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 THE 
 
 MOOR. 
 
 BY 
 
 LORD PORCHESTER. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR CHARLES KNIGHT, 
 
 PALL MALL EAST. 
 
 MDCCCXXV.
 
 
 THE MOOR, 
 
 Oh that the space of unrecorded time, 
 
 Which has crept slowly, withering hope and life, 
 
 Could be annihilate ; and days, long sunk 
 
 In its devouring gulph, rise fresh and fair ! 
 
 The Wierd Wanderer of Jutland. 
 
 , — try, i — tJm -t - 
 
 >
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In submitting this Poem to the public, the 
 Author has intended, however imperfectly, to 
 illustrate the manners that prevailed in Spain 
 towards the close of the fifteenth century. The 
 contest for dominion, that had been carried 
 on with alternate success for more than seven 
 hundred years, was drawing to its termination ; 
 and the excitement produced by the close of 
 such a struggle, combining with the chivalrous 
 state of manners, gave the events of that pe- 
 riod a marked and peculiar character. In no 
 portion of their history does the Spanish cha- 
 racter appear to greater advantage. The rights 
 of the Commons had not yet been invaded ; 
 the nobles were no longer formidable, but were 
 not subservient to the Crown. They were re- 
 
 b
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 garded by their countrymen as their natural 
 leaders ; and, in the eyes of government, they 
 acquired consideration from their influence, 
 their independent spirit, and their large ter- 
 ritorial possessions. The Inquisition, recently 
 introduced into Spain, had exercised no inju- 
 rious influence on society ; while the benefits 
 arising from the cessation of internal wars, the 
 establishment of a central government at once 
 directing and following the bent of public 
 opinion, were sensibly felt. The Spaniards, 
 united under an efficient head, guided by the 
 ablest minister of the age, had now, for the 
 first time, leisure and inclination to devote 
 their energies to the acquisition of the last 
 remaining province in Spain that was subject 
 to the yoke of the Mahometans. The recovery 
 of the Spanish territory had been the constant 
 and avowed object of the Christian Princes : 
 to extend their frontiers and preserve their 
 conquests, required continual activity of body 
 and mind, produced a succession of enter- 
 prising monarchs, and reared a hardy people, 
 who combined the more useful virtues with
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 the heroic qualities that distinguished their 
 opponents. Temperate in his habits, indifferent 
 to hardships, submitting without a murmur to 
 the strictest discipline, the Spaniard possessed 
 all the qualifications of a good soldier. His 
 religion had not yet degenerated into bigotry; 
 his morality was rigid ; his feelings were 
 independent ; his manners proud and stately, 
 but tempered by the courtesy of the times. 
 The Moors, on the contrary, with all the 
 generosity that distinguished them to the 
 last moment of their political existence, 
 showed many of the vices that belong to a 
 declining state of society. Their laws were 
 relaxed ; the introduction of European man- 
 ners had violated the most important obser- 
 vances of their faith, and abated the religious 
 zeal that had rendered their arms irresistible. 
 Still, amid domestic disorders and foreign re- 
 verses, the high civilization of manners, the 
 love of arts, the splendour of society, the de- 
 votion to sex that was never equalled in the 
 most chivalrous days of any Christian state, 
 and their brilliant courage in action, remained, 
 
 b 2
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 and concealed, under a delusive glare, the pro- 
 gress of their decline. 
 
 From the middle of the eighth century, 
 when the last Prince of the Ommiades was 
 proclaimed Caliph of the West and King of 
 Cordova, the Spanish provinces, under the 
 dominion of the Moors, gradually rose to 
 such a degree of splendour and prosperity, as 
 they had never attained under the Romans, 
 and which forms a melancholy contrast to 
 their present depression. The memory of 
 the Abderrahmans is still cherished, and the 
 epoch in which they flourished may be re- 
 garded as the Augustan £era of Mahometan 
 government. During that fortunate period, 
 not only military talent was rewarded, but 
 all the arts of social life were promoted ; 
 agriculture was carried to the last degree of 
 perfection, manufactures were established, com- 
 merce was encouraged, taxation was light, 
 but the public revenues constantly aug- 
 mented with the rapid increase of private 
 wealth. Within two hundred years of the 
 conquest, eighty cities and three hundred
 
 PREFACE, IX 
 
 towns existed within the Caliph's dominions. 
 Cordova, the metropolis, is stated to have con- 
 tained within its walls two hundred thousand 
 houses, nine hundred public baths, six hurt- 
 dred mosques ; and no less than twelve thou- 
 sand villages are said to have been erected 
 along the banks of the Guadalquivir. After 
 a fair deduction of numbers, in consideration 
 of that tendency to exaggerate, that always in- 
 creases as the time is distant and the records 
 few, it is, nevertheless, evident from the as- 
 sent of contemporary historians, and the many 
 vestiges scattered over the face of the country, 
 that a numerous and intelligent population 
 was diffused over provinces that are now al- 
 most deserted. They conferred many solid and 
 lasting benefits on Spain : they imported from 
 Africa, and naturalized many plants and ve- 
 getables, till then unknown in Europe; and 
 introduced the system of irrigation, that in 
 their days rendered the south of Spain almost 
 unequalled in fertility and variety of produce. 
 The acknowledged excellence of the Spanish 
 flocks was owing to their judicious mixture
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 of the Spanish and African blood. Spain is 
 
 also indebted to their importation of the best 
 
 Arabian breed, for the formation of that An- 
 
 dalusian race of horses which, for many years, 
 
 was unrivalled in Europe, and still retains 
 
 much of its original character. The wool of 
 
 Murcia was manufactured and sold in the 
 
 Greek ports ; and, at a later period, the silks 
 
 and stuffs of Granada were disposed of at an 
 
 immense profit in Constantinople and the 
 
 great marts of the Levant. They exported 
 
 silk, oil, and coral, in large quantities, to the 
 
 East, where they found a ready market : at 
 
 home, their gold, silver, and iron mines were 
 
 assiduously worked, and became an additional 
 
 source of revenue. 
 
 Besides the general statement, that the taxes, 
 exclusive of imports paid in kind, amounted 
 to six millions of sterling money — a sum sup- 
 posed to have exceeded the united revenues 
 of the European world, — the wealth that must 
 have flowed into the royal coffers may be 
 conceived from the simple relation of the 
 establishment personally attached to the So-
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 vereign. His guard, alone, mustered twelve 
 thousand strong ; the number of favourites, 
 slaves, and attendants in his seraglio, were es- 
 timated at upwards of six thousand ; and all 
 the royal household was placed on a footing 
 of equal magnificence. In addition to these 
 heavy domestic expenses, when we remember 
 that equally in peace or war they were com- 
 pelled to maintain efficient armies on the 
 frontiers, to keep up a navy to protect the 
 coast and facilitate their intercourse with 
 Africa, and at the same period were erecting 
 those beautiful creations of art, that still as- 
 tonish and delight the traveller, we are at a 
 loss to conceive from what sources such wealth 
 could have been derived, till we have inves- 
 tigated the habits of a people who devoted 
 themselves to every branch of industry, com- 
 bined with the enlightened policy of Sove- 
 reigns who, in an age when political economy 
 was imperfectly understood, had yet the jus- 
 tice and good sense to respect the persons and 
 properties of individuals, and promote every 
 plan that had for its object public or private 
 improvement.
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 At the same brilliant epoch of their go- 
 vernment, schools for geometry, chemistry, 
 and medicine, were established at Cordova; 
 and poetry became the favourite passion of 
 the people. The primitive simplicity of law 
 that prevailed at this period forms a beautiful 
 contrast to the refinement of society : — had we 
 not positive testimony to the contrary, it 
 would seem incompatible with the compli- 
 cated interests of a state become so wealthy 
 and populous as Cordova in the time of the 
 Abderrahmans. Their civil law was regu- 
 lated by their religious code ; the lex talionis 
 was the great principle of their criminal ju- 
 risprudence ; and, following the patriarchal 
 manners of the East, an authority, almost un- 
 bounded, was vested in fathers over their 
 children, and in husbands over their wives. 
 Decisions were pronounced by their Cadis, or 
 Judges, without delay, and execution imme- 
 diately followed the sentence. Public opinion 
 was so powerful, that, although the Caliph, as 
 Chief Judge, might expound, he could not 
 infringe the law, or protect a criminal from 
 its just resentment.
 
 PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 Such was the happy order of things that pre- 
 vailed for more than two centuries at Cordova. 
 The prosperity of the Moorish Empire began 
 with the accession of the Ommiades, and was 
 extinguished with the last Princes of that 
 line. Received in Spain, under circumstances 
 of the most romantic interest, they repaid the 
 devotion of their people by an unceasing 
 attention to their welfare. While Cordova 
 was governed by a succession of active and 
 enlightened Sovereigns, at once respected 
 abroad, and beloved at home, the inherent 
 defects of the system were scarcely percep- 
 tible : after the fall of the Caliphat, in the 
 eleventh century, they rapidly developed them- 
 selves. The Moorish Empire was parcelled 
 out into little independent states ; no barrier 
 was left against the increasing power of the 
 Spaniards, whose internal dissensions alone 
 delayed the entire re-conquest of the Penin- 
 sula. It is, however, worthy of observation, 
 that, from this period to the fall of Cordova, 
 during two centuries of revolution and mas- 
 sacre, such as, perhaps, no other history can
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 parallel, many great and generous actions 
 were performed, that would have dignified the 
 best days of the Moorish government : — men 
 of eminent attainments arose ; their academies 
 were still frequented, and the literature of 
 the Greeks introduced. 
 
 Many circumstances favoured the establish- 
 ment of the Mahometan faith in Spain. On 
 the one hand, the enthusiasm inspired by a 
 religion arrayed in the most attractive colours, 
 full of promise, and in all the vigour of 
 youth ; on the other side, the fatal in- 
 difference, as to choice of masters or form of 
 government, that pervaded for centuries the 
 most opulent provinces of Europe, rendered 
 the conquest of the Peninsula easy and ef- 
 fectual. The policy of the conquerors, who 
 allowed the natives to retain undisturbed pos- 
 session of their properties, with the free ex- 
 ercise of their religion and laws, the equality 
 of taxation which they established, and the 
 encouragement they held out to intermar- 
 riages, by weakening national antipathies, and 
 identifying the interests of the two people,
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 not only prevented the dangers of reaction, 
 but stifled those dissensions that would have 
 infallibly broken out in a population of so 
 mixed a character, under a less conciliating 
 government. The separation of Spain from 
 the empire of the Eastern Caliphs, by raising 
 it from the state of a province, subordinate 
 to their interests, and dependant on the will 
 of distant rulers, to the rank of a free and 
 united monarchy, gave a great additional im- 
 pulse to its growing resources. The encou- 
 ragement given to industry in every branch 
 of trade, the regard in which the law was held 
 by the noblest as by the poorest class, their 
 respect for private property, — all concurred to 
 raise the monarchy to that height of glory 
 and prosperity which it attained in the days 
 of the Abderrahmans. The most obvious 
 cause of their decline was the absence of all 
 fixed order of succession to the throne, — 
 an evil that, for centuries, afflicted the differ- 
 ent states of Europe with civil war ; but was 
 most injurious at Cordova, where the laws 
 that regulated the succession were peculiarly
 
 XVI PJ1EFACE. 
 
 undefined. Whenever a vacancy occurred, 
 the capital became a scene of confusion and 
 frequently of bloodshed ; various pretenders 
 sprung up; the different towns of the Empire 
 took part with the different competitors, who 
 waged war with the central government, in- 
 trigued with the Christians, and facilitated 
 their entrance into the country. But the most 
 operative, though least obvious, cause of their 
 decline, was the policy they pursued towards 
 the Christians ; for though the Mahometans 
 treated this conquered people with a lenity 
 that was ill repaid, they were not sufficiently 
 versed in the real principles of good govern- 
 ment to feel that the most liberal partition 
 of immunities was the only practicable method 
 of entirely assimilating the two people. While 
 they remained powerful and united, their mo- 
 deration towards the Christians prevented the 
 insurrections that would have been generated 
 by oppression ; but when they became weak 
 and divided, the Spaniards began to feel their 
 own importance, and became desirous of ob- 
 taining the distinctions and employments from
 
 PREFACE. XV11 
 
 which they were excluded ; on the other hand, 
 as they had been permitted to retain their laws 
 and customs, they were united by religion and 
 habit, and disposed and prepared to act when- 
 ever a favourable opportunity presented itself. 
 That an error of this nature should have exist- 
 ed in the system pursued by the Caliphs, can 
 hardly excite our astonishment ; — it is only sur- 
 prising to trace, through their general conduct, 
 so much judgment united with so much hu- 
 manity, at a time when the rest of Europe 
 was sunk in bigotry and intolerance. After 
 the lapse of so many centuries, when liberal 
 ideas have become so widely diffused, it may, 
 indeed, be humiliating to perceive the most 
 enlightened people of Christian Europe per- 
 severe in a similar policy, and keep up re- 
 strictions, in the nineteenth century, that were 
 unjust, and proved ruinous, in the ninth. 
 God grant that the temporizing policy be- 
 tween concession and restriction, that un- 
 dermined the Moorish government, may not 
 prove equally fatal to the stability of the Bri- 
 tish Empire !
 
 xviii PREFACE. 
 
 After the fall of Cordova, Granada became 
 the seat of government; and during the two 
 following centuries, the glory of the Moorish 
 name was revived. It is true, they were now 
 circumscribed within a small sphere of action, 
 but they possessed an active and industrious 
 population ; every acre was assiduously culti- 
 vated ; the arts rose to their former eminence ; 
 the Alhambra was built, whose last vestiges 
 will excite surprise and interest ; and society 
 became more splendid and refined than during 
 the period of their solid prosperity : but the 
 simplicity of ancient manners had disappeared ; 
 the frame of civil government had undergone 
 a gradual but total change ; and ages of revo- 
 lution and misrule had destroyed their former 
 respect for law. The powerful tribes or clans 
 that inhabited Cordova, and were scattered 
 over the face of the provinces, were compelled, 
 by the continual encroachments of the Spa- 
 niards, to collect together at Granada, and 
 made these narrow limits the scene of their 
 haughty pretensions and hereditary feuds. 
 The assemblage of this powerful aristocracy
 
 PREFACE. XIX 
 
 virtually changed the government from a mo- 
 narchy absolute in theory, but tempered by 
 public opinion, to the domination of an oli- 
 garchy, who raised, controlled, and overturned 
 the crown as their different parties prevailed. 
 A constitution so ill balanced and undefined, 
 gave rise to the most violent domestic dissen- 
 sions, but had some counterbalancing merits. 
 It fostered that exalted spirit of chivalry, 
 which rendered the court of Granada the most 
 celebrated in Europe, and for many years re- 
 tarded its final subjection. Great momentary 
 success was frequently obtained, but few per- 
 manent advantages secured by this brilliant 
 emulation ; their military exertions were pa- 
 ralysed by the inefficiency of their government, 
 that, continually changing, was unable to pur- 
 sue any uniform system, and was sometimes 
 arming against new competitors to the throne 
 at moments when public affairs were most 
 critical, and required their undivided strength. 
 This state of things could not endure ; it was 
 evident that the sustained valour and policy 
 of the Spaniards, who steadily directed their
 
 XX PREFACE. 
 
 efforts to the attainment of one great object, 
 would finally triumph over the most splendid 
 acts of irregular courage. It is a striking, 
 perhaps an affecting instance of the peculiar 
 genius of this people, that there never existed 
 a period, when tournaments were so frequent 
 or so gallant, when the courtesy of manners 
 was so distinguished, or the strains through 
 their beloved Alhambra so lively and enthu- 
 siastic, as at the moment when the enemy were 
 actually at their gates ; when that Alhambra 
 was to be silent for ever more ; when the in- 
 heritance of eight hundred years was passing 
 away ; when the last light of Eastern chivalry 
 was to be extinguished, and the Moorish name 
 blotted out of the map of Europe. It was 
 stipulated by the capitulation, that they should 
 retain the free exercise of their religion and 
 their laws, and that the existing state of pro- 
 perty should be respected ; it was stipulated — 
 but every manly mind will recoil with indig- 
 nation from the miserable tissue of promises 
 solemnly made and deliberately broken, which 
 the subsequent history of their residence in
 
 PREFACE. XXI 
 
 Spain presents ; suffice it to say, that neither 
 the conduct of Spain to her native Indians, 
 France to her Huguenot, or England to her Irish 
 subjects, can surpass the enormities that were 
 committed on the unoffending remains of a gal- 
 lant and unfortunate people, in the name of that 
 God who sent his Son to preach peace upon earth. 
 From the period when they were driven out 
 of Spain, oppressed by the tyrants of Morocco, 
 they have relapsed into their former barbarism : 
 still they look back to Granada with affec- 
 tion and regret ; they believe that they shall be 
 restored to that land of their fathers ; their 
 continual prayer is, that such an event may fall 
 in their time, and at their death they solemnly 
 bequeath to their children the charts of their 
 former possessions. 
 
 The scene of the following; Poem is laid in 
 the south of Spain during the last years of the 
 Mahometan government ; and in the reign of 
 Abdallah, last King of the Moors. This peo- 
 ple united the pride of the Spanish character 
 with all the fire of their Eastern origin ; they 
 were good soldiers, but devoted to luxury and
 
 XXil PREFACE. 
 
 magnificence at home. Their women mixed 
 freely with the men, presided at the bull 
 feasts, distributed rewards at the tournaments, 
 gave the colour to opinions, and became the 
 idols of those turbulent chiefs. This inter- 
 mixture of the two sexes in general society 
 is peculiar to the Spanish Moors, and to this 
 particular period of their history ; it was not 
 derived from Asia or from Africa, and has 
 been utterly unknown to any Mahometan 
 country either before or since that time. It 
 probably arose from their connexion with the 
 Christians, and was favoured by the prevailing 
 spirit of chivalry ; but being in direct oppo- 
 sition to all their religious prejudices, it ceased 
 when that connexion was at an end and that 
 chivalry extinct. Among the Spaniards the 
 Duenna system was not yet in force ; their 
 women mingled in public, but their manners 
 were more retired, and the expression of their 
 sentiments less passionate. 
 
 I have interwoven some of the great his- 
 torical events of that time with the fictitious 
 fortunes of a young Moor, whom I have sup
 
 PREFACE. XX111 
 
 posed to be Chief of the Alinoradi, a tribe 
 that predominated at Granada, and claimed 
 their descent from the Kings of Morocco. 
 With the exception of the first Canto, the time 
 occupied by the action includes a few months 
 before, and a few days after the battle of 
 Lucena, where the Moorish King was made 
 prisoner, and his army destroyed. Abdallah 
 is represented in history as a feeble and fero- 
 cious despot ; Muca, his brother, is described 
 as frequently mediating between the King 
 and an exasperated nobility. Of the Marquis 
 of Cadiz, whose name, for the sake of conve- 
 nience, I have altered to Kedith, and of the 
 Count of Cabra we hear little, except that 
 they commanded the Spanish armies, and en- 
 joyed the confidence of the Spanish court. 
 The characters of Zaira, Blanche, and Hassan, 
 are not historical, nor are the private events 
 of my poem founded on Spanish legend. The 
 same observation will apply to Gomez Marco 
 and his band ; but the persons from whom 
 these characters are drawn may be still found 
 among the mountains of Catalonia. I have 
 
 c 
 
 o
 
 XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 devoted the greatest part of a Canto to the re- 
 presentation of the Mountain Guerillas, whose 
 manners have undergone little or no change 
 during the last three centuries. 
 
 This induces me to say a few words on the 
 present state of Spain. Travelling through Ca- 
 talonia during the commencement of the civil 
 war, and passing through a defile in a part of 
 the country which was then disputed by the 
 conflicting parties, I was detained for some 
 hours by a band of armed mountaineers under 
 very critical circumstances. This time, spent 
 in the company of men labouring under the 
 greatest irritation, at a moment when the 
 events that were passing around them, and 
 the imminent danger of their situation, had 
 displaced the reserve peculiar to the Spanish 
 character, gave me a considerable insight into 
 the feelings and opinions of the peasantry. In 
 the representation which I have attempted of 
 Guerilla manners, I have adhered with fide- 
 lity to what actually passed under my own ob- 
 servation, and wishing to present a faithful 
 picture of that day's adventure, have rejected
 
 PREFACE. XXV 
 
 many alterations that suggested themselves to 
 my mind, and which might have improved 
 the general effect of the story. The introduc- 
 tion of a band of Catalans among the moun- 
 tains of Andalusia, may suggest itself to my 
 readers as a palpable inconsistency : it arose 
 on the one hand from the obvious necessity of 
 fixing upon the South of Spain as the scene of 
 Hassan's expedition to the convent, and the re- 
 luctance I felt to make any change that would 
 have so far altered the character of the band by 
 whom I was detained, as to have converted 
 them into a group of Andalusians, a race of men 
 the most opposed in habits and opinions to the 
 Catalans. This apparent solecism is, however, 
 reconcileable to the habits of the Guerillas, 
 who, possessing an intimate knowledge of the 
 mountain passes, have been known to traverse 
 whole districts with little opposition. A strik- 
 ing instance of this kind presented itself dur- 
 ing the late revolution, when Bessieres marched 
 from the hills of Saragossa to the gates of 
 Madrid; and during the war, local Guerillas 
 preceded the French armies over the greatest
 
 XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 part of Spain. I was detained at Montserrat, 
 though I have been compelled to fix upon the 
 mountains near Loja, in Andalusia, as the 
 scene of Hassan's adventure. In this part of 
 my Poem, the situation of the Mahometan 
 Chief has become unavoidably identified with 
 my own. Let me request my readers not to 
 carry the identity further. 
 
 However imperfectly I may have 'described 
 the Guerilla, I have represented them according 
 to no preconceived opinions : they were exagge- 
 rated in their ideas, but brave, enthusiastic, de- 
 voted to their sovereign, and to a cause which 
 they conceived to be intimately connected with 
 their religion. Had success attended their arms, 
 they would probably have re-established that 
 worst of evils, — absolute government, which, in- 
 deed, they effected sixteen months later, in con- 
 junction with the French armies. Still I have 
 little doubt that had they been subjected to 
 more delicate management, had their prejudices 
 been treated more leniently, and national and 
 provincial feeling more respected, all the zeal 
 and perseverance which they displayed in sup-
 
 PREFACE, XXV11 
 
 porting the cause of arbitrary power, would 
 have been devoted to the defence of the con- 
 stitutional monarchy. Unfortunately a series 
 of hasty and impolitic acts on the part of the 
 Cortes exasperated public feeling, and paved 
 the way for the entrance of the French armies. 
 The melancholy close of the late revolution 
 has impressed many persons with a belief that 
 society is too abject in Spain, and the national 
 character too degraded to permit the successful 
 establishment of liberal institutions : this opi- 
 nion, founded on recent events, and most un- 
 favourable to the advancement of freedom and 
 civilization, as it excludes the possibility of 
 future improvement, or defers it to a very 
 distant period, can only be removed by a 
 knowledge of the circumstances of the country, 
 the prejudices of the people, and the policy 
 pursued by the Cortes with reference to na- 
 tional feeling. The hostility manifested by a 
 large party towards the new institutions, and 
 the failure of every attempt to excite public 
 enthusiasm in their favour, arose more from 
 the disgust occasioned by particular measures,
 
 XXV111 PREFACE. 
 
 than from any inherent want of patriotism ill 
 the Spanish people. The principles of election 
 under which the Cortes were convened, brought 
 together an assembly, in which the opinions 
 of a numerous class of the great towns pre- 
 dominated, but in which the landed proprietors, 
 the clergy, a party in the cities, aiid an im- 
 mense numerical majority in the provinces, 
 were rather nominally than practically repre- 
 sented. This discrepancy between a represen- 
 tation founded on principles of democracy 
 and a state of property held under tenures 
 of the most aristocratic character, produced a 
 fatal conflict of interests. Had a second cham- 
 ber existed, it would have checked that head- 
 long attack on old interests, which, to persons 
 acquainted with the Spanish nation, will satis- 
 factorily explain the failure of the revolution ; 
 but, on the other hand, it would have concur- 
 red with the Cortes in reducing the overgrown 
 establishments that were supposed to depress 
 the agriculture of the kingdom, and in break- 
 ing down those territorial accumulations which 
 had become too extensive for single super-
 
 PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 intendance, and rendered an opulent class of 
 subjects discontented and dangerous, by pre- 
 venting them from vesting their capital in land 
 and acquiring a substantial interest in the wel- 
 fare of the state. That a spirit of this kind 
 prevailed among the aristocracy, is shown by 
 the petitions which they presented to the 
 Cortes, praying for the repeal of the laws 
 touching entails : the entire repeal of those 
 acts must have eventually proved fatal to the 
 influence of the nobility, but in many in- 
 stances, private and personal feelings prevailed 
 over their interests as a body ; the power of 
 making larger settlements for younger children, 
 the unlimited disposal of their properties dur- 
 ing life, and, with a few, the desire of ex- 
 onerating their remaining estates from heavy 
 charges, induced many individuals to advocate 
 the repeal of those laws, whose interests, as 
 forming part of a privileged class, were most 
 opposed to the measure in its unqualified state. 
 Had a second chamber existed, the necessary- 
 modifications would have been made in the 
 laws that regulated the disposition of property,
 
 XXX PREFACE. 
 
 but political feeling would have operated 
 more forcibly among the nobles, nor would 
 those alterations have been carried to an extent 
 incompatible with the permanent existence 
 of an influential aristocracy. The establish- 
 ment of a second chamber at the commence- 
 ment of the revolution, might have conferred 
 the greatest blessings upon Spain; such an as- 
 sembly would have mediated between the spirit 
 of reform that existed in the popular branch of 
 the legislature, and the great interests affected 
 by its resolutions ; that spirit of reformation 
 would have led to beneficial results, had it 
 been controlled by the operation of another 
 power, and rendered, in some degree, subser- 
 vient to particular circumstances and national 
 feeling. Many principles were established by 
 the Cortes, just in the abstract, but most un- 
 just when indiscriminately applied to the cor- 
 rection of abuses, which had grown out of ages 
 of political misconception, and had become in- 
 terwoven with the interests of larere classes 
 of the community. A second chamber, while 
 it felt the necessity of concurring in those
 
 PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 changes which the increasing knowledge and 
 altered circumstances of the country required, 
 would have looked with a jealous eye upon 
 acts that unsettled property, and would not 
 have sanctioned the principle of confiscation 
 without indemnity. 
 
 With respect to the difficulties of establish- 
 ing an Upper House, it is often urged that it 
 must naturally be composed of a selection from 
 the higher orders, who are said to be incapable 
 in this country of taking any part in the legis- 
 lation, from their previous habits and general 
 want of information. In the second place, that 
 it would become the passive instrument of the 
 Court, impede the march of necessary reform, 
 and possibly conspire against the infant liberties 
 of the state. If, as Mr. Quin justly observes 
 in his able work upon Spain, the Cortes were 
 bound by the words of the law, which them- 
 selves had enacted, to present to the King three 
 lists, nominating twelve grandees, twelve ec- 
 clesiastics, and ninety-six individuals, " men 
 of known virtue, intelligence, and informa- 
 tion," who were generally selected from the
 
 XXxii PllEFACE. 
 
 higher classes, how can it be maintained, that, 
 the elements requisite for the formation of 
 an Upper House do not exist in Spain ? 
 With respect to the second objection, it may 
 be satisfactorily answered by referring to the 
 debates that took place in the Cortes at a time, 
 when they were certainly not disposed to give 
 any undue popularity to an order of men, 
 whose influence and wealth they had begun 
 to undermine : in those debates it was dis- 
 tinctly stated, by the President and the prin- 
 cipal Deputies, that no agitators existed among* 
 the nobility, who were publicly praised for the 
 zeal and patriotism with which they had sup- 
 ported the new institutions.* If such was the 
 feeling shown by the leaders of the aristocracy 
 towards a constitution which threatened their 
 possessions, deprived them of political import- 
 ance, annihilated their privileges as a body, and 
 virtually excluded them from sharing in the 
 legislature;! is it too theoretical to infer, that 
 
 * Debates on the Seignorial Rights, June 1821. 
 
 t Persons belonging to the King's household could not sit 
 in the Cortes — a regulation that virtually excluded the leading 
 nobles, who were generally attached to the palace.
 
 PREFACE. XXXH1 
 
 they would liave preserved the same indepen- 
 dent spirit under a system that protected their 
 possessions, and secured to them a just ascen- 
 dancy in the state ? There was no evil more 
 galling to the individuals upon whom it pressed, 
 than the perpetual tutelage in which men of 
 high rank were held by the Spanish Court ; and 
 there existed no class that would have beheld 
 the establishment of rational liberty with more 
 satisfaction, than a large portion of the Spanish 
 nobility. I am far from thinking that many 
 persons would not have regretted a change from 
 servitude to a state of freedom : under the 
 wisest provisions some interests would be una- 
 voidably compromised, many prejudices would 
 interfere, and there exists, at all times, a ten- 
 dency in human nature to regret past institu- 
 tions however defective they may have been ; 
 but such a party would have scarcely existed in 
 the Cortes, nor would it have been nume- 
 rous or efficient in the Chamber of Peers. In 
 the course of a few years juster principles of 
 government would have prevailed, the ri sing- 
 generation would have been trained to public
 
 XXxiv PREFACE. 
 
 affairs, and education and liberal habits would 
 have improved the character of the nobility ; 
 while the names of the great leading families, 
 with the proud historical recollections attached 
 to them, would have lent weight and dignity 
 to the measures of Government. 
 
 The Spanish Constitution attempted to com- 
 bine the form of monarchy with institu- 
 tions essentially republican ; — an anomalous 
 mixture by no means easy to maintain. 
 The Crown, without the power of nomi- 
 nating its advisers, was scarcely able to ex- 
 ercise the few prerogatives it retained ; the 
 Mispensive veto did not diminish the embar- 
 rassments resulting from this situation, as 
 it only served to exasperate, by an appear- 
 ance of delay, without operating as an effective 
 restraint ; nor would the interposition of the 
 Crown with the most unqualified privilege, 
 have supplied the want of a second chamber, 
 which seems the only effectual barrier between 
 the conflicting opinions of the King and 
 the people. An absolute veto is rather a
 
 PREFACE. XXXV 
 
 nominal, than real prerogative of the British 
 Crown, as the mediation of a third power hap- 
 pily averts such collisions ; and most unfor- 
 tunate, indeed, is any constitution of Govern- 
 ment, that compels the King, from the want 
 of efficient institutions, to recur frequently to 
 a positive, or even a modified exercise of this 
 power : the Crown should be known to its 
 subjects by concessions and acts of grace, and 
 no policy can be more injurious than to 
 place it in manifest opposition to the declar- 
 ed will of the national representatives. From 
 such and other causes which would occupy too 
 much space to enumerate at present, the general 
 harmony which should result from the pro- 
 vident distribution of constitutional powers did 
 not exist, and the only recognized authori- 
 ties were placed in a state of mutual hosti- 
 lity, which generated personal hatred and po- 
 litical insincerity. The Crown saw itself strip- 
 ped of every valuable prerogative, and ex- 
 erted itself in secret to obtain an unconsti- 
 tutional influence, with the design of over-
 
 XXXVI PREFACE. 
 
 turning the existing system; Avhile the legis- 
 lature, for the purpose of counteracting those 
 designs, found itself under the necessity of 
 interfering with the exercise of prerogatives 
 that were solely vested in the executive, and 
 could not be appropriated by any other power 
 in the state, without a manifest infraction of 
 the Constitution .* 
 
 The imbecility that had characterized the 
 measures of Government during the six years 
 that preceded the revolution, and the energy 
 communicated by a sudden transition from 
 
 * A striking instance of an undue but indirect assumption 
 of power by the Cortes, occurred in the last year of the Con- 
 stitutional Government. The King dismissed the existing 
 Ministry on the 19th of February, 1823 : in consequence of 
 the popular tumult that ensued they were restored to office on 
 the same night, but again retired on the 1st of March. It 
 was provided by the 82d article of the Constitution, that 
 Ministers should read an account of the actual state of public 
 affairs, each communicating the details that belonged to his 
 particular department. The Cortes, who distrusted the inten- 
 tions of the Court, were opposed to the dismissal of that admi- 
 nistration ; in consequence, they postponed the reading of 
 these memorials, and by such a step indirectly compelled the 
 King to retain Ministers with whom he was at variance.
 
 PREFACE XXXV11 
 
 servitude to freedom, had given the legis- 
 lature a decided ascendancy over the Crown ; 
 but had the Crown, thus limited, been enabled 
 to maintain itself against the democracy of 
 such an assembly, it might ultimately have ac- 
 quired as great facilities of attributing to it- 
 self powers not conceded by law. This state of 
 things resulted partly from the absence of an in- 
 termediate body ; and, in a great degree, from 
 the constitution of the Cortes. Though many 
 of the individuals, who composed that assem- 
 bly, were taken from the most enlightened 
 class in Spain, they were, generally speaking, 
 men of little or no property ; the greatest 
 number subsisted entirely on their salaries as 
 deputies : whenever the enthusiasm excited 
 by the establishment of free institutions had, 
 in some degree, subsided, it cannot be doubted, 
 that a body of men, whose private comforts 
 depended on their public appointments, would 
 have been peculiarly exposed to the temptations 
 which would have assailed them in every shape 
 from the Court. Those temptations would 
 
 d
 
 XXXV111 PREFACE. 
 
 have had more weight from the existence of a 
 clause that precluded the actual deputies from 
 being re-elected to the ensuing parliament, and 
 consequently deprived them of their salaries 
 after a given period, — an enactment prejudicial 
 to good legislation in any country, as it com- 
 pels men who have attained a practical know- 
 ledge of public affairs, to resign the reins of 
 government into the hands of less experienced 
 persons ; but most injurious in Spain, where 
 little political wisdom exists, and that little is 
 confined to few individuals. The dangers aris- 
 ing from the ascendancy of the popular par- 
 ty at one moment, and from the encroachments 
 of the Crown at another, and fluctuating ac- 
 cording to the temper and circumstances of the 
 time, could only be obviated by the establish- 
 ment of a chamber of nobility, whose hereditary 
 wealth might prove some guarantee against the 
 facility of corruption, or at least of an assembly 
 to which a greater character of permanency was 
 given, and in which property was the basis of 
 election.
 
 PREFACE. XXXIX 
 
 Although the events that occurred early in 
 the revolution, by disuniting the interests of the 
 different orders of the state, and carrying con- 
 flicting opinions to an extreme point, destroyed 
 that union from which alone a modified Govern- 
 ment can arise, I still believe that there exists 
 no country in Europe, excepting our own, 
 where the elements of a mixed monarchy exist 
 to so great an extent as in Spain. There may 
 be found a richly endowed clergy, an opulent 
 nobility, and an enlightened commons ; under 
 such a system, the nobility might lose some in- 
 vidious privileges, and a modification of the 
 laAV of entail would reduce their overgrown ter- 
 ritorial possessions ; but, in return, they would 
 obtain their due share of political importance, 
 and by taking a part in the legislation of their 
 country, would acquire that respect and in- 
 fluence which they do not at present enjoy. 
 The inordinate power which the clergy still 
 possesses, would decline with the facilities af- 
 forded to every species of improvement, and 
 under the operation of an unfettered press. 
 
 d 2
 
 xl PREFACE. 
 
 The church establishment might be reduced, 
 and such a measure would not create serious 
 disaffection, if a fair compensation were given 
 to individuals for the surrender of their exist- 
 ing rights. 
 
 I believe I do not mistake when I say, that, at 
 the dawn of the revolution in 1820, the leading 
 nobles, the enlightened members of the clergy, 
 and the middling classes of the great towns, 
 were, for the most part, favourably disposed to- 
 wards the new order of things. The enthusiasm, 
 which in 1814 enabled the king to overthrow 
 the Cortes and re-establish himself on the throne 
 of his ancestors, without granting any conces- 
 sions to popular feeling, had been effectually 
 damped by the incapacity of each successive 
 administration. How then, it may well be 
 asked, could an attempt to establish a Govern- 
 ment upon free principles fail of success, when 
 the rank, the influence, and the talent of the 
 country were disposed in its favour ? It failed, 
 because the personal views and passions of the 
 Cortes unfitted them for the delicate task of
 
 PREFACE. Xli 
 
 reforming abuses, which had become too power- 
 ful to be at once overthrown, but which might 
 have been gradually removed ; because, in the 
 pursuit of abstract truths, they infringed exist- 
 ing rights ; because they separated themselves 
 from the feelings of the country, and by acts of 
 inconsiderate legislation, offended the most 
 confirmed prejudices of the people. The Con- 
 stitution existed without popular preposses- 
 sion, and fell without a struggle, because they 
 took no effective measures to render the in- 
 terests of any class of the community de- 
 pendant on the success or failure of the re- 
 volution, while they converted into implacable 
 enemies a powerful party, whom careful ma- 
 nagement would have warmly disposed in 
 their favour ; and lastly, they paralyzed the 
 exertions of their most decided supporters, by 
 adopting a policy inconsistent with their in- 
 terests. 
 
 The nobles, as a body, were extremely 
 wealthy ; a large portion of the land of Spain 
 was in their possession ; whole districts belong-
 
 Xlii PREFACE. 
 
 ed to a few noble individuals, and descended in 
 strict perpetuity of entail. The favourite prac- 
 tice of creating mayora%gos or perpetual en- 
 tails, become common not only among the 
 nobility, but among all classes of landed pro- 
 prietors, was a principal cause of the extreme 
 depression under which the agricultural interest 
 laboured : these overgrown estates, seldom or 
 never seen by their possessors, were commit- 
 ted to the charge of careless agents ; little 
 attention was devoted to the improvement 
 of the soil, that in a few years under better 
 management would have repaid them tenfold, 
 but remittances hastily collected were sent to 
 the capital to maintain an useless system of lit- 
 tle real magnificence, but immense profusion. 
 Among a large class of the nobility the greater 
 portion of their incomes arose from the posses- 
 sion of feudal or seignorial rights, that varied 
 according to different tenures. In some vil- 
 lages the people were obliged to compound 
 with the Seigneur for the permission to erect a 
 mill to grind their corn ; a similar tax was
 
 PREFACE* xliii 
 
 levied on the olive mill ; and the local sale of 
 merchandize was not unfrequently submitted 
 to an imposition more or less heavy. The 
 Crown, when it ennobled an individual, some- 
 times granted to him and his descendants the 
 power of levying specific duties on a particular 
 town or village, for the purpose of creating 
 funds to maintain his rank. It may easily be 
 conceived, that rights of this nature weighed 
 heavily on the industry of the country ; their 
 existence was a grievance, then abolition without 
 indemnity was an act of extreme injustice. The 
 Cortes decreed, that such rights should be consi- 
 dered null and void, except in cases where the 
 claimant was enabled to bring indisputable proof 
 that they were of the highest antiquity, were 
 granted without collusion, and given on good 
 consideration : as it was scarcely possible to 
 produce sufficient proofs, especially when sub- 
 mitted for judgment, not to the common tribu- 
 nals, but to the Cortes, the seignorial rights were 
 virtually abolished. In consequence of this act, 
 the fortunes of the more opulent nobles suffered
 
 Xliv PREFACE. 
 
 considerably, while the less wealthy class of pro- 
 prietors were reduced to absolute poverty. The 
 law was also carried to an extreme length, and 
 rights of a very different and less offensive cha- 
 racter, such as exclusive fisheries, and other 
 monopolies of that nature, were included in the 
 sweeping proscription. The Marquis de Los 
 Velez was said to have lost an annual income 
 of 500,000 francs, by the loss of his rights of 
 fishery at Motril. Rights of judicature pos- 
 sessed by the proprietors of the soil, such as 
 the appointment of local judges, arbitrators, 
 &c. were of course annulled at the same 
 time. 
 
 Soon afterwards the Cortes imposed upon 
 the country a general land tax, that pressed 
 most heavily on the nobles as the principal 
 land-holders. This tax was raised by Govern- 
 ment commissioners, who rated the estates at 
 their nominal value, without making any de- 
 duction for the debts, family charges, &c. 
 with which they were encumbered : this im- 
 position was severely felt by the nobility, who 
 were already impoverished by the loss of their
 
 PREFACE. xlv 
 
 seignorial rights, and by the extraordinary con- 
 tributions they were at times required to make. 
 I have heard of a noble who was at this 
 period in the annual receipt of £1200 sterling- 
 money : the family charges on his estate 
 amounted annually to more than half that sum ; 
 yet with this diminished income he was as- 
 sessed by the commission according to his rent- 
 roll, and scarcely possessing a clear £500, was 
 compelled to pay the tax in the proportion of 
 £1200 per annum. 
 
 These acts were followed by another that 
 confirmed the discontent of the nobles. Many 
 of the nobility held their estates in virtue of 
 grants from the Crown, some of which dated 
 from very remote periods. In those days 
 when a powerful aristocracy controuled the 
 King, some of the Barons had extended their 
 jurisdiction and properties beyond the limits 
 assigned to them by the royal grants. The 
 weakness of the regal prerogative, the power 
 of the feudal lords, the absence of an inter- 
 mediate class sufficiently powerful to oppose 
 a barrier to their encroachments, and the tur-
 
 Xlvi PREFACE. 
 
 bulence of the times, protected them in these 
 manifest usurpations. Time sanctioned what 
 were originally acts of spoliation, and gave the 
 force of prescriptive right. To call into ques- 
 tion estates so long enjoyed, on the ground 
 that their tenures were imperfect, had a ten- 
 dency to shake the security of all property; 
 but had the Cortes restricted the operation 
 of the act which they passed, to estates which 
 could be proved to have been extended be- 
 yond the limits originally assigned to them, 
 a resumption so modified would have been 
 plausible in theory, though it might have 
 been harsh in practice ; but they shifted the 
 onus proband} from themselves, required the 
 grantees of the Crown to show the charters 
 upon which their rights of possession were 
 founded, and decreed that those estates should 
 be confiscated whose titles could not be pro- 
 duced, or were pronounced invalid. This re- 
 solution was taken, although it was generally 
 known that many, I believe most of the docu- 
 ments were lost, from which the title to proper- 
 ties was derived, the legality of whose tenures
 
 PREFACE. Xlvii 
 
 had never been doubted. That such charters 
 should have disappeared cannot excite our sur- 
 prise, when we consider the number of years 
 that had elapsed since they were bestowed, the 
 numerous conflagrations, and the foreign and do- 
 mestic wars with which Spain has been afflicted. 
 The Council of Castille was justly alarmed, and 
 remonstrated warmly against a measure that 
 confiscated the revenues and annihilated the 
 influence of the nobility. Unable to resist 
 the torrent, they suggested as an amendment, 
 that only those grantees should be required 
 to produce their title-deeds, whose domains 
 had grown into importance during the par- 
 ticular period when such usurpations were 
 common. The Cortes were, however, deter- 
 mined to preserve the original project entire, 
 and in defiance of the remonstrances of the 
 Council and the opposition of the King, who 
 three times refused his sanction to this act 
 of plunder, it passed into a law ; a harsh and 
 ungenerous return for the zeal with which the 
 nobles had embraced the cause of their coun- 
 trymen. T believe this measure was never
 
 xlviii PREFACE. 
 
 carried into complete effect, as the counter- 
 revolution intervened, and saved the aristocracy 
 from total ruin. 
 
 But if the policy pursued towards the no- 
 bles prevented the consolidation of the system, 
 that which was directed against the clergy 
 threatened its actual existence. The import- 
 ance of conciliating this body of men was more 
 urgent, and the advantages more direct. The 
 cordial union of the nobility with the Constitu- 
 tionalists, would have given a weight to Govern- 
 ment in their external relations, which could 
 not be attained while the leading families of rank 
 and property were notoriously disaffected; still, 
 in Spain, their influence was in a great measure 
 limited to the fashionable circles of Madrid ; the 
 management of their estates devolved on their 
 agents ; they were known only by name to their 
 peasantry, and possessed little or no territorial 
 influence. That influence had passed almost 
 exclusively into the hands of the clergy ; ido- 
 lized, as the ministers of God, scattered over a 
 country where properties are in few hands, and 
 the proprietors for the most part absent, they
 
 PREFACE. xliX 
 
 performed many of the duties, and acquired all 
 the weight, of a resident gentry. They ob- 
 tained not only the spiritual direction of the 
 people, but the management of their temporal 
 concerns ; they became the confidants of their 
 family secrets, and the arbitrators of their do- 
 mestic differences : the peasantry, forming a 
 large and by no means an ineffective ma- 
 jority, as among this class must be included 
 all the warlike Guerillas in possession of the 
 mountain passes, looked to the priesthood for 
 consolation in their adversities and resolution 
 in their doubts ; from them they received their 
 opinions on passing events ; by them they were 
 stimulated to good or evil ; in a word, in their 
 hands was lodged the direction of the whole 
 physical force of the country. In a state where 
 society is so constituted, it is evident that their 
 approval or hostility must materially influence 
 the success or failure of any system that may 
 be introduced. Their co-operation, or at least 
 acquiescence in the new order of things would 
 have been obtained, had the substantial princi- 
 ples of justice been observed, had more delicacy
 
 1 PllEFACE. 
 
 been shown towards the rights of existing indi- 
 viduals, and had the legislature avoided that 
 unwise precipitation in carrying into effect, in 
 the space of a few months, those limitations of 
 the church establishment, which should have 
 been the process of years. 
 
 The regulation that rendered the receipt of 
 a fixed income, arising from private property, 
 indispensable to the office of parish priest, ex- 
 cluded candidates for the secular clergy from 
 the lower ranks of society, and preserved it 
 in the hands of the better classes. The mem- 
 bers of religious houses, on the contrary, 
 for whose ordination the consent of the bi- 
 shop and a certain routine of education was 
 alone necessary, except hi a few celebrated mo- 
 nasteries, were seldom men of high, frequently 
 of low origin. Ordination was, however, a 
 sovereign remedy for any inherent defect of 
 this nature ; and the monk frequently received 
 the highest honours at the captain general's 
 table, while his father was scarcely tolerated 
 in the kitchen — a striking instance to what an 
 extent religious prejudice had taken root
 
 PREFACE. li 
 
 among a people proverbially tenacious of an- 
 cient descent. There existed in Spain two 
 species of monastic establishments of a very 
 different nature, which experienced a very 
 different fate at the revolution. First, and by 
 far the most important class, was that which 
 was supported by revenues arising from land, 
 their own property, and held in mortmain. 
 The second, and least influential, was that of 
 the Mendicant Monks, who possessed no regular 
 funds, but subsisted entirely on the daily cha- 
 rity of the pious. The first was generally sup- 
 pressed at the revolution ; some, it is true, were 
 suffered to exist, but shorn of all their splen- 
 dour, the land attached to them being univer- 
 sally confiscated for national purposes. In the 
 discussion that arose in the Cortes on the 23d 
 of July 1820, on the propriety of confiscating 
 the property of the convents, it was urged, 
 that the large tracts of land which they had ac- 
 quired at different periods, and had kept out 
 of circulation, had materially contributed to 
 the decline of the agricultural prosperity of the 
 kingdom, and that the nation, represented in
 
 Hi PREFACE. 
 
 Cortes, had a right to appropriate them. That 
 such a power resides in the legislature, if it 
 effectively represents the different interests of 
 the country, may be true ; but, in the present 
 case, I am much inclined to doubt the truth 
 of the first part of their allegation. There is 
 no question, that upon general principles, great 
 territorial accumulations in the hands of cor- 
 porations, lay or religious, are prejudicial to 
 the country in which land is so vested ; in 
 Spain, from the tenures under which estates 
 were held, from the system of agency, and 
 from the habits which have grown out of 
 that disposition of property, I do not believe 
 that the absorption of land by the convents 
 has been generally injurious. In many in- 
 stances, perpetuity of entail would have re- 
 stricted land, that before the revolution was 
 attached to religious establishments, had it 
 always remained in the possession of indivi- 
 duals. In such cases, it would have been 
 equally excluded from the market ; and every 
 man who has passed through Spain must have
 
 PREFACE. Hii 
 
 observed the difference that exists between 
 the practical administration of estates held by 
 religions corporations or by individuals under 
 the system of perpetual entail. The traveller 
 cannot fail to observe that the roads are kept 
 in better order on the estates of the clergy, 
 the bridges repaired with more care, and 
 greater attention paid to the improvement of 
 their properties than to other parts of the 
 country: he will perceive that many of the 
 monasteries are situated in the neiiihbour- 
 hood of badly managed, and frequently un- 
 cultivated estates; from which it may justly be 
 inferred, that in the absence of such establish- 
 ments, the land now attached to them would 
 have shared the fate of the surrounding pro- 
 perties, have been equally ill managed, or re- 
 mained altogether without cultivation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the little actual evil that 
 had resulted from the immense appropriation 
 of land by the convents, it cannot be denied 
 that large properties held in mortmain would 
 be prejudicial to the improvement of agricul-
 
 li\ PREFACE. 
 
 ture, whenever the system of entail should be 
 modified, a fresh impulse given to capital, abet- 
 ter system of husbandry introduced, and good 
 communications established. The Cortes had 
 already rescinded entails ; they had, in many re- 
 spects, altered the laws affecting property, and, 
 perhaps, a revision of the ecclesiastical estates had 
 become advisable ; but when we reflect on the 
 delicacy of interfering with rights that have been 
 for ages considered sacred, when we remember 
 the jealous feeling with which such rights have 
 been always regarded in Spain, we cannot but 
 feel deeply that no interests upon which the 
 Cortes were called to legislate, required such 
 calm and dispassionate consideration, and un- 
 fortunately there were none upon which so 
 much passion and party prevailed. When the 
 estates of the monasteries were confiscated, a 
 stipend was assigned to the monks, inadequate, 
 when compared to their former revenues, and 
 sometimes irregularly paid. This measure was 
 unjust and impolitic : unjust, because ample 
 compensation was not made to individuals for 
 the loss of those vested rights, which public
 
 PREFACE. IV 
 
 opinion held sacred, and which were gua- 
 ranteed to them by the existing law, when 
 they became members of such communities ; 
 and, as such, partakers of all their benefits 
 and privileges Their best years had been 
 spent in that routine of education, and those 
 habits which were necessary to their vocation, 
 but which totally disqualified them from re- 
 sorting to occupations of a more active nature. 
 They had suffered directly and indirectly by 
 the change of system. Their expectations of 
 preferment were blighted, their respectability 
 was lowered, their influence was lessened, and 
 must have continued to decrease : surely they 
 were entitled to a full compensation in a pe- 
 cuniary point of view. 
 
 The measure was impolitic — because it 
 could not fail to exasperate a class, whose 
 opposition was highly formidable, from the 
 facility with , which they could identify the 
 cause of God with the interests of the church. 
 The Cortes were aware that they were regarded 
 with a jealous eye by the despotic Govern- 
 ments ; they should have seen the importance 
 
 e2
 
 Ivi PREFACE. 
 
 of betraying no weak point round which their 
 enemies might intrigue and rally the disaffected 
 of all classes ; they should have felt the neces- 
 sity of avoiding any pretext for foreign inter- 
 ference by the semblance of unanimity, and 
 by clothing all their proceedings in the garb of 
 the strictest justice. 
 
 Had these communities been required to con- 
 tribute each in proportion to its ability, and the 
 admission of novices been forbidden, in the 
 course of a few years the number of members 
 would have been very limited, the remaining 
 individuals might then have been provided for 
 by competent salaries, and the estates of the 
 establishment sold for the benefit of the nation. 
 I have heard it urged, that while such com- 
 munities were suffered to exist, the intriguing 
 spirit of the monks would have continually la- 
 boured to alienate the people from the Consti- 
 tutional system. Some local disorders might 
 have occurred, but a little reflection will show 
 the improbability that serious disturbances 
 should have grown out of this policy ; persons, 
 who have observed the progress of the revolu-
 
 PREFACE. lvil 
 
 tion, will remember, that a long period had 
 elapsed after the enactment of those laws, which 
 ruined their fortunes, destroyed their influence, 
 and humbled their pride, before the opposi- 
 tion of the clergy assumed an alarming cha- 
 racter : in Spain, although the nature of the 
 country offers great facilities for a harassing 
 species of war, the extent of surface and the 
 absence of communications render the spon- 
 taneous movements necessary to successful in- 
 surrection difficult to be produced, and sel- 
 dom effective when they take place. Of these 
 dangers and difficulties the priesthood were 
 aware, they knew, that however the cause 
 might ultimately succeed, the first insur- 
 gents are generally the first victims ; and 
 had they been left as individuals in the pos- 
 session of solid advantages, they would not 
 have entered into a dangerous and unequal 
 contest with the legislature for the purpose 
 of perpetuating a particular system. 
 
 Had the Cortes effected this moderate com- 
 promise with the Church, the convents would 
 have been gradually extinguished ; in the mean
 
 lviii PREFACE. 
 
 time, Government would have derived a regular 
 income from their estates, which would have 
 lapsed to the nation at a period when the Repre- 
 sentative system had become firmly established, 
 when Spanish capitalists had begun to vest their 
 capital in land, and an increasing confidence in 
 the new order of things had raised its price infi- 
 nitely beyond what it could attain under the 
 most favourable circumstances, at the present 
 time. Besides these distant prospects, they 
 would have secured immediate advantages equal- 
 ly certain, though more indirect in their nature. 
 In Spain, where ancient usages have always 
 governed the mass of the population, while law 
 has been feeble and inoperative, even in the 
 best days of the Monarchy, the revenue was 
 raised rather by influence than by positive exer- 
 tion of authority ; the magic of the King's 
 name, seconded by an active and devoted priest- 
 hood, filled the treasury to a degree that no 
 fiscal severity, unassisted by such powerful 
 auxiliaries, could have effected. If the legis- 
 lature had adopted a more conciliatory policy
 
 PREFACE. lix 
 
 towards the clergy, they would have received 
 their continued support ; but when the priest- 
 hood were passive, or secretly exerting their in- 
 fluence against Government — when the reve- 
 rential attachment to the Crown was no longer 
 operative, from its known aversion to the ac- 
 tual system, it becomes easy to account for the 
 difficulty, nay impossibility, that prevailed in 
 many districts, of raising any fair proportion of 
 the existing taxes. The clergy no longer pos- 
 sessed the inclination to grant or the means of 
 levying those sums, by which they had former- 
 ly relieved the embarrassments of the Monar- 
 chical government ; while the abolition of the 
 seignorial rights, the confiscation of Church 
 property, and other acts of this nature, had 
 so far shaken public confidence by the ex- 
 treme discontent they had produced, that Go- 
 vernment was unable to procure, upon any 
 terms, an adequate loan from their own capital- 
 ists, although that class was universally favour- 
 able to the Constitution ; a striking instance, 
 that in an age when credit is strength, no per-
 
 lx PREFACE. 
 
 manent advantages can be secured by acts of 
 spoliation and injustice. 
 
 On what resources did the Cortes rely for 
 the extinction of the national debt, and for 
 the restoration of an exhausted treasury, with- 
 out which no government, however popular, 
 can long continue to exist ? In the first place, 
 they depended on the profits arising from the 
 sale of ecclesiastical property ; secondly, they 
 calculated that the remission of one half of the 
 tithes would enable the peasant to pay the re- 
 mainder, and his other taxes with greater cheer- 
 fulness. With respect to the sale of the Church 
 lands, did the Cortes forget, in their high es- 
 timation of the probable receipts, that the fear 
 of those reverses which have since taken place, 
 the consequent insecurity of tenure, the re- 
 sentment of a peasantry who imagined the 
 sale and purchase of such property as little 
 less than sacrilege, would greatly diminish its 
 value? — that the policy of throwing at once 
 upon the market such an extent of property 
 as the confiscated estates of the convents,. 
 would tend to depreciate them ? Did they
 
 PREFACE. Ixi 
 
 forget that the laws, which they had re- 
 cently repealed, touching entails, would increase 
 the surfeit and depress the price of land in- 
 finitely below its intrinsic value ? Was it pro- 
 bable, that capitalists would vest large sums 
 in the acquisition of property liable to be re- 
 claimed, and which the stormy and unsettled 
 character of the times rendered every day 
 more precarious in its tenure ? These causes 
 developed themselves gradually : those estates 
 hung heavy on their hands ; in some parts 
 the land fell out of cultivation, from the want 
 of sufficient superintendence ; the purchase 
 proceeded slowly, and the scanty profits de- 
 rived were, in great part, consumed by the 
 surveyors sent to estimate their value, and the 
 commissioners appointed to conduct the sale. 
 It is only necessary to compare these melan- 
 choly facts with the success that attended the 
 sale of Church lands in the reign of Charles 
 the Fourth, to feel with what impolicy the 
 Cortes must have acted, to produce such dif- 
 ferent results : at that period, when it was 
 known that such a measure had been freely
 
 lxii PREFACE. 
 
 adopted by the King in Council, and sanctioned 
 by the head of the Church ; that a full com- 
 pensation would be given to the existing clergy, 
 and that no individual of that order would suffer 
 by the change ; a very different spirit prevailed, 
 and the estates of the convents were sold at 
 the same rate as patrimonial property. In the 
 opinion of a numerous portion of the Spanish 
 people, the authority of the Pope could alone 
 give credit and validity to such a measure : his 
 permission had been granted to the sale of 
 Church lands at the period to which I have al- 
 luded ; and there is little doubt that it would 
 have been accorded a second time, had the 
 proceedings of the Cortes been tempered 
 with the same justice and moderation. With 
 respect to the tithes, one half had been 
 abolished; and, as they weighed principally 
 upon the labourer, it was naturally supposed 
 that such a remission could not fail of prov- 
 ing a direct and sensible relief to the most 
 numerous class of the nation. It was not so 
 much from the actual amount of produce 
 received by the tithe officers, as from the
 
 PREFACE. lxiii 
 
 mode in which it was disposed of, that the 
 enormous revenues of the Spanish clergy 
 were derived. The tithe of corn, oil, and 
 agricultural produce of a permanent nature, 
 was conveyed to the principal town of 
 each district, deposited in magazines, and 
 afterwards sold by auction or contract, as 
 particular circumstances or the actual state 
 of the market might render most advantage- 
 ous. The possession of capital to a large 
 amount gave them every facility in choos- 
 ing the particular moment that appeared most 
 favourable for the disposal of their goods ; en- 
 abled them to speculate deeply, and to retain 
 their corn in store, sometimes for years, till an 
 unfortunate season, the failure of crops in any 
 particular district, or general or local circum- 
 stances, had raised the price : the warehouses 
 were then opened, and their goods disposed 
 of — always with profit, and sometimes to con- 
 siderable advantage. In other countries, tithes 
 are considered a heavy and vexatious tax 
 upon industry, seldom collected without mur- 
 murs, and always with reluctance ; but in
 
 IxiV PREFACE. 
 
 Spain, the peasant religiously laid aside the 
 best of his produce, marked what he consi- 
 dered to be of superior quality, received the 
 tithe-collector with pleasure, and pressed more 
 than his due proportion of payment on that 
 officer of the Church: but when the labour- 
 ing classes were assured that the tithes were 
 not of Divine right, that in consequence the 
 law had undergone extensive modifications, 
 and that one half had been conceded in their 
 favour, in some parts of the country they 
 began to entertain doubts as to the necessity 
 of paying the remaining portion, although, 
 generally speaking, they were shocked at a 
 measure which they conceived to be impious. 
 Had the system continued, the expectations 
 of the Cortes would probably have been dis- 
 appointed; the remission of tithes must have 
 finally produced a corresponding increase of 
 rent, and chiefly benefited the great land- 
 holders, whom the Cortes wished to depress, 
 but would not have improved the con- 
 dition of the peasant. The priests had suf- 
 fered severely from the diminution of tithes,
 
 PREFACE. lxV 
 
 which occasioned a proportionate reduction 
 in the incomes of the bishoprics, canonries, 
 and benefices. In addition, the Cortes im- 
 posed an annual tax of twenty millions of 
 reals a-year on the secular clergy, which com- 
 pleted their distress. 
 
 By these, and acts of a similar nature, the 
 Cortes had completely alienated the clergy 
 and the nobles ; they now relied for support 
 upon two bodies, very differently constituted 
 and possessing very different pretensions —the 
 merchants and the military, who had unequi- 
 vocally pronounced themselves in their favour 
 from the earliest days of the revolution. The 
 same ill-judged attempt to carry into effect, 
 without any regard for the feelings of indivi- 
 duals or bodies affected, reforms which might 
 have been advisable under judicious limita- 
 tions, disgusted these most strenuous allies. 
 The pay of the troops was curtailed, the pen- 
 sions of officers diminished, and regiments re- 
 modelled without any attention to the wishes 
 or prejudices of the persons who composed 
 them. The famous insurrection that took
 
 lxvi PREFACE. 
 
 place at Madrid on the 7th of July, was chiefly 
 owing to an ill-timed attempt, on the part of 
 the Cortes, to rectify the imperfect organiza- 
 tion of the Royal Guards.* With delicate 
 
 * Notwithstanding the strong party spirit that prevailed, 
 the native generosity of the Spanish character was shown 
 in' the conduct which the Constitutionalists observed towards 
 the remnant of the unfortunate Guards. A Spanish noble, 
 who was at Madrid and beheld that sanguinary conflict, 
 assured me that, when the struggle was over, the wounded 
 of both parties were equally carried to the hospitals ; that 
 the distinctions between victor and vanquished, between 
 Royalist and Constitutionalist, were, for a moment, forgotten 
 in a generous feeling of compassion that formed a striking 
 contrast to the ferocity with which they carried on the civil war 
 in the Provinces. This insurrection was fatal to Spain, as it 
 extinguished the last hopes that were entertained from the 
 virtue and abilities of Martinez de la Rosa, who resigned 
 after these tumults. Had Spain been guided by such a 
 Minister from the commencement of the revolution, she 
 would probably have this day enjoyed the blessings of 
 Representative government. Although he had suffered an 
 unjust imprisonment of six years, he was actuated by no 
 desire of vengeance, at a time when he might have safely 
 indulged such feelings : towards the close of his admi- 
 nistration, he was not popular with the Court or the 
 people ; because, at a time when opinions were extreme, he 
 flattered the prejudices of neither party, but pursued a 
 manly, moderate, and disinterested course. Some of the 
 Constitutionalists behaved with generosity towards their 
 former enemies, but few, like Martinez de la Rosa, carried
 
 PREFACE. lxvii 
 
 management, this measure might have been 
 rendered less offensive to the feelings of those 
 haughty troops, who esteemed themselves, with 
 reason, the flower of the Spanish army; but 
 this rude attack on privileges, perhaps objection- 
 able, but long established, wounded their sense 
 of military honour, and for some days actually 
 endangered the safety of the state. The Cortes 
 should have proceeded with more caution in 
 any attempt to remodel the army : it is true, 
 the Spanish soldiery had in the first instance 
 proclaimed, and afterwards supported, the Con- 
 stitution; but it should have been remembered, 
 that under a despotic government all distinc- 
 tions centre in the military ; in a representa- 
 tive state, the army is little influential and be- 
 comes subordinate to the civil power ; and al- 
 though in a country like our own, where the 
 blessings of constitutional government have 
 been long enjoyed, the rights and feelings of 
 
 that moderation into their public conduct. There was a 
 party in the Cortes, though it was but feeble, that really 
 understood the principles of good government ; these persons 
 looked up to him as to a man who possessed sound practical 
 talents, and was guided by the purest motives.
 
 lxviii PREFACE. 
 
 the soldier and the citizen are in a great mea- 
 sure blended, very different sentiments might 
 be expected to prevail among a body of men, 
 that till then had formed a distinct class, in a 
 state where such blessings had not yet been felt, 
 and where political rights were still in their 
 infancy. 
 
 With the intention of promoting the esta- 
 blishment of home manufactures, and improv- 
 ing such as were already established, the Cortes 
 imposed heavy duties on many articles of fo- 
 reign merchandize upon which the nation had 
 depended for its principal supply.* But even 
 if capital could have been turned at once into 
 these channels, it would scarcely have been 
 possible, in a country where great difficulty 
 exists in the conveyance of articles used in the 
 manufactories from the want of canals and good 
 roads, where population is scanty, provisions 
 dear, and the rate of wages high, to compete 
 
 * I speak of the commercial regulations as they existed 
 when I was in Spain. I believe their rigour was abated 
 in 1823.
 
 PREFACE. lxix 
 
 with goods manufactured in countries where 
 the population is overflowing and the price of 
 labour cheap. In America, where speculation 
 is as bold as it is languid in Spain, the same 
 cause — the great expense of manual labour 
 — has prevented the establishment of manufac- 
 tories to any extent. Manufactures cannot be 
 forced into existence — they must be fostered 
 by circumstances favourable to their growth ; 
 and Spain was not so circumstanced, nor could 
 she have been for many years to come. The 
 Cortes had observed the spirit of those laws 
 that have long fettered the trade of Great 
 Britain, and supposed that her commercial 
 wealth had grown into its present importance, 
 not in spite of their operation, but in conse- 
 quence of that system of restriction ; and, while 
 they quoted and followed her example, they 
 did not perceive that she had already recog- 
 nised the mistaken policy of former times, that 
 she was slowly reverting to the principles 
 of free trade, and was gradually disencum- 
 bering herself of that artificial and compli- 
 cated system which they were labouring de 
 
 f
 
 lxx PREFACE. 
 
 novo to create. But whatever might have been 
 the remote effects of the restrictive system on 
 the manufactures of Spain, its immediate con- 
 sequences were ruinous indeed : it transferred, 
 as might be expected, a great part of the fo- 
 reign trade from the merchant to the smug- 
 gler; the mercantile interest was disgusted; the 
 revenue suffered materially from the loss of 
 the customs, at a moment when such loss was 
 irreparable ; while a host of freebooters, carry- 
 ing on their illegal traffic with impunity, op- 
 pressed the people, added another scourge to 
 the miseries of civil war, and completed the 
 distractions of that unfortunate time. 
 
 At the commencement of the revolution, a 
 portion of the middling class was attached 
 rather to the ancient mode of administration, 
 than to the existing Government, whose ca- 
 pricious policy had fatigued the most decided 
 supporters of arbitrary power : but principally 
 among this class was also to be found the 
 virtue, intelligence, and effective force, that 
 were enlisted on the side of the revolution. 
 The agricultural class, by far the most nume-
 
 PREFACE. lxxi 
 
 rous, and constituting the physical force of the 
 country, in the first instance rather passive 
 than averse, beheld in silence the change that 
 was operated in the Government : it was evident 
 that their future dispositions would be deter- 
 mined by the measures pursued by the Consti- 
 tutionalists ; had a character of compromise 
 and conciliation actuated their councils, a very 
 different spirit would have pervaded the pea- 
 santry, when the frontiers were menaced with 
 invasion and they were again invited to rally 
 round the national standard. The abolition of 
 the convents, and the treatment of the priest- 
 hood, changed their early indifference into ac- 
 tive hostility : besides the religious indigna- 
 tion that was excited by the unceremonious 
 suppression of establishments long considered 
 sacred, that measure was productive of exten- 
 sive misery. A considerable number of the 
 poorer classes (I have heard it estimated at up- 
 wards of 90,000) depended almost exclusively 
 on the charity of the monks for their daily 
 subsistence, and besieged the gates of the mo- 
 nasteries at stated hours : their suppression, 
 
 f 2
 
 lxxii PREFACE. 
 
 by suddenly depriving these persons of their 
 accustomed means of subsistence, let loose 
 upon society a host of discontented and dan- 
 gerous characters ; reduced to absolute want, 
 they took up arms against Government, and 
 resorted to the mountains, where they found 
 ready partisans in the peasantry, and able 
 counsellors and devoted leaders in an exas- 
 perated clergy. 
 
 These acts were followed by a measure 
 offensive in the last degree to the entire pea- 
 santry ; a measure uncalled for by any poli- 
 tical expediency, that has been little known 
 out of Spain, and whose practical ill effects 
 have been still less understood. The abolition 
 of the provincial privileges, and more espe- 
 cially the geographical subdivision of Spain, 
 may at first sight appear of trivial interest; 
 but whoever has resided in the provinces, and 
 observed the public mind, will form very dif- 
 ferent conclusions, and be surprised that a 
 Spanish legislature should betray such igno- 
 rance of Spanish feeling. 
 
 It was determined by the Cortes that Spain
 
 PREFACE. lxxiii 
 
 i 
 
 should be divided into smaller provinces or 
 departments, better calculated for the pur- 
 poses of local administration. The ancient pro- 
 vinces were superseded, and their very names 
 erased from the map of Spain. A complete 
 uniformity of political institutions may be de- 
 sirable, but is by no means necessary to the 
 establishment of civil freedom. In England 
 and in Scotland different systems of law pre- 
 vail, but the two people have not co-operated 
 less warmly ; the unity of action has not been 
 impeded, nor has the cause of liberty suffered, 
 although some local inconveniences may have 
 arisen from their different jurisprudence : but 
 when the Constitution was established in 1820. 
 few substantial rights were still existing in 
 the Spanish provinces; and, with some excep- 
 tions, the shadow of their privileges, rather 
 than the actual privileges, remained : but 
 a large portion of the nation clung to these 
 remains, which might have been safely con- 
 ceded by the Cortes ; such a mark of respect 
 would have flattered provincial pride, would 
 have disarmed their antagonists of one of
 
 lxxiv PREFACE. 
 
 A 
 
 their keenest weapons, and have gone tar in 
 attaching the people to their cause. At all 
 events, the ancient names of the provinces 
 should have been carefully, even ostentati- 
 ously, preserved ; names, and usages, and limits, 
 dear to the peasant, associated with the tradi- 
 tions of his fathers, connected with the memo- 
 rials of his childhood, and inseparably blended 
 with the haughtiest recollections of Spanish 
 glory and independence. In Madrid, and some 
 of the great towns, this measure was regarded 
 with comparative indifference; but throughout 
 the country the intelligence was received with 
 sorrow and indignation. The reasons alleged 
 for the subdivision of the provinces were 
 grounded on the inconvenience arising from 
 their unequal distribution; but probably the 
 secret motive of that determination arose from 
 a belief, that by confounding ancient limits, 
 and breaking down former attachments, they 
 would more rapidly obliterate the memory of 
 the old regime, and create new interests more 
 immediately connected with the Representative 
 system. The names of the principal squares
 
 PREFACE. 1XXV 
 
 or streets of every town or village throughout 
 Spain underwent alterations, and Constitutional 
 titles were affixed in the place of their patron 
 saints. These proceedings, apparently imma- 
 terial, acting upon a bigotted peasantry, pro- 
 duced serious irritation ; in these changes, they 
 beheld the Constitution not only opposed, but 
 preferred to their religion ; the clergy availed 
 themselves of this error, and the feelings of 
 the peasantry became more embittered, and 
 their hatred to the new institutions more in- 
 tense, from causes so trivial and absurd. Un- 
 fortunately, in the prosecution of these, as of 
 other measures, the Cortes followed the ex- 
 ample of republican France, without perceiv- 
 ing that the different state of society in that 
 country, and the dissimilarity of national cha- 
 racter, required a different policy : among the 
 French, there existed little attachment to old 
 institutions ; in Spain it is the ruling passion 
 of the people. Paris was the main-spring that 
 regulated the movements of the French re- 
 volution, and gave the impulse to the re- 
 motest corners of the kingdom. The strength
 
 1-XXvi PREFACE. 
 
 of the Spanish revolution resided in Madrid : 
 but its population was more divided in opi- 
 nion, and the moral influence of the capital 
 scarcely extended beyond its gates. Among 
 the peasantry in France, except in a few 
 provinces, little resistance was offered to the 
 republicans : in Spain, the rustic population 
 was for the most part animated with the 
 same passions and attachments as the people 
 of La Vendee; and the memory of that 
 eventful struggle should have shown the 
 Cortes the danger of offending local feeling, 
 or of interfering with names and limits en- 
 deared to the people by past recollections. 
 They proceeded on a mistaken principle : they 
 should have firmly but cautiously directed the 
 progress of free institutions ; they should not 
 have continually reminded the peasant of a 
 revolution, whose merits he could not appre- 
 ciate, and which his previous habits and mode 
 of thinking would naturally induce him to 
 regard with dislike : he should have discovered 
 that he was a freeman in the midst of a free 
 population, by the improvement of his own
 
 PREFACE. lxxvil 
 
 condition, and of all who were connected with 
 him. They should have written the Constitu- 
 tion, not on the squares of the city, but in 
 the hearts of the citizens : they should have 
 cherished these local attachments as the guar- 
 dian spirit of Spain; attachments that were 
 pure iii their origin, and noble in their results. 
 During the late Spanish war, the French had 
 no greater difficulty to contend with than this 
 provincial spirit. The panic that attends upon 
 victory, frequently stupefies a whole country, 
 and subjects it to the conqueror ; but, in Spain, 
 the ideal limits that separated their provinces 
 presented a real and efficient barrier : the sub- 
 mission of one province formed no precedent 
 for its neighbour, but stimulated it to acts of 
 greater heroism, to prove its decided superio- 
 rity ; in a country where this jealous and in- 
 dependent spirit in some degree compen- 
 sated for the deficiency of good discipline, 
 great victories became comparatively useless, 
 and the enemy were compelled to vanquish 
 town after town, and district after district, 
 before they could gain the mastery of public
 
 lxxviii PREFACE. 
 
 opinion, or triumph over the obstinate emu- 
 lation of the rival provinces. 
 
 The elevation of the old Spanish character is 
 still to be found in the peasant ; without the 
 enjoyment of civil freedom, he has retained an 
 upright independence that fits him for its re- 
 ception. It was not easy or desirable to eradi- 
 cate feelings which had been the growth of cen- 
 turies : the Cortes could not remodel the Spanish 
 character by an ideal standard of French per- 
 fection ; they had the richest materials to work 
 upon, and a just view of mankind would 
 have led them to adapt their measures to the 
 temper of the people ; they might lead, they 
 could not force, society to the level of their 
 institutions: they should have combined the 
 principles of liberty with the ancient forms 
 of the monarchy, and they would have wound 
 themselves into the hearts of the people, and 
 have given character and permanency to the 
 new institutions. 
 
 I have attempted to sketch the causes 
 that alienated the leading interests of Spain 
 from the government of the Cortes : in some
 
 PREFACE. lxxix 
 
 instances the failure of their reforms resulted 
 from defective principle ; but more frequently 
 from the injudicious moment selected for car- 
 rying them into effect, the unjust and clumsy 
 means by which they were effected, and the 
 contempt of circumstances that should regulate 
 the application of all general rules. Although 
 many of the evils that had afflicted Spain be- 
 fore the changes in 1820, were aggravated du- 
 ring the three years that the Constitution exist- 
 ed, and others had grown out of actual circum- 
 stances, it is but fair to add, that the policy of the 
 Cortes appears to its greatest disadvantage, if we 
 only judge of it by the suffering state of the peo- 
 ple, while they were passing through the fiery 
 ordeal of revolution : all the mischiefs that had 
 resulted from a headlong attack on old interests 
 had manifested themselves on every point, and 
 sometimes indirectly affected the country in a 
 manner that had been little expected, while the 
 benefits that might have arisen from the re- 
 moval of restrictions injurious to the happiness 
 and freedom of the people, had not yet begun 
 to operate. While I was in Spain, the Cortes
 
 1XXX PREFACE. 
 
 were engaged in the formation of a new code 
 of laws, distinguished by the same spirit of 
 over-legislation that characterized all their pro- 
 ceedings, but which might eventually have 
 led to an improved system of jurisprudence : 
 the corrupt administration of justice, and the 
 inefficiency of the police, were evils daily 
 felt ; the correction of these abuses would 
 have been an inestimable benefit to the coun- 
 try. The decrees that qualified reprisals in 
 war, that placed the persons and properties of 
 strangers under the special protection of Go- 
 vernment, and the recognition of the old debt 
 of Spain, for which the former administrations 
 had ceased to pay interest, are acts that reflect 
 honour on the Cortes ; but the policy which 
 they pursued towards their South American 
 states had a very different character. 
 
 The resistance which they manifested abroad 
 to the growth of principles which they were 
 advocating at home, threw a deep shade over 
 the sincerity of their opinions. The revolu- 
 tion brought with it that fortunate crisis, 
 when, justified by principles which themselves
 
 PREFACE. lxXXi 
 
 had established, Spanish pride might have 
 stooped without humiliation, and yielded with 
 dignity what it could no longer retain; but, 
 with a strange obstinacy of purpose and in- 
 efficiency of means, the Spaniards threw away 
 the opportunity of securing those political 
 interests and commercial advantages, which 
 respect and gratitude and old connexions 
 would still have maintained in their favour, 
 under the vain belief that they might yet 
 recover the dominion of provinces, whose in- 
 terests had become too opposed to theirs, and 
 whose population had grown too powerful and 
 enlightened to acknowledge any longer the 
 claims of a distant legislature. Unable to ren- 
 der their power respected thirty miles from 
 Madrid, the Cortes protracted an unavailing 
 contest with the liberties of a country, where 
 freedom was appreciated, not as in Spain, by a 
 few zealous supporters of abstract principles, 
 but by every individual who had tasted the 
 solid advantages which it secured to him, by the 
 establishment of a freer trade, the growth of 
 commercial enterprize, and by increased com-
 
 lxxxii PREFACE. 
 
 forts and diminished prices. Where the founda- 
 tions of liberty rest on the daily comforts of 
 the people, the superstructure will be of ada- 
 mant, and all calculations of the success to be 
 expected from superior numbers and better dis- 
 cipline arrayed against it, are illusive: such were 
 its foundations in Spanish America ; but in the 
 mother-country few feelings were enlisted in 
 favour of the Constitution, and few comforts 
 secured by its establishment. 
 
 During the time that I was in Spain, a sen- 
 sible change took place in public opinion : feel- 
 ings became more exasperated, the Royalists 
 and the ultra-Constitutionalists became mu- 
 tually more powerful, while the party that 
 had held the balance, and controlled the ex- 
 cesses of both, declined in numbers and in- 
 fluence. Many, who had been friendly to 
 moderate measures, began to suspect that the 
 Constitution was no longer tenable, and enlisted 
 with either of the prevailing parties, as they 
 were influenced by their interests, their connex- 
 ions, their passions, or their prejudices. Some, 
 for the first time, looked forward to a republic
 
 PREFACE. lxxxiii 
 
 as the only guarantee against the return of a 
 system which they detested; while others, whose 
 persons were endangered, and whose properties 
 suffered by the partial acts of the Cortes, in a 
 grievous sense of present evil, remembered with 
 regret the tranquil despotism of the preceding 
 Government. In the heat of civil war, the con- 
 vulsed districts presented a picture, such as per- 
 haps has never been paralleled. The Constitu- 
 tional forces consisted of the local militias and 
 regular corps — some compromised by their poli- 
 tical conduct, others sincerely attached to the 
 Constitution, — all intoxicated with the restless 
 spirit of the time. On the other hand, the army 
 of the Faith presented all the fanaticism and 
 credulous belief of the middle ages, combined 
 with high but irregular notions of honour, and 
 an exaggerated but chivalrous devotion to the 
 Crown. When I left Spain, it laboured under 
 the united evils of a ruined treasury, a power- 
 less executive, wasting its last resources in a civil 
 contest from whose success no advantages could 
 be reaped, where victory, though a diminished, 
 was still a positive evil, increasing disunion with
 
 lxxxiv 
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 other Governments, and a foreign army gathering 
 on the frontiers : such was the gloomy picture 
 which Spain presented in 1822. Since that 
 time every trace of the Constitutional system 
 has vanished, and the night of despotism has 
 returned more heavy than before. — Such was the 
 close of a revolution that, under happier aus- 
 pices, might have secured to Spain the enjoy- 
 ment of free institutions, have set an example 
 of moderation to the states that adopted her 
 policy, and advanced the liberties of mankind. 
 
 #{Miffa£ c 
 
 /, 
 
 >& 
 
   

 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 g
 
 When the first part of the Introduction was written, the French 
 army was ranged along the Spanish frontiers, but hostilities had 
 not yet commenced. The last part was composed in 1823, on my 
 return to England from the Continent, where I had resided almost 
 entirely for some years.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Farewell ! dark heights of Irun ! first and last 
 
 Beheld of Spain's sierras ; — he has past, 
 
 The stranger, from your chestnut-cover'd side : 
 
 Roll, Bidassoa ! roll your ceaseless tide, 
 
 With peaceful wave two jarring realms divide ; — 
 
 All tranquil now, but in prophetic eye 
 
 The impending terrors of the storm are nigh ; 
 
 And o'er yon fated waves can boding ear 
 
 The dreadful cannon's deep'ning echoes hear. 
 
 Farewell ! my bark is gliding fast from thee : 
 
 When next we meet, how shall our meeting be, 
 
 Land of dark-glancing Maids and struggling Chivalry ? 
 
 Oh ! in the fierce unpitying strife that now 
 With civil carnage stains thy beauteous brow, 
 
 g2
 
 lxxxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 How many a dauntless spirit ere that day 
 
 The statute and the sword shall sweep away ! 
 
 Unfold thy fearful page, Genius of Spain ! 
 
 If e'er we meet, how shall we meet again ? 
 
 For I have dwelt your latticed halls among, 
 
 Have ranged your Alameda paths along, „ 
 
 Your warriors known, and loved your maidens'' song ; 
 
 Have listed to the heroic deeds of old, 
 
 Sang in lost lay and in tradition told, 
 
 And seen them wake again ; and I have been 
 
 "'Mid every savage, every softer scene; 
 
 And oft, in rocky hold, "mid peasant band, 
 
 Have scatheless stood when rapine ruled the land ; 
 
 Wrapt in my plaid, beside the fitful flame 
 
 That flasli'd athwart their proud and martial frame, 
 
 As fearlessly have couclv'd my wearied head, 
 
 As though my Father's roof was o'er me spread ; 
 
 Secure, the spirits that around me stood 
 
 Had scorned to shed the trusting stranger's blood, 
 
 To win the brightest of that golden slave 
 
 That prompts the base and makes the coward brave.
 
 INTRODUCTION. IxXXlX 
 
 Then say not Spain's exalted chivalry 
 Is dead — that high-born spirit cannot die ! 
 It dwells not with the scheming lords of earth- 
 It is of heavenly and immortal birth ! 
 
 Nor less secure, in fiery faction's day, 
 'Mid Lorca's ancient towers I bent my way, 
 And slow and thoughtful traced the silent scene 
 Where recent murder's arm had ruthless been : 
 Light shone her palaces, her gardens fair, 
 Her fortress-flag was streaming in the air ; — 
 All spoke of man, and all, save man, was there ; 
 But seem'd as Azrael, on destroying blast, 
 Had nightly o'er a destined people past, 
 And left one mighty city of the dead. 
 How horribly distinct mine echoed tread ! 
 Save that alone, upon this awe-struck ear 
 There came no human note of joy or fear, 
 All was so voiceless, desolate, and drear. 
 
 And still as safe, high o'er the scene of blood, 
 Amid the rugged sons of war I stood,
 
 XC INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When frantic woman call'd on Heaven foi aid, 
 
 When saint and prophet preach 'd the wild crusade, 
 
 And swelPd the mountaineers 1 fanatic cry, 
 
 " To arms for God !" and came the fierce reply 
 
 In Freedom's name, while hill and valley knew 
 
 The sacred Cross, and wide the Royal standard flew. 
 
 Then when I heard the cannon's crashing sound 
 
 Deal its tremendous note of death around, 
 
 And viewM, astonish'd, from the mountain height, 
 
 On rolling in her dark collected might, 
 
 All Catalonia gathering to the fight — 
 
 I say, my bosom heaved with stern delight. 
 
 Far o'er the assembled war I bent mine eye, 
 
 Where Vilia laughM beneath the southern sky ; 
 
 And yet, ere darken'd that avenging day, 
 
 Her towers — her sons — her name had pass'd away ! 
 
 Ye Chiefs ! who, loyal, brave, and true, in vain 
 
 Devoted fell on Vilia 1 s fatal plain ; 
 
 Can ceaseless prayers or masses wash away 
 
 The tears, the shame, the slaughter of that day ? 
 
 And ye stern conquerors of an useless fray !
 
 INTRODUCTION. XCl 
 
 Vain is your triumph o'er the murderous fight, 
 Vain are your burning feuds — unite ! unite ! 
 While hope is yet, and freedom's ling' 1 ring light 
 Gleams on one mountain-top : — the night is near 
 When both shall bend beneath the oppressor's spear. 
 
 Then struggling with the weight of various woes, 
 
 Even in this mortal crisis of thy throes, 
 
 Farewell ! — and thou, sad sunken Italy i 
 
 That would, yet hath not spirit to be free ; — 
 
 Still better loved and lovelier in thy day 
 
 Of funeral desolation and decay, 
 
 Than when in sovereign Rome's meridian hour 
 
 Kings craved alliance, kingdoms own'd thy power, 
 
 Proud at thy feet their vassal wealth to bring, 
 
 And crouch beneath the shadow of thy wing. 
 
 And France, farewell ! From blue-eyed Normandy, 
 
 To the dark children of the Pyrenee, 
 
 Where yon rude serf on Biscay's cloud-girt shore 
 
 Looks the interminable ocean o'er, 
 
 And hears in storms the loud Atlantic roar. 
 
 To where a waveless sea in gentle flow 
 
 Breaks on the sunny cliffs of Monaco,
 
 Xcii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My step hath been. And thou, whose airy hall 
 Can still so much of youth and joy recall, 
 And grief, — light-hearted city of the Gaul,* 
 Farewell ! a long, a late adieu to thee, 
 That, earliest known, wert all the world to me. 
 
 And thou, farewell ! my friend, whose constant mind 
 
 In grief was patient, and in pain resign'd : 
 
 Disease slow wore the vigorous frame away, 
 
 It could not taint the immortal with decay. 
 
 Fair Nice, thy beauties soothed, they could not save ; 
 
 The land he cherishM holds his honour'd grave. 
 
 When sinks my light of life, as pure a ray 
 
 Gild the cold evening of my stormy day ; 
 
 Like thee esteem'd, like thee beloved, my friend, 
 
 May kindred blessings on my grave descend, 
 
 My course as guiltless and as calm mine end ! 
 
 Again the smiling scenes his presence knew, 
 The distant landscape swells to memory's view, 
 Skies ever cloudless, ocean ever blue : 
 
 * Paris.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XC111 
 
 The lonely tower that closed the silent bay, 
 Shines yet reflected in the setting ray ; 
 I mark the silver beach, the starlight main, 
 I hail the murmurs of the deep again ; 
 The moon is bright on Estrelle's hills afar, 
 She sleeps upon the olive banks of Var, 
 And gilds my quiet home, Castelinar. 
 
 But, lo ! a busier scene, the louder roar 
 Of ocean dashing on my native shore ! 
 Now joyous spirits hail the advancing land, 
 And joyous tones respond : o'er the known strand 
 Crowd many a welcome, many a kindred band. 
 And wilt thou, long-deserted Albion, hail 
 Thy faithless wanderer's home-returning sail ? 
 Though absent now a strange eventful time, 
 And grown to manhood in a foreign clime, 
 Your ruder sports shall chase the thought away 
 Of lovelier lands and more unclouded day ; 
 Then, with your torrents rushing deep and clear, 
 Ye woods that love the hunter's horn to hear, 
 
 fa
 
 xciv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My native hills, dark coverts of the deer, 
 Land early loved and left for years in vain, 
 Forffive, and take me to thine arms again I
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 
 
 Not poppy, nor mandragora, 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
 Which thou hadst yesterday. 
 
 Shakspeare.
 
 The first eighty lines of this Canto are intended to express the re- 
 flections naturally excited by a view of Granada and its celebrated plain, 
 as seen by the Author in a farewell visit to the Alhambra, on an even- 
 ing of extreme beauty, the last he spent in that city. The scene of the 
 remaining part of this Canto is laid in the immediate vicinity of the 
 Generalife, an ancient palace of the Kings, but more especially of the 
 Queens, of Granada ; from which circumstance the neighbouring 
 grounds were formerly known by the name of Sultana, and became the 
 resort of many of the leading families. The imagery which he has 
 introduced, in his description of a Moorish garden, was suggested in 
 some degree by the luxuriant vegetation near the Moorish palace at 
 Seville, but chiefly by the gardens of the Generalife, which he has fixed 
 upon as the scene of Hassan's soliloquy. He inserts the following 
 eloquent description of that beautiful ruin by a French writer ; it will 
 convey to his readers some idea of its present state : — 
 
 " En sortant de l'Alhambra, Ton distingue, sur une montagne, le 
 fameux jardin du Generalif, dont le nom veut dire la maison d'amour. 
 Dans ce jardin Ton voyait un palais ou les rois de Grenade venaient passer 
 le printemps. II etait bati dans le meme genre que l'Alhambra ; la mgme 
 magnificence s'y remarquait. II est detruit aujourd'hui ; mais ce qu'on 
 ne peut se laisser d'admirer encore dans le Generalif, c'est sa situation 
 pittoresque, ce sont ses points de vue varies et toujours charmans : les 
 fontaines, les jets d'eau, les cascades, jaillissent, tombent de toutes parts. 
 Les terrasses en amphitheatre, pavees de debris de mosaique, sont om- 
 bragees de cypres immenses, de vieux myrtes, qui ont prete leurs ombres 
 aux rois, aux reines de Grenade. De leur temps, des bosquets fleuris, 
 des forets, d'arbres fruitiers, s'entremelaient aux bocages sombres, aux 
 domes, aux pavilions. Aujourd'hui le Generalif n'a conserve que ce 
 qu'on n'a pu lui ravir ; et c'est encore le lieu de la terre qui parle le 
 plus aux yeux et au cceur."
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 
 
 The sun is low, the eve is bright and still, 
 The breeze comes soft and sad o'er Santa's hill ; 
 King of the waste, Elvira's giant height 
 Swells yet more bold — one purple throne of light ; 
 O'er the pale mantle of Nevada's snows 
 The waning orb its level glory throws. 
 Where lone Alhambra rears her mountain brow 
 And Daro rolls his rushing flood below, 
 His long farewell the northern stranger pays, 
 Yet, loth to leave, with lingering step delays ; 
 For, oh! Granada, though thy better day 
 Has sunk in night, as sinks yon setting ray, 
 Bright as of yore Heaven's cloudless glories shine 
 On falling battlement and ruin'd shrine, 
 
 b 2
 
 4 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 On broken bower and fountain, fig-crown d walls, 
 Fair terraces, light domes, and magic halls. 
 
 Still are those halls, where round th 1 enthroned King 
 Stood martial pomp in honours courtly ring ; 
 Where blithe of heart Granada's turban d fair, 
 With dark descending veil and streaming -hair, 
 In groups of bounding beauty graced the scene, 
 Or light and lovely clustered round their Queen; 
 While the full chorus swelFd, the lamps beam'd bright, 
 And festive pleasure chased the rolling night. 
 
 Land of the brave! where all that's great and good 
 With maddening passion join'd in strangest mood. 
 Here toss'd on trackless sea, uncertain Man 
 His varying course of crime and honour ran ; 
 Mix'd headlong rage with spirit fair and free, 
 And quenchless hate with generous courtesy. 
 Here Heaven unclouded, here a fiery creed, 
 Bade full of hope the stern enthusiast bleed; 
 While burning eloquence and martial song 
 To frantic fury rous'd the ungovern'd throng,
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 5 
 
 And bade their changing souls alternate thrill 
 
 To schemes of lofty good or daring ill. 
 
 And now, though vanished from yon peaceful banks 
 
 The turban d glories of the faithful ranks, 
 
 Hush'd the dread murmurs of their marshalTd might, 
 
 Mute the deep trump that woke the soul of fight, 
 
 Still gently sounds 'mid quivering poplars'* shade 
 
 The low-breath'd vow, the nightly serenade, 
 
 The light guitar, the song of southern maid ; 
 
 And now and ever from that lonely shore 
 
 Comes Xenix's voice, and Daro's mingling roar. 
 
 When falls some King with martial trophies proud, 
 Near and more near the sons of Honour crowd, 
 Still circling strive to save the sinking throne, 
 Mark the last glance, and catch the dying tone ; 
 The latest word of Empire whisper'd round, 
 Chief bears to chief his Lord's expiring sound: — 
 So sinks yon King of day on Glory's bed ; 
 So gathering clouds with borrow'd brightness red 
 Drink his last beams, reflect his ebbing light, 
 Bear his last summons to the mountain height;
 
 6 THE MOOR. CANTO. I. 
 
 O'er the rich plain his parting splendours throw, 
 
 And pour o'er crag and stream his crimson glow. 
 
 So fell with falling Empire's closing ray 
 
 'Mid skies of deeper hue the final day 
 
 That crown'd Abdallah held imperial sway ; 
 
 As on these towers his latest look he cast, 
 
 And thrill'd with anguish as he look'd his last, 
 
 Wept o'er the realms he ruled with sovereign pride, 
 
 Yet lived an exile when the monarch died, 
 
 His high-soul'd mother sternly bade him know 
 
 It ill became him, with a woman's woe 
 
 To mourn o'er lost Granada's living grave — 
 
 The throne he knew not like a King to save. 
 
 Yet o'er those fields in hard-debated strife 
 Nor Moor nor Spaniard gave or heeded life. 
 There step by step on all that ravaged plain 
 Thy sons, devoted Ismael, strove in vain ; 
 Firm to their narrowing posts with ardour clung, 
 Fierce on the foe with desperate sally sprung, 
 And died as die the brave : — on Daro's shore 
 The golden glories of thy rule are o'er ;
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 
 
 And ne'er shall Allah heed the Paynim prayer 
 To raise the mosque or plant the crescent there, 
 Restore yon desert waste a peopled plain, 
 Or give Granada to the Moor again. 
 
 Yet still the Moor on Afric's burning strand 
 
 With fiery glance surveys his father's land, 
 
 In each low murmur hears the call divine, 
 
 In every cloud beholds the appointed sign, 
 
 With rapture waits the glory-dawning ray, 
 
 With ceaseless watch by night and prayer by day. 
 
 Far other hope the Moslem's, on that night 
 
 When lived Sultana's lattices in light; 
 
 Gay minarets rose her tinted domes among, 
 
 Her thousand palaces like gems were strung 
 
 From palm-clad Albaycin to Daro's shore, 
 
 With citron grove and cedar cover'd o'er ; 
 
 All wreck'd beneath the giant step of time 
 
 Save what it could not steal — thy glorious clime ! 
 
 Faint breaks the memory of that distant day 
 
 When 'mid those bowers of deathless bloom, his way
 
 8 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 The dark-brow'd warrior took ; no more he sped, 
 Blithe heart and flashing eye and tameless tread ; 
 That glance is dim, that heart has ceased to bound — 
 His step so slow and heavy that the ground 
 Seems to return its dull and measured sound ; 
 Yet might his mail proclaim that strife was nigh, 
 But for the drooping mien and sunken eye: 
 Why shines the leader's badge on brow so young ? 
 Of what high rule and lofty lineage sprung ? 
 
 Oh ! by yon emblem graven on his breast 
 And Sleeping Lion sparkling on his crest, 
 By Afric's sable mantle o'er him thrown, 
 Is Hassan, Lord of Almoradi, known ; 
 Profuse of gems his hilt of burnislVd blade, 
 And dagger's point in belted scarf were laid ; 
 That scarf, so fairly framed and richly wove, 
 Show'd it was fashion'd by the hand of Love ; 
 While in gay courtesy his turban knew 
 That pledge of constant faith the violet blue ; 1 
 Then why glooms Hassan's brow ? say, can he fear 
 The trial hour when adverse hosts career ?
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 9 
 
 No ! he has borne o'er many a fiery field 
 The stainless Lion on his sable shield ; 
 Yet softer ties assert their parting power — 
 And now he seeks his Zaira's latticed bower. 
 
 Lovely it rose in evening's loveliest light ; 
 
 Gleam'd all the dome with gold and azure bright; 
 
 Bright traceried o'er each arch, luxuriant rose 
 
 Each flower of earth, each tint the rainbow knows, 
 
 Of hue so glowing, form so slight and fair, 
 
 You scarcely deem'd man's ruder touch was there, 
 
 But wondering held that fays had framed the scene, 
 
 And she who slumber'd there, the fairy Queen. 
 
 How verdant, seen in shade of forest tree, 
 
 Earth shows her flower-enameli'd canopy ; 
 
 But the young deer, beneath its branches spread, 
 
 Shames the gay glories of his grassy bed : 
 
 Ev'n so that couch of splendour, though it knew 
 
 Each grace of art and every richer hue, 
 
 Though sapphire's beams with emerald's blaze combined. 
 
 Yet lovelier was the form that there reclined ;
 
 10 THE MOOK. CANTO I. 
 
 Her gentle head on gilded cushion prest, 
 Her eyelids seal'd in momentary rest. 
 
 Say, hast thou mark'd along the quiet deep 
 
 In one rich line a gleam of moonlight sleep ? 
 
 So still, so pale, and beautiful she lay, 
 
 While regularly low her bosom's play 
 
 Was faint as ocean's heave in stillest day. — 
 
 Through its thin shroud hast traced the mountain head 
 
 When morning mists their spangled gauze have spread ? 
 
 So the light veil descending to the knee 
 
 Robed her fair form, but show'd its symmetry. — 
 
 Say too, 'mid foaming torrent hast thou seen 
 
 Some islet rock whose mossy knoll of green 
 
 Beacons the breaking waves, that circling stray 
 
 And round its base in thousand eddies play ? 
 
 Oh yet more beautiful to gazer's view 
 
 O'er her young brow the turban's verdant hue 
 
 Rose gaily crested, while in sport unbound 
 
 In reckless tides her ringlets stream'd around, 
 
 With raven curls on neck of ivory fell, 
 
 Veil'd her light lids still seal'd in slumber's spell,
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 11 
 
 And floating wildly, strove in vain to hide 
 The glistening bosom, and the pure blue tide 
 That on its couch of marble seemM to glow, 
 Like violets scattered o'er a bed of snow. 
 
 Sinks she to rest out wearied by the sun, 
 Whose mighty course of cloudless honour run, 
 Like giant charmed by beauty, stays to throw 
 CTer tower and latticed frame its fading glow ? 
 Or is she soothed to slumber by the sound 
 Of Heaven's delighted warblers, as they bound 
 From heath to myrtle, while her senses close, 
 By such glad murmur lulFd to light repose ? 
 Say, does that strain, yon fountain's ceaseless song. 
 Or Ind's perfumes the pleasing trance prolong ? 
 Careless she seems in tranquil mood to lie — 
 Yet pain has sunk to sleep her wearied eye ; 
 Some few brief hours and joy was in her breast ; 
 Then pleasure-gilded dreams had soothed her rest ; 
 Then she had deenVd that fount, that strain to hear, 
 Or voice more loved had mingled in her ear.
 
 12 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 Bat fierce at morn the overmastering struggle came, 
 Shook every nerve, unstrung her fragile frame ; 
 Till slumber, joyless as the sleep of death 
 Has seal'd her lids and lent a calmer breath. 
 In sorrow's brief forgetfulness reclined, 
 How heavy is such sleeper's mood of mind ; 
 Yet, oh, 'tis peaceful to that dreary hour 
 When consciousness resumes her bitter power ; 
 Oh, at that time return with deepest chill 
 The buried pang, forgotten sense of ill ; 
 The fever'd feelings life and thought renew, 
 The deed, nor time, nor penance can undo ; 
 The upbraiding heart, the tear no morrow dries, 
 All we wovdd fain forget, at once arise, 
 And all thy train, unkind reality, 
 Revives and mingles in the heavy sigh. 
 
 But lo ! what sound that death-like slumber breaks ? 
 Tis Hassan's step and voice, and Zaira Avakes. 
 I Ve seen from crag to crag the streamlet flow 
 And leap impatient to its bed below ;
 
 CANTO I. THE PAItTING. 13 
 
 And when its wave had caught the surfs bright ray 
 
 How fair a flash it sent to upper day ; 
 
 Such and so fleet she springs to Hassan's side, 
 
 As keen a glance she flings o'er Hassan's pride. 
 ' Accursed armour ! well that sight of fear 
 ' Tells all I ask, shows all I dread to hear ; 
 ' My power so humbled, and thy love so low, 
 ' That I whose every hope and joy and woe 
 ' Centers in thee, unheeded kneel to pray 
 ' Love's first and last repeated boon — to stay. 
 ' Why frowns the helmet on that brow of gloom ? 
 ' My bower of sunshine loathes the martial plume. 
 ' Come near, my Hassan, let this faithful hand 
 ' Unbind thy casque and doff that hated brand ; 
 1 And casting the dread signs of war away 
 ' Restore the sunny hours of yesterday. 
 ' In this free hall as freely shalt thou rest, 
 ' Mine heart adoring to thy bosom prest, 
 ' So thou wilt stav." n 
 
 " Nay, clear that tearful brow, 
 " Earth holds no form so fondly loved as thou ;
 
 14 THE MOOH. CANTO I. 
 
 " Few days shall dawn ere thou, my gentlest friend, 
 " Shall doff my sword, my frowning helm unbend ; 
 " And in this latticed hall thy silver strain 
 " Shall make thy Hassan's spirit glad again." 
 
 " Oh, never ! — Hast thou mark'd the Autumn wind 
 
 " Take the light branch and leave the stem behind ? 
 
 " The ruin'd stem in barren grandeur grows, 
 
 " The branch is hurried where the wild wind blows ; 
 
 " Ev'n so we part but never meet again, 
 
 " And thou hast loved and I am lost in vain ! 
 
 " No morn shall bid me with delighted ear 
 
 " Hear his loved voice and tremble as I hear ; 
 
 "In that dark eye unchang'd affection trace, 
 
 " And fold his form in rapture's wild embrace." 
 
 " Enough— let maiden heart such terrors prove, 
 " Be thine a nobler trust in Hassan's love ; 
 " To-night we part, some happier eve shall raise 
 " Joy's festive song, and wake the welcome blaze. 
 " Such idle—"
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 15 
 
 " I talk not idly, hear and cease 
 ' To breathe farewell and yet to murmur peace. 
 ' Fades every tint that Hope's gay colouring slied ; 
 ' Youth's joyous vision, golden Love, is dead. 
 ' The impassive pine may tower o'er mountain snows, 
 ' Nor ask his beam who life and joy bestows ; 
 ' The burning sunflower wakes in cloudless day, 
 ' Glows in its glance and dies without its ray ; 
 ' And oh ! so lifeless would thy Zaira be 
 ' 'Reft of that sun, that all she loves, in thee. 
 ' The welcome blaze ! I light my lamp no more ; 
 ' The beacon gleams not for a desert shore. 
 ' In better days when peaceful twilight came 
 ' In this high tower, I raised the gentle flame, 
 ' And Hassan knew the warm and welcome ray 
 1 That love's young torch had lit to cheer his way ; 
 ' And I when that delighted hour drew nigh, 
 ' God ! how this throbbing pulse of hope beat high ; 
 ' His form to mark, his coming tread to hear, 
 ' Light to mine eye and music to mine ear. 
 ' Come then, again mine evening steps attend, 
 Be all in all, my lover, guide, and friend ;
 
 l(j THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 " Teach, as of late, my mounting thoughts to stray 
 
 " Through each far world and read the heavenly way ; 
 
 " Teach me to know, while kindling skies unfold 
 
 " In one dread blaze their canopy of gold, 
 
 " Each spangled orb with trembling glory bright, 
 
 " And catch entranced its scintillating light. 
 
 " Oh in that hour when wearied life is still, 
 
 " The palace silent as the lonely hill ; 
 
 " When death seems gather d o'er the unbroken deep 
 
 " And all the breathing world is hush'd in sleep ; 
 
 " Oh ! in such hour our spirits rose above 
 
 " This humbler earth, and joinU in loftier love ; 
 
 " Love, o-lowing love, which virtue would controul, 
 
 " But vainly wrestles with that bliss of soul ; 
 
 " Love such as sacred honour would conceal, 
 
 " But burning blushes, blinding tears reveal. 
 
 " Yet was I innocent till Hassan came, 
 
 " Breathed the soft tale and woke the undying flame, 
 
 " Clad each dull form in fancy's colouring bright, 
 
 " Shed o'er my soul a new and lovelier light,
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 17 
 
 " 'Till this wild being changed and desperate grown 
 
 " Fix'd its fond hope and fix'd on him alone ; 
 
 " For him I lost the bosom light of care, 
 
 " Smiles pure as those which blessed angels wear ; 
 
 " For him my cheek's bright bloom, my birth's high name, 
 
 " And dearer still to honour, spotless fame. 
 
 " Enough — now, Hassan, gloomier tidings hear, 
 " They shall plant daggers in thy startled ear. 
 " Last night a Tartar came, and tidings brought 
 " To fire thy cheek and fix thy changing thought ; 
 " Thy honoured Lord, it pleased my sire to say, 
 " Thy Hamet shall be here ere Bairam day. 
 " I heard in silence, but with frenzy heard 
 " All my mind dreads in that accursed word. 
 " Say, shall I then a bounden victim wait 
 " To hear his bugle at the answering gate ? 
 " How shall my soul his rapid glance withstand, 
 " Or his warm clasp my chill'd and lifeless hand ? 
 " Slow from these lips the heart's kind speech would part, 
 " The eye's gay welcome shame that broken heart ; 
 
 c
 
 a 
 
 n 
 
 u 
 
 18 THE MOOK. CANTO I. 
 
 " My Lord is come, the revel feast prepare, 
 " In joy's wild hurry drown the soul's despair, 
 
 Crown the red goblet, bid the light dance bound, 
 
 The lamps be bright, the merry music sound ; 
 
 Enough — I loved the festal blaze and song; 
 
 Why now the strain of vanish , d joy prolong ? 
 " For thee I gave— nor grieve me to have given — 
 " Man's fair opinion and my hopes of Heaven : 
 " When sets that light of life, I cease to live ; 
 " To mirth or Hamet what have I to give? 11 
 
 " Nay, summer years sit lightly on thy brow, 
 
 " And what has one so beautiful as thou 
 
 " To do with death ? but, since the storm draws nigh 
 
 " Which I might brave, but thou must fear and fly, 
 
 " A deeper counsel lies; each chief of name 
 
 " Summons his vassals to the field of fame ; 
 
 " The warlike march begins; the bugle sounds, 
 
 " The charger knows the fiery blast, and bounds ; 
 
 " God of our Fathers ! is the Christian's cry, 
 
 " No God but God the faithful bands reply; 
 
 " If victors, Empire, Houris if we die.
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 19 
 
 " Their fronted ranks but wait the signal breath ; 
 " They madden for the imparting grasp of death ; 
 " They chafe as torrent chafes its narrow shores; 
 " One moment — and the echoing thunder roars. 
 " Such must awhile be Hassan's warrior life ; 
 " But, oh ! unfit for scenes of martial strife, 
 " Pinar 2 shall hold thee safe from fierce alarms, 
 " Till Peace restore thee to my longing arms ! " 
 
 " Oh ! bless thee for that word ; alike to me 
 
 " The lake's calm ripple, or the swelling sea : 
 
 " Near thee unshrinkingly my bosom dares 
 
 " Where the steel glistens or the lightning glares. 1 ' 
 
 " Then list thee, Zaira : when yon moon rides high, 
 " And evening stars are bright, the hour is nigh ; 
 " Guard lest that busy fiend Suspicion trace 
 " Or fear or anguish in thy changing face ; 
 " O'er thy fair form the mantling fold be spread, 
 " The love-given veil he loosely on thy head, 
 " Take the guitar that thou wast wont to take, 
 ' Make the wild music I have heard thee make, 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 " But quick thy step to yon embowering grove 
 
 " Where once we paid our earliest vows of love ; 
 
 " Where her faint shade the young acacia throws, 
 
 " And soft at eve thy magic strain arose ; 
 
 " Haste to that blissful bower, where ne'er again 
 
 " Shall Zaira tune, or Hassan hear the strain ; 
 
 " My raven steed shall bear my love away, 
 
 " And Heaven must guard us through the desperate day. 
 
 "But now time presses ; — for an hour we part — 
 
 " Then part no more. 11 
 
 " O my presaging heart! 
 " When Hassan spoke of promised bliss before, 
 " In solitude I comfd the lesson o'er ; 
 " But now the dreadful thought— we meet no more — 
 " Is heavy at my heart ; my Lord, my love, 
 " All-powerful Allah in yon realms above 
 " Beholds invisible our orb below, 
 " And hears and registers each faithless vow; 
 " In the last light of his created rays, 
 " Here in the scene of our delighted days,
 
 CANTO I. THE PAItTING. 21 
 
 " Here on the volume that with saving might 
 " Came full of glory on that wondrous night, 3 
 " Swear thou wilt never wend thee to the fight, 
 " Till "mid thy train and at thy side I be — 
 " Where'er thou wilt, I care not if with thee. 
 " Love bursts all barriers — dare not, do not go— 
 " If doubt is in thy thoughts, they little know 
 " The firmness of my soul ; thou wilt not part 
 " Alone; — swear it to this distracted heart, 
 " That, once betray'd, shall never hope again, 
 " But lost alike to pleasure or to pain, 
 " To doom most welcome down life's cheerless tide 
 " Sink unresisting; — swear" — 
 
 " I swear," he cried. 
 Oh ! what a harvest of remorse and woe 
 That broken faith must teach his heart to know ! 
 
 Heaven's fires are waning from th 1 aethereal plain, 
 The moon's cold orb has risen and sunk again; 
 Fade those thick clustering worlds, whose gather'd ray 
 Men call in Fancy's phrase the Milky Way;
 
 22 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 For each invisible— yet all so bright, 
 
 That arching o'er the heavens with circling light, 
 
 As graceful, yet as faintly traced, they shone 
 
 As shines round beauty's form th 1 entwined zone. 
 
 The umelseen's 4 complaining note was still, 
 
 For early morning glimmer'd on the hill ; 
 
 Tinged the gay-colour'd minaret, kiss'd the wave 
 
 That loves Sultana's marble fount to lave, 
 
 And still with playful sweep and ceaseless sound 
 
 Now springs in air, now bathes the enamell'd ground. 
 
 Yes, sweet Elysium, in such doubtful hour 
 
 Undying beauty reign'd with soften'd power ; 
 
 Then the deep orange spread his fervid hue, 
 
 And paler tint the graceful citron knew ; 
 
 Her fairy fruit like globes of crystal bright, 
 
 Half bathed in darkness, half reveal'd in light ; 
 
 O'er trellis bower the red geranium creeps, 
 
 With silver locks the lone retama weeps, 
 
 In rich festoons the gay dolico clings, 
 
 From tree to tree the scented ivy springs, 
 
 And round each branch delicious fragrance flings;
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 THE PARTING. 23 
 
 Wreck'd in our ruder climes by the bleak strife 
 Of jarring winds, to faint and stinted life 
 The myrtle wakes ; here with luxuriance rife 
 It flowers a wilderness of sparkling bloom, 
 And loads the summer gale with rich perfume : 
 Such the wild beauties of a southern clime, 
 Such, Lords of Daro, yours in happier time ! 
 
 But Almoradrs chief with sullen mien 
 
 Impetuous turn'd him from the smiling scene ; 
 
 " Though Heaven within yon blooming bower await 
 
 " My struggling heart, I will not pass that gate ; 
 
 " I vow'd this hour this very spot should see 
 
 " All that I love restored to hope and me ; 
 
 " Much, little guess'd till now, this eve has shown, 
 
 " My power in thy behalf almost o'erthrown, 
 
 " My voice 'mid jarring clansmen scarcely known; 
 
 " Enough— it cannot be— I part alone ! 
 
 « Why then to vow so warmly given untrue, 
 
 " Awake the transports of a last adieu? 
 
 " Now, when a word might save thee — one brief hour 
 
 " Place thee beyond avenging Harness power ;
 
 24 THE MOOR, CANTO I. 
 
 " This hour — the last that time and fate allow 
 " To spare that heart, redeem this breaking vow. 
 " I said, that borne to Pinar's sheltering plain, 
 " There should my love unknown, unharnVd remain ; 
 " Vain hope ! — I catch stern Zegri's sneering eye, 
 " Hear my tribe murmur at the strengthening tie 
 " That binds me, Zaira, to thy destiny ; 
 " Foes may be taught a foeman's steel to fear, 
 " Kinsmen estranged deserve not manhood's tear, 
 " If such to loyal heart and spirit true 
 " Forget the sacred ties to kindred due. 
 " Far other pulse is throbbing in my veins, 
 " Far other voice each softer wish constrains ; 
 " The blood that from a race of monarchs springs, 
 " A voice, the warning of our ancient kings ; 
 " Lose not your leading for a woman's tears 
 ' And shame the lineage of a thousand years. 
 " Ambition calls, and I have lost thee ; fear 
 6 And hate are in my parting ; thou art near, 
 ; Thou most detested of mine inmost soul, 
 ' Lord of her fate ! beneath whose spurn'd controul
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 25 
 
 " Her being withers, in whose glance alone 
 " Her beauties pass neglected or unknown ; 
 " With sensual gaze those stupid eyes admire 
 " Her form of matchless mould, her glance of fire, 
 " But cannot read her mind's fair poetry, 
 " The soul that sparkles in her beaming eye, 
 " The heaven that wakens in her smile ; thy day 
 (l Of tranquil triumph comes, fast speed thy way, 
 " She is thine own, seize thy devoted prey. 
 
 " Yet, Zaira, could'st thou mark in spirit thine 
 
 " The wild submission of a heart like mine 
 
 " Bathe with despairing tears thine angel brow, 
 
 " Pray thy forgiveness for my broken vow 
 
 " Even while I thus annul it, thou would'st know 
 
 " The all I clung to in this world of woe 
 
 " Was thine entire affection ; thou wouldst see 
 
 " There was no pang like thus renouncing thee. 
 
 " But loftiest honour from the Godhead came, 
 
 " My sires unshrinking rear'd the immortal flame ; 
 
 " Heaven at my birth the sacred impulse gave, 
 
 " And it must bear me stainless to the grave.
 
 26 THE MOOR. CANTO 1. 
 
 " Yet, Zaira ! Zaira ! wlien I think on thee, 
 
 " The hours that have been, those that yet must be, 
 
 " The days that we have spent together — those 
 
 " That ne^er shall bring or pleasure or repose, 
 
 " But that divided solitary ray 
 
 " That hence must guide us on our separate way ; 
 
 " Ambition, pride of birth and arms, even power, 
 
 (i Which men most prize, and which one little hour 
 
 " This spirit prized beyond all others, now 
 
 " Seem lightly balanced with my broken vow. 
 
 " Lo! roused by dark surmise of jealous fear 
 
 " With vengeful thought thy plighted Lord is near ; 
 
 " Friends cherislVd once shall fly thee, and with scorn 
 
 " The crouching menial show thy faith forsworn ; 
 
 " Yet light shall suffering wrong and insult be 
 
 " To that o'erwhelming thought, 'tis doomed by me. 
 
 " Oh ! never half so loved as now love"^ reign 
 
 "Is o'er, for, mastering all in heart and brain, 
 
 " Thine image rules alone."
 
 CANTO I. THE PARTING. 27 
 
 He tore his vest ; 
 There slept a silvery crescent on his breast ; 
 'Twas a slight relic, but in such an hour 
 The meanest shred may claim unwonted power ; 
 "Twas a slight gift, but given in happier day 
 When dawning love and better hopes had sway ; 
 And while his pensive Zaira bound it there 
 With tearful brow and heaven-directed prayer, 
 That still it might by land and ocean save, 
 He smiled, but smiling loved the hand that gave. 
 Such keen remembrance o'er his bosom rushM, 
 And the wild flood, long check'd, in freedom gush'd. 
 " But yesterday Avith eye and arm of pride 
 " From this hot brow I flung my casque aside, 
 " Vow'd that no day could bend my soul with fear, 
 " Or stain these eyelids with one shameful tear ; 
 " But now, lost Zaira — now this burning brain 
 " Throbs wild and quick, and tears fall fast as rain ; 
 " The first the last, the springs of joy are dried, 
 " Dried are my tears — awake, relentless Pride, 
 " I am thine own again — no more we part, 
 " Firm hand, unbending will, unshrinking heart."
 
 28 THE MOOR. CANTO I. 
 
 He ceased, but from that fix'd despairing eye 
 FlaslVd forth a fierce unyielding energy ; 
 No backward glance of soft regret he cast ; 
 Each fond and vacillating purpose past, 
 Mounted his steed, and hurrying fast away 
 Rejoin 1 d the marching troops at breaking day.
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 
 
 He came on a message from a far country ; now, if you ask what 
 manner of gentleman he was, I wot not what to tell you. He had 
 no lack of courtesy, and was of a most sober mood in company — none 
 more so ; for all that, men said he had high mettle, had seen much, and 
 been in many things. He observed largely, and smiled often, — some 
 said with you, others at you, — perhaps only to keep his own coneeitfthe 
 better from you. Good Sir, this is all I know of him. 
 
 Old Play.
 
 An interval of considerably more than two years is supposed to have 
 elapsed between the termination of the first and the commencement 
 of this Canto. The scene is for the most part laid at a castle in the 
 immediate vicinity of Ruti, a small town in Andalusia, where a confer- 
 ence is said to have taken place between the Spanish and Moorish 
 Chiefs. An old tower still remains : it is boldly situated, and forms 
 a striking object in a landscape presenting • ch combinations of wood 
 and mountain.
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 
 
 O'er boundless Benamex and Cabra's plain 
 Stern Desolation holds its iron reign ; 
 Exhausted Nature feels her withering gaze, 
 Man flies the field, and lingering life decays ; 
 Unpeopled wastes of wild and tangled ground, 
 With savage fern and mantling cistus crown'd ! 
 Land given to feud, by lonely Borderer claim'd, 
 Of barren hope, and like its Lords untamed ! 
 On Border towers in Moorish strife o'erthrown, 
 On huge grim ledges of disjointed stone 
 Gaunt Ruin sits ; o'er yonder castled crest, 
 The wolf's dread haunt, the vulture's pathless nest, 
 Has dull Palmetto sedgy covering made, 
 And cork fantastic shed its deep black shade ;
 
 32 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Crown'd with a night of foliage, full of years, 
 Its rugged stem the groaning ilex rears ; 
 Apart in sullen grandeur flings around 
 Its giant shadow on the darken'd ground ; 
 With panting breast, in thickets screen'd from day, 
 The outlaw'd robber waits his tardy prey ; 
 Accurs'd of man, he haunts the soil of strife 
 That yields him plunder, freedom, forfeit, life ; 
 Yet, couch'd with wild fox in his ruffian lair, 
 With awe-struck soul surveys the moorland bare ; 
 Low, parching sand hills rise, to tire his eye 
 And heart with such a stern monotony — 
 , These are Spain's 5 borders, dread and desolate, 
 The ravaged limits of Granada's state, 
 A fitting frontier for their deathless hate. 
 
 These bounds of savage feud the Moor has pass'd ; 
 Priego frowns the fiercest and the last : 
 Heaven o'er her faithful children smiles from high, 
 And lends a lovelier land and brighter sky ; 
 O'er the still scene eve's sinking shadows creep, 
 A nd peaceful Ruti's vales and mountains sleep ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 33 
 
 Descending twilight sheds her quiet glow 
 On rocks above, and waving woods below ; 
 Here, far from frontier of disastrous strife, 
 The plain was teeming with luxuriant life, 
 And mountain-ash and poplar-grove between 
 Rose cypress dark, and cistus gay and green. 
 
 Delightful scenes ! and I have ranged those woods, 
 And hung in silence o'er their falling floods ; 
 Have mark'd the rich pomegranate's crimson beam, 
 And coronella , s golden tresses gleam ; 
 I deem'd those wandering stars of southern night, 
 Whose wings are fire, had lent their brilliant light ; 
 So wide she waved her yellow locks around, 
 And strew'd with sparkling life the illumined ground, 
 Twixt olive, cork, and deeply tinted bay, 
 And myrtle silver'd by the torrent's spray : 
 IVe seen, like diadem of crowned king, 
 Light from the earth the gay sentilla spring ; 
 Seen the young iris, of delighted hue, 
 Look up to Heaven and claim its native blue, 
 
 i)
 
 34 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 The woodland's sorrow, saddest flower of Spain, 
 And the tall milta purple all the plain. 
 
 But times were wild, the spoiler's iron hand 
 
 Wreak'd its rude vengeance on the struggling land ; 
 
 ' Freedom and Spain ! " the aspiring burgher cried, 
 
 " God and our King ! " the undaunted chief replied. 
 
 Of aspect beautiful, in title free, 
 
 But given to worse than feudal anarchy, 
 
 These smiling fields were then the robber's spoil, 
 
 For peaceful law was lost in civil broil ; 
 
 I've seen my trusty guide, where Ruti frown 'd 
 
 And stretched wild woods and wilder wastes around, 
 
 I 've mark'd how changed at mountain plunderer's name, 
 
 The half-utter'd word irresolutely came ; 
 
 Beheld him startle, as the faint breeze blew 
 
 And shook the foliage that it rustled through ; 
 
 With hand uplifted note the cross of death, 
 
 Give boding glance, but hold his quivering breath. 
 
 But to my tale again ; through yon green glade 
 How gaily sweeps the turban'd cavalcade ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 35 
 
 I deem some twenty of that band there be — 
 They pass, the flower of Moorish chivalry ; 
 And clad in glittering arms — yet clad so light 
 As rather fits the tourney than the fight ; 
 Yet all prepared and prompt for sudden need, 
 Each mounted on his black fire-breathing steed. 
 Of dark-green vest, like brothers sworn they ride, 
 With lance in rest and scimitar at side ; 
 Each bravely bears his darkly-border'd shield, 
 Where sleeps the lion's wrath on argent field ; 
 A bleeding sabre grasp'd by giant's hand, 
 And on it graved — " The law that rules the land!" 
 Gay broider'd o'er their panting steeds are thrown 
 The trappings rich with gold and emerald stone ; 
 High o'er each turban'd brow in solemn gloom — 
 Their tribe's distinctive badge — the sable plume 
 Speaks each bold breast to Afric's kings allied, 
 Their lofty leading in the land, and pride 
 Of long-descended line : the meanest man 
 That styles him vassal of that haughty clan, 
 Had died, by foes' o'ermastering vengeance press'd, 
 Than given a single feather of that crest. 
 
 d2
 
 36 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Through Ruti's woods now pass the brave array 
 With warlike strain, or' amorous roundelay ; 
 Far in the van their chieftain takes his way— 
 Nor hears the battle's glowing song go round, 
 Nor adds one murmur to that martial sound ; 
 But o'er his courser's earth-descending mane 
 In pensive mood has flung the careless rein. 
 A Moor, nor yet a foe on Christian land, 
 Apart, yet undistinguislVd from his band, 
 Save that above his darkly-beaming eye 
 The badge of lofty lineage swells more high, 
 He comes ! — no stranger to our tale we view, 
 No foreign pledge that tuft of violet blue ; 
 Yet thrice hath Spring's reanimating voice 
 Bade the gay group on Daro's banks rejoice ; 
 Three Autumn suns have spent their powerless ray, 
 And seen the Summer's leafy pomp decay, 
 Since widely known in lists of dawning fame, 
 Beloved in camp and court young Hassan came, 
 And laid the dear-bought spoils of conquering hour 
 At Zaira's feet, in Pleasure's charmed bower ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 37 
 
 While she the gallant tale enraptured knew, 
 And o'er his wearied frame her mantle threw, 
 Bade her tired chief in silken slumbers rest, 
 On love's delighted pillow, beauty's breast : 
 So oft has dull December's piercing night 
 Shed early snows on Palo^s clouded height, 
 Since toss'd like ocean wave, on desperate day 
 He flung that mantle of his hope away ; 
 While his strong heart contending passions tore, 
 And each in turn unrivall'd empire bore ; 
 There jealous Hate, Honour that fear'd to fall, 
 Love conquering both, and Pride o'ermastering all. 
 
 The cold bright stars of evening saw him part ; 
 But ne'er return to glad her aching heart, 
 Or mark that eye, whose lustre lived for him, 
 Day after day in Hamet's gaze grow dim. 
 He far from Ismael's towers, in ceaseless strife, 
 'Mid welcomed perils led his desperate life, 
 Yet death with danger came not ; still intent 
 To banish thought, 'mid boisterous merriment
 
 38 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 He urged the infuriate song and flowing bowl, 
 And drown'd in wild carouse the sinking soul ; 
 The pleasant song that soothed his early day 
 Had pass'd with Zaira's passing charms away ; 
 The simple tale of legendary lore 
 Was heard with Zaira's thrilling tones no more ; 
 Now mounting passion ruled with headlong reign, 
 And midnight revel woke licentious strain : 
 Hail, sons of Mirth ! intemperate Passion cries, 
 Night yields to day, but pleasure never dies ; 
 From joys like ours exclude the dawning ray, 
 Night's lamp and woman's glance give lovelier day ; 
 Let, crown'd with bliss, the mantling cup go round, 
 And the soft music breathe voluptuous sound ; 
 Let young-eyed Beauty's glowing forms appear, 
 Low Prudence sleeps, and Madness riots here. 
 
 
 
 Such transports hardy, fierce, and unrefined, 
 Not love, but passion, soothed his feverish mind ; 
 And yet those lips had breathed in Zaira's ear 
 The deep and tender strain she thrill'd to hear ; 
 But now his eye more keen, his step more wide,
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 39 
 
 Had ranged mankind, far other fair had tried, 
 And well that world its heartless tone supplied ; 
 Love gaily won, and left on faint pretence — 
 For frequent conquest pall'd exhausted sense — 
 The long light dalliance, the uncertain time, 
 The long restraint, give added zest to crime, 
 O'erleap those bounds, and plunge into the sea 
 Of sensual strife and cold satiety. 
 Such wandering life of loose intrigue he led, 
 Careless, to all save those who deeper read 
 The restless but observing course he sped ; 
 He learnt a lady's inmost thoughts to view ; 
 Each weaker point of varying man he knew 
 In weaker hour betray 1 d ; till all that youth 
 Believes most confident in other's truth 
 Was gone ; caress'd, deceived, he cautious grew, 
 Heard every prating fool, but trusted few ; 
 Youth saw his frank and fiery speech subside, 
 And passion fierce give place to colder pride ; 
 At once that passion's master and its slave, 
 Slow to offend, as slowly he forgave ; 
 Each word sank deeply, and rememberM long, 
 
 d 4
 
 40 THE MOOK. CANTO II. 
 
 He fornVd opinions calm, but form'd them strong. 
 
 In earliest youth in brighter colours shown, 
 
 Truth gave its dauntless bearing to his tone, 
 
 And o'er his manners threw an air of free 
 
 And frank and fearless generosity ; 
 
 Sway'd by no rules his bosom learnt to thrill 
 
 With every wild extreme of good or ill ; 
 
 Of loftiest daring, undefined his aim, 
 
 He spurn'd the tedious paths of vulgar fame ; 
 
 His country's limits, earth's extremest shore, 
 
 Seem'd bounds too narrow for the soul he bore ; 
 
 That flash was quench'd, the enthusiast spirit fled ; 
 
 Ideal grace that young romance had shed, 
 
 And all the fire of chivalry, was dead. 
 
 O'er lessening earth, o'er clouds where, throned in light. 
 
 Heaven beams with day intolerably bright, 
 
 The bird of Empire wings his stately flight ; 
 
 His equal soul confronts with quenchless gaze, 
 
 And stern delight, the immeasurable blaze ; 
 
 No mortal arm his proud career shall rein, 
 
 No mortal foe that lightning glance restrain,
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 41 
 
 Till vanquish'd by his own high mastery 
 He comes with powerless wing and drooping eye 
 To claim his native haunts and humbler sky : — 
 Even so the schemes, bright, boundless, undefined, 
 The daring visions of the early mind, 
 Bask in the blaze of Hope's intenser day, 
 And greatly soaring, self-subdued decay. 
 Blest years, to guile or policy unknown, 
 When all the spirit in a word is shown ; 
 Short-lived illusion — empire of the heart, 
 When master 'd Reason plays a powerless part ! 
 Till stern experience brings her darken'd page, 
 We spurn the frigid rules of cautious age ; 
 We read fair faith in sordid interest's guile, 
 And welcome joy in every practised smile ; 
 Nor deem that generous and undoubting truth 
 Are but the day-dreams of impassionVl youth : 
 Experience tears the flimsy veil away, 
 And man's false nature glares in living day ; 
 Then all that dazzled the deluded eyes, 
 Life's nobler aims, the heart's dominion, dies. 
 
 d 5
 
 42 THE MOOit. CANTO II. 
 
 Even so the Moor, by nature fashion'd free, 
 
 Beneath the brow of open courtesy, 
 
 Was yet more guarded than the young should be ; 
 
 Few now could Love's soft sympathies inspire, 
 
 Or wake the flashes of his early fire ; 
 
 Though baffled hopes the aspiring heart had tamed, 
 
 The giant schemes his boyish fancy framed 
 
 Had left unquelfd some soaring thoughts behind, 
 
 And Honour, last to quit the noble mind ; 
 
 While conscious pride of loftier powers, confest 
 
 In manner little, less by word exprest, 
 
 Yet sway'd in silence all his thoughtful breast. 
 
 And now he comes on royal embassy 
 
 To try each art of high diplomacy ; 
 
 The olive wand of proffer'd peace to bear, 
 
 And stay the havoc of impending war. 
 
 The band have pass'd Rumera's hated height, 
 Brave Moors, forget her carnage-breathing night 
 And blot that name from History's faithful light !
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 43 
 
 The sainted mount of Rosalie they know, 
 
 And wide extends the Christian camp below ; 
 
 With Gothic turrets, massive, round, and tall, 
 
 In awful centre frowns Beleguer's hall ; 
 
 Dark as the rock o'er ocean's restless tide 
 
 Ascend those towers in grandeur's barren pride, 
 
 While glittering through the gloom of closing day 
 
 The white tents gleam like ocean's flashing spray; 
 
 Fair o'er its walls Castilian pennons stream, 
 
 Gay through the tents the lamps of evening beam ; 
 
 As night restores to life the unpeopled skies, 
 
 So one by one these lower stars arise ; 
 
 Yet dull their glance through tented sail appears, 
 
 As Beauty's soul comes dimm'd by Pity's tears. 
 
 To greet the Moor in due Castilian state, 
 The noblest chosen, from the castle gate 
 Ride slowly forth ; red plume and mail of steel 
 The hardy warriors of the north reveal. 
 And first, with thoughtful brow and solemn pace 
 Their leader, Lord of Ruti's ancient race ;
 
 44 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Strict to maintain, as quick to feel his due, 
 
 Still train'd in courts, each courteous rule he knew. 
 
 So when the Heralds waved beseeching wand 
 
 And silence gain'd, by Kedith's prompt command 
 
 His followers first in measured speech and grave 
 
 To Hassan every honoured title gave ; 
 
 That o'er, the fire of old Castille awoke, 
 
 And all the Spaniard in their accents spoke ; 
 
 They told of Kedith, Lord of Ruti's plain, 
 
 And boasted high, that throbb'd in every vein 
 
 The blue unsullied blood of ancient Spain ; 
 
 Told how his sire's unconquerable band 
 
 Made good through years of strife their mountain land ; 
 
 'Gainst foes outnumbering stemm'd the desperate fight, 
 
 And, arm'd for God, upheld the freeman's right ; 
 
 While unresisted sway the faithless bore 
 
 From Calpe's heights to Biscay's storm-swept shore. 
 
 They read his father's powers and titles high, 
 
 Even from the earliest days of chivalry ; 
 
 And downward traced through many a frenzied age 
 
 Rights well maintain'd in conflict's fiercest rage ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 45 
 
 And he, their son, would prop his country's laws, 
 And guard, so help him God ! his Sovereign's cause. 
 
 The Spanish herald spoke ; with equal pride 
 
 In brief and lighter phrase the Moor replied : 
 
 " We come to proffer peace — if urged in vain, 
 
 " The tribes who victors stood on Xeres' plain 
 
 " Can well their King and kingdom's cause maintain. 1 
 
 Then first to Hassan Kedith lowly bent 
 
 With formal phrase of courteous compliment ; 
 
 Advancing foremost of the marshall'd band 
 
 He tender'd stately welcome to the land, 
 
 And, " tarrying in the camp on King's behest, 
 
 " Say, would he honour Kedith's dome, and rest 
 
 " In hospitable hall a welcome guest ?" 
 
 While thus the chiefs exchange of honours gave 
 With much of pomp and salutation grave, 
 Their differing ranks the scowling foemen view'd, 
 Nor gazed forgetful of their lineal feud ; 
 Even when their Lords uniting led the van, 
 In ranks unmingling march'd each rival clan ;
 
 46 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 The Moslem, vain his trophied arms to show, 
 The Spaniard follow'd silent, stern and slow ; 
 Ardent, they deem'd their chiefs, in close debate, 
 Now fix'd the crisis of their country's fate ; 
 Fired by each herald's speech, ere yet begun 
 They deenVd the work of embassy was done ; 
 Unskill'd, they little knew when blend the great, 
 High ceremonial, antique form of state, 
 Is cold and dubious sign of love or hate, 
 Nor guess'd that courtesy tied either tongue; 
 And yet the question dread suspended hung, 
 While every pressing interest gave place 
 To converse casual, as of tilt or chace. 
 
 Like veteran scarr'd, Beleguer's massive might 
 Bore many a mark of frontier's ceaseless fight ; 
 Each loop-hole mann'd, each angle turret-bound, 
 The gloomy moat secured its ample round ; 
 Buttress, and keep, and bastion closely pent, 
 Shields proudly ranged in lieu of battlement, 
 Spoils won by Kedith's lords in conquering field, 
 Spoke hand that dared, and soul that would not yield ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 47 
 
 Stern signs of war ! but now at peaceful call 
 The arm'd retainers ope the spacious hall, 
 With stateliest honours greet the Moorish train, 
 As best becomes the lofty style of Spain. 
 
 They pause, while Hassan pass'd the Gothic door 
 Where never Moslem warrior trod before : 
 High o'er his head the arms of Aragon 
 And old Castille in blended grandeur shone ; 
 Below, Spain's grateful Sovereign parting gave 
 The imperial chain, in gloomy grace to wave, 
 That sternly told by factious force opprest 
 These towers had held a Monarch for their guest ; 
 Within, each sunk and stained window frown 'd, 
 And shed its sad and solemn light around ; 
 To the high walls the storied tapestry clung, 
 And, dear to Spain, Pelayo's armour hung. 
 Now eve descending, quelPd the struggling ray, 
 And heavy fell the shades of deepening day, 
 But bright o'er kindling hearth the pile was raised, 
 And gaily flashing o'er the rafters blazed ;
 
 48 THE MOOll. CANTO II. 
 
 There, closely crowded round the cheerful light, 
 Were group'd the leaders of the Spanish fight, 
 And Kedith led him to the gathered ring 
 As chief on honour'd mission to the King. 
 
 Unlike the aerial hall, the magic dome, 
 The dazzling glories of his distant home, 
 Where columns carved with fretted arch arise, 
 And sculptured grace with glowing colour vies ; 
 No eastern spoils their purple dyes unfold, 
 No silver tissue strives with glittering gold, 
 No bright brocade, no rich embroidery falls 
 To sweep in gorgeous lines the lofty walls ; 
 But massive monuments of power they stand, 
 Like Spain's unbending Genius, stern and grand ; 
 Yet nobly ranged, those tapestried scenes impart 
 The mimic grace and breathing pride of art ; 
 A lengthening line of honour 1 d deeds unfold 
 The daring prowess of their sires of old, 
 Bold warlike images distinctly spread, 
 And wake the martial memory of the dead.
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 49 
 
 With patriot fire, reviving Bernard glows — 
 With blade in hand, begirt by countless foes 
 He grasps the sacred pennon, stems the fray, 
 And rescues Spain, and twice redeems the day. 
 Manriquez, maddening 'mid the routed press, 
 Kneels on his foe, and, stern and merciless, 
 Stains with life's oozing tide his better brand, 
 And tears the prize from Lorna's dying hand. 
 Here oft unseen the thoughtful Spaniard came, 
 
 And nursed in silent hope the aspiring flame ; 
 Here gazed where, victors of the field, array'd 
 
 In wreaths and laurels never more to fade, 
 
 Beyond life's fitful destinies, the brave 
 
 Lived o'er their deeds and triumph'd o'er the grave; 
 
 Then turn'd his flashing eye to yonder shrine, 
 
 And felt that fever of his heart decline ; 
 
 O'er his rapt spirit holier fervours stole, 
 
 And love and reverence thrilTd his vanquished soul ; 
 
 For one there was to which his eye was raised, 
 
 And all the warrior soften'd as he gazed ; 
 
 E
 
 50 THE MOOK. CANTO II. 
 
 Where, loved of God, the Maid of BethFem smiled, 
 And dawning glories crown'd the Heaven-born Child ; 
 Whilst near, the undying taper, emblem bright 
 Of hope undying, breathed its constant light. 
 
 High prayers and solemn grace the priest has said, 
 And thrice each chief in mingling chorus pray'd, 
 Ere ample banquet on the board was laid. 
 With all the honours ancient custom gave, 
 Badge of nobility, the liveried slave 
 And laced attendant brought the sparkling wine, 
 And livelier bade the living lustres shine. 
 Kedith the master's foremost seat has graced, 
 And Hassan on his better hand was placed; 
 Allied to kingly Aragon, the Lord 
 Of Cabra next in leading deck'd the board ; 
 And then at courteous call each chief of name, 
 A gallant group in nVd gradation came. 
 
 Now Spain's young knights have doff'd their mail'd array, 
 And lightly cast their threatening arms away ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 51 
 
 Array'd in garb might suit the softer hour 
 Of banquet-scene, or lady's peaceful bower, 
 With golden clasp the circling ruffle gleam'd, 
 And fair and free their locks unfetter 1 d streamM ; 
 O'er each bold form the rich red mantle flung, 
 Down to the knee in folds of velvet hung, 
 And worn with graceful, gay, and careless pride, 
 With every gesture droop'd from side to side. 
 Of all the splendid pomp and martial mien 
 That morning sun so fierce and stern had seen, 
 One sign alone the knightly train confess'd— 
 Still proudly rose the warrior's waving crest, 
 Spain's dark-red plume ; but now no longer borne 
 O'er soldier-brow, on threatening helmet worn, 
 It crown'd the peaceful hat, whose ample round 
 O'er each half-shown, half-shadow'd feature frown'd. 
 
 The feast begun, awhile the converse failYl, 
 CastihVs grave fashion over all prevail'd ; 
 Though high regard was shown to Moslem guest, 
 By lofty form and precedence exprest, 
 
 e 2
 
 52 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Yet, cold and thoughtful, Kedith little spoke 
 
 Till Cabra's livelier temper silence broke. 
 
 To these two Lords from royal dome was sent 
 
 The mingled trust of martial government ; 
 
 And gladly would the plaided serf obey 
 
 That northern Baron's firm but gentle sway ; 
 
 While terror lived of Kedith's vengeful brand, 
 
 Who sway'd the vassal with unsparing hand, 
 
 And bade each subject clan and chieftain feel 
 
 The stately rule and spirit of Castille. 
 
 Yet still, save dark Religion's frenzy came 
 
 To warp his will, and quench the vigorous flame, 
 
 That soul severe abhorr'd deceit or wrong, 
 
 With sense of honour high and duty strong : 
 
 But prejudice, in KeditlVs manly mind, 
 
 Was deeply drawn, consistent and defined ; 
 
 The living picture of his soul display'd 
 
 In broadest colours mingled light and shade. 
 
 In early youth, 'mid bigot priesthood bred, 
 
 Their gloomiest influence o'er his mind was shed : 
 
 Deeply he drank that cold and narrow creed 
 
 Which damns each daring thought and generous deed ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 53 
 
 To manhood grown, he join'd the courtly train, 
 But pompous pleasure spread its charms in vain ; 
 The glittering scene, the humours of the crowd, 
 Had won a mind more playful or less proud ; 
 But splendid fashion slowly wore away 
 Austere opinion form'd in younger day. 
 High in his Sovereign's praise the chieftain stood, 
 Yet ne'er for boon or princely favour sued ; 
 Impartial, cold, inflexibly severe, 
 His vassals mark'd his eagle glance with fear ; 
 Knew prayers, or interest, all save justice sleep, 
 And sense, unsway'd by pity, strong and deep. 
 
 Of differing mood was Cabra's gallant Lord ; 
 And sure a better ne'er grasp'd baron's sword : 
 Right well his open brow and stalwart frame 
 The kindly heart and generous race became ; 
 Though years had slightly tinged his hairs with grey, 
 They could not damp his spirit's fearless play, 
 Or chase the reckless fire of youth away : 
 The grave Castillian saw his temper free 
 Oft pass the bounds of formal courtesy;
 
 54 THE MOOR. CANTO II, 
 
 Yet sure was Cabra never to offend, 
 
 Ne'er made a foe, and never lost a friend. 
 
 But he on many a varying track had been, 
 
 And much of man in earlier life had seen ; 
 
 Renown'd for feats of strength, or lightsome play, 
 
 Foremost in pleasured train a votary gay, 
 
 With serenade by night, and tilt by day, 
 
 The world had ranged ; but to its failings kind, 
 
 He loved the sunny landscape of mankind ; 
 
 Noble and just, unstain'd by aught of art, 
 
 He deenVd each comrade had as pure a heart : 
 
 In light Valentia's towers had tarried long, 
 
 That land of merry maids and jovial song; * 
 
 Had shared the Moslem's courtesy of old, 
 
 And strove in good King Hossein's tourney bold ; 
 
 Had thrown the lance in friendship's festive hour 
 
 And rode the ring, and sued in Moorish bower. 
 
 This eve with varied tale he blended well 
 
 Legends and love, as though unguarded fell 
 
 His pleasing speech ; yet shunn 1 d each theme of state 
 
 With art unseen, nor rous'd untimed debate.
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 55 
 
 Whate'er he touch'd, his rapid fancy fired, 
 
 The young adored him, and the old admired ; 
 
 Life's flowery paths in vivid colouring drew, 
 
 From scene to scene of courtly pleasure flew, 
 
 And led his hearers gracefully along 
 
 The enchanted current of that pleasant song ; 
 
 Then bade the rapture-crowned goblet bring, 
 
 And drank to great Abdallah, Ismael's King ! 
 
 But stately Kedith bade the pledge go round, 
 
 As host by courtesy and honour bound ; 
 
 While Cabra freely drank, and seem'd to feel 
 
 All that his words express'd of ready zeal. 
 
 Then Hassan haiFd the magnates of the land — 
 
 " Long life and joy to Royal Ferdinand 
 
 " And Spain's immortal Queen ! if Fame speaks true, 
 
 " A soul more lofty Honour never knew ; 
 
 " If right Granada's wandering bards report, 
 
 " The brightest jewel of her splendid court."" 
 
 With slender phrase, but pleased and gracious air, 
 
 The leader thank'd him for his greeting fair ; 
 
 And the young warriors of Castille, who knew 
 
 The honours to their Royal Mistress due,
 
 56 THE MOOR. 
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 And knelt with throbbing heart and kindling eye 
 Before that shrine of love and loyalty, 
 With rapture heard their cherish'd Sovereign's fame, 
 And bless'd in glowing speech her honoured name ; 
 The enthusiast pledge was freely pass'd around 
 Till the high hall prolong'd the joyful sound. 
 
 The banquet o'er, the menial train retire, 
 
 The leaders group them round the flashing fire ; 
 
 Why bends Spain's younger pride with ceaseless gaze, 
 
 And anxious mien, and lips that murmur praise ? 
 
 They gaze where Blanche, with maiden train apart, 
 
 The idol of her father's haughty heart, 
 
 With light mantilla crown'd, guitar in hand, 
 
 Stood the bright centre of her little band — 
 
 The loveliest flower of Spain's romantic land. 
 
 Scarce twenty peaceful years had roll'd away 
 
 O'er her young brow ; from childhood's reckless play 
 
 She glided quick to Beauty's dawning day ; 
 
 Each summer calm and cloudless as the last, 
 
 Had left nor shade nor sorrow as it pass'd ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 57 
 
 And sure a heart so kind, a form so fair, 
 Was never doom'd by Heaven for earthly care. 
 In sable robe she stood, as best became 
 Her country's fashion and her lofty name ; 
 As shadows fringe the moonlight's silken beam, 
 O'er glistening brow her parted tresses stream ; 
 O'er her dark hair the golden gauze was spread, 
 And hung delighted from her graceful head ; 
 While that redeeming cross her bosom bore 
 Might almost bid the doubting Moor adore. 
 As seraph seen in sleep, so heavenly good, 
 So calmly, brightly beautiful she stood ; 
 And pure and passionless, as fancy e'er 
 Framed blest inhabitant of upper air ; 
 Pure as the star that rose o'er Judah's night, 
 And beanfd on erring man celestial light ; 
 From her blue eye such temper"d radiance broke ; 
 Truth on her brow so eloquently spoke, 
 That manhood worshipp'd, woman loved to trace 
 The fair Madonna in that angel face.
 
 58 THE MOOR, CANTO II. 
 
 Thev gazed, and felt what young enthusiasts feel, 
 
 With all the deep devotion of Castille 
 
 And Spain's exalted fire ; nor yet the young 
 
 Alone o'er Blanche's form enamour'd hung ; 
 
 But chiefs, whose rival fires had long been tamed, 
 
 Their favourite's equal grace and kindness claim'd ; 
 
 And I do say, that fair and fragile flower 
 
 Had more than Kedith's self of sovereign power. 
 
 Though arm'd with all a people's pride reveres, 
 
 And all the gather'd host of battle fears ; 
 
 Her lightest prayer, her scarcely breathed request, 
 
 Had more of force than crowned King's behest. 
 
 Her blithely Cabra loved ; his spirit kind 
 
 With Spain's wild legends stored her infant mind ; 
 
 To childhood's griefs the willing ear would lend, 
 
 And all her childhood's little joys attend, 
 
 And scarcely ceased, though now a maiden grown, 
 
 That kindest earliest friend's familiar tone. 
 
 As slow o'er sainted beads her fingers stray'd, 
 
 Or touch'd the chords, yet half-unheeding play'd,
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 59 
 
 " Awake, my fairy minstrel, all too long 
 
 " Slumbers in Kedith' s hall the silver song ; 
 
 " Bid old Beleguer's echoes wake again 
 
 " And greet the stranger with a Avelcome strain ; 
 
 " Such was our Fathers wont in better day, 
 
 " Nor let their antient honour , d rites decay ; 
 
 " And since to-night no swelling harp may show 
 
 " Spaing boasted glories o'er the Moslem foe, 
 
 " Be thine, my Blanche, to sing with happier art 
 
 " Love's softer triumphs o'er a Moorish heart. 11 
 
 Lightly he spoke, but Kedith caught the jest, 
 And bent his brow, and scarce his wrath repress'd ; 
 Lord Cabra mark'd his ire, and turn'd aside 
 With playful speech the chieftain's kindling pride ; 
 " Nay, Kedith, frown not ! — in this hall of thine 
 " My country's privilege of tongue be mine ; 
 " Deem'st thou her freeborn spirits to restrain, 
 " Her rights who guard, her seigniories maintain, 
 " Who hold Heaven's royal delegates in awe, 
 " And preach to Kings of liberty and law ;
 
 60 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 " And thou forgive, young Lord of Daro's strand, 
 " Free parley is the custom of my land ; 
 " But come, my heedless charmer, wake the lay, 
 " And chase thy Father's frowning looks away." 
 Blanche heard — with timid mien and winning grace 
 She took her gay guitar — a moment's space 
 O'er its resounding chords her fingers ran, 
 And then this light and lively strain began. 
 
 BLANCHE'S SONG. 
 
 We dFtokwr of Nafcam. 
 i. 
 
 The dungeon was deep in Navarre's distant land, 
 And the fetters were strong that bound Gonsalu's hand ; 
 On his pallet he lies, where the damp dews arise, 
 Not a ray, not a ray of the bright beaming day 
 
 May Gonsalu ever see more ! 
 But the strength of his ire flash 'd forth in its fire, 
 Nor his spirit of pride with its liberty died, 
 'Twas as fierce and as free as the foam of the sea 
 When it breaks on the crag-cover'd shore.
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 61 
 
 II. 
 
 The Infanta was there with the earliest day, 
 She enter'd the vault where her true warrior lay ; 
 
 And " my Fenian," she cried, as she stood by his side, 
 
 " My Father has sworn, at the dawning of morn, 
 " By Ins crown of Navarre, he will leave not a trace 
 " Of the high-blooded kinsmen of Gonsalu's race. 
 
 " In this dungeon's dread gloom he will mete thee 
 thy doom, 
 
 " Never more, never more, on the Catalan shore 
 " Around thee the vanquish 'd oppressor shall kneel, 
 
 Round the conquering standard of glorious Castille ! 
 
 - . 
 
 III. 
 
 " But strong was my spirit and rapid my flight 
 " To give thee to love and to liberty"^ light ; 
 
 " Since chain-bound you lie, in this dungeon to die 
 " For the cherish'd remembrance of me. 
 " So fast I have fled from my once blessed home, 
 " And over the wild wastes of Berga will roam, 
 " And follow thy fortunes and thee."
 
 62 THE MOOlt. CANTO II. 
 
 " I arise, I arise, 1 ' the warrior replies, 
 
 " Though shackled I be, my spirit is free, 
 
 " Though my limbs are controuFd, my heart is as bold 
 
 "Asa chief of the Gonsuls should be." 
 
 IV. 
 
 And their words were gay, and their hearts were light, 
 As they rode all day, and they rode all night ; 
 
 Why grasps he his brand ? why clasps she his hand ? 
 
 His faith and his courage she needs ; 
 For a dread and a rushing sound comes over the 
 
 echoing ground, 
 And near, and more near grows the note of fear, 
 And they stay their breath at that sound of death, 
 The tumult of galloping steeds. 
 
 V. 
 
 " My Father is nigh in the cloud of his might, 
 " And the moment draws nigh of the desperate fight ; 
 " Unknowing to save, he will rede thee thy grave, 
 " And yon foaming flood shall run red with the blood 
 " Of my Gonsalu brave."
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 63 
 
 " Hush, noble Infanta," the Conde replied ; 
 
 " Those arms gleaming far, are not of Navarre ; 
 " My country's bright banners are streaming, 
 " My own feudal falchions are gleaming, 
 " Castille's kindred castles are beaming, 
 
 " Where the chiefs of my kingdom exultingly ride." 
 He raised him in his stirrups high, 
 And shouted to his brave array ; 
 And quickly came reply from every vassal of his sway ; 
 
 And that same day 
 Did each in fealty and homage kneel 
 To greet the Infanta of Navarre and Conde of Castille. 
 
 The strain was silent, still its echoes rang, 
 
 And manhood hung on every word she sang ; 
 
 Even Kedith's sterner brow relax'd awhile, 
 
 O'er his cold features dawn'd the unwonted smile ; 
 
 A moment placed him by his daughter's side, 
 
 And sazed with all a father's love and pride ; 
 
 While Spain's young warriors deem'd some harp on high 
 
 Pour'd in rich strains aerial melody ;
 
 64 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Deem'd in that light and loveliest form to know 
 
 An angel pausing on this world of woe. 
 
 She best as loveliest, scarcely seeni'd to hear 
 
 The ceaseless praise love murmur'd in her ear ; 
 
 To her alone, of all her father's train, 
 
 Those soul-subduing charms seem'd given in vain ; 
 
 But hark, she wakes the fairy spell again ! 
 
 And now a sadder minstrelsy she chose, 
 
 And mourn'd the widow'd maid of Lorca's woes. 
 
 BLANCHE'S SONG. 
 
 Count Lara has clad him in battle array, 
 
 He has mounted his fire-breathing steed, and away, 
 
 And the desolate Lady of Lorca stands near, 
 
 And she heaves the deep sigh, and she sheds the full 
 
 tear; 
 How long shall the dark-glancing Adela mourn, 
 And when shall her warrior of Lara return ?
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 65 
 
 " My warrior will come when the Spring's dawning bloom 
 
 " Lends to hill and to valley their long-lost perfume." 
 
 Now Spring's joyous vision has fleeted away, 
 
 Yet, why does the chieftain of Lara delay ? 
 
 Lo ! Summer has dawn'd with its blue sunny skies, 
 
 Hope lives with its radiance, and with it she dies. 
 
 All lone in her castle she sheds the big tear, 
 
 Nor hope is there left in the fall of the year. 
 
 Sear as love's blighted hope the falTn leaf strews the 
 
 ground, 
 And November's rude tempests are howling around. 
 
 Slow and sad she has mounted the loftiest tower, 
 
 She has gazed o'er the fields of Lord Roderick's power: 
 
 " What kinsman of Lorca comes fast on my sight, 
 
 " High crown'd with the trophies of conquering fight?" 
 
 Hush, Lady ! the life-blood runs cold in that breast, . 
 
 And the pride of the Lara's has stoop'd on his crest ; 
 
 On his shivering shield are the red signs of woe, 
 
 His steed, he is shrouded, — his step, it is slow ; 
 
 No triumph is pealing, no banners are borne, 
 
 His bridle is bloody, his doublet is torn,
 
 66 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 All dark is his habit, all sunken his brow, 
 
 How droops the stern soul of the conqueror now ! 
 
 " Thrice welcome ! lone son of the battle,"" she cried ; 
 " Say, come ye a herald from Roderick's side ? 
 " Say, when shall this long-widow'd heart cease to mourn? 
 " And, when shall my chieftain of Lara return ?" 
 He spake not a word, but he gave her his hand ; 
 'Twas as cold as the grasp of his own battle-brand, 
 And faded that vision whose glance was so bright, 
 Now dimm'd by the darkness of fast-closing night ; 
 And he knelt by that Lady, and low bow'd his head, 
 And the spirit of Lara for ever was fled ! 
 
 He was laid in the vault where his fathers were laid, 
 High over his tomb the proud 'scutcheon display'd ; 
 And his banner was borne by the faithful and brave, 
 And loud was the wail o'er Lord Roderick's grave ; 
 But the cold mists of Winter fast fleeted away, 
 And glad Summer dawn'd with her long sunny day, 
 When the wild dirge of Autumn came moaning again, 
 And heap'd the fallen leaves on the desolate plain;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 67 
 
 The death-plumes were waving in funeral pride, 
 And the heart-broken Adela slept by his side. 
 
 Song soothes the gentler soul's enraptured hour ; 
 But little sway had music's melting power 
 On Hassan's mind ; yet now he seemed to hear, 
 And each vibration thrill'd his quicken'd ear; 
 It came, it came with every startling tone — 
 It came a friend long lost and early known ; 
 Each varying cadence to his memory sprang, 
 And each alternate woke the bitter pang. 
 Yet not one stifled sigh was heard to rise, 
 And not one tear-drop stain'd his burning eyes ; 
 Despite that power of all-enduring pride, 
 His busiest pangs the fiend remorseless plied, 
 And quivering lip and bended brow might show 
 The deep, but master'd energy «f woe. 
 That strain had Hassan known and loved before ; 
 In parting bitterness on Daro's shore 
 Had pray'd he ne'er might hear its echoes more ; 
 
 f 2
 
 08 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 Yet once again, but tuned on reckless night, 
 In pleasure's wanton bower by mistress light 
 They came, and shed nor sorrow nor delight ; 
 But when arose his boyhood's favourite air, 
 So simply sung by one so good and fair, 
 With long-suspended habit's early sway, 
 Rush'd o'er his soul the recollected day 
 Of his delighted youth, and in that strain 
 His home, his hopes, and Zaira lived again. 
 
 He mark'd the lovely form that stood beside, 
 
 And long and sadly gazed : " When first, 11 he sigh'd, 
 
 " I heard those plaintive notes, in beauty's pride 
 
 " She sat, with lightsome heart and cloudless brow, 
 
 " As gentle, fair, and innocent as thou. 
 
 " 'Twas the first day I saw her ; noon had pass'd, 
 
 " And twilight grey its lengthening shadows cast ; 
 
 " Would, gracious Allah, it had been the last ! 
 
 " In after-time with love's despotic power, 
 
 " As deathless token of that earliest hour, 
 
 " Eve after eve by Daro's peaceful wave, 
 
 " With zeal untired she taught her willing slave ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 09 
 
 " Cer this dull heart the magic measure threw, 
 " That strain — that only strain I ever knew ; 
 " And why, when brighter visions pass'd away, 
 " Still lived the memory of that little lay ? 
 " Why, borne fate's wild uneven tide along, 
 " Blend my rude fortunes with that youthful song ? 
 " Oh failing prowess ! gift bestowal in vain, 
 "My soul's high spirit ! if one favourite strain 
 " Can almost dim with childhood's tears my brow, 
 " And bid my bosom bleed as it bleeds now." 
 
 But years had sped, and many a varied day, 
 Since those blest scenes had roll'd its course away ; 
 Now Time had sorrow's softening shadow cast, 
 And half the bitterness of grief was past ; 
 Yet that light air had sent its keenest thrill, 
 And throbb'd a heart that now had long been still ; 
 So still, that idlers deem'd his breast too cold 
 To love as spirits love of warmer mould, 
 Nor knew the fire that slowest rose, became, 
 When raised, an unextinguishable flame.
 
 70 THE MOOK. CANTO II. 
 
 So slow — so strong that passion now represt, 
 
 Unlike their feeble fires, had swayed his breast ; 
 
 That deep concentrated desire of soul, 
 
 Had made one favourite form its being's whole ; 
 
 Her hopes, joys, cares, had center'd all in him : 
 
 When gloom'd his brow with grief her glance was dim, 
 
 Her spirit rose with his, shared every fear, 
 
 And her eye brighten'd as his step drew near ; 
 
 Such love devotedly and deeply given, 
 
 Is brighter than the falling dew from heaven. 
 
 He marked that recklessness of all beside — 
 
 It won his distant temper, soothed his pride, 
 
 Secured each better feeling, and had thrown 
 
 O'er his stern heart a softness not its own ; 
 
 She, only she, when anger fired his blood, 
 
 And Reason's voice but fann'd the dangerous mood, 
 
 Could bid resentment's frenzy cease to live, 
 
 Could bid that hard and haughty heart forgive ; 
 
 She was his guiding hope, his earthly all, 
 
 For which he cared to triumph, fear'd to fall
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 71 
 
 The bell slow pealing through the echoing air, 
 Summons the tented hosts to midnight prayer : 
 Spain's noble chiefs have left Beleguer's hall, 
 Her mustering tribes obey the sacred call ; 
 Through far-extending aisle the moonbeam falls, 
 O'er arch, o'er cluster 1 d column, sculptured walls ; 
 A thousand tapers shed their holy light, 
 The altar gleams with massive silver bright ; 
 Around it clouds of floating incense roll, 
 The pealing anthem lifts the heaven-rapt soul ; 
 The choicest pride of Lebanon might claim 
 The awful honours of the cedar frame, 
 And all that zeal can give by zeal is given, 
 To raise the glory, swell the pomp of Heaven. 
 
 With furrow'd brow and reverential mien, 
 
 In gorgeous robe the man of God was seen ; 
 
 With age's faltering voice and trembling hand 
 
 He bless'd the hosts and leaders of the land ; 
 
 While each proud Lord, who scarce might equal own 
 
 In kindred chief, or master in the throne,
 
 72 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 With helmet dofF'd, low-kneeling on the ground, 
 With love and reverence heard the solemn sound ; 
 With tears of fervour bathed the sacred shrine, 
 Implored on struggling Spain the grace divine ; 
 Implored the deathless crown for those who died 
 In Heaven's high cause by Baza's bleeding tide ; 
 Invoked the lightning of its ire on those 
 Who stood with impious arms the Immortal's foes ; 
 And pray'd by murdered Guzman's timeless grave, 
 By every boding sign the Eternal gave, 
 By that redeeming God who died to save, 
 To rear his conquering cross on Daro's plain, 
 And wreathe with bays the generous sons of Spain. 
 
 Of gentler mood, lending their heavenly tone, 
 O'er graceful form the dark mantilla thrown, 
 Spain's maidens knelt ; exalted piety 
 Impassion'd fired each soul-illumined eye ; 
 Their thoughts to better, brighter visions given, 
 Clasp'd hands, brow raised devotedly to Heaven, 
 Without one prayer for vengeance shed the tear 
 O'er every fallen brother's bloody bier ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 73 
 
 Implored the jarring feuds of war might cease, 
 And still the softer spirit murmured peace ; 
 That mourn'd, in every sally on the foe, 
 The friend, the kinsman, or the lover low. 
 
 Kind suppliants, no ! your prayers ascend in vain, 
 
 The kinsman, friend, and foe must bleed again ; 
 
 Again the sons of slaughter crowd the shore, 
 
 And Ruti's banks grow red with rival gore, 
 
 Ere summer's bloom return — a little space. 
 
 Far down the lengthening aisle, of differing race, 
 
 Far as the arms of Ferdinand extend, 
 
 Her varied tribes Spain's varied kingdoms send, 
 
 And immemorial strife and vengeful pride 
 
 In this great hour of peace and prayer subside ; 
 
 Valentia's brightly colour'd warriors stand 
 
 Near Andalusia's rich embroidered band 
 
 And turban'd chief of Murcia's rival land ; 
 
 Castille's high heart of honour, eye of flame, 
 
 With ancient Leon's simple warriors came, 
 
 And Aragon suppress'd her gaze of fear 
 
 To see the rugged Catalan so near ;
 
 74 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 And the bold tribes of Biscay's mountain shore 
 With hand that ne'er sheathed battle-blade before, 
 And eye upraised, the living God adore ; 
 And messenger on Monarch's urgent hest, 
 With rudely figured belt and fur-skin breast, 
 Bare neck and habit soil'd by dust, that show'd 
 All night in breathless haste the courier rode ; 
 And priest in sable weeds, and brown-robed friar, 
 And shell-deck'd pilgrim in his wild attire, 
 And plaided mountaineer with glance of fire — 
 Strange group, with varying colours strangely blend, 
 Yet bid one common chaunt to Heaven ascend, 
 While slow o'er fretted roof the organ peals, 
 And all the soul to God and glory steals. 
 
 How oft in care's despite will struggling woe 
 
 Betray, till others half our sufferings know ; 
 
 But group'd mid warrior band round festive blaze 
 
 Had Hassan stern and steady brook'd their gaze ; 
 
 Repell'd the rising fever of his breast, 
 
 Each torturing pang with smiling brow represt ;
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 75 
 
 And scarce by word, or glance, or changing tone, 
 The deep gloom of that shaken soid was shown. 
 But when with solemn peal at midnight call, 
 The sacred summons shook Beleguer's hall, 
 His liberated spirit burst controul 
 And gave to solitude his swelling soul ; 
 He sought the lofty terrace, where around 
 Dark Ruti's towers and Cabra's mountains frown'd ; 
 Where bright with beauty Mora's steeps were seen, 
 And slept in varied light the tranquil scene ; 
 The night was still and cloudless, yet the breeze 
 Stole gently down, and stirr'd the slumbering trees ; 
 And mingled with that murmur, came the roar 
 Of the loud torrent on its rocky shore, 
 While owlet's melancholy note and low 
 Sounded prophetic of impending woe. 
 
 There stood the Moor ; with memory's earnest eye, 
 He marled the myriads of the spangled sky, 
 While lovely shone Heaven's loveliest orb with ray 
 Powerless as vanish'd pleasure^ distant day ;
 
 76 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 So soft that light, so pure and peaceful glow'd, 
 
 From the departed Spirit's blest abode ; 
 
 But vain to Hassan's hopeless glance was given 
 
 That emanation of his country's heaven ; 
 
 Nor might one calm and cloudless beam impart 
 
 Its own cold quiet to his aching heart. 
 
 He gazed intensely, till arose the tear 
 O'er early love and parted pleasure's bier ; 
 Dae to the memory of those days long gone, 
 Those nights when each for other breathed alone, 
 And Heaven's deserted glories shone their own. 
 A moment's softness, fever's fire rose fast 
 As o'er his soul the dark and harrowing past 
 Return'd, till as that fate-foreboding train 
 Of thought revived, wild passions shook his brain ; 
 " And I, even in my first ungovern'd day, 
 " And bent on power and pleasure's maddening sway, 
 " With love's undoubting fervour flung aside 
 " The brightest flowers that bloom'd not by thy side. 
 • Vet this high temper, this confiding heart, 
 This bold and buoyant spirit edged the dart ; 
 
 .. r
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. / I 
 
 " This bade joy's rapture-beaming landscape fade, 
 
 " And I who loved, adored,— even I betray 'd ! 
 
 " Oh, had some far-kenn'd Iman chafed my blood, 
 
 " Saying, ' Thou shalt even so C by Heavens ! I would 
 
 " Have stabb'd the boding prophet where he stood ; 
 
 " Take, Fiend, exulting ! what in better day 
 
 " Had stood unbent, and laugh'd to scorn thy sway ; 
 
 " Fit retribution, glorious prize be thine, 
 
 " A soul o'er thrown and tempest-tost as mine ; 
 
 " Now truth severe will speak — it will— it will, 
 
 " And pride and passion must and shall be still ; 
 
 " I self-confiding, I defying death, 
 
 " Who led opinion, quail'd at censure's breath ; 
 
 " Renounced for juggling honour's empty name, 
 
 " Who for my love lost prospect, peace, and fame ; 
 
 " Who now with fainting step and vision dim 
 
 " Still loves her murderer ; loves and pardons him ; 
 
 " And still though three long years have sped, even now 
 
 " To Hamet's passion coldly stoops the brow ; 
 
 " Still turns the lifeless ear to others praise, 
 
 " While hour by hour the lamp of life decays ;
 
 78 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 " And I her murderer ! may'st thou never know, 
 " Dark Hamet, though this bosom's bitterest foe, 
 " One pang unmitigated, fierce, and fell, 
 " Of all I feel, armed with the stings of helL ,s 
 
 He stay'd his feverish speech, the moon beam'd bright, 
 
 All Nature sleeping in her lovely light ; 
 
 The stars that glancing wide from tent to tent 
 
 Shone brighter than the immortal firmament, 
 
 Now slowly sink to rest ; of all these fires 
 
 One yet delays, brief moment, and expires. 
 
 Even so, my reckless friends, in life's first day 
 
 A thousand meteors gild the glowing way, 
 
 At every step those faithless fires decay ; 
 
 When clouds o'ercast and all their lightnings die, 
 
 When fades in night that host-illumined sky, 
 
 One lingering lives, the loveliest and the best, 
 
 Then dies, and darkness fills the lonely breast. 
 
 Now cold to Hassan's ear came every sound, 
 
 And dark the lovely landscape slept around ; 
 
 Emblem, as sad spectatress, of his woes, 
 
 In melancholy state the cypress rose;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 79 
 
 With heavy moan the wild wave lash'd the shore, 
 But the far anthem rose to Heaven no more ; 
 All voiceless now, save o'er the echoing ground, 
 Where weary warder went his measured round, 
 Or mingled sad and stern time's iron knell, 
 With challenge of the watchful sentinel. 
 
 Though the freed spirit may awhile repress 
 Each gnawing care in pleasure's glad excess, 
 The ready fiend attendant night and day, 
 But waits the moment to reclaim his prey ; 
 A ghastly spectre veil'd from mortal eyes, 
 The worm that oft subdued, yet never dies ; 
 Some strangely woven link, some casual train, 
 And all his gloomy fires return again, 
 Rendering life's choicest paradise a pain. 
 Of every ill our human state attends, 
 The wreck of fortune, or the grave of friends, 
 Or every complicated cause of woe 
 That man in mortal mould must undergo ; 
 No pang intolerable as the force, 
 The unmitigated fever of remorse :
 
 80 THE MOOR. CANTO II. 
 
 No heart so fearfully and fiercely tried 
 
 As that which struggles 'twixt remorse and pride. 
 
 Remorse bids every unforgotten crime 
 
 Upbraid us from the grave of buried time ; 
 
 Sheds o'er each acted scene her lurid glare, 
 
 With all the hopeless colouring of despair : 
 
 Pride steels the heart that hardly stoops to show 
 
 To other's gaze the sufferer's inward woe ; 
 
 That fiercely spurns a kinsman's urged relief 
 
 Even in that last extremity of grief ; 
 
 Of every ill still worst the proud can find 
 
 Is the just censure of a meaner mind ; 
 
 Save kindred pity, which incautious prest 
 
 Is worse than censure to the wounded breast. 
 
 With pangs like these his anguish\l bosom bled, 
 
 As Hassan slowly sought his sleepless bed ; 
 
 In vain he strove his aching lids to close, 
 
 Still loved and lost, the form of Zaira rose. 
 
 With frequent force, unmark'd and unreprest, 
 
 The deep-drawn sigh came bursting from his breast ;
 
 CANTO II. THE EMBASSY. 81 
 
 How heavy hung the counted hours of night, 
 
 How slowly rose the morning's tarrying light ; 
 
 Without that elasticity of soul 
 
 That knows to baffle iron thought's controul, ' 
 
 To chase affliction's gather'd clouds away, 
 
 And look for brightness in a better day ; 
 
 Without the art like feebler souls to blind 
 
 By specious sophistry his powerful mind ; 
 
 Reflection bore his tortured thoughts along 
 
 With all that bitter sense, conviction strong, 
 
 It feels when the proud heart has stoop'd to wrong.
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 
 
 " We have tendered you the alliance of indissoluble friendship — now 
 hear and register our vow of implacable vengeance." 
 
 " Lady, farewell ! — Your bark is launched on a lake of sunshine, 
 mine on a sea of storm ; events have blended our destinies for a few 
 brief months, and will now separate them for ever; we have spent 
 many hours, and ranged many scenes together. — Time will efface the 
 memory of those pleasant wanderings, and blot out the recollection of 
 those careless hours, and if we meet again, we shall meet as though 
 they had never been." 
 
 a 2
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 
 
 Slow rolPd the night o'er Hassan's hopeless woes, 
 
 At morn the Moor in sullen mood arose ; 
 
 Yet wary pride imperious veiTd whate'er 
 
 Of suffering stern that secret soul might bear, 
 
 And steePd his brow, and mann'd his heavy heart 
 
 To play with wonted force his destined part. 
 
 To Hassan's word, on royal mission sent, 
 
 The leaguer'd chiefs profound attention lent ; 
 
 In courtly phrase to every leader brave 
 
 High greeting from the scepter'd Moor he gave, 
 
 High greeting to the King ; and as he ceased, 
 
 Immortal usage of the lavish East, 
 
 He bade the trustiest of his menials bear, 
 
 To grace his lordly speech, gifts rich and rare ;
 
 86 THE MOOlt. CANTO III. 
 
 Such as the noblest of the land might bring 
 From Ismael's throne to Spain's renowned King ; 
 With jewelTd hilt, Damascus 1 matchless blade, 
 O'er its bright steel Heaven's sacred signs display 'd ; 
 And Bagdad pour'd her stores of tissued gold ; 
 And Persia's pomp her purple dyes unroll'd ; 
 And twenty steeds from Arab's burning stran 
 Of spirit tameless, as their native land, 
 Proud step, and ear erect, and flowing mane, 
 Of speed that mock'd the horseman's idle rein, 
 With curb of foam, arched neck, and flashing eye, 
 In which the soul of Araby glanced high ; 
 As if the desart of their fast career, 
 As if the clansmen of their hate were near; 
 As if they heard the trumpet's thrilling call 
 Proclaim from far the feudal foeman's fall. 
 
 These duly given, in eloquent debate, 
 
 He urged the policies of either state ; 
 ' Most noble Lords," the Moslem said, " 'twere long 
 ' To wake the tedious tale of mutual wrong,
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 87 
 
 " To tell the deathless strife, descended hate, 
 
 " Nor blood could quench, nor time could mitigate ; 
 
 " When sire to son, with life's last energy, 
 
 " Deep graved it in each filial memory, 
 
 " That heavy hoarded vengeance ne'er to die. 
 
 " The dawning spirit of a better age 
 
 " Essay'd to calm dissension's venom' d rage ; 
 
 " Consenting Monarchs sheath'd the hostile brand, 
 
 " And peaceful nations grasp'd the friendly hand ; 
 
 " Nor lived alone in minstrel's fabled lay 
 
 " The long-lost courtesy of early day ; 
 
 " Our border youth, beneath the same bright skies, 
 
 " Ranged the same Avoods, and join'd in kindred ties ; 
 
 " But now stern havoc on our frontier made, 
 
 " The Spaniard sweeps the plain with ruthless blade ; 
 
 " In blackened heaps unpeopled cities lie, 
 
 " And, unavenged, our slaughter'd kinsmen die ; 
 
 " Their fields laid waste, their sons in slavery led, 
 
 " God ! is the tameless soul of Akbe dead ? 
 
 " Granada waits the trump's avenging breath, 
 
 " And Ismael maddens for the blast of death ;
 
 8$ THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 " Ere now had arm'd in Heaven's insulted cause, 
 
 " But antient treaty bids Abdallah pause, 
 
 " And antient honour pleads for broken laws ; 
 
 " Still breathes his gracious hope that friendship's chain 
 
 " May link the Spaniard and the Moor again ; 
 
 " As in those days when young Teresa came, 
 
 " The flower of Leon, Moorish love to claim, 
 
 " And bade the bitter hate of ages end, 
 
 " And feud grow cold, and jarring nations blend. 
 
 " When kindred treason held Alphonso's throne, 
 
 " The Moslem made that Monarch's cause his own ; 
 
 " Forgot in faithless fortune's adverse hour 
 
 " The frequent outrage of upbraiding power, 
 
 " And bade, with generous zeal, his warriors know 
 
 " An injured brother in a falling foe. 
 
 " Such tales of elder time, long waxen old, 
 
 " Found in strange chronicle, by Minstrel told, 
 
 " Yet sure to Spaniard's ear are never cold ; 
 
 " And ere we fling the saving sheath away 
 
 " Such are the words my Sovereign bids me say ; 
 
 " And proffer terms of treaty, as may be 
 
 Twixt equal thrones, the noble and the free." 
 
 << ,r r.
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 89 
 
 " The Spaniard," Kedith answer'd, " ne'er paused long 
 
 " To grant his equal just redress of wrong ; 
 
 " But, since CastihVs high council has delay'd 
 
 " To give the signal for the sheathless blade, 
 
 " Though yet impatient of their lengthening stay 
 
 " On frontier field my banded troops delay, 
 
 " To word like thine I will not answer nay. 
 
 " My King in far Castille holds princely state, 
 
 " Yet will the Moslem in Beleguer wait, 
 
 " And share a warrior's home, and deign to know 
 
 " Such spoi-ts as Spanish courtesy may show ; 
 
 " A special messenger of trust and care 
 
 " Shall straight the proffered terms of treaty bear, 
 
 " And, ere yon rising Moon has waned, shall bring 
 
 " Response of high import for lsmael's King." 
 
 Due honours paid, the solemn council o'er, 
 Why crowds a Nation to Beleguer's shore ? 
 The captive bull is stately on the strand ; 
 The fair, the brave, the noble of the land,
 
 90 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 With heart impatient, seek the gory fight, 
 
 'Mid shouts that rend the skies with mad delight. 
 
 Loud peals the signal trumpet's gathering sound, 
 
 And hails the champion of the listed round. 
 
 No twisted mail, no glittering arms to-day 
 
 Shall grace the warrior of that savage fray ; 
 
 Gay silken vest, light lance, and gallant steed, 
 
 Of these alone the belted brave have need. 
 
 " Now bear thee well I 11 Asturia's sons exclaim, 
 
 " Thou countryman and guardian of our fame ; 
 
 " Think, Pedro, how in honour's earliest day 
 
 " Our Fathers fought beneath Pelayo's sway ; 
 
 " He gave our Sires to bear the stainless brand, 
 
 " Lords of the soil, Hidalgos of the land ; 
 
 " He gave us that nobility of birth 
 
 " That raised us o'er the common sons of earth ; 
 
 " Forget, with life alone, the blood you bear, 
 
 " The noblest of the realm might nobly share ; 
 
 " More proud, who from Asturia's mountains springs, 
 
 " Descent more lofty than the line of Kings, 
 
 " Save Ferdinand's alone." — As rose that cry, 
 
 Collect and calm his mien, his soul glanced high,
 
 CANTO HI. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 1)1 
 
 It soar'd above the craven pulse of fear; 
 
 He drew his form erect, and couched his spear ; 
 
 Now, Gallant, guard thee well, the foe is near ; 
 
 Yet stately stands, though Matadores assail 
 
 With daring brandish of the scarlet veil ; 
 
 Still as the lowering tempest, yet the fire 
 
 Is gathering in his glance of quenchless ire ; 
 
 What stays, in mid career, his frantic bound ? 
 
 Madd'ning, he bends, and foaming tears the ground ; 
 
 Another desperate spring ; one effort more ; 
 Heard ye the agonizing monster 1 s roar ? 
 
 His hoofs are glistening in his own red flood, 
 
 His shaggy mane is thick with clotted blood ; 
 
 Quivering he sinks, — his dark eye's frenzied glow 
 
 With dreadful glare is fix'd upon the foe ; 
 
 Stretch'd o'er the ground, slow heaves his labouring 
 breath, 
 
 And shouting myriads hail the gasp of death. 
 
 " Come forth thou boast of old Asturia's land, 
 "And gather from thy lovely lady's hand
 
 92 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 " The wreath that well becomes so true a brand.* 1 
 "Twas thus the gallant gay applause went round ; 
 Alone, Castille, thy chiefs indignant frown'd, 
 That other's arm should bear the valorous prize 
 Of knightly deed from Lady's glistening eyes ; 
 Hark, from yon muffled bands, with deep acclaim 
 Her brave retainers shout the Cortez name. 
 Proud at the call, he took his listed place, 
 " Let others vaunt !" he cried, " their Gothic race 
 " Long may they boast ; of equal lineage we 
 " Are first in deed of daring Chivalry ; 
 " Have quail'd at shadow of Pelayo's name ; 
 " Castille's great Sancho — Bernard's deathless fame ? 
 " Let Veger's forests show their fiercest steer, 
 " So grant it, Heaven, I '11 quell his mad career ; 
 " Array "d, I stand my fearless speech to prove, 
 ' For God, my country, and my Lady's love." 
 
 Young Cortez ceased ; of light elastic mood 
 In every vein high throbVd the dancing blood ;
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 93 
 
 From his full orb the soul of honour broke, 
 
 And in his tone the young enthusiast spoke. 
 
 His form was fair and graceful, in his eye 
 
 Frank-hearted freedom and sincerity ; 
 
 Ne'er had misgovern d passion wreck'd his mind, 
 
 Or left deep thought and furrowing care behind ; 
 
 The lighter ills of life, with reckless pride 
 
 And boyhood's bounding step he dash'd aside ; 
 
 The heavier griefs, that life's advancing day 
 
 Strews o 1 er our path, to stain the bitter way, 
 
 That quell the glance, and make the young heart cold, 
 
 Were spared in pity to a breast so bold. 
 
 He never knew of promised hope delayed, 
 
 The joyous dream of early bliss decay'd, 
 
 Or generous friendship's trusting heart betray'd ; 
 
 Suspicion's restless mood or watchful fear, 
 
 And pride and parted hands that once were dear ; 
 
 Misgiving jealousy, thy ruthless force, 
 
 And never-dying pang of keen remorse ; 
 
 That only ill o'er which the heavy hour, 
 
 Years, length'ning years, can shed no healing power.
 
 94 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 Of such he deems not ; lance, and trusty steed, 
 
 And Lady fair, are all of which such knight has need ; 
 
 And now his trust is in his courage high, 
 
 His guerdon in his lovely Clara's eye. 
 
 Of fiery mood he paused not for the shock, 
 
 But burst, as bursts the wild wave on the rock ; 
 
 Frontera's bleeding bull is backward prest, 
 
 The foam is gather 1 d on his charger's breast 
 
 Again in mortal strife ; that well aim'd blow, 
 
 That deadly stroke has beat the savage low ; 
 
 He falls — and loud the madd'ning shouts resound. 
 
 Young Cortez paused, and rolFd his proud eye round. 
 
 Where, ranged in glittering row, the fair display, 
 
 To greet the conquering brave, their "kerchiefs gay, 
 
 The enthusiast turn'd ; awhile forgot the fight, 
 
 Forgot the foe, to hail that only sight 
 
 He cared to mark, if Clara's glance was bright. 
 
 Ill-fated youth ! the pause affection made 
 
 Thy better hopes to bleeding doom betray'd. 
 
 " Now guard thee, victor ! guard thee !" all in vain 
 
 The summons rang ; no more on battle plain 
 
 Shall Cortez wield the fearless sword again ;
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 95 
 
 To earth the beast his heedless victim bore, 
 
 With unrelenting brow and hoof of gore 
 
 Ploughed his young breast : even then his failing hand 
 
 Left not love's colours, when it lost its brand ; 
 
 With Clara's scarf in death refused to part, 
 
 And life's last struggle press'd it to his heart. 
 
 Slow from the Circus rose a heavy cry 
 
 To see the hope of Spain, young Cortez, die ; 
 
 Beyond all meaner grief, through the rent air, 
 
 Heard ye that piercing shriek of deep despair ? 
 
 Clara ! 'twas thine ! — behold thy warrior's bier. 
 
 Gaze, wildly gaze, nor shed one useless tear ! 
 
 He stood, even now, with victory's laurels crown'd, 
 
 But fate rose grimly o'er, the wreath unbound, 
 
 Gave to the winds each long-recorded vow, 
 
 And rear'd the cypress o'er his destined brow. 
 
 Go, Clara, go ! — the flowers that freshly bloom 
 
 To deck thy conqueror's front, shall grace his tomb ; 
 
 No more with early rapture haste to hear 
 
 His joyous accents greet the willing ear ;
 
 96 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 No more with maiden train at evening wait 
 To hail his welcome stgp by Vala's gate ; 
 Cortez is low, and Clara desolate ! 
 
 So joyless sank the day ; nor yet alone 
 
 In feats like thes.e was Spain's high spirit shown ; 
 
 As evening falls, with measured step and slow, 
 
 Through Sarabanda's stately maze they go ; 
 
 As strains of echoing music bade advance 
 
 The fair and gallant to the courtly dance ; 
 
 How glad such echoes greet the youthful ear, 
 
 When youth is confident, and love is near ; 
 
 When lovers 1 hands congratulating press 
 
 That silent bond of mutual happiness ; 
 
 Oh, in that clasp, from others glance conceal'd, 
 
 Is all that lovers care to know, reveal'd ; 
 
 Best, surest pledge of mingling hearts. Oh ! say, 
 
 Can fate's stern mandate tear such bonds away ? 
 
 Perchance, some years of stormy suffering o'er, 
 
 Even those who love the best, shall love no more ; 
 
 Shall meet on distant day with feelings changed, 
 
 With high and heated hearts, and thought estranged,
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 97 
 
 With darkened brow, and chilTd averted eye 
 That shuns, yet seeks, nor meets with apathy ; 
 The voice so oft, yet still too seldom heard, 
 Now slowly faultering o'er each measured word ; 
 The hand, once join'd in friendship's fervent grasp, 
 Scarce given, constrained and cold even in its clasp ; 
 And nothing left of pleasure past and high, 
 Save glance that sometimes brightens, or the sigh 
 Heaved o'er die memory of departed day, 
 That passes not with passing joy away : 
 Alas ! how changed since listening beauty knew 
 In each bold word the spirit warm and true ; 
 And he, with proud affection's ceaseless gaze, 
 Beheld her gliding through the sprightly maze, 
 In every whisper hail'd his favourite's praise, 
 Hail'd in her changing cheek and glistening eye 
 His heart's best hope — his soul's high destiny ! 
 
 But quit such bitter theme : in that glad hour 
 Through Kedith's hall bloom'd many a garden flower ; 
 Yet Blanche, who mark'd thee on that night of mirth, 
 Nor deem'd thy form the loveliest form of earth ? 
 
 n
 
 98 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 Who mark'd thee to thy native castanet 
 
 So gay and graceful bounding, could forget ? 
 
 Even slumber sought the lover's lids in vain, 
 
 When ceased the dance, when sank the echoing strain : 
 
 How oft was heard from moonlight bower afar 
 
 Some young enthusiast's eloquent guitar ; 
 
 Such, near her casement pour'd his passion' d lays, 
 
 And charm'd the ear of night with Beauty's praise. 
 
 Time sped— Beleguer's chieftains paused in vain 
 
 To hear the rushing steed o'er Ruti's plain ; 
 
 In vain the warder strain'd his eager eye 
 
 To learn if herald of Castille were nigh ; 
 
 Still slept war's banners— mute the clarion's breath : 
 
 Inactive stood the marshall'd sons of death ; 
 
 On Spain's extremest limits they survey'd 
 
 The bloody harvest of their swords delay'd, 
 
 And cursed the pause her craven councils made : 
 
 Yet chafed not Hassan ; deem'd he such delay 
 
 Might sooth a nation's gloomy feud away ; 
 
 Or, if great Allah's forceful will decreed 
 
 That front to front the hostile ranks must bleed,
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 99 
 
 Such pause might yet avail his native land, 
 And reunite each brave but broken band. 
 
 Days, weeks, and months rolled on ; the arena's fight, 
 
 That channel the mid-day hour, the dance by night, 
 
 He shared ; but oftener sought the blooming bower 
 
 Where Kedith's lily spent the innocent hour : 
 
 It came like blessed angel's voice from Heaven, 
 
 To hear her gentle welcome kindly given ; 
 
 For bigot zeal was soft'ned in her mind, 
 
 And fervent faith with charity combined, 
 
 And loftier genius lightened in her eye, 
 
 And in her heart were feelings fix'd and high, 
 
 That ne'er at duty's stubborn call delay'd, 
 
 And ne'er by passion's mastering force were sway'd. 
 
 Since Zaira first, last loved, on Daro's shore 
 Lost on one eve the fruit of years before, 
 Of thought impatient, Hassan's suffering breast 
 Each willing fair for one brief hour possest, 
 And heard with smiling brow, but heart unmoved, 
 Wild glowing praise from lips he little loved ; 
 
 h 2
 
 100 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 He knew those specious lips were skilFd to flow 
 
 With rapturous greeting or impassion'd woe : 
 
 The faithful heart to his responsive pressed, 
 
 Last nio-ht, perchance, some sated friend had blessed ; 
 
 The tear for him, should fall for other shed, 
 
 For other arms their revel couch be spread ; 
 
 Yet still shall woman's practised strain deceive, 
 
 And long the fool and wise like him believe ; 
 
 Till cold experience, as a chilling cloud, 
 
 Throws o'er the summer heart its wintery shroud : 
 
 Then that duped heart shall first awakening learn 
 
 Their welcome to distrust, their tears to spurn ; 
 
 To grace their couch by night, at morn forget, 
 
 Win without love, and lose without regret. 
 
 Oh ! when the mind has wander'd wide and long 
 Through every wild excess of rapturous wrong, 
 Till cold indifference or contempt for life 
 Falls on the soul fatigued with sensual strife — 
 Oh ! then, if virtue speaks in beauty's guise, 
 And beauty beams in awful virtue's eyes,
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 101 
 
 At every word, at every conscious glance, 
 
 How the mind wakens from its long long trance ! 
 
 How to each sound the rapt idea springs, 
 
 And to the new-born thought delighted clings ! 
 
 So, when on Blanche's lips the pure truth spoke, 
 
 A ray, a long-lost ray, o'er Hassan broke ; 
 
 He heard with long unfelt, unknown delight, 
 
 As one who hails the earliest glimpse of light 
 
 Break o 1 er the lengthen"^! gloom of polar night. 
 
 Life's purer pleasures, simple yet refined, 
 
 Had lost their force ; but when, in accents kind, 
 
 Young Bkhche with all her soul's gay fancy shoVd 
 
 Where Nature's charms in varied beauty glow'd, 
 
 Where solemn gloom the lofty cypress threw, 
 
 With silvery leaf the graceful olive grew ; 
 
 Where blended wild in bright profusion lay 
 
 The purple hyacinth, anemone gay,. 
 
 And all the sparkling bloom of southern day ; 
 
 Or show'd o'er giant Cabra's rocky height, 
 
 With temper'd beam the waning orb of light 
 
 Sink slowly glorious on the purpled shore, 
 
 And dying, bid the world it left adore ;
 
 102 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 He almost deem'd him on his native plain 
 
 To hear his Zaira's thrilling tones again, 
 
 As when in peaceful day, ere passion's glow 
 
 With shame and sorrow stain'd her beauteous brow, 
 
 She ownd the parting hour's entrancing spell, 
 
 And made him love the scenes she loved so well. 
 
 Oh ! oft at eve, beneath that pale pure star 
 
 To lovers dear, Blanche tuned her light guitar, 
 
 Nor yet forgot the melancholy strain, 
 
 That never fell on Hassan's ear in vain ; 
 
 And sad their mingling notes together rang, 
 
 And mingling hearts " The Fall of Lara" sang— 
 
 That only strain, to early memory true, 
 
 His boyhood loved and yet his manhood knew. 
 
 They stray'd on Ruti's shore in cloudless night— 
 
 For well that maiden loved the lovely night, 
 
 When silence reigns and sorrow sinks to rest, 
 
 And all seem'd pure and peaceful as her breast. 
 
 So day by day in Hassan's softening mind, 
 
 His better dreams of bliss with Blanche combined, 
 
 And round his heart her fairy form entwined.
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 103 
 
 But now the silent storm long gathering broke ; 
 Sudden it came, and from his trance he woke : 
 Startling Beleguer's halls, the echoing ground 
 Rings to the fiery steed's impetuous bound ; 
 His foam-besprinkled mane and breathless speed, 
 Proclaim the lated horseman's desperate need ; 
 O'er the soil'd housings of his panting side 
 Are seen the castles of a kingdom's pride, 
 And the loud clarion at the guarded gate 
 Bespeaks the herald of impending fate. 
 
 Ere long to Hassan the Asturian came, 
 
 And craved his presence in his master's name ; 
 
 Where summonM quick, on pressing news of state, 
 
 Beleguer's veteran chiefs held deep debate. 
 
 " Lord Hassan," Kedith said, " to honoured guest, 
 
 " I grieve to speak my Sovereign's stern behest; 
 
 " Time speeds, and plain words suit the soldier best. 
 
 " The stranger comes, my Sovereign bids me say, 
 
 " To claim redress for some slight border fray ;
 
 104 THE MUOK. CANTO III. 
 
 " But oh ! shall injured Spain forget to claim 
 
 " Her long arrear of outrage, guilt, and shame ; 
 
 " Her land with years of lust and rapine stain'd, 
 
 " And long enduring God ! thy cross profaned ; 
 
 " The yoke of faithless lords, their bitter scorn, 
 
 " And all since Roderick's time the Goth hath borne ? 
 
 " The Moor claims vengeance on the Borderer's head 
 
 " For plunder of the lowest peasant's shed ; 
 
 " That rifled shed, that violated plain, 
 
 a "Were once devoted Roderick's rich domain ; 
 
 " Those fields, even now the foe's luxuriant spoil, 
 
 " Were ours — our blood has fertilized the soil : 
 
 " He drench'd those plains in gore, he pluck'd that gem, 
 
 " He wears it sever'd from our diadem, 
 
 " And glutted with our father s wretchedness, 
 
 " The Moor, the spoiler, comes to claim redress ! 
 
 " Redress shall come, his meanest serf shall know 
 
 " Due restitution from the lawless foe ; 
 
 " Then shall our King fulfil his kingly trust, 
 
 " Be true to others, and to Spain be just. 
 
 " He views her fairest flower Grenada gone, 
 
 " He mourns that brightest jewel of her throne, 
 
 " And Spain, unbending Spain, reclaims her own !
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 105 
 
 " In earlier day, with fierce unsparing hand, 
 " The conquering Moslem sway'd our father's land ; 
 " Alone, on cold Astoria's barren height, 
 " Some faithful few maintained the feeble fight. 
 " Now fast the changing tide of conquest flows ; 
 " In every pulse a prouder spirit glows, 
 " A loftier fervour warms the martial line, 
 " Heaven's will is manifest in every sign ; 
 " The cross impatient claims a wider sway, 
 " And God and Man upbraid our arms' delay : 
 " Yet still in pity to the waste of life 
 " Will Ferdinand awhile suspend the strife ; 
 " For homage paid, and tribute duly given, 
 ; ' May yet assuage the apparent wrath of Heaven. 
 " If still denied our Sovereign's just demand, 
 " Shall straight our banners- wave on Moslem land. 
 " Our cry Castille and Aragon shall be, 
 And all our arms, St. James, and Spain for thee !" 
 
 .. 
 
 The Moor an instant paused : his soul glanced high, 
 
 And all war's lightnings gather'd in his eye, 
 
 The pride that policy had long represt 
 
 At once blazed forth in Hassan's burning breast. 
 
 u 5
 
 10G THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 " When at your word the wild winds cease to roar, 
 
 " And the loud surges lash the strand no more, 
 
 " Then crave a bondsman's tribute from the Moor. 
 
 " Oh, speak ! who witness'd from the imperious North 
 
 " The trembling slaves of tyranny come forth, 
 
 " And prate of coward crouching to the foe, 
 
 " Say, was the spirit of dur Fathers low ? 
 
 " Like them I swear, ere Ismael sheathes the sword 
 
 " And owns allegiance to a stranger Lord, 
 
 " Our blazing towers shall strew the crimson plain 
 
 " Where slaughter'd hes the flower of Christian Spain ; 
 
 Their honours low, their trophies won in vain. 
 
 Then welcome ! warriors, to your certain doom, 
 " Our funeral beacons shall your path illume ; 
 " What nobler fires can gild a nation's tomb ? 
 " Yet once I deem'd that happier morn might rise 
 " O'er bended brows made bright, and kindlier ties ; 
 " And if we strove, had striven in mimic fray, 
 " As kindred bands contend on festal day ; 
 " Far other sight when next our death ranks close — 
 '* Not yours, most noble Lords, ignoble foes ; 
 
 a 
 
 ..
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 107 
 
 " To greet your march a fiery people wait, 
 " Of wrong implacable, secure of fate, 
 " For Allah arm'd, for Ismael desperate." 
 
 He spake, the badge of stern defiance threw, 
 And bending stately to the chiefs, withdrew. 
 
 At Kedith's word, the bravest at the gate 
 
 As train of honour to attend him wait 
 
 Through perilous pass ; the arm'd retainers all 
 
 Were duly ranged as Hassan left the hall ; 
 
 They deem'd such pomp their master's friendship proved: 
 
 I ween that stranger Lord he little loved, 
 
 But well Beleguer's haughty chieftain knew 
 
 What rank, what honours, to the Moor were due ; 
 
 Ne'er be it said, by Moslem's vaunting pride, 
 
 In Kedith's halls was fitting state denied : 
 
 He hail'd him parting courteously but grave, 
 
 While warmer greeting generous Cabra gave ; 
 
 With ready zeal his hand he kindly prest, 
 
 " Farewell !" he cried, " mine young and honour'd guest;
 
 108 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 " Dawn happier days, and Cabra's chief again 
 " Shall greet the welcome Moor on Ruti's plain." 
 Oh! had the lion Lord with prescient power 
 Foreseen the anguish of that meeting hour, 
 Though bold his parting speech, and kind his vow, 
 Far other shade had dimni'd that warrior's brow. 
 
 The train expectant stand with shield and lance, 
 The trumpet sounds to horse, the troops advance ; 
 The last due honours paid, slow filed the band, 
 Till, Ruti past, they gain'd the open strand ; 
 There halt the Moslem made : " Ho ! Albin, lead 
 " To yon low garden gate my fretting steed ; 
 " By Heaven ! he chafes him at the bugle sound, 
 " As if he knew and spurn'd his foeman's ground : 
 " There wait my will ;" to earth he bounded light, 
 And sought, with heavy heart, the trellis bright ; 
 Where now must warrior breathe the last adieu 
 To gentle courtesy and friendship due ; 
 If aught of softer feeling sway'd his breast, 
 He knew 'twas idle, and such thought represt ;
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 109 
 
 For war's impending tumult had renew'd 
 The hateful and hereditary feud, 
 And though Beleguer's chieftain to his guest 
 Had much of solemn courtesy exprest, 
 Yet Hassan deem'd the unguarded glance to read, 
 That show'd his hatred of their differing creed. 
 Each varying change of temper, eye, and tone, 
 That speak the secret mind, to him alone 
 Who has mark'd much and wander'd wide, are known : 
 By others ken unreck'd, if not unseen, 
 -£ Thought scaped his penetrating eye, and keen ; 
 Too skill'd resentment's rising fire to show, 
 He little brook'd that others breast should know 
 His thoughts, and veiFd them with a laughing brow ; 
 But though the indifferent tone and quiet gaze, 
 Nor ire represt, nor struggling pride betrays, 
 Yet causeless wrong, or cold neglectful look, 
 Like fretting steed did haughty Hassan brook ; 
 One, too, forbade such hopes, whose light was dim, 
 Who gave earth's brightest promise, Heaven, for him, 
 With soul so fervent, that his every day 
 Of after-life could ill such love repay.
 
 110 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 Grenada's sun rose o'er her withering charms, 
 A dotard press'd her to his senseless arms. 
 
 Day sank, and o'er the summer's cloudless blue 
 Shone many a tint of soft transparent hue ; 
 Sweet on that eve by Blanche's blooming bower 
 The rosy air inhaled the fragrant flower ; 
 The light breeze swells, when closing day is near, 
 As swells the chaunt o'er beauty's funeral bier ; 
 Now, all so still that faint breeze fail'd to play, 
 And vespers hymn'd the dirge of dying day. 
 Such have I known in Cadiz 1 circling bay, 
 When the young Spaniard tuned her evening lay; 
 The light strain mingled with the dashing oar, 
 Lived on the breeze, and died along the shore ; 
 And such in fair Provence, when evening threw 
 O'er mound and olive-grove its saffron hue, 
 Gleam'd with faint radiance on Estrelia's height, 
 And o'er the waters left a golden light. 
 
 Ye guardian Saints ! in hour so heavenly, how 
 
 Could earth's rude passions stain man's kindling brow ?
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 THE COUNCIL. 1 1 1 
 
 Even Hassan felt the pulse of sullen pride, 
 
 On such an eve, in scene so fair, subside ; 
 
 And every fiercer feeling of his breast 
 
 With wearied nature sank awhile to rest, 
 
 As glanced his eye on her in fairy bower, 
 
 The loved companion of each latter hour : 
 
 " Lady," he said, " the fearful die is cast, 
 
 " And every blissful hope of peace is past, 
 
 " And all our many mingling hours must be 
 
 " For ever blotted from my memory ; 
 
 " Our mountain paths, thy song at twilight, seem 
 
 " The recollection of a lovely dream ; 
 
 " My last adieu to every chief is said, 
 
 " Farewell to thee, and then my course is sped — 
 
 " To thee, whose spirit's softer, kindlier spell 
 
 " Has sooth'd mine hour of hopeless grief — farewell ! 
 
 " Whose light and playful presence breath'd a ray 
 
 " Of heavenly brightness o'er my weary way, 
 
 " And won this heart to long unfelt repose. 1 ' 1 — 
 
 He paused, for Zaira to his soul arose ; 
 
 " And now, since Rutfs mountains never more 
 
 " Shall mark my stranger step on Spanish shore,
 
 112 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 " One gentle greeting ere I leave the land, 
 " And kindly take a brother's parting hand.'" 
 
 " Brave Moor, 11 she said in fault'ring voice and low, 
 
 " So wills unerring Heaven, that Spain must know 
 
 " The heavy times return'd of war and woe ; 
 
 " Yet, oh ! if ceaseless prayer in fervent strain 
 
 " Had aught avail'd, mine had not risen in vain ; 
 
 " But fate, relentless fate, with sullen force 
 
 " Sweeps unresisted like the river's course ; 
 
 " Inevitable doom, imperious sway, 
 
 " The weak, the proud, slave, sovereign, must obey.'" 
 
 While yet she spoke, he saw where careless lay 
 
 The colours that were wont on battle day 
 
 To decorate the chiefs of Spain's array ; 
 
 She read his changing cheek, and griev'd, replied — 
 
 " Not mine these badges of exulting pride ; 
 
 The bold retainers of my father's name 
 : Will only wear the colours that I frame. 
 " God knows !" she clasp'd her hands, " how glad 
 
 'twere mine 
 " This better olive with their bays to twine ;
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 113 
 
 " Her quiet wreath beams brighter to mine eye, 
 
 " Than all the trophies all their deeds can buy ; 
 
 " Then take the peaceful emblem — on thy crest 
 
 " That softer hope of happier honours rest ; 
 
 " And when my Father stems the shock of war, 
 
 " His hairs are grey — then, Hassan, pause and spare ! 
 
 " And now farewell for ever, since no more 
 
 " Our reckless steps may roam the desart shore ; 
 
 " Farewell, brave Moor ! yet not to Heaven in vain 
 
 " Rise for your weal a maiden's simple strain : 
 
 " If little kind in parting hour I seem, 
 
 " Deem 'tis my country's fashion — gently deem 
 
 " Of all the past, nor wrong'd my memory be, 
 
 " But blame the hard and heavy times — not me. 11 
 
 The Moor is gone, the blooming bower forsaken, 
 The last word said, the latest look is taken. 
 Now widely scatter 'd o'er the tented ground, 
 Spain's warriors cross them at the vesper's sound ; 
 With brow unveil'd, its praise a Nation pours, 
 And, full of faith, the living God adores ; 
 
 i
 
 114 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 Peace for one moment sways man's fiercer will, 
 And human passions — hate and pride, are still : 
 Why checks the lated Moor his restless steed ? 
 Little, I ween, he cares for Holy Creed ; 
 He curbs his course beneath the terrace wall, 
 To hear those murmuring accents rise and fall ; 
 Oh ! many a cloudless night, that voice before 
 Has tuned its favourite strain on moonlight shore. 
 
 In the pale sky afar 
 
 Beams the bright even star ; 
 
 Men say in such hour 
 
 The blessed have power : 
 In such, Holy Virgin, I've tuned thee my strain ; 
 Now hear, sainted Mary, thy Maiden again ! 
 
 Two Brothers were mine, and they were as bold 
 As ever in ancient story was told ; 
 They march'd at the clarion's breath, 
 And they sleep the sleep of death.
 
 CANTO III. THE COUNCIL. 115 
 
 Oh ! dreary their couch by the wild ocean wave ; 
 The moonbeam is cheerless and cold on their grave, 
 There the fox of the earth and the sea-mew go, 
 And o'er it the rank weeds neglectedly grow ; 
 And ever upbraiding and sullen the roar 
 Of the reckless waves on the desolate shore : 
 With our Fathers their ashes no never shall be, 
 
 But all that may live is in Heaven and with thee. 
 
 A Mother was mine, and as good and as fair 
 
 As ever has breathed our mortal air ; 
 
 But the pure rose wan'd — she is gone ! 
 
 Now, Virgin ! shelter thy lonely one. 
 
 My Father he wends to the field, 
 
 Stretch o'er him thy saving shield ; 
 
 Undaunted and faithful his band, 
 
 And high is his spirit, and true is his brand ; 
 
 But the vision of youth is more bright, 
 
 And its hand is more deadly in fight. 
 
 He has told us that God, whom we trust. 
 His care is for all men below ; 
 
 t Q
 
 1 ] 6 THE MOOR. CANTO III. 
 
 To pray for the just and unjust, 
 
 The fere and the foe. 
 
 I pray, as he bids me — thy pity extend ; 
 
 These towers held a guest, 
 
 Oh ! shelter his crest, 
 
 And the foe and the faithless be lost in the friend. 
 
 I ask not for triumph, its proud notes be still, 
 
 Rejoicing in Heaven, and on Earth be good will ; 
 
 Even so rose the chant over Bethlehem's plain, 
 
 And God's blessed chorus re-echoed the strain. 
 
 Long paused the Moslem as the strain gave o'er — 
 He vainly ringers, it will wake no more. 
 Awhile he paused, then join'd his bold array : 
 To fair Granada's towers they wound their way, 
 To Moslem King and people to report 
 The hostile summons of the Spanish Court.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 
 
 Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood, 
 Land of my Sires ! What mortal hand 
 Can e'er untie the filial band 
 That knits me to thy rugged strand ! 
 
 Scott. 
 
 For the first fervour of their zeal inspired 
 The mountaineers, the presence of their chief, 
 
 The air they breathed, the soil whereon they trod, 
 Duty, devotion, faith ; 
 
 O valiant race ! 
 O people excellently brave ! 
 True Goths ye fell, and faithful to the last ; 
 Though overpower'd triumphant, and in death 
 Unconquer'd. Holy be your memory, 
 Blessed and glorious now and ever more 
 Be your heroic names ! 
 
 Southey.
 
 The Author has to apologize tor the introduction of the first ninety 
 lines of this Canto, as they are unconnected with the subject of the 
 Poem. They were written on his return from the Continent, during 
 the Summer of 1823, in a part of the country where he had passed the 
 first and happiest years of his life. Removed from the great line of 
 communication, separated from the more inhabited districts by a range 
 of high hills on one side, on the other by moors of an immense extent, 
 its thinly scattered population has retained the long-descended attach- 
 ments, the hospitable feelings, and the uncorrupted manners of the old 
 time. When these lines were written, the last of the old stag-hunting 
 establishments that yet remained in Great Britain, the last chase of 
 the red deer in their native state, was still preserved in this country, 
 though its fortunes had long been declining. While there yet existed 
 a hope of calling into life a single spark of antient feeling in behalf of 
 this kingly pastime, the insertion of these lines could not be consi- 
 dered impertinent : — the vanity of introducing the names of his ances- 
 tors will be pardoned. He confesses that he has felt the deepest in- 
 terest in the fate of an Establishment, whose sports and hospitalities 
 were endeared to him by his earliest recollections, that was associated 
 with the old history of the county, and that, for years, in better times, 
 and in a country devoted to the cause, had been exclusively maintained 
 by his family. It would be useless, and to him most painful, to record 
 the decline of public spirit, the cold support and open hostility, that, com- 
 bined with the inclosure of Exmoor, and the consequent extinction of 
 the forest rights, have led to its fall. He has, however, inserted in his 
 Notes some further particulars of an Establishment that had long out- 
 lived all others of a similar kind, that had descended from generation 
 to generation, from century to century, unquestioned and uninter- 
 rupted, but whose death-warrant has been signed by the living race, 
 and whose fall has been destined to the present year. 
 
 The Convent and scenery of Montserrat, in Catalonia, suggested 
 the sketch he has attempted of the Convent and Mountains of Alva. 
 The Abbot, the young Catalan, the Saint, and the Chieftain of the 
 Guerilla, are characters drawn from actual observation. In his repre- 
 sentation of that wild and warlike group, he has generally adhered with 
 fidelity to incidents as they occurred, to opinions unreservedly ex- 
 pressed, and feelings as they were called forth by the excitation of the 
 moment. In a very few instances he has been compelled to deviate 
 from the actual course of events ; the reader will however perceive, by 
 the account he has given in his Notes of the real adventure, that such 
 alterations are slight, and do not, in any degree, change the nature of 
 the scene, or the character of the passions described.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 
 
 O Pixton ! seen even now in landscape bright, 
 
 How fair thy scenes beneath the summer light ! 
 
 My native mountains, which I yet survey, 
 
 Beloved scenes of careless childhood, say, 
 
 With beating heart how many a reckless day 
 
 Has mark'd my boyish step, delighted, bend 
 
 Where Hadden's heights of purple heath ascend ; 
 
 Where Hawkridge 1 wild and sullen wastes extend, 
 
 And verdant Storidge to the thundering wave 
 
 His mighty mass of oaken forest gave ; 
 
 By Haddeo's foaming flood and Danebrook's tide, 
 
 That parted once a rival people's pride, 
 
 And Ella's native woods — beloved scene, — 
 
 Scenes where my boyhood's happiest hours have beei^ 
 
 A moment give the glow of earliest life, 
 
 And fire my strain to tell of mountain strife !
 
 120 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 And thou, dark moor, beneath whose lowering sky 
 The cheerless mists of Autumn ever lie ; 
 Who roams thy vast and desolated round, 
 Sees scarce one hut, nor hears one social sound ; 
 Who finds him guideless on that dreary way, 
 When sinks from Heaven the blessed orb of day, 
 May never chance to quit thy lonesome site, 
 But bid to all he loves a long good night. 
 Here have I heard in summer s liveliest glow, 
 Mid hail and mist, the raging tempest blow ; 
 Eternally on hoarse resounding shore 
 The infant Exe with tide impetuous roar ; 
 Sole tenant of that stern uncultured space, 
 I've seen the startled Monarch of the chase 
 Roused by fierce foemen from his lonely lair, 
 With mien majestic, slow and stately bear 
 His step to earth— his antlers in the air. 
 
 Away, away ! o'er highland, stream, and brake, 
 I hear the opening hounds wild music make ;
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 121 
 
 The deer, uproused, goes nobly down the wind, 
 The bursting horn peals merrily behind. 
 O'er boundless moor and up the mountain breast, 
 Nor panting steed, nor wearied horseman rest. 
 The train falls back, the time brooks no delay ; 
 While laggards pause, ye fearless few away ! 
 Even now the chase is up, the stag at bay ; 
 I hear the deep death-note, the bugle-call, 
 Proclaim from far the antler'd monarch's fall. 
 
 Some ancient few recall the loftier day 
 
 When came in scarlet hosts the brave array ; 
 
 O'er Hadden's mountain when my Grandsire past, 
 
 A thousand gallants rallied at his blast ; 
 
 To Hawkridge hills, at Acland's glad acclaim, 
 
 The crowding chivalry of Devon came ; 
 
 Who own'd the West, nor knew of Acland's name ? 
 
 In Pixton's woods the chase was fierce and strong — 
 
 In Pixton's halls the wassail loud and long ; 
 
 At night their limbs on couch of heather spread, 
 
 The mountain fern wild pillow for their head ;
 
 122 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 And if they listed melody,, might hear 
 Our rushing Barle make music for their ear. 
 Alas ! those hardier times are gone, and few 
 With fitting zeal our Fathers'' sports renew ; 
 For twice two hundred years, their gallant train 
 Exulting swept the Crown-protected plain ; 
 These eyes, that loved that field of sylvan war, 
 Its rights borne down, its shrinking limits saw, 
 And mourned the last of Devon's forest law. 
 Then twice o'er Hadden's heights of heathery pride 
 That chase, of immemorial honour, died ; 
 And twice the Spirit of the mountains came, 
 Forbade to fall and saved the lingering flame : 
 Expiring now its latest embers lie ; 
 Awake, bold sons of Devon ! let not die 
 That remnant of our Fathers"' chivalry ! 
 
 O Pixton ! welcome are thy scenes to me, 
 Thou last resort of old fidelity, — 
 The ties that bound the vassal to his Lord, 
 Firm as in fight the trueman to his sword,
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 123 
 
 From sire to son, without one prayer for change, 
 
 One wish beyond his own dark moors to range, 
 
 From softer scenes those nobler ties are fled, 
 
 The spirit of a loftier age is dead. 
 
 Here when on Ella's heights the sun is low, 
 
 And lengthening shadows live along its brow, 
 
 I tread the fields my thoughtless childhood stray'd, 
 
 Each long-loved haunt, each well-remember'd glade, 
 
 The fever'd hopes and schemes of latter day, 
 
 Its headlong pride and passions, pass away ; 
 
 My soul reverts to times of little care, 
 
 And thou, loved Mother ! thou alone art there ! 
 
 I only mark the woods she sought, the shore 
 
 Dear to the friend, the parent — now no more : 
 
 Light, tearless days ! when, life and fancy new, 
 
 Each wish was pure as every thought was true ; 
 
 I deem'd no coming ill my heart could tame, 
 
 And nothing knew of sorrow — save the name. 
 
 Time was, thy mountains had not bless'd my sight 
 For many a rolling year : when on that night 
 I paused on Hadden^ unforgotten height,
 
 124 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 MarkM the deep shadow of his mighty woods, 
 And caught the loud roar of his rushing floods, 
 Came dearer to my soul those sounds, than all 
 The melting melody of courtly hall : 
 So, when reviving morn its glad beams threw, 
 And Loja's hills the joyful summons knew, 
 Granada's warriors haiPd with wild delight, 
 Along the far horizon bold and bright, 
 Their own Nevada stretch in living light ; 
 " Our Moorish hills !" with tameless transport cried, 
 And every pulse throb^d high with patriot pride. 
 Till then even Albin chose not to intrude, 
 His favourite page, on Hassan's lonely mood ; 
 But now impatient to his chief he rode, 
 While rapturous feeling in his dark eye glow'd. 
 ' Look, good my Lord ! we touch the frontier strand ; 
 " How blue and beautiful, and boldly, stand 
 " The cherish'd mountains of my native land ! 
 " Beneath them flows unseen our Daro^ tide, 
 " My Father's peaceful home is on its side, 
 " And there, perchance, even now my Mother dear 
 " Yet thinks of distant Albin with a tear ;
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 
 
 125 
 
 " Of lighter mood, in childhood's frolic gay, 
 
 " Around their Sire my little brethren play ; 
 
 " Oh ! will they faithful, when I thither roam, 
 
 " With childish rapture greet their wanderer home— 
 
 " Cling to their early comrade's neck, or fly 
 
 " With haste unkind, and shun the stranger's eye ? 
 
 " I trust it not ; a month— a year's brief space 
 
 " Can ne'er a brother's cherish'd form efface; 
 
 " And thou ! of simple heart and modest mien, 
 
 " Who to be loved needs only to be seen, 
 
 " Thy bloom shall deepen— bosom livelier play, 
 
 « Thy voice more tremulous, when maidens say 
 
 " That Albin is return'd ; kind shalt thou be 
 
 " To welcome him who never loved — save thee ; 
 
 " The hope, the pride, the darling of my breast, 
 
 " And mine, when war's red honours crowd my crest ! 
 
 " I thank thee, gracious Allah ! that no more 
 
 " In slothful peace we tread this hated shore ; 
 
 " When next we come, in arms— and Spain shall know 
 
 " How glad the greeting of a gallant foe !" 
 
 His chieftain heard and smiled, but little said— 
 At every word his thoughtful spirit bled ;
 
 ] 26 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 He too, nor far remote the day, had known 
 
 Hope bright as his, the enthusiast's daring tone : 
 
 But now he felt the passions of his breast 
 
 Had marr'd each prospect— each good hope represt ; 
 
 He felt the haughty heart, the feelings high, 
 
 And all the secret soul's ascendancy, 
 
 Were poor exchange for that unwearied play 
 
 That charms the heaviest hour of life away. 
 
 " I ne'er,'" he thought, " shall own such hope again, 
 
 " As he the least advantaged of my train : 
 
 " His glowing fancy wakes at every call, 
 
 " My gloomy spirit shrouds and withers all ; 
 
 " Those native hills his bounding joys renew, 
 
 " But I" — he sickening turn'd him from the view — 
 
 " I have no country, born with rank and sway, 
 
 " Talents and bearing that mankind obey ; 
 
 " Deem'd light and happy — could those idlers see 
 
 " This blighted bosom, who would envy me ? 
 
 " Zaira, this breast its weight of grief might bear, 
 
 " Nor breathe the bitter thought, repining prayer, 
 
 "If such could bid one suffering cease to be 
 
 " Of all thy faithful heart has felt for me."
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUEPilM.A. 127 
 
 So ponder'd Hassan, as with flashing eye 
 
 And hastier step again his page drew nigh : 
 
 " Strange tidings these! our mission scarcely done, 
 
 " Ere, all the border risen, the fray begun ; 
 
 " O'er all this Western frontier, far and near, 
 
 " They cry a foray 'gainst the Cavalier. 
 
 " Since, bursting breathless through each startled town, 
 
 " Toledo's royal messenger brought down 
 
 " The news of coming strife, in arms array 'd, 
 
 " The foe, impatient of the war delay'd, 
 
 " Has instant havoc on our borders made : 
 
 " Brave Malic strove the spoiler to repel ; 
 
 " Lord of the frontier knights, he foremost fell. 
 
 " Stern post of danger — death, and little fame ! 
 
 " Nor glory's wreath, nor Lady's love they claim ; 
 
 " On these lone wastes a thankless life they lead, 
 
 " For distant Ismael's weal unmurmuring bleed, 
 
 " And conscious honour still their only meed. 
 
 " Nor unavenged he dies — a gallant band 
 
 " Of Moslem chivalry have left our strand, 
 
 " With them I burn to waste the Spanish land.
 
 128 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 " Far beneath Villa's towers their pennons shine; 
 " Their cause is just— insulted Allah, thine ! 
 " A nation given to slavery or the sword, 
 " Can scarce appease lamented Malic's Lord.'"' 
 
 " Gently, brave youth ; a nation for your foe 
 
 " Demands more strength than even your sword can 
 
 show ; 
 " Now hear thy Lord, restrain this fiery zeal, 
 " No distant day shall prove thy virgin steel ; 
 " Awhile thy Chief resigns his tribe's command, 
 " Do thou to Loja lead my vassal band ; 
 " Wind cautious round the mountain, till you gain 
 Beneath the Giant peak the level plain. " 
 
 a 
 
 A youth there was of lowly birth and fame, 
 
 From Catalonia's distant hills he came ; 
 
 And journey "cl now with KeditlVs guard, to join 
 
 His kindred band encampM on frontier line: 
 
 " Canst thou, young stranger, show,'"' Lord Hassan said. 
 
 i; Where Alva's convent rears its sacred head ?
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 129 
 
 " There would I parley with the Monk alone : 
 " To thee, they say, these wild'ring paths are known ; 
 " And well the Moslem's bounty shall repay 
 " Thy faithful service and the lengthen'd way. " 
 While thus he spoke, the thoughtful Spaniard heard 
 With look unmoved, the chieftain's gracious word ; 
 Little he reck'd fair speech, or fairer meed, 
 And coldly answer'd, " I can serve thy need." 
 
 At first, his chilling air and speech combined 
 To shade with transient doubt the Moslem's mind 
 Yet the poor youth seems trusty too ; such plain 
 And easy errand needs but slender brain. 
 While thus a moment, on the mountain side, 
 The chieftain mark'd him ere he might decide, 
 Young Gomez spoke not, cast not glance around, 
 But calmly bent his dark eye on the ground : 
 Yet when ceased Hassan's hesitating; mood, 
 And up the steep his mazy path pursued, 
 The Spaniard brighten'd as he led the way, 
 To see, as mists before truth's summer day, 
 Reviving confidence resume its sway. 
 
 K
 
 130 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Of knowledge limited, his reasoning mind 
 
 Not comprehensive seenfd, but well defined ; 
 
 On all that moved within his narrow sphere 
 
 Of strong unbiass'd sense and j udgment clear ; 
 
 Of little eloquence, in manner cold, 
 
 Perchance in spirit faithful, firm, and bold ; 
 
 At first, his mien indifferent, aspect grave, 
 
 Slight sign of wit or happier talent gave. 
 
 Now Hassan closely eyed him, and could see 
 
 He nothing lack'd of temper keen and free ; 
 
 Faithful he deemfd that mountain youth, and, pleased, 
 
 With playful tact his caustic humour seized : 
 
 u The nimblest pilot of the border thou, 
 
 " Show briefer path to scale the mountain brow, 
 
 " Or hold thee little skill'd ; a toilsome way, 
 
 " We scarce shall join my troop ere closing day. 1 ' 
 
 Young Gomez shrewdly smiled ; " If such I know, 
 
 " Slight policy our secret paths to show, 
 
 " We need them well when comes the Paynim foe."" 
 
 While yet he spoke, the cannon's opening roar 
 
 Iioird heavily from dooni'd Priego's shore ;
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 131 
 
 And twice with thunder shook the mountain breast, 
 
 And twice its dreadful echoes sank to rest. 
 
 The startled Spaniard heard, and stay'd his jest ; 
 
 No craven he — but yet in peasant life 
 
 Had little known of combat's maddening strife, 
 
 And now he caught the roar of gathering fray 
 
 With changed and anxious brow, as it might say, 
 
 The voice of mercy shall be still to day. 
 
 But Hassan bent him o'er the impending height, 
 
 To hear that welcome sound of rushing; fight ; 
 
 He felt his pulse throb fast, his heart beat high, 
 
 He felt war's lightnings quicken in his eye ; 
 
 It flush 'd his brow — it woke his tameless pride, 
 
 And thriird a spirit dead to all beside. 
 
 So sped the morn ; and now the sun rode high, 
 Earth's landscape glow'd beneath the fervid sky. 
 For two long hours the steep ascent they strain'd, 
 That barren mountain's central path have gain'd ; 
 Beneath, in distance dim, their winding way, 
 Before, mid rudest desolation, lay 
 Old Alva's massive walls and turrets grey. 
 
 k 2
 
 ]32 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Perchance, my noble Listeners, seems it strange, 
 That Chief so politic, on such wild range, 
 Alone with stranger guide should quit his band, 
 To seek these rugged paths of mountain land ? 
 For what can Chief of Almoradi's line 
 With Alva's priests, or Alva's sacred shrine ? 
 Forget they when, at Cabra's kindred call, 
 The fairy minstrel of Beleguer's hall 
 Unconscious woke the strain of distant climes, 
 Unconscious touch'd the chord of other times, 
 And roused that deep-felt energy of woe, 
 That hearts of feebler passions scarcely know ? 
 Night came, nor gave his fever 'd spirit rest ; 
 And once, when transient slumber sway'd his breast, 
 He deem'd his Zaira laid on funeral bier ; 
 Her mournful tones, upbraiding, seeuTd to hear, 
 So deep, distinct, and thrilling on his ear, 
 That, maddening at the unearthly call, he woke, 
 Wild from his couch in mortal frenzy broke, 
 "While terror's mighty drops rolPd down his brow, 
 And shook the frame that never quaiPd till now :
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 133 
 
 But when lie mark'd, nor fearful sound nor sight 
 
 Broke the deep quiet of the summer night, 
 
 And that her shroud lay not extended there, 
 
 And that her voice but lived in his despair, 
 
 While calm o'er lattice fell the Moon's bright glow, 
 
 As if to mock the madness of his woe ; 
 
 Reason, with goading thought, resumed her sway, 
 
 Terror to griefs intenser pang gave way ; 
 
 Then shrank each high strain'd nerve, and worn with pain 
 
 He flung him wearied on his couch again. 
 
 Yet, blame not harshly ye, whose temper'd life 
 
 Abhors the ungovern'd spirit's headlong strife ; 
 
 Ye little know, by passion tempest tost 
 
 In strongest mind each better rule is lost, 
 
 Till strangely blended, right and error seem; 
 
 Unfix'd and restless, as in dreadful dream, 
 
 The spirit fluctuates 'twixt each extreme. 
 
 So every fear in every form possest 
 
 With pangs alternate Hassan's labouring breast. 
 
 At morn to native honour true he rose, 
 
 And honour's path, a dubious path, he chose ;
 
 1,34 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 He bade a Serf to IsmadPs halls repair, 
 
 And hasty scroll to distant Zaira bear. 
 
 By every youthful dream of parted bliss, 
 
 Bv that devoted love that once was his, 
 
 He pray'd forgiveness for that faithless hour 
 
 When adverse friends and erring pride had power ; 
 
 Now years were sped, to mans commandment grown, 
 
 Had manhood given its free and vigorous tone ; 
 
 The world he knew, unmurmuring could resign 
 
 His tribe's affection and his lofty line. 
 
 If yet she will'd from Harness home to part, 
 
 For him who held — Oh ! holds he yet her heart ? 
 
 His love, untired by years of change, should long 
 
 With constant care requite her early wrong ; 
 
 Restore to life and joy that vision dim, 
 
 Give all for her, who all had given for him. 
 
 Time fleeted fast, and answer there came not ; 
 Say, had his messenger the charge forgot ? 
 Or, what untold inexplicable cause 
 Made one who loved so true and tender, pause ?
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 135 
 
 He deeply dreaded, lest, subdued by woes, 
 Life's feeble torch had struggled to its close. 
 
 Now tidings came from far Granada's land : 
 
 Returning fast by XeruTs frontier strand, 
 
 His messenger by plunderers had been ta'en, 
 
 And on the border spoil'd, and left for slain. 
 
 It chanced at morn some peasant pass'd that way, 
 
 And told, how, gash'd with wounds, the Moslem lay ; 
 
 And Alva's brethren, famed for pious deed, 
 
 Beheld his sufferings and forgave his creed ; 
 
 Their bleeding burden to the convent bore, 
 
 And strove exhausted nature to restore. 
 
 And thither Hassan bent his steps, to know 
 
 If aught he bore of Zaira's weal or woe ; 
 
 But first, strict orders gave he to his train 
 
 From ambush free to keep the open plain ; 
 
 For armed band such craggy march to try, 
 
 In time of feud, were dangerous policy ; 
 
 But he, with native guide, might pass alone 
 
 The deep defile, unquestion'd and unknown.
 
 136 THE MOOR, 
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 I said, mid mountains stern and desolate 
 
 Old Alva's turrets rose in ruinYl state ; 
 
 That gradual work of many an iron age 
 
 Had stemm'd the faithless foemans barbarous rage ; 
 
 Succeeding artists lent their varied aid, 
 
 And front irregular and strange had made ; 
 
 Each penitential chief and pious reign 
 
 Had something added to the Monk's domain ; 
 
 Slow rose the fabric of monastic pride, 
 
 And frown'd the wonder of the border side ; 
 
 But now, her shrines, her brazen gates o'erthrown, 
 
 Her vacant courts with wildest weeds o'ergrown, 
 
 Once wont the poor and destitute to bless, 
 
 Halls where the gushing rain beat pitiless, 
 
 And roofless aisle, rent turret, seem'd to say, 
 
 Even glories proud as ours must pass away ! 
 
 But Nature's changeless scenes rose unsubdued 
 
 By varying destiny or mortal feud ; 
 
 Her giant peaks, in primal conflict riven, 
 
 Still sent their tall grey pinnacles to Heaven ;
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 137 
 
 Those woods, that never heard the axen sound, 
 One mighty mass of gloomy grandeur frown'd ; 
 Even the young walnut shed its tender shade, 
 Choked was the fountain that beneath it play'd ; 
 Man's loftiest works, like man, had fail'd, but earth 
 Retailed the vigour of Creation's birth. 
 
 When told the Moslem's mission, rank, and name, 
 In sable weeds the antient Abbot came ; 
 Erect his bearing, years had quench 'd his eye, 
 And woe and wrong and cold adversity 
 But vainly strove to quell the stately mien, 
 And step that show'd how proud his youth had been ; 
 The waning smile, the visage worn by care, 
 Traced not one wrinkle furrow'd by despair ; 
 Through changing fortunes his the changeless mind, 
 In grief and outrage, patient and resign'd. 
 
 When Hassan's cause of mountain journey shown, 
 " My Son," he said, " in desperate feud o'erthrown, 
 " Not prayers, not zeal could stay the arm of death, 
 ' Or yet one hour prolong life's struggling breath ;
 
 138 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 " Of sense bereft, his hand distain'd with gore, 
 
 " This faded scroll with constant grasp he bore : 
 
 " Yet once, when glimmering reason dawn'd a space, 
 
 " Reviving memory lit his dying face ; 
 
 " Then feebly raised on couch of lingering pain, 
 
 " With mastering death his pale lips strove in vain. 
 
 " From lifers last accents little could be known, 
 
 " His speech so wandering, so convulsed his tone, 
 
 " Save that of Lady once beloved he told, 
 
 " Whose form's fair grace was quench'd, whose glance 
 
 was cold. 
 " I yet by times, mid deadly pangs, might hear 
 " Her sand was run, and fate's dark hour was near. 
 " Strange words, and wild as meteor lights they show 
 " To us, save that their import is of woe.'" 
 
 The Moslem turn'd aside — he could not brook 
 
 That other's glance beheld his alter'd look. 
 
 Oil ! how his spirit kindled at the view, 
 
 When Zaira's long-lost characters he knew ; 
 
 Bat chang'd they were, her faint and failing hand 
 
 Had lost its wonted firmness of command.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 139 
 
 With anxious speed the fastened scroll he tore, 
 And these the weary words her letter bore : 
 
 Z-atra'* ILttttx. 
 
 It comes, it comes, and thou art still the same — 
 Have fleeting years so little done to tame 
 Thy boyish love ? — At earlier word of thine, 
 Home, Hamet, honour, knew I to resign : 
 And when my shrinking spirit deemVl how shame 
 Might heap its bitter taunts on Zaira's name, 
 How hard to brook the ungenerous scorn might be, 
 Thine image rose, and thou wert all to me ! 
 I knew thy heart, by every glance and tone, 
 Was mine, and I had kept that heart mine own ; 
 Secure mid faithless friends or taunting foes, 
 Thy soul had risen, as hate and insult rose, 
 And I had been even more beloved, nor e'er 
 Had felt one maddening hour's suspicious care ; 
 Hope wildly confident — that hope is past — 
 It was life's first illusion and the last. 
 Forget the form that charm'd thee, shun to know 
 The dreary havoc made by wasting woe :
 
 140 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Zaira, of liveliest grace on Daro's shore, 
 
 The young, the beautiful, is now no more ! 
 
 Still, still remember youth and beauty mine, 
 
 When all those charms and all this heart were thine ; 
 
 Were thine ? Oh ! still alone and madly loved, 
 
 In life, as death, faith deeply dearly proved. 
 
 Now what avail mine honour's broken vow, 
 
 Form faded, blighted heart, and sunken brow ? 
 
 Haunt not my dying couch, nor seek to see 
 
 All that was loved and lovely lost in me ; 
 
 Calm to the tomb I sink, outworn by care, 
 
 Rouse not the slumbering frenzy of despair ! 
 
 My doom is seal'd ; I wished, I pray'd to sleep ; 
 
 Avoid me, teach me not that doom to weep ! 
 
 I fain would answer coldly, but this brain 
 
 Bids all its wild delusions live again ; 
 
 Even now I falter, reason's calmer light 
 
 Grows dim ; tears fall, and mock me as I write, — 
 
 They stain the page, they blind mine aching eyes, 
 
 As memory wakes, and scenes long vanish'd rise.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 141 
 
 There was a golden chain, and to it hung 
 Love's summer promise in our native tongue ; 
 And Hassan vow'd, though far on foreign shore, 
 That sift return'd should soul to soul restore. 
 Oh ! on what reed our fondest hopes remain, 
 When he, who seem'd the noblest, vow'd in vain ! 
 Vain pledge and reckless promise — let that rest. 
 Long worn in silence round my secret breast, 
 I now had sent it, but this breaking heart 
 With life it can, with that it cannot part. 
 Come then, dear Hassan, to Sultana's strand, 
 Take love's last relic from my dying hand ; 
 Still by my couch of closing anguish stay, 
 Behold the struggling spirit pass away, 
 All, all save thee, without one tear resign, 
 And the last murmur of these lips be thine ! 
 
 To none were Hassan's inmost thoughts reveal'd, 
 And all so much from vulgar gaze conceal'd, 
 His kinsmen deem'd but little reck he bore 
 For her who once was his on Daro's shore.
 
 142 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 He heard her named — ay, calmly spoke her name, 
 And if the pang arose he could not tame, 
 It throbb'd not, breathed not, in his voice or eye ; 
 Now, when the hoary man of God drew nigh, 
 His faltering accents scarcely gave reply. 
 
 The Abbot marled his grief, nor sought to know 
 The secret cause that wrung his soul with woe ; 
 He knew the suffering mind can scantly brook 
 Query, or soothing word, or pitying look. 
 " And here, my son ! " he said, " life's sinking day 
 " Has seen mine all of earthly pride decay ; 
 " Where now these roofless aisles and galleries hear 
 " The funeral echoes of the falling year, 
 " A thousand brethren raised the chant divine, 
 " And Monarchs knelt around the blazing shrine; 
 " A thousand brethren heard my welcome call 
 " Greet friend and stranger to the banquet hall. 
 " The spoiler came ; like leaves in Autumn strown 
 " At morn they were, at evening they are gone. 
 " The tide has swept the stately pile away, 
 ' God's ministers of mercy, where are they ?
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 143 
 
 " I stand the last lone column on the shore, 
 " The surf returning leaves this wreck no more. 
 " Great God ! in Alva's prouder hour, to Heaven 
 " Her fervent prayers, her loftiest praise was given : 
 " Thy will be ours in fortune's changing day, 
 " 'Twas thine to give, 'tis thine to take away. 1 '' 
 
 He spoke, as through the long arcade they pass'd, 
 And galleries open to the sweeping blast ; 
 High fretted domes with glowing colours traced, 
 By hostile rage and mouldering damp effaced ; 
 Fair drapery quaintly carved on cedar frame, 
 Saints scorch'd and wither'd by the blackening flame ; 
 Rich costly mouldings, that the spoiler's blade 
 Had sometime spared to mock the wreck it made ; 
 Where yet by fits dark ebony strove with gold. 
 And mournful tale of ancient grandeur told. 
 Up many a ruin'd step they toil with pain, 
 And now with heavy hearts the terrace gain, 
 A glorious scene, where bright in summer's glow 
 A humbler world extended lay below.
 
 144 THE MUOlt. 
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 Here oft, o'er wood and wave, the raptured sight, 
 And o'er each lower mountain's vassal height. 
 Had stretch'd exulting, till in boundless view 
 Elvira's dark and distant range it knew ; 
 Here, too, in haughtier days of convent fame, 
 In crowded groups the sons of Alva came ; 
 Where now, alone, the stealthy step of fear 
 Starts wildly back, its own quick tread to hear ; 
 Alone, some straggler, hasty glance to throw 
 And learn how near the peril, where the foe. 
 
 " A fair expanse !" the old man said, and sigh'd, 
 " Once tributary fields of Alva's pride. 
 ' Look forth, my Son, can youth's keen vision show 
 " Triumphant o'er our spoil'd domain below 
 " The march of Ismael's warriors ?" " Father, no." 
 " Again, my Son !" the Abbot cried, " again 
 " With keener eye explore the distant plain." 
 
 " I only see man's peaceful dwellings rise, 
 " And fair they rest against the deep-blue skies ; 
 " The tender fig its wild luxuriance throws, 
 ' And round its walls the clustering cistus grows ;
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 145 
 
 " A smiling spot to wood and water given, 
 
 " And every gentler breath of favouring Heaven." 
 
 The Abbot straiiVd with earnest gaze to know 
 
 The scenes his waning orb refused to show ; 
 
 At length they feebly broke upon his sight, 
 
 And fired his frozen eye with hectic light ; 
 
 Flash'd but one moment hope's delusive flame — 
 
 Fast o'er his brow the flush of anguish came. 
 
 " In glory's cloudless path the sun rides high : 
 
 " Ere sink his proud beams in the western sky, 
 
 " A blacken'd mass yon glittering walls shall lie ! 
 
 " At morn, shall silent ruins, slaked with blood, 
 
 " Attest the spot where crowded Vilia stood ! 
 
 " Devoted Vilia ! must I do for thee 
 
 " The funeral rites thou shoukTst have done for me ?" 
 
 He gazed intensely, till with aching heart 
 The Almoradi tunVd him to depart ; 
 And first, he thank'd him for the care he show'd 
 To clansman spoil'd and gaslVd on border road : 
 
 L
 
 146 THE MOOE. CANTO IV. 
 
 But when for Alva's priest, with pitying breast, 
 Some few but cautious words the Moor exprest ; 
 " Grieve not for me ! already dawns the hour, 
 " When Man, and sin, and sorrow, have no power : 
 " May Heaven, my Son, restore thy clouded day ! 
 " Go forth ! and God be with thee on thy way : 
 " I would, from the dark night of bondage freed, 
 " Our God were thine — yet though of differing creed 
 " Spurn not my Christian vows : Heaven guard thee long! 
 " An old man's blessing cannot do thee wrong. 11 
 
 The Moor is gone ; — yet scarce declines the day ; 
 
 Again young Gomez leads the wildering way : 
 
 Peak after peak successively they gain, 
 
 Like daring headlands stretching to the main ; 
 
 While all the deep and dark recess around, 
 
 With giant crag and blackening forest frown'd ; 
 
 And though so terrible the chaos there 
 
 Of fragments sunk in earth or raised in air, 
 
 As baffled fiends had hurFd them in despair — 
 
 Like opening visions of celestial day, 
 
 The glimpses of a world stretcli'd far away
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 147 
 
 Beneath their feet in gorgeous landscape lay : 
 
 But lo ! thick clustering round the o'erhanging height 
 
 I see the rugged sons of mountain fight ; 
 
 Now bold advances o'er the narrow way — 
 
 Now backward falls the undisciplined array. 
 
 So when conflicting wind and surf prevail, 
 The shrieking death-birds crowd the heaving sail, 
 And hover round, with wild and ominous flight, 
 To hail the approaching gloom of storm and night ; 
 And Moor and Spaniard pause : — heard they that cry ? 
 Again it peals more confident and high ; 
 " I know my northern countrymen, I know 
 " That summons stern, it is the native foe ; 
 " Retreat were desperate, from the mountain side 
 " They come — the fierce Guerilla I" Gomez cried. 
 And ever as in breathless speed they came, 
 They held their carabine's presented aim ; 
 And fierce as torrent rushing in its might 
 Kept steady hand and eye, that not by flight 
 Their promised prey might shun the impending fight : 
 
 l 2
 
 ]48 THE MOOR. CANTO IV 
 
 And as they ran prepared for deadly blow, 
 And only paused to ask if friend or foe, 
 With hideous yell and frame half bent to earth, 
 They seem'd of savage and appalling birth ; 
 But when in headlong course they nearer drew, 
 Their form and dress were nobler given to view : 
 Untamed their shaggy locks fell far behind, 
 Their dark red plaid stream'd wildly to the wind ; 
 Their jerkin blue, and blue their rugged vest, 
 Their hardy limbs the figured sandal prest ; 
 And well the sweeping bonnet's scarlet fold 
 The sons of kindred Catalonia told. 
 
 They gain where Hassan stood : with eye on flame, 
 And flush'd and breathless with the speed, they came. 
 Around the Moor they form in frantic ring, — 
 " He dies a foeman to our God and King ;" 
 The levelPd musket to his breast they bore— 
 From Gomez' hand the chieftain's bolsa tore ; 
 And when within the precious ore they found, 
 " A traitor's gold !" and dash'd it to the ground.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 149 
 
 To lawless band, by evil chance betray'd, 
 
 In vain had Islam's lord resistance made 
 
 While fast outnumbering foes, with threatening sound. 
 
 With gesture fierce, and lifted arms, surround ; 
 
 Impatient wait their chieftain's slightest breath, 
 
 And scarcely pause to send the bolt of death. 
 
 With brow unchanging 'mid the thirsty cry, 
 
 And deep reflection in his tranquil eye ; 
 
 Nor warp'd by passion nor misled by fear, 
 
 But firm to execute though calm to hear, 
 
 The chieftain came — and in his step and mien 
 
 The leader's bearing of command was seen : 
 
 To every rule of fierce reprisal true, 
 
 By habit, not by nature, stern, he knew 
 
 Vengeance and policy forbade to show 
 
 Unguarded mercy to a vanquish'd foe, 
 
 While slaughter'd kinsman on the ravaged plain 
 
 From kindred spirits ask'd redress in vain : 
 
 Yet ne'er had Marco's soul, when pity died, 
 
 Fair justice to his bitterest foe denied ;
 
 150 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Nor e'er, in border rapine's red career, 
 To honour's loftier claim turn'd sullen ear : 
 His God, his Sovereign, to that magic sound 
 Life's every wish the stern enthusiast bound ; 
 Her hopes, her fears, were gather' d to that chain, 
 And every pulse of pleasure or of pain : 
 Though deadliest feud with bigot creed combined, 
 It could not quench his native force of mind; 
 Or that stern courtesy unmix'd with scorn, 
 Due tribute to a foeman nobly born. 
 He first the storm with waving hand allay 'd, 
 Then calmly to the captive Moslem said : 
 " Whence art thou — while the tocsin's dread alarms 
 " Bid Loja's martial people croAvd to arms, 
 " And mustering clans, o'er all thine eye can see, 
 " And every hill sends forth its chivalry ; 
 In lonely pass our mountains to explore — 
 Of foreign garb — a stranger and a Moor ?" 
 
 a 
 
 .. 
 
 " Spaniard !" he said, "redress of wrong to claim, 
 " On royal mission to your land I came ;
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 15 i 
 
 " The herald's sacred wand of peace I bore, 
 " The broken bonds of friendship to restore : 
 " What care I, though as countless ocean sand, 
 " In hostile swarms crowd many a mustering band : 
 " If yet unstaiiTd your Father's honour be, 
 " The storm may burst— it cannot injure me ; 
 " To Alva's reverend priest, with trusting heart, 
 " In peace I came — in peace I would depart. 11 
 
 " Strange policy, when havoc is abroad, 
 
 " To quit for secret path the open road ; 
 
 " Yet Spain's high honour wrongs nor friend, nor foe, 
 
 " Moslem ! what better proof hast thou to show 
 
 " Of this thy speech. 1 ' 
 
 " Thou know'st on Loja's plain 
 " The Giant crag : even there my troops remain, 
 " And with them marched Lord Kedith's bravest band 
 " As train of honour to the Moorish strand ; 
 " Go seek ! and bid thy countryman's array, 
 " And whence I come, and what my mission, say !
 
 152 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 " Thou doubt'st ! shall chief of Ismael urge the lie ? 
 " Outborne by numbers, traitor deem'd and spy, 
 " To AlmoradPs Lord on Spanish shore 
 " Spaniard ! such terms were never held before." 
 
 " Hear, then ! if herald, as thy words declare 
 " ""Tis well — to learn their truth be Marco's care ! 
 " If came thy step, for prying slave too bold 
 " Methinks, to learn our numbers, mark our hold, 
 " Thy doom is seal'd ; Spain bids her champions show 
 " How well their steel can tame a treacherous foe ; 
 Thy path, like mine, winds Casta" s defile round : 
 There shall my answering messengers be found.'" 
 
 ti 
 
 u 
 
 Slow filed his troop the mountain height along ; 
 
 111 brook 'd the captive Moor such causeless wrong : 
 
 At morn, the leader of a gallant band 
 
 Whose glance few brook'd — whose word none dared 
 
 withstand ; 
 At noon compelPd the stranger to obey, 
 In stately silence kept his onward way ;
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 153 
 
 But when the tribe its angry speech represt, 
 And calm respect their generous chief exprest, 
 He felt the perils that such morning gave 
 Were but the chances that befall the brave. 
 
 In march they seem'd irregular and wild, 
 
 Yet cautious through the dangerous pass defiled ; 
 
 At every jutting peak, the band before 
 
 The faithful vidette hastened to explore ; 
 
 Not here the glittering pennon gaily spread 
 
 The stirring music that might wake the dead ; 
 
 The instant action, and the equal tread ; 
 
 That quick intelligence of ear and sight, 
 
 That gives resistless force in modern fight, 
 
 Was all unseen ; their straggling ranks appear 
 
 So little train'd, that law seeni'd lawless here. 
 
 Light were they clad for combat's deadliest strife, 
 
 And nothing armM, save carabine and knife ; 
 
 And yet this ill-attired half-savage train 
 
 Had foiFd the practised veterans of the plain,
 
 154 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 And seen them, daunted by their strange array 
 And hideous yell, in sudden rout give way. 
 
 But hark ! how awful on the breeze of death 
 Comes faintly borne the musket's volleying breath ; 
 Again that rolling sound — with sullen ear 
 And bended brow, the clansmen pause to hear. 
 They paused ; — yet flash'd not forth, by look of fire, 
 Prompt word, or gesture fierce, their kindling ire ; 
 But slow and stern their deep-wrought passions rise : 
 They deem at every blast a brother dies, 
 And almost start to hear his dying cries : 
 As, when in threatening hour the tempests form, 
 Low murmuring winds forebode the coming storm ; 
 So now with gathering strength, on Hassan's name, 
 The deep but mutter'd imprecation came ; 
 " Our kinsmen slaughter'd in the plain below, 
 " And yet we pause to deal the avenging blow ?" 
 But hark ! hill, wood, and crashing rock rebound, 
 More loud it peals— the cannon's thundering sound.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 155 
 
 While yet afar the frequent musket play\l, 
 
 Slight reck his warriors deem , d their Chieftain paid : 
 
 Not so the Moor — that step so stern and slow, 
 
 That glance that sought not once the plain below, 
 
 Nor ear that paused to listen, he descried 
 
 Was but the mask of calmness worn by pride ; 
 
 And held, that haughtier feeling yet represt 
 
 The wrath that strove for mastery in his breast ; 
 
 But when the Spaniard, from the destined shore, 
 
 With louder echoes heard that lengthening roar, 
 
 He could restrain the fiery thought no more : 
 
 " Gomez r he said, " and is thy young cheek pale ? 
 
 " How heavily and deadly on the gale 
 
 " Those thunders come ; even there God's holy creed 
 
 " Is spurn'd — there Father, friend, and kinsman bleed ; 
 
 " Yet not in vain their injured spirit cries : 
 
 " I live for vengeance — here the oppressor dies !" 
 
 When earlier of that youthful guide I told, 
 I said of bearing grave and manner cold ;
 
 156 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Though since companion of the toilsome road, 
 
 Some happier sign of shrewder wit he show'd ,• 
 
 Yet nought that o'er the surface play'd reveaTd 
 
 Beneath was plant of deeper growth conceal'd. 
 
 As casual steel, on flinty pavement thrown, 
 
 Calls slumbering flashes from the cold grey stone ; 
 
 In danger's hour, so bursting from the cloud 
 
 That wrapt his spirit as in wintry shroud, 
 
 I say you might have wondering paused, to see 
 
 With what stern force, resistless energy, 
 
 His soul broke forth ; in manhood's vigorous tone 
 
 " Chieftain !" he said, " from earliest childhood known, 
 
 " Hast ever marked one thought my boyhood stain 
 
 " False to my kindred or untrue to Spain ? 
 
 " Canst thou revere her law, her Monarch more ? 
 
 " Do I her God less fervently adore ? 
 
 " A Spaniard — nay, a Catalan, shall I 
 
 " For foeman, traitorous foeman, speak the lie ? 
 
 " On kingly mission to our land he came, 
 
 " On sacred pledge— upon our faith's fair fame: 
 
 " Then strike, and heap dishonour on our name!"
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 157 
 
 111 brook'd the chief such fiery speech, and high 
 His soul's proud spirit gather'd to his eye; 
 The youth rejoin'd — " Beneath whose banners led, 
 " Say at whose word my gallant Valdez bled ? 
 " His was a patriot's life— a freeman's grave ; 
 " Yet leagued his brother to a dastard slave, 
 " Dishonour'd seeks that traitorous foe to save. 1 ' 
 
 There is some secret string — some answering tone, 
 
 That none avow, yet all in silence own, 
 
 That to our weakness or our hopes allied, 
 
 And waken'd skilful at the fitting tide, 
 
 Can either fix or change our destiny : 
 
 Such oft, though jealous sense would fain deny, 
 
 Will sway the proudest when their pride's most high. 
 
 So now o'er Marco's breast, at Valdez' name, 
 
 A thousand cherish'd recollections came : 
 
 For years of boyish friendship, side by side, 
 
 They ranged the hill or stemm'd the torrent's tide ; 
 
 On honour's field in Marco's arms he died ;
 
 158 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 And when in shroud of mountain plaid he lay, 
 Had Marco given him to his native clay, 
 And bade the church's holy prayers ascend, 
 And fired the death-gun o'er his slaughter'd friend. 
 
 The Chieftain mused awhile : in voice subdued, 
 
 With calmer brow his alter 'd speech renew'd ; 
 
 " Gomez I" he said, " what boots it to recall 
 
 " Mine earliest friend; — as son of Spain should fall, 
 
 " He fell — the best, the most devoted ; now 
 
 " The times unhappy ill such thoughts allow : 
 
 " Hear then, in herald's sacred garb confest, 
 
 " Alone, unarm'd, my deadliest foe might rest, 
 
 " As though in Ismael's distant halls he stood 
 
 " Girt by the warriors of his kindred blood. 
 
 " Even on this morn of massacre I stay 
 
 " My sword, if honour craves that sword's delay. 
 
 " Perchance, 'ere sink night's shadows, we shall hear 
 
 " Truth force its tale on thy reluctant ear."
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUEltlLLA. 159 
 
 He paused, and cast long earnest glance, as round 
 
 The jutting steep in lengthening file they wound ; 
 
 " My gallant countrymen to this far shore 
 
 " Their zealous aid with hearts unmurmuring bore ; 
 
 " But ne'er their dark blue Pyrenees again 
 
 " Shall hail, and far Gerona's verdant plain. 
 
 " Oh ! on that eve, when hard by foemen bound, 
 
 " The out-numbering Paynim hemm'd our fastness 
 
 round, 
 " And silent and exultingly drew near, 
 " Held slavery's chain, yet stay'd his breath for fear 
 " Their guarded tread our desperate band might hear, 
 " What ambushed terrors did the Moslem find 
 " To grace his welcome, save the startled hind 
 " Or the wild whistling of the winter wind ; 
 " When bold retreat to leaguering troop seem'd vain, 
 " Each dauntless heart his separate path had ta'en. 
 " At morn we were the same proud band again ; 
 " At break of day, it was a glorious sight 
 " To mark how, clustering to the appointed height
 
 160 THE MOOK. CANTO IV. 
 
 " First dimly seen as speck on autumn sky, 
 " Then bolder swelling on the astonish'd eye, 
 " My troop came forth ! nor yet one heart delay "d, 
 " Of all in honour's cause who drew the blade : 
 " Now myriads, pouring with resistless sway, 
 " Like eagles gather to their falling prey ; 
 " They summon me to quit the field of strife, 
 " They proffer the spurn'd piteous boon of life, 
 " To barter Spain, my God, my Sovereign — no ! 
 " Come to our cliffs and dearly conquering know, 
 " In life as death, a never-yielding foe ! 
 " They deem the spoiler's rich repast is nigh : 
 " It is — and I will teach them how to die." 
 He stay'd his gloomy speech — but in his eye 
 The lightnings lived, that never yet were sent, 
 Save from strong heart on desperate purpose bent ; 
 His bonnet back he threw, as though its weight 
 Opprest his soaring soul— the daring great 
 That could not baffle, Avould not stoop to fate. 
 
 A moment paused they by the bright cascade, 
 Its welcome waters rushing down the glade.
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 161 
 
 Not oft has traveller's eye beheld, I ween, 
 So strange a group in such a savage scene : 
 The tall grey cliff in frowning masses hung ; 
 To every creak the tangled copsewood clung, 
 And thick o'erarching breathed impervious night, 
 Save where by fits broke through the dazzling light ; 
 And well those breaking glories gave to view 
 Their glittering arms and bonnets' 1 scarlet hue, 
 On colour'd vest and figured sandal play'd, 
 And gave to life their darkly glancing plaid. 
 Here, shelter 1 d from the inexorable ray, 
 A wild and martial group extended lay ; 
 There, some knelt earnest to the sparkling wave, 
 Their thirst to slake — their burning brows to lave ; 
 While on their muskets, some with thoughtful breast, 
 And folded arms, and clouded visage, rest : 
 But one stood gloomiest on the mountain height 
 Unmoved, till rose his souPs collected might ; 
 Then, when he heard the cannon's sullen sound, 
 With hopeless frenzy stamp 1 d the answering ground, 
 And sternly raised and shook his clenched hand 
 Towards the destroyers of his native land. 
 
 M
 
 162 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 m 
 
 O God ! it was both terrible and great 
 To mark a spirit on the verge of fate 
 Wrought up to such intensity of hate. 
 
 A craggy path there was, through tangled glade, 
 
 That winding steep to dizziest height convey'd, — 
 
 A dark and dangerovis path, explored by few, 
 
 Yet every track that stern Guerilla knew. 
 
 Three now at Marco's summons, man by man, 
 
 Slowly stept forth— the noblest of the clan ; 
 
 In manhood's prime, but old in danger grown, 
 
 Resolve was in each calm collected tone, 
 
 And on their brow the soul to fear unknown. 
 
 And one — the leader of that bold array, 
 
 A step advancing up the rocky way, 
 
 High drew his form and stately waved his hand ; 
 
 " We seek yon loftiest peak of mountain land, 
 
 " To learn where lurks the Moslem's treacherous 
 
 band : 
 " If, then, by yon dark stranger's step betray'd, 
 " The Moor in near and silent ambuscade
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 163 
 
 a 
 
 Exulting waits his prey, be thine to show 
 " Unsparing doom ! — my signal musket know, 
 " Let it be duly answer 1 d on the foe ! — ^ 
 His eye on Hassan fell : stately and slow 
 He turn'd, — while yet he spoke, from man to man. 
 In deep assent, the low-breathed murmur ran ; 
 Then heavily their tread's ascending sound 
 A moment rang as up the glade they wound ; 
 And yet an instant on the dazzled eye 
 Their glancing plaid and arms flasli'd gloriously. 
 
 With Marco, slow the Moor his march renew'd : 
 The summit won, an ancient fabric stood ; 
 When now with tireless step they gaiiVd the hill, 
 The distant sound of volleying death was still. 
 The Chief awhile the mouldering mansion view\l ; 
 " Sure tidings here resolve my doubting mood; 
 " Kinsmen ! I haste to parley — brief my stay, 
 " Here in the court, till I return, delay." 
 
 I deem that fabric tottering to decay 
 Was but an hostel rude in better day ; 
 
 m 2
 
 164 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 The cross-barr'd grating, open to the air, 
 
 That show'd within the high walls cold and bare ; 
 
 Those window-frames, where casement there was none, 
 
 Through which day's noontide glories scarcely shone ; 
 
 The dull brazero, half extinct, — might well 
 
 The dreary tale of Spanish venta tell, 
 
 Such as may yet by wanderer's eye be seen, 
 
 If roams his step the realms where I have been. 
 
 Across the court an oaken plank was laid : 
 There one sad form rude resting-place had made ; 
 The years, but not the bloom, of youth she bore — 
 The grace of better days was hers no more : 
 Silent she sat, nor seem'd her youthful brow 
 Youth's light companion, careless joy, to know ; 
 Nor once, in those deep-fiVd dilated eyes, 
 Aught transient gleam'd of pity or surprise — 
 Nor yet one keen inquiring look she threw, 
 As captive stranger 'mid the band she knew. 
 An infant in her arms she held ; her eye 
 On him alone bent long and wistfully,
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 165 
 
 To catch his dawning beauties, or retrace 
 
 His Father's memory in that thoughtless face : — 
 
 And where his sire ? that glance, where hope, nor fear, 
 
 Nor love prevail, proclaims he is not here. 
 
 Whate'er the grief that shrouds her brow with gloom, 
 
 That breaking heart sinks slowly to the tomb ; 
 
 And thine, poor babe ! a hard and heavy doom, — 
 
 Thine earliest sounds the dreadful clash of arms, 
 
 Thy lullaby the tocsin's mad alarms ; 
 
 The field where foes contend for mastery, 
 
 The stormy cradle of thy youth shall be ! 
 
 But say, how brook'd the Moor that moment drear 
 Of chilling doubt, when final doom drew near ? 
 An instant — and that joyous sun on high 
 Must hail him free, or mark as traitor die ; 
 Restored a leader to his wonted sway, 
 Or stretch'd a corse abhorr'd — the vulture's prey. 
 So much of passion, doubt, and fretting pain, 
 Of all that wrings the heart, or racks the brain, 
 Of hopes alternating— had Hassan borne, 
 That earth he felt had little left to mourn ;
 
 166 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 Yet that strange love of life, deep-fix'd in all, 
 That scarcely leaves us when we seek to fall, 
 He felt ; for, self-indifferent in such hour, 
 Far deeper thoughts for others' weal had power : 
 Zaira ! thy generous love and desperate woes, 
 And the light form of tearless Blanche, arose. 
 Whate'er his secret mind, to Spaniard's gaze 
 No sign of shrinking fear the Moor betrays : 
 And well those children of the mountain knew 
 The calm respect to gallant foeman due ; 
 The hour of justice come, with tranquil breath 
 They wait their leader's sign of life or death. 
 
 The conference o'er, again their way they wind, 
 And slowly leave the mouldering dome behind : 
 In silence Marco led the changing way 
 O'er wastes illumined by the setting ray ; 
 In bold and graceful sweep, the horizon round 
 Rose lower hills with tall pinaster crown'd ; 
 Stern and resolved, on each o'erhanging height 
 In faithful bands, for vigil and for fight,
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 167 
 
 The native peasant stood, prepared to throw 
 
 The rock in massive fragments on the foe 
 
 Who venturous sought to stem the pass below. 
 
 " My faithful band !" said Marco, " pause we here :" 
 
 With thoughtful brow to Islands chief drew near: 
 
 " In honour come — in peace and honour go, 
 
 " Mine as my country's sworn oppressor ; know, 
 
 " Of all your tribe on royal mission sent, 
 
 " Or all the chiefs of Spain's proud armament, 
 
 " There throbs not bosom to whom faith sincere 
 
 " Is more than to the Highland chieftain dear. 
 
 " Behold my country's chivalrous array, 
 
 " How gallantly they keep their mountain way ! 
 
 " Shall hearts like these in Paynim bondage live ? 
 
 " This eve we spurn the boon we freely give — 
 
 " The boon of life ; within our mountain state 
 
 " Pent close and closer by your fervent hate, 
 
 " In life's last gasp, o'er conquer'd hill and plain 
 
 " Shall peal our death-shout — Ferdinand and Spain ! 
 
 " This native earth shall shroud our dead — yon sky 
 
 " Shall stretch above her funeral canopy."
 
 168 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 The Moslem heard : of passions deep and strong, 
 
 He ne'er forgave premeditated wrong ; 
 
 Yet j ust he was, and nothing loth to know 
 
 The manly bearing of a gallant foe. 
 
 A victor's ire his captive hour had borne, 
 
 But not that worst of ills— a victor's scorn ; 
 
 And if in fearful pass, as traitorous spy, 
 
 At Marco's summons he were doom'd to die, 
 
 He felt in time so rude, in such a scene, 
 
 As stern to Spanish chief himself had been. 
 
 Such thoughts in quick succession to his breast 
 
 Arose, as thus his answering speech exprest : 
 
 " Chieftain ! to every rule of honour true, 
 
 " Even such the conquering Moor had shown to you : 
 
 " That sun, whose setting splendours gild the plain, 
 
 " Shall never light our mingled path again ; 
 
 " Yet when on stormy day war's eddy strong 
 
 " Has swept your country's gallant ranks along — 
 
 " When vengeance dooms some son of Spain to death, 
 
 " My soul, brave chief ! shall think on Highland faith ;
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 1G9 
 
 .. 
 
 This arm shall stay my followers 1 ruthless blade, 
 " And thy proud courtesy be well repaid.* 1 
 
 The fervent heat of noontide hour had past — 
 
 A splendid but a softer beam was cast 
 
 In even-tide : the mountaineers 1 array 
 
 At distance glitter'd in the level ray ; 
 
 Old Alva's loftiest peaks, her woods below, 
 
 Her winding streams, were bathed in crimson glow ; 
 
 The Moslem paused upon the latest height 
 
 That gave the glorious scene of arms to light ; 
 
 Afar the Spaniard waved his bonnet high, 
 
 In sign of warrior's parting courtesy : 
 
 The Moslem saw — the farewell pledge confest, 
 
 High raised his arm, and waved his plumed crest ; 
 
 Earnest he gazed — an instant, and no more ; 
 
 Then bent his rapid step to Xenix's shore, 
 
 And ere night's shades fell heavy on the land, 
 
 Beneath the giant crag rejoin'd his band. 
 
 The Almoradis, marshalPd on the plain, 
 With joyful murmur hail'd their Lord again ;
 
 170 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 For much they fear'd strange peril might betide, 
 Rano-inff in such an hour the mountain side. 
 Young Albin heard— with eager voice replied : 
 " Most gracious Allah ! it was mine to show 
 " The Heavens were fraught with sign of coming- 
 woe. 
 " Last night by fearful form my steed was crost, 
 " And my best poniard in the stream I lost. 
 " Ay, I had told of ominous sound and sight ; 
 *' But when arose our own Nevada, sprite 
 " And omen fled like fleeting mists of night. 
 " But safe our Chief! and Ismael's slaughtering sword 
 " Has well avenged lamented Malic' s Lord : 
 " From Vilia's strand we've heard the cannon's breath — 
 " How gallantly it did the work of death ! 
 " Here have I stood, and cursed the idle law 
 " That brooks no herald's arm in open war ; 
 " While peasant from that desolated shore 
 " The glorious tale of well-fought battle bore : 
 " Nor reverend age, nor beauty's dawning charms 
 " Have 'scaped the havoc of our vengeful arms ;
 
 CANTO IV. THE GUERILLA. 171 
 
 " Ay, scarce is left one blacken'd wall to tell 
 
 " Here were the bowers their maidens loved so well — 
 
 " Here fought their kindred bands — and here they fell." 
 
 Ay, is it so ? thought Hassan ; well he knew 
 
 That ancient man — the dreadful boding true. 
 
 Even now the sinking shades of night go down 
 
 Upon the ruins of his native town ; 
 
 His aged eyes the destined wrath should see : 
 
 He said this very hour the doom must be — 
 
 And it has been : — " Brave Catalan !" he cried, 
 
 And turn'd to Gomez standing by his side, 
 
 " Whose bold fidelity, in this day's strife, 
 
 " With zeal unshrinking saved a foeman's life, 
 
 " Take this poor meed ; though such but ill repays 
 
 " Thy generous faith !" — With calm unchanging gaze 
 
 The Spaniard stood, nor in his voice or eye 
 
 Aught that bespoke that morning's energy ; 
 
 But seenVd as o'er his altered heart and brain 
 
 His early coldness had return'd again. 
 
 " At Kedith's call I left my native land — 
 
 " At Keditlis word I came to XeniPs strand ;
 
 172 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 " To me light thanks and little praise are due, 
 
 " If honour's path in dangerous hour I knew. 
 
 " A stranger too, by trusted guide betray'd ! 
 
 " Defenceless given to foemans thirsty blade ! 
 
 " What deem you, Moslem, that my sires had said ? 
 
 " Oh native Catalonia — cherish'd name ! 
 
 " Ye distant mountains, where my birth I claim ! 
 
 " Your rudest clansman would have done the same. 
 
 " Nor deem me, stranger Chief, of sullen mood, 
 
 " If yet this heart thy generous gift withstood, 
 
 " Whilst vainly brave o'er yonder levell'd walls, 
 
 " Before your slaughtering sword, the Spaniard falls : 
 
 " There once was Vilia, where yon setting sun 
 
 " Beholds the purple torrent freshly run ! 
 
 " Then fare thee well, brave heart and spirit high !" 
 The Moor rejoin'd ; " high praise in chivalry 
 " And deed of arms be thine ; — till life's last breath. 
 " Be mine the memory of thy mountain faith!" 
 
 Now fast the Moslem band o'er echoing plain 
 Their coursers urge, nor stint the spur and rein ; —
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 173 
 
 A toilsome race is theirs : from yonder height 
 
 The raven takes a long and weary flight 
 
 To fair Granada's towers, — fast sinks the light, 
 
 And Almoradi must be there to-night. 
 
 Start they to hear that dull and distant cry ? 
 
 'Twas not the maddening shout of victory — 
 
 'Twas not the agonizing cry for life, 
 
 Or baffled valour rallying to the strife ; 
 
 It came — the deep hurra of quenchless hate, 
 
 That mark'd the instant doom, and braved its fate. 
 
 They die ! — yet not for vengeance call in vain : 
 
 Even now, fast swarming o'er the ravaged plain, 
 
 Undaunted by the slaughtering Moor's success, 
 
 Of passions deep and purpose merciless, 
 
 Devoted Vilia's vengeful band is nigh ; 
 
 High -wrought collected hate is in each eye, 
 
 Yet reason o'er revenge holds mastery, 
 
 As still with cautious step the gloomy throng 
 
 Comes pouring slow and silently along. 
 
 Far o'er the Moslem's path, on craggy height, ' 
 More wildly shown by evening's dubious light,
 
 174 THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 The enthusiast stood ; each breath of Heaven came 
 
 through 
 His sarb of tatter'd shreds and varied hue ; 
 His brow was bare, his figure gaunt and high, 
 And fix'd and clouded his dilated eye : 
 But in his burning speech and maddening tone 
 Was all the Heaven-inspired fanatic shown ; 
 He bade them crowd to arms for bleeding Spain — 
 For Jesu's word — for all the faithful slain — 
 And for the cross of God ! — and as he spoke 
 Wild flashes from his startled hearers broke. 
 Gone was the patient mien, the stately air, — 
 The young scarce stay'd his closing words to hear, 
 But rush'd impetuous to the ranks of war ; 
 Defenceless beauty with unshrinking hand, 
 Exhausted age has grasp 'd the warrior's brand, 
 And lisping infancy implored to go 
 With sire or brother 'gainst the faithless foe. 
 
 The Moslem comes ! — by Heaven ! his little band 
 Can scarcely quit unscathed the Spanish land :
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 THE GUERILLA. 175 
 
 They come ! nor wind their path, nor yet delay 
 A moment's space, but through that mix'd array 
 With force resistless sweep their onward way. 
 They flash'd like meteors on the dazzled eye — 
 So fast and fierce the Moslem train swept by ; 
 Regardless of the gathering storm behind, 
 Regardless of the shouts that load the wind, 
 They near impetuous XeniFs frontier tide, 
 And now exulting gain the Moorish side. 
 
 Ride on, ye gallants, ride ! — the very gale, 
 
 Your very mountains, breathe the battle-tale : 
 
 Behold ! athwart the tempest-troubled sky, 
 
 From hill to hill the white Alhaique fly, 
 
 As gazers glance in stormy day may see 
 
 The white foam breaking o'er a gloomy sea ; 
 
 And still, as deeper sink the shades of night, 
 
 The beacon's blaze from every glowing height 
 
 Summons the sons of Islam to the fight. 
 
 Blaze high, ye threatening fires ! your beams no more 
 
 Shall be extinguished, save in tides of gore ;
 
 176 . THE MOOR. CANTO IV. 
 
 And when they sink, no ray shall pierce the gloom 
 From Glory's shrine or parted honour's tomb. 
 No beam yet lingers on the mountain height, 
 Save where ye shed your strange unnatural light ; 
 Granada's halls with thousand lamps are bright, 
 And Almoradi must be there to-night.
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 
 
 On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 All dark and despairing, my sight I may seal, 
 But man cannot cover what God would reveal ; 
 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 
 And coming events cast their shadows before. 
 
 Campbell. 
 
 x
 
 The Scene of the present Canto is laid at the Alhambra, formerly 
 the palace of the Moorish Kings of Granada, and still the most in- 
 tetesting as the most perfect relic of their times. In describing this 
 beautiful creation of art, the Author has endeavoured to convey to his 
 readers some idea of Moorish architecture. The minute carving, the 
 delicacy yet richness of detail, produce an indescribable fascination 
 on the traveller who beholds it for the first time ; with little variety of 
 surface or bold projection, all is graceful and harmonious, and like the 
 regular features of perfect beauty, for a few minutes rivets his attention. 
 
 In his description of the festival, he has introduced the leading per- 
 sonages who flourished at that period, and in those scenes ; in his 
 delineation of the manners of the Moorish Court he has adhered to 
 the traditions that have yet survived, and to the old romances, which 
 give a lively insight into the state of society as it then existed. To 
 persons unacquainted with the superstitions of the East, the influence 
 of the evil eye may appear exaggerated ; but among the Spanish Moors, 
 the withering effects ascribed to it, and the horrors which it inspired, 
 can scarcely be conceived. The infernal vapour, the burning gales, 
 and all the religious imagery that he has inserted, are grounded on 
 specific points of Mahometan belief, which he has explained more fully 
 in his Notes. He has incurred the risk of fatiguing his readers by the 
 many historical allusions he has introduced in the Prophet's speech, and 
 afterwards in the prophecy ; but he was unwilling to pass over in silence 
 the slaughter of the Abencerrages, the circumstances that attended the 
 fall of Granada, and the accumulated crimes of a Monarch, whose fate 
 presents a' memorable instance of just but dreadful retribution. De- 
 throned and exiled, abhorred by tbe people he had betrayed, he took 
 refuge among the desarts of Africa, where, blind and destitute of sup- 
 port, he was discovered by one of his former subjects, who closed, by 
 his murder, a scene of human vicissitude more striking, and a tra- 
 gedy more highly wrought, than can elsewhere be found, even among 
 the annals of Eastern history.
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 
 
 It is a night of pealing jubilee : 
 Granada rings with mirth and revelry ; 
 Loud wakes the cithern, flute, and psaltery, 
 While harp and light guitar are borne along, 
 And lost in the full tide of rapturous song. 
 With waving plume and proud distinctive dress, 
 That lineage high and rival hate confess, 
 Granada's nobles to the banquet speed, 
 And Taflit's Chieftain on his raven steed. 
 Chief after chief, from Oran's desart shore, 
 The glittering garb of distant Tunis bore ; 
 And they whose path is track 1 d in blood and flame. 
 From Atlas 1 desolated region came, — 
 
 n 2
 
 13() THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 Land of the dauntless heart and sheathless sword, 
 
 By foe unconquer'd, scarce by friend explored, 
 
 Whose fiery faith, with unrelenting hand, 
 
 Ne'er staid at pity's call the murderous brand : 
 
 No turbans on their brow they bore ; alone 
 
 Their mountain's wild alha'ique round them thrown, 
 
 Giants by the uncertain lustre shown 
 
 They seem'd. Beyond, the lords of Tetuan's strand— 
 
 A gloomy, fierce, inexorable band, 
 
 With scimitar and sulman white as snow, 
 
 And scarlet turban, down the path-way go. 
 
 Troop after troop, in stately cavalcade 
 
 Slowly they move ; while arch and balustrade 
 
 The silken banners of their race display'd : 
 
 The choicest odours of the plain to-day 
 
 Were pluck'd to scatter o'er their glowing way ; 
 
 Fair was the largess of the welcomed brave, t 
 
 And loud the shouts applauding Ismael gave, 
 
 As on, with glittering vest, and heart as gay, 
 
 They rode ; — to-morrow is the battle-day, 
 
 To-night the banquet and the dance shall be, 
 
 To-night the King holds royal jubilee.
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 181 
 
 By Heaven ! it was a glad and gallant sight, 
 
 From Elvire's gate to steep AlbaycnVs height — 
 
 From every gay illumined tower to see 
 
 Granada send her noblest chivalry : 
 
 Her halls, her domes, the very air breathed flame ; 
 
 The loud tophaike in joyous echo came ; 
 
 While maddening myriads bade Granada ring 
 
 With shouts for great Abdallah, Islam's King. 
 
 By Gomar's lordly tower the music play'd, 
 
 And " Come ye gallants, come !" the minstrel said : 
 
 " At morn, the march ; at eve, the field of fight ; 
 
 " But song, and feast, and revelry — to-night. 
 
 " The Light of Earth — the Sultan— in his hall 
 
 " Bids welcome to his glorious festival.'" 
 
 Oh ! given to song, and revelry, and light, 
 Alhambra's halls were beautiful that night : 
 Her cedar roof, with precious pearl inlaid, 
 Her walls transparent, seem'd of crystal made ; 
 So slight and shadowy, that the stream of day 
 A thousand faint interstices its way
 
 ]82 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 Broke through, as through the veil's thin mystery 
 Comes the half-clouded soul of woman's eye ; 
 And o'er the Mesuar's gorgeous gallery play'd, 
 Where clustering columns bore the light arcade ; 
 And danced the Lion's marble court upon, 
 On floor where thousand colours brightly shone, 
 O'er domes of Persia's never-fading dye, 
 And blue more glorious than its native sky. 
 
 Nor yet Heaven's splendours rose alone to view ; 
 
 The gay pavilion streamed of every hue 
 
 The rainbow knows : rare gems were o'er it strung, 
 
 And glittering stalactites in marble hung, 
 
 'Mid clustering fretwork carved with matchless care, 
 
 Of diamond form, or circling light and fair, 
 
 As bees had built their summer grotto there ; 
 
 Of texture wonderful as sparry cave 
 
 Of ocean maid beneath the sea-green wave ; 
 
 While bright as morning dew on wint'ry day, 
 
 A hundred fountains shed their glistening spray 
 
 O'er all the exulting scene: melodious sound 
 
 The forest's captive warblers pour'd around ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 183 
 
 The rifled mountain spread her liveliest bloom, 
 
 And woo'd the spell-bound sense with rich perfume ; 
 
 While India's scents, from vaulted hall below, 
 
 The mingling- odours of the East bestow, 
 
 And breathing through each sculptured flow'ret, bear 
 
 Delicious fragrance to the upper air. 
 
 Apart, in high alcove, the Monarch lay, 
 Reposing from the beams of sultry day ; 
 The spangled garb of Tunis round him rolPd, 
 And o'er his head the canopy of gold : 
 Here figured china scatter'd incense round — 
 There Persia's purple carpet deck'd the ground ; 
 Her silks fell fair o'er gilded balustrade, 
 Where fount of fretted alabaster play'd : 
 In gorgeous dress the train of royal power 
 Reclining, wait their Monarch's waking hour, 
 Around its verge reposed ; bend they to hear 
 That soft strain slowly steal upon the ear, 
 As fearful uninvited guest : again 
 The music swells a bolder, loftier strain —
 
 184 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 More loud, till all the fretted roof rebounds, 
 And all the glorious gallery resounds. 
 
 £ong to m £ultait. 
 
 Sultan ! at the Minstrel's strain, 
 Wake to life and joy again ! 
 Long has sunk the orb of day— 
 Yields to thine his powerful sway, 
 For his glories are less bright 
 Than thy palaces of light. 
 
 Sultan ! at thy hour of birth, 
 
 There was wonder upon earth ; 
 
 The Moon was in her crescent glow, 
 
 Earth was tranquil, and the wave 
 
 Awe-struck not a ripple gave ; 
 
 By such sign, 'twas ours to know 
 That a child of Ismael's race 
 Should his Father's steps retrace— 
 Should restore our falling sway — 
 Should revive the Caliph's day,
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 185 
 
 And give to fame the royal line ; 
 
 That the Heaven-sent star of morning- 
 Had begun to shine ; 
 
 That the sacred light was dawning 
 From the Prophet's shrine. 
 
 Sultan ! join the festive train, 
 Mark the pomp and hear the strain ! 
 Though a thousand lustres rise 
 Brighter than the studded skies, 
 Vain their splendour, cold their ray, 
 While the Moorish King's away : 
 While thy presence glads us not, 
 Mirth and music are forgot ; 
 
 Cheerless youth and beauty seem, 
 And yon festoon'd flower-carved walls, 
 And Alhambra's radiant halls, 
 
 But a joyless dream. 
 
 Sultan ! hear the Minstrel's strain, 
 Wake to life and love again !
 
 1 86 THE MOOli. CANTO V. 
 
 The strain rang blithely through the echoing hall, 
 And fair the scene ; but oh ! more fair than all, 
 That bower that hung o'er Daro's poplar shore, 
 And heard dark XeniPs stream in ceaseless roar : 
 More gracefully each sculptured flowVet grew, 
 And every colour own'd a brighter hue. 
 Here citron groves their witching scents exhale ; 
 Here sings on ivied elm the nightingale ; 
 And here the tufted palm, the myrtle bower, 
 The cedar's spicy grove, the allala flower ; 
 There, resting in the moonlight, pure and pale, 
 Against the deep-blue sky her snowy veil 
 Nevada stretcK'd, while, bright with festal glow, 
 A. thousand spangled minarets lived below. 
 
 Oh, fallen Granada ! land of lost delight ! 
 City of song, the banquet, and the fight ! 
 Ye scenes beloved of Allah ! never yet 
 Shall IsmaeFs sons thy vanish'd joys forget. 
 Land of exalted faith and courage high, 
 Of stainless truth and generous loyalty —
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBUA. 187 
 
 Where beauty and where chivalry had birth, 
 The proudest but the loveliest spot of earth ! 
 Around thy Zoraide's bower they brightest shone— 
 Now Beauty, Birth, and Chivalry are gone ! 
 
 Yet why that eve, when every dome gleam'd bright, 
 Slept Zoraide's bower consign 1 d to cheerless night ? 
 Why, best-beloved, that blithest form of all, 
 Their young Sultana shuns the illumined hall ? 
 Oh God ! it were a dreary tale to tell, 
 To sate a Tyrant's wrath how beauty fell : 
 Yet here she loved on happier eve to rest ; 
 Here, too, in changing hour, with pitying breast, 
 Granada mark'd her last and loveliest Queen 
 Behold with tears of grief the heavenly scene. 
 Ye mournful notes, be still ! in festal day 
 The opprest and wearied heart has little sway ; 
 And few, when music's mirth is in their ear, 
 Will pause — a tale of lingering grief to hear. 
 High now from blazing dome the joyous strain 
 Swells, till the very roof rings back again :
 
 188 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 Through crowded gallery comes the pealing call, 
 
 " Make way, ye gallants ! back, ye vassals, fall ! 
 
 " The Sultan comes all radiant to his hall : 
 
 " Form nobles, form ! ye minstrels wake the song ! 
 
 " And royal Muca, lead the dance along." 
 
 Forgive, if 'mid such glowing scenes I dwell, 
 
 And wake, with tedious art, the lingering spell — 
 
 From the long cheerless night of ages raise 
 
 The festive image of those splendid days, 
 
 When Glory's meed was Beauty, and the brave 
 
 On pennon bore the 'broider'd scarf she gave ; 
 
 If, true to Moorish lore, my feeble lay 
 
 Revives the joys, the feuds of other day, 
 
 And Chiefs whose very names have pass'd away ; 
 
 And bids Alhambra echo to the strain 
 
 Her mouldering halls shall never hear again. 
 
 The scene is changed ; — no more with courtly grace 
 Youth's smiling bands the native zambra trace — 
 No more light melting notes of music hear : 
 Far other strain shall rush upon their ear ; 
 A loftier measure— prouder hour, is near.
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 189 
 
 The Chiefs in hall, the Sultan on his throne, 
 Granada's bards must wake a sterner tone ; 
 And martial lord and echoing roof prolong 
 The exulting tumult of the battle-song, — 
 With stormy rapture speed the lingering night, 
 With mirth and banquet, till the dawning light. 
 
 I said that dome of gold and azure knew 
 
 Than Heaven's most glorious tints a brighter hue ; 
 
 Gleam'd all the imaged firmament of night : 
 
 The sacred text in characters of light, 
 
 As cloud in summer sky, 'mid scene so gay, 
 
 Proclaim'd the terrors of that dreadful day, 
 
 When Man shall bow beneath the Avenger's ire. 
 
 And Heaven be seen through rolling clouds of fire. 
 
 Exulting Beauty's graceful train is gone, 
 
 High raised in jewell'd garb the Sultan shone ; 
 
 From stately canopy, the crimson fold, 
 
 And awnings richly fringed with tissued gold, 
 
 Fell royally ; around the glittering throne 
 
 The warriors of the Zegri blood were known —
 
 J 90 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 With sable plume, in still and sullen mood, 
 Like gloomy Afrits, round their Sovereign stood ; 
 In fight Granada's boldest champions, they 
 O'er IsmaeFs slaughtered pride to loftiest sway, 
 Through Ismael's tears, had tracked their dreary way : 
 Sons of the savage South ! whose scorching clime 
 Gives strength to virtue, and gives fire to crime ; 
 Where fancy mounts to madness, and the hand 
 Dares fearless what that maddening fancy plann'd. 
 Beyond, stood many a chief of plumed pride, 
 By civil feud and kindred ties allied ; 
 And many a lord of sworn and quenchless hate, 
 
 Represt, in festive hour, the keen debate. 
 
 Let jarring feuds through tired Granada cease — 
 
 " Peace 'mid her tribes ; with all, save Issa, peace !*" 
 
 Before the awful presence Hassan stood ; 
 
 And " Hail P he said, " of Yemen's sacred blood, 
 
 " Abdallah, hail ! Return'd from Rutfs plain, 
 
 " I bore the olive branch of peace in vain. 
 
 " Their blinded King, their creed's envenom , d hate — 
 
 " The God of Ismael, guides them to their fate.
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 191 
 
 " Their answer, ask ye ? Sultan, shall I name 
 " Terms so replete with servitude and shame ? 
 " Ay, be it told ! and let the ominous sound 
 " From lip to lip, from chief to chief, go round ; 
 " And when against the red-cross ranks ye go, 
 " Warriors ! be this your thought — nor mercy show ! 
 " Dishonour's tribute ! — God ! that such a word 
 " From son of Almoradi should be heard : 
 " Tribute extorted by the Tyrant's sway, 
 " As lord exacts and crouching slave must pay ! 
 " I huiTd my stern defiance to the ground, 
 Till the high hall re-echo'd to the sound ; 
 
 .. 
 
 " I said the Sovereign of Granada's throne 
 " Bows to no Lord ! — save Allah's self alone ! 
 " I said our guides should count them his array — 
 " A thousand beacons marshall them their way ; 
 " And blazing high, to wondering despot show 
 " Each rock a fortress, and each serf a foe. 
 " Yet, to thy mission's peaceful mandate true, 
 " Has Hassan done all honour's son could do ; 
 " Yet all in vain ; — dishonour's blighting breath 
 " Broke o'er us like the chilling blast of death.
 
 192 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " Though vain our peaceful vows, without a stain, 
 " My King, my Country, and my Clan remain : 
 " Take back the herald's wand, my Sovereign Lord ! 
 " Thine honour claims a nobler pledge — the sword.'" 
 
 From princely dais the Sultan rear'd him high : 
 
 His form was stately, and unquell'd his eye ; 
 
 The dark-green plumes his royal race avow, 
 
 The diadem was on his kingly brow ; 
 
 His goodly front bespoke a generous faith, — 
 
 Alas ! that treacherous soul should lurk beneath — 
 
 That Heaven should yield, in fate's extremest day, 
 
 A gallant people to a coward's sway ! 
 
 Yet, when he heard, through loud re-echoing hall, 
 
 One maddening shout proclaim the will of all ; 
 
 The burning vow of many a martial lord, 
 
 That dawning day might gild the unsheathed sword, 
 
 Nor see it to its sheath restored again, 
 
 While throbb'd one Spanish heart on Moorish plain ; 
 
 And mark'd in every gaze their fierce delight — 
 
 Fire in each eye, each arm upraised for fight ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 193 
 
 Then rose the spirit — woke the loftier tone, 
 That should have sunk with sinking life alone ; 
 Stern from his glance impassioned vengeance broke, 
 And proud and princely was the word he spoke. 
 
 " Thy mission nobly done, no braver Lord 
 
 " To-night may grace his Sovereign's festal board ; 
 
 " Be theirs the instant war, since war they crave— 
 
 " A boon ne'er snatchM reluctant from the brave. 
 
 " My soul's high purpose fiVd ; at dawning light 
 
 " Myself will lead my people's gathered might, 
 
 "Where foes, strong mustering, guard Lucena's height. 
 
 " To-night our city rings with parting glee, 
 
 " A nation mingles in festivity ; 
 
 " High feast to every prince of Afric's band, 
 
 " To every tented chief of Eastern land, 
 
 " And to each native lord of fair degree ; — 
 
 " My heart is open as my halls are free ; 
 
 " Then, noble Hassan, join our revelry !" 
 
 The King Abdallah spoke ; and loud and long 
 Their wild applause the turban'd chiefs prolong, 
 
 o
 
 194 THE MUOK. CANTO V. 
 
 And shook their plumes, and sternly smiled, to hear 
 
 The promised vengeance of the fight so near : 
 
 The warriors of the crescent shield alone 
 
 In sullen silence stood around the throne ; 
 
 They little brooked that courtly beams should shine 
 
 On rival chief of Hassan's hated line, 
 
 And darkly musing, ponder'd on that day, 
 
 When slaughter^ Hamar roused the civil fray, 
 
 And Almoradi on Albaycin's shore 
 
 Bade XerriTs waters stream with Zegri gore. 
 
 Nor long, I ween, Lord Hassan paused to see 
 
 Before the throne his lineal enemy, 
 
 The chief of Zegri, stand ; too proud to show 
 
 Aught that might swell the triumph of the foe, 
 
 Beneath the courtier's careless mien represt 
 
 The burning thought, if such within his breast 
 
 Arose, and lightly johVd the glittering feast ; 
 
 " Yet oh ! if ever o'er this harass 1 d land 
 
 " Again shall wave the herald's peaceful wand," — 
 
 Such was his silent soul :— " that better day 
 
 " Stern Zegri shall my kinsmen's wrongs repay,
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBEA. 195 
 
 " A deep requital in that deadly strife 
 
 " Where quenchless hatred gives nor asks for life ; 
 
 " At morn from Elvire's portal will we ride, 
 
 " But who returns at eve, just Heaven decide !" 
 
 Few mark'd their jealous hate, or paused to view : 
 Bright was the festive pomp that evening knew ; 
 The minstrels swept the sounding chords along, 
 And " Great Abdallah !" fUFd the echoing song. 
 " Health to the tribes who mingle here to-night, 
 " And him, the Lord of all their marshalPd might !" 
 Fierce at the strain the sable Chieftain sprung — 
 His black and bristling locks disorder^ flung, 
 His voice was menacing, of giant height 
 His form, and his eye glared with savage light : 
 A scimitar was at his side, and round 
 His breast the Leopard's speckled hide was bound. 
 The courtly bearing of that splendid age, 
 Tempering with stately grace even civil rage, 
 That lent Granada's feuds a nobler tone — 
 Was to the sons of Africa unknown : 
 
 o 2
 
 196 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " Lord of my tribes ! presumptuous Monarch, know 
 
 " At will I come— and when it lists me, go. 
 
 " To Atlas' heights your suppliant herald came, 
 
 " And craved a brother's aid in IsmaePs name ; 
 
 " True to the call, o'er many a desart strand, 
 
 " For Ismael's cause I led my sable band : 
 
 " From Issa's hosts abhorrM, I come to save, — 
 
 " A brother King, your equal— not your slave. 
 
 " What care I for yon tinted lamps, whose ray 
 
 " Falls fitfully and dazzles all my way ? 
 
 " Far brighter glance to Taflit's mountain Lord, 
 
 " The deadly flash of carabine and sword ; 
 
 " I better prize the roar of mountain fight, 
 
 " Than all the melting music of to-night !" 
 
 Uncourteous flow'd his speech, and as he ceased 
 His eye fell scornful on the astonished feast : 
 Stern from that hall was sullen murmur sent, 
 And every glance was on the Sultan bent ; 
 Yet slow he seenVd, as cautious to reply, 
 While fear with passion struggled in his eye ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 197 
 
 For though such savage Chieftain's open scorn 
 Might ill by Ismael's proudest lord be borne ; 
 He knew, in coming danger's desperate deed, 
 Of firm ally his failing sword had need, 
 And deeply felt bereft of Afric's aid, 
 Ten Spanish falchions to one Moorish blade, 
 Had vain defence out-number 1 d Islam made. 
 
 Even then, ere answering word of keen debate 
 Had lent fresh ardour to their kindling hate, 
 The Sultan silent, Muca rose with speed : 
 He mark'd the crisis, felt the instant need ; 
 And ne'er has Ismael's storied page unroll'd 
 The name of Prince more politic or bold. 
 To save his Sovereign's honour, stay the feud, 
 To reconcile such hard extremes, he stood. 
 With calm and cautious dignity of mien 
 The practised statesman in his speech was seen ; 
 " Methinks 'twere nobly done for minstrel lay 
 " To rouse the stormy feud of rival sway, 
 " I hear the boasting sons of Issa say ;
 
 198 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " Unlike their Fathers, sway'd by jealous fear, 
 
 " Strife ruled their councils when the foe was near ; 
 
 " Of feeble heart, faithless in danger tried, 
 
 " Whom Heaven and treaty bind their feuds divide ; 
 
 " How long and loud their boast ere danger came, 
 
 " Their words— how haughty, and their deeds — how 
 
 tame ! 
 '* What,— deem you, Chieftain, that in martial song 
 " My Sultan brother did thine honour wrong ? 
 " Some Border march, our comrade, thou had'st known, 
 " If he whose glories fill Earth's loftiest throne, 
 " Beneath his sheltering roof had stoop'd to show 
 " Wrong to a kindred lord : by Allah ! no, 
 " Not to the man he holds his deadliest foe ! 
 " Then cease this strife of words, our harps delay, 
 " And yet night's latest hours glide fast away. 
 " Now, sable warriors ! ere our bards prolong, 
 " Dear to each heart, Granada's battle song, 
 " As honour'd guests and welcome kinsmen, high 
 " Let Afric's children wake their minstrelsy ; 
 " From Muca's Lord a happier theme shall be, 
 " Our brother Chiefs beyond the southern sea."
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 199 
 
 Man is of wayward, vain, capricious mood, 
 Slight word can calm — as little fires his blood ; 
 To hear Granada's high-born Prince demand 
 The rugged war-song of their native land, 
 Allay 'd the gathering tempest, sooth 'd their pride : 
 Well skilful Muca mark'd the ebbing tide, 
 And almost smiled to see their wrath subside 
 At such light word ; yet fearful lest delay 
 Might rouse again the soul of rival sway, 
 Earnest he pray'd that they might quickly hear 
 A strain so grateful to the royal ear ; 
 Through Taflifs sons the applauding murmur ran, 
 And high the strain as Afric's bard began. 
 
 Oje SLfvican ISatm $ong. 
 
 Wake the rallying note to hear, 
 
 Fling the hunter's horn away — 
 For a louder blast is near, 
 
 A nd a redder day ;
 
 200 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 To our mountains shall the foe 
 Come in arms, and scatheless go ? 
 
 Children of Numidia's land, 
 Heart of fire and dauntless hand, 
 
 Who of Afric's sons more brave, 
 On the dreary desart strand 
 
 Or the ocean wave ? 
 Rush resistless to the strife, 
 Strike for freedom, strike for life ; 
 To our mountains shall the foe, 
 Come in arms and scatheless go ? 
 
 Light your beacon, wake the strain, 
 Blow the trumpet blast again ; 
 Rushing from his caves of fear, 
 Till the startled Ethiop hear, 
 Taflit, bring your mountain mi gut. 
 Welcome ! sable Lords of fight— 
 Ye who snowy sulman wear, 
 Ye who scorn that badge to bear ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 201 
 
 Warriors of the bended bow, 
 Welcome ! welcome to the foe ! 
 
 Tented chiefs of Araby, 
 
 Best allies when danger's nigh ; 
 
 Friend and kinsman many a one, 
 
 Land and dwelling ye have none ; 
 
 Yet where'er Heaven's bright beams shine, 
 
 Arab ! every spot is thine ; 
 
 Who athwart thy desart way 
 
 Dares thy fearless step gainsay ? 
 
 Chieftains ! whose unsullied race 
 
 Years of proud descent may trace ; 
 
 Leaders on the battle plain, 
 
 Lovers of the minstrel strain ! 
 
 Changeless heart, in danger's need, 
 
 Ne'er forgot a kindly deed — 
 
 Ne'er forgave, however long, 
 
 Sire to son, a foeman's wrong ; 
 
 Yet, within their tents a guest, 
 
 Safe their deadliest foe might rest.
 
 202 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 Largess bright, their clansmen know, 
 Reckless given as gales that blow, 
 Boundless as the desarts drear 
 Where their rushing steeds career ; 
 Glance of lightning, step of wind, 
 Leave your sullen wastes behind ; 
 Wave the crescent far and high, 
 Raise the loud Allala cry — 
 To-day a bloody wreath be won, 
 Slave or captive let us none ! 
 
 Flute and timbrel, Maidens ! bring ; 
 And, ye woods and mountains sing 
 Glory to the Moorish King ! 
 While our plains and valleys ring 
 With that welcome tone— 
 The dying groan, 
 And our rivers flow 
 With the slaughter of the foe. 
 
 With swelling soul had proud Abdallah heard, 
 And mingled fear, stern Taflit's churlish word ;
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBBA. 203 
 
 With lighteiVd heart beheld his brother's skill 
 Subdue their passions to his better will, 
 And safely bring, with pilot's practised hand, 
 Granada's storm-saved vessel to the land ; 
 Yet now had shame and jealousy combined 
 With envy, to its better interests blind — 
 That frequent inmate of the feeble mind ; 
 Such now beneath each guarded word represt 
 Awoke its pangs in cold Abdallah's breast. 
 Bound by the first and earliest ties of blood, 
 The heir of Ismael's sceptre, Muca, stood ; 
 Yet oh .' such kindred ties but little weigh 
 In minds where sordid jealousy has sway : 
 The praises of the rising Prince to hear 
 Is seldom grateful theme to Monarch's ear ; 
 And well that lord, his jealous Sovereign knew, 
 Men deem'd in fight more bold, in love more true ; 
 His matchless deeds from every lip would part, 
 And every word sent daggers to his heart ; 
 And, more abhorrM than dread of rival sway, 
 A crime no after-years could wash away —
 
 204 THE MOOR. 
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 / 
 
 The same impassion'd fire had Muca felt, 
 
 And at one shrine the royal brothers knelt. 
 
 I ween Zelima loved ; ay, loved that lord 
 
 Who sway'd in Lorca's field the conquering sword ; 
 
 Yet well the force of Monarch's smile she knew, 
 
 And o'er the royal heart her witchery threw ; 
 
 She knew, that wily fair, man's fickle breast 
 
 Forgets the loveliest form it late possest ; 
 
 So day by day her well-feign' d Honour made 
 
 Some new pretext, and love's last boon delay 'd — 
 
 With varied art prolong'd the magic spell, 
 
 That courtly train, 'mid festive hall, might tell, 
 
 In Beauty's turret, bound by silken chain, 
 
 How long Granada's Sultan sigh'd in vain. 
 
 His thoughts I know not, little care to know, 
 As to himself, in voice restrain'd and low — 
 " Thank Heaven ! has Taflit calmer counsel heard, 
 ." Yet would 'twere any, save my Brother's word." 
 He now, the bitter sense of late disgrace 
 And Muca's happier guidance to efface,
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 205 
 
 With haste unwonted rose, and bade prolong 
 Earth's proudest hymn, Granada's battle song. 
 
 From the ranks of our foeman the far herald came, 
 And to freemen his word Avas the summons of shame ; 
 As freemen we spunVd it, our gauntlet threw down, 
 And defiance we bade to her people and crown. 
 
 Now blaze, ye red beacons ! high peal the war strain ! 
 And welcome ! thrice welcome ! ye children of Spain ! 
 How vaunting ye come, and how lonely shall go, 
 When our valleys are ringing the fall of the foe. 
 
 Now the soft serenade through the long summer night, 
 And the dance and the banquet, must yield to the fight; 
 But the true love we leave, when we clasp her again, 
 Shall make us a wreath from the spoils of the slain. 
 
 The terrible Allah has bared his right hand, 
 
 And Abdallah shall lead us, the Prince of the land ; 
 
 o 7
 
 206 THE MOOR. 
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 Ye Chiefs of Granada ! your clansmen combine, 
 Ye Lords of the Gazul and Vanega line ! 
 
 Ye stern Almoradi and Zegri ! who spring 
 From the high-blooded sons of the African King; 
 Be still your sworn hatred— as brothers unite, 
 And like torrents deep mingling rush on the fight. 
 
 Almoradi ! the standard of royalty bear — 
 Be the crescent of Zegri resistless in war ! 
 On Issa the wrongs of your kindred repay, 
 Sworn foemen be rivals in glory to-dav. 
 
 The bold who in battle is boldest to-dav, 
 His lady — his country — his King shall repay ; 
 Who falls as a Chief of the faithful should fall, 
 The Houris await in their gem-studded hall. 
 
 Then what can ye fear ? since to do or to die 
 Is glory on earth, or is rapture on high ; 
 And what, save the yearning of hate, can ye know, 
 When opposed to the ranks of the Infidel foe ?
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 207 
 
 Then Chiefs of the land ! from your lethargy break ; 
 For your country, your King, and your honour, awake ! 
 Then blaze, ye red beacons ! high peal the war strain ! 
 And welcome ! thrice welcome ! ye children of Spain ! 
 
 High rose the plaudit as the strain gave o'er, 
 
 Nor sank alone in one wild rapturous roar— 
 
 Thrice rose, thrice more tumultuous than before 
 
 Rang the loud echoes, lighten'd every eye, 
 
 And turbans waved in stormy ecstacy. 
 
 Save pride or policy awoke the word, 
 
 From Almoradi's lord was seldom heard 
 
 The young enthusiast's glowing tone : but now 
 
 A light was in his eye, and flush'd his brow ; 
 
 O'er his full heart the rushing strain had power, 
 
 And Hassan felt and own'd the maddening hour. 
 
 Even then, though strange it seem, his kindling breast 
 
 With wonder mark'd the fire his speech confest, 
 
 And felt how oft that soul in others shown 
 
 Had waked his cold satiric smile and tone ; 
 
 Nor less the Sultan's heart deprest, that strain 
 
 Restored at once to confidence again :
 
 208 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 In craven mind the worst extremes have sway, 
 
 And slavish awe to boasting pride gives way ; 
 
 If e'er he knew the middle course to steer, 
 
 'Twas not from manly sense, but doubting fear ; 
 
 So now, by mirth and minstrelsy elate, 
 
 With rancorous word he roused the keen debate : 
 
 u High themes are ours to-night !" the Monarch cries ; 
 
 " Enough — let sorrow's softer notes arise ; 
 
 " While yet those martial sounds are in mine ear, 
 
 " Shall swell the dirge o'er valour's early bier ; 
 
 " A Father's bursting energy of woe 
 
 " Shall teach the melancholy strain to flow — 
 
 " Shall tell with factious force on Daro's side, 
 
 " His only son in arms a rebel died ; 
 
 " Come Faqui— give such worthy deeds to fame, 
 
 " And rescue from the grave his branded name !" 
 
 Taunting he spoke ; his speech was of that feud, 
 
 When half the noblest Chiefs of Ismael's blood 
 
 In arms against their King Abdallah stood. 
 
 Stern at that call the Moslem rear'd him slow ; 
 Haughty his mien, and unsubdued by woe ;
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 209 
 
 Nor o'er his furrow'd brow, with youth, had died 
 
 Youth's daring and unconquerable pride : 
 
 His cheek was flushed with ire, his brow was bent, 
 
 Full on the King his lowering glance was sent ; 
 
 And glance it was, so steady, stern, and high, 
 
 The tyrant quail'd beneath his piercing eye ; 
 
 It was a look so ominous and drear, 
 
 The boldest view'd it with unwonted fear ; 
 
 Perchance they deem'd it that dull glare of death 
 
 By Eblis kindled in his realms beneath, 
 
 And sent on earth — a dread unnatural light, 
 
 That but to gaze upon, has power to blight 
 
 Man's fairest visions, seal his earthly doom, 
 
 And drive his steps in horror to the tomb : 
 
 As when the enchanter on the cloud-girt hill 
 
 Waved his charm'd wand, and bade the storm be still ; 
 
 So now, when mirth her wildest wassail sped, 
 
 Beneath his glance of more than mortal dread 
 
 Ceased the loud revel ; a cold shuddering crept 
 
 O'er every guest, and deadly stillness kept ; 
 
 The harper's hand, even now prepared to fling 
 High praise and glorious greeting to the King,
 
 210 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 Stood Fate-arrested on the silent string ; 
 The goblet raised to quaff with fierce delight 
 Rested mid-way, as o'er the startled sight 
 Had awful vision dawn'd ; each heart beat high 
 With mingled dread and wonder ; every eye 
 Bent fearfully upon that stern old man, 
 As thus in dreary tone his speech began :— 
 
 " Yes ! o'er my soul shall vengeful ire have sway ; 
 " Thy taunts I hear, thy dictates I obey ; 
 " The slaughters of that unforgotten day 
 " Shall fire my freezing veins — again shall flow 
 " The noblest blood that Yemen's warriors know ; 
 *« Again with fearless step and trusting breast 
 " Their youthful Chieftain seeks his King's behest. 
 " God ! will no warning spirit rise, and save 
 " The great, the gallant, from a timeless grave ? 
 " Heedless their victim comes, by traitors bound, 
 " The lion court his deadliest foes surround. 
 " High in the centre of that murderous ring 
 " With carnage-breathing signal, Ismael's King,
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 2 1 I 
 
 " And round his ministers of vengeance stand, 
 " With savage eye intent, and naked brand : 
 " On half his race they deal the coward blow, 
 " A kindred, trusting, and defenceless foe ! 
 " Oh ! ghastly sight ! with many a gaping wound 
 My country's bravest strew the unhallow 1 d ground : 
 But did Granada tamely view their fall, 
 " Revered by Prince and peasant — loved by all ? 
 No ! o'er their ravaged limbs and blood-stain\l bier 
 The young, the aged, shed the burning tear, 
 " And curses loud and deep arose : that morn 
 " Had seen thy sceptei -, d honours rudely torn — 
 " That hour had seen, on Daro's crimsoned shore, 
 " A vengeful people revel in thy gore ; 
 " But Allah turn'd the gather'd storm away, 
 •' And hoards his vengeance for a heavier day. 
 
 " Cold as his kindred earth where Hamet lies, 
 " With griefs dishevell'd locks and streaming eyes 
 " Thy royal sister stands ; with hopeless grasp, 
 " Takes the cold hand that little heeds her clasp ; 
 
 p 9 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 ii 
 
 a
 
 212 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " Kiss'd the damp brow, and murmur'd in his ear 
 
 " The lonff-loved tones he never more shall hear : 
 
 " "With terror mute, love's infant pledges stood, 
 
 " And trembling mark'd the scene of kindred blood ; 
 
 " Yet marvelFd why their Mother's frantic strain 
 
 " Should bid their slaughter^ Sire arise in vain. 
 
 " Tyrant ! that widow 1 d heart with thine had been, 
 
 " In joy and grief, through many a childish scene ; 
 
 " Those ties, first — latest -cherish'd : in such hour, 
 
 " Had claims like these no wrath-assuaging power ? 
 
 " Nor he, thy little kinsman, whose young breast 
 
 " The ready tide of artless grief confest ? 
 
 " No ! in her heart the Tyrant plunged his sword, 
 
 " And bade her join in death her murder'd lord ; 
 
 " His weeping kinsman seized — with ruffian wound 
 
 " Dash'd his young honours to the blood-stain'd ground ; 
 
 " Spurn'd the mute form, that from the o'ermastering 
 
 grave 
 " Yet stretch'd one wild imploring arm to save ; 
 " For him forgot the deadly pang, that now 
 " Represt her labouring speech and chilPd her brow ; 
 " To save his beauties from the ruffian blow, 
 " Had kiss'd the steel that laid his Father low ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 213 
 
 " That last worst pang has seaPd her agony. 
 
 " High o'er her prostrate form, with iron eye 
 
 " And heart, the Imperial murderer mark'd her die. 
 
 " Thy royal kindred slain in impious ire, 
 " Thy falchion raised against an aged Sire, 
 " Thy young Sultana led in beauty's bloom 
 " And early innocence to shameful doom ! 
 " New scenes of guilt must patient Ismael see ? 
 " Earth loathes to look upon a wretch like thee. 
 
 " Fair mirth is in the lion's court to-night, 
 
 " Loud sounds the harp, and glad the festal light ; 
 
 " But oh ! can mirth and music chase away 
 
 " The undying shame and slaughter of that day ? 
 
 " No ! in yon fount, the dark and harrowing stain, 
 
 " Where murder was, eternal shall remain, 
 
 " From age to age, till man's last summons tell, 
 
 " Here fell the brave — devoted Yemen fell ! 
 
 " And oh ! in that unutterable day, 
 
 " When howling Afrits seize their shuddering prey — 
 
 " When Earth is riven, and crashing Heaven gives way,
 
 214 THE MOOK. CANTO V. 
 
 " With ocean heaving to her depths profound, 
 
 " While fetter'd Hell is dragg'd with roaring sound 
 
 " Before the judgment throne of the Most High, 
 
 " To hear her spirits doom'd eternally ; 
 
 " Seeking the perilous path of heavenly bliss 
 
 " O'er that unfathomably deep abyss, 
 
 " With faltering step on Sirat's dreadful height— 
 
 " That bloody stain shall glare upon thy sight, 
 
 " Thy victim's gory forms around thee glow, 
 
 " And hurl thee to the yawning gulph below : 
 
 " There vainly rave on God's insulted name, 
 
 " While burning gales shall agonize thy frame ; 
 
 " 'Mid fiends in pangs intolerable lie, 
 
 " The infernal cloud for ever blast thine eye, 
 
 " And in thy heart the fire that cannot die ! 
 
 " Such was the thrilling tale of guilt and woe— 
 " Such was the appalling wrath I rose to show, 
 " And little reck'd I, if thy ruffian rage 
 " Had stain'd with gore the snowy locks of age ; 
 " But now the shade of death is in mine eye, 
 " And on my tongue the soul of prophecy .
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 215 
 
 " These are the warning echoes of the tomb, 
 
 " Heaven prompts the word, and I denounce the doom. 
 
 " Ye fatal fields of civil strife ! away : 
 
 " Full on my sight the terror-dawning day 
 
 " Of conflict breaks, the startled hills rebound, 
 
 " Lucena's caves repeat the trumpet's sound ; 
 
 " I see the turban' d ranks — the crescent bright ; 
 
 " I see the red-cross warriors ranged for fight : 
 
 " Look down, great Prophet ! from thy blissful bower, 
 
 " Uphold thy people in this desperate hour; 
 
 " For IsmaeFs weal forgive our reeking throne, 
 
 " Mine injured country's honour is thine own ; 
 
 " O'er struggling Ismael stretch the helping hand, 
 
 " All-powerful Allah ! save my native land ! 
 
 " In vain I plead ; the hard death-struggle o'er, 
 " Slow sinks the sun on tides of Moslem gore : 
 " Where now your vaunting speech, whose impious 
 
 pride, 
 " With promised triumph, Heaven and Earth defied ? 
 " Oh ! in that muffled drum, and measured tread, 
 " And plaintive dirge, that wails the gallant dead —
 
 216 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " That mournful music floating wild and low — 
 
 " To-night's carousing spirit do I know, 
 
 " That deems even now the morn is breaking slow, 
 
 " That shall consign to the award of fate 
 
 " Two burning nations' 1 still divided hate. 
 
 " Her noblest Chiefs on Honour's gory bed, 
 
 " Granada's King in shameful bondage led, 
 
 " I tire of endless griefs ; this wearied breast, 
 
 " Immortal Allah ! pines for blissful rest. 
 
 " Not yet — all dark and fearfully mine eye 
 
 "Is glazed with visions of futurity; 
 
 " Truths unreveaTd break o'er my straining sight, 
 
 " And deeds and times conceal'd in deepest night : 
 
 " I cannot brook them— hideous forms, away ! 
 
 " In vain — it comes with soul-o'ermastering sway, 
 
 " Ill-fated Islam's last terrific day ! 
 
 " Destroying Issa crowds the unpeopled shore, 
 
 " And shakes the city drunk with civil gore : 
 
 " E'en at our gates the red-cross banners show, 
 
 " And yet, great God ! we scorn the advancing foe !
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBR A. 2 1 7 
 
 " Long to our sons the infatuate tale be said— 
 **"A prouder tone our parting wassail sped, 
 " A brighter beam, when hope's last glow was fled, 
 " Granada's sinking sun of glory shed : 
 
 " The mounting foe is on her master'd walls, 
 
 " The voice of mirth is in her latticed halls ; 
 
 " On every rampart's hard-defended height, 
 
 " At morn more fierce, more desperate, grows the fight, 
 
 " And louder peals the revelry by night. 
 
 Mid crashing towers and carnage-cover'd plain, 
 While gasp the dying — tombless he the slain, 
 " Alhambra never heard a blither strain. 
 " But lo ! new terrors dawn ! Almanzor dies, 
 " And slowly bursting on their startled eyes, 
 " Behold the city of the faithless rise ! 
 
 " The revel sinks : they feel the doom is near, 
 
 " With alter'd mood, in stupid gaze of fear, 
 
 " By sudden sense of soul-absorbing woe 
 
 " Vanquish'd they stand ; with wakening frenzy know 
 
 " Earth's best inheritance is given away, 
 
 " The hand of God is on them, and the day* 
 
 a i 
 
 ..
 
 218 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " The dreadful day has dawned : with lightning glance 
 " They burst astonish'd from their lengthen'd trance ; 
 " In arms, a wild tumultuous group they go, 
 " And rush, with careless frenzy, on the foe. 
 
 " Hark ! the loud cannon on the crumbling wall 
 " The fierce assault, the vain repulse — they fall 
 " In hopeless conquest : through the tainted air 
 " Reigns the unbroken stillness of despair ; 
 " High now their aimless ire, with swelling sound 
 " Rages, as blast that sweeps the deep profound, 
 " And like the blast is gone ; hush'd every breath, 
 " Again despairing silence dread as death ; 
 Save woman's shriek, or infant's moaning wail, 
 Or life's last murmurs on the poison* 1 d gale, 
 That daily fans it o'er the unburied brave. 
 " Now fruitless tears, and desperate prayers to save 
 " Now frantic curses on the anointed line, 
 " And blasphemies on Mecca's sacred shrine ; 
 " While boding prophets swell the wild dismay, 
 " The deep-toned horror of that closing day. 
 
 a 
 
 a
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 219 
 
 " Can sounds so direful pierce the Immortal ear ? 
 
 " With soul unmoved, can Heaven's great Master hear 
 
 " That strangely ebbing tide of crime and woe ? 
 
 " Is his heart sated, or his vengeance slow, 
 
 " That yet withholds o'er the devoted land 
 
 " The blasting terrors of his red right hand ? 
 
 " They come ! they come ! and on our wasted shore 
 
 " The strife of eight long centuries is o'er, 
 
 " 'Mid all our domes the cross triumphant borne, 
 
 " From sacred mosque the silver crescent torn : 
 
 " Fill high the crowning cup of Ismael's shame, 
 
 " Thou Chief of proud Granada ! King in name 
 
 " Alone ! go ! — prostrate, shivering at the gate, 
 
 " On suppliant knee thy brother despot wait ; 
 
 " Resign the land Heaven to thy Fathers gave, 
 
 " And where they reign'd imperial, kneel a slave ; 
 
 " Before thy Chiefs who would have died to save, 
 
 " Before the astonish'd crowd who call'd thee Lord, 
 
 " Lay down the royal robe and princely sword ; 
 
 " Forget thy Fathers sway'd the warriors' brand, 
 
 " Such ill becomes a traitor's nerveless hand ;
 
 220 THE MOOK. CANTO V. 
 
 " The sacred crescent of thy faith lay down — 
 " The long-descended honours of thy crown ; 
 " And basely couch'd at Tyrant's footstool, claim 
 " The abject boon of life's extended shame. 
 
 " And now, my country ! thou art lowly laid ; 
 
 " A long farewell thine exiled sons have made, 
 
 " And heavy wakes the last lamenting strain 
 
 " O'er fields thy sons shall never own again ; 
 
 " Oh ! in that harrowing hour of parting pain, 
 
 " The vanish 'd glow of rapture's festal day 
 
 " Shall brighter seem, as pass those joys away, 
 
 " And every scene of earliest childhood rise 
 
 " With lovelier tints, to griefs despairing eyes ; 
 
 " On Daro's towers the tear-dimm'd glance they cast — 
 
 " That mute adieu to all the happier past : 
 
 " Farewell ! ye beauteous bowers, lamented shore, 
 
 " Still best beloved, till love can charm no more ; 
 
 " And ye, who yet on Xenix's banks shall wait, 
 
 " And cling in heaviest hour to Ismael's fate, 
 
 " 'Mid glories hers no more, the ruthless band 
 
 " Shall rule your faithful hearts with iron hand ;
 
 CANTO V. THE ALHAMBRA. 22 1 
 
 " Your pleasant halls the stranger Chief shall own, 
 
 " A stranger Lord is On your Father's throne. 
 
 " I thrill with woe — Granada's soul is fled, 
 
 " More dreary than the cities of the dead ; 
 
 " There all is silence ! but thy paths along, 
 
 " Still sounds the harp and crowds the foreign throng ; 
 
 " But all the generous pride, the ties refined, 
 
 " That form'd to Honom-'s mould the aspiring mind — 
 
 " That stainless Honour link 'twixt Heaven and Earth — 
 
 " The high-toned thought, the courtesy of birth, 
 
 " Have vanish'd ; children of Earth's favourite land, 
 
 " Go heartless exiles to a barren strand ! 
 
 " Of home and honour reft — of earlier fame 
 
 " Heaven leaves you nothing, save the Moslem name, 
 
 " And dooms you, scorn'd of other realms, to be 
 
 " Renown'd for wrong and best in perfidy ; 
 
 " Since thus for years thy sons have tamely borne 
 
 " A tyrant's crimes, and brook'd his impious scorn. 
 
 " Again the trance is in my tortured eye, 
 " A treeless desart and a blazing sky ;
 
 a 
 
 it 
 
 .. 
 
 222 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " What hopeless form of woe comes o'er my sight ? 
 
 " Revenge, not years, has quenchM his orb of light ; 
 
 " Fear in his step, and on his brow despair, 
 
 " And dark distrust and hate of man is there ; 
 
 " With rage his strain'd and sightless eye-balls glare, 
 And o'er his colourless and haggard face, 
 Long want and guilt have stamp 1 d their ghastly trace ; 
 Heavy around him sinks the deep'ning day, 
 
 " And near him howl the famishM fiends of prey ; 
 
 " The wildest wanderer of the desart strand — 
 
 " The meanest Arab boasts some spot of land, 
 
 " Where kindling fire and spreading tent defy 
 
 " The gaunt hyaena and despotic sky ; 
 
 " But he, whose brows have borne Earth's proudest 
 crown, 
 
 " Has not one sheltering shed to lay him down — 
 
 " One resting turf, where harass'd age may close 
 
 " Its grief-worn lids in confident repose : 
 
 " Lo ! from his couch of sand he starts to hear, 
 
 " 'Mid tangled thicket, terrible and near, 
 
 " The prowling lion thunder in his ear ;
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 223 
 
 " In vain he turns — around, before, behind, 
 
 " More dreadful yet, man's voice is on the wind ; 
 
 " Lo, God-abandon'd on his dreary way, 
 
 " Without one hope to cheer with brighter ray 
 
 " The desolation of his earthly doom, 
 
 " Or gild the coming terrors of the tomb, 
 
 u He takes his desperate journey; on his path 
 
 " The Heaven-collected ministry of wrath 
 
 " Is gather'd : the appointed hour it knows ; 
 
 " Now the full measure of thy guilt o'erflows ! 
 
 " And now, great God ! thy latest judgment shown— 
 " The final doom ; now — now reclaim thine own ; 
 " Spare these distracted orbs, nor let them see 
 " The parting pangs of slaughter^ royalty ; 
 " For oh ! that guilty blood-stain'd impious thing, 
 " Dethroned and outcast, was my Lord and King ! 
 " He hears me, mighty Allah ! — through my breast 
 " The God-given glow declines— I sink to rest — 
 " The power, the passion, and the prophet die : 
 " Celestial glories lighten in mine eye —
 
 224 THE MOOR. CANTO V. 
 
 " Bright o'er my soul ecstatic visions rise — 
 
 " Dark-glancing Houris beckon to the skies. 
 
 " I mount— I mount ! to share your rapturous hours, 
 
 " Your shady grottos, never-fading bowers ; 
 
 " Of parting Earth I nothing hear or see : 
 
 " They call— I pant, I struggle to be free ; 
 
 " Full in my grasp the prophet's deathless crown, 
 
 " The chains that held the immortal spirit down 
 
 " Have wither'd at his word ; I rise to light 
 
 " And life undying— speed my glorious flight !" 
 
 'Tis o'er ! that dreadful eye is glazed ; his breath, 
 God's vengeance minisfring, is hush'd in death : 
 But all the shining glories of that sky, 
 Late o'er him ranged immeasurably high, 
 As far beneath the unchainM spirit lie.
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Hide, blushing Glory ! hide Pultowa's day ! 
 
 Johnson. 
 
 She tells of time mispent, of comfort lost, 
 
 Of fair occasions gone for ever by, 
 Of hopes too fondly nursed, too rudely crossed, 
 
 Of many a cause to wish, yet fear to die ; 
 For what, except the instinctive fear 
 Lest she survive, detains me here, 
 When » all the life of life" is fled ?_ 
 
 t 
 
 What but the deep inherent dread, 
 
 Lest she beyond the grave resume her reign, 
 
 And realise the hell that priests and beldams feign. 
 
 Lines upon Memory, 
 Extracted from a note in the " Pleasures of Memory."
 
 The scene of the first part of the Canto is laid at Lucena, where 
 an engagement took place, about twelve years before the fall of 
 Granada, between the Spanish forces led on by the Marquis of Cadiz 
 and by the Count of Cabra, and the Moorish troops commanded by 
 their King Abdallah, assisted by Alatar, one of his most skilful officers. 
 The Moorish army was principally composed of native tribes, com- 
 manded by their hereditary chiefs, and distinguished by particular 
 colours and devices. Their cavalry formed the main strength of their 
 army ; and the brilliant evolutions by which they manoeuvred from front 
 to rear, charged the enemy, dispersed, rallied in a moment, and charged 
 again, exhibit a species of warfare, irregular, but novel and character- 
 istic. The Spaniards, on the contrary, moved slowly, were frequently 
 severe sufferers from these rapid attacks, but generally secured the day 
 by the constancy and solidity of their masses. In this disastrous en- 
 gagement, the standard of the Empire was consigned to the Almoradis ; 
 the battle was obstinately contested, but terminated in the complete 
 success of the Spanish arms. Abdallah was made prisoner, Alatar 
 slain, and the flower of the Musulman army destroyed. From that day 
 to the hour of its extinction, the decline of the Moorish empire was 
 rapid and uniform. 
 
 The Author has endeavoured to convey some idea of the peculiar 
 character of the African tribes, from his recollection of that uncivilized 
 race, during an excursion he made into Barbary. He has slightly al- 
 luded, towards the close of the Canto, to some of those objects, which 
 throw such an indefinable charm over the landscape in southern and 
 Mahometan countries, but which have already become familiar to his 
 readers, by the inimitable descriptions of Eastern scenery in Lalla 
 Rookh.
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Far o'er Lucena's hills, with dubious light, 
 As life with death, so wrestles morn with night : 
 She slowly rolls the gather'd clouds away, 
 Streaks the faint East, and struggles into day ; 
 Through their dun forms the piercing sunbeams break - 
 Morn wakes, and bids the slumbering hosts awake. 
 
 Then rose the warrior from his deathlike rest, 
 And passion strove in each reviving breast ; 
 But lust of plunder, hope, and fame, and pride — 
 Even pride — before the ruling impulse died ; 
 For holy hatred lived more fierce and strong, 
 And oath of vengeance vowed for mutual wrong. 
 The patient Spaniard turn'd to Heaven, and pray'd 
 The Lord of hosts to lend his warriors aid ; 
 
 q 2
 
 228 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 The generous Moor his fervid passion pour'd, 
 
 And bending low, the conscious God adored : 
 
 " Pent in the narrow limits of our state, 
 
 " We greatly wrestle with o'ermastering fate ; 
 
 " Here hostile myriads press us, there the sea, 
 
 " Yet still, great God ! we dare, and die for thee ! v 
 
 Such burning passions thrilTd the adoring brave, 
 Such varied hopes that fated morning gave ; 
 For oh ! it wafted on its earliest breath, 
 To either, shame or honour — life or death ; 
 Yet who could mark with fear's averted eyes, 
 Lord of his fate— yon orb of glory rise ; 
 To fair creation give another birth, 
 Sole Lord of light and life, of Heaven and Earth ? 
 What soul could mark those bursting glories beam, 
 Dance on the mountain, sparkle in the stream, 
 Bring hope to thousands, transport to the brave ; 
 Yet clasp a conqueror's chain— and live a slave ? 
 
 . On highest ridge encampM, at breaking day, 
 In lengthening line the Moorish battle lay :
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 229 
 
 Far in the front Alatar's shield is known ; 
 
 He calls the vanguard of the war his own, 
 
 Marshals the Alguazil, where on the right 
 
 His marching columns lead the vaward fight ; 
 
 The casque of steel their turban 1 d brows around, 
 
 Light to their breast the burnislVd steel was bound, 
 
 The gillibee was o'er them, and the brand 
 
 Or lengthen"^! lance, was in each fearless hand, 
 
 That often bade the sons of Issa know, 
 
 How nimbly fierce their onset on the foe. 
 
 In charge resistless, at their mountain post, 
 
 Light arni'd, they broke beneath the charging host ; 
 
 Before the Spaniard's massive line gave way, 
 
 As Autumn leaves are swept in stormy day. 
 
 Apart the dusky sons of Afric rode, 
 
 Of garment strange, and aspect wild, they show'd : 
 
 Their coursers, of that dark high-mettled breed, 
 
 Of strength unequalFd, and unmatched in speed ; 
 
 Round arching neck, and o'er each crested head, 
 
 The doom-destroying talisman was spread ; 
 
 Of shape uncouth, high rose the saddle-bow, 
 
 And short the graceless stirrup hung below ;
 
 230 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 The rowell'd spur unpolish'd, stiff and long, 
 
 The curb with native metal rude and strong ; 
 
 And never yet on marshalFd field of fight, 
 
 Had mingling nations lent a stranger sight : 
 
 The shrouded tribes that distant Tetuan knew, 
 
 The turban'd chiefs of bright mulatta hue, 
 
 And Ethiop's giant sons, whose sable dye 
 
 Bespeaks the fervours of their tropic sky, 
 
 Who nothing, save their white alhaique, bear : 
 
 Like worms is wreath'd their black and tangled hair ; 
 
 Their shaggy brows' imparting scowl beneath, 
 
 And in their eye the savage glare of death. 
 
 In that confused undisciplined array, 
 
 No stated signal, equal line, have they ; 
 
 The leader, he who rides the foremost man— 
 
 Who lately form'd the rearward, march the van ; 
 
 In dress, in step, in arms irregular, 
 
 Some bear the brand, and some the scimitar ; 
 With frantic gesture and discordant yell, 
 
 Like demons rushing from their native hell, 
 
 With carabine, and sling, and bended bow, 
 
 They break in fierce disorder on the foe.
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 231 
 
 Alas ! that honour lent no loftier tone 
 
 To chiefs so daring in the battle shown ; 
 
 A powerless despot sway'd their barbarous land, 
 
 And lawless Chieftains graspYl, with careless hand, 
 
 The secret knife or warrior's open brand : 
 
 So brave, with little that becomes the brave, 
 
 And free, with every crime that stains the slave, 
 
 They come, sworn kinsmen, to Granada's state — 
 
 Not link'd in friendship, but allied in hate. 
 
 'Twixt souls like these and heaven-born chivalry, 
 
 One link alone preserved the breaking tie,— 
 
 The burning sense of unrequited wrong, 
 
 Their vengeful purpose, steady, deep, and strong ; 
 
 And hand and heart, devoted to the cause 
 
 Of him who gave an empire Allah's laws. 
 
 Far other sight Granada's sons might boast, 
 Where proud Abdallah led the central host ; 
 A sea of crested honours, wave on wave, 
 The flower of all most beautiful and brave, 
 That morn devoted Ismael show'd, and gave
 
 232 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 Like spirits of a nobler mould to view 
 
 The fairest chivalry her warriors knew. 
 
 How bright some few proud moments more, the clan 
 
 Of destined Sarracino leads the van : 
 
 With silver chain they bind the studded blade, 
 
 In silver sheath the scimitar is laid ; 
 
 Their simple pennons like the undrifted snow, 
 
 As emblems of their spotless honour show ; 
 
 White are their reins, their chargers snowy white, 
 
 Graceful they move like glorious sons of light ; 
 
 Their courser's mane descending sweeps the way, 
 
 And glistens brighter than the bright sea-spray. 
 
 The fatal hue that Yemen's warriors bore, 
 
 To-day the princely chief of Muca wore ; 
 
 The sapphire's beams from gorgeous trappings fly, 
 
 His plumed crest was of that azure dye, 
 
 His jazerine with border blue inlaid, 
 
 And blue the scarf his lady-love had made ; 
 
 With azure field his pennon floated high — 
 
 An eagle soaring through the cloudless sky, 
 
 And on it jrraved " Of Heaven-born line am I."
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 233 
 
 Slow next with haughty hearts the Zegri came, 
 And glance that danger never learnt to tame ; 
 Their plumes were sable and their coursers bay, 
 " Our dawning crescent shall be full to-day." 
 
 Bright all their banners wave — yet one is there, 
 Less lovely far, that claims their proudest care ; 
 Defaced it seems, and scarr'd by foeman's rage, 
 Of tarnish 1 d hue, and worn by length of age ; 
 Eight stormy centuries have o'er it flown, 
 And twice a thousand battles hath it known : 
 The same it is, that from their native shore 
 To Tarifs rocks their sires triumphant bore, 
 When free and foremost in each conquering fray, 
 From field to field it led the glorious way ; 
 Their Fathers deem'd it sent of Heaven, to be 
 The guide and guardian of their destiny : 
 His country's hate, a traitor's timeless doom, 
 And Eblis-promised pangs beyond the tomb, 
 Were wildly heap'd on his devoted head, 
 Who trembling from the sacred streamer fled ;
 
 234 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 And still, where'er they mark'd its honours wave, 
 With more than mortal strength inspired, the brave, 
 Of foes out-numbering reckless, ruslVd to save ; 
 The God-given strength the astonish'd Spaniard knew, 
 And conquest followed where the standard flew. 
 
 To-day that idol of her hope is thine, 
 Thou long-descended Lord of Afric's line ! 
 Oh ! let it fire your hearts to dauntless deed, 
 Chiefs of the dark-green vest and raven steed ! 
 Nor one of all who bear your ancient name, 
 With failing heart, in nerveless combat, shame 
 The stainless shield of Almoradi's fame ! 
 What recks it, gallants ! though ye die to save? 
 That feebler hearts could do. It will not wave 
 In captive hour o'er falling glory's grave — 
 O'er Issa's bands it will have mastery ; 
 It must be rear'd 'mid shouts of victory, 
 'Mid chargers masterless and foes that die : 
 And well, brave spirits ! as they moved along 
 With martial music and exulting song,
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE. 235 
 
 Around that standard of their better day, 
 They fornVd the impenetrably close array ; 
 Nor once in lost Lucena's hapless fray 
 HemnVd in, out-master'd, in the grasp of death, 
 One heart forsook that banner of his faith. 
 
 High now, with trumpet tone and rolling drum, 
 From mountain post their inarching columns come ; 
 Their hundred tribes are breaking on my view, 
 Their colourcl plumes and vests of varied hue — 
 Their thoughts are to their bleeding country given, 
 Their steel is bared, their arm is raised for Heaven ; 
 Nor blame, if in the wish'd-for glance of foes, 
 In youthful hearts some softer thoughts arose ; 
 If, while the pennon of their pride they bore, 
 And rear'd it o'er heads, and sternly swore 
 To bathe it in the best of Issa's gore, 
 They heaved one sigh to her afar, who knew 
 To frame that pennon of their favourite hue — 
 Whose fate-foreboding heart and trembling hand 
 Had weaved the scarf that bound their battle brand.
 
 236 THE MOOll. CANTO VI. 
 
 Far in the plain, bright gilded by the ray 
 Of earliest morn, Lucena's turrets lay ; 
 On every rampart, wall, and castled height, 
 The crowding burghers strained to see the fight. 
 The Moslem, rushing from his mountain way, 
 With scornful eye beheld the mix'd array : 
 " Fair city! thou art ours at closing day !" 
 High on the loftiest tower the warder stood, 
 With rapturous glance beheld the coming feud, 
 Where, far beneath, his country's mingled might 
 Form'd fast in line, and gather'd to the fight ; 
 But when with keener and inquiring view 
 He mark'd each Chief and tribe's distinctive hue : 
 " It is a sight !" he said, " that dims mine eye, 
 " Yet makes my heart for very pride beat high, 
 " To see how fearlessly, on yonder plain, 
 " Rides forth to doom the chivalry of Spain : 
 " They come ! the hardy lords of Leon's land ; 
 " I see mine Andalusia's lighter band, 
 " Her chiefs see many colour'd Murcia bring, 
 And gay Valentia man the glowing wing : 
 
 .1
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE. 237 
 
 " La Mancha sends her muffled sons to war ; 
 
 " They crowd, the bold Guerillas of Navarre, 
 
 " And many a sandall'd lord of Montserrat : 
 
 " Each Chieftain of the plaided Catalan, 
 
 " His tribe has marshall'd — number 1 d every man : 
 
 " And there of open brow and faith sincere, 
 
 " To Prince, to peasant, and to lady dear, 
 
 " How gallantly Lord Cabra leads them on, 
 
 " His belted sons of freeborn Aragon. 
 
 " Foremost, at honour's post, in danger's hour, 
 
 " Castille's proud Kedith heads the central power, 
 
 " And stately leads, beneath his high command, 
 
 " The haughty spirits of his native land ; 
 
 " The blazon'd arms and pennons of their race, 
 
 " The shield and lance, they bear with manly grace ; 
 
 " Spain's dark-red plume is on each youthful crest, 
 
 " Her sacred cross on each thrice-mailed breast ; 
 
 " There lives no terror on the earliest brow, 
 
 " Or thought that knighthood's pride might disavow ; 
 
 " The deep devotion of each heart — to Heaven, 
 
 " To Spain, their King, and lady-love is given ;
 
 238 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 " The first in honour, arms, and courtesy, 
 
 " They move — the flower of Europe's , chivalry ; 
 
 " The model and the theme of every clime, 
 
 " The master spirits of the heroic time ; 
 
 •' Their lances in the rest, their vizors low, 
 
 " With stately pace they bear upon the foe : 
 
 " And fast that gallant foe in full career 
 
 " With bended bow, and scimitar, and spear, 
 
 " And javelin pois'd, and thundering shout draws near ; 
 
 " His lines extending like a mighty tide, 
 
 " And rushing like a lion in his pride." 
 
 Even so the Moslem burst with heart on flame : 
 
 In other mood the sons of Issa came ; 
 
 Each step was true, each glance was fix'd and high, 
 
 Nor cheek was blanch'd, where none were loth to die ; 
 
 But shout nor sound is heard, save rolling drum 
 
 Beats heavily as to the strife they come, 
 
 Or stifled murmur throbbing myriads sped, 
 
 Or earth retum'd the music of their tread.
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 239 
 
 It were no easy task for bard to say 
 How frequent ebb'd the fortunes of that day ; 
 How Spain resistless thinn'd the ranks of war, 
 With Guzman, Nugnez, and with Aguilar ; 
 Or IsmaeFs sons in fiery charge bore down 
 The noblest champions of her castled crown ; 
 How Tellez' fainting limbs and hand of age 
 Were matclfd in equal strife with Zegri's rage ; 
 What carnage gallant Calatrava made ; 
 How young Fernando bared his early blade, 
 Whose riper years, on far Columbia's shore, 
 To realms unknown his country's glory bore. 
 
 The shades of eve were heavy on the plain, 
 When spoke the Lord of Aragon : "In vain 
 " We urge our mountain's never- daunted might, 
 " Where IsmaeFs horse maintain the unequal fight: 
 " Mark ye yon wavering troops in distance stand ? 
 " They wield their Syrian blades with feeble hand ! 
 " We'll show them, Lords! our good Toledo brand.
 
 240 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 " Where'er your Chieftain's bugle blast ye hear, 
 
 " 'Mid death and danger, Aragon, be near ! 
 
 " Where'er your kinsman's waving crest you see, 
 
 " Allies in peace and peril, follow me ! 
 
 " This charge our fiercest and our last shall be, 
 
 " Shall break their ranks, and seal our victory. 11 
 
 They heard ; and burst with such impetuous sway, 
 They bore to earth the best of that array, 
 Who, true to Islam, spurn'd the hope of flight, 
 Yet scarcely raised one nerveless arm in fight : 
 Firm at their post a glorious doom they found, 
 And strew'd in heaps the carnage-cover'd ground. 
 Alatar saw the flower of Ismael die, 
 And vengeful came with all his chivalry : 
 Now closely pent, his serried horse combine ; 
 Now burst with fury on the Christian line ; 
 Before the charging foe they wheeling flew, 
 No marshaird rank the baffled Spaniard knew : 
 Now dim in distance seen — now hovering near — 
 Now singly— now united — front and rear
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 241 
 
 They menace — fling their sabres to the plain 
 
 In fleetest course, and gather them again ; 
 
 Careering gallantly, as if to show 
 
 How light they held the terrors of the foe, 
 
 Aside they cast the gaily-colour'd rein ; 
 
 Now hold they proudly by their coursers' mane : 
 
 The spur they need not ; for the battle-cry 
 
 Can light the charger's, as the chieftain's eye, 
 
 Nor yet of rein or iron curb have need ; 
 
 'Mid loudest din, in most resistless speed, 
 
 His master's voice can check the wildest steed. 
 
 Spain's Chieftain kindled at the Leopard crest, 
 And onward to the fiery conflict prest; 
 With vizor low, and swift descending sword, 
 And charging steed, he greets Alatar's lord. 
 How fearfully their mingling blades resound ! 
 They stay their coursers— vaulting to the ground ; 
 With hand and heart unyielding, either foe 
 Now reels beneath, and now averts the blow. 
 The Spaniard's shiver'd crest is on the plain, 
 Alatar's faithless steel has burst in twain,
 
 242 THE MOOK. CANTO VI. 
 
 His shield is rent, his mail of crimson hue, 
 
 And now the Christian's sword has pierced it through ; 
 
 Stretch'd on the ground the boast of Ismael lies, 
 
 Life's last defiance in those glaring eyes, 
 
 Without one parting sign or murmur— dies. 
 
 Fierce on the victor mailed Hassan sprang, 
 
 And loud their clashing arms in conflict rang : 
 
 Yet brief the desperate struggle ; well that blade 
 
 His slaughter'd comrade's timeless doom repaid. 
 
 As, full of vengeance, life's last pangs to scan, 
 
 He sternly bent him o'er the dying man, 
 
 And heard in every gasp convulsed and low, 
 
 The stifled anguish of the expiring foe, 
 
 Oh ! scarcely recognized, yet not unknown, 
 
 Fell on his ear that faint imperfect tone ; 
 
 Aside he flung the slaughter-streaming brand, 
 
 And raised the Spaniard with his blood-stain'd hand : 
 
 But when the vizor from his face he drew, 
 
 And in that glance the soul of Cabra knew, 
 
 " Oh God ! I gladly would have given," he said, 
 
 " The brightest bays that wreathe the conqueror's head,
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE. 243 
 
 " Were this day's deed undone ! Fate sped the blow 
 
 " That laid the bravest, noblest, kindest low ; 
 
 " And thou, poor olive ! on this faithless brow, 
 
 " Thy Lord has lightly paid his parting vow." 
 
 " Is it ?" the fast-expiring Chief replies, 
 
 And feebly raised on high his glazing eyes ; 
 
 " Is it the voice of other times I hear, 
 
 " Or sounds delusive cheat the deaden'd ear ? 
 
 " Yet oh ! if earlier known those accents be, 
 
 " Grieve not, my country's gallant foe ! for me : 
 
 " 'Twere idle all ; nor bend, nor seek to save ; — 
 
 " The chilling damps of the relentless grave 
 
 " Are gather'd o'er me ; the hard-labouring breath 
 
 " Breaks heavily, and the cold pang of death 
 
 " Is at my heart ; but high within my breast 
 
 " Swells the proud thought, that will not be represt, 
 
 " For God and for my country : fast again 
 
 " Life's tide is ebbing; mortal aid in vain: — 
 
 " Farewell ! young Knight ! — farewell! beloved Spain !" 
 
 O'er the fall'n chief Lord Hassan bent : " Thus low, 
 " Slain by mine arm !" he cried, " my noblest foe I'- 
 ll 2
 
 244 THE MOOR. i ANTO VI. 
 
 " My firmest friend, had happier times allow'd : 
 " Yes, I would give each hope, each trophy proud, 
 " To see thee bursting from the unheeded slain, 
 " And hear thy shout for Aragon again ! 
 " And mark thy clansmen rushing o'er the plain, 
 " Although the spear of every mountain-man 
 " Was match'd in conflict with my native clan. T> 
 Unreck'd the conqueror spoke : that deafened ear 
 Can nothing more of joy or sorrow hear. 
 
 Brief pause was Hassan's : o'er her failing foes, 
 St. James for Spain ! in thundering shout arose, 
 And heavier came the cannon's deepening roar ; 
 The crimson crest of Gazul waves no more, 
 And Zegri's sable plumes are bathed in gore ; 
 And, Sarracino's snowy pennon torn, 
 Granada's bravest sons to earth are borne. 
 Oh ! then, great Allah ! in that dreadful hour, 
 Their King a captive, and their marshalFd power 
 Beat down and trampled, while the long array 
 Of slaughter^ nobles cumber'd all the way ;
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 245 
 
 Oh ! then, ere yet the latest beacon died, 
 
 Awoke the hopeless heart's despairing pride ! 
 
 Sullen they turiVd, like lion fiVd at bay, 
 
 Then sprang so fierce that e'en Castille gave way ; 
 
 And IsmaeFs sons had yet retrieved the day, 
 
 But bold Asturia from her rugged height, 
 
 With eagle eye, beheld the changing fight, 
 
 And from her mountain-throne came rushing down, 
 
 And sternly waved her glory-gather'd crown : 
 
 Then Biscay's hardy chiefs with glance of flame, 
 
 And eager spirit, emulously came ; 
 
 " These nobles of Castille, who boast to be 
 
 " The Lords and leading lights of chivalry, 
 
 " Oh ! teach their haughty hearts, in failing fray, 
 
 " Our mountain spirit can redeem the day !" 
 
 So fierce they rush'd, with such a shout for Spain, 
 
 Lucena's startled mountains rang again. 
 
 As sink the beacon's loftiest fires in night, 
 So sank the blaze of Ismael's better fight ; 
 They, by the stream and o'er the mountain side, 
 AVith fainting frames, but hearts unconquer , d, died,
 
 240 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 Yet that proud banner, aged, soiPd, and torn, 
 Amid the sternest of the battle borne, 
 Long struggling Hassan rear'd ; long o'er the plain, 
 Where Islam's Chiefs had striven and died in vain, 
 He strove ; with failing sense and tight'ning hand 
 He still upheld the banner and the brand, 
 Till, on the field he fought so long and well, 
 Amid the bravest of his band he fell. 
 
 Ah ! happy, from that fatal field of gore, 
 
 Had that red son of battle risen no more ; 
 
 Alas ! for him with joyless rest in vain 
 
 Exhausted nature steep'd his weary brain. 
 
 The shades of midnight shrouded plain and hill, 
 
 The dreadful clamours of the field were still, 
 
 The champions of that hard-debated day, 
 
 Peaceful the victor and the vanquish'd, lay. 
 
 Heaven's cold bright beams gleam 'd o'er the crimson 
 
 plain, 
 And lit a mighty mass of warriors slain ; 
 The casque was stain'd and featherless — the brand 
 Lay shivered in its Lord^s unyielding hand :
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 247 
 
 Here chief and menial slumber'd side by side, — 
 
 Youth's buoyant hopes and manhood's vigorous pride ; 
 
 And clans, whose proud and beautiful array 
 
 With joyous myriads march'd at breaking day, 
 
 Had scarcely left at eve a serf to say — 
 
 All, save our deathless deeds, have pass'd away ! 
 
 The cloven cuirass and the azure crest, 
 
 Here Heaven-born Muca's regal line confest ; 
 
 Here Gazul's crimson pomp, there the black plume, 
 
 Gave the dark hue of death a deeper gloom : 
 
 Even the awed conqueror linger'd to retrace 
 
 The fiery spirit of that vanquished race, 
 
 The lineaments he never might forget, 
 
 And the bent brow that spake defiance yet. 
 
 Such the sad aspect of his slaughter^ clan, 
 The morning boast of IsmaePs prostrate van, 
 As Almoradi raised him from the dead, 
 Where lay the lion's honours lowly spread ! 
 Faint but revived he rose ; the heath was bare, 
 Heaven's light was dim, and keen the midnight air.
 
 248 THE MOOR. 
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 Alone surviving of his race, he knew, 
 
 Oh God ! what sight to meet a Chieftain's view ! 
 
 Before him, resting in the moon's cold glow, 
 
 His Almoradis silently and low 
 
 Stretch'd on their bloody bier : " At honour's shrine, 
 
 " These, the last relics of my lofty line, 
 
 " My King, my clan, my brother chiefs ! — in vain — 
 
 " Ye ne'er shall hear my kindred shout again : 
 
 " Their life was glory's, honour was their grave — 
 
 " How proud and peaceful sleep the parted brave !" 
 
 He turn'd him from the dreary sight away : 
 
 Before him, paler than the marble ray, 
 
 The graceful form of slaughter'd Albin lay ; 
 
 Hope's brilliant beams were quench'd in endless night, 
 
 And his pale brow in that uncertain light 
 
 Seem'd yet more pale : " Beloved boy f he cried, 
 
 " Art thou too gone ? of all my vassal pride, 
 
 " Youngest and most lamented ! might not youth 
 
 " Scarce risen to manhood, uncorrupted truth, 
 
 " Save thee one little hour ? by Loja's height, 
 
 " When our far mountains rose in living light,
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 240 
 
 " And stretcli'd so bold, and beautiful, and blue, 
 
 " Whilst thy young spirit bounded at the view, 
 
 " I little deem'd such fated eve could bring 
 
 " The setting shades of such a glorious spring ! 
 
 " Not yours a Chieftain's rugged grief alone ; 
 
 " She, whose deep love in calmer hour was shown 
 
 " But by the trembling brow and changing tone, 
 
 " When summer moons have sped their circling flight, 
 
 " And weeds are doffed, and kindred halls are bright, 
 
 " She long shall leave the festive dance by night, 
 
 " To wait thy coming step by Dare's tide, 
 
 " And doubt the tale that none can doubt beside. 
 
 " To me Fate track'd a wayward weary way ; 
 
 " Thy dawn was cloudless, and thy parting day 
 
 " Was full of honour, low I leave thee now : 
 
 " Would — would I were as calm and cold as thou ! 
 
 " Ye powerful orbs V — he gazed where o'er his head 
 
 The silent firmament of Heaven was spread ; 
 
 " Ye mighty Spirits of Creation ! tell 
 
 " When hopes so bright and pride so boundless fell ; 
 
 " When clan, and King, and kinsman perish'd, why 
 
 " Spared ye the only heart that wislVd to die ?
 
 250 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 " On that dread eve, beneath thy tranquil light, 
 
 " When bent my straining glance o'er Darcfs height, 
 
 " From all on earth I cherish'd forced to part, 
 
 " One who had bound her to this rugged heart, 
 
 " To be the partner of its joy and pain — 
 
 " Who loved as none could ever love again ! 
 
 " Proud lights ! that shed your cold unvarying glow, 
 
 " Unmoved by wildest joy or fiercest woe — 
 
 " Who on your azure canopy reclined, 
 
 " In silence mark'd that mighty strife of mind, 
 
 " Had ye decreed, that I survived alone 
 
 " Of all yon giant strength of war o'erthrown, 
 
 " Beneath your guardian destinies, again 
 
 " Should slowly wend me to my native plain, 
 
 " Should yet uphold on lost Sultana's strand 
 
 " That breaking heart, and bathe her dying hand 
 
 " With tears of wild and vain remorse — that I, 
 
 " Beneath those very beams that mark'd me fly, 
 
 " Should catch the last glance of her glazing eye, 
 
 " And hear her last forgiveness ere I die ? 
 
 "It must be so: this victor-ravaged strand 
 
 " Becomes not Hassan ; can his single hand 
 
 44 The fierce invader's rapid march withstand ?
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 251 
 
 " It may not be : my clan and kinsmen slain, 
 
 " This tireless arm, this dauntless heart, are vain : 
 
 " I seek Granada's native bowers again ; 
 
 " And ye who on your gory couch recline, 
 
 " The martyr'd champions of a Monarch's line, 
 
 " Long in my heart your dauntless deeds shall dwell : 
 
 " My faithful Almoradi, fare ye well ! " 
 
 Three days had dawn'd, three nights were past of pain, 
 
 When stood that lonely Chief on Daro's plain 
 
 As evening fell ; there, 'mid the train most gay 
 
 By courtly presence deem'd, in earlier day 
 
 Most courtly mix'd the Moor — his wakening mind 
 
 Here first ambition's daring deeds design'd. 
 
 The same they rose before his earnest eye : 
 
 The mountains, woods, and fields of infancy, 
 
 And that wild torrent, leaping to the lake, 
 
 Still made the music it was wont to make : 
 
 He knew the paths where Zaira's form had been, 
 
 And shed her soul o'er all the glowing scene ; 
 
 Where once in summer's sultry noon they stray'd 
 
 Beneath the young acacia's favourite shade ;
 
 252 THE MOOK. CANTO VI. 
 
 Where oft those violet-purpled banks along 
 
 She woke, at dying day, the plaintive song, 
 
 While Xenil's roar, and Daro's mingling tone, 
 
 The murmuring winds, the low and hollow groan 
 
 Of echoing forests, day's departing hour, 
 
 Breathed o'er her Heaven-wrapt soul delirious power ; 
 
 And she on sueh an eve her influence knew, 
 
 And o'er his heart her own wild sadness threw. 
 
 Relentless fate has burst those silken chains, 
 
 And scarce one lingering link of love remains ; 
 
 Yet Cora's virgins seek the joyous shore, 
 
 Though Zaira knows the enchanted strand no more, 
 
 Nor heeds the vintage murmur, nor shall hear 
 
 The evening's sacred call come calm and clear. 
 
 There, richly curtain'd by the twilight hour, 
 Rose the proud bulwarks of his country's power ; 
 Those towers his happiest home in youthful day, 
 When arms and beauty lent their mingling ray : 
 Boast of his youth, they never shall impart 
 Glory or gladness to his alter'd heart —
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE, 253 
 
 Never again renew the rapturous dream 
 
 Of love's young joy or conquest's manlier theme ; 
 
 Fix'd as their own Nevada's boundless range, 
 
 And changeless still while human passions change, 
 
 How calm through Heaven's unclouded vault they rose, 
 
 Drank the last light and tower'd in proud repose ! 
 
 While like the mirror of a spotless mind 
 
 Stood the pale, pure, and peaceful sky behind. 
 
 As many a vanish'd scene and buried year 
 
 To memory's eye with softening tints appear ; 
 
 The fairy lights still gild the enchanted shore, 
 
 The shade that dimm'd their lustre glooms no more. 
 
 So Hassan mark'd the imaged landscape rest 
 
 With mellow'd beauty in the lake's clear breast ; 
 
 Each harsher line in softness melt away, 
 
 Light o'er each form the beams of beauty play, 
 
 And every tint that eve alone can give 
 
 Live in the wave and bid the waters live. 
 
 And now the Arab's sable tents he knew, 
 The minaret rose that bless'd his bovish view;
 
 254 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 The vintage gatherer in his caftan gay, 
 
 The long-known strain that seem'd of yesterday ; 
 
 The Muessin's call, the camel's tinkling bell, 
 
 The maiden bending to the antient well ; 
 
 And the light-bounding train that oft of yore 
 
 Their noiseless step, with heart delighted, bore 
 
 Along the margin of that happy shore, 
 
 Again disported by the lovely light, 
 
 When day's last glories mingle with the night. 
 
 And Hassan paused those welcome sounds to hear; 
 
 The strain of fleeted joy was on his ear, 
 
 The scenes of other days were in his eye, 
 
 And o'er his heart the aching memory 
 
 Of hours for ever vanish'd, hopes long o'er, 
 
 Of themes long silent, pleasures now no more ! 
 
 Oh ! say, who teach with cold unchanging eye 
 
 The haughty maxims of philosophy — 
 
 Who boast you by one fix'd unvarying plan 
 
 To read that wondrous maze, the heart of man — 
 
 Why, when the exhausted mind some balm has found, 
 
 Or slumbers time-worn o'er its deadly wound,
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 255 
 
 Nor shrinks in keen but calm review to trace 
 
 Each step that led to ruin and disgrace, 
 
 Will some remember'd speech, in happier day, 
 
 That pass'd 'mid laughing scene unreck'd away, 
 
 Swell o'er the wakening heart, and bid it flow 
 
 With all the early energy of woe ? 
 
 And say, oh ! say, whose tear-dimm'd eyes have seen 
 
 Advancing shadows cloud the morning scene, 
 
 Where not a speck dimm , d your resplendent sun, 
 
 And love and glory seem'd already won; 
 
 When, with your changing fortunes, had declined 
 
 Those bold illusions of the master mind ; 
 
 When time had taught you hope's gay tints decay, 
 
 The fair can flatter, and the friend betray ; 
 
 When youth remain'd — but pleasure shed no ray ; 
 
 If on some unforgotten shore ye stood, 
 
 Where glow'd your early heart with promised good, 
 
 While still unchanged the landscape smiled around, 
 
 And all that once ye deem'd Elysian ground, — 
 
 How swell'd your spirit, when they rose again, 
 
 Those scenes unvisited through years of pain,
 
 256 THE MOOR. CANTO VL 
 
 And thoughts that once could light the enthusiast's eye, 
 
 How long represt; whose thrilling memory 
 
 Comes like the upbraiding ghost of joy gone by, 
 
 And seems in stern but mournful tone to say 
 
 How have ye flung my Heaven-sent gifts away ! 
 
 When changed alone ye viewed the unchanging scene, 
 
 And felt how brilliant and how brief had been 
 
 The irrevocable past ; then turnM aside 
 
 The anguish of a breaking heart to hide, — 
 
 Oh ! feebly then, even in that hour of woe, 
 
 Ye feel what Hassan's breast was doom'd to know ! 
 
 His was not grief's reviving pang alone, 
 
 But wild remorse had lent a fiercer tone. 
 
 And now, where lone Sultana never more 
 Shall rest his wearied step, on Daro's shore 
 The native warrior stood ; before him bright 
 With spangled domes and lattices of light, 
 Exulting in her beautiful repose, 
 That Empress of the western world arose. 
 The citron's fading bloom was round him spread, 
 Heaven's kindling canopy was o'er his head,
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 257 
 
 Granada group'd in many a joyous band, 
 
 The fair, the brave, were mingled on the strand ; 
 
 And the loved mountains of his native land 
 
 Were resting in the purple light : that hour 
 
 Alike o'er youth and age had magic power. 
 
 " How fair thy scenes, my country ! blithe to-day 
 
 " Your sports, my countrymen ! yet on his way 
 " The muffled herald comes, whose speech of fear 
 " Shall pale each brow and startle every ear V 
 He gazed : — " It never shall be mine V he cried, 
 " To damp with terror's tale their hour of pride : 
 " How to their throbbing hearts could Hassan tell 
 " That sire and son in one wide ruin fell ? 
 " Of all that follow'd, all he led to fame, 
 " Of Almoradi scarce survives the name ?" 
 
 With sunken brow and spirit desolate, 
 He turn'd him to Sultana's lonely gate ; 
 Where never more shall ready handmaid wait 
 To greet his coining ; never — never more 
 Joy's gladsome beacon live along the shore,
 
 258 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 Or hope sit watchful in her lonely tower, 
 And weary wait the love-appointed hour : 
 The tower where once her signal-beacon shone 
 Was still; the bower she loved to gaze upon 
 Was desolate : where on that fatal night 
 Yon ivied arch beheld his desperate flight, 
 Faltring he stands, that oft he bounded through, 
 Nor paused to hear, nor lover's sign to view. 
 
 Can Fancy 's vision wake illusive strain, 
 Chase from our brow the weary pulse of pain, 
 Summon the careless days of youth again ; 
 And in our ear, and o'er our tear-dimnTd eyes, 
 Bid long-lost sounds and happier scenes arise ? 
 If such can be, seenVd now to Hassan's ear 
 The unforgotten voice of love to hear : 
 It rose a faint uncertain wandering moan, 
 And sank as suffering spirit's parting tone ; 
 'Twas not the unhallowM melody of earth — 
 So sad and soft, it seenfd of heavenly birth, 
 As kindred spirits at celestial call 
 Were low-lamenting o'er an Angel's fall.
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 259 
 
 As, fix'd at bay, the jungle's mighty King 
 Casts eager glance around ere yet he spring, 
 The Moslem stood : borne on the breeze again, 
 Till the long-lost but unforgotten strain 
 Of dying Lara rose ; and Hassan heard, 
 And his wild spirit thrill'd at every word : 
 The strain it was, through life's eventful day, 
 Fated companion of his feverish way — 
 The same with Zaira learnt and loved of yore — 
 The same it was, on Ruti's stranger shore 
 By stranger beauty sung ; and now it rose 
 To set for ever o'er his joys and woes. 
 Each sickening doubt of hope deferred was o'er ; 
 But one strong impulse to the portal bore, 
 Where faint, as pencilFd form of early day, 
 Who once was loveliest of the Zambra lay ; 
 Whose glance like Heaven-fire on his spirit fell ; 
 Whose lightest word had been a magic spell 
 To rule his passion ; she, the hope and pride 
 Of all his dawning prospects — she, the guide 
 To all his better actions, and allied 
 
 s 2
 
 200 THE MOOE. CANTO VI. 
 
 With powerful link to all his soul might know, 
 Of human honour or of earthly woe. 
 
 To me not Heaven assign'd the master-power 
 
 To trace the conflict of that blending hour : 
 
 It was not fear — it was not fierce despair — 
 
 Nor feverish hope nor frantic bliss were there — 
 
 Nor shame, nor pride ; but o^r the vanquished brain 
 
 One o'erwhelming flood and years of pain 
 
 Were lost in that wild thought — we meet again ! 
 
 There shot a troubled lightness from her eye, 
 
 And in her voice there lived an energy — 
 
 And energy was in her faded frame, 
 
 And o'er her brow the brilliant hectic came 
 
 Of long-departed pleasure : quick she sprung 
 
 From her low canopy, and madly clung 
 
 To that dark form that still and silently 
 
 Bent o'er her ! bright'mng hope was in his eye — 
 
 But lo ! her frame has glided from his grasp, 
 
 Her hand is loosen'd in his burning clasp ; 
 
 Again — again before his straining eyes, 
 
 Exhausted on her lonely couch she lies.
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE. X6 L 
 
 But when at length her quivering accents rung, 
 
 Strange was the speech that falter'd on her tongue ; 
 
 From later griefs she wander 1 d wild away, 
 
 And mingled with the hopes of other day : 
 
 " Haste, Kora ! bid the beacon-blaze be bright, 
 
 " My Lord, my love, my Hassan comes to-night ; — 
 
 " Away ! his heart is faithless, and his hand 
 
 " Is lightly given to fair of foreign land.' 11 
 
 Oh God ! it is a fearful sight to see, 
 
 In the last hour of parting agony, 
 
 The disuniting dust of this worn frame 
 
 Such high dominion o'er the undying claim ; 
 
 To see each power and pulse of life declined 
 
 With mortal weakness taint the immortal mind, 
 
 And to this perishing clay that spirit chain, 
 
 A few brief hours no limits shall contain. 
 
 Yet, past that trance, a moment to her frame 
 
 Life's rallying energies collected came ; 
 
 But in that still fix'd eye and deepening tone 
 
 Reason had yet but half resumed her throne : 
 
 On Hassan long a wild and wistful gaze 
 
 She bent, as though that form of happier days
 
 262 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 She knew, but knew not to her couch of pain 
 How he had come, and when restored again. 
 At length it broke upon her with full sway — 
 The joys, the fears, the hopes of love's first day ; 
 Their earlier meetings, all their partings past, 
 And this to be the keenest and the last ! 
 
 " Oh, God ! I now remember, many a year 
 
 " Since last we met has roll'd its dull career : 
 
 " Hence, wild illusions ! cease your torturing strife ; 
 
 " He stands ! he lives ! the Lord of love and life ! 
 
 " Mine is no phantom of delirious woe : 
 
 " I feel his heart's quick throbbing, and I know 
 
 " His dusky aspect ; life's expiring light 
 
 " Is shrouded by the shadows of the night 
 
 " That knows no morning ; and the boundless sea 
 
 " Before me heaves of dread eternity. 
 
 " Speak ! is thy course of faithless wandering o'er ? 
 
 " Comest thou, that Man nor Fate should part us more ? 
 
 " Years of contemned affection — years of pain — 
 
 " Long years of absence— thou hast burst the chain 
 
 " That bound me to thee : still it forms again ; —
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 263 
 
 " Pride vow'd no prayers should slighted faith renew, 
 
 " But tears of passion proved that vow untrue ; 
 
 " And now, to gaze upon thy form, thy face, 
 
 " Each well-remember'd feature to retrace, 
 
 " To listen to thy long-lost tones, and say 
 
 " These are the same that thrilTd my earliest day, 
 
 " Is pang too strong for this poor frame to bear. 
 
 " This was griefs silent wish, life's closing prayer ; 
 
 " This, Heaven conceding, soothes the deep despair 
 
 " Of our eternal parting : by my bier, 
 
 " Let friends — let Hamet shed the short-lived tear 
 
 " Cer fallen Zaira ; but, dear Hassan ! thou 
 
 " Gaze on this wasted form — this death-dew'd brow — 
 
 " And long remember me ! — remember me, 
 
 " Who found mine all of joy and grief in thee ; 
 
 " That grief has worn this frame, has dimni'd this brow, 
 
 " And left me blighted as you see me now : 
 
 " How I have fallen, a scornful world shall own — 
 
 " How I have loved, Great Allah knows alone ! 
 
 " If coldly left at stern ambition's call, 
 " All I forgive, so may that Judge of all
 
 264 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 u 
 
 Our wanderings pardon me ! Great Prophet ! say, 
 " While yet he roams earth's pilgrim, shall I stray 
 " From the far realm of shadows, guard his way, 
 " Immortal round his mortal course, unseen, 
 " Where'er he is, still haunt that best-loved scene ? 
 " Vain hope ! — and now it comes — that dreadful strife, 
 " To quit not life, but one most prized in life. 
 " The chill of death sinks heavy on my breast : 
 " Let me one moment on this cold earth rest, 
 " And cling; to him I ever loved the best. 
 " Bend o'er me, clasp my dying hand again, 
 " And let me hear thy soothing voice : 'tis vain ; 
 " Thou first — last-loved — art sunken from my sight, 
 
 And now the stars are setting — all is night ; 
 
 a 
 
 " The winds are raging, and the wild waves roar 
 " I strain to see, but catch thy form no more. 
 " Hark ! in the blast, unearthly voices say — 
 " Come, Zaira ! destined Zaira ! come away !" 
 
 The scene is soft and still, the stars are bright ; 
 But where the spark of that eternal light,
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 265 
 
 Whose beams were yet an instant in my sight — 
 Whose fire, unquench'd by the fast-closing night, 
 Gazed on the glorious scene above, below, 
 With such intensity of thought, as though 
 She drank its beauties ? yon still changeless brow 
 Shall never more such lofty themes avow ; 
 Those wild dark locks her forehead floating o'er, 
 By love's light hand ne'er shall' be gather'd more : 
 The long fair figure in its shroud reclined ; 
 The glance where shone enthroned the immortal mind 
 Was quelPd ; and quell'd her feelings' anxious strife ; 
 • The long, long fever of eventful life 
 For ever ceased ! Where falls that silver light 
 O'er her cold brow so deadly calm and bright, 
 Low on her bier, with but one eye to weep, 
 One heart to break — she sleeps her last long sleep. 
 
 Fair dames ! if such have listed to my tale, 
 Remember love is strong and beauty frail ; 
 For lighter souls reserve your scornful blame, 
 And let her early doom your sorrows claim,
 
 266 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 Of him who won her youthful love, yet all 
 That love renounced at clan's and country's call ; 
 Of him, that sullen wanderer of my lay— 
 Heartless and cold I hear him deem'd — I say, 
 Not yours to judge his spirit stern, who find 
 Joy in the tranquil tenor of your mind ; 
 Who, shrinking from ambition's fiery strife, 
 Turn from the harsh realities of life, 
 Beneath your fancy's never-clouded ray 
 In raptures speed your listless hours away : 
 But speak, whose temper 'd fire has early known 
 How fleeting was that first romantic tone, 
 And later felt our passage to the tomb, 
 Is but a wayward, hard, and heavy doom 
 Of nobler aims by mastering passion crost — 
 Of happier hopes by pride's high spirit lost ; 
 Speak who, perchance in that conflicting strife, 
 Retrace with silent pain your earlier life ; 
 And own that reason's laws in youth defied, 
 Each sense exhausted, and each pleasure tried, 
 In manhood leaves us nothing but our pride.
 
 CANTO VI. THE BATTLE. 267 
 
 Still, 'mid this gloomy, drear, unmingled tale, 
 
 Where sorrow's tears or passion's pangs prevail ; 
 
 Through transient joy and deep o'er-shadowing woes, 
 
 Ye, who have track' d my wanderer to his close, 
 
 Glad shall ye learn her lot, whose kindlier ray 
 
 Sooth'd for one heavenly hour your warrior's way — 
 
 Whose softer spirit, whose retiring grace, 
 
 The heart may feel, the hand can feebly trace : 
 
 Legends have said on Ruti's foreign strand 
 
 She plighted troth to Lord of Leon's land ; 
 
 The aged wept for joy, and the young vied 
 
 In prayers and blessings on the blissful bride. 
 
 That night Lord Kedith's halls with wassail rang, 
 
 And bards the Beauty of Beleguer sang ; 
 
 And still, I've heard the wandering minstrel say, 
 
 Each circling year, on that revolving day, 
 
 The grateful serf will chaunt in plaintive air 
 
 The immortal praise of one so good and fair. 
 
 From hearts as fervent> differing far the strain 
 Lamenting rose, as the long funeral train,
 
 268 THE MOOlt. CANTO VI. 
 
 Shrouded and sad, along Sultana's shore 
 What once was Zaira to the cold earth bore. 
 Sullen and slow it came — that joyless tread : 
 They bore the pale ash on each turban'd head, 
 The sign of death on every rended vest, 
 Folded their arms, and wildly beat their breast ; 
 They lowly laid her in her shroud reclined, 
 'Mid her high lineage dust to dust consigned; 
 O'er her closed grave with hands united hung — 
 Alas ! for Zaira ! was the dirge they sung. 
 
 Day closed, and with it fell the deepest gloom 
 Of an autumnal night ; seem'd as the tomb 
 Shrouded the living world, so still was all, 
 Save the unvaried melancholy fall 
 Of the fast raindrop, Daro's heavy sound, 
 And the low funeral winds that moan'd around 
 That lonely tower, and the red shiver'd spray 
 That wildlv rustled o'er the desolate way. 
 That eve a stranger stretch'd him o'er her grave, 
 All life holds noblest, gladly given to save,
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 269 
 
 Hope here, hereafter, that the lifeless ear 
 Might one last word of late affection hear : 
 Impassion'd Moslem ! deem'st thou that the dead 
 Can burst for prayers. of thine their narrow bed ? 
 They fall around thee like the leaves unheard ; 
 She, who in life had sprung to one kind word, 
 Now hears thee — knows thee not ! Sobs from that 
 
 breast 
 Broke forth convulsively ; his cold lips prest 
 The sculptured stone that bore her cherish'd name ; 
 Then from the earth he rear'd his fever 1 d frame, 
 And o'er those buried hopes such glance he threw, 
 As few, I trust, who hear me, ever knew ; 
 So fraught with frenzied, fierce, rebellious woe: 
 Those who in youth have felt such passion, know 
 The time that softens sorrow slumbers there, 
 And age recalls such moment with despair : 
 Then fiercely turning, grasp 1 d his coursers mane, 
 High and unfaltYing shook his gather 1 d rein, 
 Broke forth a warrior in his arnVd array, 
 And pass'd like spectre from the scene away.
 
 270 THE MOOR. CANTO VI. 
 
 He pass'd : but when and where his closing doom, 
 A dark and distant age has wrapt in gloom — 
 Whether he sought his wanderer's life again, 
 Or lightly mingled in the mirth of men. 
 If such dread stranger was our hapless Chief, 
 'Tis written — his fall was desperate as his grief; 
 For sure no morrow cheer' d with brighter ray 
 The closing eve of such a stormy day. 
 His was no vulgar spirit ; harass" d long, 
 That heart of passions deep, resentments strong, 
 Forgot not kindness and forgave not wrong ; 
 If months of ceaseless anguish brooded o'er 
 Led him to curse the being that he bore ; 
 Remorse that goaded, Pride that would not bend, 
 And sympathy abhorr'd even in a friend, 
 His was a heavy doom. Ye critics cold ! 
 Tread not too light on one of loftier mould : 
 At times so gentle, the unthinking still 
 Believed him framed alike for good or ill, 
 Of doubtful energies and feeble will ;
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 THE BATTLE. 271 
 
 Nor knew that pride and passion's force represt 
 Will burst with vehemence within the breast, 
 And when they rage the smiling brow beneath, 
 Theirs is the fearful violence of death.
 
 NOTES.
 
 NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Roll, Bidassoa, roll your ceaseless tide, * 
 
 With peaceful wave two jarring realms divide. 
 
 My friend, and since my brother-in-law, Mr. Pusey, and my- 
 self, quitted Spain by the pass of Iran, in June 1822. The la- 
 zaret, in which we were compelled to perform quarantine, is si- 
 tuated in a pleasant village on the banks of the Bidassoa, which 
 forms the boundary of the two kingdoms. At this period the 
 French army was ranged along the shore ; amicable relations had 
 not yet been interrupted, but the course of events in Spain, the 
 increasing uneasiness of the French government, and the conti- 
 nual march of troops to the frontier, gave little hopes that they 
 would be permanently maintained. 
 
 Oh, in the fierce unpitying strife that vow 
 With civil carnage stains thy beauteous brow. 
 
 When we left Spain, the civil war was raging in her northern 
 provinces, and principally in Catalonia. I had now resided for 
 some time in the country, and had become accustomed to the 
 manners, and interested in the fate, of a people who possess every 
 great and generous quality ; as I left them at a moment when 
 they were threatened with invasion by a foreign force, and dis- 
 tracted by a desperate contest at home, neither possessing the pru- 
 dence to ward off the perils that were impending, nor the energy 
 to give effect to their remaining resources, I could not repress the 
 melancholy foreboding, that the day, in which the salvation of 
 Spain might have been worked out, was nearly spent, and that 
 the night was at hand, which would again extinguish the last ray 
 of freedom in the returning gloom of despotism. 
 
 r o
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Where Cadis, daughter of unclouded skies, 
 Bids sea-girt hall and snowy turret rise. 
 
 The houses at Cadiz are generally flat-roofed, and surmounted 
 with light towers of a dazzling whiteness, that, rising over the sea, 
 are seen at a considerable distance, and produce a singular and 
 beautiful effect ; nor does the interior of the city disappoint the 
 expectation of the traveller, as it is uniformly graceful, and, in 
 parts, richly adorned. Cadiz enjoys one of the finest climates in 
 Europe ; removed from the cold blasts of the mountains, it is open 
 to the healthful breeze of the Atlantic, while the air is so tem- 
 pered by the latitude, that during a residence of three winter 
 months, I scarcely remember an evening when I could not walk 
 with comfort on the Plaza San Antonio, the favourite resort of 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 Secure the spirits that around me stood, 
 
 Hud scorned to shed the trusting stranger's blood, 
 
 To win the brightest of that golden slave, 
 
 That prompts the base, and makes the coward brave. 
 
 There exists no race of men superior to the Spanish peasantry ; 
 their feelings are independent, their manners dignified, and in 
 person they are frequently models of manly beauty : they are 
 certainly proud, and their pride is so quickly roused, that until I 
 became well acquainted with their habits and opinions, I some- 
 times, from ignorance of Spanish custom, gave unintentional of- 
 fence ; but under this apparent haughtiness of spirit, they conceal 
 much real delicacy, and a rich mine of generosity. They con- 
 verse with their superiors in birth or station, in language free 
 from the slightest tinge of servility, and almost as equals ; but 
 although whilst travelling 1 have spent many days in their so- 
 ciety, I never remember an instance where they failed in manly 
 civility. In the south of Spain, the peasants, returning from their 
 labour, collect toward the close of day round the great fire that 
 is kindled in the Posada or inn of a Spanish village ; in the more 
 remote districts, where manners have undergone little change foi
 
 NOTES. 277 
 
 many years, their evening assemblages present wild and striking 
 groups, while the flashes of light playing on their dress, and illumi- 
 nating their expressive features, give a peculiar and picturesque 
 character to the scene. Every evening, after the day's journey was 
 finished, I sought the only fire-place to be found in the Posada ; 
 I was invariably welcomed with courtesy, and generally request- 
 ed to take the warmest and most sheltered spot. From a full 
 confidence in the native honour of the Spanish peasant, although 
 an entire stranger, travelling in a most unsettled time, I have 
 wrapt myself up in my plaid, and laid down to rest, among these 
 wild groups, with feelings of complete security ; nor do I believe, 
 that so trusted, the treasures of the East would have induced 
 them to violate the rights of hospitality. 
 
 And slow and thoughtful traced the silent scene, 
 Where recent murder's arm had ruthless been. 
 
 When we arrived at a Posada bordering upon Lorca in An- 
 dalusia, we heard that the town was in a state of high revolu- 
 tionary excitement ; a conflict of parties had taken place on the 
 preceding evening, which had terminated in the ascendancy of 
 the revolutionists ; the Governor had been driven from the town, 
 his house burnt, and himself with difficulty rescued from the fury 
 of the people. Four or five of the leading royalists had been 
 massacred in the public square, and several had been severely 
 injured. Feeling anxious to know the real nature of the events 
 that had occurred, I ventured into the town: in the whole 
 length of the principal street I only met two individuals ; 
 they appeared to shun observation, and were passing quietly but 
 rapidly to their destination. I delayed them, requesting to know 
 the nearest way to the Plaza ; and, under the pretext of enquir- 
 ing whether I could proceed further with safety, introduced the 
 subject upon which I was desirous to obtain information. The 
 first man to whom I addressed myself appeared much annoyed at 
 my questions, and replied in a tone of exultation, that I suspect, 
 from the extreme discrepancy of his manners, was by no means in 
 unison with his real feelings; however, he urged me to return to 
 the Posada, saying it was a very unfit time for a stranger to ven-
 
 NOTES. 
 
 tare in the town. The second only answered, " for God's sake ask 
 no questions, speak to no man, but return home without delay." 
 Both seemed alarmed at the interruption, looked auxiously round 
 to ascertain whether the few words that had passed between us 
 had been overheard, and then hurried on more rapidly than be- 
 fore. I perceived that the doors were closed and the windows 
 barred, as I advanced into the heart of the town ; and though I 
 saw every where traces of the industry of man, I heard not a 
 sound that recalled his existence to my mind. I confess, I felt 
 awed by the unnatural contrast that existed between the magni- 
 tude and nourishing appearance of the town, and the horrible 
 stillness and desolation that reigned around me, and was only 
 disturbed by the echo of my own footsteps. At length I heard a 
 heavier tread, and saw four or five men coming slowly and 
 steadily down the street ; they wore the black cap, and carried 
 muskets under the black mantle, which is the distinctive dress of 
 Lorca, but the points of their fire-arms projected beyond their 
 capotes, and were clearly shown. Perhaps this gloomy costume, 
 combined with the awful circumstances of the time, may have 
 produced an exaggerated impression on my mind, but 1 still think 
 that I have seldom seen an expression of villainy so sullen and 
 dispassionate as was stamped upon the features of these men. 
 They looked earnestly at me, but allowed me to pass without mo- 
 lestation. When I reached the Plaza, I saw some stalls shivered 
 and overthrown, others had fallen uninjured, but had not yet been 
 raised; some bars were lying on the ground, that appeared to have 
 been violently wrenched from the wall, and other symptoms, 
 equally unequivocal, of the recent outrage, presented themselves : 
 a lad who had shown me part of the way, but from whom I had 
 been unable to extract the slightest information, now became most 
 fearful lest further observation should excite jealousy in the ap- 
 prehensive state of the public mind, and urged me to lose no 
 time in returning. I was also myself convinced that further de- 
 lay would be useless and dangerous, and retraced my steps to the 
 Posada. On leaving the town I perceived a group collected 
 round a man who was haranguing them on the disturbance of the 
 preceding day. I mingled with his hearers, and perceiving that I 
 was a stranger and a gentleman, in spite of his republican anti-
 
 NOTES. 279 
 
 pathies to the last mentioned species of animal, he soon ad- 
 dressed his observations to me, and gave me a detailed statement 
 of the events which had occurred ; that, strange to say, I had 
 been unable to learn either at the Posada or in the town, although 
 I had been for some hours almost in the scenes where they had 
 taken place. I afterwards saw the same paralyzing effects pro- 
 duced by terror in Catalonia, where men would frequently with- 
 hold information necessary to the traveller, from the dread of 
 compromising themselves by any allusion to the most notorious 
 facts. As we left the Posada, the national guard were pouring 
 into Lorca ; they were dressed in the costume of the country, and 
 appeared wild, undisciplined, and more likely to create fresh dis- 
 turbances than to restore order. 
 
 And when I heard the cannon's crashing sound. 
 
 The events to which I allude in this passage are detailed in the 
 notes to the fourth Canto. 
 
 Thou too, my friend, v)hose calm and constant mind 
 In grief was patient, and in pain resign d. 
 
 These lines were written in the summer of 1823, soon after I 
 received intelligence of the death of my friend the Conte Andre- 
 ani. He was endowed with a vigorous understanding ; his acquire- 
 ments were extremely varied ; he had mingled intimately in the 
 circles of the French court before the revolution ; had subse- 
 quently become acquainted with all classes of society, and possessed 
 an extensive knowledge of mankind. There existed few indivi- 
 duals for whose opinions I entertained so much respect, whom I so 
 much esteemed, or whose esteem I so much valued. He died at 
 Nice in 1823, and I could not deny myself the melancholy satis- 
 faction of inserting these lines to his memory. 
 
 The moon is bright on Estrelle's hills afar, 
 She sleeps upon the olive banks ofVar, 
 And gilds my quiet home, Castelinar. 
 
 There are many scenes bolder, and possessing more romantic
 
 280 NOTES. 
 
 interest, but none surpass in tranquil beauty the environs of 
 Nice. Few who have enjoyed those scenes will forget the fra- 
 grance of her mountains, and the deep blue of her sea. I in- 
 habited, for some months, a little cottage on the shore called the 
 Pavilion Castelinar. 
 
 Then with your torrents rushing deep and clear, 
 Ye woods that love the hunter's horn to hear, 
 Ye heathery heights, the coverts of the deer, 
 My father's mountains welcome me ! 
 
 Some apology is necessary for this allusion to the land and 
 sports of my boyhood, particularly as I have again dwelt on the 
 same subject in the fourth Canto ; — the plain truth is, that both 
 these passages were written on the spur of the moment, and 
 have not been revised since the day they were composed.
 
 NOTES TO THE FIRST CANTO. 
 
 Where lone Alhambra rears her mountain brow 
 
 And Daro rolls his rushing flood below, 
 
 His long farewell the northern stranger pays, 
 
 Yet, loth to leave, with ling' ring step delays. Page 1 . 
 
 The evening before we left Granada, we ascended the height 
 upon which the Alhambra is situated, to take our last farewell of 
 that interesting relic of a departed people. This ancient palace of 
 the Moorish kings is still in high preservation, though for the 
 two years preceding our visit, it had suffered in some degree from 
 neglect, in consequence of the confiscation of the surrounding 
 crown lands, by which it had been supported. In the notes to 
 the fifth Canto, I have dwelt longer on the characteristic beauties 
 of an edifice, that recalls, in its detailed and delicate carving and 
 almost aerial grace, the fanciful creations of the fairy world, 
 rather than the permanent constructions of man. The path to 
 the Alhambra winds through a fine wood, principally composed 
 of elms ; as 1 observed to an old peasant the unusual size which 
 these trees had attained, "Ah, Senor," he answered, "you should 
 have seen this wood before the war of Independence, they were 
 trees at that time," he added, shaking his hand significantly, 
 " which we trembled to look upon, but they were destroyed by 
 the French troops when they encamped at Granada." The day 
 had been cloudy, but evening came on with all the beauty of a 
 southern climate : — when we had emerged from the wood and 
 reached the summit of the hill, the sun was setting in a bed of 
 crimson clouds ; Elvira, a bold and insulated mountain, was robed 
 in purple, and a fine tint was thrown on the snows of the Nevada 
 range, that rises immediately behind the Alhambra. From this
 
 NOTES. 
 
 point we enjoyed an admirable view 1 of the city ; it lay in the val- 
 ley and skirted the shores of the Daro, that, lined with poplars, 
 rolled at a considerable distance below our feet ; the bank, upon 
 which the palace is situated, sloped to the water, covered with 
 roses and wild flowers, and all the first bloom of spring. The Vega 
 of Granada is still, perhaps, the most verdant in Spain, but the 
 neighbouring hills are now almost uncultivated, that were form- 
 erly covered with groves of citron, orange and cedar, intermixed 
 with gardens of rich exotics. Upon these plains, the most gal- 
 lant exploits of arms, and the most generous contests of honour, 
 took place ; these halls, now desolate, had collected the beauty 
 and the chivalry of a nation that had not its parallel, and had 
 witnessed the luxury and refinement, the crimes and glories of a 
 dynasty, whose names are scarcely remembered. As twilight 
 deepened, the banks of the Daro, and the whole city, became 
 spangled with lights, and presented a brilliant appearance. We 
 lingered on this favoured spot till night had set in, and left with 
 real regret a scene of great natural beauty, and almost unrivalled 
 in historical interest ; a scene that we felt in the probable calcula- 
 tion of human chances we should never revisit again. 
 
 And now and ever from that lonely .shore 
 
 Comes Xenil's voice, and Daro's mingling roar. Page 5. 
 
 These two rivers unite immediately below the city. 
 
 His high-soul'd mother sternly bade him know, 
 It ill became Mm, with a woman's woe 
 , To mourn o'er lost Granada's living grave — 
 
 The throne he knew not like a king to save. Page 6. 
 
 After the conquest of Granada, Abdallah, king of the Moors, 
 in his retreat to Africa, paused for a moment upon Mount Palud, 
 and shed tears of bitterness, as he looked for the last time on a 
 capital the most splendid in Europe, an inheritance that his an- 
 cestors had preserved for eight hundred years, but which had 
 fallen into the hands of his hereditary enemies under his reign, 
 and in a great measure owing to his mismanagement. At this
 
 NOTES. 283 
 
 burst of unavailing passion, his mother, the companion of his 
 flight and sharer of his fortunes, indignantly said to him, " My 
 Son, it ill becomes you to lament an empire that you had not the 
 manhood to defend." 
 
 Yet o'er those fields in hard-debated strife, 
 
 Nor Moor nor Spaniard gave or heeded life. 
 
 There step by step on all that ravaged plain, 
 
 Thy sons, devoted Ismael, strove in vain. Page 6. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no portion of land in the world where the 
 waste of human life lias been so great, in proportion to its extent, 
 as upon the plains of Granada. For some years before the cap- 
 ture of the city, the perpetual ravages of the enemy had rendered 
 the cultivation of the soil almost impracticable. 
 
 Yet still the Moor on Afric's burning sand 
 
 With fiery glance surveys his father's land ; 
 
 In each low murmur hears the call divine, 
 
 In every cloud beholds the appointed sign. Page 7. 
 
 The African Moors have not forgotten that brilliant sera of 
 their history when they were masters of the fairest province of 
 Spain. Their traditions are connected with Granada ; and 
 they still believe, on the faith of an ancient prophecy, that the 
 day is at hand which will restore them to that land of their 
 fathers. 
 
 Gay minarets rose her tinted domes among ; 
 
 Her thousand palaces like gems were strung. Page 7. 
 
 A large range of palaces decorated with an endless variety of 
 tints, intermingled with domes and minarets, crowded the city in 
 the days of the Moors. 
 
 Why shines the leader's badge on brow so young ? Page 8. 
 
 The badge of command seems to have varied at different times : 
 the white feather, at one period, denoted authority.
 
 28 1 N () T E S. 
 
 Oh, by yon emblem graven on his breast, 
 
 And Sleeping Lion sparkling on his crest, 
 
 By Afrio's sable mantle o'er him thrown, 
 
 Is Hassan, Lord of Almoradi, known. Page 8. 
 
 The leading families of Granada generally appropriated to 
 themselves some particular motto or device that became a rallying 
 word in the tourney and the field. The African mantle is of a 
 dark colour, and was principally worn by men who claimed alli- 
 ance with the royal blood of that country. The Almoradi formed 
 one of the most influential tribes of Granada; they were descended 
 from the kings of Morocco, and were kinsmen of Alfaima or Zo- 
 raide, the last unfortunate queen of Granada. They took an 
 active part in the civil dissensions of that period; and, after the 
 slaughter of the Abencerrages, became the most dangerous oppo- 
 nents of the Zegri. When the increasing power of the Spaniards, 
 and the vices of the Moorish king, Abdallah, had completed the 
 ruin of their country, they still refused to enter into any com- 
 promise with the Christians, and defended the honour of the 
 Musulman empire to the last moment of its existence. 
 
 That scarf so fairly framed and richly wove, 
 
 Show'd it was fashion d by the hand of tore. Page 8. 
 
 The scarf worn by the warriors of that chivalrous age was 
 generally wove by the hand, and frequently bore the initials of 
 the favoured fair one. The dagger was carried in the scarf. 
 
 While in gay courtesy his turban knew 
 
 That pledge of constant faith the violet blue. Page 8. 
 
 The introduction of the violet colour, worn as a badge of at- 
 tachment, might, at first sight, appear trifling and improbable ; 
 but the adoption and public display of particular colours, as sym- 
 bols of the different passions of the mind, had become so preva- 
 lent among the Moors of Granada, that had the author forborne 
 any allusion to a custom so universal, he would have deviated 
 from a correct representation of the manners of that period. It is 
 also worthy of observation, as illustrating the genius of a people, 
 who retained, amid the refinement of an advanced stage of civili-
 
 NOTES. 
 
 zatioa, much of the simplicity and romantic feeling of an early 
 state of society. 
 
 Gleamed all the dome with gold and azure bright. Page 9. 
 
 The Moors possessed a peculiar art of incrusting gold on an 
 azure ground, so as to create the most glittering effect. This 
 mode of decoration still exists in a retired part of the Mosque at 
 Cordova, and retains much of its original lustre. 
 
 Though sapphire's beams with emerald's blaze combin'd. 
 
 Page 9. 
 
 Their canopies were lined with sapphires, emeralds, and other 
 precious stones. 
 
 So the light veil descending to the knee. Page 10. 
 
 The veil worn by the ladies of Granada was extremely grace- 
 ful, and descended as low as the knee. 
 
 in sport unbound 
 In reckless tides her ringlets streamed around. Page 10. 
 
 Their hair was unconfmed, and fell over their shoulders in 
 freedom. 
 
 Say, does that strain, yon fountain's ceaseless song, 
 
 Or Ind's perfumes, the pj/easing trance prolong ? Page 11. 
 
 In the apartments of their women, the Moors united all that 
 could charm the eye or delight the sense. Their lattices, from 
 which they looked upon some of the most adorned scenery in the 
 world, were filled with fragrant plants: exotics were brought 
 from the Levant, and perfumes from Asia, to contribute to their 
 luxury; while a fountain, playing in the centre of the apartment, 
 shed a delightful coolness in the burning days of summer. 
 
 For thee I gave — nor grieve me to have given — 
 
 Man's fair opinion and my hopes of heaven. Page 18. 
 
 The admission of the fair sex into Paradise may seem to mili-
 
 286 NOTE S. 
 
 tate against the opinions generally received among Mahometans; 
 but at Granada, where the high spirit of chivalry never per- 
 mitted that system of female seclusion which prevailed over other 
 parts of the Mahometan world, the ladies who had established 
 their authority in this world, were by no means satisfied with the 
 gloomy creed by which they were excluded from the next, and 
 founded their expectations of an equal participation of heavenly 
 pleasures on passages in the Koran. These claims were provi- 
 sionally admitted by the gallantry of the Moorish divines; and 
 the gates of Paradise were opened to the fair intruders, if they 
 could produce a certificate of good morals. 
 
 No god but God, the faithful hands reply. Page 18. 
 
 No god but God, in contradistinction to the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, is the daily exclamation of the Muessin, when he as- 
 sembles the people to prayer ; and such was the habitual war-cry 
 of the Moorish troops. 
 
 Pinar .shall hold thee safe from fierce alarms. Page 19. 
 Pinar is a small town a few leagues distant from Granada. 
 
 Here on the volume that with saving might 
 
 Came full ofglurg on that wondrous night. Page 21. 
 
 On the night of El Kadr, or the Night of Power, as it is called 
 by the Mahometans, the Koran was sent down from God's table, 
 entire and in one volume, to the lowest heaven, from whence 
 Gabriel revealed it to the Prophet. Upon the annual recurrence 
 of this night, the Faithful believe that the divine decrees for the 
 ensuing year are finally determined, and the angels entrusted 
 with their execution. I subjoin the 97th chapter of the Koran, 
 entitled at Kadr, from Sale's translation of that work. 
 
 " In the name of the most merciful God, verily we sent down 
 the Koran in the night of El Kadr. And what .shall make thee 
 understand how excellent the night of El Kadr is ? The nurht 
 of El Kadr is better than a thousand months; therein do the 
 angels descend, and the spirit Gabriel also, by the permission of
 
 NOTES. 287 
 
 their Lord, with his decrees concerning every matter. It is peace 
 until the rising of the morn." 
 
 The umelseen's complaining note is still. Page 22. 
 
 The nightingale is so called by the Moors. 
 
 kissed the wave 
 That loves Sultana's marble fount to lave. Page 22. 
 
 The fountain of Sultana still exists, though in a dilapidated 
 state, in the garden of the Generalif. 
 
 And paler tint the graceful citron knew; 
 
 Her fairy fruit like globes of crystal bright, 
 
 Half bath' d in darkness, half revealed in light. Page 22. 
 
 This description may appear exaggerated to persons who 
 have never observed the brilliant effect produced by vivid 
 moonlight on the fruit of the citron. When I arrived at Seville, 
 towards the close of 1821, the country was convulsed by the 
 struggles that had arisen between the constitutional government 
 and the party that was desirous of carrying still further the prin- 
 ciple of reform. Gallicia was in open revolt; Cordova and Seville 
 had followed its example, and refused to admit the governors 
 appointed by the ministry of that day. When we passed through 
 La Carolina, we saw some regiments preparing to march upon Se- 
 ville to enforce obedience; but their operations were slow, partly 
 because they were Spaniards ; and, in some degree, because their 
 officers were fearful of proceeding to extremities, in the insubor- 
 dinate state of the army. So threatened, the leading revolu- 
 tionists of Seville sent to their most influential partisans at 
 Cadiz, who had there adopted a similar policy, imploring them to 
 make common cause in the contest with which they were me- 
 naced. On the night to which I allude, an express had arrived 
 from Cadiz, announcing its full approbation of the measures 
 taken by the prevailing party at Seville, and expressing its deter- 
 mination to grant them the most effectual support. This intelli- 
 gence produced an effervescence of popular feeling, and the des-
 
 288 NOTES. 
 
 patch was read in the Plaza. When I heard of these events, I 
 hastened to the square; the news had heen proclaimed, and the 
 concourse of persons was in a great measure dispersed ; hut the 
 town was illuminated, and the feverish state of the public mind 
 betrayed itself in the numerous groups that were collected to- 
 gether and engaged in earnest discussion. As I left this scene 
 of political agitation, I was struck with the tranquil beauty of 
 the garden near the cloister of the cathedral, through which I 
 passed on my return to the Posada. The moon shone with a 
 splendour unknown in our northern latitudes; and its beams, fall- 
 ing on the fruit of the citron, gave them literally the appearance 
 of globes of transparent crystal. 1 have seldom beheld any opti- 
 cal illusion so beautiful, or so perfectly deceptive. 
 
 O'er trellis bower the red geranium creeps. Page 22. 
 
 The Moors were passionately fond of the trellis work, which 
 they introduced in all their gardens. This species of geranium 
 bears a flower of a rich crimson colour, and grows luxuriantly in 
 the southern provinces of Spain. I have seen it, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Cadiz, line the hedges and attain a considerable 
 height : the deep green of its leaf is there a sensible relief to the 
 eye, that becomes fatigued with the constant glare of the sun. 
 
 With silver locks the lone retama weeps. Page 22. 
 
 If my recollection is correct, the retama is a species of silver 
 broom; its blossom is of a snowy colour, and its branches bend 
 gracefully to the ground, like those of the weeping willow ; but 
 their texture is more delicate. 
 
 In rich festoons the gay dolico clings. Page 22. 
 
 The dolico, or dolico, will flourish in Spain; but in Barbary 
 I have seen it clustering over the trellis work, and hanging down 
 in the most luxuriant festoons. The mixture of colours gives it 
 a lively appearance. 
 
 From tree to tree the scented ivy springs. Page 22. 
 
 The plant to which I allude is delightfully fragrant, and I
 
 NOTE S. 289 
 
 believe is a species of geranium ; it resembles the ivy in the 
 configuration of its leaf, and in the manner of entwining itself 
 round the branches of trees. 
 
 Wrecked in our ruder climes by the bleak strife 
 
 Of jarring winds, to faint and stinted life 
 
 The myrtle wakes ; here with luxuriance rife 
 
 It flowers a wilderness of sparkling bloom, 
 
 And loads the summer gale with rich perfume. Page 23. 
 
 The myrtle hedges, in the south of Spain, present a lively ap- 
 pearance during the first glow of spring. I have walked in the 
 gardens of the Alcazar, or Moorish palace at Seville, when the 
 air was scented with their perfume, and the hedges literally 
 sparkling with white blossom. 
 
 My voice 'mid jarring clansmen scarcely known. Page 23. 
 
 The tribes of Granada resembled, in many respects, the Scottish 
 clans. The kinsmen, who formed each separate tribe, considered 
 themselves, in too many instances, independent of law, and al- 
 most equal in authority to the crown ; they were influenced by 
 the same jealous feeling for the honour of their clan, in which 
 every individual bore the same name, and was connected by blood ; 
 like the Highlanders, they were also distinguished by the same 
 long descended attachments and hereditary thirst of vengeance. 
 

 
 '290 
 
 NOTES TO THE SECOND CANTO. 
 
 O'er boundless Benamex and Cobras plain 
 
 Stem Desolation holds its iron reign. Page 31. 
 
 We left Malaga in April 1822, and in the evening of our first 
 day's journey reached Casabermeja, where we were destined to 
 enjoy the climax of bad inns. We had been on horseback during 
 a long day, and arrived fatigued and half famished. Rest we 
 might enjoy in abundance, as there seemed no lack of apartments, 
 but all hopes of quelling the importunate cravings of hunger were 
 infinitely diminished, when our landlord assured us, that he would 
 prepare for the table, without delay, such provisions as we had 
 brought with us ; but that his larder was happily free from any 
 commodities of that nature, good, bad, or indifferent. We then 
 retired to our room, that certainly spoke well for our landlord's 
 consistency of character, and manifested his glorious disdain for 
 luxury in every department of life; it consisted of four white 
 walls, without bed, table, or chair; a stone floor, window frames 
 without glass or shutters; a door that had never been intended 
 to close, in its most prosperous days; and that, now, from the 
 effects of some dire mishap, had lost one of its pannels. Through 
 door and window, if these apertures deserve such honourable ap- 
 pellation, a steady breeze was kept up which we could have dis- 
 pensed with, as the night was cold, and the situation of Casaber- 
 meja rather exposed. We mounted our mules and resumed our 
 road to Benamex or Benamegi, early on the following day. The 
 plains of Cabra lay on our right. For several miles the country 
 was extremely desolate ; we saw no vestiges of man, and frag- 
 ments of old Moorish towers alone indicated that this neglected 
 plain had been once inhabited. From one of these heights we
 
 NOTES. 291 
 
 enjoyed a glorious, though distant, view of Malaga and the Me- 
 diterranean, while the Ronda mountains formed a hold horizon 
 in the west. As we descended the heights, we met a muleteer, 
 who told us that a band of fifty robbers, mounted after the fashion 
 of the Andalusian highwaymen, had taken up their abode in a 
 venta, or solitary house, that bordered the road in a forest which 
 we expected to traverse that evening. Towards the middle of 
 the day we entered Antequera, a town of some beauty, and 
 famous in Moorish story. Beyond, the country assumed an ap- 
 pearance very unusual in Spain ; inclosures became frequent; the 
 hedges were lined with poplars, sometimes with elms, and groups 
 of trees met the eye in every direction : for an instant it recalled 
 to my recollection the smiling scenes of the west of England; but 
 the comparison, that was momentarily suggested by this im- 
 proved cultivation, was quickly dispelled by the unprotected state 
 of persons and property, and the lawless habits of the population ; 
 evils, that soon afterwards pressed themselves upon my observa- 
 tion, in signs too manifest to be doubted: nor did the anima- 
 tion of nature extend far beyond the environs of Antequera, af- 
 ter which we again relapsed into the same monotonous country. 
 Overtaken by a violent thunder-storm, we endeavoured to gain 
 admittance into a lonely house by the road side, but the door was 
 firmly secured, and its inmates were for a long time deaf to our 
 repeated vociferations. At length it was unbarred after many 
 questions, and with evident symptoms of uneasiness, which seemed 
 by no means diminished as we rode into the yard, and asked for 
 bread and wine ; nor did their alarm subside, till we had assured 
 them that we should punctually discharge any expenses that 
 we might incur. Unaccustomed to travellers, and sometimes 
 visited by the mounted highwaymen when foraging for pro- 
 visions, they were unable at first to determine the character 
 of their visitors, or the nature of our visit. The scene was curi- 
 ous, as it illustrated forcibly the unsettled state of these districts, 
 and reminded me of the old feudal times when every mansion 
 was secured against the assaults of an enemy. As we rode along 
 the path that led to the forest of Benamegi, we were joined by 
 some muleteers, who warned us of approaching danger in very 
 expressive language. One, as he left us, intimated a hope that 
 
 (I 2
 
 NOTES. 
 
 the hour in which we traversed the wood might be fortunate. 
 It was then customary for persons travelling through this part of 
 the country to unite in caravans sufficiently numerous and well 
 armed to resist any attacks; and as they were principally com- 
 posed of peasants carrying their goods to market, travellers were 
 enabled, in most days, to avail themselves of such efficient pro- 
 tection. Hearing that a caravan was but a mile in advance, we 
 galloped forward and joined it as it entered the forest. We soon 
 afterwards heard a cry of robbers, and were shown three men in 
 the wood, leaning on their guns, whom our companions recog- 
 nized as forming members of the great banditti, whose num- 
 bers, I suspect, had been much exaggerated. Protected by the 
 caravan, I felt some curiosity to see the highwayman of An- 
 dalusia; who, like the legitimate smuggler was distinguished 
 by a particular dress, was mounted on the high-necked horse 
 of the country, and had some redeeming points in his cha- 
 racter ; he was seldom known to commit murder, or inflict any 
 personal outrage, except in cases of continued resistance; and 
 affected, in the full exercise of his vocation, a lofty courtesy of 
 manner, and a contempt for sordid details : but these men were 
 not mounted, and were not remarkable for any peculiarity of 
 appearance. We crossed the Xenil, and arrived with the caravan, 
 as night set in, at the Posada of Benamegi, where we collected, 
 as usual, round the great fire. As we retired to our apartment, 
 we offered our companions some wine, which they received with 
 haughty reluctance, and were not satisfied till we had pledged 
 them in their cup, and broken their bread ; but they afterwards 
 came to our room, shook hands warmly with us, and entreated 
 us to join their party on the next morning. On the following day, 
 Pusey and myself left Benamegi at an early hour. The moun- 
 tains of Ruti and Priego rose magnificently before us, and rested 
 in the bright beams of the morning : we passed along some very 
 craggy paths, and arrived about the middle of the day at Lucena. 
 We found the inn crowded with smugglers, who conversed freely 
 with us, and sold their goods without any affectation of conceal- 
 ment : their dress was handsome, and their manner civil, which 
 was not invariably the case at that period. Before the revolu- 
 tion, the Spanish smugglers formed a distinct class, that retained,
 
 NOTES. 293 
 
 with much originality of character, certain defined principles, and 
 an established code of honour, upon which they professed to act. 
 By this code, - all robbery except the plunder of the revenue, was 
 highly censured, unless it took place under very peculiar circum- 
 stances. In traversing the country, they discharged their daily 
 -reckonings with exactness, and often with generosity; and, in 
 spite of their illicit occupations, showed the most incorruptible 
 fidelity towards persons who placed themselves under their pro- 
 tection or relied on their honour. Such principles were recog- 
 nized, if not acted upon, by every individual who became a mem- 
 ber of the fraternity; and continued, more or less, in force, while 
 the number remained limited ; but when the change that was ope- 
 rated in the commercial policy of Spain had given a violent sti- 
 mulus to the illicit trade, a new class of smugglers suddenly 
 arose, unformed by previous habits, and solely created by the 
 demand for foreign merchandise ; which, in consequence of the 
 new regulations, could no longer be supplied by the regular chan- 
 nels. This new class had no restraining points of pride, and 
 becoming alternately smuggler and robber, they plundered the 
 revenue, and oppressed the people ; but a marked distinction 
 existed in the public mind, and a bitter feud prevailed between 
 the old and the new race. 
 
 Lucena is prettily situated, in a country covered with olive 
 groves ; but the olive in this neighbourhood, and in many of the 
 southern provinces of Spain, is much less graceful than the olive 
 of Provence or Italy ; its branches are lopped, and it is pollarded, 
 from the belief, that under this mode of training, the fruit will 
 acquire a stronger flavour ; and effectively the oil produced in 
 Spain is stronger and more rancid than that which is exported 
 from France and Italy. There is little worthy of observation in 
 the town, except an old tower, and some walls apparently of great 
 antiquity. A few opulent individuals reside here, but all classes 
 are said to be barbarous and uninformed : the authorities were 
 supposed to connive at the outrages committed by the neighbour- 
 ing banditti, and even to share in their plunder ; indeed to such 
 an extent was this system of corruption said to be carried, that it 
 was a proverb in the country, that whoever drank from the clear
 
 29 1 NOTES. 
 
 spring of Lucena, became from that day endowed with all the 
 necessary qualifications for a good highwayman. 
 
 Taking a guide from Lucena, we rode to Ruti, through a coun- 
 try wild and beautiful, but according to the statement of our 
 guide, the most perilous that we had yet passed. When I 
 questioned him as to the number and character of the marau- 
 ders, he only pointed to some crosses, and answered in a voice 
 scarcely audible. As we proceeded, the country became undu- 
 lated ; the plains were covered with cistus, and the hills with 
 olive cork and old ilex. We reached Ruti in the evening, 
 which is boldly situated in the midst of romantic scenery ; having 
 traversed a district full of historical interest, where every tower 
 has its tale, where every pass has been the scene of some chival- 
 rous exploit, but which is now the least known, and perhaps, 
 the most neglected, in Spain. We here found our servants, 
 from whom we had been separated for two days, and proceeded 
 tbrough a much safer country to Granada. 
 
 Has dull Palmetto sedgy covering made. Page 31. 
 
 I have seen in Spain large tracts entirely covered with the 
 palmetto. 
 
 These are Spams borders dread and desolate. Page 32. 
 
 By the word Spain, the old Christians were frequently in the 
 habit of designating that part of the peninsula, which was under 
 the dominion of the Spaniards, to the exclusion of the Moorish 
 provinces. 
 
 Delightful scenes ! and 1 have ranged those woods. 
 
 Page 33. 
 
 There are few trees so picturesque as the cork, when it is per- 
 mitted to attain an advanced age, in a climate favourable to its 
 growth ; no language can do justice to the beauty of the cork 
 forests near Ruti, or to those between Cadiz and Gibraltar. 
 Between Vejer de la Frontera and Algeziras, they grow so dense
 
 NOTES. 29.5 
 
 on particular spots, that we were not able to ride abreast. The 
 coronella grows luxuriantly, fills every vacant space, and covers 
 the ground with a golden bloom. 
 
 I've seen like diadem of crowned king, 
 
 Light from the earth the gay sentitta spring. Page 33. 
 
 This flower is of a bright yellow colour. I was told by a pea- 
 sant, that it bore the name of sentilla, but I do not feel certain 
 that the orthography is correct, as his pronunciation was not 
 distinct, and the notes, in which I marked down the information 
 he gave me, were afterwards destroyed. 
 
 The woodland's sorrow, saddest flower of Spain. Page 34. 
 This flower is called the " Sosph - o del Campo." 
 
 And the tall milta purple all the plain. Page 34. 
 
 The milta is a tall flower ; it covers the plains between Cadiz 
 and Gibraltar, and gives a fine purple tinge to the landscape. I 
 believe it is a species of squill. 
 
 With Gothic turrets, massive, round, and tall. Page 43. 
 
 The Moorish tower is of a square shape ; the Gothic turret is 
 circular. 
 
 Gay through the tents the lamps of evening beam. Page 43. 
 
 The softened effect produced by light breaking through the 
 white canvas at night is extremely beautiful. One evening, dur- 
 ing our excursion into Barbary, after we had pitched our tents 
 and retired to rest, I heard a chant sung in a low but audible 
 tone, resembling, in some degree, the dirge pronounced in Italy 
 over the bier of the departed, as it is borne to the church. Wish- 
 ing to know from what quarter it proceeded, I stept out to as- 
 certain the cause. We had three tents besides our own : one 
 was occupied by our servants, the second by our Moorish mule-
 
 296 NOTES. 
 
 teers, and the third was devoted to our Moorish guard, which 
 consisted of four armed horsemen. From this tent the sound 
 evidently proceeded; and from that part which commands an 
 eastern aspect, a strong gleam of light broke through the canvas. 
 As I passed before the opening of the tent, I perceived the 
 leader of our guard chanting some religious canticle, or more 
 probably some passage from the Koran, and repeatedly pros- 
 trating himself to the East. His oriental dress, the waving of 
 his scarlet turban, his prostrations towards the shrine of the 
 Prophet, and the light breaking through the canvas, vividly 
 recalled to my recollection the scenes described in the Arabian 
 Nights' Entertainments. 
 
 And boasted high, that throbb'd in every vein 
 
 The blue unsullied blood of ancient Spam. Page 44. 
 
 I believe there exist three distinctions of blood among the 
 nobles of Spain ; the red, the yellow, and the blue or purple 
 blood. The claim to the sangre azul, by far the most generous 
 and highly esteemed, is only admitted when persons can prove 
 their descent from the early Spaniards, uncontaminated by any 
 intermixture of Jewish or Moorish blood. 
 
 From Calpe's heights to Biscay's storm-swept shore. 
 
 Page 44. 
 Gibraltar is certainly very inferior in beauty to the Spanish 
 towns, still the surrounding scenery is fine, and it is interest- 
 ing to an Englishman, leaving a country where some of the 
 most fertile districts are left uncultivated, to see a rock possessing 
 few natural capabilities, converted into a garden by the good 
 taste and industry of its possessors, and to exchange the insub- 
 ordination of the Spanish army for the discipline and respectful, 
 yet manly manners of the British soldiers. To many gentlemen 
 I feel much indebted for the hospitality they showed me. Sir 
 George Don, Major Campbell, Col. Chapman, and Mr. Sweetland 
 I must particularly name. Lord Chatham, Governor of Gibral- 
 tar, was universally respected and beloved by the garrison. I
 
 NOTES. 297 
 
 shall ever retain a grateful sense of his Lordship's kindness to 
 me during the time that I remained at Gibraltar, which has 
 rendered the recollection of this part of my Spanish tour par- 
 ticularly pleasing. 
 
 They read his father's powers and titles high. Page 44. 
 
 The pompous enumeration of titles formed one of the high 
 points of ceremonial, rigidly observed by the Spanish nobles of 
 that day. 
 
 Shields proudly ranged in lieu of battlement. Page 46. 
 
 On some of the old Spanish castles, shields that had been cap- 
 tured in war were substituted for battlements. 
 
 High o'er his head the arms of Aragon 
 
 And old Castille in blended grandeur shone. Page 47. 
 
 The arms of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 Below, Spain's grateful Sovereign parting gave 
 
 The imperial chain, in gloomy grace to wave, 
 
 That sternly told by factious force opprest 
 
 These towers had held a Monarch for their guest. Page 47. 
 
 In Spain a chain was hung over the door of every subject, in 
 whose house the King had been entertained, or had taken refuge 
 in times of peril. 
 
 And, dear to Spain, Pelayo's armour hung. Page 47. 
 
 Pelayo's armour was a relic claimed by half the illustrious 
 families of Spain, at a period when it was probably in no man's 
 possession. 
 
 With patriot fire reviving Bernard glows. Page 49. 
 
 When Charlemagne undertook his expedition against Spain, 
 Bernardo del Caspio, so celebrated in the romantic history of
 
 298 NOTES. 
 
 those times, raised the standard of resistance, and excited the 
 greatest enthusiasm among the people of Leon ; he is said to 
 hare slain Orlando, nephew of Charlemagne, in the famous battle 
 of Roncesvalles, and the defeat of the French forces in that en- 
 gagement is chiefly attributed to his courage and indefatigable 
 exertions. 
 
 Manriquez, maddening 'mid the routed press, 
 
 Kneels on his foe, and, stem and merciless, 
 
 Stains with life's oozing tide his better brand, 
 
 And tears the prize from Lorna's dying hand. Page +9. 
 
 Manriquez is said to have slain a chief of the family of Lorna, 
 who had been successfully opposed to him both in love and war. 
 
 Then turn'd his flashing eye to yonder shrine, 
 
 And felt that fever of his heart decline. Page 49. 
 
 I have seen in the private apartments of Spaniards, the picture 
 of the Virgin lighted by waxen tapers, that were never suffered 
 to expire. The introduction of these objects in a Gothic hall 
 may seem anomalous, but such was the custom of those times, 
 when religion was inseparably blended with the daily habits of 
 the people. 
 
 Array d in garb might suit the softer hour 
 
 Of banquet-scene, or lady's peaceful bower. Page 51. 
 
 In this passage I have intended to convey some idea of the 
 dress worn by the Spanish nobles of that day. 
 
 The grave Castillian saw his temper free 
 
 Oft pass the bounds of formal courtesy; 
 
 Vet sure was Cobra never to offend, 
 
 Ne'er made a foe, and never lost a friend. Page 53. 
 
 The Aragonese of those times were distinguished by a dis- 
 regard of form and a fearlessness of manner, that probably re- 
 sulted, in a great degree, from the liberal character of their 
 institutions.
 
 NOTES. 299 
 
 And strove in good King Hossein's tourney bold. Page 54. 
 
 King Hossein was father to Boabdil, or Abdallah, last King of 
 Granada. 
 
 And rode the ring, and sued in Moorish bower. Page 54. 
 The riding of the ring was a favourite diversion of the Moors. 
 
 In sable robe she stood, as best became 
 
 Her country's fashion and her lofty name. Page 57. 
 
 The ladies of Castille are attired in deep black when they ap- 
 pear in society ; I believe this custom was formerly restricted 
 to women of high rank. 
 
 Pure as the star that rose o'er Judah's night. Page 57. 
 
 The star that was seen in the East by the wise men, and guided 
 them to our Saviour. 
 
 Who hold Heavens royal delegates in awe, 
 
 And preach to Kings of liberty and law. Page 59 . 
 
 The oath of allegiance taken by the Aragonese nobles to their 
 King, is strongly characteristic of that rude but determined spirit 
 of independence that rendered the barren soil of Aragon prefer- 
 able to the favoured districts of the South. We, said the Jus- 
 tira to the King, in the name of his high-spirited Barons, who 
 are each of us as good, and altogether more powerful than you, 
 choose you for our King, if you maintain our rights ; if not, no. 
 " Hosque valencos tanto como vos, y que podemos mas que vos, 
 os hazemos nuestro rei, con tal que guardeis nuestros fueros ; 
 sino, no." 
 
 The dungeon was deep in Navarre's distant land. Page 60. 
 
 Mr. Lockhart in his ancient Spanish ballads, a work in which 
 he has happily preserved the simplicity and spirit of the original, 
 has translated one of the Cancioneros, detailing the romantic
 
 300 NOTES. 
 
 escape of Fernan Gonsalez, the " Great Count of Castille," with 
 the Infanta of Navarre. The circumstances of their flight are 
 certainly founded in truth, and I have followed with little 
 variation the course of events as they are there related. 
 
 Count Lara has clad him in battle array. Page 64. 
 
 The " Fall of Lara" was suggested by the words of a French 
 song, once extremely popular in - England : they are simple and 
 touching. 
 
 His steed, he is shrouded — his step it is slow. Page 65. 
 
 The Spaniards sometimes shrouded their horses in token of 
 deep distress. 
 
 The choicest pride of Lebanon might claim 
 
 The awful honours of the cedar frame. Page 71. 
 
 The idea of the cedar frame was suggested by the wood-work 
 that surrounds the altar in the cathedral of Seville ; its massive 
 carving and dark colour, assisted by the gloom of Gothic archi- 
 tecture, and by the dim light of the tapers, produce an awful 
 effect. 
 
 By every boding sign the Eternal gave. Page 72. 
 
 Every casual event that could possibly bear the construction 
 of a favourable sign from Heaven, was, at that time, supposed by 
 the Spaniards to indicate the approaching fall of the Musulman 
 Empire. 
 
 Valentia's brightly-coloured warriors stand 
 
 Near Andalusia's rich embroider 'd band, 
 
 And turban d chief of Murcia's rival land. Page 73. 
 
 The plaid worn by the mountaineers of Valentia is distinguished 
 by the brightness and variety of its colours, indeed their entire 
 dress is singularly beautiful. The dress of the Andalusians is 
 rich and adorned . with much embroidery. In Murcia and parts 
 of Valentia the costume of the peasant is almost oriental ; his
 
 NOTES. 301 
 
 garb is loose, and instead of a hat or bonnet, he wraps a blue 
 handkerchief round his head, somewhat in the shape of a turban. 
 In these parts of Spain many traces of a Moorish population are 
 still perceptible in their agriculture, their mode of gardening, and 
 the construction of their houses. This dress is also evidently of 
 Eastern origin. I have seen in the kingdom of Murcia the pea- 
 santry so attired, dancing under their favourite fig-tree to the 
 sound of the castanet. The remoteness of these districts has, pro- 
 bably, preserved these relics of former times ; indeed so little 
 communication exists between Murcia and other parts of Spain, 
 that when I requested my banker, at Granada, to procure for me 
 a bill of exchange on that city, he assured me that it was quite 
 impossible, saying they had as little connexion with Murcia as 
 with Morocco ; nor could he give or procure for me a bill upon 
 Valencia, one of the most thriving towns in the kingdom. This 
 extraordinary instance of the languid state of trade, was very 
 inconvenient, as it compelled us to carry in hard money a sum 
 equal to the expenses that we expected to incur on the road 
 from Granada to Barcelona, and had we been visited on our 
 journey by some of those mounted gentlemen, who are fond of 
 borrowing, but not exact in repaying, we might have been stopped 
 at some delightful venta, without resources, and in rather an 
 absurd predicament. 
 
 And Aragon suppress' d her gaze of fear 
 
 To see the rugged Catalan so near. Page 73. 
 
 Some jealousy has existed at times between the mountaineers 
 of these provinces, but the stern character of the Catalan has 
 generally prevailed, whenever a dispute has arisen. 
 
 And messenger on Monarch's urgent hest, 
 
 With rudely-figured belt and fur-skin breast, 
 
 Bare neck and habit soil'd by dust, that show'd 
 
 All night in breath/ess haste the courier rode. Page 7-1 . 
 
 As I was travelling along the road from Valentin to Barcelona , 
 I saw, one evening, a horseman advancing towards me, and
 
 302 NOTES. 
 
 though during my journey through Spain I had seen many 
 strange figures, I was unusually attracted by the wildness and 
 singularity of his appearance : his breast was covered with fur- 
 skin, he wore a cap composed of the same material, his neck was 
 bare, his habit soiled with dust, and his waist encircled by a belt 
 that was crowded with patterns and devices rudely figured. I 
 was told that he was a royal courier. 
 
 And shell-deck' d pilgrim in his wild attire. Page 7 4. 
 
 1 have seen pilgrims in Spain attired in a dress that is adorned 
 with shells. 
 
 So soft that light, so pure and peaceful glow'd, 
 
 From the departed Spirit's blest abode ; 
 
 But vain to Hassan's hopeless glance was given 
 
 That emanation of his country's Heaven. Page 76. 
 
 The Moors of Granada believed that the Moon was the Para- 
 dise of their departed faithful ; an idea pleasing in all scenes, 
 but most fascinating in a climate where the reign of moonlight 
 is the period of enjoyment, and where all nature gains increased 
 beauty from her tempered rays.
 
 303 
 
 NOTES TO THE THIRD CANTO. 
 
 As if the desart of their fast career, 
 
 As if the clansmen of their hate were near, 
 
 As if they heard the trumpet's thrilling call, 
 
 Proclaim from far the feudal foeman's fall. Page 86. 
 
 The steeds of Arabia are supposed to share in the feudal ani- 
 mosities of their masters, to partake the exultation of triumph, 
 and to possess the instinctive faculty of recognizing an heredi- 
 tary foeman. 
 
 Nor lived alone in minstrel's fabled lay 
 
 The long-lost courtesy of early day ; 
 
 Our border youth, beneath the same bright skies, 
 
 Ranged the same woods and join d in kindred ties. Page 87. 
 
 During the first centuries of the Moorish domination in Spain, 
 marriages were by no means unfrequent between the Christians 
 and Mahometans. 
 
 Their fields laid waste, their sons in slaiwy led, 
 
 God ! is the tameless soul of Akbe dead ? Page 87. 
 
 The Saracens effected the conquest of Mauritania, in the 27th 
 year of the Hegira, 647 A. D. The enervated Greeks were unable 
 to resist this torrent of fanatic crusaders ; but the Bereberes, 
 descended from the original tribes of the country, and who still 
 preserve a barbarous independence in the fastnesses of Mount 
 Atlas, offered a vigorous resistance to the invaders, but were at 
 length subdued by Akbe, commander of the Mahometan forces, 
 wbo subjected them to the laws and religion of the Prophet. In-
 
 304 NOTES. 
 
 flamed by conquest, and burning with religious zeal, he advanced 
 on horseback to the verge of the Atlantic, waved his sabre, and 
 plunged into the waves, exclaiming, " Immortal Mahomet, if this 
 " restraining element did not present a barrier to my progress, I 
 " would seek nations yet undiscovered, and teach them to adore 
 " your name." 
 
 As in those days when young Teresa came, 
 
 The flower of Leon, Moorish love to claim. Page 88. 
 
 Alphonso, king of Leon, gave his sister Teresa in marriage to 
 Abdallah the Moorish sovereign of Toledo, A. D. 1010. 
 
 When kindred treason held Alphonso s throne, 
 
 The Moslem made that monarch's cause his own. Page 88. 
 
 When young Alphonso, king of Leon, was dethroned by his 
 brother Sancho of Castille, he was hospitably received by Alma- 
 mon, king of Toledo, who treated him, during his exile, with tbe 
 affection of a son, and with all the honours of royalty. When 
 the death of his brother recalled Alphonso to the throne, the ge- 
 nerous Moor accompanied him to the frontier, loaded him with 
 presents, and placed the troops and revenue of Toledo at his 
 disposal. 
 
 iVo twisted mail, no glittering arms to-day 
 
 Shall grace the warrior of that savage fray ; 
 
 Gay silken vest, light lance, and gallant steed, 
 
 Of these alone the belted brave have need. Page 90. 
 
 In this description of the dress worn, and the weapons used by 
 the combatants of that period, I have followed the account given 
 t>y Florian, who appears to have investigated the subject. 
 
 He gave us that nobility of birth, 
 
 That raised us o'er the common sons of earth. — Page 90. 
 
 Tbe Christians who took refuge, after the fatal battle of Xeres, 
 in the mountains of Biscay and the Asturias, were ennobled by 
 Pelayo, and, as their lineal descendants, the inhabitants of these
 
 NOTE S. 30,5 
 
 provinces, from the highest to the lowest class, are still considered 
 nohle in the eye of the law, and are entitled to the privileges of 
 nobility. The poorest Asturian is proud of these distinctions. 
 When he emigrates from his native province, he carries with him 
 the necessary documents to establish his claim: if compelled to 
 serve in a menial capacity, he retains a haughty sense of superior 
 birth, and the anxiety to escape from employments which he con- 
 siders derogatory to his rank, frequently operates as an useful 
 stimulus to increased exertion. 
 
 Let Feger's forests show their fiercest steer. Page 92. 
 
 Some of the finest bulls selected for the amphitheatre are taken 
 from the forests near Vejer de la Frontera. They graze over the 
 plains in considerable numbers, and their shaggy appearance suits 
 that wild and desei-ted scenery. Till the close of our second 
 day's journey, I remember seeing but one house, viz. the venta 
 at which we slept. 
 
 Of fiery mood he paused not for the stroke, 
 But burst, as bursts the wild wave on the rock. Page 94. 
 
 Bull-fights were formerly much more sanguinary than they 
 are at present. Madame D'Aunoy, who wrote in the seventeenth 
 century, describing an entertainment of this kind at which she 
 was present, mentions the death of a young cavallero of Toledo, 
 who was tossed by a bull and immediately expired. She says, that 
 two others were mortally wounded; yet observes, that little blood 
 was spilt upon this occasion. The bull-fight of Ganzul, one of 
 the old Moorish ballads, which appears, from its minute allu- 
 sions to persons and circumstances, to have been intended as an 
 account of events that actually took place, describes the slaugh- 
 ter of eight Moorish lords, in one combat, by these infuriated ani- 
 mals. Ballad poetry is generally historical, and where it is not 
 strictly so, seldom deviates from the general character of the 
 scenes that it delineates. Good birth was considered an indis- 
 pensable qualification for any candidate for the duelo, to which 
 the nobles of Spain were much attached. In this species of en- 
 counter, the cavallero assaulted the bull, and fought him in single 
 
 X
 
 306 NOTE S. 
 
 combat. Florian tells a lively story of young Cortes, who nar- 
 rowly escaped destruction from the unexpected attack of a bull, 
 while he was gathering a flower that had fallen from the bosom of 
 his mistress. He attributes his preservation to an act of singular 
 dexterity. I have applied the story, in an altered form, to a mem- 
 ber of the same family, but as I had reserved no future place for 
 the young hero in my tale, I would not interfere with the bull 
 and rescue him by the recital of any extraordinary ingenuity on 
 his part. 
 
 Through Sarabanda's stately maze they go. Page 96. 
 
 The Sarabanda was a favourite dance of the Spaniards ; it was 
 slow, stately, and well adapted to the gravity of the national 
 character. 
 
 How oft wan heard from moonlight bower afar 
 
 Some young enthusiast's eloquent guitar. Page 98. 
 
 The serenade still breathes in Spain the language of aifection, 
 and reveals the hopes of the young lover to his mistress in sounds 
 more eloquent than words: it prevails to a great extent in 
 Murcia, and parts of Valentia. I heard at Orihuela, and after- 
 wards at Albatera, the guitar beautifully played, under the win- 
 dows of some favourite fair one, during many hours of the night. 
 
 O'er the soil'd housings of his panting side- 
 Are seen the castles of a kingdom's pride. Page 103. 
 
 The castles are the arms of Castille. 
 
 Oli, speak ! who witness' d from the imperious North, 
 
 The trembling slaves of Tyranny come forth, 
 
 And prate of coward crouching to the foe, 
 
 Say, was the spirit of our fathers low ? Page 106. 
 
 When the ambassadors demanded tribute from Muley Hossein, 
 father of king Abdallah, by whom Hassan, the hero of my tale, 
 is supposed to have been sent as envoy to the Spanish court, that 
 high-spirited Prince replied, " I know that some of my ancestors
 
 NOTES. 307 
 
 " have redeemed their possessions by gold ; in my reign no money 
 " is coined ; take then the only metal that I can offer your sove- 
 " reign." With these words, he presented the point of his lance 
 to the Spanish messengers. 
 
 Now widely scatter'd o'er the tented ground 
 
 Spain's warriors cross them at the vesper's sound; 
 
 With brow unveil 'd, its praise a nation hears, 
 
 And, full of faith, the living God adores. Page 113. 
 
 In Spain, about sunset, at the sound of the bell, every indivi- 
 dual uncovers his head, and the hum of crowds is hushed for a 
 moment in silent adoration. 
 
 He has told us that God whom we trust 
 
 His care is for all men below ; 
 
 To pray for the just and unjust, 
 
 The fere and the foe. Page 115. 
 
 Although fere has" been sometimes used synonymously with 
 lover, the original and correct signification of the word simply 
 conveys the idea of companionship or friendly relations, in which 
 sense it is here applied. 
 
 x 2
 
 . 
 
 NOTES TO THE FOURTH CANTO. 
 
 O Pixton! seen even now in landscape bright. Page 119. 
 
 The estate and house of Pixton belong to my father, Lord 
 Caernarvon. They are situated near the borders of Exmoor, in 
 a country proverbial for its romantic scenery : the neighbouring 
 hills, covered with heath, with ash, but principally with oak 
 copse, intermingled with the forest tree, fringing the banks of 
 numerous torrents, recall, under a softened aspect, the beauties 
 of Alpine scenery. The origin of the word Pixton is ancient, 
 and not known with certainty ; it is supposed to have been once 
 written Pixie town, or, the Town of the Fairies, — a race that 
 exists in popular belief, and is designated by the moun- 
 taineers of the district by the name of Pixies. A wood still 
 retains the name of Pixie wood : in this instance, the word has 
 been preserved entire ; a circumstance which leaves little ground 
 to doubt that Pixton had a similar origin. 
 
 By Haddeo' s foaming Jlood and Danebrook's tide, 
 
 That parted once a rival people's pride, 
 
 And Ella's native woods. Page 119. 
 
 The Haddeo, a mountain-stream scarcely perceptible in very 
 dry summers, is frequently, in autumn, an unpassable torrent. 
 The waters of the Danebrook are said to have once divided the 
 Danish and Saxon States.
 
 NOTES. 309 
 
 And thou, dark moor ! beneath whose lowering sky 
 
 The cheerless mists of Autumn ever lie, 
 
 Who roams thy vast and desolated round, 
 
 Sees scarce one hut, nor hears one social sound. Page 120. 
 
 This immense extent of moor divides us like an ocean from 
 the world beyond. Before the inclosure, which took place five 
 or six years ago, it presented a most desolate appearance; in 
 parts neither man, nor the industry of man, enlivened the 
 unvarying solitude of these wastes, but, as far as the eye 
 could reach, a monotonous extent of moor bounded the horizon : 
 parts, indeed, of the forest are gracefully undulated and covered 
 with fern; but even here the hillocks so nearly resemble each other, 
 and the general uniformity of aspect is so great, that, riding in a 
 straight forward direction, I have with difficulty persuaded myself 
 that I had not again returned to a part of the moor which I had left 
 some time before. There are few of the oldest natives who are 
 thoroughly acquainted with it ; and persons who have resided for 
 years on its borders, have lost their way in venturing too far : in- 
 stances have indeed occurred, where strangers, crossing it without 
 guide, and with little or no local knowledge, have been be- 
 nighted and lost in the bogs, which are in reality dangerous to 
 an incautious traveller, but whose reputation for depth and ex- 
 tent has armed the moor with greater terrors than it really 
 possesses. This character of seclusion is slowly wearing away. 
 The moor was a few years ago sold by the Crown : the work of 
 inclosure has already commenced ; stone fences have been erected 
 in every direction, and some portions of land have been reclaim- 
 ed. Many persons are of opinion that this measure will ulti- 
 mately prove of great public utility. I have no sanguine expec- 
 tation that the country will experience any real benefit from the 
 sale of this territory : the large flocks of sheep who grazed over 
 the plain will probably decrease; it supported a race of wild ponies, 
 hardy and admirably adapted to the rugged nature of the sur- 
 rounding country, which has already disappeared ; while the in- 
 clemency of the climate, and the poverty of the soil, may render 
 the cultivation of the land, to any considerable extent, vexatious 
 and unprofitable.
 
 310 NOTE S. 
 
 Sole tenant of that stern uncultured space, 
 
 I've seen the startled monarch of the chase, 
 
 Roused by fierce foemen from his lonely lair, 
 
 U ith mien majestic, slow and stately bear 
 
 His step to earth — his antlers in the air. Page 120- 
 
 The red deer, once so common over England, has been long 
 restricted to these districts: till this year, the last of the old 
 stag-hunting establishments was still an honourable provincial 
 distinction, and was once regarded with pride and affection by 
 the aristocracy of the surrounding country. The hind-hunting 
 commenced on the 10th of April, and ended on the 20th of May : 
 stag-hunting commenced on the 20th of August, and terminated 
 with September ; when autumn .hind-hunting recommenced, and 
 continued till the rains set in, and the waters forbade further 
 operations. The harbourers, or persons appointed to go round 
 the coverts, and mark the slot or tread of the deer, arrived early 
 in the morning, and communicated the result of their investiga- 
 tions. If they had been successful in tracking a deer to the 
 covert, and had not sloted him out of it, it was then customary 
 to beat such coverts with a couple of old hounds, called tufters, 
 and so rouse the monarch from his lair. This moment was, per- 
 haps, the proudest of the chase. Few sights that the sporting 
 world can exhibit, could equal the scene that presented itself 
 when the stag broke covert, bearing his antlers high in the air, 
 and proceeding across the moor with a stately step, amid the 
 shout of the field and the crash of the hounds. The thorough- 
 bred stag-hound is a larger animal, and in every respect superior 
 to the fox-hound ; his note is deeper, more melodious, I may 
 say almost thrilling, and the effect produced by the opening roar 
 of the pack must be heard, but cannot be described. Sometimes, 
 it is true, the deer pursued a beaten track, and the spirit of the 
 chase degenerated ; but he frequently led through wood, through 
 torrent, and every wild variety of mountain scenery, clothed at 
 that period of the year in the rich garb of summer. Sometimes, 
 leaving the forest country entirely, lie led across the moor, when 
 the bursts were always bold, the sport animated, and the runs 
 sometimes tremendous. There, where the stag is at a little dis-
 
 NOTES. 311 
 
 tance confounded with the plain from the similarity of colouring 1 , 
 I have distinguished his broad antlers resting against the sky as 
 he stretched across the country : when hard pressed, he some- 
 times plunged into the sea, and swam a considerable distance ; but 
 his fate was generally destined to the bed of some mountain-tor- 
 rent, where he stood at bay, and defended himself against the 
 hounds with much gallantry. Some of the old customs, such as 
 presenting the hanger, blooding the novice, ike. were still kept 
 up. One of my earliest recollections, was the introduction of the 
 stag's head at Pixton in the evening, which was carried round 
 the table as a memorial and trophy of the day's exploits. But 
 public spirit had scarcely declined at that time. 
 
 So well protected were the coverts, that I remember it was 
 said that eighty deer were killed in one season, about that period, 
 when Lord Graves directed the hunt, which was afterwards sup- 
 ported by Lord Fortescue, at his sole expense. During the last 
 few years, Mr. Lucas has been master of the pack ; and great 
 praise is due to his meritorious exertions in behalf of an establish- 
 ment, whose existence he has prolonged, though he could not 
 avert its fate. 
 
 / hear the deep death-note — the bugle-call — 
 
 Proclaim from far the antler d monarch's fall. Page 121. 
 
 At the close of the chase, the note of the hounds deepens, 
 becomes more lengthened, and sometimes almost mournful. To 
 an accustomed ear, the change of tone is extremely marked. 
 
 O'er Hadden's mountain when my Grandsire past, 
 
 A thousand gallants rallied at his blast ; 
 
 To Hawkridge hills, at Acland's glad acclaim, 
 
 The crowding chivalry of Devon came. Page 121. 
 
 The hounds were maintained for more than sixty years by 
 my grandfather, and great grandfather Sir Thomas Acland. 
 At that period, when the aristocracy were devoted to the sport, 
 gentlemen crowded from all parts of Devonshire to participate 
 in this noble diversion. This was the most brilliant sera of an 
 establishment, which he supported at his sole expense : on the
 
 312 N O T E S. 
 
 day, the field was numerously and gallantly attended ; the pack 
 was excellent, and a spirit of magnificence was carried into all 
 the details of the chase. He retained performers on the French 
 horns, who always attended and played the double or treble mort 
 and the whole recheat in concert, while all the old ceremonies of 
 the field were formally observed. In the evening, his brother 
 sportsmen were entertained in his house with all the feudal hos- 
 pitality of that time : the stag's head was produced with a silver 
 cup in his mouth, out of which the favourite toast was drunk ; 
 and 
 
 " He was deemed a laggard soul 
 
 " Who shunn'd to quaff the sparkling bowl." 
 
 In his time, herds of deer were seen collected together. His 
 property was extensive, and in the heart of the stag-hunting 
 country ; he exercised the forest rights which prevailed over Ex- 
 moor, but have been lately extinguished, by law, ; but 
 his own devotion to the cause, and the attachment which then 
 existed among all classes to the sport, was the main cause of its 
 prosperity. It is painful to revert from this fortunate period to 
 the closing days of the establishment. Its fall must be attributed 
 to the combined effect of several causes. — Firstly, to the dis- 
 afforestment of Exmoor, and the extinction of the forest rights, 
 and to the enclosure of large tracts of land over which these 
 animals were accustomed to range undisturbed and unob- 
 served by any eye : Secondly, to the decline of public spirit, 
 and a growing indifference to this manly sport : Thirdly, to the 
 heat of party, and to a very mistaken opinion, that, because such 
 an establishment was aristocratic in its origin, it is therefore in- 
 jurious to the interests of the community, and oppressive to the 
 people : but the last and most decisive cause of its decline, is to 
 be found in the supineness of some of the landed proprietors, 
 who had formerly protected the deer; and in the undisguised 
 hostility of others, who, if report speak true, have not scrupled 
 to sanction their destruction, and offer an unnecessary insult 
 to every gentleman who yet adhered to the ancient sport of 
 the country.
 
 NOTES. 313 
 
 And if they listed melody, might hear 
 
 Our rushing Barle make music for their ear. Page l c 22 . 
 
 The Barle, a fine mountain-torrent, flows among the 
 woods below the hili on which Pixton is situated. When the 
 floods are high, during the Autumn, the roar of the water is very 
 loud. 
 
 For twice two hundred years, their gallant train 
 Exulting swept the Crown-protected plain ; 
 These eyes, that loved that field of sylvan war, 
 Its rights borne down, its shrinking limits saw, 
 And mourn d the last of Devon's forest law. 
 
 While Exmoor belonged to the Crown, the deer were guarded 
 by forest law. Hawkridge, a barren extent of plain, with some 
 of the surrounding woods, were purlieus of the royal chase, and 
 as <iM'h were protected by the same law. 
 
 As we crossed the Ebro in a ferry-boat, we heard from a goat- 
 herd, for the first time, of the insurrection in Catalonia, that 
 afterwards became so famous, and for seventeen months continued 
 to desolate the country. Our accounts during the next day were 
 very imperfect, but before we reached Barcelona we had en- 
 tered the revolted districts. Vendrell, where we paused for a few 
 hours, had been occupied, and again evacuated by the Royalists, 
 three days previous to our arrival. Tarragona was menaced by 
 armed parties, and the authorities had in consequence left 
 the town. We were required to produce our passports at 
 every village through which we passed, and on my arrival 
 at Barcelona I was placed under arrest, on account of some 
 informality in the signatures, occasioned by the absence of the 
 Governor of Tarragona. I was detained in the Hotel de Ville, 
 till the arrival of the political chief, who, if I remember rightly, 
 was Rotten, whose name became so generally known at a later 
 period of the revolution. He listened attentively to my expla- 
 nation, perceived how the mistake had originated, and, in spite
 
 314 NOTE S. 
 
 of the remonstrances of his secretary, suffered me to depart 
 without delay. At Barcelona, where we were compelled to re- 
 main some days, as the roads were on all sides occupied by the 
 Royalists, we received more correct information respecting the 
 state of the country. For the last two months large bodies of 
 the Insurgents had shown themselves, and harassed the soldiers ; 
 but during the fortnight that preceded our arrival, in many parts 
 the entire peasantry had taken up arms against Government, and 
 the insurrection had assumed an alarming character. The Royal- 
 ists, commanded by Misas and the famous Trappist, had esta- 
 blished their head-quarters at Cervera, a large town on the high 
 road between Barcelona and Madrid, and intercepted all official 
 communications. While we delayed at Barcelona until some 
 change in the state of affairs should again permit us to renew our 
 journey, despatches arrived from the Commander of the Consti- 
 tutional forces, announcing the defeat of the Royalists and the 
 fall of Cerveraj but adding, that victory had been accompanied by 
 a dreadful carnage, (horrososa clade). In this encounter, the 
 Royalists sustained one of the severest reverses which they expe- 
 rienced during the whole course of the civil war: they fought for 
 fourteen hours witli undaunted courage, but were completely 
 routed at the close of the day. * As the road was again open into 
 
 * We arrived at Cervera a few days after its recapture. I found 
 the same difficulty in procuring information which I every where expe- 
 rienced on the scenes where such events had recently taken place ; in- 
 deed, I was tempted to believe that much exaggeration had prevailed 
 in the statement of the killed and wounded, till I saw the official re- 
 turns, and afterwards heard a detailed account of the assault from an 
 officer connected with the regiments engaged. The following relation 
 of the fall of Cervera, extracted from the Annuaire Frantjais, a work 
 generally free from political bias, may not be uninteresting to my 
 readers, as it was one of the most important events of the civil war; 
 it dispersed a large undisciplined force, and inundated eastern Catalonia 
 with the broken and retreating bands of the Royalists, who spread 
 the flame of insurrection over the remotest parts of the country. 
 
 " A la nouvelle des succes de Misas, qui avait pris Campredon, 
 (17 Avril), et levait des hommes et des contributions dans tout le pays, 
 le General Lloberas, commandant a Barcelone, s'etait mis a la tete de 
 quelques troupes regulieres et de milices, pour arreter ses progres, et ilen
 
 NOTES. 315 
 
 Aragon, we left Barcelona on the 22d of May, and arrived in the 
 evening at Esparraguerra, where we had been preceded by a regi- 
 ment of the Constitutional troops, who were singing the Tragala in 
 the streets. Before I retired to rest, I left the Posada. Mont- 
 serrat rose gloomily before me ; the streets were deserted, and 
 beyond the town I perceived that there were no lights in any of 
 the neighbouring hamlets. These were dreary signs of the times. 
 I returned to the inn, threw myself on my bed, and slept till 
 morning. I then understood that an order had been issued, for- 
 bidding any individual to leave his house after dark, and requir- 
 ing every peasant who dwelt beyond the walls of Esparraguerra, 
 to quit his hamlet, and enter the town before dusk. This mea- 
 
 joignit quelques bandes qvii furent battues et disperses. En meme tems, 
 le General Don Joseph Bellido, commandant a Lerida avait ete deta- 
 che contre le Trapiste, cette colonne sortie de Lerida le 17 Mai, se 
 composait de trois bataillons d'infanterie, regiment de Ferdinand VII. 
 des Asturies et de Tarragone, et de cinquante chevaux du regiment 
 d'Espagne. Des le lendemain 18, elle trouva un corps d'insurges re- 
 tranches sur une hauteur qui domine Tarrega ; elles les culbuta dans la 
 ville, oh Bellido entra avec eux, et les poursuivit jusqu'a Cervera, oh 
 etait le Quartier-general des insurges, et une espece de junte Aposto- 
 lique. Tous les habitans avaient pris parti pour la cause de la foi, ils se 
 misent en etat de defense : repouses dans la ville, ils se retrancherent 
 dans les maisons crenelees d'oli ils faisaient un feu meurtrier ; le Gene- 
 ral Bellido ne vit pas d'autre moyen de les reduire, que de faire mettre 
 le feu aux quatre coins de la ville ; et au milieu du desordre occasione 
 par cette mesure il ordonna une attaque generale a la bai'onette ; elle 
 fat quelque tems incertaine, car les insurges renfermes dans les maisons, 
 malgre le progres de l'incendie, faisoient pleuvoir sur les soldats une 
 grele de balles, de tuiles, de morceaux de bois et de pierre. Enfin, apres 
 une vigoureuse resistance, la viDe fut rendue a dix heures et demie du 
 soir, et subit toute la nuit les suitas horribles d'une prise d'assaut. 
 Elle etait presque detruite et ses habitans en partie extermines, mais elle 
 avait cofrte cher aux vainqueurs — ils avaient perdu le commandant des 
 Asturies, et au moins deux cent cinquante homines. Suivant le rapport 
 -du general Constitutionnel, la perte totale des insurges dans ces deux 
 affaires avait ete de plus de douze cents hommes, entre lesquels cent 
 cinquante a. cent soixante tonsures avaient ete trouves sur le champ de 
 bataille ou dans la ville; ceux qui purent echapper a ce desastre se dis- 
 perscrent dans les montagnes, oil le Trapiste les rallia."
 
 3J6 NOTES. 
 
 sure was intended to prevent any communication between the 
 Royalist Guerillas, and the peasantry who were rapidly enlisting 
 in their bands. It was known that parties of the Insurgents de- 
 scended the mountains at night, foraged the country for provi- 
 sions, and were well received by the inhabitants, who were in those 
 districts universally favourable to the royal cause. 
 
 Early on the following day we left Esparraguerra, and passing 
 a fine regiment that was marching upon Vila or Vilia, arrived in 
 less than two hours at Colbato, a small village at the foot of the 
 mountain of Montserrat, whose singular assemblage of cones ris- 
 ing one above another, on a high range of crags, had long formed, 
 the most prominent object in the landscape. We determined to 
 visit the convent ; and giving instructions to our servants to join 
 us with the carriage at a particular spot on the opposite side of 
 the mountain, we commenced the ascent, accompanied by a young 
 Catalan who led the way. Shortly afterwards I remembered 
 that we had left our passports in the carriage,— an omission which, 
 at that period of vigilance, might have been productive of serious 
 inconvenience. The boy, who was only accustomed to the patois 
 spoken by the peasantry of Catalonia, did not comprehend my 
 meaning when I requested him to return and fetch it, nor when 
 I asked him some questions relative to the day's expedition. He 
 fixed his eyes on the ground with such an expression of phlegma- 
 tic indifference, that for a moment I thought it would be advis- 
 able to procure a more hopeful guide ; but when he at length 
 comprehended me, he .volunteered his services with the most good- 
 humoured readiness. Our companion improved upon acquaint- 
 ance: he possessed a quick perception of the ludicrous; and 
 though young, his remarks upon persons, and events that fell 
 under his immediate observation, were shrewd and caustic. We 
 had toiled up the hill to a considerable height by a narrow and 
 regular zigzag, when we suddenly heard the roar of the cannon 
 from the valley below; it was twice repeated, and all was again 
 silent. I shall never forget the change that was visible in his 
 countenance, as he turned round and said to me, pale rather with 
 awe than with apprehension, " El canon." I had been informed 
 that a large body of the Royalists were stationed at Vila, had 
 resolved to defend it to the last extremity, and that an engage- 
 ment was expected to take place about this very time in the valley
 
 NOTES. 317 
 
 below. We did not, however, hear the sound repeated for some 
 hours ; and 1 afterwards learnt that these two discharges were 
 unconnected with the great attack that followed. A small party of 
 the Royalists, who had been separated from the main force to which 
 they belonged and were surrounded by the Constitutional troops, 
 had found their last refuge in a house which they had fortified. 
 Here these unfortunate men defended themselves with a gallan- 
 try that deserved a better fate ; when the two discharges of can- 
 non, which we heard on the mountain, had effected a breach in 
 the wall, they still refused to surrender, set fire to the house, 
 and died on the bayonets of the enemy shouting " Viva el Rey !" 
 Three alone survived the assault, were made prisoners, and shot , 
 a few hours afterwards, by martial law. 
 
 We reached the convent of Montserrat early in the day, and 
 were glad to escape for a short time from the intolerable glare of 
 the sun. This pile of building, irregular, and apparently con- 
 structed at different periods, is still venerable and imposing, and 
 retains evident traces of former magnificence : here formerly ex- 
 isted one of the most splendid establishments of the Catholic 
 world — its fortunes had undergone a melancholy change. The 
 pile was falling into decay ; the chapel, a perfect specimen 
 of architectural beauty before it experienced the ravages of 
 war, was then a ruin. Three Monks and their old Abbot 
 alone remained, stripped of those domains which had given 
 wealth and consideration to a numerous fraternity. The Abbot 
 came to receive us with much grace and dignity ; his welcome 
 was friendly, his manners calm and distinguished, and in his 
 countenance was an expression of melancholy mingled with re- 
 signation. He had been reduced to extreme povertv by the re- 
 volution ; during the French invasion he had raised the peasantry, 
 and armed a Guerilla ; he had shared the perils and hardships of 
 that species of warfare with the rudest peasant, for the inde- 
 pendence of Spain. The memory of past services should have 
 ensured to him better treatment in his declining years. He led 
 us to the terrace, where we enjoyed a magnificent view of the 
 country; fine masses of wood lay around us, and beneath our 
 feet, while tall grey pinnacles of rock overhung the monastery. 
 From this eminence, which is estimated at nearly three thou- 
 sand feet above the sea, the country beneath rather resem-
 
 318 N O T E S. 
 
 bled a plain varied by slight inequalities of surface, than what 
 it really was — a district intersected by ranges of high hills. 
 Here they pointed out to us Vila, or the houses in its vi- 
 cinity, where the Royalists were encamped; they informed 
 us that the people of Vila and the neighbouring districts had 
 taken up arms in their cause, that bodies of the Constitutionalists 
 had been marching in that direction during the morning and the 
 whole of the preceding day, that the attack would take place 
 immediately, and be opposed with the utmost determination. 
 Their anticipations were just ; those walls, then glittering in the 
 bright beams of the morning, were a heap of ashes before the 
 sun went down : the resistance was desperate beyond what had 
 been expected ; the priests carried the cross before the troops, 
 and exhorted them rather to die than submit to the oppressors 
 of Catalonia, the enemies of their God and their King ; men, 
 women, and even children, rose at the sound of the tocsin, and 
 fought in the ranks of the Royalists ; the town was almost de- 
 stroyed before the troops could eifect an entrance, and when it 
 was taken, no quarter was given, and a scene of indiscriminate 
 massacre ensued. 
 
 As we took leave of the Abbot and the Monks, they pressed us 
 to dine and spend the day at the Convent, with so much ear- 
 nestness, that we afterwards suspected they were not unac- 
 quainted with the dangers that we should probably incur by 
 pursuing our journey. I have never heard any certain account 
 of the fate of this interesting old man, and the Monks who were 
 with him. More than a year afterwards, when the French had 
 entered Spain, I saw in one of the Journals, at Paris, that the 
 Monks of the convent of Montserrat had become implicated 
 with the Royalist Guerillas, had been detected, conveyed to 
 prison, and would undergo the sentence of the law. 
 
 As we proceeded, the scenery became bolder, the road bordered 
 the precipice, and the mountain formed itself into a series of 
 recesses or inland bays, terminated by projecting heights. As 
 we turned one of these headlands, we saw three or four men 
 advance beyond the point which bounded the opposite side of the 
 road, pause, retreat, re-appear, and suddenly fall back, as if 
 startled and doubtful what course to pursue. This hesitation 
 did not long endure. A party of peasants broke from the shelter
 
 NOTES. 319 
 
 of the rock ; shouting loudly, they desired us to halt, and keeping 
 their eye steadily fixed upon us, that their aim might be unerring 
 if we attempted to escape, with their muskets to their breasts 
 and their hand to the trigger, they came rushing towards us 
 with the utmost speed. At first the extraordinary position of 
 their bodies, half bent to the earth, from the difficulty of holding 
 their muskets presented, in a course so rapid, the wildness of 
 their dress, the frantic yells which they uttered, the irritation 
 stamped on their countenances, and increased by the violence 
 with which they came, rather resembled* an irruption of savages, 
 than the charge of an organized Guerilla ; but when the first 
 tumultuous onset was over, they recovered all their native 
 dignity. Their hair was unconfined, their trowsers blue, 
 their plaid dark red, and the scarlet bonnet of Catalonia fell 
 far down their shoulders. When first they reached us, they 
 held their muskets to our breasts, saying, " You are traitors ! 
 you are enemies of the King and the Holy Faith ! you shall 
 die ! you shall die !" They required us to give up our 
 money; and in the first transport of rage dashed it upon the 
 ground, saying, it was the gold of traitors ! but when we as- 
 sured them that we were strangers totally unconnected with the 
 troubles of the times, that we belonged to that distant country 
 whose sons had fought side by side with them for the rights of 
 King Ferdinand and for Spain, against the people who dwelt 
 beyond those Pyrenees that were then in sight, and to which 
 we pointed as we spoke, they shook hands with us enthusiasti- 
 cally, and gave an unconditional promise that our lives should be 
 respected. By this time the captain, and a man who was appa- 
 rently second in authority, whom we afterwards distinguished by 
 the name of lieutenant, had arrived. They were superior 
 in language, manners, and education, to the surrounding group ; 
 they were not subject to the same fluctuations of opinion — they 
 were less convinced of our innocence at one moment, of our guilt 
 at another. They possessed more judgment, more reflection, 
 and that moderation which generally arises from matured know- 
 ledge of mankind ; they examined us with method and minute- 
 ness, seemed anxious to ascertain the exact number of the 
 Constitutional troops that we had left in the valley, and what
 
 320 NOTE S. 
 
 direction they had taken : we answered then* questions with 
 fidelity. At times, and particularly when we alluded to Vila, 
 they seemed startled at our replies. As they now appeared 
 to regard our conduct with less suspicion, we trusted that 
 they would not detain us, when we had frankly communi- 
 cated the little information that we possessed respecting the 
 views and the movements of the enemy ; but an incident occurred 
 that entirely changed their feeling towards us, and would have 
 proved fatal to us had not the Captain and the Lieutenant in- 
 terfered in our favour. When they had sufficiently examined us, 
 they desired to see all that we had brought with us to the moun- 
 tain. In consequence of this request, Pusey was obliged to 
 produce three pistol balls that by chance were in his pocket at 
 the moment. These balls effected an instantaneous and surpri- 
 sing transition of feeling ; they were looked upon as proofs con- 
 clusive of our connexion with the arm}', and of the hostile motives 
 that had led us to the mountain ; they became as violent as before, 
 some cocked their guns and were only prevented by the Captain 
 and the Lieutenant from carrying their threats into execution. 
 We explained with some difficulty, amid the tumult that pre- 
 vailed, that these balls belonged to pistols which we carried for 
 safety on the high roads. They appeared in some degree re- 
 assured by this probable statement, but not convinced. The im- 
 pression produced upon their minds by our visit was clearly that 
 we had come to the mountain for the purpose of reconnoitering, 
 and were acting in concert with the Constitutionalists in the 
 plain, nor could we give any satisfactory answer respecting the 
 reasons that had induced us to deviate from the road and visit 
 the mountain, at a moment when, to adopt their emphatic lan- 
 guage, every man from Levida to Montserrat stood with his 
 musket at his breast : — To do da Lerida a Montserrat sta con es 
 ropeta al pecho. We said, however, that we had been informed 
 that the mountain was for the moment in a tranquil state, and 
 that our visit was solely occasioned by motives of curiosity. Un- 
 accustomed to travellers, they had probably never heard such 
 reasons assigned before, and received them with justifiable sus- 
 picion. After some discussion, the Captain turned to us and 
 enid that we had informed him that our servants had instructions
 
 NOTES. 321 
 
 to join us with the carriage at a particular spot, on the opposite 
 side of the mountain ; that he would procure information upon 
 that subject, that we should be judged by our own words : if our 
 story proved consistent and the result of his enquiries satisfac- 
 tory, we should depart in peace; but that if the first proved 
 inconsistent, mid the latter unsatisfactory, he had no alternative 
 left in the critical state of their affairs, as no quarter was given 
 to prisoners by either party. 
 
 These words were spoken frankly, but not uncourteously, nor 
 was there any appearance of insult in his manner. This species 
 of dictation was not agreeable from any individual ; still I felt, 
 at that time, what my poor Catalan expressed in simple language, 
 some hours afterwards, when we stood on the moor, " Senor, 
 your lot has been unfortunate to-day, but such are the chances 
 of men who range over the world." We now continued our 
 journey, guarded by the band. A wild original, whom we af- 
 terwards distinguished by the name of Shocky, from his shock 
 head of hair, attached himself to me, and kept near my horse's 
 head; though such precaution was unnecessary, as any attempt 
 to escape would have been impracticable. He was on terms of 
 familiarity with the Captain, though he seemed to have little 
 authority in the troop; and was certainly more calculated to 
 further an enterprize by his courage and exertions, than to plan 
 and direct its execution. He differed totally in manners and 
 character from the rest of the Guerilla, and was the only in- 
 dividual who uttered any offensive expressions ; and these, 
 I have little doubt, originated more in a thoughtlessness and 
 natural .vehemence of temper, than in any malignant feeling. 
 For some time we proceeded ti-anquilly along the road ; the Gue- 
 rilla looked upon us. with less displeasure, and Shocky's repeated 
 assurances that we should die began to abate. Although little 
 regularity was observed in their inarch, they paid implicit obe- 
 dience to their chief, who omitted no point of necessary caution : 
 before we turned any of the projecting rocks, that concealed the 
 view of the road beyond, he regularly sent forward a vidette, 
 consisting of three or four men, who, advancing carefully, re- 
 connoitered the pass; and when they were satisfied that no danger 
 was at hand, made signals to their companions. By those means!
 
 NOTES. 
 
 they effectually guarded against sudden surprise. This calm, 
 however, did not endure ; and indeed their temper was destined 
 to undergo a severe trial. After we had travelled with them for 
 ;t short distance, we heard a rolling discharge of musketry from 
 the valley below ; the Guerilla turned, and listened attentively ; 
 it was again and again repeated. They knew by those sounds, 
 and I knew also, that the long-expected engagement had com- 
 menced. I was aware that these discharges would probably 
 continue, and could not fail to exercise a most unfavourable in- 
 fluence on our destiny — an anticipation that Mas quickly realized 
 in their increasing irritation and change of conduct : their coun- 
 tenances became sullen and almost ferocious; many scowling 
 glances were bent upon us, many threats were uttered, and they 
 spoke of our guilt as certain. At length we heard the tremen- 
 dous roar of the cannon ; it was awfully reverberated among the 
 rocks, and produced a strong sensation upon the mind of every 
 man. For some minutes I had closely observed the Captain, who 
 was walking near me, with the young Catalan, along the edge of 
 the precipice. He neither paused nor turned his head towards 
 the quarter from whence those blasts proceeded : in spite of the 
 exasperation of his men, and the indignant observations that were 
 indirectly addressed to him, he fixed his eyes on the ground and 
 made no reply ; his consciousness of those sounds was alone ma- 
 nifested by the determined slowness of his step, and the increasing 
 gloom of his countenance. This peculiarity of manner was not 
 the effect of indifference or inattention, but arose from a feeling 
 of deep-rooted pride : hemmed in these fastnesses by the Con- 
 stitutional troops who surrounded the mountain on all sides, se- 
 parated from his companions in arms, unable to lend them any 
 assistance in the hour that it was most required ; compelled to 
 hear inactively the sound of that musketry which was levelling 
 their ranks, and would soon be directed against his own, he would 
 not express an impotent desire of vengeance before two strangers, 
 whom he regarded as secret enemies of his cause; though in 
 default of better evidence, he had not yielded to the clamour of 
 his band, and signed our death-warrant. That such were his 
 reflections, I have little doubt, from his manner, his subsequent 
 conduct, and from casual expressions. At all events, he pre-
 
 NOTES. 323 
 
 served silence while the musketry continued ; hut when the loud 
 roar of the cannon suddenly broke upon us, his countenance 
 changed, and the passion, that had long been gathering in his 
 breast, seemed at once to master his better judgment, as he 
 turned to the young Catalan, and said that the Constitutionalists 
 were at that moment exterminating his companions; that no 
 mercy had been shown to the Royalists who were taken in arms 
 near Tarragona ; that the circumstances, under which we were 
 captured, justified the retaliation which he would no longer delay. 
 In answer to his last speech, I turned and said to him, that we could 
 feel no apprehension, that he had pledged his word — the word of a 
 Catalan — that our lives should be respected, that such a pledge so 
 given could not be disregarded in my country, nor, in his, would be 
 violated by any man of honour. In spite of the irritation under 
 which he was labouring, he listened to me with attention, but made 
 no reply ; and, I think, was embarrassed by the recollection of a 
 promise that he no longer intended to preserve, and which he now 
 conceived had been obtained by falsehood, and given under a false 
 impression. At this crisis, when our situation seemed desperate, 
 we were saved by an honourable feeling of fidelity in our guide. 
 During the first part of the day's expedition, I had been annoyed 
 by the indifference which the young Catalan had shown on oc- 
 casions that in some degree required activity. I was afterwards 
 amused by the caustic humour of his remarks ; but was totally 
 unprepared for the vigour of mind which he now displayed in 
 defence of men who, till that morning, had been entire strangers 
 to him and his. He said, in a firm tone, that he would pledge his 
 existence that we were foreigners unconnected with party ; we 
 had visited the mountain, relying on the hospitable feelings of 
 the people, and under his peculiar guidance ; he called upon the 
 Captain to pause for further proof, nor commit an act that would 
 cast an indelible stain on their honour. The Captain replied with 
 warmth ; but these remonstrances had certainly the effect of pre- 
 venting hasty measures. I was surprised at the intimacy that 
 seemed to exist between the Chief and the young Catalan; — but I 
 afterwards learnt from our muleteer, that the Captain was a native 
 of Monistrol, a town not far from Colbato ; that they had been 
 previously acquainted, and that a brother of our guide had fought 
 
 Y 2
 
 32+ NOTES. 
 
 with the Royalists. This account explained the influence which 
 he possessed over the Captain's mind. 
 
 About this time the Guerilla paused near a fountain, formed 
 l>y a mountain-torrent that came down a ravine in the rock. It 
 is not easy to describe the sublimity of the scene that presented 
 itself ; — it was a scene that Salvator Rosa should have sketched, 
 and W alter Scott described. We stood amid one of the grandest 
 landscapes of savage nature : above our heads the mountain was 
 clothed to a considerable height with pine forests, that were sur- 
 mounted by a range of tall grey crags ; beneath our feet, stretch- 
 ing as far as the Pyrenees that bounded the distance, lay Cata- 
 lonia, the theatre of the civil war : the fountain was overhung by 
 a rock, covered with wood that overshadowed the road with its 
 branches ; beneath this cliff the Guei'illa had collected to enjoy a 
 moment's rest in the shade ; still the beams of the sun broke at 
 intervals through the foliage, and flashed upon their arms, their 
 dark-red plaid, and scarlet bonnet. The individuals who com- 
 posed the Guerilla seemed chosen men, in the vigour of youth, 
 and possessed all the characteristic dignity of Spanish manners. 
 Their dress was picturesque and suited to the scene ; their figures 
 were stately; their countenances, for the most part handsome, 
 were now lighted up by the various feelings of anxiety, deep 
 thought, and gloomy resentment. These passions prevailed, 
 but were differently expressed, as they were more or less felt, 
 according to the temper of each man ; but on every countenance 
 I read the same character of high determination. Some were 
 kneeling by the fountain and drinking with avidity ; others re- 
 clined along the ground, and a few were leaning on their mus- 
 kets : one man advanced to the edge of the precipice, and when 
 he heard the heavy sound of the cannon, he clenched his fist 
 and shook it, looking with an expression of determined hatred 
 towards the position that he conceived to be occupied by the 
 Constitutional troops. 
 
 Perhaps there was no single point of manner so striking as the 
 courtesy with which we were treated, at a moment when their 
 passions were exasperated, and our doom almost decided. While 
 the Guerilla were reposing under the rock, the Captain asked me 
 whether I was not fatigued, ami would not like also to rest; and
 
 NOTES. 325 
 
 Sliocky, who was my guard, when he paused to drink from the 
 numerous streams that intersected the road, always invited me 
 to follow his example. While the Captain and myself inter- 
 changed a few words, the young Catalan, who omitted no oppor- 
 tunity of interceding in our favour, again renewed his advice 
 against intemperate measures ; but the Captain turned aside, 
 adding, " no hay remedio." The stubborn decision conveyed in 
 these words, combined with the calm determination of his man- 
 ner, convinced me that his courtesy arose more from the delicacy 
 natural to a high-minded man, than from any favourable change 
 in his intentions ; and in this light it was evidently regarded by 
 his followers, who said, then and afterwards, in the Catalan patois 
 " estan perdut, estan perdut," they are lost men, they are lost 
 men. After we had left the fountain, some private conversation, 
 passed between the Captain and his lieutenant : — when this was 
 concluded, the latter selected two men from the band, and led 
 the way to a narrow path that wound through the wood to the 
 crags above. He ascended the hill a step, turned, drew himself 
 up with dignity, waved his hand, and addressing the Guerilla, 
 said, that he should mount the heights, to learn if the Spaniards 
 were approaching ; for by this appellation they invariably desig- 
 nated the revolutionary forces in opposition to the native Cata- 
 lans : he added, that if he perceived them, he should fire as a sig- 
 nal, and, then dos tiros a los Senores, " two volleys upon the Sig- 
 nors." This injunction was not particularly enlivening, as the 
 mountain was on all sides surrounded by the adverse forces. Soon 
 afterwards I heard a musket fired, which I thought for a moment 
 was the appointed signal ; but was quickly undeceived by the man- 
 ners of the Guerilla, who paid no attention to the discharge, and 
 probably knew by the sound that it was unconnected with their 
 companions. As we continued our journey slowly, the Captain 
 seemed engaged in deep and more amicable conversation with the 
 young Catalan; it seemed desponding, by the low tones of his 
 voice, and by a few broken sentences which I heard from time 
 to time : the indignant feelings, that had flushed his cheek, were 
 gone, and the fever of his eye was replaced by an expression of 
 subdued melancholy. He said that the mountain was encom- 
 passed on all sides by an overwhelming force; he was aware that
 
 326 N O T E S. 
 
 his companions in the fortified house must have already perished ; 
 " I know," lie added,' " that, so surrounded, we too must die, (se 
 Men que hemos de morir), but we will shed our dearest blood for 
 the King- and the Holy Faith." His former animation returned 
 for a moment, when he alluded to a proclamation that had been 
 issued on the preceding day, offering mercy to all who would lay 
 down their arms within four-and-twenty hours. He kindled with 
 indignation as he mentioned some Royalists of a different Guerilla, 
 who, he said, had compromised their principles and sued for par- 
 don, (que han pedido pardon.) " The time limited by act," he added, 
 " is expiring; our situation is hopeless, but not a man will submit." 
 I say, it was impossible to hear such sentiments expressed at 
 such a time, without a strong feeling of respect for the individual — 
 and of regret, that any measures should have enlisted such 
 a spirit against the cause of freedom. There was no period of 
 the civil war more disastrous to the Royalists than these 
 days that immediately followed the fall of Cervera. The Pro- 
 visional Government of Urgel was not yet in existence. There 
 was no rallying point— there was no union among the chiefs of 
 the insurrection — thei*e was no safety left for the royalists, 
 except in the sympathy of the people. Chieftains every 
 where sprung up, acted independently of each other, and in- 
 creased the general confusion. Little Guerillas, formed from the 
 wreck of their army, renewed a desperate war in the mountains, 
 and were taken or cut to pieces in detail. During these succes- 
 sive reverses, acts of devoted heroism were performed, such as 
 were never surpassed in La Vendee : but they occurred in a remote 
 corner of Europe, — they had no historian, and are unknown. 
 
 The cannon had ceased for some time before we reached a so- 
 litary house, that had probably flourished a bad venta in its best 
 days, but was now in a ruinous condition. Here, the Captain 
 said, that he expected to receive the requisite information re- 
 specting ourselves ; and addressing a lad who came to assure him 
 that no immediate danger was at hand, he entered the house. We 
 were led into the court, to await the result of their conference : 
 the outer walls had experienced the ravages of war, and were 
 falling into decay. A woman, bearing a child in her arms, was 
 seated on a plank that lay at the extremity of the court; she was
 
 NOTES. 327 
 
 evidently accustomed to the Guerilla, as she scarcely seemed to 
 observe their arrival, and paid no attention to the scene that was 
 passing around her. In a few minutes the Captain reappeared ; 
 and, quitting the road that wound along the defile, he led across 
 an open moor. In answer to a question that Pusey asked him, 
 he answered — " if you are men of honour you are betrayed; but, if 
 so, you have nothing to fear." Si stan hombres de Men stem vendi- 
 dos. Here a scene of a ludicrous nature occured: we met a 
 young peasant, whom some of the Guerilla seized ; and, suspecting 
 that he intended to join the militia, compelled him to follow in 
 their train. As I was mounted on horseback and rode in ad- 
 vance, the lad imagined that I was captain of the band, and im- 
 plored my interference with a most ungainly mixture of sobs and 
 supplications. In spite of my assurances to the contrary, he 
 continued these piteous vociferations for mercy, till he was in- 
 formed by the Captain that my predicament was not more hopeful, 
 or my authority more extensive, than his own. He then bewailed 
 his fate in a strain of unmanly lamentation, that first provoked 
 the contempt and finally the anger of these high-spirited moun- 
 taineers. For the honour of Spain, 1 must add that I never saw 
 a similar character among her peasantry ; and, indeed, from his 
 subsequent manner, I believe the poor lad was half-witted. 
 
 The scenery had now materially changed: we saw some pea- 
 sants ranged upon low hills, that rose on each side crowned with 
 pinaster. The lieutenant and his two followers, who had quitted 
 us near the fountain, stood on a neighbouring height, their wild 
 and martial figures resting against the sky. As we drew near, 
 they came rushing down to meet us, their dress and arms beau- 
 tifully gilded by the setting sun. 
 
 At length the Captain desired the band to halt; and I perceived 
 that we had reached one of the heights that overlooks the main 
 road from Barcelona to Madrid. We had toiled for many hours 
 under a burning sun; and, completely fatigued, threw ourselves 
 on the moor. With that courtesy which had distinguished his 
 conduct during the day, the Captain offered me part of his 
 plaid, as we lay on the ground ; but Shocky was still indefati- 
 gable in his suspicions : he renewed his scrutiny, and particularly 
 examined my glass, which he certainly thought of highly anti-
 
 328 NOTE S. 
 
 Royalist construction, and solely framed for the purpose of re- 
 connoitering their positions. Ten minutes had not elapsed he- 
 fore we saw two of the band, who had been posted on the heights, 
 descending the hill with muskets presented. We all started 
 from the ground, and I saw with pleasure our carriage in the 
 road below, as we should have been eifectually compromised, 
 had our servants omitted to join us at the appointed spot. At 
 this sight the Guerilla could no longer restrain their impatience, 
 but rushed down the steep, and for the first time I was delivered 
 from my persecutor Shocky. The Captain delayed an instant ; 
 then, hastily leaving us in the charge of one of his men, joined 
 his party, as they had begun to plunder the carriage. We stood 
 alone on the moor with our Catalan guide, and the guard, who 
 could scarcely have attained the age of seventeen. Our situation 
 was still precarious : we had a copy of the Spanish Constitution 
 in the carriage, that, if found, would have been a grievous offence. 
 I remembered also that I had deposited in a drawer of my desk, 
 a tricolor, which had been presented to me during the first days 
 of the revolution that agitated Piedmont in the preceding yeai 1 , 
 on which the words Liberty and Constitution were worked in 
 large characters. Such Mould have been naturally applied to 
 Spanish politics ; nor indeed could a stronger point of circum- 
 stantial evidence have been adduced in confirmation of their 
 suspicions. This danger was, however, imaginary, as my sister 
 had removed it from my desk, without my knowledge, before I 
 left England. Lastly, they suspected that I was an officeF in 
 the Constitutional militias ; and the discovery of my regimental 
 uniform would have confirmed that belief. Our best policy was 
 to join the band and direct the search that we could not prevent. 
 Escaping from our guard, we reached the carriage, as Shocky, 
 who had probably never beheld a vehicle of this kind before, was 
 climbing like a wild cat over its sides and effecting an entrance. 
 The work of plunder and investigation proceeded gloriously 
 under such congenial auspices: some gold seals, &c. were quickly 
 disposed of : he seized a gold and platina chain, placed it round 
 his neck, and expressed his intention to wear it always, saying 
 it Mould be a fine distinctive decoration. I now experienced a 
 severe loss in the destruction of the notes which I had made on
 
 NOTES. 329 
 
 the state of Spain, since the moment of our entrance to the day 
 that we left Barcelona. As Shocky explored my desk, — as he 
 removed each paper that nothing might escape his observation, I 
 expected every moment that the fatal tricolor would appear ; 
 nor could I account for its non-appearance till my return to 
 England. Still the discovery of my uniform seemed almost in- 
 evitable ; the desk was disposed of, and Shocky had invaded the 
 trunk that contained it, and seizing part of my wearing apparel, 
 appropriated it to himself, saying it would be in excellent hands : 
 at this critical moment, farther search was prevented by the na- 
 tural pride of the Spanish character. The Captain, for the first 
 time, expressed his conviction that we were men of honour and 
 good faith, " hombres de Men y de palabra," and perceiving the 
 extent of Shocky's depredations, said that not an article of our 
 dress should be taken by men, who were not robbers but defen- 
 ders of the Faith. The Captain now consented to release us, and 
 gave us part of his cockade in token of friendship : we shook 
 hands with him, and in return requested his acceptance of some 
 presents of slight value, that had escaped my friend Shocky's 
 rapacity. During the spring of the preceding year, a revolu- 
 tionist who was dancing round the tricolor standard, on the day 
 that the constitution was proclaimed at Nice, gave me his tri- 
 color cockade, desiring me to keep it as a memorial of liberty ; 
 and now, by a singular chance, I was given the badge of royalist 
 principles by a Chief in arms for the royal cause. A few of the 
 Guerilla came up and shook hands with us as we departed. The 
 sun was now actually sinking below the horizon, and the scene 
 around us was bathed in a rich flood of crimson; by this light 
 we saw them, till they were concealed from our view by the 
 turning of the road, glittering on the height and waving their 
 bonnets to us. 
 
 So terminated an adventure fraught with peril, which gave me 
 a deeper insight into the feelings and opinions of the peasantry, 
 than could have been obtained by years of investigation in calmer 
 times. On the whole, we had no ground for complaint ; they 
 would have proceeded against us somewhat hastily, but at a pe- 
 riod when the Royalists confessedly took no prisoners, and the 
 Constitutional troops had orders to give no quarter, it cannot be
 
 330 NOTE S. 
 
 expected that evidence would be weighed with the dispassionate 
 judgment that is brought into a court of justice : we had imme- 
 diately left Barcelona, the focus of Constitutional principles, 
 and misled by false information had invaded their hold at a mo- 
 ment when the mountain was surrounded by an overwhelming 
 force ; the want of good intelligence seemed improbable ; that 
 our visit should be occasioned by motives of mere curiosity, ap- 
 peared still more extraordinary. There existed grounds for sus- 
 picion ; policy might have justified the adoption of extreme 
 measures, and few men would have conducted themselves with 
 greater moderation under the aggravated circumstances in which 
 they were placed. They considered the sums of which they de- 
 prived us, as a tax fairly levied in the King's service on men 
 who had incurred a much severer penalty, by coming to their 
 fastnesses, from the very camp of their enemies and provided 
 with Constitutional passports. Upon this idea the Captain au- 
 thorized the detention of our pistols, but would not allow the 
 seizure of a single article of our wearing apparel ; and after we 
 had quitted the band, a Guerilla-man, influenced by the same 
 irregular principle of honesty, hastened to restore our drinking 
 bota, which was handsome, and would have been esteemed a prize 
 by any Spaniard of his class. Shocky, it must be admitted, made 
 no refined distinctions, and by no means thought the restitution 
 of goods a necessary ceremonial to be observed on our liberation. 
 The Guerilla were joined, at the close of the day, by two la- 
 bourers, who drew their muskets from some bushes, where they 
 were concealed ; including these men, their numbers, I believe, 
 amounted to twenty-five : they were only armed with cara- 
 bines; — a few, I think, had short knives, which could seldom 
 be available in the field. Their manners were frank, manly, 
 and above their station ; they were sincere in the opinions 
 which they had embraced, and at that time uninfluenced by 
 foreign agency : it was melancholy to see the attachment which 
 they devoted to a cause, whose failure would inevitably involve 
 their own destruction, whose success might entail the greater 
 evil of absolute power ; still it was impossible to refuse a tri- 
 bute of admiration to principle unshaken by the extremity of 
 danger, and energies so generously though ineffectually exerted.
 
 NOTES. 331 
 
 The few opinions which they casually expressed respecting their 
 church were certainly bigoted, and exaggerated by the heat of 
 party ; still I believe that such originated rather in a generous 
 sympathy with the priesthood, and in an attachment to their 
 old institutions, which they associated with the cause of God, 
 than to any genuine intolerance. In this opinion I was confirmed 
 by a few words that passed between two Guerilla-men, whose 
 moderation, as applied to ourselves, formed a striking contrast to 
 the religious horror with which they regarded the Constitution- 
 alists. " Some maintain," said the first to his companion, " that 
 they resemble the Moors, others deny it ; I am ignorant how the 
 matter stands, but we are all brothers." " Unos dicen que son 
 como los Moros, otros no, io no se, pero somos todos hermanos." 
 This native generosity breaking through the cloud of prejudice 
 and party — these sentiments uttered by an uneducated soldier of 
 the Faith, might teach a salutary lesson to part of his Majesty's 
 Protestant population on this and on the other side of the water. 
 I must notice one peculiarity, unusual to the Spaniards, and that, 
 in this instance, I can only attribute to the religious character 
 which the war had assumed : in their utmost exasperation, I never 
 heard a single man give vent to his anger in an oath or any 
 irreligious expression. With respect to ourselves, a courtesy and 
 a delicacy pervaded their conduct, astonishing, when we con- 
 sidered that with the exception of the Captain and the lieutenant, 
 the men who composed the Guerilla were only peasants : they 
 observed my dress with attention, but not with rudeness ; they 
 examined a severe blow which I had received over my eye many 
 years before, which they thought a sabre cut, and an additional 
 proof of my connexion with the army ; but although they ques- 
 tioned me freely on other points, they forbore a remark which 
 they conceived might be personally offensive. In answer to some 
 plan which the eternal Shocky had proposed, that had for its 
 object the discovery of our intention in visiting the mountain, 
 though we never understood its nature, his companion answered 
 " Seria muy poco delicado." It would be little delicate. And in 
 this, as in many other instances, a delicacy of feeling was shown, 
 that would have reflected honour on refined society. When we 
 were taken, after the first discussion the lieutenant called us
 
 332 N O T E S. 
 
 aside, and regretting that the King s service compelled him to 
 make such a demand, desired us to deliver our gold, unconscious 
 that Shocky's zeal had disemharrassed us of all that we possessed. 
 The subject was never mentioned by the Captain, but, after our 
 carriage was taken, the lieutenant renewed the request with the 
 same guarded delicacy of manner, saying that the defence of the 
 mountain required every assistance. When we assured them, in 
 the earlier part of the day, that we had given up all that we had 
 brought to the mountain, although they regarded our conduct 
 with deep suspicion, even Shocky, who was the least satisfied 
 and by far the least considerate of the band, did not attempt 
 to ascertain the fact. I might have carried in my pocket half 
 the gold of which we were dispossessed, had I conceived such 
 conduct either honourable or prudent. 
 
 In Spain a beggar will invite the passenger to share with him 
 his last crust of bread : with the same characteristic generosity, 
 although they never scrupled to express before us their belief in 
 our guilt, and their desire of vengeance, whenever they paused to 
 drink from the stream they pressed us to do so likewise; and 
 while they took some refreshment at the venta, a Guerilla-man 
 came out, and offering us brandy, pressed us to drink it with 
 good-humoured earnestness. 
 
 The alliance that existed between Shocky and myself was 
 certainly of a curious and undefinable character : this man was 
 totally unlike the rest of his companions, and in all respects a 
 perfect original. He possessed neither the pride, the stateliness, 
 nor the delicacy of the Spanish character, but was good-humoured 
 and not ungenerous ; he was cunning, and had much of that dry 
 wit peculiar to the Catalans, which at times he exercised upon his 
 prisoners with more talent than judgment : in the first attack he 
 was most violent ; when their suspicions had abated, he shook 
 hands with us most warmly; and when they revived, his voice was 
 most decidedly against us. During our march he principally at- 
 tached himself to me, asking many indifferent, some very insidious 
 questions, and mingling amicable conversation with repeated as- 
 surances of our destruction. The ardour with which he gave his 
 voice for our death whenever the question was agitated; and 
 when he was overruled, the naivete with which he resumed his
 
 NOTES. 333 
 
 place by the side of my horse, and renewed the conversation 
 without any appearance of ill-will, or the slightest suspicion that 
 I could entertain feelings of ill-humour with him for the part he 
 had taken in the discussion, were infinitely absurd. He was short, 
 his countenance unprepossessing and at times ferocious, — but 
 in his good-humoured moments there was a lively and reckless 
 expression of eye, that, combined with the general animation of 
 his manner, disguised the natural plainness of his features. I do 
 not believe he was malignant: he supposed us to be enemies, and 
 possibly, like the fox-hunter, who thinks the sport is incomplete 
 if he lose his fox, so Shocky thought that the day's business 
 would be unsatisfactory, if two strangers of doubtful character 
 were permitted to escape. In the evening, when he saw us ex- 
 changing presents with the Captain, he came up to me ac- 
 tually arrayed in my spoils, and asked, in the most artless tone, 
 whether no present was reserved for him, " Nada para mi ?" He 
 evidently thought that his connexion with me during the march 
 had fully entitled him to this parting act of friendship, and was 
 in nowise cancelled by the summary proceedings that he had so 
 constantly advised, or the rapidity with which every article of 
 value had vanished under his inspection. I laughed at his re- 
 quest, and with some difficulty found an old knife, which I pre- 
 sented to him, and which, he may since have possibly applied to 
 the disadvantage of some Constitutional thi-oat. He took it good- 
 humouredly, and as we lost sight of the band, we saw him waving 
 his bonnet higher and longer than the rest of his companions. 
 
 I have dwelt, perhaps, too long on details of this nature ; but 
 I wished to make my reader in some degree acquainted with the 
 interior, if I may use the expression, of a Catalan Guerilla, par- 
 ticularly as 1 have devoted the greatest part of a Canto to the 
 delineation of manners as they were exhibited on that day. The 
 Captain was distinguished only by a hat which he wore instead of 
 the bonnet. He had fought among those mountains in the war of 
 Independence ; he appeared to be from thirty to thirty-five years 
 of age ; he was middle-sized, but his features were handsome 
 and expressive. He seemed a man of deep reflection, of strong but 
 controlled passions, and in all respects a character susceptible of 
 poetical interest ; but, with all his originalities, it would not have
 
 334 NOTES. 
 
 been easy to have interwoven the Shock into verse, and this 
 omission has induced me to dwell longer on his peculiarities than 
 I should otherwise have done. 
 
 The only changes I have made are these. — A specific object 
 induced Hassan to visit the convent; our expedition was oc- 
 casioned by the desire of seeing the famous monastery of Mont- 
 serrat, and its extraordinary scenery. The plea urged by the 
 young Catalan in defence of the Moor, was the sacred character 
 of herald, with which he was invested; the principle was nearly 
 the same in our case, though circumstances varied: our guide 
 maintained in our behalf that we were foreigners, and had visited 
 the mountain, relying on the hospitality and good feeling of his 
 countrymen. In the poem, the young Catalan rejects the gift 
 that was offered to him by the Moslem : Shocky had taken espe- 
 cial care that our guide should have no opportunity of refusing 
 the stranger's gold. However, he would not have declined such 
 an offer, as, in our case, no reasons for such conduct existed. 
 
 In my notes I have dwelt but slightly on the mode of warfare 
 peculiar to the Guerillas, as it has been so often described by 
 officers engaged in the Peninsular war : in this service the regular 
 troops, compelled to attack the insurgents in their own fastnesses, 
 and frequently in situations where cavalry is useless, suffered al- 
 most equally by victory as by defeat. Small parties were totally 
 destroyed, convoys cut off, and every straggler from his regiment 
 doomed to destruction: sometimes, at the call of a popular lead- 
 er, like the Trappist, the royalist Guerillas came down from the 
 mountains, formed at once a powerful army that supplied the 
 want of good discipline by fanatic courage, and even obtained 
 possession of the open country and fortified towns. The Trap- 
 pist, supposed to be invulnerable, went to battle, mounted on 
 a black charger, bearing the sabre in one hand and the cross 
 in the other, and habited in his monastic garb, that was perfo- 
 rated with musket-balls: before the combat", he knelt upon 
 the ground, prayed fervently for success, then burst upon the 
 enemy with a valour that was thought supernatural. Such was 
 his influence, that at his approach the tocsin rang, and the pea- 
 santry rose to arms. He was connected with the great mili- 
 tary operations of that time, and his fame has survived; but
 
 NOTES. 335 
 
 others, whose names are scarcely remembered, appeared for a 
 moment on this scene of confusion, emulated his actions within 
 the narrow limits of their native district, acquired a great though 
 bounded influence, and stamped the war with an extraordinary 
 character of chivalry and devotion. 
 
 I am not acquainted with the fate of our Captain and his band. 
 Few of the petty chieftains, who played a prominent part in this 
 early period of the civil war, survived the disastrous days that 
 followed the fall of Cervera. The principal leaders had more 
 resources at their disposal, for the most part succeeded in effect- 
 ing their escape into France, and reappeared with greater force. 
 
 O'er all this western frontier , far and near, 
 
 They cry a foray 'gainst the cavalier. Page 127. 
 
 A considerable corps of horsemen were maintained by the 
 Moors in peace and war, along the frontiers most exposed to the 
 incursions of the Spaniards. A house and a certain extent of 
 ground was assigned to each cavalier by the King; still, re- 
 moved from the pleasures of Granada, and placed in a situa- 
 tion that required constant vigilance, but gave few opportuni- 
 ties for brilliant distinction, they were more esteemed than en- 
 vied by their countrymen. 
 
 Even the young walnut shed its tender shade, 
 
 Choked was the fountain that beneath it play'd. Page 137. 
 
 At Montserrat, there is a fine walnut-tree in the court of the 
 convent ; the fountain was almost choked from neglect at the 
 time I was there. 
 
 Go forth ! — and God be with thee on, thy way. Page 1 46. 
 
 Buya usted con Dios ; May you go your way under the pro- 
 tection of God ! is a sentiment of good will almost invariably 
 expressed by the Spaniards at parting : in the remote provinces, 
 it is the ordinary salutation with which the peasant greets the 
 traveller.
 
 336 NOTES. 
 
 When bold retreat to leaguering troop seem'd vain, 
 
 Each dauntless heart his separate path had ta'en ; 
 
 At morn we were the same proud band again. Page 159. 
 
 We left Pampeluna in the commencement of June, and passing 
 through some bold and beautiful scenery, followed the road to 
 Tolosa. The main pass of the Pyrenees was at that time oc- 
 cupied by a Royalist Guerilla. On leaving the Posada at the 
 entrance of the defile, we were preceded by a man, whom I af- 
 terwards discovered to be the Chief of the band, and one of the 
 guardians of the mountain appointed by the Royalists for the 
 purpose of examining suspicious persons and protecting travellers 
 from outrage. He joined me, as I was walking before the carriage, 
 and almost immediately led the conversation to public events, as 
 if desirous of ascertaining my opinions : I replied freely, and fol- 
 lowed him without hesitation as he entered a wood and led the 
 way by a shorter path to the main road; he was flattered at the 
 want of suspicion implied in my manner, and continued to discuss 
 the political grievances of his party with much earnestness. The 
 treatment of the King and the Clergy, and the abolition of the 
 provincial distinctions, formed the principal causes of complaint ; 
 but his language was free from the bitterness so prevalent in the 
 districts that we had lately quitted ; it was generally considerate, 
 and more than once he corrected himself when he had made use 
 of an expression which he thought intemperate. Not only the 
 insurrection was recent in Navarre, and mutual injuries had not 
 yet, as in Catalonia, brought every deadly passion into play, but 
 its population is naturally less intractable, and either party 
 would have been slow to adopt the system of extermination that 
 characterized the struggle in Catalonia. In that province the most 
 ferocious acts were perpetrated by the native militias, and the 
 Catalan partizans were distinguished as the " terrible Guerillas," 
 from their unrelenting retaliation. In allusion to the massacres 
 engendered by this system of war, the Cortes, in an address prer- 
 sented to the King on the 25th or 26th of May, conclude their 
 review on the state of Catalonia in the following expressive lan- 
 guage : " Sire, the statement which we have laid before you, is 
 unhappily proved by the different factions that have simulta-
 
 NOTES. 337 
 
 neously appeared in Catalonia, where events have occurred that 
 are too horrible to recall to your recollection, and that the pen 
 trembles to record." But a milder spirit prevailed in Navarre. 
 He told me that, a few days before, his band had captured a small 
 party of the Constitutional troops, but had only disarmed them, 
 and desired them to make the best of their way to Pampeluna, 
 under the protection of the Deity. He seems to have partly re- 
 lied on a promise that he had exacted, as the price of their libe- 
 ration, that they would no longer bear arms against the soldiers 
 of the Faith, — an engagement that superseded the severe mea- 
 sures adopted in Catalonia, where the difficulty of maintaining 
 prisoners in the mountain-fastnesses, rendered their execution 
 not only an act of reprisal, but almost of necessary policy. He 
 spoke confidently of the approaching invasion by the French 
 troops, and dwelt enthusiastically on the praises of the Baron 
 Eroles, under whom he had served, and who would again place 
 himself at the head of his ancient followers, — a prediction that was 
 afterwards verified. This valley, he said, was rendered famous 
 by the annihilation of a French regiment, during the war of inde- 
 pendence ; and he trusted the Constitutionalists would not provoke 
 a similar fate by venturing to attack them in their fastnesses. 
 He then gave me a detailed account of the manner in which his 
 party had baffled a large body of the French troops, who had 
 completely surrounded the mountain, where they had retreated : 
 it was resolved that the Guerilla should disperse, that each man 
 should choose a separate path, but that all should assemble at a 
 given hour and an appointed spot. They dispersed, and every 
 man left to his own resources effected his escape, nor was an 
 individual absent when the Captain called over their names at 
 the stated tune and place. 
 
 When we reached the middle of the pass, he showed me a rock 
 on the opposite side, hanging over the stream that flowed beneath, 
 covered with chestnut and underwood. There, he said, his Gue- 
 rilla were concealed: a few minutes later, he fired his musket 
 as a signal that they should not descend at the sound of the 
 carriage, and soon afterwards shook hands with me and departed. 
 During this conversation, in which he frankly but temperate^ 
 expressed his opinions, his language was always elevated, and
 
 338 NOTES. 
 
 sometimes scriptural. I give one specimen of his native elo- 
 quence : while he was speaking of the sufferings of the priest- 
 hood, he saw some little children playing on the road, and, turning 
 to me, said with vehemence, " Nosot?-os sabemos bien la ley de 
 antes ;/ la ley de Dios; pero ecos chicos—que ley conoceran ?" We are 
 well acquainted with the law of the old time and the law of God ; 
 but these little ones — what law will they know ? — and his voice 
 faltered with emotion. 
 
 Across the court an oaken plank was laid : 
 
 There one sad form rude resting-place had made. Page 164. 
 
 I am aware that the introduction of a person unconnected with 
 the general or immediate plot, may be justly considered ill- 
 placed in a Canto already too long ; but this individual formed 
 a part of the real scene, and I was anxious to preserve., even in 
 its details, the unity of the portrait. 
 
 Thy lullaby the tocsin's mad alarms. Page 165. 
 
 The tocsin was so universally used in Catalonia as the signal 
 for insurrection, that the Royalists were commonly designated 
 by the appellation of Somatenes from somate, the tocsin. 
 
 And my best poniard in the stream I lost. Page 1 70. 
 
 The loss of the poniard in running water was regarded an un- 
 fortunate omen by the Moors. 
 
 Undaunted by the slaughtering Moor's success, 
 
 Of passions deep and purpose merciless, 
 
 Devoted Vilia's vengeful band is nigh ; 
 
 High-wrought collected hate is in each eye, 
 
 Yet reason o'er revenge holds mastery, 
 
 As still with cautious step the gloomy throng 
 
 Comes pouring slow and silently along. Page 1 73. 
 
 As we advanced into the heart of Catalonia, the peasantry 
 were rising on all sides. The insurrection had a peculiar and im-
 
 NOTES. 339 
 
 pressive character, that reminded me of Scott's description of the 
 Porteous mob. The peasants no longer addressed us with the 
 friendly greeting customary in Spain ; they seemed to hold little 
 conversation with each other, and came with an expression of 
 sullen resentment, slowly pouring along the road to join the relics 
 of the Royalist army. This silence resulted from no deficiency 
 of zeal ; they rose with such determination, that the Constitu- 
 tional authorities were not only unable to oppose their departure, 
 but in some instances were actually swept along by the torrent. 
 
 Far o'er the Moslem's path, on craggy height, 
 More wildly shown by evening's dubious light, 
 The enthusiast stood. Page 173. 
 
 In a village situated on the confines of Catalonia, or in Aragon, 
 T perceived a man standing in the centre of a group, that was 
 listening to his words, and appeared much affected by their im- 
 port. His dress was composed of tattered shreds of various co- 
 lours; — he was tall, gaunt, and had a film over his eye that 
 seemed to impair his vision : the first words that I could distinctly 
 hear were, " que no son ladrones , pero enemigosde la Constitucion ;" 
 " men who are not robbers, but enemies to the Constitution." As 
 he proceeded, he raised his voice and called upon the people, by 
 the Royalists who had died for the Faith, by the martyrs who 
 were slaughtered of old, by the Saviour's Cross, in the name of 
 God, to rise in support of the King, his delegate upon earth. He 
 was still addressing the people when I departed, and had suc- 
 ceeded in kindling their enthusiasm, which was manifested in 
 their agitated manners, and by their broken exclamations. He 
 was one of the enthusiasts regarded as holy men, who travelled 
 at this time from village to village, preaching the Crusade, and 
 exciting the passions of the multitude. 
 
 Behold ! athwart the tempest-troubled sky, 
 From hill to hill the white alhaiquejly, 
 As gazer's glance in stormy day may see 
 The white foam breaking o'er a gloomy spa > 
 
 z2
 
 340 NOTES. 
 
 And still, as deeper sink the shades of night, 
 
 The beacon's blaze from every glowing height 
 
 Summons the sons of Islam to the fight. Page 175. 
 
 The alhai'que is a long white robe, that forms an essential 
 part of the Moorish dress. When the borders were menaced 
 with invasion, it was hoisted in the day-time by the frontier 
 knights, on elevated situations, as a signal of alarm : during 
 the hours of darkness such intelligence was conveyed by the 
 blaze of the beacons that were kindled on every height. At 
 Tangiers, where we were entertained for some days with much 
 hospitality, by Mr. Douglas, the British Consul, the houses in- 
 habited by the Moors are low; their apartments long, narrow, 
 and open to the streets. Miss Douglas observed to me that, 
 as the Moors reclined in these cabins, robed in their alhai'ques, 
 they resembled the dead lying in their coffins, with the lid re- 
 moved; a simile that conveyed a just idea of the effect produced 
 on a stranger's mind by the first sight of a Moorish street. 
 
 Hadge El Medi, the Chief of our African Guard, requested me- 
 at parting, to accept his alhai'que as a memorial of the Moor.
 
 341 
 
 NOTES TO THE FIFTH CANTO. 
 
 And Taflit's chieftain on his raven steed. Page 179. 
 
 Tafilet, or Taflit, a town situate among the Atlas mountains. 
 
 Chief after chief, from Oran's desart shore, 
 
 The glittering garb of distant Tunis bore. Page 179. 
 
 The dress manufactured at Tunis was much esteemed by the 
 African tribes for its brilliancy of colouring, and was sometimes 
 worn by the Princes of Granada. 
 
 And they whose path is track' d in blood andjlame, 
 
 From Atlas' desolated region came; 
 
 Land of the dauntless heart and sheathless sword, 
 
 By foe unconquer'd, scarce by friend explored. Page 179. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Atlas mountains are the most bigot- 
 ted and ferocious of the Musulman tribes. In some parts they 
 wear no turbans, and ride to battle clad only in their loose 
 alhai'que. A lowlander, who gave me some curious particulars of 
 African manners, and had suffered by their depredations, repre- 
 sented them as the scourge of the Moorish caravans, and drew a 
 terrific picture of their barbarities. 
 
 Oh ! given to song and revelry and light, 
 
 Alhambra's halls were beautiful that night. Page 181. 
 
 I have described the Alhambra from my recollection of the 
 original: this sketch is very imperfect, but Florian's detailed
 
 342 NOTES. 
 
 and eloquent account will make my readers better acquainted 
 with this singular edifice.* 
 
 * " L'Alhambra, comme je l'ai dit, etait une vaste forteresse construite 
 Bur une des deux collines renfermees dans Grenade. La colline, em- 
 brassee de tous c6t£s par les eaux dn Xenil et du Darro, etait encore 
 defendue par une double enceinte de murs. C'est au sommet de cette 
 montagne, qui doniine toute la ville, et d'oii Ton decouvre au loin la 
 plus belle vue de l'univers ; c'est au milieu d'une esplanade couverte 
 d'arbres et de fontaines, que Mahomet choisit la place de son palais. 
 
 " Rien de ce que nous connaissons en architecture ne peut nous repre- 
 senter celle des Maures. lis entassaient les batimens sans ordre, sans 
 symetrie, sans faire aucune attention a l'aspect qu'ils offraient au-de- 
 hors : tous leurs soins etaient pour l'interieur. La, ils epuisaient les 
 ressources du gout, de la magnificence, pour unir dans leurs apparte- 
 mens les commodites du luxe aux charmes de la nature champetre ; la, 
 dans des salons revetus de marbre, paves d'une faience brillante, aupres 
 des fits de repos couverts d'etoffes d'or et d'argent, des jets d'eau s'elan- 
 caie'nt vers la voute, des vases prticieux exhalaient des parfums ; et des 
 myrtes, des orangers, des fleurs, embaumaient les appartemens. 
 
 " Lebeau palais del'Alhambra, que Ton voit encore a Grenade, nepre- 
 sente point de facade. On y parvient par une promenade charmante, 
 coupee sans cesse par des ruisseaux qui serpentent dans des bouquets de 
 bois. L'entree est une grande tour carree, qui s'appelait autrefois la 
 Porte du Jugement. Une inscription religieuse annonce que c'^tait la 
 que le Roi rendait la justice, selon l'antique usage des Hebreux et des 
 peuples de l'Orient. Plusieurs batimens qui venaient ensuite ont ete 
 detruits pour elever a Charles-Quint un magnifique palais, dont la de- 
 scription n'est pas de mon sujet. On penetre, du cote du Nord, dans 
 l'ancien palais des rois Maures, et l'on se croit transports dans le palais 
 des faeries. La premiere cour est un carr^ long, environne d'une ga- 
 lerie en arcades, dont les murs et le plafond sont couverts de mosaique, 
 de festons, d'arabesques peints, dores, ciseles en stuc, d'un travail ad- 
 mirable. Tous les cartouches sont remplies de passages de l'Alcoran, ou 
 descriptions telles que celle-ci, qui sumra poui - donner une idee du style 
 figure des Maures :— . 
 
 " ' O Nazar, tu naquis sur le trone, et semblable a l'etoile qui nous 
 annonce le jour, tu ne brilles que de ton propre eclat. Ton bras 
 est notre rampart, ta justice notre lumiere. Tu sais dompter par ta 
 valeur ceux qui donnent a Dieu des compagnons. Tu rends heureux 
 par ta bonte les nombreux enfans de ton peuple. Les astres du firma- 
 ment t'eclairent avec respect, le soleil avec amour ; et le cedre, roi des
 
 NOTES. 343 
 
 that the stream of day 
 A thousand faint interstices its way 
 Broke through. Page 181. 
 
 In the Glorieta, and other parts of the Alhambra, where the 
 tracery is peculiarly rich and deep, the stucco is so completely 
 
 for£ts, qui baisse devant toi sa tete orgueilleuse, est releve par ta main 
 puissante.' 
 
 " Au milieu de cette cour, pavee de marbre blanc, est un long bassin 
 rempli d'eau courante, assez profond pour qu'on puisse y nager. II est 
 bord^ de chaque cote par des plate-bandes de fleurs et des allees d'oran- 
 gers. Ce lieu s'appelait le Messuar, et servait de bains communs aux 
 personnes attachees au service du palais. 
 
 " Cour des Lions. 
 
 " On passe de-la dans la cour celebre appelee des Lions. Elle a cent 
 pieds de long sur cinquante de large. Une colonnade de marbre blanc 
 soutient la galerie qui regne alentour. Les colonnes, placees deux a. 
 deux, et quelquefois trois a trois, sont minces, d'un gout bizarre ; mais 
 leur legerete, leur grace, plaisent a l'ceil etonne. Les murs, et surtout 
 le plafond de la galerie tournante, sont revetus d'or, d'azur, et de stuc, 
 travailles en arabesque avec un soin, une delicatesse, que nos plus ha- 
 biles ouvriers modernes seraient embarrasses d'imiter. Au milieu des 
 neurons, des ornemens toujours varies, on lit ces passages de 1' Alcoran, 
 que tout bon Musulman doit repeter sans cesse : — ' Dieu est grand ! — 
 Dieu seul est vainqueur ! — II n'y est de Dieu que Dieu — Gaiete celeste, 
 epanchemens du cceur, delices de l'ame, a ceux qui croient.' 
 
 "Au deux extremites du carre long, deux charmantes coupoles de quinze 
 a seize pieds en tous sens s'avancent en saillie dans l'interieur, soutenues 
 comme tout le reste par des colonnes de marbre. Sous ces coupoles sont 
 des jets d'eau. Enfin, dans le centre de l'£difice s'eleve du milieu d'un 
 vaste bassin une superbe coupe d'albatre de six pieds de diametre,rportee 
 par douze lions de marbre blanc. Cette coupe, que Ton croit avoir etc" 
 faite sur le modele de la mer de bronze de Salomon, est encore surmontee 
 d'une coupe plus petite, d'ou s'elan^ait une grande gerbe, qui, retombant 
 d'une cuve dans l'autre, et des cuves dans le grand bassin, formait une 
 cascade continuelle, grossie par les flots d'eau limpide que jetaient les 
 mufles de chaque lion. 
 
 " Cette fontaine, comme tout le reste, est ornee descriptions, car 
 les Arabes se plaisaient a meler la poesie et la sculpture. Leurs idees
 
 344 NOTE S. 
 
 perforated, that I have seen the light break through the inter- 
 stices, as the bright eye of an Andalusian flashes through her 
 veil. 
 
 And glittering stalactites in marble hung. Page 182. 
 
 The stalactites are really formed of stucco, which has acquired 
 a rich tint from the lapse of years, and is more grateful to 
 the eye than the glare and chilly aspect of white marble. 
 
 nous semblent recherchees, leurs expressions gigantesques ; mais nous 
 sommes si loin de leurs moeurs, nous connaissons si peu le genie de leur 
 langue, que nous n'avons peut-etre pas le droit de les juger severement. 
 D'ailleurs, les vers que Ton faisait en Espagne et en France, dans les 
 treizieme et quatorzieme sieeles, ne valaient guere mieux que ceux-ci : 
 " Toi qui promenes tes regards 
 
 Sur ces lions, ces eaux, ces prodiges des arts, 
 Du grand roi Mahomet tu vois ici l'ouvrage. 
 
 La paix qui regne dans ces lieux, 
 De la paix de son cceur est le fidele image: 
 
 Semblable a ces lions dans les champs du carnage, 
 II punit les audacieux ; 
 
 Et comme cette eau transparente, 
 Qui, s'elevant dans l'air, retombe a gros bouillons, 
 
 De meme sa main bienfaisante 
 Sur son peuple repand ses dons. 
 
 " Je ne decrirai point avec antant de detail les autres pieces qui sub- 
 sistent encore dans l'Alhambra. Les unes servaient de salle d'audience 
 ou de justice ; les autres renfermaient les bains du roi, de la reine, de 
 leurs enf'ans. On y voit encore leur coucher, ou les lits, pres d'une 
 fontaine, etaient places dans des alcoves, sur une estrade de faience. 
 Dans le salon de musique, quatre tribunes exhaussees etaient remplies 
 par les musiciens, tandis que toute la cour etait assise sur des tapis au 
 bord d'un bassin d'alb&tre. Dans le cabinet ou la reine faisait sa toilette 
 ou ses prieres, et dont la rue est enchantee, on trouve une dalle de 
 marbre, percee d'une infinite d'ouvertures pour laisser exhaler les par- 
 fums qui brulaient saus cesse sous la voute. Partout les fenetres, les 
 portes, les jours, sunt menages de maniere que les aspects les plus 
 rians, les efTets de la lumiere les plus doux, reposent toujours les yeux 
 satisfaits ; et les courans d'air qu'on a diriges viennent renouveller a 
 chaque instant la delicieuse fraicbeur qu'on respire dans cet edifice."
 
 NOTE S. 345 
 
 Mid clustering fretwork carved with matchless care, 
 
 Of diamond form , or circling light and fair, 
 
 As bees had built their summer grotto there. Page 182. 
 
 The fretwork of the Alhamhra is carved with the most minute 
 delicacy ; it is sometimes circular, sometimes worked into the 
 diamond shape, and in one part is clustered so as to represent 
 honey-comb. 
 
 Sultan ! at thy hour of birth 
 There was wonder upon earth ; 
 
 The moon was in her crescent glow, 
 Earth was tranquil, and the wave 
 Awe-struck not a ripple gave. Page 184- 
 
 This repose of Heaven and earth was supposed to usher in the 
 nativity of an extraordinary person. King John I. when he ad- 
 dresses the Moor Abenhamar, compliments him on these fortunate 
 circumstances that accompanied his birth. 
 
 By such sign 'twas ours to know 
 That a child of Ismael's race 
 Should his father's steps retrace ; 
 Should restore our falling sway, 
 Should revive the Caliph's day, 
 
 And give to fame the royal line. Page 181 
 
 As the empire of the Moors progressively declined, that ardent 
 people believed that a deliverer would yet arise and restore the 
 lost glories of the Caliphat. 
 
 But, oh ! more fair than all, 
 That bower that hung o'er Daro's poplar shore, 
 And heard dark Xenit 's stream in ceaseless roar. Page 186 
 
 The bower of the last unfortunate Queen of Granada, the most 
 interesting relic of a scene where all is full of interest, still re- 
 mains ; it overhangs the Daro, and is surrounded by roses and 
 wild flowers. An iron grating that encircles the apartment in
 
 346 NOTE S. 
 
 which that beautiful Princess is said to have been confined by the 
 order of her husband Abdallah, is still entire. 
 
 And royal Muca, lead the dance along. Page 188. 
 
 Muca, or Muza, was brother of King Abdallah. 
 
 Youth's smiling bands the native Zambra trace. Page 188. 
 
 The Moors were passionately attached to the Zambra their 
 national dance. 
 
 / said that dome of gold and azure knew 
 
 Than Heaven's most glorious tints a brighter hue ; 
 
 Gleam d all the imaged firmament of night : 
 
 The sacred text in characters of light, 
 
 As cloud in summer sky, &c. Page 1 89. 
 
 The Heaven, with all its host of worlds, was represented on the 
 ceiling of the banqueting-room, or saloon of the Ambassadors. 
 Texts selected from the Koran were graved on golden tablets and 
 placed over the entrance of the hall. The roof, if I remember 
 correctly, was made of cedar, and partially inlaid with pearl. 
 
 around the glittering throne 
 The warriors of the Zegri blood were known. Page 189. 
 
 The Zegri were descended from the Kings of Fez, and retained 
 the characteristic qualities of their African ancestors : brave, un- 
 civilized and ferocious, hereditary foemen of the Abencerrages, 
 they convulsed Granada with their feuds, and procured the as- 
 sassination of those gallant warriors by an act of perfidy that is 
 scarcely redeemed by the patriotism which they displayed in the 
 last days of the Moorish empire. 
 
 / hear the boasting sons of Issa say. Page 1 97. 
 
 The Christians. 
 
 The same itnpassion'd fire had Muca felt, 
 
 And at one shrine the royal brothers knelt. Page 204. 
 
 The King and his brother Muca were enamoured at the same 
 time of Zelima, a lady of the Moorish Court.
 
 NOTES. 341 
 
 Be the crescent of Zegri resistless in war ! Page 206. 
 The Zegri affected the crescent as their device. 
 
 The Houris await in their gem-studded hall. Page 206. 
 
 According to Mahometan belief, the Houris, or ravishing girls 
 of Paradise, reserved for the Faithful, are created not of clay, 
 but of pure musk, and are secluded from public observation in 
 pavilions of hollow pearls. 
 
 his speech was of that feud, 
 When half the noblest chiefs of Ismael's blood 
 In arms against their king Abdallah stood. Page 208. 
 
 Abenhamin, a Moor of Granada, has drawn a lively picture of 
 society as it existed in that city previous to the conquest, and has 
 described in glowing colours the massacre of the Abencerrages. 
 The Zegris, anxious to effect their ruin, persuaded the King that 
 an illicit intercourse subsisted between Alfaima, or Zoraide, 
 his queen, and Albin Hamet, chief of that tribe. The credulous 
 monarch giving implicit faith to their accusations, resolved t© 
 destroy his rival and exterminate his race, with the assistance 
 of the Zegri. The historian proceeds to state the method in 
 which this bloody project was carried into execution, and the 
 reaction it produced in the city. I extract the following account 
 from Rodd's translation : — 
 
 " Early in the morning the King rose, and found many of the 
 Zegries, Gomeles, and Mazas in waiting: calling the Zegri apart, 
 he commanded him to provide thirty cavaliers well armed, and an 
 executioner for the business they had agreed on, and to await 
 him in the Court of the Lions. 
 
 " The treacherous Zegri, leaving the palace, soon put the King's 
 command into execution, and sent his Majesty word that all was 
 prepared : the King immediately withdrew and went to the Court 
 of the Lions, where he found the Zegri, and thirty other Zegries 
 and Gomeles, assembled, with the executioner. 
 
 " A page was now dispatched for an Abencerrage, the Alguazil 
 Major of the city, who being informed that the King desired t»
 
 348 NOTES. 
 
 see him, hastened to the palace. The moment he entered the 
 saloon he was seized, before he could make the least resistance, 
 and his head was immediately struck off. The next Abencerrage 
 who was sent for was Albin Hamet, whom they accused of being 
 the lover of the Queen, and he was beheaded in the same way as 
 the Alguazil Major. In this secret manner, six and thirty of the 
 principal Abencerrages of the city were also destroyed, without 
 its having come to the knowledge of any of their friends or par- 
 tisans ; and the whole race had certainly perished, if the hand of 
 Providence had not interfered in their innocent cause, and de- 
 feated the wicked projects of their enemies. 
 
 " The great Ruler of the universe was at length pleased so to or- 
 der it, to preserve this virtuous race from entire destruction, that 
 a page of one of the Abencerrages should follow his master into 
 the Court ; where, seeing him beheaded immediately on his entry, 
 and observing the rest of the gentlemen who were slaughtered 
 before lying dead on the floor, every one of whom were known 
 to him, he could with difficulty restrain his sorrow, and in silent 
 terror gently crept to the door, and the moment it was opened to 
 admit another Abencerrage, trembling he fled the Court. Weep- 
 ing for his master's fate, he sallied from the Alhambra ; and near 
 the fountain which jets its water in the front of the fortress, he 
 met Malique Alabez, Abenamar, and Sarracino, who were on 
 their way to attend the summons of the King. When he beheld 
 them, trembling and weeping, with broken accents he exclaimed, 
 ' Ah ! Signors, for the love of Alia pass not that way, unless you 
 desire to die a cruel death !' ' How ?' cried Alabez. c Ah ! 
 Sirs, in the Court of the Lions a great many cavaliers lie be- 
 headed, all Abencerrages, and my poor slaughtered master is of 
 the number ; 1 saw his head struck off with my own eyes, having 
 followed him into the apartment. Would to Heaven we had 
 never gone there ! I saw every thing they did, remaining myself 
 unperceived, for so Alia permitted it ; and the instant they opened 
 the private door I stole out, leaving my poor dead master behind, 
 and almost myself stupefied with horror at the dreadful spectacle 
 I had witnessed. For the love of Mahomet, gentlemen, put a 
 stop to these wicked doings !' 
 " The three knights looked with amazement at each other, not
 
 NOTES. 349 
 
 knowing how to credit the story of the page. ' If this he true/ 
 said Abenamar, 'there is great treason indeed now perpetrating; 
 but how shall we be able to ascertain the truth of what he says ?' 
 ' I will tell you/ replied Alabez : ' remain you here, and if you 
 observe an Abencerrage, or any other gentleman, going to the 
 Alhambra, stop him ; while 1 will go to the palace and discover 
 what is passing therein, and speedily return to you.' ' Alia 
 guard you !' cried Abenamar ; ' we will remain here as you de- 
 sire.' Malique then went to the Alhambra, and at the gate he 
 saw a page who was going in haste from the King, and enquired 
 of him whither he was going. The page replied, ' In search of 
 an Abencerrage.' ' And who/ cried Alabez, ' commands you to 
 seek him?' 'The King/ answered the page; 'and if you 
 would perform a good office, descend to the city, and persuade all 
 the Abencerrages instantly to quit Granada, unless they desire to 
 be the principal victims of the dreadful tragedy now performing 
 in the Court of the Lions. May Heaven preserve you in peace !' 
 
 " Certified of the truth of what the first page had related, Alabez 
 returned to the place where he had left Abenamar and Sarracint). 
 ' Friends,' cried he, ' what the page has declared is the truth ; 
 there is dreadful treason acting, and a great slaughter among the 
 Abencerrages : one of the King's pages has confirmed the state- 
 ment, and requested I would warn the Abencerrages to leave the 
 city.' 
 
 " ' As Alia lives/ exclaimed Sarracino, ' the Zegries must be 
 the authors of this horrid plot ! Let us hasten to the city, and 
 seek immediate redress for our wrongs.' 'Away then/ said 
 Abenamar, 'there is no time to lose.' Making all possible 
 dispatch, they soon reached the street of the Gomeles, where they 
 found Muza and more than twenty of the Abencerrages, who had 
 returned from the sally against the Christians on the Vega, and 
 were going to the King to give him an account of their success. 
 To these Alabez exclaimed : — ' Cavaliers ! to your defence ! if 
 you wish not to die by treachery : the King has already slain 
 more than thirty of your race.' 
 
 " The astonished Abencerrages made no answer ; but Muza re- 
 plied: — ' By the faith of knighthood, if there is treachery, the 
 Zegries and Gomeles are the authors of it ! not one of them sal-
 
 350 NOTES. 
 
 lied out on the alarm, nor is there one to be seen throughout the 
 city ; they are, doubtless, with the King in the Alhambra, and 
 are guilty of the death of these innocent and noble gentlemen. 
 Follow me, friends ! I will put a speedy termination to their 
 crimes !' 
 
 " They followed Muza to the New Square, where, as Captain- 
 general, he ordered a trumpet to sound an alarm. A multitude 
 of people, both horse and foot, immediately assembled and joined 
 them ; but not one of the Zegries, Gomeles, or Mazas appeared 
 among the many families of the first distinction who were present, 
 which plainly proved to the party who were the authors of the 
 mischief. When Alabez saw so many citizens assembled, he 
 thought it a fit opportunity to acquaint them with the horrid 
 cruelty that was practised against the guiltless Abencerr ages; and, 
 taking his station in the centre, he thus addressed them : — 
 
 " Friends and fellow-citizens, and all who hear me, learn that 
 there is a dreadful treason now perpetrating. King Abdallah has 
 caused many of the Abencerrages to be beheaded, and, had it not 
 been discovered by the will of Heaven, the whole race would 
 have perished in the same manner.' Scarce had Alabez made an 
 end of speaking, when the multitude gave a loud shout, calling, 
 ' To arms ! to arms !' and crying ' Treason ! perish the King 
 that has slain the Abencerrages ! We will have no traitor for our 
 King !' Ungovernable fury now possessed them : seizing the 
 first weapons that came to hand, the multitude began to ascend to 
 the Alhambra ; in a short time more than forty thousand men 
 had assembled, and above two hundred Abencerrages who still 
 remained, with numbers of Gazules, Vanegas, Almoradies, Almo- 
 hadies, Azarques, and others of Granadine nobility, crying, * If 
 this is suffered with impunity, another day will end another 
 race.' 
 
 " The shouts of the men, and the shrieks of the women and 
 children, were so great, and there was such a tumult in the city, 
 that it seemed desolated by war and drowned in tears. The cla- 
 mour soon reached the Alhambra ; when the King, apprehending 
 the cause of the tumult, ordered the gates to be barred, dreading 
 he had been too hasty in following evil counsels, and not con- 
 ceiving how the matter could have so soon gone abroad. At
 
 NOTES. 351 
 
 length the people reached the summit of the hill, shouting, 
 ' Perish the King and let him die !' Finding the gates secured 
 within, they called for fire to consume them ; and fire was imme- 
 diately applied in many places at the same time, and which had 
 already begun to burn with great fury. 
 
 " King Muley Hascem, father of Boabdil, hearing this dreadful 
 tumult, and being made acquainted with the cause of it, was 
 highly enraged at the wickedness of his son; and, desiring he 
 should be punished for his crimes, ordered a postern gate of the 
 Alhambra to be opened, pretending he meant only to pacify the 
 people. No sooner was the gate opened, than a thousand men 
 were ready to rush in ; and when they saw the old King, they 
 lifted him on their shoulders, exclaiming ' This is our King, we 
 will have no other. Long live King Muley Hascem !* And 
 leaving a strong guard to protect his person, many of the Aben- 
 cerrages, Alabeces, and Gazules, and more than a hundred foot 
 soldiers, pressed forward. Muley Hascem now gave orders for 
 the postern to be shut, that no damage might be done to the Al- 
 hambra ; but it was too late, as sufficient numbers were already 
 within it to destroy a hundred Alhambras : flying through the 
 streets and avenues they shouted, ' Perish the King, and the 
 traitors !' At length they came to the royal palace, where they 
 found the Queen and the ladies of the Court half dead with fear, 
 not knowing the occasion of so strange a tumult. Enquiring for 
 the King, they were informed he was in the Court of the Lions. 
 Thither they flew without delay, and found the doors fastened 
 with strong bars; but this afforded no security to those within, for 
 they were in an instant burst open, in spite of the defence made 
 by the Zegries. The Abencerrages, Alabeces, and Gazules, on 
 entering it, saw the heaps of their friends in that accursed char- 
 nel house, slaughtered by the King's command ; and such was 
 their frantic fury at the sight, that, had they been able to find 
 him and his wicked advisers, they would have deceived the just- 
 • ness of the law of retaliation; and, considering beheading too mild 
 a punishment, they would have inflicted a thousand tortures in 
 putting them to death, as some small consolation in their heavy 
 affliction. Breathing vengeance, they attacked with their swords 
 and poniards more than five hundred Zegries, Gomeles, and
 
 352 NOTES. 
 
 Mazas who were present, crying, ' Kill the villains who have 
 given the King these wicked counsels !' The Zegries defended 
 themselves resolutely ; but, notwithstanding they were armed for 
 the event, they were soon hewed to pieces, and in less than an 
 hour more than two hundred of those races were slain. They still, 
 however, continued to fight ; and the Abencerrages and their 
 friends made such a dreadful slaughter among them, that not one 
 of those who were in the Court escaped with life. 
 
 " The unhappy King secreted himself, and was no where to be 
 found. The bodies of the dead Abencerrages were now laid in 
 black cloth, and earned to the New Square, that all the citizens 
 might behold them, and, moved at the sight of so dreadful a spec- 
 tacle, compassionate their wrongs. The people hurried up and 
 down the Alhambra, enquiring for the King; and so great was 
 the confusion, that the towers and house resounded with the noise, 
 which was re-echoed by the neighbouring mountains. The city, 
 like the Alhambra, was also involved in the general distress, and 
 the slaughtered Abencerrages were publicly mourned by all the 
 citizens ; while the friends of the Zegries, Gomeles, and Mazas, 
 and the others of their partizans who fell in the conflict, dared 
 only to lament their deaths in private." 
 
 Perchance they deem'd it that dull glare of death 
 
 By Eblis kindled in his realms beneath, 
 
 And -sent on earth" — a dread unnatural light, 
 
 That but to gaze upon, has power to blight 
 
 Man's fairest visions, seal his earthly doom, 
 
 And drive his steps in horror to the tomb. Page 209. 
 
 The belief in the evil eye prevailed to an incredible extent 
 among the Spanish Moors. They believed that the unfortunate 
 victim of its malignity had no means of escape : it sapped the 
 sources of enjoyment, corroded the mind, and finally dried the 
 stream of life. This superstition seems to have been general at 
 one time; it still prevails in the East, among the African tribes, 
 and, in some degree, among the Spaniards of the present day. 
 Traces of this superstition exist in Devonshire.
 
 N O T E S. 353 
 
 Cold as his kindred earth where Hamet lies, 
 
 With grief's dishevell'd locks and streaming eyes 
 
 Thy royal sister stands. Page 211. 
 
 I have extracted, from the translation which I have hefore 
 quoted, the following account of Morayma's death. She was 
 wife of Alhin Hamet, and sister to King Abdallah, by whom she 
 was slain. 
 
 " King Boabdil, or Abdallah, had a sister, named Morayma, who 
 was married to Albin Hamet ; and who, em-aged and in the greatest 
 distress at the cruel manner in which her husband had been put to 
 death, felt an encreasing anxiety, on hearing the proclamation, for 
 the safety of her two sons, who were left fatherless and unpro- 
 tected by the death of Albin Hamet ; the elder at the slender age 
 of five years old, and the younger no more than three. Morayma, 
 oppressed with grief and the fond anxiety of maternal care, 
 dressed herself in the deepest black, and, leading her children by 
 the hand, went to the Alhambra, attended by four Vanegas, to 
 declare her apprehensions to the King, in the hope he might 
 afford her some mitigation from the severity of the proclamation. 
 Morayma, being known to the guards, was suffered to pass and 
 enter the royal apartment, where the King had retired and was 
 sitting alone ; and, approaching him with great respect, thus ad- 
 dressed him : ' How is it, O King ? By the royal style of King, 
 I prefer to address you, rather than the endearing and affectionate 
 name of brother, that you may be assured I have not united with 
 those who conspired to deprive you of your throne. What bloody 
 destiny impends over this devoted city ? What star malignant 
 reigns to cause such deep distress ? What blazing comet, in its 
 fiery course, destroys the illustrious race of the Abencerrages ? 
 How have they offended, that thus relentless you pursue them 
 to destruction ? Is it not enough that you have beheaded one 
 half the lineage, but you continue by banishment to destroy the 
 rest ? Can it be just that the guiltless sons of parents, equally 
 •innocent of doing wrong to you, should be exiled, and bred 
 without the city, and their daughters married in another king- 
 dom ? Harsh and insulting proclamation ! Bitter and cruel 
 tence! What can have induced the exercise of such hateful 
 
 % A
 
 35+ NOTES. 
 
 tyranny? For me, alas! widowed and disconsolate, with the 
 added misfortune to he your sister, what shall I do with these 
 two orphan boys, the endearing image of their murdered father, 
 beheaded by their uncle's order? — does not the death of the 
 father satiate your vengeance, without the banishment of 
 his unprotected children? Whither shall I send them? To 
 whose friendly hand shall I entrust them ? If they are driven 
 from the city, 1 must also be exiled, and accompany them, for 
 I am their mother. It is your own blood you are persecuting. 
 For Allah's sake, repent ! abandon these evil counsels, and let 
 your cruelty subside : mercy is the glorious attribute of a King, 
 even where there is a crime ; but where there is no fault, cruelty 
 makes him infamous.' Morayma ceased, unable to utter more ; 
 when tears burst from her eyes, and the most piercing sighs from 
 the inmost recesses of her soul, capable of softening a heart of 
 stone ; but the King remained obdurate and relentless. Burning 
 with fury and fierce anger, he exclaimed: ' Wretched Morayma, 
 are you without a sense of honor for the blood from whence you 
 sprung ? Have you no shame ? Is it possible you desire me to 
 forget the stain your disloyal husband has cast upon my bed ? If 
 but a drop of the royal blood flowed within your veins, you 
 would resent my wrongs ; and that drop, instead of affording the 
 mother's nourishment, would have become your children's mortal 
 poison. Had it produced this effect, then indeed you would have 
 been my sister ; but as it is, I deny your kindred, for you have 
 not my feelings. Better you had cast the infamous branches, 
 sprung from so vile a trunk, into the consuming fire ! this 
 would have been a sister's office. But since you have not done it, 
 I will myself discharge the duty.' With this the King seized the 
 eldest of the boys, and lifting him under his left arm, drew his 
 poniard, and plunged it to his heart. The affrighted mother, 
 struck motionless with horror, was unable to prevent his deadly 
 purpose. Casting the lifeless body on the ground, he caught up 
 the other boy, and vainly did the mother, now grown frantic 
 with despair, endeavour to rescue him ; for, notwithstanding all 
 her efforts, he nearly severed the child's head from his body, and 
 severely wounded the mother's hands in her attempt to save 
 him. ' Now,' cried the King, ' both root and branch are fallen!'
 
 NOTES. 355 
 
 Like a wounded lioness despoiled of her whelps, the injured 
 mother attacked the King, struggling to seize the poniard, that 
 she might revenge her murdered children ; when King Boabdil, 
 perceiving her intention, at the moment she was bewailing her 
 loss, with diabolical fury gave her two dreadful wounds that in 
 an instant laid her dead at his feet. ' Now go,' cried he, ' at- 
 tend thy husband, since thou so well didst love him !' Then 
 calling his attendants, he ordered them to deposit the bodies in 
 ' the royal sepulchre, which was accordingly done/ " 
 
 Thy falchion raised against an aged Sire, 
 
 Thy young Sultana led in beauty's bloom 
 
 And early innocence to shameful doom ! Page 213. 
 
 The execrable act that I have just recorded produced another 
 insurrection in the city, when Abdallab consummated his crimes 
 by an attempt on the life of his aged father. In consequence of 
 the accusation of the Zegris, the Sultana was borne upon a litter 
 to the great square of Granada. Thei - e, amid the lamentations of 
 the people, she was compelled to ascend a scaffold lined with 
 black cloth ; when, to use the language of the historian, " the 
 cries of the men, women, and children, grew so loud, that not 
 even when Rome or Troy was burnt was the like lamentation 
 heard. The windows, balconies, and terraces, were thronged with 
 people, and multitudes assembled in the square, who ceased not 
 to weep when they beheld the Queen in tears. On one side of 
 the building the judges took their seats ; and shortly after the 
 trumpets sounded, and the four accusers entered the square, armed 
 and equipped for the battle, and mounted on very powerful 
 horses. Over their armour they wore green and purple dresses, 
 with plumes of the same colours ; and the device they bore on 
 their shields was bloody scimitars, with the motto, ' Shed for the 
 Truth.' Thus the four accusers, escorted by the Zegries and their 
 partizans, entered the large and spacious area inclosed for the 
 lists. A door was then opened, and Mahomet Zegri, the author 
 of the treason, Ali Hamet Zegri, Mahandin Gomel, and Mahan- 
 don, entered to the sound of martial instruments, their abettors 
 ranging themselves on the left without the enclosure. On the 
 right, ^tood the Queen's relations and their friends." After a 
 
 2 a 2
 
 356 NOTE S. 
 
 pause of some hours, four Christian knights, disguised in a Turk- 
 ish dress, appeared, and entered the lists as champions of the 
 Queen. A long and desperate engagement ensued, in which the 
 Zegri were slain : Mahomet, their leader, recanted his former 
 words, and with his last hreath asserted the innocence of the Sul- 
 tana, amid the joyful acclamations of the people. 
 
 No ! in yon fount, the dark and harrowing stain, 
 
 Where murder was, eternal shall remain, 
 
 From age to age, till man's last summons tell, 
 
 Here fell the brave ! — devoted Yemen fell. Page 213. 
 
 The hall of the Abencerrages opens to the Court of Lions. 
 Tradition says, that their severed heads were thrown into a foun- 
 tain that stands in the centre of this apartment ; a dark red stain 
 is perceptible on the marble, and is shown as the trace of their 
 blood. 
 
 When Earth is riven, and crashing Heaven gives way. 
 
 Page 2 J 3. 
 The day of Judgment. 
 
 " And when one blast shall sound the trumpet, and the earth 
 shall be moved from its place, and the mountains also, and shall 
 be dashed in pieces at one stroke ; on that day the inevitable hour 
 of judgment shall suddenly come, and the Heavens shall cleave 
 in sunder and shall fall in pieces." 
 
 Sale's Translation of the Koran. 
 
 Seeking the perilous paths of heavenly bliss 
 
 O'er that unfathomably deep abyss, 
 
 With faltering step on Sirat's dreadful height. Page 214. 
 
 Alsirat is a bridge of not more than a hair's breadth, that leads 
 over hell itself into Paradise. The Faithful, by the assistance of 
 the Prophet, somehow contrive to pass ; but the guilty are infalli- 
 bly precipitated into the abyss. 
 
 There vainly rave on God's insulted name, 
 While burning gales shall agonize thy frame ;
 
 NOTE S. 357 
 
 'Mid fiends in pangs intolerable lie, 
 
 The infernal cloud for ever blast thine eye, 
 
 And in thy heart the fire that cannot die ! Page 214. 
 
 The Mahometans maintain, that in a future existence the ha- 
 bitation of the guilty will be fixed amid burning winds, under the 
 shade of a black smoke neither cool nor agreeable. 
 
 it comes with soul o'ermastering sway, 
 Ill-fated Islam's last terrific day ! Page 216. 
 
 An infatuated confidence in their unconquerable strength, pre- 
 vailed to such an extent among the Moors, that, while the Spa- 
 niards had actually invested the city, public entertainments were 
 continued with undiminished splendour. A fire, kindled in the 
 tent of Isabella, Queen of Castile, communicated with the camp, 
 and entirely consumed it. Upon its ashes the Spaniards erected a 
 town, to convince the Moors that the ground upon which they 
 fought was no longer theirs, nor would the siege be raised till 
 Granada had surrendered to the Christian arms. At this sight, 
 the film was removed from their eyes ; their hopeless condition 
 rose before them in its real colours, public entertainments closed, 
 and the headlong confidence that had sustained their courage was 
 succeeded by the deepest despondency. During the days that 
 immediately preceded its capitulation, Granada exhibited an aw- 
 ful scene of fluctuating passions. Saints and Imans mixed with 
 the people, and excited them to insurrection. At one moment 
 they rushed with desperate courage to the ramparts ; then fell 
 back on the Alhambra, with horrid imprecations on the monarch 
 who had betrayed his trust ; threatened to involve the palace and 
 the city in one wide conflagration, and bury themselves beneath 
 its ruins. This tempest was succeeded by the deadly stillness 
 of despair, which was again broken by lamentations ; while fer- 
 vent prayers addressed to the Prophet, that he would interfere 
 for the children of his creed, came mingled with blasphemies 
 on his name. The Spaniards entered Granada the 2d January, 
 1492. Abdallah repaired to the gates of the city, and delivered 
 the keys to Ferdinand and Isabella. When he had thus closed 
 his political existence by an act worthy of his former career, he 
 took refuge in Africa, where he was slain by one of his former 
 associates.
 
 358 NOTE S. 
 
 And, slowly bursting on their startled eyes, 
 
 Behold the city of the Faithless rise. Page 217. 
 
 The erection of Santa Fe, by the Spaniards, to which I have 
 already called my reader's attention. 
 
 Hark! the loud cannon on the crumbling wall. Page 2 J 8. 
 
 I cannot state with certainty that Granada was defended by ar- 
 tillery ; but have little doubt that such was the case, as it was 
 employed by the Mahometans at the siege of Algesiras, which 
 took place nearly a hundred and fifty years before. The in- 
 vention of cannon is attributed to the Moors.
 
 NOTES. 311 
 
 tance confounded with the plain from the similarity of colouring-, 
 I have distinguished his hroad antlers resting against the sky as 
 he stretched across the country : when hard pressed, he some- 
 times plunged into the sea, and swam a considerable distance ; but 
 his fate was generally destined to the bed of some mountain-tor- 
 rent, where he stood at bay, and defended himself against the 
 hounds with much gallantry. Some of the old customs, such as 
 presenting the hanger, blooding the novice, &c. were still kept 
 up. One of my earliest recollections, was the introduction of the 
 stag's head at Pixton in the evening, which was carried round 
 the table as a memorial and trophy of the day's exploits. But 
 public spirit had scarcely declined at that time. 
 
 So well protected were the coverts, that I remember it was 
 said that eighty deer were killed in one season, about that period, 
 when Lord Graves directed the hunt, which was afterwards sup- 
 ported by Lord Fortescue, at his sole expense. During the last 
 few years, Mr. Lucas has been master of the pack ; and great 
 praise is due to his meritorious exertions in behalf of an establish- 
 ment, whose existence he has prolonged, though he could not 
 avert its fate. Mr. Knight has endeared himself to all who have 
 the preservation of the red deer at heart, by the spirit and 
 liberal feeling he has shown in the cause. 
 
 I hear the deep death-note — the bugle-call — 
 
 Proclaim from far the antler 'd monarch's fall. Page 121. 
 
 At the close of the chase, the note of the hounds deepens, 
 becomes more lengthened, and sometimes almost mournful. To 
 an accustomed ear, the change of tone is extremely marked. 
 
 O'er Haddens mountain when my Grandsire past, 
 
 A thousand gallants, rallied at his blast ; 
 
 To Hawkridge hills, at Acland's glad acclaim, 
 
 The crowding chivalry of Devon came. Page 121. 
 
 The hounds were maintained for more than sixty years by 
 my grandfather, and great grandfather Sir Thomas Acland. 
 At that period, when the aristocracy were devoted to the sport, 
 gentlemen crowded from all parts of Devonshire to participate 
 in this noble diversion. This was the most brilliant sera of an 
 
 x4
 
 312 NOTES. 
 
 establishment,. which he supported at his sole expense : during the 
 day, the field was numerously and gallantly attended ; the pack 
 was excellent, and a spirit of magnificence was carried into all 
 the details of the chase. He retained performers on the French 
 horns, who always attended and played the double or treble mort 
 and the whole recheat in concert, while all the old ceremonies of 
 the field were formally observed. In the evening, his brother 
 sportsmen were entertained in his house with all the feudal hos- 
 pitality of that time : the stag's head was produced with a silver 
 tup in his mouth, out of which the favourite toast was drunk-; 
 and 
 
 " He was deem'd a laggard soul 
 
 " Who shunn'd to quaff the sparkling bowl." 
 
 In his time, herds of deer were seen collected together. His 
 property was extensive, and in the heart of the stag-hunting 
 country ; he exercised the forest rights which prevailed over 
 Exmoor, hut have been lately extinguished ; but his own 
 devotion to the cause, and the attachment which then existed 
 among all classes to the sport, was the main cause of its pros- 
 perity. It is painful to revert from this fortunate period to the 
 closing days of the establishment. Its fall must be attributed 
 to the combined effect of several causes : — Firstly, to the dis- 
 afforestment of Exmoor, and the extinction of the forest rights, 
 and to the enclosure of large tracts of land over which these 
 animals were accustomed to range undisturbed and unob- 
 served by any eye : Secondly, to the decline of public spirit, 
 and a growing indifference to this manly sport : Thirdly, to the 
 heat of party, and to a very mistaken opinion, that, because such 
 an establishment was aristocratic in its origin, it is therefore in- 
 jurious to the interests of the community, and oppressive to the 
 people : but the last and most decisive cause of its decline, is to 
 be found in the supineness of some of the landed proprietors, 
 who had formerly protected the deer ; and in the undisguised 
 hostility of others, who, if report speak true, have not scrupled 
 to sanction their destruction, and offer an unnecessary insult 
 to every gentleman who yet adhered to the ancient sport of 
 the country.
 
 CANTO IT. 
 
 THE EMBASSY. 
 
 He came on a message from a far country ; now, if you ask what 
 manner of gentleman he was, I wot not what to tell you. He had 
 no lack of courtesy, and was of a most sober mood in company — none 
 more so ; for all that, men said he had high mettle, had seen much, and 
 been in many things. He observed largely, and smiled often, — some 
 said with you, others at you,— perhaps only to keep his own conceits the 
 better from you. Good Sir, this is all I know of him. 
 
 Old Play, 
 
 .
 
 An interval of considerably more than two years is supposed to have 
 elapsed between the termination of the first and the commencement 
 of this Canto. The scene is for the most part laid at a castle in the 
 immediate vicinity of Ruti, a small town in Andalusia, where a confer- 
 ence is said to have taken place between the Spanish and Moorish 
 Chiefs. An old tower still remains : it is boldly situated, and forms 
 a striking object in a landscape presenting rich combinations of wood 
 and mountain.
 
 359 
 
 NOTES TO THE SIXTH CANTO. 
 
 She tells of time mispent, of comfort lost.* Page 225. 
 
 These are lines of great poetical promise. Mr. Rogers, to 
 whom we are indebted for having preserved them, and for having 
 inserted them where they cannot fail of being read, informed me 
 that they were written by a young man who is since dead. 
 
 Far in the front Alatars shield is known. Page 229. 
 Alatar or Aliatar, Alcaide of Loxa. 
 
 The gillibee vias o'er them, and the brand, 
 
 Or lengthen'd lance, was in each fearless hand. Page 229. 
 
 The gillibee is a kind of frock, still worn by the lower orders in 
 Barbary. The Moorish infantry were only armed with a sword 
 or lance; they were successful in attack, but were seldom capable 
 of resisting the weight of the Spanish cavalry. 
 
 Round arching neck, and o'er each crested head, 
 
 The doom-destroying talisman was spread. Page 229. 
 
 Before the battle, the African suspended a preserving talisman 
 to his horse's neck, or placed it on his crest. 
 
 Of shape uncouth, high rose the saddle-bow, 
 
 And short the graceless stirrup hung below ; 
 
 The rowell'd spur, unpolish'd, stiff, and long ; 
 
 The curb, with native metal rude and strong. Page 229. 
 
 ' Lines extracted from a note in the Pleasures of Memory.
 
 360 NOTES. 
 
 I have attempted to describe the accoutrements of a Moorish 
 cavalier, as they may be seen in Barbary at the present day. The 
 curb is so powerful, that, incautiously exerted, it might break the 
 horse's jaw. 
 
 Like worms is wreathed their black and tangled hair ; 
 
 Their shaggy brows, imparting, scowl beneath, 
 
 And in their eye the savage glare of death. Page 230. 
 
 At Larache, the site of the fabled Garden of the Hesperides, 
 I saw an African, who, in the language of the Moors, came from 
 a country far beyond the Atlas Mountains. He was only a few 
 shades lighter than the negro ; his hair was deep black, and plat- 
 ted so as to resemble worms ; his brows met, and in his eye there 
 was a glare expressive of the utmost ferocity. He saluted me 
 by the title of Christian dog — an appellation with which I was fre- 
 quently honoured during that excursion. Larache, and other 
 places of resort on the sea-coast, present every gradation of colour, 
 from the Negro to the Moor. I saw, at the same town, a person, 
 probably the issue of a Negro and a White : in him Nature seem- 
 ed to have varied from her usual habit of rendering the child a 
 shade lighter than the parent, but had combined the two colours 
 in a manner at once striking and revolting. This man was pye- 
 bald, or, to describe him more accurately, he had the skin of a 
 negro, but spotted with white, which, encircled by the black, had a 
 most ghastly appearance. 
 
 The fatal hue that Yemen's warriors bore. Page 232. 
 
 Blue, the colour affected by the Abencerrages, was considered 
 inauspicious after their massacre. 
 
 His jazerine with border blue inlaid. Page 232. 
 
 The jazerine was a coat of mail worn by the leading cavaliers. 
 
 Our dawning crescent shall be full to-day. Page 233. 
 
 The crescent was, as I have before stated, the device of the 
 
 Zegris.
 
 NOTES. 3G l 
 
 Bright all their banners wave ; yet one is there, 
 
 Less lovely far, that claims their proudest care. Page 233. 
 
 The standard brought from Africa by Tarick was at this, period 
 in existence : it was regarded with a feeling of adoration by the 
 Moors, who connected it with the glorious days of the Cali- 
 phat, and still considered it the safeguard of their empire. 
 
 Before the expedition against Lucena, an Alfaqui harangued 
 his countrymen in the Placa Nueva, and implored them to unite 
 and rally round this standard of national honour. 
 
 His belted sons of freeborn Aragon. Page 237. 
 
 The belt is a distinguishing part of the Aragonese dress. 
 
 They wield their Syrian blades with feeble hand ! 
 
 We '11 show them, Lords ! our good Toledo brand. Page 239. 
 
 The Syrian or Damascus blades were much esteemed by the 
 Moors ; the Spaniards preferred the Toledo sword, as less fragile 
 and equally piercing. 
 
 Now closely pent, his serried horse combine ; 
 
 Now burst with fury on the Christian line ; 
 
 Before the charging foe they wheeling Jlew, 
 
 No mar shall' d rank the baffled Spaniard knew : 
 
 Now dim in distance seen, now hovering near, 
 
 Now single, now united, front and rear 
 
 They menace. Page 240. 
 
 I have endeavoured, in this passage, to convey to my readers 
 some idea of the peculiar tactics of Moorish cavalry. 
 
 Jling their sabres to the plain 
 In fleetest course, and gather them again. Page 2-H. 
 
 This art of dexterity was frequently performed by the Moorish 
 cavaliers, to prove at once their excellent horsemanship and their 
 contempt of the enemy.
 
 362 N O T E S. 
 
 'Mid loudest din, in most resistless speed, 
 
 His muster's voice can check the wildest steed. Page 241. 
 
 The horse was an animal esteemed and treated with affec- 
 tion by the Moors; he was taught to halt, advance, and re- 
 gulate his pace, by the tone of his master's voice. 
 
 But bold Asturia front her rugged height, 
 
 With eagle eye, beheld the changing fight, 
 
 And from her mountain throne came rushing down, 
 
 And sternly waved her glory-gather d crown. Page 24.5. 
 
 There are many instances upon record, where a doubtful 
 engagement has been decided by the emidation of the rival 
 provinces. The only diadem Pelayo would accept was an iron 
 crown, formed by the lances of the Moorish chiefs whom he had 
 slain with his own hand. It was long preserved in the cathedral 
 of Oviedo, and regarded with affection by the Asturians. 
 
 " Ye powerful orbs !" — he gazed where o'er his head 
 
 The silent firmament of heaven was spread ; 
 
 " Ye mighty spirits of creation! tell 
 
 When hopes so bright and pride so boundless fell ; . 
 
 When clan and king and kinsman perish'd, why 
 
 Spared ye the only heart that wish'd to die ? Page 249. 
 
 The science of astrology was in high repute among the Moors, 
 who believed that the planets exercised a powerful influence on 
 human destiny. This belief was certainly derived from the East. 
 
 The evening's sacred call come calm and clear. Page 252. 
 
 Lord Byron justly observes that the effect of the Muessin's 
 call is more solemn and beautiful than all the bells in Christendom. 
 At Arsilla we pitched our tents in a ruined garden below the 
 mosque. During the night, which was remarkably still and clear, 
 I heard the Muessin recite a chapter from the Koran. I am un- 
 icquainted with the Arabic tongue; but the deep sonorous sound 
 <>? his voice produced a most impressive effect.
 
 NOTES. 363 
 
 Alas, for Zaira ! was the dirge they sung. Page 268. 
 
 Such was the chorus of Moorish lamentation. When we were at 
 Cadiz, I heard some gypsies chant what seemed rather a dirge 
 than a regular song, raising their voices and heating their hands 
 as they continued. The air was monotonous, but the effect was 
 wild and peculiar. Mr. Mathews, who has become acquainted 
 with the customs of almost every country in Europe, during some 
 years of active military service, to whose friendship I was indebted 
 for that curious scene, informed me (if I remember correctly) 
 that he had heard the same species of irregular music in 
 Russia. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LON DON 
 
 PRINTED BY S. AND R. BI.NTI.KY. 
 Dorsi (Street.
 
 3fiS 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 32, line 8, after ' forfeit,' dele comma. 
 
 — — 11, — 'low,' dele comma. 
 .15, — 6, — ' steed,! dele comma. 
 36, — 1, for 'now,' read 'they.' 
 38, — 13, — ' let,' — ' still.' 
 
 73, — 9, after ' a little space,' dele stop. 
 76, — 15, for 'passions,' read ' passion.' 
 93, — 10, — ' to stain,' — ' and stain.' 
 98, — 5, — ' how oft,' — ' how soft.' 
 
 104, — 17, — ' redress shall tome,' read ' redress be his.' 
 
 148, — 13, after 'stood,' dele colon. 
 
 — — 14, — ' speed,' dele comma. 
 
 275, — 6, for 'village,' read 'valley.' 
 
 281, — 19, — ' tin y were,' — ' there were.' 
 
 299, — 20, — 'Justira,' — ' Justiza.' 
 
 — — 23, — ' Hosque valencos,' — ' Nos que valemos. 
 
 307, — 7, — ' hears,' — ' pours.' 
 
 308, — 20, — ' unpassable,' — ' impassable.' 
 
 320, — 32, — ' es ropeta,' — ' escopeta.' 
 
 321, — 17, — 'shoct,' — ' shock.' 
 331, — 6, — 'to any,' — ' in any.' 
 
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