take a turn in Portugal. Although I am an enemy to etiquette, yet civility requires that I should visit in person all the constitutional govern- ments, except those of America, to which I must content myself with sending cards. I should be most happy to see Columbia, that quadratiu'e of the circle, which the Americans discovered, and which is still an inexplicable problem to us wise- headed Europeans. But who dares face the yellow fever, which is the cerberus that guards the new republic* * It is a remarkable fact, that those who have lost their lives in Columbia since the commencement of its struggle for indepen- dence, were more often the victims of dysentery, and those fevers incidental to privations and fatigue, than to the yellow fever, which appears much more frequently in the West India Islands than in Columbia. — Ed. ANDALUSIA. 11? Andalusia was not my direct road to enter Portugal, but I wished to make this deviation for the purpose of seeing the cradle of Spanish liberty. You already know that the political code was first framed here in 1812, and that it was re-produced at San Juan de las Cabezas, a few miles from this, in 1820. Liberty could not have had a more magnificent cradle. The sky of Andalusia is all azure and gold j its surface a garden filled with flowers, and fruits, orange trees, olives, palms, &c. The Arabs were not less cunning than their suc- cessors the Monks, who never failed to select the most delio'htful situations for their monasteries. Thus it was, that the former chose the finest por- tion of Spain for their settlements. The Andalusians fancy themselves Spaniards, but I look upon them as Arabs : stout, plump in their persons, with clear dark eyes, black hair, thick beard, and aquiline nose, they still preserve the physiognomy of their ancestors. Volatile, passionately fond of show, gallant with the fair sex, gay and lively, they bear no resemblance to the Spaniards of the other provinces. They are almost continually on horseback ; and invariably travel armed, at one time as inoffensive members of society, at others as smugglers or highwaymen, like the Bedouin Arabs. Their imagination is poetical ; their language hyperbolical as orien- talists. Anselmo, the muleteer who accompanied me to this place, one day asked me which was the 118 PECULIARITIES. most powerful nation, England or Spain ? On my replying " England," he rejoined with the em- phasis of Pindar, " No Sir ! when Spain is men- tioned all other nations tremble." On another occasion, when I inquired whether the mule I rode was quiet, Anselmo, who from Pindar had become Anacreon, answered — " El es monso como el sueno ;" — he is gentle as sleep ! The customs are also Arabic ; those massive iron bars, which slmt in all the windows, recall to mind the jealousy of the east. The bushy whis- kers of tlie Andalusians ; the handkerchief which they so generally wrap round their heads ; the Mantilla^^ of the women, are substituted for the long beards, turbans and veils that Philip II. pro* hibited the Arabs, who still remained in Andalusia after the capture of Grenada, from wearing in 15G8. The Mahometans are in the habit of in- scribincc verses from the Koran on their houses; the inhabitants of port St. Mary's, Chiclana, Cadiz, and other places, have adopted the practice of writing an article of the constitution over every door. Each head of a family, selecting from that * This is a species of scarf of cloth, silk, or stuff, generally trimmed with black velvet, and which is worn on the head, so as to hang down on each side : the mantilla is only worn in public, and generally conceals a considerable portion of the features. —Ed. filBIlAI/rAR. 110 blazon of freedom, a motto as caprice or clioico may dictate. I made, in the conrse of last week, an excnrsion to Gibraltar. There is no other communication by land between Cadiz and that fortress than a rocky pathway, which the Spanish government has suffered to remain intact from tlie conquest of the Moors till the present hour. Whoever wit- nesses the cleanliness and activity, the freedom of religious worship, which prevails at Gibraltar, is almost tempted to pardon England for the trick she played Spain during the last century. U'his gigantic rock, perforated and garnished witli can- non throughout, may be regarded as the largest ship of the line possessed by Great Britain. An officer of the- garrison some time ago gave a ball to the Rode Scorpions, (the name by whicli the inhabitants of this impregnable hold are designated by the English) in one of the spacious galleries cut into the north side of the fortress. Your government is like Archimedes : it is contented with a mere point whereon to apply its lever. Da iihi consistam ccelum Terramqtie moveho. Gibraltar, Malta and Corfu, are the three lever points with which your cabinet moves at their good pleasure the south of Europe. Gibraltar is prepared as if it were on the eve of an assault. There is not even the wheel of a srun- carriage w^anting. How, when, and who could take this place ? To me it seems like the castle of 120 ITALIAN E:MIGRANTS. the Magician Atalantus, wliich, to be taken, re- quires nothing less than tlie horn of Astolfo. The philosophy of the Spaniards is really philosophical ; they have learned so totally to forget the loss of this point, that they are scarcely aware of having such dangerous neighbours, and they leave Cadiz without a single s:un or batterv. The town of Gibraltar, is an aviary of fifteen thousand inhabitants : I call it an aviary, from the perpetual motion produced there by the smug- gling trade with Spain. When in the streets you come in contact with Arabs, Moors, Italians, Spaniards and English ; it is in fact a museum of human beings. I have seen a number of Italians from the bor- ders of Lake Orta* scattered about in different parts of Andalusia, where they are settled as inn and coffee-house keepers. He who first called man a plant was right, and it may be said that we are like trees, which if transplanted when young, are almost sure to prosper. The above settlers have afforded me no consolation ; not even the pleasure of addressing them in our own language ; for after a residence of four or five years in Spain, they entirely lose their native dia- lect. What a difference between them and the old German, whom I met at Carlotta \'^ This pea- * A small lake nortii of Lac Maggiore. ^■ Thii. IS Olio oi' liie siettleiuents established on the Sierra NATIONALITY. \^2\ Sxiiit of the principality of Nassau has been fifty years in Andalusia, yet no sooner did he see me, than he asked whether I could speak German, as he had been for many years deprived of the satisfaction of indulging in his mother tongue. He had preserved such favourable reminiscences of his country, that he thoucjht Nassau much more fertile and beautiful than S})ain. His son, who was born in the colony of Carlotta, observed to me in a jocular tone, that whenever his father drank a class of sherrv he was no lonoer of the above opinion. His wife, mode of living, and the cookerv, were all German. Though living: in the midst of Andalusia, he had continued the patri- archial life of Germany. When the clock struck twelve, his little Spanish niece presented herself before him, upon which he, with the action and gesture of an Abraham, held out his hand to be kissed. A piece of bread and an apple were the premiums of this ceremony. The old German does not therefore come under the denomination of a plant. Morena during the reign of Charles III., who, finding it impossi- ble to prevail on his own subjects to fix on this desolate tract, incited adventurers from Germany to come to 8pain. The call being obeyed, a number of flourishing towns have since sprung up on a spot which had been a mere desert in former reigns. The perseverance witli which Charles III. and his patriotic ministers pursued this great design until it was carried into effect, reflects tlie highest honour on their memory. — Kd. }'2'2 PARTIES. I set out for Lisbon after to-morrow, and shall leave Spain witliout any uneasiness. It would seem that the whirlwind of civil war is, for the present at least, removed to a great distance. Cadiz, which threatened to separate itself from the capital, and declare itself an Hanseatic town, has submitted to tlie government as soon as a part of the ministry fell, and the rest will fall. The new ministry are likely to display great vigour and eloquence, for it is said that the approacliing Cortes are to possess some furious Gracchi. The serviles are asking, " What more remains to be done by the next Cortes than attacking the King's palace?'* The liberals of 1812 are also struck with alarm, lest the new Cortes should modify the Constitution and touch the sacred arch con- structed in that year : but the disunion that exists between the liberals of 1812 and those of 1820 is not enmity, it is rivalry of merit. The men of 1812 created the Constitution, but they suffered it to perish in 1814. The men of 1820 brought it to life. Ricgo will sit amongst the deputies. From the Tarpeian Rock, with which the disgraced ministry threatened him, the people have borne liim in triumph to the capitol. I will therefore profit by this truce to absent myself for a few months from Spain. Adieu, amiable lady : in the intervals of your reading, perhaps you will deign to cast a thought on me j for my own part, I can assure you that ITALY. 123 the hearts of those in exile beat with most fer- vour for friends. Tell the expatriated Italians who frequent your hospitable roof, that it is glorious for me to participate in the destiny of the most interesting j)ortion of the Italian youth. I understand the number of proscribed augment daily, and that not even a rood of ground remains for the friends of freedom in Italy, There are thirteen governments in our Peninsula, and each of the thirteen deny us a resting place. Pray forgive me, if I renew this melancholy strain so often : — rather pity me, for Italy is the object of my adoration. 124 rORTUGLESE INNS. LETTER XXI. LUbon, Feb. 9tb, 1822. I HAVE performed a journey like the Pope, that is to say, been safely conveyed here by a mule : I say with safety, but I am exceedingly fatigued. A journey, whether in Spain or Portugal, is equiva- lent to a military campaign ; want of provisions, ambuscades, perils, hardships, bivouacs, every thing in fact but glory. I had imagined that were it only from the enmity they profess to- wards Spaniards, the Portuguese would, out of mere contradiction, be more careful and commo- dious in their habitations. But I was deceived, they are rivals of their enemies in all things. To give you an idea of what the Inns of Portugal are, I will merely tell you that while at Moita last night, the rats devoured a large Guinea hen, bones and all, which had roosted in my bed room. In Italy, our wolves are much more moderate than the rats of Portugal. If I had not read the history of Portugal, it CHARACTERISTIC TRAITS. 126 >vould be sufficient to witness the salutations of the peasantry, to be convinced that tliis people have experienced a long train of oppression. Whenever they perceive a traveller, no matter how far he is off, their hats are instantly held down to the ground. This reverence alone, would have been enough to satisfy Lavater, that the Portuguese are more docile and submissive to- wards the nobility and rich, than their neighbours of Spain, The salute is not a sign of indifference ; it generally denotes the degree of liberty or sla- very prevailing in a nation. The orientals fall on their knees and cross their arms, while an English- man or Swiss merely holds out his hand without touching his hat. Before the revolution a French peasant would almost bend double before the lord of his village, now-a-days the salutation is reciprocal. In the villages through which I have passed, the men seemed handsome, well made, and ro- bust ; the heads of the Spaniards and Portuguese are besides of a beautiful form and very majestic. I have seen no heads so fine except in Raphael's school of Athens. It strikes me that if Gall ex- amined these skulls, he would find the organ of conquest strongly developed in them. They may be called Cassarean and Napoleonic heads. The physiognomies of the Portuguese are expressive, but this has not surprised me so much as the variety of expression depicted in them. There 126 A COMPARISON. are nations which seem to be all cast in the same mould, such as the Chinese for example, the Austrians, and even the English. Out of five thou- sand men composing the garrison of Gibraltar, I should scarcely have been able to distinguish two difFsrent faces. In Portugal, on the contrary, a painter could select all the dramatis persona? of a picture from a group of peasants. You will be astonished that I have not as yet said one word about politics. But what could I vsay, since I have traversed the kingdom without remarking a single proof of political regenera- tion ? The old edifice is still entire. It is an- nounced, and solemnly sworn that a Constitutional structure will be erected, but as yet, nothing more than the facade of the building exists, that is to say, the political code. It is not here as it was in Spain, where the constitution restored by Riego was fresh in the recollection of the nation. The Portuguese had also in former days their States or Cortes, but the populace, who are not endowed with much knowledge, have no longer any recol- lection of them. Here the people enter the re- gion of liberty like one who suddenly comes from darkness into light, and is so confounded, that he is unable to distinguish any object. If it be true that Ulysses was the founder of Lisbon, we ought to admire his good taste as well as his genius. The situation of this city is quite enchanting: it is really worthy of Europe. WANT OF TASTE. h^"/ From the table on which I write, tlie eye com- mands the Tagiis and its left bank : what a pity that there should be a hatred to trees here as in Spain ! I had hoped that the English would have, during the domination of a century, ornamented the banks of this majestic river, with groves, gardens and country houses. They have not planted a single tree for the living ; there are how- ever four cypresses for the dead in their cemetery. They have enjoyed Portugal as an usufruct ; more selfish than the monks, they have not made a sin- gle improvement during the many years they possessed this colony.* I hear a military band, which has just struck up the constitutional hymn ; adieu, therefore, as I run to share in the electric charm. Long live liberty ! P. S. I have returned somewhat mortified. The music of the hymn is beautiful, though much more sentimental than warlike, but the poetry is unworthy of tlie land of Camoens. la pouco tarda o momonto Da nossa Consolazao Em que la de bahar dos ceos A nossa Constiluicao. * The opinion that Portugal was really a colony of England, is one of the most generally popular errors that prevails on the conti- nent. Had our author studied the nature of the connection be- tween the two countries somewhat more closely, he would have been satisfied that our influence never extended to planting the banks of the Tagus. — Ed. 128 A QUESTION. Why make the Constitution descend fr'om Heaven? The times of Moses and Egeria are gone by ; on the other liand, a law passed by the representatives of a whole people, possesses of itself sufficient dignity and veneration. There is no necessity for making a miracle come from above, when it can be equally well performed by men. REVOLUTION OF 1820. 129 LETTER XXII. Lisbon, February 24th, 1822. I AM more liberal than usual this morning. I would most wilHngly present a complete history of Portugal to all the cabinets of Europe, because they are quite astonished she should have followed the example of Spain, in proclaiming a constitution. Portugal has always shared the same fate as her neighbour. Like Spain, she received and threw off the yoke of the Romans ; like Spain too, she obey- ed the Goths, was subjected by the Goths and Arabs, and like her, drove them away : like Spain, she established the inquisition, and burnt infidels, heretics and Jews. Finally, Portugal has of late years been invaded by the French, and since she made similar sacrifices, she surely merited the same recompence. And is not the revolution effected at Oporto, on the 24th of August, 1820, similar in the motives and execution to that of 1640 ? At the former epoch, this country groaned imder the yoke of Spaniards : some fidalgos united at Lisbon K 130 ANCIENT CORTES. to save the nation : displacing the Spanish authori- ties, they raised the Duke of Braganza (whose right it was) to the throne, and immediately convoked the Cortes of the kingdom, which exacted obedi- ence from the new government. In 1820 Portugal was in like manner under the influence of England ; a few proprietors and fidal- gos assembled at Oporto, for the purpose of liber- ating their country ; they deposed the regency of Lisbon, recalled their king, exiled in the Brazils by England, and assembled the Cortes to establish the basis of a new government. If therefore so many eulogies have been made on the first revolution, why should not the present be equally applauded ? Because perhaps, the revolutionists of Oporto have proclaimed the con- stitutional system ? But this system is not an infernal machine, nor even a recent invention. Even up to the year 1100 the States General, or Cortes of Portugal, composed of the upper clergy, nobility and deputies from certain cities, were in existence. The Portuguese had a repre- sentative government before England. It is not more than a century since the States General were discontinued. But they were never abolished by any Sovereign. So that the right of levying taxes being vested exclusively in the Cortes, John V. dare not demand the imposts even in the last century, but merely raised them hypothetically, as if tlie continuation of the old taxes, until the States POPULAR RIGHTS. ISl General were asseml)led. The mother of tlie pre- sent king, was the only and the first person who attempted to impose taxes of Iier own accord. The estabhshment of the Cortes in Portuo-al is therefore tlie restoration of the Portuguese people to their ancient rights. And are you acquainted with the profession of faith which the Cortes of 1640 printed in Latin, so that it might circulate throughout Europe, with the portrait of their king, to whom it was dedicated ? 1st. That the sovereign power resides in the people, from whom it is transferred to the prince. 2ndly. That the transfer of this power to kings is temporary, and can be recalled by the people whenever it becomes necessary for their defence or preservation, and when princes, by their con- duct, render themselves unworthy of the diadem. Srdly. That a people have a natural and inhe- rent right to break through their oath of allegiance and deny obedience to those kings who cease to govern with equity and justice. Such were the articles of political belief which the Portuguese cherished a century before the existence of the Encyclopedists, Jacobins, Libe- rals and Carbonari ! The European cabinets are either extremely ignorant themselves, or they think others are so. They accuse the liberals as being the inventors of perverse principles in politics, while the people K 2 182 EARLY INSTITUTIONS. of former ages professed doctrines infinitely more dangerous than the modern friends of freedom. During the time of the Romans, the name of repubHc did not make the hair of any person stand on end. King-kilHng was even amongst the commands of their declogue. The Goths, in whose military parliaments, kings were named, condemned and deposed, were real jacobins. Was not Charlemagne, who collected the legislative body of the empire in the Field of May, a jaco- bin ? What were the Popes who dethroned and buffeted the Emperors of Germany ? Were not the Councils that displaced the Popes and the Polish Diets, that denied the legitimacy of all dynasties, jacobins and levellers ? Surely Alexan- der III. who gave his benediction to the leagued republics of Lombardy, and excommunicated Frederick Barbarossa, was a Carbonaro : also Julia, who died exclaiming " drive the barbaria?is out of Italy /" Finally, were not all the Guelphs of the middle ages revolutionists because they would not wear the yoke of German marauders ? If travellers were to say that Lisbon is inha- bited by men during the day and dogs at night, they would be perfectly right. I have been tempted to ask what signal services has the ca- nine race rendered to this city, that it should be treated better than were the geese who saved the capitol ? The barking of that cohort, which nightly assembles in the square of Caciodore DOMESTIC EQUALITY. 133 where I lodge, would awaken Enoch and EUsha. I have not closed an eye all night ; well may I hate dogs of every kind, including the god Anubis. Do not therefore accuse me of a want of politeness, if I omit sending my best regards to the three favourites who roll so much at their ease on the carpets of your drawing-room, enjoying the infal- libility as well as the inviolability of the domestic circle. 134. NATIONAL CONGRESS. LETTER XXIII. i^isbon, Feb. 26tb, 1822. I WAS at length determined to visit the Cortes, and I accordingly went to the hall two days ago. Perhaps I have deferred this rather too long ; but I am an epicurean, and always reserve the greatest pleasure to the last. The national congress assembles in an old con- vent that overlooks the Tagus, A convent is not certainly the most decorous residence for the po- pular sovereignty, but the situation could not be better adapted to inspire the deputies with senti- ments of glory and patriotism. They sit di- rectly opposite the spot whence the fleet of Vasco de Gama sailed. I should like to see some carpets which line the passage leading to the galleries removed ; the in- gress has now too much the appearance of a tumbler's show. The hall is simple and spacious. There is no ornament to distract the attention of a hundred and forty members, to whose physiog- 7.)omies Michael Angelo could not have imparted PORTUGUESE ORATORS. 135 a more animated expression. The debate had ah'eady commenced when I arrived. Most of the orators speak with great faciUty. The Portuguese language is not, however, either so majestic or so- norous as the Spanish : but it is singular that there should be so much apparent ease of delivery among a people who have never cultivated the eloquence of the tribune. This may perhaps be attributed to the nature of the dialect and ready imagination of the southern nations of Europe. Every people is poetic, but it is only amongst those of the south that improvisatori are found. I was proceeding in my examination one by one of these brown visages, with thick eyebrows and large dark eyes, when the head of a deputy, who rose to address the president, excited all my attention. The expression of his features was strongly marked and full of austerity; he had eyes of fire, short curled hair, with here and there a patch of grey. His voice was impressive. The colour of his cheeks was somewhat darker than brown ; his ideas seemed perfectly clear, and phraseology intrepid, — there were neither circum- locution nor parenthesis in his speech ; he neither flattered nor offended any one. The orator did not appear anxious about the impression made on his auditory ; with eyes steadily fixed on the chair, he seemed only influenced by his own conscience. On seeing him rise a murmur of respectful applause 136 FERN ANDES THOMAZ. was heard to run tlirough tlie galleries. No longer able to check my curiosity, I asked the person that sat next to me, who it was that called forth such a general expression of respect. He answered Fernandes Thomaz, the flither of our revolution. It was he, continued my informant, that con- ceived the design, disclosed it to his friends, and who, united with them, carried it into execution. He is one of our most learned jurisconsults. In- flexible under despotism, modest during the tri- umph of the revolution, with simple manners and a rugged address, he is our Cato. His whole life has been devoted to the service of his country. Despising the favours of the Court, he is only am- bitious of popular applause. In appearance you would imagine him to be robust, but study has weakened his temperament. He is subject to fre- quent fits of illness, and the days of his indisposi- tion are days of melancholy for the populace, by whom he is idolized.* * It is tmly painful to reflect that the same page that records an eulogium which was never morcjustly merited, must also an- nounce the death of him whose virtue and patriotism the author so justly appreciates. The loss of such a man must be always re- garded as a serious calamity to the country which is so fortunate as to possess him, but under the existing circumstances of Portu- gal, when she is passing from a despotism of many centuries to a state of freedom, the death of Fernaxdes Thomaz, is indeed irre- parable. The following letter, addressed by the president of the BORGES CARNEIIIO. 137 The next speaker who rose, was of a taller sta- ture than Fernandes Thomaz, slow in his delivery, but impetuous and almost unbridled in the rapi- dity of his thought. I soon after heard the name of Borges Carneiro whispered on each side of me. This deputy generally excites the enthusiasm of the auditors in the gallery, for his propositions are daring, and favour the passions of the multitude. The third speaker who addressed the chair was a priest in canonicals, of small stature, bald, and with a feeble voice. The discussion turned on some military regulation. *' This ecclesiastic," said I to my neighbour, " is perhaps a templar, from his meddling in affairs relative to the army ?" Portuguese Cortes to my friend Mr. Bowring, details the sad event in terms which do no less honour to the writer himself than the patriot whose loss he deplores. Lisbon, Nov. 21st, 1822. Most Esteemed Friend, When your letter of the 20th ultimo reached me, our mutual and lamented friend, Fernandes Thomaz, was on the very verge of death. He had been for more than six days struggling with it, in all the strength of philosophic virtue, and died at eleven o'clock at night on the 19th instant, leaving all his friends in the greatest consternation, and filling the capital with lamentations and tears. All feel his removal, and that in a thousand ways. A generous patriot, a sincere friend, a valiant champion of public liberty ; he died in fact exhausted by his noble ardour and un- w^earied attention to his public duties. I, more than any, have lost one, whose conversation was ray daily support and solace. It 138 CASTELLO URANCO. " No Sir," replied he, smiling at my remark, *' that is Castello Branco, the learned pro- fessor of Coimbra. Previous to the revolution, he was a member of the Inquisition : his encyclope- dian eloquence is now employed in favour of liberty. The galleries were full of spectators, although the distance from the new city to where the Cortes meet, is above a league. Great order and regularity prevailed amongst the auditors, imtil a Brazilian deputy, named Andrada, rose to oppose Borges Carniero, when, to testify their attachment to the latter, they began to show symptoms of agitation. was on his bed of death that he knew of your imprisonment, and all his tenderness and his strong intelligence were directed towards you. Whatever fate injustice may prepare for you, console your- self with the thought that liberty spreads here its benignant influ- ences, and that every new act of tyranny serves to support and to consolidate it for futurity. Your alTcctionate Friend, Jose J. F. do Moira. The services literaiy and political, whether as an upright judge on the bench, a bold and incorruptible member in Cortes, rendered to his country by Fernandes Thomaz, will be found eloquently de- tailed in the Monthly Magazine for September, 1821, from the pen of Mr. Bowring. The only surviving brother of the deceased patriot, .Jose Fernandes Thomaz, is now in the British Metro- polis, as secretary of legation to the Portuguese embassy. Those who know this diplomatist, do not require to be informed, that he inhcrits'thc viilucs and patriolisra of his lamoated relative. — Ed- OLD CUSTOMS. }3[) Order was, however, immediately restored by the following sentence pronounced by Andrada. — ** You should observe a dignified reserve. In the elections ye are kings ; but in this hall, recollect you are subjects." 1 will here relate an anecdote, by which you may perceive, how extremely jealous of their dig- nity the representatives of Portugal are. Previous to the late revolution, it was customary for all those who presented themselves before royalty to kiss hands. The practice, though ridiculous, was much less so than that of the Vatican, where his holiness merely holds out a slipper to be kissed. When the king first appeared in the Hall of Cortes, he forgot that every deputy there was also a monarch, and happening to hold out his hand to the first who came up, the deputy conceiving his majesty wanted a supporter, took the king's hand, and placing it under his arm, tranquilly ascended the stair-case with his majesty! The extraordinary Cortes havebeen installed since the 26th of January, 1821, and are occupied in pre- paring the Constitution on the fundamental basis already approved and sworn to by the people and king. It will be completed towards the end of August. The experience of Spain has been a guide to the Portuguese legislators. This new code, contains all the errata of that framed at Cadiz in 1812. The king will preserve his title. 140 PROGRESS OF REFORM. but his power will not exceed that of a Doge. So much the better even for him, as he will be really infallible, when no longer m a state to act wrong. The Congress proceeds slowly in the work of reform. It seems to have adopted the maxim of constructing before it destroys. The only law which has wounded private interests, is that which reduces the senorial rights to one half their former amount. The monks are still intact ; so are the entails and enormous wealth of the upper clergy, nor are the Commanderies to be appropriated to the wants of the state until after the death of the occupant. Even the police and its thousand agents are untouched. Not that the Congress hope that patience will disarm the enemies of freedom : but, as I have before observed, it wants to gain time, and acquire greater strength before it engages in the grand struggle with vice and corruption.* * I am extremely happy to be enabled to state, that although the evils inseparable from the above appendages to the old despotic regime, are not even yet entirely removed, various amelio- rations have been eflectcd since the author's remarks were made. However impossible it may be to approve the toleration of what renders all the old governments of Europe so many centuries behind the spirit of the ago, it becomes necessary to make considerable allowance for legislators who are called upon to heal tiie diseases of centuries, as in the case of the Spanish and Portuguese Cortes. — Ed. / ITALY. Ill Here my heart and imagination impel me to al- lude once more to the state of Italy ! When I reflect on the difficulties, moral and physical, which other nations encounter, in their efforts to establish the constitutional system, I cannot help being out of humour with the destiny which seems to persecute my own beautiful country. Is there any soil in the world better calculated to make the tree of liberty flourish than that of Italy ? with the excep- tion of Piedmont, where some of the gothic insti- tutions which had been destroyed, resuscitated in 1814. Where are the interests and prejudices against which the constitutional system could clash there ? You have traversed the whole of that unhappy Peninsula, amiable lady, and can therefore testify, that four-fifths of it are exempted from feudal tenures, entails, onerous privileges, corporate bodies, exclusive colleges, and these swarms of priests who feed on the vitals of other countries. All these reforms were commenced towards the mid- dle of the last century, and completed by Napoleon. If the attitude of a government conformable to its state of civilization constitutes a right, no nation after France can boast its claim to a con- stitutional system with more justice than Italy. Figure to yourself that a second Sicilian Vespers^ caused the eighty thousand Austrians who infest Italy to disappear, and I promise that on the following day, a representative government would be proclaimed without a murmur of oppo- sition. 142 PUBLIC AAFUSEMENTS. LETTER XXIV. Lisbon, March 5th, 1822. Do not envy me, Madam, my idleness is punished by lassitude, not however through my own fault, but that of the three hundred thousand inhabitants of this city, who have no idea of ren- dering life happy. The Italian Opera is closed. In the national theatre, mysteries of saints and martyrs still continue to be represented : so that one might as well go and hear a mass read. The promenades too are deserted ; nor do the belles of Lisbon ever appear on them. I am inclined to think that the women have never left their houses since the earthquake of 1755. The sole pastime here during the last week is a procession, which takes place at four o'clock in the afternoon. Its object is to commemorate the passion of Christ ; here the people have a gi-eat predilection for such ceremonies. The windows are filled by beautiful heads, with large black eyes and thick lips, while the streets are crowded with the popu- lace. The principal actor in this pious spectacle is as large as Goliath, and bends under the weight SINGULAR PROCESSION'. 1 4.'> of an immense cross. It is but too true that men have made the Gods after their own image. From the length and blackness of his hair, and brown visage, one would be tempted to take this personi- fication of Christ for a Portuguese rather than a native of Jerusalem. A long train of women follow the cross weeping and groaning, with handkerchiefs up to their eyes and their heads concealed in brown cloaks. The lower classes of Portuguese females dress like nuns. An English general of the last age used to say, that he never saw a monk in Portugal who had not a soldier's face, nor a soldier who had not that of a monk. The first part of this remark is still true. Those of the brotherhood whom I saw in the above-mentioned procession, held up their heads and moved with a triumphant gait, like grenadiers marching on a parade. But why should they not be proud, if the people, ministers and kings, were so humbled to them before ? Why should not these, for whom alone, three millions of Portu- guese laboured and navigated to enrich, be proud ? The only remarkable edifices in Portugal are con- vents. Whoever has seen the Escurial of Spain and convent of Mafra in this country, cannot but feel satisfied that the conquest of America has been effected for the Monks. At Lisbon, the Franciscan friars built a magnificent convent, which was the only one in its neighbourhood 144 rO.MBAL. that resisted the eartluiuake of 1755. This was not as you will conceive, a miracle of St. Francis, but one solely attributable to the architecture, which gave the solidity of a fortress to the walls and roof. But although the Monks of Portugal may have constructed their convents for eternity, they will not be eternal. Pombal, who would not divide his despotism with any person, was the first to give a mortal blow to their power : — whilst occupied in persecuting, cahuuniating and hanging some of the most powerful nobles, this minister caused father Malacrida to be executed, banishing the Jesuits, and prohibited the dress of other orders. The Marquis Pombal, with his ministerial omni- potence, in having despised the influence-of these two classes, paved the way for the reforms of the present revolution. It is perhaps because the Cortes found the number and power of the monks greatly diminished that they have thought it prudent not to suppress them. So that the king may still con- tinue to call himself without the least hypocrisy, his most faithful Majesty. Monks and superstition are always cause and effect, but if the Portuguese be a little supersti- tious, they are exempted from religious fanaticism. When certain winds blow for example, people are known to run up particular hills to see if Sebas- tian, who was killed in a battle fought against the TOLKRATION'. 145 Moors in 1568,* is coming back : although Saint Sebastian has not come yet, his followers do not insult him as the Lazzaroni oi^ Naples do with re- gard to St. Jenarius wlieu he does not like to per- form the miracle of shedding the blood. That which occasions most inconvenience to travellers in Lisbon is the Spiri/o Santo : this walks about night and day to the sound of drum and fife, making every body kiss a dirty. carpet. A Frenchman would say of this spirit that it is not destitute of wisdom, for it moves to the sound of a patriotic hymn. Did you not once tell me that your family in- tended to visit Portugal ? If this curiosity still continues, it may be as well for your peace of mind, to' inform you, that heretics are no longer burned in this country. So that the English, whether at Lisbon or Oporto, are distinct from all the heterodox, and have churches as well as burial grounds of their own. It is hoped that a motion will soon be made in the Cortes, to admit the return of the Jews. How many of these are there, who would gladly rejoin the descendants of their parents that embraced Christianity to avoid being burnt! If there was liberty of worship in Portugal, there would not be so many deserts, nor would grain be wanting for a fourth * Alcazar. JL 146* CLIMATE. of the population, and the state would not be destitute of manufactures. How much more would the four or five thousand Germans, who yearly cross to North America, prefer this deli- cious and omnifarious climate ! JEREMY BENTIIAM. 147 LETTER XXV. Lisbon, March 12th, 1822. I WRITE these few lines in great haste, to inform you that I this night embark for England with one of your amiable compatriots whom I knew at Madrid. The friendship of Mr. Bowring has quite fascinated me : this estimable citizen is a stem of French suavity grafted on the English cha- racter. He speaks various languages ; has travelled over all Europe ; is an eloquent poet, enamoured of liberty, and the adopted friend of Jeremy Bentham. This enthusiastic advocate of Spanish freedom converses with gracefulness and argues with urbanity, while he patiently suffers my excla- mations against human nature, heaven and earth, because they do not come to the aid of Italy. It will be long ere I meet another travelling com- panion equally agreeable ! He always carries an album, in which the names and remembrances of the most distinguished liberals of Europe are recorded. We sometimes quarrel because I give the title of martyrology to this collection. But L 2 148 CAMOENS. to say the truth, the European Uberals are not yet in a state of martyrdom. We shall have a complete edition of Camoens with us during the present voyage. How strongly do I sympathize in the fate of this military bard, the most imhappy of all poets ! I can never hesi- tate to offer my mite to the mendicants who wander about the streets of Lisbon, for it always strikes me that I see the Indian Jao, who for nearly three years begged througli the streets to support the unfortunate Camoens, his master. The bard of the Lusiiid died in an hospital without a shroud, nor is the day or month of his death known ! Liberty has revived the enthusiasm in favour of Camoens. On the second day of Portuguese emancipation, General Sepulveda inserted some of this poet's verses in a proclamation to the people. But do you think 13owring*s friendship is the only motive I have for undertaking this voyage, with so much pleasure ? Will not the curiosity to see a nation where the women are so well- informed, amiable, and romantic, as your acquaint- ance induces me to suspect, have had a part ? P. S. I shall not remain long in London. Indeed I fully calculate on being back here to- wards the end of April. JOHN BULI,. 1 1-9 LETIER XXVI. Lisbon, xMay 10th, 1822. Behold me once more at Lisbon. My existence dilates and resumes its former dimensions, for the month I passed in London seemed to reduce me to an atom. In that vortex of great eventSj^great men, and great sights, one ought to be at least a Tamerlane or a pyramid of Egypt, not to forget himself! I did not find John Bull either so rustic or intolerant, as he is generally painted. It is true, he stared with rather an ironical curiosity at a French roquelaure which I wore, but he neither threw mud nor stones at me. John Bull has red and white on his cheeks ; is robust, well formed, well dressed and w^ell lodged. Notwithstanding- all this, it is difficult to believe that he is happy. He works too hard ; he condemns himself to per- petual labour in order that he may drink tea twice a day, cover his bread well w^ith butter, and dress with elegance. From all which, I can- not say that John Bull calculates wisely. 150 UGO FOSCOLO. While in London I saw our common friend Ugo FoscoLO, with infinite pleasure, after a separation of six years. Of all the living writers of Italy, Foscolo is he whom I most admire. His romance of Jacopo Ortis, has opened a new career of glory to Italians, teaching how their latent sensibilities and enthusiasm, two qualities essential to those who would acquire liberty, are to be awakened. I also admire Foscolo for not bowing the knee to the idol at whose feet all the despots of Europe burnt incense. Our friend resides near the Re- gent's Park. His cottage is isolated, but well fur- nished : there is however a canal passing near it, which looks like the turbid Lethe. This little re- treat might be called a hermitage, if you did not see two pretty chamber-maids moving about within its precincts, and that Ugo Foscolo makes the same calculation as John Bull, to lead a life of agi- tation and uneasiness : he is constrained to labour night and day for the London Periodicals. Im- mense fatigue, and little glory ! He ought to prefer living like a thrush at the top of a belfrey, waging an eternal war on the Austrians, by whom he has been so atrociously calumniated, and in or- der to save his honour, forced to exile himself from Italy. The Portuguese speak ill of Wellington, still worse of Beresford, and in the very highest terms of Wilson. The Portuguese are proud, and they cannot forgive the two first named for having more SIR ROBERT WILSON. 161 pride than themselves. Whereas the popularity of Wilson, his romantic valour, and the justice he publicly rendered to the intrepidity of the Portu- guese soldiery, has left a most grateful recollec- tion on their minds. I was therefore anxious personally to know this general, the champion of human liberty. His courage must be of the most daring description. Have you not remarked how he leans forward in the attitude of an hussar who is on the point of charging ? Your sovereign has been advised to deprive the General of his com- mission because he would not suffer his subjects to be destroyed ; but he has nevertheless an am- ple recompence : he possesses the Brevet of every free people. I attended at one of [the sittings of your House of Commons, but it excited no interest whatever. It is easy to foresee the result of every discussion. The disproportion of strength between the opposi- tion and ministry is too great. Hence there is no suspense of the soul in the debates, no doubt of the certainty as to which side victory will lean, there is not in fact any dramatic interest. The administration is invulnerable : it resembles those combatants of Ariosto whose arms were fated. The heart of the reader never palpitates for them, and their contests only produce lassitude and indiffe- rence. I was highly delighted with the Pantheon of Westminster ! It is a republic of the dead. There I5'i AUhS Bir.L. : you see the real democracy of the tomh ! There repose under the same gothic arches, the ashes of comedians, kings, buffoons, &c. &c. &c. Apropos of tliis magnificent abbey J stood motionless before the bust of Paoli for above half an hour, and read with surprise on the inscri})tion, that after having vainly endeavoured to give inde})en- dence to Corsica, his native country, against France and Genoa, he took refuge in England, where he was w^elcomed and pensioned by the government. Yet the Italian refugees of the pre- sent day, who have attempted and failed in a more magnanimous enterprise, instead of patronage, have only found the Alien Bill, which hangs over them like the sword of Damocles. With respect to my stay in London, I confess that the silence of your streets, and tranquillity of your houses, quite oppressed my mind Gossip! noise and song, are necessary for an inhabitant of the south. Our Italian peasants sing in chorus under the burning rays of the dog days. In Spain still more than Portugal, tlie people sing through- out the niffht with all their hearts. But can a month's residence in London give me the right of criticising England ? No, amiable lady, I neither ought nor will I speak ill of your country. I have been so accustomed to revolution, sedi- tions, and rebellions, during the last year, that I almost forgot to inform you, we are scarcely out of a conspiracy hatched by the agents and admi- SILVO DE CAKVALHO. 153 rers oF despotism. These excrescences of the social body are never at ease except when plotting against Uberty. They lately suborned about five hundred recently discharged soldiers, and ])er- suaded them to invade the privileges of the GaU- cians, to perform the office of porters and water- carriers in the city. The object of these fanatics was to excite a tumult, and then direct the popular venficeance at their own will. But the 2:cnius of free- dom, Avhich is now ever watchful, foreseeing every danger and providing a remedy, was soon on the alert. The garrison w^as under arms in an instant, and took possession of all the important points of tlie capital. Sepulveda rushed forth and visited every post, so that the resolute attitude of the troops soon terrified the conspirators. The minis- ter of justice made several important discoveries. From these it would appear, that the danger was much more imminent than it seemed to be, and the conspiracy more extensive. The leaders, who were powerful and numerous, remained behind the curtain. This induced the minister to demand from the Cortes, permission to remove the sus- pected persons from the city. Such was the dan- ger to liberty, that not a single deputy impugned this law of fatal example. In other respects, the high character of the minister Silvo de Carvalho is quite a sufficient guarantee against the abuses of liberty. At this moment, new^s has arrived that on the same day and hour, and under the same 164 DESPOTISM. pretext, a similar conspiracy broke out and was suppressed at Oporto. What vigilance — how much prudence and energy are required to consolidate this tree of li- berty ! To what bufFetings is it exposed before its roots are extended ! But I will ask despotism how many years it will take, how many conspi- racies must it put down, how many revolutions fail, before it raises itself on the foundation of li- berty ? Did not the Medici undergo a century of continued perils previous to enjoying a moment's security in absolute power ? Had not Charles V. of Spain to sustain the war against the Comuneros, Philip II. that of the Low Countries, Philij) IV. that in Catalonia, before he became Lord of life and property ? Richelieu, Mazarine, Louis XIV. — what opposition did they not encounter while establishing an absolute monarchy 1 A PATRIOT KING. 155 LETTER XXVIL Madrid, May 17th, 1822. Last night was celebrated the anniversary of tlie first hberal of Portugal ; for such is the title given by all the liberals to John VL their king, and well does he merit the envied appellation. It is now a twelvemonth since he swore to be constitutional, and up to this moment his conduct has been irre- prehensible. A year's fidelity, no matter of what kind, is a great proof of virtue. The king has attended at the general review of the troops, sur- rounded by the friends of liberty, and having General Sepulveda constantly by his side. His Majesty could not have chosen a better guardian angel. If the king had been amongst the dullest of the dull, he must yesterday have learned to chaunt the patriotic hymn from memory, for it was continually repeated under his windows for the space of two hours. The appearance of the troops could not have been more martial. The soldiers as upright as per- pendicular lines, with clean uniforms very neatly 1.56 FEMALE PATRIOTISM. made, proved them to be of the English school. In order to j)rodiice good spirits, the cannon were as usual fired off to stun and deafen all present. John VI. passed yesterday as an aimable etourdi. He went to the theatre in the evening, and to- wards eleven o'clock proceeded to the ball given by his subjects, accompanied by his daughters and Prince Michael. This second assemblage was much more agree- able than that of the morning. All the most dis- tinguished individuals of Lisbon were collected in a large saloon. Even the apostolical Nuncio himself seemed to espouse the manners of the age on this occasion : adorned with his powdered wig and full red face, he figured amongst the ladies like a tulip in the midst of violets. How beautiful are the eyes of the Portuguese women ! They are so many black diamonds ! Every head, neck and hand sparkled with brilliants. I saw such a vast quantity, that I now believe that the ])eople of America really play at marbles with diamonds ! But I ought here to remark that there were two of the most elegant Lisbon belles, who appeared without the tiara worn by all the others. On inquiry, I found that this arose from their having made a present of it to their country on the day of proclaiming the constitution here. The costume of the officers of the court, is scar- let embroidered with gold lace. But the Portu- guese fidalgos do not possess that court mimickry I'OllTUGUESE FIDALGOS. 1.57 which is so familiar to the courtiers of other coun- tries ; they have neither that supercihoiis insolence, nor affected superiority over the greatest heroes of the day, which courtiers are usually required to possess. If fine clothes were a criterion of merit, I should be justified in saying that all the illustrious men of Plutarch were present at the above fete. But the Portuguese fidalgos of the present day have greatly degenerated from their ancestors who fought in Africa for the faith, but still more for glory. I do not know with what sort of eyes they regard the constitution : whatever they may think, I suspect there is a much greater disposition to spend their money than shed their blood. The news from Spain embittered my amusement last night. My rational Spaniards have lost their senses! They are fighting amongst themselves. A civil war has commenced in Catalonia. Priests and monks head the bands of the factious. A war between officers and monks is however marks of an originality which can only be seen in Spain. In France the officers become missionaries, and in Spain the missionaries become officers. Yet I hope this is not a war of opinion : if such were the case manv other provinces would be in arms. What ! the Catalonians, the defenders of liberty in all ages, take arms against it ? No ! nothing but hun- ger and seduction could have led them to raise the standard of rebellion. That which most an- 158 PERSECUTION. noys me, is the fact of ministers regarding the first flames of this conflagration with a species of stupid indiflerence. There is no vigour except for persecuting the Hherais of 1820.* This is not an epigram: the ministers like the constitution, but hate the constitutionaUsts. If the perils of liberty increase in Spain, I will instantly quit this to share the fate of my friends there : for it is no longer an asylum for me, but a second country. Adieu ! amiable lady : tell your sister lady A**** that she must not forget to include Spanish free- dom in her orisons. * The interval which elapsed between writing the letters from Spain and those from Portugal, during whicli the author had sufficient time to study the character of the men of 1812, ac- counts for the above important admission. Count Pecchio was not singular in his change of opinion, and whatever prepossessions he might have acquured on his first arrival, it is highly creditable to him, that he should thus end by doing justice to the CoMU- NEROS. — Ed. THE PRINCE REGENT. \5[) LETTER XXVIII. Lisbon, May, 20th 1822. Numbers of people are at this moment embark- ing on the Tagus to be present at the sitting of Cortes. The discnssion is one of the highest im- portance. It relates to the independence of the Brazils. Rio Janeiro threatens to separate from the mother country : the Prince Regent has raised the standard of revolt : he has constrained the gar- rison which had lately gone there to re-embark for Europe. It arrived here two days ago. The cause of the Prince is very different from that of the Brazils. He is in fact a rebel ; who, from an impatience to reign, violates the most sacred oaths, and breaks through all the ties of nature and obedience. This young man is really to be pitied, he has made himself the blind instru- ment of a faction, which being in want of a rally- ing point and leader, availed itself of his incon- siderate ambition, determined to desert him the moment their independence is secured. Could 160 REFLECTIONS. the Brazilians ever tiiink of forming a kingdom amidst the republics of South America, and retain an European Prince, who will one day either from fear or remorse betray them ? On the other hand, the Brazils in aspiring to independence, aspires to a right which reason, nature and her interests confer. If one of the mo- tives which determined Portugal to effect the late revolution, was to relieve itself from the absurd dependence on the court and government residing in the Brazils since 1806, will not the same motive hold good now in favour of the Brazils against Portugal ? The union of the Brazils was advantageous to Portugal when the former was treated as a colonv : but now that it is on a level with the mother country, the union is no longer just or necessary. From a connection founded on an equality of rights, the only advantages that could redound to Portufical are those of trade. But would not these be secured equally well by means of a treaty of alliance and commerce ? The Cortes cannot but feel the force of these reasons : but they will not have the courage to defend them before tlie Portuguese people. They will sacrifice their own conviction for the sake of preserving popularity. The people of this country are in error, for regarding the separation of the Brazils as a calamity. Hence the national congress, in order to escape censure, will never W'UOLKSOME ADVICE. 161 consent to this inevitable divorce till they arc forced to do so. Such is tlic way in which you are to account for the contradiction observable between the conduct of the Cortos and its prin- ciples. For my own part, I wish this separation to take place, and the sooner the better. Portugal will then no longer waste its attention and power on America. It now maintains twelve thousand men in the Brazils. This force is too much for its fi- nances, and too little to keep down a population of more than twelve millions, who have alreadv twenty thousand national guards under arms. Until now Portugal has been American, it is high time she should become European : it is tim& for her to re- enter the great family with more heart and spirit. Discord reigns in this family ; it is therefore necessary that she should select her natural friends and make common cause with them. She should console herself for the loss of the Brazils with the friendship of Spain. She will then repair the fault of having within these few days so coldly met the proposal of a defensive alliance made by her neighbour : when she finds herself isolated, she will feel the necessity of drawing the ties of fra- ternity still closer with a nation which has the same dangers and the same machinations to en- counter. A report prevails here that peace is concluded between Russia and the Porte. I could never M 162 RUSSIA. have believed that an Alea:ander would suffer hini- self to be frightened ! That great man of Cathe- rine, to have suffered the opportunity of con(|uer- ing Constantinople, amidst the applauses of the whole world, to escape, proclaiming at the same time the independence of two nations who deserve it most, — Greece and Italy. The only power that could or would have opposed this conquest, is Austria, liekindling the revolution in Italy, where so many combustible materials exist, Russia might have paralysed all the forces of Austria, and thus for ever weakened her natural enemy. Perhaps liberal ideas have terrified Rus- sia. She has too good an opinion of herself, if she thinks she is vulnerable to them. Liberal ideas have not the rapidity of Napoleon's legions, and yet what will you say when I add, as one of my opinions, that I entertain more sanguine hopes of Itahan hberty from the Cossacks than the English Radicals. Thus it is, that I have not lost every ho})e. Reflect well on this and )'ou will not say I am wrong. If the Russian Cabinet has protected the revolution of Greece to weaken her enemy the Sultan, why should not she one day or other en- courage that of Italy if it becomes her interest to weaken Austria ? SEPULVEDA. l(j^ LETTER XXIX. hkhm, May 2Jth, 1822. I AM and shall always be a courtier to the truly great. With them there is at least no necessity for a long attendance in anti-chambers : their audiences are not favours from Heaven. It has not cost me the least fatigue to approach General Sepulveda, who, as you know, was the first colo- nel of the Portuguese army who raised the cry of liberty at Oporto in 1820. He is accessible at all hours, simple in his manners, and popular through instinct. The hero of Portugal is of tall stature and rather slightly made ; he is so modest and re- served, that you would at first sight almost be tempted to take him for an Englishman ; but after a few minutes conversation, the sun bursts forth, his countenance brightens, his cheeks become crimsoned, and his eyes more brilliant. Sepulveda may therefore be compared to a volcano covered with snow. The friends of liberty selected him at Oporto as the first actor in the revolution, and nature had endowed him with the necessary quali- M 2 164 HEROISM. ties for so magnanimous an enterprise ; prudence before action, boldness and cntliusiasm when once engaged ; such are tlie traits wliicli distinguish the hero of Portuguese freedom. When the regency sent the troops who still obeyed them against the garrison of Oporto, which advanced towards the capital, Sepulveda, followed by two orderlies, presented himself before the hostile battalions and invited them to join the liberators of their country. Struck by this boldness and confidence, the soldiery did not hesitate a mo- ment, and instantly ranged themselves under the banners of liberty. Sepulveda is now commandant of the city and province of Lisbon. This important charge was conferred on him owing to a proposition of the Cortes, nor can it be taken away without their consent. The national representatives have by this wise measure provided for their inviolability, and thus removed the danger of any sudden vio- lence on the part of the executive. The days of General Sepulveda are a continued occupation for the good of his coimtry. He might live in a glass-house, for he is constantly surrounded by his friends. His conversation is rendered extremely interesting from the frankness and sincerity of his sentiments : he abhorred the dominion which the English government arro- gated to itself over this country, but in his hatred he did not confound the government with indivi- DISINTERESTEDNESS. l6.5 duals. While conversing with him yesterday on the conduct of the hundred and fifty British officers who were serving in tlie Portuguese army when the revolution broke out, he pronounced a warm eulogium on them without the smallest affectation of generosity. At the first movement in Oporto these officers withdrew, declaring that they neither would nor ought to interfere in the concerns of the kingdom. The Portuguese would not suffer them- selves to be vanquished in courtesy, and left it to the choice of the English either to remain in tlie service or retire with pensions. Not one amongst them, however, accepted either rank or pension : though several gratuitously offered to draw their swords in defence of liberty, continuing to keep up the same friendly intercourse with the patriots, and visiting General Sepulveda, to whom they manifested the utmost esteem and friendship. You cannot imagine with what pleasure I listened to this recital, well knowing how gratify- ing it would be to you to hear such a chivalric anecdote of your countrymen ! The sentiment of honour and justice in your compatriots, is widely different from those entertained in other countries which miffht be named. The opinion of Sepulveda on Marshal Beres- ford, appears to me no less frank than impartial. He attributes the merit of having disciplined the Portuguese army to this officer, as well as making it so efficient before an enemy. " Previous to his \66 f.OKD liEKESIORD. time, said the General, the profession most de- generated in Portugal was that of arms. The gran- dees of the Court were frequently in the habit of conferring the rank of lieutenants and even cap- tains on their footmen. Beresford wrested the officers from this ignominy, leaving an army behind him full of honour, and which rivalled that of England itself in valour and discipline : so that we have made no change whatever in the military regulations introduced by him. Beresford was a despot in the administration, but ftdl of integrity. He had not sufficient greatness of mind to save the brave General Gomez Freire and his twelve com- panions, who conspired against the English in 18 17 ; but Beresford will always have a claim to our gratitude for giving us a military existence.'' Do you not think from the foregoing sketch of Sepulveda, that he was worthy of giving liberty to his country? Without great talents and great virtues there can be no revolutions. The despots are not therefore so much to blame in promoting vice and ignorance. CANDOUR. 107 LETTER XXXI. Lisbon, iMny 28th, 1822. Why do yoii conceal your thoughts under so nlany metaphors ? If this system be encouraged in Europe, the fables of JEsoip will become fashion- able again. Pray give up hieroglyphics and write with freedom and courage. The Portuguese con- stitution declares the secret of letters inviolable, do not therefore any longer curb your reflections. If there is any thing going on here that you do not like, say so without reserve. The Patriots "of this country do not expect to be associated with the optimists ; on the contrary, they are the first to deplore their want of civilization. They will them- selves tell you, laughing, in order to paint the ignorance and rusticity, that Portugal was created four thousand years after the creation. It rains most unmercifully: so much the^better, for without tliis the streets would remain as they are until the end of the world. In order to shelter themselves from the rain, about fifty idlers lf)8 HUMAN MISERY'. have collected under the portico of the hotel in whicli I reside : what would you say if you saw how many rags there are in a kins^dom so full of diamonds ! There are nearly three hundred thousand inhabitants in Lisbon, but there are not a hundred thousand wlio can boast of a complete covering from the inclemency of the season. Lisbon is in fact the largest study for the naked figure in Europe.* Notwithstanding these cynical reflections, it must be confessed, that Portugal deserves uncom- monly well of Europe. In the first place, was she not the first to pass the Cape of Good Hope, and find a new road to India? secondly, was she not the first, in I7G0, to destroy the universal monarchy of the Jesuits ? thirdly, after the ill- fated experience of the French Republic, is not * However jocularly the Count alludes to the state of the population of Lisbon, bis remarks furnish matter of deep and me- lancholy reflection to the philosopher and statesman. What greater proof could the author adduce of the enormous abuses of the old system of government, and the necessity of that revolu- tion which the enemies of freedom and humanity, both in Eng- land and France, have been depreciating with so much acrimony, while the actors are held up to constant scorn and obloquy? Yet, thanks to the system which still prevails over four fifths of Europe, both its capitals and interior do not present a more grateful sight to the view of the philanthropist than Lisbon ! — Ed. FINANCES. 1^9 Portugal the first to adopt a constitution which most resembles that of 1793, and whicli must ultimately become a model to the nations of Europe ? This kingdom, pigmy as it is, has con- ferred more blessings on humanity than the de- formed Colossus of the north, Russia and Poland, and of the wliole Austrian empire put together ! Portugal ceased to be rich in 1806. After the emigration of the king to Rio Janeiro, the Brazils was no longer a colony, nor did it any longer remit thirty millions annually to the mother country. But though Portugal was no longer rich, it did not suddenly fall into indigence, like Spain after the loss of America. The finances are not in that disorder which prevails in Spain : the imposts are not very heavy, and they are col- lected without difficulty. The annual expenditure amounts to fifty millions of francs. It is true that the revenue does not equal the expence, there is a deficit of some millions. But the economical reforms which are carrying into effect, will restore the equilibrium between the receipts and disburse- ments : there is, besides, no prejudice against loans here. Should it be necessary to recur to this extraordinary remedy, the Cortes will ado})t it without repugnance, and the national bank, which is about to be established in Lisbon, will facilitate the execution of their wishes. The public debt is not as yet liquidated ; 170 COMMERCE. but independently of its not exceeding ^220 mil- lions of francs, it is sufficiently guaranteed by the existing mass of national domains and other pub- lic property. In addition to the innumerable abuses and di- lapidations of despotism inherited by the revolu- tion, it also has to suffer from the disgraceful trea- ties of the old regime. Thus it is that up to the year 1825, Portugal will be subjected to the treaty of commerce coricluded in 1819 with Eng- land, by which all the manufactures of other countries are excluded, and a monopoly allow^ed to those of Great Britain. The wish of the mer- chants is, that Lisbon should be declared a free port. They are perfectly right : has not nature destined it to be the grand emporium of Eu- rope ? The army of Portugal is small but formidable. The land forces in Europe do not exceed twenty thousand men : there are as many more in the Bra- zils, comprising the division of four thousand men who occupy Montevideo. With the forty proxin- cial regiments, however, which can be placed under arms at the shortest notice, the military force o£ this country might be increased to sixty thousand men. During the late war Portugal kept up art army of fifty thousand men : but the gi'eat ^gis of liberty, a national militia, is still wanting. The Cortes ought not to spare either fatigues or sacrifices, POI'ULATION-. 171 nor yield to any prejudice, in order to give this powerful guarantee to the constitution. The population of the whole kingdom dues not exceed three millions of souls, whereas it is capa- pie of containing six millions, from its extent of territory and resources. Political economists at- tribute this confined population to emigrations to the Colonies : this appears to me an erro- neous opinion. Does not the population of France, Holland, and above all, England, go on in- creasing in spite of the increase of their colonies ? Yet what country has suffered more in this respect, and from so many different causes ? Nevertheless its population increases. What has served to depopulate Portugal, according to my notions, is the horrible system of internal administration, and that despotism which has destroyed more human beings than the plague of Alexandria. A more equal division of property, facility of communication, freedom of commerce, liberty of every kind : such are the secrets of multiplication in the human species. The present ministry is energetic, active, patrio- tic and sincere ; I could even say still more in their favour, for the harmony which they maintain in the Cortes. The king is invisible : he is like a God : it is known that he exists but no one sees him. So much the better ; this worship is more pure and will not easily degenerate into idolatry. The 172 SERVILES. king shuts his ears to the councils of perfidy. He is known to have said that he never was hap- pier in his life than he is under the constitutional system ; besides he now disposes without scruple of what the nation allows him. The serviles are not few in number, and the ]nalcontents are numerous, but their force is im- potent : their designs are always abortive, for they neither have a system nor legitimate pretext for a counter revolution. They may be justly compared to a horde of savages who attack a well disciplined legion, and which perishes without any hope of success. I should continue this miscellanea, were it not that the rain has ceased. I will profit by this truce of heaven, and take a walk under the por- ticos of the exchange. These porticos surround the beautiful square of commerce constructed under the auspices of Pombal. I must repeat to you, that I cannot think badly of the said Mar- quis, though I know he was a despotic minister, but acting under a despotic king. If he had not been a despot, the king's confessor, favourite, or mistress, would have been so. Pombal at least taught princes that every king may if he likes be a sovereign Pontiff in his own house : he had the courage to displace a Saint, Ignatius of Loyala, causing his name to be expunged from the Calen- dar ; he introduced some discipline into the army, encouraged the navy, and endeavoured to throw ofi' POMBAL. 173 the yoke of English commerce: Pombal also re- formed public instruction, rendering it more con- formable to the progress of the age. Even the liberals of the present day do not hate his me- mory ; he was in fact a beneficent tyrant. J 74 STLVESTRE PINEIRO. LETTER XXXI. Lisbon, June 1st, 1822. You do not say any thing about the impression which the dismissal of the Picdmontese envoy in twenty-four hours, by the Portuguese government, produced in Paris. France, being accustomed to the fuhninations of Napoleon, has not applauded this mark of just indignation on the part of the minister Silvestre Pineiro. Ought the ministers of this country, who last year restored the creden- tials of the Austrian envoy, to suffer themselves to be insulted by a Nabob of Austria ? Be this as it mav, the recent measure does honour to tlie government of Portugal : it has shown itself no less sensible of national dignity than determined in its just resentment. The Portuguese revolution is in the hands of men who are botli firm, resolute, and sagacious. I do not want to deceive you, the liberals in Por- tugal are not so numerous as in Spain, but they make up for this in union and energy. They are close and imj)cnetrable: like the Macedo- RESOLUTION. 175 nian phalanx, they advance slowly in the midst of their enemies, overtnrning every obstacle, like the infernal column at Fontenoy. Foreseeing the war they had to wage, their plan of campaign was drawn np, and they follow it scrupulously. Judge for yourself, if I do not say the truth, from the following facts. Scarcely had the insurrection broke out in Oporto, when the regency here offered a free pai'don to all those who should return to their allegiance, promising at the same time to con- voke the Cortes. Nothing could be more calcu- lated to seduce malcontents, uncertain of the victory, than such an offer. But the liberals, of Portugal did not suffer themselves to be led away by these flattering promises. They not only re- jected the proffered amnesty, but threatened to punish all those who did not unite under their banners, and so far from being dazzled by the proposed convocation of the Cortes, they declared that it was themselves alone, and not the regencv, *whQ had a right to assemble the congi'ess in the name of the nation. The British ministry also contrived to damp the courage of the liberals, during the first days of the Revolution. For this purpose, it offered them the support and co-operation of England, on condition that they should adopt a constitu- tXQn with two chambers and an absolute veio for the king. But the liberals rejected this powerful 17(i POLITICAL TACT. protection rather tlian deceive their country with an illusory liberty. The King's return last year was another peril- ous crisis for the friends of freedom. The counter-revolution was prepared j the signal of its bursting forth was to be the landing of the sovereign. The Cortes seeing the danger, suddenly replaced all the colonels of regiments ; they separated the king from the conspirators ; and were immovable with regard to the ceremony fixed on for his disembarkation, so that the conspiracy failed. The Portuguese liberals were fully aware of the error committed by their brethren of Spain, in withdrawing themselves from the king. They saw that by suffering him to be surrounded by the old courtiers, he would always continue isola- ted from the nation ; and that in the end, diffi- dence could not fail to arise between those who kept aloof from each other. Hence the offero f the liberals to attend the king tliemselves, in which pursuit they show as much assiduity as the most veteran followers of the old court. This will perhaps be the last letter 1 shall address you from Lisbon. I have determined to depart immediately for Spain. The situation of that country becomes more critical daily. Every thing induces a belief that the serviles and the ad- vocates of two chambers have made a treaty with each other. Should this be the case, a strug- AN APPROACH IN'G STORM. 177 gle between the two parties is unavoidable, I under- derstand by letters from the capital that it pre- sents that falacious and melancholy calm, which is always the precursor of a storm. The explosion will be dreadful since the Spaniards say it is near, for they never see danger until it becomes inevit- able : with a little foresight, and some energy, the liberals might avoid this storm. But these, widely different from their friends in this coulitry, with an excessive moderation, a romantic generosity, and blind confidence in their own strength, have suffered their enemies to collect all the elements of a counter-revolution. But no matter, the Spanish liberals are brave, their courage will remedy every error. Although they do not seem to have formed a plan of defence, it is neverthe- less an instinct of the Spaniard not to be daunted in the hour of danger, to prepare himself for the fisht with order, and follow the steps of the most daring. The liberals will triumph : such is my presentiment. I feel the pain of impatience there- fore rather than that of uncertainty. AVould that I were in Madrid ; indeed my heart is already there ! X 178 GALIAMO. LETTER XXXII. Madrid, June 20th, 1821 The retreat of Zenophon was not more perilous nor more fortunate than my journey. I traversed the whole of Estramadura in the midst of robbers and factious bands (who are synonymous) and have reached Madrid in safety. My conjectures are verified : here the horizon is dark and tempestuous. The Cortes are about to close, without having applied a radical remedy to the evils of their suffering country. The abyss is open ; one courageous act might close it for ever. But time has been lost, the fire of enthu- siasm has been extinguished by half measures, and the liberals of 1820 have lost the majority in the Cortes, within the last two months. They have however frequently been on a par with their adversaries, and they always contest the victory with spirit : Galiano is their orator. Nature has AGUSTIN ARGUELLES. 17^ endowed him with the gift of eloquence, and lie has perfected it by study : he speaks and gesti- culates nobly. If he has any defects, they con- sist of too much daring and presumption in favour of his party. The antagonist of Galiano is Agustin Arguel- les ; but this orator is no longer the divine, he is scarcely considered as eloquent : his eloquence has lost its greatest charm, that of truth. He is at the head of a faction which rises and votes with hhn mechanically : but being dexterous, and sea- soned in the tactics of the assembly, he prepares the victory in darkness, which he could not achieve with equal arms in the tribune. Riego does not speak, Riego does not fight : what does Riego do then ? Riego is the corps de reserve of the liberals. It is prudence not to ex- pose him without an urgent necessity. He is the standard of Mahomet, which ought not to be un- furled except in a case of desperation. The liberals have more than once invited the ministry to enter their ranks, and march at their head, but the ministers have refused ; persisting in their fatal system of tergiversation and mystery, and covering themselves with an impenetrable veil. The representative government, which ought to be transparent, has now become an opaque body, that neither gives nor receives light. Public opinion therefore begins to abandon them. N 2 180 MARTINEZ DE LA ROSA. Suspicion, accusations and calumnies shower upon these men. Yet is there one man in the minis- try whom I cannot consider capable of betraying the interests of liberty, or the ignity o. his coun- try : this is Martinez de la Rosa. Young, with an interesting physiognomy : honoured in his pri- vate character, eloquent, and already celebrated in the republic of letters : proved for many years as a victim of despotism, to what can he aspire, if not to glory ? Surely he is too honourable to par- ticipate in treason, and has too much talent to sacrifice his glory to the ambition of others. I must confess for my ow^n part, that it distresses me exceedingly, when I contemplate the possibil- ity of being one day forced to think less favoura- bly of such a man. Meanwhile the day of San Fernando at Aranjuez developed very strong symptoms of a counter- revolution. The royal guards, seconded by num- bers of the peasantry, cried " Long live the abso- lute king." It is said that one of the Infantes ap- peared to be flattered by this exclamation. But the national guard imposed silence on the seditious and no doubt prevented the execution of a more formidable plan. This shameful conduct still remains unpunished. The king will return to the capital to close the Cortes on the 30th instant. It is reported among the populace, that some violent events are PROGNOSTICS. 181 likely to attend Ferdinand's arrival. In times of revolution, these presages ought not to be de- spised. I am as superstitious as the Romans, who believed that these popular prognostics were the warning voices of certain genii who peo- pled the air. 182 MOlilLLO. LETTER XXXIII. Madrid, July 2nd, 1821 The crisis has at length arrived. The coimter- revokition burst forth with a terrific explosion yes- terday. It was the day fixed for closing the Cortes, and miglit have been that of their sepulture. Whilst the king appeared seated amongst the deputies of the nation, with the tender title of Father of his Country, which the Cortes of 1820 placed over the throne, the royal guard proclaimed him an absolute king in the palace. At this rebel- lious cry, the populace could not restrain its in- dignation J but the rebels drove the people be- fore them with a few discharges of musquetry. Morillo, the Captain-general, having rushed for- ward, drew his sword and told the soldiery at their peril to repeat the seditious exclamations. He thus brought them back to obedience and sent four battalions to their quarters. The flame thus extinguished was however destined to burst forth with greater violence in the evening. Whilst the public were wondering to see the ostentation BALLEbTEKOS. 183 of indifference shown by the ministers on the Prado for the events of the morning, a report cir- culated that the two other battahons had assassi- nated the gallant Landabura within the very pre- cincts of the palace itself This resolute patriot died with the cry of " long live the Constitution /" on his lips, though in sight of one of the princes who stood at a window of the palace to witness the assassination/* At this piece of news, the agi- tation was instantly renewed and became general. Meanwhile shouts and imprecations were heard to proceed from the spot where the guards are quartered. Matters continued in this state until midnight, when it w\as ascertained that the fouf refractory battalions had abandoned the capital and proceeded to encamp at the Prado. It was in vain that Morillo harangued the sol- / diers, for the purpose of inducing them to return to their duty. They not only refused but invited the General to place himself at their head. Upon this Morillo left them to their fate, as did also above a hundred of the officers and Serjeants who joined the patriots in defence of freedom. Balles- teros, who never presents himself to the nation except in the hour of her peril, solicited the com- mand of two pieces of artillery from the Captain- * Don Carlos, who has made common cause with the fanatics ever since the re-establish nient of liberty, is the person to whom the author here alludes. 184 MINISTERIAL APATHY. general, also a regiment of cavalry, to charge the mutineers. Military discipline, and above all, insulted liberty called aloud for immediate punish- ment and example. But scarcely had Ballesteros commenced his march, than the king recalled him and gave orders that the fugitives should not be followed. Such are the principal events of Sun- day last. Yesterday presented a scene of incessant acti- vity. The liberals shook off their stoical indif- ference, and suddenly rushed to arms. The municipality declared its sittings permanent ; all the national guards are under arms. Ferdinand does not quit the palace but when he is protected by two battalions, which, as in time of war have piquets and advanced posts in every direction. The garrison observes the strictest discipline and seems determined to obey the ministers. But the latter have not yet adopted a single measure or said a word on what is passing. The corps diplo- matique is in motion, couriers extraordinary are despatched every five or six hours for Paris. I avail myself of one of these opportunities to com- municate with you ; but if another does not occur you are not to be the less sanguine in your hopes of Spanish liberty. DEGRADING CONCESSilONS. 185 LETTER XXXIV. Madrid, July 6th, 1822. The rebels have been encamped at the Prado during the last six days ; while the ministers per- severe in their system of inactivity and myste- rious silence : tiiey continue to sit in the palace under the bayonets of the other two insubordi- nate battahons, although the municipality have frequently invited them to transfer their sittings to its hall. The ministry has degraded itself to such a deo-ree as to have three times offered terms of capitulation to the rebels of the Prado. For- tunately the latter have a nicer sense of honour than the ministers, and will not accept any condi- tions that are injurious or humiliating. After five days of mortal agony, an extraordi- nary Council of State was assembled yesterday. The propositions contained in the king's commu- nication to this body, induced a belief that victory had been declared in favour of the rebels, such were their criminal and preposterous tenour. The answers were those of a dignified assemblage. 186 MAGNANIMOL'S REPLY. which never despairs of tlie public safety, and whose whole attention is directed to the good of their country. The council was asked what were its sentiments with regard to the constitution ^ On this question being put, a general, who is no less attached to honour than his country, rose and de- clared the interroeration to be subversive and in- cendiary ; that the Council of State had sworn fealty to the political code, and would defend it to the last drop of their blood. The w^iole council ad- hered to this magnanimous reply. The plan of the counter-revolution and circle of the treason extends daily. A hundred and fifty carabineers have revolted at Cordova and are marching towards the capital. The fanatical por- tion of the clergy have insurrectionized Siguenza. In the mean time, the agents of the counter-revo- lution exaggerate the dangers which surround liberty, in order to create fear and confusion ; pretending to lament the consequences. But not- withstanding all this, it would appear that the higher the danger rises, the more does patriotism and the ardour of the liberals increase. The national guard is unwearied. It is bivou- aqued and constantly on the alert. Though so inferior in numbers, it has already determined to face the four thousand rebels, composed as they are of veterans selected from " the army. The patriotic volunteers afford a sublime example of PATRIOTISM. 187 enthusiasm. If here you would see some corps composed of field officers, editors, play-actors and deputies, many of whom are serving in the ranks, and encamped in the squares. The municij)a- ■ lity has assumed the defence of the city with heroic intrepidity. If all the authorities were nominated as they are, by the people, the capital would not luive been reduced to this predicament. Grant Heaven ! that when the representatives of the nation undertake the revision of the Consti- tution, a useful lesson may be drawn from these terrible events ! Who can foresee the result of this tragedy ? A circumstance has occurred to render the gordian knot more complicated, while it furnishes another proof of this nation's originality. Ferdinand has named Morillo colonel of the Royal Guards, though he is at the same time commanding those who are opposed to it !, If the capital succumbs will liberty fall with it ? Certainly not ! Be of good cheer lady : admit even that Madrid has yielded, the triumph of despotism will only be ephemeral. The fall of the capital will be a signal of independence to the provinces. These sigh for the moment of being able to emancipate themselves from a ministry that has always be- trayed their hopes and despised their w^arnings. The Absolute King will only be a ruler at Madrid. The other provinces will govern themselves, and 18S NATIONAL ENERGY. know how to derend liberty with more enthusiasm than ever. In the last war against France, the people never displayed more heroism and energy than when they threw off the yoke of a central government which had been accused of bartering the national honour and independence. THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM. 189 LETTER XXXV. Madrid, July Sth, 1822. Long live liberty ! Victory is ours ! The Janis- saries of the Prado no longer exist. They were discomfitted and destroyed at day-light yesterday morning. Having suddenly marched on the city, they attempted to surprise the three points of de- fence occupied by the national militia and garrison : but the artillery of the militia received them with a shower of grape, forcing them to make a preci- pitate retreat to the palace, leaving the streets covered with killed and wounded. Generous as brave, the victors suspended the firing, and offered life to the vanquished on condition of laying down their arms. They accordingly accepted the terms and capitulated, but repenting this step soon after, they fled towards the country. This ended, how- ever, in death or ignominy, for being pursued by the cavalry, they were either cut to pieces or taken prisoners. Morillo redeemed the error of having suffered the city to be surprised, by the valour of a grena- 190 PATRIOT LEADERS. dier, which belongs peculiarly to himself. General Alava, who never left the battalion of officers for an instant durino* the whole dav, manifested that indifference for death which he learnt while fight- ing by the side of the British legions. Riego divided the perils and glory with the militia. Palarea added another wreath to the many he had gained in the late war as a Guerilla chief. But in addition to his arrangements for the attack, the nation is indebted to Ballesteros for the alacrity and enthusiasm which he displayed during the struggle. This officer is like the warriors of Ossian, whose hearts spring with joy when they hear the shield of battle resound, appearing at every point that was menaced, and exclaiming long live lihcrty as he rushed by the combatants : he not onlv communicated his own enthusiasm to those around, but inspired confidence in the victorv. Whilst the liberals attacked the cavalry close to the walls of the palace, the royal family ap- peared at the balcony, but retired soon after, on perceiving that the bullets did not recognize their inviolability. One of the Madrid journalists did not suffer this occurrence to pass without compar- ing it to that of Charles IX. of France firing on his subjects from a balcony of the Louvre. The coincidence is not very inexact. If the rebels had carried the day yesterday, there would have been A DISAPPOINTMENT. 191 another Saint Bartholomew oi"all the hbcrals, not less cruel and sanguinary than that of the Hugue- nots. The triumph of despotism had ah*eady been pre- pared in the })alacc : the horses were richly caparisoned. When the attack commenced, the servile dependents of the court had thessed them- selves out in grand gala. But on hearing of the defeat of the rebels, they liastened to unrobe, when the display of drapery strewed about the apartments assimilated them to the w^ardrobe of an opera house. The result of all this to the ministers is precisely what they ought to have foreseen and avoided. They were not allowed to quit the palace th(» night before last, but retained as prisoners until victory declared in favour of the liberals. The imprecations of the prisoners, who were accused of being rebels and seized in the midst of their treasons, were really quite terrific. Some of the wounded soldiers who had fought under Ballesteros during the war of independence, observing him enter the hospital in which they were received, loudly cursed those who had seduced them from the path of honour, and only invoked their cure, in order that the remainder of their blood miffht be shed in defence of liberty. I become quite furious against despotism whenever I reflect on the manner in which it per- verts the good sense of this people, promoting 192 A CONJECTURE. treason and venality in a nation which is less prone to those crimes than any other on earth. I send you some newspapers, from which you will be able to collect more ample details of what occurred yesterday than I have given. The con- test of this memorable day will be more impor- tant in its results than the battle of Waterloo. I understand you have began to study the Castilian idiom : you could not employ your time better than in acquiring the language of liberty. May it become universal ! KATIONAL GUAnO. 193 LETTER XXXVl. Madrid, July 19th, 1822. Nothing remains of the counter-revolution but its melancholy recollections. Siguenza has im- plored the clemency of government ; the Carabi- neers have laid down their arms. Every hour adds to the number of arrests among; the emis- saries of despotism in tlie provinces. Many of the court retainers are also leaving Madrid to enjoy the more salubrious air of the country. Without waiting the issue of the contest here, the provinces had already prepared for defence, just as I had foretold in my last. They are now pouring in addresses of congratulation to the municipality and national guard of Madrid for their late heroic conduct. These congratulatory addresses and thanks reflect an odious light on ministers ; who are objects of execration with many, and of censure with all. Their apathy during the agony of liberty in the capital is really inexplicable. But the crime of which there is a disposition to accuse the o 194 LOPEZ BANGS. ministry, is so enormous, that it cannot he ad- mitted without the strongest proofs : some have ah'eady resigned ; amongst these is IVIartinez de la Rosa. The liberals lament the day in which they rescued him from the dungeon in which the Inquisition liad shut him up during the reign of terror. It is therefore high time for me to retract all the good I said of this minister in my former letters. The sympathy I feel for men of talent had made me blind to his real character. Lopez Baiios, the illustrious companion of Riego, is named minister at war. Mina has also been appointed to head tlie constitutional army in Catalonia. These two men are the only fruit whicli liave as yet been reaped from the victory of the 7th. The government is still in the hands of those who neither knew how, nor wished to pre- vent the counter-revolution. The liberals are too much devoted to the political code ; their devotion approaches to superstition ; they dare not even touch the charter to prevent it from failing. Wait a little is the answer to my remarks from every side, but this wait a little makes me mad with impatience and rage ! If the advantages which presented themselves in the first moments of vic- tojy were not gathered, how are they to be col- lected after its effects have ceased through the medium of this wait a little ? QUIROOA, &C. Ids LETTKR XXXVII. Madrid, August 8th, 1822. It is but too true, amiable lady, that the wait a Tittle was right. It has brought fortli a ministry which meets and crowns the hopes of all. Yet who would have thouglit it, after a month's inac- tion and indolence ? — Spain has at length a minis- ter for foreign affairs, from whom every thing is anticipated. — The brave and enlightened Evaristo San Miguel, another of the intrepid companions of Riego. The portfolio of the interior has been placed in the hands of Gasco, an ex-deputy of Cortes, eloquent, active, and patriotic. Spain has, in fact, now an administration which possesses all the qualities, moral and physical, necessary for its good government in the present crisis. The champions of freedom are called on to serve their country. Quiroga, O'Daly, Palarea, El Empecinado, and many others are recompensed with situations of high trust for the oblivion in which they were left by the late ministry. — Con- o 2 196 MINA. iidence is restored ; the reign of darkness is over, and a brilliant light illumines the political horizon. I this morning paid a visit to Mina, who sets out in a few days for Catalonia. His physiognomy is truly Spanish : the general has a head which Scanderbeg could not have cleaved with his sword. But it is useless for me to describe this Viriatus of modern Spain, since you must have seen his por- trait in Paris and London. He is in the very prime of life. Be assured his name will resound in the Pyrenees. Mina is one of those generals whose name alone is equal to ten thousand men. All the unemployed officers are most anxious to accompany him to Catalonia : perhaps those who have kindled a war in that province with their gold will repent it ere long. This contest has already begun to awaken the military genius of Spain. Who knows but Catalonia may yet send forth an army of conquerors ? If it be true that the yellow fever has re-appear- ed at Barcelona, one might be induced almost to say that even this disease has become liberal ! Since its existence would be of itself sufficient to retard a projected invasion of the Peninsula. Forty thousand veterans have been called to arms within the last few days. The national guard of Spain, which already amounts to one hundred thousand men, might be increased to half as many more in less than a month. Portugal too, has come forward with her intrepid legions to the aid INVOCATION. 197 of Spain : surely it is high time that Hbertv descend from the tribune, and leap on the car of victory. O soave dcir almo sospiro, Liberia che del cielo sci figlia, CoiDpi alfine Tantico desiro Delia terra chc tutta e per te ! THE END. LONDON •KACKBLL AND ARROWSMITH, JOHXSOX's-COtTR T, FLRET-STRRBT. New )Yor\i publUhcd by G. and IV. B. WHITTAKER, A ve-Ma r'la^la iw, LudgaU->it reet. AN HISTORICAL REVIEW of the SPANISH RE- VOLUTION; including some account of Religion, Manners, and Li- terature in Spain. By Edward Bt.aquierf;, Esq. Author of " Letters from tlie Mediterranean," &,c. — In One thick. Volume, 8?o. illustrated with a Map, price ISs. boards. •' It is impossiible to peruse this volume without feelings of the most af- fecting and irresistible nature. The proudest deed to wliich a humau being cau aspire is to put his hand to such a work as this ; and , in the be- lief that Mr. Blaquiere's lal)ours are calculated materially to promote it* success, we congratulate him in the devotion of his time and thoughts to 80 noble an object.'' — Monthly Magazine, Sept. 1822. " The affairs of the country to which Europe is indebted for its libera- tion from the dominion of Napoleon, and the recent example of political freedom, acquire every day an increased interest with all liberal English- men. No complete account, however, of the Spanish Revolution, was la pdssession of the public, till the above work of .Mr. Blaquiere made its ap- pearance. It is written with much spiiit and animation, and a zeal for truth is one of its most characteristic features."- Morning Chronicle, Sept. 13, 1822. " A Work has just been published, entitled An Historical Review OF THE Spanish Revolution. None can find fault with the author'a selection of his subject ; and he has executed his task in a manner not ua- wortay of it. This book contains much and various information, entirely new to the public.''— British Press, Sept. 11, 1822. <' The Work before us atfords ample proof that its author is possessed of powers of research, and of acute observation. The limits and nnture of our work prevent our doing more than passing a favorable judgment, and giving this general outline of the design and execution of Mr. Blaquiere's volume ; but there is no class ol readers who can peruse the work without an acquisition of valuable knowledue, or without awakening in him a train of the most useful and pleasurable reflections.'' — European Magazine, Nov. 1822. " We certainly want such books as that now before ns : we do not know enough of the most interesting events of which it treats ; at least, we have seldom been called upon to look at them through so impartial and national a medium as Mr. Blaquiere's Review." — Literary Register, Sept. 7, 1822. " Mr. Blaquiere's former productions have established for him an honor- able place in English Literature ; and the ardent spirit of integrity, and love of right, which breathes through the present pages, entitle him to con- siderable distinction as a philanthropist, while their composition do him great credit as an author." — Paris Monthly Review, Nov. lUii. SPECIMENS of the RUSSIAN POETS. TransJaJed by JoHX BowRiNG, F.L.S., and Honorary IMember of several Foreign So- cieties : with Biographical and Critical Notices. Second Edition, with Additions, 12mo. price 7s, boards. In the press, The Second Volume of SPECIMENS of RUSSIAN POETS, B\' the same Author. New Works published by G. and W. B. WHITTAKER, A ve-Afu r ki-lanc, L udgate-s trcet. \. JOURNAL of a TOUR in FRANCE, SWITZER- LAND, and ITALY, during the Years 1819, 20, and 2\. By Marianne Colston. In Two Volumes, 8vo. price 1/. 1*. boards. Also, 2. FIFTY LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTS, Illustrative of the above Tour; from Original Drawings, taken in Italy, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. By MahianNe Colston. Large folio. 2/. boards. 3. JOURNAL of a VOYAGE to GREENLAND, in ths Year 1821. With Graphic Illustrations. By G. W. Manby, Esq. Se- cond Edition. Octavo, 10*. Qd. boards. " Some of Captain Manby's descriptions of the dreadful beauties of the frozen ocean are very happy; and Jiis numerous plates of the fantastic shapes assuntjed by tlie frozen atmosphere and waters are worthy of at- tention. ^Ve recommend a perusal of the work, as combining much infor- mation with very considerable entertainment." — European Magazine^ Oct. 1822. 4. RECOLLECTIONS of a CLASSICAL TOUR (hroti£rh Various Parts of GREECE, TURKEY, and ITALY, Made in the Years 1818 and 1819. By Peter Edmund Laurent. Illustrated with co- loured Plates, Two Volimies, Octavo, 18s. boards. " From the limited size of Mr. Laurent's Work, he has necessarily writ- ten with great brevity, vet he has a good taste in the choice of his subjects : he intersperses classical and antiquariau research with acute reflections and interestiunr portraits of existiiig manners ; and we consider his Work a valuable addition to the information already known respeciing- those in- teresting portions of iheGlobe, — Greece, Turkey, and Italy." — Literary Chronicle, June 2, 1821. 5. The LIFE and OPINIONS of SIR RICHARD MAL- TRAVERS, An English Gentleman of the Seventeenth Century. In Two Volumes, jjost 8vo. Price 16s. boards. " This is a philosophical romance, in which the author (LORD DILLON) launches into speculations on all subjects, moral, political, civil, and reli- gious. 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