I ♦'• I ii!:'n ;j,r-\! {'' i w r IMPRESSIONS OF SPAIN. AW IMPRESSIONS OF SPAIN ALBERT F, CALVERT, f.h.g.s. MTHOR OK The Discovery of Australia," "The Exploration of Australia, "My Fourth Tour in M'tstern Australia," " The Political Value of our Colonies," etc., etc. LoNOciN : ' GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LIMITED, 32, Fleet Street. Liverpool : PHILIP, SON & NEPHEW. 45-51. South Castle Street. All rights reserved. 1903. ^1^^ ^i ^r^^ o-^ SENOR DON SEBASTIAN BARRIS. My dear Harris, As the pleasure and instruction I have derived from my different visits to Spain have been contributed to so largely by your unfailing kindness and invaluable counsel, so the culminating pleasure of this modest attempt to set down my impressions of your fair country lies in the privilege of inscribing the result to you. In you I shall ever feel that I have a firm and wise friend and lenient critic, and I beg you to enhance the obligation of friendship by accepting this dedication with the assurance of my regard and esteem. Albert F. Calvert. " ROYSTON." Swiss Cottage, N.W. 274024 PREFACE. THERE is a character in current drama who devoted his whole life to the writing of a book. He called it a "pamphlet," because he had intended it to be a pamphlet when he started on his task, but in its completed state the work filled three mighty folio volumes. Although the present volume has not attained such gargantuan proportions, it is considerably longer than I had thought to make it. It is not put forward as an exhaustive or profound study of Spain and the Spaniards, but as a simple record of impres- sions of people I have met and places I have visited during a series of many journeyings in different parts of that greatly interesting and much misunderstood country. These impressions were meant, in the beginning, to form a small collection of sketches and appreciations ; and, although the number has increased beyond the limits of my original intentions, the design and scope of the book have not been re\ ised or amplified. The result of this desultory system of working is a string of disconnected chapters — tlie first fruits of fugitive note- book jottings collected o\xr a period of several years- -rather than a concentrated and comprehensive survey of the subject as a whole. ' But the system was also fraught with an unforeseen technical difficulty, as I discovered wlien I came to arrange my illustrations. The photographs that I acquired — sometimes singly and sometimes in batches — during my frequent visits to Spain, increased out of all proportion to the " increasing purpose " of my manuscript, and in the end 1 was confronted with the alternative options of leaving out a great many of my most recent and best pictures of Granada and Preface. viii. the Alhambra, or of publishing them en masse at the back of the volume. The fact that I am even now engaged in gathering material and making notes for a work upon the Alhambra, which I hope shortly to publish, tempted me to hold these surplus illustrations in reserve. But I have hopes that the fragmentary nature of my material, and, in many cases, lack of style and finish in its transcription, may be atoned for by the variety and charm of the pictorial side of the book ; and, with this desideratum in my mind, I decided to reproduce the over- flow pictures in the form of an appendix. To the many friends in Spain who have assisted me in my work, with counsel, information, practical aid, and inexhaustible hospitality, and particularly to Messrs. Hauser and Menet, Messrs. Laurent and Co., and Sehor Garzon, the photographic artists who have supplied me with pictures beyond those I took myself, and favoured me with permission to reproduce them, I wish to tender my sincere and grateful thanks. It may be that my personal relations with the Spanish people have been more fortunate than that of some other authors, whose books on Spain I have seen; but in a somewhat wide experience of countries and men, I have never met their equals in courtesy and true consideration to the stranger within their gates. I have encountered all sorts and conditions of men in the sunny South, the black North, and the thriving East of the kingdom, and from each and every one I have received nothing but kindness and good-will. I have written enthusiastically in the following pages about the Spaniards, for in every Spaniard I have met I feel that I have a friend. A. F. C. Authors' Club, London, S.W., November, 1903, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Alfonso Xlll. Frontispiece 1896, 1898, igor, 1902 PORTRAITS AND PICTURES. The Family of Charles V., by Goya . The Velasquez Gallery in the Museum, Madrid . The Divine Family, by Murillo Bartolome Esteban, by Murillo The Divine Family, by Murillo The Divine Shepherd, by Murillo A Conception, by Murillo The King of Spain — 1886, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895 The King and His Mother S. M. El Rey Alfonso XIII. S. A. Infanta Maria Teresa S A. La Pkincesa de Asturia S A. R. El Infante Don Carlos Antonio Fuentes Luis Mazzantini and Cuadrilla GuERRiTA. BaiidiUero The Surrender of Granada by Boabdil 1492 PAGE 242 24G 249 250 251 257 259 262 263 264 224 224 224 TO Ferdinand and Isabella, Appendix \'IK\VS. AUCAKTE. Elche (Women Washing) .... I Elche ....... 5 The Esplanade ... ^^3 Esplanade and Wharf .... 84 The "Martyr's Promenade" . ^5. 86 (High Road) 87 View of Elche ... 88 Entrance to the Station, Elche 91 / List of Illustrations. MADRID. In Old Madrid Royal Palace A Corner in the Royal Palace The Throne Room, Royal Palace The River Manzanares Avenue of San Geronimo and Parliament House The " Puerta Del Sol," from the Hotel de Pari^ The Bank of Spain The Counsellor of the Village An Orange Seller A Dancer Full List of Lottery Results Sketches in Spain . A Milk Stall The Bull Ring EL ESCORIAL. Escorial Monastery, the Evangelist's Court General View of the Monastery The Escorial Library .... Mass Book of Philip IL, the Escorial Library The Royal Palace, Aranjuez BARCELONA. General View A Native of Catalonia The Cascade Senor Barris's House Snapshot in Senor Barris's Garden " Rambla de las Flores " The Colon (Columbus) Promenade The Columbus Column Plaza Del Rey Aragon Street Lyric Theatre Exhibition Hall Principal Theatre The Prim Memorial List of Illustratiuns. MONSERRAT. The Monasteky TARRAGO\'A. The AgcEDUCT General View SAGUNTO. The Roman Theatrk 75 TORTOSA. General Vie\ 76 CASTELLON. Winding ok the High Road on Cuervo Mountain VALENCIA. St Catherine's Square and Tow- General View The Exchange A Valenciana . Trinity Bridge Glorieta Fountain The Mediterranean Shori Heaching the Boats Valencian Beauties A Tartana S4 84 84 84 240 92 CART H AGES A. General \'ie\ 89 MURCIA. A Native of . A Noon-time Halt The Harvest Cart A Cartload of Tin- 9-:. 93 92 92 92 List of Illustrations. Church of Santa Maria de la Blanca . The Visagra Gate ..... The Door of the Sun .... The Cathedral ..... St. Martin's Bridge .... Church of San Juan de Los Reyes, Courtyard The Cathedral, Central Nave . Exterior of High Altar The Lion Door The High Altar Sepulchre of Alonso de Carrillo General View of the Choir-stalls Interior Church of San Juan de Los Reyes, Retablo Interior Alcantara Door and Bridge Gate .... Facade of Santa Cruz The Cathedral .... Convent of San Juan de la Penitencia PAGE 95 96 97 99 lOI 102 102 102, 104 97 104 Appendix CORDOVA. Bridge and Cathedral ...... 104 The Mosque 106 Cathedral, Choir Stalls 106 General Interior View 106 At the Fountain . 162 At the Spring 162 In the Court of Oranges 140 The Mosque, A Corner in Appendix Interior ,, Cathedral, Tower ,, ANDALUSIA. Andalusian Gallantry BURGOS. The Cathedral, from the Castle List of Illustratiovs. SEGOVIA. A General View .... A Native . . . . . AVI LA. View ok .... . CIUDADREAL. General View .... CUENCA. The Valley of the Jucar View from San Juan Hill View ok Cuenca .... GRANADA. View from the " Barranco de la Zorra The Wine Door Entrance to the Court ok Lions The Inkantas' Tower El Generaliffe The AcEyuiA Court La Alcaiceria View of Albaycin Courtyard of an Arab House The Generaliffe The Ladies' Tower, The Alhambra The Gipsy Quarters A Street in Granada Arab Silk Market .... Showing the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada The Sacristy of the Cartuja Convent The Columbus Memorial ... Group of Gypsies .... Transkit AM) Hii;ii Altar, Cathedral THE ALHAMBRA. The Court of Lions ... Hall ok .Xmbassadors . . Thic Favourite's Balcony. (The Fox's Holk) RO.M ^L\IN Entrance PAGE 113 114 "5 116 117 119 120 125 127 128 131 133 134 135 139 2 15 ^5 I 28 120 MO 140 122 13^ 13^ 132 List of Illustyations. THE ALII AM BRA (Continued). The Col-rt of Lions, A Little Temple A Peep into Little Eastern Temple in Fountain in Hall of the Court of fusTicE and Couut of Lions Interior of the Mosqde The Captive's Tower The Sultan's Bath The Dressing Room Hall of the Two Sisters Hall of the Court of Justice The Door of Justice The Captive and Cadid Towers Washington Irving Hotel Entrances to the Alhambra The Court of Myrtles Gallery in Palace of Charles V. . Roman Court The Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada The Royal Chapel, Cathedral . El Generaliffe, The Acequia Court Cyprus Court . Gallery in the Acequia Court ,, A Corner of the Acequia Court PAGE Appendix 132 General View, from the Top of the ' Giralda," Looking East 143 Dancing Boys, Cathedral . 145 The Tower of the Gold 146 Girls' Court in the Alcazar 148 Cathedral .... 149 Entrance to the Alcazar 150 The Alc.4zar, Ambassador's Hall 151. 158 A Doorway in 152 Cigar Makers 154 A Sevillian .... 155 List (if Illustrations. SEVILLE (Contimiid). TiiK " Sevillanas " Dance Cathedral, Extekior Fifteenth Century Gratinc The Alcazar, Gardens Sultana's (Quarters InTERCOLUMNIATION, WHER Assassinated ,, The Court of Dolls San Fernando Square A Sevillian Patio . A Street .... Gallery of Pilate's House Don Fadrique was 156 146 152 M«. 150 I5« 158 152 150 162 152 152 CADIZ. View from the Tavira Tower . View from San Carlos Battery 165 168 MALAGA. \'lEW FROM THE " FaROLA 1'rOMENADE " . View from the "Gibralfaro" 169 173 The Gorge ...... 176 General View, with the Moorish Bridge of the " Tago de Konda" . . . . . . -177 HENDA YE. General View ....-,• 181 I RUN. General View PASAJES. View of the Town. 183 GUIPUZCOA. Pasajes de San Juan 184 List of Illustrations. SAN SEBASTIAN. Concha Promenade . BILBAO. Suburbs General View VizcAYA Bridge Old Bilbao . The Arenal Promenade The Orconero Iron Ore Company's Wharf in Luchana GALICIA. A Native ••.... Natives .... Views in Galicia . . . . _ PONTEVEDKA. General View of Redondela General View PAGE 185 186 187 190 191 193 195 196 199 197 CORUNA. General View taken from the Old Town VIGO. View from the Castle GiyoN. The Wharf ... SANTANDEK. The Port . . General View LEON. The Cathedral Cloister in Cathedral The Cathedral Choir Stalls View taken from the Cemetef 205 207 208 209 List of Illustrations. SALAMANCA. General View View of the College, from the Iiu.andeses PAGE 213 ZARAGOZA. " Independencia" Pkomenade Pilar Church . A Flemish Dance . . The Bouquet — The Dawn ok St. John's Day ■ii5 218 lOo NUEVALOS. At Nuevalos ... THE CORONATION OF ALFONSO Kill.. 1902. The King's Carriage Arrival at the Congress . Procession of the Coronation Bull-Fight LINARES. General View .... -'■4 264 264 PONFERRADA. View of the Castle J40 BULL-FIGHTING. The Procession Entrance of the Bull . The Picador At Close Quarters A Turn with his Back to the Bull Fi.xing the Banderillas . The Matador The Final Stroke Entertaining the Bull-Fighters Bull-Fighters at the Tavern. A Picador .... 221 223 227 230 233 235 237 239 160 240 240 List of Illustrations. MINING VIEWS. BILBAO. The Union Mine Orconera Iron Ore Company Orconera Company's Workings The Railway System Transport of Ore, Arcocha Los Altos Hornos del Disierto RIO riNTO. Terminus of the Mine Ra The Canal System San Dionisio Shaft Mines The Lago Cutting . The Frames The Cuttings HUELVA. Portion of Works, and San Fernando Villac Cementation Vats . . . _ Head of the Sainte-Barbe Shaft ALMERIA. The Port of Almeria Washing for Alluvial Tin A Trench in Tin Ore AGUILAS. The Railway The Castle and Harbour PARAMO. The Old Gold Workings General View Alluvial Gold Washing 270 278 281 283 285 287 271 272 306 288 289, 292 291 293 276 277 305 294 296 299 321 324 303 334 335 List of Illustrations. XIX. ESCURIAL. Portion of Buildings A Cutting .... "Dolores," "Jaime," and Main Shaft Galapagar Smelting Works Engine House and Blacksmith's Shop Snapshot Showing Cutting 310.317 3".3«3 3'3 315 3«8 HUERCAL. B.A.KR1S Cutting The Church . Heaps of Copper Ore 320 i^5 BADAJOZ. Las Palmas Bridge 33S MAPS. General Map of Spain ..... Railway Map of Spain ..... Mining Map of Spain ..... Map Showing Alluvial Gold District in North-West Si>ai^ I 267 -!:3 JOI CONTENTS. Introductory PAGE I Madrid lO El Escorial • 43 Barceloxa • 50 0.\ THE East Coast 73 A Peep i\to Murcia .... . 83 Toledo and Cordova • 95 The Castiles . 108 Granada and the Alhambra .... . 122 Seville • 141 In Southern Andalusia .... . 164 The Basque Provinces. . 180 In Northern Spain • • 195 BULL-EIGHTING . , ^ . 220 The Picture Gallery, Madrid .... . 241 \'iva el Rey . • 254 Mining .... . 269 *Sifr5, Lv I ijmmTw /'^ i/-«^fc*r..' ELCHE — WOMEN WASHlN't 3nt^o^ucto^P dbaptcr. FROM the wild j^orges and noble crags of the Pyrenees, and the treeless and apparently uninhabited sierras of the North — vast, solitary, and impressive — to the snow-capped hills of the mid-interior, "the palms and temples of the South," and the unrivalled beauty of the country from Seville to Granada — Spain is a land to entrance the traveller. Its great and terribly chequered history is writ large upon the face of the country-. Its people have undergone as great, if not greater, vicissitudes than any other people upon the earth, and to-day there does not exist a race more courtly, more sincere, and with more confidence in their country and themselves than the Spanish. As Iberia, Spain was known to the Greeks: the Phcenicians and the Carthaginians have left their traces there: as Hispania, it came beneath the sway of Imperial Rome: it was ravaged by the Franks. I'or three centuries it was mis- ruled by West Gothic kings : it was conquered, pillaged, and tyrannised over by the Arabs and Moors for nearly Soo years. B 2 Impressions of Spain. Then came the period of Spain's greatness. When PhiHp II. ascended the throne in 1556, he became ruler of an immense empire — the first empire on which the sun never set. Portugal was then a portion of Spain by right of conquest; Sicily, a great part of Italy, Holland, and Belgium, practically the whole of the North and the entire Continent of South America, besides the Philippines and other islands in the East, and parts of Africa, were all under Spanish rule. Before he died, in 1598, the power of Spain was at its zenith. At this period the fame and dread of her army was heard and felt through the world ; her scientific and artistic eminence was unchallenged. No valour could withstand the charge of the Spanish pikemen ; it was the Spanish galleys, under the command of a Spanish prince, that broke the Turks at Lepanto ; the palaces of the king were adorned by the glorious genius of Velasquez and Murillo; and all Europe joined in delight over that first great novel of Cervantes. At the beginning of the 17th century, as the Rev. Wentworth Webster concisely and luminously writes, "the Spanish armies were the first in the world, her navy was the largest : at its close the latter was annihilated, her army was unable, without assistance from Louis XIV., to estabhsh the sovereign of her choice; population had declined from eight to less than six millions, the revenue from 280 to thirty millions ; not a single soldier of talent, not a statesman remained to recall the glories of the age of Charles V. and Philip II.; the whole country grovelled in discontent at the foot of unworthy favourites raised to power by court intrigues, and dependent on a foreign prince. A period of resuscitation, under Charles III., was followed by a signal relapse. The influence of the unscrupulous Godoy led to the internal complications which lost Spain her remaining Colonial prestige, and gave the crown of Spain to Introductory Chapter. ^ Joseph Bonaparte. The Peninsular War, the loss of the whole of Spanish Continental America, and the two Carlist wars followed. The war with the United States in 1898, was the preface to the abolition in 1899 of the Spanish Colonial Office as being 'no longer necessary.'" In my opinion, the deprivation of her Colonial possessions has been a blessing in disguise to Spain, inasmuch as it will afford her the opportunity of embarking on much-needed schemes of domestic reform. As long as her Colonies imposed an almost intolerable drain on the national exchequer, it was impossible for Spain to attend to matters of urgent importance at home. I regret, however, that this was not accomplished in a different way. When the Spanish Government realised that America had determined to acquire Cuba, it was a great pity that they did not entertain the proposals made for the purchase of that island, instead of rendering it necessary for the Cabinet at Washington to find some excuse for the war of conquest upon which they subsequently embarked. But in spite of the dramatic epoch-making vicissitudes, and the strongly-contrasted periods of greatness and disruption that Spain has ,experienced by turns, she has altered as little as any European country. The Spaniard is conservative in the best, as well as the worst sense of the word. His pride is at once his curse and his salvation ; his lofty but gentle resigna- tion is immensely attractive; his courtliness never fails him. His confidence in himself is, as has been said, unbounded. In the course of a conversation I had with a Castilian recently, he remarked : "We have been referred to as a decaying nation, a country to be plundered and divided up among the European powers. Before Spain is conquered there will be several million corpses between Madrid and the sea." Nobody who has any acquaintance with the Peninsula and 4 Iiiipressioiis of Spain. its people can listen without impatience to the jeremiads of the superior politicians who predict the decay of Spain. For in spite of the accumulated trials, the disasters, and the strife of centuries, there has lived in the hearts and imaginations of the Spanish people a tradition too great to die. They have preserved under the stress of widely-varying fortune a fortitude and dignity which have prevented the nations, who have passed them in pros- perity and power, from regarding them except with respect and admiration. Still, as in the days of Cervantes and Velasquez, the true order of nobility has not been that of formal rank so much as that of the whole nation and the characteristic Spaniard, whether the grandee of the court, or the beggar of the highway, has always known how to wrap his cloak about him with an air that seemed to make misfortunes honourable, and all the material success of the commercial ages a form of vulgarity. Notwithstanding the losses which have stripped them from generation to generation of their conquests, down even to the final blows of the war with America, they have dormant reserves of vitality and vigour only awaiting the touch of genuine leadership, and the inspiration of some hopeful national movement, to make a country containing eighteen millions of inhabitants capable of resuming its place as one of the foremost Europeon nations. In the past few years there has been a growing instinct in Spain that when things have reached their worst they must begin to mend, and that the disappearance of the last vestiges of external empire will assuredly mark the real beginning of national regeneration. That Spain has been mis-governed, her Governments have been incompetent, and her official parasites insatiable isonly too true, and it is scarcely to be wondered at if her people have grown dispirited, pessimistic, and distrustful of everybody except their individual selves. After himself, the Introductory Chapter. 5 Spaniard's first pride is in his native province. Northern Spain has Httle interest or confidence in the South, nor the East in the West ; and North, East, South, and West wore, until recently, supremely indifferent to the course of events in any other quarter of the globe. But this self-concentration is graduallv disappearing, the Spaniard is learning to regard himself with an "outside eye, "and the outside world with a broader sympathy. Moreover, he has come to view the resources of his country in a more practical and business- like light, catching, it may be, the reflection of the awakened interest that they are attracting amongthe neighbouringnations. For many years now, Spain has formed a great and inter- esting problem. In a book, published in 18S4, we read as follows: "English and Ger- man papers are continually pro- claiming the fact, and usually painting the situation in rosy hues; statesmen are cherishing ideas of commercial treaties, and relations of closer friendship and wider import ; merchants are turning eager and inquiring eyes upon the comparatively untried ground: and speculators are fondly hoping that they have at last discovered, after many lean years, an El Dorado in Spain that shall not prove barren or unfruitful." ELCIIE, ALICANTE 6 Impressions of Spain. That the reaction was imminent at the time the foregoing was penned cannot be doubted, but the hoped-for movement was checked by the declaration of war by the United States in 1899. The consequences of that terrible and futile struggle fell with paralysing severity upon the whole country, but the story of the war cannot be regarded as a fair test of the military prestige of her people. Nothing was wanting in the warlike impact to throw into relief the condition of the country as contrasted with the temper of her sons. All the chivalry of ancient Spain was fully displayed. Individual courage and bravery were splendidly in evidence. But they availed nothing against the nation that had made haste to take the fullest advantage of modern methods and appliances. The weakness of her fleet, the mismanagement of her military system, and the inefficiency of officialdom in every branch of the Government were laid bare, and it was from this combination of causes, and not from any degeneracy in her soldiers or lack of valour, that Spain owed her defeat. But by this revelation the Spanish people were awakened to the fact that they were behind the times ; that their forms of government were antiquated and inefficient ; that all their national institutions cried aloud for re-organisation and reform. Slowly at first, but increasing in momentum as the blessings of peace made themselves felt, the forward movement has proceeded along the entire line of politics, commerce, and public affairs. But if the great work is to progress, as lovers of Spain would desire to see it, the difference that at present exists between the Spaniard, in his individual, his collective, and his official capacity must disappear. This distinction has been emphasised before, but it is so remarkable as to require a note in passing. Self-interest, which is an integral part of human nature, is, or rather was, the most highly-developed, in fact, the abnormal Introductory Chapter. y trait of the Spanish official. He was irregular in his methods, and grasping— irregular, because irregularity was connived at; greedy, because he was forced by the paucity of his pay to live by the perquisites of his office. In his collective capacity the Spaniard is mistrustful, strong-headed, and apt to prove unreliable. Yet, individually, the Spaniard is remarkable for the excellence of his personal and moral qualities. Truth and valour are his by heredity, his personal honour is unassailable, his graceful courtesy and air of high breeding make him a delightful companion and a valued friend. He is quick to take offence, but he never, through ignorance or tactlessness, proffers one ; he is slow to bestow his confidence, but he never, without cause, withdraws it. You may trust him with your purse, your life, and your reputation. And this wonderful combination of qualities is common alike to the nobles, the townsmen, and the country people. All appear to have inherited the same dignity and grace of manner, and the same sterling moral (jualities. Borrow, who had an intimate knowledge of and admiration for the Spanish people, has declared that, in their social inter- course, no people in the world exhibit a juster feeling of what is due to the dignity of human nature than the Spaniards. Spain still retains all those old world, social, and personal graces with which poetry, painting, and romance have made the untravelled familiar. Grace is not necessarily a virtue, but it is a flower often found on the path that leads to it. And these flowers spring as naturally from racial instincts as do the more prominent traits exhibited in eti(iuette and statecraft. Spanish character is touched ; nay, it is entirely imbued with the "grace of a day that is dead." The very beggars, whom you encounter in every bye-way, do not lack this native grace which no mere acquirement could exhibit. The receiver of a dole regards it as a tacit acknowledgment that he is worthy of 8 Impressions of Spain. it on principle. But there is a certain charm in Spanish indo- lence, even in its indigence, which is as much a production of the country as are the soft skies and natural beauties that form its fitting background. The politeness of the peasantry is proverbial, but they are keenly alive to the point of an equal return of civility. Even the brigand was wont to regard himself as a great caballero : and he was often disarmed by a frank and confident air which tacitly acknowledged him on that footing. The idler pursues his vocation as if imbued with a full sense of its sufficiency, and supplements it with a grace beyond the reach of art. Truly this is a nation of nobles, and here is a foundation of national character which has in the past, and will again make the Spanish race one of the greatest powers of the world. Will Spain revive ? The problem is exercising the thoughts of all Europe— by those who do not know better the question is assumed to be also exercising the thoughts of all good Spaniards. As a matter of fact, the Spaniard is above such speculation. He knows his high destiny, and he will fulfil himself. His con- fidence is supreme, and it is justified. He has driven back every invader, and remains in full possession of one of the noblest countries in the world, nearly the size of France, with a climate which, if he were permitted to re-forest his plateaux, would be as good, though warmer, with the same power, if industry were set free, of producing wine, and oil, and wheat : and with deposits below the soil incomparably greater than those of his successful neighbour; and, perhaps, as rich as any country in the world. Spain, as we were recently reminded by a well-informed writer in the Spectator, is a "treasure house of minerals never yet rified, though from the days of the Phoenicians to those of the Rio Tinto, countless speculators have been breaking into little corners and going away enriched." And what is her position to-day ? She has 18,000,000 of lutrodnctory Chapter. (j people, who, if they are not as industrious as either Geriii.nis or Englishmen, will, when properly rewarded, work as ener- getically as any Southern race, and will save their wages. Her children are as brave as any in the world : able, if fairly led, to face any other troops, and with a special faculty at once of endurance and abstinence which scarcely any other troops possess. Seated on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with a nearly impenetrable frontier to the North, and only Africa to the South, she occupies, perhaps, the best position both for war and trade possessed by any European State; and will, with a decent administration and a new revenue, become once more as great a maritime Power as she was till Admiral Jervis defeated her fleet off Cape Vincent. She could not, perhaps, rule the Mediterranean; but she could, by alliances, render it impossible for any other Power to rule. Above all, she could suddenly add to her strength, not by conquest, but by wisely-applied pressure and support, the whole force of Portugal — Prim nearly achieved this. Spain might thus assume, with an increasing population, fairly rich and entirely contented, that position of a great Power, which she has never entirely lost. The potentialities of Spain justify Spanish pride. AMONG the cities of Spain, I write first of Madrid, because I knew it first, and because I know of no city that has been more systematically and unjustifiably malig^ned. My first visit to Madrid was undertaken on business grounds; but I have returned there many times since, and always with feelings IN OLD MADRID. of the keenest pleasure. There is, to me, what the Americans describe as a "homey" air about the city, that may in a measure be accounted for by the good fortune I have had in finding friends there. The friendship of a Spaniard is so genuine, and inspiriting, and whole-hearted, that an English- man cannot in a moment comprehend it. When a Spaniard Mild rid. II extends his friendship to you, your comfort, your interests, and your honour becomes as much a matter for his concern as his own, I first learned to understand this in Madrid. At that time the EngHsh were not reported to be held in favour in Spain, and I was advised to be prepared for an unfriendly reception. But I was, on that visit, and on each subsequent visit, agreeably disappointed; and although I have wandered pretty extensively over many parts of the Peninsula, I have KOYAL I'ALACK, MAI)K1I> never found it to be other than an advantage to be an English- man. I have seen the Britisher hustled in Paris, scowled at in Italy, and made the butt of cheap Teutonic wit in Germany, but in Spain he is invariably treated with the kindest con- sideration. I was told by an English engineer that the ex- planation of this friendly attitude, on the part of the Spanish people, was to be found in the fa^t that the country has not yet endured the curse of the average British tourist. It may be so, Impressions of Spain. yet the influence of the English is very marked in the city of Madrid, if not to the full extent that it appears to be at first sight. An American writer, who "did" Spain in the customary slap- dash, get-there-and-get-away-again-fashion of American globe- trotters, was not a little chagrined to find in Madrid, English goods, English manners, and English influence predominating over those of any other foreign nation. In Spain, American means South American, and the Yankee is indiscriminately in- cluded in the category labelled "Ingleses." American tram-cars and other Trans-atlantic inven- tions are thus wrongly credited to the English; and the writer declares that his indignation rose to fever-heat when he entered a place marked "English drinks," and beheld a genuine American soda-fountain. It must be, I think, due not a little to this un- intentional injustice to the land of the great spread-eagle that this same writer finds Madrid ill-favoured and exceedingly noisy, its bread unappetising and heavy, and its butter bad. He cannot bring himself to admire the Puerta del Sol, which is "an ordinary square, such as may be found in almost any city of a hundred thousand inhabitants ; " and as for the climate, he flippantly dismisses it in a phrase — "nine months' winter and three months' hell." In a more A CORNER IN THE ROYAL MADRID. Madrid. 13 gracious mood he is inclined to think that the surroundings have been too much depreciated by tourists and guide-book makers : while in the rapid increase in the population, together with the healthy appearance of the inhabitants, he discovers an indication that it may be " not quite as bad as its reputation." In the foregoing, we have a. precis of the generally-accepted opinion of Madrid, and it is one in which I cannot concur. The conscious superiority of the American critic has led him into error, and I strongly depre- cate these hasty and ill-formed conclusions upon the climate, the situation, and the cit\- itself, which are re- sponsible for its un- deserved reputation. Madrid stands at an elevation of 2,500 English feet above the sea level, in the centre of an open country, and splendid views of the capital are obtained from several miles around. Whatever may be thought as to the wisdom of selecting a capital in the centre of a great plain, and with no water communication with the outposts of the kingdom, one cannot but admire both its position and the magnificence of its buildings. It is a city that, from the first moment of viewing, throughout an entire visit, i^ Impressions of Spain. commands a whole-hearted admiration. Immediately in front of the point of arrival, the Northern Station, there rises up the splendid Palacio Real, a huge building forming a square of 470 feet; and which, by reason both of its situation and general appearance, is one of the most magnificent in the world. What is true of the Palace is equally true of the other buildings of the capital, the splendour of which is common to all the public structures. But the natural features are a separate consideration. The best view of the country surrounding the capital is to be obtained from the Parque de Madrid. Whether you like the prospect or not is purely a matter of individual taste. From this eminence, the vast campagna is stretched out to its greatest advantage; and for my own part, I know few that can compare with it. The immensity of the panorama alone entitles it to respect. On every side, save where the Guadarrama fling their rugged peaks skywards, the expanse is bordered only by the far distant horizon. The sense of space that the picture conveys is irresistibly impressive — it is more than a sight; it is an experience. I have seen it when the land has grown lifeless and shabby for want of rain, and when the coming storm has caused the swift clouds to drag their huge shadows across the broad landscape, and when, after the rains, the green pasture is lit by a purple hue, and at night, when the indigo sky is filled with a moon of such brilliancy, and stars of such irridescence, that the whole earth was more brightly illuminated than Piccadilly Circus at midnight. The climate of Madrid has suffered greatly from the strictures of visitors, who, from one cold breeze, or a single rain storm, consider themselves competent to form, and justified in publish- ing abroad, their opinions. That the city is subject to sudden changes of temperature is incontestable. Perched as it is on a Madrid. 17 commanding]: table-land so far above the level of the sea, it is swept by every bree;^e that blows across the wide expanse of plains by which it is surrounded. On the northern side, the horizon is jag^'ed by the snow-capped peaks of the noble Guadarrama ; and when the wind sets in from that direction, it comes like an icy blast, bringing, as the ^uide-book writers aver, chills and acute pneumonia with it. But the climate, thouj^h treacherous on this account, is not unhealthy. It is true that pneumonia is unhappily prevalent amonj^ the men of Madrid, but the women are singularly free from the malady. There is a reason, of course, for this curious anomaly, and it is to be found in the different fashions in which the men and women protect them- selves from the climate. The men, as a class, are abominators of fresh air, and an "eager and a nipping air" is to them a malignant danger to be avoided at any cost. They live in houses, cafes, and clubs heated to the temperature of a second- class New York hotel at mid-winter, without ventilation, and rendered stuffy from over muc h tob acco smoke. When they venture into the streets they encase themselves in heavy cloaks, throw the " capas," or velvet-lined capes across their mouths, and stifle behind its oppressive folds. Is it to be wondered at, that, if by any chance the chilled wind should penetrate, or, as more often happens, deprive the muffled pedestrian for the space of a few inspirations of his accustomed protecftor, his lungs should suffer the inevitable consequences ? But the women face the elements with a sane hardihood that makes the "coddlings" of their men folks seem more inexplica- ble by comparison. Clad in sensible, thick dresses, supplemented perhaps by a furcape,they brave the Winter winds with unmuffled throats, and their heads covered only with a light mantilla ; while theworkingwomentrust almost entirely to the natural protection afforded by their splendid hair. The result is that, while pneu- I) 1 8 Impressions of Spain. monia is a veritable curse to the men, it is practically unknown among the women. The present excellent system of watering the streets that has been adopted in Madrid, has greatly moderated the excessive dryness of the atmosphere in Summer; and the increase of vegetation around and in the city is sensibly affecfting the climate. I was in Madrid one Autumn in the rainy season. I have had some experience of the tropical rainfalls of mid-Australia, where sandy tracks are converted in a few hours into mighty rivers, and waggon ruts in the bosom of a hill become rushing cataracts ; but the rain that I watched for a fortnight from the luxurious shelter of the Hotel de Paris was every bit as business-like and effedlive. When it was over, the foliage had put on a brighter green, wild iiowers had sprung up in profusion, and the lazy,imperturbable Manzanares had become an angry, turbulent river. Madrid is then a sight that it is worth enduring a fortnight of incessant rain to see. Coming as I did direft to Madrid, and regarding the city with eyes unacquainted with Spanish sights, I was quick to note all the individual characteristics of its architec^ture, its crowds, and its popular customs ; but even without the standards of other Spanish towns by which to form a comparison, I could not fail to be impressed by the cosmopolitan appearance of the capital. Madrid and Barcelona are many years in advance of any other city in Spain; they have not outgrown their national character- istics, but they have adopted with broad-minded opportunism the improvements that intercourse with other nations has made them cognisant of. The casual visitor to Madrid would, perhaps, not regard it as a go-ahead city ; and, indeed, I am assured that only those who have a long acquaintance with the Spanish capital can appreciate the advances it has made in the last half- century. It has extended its boundaries, improved its condition, Madrid. 21 and increased its notable buildings in an almost marvellous manner. The present Pla-a de Toros, the magnificent viaduct across the Calle de Sef^^ovia, the Markets, the Hippodrome, and the Panpie de Madrid are all the creation of some twenty-five years. And as Madrid has grown, the Madrilefto has advanced. He, and more particularly she, has progressed at the expense of thepi(^turesque. English women are the beneficiaries of I-'rench fashions, because they have no style of their own— no peculiar modes or costumes that became them peculiarly as a race. Somebody once said that an English woman was only a French woman badly dressed. It was a libel ; but, notwithstandmg, she has lent truth to the definition by her anxiety to remedy the defed^ion. The English woman who covets the distinction of being well dressed buys her gowns in Paris ; but, in so doing, she improves, she does not alter, her style of costumes. She gains in effectiveness without the sacrifice of individuality. Hut the Spanish woman, though having something to gain by this Parisian attachment, has something also to lose. She had her "velo" — her coquettish adornment with its rose fastening, and her fan. With these, which suited her Spanish face to perfec- tion, she was characteristic, fascinating, adorable; but I'rench millinery demanded the renunciation of the "velo,"and taught her to forget the witchery of the fan and the grace of the natural rose ; and artists, experts, even the ordinary, impressionable Englishman without aesthetic tendencies, may be allowed a regret for the decay of a national means to a beautiful end. To me, a stroll through the thoroughfares of Madrid is a source of never-ending pleasure. I delight in its wide, clean streets, its gay squares each containing a garden, fountain, and statuettes, its crowded cafes, its promenades, its spectacles, and its unending animation and bustle and crowded life. The street A Icald, which divides Madrid in half, is magnificent in its 22 Impressions of Spain. proportions. The Prado, made enchanting by its carriage drives and its avenues, filled with beautiful women, is a panorama of which one cannot have a surfeit ; while the people, and the variety of Hfe in the Puerta del Sol is in itself a sight that shall not be witnessed in any other city in Europe. The Puerta del Sol is the living room of Madrid. It is a mingling of salon, promenade, theatre, academy, garden, a square-of-arms, and a market. The ItaHan author, Edmondo De Amicis, was so fascinated Avith its attractions, that during the first few days of his stay in Madrid, he was unable to tear himself away from the spot. The change, the colour, and the contrasts that it presents are admirably summed up in his description of the crowd that from daybreak until one o'clock in the morning throng this famous thoroughfare. Here gather the merchants, the disengaged demagogues, the un- employed clerks, the aged pensioners, and the elegant young men; here they traffic, talk politics, make love, promenade, read the newspapers, hunt down their debtors, seek their friends, prepare demonstrations against the Ministry, and weave the gossip of the city. Upon the side-walks, which are wide enough to allow four carriages to pass abreast, one has to use one's elbows to force away. On a single paving-stone you see a civil guard, a match-vendor, a broker, a beggar, and a soldier, all in one group. Crowds of students, servants, generals, officials, peasants, toreros, and ladies pass ; importunate beggars ask for alms in your ear ; cocottes question you with their eyes ; courtesans hit your elbow ; on every side you see hats lifted, hand-shakings, smiles, pleasant greetings, cries of "Largo" from laden porters, and merchants with their wares hung from the neck ; you hear shouts of newspaper sellers, shrieks of water vendors, blasts of the diligence horns, cracking of whips, clanking of sabres, strumming of guitars, and songs of the blind. Madrid. 25 In this description, De Aniicis does not omit a single one of the various noises and incidents that are to be heard and seen in the Pnerta del Sol — indeed, the fault of his description is one of commission rather than omission. For instance, I have never yet been elbowed there by a woman, even by accident, who, to the evidence of the sense of si}:,'ht, was a courtesan. This fact leads me to the reflection that in two respects Madrid is ahead of any European capital that I have visited— it neither Haunts its vices, nor finds excuse for founding a total abstinence movement. I have never seen there an intoxicated man or a representa- tive of what Rudyard Kipling has described as " the oldest profession in the world." I am not pretending that I believe Madrid to be entirely free from this particular traffic — no city that has American, French, or even English tourists on its visitors' list could hope for that — but whatever there is, is kept decently out of sight. Any grandmother may inspe(5\ the photo- graphs exhibited in the shops without a blush; and the volumes which are exposed to view in the booksellers' windows do not appeal to the lower passions of the reading public, while as for " the curse of drink," Spain does not understand the meaning of the phrase. The Spaniard is temperate by temperament, by custom and by heredity. The climate of Spain is antagonistic to strong drink, and the Spanish character revolts against the abuse of it. It would not be too much to say that the Spaniard regards a drunken man with much the same feelings as an Englishman looks upon the Spanish national sport of bull-fighting. To anyone, other than the American on the make-haste, the Pnerta del Sol, the subject from which I have digressed, is a feature which appeals irresistibly to the student of humanity. It is the centre where all the great arteries of circulation meet and diverge, where the chief pulse of Madrid life beats hardest, and the high tide of affairs How and ebb. Here are situated 26 Impressions of Spain. many of those huge, highly-decorated cafes where the Madri- lenians congregate to discuss pohtics, and settle the affairs of the nation over good coffee and the most excellent chocolate ; here is the Home Office; and here, too, is the handsome Hotel de Paris. Even this imposing and supremely comfortable hotel is not without its detractor. The author of a book of jottings, which I came across recently, wrote of it: "I did not par- ticularly like the place, and the manager and servants of the hotel did nothing to render our visit agreeable." From my knowledge of the hotel and its management, I feel justified in stigmatising this expression as a gratuitous libel. A more charming welcome, or more graceful attention, or more solid comfort than I have invariably found at the Hotel de Paris, in Madrid, is not to be obtained in any hostelry in Europe. It is on these grounds that Sres. Baeza have built for the establish- ment they direct a reputation equal to that of the Hotel Chatham, in Paris; the Carlton, in London; the Hermitage, in Monte Carlo; and the Hotel Bristol, in BerHn. The opinion I have quoted is that of a traveller who "had heard such miserable accounts of Madrid" that he had "almost abandoned the idea of going there at all;" and who, having been there, can apply to the capital such adjectives as "cheerless," "gloomy" and "depressing;" but yet he cannot say that he "conceived any violent hatred to the city." In poll-parrotting the opinion of Theophile Gautier, which was expressed nearly half a century ago, about a Madrid which is as different from the capital of to-day as Madrid of to-day is, thank heaven! from Chicago, this writer, doubtless, considers that he has earned a repute for erudition and original observation surpassed only by that of Gautier himself. In the Piierta del Sol is the Imperial cafe, an immense hall, comparable only in its size and the gaudiness of its decorations Madrid. 2Q with the For)ws in the Street AlcaUi, or the Colon, in Barcehjna. Long after the theatres and the handsome Opera House is closed, and the hour of midnight is past, the city remains illuminated, the streets are filled with carriages, and the cafes are just as crowded as at the beginning of the evening. If you glance into the Imperial before the doors are open, or, as I was privileged to do, after the doors were closed, you would marvel, as I did, that so vast a room should find customers sufficient to fill it; yet, for the previous eight hours without intermission, each table had possessed its complement of guests, and every chair had been occupied. And, in additicjn to these mammoth halls, there are innumerable others throughout the city in which ;i hundred couples could dance easily. I have been told, and I see no reason for doubting the statement, that enormous sums are quickly amassed by the cafe proprietors in Madrid and Barcelona. For the huge Colon cafe in the latter city the present tenant agreed to rebuild the cafe and pay the sum of £"i2,ooo for ten years occupation only. This he did, and although only half the time of his tenure has expired, he has made a fortune after deducting the cost of building. Wherever one wanders in this "cheerless" and "depressing" city, one's eyes are delighted with the constantly changing groups of all ages, colour, and costume ; one's ears are filled with sounds of laughter, and song, and merriment; and one's senses are galvanised by the vivacity, the gaiety, and the almost feverish overflow of pleasure by which one is surrounded. Stroll, if you will, through the beautiful gardens of the Plaza Mayor (the grand square of Madrid), saunter by the open shops of the Calk de Toledo, cross the oval-shaped Plaza de Oricute, which lies between the Royal Palace and the Royal Theatre, linger on any of the many handsome bridges, or promenade the beautiful /)r(n/os— the Bank of Spain, one of the finest public 30 Impressions of Spain. buildings in Europe, is situated in the Salon del Prado — and you shall never escape the carnival spirit that animates young and old, rich and poor alike. Rich as Madrid is in obelisks, fountains, and splendid statuary, it has fewer architectural and antiquarian attractions to afford the visitor than such cities as Toledo, Granada, or Cordova; but it has a Royal Picture Gallery which contains one of the finest, if not the very finest collection of old masters in the world. Velasquez is to be seen here, and here only, in all his power. Titian is also represented, as also are Raffaelle, Veronese, Murillo, Juan Juanes, Rubens, Tenier, and many others. Rembrandt alone, of all the great artists, is limited to a single specimen; but there is a whole host of comparatively unknown and yet veritable masters, from the sixteenth century Antonio Moro, Coello, and Pantoja de la Cruz, through Pacheco, Ribera (with, after all, his only too life-like representations of what old days and old saints were), Zurbaran and Alonso Cano, down to Valdes Leal ; or, the Goya and Lopez of but a century ago. This quiet Museo is a veritable home of art. It is all in such deliciously small compass, all so well ordered, all so good. One has not to walk miles before attaining to favourite spots, or to stare over acres of unresponsive canvas before lighting upon familiar faces, or even to command one's temper against officialism or jostling. All is contained in a few rooms, and that by exclusion of the bad rather than through poverty. In the neighbouring Academia of San Fernando — the Academy of Fine Arts — in the Calle Alcald, there is, besides a fine collection of minerals, precious stones, and the finest zoological depart- ment in Spain, several excellent Murillos, Riberas, and Zur- barans, a characteristic Rubens and some sketches of Goya's. A visit should also be paid to the A rmeria Real. Here is housed probably the very finest collection of armour in the world, a IPi: 15 ■ THE COUNSHl AN ANPALDCIAN PANCER FULL LIST OF LOTTERY RKSVLT.^ Madrid. ^-j collection that is not on!)- a perfect epitome of the history of the science of attack and defence, but is full likewise of touching record and suggestion. The Royal Palace of Madrid is admittedly one of the most magnificent in the world ; it is, in every sense of the word, a Royal residence. The building is a square of 470 feet by 100 feet high, occupying, it is said, the site of the original outpost alcazar of the Moors. The exterior, despite its noble propor- tions, does not fulfil the expectations inspired by the distant view; but once it is entered, the princel}- magnificence of its decorations fills the beholder with feelings of wondering ecstacy. Throughout the palace the appointments are of extreme rich- ness, and remind one of a time when Spain was in the zenith of its glory. All the countries of Europe have been laid under tribute for the art treasures that crowd every corner. In one apartment there is a collection of timepieces, some of which are worth almost their weight in gold, and they were all collected by one monarch; while another sovereign devoted much time to completing a collection of china which is one of the proudest possessions of the palace. Other kings have covered the walls with the priceless works of old masters, and the result is a gallery of paintings of various schools which is one of the wonders of Europe. But undoubtedly the finest apartment in the palace is the throne room, which glows with rich colouring and scintillates with a lavish display of precious metals. The superb throne, made for the husband of Mary of I-2ngland, is entirely of silver; the huge lions that mount guard on each side being of the same metal. Marbles of almost every colour of the rainbow are to be seen everywhere; and the furniture, made of the rarest of inlaid woods, delights the eye with its graceful form. The whole apartment is given a finished and warm appearance by the costly hangings of crimson velvet. The ball 34 Impressions of Spain. room of the palace is the largest in Europe. All the arts and manufactures seem to have contributed to its splendour. In Madrid I sampled for the first time the cooking of the country. The untravelled Englishman still clings to the super- stition that the visitor to Spain must either starve, or condescend to consume food fried in rancid oil and seasoned with garlic. The fastidious tourist will be fed as well in Spain, both in the cities and the country inns, as in any city or provincial district in Europe. That born master of commissariat, the Switzer, has introduced himself into the country; and he has banished garlic and bad oil from Spain, even as he expelled " rare " beef and parboiled cabbages in England. But the hotel charges of New York and Paris have not yet been adopted in Madrid, and one can live sumptuously at the Hotel de Paris for ^i per day. Throughout Spain the charges are remarkably reasonable, and in the principal cities los. a day, including wine at meals and all et ceteras, is the average at the best hotels. But the cooking of the Hotel de Paris is not to be met with all over Spain, nor are the menus of the city caravansary the ones adopted for the general use throughout the country districts. Pork, in its various phases — bacon, ham and sausage — is the meat par excellence of provincial Spain, occupying the same elevated position in the department of gastronomy as English beef, Welsh mutton, and Irish potatoes. Judging from the Continent generally, an Englishman is apt to fancy that a rasher is a delicacy confined to the British Isles; but before he has been long in Spain, he will discover the truth of Ford's eulogium: "The pork of Spain has always been unequalled in flavour. The bacon is fat and well flavoured ; the sausages delicious, and the hams transcendently superlative, to use the very expression of Diodorus Siculus, a man of great taste, learning and judgment. Of all the things of Spain, no one need € m k: Madrid. 07 feel ashamed to plead guilty to a predilection and preference for the pig." And wherever one travels in the peninsula, one is met by the local dish, which is, indeed, rather a dinner than a dish ; and when one has become used to it, it is both satisfying and exquisite. The pucliero, or stew, would have delighted the heart and stomach of Hucklebury Finn, whose gastronomic prejudices, it will be remembered, favoured a "barrel of odds and ends" in which "things get mixed up and the juice kinds of swaps around and things go better." The chief ingredients of the national puchero are bacon, beef, fowl, according to the state of the larder, cooked in one mass with garbanzos, a bean of peculiar size and tenderness and flavour, cabbage, carrots, gourd and long-pepper, a sausage or two being thrown in by way of make weight. The puchero is amenable to unending expansion, according to the status of the householder. Where the means are straightened, it consists of meat and garbanzos only, but the wealthy housewife adds to it a hundred delicious tit-bits ; and if the juice that " kinds of swaps around " is sometimes a trifle over-seasoned, the general result is, as a rule, delicious. Dumas has left it on record that he suffered from hunger in Spain. I can only suppose that the supply of puchero was insufficient for his requirements. I cannot believe that the dish deprived him of his appetite. Then, again, the Spaniards are great people for sweets ; they are, indeed, masters of this branch of the culinary art, and their preserved fruits and quince jelly seems to form an indispensable complement to the dinner table; while their fruits and vegetables, their oranges, Malaga grapes, asparagus and artichokes are famous in song and story. In one field of enterprise, and that, curiously enough, the one in which their late antagonists, the Americans, claim pre- eminence over the civilised world, vi/., in the journalistic arena, 38 Impressions of Spam. Madrid is ahead of New York, England, and Paris. In influence the press of Spain is second to none ; in variety it is equal to that of Paris ; and in La Correspondencia de Espana, Madrid has invented a newspaper which has no counterpart in any other city in the world. It is supposed that nobody can retire to rest before reading the latest edition of this "night-cap of Madrid," as it is commonly styled; and it is certain that few people in the capital, who profess to take a lively interest in the world's doings, ever go to bed until they have perused it. It is innocent of politics, and almost contemptuous of parties. The objecft of its wealthy originator and proprietor is not to propagate views, but to give news. Nothing in Spain, or out of it, which reaches Madrid is omitted from La Correspondencia, of which there are three editions published during the day, the last of which appears somewhere between ten o'clock and midnight. Nobody takes it for its views, or its special articles, although the mania of the moment has seized its millionaire proprietor, and compelled him to adopt something of the movement of contemporary journalism, but for its news it is read by every- body in Madrid. Its advertisement charges are, consequently, very high ; and also, consequently, it has its imitators. But they do not prosper. Although the Spaniard has an enormous capacity for enjoy- ment, his popular pastimes are not numerous. Bull-fighting, as I shall explain, is meat and drink to him, and it is some- thing more, because it is his horse-racing, cricket, football, and the prize-ring rolled into one. It is his National sport. Horse- racing is creeping into popularity; but although all Madrid attends the meetings at the Hippodrome, and ladies don their most gorgeous gowns to do honour to the sport, it is doubtful if it will imperil the strong position which the bulls hold in the affe(5tions of the people. After bull-fighting, the only other Madrid. 39 universal amusement is the guitar and the dance. The upper classes affect polo and tennis; in the Basque provinces Pelota rouses enthusiasm, and cock-fighting is still practised amongst the lower classes in most of the Spanish towns; but these must be classed in "side-shows" in the gallery of their general recrea- tions. A widespread andentirelyerroneous f?^^ impression prevails in this country that the Spanish national dances are indecent. People who entertain this notion may dis- pense with it as soon as possible. London- ers are frequently given the opportunity of witnessing Spanish dancing at the Al- hambra by Otero, or Guerrero, or that even more splendid exponent of the art, Consuelo Tortajada. I was present one evening at London's Alhambra, when the last-named was dancing the "Malagueiia" — a variety to which the description " poetry of motion " may be applied with full justice — and a spectator remarked to me: *'\'ery fine, very fine indeed, but you should see it danced in Madrid. You wouldn't recognise it for the same thing." And his look MILK STALL. 40 Impressions of Spain. was more meaningful than his words. Although he was not aware of it, he had informed me that he had never been to Madrid, or at least had never witnessed the Andalucian dance on the stage of a theatre there; and I suspedt that if I had displayed a craving for further information, I should have been assured that Spanish women generally are ladies of flexible ethics, who indulge in cigarettes. I believe that by paying for the edifying spectacle, certain gipsy dances of the Hindoo "nautch" variety can be witnessed in the gipsy quarter of Seville ; but the Spaniard leaves these exhibitions to the English and American tourists, who call it " studying the life of the country," or "gaining experience." Those shows have no more connection with the national dances than has burglary with the marriage service. In the streets outside the cafes, and in the theatres, the dances of Spain are as irreproachable as z. pas de seul by Miss Topsy Sinden. In the Spanish theatre, with the exception of the leadingi playhouses in the larger cities, the two, and even more shows a night system is an ancient and universal practice. /The pieces are short, and the charges for admission are not based on the idea of so much a seat, but so much a piece. Each item costs the spectator fivepence, and the audience is constantly being changed and renewed during the evening. Variety is the spice of the entertainment; and in the pro- vincial towns, where the theatres are always well patronised, a constant change of bill is maintained. Madrid alone supports no less than nineteen theatres; and Madrid, let it be remem- bered, is a city with under half-a-million inhabitants. At the same rate, London would have over two hundred^, If one could extend the list of amusements without fear of being thought irreverent, I should Jig inclined to include the saints' festivals in this category. x\lthough these religious Madrid. observances are conducted with sincere devotional decorum, they provide, as they do in all Roman Catholic countries, the excuse for, as well as the main feature of, a general holiday. I have seen many festival crowds in Spain, and the good humour, the innocent happiness and universal sobriety that characterise them, is to an Englishman acquainted with English holiday-makers, as novel as it is delightful. The festival of San Isidro del Campo, the tutelary saint of .Madrid, is the principal festival of the Madrilenian year, and is religiously celebrated by all the lower classes and the peasants who come from the neigh- bouring villages. It takes place on May 15th, and provides the most genuine bit of local colour that is to be witnessed outside Tole- do. The great concourse sets out early ; and crossing the Manzanares, follows ;i road which is lined with men and women offering their " agua fresca " (cold water) from large jugs. Water, it may he noted, is the staple beverage of all Spanish fairs and festivals. On the other side of the river — in May, the Manzanares belies the description — the miscellaneous vehicles (some drawn by as many as six mules) discharge their crowded freights, and soon the country is like an ant-hill, except that ants are usually in mourning, and do not wear such bright colours as" the peasant women and the soldiers who form so large a p>ortion of the crowd. There are innumerable booths for eating and drinking, and other common features of folk festiv.il>. Mon- THE BULL-KING, MAOKIH 42 ■ Impressions of Spain. unique are the family groups scattered everywhere, eating their slices of cold meat, salad, red pepper and oranges. Many have their wine m the same old pig-skins of which one reads in Don Quixote. At every hundred yards there is some sort of primitive music, to the rhythm of which the young men and young women dance with an expression of delighted absorption. Indeed the whole crowd wear a look of indifference to the past and future, and a determination to make the most of the passing moment. Away up the hill are long rows of booths with pottery, toys for children and cakes, and further up still is the saint's chapel, into which all the people crowd in turn to kiss a silver image held by the priest, to receive a printed picture of the saint, and to drop a copper. But that wonderful crowd, whether at dance, or meat, or its devotion, contained the greatest number of happy faces I have ever seen together in my hfe. \ NOTHERofthe Spanish royal residences, of which no other -^^- European country can boast so many, is, to ^'ive the edifice its correct title : " El Real sitio de San Lorenzo el Real del Escorial," which is situated some twenty-five miles from Madrid. The ancient glory of El Escorial, its revenues, its monks and its magnificence, are vanished, but the activity and importance of the district have been revived by virtue of the wonderful copper mines which lie almost under the shadow of the mighty walls of the historical building. The immediate vicinity of the Escorial is extremely beautiful. Close at hand rises a mountain range, highly picturesque in form and outline, and of a colouring singularly rich and varied, while many of the upland slopes are clothed with thickets and bushy patches of copse-wood, their varied tints thrown into bright relief by the dark grey rocks cropping out here and there along the face of the mountain. Immediately below lies the park with its dark foliage of ibex, while to the east lies a tiny lake, which glistens under the early sunbeams. The Escorial, which has been pronounced to be the '"eighth wonder of the world," owed its existence to Philip II. and the celebrated architects, Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, and is at once a palace, a monastery and the pantheon of the monarchs of Spain. Formerly, it was known as the Royal Monastery of St. Lawrence, and it was raised in com- memoration of the battle of St. Ouentin, when the Spanish armv routed the French on the festival day of the martyr, St. 44 Inipi'essions of Spain. Lawrence. Philip II., or the architect, or both, are commonly believed to have designedly planned the outline of the building in the shape of a gridiron, out of respect for the butchered saint, whose martyrdom on one of those utensils is a matter of history. Probably, however, chance rather than design is responsible for the exact plan ; though there can be no doubt, looking down at the Escorial from the top of the neighbouring mountains, that the simile is justifiable. A desire to protect majesty from the keen winds and to obtain for majesty's apartments the bulk of the sunshine in the neighbour- hood, perhaps helped to make the Escorial what it is, architecturally speaking. Before the French invasion, the church teemed with treasures of art — sacred vessels of gold and silver — a multitude of shrines — • reliquaires — and a tabernacle of such exquisite workmanship, that it was wont to be spoken of as worthy to be one of the ornaments of the celestial altar. All these were destroyed by La Houssage's troopers when they occupied the Escorial in 1808, by way of giving vent to' their national feeling respecting the battle of St. Quentin, two-and-a-half centuries before. The Escorial sustained a still greater loss in 1837, during the Carlist war, when about a hundred of the choicest paintings were removed, for safety's sake, to the Museo at Madrid. The exploration of the Escorial is a formidable undertaking, comprising as it does the inspection of a palace, a convent, two t s< OKI^L MoNASTLR'l , THE evangelist's CUUKT. . K 1^ 1 ^^^^^^^P^Lai \ ^ ' 'm 1 • .! •:\^ i^. "^■•S . 'i V - 9 "'i^ U ^H •if / 4 €cJ 1^ hm r 1 ^^ ■ ^BlSC r \ i n • AfTT^'v .^ .' ^Po ooo Lt ; there are eighty-eight fountains, fifteen cloisters, sixteen -"^::2-::;:::t::or:S een": 2 It ^fi^ce to collect the won.Urful H;->-— .hich It now contains. One of the mo^ fairu^^ M^ - ^ ^^ Esconal library is the " Libro de O- the ^ ^ o composed of eight kilogrammes (uS lbs.) of .old 48 Iiiiprcssiojis of Spain. letters, wh.ch are of course very thin, are attached to parchment Forty-two richly-decorated altars are to be seen in the interior of the palace church, but more wonderful in their way than the altars are the service books for the use of the choir. It is said that each leaf of each book was made from an entire calf-skin 17,000 skms being used in the process. Beneath the church is the burial place of the kings of Spain • the one spot, one would in.agine, where etiquette would not' '■. THE ESCURIAL LIBl^ARV rslrl „!■""' "°' '"'"^^'^ "'"^ 'he dust of princes, and IZTZ had : "" [" ""= ''"''' ''""' f" 'hose sons of t easu es and > " """"^ "°^" '"" ^^P'^' ^part from its wh eh s of oa ' '7'°"""' '""^ ''°"' quar.erof .he Escorial thr e sn,a, r„ T"'' '° E^g'-h-speaking peoples. In h husTa ; 7;; '' "r '' ''' =^" °f 'he anchorite, dwelt 'orb,dd,ng sovere,gn at whose command .he myriad ships of El Escorial. 49 the Invincible Armada were hurled against England. His ambition was to make England the appanage of Spain ; all he obtained were a few English elms which still flourish in the palace gardens. Yet another Royal Palace, occupying an extensive valley, surrounded by hills, is situated at Aranjuez, in the extreme south of the province of Madrid, on the left bank of the full- flowing river Tajo. In the town of Aranjue/ there are splendid farms, palaces and hotels, wide thoroughfares, good churches, theatre, hospital, barracks, very beautiful promenades, and all the other adjuncts of a model town. All these, however, are surpassed by the beauty of the gardens and parks which, with the Royal Pakice, are the property of the Crown. The illustra- tion shows the side of the Royal dwelling which opens on to what are called the Island gardens, on account of their being sur- rounded by the waters of the river Tajo. The first thing that strikes one is the monu- mental fountain which deals with the allegory of the Pillars of Hercules, and was designed by the Italian sculptor, Alexander Algardi. The building, which was commenced in 1561 by Philip II. and continued by all the Bourbon kings, is elegantly proportioned, and is surrounded by delicious gardens, luxurious avenues of trees, picturesque woods, and large lakes. THE ROYAL 1-ALACE, AKANJDEZ. Barcelona. DON QUIXOTE was a true lover of Barcelona, which he addressed as "the home of courtesy, refuge for strangers, country of the valiant." Its history is replete with records of its valour; its everyday life is illumined with a grave courtesy; the stranger within its gates is welcomed with a cordiality in which suspicion has no part. The Catalan is afraid of nobody on this earth; he has no use, as the Americans put it, for suspicion. He is a distinct race in costume, habits, and language; combining the grace and charm of the Spanish manner, with the mental vitality of the French, and the com- mercial enterprise and integrity of the English. Physically he is strong, sinewy, and active; and his dogged perseverance, his enormous powers of endurance, and his patience under privation and fatigue make him as fine a soldier as the world has seen. The Catalans take what our grandmothers used to call a proper pride in themselves. The hauteur of the proud Castilians is not theirs; they regard the poetic language and indolent gaiety of the Andalucians without envy ; they know themselves to be the most serious, industrious, and progressive people in the Peninsula; they are Spaniards, but Spaniards, be it under- stood, of Catalonia. This feeling is not of course pecuHar to the Catalans. Spanish character, and the special localism that forms one of its most distinctive features, has changed but little since Richard Ford, writing more than half-a-century ago, said: "The in- habitants of the different provinces think, indeed, that Madrid Barcelona. 53 is the greatest and richest court in the world, but their hearts are In their native locaHties. ' Mi paisano,' my fellow-country- man, or rather my fellow-countyman, fellow-parishioner, does not mean Spaniard, but Andalucian, Catalonian as the case may be. When a Spaniard is asked, ' Where do you come from ? * the reply is, 'Soy hijo de Murcia — hijo dc Grana.la' — ' I am a son of Murcia — a son of Granada,' &c." This is strictly analogous to the " children of Israel," the " Bene" of the Spanish Moors, and to this day the Arabs of Cairo call themselves children of that town; and just as the Milesian Irishman is a "boy from Tipperary," &c., and ready to fight with anyone who is so also, against all who are not of that ilk : similar, too, is the clan- ship of the highlander: indeed, every- where, not perhaps to the same extent as in Spain, the being of the same province or town creates a powerful freemasonr\- : the parties cling to- gether like old school-fellows. It is a home, and really binding feeling. To the spot of their birth, all their recol- lections, comparisons, and eulogies are turned: nothing, to them, comes up to their particular province ; that is their real country. " La Patria," means Spain at large, is a subject of declamation, tine words, palabras — palaver, in which all, like Orientals, delight to indulge, and to which their grandiloquent idioms lends itself readily : but their patriotism is still largely parochial, and self is the centre of Spanish gravity. And so it happens that if the Catalan has scant liking for the romantic, pleasure-loving, guitar-thrumming .\ndalucian. 54 Impressions of Spain. the Andalucian, on the other hand, regards the Catalan as a hard, pedantic and unpoetic mechanic. As a matter of fact, he is straightforward without being hard, grave without pedantry, hospitable without ostentation ; and, like all Spaniards, he is a poet. Poetry, as a national characteristic, is an accident of climate. Here is Barcelona, the Manchester of Spain, a hive of manufacturing industry, rejoicing in one of the most lovely sites in Europe, possessed of a climate equal to that of Naples, and with its beauty untarnished by the hand of time, or the artificer. Such an atmosphere, such skies, such stars make a people poets against their wills. I do not imply a charge against the Spaniards that they write poetry — that is an entirely different thing. They may — they do, happily, for the most part — die with all their poetry in them ; but they are none the less poets ; and indeed they are, as Oscar Wilde argued, the better poets on that account. For the Spanish temperament rises superior to the temptations of environment. If it were my good fortune to live perpetually beneath that star-spangled sky, I believe I could not resist the impulse to write verse. If for no other reason than for this alone I doff my beaver to the unversifying Catalan. There is, however, another characteristic which accounts for their prosperity, and excuses the tone of superiority they adopt towards the people of the neighbouring provinces — they are not afraid of work. Since the thirteenth century, when the Catalans led the way to the whole world in maritime conquest and jurisprudence, they have never thought trade to be a degradation, but rather have ennobled it by their honesty and enterprise. The Spanish race generally has lacked the trading spirit. An intelligent American writer, who has studied the causes which have brought Spain down from her ancient eminence in the affairs of Europe, finds them in a position Barcelona. 55 different from that which is generally supposed. " Pride, a weak monarch, a dissolute court, religious intolerance — all these," says our transpontine critic, "are admirable starting points from which to prove a nation's decline. But Spain has been by no means unique in the possession of these requisites. A close examination of intrigue, and counter-intrigue, and plot at the capital reveals a condition different from that of some other countries onlv in being a little later in occurrence. In THE CASCADE, BARCELONA. fact, all these are mere effects ; the cause is the absence of that which has developed the great nations of the earth, the cause on which civilisation rests, the great primitive developing agency — the trading spirit. For seven centuries she was a battlefield. During that time, while she was keeping the Mohammedan wolf from the door of Europe, there was no chance for the development of the trading spirit. What growth came in a measure to some of the coast cities was the result of local commercial relations finding an extension and M 56 Impressions of Spain. expansion between nation and nation. The spirit of getting by the good right arm grew, and produced its tradition; while the precarious cultivation of land for food, an occupation ever more and more removed from the leaders, became the work of an ignorant and unrespected class. " With the absence of trade goes the absence of knowledge of the outside world; and though a certain general knowledge was brought back by the Europe-conquering soldiers of Charles and Philip, it was a knowledge of how easily gain could be made in the old way, rather than a stimulus to the merchant. "Without the logical traditions of buying and selling, raised up through generations, Spain could hardly avoid the errors of government which the want of such traditions bring. She could scarcely hope not to become the victim of each and every scheme for a financial millennium, as a nation, which we are all accustomed to smile at when played in the more self-evident form of personal charlatanry. And, most of all, the dignity of work has been lost. The Spanish labourer pitied himself — and was pitied. " Up to the beginning of the Cuban war, however, a better condition had been developing. Education, and a knowledge of the outside world, were bringing home to this nation that to be the proudest man in the world it is well to have a basis for that pride in tangible rather than traditional thing? ; and of so excellent a nature have I found the Spaniard when one knows him, that I cannot help believing in his ultimate development. " But few, I know, cross the threshold of the Spanish house to find how good a man at heart the owner is. He is proud, it is true, and does not much favour the stranger ; but it is the pride of a reserved nature, not of a weak one." There is indeed much truth to be found in this view of the situation. Spain has never been a great commercial nation; she Dftr^'^i^i-''-" LVKIC TMKATKK. KXHll'.iriON li f ji ml.iI %)i l»^vfi Barcelona. 57 is, in fact, only now enterinj,' for the first time the commercial arena. No nation in Europe commenced her career on a trade basis. Conquest in the early ages was the only acknowledf^ed industry; and the empires of Carthage, Phctnicia, Rome, Spain, and Great Britain all rose to greatness by the right of might. England was a young nation when Spain commenced to decline after centuries of con